//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 - Premonitions and Dark Nights // Story: Guardian // by BronyG //------------------------------// Chapter 3 Premonitions and Dark Nights The Previous Night… The Princess of the night sat in her chambers, watching over the land that she loved so dearly. She had outdone herself this evening; a brilliant lilac tinted the horizon giving a warmth and life to the otherwise midnight blue sky. Her stars bedazzled the heavens like millions of perfect diamonds, and her moon, oh her moon, shown just as bright as her sister’s sun; but her light glowed with protection and serenity, promising her subjects that it would always keep through the night, just as she would for them, for her... Everything was perfect now. Luna moved away from her window and stood in the middle the room, her horn emitting a shimmering navy field as she concentrated on the unique spell that would transcend her consciousness into the realm of dreams. She closed her eyes for a brief moment. Then as she reopened them, bright light was emitted from the orifices. Luna’s consciousness opened her eyes, and she found herself in the familiar void that was the collective minds of the universe. She softly landed on a glittering path of lights which would allow her to pass every dream that was conceived by her subjects. She never interfered with a dream unless a pony was experiencing a debilitating nightmare or needed her guidance. Here time was irrelevant, enabling her to check on every one of her beloved citizens before her sister would raise the sun. Tonight, every mind was at peace, nothing more than the minor insecurity flared up every once in a while. Then Luna felt a mind begin to grow more and more uneasy, as the shadows of nightmares began to feed off of the fear of their host. Luna arrived at the source of dark energy and discovered it to be that of the alabaster unicorn, Rarity. The nightmares had not yet seized their prey but dwelled in the recesses of the fashionista’s mind, waiting until the opportune moment when they could transform the dream into a feast of fear. The beasts of darkness had been Luna’s mortal enemy and sole responsibility ever since her sister and she were ordained the rulers of Equestria. When she was much younger, more brash and arrogant, she believed that the only way to repel the shadows was through the direct confrontation of combat. In the beginning, she would emerge victorious, but in the heat of battle, her emotions bled through at an unprecedented rate, and the Nightmares would learn more and more about the Princess of the Night each time they fought, her fears, her desires, her jealousy… But on that fateful night, they were able to seize her mind and bend her to their will, until her insecurities finally overtook her and Nightmare Moon was born. After her banishment, she discovered that though the Nightmares had great influence on dreams, they could never control it. That power belonged to the mind of the dreamer, which the Princess could guide and aid in banishing the fear with her subject rather than for them. Luna looked up at the looming shadows and smirked at them, “No supper tonight my fiends”. The Navy Alicorn then proceeded to enter into the unicorn’s dream, where she witnessed what she assumed to be a celebration of sorts. Upon further investigation, it was in fact the Birthday gathering of Twilight’s assistant Spike. Wondering what the dream meant, she heard two very familiar voices; the first was the dream’s conceiver, the other… “Spike, I am very flattered that you hold me in such regard, but…” “You don’t feel the same way about me” The dragon replied with venom. However as Luna noticed, this was a visage of Spike from the past, that of a chubby cheeked child, despite the banner that read ‘Happy 17th Birthday Spike’. “That’s not true!” Rarity replied, lifting the dragon’s chin with her hoof so she could look him in the eyes, “I do have feelings for you Spike, it’s just that…” “Just what Rarity?” Spike snatched his head away from the snowy hoof, tears leaking away from the corners of his eyes, and smoke streaming from his nostrils. “Just that after years of devotion, adoration and servitude, all you can see me as is just a smitten school drake? I’m not a child Rarity, I’ve grown up!” Tears now began to leak from her eyes as well, as she could not respond to his final statement. She did care for the little dragon, deeply in fact. But that was exactly the problem, to her he was still Spikey-Wikey, and to return his feelings would be akin to taking advantage of the innocence of a child… As she remained silent, Spike slowly began to understand. He turned his back to her and clenched his claws into fists. As the grasp became tighter, his razor claws drew steaming blood from his palm. Finally after a moment, an icy chuckle resonated from his throat. Turning around, his eyes glowed an unearthly green, “Well, Rarity, weather you love me or not, what Spike wants…” his voice deepened as his form began to grow, the safe round spines that covered him grew sharp and jagged, his fangs became feral, and before long