It was eight in the evening, and all was quiet.
A white alicorn silently flew above the country side, high above the trees and hills, her pitch-black mane flowing in her wake. Below her, the world seemed ready for sleep. Above her, the stars were beginning to appear. Before her, the great mountains stood still, marking the boundaries of her rule. No wind blew, no creatures crept, no sound was there to be heard. The silence did nothing to quell her growing unease.
Not even ten minutes ago, she had sensed something. Somewhere in this general area, something hid that did not belong in her realm of Phantasmagoria. Whether sinister or benevolent, she knew not. What she knew was that it did not belong here, and had to be sent back to the world beyond.
Yet she could not find it. To her discerning eyes and ears, nothing was amiss.
She scanned the ground once again, searching for any tracks, any movement, even any sign of magic that might reveal the intruder's location. Once again, her search turned up no clues. Whatever she had felt, it was either gone, or else it was very determined to avoid scrutiny.
The alicorn descended, flying to the base of the mountain range. The trees opened, revealing the entrance of a great cave that dug deep into the earth. She landed, closed her eyes and extended her mind to touch the mouth of the cave. If anything had slipped past her ever vigilant notice, it would have to have come through the cave before her, the only entrance to the valley from beyond.
The cave held a memory of each sould that passed through it, the most recent of which she extracted and examined. In her mind's eye, she saw something enter her realm. But whatever it was had no form, no substance. It was almost as if there was nothing there at all.
The alicorn released the memory, her brow furrowed in thought. Whatever had infiltrated her realm had been able to corrupt the memory of the cave, erasing itself. This was especially worrying, as it implied that what had entered the valley had knowledge of its workings. And the only ones who possessed that knowledge were her sister and...
She sighed. There was nothing for it. Dusk was coming, and with it, her duties would soon begin. She would have to be especially vigilant tonight, in case whatever had infiltrated her realm made itself known.
A shadow passed over the mountains.
She turned around, her eyes widening in surprise and recognition, and she prepared to defend herself.
It was eight in the evening, and all was quiet.
*****
Applejack yawned and looked at the clock on the library wall. 9:30, it said, though it felt like much later than that.
"Hey, Applejack! Wake up!"
"Gah!" shouted Applejack, turning towards the source of the voice. "Pinkie Pie, don't do that!"
The pink pony beamed at her. "Well, how else am I going to make sure that you stay awake so you can enjoy the rest of the party?"
Applejack gave her a flat look. "Pinkie, the party's been goin' on for hours now. While Twilight's first birthday here in Ponyville may be a big occasion, I'm all tuckered out."
"Which is why we're going to party until we drop!"
"No, it's why I'm gonna have to leave," said Applejack. "I have chores to do back on the farm, and this surprise party of yers means that I'm gonna have to burn the midnight oil gettin’ 'em done."
"I have to agree with Applejack," said Twilight. "It's getting late, and I need to get up early tomorrow to get some studying done."
"But...but...but..." stuttered Pinkie, her eyes wide.
"I believe I must depart as well," said Rarity. "I have an order for Sapphire Shores that I've been putting off, and I will need to rise early in the morning to find all the gems I will need."
"Oh, please," said Rainbow Dash. "You have plenty of gems! Besides, can't she just use that outfit you made her last time?"
"Unfortunately, no, she cannot. And as for the gems I already have, the dress she requested is a sapphire-woven ensemble."
Rainbow gave her a blank look.
"...Meaning that the dress is literally made of gemstones," elaborated Rarity. "So even with my current store of gems, I will need to dig up many more in order to make the dress."
"Can't you just get Twilight to, I don't know, cast a turn-to-gem spell on the dress? That'd save you a lot of time."
"No such spell exists, Rainbow," said Twilight. "And even if it did, that level of transmutation would require much more magical energy than I can safely channel."
Rainbow pouted. "You guys are no fun."
"Um, actually, I need to go home, too," said Fluttershy. "If I don't feed my animal friends at sunrise, they start getting cranky."
"Well, that settles it, then," said Applejack. "Sorry, Pinkie, but we all think it's about time for us to head out."
"Okay," said Pinkie, before suddenly brightening up. "Welp, see you girls later, then! I have some planning to do before tomorrow night's after-birthday party!" Before anypony else could respond, she was already out the door.
