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The Regal Dream - LIMBO.

THE REGAL DREAM.

Chapter 4: LIMBO.

Usurper.

Twilight wasn’t sure if the mass of water was an ocean, a sea or a lake. The salty scent floating in the air and clogging her lungs indicated it was clearly a sea or an ocean. She looked before her and side to side. The beach line extended beyond what she would consider infinity. There seemed to be no trace of Pinkie Pie anywhere. Twilight looked at the waves, crashing and rolling over the sand, leaving dark marks that resembled clouds, the foam crusting over the sand piles. Twilight coughed, cleared her throat and started trotting. She felt the heat, but there was no sun. Despite the sea moving she couldn’t feel the air. The place reeked with salt and rotten seaweed. It took her a full minute of walking until she saw something in the distance. A pink blur lying on the beach, moved by the waves.

“Oh no…” muttered Twilight.

The indigo unicorn clenched her teeth and galloped at full speed towards her friend. As she got closer and closer she could distinguish more details of Pinkie’s state. She was covered in sand from her chest down, and her pink mane was still flat and tangled in seaweeds. Twilight didn’t notice she was breathing until she was right next to her. The unicorn lowered her head and rubbed it against Pinkie Pie’s face.

“Pinkie. Pinkie! Are you alright?”

Pinkie Pie blinked, surprised by the clarity of the blue sky. She raised her hoof to clear her eyes but stopped as she saw it covered in sand. Shaking her hooves and her head, Pinkie Pie stood up, rolled to her side and sat down on her hind quarters as she smacked her tongue. Her mouth tasted raw and it was drier than a desert. She blinked a few more times until her vision cleared and finally looked at Twilight. Pinkie was confused, but Twilight looked even more confused to her.

“Is this Limbo?” said Pinkie Pie.

“It seems like it.” said Twilight. “Look at all this emptiness.”

Pinkie Pie shrugged as she looked around with Twilight. There seemed to be nothing anywhere but the ocean/sea and the beach line. Twilight noticed the beach line ascended and rose upwards right before them into a cliff. Twilight had never seen a formation like that in her life. The cliff was devoid of life or signs of civilization. With a sigh she looked past the yellow beach line and started to make out formations in the distance. They were mountains, and against the blue sky they looked grey and purple. Plumes and rings of clouds floated around the peaks, immobile. The ground between the beach and those mountains was flat, cream colored and frighteningly empty. Twilight couldn’t see any shadows or even a texture of something. There was no sand, no rocks, no grass, not even soil. The entire place was like an empty scroll.

“Where do we start looking for the Princess? She could be anywhere!” said Twilight with a drop of fear in her voice.

“Why don’t we start with that tower over there?” suggested Pinkie Pie, pointing at the distance.

Twilight raised her ears as she looked at the direction Pinkie Pie was pointing. There was nothing there but the emptiness of the ground and the purple mountains. Twilight looked at Pinkie Pie, her nose furrowed in anger.

“Pinkie! This is no time for your games!” reprehended Twilight.

“No! Really Twilight! It’s there, just look harder.” insisted Pinkie Pie.

Twilight rolled her eyes as she looked at the distance again. That time, to her surprise, she saw something. It was a thin grey line lost between the mountains. It was as thin as a hair and it had a spiky end pointing up to the sky. When Twilight adjusted her vision to the distance, her eyes in pain from the exertion, she could see it was a tower. They were too far away to notice any details, but it was the only clue they had to keep moving forward. Twilight felt the hopes of finding the Princess growing inside her again, filling her insides like a warm liquid.

“It’s really far away.” said Twilight. “Very good eye, Pinkie.”

“I try my best.” said Pinkie Pie with a smile.

“Come on. We have to get there as soon as possible.” said Twilight.

She had no idea how far away they were from the tower. If her calculations were correct, they had more than twenty six hours to reach the tower, climb up and bring Celestia back; but even with so much time on her hooves, she didn’t want to risk anything. Whatever that presence was, that devilish pony that put Celestia under such a terrible regal dream could alter the world of Limbo to its will. It could increase the distance between the tower and them, or force them to walk in circle endlessly. Twilight and Pinkie Pie left the beach and stepped on the plain of emptiness. The terrain felt unnatural and oddly solid.

“Marble.” whispered Twilight. “At least it’s not sand.” she then turned to her friend. “Are you doing okay Pinkie?”

Pinkie Pie nodded. Her straight hair falling over her face was still tangled in seaweed. Pinkie removed the weeds as best as she could and pushed the hair over her shoulder and on her back. She felt dirty but she didn’t care. All she wanted, with all of her might, was to get inside that tower and finish with whoever did all this. Her chest was still tight after Luna’s induced heart attack, but it didn’t bother her as much as she imagined. With the best smile she could give, she replied.

“I’m fine Twilight. Let’s get moving.”

Twilight nodded to Pinkie and they started trotting, their hooves making a hollow sound as they trotted over the marble plain. The ghostly sound echoed all over the empty extension and resonated in their ears, suffocating their minds.

* * *

Fluttershy was ten seconds away from the river.

She wasn’t feeling anything anymore but the tight grip of gravity around her gut. It was a dizzy sensation that always left her breathless and that she only experienced during cold winter nights or anytime a gust of wind hit her under the wings and threw off her flying. Her neck was paralyzed by fear and by the sheer force of gravity pulling her down. She wanted to check on her friends. To make sure they were okay.

* * *

Rainbow Dash left the jet packs floating in mid air before checking their fuel levels one more time. They were all full and ready. She then moved to the bungee cords pulling them close to her as she got closer to Princess Celestia’s sleeping body. With all the care and attention she could put on, she strapped the harness to Celestia’s body. The harness was flexible enough and it fitted the Alicorn’s body perfectly. Once she strapped Celestia and checked all the cords were in place, Rainbow moved towards Princess Luna. As soon as she grabbed Luna by the shoulders, the Princess of the Moon coughed in her sleep. A few blood drops came out of her mouth and floated in the form of crimson spheres. Rainbow looked at Luna worried as she checked the dried up wound on Luna’s chest was bigger than before. She tried to ignore it as she strapped the other bungee harness, making sure the wound wasn’t scraped by the cords.

“I don’t have much time…” mumbled Rainbow Dash. “I don’t have much time. Focus. Faster.”

As she talked to herself, Rainbow floated up to Twilight and Pinkie Pie, holding two more harnesses with her mouth. If her calculations were correct she could achieve her plan in three and a half minutes, but she had to keep moving. As she approached to her friends, Rainbow got her wings caught up on one of her desk’s drawers. Without gravity her wings were a mess and they flurried without control. She had to stop them from doing that.

“Okay, I had it with you.”

She pushed herself towards the wardrobe and pulled her set of bungee cords. They were colored like her mane and tail, and the clips that kept the cords in place had a lightning shape. With a smirk she slid inside the harness and strapped her wings tight to her body. That’s gonna keep ‘em in place, she thought. Without her troublesome appendages in the way, she resumed placing the harnesses on her friend’s bodies.

* * *

Luna limped away from her sister and the two ponies lying on the top of the tower. Her chest was fogged up in pain. Her wound throbbed in agony and her heart felt strangled after performing the magic over Twilight and Pinkie Pie. She never thought she’d have to use that magic again. With a sigh, Luna laid down on the floor and took a moment to gather her thoughts. Tears came to her eyes, swelled and poured over her cheeks as she looked back at the lifeless bodies of Pinkie Pie, Twilight and her Big Sister. She cried in impotence for not being able to save her. She made herself promise; if her Big Sister was in trouble she would come and save her. But she couldn’t save her that time. Luna let go a moan she held back since the start of that ordeal, as she finally rested her head over the cold stone, her tears falling on the dusty floor lifting small puffs of dirt.

