//------------------------------// // Nightmares at Midnight // Story: Little Keys // by Skijarama //------------------------------// The pitch-black sky laughed at her. Twilight Sparkle grit her teeth and tried to shut out the sinister chuckling of her own voice. Her hooves pummeled against a compact dirt road, carrying her along for the city of Canterlot up in the mountains. It was a beacon; a safe haven from the madness that chased her. No matter how hard she ran, though, the city never seemed to get any closer.  The sky laughed again. Twilight felt a presence by her side, a sickening chill that sent her heart racing and tore a frightened whimper out of her throat. “What do you think you’re doing?” a voice jeered, crawling up and down her spine. “Go away!” Twilight snapped, forcing herself to run harder, no matter how much it made her legs burn or her lungs heave. She had to get to Canterlot. She had to get away from this thing that kept haunting her every thought. “Where do you think you’re going?” the voice pressed on, undeterred. “To Canterlot? Do you really believe the ponies there will take any pity on you?” There were... things by the sides of the road. Shadowy lumps and shapes that she dared not turn to look at. She didn’t want to see the bodies. She didn’t want to remember the ponies she had hurt. She couldn’t bear it. “Or maybe you’re not looking for pity?” the voice asked, snickering into her very soul. “Maybe you’re looking for more memories to steal?” “Sh-shut up!” Twilight barked, screwing her eyes shut and pouring every ounce of power she could into her throbbing legs. “That was you, not me!” “For one so smart, you really are a willfully ignorant fool, aren’t you?” the voice cackled, slithering into her ears like a mischievous snake. “I said SHUT UP!” “You think you and I are any different?” the voice carried on, whispering into her ear, its cold breath howling in her skull like a blizzard. “Truly? Open your eyes, little girl. You can’t be rid of me. I’m a part of you.” “NO!” Twilight’s eyes flew open. There it was! The front gates of Canterlot rested just ahead, at long last. They were closed, but she could get through them if she had to. “Even if you are a part of me, I will fight back! I refuse to be a monster like you!” “Adorable,” the voice cooed. “Absolutely adorable. She’s so intent on denying the truth…” Twilight shook her head, trying to force the voice out of her head. Just a little farther… She slid to a stop by the gates, trying to open them with her magic. A spark of confusion shot through her when her horn did not respond. She lifted a hoof to rub at her forehead, only to discover that her horn was missing. Her eyes went wide, terror grabbing her already panicking heart in an iron grip. “W-what?! Where’s my horn?!” “If you are going to deny yourself,” the voice whispered in her other ear. “Then I guess you don’t need all of yourself, now do you?” “G-give my horn back!” The voice gave no answer. Twilight’s pupils dilated. She reared up on her hind legs and pounded on the gates with her hooves. “Princess Celestia! Princess Luna! Please, let me in! I need help!” she screamed at the top of her lungs. Her own voice reverberated all around her, echoing in the silence of the night. There was no answer. No matter how hard she beat on the gates or how loud she screamed, her desperate pleas for aid were left wholly and completely unanswered. She was left well and truly alone, stranded in the open with that thing. “Did you forget?” the voice taunted her from behind. “You’re not welcome in this city anymore. The Princess of the Moon saw to that. They won’t help you. Nopony will. All you have is me. All you will ever have is me...” Twilight dropped back onto all fours, coat bristling. The voice was right. Luna had cast her out of the city. She had banished her. Twilight was all on her own, no matter how cruel or unfair it was. Swallowing heavily, she unfurled her wings and rotated to face the owner of the voice. She blinked. “Huh?” Instead of the owner of the voice, she instead saw a tree made of blue crystals staring back at her, the Elements of Harmony set into its branches with hers set into the trunk. It glowed brilliantly at her, almost blinding. At the base of its trunk, rising from its roots, was a pedestal that opened like a flower to reveal a six-sided crystal chest. Each face was host to a keyhole. Twilight swallowed heavily. “The… the Tree of Harmony?” she asked, looking up at the tree with her ears drooping. A hoof subconsciously lifted up to rub at her throat. A phantom pain danced across it, and she shuddered at the memory of having the literal life crushed out of her by its will when she had come back to it, Rainbow’s limp form in tow. She wasn’t sure how she had moved from the road outside of Canterlot to the cave in the Everfree, but she supposed it didn’t matter now. The voice was gone for the moment. Twilight took a deep breath and slowly began to advance towards the tree. Suddenly, gouts of flame erupted from the soil around the tree, creating a pressurized wave of heat that rolled over her and seared the interior of the cave. Twilight gasped, lifting a hoof up to cover her nose and mouth while her eyes widened. “My friends! Rainbow Dash!” Illuminated by the firelight, Twilight could make out the prone forms of five mares and a baby dragon: Spike, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack. All of them were unconscious and the flames were drawing closer to them. Twilight’s heart skipped a beat when she saw something moving in those flames. It was enormous; moving slowly and deliberately with malevolent confidence. Thunderous steps rocked the earth as it went, betraying the raw physical power of the owner. The flames surged, reaching for Twilight’s friends like a million tiny hands. “NO!” Twilight cried out, charging forward and reaching out for Rainbow.  