The Unknown
In the magical land of Equestria, home to ponykind, two alicorn sisters rule over their earth pony, pegasus, and unicorn subjects. The eldest sister, Celestia, rose the sun at dawn; the younger, Luna, brought forth the moon and stars. Together, they protected their little ponies from the harsh world that sought to harm them. They both call the Castle of the Two Sisters in the Everfree Forest their home. Together, they have ruled for many generations, bringing peace and harmony to all the land.
As the day creeps to its end, shadows wash over the nation and the moon rises. All across the land ponies sleep and dream, ignorant towards the colorful streamers the princess of the night had painted the sky with. Princess Luna, the Mare of Dreams and Princess of Equestria, delves into the dream realm as her nightly duties require. She searches a vast void of stars. Each one a window into the dreams of her subjects.
However, a single star caught her eye. A peculiar star that appeared to distort all light around it, leaving a blackened pit in the dream dimension. Peering into the void yielded no results, giving her a sense of unease. She could almost feel the spot staring back at her.
Shaking the feeling away with a ruffle of her wings and a huff, she entered the dream. As Luna got her bearings, the first thing she noticed was the sound of music. She recognized the sounds of violins. A chaotic orchestra that played with no sense of direction. It seemed almost that reality itself was shrieking in utter agony from the mere existence of this dream she found herself in.
Soon she could see where she was: a massive room composed of triangles folded around her and built into a strange lattice-shape. A bridge made of fluctuating energy fields connected her island to another with an identical shape made of glass. Green lightning pulsed and emanated from it. This lightning arced to antennas around the room.
The sense of unease made Luna’s skin crawl as she could feel and hear the power radiating from the strange object as it pulsed. A green wave of energy expanded out and was absorbed by the walls of the room..
‘How is this..’ she thought. Using her magic, she tried to affect the dream, but nothing happened. A cold realisation struck fear into her, clawing at her heart. Whoever created this dream, they weren’t going to let her leave.
Taking a shaky breath, she slowly trotted to the end of the bridge. The smell of sulfur and ozone stinging her nostrils. Once she reached the other side, the object pulsed, releasing another wave of green energy. As it passed, she could feel the sheer power of whatever she was looking at. It made her horn and other appendages tingle.
Looking closely into the glass, she could only see the silhouette of a pony. ‘Could this be whoever is responsible for this dream?’ She thought as she looked down at her hooves which continued to tingle. She jumped back when she saw her hooves suddenly spark.
The sound of something moving caused Luna to look up as a pad with two hoof shaped holes rose from under the bridge. The frame pulsed with a large wave of energy, making her shiver with the power that passed though. “We shall play thine game, lest thou keep us stranded” the Night Princess pouted to nopony in particular. Taking a deep breath she cautiously put her front hooves into the slots.
As they slid in, the energy in her hooves discharged into the slots. The glass covering the object glowed an intense green as energy discharged from it in short bursts. The glass exploded out, the energy dissipating all around as the glass slowed down to a stop midair just moments from meeting Luna’s muzzle.
The horrific symphony of screams subsided and left the room silent. Luna could see that inside the object was a pony. A tall gray unicorn stallion in a strange blue outfit, standing in a cutout room looking away into a window.
The eerie silence was broken as the glass fell to the ground. The stallion shiftily turned his head to look at Luna, picking up some sort of handled-container covered in cowhide. A doorway of pure light opened behind him. The doorway soon incompused the room before turning to black. Luna frantically looked around, using her magic again to try and escape, but to no effect.
“Magic will be no use here.. Princess Luna.” A calm raspy voice said, as stars started to fall around Luna.
“Then who is thee! Show thyself!” Luna shouted, her wings flared as she looked around for the mysterious stallion.
The eyes shown first; eyes that glowed a cyan and peered into the depths of her soul. Then the rest of the stallion stepped out from the darkness. An aged unicorn stallion standing as tall as Luna stared back. His mane was a short brown and his coat a faded stone gray. He wore what appeared to be blue formal attire with a white shirt and purple tie.
“Perhaps, what I am is not as important as what I can..” He trotted slowly around Luna before disappearing again. “Offer you In Exchange for-” The Stallion answered with short pauses in their breath.
“We will not need what thy might offer.” Luna retorted, cutting the other pony off. Looking around the void, not seeing the strange stallion anywhere. Only the stars passing by companyed her.
“You misunderstand.. What I offer is an opportunity, a way to.. put things into your favor so to say.” The stallion rasped, appearing in front of Luna with an Intense stare and a small smirk on his muzzle. A copy split off from the pony and both trotted around her before disappearing.
“My employers authorize me to.. Nudge things in a particular direction from time to time.” Appearing mere centimeters away on the other side of Luna, she quickly stepped back from him reflexively.
“As events come to pass, I like to.. Tip the scales for those who are willing to listen and accept my proposal.” His form distorted on the emphasises as reality shifted around him.
“What would you want to be... nudged, Princess Luna?” He asked, a smile crept onto his lips as he waited for her response.
The strange pony unnerved Luna but she thought about his words. ‘To be able to affect fate..’ She thought, thinking back to how her sister had been treating her. Her Night Court being left empty, ponies Ignoring and fearing her nights, ponies going to Celestia Instead of her. Being forgotten..
Putting her fears aside, she gritted her teeth and cleared her mind of such thoughts. “We desire for ponies to embrace our night and show everypony that we are equal to our Sister.” She retorted, the stallion’s smile grew as he chuckled, slowly trotting away from Luna before turning back.
“A wise choice Princess. That can be arranged. Though be wary of your soon to be actions, as there will be.. Unforeseen consequences..” he warned, but Luna was busy planning out how to show the ponies of equestria that she was just as important as her sister.
The stallion fidgeted with his tie with a sickly verdant magic, floating the case over to Luna. “I believe it is time for you to.. Hm.. Awaken, Princess.” he rasped, the case floating in front of Luna.
She stared at the strange case, grabbing by it’s handle with her mouth.
As she made contact, everything faded to black.
Subject: Princess Luna
Status: Redirected
No further intervention needed.
