Prologue: A Mysterious Dream
It was nighttime. The moon sat high in the sky, watching over the empty darkness as it blanketed the land. Underneath the moonlight sat a palace, crystal walls shining and it’s castle-like structure lending it an air of elegance as it stood proudly over the sleepy town of Loveville.
Upon one of the many balconies stood a little pink alicorn named Princess Lily Love, a small smile on her face as she looked out across the land, paintbrush in hoof as she brought the scene in front of her to life on the canvas that was set up next to her. She made a few more strokes with the brush before stepping back and looking at her work. It was some of her best yet.
As she went back to her task, a purple dragon named Sash Lilac entered the balcony and watched her friend as she painted. It was a peaceful scene, but, alas, it could not last.
“Lily, what are you still doing up?” Lilac asked. “It’s almost midnight.”
She got no response; Lily Love was too busy concentrating.
“Lily?”
Silence once more. The dragon smiled and sighed, rolling her eyes as she did so, and then took a deep breath.
“PRINCESS LILY LOVE!!!!” she yelled, causing Lily Love to leap into the air with a yelp of surprise.
Lily Love flew down to Lilac, red in the face.
“LILAC!” she shouted back. “HOW DARE YOU USE YOUR ROYAL CANTERLOT VOICE WITH ME! I’M TRYING TO FINISH MY PAINTING! WHY WOULD YOU INTERRUPT ME LIKE THAT!?”
“Because,” Lilac began, rubbing her ears as she did so, hoping no permanent damage had been done from being quite so close to the royal Canterlot voice, “it’s almost midnight; you’ve been out here for hours. Maybe it’s time to take a break?”
Lily glanced at the clock as Lilac was speaking.
“Oh, What the Love!” she exclaimed. “I lost track of time! Thanks for letting me know, Lilac.”
“No problem,” replied the dragon, using her hands to levitate the canvas and paints into the castle.
Lilac wrapped Lily Love in a hug.
“Sweet dreams, my Furry Best Friend Forever.”
Lily hugged her back, and then trotted inside to her bedroom, Lilac on her heels.
Sash Lilac let herself out, and then Lily Love set about putting her paints away and washing her brushes save them drying into a crumbly mess overnight. She took one last look at her unfinished painting and smiled at it before tucking herself into bed and switching off her light.
She was asleep almost instantly.
When Lily opened her eyes, she was no longer in her room. Six ponies stood in front of her, facing off against Nightmare Moon, a dark alicorn with a swirling, nebula-like mane.
Princess Lily smiled at the sight of the lavender unicorn, who stood with a brilliant orb forming above her, and five ponies - two pegasi, a unicorn and two earth ponies - standing behind her. Twilight Sparkle and her friends.
She smiled Twilight Sparkle, as she had been in the past, spoke to the first foe she’d ever faced.
“You see, Nightmare Moon,” said Dream-Twilight, “when these Elements are ignited by the… the spark, that resides in the heart of all of us, it creates the sixth element; the element of... magic!”
The orb above the unicorn then grew in size, engulfing the room in white light. It cleared to show necklaces forming out of the pieces of floating crystal that had surrounded Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack and Pinkie Pie, and a crown that housed the element of magic that came to rest upon Twilight’s head as she and her friends were magically lifted into the air. A bright light surrounded them, then a double-helix rainbow beam of magic shot out from them, arching into the air and barrelling straight towards Nightmare Moon.
The dream then changed, flashing from one scene to another, each being of a long past memory. Lily Love saw every villains that Twilight Sparkle and her friends had ever faced, although she didn’t recognize all of them. She strained her mind, trying to remember all of their names, but put her thoughts on hold as she watched the six mares all trotting happily together. She smiled as Twilight grew wings and flew up, up, up, into the air, twisting and turning and diving.
The five mares still left on the ground fell out of sight as Twilight soared through the dreamscape.
“Oh, Twily,” Lily Love sighed, “I wish I could be a hero like you, but… I don’t know if I’m ready. Maybe you can tell me if I am? Maybe you can tell me how I can be?”
Suddenly, a darkness descended upon the dream, suffocating and all-encompassing. A pair of Wereponies stared and manifested in front of Lily Love and seemed to study her, beady pupils sweeping over her form and taking in everything they saw.
