Nightmares Never Cease

by TooShyShy

A New Nightmare

The obvious solution was teleportation.

A spell Twilight Sparkle had known for many years. She had been praised for mastering it as a mere filly when many older unicorns struggled with it. With her alicorn magic, a big leap should be even less of a problem for her.
Alas, the obvious solution was the impossible one. For Twilight discovered within two minutes of trying that she was incapable of teleporting. She was incapable of even drawing the magic she would require for a mere levitation spell. For reasons beyond her comprehension, her magic had been rendered unusable. Adding to the fear this naturally caused, she had no idea when or if it would return to her.

A terrified Twilight Sparkle reflected on her predicament.

Her friends would notice her absence at once, as would the other princesses. Her parents would eventually be informed that their daughter, the newly-inagurated princess they looked at with pride in their eyes, had vanished. Spike, the only one she had confided in, would undoubtedly relate the story of the attempted spell to everypony. However, how would anypony find her? They would, if they were able to, seek her in other worlds. None of them would expect her to be in Princess Luna's mind.

Less broad, but still troubling, fears forced themselves into Twilight's brain. Would she require food in such a place? Would she eventually die from starvation? If she died, what would happen to her body? Would it steadily decay as was normal? Would it turn to dust and be scattered, akin to the stars, across this landscape? Or would she be blessed with immortality that came with the price of everything? Lack of knowledge was one of Twilight Sparkle's biggest fears. To be trapped in a place in which answers were impossible to grasp and her intellect could do nothing for her was a terror beyond her worst nightmares.

Twilight did not notice the “thing” that had joined her for many moments.

It concealed itself expertly inside the backdrop of stars and sky, as if it belonged there. A remnant of a previous night sky pressed stealthily against the current one, its ethereal form practically invisible. But when it moved, this disguise was abruptly, and perhaps intentionally, cast aside. It shifted and flowed like some sort of dark liquid, its own stars shining against its transparent skin.

The purple alicorn regarded it with mistrust, her gaze marking its lazy progress across the lunar plain. She could not identify it as more than an indistinct “thing”, yet she felt certain that she had seen it before. Something about its sinuous form brought forth a certain recollection, but the memory was too blurry to be read.

The thing spoke, although it had no mouth to do so. Its voice slunk across the landscape akin to a serpent, a dry whisper that resembled ancient pages scraping against one another. It sounded tired, as if it had been speaking for a millennium without rest.
“Luna.......Luna....... My sweetest, my dearest, the most beloved of the princesses. Why did you lock me away? Why did you leave me in this place? Oh dear, sweet Luna, my vessel of the night...”

A chill of horror skittered across Twilight's spine. The very essence of the voice seemed to be creeping across her body.

“It is so cold in here, my dearest Luna. I need the light. I need the sun. Please, my sweetest...”

Twilight Sparkle wanted to distance herself from the thing as it approached, but she could not move. Her body was frozen and helpless, only her eyes able to follow the thing's inevitable progress. She knew, as if she had seen it written somewhere, that it had been wandering aimlessly in this empty place for many a year, but now it had become a creature of purpose. And its purpose was one she could not allow.

“Warmth. Magic. Yes.....magic.......”

The last word was entangled within a moan of sheer pleasure. It had sensed her, a living being trapped and vulnerable within this place. It had no limbs to feel and no eyes to see, but it was being pulled toward the only other inhabitant of this lunar plain. The magic, the power, was reeling it toward the unexpected vessel that had appeared inside its prison.

A throbbing sensation spread through Twilight's horn. This was followed by a warm feeling, the type of feeling that normally accompanied the casting of a spell. Yet it felt detached from her body, as if another had tapped into the magic that eluded her in this place. Her magic had begun working separate from her will.

A wall, a solid yet transparent wall of soft lavender, expanded to obstruct the thing's path. The thing was sucked toward this barrier, its liquid form sinking into it as if the wall was constructed from purple gelatin. It could not advance past this abrupt obstacle. It pressed itself deeper into the barrier, but it did not yield. On the contrary, it appeared to be leaking into the patch of detached night sky. And the creature was absorbing it as a cloth absorbs liquid, unable to resist the barrier's influence.

