That face. It always starts with that face. That twisted, menacing, one-fanged face. And it always ends the same way. Failure. Loss. Loneliness. Helplessness. Emptiness. Death.

I woke up with a start, heart racing, a cold sweat beading across my forehead. I checked the clock, even though it was still dark out. 3:46. I plopped back down on my bed, trying to regain my breath. I turned over on my side and curled up into a ball, shaking furiously. I held my stuffed wolf Dante, hoping to calm down. Then suddenly I felt as if I was being watched. I slowly turned around to face the window above my bed and peeked through the curtains. There, against the light of the moon, was the same claw as the one in my nightmares. I screamed and grabbed Dante and ran all the way across the room and hid. I think I was hyperventilating. What seemed like hours passed, and nothing happened. Just the sound of the crickets outside dared break the silence. I peeked over the shelf I was hiding behind and saw that it was just a branch from a tree outside my house. I sighed and regained my composure, hugging Dante in a tight grip. This had to stop.

I decided to run over to Twilight’s house so I could talk to her about my nightmares, and honestly, I didn’t want to be alone for the rest of the night. I haven’t told anyone about the scares I get every single night, but this is too much. I knew it meant something. Constant recurring dreams of mine always mean something. I quickly grabbed my favorite black hoodie, put the hood up, held Dante in my mouth and ran out the door, flying towards the library.

I flew up to her door and stood there, hesitant to knock. I didn’t want to wake a friend at this hour. I sat and held Dante in my arms, about to cry, when the door opened. “Chance?” I looked up through the tears to see Twilight’s concerned face. “Are you o-” I jumped up and hugged her, sobbing and shaking uncontrollably. “Chance, what’s going on? What’s wrong?” I couldn’t speak through all the tears. I tried to, but I just ended up choking and coughing. “Come inside, it’s freezing out here.” I hated crying in front of other ponies, even my friends. This was the first time anypony has seen me cry. Sniffling and blinking away the tears, I looked down at the floor, afraid to look at Twilight in the eyes. I guess it was a superiority thing or something. I gulped hard and wiped the rest of the tears away, and finally looked up. Twilight’s eyes were glistening with tears as well. “Chance, please. Tell me what’s wrong. Why are you crying? I’ve never-” Everything came out at once, like a flood. I looked down and took a huge breath. “I didn’t wanna wake you, Twilight, but these horrible, horrible nightmares. Every night. EVERY NIGHT, HE’S ALWAYS THERE, LAUGHING AND TORTURING ME. And I know I’m dreaming, but it’s like he’s there, preventing me from waking up. I finally am granted that peace when he makes sure I’ve seen everything. All my friends, my family… Gone. And it’s all my fault. And I know he’s played you, Celestia, all the pony folk… He hasn’t changed at all. He’s gonna come back soon, after he gets me first.” I looked up at her, tears streaming my face again, tears dominating hers as well. “And you wanna know the worst part? It’s been happening for months, Twilight. Months.” She knew what that meant. She knelt down next to me and held me, stroking my hair the way she knows I like it. “Shh, shh, shh. It’s okay. Everything’s alright, I promise. He won’t get you. Who is he, anyway?” I pried her off of me to look in her eyes. “Promise you won’t tell anyone or freak out?” She smiled warmly. “Pinkie promise.”

I sighed deeply. “It was Discord.”

Her eyes bulged from her head, obviously taken by complete surprise. “Oh, my gosh. We have to tell-” My look stopped her in her tracks. “I mean, don’t worry. He won’t get you. I promise I’ll protect you, alright? Luna and Celestia and all our friends and everyone in Ponyville will protect you.” She put her hoof under my chin and lifted it up so I would look at her. She smiled and so did I, tears burning my eyes.

“Twilight, can I ask a favor? I mean, if it’s alright with you…” “Of course.” I smiled awkwardly. “Do you think… Maybe we can spend the rest of the night reading books, and then watch the Princess raise the sun? I would kill for some company right now…” She laughed. “You don’t have to ask me twice for a night of reading.” She grinned and galloped to the Science Fiction section, our favorite, and pulled a few of the shelf and happily trotted back. “Thank you, Twilight. You have no idea how much this means to me.” I smiled and almost started to tear up again. I’m usually not this emotional, but the nightmares really have been taking a toll on my mind. “No problem! After all, you are one of my best friends.” She opened her book and started to read.

That’s what makes you a target for him… I thought. I looked down at the one books she gave me, one of the Star Trek ones. I giggled silently. She always knows what cheers me up.

We spent the rest of the night reading, and talking about different subjects, mainly astronomy and ancient history. Sure, I was athletic, but I loved to learn. We watched the sun being raised, and went and grabbed a nice breakfast with Pinkie and Applejack. I’m happy Twilight didn’t mention the horrible dreams I was having to them. After that I forced her to get some rest, even though she insisted she was fine. Her baggy, droopy eyes said otherwise. After constantly telling her she needed to do so, she finally agreed and walked me to my house, a little cabin on the outskirts of Ponyville. I didn’t like company all that much. My huskies Tonrar and Volk heard us and ran over to greet Twilight and I. Tonrar tackled me and licked my face while Volk wagged his tail and nudged my neck, and I couldn’t help but laugh like a maniac, and Twilight had to stifle a giggle as well. They finally let off, and ran away, playing with each other. I got up and looked at Twilight, grinning ear-to-ear. “See what I have to deal with every time I get back from somewhere?” We continued to walk towards my cabin. When we reached my front door, I looked up at the sky, and was taken aback at how late it had gotten. It looked to be about 4 or 5 in the afternoon. Twilight looked at me with half concern, half worry. “Well, Chance, I know you seem happy right now, but I know better. I’ve dealt with nightmares before. You’re most likely going to have them again tonight, but don’t worry. I’ll be here for you. Just come by the library again and we’ll hang out for a while, okay?” “Okay, Twilight. Thank you.” She put a hoof on my shoulder and smiled, then walked away.

“Tonrar, Volk! Allons-y! Time for dinner, guys.” At the word ‘dinner’, their heads perked up in my direction and ran towards the house. The good thing about these huskies is that they’re vegetarians. I make sure they get their protein and stuff by mixing vitamin powder in with their water, and they don’t seem to notice. I made a vegetable stir-fry and gave them most of it, saving some for me. They ate it happily, then took off running outside to play again. I looked out my window and saw Twilight looking at something. Probably an interesting flower or plant. Suddenly I head both Tonrar and Volk yelping and snarling. Panicked, I turned around to start running to them when I ran into something. I fell to the ground and hit my head, making me see stars. I felt a grip on my arm. It was a claw. I heard a chuckle.

It was him.

“Twi…light…” I tried calling to her, but fear and pain overtook my body. I tried screaming. Nothing came out but a hoarse gurgle. I tasted blood. He started to cackle now. “No… Please…!” Tears poured out like a tsunami, but I didn’t have the strength to sob.

A blunt object hit the base of my skull and I blacked out.

Author's Note

I will get the next chapter done as quickly as possible. Any criticism is appreciated, whether it's good or bad. I think I might actually turn this into a novel-type thing (around 30 chapters) if it doesn't escalate too quickly. Also, I've noticed this is the first Fic of its kind on here, I think. No one thinks of Discord or Sombra to be sadistic? ...Weird. Maybe it's just me being weird.