Fog clung around his hooves, his breath coming slow and steady. It made slight puffs of white in front of him. To his tight, and left he could see the puffs of other ponies. But that wasn't important. What was important was the field in front of him, that led up to the trees. Cold sweat clung to him in the cool morning. Though it wasn't technically morning. Or more to say it had been locked in morning for several days now. And now it was time.
In the distance, he heard the cry, “For Celestia!” And it was taken up and carried far and wide.
From behind him came the call, “For Luna!” This was taken up by those around him, and himself as well. Then he ran. His armor clattered, as did those beside him. They broke the tree line, and light flared over all, armor glittering in the distance as the army charged them. Then came the rain. But it was not the rain of water, but stones. It was odd watching it, the large stone. He swore he could almost make out the pony who pulled the lever of the device, and watched it soar over the entire field. Then everything went black.
~
He gasped for air, sitting up quickly in bed. It took him several moments to realize where he was. “Damn you Celestia...” He said as he moved slowly off the bed, and onto the floor. The same dream, every night, for ever. It was her reminder that those who oppose her, suffer. Even their descendants suffer. Just because his family had sided with Luna almost a thousand years ago, he had to relive his great great whatevers life of the battle. Thankfully it had been short. But it had been so hard when he was younger, just trying to remember who he was. He was Corser. Not Betlara. He took a deep breath, and moved to the basin of water. He had no wife, and no child waiting for him at home. He was home right now, as pathetic as that felt. He was Corser. A unicorn tasked with being the night for Ponyville, and the surrounding area.
He paused at the window, staring at the black curtain. He pushed it slightly, and light spilled onto the floor, but it was the evening sun. It fell back as he walked to the basin. He stared at his reflection a moment, concentrating on the gray of his eyes, the inky black blue of his coat and the white of his mane. Then he thrust his face into the cold water. That was how he woke up in the evening. Every night. A quick stretch, and a shake, before heading outside into the evening. He paused, to look at the picture beside the door. It was the only decoration in the entire house. A picture, of Luna. Or, Nightmare Moon as she had started calling herself near the end. It was old, and faded. But it was the only thing that truly felt his.
It was to relieve stress on Celestia, give control of the night to local unicorns that could do it, and Corser was one of them. Not the best, but good enough that Celestia tasked him with the Everfree Forest. The hardest part, was keeping things safe for all of the ponies in Ponyville. Lots of things wanted into the village once it got dark. And he was there to keep them out.
Memories of his youth passed through him as he tried to force the nightmare out. No one kept them away from him. Celestia would give no comfort to the descendants of Luna's supporters. One of the last descendants. He wondered if he would ever meet any. Then his thoughts turned to his parents, and he forced away memories of soothing words from his mother when he woke up screaming. Or crying out for Marda. One of his ancestors wife. He probably had all, if not most of the memories now. No one wanted anything to do with the supporters. They had had a name a long time ago, but no one remembered it now. Which was just as well. It wasn't a nice name. But because of this they had sought the comfort of other supporters. But those numbers dwindled as well, mostly due to... Not being able to take the nightmares.
Ponies said that it was a fitting punishment for opposing Celestia, when the alternative was death. But so many had chosen death after having to deal with that. The only reason he hadn't snapped yet, was because it was different every night. Every night he saw the battle from a new perspective. It was hard to tell when they started over as they never went in the same order. What little blessing that was.
To him, it was cruel. Though he saw the need for them to be made an example of. But why punish their descendants? He looked up, he was already at the Everfree Forest, and the sun was just about down. “Well... Time to start.” He closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. With a bit of effort, he felt the sleight weight. He wasn't sure how many other ponies assisted him, not many it seemed. As they grew in power, so did their area of influence. Nowadays it felt as though he lifted the moon by himself. Or with Celestia's assistance anyways. The moment he felt her power come close, he opened his eyes, and stopped. The moon merely took effort to raise. But Celestia took over from there. Corser felt he could probably keep it coasting without any effort at all. He closed his eyes again, focusing this time on the next task.
To sleep, and dream was the difficult part. He had battled monsters, dragons and the like, but they where easy compared to sleep and dreams. Mostly dreams. It took only a nudge to get most ponies to sleep, though others needed a firm hoof to the head to get them out, as it where. But dreams. Dreams where troublesome. Good dreams came so easily. But nightmares where always tried so hard. That's why the Everfree Forest was allowed. It held the nightmares. He focused on the trees, and began walking the edge. All the nightmares that anypony might have. Sometimes, they took shape. You got terrible things. Hydra'. Manticores. Cockatrices. Timberwolves. Parasprites. Monsters in other words, or annoyances. Some of them where not so bad. They where just meant to cause fear, and did so by merely existing.
He shuddered as he felt Celestia's magic pass him in the other direction. He merely needed to walk a few miles, and that would get the magic going. It would travel to the next ponies start, and then to the next from there's. It was taking a lot more effort lately. And Celestia would go over it all, from Canterlot. He despised her. Just for the dreams. But that was deserving of a lot of hate. He wondered if she even remembered what she had done to him, and all those before him. He could not even gain audience with her. And he had tried. So many times. But all he ever got was excuses. The Princess was too busy for a “Unicorn such as you.” Such as you. That had infuriated him. Many ponies knew he was a descendant of the supporters. Especially in the palace. He had never even seen her.
But he had felt her. Felt her magic and power. And it hurt. It burned him, and left him feeling miserable for quite a while. It just made him feel worthless, like his life was a mistake and he only existed because she allowed him to. Though he used this, taking it as a personal insult to her that he refused to just lay down like the rest, and beg for mercy. Of course he wanted the nightmares to end, to ask her to take them away. But he would never beg. He would rather deal with the nightmares than beg for anything from her.
Next was sleep. Now that the nightmares had been essentially been taken care of, it was time to put the ponies to sleep. He had to focus for this. There where so many ponies. So many minds that took a little nudge, or a shove to get them to sleep. His favorite where the ones already asleep. How far did his range extend now? He never bothered to check anymore. Not since he managed to take the surrounding towns near Ponyville. He knew he was beyond them, and those after. How far though? It was not easy to check, but he would have to write a letter to the Dreamer and ask him what area he was responsible for. Dreamer was the one who picked unicorns for the job, and saw that they got trained properly. Even he got audiences with Celestia. Or where they more like meetings? What sort of things did they discuss? He realized that he didn't care.
Maybe he had already snapped? That thought crossed his mind quite a lot. He hardly talked to anypony, he made them nervous, so he couldn't get a second opinion. But that wasn't a problem. Not really anyways. There where worse things, or so his father had told him, then being crazy. Though he never understood why being crazy was a bad thing. Perhaps that was further proof. It didn't matter now. He needed to walk the town now. Well, he didn't need to, it just made him feel better.
Everything was quiet, and most lights where out by now. Only a few late nighters stayed up this late. Often he wondered what they did this late. What was so important that it could not wait till morning? The doors where always locked by this time. Nopony wanted to be out this late. Nopony but him. After all, it was his talent. He looked at his cutie mark a moment, thirteen stars. One in the center, five around it, and then seven around the outside. It always made him feel better to think about it. Stars where comforting. That's right. Think about stars. Don't think about how you spend your time making life easier for someone you despise. That you have no friends. That no one knows your name. Especially don't think about how ponies are pretty much afraid of you. You help ponies. Great, he had made himself depressed.