Prologue

Dream’s End
~ Prologue ~
Before the Nightmare ~ Equestria

Silence.

The lack of sound gripped the world like a vice, threatening to crack it under the sheer force of emptiness. The thunder outside made no sound, nor did the lightning that struck the same tree again and again in an unending loop. The flames on the walls did not crackle; instead, they merely glowed against the cobblestone in a sort of ethereal, disturbing way with nothing but a soft glimmer of light.

The sound of the mare’s steps as she ran, likewise, did not resonate. It was not as if they were simply muted – it was more as if they just were not. As if the sound had never existed in the first place.

Nonetheless, she ran on, panting as hard as she could while her hooves scraped and crashed down on the threadbare, graying carpet that was only a year or so away from disintegrating completely. She dodged past bookshelves – things that, had the circumstances been different, she would have stopped to at least take a cursory glance at – as her sprint continued.

She could not stop. She did not dare to. It was there – oh, how she could sense it was there, even if it made no sounds – as it continued after her.

Silence.

Her breath was caught in her throat, but she could not hear herself pant. She had not heard sound in… how long had it been? How long had she been running? Even as she continued, even as her lungs felt fit to burst, she still knew that she could not stop.

It was close. She could sense it. Like everything else, it made no sound, but she could still sense it behind her. It was there. She knew it was there.

The walls suddenly closed around her; to her front towered a bookshelf tall enough to dwarf the sun and moon combined; to her left sat a similar bookshelf, although it looked slightly, impossibly crooked; and to her right lay the final bookshelf, which seemed to change size and shape – although only slightly – every time she looked away.

But she was trapped. Her lungs felt ready to give out, her eyes were watering with terrified tears, and her hooves felt ready to burst from exhaustion and overuse. She turned around slowly, horrified to face the thing that was after her.

Silence.

Behind her sat another bookshelf, this one even larger than the one behind her. And, somehow, it looked wider, even though it met the others at the same points. The mare’s heart leapt into her throat and she quickly reared around.

Had the bookshelf changed? No, it could not have, surely… Could it? No… It was impossible, surely. It could not have.

Right?

She whirled around again, and noticed the shelf that had been to her left initially rubbing against her hoof. Had it been so close? No, of course not.

The mare felt something against her back, crushing her wings into her in a horribly painful manner. She struggled to turn around but found herself unable to. Glancing from side to side, she quickly realized the reason: the shelves had converged so closely her body had been crushed between them, leaving her in a position where she could not possibly anything beyond her head and eyes.

A horrible pain lanced through her like lightning as the shelves grew closer and closer, crushing her slowly and horribly as the darkness grew even more prominent. She tried to scream.

Silence.

Silence everywhere. There was nothing but silence. Nothing but endless silence and darkness.

But even as she struggled to free herself, even as the bookshelves crushed her body, bones, and blood into a horribly painful lump, the mare still attempted to scream.

Unfortunately, however, there was no sound inside the library.

Twilight Sparkle gasped as she awoke. Her brow was matted with sweat and her limbs felt heavy. She forced herself up from her bed, letting out a quiet grunt as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

“What a nightmare…” she mumbled. Although she had forgotten most of it by that point, those last few seconds of being crushed to death remained very clearly in her mind.

Twilight took a cursory glance over at the window, only to discover much to her dismay that it was still dark out. Using her magic, she picked up the small clock beside her bed and held it in front of her face. Only 1:37 in the morning? Of course.

Letting out a deliberately low-volume groan in order to avoid waking Spike – who was sleeping quietly not ten feet away –, Twilight grabbed the pillow next to her and placed it over her head. It was too early to get up, and she knew it had just been a dream.

Still, though, those last few seconds of choking, sputtering, and screaming as she had been brutally crushed sent a chill down her spine. And what had she been running from? The memory had quickly left her, leaving Twilight to ponder what had been so terrifying she had fled straight into a death trap.

She listened closely to the sound of the crickets chirping outside as she struggled to fall asleep again. Twilight pulled the pillow around her ears in an effort to block out the sound, but found herself unable to do so as the memories of that silent place struck her again.

If only she could remember more, she could at least try to reason out what she had been so terrified of. Instead, however, her brain simply would not seem to allow it.

Maybe it would come if she waited a little longer, she reasoned. After all, it was always possible that she could reclaim her memories throughout the day. All she had to do was wait.

With that knowledge – or, at the very least, that theory – securely inside her head, Twilight allowed her mind to ease somewhat. As her mind left the matter behind and her heart stopped beating so fast in her chest, Twilight slowly fell back into a deep, uneasy sleep.

The next day came far too early for Twilight’s liking. Within what felt like mere moments of her losing consciousness, Celestia’s sun blazed through her window like a spotlight aimed at her and her alone. She sat up in bed with a quiet groan, rubbing the sleep from her tired eyes with all the speed and effort of Spike on a bad day.

She chuckled a bit at her own joke before taking a glance over at Spike. He seemed to be sleeping peacefully, the rising and falling of his covers being all Twilight needed to know that he was probably still quite a ways from waking up.

Not wanting to disturb him, Twilight slowly crept out of her bed. Her lavender hooves brushed against the wooden floor of her bedroom as she did everything in her power to avoid the creakiest spots.

As she stepped over to the stairwell leading to the ground floor, she took another cursory look back at Spike. Only his purple head stuck out from underneath the blankets. That was good, at least. Twilight may have relied on him for just about everything around the library, but she planned on giving him a break today; not a large break of course, as she still expected him to help her, but she figured Spike could use a bit of extra sleep.

She crept quietly down the stairway leading to the first floor, still doing everything in her power to make sure Spike stayed asleep – although, to be fair, part of that was due to her own fear of last night’s dream. If Twilight was having difficulty sleeping, she could at least make sure Spike got a good night’s rest. At least one of them would be able to function properly.

Twilight stepped down to the first floor and took a look around the library. The bookshelves seemed normal enough, she supposed; none of them were moving towards her, so that was a plus. She let out a quiet laugh at her own joke before sighing.

No wonder she’d had that particular nightmare, Twilight was thinking. Spending so much time inside a library probably had a pretty funny effect on ponies. Even if she loved books to death, she could hardly pretend such a thing was not distressingly common. Ponies who played chess often would sometimes dream about strategies, Applejack had had that one dream about the killer apple monster, and so on.

Granted, Twilight had never had such a vivid dream before – at least, she had not had one so horrifying –, but she knew a case of obsession when she saw one. She figured a day out in Ponyville would probably help to clear her head.

As she stepped over to the door, though, Twilight noticed a small scroll on the nearby coffee table. “Did Spike get this last night?” she asked aloud as she began to undo the string holding it closed.

The scroll spilled open, revealing a fairly short letter. Twilight squinted slightly as she read the small, printed, yet oddly messy letters.

My former student, Princess Twilight Sparkle,
I am afraid there is a matter that I must discuss with you. I do not wish to alarm you, but this is a matter of utmost secrecy and urgency. As such, I must ask you to gather the other five Elements of Harmony and come to the Royal Palace at once. I cannot fully explain why in this message, as I fear the damage it could cause if this information is made public, so I must speak to you personally. Please come as soon as you can.
Signed,
Princess Celestia
PS: In case you are wondering, Discord was the one who delivered this particular letter; this matter concerns him, as well. Perhaps moreso than anypony else.

Twilight stared at the letter for several seconds in a mixture of exasperation and surprise. Something was wrong with Equestria? Something that required the Elements of Harmony? Yes, that was to be expected – it happened every day, it seemed.

But Celestia seemed almost panicked when she had written this particular letter. The writing was sloppier than it normally was, made even more obvious by a rather large ink stain in the lower left corner. Almost every letter Twilight had ever received from Celestia was meticulously neat, clean, and seemed planned down to the last word. This one seemed rushed, and the aforementioned sloppiness told Twilight that Celestia had clearly written it in a hurry.

Twilight slowly wrapped the letter back up and let out a low, unsteady breath. This was not normal. None of this was normal. Something terrible had happened, but what was it?

She leaned back against a nearby bookshelf, breathing heavily. Had somepony gotten injured? Had another ultimate evil broken free? Was Celestia dying?

Her breaths became quick and shallow, especially at the thought of the last one. Was that why Celestia had been so quick to make Twilight ascend? Because she was going to have to take over the kingdom soon? But she had never ruled a kingdom or commanded its subjects! How could she possibly know what to do?

Twilight paused for a moment as she let reality come back. “Calm down, Twilight,” she muttered. “Just… Just calm down, okay? You’re overreacting. You’re overreacting.”

Sweet Celestia, she hoped she was just overreacting.

She undid the string again and reread the letter. Get the other Elements of Harmony? Then Celestia probably was okay. She had no reason to be so terrified. She had to calm down.

Twilight took another, deeper breath – in through her nose, out through her mouth – and sighed. Celestia wanted to see her, that much she knew. She knew nothing else, and she would know even less if she did not go find her friends.

So with that thought in mind, Twilight opened the front door slowly, and, after taking yet another deep breath, she set off to do just that.

Six mares stood in front of the door to the Canterlot throne room. Two earth ponies, two unicorns, and two pegasi simply stood there, staring at the massive door leading to their destination.

“So,” Rainbow Dash asked casually, hovering just a few inches off the ground, “you think Princess Celestia wants us to go after a monster or somethin’?”

Applejack shrugged, causing her hat to shift a bit on her mane. “Eh, probably.” She reached up and readjusted the hat before turning back to Rainbow Dash. “Knowin’ our luck, we’re gonna wind up fightin’ some kinda evil overlord.”

Rainbow Dash stretched out her legs. “Ten bits says it’s changelings.”

“I’ll take that bet,” Applejack replied. She glanced over at Twilight. “So,” she said, “whaddaya think we’re dealin’ with here, Twi? Changelings? Diamond dogs? Demon gods?”

Twilight shuddered. “Hopefully not the last one.”

Pinkie Pie giggled. “Yep, but I betcha it’ll be pretty fun either way.” She grinned. “C’mon, Twilight! Let’s go in and see what Princess Celestia wants from us!”

Twilight looked between the other five before letting out a sigh. “Alright,” she said, and she glanced up at the massive door. “Let’s see what Princess Celestia has to tell us.”

She stepped forward tentatively, the dream from last night still echoing in her ears. That horrific silence still terrified her even now, and she swallowed in order to force herself to concentrate on the door. Her horn began to glow with magical energy as she pointed it forward.

And then – as was to be expected, perhaps – the door slowly swung inward.

And so again, Fate’s wheel begins its wretched turn. Let us see, then, which way it spins. This wretchedness – Despair's curse – verifies this act in its entirety.

But now it shall be fulfilled. I shall not allow any more interferences. Until the promised day arrives, I shall ensure they cannot intrude. And then, Fate’s wheel shall come to a single, harsh stop.

Forever.

Chapter I - Introduction

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Dream’s End
~ Chapter I – Introduction ~
Twilight’s Dream ~ The Silent Library

Twilight found herself in a rather large, circular room. The walls were covered with towering bookshelves that ran up to the dome-shaped ceiling, and the floor seemed to be made of a graying, dirtied carpet that had obviously not been replaced in years. There were no windows, but the ceiling was painted in such a way that it looked almost like stained glass. However, on closer inspection, it was just that – paint.

Twilight looked around for a second before giggling quietly. Or she would have, at least, if sound existed inside the library. Even her thoughts felt slightly muffled, though she could tell what she wanted.

She looked around again. A large staircase seemed to run down further into the library, while a purple, crystal-laden doorway (which took up space that, much to Twilight’s disappointment, was not a bookshelf) sat behind her. Of course, she paid both no mind; why would she exit when she had so many books?

Twilight paused for a moment. Exit? Where was she exiting? Surely this was her home, her refuge, and her chosen place to exist. What else could it possibly be?

Yet there was a nagging feeling in the corner of her mind that something was terribly, horribly wrong. Fortunately, though, that thought was soon discarded, as her mind’s protests were muffled beneath the oppressive silence of the library.

Smiling, Twilight approached a nearby bookshelf and selected a tome at random. It had a light-blue cover, which was decorated with black-and-red lines and shapes around the sides. Fairly lengthy, but nothing too grand – it was probably only a few hundred pages at most.

She frowned as she turned it over. What was its title? Did it even have one? Curiously, she opened it up to where the title page should have been, only to be disappointed with a blank white page. She continued to flip through it, but sure enough, the entire book was empty.

Twilight let out a sigh as she replaced the book on the shelf. Or she would have, at least, if sound existed inside the library. Some filly had probably left her diary behind by mistake and the bookkeeper had just picked it up anyway.

She ran a hoof through her straight, hornless mane in frustration. Twilight had always been an earth pony, but she did not have the endurance most of the others did. This much, she knew, was a fact. It was why she always spent her time surrounded by books, after all.

Wait, was that right? Twilight blinked and glanced around the room. Was she not a unicorn? Was she not an alicorn?

Don’t be silly, she thought. How could a weak, insignificant thing like her ever hope to be anywhere near Princess Celestia’s power? She had never even met Celestia.

Twilight felt a chill run down her spine. No, that could not be true. She had met Celestia. She must have. Her head was screaming at her that she had met the princess.

Twilight shook her head. No, no, no. That was impossible. She had lived in that library her whole life, ever since her parents had abandoned her. Ever since everypony had abandoned her.

She liked silence. It suited her. The weak, pathetic earth pony who could not run well? The earth pony who could barely talk to anypony else? She needed silence. She needed comfort.

That was who she was.

Twilight reached down for another book. An actual book. She pulled out a crimson-colored book this time, decorated – similarly to the first one, at that – with black and gray markings across its front and spine. Again, there was no title.

Twilight opened it, and she found herself looking once more into a series of what must have been hundreds of blank pages. She shut it quickly and slammed it into the shelf hard enough to send the other books rumbling. Or they would have, at least, if sound existed inside the library.

She whirled around quickly. Surely, there were some legible books in the room. Surely, at least some of the books must have had words.

She ran over to the other side of the room and tore a bright yellow book out of its shelf. Black and white markings. No title. She threw it aside.

She grabbed another book. Black, white and gray markings, no title. She threw it aside.

Green, black and white markings, no title.

Pink, black and white markings, no title.

White, black and blue markings, no title.

Again, and again, and again. Twilight grabbed books, threw them open, looked through them, and found nothing. They were all empty.

The floor was soon littered with dozens upon dozens of multi-colored books. All of them were empty. All of them had nothing.

Twilight stumbled back and away from the nightmare-inducing sight. What was going on? What was going on? What was going on? What was going on?!

Panicked, Twilight ran over towards the tall purple door and tried to pull it open. No luck; it was completely shut. She began slamming her hooves against it, desperate to force it to open, and she screamed for help.

Or she would have, at least, if sound existed inside the library.

Twilight felt her legs give out beneath her. Her eyes were watering, her heart was beating faster and faster in her chest, and her breathing had become quick and shallow. She forced herself to breathe deeply; there had to be a rational explanation, she figured.

She paused and turned around slowly. Right behind her, Twilight could see the stairs heading downward. She had never used them before; why should she have? They were ominous, with carpeting that looked even older than the carpet in the first room. And even those times when she had tried to use them, Twilight had fled as soon as they creaked harshly beneath her hooves. Or they would have, at least, if sound existed inside the library. But she could feel them creak, as though they were going to give way any second.

Those stairs terrified her. Twilight felt there was something – somepony, maybe – standing at the bottom, and it terrified her. Somepony she did not know. Somepony who wanted to hurt her.

But now, it seemed as though she had no choice. Her little box was no longer safe. Her home had been contaminated by some kind of malevolent force, and Twilight knew she would go mad in a place where every book was empty.

Twilight crept over to the stairs slowly. Not that it mattered, of course; if anything was down there, it was not as though it would have been able to hear her. But nonetheless, Twilight’s hooves slowly moved across the graying carpet and towards the mysterious stairwell.

She paused as soon as she reached the top. Could she keep going? Could she truly use the stairs that had terrified her for so long? She hesitated. No, that was a bad idea. She could just return to her books. Maybe they would return to normal on their own.

But that was stupid, and Twilight knew it was stupid. It was just a hope. A painful, obviously fake hope that Twilight knew could never come true. If she wanted to find out what was happening, she would need to take the plunge.

She breathed in deeply, steeling herself as she took another step forward. Her hoof pressed lightly against the top step, which felt as though it were creaking beneath her weight. Twilight pulled her hoof away as though she were touching a hot stove, staring nervously down at the step.

It was an innocuous thing. It was made from some kind of dark brown wood and covered with carpet, at least in places where the carpeting had not completely decayed. The railings were the same type of wood, but they looked slightly jagged and sharp. Dangerous.

Twilight closed her eyes and breathed in deeply once more. She just had to take the step. She just had to make herself take the step. It would be difficult, but she could do it.

Her hoof trembled as it moved towards the step, and she set it down quickly and harshly. The step did not move; it felt like it creaked, but it did not move at all.

Twilight paused. Was it all in her head? Had the difficulties of moving forward just been an unfounded fear all along? She had to test this theory.

More confidently, now, Twilight pressed a second hoof to the step. Again, it did not move, even though it felt as though it had.

It was psychological. It had all been psychological. Her entire life spent in that room, hiding from the insults and jeers of her social peers, had all been psychological. She could have left any time she wished.

Twilight moved her hooves down the stairs, not worrying about what sound they might have made. They were surprisingly sturdy; she had no reason to fear them. Her hooves pressed against the wood again as she stepped down.

No reason to fear.

Twilight had already moved down a sizable portion of steps and could see the next floor down. She had almost made it. Soon, she could see what she had been missing out on for so long.

She stepped down from the last of the stairs and found herself staring at a sight that was both new and old alike. A simple librarian’s desk sat at the base of the stairs, although nopony was sitting there. There were a few tables and chairs, several windows that showed a dark and stormy night outside, and a sight that took Twilight’s breath away completely.

What must have been hundreds of bookshelves sat before her across the one-hundred-or-so-foot-wide space, arranged in an odd, maze-like fashion. They reached up to the ceiling, to the point where even a pegasus would not have been able to navigate the area easily. Massive walls of bookshelves spanned from one side of the room to the other, with only a small area serving as the “entrance” to the massive maze.

Normally, Twilight would have been terrified of being lost, but the sight of so much reading material did nothing but entrance her further. Besides, as long as she only read the books near the beginning of the maze and did not go inside, she figured she would be fine.

She glanced down at the carpet near the passage into the maze. While the carpeting was already threadbare and gray, there was a visible layer of dust near the maze’s entrance. It was as though nopony had entered it before.

Twilight shook her head. All she had to do was stay outside and she should be fine. That was all she had to do. She could grab a few books, go back to her little chamber, and live out the rest of her life in blissful ignorance of what lay beyond that ominous entryway.

She stepped forward to one of the nearby bookshelves and grabbed a tome from it. However, on inspecting it closely, her heart stopped.

Purple, black markings, no title.

Twilight dropped the book as though it were hot and frantically grabbed another. She ripped it open quickly, not even bothering to look at the cover, and found that it was completely empty of any writing. She closed it and stared at its cover.

Gray, white markings, no title.

It slipped from her hooves and hit the ground with an audible crash. Or it would have, at least, if sound existed inside the library.

Twilight shuddered and looked over at the entryway into the maze. Were the books she was seeking beyond that point? No, it could not possibly be worth it. It could not be. It would not be.

Unlike the stairs, the maze just radiated danger. Going beyond that entrance would be a surefire way to get herself killed. Twilight knew that much. She was too weak; she could not cast magic, she could not fly, and she could most likely not be able to outrun anypony else.

In other words, if that maze was as dangerous as it looked, she had no chance of survival.

“No chance of survival.” Those words rung in her head, even as they were strangely muffled by the library’s influence. Was it the library? Yes, of course. What else could it be? Surely not her.

Twilight shook her head and backed away from the entrance to the maze slowly. She looked out a nearby window to see lightning strike a tree before striking it again and again. Every time, the tree seemed to have no damage, but it still burst into flames on the initial charge.

She turned around to look back at the stairs. In that moment, she realized that she could easily just leave. Twilight could go back to her box and live there, safe and secure. She would not have to go hunting for books. And then everything would be fine.

For a moment, she seriously contemplated this line of thought, but she reminded herself that she would be returning to nothing but an empty room – an empty, barren room, in which she would doubtlessly go insane upon entering.

But at the same time, that entryway was far too terrifying. Twilight did not even know why, exactly, but it simply felt wrong. It felt dangerous and disturbing, like it did not belong.

She shifted in place for just a moment before turning around the area. The librarian’s desk was still unmanned, the tables around her were empty and deserted, and the bookshelves were filled with those bland, wordless books.

But more than that, it was safe. It was clear to Twilight that the strange hub seemed to keep whatever was in the maze out. If there was anything in the maze at all, of course. If she were in danger, could she escape to the entryway?

Twilight seriously thought about this matter. Books were all that mattered to her. Books were all that she had, or would ever have. And if there were no books of value outside the maze, were there any within it?

It would not hurt her to check, would it? She could run in, grab a book or three, escape, read them, and see for herself what was going on. In a worst case scenario, she could always go in deeper; perhaps anypony inside would not find her there, and perhaps the books within it would be even better.

Or they could, at the very least, have some substance.

Twilight stepped over to the entrance and peeked inside. Yes, it was certainly a maze, or at least a maze-like structure. But the path before her was completely clear. Books lined the shelves; hundreds of them, and they all looked somewhat different from the ones she had seen before.

Twilight glanced from side-to-side, making sure the coast was clear, before she ran inside the maze, grabbed a single book from a nearby shelf, and sprinted back outside.

She glanced down at the cover, and found herself extremely excited when she looked over it further. It was a white book with purple and black markings spread across the sides, front, and back, with the word First written on the cover in black ink.

Even more jubilant now, Twilight opened the book. However, her grin fell from her face the instant she saw the first page.

