War over the Sun

by starfox64x

Ch 8. Forget the Pain

War over the sun, Chapter 8

The girls gathered together in the Apploosa inn, all chatting together about the victory to help the Zebra population. They were all happy to see the zebras smiling, especially their friend Zecora when she was finally reunited with her father. They all sat together in the middle of the room while Twilight and rarity brought over a dozen towels for everyone to use. The heavy rain had soaked most of them to the bone, and they were all eager to get back to a much drier state.

Fluttershy had a deep blush on her face, one that had appeared as they were walking through town. She had noticed the looks they were getting from the stallions in town as they were on their way to the inn. She had heard of the interest in wet manes many guys seemed to have, and the idea that the guys were staring because of that embarrassed her a bit. “Did anyone notice the guys staring at us?” she hoped that she wasn’t the only one who had seen it.

Most of the girls seemed to be oblivious, but Rarity let out a little giggle, “Oh boys can’t help it… They think it’s cute when our manes are wet… Isn’t that right Spike?”

Everyone looked over toward Spike, who had been staring at Rarity since they left. Once he realized he was being called out he blushed a deep red, “I uh… well um…”

Rarity giggled, pulling him over and pecking his cheek, “Silly Spike, you know I don’t mind you staring… It’s cute.” She pulled him close, a loving tender smile on her face.

Spike was still bright red, more so now in her arms than before. He still wasn’t suite use to being loved by someone, at least in this sense, so it was an unfamiliar feeling to love someone and be loved in return.

Everyone smiled at the cute couple, Rainbow dash even chuckled at the almost sickeningly cute scene. She pulled the towel back over her head, ruffling her hair up in an attempt to dry it.

Applejack moved to another topic that had her concerned, “You doing alright over there, Rainbow Dash?”

Rainbow heard her name from beneath the towel. She removed it from her head, revealing a fuzzy mess of rainbow hair on her head. “Yeah! Actually I’m doing amazing! The doctor came and used her magic, and told me it was really easy to fix everything because of Zecora’s potion… Oh! I never did thank her…” she bit her lip, looking out the window. She considered rushing over to the town again to thank her real quick, but the rain was falling much too hard for her to want to go back out again, “don’t let me forget to thank her next time I see her!”

“heh, Sure Dash.” Applejack smiled, she was glad her friend was feeling better… but of course, she was still concerned… the look of defeat in her eyes as she sat in the hospital bed bandaged and bloodied… how she cried into her friends arms, fearing her own death. It wasn’t an image that would be leaving her memory soon, “You sure you’re okay though? You took a quite a tumble when you ran into the chief’s house.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine, I’m good as new!” she insisted before going back under the towel to continue drying her hair.

“So what next?” Pinkie pie spoke up, the towel rest around her neck. Her hair seemed to poof back up to normal without any issues.

“Well, I suppose we just head back home…” Twilight replied, her own hair a poofy mess that needed to be tamed by a comb, ”Maybe go to Canterlot to see about the Princess, and make sure she’s doing well.”

“Yes, I think that would be best.” Rarity spoke up as she pulled out a brush, brushing her own hair as she held spike gently to her chest, whom didn’t seem to mind the attention at all. “I’m sure we’re all hoping that she is well.”

“Than it’s decided… We head to Canterlot!” Twilight cheered, causing the others to let out a cheer as well. The group continued their chatter, enjoying their time together before deciding to head to bed, hoping to get some rest before the long train ride back home.

The group gathered into the train, all in their own private cars at the end, the caboose and the one in front of it were all theirs. Traffic towards Ponyville and Canterlot wasn’t doing too well since the attacks; most ponies who hadn’t decided to stay in their homes were heading as far away from Dragon territory and the capital as they could. It was a lucky break for the girls though, plenty of room for them to stretch out their legs and enjoy the ride.

Most of the girls were chatting and enjoying their relaxing trip in the next to last car… but Twilight found herself alone in the caboose… lost in thought. Spike had grown concerned about her and left the other to investigate, “Hey Twilight?” She didn’t answer, she was delving deep into her own thoughts and didn’t even know he was there, “You okay Twi?” he quietly approached her, gently tapping her shoulder. She jumped at the touch and quickly looked over to him, “Oh! Hey Spike… You okay?”

“I’m fine, it’s YOU I’m worried about… you seem really out of it, what’s wrong?” he seemed genuinely concerned with her. His friend since birth was feeling down and distant and he wanted to know why.

“I’m just… thinking... about this whole mess.” She told him, scooting over so he could join him. “Ponies are going to get hurt… DRAGONS are going to get hurt… plenty of creatures that want nothing to do with this are going to get hurt over something one guy says belongs to him… I just wish there was a way to avoid anyone getting hurt.”

“I know Twilight… It’s not an easy thing for anyone to think about, and there’s no clear cut answer.” Spike leaned against her, hugging her gently. “Maybe things will calm down before things get out of hand… maybe the dragon leader will just say ‘Eh, it’s not that important’. Or maybe you and Celestia will think of a way to get things straightened out in a peaceful way.”

“Maybe… I hope someone does…” she nuzzled against her friend gently; glad to have him by her side, “I just hope we get through this with as few people hurt as possible…”

“We will, Twilight, as long as you’re the leader of our little group, we can handle anything that life throws at us… You’re a smart pony, you always think of the right thing to do.” he hugged her tightly around her waist, but a sudden grumbling from inside her made him move back.

“Oh, yeah, did I mention that? My stomach is a bit unsettled as well…” She was blushing a bit now, having almost forgotten the whoel reason she stepped away from the others, “Another reason why I came back here to be alone…”

“Oh? You think you’re gonna be sick?” he asked, thinking about getting something from Fluttershy’s first aid kit.

“n-no… it’s um… Gas actually, I think something they served at the inn wasn’t quite right… you don’t smell it?” she was amazed he stayed with her THIS long with that… unsavory aroma wafting in the air…

“No, not really… You know I’ve never been good with smelling bad smells. Fire breathing really clogs up your sinuses.”

Their attention was directed toward the door; Rainbow Dash was taking a look inside for the two, “Hey! You two alright in here? You’ve been gone a lo-… Whoa! Jeez! Spike! What on earth did you do in here?”

“Sorry Dash!” Spike quickly spoke up, hiding Twilights bright red cheeks, “Breakfast isn’t settling well with me.”

“Yeah, APPARENTLY! YOU should be locked up in here alone, not Twilight…” she waved her hoof in front of her face, trying to get the smell far away from her face as she tried to escape the car. “I was just checking on you two… Bye.”

Twilight snuggled against Spike once again, “Thanks Spike, you’re too sweet.”

“Hey! It’s what a number one assistant does for his number one friend.” He hugged her once more before hopping down from the bed, “Hope you feel better soon, and don’t stay in here too long…” he waved goodbye before heading out the door.

