Fireshade’s eyes shot open to a room dimly lit by moonlight pouring in through an open window. Blearily glancing around her cramped apartment, Fireshade listened closely for the disturbance that had woken her.

It only took a moment for the sound of knocking to echo through the mare’s ears and mind once again. She let loose a low-toned growl as she rolled over, burying her face into the soft feather pillow beneath her head. Incoherent grumbling, muffled by the pillow, resonated from Fireshade’s lips as she drifted back to her dreams.

The knocking came again, louder and more urgent this time. Fireshade moaned defeatedly to the empty room and rolled off the side of her bed, dragging a heavy, linen blanket along with her. Yawning, she shook herself loose from the tangle of cloth and made her way to the door.

Fireshade pulled the door open and looked through her half-lidded eyes to the pony interrupting her sleep. “What?” she sleepily groaned, barely registering who was standing before her.

“Fire, I need your help,” Twilight said, staring through Fireshade. The lavender mare’s face was void of emotion and her voice droned with a lethargic, monotone quality.

“Pfft, you told me to sleep, silly,” the yellow mare sleepily responded. She rubbed her eyes with a forehoof and yawned, looking back to Twilight as her hoof returned to the floor. Fireshade’s bright-orange eyes suddenly opened very wide as her mouth fell open.

The mare standing before Fireshade was all but unrecognizable. The entire left side of her face had swelled to the point that her violet eye was lost in the puffy, swollen flesh. Dried, flaking trails of blood outlined her nostrils and she slouched, as though it were painful to stand erect.

“What in the world, Twilight?” Fireshade leaned out the door and looked up and down the abandoned hallway in front of her apartment. “Get in here! Did anypony see you like this?”

Twilight stumbled through the door and immediately made her way, with a slight limp, directly to the restroom. “I...” Twilight began, trying to recall anything or anyone that might have been following her. “I don’t think so. I tried to be careful on my way here.”

The main door to the cramped apartment clicked shut and Fireshade threw the bolt to lock it. She turned around and followed Twilight across the room. “On your way? You didn't walk, did you?”

The lavender mare began to inspect herself in the reflection of the mirror. Slowly prodding at her bulging left cheek, she cringed and responded, “Y-Yes.”

“Geez, Twilight! All the way from the dungeons in that condition? Why didn’t you just teleport up?”

Rushing water sounded from the wash basin and Twilight turned, glaring at her assistant with one good eye. “I was preoccupied,” she curtly answered before returning to wiping the dried blood off of her tender face.

“What in Tartarus happened to you?”

Without looking away from her task in the mirror, the mare answered while dabbing her muzzle with a damp cloth. “Uhm... There was a bit of an incident.”

The yellow unicorn’s eyes narrowed, looking to the reflection of her friend in the mirror. “What kind of incident?” she cautiously—and curiously—asked with a raised eyebrow, not entirely sure if she wanted to hear the answer.

“There was a... problem with the test subject,” Twilight responded disinterestedly as she set down the washcloth. “You’ll see it when you get there.”

“What do you mean, ‘when I get there’?” Fireshade asked, slowly tilting her head.

“Please, Fireshade. Just do this for me.” Twilight used a hoof to pull open her swollen left eyelid to inspect her eye. The white of the eye had turned completely blood-red. “Crap, that’s going to take a while to heal.”

Fireshade gave up trying to get answers and expelled a deep, calming breath through her nostrils. “Fine. I’ll take care of it.”

Turning from the mirror to look directly at Fireshade with a small, wincing smile, Twilight responded, “Thank you. I’m, uh... I’m going to go take a quick nap, I think.”

“You seriously look like you were put through the wringer, Twi. Maybe you should stay here. You can use my bed, and I’ll take care of the lab.”

“Yeah, that... that’s probably a good idea.” Twilight wandered towards the bed while Fireshade watched.

Fireshade turned and made her way out the door and into the hallway. Once the door shut behind her, she sighed and whispered under her breath, “Damn it.”

Luna looked to the near-black stained, mahogany, grandfather clock resting beside a wall of her private chambers. The seconds seemed to tick by excruciatingly slow as the Princess of Night continued to debate with herself.

“Three o’clock... Surely Twilight would be asleep by now,” she said to herself while walking around the room, skirting the walls and stopping near her bed.

“Damn it, Celly, of course it’s dangerous, but what would you have me do?”

Continuing her circuit around the room, Luna thought out loud. “It is Twilight Sparkle... and I know there’s something wrong. We cannot sit idly by and allow whatever is happening to her to continue.”

