A New Age

by lunaisbestpony1

Dream Writings

Author's Note:

Please watch the season finale before reading this, contains spoilers! Also a quick warning, the content is is dark at times, so just beware when reading.

I just started writing this after the finale aired, so if it's a little rushed just tell me in the comments. Hope you all like it, do me a favor and hit the like button or maybe leave a review at the end if you're super awesome. Enjoy! :)

1*1*1-Lyra-1*1*1

In the brightness of the morning light a green colored mare sat on her bed, levitating a quill over a journal and writing out the events of the night before.

Dear Diary, last night was hard, the nightmares are getting worse.

I was alone in the pitch black night. I sat helpless in the dark, not even able to see my own hoofs. Above me was three sets of bright eyes, glowing different colors in the utter darkness. A male voice whispered…something. I can’t remember what. But I remember being afraid, sad, ashamed. An icy wind chilled my bones and I felt pain. I don’t know why. But it woke me up. I was left alone, in my bed, crying my eyes out. Thankfully Bon Bon talked me through it. She even came over in the dead of night and brought me free candy from her shop. Celestia bless that mare. But still…I can’t help but feel that this dream meant something. It’s not the first time I’ve had it you know? I’m sure you do dear diary, I believe I wrote about the same thing last week.

I’m better now, very much so. But those dreams…they haunt me. When I’m awake, every time I blink I see the eyes, watching me. Sometimes I think I even hear the whisper in the bright of day. But what its saying I don’t know. Am I going crazy diary?

…You know it’s funny, I actually paused to wait for you to respond. Spent two minutes staring at the page like something would happen. I guess I am losing it after all.

That’s all for now my dear diary. I enjoyed this one way chat well enough. Good bye I suppose. Love your one and only friend, Lyra Heartstrings.

Lyra wrote the last word and frowned, closing the book with a basic locking spell and placing it on top of her book shelf with her magic. She stood trotted to the bathroom to fix her mane and brush the late night taffy from her teeth. But she just ended up staring at her reflection, terrified. Her eyes were glowing unnaturally bright. Expressionless and blank. The image was ripped right from her nightmares.

Lyra sniffed and curled up on the bathroom floor, the strange horror gripping her heart and taking lead of her actions. She cried. And that’s how Bon Bon found her.

Bon Bon frowned and pulled her friend to her hooves, not bothering to ask what was happening as she already knew.

“Sweetie” Bon Bon said wrapping the crying mare in her arms, “It’s OK, it’s just a dream.”

Lyra silently nodded in the mares embrace. But a stream of tears flooded her eyes regardless of Bon Bon’s kind words.

“Come on.” Said Bon Bon cheerfully, “I’ll make you breakfast, eggs and blueberry waffles sound good to you?”

“Yes.” Lyra choked.

Bon Bon smiled and led Lyra to the kitchen.

1*1*1-Twilight-1*1*1

The alicorn princesses of Ponyville sat in her new palace. She smiled and listened to her advisors list of things she needed to complete for the day. Life was somewhat different now that she ran a kingdom, each morning began with tea and a rundown of the daily tasks. At times her friends would be called forward to discuss the day’s duties, but today it was just her and her advisor Spike.

The dragon finished the list and smiled, “Good news Twi, you have a light day today. Unless there’s an emergency, you should be done with the days duties by noon!”

“Thank you my faithful advisor.” Twilight said a perfect princess smile on her face. “If you would be so kind as to get me more tea, I’ll finish writing the monthly progress report to Celestia.

“You sure you don’t want me to Twi?” Spike asked concerned. “I wrote the last one and you have other things to do.

“I’m perfectly capable spike.” Twilight assured.

“Right.” Spike nodded and took her cup into the palace kitchens.

Twilight took a breath and levitated a stack of papers from a nearby desk. At the top of the papers was a finished monthly report, filled with extra tidbits of information and a heartwarming letter to Princess Celestia. It was the blank paper beneath the stack that needed writing, but what she intended to write was too personal to tell Spike about.