Twilight sighed, laying her head back down. Her stomach wasn’t going to give her a break, so she thought she’d try to sleep it off. As she laid there resting with her stomach rumbling, she couldn’t help but think about the situation more… certain words and phrases seemed to stick as she slowly lost consciousness, ‘as few people hurt as possible’, ‘best solution’… but one thing Spike said seemed to stick strangely to her mind… ‘Our leader’. She felt it seemed strange in her mind, although she did seem to lead the group often. She didn’t think of herself as much of a leader, but she couldn’t help but think of all the times she led her friends to success. Winter Wrap up and Applebucking season seemed to stick out the most, where she took a problem and led everyone to getting things done in a proper fashion. Even with all that though, the word ‘leader’ seemed to bother her. The only leader she could think of was Celestia, the one person she respected more than anyone. The one person she knew would lead everyone to happiness. She couldn’t bring herself to give herself the title of ‘leader’ when the person she considered to be her leader was so much more than she could ever be, at least in her eyes. But soon, these thoughts too seemed to fade as the world around her blacked out and left her to sleep a dreamless sleep…

She shifted under the covers, just beginning to regain consciousness. She felt the bed beneath her and the cover tangled up around her body from an apparently eventful night of tossing and turning. She tugged on the blankets, pulling it more and more closer to her. She found it strange that she couldn’t seem to find the end of it even though the train bed was so small. Another curious thought came to mind. The blanket seemed much more plush, thicker and smoother than the somewhat rough and thin blankets the train provided. She finally opened her eyes and looked at the blanket in her hoof. She held a royal purple blanket that seemed so familiar to her, but at the same time to see it here was odd. She blinked hard a few times, seeing a few light sources around her, candles scattered around. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and took another look around. She was in one of the bed chambers of Canterlot Castle. Her eyes widened as she continued to look around. Outside it seemed relatively dark, possibly some light coming from the courtyard, but not much else. Around her were candles scattered on the mantle above the fireplace and one on each side of her bed. She was a bit scared now; she had no memory of getting to Canterlot, or anything after the train ride. It wasn’t even a blurred memory, it was just nothing. She quickly jumped off the bed and immediately tripped over something. She rolled over, looking at the objects that had tripped her up.

The royal shoes that Princess Celestia had always worn had been tossed around by Twilight own feet. All four were scattered now, but even so their gold coating shimmered in the dim light. She moved over, sitting up and lifting one up, eying it carefully. She had been with the princess for years, so she knew what her attire consisted of. There was no doubt in her mind that this was an exact copy of them. Another gleam of gold caught her eye on the nightstand, two more familiar objects sat beside her. Another set of copies of Celestia’s royal garb; her collar, complete with the perfect purple jewel in the center, and of course, the crown with the matching jewel. She examined them carefully, they weren’t nearly as big as Celestia’s, none of them were. They were all obviously made recently for a much smaller pony… but what were they doing in this room?

She quickly got to her feet and began to search, first taking a look out the balcony and over the large vista that she could see. The closest thing was the courtyard, dimly lit by various torches and a few decorative firepits, nothing out of place there. However as her gaze moved to further destinations, thing became quite odd looking. Ponyville was easy to see from the dozens of lit homes. In fact it seemed as though every home in the town was lit up. It seemed strange to see the town still alive at this hour. It was pitch black out and yet it seemed like all the residents were wide awake and carrying on with things. Finally she looked even further, just able to see the Everfree forest, and of course, Sweet Apple Acres. What struck her as odd were the large orbs of light floating around the farm, lighting up the hundreds of apple trees with a bright light. Were they searching for something? Maybe it was to keep an eye on anyone sneaking around, although she wondered why something like this wasn’t brought up before. Another thing seemed to snap into place in her mind; the view from this particular window. It wasn’t her normal room, or any of the guest rooms she stayed in. it wasn’t a mystery to her though, she knew EXACTLY which room she was in. This was Princess Celestia’s bed chamber. It made more sense now to find the Princess’ clothes here, but then what was SHE doing in her room?

She decided to search the castle; she needed to know what was going on. She quickly left the room and headed down the steps in search of anypony to tell her what was going on. It wasn’t long before she found a pair of guards chatting together at the bottom of the steps. One noticed her out of the corner of his eyes and immediately stood at attention. The other quickly followed his friend’s actions, but Twilight just smiled, “you two should know you don’t have to be so formal around me… but tell me, where can I find Princess Celestia?”

The two seemed confused, giving each other an odd glance before one finally answered, “Uh, well, she’s in the garden… just as you requested…”

She blinked, “I requested her to be in the garden?” The guards shared another awkward glance, but nodded, “Well… okay… if you say so, thank you.” She started to walk away again, glancing back at the guards. Both seemed dumbfounded by her words, and she couldn’t help but feel the same way, having no idea what they meant. They began to whisper to one another, although Twilight couldn’t quite hear them.

She continued down the tower, suddenly noticing Rainbow Dash hovering down another hall, “Rainbow Dash!” she called out to her when she spotted her. The Rainbow Mane was covered in a golden helmet, dotted with gemstones, along with an elaborate looking breastplate, “Playing dress up Dash? I didn’t think you were the type.” She giggled as she approached her friend.

“Oh! Hey Twilight, sorry, kind of in a hur-… Dress up? Whadya mean?” she seemed confused at her remark, “It’s what I’m suppose to wear…”

She looked down, taking another look at the breastplate. It was way too fancy for her to WANT to wear. “You’re suppose to wear that? Why?” She tilted her head, staring at her curiously.

“Uh… cause it’s what the captain of the Royal guard is suppose to wear.” She replied, still staring at them with an uncertain expression. “Isn’t it? This is the right thing, right?”

Her jaw dropped, “Captain??? You’re the captain of the royal guard? When did that happen?” her mind began to race, what did she miss? What was going on?

“Yeah, YOU’RE the one who appointed this to me… Twilight, you okay?” Rainbow hovered a bit lower, rubbing her friend’s forehead, looking for a fever or something.

“I-I don’t know… How did I get to Canterlot? I don’t remember anything after the train trip from Apploosa…” she rubbed her head, trying to piece together what was going on.

“Aploosa? Seriously?” she held Twilight’s face between her hooves, forcing her to stare into her eyes, “You’re telling me you don’t remember anything since Apploosa? ANYTHING?”

“No, just half of the train ride up here… and then I wake up in Celestia’s room…” she was getting a bit worried now.

Rainbow dash stare at her a moment, slowly backing away, “In ‘Celestia’s’… oh boy, I-I… I gotta go Twilight… you really should go talk to Spike…” she slowly started to float away, still watching Twilgiht with a concerned look.

“Yeah, I was going to talk to the Princess first….” She commented, watching Rainbow. Her reaction to Twilight’s statement seemed to drag her heart down.

“y-yeah… that might be best…” she started to speed up, as if she wanted to get away from the topic as quickly possible.

Twilight watched her fly off, left in a pile of her own confusion. She decided to hurry up and get outside to the garden.

Outside she searched through the garden; feeling a bit scared of the unknown. Something was wrong with everything but she couldn’t put her hoof on exactly what that was. She noticed a dim light beneath a random pony statue, where her number one assistant sat, reading through some papers, she didn’t care to get a look at them, “Spike! Spike I have to talk to you!”

It sounded urgent, so Spike stood at attention, as the guards had done, “Yes Ma’am! What can I help you with?” he still sounded friendly, but much more formal than before.

“Spike, what happened after the train ride from Apploosa? How long has it been? Why can’t I remember anything? Where is the Princess?” Twilight was beginning to panic, scared of the unknown.

Spike blinked, giving her the same astonished look that the others were giving her, “Whoa, wait, back up… You remember nothing? Like… how much of nothing exactly?”

Twilight eflt like he knew something too, like EVERYONE knew something that she didn’t, “I remember the train ride up here, or at least most of it. When I fell asleep in the caboose alone… I don’t remember anything after that until just now! I talked with Rainbow Dash and she seemed to know something but wouldn’t tell me!” she was becoming frenzied, speaking more and more quickly to accompany her growing confusion and concern, “I came out here to speak with the Princess and figure out what’s going on.”

Spike stared, in a bit of shock, “Twilight… You ARE the princess…” he wasn’t sure what to make of her reaction, but slowly and carefully tried to explain, “You’re the new princess of Equestria.”

“I’m… I’m the princess? The NEW princess? Than… where’s Celestia? What happened to her?” Spike could see the look of gloom in her eyes… he knew the truth was going to hurt. He simply held the torch up, aiming it at the statue. Twilight looked up and her heart dropped. A large statue of princess Celestia, standing tall, staring up into the sky.

