Twilight was sprawled on the ground right outside Sugarcube Corner, having just been run into by a mare she didn’t recognize. By the time things stopped spinning she was already up and running away.
She stood, shaking it off as her friends ran up to her, Applejack helping her up.
“Wha…who was that?” she asked, suddenly very confused.
“Uh, that was Pinkie’s new friend but…I just, I don’t even-” Applejack was stumbling over her words.
“New friend?” she ruffled her feathers, getting the dirt out. “I don’t get it, why was she running?”
“She didn’t say goodbye…” Pinkie watched the mare run off her ears down and her mane droopy.
“She didn’t have a cutie mark, Twilight!” Rainbow seemed to be reeling. “She’s our age! How could-Is that…even possible?”
Twilight knew for a fact that, no, it wasn’t possible. But the whole scenario was still a mess.
“Wait, just-What happened?”
“We were telling her about what happened to poor Roseluck and she looked absolutely shaken!” Rarity told her, very obviously distressed. “Then she tripped, everypony saw she had no cutie mark, and she ran!”
She was still in disbelief over the whole “no cutie mark on a grown mare” thing, but then her mission she set out on hit her mind with full force.
“Wait, you told her about the creature, and then she ran in the direction of the forest?” She asked, panicked. Even before her friends confirmed it, her recent discovery was setting off alarm bells.
“Girls! We have to stop her! Those woods are dangerous!” she shouted, already taking off in the direction of the fleeing pony. “I’ll explain later, but let’s go!” Her friends were already on the move, Rarity having quickly removed her fancy dress and gently tossing it into Sugarcube corner.
Rainbow flew up ahead, catching up to the mare in no time. But before anything could happen, she rushed off into the nearby tree line.
“No.” Twilight whispered under her breath. The headlines flashed in her mind, and she started to panic. She promised herself nopony else would get hurt, and here this mare was, literally running head-first into danger.
Rainbow Dash was having a bit more difficulty with a moving target in such poor visibility. “Stop running!” she yelled after the mare, but she didn’t listen.
“Leave me alone!” she shouted, still at full speed even in the dense trees. Applejack caught up to her next, lasso expertly drawn and ready, but shockingly missed its target. She went down in a tangle of limbs, and Fluttershy stopped running to help her up while the rest of them stayed in hot pursuit.
They were all back up and running now, Fluttershy and Applejack just a bit behind. Twilight wasn’t fond of teleporting while running, and with all the trees it could get her face-first right into one. Hopefully her alicorn teleportation would be a bit more stable. Only one way to find out.
In a flash of concentrated magic, she teleported to the mare’s side.
Twilight got a good look at her for the first time. She was panicked and disheveled from running through the brush. She spotted Twilight, her eyes wide and fearful at the sight of her.
“Wait!” she yelled, trying to look her in the eyes while watching where she was running. “I don’t know what’s going on, but you can’t go this way! It’s dangerous!”
“Get away from me!!” she shouted. She decided that it was time to be a little more forceful. She wasn’t fond of using magic on ponies against their will, but this was swiftly turning into an emergency situation. She channeled her magic back into her horn to lift the mare off the ground, only to get her hoof caught on a tree root seemingly out of nowhere.
She crashed into the dirt, groaning at the sudden impact. The stranger kept on running and Twilight shakily stood back up, her friends catching up to her. They kept on running.
“Which way did she go?” Applejack shouted, looking around them. But before they could debate about which direction to take, they heard her voice again.
“Please! Show me the way!” her voice was distant, but they could roughly determine where it was coming from.
“Stay together everypony!” she told them. “If we get separated, there’s no telling what might happen!”
“I take it you found something in your research.” Rarity stated rather than asked.
“Is Bluey gonna be okay?” Pinkie Pie asked, looking worried.
“We have to get to her!” Twilight cautioned them.
They followed the sound of the mare’s voice, her words harder to make out, as a strange sensation started to overtake Twilight. There was a sudden chill to the air, and she knew they were running, but suddenly their hoofsteps got quieter and quieter as they kept going farther in. By the looks on her friends faces, they felt it too.
“Oh no…” she said, but her voice was suddenly much quieter than before. She felt the natural magic in the air, it was almost overpowering.
Against her better judgement, Twilight followed the sensation to where it got stronger. If the mare was at the center of the magic, they’d find her.
I just hope I’m not too late.
There was a hint of blue in the corner of her eye, and she quickly turned in that direction. And it led them just where she feared it would.
They burst out of the brush, and saw something that confirmed Twilight's worst fears. The forest was acting of its own accord, and the mare had been ensnared by ivy vines, and the ground under her had split open. Right before her eyes, Twilight saw a pony being taken by the forest.
“No, nonononono!! STOP!!!” she screamed, her voice clear as a bell to them. “Help!! PLEASE!!”
Pinkie was the first to move, but Twilight couldn’t risk two ponies getting taken by whatever magics were at work. And with a clear shot, she fired off a disruption spell to interfere with the magic in the vines. They only slowed down somewhat, the poor mare still getting pulled into the ground.
The vines were crawling farther up her body, getting wilder with every passing second. She fired off another spell, and another. Decay, Displacement, Contained Time-Freeze, Crystallization, but nothing seemed to do more than slow them for more than a second.
