//------------------------------// // The Inter-Dream // Story: Nightmane // by The Atlantean //------------------------------// Within the Canterlot palace, Princess Celestia almost drifted off to sleep, but was awakened by the nightmare that consumed her sister. It had all happened so fast: Luna had turned, attacked, and was banished less than two hours later by the power of the Elements. But did Luna’s thestrals aid in her betrayal? Had they quietly plotted the final moment for years, hoping that their patron Princess would emerge from the fight victorious? Only time and the right ponies would tell. The door opened; it was the palace chef, bringing her more coffee. She’d been awake for thirty hours, trying to prevent herself from succumbing to the blackness that slowly encroached on her vision. Celestia thanked the chef and sipped the caffeinated drink. The blackness retreated from the edges of her vision. “Captain Sparkle, I have an assignment for you,” the Princess of the Sun said. Her Captain of the Guard looked up from his quiet game of cards. He had a deep red coat and a dark blue mane and tail, reminiscent of the two colors that mixed to make violet. The first of two center stripes down his mane and tail was an extremely dark shade of violet, almost black color. The second was a twilight white all the way through. His eyes were a unique bright purple that made one look twice at his face and strong jaw. “Yes, Princess?” “I need you to keep the thestral population separated from the rest of us. It’s for their safety and ours, especially after my sister. No thestral leaves their respective district without a guard to protect them.” In the back of her mind, she thought, Also, I have that nagging suspicion. But she never said that out loud. “I understand, Princess. Will do.” Captain Sparkle bowed, then turned around and exited the throne room. As he did, he signaled his officers to round up the Guards for their assignments. They were on their way to Midnight District in less than than hour.   --------------------------   Constellation Nightmane wandered through the barren wasteland once known as the Inter-Dream. Without Princess Luna, the Inter-Dream would slowly crumble, falling apart over the next one thousand twenty-five years until all connections between dreams were lost. Until then, it was the duty of the thestral population to maintain it in the hope of Luna’s eventual return. She looked to the left, watching the doors to ponies’ dreams open and close, appear and disappear, as their respective dreamers slept and woke. Only Princess Luna could really enter these, but thestrals had the ability to at least monitor the dreams and alert the Princess when a nightmare came. To the right was emptiness, the result of Luna’s banishment. Thestral dreams used to be there, but when Luna betrayed her sister and Equestria the night before, most thestrals lost their connection to the Inter-Dream. As far as Constellation knew, she was the only one who was able to maintain the dream world. The starry ground felt sharp, as if the stars deliberately stuck their points into her hooves. Last time she’d been here, the stars had been soft and round, like a long, lumpy pillow. She imagined that it would only get worse as time went on. Another pony entered the Inter-Dream. Constellation walked to where he or she would enter. It was Goldwings Sr. He glanced around for a second before heading her way. “Miss Nightmane, I would like to apologize for my son’s rash behaviour the previous night. I can assure you that he is receiving the proper discipline and hope that you accept this,” he said. “I can do that,” she replied. “Thank you, Miss Nightmane. I do have a compensation gift for you. It should be delivered to your house in the evening.” “You didn’t need to.” “Given that my son could have killed you, I believe it’s necessary.” “Well, then, I accept. Reluctantly.” Constellation looked at the vast dream world around them. “It’s a beautiful place, the Inter-Dream. I only wish more of us could enter. After Luna did what she did, I haven’t seen many of us here.” “Yes,” he agreed. “You are right in every way except one.” “What would that be, sir?” “You forget that in order for one to appreciate the Inter-Dream, he or she must first understand what it took to get it.” “What do you mean, sir?” Dusky Goldwings Sr. sighed. “It started with the Guards of the Night, from which your father has earned his respectable reputation. Three thousand years ago, this place was a warzone, one where the Elements of Harmony and Princess Celestia could not enter, much less have an effect. Princess Luna lead her personal guard, our ancestors, the Guards of the Night, into battle against the Nightmares of Darkness. In that final engagement, she single-hoofedly took on their leader, known as Nightbreaker.” “Who’s Nightbreaker?” “Nightbreaker is the most powerful dreamwalker to ever exist. She had the ability to turn the entire population of Equestria to slaves, doing her will in the waking world while she controlled them unthreatened from here in the Inter-Dream. She did just that, in fact, for three whole years of anarchy. Eventually, Princess Luna learned how to dreamwalk and taught her guards to do the same. Their few hundred was up against the many hundreds of thousands of dreamers and dreamwalkers under Nightbreaker’s control. “They fought incredible odds at every battle, knowing that at any time a new army of dreamers could appear and destroy them. But they prevailed. And in that final battle on Nightbreaker’s doorstep, the Guards of the Night lost more than half of their remaining force. Remember, if you die in the Inter-Dream, you die in the waking world because this is the universal unconscious of Equestria. Only twenty thestrals survived the battle, each pair of them beginning the ten main families of our culture: Nightmane, Goldwings, Dawncrusher, Prethoryn, Sparklelight, Silvercrest, Astroline, Dreamwalker, Winterfoal, and Neptune. “Princess Luna went head-to-head against Nightbreaker. Their duel was so intense its echoes passed through dreams and entered the waking world. One such echo created the Crystal Empire; another, Galloping Gorge; a third, the Badlands. But Luna prevailed against all odds and smashed Nightbreaker into pieces of starry black essence that were never seen again. Of course, that meant Nightbreaker’s remains were unable to enter the Inter-Dream after Luna sent them to Equestria’s fringes.” “That’s an old filly’s story, sir.” “That doesn’t make it any less true, Miss Nightmane. Tell me, what other story or theory can explain us? Or dreamwalking? Or even the Inter-Dream’s reliance on Princess Luna’s magic to keep it from breaking apart? I don’t believe there’s any story that actually fits history like this one. Now, Miss Nightmane, I make my leave. I wish you a quick recovery from your wounds.”