After Pinkie left, the others said their goodbyes and walked out. Before Applejack managed to make her way more than a block away, Rainbow Dash ambushed her.
“So, just how many chores you got tomorrow?”
“Enough,” replied Applejack.
“Enough? What do you mean? You’re still gonna watch my newest trick, right?”
“Enough as in enough to keep me busy the whole day.”
“Aw, come on! It’ll only take a minute!”
“I said I’ll be busy, RD. Sorry, but you’re gonna hafta find somepony else to watch your latest stunt.”
Applejack walked in silence a short while, Rainbow flying alongside her, when Rainbow spoke again.
“I’ve got an idea! What if I just bring the trick to you? I’ll just need to find some good-sized thunderclouds near Sweet Apple Acres, and then—”
“How many times do I gotta say it, RD?” Applejack interrupted.
“Fine, you win. But just so ya know, this means you’ll no longer be able to say you’re the first pony to see this trick,”Rainbow teased.
“I’ll live,” said Applejack. “G’night, RD.”
“All right. See ya later!” she replied, rocketing off into the night.
Applejack shook her head, quickening her pace. Those chores weren’t going to do themselves, after all.
*****
In Canterlot, Princess Celestia was preparing for a good-night's sleep. She was lying in her bedchamber, and was just about to extinguish the lamps on either side of her when she heard a knock at her chamber door. With a sigh, she got out of bed.
"Come in," she beckoned.
One of her royal guards, a pegasus by the name of Steady Shield, poked his head into her room.
"Pardon me, your Majesty, but Her Royal Highness Princess Luna wishes to speak with you."
"Can it not wait until morning? I was just about to rest for the night."
"I apologize, your Majesty, but your sister says that it's a matter of some urgency."
Celestia brought a hoof to her face, both to rub some sleep out of her eyes and to cover up another sigh.
"Send her in, then," she said.
"Yes, your Majesty," said Steady, withdrawing from her room. Moments later, the doors were enveloped in navy-colored magic as they opened wide, allowing Princess Luna into the bedchamber.
"Happy evening, sister," she said.
"Good evening, Luna," replied Celestia. Though more than a little annoyed at being kept awake, Celestia's prepared remark on the matter died in her throat upon seeing the look on her sister's face. Far from her usual neutrality and aloofness, Luna's face was furrowed in a small scowl of concentration, her mouth a thin line.
But her eyes held a much different emotion, Celestia realized. Luna was afraid.
"Is something the matter, Luna?" Celestia asked.
"Yes, there most certainly is," Luna replied. "But first, I must ensure our privacy."
Luna's horn lit up, a sphere of magical energy concentrated on its tip. After a few seconds of crafting the spell, Luna released the sphere, causing it to expand to cover the entire room. Other than the two princesses, every surface in the bedchamber glowed softly with the light of Luna's spell.
Luna began to pace as she explained. "Just moments ago, I laid in my chambers, prepared to begin the night's vigil through our subjects' dreams. However, when I attempted to cast the spell that would allow me to enter the Dreaming, it fizzled out. I tried again, only to again be kept from performing my duties.
“Curious, I next attempted to thrust myself into the Dreaming, using my spell like a spear. I managed to break through whatever was resisting me, but only seconds later, I was...forced back out."
Celestia raised an eyebrow at this. "Forced out? Forced out by what?"
"That, I know not," said Luna. "Whatever it is, it is intelligent, and likely malevolent as well."
"What about the realm of Phantasmagoria?"
"That was my next thought as well," said Luna. "I sent a message to Princess Phantasia, but I have not yet received a reply. I fear that the World of Dreams is without a ruler."
There was a short pause as Celestia attempted to make sense of this newest revelation. "In that case," she said, "what were you able to determine during your brief trip into the Dreaming?"
Luna sighed, shaking her head. "That is the worst part," she said. "Though I was unable to study the force within the Dreaming, I was able to determine one thing. This force is converging itself around six areas, likely waiting to pounce upon the dreamer once they fall asleep."
Celestia's eyes widened, her face pale. "Then, you mean to say—"
"I do," interrupted Luna. "With this force keeping me from their dreams, and with Phantasia no longer at her post, I fear whatever malevolent entity is behind this wishes to bring harm to the Elements of Harmony."
