//------------------------------// // The Main 5's Love // Story: The Meaning of Love // by TheJackOfTales //------------------------------// Pinkie Pie How Pinkie Pie ever managed to sleep was a scientific marvel. The sugar and caffeine she consumed on a daily, nay, hourly basis should be enough to either kill a pony or induce a sleep coma immediately upon a crash and yet she managed to party all day and all night. It was one of the many oddities of Pinkamena Diane Pie, and one that Princess Luna studied first hand. As the Princess of the Night and protector of dreams, Princess Luna understood the difference between personas a pony put on during the day and during the night. Everypony had a difference to them when they roamed around their own subconscious. Everypony except Pinkie Pie. The party pony was as hyper in a dream as she was awake, the strength of lucidity within her powerful enough to throw Luna off her guard on multiple occasions. Luckily, the pony had never had a nightmare Luna could remember besides the Tantabus incident, for otherwise, the princess of the night would be unsure if she could navigate the dream fast enough to save her. This time, however, Princess Luna needed Pinkie Pie to save her. To say Luna and her marefriend, Twilight Sparkle had a falling out would be both a major over and understatement. Overstatement in that the falling out itself was very tame, made known not with an intense argument or conflict of interests but in a two hour moment of silence in which neither pony seemed capable of starting a conversation, engaging in activity, or simply being with each other. It wasn't that each other's interactions weren't positive, it's that they weren't Love. They didn't have the strength and fuel the two believed love should have, and so they both said their temporary, tear-stained goodbyes as they looked for a permanent solution to their problems. Ironically enough, both Luna and Twilight turned to others to help define what love truly was. "Pinkie Pie" shouted Luna, booming the royal canterlot voice throughout Pinkie's chaotic dreamscape, only to find a pink hoof booping her nose and a Pinkie Pie appearing from her mane. The Pinkie Pie in question craned her neck down toward Luna, smiling. "Princess Luna! Oh my GOSH am I happy to see you! Now I can finally throw you that party that you were missing!" Pinkie Pie practically shouted, comically bouncing off of Luna's mane and onto the floor. "I know Celestia already threw you and Twilight that big massive party because she wanted to celebrate her sister's big day in her own way but in my opinion, Celestia wouldn't mind a second one right? Right?" Pinkie Pie 'asked'. "Actually," Luna sighed, "I am here precisely because of the issue of me and Twilight Sparkle," Luna said, unable to look Pinkie Pie in the eyes. "I fear what I have done to Twilight Sparkle is unforgivable. May I ask for the...other Pinkie Pie?" Luna asked. Almost immediately, the dreamscape shifted to a dreary grey, the chaos stopped on a dime, and Pinkie's trademark hair completely straightened out. There was still a smile on her face, however. "What's the problem?" Asked Pinkamena Diane Pie. "You need to put Twilight in a body-bag? It'll be hard to get a new Bearer for the element of magic but I'm sure that tree can cough SOMETHING up." Pinkie said with the same chilling smile. Luna, bewildered, paused for a moment before she began to open her mouth, only to be rudely interrupted by Pinkamena. "I'm just messing with you. You should see the LOOK on your FACE." The smile remained the same. "Seriously though, what's up?" Pinkamena asked. "What could possibly get in the way of Equestria's greatest power couple?" "I fear that neither me nor Twilight have no idea on what love is whatsoever. I was hoping to get your thoughts on the matter." "You'll need Pinkie for that, then. No idea why you called me unless you're trying to give the author more work, silly." The hair flooded back in waves, curls where there shouldn't be curls appearing as the happiness reappeared within the dreamscape, and the controlled chaos of Pinkie Pie's mind returned to the forefront. "Love is like a really really really realllllllllllllllllllllllllllly big brownie, yknow? It makes you sick to your stomach but with each bite you just can't get enough. One stomach isn't big enough to handle the job but you still want to finish it so you get someone you really trust to hold onto some of the brownie for later so you can both finish it together. Now, this bronie trade can get really complicated if you're not familiar with the business. Sometimes only one side wants a specific part of the bronie, we call em edge-casers where I'm from, and on occasion a schism can form large enough that the brownie never gets shared in the first place, and someone ends up with more or less love than they needed. The bronie might end up in a court custody case and those can get REALLY messy and then the two people that originally stated they