Chapter 15: The Dark Side of the Moon
“Why didn’t you say anything earlier?!”
Sunset Shimmer rolled her eyes as the two alicorns flew side by side. “It was all foggy and I was in a bit of a battle haze then I got all mopey and you came to visit me and… well… you know, so it slipped my mind, okay?! I was not even sure it was real or my mind was playing tricks on me.” Twilight kept her eyes forward with a pout on her face. Sunset found the pouty lips cute despite the stressful situation, but kept the thought to herself considering they were not alone.
“You said when you touched her it felt like your empathy powers. Is there a chance you never lost the power the geode gave you?”
“I don’t know. I mean, all the other geodes shattered when they helped free me from the in between. The girls showed me the pieces after they collected them, but I never found mine, just the chain around my neck. I always assumed I lost it in transition, but I suppose it’s theoretically possible that I may have absorbed it and its power while I was stuck in there. My body was going through some pretty dramatic and painful metamorphic changes. Then I ascended and… well you know, rainbow lasers, flaming swords and wings, stab, stab, shoot, boom, hurray!”
Just behind the two alicorns Captain Gauge was pulling Captain Fury in a small enchanted chariot. Tempest leaned forward and whispered to the thestral, “Are you getting any of this?”
Gauge shrugged. “Listening, yes. Understanding, not really.”
The two alicorns banked hard and the bat pony followed as they came in for a circle to burn off speed and land just before the Castle of Friendship in Ponyville.
Over the last century, Ponyville had evolved from a small town of farms and dirt roads to a cosmopolitan mix of all the best things the world had to offer. The School of Friendship was a world renowned school for training young creatures who would become world leader, ambassadors, and policy makers. It was considered a must for many not only to learn the principles of friendship and working together, but also for building future contacts.
Ponies and other creatures came from all over to visit or attend the school and many of the first former students found they loved life the pony way so much that they settled in with their new neighbors. To accommodate the expanding population, but also to curb rampant expansionism, many of the new buildings near downtown were over ten stories tall and boasted some of the latest trends in architecture that accommodated for griffons, hippogriffs, and even dragons.
Outside the inner new rings were many of the older, quaint buildings that Ponyville was well known for. They still made up the bulk of the town, but were modernized to better handle disasters both natural or magical. Beyond the second ring were the farms that still made up the majority of the surrounding rural landscape along with the Everfree Forest that was protected from developments by treaties with The Deer Kingdom, Thicket, and Fluttershy’s nature preserve.
Twilight always had mixed feelings about visiting Ponyville. While it was part of her royal duty as well as her pleasure to visit all of Equestria, Ponyville would forever be special to her. However, it also served as an everlasting reminder of those she had lost over time. There were plenty of motifs and reminders, some subtle, others not so much, dedicated to Princess Twilight and the Elements of Harmony. They even each had a street named after them.
Sunset brushed Twilight with her wing, pulling the purple alicorn from her own thoughts. “You okay?”
“Not really,” Twilight said with a sigh. “I’m worried about Flurry Heart and what all of this could mean. Has an outside force been influencing her behavior and if so for how long? All I have are questions and… and I’m worried about my niece. If something happens to her will Cadence never speak to me again? Will the Crystal Empire and Canterlot have to go to war?”
“Well I doubt that will happen, but we do need to find her to put everypony’s mind at ease. I'm not big fan of unanswered questions either.”
“Twilight nodded. “That’s why we’re here. We need to search her room for clues and if we fail to find anything useful I may have another way to find her.” Twilight reached up to knock on the castle door when Spike opened it and pulled his big sister into a hug.
“How many times do I have to tell you, you don’t have to knock. This is still your house too.”
Twilight returned the embrace. “I haven’t lived here in over a century. It’s been your home longer than mine.”
“Whatever you say. So, got any ideas where Flurry may have flown off to? Was she hurt?” asked Spike, gesturing for the group of ponies to follow.
Sunset rubbed the back of her neck for a moment trying to think of how much to say. “Well, I doubt I did anything to her she could not heal. It’s not like she was a pushover, you know. I mean, she’s lucky Twilight showed up when she did after she hurt my mother.”
“Spike paused in mid-step. “Wait, that wasn’t in the newspaper. She hurt Celestia?”
Before Sunset could say more another voice she had never heard before interrupted her.
“Oh Flurry, what has happened to you?”
Sunset and the others continued down the hall where the voice had originated from and found a tall, stout, brown and white buck standing next to a light brown pegasus mare. They were both pacing around the table in the center of the room that if memory served correctly, Sunset had heard called the Cutie Map. A magical construct tied to the spirit of harmony much like the castle itself. The buck and the mare approached Princess Twilight the moment they spotted her. They gave respectful bows and rose.
“Princess, please say you have news.”
“I’m sorry, Prince Whitetail, nothing yet, but that is one of the reasons we came as soon as we could.” Twilight gestured to the alicorn to her right. “Prince Thicket Whitetail, Tule Spring, allow me to introduce Celestia's daughter, Princess Sunset Shimmer. She’ll be helping us locate and hopefully find out if anything is wrong with Flurry Heart.”
