//------------------------------// // Dream Disaster // Story: Luna's Apprentice // by ScientistTrixie //------------------------------// “Luna, please!” Celestia pleaded, her coat no longer its normal pristine white. Now it was matted, a myriad of bruises and cuts, with flecks of her blood coating her fur. Tears streaked down her muzzle, crashing to the floor below to shatter like forgotten glass. They glistened in the moonlight streaming from above, slowly growing brighter as the moon moved through the night sky. She looks hurt… “No!” The word echoed through my mind like a cannon, clouding my thoughts with fresh waves of anger. I could feel a sneer upon my muzzle as a better description for my dear sister entered my mind. “She looks pitiful..” I couldn’t help but laugh, a dark angry chuckle escaping my lips as I looked upon the worthless waste of might and magic I once called my sister. “Come now, Celestia. Surely you can do better than that…” I could just make out her eyes widening in surprise as I darted forward, my right hoof slamming into her muzzle. Her head snapped back, a muffled grunt escaping her lips as she extended her wings to break her momentum. With a glare on her face, my dear, foolish sister lit her horn up with a golden aura. That golden shimmer was the only warning I had as a spear of sunlight slammed into the ground inches from where I had just stood. I grit my teeth, my body losing its form as I turned into a dark mist and flowed across the ground, escaping from her angry gaze in the shadows of the ruins of the palace we stood in. Before she could react, my mist shot skyward and spread out around her, cloaking her in a black and purple cloud. I watched silently for a moment, grinning savagely as she scoured the mist around her, her head and eyes constantly swiveling. With a flick of magic, a bolt slammed into her back, drawing a garbled growl from her as she whipped around. Before she could do more than level a glare at the cloud though, bolts began raining down all around her, slamming into her relentlessly. I frowned as Celestia glanced upwards suddenly, a sure sign that I had come to learn meant she had an idea. A second passed, and her horn lit up the room as she summoned a strong wind. Within seconds, I found my form pressed against the floor, hindered from reaching her position in the air. I could feel her magic building, past its usual warmth I associated with my dear sister, and into a painful blaze. The mere presence of such power began making my head throb, the pressure so strong that I could feel my ears popping despite my misty form. Before I could even dart for cover, a thunderbolt shot out from the clouds above, spreading across the floor in a rolling wave of electricity. Pain wracked my brain as I frantically fought to return to equine form, my mind addled as muscles throughout my body contracted painfully. Celestia landed nearby, banishing the thunderbolt and panting listlessly. “Please sister.. Stop this foolishness! We can work together and fix any issues you have with me!” She pleaded again, coming to a stop mere feet from my shuddering form. I panted, turning one draconian eye upon her as I ripped my helmet off. “Fine.. Fine. It’s apparent I cannot trounce you, Celestia.” I spat her name, a deep pit in my stomach as I saw a flash of relief cross her muzzle, and a gentle smile appear on her face. “Please…” I said reluctantly, extending a hoof out to her. “I…” She grabbed my hoof, pulling me to my hooves as the moon reached its zenith above me. I smiled as new strength raced through my body, flooding me with the full powers of the goddess of the moon. Celestia frowned suddenly, eyes darting to mine as I squeezed her hoof, my horn cloaked in the darkest of shadows. A tendril of pure shadow lashed out from behind her, wrapping itself around her throat tightly as a maw of tendrils opened in the floor below her. She screamed wordlessly, mouth sealed shut by shadows as they dragged her into the floor. Before she could vanish below its pock marked surface, I waved goodbye to her and turned my attention to my new citizens just beyond our castles broken down doors. The silence allowed me several seconds of rest, in which I could siphon power from the moon above in an attempt to ease the aches and pains from our battle. Celestia may be stronger than me, but no one can overpower the full moon in the middle of the night, not even her. I stepped forward, a dark laughter escaping my lips as I extended my wings, ready to take flight and rule over my new land, now that Celestia had neatly been displaced. However, a sudden rumble throughout the palace made me freeze in place, the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end as I haltingly turned around. The floor cracked and broke apart as Celestia emerged, the shadowy tendrils binding her having been destroyed in her outburst. I felt my jaw slacken as I stared at the enraged pure white alicorn now in front of me. Her fur was pure and unblemished, as new as the day she was born. Her mane and tail had long lost their ethereal quality and were aflame, a vicious heat that I could feel from across the span between us. As stark as these differences were, it was her eyes that made me feel weak in the knees. They shined as white as a new star, and radiated a power that I instantly recognized. A power whose source was clear to me as six jewels slowly rotated around Celestia. “I