The return of Nightmare Twilight

by Sombra63

The lullaby

At the edge of the Everfree, four ponies stand trembling in fear as the sky stands in stagnant twilight. The sounds of nature were quieted by the Everfree’s sinister presence. After several moments, the silence was broken by a collective cry.
“T-the Everfree forest.”\
The Everfree has been a scar on Equastria for hundreds, maybe even thousands of years. Logic is warped and neither the laws of earth magic nor sky magic apply in its infinite darkness. The perfect place to hide items such as the Elements of Harmony. Stepping forth Braburn grimaced as he faced the shadows.
W-w-well we best get goin’ if we wanta find those Elements.”
He was only a few steps into the Everfree’s marshy ground when a call from behind him drew his attention away from the dark forest.
“Wait! Braving through the Everfree and finding the Elements is going to be dangerous; it’s better if you all just go back to your homes and stay safe. I’ll be fine on my own.”
But her valiant proposal did nothing to deter the three earth ponies, one Pegasus, and one unicorn from swallowing their fear and walking towards the forest.
“Yeah,” Lightning Dust said “Let’s all walk single file into the cursed forest to be picked off one-by-one by the ravenous monsters. Have fun at the rear Sunlight.”

The morbid procession walked silently through the woods. Conversation was non-existent and a mere rustle of the bushes would nearly send the group cantering right back out of the forest.
“So none of you have ever gone in here?” Sunlight whispered, fearing any loud noise might bring a manticore barging through the trees.
“ Ugh, heavens non, just look at it, its épouvantable!”
From the front Braeburn spoke up.
“And it ain’t natural, folks say it don’t work like Equastria.”
As he spoke a cloud of purple smoke dissolved into the soil.
“ W-whats that supposed t-to mean?”
Deciding it was the perfect moment for a little pranking, Lightning Dust crept from the shadows, crawling like a spider towards the frightened ponies.
“No pony knoooows. You know why? ..”
“Lightning, stop it!”
“Cause everypony whose come in…
Doesn’t
Come
OUT!”
With a resounding boom the ground underneath them broke away and everypony, even Lightning caught unaware, went tumbling down.

It took her a moment, but Sunlight oriented herself enough to take a few wobbly steps. She was plunged into a thick darkness and, like a thick woolen blanket, a layer of magic was somehow blocking her from seeing a thing.
H-hello?”
Echoing off what she assumed were cavern walls, Sunlight’s voice faded slowly into nothing until a reply bounced back.
“ Sunlight?”
“ Ms. Cheerilee?”
“ Oh thank goodness! But, where are the others?”
Thankfully resounding “ I’m here” and “ I’m oks” rang out as all were present and accounted for.
“Can anypony see a way out? A light or a hole or something?!”
The sound of shifting bodies and shuffling hooves echoed cavernously. Sunlight was becoming more and more panicked. How could they stop Nightmare Twilight stuck in a seemingly inescapable cave? When her rump bumped into something hard…
And scaley!
With a puff of smoke and a yawn, the head of a giant green dragon shifted from the impact of Sunlight’s bottom. And, with that shift the revealed the cave’s entrance which had been blocked by the dragon’s enormous size.
Too bad it was on the other side of the pony-eating dragon.
“ OHMYGOSH, OHMUGOSH, OHMUGOSH, OHMYGOSH!!”
Sunlight’s words became nothing more than whispers as the dragon began to stir once more, one golden eye lazily opening.
“ WHATAREWEGOINGTODO?!WHATAREWEGOINGTODO?-”
Her panicked whispers were hushed by Ms. Cheerilee, who put a hoof to Sunlight’s mouth until she had calmed somewhat, then pulled all the six ponies into a huddle.
“I know how to stop it.” She whispered with confidence,” all we have to do…
Is sing it a lullaby.”
“What?!”
“Its true” Octavia whispered back” Through my studies I believe I came upon this fact.”
Ms. Cheerilee nodded graciously at Octavia, not even questioning why a mare like her would be researching dragons. (Which is a story for another time.)
“ A-are you sure?”
“Trust me, I’m being completely honest”
With a nod from Sunlight, Ms. Cheerilee began to whistle a soft tone and Braburn, whose Mama had been a lovely lullaby singer, know the exact song she was whistling. He began singing in a gentle voice you’d never expect the wild country pony to have.
“Golden slumbers kiss your eyes,
Smiles await you when you rise.
Sleep,
Pretty filly,
Do not cry,
And I will sing a lullaby.”
The surprisingly beautiful voice of Braeburn slid out of his mouth and throughout the cave. The dragon’s eyes began to droop and its body relaxed once more as he started the second verse.
“Cares you know not,
Therefore sleep,
While over you a watch I'll keep.
Sleep,
Pretty darling,
Do not cry,
And I will sing a lullaby.”
With a smoky sigh the dragon fell once more into peaceful slumber, allowing the trespassers to slip silently by and out into the never ending twilight. Little did they know that a cloud of purple smoke rose from the ground and shot into the sky.

The motley crew found itself walking once more through the dismal forest under a purple twilight sky. But, unlike before, their fears had been left behind. After all, how could you be afraid of a few spooky plants when you had just faced a dragon? Above their heads Lightning Dust adamantly retold the story of their brush with a fiery death as if it had happened weeks ago and to a completely different group of ponies.
…And then, Ms. Cheerilee tells us that to stop this huge ferocious dragon we had to sing a lullaby! A lullaby! Can you believe it!”
“ That’s amazing Lightning, I had no idea how awesome your life was!”
“I know—right!”
From the forest there was a sudden SCREEEECH and all other conversation was silenced.

Comments

[punzil504]

Golden Slumbers? Was that a Beatles reference? If so, that was awesome.