//------------------------------//
// Act I: Interlude 
// Story: Sparkyll and Hyde 
// by Dragon Spire 
//------------------------------//


Act I: Interlude:
The Vow


"Everypony has fears, Scootaloo. Everypony must face them in their own way. But they must be faced; or the nightmares will continue."

The pegasus filly groaned and started to rub her left foreleg. A rippling wave erupted from her, sending many a boulder flying. The little one was awakening.

Princess Luna took flight immediately. She'd learned one too many times that dreamwalking had its dangers, and staying behind while a subject was waking up meant risking being stranded in their subconscious. As she glided back up to her moon, she risked one more glance at the filly, giving a final call. "Face your fear!"

Her voice melded into the tendrils of slumber before she thrust back into the world of the wakeful. A sharp jolt wracked her body as she found herself back in her chambers. The sensation was not unlike waking from a 'falling nightmare', although it only happened in certain dreams. While she left most whilst the dreamer was still asleep, being forced to leave upon their awakening had its inconveniences.

Stretching her wings out, Luna cut off the energy surging in her horn and clumsily stepped off her crescent bed. While her magic allowed control over the Dreamscape, she still had to abide by its rules. All magic has a price, after all. So as such, she could not control the fatigue that came with pulling out of each dream, since she technically had to be asleep to enter.

"Ah, Scootaloo, I pray you have the courage to heed my advice. I've not seen so much fear in a single pony since . . ." She stopped herself. That was a millennium ago, and Tia had long since forgiven her. "I will check on her later on," she decreed to herself, should she need a final reminder. Yes, she would tend to that once she recuperated.

She approached a small water basin that was decorated in pink ceramic flowers and proceeded to splash water on her hooves and face. Magically chilled, the icy water stung her face, bringing her back to her senses before taking a drink.

Thirst and fatigue sated, she sighed, turning to resume her quest in the Dreamscape, when a shy tapping sounded at her door. Had she not been paying attention, she might not have heard it.

"You may enter," she called to the visitor. The door creaked open, and a small scarlet head poked in. Her chocolate, impossibly-curly mane fell over her eyes before she pushed it back. "Ah, come in, Lucy," Luna smiled. The mare, her attendant, trotted in, eyeing the lunar décor with her trademark curiosity, before it fell away.

Usually upbeat and--like her namesake--a bit of a Loose Cannon, she was carefully selected by Tia to be Luna's attendant and friend, mainly to help her adapt to the new customs and holidays since her banishment. Secretly, she found their friendship not unlike Tia and her prized student's.

But as the earth pony approached, she bore a grimace, hooves fidgeting when she stopped. "So sorry to bother you, Princess Luna," she finally said, "But . . ."

She was waiting for a reply. So Luna gave one. "You were not bothering me, my friend. Now, pray tell, what is on your mind?"

The attendant nodded. "The others and myself were wondering what the occasion was, what with the sky and all. It's past summer for an aurora borealis, and the beacon from the Crystal Empire should have . . ."

She trailed off, having seen Luna's expression. "Lucy . . . what borealis? I did no such thing." If someone were toying with her stars, may Tartarus save them, for they would know the true definition of nightmares. She exhaled, quelling whatever rage had threatened to build.

"Well, i-if you didn't do it . . ." Lucy sighed giving up. "Just . . . follow me. It'll be easier to see yourself." She led the Princess out of her chambers, down a dark hallway lit only by the moonlight streaming through withdrawn curtains, and to the balcony area where Luna performed her celestial duties to bring out her wondrous stars.

Only, it wasn't just beauty of the night they saw.

Painted all over the sky, a red aurora borealis glowed in gory waves, as though the stars themselves were bleeding out. Had Luna not been trained to see these stars and guide them for countless years, she herself would have thought it to be a freak of nature. But this was her light that was being contorted! The only other ponies capable of making such a spectacle of her night similar to this were . . .

Luna shuddered a fearful sigh. Having felt her tremble, Lucy asked, "You know what this is, then? Did you make this?"

"N-no, Lucy. T-this isn't me . . ." But she knew exactly what it meant. 

As if hearing her thoughts, her attendant whispered, "So what is it?" Shifting her eyes from her Princess to the aurora, she awaited an answer.

But Luna was frozen herself. Prickling ice spread all across her skin and bit into her bones. She swallowed, forcing back that wave as it receded into little more than a wisp. Gulping again, she said, " 'Tis a premonition, Loose Cannon. A warning that blood has been spilled this night."

"B-blood . . .?" She heard Lucy back up, presumably back into the comforting shadows. "Then who . . ."

"I cannot say. But other poor souls shall follow. I'm certain of this." She closed her eyes, silently praying that the deceased had not suffered so long before death took them; but following another shudder she realized that this was not the case.

Lucy returned to her side, standing up onto the golden railing. "More will die? And there's nothing to stop it? There has to be a way to!" Her optimism was ever a comforting candle in the ink of dread; but even now it could not drive away these feelings of ill. Not when a life had been stolen. Not when more were threatened to be stolen as well.

"There is a way. We can stop it." She subconsciously brought a hoof to her chest and shuddered. "But these things take time and preparation, precious resources that we severely lack. And try as we might, more blood shall be spilt; I know this." Leaning against the railing, Luna stared up at the macabre rendition of her night. Not a minute passed before the silence became painfully thick.

Lucy didn't have to ask, since she complied anyway. "I know this, because I've seen it before." Her heart rippled with sharp heat as it spread throughout her body, nearly forcing a cry out of her.

But she would not falter. She had to be strong her sister's subjects, as well for Tia, who would need her comfort for this trying time. But most importantly, she had to be strong for the pony who was in the truest peril.