Equestria Noir Season 2 Case 13 "Enter Nightmare"

by Jacoboby1


Chapter 1 "Dream of Me"

Chapter 1

“Dream of Me”

Perspective: Private Eye

I blinked open my eyes in the light of morning. I was laying comfortably in my bed with Twilight. Her soft breathing caressed my neck while she slept. I let out a yawn, and gave her a loving kiss on the head. She was just so, cute, when she slept.

Seems that every moment I spend married to this mare I felt more and more happy.

I heard her groan slightly as she too blinked open her eyes. She groggily rubbed her eyes and yawned a little. She then looked up at me and smiled tiredly. “Morning, handsome.” She said.

“Morning, beautiful,” I replied with another kiss on her forehead. She giggled a little at that before I said. “A beautiful thing, the weekend.”

“Yep, sleeping in, letting Tailspin get some extra shut eye and absolutely no trouble whatso-”

We both stiffened as we heard the doorbell ring, and ring, and ring.

We sighed at the same time.

“You were saying?” I asked.

“Well, nopony ever said our lives were gonna be easy.” Twilight said as she got up out of bed, stretching her wings and legs a little. I followed suit, trying not to fall into the temptation to show off to her. Whoever was ringing that doorbell obviously wanted our attention badly.

Twilight and I walked down the stairs, leaving Tailspin in bed then we opened the front door to find Applebloom. The red haired filly was looking absolutely frantic.

“Bout time ya guys showed up! We got a real emergency ere!” She shouted, practically pulling on our legs.

“Whoa,” Twilight said, stopping Applebloom. “Just what’s going on Applebloom? Is there a monster attacking Ponyville?”

“Discord causing trouble?” I suggested.

“Changeling invasion?”

“Zombie pony outbreak?”

“Earthquake?”

“End of the world as we know it?”

“Vinyl rave gone horrible wrong?”

“Nun of that!” Applebloom implored. “It’s AJ! Ah was gonna help out with the chicken coop early this mornin. When she didn’t come by Ah thought she forgot, but then Ah went up to her room and found her…” She gulped. “Sound asleep.”

“You mean to tell me you panicked because AJ got some much needed shut eye?” I asked.

“AJ never sleeps in!” Applebloom implored. “She’s always up earlier than everypony! When Ah tried to wake her, she wouldn’t wake up! Ah tried everythin!”

“Wait, you mean to tell me she’s still asleep?” Twilight asked.

“Ya gotta hurry! She could be in real trouble or somethin’!” Bloom shouted.

Well, this is something new...AJ sleeping in, well I guess there could be worse crises I could wish on Ponyville…

But why do I get a nagging feeling something is very wrong….
__________________________________________________
I wasn’t far off. Applejack was asleep, all right, but the way she was tangled up in her covers, and the expression of terror and despair on her face evidenced she was having a really bad nightmare. Usually, though, I wake up from nightmares, whenever I’ve had one. This one seemed to have Applejack trapped inside it. The fact that her eyes were closed was the only indication she was asleep.

Twilight looked her over, running her horn over the earth pony. “Whatever’s causing Aj to sleep, it isn’t natural. I’m getting some really strong magic keeping her in this state.”

“Ah toldja she wouldn’t wake up!” Applebloom implored.

“Can you break it?” I asked.

“I can try a wake up spell,” Twilight said, her horn glowing. “But I’ve never encountered magic like this before...here’s hoping…”

As Twilight’s horn glowed, AJ started moving in her sleep. She started waving her hooves violently, as if her vision had suddenly become more terrifying.

Twilight shook her head and canceled the spell, growling in frustration. “That doesn’t make any sense! I tried to use the spell and it only made it worse.”

“But, there have to have been cases of magic induced comas,” I observed.

“There have, and in most can be taken care of using that spell,” Twilight said. “This spell can wake up Spike from a Rarity-and-ice-cream dream, it’s that strong.”

Suddenly, the door behind us opened, Big Mac came in looking just as frantic as Bloom. “There ya two are!” He then saw AJ. “Aw no, not her too…”

“Too?” Twilight asked.

“Fluttershy!” Big Mac yelled, “Ah was workin’ early this mornin’ and came by ta wake her up fer our um…” He blushed a little, “Time in tha orchards, anyways Ah came by and found her sleepin’ jus’ like Aj here.”

“Applejack and Fluttershy?” I asked. “That can’t be a coincidence.”

Twilight blinked, and then looked frantic herself. “Come on, we gotta stop by Carousel Boutique.”

