Hello, so um... I don't really know what to make of this. For one thing I'm not a pegasister (bronie) so I could say I'm making this for my bf who is. I could also say, though I've seen some episodes and decided that it wasn't for me, I enjoy the characters and would like to write a story about it. The only characters I've added were for the sake of the conflict, so I hope the community will be open and understanding to my relative ignorance. I will do my best to respect beloved characters and I'll most likely do research on pre-existing background ponies and fan perspectives to avoid tromping on anypony's hooves.
Chapter One: A Drop of Time
Quiet hung in the air, lingering in oppressive obstinance, banished only by Luna's muffled hoof steps. The night's chill sunk in through her fur and stung at her nostrils. A torn, barren landscape greeted her, the dirt scorched beneath her in defiance of the falling snow. The sky boiled, clouds parting every now and then to display an eclipsed sun and muted moon, standing in the heavens together. Spikes rose from the ground to pay homage to the heavenly bodies. Steam coiled up with hisses of praise. Luna looked on this broken world and knew this was her dream. In all resistance to her powers, she could not control it. Neither did she know why the vision chose to show itself to her. Despite her expertise with dreams Luna couldn't discover its meaning, though it felt like a warning. Somepony, somewhere, was trying to tell her something, and it was important.
Almost as if Luna had summoned him, a large, stallion shaped shadow trotted up beside her. He seemed to be wearing heavy armor, a blade rested on his right side, a torch gripped between his teeth, casting no light on the holder. Several more shapes made themselves known yet only one of them was not a pony. The figures numbered seven, three mares, three stallions, the torch bearer included, and a juvenile dragon. They spoke to her each in turn, like they were giving reports, their voices were choked into silence by the smoke and snow. Even if Luna could have heard them clearly, the tongue they used was foreign to her.
Just as soon as they had come, they departed, cutting a path of light through the storm. She had had this dream many times but this was a new. Luna galloped down the trail, urgency rising in her chest. The ground had suddenly fallen away. Surprised, she fell. Eternily plunged away with her. Before her, time became fragmented and flashing through her mind sounds, word she could never know, thoughts that she could not comprehend, each a jagged bolt of agony. The pain paralyzed her. She closed her eyes and wished only for it to end.
Very little light filtered into the cave, the primary illumination came from glowing black gems that lined the walls. The stone was textured like marble but felt more like granite when she landed. Luna had opened her eyes when she hit the ground, dazed from shock. She gingerly stood, flinching at the ache in her wing. She had landed on it. Stretching the appendage revealed that the feathers were not her own. They were a ghostly white with pale blue tips. Her reflection in the stone was also drastically different. For one she was not, in fact, a she. The face that stared back in disbelief was that of a stallion. He had bright blue eyes that shimmered like dancing flames, a spear of a horn adorned his brow, with strong jawline gave him a regal appearance, but his nose and ears were softer features. This visage on the whole seeming genial and approachable.
Luna, suddenly curious, centered herself in the hall and spread her new wings. The cavern was shaped specifically around this stallion's wingspan. The tips of his primary flight feathers just brushing the walls all the way to both floor and ceiling. Raising his head discovered a grove of ware along the center that matched his horn. Luna folded back his wings and scrutinized her surroundings more thoroughly. Where she had landed a leaver jutted from the wall, flipping it closed the light of from above her with a low rumble. Suddenly the line in the ceiling made more sense. She found it again, brushing his wings against the stone walked on at a steady pace. The glowing black crystals making the floor just visible enough not to trip. His hooves and stride were much larger than her own and Luna had a hard time piloting the larger alicorn.
After a few slow curves she found herself in a massive chamber and suddenly no longer in control of the stallion whose perspective she shared. His hooves impacted on the ground much harder than Luna had thought they would. He called in a low tenor for someone, the anger rising in his mind affecting her. A midnight black mare stole forth from the shadows, she too was an alicorn, and his anger flared up even more. They conversed exchanging cold or harsh sounds that seemed to be an intense argument. Culminating in an exacerbated snort from the male. She trotted up to him with a triumphant expression. This mare was markedly smaller than him, her proportions seemed to match to Luna's more closely, implying that the stallion was a head taller than Celestia and very densely muscled.
The world spun suddenly and the painful falling sensation returned. Luna realized that her mind had simply latched onto one of the shattered moments. That she was still falling through nothing. Becoming nothing. She screamed into the darkness. With a loud thump she was lying on her floor in Canterlot, legs and wings flailing, Celestia and a flurry of guards having just charged into her room. "Mother's grace, Lulu, what's wrong?" Panic edged at her sister's voice. For Celestia to use her old nickname showed just how concerned she was.
"N-no, I-I-I'm fine, it's just a nightmare… a horrible nightmare… " Her reassurances fell on deaf ears as Celestia rushed over and wrapped her in a warm hug. Dawn light filtered in through the window and for just a short time both sun and moon shared the sky.
*pov
Deep in the Everfree forest, in an ancient thicket, something stirred, something that should never be awoken. A shudder ran up Discord's spine. The draconequus suddenly found himself in a dilemma, stick around to enjoy the coming chaos, warn his friends, or flee before it's too late.
Please let me know what you think of this story so far and if you like it, anypony you would like to see written. I'm counting on the bronie community to help keep me on track with the story's lore. I would like to thank a few specific ponies that got me thinking about writing: AnY Pony, Mado Pony, Candid Cream, Inky Rose, and many more. With specific regards to the authors of Rainbow Factory and Fallout Equestria respectively. Celestia guide your hooves and Luna keep your dreams.
