It was just before the dawn of a late summer day when it all started. Equestria hadn't had any major threats to it in years and everypony was able to live their completely peaceful lives once more. Princess Celestia was walking through the palace halls on her way to the even more vast throne room. She would be able to briefly see her sister there and perhaps hold a bit of conversation before she raised the Sun and Luna would retire for the morning. She took note of the Night Guard standing at attention for her entire trek.
I do hope Luna is in a more lively mood today. The stresses of ruling a kingdom seem to have settled back in. She laughed a bit at that thought. It was true that in the few years since her return from that unfortunate exile, Luna had quickly reestablished her presence in the government and had even been responsible for a fair share of new legislation and reform. However, this did not make politics any easier.
I believe she’s having to deal with opposition of legislation that would send more guardsponies to the Equestrian border towns to crack down on corruption and illegal trade. It’s a pity anything involving her Night Guard gets a measure of disdain from some political ponies.
The Princess continued on her way to the throne room eager to raise the Sun and begin her day. The pristine stone flooring amplified the sound of her hoofsteps as the final corner approached. She came to the large ornate wooden doors and halted her short journey as the guards changed shifts. The two Night Guards that were present took their leave and were swiftly replaced with her personal guard. These two new ponies promptly opened the doors for their princess allowing her to enter.
Celestia was greeted with the sight of her sister at the head of the grand room in which much of their royal business was conducted. The sound of her hoofsteps continued once more as she made her way in, the doors closing behind her with a resounding thud.
As she made her way through the open space, Celestia took some time to truly appreciate the splendor that surrounded her. The fine red carpet embroidered with intricate patterns of golden thread from some time in the far past softened the harsh clacking noise that accompanied her hoofsteps just moments before. Looking to her sides, she smiled at the evident skill in the weaving and crafting of the ceiling-high scarlet silk tapestries. Woven into the design - which matched the carpet she walked on - was the almost standard depiction of her and her sister seemingly revolving around one another in an infinite circle of balance and harmony. Celestia could not have been more appreciative of everything she had.
The Princess of the Sun reached the end of the room and ascended the steps to the raised platform where Luna was waiting near one of the many windows. Taking her position beside her, Celestia was met with a quick glance from her sister. She was pleased to see Luna’s smile.It was one of those few things that could really bring happiness to her heart. Celestia responded in kind with a smile of her own and prepared her magic for performing the most important task she had, regardless of being a ruler of Equestria.
Summoning the near primal magic and energies from within, the Sisters of the Day and Night began their ritual of beginning the dawn of a new day. An observer to this performance would likely be struck with awe as a pale-gold, ethereal aura enveloped the two. The serenity of their faces would lead one to believe the task effortless on their part only to realize the stoic expressions are the result of the strongest display of concentration possible. It is quite the spectacle to behold.
But, interestingly enough, as fate would have it, there was an observer present during the magical ritual. The light of the morning sun shone with a splendid brilliance over the beautiful landscape of Equestria. Its rays reached the palace and breached the windows casting a holy, golden glow upon the two princesses. It was at this moment the unwanted and unnoticed guest chose to speak.
“A more stunning sight I've never seen.” His voice was smooth and intoned with a healthily deep tenor. Despite, or perhaps in spite of, this, the voice could send chills or needles of pain up your spine and through your body with ease. The Princesses experienced this then and, with great shock in their eyes, quickly turned to face this mysterious voice-wielding pony.
The surprise that darkened their demeanor at that moment of not only seeing the foe before them, but of recognition obliterated the shock that was present just milliseconds earlier. for the briefest of these time intervals, one might even say their faces contorted into an expression utter terror.
Before the rulers of Equestria stood, just as tall as Celestia, another alicorn they long thought to have been cleansed from the world and, hopefully, existence. There, standing with the utmost smugness, was the ancient Alicorn of the Mind, Dreams & Psyche, Mentem Infinita Somnium, also known as Infinite Dreamer.
