1 - Nightmare
The moon was bright, and Twilight Sparkle, personal student of Princess Celestia, could not sleep. Of course she couldn't sleep. The moon was shining right in her face! Who could sleep with that!? She really needed to tell Princess Luna to make it more ambient. Its was like trying to sleep witha spotlight trained on you. Twilight wondered if Luna knew that Equestria wasn't nocturnal like she was. Spike, naturally, sleeping like a rock, snored as Twilight eyed him. She silently wished she had put a baby dragon proof spell on her window curtains, because when Pinkie scared him with a popup face at the window, the resulting flame destroyed them completely. And with all her new books and inventory at the library, she simply didn't have time to order new ones. Such was the life of ponyvilles star librarian. A librarian who couldn't sleep.
A book. Yes, that was exactly what she needed. What any good literature crazy pony needed. She stepped into her slippers, and attempted to put on her robe. Oh right, wings. Standing straight on end, with no provocation at all, her wings stood at quite a contrast to her back. What had Rainbow Dash so brazenly called this?
Wingboners.
Twilight knew one thing, and that was the fact that these "wingboners" were a pain. And that was reading was the cure for anything. Well, that wasn't exactly true, but it still helped to be knowledgeable on almost every subject known to ponykind. But tonight, she might continue one of her more, saucy romance novels, Although She was dying to get back to Eponies adventure with the mighty Lynk, warrior stallion of Hayrule. The last chapter she had read was the usual. A cliffhanger. Twilight hated cliffhangers. The suspense was killing her.
Her magic flared on her horn, lifting a candle. Lighting it, she watched as it cast its shadows across her bedroom. Things were creepy in the dark. She stepped carefully down her bedroom stairs, resisting the temptation to scream as her wings tried to escape from the fuzzy robe prison in which they were bound. Stupid things. Why couldn't she be a princess without them? She could avoid all this, and the hassle of learning to fly!
Twilight shook her head in frustration, and moved towards one of her shelves. Pulling out a hardcover, and settling herself nicely on a pillow, she opened the cover to stare at the wondrous illustration of Lynk saving the beautiful Princess Selda, all with the aid of Eponie. She sighed dreamily. Oh if only to be there, adventuring with him.....
~'~'~'~
"PRINCESS..."
Twilight stifled a scream, the image of Sombra far too realistic for her liking. She sat on the step in front of his throne, as he stepped down towards her. Each hoofstep made the ground around them darken, as his appearance grew more menacing the closer he got. She scrambled backwards a ways, trying not to let him get too close.
"Dear Twilight Sparkle, I so glad you decided to join me in my castle..."
"I'll never give in to you, you ungrateful scum! My friends will be here soon, and we will defe-"
Sombra put a hoof to her lips, silencing her, and chuckling, motioned around the room. On each wall of the room, was a plaque, with a small golden inscription adorning each one. Twilight shrank back in pure terror, for there, fastened to each plaque, was a cutiemark.
Sombra slowly walked around the room, staring at twilight as he named each one he passed under.
"Kindness...."
Twilight shuddered at the grotesque patch of flesh, bearing Fluttershys cutiemark, the blood from its removal caked around its edges.
"Generosity..."
"No...don't do this...stop...please..."
"Honesty..."
"Stop I'm begging you!"
"Loyalty..."
Tears streamed down Twilights face, as she whimpered in horror.
"Laughter..."
"You monster! You're not even worthy of life!"
"Who said I was alive?" Sombra laughed, stopping under an empty plaque.
"Here is my new personal favorite..."
The room went dark, and Twilight lit her horn as she tried to see. The light barely penetrated the blackness that coiled and swirled around her. Sombra spoke into her ear from behind.
"MAGIC..."
Twilight writhed in sheer terror, screaming as the black tendrils of Sombras magic lifted her into the air, encasing her and moving up her body, pouring into her mouth and nostrils, as they-
"TWILIGHT!!!"
Twilight screamed with the effeciency of a well oiled steam train whistle, causing her purple scaly alarm clock to fall over backwards, struggling to get his pudgy body to gain its footing. Her candle had melted to its stub, and her book was in front of her.
She was back in the.....library?
Twilight shook on her pillow, her eyes red with stress.
"Spike....tea....now..."