Lily Love gasped at the sight, stopping short in front of the entity, but Twilight continued flying, oblivious to the dark presence that had decided to pay them a visit.
“What is that?” Princess Lily breathed to herself.
For a moment, the two remained stationary, glaring at each other in a silent stand-off. Neither moved, neither blinked.
Suddenly, the eyes moved, swiveling their attention to the dream Twilight, still flying without a care in the world, and, as they did so, a streak of panic shot through Lily Love.
“Twily!” she tried to call out, but her fear held tight to her vocal chords, and only a small, strangled croak came out. She felt like a filly again, lying in bed after a nightmare, too scared to even call out for Twilight and her friends, as she watched the entity slowly circle Twilight, dark energy swirling around it.
Her attempt to warn Twilight seemed to have worked, though, because Twilight stopped, staring down the monster herself. Stardust breathed a sigh of relief; her mother would know what to do. She’d save the day as she had so many times before; she’d vanquish her foe with friendship, and all would be right with the world.
So why was Twilight still stationary? Why was she just hovering, staring at the eyes?
Dread pooled in Lily Love’s stomach once more as she became aware of a deep growling, emanating from all around, from the very darkness they were all enveloped within.
“Twilight!” Lily Love yelled. “What are you doing? You need to get away!”
The growling became louder, and yet Twilight still didn’t move.
“Twily!” There were tears in Lily Love’s eyes. “Twilight, please! You need to run! You need to -”
She was cut off as the growling stopped, replaced with a dark, insidious laughter that chilled her to the bone.
The eyes swiveled back to stare at Princess, and she felt them pierce deep into her soul.
A voice from nowhere and everywhere all at once sent ice through her veins and a shiver down her spine as it spoke.
“Silly pinky,” it spat, British accent making it seem all the more cold. “There’s nowhere to run to, missy.”
Then the eyes flashed white, enveloping all in a blinding light and burning up all in its path.
Lily Love gasped and sat straight up in bed, suddenly very awake. She rubbed at her eyes and glanced at the clock on her bedside table.
“How is it only half past midnight?” Princes Lily Love asked into the darkness, more for her own comfort than anything else, the silence having been empty and terrifying. “That dream felt like forever!”
Her eyes swept the room, the feeling of dread that had formed while she was asleep having followed her into the waking world.
“I can probably still get some sleep, though,” she whispered to herself, flicking on the bedside lamp as she did so. “Hopefully, that horrible nightmare won’t happen again.”
Lily Love, once more, tucked herself in, ensuring every part of her was hidden under the blankets, except her eyes and muzzle, and her hooves, which poked over the top of the duvet. She closed her eyes and snuggled back into her pillows and waited for sleep to take her, hoping that, this time, it would be pleasant and peaceful.
Author's Note
Princess Lily Love has a dream. The Darkness has spread all over the world. She is with her Friend Sash Lilac.
P.S: If you have an Idea, sent to me in this chapter!
Chapter One: The Truth about Dream
The night was silent but for the rustle of the leaves in the breeze, shimmering moonbeams dancing over the crystal castle and creeping through the crimson curtains of the windows. It looked, for all the world, like a shining example of Luna’s best work, but all was not as it seemed.
Princess Lily Love had been lain in her luxurious bed, trembling with fear, unable to sleep, the nightmare she had refusing to leave her mind. She tried many times to fall back into unconsciousness, but, every time she closed her eyes, she saw another pair of eyes staring right back at her, brilliantly red, and unmistakably evil.
Try as she might, she could not escape this vision, this nightmare.
Exhausted and scared, Lily began to tear up. Her eyes slipped closed, lids heavy with lack of sleep, but, moments later, they snapped open again, the alicorn screaming as she shot bolt upright.
She sat, breathing heavily and glancing around the room; she could still see the image of those horrible eyes imprinted on the back of her mind and, now, they seemed to be staring at her from everywhere she looked.
Eventually, Lily Love began to calm down, taking deep breaths to calm her frantically beating heart.
Just as she began to feel normal, someone started knocking on her door, causing her to jump once more and undoing all of her progress in returning to a state of calm.
“Lily?” The voice of her sister was muffled, but the sound of it served to relax the alicorn. “It’s me, Lilac. Can I come in?”
