Beyond My Grave: Night Terrors

by AnnEldest

A Cry For Help Part One

"Wait, what?" I looked at him confusingly. My brain stuttered for a moment and my eyes taking in more light than I expected, every part of me goes on pause while my thoughts try to catch up with what Discord was telling me.

"So now hearing that Cadance was attacked I see that we might have a problem," Discord said. He walked over to my bed and sat down. I stayed by the window, looking outside and occasionally made small glances at him. It was hard for me to make out any words. I didn't know what to say to what he was telling me. The thought that somepony wanting to hurt Cadance was frightened.

"I don't understand."

"Let me start from the beginning. I was just wondering around in some weird open field, minding my own business and causing chaos and such."

"So anything you actually do in real life then?" I teased.

Discord groan in annoyance. "That's beside the point. Anyways, I was just walking around when I saw Cadance."

"Doing what?" I asked.

"Nothing. She was just standing there. It seemed like she was afraid of something."

"What makes you say that?" I trotted over to the bed and sat down next to him.

"The look on her face," he answered. "She then starts trotting away. A voice in my head told me to follow her. That something was wrong. So for some reason, I did. I followed for a bit until Cadance went into a house. "

"Okay. What happened next?"

"When I walked into the house, we were all of sudden in the Crystal Empire. I could tell because we were in Flurry Heart's room. I see Cadance goes up to the crib and looks at Flurry. She was still sleeping. I tried talking to Cadance but she didn't respond," he recalled.

"What did she do next?" I asked.

"Nothing at first." Discord looked at me a little scared when asked that. He thought carefully about what to say next. "Well, that's when shit gets really bad?"

"Bad how?" I asked carefully.

"She kept whispering to herself. I couldn't tell what she was saying. Then this light came out of nowhere. I covered my eyes and when I could see again, Flurry was gone."

"And Cadance?"

"Was dead on the floor. There was this mare that was looking down at her. Before I could say anything, I woke up. That's it," He completed his story.

My eyes and mouth were frozen wide open in an expression of stunned surprise. What I was hearing quite unbelievable, shocking really. My mind was sent reeling, unable to comprehend or process the images it was being sent by my eyes.

"Dead?" He only nodded. Then a thought came to mind. "Another mare was present?"

"Yeah. She was-" He started to say before I finished for him.

"A large mare with long dark purple hair with black streaks in it. Her coat was also purple with a pink rose as a cutie mark."

He looked at me weirdly. "Exactly. How did you know that? You dreamt it too?"

I shook my head. "No. That was the mare I saw last night after Cadance was attacked."

"Oh. I see." The pieces were slowly coming together in his head. "So we both saw the same pony last night?"

I put a hoof to my head and sighed. "I think we might have a problem."

"And not a normal one either. Dammit! I thought we were done with this shit!" Discord said annoyed.

"You don't have to help you know?" I pointed out to him.

"And remember the last time what happened when I didn't?"

I hated to admit it but he was right. If he dreamt about that, there was no way he could run away from it. The dreams wouldn't stop for him. If anything, they would only get worse. It was what happened last time for him. I thought I was helping him by keeping him away not knowing what he was going through and that he couldn't. He tried but they wouldn't let him go.

"So what do we do now? It's not like we're paranormal activity experts," I said. I trotted over to him.

"No, you're right. But luckily I know someone who is," Discord said with a smile.

"Spike?"

"Bingo." He snapped his fingers at me. "Now let's go because I actually want to sleep tonight."

So the two of us went over to Twilight's castle. Luckily for us, Spike wasn't too hard to find and wasn't busy. He was in the kitchen getting his usual gems to snack on. He was shocked to see me and him together. We told him we needed help and wanted to speak in private. He knew right then and there that this was nothing good. He led us to his room and he locked the door. He then asked us what was going on and what was wrong. I told him about what happened to Cadance last night and Discord told him about his dream. Spike stayed quiet and listened until we both were done speaking.

"I see what you're saying," Spike said as he sat on his bed with a bowl of gems. He popped one in his mouth and swallowed looking deep in thought. "Well, if you were any normal creature, I would say that you have some serious issues to get over. But since it's you, I know how bad this could be."

