The Dream Guards

Chapters

Prologue – Landfall
Chapter 1 – From Across Dreams, She Arrived
Chapter 2 – Accidental Equestrian Communication
Chapter 3 – For Her Liege, the Knight Must Die
Chapter 5 – Hope for the Best, Prepare for the Worse
Chapter 6 – Miss Melissa, What is That Thing?
Chapter 7 – The Nightmares Come, and Bend Reality to Their Whim
Chapter 8 – Face Me and Perish, Monster
Chapter 9 – Princess of Night, Knight of Dreams
Chapter 4 – Accept My Apologies, Little Filly

Prologue – Landfall

Crash!

Applejack nearly jumped at the sudden noise, head turning towards the ceiling as her brain jumped from asleep to fully awake in a matter of seconds. Her ear twitched at the sound of boards above her creaking and breaking. She jumped out of bed, paced around her room, and refused to move her eyes from directly above her. She had absolutely no idea what had just occurred, and she was more than ready to give the pony responsible for breaking the roof a good talking to.

One ear swerved to her door, the sound of hooves getting closer and closer to her. The sound of her bedroom door opening led her eyes to those responsible but then immediately turned back up. She trotted over to them slowly, giving one last death glare at her bedroom ceiling, and finally turned to her brother and sister. As she was around her own family, the frustration that had previously been on her face fell away to fear and worry.

“You two alright?” She asked.

“Yeah, outside of getting woken up in the middle of the night,” Applebloom whispered. Big Mac gave a nod instead of anything verbal. “Have any idea what that was?”

"Granny slept through it,” Big Mac told Applejack.

“As if I didn’t need more confirmation she sleeps like an apple tree in winter,” Applejack said, eyes turning back up. “Also, no, I don’t know. We should probably check it out before any more damage is done.”

The group of earth ponies before her nodded, Applejack’s brain too awake yet too busy to worry that Applebloom shouldn’t join them. They made their way to the front door, opened it, and walked into the dark chill of Luna’s night. Crickets and other animals could be heard, but no one paid attention to them. They had immediately turned to look at the roof, eyes going wide at what they saw before them.

It looked like a small meteor had impacted their roof, an entire section of wood and roofing having been destroyed as if it was nothing. It had been right above Applejack’s room too, making the earth pony slightly more glad she was outside right now instead of inside. Not that whatever this was would be of harm to her, given her natural strength, but getting buried was not on her agenda for the day. She eyed the hole in their roof carefully, looking for any detail that could tell her what had done this.

Then she saw the slightest tint of red on one piece of broken wood. There was blood, and that meant that whatever had hit them hadn’t been a rock or meteorite. It had been a pony.

“Big Mac, get the ladder. Applebloom, wait here for right now,” Applejack commanded, looking back at them both. “We got an injured pony on the roof.”

Neither argued, because they knew no sane pegasus would fly around at this time of night unless they were a thestral. Even if they were, the force and impact to break through a roof made it clear this wasn’t some standard flight accident. Something had happened, and as an Element of Harmony she wouldn’t just leave somepony to die. She only hoped the impact hadn’t somehow done just that.

Big Mac leaned a large ladder against the wall, making sure it would lead right to the broken part of the roof. As soon as it was steady Applejack started her climb up, heart racing in fear of what it was she was about to see. A piece of her feared the worst, knowing that whatever had caused the pony or non-pony to hit the roof had done it in hopes it would kill. There was a high possibility that what she was about to see could be a dead body, and she knew no matter how much she prepared herself the sight might make her nauseous.

As she reached the top of the ladder, she peered into the hole in the roof. She did her best not to look at the streak of blood that had found its way onto the wooden board to her left, and one look at the pony below her did just that. It was indeed a thestral, though their coat and mane was unlike any she had ever seen before. Typically their coat and mane were darker colors to make them blend into the darkness of night, a fact Twilight had taught her about. She had met very few of Luna’s devotees, but her friend’s words had remained true for every single thestral. Dark mane, dark coat, all to blend into the night and snatch away unsuspecting small prey and the occasional fruit.

This one, however, had a coat of pure white and a fiery orange mane and tail. At least those would have been their colors, but they had been scraped and banged up beyond belief. She stood out like Princess Celestia in the middle of a crowd, and looked as if she was about to meet death itself. If her moving eyes and heavy breathing made any indication, the thestral was not going to be taken without a fight. With a sharp breath from her nose, Applejack decided she would help them in that battle.

“Hang in there, sugarcube. I’m coming in to help you,” Applejack told the thestral, getting off the ladder and onto the roof.

“That accent… voice,” The thestral replied in a heavy accent that Applejack couldn’t place. She watched as the earth pony came down into the shattered roof towards her, too delirious to see anything odd about it all. “Ameri… American? I’m in America? How….”

“Easy. You can explain everything once we get you all bandaged up,” Applejack told them, nudging the thestral onto her back. “I’m Applejack. My family and I are gonna get you to Ponyville General, don’t you worry.”

“I’m… fine,” the thestral said, very clearly not fine. Her vision blurred heavily, she could barely make out Applejack’s slow ascent from the crater she had made in their house. “Yo… Yolina.”

Applejack looked back at her for a moment. “What?”

“Yolina… Yvanova,” the thestral explained, her face looking as if it was trying to grin. Something was keeping her from doing so, no doubt a result of the major concussion she was facing. “Howdy… cowboy.”

Applejack knew this was bad already, but hearing the thestral try to speak further solidified that fact. The damage her crash had done must have done a lot more than given her a concussion. The words “Yolina” and “Yvanova” sounded like complete gibberish. She needed medical attention fast, and that meant getting her off the roof and to somepony at Ponyville General Hospital immediately.

“Mac, lend me a hoof getting her down,” Applejack called from over the edge of the roof.

Big Macintosh climbed up the first few rungs of the ladder, then raised his hoofs toward Applejack. Slowly and carefully, Applejack bent her head down to let the thestral off her back, catching her in her forelegs. Then, slowly and carefully, she was given from orange hooves to red hooves. As soon as Big Mac had the thestral firmly held in his hooves, he started climbing down the ladder.

“Heh, everythings… horse,” the thestral muttered. In a show of strength, she raised a hoof and looked to it. The family of earth ponies all assumed she was looking at the cuts and bruises on it. “That’s not… where hand?”

“We’re gonna get you help little lady,” Applejack said, watching as Big Macintosh set the thestral on the ground.

Applebloom tried to walk up to get a look at them, but the stallion immediately covered his youngest sister’s eyes. She knelt down for a moment, getting the barest of glimpses before Macintosh covered her vision again. He hadn’t been fast enough, the sight of a pony covered in deep cuts causing her heart to skip a beat. She stumbled back at the mental image it had placed in her head.

“Is she gonna be okay?” Applebloom asked her siblings.

“Not if she stays here,” Applejack replied. She once again lifted the thestral onto her back, then started to trot as she looked at Macintosh and Applebloom. “Come on. We gotta get her to the hospital pronto.”

Chapter 1 – From Across Dreams, She Arrived

Everyone dreams, even if those dreams can barely be recalled after the fact. Formed from the waking mind of a sleeping individual, dreams usually called upon the wants and desires of the one sleeping. It could be as simple as desiring a video game that formed the base of a dream, or something as huge as the love of one's life. Sometimes even the dreamer itself was affected by the dreams they had, given forms they desired in their soul whether it be human or otherwise. Of course, it would all lead to disappointment upon waking up, the dreamer cursing its mind for making it feel like its dreams had come true.

For Yolina Yvanova, however, dreams were far more than that. Sleeping was just another form of being awake to her, which made her exceedingly confused at why her form was currently rather inhuman. Even back when her dreams were like that of the average human she never desired to be an animal. Nothing could change that, and she knew that she didn’t have the power to will herself into the body of anything else. That meant what she was viewing was herself, and she looked as incorrect as could be.

When she raised or lowered her arm, a badly beaten and cut white hoof responded. It was clearly her, but it definitely shouldn’t have been her. Same could be said of the mane and tail that she had, or the three other hooves and legs that took the place of her limbs. Add on leathery wings like that of a bat and a muzzle protruding out in front of her, and Yolina could tell she currently wasn’t human. Her reward for journeying out into the expanse of the realm of dreams, past the dreams and nightmares of mankind and into someplace else.

She remembered that she hadn’t been happily welcomed, a nightmare getting the drop on her the moment she reached wherever she was. A lot of the beating she suffered was gone from her memory, but the fact she had plummeted out of the dream realm was clear. There she had been saved by something with a heavy American accent, but she was certain it wasn’t actually an American. That left her with questions of how she had ended up like this, what had saved her, and why her head hurt horribly.

Actually, she knew the answer to the last one was a concussion. It wasn’t her first, wouldn’t be the last, and was just happy to still be a functioning being still. Granted she wasn’t sure if being a winged horse made that description right or wrong at that specific moment.

“Okay. I am actually dreaming, meaning my real body is asleep,” She muttered to herself. The words felt strange, like she both was and wasn’t speaking Ukrainian at the same time. “So I can’t possibly harm my brain anymore by figuring out how to walk… I think.” She looked up, scowling. “Wait, shouldn’t I be awake right now, given the concussion?”

She considered forcibly waking herself up, but stopped in favor of first seeing how well she could control her current body. Getting onto her hooves was easy, and picking up a hoof and wiggling it showed she seemed to have basic control down. She took a couple steps, which she found the most nerve wracking of the tasks, but found it as simple as breathing. She sighed, sat back down, and looked at the empty expanse around her.

“Certainly not as overcrowded as Earth’s area of the realm of dreams,” She said. “This blank space must mean the population numbers are rather low. Either that or I just so happen to be in an area of the realm of dreams surprisingly vacant.” She tapped the underside of her jaw with a hoof. “Maybe I should be freaking out about everything more? I mean, I’m kind of stranded far from home now.”

“We are also surprised you are doing as well as you are, given the circumstances.”

Yolina looked behind her, muzzle opening to speak and immediately shutting at what she saw. Before her was a horse far larger than herself, mixing the elements of both a unicorn and a pegasus together. A dark blue coat, a flowing mane that seemed to hold the cosmos inside it, and a stance that screamed regality made up the creature. The eyes showed human levels of intelligence or higher, but they were also gentle. A compassion that felt like a mother looking at a newborn child could be seen in their eyes, calming any nerves Yolina had.

“If thou would permit us to give a theory, I believe it has to do with your nature,” Princess Luna stated, making her way to the former-human’s side. “You are also a protector of the realm of dream and reality, are you not? You deal with the odd and nonsensical just as often as I. I imagine this is nothing you haven’t witnessed before.”

Yolina blinked, and then nodded at the princess. She turned her attention back to the great expanse before her, still empty. A friend of hers came to mind, who had the same job as herself. They had grown a draconic tail, wings, and horns when they had become a Magral Knight, humanity’s unknown defenders from the darker sides of the realm of dreams. She was more than familiar with how the appearance of some altered under the effects of dream energy.

No wonder being a pony felt so natural.

“So you're responsible for the realm of dreams here?” Yolina asked. Luna nodded stiffly. “Might I ask where I have ended up?”

“Equestria, on the planet of Equus,” Luna explained, joining the former-human in staring at the empty beyond. “You are currently in a hospital being cared for. Considering how bad you look right now, I can take a guess as to why.”

“I put everything on red, and got black,” Yolina said, looking down at herself. The sight of blood was so normal that it didn’t affect her anymore, but it still stained her white coat horribly. “I sought to see if there was more beyond my world, so I journeyed where none had gone before. It seems the universe did not take kindly to my success.”

“No, it certainly did not,” Luna said, snorting in amusement. Yolina did the same moments later, able to find the humor in her suffering. “At least you are alive. That counts for a lot. I take it you come from Earth?”

Yolina’s brow raised as she turned back to Luna. “Wait, you know of my home?”

“Yes, though it has been many years since someone has attempted what you have, Magral Knight,” Luna said, her words causing the Ukrainian’s brow to rise even higher. “That was over a thousand years ago for us in Equestria, before it had been called that. They were a kind young lad from a place called… Portugal, I think? They sadly weren’t as fortunate as you.” Luna placed a hoof where her heart was, a sad smile on her face. “My sister and I found him dying, and in his last moments he gave me the power you see now. As far as you are concerned, I might as well be a Magral Knight.”

“I see,” Yolina said. She glanced to her left, and then focused on Luna once again. “I’m Yolina Yvanova. I’m from a place on Earth called Ukraine.”

“Princess Luna, younger sister of Princess Celestia and diarch of the Kingdom of Equestria,” Luna said, holding a hoof out to the Ukrainian. “A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Lady Yvanova.”

“A princess?” Yolina asked. Her answer was a nod. “Well, we knights do come from all walks of life. This is the first I’ve ever heard of royalty being one, but it isn’t impossible.” She smiled. “If they do exist on Earth, they do a damn good job hiding themselves.”

Luna closed her eyes. “I see, your kind still works in the shadows. That much, our world differs on.”

Yolina looked at Luna with horror, mouth attempting to work but utterly failing. Since the medieval days, the Magral Knights had worked out of the eyes of society due to being continuously referred to as witches, warlocks, and the like. Even in current day, the fear of governments or corporations forcing them into line had led them to stay in the shadows. For the mare next to her to be working in the public eye…

“I hope you know what you are doing, Princess.”

“I can assure, Lady Yvanova, that I’m more than capable. It's just that my sister and I were never ones for secrets.” Luna contemplated her choice of words, and then shook her head. “Actually, I'll take that back. Sometimes it feels like Celestia sees the world as a chessboard.”

Yolina shifted through various different expressions before looking back over the nothingness of the dream realms. “She’s more of a politician compared to yourself?”

“Aye. I love her, but watching her interact with nobles and foreign dignitaries can be… exhausting.” The princess sighed, leaning her head backwards. “Apologies, I got sidetracked, and the sun is about to rise. We have some things to discuss when next we meet, but perhaps letting the doctors know you are alive is more important at this given moment.”

Yolina returned to her bandages form, and gave a nod. She had some people – or ponies, most likely – to thank for saving her. Not to mention she had to make sure everything was still on her person in the real world; the existence of a ruling monarchy led her to believe the world’s technology might not be as sophisticated as her own. If they found her phone, there would be questions and perhaps uncomfortable complications to returning home.

Could she contact her friends from another dimension? It was time to find out.

“Yes, it is time to wake up,” she replied, stretching her wings. “Thanks for keeping me company for a time, Princess Luna. See you later.”

Luna watched as Yolina’s form vanished into dust, which then flung itself high into the sky. Luna wasn’t sure whether to be happy or concerned about seeing one of her own again. Turning around, she decided it was time for her to awaken as well. The consequences of Yolina’s arrival could be left till later…

… as long as nothing dangerous descended from the hole the thestral had left in the sky.

The first thing to greet Yolina upon waking up was quiet. Nice, peaceful silence brought by a decently well soundproofed hospital room. For a time, the newly-made thestral enjoyed that quiet for all it was worth. She knew that when the doctor or nurse arrived, that quiet would be sadly – if understandably – interrupted.

Opening her eyes led her to wonder if she would be greeted by something otherworldly or more like Earth. It was the latter, making her frown. She had not crossed between worlds to be greeted by more of the same, damn it! She wanted to see things only possible in fantasy novels! She wanted magic, mythical creatures, and the ability to look her American friends in the eye with the smuggest expression and announce that Gandalf was real!

Instead she was a tiny white horse in a hospital bed straight out of Gray’s Anatomy. She was certain there was some form of irony in her situation, but had no idea what kind it was. At the very least she had confirmed she was indeed a tiny white horse now.