he loomed over the cowering unicorn “…SPIKE GETS!” Rarity couldn’t move. “This is your fault”, a voice whispered to her, “You held his heart in your hooves, and what did you do? Tear it to pieces in front of his eyes!” “No” Rarity whimpered crouching pathetically as the Spikes great maw came closer and closer to her, “Yes, you caused this; you have destroyed that sweet little dragon who would give the world for you! Now see what you have turned him into” This was Rarity’s greatest fear, her greatest shame; this was her worst nightmare… “BE GONE FOUL BEAST!” a commanding yet maternal voice called out. A bright light enveloped the hulking brute and with a final anguished roar, he disappeared. In his place, Luna stepped forward. “What did you do to him!?” Rarity screamed, tears still running down her cheeks. “Be calm, fair Rarity, the specter that you just bore witness to was not real. You are in fact dreaming this very moment” A relieved sigh was released by the unicorn, however she still trembled, disturbed by the horrifying vision, and the wicked truth that the voices had whispered to her... Luna, seeing that the unicorn was still distraught, placed a comforting hoof her shoulder to try and calm her. “Princess Luna…?” “Yes Rarity” “What I saw, will this happened, or was this me simply giving into my fears?” A smile crept across the face of the Alicorn, “All dreams are based on a grain of truth, Rarity. Whether they come from past experience or are visions of what is to come. However, Nightmares are known to twist the truth to meet their needs. Making the scenario true enough so that the victim believes solely in what they see, not what they know to be true. I can assure you that this nightmare will never come to pass”. “But how?” Rarity asked wiping away they last of her tears. “The girls and I had planned on surprising Spike tomorrow at this Birthday. It’s been so long since I have last seen him… What if he confess his feelings to me?” Rarity looked down before continuing. “I cannot reciprocate his love princess, it simply doesn’t feel right. I am a grown mare while he is still a child. I know that he is mature beyond his years, but…” “Rarity” Luna picked the unicorn’s chin up and met her eyes sapphire eyes, “How long ago was it since you last saw Spike, in Pony ehr, Dragon?” “Well, Spike and Twilight have been keeping in touch; however, the last time that they were in Ponyville was… almost two years ago, why?” Luna smiled cheekily at the unicorn and let go of her chin, flying into the air as Rarity’s dreamscape began to fade, signaling the end of the dream. Rarity called after Luna, “Princess, what are you not telling me?” The Princess called down with an echoing voice, “Do not be misled by what appears on the skin. The answers you seek, you will find deep within” and with that, Luna vacated the dream. The nightmares tried in a desperate attempt to glean any residual fear or induce another terror on the Unicorn, but they worked in vain. Giving up on their plight, they fled off into the void, to try and find another source of nourishment. Luna landed on the twinkling path and ventured farther into the realm of slumber, keeping watch until every single citizen had awoken. Rarity woke with a start, gasping for breath as a thin sheen of sweat covered her fur. Taking in a few breaths to calm herself, she observed in her surroundings. The clock on her nightstand read 3:45 am, validating the darkness that still shrouded Equestria. “Do not be misled by what appears on the skin. The answers you seek, you will find deep within”, “What did the princess mean?” Rarity asked herself, the dream still within memory. Rarity continued ponder on the riddle Luna had left her with, causing her to become more and more curious as to its meaning. Sleep began to take the unicorn again; slowly she repositioned herself under the covers as her eyelids began to droop. She let out a final yawn before thinking to herself, “Perhaps tomorrow will yield an answer…” All had remained quiet after Luna had comforted Rarity, but soon enough she felt the Nightmares’ dark energy focus on another host. With all haste, she rushed to the aid in thwarting the demons. However she hesitated upon seeing that the shadowy figures were feasting on none other than the god of Chaos himself. On any given night she would have been more than happy to help her soon to be brother in law, but not this night. Not after what he had done… ***** That Morning Luna breathed in deeply, the smell of freshly cut grass and roses filled her nose. Closing her eyes, a contended smile appeared on the Alicorn’s face. She felt like she could stand there forever, listening to song birds and the rustling of the trees, feeling the warm breeze wrap playful fingers around her form. Her ears twitched as soft rustling could be heard in the branches above her. As she looked up, a verdant leaf fell gently on her nose causing Luna to cross her eyes as she tracked its decent. Returning her sights to the canopy, she spotted a small Pegasus filly meeting her gaze shyly. Her coat was a calming periwinkle, and her spikey mane was an icy