“I’m sorry Big Sister…” whispered Luna. “I’m so sorry…”

She felt herself slipping away into the void. Its cold hands grabbed her flanks and over her haunches as she felt like falling backwards into a hole. As her eyes closed, without her perceiving it, a chunk of ground flew over her head and took away a piece of the tower she was standing on making bricks and dust fall around the three sleeping bodies. It finally crashed inside the ruined castle courtyard. Luna stood up, with a fire running through her veins and the cold fingers of death slipping away from her skin. She looked around to see the source of that odd meteorite and she came across a most terrible sight.

“You.” said Luna, her voice so firm it even surprised her.

Three miles away from the Palace the Ground Worm rose over its destroyed body. Falling into the void before had damaged the underbelly and the head of such abomination. The soft part of its body, the lower part, was completely gone and it showed the rocky bowels of the beast, a crumbling system of tubes and organs made out of tree roots. On the head, the left half was gone and Luna saw the remains of a primitive eyeball, milky white and hanging from what looked like a tree branch. The Worm had a mouth with a dislocated jaw which made the lower half hang loose in a grotesque gesture.

“You are not going to get any closer.” muttered Luna.

She pranced on the floor, snorted a cloud of steam and jumped from the tower as she extended her wings. She screamed the whole time from the pain and the adrenaline cutting through her body, but she couldn’t hear it. Her ears clogged with the cold air and the force of the wind, as she lifted mere meters from the ground and charged straight at the Worm. She had to buy Twilight and Pinkie enough time to find her sister and bring her back. Without looking back at the Palace, Luna rushed to the Worm and passed under his belly. She saw the pieces of rocks and soil falling from its decayed body. Wincing in pain, Luna flew upwards and charged an ice spell, her horn glowed white and blue and a trail of sprinkles formed behind her. The Worm was too slow for her and was in more pain than her. He was also bigger. With a blast of freezing air she shot a sphere of ice that traced with a white line from her forehead to behind the Worm’s head. The strong impact sounded like a rock breaking a frozen glass and the Worm wailed at the sky as it dragged its body and made the ground groan under its weight. Luna flew over its head and charged another ice spell but she had to stop. Her wound just yanked from the inside and forced her to stop charging up. She took a quick series of frantic sharp breaths as she looked down. Her wound gushed and bled down her front left leg, dripping down to the hoof. Seeing her own blood made her feel dizzy and her flight resented from that. She went down a few meters and got in the attack range of the Worm. The creature groaned and lifted a tentacle made out of weeds and roots from its mouth. The appendage flew in a straight line aimed at Luna’s head.

Luna saw the tentacle coming right at her. She tensed her wings and pushed her body up and forwards, a pained scream escaping her lips. She thought she could do it. She thought she could escape that tentacle. When the stabbing pain on her left hind leg made her bones explode and her flesh tear apart, she realized she hadn’t been fast enough. Luna flapped her wings as hard as she could, until they stopped hurting from numbness, moving away from the Worm. A rain of tentacles flew in her direction, but she was too far away from them to reach her. She furled her injured leg and stuck it to her stomach as she felt the warmth of the blood spreading under her skin. If it wasn’t broken she was sure something snapped inside, either the muscles or the cartilage. Once she was far away from the Worm, Luna landed next to a tree to see if her injuries were too severe. The leg tightened its pain around her gut and into her groin area when she tried to extend it and place it on the ground. She looked to see the pearly white hip bone sticking out. A trembling piece of muscle glistened under the moonless sky. With a groan of pain and impotence, Luna flapped her wings again and returned to face the Worm.

“I’m going to die either way.” she boasted. “I might as well do something before the inevitable happens.”

With such words filling her ears as she tried to convince herself of what she was about to do, she charged once again against the Worm as she ignored the shooting pain in her chest and in her thigh.

* * *

Twilight and Pinkie Pie arrived at the tower.

As they walked towards it Twilight had enough time to think of what to do with whatever lied inside it. As they got closer Twilight felt the surge of magical energy increase after every step they took. She knew it was the most Powerful source of energy she had ever experienced in her life. The only source of magic energy stronger than that was hers, and even with that she kept her magic power at bay and contained. She couldn’t imagine what lied inside that Tower. What could that entity, Pony or not, want from Princess Celestia? What would drag him, her, it, to do such terrible acts like murder her and trap her in Limbo? That sort of craziness was what Twilight couldn’t comprehend. As they took a few more steps they finally got a perfect view of the tower, and Twilight’s fur coat rose with a chill of fear.

The tower looked like it had belonged to a bigger edification that was no longer there. There were remains of big stone walls that flanked it, and rotten wood planks corroded by the pass of time and the poor conditions it had experienced. The tower was round on its base but it twisted with a sick pattern. There were bricks bigger than others and they stuck out under the beacon windows. All of the body had a sickening blue and grey pattern with pieces of fabric and flags falling still due to the lack of wind. On top of the tower stood a circular room that was four times bigger than the tower’s diameter. It looked abandoned from ground level, but Twilight noticed the roof was in pristine condition. The roof tiles were intact and they shined under the non-existent sun. The roof was purple and had white smudges over it, the tip of it curled down. Twilight had a dreadful feeling of familiarity with the shape of the roof striking her brain and squeezing her innards.

“I have this familiar feeling of dread.” said Twilight, so faintly even she doubted she talked.

“Huh?” said Pinkie Pie turning her head to her friend.

Twilight looked down and up again at the tower as they got closer to it. The tower kept getting bigger and taller in her eyes and by the moment they arrived at the base it was so tall she couldn’t look all the way up without hurting her neck. Tossing her mane aside she looked down again and looked for a door to get inside. The base was bigger than her house.

“We have to find a way to get inside.” said Twilight.

“Twilight, when we have to come back, we will feel the Fall, right?” said Pinkie.

“You want me to calm you down or to be sincere with you?” asked Twilight as she walked around the base.

“Uhm…Which one gives me more points?” asked Pinkie. “Wait, what were we playing again?”

“It will work Pinkie.” assured Twilight. “This is another dream level, just a dream level that’s really hard to get into. Now help me find the-AHA! There it is!”

Twilight’s triumphant cheer surprised Pinkie as the unicorn galloped to one of the base’s sides. There was a carving in the wall of bricks and stones big enough to fit a huge door. Instead of a door, Pinkie Pie and Twilight were presented with a gate made out of oak with hinges made out of steel. The bolts that held the re-enforcement plaques in place looked weird to Twilight. They were multicolored transparent stones. Her disbelief hit her so hard she had to say it out loud.

“This door is very odd. Diamonds.” her voice was devoid of emotion. “Who would use diamonds as bolts on its own gate?”

“A rich pony?” suggested Pinkie Pie.

Twilight placed her hoof on the door and she removed it immediately. The wooden surface was burning hot, a horseshoe shaped mark carved in the wood where her hoof was. She looked at her hoof. The edge of it was a bit red, but it didn’t hurt. However her actions did have a reaction. She moved away as the door creaked under its weight and opened. The invitation was received wearily by Twilight and Pinkie Pie. Whatever laid in there wanted them dead. Twilight knew it. She could feel the wrath inside the tower, how it filled the tower to the brim with pure vaporized hate. She could breathe it in the air. The feel of dread assaulted her again.

“Somepony is not happy with how life turned out.” muttered Twilight.

“Wha-?” asked Pinkie Pie, her straight mane shuffled to one side.

“Come on Pinkie. The Princess is in there, I can feel her magic…and somepony else’s too.”

