That night, Sunset dreamed that she was a pony again. She walked through the Everfree Forest confidently, the oppressive darkness not daunting her in the slightest. It was only scary to those who didn’t understand it or couldn’t counter it. And to those who didn’t have a mini-sun spell that Celestia had taught them. The tiny sun hovered about two pony-heights above her, spreading warmth and light into the dark forest, and keeping away the forest’s more sinister inhabitants.
Once she was deep enough into the forest, Sunset found a bridge. It looked old, dripping with moss and swaying precariously in every small breeze. But Sunset wasn’t scared- she’d crossed this bridge many times and hadn’t fallen once. Today was no different, as she trotted along the bridge and made it safely to the other side. Then she cast a simple illusion spell to cover the bridge with heavy fog.
Sunset sighed happily as she entered the castle of the two pony sisters. Celestia never came here, so she could read the forbidden tomes without her teacher finding out. She couldn’t read them at home, either, because her parents would undoubtedly snitch to the princess.
The old library smelled like old books, latent magic, and sunlight, a welcome contrast to the dank and dusty smell of everywhere else in the castle. Sunset settled herself down on one of the plush recliners, sent the mini sun to hover in the middle of the ceiling, and pulled out one of the dark books.
An indeterminate amount of time later, Sunset closed the last book she’d brought with her and got up to shelve them, stretching her legs and cracking her neck as she did so. Celestia hadn’t yet noticed that the darker books had gone missing, and why would she? She’d never expressed any interest in dark magic before, deflecting Sunset’s questions about it and changing the subject whenever she brought it up. Her throat was a little dry from reading aloud, so Sunset stopped at an old fountain. She boiled the water first to purify it, then cooled it. It all took a few seconds, so she was on her way in no time.
As she was leaving the castle, Sunset caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of her eye. It was something dark and pony-shaped, but it darted away when she laid her eyes on it. Her heart thudded a little harder and her now-wet throat felt dry again.
“Get a grip, Sunset,” she said to herself, “it’s just your imagination from reading all those books.” Surely reading aloud couldn’t summon a demon twice in one week. Still, though, she brightened her mini-sun before continuing on her way to the bridge. She hurried across it this time, keeping an eye out for the mysterious dark pony figure. She wasn’t looking at her feet, so she missed the broken board.
Suddenly, she was falling from the bridge. She flailed her legs wildly and tried to catch herself in a field of levitation, but to no avail.
“Celestia!” she screamed. That damn pony was there again too, but not helping.
Sunset hit the ground on all four hooves somehow. But it wasn’t the ground of the gorge beneath the bridge. Instead, it was the sticky ground of an alley beneath her hooves. The stench of garbage permeated the air, and there was something rotting in the air. Sunset covered her nose with a hoof and gagged.
“You did this,” a raspy voice hissed, and suddenly a figure lurched into view in front of her. It was a human, but that was all that Sunset could say for sure about it. Ragged tatters that might once have been clothes hung off it, and its skin had begun to slough off. As Sunset watched, the finger that the zombie was pointing at her fell off, bounced off her nose, and hit the ground. The pony gaped in horror at the sight and then threw up.
The action woke the real Sunset, who sat up with a scream, sweating and shuddering in revulsion.
“Sunset?” Fluttershy asked, sitting up and rubbing her eyes, “are you okay?”
Sunset’s only response was to run to the toilet and do exactly what she’d done in the dream.
“Oh dear,” said Fluttershy, and followed her into the bathroom to wait behind her with a wet cloth to wipe her face with.
“I had a nightmare,” Sunset said, walking to the basin and picking up her toothbrush to clean her teeth. “I guess talking about it must’ve triggered it.”
“Do you want to talk about it?” Fluttershy asked. It was kind of her to ask when she looked so tired.
“No,” Sunset replied with a shake of her head. “You just go back to bed, I’ll brush my teeth and drink something to calm down and then I’ll join you.”
“Okay,” Fluttershy said quietly, and patted her on the shoulder on her way out of the bathroom.
Sunset leaned against the kitchen sink, sipping a glass of water. The dream had terrified her in a way that nothing had since the Fall Formal. In a way, she supposed a nightmare about her past deeds was better than the demon laughing at her and torturing her friends. She’d take zombies and regrets over fire and brimstone any day.
“Maybe I should tell the real Sunset’s parents about what happened to their daughter,” she contemplated aloud. “It’s what Celestia would want me to do.”
“Well, of course it is.” Sunset wasn’t surprised to hear Pinkie Pie’s squeaky slippers entering the kitchen. “Principal Celestia preaches honesty, even when it hurts. Also kindness, generosity, laughter, and loyalty.” She grinned, making a squeaking noise.
“Thanks, Pinkie, but I was referring to Princess Celestia, the-“
“Solar alicorn of Equestria, diarch of Equestria and ruler of the sun?” Pinkie finished, and smiled again.
“That’s the one,” Sunset nodded. “She’d want me to apologise, I think. Maybe that’s what the nightmare meant.”
“But I thought Princess Luna was the one who controlled dreams,” said Pinkie. She sat down at the table, opened the brownie container, and grabbed one to munch on.
“Apparently, before she was banished. I don’t know about her now, but how do you know about her?” Sunset raised an eyebrow before downing the rest of her drink.
“Twilight’s journal,” Pinkie replied through the brownie she’d just popped in her mouth.
“Ah.” Sunset nodded. “But she can’t find dreams in this world, can she?”
Pinkie’s only response was something garbled around another two brownies, so Sunset went back to bed. Before she slept, she decided to say something she’d once heard of a long time ago.
“Princess Luna, guide my dreams and protect me from the nightmares,” she whispered into her pillow. She didn’t know if it would work, but it was worth a try at least.