//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 // Story: MLP: Eternal Dream // by kurusagi16 //------------------------------// Chapter 5 Twilight, Spike, and the rest of the girls new that something was wrong when they were all summoned to the friendship castle by Princess Luna, that evening. They all gathered in Twilight's library, not sure what could cause the princess to arrange this meeting. What's more, they were all a bit unnerved by how quiet and dejected Discord looked as he sat by himself. They weren't used to seeing the spirit of chaos look so sad and beside himself. They stood around the Princess of the night, the crystal room reflecting light onto her serious face, waiting to find out the cause of this emergency. Twilight decided to speak up and find out what was the matter. The young purple alicorn took a step forward, dressing Princess Luna. "Princess Luna, is something wrong?" asked Twilight, wanting to know what the situation was, and its severity. Princess Luna faced Twilight, but was interrupted before she had a chance to answer her. "Hey, where's Fluttershy?" remarked Pinkie Pie. The pink pony had looked around and noticed they were one friend short. A strangled sound escaped from Discord. "I'm afraid that Fluttershy has been...kidnapped." said Luna regretfully. The girls gasped, not believing the news they'd been told. "By Celestia!" "Kidnapped? Who kidnapped her? I'll give them a what for!" "Is she okay?" "Where are the varmints that took her?!" Princess Luna held up a hoof for silence. "The pony who is responsible for capturing her is the one you call 'Dream Catcher'." she said. "Dream Catcher took her? I don't believe it!" said Rarity. "She seemed like such a nice, timid pony." said Pinkie Pie. "Obviously not if she kidnapped Fluttershy." said Applejack. "Who?" asked Spike, not having met the pony and was thoroughly confused by the situation that was happening. "She's a pony that Fluttershy met." Twilight clarified for him. "But how? Why? I mean, she's just a pony." Her mind full of questions, not able to understand what had happened to her friend and how somepony that tried to befriend her took her away. Princess Luna explained. "I have reason to believe that Dream Catcher is a Nightmare." "A Nightmare?" "You mean like bad dreams and stuff?" asked Rainbow Dash. "Not quite, Nightmares are something different altogether. Nightmares are not unlike ponies who possess power over dreams. They live between this world and the dream world. In days of old, I had them assist me with looking after other ponies' dreams, to see that they weren't tormented with bad dreams." Princess Luna looked away, looking regretful about what she said next. "But when I became Nightmare Moon, and was banished to the moon, the queen of the Nightmares held a grudge against me for abandoning them. Since then, they've grown separate from dreamers, the name they give for the ponies of Equestria. They no longer interfere with them or journey into their dreams as they once had." "So you're saying that Dream Catcher is one of these Nightmares?" inquired Rarity. "Exactly. It would explain the disturbance I felt here in Ponyville, and the presence of a Nightmare that I'd felt." said Luna. "Much good it did you." Discord growled. "If you'd found that Nightmare or whatever she is sooner, Fluttershy would still be here!" His voice had spite, but his eyes betrayed the sadness over losing his precious friend. "Now's not the time to pin blame Discord, we need to get Fluttershy back." said Princess Luna, trying to keep him from loosing focus on what needed to be done. "How?" the girls asked in unison. Princess smiled slightly, glad that they'd asked. "As Princess of the Night, I have the power to create a portal to the land of the Nightmares, to Aestas." "Aestas? Where's that?" Spike asked curiously. "As I've said before, it's a place between here and the dream world, and the pathway can only be opened by Nightmares, creatures in the like, and myself." "You can count us in!" declared Rainbow Dash. "We'll find that Nightmare and teach her what happens when you try to kidnap one of our friends." There was a chorus of agreement. Twilight turned to Spike. "Spike, I need you to stay here and keep an eye on things while I'm away." she said. "Aw man, why can't I go with you guys?" he whined. "There, there Spikey Wikey, maybe some other time you can come with us, but you'll have a very important job guarding the castle for us." said Rarity, patting Spike on the head. Spike smiled goofily. "Let us be off." said Princess Luna. Her horn glowed with a blue aura as she summoned a