Sunset tried to smile warmly, but the gesture seemed to bounce right off the barrel chested buck whose impressive antlers towered over Sunset. She had to fight down the little voice in her head that wanted to touch the impressive antlers and say, “nice rack.” However, she reminded herself she was a princess now, or would be soon, an ambassador of Equestria had better manners than that.
“So, you’re the one who got in a fight with my best friend?” There was something about the way he said, “best friend” that hinted at possibly being an understatement. Or at least, maybe he WISHED they were more than just friends. Sunset noted the inflection and would ask about it later if it became appropriate.
“I don’t want to go into details of the fight, but suffice to say it is possible Flurry is being influenced by an outside force.”
“Impossible,” said Thicket with a scoff in his voice. “Princess Flurry Heart is second only to Princess Twilight in raw magical strength and her will is more stubborn than a yak on Crash-Smash Day. I have been by Flurry’s side on many adventures since graduating from the School of Friendship more than ten years ago. I know my friend.”
“I have to concur with Prince Thicket, Your Highness,” said the small pegasus in a mousy voice. “I have assisted the princess as her friend and personal assistant for many years as well. I have seen nothing in this world that could sway influence over her. She barely listens to her own mother when they speak.”
Twilight nodded to both of them. “We’ll figure this out, together. Captain Fury, Captain Gauge, please investigate Flurry Heart’s private residence and see if there is anything out of the ordinary. Remember to scan for hex traps or cursed objects as well.” The two guards saluted and followed the pegasus down a separate hallway.
“So, what does that leave us to do?” asked Sunset.
Twilight fidgety and paced around the Cutie Map before finally sighing and erecting a privacy bubble. “Soooo, I know a spell that might be able to find Flurry, but it’s… controversial.”
Both Thicket and Sunset looked on quizzically, waiting for Twilight to continue. She stepped over to the table and touched it with a hoof, sending a small current of power, which brought the map to life. Sunset gasped in awe at the sight of the magical holographic map of all of Equestria. The detail was as good as the latest holographic maps that had rolled out not many years ago in the human world.
“Many years ago, I had a friend and student named Starlight Glimmer,” Twilight began.
“I remember Starlight well. We had a lot in common, which was a great spring board to a lot of our conversations.”
Twilight nodded. “Well, you might also remember that Starlight was an especially gifted and powerful unicorn. Not just in raw power. Her special talent in magic was the ability to combine spells and even different types of magic such as spells with artifacts or spells with potions. Things of that nature. For the most part she just needed a friend and supervisor to make sure her experiments were safe and did not go too far. However, sometimes these experiments yielded amazing and occasionally terrifying results.”
“Uh, yeah. She nearly broke time and created a whole slew of splinter alternate universes. That hurts my head just thinking of what happened to those,” said Sunset while Prince Whitetail staggered at the implications.
“Right. Anyhow, one such experiment, that I supervised, was a long range tracking spell used in conjunction with the Cutie Map.”
Sunset Shimmer gasped after a moment, her eyes wide. “Wait, are you telling me she found a way to track anypony anywhere in Equestria?!”
Twilight nodded. “Yes.”
“I’m sorry, I do not completely understand pony magic so I need you to explain to me why a tracking spell would cause such a reaction.”
Sunset bobbed her head then gestured to the map with a hoof. “If it was just a tracking spell it would be fine, but most tracking spells have a limited range or require a special artifact tied to the one you’re tracking… blood can work too, but that can start to get legally controversial. Now, imagine being able to track anypony, any creature ANYWHERE in Equestria at ANYTIME by just picturing in your mind who you are looking for. The privacy violations and legal litigation, hell, the moral implications. Just, wow.”
Twilight nodded again. “I know. It’s why I buried her research on the matter deep in the restricted vaults and never showed any other creatures this spell, even my own intelligence service. I know I can trust Sunset with this, but I am placing great faith in the secrecy of this with you, Prince Whitetail.”
“If it helps my friend then I swear I will never speak a word of this to another soul, even my father.”
“Okay.” Twilight let out a breath and closed her eyes, her horn began to glow as she worked the complicated spell matrix. Sunset was impressed with the complicated spell formula that she could see through her spell eye. A moment later a bolt of magenta light shot from Twilight’s horn and caused the map to flicker. After a few seconds the glow died down and Twilight opened her eyes. “Hmm, I would have expected something… maybe I don’t remember it as well as I tho-”
A cutie mark appeared on the map for a few seconds before it vanished. It reappeared for a few more seconds before it vanished again. They only caught a glimpse of it, but there was no mistaking Flurry Heart’s cutie mark.
“She must have been traveling all night to make it that far north,” said Sunset, rubbing her chin. “Do you think she is going to visit her mother?”
“Possibly. Tempest did attempt to arrest her so she may think that she is in some sort of legal trouble and may be trying to find out if Cadence can shield her from it. But that seems strange and out of character for her.”
“I doubt it,” Thicket said, pointing at the Crystal Empire to the north. “She’s not heading directly for the empire and she knows the way too well to make such a mistake, even if exhausted. Not to mention, like you said, Flurry is not one who would cry and run home to mother because of a fight.” The three waited to see if the cutie mark would reappear, but it did not. The implications of that were unsettling.
