//------------------------------// // Sweet Dreams // Story: Why Bother? // by Discorded SheepcityUSA //------------------------------// Taking refuge on a nearby cloud was all Rainbow could think to do. She was not alright. She’d sworn to be loyal to the bitter end to her friends. They’d been through so much together over the years, overcome so many odds. Their love for each other was incomparable to anything she’d ever felt in her life. But something about this sat incredibly wrong. One of her best friends in the whole world nearly got killed because of Luxure dragging her into her mess, and her friends were all too willing to forgive her. Not Rainbow, not really. That mare was the point of contention for sure. She’d wanted so badly to believe Luxure was just manipulating her friends into pitying her, but after the incident with her in the empire, she didn’t know anymore. That scream. Dear Faust that scream of pure anguish that Luxure let out wouldn’t leave Rainbow’s thoughts. But she couldn’t just forget what happened to Fluttershy, not by a long shot. “Rainbow Dash!” shouted a familiar voice from down below she’d been tuning out. Rainbow peered over the edge of the cloud to find Fluttershy on the crystalline streets below looking up at her. “Rainbow, please talk to me!” Not responding to her friend, Rainbow instead just frowned and rolled back over on the cloud. Now with Fluttershy’s frustration mounting, she opted to instead fly to the cloud herself, seeing when she got there that Rainbow had finally sat up, but had her back turned to her. “We can’t avoid this conversation forever. I know you’re upset but-” Fluttershy spoke but was interrupted by Rainbow herself. “Doesn’t even begin to cover it,” Rainbow muttered, hearing the cloud make a few ‘poof’ sounds. Fluttershy was walking closer. “Your feelings on Luxure aren’t positive, I know,” Fluttershy went on, eventually sitting next to her. “But I need you to understand. She reaaaally needs our help and to be honest I don’t know if we can if we’re not all together on this,” “I just can’t get my head around it. You might’ve turned out okay this time but what about the next time she wraps us up in her bullshit? I know Luxure’s messed up. Anypony who’s got two eyes and a brain can see it…but damn it!” Rainbow stomps her hoof on the cloud. “She shouldn’t be dragging you down with her! Hell, any of us! Might not be on purpose but if things stay the way they are she’s going to get one of us killed!” “The idea Rainbow-“ Fluttershy began, putting her foreleg around her. “Is to help Luxure be better and control herself so it doesn’t happen again. Hindsight is 20/20, I might not have been the best fit to handle Luxure’s…extremely aggressive personality. That is why she’s with Twilight now,” “And how do you know she won’t mess things up with her too?” Rainbow grumbled. Fluttershy’s solemnly sighed. “I don’t. She is a very damaged mare, maybe more than anypony I’ve ever met but…we have to have some faith that she’ll try. How can she ever have hope to improve if nopony believes in her?” Rainbow winced a little bit and tried her best not to look Fluttershy in the eye. “Mmph…I hope you know you’re really going to bat for the mare who got you basically caused your alcohol poisoning” “I realize. But think about it Rainbow. That kind of ailment’s not something you immediately get better from like I did. One moment I felt deathly ill, the next I’m fine. Wasn’t it…odd?” She asked. Rainbow didn’t respond for a while. She hadn’t thought about that. Admittedly, her and her friends were all so caught up in the heat of the moment when Fluttershy awoke they didn’t care to worry about the ‘how’. “You…think Luxure cured you?” Fluttershy nodded. “I can’t guarantee it, but I have a feeling Luxure found out what happened, was overcome with guilt and tried to fix things without us knowing. You haven’t gotten much time with her Rainbow so you might not see it, but I have. Underneath the hardened crystal, Luxure has a heart, not just an endless abyss like she believes. We need to help her see it,” “Aaaagh” Rainbow groaned rubbing her temples. “Okay, okay. Much as this makes me wanna pull out all my feathers, if it really means that much to you, I’ll try to give it a shot. But…look, I know you believe in the mare, but I just don’t trust her yet. I’m gonna watch her like a hawk,” “That’s fair,” Fluttershy said with a smile, patting Rainbow’s back. “Do you want to get some cider? Might help you feel better,” Rainbow winced, thinking about the group’s most recent experience with alcohol. “Y’know…normally I’d be all about that