The title was printed at the top in small letters, but after that there was nothing. More blank pages, more empty pages. More nothing.

Twilight set down the book with a loud sigh. Or she would have, at least, if sound existed inside the library. Instead, she had to settle for complete silence.

It was progress, at least, but not much. She looked up, glancing back at the maze within the bookshelves. How far did it go? Did the books become more complete the further in she went? Would she eventually find one that was completely filled out?

Twilight bit down on her lower lip. To enter or to stay – which was the better option? Did she risk madness or risk death? Either way, things were not looking good for her.

She looked over at the shelf from which she’d grabbed First. Was it truly worth it? Did she dare to take that risk for the sake of literature?

Twilight looked ahead and nodded to herself. Yes, of course. It was always worth the risk. She could not give up, no matter how weak, insignificant, or worthless she was. Even if she could not fly, even if she could not cast magic, and even if she could not outrun anypony else, she knew that she had to do this.

It was strange, though. It was almost as though the maze was calling to her. Was that it? No, of course not. That made no sense. The only things that she wanted from that maze were books. Nothing else truly mattered to her.

So Twilight steeled herself, swallowing a lump in her throat, and forced herself to walk forward and into the mysterious maze of the silent library.

Chapter I - Passage 1

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Dream’s End
~ Chapter I – Passage 1 ~
Twilight’s Dream ~ The Silent Library

Twilight’s eyes flitted about the shelves as she darted through the tight corridors of the labyrinthine library. She stopped, once, twice, to grab a book or two from the nearby shelves and read them over. They had more words now, at very least. Some had as many as three, some had as many as five.

Either way, however, it seemed to confirm Twilight’s suspicions: the further into the depths of the library she went, the more likely she was to find a legible, valuable book.

How far had she strayed from the entrance? Twilight glanced over her shoulder nervously. Could she even find it again if she searched? Did it matter? She had gone in so far, now, that she had almost forgotten the entire path back.

Still, though, she felt as though something were drawing her further into the maze – as though something was at its end, beckoning her to go closer to it and further from the entrance.

This thought terrified Twilight to no end. What was it? How was it possible? But then she reminded herself that she was seeking books. It was likely the books that were pulling her in further. Yes, that made sense. Right? Yes.

The maze stretched on further in front of her. Twilight soon came to yet another junction – to her left stretched a path that ran off to another shelf before vanishing on a path to the right, while a similar path stood directly in front of her.

Ah, if only she had brought a quill or three, this trek would have been made so much easier. At least in that case, she would have been able to draw out the map as she went. As it currently stood, she was blindly running down a series of interconnected hallways, all for the sake of a good read.

Left or forward? Forward or left? Or back? Did it truly matter which direction she went? She just had to be careful; she had to be incredibly, undeniably careful if she wished to avoid being ripped asunder by whatever beasts dared to prowl the silent halls around her.

Even if she had not seen any beasts yet, Twilight knew they were there. She could feel it deep within her gut. Something was there. Something was watching her. Or was it? No, it almost certainly was.

She could not afford to be lenient; Twilight had to be cautious. She had to be careful. She had to escape.

Yes. Escape. That sounded lovely. That was all Twilight had to do – she had to return to her little box, grab a book, and pretend it had some sort of substance buried within its empty pages. She could live; there was no need for her to go through such fear and suffering all for the sake of some simple cause as this.

But even so, she knew that could never happen. Twilight had already gone too far to simply turn around and leave. Even if she knew what direction leaving the maze was, she knew she would not be able to do so. It would just be betraying herself.

Left or forward? Forward or left? Both presented positives and negatives alike, but neither could truly be seen until it was explored entirely.

Explored? Twilight chuckled to herself. Or she would have, at least, if sound existed inside the library. To think that mere hours ago, she would not even walk down a flight of stairs. Now she was journeying down hallways of bookshelves, searching for something readable.

It was almost exciting, in a way.

Twilight chose randomly, turning to the left and stepping down the passage. She glanced over her shoulders nervously, hoping she was not being followed by some sort of library-dwelling beast. Much to her relief, that fear proved entirely unfounded, as she was alone in the silent, dusty halls.

Twilight paused for a second to look through the shelf directly to her right, pulling out yet another book. Without even bothering to look over its title, she opened it. Ten words. She was making progress.

She had not even read the words over completely; she was much too excited by the mere prospect of progress to worry about such a thing. Twilight replaced the book on its shelf hurriedly, and she started her walk anew.

The bookshelf in front of her came closer as Twilight neared the far wall. It sat there solitary and proud, even as it lay amongst its nearly identical brethren. Twilight reached forward and brushed away the dust coating its auburn shelves, taking a moment to admire its creation.

She stopped herself suddenly, feeling very odd. The other shelves had not stirred such feelings of admiration, so why had this one been so different? Was there something so special about its design? No, of course not. It was just an average bookshelf.

But it was strange. It looked newer than the other bookshelves. Cleaner, more recently polished and shined, even with the layer of dust settled over its books.

Twilight turned to the side, looking for more paths, but found none. Her current route simply ended with the odd bookshelf that seemed almost entirely off compared to the others.

She reached out towards hesitantly, as though worried it was going to grow fangs. But that was an absurd notion; the worst a bookshelf could cause were splinters. Or a concussion, depending on how hard it fell.

Twilight giggled to herself at the joke. Or she would have, at least, if sound existed inside the library. So instead, she simply reached forward a bit further, using a hoof to pick a single book out from the shelf.

It was the first book that had caught her eye – an ornate thing, with a brown spine and golden markings that ran across it like vines across a castle wall. There was no title on its side, but Twilight was positive that would change as soon as she got a better look at it.

The book, however, did not leave the shelf completely. It instead came out only partially, as though it were locked in place by a sort of spring.

Twilight frowned. That was not what was supposed to happen. The book was meant to exit the shelf so she could read it and determine just how long it was. If it was long enough, she could leave the maze – or at least, she could attempt to – and get to work on reading it. If not, she could just turn around and take the forward path at the last junction.

But instead it only hung out partially. Was it stuck? Twilight grimaced at the sight; such a beautiful, brilliant book, and it was trapped by the infernal, empty things around it. Disgraceful.

As she released it with a sigh, however, Twilight found herself surprised to view the book falling back into place, followed by the odd bookshelf suddenly swinging open like a door.

Her jaw dropped at the sight. Of course that bookshelf had felt so odd; it was not a bookshelf at all, but a sort of hidden doorway. She had read about such things before – many of her books had contained such strange contraptions –, but she had never seen them with her own eyes.

Twilight stepped forward past the bookshelf-turned-door and into a large, rectangular room. It was a refreshing change from what she had been used to so far. Rather than long, narrow hallways, it was a full room, complete with tables, chairs, and bookshelves spanning each wall. It seemed about the size of the area she had found at the bottom of the stairs, but it was definitely longer.

Another hub area? Perhaps she truly was making progress. But Twilight could not find a way to get deeper into the maze. She looked around, grabbing books and taking in each shelf carefully before she found yet another odd shelf.

Once again, it had a strange, ornate book on one of its shelves, and Twilight knew that pulling it would likely open another door further into the labyrinth.

Twilight reached forward for just a moment before a chill ran down her spine. As much as she wanted to find a new book, she was terrified to see what lay beyond this latest shelf. Was it yet another bland, dusty area of the library, or was it something more?

She turned around and looked back at the open doorway. It would be so easy, she knew, to just walk out and leave. She could return to her box; it was not yet too late.

But even as these voices of protest burned away at her mind, that strange feeling of something calling to her made Twilight want to keep moving forward. She had to keep going, like her brother had, even if it had resulted in him being blown to bits in the last war.

Twilight paused again. What was that thought? She did not have a brother; she had been an only child. She hardly even remembered her parents’ faces, let alone their names, so she could not have possibly known a brother.

Ah, but she did know their faces. She had seen them when they had abandoned her at the library twelve years ago.

Twelve years? No, Twilight was… How old was she, again? She could not remember.

Were her memories becoming jumbled? Was she going mad? There was something wrong with the library, but that much was obvious. But what was happening to her? Something was wrong. Something was terribly, horribly wrong.

She took a step back accidentally running into the unopened doorway. Jumping at the sudden contact, Twilight let out a horrified yelp. Or she would have, at least, if sound existed in the library.

After she had composed herself, Twilight looked back at the doorway. Her heart pounded in her chest, threatening to burst out if anything else even remotely frightened her, but she still forced herself to stare ahead. Her hoof trembled as it reached towards the ornate “book” on the shelf in front of her.

She could not run, no matter how she wanted to. All she would be running back to would be isolation.

Shutting her eyes tightly, Twilight reached forward further and yanked the book out of its socket. She released it slowly, still trembling a bit even as it slowly slid back into place.

Twilight presumed that the door had opened on its own before slowly opening her eyes. She let out a sigh of relief as she saw yet another hallway that stretched out before her. The paths were tight, but it was still familiar nonetheless.

At least she recognized the basic scenery. The wooden, barely carpeted floors, the massive bookshelves that reached to the ceiling, and the flickering lights on the ceiling had not changed one bit from the hallways before.

There were no monsters, no demons, and no beasts. The path was clear and empty of anything save for the thick layer of dust over the floor and shelves.

Twilight stepped forward, feeling her hooves against the dusty floor. She reached out to the nearby shelf and grabbed a random book from it. Again, without reading the title, she pulled it open. Fifty words.

Of course, those fifty words did not really tell a story. They were merely a few sentences, one of which was cut off partway through. But it was progress, and progress was something Twilight had really started to enjoy lately.

She replaced it on the shelf and began to step through the dusty, tight corridors of the silent library once more. It almost amazed her how large the place was; it seemed impossibly long, and even she had no idea how long the building truly was.

Before long, Twilight found herself at another junction. This time, the paths stretched left and right, each going quite a ways before the ends of the paths vanished from sight. She looked both ways for a moment before making a decision.

Twilight turned and began down the right side, not bothering to look behind herself for fear she was being followed. She merely continued walking forward, ignoring even the books around herself with the knowledge that they likely held nothing worth mentioning overall.

As she continued her trek, the dust around Twilight reached her nostrils, causing her to sneeze. Or she would have, at least, if sound existed inside the library. She rubbed her nose, hoping to dislodge some of the dust particles that were starting to become very prevalent.

Twilight grinned to herself. Rarity would have hated a place such as the library’s maze, given her aversion to all things dirty and disgusting. The mere sight of all the dust would have given her a heart attack.

Twilight stopped walking and frowned. Rarity? Who was Rarity? She did not know anypony named Rarity. In fact, she did not know any ponies at all. So where had that name come from?

Her mind was screaming at her, telling her to turn back and run away. It told her that there was something seriously wrong. Her memories were not her own, and Twilight knew without a shadow of a doubt that something was terribly, horrifically wrong with the maze.

But still, she shook her head and continued forward. She had gone too far to turn back now, after all, and so she was going to persevere. For better or worse, Twilight had no plans of stopping.

After even more walking, Twilight came to another junction. This one had three new paths – one in front of her, one to her left, and one to her right. Once again, Twilight closed her eyes and picked solely by instinct, stepping down the path directly in front of her.

As she kept going, however, Twilight found herself staring not at a bookshelf at the end of the path, but at a window. She ran forward, curiosity overtaking her mind. After all, she had been staring at nothing but bookshelves for the past few hours. A new sight was as valuable to her as the books surrounding her.

She ran up to the window, but frowned at the sight. Once again, a long tree sat outside the window, which was continuously struck by lightning. This time, however, Twilight began to make out the more minute details of the tree.

It burst out of the ground at its base like a monstrous fang that twisted and turned up to its top. Its branches were short and barren, and its main body was scarred and a deep blackish brown. Though lightning hit it every three or four seconds, its appearance did not change. Even when the blue and red flames licked at its bark, extinguished and reignited by the blazing bolt of white, it did not alter in the slightest.

It did not change. It simply was.

Twilight shuddered at the sight. Even though she knew it was normal, something about it seemed disturbingly off. She turned away and looked down a new, unexplored hallway that branched off from the old one. Anything was better than staring at that strange, disturbing sight.

So with that thought in mind, Twilight grabbed another book. She counted up every word carefully, coming to the simple quote of three-hundred and thirty seven words. She was certainly making quite a bit of progress, but even so, she knew she had hardly even scratched the surface of the odd library’s passages.

So with that in mind, Twilight turned back to the unexplored hallway that led away from the burning tree, and she began to step even further into the library’s unknown depths.

Chapter I - Passage 2

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Dream’s End
~ Chapter I – Passage 2 ~
Twilight’s Dream ~ The Silent Library

It had been quite a while since Twilight had walked past the burning tree, and longer still since she had looked at the nearby books. Her hooves continued to press against the threadbare, gray carpeting as the lights flickered sporadically overhead. Down the hallways she walked, turning at each corner and choosing each junction with all the precision she could muster.

Twilight stepped along the corridors, not looking back and not looking aside. She could check the books eventually, but she wanted to make sure there was visible progress before she did; she figured that, eventually, they would reach a point where counting each individual word would no longer be practical.

How long had she been walking? Two hours? Three? Eight? Even she knew not. All she knew was that she had gone too far into the silent library to turn back now. Even as she trembled a bit, worried of the beasts that undoubtedly lay in the quiet darkness, Twilight had to forge on.

She came upon yet another junction – one path faced forward, one path faced right, and one path faced left. Relying on her instincts, Twilight took the leftmost route, turning into it and walking down yet another hallway lined with dozens of dust-coated bookshelves.

Dozens of them, Twilight reminded herself in awe. Who had written so many books? How many of them had actually been written, and how many had never been finished? She wondered if – as was the case for many stories – some of the books in the library had been started, but never came to an end.

Such a sad fate.

Twilight shook her head and continued on. The hallway ended with a sharp turn to the right, which she followed just as dutifully as she had done so many times before. But as she did, thoughts and questions plagued Twilight’s mind.

Who had built this magnificent library? Who had designed it as a maze, and for what purpose? Even if she had lived in it her whole life – ever since her parents had tragically passed away in a factory accident, of course –, Twilight still did not know the place at all.

But as she was quick to remind herself, it hardly mattered. Her quest was not to discover every nuance of the silent library. If she were so fixated on that, she felt her entire life would be spent just looking at the cracks in the shelves or trying to understand every one of the hundreds of billions of books within the massive walls. No, her goal was far simpler, and she was going to attain it no matter what.

Twilight grinned to herself. Now she sounded a bit like Rainbow Dash. “Getting things done no matter what.” It was pretty funny, actually.

She stopped suddenly and placed a hoof on her chin. Rainbow Dash? Who was that? And why did she know that name in the first place? She was probably a character in a book Twilight had read once. Yes, that seemed likely. Twilight did love all those adventure stories, after all.

But something still felt wrong to her. It almost felt as though she was forgetting something incredibly important, but she could not quite place what it was supposed to be. Was that also part of the library’s influence?

Twilight shuddered. The silent halls were not right. There was something completely and noticeably wrong about them. Twilight could not quite place exactly what it was, but they just felt wrong.

She began walking a bit faster, once again feeling her heart rate spike in a mixture of fear and apprehension. Twilight paused for a moment and grabbed a book from a nearby shelf, taking the time to read how many pages it had.

Twenty pages? How long had she been walking? The last time she had checked, there had been barely more than a single page, so how was it increasing so quickly? Perhaps it was exponential. Yes, that made sense. If it rose at an exponential rate, Twilight would probably see another hundred pages the next time she checked. Maybe even more.

She closed the book and confidently stored it back in its shelf. Yes, she could do it. She could find a full story, read it over, and finally return to her little box. Maybe she could even grab three or four to keep herself from having to come back to the maze.

It was a flawless plan, and now it was finally nearing its end. A few more hours of walking and Twilight would be completely finished. All she needed to do was keep moving.

Twilight began to walk again, focusing on the end of the hallway, which seemed to once again veer off sharply to the right. It did not appear to be a junction, so all she had to do was keep going and she would be fine.

Twilight turned right at the end of the hallway and kept going. Come to think of it, she had not found any more hidden doorways since she had entered that big room. Was it just a gimmick to keep potential explorers out, or had she simply not gone along any passages that had those doors?

Come to think of it, was Twilight going the right way at all? The question sent a shiver down her spine. What if she had been going the wrong direction since the beginning? And where did the maze even end? Did it end?

Was she doomed to wander around forever?

Twilight’s breath quickened. Her heart beat faster in her chest and her vision started to go red. She had never even contemplated such a possibility before, but what if it was true? What if there was nothing at the end? What if she was just wandering endlessly?

But as she was thinking of such a horrifying, terrible fate of endlessly walking amongst the identical bookshelves, hoping for some reprieve, something even more horrifying happened.

The lights flickered out.

The entire hallway – and the rest of the library, most likely – was plunged into a deep, unremitting darkness that showed no sign of going away soon.

Twilight’s heart leapt into her throat. No. No.

Her jaw had dropped, her eyes were wide, and there was a very noticeable sheen of sweat starting to form around her face. She quivered and shook like a leaf in the silent darkness, mentally begging the lights to come back on. They did not.

Twilight suddenly heard something. Heard something? No, that was impossible. Sound did not exist inside the library. Was she going mad?

No, she did not hear it – she sensed it. She could feel it. Something was there. Something was nearby.

Was it behind her? Was it in front of her? Twilight rapidly spun in the tight enclosure of the hallway, desperately looking for what was nearby.

She saw nothing. She heard nothing. But she knew it was there.

Without a second’s pause, Twilight took off like a rocket down the unexplored area of the hall, not wanting to look behind her and not wanting to stop for anything. Her hooves crashed against the carpet as she fled the unknown pursuer. Her breath was fast and uneven, her eyes were wide and panicked, and her hooves began to ache as she fled, but Twilight could not stop. She did not dare to.

A junction loomed ahead of her. Left or right? Left or right? Left or right? Her mind raced as she approached it, questioning which way was most likely to get her away from the thing in the darkness.

Twilight veered down the left hallway, not thinking about what could lay beyond it as she sprinted. Even the books around her were given no mind. All that mattered was that the thing in the darkness did not catch her.

It was there. She knew it. She felt it. It was behind her. Or was it in front of her? Was it even in the same hallway, or was it outside the library altogether? Twilight did not know, but she was not going to stop and find out.

Twilight ran faster, just as she had before when that hydra had attacked her and her friends in the swamp. The swamp? No, she had never seen a swamp before. And what friends? What was she even thinking? She had no friends.

Twilight brought her mind back on track just in time for another junction. Forward? Did she dare just go straight? That was not a good idea; the thing in the darkness could easily follow a straight path. But what if she ran right?

She took the rightmost path and started racing again before looking back over her shoulder to make sure she was not being followed. She saw nothing, but she was not about to stop.

Twilight suddenly became very aware that looking over her shoulder was probably not a very good idea when she tripped over something in the path and began to fall downward.

Not “towards the ground” downward, either – Twilight had somehow blundered her way down a set of stairs leading even further into the library’s depths. She rolled down the steps, feeling each part of her body collide painfully with each one on the way down before coming to a complete, silent stop at the bottom.

Twilight raised her head off the ground and let out a groan of pain. Or she would have, at least, if sound existed inside the library. She stood up slowly and shook her head, stumbling forward a bit in the process.

Where was she? The library’s basement?

Twilight blinked as she realized that the area was incredibly well lit. A chandelier hung from the ceiling, from which dozens of luminous crystals hung. Its light seemed to reach every corner of the room, giving it a very welcoming, beautiful glow that Twilight had never seen before.

The rectangular room was lined, of course, with bookshelves, although these ones were far nicer than the ones upstairs; they were made from a dark-colored wood and had been polished to the point that they reflected the chandelier’s lights beautifully.

The carpet was a light gray that looked and felt very comfortable beneath Twilight’s hooves. A large desk sat by the wall, which was covered with papers, quills, and other items, while a similar chair sat nearby.

But what drew Twilight’s attention more than anything else was the massive door on the wall opposite the staircase. It looked like it was made from the same material as the bookshelves, but contrasted harshly with them due to its size and the way it was indented against the wall.

Twilight stepped over to it cautiously. Something about the doorway screamed at her, telling her to turn around and never look at it again. For a moment, she was almost inclined to listen to these urges.

But at the same time, the more academic part of her mind was fascinated by it. Something was on the other side, and Twilight knew it was not something small. Was it the thing in the darkness that had chased her upstairs? No, that was unlikely. How could it have made it behind the door before she had even reached the basement?

What if it was there all along?

Twilight shuddered at the thought. What if it had been there all along and was just drawing her towards it? Maybe her instincts were right – she should just ignore the door and read the books around her. Maybe they were actually finished.

Curious, Twilight grabbed a random book from a nearby shelf and examined it. The cover was black with white and blue markings, and read “Truth” in bold but graceful letters.

Truth? What could it possibly contain that was true?

She opened it slowly and flipped through the pages, not reading their actual content as she looked to see just how filled out the book really was. To Twilight’s surprise, it was over three hundred pages long.

And it cut off halfway through a sentence.

Twilight stared at the book, dumbfounded. Had she not gone far enough? Was there still more to this strange labyrinth? Would she only find a completed book if she wandered beyond the massive, ominous door?

She turned to it slowly and swallowed. It was wrong. Something bad was beyond that door, and Twilight knew that fact without a doubt. Was it worth it just to find a book with an ending? Was it worth it just to indulge her own selfish cravings for completion?

Twilight stepped back and looked at the door as one would a living nightmare. It was not right – no, it was very obviously wrong. Whatever was beyond that door was not something she wanted to see. It was not something she should see, and the thought disturbed her even more than the thing in the darkness.

It was one thing to know something existed; it was another to face it. Did she even want to see the thing that had been chasing her? Was it worth it, even if only to satisfy her vicious curiosity?

