//------------------------------//
// – 20: Talking With Princesses – 
// Story: Sparity Shipping Mega Epic 
// by Mareity 
//------------------------------//

After snickering to himself about the last letter he’d just sent to Rarity, Spike’s amusement faded as he found himself tossing and turning in the dark, at one point rotating himself a full hundred-and-eighty degrees and tying a knot in his nightshirt around his waist without even realising it. He’d spent an hour or more wrapped up warm in this guest bedroom in Cadance and Shining’s personal quarters, an ivory tower some distance above the castle’s throne room, but he just couldn’t get comfortable. Too many things remained on his mind, good and ill, and they’d all vied for his attention simultaneously once the world around him had quietened.

He’d been lying still, eyes closed as his snout pointed upwards at the high vaults of the crystalline room’s ceiling for what he was sure had been a while now. Taking the last few nights on the road had kept his mind off of things while he slept; the whirr of an airship or the chug of a train, along with the rocking movement inherent to transit had been a comfort to the little dragon. Travel had helped ward off the worst in the nights following his ordeal, but now he’d stopped here for the next short while, the silence dripping with his own thoughts.

Black thoughts of himself, mostly. Thoughts that he was a fire breathing, flesh-rending cuckoo in the nest that was Equestria had long been something that had given him little rest off and on, and since he’d beaten Chitin up it had been on with a malicious vengeance. She may have been out of her mind when she’d attacked him, it certainly hadn’t been intentional, but the whole event had deftly placed the cherry on the sundae that was Spike’s self-loathing, with sprinkles to boot.

He couldn’t truly intellectualise it outside of his abiding horror at himself. If he tried his mind ran backwards at light-speed, back to the Spikealikes the day Meus had attacked in the heart of Canterlot Castle, back to what Sweetie Belle had said to him that evening during the fashion show in the boutique – and no, he did not want Sweetie Belle on the warpath any more now than he had back then – back to “Spikezilla”, and all the way back to Rarity, her sweet love, her kindness and generosity, all the things that made her so wonderful.

The thought that he could ultimately only repay it with a malign dragon’s cruelty and wrath… well, the weight was too much to bear. He’d been telling himself that it wasn’t so these past moons he’d been with her, he’d even started to believe it. He’d wanted to believe it so badly… but the moment he’d torn Chitin’s carapace he’d shattered his own illusion. That was what had shaken him the most, and right now the thought was a metaphorical dragon by itself that was doing its worst to push everything else out.

Spike turned on his side, realising his heart was pounding with nervous energy, and put his pillow over his head with a grunt in an effort to block it out. The next thing he knew, he’d essentially done a backflip in his basket, darn near tipping it off the bed while his nightshirt rode all the way up over his face.

Being on the road and playing tourist had taken the edge off, but he was going to need to confront it in due time. Emotionally, but also professionally; he never wanted to find himself in a situation like that again, but most importantly he never wanted to react like that again. In his experience, violence was for villains, and he’d never seen the Elements of Harmony resolve a threat to the realm with brutality. Plainly, he told himself, he hadn’t been paying close enough attention to them all those years.

Which took him back to Rarity, what with her being the Element of Generosity. She must have thought he’d been wilfully ignoring her this past week, which actually wasn’t true. The single, one-line statement of acknowledgement he’d sent all week in an effort to get her to stop making him belch up scrolls in public had worked, but he'd definitely spent too much time since devising, then tossing out a follow-up since.

He supposed that was the good side of stopping off at the palace, that it had forced him to collect his thoughts, although it had taken two tries to truly communicate with her the way he felt he should. It just entailed all that negativity swirling around in his mind settling like poison tar, too. He needed to–

Three knocks on the bedroom door gave him a start.

‘Hello?’ he asked once he’d caught his breath.

‘Spike?’ Cadance’s voice came, ‘Are you all okay in there?’

He sat up in his basket, his claws grasping the top of his sheets. ‘Uh, I’m fine,’ he answered, ‘Never better.’

Then he paused for a few seconds, ‘You can tell I’m lying, can’t you?’

She exhaled. ‘May I come in, Spike?’

‘Uh, if you like, Cadance,’ he answered.

The door opened, a sliver at first before cracking further, thin blue horn light reflecting off the room’s crystalline surfaces as Cadance’s regal silhouette stepped in. He switched on the bedside lamp, and saw that her crown was off and her mane was tied up. She wore a red nightgown that covered her hind legs, and her golden horseshoes were off in favour of matching red slippers, each set on the front with a facsimile of the Empire’s crystal heart.

‘Truth be told, I can hear your doom cloud thundering all the way down the hall,’ she said, taking another step before creaking the door gently ajar, ‘I just put Flurry to bed, but… well, I don’t want to impose, and I know Twilight kind of met with mixed results when she tried. If you’d rather not talk about it, I won’t make you, but–’

‘Impose? No, no, Cadance, I’m the one imposing. I just kind of rolled up on your doorstep with a day’s warning and now I’m definitely setting off your, uh, love powers or whatever, so sorry about that. If you wanna talk about it, so do I. I’m getting no rest just stewing in it here, and I’ve had a week to chill since Twi grilled me.’

She approached Spike, and his grip on the bedsheets relaxed as she nestled upon the rug next to him, her alicorn stature making her eye level about equal to his. He couldn’t resist a toothy smile; getting up close with the princess of love like this was always a tranquil experience. Although her relative newness to the role in comparison to Celestia and Luna in their time meant that her mane was far from ethereal like theirs, the harmonious pinks, yellows and purples of her locks was like catching a glimpse of gorgeous firstlight unfurling over the mountains.

Rarity had just conjectured upon the platonic love Cadance emanated in her response to his letter a little earlier, and being the sole beneficiary of her majestic presence, even while she was off-duty, brought it home to him. Already the tempest was soothed, and he felt all the more willing to open up properly. Then his smile shrank as he realised the poison tar swirling in his guts was aching for release. This could get ugly.

She smiled in assurance for a moment, looking him right in the eyes as her expression became sterner. ‘Well, that’s true, you’re setting them off big-time, but I wished to speak with you anyway. I received a changeling emissary earlier while you were playing with Flurry Heart, Spike. She filled me in on why you’re here again all by yourself. I’m very sorry about what happened over there… for starters, getting lovesucked like that is a terrible thing, just awful! But,’ she paused, tilting her head as her gaze turned mildly piteous, ‘They also told me about the retribution you brought upon your attacker. It sounds like you’ve got a lot to unpack.’

‘You have no idea– ’scuse me, Cadance, you have a pretty good idea, actually, more than most,’ Spike said, waggling a finger as he corrected himself, ‘It’s been tough. Even Rarity had trouble understanding, although we just exchanged a few letters a bit ago, and she’s, uh, doing her best…’ he paused, then then sighed, ‘I suppose the cat’s kinda outta the bag about me and her, huh? If we hadn’t been so lovey at the lovebug nest, what happened wouldn’t have happened.’

‘You know Twilight keeps me abreast of certain things,’ Cadance chuckled, ‘I’ve been aware for a while about your burgeoning romance with Rarity. Twi trusts me to keep a secret, but given the circumstances I may as well admit it to you. Spike, you must know that nobug at the Hive blames you for what happened. It was a very unfortunate event that nobug saw coming. By and large changelings like love; Thorax said as such to you, didn’t he?’

Spike couldn’t help it; his face turned pink and he bowed his head as Cadance laid out her knowledge of his romantic affairs, though he didn’t avert his eyes. ‘Yeah, yeah… we made, uh, love confessions to one another at their feelings forum and the changelings were all for it, my attacker aside. I guess for her, Chitin, I mean, it meant time to take action,’ he said, looking down before casting her a guilty glance, ‘Did the emissary give any word how she’s doing now?’