Were he just another alicorn known by the public that handled, say, all affairs of the Guard and militia, you might not actually believe he was evil at first glance. His coat shone softly in the light and emphasized its incredibly pale blue color. From afar, anypony could easily mistake it to be as white as Celestia’s coat.
His mane, however, was an almost translucent white. Slicked back in the front to show off his horn, it fell more naturally on his back and shoulders. His tail was of the same color and looked rather messy, but it somehow defied gravity and never touched the ground. But perhaps the most menacing aspect of his appearance was a tie between his crimson red eyes and the armor that adorned his bodice.
It was an eerily beautiful set of armor. Ivory white in color, the vambraces and protective metal shoes akin to what the Princesses wore stood out against the pale blue of his forelegs. Their design was sharp and jagged, made as much to wound as to protect. A similarly designed breast plate with deep sky-blue accents covered the majority of his vital spots. Matching armor adorned his hind legs and flanks to prevent lacerations that would severely wound or disable him if made deep enough. On his right forehoof, he held a menacingly crafted helm up to his face, a smirk that would incite anger from any passerby upon it.
The last noticeable part of his appearance would have been the weapons he carried. A long, gnarled wooden staff sat across his back, positioned just right to avoid blocking his wings. The top of the staff accommodated two floating orbs of differing size whose purpose was for channeling and storing magical energy. A beautiful sheathed sword sat at his side as well, accompanied by a matching short sword. A concealed dagger could also be seen from just the right angle.
Before either Luna or Celestia could begin to formulate a response to Dreamer’s earlier statement, he continued his strange monologue.
“It is a true shame, however, that so many ponies misunderstand the depth of your power and its connection with the heavenly bodies of the Sun and Moon. It is your duty to raise and lower them to mark the beginning and end of the day. You are not responsible for their paths through the sky or, in the case of the sun, its brightness, heat or solar radiation. In the case of the moon, you do not control its positioning in relation to this planet and the sun to determine its phase and you certainly do not position the stars, but simply summon their light to reach this world.
“In this way, you are not as powerful as those feats would suggest. You are powerful, yes, but certainly nowhere near powerful enough. Now that I have returned I can finally resume my goal from all those years ago. You two weren't even born yet if I recall correctly. Shame you’re not reincarnations. Then you would actually have an idea of my power. But you need not worry. I do not plan on disposing of you, yet. I need time to come to my full power, and then, all will be mine.”
During his speech, Dreamer had placed the helm he previously held on his hoof upon his head, completing his intimidating look. He now looked to the sisters awaiting a response. Just when it appeared one was not forthcoming, Celestia spoke up.
“While we may not know the extent of your power, do not make the mistake of underestimating what exactly we do know and are capable of. if you think for a second that we would allow you to tamper with this land in any way let alone leave here of your own free will, then you are sorely mistaken and grossly overconfident.” Celestia’s voice had remained relatively calm but all parties present could pick up the ire in her tone and words.
“But of course, Princess. I do not assume to know the extent of your knowledge and power. I do know your limits. It’s all there, in your mind. The weaknesses of you and your sister, your plans for dealing with me, it’s all right there for the taking.”
Rather than reacting with shock, the Princesses immediately took up battle stances. Magical energies began to permeate the air as defenses and wards were erected to protected physical, magical and mental attacks. They actually managed to get a small expression of surprise out of Dreamer.
“You will not be invading our minds on this day, Dreamer,” Luna stated. The Princess of the Night had always shown a penchant for battle and her personality would often reflect that when in conflict. In contrast, Celestia seemed to go abnormally quiet following her battle preparations.
“So you say, Luna, so you say,” Dreamer responded.
Not a single movement could be visibly detected for the next few seconds. It was as if no one was even trying to breathe. None of them blinked. The Princesses merely shot their cold determination at Dreamer through their eyes and he glared at them with his full evil intent to match the intensity of his opposing party. They all continued on like this for what must have felt like centuries, millennia even, when in reality it was but a paltry seventeen seconds. And once these seconds had passed completely, the battle began.
