> Bad Dreams
>  by Synthetic Soul
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> The Boogey Man returns
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	As the sun gently lowered, replaced by the moon, the sky made its transition from blue to orange, and finally resting in a dark purple. The stars lit the sky, aligning in their proper patterns, painting a picture for all to see. From her balcony, Princess Luna let out a content sigh, pleased with her work. 

Ever since the Princess of the Night returned from her banishment to the moon, Luna had taken a greater pride in her duties. Whenever she raised the moon, she made sure to make the night sky as beautiful and fulfilling as possible. The moon would keep enough light for those who were active at night to see, and with the stars, she hoped they would appreciate the full beauty of her night. She now knew there were ponies out there who truly enjoyed the night sky. It was a bit of a difficult transition, getting ponies to see her as their Princess, instead of Nightmare Moon. It had taken some time, but she had done it, and her life had been all the better for it.

Satisfied with the night sky, Luna turned and walked back into her room. She had more duties to attend to, specifically, watching over the dreams of Equestria’s children. Making her way to her crescent moon bed, she lied herself on her bed, and got into a comfortable position. Once she was comfortable, she closed her eyes, and channeled her magic into her horn, casting the spell she would use to enter the dreamscape.

As her magic did its work, Luna felt her consciousness fade away. It was a seamless transition into the world of dreams. Without really noticing it, she was soon in the dreamscape. It was an otherworldly place. It didn’t appear to have a floor or ground, and yet she was standing on a steady surface. The scene was constantly changing, lit with stars, and shifting colors. And in front of the Princess, she could see doors, hundreds of them, each one leading to the mind of a little filly or colt.

The dreamscape could seem overwhelming to some, but for Luna, it was a familiar sight that she had grown accustomed to. Luna started walking down the wall-less hallway, lined with doors, searching for any that showed signs of distress. She walked for several minutes, finding no nightmares. So far, the children of Equestria were having pleasant dreams, or none at all. 

Just as Luna was starting to think she would not need to intervene in anypony’s dreams, she saw a bright pulsing red line beneath her hooves. The line stretched a long way away, leading to a far off door. Luna used her magic to teleport herself to the door in question, and she was soon in front of it. There was a red glow coming from the cracks, an indication that the child inside was having a nightmare.

“Just when I thought I was going to have a boring night,” said Luna, in a half joking manner. No matter, it was her duty to guard the dreams of her young citizens. She opened the door, and entered. The scene morphed before her, and she found herself in what looked like a playground. She recognized this as the Ponyville schoolhouse’s playground. The sun was shining in the sky, and as she could see, there were young fillies and colts playing.

Luna used her magic, to initiate a dream scan. Her vision changed, somewhat like a blue X-ray, and the ponies who were merely figments of the dream faded, while the dreamer was highlighted. Luna could see a young blue earth pony, with a violet mane, swinging on one of the swings. Luna disengaged her spell, and kept herself out of sight. Everything looked fine; the child was happy, and playing. But dreams usually had subtle changes, which were like a first warning for nightmares. She just had to wait a little, it would show itself soon.

It started with the sky. The light blue color made a transition to a dark grey. The colt didn’t seem to notice, at least not at first. But then two things happened; the grass started dying, and the children stopped playing. In fact, they stopped doing everything all together. They just stood there, frozen like statues. The happy colts swinging started to slow, he no longer pumped his legs to keep himself going. He looked around, confused, before getting off the swing, and taking a few tentative steps forward. 

“Hey…what’s going on?” questioned the colt. Everypony was facing away from him, gazing off into the distance. Starting to get nervous, the colts voice squeaked; “What’s wrong guys?” The sound of the swing slowly squeaking to a stop was the only sound that could be heard. That was, until a faint giggling could be heard. Followed by a collective singing, the voices of the imaginary fillies and colts rising in volume, from quiet whispers, to full blown singing. The collective voices of the children could be heard, but it wasn’t a real song, it was just the words; “La la la” repeating over and over again. 

Princess Luna noticed this, but didn’t make a move. Something was wrong here. Young ones dreams never got this dark, unless there was something seriously wrong with them. Children dreamed of silly things, old scary campfire stories, or secret fears, like not finding their cutie mark. But this…Luna could already tell something was off. She wouldn’t intervene until she knew just what she was dealing with.

The child started feeling a chill run through him. The other children’s fur and manes had dulled, losing their bright colors. Then, they started to turn around to face the colt. When he saw their faces, he screamed. Their manes and fur were matted, with bald patches running through them. Their eyes were glassed over, and milky white, with the veins pulsing against the surfaces. The children had wide smiles, so wide that they tore the skin at the cheeks, causing them to become unhinged like a snake. This revealed rows of brown, rotted teeth, chipping in places, making them sharp like broken glass.

The children started closing in on the colt, slowly, but surely. Panicking, the child looked around for an exit, but found he was completely surrounded. With no were to go, the colt covered his eyes with his fore hooves, trying to hide from the monsters. It was now that Luna chose to act. She dashed forward, casting her magic at the closest abomination, causing it to explode into dust. Acting as quickly as she could, she dispatched of the other nightmares.

The colt, still trembling on the ground heard the sound of magic blasts being shot, but didn’t dare look up. But as the battle was happening, he felt a presence directly in front of him. Daring to peek, he looked up to see one of the demented foals standing in front of him, smiling at him.

The colt let out a scream, but as soon as he did, the demonic pony exploded into dust. He blinked a few times, before looking around. All the figments were gone. The only pony who was still there was…

“Princess Luna?” questioned the colt. Catching her attention, Luna looked to the colt. She then quickly surveyed the landscape before making her way towards the child.

“It is ok young one. I have dispatched of those demons.” 

“W-what were those things?”

“Products of nightmares. You were having a bad dream, one of the worst I’ve ever seen,” said Luna, looking off to the side to scan for more nightmares.

“I’m asleep?” asked the child.

“Yes, you are. And I have reason to believe you are being targeted by a force I thought defeated.”

“Huh?” asked the colt. Luna turned and faced away from the colt.

“NIGHTMARE! NIGHTMARE MOON, SHOW YOURSELF!” Luna recognized what was going on. This was the work of the one who tormented her for so long.

“N-nightmare moon!” cried the child.

“Do not worry young one, nothing can harm you in here,” assured the Princess. She waited for her long time enemy to emerge, but she didn’t. Nothing happened. But then, the ground shook beneath their hooves. This was followed by a sound, a screaming of sorts. It sounded like a cow being brutally slaughtered, only with a higher pitch. Luna and the child turned to face the direction that the sound came from. 

They could see what appeared to be a tear in the very dream itself. On the other side was darkness, but from what Luna could see, there was dark, heavy stone on the other side, like what you would see in a long abandoned dungeon. And through the dark portal, Luna could see dark figures approaching. As the first creature emerged from the tear, Luna’s eyes widened in realization.

“It…it can’t be…after all this time…I thought he was gone!” The creature that emerged was bipedal and bone thin; its grey, rotted skin sticking to its form like wet clothes. A dark liquid dripped from its body as it lumbered forward. As it moved, it made a clinking sound, the sound coming from chains wrapped around its wrists and ankles. As soon as it made it through the tear, two more nearly identical creatures made it through the hole. 

“Get behind me,” said Luna to the child, taking a defensive stance in front of him. The colt complied immediately.

“W-what are those things?” questioned the child.

“Very dangerous dream monsters. What ever happens, do NOT let them get a hold of you,” warned Luna.

“B-but I thought you said nothing could hurt me here?”

“The situation has changed,” said Luna, flaring her wings. Just then, a dry raspy voice echoed throughout the entire dream, flowing with raw power and malice.

“Bring them to me….” Hissed the voice. The creatures started making their way towards Luna and the child, intent on fulfilling the voices command. Growling, Luna lit her horn.

“You will NOT take this child!” she decreed. She then turned, and dashed towards the oncoming terrors. Using her horn and wings, she propelled herself like a bullet strait through the creature in the middle, causing it to explode into black vapor. It let out a piercing scream as it died. Luna landed behind the other two, and turned to face them. Though it had only been a few seconds, the two creatures were already nearing the colt. The child screamed, and ran away from the nightmare spawn. In response, the two monsters increased their pace, chasing after the child.

Luna used her wings to quickly take to the sky. Charging her horn, she sent down a violet blast of energy, strait at one of the offending creatures. Not thinking to look back, the creature was taken by surprise, and was obliterated like its brother. The third creature saw its friend die, and quickly turned to face the real threat. 

Luna prepared another attack, but this time, the creature was ready. Luna charged another spell, firing at the monster, but before it hit it, the nightmare jumped backward, dodging the attack. The monster, much nimbler and powerful than expected, landed in front of the child. Surprised, the kid screamed, before trying to bolt away. But, he wasn’t fast enough. The monster reached towards him with his claws, and gripped onto him tight. As soon as he had him, the nightmare started sprinting towards the portal, intent on taking the child through. Seeing this, Luna’s heart skipped a beat.

“You will never take this child!” screamed Luna. Angling her wings, she dived strait for the monster, as it ran towards the tear. The creature was nearing the hole. Thinking quickly, Luna used her magic to propel her towards the nightmare, intent on taking it out as quickly as possible. She flipped her body, so that her hooves were below her. The instant she landed hit the ground; she kicked her hooves strait into the monster, while using her magic to protect the child.

The monster let out a pained scream, as it dissipated, dropping the colt. Luna used her magic to catch the child, levitating him behind her. The colt was shaking, and in tears, grabbing onto Luna’s leg, and not letting go. Luna looked to the colt with sympathy in her eyes, before turning to face the portal.

“I won’t let you take any innocent souls into your web of nightmares! Please, stop this!” pleaded the lunar princess. In response to her request, Luna saw a figure appear in the dark realm. Steadily fading in was a black silhouette of another bipedal figure. Its form was masked by the shadows, but what Luna could see was a pair of glowing yellow eyes.

“So, the Tormentor returns. You may have stopped me this time, but I will see to it that your monstrous plans don’t come to fruition.”

“I am not evil! All I want is the safety and happiness of my citizens!”

“You say that, but I see through your façade. No matter…your time will come. You may have stopped me from liberating this child, but there are more. I will succeed in saving Equestria from you and your sister.”

Luna just looked deeply into the eyes of the being on the other side of the portal, trying to comprehend what was going on in his mind.

“Until we meet again…monster.” The portal began shrinking, stitching itself back together. The last thing Luna saw before it disappeared were the eyes of the creature on the other side. As soon as the portal was gone, Luna shut her eyes tight, a terrible feeling in her stomach. A tapping on her leg caught her attention, and she looked down to see the colt looking up to her with fear in her eyes.

“Princess Luna? W-what was that thing?”

“It was someone…someone I failed to save along time ago.” Luna took a moment to compose her self, before looking into the child’s eyes.

“I must go now my child, for I must make sure the dreams of the rest of Equestria are safe.”

“P-please don’t go…I don’t want to be alone…” Luna closed her eyes, and lowered her head, placing her horn on the forehead of the colt. 

“Do not worry,” she said as her horn started to glow. The entire dream started to fade to black.

“This spell will put you into a peaceful, dreamless sleep. And when you awake, you will remember none of the terror you have just witnessed.” The colt’s eyes started to grow heavy, and as the dream turned to black, the child’s eyes closed completely. When this was complete, Luna was returned to the dreamscape, right in front of the door that she had recently entered.  Luna looked to the floor to see if any more bad dreams were happening, but luckily, no other nightmares were happening. Luna closed her eyes, and let out a sigh. 

She would need to tell her sister about this, but it would have to wait until sunrise. She couldn’t abandon the dreamscape, and leave her citizens unprotected. If those creatures took anyone away, she would never forgiver herself. So for now, she needed to stay on guard, and protect the dreams of her citizens. If HE was returning, that meant she was in for a long night. A feeling of sadness wormed its way into her stomach, and she felt her eyes starting to tear up.

“Oh Noah, my friend. What has happened to you?”

> We will save them
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Celestia’s eyes fluttered open, releasing her from the world of sleep, returning her to the waking world. Taking in a breath, she rose from her bed, and put her hooves to the floor. Her natural alarm clock never failed to wake her when it was time to raise the sun. Stepping over to her nightstand, she opened the drawer, and used her magic to dress herself in her royal regalia. 