“This isn’t working. Either she knows a way to cloak herself from your tracking spell or something else is helping hide her,” said Sunset with a frustrated growl. “We need a new plan.”
“As much as I hate to admit it, I think our best course of action right now is contact Cadence and hope that Flurry will calm down and reach out to her or us. I’m worried about her, but she is still just one pony even if a powerful one and I have an entire kingdom to take care of.” Even as she said the words Twilight felt deflated. All they had were even more questions than answers. Twilight's crown felt unusually heavy, it usually did when she had to put country before her loved ones.
“If Flurry is heading north perhaps it would be best to head north as well. From the Crystal Empire we would have a shorter distance to travel as well as all the resources her mother would gladly put forth. I know there is friction between Flurry and Princess Cadence, but there is no doubt that she loves her daughter unquestioningly.”
Twilight nodded and lowered the privacy bubble. “I have no authority over your decisions, Prince Thicket. You have diplomatic privilege to travel anywhere you like within Equestria. However, if you can wait for at least one more day I can help prepare an entire entourage to accompany you to the empire. Maybe I can even try and swing it to where I can go since I have not seen my sister-in-law in… stars, how long has it been?”
“I understand,” the deer prince said and bowed. “I will make preparations to travel to Canterlot and from there I would like to join whomever you have set aside to travel to the Crystal Empire.”
Three knocks rang out before Gauge pushed the door open. “I apologize, Your Highnesses, Princess Flurry Heart’s room was neat and in perfect order. No clues that would suggest an outside influence and no notes on what her plans would be. In fact, it looked like she had not even slept in her bed in days.”
Tempest was about to speak when she felt a vibration and a melody played from her carry pouch. She quickly levitated out a small stone and touched the glowing runes. “Fury.”
“Captain, I need to speak to Twilight or Sunset immediately.”
Tempest recognized Celestia’s voice and passed the SunLight crystal to Twilight. “It’s Celestia, she sounds… worried.” Sunset bristled at the comment and Twilight wrapped Sunset's foreleg with one of her own. Sunset closed her eyes a moment and let out a breath, nodding her thanks to her friend.
“How do I make it talk out loud again?” asked Twilight. Sunset took hold of the crystal in her telekinesis and tapped a different rune for the ‘speaker phone’ feature. “Thanks.”
“Twilight? Sunset?”
“We’re here, Mom. What’s going on?”
“Ah, good, both of you. Anyhow, after the two of you left for Ponyville, I informed Luna of you plan to try and find Flurry Heart because you feared she may be under some outside compulsion. She came up with her own plan to help by dream walking into Flurry’s mind for answers. I received a distress call from the thestrals guarding Luna that she began convulsing and thrashing and try as they might they cannot pull her from the dream walk. They, and I as well, fear that she has come under mental attack. I tried to sever the connection, but none of my spells could pull her from the walk and I fear that if I push too hard I could accidentally separate Luna’s soul from her body without an anchor.”
“We’re on our way back right now,” said Sunset, deactivating the crystal and passing it back to Tempest.
Twilight fell into step next to a scowling and determined Sunset Shimmer. “Flurry’s aggressive behavior, shadow visions, and now Luna, the master of the dream realm coming under attack? No way this is a coincidence.” Sunset said nothing, but nodded in agreement.
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Earlier
Luna arrived at her tower taking a moment to admire the view she often took for granted. It was earlier than she usually settled in for her duty as the guardian of dreams, the sun had not quite set yet, but circumstances were different this time. After hearing from her sister that Sunset and Twilight left for the Castle of Friendship for clues to Flurry’s whereabouts Luna devised her own plan to locate the wayward alicorn. While not an exact science, it was not impossible for Luna to learn secrets from ponies while they slept. Much of the mundane information was near the surface and she could skim it without disturbing the dreamer. She could search recent events and thoughts and determine a location just by the background memories alone. Being no more invasive than a casual observer. However, if she dove deeper, she could always learn more, but that came with consequences of its own if the dreamer resisted her.
Everypony in the kingdom knew that Princess Flurry Heart was strong, one of the most powerful ponies to have ever lived. So, in such a case, if a creature were able to manipulate her, or worse, dominate her mind. The other alicorns needed to know who or what and if necessary, how to protect themselves from it as well. The answers to those questions and unknowns could possibly be found in the world of dreams. However, it was not without its own danger.
Luna waited for the four thestrals who would watch over her to arrive. They had been informed to report and moved to their posts with all the haste she expected from soldiers as well trained and disciplined as the Night Guard. She looked at each of them and nodded and smiled before dropping the pretense. “Tonight will be different than any other time you have watched over me, children. In the past, I have walked the path of stardust that makes up the tangible path of pony dreams. However, I have a feeling that if Flurry Heart has become enthralled, that her mind and dreams have been hidden from the usual path. In such case I must leave the path as well to find her.”
Luna paused and swallowed trying to still the slight quake in her legs. “Know this, the last time I ventured from the path I followed a siren’s call in the darkness. It… spoke to me in ways I cannot fully describe, but the results were clear and will forever be a stain upon me and the land. I gave in and allowed the creature to imbue me with power and hate and brought forth the nightmare all know and fear. If I appear to be in distress and you cannot wake me, send for my sister and she will contact Princess Twilight and Sunset Shimmer. Then, pray they do not arrive too late to save me.”
