Something is terribly wrong.
The thought had crossed her mind at several points before. The way Tamiyo had acted the previous night, the blackened nightmare that had been appearing in the dream realm ever since she had arrived... she could tell from the beginning was off about her. Yet now, staring her in the face, it was more obvious than ever that the problem was worse than she had ever anticipated.
The blackened sphere of terror that she had seen the past two nights had returned, but now it was far beyond what it had been before. Its size had grown to nearly double that of the previous night. The shadows that it cast across the dreamscape were fluid and tangible, flowing from the nightmare into the surrounding area. Like a stream of murky oil, the darkness leaked out and pooled below it, into a puddle that hung suspended in the weightless space of dreams.
If it gets any larger, it will start corrupting the surrounding dreams, thought Luna. But if I wasn’t strong enough to penetrate the nightmare before, there’s no way I could penetrate it now. What am I to do?
Looking at it now, seeing how the nightmare had grown, seeing how it would grow if left unchecked, it was clear inaction was not an option. Yet despite the urgency that tugged at her from within, there was also a sense of powerlessness. She must do something, yet here she could do nothing.
Duality and contradiction. Those were things she had grown extensively familiar with throughout her life. Yet from those contradictions bore strength, the capacity to see things from perspectives that others would dare not approach.
Already, an idea began to form, illuminating the dim corners of her mind. If I cannot solve this problem in the dream realm, thought Luna, then I must solve the problem outside of it.
For now, Luna would focus on watching over the dreams she could. Come her return to the waking world, she would find an answer.
———————
Luna arrived on the balcony greeted by a chill that crawled down the entire length of her horn. The skies were dark and overcast, the weather teams having made sure to cover the starry nightscape with a thick layer of fluffy clouds. Only a scant few strands of silvery light made their way down from her moon. Despite the ever-familiar resonance of the moon’s ambient magic with her soul, she couldn’t but feel that it was more distant to her than ever. A deep breath filled her lungs with the night’s cool air, her thoughts turning to the one she had come here to see.
Tamiyo will arrive here soon enough, Luna thought. It was all she could do to reassure herself. With the nightmare, everything about her all seemed... uncertain, somehow.
And so, Luna waited. She waited, and waited, and waited. She sat diligently, and as the minutes ticked by, the moon dipped below the line of clouds above, becoming fully visible at the edge of the western sky. Its path slowed, the momentum from its rise earlier that night waning, until finally it hung motionless at the edge of the horizon.
It was time to lower the moon, at last. Yet Tamiyo wasn’t there.
A void opened up within her heart, like a yawning chasm. Her breath held tightly in her chest as she stood to her hooves. I cannot delay my task. I’m sorry, Tamiyo.
Luna closed her eyes, and tapped once more into her magic. A simple push, and her heavenly namesake was sent into the awaiting grasp of the forces on the opposite hemisphere.
What could have happened to her? Luna thought. She closed her eyes, feeling the question linger like an itch in the corner of her mind, burning and irritating as it snaked its way into her chest. Did she get hurt? Did she not awake? Did I drive her away?
“No, Your Highness. I’m right here.”
Luna’s head turned around toward the voice, fast enough that it nearly gave her whiplash. “Tamiyo!” She said, beaming. “Thank the stars! I was worried you’d never show!”
“I am aware,” said Tamiyo. Already Luna could see the newfound slouch in her posture, and the heavy bags beneath her eyes. “I had heard you the first time.”
“Heard me?” Luna’s face went blank, save for the slow blinking of her eyes. “Wait. Was I speaking out loud before I saw you?”
“You were,” Tamiyo replied with a gentle smile. “You must spend a lot of time alone if you hadn’t noticed.”
A dull sting rang through Luna’s chest cavity, though she knew Tamiyo had not meant to hurt her. “I... don’t have many opportunities to form bonds with other ponies,” she lamented. “My sister has always been there, and my guards...” Luna paused briefly, coughing gently into her hoof. “...well, they fulfill certain, ah... seasonal needs. But I can’t say there’s ever been much in the way of attachment between us.”