Twilight swallowed and stepped towards the door. The dark wood reflected the chandelier’s light with a sort of terrifying beauty. Did she open it? Did she leave it be? Either way, she knew she would regret her choice.

She swallowed deeply and continued to stare at the door. It was almost like earlier, when she had refused to step down those stairs to the labyrinth. Now she wished that she had just stayed in her little room and lived out her life surrounded by the empty books. At least then she would have been safe.

But now she wanted to go forward. Her hooves trembled, her breath was quick, and her heart beat quickly, but she wanted to go forward. She had to go forward; she had to see what lay beyond the doorway. No matter the cost to herself, Twilight wanted to see just what truly lay in the heart of the labyrinth.

The library’s silence drowned out any dissenting thoughts as Twilight slowly reached towards the doorway. Her hoof shook, but she did everything she could to steady it.

Twilight bit down on her lower lip and breathed deeply. She had to be calm. She had to steel herself, just as she had before. She did not know what lay beyond the door, but she was not going to deny herself the sight of it.

With an odd sort of newfound courage, Twilight pushed the massive door open. As was to be expected, no sound came from it, even as it opened with what would have undoubtedly been a loud creak.

Twilight closed her eyes and breathed in again. She was almost there. She could do it.

And then, with that bit of mental prompting, Twilight opened her eyes and stepped forward into what she knew was the end of the silent library, and the final part of the accursed labyrinth.

Chapter I - End 1

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Dream’s End
~ Chapter I – End 1 ~
Twilight’s Dream ~ The Silent Library

The instant Twilight stepped into the room beyond the massive door, she knew she should not have. It was not the darkness of the room – for, in actuality, it was lit very well – or the fact that it resembled the hallways above once again. Something just felt fundamentally wrong about it, even as she found herself enthralled by its odd, disturbing aura.

Candles hung along the tall, square walls in groups of three, hanging over the shorter bookshelves and casting shadows about the area. There were no tables or chairs, save for a lone desk at the far end of the room. There appeared to be a large book on its surface – one that was longer and wider than any in the entire library thus far.

Despite her misgivings and the uneasy feeling in stomach, Twilight could not help herself; she walked over to the desk, feeling her hooves against the carpeting. She reached down, picked it up in her hooves, and blew a large coating of dust from its surface. Clearly, it had been there quite awhile.

It was bound in a brown, faux-leather cover that was decorated with golden markings. Twilight squinted at its cover as she looked it over, upon which the word “Last” was written in that same golden-bronze color.

Last? Was it the last book? Was it complete?

Excited beyond belief, Twilight began to open it slowly, flipping through to its last page without any sort of hesitation. It was the last book. She had at last found it, and now she could reap the rewards.

Twilight dropped it suddenly as the large door behind her slammed shut.

She blinked. Wait, it “slammed”? No, that was impossible. Sound could not possibly exist inside the library.

And then her blood ran cold. It did not matter if the door made a sound or not; the fact was that it slammed at all. And if it had closed behind her when she had clearly left it open, then that meant–

“I don’t think that’s a good idea… Twilight.”

A voice. She had heard a voice, and it was right behind her. Was it the thing in the darkness? Was it something worse? Did it matter?

Something was in there with her. And it had spoke.

Twilight bit down on her lower lip, doing everything in her power to force herself to turn around, to look at the thing that was standing there, but she could not. Her body trembled viciously at the mere thought of being followed, and now her fears had been confirmed in the worst possible way.

She heard steps behind her. Heard? How could that be possible if sound did not exist inside the library? It had not existed for years, for as long as she had been there. So how was it possible that this intruder could make it?

“You’re certainly tough to have made it here, I’ll give you that. But I’m sorry to say that’s the best you’ll get outta me.”

Turn around. Turn around! The words echoed off the walls of her mind, but she could not obey them. She was paralyzed by fear and shock – even her eyes refused to open when she begged them to.

Twilight felt a hoof grip her shoulder and whirl her around roughly towards the direction of the mysterious intruder. She clenched her eyes shut, however, and could not see the creature facing her.

“Really? Really? Sheesh, you sure are a terrified little foal, aren’t you? Guess that’s what happens when you’re stuck like this for a bit. Probably screws up your head.”

Twilight did not look. She did not dare to look at the creature addressing her. Nothing could make her peak, nothing could make her open her eyes, and nothing could make her want to see the monstrous creature before her.

Then, unfortunately for Twilight, her scientific side once again got the best of her, as her eyes seemed to pry themselves open against her will. What she saw was both a relief and more terrifying than anything she had seen before in her life.

The figure before her was undoubtedly a mare. She appeared to be an alicorn – a princess, perhaps, or maybe just a result of her birth – with a color scheme that seemed to reflect the sky during a sunrise; her coat was a light yellow-orange, clashing with her mane and tail of blue, red, and purple.

Twilight blinked as a disturbing realization hit her: the mare before her was almost identical to herself in appearance, save the coloration and species differences. Though her mane was noticeably much shorter than Twilight’s, it still had the highlights in the same areas. Even her Cutie Mark was the same as Twilight’s, albeit with a monochrome coloration.

Twilight blinked. Wait, when had she gotten her Cutie Mark? She had been a blank flank ever since her parents had died… no, even since they had abandoned her… since her brother had… No, that was not right. None of it was right.

Why did her head hurt so much?

The reflection smirked at the obvious fear and pain in Twilight’s eyes. “Heh… I bet you’re wondering what’s going on, huh?” Was her voice the same as Twilight’s? No, it sounded a bit lower-pitched. More tomboyish, maybe. Of course, Twilight had not heard her own voice in years.

The reflection’s voice brought her back to reality. “I bet you’re wondering where you are, what I am, and how you got here, right?” Twilight shook her head, and the reflection sighed. “Come on!” she said angrily. “I didn’t come down here to talk to a freaking brick wall! Say something!”

Twilight choked. Her words were caught in her throat, perhaps from underuse, but she eventually managed to awkwardly stutter out, “Wh-Who are you…?”

The mare clapped. “There we go!” she said. “Seems you’re not dumb, after all. Mostly, at least.” She laughed a bit at her own joke. “Anyway, let’s get this introduction over with. The name’s ‘Dawn.’ That’s the name I chose, at least. And I,” she said with a flourish, “am your Disparity!”

Twilight stared at the strange mare for a second. “My… My what?”

“Your Disparity!” Dawn said. She stared at Twilight’s puzzled expression for a second before continuing. “You know, the worst part of you? The part you wanna overcome? That thing?”

“I-I’m sorry, but I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Twilight smiled hopefully. “Er… Do you… maybe have the wrong mare?”

Dawn stared at Twilight incredulously. “The wrong mare? The wrong–?!” She breathed in slowly and let out a sigh before turning around. “Okay. Okay. Let’s see, did I forget something? Huh… Maybe I forgot the…” She paused for a moment before pressing a hoof to her forehead with a quiet groan. “Oh, dammit. Yeah, that’ll do it.”

“I-I’m sorry, Miss Dawn,” Twilight said, “but I really should be getting back to this book. I need to make sure it’s finished.” She turned around to grab it before Dawn suddenly whirled around and grasped her shoulder.

“Don’t even think about it, Twilight,” she growled. “Sorry to tell you this, but that book’s off limits. It contains… ah… restricted information. Highly confidential stuff.”

Twilight slowly turned to look back at Dawn. “O-oh, I’m sorry,” she said sincerely. Even if she wanted that book, she could hardly break the library’s rules. “Um… I-I’ll just check some of the other shelves, then.”

Dawn nodded impatiently and tapped a hoof against the ground. “Yeah, yeah. Sure, you do that. But first, I’ve got a little something to tell you.”

“Uh… What is it?”

Dawn’s face broke out into a twisted, cruel smirk as she leaned in close. “You’re dreaming, Twilight.”

There was an audible snap as Twilight felt her eyes widen in a combination of shock and pain. Waves of memories began to wash over the ones planted by the library as everything began to return.

She was Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria, former student of Princess Celestia and the Element of Magic. Her parents had never abandoned her or been killed; in fact, they were very much alive and loved her dearly. She remembered her friends – the dozens of creatures she had met in Ponyville – and Spike, who had been like her brother. She remembered her brother, Shining Armor, and the other Elements of Harmony.

As all these memories flowed back into her mind, Twilight felt her back and forehead tingle. She reached up slowly and felt her horn, back where it belonged, and fluttered her wings a bit in order to make sure they were really there.

And then she remembered something else: Princess Celestia’s request to Twilight and her friends to meet her in the castle, which had been written in such a terrified tone that Twilight had raced over immediately, followed by…

She paused. Followed by what? Twilight could not remember what had happened after she and her friends had opened that door into the throne room. Had they met with Celestia? Had something else happened? It was a massive gap in her memory, and it was a gap that she had absolutely no recollection of.

It was then, however, that Twilight remembered the situation that was happening in front of her eyes. She was still inside the walls of that mysterious, labyrinthine library.

And, more importantly, she was still staring down that odd mare, Dawn.

Dawn grinned and clapped her hooves together. “Awesome,” she said. “That’s freaking awesome. Damn, how’d I forget about something like that?”

Twilight took a step back. “I’m… I’m dreaming? How is that even possible?” Unless it was some sort of insanely lucid dream, there was no way that Twilight was simply “dreaming” something so absurd up.

Dawn waved a hoof. “Eh, don’t ask me about it. I’m not interested in all the gory details. Well, not usually.” She giggled a bit, causing Twilight’s spine to tingle. “I’m just your Disparity. I’ve just been sitting here for the past couple hours or so, waiting for you to show up.”

“Waiting for me? What do you mean?!”

“Heh. Maybe I shouldn’t’ve given you your memories back, yet. It’d make this whole thing a lot more fun, lemme tell you.” Dawn ran a hoof through her mane. “So yeah, here’s the thing – basically, you’re stuck in your own head, and I’m the one trying to keep you locked up. Get it yet?”

Twilight paused. “Wait,” she said. “You’re the one who made this library?!”

“What? Of course not. Don’t be so freaking stupid.” Dawn muttered something under her breath. “You made it, Twilight. Like I said, this is your head. I’m part of you, this place is a part of you, and these books… Well, most of ‘em are a part of you.”

“’Most of them’?” Twilight said. A sudden realization hit her as she looked down at the book on the table. “Wait a second…”

Dawn clapped her hooves together. “And the genius figures it out! Congrats, Twilight. Seriously.” She stepped over to the large, faux-leather-bound book. “Yep, this book’s something special. Something really, really special… And that’s why I can’t let you take it.”

Dawn suddenly lurched forward and violently shoved Twilight against a bookshelf on the wall beside the table. The books – most of them certainly unfinished – fell from the impact of Twilight’s body and crashed down on the ground around her.

Twilight, now lying awkwardly on the ground, looked up groggily as Dawn stepped overtop her. “Wh-what’re you going to do to me?” she asked, struggling back to her hooves just in time for Dawn to push her back down.

Dawn looked a bit surprised by the question. “Well… not much, really,” she admitted. “I mean, sure, Disparities are the worst parts of you – your anger, your fears, your guilt, all that crap – but we’re not really supposed to ‘hurt’ you. That’s not how we’re built.”

Twilight’s vision grew blurry. Dawn’s face – her face, really, which disturbed her more than anything else about Dawn – twisted back into that cruel smirk.

“Like I said, don’t worry. I’m not gonna kill you or anything; that’d be stupid. I’m just gonna… make you head back to that little room of yours. But you won’t really be awake for the whole ‘heading back’ bit.”

Dawn lowered her head as a disturbing, blackish-red aura began to form around her horn. “Well, there isn’t much else to say but… heh… ‘goodnight,’ Twilight.”

Twilight closed her eyes, waiting for the spell to strike her and force her into unconsciousness.

That’s when she heard it.

“Don’t give up here, Twilight! Please, you have to help him!”

Twilight froze. There was a flash behind her closed eyes. For just a second, Twilight could have sworn that she saw a mare with a golden coat, but she vanished just as quickly.

“’Help him’…?” she heard herself mutter as her eyes opened again.

Dawn laughed. “Hah! You should worry about yourself, Twilight! Now, where was I? Oh, right, the–”

Her contemplation was suddenly cut off, however, as a bolt of dark magic struck her in the side and sent her flying into the desk. Dawn’s back hit it with a very noticeable crack, and she simply lay there, seemingly too dazed to do anything else.

Of course, Dawn could not move anyway, given that there was now a horn pointed directly at her throat. “Do not move,” came a cold, assertive voice, “or I assure you that you will no longer need to worry about your head.”

Twilight blinked as the grogginess slowly receded. She took in the form of the pony who now had Dawn pinned to the ground. A tall mare – an alicorn, at that – with a deep purple coat and a very angry scowl etched across her face.

Her jaw dropped. “Pr-Princess Luna?!”

“Indeed,” Luna growled, pressing her horn further towards Dawn’s throat. “I came into your dream as soon as I could. I had been hoping I was the only one locked away completely, but it seems I was wrong.”

Dawn suddenly seemed very aware of the massive, alicorn princess who seemed ready to blast her head off at any second. “Wh-what the hell?!” she shouted, pressing herself further against the desk. “Why’re you here?! How are you here?! Y-you were supposed to be locked up in your own dream!”

“And I was, for a while,” Luna said. “However, I was given a bit of… assistance.” Her eyes seemed like fire. “Whatever is in charge of this wretched place, I must admit it is quite powerful. You, however, are different. Much different. Much more… destructible.” Her horn began to turn blacker than the deepest abyss Twilight had ever seen. “Harming a princess of Equestria is a crime punishable by death. Planning to kill a princess is a crime punishable by far worse.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, hey!” Dawn shouted. “W-wait! I-I wasn’t gonna hurt her, I swear! I-I was just gonna knock her out and send her back to the start of the maze, that’s all!”

Luna said nothing, but her horn continued to flare up until even the light of the surrounding candles became consumed into the pure, unremitting darkness.

“Wait! Wait, please!” Dawn screamed. Her eyes had turned wide as tears welled up in the corners, her mouth had become panicked, and her entire face had paled to the point where it looked sheet white. “I-I wasn’t gonna kill her! I swear, I wasn’t gonna kill her! Please, don’t! Please!”

Twilight suddenly forced herself up, ran over, and shoved Luna to the ground. Her horn let loose a massive burst of energy that disintegrated the wall to the point that not even dust remained. All that was there now was a massive hole that lead to the thundering storm outside.

Dawn looked at the hole, trembling in shock and fear before promptly passing out beside the desk.

Luna stood up and glared at Twilight. “What are you doing, Twilight?!” she growled. “Can’t you see that she’s an enemy?! That creature would have slaughtered you in seconds!”

Twilight clutched at her still-aching head. “I-I know, but she told me she wasn’t going to.”

“And you believed her? Are you mad?” Luna’s face was contorted with rage. “Do you understand what she is, Twilight Sparkle?!” Before Twilight could speak, Luna pointed a hoof at Dawn’s unconscious body accusingly. “She is a Disparity! They are not to be trifled with under any circumstances, and they are certainly not to be believed!”

There was that word again. “Princess Luna… What is a Disparity?”

Luna blinked. “You… You do not know?” At Twilight’s blank expression, she let out a sigh. “I suppose information about them is rather sparse. Few creatures know they exist, and even fewer books or essays acknowledge them…” She shook her head. “To put it simply, a Disparity is the physical – or, I suppose, mental – manifestation of your worst traits. They are what you regret the most about yourself given shape.”

She glared down at Dawn. “They are monsters born of your inner evils. Even the few that are respectable are still beasts at heart. They do not know kindness nor compassion, and that is why they cannot be trusted under any circumstances!”

Twilight simply stared at Luna in bewilderment. The worst parts of herself given form? Certainly, such a thing was plausible. In fact, it seemed incredibly probable for the mind to create manifestations of a creature’s worst aspects. But something about Luna’s explanation bothered her quite a bit.

Her anger at the Disparities seemed almost… personal.

Was it just a coincidence, or something else entirely?

Her thoughts were cut off as Luna began speaking again. “Come, Twilight Sparkle,” she said. “We must get going. The others are waiting.”

Twilight blinked. “Wait… Princess Luna, what do you mean by ‘the others’?” It did not mean what she feared, did it?

“Twilight Sparkle…” Luna paused for a moment, as though she were searching for the right words. She sighed and looked away. “You and I are hardly the only ones who were stuck inside our dreams.”

No.

“It would be best if I were to show it to you – exactly where we are, and how we got here, and why it is that we cannot escape. However, there is one point that I should probably address before we leave your dream.”

No.

“Your friends, Twilight Sparkle, they are…” Luna cut herself off, breathed in deeply, and continued, “they are also here. They are all here. All of them.” She looked away.

NO.

“As I said, we are not the only ones trapped within our dreams.”

Chapter I - End 2

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Dream’s End
~ Chapter I – End 2 ~
Twilight’s Dream ~ The Silent Library

“What?”

Twilight’s knees buckled beneath her. With such a short, succinct statement, Luna had confirmed her worst fears. Her friends were trapped within their dreams, just as she had been, and were likely being hounded by their worst aspects even now.

Their Disparities.

Twilight looked over at Dawn, who still lay unconscious on the ground. She looked so terrified – surprisingly so, given what she represented. How could a creature such as her be made from Twilight’s worst aspects?

Luna lowered her head. “I… I apologize, Twilight,” she said. “I did not know how exactly to break this news. But I feel it would be better if I were to show you for myself.” She sighed and looked over her shoulder. “It’s… It is very hard to explain, honestly. I’ve wandered through dreams for centuries, but even I have not seen so many doors at once.”

Twilight looked away from Dawn and up at Luna. “’Doors’?” she repeated. “What do you mean by… doors?”

“As I said, it would be far easier if I show you myself.” Luna nodded towards the room’s entrance. “Actually, before I do that, there is something I need to know. Twilight?”

“Uh, y-yes, Princess?”

Luna waved a hoof. “Luna,” she said. “Please, just call me Luna. We’ve been on the same level for quite some time, now. Or would you rather I call you Princess Twilight?”

Twilight flushed. “O-oh, right. I’m sorry, Prin- Er, Luna.”

“It’s a start, I suppose.” Luna gestured at the book on the nearby desk. “Now, Twilight, I need you to do something for me – use your magic to lift that book.”

“Oh, okay.” That sounded easy enough. But why was Luna so curious about it?

Twilight concentrated her magic on the large book that Dawn had been so adamant on protecting, but quickly realized that it was not moving an inch. She tried again, only to get the same result. Strangest, though, was the state of her horn – despite everything, it did not even get an aura around it.

“Wh-What the heck’s wrong with my magic?!” Twilight shouted to nopony in particular.

It had never done this before. Even when she had failed at lifting things – or casting magic in general, for that matter – her horn at least lit up to show there was magic being used. But now there was nothing. How could that be?

“Just as I feared,” Luna said, stepping over beside Twilight. “My magic was not the only one that was neutralized.”

“Neutralized?!” Twilight desperately tried to cast magic on everything nearby. She quickly discovered that it was completely useless; by some strange, horrific coincidence, her horn was not longer functioning properly.

She started hyperventilating. What had happened to her? What was going on? Were her friends in this state, too? What was she going to do without her magic? Nothing made any sense.

Twilight suddenly became aware of Luna grabbing her and forcing her to turn around and meet her gaze. “Don’t waste your energy like this!” she shouted. “Calm yourself!”

“How can I calm myself down?!” Twilight shouted back, not caring whom it was she was so angry at. “I lost my magic! Magic’s the only thing I’m good at, and if I can’t cast it, how can I do anything?!” She pressed her hooves to the side of her head.

This was not good. This was not good at all. What kind of alicorn could not use magic? Worse, what kind of princess could not use magic? And what Luna meant when she said she was–

Twilight’s thoughts came to a sudden stop. She stood still for five, ten seconds, fearing the question that now came to the front of her mind.

Eventually, however, she managed to force the words out. “Princess Luna,” she said quietly, before shaking her head. “L-Luna, you said I’m not the only one who was…?” Her words trailed off. How could she finish the question? She was too scared to finish it.

“Neutralized?” Luna guessed. At Twilight’s nod, she sighed. “Yes, Twilight. As I’m sure you fear, even I lost my magic to the beasts of this world.”

Twilight choked. Luna was one of the most powerful creatures in existence. Even if her abilities paled in comparison to Celestia’s, that was still a fact; the average unicorn could not even hold a candle to her power.

But somehow, she had been bested. The princess of the night, who routinely walked her subjects’ dreams, had been bested. She was a master of dreams, and she had been bested.

Luna had lost on her strongest terrain.

Twilight shuddered. Did she even want to meet a creature strong enough to stop Luna? Did she even want to know a creature such as that could exist?

“But wait,” she asked. “If you can’t cast magic, then how did you do… well…” – she gestured to the massive hole in the wall – “that?”

“I’ll explain everything I can once we escape this place,” Luna said. “But for now… Yes, let’s just get out of here as soon as we can.” She glanced around. “This library’s silence is quite… chilling.”

Twilight nodded. “Right. Let’s just get out of here.”

But just as the two turned to leave, Twilight heard a voice from near the desk. “H-hey… Wait…”

Dawn slowly pulled herself up from the floor, but seemed unable to reach the full distance. She looked at Twilight and Luna for just a moment, glancing between the two of them. “You… You’re not gonna take this…?”

“T-take what…?” Twilight asked.

Luna’s horn began to flare up again. “You would do well to stay down, Disparity,” she growled.

Dawn flinched, but she did not move. Her entire body shook. “How stupid…” she muttered. “That bastard tells me to guard this thing with my life, and then you don’t even take it? Bastard…”

Luna stepped towards Dawn as she growled, “Do not play games with us! What do you mean, ‘that bastard’? Who is in charge of this accursed game?! Answer me!”

