//------------------------------//
// A Waking Nightmare 
// Story: Sunset Among Shadows 
// by RedPegasus 
//------------------------------//

The night goes on after the performance, and Sunset Among Shadows and their companions enjoy every minute dancing, singing, or just sitting around and enjoying food, drink, and friends.

"And then, the cat fell on the rich lady’s hair, and we found out it was a wig!" Sonata exclaims, concluding yet another story from her long-lived life, and the table, Sunset included, explodes with laughter.

It's been a long time since she’d had a night like this. Surrounded by cheerful and friendly people. Sure, some were a bit… odd, but they were good people, nonetheless.

"That’s hilarious!" Indigo shouts in between gasps for breath.

"Oh, there’s been crazier, " Sonata replied. "Like, just last year, Adagio, Aria and I wanted to turn the world into zombies, and Sunset defeated us by creating a giant laser horse made of magic!"

More than one glance goes to the former equine, who only smiles nervously and drinks her soda, averting her gaze.

Indigo is silent for a moment. "That… is... awesome!" she finally shouts, her voice holding a strange but familiar… scratchiness.

Sunset snaps her gaze to Indigo, but where the captain of the soccer team was sitting now sat… Rainbow Dash.

"Wh-What…?"

"And boy, are we glad you did make it, Sunny!" Pinkie Pie yells from her place at the table… that Lemon Zest used to occupy.

Sunset stares, too stunned to respond... and the group's dressmaker seems to notice. "Sunset, darling, what’s the matter?"

With a jump, Sunset shoots up from the table, her chair clattering on the floor. All her former friends sat around the table instead of the people that were there mere moments ago.

"Sunset..." comes Twilight’s voice. Sunset turns hopefully toward her scientist friend… finding only the princess instead. "What's wrong?"

Sunset tries to answer, but her voice catches in her throat. She starts trembling as she squeezes her eyes shut, hands on her head as she violently shakes it from side to side as everything turns black…

Until she hears the sound of her phone.

Sunset wakes up with jolt, her forehead dripping with sweat and her hair and sheets a mess.

Sunset pants heavily for the few seconds it takes to register that she is in her room, in her bed, and that her phone is ringing.

Sunset grabs her phone, taking a few deep breaths to calm her nerves before answering the call.

"Hello?"

The voice of a woman is heard on the other side of the device. "Hey, are you still asleep? It's nine-thirty, pal. Get up!"

The voice was kind of familiar, but Sunset can’t quite place it. She sounds fairly young, but her voice carries a mature air. Regardless, Sunset answers, "It's Saturday. I don't have to get up."

It's not that she needed to respond to a person she did not recognize on the phone, but she was used to following the current of the strange things that happened in her life.

"With that attitude, you’ll get old very quickly,"the mysterious woman says. "Get up. There are things to do."

"Who are you, my mom?" Sunset snaps sarcastically.

Whoever she was, she had nerve to talk to her that way. Who was she, anyway? Did she dial the wrong number?

"Look through the window," the woman commands in a playful tone.

This was strange even for Sunset. She looked at her phone, considering just hanging up and lying back down. She still had a lot of Saturday to sleep away.

"Don't you dare hang up on me, missy!" the woman says in an almost threatening voice, though the teasing tone undercuts any effort to be intimidating. "Look through the window,"she repeats.

Sunset stares at her phone for a second. Try as she might, she doesn’t recognize the number. After another second, she curses her curiosity and walks to her window.

She pulls aside the curtain. The overcast sky keeps the day from being too bright, but the sudden burst of light in her room still forces Sunset to shield her eyes momentarily. After her eyes adjust, she looks down at the street, and her eyes widen in surprise.

"Nice bedhead," the woman says on the phone.

Sunset absentmindedly tries to smooth her hair, never taking her eyes off the woman.

That was... But... What!?

"Fix yourself up, get dressed, and come down. We have to talk."

With that order, the woman ends the call.

Sunset blinks, too confused to answer. She just closes the curtain, hangs up, and stares at nothing for a few seconds before beginning to start what promises to be a very interesting day.


*S*A*S*


Even after showering, grooming, brushing her teeth, and dressing, Sunset still isn’t quite sure how this very… unexpected meeting was going to go. Still, she pulls her boots on and exits her apartment.

