A/N: The plot thickens.
Disclaimer: I own nothing pony.
Chapter Two: In Which Memories and Dreams Pester
The sun was at its zenith, golden rays filtering through the clouds to warm the bustling city of Canterlot as its inhabitants went about their daily lives. The ponies below paid little notice to it, so accustomed were they to its presence, but Celestia's attention had been fixed on it for over an hour. She stood unmoving on her balcony, elegant head upturned towards the great orb in the sky. Its energy radiated down to her, warming not only her fur and skin but reaching down deeper, touching her very core. It was this contact she focused on, focused as completely as she could. She had to. It was one of the few things that helped now, this strict focus. Otherwise, the pain would resurface with such intensity that her breath would cease.
It had gotten worse over the past week, though... had it been a week? Had it been a week, or just a few days? Perhaps... perhaps it had been months, and she had been so entrenched in keeping it all buried that she had neglected to notice the passage of time? Or maybe it had only been a few hours since the memories clawed their way up out of her mind's depths, and her despair had lengthened her suffering. Celestia did not know. All she knew was that underneath the veneer of her tenuous attention waited something akin to agony, and she could not bear to face it.
The sun moved as it always did, keeping to the perfect order of the path she dictated. Her mind followed it, tracing the precise track from which it never strayed, ensuring that its rays fell equally upon all they touched. The sameness of it soothed her. She recognized the total predictability that she'd instilled in the system long ago, and watching its workings laid a thicker veil over the unspeakable thoughts threatening her was all she needed to do now: ensure its sameness, revel in its order. That had helped before. Yes, this time was worse, worse than any time she could remember, but she could not let that matter. Celestia had to trust that her old methods would work, and so she reached out to the sun again. She straightened its rays, refined its impeccable path. The pain receded slightly, its raw voice fading. Yes, it would be just like before. She could fix this, she knew she could. She just had to keep trying, keep consistent. It had worked before; it would work again.
Celestia reached out and straightened the rays again. Every photon of light, straight. So beautifully, wonderfully, peacefully straight. Now, again. Straight again. And again. Again, until her breathing slowed and her heart ceased thudding. Again, until the pain quieted down to a whisper. Yes, she could do this. Just like before, she could control it all and banish it to where she could not see it. She just had to-
"...sister? Celestia!"
The pain flared, burning tendrils reaching out to bestow agony upon every corner of her mind. For a moment, Celestia could not find the sun, and for that moment, she floundered in an endless ocean of twisted emotion. She turned away from the balcony.
"I'm sorry, Luna." A smile. A gentle expression in her eyes. Beneath them, Celestia grasped blindly. "The city is so vibrant today, I could not help watching. Did you need something?"
"Yes. We... ah, that is, I wish to remind thee that thy presence is expected in court in a few minutes."
Where was the sun? Where was it? If only she could find it again, then this would all stop. She could focus on its perfection and all of the power that radiated from it, and the world would settle again, and this would stop just like before.
"Is it now? Goodness, where has the time gone!" She vaguely wondered what her expression was now; it must have been something appropriate, for Luna simply smiled back at her. "I will be right down." Back to the sky. She needed to reach back out to the sky and find what could save her. Was Luna still there? Yes... yes, she was. Why was she not leaving? Celestia needed the sun... the sun, the sun, the-
"Actually... if it would not be too much trouble, we... I... would like to attempt court myself today. I believe I have prepared myself adequately, and taking this step could serve to further build on a positive public image. If, of course, you agree..."
"Luna... if you feel ready, then of course you can; I think it's a wonderful idea! You go down and begin. If you should need me..."
She was smiling again, wasn't she? Yes... yes, she thought she was. Good. She was smiling, and Luna was smiling, and that was fine and great and now Luna would go away and then it would be just her and her blessed sun and everything would crawl back to the blackness from whence it came and it would be fine, fine, perfectly fine...
"I will call you. I... Celly..."
There was something she was supposed to say to that... what was it, what was it, what...ah!
"Yes, little Lulu?" There. Perfect. Now leave. Leave.
"I... thank you."