Twilight stepped inside and the cold air engulfed her body. The temperature shift chilled her bones and made her feel dizzy. The floor was dusty and there was a spiraling staircase that went all the way up to the top. Twilight looked through the staircase shaft and the staircase shaft looked back at her with its corkscrew iris. She felt a few water drops scurrying under her coat which gave her a shrill feeling of threat. Her breath intensified as her horn started to glow. The magic energy in the place was so Powerful she feared losing control of her powers. She looked at Pinkie Pie and pressed her with head movements to get inside.

Pinkie Pie took longer to step inside the tower. Before placing her hooves inside, she looked back at the endless steppe they had crossed. There was no trace of their walk. There were no hoof prints, no marks of their tails dragging on the floor, and no puddles of sea water where they had to lay down to rest. She looked up to the perennial blue sky as Pinkie Pie let go a sigh. We are getting out of here, thought Pinkie Pie, we are going to get out of here and we are going to have a party. We are going to have the best party ever! That simple thought cheered her up. She felt one of her hairs turn curly again. With a determined look, Pinkie stepped inside firmly. As she stepped inside the door behind her closed with a thunderous slam and pushed Pinkie down on the floor. She hit her chin and scraped it. Twilight rushed to help her friend.

“Are you okay Pinkie!?” said Twilight.

“Yeah I’m…” Pinkie Pie felt her chin with one of her hooves. There was just a few scratches but she was alright. “I’m fine, I’m okay.”

“Whoever it is, it wants us in there with it.” said Twilight. “Let’s not make it wait.”

Twilight helped Pinkie Pie stand up and they began walking up the circular staircase. There was a metal pier in the middle of the tower that held the staircase in place. The wind, humidity and salt had eaten through the metal and it could barely sustain the staircase, which was quite feeble. Each time Twilight put a hoof on a step she feared it would collapse, but those feelings dissipated thanks to a realization: That pony wanted them up there. Her train of thought was stopped when Pinkie Pie asked her in an abrupt manner.

“Twilight, what did you say before?” her voice was that of a curious pony.

“What did I say when?” said Twilight.

“You were talking about…uhm, how was it? Oh yeah! A familiar feeling of dread. What is that supposed to mean?” Pinkie Pie cocked her head to the left as she asked the question.

Twilight took a moment to give her answer. They were half way up the staircase, the metal groaning under their weight, when Twilight started explaining this feeling that had been bothering her the whole time. When she spoke her words sounded as dry as her throat.

“Ever since we slipped inside Celestia’s dreams, I’ve had a terribly familiar feeling of dread. I felt it when we stepped in Manehattan, when we went to Cloudsdale, and inside the Everfree Forest.” She talked without even noticing if Pinkie Pie was paying attention. Her thoughts slipped out of her mouth as she organized them. “It feels like something isn’t happy with how its life turned out. It’s a feeling so Powerful that not even I can grasp its beginning and its end. It’s the feeling of a pony that is not happy with its destiny.”

“Who couldn’t feel happy with her destiny?” said Pinkie Pie. “We all get our Cutie Marks for a reason, because that’s who we are supposed to be.”

“I am not sure Pinkie.” said Twilight. “I don’t think this has anything to do with this pony’s Cutie Mark. I think something happened to her, and she’s been regretting it all her life.”

Their steps echoed inside the tower. The holes in between the bricks and the stones let the sun light pass in the form of thin white lines. They were three quarters up the spiral staircase. Twilight looked up to see a closed trapdoor. It was made out of wood so old Twilight could hear the creaks and cracks from where she was. There was a very audible crack as Twilight looked down to see that a section of the staircase had moved, but not fully collapsed. The metal groaned and clawed at the wall, leaving deep marks on the bricks. Twilight looked up again.

“We better hurry.”

They sped up the pace as their hooves clanged against the metal steps. The last quarter of the way up they made it in less than one minute. Pinkie Pie was as scared as Twilight when they finally stood underneath the wooden trapdoor to the room. The square door to that attic was rusted on the hinges and had sand and dust crusted on its lock. It looked like it hadn’t been opened in decades. Twilight reached a hoof for the lock and kicked it. It didn’t budge.

“Why don’t you use your magic?” suggested Pinkie Pie.

“I am not sure.” doubted Twilight. “There’s a very thick mist of magic energy floating in the air, it can affect my spell. But I guess we have no choice.”

She was terrified of the consequences if that magic energy went out of control within her body, but they couldn’t stay there kicking the lock forever until it snapped open. Her horn glowed as she charged a “Dismantle Spell” and focused her magic energy inside the lock’s mechanism. She felt the gears inside her head and got a clear mental image of what the innards of the lock looked like. With a few moves of her telekinesis and a few lucky guesses, Twilight finally opened the lock with an audible twang and it fell on the floor with a clang. The door to the attic opened and a cloud of dust rained over their heads. Twilight closed her eyes in the nick of time but she couldn’t stop her coughing. The atmosphere was suddenly charged with a thick smell of smoke and incense.

“I…I’ll go first.” said Twilight.

Twilight jumped and placed her hooves on the door’s edges. She pulled herself up without much trouble and when she had a firm step up into the attic she turned around and helped Pinkie Pie to climb up. The attic was in semi-darkness, the only light source coming from the door they just opened.

“Twilight, what’s this place? It smells…wrong.” said Pinkie Pie, furrowing her nose.

“I don’t know, Pinkie.”

It seemed empty and as Twilight started to panic and hyperventilate she noticed the steps going up before her. They were purple and blue with white light bulbs inside. They went all the way up to what looked like a stage with curtains on left and right and a sign that had blurred letters. Twilight could only make out two of them: G and P. Before Twilight could try and read more of the sign a blinding white light hit her through her corneas forcing her to close her eyes. She opened her eyes slowly and studied the room around her, now bathed in pure white light. The light bulbs on the stairs were on as well, their light not as blinding as the spotlights and more yellowish than white. Once her vision adjusted to the light she saw they were surrounded by magician paraphernalia. There was a set of dusty old cloaks hanging from a perch. Next to it there was a square coffin with blades stuck in its sides, followed by an empty water tank and two door frames without doors. On their right there was a broken vessel with rope coming through the cracks and a pile of magic wands snapped into pieces. Twilight and Pinkie moved their eyes towards the stage as a faint moan of pain came from it.

“Oh my Gosh…” Twilight’s voice sounded lifeless.

Lying on the left side of the stage was Princess Celestia. She seemed unconscious and tied up, with a handkerchief stuffed inside her mouth and a rope keeping it in place. Her legs were tied up and her eyes covered with a second handkerchief, that one blue. Then they heard the sound of steps over the stage, getting closer as the shadow of a mare pony started moving behind the curtain.

“There it is again.” said Twilight.

“What? What is it?” said Pinkie Pie as she felt her knee getting so pinchy she felt it on fire.

“The feel of dread, the familiarity… So much hate, so much relish, so much frustration could only belong to her.”

The shadow disappeared from their view as she stepped from behind the curtain and into the spotlight of the stage. The white mane, short and curled into a single lock, the coat was pale blue and her pose was of a prepotent pony that enhanced her smug smirk. The eyes of the pony narrowed when she spoke and her voice filled Twilight’s heart with contempt and pity.

“Frustration caused by your humiliation.”

Twilight didn’t know how to feel. She was disgusted and enraged, but also humbled and worried. She took a step forward as a confused Pinkie Pie stood next to the square door on the floor and watched the scene. Twilight stopped walking when she reached the first of the steps, as the pony dedicated her one of those hate-filled smiles.

“Hello there, Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight ruffled her brow and her nose as she clenched her teeth and when she said the pony’s name she did so with a voice filled with vile rage.

“Trixie.”

“The Great and Powerful Trixie, for you, Twilight Sparkle!”

Stepping on wet stones.

Fluttershy was eight seconds away from the water.