I looked at Spike noticing the anxiety slowing building inside him. It had only been a short time since our last encounter with that side of the world. I knew the memories still slugged around in the young dragon's mind.

"So?" Discord said ready to continue. He flew all around the room as we all talked.

Spike looked towards the ground thinking. It was obvious that he wanted to have a full proof plan this time, unlike the previous time.

"Well, it's hard to tell what exactly your dream is trying to say. I mean clearly, it involves Cadance being dead or at least in danger but it's not clear on exactly how or more importantly why. Do you know why this is happening?" Spike tapped his foot still in thought.

Discord and I both shook our heads "no."

Spike sighed. "Of course you don't."

"Hey, it's not like we asked for this," Discord snapped at Spike with his arms cross.

"I know that. It's just you aren't really giving me a lot to go on," Spike explained.

Just then before anything more could be said, my horn lit out a large flame and out popped a scroll.

"Who's it from?" Discord asked.

"That's what I'm going to find out."

I picked it up and skimmed through it. It was hard to read as my mind was elsewhere. My brain picking up only on words here and there. The basis of the letter was that Cadance wanted to speak with me and requested my presence. I knew this wasn't a coincidence. Something was bothering her.

"What is it?" Spike asked picking himself off the ground.

"It's from Cadance. She wants to see me. She says she would like to have a meeting with me more or less".

Spike and Discord stared at each other clearly having the same thought.

"You think it's something bad, like my dream kinda bad?"

As badly as I wanted to, I didn't want to jump to any conclusions. If something bad would have happened then we would've known about it. I didn't want to start throwing the ghost stories at anyone yet so I figured that is best to count it as something normal.

"I don't know but I should go and find out," I said standing up off his bed."If there is something going on with her then it'll be best for me to be there anyway."

"Well no argument there," Discord said as he started snapping a coffee cup into existence.

I turned my attention to Spike. "Also, could you not tell Twilight or your other friends about what happened last night. Celestia doesn't want to cause any problems until we know what is going on."

Spike nodded. "Sure thing, Luna."

"Thank you," I smiled.

Spike took another handful of gems when a thought came to him. "Wait a second, you didn't tell Celestia what you saw?" Spike asked.

Suddenly, I felt exasperated and said to myself, Not this again. "There is nothing she can do to help us," I answered.

Spike spoke with his mouth full of his gems. "Okay, What about Cadance?"

"No. Not yet. I don't know if I should tell her," I said.

"Maybe you should," Spike pressured me.

I shook my head. Spike never understood my reasons for keeping Celestia out of this. He always told me that I should tell her the truth about my powers. No matter how many times I would tell him why I couldn't, he never stopped trying to get me to tell her. I wished that Spike could understand as Discord did. Of course, it wasn't all his fault. He hadn't been in my head and saw my nightmares as Discord did. Spike didn't know half of what happened to me as a child. I never fought with him about it. I just simply shrugged it off and changed the subject. That would usually end the conversation there.

I stomped my hoof hard on the floor. Discord looked down at me as Spike backed up away from me. "Look, I don't have time to talk about this now. Can you just send me back to the Crystal Empire, Discord?"

"I don't know, can I?" He joked.

"Really?" I gave him a hard glare.

Discord laughed. "Of course I can. Just trying to lighten the mood a little here. In the meantime, what are we gonna do about my sleeping issue? The last time nothing was done, I was stuck always going to murderer's houses. I would prefer that not to happen again."

Spike smiled in excitement as he was clearly looking forward to something. "I have a little something we can actually do for that. Probably can't stop it but definitely give us some answers."

Discord gave Spike a concerned look. "I don't have a good feeling about this. Why do I feel like this is going to lead to me reading a book?"

I rolled my eyes and laughed a little to myself as I left the boys to have their fun. I was a little more concerned about getting to Cadance. I didn't know how much she understood about what was going on with her. For all I knew, she did know it was some kind of spirit after her. But I didn't know. All I did know was that I didn't want her to be left alone.