"Of course, little sister." There was a nuzzle, and an embrace, and a look that spoke of gentle pride, and then her sister was gone. Immediately, Celestia reached for the sun, and oh glorious, wondrous day, there it was as it had always been.
She straightened its rays again, and the pain dulled. She nudged it along its track, and the agonizing memories receded. Again. And again. Soon she forgot Luna had been there at all. Certainly, she did not watch her younger sister walk past an utterly vacant court and turn down a little-used hallway that led to the Equestrian archives. No, Celestia remained in her room, rigidly still on her balcony, pleading with the sun to make the pain stop.
As the memories churned and roiled in their fragile prison, she straightened those golden rays again.
Laughter... the laughter of young fillies prancing in the sunshine... a flash of pink and white... another of deepest blue... a feeling of the purest, most innocent joy as they turned around, eyes wide with happy recognition...
Bored... so bored... bored bored bored bored... how could anyone be this bored? How could this boredom even exist? How was such intense, boredom even possi-
More pink, more blue... a checkerboard? What was a checkerboard- ah, to play on, of course! Leaping, bounding... somehow it was so much more fun because the ground was pretty colors. Bizarre, strange, but oh, how they laughed.. How wonderful it all was...
She was wrong somehow, shaking and sick in her head for days on end. There was a fix, though, and oh, what an incredibly easy fix it was! It only took a few seconds to soften her thoughts, and then she was the giggling, playful child of their first meeting...
Screaming... screaming, and crying, and yelling while the frigid numbness climbed. The last was a shriek, a piercing wail of the wildest laughter, crazed and desperate and only falling silent when-
Twilight awoke tangled tightly in sweat-soaked bed sheets. For a few minutes she lay still, not really because she wanted to, but because the residual emotions left from her troubled sleep were paralyzing in their intensity. Only when her mind relaxed, all of those feelings fading into the vaguest memory, did Twilight let out a shuddering breath. Without a doubt, this had been the worst night yet.
She rolled over, landing shakily on weak hooves and making her way to her dresser. The face that met her eyes in the mirror was a shock: pale, drawn and exhausted. She looked as if she hadn't slept in weeks, but it had only been a few days since the disturbances had started. Twilight wrinkled her muzzle at her reflection as she began to brush out her mane.
"Disturbances" was really the best word, she'd decided. Some might have called them dreams, but the episodes weren't really like any sort of dreams she'd ever had. They'd come as mere emotions at first... no, not even that. They'd come as shadows of emotions, just barely hinting at some sort of feeling. The first morning, Twilight had awoken strangely drained, still tired despite a full night's sleep. She'd blamed it on the stress of the day before; after all, worrying about the princess and performing fruitless research were both undeniably taxing. She hadn't even remembered anything concrete: no images, no sounds, just the faintest traces of unnamed feelings that dissipated the moment the sun's rays touched her eyelids. No, Twilight had been drained, but she hadn't been worried. The worry set in the next night, when she'd awoken panting and terrified for no reason she could name. It had taken her an hour to fall asleep again, only to greet the morning in complete exhaustion once more. The next few nights saw the initial wisps of swiftly forgotten emotion slowly evolve into flashes of vision and sound that, while incomprehensible upon waking, made her sleep that much more restless. Each morning, she would rise as tired as if she had never slept, and each morning she would tell herself the same thing: it was stress. It must have been stress. What else could it have possibly been?
Twilight gave her reflection a stern look; it was stress, absolutely no more. She nodded resolutely... and dropped the brush. It landed with a soft clatter, but the noise might have been a harsh clang for how it startled Twilight. She stared at the brush as if she had never seen it before. How was that possible? She... she hadn't meant to drop it. She hadn't. Half of her mane was still unbrushed; she hadn't even thought of putting the brush down, yet there it was, laying innocently on the dresser. Trembling, she focused on levitating it... and succeeded. Weakly. Though the brush floated in the air before her, she could feel how weak her hold on it was, how frail, and knew that if she let her concentration wander the slightest bit... Swallowing mutely, she put the brush down and looked back into the mirror.