Author's Note
And here it is, the first chapter of the story. Special thanks to Sereg and Cleverpun for their editing help.
This was, quite possibly, the single greatest party Pinkie Pie had ever thrown.
The entire population of Ponyville was in the main room of Sugarcube Corner, and several ponies from other cities were there too. The entire room was covered in balloons and streamers of all colors, the disco ball hanging from the ceiling bathed the entire room in light, and several of Equestria's most famous musicians were on the stage, making some of the best dancing music Pinkie had ever heard. How she had managed to fit that many ponies inside one room, she didn't know, and frankly she didn't care. All that mattered at the moment was making sure everypony was having the time of their lives.
She was in the middle of leading a conga line under a limbo stick when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around, somehow managing to keep her balance while passing under the limbo bar, and saw Applejack looking at her.
"Hiya, Applejack! You enjoying the party?"
"Sure am. Gotta say, Pinkie, I've never seen a hootenanny quite like this before. You've really outdone yourself."
"Aw, thanks! But don't worry, I've got plenty of ideas left for Granny Smith's cute-ceañeriversity party next Tuesday! I thought I'd make her a pie, since that's what her cutie mark is, but then I remembered that she really liked that cake from her birthday party three years ago, so I decided I'd do both!"
"What, you're making both a pie and a birthday cake? Pinkie, that's nice and all, but we really don't need that much dessert."
"No, that's the thing! I'm making her a cake-pie! Or, maybe a pie-cake! Or maybe even—"
Applejack put her hoof in Pinkie's mouth before she got too far ahead of herself.
"Anyway, Pinkie, I'm just here to let ya know that we're out of punch."
Pinkie let out a gasp worthy of a soap opera, and her jaw nearly touched the floor.
"Out of punch?! Oh, that's terrible! If we don't have any punch, then all the ponies that are dancing will get thirsty! And if the dancing ponies get thirsty, they'll stop dancing! And if the ponies stop dancing, everypony will start to get bored and leave! And—"
Once again, Applejack's hoof found its way into Pinkie's mouth.
"Can't ya just get some more from the back?"
Pinkie's face lit up, almost literally. "That's exactly what I'm going to do! Don't worry, your Auntie Pinkie Pie is on the case!"
Before Applejack could inform Pinkie of their relative ages, Pinkie dashed off to the back of Sugarcube Corner.
As she made her way towards the kitchen, she noticed that the back of the store was strangely empty. The lights were off, nopony was around, the store's food and kitchen hardware was nowhere in sight, and the incredibly loud music had been significantly muffled from the distance. Undeterred, Pinkie trotted to the large commercial refrigerator at the very back of the store. She opened the door and stuck her head inside.
Despite its size, there was only one thing stored in it: a glass pitcher of lemonade. This struck Pinkie as a bit odd, as she was sure that Mr. Cake was allergic to lemons, but she shrugged that thought away as she picked up the pitcher and made her way back to the front of the store.
A shadow passed over Sugarcube Corner.
Something was wrong. Pinkie couldn't quite put her hoof on it, but somehow she could just tell something was wrong. She stopped for a moment to ponder what it might be, then decided it was nothing to get worried over, especially not when her guests were counting on her to bring them something to drink. The lemonade sloshed around the pitcher as she continued on the strangely long trip back to the front of the store, and suddenly she realized what was bothering her.
The music had stopped.
Maybe the musicians are just taking a break? Pinkie thought. Yeah, that makes sense. They'll probably start on the next song once I get there. Satisfied, Pinkie smiled to herself as she rounded the corner to the main room.
"Well, it looks like we don't have any punch left, but don't worry, everypony! We've still got plenty of—"
Pinkie cut off and stood frozen at the scene before her. There were no balloons or streamers. There was no disco ball. There was no music, and no musicians to play it. There were no ponies at all.
Sugarcube Corner was completely empty.
"....Ooooooooh! I get it! We're playing hide and seek now!" Pinkie set down the pitcher. "Well, ready or not, here I come!"
Pinkie started to zip around the shop, checking every hiding place she knew of and several that she didn't. But after what seemed like hours, she had still found nothing.
"Okay, you win, guys! You can come out now!"
Her echo was the only voice that answered her.