The vines were up to her neck now, and she was clearly panicking. Her friends stood helplessly, not wanting any of this but mindful of Twilight’s silent plea to keep away. If the vines grabbed one of them too, she couldn’t help two captives at once.
The vines were covering her head now and Twilight could barely hear it, but Pinkie was crying out to her friend. Twilight could see tears in the blue mare’s eyes and her mind was racing. What else could she do? She fired off every kind of spell she could think of, but if her magic could only partially affect it at all, maybe it was time to give it more than it could handle.
Take everything an alicorn can muster!
She shot it with a bolt of pure, unrestricted magic, with no spell to direct its power. She poured more and more of it into the vines until they started to grow and fling about wildly. But she didn’t stop. She’d barely tapped the potential of her new alicorn reserves since becoming one, but she was giving quite literally everything she had.
The vines were dangerous now, slamming into the ground and tearing at the surrounding trees, and she could hear her friends begging her to stop and run, but she couldn’t. She could feel her own magic overpowering the forest.
The vines started to glow, growing into a blinding white light before shredding themselves from the inside, dissipating into thin air. All at once, sound and fury exploded into the air, and the abnormal chill that had surrounded her was gone.
She sank to the ground, she would be feeling some magical exhaustion in the morning. But her friends were swiftly at her side, cheering and fretting over her. Panting, she pointed to the spot where the mare had sunk into the ground, wanting somepony to see what had become of her. Pinkie ran to the spot, digging in the dirt a little before yanking her out of the hole by the collar of her jacket, dragging her a few feet away.
“Bluey!! Say something! Are you okay?” she shouted, tears in her eyes. “Please be okay! Please please please!!”
Applejack moved to them both, unclasping her jacket a bit and laying an ear to her chest. A moment passed, then another.
“She’s alive.” She announced, and everypony let out a sigh of relief. Pinkie was crying tears of joy now, if the huge smile on her face was any clue.
“That was…probably the scariest thing I’ve ever seen.” Rainbow said, and several of them made their agreement known. “What in the heck was that!? Is that what you figured out?”
“Not…exactly.” She panted. “We should…go…in case it…regenerates.”
Nopony wanted to argue with that. They very carefully draped the mare over Applejack’s back, and Twilight could still walk while Fluttershy and Rarity propped her up.
“The Library…my research!” she strained to raise her voice. She had to show them, get the reports together before anything else could go wrong.
“Nuh-uh Twilight, you took quite the beatin’ back there.” Applejack shook her head. “Best get you someplace you can get fixed up. We’ll grab yur notes once a doctor has a look at you.”
Twilight had been looked over horn to hooves, and Doctor Horse had assured her that with rest and plenty of hearty meals, her magical reserve would replenish itself in no time, provided she didn’t cast any more powerful spells.
Their other patient, however…
They let Twilight in to see her, though she suspected that they wouldn’t have refused her anyway. They’d strictly been calling her “Princess” since she’d arrived.
She was on a bed in a private room, still out cold, but she should’ve been comfortable. Her head rested on a very cozy-looking pillow, and a sheet had her tucked in. If she didn’t know any better, she’d say the mare was just taking a very peaceful nap.
“How is she?” she asked, hoping for good news.
“Well, she’s unconscious, obviously. But we’ve been unable to awaken her, even with very potent counter spells. Whatever’s got her in this state is beyond our resources. We’ll keep trying of course, but once you’re healed you might have to take a crack at it.”
“Is that all?” she asked, feeling anxious. “Any other injuries?”
“A few nicks here and there, probably from running through the forest, as you said.”
She was relieved. She had fired in her direction with some dangerous magic. It had no effect on the vines themselves, but if even a stray sliver of magic had hit her, Twilight would’ve felt awful.
“And of course there’s the matter of…well, see for yourself.”
He grabbed the sheet with his magic, pulling it off her unconscious form. And Twilight froze.
Just as her friends had said, this fully-grown mare had no cutie mark.
Her mind started instantly racing with every single reason why this was entirely impossible, when there was a knock at the door.
“Yes, come in.” At his word, the door opened to reveal Nurse Redheart with five ponies and a baby dragon in tow.
“You have visitors, Princess.” She announced, leaving after they all shuffled in. Her friends all hugged her, asking about her condition.
“I’ll be alright with some rest.” She saw the file in Spike’s claws. “You brought it!”
“Yep!” he held it up for her to grab with her magic, slowly as not to aggravate her condition. He looked past her at the pony in the bed. “Whoa, what happened to her?”
“See Twilight, we told you! No cutie mark!” Rainbow flew over to the unconscious patient.
“I went back to Sugarcube Corner and Applebloom was in a tizzy.” Applejack sighed, eyeing the bed. “She was callin’ me a great big liar for tellin’ her that all ponies get cutie marks eventually. It took the whole walk home to settle her down.”
“Oh, please tell me you told her to keep this to herself.” Rarity groaned. “The last thing I need is Sweetie Belle finding out about this.”
“Is she okay?” Fluttershy, quiet as ever, went up to the bed to check on the mare. There was a gentle rise and fall to her chest, and Fluttershy covered her again with the sheet.
“She’s unconscious, but not hurt.” Twilight sighed.
