Dawn of the Harmony Corps

by MarkOfKhorne

From Dreams To Nightmares

"Time to unwind," said Twilight. "Hmm, which one for tonight? The Eiffel Tower? That warm log cabin in Stalliongrad?"

While the mare said this, she walked forward into nothingness as an octagonal room materialized around her. Incredible masonry covered the walls and doors with specific symbols on every side. This was Twilight's dreamscape, a trick she learned from Luna that caused the unicorn to spend several nights going from dream to dream. The mare thought hard about which dream to partake in that night.

"Hmm, AHA!" Twilight exclaimed as she pointed to a door labelled "The Daring Doo Dream" with a fedora symbol on the door. She approached the door but stopped before entering. "Now to follow the steps," Twilight said. She recounted the instructions Luna gave her.

"Step one: Preparations. Ready the mind to accept the dream." Twilight then began to mentally feel the humidity of the jungle on her soft fur and the lukewarm water on her hooves as she tread the river water.

"Step Two: Safety. Close one's eyes as visual distortion from jumping from dream to dream will cause severe mental pain." The mare did was she instructed herself to do, closing her eyes tightly. She was anxious to get her adventure started and said the last instruction.

"Step Three. Open the door and walk in." Twilight quickly grabbed the golden handle with her hooves, and the door slowly creaked open to reveal a neon blue portal.

Giddy as a schoolfilly, Twilight ran in blindly, shouting "Inponesia, here I come!"

Like always, the change in dream realities gave her a slight headache, so Twilight kept her eyes closed as her consciousness adjusted to the dream. Regardless, Twilight's curiosity set in, and she used her other senses to analyze the ambiance of the dream.

"Hmm. This is strange," said Twilight. "I was expecting a tropical theme, but it's a bit chilly. The ground also feels slightly rough, sort of like a rocky mountain or gravel. I might have walked into the 'Yeti Adventure', but it's highly unlikely."

As the headache subsided, Twilight slowly opened her eyes and her vision gradually faded in. She found her surroundings far from that of her long-hoped tropical theme as she merely stood on a concrete floor with darkness in sight. The sky lacked any starlight (or any light for that matter), yet the empty nothingness was fully lit. She simply sat in an empty concrete landscape.

“This is definitely not the Daring Doo dream,” Twilight said bluntly. She was a little put-down with her dull dream. “Is this one of Luna’s tricks? I thought I asked her to stay out of my dreams after that last one with those creepy dolls.”

Twilight walked around the empty space, confirming that there was absolutely nothing. “Well, this surely has a good start. Thanks, Luna. Thanks a lot,” the unicorn sarcastically said. She walked forward for five minutes, and she eventually came upon a metal security door like the ones at those Canterlot nightclubs. The door was simply labelled “ENTER”, in bold neon-red letters. This door was similar to the one in her dream hub because at the center was a symbol like her cutie mark.

“Interesting,” Twilight said as a small smile crept on her mouth. “Let’s see what Luna has in store for me in here.” Once again, she followed Luna's steps and closed her eyes. “A dream within a dream. Sounds funny.”

Twilight walked through the portal. "Whoa," she said as she felt a bright flash of light through her closed eyes. "I guess that flash was because this is a new dream.” Opening her eyes, her vision slowly faded in once more, revealing an alleyway between two tall buildings. “Is this Manehattan?” Twilight said, remembering she visited there as a filly with her family. She walked out of the narrow passageway and found herself in the middle of a lightless avenue. The city felt shrouded in darkness. The buildings surrounding her were extremely tall, living up to the name of "skyscrapers". The moon was no where to be found, and the city felt like it went on forever down the avenue.

