//------------------------------// // Story Time // Story: Bad Dreams // by Synthetic Soul //------------------------------// The rickety sounds of the train traveling along its tracks filled the ears of everypony residing in the car. Within this train car, sat Twilight Sparkle, along with her five friends, the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Twilight had requested that her friends accompany her to Canterlot, saying that they too would need to be informed about this newest threat. Of course, while this was mostly true, another reason that they were coming was their presence brought Twilight a sense of security. Of course, Twilight trusted her mentor, and she knew deep down that Celestia would never hurt her. But that dream had been so vivid, and perhaps the most frightening nightmare she had ever experienced. The fact that Celestia had requested her presence, much like in her dream, did not help to ease her mind. And so, she sat there, on the cushioned seat, wondering what this new threat was. It seemed to be more than a coincidence that she would have such a dream, right as a new enemy was appearing. Could the two be related? Twilight was brought out of her thoughts as she heard the sound of her voice being called, along with a gentle tapping on her shoulder. She turned to see Rainbow Dash next to her, trying to get her attention. “Twilight…hey Twilight!” said Rainbow as she tapped on Twilight. “What? Oh, sorry Rainbow. What is it?” “You ok? You’ve been kind of clocked out for a while.” “Oh, yeah, I’m fine. Just thinking.” “What about?” questioned the Pegasus, as the other members of the group turned their attention to their Alicorn friend. “Oh, I’m just wondering about this new problem that Celestia messaged me about. I wonder how dangerous this new threat is.” Applejack, having a talent for recognizing when someone was hiding something, spoke up to her friend. “Y’all sure that’s all there is too it?” questioned the farm mare. “What do you mean?” responded Twilight. “Well, it just seems to me that something else’s on your mind.” Putting on a brave face, Twilight did her best to offer her friend a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry AJ, I’m fine.” “Well, if your sure,” said Applejack, backing off the subject, not wanting to pry. While the girls returned to conversing about what they were talking about beforehand. Twilight’s mind once again drifted back to her nightmare. The cold feeling of steel cuffs holding her arms in place, the feeling of fear and the sadness of being betrayed by one she loved. “Don’t tell me you actually thought you were special?” The words of the phantom Celestia echoed in her mind. She had never once in her life doubted Celestia’s kindness and sincerity. So where had the dream come from? What put such an idea in her head? The sound of the trains whistle blowing caught Twilights attention, as well as the attention of her friends as well. “Now arriving in Canterlot,” came the voice of the conductor, as the train slowed to a stop. Once the train came to a complete stop, Twilight and her friends got up from their seats, and disembarked the train, to be greeted by the familiar sight of Canterlot. The six friends wasted no time making their way towards Canterlot Castle, though Twilight slowly began falling behind the rest of her friends. It took them a few moments to notice that Twilight was a good few feet behind their group. The first one to notice was Fluttershy. “Twilight, are you ok?” questioned the Pegasus. “Yep! Never better! Why do you ask?” replied Twilight with that tone of false enthusiasm that she usually adopted when she was scared or nervous. “Well darling, you’re falling a bit behind. Usually when the Princess summons us, you’re at the front of the group, leading the way,” said Rarity. “Oh, uh, it’s fine, I’m fine,” said Twilight, waving a hoof nonchalantly. Stopping in their trek, the group turned to face their friend. “Now we all know that ain’t true,” said Applejack, taking a few steps towards her friend. “Come on Twi, we’ve all noticed that you’ve been actin’ off all day. What’s troubling ya sugarcube?” “Nothing girls, I’m fine. I just, had kind of a bad dream last night, no big deal,” said Twilight trying to play it down. “Ah have a feeling it’s kind of a big deal to you,” replied Applejack. In response, Twilight looked down at her hooves while letting out a sigh. “You…you may be right…” “Do you want to talk about it?” questioned Fluttershy. Twilight looked off to the side, before turning back to her friends. She knew she couldn’t keep something like this from them. “Alright, you got me girls. Let’s walk and talk,” said Twilight. The group continued their trek through the city, with Twilight in the center. “You girls are right. I had a bad dream last night. Only it didn’t feel like any sort of dream I’ve ever had before. It felt so real, and vivid. I’m kind of worried