“And we’ve tried every conventional method to wake her up, but nothing’s worked so far.” Doctor Horse told the room. “Her vitals are strong, but obviously we’ll have to keep her at least overnight.”
Pinkie Pie was quiet, to Twilight’s surprise. She was on the other side of the bed, sitting with her cheek on the mattress. She looked so worried, it broke Twilight’s heart.
She had more work to do, more strings to connect on this mystery.
“Doctor Horse. I have some important matters to discuss with my friends, if it’s alright, could we have the room for a bit?”
“Alright. But you press that call button if her condition changes.” He advised them. She agreed, and he stepped out, closing the door behind him.
“Well, what did you find out?” Rainbow asked, her forelegs folded over her chest. “Did it have something to do with vines?”
“No, but it was enough to worry me.” She sighed, Spike nodding solemnly in agreement. She recounted her findings, one missing foal at a time.
“Oh my goodness!” Rarity cried, a hoof over her mouth. “That’s…that’s positively unbearable!”
“Those poor little foals!” Fluttershy was getting teary, wiping at her eyes with a foreleg. They all shared the same reactions, but Pinkie and Applejack exchanged a look.
“Did you find anypony else?” Applejack asked, an odd expression look on her face.
“Yes, the earliest recorded case involved two foals at once-”
“Sugar and Silver Maple.” Applejack finished, surprising all of them but Pinkie.
“What?” Twilight was shocked. “How did you-”
“Bluey…”
They all turned to their sad friend, who was still sitting with her head on the mattress.
“Bluey came to Ponyville to look for them. With a school picture.” She pointed to the shabby-looking blue saddlebags sitting on the bedside chair. Applejack hurried to them, rooting around inside them for the photo. Twilight walked around to Applejack and the rest of them, and sure enough two of the fillies in the front row matched their photos from the newspaper.
“Okay, okay. I think I need the whole story on Bluey.” Twilight rubbed her temples, still a bit sore behind her horn.
Pinkie recalled the day they met, the prank mis-fire, her promise to help.
“But why didn’t she just do it on her own?” Twilight asked, confused. “Seems like somepony hiding a secret wouldn’t want to draw too much attention to herself. She could’ve gone to town hall and found this information on her own.”
But Pinkie didn’t answer.
“Pinkie?” Fluttershy asked, draping a wing over her friend’s back. “What’s the matter?”
“…It’s a secret. A different secret.”
They all knew how Pinkie felt about keeping secrets. But these were unusual circumstances.
“Pinkie please.” Twilight pleaded. “If we’re going to help her, we need to know everything you know. If she gets mad at you, just say you’re sorry.”
Pinkie still looked unsure, but her gaze was still on her new friend. With every rise and fall of her chest, Pinkie’s look of worry grew. She turned to the rest of them with sad eyes.
“…Okay…I guess if it’s to help her…” she sighed. “Bluey said that when she reads, the parts get all jumbled in her head and it’s hard for her. So I did the reading.”
Twilight filed that away in her limited facts about this new face. She couldn’t believe all this had happened while she was doing her research.
“What happened next?”
Pinkie described their day out, and every new part of it made her just a little bit happier. Applejack and Rarity had odd looks on their faces as they listened, but Twilight decided to ask later.
“And I could just tell…that deep down she was so sad. I just wanted to help her smile.”
Twilight felt for her friend. But she needed her to continue.
“So when Granny Smith told us that they went missing a long time ago, Bluey was even sadder…so I threw her that party, but…you all saw how that went.” She sighed.
“And that’s when Roseluck showed up?” she asked, glad the story that was making her friend so upset was almost over. Pinkie nodded, her cheek still against the bed.
“It was the darndest thing, too.” Applejack was on story duty now. “We went on and on about how scary that monster was, and then the first place she runs is right where we tell her not to go. You thinkin’ she knew something?”
She had a hunch, but she’d have to do a spell to confirm. Luckily it wasn’t a powerful one, so it didn’t go against the doctor’s orders.
“Pinkie, I have to do something, so I need you to move, just for a bit.”
Pinkie hesitated.
“It won’t hurt her, and she’ll sleep right through it.” she assured her, a hoof on her shoulder. Pinkie nodded, getting out of the way to stand by their friends.
Twilight was hoping that she was wrong, but everything seemed to be falling into place. The odd magic in the forest, the trail, Bluey’s behavior and her inability to read. It was next to impossible, but so were most of the thing’s she’d seen today.
She channeled a detection spell into her horn, sweeping it over Cornflower Blue’s sleeping form. There wasn’t any pushback like with the vines, so she didn’t hold back. There was something, familiar yet not, so she went a little more complex.
Then, she felt it. Something that shouldn’t be possible by pony standards, but she was having doubts that a pony was behind this magic. She stopped her sweep, holding her still sore head.
“Did you figure out what’s wrong with her?” Fluttershy asked, holding onto Pinkie. Pinkie looked hopeful, Twilight almost felt sorry about what she was about to tell them.
“No, but I think I know why she doesn’t have a cutie mark, and why she ran to the forest.” She sighed, sitting down. “Because I don’t think Cornflower Blue is a pony.”
Her friends were understandably confused, but nopony said anything.