‘She only said Chitin was receiving the utmost care and attention from their wellness suite,’ Cadance explained, and Spike saw her brow knit slightly as she observed, ‘And that her malady is in hoof. No physical harm done, at least…’

‘Yeah, thank Celestia, a changeling can shrug that kind of damage off. I was just so furious I, I, I didn’t even see red or anything like that, y’know? I guess it didn’t seem so real in my mind as it was in real life to, to…’ Spike’s voice cracked despite his best efforts.

‘It’s not a bad thing, to be empathetic even after something so severe,’ said Cadance, ‘But nopony would have blamed you if you weren’t, given the circumstances.’

Spike was nonplussed, then felt the need to defend himself. ‘Of course I care about what happens to Chitin! I’m responsible for what happened, aren’t I? Like I said, I brought my special somepony to the Hive without thinking through what could–’

Cadance stood, interrupting him. ‘Spike, stop. You’re right to be worried about her, but–’

‘But what? Lovesucking doesn’t end with a serious injury like I inflicted upon her!’ Spike continued, becoming increasingly flustered, ‘Turns out it doesn’t matter how much of a “gentledragon” I pretend to be if I’m just gonna hurt other creatures I don’t like! I–’

Cadance kept her cool; she had expected an outpouring like this, though not so soon after broaching the topic. ‘Spike, you’re both victims of circumstance, but you need the time to heal just the same as–’

‘Yeah, I know that, why do you think I’m here, Cadance?!’ Spike snapped despite himself, visibly trembling now, ‘I needed time to process what I did and what was done to me so I took a freakin’ vacation, by order of the princess,’ he intoned with bitter sarcasm, ‘Princess Spike that is, because I’m privileged enough to be able to do that instead of having to suck it up! And I deserve none of it. I’m only where I am in life through a bizarre fluke of hatching and everything in my life is unearned!’

He took a breath after that tirade, and Cadance took the moment to lean closer, her forelegs crossed on the mattress. ‘Spike, Spike, you more than earn your status, every bit as much as me, or Twilight, or Shining. Just ask anypony right here in the Empire about the good you’ve done for us.’

Spike wiped away a tear. ‘I, I’m not even sure I really believe that, but it’s how I feel. I just… it feels like I was making progress, personally I mean, and it’s all just evaporated because of something I did,’ Spike said, not deflecting as Cadance tentatively wrapped her hooves around him as he came close to hiccups, ‘Something unforgivable. I wouldn’t blame Chitin for hating me forever after that. I kinda do…’

The physicality and scent of Cadance’s embrace was different to Rarity’s, but it was almost identical in the ways that counted – the warm sensation of a body full of love using itself to communicate, non-verbally, that he was loved and wanted.

‘Spike,’ she murmured after he’d reciprocated by putting her claws around her back, ‘You failed in conflict resolution during an unprecedented attack upon you, and somepony you love. It’s okay. Celestia knows I’ve gotten furious with those who’ve tried to hurt me, my family and my realm, and I’m the love princess! Or, closer to home for you, remember the time Tirek tossed Celestia, Luna and I into Tartarus and Twilight had to duke it out with him with our combined powers? Just imagine what he would’ve done to the entire world if she hadn’t gone supernova on him the way she did!’

Spike pulled back as Cadance made that observation, feeling warmer inside despite the tears he‘d shed. ‘Yeah, but bad guys like Sombra, Chrysalis, Tirek, they’re the exceptions. The changelings are our friends now, and I came this close to screwing that up. That’s part of what’s eating me. What felt justified in the heat of the moment just wasn’t. Chitin isn’t a villain… just a mixed-up lovebug who lost her mind around our–’

She put a slippered hoof to his lips and knitted her brow again. ‘Spike, let me stop you right there. What Chitin did was not okay, neither to Rarity nor to you, and the fact that you brought more love to the Hive than expected doesn’t change that. As for her madness, well… nocreature can truly be held responsible for that. It’s mostly just… sad that things worked out that way. It’s not wrong to remain concerned about her future and whether she gets the help she needs, but it is also not your fault,’ she took a breath, ‘And you don’t deserve to be hated for fighting back against such hostility. And you shouldn’t hate yourself, either.’

‘I know nobug at the Hive holds tearing Chitin’s carapace off against me, and there was no permanent harm done, all of that,’ Spike sighed, ‘I just stared right into the abyss after I did it, and getting lovesucked was already horrible. A real nasty reminder of the bad bug days even before we get into any of the other stuff.’

‘Hmm…’ Cadance said, casting Spike a critical eye up and down, ‘Do you want to?’

Spike felt his scales crawl. ‘No, no, you were right that I’ve got a lot to unpack, and right now I’m trying really hard to believe that I’m, uh, that I shouldn’t hate myself. Going over the trauma of a horrible bird screeching in my face while… yeah, I’m not going there. One thing at a time, if it’s okay with you.’ 

‘I don’t want to make you discuss anything that’s uncomfortable for you, Spike. That’s completely fine.’

He nodded sternly.  ‘Appreciated, Cadance. Yeah, I know I’m responding to the attack sort of weirdly, but… well, it fed into what I’ve been worrying about a lot lately. I know Twilight’s told you about my current ambition to, uh, get bigger, and that’s been a complicated desire all on its own. I scare myself with something I want, something that’s an inevitability, but it seems so, so far out of reach at the same time, and…’

He let out a controlled breath, ‘I just don’t know what’s on the other side. I wanna grow up but I’m afraid of becoming a rampant, destroying serpent. That all hit me at once when I laid Chitin out like I did, but it was something I’d been discussing with Rare a lot before then.’

Her expression remained serious. ‘From what Twilight’s told me, Rarity has been most supportive of you recently. Is that right, Spike?’

Spike laughed, then almost sobbed, surprising himself as he looked at his swirly knees. ‘It helps a lot when somepony is right beside you, essentially wanting the same thing as you, and it’s even better when it’s Rarity. She’s been amazing up ’til now… she’s wonderful. She’s so kind, and supportive, and hot, and stunning, and, uh,’ he caught himself, wiping away another tear before looking up at Cadance and continuing, ‘Part of me is kicking myself for running away from her like I did, but there was such a distance between us all of a sudden and it was awful, even though she was trying her best to support me after the attack… like I said, I’m being weird.’

Cadance almost laughed at Spike’s description of Rarity, then shook her head. ‘You’re not being “weird” in the slightest, Spike. Many creatures would struggle badly faced with your ordeal, not to diminish what you’re going through, and a victim’s loved ones’ struggle to understand can complicate things further.’

‘She actually apologised to me in her letter, y’know. Said she was sorry for being “domineering”… she didn’t need to do that, and it wasn’t really on her. We were both shaken in a way that didn’t help us talk the way we normally do. It was just too soon.’

‘Twilight tells me the two of you talk things through a lot. Take it from me, that’s a good sign of a rock-solid relationship,’ Cadance smiled slyly and winked as she observed that.

‘It is?’ said Spike, half-feigning surprise, ‘I mean, it does feel good when we can hash things out a bit – it definitely makes me feel closer to her when we’re honest with each other. I didn’t really do that much with my last, uh, griffriend, but it comes naturally with Rarity.’

‘It is!’ Cadance insisted, ‘Shows you’re on the same wavelength. Shining and I talk things over a lot ourselves, usually just day-to-day stuff like when we’re meeting during the day, what dignitaries I’m meeting or what patrols he’s overseeing, and what challenges we’ll expect to see, just to get input from one another. Once in a while it’s fine not to, but more often than not… well, it’s helpful to have mutual support from somepony who “gets” you, don’t you agree?’

