The sun dips and vanishes, the light extinguishing from every place. Harmony falls silent, and despair grows into a cruel choir as the black night comes once again. There is no joy, no hope, no love, no safety now, and every breath taken in this darkness is like a living nightmare. Surely this is nothing but a nightmare?
Ponies around me move quickly to where light must surely still linger… In the warmth of their homes, in the safety of their houses, a fire could still be whispering, its crackling a tiny and hopeless voice lost in the din of the shadow’s choir. Each candle is held aloft as we rush to where we should have been while the sun still offered its protection… While the light still brought promise of harmony and sanity. We should be under our blankets behind locked doors and enchanted windows right now, with the sun having played us a last lullaby, promising at least one good dream before the nightmares begin. Why can’t the night have a lullaby like that?
The candle above me burns so strongly… And yet its flames seems to do so little. No warmth, no safety, just a whisper of sanity that tries to guide me through this madhouse that the world has once again become. A gust of wind blows it out, and with choking fear I search for a match to re-light it. The yellow phosphorous burns and is destroyed as it tries desperately to stave off my own destruction. I can hear laughter of the ones that the night has taken. The laughter of the ones whose sanity have dissolved with the setting sun’s light. Who were they in the beauty of the day, I wonder?
Panic claws at my chest, I have taken far too long to go home. Revelry just hours ago is now nothing but foolishness as my hooves strike out a steady beat for the choir’s echoing despair. Lanterns around me try to lead me back, but as the shadows grow thicker, and the tiny flames snuff out, their dying cry seems to be a plead for me to run. Run to where, though… I am lost. What is happening?
My ears swivel at the hiss of the wind, my fur standing on end against the coldness of the black breeze. Left or Right? Right or Wrong? I can’t think straight, I know not where I am… My candle dips into darkness, and I almost plead with it to burn for just a little longer. With a gentle fizzle my flame comes back, but I can almost see my life blood rolling away with each drop of melted wax. I am running out of time… But surely this must be a nightmare?
The two ponies before me are my guardians… My parents, they hold a lantern each, their breath fogging white in the fragile bubble of light that the blue flames provide. I run to them, everything else seems to be slipping away. I’m scared, and I can see my fear reflected in their eyes. They know the way, and we hurry, my day-dreams returning to me in silent comfort. Orion, my friend among dreams, whispers hope to me, and I cannot understand. Where is hope to be found in this darkness?
Shutters slam shut around me, a scream of madness echoes out. The stones before me are died in sticky colour, but we have not the time to pay heed to it, nor fear to the painter, nor pity to the fallen. I wish for a day when there is always time, or perhaps a new kind of night where it could still be found… Vela, my partner in dreams, whispers of a night like that, and I wish to believe her even as I close my eyes against the gore. A night of adventures together, she tells me, and I try to imagine it as we run. Which of us could make a greater tale, I wonder?
A final turn, and we find the end. Not in safety, but in despair. Three ponies stand before us, crazed and twisted, weapons hanging on chains from their hooves, wings, and magic. My parents move forward, pushing me back as they try to find a way past where the four stood. Aries questions me on the number, I whisper of death, Orion tells me to wake up, Vela gives me peace in this bloody chaos. I don’t understand. Tarnished silver flashes manically, bringing pain in its wake. I can’t understand. Insane laughter holds an echo of begging tears. Surely this is a nightmare. Pain in the form of a whipped chain tells me it isn’t. How has it come to this?
The pegasus steps forward, an unseeing eye looking right through me.
Wake up.
I stagger back, a mixture of fear and peace giving me new awareness.
Wake up.
The unicorn’s horn glows in a sickly yellow as his weapon readies itself toward me.
Wake up.
I feel as if I’m dreaming, as my parents tell me to run.
Once again, my friends tell me to wake up.
So, am I dreaming? Everything tells me I’m not, and yet the world is suddenly too sharp, a warped and beautiful reality too grand to truly be real. I can control my dreams. I hold weak magic but there, in an other reality, far superior to mine own, I could fly. I feel as if the very air wishes to bear me up even as the ones before me grin in their desire to cut me down.
The Grim Reaper before me hisses of death, despair, and chaos, and a living nightmare.
The friends within me whisper of life, hope, and harmony, and for me to wake up.
So as the blade whizzes towards me to sever my life’s thread, I do.
A new light is born. Among the blackness that had become our sky hangs a brilliant orb that dispels the darkness in a gentle light as white as every child’s innocent dreams. My friends take to the sky, their forms bringing pinpricks of joyful melody that hums a lullaby to everypony below. Madness and hatred is brushed away in whispers of reason and love. I feel as if I am everywhere, and I gather all my friends below under my wings with a heart-felt wish. I want the night to be like the day, but in a different sort of way.
The day can bring joy, honest laughter, and promises of teamwork. The night can bring calm, rest, and sweet dreams.
The day can bring out the flowers, sweet animals, and fluttering butterflies. The night can bring out fire flowers in the sky, guardians and dancers, and bugs with their own little candles.
The day can be for writing tales, the night for living them. The day for planning and the night for partying.
A harmony that echoes out in every minute, where love and life are never forgotten. That is my wish.
As everypony looks up to my sky, I can see despair dissolve in the glimmers of my hopes. But am I forgotten now? When I stopped being there, and became everywhere, did I cease to be with my little ponies? They really are so little now. Perhaps it is alright though. My greatest wish was answered.
Dawn is coming, and it is time for my night to leave, for now. That was when I heard it, a soft gasp that said I had answered another wish. Warm like the sun, I feel another like me pull me close, and hug me tight. I blink, and in a way my waking dream changes, and I see her before me. A filly a few years older than me, looking a little lonely but hopeful, who wishes to call me “sister.” I am not forgotten, nor are we alone. I hug her back, and we watch the day together. As she settles the sun, I bring back my night, and through our magic we find something new.
As it is now, I can’t understand it… But perhaps, someday, I will. The whole world before us, everything changing, even us. Every soul and mind wishing to learn and grow. Us, as well. Time seems to have ceased to exist, everything is becoming new… New words crop up as well, new names, new languages… God, Goddess, Alicorn, Elements, Celestia, Luna, Discord, Equestrian… So many words disappear. Rape, Murder, Racism, Addict… But some do not. Hatred. Foolishness… Betrayal… Nightmare is a word that never seems to be forgotten.
Wisdom, Foolishness, Pride and the fall. Loneliness and friendship, Dreams, and Nightmares…
Realities within Reality, Truth and Mythology.
It’s time to wake up.
So I do.
“Lulu! It’s time for breakfast!”
“Coming Sister…”
“Oh my, what a groan! Has my little sister become a zombie? Well I guess she won’t mind if I eat all these mooncakes then.”
“Celestia, leave some for me!”
“Did you hear something from upstairs, Black Tea?”
“Heh heh heh… Ahem... That is... Uh, No… Your highness.”
“Must be my imagination then.”
“Celestia, you’re such a troll!”
“Gah, Luna! Watch the table! Watch-”
“And there goes the breakfast dishes.”
“…Oops… Sorry Black.”
“It’s fine… Did you have any interesting dreams, Princess Luna?”
“Just some old memories.”