Pain... that was all that she felt as she ran through the halls of the once majestic castle on her four hooved legs. Her lavender purple fur, matted in places by her own blood, was a ragged tangled mess. Her horn, once proud and well kept, was now cracked and jagged. But her eyes were the most telling aspect of her current distress. Where there should be he usual thirst for knowledge, there was only despair, and that despair grew with each step she took.
As she galloped through the halls of the once beautiful and vibrant Canterlot castle, she couldn't help but notice the carnage that had taken place. The once vibrant halls, once the panicle of pony architecture, now resembled a scene more at home in a horror film. Bodies of guards and nobles alike littered the ground, many of them greatly disfigured and dismembered, laying in pools of blood.
"This can't be happening!" She shouted as she ran, determined to reach her destination. As she ran she spotted several familiar faces amongst the dead, Including her friends and family. NO!!! She screamed as she came to stop next to one of the bodies. "Shiny..." She called out sadly as she looked upon her brother's body... or rather... what was left of it...
His once flawless white coat and blue main were now stained a deep crimson in some places. His horn was cracked and chipped, and his once sky-blue eyes were now foggy and unseeing, staring blankly at nothing. But the worst thing had to have been his face, contorted in pain and indescribable agony over what inevitably killed him. His body was split right down the middle, like somebody grabbed his hindlegs and used him like a wishing bone.
"What could have done this?" She wondered in despair as she looked at the surrounding carnage. "Rarity..." She spotted the fashionista nearby with her internal organs ripped out of her stomach. "Applejack..." Not to far off the farmers body could be seen, without her head. "Fluttershy..." Her right forehoof had been severed which caused her to inevitably bleed out. "Rainbow Dash..." The flying enthusiasts wings had been severed from her body, which was covered with multiple lacerations. "Pinkie Pie..." The party planers remains were literally everywhere, it was almost like she'd blown up and only her head remained intact. "Mom... Dad..." Not to far away from her friends and brother were her parents. They looked to have had the least gruesome deaths with their bodies still intact, but still, seeing the ponies who gave her life dead right in front of her...
"This... can't-" Her line of thought was cut off as an explosion sounded through out the castle. "That sounded like it came from the throne room, but who- Princes Celestia!!!" She took off, sprinting as fast as her legs could take her. She had to see if her mentor was alright, she couldn't bear the thought of losing another loved one. She ran, hallway by hallway, body by body, she ran past everything hoping that she'd reach the princes in time. "please don't let me be too late!" She cried out as she finally came to the grand double doors that led to her destination, behind which the sounds of a fierce battle could be heard. "Yes! Finally!" She exclaimed as she made to open the doors wither her magic, determined to aid in stopping what ever entity had caused all this carnage... or die trying.
She tried to push open the doors, only to be blown away as a concussive force exploded outward, knocking the doors of their hinges. She landed in a heap, her breath stolen from her by the force of the blast. She was vaguely aware of the of something else landing on her. Groggily she opened her eyes, only to have her view of obscured by a thick hide of purple scales.
'Spike?' She thought as he head became more clear. 'No... these scales are the wrong shade of purple.' She concluded as the creature on top of her shifted it's weight off of her. 'To heavy too.' She thought, grateful that whoever they were they were no longer crushing her with their weight. Turning her head to the one that landed on her she was surprised to find that they were none other than a male purple dragon. 'Definitely not Spike...' She thought as she took in his appearance.
He stood at thrice her height, easily towering over even princes Celestia herself. His purple scales were of a darker coloration than Spike's, and they mixed well with the pale yellow coloration of chest and underbelly scales. He had spines of the same color as his chest and underbelly that formed on top of his heard in an almost mohawk like fashion that shrunk and spread out as they ran down his spine, ending at the tip of his tail. He had a pair horns that curved back from the base of his skull before they curved upward with the tips pointing towards the sky. They had an almost gold coloration that was matched by a leaf shaped tail blade with a sharpened edge. His wings, though folded up to his sides, were massive, outstretched just one of the reached a length twice as long as he was! The top of his wings were a matching shade of pale yellow to his spines and underbelly, while the underside of them was a deep crimson in color. Finally, and this was an oddity when compared to all the other dragons of Equestria, he seemed quite comfortable on all fours instead of standing only on two legs like most.