‘Yeah, we definitely have a connection most of the time…’ Spike sighed, ‘Maybe I forgot to value it when I fled in the dead of night like that.’

‘Well… you did what you needed to do, but you perhaps should make it up to her next time you meet,’ Cadance advised, before changing the subject, ‘But, ah, quick question, Spike, going back to your worries about transforming into a monster. You are well acquainted with other dragons, aren’t you? I’ve met Smolder a few times, and she’s a diamond beneath her rough exterior. Furthermore, while I haven’t engaged Princess Ember diplomatically directly myself, Thorax always speaks warmly of her skills as ruler of the Dragonlands. Would you say the same about either of them as you fear of yourself, that one day they’ll transform into tyrants that must be, ah, cast out of polite society, lest they burn it all to the ground?’

Spike stopped, and blinked stupidly for a moment as he let Cadance’s thought sink in. ‘I… no, no, that would be pretty speciesist, just because they’re…’ he stopped, and Cadance observed as his thoughts loudly, silently realigned, ‘Well, Smolder and Ember are both dracaenae. Girls. And so’s my friend I’m gonna visit in Fillydelphia later, come to think of it. I guess I don’t think about girl dragons that way. Never occurred to me, even though all three of ’em can be kinda, uh, like you said, rough on the outside.’

She blinked slowly. ‘And what about other drakes, I mean, male dragons, you’ve known, Spike?’

‘Never met one I liked, frankly!’ Cadance was taken aback slightly as Spike exclaimed, ‘Pure dragons, anyway. Discord’s a bro, but he’s kind of his own thing. Garble and his gang can pound sand, and you know about the time that faker, Sludge, took me for a free ride by pretending to be my Dad. If I’d only ever met guy dragons in my life, I’m sure I’d be way more screwed up than I am. Celestia forbid I internalise anything they’d try to teach me the same way my gal-pals have. The closest I’ve gotten is the Burnferno stories I like, and those are generally something best taken with a few pinches of salt – I’m not looking to him for serious moral guidance either, y’know?’

She responded with a mere ‘Mmhmm,’ and a penetrating, but kind, gaze as Spike completed that thought. He turned to look at her right back, and she said with a start, ‘Oh! Sorry, Spike. Just something you said got me thinking, that’s all, but I’m not clear if I should…’

Spike thought back over what he’d said, locating whatever it was Cadance was most likely to have picked up on. Then his eyes widened; suddenly it seemed obvious. ‘…Dang. I think I just said out loud what my real problem is, huh? It’s not actually about being a dragon in general. It’s about being a boy dragon specifically, and what I’ve learned from the male dragons who’ve shown up in my life. Which is mostly stuff I reject as no good, but… I guess in the process, I…’

He trailed off, looking pale in the face before continuing. ‘Uh. This is what Rarity was talking about all those times she said I need to love myself more, isn’t it? I’m a male dragon, but I don’t much like male dragons. Heck, I’m kinda scared of them. I don’t wanna be like those guys, but I don’t wanna be a baby dragon forever either. I’m internalising that into a belief that my essential, uh, nature is violent or untrustworthy, and that nothing can ever change that. Sure, it doesn’t help that I literally transformed that one time years ago, but that’s not actually the issue.’

‘And when Chitin attacked you and you fought back… from what you’re telling me, Spike, you made the choice in that moment to send the message never to mess with you again, didn’t you? You weren’t running on instinct. Like I said, I can actually relate, even if it was the wrong call to make. Chrysalis is lucky I never truly took her on back in the day! If I’d had one clear shot with a horn blast, she’d have remembered it. Instead, Starlight Glimmer had the pleasure. I’m a bit jealous of her, actually.’ Despite her calmness there was a definite barb in the tail of Cadance’s words, Spike noticed, and he baulked for a moment in response.

But then he relaxed, realising that everything she’d said to him was her opening up to him in kind, and he smiled. ‘Geez, when you put it like that, Cadance… it’s easy as a non-pony for me to put you princesses on a pedestal as creatures who would never do anything wrong. But it isn’t immutable. You have to make the choice, huh?’

She had a very serious look on her face as she nodded. ‘Constantly, whether you’re a princess or not. All intelligent creatures of sound mind have the choice to do good or bad things, Spike – that’s the difference between Chrysalis and Chitin. Chrysalis made her choice stone-cold sober a thousandfold. Chitin felt like she had no choice at all.’

She exhaled before continuing. ‘Just because you made the wrong one once in retaliation doesn’t make you an irredeemable monster… at worst, you’d been pushed over the edge by something that would fill even the most purehearted with indignation.’ Then she paused, as if inspecting him for something, ‘You know, you’re radiating regret for your actions; everything has an aura, and yours is like a fog filling this room right now. A monster wouldn’t have such regrets, nor the resolve never to repeat them like you plainly do.’

‘No argument there, Cadance… right now the last thing I wanna do is hurt anycreature else. Geez, I know this stuff already, but thanks for reminding me,’ Spike said, pinching the bridge of his snout, ‘And for being weirdly assuring about how I feel… I mean, I still feel awful about what happened, but… no, I appreciate you laying it out like you have. That I’m not alone, I guess. I swear, the littlest things make me forget that.’

Cadance lightened up. ‘You’re welcome, Spike. I know when somecreature is hurting, you know? My “love powers”, as you put it. Even before I was visited by the emissary it was written all over you as soon as you arrived, and I would’ve come in here anyway, just for a one-to-one checkup. If you like, you can stay here in the palace as long as you need.’

Spike put a claw on the Safeshadow Amulet that rested on his chest, giving it a rub. ‘I wouldn’t mind sticking around until the middle of next week, but I still wanna stay the course around the country I’ve got planned,’ he answered after a moment’s contemplation, ‘Being on the road has its own benefits… travelling across the Luna Coast took my mind off the worst of what happened.’

Then an idea formed, and he clutched the amulet between his thumb and foreclaw before proposing, ‘Uh, is Shining going on patrol tomorrow? I haven’t really had “guy time” since Ogres & Oubliettes with Discord and Big Mac a moon back, and I think I really need some after everything that’s happened.’

‘He’ll be around the city perimeter all morning, then up north in the Hyboreal Forest with his platoon to make sure things are clear and Meus-free up that way. I think it’d be a good start, Spike,’ Cadence said, ‘And that’s a great idea! Fraternising with my husband and his guardstallions and mares would be a healthy change of pace for you. Provided you don’t mind grafting a bit, they’ll be more than happy to have their hero Spike the Brave and Glorious along.’

Spike laughed as he sat up straight, rolling his shoulders as he spread his wings. ‘Your husband, my brother, kinda… and heck, can’t you tell I’ve been working out? I can handle some lifting if I gotta! Also, when I finally meet up with Mina – uh, that’s my Fillydelphia friend I mentioned – well, she lives in an entire community of dragons, and I know she has guy friends. I could get her to introduce me to a few guys at the comic shop she works at… I don’t really believe that guy dragons are a complete write-off.’

‘You should tell me more about her,’ Cadance smiled as she rose onto her hooves, then opened the door, ‘Luna’s mentioned her to me in passing and I confess, I’m not familiar with the Dragontowns of the Celestial coast. Hey, why don’t I take you to my quarters now and you can ask Shining what you just asked me, face-to-face? If you’re sticking around for a few more days, there’s enough time before bed to get an O&O character sheet devised for a few games with him later on. He’d love that.’