It wasn't just stress. It couldn't have been. The pony looking back at her didn't just look tired; she looked legitimately ill, a wan version of Twilight Sparkle that barely had the strength to levitate a mane brush. Twilight watched her reflection's bloodshot eyes fill with tears. For a moment, it seemed that she really would cry, so deep was this sudden fear, but she ended up shaking her head and blinking the tears away. No. No, no, no! She could not allow some stupid dreams to ruin her attempts to help the princess! The last few days had seen absolutely zero improvement on Celestia's behavior, another letter coming as short as the others just yesterday afternoon. She could not give up now, no matter how awful she felt. Twilight looked herself over again, stamping a hoof in renewed determination. Really, she did not feel that poorly. So her magic was a little weak; stress could certainly do that. Yes, it definitely could. Who could say, really and truly, that this was not just an overblown stress reaction? It was not as if she had never had some form of breakdown before; Spike could attest to that.
Re-energized by sheer force of will, Twilight drew herself up, puffed out her chest, took a step towards the door... and stumbled badly enough to fall against the wall. She shook herself and sighed. All right, perhaps rushing was a bad idea at this point. Perhaps a rest, but just a little one, would be the intelligent, logical thing to do. Twilight nodded to herself. She was, after all, no use to the princess if she could barely function. This called for a break, just for the day. As she steadied herself, Twilight resolved to take the day off from her admittedly fruitless research. She'd resume later that night, once she'd had some time to focus on other things. The plan pleased her, and she managed a small smile just as Spike knocked on her door, declaring breakfast ready.
It seemed like years since she'd seen the sun. Twilight closed her eyes and tilted her face up to the sky, basking in the warm glow that kissed her skin. It really had been a fantastic idea, leaving the library for a nice, long stroll. The moment she'd closed the door on the piles of historical texts littering the floor, it felt as if a weight had lifted from her. Even her lingering exhaustion did not dampen her enjoyment of another beautiful early spring day. Winter Wrap Up had happened, on time, just last week, and all around her the ponies of Ponyville were making the most of one of their favorite seasons. So far, the walk had been just what she needed. She'd only met one slight snag: there had been a moment when she'd found herself heading, as had become something of an odd habit, towards the meadow housing Discord's statue. Once she'd made a conscious effort to pass on examining his stone form, however, she managed some real enjoyment. Twilight turned a corner, intending to make her way up the street to one of her favorite restaurants, only to stop at the sound of her name.
"Twilight! Is that you, dear?" The voice was elegant and refined, unmistakably Rarity's. Rarity's voice, the east side of town... what was today? Tuesday? Yes, it was. That meant... Twilight searched the crowd for her fellow unicorn, sighted her, and smiled at the sight of their pegasus friend following close behind. Every Tuesday was, without fail, the day Rarity and Fluttershy took their trip to the spa together. Had Twilight been in a healthier mindset the last few days she might have remembered, but her preoccupation with princess Celestia had resulted in a happily coincidental meeting.
"Twilight! Oh, darling, we haven't seen you in ages. Where have you- oh my!" Instead of meeting Twilight's greeting smile with one of her own, Rarity stared at her with a look of utter horror. Fluttershy, once she'd caught up, echoed Rarity's exclamation with a gasp. Both ponies stared incredulously at Twilight, who knew precisely what the problem was and shifted uncomfortably because of it.
"Um... hi, girls. How have you been?" she ventured tentatively, a hoof scuffing the ground in her discomfort. She hadn't been planning on any socialization because of just this reaction: of course they would be shocked at her appearance.
"How have we been? Twilight, never mind us! What's happened to you?" Rarity leaned close to peer at her pale friend.
Fluttershy, shyness forgotten in her concern, actually reached out and touched a hoof to Twilight's forehead. "Are you sick? Is that why you've been staying home? Oh, you poor thing!"
Twilight, by now thoroughly embarrassed by their well-intentioned fussing, took a large step back. "Girls, please! I'm fine! I just... I've been studying a lot recently, and it's been cutting into my sleep schedule. That's all!' She smiled reassuringly, only to be met with looks of suspicion. "Really, I swear! I'm studying a very difficult topic right now, and I guess the stress has gotten to me a little. It's really not as bad as it looks, I promise." Again, a placating smile brightened her face as she tried to sell this idea to them, just as she had sold it to herself a few hours ago. Rarity and Fluttershy looked back skeptically.
