//------------------------------// // The Nightmare from the Shadows // Story: Luna's Star // by Sliver Swirl //------------------------------// Luna walked slowly through the darkness, it was pitch black. The darkness had consumed everything, except for a spark of light in the distance. She shuddered, the darkness reminded her of him. Her nightmare. She did not remember how she arrived, only that she had to find Twilight and leave. Luna kept heading towards the single sparkle, it's light growing brighter and brighter the closer she got. It began to take shape into a bright six pointed star, what did it mean Luna wondered. She finally arrived at its centre, it was glowing bright with someone purple in the middle. Luna walked closer, cautiously. She stopped when she could see the purple middle clearly.It was a small filly, with a dark blue mane with two strips and had a light purple coat, it was Twilight! She immediately stopped her slow cautious walk and ran to her daughter, only to find herself unable to move. She looked down and saw that her hooves were stuck to the ground. Luna tried and pulled but she could not set herself free, she spread her wings but she could leave the ground and tried to use magic but her horn did not produce a spark. Luna did not know what to do, her alicorn powers had been beaten. She had nothing left to save her filly with, if only she wasn’t needed to save her filly. She would gladly stay here for eternally if it meant Twilight could leave. But how? Nopony pony else was around and Luna could not summon help using her magic. Perhaps, she thought…. Perhaps Twilight could save herself. She had been crawling recently, she could crawl away! Luna now only had to wake her and hope that Twilight could release herself from the glowing star. “Twilight!” She yelled, hoping to wake her daughter quickly before anything else happened, “Twilight!” She yelled again, causing her filly to open her eyes at sound of her mother's voice. Twilight began giggling and rolled off the star and causing her to land on the floor. Luna hoped she not walk towards her, unfortunately the filly began crawling towards her, “No Twilight!” She yelled, her daughter stopped and looked at her with confusion. Luna hated yelling at her daughter but she needed to leave,”Go! Leave Twilight!” She yelled once more spreading her wings to make herself look more intimidating to the young filly. Twilight began to cry and stopped her crawling, Luna felt awful,“I’m sorry, Twilight,” she whispered softly, she lowered her wings, “Come here little one,” Luna said in a soothing voice. But, Twilight continued to cry and did not move, “Come to Mama, Twilight,” she tried calling once more but it was as if her filly did not hear her. Twilight had never acted like this before, she thought, this made her very worried. “I don’t think she wants Mama, Luna dearest,” a voice from behind her called. Luna knew that voice, she hated that voice. Luna quickly turned around and saw the devil himself, Sombra, standing close behind her. She repressed a shudder at having him so close and focused on her innocent daughter. “Why are you here, Sombra? Is this your doing?” Luna cried, trying her best to remain strong in front of her filly. She wished she could pick Twilight up and run away from him. “I am here for my daughter, surely you didn’t forget who her father is,” the voice she hated said in his arrogant voice. “SHE IS NOT YOUR DAUGHTER!” Luna yelled in the Royal Canterlot voice. “tsk, tsk. So you have forgotten, such a shame how the memories fade,” Sombra said, circling Luna like a vulture circles a dying animal. “Twilight is my daughter, she bares no resemblance to you,” Luna growled, desperately trying to escape the floor to run to her precious daughter. Sombra stopped circling in front of Luna and raised his hoof under her chin. Luna wanted to slap it away but she was unable to do anything. He looked deeply into her eyes and smirks, Luna has a feeling deep in her gut something bad is about to happen. He turns away from her and starts to walk in towards Twilight! “NO!” Luna cried, “Please leave her alone! Please! Please, I’ll give you anything!” He stopped, Luna was glad. She had gotten through to him, he would leave Twilight alone,”Hmm, Anything I want?” He asked, walking away from Twilight and back to Luna. “Yes!” Luna said, immediately not even thinking about her answer. “What I want is to hold my daughter and raise her, can you allow me to have that precious Luna?” He asked, shifting away from her again. “No! Please! No!” Luna cried, trying desperately to break free from the floor.While she tried to break free Sombra walked towards Twilight and picked her up using magic. Twilight immediately started bawling and reaching for her mother, “No, No crying my little star. We’ll get reacquainted with each soon,” he said, placing the filly in his hooves. Twilight whimpered and still tried to escape, Luna wished she could safe her. She knew how Twilight hated to be carried by strangers. “Twilight, I am Papa. Can you say Papa?” he asked, pronouncing the words slowly. Twilight didn’t say a word, she just continued to babble. “I suppose it doesn’t matter. You will learn to speak sure enough. Let’s go Twilight,” he said walking off with Luna’s filly. “No! Please Sombra!” Luna screamed. “Don’t worry Luna. We will meet again,” Sombra said walking off with Twilight in his hooves. “No! No!.......” Luna opened her eyes and sat up. It was just a dream, just a dream. Sombra wasn’t here, he was gone. Twilight….. Twilight! Luna scrambled out of her bed and ran to her daughter’s crib. She looked down at her daughter, she was asleep. She was here and not with that evil stallion. She would never allow that to happen, she would never allow Twilight to meet Sombra. Never! She would protect her filly forever. Luna picked up Twilight using her magic and carried the sleeping filly to her bed. She wanted to make sure she didn’t disappear during the night. “I promise, Twilight. We will be together forever,” Luna whispered nuzzling her little filly.