"...Guys?"
An ethereal voice spoke, coming from everywhere and nowhere at once. They're gone, Pinkamena, it said. They've left you, and now you're all alone.
Pinkie looked around, trying to find the source of the mysterious voice. "Huh? Who are you? And what do you mean, they're gone? They were just here a second ago..."
I am outside, Pinkamena. Come out, and you will see what I mean.
Pinkie looked at the front door, tilting her head slightly. It looked no different than usual, but Pinkie somehow felt it was larger, more menacing. She slowly walked to it, the door growing larger and larger the closer she got. When she made it to the door, she was barely tall enough to reach the knob. Stretching as far as she could, she grabbed the doorknob in her front hooves, and pushed it open with a mighty heave.
She walked outside to find herself in a ghost town. Ponyville's streets were completely and utterly deserted. No wind blew, no dogs barked, no crickets chirped, no ponies walked across the cobbled stones. The silence was deafening.
A small cloud of black mist materialized in front of her, slowly growing larger and larger until it was nearly twice her size. The mist parted, revealing a large, white alicorn sitting on the ground before her. The mist solidified into a midnight-black mane and tail, which billowed in the nonexistent wind. Her eyes were the same color as her mane, pools of black with white dots where her pupils would be. On either flank, she had a cutie mark of a small, black crescent moon. But strangest of all was her face, for though she had eyes, she possessed no nostrils or mouth.
"Who...who are you?"
The mysterious pony stood up, drawing herself to her full height so that she could look down at the pink pony.
I am she who shapes the dreams of mortals. I am she who rules the realm of Phantasmagoria. The mortal races of the world have given me many names, among them Phantasia, Dream, and Ga'Nei. To the zebras, I am called Anansibra, the Weaver of Stories. To the griffons, I am Inguma, the Night Spirit. And the dragons have named me Marowit, one who is feared and respected.
But to you and the other ponies of Equestria, she concluded, I am known simply as 'the Sandmare'.
"The Sandmare?" asked Pinkie. "....Oh, I get it! This is a dream!" She giggled, then closed her eyes to concentrate. "That means all I have to do is..."
Pinkie opened her eyes. She hadn't moved an inch.
Wake up? the Sandmare taunted. There's not going to be a wake-up call this time, Pinkamena. This is not something you can simply will away or laugh off. You’re stuck here, and there is nothing you can do about it. Her mane and tail began turning back into mist, coiling themselves around her body.
"Wait!" Pinkie shouted. "But, you're the Sandmare! You're supposed to bring sweet dreams to everypony! Why are you doing this?"
Now completely covered in mist, the Sandmare chuckled, the sound loudly echoing from every surface.
Do I need a reason? I am the goddess of dreams and nightmares. It is by my will that ponies experience the greatest of bliss and the deepest of despair. The mist faded away, leaving no visible trace of the mysterious visitor.
And it is by my will that you will remain here, completely alone. Forever.
Pinkie didn't notice the colors of the town beginning to fade away. Neither did she notice the same happening to herself.
"...Forever?"
*****
Far away in Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack tugged a cart through rows of apple trees. When she had arrived home, the rest of her family was already tucked in their beds. Part of her wanted to join them, wanted to wait until the next day to catch up on her work. But she knew that if she did, she would miss tomorrow’s chores to catch up on today’s, then miss the next day’s chores to catch up on tomorrow’s, and so on. It would be nearly a week before she finally caught up. So here she was, pulling an empty apple cart through her orchard, preparing to burn the midnight oil.
Applejack yawned, then shook her head in an attempt to wake herself up. It would do her no good to fall asleep in the middle of her apple-bucking.
She stopped in front of a small hill, full of trees with fruit ready to be picked. Sighing, Applejack silently wished she had remembered to brew herself some coffee, and started to work. She set out a few baskets around the tree's base, turned around and planted her hooves. She gave the tree a powerful kick, making the apples fall into the baskets. She collected the apples, placed them in the cart, and moved to the next tree. And then the one after that. And then the one after that.
Kick. Fall. Collect. Next.
Kick. Fall. Collect...Next...
Kick...fall....collect.....next.......
