"Through ordinary days, a truth has been hidden from the rest of the world. One that threatens to destroy all of Equestria. It has been buried under a fabric of lies, understood by only one pony.
It was a truth that was once known, yet chosen to forget."
The rustle of the bushes. The whisper of the wind. The howling of lost souls.
That was all Celestia could hear.
Everywhere she looked, she saw the greenery of the forest. It felt like any other old forest, yet there was hint of familiarity to it. It definitely wasn't the Everfree.
Celestia trotted through, clueless as to why she was here. The preceding events were just flashes in her memory. Nothing she could make out anyway.
Although there was nothing specific about where she was, there was a nagging feeling that she had been here before. Many, many years ago. Not due to a certain landmark or creature, but just this feeling in her gut.
Celestia had already tried teleporting out of here a thousand times. Her magic seemed to be completely disabled. Flying out wasn't an option either, as one of her wings was broken.
Yet again, there was absolutely no recollection of the events before that got her here. It was also nearly impossible to disable an alicorn's magic, much less her own.
She had to keep moving, though. Whatever entity did this to her could probably do worse. Now all that was on her mind was a way out. Which was a lot more difficult than once thought. Everything looked more or less the same, lots of trees and shrubbery. Again, this feeling came up. This undeniable sense that she may already know this area inside out. Yet something was keeping her from remembering.
Celestia noticed that the ground had changed. She was previously stepping on grass, but the ground had gotten wet and sticky. When Celestia looked down to see her hooves covered in mud, she noticed something else entirely. Hoofprints.
The hoofprints were much smaller than her's. It was obviously a filly. The princess did the dirtiest thing she had done for years and sniffed it. Once more, there was something about it, familiar. On the tip of her tongue, yet not quite there.
As she followed them, Celestia noticed that there was a sound that was constantly getting louder. The chirp of the crickets had also eerily stopped. The wind blew more and more into her ear. The other sound that was getting louder was the ticking of a clock.
Celestia was frightened the most by that. Wind and the silence of crickets may have explanations, but there wasn't a clock around.
Until she bumped into one.
It was bigger than most, almost as if it were to be hung inside a building.
The clock jittered as a spider the exact same size as it crawled out from underneath.
Celestia continued following the hoofprints, her heart practically about to jump off her mouth.
Previously, she had to maneuver a little bit around the trees. They were scattered around and made it almost feel like a labyrinth. Only now did she notice that it had stopped. The trees were arranged more symmetrically with the hoofprint path, looking like a sort of natural-made red carpet.
Celestia now had to stop to catch her breath. This feeling of being here before was at its strongest. To the point that it hurt. The details started to become more evident. She noticed things that were from her past. The way the trees were shaped. There was more of a distinct feature about them. Whatever was at the end of the path might answer just where in Equestria she is.
The path ended. No more hoofprints left. Instead, a cliffside that overlooked a nearly horizonless ocean. The moon was at its highest point, creating a striking image with its glittery reflection in the water.
Celestia saw that right at the edge of the cliffside, was already another pony. She sighed heavily, a sigh of relief. Finally somepony to tell her what was going on.
But as she approached her, she noticed she was looking at an alicorn as well. And while it was an alicorn with blue flowing hair, it was way too small to be Princess Luna.
Celestia went to the edge and prepared to greet herself, only to find out that it was Princess Luna, when she was but a small filly.
"Is that you, sister?" said Celestia, "Where are we?"
The filly didn't answer. Her body may have been small but her expression was the same as Luna ever was. Stern. The filly looked at Celestia for a few seconds.
"Come," said Luna, before leaping off the cliffside and falling in the water.
Celestia wondered whether she should even go down with her. As soon as she looked back at the forest, however, she made up her mind.
She fell into the water, sinking along with her sister. It wasn't the feeling of drowning, but more so losing consciousness. Her eyes began to close, and her body became limp.
Now, the Princesses were in a new location. Celestia saw herself in the train, currently passing through a tunnel, meaning the view from the window was obstructed.
Luna was sat next to Celestia, still a filly.
The train exited the tunnel, allowing Celestia to see where they were. The view outside showed the Crystal Castle glistening in morning sunlight, making Celestia feel much safer than before.
"Luna, what's going on? Where were we a few minutes before? I think I remebered the place. Was it from when we were fillies?"
Luna didn't answer, instead she just kept looking out of the train's window, but not in admiration.
In anticipation.
The towering castle had an explosion in the center, toppling it. Celestia looked on wide-eyed, as the castle fell.
Until another explosion happened in the carriage behind them.
Celestia woke up in her bed. It felt like an eternity since she was back in reality.
She sprung up, seeing Luna awake and lowering the moon.
"Did you purposefully infiltrate my dream last night?" Asked Celestia, slightly cross.
Luna looked back with an innocent confused look on her face.
"No, why?"
Celestia approached her, as she was still lowering the moon on the terrace.
"Because I had the most vivid dream in years, and I know well when somepony is messing with the dreamscape."
There was no response.
"So just tell me what's going on. Where was I in the beginning?" Asked Celestia.
Luna sighed audibly, "I can't. Anyway, you should get some more rest. You'll be raising the sun soon."
Celestia stared at Luna, dissapointment and confusion mixed together.
"Then can you at least tell me what it all means. Please."
Luna went back to lowering the moon, not looking at her sister.
