//------------------------------//
// Calm 
// Story: Tabula Rasa 
// by Rose Quill 
//------------------------------//

Twilight used some of the conjured bandages to clean dirt and debris from the wound on Luna’s flank as Tabula sat with her back against the fallen capstone.

“Are you ok?” the Princess of Friendship asked as she began to bind the puncture wound.

“No,” the Pegasus said dully. “All this, my memory loss, I did to myself. And now I’ve trapped you and Luna in my mind, and she’s been hurt. I’m hurting more ponies when I only wanted a fresh start.”

“Do you remember why you wanted one?” Twilight asked after assuring the bandage would remain secure. “Why you resorted to a spell to get it?”

Tabula shook her head. “I remember that the spell was supposed to leave some memories, but it obviously didn’t.”

“That could be part of the nature of the way you cast it,” the lavender Alicorn mused. “Sometimes placing spells onto scrolls makes it easier to cast, but only if you know what you’re doing. A single mispronounced word can alter the spell, so maybe that’s what happened.”

“We need to get her out of here,” the olive pony said. “I don’t want to be the cause of us losing the Princess of the Night. You two have sacrificed enough for me so far.”

“I need you to do something for me,” Twilight said. “I need you to stay calm, first of all. This plane is tied to your emotional being, so what you feel, the plane transforms to match it. Do you understand?”

The Pegasus nodded.

“Good,” she said, lifting the unconscious Luna in her aura. “Now, I need you to bring us back to the point where we entered the dream. That is probably the most secure and safe point that you can envision, and we need that for Luna.”

“I-I don't know if I can,” Tabula responded. “If this place is tied to my emotions, then I could plunge us all down some ravine.”

“But you’re not,” Twilight said. “Because I believe in you. Luna and I came in to help you free yourself from this torment, and we’re going to get out.”

The Pegasus shook her head. “How can you be so sure?”

Twilight looked at her, her lavender wings spreading.

“Because I refuse to accept the opposite,” she said. “And I refuse to leave you to your demons.”

Tabula blinked, then closed her eyes. Slowly, the abyss closed in with fluffy white clouds, and a few light gray clouds full of rain. Twilight laid her fellow princess down on the clouds.

“What else can I do to help?” Tabula said.

“Accept that you’ve learned all you can right now,” the princess said, suddenly fatigued. “I’ve used a lot of mana, and it’s my power that keeps us anchored here. I need some rest.”

Tabula nodded. “I’ll keep an eye on Luna,” she offered. 

Twilight laid her head across the withers of the midnight pony. “I know,” she whispered sleepily. “I trust you…”

She fell asleep, listening to the slow heartbeat of the other Alicorn.