swirling portal of light in the library. The ponies passed through it, showing no hesitation, Discord stepped in front of Luna before she could go through herself. "If you think I'll going to sit around instead of saving Fluttershy too, you have another thing coming." he said. He bent his tall form, and entered the portal. Luna was last to go through, and the portal sealed behind her. Nopony could believe their eyes when the passed through the other side of the portal and entered Aestas. Aests itself was nothing short of beauteous. The sky was a mix night and evening, it's dark and vividly purple colors blending with one another, and showed outlines of the constellations. The grass and other plants were deep emerald shade of green, and softer than anything the ponies had ever felt before. There were a few trees scattered about, but for the most part, the land was rolling expanse of rolling hills and meadows. The only things that stood out, were the old fashioned cottages, and the magnificent castle that made up the kingdom. The castle was something out of...well, a dream. It had a faint, luminescent glow about it, not unlike the moon and stars. It was made up of many columns, towers, turrets, balconies, all that surrounded a single tower, taller than the rest. "Come, follow me," said Princess Luna, leading them to the castle. The ponies continued to gawk at the sight of everything around them, all the beauty that made up the night had been captured and contained here. But there was something noticeable about this Utopian place. "Where is everypony?" Twilight wondered aloud. "It is nighttime, the Nightmares are probably out on their nightly ride." said Princess Luna. "They won't be back until daybreak." The castle's light became brighter as they drew closer. Two Nightmare stallions stood guard to its entrance. Their coats were black, and they were wearing silvery armor, wielding spears. They crossed their spears to prevent them from any further entrance to the castle. "Halt! Who goes there?" questioned the guard on the right in a deep, gravelly voice. Princess Luna, who was in front of the ponies, puffed out her chest and said in a clear, commanding voice, "I am Princess Luna, the Princess of the Night, and these are my companions. We seek an audience with her majesty, the Queen of the Nightmares, Amalthea." The guards turned to one another and whispered to one another before turning back to the princess. "Sorry your highness, but all visitors are forbidden to enter without an invitation from the queen herself." he said. Discord frowned deeply. "We don't have time for this!" said Discord, with a snap and a flash of light, he turned the two guards into toads. "Discord!" Twilight scolded. "Oh relax, they'll be fine in about ten minutes, or was it twenty?" Twilight faced hoofed herself. "We'll worry about that later." said Luna. "Right now, let us move forward." If they thought the outside of the castle was beautiful, the inside was ethereal. The wall shifted colors like the sky, from sunrise, to sunset, to twilight, to nighttime. The floor was made out of polished black marble, showing their reflections like a dark mirror. Their hoofsteps echoed through the halls as they made their way to the throne room. Princess Luna opened the tall, oriental doors with her magic, and the stepped into the throne room. Soft wispy lights, a bit like fireflies, lazily floated around the high ceiling. "Luna, you have the gall to return here without an invitation?" Queen Amalthea sat upon her high backed, marble and silken throne. The queen was tall, not unlike Princess Celestia, her mane was long and lustrous, curling at her hooves. It was the golden color of a sunset, catching the light as it shifted to different angles, that stood out against her black coat. Her eyes too were the same golden color, and upon her head was a shimmering crown with curly filigree upon it and inlaid with amethysts. "And you bring dreamers and this...thing with you?" asked Amalthea. Her voice was silvery yet stern, and possessed a commanding tone that the royal sisters also used to demonstrate their authority. "Have you come to bring us further shame?" "Hey, nopony insults the princess!" shouted Rainbow, defending Luna. Luna however lifted a hoof to stop Rainbow from charging. "She is right Rainbow Dash, I've already shamed the pride of the Nightmare kingdom by abandoning them and using the name of their race when I became the corrupted villain I once was." Queen Amalthea displayed an amused and self-satisfied expression at Princess Luna admitting that she'd been at fault. Luna continued. "However, I've put