In front of the apartment building, sitting on a perfectly polished, black-and-silver motorcycle and smirking, is Vice Principal Luna. Even stranger than her presence are her clothes. Luna is wearing high, black boots, tight jeans, a very form-fitting, dark-blue top, and a coal-black leather jacket. A sleek, black helmet rests under her arm.

Finally, Sunset finds her words. "Vice Principal Luna, what is this?!"

"No, no!” Luna says with a playfully chiding look. “I'd sooner stick a red-hot needle in one eye before working on a Saturday. Today, I'm just Luna."

"But what are you doing here?" Sunset asks.

Seriously, could her life get weirder?

"I've come to talk to you about something important. Come on, I’ll treat you to breakfast."

... Apparently, yes.

Sunset looks askance at Luna. "What are we gonna talk about?"

"Something that will interest you, don’t worry. Waffles and coffee okay?"

Sunset does not respond immediately, but eventually, she looks away nervously. "Um... Vice Principal, I... Uh, thanks for offering, but you see, this week has been... really strange... and, well, I had to take care of a lot of things yesterday. I’m exhausted. I appreciate the invitation, but I’d like to just stay home and rest."

Luna does not answer immediately, but she still holds her grin. After a few seconds, she dangles her key from her finger and holds out a red helmet. "I'll let you drive~"


*S*A*S*


The motorcycle speeds down the street, all thought of speed limits and traffic laws lost from the mind of the driver, whose laughter can only slightly be heard over the engine as she weaves through traffic, the wind making the small bit of hair peeking from under her helmet fly behind her looking as if on fire.

"This... is... INCREDIBLE!"

Sitting behind her, amazingly using only her legs to stay on the bike, Luna chuckles understandingly. Her own hair flies in the wind from under her helmet, causing an effect reminiscent of Princess Luna’s mane. "Yeah, I was like that the first time I drove this baby."

Unable to resist the temptation, the young woman pulls into a straight, beautifully empty street and kicks up the gas.


*S*A*S*


A deep moan escapes the scrambled blankets. Something underneath moves slowly, very slowly, and a tangle of colorful hair emerges from below. A pale hand pushes aside the blankets, and the woman spots sunlight filtering through the curtains with tired, pink eyes. Groaning, she ignores the temptation to go back to bed and decides to get up. As soon as she sits up, though, a harsh, throbbing pain shoots through her skull, and she immediately buries her head in her hands, moaning.

Finally, after a minute of agony, she opens her eyes, and as her vision clears, she takes in the room she finds herself in. "Odd. This isn’t my room… or my house."

Too tired to worry about the situation, she finally spots someone else in the room with her, sitting on the very same bed she herself was sitting on, reading the open newspaper in her lap, taking the occasional sip from a steaming mug.

Finally, the woman’s mind catches up to her, and her tired expression changes to one of fear, and she leaps out of bed with a yelp.

Without looking from her paper, the siren says with a neutral tone, “And good morning to you, too."

A sudden scream of terror echoes throughout the block.


*S*A*S*


A huge smile adorns the young woman’s face as she pulls off her helmet. "That was the most exciting thing I've ever done!"

The woman activates the alarm of her parked motorcycle and smirks. "More than facing chaotic magic and magical creatures?"

Sunset giggles. "Alright, good point. The most exciting unrelated to magic."

Luna smiles and fixes the girl's somewhat unkempt hair. "Well, I hope that trip worked up an appetite. Let's have breakfast."

Minutes later, they are seated at a diner with coffee and a tray of sweets. The beginning is pleasant enough, but Sunset can’t shake her nerves now that her adrenaline from earlier has worn off. After washing down the last bite of a scone with some coffee, she finally decides to speak. "Umm... Vice Principal—"

"I'm vice principal Monday through Friday and maybe a few Sundays, but today, I'm just Luna. Or, if you don't like being casual, you can tell me Lady, Majesty, or Your Great and Fabulous Goddess."

Sunset can’t stop herself from snorting in laughter. "Who are you, and what did you do with the vice principal of CHS?"

"I’d tell you, but then, I’d have to kill you,"Luna says with a playful wink.

Sunset can’t help but giggle again.

