They both unconsciously decided they were going to stay in the sleeping bag for a while, enjoying the warmth of each other a little longer, before having to face the harsh, cold world outside of their tent. Twilight thought back to the nightmare she had the night before, remembering the crazed angry look in the villagers eyes, in her friends' eyes, as they burned her house to the ground. She shuddered slightly, remembering the fear she had felt, and Luna pulled her in tight.
“It’s ok Twilight, it was just a nightmare.” Luna said, instantly realising the cause of the other mare’s discomfort.
“But it felt so real...” Twilight replied, knowing her fears were irrational, but there was nothing she could think to do to stop them.
“Everything seems real in a dream, for most the only time you realise it’s a dream is when you wake up.” Luna replied, ever calm and knowledgeable, calming down Twilight with her words. “And besides, you know the people of Ponyville, they wouldn’t hate you for what you lo- like.” Luna continued.
“Yeah...” Twilight replied, shaking her head to clear unwanted thoughts. Fears assuaged for now, Twilight gave a sigh and wriggled out of the sleeping bag, Luna quickly following suit. They stretched their limbs out, before opening the door to their tent and shielding their eyes from the glare.
The campfire they had made the night before was just glowing embers now, a faint orange glow against the harsh white of the morning sun. Twilight lightly kicked the last few embers out, and she and Luna began to pack up their campsite. After the necessary checks have been performed and the ash had been dispersed, Luna deemed the area close enough from what it was like when they arrived to continue on. Twilight pulled the map out of her saddlebag with her magic, the familiar feel of power returning to her.
“I thought that we should perform a locational spell, to see whether we were on track.” Twilight explained, focussing on the necessary spell in her mind.
“Good idea.” Luna replied and she too focussed on the spell in her mind, their collective magic pooled together and pouring into the map in front of them. A bright violet arrow, the exact colour of their magic, appeared at a point on the map, about halfway between Ponyville and their first location. However, the way forward was mostly uphill, and thus would probably take longer than their first day of travelling. Twilight and Luna simultaneously stopped their combined spell and the arrow faded away. Luna seemed exhausted, even from such a small spell as this. Twilight noticed, and her expression changed to one of concern.
“Are you ok?” Twilight asked, Luna nodded.
“Yeah, I’m fine, we should hopefully be able to get there by nightfall if we hurry.” Luna replied, changing the topic. Twilight decided to push her concerns away for now, if Luna was in need of help, she would ask for it.
Twilight put the map away, and they set off in silence without looking back. Luna took an early lead, her hooves able to pick up on the most stable places with ease, Twilight lagged behind slightly, less physically fit and more susceptible to tripping. As the gap between them grew, Twilight had to call out, quietly of course, so as not to attract unwanted attention.
“Luna?” Twilight said to the mare in front of her, slightly obscured by foliage and shadows. Luna stopped and turned to face Twilight, a look of concern adorning her face.
“You okay back there?” Luna replied, equally quietly.
“Yeah, it’s just that I’m not as fit as I used to be, not that I was ever fit.” Twilight replied with a slight laugh, tempered with a small wheeze of exhaustion. Luna smiled, concern leaving her face. It had been about 4 hours of walking by Luna’s reckoning and she unconsciously decided that they deserved a break, it must be about lunch time anyway.
“Okay then,” Luna said, turning around fully, “let’s take a break at the next clearing.” She continued, Twilight nodded, and the two began to walk once more. Luckily for Twilight, it was only about five minutes more before the trees suddenly stopped, leaving about 5 metres between the tree line and the river that cut across the landscape. Twilight welcomed the refreshing flow of water and quickly, without thinking, jumped in. The resulting splash managed to get Luna soaked too, and the two broke out in uncontrollable laughter. The light sound seemed out of place amongst the strangely deadened sounds of the Everfree Forest, but for that moment, the two didn’t care.
The laughter slowed down after a while, Twilight breathing heavily. Surveying the scene, Luna saw that she somehow was more wet than Twilight. She gave a half-sigh-half-laugh and pulled one of the spare blankets that had been packed and offered it to Twilight. Twilight stepped out of the water, and graciously took the makeshift towel from Luna, she was about to ask why she didn’t just use magic, but just before she opened her mouth she remembered the spell they had cast earlier. It wasn’t even that hard a spell, but Luna seemed exhausted by it. Stopping herself from worrying too much, Twilight finished drying, and moved onto Luna, rubbing the blanket over Luna’s body. Just as Twilight began drying her face, Luna tried speaking, the result being an indistinguishable muffled speech.
