It was dark and in the Everfree forest, isn’t it always? Somewhere within the darkened woods, an orange mare struggled to stand after getting slashed in the side by a serpentine monster, “BUCK!” She swore out loud as she felt the pain in her side, “Ah can’t believe that this guy got us by the nose.”
Before she could say another word, the four-armed serpent swiped his tail at the young mare and throwing her into a tree leaving a dent, much to the horror of a rainbow maned pegasus, “APPLEJACK!” She cried out, watching her friend slump to the ground.
“I-I-It’s alright, she’s breathing,” said a yellow pegasus as she laid next to the orange earth pony, laying a hoof to the throat.
Rainbow Dash looked to the struggling mare, seeing all of the cuts and wounds that laid on her friend’s body, “Thanks for the update, Shy, but you should rest there. You just let me finish this bozo off!” She said with a smirk, ignoring the blood trickling down her broken foreleg from the huge gash in her shoulder.
A white unicorn breathed slowly as she watched the blue pegasus walk forward slowly, trying her best to ignore the wounds on her friend. Trembling, she turned her eyes to where the broken winged yellow pegasus laid with the orange earth pony, neither moving that much and then she looked down at the badly injured pink pony in her forelegs, “Oh, I can’t believe this is how it all ends. Sweetie Belle, Spike, Coco, I’m so sorry,” Rarity whimpered as she held the earth pony close to her chest.
Rainbow Dash growled as she stood before the monster, her wings unfurled at full length as she glared her eyes at the giant snake. She knew that as injured as she was, she would not fare well against the beast; however, that did not mean she wasn’t going to give him a hell of a good fight. Letting out a deafening roar, the monster reared back his two clawed hands and prepared to slash at Rainbow Dash, only to find all four of his limbs ensnared by golden chains which then pulled his limbs back behind him. A guttural growl of frustration came from his throat as he looked up to the now parting trees of the Everfree, revealing the bright sunlight and a majestic purple alicorn flying in from the sky. As she landed, her golden shoes seemed to crackle with purple magic, “YOU WILL NOT HARM MY FRIENDS ANYMORE!” She commanded, her wings flaring as she stared the monster down.
“TWILIGHT!” Shouted Rainbow Dash and Rarity.
Twilight turned to her friends, smiling softly as she put a protective barrier over them, “Don’t worry, I’ll stop this monster from hurting anypony else,” and with that, she turned to face the monster with a determined look. Charging her horn up, she let loose a torrent of magical energy that began to shock and electrocute the creature. As he screamed in pain, the purple alicorn lifted him up with her magic and turned to buck him hard enough in the chest to send it flying into a nearby mountain. Not satisfied with her work, the purple alicorn sent out a wave of ice magic that froze the creature in the mountain for eternity.
With a low sigh, she lowered herself softly to the ground and turned to face her friends. Making her horn glow with a soft pink light, she surrounded her friends with a similar light and healed all of the wounds, “THAT WAS SO AWESOME!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash as she ran to Twilight to give her a hug.
“Oh, thank you Twilight. You saved us all,” Rarity said as she ran to her best friend and joined in the hug.
As Applejack arose, she looked to her purple savior with a smile, “Yeah, thanks sugarcube,” she said, wiping the dust off of her hat and walking over to her dear friend. “Ah don’t know what we would’ve done without ya.”
“You were so brave,” Fluttershy smiled softly as she hugged her friend.
“You were super-terrific!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, jumping onto Twilight’s back with an excited cheer.
Twilight let out a small chuckle, “It was nothing, really. I would do anything to save you guys.”
“Nothing? It was AWESOME!” Dash said.
“Thanks,” Twilight smiled as she returned the hug to her friends, “Now, let’s head back home. Everypony’s worried about us.”
...
Twilight, please, you need to wake up!
“What?” Twilight asked, raising her head from the guardrail, taking a quick look around for the source of the voice.
“I said, ‘wake up, my dear Twilight,” stated a white alicorn as she walked up behind her former student, “was last week’s battle so tiring that you are still feeling tired?”
Twilight blinked a few times as she looked up at her teacher, “Oh, no, it was nothing like that princess. I was just daydreaming about me and my friends, and how happy I am that they’re all here.”