“W-what… Who did this! Who turned her to stone?” She demanded, looking back down at Spike.

“Twlight… this isn’t the princess… this is her memorial statue. She’s… actually buried beneath us.” He told her quietly, his head hanging low, “ ‘In memory of her sacrifice to her people to protect those she cared for’.” He sounded like he was reading the plaque at the base of the statue, but Twilight couldn’t bring herself to look at it. Already tears were streaming down her face.

“N-no… Why… Why did she sacrifice herself like that?” her bottom lip quivered as she stared up at the statue of her teacher, “Sh-she said that she was going to do what was best for everyone…”

“And we all agreed that this was what was best… You agreed too, Twilight…” he tried talking with her, but at the same time it seemed like he didn’t want to talk, “She died for everyone in Equestria… no one got hurt… She… appointed you as the new leader of Equestria once she was gone.”

“No! This can’t be true! This isn’t right! She’s not dead! There’s no way! She’ll be back to raise the sun like she always has! She’s not gone!” she yelled out at spike, as if she was offended he would even suggest that the princess was truly gone.

“Twilight... she’s not coming back..” he tried to be as gentle with his words as possible. He couldn’t bear to see her upset, “She’s gone; she sacrificed herself for your happiness”

“You’re tellimg me that my teacher is DEAD! I’m not happy! She would never do that to me! She would never EVER die like that!” she found herself running away from Spike, rushing away toward her old room. She passed by guards and others who tended to the needs of the castle, but she didn’t give them any attention whatsoever. The just looked on in confusion and worry as the girl ran up the halls, crying her eyes out.

She reached her old bedroom and collapsed onto the bed, bawling uncontrollably, “she’ll be back by morning… she’ll be back, I know it… She isn’t gone…” She cried into the pillows, only peaking out to see if the sun had come up or not. It felt like she cried for hours and hours. After a while she was only sobbing dry tears into a moist pillow, staring out of the window, looking for the sun that would greet her every morning when she was a child. But there was no sunrise, no hint of hope in the sky. Finally Spike returned to her room. He walked over to her and sat beside her, “It’s been 10 hours Twilight… there’s no sun… Celestia’s been gone for almost a month now… It’s time to let her go.”

She shook her head, “No… she’s not gone, she can’t be…”

“Twilight, we need you to be strong for us… you’re Equestria’s new ruler… Everyone looks up to you now, you’re the face of Equestria and if you don’t come out with a strong look, no one else will be strong.” He stroked her mane gently, “I know it’s not easy to lose someone, but please… you have to pull yourself together.”

She sniffed, wiping her face on the pillow, “Where is everyone else? Rarity, fluttershy, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie…”

“They’re all in the castle… Fluttershy tends to the garden and the animals. Rarity is the royal seamstress and has her own business starting up soon in canterlot. Pinkie Pie is the castle’s cook, and Applejack controls the market and trading in the country. I guess you saw Rainbow Dash already and know what she’s doing?”

“Yeah… captain of the guard… good for her…” she mumbled, still trying to absorb all this information. “What happened with her and the Wonderbolts?”

“She’s the leader of them too…” his claws gently sifted through her hair, stroking the skin beaneath in an attempt to comfort her, “After the… incident, and after she was appointed, she met up with them and they asked her to lead them… You’re telling me you honestly don’t recall ANY of this?” Spike continued to stroke her head gently, trying to soothe her.

“Nothing… I don’t know about any of this stuff… How long has it been now?” she pulled her eyes from the window, looking at Spike.

“A bit over a month since you took over… We made a treaty with the Dragons and they’re not going to bother anyone anymore…”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Well, I’m the Dragon ambassador. I have constant contact with them and I personally promise that nothing will happen.” He gave her a smile, trying to convince her that things would be alright.

“How is everyone else reacting? The ponies of Equestria?” she asked, starting to lift her head from her pillow.

“Well… That’s something we need to talk about…” Twilight looked at him curiously, listening intently to his words, “we’ve been busy getting things fixed around here… there hasn’t been any official word to the people yet… we had that scheduled in a few hours… for YOU to tell the ponies how things are going to be from now on. They’re still scared of an attack, and with the sun gone, they’re even more scared.”

“What am I suppose to tell them, exactly? ‘Hey, there aren’t any dragons to worry about anymore, but the sun is gone”.” She looked at Spike, hoping for more encouraging words and assistance.

“Well, maybe not like THAT… but let them know things will be alright… You figured out a spell that mimics the sun, so if anyone needs one, the unicorns can conjure up one. They can use it for plants or just lighting in their home. Nothing will go wrong. Nothing will change.”

Twilight thought quietly, she did recall seeing stuff about fake sun spells in a few books she had read in the pas… so she believed that. “I suppose…”

“You just relax here… if you can’t make the speech, I’ll get somepony else to do it until you can get yourself together, okay?... Princess Twilight?”

Twilight mulled over the title in her head, again, she didn’t see herself as a leader, and yet now she was entrusted to lead thousands and thousands of ponies. In her lost state she didn’t notice Spike had gotten up and left her to allow her time to think.

Spike stood inside by the balcony, hidden by royal blue curtains. He checked the time, uncertain about Twilight’s arrival. He waited with Rainbow Dash, who was also getting impatient and uncertain. She poked her head out of the curtain, looking down at the crowd that had gathered. Commoners and nobles all stood together, while Pegasus ponies hover close with camera’s, preparing to photograph the historic event.

Dash shut the curtains and let out a sigh, “Alright, they’re getting antsy out there… we gotta go out and say something!”

“I know… I don’t think Twilight’s coming, she’s been out of it for a long time now…” Spike rubbed the back of his head, thinking of the reaction he had gotten from Twilight.

“Well you gotta go out and say SOMETHING, They’re worried!”

“Me? No way! If I go out there and say something they’ll think the dragons took over, we got to have a pony say something.”

“Don’t look at me! I’m no public speaker! Just walk out there and say Twilight was going to come out, but she’s not feeling well.”

“I’m here.” A voice called out to the from down the hall. Twilight walked with her head held high, the crown sitting atop her head, and the necklace carefully draped around her neck. Each step she took made a light ‘tink’ noise from the golden shoes she had slipped into. She was the princess now, and she had to look the part. She had a little eye shadow and a bit of makeup to try give her face some more character, again, a princess had to look the part. She still was terribly upset, but she knew she had to say something to her people. Spike and Rainbow dash joined her as she walked out onto the balcony, staring down at her ponies…

Thousands of eyes stared up at her, waiting for words to ease their troubled minds. Many of the faces look familiar, she recognized Lyra and Bon Bon fairly quickly, while in the corner she noticed a few famous faces of Canterlot like Sapphire Shores and Hoity Toity Even Photo Finish was here, with camera in hoof of course, taking a moment to stop photographing the others to listen to Twilight. A few more faces stood out amongst the crowd but she couldn’t help but think that the rest looked like a sea of unfamiliar faces to her. She had lived in Canterlot for many years, and even Ponyville, but the faces she saw just seemed to be very generic, nobody stood out… in fact many seemed to look like other ponies she swear she saw on the other end of the crowd, although when she looked back she couldn’t find their match.