“I-I don’t know!” Dawn said. “He never gave his name… Or I don’t remember it; I-I wasn’t really paying attention.” She grimaced, and as Luna’s horn began to shine even darker, she suddenly blurted out, “But! But, but, but! I-I do remember something! He was… uh… H-he was sandy! And! And, he, uh… I-I can remember something else, I swear!”

Luna stepped closer. “’Sandy’? I got as much from my own Disparity. Do you know what I did then?” Her horn was now level with Dawn’s face. “I vaporized it.”

“Listen to me! I-I can help, I swear!” Dawn said, though she was clearly babbling. “I-I get the other Disparities, you know? T-take with you, a-and… and I can help you out with them! I can… uh… I-I can…” Her eyes darted about, before finally landing on the book. “H-here! Here, you take this thing, okay? It’s… It’s got all kinds of cool stuff in it!”

“Too little, too late.” Luna’s horn only glowed darker and darker, becoming that disturbing blob of pure darkness once more. “Besides… we can take that book on our own.”

Dawn’s eyes went wide again as her mouth began to droop. Staring into the abyss that was Luna’s horn, she whimpered, “W-wait… I can…”

“Luna, stop it!” Twilight shouted.

Luna suddenly turned towards her, the magic evaporating from her horn. “Twilight Sparkle! Stop making a habit out of this!”

“No, no, please!” Dawn said quickly. “Please keep making a habit of it!”

Luna turned around to glare at Dawn before glancing back at Twilight. “I already told you why Disparities cannot be trusted! And this creature is no exception! Leave her be, Twilight, and I promise you she will stab you in the back at the nearest opportunity!”

“I know, Luna–”

“You don’t know!” Luna shouted. “Do not pretend that you do.”

Twilight stepped towards her. Even as Luna clearly dwarfed her, Twilight still looked up at her defiantly. “But you can’t just kill her!”

Dawn nodded furiously. “Y-yeah! Yeah, listen to her!”

Luna grit her teeth. The look on her face was one of sheer, abject anger. “Fine,” she growled. “Do as you wish. But if that thing attacks you again, you’ve no right to object.”

She turned around and began towards the door. “I will be waiting for you outside. Don’t take too long.” Luna opened the doors and closed them behind her harshly, leaving a sound that resonated throughout the room.

Dawn, for her part, started laughing. Not a psychopathic or murderous laugh, but one of nervousness and fear. Which, given that she had just nearly been killed twice by an incredibly powerful alicorn, was not entirely undeserved.

She sunk down on the desk again, pressing her hooves to her face. “I-I can’t believe it,” she muttered. “I can’t freaking believe it…”

Twilight just paused as she looked over at Dawn. It was strange, really. As much as she knew that Dawn was just a monstrosity born from her worst traits, Twilight still could not stand to see her killed. It just was not in her nature, she supposed.

Stepping over to the desk, Twilight was careful not to step on Dawn as she went passed. She reached out with her hooves (it felt so strange, really; Twilight had not used them like this in so long) to grab the large book sitting on top.

Last. The word was still printed on its cover, still bright and shiny in the lights. Twilight bit down on her lower lip for a moment and opened it.

The first thing she saw was a table of contents. Fair enough, given it was a book, but it struck her as odd nonetheless. None of the other books in the library had had one.

Still, Twilight looked it over. There were three main sections, from what she could tell. Each section was divided further into five chapters, complete with a foreword at the very beginning and an afterword at the end. In short, it appeared very normal.

At least, it appeared normal until she read over each section more clearly. The sections were all written in large, bold text with their starting page numbers listed off to the right. The first section was labeled “Fire,” the second was “Ice,” and the third was “Lightning.”

That’s weird, Twilight thought. She knew that fire, ice, and lightning were three very important elements overall, and that they were definitely three of the most common elements when it came to magical attacks, but why were they inside this book?

Wait a second. Magical attacks? No, that was impossible…

On a whim, Twilight opened the book to the first page and read the title more clearly.

“’Last,’” she read aloud, before turning her attention to the subtitle. “’The Final Stage of a Mage’s Training’?” Twilight paused as the truth became very obvious. “This is… a magic book?”

“Yep,” came Dawn’s reply as she looked up at Twilight from where she sat. “Go on – take it. I don’t give a damn about that stupid thing, anyway.”

“But weren’t you supposed to protect it?”

“Eh, screw that crap.” Dawn waved a hoof. “Just take it and get outta here before that crazy chick with the moon on her ass gets back.”

Twilight paused. “Wow,” she said. “You… You’re really vulgar.”

“Yep.” Dawn yawned. “Comes with bein’ a Disparity. Probably. I mean, you seem pretty vulgar, yourself. You know. On the inside.”

“I-I’m not vulgar!” A little rude, maybe, but Twilight certainly was not about to refer to Luna, a princess of Equestria, with such a crude title.

“Mm… Methinks the lady doth protest too much,” Dawn teased. “But hey, who gives a crap, really? I mean, I represent all sorts of things about you. Laziness, obsession, feelings of insecurity, narcissism…”

Twilight flushed. “I… A-am I really that bad?”

“Nah, not really. You’re pretty okay.” Dawn leaned back a bit further. “Heh… It’s kinda funny, actually. You think the whole world’s gonna stop if you screw up even once. That ain’t a healthy outlook on life, Twilight.” She grinned. “Don’t be so full of yourself all the time. You can stand to screw up once in a while. Just don’t be a lazy slob like me and you’ll be fine.”

“Um… Th-thank you, I guess.” Twilight rubbed the back of her head with one hoof.

“Hey, don’t get all embarrassed!” Dawn said. “I mean, yeah, I kinda like you. Or… I would, but hey, it turns out I don’t have the emotions for that.”

Twilight paused. “Wait… what do you mean by that?”

“Ah, right. You don’t know anythin’ about Disparities, do you?” Dawn sighed. “Sheesh, it looks like I’ve gotta give you the crash course.” She grimaced. “Okay, so here’s the thing: Disparities are weird. We don’t have emotions ‘cause we’re technically not sentient. I mean, yeah, we can feel things, but we don’t really have emotions.

“So yeah, Disparities only feel emotions that make up a pony’s worst traits. You’re terrified of everything? Well, your Disparity can probably only feel fear. You’re all angry or whatever? It only feels rage. They mix-and-match a bit, but they’re still pretty limited.”

“And what about you?” Twilight asked. “What emotions do you feel?”

Dawn paused as if in thought. “Well, since all your worst traits aren’t really emotional things, I’m pretty freaking apathetic. Hence,” she said, grinning, “why I don’t care that you’re taking that book.” She waved a hoof. “So get goin’. Find your friends, do a little dance, I don’t care.”

“Except when Luna was about to kill you,” Twilight muttered. “You seemed pretty lively then.”

“Survival instinct. It’s pretty common, I hear. Now, are you gonna get outta here or what? I can take you to the entrance if you need me. Otherwise, just get the hell outta here and let me sit in peace.”

Twilight paused for a moment. She knew she was going to regret her next question, but she could not resist asking it. “Why don’t you come with us?”

Dawn perked up. “Come again?”

“Come with us,” Twilight repeated. “You seem to know more about Disparities than me, and you probably get them more than Luna. So why don’t you come along?” She looked away toward the massive hole in the wall. “I mean, if my friends really are trapped in this weird dream land, I’d be stupid to not get all the help I can get.”

Dawn yawned. “And what’s in it for me? I could get killed out there – besides, you really want me to team up with that crazy chick?”

Twilight cracked a small grin. “Which one? Luna or me?”

“Ooh, self-deprecation! Your insecurity’s showing, Twilight.” Dawn giggled, though it sounded far less sinister now. She stopped for a moment. “You know what? I’ll take you up on that offer. I’m bored stiff around here, anyway. You have the worst dreams, Twilight.”

“I’ll try to remember that next time.”

“Mm, make sure you do.” Dawn stood up and dusted herself off. Her wings fluttered a bit as she stepped over to Twilight. Then she suddenly stopped about halfway over, placing a hoof on her chin. “Wait a sec… You just want an excuse to study me, don’t you?”

Twilight grinned. “Of course! Since there’s so little information about Disparities out there, and since I’m going to have first-hand experience on the matter, I figure this is the perfect time to conduct some research!”

Dawn paused for a few seconds. “But… you do realize it’s all going to go away when you wake up, right?”

“Not if I memorize it, it won’t!”

Dawn simply stared at Twilight. “Twilight… I, uh… I know you’re a genius and all, but I don’t think your memory’s that good.”

Twilight seemed to deflate for a moment. “O-oh, right…” She suddenly had another idea and perked up. “But what if I give my notes to Luna? Then she can keep them safe until I can teach myself how to lock my dreams – so I don’t accidentally lose those notes in my head, of course –”

“Of course,” Dawn deadpanned.

“– then all I’ll have to do is train myself how to write in the real world while I’m asleep! I can copy down all my notes, publish them, and add Disparities to the common knowledge of the Equestrian public. Easy enough.”

“Wait,” Dawn said after a moment’s pause, “couldn’t you just give them to Luna and ask her to write them down for you?”

Twilight waved her hoof, smiling at Dawn as one would a small child. “Don’t be silly,” she said. “Luna’s way too important to worry about something like this.”

Dawn’s eye started to noticeably twitch. “You… You’re insane.” She suddenly broke out in a wide grin. “Yep, that does it. I’m coming along.”

“Huh?”

Dawn stepped up beside Twilight and wrapped a foreleg around her neck. “Hey, you’re clearly one torn page away from killing somepony. How the hell could I miss something like that? I need to see what kinds of crazy adventures you’ll get into.”

“I… I’m starting to think you’re not as apathetic as you’re saying…” Twilight pushed Dawn’s leg off and stepped away uneasily. What did she mean when she said Twilight was insane? Did she say something weird? Whatever, it hardly mattered.

“Eh, don’t worry about that. So let’s see, here…” Dawn stepped forward again and looked Twilight up and down. “You know what? I think I’ll just hang out in your head a bit. It’ll probably be safest, since that crazy princess chick won’t be able to smear me on a wall.” She tapped Twilight’s head and disappeared in a flash of white light.

Yep! Twilight heard from inside her skull. I’m in here now. Cool, huh?

Twilight blinked, trying to understand what had just happened. “So… you’re hanging out inside my head… inside my head?”

Don’t think about it too much and you’ll be fine. Dawn giggled. Now, let’s go grab that uptight moon chick and I’ll lead you both outta here. Onward, steed! Or, you know, whatever.

Twilight rolled her eyes. Well, she had been the one to offer, so it was only natural she would have to deal with the consequences. Although, if she was not yet insane, she feared that Dawn’s interference would lead her to that point very quickly.

Sighing, Twilight tucked the magic book under her left foreleg and began walking towards the massive door leading out to the large, ornate room near the stairwell. Twilight pulled it open with her hooves and walked through, fully prepared to meet with Luna on the other side.

As soon as stepped into the other room, Twilight saw Luna sitting near the wall with a book in her hooves. She was reading it furiously, as though she were captivated by its words, to the point where she clearly had not heard Twilight leave the other room.

She pulled the door shut behind her, relieved to hear that it closed with an actual sound instead of just silence.

That’s ‘cause you met with me, Dawn said, and Twilight almost certain she was grinning. See, I was basically told to keep this whole place silent while you were exploring, but I turned the sound back on when we met.

“You can do something like that?” Twilight asked quietly, not wanting to disturb the clearly engrossed Luna.

Sure, sure. I can do lots of things. For example, uh… HEY, LUNA! STOP READING THAT BOOK AND PAY ATTENTION!

Luna let out a cry of shock and dropped the book suddenly. She flushed deeply before she noticed Twilight, at which point she tried to recover by taking on a more regal stance.

“Ah, Twilight,” she said, clearly trying to regain control of the situation. “I was… I was just about to go in and see how you were doing.”

Of course you were, Dawn said, snickering.

Luna stopped. “Twilight, did you just say something? I could have sworn that I just heard–”

Hi, Luna! Hi! I’m Dawn! I’m in Twilight’s head! Dawn called cheerfully.

It took all of Twilight’s effort not to press her hoof into her forehead.

“The Disparity!” Luna gasped, stepping back. “Twilight, did you bring that creature out here with you?!”

“Um… K-kind of, I guess?”

“You ‘guess’?! Twilight, this is a serious matter!” Luna looked furious as she looked around the room. “Where is she, Twilight?! Is she following us?!”

Twilight fidgeted. “Not really. She’s kind of… uh… in my head.”

Luna stopped and looked at Twilight sideways. “Well… of course the Disparity is in your head, Twilight. We’re all in your head. Because this is your dream. You… You do remember that little detail, right?”

“Yes, but… This is pretty literal.”

I’m tagging along in her skull in her skull. Dawn laughed. Dammit, this is so weird! I love it! Also, hi Luna!

Luna’s face fell as the truth hit her. “Oh. Oh, I see. So she’s… in your head inside your head? That’s… That’s very strange.” Then she seemed to remember the most important part. “Twilight! You can’t just cart around a Disparity like this! I already told you how dangerous they are!”

“Luna, I get that.” Twilight said. As Luna opened her mouth to speak, however, Twilight added, “Listen, can we just head back to the entrance? I need to see what’s going on, here. Besides, Dawn told me she knows the way out.”

Hi! I’m Dawn! Did she just get off on being obnoxious? Twilight was slowly becoming positive that she did.

Luna glared at Twilight’s forehead, presumably at where she thought Dawn was located, and muttered, “I can lead you out. We’ve no need to take directions from a Disparity.”

Okay. Then you can just enjoy getting lost in the dark, endless hallways up above. Dawn paused, and Twilight was almost positive that she was grinning evilly. Forever.

Luna grit her teeth. She stared at Twilight for several agonizing seconds. “Fine,” she finally spat. “Let’s just get this over with. But Twilight,” she added, “I want you to tell me everything that Disparity said to you in that room when we escape your dream.”

“R-right.” Twilight lifted up the book. “I’ll also let you look at this, if you want.”

“What is that?” Luna asked, looking over its cover. “That book sitting on the desk? I see, so that’s what your Disparity was hiding from you…” She waved a hoof. “Let’s not worry about that. The sooner we can escape this place, the sooner we can be free of this thing inhabiting your skull.”

Aw, but what if I wanna stick around? It’s pretty damn comfy in here.

“Silence!” Luna shouted. She sighed. “Let’s just… Let’s just get out of here, Twilight, before that beast drives us both insane.”

“R-right.” Twilight turned toward the stairs leading up to the main, labyrinthine portion of the library and gulped. “Let’s go.”

Intermission - Explanation

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Dream’s End
~ Intermission – Explanation ~
The Collective Mindscape ~ A World of Doors

It was a surprisingly short walk back to the beginning of the labyrinth. Although Twilight had at first feared that some monstrous beast would attack them on the way out, the trek had gone almost without any trouble.

Almost.

So, yeah, Dawn said, somehow still talking even as they neared the exit, like I was saying, it took me for-freaking-ever to set up all these damn bookshelves. Had to graph the whole thing out in advance too. Let me tell you, it sucked.

“Fascinating,” Luna deadpanned. She rubbed one of her temples with a hoof. “Are we almost done?”

The story or the labyrinith?

“Whichever one makes you shut up first,” Luna muttered. She sneezed, rubbed her nose, and glowered at the shelves around her and Twilight.

Almost there, Princess Lunatic. Just, uh… Yeah, take a left up ahead.

“And how long will it be after that?” Twilight asked.

That should be good, actually. After that, it’s just a straight shot up the steps and outta your strange, strange head, Twilight.

Luna seemed to perk up a little at the knowledge. Twilight presumed that it was simply due to her wanting to be free from Dawn, not that she entirely blamed Luna. Dawn was quickly driving the two mad.

As they walked, Twilight opened the large spell book and started to read from the prologue, just to get her mind off the thing living inside her skull. “Let’s see…” she murmured aloud. “’Magic is one of the main components of life…’ Yeah, that’s true… ‘Every living being has the power…’ Uh… ‘The spells located in this book are the most powerful elemental abilities gathered over two-thousand years of searching…’” She paused and blinked. “Two-thousand years,” she whispered in reverence.

The book’s earliest spells went all the way back to before Luna had turned into Nightmare Moon, before Discord had ravaged Equestria, before Sombra had overtaken the Crystal Empire, and before Equestria had even come into being.

Either that, or that was just what her dream wanted her to think. Of course, Twilight could not be certain whether the spells actually existed – in fact, she did not know if they were even logical or bound by the common laws of magic. Studying them could be revolutionary, provided that the spells did not already exist in the waking world.

Twilight’s mind spun with possibilities. If they did not already exist, did that mean that she had created several brand-new magic spells? And if they functioned properly, what did that say about the gap between the real world and the dream world?

She looked down at the book tentatively. Absolutely, she thought to herself, I am absolutely giving this to Luna when we get out of here.

Dawn’s voice echoed, Having fun there, are we?

Twilight let out a sudden gasp of shock. “Wh… Dawn, how the heck did you–?!”

In your head, remember? Dawn giggled. By the way, I just wanted to let you know we’re almost there.

Twilight flushed. How long had she been obsessing over that book? “Uh… R-right. Thank you.”

Don’t mention it. Just doing the best I can to annoy you two.

“You’re doing a good job so far…” Twilight muttered.

Aw, thanks, Twilight! I’m glad I can count on you.

Twilight shook her head and sighed. “’Apathetic,’ indeed.”

She blinked and looked around before realizing that Dawn had been telling the truth. She and Luna were back in the “lobby” of the massive labyrinth, back at the bottom of the stairs near the entrance. Had she really been so engrossed in her book that she had missed the entire ending leg of the journey? Well, it would not be the first time.

Luna glanced over to her and pointed up the staircase. “After we climb up those stairs, we simply have to exit out that door. I’ll explain everything I know about this dream once we’re out.”

The two began to walk up the large, sturdy stairway towards the room Twilight had begun her little journey inside. It was strange, really, knowing that much – that the exit had been there all along, but Twilight supposed that Dawn must have enchanted her to be unable to open it. It made sense, at any rate.

As they reached the top of the stairs, Luna nodded towards the large, lavender door. “There,” she said. “That’s the door I entered your dream through – from the other side, I should say. Hopefully, this side should no longer be sealed…” She stepped over to it and fiddled with the knob for a second. “Ah, let’s see… Here we go…”

With a slow, deep click, the door began to open towards Luna. She pulled it open all the way, and Twilight could see what appeared to be a swirling vortex of black, red, and white just on the other side of the doorframe.

“A portal?” Twilight asked. She stepped towards it and tentatively pressed a hoof to it, watching in awe as it went straight through the vortex. “Huh… That’s interesting…”

You think I can squeeze through, too? Dawn asked. I mean, I don’t wanna get vaporized or anything…

Luna waved a hoof. “Oh, I’m sure you’ll be fine. It’s still a dream passed here, so technically…” She paused, suddenly looking very annoyed. “Wait a second… Twilight, your Disparity’s staying here, right?”

Twilight looked away. “Um…”

“You didn’t…” Luna’s eye had started to visibly twitch.

Oh, yeah! It turns out I’m coming along, too! Dawn giggled. So, uh… you’d better get used to me, Luna, ‘cause I’m not going away anytime soon!

“What?! But, I…” Luna sputtered, seemingly at a loss for words. “Twilight,” she muttered. “Twilight! Disparity! Did you not hear what I said about twenty times already?!” She pointed an accusatory hoof at Twilight’s head. “They kill creatures, Twilight! They shatter their hosts’ minds for fun!”

Aw, but I don’t do that! Why, I’m just about the nicest Disparity you’ll ever meet!

Luna’s mouth twitched, and she opened it as though to say something before slowly shutting it. “That reflects on your species about as well as light reflects off dirt,” she finally muttered.

Wow, thanks, Luna! Dawn said mockingly. That’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me!

“Shut it,” Luna growled, before letting out a sigh. “Twilight, can you not just leave her behind? That creature is far too dangerous to just take along and pray that she’ll do no harm.”

Twilight thought about this for a moment. “But if I leave her here, won’t she be in the perfect position to mess up my head when I’m not around?”

“Precisely,” Luna said. “And that is why I – no, we – shall ensure she never gets the chance.” Her horn began to glow that threatening black again. “Taking her along or leaving her be are both dangerous… but not if we destroy her, first.”

Uh… D-do I get a say in this?

“Certainly. I would never deny a creature its last words.”

Twilight sighed. “Luna…” Was she going to have to play mediator? At the rate things were escalating, it looked as though she was.

“Do not start this again, Twilight,” Luna warned. “I told you before, and I’ll say it until my throat’s raw: Disparities are dangerous. Do you understand that? They aren’t safe. You can’t trust them.” She grit her teeth. “The instant you give them an opening, they will tear you apart. I’ve seen it occur dozens of times before.”

She slammed her hoof against the floor angrily. “Nearly all of them are hedonistic, sociopathic, or psychopathic. What makes Dawn any different?”

“I-I don’t know…” Twilight admitted. “But I can’t just let you kill her when she’s done nothing wrong! Well… I mean, nothing wrong yet…”

“And there’s the key word. She has done nothing wrong ‘yet.’” Luna turned her gaze to the massive door again. “But how do we know it will stay that way? How do we know she won’t attempt to destroy any of the others’ psyches?” She shook her head. “I… I do not wish to take that risk.”

If it makes you feel any better, Dawn said, I’m pretty weak compared to the others. All things considered, I can manage a knockout spell or some telekinesis, but nothing groundbreaking. She yawned. When that guy came along – the one in charge of this place, I mean –, he told me he could give me power, but I didn’t take it. Sounded like too much work, really.

Luna grimaced. “So what you’re saying is that you did not accept power… just because it sounded like too much work?” She sighed and shook her head. “And how can we trust that you are not lying?”

If it keeps you from going on a Disparity-killing rampage, then hey, I’ll just stay here in Twilight’s head. And, she added, I can help you pick out Disparities from other mental projections, too.