She levitated her pen and began.

Dear Princess Luna

I’m sorry for not sending you and Celestia a letter in a while. I’ve been quite busy with my new duties. I’m sure there is no pony better than you who understands the time consumption that accompanies ruling a kingdom.

But I’ve been meaning to ask you something rather important, I’ve been having this dream lately, not a good dream at all. And I was wondering if you, being the guardian of dreams, can interpret what it may mean.

In the dream it’s dark, very dark. I believe that it isn’t night, nor is it day really, it’s just dark. When I look up I can see three sets of eyes staring down at me like vengeful gods. I can’t tell if they are angry or happy, the eyes hold no expression. As if they are simply watching me to see what I may do. It’s cold, extremely so. I can’t move, I can only shiver. I can’t speak I can only take in silent breaths. It’s almost like I’m not there. I think I remember other ponies in the darkness, sometimes I think there are, but I can never tell. There’s a voice whispering something, but it’s never quite clear. Or maybe it is perfectly clear and I simply can’t remember what it said.

Once I woke up rather abruptly and rapidly wrote down the words ‘a new age’ on a piece of parchment. I think at the time I knew what the words meant, but the second they were written the meaning disappeared from my mind. Then there’s the emotions, in the dream I feel this sort of heavy lump in my throat and a pain in my chest like I just failed a test. I feel like crying, and sometimes I do.

Please, if you know what’s going on, help me. Every time I have the dream, I feel worse and worse. Also, and I feel reluctant to say this next part, I’m starting to hear things that aren’t there. Whispers when I’m awake. This is all driving me insane. Please, if you could offer a hoof, I would be extremely grateful.

Your faithful friend, Twilight Sparkle.

Twilight sighed and folded the letter over writing on the front, ‘To Princess Luna’ in pristine hoof writing. Then she put it with the rest of her report and placed the mass of papers into an envelope. It was at this time that Spike came back, holding much more than a cup of tea. He had an entire tray of breakfast items, a tea pot and two coffee pots, juices, pastries, pancakes, eggs, the works.

“What’s all that?” Twilight asked eyeing the food, her stomach rumbling a bit at her lack of proper nutrition the last couple of months.

“You need some actual time off Twilight.” Spike set the tray down on the floor and began to spread out a picnic blanket. Than he arranged the food above it in an elegant way. “So I’m inviting the girls over for a royal picnic. Discord too. As your faithful advisor, I say it’s required for your health and sanity.”

Twilight gave the little dragon a grateful smile, “Thanks Spike.” She said. “When will the girls be here?”

Her question was answered when an energetic voice rang down the halls “Wooo! Picnic party!”

Twilight giggled and handed the report to spike, “Send this please.”

Spike nodded and sent the letter right as Pinkie entered the room and tackled Twi in a hug.

1*1*1-Dinky-1*1*1

“So,” The smiling Stallion in the hammock chair said. “You’re Miss Hooves?” The man was dressed like a hippie, a tie dye shirt pulled over his head and his mane slightly messed up. His office had inspirational posters hanging on the walls, and his desk had a surf board for a table top. The name plate on his desk deemed him Mr. Mood.

“Yes sir.” Dinky said not really in the conversation as she was too busy considering ideas for her new Daring Do fan fiction.

“Cool, cool,” Mister Mood said. “Now, your teacher sent you here to talk to me, and as your counsel I will be happy to help you with any troubles.”

“That’s nice.” Dinky muttered, putting an OC together in her head. He would be a dashing stallion, a bad boy drifter with a heart of gold. He would be Daring Do’s love interest. Yes. Should he be a unicorn? Maybe…she really wanted to make him an alicorn, but fans hated alicorn OC’s. She sighed in frustration, she needed to write this down.

Mr. Mood looked worried, “Do you have any troubles miss hooves?”

