Lunar Light

Part 1 - Belief

Chapter 3

Problems & Solutions

[Equestria, Canterlot Castle]

It hadn't surprised Celestia that her younger sister, Luna, had gone off somewhere shortly before the day arrived in a world where alicorns controlled day and night. The moon had indeed faded away, leaving Celestia to raise the sun in peace, without her sister trying to stop her. Perhaps the princess of the night simply wanted to be alone for a bit. Unfortunately, by the time evening came and it was high time for Luna to ensure the moon would regain its rightful place in the sky amidst the stars, the young co-ruler was nowhere to be found. She had not yet returned and was already ten minutes late as it were.

"Find princess Luna," the elder princess had ordered two of her knights.

They had gone without starting a dispute with their superior, searching high and low. However, despite all efforts, both guards came with empty hooves, lowering their head in regret and worry as they returned to Celestia. Luna wasn't in Canterlot.

So instead, reluctantly, Celestia thought to take over her sister's duty until she was found and with great concern, called her best ponies, including the mane six, to continue the search for her sister. As much as it ate away at her conscious, spreading guilt through her mind, her duty was to her people as much as it was to her sibling, no matter where she was.

'Luna, please, come back,' she prayed, looking out of one of the windows that night, closing her eyes as she hesitantly raised the moon instead of her sister for the first time in months. It felt wrong to do this; to take over what had always been her sister's speciality. Yet it had to be done to keep balance. It mattered not. The country she protected and ruled over with a fair hand may have been at relative peace; more at peace that she would have thought, despite Twilights worry ("oh, no, not Luna! This is awful! What if you disappear too!? And Candance?!"). Though her mind was in a chaotic state. Asides from the time she had banished her sister to the moon - and she still very much regretted that choice, every single day - the two were family and were never far away from one another.

It looked to be another restless night, a night without sleep, for Celestia couldn't sleep. Her place ensured that. She sighed, shaking her head.

The next day as the sun was ready to set, Celestia appearance changed for the worse with her constant concern that had been consuming her throughout the entire night. It did intimidate the guards a fair bit, along with some of the messengers that had turned to her with bad news.

"We haven't gotten any news of her, your highness," they spoke, each and every time. They looked down, respectfully mourning, but they could never miss Luna in the way Celestia missed her already.

This would continue for another tiring day, with Discord popping up to annoy her out of her mane. He'd disappear and reappear, with spiteful, ominous comments that made her shudder in fear and hiss at him in resentment. She had let the fool wander freely and that was how he acted? With no respect towards someone who had shown him kindness?

"Why worry, Princess?" Discord cooed mockingly, as he smirked at her, his mismatched arms crossed over his torso as he stood in her castle, leaning against a pillar with a look that would have made one think that he owned this place.

She narrowed her eyes at the fiend. "She is my sister."

"And? What's the worse that could happen? After all, she can't possibly be in the Everfree Forest, can she? Or perhaps she's just visiting the Froggy Bottom Bog... maybe talking to some of her ancestors," he teased.

She scowled, attempting to - unsuccessfully so - ignore the cloven-hoofed ex-villain.

"Or Hollow Shades... or perhaps some poor fella mistook her for some evil spirit and trapped her in Tartarus... or perhaps she's finally found her own way to Chaosville, I wouldn't put it passed that filly. She's a smart one..."

As Celestia listened, she was this close and only growing closer to kicking him out of the castle with her own hooves. She was on edge as it was and gritting her teeth wasn't about to ease her bundle of nerves. However, she tried to act most gracefully about it, behaving like a lady and ignoring it. Many of her country's citizens had come and gone whilst Discord kept rambling and she had managed to miraculously keep her head straight and answer all their questions. The occasional pony would look towards Discord, before giving Celestia a quizzical look, but she decided to wave off those too, before letting the ponies to mind their own business as they walked out of the large building. Leaving her with no choice but to listen to Discord's mockery.

"Do you think perhaps the changelings changed their ideals yet again? I'm sure there are still some rogue, love-eating changelings out there, waiting for Luna to come by, perhaps accidentally fall in love with-"

"Alright, now you're beginning to sound absolutely ridiculous," she finally cut the draconequus.

He seemed to vanish from his spot, before reappearing by Celestia's side, patting her on the head. "I finally got to you? Good to know you were listening," he commented. Sending him a glare, she managed to apparate the creature a few feet to the left. For reasons of personal space - two words that Discord would likely never grasp at the meaning of.

"No, but your foolishness will cost you your freedom if you don't watch your tongue," she retorted.

She walked off then, looking to her guards, who promptly shot Discord a glare, before pointing their weaponry on him. Backing away a little, he was about to crack one more joke when the mare added: "oh and I wouldn't say anything else Discord. I have a feeling my sister will return, and when she does, she will not be as lenient as I am."

