Chapter 1: Asleep and awake
Walking through the dark corridors. The walls, floor and ceiling are made of stone. No bright source of light. But even the eyes of a pony would adapt to it. Though seeing far would be a problem for them. Speaking of ponies, I'm chasing one. She is full of fear. A really tasty fear. She isn't only afraid of me. She's afraid of being afraid. That makes my meal so much more sweet. There's no better way to describe it to those who never feed on the fear of others. The corridors seem to be endless, so she keeps running... no, flying away from me. Or so she thinks. I follow close behind. There is no way to escape from me. Even for her...
Even for Rainbow Dash.
The meal is finished. It's time for the dessert. I appear right in front of her face. She shrieks. Tries to escape. Too late. The tendrils are already all over her body. She's struggling. The fear triples. They say those who are one moment from their death experience the strongest fear. Time to check if that statement is true. The tendrils pull on her wings. She screams. The wings get ripped from her body easily. The tendrils wrap around her muzzle and muffle her screams. Nopony is going to save her. I'm looking into her eyes. She is looking at my lack of face. There is nothing in her eyes but a pure fear and despair. What a wonderful dessert...
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Rainbow Dash jumped from her bed, her wings flapping rapidly in a chaotic way, her eyes full of tears rolling down her soaking wet face, her breath is fast and shaky. There were a whole minute before she had realized that it was...
"...just a dream..."
A dream... A dream?! No way that qualifies as a dream. It was a nightmare! Never before in her entire life she was so shaken and full of fear. Not even before performing at the Best Young Flyer competition. Not even when her wing got stuck under the giant rock and she thought she was going to spend the rest of her life on the bottom of that pit. No... that was something entirely new. Something far beyond the usual "cool adventure" stuff. Something way more... dark. She spent a whole hour crying into her pillow that day.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Luna jerked awake from the bed in her private chamber. That dream... that nightmare! She had seen it all. And she was powerless to interfere... to stop that monster from inflicting those unspeakable horrors on the poor pony. Needless to say, the Princess of the Night weren't happy about that at all. She was angry, she was worried, and most of all... she was terrified.
"What was that... thing?"
Purging nightmares and guarding the dreams of her little ponies was as much of Luna's purpose as rising the Moon and decorating the sky with millions of beautiful stars. That's what she was born to do. That's what she did for centuries... But this. This was the first time she was powerless to do what she was meant to do. What kind of dark magic could possibly block her way into the dream? And more importantly... How could someone else visit the dreams of the others? Unless...
"No... that can't be."
There could be no way she was back... No, that was impossible. The Elements of Harmony purged Luna from her darkness. But still... that situation had her hoofprints all over it.
"Nightmare..."
The sun has risen. Suddenly, my power is much weaker. That's logical: night is the time for the creatures such as myself. Must wait for the night patiently. Meanwhile, can reflect on the past night's events: waking up in the forest, figuring out a few things, saving the Cutiemark Crusaders. Invading the dream of Rainbow Dash...
The last thing was the most tasty. Somehow, I'm thankful I can't feel any emotion. Otherwise I'd starve myself due to the feeling of guilt. However, it was still a much better choice than doing those things to somepony in real world. I am well fed. And the pony is alive. That seemed like a logical decision. Mustn't repeat it to the same pony often. Otherwise their mental health will be destroyed. I don't have a different reason for attacking ponies. Only my hunger. And certainly, no reason at all to kill them.
I concentrate. A single tendril appears. I wiggle it to attack the imaginary targets. It obeys perfectly. Looks like I'm getting better at it. I repeat. Two tendrils this time. Then four. Then eight... Sixteen...
The three little fillies were spending a day under Fluttershy's care. Again. They didn't cause her much trouble this time. Mostly because they were too busy discussing their previous night in the forest on her back yard.
"And what do you think was that creature? Did you see how fast those shadow... things moved? That was so cool!"
As the last of her fear died down yesterday, Scootaloo was really excited to talk about their savior. Wasn't it cool? The creature that looked like the worst thing you could run into inside the Everfree Forest actually ended up saving their lives and showing them the way out!
"Ah dunno... Maybe it's some kahnd of the forest spirit?"
"He didn't look like something forest-related..." - Sweetie Belle countered Applebloom's guess, - "He was really tall. And white... Those things looked like the living shadows. And, oh! Do you remember? He had no face!"
A yelp had made the trio turn their heads to it's source. Which, surprisingly, wasn't Fluttershy. The rainbow-maned pegasus stayed there, looking at the Cutiemark Crusaders with the face expression of a pure horror.
"Um... Rainbow Dash?"
The raspy voice of the orange filly had managed to put her out of her stupor. Only for the tears to appear in her eyes once again today... She quickly jumped and darted into the skies. That didn't look like her at all... The three little fillies exchanged a worried look and ran into the cottage.