A tiny white horse with bat wings who would likely be cared for by a tiny horse nurse. The strangeness of her situation was finally starting to set in. She brought one hoof out from the blanket covering her form, staring at it as if it could give her some answer. The only thing it did was reaffirm her being a tiny horse.

She didn’t need to be reminded of that anymore, so she instead focused on what she had on her. No doubt most of her belongings had been left at where she had landed and would need to ask them to be brought to her. What she mainly wanted to know was if it was still in her hair. Wincing as she raised both hooves up, feeling every little ache and pain her battle had left her in, she searched her pale white mane.

Then she felt something metallic hit her hoof, and let out a relieved sigh.

“They didn’t remove it, thank goodness,” she said as she carefully removed it, placing it in what she assumed was the “palm” of her hoof. “One less thing I have to find later.”

The object in question was a small pin Yolina had fashioned into a hairpin. It resembled a blue and black kite shield, a single dot of white in its center. A small but noticeable amount of magical energy could be felt exuding from it that no normal human would feel. She doubted things would be different for ponies.

Her eyes flicked between her mess of a mane, and then the pin. Her expression turned goofy as she realized that there was absolutely no way for her to put the knights pin back in her mane. Then, with a shrug, she looked at the end table next to her bed and placed it there.

“Shouldn’t be going after nightmares and dreams anyways while in this shape,” She whispered to herself before sinking a bit further into the hospital bed. “Besides, I think I deserve a bit of rest and relaxation.”

It was at that moment the door decided to open. Yolina looked at the pony who entered, a middle aged mare with a white coat and pink mane, as they smiled at her. There was a clear release of tension the moment the nurse saw she was awake.

“I’m glad to see you’re awake,” they said in a motherly manner. Unlike Luna, however, this mare’s voice was not only higher but more gentle. “When Miss Applejack brought you in yesterday we weren’t sure if you would wake up.”

Yolina laughed nervously, looking at the bed sheet covering her and then back to the mare. “I’m… not that surprised. Last thing I remembered was getting thrown from extremely high up.”

“Well I think we can both say it isn’t a good idea to end up in that situation again,” the mare replied, trotting up to her. “I’m Nurse Redheart.”

“Yolina Yvanova,” the thestral greeted, raising a bandaged hoof to the nurse.

Redheart shook it lightly, and then eased it back down onto the bed. “Yolina, that is such a wonderful and exotic name.”

“Thanks. If you don’t mind, can I ask what the damage is?”

“Only if you feel comfortable enough to hear it.” Yolina gave Redheart a nod. After a steadying breath, the nurse started her explanation. “I’m sure the bandages were indication enough, but you were hurt very badly. Several large cuts along the legs, stomach, and chest, with bruising in very similar places. You also got a cracked rib, and your left hind leg has a broken tibia. It’s… actually remarkably more wasn’t broken.”

“Some I’m lucky?”

“I feel lucky might not be the best description. You were still out for three whole days, after all.”

“Three whole… my friends they- argh!”

Yolina tried to sit back up in fear, but the speed caused her to wince in pain. Redheart slowly lowered her back down. The thestral’s wings shifted under the sheets, causing them to lift up a little in nervousness and discomfort.

“You are not ready to be moving around, Miss Yvanova,” Redheart explained calmly, her outer expression contrasting against the worry she held deep down for the mare before her. “Just lay down and let your body recover.”

“Right, right… fuck,” Yolina replied, mumbling the last word in Ukrainian in hopes the pony before her wouldn’t understand it. The fact she had to force her muzzle to speak in her native tongue was odd. “I… I have friends I need to get in contact with. If I’ve been out for three days they might try and find me.”

“You want me to write a letter for you?” Redheart asked.

Yolina shook her head. “That won’t work. When I was brought here, was there a little rectangle of plastic and metal? That’s a communication device we use where I’m from. Could get a hold of them instantly.”

“No. You had nothing on you when Miss Applejack brought you here,” the nurse replied. “Though, considering it was her house you crash landed in, perhaps she would know. Poor mare has been waiting for word that you’re awake since she brought you here. I could send her a letter telling her you’re awake and ready to receive guests. That way you could ask her yourself.”

Yolina gave a nod. What proceeded was a change of bandages, some questions, and otherwise before Nurse Redheart temporarily bade her farewell and left. The thestral let out a groan as soon as they were gone, not at anything the nurse had done but because of what she knew would happen if she didn’t get her phone soon.

She loved her friends like anyone else did, but knowing them as well as she did, on day two without any contact they had headed into the realm of dreams in pursuit of her. That meant they would either follow her here, get beat up by whatever attacked her, and end up in the same exact position she was in, or somehow find themselves in someplace far more dangerous. Given the leader of their little group of knights, it was entirely possible for it to be both.

“I swear to god Melli, you do something beyond dumb and I’ll find a way to kick your ass from another star system. Even if I break my other tibia, it’ll be worth it.”

Author's Note

There are two things I need to say about the story before you all.

The first is that it will be updated rather infrequently. Fallout: Equestria – One Last Mission is my main focus in terms of writing and I intend to keep it that way. This, however is a nice way to take a break from writing chapters that are not only rather long but extremely dense. For that reason, uploads will be infrequent and all over the place in when they get uploaded.

The second thing to note is that this story is half based on an original novel that I have been working on for about a year now called Between Reality and Dreams. The Magral knights and most of the characters associated with it are from that story. This spawned from me realizing how well the story of battling nightmares and dreams works with MLP, given Luna's very existence.

I'll do my best to make sure everything from the BRD side makes sense for you all. If a lot of it gets rather confusing, I apologize. Thanks for understanding, and I hope you enjoy what I have going forward.

Chapter 2 – Accidental Equestrian Communication

No matter the time of year, no matter the weather, the greatest threat to anyone living in Burlington, Vermont was always the wind.

This cursed, unslayable beast was brought upon the college city by the lake that rested at its western side. While it sometimes chooses to be pleasant, nine times out of ten Lake Champlain saw it fit to send the coldest, harshest gust of wind possible who called Burlington home. This was especially true during the winter months, when trees lacked the leaves to block the incoming winds.

Many would wonder why anyone would want to live near a lake that wished its worst on residents, but this was Vermont. The residents of the state battled far worse than frigid winds on a daily basis, and that was no less true on the side of Lake Champlain. Granted not all of them battled it as well as others, but they always did. Sometimes the wind would win and push them back indoors, but more often than not the Vermonters that called Burlington home won out.

Melissa Rogers tended to deal with the former more often than the latter.

In some ways it felt silly that the wind of all things would be the worst enemy of a Magral Knight. In the past year since becoming one she had fought the sickest of dreams to the most horrific nightmares she had ever seen. All of them wanted to drain the dreams from innocents, filling themselves with power while leaving their victims trapped in a horrific state of terror or despair. Despair that had led people to their death.

In the end she chalked it up to a lack of being able to stop the wind. Nightmares and dreams either fled or died when she found them, the wind didn’t die unless it wanted to. If it wasn’t for the fact she was in her third year of college, and it being infinitely better then returning to middle-of-nowhere Georgia, she wouldn’t dare stay in the city. At least, that was what she always told herself before remembering the folks who she had befriended over the past few years.

Including someone that she had gone beyond being friends with.

Today was one of the few days that she had conquered the wind on the way to Champlain College’s dining area. Her dark blue down coat had mostly shielded her body against the worst of the elements. Only one of her fingers was gloved as she stepped inside, willingly sacrificing her left hand as she watched her private messages for any sign of her friend.

Like both days prior, she was getting absolutely nothing.

“And she said she would update us everyday,” Melissa muttered to herself.

“Relax, I’m sure she’ll be fine. This is Yolina we’re talking about after all.”

She turned her attention to her backpack, weighing her down like bricks with the textbooks that lay inside it. It was not a textbook that had spoken up, of course, but the stray thought of a talking book in her bag was funny. With a sigh, she turned her phone off and placed it in her pocket.

“Relax Meany. This isn’t her first venture out into the borders of the realm of dreams.”

“That doesn’t make me worry any less, Vee.”

“But it should remind you that she is a tougher cookie than you will ever be.”

“Living in an active warzone doesn’t automatically make someone tough.” She scowled, dramatically placing a hand to her chest. “And I take offense to you saying I’m not tough.”

“You still hesitate to pull the trigger at times when battling nightmares.”

“For a damn good reason.”

“It’s going to cost you one day. You know it just as well as I do.”

A memory flashed in Melissa’s head of a phone ringing. It was followed by the sound of a gunshot, screams… she shook her head and banished it to the corner of her mind. She shook herself like a dog, making her backpack swish back and forth. While Vee remained silent from inside her backpack, she was certain the point had gotten across.

“You had that coming and you know it,” she replied, starting to walk forward again.

At her request, Nurse Redheart had grabbed something nice and relaxing for Yolina to read in her downtime. As nice as the quiet had been at first, its unwillingness to end had left the thestral restless. She had no idea when this Applejack mare would arrive, or if she would be there today. The constant what if scenarios that played out in her head at what sort of dumb things her friends were no doubt continued to go away.

Having a book helped a bit, even if it wasn’t exactly her type. In her hoof was a copy of Daring Do’s first ever venture, the entire thing reminding her of a book adaptation of America’s Indiana Jones movies. The lead character being an explorer seeking ancient and priceless artifacts, the myriad traps and obstacles that blocked their path, and the bad guys who wanted to sell the artifact off for the highest bidder. She was personally more interested in murder mysteries and fantasy, but she would take what she could.

It also helped her discover that, like with her ability to speak whatever language she was currently speaking, she could read the written language. Whether it was a side-effect of crossing from one planet to another via the realm of dreams or some weird gift from being tossed into an attic by a creature that wanted her dead was unknown. It was good, though, and meant that the only thing she would need to worry about was ponies asking personal questions.

Whether Princess Luna was open with her work or not, the idea of telling ponies about her line of work felt wrong. That also meant she had to keep a large chunk of who she was hidden. Despite how much she adored fantasy writing, she didn’t have the faith to make herself a believable backstory.

The best shot she had was giving the best non-answers possible. Hopefully this Applejack pony would be okay with that.

Her eyes wandered from the pages of the book to the window showing the hospital halls. The form of Nurse Redheart stood just where it ended, talking to a pony out of view. Yolina has to guess who it could be, the brain immediately landing on the doctor, or the aforementioned Applejack.

The door opened, and her answer was given in the form of an orange mare with a stetson. Underneath said hat was a blond mane, her tail matching the color perfectly. For the briefest of moments, Yolina looked at the mare's flank. The sight of the three apples made her pause, starting to get the vague recollection that she had seen it before.

One thing she did know was that this pony wasn’t the doctor.

“Glad to see ya awake, sugarcube,” the mare said, politely removing her stetson from her head. Yolina’s ears pricked up at the heavy southern accent. This was the voice she heard last night! “You had me mighty worried for a while.”

“Sorry about that,” Yolina apologized, resting the book on her stomach. “You’re Miss Applejack I take it? The pony who saved me last night.”

Applejack nodded. “Yep, and if Nurse Redheart told me correctly your name is Yolina.”

The thestral gave her a nod.

After grabbing herself a small stack of pancakes, Melissa searched around for wherever her friends were. A year ago they would all sit at the window overlooking the rest of Burlington, but then two more people joined what had been a group of five. It meant the tables in that area were suddenly too small to fit the group. It was a bit of a shame, but at the end of the day having her food with her friends was worth it.

A hand started to wave at her from a booth not far away. Said hand was attached to a french girl with the same skinny build as herself. Where Melissa’s dirty blond hair stretched down her back, however, the girl before her had dyed hers a dark purple and barely reached the base of her neck. Even if she couldn’t see it from the current distance between them, she was certain a small pin was attached to the designer clothes the girl was wearing.

The same pin that Melissa had attached to her backpack.

Melissa picked up her pace, waving back to the girl happily. Upon reaching the circular booth, she found that she was the last to arrive. Swinging her backpack in front of her, she sat next to the french girl and sunk into the cushioned seats.

“I see my fierce knight has conquered the wind today,” the french girl, Lucy Francois, teased. “Rather unexpected, considering it knocked you flat on your ass the day prior.”

“Yeah, yeah, my win-lose ratio is wildly skewed right, you don’t have to tell me,” Melissa said, the disapproval in her voice not matching the smile on her face. She watched as they raised a cup of hot coffee to their lips. “But it is more than worth it to see the maiden I have claimed as my own.”

“And time.”

The blush on Lucy’s face was only matched by the simultaneous head turn to right across from them. A ginger girl two years younger than them rested her phone on the table, showing a stopped timer to the couple. A villainous smirk dawned one of her hands resting on top of her head while the other was held out to the Japanese women right next to her.

“Just like that, your ice tea is mine Akane,” she said smugly. Then she noticed the deadpan look she was being given, and cockiness faded into annoyance. “You didn’t bring it with you.”

“The Arizona stays in my room. That was decided after the fourth time you tried to steal it from my bag,” Akane replied. “I’ll get it for you later, Jay.”

Both were met with blank looks from Lucy and Melissa, though Jay seemed more offended by it then Akane.

“Really?” The couple asked. Akane gave her response with a goofy grin.

“To be fair, you two are exceptionally easy to make bets off of,” came yet another voice, this time from Lucy’s right. The owner of it was a dark skinned women the same age as Akane. “In case I need to remind you, Akane, Dragon, and I had all made bets on which of you would reveal your crush first.”

Akane folded her arms confidently. “A bet I still can’t believe I won. When I had said you two would do it at the same time, it was mainly a joke.”

“Still don’t believe it.”

“Believe it as little as you want, Holly. Doesn’t make it any less true.”

“Bets aside, could the lady currently holding me captive in her backpack please let me out.”

All attention was drawn to Melissa, who in turn was looking at her backpack in contemplation. With a heavy sigh, she unzipped the main compartment of the backpack and leaned it towards the table. Everyone watched as, from deep inside, a small plush doll dressed up like Little Red Riding Hood crawled its way out. As it reached the top of the backpack, it stretched its small arms towards the sky, opening a vertical maw that was filled with teeth far too real for the rest of its body.

“Freedom!” It cried out, its voice an odd mixture of male and female, young and old. “Finally, I am free from my prison to once again conquer the realm of re-ah!”

All it took was a weak push from Lucy, and the nightmare doll soon found itself tumbling onto the table. It fell face first into the mountain of pancakes Melissa had gotten herself, slaying the beast instantly. Jay found herself unable to hold in her laughter, Holly joining in moments later.

“And like that, the mighty night terror known as Vee has once again been defeated,” Akane replied in a low, dramatic voice akin to the narrator of a show. “Tune in tomorrow for the same thing at the same time.”

Vee removed its face from the bottom of the pancake pile and looked at Akane. The snarl the doll gave would have been terrifying if they all weren’t so used to it. “Hey, you joke, but you know if I really wanted I would squash you all in an instant.”

A hand reached across the table from Akane’s left, grabbing the doll by the head. A stockier girl brought it close to her body, practically smothering the otherworldly creation in her arms. All hate and anger seemed to melt as Marie Hoover, known affectionately as Dragon to her friends, hugged the nightmare she had created years earlier. A small smile worked its way onto her rather tired face.

“And this is why you don’t squash us,” she reminded Vee. The doll giggled at the affection as Dragon looked to the last member of their group, a dark skinned man with his eyes glued to his phone. “Anything from her yet?”

The sole guy of the group sighed, shaking his head. “Nothing. Three days, and not a single word from Yolina.”

