//------------------------------// // The Restless Night // Story: My Little Student // by Lets Do This //------------------------------// Even with Cadance's assistance getting to sleep, Celestia still found herself starting awake in the middle of the night, and then tossing and turning, unable to get back to sleep. And this night was proving to be much worse. She buried her muzzle in the pillows and tried to force herself to think of nothing, nothing at all. When that failed, she thought back to the lesson with Twilight that morning, to her student's proud and stubborn insistence on perfection in her work. I remember someone else who felt that way, she thought muzzily. On a whim, she found herself invoking the spell for the memory palace, and began wandering through it as a distraction. At first, she simply trotted aimlessly. Then she found herself wondering where Twilight was -- hadn't she kept up? And then Celestia heard it... the laughter in the distance, the laughter Celestia always heard before she appeared, stalking out from the shadows, to torment them both: HA-HA-HA-HAH! HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HAH! But where was Twilight? Celestia stared around in mounting terror. She was missing! Lost somewhere! Completely helpless! I've lost her! "Twilight!" - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - "Princess Celestia?" The night guard stationed in the hall outside Twilight's room came alert at the sound from inside. Following orders, he gently opened the door and checked the darkened room beyond. Seeing Twilight still safely tucked up in bed, and Spike wrapped up in his basket on the floor at the end of the bed, he nodded in relief. When there was no further noise from either of them, he gently shut the door again. He therefore did not observe the shimmering glow that settled upon both Twilight and Spike, and how a moment later they were gone. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - "TWILIGHT!" In her bedchamber, Celestia started awake. She hauled herself up and furiously shook her head to clear it. The door crashed open. "Your Majesty!" The guards recoiled from the look in Celestia's eye. "The two of you, with me. NOW!" Quickly she donned shoes, necklace, and crown, then stood facing them, impatient. "Well? I am waiting!" The two guards hurriedly stepped into the room and took up station on either side of her. And then Celestia's horn flashed, teleporting all three of them to the hallway outside Twilight's room. "Awaken Princess Cadenza. Have her meet me inside!" "Yes, your Majesty!" Still reeling from the sudden translocation, the guards headed for the door to Cadance's room. Brushing aside the guard at Twilight's door, Celestia flung it open, hoping against hope. She stepped inside, her horn blazing with light that filled the room. Seeing the empty bed and basket, she let out a piercing cry. The side door opened, and Cadance hurried in. She gasped. "Twilight! Where is she?" "She's gone, niece!" Celestia whispered, her voice breaking. "She's been taken -- by HER!" - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Twilight awakened in the morning. She yawned and stretched, enjoying how comfortable the bed felt. Then her eyes opened in surprise. It was very comfortable, way more than she remembered. "Huh?" She sat up. The bed was completely different, with a much thicker quilt and much softer mattress. The room around her was completely different, also. It was grander and more elegant, for one thing. The curtains were heavy and colored a deep midnight blue. There was a windowed doorway leading to a balcony with a telescope on it. The table in the center of the room was piled high with papers and charts and compasses. And the room was dark, shadowy, almost like it was still night-time. Yet based on how she felt, Twilight was sure it had to be morning. She felt around with a hoof. Smarty Pants wasn't there beside her. That scared her more than anything else. "Spike! SPIIIKE!" "Wooah!" She heard a thud as he fell out of his basket. His claws landed on the endrail of the bed and his head popped into view. "What is it, Twilight?" Then he looked around. "Hey, when did we move to the new room? Aw geez, why didn't you wake me up?" "I don't know! I just woke up myself! Spike, I'm scared!" "Join the club!" Spike clambered up onto the bed and trotted over. "Well, at least we're both here to be scared together, right?" "Yeah." Twilight looked for the door leading to Cadance's room, and couldn't find it. She found the door to the hall -- it was in the wrong place, but she called out anyway. "Hello! Anyone out there?" Usually the guards would have been in like a shot if she'd merely dropped Smarty Pants on the floor. There was no sound from outside at all. Twilight gritted her teeth. "C'mon, Spike!" She jumped out of the bed, landing lightly on the floor. "After I just got all the way up here?" Spike appeared at the edge of the bed. "Uh, a little help?" Twilight moved close to the bed so he could slide off onto her back, and then down to the floor. Then the two of them moved to the door. Twilight opened it, and they peered outside. "No guards," Spike said. "Where'd they all go?" "I don't recognize this hallway. We must be in some other part of the palace. Let's head downstairs, see if we can find the courtyard." With her horn glowing to provide light, Twilight led the way to a nearby staircase and they followed it down an unexpected number of flights. Finally they came to what seemed like a ground floor. After a short trot down a corridor, they came to an open door that seemed to lead outside. But it wasn't the courtyard. It was the main gallery of an ancient-looking cathedral with a high-vaulted ceiling. In the center of the broad space was a round stone base supporting a tree-like sculpture of stone spheres. And to the right, at the end of the hall, was a tall set of sculptured doors that looked very familiar. "Ohmygosh!" Twilight gasped. "What is it, Twi?" She led the way over to the doors, and nosed one of them open. Beyond was a grand gallery ending in a matched pair of thrones, one of which was hung with tapestries bearing the sunburst emblem of Princess Celestia. "We're in Celestia's memory palace!" "Celestia's what now?" "She told me about it!" Twilight said as they walked along the gallery. "It's a place she created by magic, which she used to help her remember things by walking around in it." "Wait... lemme get this straight. We're somehow inside Princess Celestia's head? How's that even possible?" "No, it's a spell! It gives physical form to her memories. Oh no!" She came to a sudden halt, so suddenly that Spike crashed into her. "Spike!" "What?" "Celestia also said she doesn't use it any more. What if she never comes here again? How will she ever find us!" The two of them huddled together in the shadowy gloom, staring around at the night-dark Audience Chamber around them.