She didn’t feel the wind on her ears anymore. Even though her eyes were closed she could still feel the presence of the mechanized alicorns, flying towards her or just gliding in circles over the carriage. Her mane furled up in tufts that slapped her face and her mouth.

* * *

Rainbow Dash finished strapping the harness around Pinkie Pie’s body. She pulled her friends together and strapped them with a spare rope, next to Celestia and Luna. Once she had the four of them together in a neat group, Rainbow Dash pushed them out of her bedroom’s door and towards the house’s top floor. She grabbed the end of the rope she used to tie the two ponies and the two alicorns together and pulled them upwards. Directing her body with her fore hooves, Rainbow Dash managed to reach the top floor in no time. On her back she had the five jet-packs. They would have been heavy in the real world, but in the dream world and without gravity, she could carry them without trouble. She kept saying the same words over and over again.

“Come on, come on, come on, come on…”

She left her friends and both Princesses floating in the middle of the small room. The top floor was a place she used for weather observation. It had a removable dome made of clouds that Rainbow Dash kicked open. The blue sky greeted her. She turned around and returned to her sleeping friends. As fast and safely as she could, Rainbow Dash strapped the jet-packs on the backs of Pinkie, Twilight, Celestia and Luna. Once the harnesses were tightly tied, she moved to the elastic bungee ropes and strapped them to the ground using a set of wedges.

Her plan was risky but simple. With her friends tied to the bungee cords and these tied to the floor of her house, she would turn the jet-packs on. Those jet-packs would propel them up into the sky but the bungee cords would keep them in place, not letting them fly away. Once they were ready, Rainbow Dash would switch off the jet-packs and the bungee cords would pull from them, giving them the sensation of falling. She wasn’t sure of many things. I’m not even sure of my math here, thought Rainbow Dash.

“…But this is the best I can do.” she said.

She made a second check up on the cords to make sure they were in place and tied correctly before she strapped to one of the elastic bungee cords and strapped the jet-pack around her back. As she looked up through the opened dome she felt an uncontrollable dread haunting her behind her ears. She looked at Pinkie Pie and wished for all that she believed in for her to be okay. A groan of pain and a series of raspy coughs took her out of her thoughts. It was Luna. Rainbow Dash looked towards the purple coated princess to see thin tendrils of blood escaping between her lips.

* * *

Luna landed on the Palace’s entrance, with her leg shooting lightning strikes of pain through her body. The pain travelled down her spine and paralyzed her other hind leg, the one that was still unscathed. The worm was still alive and moving relentlessly towards the Palace, his disgusting figure getting bigger in the horizon. Luna couldn’t get close anymore. Each time she did there was a wall of tentacles launched towards her with intentions of ripping her limb by limb. The stealth approach wouldn’t work, and attacking it from the distance was pointless. There was only one way to take down such a behemoth.

Luna limped and flapped her wings as she flexed her legs up and against her body. She yelled in agony as she clenched her teeth until her gums hurt. Her eyes burned with tears and her head boiled with a mix of emotions. Even if it didn’t affect her good judgment, she couldn’t help but feel a strike of sorrow crossing her heart and getting into her head. She had to protect them. She had to keep them safe until they returned from Limbo. She was ready to give her life for them. She was gone anyways, she didn’t care anymore. With a groan and one last breath, Luna beat her wings faster than she had ever beat them as she flew towards the dislocated jaw of the worm. The beast roared with a pitiful wail as it snapped its head forwards and caught Luna between its jaws. Luna felt the earth getting inside her nose, into her eyes and under her feathers. She felt the roots tangling her mane and her legs and the feeling of suffocation took her over. With one last effort, she charged what she considered her most Powerful spell.

From the outside, the worm shook off and trembled as its head cracked from the tip to the back. From within the crack a blinding blue light came, cutting through the sky and the clouds. The under belly of the worm inflated and expanded, crunching the trees in the surrounding areas to its body. The soft tissue finally gave up and it tore with a crunching sound of rocks and soil breaking. The trees inside its body caught fire and a flare of white and purple shot from its throat as its vocal cords burned. The worm finally exploded in a thick cloud of smoke and fire that launched rocks the size of houses into the air.

Luna felt herself being propelled into the air as she lost perception of what was up and what was down. She opened her eyes. She couldn’t see with her left eye. The vision with her right eye was blurred, but she could distinguish the shapes. She could see the Palace growing bigger before her. As she tried to flap her wings to try and correct her direction, she realized they didn’t respond to her muscles. She couldn’t feel them either. They were gone. As best as she could, she covered her head with her forelegs and braced herself for impact. She passed through one of the shattered windows and landed on the floor, rolling over her side and finally collapsing against a wall. One of the glass shards stuck in her left eye. It didn’t hurt her, though she thought it was because the pain on her hind quarters masked the pain of the stabbed eye ball.

Luna rolled over her side and tried to stand up. She fell on the ground and the impact knocked the air out of her lungs. Her hindquarters wouldn’t move. They were either broken or blown to pieces. She didn’t care for either perspective. She had killed the worm. Her friends and her sister were safe. All she wished for now was to slip into Limbo and end that torture. She dragged over the floor with her forelegs. She had to get up the tower again to set the Fall for Twilight, Pinkie Pie and her sister. She left a trace of sweat and blood as she did so. She looked over her back to check her wings. One of them was gone. The other was a jumble of cut tendons and chewed sinew. She had to stop dragging to cough and avoid a vomit that scratched the back of her throat. She resumed her dragging, as pitiful as she looked. The worst part was the steps. She could feel her ribs bending under her dead weight on the edge of the steps and each time she pulled herself up. She only wanted to set the Fall and finally die. She also wanted to kiss her sister before doing so.

* * *

Trixie walked to the edge of the stage and went down a step. She had a haughty pose, that of the show pony she was. She wasn’t wearing her titular pointy hat but she was wrapped in a purple robe with stars stitched all over it. Her face contorted in a smile that was half madness and half psychological strain. She looked at Celestia, tied up and gagged, and then back at Twilight.

“Finally, Twilight.” said Trixie. “Finally, I will set right what transpired so many years ago.”

Twilight didn’t listen to Trixie. She looked at Celestia, lying down on her side, tied up and submitted to Trixie’s will. The mixture of emotions, the anger and the surprise confronted between each other only left pity and contempt towards the pale blue unicorn. She couldn’t believe that all the attacks, all the kidnapping, and all the pain they had gone through within the last…Twilight wasn’t even sure if hours, days or weeks had passed since they entered the dream world. Her mind was a hive somepony just beat to a pulp and as she tried to keep up with the events, a question raised in her mind.

“What have you done!?” yelled Twilight. “How could you put Princess Celestia under a Dream Trap spell!?”

Trixie smiled as she stepped down another step. Pinkie Pie lowered her head and snorted. She was ready to charge at any time.

“It was simple..” said Trixie as she removed the hair from her face with a contemptuous gesture. “The books that instruct how to learn and how to use that spell are forbidden but not destroyed. Getting them was just a matter of creating an illusion and sneaking into the library at the right time.”

Twilight thought that made sense. The Library of Canterlot never recorded any case of robbery for more than a thousand years, so the security level was quite low. Celestia’s mind however, that was a totally different thing. How could her teacher succumb before such a trickster and boaster as Trixie? She was just a loud mouth, with no real talent. Or was she?, thought Twilight, doubting her own speculations.

“But…Celestia…Celestia is the strongest, most Powerful-”

“Powerful!? Powerful! Powerful doesn’t mean invulnerable!” shouted Trixie as she raised her hooves in disbelief. “It doesn’t matter how tenacious you are. When you are asleep, you are defenseless. And Princess Celestia is no exception.”