that it wasn’t a dream…that it was a vision,” explained Twilight with a shudder. “What was it about?” asked Pinkie Pie. “That’s the thing that worries me. It started out just like today. In my nightmare, Princess Celestia summoned me to Canterlot, just like she did this morning.” “And then what happened?” asked Rarity. “Well…in the dream, Celestia led me into this secret chamber. It was dark, and I couldn’t see anything. And then…she chained me to the wall. She…she was different, darker, more sinister. She told me I didn’t mean anything to her, that I was just a tool to be used. She was going to…kill me, and steal my magic,” explained Twilight, sitting down, with her eyes closed. “Well Twilight, it was just a dream right? You know the Princess would never do that to you, right?” questioned Rainbow Dash. “I do know that. But, dreams are a reflection of out thoughts and fears. I’ve never not trusted the princess a day in my life. So where did the dream come from?” The girls paused to think about this. Twilight probably knew what she was talking about. She knew facts like this. So did that mean she was right about it being more than a dream. Applejack walked up to Twilight and put a hoof on her shoulder. “Is that why you brought us? You didn’t want to be alone with the Princess?” “Kinda…” replied Twilight, sheepishly. “Twilight, you know the Princess would never hurt ya. Maybe it’s this new threat. Maybe we’ve got some new bad guy that can change a ponies dream?” “Maybe. Now that I think about it, there was somepony I didn’t recognize in the dream. But they actually saved me from my nightmare, they helped me…I just, this doesn’t make sense!” cried Twilight, throwing her hooves up in irritation. “Twilight, you simply must relax. I’m sure once we get to the palace, the Princess will be able to put your fears aside.” “I’m not sure I want to tell her about the dream.” “What, you think she’s gonna try to kill you or something?” questioned Rainbow Dash. “What, no! It’s just…I don’t know, maybe a little. But I also don’t want her to know that I’d think she’d do something like that! For her to think I didn’t trust her…both scenarios aren’t pleasant. “Come on Twilight. The only way to get over this is ta talk to the Princess. We’ll be with ya every step of the way,” said Applejack, offering a comforting smile. Meeting her eyes, Twilight smiled back. The entire group of girls gathered together in a group hug. Once they exited their embrace, Twilight strode to the front of the group. “Come on girls, let’s head to the castle.” Princess Celestia paced back and forth in her throne room. The Day Court had been cancelled, and so the Princess was completely alone in the room. She just nervously paced, waiting for Twilight to arrive. A firm knocking on the wooden door was heard, causing Celestia to stop her trotting, turning her head in the direction of the noise. “Yes?” questioned the Alicorn. In response, the door was slightly opened, just enough to allow one of her guards to poke their head through. “Excuse me your majesty, but Princess Twilight and the other bearers of the Elements of Harmony have arrived,” stated the guard. Celestia cocked an eyebrow, with a slightly concerned look in her eyes. She wasn’t expecting anypony more than just Twilight. Why did she bring them? “Send them in,” stated the Princess. The guard nodded, and opened the door, holding it open to allow the six mares into the room, and then shutting the door behind them. “Girls, it is good to see you. Though, I must admit I’m surprised to see you all. I was only expecting Twilight.” “It was my idea Princess,” stated Twilight, though Celestia noticed a hint of apprehension in her voice. “I thought that it was best that they knew what was going on. After all, we do usually save Equestria together,” said Twilight with a slight chuckle. “Well, I suppose you’ll all have to know the situation sooner or later. Very well,” said Celestia as she turned, and started making her way back to her throne. She stopped in front of it, and turned her head over her withers to look at the Elements. “Before we begin, I must ask, have you noticed anypony exhibiting strange nightmares?” “Oh, you mean like Twi-“ but before Pinkie could continue, she found her mouth being covered by Twilights hoof. “Um, why do you ask?” questioned the Lavender mare. Celestia, seemingly unaware of what was almost said, turned her body to face the Elements. “I suppose it is best that I started from the beginning. Tell me, what do you girls know about other worlds?” “Other worlds?” questioned Rainbow Dash. “Well, I’ve always entertained the possibility that other worlds could exist, but so far, I haven’t seen any evidence to support that theory,” stated Twilight, matter of factly. “Other worlds do exist,” stated Celestia. “Not only that, but they also contain other life forms, and civilizations.” “That’s so fascinating! Wait, so you’ve