Sweetie Belle had never played tag with a Phoenix before. She giggled as the flame-colored bird squawked a “you can’t catch me!” before flapping deeper into the Everfree Forest. She chased after him through the huge trees, ducking under their outstretched branches. But as Sweetie Belle reached a clearing, the Phoenix was nowhere to be seen.

“Guess I lost that game.” She shrugged.

“Eeeyup,” came a familiar voice behind her. Sweetie Belle turned, surprised to see Big Mac nearby. She had thought she was the only pony in the Forest today. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo had been too busy wallpapering Cranky Doodle’s new tree house, so they’d decided not to come along on her adventure.

Big Mac kicked a tree, and zap apples floated down from it, landing in a perfect stack in his basket.

“Do you need some help?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“That’s ever so kind of you to offer, Sweetie Belle,” Big Mac said, speaking in a cultured accent—a lot like Rarity’s, Sweetie Belle realized. “But I am not the creature who is seeking your assistance. There are times when one must look beyond what one sees, you know. Some things are clearer in darkness. Fireflies, for example.”

As though the word had summoned them, fireflies flitted down from the trees and swirled around Sweetie Belle in a flickering dance.

“I’m not sure I understand,” she told Big Mac. Or at least, it had been Big Mac. Now he had horns sprouting from his head and a long beard.

“Look to the leaves.” Big Mac/Not Big Mac winked, gesturing with a now paw-shaped front foot.

Sweetie Belle watched as the Forest’s carpet of fallen foliage began to shift, as though under the weight of an invisible four-footed creature. A path of odd hoofprints appeared ahead of her. Well, some of them were hoofprints. The others looked as if they had been made by… talons?

“Don’t forget your turnip-and-spaghetti raincoat,” Big Mac called after her before stretching his wings and flying off.

Now, that was weird. Wasn’t it? Sweetie Belle thought as she got on a pink-striped pogo stick and bounced down the footprint trail. It took a few more hops across a field of singing sunflowers before she realized that this had to be a dream.

And if she knew it was a dream… that must mean Princess Luna was nearby. At least, Sweetie Belle thought, that’s what had happened every other time she’d realized she was dreaming. Maybe Luna wanted to talk to her. It must be lonely being the Princess of Night, Sweetie Belle thought, staying awake when everypony was asleep.

“Princess Luna? Hello? Are you here?” Sweetie Belle called, looking around.

But there was no answer. And suddenly, everything shifted. The sunshine and warmth of the Forest was gone. In the sky, the sun had dwindled to a tiny, glowing ring of light covered almost entirely by shadow. It was an eclipse, Sweetie Belle realized. An icy wind whipped past her flank, and she shivered.

At the sound of crunching leaves behind her, Sweetie Belle turned.

“Luna?” she whispered.

It wasn’t Luna.

Sweetie Belle watched in terror as a fearsome creature stepped toward her. It tossed its huge head, and sharp, enormous antlers gleamed like silver in the faint light. Flaming white eyes burned in its shadowy face, and wings made of smoke unfurled from its back. Then, with a rush faster than she could blink, the beast leaped at her!

WHAM! Sweetie Belle hit the floor, screaming. She pounded her hooves against the creature’s silk hide. Wait. Silk?

Sweetie Belle opened her eyes to find she was on the floor of her room, battling her own bedsheets. Embarrassed, she realized she must have fallen out of bed when she woke up from her dream-turned-nightmare.

And suddenly, her bedroom door flew open. Rarity rushed in, her sleeping mask pushed up over her horn and her mane in curlers.

“Sweetie Belle, darling! I heard you screaming! Is everything all right?” Rarity asked, shining a globe of magical light around the room.

“I… had a nightmare,” Sweetie Belle admitted.

Rarity smoothed Sweetie’s mane with a gentle big-sister smile.

“Well, fortunately, I know just the thing for those!” Rarity soothed, returning in a moment with two steaming cups of chamomile tea. “Now, I know it’s been ages and you’re much too grown up for it. But perhaps, just for tonight, I might sing the rose song?”

Sweetie Belle nodded and sipped her tea. That lullaby always made her feel safe.

The two sisters snuggled up together, and Rarity began to sing. “A rose has thorns to keep it safe, but ponies have not one. A wild rose blooms where it is placed, but ponies seek the sun. A rose is sweet and beautiful…” Rarity trailed off.

“Its scent is lush and rare…” Sweetie Belle prompted. But she quickly realized that Rarity hadn’t forgotten the words.… She’d just fallen asleep. Sweetie Belle pulled up the covers and tried to drift off, too. But every time she closed her eyes, she saw the creature in her mind. And it felt as if it were watching her.