“How’s a dress shop gonna help?” Applebloom asked.

“Just get AJ and Fluttershy over to the library,” Twilight replied. “And also, get Zecora, she can probably do something if I can’t find anything!”

With that, Twilight and I ran out. This just wasn’t right...if AJ and Fluttershy got hit, who knows what will happen next?
_______________________________________________________
We ran along, anxiously, sure that we were going to find Rarity trapped in a Nightmare, just like Applejack and Fluttershy. Suddenly somepony gasped, and sompony else shouted: “Somepony catch her!” Twilight and I looked around, worriedly, and saw Rainbow Dash on a cloud, thrashing about. It was obvious that she was trapped in a similar nightmare as the others, but right now she was about to fall off the cloud she had been sleeping on.

“I got her!” I said as Rainbow slipped from the cloud and started plummeting to earth. I lunged and caught her just in time, only to be hit in the face by her flailing violently in my grip. “Hold still Rainbow! It’s me!” I yelled.

She just kept flailing even more. I had to put her down before I got hit in the face again. I watched as Thunderlane and Cloudchaser came flying in.

“What’s up with the cap?” Thunderlane asked.

“She’s in some kind of nightmare sleep,” Twilight said. “Will you two get her to the library?”

“No prob,” Cloudchaser said, helping Thunderlane carry the cyan pegasus towards Golden Oaks.

I looked over at Twilight. “If this pattern is any indication,” I said, “then Pinkie and Rarity are probably affected too. I’ll go check out Sugarcube.”

“I’ll take Carousel then,” Twilight said, spreading her wings to fly out, a little clumsily but still quick.

I ran towards Sugarcube and opened the door. Inside I saw Carrot Cake at the foot of the stairs. He looked over and said worriedly, “Oh Private, Pinkie is upstairs, she’s been locked in some kind of weird nap all morning.”

I nodded and went upstairs. Swarm was hovering, literally hovering, over Pinkie in his normal state, the anxious buzz of his wings filling the room. He handed and looked over at me, worry obvious in even those multifaceted eyes. Pinkie lay in the bed with a stillness that was heart-stopping.

“Is… is she?” I asked, freezing.

“No. She lives. But she seems locked in despair, and anguish,” Swarm said. “Nasty tasting stuff. Despair is slimy and sticky… Anguish is like glass shards…” He blinked his green eyes, shaking his head. “Pinkie...should never taste like that…”

“Swarm,” I said putting a hoof on his shoulder. “Come on, let’s get her to the library…”

“Twilight is going to try and do something?” he asked.

“What we can, hopefully, we can figure out what the heck is going on…”
________________________________________________________
Around the library, there were beds holding the other Element Bearers. All but Pinkie were moving fitfully in their beds, all were still locked in their nightmares. Pinkie was unnaturally still, and that was frightening. From what we’ve heard, Pinkie was never that still, except for a story that Grapes told me. Now all we had to do was figure out what the hell was going on.

Twilight was pouring through her books, trying to find some cure. Meanwhile, our resident shaman, Zecora, was looking over Rarity. She shook her head and said: “A deep dark magic has them tight. I can not find a cure for their plight. There is more to this, than we have gleaned, but a cure is beyond my means.”

“Nothing in the books either,” Twilight said, tossing another one in the pile. “I’ve never seen magic like this before.”

“So, everypony here is in some kind of nightmare sleep,” I said, and then shook my head. “There’s gotta be something we can do to wake them up.”

Twilight blinked and then sprung as if a lightbulb just appeared over her head. “That’s it! Who do we know has the power over dreams!?”

“Luna!” I said, with a smile.

“Come on, let’s hit the train.” Twilight said.

“Stay here and look after them Zecora,” I told the Zebra.

“Do go forward with your plan. I will look after them the best I can,” Zecora stated.

Twilight and I ran out, hoping beyond hoping that this crisis would be over soon.
_________________________________________________________
And here they come...like flies to the web…

They have no idea…

No idea…

Oh don’t worry Luna...soon we will all be together...all…

Shall be as it should be…
______________________________________________________
The throne room was its usual magnificent self, but the frantic ponies running around the place, the doctors chatting with each other, and with Princess Celestia showed that there was a problem. Celestia was looking frantically, and gazing in the direction of the private suits where the Princesses spent their off hours. When Princess Celestia spotted us, she looked even more worried.

“Are there more problems?” she asked anxiously.

“More problems?” I asked.