She finally took in a breath and began to speak, “My fellow Ponies of Equestria! We all face dark times ahead… but thanks to the sacrifice of Princess Celestia, there is still a glimmer of hope for our future. The dragons have what they want and now no longer wish us harm. They will not come into our land for war, and therefore we can sleep soundly at night with this in mind. I’m sure many of you are wondering how we will be able to handle our lives without the sun gazing down upon us… and yes, although it will be hard to handle, we WILL prevail. The Pegasus ponies still control the weather, so our crops will still be watered, and I have discovered a spell that replicates the suns rays so that the crops will get all the nourishing rays that they need. These changes will not be easy, I know… but we are strong! And we cannot simply let Princess Celestia’s sacrifice go to waste by not trying to continue our lives, and live on for her. This is a hurdle that I know we can overcome, I just need you all to believe in yourselves… and believe in me.” She looked out at the crowd once more; they seemed satisfied with her response and began to applaud her. It wasn’t a wild cheering or anything special, but the seemed satisfied with her response and reacted accordingly. She turned and quickly headed back inside.

“You did great Princess Twilight.” Spike quickly told her as they headed in, “You’ll make a great princess.”

“If you say so… I still need some time alone though.” She told him, quickly heading back to her room to remove the clothing she adorned herself with and to wash off the makeup that was now beginning to run down her face as she began to cry again.

Twilight recovered and grew to accept the new facts that she had been presented, although that’s not to say gallons of tears weren’t shed in the process, but she had come to accept the facts: Celestia was gone, the sun would never rise, and she would be the leader of a kingdom of terrified ponies. She held the crown with her magic, examining it carefully. The details were all there, just like she remembered them, just smaller. She wondered how they came to creating this, whether by some magic they shrunk it, or if they just had skilled craftsman create a smaller version. She sighed, tossing the crown onto her bed before getting up to explore the castle, and hopefully find her friends.

She decided to head out to the garden, in hopes of finding Fluttershy tending to the animals. She intended to stay away from the Celestia memorial though, not wanting to have another breakdown. She headed down the path, looking up towards a sign that gave direction to the main destinations outside of the castle. From afar she couldn’t tell what they read, but even as she moved closer, she found something strange…

She couldn’t read the words on the sign. She knew what they were SUPPOSE to say, but even then the words seemed to change as she tried to read them. It was gibberish, not something that could be read. She blinked hard, trying to will herself to read the words but it just wouldn’t come to her… she finally just decided to walk away, shaking her head as she walked toward where the animals were usually kept.

She quickly heard Fluttershy singing with a chorus of birds to back her up. Her voice was happy and strong, even from a distance Twilight could hear the kindness and love in her voice. She continued ahead until she found her hovering with her bid friends, singing a gentle tune with them. After a moment the pegasus noticed Twilight and quickly stopped, “Alright my little birdies, we can sing more later.” The birds all seem to let out a sad chirp, or sigh of some sort. It was clear they were sad that she had to leave. “I know I know… don’t worry, I’ll come back soon.” She hovered down to Twilight, giving her a smile.

“Hello Twi- er… Princess Twilight.” She giggled, “I’m sorry, I’m still getting use to calling you that… how are you? I heard you’re having a bit of a memory lapse…”

“I’m better… I still don’t remember anything, but I’ve come to accept it… how are you doing?” Twilight took a look around, even in the darkness of the eternal night, the light from the moon above their heads was enough to show that the animals around the garden were happy. The birds were chirping cheerfully, the deer were sipping from the pond, and the fish swam around without a care in the world.

“Oh, I’m wonderful! I couldn’t ask for anything more. I have so many animal friends now and so many friendly ponies in the castle, I’m absolutely unbelievably happy!” the smile on her face seemed to express this fact better than the words she spoke, and Twilight believed it, but something was bothering her.

“So… you think that Princess Celestia’s sacrifice was worth it?”

Fluttershy seemed to nod without hesitation, “Yes, if it weren’t for her hundreds of ponies would have died… It’s better that only one was taken from us.” She explained softly. “It’s a terrible loss for everyone… but it was for the best, right?”

“hm... Alright… if you say so… Any idea where Applejack would be?”

“She’s probably in the back of the castle doing paperwork… She’s the marketing person of the castle now.”

Twilight nodded, beginning to take her leave, “Yeah, I know… Thank you Fluttershy. You have fun with your animal friends.” And with that she was gone, heading back into the castle in search of Applejack.

The halls seemed fairly barren, not a soul was around most of the time. Every so often she’d pass a guard or an attendant and they give her a royal greeting, but other than that, nothing.

Eventually she discovered Applejack’s work room, where she sat looking through paperwork, “Hello Applejack, are you busy?”

AJ looked up, a big smile covering her face, “For you Twilight, A’course I got time for you. Come on in. You feeling any better? Heard about your apparent memory thing…”

“Yeah, a bit better I suppose. So what are you up to in here?” She asked, seeing all the paperwork. The words were too small to make out, so she just looked up at Applejack instead.

“Well, I control the market, I help distribute goods across Equestria, making sure every town has plenty of everything. It’s a pretty easy job… at least for me anyhow, heh.” She smiled, seemingly proud of her upscale business here…

“I see… don’t you miss being on the farm though?”

Applejack shrugged, “Eh, I don’t mind it. It’s gotten a bit boring lately, so this is a nice change. Macintosh can handle everything though.”

Twilight eyed her friend curiously, but nodded at her response. “I was curious about something… has the night had any effects on the crops?”

Applejack nodded, “Yeah actually, in a good way! The apples seem to taste sweeter without as much sunshine. The moonlight actually seems to allow it to retain its natural flavors more.”

“How on earth does that happen?”

Applejack shook her head, “It’s a bit complicated… but it seems like the sucrose that occur naturally in the apples don’t get dried out as much, since the trees are now in a constant cooler temperature, therefore making the apples much more sweet!”

“Hm… interesting…” she continued to watch Applejack before turning around, “Well I won’t keep you form your work… Have fun and don’t be a stranger!”

“Will do Twilight!” Applejack gave her a wave and continued to work in her little office.

She headed towards the kitchen, now on a mission to talk to all her friends before it got late… although it occurred to her with no day time now, there was no early or late… either way she made her way towards the kitchen, finding Pinkie Pie with an apron on and a wooden spoon in her mouth. She headed to a table nearby and stirred up something in a bowl before pouring it into a muffin pan and sticking it in the oven.

“What have you got baking in here Pinkie?” she asked as she walked in.

“OH! Hi Twilight! Just some blueberry muffins! I know you’re gonna love em!” she said, bouncing over toward Twilight.

“Ooo, I bet… Do you plan on baking anything else today?” she asked, noticing that there still seemed to be ingredients set out for something.

“Yup! I was planning on it! What would you like?” She seemed eager to continue baking.

“Hm, I dunno… how about something we can bake with a song?” she asked, giving her a smile.

“OH! Yes! That sounds great! How about CUPCAKES!” She bounced over to the table and suddenly broke out into song, “All you have to do is take a cup of flour, add it to the mix! Than you take a little something sweet not sour,” Her song seemed to come straight out of her memory. She listened to her singing while trying to teach Applebloom how to bake cupcakes while attempting to get her cutie mark. “A bit of salt, just a pi-“

“Actually, I was thinking of something other than cupcakes…” Twilight interrupted, hoping she wasn’t intruding.

Pinkie seemed surprised, but smiled, “Okay! That’s no problem, what would you like?

“How about… Apple turnovers?” Twilight suggested, still smiling.

“Oh! Sure! I’ll just grab some apples, chop them up-“

“Can’t you do it in song?” Twilight asked, hoping for a little tune to brighten her day, “It would make baking so much more fun, don’t you think?”

Pinkie seemed a bit stunned, “Uh, well yeah… but I don’t think I know a song for Apple Turnovers…”

“Oh, that’s too bad… well, I suppose I could help, right?” Twilight walked over, picking out a few apples.

“Uh, well I think apple turnovers are something I can do myself.” She insisted with a little smile.

“Oh, I see… well I suppose I could just watch, would that be alright?”

