It was only hours after arriving in the Crystal Empire, and Grenadine had managed to ruin her entire future.
The young mare had been able to fall asleep in Mirror's room, surrounded by fluffy blankets, stuffed animals, and her close friends. Goldie had sighed and explained to Mirror about the incidents in her past years of schooling. The young Alicorn and Snow had shared a glance between themselves, continuing to stay in Mirror's bedroom as Goldie said goodnight.
"Do you think she'll be okay when she wakes up?" Snow asked the pink mare, nudging her lightly.
"I hope. I haven't known her as long as you, and even then I don't think you've known her long, either."
It wasn't meant to be rude. It was simply a stated fact that the Zebra colt couldn't disagree with. The two sat in silence, contemplating how the following days would be dealt with. Would the citizens continue to be scared? Would Grenadine be shunned? Would Mirror have to retake her place as Empress?
The pair were shaken from their thoughts as they heard Grenadine murmur in her sleep, her face scrunched up in uncomfort. Hopefully, she was just dreaming.
Grenadine cried out in her mind, hoping someone would hear her.
"Help!" Her voice barely made a noise in her own ears. "Please! Help!"
She felt hopeless as if there was a weight of doubt dragging her to the bottom of an ocean. She struggled in her own brain, running around through darkness. Her own thoughts had blurred the lines of reality and dreams, so there was no telling whether she was still in the Crystal Empire or fast asleep in her room.
As the mare started losing hope, she heard steps behind her in the darkness that was her headspace. She illuminated her horn into the green magic and snapped her head around, her dark hair whipping her in the face as she did so. "Who's there?" Grenadine called out.
A deep chuckle was the only response she got. Silence, and then a voice.
"Isn't it obvious?" The voice asked, emerging to show off its' shadowy figure, flowing dark mane and tail, and glowing green eyes. "I'm you, Grenadine. I'm what causes all the dark magic that you try so desperately to hide from the world,"
Grenadine stepped back, clearly seeing now that the figure was a darker silhouette of herself. From the bent horn to the body shape, this was obviously her own shadow.
"No," She took a step back into the darkness. The shadow continued approaching. "This isn't real. I'm having a nightmare. I'm having a lucid nightmare and I'll-- and I'll wake up, uh, soon," Grenadine stuttered.
The silhouette chuckled. "Oh, really? If this is simply a nightmare, why not wake yourself up right now?"
"What?"
"You said it yourself. You'll wake up any minute now. If this is simply a lucid nightmare, you'd be able to control that to some extent. But you can't, can you? Just like you can't control the Dark Crystal Magic you oh, so wish would disappear."
Grenadine had stopped moving. Surely this wasn't true. This was a dream. A terrible, horrible dream and she'd be able to wake up and see that everything was fine. Her magic would return to the normal state she had trained it to be. Snow and Mirror would hold her and tell her everything is okay. Surely.
"No, Grenadine, I don't think so," The shadow continued creeping forward, the glowing eyes casting a sickly green light onto the peach mare. "I told you that I was you. I can hear your thoughts. We are one and the same and nothing will change that. You can't change that."