"This is very strange," whispered Twilight. "I've never seen anything like this before." Twilight lit up her hron to begin exploring the empty city. She refrained from shouting since she didn't know if she was alone in the city. The avenue was adorned with random storefronts. She continued down the street until she came upon a faint light in the distance. Running towards it, she also saw a gigantic shadowy figure as well. Upon closer inspection, Twilight found herself in large square plaza surrounded by several exotic plants that gave off a soft neon glow. She also discovered that the figure was a golden statue of at least one hundred stories in the middle of the plaza. The statue was of a creature with a similar shape of a griffin, only more gallant for lack of a better word. At the marble base of the statue was a golden plaque that "Lord Armistice. Element of Wisdom and Master of the Equinox."

"Element of Wisdom? What kind of dream have I gotten myself into?" Almost as if on cue, Twilight heard soft rustling behind her. She quickly turned around, "Hello? Luna is that you?" She saw nothing but the luminescent plants. Fear slowly crept upon the unicorn. Twilight prepared a magic bolt spell on her horn and kept it ready just in case.

She left the plaza and headed back to the alleyway. She could hear movement, but Twilight paid no attention to it as that would only creep her out even more. She could see another titanic structure way ahead in the distance. Curiosity slowly replaced fear and she felt herself drawn to it. Trying to figure out how far the building was, she used her magical bolt as a flare gun and launched it at the structure. As soon as the beam of light hit the building, Twilight jumped when a loud siren went off and a blinding spotlight illuminated Twilight.

An electronic voice boomed across the city, “THREAT DETECTED. FOREIGN SIEGE ON THE MONOLITH. TARGET IS HAZARD TO CORE SECURITY. PROCEED WITH APPREHENSION.”

Giant cannons popped out of the long avenue. All of them aimed towards a petrified Twilight, giving off a low pitch gradually getting louder. Twilight shook herself awake and ran down the street, not wanting to wait for the cannon fire. Large beams of light flew past her. She heard mechanical whirring behind her which only empowered her fear of this nightmare.

"What kind of dream is this?" Twilight yelled as she sprinted towards the dark alleyway. She recognized the storefronts she saw when she entered the deranged city. "I need to wake up! I need to wake up! I need to wake up!" Twilight kept repeating to herself in complete panic. She could see the entrance of the alleyway in the far distance. She would be rid of this ominous nightmare if she kept her steady pace. To Twilight's relief, the machines had fallen behind. Turning around the corner, the unicorn stopped dead in her tracks. The door was within her sight, but standing between her and the door was a large, four-legged beast staring straight at her. Its bright orange eyes gazed deep into her soul. She couldn't think, and she couldn't move, so she shouted at it.

"Stay back." Her horn began to light up. "Stay back." She slowly walked towards it, only a few feet from it now. Within a hoof's reach from it, Twilight froze as the gigantic beast slowly got up onto its hindlegs, towering over the unicorn. With no hesitation, she fired a magical energy bolt at it, causing it to jump out of the way. She took advantage of her small window of opportunity and sprinted past it. Twilight flung the door open. Behind her, she heard a bellowing roar. Her fear caused her to pay no attention to Luna's instructions, and she leapt through the dream portal. Immediately, Twilight fell to the floor, curling in pain as her mind violently changed dreamscape realities. Her vision began to fade out into a blur, and she fell out of her dreams. While she lay on the cold, concrete ground, a deafening scream resonated through her skull as she slowly came into consciousness.

---

Twilight jolted up from her bed. She was out of her nightmare, but the shrill siren still resonated in her head, making her fall to her knees. She was awake, and when she acknowledged this, she realized that the siren was real. A scream of terror shook the entire castle, and Twilight squinted as bright beams of light shined through the blinds of hed window. Thinking quickly, Twilight summoned a sensory protection spell and a magical aura manifested itself around her head. The screams and light lessened in volume and luminosity, but the violent vibrations blew dust out of the small cracks in the wall. Regaining her mental strength, Twilight left her room and ran out into the courtyard.

The Royal Guard took up the entire plaza, all of the hopelessly clutching their ears for relief. Their eyes were staring straight at the sky, and their faces reflected the same fear she felt in her nightmare. Horror struck Twilight as she looked up and saw a blinding light come from the top of the Royal Castle, almost as if it came from.

