Two days has passed since I was “kidnapped” by Applejack. That means tomorrow, Pinkie is going to throw me he biggest, wildest, and most super-duper-ristic party ever. Her words, not mine.

Pinkie had explained to me and the others how the party was going down, those two days ago. She seemed to have everything planned, and she even gave me a checklist! I wouldn’t even be surprised at this point if she had some sort of secret party planning place she uses to... plan her parties.

I did mention it to her- about how organized the party was, not the party planning thing. She simply answered, that it was for me, since it was my party. She told me that she knew how I loved organized things, so she made the party as organized as a party can be. I thanked her of course, but reminded her that she didn’t have to think that much about me. Then she went on a rant, about how important it is to think about friends, which amused me greatly. Pinkie sure is one of the best friends you can ask for.

The sound of an owl hooting stopped me from thinking. My eyes gazed out through the open window. The streets in Ponyville laid bare, as the moon made its entrance on the night sky. Since the nighttime was approaching, I concluded ponies had retired to their homes, so they could sleep. That made a yawn escape my throat.

That’s probably not such a bad idea...

I trotted towards the open window, reaching out with my hoof to close it. The cold metal handle made my hoof shiver, as I silently pulled the window back towards the house. I channeled a spell through my horn, which locked the door and the windows. I levitated the candles I had lit, closer to me and with a single blow, the fire went out.

Turning, I trotted up the stairs, without making noise. Standing in front of the door, I let my magic engulf the door handle. The door opened slowly, as I wouldn’t want Spike to wake up due to the door’s usual creaking. I wandered into the room once the door left a big enough gap for me. Closing the door, I spotted Spike in his basket, placed right next to my bed. His light snoring only succeeded in making him even cuter than he already was... Better not tell Spike I thought that.

I unfurled my wings, made a single flap or two, and landed gracefully in my bed. I tucked myself in the quilt presented on said bed, and placed my head on the pillow. Goodnight Spike... was my last thought before I entered the land of dreams.

“You never loved me!” I heard a stallion shout with all his might. I didn’t recognize the voice, but yet it sounded so familiar. Whoever shouted must’ve been very upset however. “Not once! You just keep feeding me with your lies!”

I tried to track down the origin of the voice, but everything around me was dark. Blackish fog cut my vision down to one meter in front of me. It wasn’t the usual fog, this was much more dense, almost unrealistic. Is this even real?

“STOP LYING TO ME!” the same voice shouted at the top of his lungs. It was like he was talking to somepony. But who? My eyes gazed around the fog, frantic to find somepony, or something. The futile effort made me run forwards into the fog, not even thinking about any consequences.

I began panting, but I didn’t stop. This could be serious, or at least it sounded so. Even if it turned out to be nothing, my curiosity had already got the better of me. I needed to know what was going on.

“I-I’m not sorry... y-you deserve this. E-every bit of it a-and more,” the voice seemed to have calmed down, but I could only shiver at the words. Not sorry? Deserve this? Oh my... did he... did he hurt whoever he’s speaking with? Or something worse?

I realized that I had stopped running, but that realization died quickly as the fog began to reveal a straight path in front of me. Startled by this, I took a step back. My gaze fell on the path in front of me, tempting me to go down this path. I looked around me to make sure there was nothing else to go by. Sighing in defeat, I took my first step forwards, down the set path. I continued carefully, eyeing my surroundings, but got reminded by the fog that I wouldn’t be seeing anything soon.

When nothing happened to me after a few minutes, I started to calm down. Maybe there wasn’t anything to worry about. Yeah, I might just be overreacting, and all this fog is messing with my brain. The path stretched on though, making no turns whatsoever. Even if this is just messing with my brain, how did I get here? What happened? I was in Golden Oak Library just a before all this mess...

A small sob brought a stop to my thoughts. The mist had stopped making a pathway for me, and so I stopped walking as well. The sob turned to crying, and by the sound of it, it was a stallion crying. The same stallion that shouted?

Against my better judgement, I took another step forward, into the fog. The world immediately shifted around me. The fog died out, the ground revealed, but my eyes fell upon something much weirder. A shadowy figure, sitting in front of another figure just like it. Actually... no that’s not right. The figure standing resembled another pony, looking just like any normal pony would. The figure laying on the ground was larger, with thinner legs and different muzzle.