Tamiyo blinked rapidly. For a brief second, Luna could vaguely make out a hint of color in her cheeks. “Ah. Right,” she said. “Are you saying, then, that you don’t have any other friends?”
Luna sighed. “I... no. Not really. Princess Twilight and her own friends have been on good terms with me, but I rarely see them while they’re awake. Even when I visit them in dreams, half the time they don’t even remember it when they wake up.”
The corners of Tamiyo’s mouth edged downward. “I see. I’m sorry for keeping you waiting.”
Luna’s eyes scanned Tamiyo’s body, noting the disheveled fur and wrinkled clothes. Though subtle, the aura of tranquility and focus that seemed to surround her at all times was waning. “It’s alright,” Luna reassured. “To tell you the truth, I’ve been far more worried about you these past few hours.”
Though Tamiyo remained stolid, a slight twitch of her nose betrayed a stir of emotion. “About me?”
“Yes,” said Luna. “Tamiyo, I...” She breathed in sharply, the air catching in her throat. There was no going back now. “...there is something I must ask of you. Have you been sleeping well?”
Tamiyo paused, and her frown deepened. “Yes, of course. Why do you ask?”
“Unfortunately, I have reason to believe that is not the case,” said Luna. “Since the day you’d arrived, I have noticed a powerful nightmare in the dream realm, one that I have not found a way to enter despite my best efforts. I believe this nightmare is none other than your own.”
“That nightmare could belong to anyone,” said Tamiyo. “I don’t see what it has to do with me.”
“Perhaps it is merely coincidence,” Luna replied, “but I also have noticed that you do not appear well-rested tonight. If you are having difficulty sleeping, then that would explain why you arrived late.”
Tamiyo went silent. A gentle breeze blew in the wind, and her eyes briefly turned away.
“Moreover,” said Luna, “I have also noticed something particularly odd about the story you shared with me last night.”
Tamiyo’s nose twitched again, and her body briefly stiffened. “Odd?”
“We had agreed to share stories of ourselves with each other,” Luna elaborated, “yet I did not hear you mention yourself in your story even once.”
“It must have simply slipped my mind,” Tamiyo said. “I appreciate your concern, Princess, but I have been sleeping just fine.”
Luna paid the remark no mind. Even a casual observation of Tamiyo’s posture had proven it untrue. “And of this ‘Emperor’ you told of?” she continued. “What of his Champion? I have traveled many lands, yet I have not heard of any places where such figures have existed. Given the circumstances, I have trouble believing that your story was entirely fiction. Why would you go through such trouble to tell a story without giving even a single name?”
Tamiyo’s ears twitched slightly. Her eyes became distant and unfocused, and she clutched the fabric her robe tightly with a single hand, expressing the sudden tension that had built within her grip. Seeing her now, Luna no longer had any uncertainty left in her mind.
“I’m not upset with you, Tamiyo,” Luna continued. “I’m merely asking because I’m concerned for your well-being. I want to help you, but I can’t if you keep hiding yourself from me. Please, just tell me what’s going on.”
“No.” The word was uttered quickly and sharply. Tamiyo’s eyes had gone wild, quivering beneath the dim light between moonset and sunrise. She breathed in, and laboriously exhaled, letting the tension in her body melt away. “I am sorry, Your Highness, but the truth is not for you to know.”
Luna’s shifted her head silently, blinking rapidly. “What? Tamiyo, what are you talking about? I’m only trying to help you!”
“And I am trying to help you!” Tamiyo pushed back. Her body was still trembling slightly, and Luna could just barely see moisture building in the corners of her eyes. “Truth is a powerful tool, one that I have dedicated my entire life to seeking. Truth can liberate the mind and illuminate the soul, but there are times when knowing it can only ever bring misery. If I have ever kept the truth hidden from you, it’s because you don’t deserve to suffer it.”