Was this really the cold, serious, frightening vice principal of Canterlot High? Was this how she really was? Playful and casual?

Sunset shakes her head a little, deciding to jump to the point now that her nerves were settled. "Well, Luna, um... you said you wanted to talk to me about something."

"That’s true, Sunset, but..." Luna stops and takes a bite of her croissant. "Ifs impolihe to tahk wif youh mouf fuh.”

Again, Sunset asks herself if the situation could be any stranger.

... Actually, no, it's better not to ask. She did not want an answer.


*S*A*S*


"By Eris, you’ve got some pipes!" the siren complains, sitting at her kitchen table with her mug. At the opposite side, the principal, already with her hair brushed, only stares at her coffee mug.

Both wear a gold-colored robe, each one belonging to Adagio.

"What did you expect? What if we… did something?" the woman can’t help but blush at the possibilities of what she may have done while plastered out of her mind.

"I already told you that none of that happened. Stop being so paranoid," Adagio says before taking a sip of coffee.

Celestia is silent for a moment before asking, "Then what happened?"

After taking another sip of coffee and pushing her newspaper aside, the siren looks at her and answers, "You overdid it last night. You drank more than usual, you started bawling, and when my shift ended and I was about to leave, you practically begged me not to go, said that you had no one else to turn to, blah blah blah. So that you wouldn't embarrass me anymore, I had to bring you here since you didn't even remember the address of your house. I brought you to my room, and you immediately passed out on my bed. I’m just glad you didn’t vomit all over it."

Before the explanation was even over, Celestia leans her elbows on the table and hides her face between her palms. "... When did I become so pathetic?" she asks once Adagio finishes speaking.

"Who knows?" Adagio responds, going back to her newspaper and mug.

Celestia stays still, just groaning, until she hears footsteps approaching.

Sonata, dressed in a light-blue set of pajamas adorned with musical notes and holding a pillow tight to her chest, plops into a chair with her eyes closed before placing the pillow on the table and dropping her head upon it, moaning tiredly.

Adagio does not seem to pay attention, but Celestia looks up a little.

The voice of the youngest siren is muffled by the pillow, but it is still audible. "Mmmh... Adie... give me breakfast..."

"Make it yourself."

"Don't be a meanie... I want cereal and milk..." At no time does she open her eyes, but her voice sounds childish and petulant.

Adagio sighs. "I can’t wait until you grow up,"she says as she gets up and goes to the cupboard.

Sonata ignores her, just yawning into the pillow. Everything is silent for a moment, until Sonata deigns to look up, with her chin still resting on the pillow. Eventually, her eyes lock onto the principal.

Celestia smiles nervously, while Sonata's eyes curiously run down the woman’s body, particularly on how the smaller Adagio’s robe fits extremely tightly on woman’s adult body...

Adagio approaches, carrying a bowl, a box of cereal, and a carton of milk. When she puts the bowl on the table, she notices how Sonata and Celestia look at each other, noticing in particular that Sonata is staring at Celestia’s chest.

Sonata finally breaks the silence, directing her gaze to her sister. "Adie, did you bring another prostitute home?"

Scandalized, Celestia huffs and looks away, blushing as she covers her chest. Adagio doesn’t respond verbally, instead just pouring cereal and milk onto Sonata’s head. Sonata buries her face protectively into her pillow with a whine.


*S*A*S*


"Hey. Hey, wake up."

The voice—and the rough shaking of her shoulders—rouses Princess Twilight from her sleep. She opens her eyes and sees probably the last face she’d like to see.

Aria stares don’t at the waking princess, rolling her eyes at Twilight’s surprised face. "Finally!"she exclaims irritably. "I thought you were the princess of friendship, not the princess of dreamland."

Twilight doesn’t answer, still too surprised by the unpleasant guest.

"What? Can't you talk? Well, whatever. I prefer it that way. Look, Luna told me to give you this." She holds out her hands. In one is a glass of water, while in the other are a couple of pills.

Twilight looks worriedly from Aria to the pills and back, making Aria grunt in annoyance.

"Look, I don’t give a rat’s ass if you kick the bucket, but she’s paying me to babysit you, so take your damn medicine!"

Wordlessly and worriedly, Twilight pushes herself up into a sitting position. She takes the pills and water and gulps them down, Aria watching with crossed arms the whole time.

