A dark fog filled the world in shadow. Though stars shined in the sky, they offered no relief from the oppressive force looming within the darkness. It wasn’t a simple form against which one could transcribe a direction, a size or a distance; the presence was all around, pressing in like a black, drowning liquid.
Luna stepped out on the flat, hard ground. There was no way for her to ignore the intense anxiety within her, but she did what she could to hide it beneath a veil of anger. She turned her head about with a small frown, ears twitching as she sought out some kind of sound.
There was none.
“You again,” she muttered. “Why will you not just leave me alone?”
A chuckle resounded in the darkness. The voice that replied didn’t seem to be coming from any particular source… but rather, from her own mind.
Oh, Nightmare. You know as well as us that we can’t leave you alone.
“Don’t call me that,” she hissed, turning in place as she scanned the rolling wisps of black fog. “That is not who I am.”
Don’t say that. It breaks our black heart.
Luna stomped her hoof, head held high. She pushed down the sick feeling in her gut. “Go away. You were defeated. Accept it.”
Defeated? The voice was mocking, almost mirthful. Such a strong word. They pushed us back, Nightmare, that is all. We know that.
Luna gained a smug smile. “You cannot defeat them. You should know that.”
The voice only gained confidence. We only failed because they caught us off guard. Oh yes… this time we are aware of what awaits us. Tearing them apart will be much easier now.
Luna’s wings flared, her teeth were bared. She jerked her head about, seeking something to target with her anger. She found nothing. “You will never return, monster.”
Oh, yes we will, Nightmare.
“Stop calling me that!” Lightning streaked from the princess’s horn, but it struck only the hard ground. “I am over my sins, you wretched thing!”
Are we? Are we really, Nightmare? Luna felt something cold drift across her withers. She turned about with a glare, but found nothing. A thousand years. Do we believe that was just? We cannot tell ourselves that we are willing to simply let it lie in the past.
Luna sucked in a sharp breath. “Celestia… was defending Equestria. There is nopony to blame but you.”
Us.
“You!” Luna’s wings tensed as she cast her glare about once more. “I would never have betrayed my sister!”
A slow, pleasant chuckle trickled through the air. Possession. That’s the best excuse we have?
There was a terrible twisting feeling in Luna’s stomach. She stepped back, though she knew the ominous force was impossible to escape. “It… it wasn’t me. I love Celestia, and she loves me.”
The fog began to roil.
A thousand years! It would have been longer if not for the distancing of the Elements. She would have left her own sister to rot on that rock for all time if she had the choice. That is Celestia!
“Be silent!” Luna covered her ears against her tormentors words. “We were going to destroy Equestria with our eternal night! My sister did what she had to do, what you made her do! None of it is her fault.”
It was no use; the words wormed their way into her brain. Seductive, tempting, pleasant.
She fears us. We see it in her eyes, we know it in her voice. What is it that she dreams of, hmm? What is this thing that torments her slumber? We know, Nightmare. We know.
“It’s not true…” Tears were forming in her eyes. “You don’t know that…”
We know.
“N-no we don’t.”
We know, Nightmare.
“Stop calling me that…”
We know.
“Celestia isn’t…”
We kn--arrrrrggghhhhhh!
The malevolent fog's words dissolved into an agonized scream... as from the roiling darkness, a teal-furred hoof emerged, followed by the body of somepony she'd never seen before. He was an alicorn; teal-coated, brown-maned and surprisingly diminutive - larger than a foal yet smaller than even the most average of unicorns - barely large enough to be considered a teenager. However, the Princess of the Night was wrong even in that snap judgement, for the strange runic cutie marks upon his flanks marked him as an adult. 'Who is he?' she wondered. 'How is it that he has come here?'
Unlike her sister - who wore little save for her tiara, gorget and shoes, the alicorn wore the most spectacular clothing Luna had ever seen. A 'triple-loincloth' like garment draped over his rear and also covered his flanks that his sheath might not be seen. Covering the loincloth was golden-metal barding; atop that the alicorn wore a long, jade-green, rune-adorned robe, its only modification being the slits cut from it for his wings. About his right foreleg there rested a bracer to which a mysterious device was attached and atop his head he wore a half-circlet of silver with a crystalline 'cap' for his impressive horn. For all of his majesty, however, he seemed so very frail and he carried an air of sadness about him...
He was just... sitting there, perhaps asleep or in some form of meditation--but then his eyes opened, blazing with unfathomable power. He looked about - as if he was going to see, was seeing, had seen this all before. The tiniest shake of his head - the smallest of frowns gracing his muzzle as he stared at the roiling fog - chilled her to the core and sent shivers down her spine. Finally, the little one stated, "GO. AWAY." The words ripped across the dreamscape like a thundercrack, the physical shockwave accompanying them nearly flattening her!
You... you... no... arrrrrrggghhhhhhhh...!
Whatever power the little one possessed, her demons couldn't stand against it and with a final tormented scream the nightmare fog was blown apart whereupon it dissolved away unto nothing. All was calm. Stunned and dazed, Luna turned to lie before the little alicorn male. "Th-thank you..." she whispered softly.
The foal-like pony smiled--and then, softly, he inhaled a breath. Almost immediately, Luna flinched, thinking he was going to speak as he had done with the fog. Luna... didn't think she could withstand something like that again; it was far more powerful than even the Royal Canterlot Voice! The little alicorn knew it, too, it seemed for he leaned forwards to whisper softly, sadly into her open ear, "Much to learn, you still have..."
Luna swallowed thickly, and nodded, then - as the Prince turned to walk away into the darkness - she cried out "Wait!"
The little one... the little Prince... stopped and returned his attention to her. "Who are you?" she asked.
"Friend..." he whispered in answer.
"Can you... help me, at all, with...?"
Gently, the Prince shook his head. "Sister." he stated. "Reconcile. Family."
"I..." Luna choked, torn. "I can't. It's... things are still too raw..."
"Time," the little one stated. Then, giving her a little bow, the Prince turned about to walk away--but again, Luna stopped him. "Wait! Will... WIll I ever see you again, little one?"
The Prince didn't answer her question. Instead, he gave her a gentle smile, winked, and then gave a little flick of his tail. Shortly thereafter, he disappeared into the darkness of the dreamscape--
....
--as Luna’s eyes jerked open. She stared at the ceiling with sweat beading on her brow and breath coming in shallow gasps. She merely lay in her massive bed, the impossibly powerful voice of the mysterious, foal-like alicorn Prince reverberating through her mind like an eternal echo.