The princess stopped suddenly, looking up to the massive stained glass effigy of the moon and a starry sky which resided in the wall over the head of her bed. “...but what if there is nothing the matter? It would be a terrible breach of her privacy for me to root through her dreams and come back with nothing to show for it.”

She sighed heavily. “Ridding a filly of a terrifying nightmare is one thing. That much is easy. Relatively safe.” Luna tapped a hoof against the floor several times, and then started meandering through the room once again. “Entering the dreamscape of a fully grown mare, the most powerful unicorn to ever walk this plane, the Grand Magus no less, and with a possibly infected psyche... Well, that’s a whole other thing, altogether.”

Several minutes passed, the hollow, monotonous echo of the ticking clock marking each passing second. “And what if Celly is right? If it is a Nightmare, I may not be prepared to handle it on my own.” A cold shiver passed through her body. “I certainly didn’t handle it well last time.”

Luna sat down on the large midnight-blue and purple rug before her bed. “I have to do this. If this is a Nightmare, it must be expelled as soon as possible.”

Tilting her head down and looking to her front hooves, Luna spoke once more, steeling her resolve. “I must do this, and I must do this now.”

She closed her eyes as her horn became surrounded in a dark-colored aura. Leveling her head, she opened her eyes, revealing white glowing energy from them.

A midnight-blue hoof touched the parched, white ground. Luna looked around at her surroundings, noting the bizarre manner in which the light seemed to bend around the barren, black trees, casting pastel purple shadows on the bone-hued ground. It appeared to be some sort of forest, but the vegetation was like none she had ever seen, be it in real life or the dreamworld. The limbs of the deathly trees hung twisted and curving unnaturally from trunks so dark and smooth, they appeared to carved from single, gigantic pieces of obsidian. “This is not right.”

I know you’re out there…

The calm, raspy voice called out from nothing, speaking directly into the princess’ mind. Luna’s heart skipped a beat, and she looked back to the direction the voice seemed to come from.

“Twilight?” she asked to the emptiness, turning her head to face forward. “Twilight, is that you?”

I can feel you, now...

Now, with a racing pulse, Luna scanned the landscape through the oddly curving branches. She slowly stepped forward through the smooth, black trunks. Her hooves striking the ground made no sound. She stopped after only moving several meters.

I know that you’re afraid...

“I am not afraid, Twilight.” Looking up to the white sky, Luna noted that there was no sign of a sun or moon. “I am very worried for you. You have been acting strangely as of late.”

She began walking again. After plodding forward for several minutes, the trees began to thin. She stopped moving again when her eyes suddenly detected movement in the distance beyond the nightmarish forest. Luna’s head tilted to the left slightly as she leaned, trying to view whatever had moved.

She saw it. Something standing near a pool of water. It was still too far away to see clearly what it was. Luna decided to move closer.

You’re afraid of me...

Coming out of the trees on the opposite side of the pond from the apparition she had seen previously, Luna could now get a clear view of the thing. It was mostly white, with areas of black and purple accentuating its lithe torso and arms. It portrayed features of a pony, however it stood upright on four spindly mechanical looking legs, reminiscent of a spider, with its head tilted down, staring into the depths of the crystal clear water. Stringy, limp, black hair obscured the magenta glow of its eyes.

You’re afraid of change...

“Who are you? I demand to know with whom I speak!” Luna shouted.

The terrifying construct across the pool shot a fearsome look upon Luna with lifeless magenta orbs in place of eyes. The rapid motion with which it turned its head would have made any foal trip over themselves, clambering to escape its glare.

Do you not recognize me, Princess?

Her eyes narrowed at the creature before her. “I most certainly do not. This is Twilight Sparkle’s dreamscape. Where is she?”

The thing moved in a blur, advancing on the princess so fast that her brain had barely begun processing the motion when the towering figure appeared directly before her. It stood a head taller than Luna and had a black and white horn longer than any she had ever seen. The magenta glow of its eyes bore into Luna’s very soul as she shifted uncomfortably on her hooves.

I’m right here, Princess.

Luna clenched her jaw tightly. “You are not Twilight Sparkle,” she growled through her teeth. Probing the dreamscape with her magic, she frantically searched for evidence of another entity besides Twilight’s presence, but to no avail. This isn’t right. This can not be Twilight.

The demonic visage spoke into Luna’s mind without moving its mouth, I assure you, I most certainly am your beloved Twilight Sparkle. You really have no idea, do you, Princess?

“No idea of what? I demand you to tell me what is going on here!” Luna shouted, stamping a hoof.