"And I guess you’re hungry, too? Are you gonna get up, or would Your Majesty want breakfast in bed?" Aria says, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Twilight doesn’t respond immediately, as she still tries to process the situation.

One thing was clear, though: This girl had attitude problems.


*S*A*S*


The lights flash and pulse rhythmically as music fills the room, the DJ’s upbeat tunes urging everyone in the club to get up and dance.

Sunset is the only one hesitating. Standing in front of the dance floor, she looks at Luna with confusion. "Vice—Uh, Luna, what are we doing here?"

"What do you think?" is the only response from the woman, walking onto the dance floor without another word. Not wanting to be left alone, Sunset follows her.

Waving her shoulders and hips, Luna quickly falls into the rhythm of the movement. She starts off small with some foot-tapping and head-banging before getting everyone’s attention with a quick split, her waist hitting the floor before rising slowly back up using only the muscles in her legs, bring some applause from the onlookers. Once she was sure she had an audience, Luna begins moving with surprising flexibility and grace, letting her hips do all the talking as she uses her arms to grab the attention of anyone whose eyes faltered from her. Not that many take their eyes off her, the movement of her hips and the slow circles in which she turned proving hypnotic even for Sunset, who watches, mouth agape, as the older woman dances in ways not even she herself could pull off.

Those that aren’t transfixed find themselves clapping and stomping their feet to her rhythm.

Suddenly, the beat of the DJ’s music picks up, and without missing a beat, Luna wrenches off her jacket and tosses it with a single movement as her movements become wilder but no less graceful, her turns becoming faster as her body twists in almost painful-looking ways. Her hair flies all around her, shining with the reflection of the spotlights.

Everyone’s applause picks up, as well, until only Sunset remains still, staring at her former vice principal tearing up the dance floor as if she’d been born for it. "Is she really Princess Luna’s counterpart?"

Before she can answer her mental question, she sees Luna fix her gaze on her, and without stopping her movements—though she does stop turning momentarily—she makes a beckoning gesture with her hand.

All eyes turn to the surprised Sunset, who denies the request with a nervous smile. That makes the woman stop her dance suddenly as she slowly approaches Sunset with a playful smile, her gaze holding Sunset still. Everyone seems to hold their breath as Luna gently takes Sunset’s hand and leads her back into the middle of the group, and without letting go, she begins moving again.

Luna’s quick and harsh movements, though rhythmic, end up violently shaking Sunset, so Sunset finds herself forced to move to Luna’s beat, matching the older woman’s steps and moves to applause of the crowd. Spurred on by the cheers, Sunset just shuts her mind off for a change and loses herself to the music.


*S*A*S*


Sunset drops heavily into the chair at a nearby table. "Whew! I don't remember the last time I danced so much!"

Luna answers, smiling, "I remember you dancing like that at the welcoming party during your freshman year."

Sunset laughs a little, seeming to remember. "Yeah, but there was more cake there."

Both laugh as an employee comes by and gives each woman a bottle of soda, courtesy, he says, of some of the other patrons of the club for their performance. The women quickly break the seal and down almost the entire bottles before heaving a sigh of satisfaction.

After a moment of content silence, Sunset says, “Okay, you’ve treated me to breakfast and some fun at a club. Now can we talk about what you wanted to talk about?”

Luna remains silent for a moment, but as she opens her mouth to answer, the doors to the club burst open, and everyone in the building falls silent.

The newcomers are young, about ten men to the group, each looking around twenty to twenty-five years old. Colorful mohawks, chains, and wild clothes make them stand out from the rest of the crowd.

Sunset and Luna watch as the men walk through the club, their intimidating glares forcing everyone out of their way as they move up to the bar, where the biggest member—likely their leader—plops onto a stool and pounds a fist on the bar, saying to the bartender in a raspy voice, "Give me a beer, and it better be cold."

The bartender responds calmly, "I apologize, sir, but alcohol is not allowed in this establishment before six p.m."

The gangster grabs the bartender’s collar and yanks him closer. "I said I want a beer! Do your fucking job!"

"I-I'm sorry... I-I can’t..." the bartender stammers.

"Hey, you!" comes another voice. Everyone turns and sees a young man leave the dance floor and approach the bully. "Leave him alone."