“What’s going on Celestia?” Twilight asked. “We just got here, after leaving our friends who are all in some kind of magic induced sleep!”

Celestia’s eyes closed. “It is as I feared…”

“What? You know what’s happening?” I asked.

Celestia gestured with her head towards the hallway. We walked a little ways towards the familiar Night section of the castle. A pair of Lunar Stallions somberly opened the door to Luna’s room for us.

Luna lay on the bed, deep asleep, not thrashing as our friends had been doing, but much more calm. She was, obviously, not suffering from the nightmares that our friends were plagued with, but she was still obviously gripped by a magical sleep.

“Luna..” I said, not liking what I was seeing.

Celestia nodded slowly. “I trust this happened to your friends as well?”

“Yeah,” Twilight said, “the other Elements of Harmony, they are all asleep too, as if they are all trapped in some kind of nightmare.”

Celestia looked somber, before going back to business. “This, is no accident. I have seen this kind of magic used before…”

“When?” I asked.

“It was during Nightmare’s era,” Celestia said. “She used Luna’s powers over dreams to trap some of our soldiers in their darkest nightmares. Dream magic is immensely complex and not something that can be easily taught beyond a hoof full of tricks.”

“So, they really are trapped in a Nightmare,” I said.

“But, you can cure it, right Celestia?” Twilight asked.

Celestia...shook her head. “I’m afraid my talents have never extended to dream magic. If I were to attempt it on anypony, I’m just as likely to get trapped myself, or worse I could permanently lose the pony I’m trying to save. I’ve seen soldiers trapped for years in this state, forced to sleep for so long before I was finally able to defeat Nightmare the first time…”

“Celestia, are you saying…?” I asked.

“I’m not saying Nightmare has returned although it is a possibility,” The Princess said.

“But how come she didn’t use her magic on me? If she wanted to take out the Elements she would’ve needed me.” Twilight pointed out.

“To trap an Alicorn in the dream realm is extremely difficult, and if it was within the perpetrator’s ability I think it would’ve been done already,” Celestia explained.

“But, there has to be something we can do.” I said firmly.

“There is, at one time I was able to drive away these nightmares by having ponies venture into these dream realms. Once they were able to convince the sleeper to fight against the nightmares rather than be afraid of them, they were able to awaken.”

“But you just said you don’t know how to get in,” Twilight said.

“I do know the theory, but if I were to send somepony in, an expert is needed,” Celestia replied.

“And Luna is out of commission,” I said. “Whoever did this was probably aware that Luna might interfere…”

“So, if we can get in, all we have to do is convince the pony to fight against their nightmare?” Twilight asked. “Well, how are we going to get in with Luna out of commission?”

Celestia looked, nervous. “Well, there is one method…”

“What?” Twilight and I asked.

“There is one expert in the dream arts that is powerful enough to allow us to venture into the dream realm. With his power, you two can be sent into the dream realm and fight against the nightmares within.” Celestia explained.

“Great,” Twilight said, “So, who is this expert?”

Celestia, gulped. “His name is, Tenebros.”

“Tenebros…” I said, “I thought I heard that name at the summit.”

“Is he some kind of sorcerer?” Twilight asked.

“Tenebros... was a member of the Night Court back when the Alicorns roamed the earth. He was Luna’s age when the cataclysm hit. He is the one in charge of the night on the other side of our world.”

“Like how it used to be with you and Soleil…?” Twilight asked, shuddering at the memory of that pompous windbag.

“Indeed, although Tenebros is far more secretive for one reason.” Celestia said. “He, is the father of the Bat Ponies.”

“Wait, what?!” Twilight yelled.

“You mean to tell me he’s the one who made them!?” I yelled.

“As a gift to Luna believe it or not,” Celestia said with a small chuckle. “He created them in order to guard ponies during the night from evil creatures. Nowadays, following Luna’s...downfall, he largely keeps to himself in the Stygian Cove.”

“He’s still there?” I asked. “Then he can help us.”

“There’s...a bit of a wrinkle…” Celestia said. “You see...him and Luna are not exactly on the...best of terms…”

“What were they?” Twilight asked. “Rivals?”

“Enemies?” I asked.

“Frenemies?”

“Poker players?”

“Online Video Game Rivals?”

Celestia just smiled nervously and said, “Lovers….”

Ooooh….So, we gotta go half way across the world, in search of the one alicorn who can help us. Who also happens to be Luna’s ex and belongs to an already pretty isolationist group of ponies….

Well, so much for a weekend working on the castle….