In fumes, Celestia marched out of the door. She went straight to the Royal Library. Her first thought was to go to the section with Princess Luna's books.
Eventually she found it. A book titled 'Dreamscapes: What Do Events In A Dream Mean For You?'.
Celestia browsed through, knowing that certain images in a dream means somepony is trying to tell her something. She just had to find out what.
Her eyes fixated on a certain paragraph. As she read, it became increasingly apparent the gravity of what she saw.
"Spiders:
In nightmares, a very common topic is spiders. If you encounter a spider in your dreams, it means you have to be careful, as something is approaching that you have always feared.
If the spider is seen to have any association with a clock, then it means that you have to act fast, as time is rapidly running out. The spider's size relative to the clock is also a tool you can use to identify the magnitude of the problem. If it's an ordinary spider, enough to fit in your hoof, the problem is small. It could just mean you've forgotten something somewhere.
When the spider increases in size, that's where your mind is telling you that the problem is getting worse. When it's half the clock's size, there is reason to considerably worry.
However, once the spider is as big as the clock, you and ponies you love may be in life-threatening danger."
Celestia thought back to her dream. In the forest, she encountered a clock. Her heart froze when she remembered the humongous spider that crawled out of it.
She continued to read on, again stopping after skimming through a few pages.
"Familiarity:
When in a dream, you may find yourself in a place from fillyhood.
There are two reasons this happens.
If you know the place exactly, then it's you simply reminiscing.
But if you can only get hints of it, you might be being invaded by another pony. It is very hard to near impossible to access the dreamscape if your magic isn't amazingly strong. However, if you have the power, you can.
The explanation for why you are seeing that place cannot be answered in this textbook. Only whoever put it there could know."
Again, Celestia thought back to the dream. Just like what the book said, she couldn't remember exactly where she was. Only hints and small details, but not the bigger picture.
She thought back to the forest. Trying desperately to remember it. The trees. The cliffside. Luna as a filly.
Suddenly it hit her like a jackhammer.
It was her old home. They used to live near a forest when they were young. Before they became alicorns. Before the banishment of her sister and Twilight.
The last time she was there was nearly a thousand years ago.
Celestia paced back up the stairs, to go back to Luna. She had almost forgotten about raising the sun.
"Sister! I have a few questions to ask of---"
The princess was cut off by the sight of their room completely smashed up. Everything was either turned over or broken. The lamp near their bed was on the floor, shattered. The few pictures of them around the room were filled with cracks, almost specifically around Celestia.
Her attention was brought to the open window. The harrowing sight of the curtains blowing against the destroyed room.
Twilight was asleep in the Castle of Friendship. Her dreams had been rather rough in the past few days, except tonight. The current dream was actually one of Twilight's favorites.
In the dream she was having, Twilight saw herself at the ceremony of Cadence and Shining Armor's wedding.
She was drinking some fruit punch, watching her friends enjoying the night. She got startled when she felt a hoof touch her, but it was none other than Princess Celestia.
"Twilight Sparkle, I would just like to thank you on saving Equestria from the changelings. It really shows me that you are capable to rise up to me someday. In fact, I have a little surprise for you tommorow!"
Twilight looked at her, nearly screaming in joy.
"Thank you, Princess Celestia. I promise to work even harder for friendship than before. I will earn the title of Princess!"
Celestia and Twilight both shared a hearty laugh. Twilight loved to dream about a moment like this.
"Anyway, you should go enjoy the party with your friends. They're waiting for you."
Twilight smiled at Celestia, before going back to see her companions. But when she looked back, all of them were gone.
"Uh, Celestia. Where is every---
Twilight saw that Celestia wasn't there. Instead Chrysalis and her changelings all surrounded her. Chrysalis went closer to Twilight, stroking her hair.
"Oh Twily, when will you learn to never keep your guard down."
Chrysalis charged up her horn and aimed it right at the center of Twilight's face.
The Changeling Queen grinned at the terrified Twilight.
"Oh don't worry. You'll be joining your friends soon."
Twilight shot up out of bed. She was breathing heavily, practically sweating. It was the most vivid dream she had in years.
When she got her bearings, she noticed that none of her friends were beside her.
"Hello? Where did everypony go?" Twilight exclaimed.
She got up from the bed and noticed there was a sound downstairs. She heard shouting and what even sounded like fighting.
But when she heard what was undeniably magic being blast, Twilight rushed down.
"Rarity! Applejack! Pinkie! What's happening down there!"
Twilight reached the bottom of the stairs and could see blue magic being cast.
Rarity was attacking something
"What in Eque---
Twilight felt something grab her hair and throw her towards the Friendship map.
"Look out Twilight!"
Twilight ducked as a blue laser shot past her head and into a shadowy creature. The creature screamed in agony as it dissapated into thin air.
AppleJack came and grabbed Twilight up, asking if she was okay.
"Yeah, yeah I am. Thanks Applejack. Now, what the heck was all that?" asked Twilight.
"I don't know. Some darn spooky creature attacked Pinkie in the night, we've got no idea what it was."
Rarity came in and brushed some of the dirt and dust on Twilight.
"Well whatever it was darling, it's gone now."
"Uhh... Twilight." said Pinkie.
"What?"
"Look at the map."
The Friendship Map was glowing with all six of the Elements of Harmony's cutie marks. The location they pointed at was the Royal Castle.