“And if everything else you told me is correct…”
She looked at the “pony” again, knowing what she had felt.
“I think she might be Roseluck’s monster.”
Her friends had their questions, understandably. But all at once wasn’t the way she’d hoped to hear them.
“Well, I’ll be...and she seemed like such a nice mare.”
“Wait, I thought you said there weren’t any changelings around?”
“How can she not be a pony?”
“Well, transformation magic is very complex.” Twilight offered, cutting off any further questions. “A unicorn can transform objects, but very few in recorded history ever had large enough magic reserves to transform living things. And those were usually limited to changing one small animal into another, temporarily.”
“But alicorns, to my knowledge, are the only living species with reserves large enough to transfigure living things of any size, permanently. And even then, there are rules you have to follow.”
“Rules?”
“Princess Celestia let me know about them, in case I ever needed to use the spells.” She stopped pacing and recited them from memory. “First, you must have permission of sentient creatures in order to change them, otherwise the transfiguration can be incredibly painful, depending on the form they take. Secondly, you can change an unliving object into a living one, but not the other way around. Once something has no life, it can’t be brought back to its previous form alive. And lastly, if you change a creature into something with a much bigger, dangerous form or with much more complex magic, their energy input and output will be out of sync and it can lead to extreme magical exhaustion. If left untreated, the effects of that could lead to permanent injuries and disfigurement.”
“That all sounds so…just too darn risky!” Applejack shook her head, frustrated.
“That’s why it’s rarely ever done.” She assured her friends. “The Princesses themselves have only done it a hooful of times in the past, usually for ponies and other creatures that were unhappy in their own forms and wanted to live as another permanently.”
“Oh…Pinkie Pie.” Rarity sighed, putting a hoof on her friend’s shoulder. “I’m so, so sorry. I know how much you cared for her, and now she’s…I don’t even know!”
Pinkie turned away, going back over to the bed. She laid her head down again, staring at the unknown being.
“Pinkie?” Fluttershy asked, sounding worried.
“Bluey’s not a bad pony.”
“You just met her!” Rainbow shouted. “You don’t know anything about her, and she’s not even a pony! Why be something else and go snooping around!”
“But she’s not bad!” Pinkie shouted, suddenly forceful. “She’s my friend! Bad ponies- or whatever-she-is’s-...don’t eat my cake and compliment me! They don’t give great hugs! They don’t make baby ponies laugh or make toys! They don’t pet animals and smile when they think nopony is looking!”
She touched a hoof to the side of the unconscious mare’s face. The rest of them just watched, not knowing how to react. Bluey just kept on sleeping, not aware of how her friend was defending her.
“She…” Fluttershy started, hesitant. “She was gentle with the animals. They liked her. And Harry even came to her when she was crying.”
“And…I’ll admit.” Applejack lowered her hat a bit. “I had a heart-to-heart with her, and she was sweet to Applebloom. If I thought she was rotten, I wouldn’ta let her in spittin’ distance of my farm. Or my friends.” She glanced at Pinkie.
“I did just meet her. But I was just getting to know her…” she sighed, her eyes a little teary. “Maybe she thought I’d be scared and angry, maybe she thought nopony would help her if she didn’t change.”
Twilight thought about Pinkie’s words. More pieces clicking together.
“She came here…in her natural form. And Roseluck saw her, and she got scared.” She said to her friends, gauging their reactions as she spoke. “But she still needed to find out about the Maples, for whatever reason, so she took on a pony form. But it wasn’t exactly right…Once her secret got out she tried to…escape? Go somewhere safe?”
“I need to know what she knows, but I can’t do that while she’s unconscious. And…Maybe…this layer of transformation magic is so strong, no other magic can…interfere with it?”
“What are you saying Twilight?” Rarity asked.
“I’m saying that…the only way to wake her up is to undo this transformation. But unless I know how it happened, I wouldn’t even know where to start.”
“So…there’s nothing you can do?” Pinkie sniffled. Twilight moved to her side, hugging her friend close.
“I can’t do anything for her now.” She shook her head. “But there is somepony who could help. I’ve seen her do it before. Spike.”
The little dragon’s head shot up, glad to be called out of this uncomfortable atmosphere.
“Take a letter please.”
I was in a fog. My entire body felt like it was made of lead, but I made my best effort to stand up. I was still on four legs, but…why was that weird?
"C’mon Cornflower, nothing’s wrong!” I laughed, walking along the empty void. “You’re just being a miserable jerk like usual!"
I guess I was being a jerk…But I still needed to find a way home. But…where was home?
"Well, you’re a pony!” I laughed again. "You belong in Ponyville! Where else would you go?"
I didn’t know, and I seemed satisfied at that.
“That’s what I thought! Now, let’s keep walking! If you stop, you’ll start thinking! And thinking just makes you miserable, and nopony wants to deal with that!”
I guessed that was true. My cheeks were starting to hurt from smiling. The farther I went, the quieter my hoofsteps got. There was a chill in the air, and I could see my breath. But my voice was still as clear as day.
“Aren’t you tired of punishing yourself? Aren’t you sick of being you?”
Well, I guessed that was true too. At the end of the invisible trail, there was a mirror. It seemed too tall for me, who would use this-
“Nuh-uh! You’re thinking again, silly little pony!” I giggled, stepping on my own hoof. I yelped in pain, but no sound came out. I laughed, and I could hear it.