“But that’s ridiculous!” said Luna. “Tamiyo, you don’t have to do this. You don’t have to isolate yourself to protect me. I’ve already suffered more hardships than anypony could ever ask for.”
“And you will suffer more if you continue,” said Tamiyo. “I am begging of you, don’t pursue this matter any further.”
“But—”
“I have nothing more to say to you, Princess. You must understand, it’s for your own good.”
As Tamiyo turned away, Luna was left only to stare as she exited the balcony, and disappeared through the door at the bedchamber’s far end. She fell to her haunches, feeling the cold air bristling against her coat.
Behind her, a bright light flared from beyond the horizon, and she felt the familiar tingle of her elder sister’s magic running down her horn. She looked upwards, further up the tower’s length, and saw Celestia staring at her from atop her own balcony.
“Luna? Is everything alright?”
Luna stood to her hooves, and turned to meet Celestia’s gaze. “Forgive me, sister, but I’ll be skipping our morning breakfast today. There is something that I must do.”
———————
Under normal circumstances, Luna would not think to enter the realm of dreams after the sun had risen, but then the time for normal circumstances had already long passed.
She had a hunch the night before, that Tamiyo would have to alter her sleeping pattern in order to observe the lowering of the moon. That she would spend time asleep before their nightly session, and time asleep directly afterward. That would be the least radical change to a normal circadian rhythm, and one that she would have adjusted to easily enough to attend their nightly sessions.
Her suspicions were confirmed when she drifted through the dreamscape, and saw exactly what she was looking for. The other dreams had all but disappeared as ponies across Equestria stirred from their slumber, but one dream in particular remained. The very same nightmare that had weighed on her thoughts since it had first appeared. Absent the multitude of other dreams within the ethereal realm, its presence loomed over Luna’s form larger than it ever had before. It was a black sun rising over the dreamscape, casting rays of blistering darkness over all that lay beneath it. Luna shuddered as she stared at orb, feeling its shadows wash over her.
Here’s hoping this will work...
With no other option of approach left, Luna charged forward. Her horn lit ablaze with all of the strength she could muster, pushing away the darkness. With the full force of her magic behind her, her astral form collided with the nightmare, the impact sending a dull noise across the dreamscape. Her mind was left reeling in the wake of her attempt, her senses blurred and disoriented.
When awareness returned to her, Luna nearly gasped aloud. She had failed to penetrate the nightmare, as she’d expected.
What she did not expect was that the nightmare would attempt to pull her in.
Her front hooves were stuck to the surface of the dark orb, its black, oil-like material now a viscous, powerful adhesive. Luna’s wings flapped mightily, pulling herself away, yet the strands of the nightmare remained attached to her, resisting her pull as she backed away. A sharp snap rang through her ears, and her senses were immediately jolted by another collision. When she regained her coherence, she found her entire body stuck to the orb. The entire side of her body was pressed against the nightmare, her wing squished uncomfortably between her barrel and the orb’s grimy, sticky exterior.
The surface of the orb rippled. The unpleasant sensation of oil against Luna’s skin deepened, covering more and more of her body. Looking outward, she could see the dreamscape rapidly retreating from view.
“No!” Luna shouted. “Let go! Let go—”
Luna’s desperate cries were muffled before she could finish them. The nightmare enveloped her, and the entire world went dark.
———————
Koz...
A word, half-coherent, came unbidden into Luna’s mind. It was the only reminder she had that she was still alive, still conscious.
...ilek... dead...
Despite lacking a body, Luna’s astrally projected form was wracked with an impossible pain. More words, more thoughts, intruded upon her mind, the meaning of which she did not know. As the recollection of what had happened moments before rushed to the front of her mind, a sense of urgency flooded into her chest.
Her mind still in a haze, Luna’s eyes opened. Her limbs shook beneath her as she slowly stood to her hooves. Only when the pain cleared away and her vision stopped swimming did she take the time to identify her surroundings.