“Yes,” Celestia said, a calming smile on her lips, “You and your friends have been through a lot in the short time that you have been friends. It is a cause for celebration, now come and let’s go and enjoy the peace and happiness that you and your friends have won us. Let’s rest in the glow of your many victories, for no teacher could be prouder.”
Twilight looked up to her teacher with a smile as she walked away from the balcony and followed her into the hallway, “You’re really proud of me, princess?”
“Of course, the things you have done, the ponies you inspired, and bringing back my sister. No teacher could be prouder,” Celestia said, a bright smile on her lips.
A deep red blush came to Twilight’s cheeks as she followed her princess, unable to bask a little in the praise that her teacher was giving her. Too involved in the praise was she that she did not notice the small bump in the rug, making her trip and fall. Grunting as she fell face first onto the ground, she looked up to see an extended orange hoof, “Thanks Applejack.”
“Come on Twilight, get up!” Applejack yelled.
“What did you say?” Twilight asked.
“Ah said get up ya silly filly,” Applejack chuckled, “Can’t have ya tripping on yer own two hooves now can we.”
“Thanks, Applejack,” Twilight said, before giving her a hug, “thanks for being my strength when I need it.” Twilight paused at that thought as she pulled away, “Why did I think that?”
“Coming, Twilight?” asked Celestia as she continued to walk, “You must not be late to bask in your victory and finally rest.”
“Yes, princess,” Twilight said, looking back at Applejack. Smiling a little, she continued to walk with her teacher, only to bump into Rainbow Dash’s chest, “Sorry Rainbow.”
Rainbow looked down at Twilight, a serious frown on her face, “Twilight, don’t you dare give up! Don’t you even think about giving up and leaving us alone...I’ll...I’ll never forgive you if you give up on us!”
“Dash,” Twilight said with a chuckle as she hugged Rainbow Dash, “I’ll never give up on anypony, you know that. I’ll always do my best and I’ll always find a way to come back to my friends. Even if I feel abandoned, I know you’ll come for me...even if I don’t deserve it.”
“Just making sure you remember not to quit. I don’t want to lose my best flying buddy, right?” Dash asked, nudging her friend before flying off as Twilight looked on confused.
“Don’t forget Twilight, a hero should also rest after their victory,” Celestia said, smiling, “a young mare needs her rest.”
“Of course princess, and I’ll rest after I’m done celebrating with my friends,” Twilight said, walking with her teacher. The warmth that she could feel from her maternal figure gave her a calming feeling, almost as if she could sleep forever. That is when she felt something hug her from behind, “Rarity?”
“Twilight, I am sorry, I messed your mane. Don’t worry, we’ll fix that up when you come back. Just make sure you come back. Spike needs you, we all need you!” Rarity said, holding the side of Twilight’s cheek.
“W-what was that Rarity?” Twilight asked, looking into Rarity’s purple eyes.
“I said, do not forget to come to the boutique when you are done here. I have some new designs for both you and Cadence that I feel that you simply must try!” Rarity exclaimed.
“Uh, thanks, I’ll look forward to it Rarity,” Twilight said with a smile. “Thank you, Rarity. You keep reminding me how to believe in my own heart.”
As this new thought entered Twilight’s mind, she stopped herself from walking alongside her mentor to look at a dark blue cat. Letting loose a gasp of surprise and curiosity, she followed the cat down the hallway, her mind thinking back to when she had encountered a similar cat in another time and in a dream. Racing after it, she quickly stopped as she reached the end of the hallway and let out a sad sigh as she watched the cat getting picked up by a white unicorn with dumpling hair buns, “Oh, I guess it was just a cat. Never mind.”
Turning around to rejoin her mentor, she found herself bumping into a yellow pegasus, “Oh gosh, I am so sorry Fluttershy.”
Tears began to flow from the teal blue eyes as she hugged Twilight tightly, “Twilight, please don’t give up. We need you to wake up, we don’t want to know what this world would be like without you.”
“Fluttershy, what are you talking about?” asked Twilight, looking at the weeping pegasus.
A soft chuckle came from the pegasus’s mouth as she wiped a tear, “I just wanted to remind you how important to all of us. You know we all love you, right?”
“Of course I do, Fluttershy. I always know...you are some of the most important ponies in the world to me.” Twilight smiled as she gave a big hug to Fluttershy, “Thank you for loving me, for being so kind.”