I know your secrets.

Luna’s mouth dropped open slightly for a moment before she recovered from the shock of the thing’s words. She swallowed hard in the distorted face of the pony-creature before her. “I-I have no secrets. I do not know of what you speak.”

There is no need to lie, Princess. I know everything. I know many secrets of you and your sister. Some that even you are not aware of.

“You know nothing of the secrets of the Canterlotian Court,” she stated, never blinking or averting her eyes from the thing standing before her.

I know about ‘them’.

Luna breathed in sharply and opened her mouth to respond, but held short. ‘Them’ could have meant any number of things. There was no need for her to jump to conclusions from such little information.

Also, the secrets your sister keeps from you.

“Enough!” Luna shouted forcefully, the Royal Canterlot Voice echoing in the distance for several seconds afterwards. “I demand to know what you have done with Grand Magus Sparkle immediately, demon!”

Luna began to take several steps back, away from the abomination as it slowly tilted its head nearly ninety degrees. The burning magenta orbs in its eye sockets never moved from Luna for even a moment.

I am Twilight.

Luna slowly shook her head. “No. I refuse to believe that. This is no dream of Twilight Sparkle’s making.”

Perhaps you do not know me as well as you thought.

A dark glow emanated from Luna’s horn as she began to weave a powerful spell. “I know what you are. I know Twilight, and soon I will speak with her directly, monster.”

The pony-like thing standing before Luna made no attempt to dodge or counteract the spell, instead opting to stand stock-still.

Straightening its head, the abomination spoke into Luna’s mind one last time before the princess unleashed her fury. Or perhaps you are just as blind to the truth as the rest of Equestria.

Just as the final word rang through her consciousness, a dark, midnight-blue bolt of energy discharged from Luna’s horn, aimed directly at the thing’s chest. The spell made contact on the desired mark, exploding outward and around the intended target. An intense, white light radiated blindingly from the impact, causing her to wince out of surprise and clench her eyes tightly shut.

Several seconds passed before the glow subsided from behind Luna’s eyelids. She slowly opened her eyes in order to survey the effect of the spell she had cast. The fuzzy, indigo hair covering Luna’s body hid the fact that her face had paled completely at the sight. Her skin grew cold as she looked upon the scene and slowly mouthed a single, soundless word. “No...”

Before her, the Twilight-thing stood, just as placid and unmoving as it had been prior to the attack. It lethargically swiveled its head towards the ground, apathetically inspecting the black parabola scorched into the white earth around itself. Slowly lifting its head, it stopped, once again staring at Luna with its terrible magenta eyes.

No matter how powerful you make it, an exorcism spell will do nothing, the voice of the apparition said with indifference. As I have told you already, Princess, there is nothing to exorcise. I am not a demon, nor am I a monster. I am Grand Magus Twilight Sparkle.

Luna’s heart pounded in her chest like a sledge hammer, the sound of her own pulse echoing in her ears. She barely maintained what little composure that remained as tears began to line the bottoms of her eyes. Meanwhile, Twilight’s avatar remained deathly still, its face portraying not even the slightest hint of emotion.

“Twilight, w-what is this?” Luna asked sedately.

This? The voice paused, as though pondering what would be an appropriate answer. This is the product of millennia of poor decisions and misguided judgement.

The thing turned away from Luna and, on slender mechanical legs, began slowly walking towards the water.

“Wait! We are not done here. I need answers, Twilight,” Luna pleaded.

You are incorrect, Princess. You are done here. I am done here. You have invaded my dreams; you have invaded my privacy. Consider yourself lucky that I allow you to leave this place unscathed for such a breach of trust. This is not friendship.

Luna had no response. She simply stood, watching as the apparition gently stepped into the small pond. As it moved towards the middle of the pond, it slowly became further and further submerged.

“Twilight, please! I only want to help you!”

Just before its head fell out of sight beneath the motionless surface, it spoke one last time.

This is not magic.

Twilight bolted upright in in the middle of the floor of Fireshade’s apartment. The image of Luna’s attack burned permanently into her memory. “She attacked me,” she stated with disdain to the empty apartment. “I can’t believe Princess Luna attacked me... Why would she do that?”

Quickly standing up, she felt a familiar searing pain, high on her right leg. She looked down to the floor to see a small kitchen knife and a blood-soaked rug.

“She called me a monster.”

Twilight looked away from the mess on the floor to the image of herself in a mirror hanging on the wall across the room. “I’m not a monster, am I?”

Stepping towards the mirror, looking at her still swollen face, Twilight reflected on the events of the dreamscape. “Why did the princess look so afraid?”