“If you’d like, yeah!” Pinkie pie began to chop a couple apples, pouring them into the bowl of flour.

Twlight watched carefully, taking note of the ingredients, “So are these for a party? Or just for fun?”

“Just for fun.” She replied, pouring in water and a few other ingredients into the bowl. “I don’t really have any parties planned yet.”

“Oh… too bad…” Twilight replied, still watching her intently.

Pinkie seemed to feel like she was being put on the spot for some reason, “You okay there Twilight? You seem strange today.”

“Me? Strange? Nah, I’m just trying to enjoy my time with my friends…” she insisted, smiling cheerfully. She noticed Pinkie placing the dough onto the pan, but it seemed like the cookbook was blocking what she was seeing. She lifted her head to try and get a better look at what Pinkie was placing on the pan, and it looked like just small piles of yellow dough… “They look good so far.” She told her as Pinkie slipped them into the oven.

“Thanks! They gotta cook for a while, so I’m gonna go clean up… We’ll talk more later, okay Twilight?” Pinkie smiled, giving her a big hug before heading out.

Twilight still felt strange… but she continued her journey to see her friends, next heading out to the fliers course, hoping to find Rainbow Dash.

“Alright you guys! This is going to be our best show yet!” Twilight could hear Dash as she headed outside, seeing the clouds dotting the obstacle course for Pegasi to hone their skill in flight. She saw a line of ponies in blue suits, with another pony with a rainbow mane instructing them, “We are the Wonderbolts! And we’re going to blow some minds with our next show! We are not here to screw up! We are here to perform!” the Wonderbolts saluted their leader and flew upward, into formation. However Rainbow stayed below, watching them.

“Hey Rainbow, Why aren’t you up there with them?” Twilight called out as she came to the edge of the stands.

Rainbow turned around, smiling at her friend, “Hey! Oh, I’m just instructing them on how to work better… I got other work to do; I don’t have time to fly with them.”

Twilight just looked at her, looking up at the Wonderbolts flew around in their wild formations. “Well then I hope you have fun with that… any idea where Rarity will be?”

“Yeah, her room is actually right up there,” she said, pointing up to a window with lavish curtains hanging just inside. “She’s been asking for you too, says she wants to make you a royal dress or something…”

“Hm, I’m not surprised… okay, thank you” with that, she headed off, not spending much time with Dash at all…

She headed up to her last friend, opening up the door and taking a peek inside. It looked much like Rarity’s home in Ponyville; dozen of rolls of fabric lined one wall, mannequins with unfinished dresses lining another, and various scraps of fabric scattered across the floor. Rarity was humming softly to herself, sewing up a dress on the other end of the room. She heard the door open and turned to see Twilight.

“Twilight! Dear it’s good to see you, are you feeling well?” she asked with a chipper smile.

“I’m doing fine Rarity, how are you?”

“I’m absolutely FABULOUS! Thank you again for giving this room for me to work in, it’s so spacious! It’s just wonderful!” She quickly ran over to her, giving her a big hug.

“Heh, you’re welcome… So Rainbow says you wanted to make a dress for me?

“Yes! That’s right! I want to make you something that will stun everyone! Come on in! I’ve already got ideas!” she quickly moved her inside, to which Twilight didn’t object, just going along for the ride. Fabric began flying around, scissors snipping away large and small chunks while needles armed with thread sifted through them, tying the fabric together around the purple pony. During all this Rarity was talking… a LOT. “I can’t believe how wonderful it is to be here in Canterlot! Just the other day I got an order from Saphire Shores again! Another difficult order, but nothing that I couldn’t handle. Oh! And Hoity Toity came by to get some advice for his next fashion line, but of course I kept the best ideas to myself. I also got a letter from Photo Finish asking about-“

Suddenly Twilight had a sharp pain in her head, deep within her brain. Something was stabbing at her thoughts but it seemed gone in an instant. Everything was blurry for that instance, but now things seemed fine. However she noticed that the fabric was no longer active. They seemed frozen in the air, as did everything else. Rarity wasn’t speaking anymore, did she just stop? Or was she asked something and didn’t notice, “Uh, sorry Rarity… did you ask me something?” she turned to see a peculiar expression on Rarity’s face. She was looking around cautiously, as if something was on her mind. Maybe she felt the tinge of pain too? Should she ask?

Rarity finally seemed to get back to herself and continued to work on her dress, “Oh, no dear… nothing at all… although I did want to ask… are you feeling alright?”

Twilight nodded, holding her head up as some fabric wrapped around her chest and neck, “I told you earlier, I’m fine.”

“Oh, yes of course… but… are you sure? Nothing’s bothering you? Nothing seems… out of place?” her earlier quickness and eagerness to make her dress seemed to have faded away, everything was moving much slower and was more precise rather than the hectic flurry of fabric and scissors flying around.

Her questions confused her… but she decided to go ahead and be honest, “Well, yes… I don’t remember anything up til today… And frankly… Everything seems a bit… strange.”

“Strange? How so?” Rarity continued to work, but it seemed as though her attention had shifted to Twilght now.

“Well… nothing seems quite right… nothing seems WRONG, but I can’t shake the feeling that something is just… off.” She kept glancing over at Rarity, who seemed highly intrigued by her words.

“I see… could you be more specific though dear? I’m never good with vague responses…”

Twilight took another look back, but it seemed as though Rarity was avoiding her gaze, “Well… I have to admit… everyone seems a bit strange, like… they’re not quite themselves. They seem happy, but they don’t… they just don’t…” Twilight tried to find the right words, luckily Rarity was there to help.

“They don’t seem quite like themselves?” She asked, loosening the fabric around Twilight’s body.

“Sort of yes… They’ve said a few things that don’t seem right, and I don’t like it… I don’t feel like I’m talking to my friends.”

“Let me tell you something Twilight… There are times when a gut feeling is just a bad sandwich not agreeing with you… but there are times when that same feeling is something trying to tell you that something is wrong… that things aren’t quite right in the world.”

Twilight looked over at Rarity curious, feeling her muscles tensing up. “Really? What exactly are you trying to tell me Rarity…”

“I’m trying to tell you Twilight that sometimes you can’t trust what anyone tells you… that sometimes, what seems like reality is just a veil covering the truth…” Rarity gently pulled the half finished dress from twilight, mounting it on one of the plastic ponies.

“Really… Than how do I know I can trust you?” Twilight asked, raising her brow.

“I’ll be honest Twilight… I don’t know if you can… The only thing I can guarantee you can trust coming out from between my lips is this: if someone tells you something and It doesn’t feel right… than chances are it’s not.”

Twilight stared at Rarity, their eyes locking. She stared for a long time, and Rarity stared back… she had no gut feeling, nothing seemed wrong about her words. With all of her friends something felt out of place, but for the first time in days she heard something that sounded absolutely right. “What’s going on Rarity?”

“Be careful Twilight… sometimes the people you can’t trust are the ones you hold closest to you…”

There was a knock at the door, and it opened before anyone could allow them in, “Spike! Hello my little Spikey Wikey.” Rarity rushed over to hug her little boyfriend, pecking his cheek lovingly, “How are you doing?”

“Heh, I’m fine Rarity…” he had a goofy smile on his face from the kiss, and a glimmer of happiness in his eyes, “I just wanted to talk to you for a bit… Oh! Twilight, I didn’t see you there.” He blushed a little; feeling caught getting kissed from Rarity.

“Hi Spike, heh. I suppose I’ll leave you two alone to chat… have fun and don’t get into trouble!” Twilight had a cheerful tone in her voice, trotting past them and heading back to her room. However the words Rarity spoke were nagging at her mind… she couldn’t get them out. Who could she trust? Who COULDN’T she trust? So many ponies in her mind that she didn’t know what to do with. She decided to head to her room to relax.