“If the risk is so great is this necessary, Mistress?”
Luna nodded to the bat pony mare who, while standing at attention clearly was concerned for her mistress's well being. “To save Princess Flurry Heart, to prevent her from following my folly, yes. I must.”
Luna took her usual position and laid down in the center of the tower. Her eyes took on a white glow before she closed them, her horn glowing midnight blue. It began as it always did. Luna felt herself lifting in the air as if she were floating weightless in space. The sensation lasted for a minute, sometimes longer, but her hooves came to a rest on something her mind interpreted as ground and Luna opened her eyes to see the stardust path.
There were few dreamers at this early hour, the sun most likely just now slipping below the horizon. Even out of her body Luna still had such a strong connection to the moon she knew where her old friend was at all times. It did not matter however because where she planned to travel this evening the regular dreamers were, unfortunately on their own. This time more than any other Luna recalled the lessons her mother had taught her so long ago, the lessons she had only begun to scratch the surface of with Sunset Shimmer.
The realm of dreams was not terribly different than the space in between dimensions. There were many unexplored corners of the astral plane that were easy to get lost in. Many places for dark creatures to hide. Luna stopped at a junction and stared off into the starless blackness, trying to see anything in the distance. Her mother’s words whispered in her ears.
“This is a land of hopes and dreams, child. However, where there is hope there is despair. Where there are beautiful dreams there also lie nightmares. All things in balance, terrible, unbiased, unforgiving balance. Be alert, and never wander from the path alone.”
But she had wandered. She had heard a voice call to her long ago and in her youthful arrogance had followed it. It had spoken honey sweet poison to her and slowly that poison became seething anger and eventually she gladly turned on her sister. At that moment, the poison blossomed in her and the power that had been promised came to fruition. She had eclipsed the sun and become the nightmare. If not for Celestia’s last resort effort with the elements Luna would have defeated and no doubt killed her sister.
“I know you are out there, Scylla, and I am not afraid of you.” The words were as much a shield to calm Luna’s own anxiety as they were a challenge. Luna’s horn lit and she created a crescent moon light ornament and placed the glowing replica of her cutie mark on a cloud next to the path. She took one last deep breath before extending her wings and flying off into the darkness. Normal eyes would be useless in such stark blackness, but Luna had already prepared for that and her teal irises reformed to a more serpentine shape like that of her thestrals and began to glow faintly. She reached out with her senses and searched. Somewhere out in this wasteland of darkness was her quarry and her greatest fear. She had a hunch that the creature that had helped subjugate her long ago had now used the same tricks on poor Flurry Heart. If that was the case, all of Equestria was in grave peril.
Luna paused and hovered, she felt a shiver run down her spine and turned to her left, but found nothing. Then to the right and something tugged at her heart. She moved closer to the sensation. There was a pony soul here where no pony belonged. Cautiously, she followed the sensation. Luna paused and looked back, the stardust path could barely be seen now, just a speck on the horizon.
“Perhaps I should go back for help. Surely Sunset or Twilight would be willing to act as anc-” Several dark appendages wrapped around Luna and dragged her down, slamming her so hard into an unseen solid ground that she felt all the air leave her. Luna growled and lit her horn only to be struck from above. She felt something cold and sharp press to her throat.
“Just because this is not your real body does not mean you cannot die here.”
Luna struggled, but was able to turn her head enough to get one eye up. The cloud was dark red and vaguely pony shaped, with what appeared to be a magically constructed long knife held to her throat. Luna growled and her wing feathers became as sharp as blades, slicing through her bonds and freeing her. She flew back a safe distance from the knife and conjured a glowing black and blue battle axe.
“Thou are not the creature we were searching for, but thou are still blocking the way from what we seek. Be gone, demon!”
Another voice chuckled just behind Luna’s left ear. Something cold and wet struck her down again. Luna’s axe slid away and disappeared into the darkness. Glowing dark purple chains erupted from the ground and pulled Luna back down painfully tight. “Demon? Oh, that’s amusing. Is that what you think we are? Is that what Mother told you of us? Did she even speak of us?”
“Probably not,” said another voice, this one light with an almost playful squeak to it. “She’s a big, stupid diaper face like that. Pfffftt!”
“Enough.” Luna gasped and froze. THAT voice she recognized. “Well, well, well. Look who has finally come crawling back to me after all these centuries. Did big, bad Celestia push you away again? Still not getting the love and adoration you craved from the masses? No pony appreciating your beautiful night sky or all the hard, thankless work you do to keep their dreams happy? I remember all your reasons, all your excuses of why you were not good enough. All the sorrow and frustrations you bottled up on the other side that you projected into the darkness. You called to me in the darkness and I sensed you. I came and listened to you vent. We were friends, Luna. We had made a deal and then, you failed me.”
“I failed myself, Scylla. I failed Equestria and her subjects.”
“Yes, you failed at that too.”
“Let me kill her. Her death here will destroy her mind,” said the red cloud, more blades glowing and burning with red fire.