With that, Discord vanished immediately, leaving not a trace of fur, feathers or scales behind.

She sighed, shaking her head. If only her little sister had been here. Both of them would have a much easier time dealing with him than just one of them. Or if Fluttershy was here. Who was also, unfortunately, searching for Luna at present.

=H=

[North Pole]

Walking through the entirety of North's home had been an experience that she would have considered entertaining and wonderful if there hadn't been so many thoughts buzzing in her head. Yet, when the evening came and it was time to lie down on that bed set up in the comfortable little guest room that the yetis had set up, all she could feel was loneliness. Saying that she'd been surrounded by plenty of spirits; perhaps even too many spirits. With no chance of her eyes shutting on their own, she would think of the evening she had just had, with all the new experiences instead, looking up at the ceiling.

There'd be learning to stabilise herself on the two new legs she had acquired.

The odd praises she'd receive when she came downstairs, with all five spirits giving their compliments and the strange questions they would ask about her hair, wondering if she had died it and she would have forced a lie - yes, yes she had. After all, what else could she say? That she really was like this? What if this wasn't normal. Sure, white hair apparently was common enough between spirits, but blue?

Then there'd be the dinner, the odd conversation, in which Luna pretended to have remembered a few things from her so-called past, but then, after a certain point, she had forgotten everything, including where she had really been living. It was an excuse not to talk about something overly complicated and to make wild accusations, but it seemed sincere enough to her host. That in itself; the sheer belief that the other held in her; was enough to make her hope that she would never have to get around to telling the truth. Celestia knows how they would take it, and currently, Celestia didn't seem to be in this world.

Asides from that, she had spent most of the time at dinner, looking at the cutlery, plates and the dishes served and wondering about each one of them. Without a horn, she had no magic to make eating simpler and to be fair, she didn't know whether or not the eating etiquette was the same. As for the meals, they didn't seem like hay or apples. She could see a few pieces of carrot in them, but there were other things in there that she couldn't remember having seen. That, Luna had told herself, she would have to explore later, after she had gotten a rest. A rest which never came in the end.

Of course, during the meal itself, Jack would be the main spirit talking. It helped, but only so much. Whenever he cracked a joke, she was capable of at least pretending amusement. Though when the questions came, she knew she wasn't at all prepared for this.

After that, Jack had given her a tour of the North Pole, since North claimed to be busy and Jack had joked: "yeah, with making up new interrogation techniques for your guests."

That was something that North hadn't laughed at.

He had only stopped by the library for a few seconds, as if tormenting Luna on purpose, before leading her away from the only place she was at least 50% certain that she would understand. After all, what was so difficult about books? On that front, she may have been a bit like Twilight Sparkle (albeit a little calmer and collected for the most part). Though, before she could ask where she was led, she had been dragged into what Jack had called, with much dramatic effect, "Santa's Workshop", before explaining that this was where the Yetis helped build the toys instead of the pesky little elves and North (Santa) designed them. This truly surprised her, as she looked up at the floating pieces of plastic, metal and a few bits of electrical wiring and still couldn't believe that there was such a thing as a flying toy jellyfish. She even proceeded to stare at it for half an hour, before deciding that she would try to make one of those for her sister if she had ever made it back. Though as she understood it, there seemed to be only a minuscule chance of those sentimentalities taking place and so she immediately shook them away, particularly after Jack started to laugh at her expression.

As he had led her back though, the cheeriness of the place did slowly begin to latch onto her and until she entered the bedroom, she felt just a little more at ease. Her plans even seemed to make more sense now.

1) Ask for permission to North's library.

2) Find out where you are and the rules of this world.

3) Search for a portal.

4) End this contact with the others quickly so to minimise the possible problems that could arise with her being here.

5) Return to Equestria and fix whatever mistakes made in her absence.

6) Bonus! Get Celestia one of those flying tentacled creatures that she didn't yet remember the name of, but would remember later as being called a jellyfish.

However, when the doors shut and she was left alone in the room, she went back to being lost. Alone. With not a single clue in the world. Realising that now that she had no control over the nightmare world, she could very well end up in big trouble.

She looked down at the covers now, still unable to sleep. They were unsurprisingly red, though the colour came unnoticed in the dark and definitely warm. Still, they couldn't keep out the tremors that stole into Luna's body as she tried to shut her eyes, attempting to fall asleep. Though as the clock ticked by, sleep never came, with the shadows shifting and disturbing her before the sun chased them away at the rise of a new day.