blue with stripes of lavender and azure fitting to its contour. Two timid aquamarine eyes looked down amazedly upon the Alicorn, causing the night mare to smile. “Hello young one,” Luna called out. “Was thou spying on us? Must we try thee for treason against the crown?” “No you Highness! Please don’t send me to the Dungeons, I promise I wasn’t spying” The now trembling Pegasus filly plead. Deciding to continue the playful façade for a moment more, Luna replied “Then what pray tell are thou doing in the royal ash?” “Well I was going to surprise my daddy when he took a break but then I…” the rest of the sentence was inaudible to Luna’s ears. “What was that child?” “I wanted to surprise my daddy but I…” again, imperceptible words spilled silently out of the filly’s mouth. “Please speak up, how else will you defend yourself at your hearing?” Luna called up, trying her hardest to maintain her composure at the adorable filly’s reaction. “I FLEW UP AND GOT STUCK!” the filly replied in abashed terror. “Oh, well in that case” Luna replied, a gentle shimmer of navy enveloped the filly, as she was brought down by the Princesses magic. So as to not frighten the poor child any further, Luna knelt down so that she could talk eye to eye to the Pegasus. “I am sorry if I frightened you little one, I was merely having a little fun at your expense” She nuzzled the filly and flipped her onto her back, exposing the purple-blue belly to the sky. “However, you mustn’t go unpunished for spying…” In the blink of an eye, Luna’s wing descended upon the child, using her tips to tickle torture the filly. They both laughed at each other’s antics until Luna deemed the “punishment” had fit the crime. They both remained silent for a while as they caught their breath, giggling and smiling intermittently for what seemed like a small eternity. Finally Luna broke the silence, sitting upright in front of the filly, and looking upon her with kindly, loving eyes. “What is your name, dear one?” “Lilac Zephyr, though all of my friends call me…” “Lila!” A clearly male voice called out. “Daddy!” Lilac beamed, racing toward the Blue Pegasus guard. She embraced the stallion, hugging tightly to one of his muscular forelimbs. Returning the loving embrace, he then looked up sheepishly to the princess. “I am sorry your Highness, I hope that she wasn’t too much trouble. It’s just that…” “There is no need for apologies Captain; your daughter brightened my afternoon. It’s not often that a filly or a colt comes to visit Tia… I mean… my sister and me anymore”. “It was fun daddy! Princess Luna is lots of fun, and really nice! Can I come back again tomorrow?” “Well I don’t think the Princess has the time for…” “We would be honored if she would come back for a visit tomorrow afternoon” Luna smiled down to the now glowing filly. “Only under the condition that her father can join us for a picnic” “Hurray!” Lila exclaimed. “Thank you your highness, we both we be honored to be in your company tomorrow” Captain Fleet Feather bowed. “As will I”. Luna began to walk toward the castle. The afternoon sun was beginning to set and Luna still had duties to attend to before her night vigil. Fleet Feather and Lila walked alongside her until they were about to enter into the palace. Suddenly, a loud crash sounded above them and they all looked in horror as a cascade of timber and stone rained down upon the three of them. “Lu Lu, watch out!” Before Luna could respond, she and the Captain were grabbed up by a lion paw and an eagle claw respectively. Discord crashed into the ground a short distance away, shielding the smaller ponies with his body as debris flew through the air upon impact. Dust billowed around the three of them causing only silhouettes to be seen. “Is everypony alright?” Discord rasped, removing several splinters from his fur and feathers. “I believe so” Luna coughed, “But what hap-” “Where’s Lila!” Fleet Feather asked, fear and dread beginning to fill the Pegasus as his eyes searched for his daughter “LILA!” “There were three of you?” Discord asked “Lila!” Luna called out, following Fleet Feather into the debris. Soon the Pegasus, the Alicorn, and the Draconequus were digging maniacally through the rubble in search for the filly. At last Luna removed a stone, finding a tiny crumpled wing underneath “OVER HERE!” Luna called out to her comrades. Soon the two immortals were using all of their magic to remove the rubble as quickly and safely off the buried body. Discord picked up the broken form and put an ear to her chest. “She is still breathing, but her heart is beating very weakly. I think I can get her to an infirmary in time though” and without another word, Discord was gone with a snap of his fingers. Fleet Foot could only look on in shock as his broken baby flashed away before his eyes. “I didn’t even get to hold her; I didn’t even get to say…” Luna put a comforting hoof on the tearful Pegasus’s shoulder. “Do not speak that way, she maybe small but her soul is strong. She will receive the best medical attention there is, and I am sure that Discord has already placed a healing spell on her as we speak. I am sure