Once she had done this, she made her way towards her balcony. She opened the doors, and stepped outside, to see the night sky, illuminated by its moon and stars. Celestia had a deep appreciation for Luna’s night, it was always beautiful, and elegant. She wished ponies could gaze upon her sun, the way they looked at the moon, but for obvious reasons, that could not be.

Shutting her eyes, she concentrated the magic in her horn, and focused on raising the sun. She felt a warm sensation on her horn, as it did its work, raising the sun into the sky. Once she finished, Celestia opened her eyes, and was greeted by the suns light. Only, Celestia noticed that the moon was still in the sky.

‘Hm…Luna should be up by now. She should have lowered the moon…’ Celestia waited a minute or two, but when she did not see her sister on her balcony, Celestia decided she would have to do it herself. She ignited her horn once again, and used her magic to lower the moon.

Once she finished, she took a step back, to look at her work. Seeing that it was to her satisfaction she turned, and made her way back into her room, closing the balcony doors behind her. 

“What could have kept Luna from her duties?” she asked herself. Deciding to go ask her sister herself, Celestia made her way towards the door to her room. She opened it, and stepped outside, closing the door behind her. The two guards stationed in front of her room saluted her, while simultaneously greeting her.

“Good morning Princess,” they said.

“And a good morning to you as well,” replied the solar princess. She then turned, and made her way down the hall. Normally, she would be heading to the dining hall for breakfast, but decided to head to Luna’s room instead, to find out why she hadn’t raised the moon.

Celestia made her way down the halls of the castle, and took in the sights as she did so. The castle was always kept in such fine shape, neatly polished floors, not a speck of dust anywhere. Whatever she paid her maids, it probably wasn’t enough.

Celestia turned a corner, and proceeded to head down the hall towards Luna’s tower. After making it down the hall, she found the door leading to her sister’s tower, where two of her lunar guards were stationed. They saluted her, to which she nodded in reply.

“At ease gentlemen. Tell me, is my sister still in her tower?”

“We believe so, your highness. We haven’t seen her leave so far.”

“Thank you, I believe I’ll go check on her.”

The two guards nodded, and opened the door for her. Celestia gave her thanks, and then proceeded to enter the tower. She walked up the spiral staircase, leading to the top of the tower. Once she made it, she came to a large purple double door, with a crescent moon engraved onto it. Raising her hoof, she proceeded to gently, yet firmly knock on the door.

“Luna? Luna are you in there?” 

She waited, but there was no response. 

“Luna?” When she failed to receive a response again, Celestia opened the door, and stuck her head inside, looking for her sister.

“Lulu? Where are you?” Celestia opened the door fully, and stepped inside when she saw the state of her sister’s bed. The covers were thrown haphazardly off the side, as if Luna had been in a hurry to get out of bed. Worried that something might have happened, Celestia quickly searched the room, top to bottom, but found that nothing else was out of place. 

There was no sign of any violence, or forced entry. The balcony doors were shut, so she didn’t fly off. It seemed Luna had been in a hurry to get out of bed, but that was all Celestia could figure out. Confused, Celestia made her way out of her sister’s room, down the tower, returning to the main part of the castle.

‘Where did Luna go? She seemed to have been in a hurry? Did she teleport?’ Celestia made it down to the bottom of the tower, and exited through the doors. Once she stepped into the hall, she turned to face the guards. 

“If my sister returns, tell her I was looking for her.”

“Yes your highness,” replied the guard on the left. Celestia thanked them, and made her way back down the hall. She was starting to worry. Her sister never forgot to lower the moon, not since her return. Was something wrong? Celestia didn’t know, and she didn’t like it one bit.

Celestia was about to search again for her sister, when she felt an ache in her stomach, along with hearing a growl. Embarrassed, Celestia turned and looked around her to see if anyone had heard her. When she saw that no one was around, she sighed in relief. A stomach growl wasn’t exactly a very princessly thing to do. Perhaps before she did anything, she needed to eat breakfast.

Celestia did as her body asked her, and made her way to the dining hall. She entered the door, and made her way to the table. She sat down, and soon after the waiter came to take her order. She gave it, and he left to get her food. Celestia sat at the table, thinking, and after a few minutes, the waiter returned. He set the plate down on the table in front of her, and Celestia began eating. She ate in piece for a few minutes, undisturbed. 

Then, without warning, the doors to the dining room were flung open. Startled, Celestia dropped her fork, and turned to face the intruder. To her surprise, it was the mare she had spent her morning trying to find. Luna turned to face her, and gasped in surprise.

“Tia, there you are! I have been looking all over for you!”

“And I, you,” replied Celestia, who got up from her seat. “Where have you been Luna? I searched for you after you didn’t lower the moon, and I feared something was wrong.”

“I teleported to your room when I woke up, but you weren’t there,” said Luna, slightly panicked. 

“Why? What’s wrong?”

“Tia, It’s Noah…he’s back.”

Celestia swore, her heart just skipped a beat.





The Nightmare Realm does not exist in the physical world. It is an intangible place that cannot normally be entered, or exited outside of the dream world. Though, no one would ever enter such a place willingly. Well, almost no one. 

The Nightmare Realm was built out of what looked to be a deep and dark cavern. In the cave, existed a labyrinth like dungeon, like what you’d find in an abandoned castle. Barred cells ran through the dungeon. Some were empty. Some weren’t. The cells that were occupied, housed sentient beings, not just ponies, but beings from all over the world. Ponies, Minatours, Griffins, and the like. They lived in constant fear, crying out for freedom, to return to their homes. 

The beings in the cages wouldn’t be released, at least, not until they were deemed “Ready”. And by then, they were never the same. Those that weren’t confined to cages, shuffled along the floor, moaning and groaning. Warped creatures, some created from nothing, others created from prisoners. In the Nightmare Realm, you lived in fear, until you became a source of it.

And past the dungeons, through the labyrinths twists and turns, sat the master of this world. Up upon a very high and wide set of stairs, he sat upon his throne of skulls and stone. He had long since abandoned his true name, taking on the simple title of; Nightmare. 

His skin was ash gray, with darker and lighter splotches spread about his flesh. His fingernails were long, and sharpened, creating claws. His eyes were pure glowing yellow orbs that never blinked. His mouth was devoid of lips; instead all that could be seen were rotted, sharp teeth. His cheeks were unhinged, allowing him to open his mouth impossibly wide. His black hair flowed with ethereal power, much like the royal sisters. As clothing, he wore a black tunic, with dark grey pants.

Nightmare sat upon his throne, not moving a muscle. His glowing eyes just stared ahead of him, not moving, at least that is how it would appear. His pupil less eyes actually moved all about, scanning his domain.

Suddenly, the former human felt something wrap around his leg, something firm, and fleshy. He didn’t even flinch, as the ebony serpent slithered up his body, curling itself around his neck.

“Hello Nhilese,” said Nightmare, as his eyes glanced at the snake.

“Hello, my massster,” replied the snake. The creature itself was the size of a large boa constrictor, with black ebony scales that seemed to shift and move, even when the creature was still. Its yellow eyes matched the former humans. There was a time when the idea of a snake wrapping itself around him would make the man terrified, but that has long since passed. Now he welcomed the serpent as a friend, his only friend.

“I saw her today,” said Nightmare.

“Ah, yesssss. The lunar princess,” replied Nhilese. 

“I tried to save a little colt, but she interfered and stopped me. Now she’s free to do who knows what with him,” said Nightmare, with a sad, dejected tone of voice.

“Fear not my massster, this was to be expected. As our power grows, ssshe will they will find it increasingly hard to ssstand in our way. Sssoon enough, we shall sssave the citizens of Equestria, just as we’ve sssaved countless othersss from their fear. Give it time.”

“She seemed so…she seemed genuinely concerned for the colt. As if I was the bad guy…”

“An act, I assure you. Trying to pretend to be a kind and benevolent ruler, only to lull you in, and then sstrike. Trussst me, her malice is woven deep.”

“Your right. I still remember what she and her sister were planning on doing to me. If it wasn’t for you, I’d have suffered a fate worse than death, from my so called ‘friends’. 

“Do not worry…I am the only friend you need. And sssoon, we shall bring those two to justice.”  

“You’re right. Soon, no one will ever feel afraid of those two, ever again.”

“Of course. With my guidance, all our dreamsss will come true.”

A smile came to Nightmares face, as he looked to his companion.

“Well then…Let’s get started.”


	

> Trust
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Twilight raised the cup to her lips, and drank in the delightful taste of herbal tea. Giving out a pleasant sigh, she lowered her cup back down onto its saucer. She then spoke to her former mentor, Princess Celestia, who was sitting in front of her.

“Thank you so much for having me for tea,” said Twilight to her teacher.

“But of course Twilight. Nothing could please me more, than spending time with my most faithful student,” replied Celestia with a loving smile. Twilight raised her cup once more and took another sip. It was then that she noticed that Celestia was giving her an odd look. Twilight raised an eyebrow, which was caught by the solar princess.

“Twilight, as much as I enjoy spending time with you, I must confess, I did just summon you for a social call.”

“Oh, is something wrong?” questioned the lavender Alicorn.

“Perhaps it I best if I show you.” Celestia stood up from her seat, and started making her way towards the door. Curious, Twilight stood up from her seat, and followed after the Princess. The two made their way out the door, and into the halls. The two made their way into the halls, traversing through the castle, on the way to their destination. 

As they walked, Twilight noticed that there weren’t any castle staff around. It seemed as though the castle was empty. Twilight considered asking about this, but decided against it, figuring that what the Princess needed to show her was more important.

Soon enough, Celestia had led them back to her throne room, which was deserted, like the rest of the castle. The white mare walked up to her throne, and lit her horn, causing both it and the throne to be enveloped by a golden glow. A dragging sound could be heard as the throne began moving. It traveled form its spot, revealing a large square hole underneath it, with a set of stairs leading down. Twilight was surprised; she had no idea that such a secret existed in the castle. She thought she knew everything there was to know about the castle, but it appeared that she was wrong. Celestia turned to look at Twilight, giving her a serious look.

“Follow me.” Celestia turned back, and started to descend the stairs. After a few seconds of consideration, Twilight followed after her teacher. The way down was pitch black, the only illumination coming from Celestia’s horn, which showed the dark stones lining the walls. 

When the two stepped down onto the bottom floor, a set of torches lining the walls became lit, to reveal a long corridor. A silence permeated the air, until the sound of hooves clopping on the floor could be heard. Celestia started walking, heading to the end of the hall, with Twilight slowly following.

“Um, Princess, what’s going on? Why are we…down here?” questioned a nervous Twilight. 

“Do not fear my student, soon everything will be revealed,” assured Celestia. The two made their way forward, down the hall, eventually coming to a dark steel door, with a barred window. Celestia used her magic to undo the locks, stepping into the room, and disappearing into the darkness. Twilight followed her into the room, instantly becoming lost in pitch-black darkness.

“Princess? Where are-“ before she could finish, she heard the door slam shut behind her, causing her to let out a startled cry.

“Princess? Princess, what’s going on?” Instead of response, she merely heard the sound of childlike giggling, though it sounded like it was coming from Celestia herself.  “C-Celestia?” Before she could utter another word, Twilight felt something slide onto her horn, instantly followed by her being lifted up, and thrown from her spot, slamming her into a wall. 

Twilight let out a cry as she fell against the floor. She was lifted back up, and held against the same wall, only this time, her limbs were pressed against four shackle like attachments, which clamped around her hooves, locking her in place. Twilight tried to use her magic to free herself, but found that she could not do so. Her horn was not responding to her instructions, leaving her helpless in the current situation. Once again, the giggling returned, only louder, and distorted, as if it was being played off a scratched record.

“What’s going on?” questioned Twilight. She was answered by a blinding light, causing her to shut her eyes in response. After a few seconds, the lights intensity lessened, allowing Twilight to see her surroundings. An orb of light was suspended in the air, letting her see that she was in what looked like a dungeon room.  On the floor was a diagram of some sorts. And in front of her…was her mentor, Celestia.

“C-Celestia? What’s going on?” questioned Twilight, fear in her voice.

“Your destiny Twilight. Your destiny,” replied Celestia.

“M-my destiny? What do you mean?”

“Oh, it’s very simple Twilight,” said Celestia as she merrily trotted off to the side. “You see, you are here to partake in a very important ritual! One that I’ve been performing for centuries.”

“What kind of ritual?” asked Twilight, dreading the answer.

“Well, it’s a simple magical essence transfer. You see, while it is true that Alicorns live longer than normal ponies, the truth is that we only live a couple of centuries at most,” explained Celestia.

