Nyx soared above the few isolated stratocumulus clouds that had been left by the Weather Team at Rainbow's request as convenient places to take a nap. Her self-confidence had taken big leaps forward with the increased number of flying lessons Twilight had arranged to keep her away from magic and she relished the day's practice with her Wonderbolt teacher.
Twilight had called in favours from the pegasi she knew best, in particular Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, but Rainbow had other responsibilities as a weather pony and a Wonderbolt as well as having the right to a private life. Further, although Fluttershy was willing to help, she wasn't confident in the high-speed flying and aerobatics that her daughter craved, in addition to which she took her responsibilities of animal husbandry very seriously and had sick critters that needed her time too.
Fortunately, Rainbow had stepped in to help out by calling in a favour from Soarin; something to do with a pie, she had said. That was why Nyx was currently flying over Cloudsdale next to a light blue stallion.
"Hey kid" he called out "You're doing really well - most pegasi of your age can't even fly!"
Nyx blushed at the compliment and performed a perfect roll in celebration.
"Can you see the Wonderbolt Academy down below?" he asked "Do you want to take a look at our famous Air Obstacle Course?"
The excited filly couldn't believe her luck and gave him a broad smile, nodding her head enthusiastically.
"OK kid" he said with a hint of mischief in his eyes "Let's see if you can keep up!"
He rolled over and dived down, making sure not to exceed Nyx's flying abilities and give her the impression she was beating him.
"Hey, hold on and wait for the old timer to catch up, won't you?" he called as she giggled in delight at her perceived victory.
Once he had caught up to her, he lined them up on the runway for a low level high speed burn-up, the two of them as low as he dared and as fast as she could manage. She bubbled with excitement as she saw a flight of Wonderbolts acknowledge their approach and stop respectfully at the side of the runway.
The display fliers watched amazed to see an alicorn fly along their runway; none of the four ruling Princesses had ever done such a thing in living memory. For her part, Nyx assumed their admiring glances to be out of respect for her precision high speed flying and grinned with pride, while Soarin frantically ran through the excuses he could present to Spitfire later in the day.
At the end of the runway, they banked together and he put them down on the side festooned with a fearsome selection of mechanical devices.
"Hey Nyx, that was quite a show you put on back there. Do you think you may one day have what it takes to be the first ever Alicorn Wonderbolt?"
She was so excited she could barely speak and let out a "Squeeee!" sound, nodding her head in violent affirmation.
"OK then" he chuckled at Nyx's evident enthusiasm "This is the famous Wonderbolts Air Obstacle Course. Some of the more scary bits aren't working right now, but I'll show you the rings if you like."
Nyx was spellbound; the prospect of being invited to participate in even a small part of the Wonderbolts training was a dream come true - even Rainbow Dash hadn't allowed her in to the Wonderbolt Academy!
"Just stay here and watch me first, then if you feel ready, you can give it a go yourself. One word of caution though, these things hurt; you can put yourself in hospital if you bump into one, OK?"
Soarin took off and lined up with the rings. He had developed a deep respect for these basic looking obstacles and was determined to clear them now with his honour intact. He flew through the first, then the second, then through them all - at least they weren't moving from side to side today. Having successfully flown through all the rings, he returned to Nyx who was eager to give it a go.
"OK kid, that's how it's done" he said happily "Ready?"
Nyx was ready. She wanted more than anything at that moment to show the ace Wonderbolt that she was up to the task.
She took off and lined up as Soarin had done before her, cleared the first confidently, only just cleared the second and aimed headlong for the third. She screamed, unable to turn away in time. Soarin held his breath, quickly trying to think up excuses for the second time that day that may placate Spitfire when one alicorn was airlifted to hospital. He also tried to think quickly what excuses he could offer to Rainbow as well as Twilight and inwardly promised to visit Nyx every day as she recovered.
In a fraction of a second, Nyx's horn lit and there was a flash. When they looked, they could each see that the ring had turned into an orange. Soarin looked askance. A hospitalised pony was one thing, but part of the Wonderbolts Air Obstacle Course being turned into citrus fruit was quite another, albeit somewhat more unexpected. As he was working on yet another excuse, one that wouldn't see Spitfire kick him out of the Wonderbolts for good, he saw Nyx fly away and heard her crying as her black silhouette shrank from sight.
Quickly, he took off after her. She wasn't difficult to track down, all he had to do was follow the sound of crying; his companion no longer the optimistic Wonderbolt wannabe, but a scared little filly calling for her Mom.