“Calm your bloodlust, Aethon. You’ll get your chance to fight soon enough. Besides, why discard a tool we may still be able to use.” The midnight blue cloud reached down and stroked Luna’s head like a pet. “I broke your resilience once and you gladly accepted a piece of me into you. I will enjoy breaking you again. Even if our newest pet succeeds it will be nice to have Nightmare Moon back on a leash for me to sic on those who displease me.”
“We will never become the nightmare again!” Luna spat. “Your words are all honeysuckle lies to us. We love our sister and our subjects, flaws and all. Our heart is cleansed of that poison you poured into us, you have no power over us.”
“That is probably true,” the teal colored cloud said in a deeper, stallion sounding voice. “Which is why we have the brat.”
Luna finally took notice of the faintly glowing form of a pony behind the shadow clouds. The aspect of Flurry Heart’s mind was cloaked in shadow chains and hazy smoke. “Release your hold on Flurry Heart and we will seek no retribution upon you.”
“You have no bargaining position, sister. We put the plan for our return in motion many times before. We put our faith in you and you failed miserably. We have tried to influence others, but none have produced results, but with Flurry Heart, we have everything we need that we have waited for. We watched as Cadenza ascended. We watched as she fell in love with Shining Armor. And we were there ready when his seed brought forth new life, influencing Flurry Heart little by little since the day her heart first started to beat in the womb. Or did you think it was just dumb luck that she was born an alicorn?”
Luna stopped struggling and gasped. “You gave Flurry Heart her wings?! How? Why?”
“Easy,” said the teal cloud, red eyes glowing, “freedom.”
“Don’t be cliché, Balius, and give away everything because you wish to gloat,” Scylla chided. “Besides, I don’t want to hear Luna speak. I want to hear her scream!” Several tentacles became hard as spears and pierced Luna’s dream body. She growled and thrashed, but refused to cry out until one pierced her skull and Scylla showed her all the horrible nightmares and plans she had dreamed of over the centuries. Luna screamed from the pain and the vivid images.
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When the four ponies returned to Canterlot they made directly for Luna’s tower. At first, nothing seemed out of the ordinary until they crossed through the illusion and sound dampening spell that Celestia had been maintaining. The sound of Luna’s cries and whimpers sent chills down Sunset’s spine. What could be so horrible to hurt a pony as strong as Luna?
“Thank the stars you are back,” said Celestia on the brink of collapsing from trying to maintain the illusion, her face stained with tear streaks. “Her screams became so terrifying I had to erect a barrier to keep the rest of Canterlot from hearing her. Hang on, beloved sister. Help is here.” Luna thrashed, not showing any sign of hearing her. Sunset ran to her mother, helping Celestia sit down to rest.
Twilight touched Luna’s face. She was sweating profusely, but felt ice cold. “This is not good, she’s trapped in something like a night terror. She’ll die of dehydration if we don’t get some fluids in her.” Twilight pointed at a thestral. “Find Doctor Guiding Light and tell her to bring fluid bags to treat dehydration immediately.” The thestral saluted and took flight.
“I know you were just trying to help, but you can’t push yourself this hard,” said Sunset stroking her mother’s mane.
Celestia pushed Sunset back and pointed to Luna. “I will push myself as far as I need to and more if it means saving my family. You, Luna, Cadence, Flurry, all of you. You are everything to me. I do not say it often enough, but I love each of you and would do anything for you. Go. Go into the dream realm and find Luna. Please, Sunset, save my sister. You are the only pony who can.”
Sunset nodded and stepped back over to where Luna was still shaking and thrashing. She looked down at her aunt and took a deep breath. Sunset touched Luna’s face and reached inside. If I really did absorb the power of my geode then maybe I can get a glimpse of what I’m up against. I just need to relearn how to control this.
“Sunset?”
Sunset closed her eyes. “Shhh, please. I’m testing a hypothesis.” Twilight nodded. A moment later Sunset gasped and her eyes flew open, glowing white. Sunset stumbled back shaking her head.
Twilight rushed to Sunset’s side, stroking the other alicorn’s face while she blinked rapidly. “Are you okay?!”
“I saw… a fork in the path. A crescent marker. Clues. But then… darkness, evil, I'm talking real malevolent presence. Glowing eyes. I think I know where to find her.” Sunset shook the feeling of goosebumps away then sat down near Luna. “I’m going in.”
“Not alone you are not,” said Captain Gauge standing before his princess. “Mistress Luna is a great warrior and master of the realm of dreams. If she fell victim to night creatures it was because she was alone and surrounded. You need somepony to watch your back and I volunteer without hesitation.”
“I appreciate the sentiment, Gauge, but I’ve never brought a passenger before on this ride. I’m not sure I have enough fine control to navigate and keep both of us under the spell.”
“Then I’ll go with you,” said Twilight, sitting down next to Sunset. “You won’t have to power the spell for me, just guide me in and lead me where we need to go.”
“Princess, I strongly object to this," said Tempest, standing next to Gauge. "If Sunset needs a unicorn, then I volunteer. This is what we signed up for. To protect our princesses,” Tempest paused and shook her head. “We can’t lose all three of you. All of Equestria would descend into a panic.”