=H=

[Pitch Black, Bennett Residence]

Having used any method he could think of to distract himself from the prospect of yet another enemy - or possibly an ally if he could sway the little light - he now stood inside the house and home of an enemy from so long ago. Yes, it had been ten years, but luckily for him (finally, some luck), Jamie was still residing with his mother, helping her take care of Sophie and learning at a college not so far off, whilst working at a part-time job. It wasn't odd, or new, but it helped that the boy- no, man, was still there, where he could easily sniff him out and put an end to his joy. Oh, did he despise it.

That jubilant personality, carefree and constantly laughing, was still very much inside Jamie Bennett as he came into the house decorated with Sophie's pictures, as he praised his younger sibling for her blooming talent and as he greeted his mother at dinner time, complimenting the meal. Honestly, Pitch could gag at the little "reunion" that the family was having.

Instead, he watched from a corner, waiting for his moment to strike as he stalked through the shadows. First, he stopped by Sophie's room, deciding that she was the easiest member of the family to get to. After all, she was only twelve, or perhaps thirteen and as much as she pretended to be fearless, her life did get to her. The bullies in her life made his work much simpler too, no matter how sad the fact was (even for Pitch).

Walking up to her sleeping form that night, he grinned, all too widely, clasping his hands.

'Would you look at that. Looks like an angel, doesn't she?' he thought a little to himself, partly in sarcasm. 'I'll bet she dreams about flying- oh, yes, definitely does.' And as if to confirm his thought, a girl with wings appeared in her dreams, made of dream sand that the pathetic ball of golden sand had left just moments ago. It really hadn't surprised him, last time he saw her, she had fairy wings - which admittedly looked nothing like fairy wings - hanging off of her back. He'd expected this girl to continue dreaming outrageously, particularly after he'd been defeated. Just like he had believed the amounts of bullies would rise, not fall with his absence. Well, that is what they got for kicking him away.

'Now, let us see what happens when we clip and angels wings together...'

He reached out his hand, stroking the little figures head, patting it, before letting his own, dark energy flow through the grains of gold. Slowly the black began to stain, as the image twitched just above the girls head. Sophie was already squirming in discomfort as she saw herself in pain, weakened and turning into something she was not... something frightening.

'Without wings, angels can't fly? And what happens to an angel who can't fly?' Pitch mused, with cruel intent, the grin only widening until it was strained, alien and almost impossible-looking.

The wings of the angel seemed to disintegrate altogether, as Sophie whimpered. The sand figure leaned back, tipping over. Falling. Down... down... down... and fading. He chuckled a little as he listened to the taunting chants of the other nightmares that seemed to appear on the scene, laughing at the falling girl. The girl, who had begun to cry softly now, in reality.

'Oh, that's right my darlings,' the train of thought continued, as he stroked the fallen angel that collapsed in his hands, before getting slowly reformed by his fingers. He brought the new and improved dark angel closer to his face, looking deeply into a set of platinum eyes.

'She falls...'

By now, the angel had its wings spread wide, letting out a ghostly cackle. By now, Sophie was a sobbing, crying mess who hoped to wake up from that never-ending horrid spool of images that sat in her head, not wanting to leave. He called to the newly made creatures of black sand, his little dark minions, telling them to move along now. This was enough and besides; there were others to scare. It was when they slowly snuck out of the girl's subconsciousness, with Pitch taking a last, slightly less horrid glance at Sophie Bennett's sleeping form, that the scouting nightmares had arrive.

Including the one he had threatened earlier that day.

She had dashed in, almost crashing into one of the walls in the process, having luckily managed to at least transform from and back to her mare form whilst she'd been going through the window (or else she would have been the mare equivalent of a pancake, Pitch had guessed). Panting heavily, she looked up at her master. "Thuh-the l-luh-light is at the puh-puh-pole," she managed to get out of herself.

"Ah... so you do have good news to bare after all," the King of Nightmares spoke, before circling the mare, who had literally shrunk down to the size of a dog in his presence. He'd noted this with much glee.

The nightmare nodded rapidly. The others copied her gesture. "She is North's new guest," another nightmare informed.

He raised an eyebrow. She? "A female guest... how old, roughly?"

"M-maybe an adolescent. Oh-or a young a-adult. Can't say for certain," a third responded, shaking their head.

"She's odd," a fourth commented, with a snort and a scuff of a hoof.

"B-blue hair," the third nightmare added. "She's dressed in red. A-acts confused too. Lost."

"Shuh-she had called h-herself Lily... buh-but, that doesn't sound right."