"Ah... man... my head..." He groaned out as she shook away the imaginary stars that circled it. "What did I land on?" He asked himself as he turned to look at the pony that had broken his fall. The minute is deep amethyst eyes lock on to her matching pair, his face turned from confusion, to shock, to unbridled relief." "Twilight! Thank the ancestors you okay !" He exclaimed as he helped her to her hooves.
"Who... wait... Spyro?" She questioned, still groggy from the explosion.
"Yes twilight." He said as he looked over her form. "Twilight, what happened to you? Where are the others?" It was at that moment that her mind cleared, and the images of her friends and families mangled corpses came to the forefront of her mind. As tears welled up in her eyes, she reached out, taking ahold of the large reptiles right foreleg, sobbing as the tear came unbidden. Realizing what this meant, Spyro brought her closer to him, rubbing her already messy mane as gently as he could in an effort to comfort her. "Twilight... I am sorry. I am so sorry..." He whispered softly to her, tears also in his eyes as he remembered the fun times he had with them.
As she cried Twilight failed to notice as Spyro started to shrink in size, as his purple scales shifted into a dark midnight blue fur. She didn't notice his leathery dragon wing grow feathers that matched his new fur, nor did she notice as the two horns on his head merged into one before straitening out and shifting to his forehead. Finally she failed to notice as his mohawk like spines and his tail sunk into his skull and spine only to be replaced by a long flowing mane and tail that seemed to have their own galaxy in them.
"Shh now Twilight Sparkle... there is no need for tears..." A feminine voices called out to her, prompting Twilight to look up at who she was hugging. Instead of seeing the reptilian visage of the dragon Spyro, she instead found herself staring eye to eye with none other than-
"Princess Luna!!!" She called out as she quickly took a couple steps back surprised at her sudden appearance. Looking around she took note of not only Spyro's absence, but she also saw that she was no longer in the castle. Truthfully, she had no idea where she was. She and Luna stood alone in a white void, and the only things of interest around them seemed to be these strange floating orbs. Most them gave off a calming blue color, while some seemed to give off an ominous red hew. "Where are we?"
"We are in what most ponies would refer to as the dream realms." The princess answered as she walked over to one of the red orbs. she gave it a quick examination before she zapped it with a small beam of magic from her horn, prompting the red to shift to blue. She gave a quick smile as she appraised her work before she turned back to twilight.
"Dream realms? So all that was just a nightmare?" She asked incredulously.
"Indeed it was Twilight Sparkle, Though I Haven't seen one like that in a long while."
"Really... but it all seemed so real... and what about Spyro?"
"Yes, more often than not it can be difficult for a dreamer to determine what is and isn't real while they slumber. And as for Spyro, I'm afraid I have no answer. Perhaps you psyche conjured him up to try and help you through your emotional turmoil." The princess of the night tried to explain to her sister's star pupil. "Whatever the case may be, it will have to wait till when next we meet."
"What? But Why?" Twilight asked confused."
"Because you're waking up." Luna said simply to the younger alicorn as the void started to fade from Twilights perspective.
"But wait, Luna!" She called out as the void faded completely and she found herself staring up at the ceiling of her bedroom.
"Twilight, are you okay?" A voice asked. Turning towards to the source of the voice, she saw none other than Spike had been the one to ask the question. Poking his head through the door, he had an inquisitive look about him as his newly acquired wings fidgeted nervously behind him.
"Yeah Spike, I'm fine..." She said as she got out of bed. She quickly stretched herself out like a cat while flaring her wing, popping all her joints back into place. "Just had a bad dream is all."
"Oh... well that explains why you just called out to Princess Luna." Spike concluded. "Want to talk about it?"
"No, no... really I don't..." She answered as the images of her dead loved ones flashed before her eyes again. Shaking her head and taking a calming breath she steeled her nerves, ready to face the day. "Lets just get something to eat so we can start our day, okay?"
"Sounds good to me!" Spike said excitedly as he turned on his heels and made for the castles dining hall. Giving off a quiet giggle, Twilight followed, hopping to put the events of last night behind her.