that behind me. I've come here on a much more urgent, more serious matter." Amalthea cocked her head and arched an eyebrow. "And what would that be?" inquired the queen. "I have reason to believe that one of your Nightmares has kidnapped a dreamer from Equestria." said Luna. Amalthea's face stiffened, she frowned at the princess of the night. "You accuse one of my own, loyal subjects of kidnapping? What proof do you have of this?" "I felt the presence of a Nightmare, and felt the disturbance of one passing between the realms. Not to mention that Discord and I witnessed the kidnapping with our very own eyes." Luna pointed to the Draconequus as she said his name, surprising him that she considered him a witness. Queen Amalthea however, didn't seem impressed and scoffed. "Hardly seems like you have any solid or reliable proof Princess Luna. If you are quite done with the accusations, I want you to leave me and my subjects alone." she said bitterly. Twilight cut between the two royals, injecting herself into the conversation. "Your majesty, I am Princess Twilight Sparkle, and trust me when I say that Princess Luna has no reason to accuse you or the Nightmares of anything. We just came to get our friend Fluttershy back." said Twilight, her violet eyes looking into the queen's. Queen Amalthea blinked at the name of the pony. "Fluttershy you say?" she asked. Twilight nodded her head slowly. "Yeah, she's our friend, a yellow pegasus." said Twilight, wondering if Amalthea knew something helpful. Amalthea stomped her hoof and cursed under her breath. "The little fool! I specifically told her to leave that dreamer be! And yet she disobeys me." "You said she." said Applejack. "Do you mean Dream Catcher?" Queen Amalthea shook her head and waved a hoof dismissively. "That's just the alias she used to trick you dreamers. If there's one Nightmare I know who could possibly have done this, it's Moonlight Eve." "Moonlight Eve?" asked Rarity questioningly. "A young and foolish Nightmare." said Amalthea. "Ever since she was born, she was different from the others. She was afraid of the dark, and was extremely frail and weak. But then, she got into quite a bit of trouble many years ago." "Why? What did she do?" asked Rainbow Dash. "If you keep quiet, then maybe I'll be able to tell you." "Sorry." "It was during her fillyhood years, I'd begun to notice that during the nightly ride near the dream-scape, Moonlight Eve would disappear and wouldn't come back until daybreak. So one night, I followed her, and discovered her secret. She'd entered the dream of little dreamer, a pegasus filly named Fluttershy. I wasn't sure how long it had been, but the two had become friends. I couldn't allow Moonlight Eve to disobey my law, forbidding Nightmares from entering dreams, so I confronted her and ordered her to end her friendship at once, and that she was no longer to ever visit the dreamer ever again." There was a stiff silence once Queen Amalthea finished. "Don't you think that was kind of mean?" asked Pinkie Pie. "Everypony needs friends to play with and to talk to." Amalthea waved her words away with a dismissive hoof. "Moonlight Eve had all the Nightmares she could ever want to be friends with, it's not my fault that she chose not to." said the queen, as though it weren't her problem, which in her view, it wasn't. "Amalthea, we need to find her, can you help us?" asked Luna. Queen Amalthea turned her back on them. "I don't know, what concern is it for me? Why should I help you?" Princess Luna's face grew hot, but she said nothing. And she didn't need to, because Discord appeared in front of Amalthea, looking down at her angrily, his arms crossed. "You listen here queen! Your Nightmare took my best friend away, and either you do something about it, or I'll turn you and everyone of your subjects into a daisy and pick you one by one. Or better yet, I'll lead a charge of angry bulls to trample all of you." He pointed a talon on Amalthea's chest. "So what will it be, your highness?" Queen Amalthea chuckled, which only further angered Discord. "You are an amusing beast...Discord." she said. "I shall help, only because the Princess of the Night had to come here and beg for it." "Great! So what do we do?" asked Rainbow Dash. "Nothing." answered Queen Amalthea. "What?!" cried everypony. "Moonlight Eve may not be strong, but she is crafty. If she should discover that I suspect her, or that all of you are here, then she'll undoubtedly lock herself away forever, and you'll never see your friend again." said Amalthea. "Then how do you propose that doing nothing will solve our problem?" asked Applejack