were going to share the brownie equally might get bitter and resentful and ruin the brownie in the process in their hatred for each other, creating a twisted, malignant soul with two personalities" Stated Pinkie Pie. Princess Luna, who somehow took the best parts of that paragraph and nothing else was slightly cheered by Pinkie's description of love, but not satisfied by it. "Pinkie Pie, your description of love is as frightening as it is binding, but it is powerful, beautiful love nonetheless. I shall see if your other friends corroborate. Farewell." And so, she flew off into the next dream. Rainbow Dash The backdrop for the next dream was the perfect day. Clear, sunny skies with only expertly placed clouds in sight. The wind was cool and at the perfect speed for stunt training. The only pony in sight was the one and only Rainbow Dash, and the only thing stopping her from receiving the trophy of her dreams in her dreams, was the greatest obstacle course of all time. Eighteen sharp turns between cloud rings, fiveteen instances in which the pegasus would have to dive down and then up again with almost no time spent changing directions, twelve straight finishes where each flap of the wings would count towards the time on the clock, and to top it all off, you had to do it all while mimicking a preexisting wonderbolts routine. A challenge that would be impossible for any mare or stallion unless their name started with Rainbow and ended with Dash and they had a rainbow colored mane and blue coat. Only one mare in the world could pull all of that off. One mare and Princess Luna, that is. She quickly flew to the beginning of the race against the clock with Rainbow Dash and began to complete the obstacle course with her. She took the sharpest of sharp turns, dived as powerful downward as she did upward, and even mimicked the only wonderbolt stunt routine she had ever seen, and ended up at last place, as expected. An alicorn's body, especially an alicorn as developed as Princess Luna, was certainly not meant to squeeze through cloud rings designed for trained athletes, and although she managed to make Rainbow Dash break a sweatm it wasn't enough to get that win. This was Rainbow Dash's dream after all. "Say Princess, what brings you here to my dream anyway?" Asked Rainbow Dash, who was hiding a pant along with any other signs of fatigue. It was way cooler to beat Princess Luna if she could say she did it without getting tired, even if It was in her dreams. "Rainbow Dash, what is love to you?" Asked Princess Luna through dying breaths, clutching her heaving chest as she slowly got back on their hooves and refilled the air she had just lost. "Love is like....love is like....love is like when you get that itch that you can't scratch, and no matter how much you train your flexibility or move your wings out of the way or roll around on the floor you just can't get to leave you alone until you ask someone else to find it," said Rainbow Dash. "Of course in my case, I can get 99% of my itches by myself, but it's always good to have someone covering your back," she clarified. "And Pinkie Pie compared it to a giant brownie with parental issues. Are all of Twilight's friends so animated?" asked Luna with the utmost honesty. "No, that's just me and Pinkie Pie probably. Why not ask Rarity or the others their opinion? Not that it'll be as cool as mine just y'know..give yourself options," Rainbow Dash said before heading off to beat her time for the next course. Princess Luna could guess that the love Rainbow Dash had trouble articulating could be expressed in her constant state of self-improvement and endless self-confidence, someone who loves themself and the ones around them enough to want to be their best for them. She wondered if Twilight was the same way. Those thoughts were carried with her as she traveled to the next dream. AppleJack Our resident Princess found herself within Sweet Apple Acres, only there was no Apple orchard to speak of, or at least not one on the scale to be expected of Ponyville's premier farm family. A plot of land only big enough to support the barn attached to it and a bit more, definitely not something that could sustain an entire town. Princess Luna spotted Applejack leaned next to a tree nearby, resting for the next day's harvest. With a subtle use of her magic, Luna gently shook the farmpony awake. "Whuzzzat...who's at mah farm? That you, Princess Luna?" It was odd to see a pony that was sleeping even in their dream. Luna had only seen a case like this in ponies facing exhaustion enough to send them to an early grave, but Applejack couldn't possibly be in that situation, right? "Although I originally intended to ask you an important question, it seems I must do my duty to you first, Applejack. What could possibly have you troubled so, that you sleep even in one's dreams?" Luna asked. "What? Oh, you've got it all mixed up, Princess. Ah ain't sleeping on this tree because I need a break, Ah'm sleeping because the work's