“B-but that doesn’t make sense! You and Luna have been alive for at least a thousand years!”

“Ah, correct again my faithful student. You see, a long time ago, my sister and I discovered a spell of sorts that could extend our lives, as well as increasing our magical power. By draining the life force and the magic from another pony, we can generate a great boon to our power!”

“And you…you’re going to sacrifice me?” questioned Twilight. Celestia nodded in response. “But-but, I-I’m your student! Your most faithful Student!”

“Oh, silly Twilight. I’ve had hundreds of ‘Faithful Students’. You didn’t think you were my first, did you?”

“N-no, but…but, you made me an Alicorn! Surely that meant something!”

“Twilight, every student I’ve sacrificed over the past 800 years has been an Alicorn. I’ve turned countless students into Alicorns so they’d have more life, and magical energy to draw into my self. Don’t tell me you actually thought you were special?”

Twilight couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Here was the pony she’d looked up to her entire life, and she was telling her that she was nothing but a pawn to be sacrificed. Her mentor was going to kill her, without a second thought!

“I…I thought you cared about me,” said Twilight, tears of fear and betrayal seeping out of her eyes. Celestia’s expression seemed to soften, as she trotted up to Twilight, and stroked the side of her face with the soft feathers of her wings.

“Oh, Twilight…you were supposed to.” It was then that Twilight got a good look at Celestia. The princess’s eyes were slanted, and predatory like a snakes. Her teeth were sharper, they looked ready to cut and tear through meat like a warm knife through butter.

“This…this can’t be happening…” muttered Twilight.

“Oh, but it is Twilight.” Celestia looked into Twilights eyes, before she retracted her wing. “Well, let’s get started!” exclaimed Celestia with joy, as she trotted back, to the diagram on the floor. Celestia used her magic to light the candles surrounding the symbol, which Twilight could have sworn were not there before.

Celestia levitated a strange red gem into the center of the symbol, where it floated in the air, on its own. Celestia closed her eyes, and lit her horn. The candle flames grew larger, the smoke seemingly being sucked into the gem. After a few seconds, the gem started glowing. Then, coming from it came the smoke it had absorbed. Shaped like a claw, the smoke reached for Twilight, where it passed though her fur and flesh, reaching inside. 

Twilight gasped as she felt the smoke grab onto something inside of her. A second later, it retracted pulling Twilights very essence from her body. It felt as if her entire being was being crushed into a very small volume. Her body was growing weak, as the satanic ritual was being performed. Twilight’s eyes rolled to the back of her head, as she screamed in pain. 

“GET AWAY FROM HER!” Without warning, Twilight heard a voice that echoed through the room. Twilight’s eyes rolled back to normal and she looked around, searching for the source of the voice. Celestia didn’t seem to notice, at least not until a shape, slammed into her. Whatever it was, it was too fast for Twilight to see. It slammed directly into Celestia, knocking her off balance, and extinguishing the candles.

As the room went dark, Twilight felt the shackles holding her to the wall, release, allowing her to fall to the floor. Wobbly, and weakened, Twilight slowly got to her hooves. Shaking her head, and looking around, all she could see was darkness.

“Run!” It was the voice again; sounding like it came from an old radio. Wasting no time, Twilight sprinted forward, doing everything she could to get away. In the darkness, she couldn’t see anything, yet she still ran, desperate to get away. She ran for what could have been years, or maybe seconds, she couldn’t tell. But then she saw a rectangular light ahead. Seeing her way out, Twilight increased her speed, and ran for the light. 

Twilight skidded to a stop in front of the light. Cautiously, she Alicorn reached forward, towards the light, testing to see just what it was. Before her hoof could reach it, she was startled, as something shot out of the light. Startling back, Twilight looked to see that it was an appendage reaching out of the light. It was a claw, much like Spikes, only larger. Twilight looked at it, confused.

“Take my hand,” said the voice. Twilight looked at the creature’s hand, but didn’t take it. She was confused, and didn’t know what to believe or who to trust.

“Who are you?” questioned Twilight. 

“Hurry! Before she finds us!” came the voice again. Twilight looked hesitantly at the creature’s hand. She looked around, and heard the voice of Celestia calling out to her. Shivering, she looked back to the hand.

“I can save you from her!” Twilight took a moment to think about this, before slowly reaching her hoof for the creatures hand.

“Twiiiiilllliiight!” called Celestia. It sounded like she was getting closer. She reached for the hand, intent on taking it. As she did, she could hear her former mentors voice calling out to her.

“Twilight!”

“Twilight!” 

“TWILIGHT!”

Twilight jolted awake, sitting up from her bed, her body-soaking wet. Confused and dazed, she looked around her, trying to get her bearings and figure out where she was. Light was seeping in from her window, showing it to be early morning. Twilights breathing was erratic, and heavy, as she looked frantically around her.

“Twilight!” The purple mare looked to the source of the voice, and found her faithful assistant, Spike, standing there, with a worried look and an empty bucket.

“S-Spike?” questioned the Alicorn. Twilight looked around the room, before returning to meet her assistant’s eyes. She saw he had a worried look on his face. Her eyes then traveled down to see he was holding an empty bucket. “Did…did you pour water on me?” 

“I’m really sorry Twilight! It’s just, I heard you moaning in your sleep, you were tossing and turning, and it looked like you were crying! I tried to wake you up but nothing I did worked. So, I tried this,” explained Spike, worried that he was in trouble. Twilight took a few deep breaths, while wiping the water off her face.

“It’s ok Spike…thank you, I, I was having a pretty bad dream.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“No, I…I think I’m just going to take a walk, and clear my head.”

“Oh…ok,” said Spike as he backed up, as Twilight hoisted herself out of bed. Once her hooves touched down on the floor, she made her way down the stairs. She opened the door, stepping out into the town. Shutting the door behind her, she stated her walk through town, thinking to herself. That dream she had felt so…real, so lucid, more than any other dream she’d ever had. She had vivid memories of the shackles around her hooves, the feeling of having her essence drain, and the emotional pain of having her mentor and role model betray her.

But Celestia would never do that to her, right? This was Celestia, she and Twilight were practically family! She would never try to hurt her! But then, there was that part of Twilight that was prone to irrational fear. What if it wasn’t just a dream? What if it was a warning? No, that was silly. Right?

Twilight had never had a dream as realistic as the one she had just had. There had to be something special about it right? But if Celestia would actually do such a thing, then Twilight’s entire life was just a charade. She couldn’t believe that. She’d known Celestia her whole life. She was a kind and generous ruler. She cared about Twilight, and Twilight cared about her.

“So then…why did I have that dream?” muttered Twilight to herself. It didn’t just come from nowhere. And where was Luna? Wasn’t she supposed to protect ponies from these sort of dreams?

It was then, that Twilight recalled the ending of her dream. She recalled some sort of…thing. It had knocked the nightmare Celestia aside, and freed her. It sounded like a stallion, but didn’t have the body of one. It looked more like…a dragon? Perhaps, she wasn’t sure. But it had told her to take its ‘hand’ and that it would save her. 

Twilight knew that dreams were a projection of one’s thoughts, memories and fears, but Twilight had never worried about such things, nor had she experienced anything remotely similar to her nightmare. Twilight couldn’t figure out if this was just a bad dream or something more. 

Deciding she’d been away from the library for long enough, and feeling an ache in her stomach, she started making her way towards her home. She returned, and opened the door, and made her way inside. Shutting the door behind her, she made here way to the kitchen, where she saw Spike working on making breakfast, frying up pancakes. As he heard the clopping of hooves, he turned to face his caretaker.

“Hey Twilight. How was your walk?”

“It was fine,” responded Twilight, taking a seat. Spike turned back to face his work, and soon finished preparing the food. He made his way towards the table, and set the pancakes on two plates, one for him, and one for Twilight. The two then began eating their breakfast in content silence.

Twilight was nearly finished eating, when she heard spike burp. A scroll materialized in the air in front of him. Dropping his fork, he grabbed the letter before it landed in the syrup.

“Hey, it looks like you got a letter from Princess Celestia,” said Spike, handing the scroll over to the Alicorn. Twilight’s eyes widened, as she took the scroll. Nervousness returning to her, Twilight hesitantly unrolled the scroll, and began reading its contents.


Dear Twilight,

My faithful student, I am writing to you, because Equestria is once again threatened. I request that you come to Canterlot castle as soon as 

possible, so I may explain the situation in person. I hope to see you soon.

-Sincerely, Princess Celestia


Twilight lowered the letter, her heart beating a little bit faster.

“What’s it say Twilight?” questioned Spike.
“The princess…she needs me in Canterlot. Apparently a new threat has 
arisen, and she needs to see me immediately.”

“That doesn’t sound good.”

“No, it doesn’t. I better go get ready,” said Twilight, standing up from her seat. She left the kitchen, and made her way back to her room, to get ready for her trip to Canterlot. As she did this, she thought of what was threatening Equestria this time. An old threat? A new one? She’d find out soon. But a thought scared her more than the idea of a new villain threatening Equestria. And that was that there was no threat. After all, her nightmare had started with the Princess sending her a letter.
				






> Story Time
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The rickety sounds of the train traveling along its tracks filled the ears of everypony residing in the car. Within this train car, sat Twilight Sparkle, along with her five friends, the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. 

Twilight had requested that her friends accompany her to Canterlot, saying that they too would need to be informed about this newest threat. Of course, while this was mostly true, another reason that they were coming was their presence brought Twilight a sense of security.

Of course, Twilight trusted her mentor, and she knew deep down that Celestia would never hurt her. But that dream had been so vivid, and perhaps the most frightening nightmare she had ever experienced. The fact that Celestia had requested her presence, much like in her dream, did not help to ease her mind.

And so, she sat there, on the cushioned seat, wondering what this new threat was. It seemed to be more than a coincidence that she would have such a dream, right as a new enemy was appearing. Could the two be related? Twilight was brought out of her thoughts as she heard the sound of her voice being called, along with a gentle tapping on her shoulder. She turned to see Rainbow Dash next to her, trying to get her attention.

“Twilight…hey Twilight!” said Rainbow as she tapped on Twilight.

“What? Oh, sorry Rainbow. What is it?”

“You ok? You’ve been kind of clocked out for a while.”

“Oh, yeah, I’m fine. Just thinking.”

“What about?” questioned the Pegasus, as the other members of the group turned their attention to their Alicorn friend.

“Oh, I’m just wondering about this new problem that Celestia messaged me about. I wonder how dangerous this new threat is.” 

Applejack, having a talent for recognizing when someone was hiding something, spoke up to her friend.

“Y’all sure that’s all there is too it?” questioned the farm mare.

“What do you mean?” responded Twilight.

“Well, it just seems to me that something else’s on your mind.” Putting on a brave face, Twilight did her best to offer her friend a reassuring smile.

“Don’t worry AJ, I’m fine.”

“Well, if your sure,” said Applejack, backing off the subject, not wanting to pry. While the girls returned to conversing about what they were talking about beforehand. Twilight’s mind once again drifted back to her nightmare. The cold feeling of steel cuffs holding her arms in place, the feeling of fear and the sadness of being betrayed by one she loved.

“Don’t tell me you actually thought you were special?” The words of the phantom Celestia echoed in her mind. She had never once in her life doubted Celestia’s kindness and sincerity. So where had the dream come from? What put such an idea in her head?

The sound of the trains whistle blowing caught Twilights attention, as well as the attention of her friends as well.

“Now arriving in Canterlot,” came the voice of the conductor, as the train slowed to a stop. Once the train came to a complete stop, Twilight and her friends got up from their seats, and disembarked the train, to be greeted by the familiar sight of Canterlot. 

The six friends wasted no time making their way towards Canterlot Castle, though Twilight slowly began falling behind the rest of her friends. It took them a few moments to notice that Twilight was a good few feet behind their group. The first one to notice was Fluttershy.

“Twilight, are you ok?” questioned the Pegasus.

“Yep! Never better! Why do you ask?” replied Twilight with that tone of false enthusiasm that she usually adopted when she was scared or nervous. 

“Well darling, you’re falling a bit behind. Usually when the Princess summons us, you’re at the front of the group, leading the way,” said Rarity.

“Oh, uh, it’s fine, I’m fine,” said Twilight, waving a hoof nonchalantly. Stopping in their trek, the group turned to face their friend.

