The Queen Beckons

by AlicornPriest

The First Nightmare

As Twilight sleeps, the Night Mare comes to her in her dreams. She carries Twilight within her dream to a hidden outlet. At length, she asks, "What have you learned so far?"

"Nothing yet, Selene," Twilight responds. "I did run into Lyra last night."

"Do you trust her?" Night Mare asks.

"I guess so," Twilight answers. "Why wouldn't I?"

"You must be cautious. Anypony could be Celestia's agent, sent to break your resolve and stop your quest. You cannot let her know that you seek to bring me back."

"I'm sorry..." Twilight says. "I didn't know." She starts to cry, small tears dripping off her face and into the infinite darkness beneath them.

The Night Mare swallows her pride, then says, "I understand. I shouldn't be pushing you like this. You are only a filly, and you must be overwhelmed." She lifts one forehoof, and her magic begins to coalesce. She manipulates it, forms it like clay, until it is the shape of a set of glasses, the edges of it smoked a shadowy black. She places it atop Twilight's snout, stating, "This is my first gift to you. As long as you wear these, you will be able to see in any darkness. Nighttime shall be as day to you, and no shadow will hide anything from you. They will only work for you, and none other. Do you understand?"

Twilight nods. "I do, Queen Selene."

"Then go. Find out what you can. I will come again tomorrow night to find out what you have learned."

The Night Mare holds Twilight and brings her back to her pleasant dreams. For the rest of the night, Twilight thinks no more of Selene, Celestia, or the darkness to come.

Author's Note:

No, I haven't mentioned her meeting Lyra yet. It's in the next chapter. The next chapter happens on the next day, but Twilight met Lyra before she went to bed. I promise, it'll all make sense next time. If you know the secret, I think you'll know what I'm doing. ;)

Comments

[Ebonysdagger]

Hm..I'm interested regardless of the tragedy tag. Still, I'm curious about that Vesper part mentioned in the opening chapter. Is that something from one of your other stories or something?

[AlicornPriest]

2771586
It's part of my personal fanon from the world. Canterlot was founded by eight unicorns: Matins, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, Nons, Vespers, and Compline. Those are the eight bells traditionally used to mark the time in monasteries. They're in chronological order, with Vespers being the evening service, generally approximately around twilight. <--- That's why my fanon states that Twilight is a Vespers unicorn. We could make up other lineages, say that Lyra is a Prime unicorn or that Blueblood is a Lauds, but as of right now I don't actually have any lineages picked out for them. Oh, and I also intended to tie that into The Alice War.
Of course, nobody likes the Alice War, so...

[Ebonysdagger]

2771926
Ah, I thought I had seen the term vespers before but I wasn't sure but now I remember seeing that mentioned in a lot of my various middle ages set books.