Thunk. “Gah!” Twilight gasped and fell back to her haunches as she ran face-first into an invisible wall. She rubbed a hoof over her nose before looking up in confusion. The air before her shimmered, rippling like the surface of a pond before a mirror materialized before her. She could see her reflection in its surface. Something was off about it, though. Her eyes were all wrong. Her pupils had narrowed into draconic slits, her fur had darkened considerably, and her wings had turned curved and imposing like poisoned daggers. Peeling back her lips, she saw sharpened teeth and vampiric fangs, and trails of wispy, ghostly blue magic were leaking out of her eyes. She took a step back. “W-what is this?!” she asked fearfully, her eyes glued onto those of her reflection. Her reflection smirked at her. The flames coiled around the bodies of her friends. Twilight cried out as they were all silently yanked back into the flames over the span of a single beat of the heart, vanishing from sight. Shrieking with grief and confusion, Twilight hurled herself at the invisible barrier again, slamming into the mirror in the hopes of knocking it aside. It held firm, sending her back to the ground. She rose again, her wings unfurling in a display of aggression. “Get out of my way!” “Who says there’s anyone in your way?” the reflection asked with a cold laugh. A moment passed before a sharp pain shot through Twilight’s skull. Gasping, she fell to her haunches and clutched at her head. She screamed in a mixture of pain and fear as she felt her horn growing out again. It wasn’t right, however., being pale blue and aglow with ghostly magic. She could feel her wings contorting and teeth sharpening in her mouth. “No! NO! STOP!” “Midnight Sparkle is a part of you,” the voice whispered inside her mind, clawing at her senses like an angry lion. “I have always been a part of you. You can never truly get rid of me… you can deny it, and run from it, but you can never be freed of the truth.” “Stop! Stop it!” Twilight shrieked, tears leaking out of her eyes as her pupils narrowed into slits. “Please, stop!” “You cannot run from who you are.” Twilight threw her head back, a long, guttural scream tearing past her lips. Her vision was flooded with darkness, and her soul went dark. “Twilight, snap out of it! You’re having a nightmare!” Twilight’s eyes finally snapped open, her terrified scream dying in her throat as the familiar and raspy voice of Rainbow Dash yanked her from her sleep. Rainbow was above her, looking to have just woken up herself. It was dark in their bedroom, and a quick glance confirmed that it was still night outside. Twilight took several deep breaths to calm herself down, her hoof finding one of Rainbow’s and holding on tight. “R-Rainbow…” she whispered. “It’s okay, Twi,” the pegasus whispered, leaning down to give her an affectionate nuzzle. “It’s alright. You’re alright. I gotcha.” Twilight returned the nuzzle, glad for the display of affection and the comfort it gave her. It was just a nightmare. She was safe. “...Thank you,” she finally whispered, allowing herself to relax into the mattress again. Rainbow smiled and darted in to plant a quick kiss on Twilight’s lips. “Anytime,” she replied after pulling back. Twilight blushed. “H-heh. Not used to you starting that…” “I’m not used to even having it as an option,” Rainbow shot back with a roll of her eyes before flopping with no grace at all back to her side of the bed. Twilight noted that she kept both hooves on her though, effectively primed to yank her into being a little spoon at a moment’s notice. “Heh. Fair enough,” Twilight mumbled, shimmying back and allowing Rainbow to embrace her fully from behind. The two fell quiet for a short while, giving Twilight the time she needed to calm down the rest of the way. “So… do you want to talk about it?” Rainbow asked in a softer voice, nuzzling into the back of Twilight’s head. Twilight didn’t answer right away. In truth, she wasn’t even entirely sure what any of it meant. Dreams were hard to parse at the best of times, especially without Luna’s help, and somehow, a spiteful part of Twilight felt that Luna wasn’t going to be helping her out anytime soon. After a moment, Twilight sighed and shook her head. “No… no, I don’t. I just want to get back to sleep.” Rainbow nodded into her mane. “M’kay. If ya change your mind, though…” “I know, Rainbow,” Twilight said, looking back at her with a tender smile. “Thank you.” Rainbow returned the look before cuddling a little closer and closing her eyes. “Gnight, Twi.” Twilight closed her eyes and set her head down, trying to relax. She took in a deep breath and let it out, taking comfort in Rainbow’s hooves curled around her barrel and the pegasus’ fluffy chest warming her back. “Goodnight, Rainbow. Sweet dreams.”