Luna started things off quickly. spreading her wings, she launched ferociously at the enemy before her. Her horn took on its characteristic glow and a basic spell that encased her body in a hard shell of magic formed. The added magical mass would act with her speed and velocity to increase her momentum significantly. The force of the impact would have been enough to leave sizable and numerous cracks in the mountain Canterlot sat upon.
Dreamer, having seen through such an easy charge, teleported with a flash of light a mere instant before impact and reappeared behind the lunar princess. He prepared a crippling transmutation spell that would render Luna incapable of further flight, but quickly ceased his efforts after sensing a stronger build-up of magic behind him. Dreamer instead turned his gathered magical energy toward another teleportation to the top of the high ceiling overhead. When he popped back into the plane of tangible existence, he looked below in enough time to see he had barely escaped a blast of focused light rays made to disintegrate whatever it hit. Fortunately for him, that happened to be a large portion of the wall on the other side of the expansive room. “Fighting two on one is going to be incredibly difficult without being at my full power. But, that can all change if I get some…additional intel,” he thought.
Dreamer flew back down to the floor of the throne-room-turned-battlefield and landed between his two opponents, a plan forming in his head. Tentatively at first, he extended the magical presence of his mind toward his opponents, intending to rip any vital information he could from their minds, or at least to listen in on any telepathic communications. When his mind reached its targets, however, it was met with a nigh impenetrable defense that he didn't need to be a master of the mind to know was unbreakable.
A look of sharp rage flashed across his features for the briefest of moments, but it was enough for Luna to notice and call him out on.
“Having difficulty are we?” she said with slight smirk and a bit of mirth in her voice. “I imagine you have just run into our little defense preparation. Our parents actually had the foresight to teach it to us before moving on. How they knew you would return we’ll probably never know but at least they made sure we would have a way to defeat you. I said before you would not be invading our minds this day, and I meant that.”
“If you think this will be enough to stop me, especially when I've regained my full power, then you are not just sorely mistaken, but have made grave error in calculation.”
Each princess kept the same stoic expression as they had before. “Their determination may know no bounds,” he thought, “but it is nothing compared to what I can do. That wall may protect them from me reading their minds or sensing their intentions, but with enough brute force and dark energy, it will easily shatter. But at what cost to me?”
Dreamer decided he would try to lower or weaken their defenses with some banter first. Lulling them into a state of near relaxation and striking when they wouldn't expect it would help with what he was about to do.
“Such simple tactics from such seemingly formidable opponents, though. I must say, I am rather disappointed. Is this how you plan on defeating me?” he quipped.
Perhaps it was her combative nature or the heat of the moment but Dreamer’s plan worked to an extent in the form of angering Luna.
“We will see how well you talk as dust!” she shouted. A deep purple and black magic circle appeared beneath her hooves. The ancient script was comprehensible only to those present. Purple lightning began to spark from the edges of the circle and at the same time small spires of dark smoke began to emanate from it as well. Then as quickly as it came, it disappeared. One second went by. Two seconds. Three even. But upon the fourth, a ball of dark energy appeared at Luna’s horn and with white, glowing eyes, she launched the stream of black magic at Dreamer.
The sound of the attack being fired was deafening. A horrendous roar bellowed through the room accompanied by sharp, piercing, high-pitched squeals. The very air seemed to distort in a dark and terrifying way. Even Celestia was surprised by her sister’s outburst and subsequent use of black magic.
Having no time to dodge, Dreamer erected the strongest magical shield he could, formed not just of his energy, but his thoughts. The assault continued and the stalemate raged on for a little longer. Cracks began to appear in his dome of protection. It would be failing soon. But just when it seemed he could hold no longer, the dark torrent ceased. Luna now stood, not exhausted, but considerably depleted, where she was before.
Several more seconds of silence passed by. The cracked dome still stood, the Princesses unable to see through it.
“ENOUGH!” The shout came with the force a normal pony would expect from the Royal Canterlot Voice. The shield erupted into its many fragmented pieces flying in every direction at once. The projectiles melted away at Celestia and Luna’s wards.