Soarin knew nothing of magic or Nyx’s particular situation and did his best to soothe her, but she was distraught. She had failed the Wonderbolts Air Obstacle Course and her magic had reverted to producing oranges. When he had finally managed to calm her sufficiently, they made the flight back to Ponyville, during which he had more time to come up with excuses for what had happened. He seemed to be doing a lot of that today.
When he returned the black filly to Rainbow and Twilight, the first thing Nyx did was to run to her Mom crying "I didn't mean to do it" over and over again.
"What happened, Soarin?" asked Twilight.
The stallion explained how everything had been going so well until part of the Air Obstacle Course had got turned into an orange.
Rainbow fell over laughing, clutching her sides and totally unable to speak as tears ran down her muzzle. Twilight on the other hoof went noticeably pale.
"Aw, come on Twi!" Rainbow guffawed, gasping for breath "That's priceless! I can't wait to see what Spitfire makes of that!"
She struggled for her breath "They could call you the flying orange - no wait, the flying pip - no, I've got it - Pipsqueak!"
Rainbow rolled around on the floor helpless with laughter.
"Thank you Soarin" said Twilight soberly "it's not your fault. Please tell me what I can do to make amends with Spitfire for you."
"Aw, come on Twi, lighten up a bit" urged Rainbow between fits of laughter "You may never see anything so funny ever again!"
"That" said Twilight under her breath "Is what I am afraid of."
***
Princess Luna flew down to Ponyville that evening having received a scroll from Twilight informing her of events during the day. When she arrived in the secret library, Twilight was already there, poring frantically over as many relevant texts as she could fit onto the table, and even keeping two more suspended in her magic at the same time. Luna could sense the urgency with which Twilight was conducting her research and knew no other pony was capable of performing such a thorough job in such a short time. She was also aware that it may not be enough.
Both alicorns shared the same fears, and when Luna arrived, Twilight put down what she had been working on.
"Shall we?" she asked almost as if requesting a dance, but both knew that what was at stake far exceeded the delightful frippery of a social function.
Twilight put on the crescent moon livery collar that she had come to fear she may inherit sooner rather than later and focused alongside Luna as they transcended into the dream realm. The dreams were there as before; little bubbles encapsulating a personal nirvana for some, while for others it would be a purgatory from which waking would be the only release.
Both Princesses scanned for the same thing, seeing past the projections of individual dream casters' most intimate revelations that would normally have been a dream walker's responsibility. Their quarry tonight was much more significant, not just for one scared little filly, but for the whole of ponykind.
Being in the Castle of the Two Sisters, it was slightly easier to focus on the dreams of ponies from nearby Ponyville rather than from further away in Canterlot. That was one small bonus and any benefit was appreciated. They searched, but the large glowing sphere they both dreaded was not obvious. Neither felt any sense of relief, moreover a sense that it was merely eluding them; like a game of cat and mouse - but who was the hunter and who the hunted?
Moving from dream to dream Twilight was the first to find Nyx. Her dream bubble was much like that of anypony else's and inside she could see a black alicorn wearing an iconic blue flight suit. Outside, her bubble differed from all the others by a faint red, orange and yellow glow.
She was careful this time not to come into direct contact with it. She had learned what happened last time to her cost and also Luna's. She had established what she needed to know; it was back. Just as Luna had predicted.
“It must have been triggered when Nyx accidentally used her magic at the Wonderbolt Academy” said Twilight.
“Yes” concurred Luna “That is an eminently sensible hypothesis. But if so, then it clearly builds very fast indeed, possibly absorbing the energy she expends when using her magic …”
“… which is why she’s only left with a token by-product, typically an orange – because the rest has gone to feed this parasitic entity!” completed Twilight.
“Yes” nodded Luna “Therefore it is prudent to conclude that she will make matters worse for herself every time she uses her magic. We must also face the likelihood that she is an immortal alicorn, so no matter how cautious she is, she will be tempted at some point between now and the end of time to use her magic, which in turn will build up to plague her every dream.”
“Poor Nyx” said Twilight, sadly “It would likely drive her mad.”
“Also, we must consider that if this entity does not get enough magical power from Nyx, then it could conceivably cross over to the other magical ponies – the alicorns and unicorns alike. We have already seen how it took to feeding off your energy.
"If that is true, then the resultant sleep deprivation would eventually drive all the magical ponies mad and the remaining pegasi and earth ponies would not be able to raise the sun and the moon.”
“And Equestria would die” concluded Luna.
Twilight considered the situation and recalled a previous conversation with Luna, one in which she had prioritised Equestria before Luna, but Nyx before Equestria. Luna too recalled that conversation but said nothing.
“I am not giving up on Nyx” said Twilight firmly.