“Yeah!” she called back shakily. “Yeah, just… yeah, come in.”
Lilac opened the door and walked in, letting the door fall shut behind her as she took in the state of her DFF; Lily Love’s eyes were rimmed red and bloodshot, tear streaks running down her face dampening her fur.
“Lily?!” Lilac shouted, rushing over to Princess’ side. “What happened?!”
The dragon had never seen Lily Love looking like this, she always being the more collected of the two. It was strange, and a little frightening, to see the pony she’d looked up to for years in such a vulnerable state.
Lily Love closed her eyes and took a breath. “I had a nightmare,” she explained. “It started off nicely; I was in space, and I could see all of the stars in the universe.” She smiled. “You should have seen it, Lilac, it was beautiful. I also saw memories of Princess Twilight, but they weren’t my memories, more like… memories of time, of when she was fighting all the enemies she used to tell us stories about, you know?”
“Yeah,” the dragon said. “It sounds like a really nice dream.”
“It was,” The princess agreed. “It was really nice. I looked at lovely princess, and her friends, the mane 6, and I saw them defeat Nightmare Moon with their elements of harmony. I saw Discord get turned to stone, until they freed him for reformation, and I saw when Twilight was crowned the Princess of Frie-”
“Okay!” Lilac interrupted quickly before Lily Love went on a tangent. “I understand what you’re trying to say; you saw all the important moments, and it must have been amazing! But where did it all go wrong? When did the nightmare start? What was it about?”
Lily Love shuddered at the memory of the nightmare and she teared up slightly.
“Okay,” she continued. “Space suddenly transformed into darkness, and I was just flying through nothingness. There was a silence in that dream, and it was… everywhere. Everything was blanketed in it,” she shuddered, “and there was a… a presence. Something was there with me, a pair of wereponies stared at me and they want's to a show of screams. I could feel it glaring at me.”
“Glaring at you?” Lilac questioned.
“Yes, and there was something, I think the same entity, growling at me. I didn’t see their face, I’m not sure if it even had one, but I saw its eyes; they were huge and glowing and evil faces. Oh, My DFF, Lilac, it was awful!”
“Evil faces, glowing eyes?” A realisation suddenly struck Lilac and she clapped a hand to her mouth. “Oh, my!” she whispered around it. “It can’t be true.”
“What?” Lily Love was confused. “Lilac, what are you talking about? What can’t be true?”
“Lily, what you’ve just described to me, the darkness, the eyes, everypony else has dreamed of that as well!”
“What!?”
“I know! The ‘Battle of Scream’ vision is everywhere! Everypony seems to be having the same nightmare; even I’ve had it!”
Lily Love could barely believe her ears. Everypony having the same nightmare? How could that even happen?
“What does this mean?” she asked Lilac. “Is it a prophecy? A warning?”
“Possibly,” Lilac admitted. “There might even be an entity that’s gotten into the dream-realm, infecting everyone’s dreams and turning them into nightmares.”
“I think we should ask Dad about this,” Lily Love said. “Although, if what you’re saying about everyone having it, she should already know, and be looking for answers herself.”
“I agree, but, which dad?” Lilac asked.
“Both! But mostly my alicorn father Cloud Dreams, he’ll know what to do.”
Sash Lilac nodded in agreement, and they both rushed out of the room, heading swiftly to Lily Love's father’s study.
Little were they to know that a new adventure was just around the corner.
The story itself has begun.
It was around 9 o’clock in the morning when Cloud Dreams was sat, taking his morning coffee, and waiting for his adopted father to emerge from their rooms. He’d prepared their favorite breakfast of pancakes, syrup, and fruit, and was now casually eating his own food whilst reading over the day’s work. And, goodness, there were a lot of work.
In fact, that was the reason Cloud was eagerly awaiting his daughter; the Friendship Festival was that day, and the alicorn and the dragon were to be given a very important job.
Finally, hoofsteps could be heard outside, and Cloud perked up, grinning when Lily Love and Lilac entered the room, but expression sagging a little when he saw the look on their faces; something was wrong.
“Good morning, girls!” he said, trying to lighten their clearly less-than-stellar mood. “I’ve made your favorite!”