“Now we all know that ain’t true,” said Applejack, taking a few steps towards her friend. “Come on Twi, we’ve all noticed that you’ve been actin’ off all day. What’s troubling ya sugarcube?”

“Nothing girls, I’m fine. I just, had kind of a bad dream last night, no big deal,” said Twilight trying to play it down.

“Ah have a feeling it’s kind of a big deal to you,” replied Applejack. In response, Twilight looked down at her hooves while letting out a sigh.

“You…you may be right…”

“Do you want to talk about it?” questioned Fluttershy. Twilight looked off to the side, before turning back to her friends. She knew she couldn’t keep something like this from them.

“Alright, you got me girls. Let’s walk and talk,” said Twilight. The group continued their trek through the city, with Twilight in the center.

“You girls are right. I had a bad dream last night. Only it didn’t feel like any sort of dream I’ve ever had before. It felt so real, and vivid. I’m kind of worried that it wasn’t a dream…that it was a vision,” explained Twilight with a shudder.

“What was it about?” asked Pinkie Pie.

“That’s the thing that worries me. It started out just like today. In my nightmare, Princess Celestia summoned me to Canterlot, just like she did this morning.”

“And then what happened?” asked Rarity.

“Well…in the dream, Celestia led me into this secret chamber. It was dark, and I couldn’t see anything. And then…she chained me to the wall. She…she was different, darker, more sinister. She told me I didn’t mean anything to her, that I was just a tool to be used. She was going to…kill me, and steal my magic,” explained Twilight, sitting down, with her eyes closed.

“Well Twilight, it was just a dream right? You know the Princess would never do that to you, right?” questioned Rainbow Dash.

“I do know that. But, dreams are a reflection of out thoughts and fears. I’ve never not trusted the princess a day in my life. So where did the dream come from?”

The girls paused to think about this. Twilight probably knew what she was talking about. She knew facts like this. So did that mean she was right about it being more than a dream. Applejack walked up to Twilight and put a hoof on her shoulder.

“Is that why you brought us? You didn’t want to be alone with the Princess?”

“Kinda…” replied Twilight, sheepishly.

“Twilight, you know the Princess would never hurt ya. Maybe it’s this new threat. Maybe we’ve got some new bad guy that can change a ponies dream?”

“Maybe. Now that I think about it, there was somepony I didn’t recognize in the dream. But they actually saved me from my nightmare, they helped me…I just, this doesn’t make sense!” cried Twilight, throwing her hooves up in irritation.

“Twilight, you simply must relax. I’m sure once we get to the palace, the Princess will be able to put your fears aside.”

“I’m not sure I want to tell her about the dream.”

“What, you think she’s gonna try to kill you or something?” questioned Rainbow Dash.

“What, no! It’s just…I don’t know, maybe a little. But I also don’t want her to know that I’d think she’d do something like that! For her to think I didn’t trust her…both scenarios aren’t pleasant.

“Come on Twilight. The only way to get over this is ta talk to the Princess. We’ll be with ya every step of the way,” said Applejack, offering a comforting smile. Meeting her eyes, Twilight smiled back. The entire group of girls gathered together in a group hug. Once they exited their embrace, Twilight strode to the front of the group. 

“Come on girls, let’s head to the castle.”





Princess Celestia paced back and forth in her throne room. The Day Court had been cancelled, and so the Princess was completely alone in the room. She just nervously paced, waiting for Twilight to arrive.

A firm knocking on the wooden door was heard, causing Celestia to stop her trotting, turning her head in the direction of the noise.

“Yes?” questioned the Alicorn. In response, the door was slightly opened, just enough to allow one of her guards to poke their head through.

“Excuse me your majesty, but Princess Twilight and the other bearers of the Elements of Harmony have arrived,” stated the guard. Celestia cocked an eyebrow, with a slightly concerned look in her eyes. She wasn’t expecting anypony more than just Twilight. Why did she bring them?

“Send them in,” stated the Princess. The guard nodded, and opened the door, holding it open to allow the six mares into the room, and then shutting the door behind them. “Girls, it is good to see you. Though, I must admit I’m surprised to see you all. I was only expecting Twilight.”

“It was my idea Princess,” stated Twilight, though Celestia noticed a hint of apprehension in her voice. “I thought that it was best that they knew what was going on. After all, we do usually save Equestria together,” said Twilight with a slight chuckle. 

“Well, I suppose you’ll all have to know the situation sooner or later. Very well,” said Celestia as she turned, and started making her way back to her throne. She stopped in front of it, and turned her head over her withers to look at the Elements. “Before we begin, I must ask, have you noticed anypony exhibiting strange nightmares?”

“Oh, you mean like Twi-“ but before Pinkie could continue, she found her mouth being covered by Twilights hoof.

“Um, why do you ask?” questioned the Lavender mare. Celestia, seemingly unaware of what was almost said, turned her body to face the Elements.

“I suppose it is best that I started from the beginning.  Tell me, what do you girls know about other worlds?”

“Other worlds?” questioned Rainbow Dash.

“Well, I’ve always entertained the possibility that other worlds could exist, but so far, I haven’t seen any evidence to support that theory,” stated Twilight, matter of factly. 

“Other worlds do exist,” stated Celestia. “Not only that, but they also contain other life forms, and civilizations.”

“That’s so fascinating! Wait, so you’ve seen these other worlds?” questioned Twilight, getting excited.

“Yes, I have. But that is not important. What is important is not that I’ve visited other worlds. What matters is that Equestria has been visited by a being from such a world.”

“You mean, there’s an alien in Equestria?” questioned Rainbow Dash.

“In a manner of speaking. It over a thousand years ago, before my sister’s fall as Nightmare Moon. Out of seemingly nowhere, a being never seen before in Equestria appeared in Equestria. The creature called itself a human, by the name of Noah. He was lost, and didn’t know where he was. Without warning he’d found himself in a completely new world, with new creatures he’d never seen before. He was scared of everything, and completely alone.”

“After talking with him, my sister and I offered him a place to stay in our castle. It took him a while, but he eventually warmed up to us, and Pony kind. We became friends.”

“Unfortunately, like all good things it did not last. It was slow, and gradual. Little things here and there. Over the course of months, his friendly nature dimmed. He became more recluse, and started avoiding my sister and I more. We tried to talk to him about it, but it never did any good. Whatever was bothering him, he was determined to keep to himself.”

“Noah, are you alright?”

“Y-yes, of course. Why do you ask?”

“You’ve seemed different lately, more distant. Is something wrong?”

“No, no, I’m fine.”

“Are you sure? Because if there’s anything that’s bothering you, we’d be more than happy to liste-“

“I said I’m fine!”

“We knew something was wrong, but we couldn’t get it out of him. We wouldn’t know the true extent of the problem until it was far too late.”

“Noah, please you must listen to us!”

“NO! I know who you really are, what you plan to do! I won’t let you carve me up like a ham for your own sick amusement!”

“Noah, please listen to Celestia. We don’t know where these ideas came from, but we can assure you they are not true!

“Don’t lie to me! You can’t trick me!”

“It’s the truth! Please, come back to us before its too late!”

“Never! The dreams showed me the truth about you two! And they will make me strong enough to fight you!”


“My sister and I watched as our friend lost himself to madness. We discovered that something was influencing his dreams. Feeding him sick nightmares about my sister and I. He became convinced that they were visions of the future. In our confrontation with him, we found that whatever had given him these nightmares, had also given him dark powers. We tried to help him, but before we could, he fled…into a realm of pure darkness and terror. And we haven’t seen him since…until now.”

With her tale finished, Celestia looked at the group of ponies, waiting for questions, or some sort of response. Instead, she saw looks of sad surprise on their faces.

“Princess…” said her student. Celestia thought the tale had just gotten to them, until she felt a wetness on her face. Reaching a hoof to her cheek, she found that she had tears flowing from her eyes. She wiped them with her hoof, before regaining her composure. 

“I’m sorry,” said the Princess. Closing her eyes, and breathing in through her nose, she began to speak again. “Luna has informed me that our old friend has returned, still under the influence of this force. He’s taken to abducting ponies in the dream realms, taking them to his realm. We don’t know what he plans on doing with them, but we do know, he must be stopped. Luna is working to protect the dreams of our little ponies. But that is only a temporary solution.”

“Bearers of the Elements, I need your help to stop Noah. The elements are our only hope of stopping him. And I pray that they don’t just stop him, but perhaps return him to normal.”

“But how can we use the elements on somepony in the dream world?” questioned Rainbow Dash. 

“My sister and I are still figuring out the best way to do that. For now, I just need you girls to be aware of the situation. Once we figure out the best plan of action, we will call upon you. Until then, please be careful.”

The elements exchanged glances, before looking back to the Princess. 

“Don’t worry Princess, we won’t let you down!” said Twilight, now full of determination, her previous worries and fears now put to rest.

“Then I bid you good luck. Be safe,” said Celestia. The elements nodded and turned, making there way out of the throne room. But as the others continued making their way to the door, Twilight, turned, and ran back to her mentor, and as soon as she reached her, she wrapped her in a tight hug.

“Twilight?” questioned Celestia.

“I’m just…I’m glad to see you….” With a proper explanation, Twilight was able to put her nightmare behind her, and regain her faith in her mentor. 

Celestia returned her students hug, nuzzling into the embrace. 

“Don’t worry Celestia, we’ll do everything we can to help set this problem right!”

“Thank you Twilight. I knew I could count on you.”

	

	


> Healing the Broken 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The Nightmare Realm is never silent. It is filled with the maddening laughs and shuffling of the ghouls who used to be normal living creatures. These sounds nearly drowned out the cries of the others in the cells, who are desperate to resist the maddening effects of the place they were confined in. But their resistance is of course in vain. There was no escape. There was no freedom. Not until they gave in to the madness.

The sound of shoes tapping on the floor could be heard along with slithering, as Nightmare and the snake Nhilese traveled through the dungeon. Nightmare walked slightly hunched, with his hands behind his back. 

The two came to a stop in front of one of the cells, and looked at the creature inside it. A once proud griffin lied within, now reduced to a hellish creature, with fleshless wings, and bald spots in its fur. It’s eyes were wide, and unblinking, one of them hanging from it’s socket. That didn’t matter though; these creatures no longer needed eyes to see.

The griffin sat in its’ cell, using its talons to claw at the flesh on it’s face, ripping and tearing out bloody chunks.

Nightmare looked at the creature with his unblinking eyes, and lipless smile. He raised his hand and tapped on the bars. The griffin stopped its self-mutilation, but kept its head in its hands, not turning to face Nightmare. Regardless of this, the former human spoke.

“How are you feeling?” 

The griffin responded with pained moans escaping from its cracked beak. But gradually, the moans morphed into giggles, which in turn became manic laughing. Moments later, the laughing died down, to be replaced by a broken voice.

“WonDErFuLl!” spoke the griffin. Nightmare looked at the creature before him. It’s soul was no longer permeated by it’s own fear. It now generated that emotion, projecting it on those around it. Nightmare smiled as best he could, before waving his hand in front of the bars.

“Excellent.” The bars to the cage rose, opening the cell. Slowly, the former griffin rose to a standing position. It carefully made it’s way to the opening of the cell. It looked left and then right, as if crossing the street. It then directed its gaze to its master, nonverbally asking if it had permission to leave its cell. In response, Nightmare nodded his head.

“Go. Join your brethren.” The ghoul bowed before its master. It then rose back up, and started traveling down the halls, going to join the others like it.

Nightmare started walking again, passing the cells, inspecting those inside. He released 2 other newly made ghouls. After releasing the second ghoul, a sound made itself known. It sounded like…crying. The former human made his way in front of the cage, with Nhilese in tow. The two came to a stop in front of the cage, and observed the creature inside.

Inside the cage was a young earth pony colt. He had dark blue fur, with a lighter blue mane, with a white stripe zigzagging along the bangs. The colt kept himself confined in the corner of his cell, hugging himself for comfort. 

Nightmare cocked his head to the side as he gazed at the colt. After a few moments, he waved his hand, opening the cell. The colt, hearing this, looked up at his captor. As the man and snake entered the cell, he squealed in fright, and tried to back up even more, but to no avail. Nightmare kneeled in front of the sobbing child. After a few moments of the boy whimpering in fear, Nightmare extended his hand, and ran his finger along the side of the colts face. The colt flinched, but didn’t make any attempt to stop the former human.