Twilight began to sweat. What if they didn't believe her? What if they demanded more answers? What if they asked what she was studying, and she ended up blurting out the whole fiasco? Luckily, she was still too exhausted to fall into another one of her downward spirals. All she could do was keep smiling at their disapproving expressions, hoping they would believe her. Or at least pretend to.
Eventually, Rarity broke the tension with a heavy sigh. "I cannot say that I believe studying can do that to your lovely complexion, my dear, but if you insist upon it, then I suppose I shall have to relent. However," a nearly mad look entered her lovely blue eyes, "you will be coming to the spa with Fluttershy and myself. On us. Right now. And I will not take no for an answer!"
Twilight's ears fell. She had not been planning on any real socialization on her excursion; she simply did not trust herself in her current tired condition. A protest immediately came to her mouth, but a surprisingly stern look from Fluttershy shut it up quick.
"I'm sorry, but I must agree with Rarity. You really should come with us, Twilight, even if only for a little while." Twilight tried to counter with a look of protest, but Fluttershy, shy as she was, seemed to gain a veritable mountain of assertiveness when an animal, or one of her friends, was not well. "I really must insist, Twilight. For your own good." Now Twilight finally had a moment to regret suggesting Fluttershy be more forceful with her patients during that whole phoenix ordeal. Clearly, the pegasus had taken her words to heart. Faced with two very unyielding ponies, Twilight hung her head in defeat.
"All right. I'll come along."
Immediately, Fluttershy relaxed into a gentle smile, and Rarity's demeanor changed altogether. She wrapped a hoof around Twilight with almost frightening enthusiasm.
"Wonderful! Come along then! You'll be feeling, and looking, scores better in no time at all!"
With that, Twilight found herself bodily dragged to the spa. By the time they'd made it into the foyer, she'd gone from merely bone-tired to disoriented and hopelessly dizzy. Perhaps, she reflected with the sliver of her mind not occupied with trying maintain some balance, this had not been the best idea after all. Getting out of it now, however, was out of the question. Resigned to her fate, Twilight prepared herself for the discomfort of unwanted, heavy pampering.
She ended up pleasantly surprised. The spa ponies saw her need for true relaxation and hurried to her side. Extricating her from the well-meaning Rarity, they hustled her off to the steam room first, followed by a well-deserved pony pedi. By the time she realized exactly how much her feet had been aching, she found herself having her mane professionally combed out. Twilight, after days of little sleep and strange exhaustion, finally began to truly unwind. When the spa ponies saw their work taking its effect, they led her back to one of the main rooms where, alongside a chatting Fluttershy and Rarity, Twilight stretched out on a massage table. The hooves pressing gently, then firmly, into her back, magically found all of the stress knots and aches she'd developed without even knowing. She let out a blissful sigh. Next to her, her friends exchanged knowing looks and settled down to enjoy their own expert massages.
Twilight would never remember falling asleep, though she'd later berate herself for not recognizing the possibility the moment she'd settled on the table. Her friends had secretly hoped it would happen, and Fluttershy tapped Rarity with a hoof to point out their friend contentedly snoozing beside them. Both mares softly congratulated one another for a job well done; they truly had been blindsided by how bad Twilight looked, and relaxing her to sleep was precisely what they'd hoped the spa ponies could do.
For some time after that, all was well. Fluttershy and Rarity enjoyed their massages secure in the knowledge that they had helped out a friend, and Twilight slumbered peacefully under the skilled ministrations of a spa pony. Said pony, satisfied with her work, gave her charge's shoulders one last knead before leaving Twilight to her rest. Of course, it could not last, not with the circumstances Twilight had unknowingly thrown herself into being as they were. Thus, while Rarity and Fluttershy chatted amicably about nothing in particular, and Twilight's masseuse took her break, the energies in Twilight's mind began to coalesce, to shift once more, and...