‘Sounds great!’ Spike replied, getting to his feet before taking to the air with a flap of his wings, ‘Then it’s bedtime for real. Rarity’s definitely gonna write me first thing and I wanna be properly awake for it!’

Spike followed behind Cadance as she left the room. ‘I believe Shiny takes the troops out to the border around ten, so you’d have time to write to her before then. Now, if you don’t mind, I will need to check in on you again kinda like this sometime tomorrow…’


–––✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*💎*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧–––



Dresses, skirts, gowns and costumes were simply flying onto the ponequins as Rarity spun around, half-dancing and light as a feather. She’d lost track of the time, indeed how long she’d been doing this, but it was no exaggeration to say that she’d been lost to the zone – the fashion zone! – since awakening at the crack of dawn. A dozen ponequins, each floating around in procession by unicorn magic, marched around the room in a circle, starting and stopping as she reached each for yet another embellishment.

Each of them received the utmost attention as she lavished sapphires here, a silken band there, sequins and hoops for the flouncy red gown with the electric blue spiral woven into its side, and striped ribbons for straps on the frilly green two-piece swimsuit with the iridescent finish. Just a jiff of care turned each of them into something truly marvellous, something else to put a smile on somepony’s face, as well as the never-diminishing happiness writ on their creator’s face as she poured every bit of her love and affection into her work.

It went on for some time, but any true artist knew when to stop. Once she was satisfied Rarity let go of the fully-dressed stands, gently depositing them onto the floor, exhaling as she at last stopped and relaxed. Being in the zone was wonderful, but extended periods could be tiring.

As she trotted around the boutique to inspect each of them as if she were their drill sergeant, the doors flung open. Her head snapped left as she saw him there; the steel-blue, steel-scaled dragon in a loincloth who had visited her just like this a hundred times before.

‘Burnie, darling,’ she gasped, near-tiphoofing towards him as he cast her a lusty gaze, ‘Is it really so late already? I confess, it feels as though I’ve had so much time to do my doings today, yet not nearly enough…’

‘Flameflower, my adored,’ Burnferno answered in a voice like smooth stones grinding, and suddenly Rarity was indeed the lithe, orange-eyed dracaena with the flowing jet-black frills she was acquainted with from the Burnferno extended universe, now adorned in extravagant beads and gems all down her front and back. She barely questioned her transformation as he continued, ‘Your work is so, so beautiful, it brings even this barbarian joy to behold. Come to me, and show me just how beautiful you too are.’

Rarity squealed as Burnferno’s rippling muscles belied their gentleness, his arms sweeping her to his chest, one claw squeezing her hip as she slung her arms around his huge shoulders. She raked her own claws down his back as she spread her horned wings before pausing, looking around the room to see that as she had, so too had the ponequins transformed into ornate bronze statues of laughing dragons, all in different poses, each set with eyes of fierce red rubies that twinkled in gigantic mirth.

‘My most beloved,’ Rarity’s voice lowered to a whisper as she looked up into his steel gaze, ‘The beauty of my creation is for all, but certain facets are for you alone. How goes the hunt?’

‘I shall show you,’ Burnferno answered, his own wings spreading now, ‘Fly with me, Flameflower.’

He let her go as his wings made an audible “whoosh”, and he flew aloft, no ceiling now to obstruct his ascent. Rarity – no, Flameflower, she was Flameflower now, an indisputable part of Burnferno’s world – followed suit.

Her own wings “swish”ed as she followed him, one wingbeat behind, into an orange sky. As they reached the apex of their flight, Flameflower looked down, but that flickering orange was from no sunset. It took a moment for the horror of the razed cottages, smashed towers and flaming orchids of a destroyed Ponyville to process for her, but once it had she drew breath with a gasp… of excitement. ‘All of this for me, Burnie sweetheart? You’re too generous!’ she found herself saying. She was quite certain that wasn’t what she’d intended to say.

The flames, and the dismayed cries of suffering ponies grew taller and louder around them. ‘All of this for you. The lamentations of these ponies and the spoils of their labours please you, do they not?’ He flew forward slightly, placing a hitherto-concealed diamond tiara set with a plethora of gemstones upon her brow.

Flameflower’s long tongue played upon her lips for a moment before she moved in, again placing her claws upon Burnferno’s biceps. ‘It does, my love. We take what we want, but more than anything, I want you…’

Burnferno reciprocated, pressing her to him as roaring fires enveloped them both. ‘Upon this we agree, by Torch. Nothing is finer than your embrace. Let us kiss at last.’

Flameflower moved in, her lips about to touch his when she felt a bolt of lightning strike from the tip of her slender tail to the base of her eyes, and confusion was writ large upon Burnferno’s face as her eyes flashed from orange to pale sapphire blue. With a cry she recoiled, pushing him away as she was once again Rarity. ‘I… no! What have you done to my home and my friends, you awful, awful ruffian?!’ she yelled.

Burnferno snarled, his fangs gritted as Rarity, now a wingless unicorn once more, suddenly found herself helpless in his grasp. ‘I have conquered this puny pony paradise for you, Flameflower! Is that not enough?!’ he roared, seemingly growing larger as she squirmed frantically in his talons, ‘Or perhaps you are as prey as they?’

Burnferno definitely had doubled in size as his baleful gaze cast upon Rarity, who rapidly found herself struggling in the clutches of one scaly fist. In an instant he filled the whole world, and she screamed in terror as he looked at her. He fell silent, as if inspecting the little white unicorn for something. His gaze grew more and more intense, a white mist that burned freezing cold escaping his eye sockets. ‘All your works are tatters now,’ he eventually intoned, as if in mourning.

And he discarded her. Into the fiery maelstrom she went, another scream escaping her lips as she plummeted, the dragon statues from before now encircling her, spinning as if they were a zoetrope animation, laughing and laughing in mockery. Her avarice would surely be punished now, for why else would she ally with such a vicious brute as the barbarian who had cast her down but for her own evil gain?

Her free-fall was such that she appeared suspended within the walls of searing flames as the statues flashed around her at dizzying speed, and she couldn’t bear the shame and guilt she felt inside her. She screwed her eyes shut in a futile effort to stop this horrible, twisted nightmare where all was lost, all her fault.

In what she was sure would be her final actions, Rarity sought atonement as she tore the ill-gotten gewgaws and trinkets bestowed upon her by Burnferno from her body, scattering them upwards as she scrabbled her hooves against her fur. Before long, just one was left.

She grit her teeth as she ripped herself open, two sharp halves of a bloody ruby spilling out into her hooves, and thus unencumbered by the final jewel a wave of dark energy blasted from her. Her fur turned midnight black and her open eyes incandescent blue as the statues turned to ash, a shock of white in her flowing mane as she roared, ‘My work has barely begun, you fiend! Feel my pain, my malice!’

And she grew. Before long she stood head-to-head with the dismal, icy Burnferno, both of them towering above the Tartarus-on-Equestria he'd made of Ponyville in his conquest. She collided with him horn-first, his huge arms no longer so gentle as she grappled with the blue dragon.

He started to melt before her as they fought, and the freezing fog streaming from his face was soon radiating from his entire body. Rarity leapt backwards as she realised this was Burnferno no longer, but a writhing, amorphous mass she recognised all too well. As it lashed three pupiless heads one after another at her – Twilight’s, then Starlight’s, finally and most aggressively Spike’s, which hissed and snapped at her – she couldn’t hide her revulsion. ‘Whatever was I thinking?! I should never have allowed you to take me as you have! Away, you beast!’