“What was that?” Twilight asked, moving onto Luna’s mane.
“I said,” Luna replied indignantly, “I can dry myself, you know.” Twilight laughed once more.
“Yeah I know.” Twilight added, not giving any more explanation. Twilight found herself thinking how much easier Luna’s mane must be to take care of, now that it wasn’t that long, dark flowing construct from before.
Luna didn’t seem all that happy that Twilight was drying her, at least not on the surface, but she didn’t complain further, and allowed Twilight to finish her task before putting the blanket back into her saddlebag. Luna sat herself down on the driest bit of ground she could find, Twilight quickly joining her.
“We’ll just take a short break, I hope to reach the first destination by nightfall.” Luna said, pulling out some nuts and an orange to share from the other saddlebag she had carried. Twilight nodded in reply and took her share from the nuts. They ate in silence, it was a comfortable silence though, that of two ponies that find themselves completely at ease in each other's presence. All too soon it was time to get moving again, the orange peel was buried in the ground after they were done with it, and they stood, the area once more the way it was when they found it. Save for the patches of water on the dirt near the river, but there wasn’t much they could do about that. The pair readied themselves for the long walk ahead, saddlebags adjusted for maximum comfort and minimum chafing. They set of in the desired direction, Luna once more taking point.
After walking for some time, Twilight noticed the trees appeared to be more sparse and thinner, foliage letting through odd splotches of light from the sun high above. Luna quickened her pace, eager to get out the forest, and Twilight followed suit. The trek got easier, roots no longer threatening to trip them up at every step. Eventually the trees turned into bushes and the ground started to rise. Luna stepped out into the sun, shielding her eyes with a hoof, whilst they became accustomed to the sudden onslaught of brightness. Twilight trotted up beside her and copied her motions. Luna raised her glance to the structure in front of them, it seemed easy enough to climb, not really getting very steep until near the top, and they wouldn’t need to climb that far anyway. She turned to her student.
“We should be able to get to the first location by nightfall, then we can set up camp. I think we should explore tomorrow though, it’s not safe around here at night, even out in the open.” Luna said, lowering her hoof but still squinting slightly. Twilight nodded in reply, and the two looked back at the peak, reinvigorated and ready. Luna mentally calculated the fastest, safest and easiest route up the mountain to the point marked clearly on their map. After she had completed her mental mapping the way they set off, now walking side-by-side, as opposed to Luna taking point.
The path up the mountain was a cinch compared to the forest walk, the ground was worn smooth by millennia of erosion, yet remained rough enough that they had a firm grip. They made steady progress, pacing themselves now that they knew their destination was close. Eventually, the bushes became odd patches of grass, and the air got thinner. Then, after hours of walking, they reached the cloud barrier. There in the Everfree Forest the clouds floated past them, condensation wetting their fur as they continued their trek. Twilight feared they would get lost or disorientated in the cloud, but Luna stayed steady, leading them both along their path. A temporary reprieve came, when the cloud they were in floated past, allowing the sunlight back in. Luna stopped to reassess the situation, Twilight stopped beside her, and wiped some water from her face.
“Not much further Twilight, and then we can rest.” Luna replied, she seemed to almost be in a trance, seeing something that Twilight could not. Twilight didn’t question her, sticking to her earlier idea that if Luna needed help, she would ask. Twilight nodded in reply, and they began moving again. Luna increased the pace slightly, the air getting colder as the sun got lower in the sky.
Twilight spotted something a little ways along their path and pointed it out to Luna.
“Is that it?” Twilight asked, motioning to the formation they were nearing. It was made out of the mountainside, and seemed to be a natural formation of a rudimentary pony’s face, apparently untouched by anything.
“I believe so...” Luna replied, walking the last few steps up to the rock and examining it closely. “Yes, this is our destination.” She added, turning back to Twilight who nodded in reply.
“We should set up camp then, it’ll be dark soon.” Twilight added, pulling her saddlebags off and stretching her tired limbs. Luna too pulled off her bags and pulled out the tent, which was assembled in minutes by the pair. Twilight didn’t realise how hungry she was, until Luna pulled out some more dried fruit and nuts and lay them out on the floor. Her stomach grumbled and she dug into the food, but still leaving some for Luna. Luna smiled at the mare in front of her and stifled a giggle, knowing how hungry Twilight was. Since she was an almost immortal alicorn, she didn’t really need to eat, but it helped sustain her and was, of course, tasty. She ate the rest of their food with Twilight, and the two cleared their stuff into the tent.