“Now, let’s get a look at us!”
I was still the same pony. The dark void behind me was still in the mirror, but in the reflection, it seemed to go on for miles. I was getting scared, but my face didn’t show it.
“Oh, look at what a pretty little pony you are!” My voice was full of joy and I bat my eyelashes at my reflection. My big sunflower eyes staring deeply into themselves. “I don’t know why you’d want to be anything else!”
Anything else? What did I mean?
I blinked and my reflection changed. There was a horrible-looking creature staring back at me. I couldn’t even tell what it was. It was tall and gangly, on two legs, with a deformed, hairless body and two deep, soulless black pits for eyes. The longer I looked at it, the more scared I got. But I couldn’t look away.
“Look at that ugly thing. Isn’t this much better?” I asked myself, my voice sounding perfectly calm. My heart was pounding but I kept looking.
“We both know what it meant to be her.” I was suddenly very stern. “We both remember what we went through. What changed everything.”
No, please. It hurts too much to remember.
“Oh, we’re quite literally examining ourselves at the moment. No turning back now, you monster.”
I’m not a monster-
“You remember what you did.” I accused myself. “You took something that didn’t belong to you, you used it up and ruined it, then when it had nothing left, you threw it away.”
That’s not true!
“If it's not true, then why are you crying?”
I looked into the mirror again. The creature was weeping now, rivers of tears pouring out of its soulless eyes. It curled into itself, opening a sharp-tooth filled maw and letting out deep mournful cries I couldn’t hear.
“Look at it. It knows what it did wrong, why can’t you admit it?”
I was starting to shut down. Too much pain, too much regret. I never meant to hurt anyone. I never meant to hurt-
“It’s too late to change.”
No. I’m different now! I’m a good person!
“A good what? Dear, you’re a pony! And wouldn’t it be nice? If we just stayed here?”
What?
“Well, we can’t go back to being that, we’ll die!” I gasped, mocking myself.
I wasn’t going to die.
“Well, we both know you would’ve lost it eventually. Living alone in that big empty house, nopony to talk to, nopony to care about us…Living with this regret and isolation...you know what they say. If at first you don't succeed-”
NO! I can’t! I can’t…Stop! It hurts too much.
“And we can’t go back to those other ponies…” I sounded a bit more on edge now. “They know what you are now.”
Some monster out in the woods scared her half to death!
Good thing too! ‘Cause I woulda knocked it into next week!
I just hope nopony gets hurt…
If any foul creature like the one you described comes here, we’d be right here!
In the reflection, I could see another pony standing behind me. I almost…recognized her but…I turned around, finding the strange pony standing there.
“Oh, look who it is! An innocent little pony!” I said to myself, stepping closer. The pony stood still, a neutral expression on her face. As I got closer, her face got brighter, more cheerful. Her big blue eyes looked at me with joy and compassion. Her pink hoof reached out for mine. I reached out a blue hoof, eager to feel better. Eager to feel like anypony but myself. Eager to know that somepony was happy to be with me. If she thought I was good, maybe I was.
“Are you going to ruin this one too?”
My hoof flinched back, the pony’s face contorting with pain and grief. I stepped back further as she fell to the ground, and she was crying too. I blinked and the scene changed. The pony was in a hospital bed, looking broken. Her eye was blackened and swollen, her front leg in a cast. Her head was wrapped in a bandage and she looked so sad, but also so empty.
“Lottie…”
I froze. That wasn’t her voice. It was someone else. Someone I knew. She sighed, wiping the tears from her eyes, not looking me in mine.
“My parents are moving me to Washington, to live with my aunt and uncle.” She said, her eyes filled with hurt. “They don’t think it’s safe for me here anymore. They don’t…approve of me right now.”
“No…You can’t!” I cried, grabbing her good hoof. It was a far-off voice, but it was my voice. “They can’t do this! Let me talk to them, I’ll-!”
“When we’re together…I get hurt.”
Her words hit me right in my chest. My grip on her hoof loosened, I was at a loss for words. She continued, like in the real memory.
“When we’re not…I still hurt.”
No…I can’t hear this. It’s too much, it’ll destroy me again.
You deserve it.
“I just don’t want to hurt anymore. Is that so wrong?”
“Please, I’m so sorry.” My memory echoed into the scene. “I never meant for this to happen! I won’t let him get near you ever again! I…I can’t…I can’t do this without you…”
The pink pony with the wrong voice tugged her hoof away.
“You should go.” She said, her head turned so I couldn’t see her face. “If my parents catch you here, you’ll get in trouble. They think you’re a bad influence.”
“That’s bullshit, and you know it!” I shouted, not proud of myself. I shouldn’t have gotten mad at her, she was the one really hurting. But I was so upset. “They can’t send you away because they think I made you-”
“Just go.”
I should’ve stayed. I should’ve apologized. But I was so angry. I was so sad.
And then I left.
And then…
And then.
The void was back, and the mirror was empty.
“That’s when you ruined your life.”
Please. I’m done. You win.
“What?” I feigned ignorance, almost taunting myself.
I’ll stay here. Forever. If it means I never have to think about any of that ever again.