And with that, she sent a volley of horn zaps Meus’ way, striking the Twilight head with one, causing it to hiss before the Starlight head lashed at her, nearly knocking her to the ground. Everything that couldn’t melt burned to ashes around them as she engaged in mortal combat with the transforming, monstrous apparition before her, vicious blows traded and horn blasts deflected as she fought and fought for dear life…

‘Cease!’ an unmistakable, stern royal voice came from Burnferno’s throat that gave Nightmare Rarity pause, even in her current state. She opened her eyes to see herself no longer engaged in combat with Meus, nor Burnferno, but the ex-princess, the dream walker herself, Luna.

‘Luna?! Get out of my–!’ Rarity started. The momentum of her intended shot to fell Meus didn’t end with her realisation, and she narrowly averted her last thrust forward and horn blasts with surprised wide eyes. Luna in turn evaded the navy-furred mare’s blow, flying backwards and upwards.

Meus was gone, already a receding memory. Rarity circled the princess of the night, still on high alert. ‘Nearly a taste of déjà vu, by my measure. Rarity, I hope this isn’t a bad time. I received your message, but… well, I see matters you wished to speak of continue to weigh heavily upon your mind,’ Luna intoned, silver moonlight playing over her silhouette as Rarity gazed upwards. The fires around them both dissipated into wisps of smoke, and that thin light became all she could see.

‘Luna, you are truly a sight for sorry eyes,’ she exhaled, looking down onto her nightmare form and feeling quite short of breath, ‘And if you’re here like this I suppose I must be dreaming. Ah, if you don’t mind my asking… that was simply a dream, wasn’t it? Not the real thing?’

‘Believe me, it was not; simply a conjuration of your sleeping mind, Rarity,’ Luna assured her as she slowly lowered closer to Rarity, ‘I’m keenly aware of how that great Meus beast has transported itself around Equestria most insidiously, but it has no presence in this realm.’

‘Thank goodness,’ Rarity breathed, ‘It appears I became quite agitated by an apparition of the mind gone awry, and now I… well, I must apologise for bringing this dreadful look to you so upfront! I didn’t mean to–’

Luna returned to the ground – wait, was it ground now? It felt as if they stood in the middle of an unending void – and approached Rarity, a small smile on her otherwise stern face as heavenly bodies twinkled in her mane. ‘It is okay, Rarity, we both appear to one another different to the norm. I still wear my starlit mane in the dream realm, after all; and the trappings of the guise that once threatened all of Equestria whilst possessing us both seem not to affect your judgement, do they?’

The moonlight dimmed to nothing, the only light now coming gently from the mane in question. Rarity stood rigid, her eyes probing the night-walking alicorn as she in turn circled her closely. ‘I… I suppose not, Luna, I confess I was concerned that my current appearance could cause you some offense, but you seem intrigued, if anything. Ah, it is well with you, to talk now?’ she asked haltingly.

‘It would be an honour, but we should go elsewhere more pleasant than this cold, burned place,’ said Luna, continuing to give Rarity’s nightmare form an almost affectionate evaluation before snapping to attention and shrinking back as the midnight-dark unicorn cringed, ‘Oh, and my sincerest apologies if I’m making you uncomfortable, Rarity. It’s just, well… you remind me of my sister standing before me like this, just a little! I’ll explain. Do follow.’

Celestia? That was the last pony Rarity would associate with this tyrannical form. Her eyes widened in confusion but before she could inquire just what that meant, Luna trotted away and suddenly popped through a swirling portal, deep blue and blindingly bright against the pitch-black void. Rarity hesitated, then heard the faintest, shrillest hiss behind her that made her mane stand on end. Scrunching her muzzle, she glanced around but saw absolutely nothing else.

Thusly spooked she followed close behind, feeling the strangest frisson as she fell a few metres onto long turquoise grass on its other side, beneath an undulating, dark green sky. She and Luna stood on a pebbled pathway in a valley between immense peaks, all bedecked with the lavender and heather Rarity knew from the hanging baskets in Canterlot Castle.

It occurred to her to check whether she was still in that despicable nightmare form, so she looked down, finding she indeed was. Then she looked up, and her eyes widened; above them another, much larger moon loomed. Faint howling emanated as it radiated a corona of grey light that billowed like smoke, and was absorbed by the streaks of black in the emerald firmament.

As this was a dream, Rarity glared at herself in concentration for a moment in an effort to shed her current, undesirable appearance. She started to shake and her muzzle scrunched up once more with determination, her face turning red as she singularly failed to change at all; the only white fur on her person remained that lamentable streak in her mane.

Luna sat on the path, looking oddly serene as a small possum climbed up her back and rested on her long neck. ‘Luna dear, I can’t seem to turn back to normal. How come?’ Rarity asked as she trotted up behind her.

She didn’t answer immediately, drawing breath as she turned to Rarity. ‘Fear manifests in many ways, my friend,’ she said, her shoulders visibly relaxing to accommodate her grey little friend as she kept a straight face, ‘But in whatever way it does, there are those who would use anypony’s for their own ends. As well you know, you and I both have fallen afoul of such malevolent forces, and there is always the chance it may happen to anypony in their worse moments, at any time. Sit here with Tiberius and I and watch the skies, Rarity. Everything will make sense, I promise.’

Rarity obeyed, her enormous locks flowing like the Milky Way behind her, faintly uncomfortable around the jagged visage of the silver-furred creature that nestled on Luna’s person as he opened his maw to yawn, but nevertheless finding a spot to loaf. ‘I didn’t know you had a pet, Luna,’ she said, feeling compelled to make small talk as she circled once before plopping herself down, tucking her hooves in beneath her body, ‘This little one is Tiberius, presumably? A most unusual choice.’

A solitary chuckle came from the back of Luna’s throat. ‘Hm, he is. Truth be told, he chose me, not so long after I’d made my return from the moon. Just a little companionship appreciated as one walks through the dreams of one’s former subjects… but I digress.’ She turned to Nightmare Rarity and asked, her good-humoured countenance turning serious, ‘Know you of Daybreaker? I don’t suppose our current princess nor Starlight Glimmer ever spoke of a certain royal problem Celestia and I had in the twilight years of our own reign?’

Rarity gazed at the smoky moon in contemplation before coming up empty-hooved. ‘Doesn’t ring a bell, Luna dear,’ she shrugged, ‘Mind elaborating?’

Luna closed her eyes in recollection, and Rarity watched the little possum climb higher on her shoulder, wiggling his whiskers as she spoke further. ‘Well, as much as our current monarch preferred to believe otherwise, my relationship with my dear sister has been known to have its fraught periods. The biggest of all, of course, being when I, ah, quite infamously transformed into Nightmare Moon in a failed bid to oust her from the throne and seize it for myself.’

‘Yes, turning evil and terrifying the pants off of everypony in the process,’ Rarity sniffed before smiling, ‘Everycreature knows the outcome. I suppose it wasn’t the most rational moment of your life, was it?’

Luna sighed. ‘Far from it. In my worst moment I gave into the darkness, and it consumed me totally. As well you know, possession like that within which you and I found ourselves is a condition that comes when internal and external factors combine; the vulnerability of strong emotional negativity targeted by what we know casually as nightmare forces. What you might not know, Rarity, is where they came from originally; contrary to popular belief, it wasn’t from the moon.’

‘No, I know that, though many ponies don’t,’ Rarity answered matter-of-factly, ‘King Sombra and the Pony of Shadows being phenomena quite separate from our own, ah, former – or not so former in my case, at this precise moment, in this dream – conditions, not much to do with the moon. Anyway, who or what is this Daybreaker you mentioned, darling?’