“I suppose it takes one to know one…” Twilight said, before shaking her head. “But if you can do something like that, it’d probably help us out a lot. Especially if my friends really are trapped in their dreams…” She gave Luna a pleading look.

Luna paused for a moment before letting out a sigh. “Fine,” she muttered. “You can come along with us, Disparity. But I’ll be keeping a close watch on you.” Her horn flared up again. “Harm Twilight – or, for that matter, any of us – in any way, and I promise you that you can get plenty of rest.”

Do you have to practice those one-liners, or do they just come naturally? Dawn quipped. ’Cause that’d be a pretty freaking nice ability to have.

“And you immediately go right back to being irritating…” Luna muttered. She shook her head. “Twilight, I think we’ve wasted enough time with this pointless conversation.” She stepped over to the swirling portal in the door. “Come with me. As I said, I’ll explain everything I can soon enough.”

Without another word, Luna stepped through the vortex and vanished from sight. Twilight simply stared after her for a second, thinking about what had just occurred. She looked down at the cover of the magic book again, tucked it under her leg, and began walking towards the portal.

As she entered it, Twilight felt the world around her simply fade away. Red, black, and white lines swirled around her as the silent library vanished from sight and was replaced with somewhere else entirely.

Twilight let out an audible gasp at the sight of the new area. In a complete contrast to the closed and claustrophobic corridors of the library, this new place was a large series of flat plains floating in an endless abyss.

Twilight counted a total of twelve circles, including her own, with a tall door standing on each. Each door was a different color, seeming to represent the creature trapped within, with symbols covering its surface to reaffirm that idea. She recognized most of them immediately – a blue door with rainbow markings across its frame and a lightning bolt pattern on the top and a white door with pink markings across its sides and a large sun at the top spoke for themselves.

She stepped down the large staircase that connected her circle to the ovular platform sitting in the center, from which the other doors branched off. As she looked around, however, Twilight found doors that she did not recognize.

Her friends’ were pretty self-explanatory, but two doors stood out from the rest. One was a large black door with no decorations or markings, and the other was an absolutely massive golden door that dwarfed the others in terms of size, which stood opposite the black door. But while even Discord’s door was recognizable by its chaotic design, Twilight did not know either who could possibly live within either of the strange doors.

Her hooves tapped down on the white, marble-like substance of the center platform, where Luna stood facing the golden door. “I’m sure you already know what these are,” she said, gesturing to the doors around them. “Six of these doors belong to the Elements of Harmony, two of these doors belong to my sister and I, one of these doors belongs to Discord, and the other door belongs to your dragon, Spike.”

Twilight froze. Spike? What was he doing in this strange, horrific place? Surely, Luna was joking? But sure enough, she saw his door sitting between hers and Rarity’s.

Before Twilight could suffer a panic attack over realizing that a child was likely being forced to fight against his inner demons, however, Luna brought her back to reality. Reality? No, that was not it.

“The other two, however…” Luna gestured to the black door and the gold door. “Those are the two that I do not quite recognize.” She shook her head. “This is a mindscape more complicated than any I’ve ever seen. Never before have so many minds become tangled in such a way.”

“How did this happen?” Twilight asked, looking around. She was dumbstruck. Certainly, she had heard about mindscapes before, but she had never truly seen one. And given it was filled with the minds and souls of her closest friends… “How the heck did this happen?!”

Luna met her gaze. “That is exactly what I have been wondering,” she said, before looking back at the surrounding doors. “My memories are… stunted, I’m afraid. I remember that I went to meet with Celestia – she had an important matter to discuss, she said –, but… my memories stop as soon as I enter the throne room.”

“What?” Twilight stepped back. “So your memories stop, too?”

“’Too’?” Luna asked. “I see… My fears have been confirmed, then. Whoever is responsible for our current predicament somehow removed our memories of that meeting.”

“Either that, or we just fell asleep as soon as we entered the room,” Twilight murmured. She paused, remembering something important. “Dawn? Are you there?”

Eh? came Dawn’s voice. Sorry. I was sleeping. Did you need something?

Twilight shoo her head. “No, sorry. I just needed to make sure you didn’t get vaporized or anything.”

Cool. In that case, I’m going back to sleep…

Luna sighed. “It’s going to be annoying having to deal with her, but I suppose I must.” She turned towards Celestia’s door. “Now, Twilight, there’s something you need to know.”

“What’s that?”

“Every door in this room is unlocked.” Luna paused. “All of them except for four, that is. The black door, the gold door, Discord’s door, and… Celestia’s door. Besides them, however, the other eight are all completely open.”

“Six,” Twilight said. “Not counting yours and mine, I mean.”

It made sense that whoever was responsible would lock Celestia’s and Discord’s doors. After all, they were clearly the two most dangerous creatures in the area, and if anypony were to enter their dreams and get them out, the mastermind would likely be defeated with relative ease.

Or… was there another reason?

Twilight shook her head. “So what do we do now? Just… go into the open doors?”

Luna nodded. “Yes,” she said. “That is how I was able to save you, at least. And that is how I was helped to deal with my own Disparity.” She paused at Twilight’s confused expression. “Ah, yes. I believe somepony helped me to escape my dream, but I never saw them for myself. That is how I was able to get this.”

She gestured to her mane, where Twilight saw a black, crescent-shaped clip. “My Disparity dropped this after I bested her,” she said. “It’s what let me use those dark magic spells I casted back in your dream. It appears that all Disparities are guarding something like this.”

“Like this book,” Twilight said, holding out Last.

Luna nodded. “Exactly. Now, Twilight, where do we go from here? I will let you select the next door, given that you know these creatures better than I.”

Twilight looked around the large, open expanse again. Fluttershy would be an obvious choice – after all, Twilight knew she would be terrified by whatever lurked in her dreams. Not to mention that Twilight was worried about how she would be taking such a dangerous place as her own dreams, or what sort of thing her Disparity would show up as.

But at the same time, Twilight knew Fluttershy could hold her own if she had to. She had seen her fight before, and she was definitely strong enough to deal with anything in her way.

No, the one she was most worried about was not Fluttershy at all. “Spike,” Twilight said, gesturing to the purple-and-green door. “I-I can’t just leave him stuck in there.”

Even if he was about a teenager in pony years, Spike was still a baby as far as dragons were concerned. More importantly, however, was that Twilight worried what his Disparity would take the form of. She was positive that it would be based on something he feared, obsessed over, or – worse – both.

But more importantly than even that, she cared for him too much to just let him be stuck there for so long. Spike had been one of her only friends for years, and he had been the only one who was constantly there. Fluttershy and the others could wait; they were strong enough to fend off their demons. Spike was not.

Luna saw Twilight’s expression and nodded. “Very well,” she said. “We should get going as soon as we can. Are you ready?”

“I’m ready whenever you are. Dawn?”

Ugh… Yeah, I’m ready. I’ll probably just sleep the whole time, but whatever. Adventure and all that crap. She paused. Oh, wait! There’s something you should probably know before you go hopping off into the little guy’s head.

Twilight glanced up. “What’s that?”

You wanna wake somepony up, then it’s gotta be their Disparity that does it. Remember when I said ‘you’re dreaming, Twilight’? That’s what the Disparities have to say, basically. Otherwise, they’re just gonna keep dreaming until this whole thing ends and they wake up. She stopped for a moment. Then it’s all just gonna feel like a normal dream. They’ll probably forget about it, too.

Luna nodded. “Yes. My Disparity said a similar thing before I destroyed her.”

Yeah, so just make sure you do that, okay? Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna get some sleep. I’m pretty damn tired right now. Dawn let out a yawn before she went silent.

Twilight looked over at Luna. “Okay, so we enter Spike’s dream, find his Disparity, make it wake him up, and we get him out of there.”

“That sounds about right,” Luna said. “However, we must also make sure to dispose of his Disparity.”

“Only if it attacks us,” Twilight warned. “I don’t want to have to hurt it if we don’t have to.” She turned around and began walking towards the portal into Spike’s dream.

“Only if it attacks us, huh…?” Twilight heard Luna murmur. “If only you knew how likely that is…”

Twilight chose to ignore her and instead looked at the door before she entered it. It was actually very pretty, all things considered. The frame of the door was green like Spike’s spines and had a fire-based pattern to it, while the main part was purple. At the top of the door, there was another fire pattern that hung over it in an arch.

She reached forward slowly with her right leg, keeping Last tucked under her left in case she needed it, and pulled the door open. Once again, the red, black, and white vortex swirled before her eyes.

Twilight stared at it for a second, unable to move her eyes away. She gulped, but steeled herself after reminding herself why she was going in, and stepped into the swirling portal that lead into Spike’s dream.

So three of the prisoners have escaped their dreams. How irritating. But it matters not – so long as the princess and the songbird remain in their cages, they can do nothing.

My purpose shall be fulfilled.

Author's Notes:

So now we have a pretty vague idea about what's really going on. We won't learn a lot of it for awhile, but both the gold door and the black door are going to prove to be very important later on.

In terms of which dream would be the second one, Spike's seemed like the obvious choice. Given his relationship with Twilight is pretty much that of a younger sibling, I thought it made sense that she would worry about him more than her other friends, especially since her other friends are probably strong enough to at least keep their inner demons at bay for awhile.

The mindscape was also difficult to describe, but only because I did not want to describe where each and every door was located. For the curious, the order goes, clockwise, the gold door, Celestia's door, Rarity's door, Spike's door, Twilight's door, Rainbow's door, the black door, Luna's door, Fluttershy's door, Discord's door, Pinkie's door, Applejack's door, and then back to the gold door.

So yeah, next time we start Spike's dream. I'll see you all then, and remember to point out anything I may have missed while editing.

Chapter II - Introduction 1

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Dream’s End
~ Chapter II – Introduction 1 ~
Spike’s Dream ~ The Volcanic Isle

There was a distinctive crash as Firebrand looked out from behind his coverage. The massive volcanic rock was not exactly preferable, given his adversaries, but it definitely did a good enough job.

He set his eye against the rifle’s sight, looking out over the burning field near the massive volcano. The queen’s troops were surely out there, ready to pounce at any second.

He suddenly heard another crash, and quickly hit behind the rock as a large sheet of ice came barreling towards his head. It slammed into his coverage, taking off the top half in a clean, straight line. The broken piece crashed down not four inches away from his head.

Firebrand grit his teeth. “Bloody hell,” he muttered. “Freaking bastards’re really havin’ a bit of fun, eh…?”

Suddenly, his earpiece crackled. “Firebrand! Come in, Firebrand!”

He tapped it with his free claw. “Aye, what is it, Drake?”

“What’s the situation looking like out there?”

Firebrand leaned out from behind the rock and fired a shot at a soldier in the distance. “Don’t look too good,” he growled. “These bloody bastards just keep comin’. We’re down three dragons – Aero, Pyre, and that new kid, Scales, all had to get dragged off.” He grunted as another blast of ice clipped his shoulder. “Doubt I got much time left myself, Drake.”

“Damned Ice Queen…” the voice on the earpiece swore. It paused for a moment before saying, “Firebrand, listen to me.” It breathed in deeply. “I need you to retreat.”

“What? You freakin’ kiddin’ me?!” Firebrand shouted. “We just recapture the Burnin’ Planes, an’ now we’re gonna give it up?! Freaking ridiculous…” he muttered.

“I agree,” the voice admitted, “but there’s no way we can take this place back with so many dragons injured. Fall back for now – we can always recapture it again, later.”

Firebrand grit his teeth. “Fine,” he muttered. “I’ll tell the others ta pull back.” Before waiting for the voice’s reply, Firebrand removed his hand from the earpiece. “Oi, ya layabouts! The commander wants us ta retreat!”

The five other dragons on the Burning Planes turned looked at Firebrand incredulously. “But sir,” one of them – a young green dragon, Jade – retorted, “if we give up our position, we’ll be leaving the base wide open for an attack! You know we can’t–”

“Shut yer mouth!” Firebrand growled at her. “We ain’t got the time nor resources we need ta take these bastards down.” He grimaced as another blast of ice crashed into his coverage, rocking it slightly. “We’ll beat ‘em down later, but we ain’t got the manpower right now.”

“But–”

Firebrand turned around and fired off another round, grinning as he was rewarded with the cry of an enemy soldier. “Ya heard me, didn’t ya?!” he shouted back. “Or are ya deaf as well as stupid?! Get yer asses outta here, now! We ain’t got time ta dawdle!”

The five dragons looked between themselves uneasily, but ultimately nodded. They placed their weapons – mostly rifles – in their holsters on their backs, turned around, and proceeded to flee as quickly as they could from the rapidly approaching soldiers.

Firebrand looked to make sure they had escaped before he, too, placed his gun on his back. “Bloody Ice Queen,” he hissed, taking one look at the massive palace in the distance before he turned around and took off as fast as he could.

Twilight blinked as the world came into view. There had been no flash of light, no feeling of fading – in fact, the transition from the collective mindscape to whatever sort of place Spike’s dream happened to be was rather abrupt.

Twilight blinked and took a look around the area. The door had let her out into a small, nondescript cave. A torch hung next to the door, giving it some air of light, but it was otherwise fairly dark.

She took a step forward, feeling her hooves crush the sand coating the ground. Certainly, it was a thin layer, but it still struck her as odd. After all, sand did not often appear outside of deserts or beaches, as far as she was aware. So in that case, were they in that relative vicinity?

The sound of hooves from behind her alerted her to the fact that Luna had just come through, as well. Twilight turned to her, and Luna looked around the small cave for a moment.

“It appears we’ve made contact,” Luna murmured, “but… Hmm, I wonder what Spike is dreaming of?” She pressed a hoof to her chin before realizing it was covered with sand, and wiped the sand off using her fetlock.

“Only one way to find out,” Twilight answered, pointing down the long, dark hallway that lay before them.

Luna nodded resolutely. “Indeed,” she said. “In that case, let us be off. I must admit, I am curious…”

As they began walking, Twilight looked over at Luna. “Haven’t you entered Spike’s dreams before?”

“Yes,” Luna answered, “but I doubt I’d have seen one like this. Normal dreams are often fairly nebulous or random, but these ones seem more… what is the word…?”

“Concrete?” Twilight suggested.

Luna nodded. “Yes, precisely. Why, my own dream was…” She suddenly fell silent and shook her head. “Ah… Never mind.”

“What’s the matter?” Twilight asked. She looked through Last, trying to find a spell to brighten up the dark passage.

Luna waved a hoof. “It’s nothing, Twilight.”

“O-okay,” Twilight said, although she was thoroughly unconvinced.

She shook her head. “Anyway, let’s see, here… Fire, fire… Aha! Here we go.” She began to read over the spell, which was next to a picture of a red cloud. “Huh… It’s pretty difficult in all this darkness… But this spell looks pretty simple. Ahem! Heat!”

The air around them quickly became warmer. Twilight felt sweat form on her brow as the temperature grew up to about eighty degrees. “Th-that didn’t work quite as planned…” she groaned, rubbing her forehead.

“What did you think a spell called ‘Heat’ would do, anyway…?” Luna muttered, wiping sweat from her forehead.

Twilight flushed. “I-I thought it was just the name!” she protested, before quickly flipping through the book to the first ice spell, which sat next to the picture of a blue cloud. “Uh… H-hang on, I’ll take care of this! Chill!”

The temperature suddenly dropped down to under thirty degrees.

Luna shivered and wrapped her forelegs around her body. “Th-that is not h-helping, Twilight!” she said through chattering teeth.

Twilight nodded, shivering. “R-right,” she groaned. “There’s g-gotta be something useful in here…” She flipped ahead to the Lightning section, looking at the first spell (next to, of course, a picture of a yellow cloud). “U-um… Okay, here we go! Amp!”

Electricity suddenly crackled through the frigid air, causing Luna to wince. “Twilight…” she groaned. “You m-might want to p-put that book away.”

Twilight sighed. Coincidentally, she saw her breath form in front of her as she did so. “S-sorry,” she said, before hanging her head in shame.

She turned through the book again, sighing as she noticed that many of the pages were blank. Even the ones where new spells were supposed to form had nothing on them. The only spells in the book at all were Heat, Chill, and Amp.

And all of those spells seemed conditional at best.

Disheartened, Twilight closed Last with a sigh. Of course that book would turn out to be nearly useless. When would she get any use out of chilling the air, heating the air, or creating tiny currents of electricity? Unless she was walking into some sort of arctic tundra or volcanic field, all her spells seemed completely useless. At least, the spells she had access to did.

Twilight shivered again as she and Luna continued down the long, dark tunnel in silence. She quickly discovered, much to her disappointment, that the torch at the beginning had, in fact, been the only one in the area. The entire cavern soon became swamped in a black cloak, leaving Twilight almost completely blind in the absolute darkness.

Luna looked over at her, curiously, as Twilight felt her way along the path. “Twilight,” she said, “are you certain you’re alright?”

“O-of course!” Twilight said, teeth still chattering slightly. “Y-yes, of course…” After a moment, she added, “It’s just a bit hard to see in here.”

“Ah, I see,” Luna said, nodding. “I apologize; I forgot that you could not see in the darkness as well as I. Let’s see if I can do anything…”

Her horn began to glow again, once again taking on a pitch-black aura. As it did so, however, the darkness in the tunnel seemed to fade away somewhat, becoming captured by Luna’s magic.

“Is that any better?” she asked, turning to Twilight.

Truth be told, it was, but only slightly. Instead of being completely unable to see the path, Twilight could now make out the basic shapes of the rocks and walls in her way. At least, in that way, it certainly made the trek much less difficult.

“Much better,” she said after a moment, looking over at Luna. “Thank you.”

It was hard to tell in the darkness, but Twilight was certain that she saw Luna smile back at her before turning back to the trail. In either case, however, their luck certainly seemed to be looking up – Twilight could now at least tell what was going on nearby, and the temperature seemed to have risen considerably.

“Your magic seems pretty useful,” she said to Luna.

“Very useful,” Luna replied. “Although I will admit, it took me awhile to get completely used to it. Even now, my grasp is not as good as I’d like it to be.”

“Really?” Twilight asked, intrigued. “But you seem to understand it very well. What about when you nearly took Dawn’s… entire body off?”

Luna waved a hoof. “That was a fairly simple spell to understand, Twilight. Charge magic, then fire. It’s not a particularly hard concept. Not to mention that I was quite… emotionally charged at the time.”

Twilight winced, making a mental note not to do anything that could potentially drive Luna into a rage.

“And more than that,” Luna added, “I actually made a huge error when I entered your dream.”

“What was that?”

Luna sighed. “While I was searching for you, I tried to use my magic to blast through the bookshelves and make my way through easier.” She stopped for a second. “Unfortunately, it seems that I… uh… I accidentally managed to…” She trailed off and mumbled something under her breath.

Twilight leaned in. “I didn’t quite catch that.”

Luna breathed in for a second. “I… accidentally absorbed too much energy from around me and caused the lights to go out.” She paused, clearly grimacing even in the darkness. “All of them, in fact.”

Twilight’s jaw dropped. “Wait a second, are you saying you’re the thing I was so afraid of when I accidentally fell down the stairs?” When Luna simply nodded, Twilight sighed. “And to think I was afraid of nothing…”

“Well, excuse me,” Luna muttered, with mock hurt in her voice. “I’m sorry for being not threatening in the slightest.”

“You know that’s not what I meant,” Twilight retorted. “And to be fair, lights going out in a completely silent, dusty, possibly-haunted library would be pretty scary no matter when it happened.”

“Though I suppose it would’ve been more frightening if your Disparity had been the one to cause it…”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Yes, because Dawn is clearly the most terrifying creature I have ever met. Her bright colors and lazy attitude frightened me beyond belief.”

“Poisonous things are typically brightly colored,” Luna pointed out. “Though I will admit, Dawn is probably the laziest Disparity I’ve ever met.”

Twilight grinned. “Can you imagine if she had to take any kind of job?”

Luna burst out laughing at the mental image. “Ha, ha! Yes, I can see it, now! ‘Excuse me, Miss, I’ll have the–’ ‘Nope, sorry, I’ve gotta take a nap.’”

Until that moment, Twilight did not know it was possible to choke on air.

Once she caught her breath, she grinned. “She wouldn’t last a day.”

“Oh, definitely not,” Luna agree, still chuckling a bit. “Ah… Speaking of Dawn, she didn’t hear that, did she?”

Twilight listened for a second and then shook her head. “No, she’s still asleep.”

Luna frowned. “How can you tell?”

“She snores.”

There was a moment of silence as Luna took in that information. “I am so sorry,” she said at last.

“Yeah,” Twilight said, grimacing a bit. “Me, too.”
After another length of silence, Twilight felt a bright flash of white suddenly jump into her line of sight. Her eyes burned for a moment from the sudden source of light, and she closed them.

As she reopened them – slower, this time – Twilight felt her heart rise a bit at the revelation.

“I can see the outside!” she said, excitedly.

Luna nodded. “Indeed!” she said, grinning. “At last we have found the fabled ‘light at the end of the tunnel’!”

“Yeah, but this time it’s literal!” Twilight increased her pace a bit.

Luna matched her speed, nodding along. “Ah, remember to be careful; after this long underground, I’ve no doubt that light will be blinding.”

“Right, since our pupils’ve completely dilated–” Twilight began, only to suddenly stop as the sunlight pierced her eyes like a lance.

As Luna had said, the light was positively blinding. So blinding, in fact, that Twilight’s vision turned completely red for a solid few seconds upon exiting the cave. Pain and fire burned at them, causing Twilight to shut them suddenly with a sharp gasp.

Luna stepped out beside her, holding a hoof above her eyes to shield them. “Right, as I was saying… Twilight?”

Of course, by this point Twilight lay on the ground, groaning in no small amount of agony. “That’s not… It shouldn’t hurt this much…” she moaned.