finally done. Take a looksie for yourself, see what Ah'm talking about." Luna did so, gazing beyond the now diminutive apple orchard and to the greater Ponyville area as a whole. She saw a bustling town in which despite the orchard's size decreasing, sweet apple acres' influence could still be seen in every crevice of the town. Apples, apples, apples of various colors, shapes, and sizes being sold. While they weren't being sold by the Apple family directly, they still were the Apple family's apples, modified to the modern day. Over by the Carousel Boutique Luna could see grown-up versions of Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo talking like they always had and probably thinking of some way to get into trouble. The town was, in effect, exactly the same as it had always been, yet Sweet Apple Acres was able to lower it's scale, remaining as more of a time capsule to an older part of the town than a necessary part of it's existence. "Sweet Apple Acres ain't about working on this orchard forever. It was about the Apple family and their cousins making a place for themselves where there was no place. Nowadays, or at least in the nowadays that ah'm dreaming of, you won't need a giant orchard to do it. Now Princess, what was your question?" asked Applejack? "I was going to ask you your idea on love." Stated Luna, still enraptured by the simplistic beauty of the timeliness Ponyville, and likely just as timeless Equestria she could see within Applejack's dream. Applejack laughed. "Shouldn't you be a better judge on that than me, Princess? Given that you're the one with the charming marefriend and all." Luna's facial expressions gave it all away. "All right then, I'll tell it to you honestly. To me, love is two parties sacrificing themselves for one another. Love is mah granny smith giving up her old life to set up a new one for her family and her family's family, and my sacrifice to my sister, and my hope that that sacrifice will lead to a life easier for the entire Apple family by the time I'm done and buried." Applejack stated with a tear in her eye, her dream twinkling in her eye. "Applejack, that is a noble pursuit. I only wished that I could see that in someone else." Stated Luna before flying away to the next dream. There were two more to go. Rarity Rarity was found as easily as the rest, centered within Caoursel Boutique talking to her sister Sweetie Belle about a cute boy that had caught her sister's eye. Rarity had the same crazed look any big sister did when gossiping about the latest romance, her pupils practically screaming "tell me more!". Not one to interrupt people in the middle of a conversation, Luna chose to eavesdrop. That was far more sensible. "Sis, I don't know how many times I have to tell you this, but I don't like him THAT much. I don't even know what love means." said Sweetie Belle, audibly rolling her eyes. "Now that just won't do Sweetie Belle. It's known that a colt can wait only two more days than you can when it comes to love. It's either you tell him you like him or you tell him you don't." Rarity said. "Then how am I supposed to know that I actually like him? That it's not some stupid crush like the other ones?" Sweetie Belle said. "You'll just have to take the dive and find out sister. By getting to know him as he is, away from his friends and any other societal pressures will you see him for who he'll be when speaking with you. When you can be with him at his best and his worst, and only believe that you're feeling at your best even during rough patches, that's love." Rarity said. That was about when Luna left to the next dream, satisfied with the answer. Fluttershy Fluttershy's door was already open when Luna arrived within her dream, allowing her to walk inside with little to no fuss. What kind of dream involved the typically shy pony keeping her door open for any and all to see was unbeknownst to Luna, but it aided in her quest to discover the meaning of love. In hindsight, she should've been more worried on what Fluttershy feeling this open entailed. Upon entering the cottage, Luna saw Fluttershy on full display, somehow more naked than a pony usually was while within her own home. Fluttershy locked eyes with Luna. The two shared gazes for three long minutes. Luna swallowed, attempting to silently judge the correct time to ask her question. Deciding that the situation was so awkward that nothing was going to make this right, she went for it. "Fluttershy, what is the meaning of love?" Said Luna, almost tripping over her words with the rapid rate in which she said it. "When you feel trusting enough to show Everything to someone else, even the parts that you'd never show to anyone else. When you're an open door to that person alone, that's love. Now please, get out of my dream." Said Fluttershy, her cheeks flaming from within. Luna was satisfied with that answer, quickly entering the final dream and reawakening within her section of the castle, leaving her face-to-face with her marefriend.