She pulled some books from the shelves, feeling a good story or educational textbook would calm her nerves. She opened up the first one she could find, and quickly discovered her new found reading disability was still with her. No matter how hard she tried, the words never quite looked right, making it impossible to read. She tossed all the books away in a frustrated groan, and instead sat there quietly thinking too herself… She felt like hours passed before some commotion outside her window caught her attention. She casually walked over, looking around the courtyard… before finally her eyes caught sight of a horrible image.

Below in the courtyard, a guillotine had been set up. Even in the dim light of the torches below, the blade shined brightly, its sharp edge clear to anyone who could see. A hooded pony stood by its side, his hoof already on the lever. Twilight quickly looked down, spotting the pony locked into place, a flowing purple mane and white skinned pony, her head hung low, but her eyes seemed to be locked on Twilight. Rarity seemed to be staring into her soul, no panic, no sense of urgency, but her eyes seemed like they were trying to tell her something she couldn’t quite out her hoof on. In a flash she teleported herself down to the courtyard, rushing toward the executioner, “STOP! Don’t pull that lever!” She cried, only to be grabbed by Rainbow Dash and Applejack, pulling her away.

With that the executioner pulled the lever, and the blade began its descent. Twilight’s eyes locked onto Rarity’s once more, seeing a soft glow within them. Her words from before echoed in her mind, “sometimes the people you can’t trust are the ones you hold closest to you”. She felt herself blinking, a reaction to the wind in her eyes. She didn’t want to blink, she wanted to keep her eyes on Rarity, to tell her it would be okay… but when she opened them once more, the blade had reached its destination… Twilight could no longer see the eyes of Rarity looking back at her, only cold steel tainted with a red smear.

“NO! WHY? Why did you stop me?” she demanded, pulling herself from the others. She quickly backed away, realizing that everyone was there, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and even Spike, who quickly tried to calm her down.

“I’m sorry Twilight… We found out Rarity was actually plotting to take you out. She wanted to be the ruler of Equestia… and she was willing to kill you to do it. I’m sorry, but we had to do it.” He said in a solemn tone, his head hanging low…

“WHAT? No! Rarity would never do that to me! I’m her friend!” Twilight shook her head, slowly backing away fro mteh group.

“Twilight, we’ve been keeping something from you… about the incident.” Spike twiddled his fingers, looking downward.

Twilight blinked, now staring silently at them for a moment, “What? What haven’t you mentioned? You told me everything that happened, didn’t you?”

Spike shook his head, “Not everything… Twilight, it… wasn’t exactly a… unanimous decision.”

Twilight apparently wasn’t getting the message Spike was trying to convey, “What wasn’t a unanimous decision?”

“You see… when we came back here to Canterlot… you went to speak with the princess alone… After a while… we heard some crashing noises and rushed in…” he bit his lip, desperately wanting someone else to take over the story so he didn’t have to finish it. But the others were dead silent, no one looked her in the eyes. “We found you standing over Celestia. the floor was just… COVERED in blood and… She was dead.” Twilight’s eyes were wide in disbelief, but Spike continued. “We begged for an explanation, we couldn’t believe our own eyes. You said that it had to be done. One life to save thousands… You… You convinced us that it was the right thing to do.”

Twilight slowly shook her head, “No… No this isn’t… I would never…”

“Twilight, it’s the truth…” Applejack finally spoke up, taking in a deep breath before sighing, “You told us that she would’ve preferred it this way, And that you would lead the country in her place. ‘You all say I’m a great leader, so I’ll rule this country!’… at least that’s what you said to us.”

“You’re all trying to tell me that I killed the princess for the country…” he head hung low, the last few pieces of the puzzle were clicking together in her mind… “And that Rarity was so upset by this she planned to kill me next… but to avoid that, sSpike, you killed her instead?” she looked up, an angered look on her face, “No, this isn’t right!”

“I know it’s hard to accept Twilight, but… What’s done is done” Spike started to approach her, trying to be friendly, “We can only move forward now, we have to try and make things right for our FUTURE, even if it means without Celestia and Rarity…

“No Spike!” she snapped, “ALL of you aren’t right… not a SINGLE ONE of you!”

The group looked at her curiously, sharing glances of uncertainty. Spike, although shocked like the others, spoke up first, “What on earth do you mean?”

“Let me run the list by you all.” She said, feeling confident in her observations. “Fluttershy.” The timid girl let out a little ‘eep’, shocked that she was suddenly being called out, “There’s no way she would find Celestia’s sacrifice to be acceptable. Even if it did save lives she would’ve been devastated by the loss of ANY life.”

“Oh, w-well of course I was devastated!” Fluttershy peeped up, trying to defend herself. “But it’s been a while, and I’ve-“

“Don’t give me that… I know Fluttershy, she could never get over it, and she would never consider it an acceptable loss! But then there’s YOU Applejack.” AJ quickly turned her head, her eyes locking on the accuser. She stayed quiet while Twilight had her moment to speak, “Cooped up in a little office? Away from your farm and your family? That’s not the Applejack I know! She’d be out there right now bucking for Apples with her loved ones! Even if she IS a good business pony, She loves her family too much to stay away from them for so long. Then there’s the apples! That explination about why they were sweeter made perfect sense.”

Applejack seemed confused, “So what’s the problem then?”

“Applejack knows a LOT about apples but nothing about science! If anything the REAL Applejack would’ve said something about treating them with kindness and respect would make them sweeter… Or that the apples KNEW we were all scared and they made themselves sweeter to make ponies happier. Scientifically, that would have made NO sense at all! But that’s what Applejack would’ve said, and I would’ve believed that more than anything she could quote from a textbook.”

Applejack didn’t respond… it seemed the whole group was listening to her excuses… waiting for the list to finish up.

“Who did I visit next? Pinkie Pie! That’s right… But first, let me say why I know Rainbow Dash here is full of bologna.” Dash frowned, giving her an icy glare as she was brought up, “Rainbow Dash, the fast pony in Equestria, the pony who dreamed of becoming a Wonderbolt and flying with them suddenly becomes the leader of the group, and yet she says she doesn’t have the time to fly with them, HA! That was an easy find.” Rainbow Dash continued to glare, but said nothing… in fact they all seemed to be glaring now…

“Okay, so with that, I knew something was wrong with you all, but I didn’t know what… But then I thought about Pinkie Pie.” Again, the ponies just stood there quietly, watching the accuser speak, “First of all… Pinkie Pie with no parties planned? She had a party planned somewhere for some reason every day!” Pinkie seemed like she was about to talk, but was quickly cut off, “But okay, maybe the transition to Canterlot didn’t give her much time to plan, maybe she was in the process of planning one… But I know Pinkie Pie has a song for every recipe she knows how to make.”

“Well YEAH! I was TRYING to sing a song for you-“

“Yes, the ONLY song that I knew all the words to… you didn’t know the song for Apple Turnovers because I didn’t know your song for Apple turnovers…” the group continued to watch her, eyeing her cautiously… “And I don’t know how to make Apple Turnovers, but I know enough about cooking that you can’t make them the same way you make Cupcakes just by adding Apples! That’s right I saw that… You don’t know how to make them because I don’t know how to make them…”

“What are you trying to say Twilight?” Pinkie asked, her brow raised to give herself a questionable expression.

Twilight smiled, “I believe this is a dream… this is all an elaborate dream, but why I’m having it I don’t know…”

“How can you be so sure of that?” Spike asked curiously.