“It ain’t like her to break a promise like that,” Jay replied, joining the rest of the group in a collective worry. “I’ve known her longer than any of you. If she isn’t responding it means something bad happens.”

“You think it's possible she got attacked by a nightmare?” Lucy asked.

Jay shook her head. “Even if she did, Yolina is the second most experienced Magral Knight I know outside of myself.”

“Meaning some random dream or nightmare wouldn’t get the better of her just by jumping her when she least expected it.” Jay looked to Drew, giving the man a nod to show he was on the right track. His hand went to his chin, tapping the underside of it. “And we know she has an internet connection because of the dream magic Vee used on all our phones.”

“Constant internet connection while also blocking any outside sources from discovering who and what you all are,” the doll replied. “Invisibility in plain sight is especially important when dealing with the worst of my kind.”

“So something has happened, but whatever that something is we don’t know,” Melissa summarized, chewing up the inside of her lip in stress. She brought her phone back out, opening her contacts. “Maybe a phone call will get her attention.”

Akane raised her brow at the suggestion. “You think she’ll respond to that when she isn’t responding to texts?”

“We gotta try something new. This is the best option we got without following after her.”

Any further objections were drowned out as Melissa focused all her attention on the ringing of the phone. With each ringing that passed, her stomach seemed to twist more and more. Then, to her surprise and joy, the call was answered. Everyone around her noticed the beaming in her eyes, Jay especially leaning in.

“Yolina? Is that you?”

Her question was followed by three seconds of silence. She was about to speak up again, but than a single word came from the other end of the line.

“H-hello?”

All the joy in Melissa’s face transformed into bewilderment. The voice that had responded did not carry the thick Ukrainian accent she associated with her friend, but a southern one. More specifically, it reminded her of a young child from some rural part of Texas.

“Um… h-hello?” The young child asked again. “Is this the mare that crashed on our roof last night?”

Mare?

Bewilderment next turned to anger at the realization that some child had managed to nab her friends phone. A child who was now clearly pulling some sick prank on her. Standing up, bringing the phone away from her ear and clutching it in her palms, Melissa decided that a calm response was not the best one.

“No. Might I ask who I am speaking to?”

“U-um. My name is Applebloom, ma’am.”

Melissa’s eye twitched at the obvious lie. “Well, Miss “Applebloom”, would you mind taking the time to explain to me why the fuck you have my friends phone?!”

The girl hung up on her, leaving Melissa painfully aware that her outburst had caused more than just her friends to look at her oddly.

As soon as the mystery mare had yelled at her, Applebloom had pressed the red button on the strange device and jumped off her bed. It now sat there, unmoving and dreadfully silent. It was strange, unlike anything anypony had seen before, and had now made her both scared and exceedingly more curious as to what it was.

She knew one thing about it now: ponies could talk to each other through it. The pony this time had been an extremely angry mare with a tenor voice. They mentioned a pony named Yolina, who from context clues was the owner of the device. Considering it had only shown up after the badly beaten thestral had, there was no other option.

Now she had just made Yolina’s friend mad.

Typically that would be enough to deter her from touching it again, but in curiosity lies danger. Where danger was, the Cutie Mark Crusaders could usually be found. While one part of Applebloom’s brain told her that sharing the phone with her friends was a better idea, the other was sure of one thing.

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo would definitely want to see it.

Author's Note

I’ll admit, did not expect to get this chapter out as soon as it did. Trust me when I say they won’t stay this fast in the future.

So, so many character introductions. It perhaps made the chapter feel a bit all over the place, but its important to introduce her friends now for what I have planned for the first arc of this story.

In other words, I’m sure Applebloom having Yolina’s phone won’t cause any major problems later on. :twilightsmile:

Chapter 3 – For Her Liege, the Knight Must Die

“So you have no idea what did this to you? None at all?”

Yolina nodded. It was one of the very few things that she had either not avoided answering, and one of the few things she hadn’t lied about. It was true, she couldn’t recall anything about the nightmare that had attacked. All she knew was that it had wanted her dead, and had almost succeeded. All and all, that was normal in her line of work.

“It certainly wasn’t a pony, I can tell you that,” Yolina joked, continuing her half-lie as far as she could. Considering the worried expression on Applejack’s face, the mare wasn’t the kind to joke about near-death experiences. “All I saw was a shadow, big and terrifying. Not sure if it was a thinking creature.”

That she knew was a straight up lie. If it was a living nightmare or living dream, it was as smart as a human being. It was that human element, along with the fact they didn’t act according to the rules of reality, that made them dangerous. It meant the thing that attacked her held malicious intent, and wasn’t some strange animal acting on instinct.

“A big, terrifying shadow… a manticore maybe?” Applejack asked herself, mumbling. “That wouldn’t fit with you being in the air. Same with Ursa Majors. Strange.”

Yolina tried her best to look small, pinning her ears back in a faux fear. “You don’t know either?”

Applejack shook her head. “Can’t say I do. Though I do know an alicorn that might.”

“An alicorn?”

“I’m friends with Twilight Sparkle, the princess of friendship.” The way Applejack stated it was so matter of fact it made Yolina swallow nervously. Neither Redheart or the earth pony had given her any hint they were friends with royalty. “If anypony would know of a giant flying beast capable of doing all this, its her.”

“Doesn’t sound like something a princess of friendship would know about.”

“Perhaps not to somepony from far away. Let me tell you though, that mare reads so many books you could ask her near anything and would probably be able to recall every detail.”

“That’s… impressive.”

“You got that right.” A laugh left Applejack’s muzzle. Yolina joined in, not so much because what the mare said was funny, but more due to Applejack’s laugh being unexpectedly contagious. “If anypony should know what it is that hurt you, it would be her.”

Yolina’s smile grew. “Then, as long as she isn’t too busy doing princess things, her help would be appreciated.”

“With the school of friendship still in construction, getting rid of some nasty critters would be high on her priority list. I don’t think you have to worry about a thing.”

Yolina sighed, both feeling a bit bad for lying to a mare so nice and extremely grateful. She knew she was in Equestria, and if this Twilight Sparkle pony was a princess that meant she knew Celestia and Luna. Even if she couldn’t reveal all the details, it was without a doubt in her mind this princess of friendship would be able to contact the only other Magral Knight she knew in Equestria.

Which left one last major thing for her to take care of: assuring her friends she wasn’t dead.

“Hey, Applejack?”

The earth pony quickly gained a concerned look. “What is it sugarcube?”

“When I fell out of the sky, was there a small box thing made of aluminum and metal? Anything else too?”

“This box, does it light up when you press a little knob on the side and show words sometimes.”

It took all of Yolina’s will to not jolt up at the description given to her. “Yes! It’s a communication device from my homeland that’s able to talk with ponies using words and voice.”

Applejack’s eyes went wide. “Then those words from “Melli” and “J.J.” asking if somepony is safe, those are–”

“My friends.” Yolina tried to push her head further into the pillow as her body relaxed. “The two you mentioned are Melissa and Jay; Melli and J.J. are nicknames.”

Applejack’s ears flattened, a look of sadness in her eyes that hadn’t shown itself previously. Yolina quickly realized what was going through Applejack’s mind, unable to help but suddenly feel bad herself. The mare had her phone for the past three days, noticing messages slowly get added to the various chat rooms she had with her friends and didn’t know it was her they were worried about.

“Applejack, it’s okay. You didn’t know what it was,” Yolina said reassuringly, doing her best to calm the mare with a smile.

“I know, but I still can’t help but feel like I should have tried to tell them you were okay,” Applejack replied, eyes falling to the floor. “They must be worried sick.”

“Even if you had known, you wouldn’t have been able to.” Applejack looked at her, somber and confused. “It has a lock on it that only I can open. Unless they contacted you by voice call, there would have been no way for you to be able to respond.”

Applejack closed her eyes and calmed herself. “Okay, if you say so. Celestia knows I’m not the right pony to be playing with things like that. I’d probably break it.”

“Hey, stop beating yourself up.” Yolina lifted a bandaged hoof up to the mare’s left shoulder, patting it. “I still have to thank you for holding onto it anyways, and if you wouldn’t mind bringing it with you next time you visit? It’s already been three days and I want to make sure none of them wind up like me.”

“Of course Yolina.” Applejack finally smiled again, giving the thestral a nod. Her gaze then turned outside, noticing how the sun had disappeared from outside the window. “Well, I got a farm to run. How about I get your little communication thingy and get it to you tomorrow?”

“Sounds good, and if some high strung… mare calls yelling about me, tell her I’m fine, okay?”

Applejack nodded, and then tipped her hat to the thestral. While many of the smiles Yolina had given the earth pony had been false up to that point, the one that dawned her face as she was once again left alone was real. Applejack was a pleasant individual, not to mention incredibly kind and hard working. For having such a heavy southern drawl, she certainly didn’t act like any southerners she knew. Melissa was the closest, though her anger and sarcasm came more from a bad childhood than being an American.

In the end, despite the various flaws her American friends had, they were still her friends. A bit overly casual and harsh at times, but never unpleasant or downright mean. She remembered the times she had secretly country-hopped from Ukraine to America just to spend an afternoon with them after their classes. Hanging out at the café Dragon’s adoptive parents ran, walking along Lake Champlain, or simply chatting in the common area of their dorms had turned what had been a terrifying last year into one to be remembered.

Which only made it harder every time she returned to her apartment in Ukraine. It didn’t matter if she was away from the Russian invasion or not, the worry and fear remained ever present. No matter how much Ukraine pushed back, a small piece of her feared that tomorrow might be that day. The day enemy forces rolled into her home; the day the Russian forces became competent enough to push back.

The day she fell asleep and never, ever woke back up again.

Somehow, despite fighting creatures that many would scream and run at, it was human beings that still scared her the most.

As Applejack walked out of Ponyville General Hospital, she found herself unusually conflicted. It didn’t have to do with the communication device Yolina had asked her to grab, as wary as the thing made her. It had nothing to do with her being from some far off land, especially when she would be a teacher for griffons, changelings, yaks, and more within the coming month.

No, her conflicting emotions came from the amount Yolina withheld and lied. No name for the mare's homeland, no mention of family, silence on the matter of what had brought her to Equestria in the first place. She understood it wasn’t her place to pry too much into the personal life of a pony she had just met, but the amount Yolina refused to say left a bad taste in her mouth. When Yolina had mentioned her friends, that was the first thing about herself outside of her name the mare had given her.

If she hadn’t been so truthful about how she had ended up in the state she was in, and the mare wasn’t seriously injured, she would have been a bit harsher for the amount of lying. Getting attacked in the middle of the night by a creature she didn’t recognize, flinging her from the heavens into Sweet Apple Acres; that much was true. The question was laid in how much faith she had in Yolina to tell the truth in the future.

She shook the thought from her head for the time. No matter what was going on, Yolina’s friends were doubtlessly worried about her. Getting her chores and farm work done for the day came first, followed by making sure she had Yolina’s communication device for after were higher on the priority list. Even higher though was informing Twilight of a possible creature running loose attacking ponies.

So with a pace somewhere between a walk and a jog, Applejack made her way through the streets of Ponyville. She waved to the ponies as she passed by, smiling and silent wishing them a great day. When she finally did reach the crystal majesty that her friend called home, she quickly gave a knock on the door and waited. Her mind took a guess on Spike opening the door… and was immediately proven wrong when it was Starlight who did instead.

“Oh, Applejack. Didn’t expect you to visit,” she said. “Is everything okay?”

“Kind of. Is Twilight around?” Applejack asked her friend’s student.

“Yes. Just sorting her library… again. Is it something private or can I ask why?”

“Nah, nothing personal. It’s just… the mare that crashed into Sweet Apple Acres three days ago woke up”

Starlight let loose a breath that she didn’t realize she was holding. “That's great to hear. I take it she’s recovering well?”

“About as well as can be expected given the injuries she sustained.” Applejack looked around to make sure nopony else was listening in, and then continued. “Actually, those injuries are why I’m here.”

Starlight’s eyes went wide. “That sounds… pretty bad.”

“Yeah. Which is why I don’t want the public overhearing us. We might have a monster on the loose.”

The realm of dreams was not a place held to the same laws as reality. In fact, much like Discord’s chaos dimension, the home of dreams and nightmares seemed happy to defy them at every single turn it could. Surfaces bent at impossible angles, doors leading to areas that were far to large for the space given, and the very environment shaped itself to its inhabitants instead of the other way around.

In other words, it was perfect for the nightmares and dreams that called it home. A place where impossibility did not exist, and those lucky creations of the minds of sleeping humans ponies strong enough to be remembered after sleep ended came to life. For each of them a domain – a home – that suited them was created, ranging from a lush jungle to the most twisted, filthy dungeons one could imagine.

It was within one of these domains that a mare, created from the despairing pleas of a pony one thousand years ago, grumbled. Before her was what had once been the throne room of a castle filled with symbols of her greatness. Now, much like the real thing, that castle was more of a ruin. A ruin formed when six weak little dreamers purged her from the body of her creator, destroying not just her chance at eternal night, but one mare's dreams to outshine her sister.

The irony of being a living dream and the ponies of reality calling her “Nightmare” Moon was not lost on her.

Currently, she sat contemplating an unfortunate turn of events that had unfolded within the past couple of hours. She swore that the Lazaran, the beast that kept the dreams, nightmares, and the dreamers from other planets from entering Equus, had dealt with what would be a thorn in her side. After all, it had never failed before and was stronger than even herself. It was one of the few beings she fully accepted was beyond her ability to destroy.

Which made it all the more worrying that it hadn’t managed to finish the job this time.

It had certainly roughed the so-called “Magral Knight” up, bur hours earlier that day the interloper had awoken. An interloper who had now made contact with Equestria’s heroes, making them aware of the Lazaran, and reconnecting to worlds that she had made sure were long separated. She was a threat to every plan the dream had, and their contact with her creator only proved to foil the very basis of every single one: eternal night, and the take over of Princess Luna’s body.

“Something must be done now, before she is truly able to fight,” Nightmare Moon told herself.

“My liege!”

Nightmare Moon’s gaze fell upon a form entering her throne room. It both looked like a pony and clearly wasn’t one at the same time, body morphing between being made of endless void and a brilliant red light. It had no eyes, no nose, no true distinguishing features that gave its queen to know who or what it is. A queen that it had just barged in on without permission.

“I do hope this is important, peasant,” the queen said, leaning back into the throne. “Your queen is currently contemplating a matter of utmost importance.”

“Forgive me, my liege, but this was important,” the nightmare pony replied.

“It better. Go ahead, speak!”

“We’ve received word that the sisters of one of the Elements of Harmony have made contact with ponies outside our planet. We believe them to be friends of the Magral Knight that arrived in Equestria days prior.”

Nightmare Moon snarled, showing off her sharp teeth to the creature before. Clearly the universe was working against her, stacking the odds in the favor of the ponies that should be her subjects. It dared to defy her of the power she was born to seek, of the spotlight she was desperate to obtain. How absolutely perfect.

“Peasant, do I look to be in the mood for bad news?” Nightmare Moon asked, the creature before her cowering. The sight of a strong nightmare so scared of her almost made up for her bad mood.

“N-no, my liege, but-”

“So tell me this. Why has filth like you, entered my throne room for the sole purpose of angering me!”

She stood, wings unfurling as energy both light and dark suddenly blanketed the area. It was so think it made the nightmare that had upset her gag, suffocating from the power exerted over it. It fell to the ground, barely able to lift its head as the hoof of its queen came into view. A hoof soon placed on its head, forcing it to eat the ground.