‘Fickle fan fiction readers.’ She found herself thinking, but instead she shrugged, “No sir, I’m fine. I don’t know why my teacher would send me here.”

“Of course you’re fine!” Mister Mood smiled, “But your teacher was a wee bit concerned when she read your dream journal assignment. “ He held out a paper to the tiny unicorn, “would you like to read it out loud? We can go through it together.”

Dinky shrugged, “Sure.” Whatever kept her out of math class was a gods sent. She took the paper, “But let’s go over it after I’ve read it. I can’t stand interruptions when I’m reading.”

Mister Mood nodded respectfully, “Of course.”

Dinky cleared her throat,

“I’ve been told that my dreams differ from normal fillies dreams, and frankly I’m not surprised. My mother says that the insane adventures I embark on in my sleep comes from my knack for writing and reading, although I’ve never quite believed this, as I often find my own writing to be mediocre at best. My dreams are always shifting, sometimes I find myself flying and doing battle with some over powered sky demon. Other times I simply wonder the halls of a maze, left alone with my thoughts and theories about the maze builder only to wake later and realize I designed the thing myself. But of late my dreams have been even stranger than normal.

“I find myself in a dark place. There’s a voice saying things that I can barely make out. I hear the phrases ‘magic’ and ‘a new age.’ Once I distinctly heard the voice say ‘and their destinies shall twine together.’ Like the chilling lines of a prophecy.

“The only light, and I call it that simply for lack of a better word, is what resides above my head. Three sets of eyes looking down at me, blank and expressionless like they don’t even notice me. They glow but cast no shadow or dim illumination. This puts me in darkness so black that it leaves me unable to see my own body. I can move in this dream, but not far, and if I had gone far I wouldn’t have known anyway. Besides the voice, the only sound I can hear is the taps of my hooves on the ground. They make a click noise that despite the big empty space, doesn’t echo. It’s cold there and I can feel the chill in my bones. I also feel that I should be scared. But despite what my body tells me, I refuse to be frightened at all.

“Instead I’m intrigued, staring quizzically at the strange eyes. Often I try to ask the eyes questions, but my voice refuses to let me talk. Which annoys me.

“When I go to bed at night I almost find myself wishing to go back. This dream is extremely interesting. I want to know what this voice means when it whispers ‘and their destinies shall twine together.’ It sounds like just a small piece to a bigger story. Maybe just the start to an epic. It leaves me to wonder if my own story has just begun.”

Dinky took a breath. “I honestly don’t see why that’s cause for alarm sir. Maybe it’s over dramatic, but not bad.”

The stallion nodded, “Fair enough Miss. Hooves. But we take dreams very seriously. You say it’s over dramatic?”

Dinky shrugged, straining not to roll her eyes, “Ya, what can I say, I like a good story. I was just trying to be entertaining.” She said.

The counselor nodded, “and this dream doesn’t scare you? Is it fabricated? Perhaps the paper was written by an adult?”

Dinky sighed. “Nah, it doesn’t scare me, I was just aiming for something cool and mysterious. I wrote it.”

Mister Mood smiled, “Right then Miss Hooves, we ask that you rewrite to reflect an actual dream. This was very good writing, especially for a child such as yourself, but you should stick to the assignment.”

Dinky sighed, “Right. Can I go now?”

“Yes miss, I’ll see you around.” Mister Mood said with a wink.

Dinky stood with the paper wrapped in a faint magic glow, and she left the room. That’s when she heard it, the voice.

“You did well Dinky” It hissed in her ear, chilling her bones. “You always have heard me best.”

“Leave me be demon.” Dinky whispered firmly. “You and that dream got me in trouble.”

Dinky turned away from the invisible voice seeing herself in the reflection of the classroom windows as she passed by. She frowned at her reflection, her eyes were lifeless glowing orbs for a split second. But they changed back to normal as she focused on them. “You’re scaring me.” She whispered to the voice, but more to herself. Than with a touch of fear, she found her classroom door and took took a seat. The teacher droned on, but she found herself focusing more on her fan fiction than her studies, and trying to pretend that the strange invisible foe wasn't watching her.