but…I’ll pass all things considered. Just gonna fall back on apple juice for a while,” Realizing her mistake, Fluttershy sheepishly smiled. “Right. Sorry. Me too, I wasn't thinking,” As the two Pegasi began to head back to the train station, they were still unaware of the presence of the Changeling Queen, now disguised as an average crystal weather patrol worker moving some clouds around nearby. Their conversation about Luxure absolutely got her thinking. “Well well, tensions are running quite high, hm? The blue one’s faith in that monster is hanging by a thread. It sure would be quite the shame if that thread were to get cut wouldn’t it?” Chrysalis started to quietly cackle to herself. “Hey newbie, c’mon we’ve still got twenty-seven more clouds to get into position. Pick up the pace!” the chief of the weather patrol, a well-built crystal Pegasus with five-o-clock shadow barked at her. Annoyed at having demands screeched at her, Chrysalis was a millisecond away from yelling expletives at him before catching herself and clearing her throat. It would be a disaster if she blew her cover and Equestria was made aware that she’d returned. “Y-Yes of course, right away sir,” Chrysalis replied through gritted teeth. ‘Once I have control of Equestria, you will have the luxury of having your love sucked out first for speaking to me like this. Assuming you have any to give you stupid winged donkey,’ “So…” Luxure said as she looked down at the small purple dragon that greeted her and the Elements at the door to Twilight’s castle. “You are the famous Spike the Crystal Empire always goes on about these days,” “Weeeeell not to toot my own horn but…yep,” Spike replied with an ever so slightly cocky smile. “Lovely. If you are ever in the situation where you are handling a magical artifact like the Crystal Heart again, do whatever deity that may be inside it a favor and be gentler. My vessel had been motionless for so long and to have it jerked around and dropped so suddenly gave me some horrible motion sickness,” Luxure said, almost immediately deflating the young dragon’s ego. “E-Eheh,” Spike rubbed the back of his head nervously. “Sorry, it was a tense situation and I didn’t know anypony was in there,” “It is fine. I survived. Just something to think about for the future,” Luxure said as she trotted past Spike into the castle with the elements, who right away led her to the map room. “So, what are your plans for me, hm?” “Well as we discussed, you’ll primarily be under my supervision and live in my castle here. As for our approach going forward, if nothing else we want you to see that the future isn’t written in stone, even for ponies who have a dark history,” Twilight said as they all sat down in their respective seats around the map, Luxure herself taking a seat in Fluttershy’s seat as it was vacant. “That seems like wishful thinking to me, but it’s the thought that counts I suppose,” Luxure replied, leaning her front leg on the map and resting her face on it. “How do you plan on doing that if I may ask?” “Well, we had been thinking we could start you off with trying to find you an actual hobby to keep you occupied,” Rarity said with optimism. “Yer magic didn’t work in the Crystal Heart right? Probably wasn’t much ta do in there. Left ya only with those bitter thoughts of yers,” Applejack continued, lightly tapping her own forehead to make her point. “Had nothin’ ta do but sulk, y’know? “That is an understatement,” Luxure just looked down at her hooves on the Cutie Map as she spoke. “For over a millennium I spent inside the heart alone. Not another living soul to speak to, no magic to entertain myself, and nothing but the white, empty void inside of it for me to float in for what I thought would be an eternity. All I could do was listen to the outside as the world moved on, trying to forget me. Frankly even hearing another pony’s voice was the biggest positive,” Luxure grimaced, clearly displeased with what she remembered next. “Oooh but because Sombra was a sore loser and made the Empire vanish, I didn’t even have that for the longest time. Loathsome, blueblooded little piece of sh-“ “OKAY SO, POTENTIAL HOBBIES!” Twilight interrupted, bringing Luxure back to reality. “Oh. Right, sorry. Went off the rails,” she said shaking her head of her impure rage toward the shadow king. “I’ll say. Least you got that outta your system!” Pinkie said, leaning upward on the map. “So, you were having trouble with thinking of things you like before, so let’s make it easier! Back when you lived in the Crystal Empire, before everything went…bad, what did you like to do in your free