“P-please…I wanna go home! I miss my mama!” cried the colt, his voice almost as high as a filly’s. Nightmare inhaled deeply through his nose, before cocking his head to the side.

“Oh, I know. I can feel your emotions. I taste your fear. And…it saddens me. So young, so vulnerable. So susceptible to being crippled by fear. But that is what I aim to fix. Once you turn and become like the others, you will know no fear. You will be happy. And you will never feel pain again.” 

“No! I don’t wanna be like them! Please, I want to go home!” cried the colt, now breaking into full sobs. Nightmare retracted his hand, looking at the child with pity.

“I can’t bear to see your sadness. I hate seeing others in pain. I will end your fear right now, using a different method. It will be over in less than a minute.” The colt stared at the man, trembling before him. “Nhilese…do it,” said Nightmare as he looked down to his companion. The snake nodded, and then started slithering towards the child. 

The colt’s eyes widened in fear. He began screaming, his eyes widening in fear, even though there was nowhere for him to go. The snake started slithering around the colt, who in response sobbed, and sniffled. Once the snake was fully coiled around the child, he moved his head towards the pony’s neck. He opened his mouth, revealing his long, curved fangs. Quickly, like giving someone a shot, the snake bit down into the colt’s neck. 

The child screamed in fear and pain as a new venom entered his blood. As soon as it entered his system, Nhilese retracted from the colt, and unwrapped himself from the pony, returning to Nightmares side. The colt began screaming, clutching his neck with his hooves, and rolling on the floor. Nightmare and Nhilese backed up, and gave the colt room for his transformation. This is the method Nightmare employed on those who were less courageous than others. It speeds up the process, and in his opinion, reduced the amount of time his prisoners suffered before transforming. After all, there was no force in this world greater than fear.

The colt writhed on the floor. It felt as if his blood was on fire. As he rocked back and forth, the change started setting in. His fur lost its color, with patches falling out. His teeth rotted, and chipped, and his eyes rolled to the back of his head, revealing nothing but the whites, along with the veins. His screams morphed into giggles as his cheeks tore, widening into an unhinged smile.

‘What was I so afraid of?’ thought the colt. As the pain ebbed, and the transformation finished, he realized that he had no reason to be afraid. He had nothing to be afraid of, because now, he was an object of fear! He didn’t feel that emotion, he made others feel it! And that made him feel…happy.

As the colts giggles rose, so did he, coming to his hooves. He stood up, and with his laughs filling the air, turned to face Nightmare.

Nightmare once again kneeled before the former child, looking him in the eye. 

“So my child…how do you feel?” 

“He he…I’M sO gidDy…I cOUld…I couLd just giGGle!” replied the newly made ghoul.

“Excellent,” said Nightmare as he rose from his kneeling position. He then turned and gestured to the exit of the cell.

“Go and join the others. They’re waiting for you.” The colt nodded, and then started shuffling out of the cell. Once he exited it, he started shambling down the halls, eager to find his brethren. Nightmare watched the colt leave, a feeling of pride coming to him. 

“We have eased another’s suffering. Soon no one will ever feel fear again.”

“Of courssse my masssster,” said Nhilese as he slithered up the humans body. “We ssshall do it together. A world without fear, without pain.” 

“Yes…no pain…no fear…just peace. For all,” said Nightmare. 

“Yess master…we will have peaccce….Now, let usss join the otherssss.” Nightmare nodded his head, and then walked out of the cell, going to join the others he has saved.

> The Silent Curse
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The steam powered engine pulled up in the tracks at Ponyvilles train station. With the whistle blowing loudly, the locomotive came to a stop. Once it did, ponies began filing out of the cars, chattering loudly amongst themselves. It was only after nearly every pony had exited, did Princess Twilight and her five friends exit the car. All of them walked solemnly out of the train station, with the exception of Pinkie Pie, whose energetic bouncing had not been hindered. When the five exited the station, and began making their way to town, Twilight spoke up.

“Alright girls, it looks like for now, we need to wait. We can’t just go charging to the enemy like we usually do.”

“This sucks!” said Rainbow Dash. “We have to just lie around, and wait for this freak to do something evil! And we can’t even stop him then, not until we have a way into the dream world!”

“Shh! Rainbow, keep your voice down! We need to keep this quiet for now!” shushed Twilight.

“What for?” questioned Applejack.

“I don’t want ponies to panic. It’s one thing to have a villain roaming around in Equestria, at least then there’s something we can do about that. But according to the Princess, Noah steals ponies in their dreams. If we just told everypony that there was a villain preying on them while they slept, everypony would be too afraid to go to sleep! But ponies need to sleep to remain healthy, so for now…well, I just need some time to think.”

“But Twilight, we have to warn them! They need to know about the danger! 
They might be careless if they don’t know that what happens in the dream world matters!” replied Rainbow.

“I know! Girls, I AM going to tell the town about what’s happening. But first, I need to think of the right way to drop the news. If I do it wrong, it could start a panic.”

“Well, I guess that makes sense.”

Twilight stopped her walk, and turned to face her five friends. 

“Alright girls, for now, we need to be alert. Remember that when you’re dreaming, there’s a chance that this new villain could show up. Tell your families about what’s going on, but try not to scare them too much.”

The mares all nodded to Twilight in affirmation.

“And most importantly, stay safe!”

“Don’t you worry none Twi, we know how to handle ourselves,” said Applejack. Twilight closed her eyes, and nodded with a small smile on her face.

“Alright, I’ll see you girls later.” The group said their goodbyes, and then went their separate ways. 

As Twilight trotted home, she continued to think about the situation. It was like Nightmare Moon all over again, a warped, lost soul in need of help. Only this time, there was nothing they could do, at least not yet. This person lived in an entirely different plane of reality, one that they couldn’t just enter without some sort of special means. It was frustrating, and a bit terrifying to know what could happen if they weren’t careful.

Twilight looked up to see that the library was just a short distance away. What she also saw was that there was a mare in front of the tree home. She was pacing back and forth worriedly, and muttering to herself. She noticed that the mare was an earth pony with blue fur and a white mane.

Twilight stopped as she saw the mare pacing. She was obviously distressed. At first, Twilight was worried about approaching her. But then, she remembered her title. She was a Princess, and thus it was her duty to help her citizens. 

Twilight trotted forward, and stopped a few feet away from the mare.

“Um, excuse me? Is there something you need?” 

At hearing the Alicorns voice, the mare’s head shot up, and looked at Twilight. She quickly trotted over to her, and dipped her head in a bow.

“Oh, Princess Twilight, thank goodness you’re here!”

“Oh, please, there’s no need to bow,” replied Twilight. The mare stopped bowing, and raised her head back up.

“Now, what can I do for you?” questioned the Princess.

“Princess Twilight, it’s my son, Blue Crest! There’s something wrong with him!”

“Oh! Well, I’m not really a doctor-“

“We took him to a doctor, but they couldn’t find anything wrong with him. Princess, he won’t wake up!”

‘Won’t wake up? That sounds like…’

“What exactly do you mean?”

“I went to wake up my son for school this morning, but he wouldn’t wake up. At first, I thought he was just being a heavy sleeper, but then I tried more forcefully, but I still couldn’t get him to wake up! I tried everything I could think of! Eventually, I took him to the hospital, but they couldn’t find anything medically wrong with him! I have no idea what to do, so I came to you! I thought maybe you could use your magic to help him!”

‘I have a bad feeling about this. Her son can’t wake up…that sounds like it has something to do with Noah…’

With a look of determination, Twilight addressed the mare.

“Take me to your son!”





Twilight stood before the young colt known as Blue Crest. The blue earth pony was lying in his bed, eyes shut, his zigzagging white bangs hanging over his right eye. Aside from the steady rise and fall of his breathing, he was still. 

Twilight examined the child closely, listening to his heartbeat, checking his eyes and ears, all the normal things. When everything turned out normal, she started scanning his ambient magic. It took multiple magical scans to find out what was wrong. Twilight knew that the human was taking ponies in their sleep, stealing them away. But in doing this, their bodies were left unaffected, yet comatose. Twilight had hypothesized that the Nightmare forces were stealing pony’s minds away. What she found was much worse.

Twilight made her way into the living room, where the colt’s mother, Cyan Meadow, was sitting in her chair, visibly upset. When she saw the Princess enter, she got up from her seat and galloped over to Twilight. 

“Did you find out what’s wrong with him?” she questioned, desperate.

“I…I did.”

“Well? What’s wrong with him?”

“Miss Meadow, before I tell you what’s happened to your son, I need to tell you something else first. But before I tell you, I need you to swear to secrecy. This is a matter of national security, and I can’t have anypony finding out about it before I’m ready to make the announcement.”

The mare looked even more worried, but was still able to nod in affirmation.

“I won’t tell a soul!” Twilight nodded, and then continued.

“Miss Meadow, a new villain has risen. One much like Nightmare Moon, only much, much worse.”

“How worse?”

“This villain works through the power of nightmares. But unlike Nightmare Moon, he doesn’t have a desire to bring about eternal night. This villain has something much different in mind. We’ve received reports that this being lives in the dream world, and has been abducting creatures through the dream world, and bringing them into his lair. By doing this, the pony’s bodies are put into a comatose state. That is what I believe happened to your son.”

The poor mother’s heart skipped a beat. She raised a hoof to her mouth in shock.

“No…” she whispered. 

“When I scanned your son’s mind, I expected that his mind would be trapped in the dream world. But my magical scans disproved that theory. It’s not his mind that’s missing…it’s his soul.”

“H-his soul?”

“Yes…I’m afraid that your son’s soul isn’t in his body. Which means, it is most likely in this new villains realm.”

Cyan Meadow’s legs began to wobble as tears came to her eyes. After a few seconds, she collapsed onto the floor.

“So he’s…he’s g-gone?” Twilight quickly lowered herself next to the mare.

“Miss Meadow, I promise you, that me and my friends will do everything we can to get your son back. And not just him, but everypony who has been captured by this creature.”

The mare tried to take comfort in the Princess’s words, but she couldn’t. Her son had lost his SOUL. And what’s worse is that there was nothing she could do to help him. And so the mare just cried, with Twilight comforting her, stroking her back and offering comforting words. And it stayed like this for hours to come.





Twilight quietly opened the door to the library, and stepped inside. She shut the door behind her, and solemnly made her way into the tree that she called home. She made her way up the stairs and into her bedroom. Spike was lying in his basket, reading a comic book. When he saw the purple mare enter the room, he lowered his reading material, and spoke to his guardian.

“Hey Twilight! How was Canterlot?”

“Bad,” replied Twilight in a monotone voice, as she made her way into the room.

“What? Why, what happened?”

Twilight was tired from her business with the grieving mother. She was also sad, sad that such a thing had happened to one so young, and that it will continue to happen, whether she likes it or not. She was powerless in this situation, at least for now. And then she thought; ‘What about Spike?’ He too was at risk. Luna was doing all she could, but she was still just one pony. Spike needed to know the danger, but she didn’t want him to try and avoid sleep at all costs. It would only lead to him eventually collapsing, from exhaustion, and going to sleep for even longer. She wasn’t sure what to do.

The mare made her way over to her charge, and put a hoof on his shoulder.

“Spike, there’s something I need to tell you.”

“Sure Twilight. What is it?”

“Spike, there is a new villain running around. A dangerous one. One that you need to be aware of.” Spike was silent for a moment, before he perked up.

“Well, I‘m not worried! You and the girls have been able to handle every other villain so far, I’m sure this one won’t be any different!”

“But Spike, this one IS different! He’s dangerous, really dangerous!”

“What do you mean?”

“This new villain…he isn’t something we can just run and use the elements on. He lives within the dream world, a world we can only access when we’re asleep!” Spike looked visibly worried.

“Spike, I don’t want to worry you, but you need to be aware of the danger. This villain has been abducting ponies in their dreams, and dragging them to his lair. When this happens, the beings he abducts become trapped.” Spike’s eyes widened. 

“Spike, when you go to sleep, you may start having nightmares. This could very well be a sign that the new villain is near. If this happens, I need you to TRY to wake up.” Spike started shaking slightly at the news of the new danger.

“B-but what if I can’t?”

Instead of verbally responding, Twilight merely shut her eyes, and pressed her horn to the tip of Spike’s head. Her horn glowed for a couple of seconds. Spike felt a warmth in his chest. Then, the glowing stopped, and Twilight retracted.

“What was that?” questioned the dragon.