“Oh, wonderful!” I laughed, trotting farther into the void. “Soon you’ll forget all about that sadness. And soon enough, this place will come to feel like home!”
home
My body froze, before turning back to the void and seeing the shape of two little ponies. They looked familiar too.
No, they can’t be here!
“I’m sorry about what happened to you.” I told them, my voice suddenly back. “I tried to find you. But I got myself into trouble.”
Don’t talk to them!
“You were just scared kids.” I said, starting to cry again, big uncontrollable tears that felt familiar. “And I don’t know how we’re connected but…I tried, I promise I did.”
They stepped closer to me, and I was still crying. The closer they got, the less I could see from the tears.
“Did you know my Grandpa?” They stopped and tilted their heads. “He was the best. He loved me, even after I ruined everything. He left me your stuff.”
As if on cue, all the things from the box were in between us. My tears were letting up, but still flowing. I sniffled, and I could see they were crying too.
Get away from them, you idiot!
“I used some of your bits, I’m sorry about that.” I apologized, laughing a little. “And I broke the glass on your photo frame, but the picture’s okay.”
They just stared at it all, two little sepia-toned ponies. The unicorn grabbed the brush, holding it close to her chest. She stared at the class picture, her tears falling onto it. The earth pony looked down at the diary, and she touched it with her hoof. She opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out.
“Oh, I never got that open. But I guess that’s good right?” I wiped at my eyes, smiling. The ring of trees was back, and the grass under me was so soft. “You wouldn’t want some weird stranger reading your diary, right?”
Her hoof hit the cover harder, she looked at me, determined through her tears.
“I’m sorry kid, I don’t know how to get it open.”
She paused, looking frustrated. Then, the unicorn opened her mouth, still no words coming out, and the other reacted. She nodded, opening her mouth once again. But this time, something did come out.
The sweet, plucking of the metal tabs in a music box rang through air. For a moment I just sat, confused, before I recognized the song.
“It’s that lullaby the filly from the café sang…” my mind was racing now. “The music box? You want me to…get that key? But there’s no lock.”
But she didn’t stop her song to argue. The unicorn was staring at her sister now, looking even sadder than before. Her long hair swept around her, as she cried.
But something else must’ve heard the song too.
The vines were back, and they were wrapping themselves around the fillies, pulling them into the ground. Without thinking I rushed to them, grabbing their hooves in mine. But it started pulling me in too.
I told you! You can’t stay here if you go with them! They’re lost!
“Fuck you!” I shouted, my front legs straining and my back hooves dug into the dirt. I wasn’t gonna let two innocent kids get taken by this thing. “I can’t sit there while they get killed!”
The vines were on me now. I could feel them snaking up my body, wrapping around my neck. I was struggling for air, but I couldn’t let go. The tears were non-stop, I gathered up the last of my breath and screamed angrily into the night sky. It echoed all around us and the quiet was shattered.
“Begone!!”
The vines shrieked into the void, withering into nothing and releasing my neck. I gasped for air, coughing and sputtering as I rolled onto my back.
“I have found you! You were almost too forgone into the realm! Any longer and you would’ve been trapped!”
Who’s talking to me? I wondered, still coughing. Another figment? I guess that was what they were, now that I can think.
I opened my eyes to see another hybrid standing over me. This one was taller, and her hair was like the starry void all around us. It was no longer the inky black endlessness I saw before. She leaned in closer, nosing my head a bit.
“Dear traveler, I hope you weren’t too badly injured.” She asked. Her blue-green eyes stared into mine. “This pain will not last, do not be frightened.”
“T…traveler?” my voice was raspy. Did she know I wasn’t a local?
“Most dreamers are merely visitors to this realm.” She said, gazing out into the purple starscape. “But there have been a few that have become more permanent wanderers. Those who become trapped in dreams, or those who…cease to be in their sleep.”
“Oh…” I was worried now. “Which one am I?”
“The former. Do not fret, Cornflower Blue. I have freed travelers such as yourself before.”
I sat up, enjoying my surrounding much more than before. Much less terrifying.
“So…that was all a dream?” I asked. She closed her eyes, and her horn lit up and her face looked pained.
“Yes…and I sense it was a very unpleasant one for you.” She frowned, stopping the glowing. “Terrible, painful things were here. I suspect your body was trying to succumb to whatever spell you’re under. It tried to break you, take your mind. And it nearly did. I am sorry that I did not come sooner.”
“Yeah that kinda sucked…” I sighed, a chill running down my spine.” But, I’m glad you’re here now, um…miss…?”
“I am Luna, Princess of the Night and Protector of the Dreamscape.”
I had no reason to doubt her, even if this whole thing seemed hokey. I wanted to ask a few things.
“What kind of pony are you?” I asked, circling her without much mind for my manners. I was still pretty out of it. “I only saw one other hybrid and I don’t know what to call you.”
“Why, I am an Alicorn.” She said, looking nervous at my movements. “Did you not understand me when I said that I was a princess?”
“Oh, so are all other alicorns Princesses?” I asked, stopping and gasping. Her ears fell at the sound. “Was that pony I knocked over a princess? Oh crap, I hope I didn’t hurt her, she wasn’t even wearing a crown or anything!”