Dreamer hovered above the ground, a look of fury plastered across his visage. With an evil glare at Luna he regained his composure just enough to give a frighteningly toothy smile. The next wards he spoke sent Celestia into immediate action to protect her sister from the oncoming attack.
“Illusory Torture,” Dreamer uttered, drawing it out to sound as threatening as possible, hissing some of the syllables as well. Celestia knew what Illusory Torture was. What it was capable of. A devastating move that forcefully invades another mind, it captures the victim’s psyche and traps it in his or her most ultimate fear, their worst nightmare, and makes it worse by a factor of two to the power of thirty-two. You will physically feel every single detail as it happens in your head. Everything that happens in your mind to your body has the potential to be physically manifested in the real world. It is the absolute illusion of torture. Those that must endure it, will more likely than not end up ending their own lives in an attempt to escape. Should Dreamer put enough power into this attack, the very same illusion may even follow them into death.
However, the move is not unable to be blocked, but one must be quick to act on it. Celestia was able to encase herself and her sister in large ball of pure light as the shock wave that burst forth from Dreamer hit. They were safe as long they were inside.
“Luna, are you unhurt? Please, tell me you’re alright,” Celestia pleaded.
“I am fine sister. Just, almost out of energy. I escaped his attack though.”
“Thank goodness. I’m glad you’re feeling fine, but why did you go and use an attack like that so recklessly? It’s one thing to gather the energy and fire it, but to sustain it is very nearly insane.”
“Well that matters little now. What we do need to focus on is destroying that smug bastard of an alicorn.”
“Is the foul language really necessary, Luna?”
“Sorry.”
“Anyway, you are correct about our goal. Dreamer must be dealt with now while he’s weakened. He wasn't at full strength to begin with and that attack, like yours, has more likely than not left him fatigued. If we can combine our magic, with myself supplying the power and form and you the speed and binding properties, we might be able to catch him off guard once more and finish this battle.”
“Then let’s get this over with already.”
Back on the outside of Celestia’s orb of light, Dreamer was fuming that his attack was blocked so easily. His rage was a silent one, at first, but in place of the fatigue that should have been evident in every fiber of his being, was a rigid fury in the form of heavy breathing, a heaving chest, a ferocious snarl, wide eyes, bared teeth, dilated pupils, and violent tremors shaking his body to the core.
Dreamer remained like this for a full minute before loosing a blood-thinning, fetal position-inducing howl of a scream to the high ceilings and the sky above. The palace had long ago seen that its larger rooms were enchanted to reduce noise by a significant margin to get rid of annoying echoes. But the magical invocation of anything comparable to the Royal Canterlot Voice easily overrides such charms. As a result, the Royal Guard that had been standing just outside the entrance rushed to the source of the offending sound prepared to face the worst. What they found instead was far more than just "the worst".
“Halt!” one of them shouted at the intruder, “Who goes there? Speak thy name so we may–”
“My name!? Fear incarnate shall do for now! For this is the last feeling you will suffer before I end your pathetic lives! Mind Destruction!”
He thrust his hoof toward the two offending guards and an invisible wave of magic sped through the air at his intended targets. Mind Destruction, while more simple than Illusory Torture, is an equally devastating attack. It causes the most painful and disturbing stroke in the targets’ minds and it goes on until they are, quite literally, incapable of doing anything, even involuntary muscle functions such as a beating heart. Being weaker than normal, the attack did not cause this level of damage however. That is to say, though, the guards did not fare well in the slightest.
The clang of metal against polished stone rang out as Dreamer momentarily collapsed from his exertions. The guards lay upon the floor just in front of him, no longer moving. "Nothing more than casualties for a greater cause," he lamented in his head. Dreamer then gathered what strength he had left and stood once more, facing the light from Celestia's protection.
But there was no orb there any longer. Panic welled inside him as he prepared to take a brutal attack. But it never came. At least, not how he expected.