Twilight glanced between the two captains, but shook her head. “I understand what you are both saying and your objections are noted, but I am still the Princess here and I am going to help my friends. End of discussion.”
Tempest growled, stomped a few times, desperately wanting to buck something, and turned about before finally sighing. Her hard green eyes locked on Sunset. “Swear to me you’ll bring her back.”
Sunset nodded. “I’m bringing them both back.”
“And yourself, my princess. Don’t rob me of the chance to properly serve as your captain.”
Sunset nodded to Gauge, turning her attention to Twilight. “Okay, as I understand it in order to do this we have to be connected by touch. I will guide you in, but you will still need to stay close for me to guide you back out.”
“That makes sense. I acted as the anchor for Celestia when she went into the in between for you. You can drape you wing over me and mine over you.”
“Um,” Sunset blushed as she stood, “yeah, that would be fine if I had the control Mom or Aunt Luna have, but I need… more of you. So… just… you know what, don’t move.” Sunset stepped over the top of Twilight who was still sitting and the purple princess let out a squeak as the goldenrod alicorn sat down upon her back, careful to not crush Twilight’s wings. “You okay? I’m not too heavy?” Sunset could feel Twilight’s heart beating faster as the entirety of her barrel was pressed against Twilight’s spine.
“N, no, I’m okay. When you said touch, I didn’t… Just…” Twilight quaked a bit and let out a cough. “I’m just glad no one but guards can see us right now.”
Sunset nodded to their captains and her mother, wrapping her forelegs around Twilight’s neck then whispered in her ear, “Close your eyes and follow my lead.” Sunset’s horn lit and tendrils of light enwrapped Twilight’s horn as both alicorns went still and trance like, their breathing and heartbeats falling into sync.
Long ago, Twilight and her friends had entered the waking dream to help Luna track down a dream construct called the Tantabus that Luna had created, rather masochistically, to punish herself for past sins. Later, as ruler of Equestria, Twilight had tried to dream walk with Luna and had only partial success with it. While she had managed to reach the dream realm with help, the disorder and ethereal nature of it did not mesh well with her compulsive desire to put everything in an orderly fashion. She had lost her connection to Luna after only a few minutes.
However, with Sunset the connection felt stronger, intimate, like being led down a dark path with an invisible string tied between them tugging her along every time she tried to wander off on a tangent. When the flying sensation ceased and she felt something that resembled solid ground under her hooves, Twilight dared to open her eyes. Her jaw hung open and her heart skipped a few beats.
Sunset was standing before her looking down a stardust path an expression of focused determination on her face. But what was most striking was the fact that her mane waved like Twilight’s and she even stood a bit taller, nearly as tall Twilight. Perhaps it was how Sunset saw herself or it was the projection of her greatest potential. Either way, Twilight could barely keep from drooling at the amber goddess mare before her.
Sunset turned around and smirked, gently closing Twilight’s jaw in a wonderful moment of deja vu. “C’mon, this way and again, stay close. Keep your eyes locked on my gorgeous rump if you have to.”
Twilight snorted. “Perv.”
Sunset chose not to banter back. They were on a mission and she had to stay focused. One of the first rules Luna had heavily emphasized was how dangerous the dream realm could be. A lesson that her aunt had apparently taken for granted.
“This place, it feels strange. Like all my senses are trying to compete for what it feels most like. Hot and cold, free and open, crushing claustrophobic.”
Sunset nodded as she passed the cloud shapes of sleeping ponies. Most of them seemed calm and pleasant, which was good because there was no time for detours. “It’s this place, you are picking up on some of other ponies’ emotions. I guess I’m just more use to it having walked a few times already plus my empathy powers.”
“Yes, I wanted to ask you about that, your hypothesis. So, you really do still have your geode power?”
Sunset reached up and touched the rings on her chain. “When the girls dug deep and used their full power to help free me from the in between it overloaded their geodes like I said. But mine usually disappeared into the mirror space like my clothes when I crossed to Equestria and was apparently in a dimensional flux, like my body. When Celestia triggered my ascension, it must have become a part of me. The power just never manifested before when I was human because I never reached for it assuming it was gone. Then when I came back this last time, I was such an emotional wreck I must have awakened it. I began hearing some thoughts of ponies I was near, picked up on emotional sensations of others. Heck, dream walking with Luna may have been the spark trigger. I don’t know. But now that I know it’s there I think I know how to control it. I’ll have to practice more in the future. Otherwise I'll pick up on too many stray thoughts and that's... awkward, trust me.” Sunset stopped walking and looked down to her right. Sitting on cloud was a glowing crescent moon that was flickering erratically.
“What is it?”
Sunset closed her eyes and reached out with her senses. There was a tug at her heart then a stabbing pain for a second that made her gasp. Twilight caught her before she could stumble. “She’s out there, somewhere.”
“Are you sure? I can’t see anything.”
Sunset nodded. “I can feel her pain. We need to hurry.” Sunset spread her wings and they burst into flames. She jumped from the ledge and began to glide forward. Twilight was only a step behind and just to her right. The two alicorns flew forward with their horns doing almost nothing to light the darkness ahead of them. Twilight kept her eyes on Sunset and Sunset kept her eyes only half open as she followed the sensation in her chest. They both stopped to hover when a scream called out through the darkness.