I wanted to go closer, I wanted to talk to them, but I couldn’t find the courage. My mind was racing. Who and what are they? Why is this happening? Are they dangerous? Questions like these, is what I thought of again and again, while I was just too scared to walk toward the figures.

That’s when I noticed the standing figure made a gesture towards the other one on the ground. I couldn’t tell what the gesture meant, but shortly after he made it, the figure laying on the ground disappeared. Then the other figure turned around. His eyes were pure white, and filled with hatred. I froze. The figure started running towards me. Has he seen me? I thought, afraid of what was gonna happen next. The figure grunted as he leaped towards me. Oh yeah, he definitely saw me. I entered a defensive stance, or at least I tried to. Just as the figure would be colliding with me, a booming voice shouted from above.

“ENOUGH!” the voice sounded so familiar but I couldn’t quite place it. Looking around me I saw the environment change before my eyes. The figure that had lunged itself towards me, dissolved into nothing, and everything around me turned from the usual brown dirty ground, to a darker blue. I saw stars everywhere I looked, and stardust in patterns. It felt so familiar, like I had seen this before. I looked just like the... the night sky...

Oh my gosh this is a dream! Of course it’s a dream. But if it’s just a dream, then who shouted-

I got interrupted by the sudden appearance of a large white portaly thing. Sparks flew out of the portal, to the left and right. Then, a figure entered through the portal and I couldn’t help but slap my own face. It was Luna, Princess of the Night. Of course she would be here, as she looks over the dream realm. I bowed before her.

“We can assure thou, Twilight Sparkle, that there is no need to bow before us. This is dream thy dream,” the Princess of the Night assured me, smiling to me.

“I can always show some appreciation, right?” I let out a nervous laugh, looking the Alicorn straight in the eyes. Princess Luna merely giggled at me. Then I frowned thinking back to the figures. I could’ve sworn I knew the figures... maybe if I had more time with the figures. Maybe I should address Princess Luna about them.

“Princess, did you by any chance see the... thing that attacked me? It looked like something I should recognize, but I just...” I couldn’t get myself to finish, because I didn’t know what else to say. It all seemed so weird.

Princess Luna’s expression didn’t budge. “Worry not about what thou see in dreams Twilight Spakle, it cannot hurt thee. We will let you sleep once again, with nice dreams, not nightmares.”

I wasn’t so accepting. “Please Princess, this feels weird. If you know anything, can you tell me?”

Luna frowned at me. I took a step back, thinking I’d gone too far. “Twilight Sparkle, thou are dreaming and that is it. This was nothing but a nightmare, and thou are not in any form of danger.” She smiled at me again. “We would be more than delighted to give thee pleasant dreams for the night.”

Before I could object, Princess Luna’s horn lit with her dark blue aura, as white magic escaped her horn. Closing my eyes, I blocked the light with my wings. I let out a final grunt as the magic disappeared, and Princess Luna with it.

You are not in any form of danger... I rephrased in my head. I didn’t claim I was, did I? Then why reassure me? As my mind raced on, I dreamed once again, this time about books and more books. Well, at least Princess Luna did give me a nice dream.

The birds sang and chirped, waking me up from my slumber. Turning around, a groan escaped me. I still remembered the “dream” where Princess Luna appeared and talked to me. I know Princess Luna is the Princess of the Night, and I know she knows a lot about dreams, but I couldn’t help but think that something about how she acted felt weird, almost forced.

A slowly got out of bed, still thinking about the Princess’ behavior, and I walked towards the mirror in my room. Looking at he reflection, I saw how my hair looked ridiculous. I quickly levitated a comb over, and began combing my hair. It didn’t take long before it looked like its usual, and likable self.

When I turned around, I saw Spike had left his basket. I briefly wondered why, but remembered what day it was. Of course! One yearversary! Spike is off, helping Pinkie and the others prepare the party. So said the checklist I got from Pinkie Pie. Which reminds me... with the final thought, I trotted towards my drawer, opening the first drawer. Inside, I saw the checklist Pinkie gave me the other day. I smiled at the thought, and levitated the peice of parchment out of the drawer, closing it shortly after. I began to read the checklist, while I levitated a quill and ink near me, in case I had to check something off.