she will be right back on her hooves in no time. Besides, we still have the picnic tomorrow…” Tears began to flow from the Princess’s eyes as the will to remain strong slowly ebbed away from her. “How could this happen to a child? Why did it happen, balconies don’t fall by themselves after al! If only Discord had grabbed her instead of… Wait a minute, what was Discord doing here anyways?” A light bulb went off in Luna’s mind as she connected the dots of the situation. “Balconies don’t fall by themselves…” Luna gritted her teeth and she felt the tears burn against her cheeks. Fleet foot saw her become more and more enraged, however, Luna teleported away before he could ask what was wrong. Left alone in the garden, his shadow began to stretch farther and farther to the east. And then Fleet Feather, captain of the royal aerial guard, lay down and wept. *** Luna seethed with anger and malice as the Nightmares clustered around the Draconequus in greater and greater numbers. “The child is in a coma because of you!” Luna screamed at Discord’s dream scape. “Lila will never fly again; her wings are too damaged because you thought it would be funny to drop a balcony on top of me! I know how much of a sweet tooth you are, so just this once, it’s time you received your just deserts Discord. Have pleasant dreams monster. You shall have neither pity nor aid from me this night”. With venom still in her heart, she let the nightmares gain sustenance for this one night only. It would make them less ravenous tomorrow night, thus making her job easier. Luna began to walk away with a pleased grin on her face, when a tiny voice gave her pause, “What if he is truly suffering?” She gave a single glance behind her at the ever darkening dream. Finally she glared at the now full on nightmare with not an ounce of regret. “Good, let him suffer. Maybe this will teach him a lesson in the pain that he inflicts upon other”. She took off in the opposite direction without a second glance and continued to watch over the rest of her subjects. What Luna had failed to notice was the small fissure in the dome that surrounded Discord’s dream scape as more and more Nightmares slipped into his mind… Presently In Celestia’s bed chambers, the Princess held Discord’s lion paw tightly with both of her hooves, fear and concern clearly visible on her face as he retold his horrifying specter. “I’m scared Tia, and that’s a lot coming from me. What I saw seemed so real, nothing like the last ones. I can’t describe it. Not even chaos can explain it, and its driving me mad!” Using his free eagle claw, he rubbed his left temple “It’s giving me a splitting head ache and I can’t think clearly. Do you have any idea what this could mean?” Discord paused for a moment to look at Celestia. The Alicorn was about to say something, but stopped before it could come out. Discord was going to ask what she was about to say when a snide voice called out from behind him. “Ah Discord, there you are. I hadn’t seen you all day and was wondering where you were?” Luna walked up to the couple and sat down at the table completing the triangle of immortals, staring daggers at the distraught spirit. She smirked when she saw the bags under the Draconequus’s eyes and decided it was time he confessed. “Goodness Discord, you look absolutely horrid, bad dreams? Discord glared at the navy Alicorn, “Yeah, no thanks to you Lu Lu”. He spat the intimate nick name out with venom. “Well, maybe you’ll think twice before you decide to have a balcony fall on top of me again” Luna glared back at the Draconequus. Discord slammed his lion fist on the table and shouted, “I told you that wasn’t me! You really think I would be so careless with a prank? I care too much about you and Celestia to let anything like that happen. And do you truly think that I am that heartless that I would put a filly’s life in danger to simply get a laugh out of it?” “I wouldn’t put it past you, you know just as well as I do that not that long ago this is something you would have don-” “Wait, Luna” Celestia interrupted, “you said maybe Discord would think twice next time. Are you saying that you deliberately left him to his nightmare?” The Princess of the sun’s face transformed from a shocked expression to one of deep anger. The realization hit Discord like a brick wall. “Luna, you abandoned me, left me to that… that hell?” He felt a burning sensation in his eyes as he began to tear up, both hands clenched until his knuckles were visibly white, even underneath the fur of his lion paw. Luna smirked, “So overly dramatic Dissy. But I am sure that a little nightmare about a chaos free world or Brussels Sprouts is nothing compared to the suffering that child is going through right now, because of you!” Luna’s shouted. Discord could only look at the Night Mare. He tightly shut his eyes, grimacing with pent up rage, a single tear fell down his face. In a flash of white light, he disappeared from sight, leaving the two sisters with expressions that were as different as night and day. Luna continued to smile spitefully still looking at where the Draconequus had just sat seconds