//------------------------------// // Exit // Story: Tabula Rasa // by Rose Quill //------------------------------// Twilight thought for a moment. “I’m…I’m not entirely sure. I’m locked into a spell matrix that allows us to see inside this dream.” Luna agreed. “My Dreamwalking is locked into this shared matrix as well,” the Alicorn said. “But I believe that by severing the spell, you may be able to awaken.” Tabula looked at Twilight. “And will that get you two out?” Twilight grinned sheepishly. “Maybe?” she guessed. “This was a fairly new spell, so I’m not sure how to sever it, but I have some ideas.” “Okay then!” Tabula said, laying down and rest her head on her hooves. “See you on the other side?” Twilight agreed, turning to Luna as the Pegasus closed her eyes, shifting to a slightly more comfortable position on the clouds. “Cast your Dreamwalking spell,” the lavender mare said, stepping close. “I should be able to piggyback the dispelling charm along it to disconnect us from the crystal.” Luna frowned for a moment, looking away for a moment. “I must ask,” she whispered. “Is there risk in this method?” The lavender pony looked down for a moment as her ears pinned back. “Well….” The Princess of the Night turned at her. “Be you not afraid to be honest with me, Twilight,” she said softly. “It could lead to unwanted consequences.” She looked away briefly. “I would know.” Twilight swallowed. “There may be a risk of it just untethering us from her,” she admitted. “She’d be able to wake up, but we’d still be adrift in the Dreamscape.” Luna nodded. “I understand,” she whispered. She was about to speak when a strange ululating howl split the air. Twilight whipped her head around. “Tarrasques,” she whispered. Luna’s horn lit with a flare. “Might be best if we hurry,” she said. “I agree,” Twilight said, her horn lighting as well. Fluttershy was watching the comatose mares when the Pegasus sat up suddenly. “You’re awake!” Fluttershy cried out, waking Sunset up as well. “Oh, that’s such good news!” Tabula looked around groggily, then spied Twilight and Luna, still bound within their trances. “Why aren't they awake?” she asked in a raspy voice before falling into a coughing fit. Sunset’s horn lit, probing the crystal around the coughing mare’s neck. There was no change to it or the Alicorns, and she sighed. She released the medallion and she turned to speak to Fluttershy when a ringing sound carried forth from the crystal. It started to glow, shuddering as it spiderwebbed, then shattered, falling in dust to the blankets. And as the glow faded, all ponies present watched with bated breath as a nurse entered the room. A minute passed with no noticeable change to the comatose princesses. The nurse moved forward to check vital signs when Luna let out a shuddering gasp, eyes flying open. Twilight followed a moment later. The two Alicorns collapsed, panting as Twilight started laughing. “It worked,” Twilight giggled, leaning over and hugging Luna. The midnight Alicorn returned it with a surprised look on her face. “It worked!” The doctors had insisted that they all stay for observation, but Luna resisted, saying that she needed to patrol the dreams of those that slept. Eventually, the doctors won out, restricting her to scanning the Dreamscape and only intervening if needed. Twilight didn’t sleep, turning over every misstep she had made in the construction of the spell. She couldn’t stop thinking about Luna standing between her and the tarrasques, taking the brunt of the attack on the guise that Twilight needed to maintain her strength and defend the Pegasus. But in the aftermath of the attack, not only had she managed to destroy the dreamscape immediately around them, but transmuted various aspects of it as she tried to tend to the Alicorn. In theory, she shouldn’t have been able to if her magic had been so heavily tied to the crossover linking her into the dreamwalk as Luna had suggested. She was protecting me, Twilight realized. And that worried her. When she had touched Luna’s magic to pull them from the spell, she had a momentary flash of emotion from the elder princess. Worry, which she had expected. There had been a possibility of the spell not freeing them. She also had detected determination, again, wholly expected given the circumstances. But she had also felt love, which