Waking up

I giggled a little at Pinkie’s silliness, but checked it off nonetheless. The rest on the list hadn’t happened yet though.

Start partying!

Play ‘Pin the Tail on the Pony!

Eat cake! Lots of cake!

Muffins! Muffins!

Sweets and all that!

Balloooooons!

Dance party!

Free play! Do whatever you want!

I mentally added ‘Double check checklist’, just in case.

Turning towards the door that led downstairs, I began walking towards it, with the checklist floating beside me. As I walked down the stairs, I noticed how clean the library was. I couldn’t help but smile. That’s my baby dragon I thought as I reached the bottom of the stairs.

I took a quick glance at the clock. 9:21 AM. If what Pinkie told me two days ago, which it definitely is, then the party should start soon. Actually, it’s nine more minutes before it starts. I grinned. This was gonna be a nice party. I should let Pinkie know that I don’t need all this. I like being their friend, without having them do stuff for me, at the last thought, I got reminded about an incident, which happened in the beginning of my time here in Ponyville. Princess Celestia thought it would be a nice idea to invite me to The Grand Galloping Gala, and I agreed, but then she sent me a ‘plus one’ ticket too. All of my friends wanted the extra ticket, but they all had good reasons, so I couldn’t just give it away. It all ended with them doing stuff for me, so I would pick them, but it just made it worse for me. Then after talking to them about it, I sent the tickets back to the Princess, with a letter explaining why. Then, almost immediately, we all received a ticket including Spike. Turns out the Gala isn’t that fun though...

Just within my thinking, five minutes had already passed. I wandered towards my door, and walked outside to what would most likely be the biggest party in my life.

The party was in full swing and everypony were enjoying themselves. Pinkie had really outdone herself this time. I was standing outside Sugarcube Corner, where the party was held. Looking out on all the dancing ponies, I brought up the checklist and checked off ‘Dance Party!’. Only one thing left to check off now. Two if you count my addition.

I made my way through the crowd of ponies. All my friends were standing together behind all of these dancing ponies, so I had to push a little to some of them. Finally walking up beside them, Pinkie noticed my presence immediately.

“Hiya Twilight! Do you like the da-da-da-dance party?” she asked me, sounding like a raper as she said the word ‘dance’. I smiled at her and nodded. Pinkie sure do have a talent for this sorta thing. Looking around my group of friends, I couldn’t help but find one missing.

“Wait, where’s Spike?” I asked my friends, with worry in my voice. They shook their heads murmuring answers like ‘Haven’t seen him’ or ‘I don’t know’. I didn’t like it, not one bit. As I was about to ask another question about him, a shriek stopped me.

“T-TWILIGHT!” the voice shouted. I looked towards the direction from where the voice had shouted, and saw who it belonged to. A small purple dragon, running straight in my directions. Spike! He was holding something in his claw, something that looked like a scroll...

I ran towards him, as did my friends. Everypony stopped dancing when they heard Spike’s cry for Twilight, and looked at the baby dragon with interest. When I finally got to him he was panting, hard.

“Twilight... letter... The Princess.... urgent!” he managed to get out between his breaths. He presented the scroll for me which was from the Princess apparently. As I read the first sentence I already sensed something was wrong. There was no ‘My faithful student’ or ‘Dear Twilight’. It was just straight to the case. I read the second sentence and froze.

After a few moments, Applejack asked me what the scroll said. I looked her straight in the eyes, and so I did with all my friends. They all seemed to notice how I froze, reading the letter.

Looking at the scroll again I began to read aloud. “Don’t panic, or do something drastic. Canterlot has fallen...”

Author's Note

Sorry for the longer wait. I’ve been relaxing a bit, since I am on vacation, and so I’ve had time to think about the story. Let’s just say that I know how I want it to go now.

As for the grammar and stuff like that... I have decided to ignore it. This is my first decent story, and I’m not native English, so there’s bound to be grammar mistakes here and there. I will try to improve along the way, but I will not feel bad about how I write anymore. Thanks to all of you, who are following along in the story. It makes me very happy to know that this story isn’t completely dead.

Until next time!