Chapter Six: A Nightmare Of A Dream...

It was close to midnight; the moon that Luna coaxes over the horizon every night, is overhead the world.

The Night Princess was in her chambers sitting on her couch; and was staring at the sleeping form of Chrysalis.

The Changeling Queen was snuggled up in the bed’s comforter and was lightly snoring through her nose; causing Luna to smile.

She is cute when she sleeps like that… She thought to herself, before lightly sighing.

This has been happening over the course of the past few days; since the Slayer arrived with Chrysalis by his side.

At first it was the glances to get a good look at her/make sure she wasn’t doing anything suspicious; then it became more and more convoluting when her heart started to pound when around the Former Changeling Queen.

Luna had been brooding on this for the past few nights; trying to figure out the bond she had with Chrysalis, and why she seemed to interest her...

I don’t know who she is to me… Luna thought to herself, hugging her knees that curled up against her chest; her eyes half lidded in a brooding mood.

One second she is like a friend… The next… She stopped herself with a light shudder, not out of horror or disgust; but a feeling of expecting anxiety.

Anxiety for what, though?

Her mind then turned to the new arrival they found in the deep forest, bleeding and dirty on the ground.

She tried to gently coax the armored male to wake up; but was pushed back by a force that gave her a slight migraine for the rest of the day.

She couldn’t even know the human’s name, for Faust’s Sake!

She was about to lay down on the couch, until a sharp sensation entered her mind; knocking on her barriers in a frantic motion that made her shoot straight up and alert.

Luna’s eyes widened as she recognised the familiar aura from the male human.

But it was… panicking?... Calling for help?

The Alicorn was confused before she slowly and reluctantly opened her mind to the foreign presence…

Then was knocked onto her back as a pain like no other; even when she was dying, overloaded her senses.

Her vision blurred for a few moments, showing nothing but blackness…

Luna was beginning to panic before her vision cleared up and she opened her eyes.

She shot up to her feet as she looked around the dark metal corridor surrounding her.

The lights flickered here and there, giving a bit of light; otherwise it was pure darkness.

Luna felt a nonexistent breeze blow over her and she shivered at the sudden drop in temperature.

She heard a light growl come from behind her; and Luna whirled around, a foreboding feeling welling up in her chest as her eyes scanned the area.

There was nothing…

The Alicorn’s eyes narrowed with suspicion, her body tense and ready in case a surprise attack came.

After a minute or so of endless quiet; she began to relax…

ROAR!!!

Luna didn’t see it, but she sure as hell FELT IT!

Something narrow and sharp swung at her; impacting her chest and sent Luna flying down the corridor.

She landed hard on her back, sliding a few feet with a loud metallic squeal before stopping.

The Night Princess clutched her chest in pain as she groaned.

Then her head snapped down and looked down the corridor as she heard footsteps stomping towards her…

She sluggishly got to her feet; her magic gathering in her hand as she got ready for a counterattack.

The Alicorn saw the creature that slugged her; and she had to admit it was TERRIFYING.

It looked like a human; but It was nothing but flesh and bone, with a body that looked fresh with blood on it’s torn up skin as well as a blank eyed pair of eyes that stared at her hungrily.

The creature snarled at the mare and began sprinting down the corridor towards her.

Luna backed up with every step it made; her magic flaring even more once she saw the creature only a couple feet away.

That’s when her back hit the end of the corridor, and she gasped as she noticed that there wasn’t a way out of the dead end…

The decaying creature was now standing in arm’s reach, and was raising the sharp bone like protrusion of it’s hand; ready to strike it’s prey down.

Luna fired a bolt of magic at it’s chest, wanting to stop the horrifying abomination charging at her…

But when the bolt impacted; it didn’t stumble and gave off a high pitched shriek of rage.

She dodged the swinging sharp bony pole by rolling under the crook of it’s arm, rolled to her feet and began hightailing it in the opposite direction.

The monster whirled around and roared again, taking after her at a speed that looked to be 30 mphs…

Luna panted as she ran through the metallic labyrinth of hallways for Faust knew how long, and she could feel her legs begin to cramp up.

How am I this tired? She thought to herself, We Alicorns have Earth Pony blood, we shouldn’t tire this quickly!

She saw a door open at the end of the corridor and she sprinted as fast as she could force her body to go…

She was halfway to the open door, when suddenly the creature’s pole of a weapon tripped her foot; sending her to the floor.

She grunted in pain as her muzzle impacted the metal grating; surprised that she was able to FEEL that in a dream.

Then she began to get to her feet; her vision blurry from the fall, her eyes darting everywhere for the creature.