“I’m sure you now understand the gravity of your actions, of upsetting the queen you serve.” Nightmare Moon leaned her head down, dropping her voice low and quiet to make it clear how upset she was. “You did not mean to upset me, correct? Things would be a lot worse for you if you did.”

The nightmare hastily shook its head, and soon found itself able to breathe again. The dark energy Nightmare Moon had suffocated it was dispersed with a flick of her wings, her hoof removed from its place on their head. She turned away and walked back to her throne, still scowling.

“You shall deal with this filly yourself. Consider it your one and only chance to make up for displeasing me. Am I understood?”

“Y-yes, my liege.”

“Then get out!”

Like a scared animal, the nightmare crawled out of the throne room. The sight gave Nightmare Moon a single moment to smile, though it quickly faded away. An untrained peasant could deal with a filly, yes, but that wouldn’t be the case for a Magral Knight. She needed somepony strong, capable, and most importantly deadly. There were many in her legion of nightmares and dreams who fit that, but that still left her with the question of who.

After far too much thinking, she gave a dark, vicious smile. Tonight, she would personally watch for a distance as a valiant knight died.

Author's Note

Huh, I guess I'm working pretty fast with this story right now. Nice! I'll keep at it for as long as possible.

Between Reality and Dream's villain, Bael, was written with the idea of making them feel like the classic mahou shojo antagonist, and I have some rather similar plans with how I'm gonna be handling Nightmare Moon here. The idea of her actually being a dream and not a nightmare was already too perfect to ignore considering how I represent them in BRD.

Speaking of which, since I've mentioned plenty of times that this is me having fun with a universe I've created, I wanted to let you all know that the first volume of Between Reality and Dreams is actually up on Royal Road for all to read! The link to it is right here for everyone interested.

Chapter 5 – Hope for the Best, Prepare for the Worse

Once Melissa and Lucy explained to the Cutie Mark Crusaders how an emergency call was made, the two mysterious mares hung up. That left three little fillies alone in their clubhouse, unsure what to make of who the talk ended. There was an unsettling feeling in the air around Applebloom, as if dark shadows were watching and waiting for the perfect moment to strike. A quick glance around briefly assuaged the filly, her friends the only ponies currently around her. If only it had made her feel more comfortable.

There was a certainty in Melissa and Lucy’s words. A precognition that something would go terribly wrong, and that the emergency call mechanic and number she had been given would be necessary. They didn’t say what it was that scared them, or why it was they had been so certain. Did they possibly know her and Ponyville’s reputation? Were they not the good ponies that she was having faith in them to be? She didn’t have an answer to either.

Yet the question that scared her the most wasn’t how they knew she would get into danger, but what that danger would be. Was it a Nightmare Moon or Tirek-like threat? Had Yolina angered some really powerful pony, and her family saving them had put a target on her back? She didn’t know; there was no way she could know, and that terrified her.

“So it can make voices go over long distances and apparently has a camera,” Sweetie Belle replied, going over the little bits about the “phone” that Melissa and Lucy had told them about. “Can it do anything else?”

“I mean, it does this if I swipe up on this little white bar,” Applebloom explained, swiping up on the phone. The passcode screen showed itself, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle tilting their heads. “I tried to put some numbers in earlier, but after a time it said I was locked out for a minute. Then five minutes when I tried again… and ten afterwards.”

“Oh, I get it,” Scootaloo spoke up, grabbing the device and lifting it up. “There must be some super secret stuff behind it!”

“Or it could be rather private. Either way we should probably not mess around with it,” Sweetie told her friend. “I don’t think Yolina would be happy if we opened it and found her diary.”

Scootaloo’s eyes went wide, quickly hoofing the phone back over to Applebloom. “Oh, uh, didn’t think about that.”

“The only other thing it tells me are the time and date,” Applebloom explained. “It seems useful, but it doesn’t feel that practical to use with hooves.”

Sweetie Belle rubbed the underside of her muzzle with her hoof. “Maybe it’s something griffon or hippogriff made. I mean, Melissa and Lucy don’t exactly sound like pony names.”

Applebloom looked up to her friend, and then back down at the phone before her. Sweetie wasn’t wrong; both names did feel a lot less pony like and a lot more foreign. Griffons specifically had similar names. It would also explain Yolina’s name very unpony-like.

“So does that mean we’ve just talked with creatures from outside any maps?” Scootaloo asked. “If so, oh my gosh that would be awesome!”

“We don’t know that for certain, but Miss Yolina would!” Applebloom reminded them, unable to contain her own excitement. “Perhaps we can visit her tomorrow. I’m sure she’ll be a lot more up for company then.”

“She did just wake up,” Scootaloo admitted, Sweetie Belle nodding across from her. “Okay then. We give her phone back to her, and she tells us all about where she came from.”

“So she’s fine,” Jay replied, sliding down her seat. “Thank god.”

With the day winding down, the sun was slowly sinking behind the mountains across Lake Champlain. Jay, Holly, Drew and Dragon, like so many evenings before, found themselves shore-side at a little café known as Brisk Wind. Run by Dragon’s adopted parents, it had quickly become the group’s goto place for studying. Peaceful jazz played over the radio, quiet enough where it didn’t truly register unless someone listened close. It mixed in with the sound of espresso and coffee machines and the murmuring of other café goers.

As soon as Melissa and Lucy got off call, they informed everyone of Yolina’s location. It led to both a collective sigh of relief and several questions, all of the latter pertaining to the fact that Equestria was real. Even worse, it had distracted each of those at Brisk Wind from the equally important task of studying. Everyone sans Drew, at least.

“Landing in tiny horse land certainly wasn’t where I had expected her to end up, but considering everything else we’ve seen….” Akane shrugged her shoulders. “Eh, it makes as much sense as Dragon growing wings and tail.”

“I’m just surprised. I mean who would have imagined the closest dream realm to our own belonged to a rather popular cartoon come to life,” Holly replied, doing her best to not explode in fangirlish glee. “Not only that, but it was accurate to the point that an Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo exist. That means-” A cough briefly brought her attention to Drew, doing his best to force down the smile attempting to invade his features. “Sorry.”

Dragon leaned over their table, a smug expression worming its way onto her face. “Seems the former pegasister is excited.”

“Former!” Holly shouted, standing up and looking just a little offended. “What, you think I jumped ship as soon as the show ended? No, and at least it ended on its own merits.” She gave Akane a glare. “Can your soap operas say the same?”

“No, but I don’t want it to,” Akane replied. “The more drama, the better.”

“Your taste in television makes no sense.”

“As you’ve told me, yet who is it that watched the entirety of Days of Our Lives with me?”

Akane took another sip, leaving Holly with no retort. Suddenly, both looked at Dragon, the girl shrinking slightly from the presence. Jay joined in just for the hell of it, even though she had no idea why it had started in the first place. It didn’t take Dragon that long to figure it out, a metaphorical light switch flipping in her brain that sent her from looking nervous to livid. All it had taken was Holly’s sudden and oddly seductive smile.

“You know Maria…”

“Don’t.”

“There is this incredibly hot dragon in Equestria you might like.”

“I don’t want to… agh!” She thumped her head on the table. “Yes, I’m otherkin. Yes, I would very much prefer to be around dragons. That does not mean I want to date one!”

“I mean, to be fair, the only one you’ve ever met was Nica,” Drew replied, briefly looking up from his law textbook. “Last I checked, she wasn’t a good first experience.”

“You got that right. Hard to like someone when their idea of keeping you safe is locking you in a cage for their benefits.” Dragon sighed, arms snaking underneath her jaw as she laid her head more comfortably. “Either way, I’m not going to walk into another world’s portion of the dream realm just to get denied.”

“Aw come on, you aren’t a little interested?” Jay asked. “Who knows, she might be your type!”

Dragon moved her arms so that none could see the blush, giving her the ability to show no reaction. Except her voice had betrayed her.

“I-I’m not… that isn’t important! What is important is that Yolina is safe. Hurt, but safe.”

“What kind of dream or nightmare did she run into?” Akane asked, leaning back in her chair with a pensive look. “It has to be a dream or nightmare, right? There can’t be that much danger in Equestria, especially for a Magral Knight.”

“Who knows. Just cause we have a show to go off of doesn’t mean it’s one hundred percent accurate,” Holly said with a worried shrug. “Characters and events could be different, not to mention there are possibly beasts that we never got to see.”

“Add onto that the fact Friendship is Magic was TV-Y7 and you got a bunch of unknowns with Yolina having the only real answers.” Drew closed his text book up, looking behind him to the outside window. “Though… it does call into question the show's very existence.”

“I wouldn’t think too hard about it.”

Attention turned to the sole empty seat at the table as a girl sat down, placing a hot cup on the table and removing her hands from it. She looked like a modern day Red Riding Hood, a red jacket with a plain white shirt underneath it and a blue skirt. She shook her hands, a permanent scowl on her face.

“As nice as having a sense of taste is in this body, I really wouldn’t mind a lacking sense of touch,” she muttered to herself. “How is a doll supposed to enjoy a cappuccino if her hands feel like they're going to light up in flames just holding the cup?”

“I think that is a you problem, Vee,” Dragon jokes. The disguised nightmare’s lips moved to its best approximation of a smirk, though its lips were still curled down. “You know, I really do think you should try some of the stuff Champlain makes. For school food it really ain’t bad.”

“And deal with the questions of who this strange person on campus is? No thanks,” Vee replied, testing her cup’s temperature with her middle finger. Each time she drew it back, she placed a hand above the cup and cast a spell to cool it down slightly. “Besides, I get so little time in my actual body with how much you all are already out and about. Breakfast is plush body time.”

“If I heard that from anyone else I'd call them insane,” Drew stated. “Yet somehow you feel like the most sane individual here at most points.”

Jay nodded. “Leave it to our mascot to be the sane one, despite being the only one not actually human.”

Vee’s scowl deepened, eye twitching at Jay’s little nickname for it. Needing a way to not think about the implications of such a nickname, the doll tested its cup once again. Finding the heat significantly more manageable now, she picked it up and chugged half of it down in one sip. Setting it back down with a thud, everyone was greeted with an uncomfortable and rather odd smile.

“Seriously though, don’t worry about the implications,” it said, smile falling away. It always seemed impossible to keep up for more than a couple seconds, but Vee didn’t really care. “This sounds like another case of humanity dreaming something into the realm of reality.”

“Really? Despite the fact this is an entire planet we are talking about and not some world changing invention?” Akane asked.

Vee gave her a nod. “Is it really so different from movies, books, or video games? The creative dreamers make the world all the time, morphing them with their own dreams and nightmares. It only makes sense that those worlds can become reality.”

Vee turned its gaze to the window, watching the sun as the first piece of its body sank below the horizon. Jay followed suit, followed by Dragon, Drew, Holly, and Akane. Night would soon be upon them, and with it the power of dreams and nightmares would become strong enough to affect reality. Yet their thoughts did not lie upon their constant battle to keep humans safe from the danger of the realm of dreams, but Yolina. A friend far, far away, currently out of their grasp.

“Equestria, huh?” Jay whispered. “You think it’s possible for us to get there? Make sure she really is okay.”

“I mean, if she got there then we certainly can as well,” Holly replied, turning back to the ginger. “We just have to make sure we don’t end up in the hospital like she did.”

Luna’s horn glowed as she stood outside her balcony, raising the moon in tandem with the sun's fall. Her eyes did not look upon the city of Canterlot or the countryside below Mount Canterhorn. It also did not lie on the far off form of Ponyville, or her very own night sky as it came into existence. While her gaze was indeed up at the clouds and little stars twinkling, her focus on a particularly odd red light. A light that had shown itself the night prior.

A light that coincided with Yolina’s unfortunate arrival in Equus.

Everypony else would see it as nothing more than a star far brighter and closer than most others. She knew it was a crack in the border that kept the realms of reality and dream separate. A crack that she had only ever seen one other time in her life. She hoped to keep a repeat of those same events from happening again.

A hoof went to her mane, parting in just the right way where the knight's pin was visible. Centuries later a piece of her still felt like it didn’t truly belong to her. After all, if that poor colt had lived it would have stayed with him. If she and Celestia had been faster it would be somepony else watching the dream realm and not her. So many times since that day she had asked how worthy she was, and each time the answer had been the same.

It didn’t matter what she thought, because she was all Equestria had. Until meeting Yolina she had believed that Earth was dead, for what else explained his reason for coming to Equus in such horrid shale. Now that she knew it wasn’t, she had a chance to keep history from repeating. Luna knew the horrid dream, waiting to use that cracked hole in reality for their own personal gain. It would see Yolina as a threat to their plans and send something dispicable to kill them. That wouldn’t happen, she would make sure of it.

“I leave the comfort of dreamers in your hooves, Tantabus,” she said, turning around. Her eyes looked to the creature before her, featureless and made of the night sky. “A pony requires my aid tonight, and there is no other nightmare I would trust with such an important task.”

The Tantabus nodded to its creator, causing Luna to smile. A piece of her felt strange, talking to it as a trusted ally when once it had been her punisher. Forgiveness had been one of the most important lessons her friendship with Twilight Sparkle had left her with. A lesson that she had used to mend ties with the very creature she had once feared. A creature she now dared to call a friend.

With not a single word, it opened a gateway to the realm of dreams. It stepped through, closing the way behind it and leaving Luna alone. A snort left the princess’ nostrils, joyful anticipation filling her soul. While the night would be dark and haunting, a life depending on her being at the right place at the right time, it was also the first night in a thousand years she truly let loose. It was the first time in a millenia she would be fighting as a Magral Knight, and she would enjoy every single second of it.

Hours had passed, and onwards still Twilight searched. Applejack and Spike had both fallen asleep within the library while Starlight took a reprieve to fill her stomach. It left her alone, searching high and low for the one book that held the answer she seeked. The one book that held the identity of Yolina Yvanova’s attacker.

There were a few times she felt she had gotten close, only for either a gut feeling or contradicting fact to hit her on the head. Book after book after book read, books the others had read but she hadn’t gotten caught up in the mix. Her book fortress had grown so complex it had morphed itself into a book cathedral. She hadn’t noticed her accidental artistic masterpiece, head so deep in paper and ink that they might as well have fused into one.

“Nothing. Nothing. How can nothing seem right?!” She shouted to herself. “Something attacked Yolina and yet absolutely no written book holds the answer. It's impossible!” She put her current reading material down and started pondering. “What am I missing? There has to be some subject I’m forgetting, but what is it.”

A strong, impossible wind suddenly hit her fur, causing her wings to wrap around her for warmth in comfort. She averted her eyes, the chill so strong it felt like winter had suddenly rolled in. Then, as soon as it had come, the breeze faded away. She blinked, looking back up and around her to find two things. The first was that her cathedral of books had somehow been removed within the blink of an eye, everything put on its shelves without care or order (something she had to keep from screaming in panic from).

The second was the fact a single window had been left open.

“Rainbow, if this is some prank it really isn’t fun…ny.”

Her vision was stuck on a part of the floor not that far away from her. In the midst of looking upon her suddenly disorganized bookshelves and the sole open window, she had failed to immediately see the pile of papers on the ground. She knew those weren’t there before, and they certainly weren’t a part of her library. The pony responsible for the crime of leaving her bookshelves disorganized had left it. It was the only thing that made sense.

Several questions came to her mind, most of which having no immediate answer. Who had left them there? Why had they left them there? Had they been watching her for hours and she somehow hadn’t noticed from book-related tunnel vision? The only thing that hit her ears was the sound of nature from out the open window, an answer taken from her. Yet as she picked up the papers with her magic and brought them to her, she found another question taking precedence over all of them in the form of a title.