time? Maybe you could pick back up on that if you can remember!” “Hmm, well…” Asking Luxure to recall positivity in her past was a hell of a task to ask of her. So much of the resentment that shrouded the later parts of her young adult years made it difficult to look back on much of it with so much as a smile. Even her happier memories had the cloud of her darker periods of life constantly hanging over them like a storm cloud. But maybe... “If I had to say something, I have spent a long, long time neglecting my reading, even before I was put away. That is absolutely something I regret not keeping up with,” That garnered an almost immediate invasion of personal space on the part of a very giddy Twilight. “You like to read too?! Oh my gosh that’s great! It’s not all that often I have a reading buddy around here! Oh, are you mostly a fiction or nonfiction type of pony?! What’s your favorite genre?!” She asked with probably the biggest smile Luxure’d seen from her yet. Of course, Luxure simply asking Twilight to take a few steps back would have done the job, but that would not be as fun. Instead, Luxure gave a small smirk with the faintest of blushes coming to her cheeks. “Erotica my dear princess,” Luxure replied, planting a small kiss on Twilight’s nose. “Mwah” Twilight’s entire face turned tomato red and she leaped backwards several feet into the air with her wings. “W-W-Why did…D-Don’t mention that in front of Spike!” “Uuuh Twilight? What’s erotica?” Spike asked, scratching his head. “WHEN YOU’RE OLDER SPIKE,” Twilight, incredibly flustered, shouted before landing back on the ground. “Heheheh. I knew that would get under your feathers,” Luxure snickered. “But no, being serious. If I had to pick a favorite genre, I do enjoy a good tragedy,” “Ah ain’t the most booksmart pony in Equestria or nothin’, but don’t the main fellas die at the end of those most of the time?” Applejack asked. “Well I mean if you boil any genre down to its most basic tropes you can make any of them sound uninteresting, sure,” Luxure said, waving a hoof a bit. She then used her magic to open up a tiny green portal about the width of her hoof in midair before sticking her hoof inside of it. “Oooh come now it’d better still be here…Ah there we go!” Out of the portal, Luxure pulled out a thick book (of which she had to adjust the portal just to get it out). The cover was nearly totally black, with only the two burning eyes of a unicorn pony breaking the darkness. The most defining feature of this unicorn’s face was her horn; instead of the usual glow of magic coming off of it, this one’s horn appeared to be flaming. “This right here is my favorite. ‘The Tragedy of the Firecorn’, first edition. Kept me awake for days as a filly,” Luxure said with a genuinely pleasant smile, an apparently heavy contrast to the book’s content. “Woah, hold on WHAT?!” Twilight exclaimed, snatching the book from Luxure’s hooves and flipped through the pages in darkish excitement. “I know the story, but I thought all copies of the novel had been lost to time! And it’s in such good condition! HOW?!?” “I was present for its release when I was young. My mother had reservations about letting me read it but, you know, the squeaky wheel gets the grease,” Luxure explained as she shut the portal to her small pocket dimension. “And yer ma’ had worries becaaaause?” Applejack asked “Never heard of this one? It’s more on the intense side where stories are concerned. See, it’s about this unicorn commander who’d been trying for as long as she can remember to achieve a higher stage of magical power, ‘The Firecorn’. Her failure to achieve her dream for so many years frustrated her with no end in sight. Her dream would eventually become reality, but it had been warped into a nightmare,” Luxure explained as her eyes glowed a fierce, intimidating orange. “Her superiors had sent her younger, inexperienced unit into battle against her wishes. They were clearly not yet ready for a true fight. Every single one of them was killed. The commander’s anger and grief finally sent her over the edge; her mane and magic burst into flames and she was filled with raw power the likes of which she’d never felt before. But she was too overcome with grief to care about her achievement, and would eventually go on to rip the government she’d once sworn to serve to shreds as revenge,” Luxure’s eyes then closed, clearly back to normal and she smiled again. “Sounds cool right?” Everyone else, sans Twilight who was still too caught up in the fascination with the book, sat in stunned silence. “That’s uh…dang,” Spike barely even knew what to say. “It