“You must mean Princess Twilight Sparkle.” She said, her wings fluffing a little at her sides like a nervous bird. “She is the one that contacted me to assist you. And not a moment too soon. They will be most relieved to hear you are safe.”
“They?” I was getting nervous again.
“Her friends. They were all a bit upset over all of this, especially Pinkie Pie.”
A dark storm cloud formed over my head. I got hit with a sudden downpour, and it didn’t even phase me.
“I lied to her...she’s not worried about me.”
“That is simply not true!” the princess insisted. Her horn glowed, and a small umbrella appeared over my head. The rain flew out to the sides. “She was beside herself with worry, especially when the convulsions began!”
“…Convulsions?” The cloud disappeared, and the umbrella fell to our hooves.
“I had only just arrived when you began to react in your sleep. You were crying, and it was very distressing. She tried to calm you down with her words when you began thrashing about. I barely got any information of your situation from Princess Twilight before I entered your dream.”
I wondered what she managed to say about me. What this Princess knew about me and would judge me for. My heart was pounding again.
“Now, do not upset yourself too greatly, you will send your body into a fit in the waking world. You struck your physician on the muzzle the last time.”
“I hit someone!?” I tried to keep calm, putting my hooves over my mouth to keep my voice down. “I never meant to hurt anybody, I swear!”
“Now that is curious…” she said, leaning in towards my face. “Princess Twilight did manage to tell me she suspected you were in fact not of ponykind. You do not know of Alicorns or myself, and your speech is that of common tongue. But fret not! This is no cause for alarm. My sister assures that the races live in harmony in these times, or at least…as much harmony as they can, living in different kingdoms.”
“No…they…the ponies are afraid of me.” I was getting weepy again. “I can’t…I have nowhere to go. I’m stuck.”
She looked at me for a moment, before her horn lit up again. A large, floating rectangle appeared before us, it was like a window in thin air. She placed a hoof on my forehead, closing her eyes.
“You’ll have to excuse me.” She said gently. “Your mind is rather complicated, and I rarely delve into non-pony dreams. They aren’t the most receptive to me unless their nightmare is particularly upsetting.”
The screen shifted, and a familiar scene was playing, but from a third person perspective. That pony Roseluck was walking in those woods alone, when the first time we met started playing out. The princess sat and watched it unfold, as I sat terrified of how she would react.
And then, I fell into view. The Princess’ brow shot up at my sudden appearance, and I sank to my stomach as the screaming began. The scene froze on me, backed against a tree as Roseluck took off.
“Well now…I must say you are a bit intimidating in your natural form, but-”
“Just stop!” My whole body was shaking. “I didn’t mean to scare her! I swear! I never wanted to be this! Please, don’t hurt me…”
“Hurt you?” she said, her voice gentle. “Why in Equestria would anypony want to bring you harm? You have done nothing wrong!”
She put a hoof under my chin, making me look at the screen.
“Do you know what I see?” she asked. “I see a scared creature making a simple error. One frightened pony does not an enemy of Equestria make.”
“But…the rest of them…Won’t they be scared too?” I asked, barely above a whisper. “Won’t they hate me?”
“As I was saying before, your appearance is a bit intimidating, but…some ponies are terribly skittish. They would run screaming from just about anything bigger than them. Once they get to know you, see you mean them no harm, I’m sure even Miss Roseluck could come to be your friend.”
“I don’t…I don’t know…” I was still a bit shaken up. “I’m…I’m not from here. You can’t tell me there aren’t ponies out there that’ll hear I’m not local and take off running…”
“Well, no. I do have a few concerns about that, but Pinkie Pie has vouched for you. She has insisted that you are “a good not-a-pony” and wishes for me to save you. No matter what.”
Pinkie…Ah jeez, I really freaked out back there, and then all the vines-
“Wait, I’m alive, right?” She nodded. “How did I escape the vines? And where am I now?”
“You are in the medical center in Ponyville. You are under some sort of sleeping spell that nopony has been able to undo as of yet. Now…let’s see…”
She swiped the rectangle aside, another one taking its place. Another familiar scene was playing. She saw me pleading with thin air to send me home, as the vines started to take over. She saw my panic, my tears, my cries for help. Then, the hybrid (or Princess Twilight Sparkle) shooting the vines to bursting, saving me. Pinkie pulling me out, crying over me. I felt even guiltier over jerking her around since I met her. She was such a nice person…or pony, whatever.
“Those vines are a most curious magic…” she rewound it, pausing on them coming out of the ground. “Tell me, you spoke to them, did you not? Were they under your control until then?”
“Not a clue. First they drag me into this world and change me into a pony, then the portal starts letting me through when I ask nicely, then the forest helps me get away from them in a chase. Next thing I knew, bam! Nightmare world.”
“They transformed you?” she asked, seeming horrified. “Against your will?”
“Yeah, it was…probably the most awful pain I’ve ever felt…”
“I should say!” she shouted into the starry void. “Involuntary transformation is one of the major crimes against living creatures! The pain is said to be so excruciating, some creatures would prefer death! You very likely kept your sanity because it changed you into something smaller than your natural form!”
“Jeez Louise…”
“Indeed.”
She looked at the vines some more, puzzling over them for what seemed like forever.