Rain beating the ground... gloriously strong, vicious, violent... the lightning tearing across the sky... rip it asunder... rip it rip it rip it oh how fantastic, how magnificent, how inspired...
"Discord!" What was this? Brilliant! A lovely snow-white guest to share the beauty... now to show her, just to show her...
"What have you done? What have you done, you monster?" Monster? Monster? Oh, how quaint, how utterly precious. She thought... oh, how unenlightened! No no no, it would never do. He'd have to show her, show her everything, show her the wonder of it...
Energies clashed... pain... so much pain... it all ripped asunder again, but this time the screams...
"Twilight! Twilight Sparkle!"
It took Twilight longer than it should have to realize that the screams she was hearing came not from the vision but from her own muzzle. When she finally understood this, she shut her mouth with an audible snap, trying to calm herself enough to take stock of the situation.
She was on the polished floor of the spa, legs haphazardly waving in the air and framing the faces of two very concerned, almost frightened mares. Her friends looked at her expectantly, waiting for some sort of resolution to the disturbing sight they'd just witnessed. All Twilight could do, being still confused, was lower her ears sheepishly and squeak out the only question that really fit the situation.
"What am I doing on the ground?"
The sound of her voice seemed to reassure her friends, at least enough for Fluttershy to sit down with a shaky sigh while Rarity worked her nervous energy into an overly boisterous retelling.
"What are you doing on the ground? Twilight, you don't remember?" Twilight made to answer, but Rarity shook her head with almost theatrical exasperation and bowled right over any attempt. "You were sleeping so soundly, just as Fluttershy and I hoped you would. Then you... you..." she trailed off, too overcome to properly continue. Luckily, Fluttershy had composed herself well enough to chime in.
"You started twitching, and then... then you started giggling, and crying, and... and..."
"Twilight," Rarity offered, "you screamed. Like a... a banshee, or somesuch. We thought you were hurt! Then you started... flailing, and you rolled off of the table. Is that why you haven't been sleeping? Twilight, darling, that is not stress, that is..."
"Some sort of terrible nightmare!" Fluttershy finished, body trembling in a sudden shudder. Both of them ended with very expectant, if sympathetic, looks down at the still-prone Twilight.
They clearly wanted some sort of answers from her, likely some admission of greater issues than mere academic stress. Twilight, however, was not delivering, for in truth, she'd only half listened to their explanation. The moment she'd asked her question some sort of mental floodgate had opened, and Twilight actually remembered real details of what had woken her. She remembered a storm more violent, more destructive than anything she had ever seen. She remembered a terrifying, otherworldly vividness to her dreamsight that she'd only vaguely been aware of before. She remembered the sight of a beautiful, gleaming white creature that she could easily, even in her shocked state, identify as Celestia. Most importantly, though, she remembered the exact words she'd heard her beloved mentor speak. Two of them were of particular importance and made the shorter hairs of her mane bristle: "monster"...and "Discord."
Discord. Suddenly it was all too clear, all too painfully clear that her nightly disturbances were somehow tied to that chaotic monstrosity, and the enormity of the realization made her all but deaf to her friends' words. Twilight simply lay there, mind frantically going over all she could remember from the past few terrible nights. There wasn't much, honestly: white and blue that she could now identify as the princesses, feelings of bizarre, chaotic euphoria that could only be the workings of his twisted mind... She stiffened. His mind. His mind? By Celestia's mane... she had to get to her books! There was no way these were normal nightmares, not with that bizarre content, not considering what she'd been doing recently. It was too coincidental, far too coincidental, and there were other things about what she'd seen: the random events, the admittedly wonderful joy during some images, the utter strangeness of how things looked when she... was she looking through his eyes? Was that it? Was that why everything was so completely disjointed? But then why Celestia? Why Luna? Why, why, why?