‘Come over here, Rarity. It may be as well to be under my direct protection before she comes,’ said Luna. She raised a wing, and as Rarity obeyed Luna wrapped it around her “nightmare” guise.

As she did the sky brightened, and as everycreature present looked above Rarity caught something that surely could only be possible in dreams. The sun rose quite rapidly over the mountains to their right, immediately as bright as it would be at its normal apex, casting rays that seared through the grey smoke coming from the moon. The rumbling howl of the lunar winds overhead were duly drowned out by a high-frequency hiss that only intensified as the white-hot sun rose, almost too high-pitched to hear but nevertheless consuming it.

‘Perhaps you ought not to look directly into it,’ Luna advised as Tiberius donned a pair of shades. After a few seconds the dream sun paused, then it lunged for the moon, eclipsing it within a few seconds and, with a long “bwoof!” sound, replaced all that intermingling green and grey with a spotless blue sky. Almost immediately the cold, damp grasses lining the path dried up, and the still atmosphere felt like beach weather.

Altogether the scene was less eerie than before, but something still wasn’t right. ‘Luna, I don’t suppose you have another pair of glasses?’ Rarity said, realising her skin was starting to prickle under her fur, and it wasn’t from the embrace of Luna’s cool plumage.

Luna obliged, creating a pair on Rarity’s muzzle with a “poff!”. ‘Of course, although stay safe with me. These fireworks aren’t over yet,’ she intoned.

The unicorn squinted as she looked through the sunglasses, as the sun still sought to overload the senses despite their solar filters. She felt as though she should be looking for something, and she probed the heavenly body through her lashes. Then she gasped. ‘Ah! Luna… I’m not imagining that giraffe in the sun, am I?’

Luna cast Rarity an incredulous glance, averting her affront after a second before suppressing a chortle. ‘Rarity! That’s no giraffe,’ she said, the only one of the three looking directly into the eye-watering sunlight, ‘That is Daybreaker.’

Rarity’s jaw dropped as she peered again, realising as the painful solar luminescence dimmed from white to yellow that she was looking at a fiery alicorn wearing quite the golden-armoured fashion disaster, her streaming mane ablaze with cosmic fire and fangs bared. Her wild black eyes somehow penetrated the blinding light glaring at the moon, which diminished by the second as she took up every bit of the sky in her rage. The noise frequency lowered into bitter, hateful laughter, and she slung her head back as it boomed across the mountains. As she glimpsed the sun on her breastplate Rarity realised this was, if not Princess Celestia herself, certainly some kind of malevolent perversion of her warmth and light.

Rarity felt the heat acutely now, as though her current guise was beginning to wither in the thrall of Daybreaker’s blistering heat. As she looked around the valley she indeed saw its once-verdant purple foliage shrivelling up dramatically. She looked down at herself and saw she was bleaching in the unremitting rays, and she started to fear that she was close to bursting into flames herself despite Luna’s presence.

‘Luna, that’s Celestia! What is she doing?!’ she gasped, turning to Luna, who continued to quietly observe.

‘She is, and she isn’t. As I said, that is Daybreaker. Rest assured that she will never exist in our reality, but in others Celestia too gave in to… well, perhaps not literal darkness, but certainly the same malign influence. Excess of light can itself cause great calamity. In your own dream–’

Luna was drowned out by a cry like thunder as fire spouted across the horizon, silently breaking the moon into smithereens that hurtled across the burning sky in dramatic slow-motion. Dispersing dust in the atmosphere combined with the mist, and everything turned blood-red and black.

Once she was satisfied with her progress on the one-mare cataclysm she’d created, Daybreaker turned to look to the ponies in the valley below. ‘I see you down there, my sad-sack little sister! Why don’t you lighten up once in a while, you pathetic little foal?!’ The sheer spite in her voice barely resembled the calm, dulcet tones one associated with Celestia, but the cadence was unmistakable.

Rarity was beside herself, shivering with her hooves over her eyes as Luna sighed in annoyance. ‘Oh, you saw us watching sooner than I expected. Well, fly away now, Daybreaker; you don’t actually exist. This was merely a demonstration for my friend here!’

‘What? I’ve just destroyed your entire purpose with a single thought. Next, time to des– AAAHHHH!!’ Daybreaker’s threats were interrupted as Luna craned her neck, and without even standing, sucked the smoky apparition that a moment ago was on the brink of smashing the whole world in this dream into her horn. It glowed red for a second, before cooling.

‘And with a single thought, I can put you right back into your place,’ Luna said, her quip betraying little emotion.

All was dead in the valley now, besides the two ponies and the possum, who folded his shades away. Luna took them and casually put them on her muzzle as she stood, and Rarity parted from the canopy of her feathers. ‘My goodness, what an appalling vision, Luna! You say she was what Celestia became in another reality? I suppose I shouldn’t be too surprised given the unending possibilities out there, but I’d never imagined…’

Luna’s stoic serenity fell away, and she looked at Rarity with a frown. ‘Starlight Glimmer imagined it, and I have indeed in the past observed, indeed participated in, a world in which she was… transformed into that. I don’t disagree that it is quite terrible to see my sister turned to such a state.’

When Luna didn’t speak further, Rarity ventured in a low voice, ‘Indeed. So… if you don’t mind my asking, why did you show me this Daybreaker?’

Luna lowered her shades, surveying the damage of what was now a post-apocalyptic waste. She looked left, then right at the dusty crags that surrounded them, and the dark red sky that was filled with pulverised fragments of the moon that still gave off dim smoke, then blinked slowly. ‘One moment, Rarity. Another change of scenery would benefit us greatly,’ she said.

This time there wasn’t even a portal; Rarity felt the ground disappear from beneath her hooves momentarily before the blasted scene was replaced by another scene of vegetation, this time an island populated by giant, glowing pink and violet flowers that appeared to be floating in an ocean of stars. This was plainly a sanctuary, or at least, Rarity hoped nothing would catch fire a consecutive third time. A cool breeze wafted through the grasses around them, feeling like a gentle caress of assurance following their previous, inflammatory dreamscapes, and a much brighter full moon, whole once more, shone overhead.

‘Ah… so good to be back,’ Luna breathed, tossing her translucent mane and relaxing once their transportation was complete, ‘I’m sorry, Rarity. To answer your question, while it is true that I could have simply told you, I feared you’d not believe me if I tried. My point was that anypony can fall prey to such evil, even the sunniest of us. Besides, by the look of you before, some exposure therapy was required, was it not?’

‘The sunniest…’ Rarity was confused, then yelped as she looked down upon her white fur. ‘Oh! Oh, I, I’m back to my usual fabulous self. Did that happen just now, or…?’

Tiberius hopped off his mistress’ shoulders onto a leaf that protruded from one of the towering flowers’ pink-streaked stems, and he laid there as she continued. ‘I didn’t think you’d noticed. Daybreaker relieved you of that guise,’ Luna chuckled as she circled the blue, velvet reclining couch at the island’s centre, ‘It melted right off you when she turned up the heat.’ She sat on the ground and gestured at it, ‘Please, take a seat. You are a guest, but I only keep one couch here as I tend not to receive many.’

Rarity obliged, looking around in wonder. ‘Thank you very much, Luna darling. Ah, this place… is this your home, in, um, the dream world? I rather like it!’ she said, surprised.

‘My home is in Silver Shoals now, Rarity, you know that!’ Luna grinned, ‘Dreams are… well, by definition they are inconstant, and it is difficult to call any one “home”. This is, however, a construct of memory and imagination I like to visit, solitary but calm. Call it my happy place, if you like. Nothing bad can happen here unless I will it.’