Spike, sensing the drama of the situation, saluted and ran of as fast as his baby dragon legs could carry him. Twilight glanced at her book, seeing that it was still at page 1. She hadn't even started reading until she fell asleep. Then she had....that....that was too real....
Spike returned, carrying a hot cup of herbal tea.
"Wh-what happened? Bad nightmare?"
Twilight could only nod as she sipped her tea gratefully, the warmth spreading through her.
"Worse."
"Worse?"
Twilight deadpanned, her bloodshot eyes increasing the effect of her serious face.
"MUCH WORSE."
Spike readied a piece of paper and a pen, nervously preparing for the story. "Heheh, uh, Take a letter?"
"Take a letter."
~'~'~'~
"Darling, that sounds so....Inequine...."
Twilight and her friends had gathered at the local restaurant that day as they did every week. Since Twilight had decided to continue her Princesstral duties in Ponyville, things had been much busier, so they had all decided to meet once a week to catch up, no matter what was scheduled.
"Its not just inequine Rarity. That's something any of us Princesses would deem worthy of death! I know he's technically dead now, but i just want to go and-"
Rainbow Dash put a hoof on her shoulder.
"Listen Twi, if he shows up again, we will hold him down for ya! But the more you focus on this, the more you will scare yourself. And fluttershy."
Fluttershy was huddled on her seat, gripping it for dear life. It was a surprise she hadnt broken it.
"And trust me, I've had dreams about having my wings cutoff. For me, not flying, and losing my friends is almost as equal. We're your friends. We know how you feel. But imagine if we killed Discord. Even though we hate him for what he did, that doesn't mean that his death is justice."
Twilight blinked at Rainbows sudden wisdom, as Applejack piped up, nodding her head in agreement.
"Rainbows right sugarcube, an' ah don't think that he is alive as it is. Ah'm pretty sure that the magic of the crystal heart destroyed him nice and clean. So right now, ya'll gotta forgive a crazy pony who had obviously lost his mind and gone nuts, 'cause he wasn't in control. It was just a nightmare, and no matter how realistic it may seem, it doesn't mean it will happen."
Twilight nodded, almost shaking as much as fluttershy.
"Y-your right....It was just a bad dream....its not going to happen."
Twilight exhaled, and relaxed visibly.
"I just wish it hadn't been so realistic. If spike hadn't woken me, well, i would have hated to see the ending."
Rarity put a hoof on Twilights shoulder.
"My dear, you should probably write a letter to Princess Celestia about this. Don't you think?"
Twilight smiled.
"I did. I think im gonna write about it in the journal too. It might get it out of my head."
The others agreed, Pinkie Pie somehow playing a victory theme on a miniature orchestra she pulled from nowwhere.
"So what has everypony been up to lately?"
An hour passed, as the elements of harmony chatted and laughed gaily, and Twilight relaxed more than she thought she would. Even Fluttershy came out of her cocoon of fright, and was chatting happily. Ponies passing by saw the six of them sharing their comradery, and continued on with a smile on their face.
Such was the power of friendship.
And as Princess Twilight Sparkle waved goodbye to her friends that day, she felt at peace, happiness and courage in her heart.
But the memory of the dream still haunted her.
~'~'~'~
"Anything that can go wrong, will,
and any situation that can go in the opposite direction,
will never hesitate to do so."
-Murphys Law. (Alteration)
~'~'~'~
It had been two days since Twilights nightmare. She had completely stopped worrying, and the horror of the dream was behind her. She was looking forward to sleep.
Once again the moon was too bright. Why Luna. Just why. Twilight really needed to order those curtains. And so, Twilight decided, grudingly, against sleep, and opted for Option B.
Option Book.
This time, she wasnt going fall asleep before even managing to turn to her chapter. Once again, she lit her way down her stairs, wings still trying to desperately display the message they were made to announce from underneath her robe.
"HELLO!! THERE'S AN ALICORN HERE!!"
Sighing, she once again brought out her her book and settled on the pillow she used so often fluffing it as best she could. Turning to her chapter, she quickly glanced at the illustration at the beginning of it. She sighed dreamily, tracing the gilded edge of the beautiful drawing. She tried imagining Flash Sentry as Lynk, and....goodness what an image. Her royal crush as The Mighty Lynk, with her, Eponie, by his side....if only dreams could be true like that.
She began reading, delving into the adventures of her fictional hero once more....