“I can say that this will, in fact, be researched exhaustively…” She lit up her horn and the rectangle compressed, flying as magic light into her horn. “But you said, “this world” and “portal”, so you are in fact not of Equestria, or this planet as a whole?”
“It might be…farther than that, maybe.” I winced, hoping this wasn’t the thing they’d need to flip out on me.
“Fascinating.” She said, eyes wide. “But I digress. I must return to the waking world soon, but before I do, I need your permission.”
“Permission?”
- Earlier -
Princess Luna had appeared in a flash of teleportation, right into the hospital room. Twilight was glad she had made such a quick trip.
“Princess Luna!” Twilight smiled at her friend. “I’m sorry to bother you in your…off hours. But we have a bit of a situation here.”
“Your letter was quite brief, Princess Twilight. You say a creature, disguised as a pony is in need of my assistance?” she glanced at the sleeping form. “With expressed reassurances that this is not a changeling?”
“Yes, I wanted to make that fact very clear.” She sighed. “Some very powerful transformation magic is upon her, and until I can lift it, I can’t undo the sleeping spell. I need her permission to do such magic, but I can’t speak to her.”
“You need me to travel into her dreams and retrieve her spoken consent to this arrangement. I believe it can be done. It is not unlike the Manehattan incident. Very well. What is the…creature’s name?”
“Well, the name she gave Pinkie was Cornflower Blue. But, seeing as it’s a pony name…”
“Understood. And you are certain this creature means you, your friends, and Equestria no harm?” she narrowed her gaze at the…disguised pony. It really was a thorough transformation. Had her fellow Princess not told her of her missing mark, and the powerful magical signature radiating off her body, she might not have believed it.
Before Twilight could answer her, their mutual friend Pinkie Pie spoke up from the creature’s bedside.
“She’s a good not-a-pony…” she sniffled. “Please…bring back my friend.”
She saw the honest affection in her eyes. No magic beguiling her into such a declaration, no hex upon her mind. Just a sad pink pony, desperate for help.
“Very well. I will need some time to prepare. I have no name, so I will have to study her physiology for a short while, learn what I can so that I can locate her in the Dream-”
The non-pony cried out in her sleep suddenly. She thrashed about, tears streaming down her blue-furred cheeks. Fluttershy rushed for the call button, signaling the hospital staff.
“What in the hay is goin’ on!?” Applejack shouted, looking wary of the now active form in the bed. Rainbow was doing her best to try and pull Pinkie away before she might’ve gotten hit in the face. Pinkie just whispered reassurances to her new friend, trying to calm her.
“Bluey, it’s okay! Nopony’s gonna hurt you, I’m here. Your pal Pinkie Pie.”
And sure enough, the thrashing calmed a bit, but the crying continued. Doctor Horse and Nurse Redheart rushed through the door and tried to give her an injection. It took two tries, the first ending with Doctor Horse’s bloodied muzzle. Rainbow almost jumped in before the doctor reminded her it was an involuntary action.
“This is a bad omen, Princess Twilight.” Luna said, commanding the room. “I’m afraid there is no longer time for precaution. I must enter her dream now, if I am to save her!”
“Save her? She’s in danger?” Fluttershy asked, eyeing the crying mare.
“If I do not interfere now, she may be trapped in her nightmare for the rest of her living existence.”
Twilight wasn’t about to let another pony get harmed, and she needed to speak to this pony, their options were limited.
“Be careful Princess Luna.” She nodded. Luna turned to Pinkie.
“I will make sure no harm comes to your friend.” She assured her. “No matter the cost. No creature shall suffer under my watch.”
Pinkie smiled, holding Cornflower’s hoof as Luna delved into her nightmare.
The group of ponies watched the still forms of the silent princess and the sleeping mare for what seemed like forever. Nerves were too on edge to entertain themselves and any conversation quickly died out. Rainbow Dash hadn't even complained of boredom, though by looking at her, one could see she was tempted. Twilight had almost dozed off several times, having been up for the last few days. Spike had less luck, falling asleep in the chair in the corner. Pinkie was at the bedside the entire time, though looking a lot more hopeful than before. Bluey would still cry in her sleep and seemed restless. Luna looked peaceful by comparison, though her face shifted to a look of concentration every now and then.
Eventually, Luna opened her eyes once again, looking rather drained.
“Princess Luna!” Twilight was at her side. “Are you alright? Did you talk to her?”
“I am fine, Princess Twilight. After much searching, I managed to find her nightmare. After we spoke for a time, I told her of my purpose and she gave her consent.”
The ponies sighed in relief, and Pinkie looked a lot calmer.
“She’s okay?” she asked, holding her friend’s hoof once more.
“She underwent an ordeal in her nightmare. She was dreaming of two young fillies being taken by the forest, just as she was. She tried to save them, even at the cost of her own safety. The Dreamscape very nearly took her. But she survived.”
The room burst into conversation about the foals and Bluey’s actions in her dream. Twilight recalled her missing foals. Was this the conformation of her worst fears? Was that how they were taken?
“She agreed to be transformed into her natural body, under one condition.”
She stepped closer to Pinkie, looking from Cornflower to her.
“Miss Cornflower wishes that you will not be present when it happens.”