Comments

[Piece Bot]

Wow. This is extremely interesting. Can't wait to see more.

[lunaisbestpony1]

4369659 YAY Thank you you're amazing! I really really was stressing over the fact that nopony was reviewing. I'm so happy you liked it!

[Piece Bot]

4369674
It's an interesting premise and definitely something that should be explored more.

[Renegade the Unicorn]

This story is very well written! I haven't seen the s4 finale yet, but this story's good nonetheless.

[lunaisbestpony1]

4369864 Thank you, that's very nice of you to say!

[TheSupremeLeaderOfChaos]

First off.

Yay, Discord at the picnic!

Okay, now on to the actual content of my comment.

I would normally never read a story like this, but dear lord, am I glad I did.

The concept is quite interesting. Probably has been done before in different ways, but an interesting concept nonetheless.

Lyra: Awwwwwwww Bon Bon comforting her!
Twilight: Writing the Princess for advice. No surprise there. But I do like how she wrote the words down and can't remember what they meant. Veerry interesting.
Dinky: Hahahahahahahahahaha She's writing Daring Do fanfiction. I love that Dinky is the one who remembers the most about the dream and not Twilight. Makes it very unique. I also like how the voice speaks directly to her while she is awake and she quite clearly hears and responds to it.

Overall, I definitely love the concept. Three ponies: Same dream. One of them is scared of it, one worried/inquisitive about it, the other completely not fazed.

Moar

[lunaisbestpony1]

4370151 Oh my Luna your review is the best yet! I wish I could give it a million thumbs up! Thank you so much! If you would like me to review one of your stories, go ahead and link it and I'll take a look.

[Batbrony]

This review is brought to you on behalf of the group: MLP Forums Authors Helping Authors

Name of Story: A New Age

Grammar score out of 10: 9 (just a few misspellings or incorrect usage of a word (i.e. second to last sentence you started with 'Than' when you should've used 'Then'), but besides that everything seemed grammatically sound for the most part, far more than the majority of fan fics)

Pros
Intriguing set-up
Unique set of characters as your main characters (though it may prove difficult not heavily involving the Mane 6 given that Twilight's one of the main characters and a princess now to boot, though I'm sure you have an idea in mind)
Nothing too explicit, at least not yet anyway; seems you're going for a Gothic tone almost with the darker elements of your story

Cons
Dinky seemed a bit too smart for her age (though I guess I don't know how old you're envisioning her to be)
Minor grammatical issues (again, couple misspellings here and there)
Only one of three main characters actually seemed disturbed by dreams

Notes Section:
Hello lunaisbestpony1! Well, I must say you've got a rather intriguing story here in the first chapter alone. Sorry to see that it's been put on hiatus for the time being. Hope you're able to resume writing it soon! Anyways, these are my thoughts on what you got so far. The set up is pretty darn intriguing so far; you seem to have a nice blend of the supernatural and psychologically unhinging elements going about, which, again is why I said it has a somewhat Gothic tone about it (just read some Poe sometime, you'll see what I mean). The trio of main characters is interesting as well, very cool seeing you deviate from the standard pairs/groups that we normally see people employing in stories here. I especially, for whatever reason, like Lyra's bit at the beginning; it was a quite unhinging way to start things, plus she seemed to have the most appropriate reaction of the three. Also, kudos to you for writing Bon Bon as just Lyra's best friend; don't get me wrong, I don't mind when those two are shipped together, but it can get a bit annoying sometimes when they are ALWAYS depicted as being romantically involved just because they show up together on the show. Just a breath of fresh air, is all, seeing someone trying to write characters besides the Mane 6 as actual friends and not something more.