Trixie was getting nervous and Twilight could feel it. The field of magic energy that surrounded her body furled and wrinkled making crackled waves around her horn and her head. Twilight was scared. She didn’t doubt her own powers, but if Trixie was strong enough to put Celestia under a Dream Trap spell in the real world, inside the dream world she could be nearly unstoppable. And if Trixie had spent so much time in Limbo, as she planned the whole thing, controlling the dream levels to her will, it also meant she knew how to do several things at the same time. Twilight realized, as she looked at Trixie, that she wasn’t looking at the same Trixie that came to Ponyville with petty fair tricks. She was before the presence of an unstoppable force of magic nature.

“What were you talking about fixing something Trixie?” said Twilight, going back to what Trixie said before. She had to calculate her words carefully. Twilight knew Trixie wasn’t right in the head.

Trixie’s smile faded away as she moved down another step. She was closer to the ground than to the stage. Her cape flurried and lifted from the floor as a glow of magic energy formed around Trixie’s hooves.

“Canterlot. Entrance Exam for Celestia’s school for Gifted Unicorns.” her voice sounded nostalgic, reminiscing in a memory she had kept within her heart for years. “I spent three years of my young life learning every single spell for that exam. I was in line, ready to impress the teachers with my magic tricks! Sadly, somepony else entered before me. A purple unicorn, with an indigo mane. A blank flank, unlike me!”

Twilight felt a cold hand squeezing her heart until it skipped a beat. She barely remembered anything from her entrance exam and much less the other fillies that waited in line behind her. She was so nervous back then. Nevertheless, her reaction to that revelation took her by surprise. She could only mutter a few words.

“Oh Celestia…”

Trixie kept going on with her speech, as she ripped Twilight apart with her words. Each accusation stuck inside the unicorn’s heart with hurtful guilt.

“Before I even realized, I saw the Princess rush into the class, passed right by my side without even noticing me!” Trixie pointed an accusatory hoof to Twilight. “YOU! You, usurper! You took what was mine!! You stole away my chance of getting into her school and becoming her Prized Pupil!!!” she said the last two words with disgusting mockery.

Twilight wasn’t sure how to approach Trixie without having to face her in a magic duel. She could see it coming by the way Trixie was moving before her, and how her horn glowed with a green veil. Twilight wasn’t sure if Trixie still had a good side left but she used her words as carefully as she could to try appeal to it.

“But…Trixie, you are putting the lives of everypony in Equestria in peril! You are risking the lives of all of them just for…for a childhood tantrum!?”

To Twilight’s horrified surprise, Trixie kept on talking without paying attention to what Twilight just said.

“I was devastated. All my efforts were ruined, they crumbled before my eyes.” she started crying. As the tears rolled down her cheeks her voice cracked and trembled. “I c-c-couldn’t look at my b-books the same anymore. I lost my appetite for reading, m-my curiosity died and faded, and all was left was just p-petty magic tricks.” her expression changed. Trixie tensed her shoulders and looked at Twilight with rage filled eyes. “And it was THOSE magic tricks what took me to Ponyville, and if it wasn’t for them I would have NEVER been humiliated by YOU!!!”

Twilight lost her temper. She couldn’t rationalize with Trixie; she was beyond the point of no return. There was no possibility to reason with her. Twilight looked at Pinkie Pie and Pinkie Pie returned her the look, as she trotted away and next to the pile of broken wands. Pinkie wasn’t sure of what Twilight had in mind, but she hoped it was a way to stop Trixie from doing anything she’d regret. Twilight tried to appeal to Trixie’s good nature one more time.

“You were doing it, AGAIN! You put the lives of every pony in danger! Don’t you realize what you are doing Trixie!?”

Before getting her answer, Twilight knew that Trixie wouldn’t answer to reason.

“I am righting a wrong.” said Trixie as she levitated her pointy hat and placed it on her head. “I am fixing a mistake I let happen many years ago. I am taking you out of my life.”

Trixie’s horn glowed and aimed a telekinetic spell at the squared coffin with blades stuck all over it. The blades shined the same color as Trixie’s horn and levitated in the air unsheathing from the casket’s thin wood with a sharp sound. Trixie turned her head in a violent circle and directed her eyes to Twilight. The blades cut through the air aimed at the indigo unicorn and the pink earth pony. Twilight pushed Pinkie Pie out of the way and casted a kinetic barrier to stop the blades. There were too many for her to stop. Some impacted on the barrier and twanged with a wobbly sound clattering on the floor. Others sprung on the barrier and stuck on the wall. There was one that got through the barrier and stabbed Twilight on her right shoulder, between the neck and her leg. Twilight was pushed back from the force of impact and fell on the floor. The pain made her scream like she had never screamed before and Trixie’s smug gesture of triumph swelled her face.

“I am the best.” mocked Trixie.

Twilight grabbed the sword with her left fore hoof and pulled from it. It burned, the metal scraping her bone with a raspy sound. When she finally pulled it out she realized she wasn’t bleeding. It pained her but she could stand on her leg. She didn’t have time to react as Trixie casted another spell on her. Trixie lifted Twilight in the air as the indigo unicorn started to feel a surge of electricity running through her body. She always felt that every time she teleported. Before she could say anything the world around her turned black and when she recovered her vision, she found herself inside the empty water tank.

“Twilight!” Pinkie’s voice got muffled by the thickness of the glass.

Twilight pressed her hooves over the glass. It was solid; the heavy glass panels were assembled by steel plaques and thick pins. She would charge an explosive spell but the shock wave would kill her. She didn’t know what could happen if she died in Limbo but she didn’t want to take any chances. Through the dirty glass, Twilight saw Trixie smile and her horn glowed another time. Twilight got hit by a water stream coming from the top of the tank. The tank started to fill faster than she ever imagined as panic took over her body. She started shaking and her breath turned rapid and frenetic. The water filled the tank fully. It was so cold it cut through her skin and into her lungs. She held her breath and dived down as she started hitting the glass walls, without success. The water surrounded her fully. Her entire body was at its mercy. She could feel it pressing against her nostrils, trying to sneak inside her throat through the corners of her mouth. Her eyes hurt as she forced them open under water. Her lungs were on fire, she couldn’t hold the air any longer. A few bubbles left her mouth as she kept hitting the glass walls to no effect. No, no, no, no, no, I don’t want it to end like this, not like this, her panicked thoughts took over her better judgment as her hits turned into frantic slapping.

Before she could get any more panicky, something from the outside hit the glass. It was big enough to make a hole. Small air bubbles entered the tank as Twilight made an effort to move her mouth towards the hole to breathe. Another impact made her swim back until her body hit the opposite side. A third impact broke the glass panel that shattered into sharp triangular fragments and emptied over the floor. Twilight was pulled by the water current and landed on the floor, taking short breaths of precious air. She looked to her right and saw Pinkie Pie. She had a pile of anvils standing behind her and a satisfied smile on her face.

“Sorry Twilight, I had to break my promise.” excused Pinkie Pie.

Twilight looked at Trixie; her eyes glowed with white rage as she casted a telekinesis spell over the glass shards and shot them at the magician pony with whooshing speed. The shards cut through Trixie’s cape and stuck all over her legs and back. Trixie lowered her head and covered it with one of her forelegs that got dotted with shrapnel. The glass shards tore through the curtains behind Trixie and destroyed part of the stage. Twilight stood up soaked in water and threw another telekinesis blast against Trixie. The pale blue pony got hit hard enough to make her bounce up in the air and twist like a rag doll. In mid air, Trixie aimed her horn at Twilight and launched her most Powerful kinetic blast.