By the tenth tree, Applejack's eyelids were already noticeably heavy, making it harder and harder to stay awake. She had hoped the monotony of her work would be enough to keep her going, but it seemed all that was doing was lulling her to sleep. As she made her way to the eleventh tree, she stopped, remembering something Granny had once told her.
"Jackie," she said, "if ya ever find that tha Sandmare's tryin' ta lull ya ta sleep, and ya got a mind ta keep her away, just sing yerself a song. If tha music in yer head's loud enough, you'll never be able ta hear her whisperin' to ya."
"Welp," decided Applejack, "it's worth a shot." And with that she started to hum. The hum turned into a whistle. Then the whistle turned into a song that had been passed down from Granny Smith's parents down to their children, then from Granny to her children, then finally Applejack's mother to hers.
"As I was out trottin' one mornin' fer pleasure,
I spied a young stallion a-ridin' along.
Had with him a wagon, his wife an' his children,
and as he approached me he sang them this song."
As Applejack sang, the music worked its magic over her and banished the gentle pull of sleep from her mind. She continued working into the night, singing her song all the while.
"Woopie-ti-yi-yo! Git along, little ponies,
‘Fore ya can rest, we have still far to roam.
Woopie-ti-yi-yo, git along, little ponies,
We’ll let ourselves sleep once we've gotten back home."
*****
Rainbow Dash soared through the sky, basking in the cheers of the audience below.
"RAIN-BOW DASH! RAIN-BOW DASH! RAIN-BOW DASH!"
She smirked, pulling out of a double-inverse corkscrew at just the right angle to briefly zoom scant meters over the heads of the ponies packed in the cloud stadium. She looked to her right, and saw her best friends and the Cutie Mark Crusaders sitting in the best seats in the house, right on the very front row. They were all cheering her on, a certain orange filly practically jumping out of her seat in excitement.
She pulled to a stop above the center of the stadium. "And now!" she shouted to everypony present, "For my final trick, I will do something no pegasus has ever done before!"
The stadium hushed, waiting on her every word.
Rainbow grinned. She had them right where she wanted them. "Mares and gentlecolts, I give you...THE RAINBOW LIGHTNING LOOP!"
I really need to come up with a better name for that, she thought.
But apparently, that didn't matter. The entire stadium burst into cheers.
"RAIN-BOW DASH! RAIN-BOW DASH! RAIN-BOW DASH!"
Rainbow took another look towards her friends, and saw them cheering as hard as ever. Then, she took off, shooting towards the clouds gathered around the edges of the stadium. She grabbed several small, black thunderclouds, arranging them in a ring above her captive audience's heads.
She flew to the center of the ring, rubbed her hooves together, then began. At first she kept to a tight spiral, slowly expanding towards the edges of the ring. Faster and faster she flew, eventually causing the thunderclouds to be sucked into her path.
Soon she was flying fast enough to be nothing more than a blur to any onlooker. The clouds mixed into the loop she was flying in. The loop began to crackle with lightning, and the audience stopped cheering to watch in amazement.
As she flew, Rainbow Dash watched her friends. They all had huge grins plastered to their faces, except for Scootaloo, whose eyes and mouth were wide open in awe. Rainbow took her eyes off of them as she entered the final loops, preparing to release the lightning in an awe-inspiring burst of electricity and rainbow-colored light.
A shadow passed over the stadium.
Suddenly, the clouds she drew in didn't feel quite right. The lightning wasn't crackling in quite the way it was supposed to. Rainbow couldn't put her hoof on why, but she knew that something was very, very wrong.
An arc of lightning leapt from the ring into the sky above. That wasn't supposed to happen. The electricity was supposed to...
Rainbow's eyes widened in horror as she realized what was happening. She had to stop this. She had to get rid of the excess electricity before—
More lightning, this time shooting out in all directions. Several bolts came perilously close to the stadium seats, crashing into the walls and floor. The audience started screaming, and soon ponies were pushing and shoving as fast as they could towards the nearest exit.
Rainbow finally managed to slow down, coming to a stop in the center of the stadium. Somehow, her body was still crackling with excess electricity, still shooting short bolts of lightning every direction.
They're afraid of you, said a strange, ethereal voice. Rainbow looked around, and found a white alicorn with piercing black eyes sitting in the nearly-empty stadium.
"Afraid? Of me? Why in Equestria would they ever be afraid of me?"