seen these other worlds?” questioned Twilight, getting excited. “Yes, I have. But that is not important. What is important is not that I’ve visited other worlds. What matters is that Equestria has been visited by a being from such a world.” “You mean, there’s an alien in Equestria?” questioned Rainbow Dash. “In a manner of speaking. It over a thousand years ago, before my sister’s fall as Nightmare Moon. Out of seemingly nowhere, a being never seen before in Equestria appeared in Equestria. The creature called itself a human, by the name of Noah. He was lost, and didn’t know where he was. Without warning he’d found himself in a completely new world, with new creatures he’d never seen before. He was scared of everything, and completely alone.” “After talking with him, my sister and I offered him a place to stay in our castle. It took him a while, but he eventually warmed up to us, and Pony kind. We became friends.” “Unfortunately, like all good things it did not last. It was slow, and gradual. Little things here and there. Over the course of months, his friendly nature dimmed. He became more recluse, and started avoiding my sister and I more. We tried to talk to him about it, but it never did any good. Whatever was bothering him, he was determined to keep to himself.” “Noah, are you alright?” “Y-yes, of course. Why do you ask?” “You’ve seemed different lately, more distant. Is something wrong?” “No, no, I’m fine.” “Are you sure? Because if there’s anything that’s bothering you, we’d be more than happy to liste-“ “I said I’m fine!” “We knew something was wrong, but we couldn’t get it out of him. We wouldn’t know the true extent of the problem until it was far too late.” “Noah, please you must listen to us!” “NO! I know who you really are, what you plan to do! I won’t let you carve me up like a ham for your own sick amusement!” “Noah, please listen to Celestia. We don’t know where these ideas came from, but we can assure you they are not true! “Don’t lie to me! You can’t trick me!” “It’s the truth! Please, come back to us before its too late!” “Never! The dreams showed me the truth about you two! And they will make me strong enough to fight you!” “My sister and I watched as our friend lost himself to madness. We discovered that something was influencing his dreams. Feeding him sick nightmares about my sister and I. He became convinced that they were visions of the future. In our confrontation with him, we found that whatever had given him these nightmares, had also given him dark powers. We tried to help him, but before we could, he fled…into a realm of pure darkness and terror. And we haven’t seen him since…until now.” With her tale finished, Celestia looked at the group of ponies, waiting for questions, or some sort of response. Instead, she saw looks of sad surprise on their faces. “Princess…” said her student. Celestia thought the tale had just gotten to them, until she felt a wetness on her face. Reaching a hoof to her cheek, she found that she had tears flowing from her eyes. She wiped them with her hoof, before regaining her composure. “I’m sorry,” said the Princess. Closing her eyes, and breathing in through her nose, she began to speak again. “Luna has informed me that our old friend has returned, still under the influence of this force. He’s taken to abducting ponies in the dream realms, taking them to his realm. We don’t know what he plans on doing with them, but we do know, he must be stopped. Luna is working to protect the dreams of our little ponies. But that is only a temporary solution.” “Bearers of the Elements, I need your help to stop Noah. The elements are our only hope of stopping him. And I pray that they don’t just stop him, but perhaps return him to normal.” “But how can we use the elements on somepony in the dream world?” questioned Rainbow Dash. “My sister and I are still figuring out the best way to do that. For now, I just need you girls to be aware of the situation. Once we figure out the best plan of action, we will call upon you. Until then, please be careful.” The elements exchanged glances, before looking back to the Princess. “Don’t worry Princess, we won’t let you down!” said Twilight, now full of determination, her previous worries and fears now put to rest. “Then I bid you good luck. Be safe,” said Celestia. The elements nodded and turned, making there way out of the throne room. But as the others continued making their way to the door, Twilight, turned, and ran back to her mentor, and as soon as she reached her, she wrapped her in a tight hug. “Twilight?” questioned Celestia. “I’m just…I’m glad to see you….” With a proper explanation, Twilight was able to put her nightmare behind her, and regain her faith in her mentor. Celestia returned her students hug, nuzzling into the embrace. “Don’t worry Celestia, we’ll do everything we can to help set this problem right!” “Thank you Twilight. I knew I could count on you.”