Listening to them speak about the newest addition to North's family, he only grew more interested. This lost, confused girl- or woman, with hair, not quite the right colour and belief that doesn't quite befit an older person, was quite perfect for him to try and persuade. Though he would need time and a disguise. Sure, he could simply kidnap her and drag her down to his lair. Though, that would be a little too obvious. They would know for a 110% that this had been his doing. No one else's. As for Luna, she would have no ties to him. They would look for her right away and he needed to ensure that they would trust her with him (only not with him-him) so that he could get them to turn a blind eye to all this. Though for the most part, he needed to know how best charm the little light into believing in him. And hopefully forgetting about them.

However, to get to her, he would first need to get to everyone else. After all, this Lily didn't know who to trust. Jamie Bennett and his precious Guardians did.

"Inquietude," he looked towards the fourth nightmare. The horse seemed to puff his chest in pride as if it was a great deal to get a name. It probably was, but Pitch couldn't see the glory in it. "Keep an eye out on the Bennett family."

He then turned to the third nightmare. "Umbra," he called at her, as the equine seemed to shine at the newfound attention. "You will be on a lookout for other spirits."

"Tenebrosity," Pitch named the second one, who stepped forward, seem cooler around him. "Inform me about any moves the Guardians are making. You are welcome to give them the occasional jitters, but do make sure to remain undetected."

Then he looked to the shaking mare, who by now seemed to have shrunk to the size of a cat. "Nada." This mare did not look up to Pitch. Instead, she looked down in shame. "This time, you will complete your tasks beyond the expected standards, unless you wish for me to snuff out your insignificant life." The mini-mare took a few steps back, almost crashing into a drawer. "You will carefully watch over this Lily. You will not harm her, unless I permit it, or strike. You will not give yourself away and you will report to me daily. If need be, you will protect this life, no matter the cost." He narrowed his eyes at her. "Do you understand?"

She gulped, bobbing her head in silent acknowledgement. Sighing and finally giving up on scaring his own nightmare, he took a step back.

"You may all go now," Pitch said, "but if you mess this up, there will be consequences."

No matter how well they had taken that more or less one-sided part of the conversation, they immediately dispersed, with Inquietude keeping to the shadows of Sophie's room, until Pitch had disappeared, before moving to Jamie's.

Pitch, on the other hand, decided to revisit some of the other brats from the past, thoroughly enjoying the chaos that he created within their minds as they slept. It was much more challenging now and he had expected that, but nowhere near enough to prove a waste of time. For college students, they were still simple to scare, with common fears that they had held onto from childhood.

From little Cupcakes fear of beasts that would turn on her. (Betrayal)

To Calebs more complex depiction of violence. (Pain)

And Callum's visions of death, lurking around graveyards, with crows cackling at him cruelly. (Loss)

And sweet little Pippa's nightmare of people turning away from her, chatting behind her backs. Even things that didn't involve her, but the whole world, people turning against each other, spreading rumours and nasty comments. (Hatred)

Not to mention the fear that Jamie had, of disappointing his friends, losing his loved ones to diseases that he didn't have the money to acquire cures for and not succeeding in college. (Failure)

Each fear seemed strongest for each person, but there had been so many others that he had tested. With a big enough chance, he would return to using those fears against them another time. Though by the time he was walking down the streets, through dirty and forgotten alleyways, on litter-covered paths, listening to passing by cars and shouts, he was sated and satisfied... for the time being.

A/N - Well, I guess I owe a thanks for the lovely, one-lettered comment left by Guest. But seriously, thanks for reading. As too any potential queries (but feel free to ask any other question you may have):

Inquietude - Fear. This one will be the most confident of the lost and the only male of this group. Yes, they are technically Nightmares but that means little in a world where fears have no one form.

Umbra - Shadow. She stutters, but not as much as Nada. Therefore, she is smaller and doesn't have the confidence to take initiative, just normally accepts someone else's. Like a shadow. I guess I also had Umbreon on mind, from Pokemon, but that's a small thing.

Tenebrosity - Darkness. Darker places are usually cooler, so see what I did there? It came with a tinge of feminity but was harsh and ominous enough for a nightmare. And yes, I used a thesaurus. Happy?

Nada - Nothing. So far, she is "insignificant" as Pitch had said. He has no respect for her and she needs to earn this. I fought it funny and cruel and perfect name that someone as snarky as Pitch might give to the poor mare. She's a bit of a scardy-cat and will continue being like this, but hopefully will grow to be respected and less fearful. That is if she can put away thoughts of betrayal and focus. As you can see, the Nightmare war hadn't just affected Pitch, nor did it just affect his nightmares.

The fears. - I came to wonder what the fears of the five kids may be after they matured and what Cupcake's dream might symbolise. So I chose the most common and most sensible fears I could think of and tried to add some level of symbolism. What do you think, should the actual fears be in brackets or in the A/N?

Hollow Shades, Tartarus, etc. (All place names referred to by Discord) - Those are all real towns in Equestria. Look at the wiki. :P