It was now truly dark, the sun long since past the horizon, and the moon lazed high in the sky, Twilight and Luna had spent the last few hours since they had sent up the tent and eaten, enjoying the rest and the spectacular view the mountain offered. In front of them lay the Everfree Forest, endless waves of green stretched out to the horizon, it was breathtaking to see how far they had travelled. It reminded Twilight of the dream she had shared with Luna, where they were high up on the tree, overlooking Ponyville. However, the memory snapped her back to the dream she had the previous night, the nightmare. Twilight shivered unconsciously, and Luna drew her in tight, Twilight could tell that Luna knew what Twilight was worried about without any need for any explanation.
“I guess we should retire.” Luna finally said, standing up and removing her foreleg from around Twilight’s neck. Twilight nodded and stood too, the nightmare still playing at her mind, she wasn’t sure she could face her fears. It wasn’t like any other fear she had to overcome before, this was a lot more personal, and she knew that if she didn’t overcome it, everything would come crashing down around her.
“Don’t worry, I’ll be there for you.” Luna said as they clambered into the sleeping bag, and closed their eyes, readying themselves for the nightmare ahead.
Ponyville faded in from black, the colours taking form around Twilight into their familiar shapes. It seemed to be exactly the time that Twilight and Luna had left the nightmare the previous night. Twilight looked around her and reasserted herself with her position, she found herself behind some bushes, behind the crowd that was still shouting at the flames burning the library down. Luna faded in beside her, calm and ready, which was more than could be said for Twilight. If there was a problem she could usually have overcome it with some study and practice, but when the problem was in your own mind, and you’re so far from the library, how can you overcome it?
“Calm yourself Twilight,” Luna said, noticing the other mare’s intense discomfort, “now that we know the problem, it is a fairly simple process to stop the nightmares.” Luna continued quietly, trying not to draw attention from the mob. Twilight sat down and listened intently, ready to do what it takes to overcome the nightmares.
“The good thing about this nightmare is the vividness of it, the really bad nightmares are the ones where it seems like you’re viewing it, but can’t do anything about it, those are the hardest to get over. However, since you can control this one, it is actually quite easy to stop it. You simply have to get that idea, the one of the villagers hating you for what you are, and quench it. Stand up to the crowd, show them that you’re not afraid, and they will fall. This is your mind after all, you control this land, not your fears. You just need to take it back from its clutches.” Luna explained in quiet, calm tones that made perfect sense to Twilight, who stood once more. Twilight took a deep breath to clear her nerves.
“I’m ready.” Twilight said.
She marched out to the crowd, head held high, tremble barely noticeable. Twilight pushed through the crowd, and stood in front of her burning house, before turning to them. She hesitated as the glares hit her head on, her best friends hatred burning into her, but she dispelled it, there was no turning back now.
“Friends, this is not what you’re like, you would never hate me for what I love.” Twilight said to the now quiet crowd. Silence followed her words, the only noise was the crackling of the flames behind Twilight, silhouetting her against the fire. It seemed like she was winning, the flaming torches and various other weapons began to be lowered, ponies faces turned to that of guilt. Just as the nightmare Applejack was about to speak up, something happened. Twilight felt it as a familiar wave of energy that coursed through the entire landscape and settled on the crowd. As one, the ponies faces turned back to angry, weapons raised and they began to advance on Twilight. She was frozen in place, this wasn’t how things were meant to be go, they were supposed to be backing off! Twilight was still paralysed, jaw slightly open, but no sound came out. Just as the first of the ponies, Mayor Mare, reached Twilight and raised the wooden plank she held aloft with a hoof, Luna tackled Twilight. The two rolled away from the flames and the crowd.
“Wake up! Now!” Luna shouted as she picked up Twilight and shook her, Twilight obliged, slipping from the dream realm just as another wave of energy passed through the land.
The two woke up simultaneously, breathing heavily and chests heaving. They lay in silence, regaining their breath, until both Twilight and Luna both recognized the energy and whispered its name.
“Nightmare Moon.” They uttered together.