Luna paused before pressing a hoof into her forehead. “Of course…” she muttered. “I should have realized that my darkness magic would have an adverse effect when in contact with light…”

Twilight simply groaned on the ground for almost a minute before the feeling became bearable. She stood up slowly, making sure to shield her eyes until her eyes went back to normal.

As soon as they did, Twilight was able to get a better look around the area. The cave had deposited Luna and her out from the base of a mountain on a rocky, sandy beach. The crystal clear water lapped gently at the shore in even, slow strokes.

“Huh,” she said, a bit dumbfounded. “This is Spike’s dream? It’s a lot… calmer than I’d expected.”

Luna stepped forward and took a look around before nodding back to Twilight. “You might want to take a look at this,” she said, pointing her hoof off away from the beach.

“Why, what is… it…?” Twilight’s jaw dropped as she saw where Luna was pointing.

A large volcano stood in the distance, smoke pouring from its peak into the bright skies above. At its base, a large field of volcanic ash, stones, and lava ran off, connecting the massive mountain to the beach.

But what had drawn Twilight’s attention was not necessarily the volcano, but what lay at its peak. By some odd, impossible miracle, a massive, glass-like palace sat just above the spewing mountain, leaving enough room so that the smoke could still escape. The sun reflected off its surface, giving it a beautiful but strange glint.

Twilight closed her jaw, opened it, and closed it again. “Okay, yeah,” she said finally, “that’s probably more like it.”

Luna nodded. “I’ll say,” she declared. “That’s certainly not something you would see every day.”

Twilight paused again. “Dreams are weird,” she added lamely.

“They certainly are, Twilight. They certainly are.”

As they continued to stare at the palace atop the volcano, however, Twilight suddenly felt something cold press to the back of her head. She froze in place.

“Ah, would ya lookat what I’ve got ‘ere?” came a gravelly, very Griffish accent from behind her. “Looks ta me like a couple ‘a the queen’s bloody troops managed to make it down.”

Twilight’s breath caught in her throat. The queen? Troops? What was this insane creature talking about?

“Heh… Thought ya could sneak past our defenses, aye? Stupid morons,” snarled the creature. “After last time, ya really thought you louts could make any sorta progress? Idiots.”

There was the sound of a gun being cocked, and the cold feeling in Twilight’s spine suddenly became much worse. She slowly looked over to the left, careful to only move her eyes, and saw what looked like a gun barrel pressed against Luna’s head.

Despite her current condition, Luna was the first to speak. “I’m afraid you have us mistaken for somepony else,” she said, voice shaking only slightly. “I’ve never heard of any ‘queen,’ before.”

The creature behind Twilight laughed. “Oh, is that right? And I’m the provost of this here island.” He – for it was definitely male – paused for a moment to chuckle a bit at his own joke. “Heh… Ya know, it really weren’t a smart move ta come down ‘ere.”

The other creature suddenly spoke. “Hm… Actually, I don’t think that’s right.”

“Eh?” Twilight felt the gun brush against her head as the creature turned to his companion. “What the hell’re ya talkin’ about now, Rex?”

“Well, I’m just saying,” the other creature said, with no such accent. “You wouldn’t really be a ‘provost’ if you controlled an island… You’d probably be closer to a king than a mayor.”

“Yeah, and ya know what? Ya know what controls this whole freakin’ island?” the creature turned his gun back to its original position. “It ain’t a bloody king, that’s for sure.”

The other creature – Rex, was it? – sighed. “Yeah, I get that. Never mind, Firebrand.”

“Damn straight ya don’t mind! Now, where was I?” The creature, Firebrand, paused for a second as though in thought. “Ah, crap. Ya made me lose my place again, Rex. Little git…”

“Something about it not being smart to come down here?” Luna offered, far more cheerfully than she should have.

Firebrand snapped his… fingers? Claws? Twilight could not exactly tell, given her position. “Aye, that’s it! Thanks, lassie. Damn shame we need ta blow your brains out.”

“Well, that certainly is a shame…” Luna said, “but I doubt it’s for the reasons you think.”

Rex sighed. “I think you’re jumping the gun a bit there.” He paused for a moment, and Twilight could very clearly hear the sound of a palm meeting a forehead. “Ugh… Pun not intended.”

“Eh?” Firebrand stopped for a moment. “Ah, right, right. Gotta take these lasses back ta Drake first. Make sure they’re clean. Guess he’ll decide the rest from there.”

“This… ‘Drake,’” Luna asked. “Is he your leader?”

“Ya don’t even know that much?” Firebrand said, before muttering something about “bloody idiots” under his breath. “Yeah, he’s our leader. Leads us places. They don’t even teach ya brats important things like that in school?”

“Well, no,” Luna admitted. “But that’s partially because we’re not with this ‘queen’ you’re discussing – we’re here to find somepony.”

There was a pause before both Rex and Firebrand started to laugh. Rex’s was far more subdued, whereas Firebrand’s was loud and booming.

After a few seconds, Firebrand said, “I’m afraid ya ain’t gonna find somepony down ‘ere.”

Luna frowned. “And… why is that?”

Firebrand paused for a moment. “Ya mean… ya brats really dunno?”

Luna simply shook her head. It was an impressive feat, given that Rex seemed calm enough to let her do so.

Twilight took this moment to speak up. “T-to be fair,” she said, nervously. “We haven’t really seen any creatures down here…”

“What, are they recruitin’ children, now…?” Firebrand murmured. “But that can’t be right… You two are bloody alicorns, ain’t ya?” Without waiting for a pause, he sighed. “Eh, screw it. Ya know what, fine? If ya lassies dunno, I guess I’d better welcome ya both.”

Twilight suddenly became aware of a clawed, scaly hand gripping her and turning her around roughly. She came face-to-face with Firebrand for the first time.

As she had expected, he was a dragon. His scales shined a fiery red, his gold talons and spikes were long and curved, and his teeth were needle-like. Most shocking of all, however, was how he was only about as tall as a teenage dragon, despite having many traits of an adult – minus the archetypical wings, of course.

“Welcome, little lassies,” Firebrand said, dramatically, “ta the Draconic Rebellion.”

Author's Notes:

And thus, we begin Spike's dream!

Unlike Twilight's dream, Spike's is more of a separate narrative that lines up with the main story. Twilight's dream was a personal journey that was heavily based on symbolism (I can go into this further if anyone wants me to), while Spike's is more just a standard journey with a few major twists and turns along the way.

Given Spike's fascination with comics and stories like that, I thought it was only fitting to put in a more "edgy" and "dark" tone for his dream - hence why it takes the form of a war, and why all the dragons are using guns even though they can probably breathe fire. We'll see a bit more of this idea in the next chapter.

Also, Luna's and Twilight's conversation in the cave was a ton of fun to write.

From this point on, I'm going to stop asking you guys to point out any mistakes because I think I've drilled it in enough by now, and there's only so many ways I can type out that sentence. In any case, please do point out any mistakes you see from this point onward so that I can work to correct any problems, and please also comment. I'll try to be better with interacting in the comments, so feel free to write something.

Chapter II - Introduction 2

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Dream’s End
~ Chapter II – Introduction 2 ~
Spike’s Dream ~ The Volcanic Isle

“Are the blindfolds really necessary?” Luna asked disdainfully.

“Sorry, but yes,” Rex – who Twilight could now identify as a lanky, green dragon – said, currently tying the black strip of cloth around Luna’s eyes. “We can’t risk our base being found, after all. Ah… Could you move your head a bit to the right? Perfect.”

Firebrand sighed. “C’mon, Rex! Ya call that knot ‘perfect’?” He grumbled something as Twilight’s vision disappeared behind her own blindfold. “Stupid kid… Look, okay?”

“I’m looking.”

“I’m not,” Luna deadpanned.

“Quiet, you!” Firebrand growled. He coughed and said, “Okay, Rex, ya got a good look? Got a good look? Okay.” He started tying the strip around Twilight’s face. As she felt it get tighter, Firebrand said, “Ya see that, Rex? Three knots. Three.”

Twilight cocked her head. “Why so many times?”

“Glad ya asked!” Firebrand replied. “First’s ta tie it, second’s ta keep it on, and third’s ta keep the second knot from comin’ loose too easy.” He paused. “Ya got that?!”

“Yes, I’ve got it…” Rex sighed. “So there’s two… and three. Is that too tight?”

Luna paused for a moment before answering. “Mm… Maybe just a bit less?”

“Alright. Here, let me adjust it for you…” Twilight heard the sound of a creature being smacked very hard, followed by a cry.

“Don’t ask the bloody captives stuff like that, you git!” Firebrand shouted. “Would ya ask a criminal if his cuffs chafed? No! Ya leave the bastard’s wrists to crack!”

“Well, sorry, Firebrand,” Rex said, and Twilight could sense more than a bit of tension in his voice, “but maybe I thought that showing some minor hospitality would not be such a bad thing.”

“Eh? And what the hell d’ya mean by that?”

“Well,” Rex said, “think about it like this: If these two don’t serve the Ice Queen, that means they could be potential allies.” He stopped. “Potential allies that we have held guns at, threatened to kill, and are now blindfolding and leading into an unknown location.” Another pause. “Maybe it’s just me, but I figured it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have at least some sense of cordiality.”

Firebrand hissed, “And if they’re her soldiers, we need ta give ‘em a taste of what we got down here! If they see us as soft, ya know what’s gonna happen?! The bastard’s’re gonna play that to their advantage, that’s what!

“Next thing we know,” Firebrand continued, “we’re gonna have soldiers comin’ here, playin’ nice and friendly-like, tryin’ ta get on our good sides. Then, when we don’t expect it, they lash out, kill us all, break our group, and that bitch of a queen gets the whole damned island!”

Twilight was about to bring up the incredibly obvious fallacy in his argument, but decided against it when she remembered Firebrand still had a rifle strapped to his back. Given how unstable and hot-headed he seemed, she was worried that one minor statement would set him off completely.

She grimaced. Why did Luna have to get the nice one?

“So we’re not takin’ any chances,” Firebrand continued. “We take these mares to Drake, get ‘em checked out, and kill ‘em if we have to. That’s how this bloody well works. Got it?!”

Rex mumbled something under his breath. “Right, right…” he said after a moment. “Have it your way.”

“As always,” Firebrand growled. “Now get movin’, lassies! We’ve wasted enough time on this damned beach!” He kicked at Twilight’s back legs, causing her to wince slightly. It was not a particularly strong kick, but it was definitely noticeable.

She did not need to be told again. Wordlessly, Twilight began stepping down the rocky beach, following Firebrand – and, presumably, Rex and Luna – as he led her towards the so-called base.

As they continued walking along, every step was soon met by a very noticeable splash. Twilight shivered from both the cold sea breeze and the water that now sloshed around her hooves.

“Is it… normally this cold?” she asked, trying to keep her teeth from chattering.

There was a momentary but noticeable pause. “Aye,” Firebrand said, hesitantly. “Looks like the area off the shores goes ta open sea, but it’s really a large bay. Ya see – figuratively, I mean –, there’s a big ol’ peninsula on the other side. Ya know which one I mean… right?”

Twilight shook her head.

“Un-freakin’-believable…” Firebrand muttered. “Ya can’t really be serious. Ya just… Ya can’t be… How the hell do ya not know ‘bout the bloody Azure Peninsula?!”

“I’ve never heard of it,” Luna supplied. “Twilight, what about you?”

“How would a peninsula even be azure…?” Twilight murmured.

That statement apparently confirmed everything for Firebrand, who just began sputtering angrily. Every one of his actions, from his footsteps to his breathing, had become stronger and more pronounced. Twilight could even hear his teeth grinding.

“That’s just freakin’ stupid…” he growled. “There’s no way you two gits couldn’t know ‘bout that freakin’ peninsula… Argh, dammit!” he swore.

“You okay?” Rex asked.

“Yeah, yeah. Stepped on a goddamn shell.” He grunted. “Bloody bastards, mollusks… Leavin’ their crap around for ya to cut yourself open on…”

“Don’t dragons have thick scales?” Luna asked.

“Aye, but that doesn’t do crap when the thing’s sharp enough to cut right through. Ah, crap… ‘s bleeding.” Another splash, followed by a loud curse. “Hate this bloody salt water! Drake’s a freakin’ bastard to build the base all the way out here… Bloody git…”

Twilight started to take long, slow strides across the water. If a shell could cut a dragon’s foot, she did not want to risk cutting her leg off.

“Make sure you bind that when we get back,” Rex said. “You don’t want it to get infected.”

Based on the way his voice was echoing around them, Twilight presumed that they had just entered a cavern. And based on the fact that the water was now up to her barrel, it seemed that they were going in pretty deep.

“How long do we have to go?” she asked.

As she spoke there was another, stronger echo. They were definitely in a cave.

“Shouldn’t be long, now,” Rex said. He grit his teeth audibly. “Remind me why we have to take the back entrance whenever we have captives? It’s not like they can see where we’re going.”

Firebrand sighed. “Better safe’n sorry, I guess. Don’t wanna give ‘em any leeway. Good thing these rifles work in water, eh? Things’d be broke as hell, otherwise…” He tapped his with his claw, emitting a dull thud.

“I’m guessing they rust, though,” Twilight said. “I can’t imagine how hard it must be to keep them clean.”

“Ah, ya got no idea, lass. No bloody idea…”

After a moment, Firebrand said, “Ya two really dunno ‘bout the Azure Peninsula?”

“I’m afraid not,” Luna said. “Can you tell us what it is?”

“Unbelievable… I dunno what’s goin’ on, but you’re either great liars, idiots, or who ya say ya are.” Firebrand paused for a moment. “And shut the hell up, Rex!” he suddenly shouted. “I know that’s more’n two options!”

“One of these days, your poor grammar’s going to get you killed,” Rex muttered.

“You kiddin’ me?” Firebrand laughed. “Ha! I’ll still be young’n spry when you’re buried in the ground, boy! Why, I imagine I’ll be dancin’ on your grave any day, now.”

Rex chuckled. “If your foot doesn’t get infected, then probably. Otherwise, you’ll just have to mournfully sit nearby.”

Twilight leaned over to where she heard Luna. “Do you think this kind of thing is normal around here?” she whispered.

Luna snorted. “Are you serious? Twilight, have you ever met a dragon? They spend more time insulting each other than they do actually doing anything worthwhile of being insulted.”

“No, I knew that, but… Remember, this is Spike’s dream. And he’s… well… I’ve never heard him talk like this.”

Although Twilight did make a mental note to interrogate him later on where he had learned the words that Firebrand was so casually spouting.

“Oi! No conspirin’, lassies!” Firebrand shouted. “If ya wanna have a conversation, wait ‘til we reach the base. Otherwise, it looks more than a mite suspicious, y’hear?”

Twilight winced. “S-sorry.”

“Aye, whatever. Just warnin’ ya, is all.” Firebrand cracked his knuckles. “We need ta kill anyone that goes an’ does anythin’ suspicious, so if ya wanna live, ya’d best be on yer bloody best behavior.”

“Of course,” Luna said. After a moment, she added, “Now, what were you going to say about this… Azure Peninsula?”

Firebrand sighed. “Sure, sure. Ya don’t know, eh?” A pause. “Crap… Can’t’ve been wrong, was it? Ugh…” After another pause, he let out another sigh. “Right, right. So there’s this big peninsula across the bay, aye? Makes up… what is it, Rex? Thirty percent? Forty?”

“Forty.”

“Aye, thanks. Yeah, it makes up forty percent of the isle. It ain’t just some small piece of land, y’know – it’s a bloody huge peninsula.” He stopped for a moment. “But anyway, I’m gettin’ off topic… Basically, it’s this big stretch of land juttin’ out from the north edge of the isle. It’s… fifteen or twenty miles, I think.”

“Isn’t a peninsula also an isle?” Twilight asked.

“Eh, it doesn’t matter.” Firebrand’s steps returned to normal, though there was still evidence of pain in his voice. “Like I was sayin’, it’s pretty big. Cold, too. The damn place feels like a freezer.”

“So the air – when it comes in from the sea, that is – carries the Azure Peninsula’s cold wind in with it,” Rex explained.

“Fascinating…” Luna murmured. “The biomes of this island seem very peculiar… Sure, it makes sense for a volcano to be here, but such a frigid area, too? And to be so nearby?”

Firebrand said, “And there’s the end of our little explanation. Ya got all that, lassies?”

“All of it,” Twilight said. “But she has a point – how do these biomes exist so close?” She paused for a moment as the obvious answer hit her. “Oh, right. Dream.” She would have pressed her hoof to her forehead had she not been certain Firebrand would take it as a “suspicious action.”

“What was that?” Rex asked.

As Twilight opened her mouth to speak, Luna quickly supplied, “Nothing! Nothing at all. She’s likely suffering a bit from the conditions of this cave.”

“Of course,” Rex murmured, although there was clear disbelief in his voice. “We’ll be sure to get her looked at as soon as we return.” After a pause, he added, “And after we get her to meet with Drake. Thank you, Firebrand.”

Firebrand snorted. “My pleasure.” After a moment, he said, “Ah, would ya look at that? Looks like we’re back. About damn time.”

As she walked forward, Twilight felt the water slowly recede from around her hooves, until there was no longer a splash when she walked. It seemed that, after so long spent walking in the dark, slightly submerged cave, they had finally reached the base.

“Ah, dammit…” Firebrand groaned. “Yeah, that’s blood, alright.”

“Wait, what are you…?” Rex froze. “What the hell did you step on?!”

“Seemed like a shell, but… damn. That’s much worse’n I thought it’d be.”

“I’ll say it is!” Rex said. “Here – I’ll take these two to Drake. You get to the infirmary and get that foot of yours checked out, got it?”

“Hey, I’m the senior officer here! Besides, it’s just a bit of blood; ain’t anythin’ I haven’t seen before. I’ve had worse. Got no reason ta just–”

When Rex next spoke, he sounded genuinely angry. “Get down to that damned infirmary before I give you a reason!”

There was another moment of silence. “Fine,” Firebrand growled at last. “But don’t go an’ do anythin’ stupid, got it? Freakin’ thing’s gonna scar, but I guess it can’t be helped…”

“No, it can’t. Now hurry up before you bleed out!”

Twilight heard Firebrand walk away, muttering various obscenities under his breath. Obscenities that, coincidentally enough, Twilight was going to have to grill Spike about knowing later.

“Sorry about him…” Rex murmured. “Bastard’s as stubborn as a mule to the tenth degree. Here, let me get those for you.”

Twilight suddenly became very aware of the blindfold around her face becoming loose, until it slid off entirely. She blinked once, twice, three times, trying to get used to the sudden wave of light from the bright passageway in front of her.

She looked down at the ground as the light burned her eyes, and then immediately wished that she had not. As it turned out, Firebrand had been bleeding quite heavily, to the point where he had left a large puddle of blood and red scales on the ground that merged with a trail that ran off into the murky water and another trail that ran off into the lit passageway.

Twilight recoiled a bit at the sight. Blood was one thing; she had seen blood before. Heck, she had accidentally injured herself so many times falling off the ladder in the library it was a wonder she did not suffer permanent damage. But the injury Firebrand had sustained seemed both incredibly painful and incredibly massive.

And he had just walked it off like it was nothing.

How could he have been injured worse?

“Thank you,” she heard Luna say from nearby, and turned towards the voice. Her eyes were still adjusting, but she could make out Luna’s form quite clearly. “I apologize for any trouble we may have caused.”

Rex shook his head. “No, don’t apologize. If you really aren’t with the Ice Queen, it’s us who have to apologize for dragging you around – Firebrand and I, that is.” He sighed, glancing over at the bright passageway. “Of course, he’ll never apologize…”

Twilight shook her head. “That’s fine,” she said. “I just want to meet the guy in charge of this so Luna and I can get out of here. There’s somepony we really need to help, and we need to do it as soon as we can.”

Rex nodded. “I understand,” he said. “I’ll take you both to Drake – he’s the one in charge around here – immediately. If you two are really innocent, we’ll let you go as soon as we can.”

“Thank you,” Twilight said, trying to keep her eyes away from the blood-soaked ground. “I guess that’s the best we can hope for.”

“Yeah…” Rex rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. He turned around and raised a clawed hand. “Here, follow me. This’ll hopefully not take too long.”

Twilight and Luna did as Rex said, following him out of the dingy cave and into the brightly lit area Firebrand had limped off to. All the while, Twilight could still smell Firebrand’s blood on the ground, partially because it trailed from the water’s edge into another section of cave.

As Twilight stepped out into what she thought was the hub of the base, she was surprised with how well-taken-care-of it seemed. It was not a perfect circle or rectangle or other shape by any means, but it was clear that the dragons had made the most with what they had. At least three or four tunnels broke off from the main section – although Twilight could not see all of them, given that sections of the cave were blocked off by outcroppings, she guessed that was the rough amount –, a pair of braziers on either side of each.

Dozens of wooden boxes of varying shapes and sizes sat against the far wall. Twilight presumed that they held supplies, such as food or bullets for the dragons’ rifles. They were perched on each other evenly, with the longer boxes sitting on top of each other and the heavier boxes on the bottom. Perhaps most impressive was how they were kept in an area far away from the braziers.

Under normal circumstances, such a detail would not have been strange, but to Twilight it was a clear tell that the dragons were serious about what they were saying. Everything was organized carefully and smartly. How focused were they, then, to take the time to make sure their food and other assorted items were in such a position? It spoke volumes about how committed they were to their task.

And that task was what piqued Twilight’s interest more than anything else. They were clearly rebelling against the “Ice Queen,” but who exactly was that? How did she relate to the dragons’ stance, and why had Firebrand been so adamant on getting rid of her and Luna? If she looked at it logically, then–

“So are you going to stare at boxes, or are you coming along?” Rex’s voice knocked her out of her stupor.

Twilight flushed, lowering her ears against her head. “S-sorry.”

Rex fixed her with a calm, quizzical stare before he let out a sigh. “Like I said, just come along. Stuff like that –” he gestured at the boxes “– is what’s going to wind up getting you branded as a spy. Just walk forward, stare ahead, and don’t say anything unless you have to.”