What in Celestia’s name was a Lazaran?

Author's Note

After seeing your comments concerning the question I asked at the end of the last chapter, I have decided it would be best if I write ahead and not do these rapid fire uploads. That way I can promise something more consistent and work on my other writing projects without worrying about keep you all waiting too long.

And oh boy did I choose a place to leave you all off at. I won't give too much away, but lets just say that things are about to take quite a turn.

I wonder... how far I can push this T rating before its an M?

Chapter 6 – Miss Melissa, What is That Thing?

Applejack wasn’t home.

When Applebloom got back, she had steeled herself to tell her sister of her conversation with Melissa and Lucy, fully knowing she’d be upset. After all, the phone wasn’t hers, it was Yolina’s; it belonged in the thestrals hooves and her hooves alone. She was fully aware that her actions over the course of the day were not completely the right ones. Still, getting in contact with ponies, griffons, or whatever that Yolina knew was a good thing.

Right?

It still made her wonder where Applejack was. Perhaps something evil had arisen from Equestria’s history, but that seemed unlikely. It was Friday, not Tuesday; everypony in Ponyville knew that Tuesday was “battle against ancient evil” day. Nightmare Moon, Chrysalis, Discord, and Tirek had all landed on a Tuesday. She had nothing to worry about, her sister was fine.

Yet then she remembered Melissa and Lucy’s warning, and her eyes looked to the sky. She swore there was an extra star that wasn’t usually there, but she couldn’t place which one. Why was a single star making her so scared? Its existence made sleep impossible.

With her body clearly not tired enough to sleep, she instead watched the night move on from the second floor of their house. The trees seemed more imposing than usual, darker and larger. It had to be a trick of the mind though, because tonight the moon was full. If anything it should have made the orchard lighter.

Perhaps her mind was playing tricks.

She pulled away from the window for a moment, looking at the phone resting on her bed. Melissa had mentioned it taking pictures, and she was interested to see how. Grabbing it and holding it steady on the window sill, she turned it on. After briefly covering her eyes from the sudden blast of light in her face, she pressed the small camera button and watched as the screen changed.

Her eyes lit up as she saw the faint outline of the outside world through the camera lens. She pressed the big white button and watched as both the camera and outside suddenly flash white. Jumping in the air with a yell, she fell back first onto her bed, Yolina’s phone resting on the window sill.

“Wh… what was that?” She whispered to herself, rolling back onto her hooves.

Despite the sudden terror brought from the flash, Applebloom’s curiosity had only piqued. Crawling back up to the phone, she checked the photo library. Her jaw dropped; the entire section of Sweet Apple Acres outside her window was far more visible than she had expected like a flashlight had been shined on it.

She had to take another picture, just to see if it happened again. Once more laying the phone sideways on her window, Applebloom eyed the picture button. Closing her eyes in preparation for the flash, she pressed it with her other hoof. A sound not unlike a standard camera hit her ear, and she opened her eyes.

Once again opening the photo library, she saw a nearly identical picture to the first one. It was incredible… but something felt wrong about this new one. She swiped back and forth between them, looking for whatever detail had caused that feeling. It was the tenth swipe back to the first picture that led her to the very back of the visible orchard. Needing confirmation she swiped to the second…

… her eyes looked outside.

“A-Applejack? Is that you?”

There was no reply, leading her to look back at the phone. The pony-like figure was still there, so her eyes weren’t playing tricks on her. Perhaps it was a trick of the camera? Her heartbeat increasing, she took yet another picture to see if the night was playing some cruel prank on her. Upon viewing it… her breathing increased, growing more audible as the figure became clearer and closer to the house.

Applejack would have responded. Whoever this was, they were no Apple.

The sound of rushed hooves hit her ears, going from dirt to wood. The stranger was on the porch. The slow creaking of a creaking door got her ears, and her worry skyrocketed. This is what Melissa and Lucy were afraid of, weren’t they? The fear that had gripped her heart caused her brain to leap in logic, grabbing the phone, she quickly made her way to the emergency call screen.

Hastily putting in Melissa’s number she brought the phone to one ear and did her best to keep calm as she looked directly below her window. There was just enough space for her to get out and onto the roof. As the phone rang, she did just that, closing the window as much as she could behind her to make sure whoever just entered was unable to get to her. A pony that she felt was there for her specifically, her eyes briefly flicking to the phone she had against her ear.

“W-was Scoots right?” She whispered to herself.

The ringing of the phone suddenly stopped. For a brief pause, Applebloom worried it had not gone through.

“Applebloom? Is everything okay?” Melissa asked.

Applebloom had hoped hearing the creature on the other end would make her feel relieved, but instead it only scared her further. Melissa sounded as on edge as herself, though whatever the reason was she didn’t know.

“Miss Melissa, does your friend have ponies after them?” Applebloom asked. She heard her door open, quickly getting away from the window so as to not be seen by whoever was there.

She could see an old red light filter into her room, further cementing that this wasn’t somepony she knew. Unicorn auras also didn’t glow that significantly. The more she realized she didn’t know, the more she hoped for an answer.

“No. At least not last I was aware,” Melissa answered. “Why?”

“There is somepony I don’t know in my room. I don’t know what they look like, and they didn’t answer when I asked if they were my sister.” Applebloom moved up the roof as she spoke, her only real direction being away from her window. “There was also an odd red glow that I didn’t-”

The filly froze as a clop sound hit the roof, her eyes lingering on an odd hoof having made its way out the window. It hadn’t shattered the glass, phasing through it as if it was a damned spirit. That single hoof was all the pony needed to pull itself out and into Applebloom’s view.

The more she saw of it, though, the more she questioned if it was really a pony. It was featureless, like she was looking at a shadow rather than an actual pony. Despite not having eyes she knew it was looking at her, her own eyes unable to tear away from it. She backed up until one of her hind hooves was halfway off the roof.

“Okay, I found you,” it said in a tone far too unnatural, completely ripping out the nervousness the creature felt. Every piece of Applebloom’s body seized up, locking her in place as if Fluttershy had used the stare on her. “Just… stay still filly. Please. I want to die as little as you do.”

“M-Melissa, it’s not a pony,” Applebloom whimpered. “I-it’s not a pony.”

“Applebloom, run!” Melissa shouted.

All Applebloom managed to do was get one off dangling off the ledge before the creature shot forth with Rainbow Dash-like speed. It loomed over her, some power within it blinding her with nothing but an invisible stare. Applebloom tried to move anything, tail, hoof, head, even just her ear, but none responded.

“Applebloom?!”

“I know you’re scared, and I only wish there was some way I could reassure you everything will be alright, but if I don’t she’ll kill me and….”

The creature trailed off, looking away in panic and self reflection. As soon as it had, Applebloom felt her body able to move again. Not thinking, she stepped back. A scream left her lips, snapping the creature from its self reflection in time to see Applebloom’s lower body drop off the roof.

Not thinking, it reached out and grasped her left front hoof with its own. The filly’s handle on the phone slipped, and it fell to the ground below. She was left in darkness, with some unknown thing above her wanting her dead. At least, she was certain it wanted her dead.

Why had it saved her? Had it saved her? Applebloom’s brain went between both questions, looping back to each other in a constant loop. Not even the feeling of her hoof slowly slipping out from the creature’s own was enough to break her free.

What did break her free was the creature letting go, not by choice but through force.

Something had hit, as big as a pony but too quick for Applebloom to see. All she felt was a cold night breeze against her coat. Her eyes took in the faint glow of moonlight above her. All her mouth was capable of doing was screaming as all choice in direction was taken from her once again.

Yet this time she wasn’t frozen still. This time, Applebloom fell.

“Before the events of Hearthswarming, the three tribes held a disdain for everything that wasn’t like them. An earth pony would see horns or wings, and be drawn away, recognizing it as something not its own. This obviously extended to the griffons, dragons, hippogriffs, and changelings. I’ve long believed the theory that this is a side effect of our evolution into a sapient species, given our origins as prey animals. A side effect that I’m all too glad to see we are growing out from in modern times.

“While we make friends with those that we once feared or were hunted by, the effects of that era are still felt. Many times Princess Celestia has had to step on as two of the tribes near a fracturing point, and our relations with non-ponies are still recently budding. It only makes sense that this distrust had long manifested in ponies dreams, and given the most powerful of dreams are not destroyed upon the waking of a pony, it makes even more sense this xenophobic behavior manifested into a physical form.

“That physical form is the Lazaran: a great beast made of undying hatred, fear, and disgust of all creatures on Equus. It prowls the realm of dreams, eating and killing all in its path without care. It also tends to stray to Equus’ edge, seeming able to sense when something not of Equus enters this realm.

“Ordo Visio Nocturna has long since deemed this being too dangerous to combat through normal means. While it does gain power through feeding on dreams and nightmares like any other living nightmare, it also seems to grow stronger with hate. Until such a day arrives where the world is united in true harmony, I fear it is as immortal as Lady Luna.

“The best hope for any member of the Order who encounters it is to run. If that doesn’t work? Then death is all but certain.”

Twilight placed the papers down, unsure of what to make of the creature’s existence. To think that it was made by ponies wounded her soul, especially given all she had been working towards. The only good thing learning of its existence had done was make her more sure in the School of Friendship’s mission. If she could vanquish it, then any doubt ponies or other creatures had about friendship being the most powerful magic would vanish.

Yet behind that feeling of confidence lies worry. It was clear this was placed in front of her for a reason. A reason no doubt related to Yolina’s injuries and arrival in Ponyville. Was she associated with these “Ordo Visio Nocturna” ponies the report mentioned? It was a question she would have to ask later. The only thing she was certain of was this: the Lazaran was the cause behind Yolina’s injuries.

“She’s lucky to be alive. Incredibly lucky,” Twilight muttered to herself. Her magic lines the stack of papers to near perfection, slowly making adjustments until she was certain it was perfect. “Ordo Visio Nocturna. It’s… a slightly familiar name. Definitely old ponish words. Do I have anything about it?”

A yawn escaped her maw, telling her she should sleep. Instead, she started her research anew, specifically targeting things to do with the night or dream realm. It was clear things were connected to those topics, but how important they were remained to be seen.

She would figure it out by the end of the night though, or her name wasn’t Twilight Sparkle.

Yolina looked around warily at the walls of her hospital room, noting how clear everything was despite the rising of the moon. She was pretty certain ponies or horses weren’t nocturnal, but then again she was not an ordinary horse. Was this new body of her’s meant for a nocturnal species? It seemed to be the case. If her mind wasn’t distracted by other, more pressing matters, she might have asked more about what her new pony body was capable of.

Instead, she watched as the walls shifted. It wasn’t the kind of shifting brought by car lights in the middle of the night, casting shadows on the inside world. No, their dull brown color was literally shifting, dark splotches rising into form and moving around as if moles or groundhogs were digging under them. It disgusting, fleshy sound greeted her ears, reminding her too fondly of some horror movie or game Drew and Holly would show her.

She had no idea how they stomachs watching things like that, not because they were disgusting but because the plots were always pitifully bland or predictable.

That same predictability took form then too, but not because of the horror movie similarities. She had seen this far, far too many times before. Throwing the blankets off her, knowing she would be yelled at by doctors in the morning for no doubt ending up more wounded, she made to get out of bed. Grabbing her knights pin, having learned throughout the day that her hooves seemed to have invisible, octopus-like suction cups on them that allowed her to hold things like a human. She was all too thankful for their presence; she wouldn’t need to hold her weapon in her mouth.

Then, with the grace of a newborn earth foal, she flopped onto the floor. She let out a silent curse, remembering her broken tibia. It certainly wasn’t going to make this the best night of work in her life, but she had worked in similar conditions. It was a fact that had led her friends to get upset many times before, but she didn’t care.

The floor was wet, much to her surprise. A low level of black and red liquid had filled up her room and, without a doubt, the hallways too. She shook her head, knowing it was merely a result of powerful, ambient dream magic nearby. There was only one way to make it disappear, and in order to do so she would have to truly bloody her new hooves.

With a deep breath, she reached a hoof out and chanted. “Dreams of a disconnected reality, unite as one.”

Author's Note

This was easily my favorite chapter since starting the story to work on. I think the extra time spent working on it helped a lot with that, and makes me a lot more confident in writing ahead. The entire bit with Applebloom and the camera was too perfect to pass up on, and I feel silly for not thinking of the Lazaran’s origins as pony-kinds xenophobia manifested till now. Works perfectly for it’s roll in the story and where we are in the shows timeline.

Which makes me wonder, assuming Twilight does at some point defeat the Lazarin (not saying if they will or not), would it come back to life after Opaline’s actions between gen 4 and 5? It’s something to think about.

Chapter 7 – The Nightmares Come, and Bend Reality to Their Whim

“You know, nightmares and dreams don’t need to be in their birth domain to get that boost of power. That is just a representation of the lesser dream that created their environment. As long as the location they are in is remarkably similar to that of said domain, their strength grows.

“So, for an example, say a nightmare of a bullied pony foal or human child was strong enough to become a living nightmare. Any elementary school would do for it to gain more power, not just that specific school. They can even shift it to envision how their original domain looked, turning the building’s shape into something more… otherworldly. Any civilian stuck within should be greatly concerned if they see this.

“You don’t want to know what happens when a dream or nightmare feeds.”

“What in Celestia’s name is causing this flooding? Has every single toilet overflowed?”

Tenderheart was doing her best to not panic at the sight of water – or at least she hoped it was water – flowing down the hospital hallway in directions that didn’t make any sense. Even weirder was the fact that, as far as she was able to tell, it was coming from the roof. At least, the movement on the walls seemed to tell her that, but last she checked a downpour hadn’t been scheduled.

Tenderheart felt half certain she wasn’t awake, but nonetheless she trudged on through the halls. Get down stairs, inform either the Mayor or Princess Twilight, and have whatever was happening fixed. This was a clear health hazard to everypony, patient and staff alike, and seeing as she couldn’t find any of the other staff she was left to do it herself.

As she made her way through the damp halls, slowly wading from the hospital’s second floor to the first, she found herself getting easily turned around. Her mind had to be playing tricks on her, noticing hallways that she was certain hadn’t previously been there. Add along with it the strange, almost organic sounds of the walls and nothing looked quite right. The darkness and solitude messed with her; she had certainly not fallen asleep and buildings didn’t simply change on a whim.

Unless Discord was around, though none of this really seemed to be his style.

Suddenly, Tenderheart stopped, ears flicking down a hallway she hadn’t noticed until it was literally right next to her. She turned to look down at it, listening to the sound of something moving through the water. Another pony was nearby, a thought that caused her body to relax a bit. She raised her hoof, briefly looking to her hoof at the disgusting liquid covering it. If this was the water the hospital was getting, she would have to speak with Mayor Mare about getting the plumbing worked on.

“Hello? Who is it?!”

A form appeared a second later, lumbering in an odd manner. The pony was limping, a sign to the nurse that whoever this was clearly was a patient. She had no idea why they were out of bed, walking about, but she could ask that question later. Shifting her immediate direction, she started to make her way to the patient.

“Sir, miss, are you okay?” She called out to them.

“H-help… help!”

The ponies' pained cries made her pick up her pace, patients coming before anything else in her mind. As she got close enough to see their face, the pony fell over, hiding most of his features from her. Her worry increased, especially considering what it was she did see. It made her wonder who this pony was, because last she knew, they didn’t have anypony staying with burns this bad.