is…quite a dark tale,” Rarity added, just as shocked as everyone else. “Yep, gripping as heck though,” Luxure said as she teleported immediately next to Twilight, very lightly dusting Twilight’s back with her tail in a flirtatious manner. “So, feel like reading that with me? It’s a bit more in-depth than what I described obviously,” Still too excited to notice Luxure’s sultry expression, Twilight nodded. “Oh without question! It’s not every day I’d get to read a novel once thought to be extinct!” “…Lovely,” Luxure replied, attempting not to sound disappointed that Twilight didn’t freak from her advances again. ‘That one wasn’t as fun. Rats,’ she thought Feeling the all too familiar sting of the uncaring snow hitting the crystalline coat that made up her body, Luxure jolted awake. To her horror, she appeared to have found herself in the frigid wastes of the Frozen North. Her hatred for this place was an intimate one, for it had been the site of her earliest memory; a small pink crystal filly curled up in the snow desperate for warmth. For many ponies, Hell was the scalding hot to the point of their flesh melting. This though, in her mind, had to be worse. This was Luxure’s personal Hell; a horrible, cold place of reflection and regret she despised more than any other place on the planet. How did she end up here though? The last thing she had remembered was having an admittedly fun reading session with the Elements at Twilight’s castle, she didn’t remember leaving again. She had no reason to. And she certainly hadn’t drank any alcohol to make her black out and teleport here herself. That left her with only one other possible conclusion. “Shit,” she said to herself as she felt her head, dreading what was to come next. She had gotten too comfortable, and fell asleep during their reading session. As with every personal Hell, there is also its devil. Luxure had heard its monstrous hoofsteps approaching the whole time, shaking the earth as it got closer. She was hoping in vain this time it may be different, THIS time it may leave her alone. She’d silently hope this every time she had this dreadful nightmare, but like with every time this nightmare invaded her slumber, it never came to be. The hoofsteps stopped, and Luxure could feel the presence of the monster behind her. If there were any sunlight to be found in this frozen Hell, she was sure it would cast a shadow eclipsing her entirely. Meekly, the goddess turned around to face it yet again. Looming and staring her down was a dark monolith vaguely in the shape of a pony, dwarfing even the Empire’s castle. When Luxure’s eyes adjusted to the snow, she could make out the titan’s features. The creature, in every way, was a recreation of herself, the only differences besides its colossal height After the events of the past couple of days, she had the feeling it had more to say this time around. “YOU ARE WASTING YOUR TIME,” it bellowed. “Go away,” Luxure spat, her anger and fear barely restrained. “I am at peace right now,” “STILL YOU BELIEVE THAT’S POSSIBLE FOR YOU? DO NOT BE ABSURD,” It replied, looking down on the goddess with an air of contempt. “BOTH OF US KNOW ANY SEMBLANCE OF PEACE IS FLEETING. BY DESIGN YOU ATTRACT CONFLICT, IF NOT CAUSE IT YOURSELF,” “It doesn’t…have to be like that,” Luxure replied meekly, her resolve starting to wear as her nightmare continued to push her “If I just…try my best to not mess this up, maybe-“ “ALL YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND POWER, AND SOMEHOW YOU STILL TURN OUT A FOOL!” the nightmare laughed, throwing its head back. After it finished it lowered its colossal head to Luxure’s eye-level, giving her a toothy smirk. “JUST AS ANY WHO TOOK THE PATH OF THE TYRANT, YOU ARE DOOMED. EVEN IN YOUR EFFORTS TO LIVE RIGHTEOUSLY. IT IS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME. MARK MY WORDS, IT WILL BE OF YOUR OWN DOING,” “F…Fuck you,” Luxure squeaked out, unable to think of a smarter response. Her nightmare monster’s shadow started to feel all the heavier as it draped over her. “I-I’m allowed to be happy damn you!” “AFTER ALL THE SUFFERING THAT YOU HAVE WROUGHT, AND ARE INEVITABLY GOING TO BRING? YOU STUBBORN, SELFISH LITTLE-AAAAAAAAGH!” Luxure looked up in surprise as her nightmare had stopped mid-insult and roared in agony. When she did, she was shocked to see a ray of blue magic striking the titanic imposter in its neck from behind. Trembling a bit, Luxure tilted her head to get a good look behind it. Flying behind the monster, was someone Luxure had not expected to run into tonight. Wearing a stern face of determination was none