“I see something, a faint light,” said Twilight, pointing to a speck in the distance. Sunset nodded and surged forward, her flaming wings glowing brighter. They circled one time together then dove, hoping if there was something like ground they did not hit it too hard.
Their hooves made no sound, but it was clear that the cloud like creatures were not surprised by their arrival. From what Sunset could see there were four of them, a dark blue one standing over a chained up Luna, piercing the dark alicorn’s soul avatar with spikes all over her body. The shadow paused and sighed, its body language similar to an irritated pony.
“Oh, joy, interlopers.”
“Let my aunt go,” Sunset drew her flaming sword and held it before her, “now.”
“Ignis Ferrum Incarnate. You are interfering in a private matter, crotch dropping of Celestia.”
Sunset stepped closer and two of the clouds moved away as if to flank her, but Twilight stepped up and lit her own horn, prepared to fire. “I’ve heard the title before, never been impressed with it. Now, you have three seconds to get off my Aunt Luna or this gets violent.”
The red cloud chuckled and produced two flaming daggers of its own. The teal cloud held up a hoof and stepped forward. “Now, now, let’s be reasonable. We are all intelligent, creatures and capable of using our words, are we not? You may call me Balius. Now, we know you wish to have Luna back, but what do you offer in return?”
“That I don’t chop all of your damn heads off and light what’s left on fire.”
Balius made a tongue clicking noise. “Interesting first offer. However, not very reasonable. A good opening would have begun with asking what we seek.”
“Three,” growled Sunset.
“I’m sorry, are you seriously counting down?”
“Two.”
“When you invaded Flurry Heart’s mind most unexpectantly we were not in a position to fight back. I assure you, little pony, you can be harmed here. Look to your aunt for proof. She suffers a pain worse than death and soon my sister will have control of her mind and Nightmare Moon will live again.”
“Do not listen to them!” shouted Luna through clenched teeth. “They are trying to distract you from seeing the grip they have on Flurry Heart’s heart and soul! You must free her!”
“I knew it!” shouted Twilight, horn taking on a brighter glowing fury. “I knew there was something wrong with her! She was such a sweet child and her irritability and erratic behavior was unusual.”
“One.”
Balius sighed. “Very well. Epona, keep the Key safe. Aethon, destroy the weapon golem. I shall deal with the purple brat.”
The red cloud charged and Sunset raised her sword to meet the two blades and immediately regretted it. She caught one, but the other had been slipped under her block, the blade slashing at her foreleg above the hoofguard. Sunset pushed the cloud off and looked down to find a fine layer of golden star dust trailing from the wound. The wound didn’t hurt like a normal cut, but her leg did feel like it was going numb. She quickly healed the cut and changed to a more defensive hold.
He was fast and had two weapons. She was going to have to change things up. Sunset’s sword took on a red glow and grew twice as long with a blade on each end and a handle grip in the middle still emblazed with her cutie mark. The two double edged blades once again burned with red fire. Sunset grinned at the balk expression on the cloud and charged back into the fight.
Twilight fired at the teal cloud who simple dodge the blasts. “Let my friends and family go!”
“Luna deserves this punishment, child. She fell to her darkest desires and took the power my sister offered her only to fail to kill Celestia. We waited centuries for a new opportunity and tried to manipulate the mind of Sunset Shimmer before she was born, but the spells that augmented her creation prevented us from entering her mind. That was quite irritating.
“Truthfully, we are not unreasonable beings. Celestia’s life is all we wish to claim, but we will do so over your lifeless bodies if you choose to interfere. As long as she lives, we are locked away from our calling, our very purpose of being. Imagine if you were wrongly imprisoned and not allowed to fulfil your purpose.”
Twilight fired again and quickly deflected its shadow attacks with a glowing magenta shield. “If Celestia imprisoned you it was not for no reason!”
“That’s the truly sad part, you see. She doesn’t even realize she is the reason we cannot break free.”
“Balius!” shouted the dark shadow. “You are talking too much again!”
Balius nodded to his sister before quickly swirling around Twilight faster than she could follow. Each rotation he left a cut, then another, and another. Twilight cried out as the cuts came faster and deeper. She tried to erect a shield bubble, but could not focus the spell as the cuts continued and she cried out in pain.
Sunset alternated between horn blasts and sword strikes but could do little more that throw the red cloud off balance. She had not landed a single solid hit and it was beginning to be annoying. “Gotta admit, you are one of the toughest enemies I’ve had to fight.”
“And I am not even at full power, you would never stand a chance against me in the waking world.”
“Dreams!” Luna managed to shout out. “This place is built upon dreams and imagination! Use that to your ad- uugh!” Scylla stabbed Luna in the neck, her eyes begging to glaze over while she struggled against the damage.
Duh! It’s a fricking dream realm! Sunset jumped back and closed her eyes. Her body took on a glow and shifted, becoming longer and taller. When the glow died down standing before the red cloud was not a pony but a tall biped wearing an all black, skin tight suit with a glowing disk in the center of her chest.