Twilight's horn was glowing white hot, the intense heat threatening to singe her mane. Her magic was struggling to block this outside penetration from reaching its objective. The strain felt as if it was aging her body a hundred days for every second. She no longer cared how improbable the situation was. She only cared that this thing, this creature, be barred from entering her.

The thing had begun expanding as it fought against the barricade. It was no longer passively allowing itself to be absorbed by the magical protection standing between it and its prey. Its stars shone brighter than before in its counterattack. It was pushing, struggling with every ounce of power it had against the obstruction. With every bit of effort it sank a little deeper into the barrier, but it did not emerge from the other side.

A tongue of purple flame blossomed from the end of Twilight's horn. The flame twisted in the air for a moment as if tasting it. Then, flowing as effortlessly as a serpent, it rushed to push against the other side of the wall. The moment it touched the wall, lavender fire began to lick at the edges of it. This caused the determined invader to falter, glimmering faintly at the added attack. But with a burst of its own power, it sent a a shimmering tail of bright stars directly through the barrier and toward the alicorn on the other side. A cry of alarm leapt halfway from Twilight's throat, but it did not surface. The magic pulsating in her horn seemed to have prevented her vocal cords from functioning properly. The most that emerged from her mouth was a dull squeak of horror that was barely audible even in the silence.

With obvious vehemence, the purple flame sped toward the approaching comet-shaped projectile and halted its progress before it could reach the alicorn. In a motion too quick for Twilight's eyes to perceive, the beam twisted itself around the tail of luminous stars. The two struggled, each attempting to absorb the other, but neither would surrender to their adversary. They resembled two snakes intertwined and battling in the air.

Meanwhile, a spiderweb of cracks had appeared in the barrier. The invader's efforts were paying off, the protection steadily weakening against its immense power.
“Nightmares cannot die. They can only become stronger.”

Many things happened in the exact same moment.

Twilight's horn gave a feeble flicker and extinguished itself, too exhausted to offer anymore resistance.

The barrier shattered like glass, its remains evaporating into thin air.

The battling snakes melted into the world around them, dissolving into nothingness that could help nopony.

Triumphant, the thing rushed towards its prey too quickly to be stopped.

Helpless, Twilight could only stand there as it washed over her. She felt it sinking into her body, as cold as the night. She felt as if a nonexistent hoof, borne from ice and hatred, had penetrated her chest. A frigid blackness was taking over the magic that flowed in her veins, corrupting the purity left there by her Element. She was powerless to resist the dominance as it slowly consumed everything inside of her.

She had seen the thing before. But the memory had been imperceptible against a backdrop of startling events. She had glimpsed it many times out of the corner of her eye, without registering its presence with more than her subconscious notebook. In fact, she had seen it at a much closer range as it morphed into a dark and sinister mare.

A whisper drifted into Twilight's ear. The voice was light and hoarse with pleasure.

“At last...”

A shriek erupted from Princess Luna's throat as she awakened.

She sat up in bed, flinging the covers from her as she did so. She had never been yanked from slumber with such a terrifying jolt before, even at times when she sensed her sister's nightmares. Her entire body had just convulsed as if in extraordinary agony and perspiration had broken out over her entire body. Was she still in a nightmare? The fear, the immense feeling of danger and impending chaos....

However, these were all momentary troubles. The moment she realized that she was safely in her bedroom, these evaporated as quickly as they had sprouted. The fear slunk away into the deepest depths of her mind, as if often did proceeding any type of dream. She was safe in the real world.

“At last....”

The soft, sinister echo from the dream world gave Luna pause. But she could not attach an image or even a mere emotion to the words. She only knew that they had sparked a type of unease she had become a stranger to over her years of fighting back monsters that stalked the night.

The Princess of the Night lay back against her pillow, scowling at the painted night sky upon the ceiling.

She was sure she had been having a nightmare.

Comments

[Admiral Q Ponyform]

oh crap! Luna's alter ego getting a hold on Twilight.

[Techgirl]

5028379 Or already took a hold of Twi. Also I wonder if Luna will realize that Twilight needs help and is in her mind fighting "The nightmare". Can wait till the next update to find out

[Admiral Q Ponyform]

5032151 I know