~'~'~'~'~
Somewhere, far outside the borders of Zebrica, in the furthermost reaches of the world, a great evil stirred. In times past, it had consumed even the greatest of creatures, from wizard, to king of empires.....
...to Princess.
It could truely be said that this creature knew the extent of its power, and it was by all means willing to use it. It was formed of a pure ethereal evil, its cold black heart dead at the center. The creature felt no pain, felt no guilt, remorse, and had no sense of justice, morality, or harmony.
Corruption flowed as fuel through its veins, as chaos fed its mind, giving it strength for any task. Its only guide was the hunger for power, and no conscience of any sentient creature could withstand its forces. It molded things to its vile will, control of everything taking precedence on its list of priorities. Anything that stood in its way would do well to heed it, for those who opposed would meet their undoing.
The Nightmare had awoken once more...
And it knew its next target.
All it needed to do was sow the seeds of doubt...
...and this time it wasn't going to make a mistake.
~'~'~'~
"AAAAAIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!"
Birds flew from the rooftops, as a certain assistant performing his alarm clock duty, who had obviously been too close when a certain lavender alicorns eyes opened to his gentle proddings, struggled once more to regain his footing.
Twilight swore those eyes of his were scarier up close. Glancing in front of her, she noticed her book was at page 257....wait...hadn't she been at page 110 last time? Great, sleepreading again. One of her worse habits. Thankfully, this time she hadn't had any nightmares.
"Twi-*hic*....oh not a-*hic*-gain.."
Twilight giggled, a small blush forming on her cheeks.
"Spike, you of all dragons should know, never wake me after a good book."
"Yea yea, I'll go get started on break-*hic*-fast....AAAUUGGHHH!!!!"
Twilight laughed harder, tears in her eyes. Those hiccups were hilarious. Spike just went into a grumpy face, and gave Twilight a letter, producing multiple muffled hiccups as he did. Which of course only made Twilight laugh harder, and Spike grumpier. Twilight yawned, still trying to suppress her giggles, and waved Spike away so she could read her letter.
The letter was sealed with an embossed royal sticker, and was bulkier than most. Not to mention, now that Twilight had introduced Envelopes and Sheets of Paper, it was thankfully far more efficient than scrolls. Lugging around 23 scrolls at one time was hard, whereas 50 pages could contain the same amount of information in half the space! Not to mention the new indexing systems, the new topic search spells, new pens, new.....well...you get the idea. New everything. Being a princess had its perks. It even came with Twilights new mail system! Now poor Spike could get a break from around 48 scrolls a week.
Even Ditzy Doo, Ponyvilles mailmare, known as Derpy to her friends, was happy with the ease of the new system, the bulky scrolls replaced with the ease of the smaller messages. She was so quick on her route that she had more time for her daughter.
Slicing the letter open, she separated the pages. One was from Cadence, another from Shining, one from Flash Sentry, and another from Princess Celestia herself. Twilight read the one from Flash, as he detailed the latest report on his tour of duty in Zebrica, with pictures of him posing with local Zebricans. Zecora had painted a special mark on his uniform, essentially labelling him as a friend and protector of Zebrica. Twilight had always known that suggesting Zecora as an Ambassador for Zebrica was a good idea, for time and again, she kept being proved right.
The last picture made Twilight quiver where she lay, and she decided to save it for later, when Spike was out wooing his own personal Princess Rarity. The minstrel costume from his previous nightmare night only botched his efforts, making him far more hilarious looking than romantic. Young love.
Cadence and Shinings letters were similar, mainly outlining the Crystal Empires most recent affairs, and how Cadence had dressed up Shining in lingerie for laughs, only for a maid to walk in and see the whole thing. Imagining her extremely manly brother in a mares lingerie sent her into another fit of giggles, her magic flickering around the letters she held.
She reached for Celestias letter, anticipating with eagerness her mentors secrets and lessons. Oh the things it might contain, Secrets to ruling, secrets of magic. Twilight may no longer have been Celestias student, but for her, there was nothing better than learning from her favorite mentor. She was so eager to hear her mentors thoughts on her nightmare, and its meaning. But when her hoof was an inch away from the precious letter....
"Breakfast Twilight!"
Twilight sighed, and decided to save its excitement and preciousness for later. Right now, she had a case of the morning munchies, and only Spike knew how to cure that...