I have a few concerns at the moment. Dinky seemed a bit too smart for her age, for one. I understand what type of character you're going for, the "child-not-quite-prodigy-but-still-smarter-than-most-people-give-her-credit-for" character who nobody seems to get and is far more aware of things than people think. I got the feeling too that you might've been injecting just a little bit of yourself into her (i.e. the fun little comments about her being distracted from school because she wants to write fan fiction, though that does raise all sorts of questions about ponies and the Internet). But I have to warn you to be careful with this character type, as it can easily devolve into a Mary Sue, and an annoying type of Mary Sue at that. Also, her reaction seemed a bit odd to the dream; she seemed disturbed by it, or at least like she should be, if she was calling the watcher "demon", but her actual behavior didn't suggest really any sort of strong emotional reaction. Twilight's reaction I get, she's a mature young princess who's probably most interested in learning about the dream more than anything, so she wouldn't let it bother her too much since she's curious more than anything, but Dinky's struck me as just a bit odd.

Besides that, however, this fic is off to a nice start, and consider it favorited! Can't wait to see where you go from here!

[lunaisbestpony1]

4397601 Thank you so much, I'm glad you liked it! I'm writing Dinky as older than the CMC, fifth, maybe sixth grade. Her character is, the troubled writer who knows about the bad things happening in her life, but rather ignore them and write. I'll make an effort to not let her fall to Mary Suedom. I'm thinking about writing in a complex with her mother, Derpy, who is very kindhearted and nice, but who is also childish and possibly not the best fit for being a mother, or any sort of role model for that matter. Dinky isn't exactly the cliché adult child, she's more smart, but unwilling to apply her smarts to anything relevant. Clawing her way through school, but cold and not bothering to really deal with other ponies. I think her outlook on the world will be a sort of weary and dark one. A lot of this comes from when she was younger and her dad left, she just sort of realized that the world kind of sucks, so she tries not to bother with it much, instead retreating into books and writing.

As for Lyra and Bonbon, I was faced with a choice with them. 1) immediately ship them together, fulfilling my own personal ship, but also risking falling into a very cliché Lyra/Bonbon ship fic. 2) Simply paint them as best friends with only subtle elements of shipping that a reader could infer for themselves. I went with the second one. With Lyra single it adds this element of uncertainty. This fic thrives on uncertainty if you haven't noticed. Lyra's character is the undoubtedly normal one of the group. The least likely to want any of the adventure I plan to throw at her. I won't tell you much about any of the character arks for the sake of not dropping spoilers, but hers will involve becoming a bit more brave and determined.

When it comes to Twilight, writing her doesn't take as much effort as writing the others. The show gives her a clearly defined personality, I know it well enough to write her well, there's not much to add when it comes to introductions.

As for the overall tone, I'm flattered that you find it Gothic. I guess that would be a decent description of some of my writings of late. I wasn't really going for any sort of tone when I first started, it just came out as dark and uncertain. But I'm glad it did. I'm working on the next chapter, and I think your review may just pull this fic off hiatus.

[Batbrony]

4399645
Glad that my review could be of some help, and I can't wait for the next chapter. Happy writing!!!

[EarthbendingProdigy]

Batbrony seems to be using this format so why not?

This review is brought to you on behalf of the group: MLP Forums Authors Helping Authors

Name of Story: A New Age

Grammar 9/10: A few minor mistakes but not too noticeable

Pros:

I like the shared dream concept, there are all sorts of potential reasons for this and acts as a great hook for the reader making them want to know what is going on and the fact that 3 seemingly random characters are having this dream adds to this.

Cons:

Be careful writing Dinky her being slightly more intelligent that most ponies her age is believable, but be sure to balance that out with enough quirks to where she dosen't become too bland or unbelievable. So far she reminds me of a slightly darker version of Lisa Simpson, that is of course not a bad thing if anything the idea itself has potential if it is written the right way.

Notes:

I am liking what I am seeing so far, it should be interesting to see why they are having these dreams and what they could mean.