“Well, I read some books when I was little about dreams, and I found an interesting little fact… you can’t READ when you in a dream… reading is controlled by one side of the brain while dreams are controlled by the other… and when you’re asleep, the don’t connect. But even with all that in mind, I still wasn’t entirely sure that it was a dream… until just now… First off I know under NO circumstances I would take the life of my teacher, or any of my friends… but I don’t recall this ‘event’ happening, so even then, I wasn’t absolutely, 100% sure that this was a dream. But thanks to you Ppike, I know for CERTAIN.” She lifted her hoof, pointing toward Rarity’s body, still strapped into the guillotine.

The group looked, but they seemed confused… “What are you trying to say?” Spike questioned with a brow raised.

“You’ve loved rarity with all your heart since the day you met her… and even before she showed her affection back to you, you swore you would keep her safe and protect her… and in an instant you murdered her… There’s no way you’re Spike…” a victorious smile crossed her lips, she was certain that she was right, and that she had won.

“Than why don’t you just wake up?” he asked, folding his arms, glaring at her. “Either that or… just accept that this is reality and move on…”

Twilight looked fiercely back at her opponent. She lifted her leg up and bit into her leg hard, trying to shock herself out of it. But even when she began to taste blood, the reality hadn’t vanished…

“You see Twilight? This IS reality… I think you should head to your room and take a nice long nap…”

“I had a feeling that wouldn’t work anyway…” she stated, putting her hoof back down, “You’re all obviously not exact copies of what I imagine my friends to be… so someone or something Is making me dream this. It’s very elaborate and feels very real, so whoever is doing it is very powerful in controlling a dream. A simple shock like that won’t do it.”

“Than… what do you plan to do?” Spike asked, now starting to show a little worry.

“This isn’t my reality, but it IS my dream… and I’ll tear it apart at the seams if I have to in order to get out.” She closed her eyes and began to focus. Her horn was lacking its magical glow, but even so, the ground began to shake.

“Wh-what are you doing?”

“I’m going to start by putting this back the way they should be…” the walls of the castle began to crumble apart, but the debris lifted upward rather than away. The royal clothes that were draped around her friends vanished into this air, something even unicorn magic couldn’t do. The statue of Celestia began to shake, and pieces began to crumble off. Underneath the outer layer was a bright light, glowing brighter and brighter as it crumbled. Soon the alicorn broke free, shaking the debris from her body. She turned to Twilight and smiled, “That’s my number one pupil!” She cheered to her as twilight continued her work.

The guillotine began to fade, and the body of Rarity seemed to spring back to life, her head reattaching itself as if it were never removed. “Aha! Twilight you figured it out! Now get the sun up! Destroy this fake world!”

Twilight heard her words, and although she was confused as to why she was the only one here making sense, she decided that the sun would be her next goal. The horizon in the east began to glow faintly, as the sun creped up slowly.

“NO! Stop it! You can’t wake up!” Spike cried, trying to get to her. Twilight just smiled, shoving him away with an unseen force, while continuing to pull the sun upward. As the light shined down on the world, it began to fade. With one last cry from Spike, the world was nothing but a white light to her.

A new image began to take shape. She felt the bed beneath her shake gently, and a soft rumble outside. Every so often she heard a slam, along with a lot of chatter. She blinked a few times, realizing that she was back in the train. She was relieved, it truly was a dream. However a feeling of helplessness overcame her. She couldn’t move her body. Her muscles were limber and refused to obey her will to move. Her eyes moved over, and what she saw shocked her. A hooded figure was standing beside her, with his scaly hands hovering over her, emitting a strange velvet colored magic onto her. Even with his hood she could easily see that he was a dragon of some sort, just a bit taller than she was. She couldn’t bring herself to scream or call for help, it seemed like everything but her eyes were under his power.

She quickly looked toward the front door of the train car, seeing familiar faces in the window. It seemed like the whole group had gathered around the window, trying to push their way into her car, but the same velvet colored magic seemed to be keeping it closed. One of the faces caught her eye though. Rarity had her eyes closed, and a blue aura circled around her horn. Twilight quickly looked down at her body, seeing that the velvet and the blue auras were swirling around one another, it what seemed like an intense battle of the minds, and she was the battlefield.

She heard the thumping again. And her eyes headed toward the back of the train. She saw Rainbow dash, bucking at the back window as hard as she could, but to no avail. The dragon had that covered in magic as well. She looked back up at him, and now his eyes were open, “You’re making this very difficult for me… Now why don’t you just go back to SLEEP!”

With his commanding words, everything went black once again. There was no longer an illusion of a fake world for her to interact with. It was just her and blackness, “Who are you? What are you trying to do to me?” she demanded, yelling fiercely at the blackness.

For a moment nothing replied… but soon a fuzzy image of the dragon appeared not too far from her, “I tried to make you a world to live in… but you just wouldn’t accept it.” He told her, crossing his arms, “It’s not easy creating that big of an illusion in ones mind... especially with the marshmallow pony interfering like that.” He grumbled, shifting a bit, his dark robes flowing a bit as he turned.

“So Rarity WAS doing something… That explains why she was the only one making sense in that crazy world of yours…”

The dragon shifted again, turning his attention back to here, “Oh really? You must be SO happy that you’re out of that now… Do you realize what I was trying to do?” of course before she could answer the rhetorical question, he continued, “I don’t like killing anyone, even ponies like you! I don’t like it. But that’s my job! To kill those who interfere with my boss’s plans… So what do I do? I trap them in a dream world where they get to live a nice wonderful life until the day they die in their dreams, happy and peaceful. And when you die in a dream, you die in real life. All in an hour or so in the real world… All is well, the target dies after living a long fulfilling life, and I don’t get in trouble back home. But no! you couldn’t have that… so instead, I’m just going to trap you here until you lose your mind and kill yourself…”

“I escaped once with the help of Rarity!” Twilight grinned, focusing her magic once more.

“I don’t think so… See, this is a dream, your magic is unfocused and distorted right now in the real world… there’s nothing you can do other than WAIT.” He smiled, holding a smug look on his face and a wide stance, conveying his power through his posture.

“you think so? This isn’t YOUR mind, it’s MINE, and I won’t allow you to keep control of it… I have my friends to help me!”

“Your friends? They can’t get in here, not even the marshmallow. Without having to worry about conveying a world to you, I can concentrate on keeping them at bay until you finally pass away.”

“You don’t understand… Friendship has bonds that magic can’t break. They run deeper than anything you could comprehend…” The dragon wizard looked on with curiosity, but made no effort to fight her on this topic, “I have their love and kindness in my heart, I can feel them right now!” the ground around her began to glow, causing the dragon’s shoulder to slump, losing the strong stance he once held.

“I can feel Rainbow Dash’s courage! The will to stand up for what’s right!” As she spoke a faded ghost of Dash began to form beside her, staring down at the dragon with a smug grin on her face, “I can feel the generosity of Rarity, and her desire to help all of her friends.” With this a faded image began to take shape of Rarity on her other side. “I know Applejack would tell me that I can beat you! And with her honesty, I know she’s right! I can feel the kindness in Fluttershy’s heart and her desire to love and care for everyone and everything!” More shapes began to take shape. The older ones were now beginning to solidify into the ponies themselves.

The wizard could only watch as this all took place in front of him, it was unlike anything he had ever seen. No one had ever had the power to conjure up forms in the dreams once he took over, not that he had seen. It was incredibly fascinating yet at the same time terrifying.

“I can feel the laughter and joy Pinkie Pie always brought to me, I can feel the joy Spike has brought me over the years. I can feel the love and affection of my parents and my teacher! I can feel the friendships of all the ponies I’ve met flowing through me!” all around her an army of everyone she knew gathered around her, all staring at the wizard standing alone. “There’s no way you can beat me when I have friends like this!” She began to charge at the dragon, with all her friends alongside her. It was too much for him to control.