"FLUTTERSHY!"
An hour later the whole Friendship Council plus three little fillies and one dragon were in the main hall of Twilight's castle. And the visibly shaken rainbow pegasus was the reason why they were there. Obviously enough, her friends didn't let it go and made her spill the beans. Her own mental state was in no condition to put up much resistance. So, she has told them all of it... All details about the nightmare she had last night. Needless to say, everypony (and the dragon) were aghast at the revelation. Even Twilight Sparkle, who still tried her best to seem calm and collected. A group hug had managed to ease up the heavy mood, but only a little bit.
"But ah don't understand!" - Applebloom was the first to interact, - "The same creature from your nightmares had saved us from the whole pack of the timberwolves yesterday!"
That caused a long pause before...
"WHAT?!"
The reaction was pretty much expected.
"Oh, yeah... We haven't told ya'll about that yet. Sorry..." - the yellow filly offered a sheepish smile.
"What do you mean it saved you?"
"That must be what I felt..."
"Why in tarnation haven't ya'll said anything?"
"It saved you? We should invite it to your party then! But it attacked Rainbow Dash in her sleep! I DON'T KNOW WHAT I SHOULD DO!"
Rainbow Dash remained silent. And Rarity had chosen to faint straight into Spike's arms... Who was so aghast that caught her completely on instinct. A moment later he was brought out of his stupor by burping the scroll. That had caught the attention of everypony (except for unconscious Rarity) in the room. Twilight took the scroll with her magic and unrolled it.
"It's the letter from Princess Celestia. It says that she and Princess Luna will be here to discuss an important matter... in a few moments?!"
Before a pregnant pause could hang in the air, the loud pop sound could be heard. The princesses had teleported straight into Twilight's castle.
"My little ponies," - Celestia began, - "How convenient that all of your are here. It's good to see you... I just wish the circumstances were better."
"We're here to bring you the dark news..." - Luna continued shortly after her sister fell silent, - "It appears, the enemy you all know is back. Nightmare Moon."
That caused a loud gasp.
"Nightmare Moon?!" - Twilight was the first to recover, - "B... but... But how?! We used the Elements of Harmony on her... We have reversed your transformation and purged you of the darkness in your heart. How could she be back?... And if she is, how can you be standing here? And... and..."
Luna had to raise her hoof to silence seemingly endless torrent of questions. She, however, had chosen to answer the all at once...
"...I don't know."
Now it was the time for a pregnant pause. Nopony knew what to say. Luna was the first to break the silence.
"But the evidence is clear. Rainbow Dash, would you care to share with us what happened to you last night?"
"I've just got it over with."
"Oh... Then surely you can see that such unspeakable horrors happening in the dreams of another pony could only be the doing of my evil counterpart. That is why we must find and catch her before she..."
"It wasn't her."
Rainbow Dash's answer had just earned the achievement of effectively shutting Luna's speech up.
"...Pardon me?"
"It wasn't her," - Rainbow repeated, now looking directly at Luna.
"B... but how can you tell it wasn't...?"
Before she had the chance to finish her question, Rainbow Dash's hoof pointed into the direction of three little fillies. Another pause. That time, Celestia had come to the rescue.
"I believe some explanation would be nice."
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Good chapter
Error here and there but whatever.
hmmm
i could always
Monster
Straight or Right (?)
Scroll
i hope it helped you a little
See you all on the next update
6577129
But thank you for your corrections regardless. That saves my time. And I'm glad you've enjoyed the chapter.
Great chapter my good my man, can't wait to see the next chapter.
P.S. hope it comes out soon
6577275 The hopes full of bright light and happiness give birth to the fear of them never coming true. The fear grows slowly, but someday... it turns into the nightmares. The nightmares consume their victim, weakening them, feeding on their fear and distress. And when the mental health of a victim is no more...
It is time for a dessert.
6577330
Ummm...
What?
6577386 Nothing. Have a nice dream tonight.
6577440
Well then...
You are one creepy son if a bitch.
6577459 You think being rude will make your dream brighter tonight? Now I sure hope not. I've decided to please my reader by writing a reply which would perfectly match the spirit of the story, and that is what I get?! I'm done here.
6577472
No, your just being really creepy.
6577497
6577502
Oh, that makes more sense,
Now I feel like a jerk.
The correct word is shrieks.
Yesss, more chapters, MORE! I demand it!
6577556 You can't demand the inevitable.
6579103 No, but you can rush it.
Noice
XD ok that's funny.
Also, Luna should be able to tell it's not anything she's ever encountered before. She should be able to feel its magic as she pushes against it, she'd know instantly it wasn't Nightmare.
He's a special type of Umbra.
Too bad he must consume fear...