After the stunt you pulled? After you failed to control yourself, and put innocent lives in danger?
"Hey! Just because I screwed up this time, I can still do it right next time!"
Those ponies aren’t going to give you a next time, mocked the alicorn. Do you need proof? Then just look behind you. See for yourself what your loyal friends think of you now.
Rainbow turned around, just in time to see her friends as they hurried out of the stadium. As she watched, Scootaloo turned back to her, and there was no mistaking the look in her eyes. Even her greatest fan was now afraid for her life.
Rainbow turned back, but the alicorn was already gone. The stadium was completely empty.
A stray bolt hit the cloud foundation, and the stadium started to crumble.
*****
Celestia watched as a wisp of green flame sped away from the castle, heading straight towards Ponyville.
"There. The letter is sent. Let us hope it arrives in time."
"Even if it does," said Luna, "we must make haste. I have little doubt that by this time, at least one of them may have begun to dream."
"Yes," her sister agreed. "Let us hurry."
Without another word, the two princesses leapt off the balcony, and flew with all the speed they could muster towards Ponyville.
*****
Rarity stood back, admiring the work of art before her. This dress was possibly the most gorgeous, most important thing she had ever created. Not to mention the most expensive.
Her magnum opus was a flowing blue dress with a matching sun hat, covered head-to-hoof with the most precious gemstones in all of Equestria. Indeed, this ensemble was going to be the object of admiration for mares everywhere. In fact, the princesses themselves would salivate at the sight of the beauty Rarity had created!
Giggling to herself, Rarity gave the dress a once-over, making sure that everything was precisely where it should be. This dress would make her business boom like never before! Ponies everywhere would know her name, they would know just how much creativity, how much glamour, how much vision she had! After this, she would finally—
Rarity stopped her reverie, and squinted at a small patch on the back of the dress. Despite everything she did in putting it together, it seemed that there was a single sapphire missing, a lone imperfection in what would otherwise be a flawless work of art.
Rarity sighed, and moved towards her gem chest. She opened it, and began searching for that one perfect gemstone that would complete her most famous work. She searched and she searched and she searched, and was just about to give up when she noticed a small sapphire sitting at the bottom of the chest, just the right shape and size for what she needed.
Grinning, she quickly levitated the gem out of the chest and closed the lid. Without thinking, she levitated a spool and needle along with her as she walked back to the dress. After threading the needle, she focused intently on the cloth before her, and prepared to sew.
A shadow passed over the boutique.
Rarity pulled on the thread, but it refused to unwind. She looked over to where she was levitating the spool, and recoiled in shock.
The spool and the thread were now both made of the finest, bluest crystal she had ever seen.
She looked over, and saw that the needle she held was no longer made of metal, but crystal. She looked over to the chest she had taken the gem from and saw that it, too, was now completely made of crystal.
Startled, Rarity recoiled at the sight, bumping into her dress. At her touch, the dress was suddenly transformed into the same blue crystal that the spool and thread were made of. Her greatest work fell to the floor, and shattered into a thousand pieces.
Rarity yelped in fright, and began to back away from the scene, making her way towards the door. She turned around, looking towards the only exit from the room.
She practically ran towards the door, not caring if it turned to crystal as well. She would just barrel through it, escaping into the outdoors. Perhaps Twilight could help. She must be under the effects of some sort of magic, some sort of curse. If she could just make it outside, she could—
She was just a few meters from the door when it suddenly opened, letting Sweetie Belle into the room.
"Sis? Are you alright? I thought I—"
Rarity had too much momentum, and try as she might, she was unable to stop. Sweetie Belle was too confused at the sight to move out of the way in time.
Rarity ran right into her sister.
*****
When Sweetie Belle suddenly woke in the middle of the night, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. She wondered just what might have woken her, and was about to fall back asleep when she heard a soft sound coming from her sister's room.
Ever curious, the unicorn filly crawled out of bed to see what was going on, feeling slightly annoyed.
Rarity knows I can't sleep when she's working late, she thought. I'd better go over there and get her to go to bed.
She slowly walked out the door and made her way across the hall to her sister's bedroom. She nudged open the door and found that the light was off, which confused her. Unless Rarity suddenly found out how to see in the dark, then the sounds she heard weren't being caused by one of her sister's midnight design binges.