---

It was later that afternoon and she had requested a meeting with Princess Luna to discuss the issue. However, nopony seemed to know where the Princess of the Night had gone to. Nopony had seen her since that morning. So Cadance sent a letter to her in hopes to speak with Luna. It was going to be some time before she arrived since Cadance didn't know when or if she would come to her. So Cadance went to the restroom to take a shower. She turned the knob to the shower and plugged up the drain. Cadance had decided that a relaxing bath was just what she needed. Steam filled the bathroom making for a nice warm cozy atmosphere. Cadance walked up to the mirror and wiped it clear of the fog covering it.

She looked at her reflection and stared off into thought. She pondered on her thoughts for a bit before snapping out of her trance. She then turned the water off and went into the relaxing warm bath. She closed her eyes as she laid and let her body relax. She took a deep breath as she tried to let the tension from her body go.

“Cadance.” Her name was called from an unfamiliar voice. It was soft and her name was followed by a long ominous echo, an uncanny echo.

Her eyes popped open as she looked for the source of her name. She looked back and forwards as she expected to see A guard or at least Shining Armor. No pony was to be found.

“Is some pony there?” she said as she stood up.

She began to walk forward as the same mare from earlier jumped out from under the water and at her. Cadance fell backward as she screamed. She looked up to see no pony was in the room with her.

She hurried out of the tub and slipped as she tried to frantically get out. Her head smacked against the tile floor. The room started to spin as she stumbled to her hooves. She touched her head as blood ran down it again.

She looked in the mirror as she noticed something else. Written in the fog on the mirror were the words:

My Baby

Cadance looked at it closer as she started to breathe heavily. Suddenly, without warning a loud knock came from the door. Cadance screamed as she jumped in fear.

“Princess Cadance, Princess Luna is here to see you,” the guard informed her.

“Thank you I'll be right out,” Cadance responded. She turned back to the mirror and noticed that the message on the mirror had vanished. She was lost of words. She had no idea how it went away just like that. "What's wrong with me? Am I going crazy?" She asked herself.

She trotted to the door and let Luna in. She needed to talk to her now. She didn't know why but she felt like Luna was the only one who could help her. Maybe even understand what was happening to her. Luna always was an expert when it came to the pony's mind and fears. Surely, she could know at least something about this. At this point, talking might be the best thing for her to do.

---

We sat down on two chairs that were by an open window. Cadance told me more in detail what happened to her last night. And of course, she mentioned seeing the same mare that Discord and I saw as well. As she spoke, I debating in my head if I should tell her that I saw the mare too. I wanted to but I wasn't sure if that was the best idea. It's not like it would help anything. At the same time though, I didn't want her to feel alone and crazy. I knew all too well how that felt. She didn't deserve that feeling.

"That sounds horrible, but they still don't know who it was?" I said shifting in my seat. I already knew the answer but I had to play along until I knew for sure what I was going to do about this.

"No, I didn't recognize her at all. Nopony seems to know who she was," Cadance responded.

"That's ummm terrifying," I said.

"I don't know what to do," Cadance said.

"I'm sure that we will figure it out," I assured her.

Cadance was avoiding eye contact with me. A heavy silence settled over the two of us, thicker than the uneasy tension in the atmosphere. Unsettled eyes glanced unceremoniously around and tried to avoid catching other glances that passed by. I once again shifted uncomfortably in my chair and she grasped her sweaty, nervous hooves. I felt painfully out of place at that moment. Cadance thought to herself. It was obvious to me that there was something on her mind that she wanted to let out to me.

"Okay, Luna. I'm going to ask you something and I need you to be completely honest with me," She said after a while.

"Sure. Ask away," I said.

"Did you see her? The mare that I saw?" She then asked.

I looked at her shockingly. "What? Why would you think that?"

She shrugged. "Well, after I was attacked, you didn't say a lot. You looked scared. More scared than I was. Then all of a sudden, you just leave this morning. I guess I just thought that meant something. Maybe you knew something I didn't."