“I just placed an enchantment on you. When ponies have nightmares, they exhibit physical symptoms, such as an increased heart rate. My spell will alert me if that happens. If it does, I’ll be alerted.”

“Wow, you pretty much have a spell for just about everything, don’t you?” Twilight chuckled in response.

“Maybe,” replied Twilight. She then wrapped Spike in for a hug. It lasted a few seconds, before she released it. “Now you should get some rest.”

“Well...ok, if you’re sure it’s safe.”

“Don’t worry Spike, I won’t let anything happen to you.” 

> Traditional Tools
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The morning came with the sun as always. Twilight opened her eyes gently, taking in the new day. She sat up from her bed, and yawned, stretching her body. When she did, she climbed out of bed and made her way to Spikes basket.

“Spike, it’s time to wake up,” she said as she nudged him. Spike’s eyes opened, and he too yawned and stretched. He then exited the basket, and stood before the mare.

“Morning Twilight!” greeted the drake. Normally, he’d beg to sleep in, but with the news of the new villain, he had changed his tune. He didn’t want to sleep more than he needed too. Even with the spell Twilight had cast, he was still nervous about the whole situation, but he tried to do his best to stay in a positive mindset. The two made their way down the stairs. When they reached the bottom, Spike spoke.

“Well, I’ll get started on breakfast.” With that, Spike made his way to the kitchen. Twilight watched him go, sighing. She had decided last night, that she needed find a way to protect the town from Noah. With no options, she decided to do one of the things she did best: Research. So, she went to the bookshelves, and started looking through the books.

Twilight found the book just as Spike announced that breakfast was ready. She used her magic to levitate the book out of the shelf; She turned it over, and looked at the cover. It was titled; Oneirology, the Study of Dreams. 

Twilight opened the book and looked at the table of contents. While she’d normally just read the entire book, today she decided to search for a specific section of the book. Time was a factor, and she needed a way to defend ponies from this new danger as soon as possible.

Twilight scanned the table of contents of the book, stopping when she found chapter 7: Nightmares.  Twilight then flipped to the appropriate page, and began reading.



Nightmares are dreams in which the dreamer is subjected to terrifying and horrific experiences. They bring to life a dreamers fears, often causing distress. Nightmares can be caused by a number of things…



Twilight continued to read the book. Even when Spike called to her, telling that breakfast was ready, she didn’t stop reading. While her reasons for reading the book were to save others, she did find herself enjoying it. She was a scholar at her core. She was actually worried that even if she found a solution, she would be to enthralled to stop. She did crave knowledge after all. But she pushed that thought aside, and sternly set a rule for herself, that she must stop once she found what she was looking for.

The Alicorn Princess was about halfway through the chapter when something caught her attention.



There have been many attempts to stop the flow of nightmares. Behavioral therapy and medication have been found to be helpful in preventing nightmares. Avoiding things like drugs and alcohol have also proven effective. Some ponies…



As Twilight read, she thought to herself. 

‘This isn’t helpful. A malevolent being is causing these nightmares. He’s the one causing the bad dreams, and all he needs is one chance to drag some poor pony into his realm.’

Twilight was about to dismiss the chapter, when she came to a part that looked to be exactly what she was looking for.



In Zebracan society, it was a common belief that evil spirits caused nightmares, and that they entered a beings dream through the head. The Zebras thus created a charm that they believed to effective in preventing the dark spirits from entering the mind. The object is called a Dream Catcher. Dream catchers are made from…



Twilight’s eyes widened as she read the passage.

“This looks like what I need! But the question is, does it actually work?” Twilight continued to read, researching if this method would actually prove useful. In the book, it stated that the charms were created from wood and string and that the Zebras would perform rituals in order to enchant them. The book made the claim that modern science had dismissed the idea as superstition, that nightmares were a result of brain chemistry, not evil spirits. Normally, Twilight would agree. But not this time. This time, it was a malevolent being who was causing these dreams. And these dream catchers were apparently able to capture the bad dreams, and block them from entering a pony’s mind.

Twilight shut the book, and stood up, with a look of determination on her face.

“Alright, it looks like these dream catchers may just be what I’m looking for. They’re Zebracan, so if anypony has one, it’s Zecora!” said Twilight. She then galloped out of the library, heading for the Everfree Forest.





Twilight finally came to the hollowed out tree that served as Zecora’s hut. She made her way to the front door, and knocked. After a few moments, the door opened to reveal a familiar striped equine. 

“Ah Twilight, what a surprise! What brings you before my eyes?”

“Hi Zecora. I was wondering if you could help me with something…something important,” said Twilight, letting in the severity of the situation in on her tone.

“Hm, it seems that something is wrong. Come in and tell me the story, no matter how long.” 

Twilight nodded, and stepped into the hut. Zecora led her into the main room, offering Twilight a seat. She made her way over to her cauldron, where she filled two cups with the liquid contained within it. She made her way back to Twilight, and offered her one of the cups.

“Have some tea of jasmine. It’s something you’d like, I’d imagine.” Twilight gratefully took the cup, and took a sip.

“Mmm, this is delicious!” praised the pony.

“I thank you for your praise, though we should suffer no more delays. You came with a solution to find, so please, tell me what is on your mind.”

“Well, it requires a bit of explanation. It’s something I’ve been keeping secret, due to me not wanting to cause a panic. You see, a new threat to Equestria has emerged. He’s…he’s like Nightmare Moon. Except, he doesn’t want to create eternal night; at least, I don’t think he does. He’s turning ponies dreams into nightmares, and abducting them into the dream world.”

Zecora’s eyes widened a bit, but she did not interrupt. 

“Right now, we have no way to stop him. I want to tell ponies, and warn them of the danger, but if I do, everypony will be too afraid to go to sleep. And that would just cause problems. I need a way to protect ponies, while allowing them to be able to rest at night. I was researching for possible protection methods, when I came across something. The book said that the Zebra’s created something called a dream catcher that was supposed to be able to block out nightmares. I was wondering if you had any? If we could give one to everypony in Ponyville, we may be able to protect the town!”

Zecora was otherwise silent as she took a sip of her tea, before she stood up, and made her way out of the room. A few moments later, she returned, with an object held in one hoof.

“The object you seek, I do possess. Though I only have one, to my distress.” Zecora brought the object over to Twilight, passing it over to her. Twilight took it in her hooves, and examined it. 

The dream catcher was a thin wooden ring, with string woven in between it, kind of like a spider web. There were beads strung along some of the strings, as well as some assorted feathers hanging from the bottom.

“Does it really work?” questioned Twilight.

“For me, it has never failed, for only good dreams have prevailed.”

“Is there any way to make more of these?”

“More of them I could make, though how many would it take?”

“One for everypony in Ponyville.”

“Hoof made that would take much time. Even then it would be hard, producing much sweat and grime.” Twilight frowned, turned and started pacing back and forth, trying to think of a way to make as many dream catchers as she needed. Then, she thought of an idea.

“Wait, what if you showed Ponyville how to make them, and then they could each make their own? Would that work?”

“Hmm, perhaps that could be a solution. I could then enchant them, solidifying their absolution. “

“Ok, good! We can go to Ponyville, and I can call everypony together, and tell them about what’s going on! Then, you can help them make their own dream catchers! This just might work!”

“Then it seems we have no time to waste. Quickly now, we must make haste!”

“You’re right. Let’s go!” 

And with that, Twilight and Zecora dashed out the door, making their way to Ponyville. Hopefully their solution would work.

> The Story You Knew
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	All of Ponyville was gathered together, in the town square. Ponies speculated as to what the Princess of Friendship intended to announce to the town. Most assumed it was good news, perhaps a festival would be thrown, or perhaps Celestia or Luna would be visiting.

The roar of the crowd dulled, when upon the set up stage, the Alicorn Princess walked up to the podium. Next to her was the familiar Zebra, Zecora. The ponies weren’t sure why the striped mare was up there with the princess, which peaked their interest. 

Twilight cleared her throat, and addressed the crowd.

“Hello everypony. I’d like to thank you all for showing up to this announcement. I know you’re all wondering why I’ve called you all here. Well, it not under good circumstances that I’m speaking to you all. You see, a new villain is threatening Equestria.”

Everyone in the crowd started murmuring, almost panicking at the idea of having another foe come to harm them. They began speculating on just what this new threat was, until Twilight raised her hoof to silence the crowd.

“I know a lot of you are worried, about this. I know that in the past, my friends and I could simply use the Elements of Harmony to defeat whatever threat would come our way, but this time is different. This new villain doesn’t exist in the physical world, like you and I. He is an old being, one who exists within Princess Luna’s realm, the Dream world.”

Uproar began in the crowd, as ponies called out with their questions.

“What does he want?”

“Why hasn’t Princess Luna stopped him?”

“Are we in danger?”

The questions continued to come, until Twilight stomped her hoof down on the floor of the stage, in an attempt to calm the crowd. It took a few moments, but eventually, the crowd’s noise dulled.

“To answer some of you questions about this new villain, I can tell you this. He is a mad being, one that is not a pony, or anything we’ve ever seen. He is a being from another world, one who stands on two legs like a Minotaur, with no fur, except for the hair on his head. Now, as to what this villain wants. It appears he wants to abduct ponies while they dream, and bring their SOULS into his realm. I’m sad to say, that one of Ponyvilles children has been victimized in this way.”

The ponies were about to create another uproar, but Twilight’s firm look, and raised hoof told them not to.

“Princess Luna has been attempting to do everything she can in the dream world to protect the ponies of Equestria. But she is still only one pony, while this villain has numerous creatures at his command, who can help him with his plans.”

“But ponies, you do not need to fear! In my attempts to find a way to protect you all, I came across something in a book about dreams. There is an artifact, a Zebracan talisman that is believed to weed out the nightmares that this foe needs in order to do his work. We know you have to sleep eventually, but with the Zebracan dream catchers, we believe that you will be protected from being abducted.”

“Zecora only has one dream catcher, but she will teach you how to make your own. Then, when you give your catcher to her, she will be able to enchant them, making them able to protect your dreams!”

The ponies in the crowd once again started talking amongst themselves, while shouting out questions to the princess.

“Will they really work?”

“Are you sure they can protect us?”

“How do we know these dream catchers are any good?”

Twilight once again silenced the crowd.

“It is our belief that the dream catchers WILL work! Now, in order for this town to be safe, everypony in Ponyville needs one. I need you all to go out, and find wood and string. In one hour, I need everypony to return here with those materials, and then Zecora will instruct you in how to craft the dream catchers.”

The ponies, realizing that the Princess was finished, began to disperse, hurriedly, talking among themselves. When they were gone, Twilight made her way towards Zecora.

“I sure hope this works,” she said with uncertainty.

“As do I my friend. I hope this is not our end,” replied Zecora.

“I’ll message the princesses about this. I hope they’ve found a way for us stop this threat before it becomes too great.”





Luna stood upon her balcony, gazing at the sunset, waiting for the sun to disappear before ushering in the moon. She had never told her sister this, but she found sunsets to be one of the most beautiful things in the world. The blend of colors, transitioning from blue to orange, then back to dark blue. It was beautiful to her.

When the sun finally lowered to its peak, the Princess of the Night lit her horn, and brought forth the moon and the stars. With her task completed, she retreated back into her room.

Luna would normally either tend to the night court, or watch over the dreams of her little ponies (the latter being more important as of late) but tonight, Luna decided she wanted to go to the castle library. She could protect the citizens of Equestria for years, but until the source of the problem was rooted out, it would ultimately be for naught. Besides, her friend was hurting; in the same way she had for those thousand years. Nightma-no, Noah was her friend. He was a friend to both Luna and Celestia. He was a kind soul before the fall.

Luna wanted to know just what happened to him. She wondered if she just might find information in the castle library. Soon after Noah’s fall, Luna experienced her own, her transformation into Nightmare Moon. Being gone for that thousand years, Luna didn’t know how much information on Noah’s sickness had been let out. She also had never had the opportunity to research the subject herself. She wanted to know, for herself and for her friend. Perhaps she would find something that would help her solve this problem once and for all.

Luna made her way through the castle, finally making it to the library. She opened the Iron Gate and stepped inside, shutting the bars behind her. 

Once inside the library, Luna began collecting various tomes, ones having to do with dreams, nightmares, and dark magic. She had to collect a few books from the restricted section, and once she had what she needed, she found herself a table to sit down and read at.