The gangster smirks. "Or what? You’ll run to mommy?"

The others in the gang laugh loudly and mockingly at the comment.

"We don't want any problems. Go somewhere else," says that young man, undeterred.

The leader pushes the bartender away and stalks up to the newcomer. "And what if we don't?" he says threateningly.

The young man stands his ground, his confidence bolstered as other young men approach to stand by him.

The boss’s smirk turns predatory. "Well, we have some brave men here. Wanna know what we do with brave men?" His group approaches, scaring some of the younger people away.

Frowning, Sunset found herself about to join the youngsters, but Luna gets up first, surprising the younger woman. "Luna?"

Luna stalks right up to the gang and says from behind them, "That's enough."

Her voice makes everyone turn, and the leader grimaces. “What do you want, bitch? Aren’t you a little old to be going out clubbing?”

"Get lost," Luna orders. "Don't make me send you to detention."

Everyone in the gang looks a bit confused at the comment, and one of them taunts, "Who do you think you are? Wonder Woman?"

The gangsters laugh again, their confidence once more replacing their confusion.

"No, I'm just a vice principal of a high school. But part of my job is punishing kids who step out of line."

Again, the gangsters exchange glances, while the boss chuckles as he approaches. "Principal, uh?"

"Vice principal,” corrects the woman.

"Look, oldie, this ain’t a school. We don’t take orders from you or anyone else, and you can’t do shit about it!" The man jabs his finger into Luna’s sternum to drive his point home. "So, go back to school and play cop there, because we—"

He interrupts his demand with a yelp of pain as Luna suddenly grabs his index finger and twists. "It's impolite to point," she snaps. She forces his arm downward until it’s bent at an uncomfortable angle, making him grunt in pain and anger.

After a few seconds, she releases him and shoves him backward. After steadying himself, he growls and rushes her. "You bitch!"

Luna deftly dodges, grabbing and twisting his arm behind his back and pinning him against the wall. He struggles, but he can’t seem to break her grip.

All eyes are fixed on her and on how easily she pinned the gangster.

"If you don't calm down, I will be forced to call your parents. Or the police. Your choice."

With that, Luna once more releases the man, shoving him toward a table. Fuming, he turns and shouts at the others, “What are you waiting for? Get her!”

Immediately, three men throw themselves at Luna, who quickly grabs one’s arm and swings him toward another, the collision sending them to the floor. The third throws a punch, which Luna catches. Quickly, she turns from him and flings him over her shoulder to the ground.

Another man draws and knife and runs at her, but she grabs his wrist and twists it right before the knife hits her, forcing him to drop the knife.

"Don’t run with knives. You could hurt somebody."

Hearing a couple more coming at her, she spins, forcing her assailant into his two companions even harder than before, leaving them stunned on the floor.

Two more manage to grab her by the arms, but to their surprise, she raises her leg up parallel to her body and kicks one in the face with the point of her boot. As he releases her, she punches the one remaining as hard as she can.

The whole group lies groaning and aching on the ground. Everyone stares, speechless, but none is as surprised—or as worried—as Sunset.

The vice principal had always been a woman feared at school. She never smiles, is never lenient, and never has any warmth about her. All of Canterlot High School’s students know not to make her angry.

Sunset had a lot of friction with her in her past, but if she had known Luna could do this…

"I’d never have pissed her off! I’m lucky to be alive!" Sunset thinks with terror.

The boss gets an empty bottle from a table, shattering it and approaching threateningly. His group starts to get back to their feet, each in pain but each seeing red. They surround her, pulling out all manner of weapons.

Many stare at the crowd, terrified, but Luna seems very calm about the situation. She closes her eyes and, in a deep voice, begins to speak, "Poor are those deluded souls lost in desolate dreams."

The phrase sounds almost like a prayer, confusing everyone.

"Poor are they who dare to oppose the queen of the night, who dare to arouse her fury!"

The boss starts to move forward, at a slow but determined pace.

"Whoever is brave or foolish enough, come and face a real nightmare!"

That particular word grabs Sunset’s attention. "Nightmare…?"

The subjects of the gang close the circle, but Luna never seems worried.

"Come, then, and face Nightmare Moon!"