Their entire coat seemed to be gone, replaced by charred black skin that seemed as uncomfortable to live in as it was disgusting. Tenderheart didn’t care though, because this was a patient in need of help and she was the only nurse close enough. She placed a hoof on his back… and it sank inward. Her hoof recoiled back, but the dent didn’t leave, a black ooze not that different from the “water” she was standing in seeping out of his body. It also made the patient groan in agony.

“It huts… hurts. A-always hurts,” he said, a barely noticeable distortion in his voice.

Tenderheart, worried about her touch hurting him further, instead kneeled down to try and get a look at his face. “Sir, you really shouldn’t be up and about in this state. Just tell me which room you were in an–”

The “patient” looked at her, and she froze still. This wasn’t a patient, and the more she looked at it the more she doubted it was really a pony. It was like a burnt corpse, eyeless sockets staring into her as if he could still see. His long, pained breath of cold air left a maw more carnivorous and wicked than a pony should have. Tenderheart took another step back, only for the creature to match it.

“Must… get rid of… hurt,” It said. “Must… sate… hunger.”

Tenderheart tried to break left, but the liquid she was stuck in slowed her down exceptionally more than it did for the creature before her. It barreled into her side, knocking her into the wall. The slippery, moistened floor made it impossible for her to stay standing, and her legs quickly found themselves no longer underneath her.

Before she was able to get back up, the creature stomped on her ribs. If it shattered on, it didn’t really care; all it wanted was that scream of pain and the mare’s unwanted cooperation. Tenderheart flailed, trying to free herself to no avail, even as the pressure the creature was putting on her back caused itself to ooze more of the unknown black substance. It wasn’t blood, or at the very least she hoped it wasn’t.

The creature chuckled, despite the fact it’s body was falling apart. “You will do perfectly. The perfect bate… and the perfect appetizer.”

Tenderheart screamed as loud as she could before its mouth closed around her barrel, in hopes somepony would hear her.

Applebloom was surprised she only seemed to have a mild headache, considering the fall she had taken. No, not only had she fallen, but she had fallen head first into the hard ground below. She may not know a lot of medical stuff, but she was pretty certain that was typically never a good thing. Did she also have a concussion now?

She shook her head to dismiss the thought, and then immediately regretted it by collapsing back onto the ground. Knowing that the pony-like creature was still somewhere, she forced herself back up and looked around. Her eyes immediately fell to her bow, having somehow made its way from her mane to the ground. As if to make it more confusing, somepony had placed a strange blue pin in it.

Now that Applebloom thought about it, how she had fallen from the roof made no sense with just her and the creature there. Has somepony tried to save her? Are they the reason she was not dead?

…

She had almost died.

“D-don’t think about it,” she muttered to herself. “You're alive, Applebloom. That is what matters.”

She placed her ribbon back in her mane, deciding to leave the pin in; that was a question for when she was certain she was out of danger. She paced around in a circle, looking for any sign of Yolina’s phone. A strangely illuminated place in the dark, grassy field caught her eyes. With haste she worked her way over to it, finding the device in question.

The phone was still working; the phone call was still visible on the scream.

“Miss Melissa? Are you there?” No answer. “Miss Melissa!”

Still nothing. She looked at the call timer, only for a cold shiver to work its way down her spine. It wasn’t moving; the fall must have broken something inside of it. Applebloom picked it up and turned the phone around on all sides, trying to see exactly where it was she had broken the device. She found nothing. The damage was all on the inside.

“Oh no. Oh no no no,” Applebloom muttered as she picked it up. “What am I gonna do? That thing could be anywhe-”

“Stay calm, dear dreamer.”

Applebloom swerved around, trying to find wherever the strange, almost ethereal voice had come from. When she saw nothing, she started trotting backwards until her back was against a tree. It wasn’t Applejack, Big Mac, or Granny Smith, and it wasn’t the creature. Whatever she had heard, it was something else.

Which, against the voice’s intention, was making Applebloom very scared.

“Calm, dear dreamer. This is not the time or place for panic.”

“Wh-who are you?!” Applebloom shouted. She did her best to look tough, but instead her expression grew more terrified. “Show yourself.”

“If possible, I would,” the voice said. It was rather maternal, sweet, and caring despite the fear it was giving Applebloom. It reminded her of how she always pictures her mother sounding. “Unfortunately, I am not there. I never expected to talk to you and, truth be told, the fact I am worries me. Who gave you that cursed thing?”

Applebloom looked down at the phone, hugged it close to her chest, and scrunched her muzzle. “If you want it, you can’t have it. This is somepony else’s, and her friends are counting on me to keep it safe till it gets to her.”

“I didn’t… you don’t know,” the voice said in a quieter tone. “It seems this is not the situation I thought it to be.”

Applebloom, feeling a moment of distraction from the unknown being talking to her, took that chance to run. She wasn’t sure where she was going, just away from wherever it was the voice was coming from. Nearly dying once that night was enough for the filly, and she didn’t want to find out if this new voice wanted her dead too.

Applebloom soon found herself lost in her family’s own orchard, tired, panicked, and working mostly on adrenaline. When she felt she was safe, the filly flopped onto the grass. Hey eyes once again looked at the phone’s screen. The call timer had still not gone up, Melissa’s voice nowhere to be found. She felt terrible; Yolina’s friends were looking for her, and now the thestral was unable to contact them.

“Applebloom, please.”

The unknown voice forced a panicked yelp as Applebloom looked around her for the source of the voice. Still the pony or creature in question eluded her sight.

“I understand your fright, but I am not here to hurt you. I wish we never had to meet this way, but…” A terrified breath hit Applebloom’s ears, only serving to make her feel more afraid. “We don’t have time. With each moment we say those compulsive words will grow stronger within you. The moment they are spoken, everything resumes.”

“What the hay are you talking about?” Applebloom shouted in hopes that somepony might hear her. “Why should I trust you?”

“Because if you don’t you’ll find yourself in the middle of an orchard-sized battlefield. You must get out of here.”

“But Big Mac and Granny–”

“They will be fine. A Magral Knight wouldn’t allow them to get hurt.”

Applebloom was lost, but a large part of her didn’t really care anymore. Getting up, she quickly ran in the direction she hoped would be towards Ponyville. If somepony could help her and get this unknown voice away, it was Princess Twilight.

Slowly and methodically, Yolina crept her way through the hospital halls. A bulava was gripped in her hooves, helping her stay upright and out of the seemingly rising tide of black ooze. She prayed that the other patients were safe and asleep, and then did the same for the staff that she knew was awake. Staff that were no doubt in danger because they were trying to take care of her.

Well, it was her turn to return the favor, no matter how much they would yell at her later.

It was greatly concerning how fast the living nightmare (this sure as hell didn’t come from a living dream), had asserted control of the building. Typically it took much, much longer, but this wasn’t Earth’s nightmares she was dealing with. It was entirely possible Equus had a closer connection to its realm of dreams compared to her own. If that was the case, how quickly her environment had transformed into something out of a horror movie.

Her eyes went from the wall to the ceiling to the liquid covered floor below her. Her adversary could be practically anywhere around her, and she needed to make sure it didn’t get the drop on her. That went especially true with her ability to walk as limited as it was. She didn’t want to find out if the ooze was real enough to drown her.

Turning the corner and looking down the hall, Yolina’s eyes went wide as she spotted a figure laying limp in the middle. Quickening her pace as much as she could without hurting herself too much, she waded her way over. Her grip on her bulava tightened in case it was her enemy, but the closer she got the clearer it became that they were not a living nightmare. It was a nurse, laying there and breathing weakly.

Despite the fact she was looking straight at Yolina, Tenderheart didn’t take notice of the thestral. Her stare went off into the distant beyond, her expression forced into a terror that the knight before her knew all too well. With a full circle turn to make sure there was no clearly visible threat, Yolina allowed her guard to slightly drop as she reached the mare before her.

“Miss, are you okay?” the thestral asked, knowing full well that the mare was definitely not okay. When she didn’t receive an answer, she placed her free forehoof on their shoulder. “Miss–”

Tenderheart suddenly came alive, screaming and smacking Yolina’s hoof off of her. Flailing her hooves around, she managed to get enough of them under her to back up. It was only when she had put four feet between herself and Yolina that she realized it wasn’t the creature who had attacked her. She watched from a distance as a heavily soaked thestral got her forehooves back under her.

“Thank god I didn’t land on the head of this thing,” Yolina muttered as she picked her bulava back up. The sight of the weapon made the nurse before her shrink. “Look, I have a feeling what happened to you, I just need you to stay calm and–”

“You have to get out of here!”

Tenderheart’s fear-laden interjection caused everything Yolina said to fall apart. The way the mare’s breath had gone from invisible to on the verge of hyperventilating, Tenderheat’s entire body shivering as if she had been trapped outside in the middle of winter, was telling. As the nurse backed away, a far softer sloshing sound hit Yolina’s ears. A sound that was moving far too fast for a normal being.

“Please, before it gets you. You got to run.”

The sound came from behind Yolina, so that was where the Magral Knight faced. Her eyes bore into the water, taken as best a defense stance as possible with a leg broken. Her ears caught the sound of the nurse behind her running off, which was probably for the best; they had already experienced enough dread that night. As one sloshing sound grew quieter, the other grew louder, before finally an entity rounded the corner in a blur too fast for Yolina to comprehend.

Then again, she didn’t need to see what it was. Spreading her wings for extra balance, Yolina acted. With it lunging at her, she used her one good hind hoof and free front hoof to stand upright, allowing her to swing her weapon into the creature. It burst apart, splattering her with more black ooze. A normal pony would have declared it a quick and easy victory, but Yolina knew better.

That wasn’t what a nightmare looked like when they died, and she was unhappily proven right when a wheezing laugh cut through the air.

“Her majesty was right. You knights truly are reckless.”

The ooze on her body slithered off her, collecting just a couple feet to her left. With a hop, wings still splayed out, Yolina snarled as a creature formed from the very ooze she stood in. Burnt flesh conjured into existence, wrapping around the ooze in a desperate attempt to keep it all together. It’s hold was thin, the substance underneath it seeming to pulse. When all was done, the same figure that had attacked Tenderheart once again stood, staring at Yolina with psychotic glee.

“It is an honor to stand against you, Magral Knight.”

Author's Note

The middle section of this chapter proved a lot harder to write then I thought it would. I'm very happy with how it all turned out, however.

Chapter 8 – Face Me and Perish, Monster

“Her majesty,” Yolina whispered, thoughts briefly dipping away from her immediate concerns. “Luna’s a knight like myself, meaning… Celestia sent you?”

The nightmare laughed at her. “How intriguing the world would be if that was the case. You humans did have a habit of painting her as a villain, so perhaps it can’t be blamed.”

Yolina’s eyes narrowed at the creature before her. It knew what she was, and put her a lot more on edge then she would otherwise feel. If it knew she was human – that she didn’t belong in Equestria – then there was no telling what other knowledge it had. It's already unpredictable nature had just grown substantially worse.

Then there was the matter that talked about Celestia as if humanity knew them. Was Equestria an ascended dream? She would have to inquire further from her American friends once the immediate problem was dealt with. There was clearly more to this pony-filled world then she knew.

“I’ll simply tell you that you are wrong and leave it at that. You’ll have to live the rest of your short existence without answers,” the nightmare continued on. Its words brought Yolina’s attention to above her, taking notice of the twin pillars of ooze that laid above it. “For her majesty to rise to glory once again, you must die.”

As the pillars fell over, their size and form leaving her in shadows, Yolina decided it was time to see how capable she was with her wings. Pushing off the ground with the mace and her hind leg, she flapped her wings. While she had avoided the ooze itself, the collapse sent a title wave outwards, and she had not gained enough height to avoid it.

The wave pushed her back and then under. The ooze had no tide, a fact that she was initially thankful for… before she realized she was unable to pull her head up. It held her like a vice grip, leaving most of her body immobile underneath with the exception of her wings and the hoof wielding the mace. She struggled against it, only managing to pull herself free after a serious amount of effort. An effort that strained her battered, unhealed body.

An effort the nightmare laughed at. “New body too clumsy for you, human?”

“Aren’t you the cockiest critter on this side of the border,” Yolina muttered back in Ukrainian. She spat out some ooze that had wormed its way into her mouth. “I thought you were going to chat for a while, to give me an idea of what's going on. Since that isn’t the case” She raised her other front hoof out, grabbing onto a silk-like string that hadn’t previously been there, “lets dance.”

The nightmare quickly followed the silk to its destination, realizing all too late what it was attached to. With speed no injured pony should be able to muster, Yolina surged right into the nightmares face. Grinning through the grime that covered her body, she struck the creature’s neck with her mace. Instead of breaking apart like he had with her first attack, it merely removed some of the burnt skin that made his form. The ooze inside it pooled out like a waterfall, unnatural and far too thick to be considered anything close to blood.

Despite the dent and ooze seeping from its body, the nightmare hadn’t stumbled or winced from the hit. More than enough battling with creatures like it told Yolina all she needed to know: the ooze and skin were just armor. The actual nightmare controlling it lied inside.

Acknowledging this, she tested for where she figured it was most likely to be. Yolina struck the nightmare’s head, and once again was met with not even a wince. The blow did cave in one side of its face, more ooze spraying out onto the already-coated wall.

Retracting the mace once more, she next swung towards the chest. Contact was never made, the nightmare blocking the strike with a wall of sludge that had arisen from nowhere. Yolina had the force to crack it, but not actually break it open. With it already firmly indented in the erected wall, the ooze immediately sealed itself back up. The bulava’s head was covered with it.

Yolina felt a shadow darken the area she stood in and gave a brief look behind her. A wave of ooze towered over her, consuming the entire hallway behind her. The nightmare before her had created the perfect cage, himself as the bait. Yolina had to admit it was smart, and would probably be effective at containing most Magral Knights. She knew two who were able to get out.

One was Melissa, the other was herself.

As the wave made its descent, no doubt planning to leave her helpless under its force, she tested her silk strings. There were a few of them, but only two had any shine. One was connected to the wall she was currently stuck in, the other led into the floor.

With only a second till she was pulled under, Yolina yanked on the latter. The wave crashed, filling one end of the hall. As the nightmare lowered the wall, allowing the ooze to wash over his body, he bit down…

… and found nothing. She had escaped.

He growled, and said growl escalated into a roar. She had gotten away. How, he did not know, but he wasn’t able to feel her body squirm in the ooze before him. The knight, injured and unbalanced as she had been, was a stubborn bug to squash.

Any attempt Yolina had for a short-term celebration was cut short by a scream. That scream was then followed by a deserving – especially for the circumstances – punch to the face. The blow was more than enough to knock her fragile form into the ooze-covered floor below before the cause of said assault gasped.

“Oh Celestia, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…”

Yolina raised up her free hoof, using her other and the bulava to get back onto all fours. To the surprise of the nurse before her, she laughed a little. It was forced, but Yolina had hoped the smile would help in ease the worries of the mare she had abruptly appeared in front of. Given Tenderheart seemed on the verge of a nervous breakdown, it wasn’t enough.

“I think I need to be the one apologizing. I told you to run for your safety but… well…” Yolina lifted the thread attached to Tenderheart. The mare before her looked between the thread and the thestral, jaw stuck open, “yeah, sorry. Not the best patient.”

Tenderheart immediately broke the string, something rather easy as she noticed. She briefly looked behind herself, and then back to Yolina. “How did… h-have you been following me?”

“No need, with dream magic,” Yolina answered, seeming far too smug for how injured she was. “Don’t ask questions, we don’t have time. I’ll just ask one thing of you,” she dragged herself towards the scared nurse, patting her on the chest. As she brought her hoof back, Tenderheart witnessed another string was now attached to her, “don’t break the string until the hospital changes back.”

