//------------------------------// // A Step In The Right Direction // Story: Beyond My Grave: Night Terrors // by AnnEldest //------------------------------// I stayed up late that night, thinking about Cadance. Though she was a little harsh to me, I did feel bad for her. I wanted to help her but how could I? She didn't want to talk to anypony. One thing I learned is that you can't help people that don't want to be help. I also wondered if I should tell Celestia and Shining Armor about what happened. I didn't realize how bad she was until I saw her in the bedroom. I guess that's what happens when you pay attention. I knew Cadance would be upset with me if I did say anything. I would be if it was the other way around. Maybe it was that she wanted help but just not my help. Not that I could blame her or anything. Like I said before, solving problems were never my thing. It was weird though. I didn't really know her and she was rude to me but I wanted to help her so much. I couldn't force her to listen to me. So the best thing for me to do was wait till she was ready to speak. That was if she wanted to speak to me. It took me a while but I went to sleep with that thought. I found myself standing in what was nowhere. It was all black around me. I trotted around a little to find out where I was and what was going on. I was alone. Where did everypony go? "Luna," came the bloodcurdling growl. It sounded like it was coming from behind me. It sent chills out my spine for I recognized that voice. I turned around, only to find Shader standing there. His eyes glowing that same dark red with the lamp. I could hear the screaming coming out of it. The hook dangling of the chains that were wrapped around him. I gasped loudly. How was he here? "No. It can't be," I breathlessly said. "It's almost time Luna," he said. "Time for what?" "For me to return. Come with me now and I promised none of your friends and family shall be harm. Give me your powers and you will be rewarded," he said with a wicked grin. "Get away from me. I'm stronger than you and you know it. Leave now or I use the Phoenix," I threatened him. We still had it but I didn't have it on me. I was for sure that either Spike had it or that he gave it to Shredder. We almost left it behind at Berry's house but Spike wanted to take it with us. I wasn't sure if that was a good idea but even I felt like it would be needed for something like this. Shader stepped back away from me. Even he knew that the Phoenix could hurt him. "I see how it is. But don't worry. When it's time, you will free me and then we'll see who really is the demon. Just remember what I have on you, Luna...my angel of darkness." I was confused and was going to ask what he meant. But then I saw a little filly came out from behind him. My eyes widened when I saw her. She was so thin and cuts and bruises covered her whole body. "Silver Blitz?!" She looked at me, clearly scared and frightened. He laughed at me. Then in one second, he turned into black smoke and dashed at me. I only had time to cover my face and scream. I woke up with a quiet gasped and breathe heavily. I put a hoof on my head. I hadn't had a dream like that in a while and never liked that. I would free him. What did he mean by that? What was he talking about? I took deep breaths. No, it was only a nightmare. I was still shaky from what happened to me and Discord? It was nothing bad. We stopped them and all was done. Everything was fine and I was safe. There was nothing to be afraid of. I was scaring myself again. I got off the bed and trotted by a window. I opened it and let the cool air in. It felt really nice. It was still dark out. I looked at the clock on the nightstand. I still had some time left before I had to lower the moon. I took this time to look outside the window and viewed the night sky. I do this mainly when I am stress or really upset. Looking at the stars made me feel better. If only more ponies knew how beautiful it truly was. I stared at it for a for moments before laying back down. When its time, I got up and went by the window. I lit up my horn and let the sun bring light for the day. After that, I went back to bed. I needed to lay down for just a few more minutes. About half after later, there was a sudden knock on the door. It was most likely Celestia wanting me to join them for breakfast. That and talk about last night. I figured she was still upset at me at my tone. I wasn't hoping she would not bring it up this early. There was another knock. I closed my eyes and groan. I wasn't ready for this but I got up and head to the door. I sighed. Here goes nothing. I opened the door with my magic. "Sister, I was going to apologize about last night dinner-" Only for me to see that it wasn't Celestia but Cadance. She stood there holding Flurry heart in her hoof. It shocked me. What did she want? Why did she want to talk to me? "Oh. My apologies. I thought you were Celestia." She smiled at me. "Based on what I heard last night, I'm glad that I'm not right now." I laughed at that. "Nice to see you in a better mood," I said. She looked down at the floor. "Yeah. About that...I came to say sorry about last night. I was so mean to you after you tried to help me. That was wrong." I wasn't expecting that from her. I assumed that we were just never going to talk about again and just let it go but here she was feeling bad about it. "It's okay, Cadance. We were both not in our best moods yesterday." "You sure?" she asked. "I'm sure." She sighed. "I still feel bad." "Don't feel bad. You're okay," I assured her. "Where's Celestia and Shining Armor?" "Shining Armor, I think is still asleep. He was when I left the room. Celestia, I don't know. I just woke up and grabbed Flurry and went to you," she said. "Really? You must have really wanted to say sorry," I said. She chuckled a little. "I did but I actually wanted to ask you if you would like to do something with me." I didn't see that coming. It's been years since I been back and never once did she ever ask to spent time with me. This was new and shocking. "What? You want to spend time with me?" I asked. "Yeah. Just you and me...and Flurry." Flurry let a laugh. "Like now." "Now? Shouldn't we talk to the others?" She shook her head. "No. I don't want to. They'll be fine without us for a few hours. I just want to do something with you. Come on. It'll be fun." I was speechless. "But what would we do?" I asked. "I got a few ideas. Now are you in or not," she jokingly pouted. I thought about it to myself. This is what Celestia wanted me to do so it might please her enough to not bring up last night. Also, it might be good not just for Cadance but for me, as well. Maybe this was what I needed. Some time to just go out and do something fun that could help put some ease to my life. I gave her a smile as I nodded. "Sure. Let's do it."