As soon as the words leave her mouth, the whole gang jumps back, several of them stumbling and falling on their backs, their faces shifting from rage to terror in a millisecond.

"N-N-Nightmare Moon?!"

"The legend herself?"

"I thought... I thought she was a myth..."

Only the boss stays in his place, but though he does not retreat like his mates, he is still trembling. "That’s not true... If she’s Nightmare Moon, then..."

His eyes go to the Luna’s belly, as do Sunset’s.

Calmly, Luna lifts her sweater and the undershirt, showing off her midriff. And the tattoo on her side: A shadowy full moon, the word “Nightmare” inked underneath in elegant, somber font.

The response from the gang is immediate.

"It's the tattoo! The tattoo!"

"It's her! It's the real one!"

The boss finally recoils in terror.

Luna covers her belly again and, with gravity and contempt, glares at the gang. "Who dares then, oppose the sovereign? Whoever wants to live a waking nightmare, step forward!"

The gangsters do exactly the opposite, backing up as much as they can before hitting walls or tables. Luna looks at the boss, who trembles and looks at her without color in his face and with only fear painted in his eyes.

"Get out of here, before the shadows of night drag you to its prison."

There is no answer. Nobody speaks or moves.

"GET OUT!"

Her shout gets the gang moving as they collide, stumble, and crawl during their mad dash out of the club. Everything remains silent after they leave, but a few seconds later, the club-goers begin applauding Luna again.

Sunset remains still, her face still the portrait of astonishment as questions run through her mind. Luna notices her gaze and gives a somewhat heavy smile.


*S*A*S*


Twilight replays the video, constantly rewinding and fast-forwarding it, her bespectacled eyes fixed on the extraordinary event.

Again and again, she sees herself and her bandmates go through that... metamorphosis...

She sees her own ears disappear in a flash, only for new ones to appear on her head. She sees her own hair lengthen and spread... looking almost like a kind of tail...

Her mind works furiously, but no answers arise. Filled with frustration, he shouts angrily, rousing her canine companion out of his sleep.

"I don't get it!" screams the young scientist, frustrated. "What happened back there?!"

It made no sense. Somehow, she and her bandmates suffered very similar physical changes at the same time, but how?

Could it be a trick, some special effect made by Lemon, or Sunset, or even Sonata?

No, it couldn’t have been that. She felt those ears with her very own hands. They were real. Her human ears disappeared, replaced by those strange ears. Canine? No. Feline? No. What kind were they?

"Ugh, it doesn’t matter!" she snaps, trying to focus. "There's no way they could have done something to me without me noticing. We were together all day yesterday, from school to the soccer match to the concert. So how?!"

Try as she might, Twilight could not come up with an explanation. Her body simply changed while they were playing.

It was so strange...

After a moment, a thought comes to her mind. "Why did I not care at the moment?"

That night, she had not given her transformation a single thought. She just basked in the joy she felt while she played. She didn’t know what happened, but at the time, she didn’t care.

Why...?

A bark at her side pulls her out of her thoughts. She finds Spike sitting beside her, looking at her confusedly. She scratches his ears, which seems to satisfy him, if his wagging tail is any evidence.

"I don't understand, Spike," she says. "Since Sunset joined the band, such strange things have happened. I started playing the keyboard as if I had played it all my life, and what’s more, when I played with them, I felt so… confident." All of their rehearsals run through her mind, so many full of laughter and comfort. "And now... this."

She looks back at her computer, still playing the video taken on someone’s cell phone. The sidebar shows a few more videos, all showing the same event.

Apparently, their little concert was interesting enough for several people to record them. They were not good recordings—many of them shaky or washed out by the stage lights—but she still felt a little embarrassed to know that her face was on the internet.

Twilight was silent, her eyes closed, stifling her embarrassment as she thinks for a moment.

Maybe something happened...

Again, she recounted in her head the events that occurred throughout the week. Finally, she remembered the day she met her other self.

She opened her eyes and stopped at that thought.

Sunset had many secrets. Secrets Twilight was aching to learn. She didn’t want to pressure Sunset, though; she was afraid that she would put her friendship at risk if she pushed Sunset too much. But she wanted answers. Maybe she couldn’t get them from Sunset, but there was someone else who might be a bit more open...

"Spike, I'm going out."