“Ooh!” Sash Lilac’s eyes lit up. “Thank you so much, Cloudy; I bet it’s as delicious as always!”
Lily Love nodded along to Lilac’s response as they both took a seat at the table. Cloud smiled at his children as they dug into their food, although Lily Love did so with less enthusiasm than normal.
Cloud cleared his throat, then lit up her horn to summon a scroll of parchment, which he then presented to Lily and Lilac.
“This is all you need to do for the celebration,” he told them. “It’s a step-by-step list-” Lilac smiled and rolled her eyes. “-reflecting the way I did this job when I first came to Loveville!” Cloud beamed at them both. “Isn’t that great?! Oh, I’m so happy you’re finally old enough to do this! I’ve been waiting 18 years for this moment; my little girls, all grown up. Now, I know I haven’t officially asked you to do this so… will you take the job?”
“Your highness,” Lilac said seriously, “we will be the best supervisors in all of Magicland, and beyond.” She turned to Princess. “Right, Lily?”
Lily Love nodded again, but she didn’t look up from her food.
“Lily, is everything okay?” Cloud asked, sensing there was something wrong with his adopted daughter.
The two mares nodded, but the alicorn wasn’t convinced; Lily Love hadn’t spoken all morning and had barely touched her food, and Lilac, though she’d been more upbeat than the dragon, was still a little subdued.
“Are you sure?” he asked again. “Is there nothing the matter?”
There was silence for a few seconds as the dragon glanced at each other. It was as Lilac looked at Lily Love that she remembered that they were yet to tell Cloud of the nightmare that the alicorn had.
“Lily,” Lilac prompted. “Didn’t you have something to tell Dad?”
The Princess nodded, eyes still fixed on the table in front of her. She took a deep breath, and let it out, then looked up at her mother and began recounting her tale.
“Dad,” she began, “I had a dream last night; I was floating in space, and I saw all of Twilight's adventures, all the villains that she has faced. I saw her and her friends helping each other with friendship from the day you met, right up until the last villain that she reformed, every event flashing before me almost too quick to register! And then space turned into darkness, and a pair of wereponies appeared and stared at us, at Twilight and me. I was trying to tell her to run, but she wouldn’t! It was terrifying!”
“Oh, Lily, sweetheart,” Cloud reached out a hoof calmingly, “it was just a dream. There’s nothing to worry-”
“No, Your Highness,” Lilac interrupted. “It’s not just a dream; Lily isn’t the only to have had it. Almost everypony else has had the same nightmare as well!”
“What?!” Cloud was in shock.
“I think this is a sign that something big is going to happen,” Lilac continued. “I don’t think it’s a coincidence that everypony’s had the same nightmare, and I don’t think it’s a good thing.”
Cloud paused for a moment to think. If what Dream was saying was true… but, was it?
“Are you sure, Lilac?” he asked. “I… haven’t had this nightmare.”
“WHAT?!”
“You haven't?”
The girls were perplexed. Why was Cloud the only one to have slept soundly? Maybe some other ponies had missed out on the dream, too?
There was silence in the room again as they all processed this revelation.
After a few moments, Twilight came to a decision.
“This is serious,” he told the girls, fixing his eyes on both of them. “I’ll do some research with my wife Dream Catcher, hopefully, we can find something that will help us figure out what’s going on, but, in the meantime, the Friendship Festival needs to carry on as normal. You two need to stick to your tasks and make sure everything runs smoothly. DO you think you can do that for me?”
“Yes, Your Highness!” the girls responded in unison.
“Good,” Cloud nodded. “Now, I need to find God Princess Rainbow Dream; we’ve got a lot of studying ahead of us.” He turned and left the room, but paused in the doorway before he did so. “Have a beautiful day, girls. I love you.”
“Thanks, Your Highness!” Lilac shouted. “And good luck with the books!”
“And we love you, too!” Lily Love chimed in.
“I really hope that my dream really was just a dream,” Lily Love thought to herself as she watched her father leave the room. “For all our sakes.”
Author's Note
Princess Lily Love and Sash Lilac ran to the outside for checking the Friendship Festival, Cloud Dream's Parents is doing their work. What's happens next? Coming Soon for sure!
P.S: If you have an Idea, sent to me in this chapter!
