As Sunset walked, she noticed a change in the road. The road was more flat, and then she saw the remains of a stone sign. Her friend looked at it.
“Uh, I don’t really know what this scribbling is,” said a very confused Rainbow Dash.
“Well, darling, it’s very obvious that the writing is old Polish,” answered Rarity. She continued. “Several ponies are trying to understand what they mean.”
“Well, I just want to know what the sign says,” said an impatient Applejack.
“I don’t know what it says, said Rarity. “I didn’t get into the class that teaches it.”
“I do know what it says, and for all of you wondering, yes, I do have several books on old Polish,” said Sunset. She continued. “Many of the written words you see here are also found in magical spells. In fact, most of the words are used in spellcraft, in case you want to know, Rarity.”
Rainbow yelled in frustration. “Can you just tell us what it says?!”
Sunset said grumpily, “it says ‘Welcome to Eclipseville.’ Are you happy now?”
Rainbow merely smiled.
“You know, you could ask a bit more nicely, Rainbow. It’s called tact,” said Applejack.
“Anyway, we should get moving. There’s no telling what kind of monsters lurk here,” said Rarity.
Well, it’s not like we can’t fall asleep inside one of those ruined houses ahead just a couple of hours away,” said Pinkie Pie.
“Wait, what?!” shouted Sunset, looking for what Pinkie was talking about.
As the fog lifted, everypony could see the ruined town. Sunset and her friends looked for a building with a roof, but no such luck. Then, Sunset saw what was left of the town hall, which looked stable enough.
“Hey, you guys! I think we should go inside this building.”
”It looks like we can’t find any other house or building with a roof,” said Rainbow Dash as she flew down to where Sunset was. Soon enough, the other ponies came.
“It’s the best we’re going to find,” said Applejack.
“But, do I have to lie down on that awful dirt?” complained Rarity.
“If it’s too much to handle, you can fall asleep on the door,.” said Applejack. She continued. “Y’know, I’m ready to hit the hay.”
Sunset started reading the town’s record book. Every town has one. This town’s book looked well preserved, considering itit was several centuries old and the town itself was in ruins.
The others made themselves comfortable and fell asleep. Soon, Sunset also started to drift to sleep.
As Sunset looked around, she saw the ruined town, and realized she was standing in what used to be the town square, which had a ruined, moss-covered statue in the middle of it.
But the statue wasn’t what she was focusing on, for beyond the statue stood Nightmare Moon. As she recognized the black Alicorn and the pony looked back at her, Sunset walked towards her. The Alicorn lit up her horn.
Suddenly, the town started to repair itself. The houses had dark purple or blue colors to them. The stone of the statue was white. The pony in that statue was standing on three hooves, and in its fourth hoof was a light, crystal-blue snowflake and a single feather. The statue pony was a pegasus.
Then Nightmare Moon said, “She was ahead of her time.”
“What do you mean by that?” asked Sunset as she charged up her horn with a spell to send Nightmare Moon flying if she did any funny business.
“I mean that she made history by creating the first snowflake. But you’re wondering how I found you,” said Nightmare Moon. She continued in a threatening tone. “You should have tried to stay awake.”
Then Sunset fired her spell, but the spell went right through her opponent. Then Nightmare Moon smiled a sinister smile.
Then the world changed and Sunset fell into what seemed like an endless hole.
As she fell, she looked around and saw her friends, all of them mumbling something.
Then, she saw somepony she never thought she would see again. It was her mom, Clove the Clever.
“Mom, what are you doing here?” Sunset asked.
Her mother looked around and said, “Why, isn’t it obvious? I’m the biggest regret you’ve had in your life.” Then she removed the hood to reveal her burned face.
She continued, “Did you think these ponies would accept you? Did you tell them about how you killed your own mother?”
Sunset said nothing.
“I see you think by avoiding me you can forget that moment.”
Sunset looked up at her mother with a fire in her eyes. “You’re not my mother. She died. You’re just a twisted game that Nightmare Moon cooked up. And since we're in a dream, I think it’s time to wake up.”
Then Sunset’s horn glowed with a blinding white light that washed over her friends as well as her.
As they woke up, everypony was shaking from the bad dreams they had experienced.
Rainbow said, “What the hay was that?!”
“I don’t know. I’m just glad we’re not in that dream anymore,” said Applejack.
“Hey, has anypony noticed that Sunset is not here with us?” asked an energized Pinkie Pie.
Everypony looked around for her, but she was not in the area.
When Sunset woke up, she found herself lying on a stone castle. She also saw the elements of Harmony in front of her. Then she heard the evil laughter of Nightmare Moon, who appeared right in front of her.
“Well, it appears my daughter has taught you well how to manipulate your dreams.”
Sunset got up and said threateningly, “If it’s a fight you want, then it’s a fight you’re going to get.” Sunset ran towards Nightmare Moon and charged up her horn.
As Twilight and the Umbrum party made their way into the Ever Free Forest, Twilight noticed something off with the Shadow Guard. One of them was way too short to be a guard.
She removed the helmet of said guard, then said questioningly, “Crystal Shade, what are you doing here?”
As soon as Twilight said this, all the Umbrums turned to see Crystal Shade’s red eyes dart left to right.
Twilight said, “Ok, Snow Trail, I know you are with us since your son is here.”
Another shadow guard removed her helmet, revealing the green coated Umbrum that was Snow Trail. She said, “I know you didn’t expect us, but back in the Kingdom of Shadows, we don’t feel right. I guess my son and I got used to the Equestrian air.”
Nightcrawler said, “I thought you two looked familiar. And I did find it strange that a colt got assigned to the Shadow Guard.”
“Well, I was hoping to be able to join their ranks someday,” said a nervous Crystal Shade.
“Well, then, I think it’s time for you to learn the basics,” said Nightcrawler.
As he was preparing to tackle Crystal Shade, Twilight said, “Not now, Nightcrawler. We have a castle to get to. You can do basic training with him another day.”
And with that, the company continued on their journey.