Again? Twilight pulled away from her friend at the sudden thought that came to her. For a few moments, she blinked in confusion as to why she had begun to think these thoughts and tried to figure out the why. Before she could continue to look into the reasons for thinking like this, she was taken by surprise by a small dragon grabbing her foreleg, “Spike, there you are! I was wondering where you were.”
“Please, Twilight, please wake up soon. I-I-I don’t want to be alone, don’t leave me,” Spike whimpered as he nuzzled his head into Twilight’s foreleg.
“Spike, what brought this on?” Twilight asked, rubbing his spines gently, “You know that I will never leave you. I love you too much to let you go, just like I told you back at the empire. I will NEVER let you go, my special little guy.” Shaking her head again to get the thoughts out of her mind, she lifted Spike up onto her back and let him ride with her as she found her way through the halls and back to Celestia.
“Something amiss, my dear student?” Celestia asked, looking down at Twilight with a look of concern.
“UH...no, nothing. I just thought I saw a weird cat,” Twilight responded, looking away from Celestia in embarrassment.
“It’s understandable, my student. You do tend to see weird things when you do not have enough rest, It why a hero needs her rest,” Celestia smiled softly and then nuzzled Twilight affectionately. “Rest is good, especially for a pony who has done so much like you have. As soon as you are finished celebrating with your friends, promise me you’ll get some rest.”
“I will, princess,” Twilight said, smiling at her teacher as she heard footsteps coming up from the hallway. Looking ahead, she saw a unicorn stallion with guard armor walking towards her, “SHINING!” yelled Twilight happily as she walked to her brother.
A grim look came to the stallion’s face as he looked down at her, “Twilight Sparkle, you have never given up on anything in your entire life, so don’t you DARE give up on us now!”
“Give up? Of course I won’t give up Shining, but on what?” Twilight asked, “Always watching over me, even when I don’t know it...aren’t you BBBFF?”
The stallion said nothing as he walked away, looking forward without saying anything to his sister. Turning around, Twilight began to try and call out for Shining in attempt to figure out what he meant, but was interrupted by a nudge from Celestia and was made to continue her journey down the hallway. After a few more feet, they soon found themselves in front of two large open doors enveloped in a bright light, “Here we are Twilight,” Celestia said, opening the doors for her, “Where you can go and celebrate all of the things you have done, the heroics that you have performed, the friends that you made, be loved by your friends, and a place where you can finally rest.”
Twilight smiled at this, but before she could walk through the doorway, her eyes caught sight of a straight maned pink pony, “Pinkie, what’s wrong?”
“DON’T leave us Twilight!” Pinkie Pie tearfully shouted, “Don’t leave me, don’t leave us. Please, just wake up and come home!”
“Pinkie, you know I’ll never leave you. Remember, that was the first thing I promised you guys back at the coronation. No matter what happens to me,” Twilight said, hugging her friend tightly, “I will do everything I can to stay with the ponies who need me the most, my friends. Pinkie Pie, the mare who can bring me so much hope to my life, thank you for being that little light in my life.”
“Ok then, just wanted to remind you of your promise! Remember, breaking a promise is the fastest way to lose a friend,” Pinkie Pie said.
“Forever!” Twilight finished with a giggle before turning to walk with Celestia. As she walked through the door and out into garden where she saw several ponies play and dance, Twilight paused at the steps.
“Something wrong, Twilight?” Celestia asked.
Wake up Twilight
“I’m sorry Celestia, it’s just...” Twilight said.
Come back Twilight
“It’s just...”
Please wake up!
“It’s just...”
WAKE UP!
“I don’t think this is real.”
And her dream world, remained unshattered.
A dark blue alicorn quickly pulled back from the sleeping Twilight Sparkle, the bright white glow leaving her eyes. Shaking the cobwebs out of her head, Rainbow Dash turned to the blue alicorn, “Well? Did it work? Did you save her?”
“We are sorry, Rainbow Dash,” Princess Luna said, dejectedly. Looking at the sleeping Twilight as she laid on the bed and attached to many monitors and magical machines, then back to the 8 ponies and one dragon that were also at the young princess’s side, “But it seems that, whatever has afflicted Twilight Sparkle, is powerful enough to keep me from helping her. It seems that she is trapped within that dream world for now. We are so sorry.”
Equestria’s Mirage 2: Dream Warriors.