Ausus

The pack on Spike’s back grew heavy and his legs grew weak. The baby dragon was in a struggle with his mortal enemy: physical activity, and he was losing. He began to grow tired overall. It became a struggle for him to walk at the same pace as Twilight Sparkle and he slowly began to lag behind her.

Twilight Sparkle was still as full of energy as ever and was even walking with a bit of a spring in her step. She knew that the journey would be much easier and much shorter if she kept a positive attitude. She turned back to check on her companion Spike and realized that he did not have the same outlook as she did. She allowed him to trail off behind her for the time being, but when the loud breathing of the dragon became so quiet that it was nearly impossible to hear, Twilight turned around and saw her friend lying face-first on the ground. “Spike, are you alright?” she asked as she stood over him.

“Twilight. I’m too tired to go on. I’ve already missed my morning nap, my mid-morning nap, my evening nap, my after evening nap, nap, my mid-evening nap, and my late evening nap. I think that it’s time we took a break already.” He said with large gasps in between his sentences.

Twilight looked at the poor dragon, and then at the sky. It was getting awfully dark. Stopping for a rest now wasn’t going to hurt their travels. After all, they had covered a lot more ground than expected today. “I think you’re right Spike. We’ll stay here for the night, but we’re getting up as soon as the sun rises so we can stay on schedule.”

“Woo.” The dragon responded weakly as he thrust his fist into the air and then let it fall back down onto the ground with the rest of his body.

“Oh, and Spike.” Twilight said from afar as she had begun surveying the area. “Don’t forget to pitch the tent for us.”

Spike screamed internally at this command as he was too weak to do it on the outside. He stood up and took the tent from his pack. He hastily pitched it and fell asleep inside.

Twilight Sparkle moved into the moonlight. The moon was very bright this night and also seemed to be larger than it usually was. The scenery around her looked beautiful in the faint glow and made her feel very comforted. When she finished ensuring that it was safe to sleep in the area they were in, she retreated to the tent and lied down next to Spike who was already fast asleep and snoring. “Get your rest Spike. We’ve still got a long ways to go before we’re through.” She whispered to him. Twilight then closed her eyes, and went to sleep.

. . .

“Charge!” Princess Celestia yelled as she sprinted with her sword drawn towards a large mob of black figures, an army followed close behind her. She was clad in black armor with a yellow trim from head to hoof. Her steel clashed against that of her foes as she tried to overpower her adversary. She staggered the blackish figure and sliced through them with her sword, cutting them into two. She then moved onto the next figure, and then next, surrounded by hundreds of others fighting the same dark figures. Celestia stabbed her sword through a foe on their hind legs. She closed her eyes as the blood from her victim spurted in her direction and covered her with its hot red essence. As the stream stopped and Celestia opened her eyes once more, she saw that there was no longer anyone around her. Not her enemies. Not her allies. She was alone in the middle of Canterlot. “Hello?” She called aloud trying to yield a response. “Hello? Can anypony hear me?” but her cries were in vain as no one came to her. Confused, Celestia started searching the city herself. The town itself looked normal, which was odd since a war had been waging in it for almost three days now. The white buildings were not smeared with red as they were moments ago, and most of the structures were still in perfect condition with an exception of a few old, historical buildings that had been standing for quite some time. As she peered down one of the long, flat streets that went through the town, she saw a dark blue alicron run from one side of the street to another and behind some buildings. “Luna.” She said to herself as she ran towards the location of her sister. As she approached the alleyway in which her sister had entered, she saw nobody. The alley was completely empty. “Luna? Luna. Where are you?” She was making her way to the other side of the alley when a large thump coming from behind her caught her attention. “L-Luna?” Celestia asked quietly as she began to turn. When she looked behind her, she saw her sister, lying still on the floor. A pool of blood began forming around her. “L-Luna?” Celestia exclaimed with shock. She ran over to her sister and turned her body towards her. Luna's throat was deeply cut from left to right. Her facial expression was one of complete shock, her eyes open and mouth gaping. Celestia held her sister in her hooves and began to weep heavily. “Oh Luna. Why'd it have to be you? Why couldn’t it have been me?”

“Don’t worry. You’re next.” A voice rang out from above Celestia, and when she raised her head to see who was speaking to her, she only saw the tip of an iron sword falling towards her.

. . .

Twilight Sparkle sat up quickly and screamed.

"WAH!" Spike yelled as he jumped up from the floor. "What is it? Spiders? Monsters? Carrot Bees?" He was holding in his hand, not his sword that he had meant to grab, but instead, an excess stake from when he was putting up the tent.

Twilight Sparkle looked at Spike and then faced forward once more. She was breathing heavily and was covered in sweat. Her heart was beating so fast it seemed like it would jump out of her chest if it wasn't for her armor plates. "I-It was just a bad dream. A very vivid dream, but just a dream." She thought to herself. "Um, s-sorry Spike. I just had a... a bad dream is all." She now said aloud to the purple dragon.

Spike adapted a disappointed look on his face. “So I woke up for nothing?” he sighed, threw down his stake, and lied back down. “I’m going back to sleep. Wake me up if you have another bad dream. Or better yet, don’t.”

“I’ll try not to wake you next time Spike. Sorry.” Twilight Sparkle laid her head on her pillow, but she didn’t close her eyes. Her nightmare was still troubling her, and she didn’t think she was going to get over it anytime soon. “I know it was just a dream, but it felt so real.” Twilight thought. “I just hope the Princesses are alright. Who knows what Equestria would do without them?"

. . .