She was standing atop a large rocky hill, beneath a night sky enveloped by a sea of dark and murky clouds. Below her, a series of three dirt roads cut across the grassy terrain, extending into a distant clifftop overhanging a massive lake. There, connected by elaborate stone gates and bridges, the roads converged at the edge of large city, where layers upon layers of walls and bulwarks circled a vista of elaborate stonework buildings. The windows of the largest towers glowed with a magic that tickled the base of Luna’s horn; it reminded her of her sister’s magic, yet was distinct in a way she couldn’t quite describe.
Either way, the city was one that she had never seen before in her life. And the clouds above it parted, she could immediately tell why.
There was a moon in the sky, but it was not her moon.
The new object glowed with a light more intense than any she had seen in the night sky, and it radiated a magic that far outstripped any she had felt from her own heavenly namesake. Beneath its silvery radiance, Luna felt comforted, safe. Yet the earth below her told a different story. As her hooves extended their sense into the land, the land reacted with waves of hostility, sending her astral form’s stomach into a fit of churning nausea. The message the land sent to her was clear. Wherever she was now, she was neither safe nor welcome.
Kozilek... dead.
“W-what?” Luna’s head spun around, trying to locate the source of the voice that had pierced through the still air. Yet wherever she looked, there was nothing to be found.
Children... dead.
“Who said that!?” Luna’s voice trembled, her eyes darting wildly about. “Show yourself!”
Kozilek is dead my children are life are eternity long live Kozilek.
A sharp chill shot down the length of Luna’s spine. She could sense the danger that lurked all around her, yet nowhere could her eyes perceived. Her mind raced and struggled to remain in control, yet in the end her rational thoughts retreated as fear overtook her thoughts. Driven solely by instinct, Luna’s wings beat mightily, and she took to the air. Her flight path carried her towards the city, where she could only hope that its walls would offer some meager protections.
Luna’s skin crawled, her gut twisting itself into a knot. Something was following her. What it was, she couldn’t say, but she couldn’t stop moving. To stop moving would invite death. She flew further, pushing ever closer to the city, letting the warmth of its holy magic wash more and more over her thaumic senses.
An unearthly shriek filled the air. Luna turned around, and saw an abomination unlike anything she had ever witnessed. It had once, perhaps, been a creature not unlike the humans in the world she’d explored so many centuries ago. Now, it was a monster of twisted flesh, writhing tentacles, and feathered wings dripping with blood. Its twin faces howled with the fury and madness of a thousand Tartarus demons, and it lunged in the air with its finger-claws brandished.
Luna did not even have the time to scream before the monster’s arms, twisted and bifurcated, snatched her out of the air. She felt the creature’s flesh writhing and pulsating against her skin as it brought her closer, towards the light that glowed within the center of its chest...
“LET GO OF ME!”
The shout reverberated through the air with as much volume as Luna could muster. Power surged through her horn, and a piercing bolt of deep blue light shot forward, ascending into the night sky. It pierced the monster straight through the center of its chest, sending it into a writhing fit of spasm as it shrieked in pain. Blood and ichor spilled across Luna’s body as the monster released its grip, and she was sent tumbling onto the ground.
The impact once again sent Luna’s perceptions into a haze, and as she struggled to stand, a sharp pain shot through her wing. She would not be able to fly in such a state, that much was obvious. More worrying, however, was the fact that she was still within the very same dream as moments before; such an intense shock should have sent her immediately back to her awaiting body. Yet still, she was here.
Through her blurred vision, Luna could see the cobblestone streets and stone walls of the city, but beyond that there was little she could make out. There were things moving, blurred and indistinct, and as her vision returned to focus she could see them for what they truly were.
Superficially, they appeared human, but their bodies had become twisted and gnarled in horrible ways, flesh grown out and extended into lattices of putrid muscle and sinew. Moans echoed in unison from their throats, echoing the words that intruded directly into Luna’s mind.