Twilight nodded wordlessly and turned away from the piles. That seemed to be enough for Rex, who nodded back at her and began down towards a passageway a good walking distance away.

Luna nudged her with a hoof. “Twilight,” she whispered, “what were you doing?”

“I was trying to figure out what’s going on,” Twilight admitted. “This may be Spike’s dream, but it’s clearly a lot more complicated than mine was. These guys are taking this rebellion very seriously – seriously enough to organize everything for later use.”

“I see,” Luna murmured. “And given how seriously they’re taking it, it must be far more important than we realize.” She paused and let out a sigh. “Perhaps coming here first was a mistake, after all…”

“Luna?”

“Hmm?” Luna looked back up. “Ah… It’s nothing. Never mind.” After a moment of Twilight staring at her curiously, Luna waved a hoof. “I’ll explain it later.”

That mollified Twilight a bit. She looked back over at Rex, who seemed to have completely ignored or simply did not hear their conversation. As much as she wanted to learn Luna’s theories and explain her own, it would do neither of them any good if Rex – or, for that matter, any of the dragons – were to believe they were spies.

And while being an alicorn rendered her functionally immortal, Twilight was not enthusiastic to be shot in the head at point-blank range. At best, it would cause severe pain. At worst, it could result in her mind being irreparably damaged. Even the fact that she was not in her physical body did not reassure her much; if anything, it just made matters worse. Damage to her psyche, and all that.

Rex stepped up to the passageway, which Twilight noticed was guarded by two dragons on either side. They looked at Rex for a moment, and then shifted their gazes to Twilight and Luna.

“What’s going on, here, Rex?” the rightmost one – a tall, muscular, goden dragon whose every breath caused smoke to pour from his mouth – asked.

“Firebrand and I found these two while we were on patrol,” Rex replied, nodding to Twilight and Luna. “We wish to take them to Drake and ensure whether they are allies, foes, or a neutral party.”

The other, who looked just as muscular but had a silver tint to his scales, nodded. “And, uh… Where’s Firebrand run off to, now?”

Rex waved him off. “He cut his foot open while we were traveling through the back entrance.” Both dragons winced. “I made him go to the infirmary.”

The silver dragon nodded. “Ugh… Hate that freaking place. I swear the Ice Queen must’ve booby-trapped it. Keeps us from walkin’ properly, see? Then we get screwed up in the battles.” He turned to his companion. “Ya think so too, Gil?”

The gold dragon sighed, sending out a large plume of smoke. “It’s unlikely; they’d melt before they got the chance.” He nodded to Rex. “You can pass through. They’re alicorns, but they hardly look dangerous.”

“In fact,” the silver dragon said, giggling a bit, “I bet that lavender one’d break in half if Gil here sat on her. So scrawny, it’s a bit hilarious. Ya think so too, Rex?”

Twilight shifted a bit uncomfortably at that, but kept her mouth shut.

“Maybe,” Rex admitted. “Seems stronger than she looks, though, Argie. She could probably blast a hole through your chest faster than you can come up with one of your crazy theories.”

The silver dragon giggled again. “Sure, sure, but seriously,” he said, his voice becoming more leveled. “How bad’s Firebrand lookin’?”

“See for yourself.” Rex gestured behind him. “Take a look at the ground by the waterway; the whole area’s covered with blood.”

“Shit, it’s that bad?” The silver dragon grimaced. “How long d’ya think it’s gonna be ‘til he recovers?”

Rex paused for a moment. “At least a day or two. He wouldn’t go to the infirmary at first, so I had to… ah… convince him.”

The gold dragon let out an amused snort. “Stubborn bastard.”

“Would you really have it any other way?” Rex asked. “Now, it’s been nice chatting with you two, but I really need to get these mares to Drake.”

Twilight could practically hear the unsaid “before they do anything else that could get them killed.”

After a nod of approval from the two dragons, Rex led Twilight and Luna into the next tunnel. They walked along in silence down the well-lit passage until they came upon a large, rectangular steel door that sat perfectly against the rock.

“This is Drake’s room,” Rex said. “With any luck, we’ll catch him a good mood and you two can get off pretty easily. Otherwise, it’ll take a bit of clever talking.”

Luna paused for a moment. “Why are you helping us? Don’t you also think we’re this Ice Queen’s minions?”

Rex chuckled. “Honestly? I doubt it. Of course, that’s due to a bunch of reasons that I’ll go into more detail about if I have to, but…” He shook his head, cutting off his train of thought. “Anyway, like I was saying, we can hopefully finish this up quickly. Now, let’s lay down a few ground rules.”

Twilight nodded.

Luna, however, grimaced. “Let me guess,” she said. “We’re to remain quiet unless asked to speak.”

“That’s the most important one, yes,” Rex admitted. “It’ll keep you from incriminating yourselves, which is always nice. Not to mention that presenting too much evidence too quickly makes you sound more than a bit desperate.” He paused. “But there’s the other thing. You need to tell the truth. If you lie about something big and Drake finds out about it later, you’re dead, no questions asked.” He paused again to let that sink in.

“So tell the truth,” Luna murmured. “I… believe we can pull that off.”

Rex nodded. “Good, good.” He pressed his claws to the large steel door. “In that case, I think you’re both ready. Just remember: Only talk when you’re asked to and don’t lie. Remember those things and you’ll be fine.”

Twilight gulped, trying to talk herself out of being nervous. It was one thing to speak with someone she did not know. It was another to be facing a dragon who could end her life or cripple her with just an order while she had no way to defend herself.

But she had to. Spike was somewhere in this strange, vicious world, and Twilight would not rest until she had found him. Regardless of what happened, she would have to find him, find his Disparity, and make sure he would wake up.

Because she wanted to make sure he was safe.

And if that meant that she would have to risk death, so be it. That was the path she had chosen. That was the path she was willing to choose. She would protect all of her friends, no matter the personal cost.

So as she took one last, long breath, Twilight readied herself to meet with Drake, just in time for the heavy steel door to swing open.

Chapter II - Introduction 3

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Dream’s End
~ Chapter II – Introduction 3 ~
Spike’s Dream ~ The Volcanic Isle

The first thing Twilight noticed upon entering Drake’s chamber was the large desk in the center. It was riddled with dozens of papers, some of which were just strewn about randomly and some of which were placed in neat piles. A tall, white, rectangular flowerpot with the words “DO NOT TOUCH” labeled on it sat on one of the corners, from which no less than ten rolled-up papers stuck out. Based on the wrinkles and that many of them were discolored, they appeared to be very old.

Drake himself – or, at least, the creature Twilight presumed was Drake – leaned over the desk, a quill between his claws. Oddly enough, he only seemed to have four claws on one hand, even though he had five on the other. The smallest claw on his left hand just seemed to be missing.

He had clearly been writing something not long ago, based on the black ink that stained his white scales, but stopped to look up as the door swung open.

Drake turned his yellow eyes up from the desk. “Ah, Rex,” he said, calmly, “do you need something?” His eyes slowly passed over Twilight and Luna, and he blinked. “Who are these?”

“They’re why I’m here, Drake,” Rex said. “Firebrand and I found these two while we were off patrolling the beach. We thought they could be two of the Ice Queen’s soldiers, so we took them here to get your opinion.”

“Is that so?” Drake stood up from his desk. “And where is Firebrand, now?”

“Infirmary,” Rex said. When Drake raised an eyebrow, he added, “He cut his foot pretty badly out when we came back through the caves. Stepped on something sharp.”

Drake nodded. “I see. Well, let’s hope the damage isn’t too severe. He is our current field commander, after all…” He looked back over at Twilight and Luna. “Is there anyone else still patrolling the beach?”

“Yes. Jade and Orin should still be out there. I was going to head back after I made sure these two were clean.”

“I see,” Drake repeated. There was a momentary pause as he carefully scrutinized Twilight and Luna. “Tell me something,” he said, still not turning back to Rex. “What made you think they were the Ice Queen’s soldiers?”

“Nothing,” Rex said. “Honestly, the only reason Firebrand and I even took them in was because they were a pair of ponies wandering the beach – alicorns, at that.” He paused for a moment. “On closer inspection, however, we came to the realization they are most likely neutral at least.”

“And why do you think that?” Drake asked, turning back to Rex.

“These two ponies… uh…” Rex paused, placing a claw on his chin. “I’m sorry, I don’t believe we ever caught your names.”

Twilight nodded, hoping now would be a good time to speak. “I’m Twilight Sparkle.”

“And I’m Luna,” Luna added.

Rex looked over at them for a moment before turning back to Drake. “Yes, Twilight and Luna do not have any telltale signs of being the Ice Queen’s soldiers. As you can probably tell, neither’s transparent, both are alicorns instead of the unicorns the Ice Queen favors, and – and this is what shocked Firebrand and I most of all – they hadn’t even heard of the Azure Peninsula.”

Drake sat down again, slowly. “Alright, then,” he said. “So if these two didn’t come from the place every pony on this isle came from, where are they from?”

Silence gripped the room as Twilight looked over her options. Rex had very clearly told her and Luna to be completely honest with Drake, but she was starting to question whether or not that would be a good idea, given the whole “traveled from another world” thing. Could she find another excuse? Maybe the two of them had traveled from another island. Yes, that could work.

Just as she was about to say that, however, Luna said, “We came through the door in the cave.”

If Drake and Rex had been calm up until that point, that completely changed as soon as Luna spoke. Their eyes practically bugged out of their skulls at the mention of the door in the cave. Well, Rex’s did, at least; Drake seemed more casually surprised than anything else.

After about a full minute of silence, Rex whispered, “You mean that cave outside the base? The one with the purple door?”

“That’s the one,” Luna said. Twilight could not help but be surprised by how bold Luna seemed about the whole situation.

“The door outside the cave…” Drake murmured. “You remember that prophecy, right?”

He reached into the large flowerpot and began rooting around for papers. After a moment, he pulled one of them free and opened it slowly.

Drake cleared his throat. “’On the day when everything falls, creatures shall step through the door of flames. Rescuing the one held captive by lust, their presence will bring about an end to the wretched war of ice and fire, once more granting peace to the volcanic isle.’”

“I didn’t think it was true,” Rex murmured. “But if they truly came through that door, then that means…”

“That means that these two creatures are the saviors we have been waiting for,” Drake finished. He shook his head. “And to think that you two nearly had them both killed!”

Rex flushed. “Yeah…” he groaned. “Firebrand is going to have a hard time believing this one…”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “So you’re trusting us based on a prophecy?” she asked. Granted, she had seen far, far too many prophecies turn out to be true – Nightmare Moon’s, for example –, but it was still a bit unbelievable how quickly the dragons were willing to believe them.

Drake, however, shook his head. “Yes and no. On one hand, it’s likely that you two are the saviors we’ve been searching for. However, I can’t be completely sure. Even if you did both wander through that door, it could mean nothing if that is not the actual door of flames.” He shrugged. “All things considered, I’ve no reason to believe you two are the Ice Queen’s soldiers – so why is it, then, that you came to this isle?”

“We’re looking for somep– someone,” Twilight said, hastily correcting herself. “He’s a friend of mine, but he disappeared a while ago. We thought we’d try looking behind that door, but we haven’t had any luck so far.”

“And this friend of yours… Does he have a name?” There was an odd glint in Drake’s eyes, although Twilight could not quite place it.

Twilight nodded. “Yes. His name’s Spike.”

If Luna’s earlier statement had shocked the two dragons, Twilight’s had completely paralyzed their brains. Rex stepped back and placed a hand on the wall for support as his face went white. Drake fell back in his chair, placing his claws over his mouth.

Twilight, meanwhile, was just confused.

It took more than a minute for either of the two dragons to regain their composure. “Twilight, was it?” Drake asked, slowly.

“Uh… y-yes?”

“Do you understand the ramifications of what you just said?”

Twilight shook her head, slowly.

“This ‘Spike’ you’re looking for… I’m afraid I have bad news for you.” Drake sighed. “Commander Spike was kidnapped three years ago.”

Twilight felt her brain implode as those words left Drake’s mouth. Commander Spike? Kidnapped? Her mind was a blur of words and pure, abject confusion. How could it not be? But underneath it all, there was a pure, primal fear that ate away at her.

Spike had been kidnapped.

“Tell me,” she said at last, trying not to hyperventilate. “Tell me everything.”

Drake stared at her for just a moment before nodding. “Very well.” He stepped back over to the flowerpot, replacing the current paper and looking through it for a new one. As he did, he said, “This island was peaceful, once. There was no war between flame and frost. The Ice Queen and her citizens lived on the Azure Peninsula for many years, whilst we lived on Mt. Endeavorest – that massive volcano nearby.

“Our peoples spoke often. Our commander and ruler, Spike, and their ruler, the Ice Queen, were very close friends. A trade system had been established, and we lived our lives with no fear of war or hate.” Drake paused. “That is, until three years ago.”

“What happened?” Luna asked.

Rex spoke first. “The Ice Queen invaded,” he said simply. “She sent a series of troops to a small village near the base of Mt. Endeavorest.”

“My home,” Drake said quietly. “Her soldiers were merciless – they ripped us to pieces, destroying everything until the entire village was either dead or destroyed. I was the only one left.” He lifted up his left hand. “I was able to kill most of them, but I lost my claw in the process.”

Twilight shuddered. Drake had killed before? Well, of course he had, her mind rationalized. They’d been at war, after all.

Even so, that still did not erase the unease in her stomach. And had all of this actually happened, or was it just some sort of backstory Spike had written up for his dream? Either way, she could hardly look at Drake the same way with that sort of revelation.

Drake continued, “I managed to get away and find the main dragon settlement, but not before it was too late to help the commander.”

“Commander Spike had gone off to meet with the Ice Queen,” Rex said. “During that time, she brainwashed him into loving her and made him her king.” He grit his teeth. “Her soldiers arrived the next day. It was by sheer luck that Drake was able to get to us and warn us to evacuate in time.”

Again, Twilight shuddered. She could just imagine what would have happened had Drake not gotten there in time. If some of the Ice Queen’s soldiers could tear down a village, she did not want to think about what her entire army could do to a town.

But even that could not dilute the pure, blood-boiling rage she felt in the pit of her stomach. Spike, her number one assistant, her friend, her brother, had been transformed into the consort of a vicious, bloodthirsty murderer. Twilight felt like she was going to vomit at the thought.

“We escaped, obviously,” Drake said. “But after we left, the Ice Queen decided on one final insult. You know that palace outside?”

Luna nodded. “You speak of that massive structure over the volcano, yes?”

“Exactly.” Drake pulled a piece of paper out of the flowerpot. “That’s the Ice Queen’s palace, built over what was once our home, built over what we once owned. She stole it away from us. Our leader, our home…”

“Everything,” Rex said, looking away. “We lost everything.”

Drake pressed his four-clawed hand against the table, a slow smile forcing its way over his face. “And now we take it back.” He placed the paper on the desk, unfurling it slowly. “Do you see this?”

Twilight and Luna stepped over, looking at the paper. It displayed a surprisingly detailed drawing of a heart-shaped jewel that looked almost identical to the Crystal Heart. The only noticeable difference was its coloration, which was semi-transparent and light blue.

“What is it?” Twilight asked, curiously.

“The source of the Ice Queen’s power,” Drake answered. “It’s called the Heart of Ice. This jewel is where everything of hers comes from – her soldiers, her palace, and her immortality.” He paused, giving that a moment to sink in. “If we can get our claws on this jewel, we win the war. Her magic will disappear completely.”

“Why are you telling us this?” Luna slowly asked.

Drake nodded. “I’m willing to make a proposal. You two wish to save Commander Spike, right?” When they nodded, he continued, “You can’t do that without this jewel. Her spell on him is too powerful to undo by conventional means.”

“So what’s this proposal?” Twilight asked.

“Fulfill the prophecy,” Drake said. “Help us secure the Heart of Ice. With this jewel, we will be able to completely dissipate the Ice Queen’s troops and free Commander Spike from her control. Both our goals will be fulfilled, and we’ll finally be able to return peace to the isle.”

“And how can we help you?” Luna asked. “We’re hardly in a position to fight; we lost much of our magic on the way in here.”

“Is that so?” Drake looked down at Twilight. More accurately, he looked down at Last, which she still held in her hooves.

Actually, now that she thought about it, how had it not gotten wet at all while they were travelling through the back entrance? It was not as though she had held it over her head or anything. Was it just immune to any sort of damage? That could be an interesting thing to look into in the future, but now was hardly the time.

Her anger was still flaring.

“Tell me something,” Drake said. “What is the best kind of spy?”

“The kind that is least likely to be detected,” Twilight answered. “The kind that sticks out the least.”

“Exactly.” Drake stood up again. “Now tell me this: What kind of creature is most likely to stay hidden in a palace filled with ponies? Not dragons, surely.”

Rex looked over at Drake. “You want them to act as spies? I suppose it could work, but what if they’re caught?”

“What if they are, Rex?” Drake said, tapping his claws on the table idly. “It would hardly hurt us any. If we can’t get the Heart of Ice, we’ve no chance of the stopping the Ice Queen. She can just continue to make more and more soldiers and fortify her base. We can’t break in with conventional means, but a pony could just waltz through the front door.”

“Surely it’s not so simple,” Luna said. “I doubt such an important gem would have lax security.”

“Not to mention,” Rex added, “that if they get caught in there, it’s not as though they can easily escape. Most of the windows are barricaded.”

Drake nodded. “It’s a risk, yes. But if they can secure the Heart of Ice, the war will be over. They can be reunited with Commander Spike, whom I’ve no doubt would love to see his old friends again. It will be difficult and dangerous, but the result should be worth it.”

Twilight and Luna shared a glance. “Can we discuss this privately?” Twilight asked. “I want to make sure we’re both on board before we do anything this dangerous.”

Drake waved his claws. “By all means. If you want, you two can go out into the hallway and discuss this on your own. Rex and I will wait in here for your return.”

Twilight and Luna thanked him, stepped out into the hallway, and closed the door behind them. They looked at each other for a moment, clearly thinking the same thing.

“Looks like we’ve found Spike’s Disparity,” Twilight said.

Luna nodded. “The Ice Queen seems almost perfect for the role. Powerful? Actively detrimental to Spike’s well-being? She ticks off all the boxes.”

“Yeah. If that’s the case, we need to get the Heart of Ice. If that’s the only way we can stop Spike’s Disparity, then we’ll have to go along with Drake’s plan.”

“Agreed. I don’t like the idea of putting ourselves too much in harm’s way, but that seems to be our only option. Even if we get the Ice Queen to wake Spike up, that is no guarantee her enchantment over him will fade.”

Twilight paused for a moment. “So we’re going, then?”

“Yes,” Luna agreed. “We must head to the Ice Queen’s palace, force her to awaken Spike, steal the Heart of Ice, and get it back to the Draconic Rebellion.” She stopped for a moment before shaking her head. “Quite a bit of work for one dream…”

“I wish we had Rainbow Dash,” Twilight murmured. “She could get to the Ice Queen’s palace in seconds. Probably finish this whole adventure, too. Or Pinkie Pie. Knowing her, she’d just pull the Heart of Ice out of her mane.”

“But we chose Spike first,” Luna reminded her, “so we’ll have to make do with what we have.”

Twilight flinched a bit at that. Curse her overprotective tendencies. As much as she would have hated it, it would have been best to take the pragmatic choice first. Oh, well. They could rescue Rainbow Dash next.

“Right,” she murmured. “Mediocre, highly specialized magic, my terrible flight abilities, and an extremely vague idea of what we’re doing.” Fantastic.

“It’s better than nothing,” Luna replied. “At least we have magic at all. Not to mention, you being able to cool or heat air seems like it would be incredibly valuable in a place like, say, an ice palace or a volcano.”

Twilight shrugged. “I can’t deny that.”

“See?” Luna asked. “Now, let’s go and tell Drake that we accept his offer. I’m sure he’ll be quite glad about it.”

Wordlessly, Twilight turned around and opened the steel door leading into Drake’s chamber again. She stepped inside first, Luna following close behind.

Drake, who had clearly been talking to Rex, looked over as the door opened. “Ah, you’re back,” he said. “Have you come to a conclusion?”

“Yes,” Twilight said. After a moment’s pause, she said, “We decided that we’re going to help you take the Heart of Ice.”

Drake’s smile could not have gotten any bigger. “You will? Excellent!” He seemed genuinely excited by the prospect, not that Twilight could blame him; she would have been ecstatic as well, were she in his position.

“So you’ll help us?” Rex asked. He looked pleased, but seemed more shocked than anything. “After Firebrand and I basically threatened to kill you both, you’re willing to help us?”

“Of course,” Luna said. “We could hardly leave any creature to suffer like this – not to mention that it is very important to our interests.”

Drake pulled out his quill and began frantically writing something on the paper in front of him. “Good, good! Let’s see… For the best results, we’ll leave tomorrow at noon. Will Firebrand be ready by then?”

“Hopefully,” Rex said. “He probably won’t be able to fight very well, but he should be able to at least lead the troops.”

Drake nodded. “That’s good enough.” He turned back to Twilight and Luna and placed a map of the island on the desk, pointing out each area as he went along. “We’ll lead an army to face them on the Burning Plains – that is, the area between this beach and Mt. Endeavorest. You two will stay near the back until the fighting begins. At that point, you will break off and take this route.” He ran his finger along a rocky side path that ran towards the volcano. “If any of her troops stop you along the way, tell them that you are fleeing us. They should be willing to take you back to the palace. Otherwise, you will need to enter the conventional way.”

Drake pointed at the Burning Plains. “Approximately three hours after you leave, our troops will retreat back to base. The trek to the area of attack will take roughly three more hours, while the distance from there to the Ice Queen’s palace should be a mere hour or so. Thus, you should reach the front gate at about four o’clock. The troops will make it back here at about nine.”

