//------------------------------// // Chapter One: A True Nightmare // Story: The Destruction of Dream Valley // by Suika999 //------------------------------// A fluffy yellow pegasus was hovering beneath a tree, holding a basket in her mouth as several woodland creatures dropped hard-to-reach cherries into her basket. Other ponies were all doing the same with various other fruits. Pegasi would pick what they could and collect the rest from squirrels in the tall trees, earth ponies would buck the fruits into padded baskets so as to not bruise them, and unicorns what use whatever powers they had to get the fruits down. Fizzy used bubbles to float some pears down. They were green, which she liked. Buttons simply levitated them with no other force, collecting the purple plums. Though her fur was far more pale than the skin of the plums. And Twilight wished the delicious raspberries from the bushes so that she wouldn't have to prickle her nose on the stalks. As for the yellow pegasus, her name was Lofty. Her wavy mane frizzed at the ends, and her dark red eyes gleamed proudly. She was collecting lemons as well, which may have seemed a strange fruit, but was perfect for the occasion. Megan had told the ponies of a drink called 'lemonade', which was great for hot weather. The ingredients could all be found easily in Ponyland, and since it was Summer the conditions were perfect. In Ponyland, all the fruits grew at the same time at the very start of Summer for the special Sun Celebration. There were always fruits available, but they were never quite as nice if not picked on the exact day. Lofty lowered the basket, the lemons and cherries creating a wonderful scent. She had collected both because she was one of the best flyers, and so it made sense to have her be in the finer trees. The lemons were just because she was nearby. As her hooves touched the ground, she heard smaller ones thud against the grass and race towards her. "I can do a trick while flying!" a tiny pegasus that looked very similar to Lofty skidded to a halt in the warm grass, her face lit with excitement. She wore a pink ribbon on her tail as opposed to the blue one her mother wore, and her eyes were a mauve colour instead of maroon. But the curly yellow hair and long fluffy coat was all any pony needed to see she was the 'daughter' of Lofty. "I told you, doing tricks is dangerous. Has Firefly been teaching you things again?" Lofty chided, but she wasn't really upset. Baby Lofty had been quite shy at first, so it was good she was being more active and playful. "Firefly didn't teach me! Neither did Medley!" "Well I wouldn't expect Medley to do anything like that..." Lofty replied in amusement. The aqua pegasus had always been quite the careful one. She certainly wouldn't teach a little filly any such tricks. "Paradise taught me!" Lofty almost rubbed her ears when she heard that. Paradise? That lazy pegasus wouldn't be able to lift a feather if her life depended on it. Her doing a trick seemed very off indeed. But then she saw as Baby Lofty attempted to demonstrate said 'trick', and realized just how much sense it actually made. The teeny filly flew up into the air, hooves churning to push herself forward. Then she allowed herself to fall, and had her tail cushion the landing. She puffed out her chest proudly before announcing, "If you use your tail as a pillow, you don't have to go fetch one! By landing on it, it gets nice and poofy!" Lofty had to hold back an eye roll at that statement. Actually fetching a pillow seemed far less tedious, but she was glad Baby Lofty was having fun. She watched the filly scamper away to show the other foals, but then the sky grew dark. The pegasi flew upwards instinctively, expecting to break some clouds. But it wasn't clouds covering the sky. It was just shadows, and nothing else. "Oh no! What if it's dragons!" a pink pony with a bright yellow mane cried, ducking down as a white unicorn rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Shady, when was the last time you saw a dragon?" She asked matter-of-factly. "Well, Spike's right there so..." Shady was cut off by an annoyed look from the unicorn, who's name was Gusty. Everypony seemed shocked, but the panic hadn't really set in yet. Firefly, Skydancer, and North Star had disappeared into the darkness. Lofty knew she should go too, she was one of the best flyers. But there was no way she could leave Baby Lofty. "Baby Lofty! Where are you?" Lofty filled with fear as she realized the filly had disappeared. When the other ponies heard her, they too began to panic. The pegasi that had gone into the shadows hadn't returned, even though they would have heard the commotion going on down below. "Baby Ribbon!" a blue unicorn pushed through the all the frightened and stomping ponies, until she made eye contact with Lofty, "Have you seen Baby Ribbon?" "I can't find Baby Lofty!" Lofty exclaimed. How could things have changed so suddenly? She had gone from such contentedness to sudden and unexplained terror. Her and Ribbon pushed through the crowd as quickly as they could, the shadows lowering to the ground quickly. Most of the ponies had evacuated by now, and Lofty knew her daughter should have been visible by now. She leaped into the air, wings outspread, feeling the shadows graze her nose. She almost let herself fall back down, but the cool wind was too foreboding to allow her to leave her baby there. "Lofty! Don't! I can contact them-" Ribbon's telepathic voice was cut off as the shadows encapsulated Lofty. She felt herself float into the clouds, no longer needing to flap her wings. She was sure that somewhere in the distance there was a voice... Was it the voice of Baby Lofty? She was willing to take the chance... "To think so many would fall for the same trap as last time..."