wasn’t expected. It also made her look inside to see just how she felt. Twilight wasn’t exactly good with introspection when it came to feelings. They were fickle, inconsistent, and totally without a rational cause.She liked facts, science, research. They had firm rules that you could see and replicate. The door opened, admitting the midnight pony. “Twilight Sparkle,” she began, a slight flush on her cheek. “I was wondering if I could speak with you. Oh, ponyfeathers, Twilight thought, her mind spinning quickly. “I feel that we should talk after the experience,” Luna continued without noticing the internal panic building in the lavender Alicorn’s face. “I feel we should clear the air between us.” “What do you mean?” Twilight stammered. “What you did was foolish,” the Princess of the Night said softly. “It was reckless and ill advised. If anypony else had suggested it, I would have rejected it outright.” The midnight wings twitched. “And I should have done so with you,” she continued with a sigh. “But you have handled many seemingly impossible feats successfully before, so between your past and…other reasons, I agreed to go along with your plan.” “Other reasons?” Twilight squeaked. “What other reasons?” “Faith in a fellow Alicorn,” Luna said, lowering her eyes. "A fellow princess. Belief in the pony who had done what not even my sister Celestia had done.” Teal eyes met purple, and Twilight felt surprise as she saw the admiration and anxiousness reflected there. “And I may feel a little infatuated with you,” the Princess of Dreams whispered, turning away slightly. “It is a silly thing, and I know that you likely do not feel the same for me. But I feel that…” “Luna,” Twilight whispered. “I just felt you should know,” Luna said before turning to leave. “Luna, wait,” Twilight said, holding out a hoof. But the other princess teleported away without looking back. And Twilight slumped back in her bed, more confused then ever. She saw Tabula sitting in the fields just outside the castle, staring at the clouds drifting by, her posture a lot more relaxed than Twilight recalled seeing previously. “You look better,” she said as she sat next to the Pegasus. “I suppose,” the olive pony whispered. She had a small smile on her face as she fluttered her wings. The burns on her flanks were healing, and beneath the lines of her cutie mark was starting to show again. The fluffy cloud with dashed lines underneath was faint, but it was still there. “I still don’t remember a lot,” she admitted. “I don’t know why I wanted to erase my memory, and some things are just hazy.” “We could try to reverse the spell,” Twilight suggested, turning her gaze to the clouds as well. “I’m coming real close to reversing a spell on my friend Fluttershy that went awry. We could use it on your memory hex.” “That’s a really kind offer, Princess,” she said. “But I think I’ll be turning it down.” “Why?” “Whoever I was,” she said, closing her eyes. “She had a reason to want to forget everything. To start over again. She made mistakes and maybe one day those reasons will find their way to me. And if they don’t, that’s ok. I’m here now, and I’m going to see who I turn out to be.” “And if you never remember anything else?” Twilight asked. “If you can’t find answers?” “Then I’ll decide when that day comes,” Tabula said. “I can’t sit around waiting for something to tell me who I am.” She glanced over. “How are you doing?” “A little sore,” Twilight said. “Borderline mana burnout. I’m supposed to take it easy for a few days.” “And Princess Luna?” “I…” Twilight hesitated. “I’m not sure. I haven’t seen her since we left the Dreamscape. I’m sure she is just busy with her duties.” “So you two don’t see each other very often?” Tabula frowned. “I didn’t get that impression from you.” “What?” The Pegasus shrugged. “I thought you two were closer than that. Certainly seemed that way.” “Tabula,” Twilight stammered. “Serene,” the olive pony said. “What?” “My name,” the Pegasus said. “It’s Serene Showers. That much I remember. And they way the two of you swapped looks sometimes, you’d think you two were an item.” “Serene,” Twilight sputtered. “We don’t have a relationship like that.” Serene turned her vermillion eyes on the Alicorn. “You don’t sound so sure,” she said as she stood. “Maybe you should figure out what you want, Princess.”