in a huff. "I shall turn two of you dreamers into Nightmares, you will walk among my subjects, and gain the trust of Moonlight Eve. Then, once you have her guard down, you can follow her to where she's kept your friend. I will deal with Moonlight Eve myself." "Wait a minute, what about the rest of us?" asked Pinkie Pie. "The rest of you will be confined to the castle, where you aren't set hoof outside of." "That's not fair!" exclaimed Rainbow. "I'm being more than fair, this is my kingdom you've entered, and while here, you'll follow my rules." Queen Amalthea said steely. Princess Luna calmed herself and said, "We graciously accept your help and will follow your rules during our stay." A smug smile formed on Amalthea's face. "Now then, who will become my new subjects?" asked the queen. Twilight raised a hoof, and Discord lifted a paw. "I will," they said in unison, surprising one another. Queen Amalthea looked at Discord seriously. "You understand that as a Nightmare, you won't have your usual magical power, right?" Discord's mismatched eyes shrunk, and he blanched before heaving a sigh and saying, "If it means finding Fluttershy, I'll gladly part with my magic for a few days." Twilight couldn't help but smile, proud of Discord and his decision. "Then it's settled. Luna, if you'll assist me." A golden glow came from Queen Amalthea that merged with Princess Luna's own magic, as they converged they hit Twilight and Discord, changing their forms. They both accepted it, for the sake of their friend. Meanwhile, Fluttershy was having a dream...no not a dream, more of a distant memory that had been rooted in the subconscious reaches of her mind. She was a filly, marveling at the natural beauty of a dreamy meadow. She felt more comfortable here than she had back in Cloudsdale. The, she heard the soft sound of crying. She followed the sound to a large willow tree, where she found another filly, a pony with a black coat and a wavy pastel green mane with a few lavender streaks, weeping into her hooves as she knelt onto the grass. Fluttershy tentatively reached out her hoof, and tapped the filly on the shoulder. "Um, a-are you okay?" The filly let out a gasp, she stumbled onto her hooves and whirled around to Fluttershy. "Oh! I'm so sorry, did I startle you?" The filly wiped the large tears out of her eyes and sniffed. "Only a teeny bit." said the pony. "But I'm fine thank you." "I'm glad, I would feel horrible if I'd upset somepony." said Fluttershy. "What is it that's made you cry like that?" "Someponies were teasing me like they always do, telling me how I'll never amount to anything. So I ran away." The pony choked out through some remaining tears. Fluttershy knew just how she felt, and gently patted the filly on the back. "Don't cry, if it makes you feel better, ponies make fun of me for being useless too." Fluttershy said in attempt to lighten her mood. "I guess we're a both a couple of outcasts then." said the pony. Fluttershy gave the filly a friendly smile. "My name is Fluttershy, what's yours?" "Moonlight Eve, I don't really care for the Moonlight part, so most just call me Eve." "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you Eve." Eve smiled shyly, playing with the ends of her mane. "Um, Fluttershy?" "Yes?" "Will you, be my friend?" "Yes, I'd gladly be your friend." Eve beamed at her. "Really? Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" The memory of the fillies faded away as Fluttershy began to wake up. She slowly sat up, a hoof to her head. "What...happened...?" she asked to no pony in particular. She found herself in a giant gold bird cage, her floor mage of plush velvet. Outside the cage, was nothing but darkness and scraggly black thorn bushes that reached toward her, only to be repelled by the cage. "Where am I? Where is this place?" Fluttershy asked frightened by her surroundings. "You're in my world." Fluttershy looked up to see Dream Catcher, only her coat was now black and her cutie mark was gone. Fluttershy said her true name, as old memories came flooding into her all at once. "Eve?! Is it really you?" Eve nodded. "I'm sorry it's been so long." she said. "What is this? Why did you bring me here?" Eve just smiled, and ran a hoof under Fluttershy's chin. "This is our new special place. No pony will bother us here. It'll just be you and me Fluttershy." Fluttershy backed away, afraid that she wasn't going to be escaping the giant cage, or this forest of thorns. "Best friends, forever and eternity." said Eve, as she grinned, a shadow on her face. By looking at her face, Fluttershy could tell that her old friend would not let her go.