She’s afraid of us because we know.

“We have to get ready to leave,” Twilight whispered. She sighed deeply and continued, “It’s too soon.”

The white glow dimmed from Luna’s eyes. She briefly looked around the room, reacquainting herself with the surroundings of the physical plane of existence. After regaining her bearings, she jumped to her hooves and immediately teleported away.

She found herself standing in a corridor before a large door. Luna took three panicked steps towards the door and forcefully rapped her hoof against it.

“Twilight!?”

Several seconds passed with no response. Luna reached for the door handle and rattled it with no success of opening the door. She pounded on the door again.

“Twilight, please! I only wish to speak with you!” she yelled at the slab of wood.

Luna prodded at the locking mechanism of the door with her magic. Just before she was able to break the anti-magic imbuement and pick the lock, the latch clicked and the door opened slowly.

“Oh hey, Princess,” Spike said, looking as though he was mostly still asleep. “Kinda late for a visit.”

“We must speak with Twilight immediately. Please, fetch her,” Luna commanded, allowing her anachronistic manner of speaking slip through.

The young dragon scratched at his head for a moment. “I don’t think she’s here, but I’ll check.”

He turned, leaving the door open, and continued speaking on his way to Twilight’s bedroom. “I’ve barely seen her over the past couple months. She’s awfully busy... Heck, she usually doesn't even sleep here.”

Luna stepped through the open door and followed Spike at a short distance. He approached the entrance to the room and knocked quickly as he opened the door to peek in with Luna looking over his shoulder. A cluttered nightstand and an empty, unmade bed were the only things in the room.

“I guess she’s not—” The telltale strobe of light from a teleportation spell interrupted Spike. He turned around to the empty apartment. “Well, you’re obviously in a hurry. It was nice chatting, Princess,” the dragon stated in a manner thick with sarcasm.

Apple Slice could hear the whistling approaching from quite some distance. She hugged her legs tight and rocked herself, staring emotionlessly at a point on the stone floor as the lively tune slowly grew louder.

The cheerful whistling came to an abrupt stop, and Apple Slice heard a voice from the other side of the cell door.

“Oh, shit...” Fireshade slowly drawled.

The unicorn stood in the doorway to the laboratory, surveying the scene before her. Her eyes first caught sight of the pink mare laying amongst various pieces of paper, her head cradled by a pool of blood. Moving closer to the dead pony, she leaned down to inspect the abhorrent damage that had been done to the unicorn.

“Heh... You shoulda seen the other guy,” Fireshade stated in a mocking tone and laughing a bit at her own humor. Raising her head, she noticed the mess of papers scattered about the workbench. Her gaze continued upward, past the bench, until she saw the smattering of maroon blood soaked into the bricks near the clock.

“Damn, Twilight, couldn’t make it a clean kill, eh?”

Picking the papers off of the floor in her telekinesis, Fireshade began to whistle her unnamed tune again. She took great care to separate the bloodsoaked pages from the clean as she re-stacked them neatly on the workbench.

The last of the pages landed gracefully on the bench, and Fireshade looked to the corpse lying in the middle of the floor. “I suppose I should do something about you before I clean up anything else,” she said to the lifeless pony.

Just then, she heard a quiet shuffling noise from across the room. Turning towards the single remaining occupied cell, she smiled and walked briskly to the door. Her yellow forehooves contacted the door as she peered inside.

“Oh, hey there Apple Chunk. Did I wake you up?” Fireshade asked cheerfully.

Apple Slice’s hooves dragged across the stone as she slowly made her way towards the door with her head hanging low near the floor. “Mmmmmm-aa...”

The pyromancer’s head cocked to the side slightly. “What?”

“Mmmmmoorrrr,” her mouth barely moved as the green mare attempted to speak.

Fireshade giggled in response. “Silly filly, you can’t have more right now. You’re severely addicted to that stuff, and Twilight says that we have to see if you’ll be able to survive without it now.”

Backing away from the door and turning her attention back to the task at hand, Fireshade lifted the pink unicorn using telekinesis. She spoke loudly to Apple Slice while the dead test subject levitated in the air nearby. “We’ll see what I can do for you when I get back, Apple Wedge. With the recent developments here, we may need you alive a bit longer.”

The yellow unicorn trotted gaily towards the exit, with the recently deceased test subject in tow. “I swear, it’s like I’ve become Twilight’s dead-pony janitor and personal pony snatcher,” she said to herself as she entered the corridor and turned towards the disused exit to the outside world.