other than Princess Luna; she was focusing her magic so hard the back of the nightmare Luxure’s neck began to melt. “BEGONE MONSTER!” Luna bellowed in that Royal Canterlot Voice of hers. “ALLOW THIS POOR SOUL TO REST, OR BE DESTROYED!” “HOW DARE YOU!” the nightmare snarled. It raised its mighty hoof into the air and attempted to swat Luna out of the sky. The alicorn managed to dodge the nightmare’s swats as it was too big to move quickly enough to strike her down. The one time that the nightmare did manage to make contact, Luna had conjured a dark blue magic shield around herself, so the nightmare had only succeeded in hurting itself, leaving cracks in its hoof. “RRRRRGH” it growled in pain, withdrawing its hoof. “So that is what you choose,” Luna started to speak again, lighting her horn up for another spell. “You may be able to disrupt Luxure’s mental state, but you are none but a joke to ME!” she finished as she unleashed another ray of blue magic, this one much bigger than the last. This ray collided right in the nose of the nightmare, slowly but surely engulfing its face. Its head. Its neck. Its entire torso. “AAAAAAAGH!” it screamed as Luna’s magic ravaged it, though Luxure herself couldn’t see it, the light of the spell was simply too bright. Eventually, the nightmare’s scream grew silent, and all that remained in its place was vapor, and four melted circles in the snow where the creature’s hooves used to be. Her work finished and her horn smoking hot, Luna exhaled deeply and turned her attention to the goddess who was staring up at her in awe. She fluttered down to Luxure, her stern frown now having been replaced with a gentle smile. “I received your message,” Luna spoke first. Realizing she had been stunned from the powerful display of magic that Luna had just shown, Luxure snapped back to reality. “O-Oh?” “Yes,” Luna continued, poofing the opened scroll to her presence with her magic. “Not only was it quite the moving apology, but the smiley face was a nice touch,” “That one was more Pinkie’s idea than mine, but thank you nonetheless, e-eheh,” Luxure replied, resolving herself to just sit in the snow. “Um…truth be told I didn’t actually expect you’d read it. After the way that I spoke to you I was sure you would not piss on me if I were on fire,” Luna opted to not even acknowledge Luxure’s vulgarity in this instance. “You don’t truly believe me to be so cold that I would ignore an attempt at reconciliation do you?” “No no, not that, it’s just...” Luxure struggled to find the words. “Just what I figured any normal pony would do I mean…come on this is me we’re talking here,” she finished, her ears sadly folding to the sides of her head. “Bear this in mind, Luxure,” Luna said as she came a little closer, resting a hoof on her back to comfort her. “After what I had done as Nightmare Moon, I felt much the same as you do in that regard. Ironically, I turned into that because of a desire to be loved the same as my sister, feeling I was not getting it. But after the darkness was purged from my heart, knowing full well of my sins, I felt undeserving of that love. And yet, even after all I had done, my sister and many other ponies could still find it in their hearts to forgive me and to give me just that. I know your feelings all too well, how could I not give you a chance?” “And you even went as far as to rid me of my nightmare. But…I-“ Luxure started again, only for Luna to move her hoof to her mouth this time, silencing Luxure. “No buts here. Not stepping in when your own dreams are giving you such a verbal lashing would be cruelty. You may not believe it yet, but you are just as deserving of love as anypony else. For what you said when we first met, I forgive you. If you truly want this, I suppose we could even make an attempt at friendship. It was your suggestion after all,” Luna said, still with that same comforting smile. Almost not knowing how to respond, Luxure stuttered on repeat for several seconds. “I…I….”she stopped as she could feel a tear running down her cheek. “D-Damn it all not again,” “Shhh shhh it’s alright, go ahead,” Luna assured her, bringing Luxure close in a hug. That was just too much. The dam had burst, and the mighty goddess of lust hugged Luna back, quietly sobbing into her shoulder. Gently patting her on the back, Luna decided to additionally rid Luxure’s dream of the harsh cold of the frozen north that tormented her so. Instead, she used her domination over the world of dreams to change it into a lush green field set in the middle of spring. She was confident her new friend would be able to sleep soundly once she left.