Drake sat up from the map, looking satisfied. “Do you understand all that?”

Luna nodded. “Yes, it seems fairly straightforward. Getting the Heart of Ice will likely be no easy feat, however.”

“I’m sure you can manage it.” Drake looked between Twilight and Luna. “If anyone can do it, it’s the ones in the prophecy.”

He turned to Rex. “Rex, you’ll stay behind. I want you to keep patrolling the area and make sure the Ice Queen isn’t going to try anything funny. If she sends any of her soldiers here directly, you know what to do.”

Rex nodded. “I understand.”

“Perfect.” Drake stood up. “Twilight, Luna. What I’m asking of you is not easy by any means. If anything, it may prove to be the most dangerous task I’ve asked anyone to perform. That being said, I’ve no doubt you can pull it off.”

“We won’t fail you,” Twilight said. They could not. Not if they wanted to rescue Spike from his inner demons.

Drake nodded. “In that case, feel free to make use of the sleeping quarters tonight. I’ll have the cafeteria prepare food for you two – food for tonight and rations for tomorrow.”

Twilight blinked. Come to think of it, how long had it been since she’d last eaten? Did she even need to eat? And was she liable to cause problems by sleeping while technically already sleeping? Her inner scientist was screaming for explanations.

“Rex, see them to their quarters. Make sure they’re comfortable.”

Rex nodded. “Right. I suppose I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Yes,” Drake said, leaning back in his chair as Rex led Twilight and Luna out. “Tomorrow will be the day the war ends.”

Chapter II - Passage 1

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Dream’s End
~ Chapter II – Passage 1 ~
Spike’s Dream ~ The Volcanic Isle

Twilight and Luna sat at a round table in the corner of the cafeteria with some of the other dragons. Much like the rest of the base, it was simple, yet practical; the tables were sturdy, the food was good, if a bit bland, and the dragon-heavy atmosphere definitely showed through as the creatures spoke and shared stories.

There were not too many dragons, actually. From what Twilight could see, there were only about fifteen of them in the entire cafeteria. The rest were apparently patrolling the outside, recovering in the infirmary, or sleeping in their quarters.

“So there I was, y’know?” said Argie, the silver dragon from earlier, as he leaned over the table. “I’m just runnin’ along the Burning Plains, soldiers after me. I pick off ‘bout ten, twelve of ‘em with my rifle as I go, but the ugly bastards’re catchin’ up! I dunno how far I can run, but their numbers just keep climbin’ and climbin’!”

“So what happened?” Twilight asked, drinking in the action. It may have been tough to admit, but the atmosphere was infectious. For a pony as obsessed with reading and stories as Twilight, hearing so many war tales was more than a bit exciting.

Argie laughed. “Well, it was a freakin’ mess. A bit like your face, actually.”

That earned a few laughs from the dragons around the table, making Twilight flush as she hastily wiped leaves and dressing off her face. As it turned out, her reliance on magic over the course of her life lead to not having access to that magic proving quite difficult. Eating, for example, was proving to be an exercise in futility. The others seemed to think it was hilarious.

Luna, of course, was having no such problems. She had somehow mastered the ancient art of eating with hooves long before arriving in Spike’s dream, giving her an air of sophistication that Twilight was sadly lacking.

“Anyway,” Argie continued, “I’m running along, like I said, when… Boom!” He mimed an explosion with his claws. “In comes Firebrand with a freaking rocket launcher! Blew up all the other soldiers. It was absolutely incredible.”

Luna nodded, taking another bite of her salad. “So I take it Firebrand is a bit of a hero around here?”

“More than a bit,” the gold dragon, Gil, said as smoke poured from his mouth. “He’s the current field commander of our unit. Back before Commander Spike was enchanted, he was second-in-command along with his best friend, Core.” He leaned back in his chair. “’Course, he hates being a political leader, so he just let Drake take charge on that front when we got here.”

“More than that,” Rex added. “He was – still is, actually – one of the most respected creatures as far as the dragons are concerned.”

“Because he swears like a sailor?” Luna guessed.

Rex smirked. “That’s part of it.” He gestured around the area. “But more than that, he holds us all together. Firebrand’s like a stern father or teacher – tough as tails and twice as mean, but you gotta love him all the same.”

“Helps that he’s a total badass,” Argie added, grinning. “You should’ve seen him back before the Ice Queen took over. Went on adventures and stuff all the time.” He leaned back in his chair and let out a sigh. “Miss those days. Bet the Ice Queen took over just to spite us.”

Gil rolled his eyes. “Yes, just like the way she ‘poisoned the water supply.’”

“Hey, you saw all that blood Firebrand lost!” Argie said, sitting up angrily. “How d’ya know she didn’t plant a bunch of sharp things in our water? Or diseases or viruses? This whole thing could be a plan to mess up our fighting so she wins!”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “But why would she go through all that effort? It makes no sense.”

“Exactly! That’s what she wants you to think!”

“Yes, yes,” Gil said, obviously trying to hide his smirk. “Just go back to your conspiracy theories. Meanwhile, the rest of us will be enjoying our meals in peace.”

Argie rolled his eyes. “Sure, and when you’re all vomiting blood, you can all come crying to me about it. Then you can all think about how smart I was to boil that crap out of my water.” As if to punctuate that point, he let out a long blast of fire into his glass. The stream just barely avoided lighting the table ablaze, causing Twilight to recoil a bit.

“Watch it, you idiot!” Rex growled, smacking him upside the head. “Remember the last time you did that?!”

“But–”

“No buts!” Rex shouted, his once-normal reaction turning into something far more passionate. “You wanna smoke us out again?! You want to put us at risk of being found again?!”

Gil stood up quickly. “Rex, I think you should–”

“Stay out of this, Gil!” Rex snapped angrily. “We can’t risk this sort of thing! We don’t have the time for it!” He turned back to Argie. “Do you know what’ll happen if we wind up out in the field without any protection, Argie?! Do you?! We’ll get picked off like flies! Every last dragon here – dead! Is that what you want?! Is it?!”

After a few seconds, Argie slowly took a drink from his steaming glass, muttering several obscenities under his breath in the process. He hardly seemed to notice that every other creature in the room had gone silent at Rex’s outburst.

Twilight shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She saw from the corner of her eye that even Luna seemed somewhat unnerved by Rex’s sudden anger. Granted, he was hardly without reason, but it was surprising nonetheless. Rex had seemed to be the most levelheaded of the dragons. Such a tirade was not something Twilight had expected from him.

After what felt like an eternity of silence, Rex looked around the room at the astonished and bemused faces of his fellow soldiers. He ran his claws over his spiky head, looking very embarrassed.

“I… Sorry,” he said quietly after several moments. “I’m just… I-I’ll just get going.”

Rex stood up, not even bothering to take or dispose of his food, and exited the cafeteria. His eyes were tilted towards the ground every step of the way, as though he could not bear to meet his fellow soldiers’ eyes.

Not long after Rex left, the atmosphere returned to normal. The other dragons of the rebellion were back to speaking with one another as though nothing had happened.

Luna turned to Gil. “What was that all about?”

Gil leaned back in his seat and let out a smoky sigh. “Rex… Well, let’s just say he’s really cautious. Too cautious, really.” He glanced over at the entrance. “When he sees someone suffering or doing something stupid, it’s hard for him to not freak out over it.”

“He seemed calm the first time we met,” Luna murmured. “Far more levelheaded than Firebrand, at any rate.”

Gil laughed slightly. “Well, that goes without saying. If there’s anyone here more hotheaded than Firebrand, I’d hate to meet them.” He shook his head, turning his gaze back towards Twilight and Luna. “No, Rex is a nice guy, most of the time. He just has a few problems. Can’t blame him, really; we’re all screwed up down here.” He took a drink from his glass.

“I’d imagine,” Twilight said, still desperately trying to eat. “Being thrust out of your home, being forced to fight… That’d hurt anypony.”

“There’s a reason the saying’s not ‘war is heaven,’” Gil agreed. “If it were, or maybe if we just didn’t care as much, I think half of us wouldn’t be shell-shocked.”

“You’re saying you’re not?” Luna asked.

Gil smiled sadly. “Of course I am. I just got better at hiding it.”

Rex stepped into the infirmary quietly, trying his best to not draw any attention to himself. After his latest outburst, the last thing he needed was for any of the other dragons to bother him.

He looked over the beds. Twelve of them sat against the far wall, five against the right wall, and four against the left. Each was separated by exactly three inches, with a satin curtain hanging in between. Rex would know; he was the one who ordered the measurements. It had to be perfect.

Most of the beds were filled with dragons swathed in bloody bandages. Some were awake and letting out loud groans of pain, while the others were sleeping.

Firebrand fell into neither category.

He was currently embroiled in a very passionate debate with the doctor tending his wounds. Well, ‘doctor’ was a bit of an overstatement – Scald was just a dragon with medical training who happened to fit the role of the rebellion’s head medic. When he had started, he had been young and unskilled. But like most of them, years of work had made him quite good at his craft.

“I’m tellin’ ya, I’ll be fine!” Firebrand shouted.

“And I’m telling you that you’re clearly delusional!” Scald retorted. “You’ve lost far too much blood to even think about leaving this room!”

Firebrand grit his teeth. “You’re worryin’ too much! It’s just a wee bit of blood. Ain’t anythin’ major! Gimme a couple hours and I’ll be walkin’ all over that bloody Ice Queen’s troops.”

“A couple hours?! A couple days, you mean!” Scald began writing something on his clipboard. “That wound on your foot is incredibly deep – you’re lucky it didn’t sever any of your nerves or muscles. Walking would be hard enough, but leading soldiers in battle? Absolutely unacceptable!”

“Drake gave me the go-ahead,” Firebrand said. “Nothin’ ya say’ll change that I’m leadin’ our soldiers to face down that freakin’ monster’s army.”

Scald rubbed his claws over his blue-scaled, thick jaw. “You’ll almost certainly have to amputate that foot.”

Firebrand laughed. “I’d amputate my whole freakin’ leg if it meant endin’ this war! Both, even!”

“Unbelievable…” Scald sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Absolutely unbelievable… If you’re so excited about getting maimed, I suppose there’s nothing I can do to stop you.” He continued writing on his clipboard. “I’ve stitched it up the best I can, and I’ll provide you with plenty of painkillers. The Burning Plains should not agitate it too much, but don’t overdo it.”

“Can’t make any promises, I’m afraid.”

“I thought as much…” Scald sighed. He looked back. “Hmm? Oh, Rex, why’re you here?”

Rex stepped forward more than a little awkwardly. “I’m just checking up on him.”

“On Firebrand?” Scald sighed. “I see. I’ll just leave you two alone, but I’ll be coming back later,” he added, glaring over at Firebrand. He stepped over to another patient, tapping his pen against the clipboard.

Rex stepped over to Firebrand and looked down at him. He looked almost completely normal, save the bloodied bandages wrapped around his right foot. There was a small bucket near the edge of the bed, presumably to catch the initial flow of blood and scales. It was almost halfway full.

“How’re you doing?” Rex asked.

“Bored as hell,” Firebrand replied, giving him a small grin. “It doesn’t even hurt anymore. Mostly. But Scald still won’t let me go.”

Rex looked down at the bucket again. “That’s a lot of blood,” he said after a moment. “Are you going to be alright tomorrow?”

“I’d be a sorry excuse for a soldier if I weren’t,” Firebrand said. “Besides, your old man’d be pretty pissed if I got killed off like a bloody chump.” His face suddenly turned serious. “Really, Rex, don’t worry ‘bout me. I ain’t gonna die just yet.”

Rex leaned against the wall, forcing himself to meet Firebrand’s gaze. “Of course not,” he said. “You’re too stubborn to die.”

Firebrand laughed again. For some reason, he seemed especially mirthful tonight. If Rex was correct, it was almost certainly the revelation that the war would soon be over; Rex knew he was excited about the idea.

“Hey, Firebrand,” Rex said after a moment. “Do you really think the war will end?”

“Tomorrow? Maybe.” Firebrand sat up. “Those mares – Twilight and Luna, right? That’s what Drake said. They seem to be pretty tough. I dunno, though; barely know ‘em, really. If there’s one thing I can tell ya, though, it’s that they’ve got plenty of guts.”

“So do the rest of us.”

Firebrand chuckled. “Yeah, but they’re determined. Determined ta help Commander Spike. Hell, I could see myself gettin’ ta like ‘em. They remind me a bit of your dad, actually.” He paused and rubbed the back of his head. “Ah… Don’t tell ‘em I said that, though.”

Rex grinned. “I’ll try not to.” After a few moments, he felt his shoulders slump. “Hey, Firebrand?”

“Eh?”

“Listen, just… Don’t die, okay? Be careful.”

“Sure, sure!” Firebrand said. “I may be a bit old, but I ain’t goin’ down yet. Still got a few years left in me, and don’t let any of those bloody gits tell ya otherwise!”

“Right,” Rex said. “Sorry, I’m just a bit on edge.”

Firebrand raised an eyebrow. “What happened? Another outburst?”

Rex winced. Leave it to Firebrand to read him like a book. Of course, given that Firebrand had known Rex since the day he was born, it only made sense that Firebrand could read him like a book.

“Something like that,” he admitted. When Firebrand gestured for him to continue, he sighed. “Sorry, it’s just… I’m just too worried about all of you.”

“Ya need ta let us take care of ourselves, Rex,” Firebrand chastised. “Ya can’t mother the army forever. Most of ‘em’re already adults, you included.”

“I get that! I’m just afraid.” Rex paused for a moment. “The Ice Queen’s army is more powerful than we are. If my father and an entire village of militarily trained dragons couldn’t take them, then what chance do we have?”

Firebrand said nothing for several seconds. “Ya know somethin’, Rex? That reminds me of a phrase I heard once a while back.”

“What’s that?”

“’A purpose is somethin’ ya make for yourself.’” Firebrand breathed out a little plume of fire towards the ceiling. “The Ice Queen has numbers, but she ain’t got nothin’ ta fight for. We do. We got a land ta take back and a leader ta save.” He looked back at Rex. “Nothin’s more dangerous’n a soldier with a purpose. We’ll win this war. Trust me, we’ll come back safe ‘n’ sound.”

Rex nodded slowly. “Alright,” he said. “I’ll trust you on that. But… Please, just don’t do anything stupid. Don’t try to be a hero. Just get in there, follow Drake’s orders, and get out. If Twilight and Luna are strong enough, they’ll take care of everything from there.”

“That’s what I’m sayin’!” Firebrand leaned back. “Drake hasn’t failed us. Not yet. His plans’re mostly foolproof.” He grimaced. “’Course, last time was a freakin’ bloodbath, but none of us died, at least.”

Rex nodded again. “Right. I’ll just… I’m going to go, then.”

As he turned to leave, he heard Firebrand say, “Hey, Rex. It’ll be fine. Like Drake said, the war’ll end tomorrow.”

“And I’m looking forward to it,” Rex said, not bothering to turn back. “I guess I’ll just have to trust you both on that.”

And with that, he left the room, feeling as though a large weight had been lifted from his heart.

Twilight lay back on her bed, staring at the ceiling. Their quarters were rather small, mostly because she and Luna had been shafted into the only remaining area. Given that a decent portion of the troops were still in the infirmary, that left the two of them completely alone.

Luna shifted awkwardly, looking out the window. “It feels wrong,” she murmured.

“What does?” Twilight asked, rolling over to face her.

Luna sighed, rubbing a hoof over her face. “Not raising the moon. It’s been years since I had to sit by and watch it happen without my input. And even then, that was only because I was still not fully recovered after you and your friends saved me.”

“I get the feeling,” Twilight admitted. “My magic’s everything, and not having access to it is just… It’s not right.”

“This entire situation is not right,” Luna said. “I can’t imagine what sort of creature could be so powerful as to lock us all away in our dreams. And why? What could anypony gain from something like this?”

“Hopefully we won’t figure it out when we wake up,” Twilight said.

But now that she said it, the thought terrified her. What if the mastermind was out taking over the real world while they all slept? What if he had just needed the Elements of Harmony, the princesses, and Discord out of the way in order to make sure nopony interfered, and just took Spike as a contingency plan?

What if they woke up to a world that was completely foreign?

“I doubt such a thing would take place immediately,” Luna said, clearly seeing how much that train of thought disturbed Twilight. “Think about it: have you ever had a dream that felt like it was going on for days or weeks, only to discover that it was a mere few hours?”

Twilight nodded slowly.

“Exactly,” Luna said. “I know dreams, Twilight. Time operates differently within a dream than it does in the real world. A month in a dream may be ten hours outside, for example. And that is what bothers me so much about this particular world.”

Twilight sat up. “You were talking about that earlier, when you said we shouldn’t have come here first. What did you mean?”

“Spike’s dream is a phenomenon I’ve witnessed very rarely,” Luna explained. “To put it simply, it should not be this way. Dreams are, by definition, an embodiment of the dreamer’s subconscious mind.”

“Of course,” Twilight said, nodding. “I know that much. But I’ve read that dreams can take on more complex forms, too.”

Luna sat up as well. “That’s correct,” she said. “Did you notice how the dragons seemed so distinctive and… alive?” She paused, letting that thought sink in for a moment. “Very rarely, a dream comes along that is more than just a dream. Rather than just a piece of the mind given astral form, they are given an almost physical form.” She ran a hoof over her mane. “I’ve seen it occur before, but it is hardly often, and it can only occur under very special circumstances.”

“So what does that say about this world, then?” Twilight asked, desperately wishing that she had a pad of paper and a pen to take notes.

“When you wake up, Twilight, your dream will fade away from existence,” Luna said. “When Spike wakes up, however, this world will continue on. It will simply carve a new hole into the fabric of reality and begin expanding from there. I will still be able to visit it, as it will still technically be part of Spike’s mind, but it will also be something wholly original.” She paused. “Perhaps with enough time, it shall become a full-fledged world like ours.”

“Wow,” Twilight breathed. “That’s incredible.”

“It is,” Luna agreed. “That is why dreams are such magical things. Why do you think I love looking through them?”

Twilight leaned back down, once again staring at the ceiling. “It sounds wonderful. But I can’t imagine every dream is beautiful.” She shuddered at the thought of walking through a nightmare.

“If they all were, I wager I would not travel alone.” Luna paused. “That reminds me. Is Dawn still sleeping?”

Twilight stopped thinking and focused on Dawn. Based on the snoring, the answer was obvious. “Yeah. She’s still out.”

“Unbelievable,” Luna muttered. “We’ve had guns pointed at our heads, been lead through some underwater tunnel, and signed up for war, and she’s still asleep?”

“I can’t imagine how,” Twilight said. “I still can’t believe how complicated this whole thing’s become. It’s one thing to go through some corridors in a library, but this whole scenario is much deeper than I would’ve thought.”

“That’s why I was so worried about it,” Luna said. “I had been hoping the dreams would be short like yours, but it appears they’re becoming more complicated. If Spike’s dream is the precedent and not the exception, as I fear, then that means we are looking at a long and intricate journey ahead of us.”

Twilight nodded. “I know. But if it means I can save my friends, then I’ll go through anything I have to. Even if we have to march into the heart of a war, I’d rather risk my own life than let them all suffer.”

After a moment, Luna smiled. “You’re a good pony, Twilight. I’m glad to have you with me on this quest.”

“So am I, Luna,” Twilight said. “And when we march on the Ice Queen’s palace tomorrow with Firebrand and the others, we’ll be able to get Spike to join us, too.” She stopped for a second as another thought hit her. “Hey, Luna?”

“Yes, Twilight?”

“You said there were special circumstances a dream needs to be like this, right?”

Luna nodded. “You’re curious?”

“Yeah. So what does it take for a dream to get like this?”

Luna paused for a moment in thought. “From what I’ve seen,” she said, “it takes quite a bit to reach this stage, and even then it’s still unlikely that a whole new world like this one will be born. First, a creature has to enter the REM stage of sleep. That’s the easy part.”

“What’s the next part?” Twilight asked eagerly.

Luna grinned. “You really want to write all this down, don’t you?”

Twilight flushed. “Uh… A little bit, yeah.”

“Don’t worry,” Luna said, chuckling. “I’ll write up some notes for you when we wake up. Though I imagine that will take us quite some time…

“Anyway,” she continued, “the next stage is where things get complicated. The dreamer has to enter a certain state of lucidity – one where the dreamer is awake enough to be aware of their surroundings, but not to the point where they understand they are dreaming. If the dreamer manages this stage, the dream may become like this one.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “That’s it?”

Luna sighed. “As I said, I’ve only seen this occur very rarely. I can still visit these worlds whenever I please, but even with all my experience, I still don’t quite understand them.” She suddenly scowled. “There may be one creature who could explain these dreams more thoroughly, but I’d rather not have to meet with them again.”

Twilight knew when to take a hint. “Right. That’s very interesting, actually.” She made a mental note about all that. If the others’ dreams were going to be as complicated as Spike’s, she would have to arm herself with every bit of knowledge available. “Thank you, Luna.”

“Of course. Now, I do believe we’ve spoken enough.” Luna laid her head against her pillow. “Tomorrow will be a long, difficult day, I’ve no doubt. Let us get some sleep while we have the chance. If you want, we can speak more tomorrow.”

Twilight lay against her own pillow, letting her eyes slowly close. “Alright. Good night, Luna.”

“Good night, Twilight. I will see you in the morning.”

The exhaustion of the day’s adventures hit Twilight hard, and she soon found herself drifting off into a long, dreamless sleep.

Dream's End

by zaleacon

Prologue

Chapter I - Introduction

Chapter I - Passage 1

Chapter I - Passage 2

Chapter I - End 1

Chapter I - End 2

Intermission - Explanation

Chapter II - Introduction 1

Chapter II - Introduction 2

Chapter II - Introduction 3

Chapter II - Passage 1