Rarity wriggled around on the couch, lying on her back for a moment before turning onto her side. ‘You could make a second couch, you know. You just created those shades for me, after all.’ As she made mention of them, she realised that she no longer wore them, nor the ill-gotten trinkets bestowed upon her by Burnferno.

‘Unnecessary,’ Luna said simply, before adding, ‘I’m comfortable like this, and I do not wish to meddle with the carefully balanced aesthetic I’ve got here. Now, I believe I’ve dominated our discourse this far in… you made clear in your letter to me that you’d wished to speak further on matters related to…?’

The night walker stopped, and Rarity looked down at her from the couch, flipping entirely onto her belly much as Tiberius was lounging on his leaf, crossing her front hooves beneath her chin. ‘To…? Oh, I believe in turn you’ve received quite the eyeful of my own anxieties already tonight, Luna darling, but yes, yes I did. Primarily about Nightmare Rarity, truth be told. Shortly before his recent… calamity, which you may or may not be aware of, dear Spikey suggested I speak with you regarding such unacknowledged matters, after we watched a changeling play while visiting their Hive recently. It gave me a little pause for thought upon related matters.’

Luna inhaled. ‘Ah, that play about flying to the moon the young changeling you used to teach was writing… Ocellus, yes. I’d been aware of that, since they have a mild fixation on me over there in their creative endeavours. She was quite anxious before that performance, you realise. Did it go well after all that buzzing around?’

‘I was quite aware, but the play itself went swimmingly, Luna dear,’ Rarity smiled before frowning again, ‘Lovely songs, wonderful acting, and they adored the outfits I crafted. Her old classmates, my dear apprentice Yona and her special somepony Sandbar, gave an exemplary performance! If only that had been the entirety of the evening…’

Rarity inhaled through her teeth, and Luna ended that thought. ‘Say no more, Rarity, I am aware of Spike’s altercation afterwards. Twilight Sparkle informed Celestia and I some days back, as well as of his subsequent travels. Have the two of you communicated since then…?’

‘We have, immediately before I slept tonight as a matter of fact,’ Rarity confirmed, ‘He’s stopped by at the Crystal Empire for the time being. I have an inkling that our Princess Mi Amore Cadenza will know what to do with him better than Twilight or myself in the aftermath of what happened.’

‘A most dreadful happenstance, given what he was already concerned about,’ Luna tisked, ‘Although I do have faith in Cadance’s ability to help our little dragon friend get back upon his feet. As for yourself, Rarity… do you wish to probe further into the particulars of your worries while we’re speaking?’

Rarity put a hoof to her cheek, her sapphire gaze casting upwards at the stalks looming above for a moment before deciding, ‘I do, Luna, although… well, my own reasons for failing to resist the nightmare forces that, ah, night… well, they feel a little silly, compared to yours, I’ve always felt. Am I correct?’

‘A relative statement,’ Luna said, raising an eyebrow after a pause, ‘And one I must take issue with, Rarity. If you expect me to say yes to that, well, I refuse – to say any one mare’s inner turmoil trumps another’s, as if one’s troubles were a contest of some description, would be rather churlish. Heaven knows I see enough tossing and turning over seemingly minor things on a nightly basis to know such judgements are extremely unhelpful.’

‘Perhaps so, but until Spikey-Wikey and I broached the topic I’d, well, found the whole thing a rather embarrassing memory, that’s all, not something to overcome as much as simply leave forgotten, lest it reopen old wounds. My own fear of being forgotten and replaced, consigned to the dustbin of history, as it were… just seems so trite, even if it left me open in much the same way as yourself.’

‘Everycreature has their insecurities, Rarity. Yours were, and remain, quite valid, as valid as mine. For another example, our princess didn’t judge Starlight Glimmer for the impetus of her cutie mark removal cult, did she?’ Luna said, straightening her back and spreading her wings, ‘In the grander scheme being parted from Sunburst as a filly was such a small thing, but it was intensely upsetting to her. Uplifting and rehabilitating her was Twilight’s main priority in the aftermath, not belittlement.’

‘That she didn’t, admirably on her part. Starlight was reunited with Sunburst, and she’s doing quite well as a mother and headmare at the School of Friendship these days rather than, ah, destroying reality! Quite the turnaround, truth be told.’

‘Yes, just like either of us, and for my part, Celestia and her attendants spent some time rehabilitating me after my return. I’m honestly the happiest I’ve been in a thousand years since banishing the Tantabus, low bar that may be according to some, and as for you… well, your clothing empire appears to be coming along quite well, unless I am somehow mistaken?’

Rarity’s curls bounced as she nodded enthusiastically. ‘Why, yes! Of course I’m busy with it much of the time, though I’m on hiatus until next week, but you know, one must observe one’s vacation time. It isn’t just the clothes, you know, although they are tantamount; I do have quite the professional network spread across Equestria to keep things ticking over. Sassy Saddles in Canterlot, Ms. Pommel over in Manehattan, Chiffon Ruffles in Baltimare; to say nothing of up-and-comers like Pistachio out west…’

‘Yes… between that and your fellow Elements of Harmony you’ve not let past mistakes get in the way. I admire that,’ Luna observed with a thin smile, ‘Far from myself. I was never much of a social butterfly.’

‘Spike says similar, that I always “bounce back” from my errors, and I suppose he’s right. Although regarding Nightmare Rarity in proximity to that statement… that was just for a few nights, not so much time for it to stick, fortunately. The girls and Spikey did everything they reasonably could to drag me back out of that mess, though not before I, ah…’ Rarity stopped in her tracks.

‘Not before I fainted dead away after just one attack from you?’ Luna finished Rarity’s sentence with another lone chuckle, looking into her eyes.

‘Well, yes!’ Rarity replied, ‘I am most apologetic over that entire episode, by the way, regardless of how long ago it was. Conduct most unbecoming of a lady, truly.’

‘All water under the bridge, Rarity. You say it was your fear of being forgotten that left you open… for me it was anger and insecurity at Celestia being the “favoured” alicorn out of the both of us. Starswirl, our tutor and mentor in the early years of our responsibilities, wasn’t shy to judge one of us as more worthy than the other.’ Luna paused, pained by the recollection, ‘Upon reflection I suppose he was inclined to put Celestia on a pedestal after those years he’d spent painfully raising the sun with a half-dozen other wizards until we came along, but at the time… well, as the princess of the night, it felt as if I were a despised afterthought on several occasions.’

‘I see,’ Rarity nodded, ‘And then he up and vanished one day without warning the way he did with the rest of the Pillars, and neither of you had any idea why. That must have been horrible, Luna. I’m so sorry.’

‘It gave me… a complex. It gave both of us complexes, really; inferiority for myself and superiority for her, I suppose. It only became worse after she was lavished with all the credit for stopping Discord back when he was at his worst. I was a distant second fiddle to the throne as far as ponies in general were concerned after that.’ She ended that observation with a snort of bitter amusement.

‘You poor thing,’ Rarity said, leaning closer, ‘Sisterly relationships can turn sour, even without tacit endorsement from one’s guardian, as well as one’s subjects! Our own parents never gave either Sweetie Belle nor myself much in the way of special treatment, but even so the two of us have been known to lock horns over certain things. I can only imagine the strain you must have been under at the time.’

‘Consider yourself fortunate, Rarity. I held so much against Celestia for so long… granted, I was trapped inside my own nightmare, much like yourself, for the duration of being Nightmare Moon, and not in control of my own actions until you and your friends freed me, but still… I would have been susceptible to it all over again afterwards if I hadn’t realised something important. So important it changed my entire world irreversibly.’