The wizard’s concentration was broken. Twilight, now in control of her body and her magic, shoved him away with a magical shove, getting up out of her bed. With him no longer using his magic to keep the doors shut, the others rushed in. the wizard prepared an attack, however a roll of fabric quickly wrapped itself around him, while a needle and thread sewed him into submission, leaving him wrapped up on the floor with no way to conjure his magical abilities.

Fluttershy was the first to get to Twilight, tackling her into a hug, “Ohmygosh Twilight! Are you alright? Did he hurt you? What did he do to you?”

Twilight just smiled, eagerly hugging her back, “It’s okay; he just gave me a bad dream, that’s all. The others quickly gather around to hug her, all worried sick about the incident. All except Rarity, who lifted the troublemaker with her magic, glaring at him, “Alright Dream weaver… What exactly are you doing her? What were you doing in her dreams?”

“Heh, sorry, trade secret.” He told her with a grin.

Twilight recalled what he said clearly, “He said he was trying to let me live my life in my dreams so I would die… he was trying to kill me, in a way.” All eyes glared at the dragon, even Fluttershy had a glimmer of hate in her eyes. “Why didn’t you just suffocate me in my sleep? Or… ANY other way?”

“I don’t like blood… I don’t like violence…” he stuck his nose up, showing his disgust for those things, “I just wanted you to live to death in your dreams. It’s better that way anyway, better to live happily in your dreams than out here…”

“And just WHY did you want her to die?” Rarity asked, turning the Wizard burrito towards her, forcing him to look at her again.

“It’s my job, and she’s my target, what more do you want?”

“I WANT answers! Like what exactly your little group has planned next?” Rarity held up her needle in a threatening manner, although it didn’t seem to phase the dragon.

“Ha! What are you gonna do with that? Sew me a scarf?”

“Yes, and strangle you with it you little urchin.” The fabric around the dragon tightened, making him yelp.

“You better start talking, Dragon Boy!” Rainbow took a stand, glaring at him, “Or else you’ll have to deal with me too!”

“Oh really?” he coughed, the tightened fabric knocked the wind out of him briefly, but not enough for him to stop making comments toward the ponies. “You think so? I think you know three friends of mine who would be more than happy to have an excuse to toy with you again…” Rainbow Dash froze, her eyes wide with fear as memories of the fight rushed back, “Remember Dashie… One… by… One…” Dash felt her legs force her to walk backwards, behind the group of friends around Twilight, “That’s a good gi-Urk!”

“I’m not intimidated by some ruffian.” Rarity reminded him who was currently speaking with another quick tightening of the fabric. “I want some information out of you right now and I’m not afraid to take you into the other room to get it.” She didn’t want to interrogate the dragon in front of the others, knowing it might not be an enjoyable sight to watch.

“Heh, too bad I won’t be staying very long…” he opened his mouth wide, a fire brewing in his mouth. Before Rarity could react he released it, but it enveloped him instead of Rarity, burning up the fabric and leaving a pile of ash on the floor.

“D-did he just…” Fluttershy stared in horror at the remains.

Rarity sifted through them carefully, giving Fluttershy a smile, “So sweetheart, it was merely a teleportation spell… He’s probably long gone right now…” Rarity stroked her shoulder gently, giving her a little smile.

Twilight was already gathering a piece of paper and a quill, starting to write furiously.

“Twlight? What are you writing?” Applejack looked at her words curiously, noticing the first few words were ‘Dear Princes Celestia.’

“I’m telling the princess that we were attacked… she needs to know that the dragons are getting bold. We need to warn her.” She explained, writing down the details of the wizard who tried to kill her.

“That’s probably for the best…” Applejack nodded knowingly, “she needs to know.”

Twilight finished writing and handed it off to Spike, who quickly burned it and sent it off to Celestia.

“So… Twilight, what exactly did you dream about when he was taking over?” Fluttershy was curious, hoping Twilight would be alright.”

Twilight nodded, taking in a breath before starting at the beginning. The girls listened quietly to her story, and when their doppelganger was brought up they seemed to fidget a bit more; hearing how they were portrayed by this dragon. Twilight was almost finished, getting to the point where she woke up when Spike let out a loud burp with a letter from Celestia escaping the flames. He immediately grabbed it, looking at Twilight for the order to read it, or wait until she was done with her story.

Twilight was more interested in the letter than her own story “What did the princess say?”

With that Spike opened the letter, finding two pages, “Hey! Isn’t this the map you found Dash?” he held up the first piece, showing it to her.

Dash quickly nodded, “Yeah, looks like it, why did she send it back?”

“Let’s see… Dear Twilight, Thank you for the warning. I’m glad that you and your friends could handle things; I knew you all could do well. I think I will buff my guard around the city and move some citizens closer to protect them more easily. But I have more interesting news. I’ve been examining the map, and it seems like a group is moving toward the castle of the ancient pony sister.”

“Oh no! They’re already that close?” Fluttershy didn’t mean to interrupt, but the news seemed to catch her off guard.

“They’ve still got a long way to go through the forest though.” Twilight reminded her, recalling how long their journey took to get there.

“Uh oh,” Spike had continued reading ahead just a few lines, and something caught his eye, “It says to look at the symbols on the map… There’s something important there.”

The entire group gathered around the map, looking around for symbols. They all seemed to recognize the castle of the pony sisters, and paths leading up to it. There they found about a dozen symbols, all seemed very dragon like. The first one Twilight noticed was a crown atop a dragons head, “That must mean the ruler of Dracozard will be there…”

Rainbow Dash noticed three dragons; a short chubby one, a tall thin one, and a medium sized one all standing together. “Th-Those are the dragons I got in a fight with!” The group looked at her, and then looked back. If those three dragons could take down Rainbow Dash, than with the rest of the dragons there, if a fight broke out, things might end badly…

“Girls…” Fluttershy spoke up, pointing at one of the symbols, “Did anyone notice this one?” her hoof pointed at one of the bigger symbols, it was almost as big at the crowned dragon, while they others were much smaller. The others looked carefully, and quickly the symbols seemed to click in their memories.

It almost looked like an ink blot that someone spilled by the king’s symbol, but inside was a carefully drawn crescent shape, along with a few dots in the shape of stars surrounding it randomly.

“That’s… Isn’t that…?” Rainbow Dash didn’t want to say it, she knew what it was, but she wasn’t sure if she wanted to tell the others.

However Rarity was the one to finally let it out, “This is Princess Luna’s cutie mark, isn’t it?” she asked, looking at the others, “Do you think… do you think the princess would be with them?”

“Those three dragons I fought mentioned she was still alive!” Rainbow Dash quickly added, hoping the information she had gathered would help.

“Than… she might be, but why would she be with them?” Twilight stared on in confusion at the symbol, wondering what possible reason they would have to bring her along.

“Uh, Girls,” Spike snapped his fingers, trying to get their attention again, “More from the princess..” the girls quieted down, looking up at Spike, “I’m sure if you’ve looked at it, you know why I want you all to head out to the castle now. Again, I don’t want anyone to go if they don’t want to, but if Luna is there, I want her back. I’m still in no condition to leave; not by my own choice mind you, but the choice of my doctors and guards. I had an idea of someone you could recruit to help you on your journey if you wanted some help; a powerful unicorn who I’ve heard much about. I believe she could help you all if you would go to her and ask. Head over to Hoofington before you return and see what she says; I have her address enclosed in the letter.”

“A powerful unicorn in Hoofington?” Applejack pondered this quietly, “Why is that ringing a bell?” she asked herself, although the others seemed to wonder that as well. It sparked something in their memories, but no one could quite get it to click into place. Nevertheless, they all unanimously agreed to stop in Hoofington and see about this mysterious unicorn…