No, this settled it. This was not stress. It was not some sort of emotional reaction to her concern over the princess. This was... oh hayseeds, of course she'd been drained! This was magic, somehow, some sort of magic while she slept, and so she'd been drained because... Twilight leaped to her hooves. She needed her books, and she needed them now! This sudden epiphany could give her the inspiration needed to finally figure out what was wrong with the princess. She had no time to waste; she needed to-
Taking a quick glance around her, Twilight felt her sudden burst of determination fizzle out like a wet match. Rarity and Fluttershy were staring at her not only with concern, but with complete bemusement. Now, at least, her mind was rejuvenated by the possibility of solving the whole mess and nimbly offered an excuse.
"Oh, that always happens when I study too much! You must've had that dream: you're taking the most important exam of your life, and suddenly your quill breaks! And no one has a... a spare... ha ha! You know how I overreact sometimes!" Ponyfeathers, they weren't buying it. She withered slightly under her friends' incredulous looks. Both unicorn and pegasus looked ready to grill her with more probing questions, but she'd made up her mind. With an apologetic smile, she trotted towards the door. "Anyway, I must be off!"
"You can't be serious!" Rarity cried out after her. "At least stay for some more-"
"No, no. I really have to get back to studying. Best thing for academic stress is being adequately prepared, as I'm sure you know! Thank you for the break, though. I'll see you girls later!"
With that, she was gone, leaving a confused Rarity, Fluttershy, and pair of spa ponies staring at a swinging door.
"I... I guess she's okay?" Fluttershy ventured, rustling her wings with uncertainty.
Rarity sighed. "I supposed there is not much more we can do. Well, we'll just have to watch her. For now... back to work!"
The two of them spent the rest of their afternoon dozing in a luxuriant mudbath.
"More tea, Spike! I have a lot more books to go through!"
Twilight peered closely at the text of Mental Magic and You, ignoring the worried look her dragon threw in her direction.
"Are you sure, Twi? You know you haven't been sleeping well, and I'm not sure that walk you took had the right effect." Nevertheless, he set a new mug of tea on her desk. "Maybe you should take the night off, too."
"Nonsense, Spike. I think I'm getting close to a breakthrough; I can't stop now!" She looked up from the tome to see her assistant still looking unsure... and tired. She sighed.
"You, on the other hoof, should go to bed. I'll come up once I've figured some more of this out." She turned back to the passage she'd been reading, hoping he'd heed her advice. For a moment, it looked as if he was preparing to be stubborn, but he only yawned and nodded.
"Yeah... I guess you're right. I'll see you tomorrow." Spike began to trudge tiredly up the loft stairs. Before he reached the upper floor, he spoke one last time.
"Please don't stay up too late, Twi? I... I really am worried about you. The others are, too. Applejack was here for a book on tree grafting, and she said-"
"I know, Spike. I know, and I appreciate your concern. But I'm fine, really. I promise." She beamed at him with the most reassuring smile she could make. "I'll come up soon. Really."
"...okay," he sighed, seemingly placated. "Good night, then."
"Good night!"
The moment he was out of sight, she returned to her book, and the second she heard his quiet snoring she walked over to the shelves and picked out a few more. Twilight did not have the same problem she'd had before; there were plenty of books with great details on mental manipulation spells. Each went into numerous aspects of the controversial craft: method, intent, proper energy balance, how to get the exact visions installed in a host mind. It was all there, but it wasn't quite what she was looking for. What she needed was a good description of a victim's experience, not instructions and theory... ah! Here!
"'A First-Hand Account of Energy Receiving During Sleep,' by Sibyl Crystal-Gazer. Hmm... this is it!"
It was exact, a veritable text-book example. It was all there. The ruined sleep, the strange images from a strange point of view, the residual emotion upon waking, all tied in with the most important symptom: a feeling of magical drainage that could not be otherwise explained. All of the other things could be written off as especially bad dreams brought on by stress, but that unique feeling, as if she'd been casting spells all night instead of slumbering in bed, had no other possible origin that she could figure out.
Someone had been sending her magical energy while she slept; it was the only explanation. The nature of what she'd seen, what she'd felt and heard suggested... but how was that possible? How could Discord, rightly locked away in his stony prison, do such a thing? How... wait. Wait! By the sun and moon, what if he was doing the same thing to the princess? The princess could have been suffering the same strange visions, doggedly keeping her misery a secret to keep her subjects from worrying. Twilight bit her lip; it was precisely the selfless sort of thing Celestia would do for them. She had to help, had to! But... what could she do?
