Nightmares Don't End When You Wake Up

by JustAnotherTimeLord

Seeds of Upheaval

Luna opened the door to her room, the light from the hallway torch flickering through the doorway. She made her way into her room and, with her magic, lit a nearby candle sitting on a table by her bed. The candle cast the room in a dim light, and Luna closed the door.

She sighed as she looked around her room, nostalgia creeping in as she remembered the time spent loathing her sister within these very walls. But now, things had changed. She could start anew, rebuild her life again. She looked at the bookcase squeezed into a corner by her desk and walked over to it. She cast her eyes up and down the rows of books, the titles on the spines flickering memories of late nights in the same candlelight reading them. She focused on an older book. It was red with a tearing spine. She reached for it and pulled it out.

She opened to the first page, and a small smile slid across her lips. Immaculate writing was scribbled across line after line in the book. She remembered writing those passages, back when she was younger. When she felt down due to the nipping teeth of depression or angry at the world, she would write poetry. By the time of her banishment, she had written an entire book. Celestia must have put a preservation spell on it, she thought as she looked over the lines.

Eventually, Luna closed the book and laid it on her desk. She made her way to her bed and hopped in, pulled the covers over her, and placed her head on the pillow. She closed her eyes and was soon fast asleep.

All was still in the room, and the only sounds were the chirps of crickets coming from outside. Slowly, a black cloud began to form over Luna’s head, coalescing and sparkling above her. Soon, the cloud stopped forming over Luna and made its way to the balcony door, opened it, and flew away into the night.

~~~

The black cloud made its way into the Crystal Catacombs below Canterlot. It passed through cave after cave in the impossible labyrinth, the crystals reflecting the dark form infinitely. The tunnels soon narrowed until it formed into a pony-sized opening.

The cloud passed through the opening and into a small cave. There were a few candles about, dimly lighting the small space. The light stopped towards the end of the room, making a defined shadow that was impossible to see through.

“It has been a long time, Nightmare Moon,” said a voice from within the black veil, the sound echoing throughout the cave.

The cloud stayed silent as it simply floated in the air at the center of the room.

A light chuckle responded to her silence. “Do you not respond to that anymore?” the voice said. “You seemed so jubilant about your witty nickname when you returned, Achlys.”

“You seem so intent on patronizing me,” Achlys said as her cloud shape fell and formed into a pony. She had a black-and-purple-striped mane, gray fur, piercing red eyes, and both a horn and pair of wings. Her cutie mark was a thorny, black rose with two leaves coming from the stem. “It’s almost as if you forget who is more powerful here.”

A small smile of sharp, black teeth formed as silence was her response.

“Oh, I know of your power,” the voice finally said. “But it’s such a shame you cannot use it without a vessel, hm?” The darkness that the voice hid within almost seemed to grow a smug smile. “It’s with the kindness of our hearts that we even try and continue to help you, especially with your failure to overthrow Celestia . . . twice.”

Achlys’ smile faded, and her brows furrowed. “Setbacks to the ultimate plan. I miscalculated and paid the price. I am now ready to finish what I started.”

“Oh really?” the voice said. “If you are so prepared, then why did you not act during Luna and Celestia’s little tea chat? Luna still held some ill will towards Celestia, and you had the perfect chance to exploit it to our advantage. And what did you do? Nothing!”

Achlys’ wings extended, and she stomped a hoof, the sound reverberating around the room and the cave growing darker with her rage. “Do not question my motives! With her forgiveness of Celestia, it will make tearing her apart so much more satisfying, and it doesn’t impede the plan whatsoever!”

“You forget your place, Achlys,” the voice said. “You’re working for us, and we tell you what to do and how to do it. You are here to make sure Celestia is overthrown as fast as possible, and if you cannot complete this simple task, then we are done here.”

Achlys was silent, but she clenched her teeth and stared intently at the darkness. The voice didn’t make a sound at Achlys’ seething, and the room then began to lighten up as Achlys unclenched her teeth. “What will you have me do?”

“Ahh, there we go,” the voice said with a jovial tone. “It’s great to get along, no? First, things have changed since you last tried to take over. Celestia has far more supporters than before, and our numbers have dwindled as a result of it. We cannot take down Celestia without first taking out some of her high ranking supporters within the upper parts of the government.

“After that, you now have to deal with Luna. Due to your mental lapse, it is up to you to figure out how to accomplish it.” There was a shuffling sound from within the darkness, and a small roll of parchment rolled up to Achlys’ feet.

“What’s this?” Achlys said as she picked up the scroll in her red magic. She unrolled it to reveal a picture of a handsome-looking stallion with a flowing blonde mane, blue eyes, and long horn. Below the picture was the name “Prince Blueblood III.”

“That is your first target,” the voice said. “He is one of the higher targets overall, but Celestia holds a bit of contempt towards the prince. Therefore, his absence will go relatively unnoticed by Celestia. He happens to have no relatives within Canterlot and is not married. He is the perfect target.

“He is currently on a diplomatic leave to the Griffon Empire, and he will not return for some time. It is best to not take him out until he returns, as his disappearance in the Griffon Empire might . . . restir old tensions, an undesirable scenario.”

“And how should I accomplish this?” Achlys asked as she read into Blueblood’s profile.

“By any means necessary,” the voice said.

Achlys looked at the parchment for a bit longer before rolling it up. It then disappeared in a flash of magic. “What should I do until his return?” Achlys said.

“Bide your time and do not make mistakes,” the voice said. “Do what you can to make Luna believe that Celestia is still untrustworthy. She is the final bump in the road to this coup, and she cannot impede our progress. Are we clear?”

Achlys stood in silence for a minute, staring down at the cave floor.

“Are we clear?”

“Yes,” Achlys said, her head still pointed to the floor.

The voice remained silent for a long moment before a clopping sound reverberated around the room. It began to grow quieter when the voice said, “We will meet again soon.” With that, the hoof steps faded away into the distance. The candles soon blew out, and the cave was plunged into deep darkness

Author's Note:

Sorry for the long delay on this chapter! And doubly sorry for there not being much here in the first place. But after I completed this part, I had planned on adding on to it, but I realized that what I wanted to add on wouldn’t fit with the tone I already set. Besides, I think that this was really, really well done overall, so I just decided to post this as is.

I would like to thank maxxxxxx, TJAG94, Vertorm, and Cerulean Voice for their prereading assistance. Their help was invaluable to the completion of this chapter.

Comments

[-Brutus]

And the protagonist of the story appears! I'm excited to see how this will turn out.

[Scootareader]

Luna has been in Canterlot for a week so far, finally settling down and trying to get used to modern society. But a simple task may prove to be nearly impossible.

Starting a sentence with but? Fo' shame, bruh. Might I suggest changing that period to a semicolon and changing "but" to "however."

EDIT: You also did it in your long description.

[Timstro59]

A true nightmare is having happiness, a wife and a son, both a whom love you and hearing the alarm clock which then wakes you up to realize that it was all just a dream.
Sometimes the true nightmare is the real world.
Sorry if I seem depressing, but this the nightmare I live in.