BEGGED YOU.” Her voice thundered, making me cringe and flatten my ears against my skull. “I ASKED YOU TO STOP YOUR FOOLISH ATTACK.” She stepped forward, the remains of the carpet burning away upon contact with her hooves. “YOU WANT TO CALL YOURSELF ‘NIGHTMARE MOON’, AND BE THE PRINCESS OF THE NIGHT?” A wave of magic slammed into me, forcing me to my knees as I struggled uselessly. “THEN SO BE IT.” Magic exploded from her horn, streaming into the air in a multitude of colors, before arcing down to slam into me. I bared my teeth, my horn blazing a nearly blinding white as I embraced the full power of the moon in a desperate attempt to overpower the accursed elements. A fierce pain emanated from my horn as I poured every fiber of my being into this last attack, but I forced the pain away. My vision blurred, time appearing to slow to a crawl as the waves of magic approached each other. All is silent, my sister’s eyes are locked with my own as we struggle, waiting to see whose power is greater. Would my magic blast hers away, or would I be cut down by the elements like so many others? We waited for the end. The moment stretches on… One heartbeat. Two heartbeats. We both grow concerned. A slow glance reveals that the the waves of magic ceased growing closer. I realized something was wrong. Across from me, Celestia’s eyes darted side to side frantically, but she remained frozen in time. The roaring flames that had replaced her mane and tail sat still, as frozen as the magic arcing through the air. I found myself in a similar state, trying to even blink proved impossible. A strange moan came from something to my right. The erratic sound of hoofsteps approached. Was who approached now responsible for this? Who would dare intrude on this, my moment of triumph? “Guh.” A small unicorn stumbled into view, stopping directly between the two blasts of magic between us. Hey eyes squinted painfully at the light as she peered first at my sister, and then me. Recognition filled her eyes and she stumbled towards me. She stumbled to the side a bit but finally managed to wind her way in front of me. Her head rolled lazily as she peered up at me, and I could practically taste the alcohol on her breath. The face she makes is, well, confusing. Her grin is assuring, but her eyes blearily look up and down my form in a manner that almost brings a blush to my face. With a overly slow wink, she turns around, ignoring my still presence. “Stahp that!” The mare yelled, suddenly across the room glaring at Celestia. “Don’ be mean tah Luna..” She hiccuped, grunting as she fell onto her haunches. “Oww..” She rubbed at her flank slowly, a smile on her face as a shadow rolled across the floor and underneath the unicorn. The shadow quickly became more solid, morphing into a massive cushion, with the unicorn shrinking into the slightly plush fabric. “Thash betta!” “Now, can’t yuh two be nice ta’ each osher’?” She was standing before me again, instantly appearing at my hooves without a sound. A slow glance revealed the plush pillow to now be just another stone section of the floor again. “Jus’ hug it out ladies!” She scrunched her face up for a moment before I felt my body picking up speed, zooming across the room to crash into Celestia’s frozen forehooves. The unicorn forced us into a hug, handling us effortlessly like a filly wiedling dolls. I frowned as Celestia’s hoof smushed into my muzzle. “Zere we g-go. N-now k-kiss n make up!” I grunted in annoyance as my nose rubbed against my sisters. This wasn’t possible. No unicorn was this powerful, so how…. A flicker of recognition finally entered my mind, I quickly freed my head from my sister’s grasp and glared at the unicorn I now recognized. “Trixie!” I yelled, trying to draw her attention to me. It apparently worked, because I suddenly found myself muzzle down in a cushion in front of her. She was grinning down from above me, giggling at my predicament. “I need you to wake up, or leave my dream!” I fought to regain control of my muscles, but for once I appeared to be at the hooves of dreamwalker. “Wha’? Why?” Trixie frowned, a flash of hurt crossing her face as she flipped me over. “I can’t do anything until you let me…” I muttered, cheeks warm at the admission. It was not often that I found myself bested in the dreamworld. Actually.. I don’t think it had ever happened before. “Oh.. Well Ah’ll just le’ you do whateva you want?” Trixie said, eyes closed as I felt my limbs loosen suddenly. I stood hesitantly, unsure of what to expect from a drunkard who controlled my entire present universe. “There! Al’ betta! Now th-” The unicorn froze, eyes wide with her mouth open as she stared into the distance. I could feel a massive pressure building, pressing down on me from all angles. It built in intensity until suddenly… “ACHOOO!” In the tallest tower of Canterlot palace, Luna shot up off her bed, breathing heavily as she patted herself over, running a hoof slowly over her own snout before slapping the bed. “I am never letting that mare drink again.” She growled as she lit her horn, a stream of magic exploding forth. It circled the room once before sinking into the floor below her, cutting Trixie off from the dreamworld until the next day. “Still,” she muttered, wrapping the blanket back around herself and getting comfortable. “-a drunken flustered unicorn forcing me and my sister to kiss would have been a preferable outcome over what really happened.”