Pushing open the door a little more, she saw the silhouette of Rarity's sleeping body on the bed. Suddenly, she realized what the soft noise she was hearing was. Her sister was crying in her sleep, her sobs just loud enough to wake the small unicorn.
Sweetie Belle turned on the light and moved over next to the bed, intending to wake her sister and find out what was wrong, but something she saw made her stop. In the light, she could see the tears falling from Rarity's eyes, and she could see how they seemed to solidify before they even left her cheeks.
She could see that her sister's tears seemed to transform into tiny, blue crystals as they struck the sheets.
*****
Fluttershy sat in the meadow next to the Everfree, surrounded by all of the animals she'd ever befriended. Chipmunks, rabbits, badgers and even a bear or two all sat with her, all enjoying the afternoon sun. Nothing much was happening, which was just fine by Fluttershy. To her, nothing much happening simply meant there was nothing much to disturb the peace and tranquility she so enjoyed.
There was a rustling in the grass of the Everfree, causing Fluttershy to open her eyes. There was a small creature in the tall grass, poking its head out to make sense of the crowd in front of it.
"It's alright, little guy," said Fluttershy. "Nothing's going to hurt you."
The creature carefully inched out of the safety of the grass, allowing Fluttershy to get a good look at it. She couldn't believe what she saw, for she had never seen anything like it. The animal seemed to have the body of a rabbit, and in fact could have easily been mistaken for one if not for the two deer-like antlers on its head.
"A jackalope?" said Fluttershy, eyes widening in surprise. Unfortunately, her sudden movement scared the new arrival, causing it to quickly retreat back into the brush.
"Oh no, I'm sorry! You don't have to be scared!" said Fluttershy. Without quite knowing what she was doing, she got up and began chasing after it.
While she didn't lose track of its trail, her quarry remained elusive for quite some time. Before long, Fluttershy found herself deep in the Everfree, far deeper than she ever dared to venture alone. The sun had begun to set, casting the forest into the soft light of early dusk. She sighed, deciding that she should go back before she ended up lost in the forest, when she heard a sound.
Turning towards it, she wandered through the forest for a few minutes more, and suddenly she was in some sort of clearing. Upon entering, Fluttershy saw the jackalope, and noticed it was not alone. It sat in the center of the clearing, surrounded by the chipmunks, rabbits, badgers and bears she had left back in the meadow. Fluttershy smiled, and prepared to greet her new friend.
A shadow passed over the Everfree.
The animals began behaving oddly. As Fluttershy approached, they didn't come to greet her like she expected them to. As she got closer, they turned to face her, and she stopped.
The animals' eyes were blank, white orbs, and most of them had their ribs clearly visible under their mangy coats. Most disturbingly, every last one of the creatures had their teeth bared, saliva slowly dripping from their open mouths. Some of them began to growl at her.
"Um..." said Fluttershy, "don't worry, everyone. If all of you will follow me, I have plenty of food for you to eat back at my cottage..."
The creatures slowly began moving towards her, fanning out in an attempt to surround her.
With every step the animals took towards her, Fluttershy took a step back. "R...really, there's plenty for everyone. You will just have to...wait, until we—"
Fluttershy tripped over a tree root and fell backwards, straight through a thick spider web. She quickly got up again, and took a quick look at herself. She was still perfectly capable of moving around, but the web had managed to wrap itself around her midsection, pinning her wings to her body. She was no longer able to fly.
She looked back at the animals, now much closer than before.
"Um...um...we can get you over to my cottage, then um...I can feed you as much as you want! Um...you'll just...have to be...patient..."
The creatures pounced.
*****
Out in the orchard, Applejack had made good progress on the apple-picking that needed to get done. Already, she had emptied her load of apples at the barn several times. Though she had been working long enough to lose track of just how late it was, she was still practically wide-awake, singing her song the whole while.
"Evenin’ comes on an' we hitch up the wagon,
the sun had just set 'bout an hour ago.
We build us a fire an'—"
A scream filled the air, snapping her out of her trance. She turned towards the sound's origin, and realized where it must have come from.
"That sounded like Fluttershy."
She started galloping as hard as she could towards her friend's cottage, the apples and cart completely forgotten.
*****
"Tell me, my faithful student, what do you see?"