earlier. She turned towards her sister when a blur of gold and white came into her periphery. Luna fell out of her seat as Celestia’s hoof made contact with her sister’s face, a scowl now adorning the white Alicorn’s visage and tears in her eyes. All Luna could do was to hold her aching jaw and look incredulously up at her older sister. “What the Hell was that for!?” Luna screamed at her sister in the Royal Canterlot Voice. “Did you even CONSIDER seeing what his nightmare was before you so cruelly ABANDONED HIM?!” Celestia matched her sister’s voice. “Tia – “ “Don’t call me that!” Celestia hissed icily “Celestia” Luna gritted through her teeth, “I wouldn’t have left him if I didn’t think the Nightmare was something he couldn’t cope with himself. Even though he nearly killed a child, even I am not that cruel!" Celestia simply looked dumbfounded at her sister and for the first time in her long life, was rendered speechless. Celestia began to compose herself to give her sister a royal tongue, and possibly literal, lashing when a night guard walked into the Princess’s chambers. Luna smiled triumphantly as the guard (a grey unicorn with yellow eyes) held a scroll in his glowing aura of golden magic and walked towards the Princesses. Averting his eyes from the obvious hoof mark on Luna’s face, he passed the scroll to Luna, bowed, and then exited the room just as uniformly as he entered. Luna held the letter in front of Celestia’s eyes and asked a triumphant tone. “Do you know what this is, Sister?” Celestia looked from the scroll to Luna, disinterest in her eyes. “This is the identity of the assailant who brought that balcony down. I asked the arch mage to examine the magical residue and prove that it was Discord” Celestia sat down, still refusing to talk with her sister she gave a look as if to mean “proceed”. Luna violently ripped the seal off of the scroll and commenced to read the findings aloud. “Your Royal Highness Princess Luna, After having done extensive testing on the debris that you provided me, I was able to confirm that the balcony was indeed affected by a spell that weakened the structure to where it broke apart causing it to fall…. Luna grinned triumphantly to Celestia, but was only met with the same impartial glare as previously. The smile faded slightly as Luna continued to read. However, having compared the auras of the assailant and that of the Draconequus Discord, I regret to inform you that the test failed to make a match. Concerned for your safety we then decided ran multiple tests to see if the aura matched any known unicorn criminals or royal guards but… Luna stopped reading, she couldn’t, her voice caught in her throat as she felt nausea and dread ram into her stomach. The rage she had once held for the Draconequus subsided and her mind finally began to clear. “How could I have been so cruel? Was I so hasty to punish him for a crime I had not confirmed he committed that I… ” Then the realization of her sin finally hit her harder than when Celestia had back-hoofed her. How upset both Discord and Celestia were by the dream and how he looked at her. How the betrayal and cruelty in his scarlet and yellow eyes now bored right into her soul as guilt flooded into her. “Tia…What happened in Discord’s nightmare?” Celestia didn’t respond, she knew Luna had finally come to grasp with what she had done, but empathy for her sister still evaded her. Silence was the only thing to pass between the sisters for what felt like an eternity. And then Celestia did the last thing Luna expected to happen in the circumstance, Celestia began to weep. Luna walked over to Celestia, joining her sister in lamentation, and hugged her. Luna gave a muffled gasp of surprise when Celestia returned the embrace and continued to cry. Through her tears, Celestia was able to answer Luna’s question in hiccups. “Discord… …had… …a… …premonition… …of the… …future” “What?! But premonitions only occur in a meditated state, what I saw when the Nightmares fed off of him last night, there was no way he could have…” “Luna,” Celestia interrupted after composing herself, “Nightmares feed off of the fears and pain of their hosts, in order to induce or increase fear they will occasionally twist the truth, you and I both know this. However if an individual is already seeing something that causes them pain, the Nightmares simply need to feed and let their hosts do the work for them” “So Discord’s vision is what drew them to him?” Luna looked shocked at her sister “Yes” Celestia replied shakily “Then what did he see Sister?” Fear! That was what was in Celestia’s eye this whole time. She had mistaken it for contempt or disinterest, but as the crippling emotion soon entered into he as well, she recognized it, only causing fear to become terror as she awaited her sister’s answer. “What Discord was able to see was that tonight, one of us, one of the immortals, will be slain” Luna was frozen, her eyes wide in shock as tears began to fill them. Celestia could only bow her head down and weep again. Before her sister’s sun would rise, Twilight, Discord or even she was doomed to fall. “What have I done?”