Hours went by as Luna read. She found things having to do with dreams being caused by sprits and other supernatural causes. There was also a part about dreams being a gateway to the soul. This was stuff she already knew, and it didn’t really provide a solution to her problem.

Moving on to another book, Luna looked at the table of contents, and found a chapter about nightmares. She remembered that Noah had admitted to having bad dreams right before he disappeared into the nightmare realm. She knew that this had to have been the cause of what had happened.

Luna turned to the appropriate page, but let out a snort when she saw the picture on the page.

The Legend of Nightmare Moon

It was a story she already knew. One that she didn’t need to hear again. She shut the book and opened up a new one. But as she read, her mind kept drifting. Back to that day, the day of the legend. Back to the day that was without a doubt the worst day in her very long life.

As Luna scanned the words on the page, she found she was not able to retain what she was reading. She was starting to drift off.

‘W-why am I tired? I’m never tired at this…. this…’

Try as she might, she couldn’t resist the heaviness of her eyes. Her mind couldn’t focus, it kept drifting. But as she started to fall asleep, her mind focused on that one day, the day she became Nightmare moon. Unable to fight it anymore, she shut her eyes, and laid her head down on the book she was reading.





The first thing Luna was aware of was the black void that surrounded her. Empty nothingness for as far as the eye could see. What would have been dead silence was broken however, as a voice made itself known.

“Help me! Please help me!”

Luna turned around instantly, and there and behold, was her friend, the human, Noah. Her eyes widened as she saw him being dragged further into the darkness, by ebony, scaly tentacles. He was struggling against the pull, but was slowly being pulled into the abyss.

“Hold on!” called Luna, as she galloped forward, and grabbed onto his hand. She tried to pull him, but the tentacles were too strong. She incorporated her magic into the effort, but it made little difference.

“I…I can’t…” grunted Luna, as she pulled. She put her entire body into trying to save her friend, but the only thing it did, was allow her to be pulled along with him. Just when she thought she’d have to let go, or be dragged into the darkness with him, he spoke.

“Luna,” he said, calmly, as if addressing her in casual conversation. She looked to him, and saw that his face held no signs of the fear or resistance that it did at first. He was calm.

“Why did you allow this to happen?” In an instant, faster than a blink of the eye, he changed. His peach colored skin turned grey, and ashy. His eyes became glowing pools of yellow. The skin of his cheeks tore away, becoming unhinged like a snake. His hair turned black, billowing like the mane of King Sombra. The hand that Luna had been holding turned into a claw. 

Startled by his transformation, Luna released her grip on him. The tentacles yanked him strait into the darkness, as he let out a maddened laugh that could only be produced by true insanity.

“NO!” cried Luna, helpless as her friend disappeared, leaving her alone in the darkness.

“I…I wasn’t strong enough…I couldn’t do a damn thing.”

Like an echo off the walls of a cave, her words were rebounded back at her.

“I wasn’t strong enough”

“I wasn’t strong enough”

“I WASN’T STRONG ENOUGH!”

Suddenly, the environment changed. Luna was no longer stuck in the dark abyss. Now, she was…in her castle. Her first castle, the one she originally shared with Celestia, before…before…

Luna was now standing in the throne room, wit her sister and…herself. Luna looked to see that there was another her, standing next to Celestia. She remembered, this was the day that Noah disappeared into the Nightmare realm.

“Where did he go? What happened?” cried the alternate Luna, as she frantically examined the spot that he had once occupied.

“I…I don’t know,” replied Celestia, her wide eyes revealing shrunken pupils. “W-why did this…” but try as she might, Celestia was at a loss for words.

“It’s dark magic! Something, something’s affecting him! Something’s controlling him! We have to get him back, before it’s too late!” asserted Luna, as she calmed somewhat.

“But Luna, there’s nothing we can do…”

“No, there is something! That portal that he just used, it was dark magic! It left fragments of its magical energy in the air. If I can grab a hold of it, and harness it, I may be able to open a gateway to wherever he went!”

“What…. what! No, Luna, you can’t!” cried Celestia, as she ran to Luna’s side. “Dark magic is forbidden for a reason! We don’t know what will happen!”

“We have to try! We cannot just leave him to be tormented in…whatever hell it was that took him!”

The alternate Luna lit her horn. The real Luna shut her eyes, and grimaced. She knew what happened next. 

One thousand years ago, Luna, on a desperate impulse, dabbled into dark magic. She tried to use it to open the portal that Noah had disappeared to. Instead, it only corrupted her. A dark presence took over her mind and body, a demon born of darkness. This demon didn’t have any desire to help her save her friend. It had its own desires; to stop the sun from rising, and damn the world to eternal darkness. Celestia tried to reason with her, but it was useless. Her sister couldn’t hear her. With no other alternative, Celestia regretfully used the Elements of Harmony on her own sister, banishing her to the moon for a thousand years.

Luna didn’t know how the rumor that Nightmare Moon was born out of envy was born. Though, it was true that she was indeed envious the praise her sister received, she had found solace in the fact that Noah enjoyed her night sky more than anyone she’d ever known. He kept her from giving in to that despair. But as Luna would learn, much later during a talk with her sister, Nightmare Moon was born from Luna’s negative emotions, as well as dark magic. Nightmare Moon selected Luna’s desire to be appreciated, and amplified it, warping and twisting it into something dark. Celestia wasn’t sure if she was dealing with Luna, whose mind was being manipulated, or a different being entirely. Either way though, she regretted what she had to do.

The transformation happened. The legendary fight ensued. And as the phantom Nightmare Moon charged at Celestia, Luna watched, as her solemn sister activated the Elements of Harmony, and cast the demon into the sky, trapping her on the moon.

At that moment, Luna jolted awake. Her eyes were wide, as she looked to and fro, breathing heavily. When she had her bearings, she remembered she was in the library. She remembered what she had been reading, and why she was reading it. 

Blinking her eyes, she felt wetness in her eyes. Raising her hoof to her face, she wiped away the tears that had formed. When she was composed, she shut the book she was reading.

“I think that’s enough reveling in old memories for now,” she said to herself. She used her magic to put the books back where they belonged. She then stood up, and made her way out of the library. She exited the room, and shut the Iron Gate behind her. She locked it, and began making her way back to her room. As she did, she reminisced on her dream.

‘I couldn’t save him a thousand years ago. I acted too rashly, and didn’t think things through. If I had waited, perhaps Celestia and I could have found a way to help Noah before…whatever it is that has warped him so.’

As Luna thought about this, she came to a decision.

‘I will not make the same mistakes twice. This time, I WILL help him. And I will not let anypony, not even him, get in my way!’

Determined, Luna made her way to her tower, to rest in her room. With a sense of purpose, she was hopeful of the road ahead. Things would work out for the best this time. 

Luna entered her room, and set her self down on her bed. Shutting her eyes, she began to sleep, preparing to enter the dream world, and work towards saving the ponies of Equestria, and Noah, from the dark forces at work.

It’s too bad she didn’t read a little further into that book she had been reading when she woke up. For if she had, she may have noticed a small passage of the book entitled: The Spirit of Horror.




> Problem Solving
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Deep within the labyrinth that is the Nightmare Realm lies a nearly empty chamber. In the room were two objects. One was a fire pit, lit with purple flame. And in front of that pit, standing just in front of the wall lay a mirror, seven feet tall. The frame was made out of ebony, and designed to look like two snakes were coiled around the reflective surface, meeting at the top with their mouths open, looking like they were about to swallow a skull. The reflective silver was dirty and stained, but was still usable enough for Nightmare to see his reflection as he stood in front of it. Behind him and the fireplace stood two rows of Nightmare ghouls. Their bodies were cracked and decayed in various ways, but they all shared a similarity in the same toothy smile.

Nightmare observed himself in the mirror. His visage had changed so much since he left the physical world. His appearance was horrifying, and before he became Nightmare, Noah would have recoiled at the sight of such a face. But Nightmare did not regret his change, nor did he wish to return to the way he was. The first lesson Nhilese had taught him was; ‘Don’t be afraid of what brings you terror. Be more horrifying than your fear. Be something for your fear to be afraid of.’ Nightmare had taken that lesson to heart. It was his motto, his creed. It’s why he turned the creatures he abducted into ghouls. So that they wouldn’t fear what scares them, they would scare their fear.

Nightmare pulled away from the mirror, and raised his right hand, tapping the silver with his clawed pointer finger. The surface rippled like water, glowing slightly. It was now that the mirror unveiled its true purpose. It was not simply a mirror, it was actually the one and only portal that allows beings to enter and leave the Nightmare realm. It was through this portal that Nightmares ghouls entered the dream world, and through this portal that normal beings were brought into Nightmare’s realm. 

The corrupted human then turned to face his minions, stepping to the side.

“Go. Bring us more souls to save,” he commanded. The ghouls didn’t respond, they simply began shuffling forward, heading towards the mirror. Nightmare watched as every last ghoul passed through the portal, traversing into the dream realm, to bring Nightmare more beings to turn. When the last ghoul had departed, Nightmare stood back in front of the portal, and waved his hand, turning it back into a mirror. Only, instead of a reflection, Nightmare was able to see his minions as they traversed the space like realm of dreams. He watched as they limped and shuffled, making their way to various doors that led to the mind of innocent Equestrians. Currently, he observed the dream world of Ponyville.

Nightmare watched as a turned griffon reached its decaying claw up to the doorknob of one of the doors, and turned it, opening it. The ghoul then stepped into portal. But, as it tried to enter the dream, white lighting in the pattern of a spider web appeared, blocking the entrance, and causing the ghoul to scream out in pain.

Nightmare reeled back as he saw this. The ghoul was pushed backwards and the door slammed shut. Nightmare observed this, as it happened to multiple other minions. Each and every door was protected by the same enchantment, preventing Nightmares minions from entering the dreams.

“What the hell is going on?” shouted Nightmare.  Something was preventing the ghouls from doing what he had ordered them to do. It was some sort of enchantment, one that Nightmare was not familiar with. Whatever it was though, he would find out. 





“Nhilese! Nhilese, where are you!” called the former human as he stormed through the Nightmare Realm. He stopped where he was, putting his hands on his hips. “Where the hell is that damn snake?” he muttered as he raised one hand to his chin. Suddenly, he felt a pressure on his leg. He turned his head to see his servant and teacher wrapping himself around his leg, slithering up to his upper body.

“You called Massster?” greeted the serpent.

“Nhilese, something has happened. The Nightmare ghouls are unable to enter pony’s dreams. They’re being repelled by something!”

“Hmm…ssshow me.”

Nightmare wasted no time, he began making his was back towards the portal chamber. As soon as he entered, he marched over to the mirror, and waved his hand in front of it. He had since recalled his forces, but he was able to replay the events prior onto the surface of the mirror like a movie. Nhilese slithered his head to just adjacent of the former humans head, looking into the portal. He watched as the images replayed, showing the Nightmare ghouls as they tried and failed to enter Ponyvilles dreams.

“I have ssseen this before. Dream Catchersss. Putrid, annoying little devices that prevent our kind from entering dreamsss. Talismansss hung over the bedsss of physical beingsss, to keep us from saving them,” explained the serpent.

“What do we do?” questioned Nightmare. 

“There isss sssomething  I can do to fix thisss situation.” Nhilese then whispered into Nightmares ear. When he finished, Nightmare nodded, and made his way to the fireplace. He leaned down and reached his arm into the purple fire. After a few moments, he retracted his hand, pulling out a ghoul that had once been a young earth pony colt named Blue Crest. Nightmare pulled the former colt out of the fire, and set him down onto the floor. As he did this, Nhilese slithered down from the corrupted human, and coiled on the floor. Nightmare kneeled down in front of the pony ghouls, and spoke to it in a friendly tone.

“My friend, we need to borrow your body for a little while. Is that ok?” questioned the former human. The colt nodded with his jaw hanging open. Nightmare then nodded to the snake, giving his command. “You may proceed.”

The black serpent raised its body, before slithering into the colt ghoul’s mouth, down his throat, into his stomach. The ghoul once known as Blue Crest didn’t even react as the snake made his way into his body. 





In Ponyville the moon was raised high into the night sky. Ponies were in their beds, sleeping the night away. In the house that was home to Blue Crest and his mother; Cyan Meadow, the young colt lied motionless in his bed. His mother was leaning on the bed as she slept like a student who had fallen asleep during class. 