Pinkie Pie got thrown against the pile of broken wands as her pile of anvils bursted into ash. The floor around Twilight vaporized in a cloud of splinters and the wall and roof behind and over her disappeared. Loose bricks rolled in the air and fell to the ground with crunching echoes. Twilight, however, remained in place. She had her eyes closed and a barrier of pure magic energy surrounded her. When she opened them, the barrier faded. She looked at where Pinkie Pie had landed. She seemed to be okay. Twilight then turned to Trixie, who had landed on the floor with a limp on her left hind leg.

“You don’t have to keep doing this.” said Twilight.

“This is all I have left!” shouted Trixie as she blasted a fire ball. The projectile hit the floor behind Twilight and set a few boards on fire. “This is all you left me!!!”

Twilight had to take Trixie away from Princess Celestia. With the magician unicorn in the middle of the stage there was no safe way for her to take Celestia, untie her and bring her back. She tried to appeal to Trixie’s good nature once again. Twilight didn’t want to give up, she knew Trixie was good, just blinded with rage.

“You don’t need to hold Celestia any longer!” said Twilight. “You wanted me. I’m here. Let Celestia go.”

Trixie held her fighting stance as she pondered her choices. Twilight could see her moving the eyes frantically, confused and unsure. A noise of rustling metal came from behind her as Pinkie Pie finally moved away from the pile of wands and approached Twilight with a slight limp. Her right hind leg was twisted in a weird angle. Her face was a mixture of pain and sadness. Twilight returned her eyes to Trixie as she discovered an expression she had never seen Trixie have: Regret. Her eyes were swelling with tears and her mouth contorted into an upset pout. The pale blue unicorn shook her head and blinked until her expression turned from regret to furious rage.

“No.” said Trixie. “No. No! NO!”

She lifted her fore hooves and when they hit the ground the magic wave travelled through the wooden floor until it hit the clothes hanger. The fabric twisted and curled and came alive. The sleeves stretched into tentacles and the coats extended until they formed gristly wings made of fabric. The clothes wrapped around Twilight’s legs and body, pulled her against the hanger and began to strangle her. Pinkie Pie jumped forwards as she pulled out a giant pair of scissors, but Trixie shot another kinetic blast to the pink earth pony that knocked her out. Twilight had a sleeve around her neck that tightened until her throat choked. She had a sliver of breath left that whistled beneath her lips.

“I have a much better grasp on magic than you!” shouted Trixie.

“N-No…No, you don’t.” Twilight’s voice was faint but thanks to the silence it was audible. “Y-y-you are j…just a puppet…of your…p-power.”

Trixie opened her eyes until they hurt and snarled in disbelief. How could Twilight not accept her? What did she have to do to make that stubborn unicorn listen? Her rage took over her mind, killing her rational side and forcing her magic powers beyond the limits she swore not to cross. The fabric tightened around the limbs and torso of Twilight as the sleeve around her neck was so tight Twilight couldn’t feel it anymore. Chocking and gasping, unable to breathe, she thought that was the end. She could see flashes, memories passing before her eyes. Her memories, going away, faded into oblivion. Trixie thought she’d be happier. She thought seeing Twilight dying before her eyes would bring her satisfaction, but all she felt was contempt for her, pity and spite. Her eyes filled with tears that rolled over her cheeks as she started sobbing, and the harder she sobbed the harder she tightened the sleeves around Twilight’s body.

“Don’t…please…” said Twilight, in a last attempt to convince Trixie to stop.

Twilight felt the sleeves getting loose. It was faint at first, but she could feel it. She looked at Trixie and saw the eyes inflated in tears and glowing red from the exhaustion and the sadness. Twilight could feel Trixie’s heart broken into pieces. The sleeve around her neck loosened and Twilight managed to get a few mouthfuls of fresh air before an anvil came out of nowhere and hit Trixie on her left side. The fabric lost its unnatural stiffness and let Twilight fall on the floor. She landed as best as she could and turned to Pinkie Pie. The pink pony was holding another anvil and her face was even angrier than Trixie’s.

“Now you’ll see, you big mean meany magiciany pants!”

“Pinkie, don’t!” shouted Twilight.

Pinkie didn’t throw her anvil. Around them the entire room was devastated. Half of the wall and half of the roof were gone, and the floor stood in place thanks to the pillars below it. Trixie’s magician equipment had been reduced to trash. Twilight trotted as best as she could towards Trixie. She had one leg injured and her neck hurt really badly, but she managed to get up on the stage and get close to Trixie. Twilight sat down and held Trixie’s body between her fore legs. The impact from the anvil had fractured her ribs and she was bleeding profusely from the mouth. Twilight looked behind her to see Princess Celestia moving, certainly awake and startled by the events around her.

“Pinkie, the Princess! Help her!” said Twilight.

Pinkie left the anvil on the floor and galloped towards Celestia. She ignored the pain in her hind leg as best as she could.

* * *

Fluttershy was five seconds away from the water.

She could feel the moisture of the river coating her back and the buildings entered her visual field in the form of giant moles of steel and glass. The pull in her stomach was about to break as she felt the surface of the river getting close to her.

* * *

Rainbow Dash laid on the floor of her house, floating a few inches away from it and next to her friends. After checking every rope and every jet pack one last time, she grabbed the remote that had all the engines connected to it. She then looked up to the sky as fear gripped her gut for one second. This is gonna work, she thought, this is gonna work and you are waking up. And when you wake up, you’re gonna give Pinkie a big hug. After those encouraging words, Rainbow Dash grabbed the remote and hit the start up button. The engines on the jet-packs roared with flames as they were pulled up at high speed. Rainbow Dash felt the bungee harnesses tightening around her waist and her chest, but not enough to cut her breath.

After ten seconds of ignition she felt the pull from the bungee cords as they reached the rope’s limit. She looked back and down on her house to see the ropes holding firmly. She then looked at her friends and the Princesses. They were all ready to let go and start the fall. She calculated how much time she had left until Fluttershy hit the water in the superior dream level. She had close to one minute before that happened. If she wanted to synchronize it correctly, she’d have to switch the jet-packs off when there were only twenty seconds left.

* * *

Luna collapsed over the floor when she reached the top of the palace’s tower. She retched a mix of blood and saliva as she pulled her body forwards with her fore legs. Twilight, Pinkie Pie and her sister were where she left them, still safe but not breathing. She knew they were not dead, but the sensation of seeing her sister and her friends dead like that was disheartening. Luna lifted her body’s upper half and charged a last spell with her horn. With a curtain of blue sparks, she casted a “Breach spell” that shattered the platform they lied on.

The fissures on the floor joined and formed bigger fissures until the entire platform turned into a spider web made out of cracks. Luna lied down on the floor as it shattered and placed a hoof over her big sister’s face. In one last effort that made every wound in her body scream in agony, Luna pulled her face close to Celestia’s and landed a soft kiss over her big sister’s cheek. She left a red mark over the white fur.

“S-see you in the m-morning, Celly.” with those last words, Luna let her head fall on the floor.

The last thing she felt were the cracks opening under her body, and her sister’s fur rubbing over her forehead. Then there was nothing.

Under control.

Pinkie Pie removed the ropes around Celestia’s legs and the handkerchiefs around her wings. The Princess fluttered her wings to loosen up her muscles as she stretched her legs. Twilight wondered for how long they had been down there that the Princess needed to stretch her wings and legs from the numbness. With Trixie in her arms, Twilight inquired the magician pony for answers.

“You did all this to get to me?” said Twilight with a faint voice, her throat hurting after the strangle attempt.

Trixie looked away from Twilight’s eyes to give her answer.

“Yes. I wanted to be…I wanted to be Celestia’s Best Student.” her voice sounded full of grief, guilt and regret. For Twilight it was painful to see Trixie in such a state.