Twilight looked up, thinking of what to say. "The night sky, Princess."
"No, Twilight, tell me what you see."
Twilight looked up again, squinting to see if she missed anything. "I see millions upon millions of stars, Princess."
"No, Twilight," chuckled Celestia. "That is simply what is there. Tell me what you see."
There was a short pause before Twilight spoke again. "I see a vast canvas, with the beautiful work of art painted on it that you and your sister have created. I see the constellations the two of you drew, telling stories from ages long past. I see the long, hard yet magnificent work you two performed to allow all of ponykind to witness it." Twilight looked to her mentor, who gave her a reassuring smile.
"Yes, and thank you, Twilight," she said. "But the night sky is not simply where we doodle the figures of the fairy tales our parents read us. It is our way of acknowledging a pony's contributions to society, our way of immortalizing their impact on Equestria, to be seen by all the world."
Celestia lowered her head, gently nuzzling her student. "And now, I think the time has come for your work to be remembered."
Twilight looked at the princess, her mouth open in shock. "But, but Princess, I've barely even done anything yet! I still have so much ahead of me, I can't possibly be worthy of an honor like this!"
"Nonsense, Twilight," reassured the princess. "You have done more to protect and help our society than anypony in recent memory. Luna and I are in agreement, you deserve to be remembered, to allow your deeds to guide and shape the lives of ponies for generations to come."
"But...how, Princess? How do you plan on doing this?"
Celestia looked up at the sky, scanning it for a moment before finding a blank patch in the canvas above her. "There, Twilight. You shall create a star."
"A...a star, Princess?" Twilight asked, stunned. "But...I don't even know how! Even if I did, the energy required—"
"Will be more than you have ever used, yes," Celestia interrupted. "But you need not worry about that. All you must do is channel your magic into me, and I will shape it into the proper form. The star created from your energy will be intrinsically linked to you, and through it a piece of you will always exist."
"But still, all of that magic—"
"Twilight, I have faith that you will be able to handle it." Celestia gave her student another reassuring smile. "Are you ready?"
Twilight pondered this for a moment, before giving her teacher a nod, determination on her face. "Yes. Yes I am, Princess."
"Then let us begin."
Twilight spread her legs and began to call upon all the magic she could muster. She drew it all in, holding nothing back, before beginning to channel the vast amount of energy towards Celestia. She continued drawing in all the magic she could, and for some reason it wasn't nearly as difficult as it was just a moment ago. She smiled at the thought of the greatest work of magic she would ever perform.
A shadow passed over Canterlot.
*****
Spike woke up with a belch, green flame suddenly solidifying into a small scroll. He groaned, rubbing his eyes.
"Why does the princess need to send us letters in the middle of the night?" he asked himself. He crawled out of his basket to grab the scroll. "Twilight, there's a letter for you," he said.
When Twilight didn't respond, he turned towards the bed. She was squirming in her sleep, and it looked like she was sleep-casting again. Strange, she hadn't done that since she was just a filly. Spike shrugged, and walked over to the unicorn's side.
"Twi, wake up, you've got a letter," he said again. When she still refused to wake, Spike shrugged again. "Oh, well. Guess I'll just read it myself," he said. He turned the scroll over until he could see the royal seal, and with a flick of his claw the wax cleanly came off.
"NOOOO!"
Spike jumped in surprise. "Sorry, Twilight! I didn’t..." He trailed off when he saw she was still asleep. Sweat was pouring down her face, and she was starting to hyperventilate.
"NO! PRINCESS, NO!"
Spike began shaking the unicorn vigorously, the letter all but forgotten.
"Twilight! Wake up, Twilight!"
Twilight screamed again.
"Twilight! It's only a dream! Please, wake up!"
Spike shook harder and harder, trying with all his might to wake his hysterical friend. Unnoticed, Celestia’s scroll slowly unfurled, revealing its ill-fated message.
Twilight,
My sister and I will arrive in Ponyville soon.
Whatever you do, do not fall asleep.
Author's Note
In case you've never heard it before, the song Applejack sings is to the tune of an old cowboy song called "Git Along, Little Dogies".
Again, thanks to Sereg and Cleverpun for their editing help, and to all the people who allowed me to bounce ideas off of them.