"Princess Celestia!" Twilight screamed as she ran towards Celestia’s bedroom. The ground shook as the Princess's screams got louder and louder. Her wail became a bloodcurdling shriek, and the light expressed the destructive energy of the full power of the Royal Voice. Everyone fell to the ground, and the courtyard became the hellish pits of Tartarus as the hardened soldiers begged for forgiveness and hoped for a quick death to make the pain stop. Their screams accompanied the Princess's. Twilight reached the entrance to the central building, and as the mare closed the door behind her, the deafening noise ended with a sudden flash that nearly blinded Twilight, making her stumble onto the ground.

Quickly getting back up, she took a look back at all of the poor unfortunate souls she left behind. The courtyard stood still. All of the guards were unconscious, moaning from the sweet release from the torture they just went through. As some of them slowly arose, they witnessed a purple unicorn standing in the doorway to Celestia’s tower.

"Princess Celestia? Princess Celestia?!" Twilight sprinted up the stairs, her only focus on the safety of her leader, her mentor, and what she'd soon admit as her second mother. Reaching the bedroom, the doors violently blast open with a magical bolt. The bedroom was enormous, with several elegant rooms for the Princess's many hobbies and her entertainment.

Frantically racing from room to room in search of Celestia, Twilight froze as she finally found her but not in the condition she graciously hoped for. Princess Celestia was unconscious on the floor of her balcony. Her body barely moved except for the troubled breathing of the god-like being.

Wasting no time, Twilight ran to her side and tried nudging the alicorn awake to no avail. The princess wouldn't respond to any action she performed. Tears rushed down her face as time itself froze. A complete state of panic showered down on Twilight. She simply knelt down on the floor and wept into the alicorn's fur. To Twilight, it felt like hours until the Royal Paramedics arrived. They came upon the image of a violet mare standing with her head down in between them and the Princess. The scene before them frightened them heavily. One of them slowly walked in front of the rest and dared to speak up, stuttering in the process.

"M-ma’am. I'm from the Royal Medical Wing. We're going to need you to step away from the Princess."

All they heard was a low mumble from the unicorn as she stood her ground. Confused, they asked her again. This time, they heard her clearly.

"Get. Away. From. Her."

The paramedics couldn't waste any more time. A few of them mustered some courage and approached the mare.

"Get. Away. From. Her," the mare once again responded, only with a sharper articulation on each word.

They treaded lightly towards the unicorn. They were within hoof's length but quickly jumped in fear. The unicorn raised her head and light shown from her eyes. Her grimace revealed the rage within her, and they stood no chance against her.

"GET AWAY FROM HER!" her voice boomed. Her horn lit up as a wide wave of magical energy sent the paramedics flying across the room. They hit the wall with a thud and fell to the floor. The mare took a defensive stance in front of the Princess and charged up her horn. Loud hoofsteps came from the stairwell, most likely from the Royal Guard. The unicorn was ready to attack the incoming enemy.

“Twilight Sparkle!” the unicorn heard from behind her. The voice was unforgettable. "What do you think you're doing?!"

"Princess Luna!" the mare said as she turned to come face-to-face with the Princess of the Night. Her scowl quickly fell down to a frown. The light from her horn receded, and Twilight merely stood there.

Luna stared at her not with anger, but with concern. The tear stains under her eyes and the hopelessness in her eyes said it all. She saw as her hooves wobbled and Twilight collapsed. Luna leapt to catch her before she hit the floor. The last thing Twilight remembered was her passing out in Luna's hooves as she called out for a medic.

Author's Note:

Second part of the flashback. All of the pieces are falling into place, and the game is about to begin. Expect an explanation of the nightmare in the fourth chapter or so. Also, I was inspired to remove Celestia from the picture after reading "Do You Believe In Magic?" by gcsmith (which I greatly recommend for a good laugh). Don't expect the entire story to be this dark. I expect to have a lot of comedic characters to sort of contrast the dark times within the story.