Words left me. I stared into those bright purple eyes burning with desperation. I couldn’t will my lips to move. My mind was blank and my eyes wide as I stared at her in horror. I had to say something! I searched my mind for something reasonable to say. Should I tell her now? What could I even say to her? I thought about what happened to me. I didn't want to lie anymore and I didn't want to push everypony away again. I told myself that I would be better after that. I couldn't leave her alone but was it best for her to know the truth?

"I mean I worry about you. I don't want anything bad to happen to you," I blurted.

Her ears dropped. "So that'll be a "no" then?"

I couldn't lie to her. Not to Cadance. I had my reasons for Celestia but Cadance never wronged me like that. It was strange. I knew that Cadance would believe me. Not just that I saw the mare but also with me being a psychic. Yet, I was afraid to tell her. I didn't know why but I didn't trust anypony with this secret besides Spike and Discord. Not that I was given much of a choice with those two.

So instead I just said: "If I see anything out of place I will inform you." I stood up for my chair and made my way to the door.

"Wait, where are you going?" She sounded a little mad at me but I didn't let it affect me that much.

I stopped in place. "To my room. I wish to think alone right now."

Cadance scoffed at that. The anger from her eyes showed the scared child within, the girl who was taught to fight and starved of the love she craved. I could see the pain beneath it all.

"Celestia is on me for being alone and yet you are always running away from everypony else. Don't you think you do that enough already?"

Anger boiled deep in my system, as hot as lava. It churned within, hungry for destruction, and I knew it was too much for me to handle. The pressure of this raging sea of anger would force me to say things I do not mean, or to express thoughts I had suppressed for a while now.

"Not as much as you or anypony else in this damn country," I scolded. Then I trotted out of the room leaving a speechless Cadance behind.

I trotted down the halls with my head down. I was at first going to go to my room but at the last second decided to go check on Flurry. Something told me to go to her. Last I heard she was in her room with Shinning Armor. I trotted to her room and softly knocked on the door. There was no answer. I knocked on it again. Still no answer.

"Shinning Armor, are you in here?"

I opened the door and trotted in. The room was empty. I went up to the crib and saw Flurry Heart playing with her new toy that I got her. She looked at me and giggled. I smiled at her.

"Hey, Flurry." I lean in closer to her. "You are not even scared even after all that had happened to your mother. Did you see her last night?" I whispered to myself. I wasn't expecting a real answer from her. Since she was a baby and most likely didn't understand what was going on. Yet she must have known what I meant cause she nodded her head "yes".

My eyes widened. "Wait, you did? You saw the mare last night that attacked your mother?"

She nodded her head again in response to my question.

"You did? Oh my."

Flurry then turned her head to look behind me and clapped her hooves together. She had her attention to something else that was in the room. She kept smiling and laughing at whatever it was that she seeing.

"What are you looking at Flurry?"

I began to hear footsteps from behind. My body froze up as it came closer and louder to me. Flurry didn't really seem to not mind and looked like she enjoyed it as she laughed playfully at whoever was behind me. My mind already knew who it was. I was afraid to look. My breathing became more rapid. I managed to get the courage to turn slowly around to see for myself. As I faced the other way, the mare that I saw was standing right in front of me. Even closer than I first excepted. I jumped back and cried out. I bumped into the crib causing it to move back.

The mare looked at me with an insane smile. Her whole body was twitching. She lifted up her hoof and point at Flurry Heart who was still laughing.

"My baby..."

I shook my head at her. "No. She's not. She's not yours."

She growled at me. "My baby," She hissed.

"What do you want with Cadance?!"

"My baby," She repeated herself. She trotted closer to Flurry's crib. I stepped in front of her and pushed her back. She stepped back a couple of inches.

"No. You need to leave. Leave Cadance alone!" I yelled at her.

"SHE'S MINE!!!"

Her skin fell off and her face became black. A huge gush of wind then flew at me, sending me several feet backward. Pain exploded on the back of my head as the wall struck me forcefully. My body slammed hard against the wall; stars flooded my vision as I fell back onto the floor. My vision was blurred as I tried to stand back up. My head throbbed with a staggering ache.