Without any other body movement, the earth pony’s eyes opened, to reveal glowing yellow eyes. The colt’s head rotated to look at the sleeping mare next to him. He then sat up, and gently removed the blankets from his body, and maneuvered himself out of bed. The floor clacked as his hooves hit the floor. The colt then looked over to the mare and saw one of the accursed dream catchers, hanging from the bedpost.

The ‘colt’ made his way around the bed, and stopped once he was next to the mare and the catcher. He then opened his mouth, releasing a long tail like appendage comprised of red sinews and tendons. His jaw cracked as the meaty tail exited his mouth, and then proceeded to pick up the catcher, and bring it to the floor. The tail then receded back into the body. The possessed child then raised his hoof, and stomped down onto the charm, cracking it into pieces.

“Despicable thing,” commented Nhilese in the body of the colt. He then turned and made his way towards the bedroom door. As he did though, he heard movement coming from behind him.

“B-blue Crest?” came the sleepy voice of the Colts mother. The possessed pony turned to face the mare, as she shakily made her way from her position next to the bed, to the floor. “You-you’re awake!” Overcome by sudden joy, the mother made her way to what she believed to be her son, and wrapped her hooves around him in a hug. “You’re awake! Oh sweet Celestia, I thought I’d lost you! But you’re back! My prayers are answered!” sobbed the mare, overcome by joy, as she hugged her son tight, having failed to notice her son’s glowing eyes.

‘Poor mare, she thinks her child has come back to her. It would be cruel to lead her on like this,’ thought the serpent.

“Mother…there’s something I wish to show you,” came the voice of the child.

“Yes, what is it son?” questioned the Meadow, as she retracted from her son. The possessed child offered her a kind smile, before his mouth opened, and the snake like tail shot out of his mouth, piercing the mare’s body like a knife.

The Cyan Meadow’s eyes widened, and her mouth dropped open, as she looked down at the flesh that pierced her body.

“B-blue C..crest?” 

‘Sorry, he can’t hear you right now,’ echoed a voice in her head, as her vision started to fade. The last thing she saw before she faded to black was the cracked and torn smile of her son.

The mare’s body fell to the floor as the tail retracted. The possessed colt tilted his head at the corpse, looking at the dead mare for a few moments, before turning and making his way out of the room.

“Now, to destroy the rest of those meddling trinkets.”





The morning sun rose, and with it, the rooster that lived in Sweet Apple Acres crowed, waking the pony residents of the farm. As soon as the sound was uttered, Applejack opened her eyes, and sat up. She let out a yawn, before she got out of her bed, ready to greet the day.

By the time she was downstairs, Granny Smith was making breakfast, and Big Mac was at the table, reading the paper.

“Morin y’all!” greeted the element of honesty. The two other members of the Apple Clan reciprocated the greeting as Applejack sat down at the table with her brother, and waited for breakfast to be finished.

A few minutes passed before Granny Smith finished her cooking, and placed the prepared food on the four plates, one for each member of the family. It was when they started eating that Applejack noticed that the youngest member of the Apple clan was missing.

“Hey, where’s Applebloom?” questioned Applejack.

“Haven’t seen her yet. Probably still asleep,” replied Granny Smith.

“Hmm, it’s not like her to sleep in. Ah’ll go wake her up,” said Applejack as she got up from the table, and made her way to the stairs. She climbed the steps, and then made her way to her sister’s door.

“Applebloom? Applebloom, you still asleepin”? questioned the mare, as she stood in front of the door. She didn’t hear any response from her younger sister. She knocked on the door, and once again waited for a reply, but did not receive one. Getting a little annoyed, she opened the door to her sister’s room. As she entered, she saw the filly lying in bed on her back.

“Applebloom, you get up now, ya hear? Breakfast is getting cold!”

Applebloom did not stir from her slumber.

“Applebloom?” her sister still did not react. Getting worried, Applejack made her way to the filly, and gave her a gentle shove with her hoof. “Applebloom. Applebloom!” Applejack increased her efforts to wake her younger sister, but nothing she did worked. Now she was starting to panic.

“Ah don’t get it, why won’t she…what’s going on? It’s almost like…” she shook her head. That wasn’t possible, there was now way Applebloom had been taken by that monster, she had the….

Applejack looked over to where the dream catcher should have been, to see it now absent.

“What, what the heck!” Applejack now started to search for the protective charm, but after intensive searching, she couldn’t find it. “No…no this can’t be happening! Applebloom! Applebloom can ya hear me?” No matter what she did, Applejack couldn’t get her sister to wake up.

“No no no, this is…this is bad. Ah…Ah got to get Twilight!” Applejack then dashed out of Applebloom’s room, racing for Twilight’s castle, praying that her friend could help. The Nightmare realm now had one more member prepared to be added to it’s ranks.

> Once Upon a Time
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

1004 Years Ago
 
            The warmth of the sun was cast over the occupants of Equestria. The sky was clear, aside from a few stray white clouds. Pegasi soured through the air, while unicorns and earth ponies walked on the grass below. For the citizens of Village of Everfree it was just another beautiful day, no different than the days often were in their land.

            In the royal gardens, upon the highest hill, a lone cherry blossom tree cast a shadow down on a picnic blanket. Resting on the blanket were the two royal Alicorns of Equestria, Celestia and Luna. The two sisters sat peacefully, overlooking the lands by their castle, observing the various ponies going about their days. Over the years, many different threats presented themselves, and attempted to endanger the pony’s way of life. For Celestia and Luna, it was many hard battles fought. But seeing the ponies appreciate such a peaceful day, free from fear or oppression, it brought warmth to the two Alicorns hearts.

            With their food finished, the two sisters had nothing else to do but sit in contentment, feeling the breeze against their fur, and manes. For the sisters, life was good.

            “We should do this more often,” commented Celestia.

            “Indeed sister,” replied Luna. “We get so very few days off. We always have to work, work, work. Legislation, the courts, and the occasional malevolent threat, we always have to do something. But spending time just sitting here and relaxing…it never feels like a waste of time.”

            “I couldn’t have said it better myself,” said Celestia with a content sigh.

            The two closed their eyes and listened to the nature around them.

            “Princess’s! Princess’s!” The two opened their eyes when they heard themselves being called.

            “Of course,” muttered Luna under her breath.

            The two sisters turned their heads and opened their eyes to see a guard running towards them, his golden armor clinking as he ran.

            The guard stopped in front of them and raised his hoof in a salute. Celestia and Luna stood up from where they were sitting, and turned to face him.

            “At ease soldier,” said Celestia. The soldier complied.

            “What news do you bring?” questioned Luna. The guard then spoke.

            “Princess Celestia and Princess Luna,” began the guard. “We were performing our routine sweep of the castle grounds, when we heard a weird noise. We went to investigate, and when we did, we found one of your statues broken! And there in front of it was a monster!”

            “A monster?” questioned Celestia, the two sisters going rigid, at the sound of possible danger.

            “Yes your highnesses, it’s a creature we have never seen before!”

            “Where is it?” questioned Luna.

            “It is in the statue gallery!” The two princesses looked to each other and nodded their heads, before giving their wings a mighty flap, launching them into the air, now heading towards the alleged monster.

            “They’re so cool,” said the guard as he watched them rocket away.





            Celestia and Luna glided over the gardens. From their vantage point, they could see a group of guards with their weapons raised, encircling a dark creature. With the creature in sight, the two sisters began their descent. As they did, they could hear a masculine voice speaking.

            “Get back! Get away from me!”

            The two sisters landed on the grassy ground with resounding thuds. This caught the attention of the pony’s and the creature. The princesses could see the creature. It was tall, as tall as them, if not more so. It stood on two legs, though it appeared hunched over, like it was limping. It had shaggy blond hair, and wore a faded blue tunic with darker blue pants. And in its right hand was a short dagger, which the creature held tightly, pointing it towards the ponies that were attempting to apprehend it. Its other hand was pressed against his right side, like it was applying pressure on an injury.

            The moment the princesses touched down, the ponies all turned their attention to the princesses. They parted their ways, and saluted to the princesses, as the two Alicorns started walking towards the creature.

            “No…stay back!” The two sisters could now tell the creature was male.

            As soon as they started to advances, the creature started trembling, backing away. The creature suddenly tripped on an uprooted tree root, causing him to fall back against the body of said tree. He let out a gasp of surprise, dropping his blade. As soon as he hit the tree, he let out a scream of pain. He clutched his side, lying against the tree, taking heavy breaths.

            The two sisters stopped walking towards the creature. Celestia used her magic to levitate the knife away from the creature. The two sisters looked at each other with concerned looks. They looked back to see the creature raising himself up into a sitting position, looking at the two with fear in his eyes.

            “At ease ponies,” commanded Celestia. The guards looked confused, but obeyed their leader. Celestia and Luna slowly began advancing on the creature. He tensed as he saw them walk towards him. But before they reached striking distance, they lowered themselves to the ground, and laid in front of the creature. The creature looked confused, but no less terrified.

            “Can you understand us?” questioned Luna, calmly. The creature nodded his head.

            “My name,” said Celestia, gesturing to herself, “is Princess Celestia. This is my sister, Luna.”

            “We are not here to harm you,” assured Luna with a warm tone of voice. The creature didn’t look fully convinced.

            “Please, let us help you. You look injured. We can help,” pleaded Celestia.

            “How…how do I know you won’t just throw me in a dungeon, or kill me, or-whatever other things you could to me?” questioned the creature. The two sisters were silent for a few moments, trying to think of a way to assure the creature. After a small silence, Celestia spoke once more.

            “We give you our word, upon our honor as rulers of Equestria, that we bear you no ill intentions.”

            The creature looked at the sisters, contemplating their words.

            “What…what are you?” questioned the creature.

            “We are ponies,” replied Luna. “What are you?”

            “I’m…I’m human,” answered the creature.

            “May we ask your name?” questioned Celestia.

            “My name is Noah,” breathed the creature.

            “Noah…that is a name we have never heard. But it is lovely all the same,” said Celestia with a warm smile. The creature now named Noah, seemed to relax a bit at their words.

            “How did you injure yourself?” questioned Luna.

            “I…I don’t know. I was…I was in my village…there was an attack from raiders…I tried to flee with my family, but…the invaders had a sorcerer with them. He hit me with a glowing staff. Next thing I knew, I was flying right into that statue,” said Noah as he pointed to a broken statue just a ways off.

            The sisters looked at each other with concern, before looking back at the human.

            “Where is your village?” questioned Celestia.

            “A short ways from Camelot,” answered the human. The princesses looked confused at that.

            “You mean, Canterlot?” questioned Celestia.

            “No, Camelot. The home of King Arthur.” The two sisters looked confused once more as the human spoke.

            “Noah,” started Luna. “What nation do you hail from?”

            “England.”

            England. This was a nation the princesses had never heard of before. They knew of every country on the planet, but England wasn’t one of them. It was then that the sisters suspected that their visitor was not from this world. But they didn’t feel like breaking such news to their new guest so quickly.

            “Please, let us help you,” said Luna. “We can take you back to the castle to treat your injury.”

            “You can treat such a thing? Normally, something like this would be left to time,” questioned Noah.

            “We can. Let me help you up.” Celestia stood, and made her way to Noah, lowering herself next to him. Gesturing him to do so, the human placed a hand on her withers. Celestia used her other foreleg to help lift up the human, along with some of her magic. When he stood, she slowly started leading him towards the castle. Luna joined the human on his other side, and aided in leading him. She spoke to him as they began their treck.

            “Don’t worry Noah, you are welcome here. I’m sure we will be fast friends.”





            Celestia slowly opened her eyes as she lay in her bed. The darkness of the night was visible through her windows. As she blinked her eyes, she felt a wetness in them. As she sat up in her bed, discarding the covers, she reached a hoof to her eye. She had been crying. It took a moment of searching her mind before Celestia remembered the dream she had had. She closed her eyes, and pressed her hooves to her chest.

            ‘It was so long ago. Over a thousand years since the three of us were together.’
 
            Celestia got up from her bed, and made her way to her drawer, were she began adorning her royal regalia.

            ‘He was so full of fear. But he was kind, always willing to do what his friends needed of him.’
 
            Once finished, Celestia made her way to her balcony door. She opened it, and stepped out onto the ledge, looking up at the dark sky. She closed her eyes, and lit her horn, beginning the transition from night to day.

            ‘I don’t know what caused him to become so…different. But I promise I will save him from this darkness.’

            With the sun raised, Celestia turned, and made her way back into her room, determination filling her heart.

            ‘This I swear!’