Twilight hugged Trixie tightly and rested her head over her left foreleg as she hugged her close with her right one. She removed the white mane from her face and passed a hoof over her face. She couldn’t understand why Trixie was like that, and that was because she wasn’t the one that got rejected from Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. She didn’t realize how that crushing feel of guilt took over her heart and it was too late for her to push it away. She was already crying, feeling responsible for Trixie’s destiny.

“Twilight!”

Pinkie Pie’s voice shook her from her thoughts. Twilight turned around to see Celestia and Pinkie Pie standing up, waiting for her to come with them. The Princess had an expression of surprise and fear in her eyes. Twilight had never seen her like that.

“Twilight, we have to go.” Celestia’s voice sounded calm, even though her gestures indicated she was scared to death.

When Twilight replied, her words had a dead weight feel that sunk their hearts.

“I can’t. I have to stay here. Princess…” Twilight turned around and looked at her teacher, the alicorn she idolized so much. She then turned to Pinkie Pie. “Pinkie, bring Celestia back and make sure everypony is safe in the real world.”

“You can’t stay here Twilight! You’ll go dazy crazy and lose your mind!” said Pinkie Pie with the most exaggerated gestures.

“Pinkie Pie is right, Twilight.” said Celestia with concern in her voice. “You can’t stay here just because you feel responsible for the life she’s had.”

Twilight shook her head in negation, as she looked at Trixie. The magician pony was crying, but her tears hadn’t left her eyes yet.

“It’s not because of that.” said Twilight. “Luna must be dead by now, which means she has to be somewhere down here. I have to find her and bring her back.”

Celestia’s expression changed from concern to horror. She knew Luna was there with them, but she had no idea she was dead. A haze of feelings passed through her mind and her impossibility to pick one made her stand still in the middle of the stage. Pinkie Pie pushed Celestia’s side, ignoring any kind of protocol.

“My sister…Is she…?” Celestia’s voice sounded terrified. Twilight didn’t recall hearing it like that before.

“Come on Princess!” shouted Pinkie Pie. “We gotta go! Don’t worry for Luna, Twilight will bring her back!”

Celestia and Pinkie Pie walked to the part of the room that had been devastated. It was a perfect place to jump from. As they got closer they looked up into the sky and saw colorful rings forming all over it. They looked like circular aurorae borealis. Twilight could see them too. The way they expanded and cracked into angular shapes and sharp lines made Twilight realize of something: The Falls on each of the dream levels were occuring.

* * *

Fluttershy hit the water.

She felt the impact throwing her back and pulling the saddles and the straps on her sides tightly and around her waist. It felt painful but she endured it. She could feel the water surrounding the carriage without getting inside the cabin.

* * *

Rainbow Dash saw the clouds turning black and pouring rain in the shape of floating masses of water. The aquamarine spheres floated from cloud to cloud with amorphous shapes. It was the signal. She pushed the button, switching off the jet-packs. The moment of truth, she thought. The bungee cords tensed and pulled from them with the violence of a slingshot as they fell at terminal speed against her house. She could see Pinkie Pie’s puffy pink hair next to her as the sky grew smaller and the sensation of vertigo grew bigger inside her stomach.

They were five seconds away from hitting her house’s floor.

* * *

In the palace’s tower, the floor crumbled under the bodies of Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Luna and Celestia. Chunks of floor fell to the ground as they started slipping into the void under the palace. It was a hundred and sixty feet fall. The thunder of the rocks and the bricks hitting each other broke the apparent peace in the forest. It wasn’t long until the tower collapsed, dragging them with it.

* * *

Twilight shouted at Celestia and Pinkie Pie, as the reverberations in the sky grew bigger and wider. The sound they made was of thunder hitting drums with the wrath of the Gods.

“That’s the Fall Princess! You have to go now!”

A sound wave hit the tower and pushed Pinkie Pie and Celestia towards the void. Pinkie Pie managed to stick her body to the floor and hold onto one of the cracked wooden planks. Celestia couldn’t react in time as she gasped and was taken away by the air current. She gave one last glance at Twilight. Her eyes were warm and reflected the concern that had invaded her. Before plummeting to the ground, Celestia smiled. She curled her wings around her body, and that was the last Twilight saw of her teacher for a very long time. She turned to Pinkie Pie. The deafening sound of the waves was so strong Twilight thought it would break their eardrums.

“Don’t lose your mind!!!” shouted Pinkie Pie as she held to the broken piece of wood. “Find Luna and come back, okie dokie!?”

“I will!!!” Twilight’s voice sounded confident, but her convictions were poor.

Pinkie Pie let go of the wooden plank as she precipitated to the void. She saw the tower roof belittling in the distance as the air whirled in her ears. The pull in her stomach made her jump in surprise seconds before she hit the ground.

* * *

Pinkie Pie jumped startled as she felt her chest and her head. She was back at the Everfree Forest, on top of the palace’s tower. Next to her was Celestia, who had already woken up. They looked at each other with a startled expression and then down to Luna’s body. Pinkie Pie was terrified by how Luna looked. She didn’t have the time to count the number of cuts, wounds and general injuries she had. The floor they were standing on crumbled and shattered as bricks and stones disappeared under their bodies. Celestia pulled Pinkie Pie close to her as they fell again.

The floor finally gave in to their weight and the cracks, collapsing into the void. Pinkie Pie and Celestia fell, embraced and hoping they would wake up before a rock or a brick would hit them. Pinkie Pie experienced the same feeling of pulling in her guts, before she bounced again right before she hit the ground.

* * *

Pinkie Pie opened her eyes again as she felt the familiar feeling of the wind whirling in her ears and the grip around her gut. She was falling already, pulled back down by an invisible force. She could see her hair was back to normal. It was puffy and curly, and was bright pink. She wanted to look to her right but she couldn’t move her head. However, she saw a multicolored hair tuft with the corner of her eye. She smiled faintly before the force pulled her down without mercy. The grip around her gut grew tighter as she saw clouds exploding all the way around her. Then she bounced for the third time.

Rainbow Dash closed her eyes as she felt they were about to impact against her house’s floor. In a last effort, she tried to hug Pinkie Pie.

* * *

Before she could open her eyes, she felt the water hitting her face and the sound of the city in the distance. When she opened her eyes she saw the inside of a carriage, everything upside down and the water getting inside with violent spraying geysers. The windows broke and the water flooded the carriage. Pinkie Pie, Celestia and Rainbow Dash were hit by the cold liquid that sprang them back into an even bigger jump. Fluttershy got pulled by the carriage until the water surrounded her body.

The carriage splashed in the river and sunk in a matter of seconds, disappearing under the liquid surface.

* * *

Twilight held Trixie between her forelegs as she rubbed her face with one of her hooves. She felt weightless, which surprised Twilight. She wasn’t sure if the injuries in her ribs were too severe, but the bleeding didn’t stop and Trixie’s eyes seemed gone. She looked at Twilight. There was a very faint light in her eyes, pale almost. When Trixie talked she did so with a dry throat.

“Remember the time…when I went to Ponyville?”

Twilight smiled.

“Yes. Yes, I remember.” said Twilight.

“I just…I just wanted them to admire me. I wanted them…to remember me.”

Twilight’s smile grew. How could she think something like that? She passed a hoof over Trixie’s face, the touch made the magician unicorn shed a few tears that rolled down her cheeks.

“But they did.” said Twilight. “They admired you, Trixie. They still do. You will always be remembered as, The Great and Powerful Trixie.”

Trixie smiled, but it was a smile filled with bitterness. She coughed and cleared her throat. She felt her insides disappear. She could feel her organs fading, her legs didn’t answer to her impulses. She spoke out of breath.

“That’s…That’s ironic…Because I won’t remember myself when I wake up.”