But it was nowhere in sight…

The corridor was replaced with a giant metal atrium, foreign technology sparking here and there, with a crackle.

Where am I? Luna thought to herself as she began walking forward.

A door on the other side of the corridor slid open with a creaking screech, and the Princess tensed; ready for another one of those… Creatures…

But what came through was not a creature, but a Human; one wearing familiar armor, the helmet’s visit brightening up the dim corridor.

The armored human stopped as his visor landed on her panting form, holding some kind of weapon in his right hand, a light beaming out of it.

The two stared at each other in surprise for a few moments; before the male raised his weapon at her, the light aimed at her forehead…

Luna flinched at the movement; although she was in her domain, she didn’t want to test the grasp of mortality just yet.

Then the human spoke, no, shouted at her,

" GET DOWN!”

Luna felt her instincts kick into gear and she ducked; hearing the low growls of the creature she escaped from inches behind her.

BAM!

The human fired his weapon and a small bolt of plasma shot into the forehead of the monster, causing it to stumble.

Luna stared up at the creature in horror as it showed that it wasn’t dead from the bullet.

She then noticed the armored human hold out a hand and twitched his fingers toward himself.

Luna recognised the gesture as ' get over here’.

The Alicorn scooted backwards on the grated floor and toward the human, watching the creature growl as it’s dead grey eyes stared down at her hungrily.

She scrambled up to her armored feet and watched as the armored human stepped forward, his slim but muscular body partially hiding her from view.

He cocked his weapon again, and this time he aimed at the left arm of the creature, pulling the trigger without hesitation.

BANG!

The spiked limb tore off its owner with a wet squelch, and it fell to the floor; slightly twitching.

The creature roared in pain and rage, blood spurting out it’s empty shoulder where it’s left arm used to be.

The human continued firing at the roaring creature, the bolts of plasma impacting it’s decaying body; as it tried to charge at them.

It shrieked in primal rage and swung it’s remaining scythe, causing Luna and the human to duck.

The armored human threw a punch at the creature’s face and it stumbled again, growling.

He then shot the right shoulder of the monster several times; cutting through the flesh until the limb got severed.

The creature shrieked loudly until it fell to the floor, limp like a wet noodle and blood spurting from it’s recent wounds.

The human panted heavily for a few moments, before turning to the shuddering Alicorn that stared at the dead creature before her.

" I don’t suppose you could tell me your name?” He asked, his voice slightly distorted through the helmet’s speaker.

The Princess still stared at the corpse of the creature that tried to kill her; before her cyan eyes rolled up to land on him.

" We… We are Luna.” She said, stuttering for a second as she tried to get her composure back.

The human straightened at the name, before the metal helmet turned into individual pieces and slid down to reveal a man’s face.

Luna tried not to flinch at the tired look he had; one that she and Celestia wore long ago once…

" Since you introduced yourself, I might as well do so as well.” He said, smiling lightly.

He holstered his weapon to his hip and held out his hand.

" The name’s Isaac Clarke.” The human simply said, a grin on his lips.

Luna blinked at the simple introduction, but took his hand and shook it.

It was silent for a moment, before Isaac chuckled, filling the silence.

" I know, not eloquent like yours, but I think that a name is just as that; a name. No titles or any of that nonsense others worry about.” He said, tilting his head a tiny bit as he looked at the darkened corridor that the Alicorn came from.

His eyes kept moving, his ears sharp for any signs of the Necromorphs that were surely watching the two; waiting to strike when the time was right.

Luna smiled, her cyan eyes glinting with a knowing look that she understood the meaning of the name as well.

Isaac began walking past as he heard a small scuttle come from the far end; gently putting his gloves hand on the Princess’s back; right between the wings.

Luna stiffened for a moment, then suppressed a shudder at the contact; her wings half extending.

He doesn’t know… He doesn’t know… She repeated to herself in thought; trying to relax.

Isaac didn’t seem to notice the reaction of what he was doing, and continued walking with Luna at his side; his head darting all around the corridor to find the source of the scuttling noise.

Luna then snapped out of her self reassurance and noticed the noise as well, her ears pointed and flicking to find where the source was.

" Noticed it too?” Isaac said lowly: his eyes hardened and his lips forming in a grim line.

Luna only nodded, her arms folded against her chest; a feeling of unease and dread filling her being as the sensation of Isaac’s hand numbed to nothing.

Something was clearly wrong here… like something was watching her with ravenous hunger; like the creature she briefly encountered.

Then she heard something else than the scuttling; a loud creak that echoed throughout the corridor, causing everything to freeze.

