“Sit down. You must have many questions,” Luna said, conjuring up a couple of chairs.

“Yes I do,” Spike said sitting down “What happened? Where are we? And what happened to Twilight? What happened to every-”

Luna put a hoof on Spike's mouth to shush him. “We can answer your questions but not the very moment you ask them. To start, we aren’t fully sure how it did this, but an old foe of ours has returned.”

“Again? How many 'old foes' do you and Celestia have?” Spike said with some exasperation.

“More than we’d like to admit,” Luna said with a sheepish look. Spike was about to follow up on that when a thought struck him.

“Can I ask you something else?” Spike asked.

“You may,” Luna responded.

“I had a nightmare last night,” Spike said.

“Is this really quite the time Spike?” Luna said.

“No, listen. I had a bad dream and for some reason, you weren’t there. That’s strange because you usually monitor my dreams closely along with all the other friends of the elements,” Spike said.

“This is true.” Luna gained a speculative look on her face.

“So where were you?” Spike questioned.

“To answer that there is first something you should know, Spike,” Luna said suddenly.

“What?” Spike said tilting his head

“You didn’t have a dream last night.” Spike’s eyes widened, but before he could speak Luna continued, “In fact, your mind was not only quiet but we couldn’t find you. Perhaps you weren’t sleeping at all.”

“That-... that doesn’t make any sense,” Spike said, trying to contain his shock.

“Agreed, but that is another mystery for another day. For now, we need to focus on this." Luna gestured to her environment.

"Al-... alright," Spike said, a little disappointed.

"You see, Spike. We had sensed its approach and promptly escaped before we could be captured, using a spell our teacher Starswirl taught me and my sister to temporarily separate our souls from our bodies. In doing so we could distance ourselves from the soul absorption field long enough to do what was necessary." Luna explained.

"Wait, ‘soul absorption field?’ What's that?"

"A devious method of stealing multiple souls from a town’s worth of ponies. Used solely by our enemy."

"Who is this enemy you keep speaking of?" Spike questioned

Luna's eyes grew distant as she spoke.

"A monster, and a parasite who lives in the dream realm. It is usually harmless unless it somehow finds a host. We simply call it The Shadow."

"And this… 'Shadow' found a host?"

"Yes. We know not who it has chosen. But whoever it is, they are powerful. Stronger than its previous host."

"Who was its previous host?" Spike said, getting used to the conversation now.

"A unicorn named Nightshade. He desired to rule Equestria and the Shadow aided him. Whomever the Shadow found, they are clearly stronger than Nightshade. Twas lucky that my sister and I were able to stop him. Now it seems to be your turn."

"Wait! My turn?!" Spike panicked.

Luna waited for the drakeling to calm down before resuming.

"We do not like it any more than you do. In fact, were it up to us, we would be the one to do this. But the situation is against us," Luna explained.

"What are you saying?"

Luna sighed and gazed out at the ballroom. "Tell me, Spike. Do you know what this place is?"

"What did you mean before Luna?" Spike said a little curtly.

“We are answering your question with a question and we would also like to remind you of your tone," Luna said sharply.

"Sorry…" Spike flinched.

"Very well, so the answer to my query is that this place is a space that we formed when the souls were in the process of being abducted by The Shadow. The Shadow seeks to take these souls and turn them into his minions, fueling their existence with the innocent souls that he stole."

"Wait, so the Shadow and its host want to mind control everyone?" Spike asked, sounding a little confused.

Luna shook her head. "Not just mind control. He's using their very souls as fuel to create his own minions. In other words, he is shaping nightmare creatures out of their soul energies."

"That's… bad, very bad…" Spike said, looking a little pale. "And I have to beat this guy? Why can't you?"

"As we have said, the situation is against us. You see, this dimension is the only thing preventing those monsters and demons from reaching the portal to the waking world."

"The waking world?" Spike said.

"Yes, the Shadow opened a portal to the dream realm to suck up all the souls in Ponyville. It stands to reason that it is still open, and it plans to release the monsters it has made into the waking world. The casualties throughout Equestria will be catastrophic," Luna said grimly.

"But… You can still-” Spike tried but Luna interjected.

