A Friend in Darkness

Darkness in Dreamland

The sun had just descended beyond the furthest trees of the everfree forest, and the trio had just begun their trek. Sombra was ancy. Discord was dragging, literally, half his body dragged behind him while his feet kept an even (and defiant) tempo. He sighed an exasperated sigh "Are we almost there yet?" annoyance evident .

Luna rolled her eyes "We've been walking for all of five minutes, when we get 'there' you'll know".

>>/\<<

They'd come to a clearing in the forest just across from them stood the Castle of the Two Sisters, there was an anxious auora on the three of them. Having just escaped neither Sombra nor Luna had any desire to re-enter the castle. Discord's default glee was absent, his face was somber. He stood up straight.

Sombra gaped "This is a terrible idea"

Luna closed her eyes, unwilling to regard the towers. "If any kind of ominous magic surfaced in Equestria, there is only one colt I trust to investigate," she opened her eyes sighing with her entire body " and unfortunately, he lives here."

The moon shone high in the night sky, Luna had crossed into the dream realm searching desperately for Celestia's dream. Swimming through seas of irrelevancies she finally came across her sister's dream. She paused for a moment. Drawn to the images, she leaned in.

"Celestia" the alicorn whispered.

Celestia had turned as if she'd heard her younger sister, What? No, I'm seeing things. Luna thought briefly.

Dark tentacle-like coils, ripped from the dream. They griped Luna. Darkness enveloped her for a moment only to fade into a reddish glow. Fire. Everything was on fire. Soldiers marched in heavy metal helmets. Celestia's cackle tore through the air catching Luna's attention. She jumped to her feet bucking wildly in attempts to fly. She looked back horrified, the ever present warmth, the tingle of feather meeting coat. Gone. Eyes wide in terror, she looked for her sister. Clouds of smoke clung to the air invading her every breath. The stench made her gag.

Celestia's cackle was close. A huff made her ear twitch.

"Tell them: 'I'm ready'" Celestia chuckled darkly.

Luna gasped for air, trying desperately to regain any composure. She met with the ground in a resounding thud. I'm back she looked up hesitantly searching for her wings in the process, Sombra reached for her hoof tugging her up. Discord's face was twisted in curiosity staring down at her.

"You okay?" Sombra asked hesitantly.

Luna stood quickly walking towards the castle, "That monster is not my sister, and it has made an egregious error challenging me!" for a split second, her hair was an untamable cloud of blue haze, her coat darkened, and her voice had an deep echo.

Sombra and Discord gave her a once over, quickly disregarding, I must just be tired is all . . .

As they neared the castle doors Sombra asked " Won't this place ne crawling with guards especially since Celestia's gone bonkers?"

Her steps didn't falter as she summoned her magic to create a wave of sleep. "Problem solved" she said evenly.