...maybe the letter wasn't that important anyways.
~'~'~'~'~
"Twiliiighhtttt, c'mon we're gonna be late for the reception!"
Twilight winced as Rarity spiked her mane with numerous sharp objects. The Crystal Empires ministry mare of peace affairs was coming for a Gala being held in honor of the Empire, and Twilights presence was required. Rarity, insisting to dress Twilight with an outfit for the event, was coming dangerously close to impaling Twilights cranium with abstract shaped objects made of what looked like quartz, or some form of white crystal.
Twilight sighed. "I know Spike, But I agreed to Rarity designing my outfit, and besides, I've been working on my teleportation, so we don't have to take the train."
Spike relaxed visibly at that. He fidgeted nervously in his outfit, made for him by Rarity. She had taken his Minstrel Costume, and by all means, the drake who was approaching his teenage years looked quite dapper. Even Rarity, who was an expert at not showing her more sentimental side, blushed occasionally at him.
He was still on the tubby side though.
Twilight floated Celestias letter towards her saddlebags, but paused, and floated it back to its spot on her writing desk. She planned to read it at the gala, since she had been so occupied she still hadn't read it. Lowering her horn, and closing her eyes in concentration, she cast a spell into the air, which soon dissipated. The letter however, disappeared with a bright violet flash of light, and re-appeared within her saddlebag.
"Aha! See? I told you that spell would work spike!"
Spike rolled his eyes. It was rare for Twilights spells to not work, so he wasn't exactly surprised. Although if things messed up, the effects were hilarious.
"Yea yea, I know. It seems pretty useful. What did you base it on?"
Twilight, with a smile on her face, proudly explained.
"It's a combination between a Teleportation Spell, and a Summoning spell, except instead of summoning an object to the caster, it teleports it to a certain location, without the caster needing to know where the object is. All they need to know is what that object might be."
Spike blinked.
"Uhhhh, one more time in Equestrian maybe?"
Twilight facehoofed, despite Raritys protesting to keep still.
"Its like your Dragonfire spike. It'll definitly make shipping large objects easier when it's put into a talisman."
"Oh ok!" Spike exclaimed happily, hopping away to do whatever it was a number one assistant did with a checklist, even though his hopping was more along the lines of bounding.
Rarity meanwhile, finally finished with her dress making and brought a mirror before Twilight.
Twilight was a dream. An amber red dress with sparkling sequins and ripples adorned her, and her mane was done up in a swirl with diamond strings hanging from its edges. Crystals with rainbow hues potruded from its sides, accenting each curve of her mane. Her earings were heart shaped ameythests, and Rarity knew it was perfect.
"My dear, I do believe your dress is complete. And beyond perfection even."
Twilight smiled at her reflection. "Thank you Rarity, I'm quite sure that the Ambassador will like it."
"Like it? No no my dear, he will absolutely adore it! I see no reason why he wouldn't! I based it on a lot of Crystal Emperian dress from before Sombra was in power!"
Twilight twitched. At least it wasn't from when Sombra was in power...
"Well, I'll be sure to tell him then."
"Oh! I forgot one small thing!"
Twilight sighed as Rarity began digging through her bag, obviously searching for something smaller. Twilight's eyes were slightly reddened from her recent lack of sleep, the toll of research on foreign affairs showing in the bags beneath them.
"I think you might be proud of me for this one Twilight. This here is a rejuvenator necklace, and will make you look, and feel much fresher than you do currently. No offense of course."
"None taken Rarity. Its probably just what I need."
Rarity locked the small pendant around Twilights neck, and the lines and bags slowly dissappeared, causing her to look as if she had just been through a spa and a beauty sleep put together in one. Rarity held a mirror up to her once more.
"I do say Rarity, you've gotten very good at this gemstone enchanting lately! I don't even feel tired! Well, not as tired as before."
Rarity nodded happily, hugging Twilight around her neck.
"Ever since you got me that book Twilight, I've been learning some fantastic things! It really has a lot of useful enchantments. Also, it gives me a bit of a break from dressmaking. As much as I hate to say it, I enjoy taking a bit of time away from my favorite hobby every now and then."
"Breaks are good. Can you imagine if i stayed holed up in my library all day reading books without stopping?"
Rarity walked in front of Twilight, giving her a deadpan look. "Twilight...I do believe that is exactly what you do already."