“We must remain to hold up this dimension. If we were to even try confronting the Shadow while the souls are still in danger of falling into its clutches, then they would be released into the waking world before we could subdue it again. That is why our sister needed to retrieve the souls in my stead back then and why you must do so now.”

“But-... B-but why choose me?! Why didn't you pick Twilight or your sister or… somepony who can actually fight?!” Spike said while panicking again.

“You think we didn’t try!?” Luna barked back, stomping her hoof and startling Spike. “Do you think that we would intentionally put an innocent child through this Tartarus? We had only enough time to grab one soul during our escape. Your soul was accidentally retrieved instead of my sister.” Luna quieted near the end. “We are sorry, young one, but by accident or not you are here and thus you are the one to inherit the duty of retrieving the souls from The Shadow.” The room went quiet after these words were spoken.

“I have no choice then, do I?” Spike finally said.

“If you ever wish to see your loved ones again then you must.”

“So what do I have to do?” Spike said, worry etched on his features but his expression also bore the grim acceptance that he could not get out of this.

“Each of the strongest souls are trapped in nightmares, being tortured until they are broken and fully submit to the transfiguration into its minions. You must enter these nightmares and retrieve the souls from within. Doing so will free them and weaken The Shadows' influence, until eventually I can break its hold on the remaining souls.”

“So I just need to retrieve souls?” Spike perked up a little, thinking this was going to be easier than he thought.

Luna winced. “Not quite. The souls are protected by barriers, and we mean no offense but your soul isn’t quite strong enough to breach them. However, if you can collect enough soul shards you should be empowered enough to breach them.”

“Soul Shards?” Spike asked.

“Fragments of pony souls. Simply run through them and they’ll be absorbed into your very being to strengthen you. The souls will separate from you once this is all over,” Luna assured.

“That still doesn’t sound as bad as I thought,” Spike said.

Luna looked forlorn at these words. “We are sorry to say, but there is more. Monsters, the very minions The Shadow seeks to use to conquer the waking world, guard the souls. You will need to get by them if you wish to survive.”

“Oh…” Spike deflated at these words and dread filled him again.

“We can extend some influence and save you from death… but not every time so do not get careless,” Luna assured.

“When I woke up this morning I thought I was simply going to a party and then I was going to do some sleeping…. Guess not…” Spike dryly stated.

“I'm afraid there is worse news. At the most we have three or four days before this dimension gives out and the monsters reach the portal.”

“It gets better,” Spike said, feeling defeated before he even started.

"We understand that this is a lot to take in."

"A lot to take in? No, this is too much to take in. How do you expect one dragon to fix all this?"

"We don't know… but us doing nothing is what The Shadow would want." Luna leaned in closer. "This is a tall order, Spike. I understand if you need a little bit of time to decide. Every pony you know is in danger and only you can save them."

Spike gave a dry laugh. "You know, I always dreamed of hearing those words. I never thought I'd hear them so soon. It makes it pretty hard to be optimistic."

"Can we or can we not count on your help?"

"I... Yes, you can. If there's no one else who can do it then I guess I'll do my best," Spike said, trying to sound brave and failing.

Luna nodded slowly, seeing the fear in the young drake and understanding.

"Very well then. Come along." Luna stood and trotted over to a dark corner.

"Where are we going?" Spike asked, following behind her.

"You will see in a second, young one." Luna closed her eyes, bowed her head, and muttered, "aperta sesamae."

Suddenly, something resembling a portal opened in front of them. It was quickly followed by another, and another, until there were eleven total.

"Whoa, are those… portals?" Spike wondered out loud.

"Yes, I have linked us to the nightmares where the strongest souls are trapped. When you are ready, you must enter, but remember, not even I know what new devilry the Shadow has cooked up. Be careful!" Luna warned.

"I'll t-try" Spike shivered as he approached the portal and it flashed red.

And a familiar apple cutie mark appeared on it...

Info is learned, and the Shadow is the one responsible.

As a treat to all those who are watching I'll post a surprise chapter later today!

Next chapter we're getting into the first level.

Can Spike survive his first venture into the shadows? Or will his journey end abruptly right out the gate?