I tried lighting up my horn in an attempt to stop her. But just like last time, my magic wouldn't work. My magic was useless. I watched in horror as she trotted to the crib. She went up to Flurry and picked her up.

"My baby...come now with me," She said happily. She rocked Flurry in her arms as they both started to disappear. Flurry wasn't scared at all. She just laughed with her as she laid in her arms.

I got up and stretched my arm out.

"Noooo!"

My hoof then suddenly lit up a bright blue aura and shot out a big blast that hit her. She dropped Flurry to the floor and flew back away from her. Flurry screamed loudly and started crying in fear. The mare laid on the ground just inches away from the door as she groaned in pain. I took advantage of the opportunity and ran up to Flurry. I picked her up and held on tightly.

"It's okay, Flurry. I got you." I tried calming her down. I ran passed the mare and left the room.

I ran down the hall making sure I got far away from her as I could. I needed to protect Flurry from that monster. I bumped into tables and other guards, who all gave me weird looks. I looked behind me not realizing that somepony was emerging from a corner and I bumped right into them. There was a loud "oof" as we hit each other's head and fell back. I landed on my butt but was able to still hold onto Flurry Heart without letting her go. I got up from the ground and saw that I had bumped into Celestia.

"Luna, I'm so sorry. I didn't see you there," Celestia apologized.

"It's okay, sister. It's my fault. I should have looked where I was going."

"Why do you have Flurry Heart and why were you running?" She then asked.

"I guess I got spooked from last night event. I saw that she was alone in the room and I didn't think it was wise for her to by herself," I explained. Flurry wasn't crying as loudly as before but was still shakey.

Celestia grabbed Flurry from me and started rocking her to calm her down a little. "I was watching her while Shining Armor works with the guards to find out who that mare was. I only left to use the bathroom and help him out with something. I was gone only a few minutes."

"Okay. Just don't leave her alone at all. Have somepony keep an eye on her," I insisted.

"Of course," Celestia agreed. "Speaking of being gone, where were you this morning? Nopony knew where you ran off too."

I knew that Celestia was going to ask me about that. Luckily, I already thought of an explanation for my sudden absence. "Oh that. I just needed to get away from the chaos for a bit.

"Now Luna, that's fine and all but next time inform me when you want to leave," she said.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to alarm you or anything but I can take care of myself."

"I know that. I never said that you couldn't. But until we figure out who that mare is, we all need to keep in touch with one another," she explained to me.

I didn't want to argue with her so I nodded. "Okay. I will."

"Thank you."

I turned my head away from her and sighed. My mind was still having trouble comprehending what just happened. Not only I saw her again but it tried to take Flurry Heart. I barely was able to stop her long enough to protect Flurry.

Celestia trotted to me and put a hoof on my head.

"Tia, what are you doing?" I asked. I pushed her arm away from me.

"Luna, you're bleeding!" She gasped. She showed her hoof that was now covered with blood.

"I am?!" I rubbed the back of my head and saw blood on my hoof. It must have happened with I hit my head on the wall. "I didn't even notice."

"Come with me now. Let's clean it up and see how bad it is," Celestia said.

I followed her from behind. I stared at my hoof and realized that it was slightly black as if some of my fur had been burned. Taking a closer look, I saw that it was burned. How did that happen? The only thought that I could come up with was from the blast that I shot the mare with. But how did I do that? Magic couldn't work on the dead. There was no way that I could be able to do that. Yet, somehow I did.

It's almost time...

I stopped and look behind me. There was nopony but the guards who were talking to one another. They pay no attention to me. I faced back to Celestia and continued following her. I stared down at my hoof as I trotted.

Luna...what did you just do?

Author's Note:

Now, what is going on here? Things are starting to happen. Where is this all going to lead? What is going on here? We will find out soon.

This took longer than I wanted it too but here is it. Life hasn't been treating me all that well and stress is high. However, I refuse to let this story go. This chapter was edited by ShadowstarEX. Hoped you all liked it. Leave a like and a review.

Till Next Time!!!!