All right. Options. What were her options? She could write to the princess... no, she'd crossed that off her list a long time ago. She could... go to her friends? Now? Oh, but it was so late... and besides, something about telling her friends that Discord might have still been active did not sit right with her. She did not want to panic anybody, not when they were all just recovering from their ordeal. Besides, this was a magical problem, not something most of them had any experience with. That left the final option, one not particularly savory but oddly more acceptable than the others: deal with it herself.
She thought about it, trying to weigh the pros and cons and coming up with no conclusive answer. It was a downright dangerous idea, but at the same time it was becoming more and more appealing. There was something about it that just seemed right, like everything would be solved right when she... if she... the statue. She had to get to the statue. Somehow, somehow, everything would be clear as long as she made it to the statue. Now. She had to go now. Right now, at one in the morning. Definitely.
It was utterly bizarre, and she might have labeled it as some form of mind control, but Twilight felt absolutely no magic activity in the vicinity. All she felt was the greatest conviction that the next step she had to take was going to that large meadow and examining the statue. She had to do it immediately, before she lost the senseless sort of courage that this sort of sureness tended to grant. Filled with resolve, Twilight grabbed the book she'd been reading, glanced upstairs to make sure Spike was still asleep, and hurried out the door.
Outside, the night was mild, common for a young spring in Ponyville. The streets were empty as she trotted along the familiar path, the air silent except for the click of hooves on cobblestone and the tentative chirps of insects freshly awoken from their winter sleep. Twilight ignored the gentle sounds; she even ignored the beautiful silver moon and stars that Luna had likely worked quite hard on. She was set, determined, and thus focused on little else but getting to the edge of town. Once there, she finally allowed herself to pause at the meadow's edge. The tall grass gleamed with a silvery sheen, perfectly uniform and almost ethereal in Luna's moonlight. The only thing out of place was a defined path through the wildflowers that cut straight from where Twilight stood to the foot of the statue in the meadow's center. Swallowing nervously, she took a deep breath to draw strength from whatever inner bravery had brought her this far. Her fur ruffled gently in a sudden breeze as she took a step forward, then another, and another, until she found herself once again looking up into the frozen face of her great enemy.
He was somehow more intimidating at night, despite the fact that this night was not at all dark. The moonlight, while illuminating everything else in an almost ponytale splendor, only served to lend a creepy sort of effect to the rock. It almost seemed to glow from within, as if it had some sort of inner energy... well, of course it had: a particularly obnoxious draconequus was trapped inside, after all. Still... creepy. Definitely creepy. Twilight shuddered a little before focusing back on the task at hoof. The task... at... she blinked.
That encouraging conviction was... gone. Just gone. Just like that, she found herself standing in the middle of the meadow with Discord's creepy statue, with absolutely no clue as to what to do next. She took her book out of her saddlebags and perused the relevant passages again, hoping to regain whatever inspirational spark had sent her here in the first place. Nothing. She had... nothing. Well, not entirely nothing. No, now Twilight had frustrated anger, a feeling that burned with ever-increasing fervor as she glared at the stone before her. Her eyes gleamed with this fury, this complete indignation at her situation. They'd beaten this monster already; how dare he cause her to suffer again? How dare he cause the princess, the kindest, most wonderful creature Twilight knew, to suffer? How was any of this fair? In her state she never even questioned how she knew that all of these hardships were coming from Discord; the same source of bravery that had led her here was giving her complete and utter confidence that it was all his fault. She knew, knew this in a way that was only comparable to how Pinkie sometimes just knew things, and in her turmoil she did not even think to question it. Instead, she began to fume, and as she fumed, she began to speak.
"I know this is all your fault, Discord. All of it. You've done something to the princess, and now you're doing something to me! There is no one else out there who would want to hurt either of us, so don't think that I'm not on to you! Don't think that I won't stop you!" She glared up at his frozen face, as if expecting some response. When none came she let out a frustrated snarl, beginning to circle around his base as if seeing him from a different angle would give her some enlightenment.