“Monster,” was the whisper Dreamer heard behind him. He turned around slowly, almost dreading whatever awaited him. Celestia stood by her two fallen guards, a dark shadow cast across her face as the angle obscured her eyes from view. “I could understand disabling them, even paralysis.” Her voice was shaky with bottled rage that was not likely to stay capped for much longer. “But this is going too far, Dreamer!”
“Come now, my dear, what are two meager gua–”
“SILENCE! You will not speak anymore. In fact, you won’t be living for much longer either! Now, Luna!”
Dreamer began to quickly scan the room for the younger sister’s presence, but, too late for him, she made herself painfully known almost instantly. A large amount of pure telekinetic force smashed Dreamer into the floor, leaving a crater nearly ten meters in diameter. He struggled to get back to his hooves as another wave hit, this time simulating artificially increased gravity. Dreamer could tell what they were doing though. He needed only to look at the Princesses at that moment to confirm his suspicions.
At the tip of Celestia’s horn was a large ball of energy, much like the one Luna had fired earlier, but comprised of pure light. At the same time he could see Luna’s mouth moving frantically, forming a plethora of spells, enchantments, and curses and binding them to the attack Celestia was charging.
Dreamer fully understood that this combination of light and dark magics would be more than enough to finish him off in this weakened state. Putting all of his energy against his gravitational restraint, Dreamer began to ever so slightly regain control. His muscles were tensed in the extreme. Veins could be seen throbbing in his face and neck as desperation sank in.
The orb of death was changing, now pure white with black lightning and the size of a fully grown alicorn. The stone floor beneath it was cracked and even melting. The very ground trembled as if an earthquake decided to take place at this very moment in time. And if that wasn't enough, purple flames erupted in a ring around the sisters and began to funnel into the attack. It was but a few seconds away from firing.
There was not enough time. Dreamer knew, he could not dodge in enough time. What was he to do? Was this the end of the road for him? “No,” was his simple answer. “I will not be defeated again!”
The world went quiet; the noises emanating from the attack had ceased. The constant shaking came to an end and all felt incredibly still. And then it fired. It flew inexplicably fast at its target and Celestia and Luna could only watch and hope the castle’s numerous spells of protection would contain an attack of this magnitude. It was only inches away from impact, and it stopped.
The royal sisters could not believe their eyes, nay, their cursed fates and horrific luck, for those were much more fitting given the situation. The attack was just sitting still. And then they heard it. A low chuckle. A mocking chuckle mixed with a bit of relief. It rose in volume, gaining depth to its mirth. And so he spoke.
“Yes. Yes! This is the power I expect of two alicorns! But it is not enough. It was never enough. I am the most powerful being in existence now. You will not stop my plan from coming to fruition! You have miscalculated! My telekinesis is stronger than any other unicorn or alicorn. I control the mind, so controlling gathered, structured, manifested magic is nothing to me! And you know what else I can do? Absorb this attack as pure magical energy!”
The second the words left his mouth, the grand ball of magic began to shrink. A funnel of energy was seen flowing into Dreamer’s horn. As the process continued, Dreamer’s power and confidence grew as well. He was visibly regaining his strength as his breathing evened out and the tremors wracking his body ceased. It didn't take long to finish and when it did, Celestia and Luna could do nothing but stare into his now glowing red eyes.
“I really don’t want to dispose of you,” he said with a toothy grin, “but there isn't any reason to keep you around any longer.”
As Dreamer slowly made his way over to the Princesses, they shared one last telepathic conversation with each other.
“Luna,” Celestia began, “I know that over these past few years I've said it a hundred times, but I just need you to know, I’m sorry, for everything."
“And I have told you a hundred times, sister, I do not blame you. You have nothing to apologize for. It is I who should be asking for your forgiveness.”
“Thank you, Luna.”
“How touching. Are you two done saying your last words?”
“Do your worst, Dreamer,” was Celestia’s retort.
“I would, but you're not even worth it. Goodbye Princesses of the Sun and Moon. May the Alicorn of Death show you the way to paradise. Mind Destruction.”