The Moonclock

"Well, it's nice to see you all again."

Princess Celestia greeted the Mane 6, as they exited the train that took them from Ponyville to Canterlot. The moon was still up, even though it should have set a while back, much to the confusion of Equestrian citizens.

Twilight Sparkle and her friends had come straight after the incident a couple hours ago. A strange shadowy creature had attacked Rarity, and even though they took care of the entity, none of them felt much safer. All they could wonder was how many more of those things were out there.

Celestia led the Mane 6 to the Canterlot Castle, preparing tea and cakes for them all. Even though Twilight didn't have much of an appetite. Her mind was filled with the image of what she saw. The shadowy figure. It seemed to be filled with a fiery rage, a rage that had been built up for years.

They all took a seat around a giant circular table, with expressions that showed Celestia she was going to be asked a lot of questions. Unfortunately, she didn't even know if she could answer all of them.

"So," spoke up Celestia, "I also have pressing news, but I would like to hear what exactly brought you here right now."

Twilight hesitated a bit as she didn't know how to simplify this too much, "Princess, as we were sleeping, I heard a noise from what sounded like downstairs. Normally we have one room where we all sleep on separate beds, but I noticed that none of my friends were near me. I called out to them, and heard what sounded like fighting near the Friendship Map. We saw this... shadow creature, and it was fighting with Rarity. Eventually, she sent a straight shot towards it that seems to have gotten rid of it."

Celestia thought about it for a moment. Twilight could tell that she was trying to analyze if she'd seen the thing before.

"Twilight, would you mind describing the figure more to me?" asked Celestia.

"Well, I didn't get much time to see it, but from what I remember, it didn't have too many distinct features. But many times, the shadow almost seemed to have a pony-like shape. There were no eyes or mouth, just a lot of darkness gathered together in one place."

Twilight noticed that as she said this, Celestia would occasionally have bursts of recognition. There was no one moment in which she completely remembered, but there was something in her eyes that told Twilight that it wasn't completely unfamiliar to her. Still, Equestria has had evil creatures that didn't deviate too far from the appearance. Even then, why would one of them be at the Friendship Castle?

"So, what did you do after that?" Asked Celestia.

"The Cutie Map had lit up, and we saw all of our Cutie Marks pointing to this location. That's why we took the first train here. And considering you told us that there was pressing news, I'm thinking it might be related to that."

Celestia sipped her tea, but much slower that time.

"It is very likely they are related. I would also add that 'pressing' is a rather light term. What has happened might affect the future of Equestria as we know it."

Fluttershy cowered behind her seat, shivering, "Oh my goodness, what could it possibly be?"

"Princess Luna, my dear sister, has gone missing."

"WHAT!" They all simultaneously shouted.

"I'm afraid it's true. I may have discovered it by about the same time you fought that creature. I'm positive that it isn't a mere coincidence."

"Well, where could she have gone to?" Asked Applejack.

"That story is complicated. Even I have trouble understanding. All I can say is that it wasn't any sort of ponynapping. Luna would have been too powerful to be captured, not to mention she was wide awake. The apparent truth is that she left herself. To be frank with you, my sister had been acting strange."

"How?" Asked Twilight, her brow constantly furrowing in confusion and worriedness.

"Well, as I dreamt, Luna had infiltrated my dreams, putting me in a nightmarish forest. There was a lot of symbolism, clocks and spiders for example. Not to mention she made me dream about where I lived as a filly. Then it was a train, where we were in the middle of crossing the Crystal Empire. The Crystal Castle I was looking at from out the window exploded, and later so did the train. I've deciphered some of it, but not all. There's more meaning to everything."

"Why would Princess Luna infiltrate your dreams?" Chimed in Pinkie.

"Well, because she was trying to tell me something. In fact, that's her job. At night, she can actually design the dreams of ponies, and if they have a bad track record, such as thievery, they might have reoccurring nightmares."

"Actually," said Twilight, "I had a nightmare just before I woke up. If I had a pleasant dream, then I wouldn't have been awake to notice the monster."

"It could be possible that Luna was trying to save you, darling." said Rarity.

"Wait a minute," Twilight raised a suspicious brow, "How were you able to fight off that thing?"

"Uhh... darling, I don't know what you're talking about."

"She's right, sugarcube, you're not one to go into the face of danger so easily."

"I... WAS TRYING TO PROTECT YOU!"

Rarity's flared and she shot a magic beam at Celestia, knocking her back. Twilight shot back, and smoke started to plume from Rarity.

"It's one of those things again!" Shouted Twilight.

"Ce-Celestia," growled the shadow creature, still half-masked as Rarity, "You'll know where to find me."

The creature laughed and dissapated into thin air.

"What the hay was that!" Exclaimed Applejack.

"I have no idea, but whatever it was, it wasn't Rarity." said Rainbow Dash.

"Oh no... Rarity," Fluttershy was visibly worried and tearing up.

"We have to get her back!" Shouted Twilight.

"It seems that this situation is worse than I thought. With Rarity gone, she is in dire need of help, and I can only guess how far away she is. The shadowy imposter had told us we know where to find it. Well... she said I knew where to find it. I think I'm getting an idea of where we should go." Said Celestia.

"Princess, wherever it is, we can't go by train. If your dreams were telling you something, I think a train exploding isn't that subtle of a warning. We'd have to go on hoof." Twilight was thinking of Celestia's descriptions of the dream. The forest and the train.

"Celestia," said Fluttershy, "W-what could possibly be the reason that the monster took Rarity?"

"I can't say, but I'm sure the monsters have something to do with Luna. The only way for us to find out is to explore, and without the train, it's going to take a lot longer."

"Wait, didn't you say that the first place you found yourself in the dream was from your fillyhood? It could be that we'd have to go there. I mean, it couldn't be that far, right?" added Twilight.

"Ah! Of course! That's it! Pack your bags everypony, we're going," gleefully said Celestia.

"Where?" Asked Twilight.

"Beyond Equestria."