"You think that you can play with the rest of us like this? I won't let you! You hear me? I. Will. Not. Let. You!" She could have melted glass with her expression, but the statue before her remained impassive.
At this point, Twilight Sparkle did something that she had been taught, very strictly, not to do all the way back in Magic Kindergarten. It was the first, most important lesson taught to any young unicorn, repeated over and over again throughout their magical training. She had never broken this all-important rule, not even when Discord had threatened her world before. Now, however, with fear for herself and her mentor, with sleep deprivation, with chilling doubt all churning furiously in her thoughts, she broke that rule. For the first time, Twilight Sparkle allowed her anger to govern her magic.
The energy curled up the lines of her horn with frightening speed; all around her, the wind picked up, whipping the grass and clawing at the ground. With a savage yell, Twilight released all of that magic in a focused beam, aiming at the cause of all her pent up emotion: the statue right in front of her. The resulting flash of light and color, an impressive release of energy, actually managed to knock her back, and the next thing she knew, she was staring up at a blurry night sky. If the nightly visions had not fully drained her of her magic, that had, and she had to lay still for a moment, groaning softly, as all of the blurred points of light resharpened into the stars and moon.
That had not gone well. Oh, she was momentarily glad Celestia seemed so preoccupied lately; that had been downright embarrassing, losing control of herself like that. What would her mentor think, if she'd seen, if she'd felt it? Twilight weakly shook her head, wincing at the quickly-growing headache as she fought to stand up. What in the world had she been thinking, firing off a blast like that? A novice mistake, entirely unforgivable... she sighed. Oh, but at least no one had been awake to see it. She glanced back towards the town. No; no candles being lit, no noise indicating any disturbed sleepers. At least she hadn't ruined that. Her shame began to fade, helped along by exhaustion. There was no sense in blaming herself for something born of the emotional mess she'd been the past few days; she'd learned that lesson multiple times during her stay in Ponyville. Best to just thank the powers that be that nothing was seriously damaged, vow to never let herself get so stressed again, and go home. Well, if she could go home, which she still could not bring herself to do. She'd come here to deal with her problems at the source. Twilight frowned. Was he really the source? She'd been so sure just a moment ago, before her little meltdown, but now...
Had it all just been anger? Desperation for an answer? Twilight approached the statue, completely unharmed by the blast, and studied it again. No... no, there was something to this. Untainted by fury, she could still feel that little kernel of truth deep within, a strange pulse insisting that she was right where she should be. Insistent, but incomprehensible. Outstanding. She breathed out in a frustrated huff.
"What else can I do? I can't write to the princess, I can't tell my friends... and all that magic was useless. Maybe..." Maybe going home was the right decision tonight. If she got lucky, she'd finally have a restful sleep and awaken with the energy to really make some headway with this mental magic angle. Yes... that was probably for the best. All she had to do was... hold on.
Twilight's ears pricked up, the very tips quivering at the sudden presence of something in the air. The familiar tingle of magic, not residual blast magic but a different sort, laced the air around her. She looked around in confusion. Was there another unicorn about, casting some spell? No; she was still alone in the meadow save for the crickets, mice, and owls. Then what was that trace feeling?
Now, now, my dear, I do believe you are being much too hard on yourself. I would hardly call that fantastic bit of magic useless.
That voice. That voice. Outwardly, she'd heard nothing, but that unmistakable voice rang in her head clear as a school's bell. No. No! It couldn't be! She could not have... it had been a powerful blast, but... no. No, the statue was definitely intact. Perfectly unharmed.
But by Celestia's mane, she could feel the magic clinging to it, emanating from it, a magic whose feel she now recognized all too easily. Twilight gaped at it in horror, taking a step back, then another, her entire body ready to heed her instinct's order to run. She couldn't do it, though. No matter how badly she wanted to flee, all she could truly do was stand, as frozen as the statue, while Discord's voice spoke soundlessly in her mind.
Come now, Twilight Sparkle. Is that how you greet an old friend? Don't I even get a 'hello?'
A/N: Thank you for reading.