Eyes set on another world

The cold wind blew through the snow covered plain, though the forests of naked trees and between the towers of a great castle at the top of a small lonely mountain, carrying with it the contents of snow filled clouds. The castle stood tall and proud with a great view over the massive city at the foot of the mountain to the west, and the ever expanding sea to the east. The castle consisted of three layers of walls, each more fortified than the pervious.

The first layer was filled with barracks and all kind of training grounds so the defenders of the great castle could get to their posts on the outer wall within minutes.

The second layer of the castle could only described as a small ring formed town of overly wealthy mansions. It was here the elite of this country’s society lived. Most of the citizens were of noble blood.

In the third and last layer of the great castle was a beautiful place as the rest of the castle it wasn’t very old, a decade tops. It was a mix of many cultures from many different races that once upon a time would have thought this marvelous construction impossible. The corridors were massive, with furniture and decorations of all types. From the selling hung great banners in different colors with the nation’s symbol in the middle. Right now the great castle was silent. It was long past midnight and the only sounds were coming from the steel clad guards patrolling every corner of the castle grounds. The guards who were outside in the cold weather constantly shifted their graze to the heavens with the dark clouds. The rookies were always told by the old veterans to watch the sky closely.

“You should watch the sky more closely than what’s in front of you. You will never know when the enemy will swoop down out of the blue and take your head. My entire battalion was wiped out by the enemy before we even knew what had hit us. I only survived because the guy in front was launched right into me and knocked out cold.”

That was only one of many telling of the clashes with the enemy. The old veterans talked about them as if the enemy was monsters spawned from deepest and darkest corner of hell, but not all had that view on the enemy, though she still hated them to no end for what they had done. Right now she sat in one of the highest towers of the castle, looking out of the windows facing the sea. She toke a deep sigh, it was a sigh full of tiredness and heavy sorrow. She looked at her reflection in the windows.

On her head right behind her long horn rested a golden tiara with a shining purple crystal formed as star in the middle. The star had two scratches crossing each other in the middle, smaller scratches sprung from the two bigger ones. Right now she was wearing a beautiful decorated dark purple dress with dark blue and pink patterns and designs over her lavender colored coat, covering everything from her chest to her tail. There was a hole on each side of her back to make room for her great wings, which for the time being was folded along her sides.

She turned her back to the window and looked around the room. To her right were the decorated gold double doors that lead out of the room and into a small corridor. At the end of the corridor was a spiral staircase that led down to the other levels of the tower. On the other side of the room was a large bed, big enough for three regular ponies to sleep comfortably beside each other. At the nightstand beside the bed were a lot of old pictures of old times. At the opposite side of where she stood was a fireplace, a small fire lit the room and pushed the cold from the outside back. Just above it was a beautiful set of dark purple armor, designed just for her. She had never used it but that was just a question of time, she knew it better than anypony else. To the right of the fireplace was a small writing desk with lots of tall stacks of scrolls on top of it. Most of them were about national affairs like taxing, request from nobles, military reports and laws that needed her signature.

She trotted slowly over to the writing desk with tied steps and sat down, quill and ink at the ready, she began looking through the many scrolls. There she sat for a time in complete silence looking through the contents of the scrolls and signing. She had just finished what must have been 25th scroll when somepony knocked on the double doors. She looked over to doors.

“Come in” She said with a low voice although it was with as much strength she could muster at the moment. One of the doors opened a little and a little filly’s head came into view.

“Mommy, sis and I had those nightmares again. Can we stay with you tonight?” The filly looked at Twilight Sparkle with begging eyes full of fear.

Twilight looked from the filly in the door to the stacks of scrolls. She let out a small sign and turned to the filly once again.

“Of course Dusk, please come in and bring your sister with you.” Twilight said. The little filly lit up with an expression of relief and looked over her shoulder and said something, which twilight didn’t catch, to her sister, who must have been right behind her. The door was pushed open further and the two fillies walk in.

Dusk was the first to enter. She was an alicorn just like Twilight and her sister, Dawn. Dusk was the oldest of the two sisters. Dusk had a shinning orange coat that best could be described as color of the beautiful setting sun, her mane and tail floated in a non-existing wind. Just as her coat the mane and tail resembled a setting sun. She was a born leader, had a sharp mind, even though she didn’t use it more often as she should and therefore always ended up in trouble, she was also quite athletic. She did however often lose control of herself when somepony bullied or in any way hurt her sister.

Her sister on the other hoof was completely the opposite of Dusk, both in colors and personality. Dawn was quiet and shy. She didn’t have many friends and was often found right behind her sister or mother, trying to be as invisible as possible. She got a good taste for books in her early ages and can always be seen with a saddlebag full with books of different kinds science and magic, a trait she inherited from her mother.

Twilight got up from her place at the desk and walked in front of the fireplace, using a little spell to make the fire pulse up a little, while the two small ones jumped up in the giant bed. When twilight had walked over and laid herself between the little fillies on the bed with a wing folded over each of them and hugging tightly into the sides of her body and levitated the bed covers over them, Dawn asked “Mommy could you please tell us a story, if you don’t mind?”

“I don’t know it’s late. And it’s already way over your bedtime.” Twilight said softly as she looked at Dawn.

“Argh, come on mom, it’ll be just like old times, and I always love your stories about your adventures.” Dusk said with puppy eyes. Dusk knew that Twilight couldn’t resist those eyes for long, and yet again she was proven right.

“Alright, alright, you win. So what story do you want to hear tonight?” Twilight asked while she folded her wings again and shifted to a sitting position, the fillies doing the same.

“The story about how you and your friends fought the enemy back on the old continent?” Dusk asked very carefully. Twilight had always answered with a stern no. She would never tell why she didn’t want to them this story, but the fillies could feel the sorrow and pain in her answer, this adventure hadn’t gone as well as all the others.

“Alright I tell you the story. I think you two are old enough now to hear it.” Twilight said, as she prepared to begin her tale but was interrupted even before she could begin.

“Come on mom! At least give us a chan… Wait, what did you say? Did you really agree to tell the story?” Dusk asked in disbelief as she looked up to her mother to try to find any trace of her lying to them.

“Yes I did Dusk” Twilight said, with a little smile. She heard a little, yes, escape from Dusk. “But I warn you, this story is filled with those who hunt you in your nightmares” Twilight said in a serious tone.

“Really? M-maybe we should choose another story instead.” Dawn said fear of hearing a story about those who haunted her dreams was clear in her low voice. Twilight just lowered her head and nuzzled Dawn on her cheek, bringing a smile on the little filly’s muzzle as she felt safer, knowing her mother was right next to her.

“Don’t worry dear, I am sure that the ones you see in your nightmares are more horrifying than the ones im telling you about. Maybe this story will actually help you overcoming your nightmares.” Twilight said as she cleared her throat and levitated a few of the pictures of her friends, family and the princess from the nightstand over to them.

“Alright now this story is long and dark so we spread it out though the next few weeks ok... Good now it all started in the magical land of Equestria, ten years before I was queen and we came to these lands we now call Unitatem(1), and Discord had just escarped from his stone prison for a second time…”

(1) Unitatem is the Latin word for unity