Author's Note: I have no idea why my image upload thing isn't working. It says that there isn't an image, no matter if I upload it myself or link to the picture.
"You've got a lot to explain, sis!" I trotted furiously up the stairs to Luna's chamber. Yeah, I coulda flown, but stomping is funny, because it gets ponies scared, even if you aren't angry, and they did nothing wrong.
Luna was sitting peacefully on her bed, looking out the window. Somehow, she manages to always be energetic, no matter what time it is. Now, you'd assume her to be Nocturnal, and be all asleep during the day, but it doesn't work that way. She's simply always awake. I'll never understand it.
She opened one eye and looked at me sideways, playfully. "Yes, sister?" She said smiling.
"What exactly were you doing in my study last night?"
Her smile faded, and she turned around. "Heh... umm, what do you mean?"
"I found your shoes, along with your chestplate, in my study, by the scrying bowl. Now, I haven't used it in a long time, so I checked how many times it's been used with magic, and I must say, I'm surprised at your dedication."
She flinched and started shuffling her hooves. "I can explain..."
"Really, I'm not mad. Why would I be? I'm simply curious. Why would you use it every night? What are you trying to predict? The end of the world?"
"...Sister, do you have a break? I fear this will take a long time to explain..."
I went down into the study with her, and stood in front of the scrying bowl. It was simple, really, just a stone bowl filled with water. It took years of practice to use, and very few unicorns have ever even dared to try.
She stood in front of the bowl unceremoniously and took off her tiara. "I've been using this bowl... to dreamwalk."
It had been a long time since I last heard that term. "You mean... to enter somepony else's dreams?"
Luna laughed at me. "Thank you for completely restating it. Yes, I can dreamwalk."
"Wasn't that magic lost to ponykind a few thousand years before even we were born?"
Her smile faded again. "I was getting to that..."
"Hah, you guys ready? Cause I got one last scary story for all of you!"
It was the third day camping, and Rainbow Dash had one last story for the night.
"Unlike the others, I know you're all going back home. So this one's about the city." She coughed a few times and began to hover in the air.
"Long ago, in Southwest Canterlot, there lived a pony.
"Now, unlike other ones from stories I tell, she wasn't evil. She simply wanted to have fun... and lots of it. But even still, she struck fear into the hearts of many.
"Why? Well, I'm getting to that. So this pony looked like a normal mare. And she was. Some say she's a unicorn, some a pegasus, some an earth pony, but that doesn't matter.
"Now this filly was smart, fast, beautiful... awesome... like me! So clearly, somepony like this would get suitors. And a lot of them she did. But she'd turn them all down. Why? This is where the whole monster part comes in.
"No Applejack, she doesn't go crazy like everypony in the stories you tell. Sit down and be quiet. Yes, she has a brain. Anyways, whoever offered her a date would be refused, and would have to go home in tears.
"Surprisingly, they'd lose no sleep over it. They'd sleep better than they ever did. Because their dreams would be filled with her. These dreams, however, would be everything but platonic...
"What? I think they're old enough for it. Shut up Rarity, everypony knows what's in your bedside stand. See? There you go. Now, where was I? Right. The victim would be heard screaming her name out into the darkness, and by the sun's rise, he- or even she- would be found dead, an expression of forced pleasure on their face.
"Now, she would flee from town to town, so nopony really caught up on her tricks. But no matter how many years passed, she would always look the same age. She drains the life force of her victims to sustain her immortality.
"Time passed, and ponies learned to fear her. So instead of politely being invited into ponies minds... she breaks in like a thief. Quick and silent, she comes only for what she wants- then leaves.
"Where does the scary part kick in? Well, she's still alive. And haunting these very woods! Wait, wrong ending. Doesn't matter, all stories end that way. Next to 'The End' and 'Nopony died'. So stop crying and go to bed already!"
"So, what's really the reason why you were Dreamwalking?" Seriously, I need to know. Ponies don't normally dabble in spells that require a scrying bowl and Phoenix Incense.
"...It was about a hundred years before I... 'left'."
I flinched reflexively at that. Luna's expression didn't fare any better.
"...Right. Now, I was on a midnight flight over the forest when I saw a bright flash from below. I landed to see a cage of fire, and a... scantily clad mare inside of it. Now, she said that she was an Apostle of Darkness, whose only purpose was to demonstrate the dominion of the Night.
"Now, I have... ties with the nocturnal creatures, and an oath of brotherhood is one of those ties. I had to help her. She said the cage was magic, and that the only way it could be destroyed was if the unicorn who cast it either allowed for it to be destroyed, or he died. Sympathetic magic, a terribly strong thing. Anyways, I had no clue how to find him. He'd been long gone.
"So, she told me a way I could find him. She could give me the power to not only make him beg for mercy, but I could be able to make everypony else appreciate the night aswell. Now, that was a deal I couldn't refuse. It's not exactly a transient thing to feel the wrath of a culture against the apathy of a nation..."
Her eyes flared for a second before fading out.
"Yeah, anyways, this power she gave me. Um, I could walk through dreams, magically will mortals to my command with mere words, bend the dreams of anyone to my liking, and many other perks I won't get into... But this curse came with a price. Every night, I have to seek a stallion, and drain his life in order to sustain my being."
I was starting to remember something.
"Wait... I've heard something like this before."
She smiled. "Have you figured it out yet?"
"I... wha- you're the- how-"
"Indeed. I am the Dreamreaver."
"But... no deaths like that have been seen since your return..."
"Yes... while on the moon, I obviously could still get my fill with the dreamwalking... but I trained abstinence anyways. I only need to fulfill myself every full moon now. Yet there's one thing that might throw you off, sis."
"Yes?"
"You know how foals are more energetic then adults? Yeah, they don't die when I sap them."
"Wh- you monster!"
"Ah, the murderer becomes a rapist." She laughed. "Actually, no. I've trained more... efficient methods now. I can simply get their energy with my mere presence in their dreams. And I don't need that much of it anyways."
"Ah... okay. How does the scrying bowl come into this?"
"I try to predict who's a good candidiate for feeding. Those who have nightmares usually have a weaker conscious, and are easier to enter."
"But if you only have to feed on the full moon, then why do you check every night?"
"...Just because I don't have to do something doesn't mean I can't." She laughed a bit. "Plus, I didn't say that the older methods are entirely out of the question."
"Aw, you sonuvfa-"