With that she yanked on the string attached to the nightmare, and disappeared. It was at that moment that Tenderheart had deemed she had seen enough, and fainted.

Before he had seen the knight reappear, Yolina had already struck. Her bulava collided with his chest, and there was nothing he was able to do in order to stop her. The hit broke through the skin-like, gooey armor that made up his visible form. A softer, pinker skin was visible underneath now.

By the time she had seen it, the element of surprise was over, and the nightmare attacked back. He threw up a punch, one she guarded with the bulava’s handle. A spike burst forth from the wall, aimed for her cheek, and she jumped back to avoid it. He had created space, given himself an advantage, and he was going to use that.

He created a wall behind Yolina, one she noticed near immediately, cutting off her escape. Where he was more toying with her earlier, believing her injuries meant she was weak, he was now leaving no chance. A row of small, jagged spines formed from the ooze before him, all launching at Yolina. With their speed and numbers, it had again seemed impossible to escape.

Yet again, he forgot about the thread.

Instead of taking herself back to Tenderheart, knowing the mare had already had enough heart attacks, she put herself back on the offensive. As soon as the spikes had launched, she had tugged on the string still connected to her opponent, and in a blink she was no longer the one in danger. The spikes were behind her, enemy so close she could kiss them, and her weapon was already mid string.

She struck the skin under the armor, and she was rewarded with the first sign of visible pain the nightmare had shown that night. It’s muzzle roared in agony, and then tried to bring its teeth upon her neck. Yoliva fell purposely onto her side to avoid the strike, and threw all her might into a straight punch at the nightmare’s true flesh. While the reaction to that blow wasn’t as visceral as before, her enemy’s pained snarl was more than enough to tell her she was proving effective.

The nightmare’s hoof attempted to stomp on her face, and she was forced to roll away. After being certain she was far enough away, Yolina laid on her belly and looked in front of her. She gritted her teeth; her weapon had been left behind in the flurry of activity. Wanting it back immediately, she went to pull on the thread connected to the nightmare once again…

… only it to cut the thread off.

“Clever trick, but not clever enough,” the nightmare replied. The words were as much mocking her as they were a compliment. “I have heard that your kind is formidable. Somehow they understated it.”

He pushed Yolina’s bulava under his body, took a step forward, and then kicked it behind him. She let loose a silent swear; with her current state, she was no longer in any position to fight the creature.

“Trust me, if my friend's were here, one cut connection would not be enough to stop me,” she replied back, daring to smile. Yolina knew it gave him a clear signal she had something else up her sleeve, but she didn’t reveal anything. Her thread to Tenderheart was simply useful for escape now, nothing more.

Her words got a laugh out of the creature, this time clearly meant to be mocking. “No friend is helping you here, human. What, expecting a song and a couple words to fix everything?”

“I’m not five,” she said, pushing herself up so that her chest was free of the ooze around her. She grimaced at it for a moment, and then eyed the nightmare sternly, “but I’m also not an idiot. You’ve seen what I can do, now imagine that with six of the strongest Magral Knights alive at my side.”

“You exaggerate.”

“You don’t know what we are capable of,” she replied, narrowing her eyes. She readied herself to zip out of danger, knowing her coming words would test the nightmare before her. “Actually, perhaps you do. Melissa Rogers, Lucy Francois, Maria “Dragon” Hoover, Holly Richards, Jessica “Jay” Wilde,” she allowed the smallest sign of a smile to reappear, “Yolina Yvanova. You know about my home realm, you know my people, so you must know us… if you aren’t dumbass, that is.”

There was the slightest sign of fear in the nightmares stance, followed afterwards by a snarl of disgust. Yolina snorted in amusement, knowing that she had gotten a small victory over the nightmare in the end. She watched as it readied another spike in rage, and then flew it at her immediately. She went to tug her string and escape, but then her eyes shot wide open.

The launched spike crashed against a curved, translucent, dark blue wall that both knew wasn’t there previously. It disintegrated on the spot, leaving one nightmare growling in anger and one human in shock. Her ears then made note of a sound coming from before her, approaching slowly and methodically. Yolina looked back, and her shock turned to a cocky grin.

Luna dared to return it back as she approached, stepping out of a closing portal. Yolina recognized what lay on the other side as the realm of dreams.

“We had a feeling your arrival had not gone unnoticed, Lady Yolina. We did not expect you to be out of bed, doing further harm to the body our reality has loaned you,” Luna replied, her shame surface level and nothing more. “Hardly a good impression for someone claiming to be important. Perhaps next time, you’ll wait for a full recovery.”

Yolina chuckled, looking in the opposite direction in embarrassment. “Yeah, like I’m going to give you all the fun. Beat him good for me, will ya?”

“I think I can imagine that,” Luna replied. Her gaze then turned from the human-turned-thestral to the nightmare. Her face grew a lot more stern. “You’re one of hers, aren’t you?”

“Who else, host,” the nightmare shot back, taking a daring step forward. The sight of the night princess had instilled the slightest giddiness in him, though he hid it decently. “You are saving her majesty time and planning, showing up tonight. I will enjoy bringing your unconscious form before my queen once again.”

“And I shall enjoy destroying her ambitions. I will not succumb to her again,” Luna replied. She stomped the floor, a gooey splash replacing the loud, desired echo she had hoped the actual would have achieved. “I am not the mare I was all those years ago.”

Yolina blinked, her shock returning as she listened to the princess and nightmare speak. While she still held far too few details to be sure, if the words being said meant what she thought they did, she had gotten wrapped up in something far bigger than she had ever expected.

Author's Note

Told y'all that daily or consistent uploads shouldn't be expected. Started writing the chapter immediately after the last, and then got stumped for a decent while of how the fight should progress. Will likely show in how the start of the chapter is written compared to the rest. Taking some time to think about it helped a lot, but also meant my writing changed a slight bit. Hopefully the next one will be out a bit quicker than this.

Chapter 9 – Princess of Night, Knight of Dreams

Some time earlier

Ponyville was too quiet.

It was one of the many thoughts storming through Applebloom’s head as she rushed through town towards Twilight’s castle. Sure, Ponyville certainly wasn’t that active at night, but Pinkie Pie’s mere existence in it made the idea of it being completely silent eerie. She didn’t see anypony, no one had noticed and asked what she was doing there so late at night. It was a ghost town.

Even more worrying was the lack of nature’s sounds too. The only thing that hit her ears was the clip clop of her own hooves, not even the dirt she kicked up in her sprint making itself known. None of it made sense, but then again nothing had since Melissa had called her that morning. The world was being flipped on its head, and she felt like she was the only pony who knew that.

Even worse, she was becoming more and more aware of what the booming voice she had heard earlier meant when speaking of compulsive words. She had no idea where the compulsion was coming from, nor what it was she wanted to say, but she had to say something. It frightened her what those words could possibly be, refusing to open her mouth in fear of what might come out.

Didn’t matter how dry her mouth and throat got as she ran, she would not open them until absolutely necessary.

The closer she got to the castle, the longer each second seemed to become. Time seemed to drag on, her mind in full panic, the words gaining strength. Once she got there, she knew she would be safe. Hoof after hoof made its way forward, never once looking back in fear at the creature that had attacked her.

Then, finally, after an amount of time her brain was too tired to figure it out, she reached it. The door to the castle was right in front of her, and she quickly started to bang on it with her hooves.

No one answered.

Exhausted, tired, and not thinking clearly, Applebloom continued to beat on the door like a punching bag. The idea of opening it didn’t hit her. After minutes of banging her hooves on the door, she slid down to the ground and curled up, tired and afraid. It was at that moment she finally looked back, and for the first time since leaving the farm her mouth open.

“I-I… I dream–“

She immediately closed her mouth, shook her head, and examined the ground closer. It might have been dark, but she knew what she was looking at. Specks of dirt were in the air, frozen still, as if Discord was playing the smallest, most ill-times prank she had ever seen. She shook her head again, unsure of what she was seeing.

“Wh-what is–“

She clamped her muzzle shut once again. Those words might have been her own, but fear told her to stay quiet. Even still, the compulsion to speak grew stronger, very little holding her back.

In the end, all it took was a few words to finally get the words out.

“It is okay, young knight. You are safe enough to speak them now.”

That was all Applebloom’s brain needed. She had been told to speak, her very being begged her to, and the shock at the time-frozen dirt had taken her off guard just enough.

Without further need to keep her muzzle shut, the young filly spoke. “I dream a dreamer’s dream.”

Such simple, seemingly unimportant words, and yet they caused a cavalcade of events around her. As if sound was finally catching up, her ears were suddenly filled with sound. Dirt getting kicked up, an ear-ring amount of thuds and bams on the door behind her. Applebloom groaned, forelegs going to her ears as she winced from the overstimulation. She did not notice the dirt fall back to the ground.

What she did notice was a single voice. “Applebloom? Applebloom?!”

Applebloom’s eyes went wide, doing everything she could to ignore her ringing ears as she focused her attention on Yolina’s phone. “M-Miss Melissa?”

“Oh thank god you're okay,” Melissa replied, a sigh leaving her mouth simultaneously to her words. “Is everything okay?”

“I-I don’t know,” Applebloom explained, looking around at the dark town before her. With the phone’s light shining on you, things suddenly felt far darker than before. “I fell off the roof and I thought I was going to die, but I didn’t. Then I thought the phone was broken and this strange voice was talking to me from seemingly nowhere and–”

“Whoa, whoa, calm down Applebloom. This isn’t the time to–“ Melissa suddenly stopped speaking. Applebloom tensed up, worried she might have somehow broken the phone again. That ended when Melissa spoke in a far quieter, far more terrified voice. “You… you heard a voice?”

“Y-yeah. It asked me where I got the phone, and then told me about these compulsive words and then, well,” Applebloom did everything in her power to calm herself before continuing, “I said them. Did they fix the phone?”

Melissa didn’t respond, but this time Applebloom knew it wasn’t because of the phone. The call timer was going again, continuing from where it had been as if nothing had been wrong previously. It quickly hit Applebloom that she might have made a mistake, and her ears folded back.

“I-I’m sorry, Miss Melissa. I don’t know what I did wrong but…”

She wasn’t sure how to finish her statement. Melissa, in turn, gave her no opportunity to do so.

“No, Applebloom. This is our fault.” Applebloom’s jaw hung open at her words. “The words this voice mentioned are “I dream the dreamer’s dream”, correct?”

“Yeah!” Applebloom answered, nodding her head out of habit. “How… how did you know?”

“I’ve spoken them before, as has Yolina. In fact, only a few of my friends haven’t,” Melissa replied, a half-hearted chuckle leaving her lips. It was impossible to not make out how forced it sounded. “Applebloom, what I’m about to tell you can’t be told to anyone. At least, not anyone you trust to keep a lifelong secret, understand?”

While certainly confused at how the mare was acting, Applebloom still nodded. “Okay, got it. You aren’t a bad pony, right?”

“No, and I’m… I’m not a pony. I’m something called a human.” Applebloom’s eyes went wide. She recognized the species name from eavesdropping on Applejack and the other element. “More specifically, I’m a Magral Knight, a person that fights nightmares and dreams that try to hurt people in the real world. You’re one of us now. Those words you said sealed that.”

The crash of magic against a wall, the clash of metal against ooze. These were the sounds that filled Luna’s ears as she pursued the enemy nightmare. Dual sabers of pure magic floated around her, acting on her command and keeping her offensive. All the while her hooves danced, avoiding spike after spike the enemy through at her like a dancer.

Out of practice though she was, the movements and thought process of being a knight came back to her like the snap of a griffon’s claws. Where Celestia was the politician, playing mental chess games with nobles and ambassadors, she was the warrior. It was through her that the griffons had come to respect Equestria’s might, and through her the army of the nation grew mighty.

Shining Armor was a spectacular captain, but the guards she had returned to after being freed from Nightmare Moon was a sign her sister wasn’t half the military mastermind she was.

In the same way the nightmare had played with Yolina, believing an injured opponent was an easy one, she now did the same to him. None of her strikes were meant to kill, merely pester. It was easy, especially with how his attacks grew less and less calculated as she continued.

She would dodge one way at slash at the shoulder, then the other when his next attack missed. The way he snarled at her actions brought her a sense of joy. Yet at the same time, she knew this couldn’t continue forever. They were in a hospital after all, and she had to assure the safety of the patients.

“Why. Won’t. You. Fall?!” The nightmare roared, completely overtaken by fury. Each word was met with a spike jutting out from the ooze, none landing their mark as Luna spun with playful elegance. “You know your fight is futile. You will be hers again, so why do you resist? Gah!”

“Because I am not a fool who believes everything is absolute,” Luna said, slashing at the nightmare’s back with both sabers. “Nightmare Moon believed herself undefeatable, and yet twice she has fallen. Can you truly say that parasite will win, knowing that?”

“She speaks of victory, of justice for the nightmares you continue to refuse life!” The nightmare replied. The spike that ended his sentence was destroyed by a simple shield spell. “Every night you kill dozens upon dozens of nightmares before they are allowed to gain life. You treat us with misery and disdain while propping dreams on a pedestal. Why do you hate us? Why do you hurt us alone, when dreams are no different?”

Luna answered not with words, but with an attack. Jumping towards the nightmare and spinning around, a hindleg connected with the underside of its jaw. The creature stumbled back, unable to recover as Luna spun yet again and kicked again, hitting the side of its face. Her sabers took action after that, one spearing it through its exposed core while the other went for the eye. It cried out in pain, the walls vibrating as if in response.

All it took then was for Luna to use her front hooves to pin the creature to the ground. Her magic gripped it’s core, refusing to let it squirm away.

“Every night, my ponies are assailed by their deepest fears and worst memories, twisted diabolically to torture them,” Luna explained to the nightmare. “I have seen how your kind act if given the chance to live. I have seen the pain, fear, and terror that you strike into others. You ask why I destroy your kind,” she removed the saber stuck in its core, “that is why?”

The saber plunged back into the core, and it immediately began to crack. Those cracks quickly became bigger and bigger, and more formed off of them like branches on trees. Knowing the inevitable was coming, the nightmare looked into Luna’s eyes one last time.

“As long as you live, as long as the tear in vale between realms exists, you are not safe,” he told her. Then, he rest his head back and closed his eyes. “Long live her majesty, Nightmare Moon.”

Then, the core shattered into pieces, and the body the nightmare had made itself collapsed. The face melted into the ooze, which quickly grew more and more opaque before vanishing all together. While Luna should have felt satisfied with an easy victory, her body stayed tense.

The nightmare may have been an evil thing through and through, but it was right about one thing: she was in danger. The way into the realm of reality had been brought about by Yolina’s violent entrance to her world. The very creature that had taken control of her years ago could come and leave as it pleased.

It was only a matter of time until Nightmare Moon tried to reclaimed what she thought was hers.

“Forgive me Yolina,” she whispered to herself, “but I fear your return home is no longer my greatest concern.”

With a swish of her horn, the magic-made saber disappeared into nothingness. She took a brief look around her at the hospital. Their were cracks in the tile floors and dents in the wall from the battle. It was an easy fix, but she’d have to do it after getting the thestral back to her hospital room.

“Damn it, I missed the finale.”

Luna turned around at the voice that had penetrated the sudden silence. A hoof immediately went to her face, Yolina had literally dragged herself to the princess, bulava in hoof. She managed to hold a chuckle inside; no doubt she was just as reckless before Nightmare Moon had taken her over. Desperation for attention caused ponies to do dumb things.