“What manner of creature is…”
Sunset did not wait for him to finish and held out her arms. Interlocking metal plates of red and gold slammed into place from the ether and formed an armor suit around her, the helmet being last. The face piece slammed shut and the eyes took on a bright bluish glow. She raised her palm and the iron man (woman) suit fired a massive repulsor blast at the cloud. Two flaming wings burst from the back jet flaps and she passed over the other clouds firing more blasts and several rounds of explosive ordinance. The clouds retreated and gathered around one another.
“We cannot lose the key!” shouted Balius. Sunset fired again, this time at Scylla. Aethon tried to sneak up on Sunset and stabbed at her with his daggers, but they bounced off the armor. Her imagination having pictured a metal as stronger than he had expected. She headbutted the cloud pony and it fell to the ground.
The three clouds gathered around the fourth who had remained behind, protecting a glowing form that was covered in dark clouds. Once together they retreated farther into the darkness faster than the eye could follow.
“They still have their control on Flurry!” shouted Twilight, struggling back to her hooves, bleeding from hundreds of tiny wounds. She fired a blast but it was lost in the nothing.
Sunset landed and the face plate opened up, helping steady Twilight. “We can’t follow them here. They know this place better than we do.” Once Twilight could stand on her own and began to heal her wounds Sunset stepped over to Luna and began pulling spikes from her body. She reached down and scooped up the dark alicorn into her arms. Sunset extended her fire wings again, but paused when she noticed Twilight was still staring off into the darkness. “Twily, I promise you we will save her, but we can’t stay away from the path. We don’t know what else is out here.” Reluctantly, Twilight extended her wings and followed the armored covered Sunset Shimmer in human form.
Once back on the path, Sunset let out a sigh of relief, gently setting Luna down. It took a few tries, but Luna eventually staggered back to her hooves, the damage from the spikes quickly fading faster than any true physical wound could. She smiled weakly and nodded her thanks.
“I am most grateful to both of you. I do not know how much longer my mind could have held against Scylla’s assaults.”
“So, you know what those things are?” asked Sunset.
“It’s… complicated. I will tell you what I can once we are back in our bodies. The stardust path is safe, but when dealing with such foul creatures tis wise to take nothing for granted.”
“Let’s go then.”
“Um, Sunset?” said Twilight, grinding a hoof into the stardust while still looking into the darkness. “Are you going to change back? I mean, if you are more comfortable as a human I get it, I just… never mind.”
“Huh? Oh, right.” The armor faded away and Sunset glow shifted back to her alicorn self, her mane once again blowing in the unseen ether. “Sorry if it bothered you, Twily. I spent more than a century as a human, longer than I have lived as a pony now. I guess I’m still having an identity crisis when it comes to who and what I am.”
Twilight smiled warmly. “No matter what you look like, you are Sunset Shimmer and you are amazing. I don’t know how you were able to come up with a plan of attack so fast, this place, it’s hard for me to even think straight.”
“Because she is a guardian born. She is a sword and shield, a warrior and protector. That is her purpose, her true special talent.”
Sunset smiled at Luna who beamed at her niece with pride. She pulled Twilight closer and nuzzled her cheek as they slipped through the light portal at the end of the path.
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So Nightmare was part of one being called Scylla, after the many headed creature that Odysseus encountered in the Odyssey...
So the puppeteers have been revealed, and look to be preparing to break down the gates. This is getting intense.
oooh
dream realm lovely nonsense, empathy power awakening, and "stay still, gotta keep a good hold of you" cuteness!
Considering Sunset's mom is Celestia and her dad is a really, really tall unicorn chad, shouldnt she be really tall aswell as an alicorn?
Pretty good chapter again comrade. Nice stuff. Nice stuff.
Oh. Buck. We gotta deal with multiple corrupting forces? Welp... this is gonna be a ride and a half. Also. DEEEEEEEER
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The way I figure an alicorn's size is in direct correlation to their age and the amount of power they wield. So in this world Twilight is the biggest then Flurry, Celestia, Sunset, Luna, Cadence. Luna is obviously older than Sunny and Flurry but they are more powerful.
Celestia, what did you do THIS time?
If these shadows molded Flurry Heart into an alicorn then it's a good thing Sombra and Celestia made their own alicorn as a counteracting force.
Also the details on Twilight's first attempt at dream walking proves she's a Thinker, as opposed to a Feeler like Sunset.
I can't wait to see everyone's reaction of Sunny and Twily being an item now, especially with Cadence coming soon, the Princess of Love can probably sense it.
A reaction reminiscent of the one in Forgotten Friendship when Twilight saw the secret passage to the restricted section.
10573290
Hahahaha!
Pfft ‘nice rack’
Thanks for the chapter!
Twilight drooling over Dream Walker Sunset and that astral hug satisfies the SunLight shipper in me, Iron Sun was unexpected and them facing multiple corrupting forces was neat.
Meeting some of Flurry's inner circle was nice, think I can count on one hand how many stories I've read with the Deer in them.
I hope Sunset & co. suck out the life force of those ancient abomination boys, if possible. Then give it to Celestia.
11007075
Would be difficult and morally questionable. Any power that steals life force is borderline necromancy or the realm of succubi.