Isaac tensed at the source of the new noise, unholstering his Plasma Cutter and quickly aimed it at the nearby wall.

There was nothing standing there…

But there was a big narrow crack spreading on the metal, light amounts of oxygen being sucked through to the other side.

" Oh shit.” Isaac cursed, before activating his helmet; covering his face and sealing with a slight hiss.

Luna could only watch as the crack then let out a small groan; then proceeded to break open.

The last thing the Alicorn saw before being shot out of the dream, was a strange obelisk covered with ridges and twirling into two prongs at the top...

Luna’s eyes shot open as she got into a sitting position; shuddering and breathing heavily as the images of the obelisk flashed to the forefront of her thoughts.

She wrapped her arms across her torso, her hands digging into her armpits as she tried not to let fear of the creature that she encountered get to her.

Suddenly there was a noise coming from the bed; and a sleepy Chrysalis sat up, her glowing eyes blearily looking around the room before landing on the shuddering Alicorn on the couch.

Luna noted that when the Changeling Queen laid her eyes on her shivering form; a look of concern showed on her face.

Despite the shivering from the remnants of the dream, The Alicorn felt warmth swirl in her breast, and let a smile lift her lips slightly.

Chrysalis pulled off the covers and got up from the bed; and made her way over to the huddled form of Luna.

The Former Changeling Queen sat down next to the midnight blue Alicorn; putting a hand on the mare’s shoulder.

" Luna, are you ok? I heard you mumbling and--dear Creator, you’re shivering!” Chrysalis said, worry creeping into her voice as her eyes darted up and down her roommate’s body.

Luna felt her smile wane a bit at the Changeling Queen’s worry, but she also felt the surge of warmth blossom in her chest grow.

" I’m ok, Chrys. Just… a bad dream.” She finally whispered out.

Chrysalis looked into Luna’s eyes, looking for any signs of deceit…

But she found none…

With a low sigh; Chrysalis smiled in relief, her body sagging slightly as she relaxed her tensed muscles at the reassurance.

" I… I’m sorry that I worry so much, Luna.” The Changeling Queen said, her tone apologetic, " It’s just… I worry about those close to me, ya know?”

Luna nodded her head, her shuddering subsiding at the warmth of Chrysalis sitting next to her; warding away the cold.

Luna felt her smile grow wider at those sincere words.

" Yes… I do know, Chrys.” She replied, causing Chrysalis to look her in the eyes at that.

" … How?” She muttered, curious; yet cautious In case she set her…Friend(?) off.

Through the bond, Luna felt her curiosity, and felt her heart flutter for a second.

Now I know…

Luna, after a moment’s hesitation, opened her mouth.

She began telling Chrysalis about worrying for her big sister, why she became Nightmare Moon, EVERYTHING that she kept inside for the last thousand years.

She even told her the fear and regret she had while trapped in the moon; banished because of her actions…

The Alicorn never even told her sister about it; because she knew Celestia would worry even more.

It was why she kept silent; not wanting her sis to be distracted by small nuances...

After all was said; Luna felt her cheeks warm at how comfortable Chrysalis looked leaning on her side, snuggling her carapace against her fur.

Her green eyes glowed in the bright moonlight and her mane; while torn and slightly disheveled, looked beautiful in the light.

Luna felt her stomach clench at the sight, her heart pounding.

Now I know… Who you are to me, Chrysalis. She thought to herself; relaxing in the company and comfort that The Changeling Queen brought.

-----ELSEWHERE-----

On the other side of the sleeping castle; Celestia’s horn glowed brightly in the darkness of her bedchambers, a smile on her lips as she sat on her bed.

She’s growing up… good… The Alicorn thought to herself.

She then felt as if a pull was tugging her to somewhere deep in the castle; causing her to wake up from her trance and urge her to find the source.

Celestia didn’t know if it was an intruder luring her or not…

She got off the bed; wearing only a pair of dark sweatpants and a white shirt that was tightened in the chest area because of her bosom, and walked out of her chambers.

Time to find out what that pull is. The Alicorn thought to herself as she walked down the empty hallway.

Author's Note

A/N: I'm BAACK!~

Sorry for the long wait, I'm just taking it easy for the story to flow better, but do NOT worry; this story is NOT DEAD!

I'm in a bit of a conundrum, how the HELL am I gonna get Celestia and The Slayer to confess of each other's feelings? I need your help with that!

Here's the deal: give me suggestions in the comments section below, and I'll word it together, deal?

Anyways, hope you guys and gals are enjoying yourselves! Have a great day!!!

• WhalenJP