“I believe I made it clear enough you should stay still,” Luna said, not fully able to hide her amusement in her tone.

Yolina shrugged. “People tell me lots of things, and I’m not the best at listening. What makes me so dangerous.”

“To the nightmares, or yourself?”

“The nightmares, obviously,” Yolina replied. She brought her free home up, showing Luna the thread connecting herself to Tenderheart. “I wasn’t in any real danger when you saved me. I can be a real menace, even like this.”

Despite herself, Luna smiled at the reckless words that left the human-turned-thestral’s muzzle. She had no idea what the thread meant, but she was aware of the strange powers Magral Knights tended to have. A way to level the playing field against creatures with powers most unpredictable.

“Well, let us hope that next time we see each other, you don’t need to be so reckless,” Luna said, lifting Yolina in her magic as she made her way to them. As soon as she was over the Luna’s back, the thestral was plopped down on top of the princess. “Though this is certainly not the last time we will be fighting together. You’ve caused a bit of a problem when you crash landed, you see?”

Yolina blinked slowly, tilted her head, and raised her brow. “You mean other than causing a farmer a good bit of money in damages.”

“Yes, and don’t worry about that.” Luna smiled, unable to contain her amusement at the thestral’s worries. “Knowing the apple family, they likely repaired it themselves a few days ago.” The smile faded immediately after finishing the sentence, a sigh escaping her. “The real problem lies in the fact that, as of three days ago, a certain mare accidentally punched a hole in the vale that separates our realms.”

It took Yolina’s brain a couple of seconds, but as soon as she realized who the mare was she put on a sheepish grin. “Oh, hehe, whoops.”

Chapter 4 – Accept My Apologies, Little Filly

In the span of an hour and a half, almost the entirety of Ponyville castle’s library had gone from the most organized room in the entire castle to the messiest. Three ponies and one dragon search book after book, nonfiction to fiction, for some vague idea of whatever it was that had attacked Yolina. Princess Twilight Sparkle had surrounded herself completely with a mountain of books, one side read while the other was still on her list. Starlight and Spike matched her reading pace but took time choosing what they read instead of opening whatever was closest.

Applejack, meanwhile, did her best to keep up with the ponies and dragon more use to this. She was a far slower reader than any of them, not to mention was decently less familiar with what she was looking for. The number of different types of books that could hold what they were looking for made her head spin, and the volume of reading she had done was making her head start to feel light.

How much longer till they had their answer? Would they even get an answer? Applejack was starting to worry that not only was Yolina’s attacker some unknown beast, but one that Equestria had never seen before. It certainly made her nervous for what might happen when the school finally opened. In their attempts to spread the lessons of friendship to places beyond Equestria, they might now be putting ponies in greater danger than intended.

“Applejack, you’re sure she didn’t tell you anything else about this monster?” Twilight asked from inside what was practically a fortress of books at this point. “Anything at all?”

“Nope. Nothing,” Applejack replied, head dropping forward in annoyance. “And you’re certain it isn’t a bugbear?”

“Bugbears aren’t naturally aggressive. They wouldn’t have attacked Yolina unless she went near a cub or was seen in their territory.” Twilight turned her fourth page in the span of two sentences before continuing. “I also doubt that a bugbear wouldn’t have chased after you for an easy meal.”

Applejack gulped, shaking her head to avoid the picture of a bugbear eating the pony she had just saved. She knew how dangerous they were after battling one before Cranky and Matilda’s wedding. It was the only guess she had about what this beast could be, and if it wasn’t… a shiver ran down her spine.

What was it?

“The creature didn’t want food, otherwise they would have finished the job and not thrown her into the roof of Sweet Apple Acres,” Starlight thought out loud. “It wasn’t looking for food, it was looking to kill her. If we take that into consideration, then what we are dealing with isn’t some normal animal.”

“So does that mean it was a griffon or a dragon?” Spike asked, looking up from his current book to look.

Twilight shot up from the top of her book fortress, looking at Spike with eyes, terrified eyes. “What?! No! They wouldn't do that… At least I hope so. Especially with the school so close to being done and how important it is not just to the world but in terms of Equestria’s standing with its allies.”

“And Yolina isn’t an Equestrian citizen, right? She’s from a place not on any map,” Starlight continued, looking to Applejack for confirmation she was right. The farmer gave her a nod. “So why her? If somepony really wanted to make a political statement they wouldn’t attack some random thestral. They would go for a noble, one of the princesses, or the former element bearers.”

“Which is why we are going to keep on reading until we find something that makes sense,” Twilight said, falling back to her floor and picking her current book back up, only to realize she had just finished it. She quickly placed it on the top of the ever increasing pile before turning to the next one. “There has to be something we are forgetting. We just need to keep searching until we find it”

There was a collective groan throughout the library from everypony save the princess of friendship. Applejack mentally berated herself for coming to the castle first instead of after getting her farm work done.

Melissa looked at her recent phone calls, Lucy at her side as they rested against a wall within the halls of one of Champlain College’s many academic buildings. Both of them had already had their classes for the day, giving the time to discuss exactly what it was that had made the former flip that morning. Melissa had expected a rather understandable berating from her girlfriend for yelling at a young child, no matter what the reason might be.

Instead, she had only so far mentioned the girl calling herself “Applebloom” before Lucy had suddenly taken to the internet.

As Lucy searched up whatever it was that had suddenly gained her interest, Melissa considered the possibility of calling Applebloom back. She was still upset that some random Texan had somehow obtained something belonging to a dear friend, but she didn’t deserve the treatment she had received. Perhaps if she called back and apologized, the young girl could tell her if they knew what happened to Yolina.

“Yep, as I thought. This is her.”

Lucy suddenly shoved her phone in Melissa’s face, showing a picture of… a small cartoon horse with a ribbon in her mane. The shock on Melissa’s face turned to something far more blank as she looked at Lucy, who was looking at her judgingly. After looking between the phone and french girl several more times, Melissa sighed.

“You spent all that time looking for a pony from a kids show?” Melissa asked, taking a hold of Lucy’s phone.

“Not just any pony from a kids show!” Lucy replied, placing one hand on her hip and using the other to point to the pony in question. “This is Applebloom, a filly with a rather thick southern accent.”

Melissa’s eyes went wide, once again looking back between her girlfriend and the picture of the filly multiple times. A piece of her knew what was being implied, but a somehow intact side of her that was still grounded in logic couldn’t bring itself to believe it. Even if Yolina was trying to prove wondrous, fantastical life could be found in the universe by leaving the known portions of the realm of dreams, the idea she had ended up in a world populated by horses felt too absurd.

“It… it can’t be possible,” Melissa said, trying to convince herself more than she was trying to convince Lucy. “There has to be something that makes more sense than this.” She looked back to the picture of Applebloom. “Right?”

Lucy smiled, shaking her head in amusement. “Remember what Vee always tells you when you say things like that? Through our imagination, we create things that break impossibility and show that it can exist. Through our belief in it, through our love and care, that new creation-”

“No matter how far-fetched, can become reality,” Melissa finished. She sighed once again, logic accepting a defeat that it was becoming all too normal for its liking. “So… I yelled at a little pony earlier.”

The smile Lucy wore instantly fell away, making Melissa take a worrying step back.“Oh, you didn’t just yell at a little pony earlier, but a little pony kid! You probably scared the shit out of her!”

Melissa wasn’t sure whether to apologize, stare blankly, or groan as loudly as possible about the situation put in front of her. She started to wonder how her life had gotten to that point, and then distinctly remembered the exact moment reality started taking strange turns: when Vee had unceremoniously fallen out of the sky and collided with her arm. Becoming a Magral Knight, fighting nightmares, and ending up in the exact situation where her brain could be convinced that, yes, talking ponies were actually real all stemmed from that single unfortunate incident.

Her life could easily be called a strange, unnatural mess, and while her brain certainly didn’t like the constant twisting of logic she didn’t really hate it. The monsters she had to deal with some nights made her stomach churn at times, but bringing them down made her happy, knowing she had saved or avenged a life. Lives that had ranged from young to old, friendly to offensive, and all manner of inbetween. All of them were targeted by nightmares so addicted to the energy they got from dreams it reminded Melissa of those constant “do not vape” ads she got on YouTube.

“I should… probably apologize to Applebloom,” Melissa finally said after a long, painful silence, holding Lucy’s phone out and looking back at her own. “She didn’t deserve getting screamed at like that.”

Lucy allowed the tiniest amount of her smile to her, giving a consenting nod. “Yeah, though I can’t say I completely blame you. In the heat of the moment, thinking I’ve finally gotten hold of Yolina for the first time in days, I’d be pretty pissed at myself.”

“Pissed?” Melissa asked, somehow managing to conjure a goofy smile despite the atmosphere. “Lu, I don’t want to know the amount of expletives and destruction that would have been left if you were the one who had made the call.”

Lucy let out a mock gasp, placing a hand to her chest. “Me? You would call the daughter of an extremely successful CEO a barbarian!”

“Says the girl who is practically a blood mage and hasn’t brushed her hair in two whole weeks.” Against her will, the french girl blushed at her girlfriend’s accurate statement. “Barbarian or not, doesn’t make me love you any less.”

Lucy’s eyes found the wall, tracing the lines between the stones that made it up. “Not sure whether to feel insulted or proud after hearing that.”

“Maybe both?” Melissa said. “I’m sensing a hint of both.”

The blush on her face increased, because as much as she hated to admit it Melissa was right. Both of them knew any “high and mighty” behavior from her was a joke and nothing more. After all, daughter of a CEO she may be, the first eight years hadn’t been in their care. She couldn’t help but chuckle at how surprised that version of herself would be to see the women she had become.

“So you gonna call a small pony or not, wiseass?” She jokingly spat back. The harsh words didn’t make their smile any less true.

With a nod, Melissa opened Yolina’s contacts and pressed call. She turned on the speaker phone so that Lucy was able to join in if she wanted to, and waited. After three rings, the otherside answered, and a familiar young voice suddenly appeared from the other side.

“Hello?”

“Hey. This is Applebloom right?”

Even if she couldn’t see it, Melissa was sure Applebloom was shaking at the sound of hearing her voice again. There was a pause in the initial sound of clip clops through the speaker.

“Applebloom, everything okay?” Another voice asked, just as young and somewhat scratchy. She probably had no idea Melissa could hear her.

“Y-yeah,” Applebloom said, her stutter betraying her answer. “Um… I’m really sorry for making you mad earlier, miss. It just scared me.”

“Hey, it’s fine. I’m actually calling to apologize about yelling at you earlier,” Melissa said. When Applebloom didn’t immediately respond, she continued. “I’ve been worried about a friend, you see. A… mare by the name of Yolina.”

“Yolina?” One final new voice asked, this one reminding of a far young Lucy. The aggressive edge her girlfriend had was missing, but it was there. “Applebloom, is that the name of the mare that crashed through your roof three days ago.”

Lucy leaned close. “Wait, three days?”

There was no reply, which Melissa expected was due to the ponies on the other side not expecting someone new to show up on her end. The lining up of dates couldn’t be a coincidence though; Melissa hadn’t mentioned how long Yolina had been missing both during breakfast and now. Forcing a cough, and seeing as how Applebloom hadn’t hung up just yet, Melissa decided to get the conversation moving again.

“Rights, perhaps some introductions first. Applebloom, my name is Melissa, and the… mare you just heard is my, um, marefriend.”

“Lucy Francious,” Lucy said, giving a salute to the fillies that they would never see. “Bonjour, Applebloom.”

“Oh, um, bond draw to you too?” Applebloom replied, her butchered greeting getting a giggle from both Melissa and Lucy. “I have two of my friends here with me, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.”

“Oh, uh, hi Miss Melissa and Miss Lucy,” the raspier voice, Scootaloo, replied. “It’s nice to meet you, and sorry about your friend.”

“Yeah. If something like that happened to Applebloom and Scootaloo and I didn’t know what was going on, I would be just as scared,” Sweetie Belle said.

Despite her personal feelings about little kids, Melissa’s smile couldn’t help but grow at the sincerity of their words. They weren’t like the typical gremlins that screamed when things didn’t go their way or wandered around without a second thought. Sure, a piece of that no doubt resided within them, but for how young they sounded they were rather mature.

Was she like that before dysphoria and the true nature of her parents started to show themselves? Perhaps, but she would never know. She had cut all contact with her mother as soon as she went off to college, and her father… the screams he caused still rang in her ear. Her free hand gripped at an invisible revolver, doing her best to stay calm.

“Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo,” Lucy called, a maternal note hitting her voice. Melissa looked at her eyes, noting the sudden fear. “What happened to Yolina? Is she okay?”

Quiet. The sudden silence allowed Melissa the time she needed to have taken in Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo’s earlier remark. A stuttered breath left her mouth, free hand clenched tighter. As she looked back to the phone her mind recalled what Applebloom had said during that first, far less friendly call between them.

Yolina had crashed into a roof. Something had gone very, very wrong.

“I’m not sure. I think I heard mention of her having woken up when I went to go visit Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, though,” the farm filly answered.

“Woke up?” Melissa asked. She and Lucy shared a look of concern between themselves, heartbeat increasing. “You mean she’s been unconscious?”

“Y-yeah. Three days ago she crashed into our farm house. My brother and sister, Applejack and Big Mac helped get her to the hospital. Sis mentioned she said something about a cowboy.” There was a quick pause, Applebloom’s voice growing bubbly. “She… she didn’t look that good, but she’s awake. I’m sure she’ll be fine.”

A sigh left both of them near simultaneously, Lucy clutching her chest in relief. Fear, confusion, and terror mixed with joy to create a concoction of feelings that neither could put into an expression. They would somehow find a way to thank Applebloom and her family in person; it was the least they could do to thank them for saving a friend's life. Words would have to suffice till then.

“Applebloom, thanks,” Melissa replied, her words carrying a breathy tone to them, “and give our thanks to your brother and sister too.”

“Of course Miss Melissa!” Applebloom responded with a fake but appreciated cheer. “I’ll get this little voice thingy to her as soon as possible. I’m sure she would like to hear from you.”

Lucy gave a firm nod. “And us from her. Actually, if anything happens between those two points, it might not be a bad idea to show you how to make an emergency call.” She looked at her girlfriend, giving them a not-so-confident look. “You know, just in case something happens.”

Applebloom paused, the french girl imagining the cutest head tilt she possibly could. “Emergency call?”

“You don’t think- but you can’t be too careful in our line work,” Melissa admitted, peeling off an exceptionally dry part of her lip with her teeth in defeat. People had indeed been put in harm's way just by knowing them; a filly from another planet might not be safe. “Lucy is right, Applebloom. If you have no other option, then making sure you know how to dial us might be a good idea.”

Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo went quiet once more on them, though both humans could hear the faint sounds of whispering through the phone’s speakers. The image of three small ponies huddled in the corner came to Lucy’s mind, her face beaming at the cuteness in her mind's eye.

Melissa just watched, confused but delighted to see the smile she was wearing.

“You really think we’ll need it?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“It never hurts to have options,” Melisse replied.

There was a noise of collective agreement, followed by Applebloom’s voice. “Okay then. Explain how this emergency call thing works.”

Author's Note

I know I've been able to get these chapters out quick so far, but I figured I would ask a question: would you like me to release them as I finish them or wait till I have a bunch done?

I'm highly considering doing the latter, since I'm slowly feeling like I have to release a new chapter every day. Not only do I think the latter will bring better quality chapters, but also allow me to not feel as pressured to release something every single day.

I leave the choice to you.