Twilight bit her lower lip as she lowered her head and hugged Trixie tightly. She wasn’t sure why she did that, but Trixie replied and hugged her back. Then, with panicked slaps, Trixie mumbled.

“I feel it Twilight. I’m slipping away, I am fading.”

She couldn’t feel her legs anymore. With terrified eyes, Trixie and Twilight looked at them to see they were vanishing slowly. The vanishing grew bigger and spread wider over her body, past her legs and over her stomach.

“No, no, I won’t let you go, I’m holding you Trixie. I’m holding you.”

Twilight grabbed Trixie’s hoof with hers, but it only passed through it. Trixie lifted her hoof before her face to see it was transparent. When she flexed it, the hoof disappeared. Trixie’s body felt weightless for Twilight, as it slipped from her lap and on the floor. Only half of her was left.

“Twilight…I’m scared.” Trixie’s voice trembled.

“Trixie…” Twilight lowered her body over Trixie. Only her torso and her head were left, and her torso dissipated at a worryingly fast speed.

“Twilight…” Trixie’s short white mane disappeared. Her ears were also taken by the dissipation.

“Trixie, I won’t forget you. Do you hear me? I will never forget you.”

Twilight placed her hoofs on Trixie’s face. The unicorn had an odd expression in her face: Calm. When Twilight’s hooves passed through Trixie’s head, she didn’t even bat an eye. Trixie managed to mouth a few words before disappearing completely. Her voice didn’t sound no more, but Twilight repeated the words out loud.

“North tower…Storage room…” said Twilight.

Trixie gave one last nod, as the vanishing took over what was left of her. The pale blue face was gone first, followed by those beautiful bright eyes. Then she was gone. Twilight stared at the void left by Trixie, with a sob in her throat that she couldn’t let out. It strangled her throat, making her choke her tears. With a desperate groan, Twilight wailed and cried with her mouth opened, screaming in impotence. She hit the stage’s floor in anger until she chipped her hooves’ tips. Once she emptied all the anger on the floor, she looked at the hole left by Trixie’s kinetic blast.

“I have to move…” said Twilight. “I need to find her.”

Twilight left the stage behind, galloped towards the square attic door and slipped inside. As she galloped downstairs, not caring whether the staircase would hold her weight or not, she cried and gasped trying to digest the events she just witnessed. It had hit her harder than she first admitted. Once she reached the bottom, she pushed the tower’s door open and stepped into the empty plain. Not knowing where to start, Twilight galloped back to the beach. The doubt that assaulted her as she started galloping made blanked her mind.

“How do I get there?”

Returning.

“Rarity! They’re wakin’ up!”

Applejack’s voice was the first thing Rainbow Dash heard. She blinked several times, feeling dizzy but oddly relaxed. All her limbs were extremely relaxed, as well as her mind. She felt at peace. She stood up on Celestia’s bed, back in the Royal Castle on Canterlot. The Regal Chamber, with the white walls and the columns, and its changing painting on the ceiling, welcomed her. Rainbow Dash moved away from the bed as she stood on the floor. Applejack and Rarity came to greet her. Rarity went forward and gave her a hug.

“We were getting worried about all of you.” said Rarity.

“How’re the others?” said Applejack.

A feeble mumble came from Celestia’s side. It was Fluttershy. Rarity rushed ahead to check up on her friend. Applejack went with Rainbow Dash to see how Pinkie Pie was. The pink pony woke up, rubbed her eyes and looked at Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash smiled and raised a hoof to greet Pinkie Pie.

“Hey there Pinkie! How ya doi-?”

Rainbow Dash was cut off because Pinkie Pie jumped on her and wrapped her forelegs around the pegasus’ neck. Rainbow Dash was hugged so tightly by Pinkie Pie that all she could do was hug her back. Pinkie sobbed on her shoulder, but in between sobs, Dash could hear giggles and chortles. Involuntarily, Rainbow Dash cried tears of joy. Applejack left them alone as she went to check on Rarity and Fluttershy. They were hugging too.

“Are you okay Darling?” said Rarity.

“Yes. I am fine.” said Fluttershy. “I am so happy to be back. It was really dangerous down there.”

“But what in the hay happened with the Princess?” inquired Applejack.

A groan came from the center of the bed, as the group of ponies saw the magnificent wings of Princess Celestia spread open. Celestia stretched her neck, yawned and opened her eyes. She looked around making sure she was still inside their room. As she moved away from the bed, she stretched her legs and shook her head. She felt rested, but her face let everypony else see how tired and exhausted she really was. Her face was not of joy, but of concern and worry. Her silence sunk the group of friends into a worry bigger than before. Applejack and Rarity looked at Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie.

“What happened down there?” asked Applejack. “And why aren’t Twilight and Luna awake?”

On the right side of the bed laid Luna and Twilight, breathing peacefully. They didn’t move and if it wasn’t for their breathing Rainbow Dash would have said they were dead. Without Celestia intervening to say anything, Rainbow Dash turned to Pinkie Pie.

“Pinkie, you went deeper down there with them. What happened?”

Pinkie Pie’s face turned into bitter sadness as she curled her mouth down and looked at her friends.

“Luna and Twilight…We had to go into Limbo to get Princess Celestia back. Luna went into Limbo too. Twilight had to stay to find her and bring her back.” said Pinkie Pie.

Applejack and Rarity didn’t understand anything. Fluttershy curled her tail around her legs as she didn’t want to take part in the conversation. She was still recovering from the shock of the mechanized alicorns attacking her. Applejack was the first one to step forwards and require an explanation.

“Limbo? Whut’s that? Who was behind all this? We need an explanation, consarnit!”

“Applejack is right. You simply cannot tell us our friends are still in danger and expect us to sit down and wait.” said Rarity.

“That’s not important right now.” said Rainbow Dash. “We brought Princess Celestia back. Twilight will find Luna and bring her back safely, don’t worry about it. We’re safe now that Celestia can raise up the sun again.”

“No.”

Celestia’s voice struck them like a frozen blade through the heart. The five ponies turned to Celestia, who was in the same place she landed when she got off the bed. She was standing with her legs stiff and immobile, as she looked at her sister and Twilight. Her face had showed no emotions thus far, but a hint of fear grew in her eyes as she spoke the next words.

“I can’t make the Sun rise without Luna.” said Celestia.

Those words caused Rainbow Dash to snap. She stopped caring about protocol and manners and yelled at Celestia with all of her anger.

“What the hay did you just say!?”

“Rainbow Dash!” reprehended Rarity.

“No, shut up!” said Rainbow Dash pointing at Rarity. “You were not down there, you don’t know how it was!” and then returned her look Celestia. “What does that mean? How can you not rise the Sun without Luna’s help? You’ve been raising the Sun and bringing down the Moon for a thousand years. Why can’t you do that now!?”

Celestia took a moment to deliver a reply.

“When Luna returned to my side, I gave her back her powers. If she doesn’t come back, if she loses her mind in Limbo…We won’t be able to bring down the Moon.”

Gestures and expressions of disbelief and desperation were shared. Applejack threw her hat down in anger. Rarity put her face down and walked to a lonely part of the bedroom, only to be joined by Fluttershy. Rarity felt terrible and when Fluttershy got close to her she hugged her pegasus friend back. Pinkie Pie stood up on the bed with her fore hooves to check up on Twilight and Luna. She couldn’t even see their eyes moving under the eyelids. They had to be fast asleep and really deep into the dreams. Celestia didn’t even dare look at her sister and her prized student. She felt guilty and made unworldly efforts not to cry. Her chest was tight with grief.

In the overwhelming silent bedroom, Rainbow Dash was the only one who spoke up.

“So…So we’ve been through all this just to go back to the beginning!?”

* * *

Sea.

Or was it the ocean?

END OF CHAPTER 4.