The Great Work...
Role... unfilled...
Where is... the heir?
“W-what? Heir?” said Luna. Her head darted about, seeing the mob approach her from all angles. She was surrounded, with no path to escape.
Exuberant one...
One without bounds...
Heir of Distortion...
“No!” Luna shouted to the unlistening hordes. They continued to close in on her, shambling inexorably towards her from all sides. “Stay away! I don’t know of any heir! I don’t know what you’re talking about!”
She is here. She was always here.
Yet still she eludes us.
You will lead us to her.
“NO! GO AWAY!”
Luna’s piercing scream echoed across the night, and from her magic erupted a burst of liquid shadow. Waves upon waves of cosmic darkness launched outward from her horn, the very essence of the void between stars made manifest. The monsters shriveled at its touch, shrinking and withering with each subsequent burst of cosmic decay. When the last wave subsided, the monsters were gone.
A sharp breath escaped Luna’s throat. Her strength had become utterly drained, and she was left with nothing but a gaping emptiness within her where her magic would be. Her astral form waned, and she could feel herself shrinking away. From the tingle of tail hairs against the back of her hind legs, she could feel that her mane had lost its ethereal quality. A cursory glance behind her showed that it no longer resembled the night sky, instead reverting to the pale blue color that it had held when she was a filly. Another sharp tinge of pain reminded her that she was still injured, and her legs turned to jelly as she collapsed onto the cold stone street below.
Luna attempted to cry, but she was too exhausted to give even a single sob. Her throat burned, and all she could do was tremble.
And then the clouds above the city parted, and in the sky Luna witnessed everything she did not know.
The thing she saw was easily the size of a mountain, Its body a composite of stony hide and fleshy lattices. Though perfectly symmetrical, It expanded outwards in directions that Luna struggled to perceive — any attempt she made to map out Its dimensions in her mind’s eye were met with only a splitting headache. The cleft within the center of Its form shone down with a putrid purple light, and Luna could feel Its presence battering against the walls of her mind. Massive tentacles extended downwards in the distant cityscape, raking against the stone buildings and reducing them to ashen rubble.
“I... Ia’m...” The words that escaped Luna’s throat were not her own. She could feel It within her, taking her, using her. By all means the experience should have been horrifying, but her past traumas, she realized, had left her numb to the forces that sought to control her.
Luna closed her eyes, and relinquished herself. There was nothing else that she could do. There was nothing left but to lie there, and await the end that It promised.
A warm sensation tickled at the base of Luna’s horn. It was a familiar magic, one that she could almost swear she had felt before. As the magic intensified, she realized what it had been. Though she had not been conscious during her thousand-year exile, Luna was left with vague memories of the moon’s silvery warmth enveloping her, protecting her, nurturing her. Perhaps it was only wishful thinking, but at times she believed her moon was shielding the last sliver of her true self from the Nightmare.
But now it was undeniable that the magic she now felt was the same magic. She looked upwards, and saw the moon shine downward, a glyph of triangular patterns etched across its surface. The radiant silver moonbeam struck the creature — struck It — and the creature was at once enveloped by the moon’s power. The creature stretched, distorted, twisting in an impossible direction as It flew upwards towards the heavenly body, until at last It snapped. It folded inwards, shrinking and collapsing, until at last It vanished. The moonbeam faded from view, and Luna was left only to stare at the heavenly body that had saved her.
Fatigue at last overcame Luna’s astral form, and her vision became blurry. As her mind fell unconscious, she could see a vague humanlike figure floating towards her across the ruined streets, elongated ears flowing in the breeze.
————————
Void’s Embrace 2B
Sorcery
Put X -1/-1 counters on target creature you control, where X is that creature’s toughness minus 1. Each other creature gets -X/-X until end of turn.
To harness the void between stars, one must embrace the stillness of eternity.