Rarity’s curiosity piqued as Luna drew a long breath. ‘In a thousand years I never questioned whether Celestia would be long deceased before my return, but… she waited for me. For a thousand years! No offence, Rarity, but you don’t know how long that truly is unless you’ve lived it. When Starswirl crafted our crowns, he told us they gifted immortality to their wearers. It would have been the easiest thing in the world for her to have decided Nightmare Moon could be some future monarch’s problem. If she were the shallow, duplicitous pony I’d thought her to be all that time, she would have been long gone. But she waited for me.’ Luna shed a tear as she laid that out to Rarity, then another, ‘And there aren’t words…’

Rarity leant forward as Luna’s bottom lip wobbled, and she reached out to the dream walker. ‘Oh, Luna, sweetheart… oh, come here, darling. There’s no need to cry.’

‘Excuse me so much Rarity, I didn’t mean to vent like this. It’s just… I don’t talk openly about this much,’ Luna sighed, a few seconds after taking Rarity up on the offer of a hug. She sniffled into her arms as she spoke further, ‘We still bicker over little things sometimes, but I am grateful for her; I’m so, so glad Celestia is my sister. At the end of the day, should all become night, I’d do anything for her. Twilight may carry the crown nowadays, but the bond between us remains stronger than ever. I love my sister.’

‘So do I, sweetheart,’ Rarity said, patting Luna on her back before straightening up slightly and clarifying as she blushed, ‘Ah, I mean, my own sister, Sweetie Belle that is, although I have quite a strong groundswell of goodwill towards Celestia as well! Ah, ableh, um…’

‘No, I understand,’ Luna said, withdrawing from Rarity's embrace, ‘As I said earlier, you remind me of Celestia, just a little, and your relationship with Sweetie Belle mirrors that between my sister and myself. Fragile at times perhaps, but worth persevering with.’

The two of them fell silent as Luna wiped her tears away with a flick of her mane, and Rarity marvelled as the droplets looked to join the twinkling stars of her mane. She wore a thin smile as Luna looked back to her, her own eyes feeling watery, the rest of her awkward but glad to have shared a moment like this with her.

Then she cast her gaze at Tiberius and gasped, then burst out laughing as he looked back at her with beady eyes, hanging upside-down now by his tail from his leaf’s stalk. ‘Hmm? What’s so funny, Rarity?’ Luna asked, unsure whether to be offended as Rarity rolled onto her side, nearly onto the ground as she laughed and laughed.

Rarity’s sudden roar subsided into a giggle before she composed herself. ‘Hee… I just recalled where I’ve seen your possum before, Luna – alongside Celestia’s phoenix Philomena at the Sisterhooves Social a few years ago! Oh, you and Celestia were having quite the quarrel that day until somehow both your pets were the size of a Manehattan skyscraper each. Then the two of you had to zip around taking care of the situation while Sweetie Belle was strapped to Celestia during the six-legged race, and I was tied to you. I didn’t recall his face nor name until now, but I remember his size! And I remember the nausea from being airborne the entire time. I suppose that’s a case in point about our relationships, isn’t it?’

It was Luna’s turn to burst out laughing, and Rarity joined her. ‘Oh dear, so it is! I had forgotten about that entire episode, truth be told,’ Luna said after she’d spent a moment rolling around in the grass giggling herself silly. ‘My apologies once again for that mess, my friend – we were not really ourselves that entire week and you both got caught up in it. Blame it on an overly spicy diet as much as any antagonism between siblings. Ah, to me, Tibbles.’

One hoof outstretched, she beckoned to the little possum, who obeyed his mistress by letting go, swinging by his tail with a leap back onto her shoulder. Rarity laid back onto her stomach once he’d resumed his place and, gingerly at first, stretched out her own hoof, feeling bold enough now to touch him. Tiberius didn’t mind, gently poking its underside with his whiskery pink nose before hopping atop where Luna had once rested her crown. ‘Ah, I admit it, I was nervous at first, but he is a sweet little creature,’ Rarity said dreamily, ‘I can see why you’d keep his company when he’s not about to flatten Sweet Apple Acres.’

Luna simply chuckled in response, rolling her shoulders and plainly enjoying the sensation of little paws upon her scalp. ‘I’m happy that you’re warming to him, then.’

‘Ah, you know me, trotting carefully around the new and unproven initially, but I shan’t reject it without good reason. Fashion has to keep an open mind if it’s to evolve, after all. The alternative is… ugh. Those stuck-up louts at Onthebridle & Bits, say, are quite representative of what happens when it’s buttoned down too tightly in the name of pure profit.’

Luna nodded. ‘It isn’t just your mind you keep open, Rarity. Your heart, too, is open to anycreature, so long as they seek no harm. With that, I think you’ll go far down the path you’ve chosen.’

‘What can I say… Fluttershy rubbed off on me over the years…’ Rarity answered, feeling a yawn accumulate in the back of her throat. She stretched a back leg as she let it out in a breathy squeal, then observed, ‘This is a truly lovely couch you have here, Luna darling. Are you certain you don’t want it back?’

Luna cast her a look as serene as the galaxy surrounding the island. ‘I’m fine on the grass, Rarity – rest if you wish after all that fire and fury before. Ah,’ she paused, before levitating two objects with a sparkle of her horn, ‘Before you do, I believe I have something of yours.’

‘Hm?’ Rarity grunted quizzically as she rested her chin on her hooves, then opened her eyes as the two halves of the fire ruby she’d torn out of herself before Luna had entered her dreams landed in front of her, one after the other. ‘The fire ruby! In that rather heated battle earlier I suppose I had relinquished it! Oh, and it’s broken in two…!’ she cried in dismay.

‘That apparition you fought with broke your heart, in a manner of speaking, I don’t doubt,’ said Luna, ‘But do not forget this is a dream. If you want it fixed, well, that’s up to you.’

‘Of course I do,’ Rarity said, a protracted sleepy croon in her voice, ‘I unearthed it very recently, after the same discussion with Spike that prompted the letter I sent you. It’s incredibly important to both of us, regarding Nightmare Rarity and his own past, um, awkwardnesses.’

Luna didn’t answer. It was definitely the encroaching drowsiness that prevented Rarity from understanding what she’d meant, but then it hit her. ‘Oh, I see. Yes, I want to fix this precious gem, but will it work?’ she asked, staring at it and concentrating in much the same way she’d tried and failed to shed the nightmare guise she’d embodied previously.

Luna looked serious as she watched Rarity work her magic on the fire ruby. ‘Believe,’ she said, ‘Truly believe.’

Rarity’s horn glowed, and she felt strange pressure and heat spread from it to behind her eyes, as if she were experiencing a fever as she took Luna’s advice; she had to believe she could heal the fractured jewel. She rubbed the two pieces together and they shimmered in the grip of her magic, taking a little more effort besides, but she soon saw it was working; Rarity’s ardour was soon rewarded by the two halves merging with a quiet “pching!”.

The pressure subsided. She felt a bead of sweat trickle down from her brow to her jaw as she let it go, then inspected it to be positive it had worked. Luna likewise leaned forward for a moment, before facing her again. ‘Good work,’ she smiled, and Rarity saw the fire ruby was flawless once more.

‘Ooh, difficult,’ Rarity said, taking the ruby in both hooves, finding it warm to touch, ‘But I wouldn’t much like to leave things like that. Ah, it wasn’t broken in the real world, was it?’ She punctuated that question with a yawn she didn’t attempt to stifle.

‘No, only in dreams,’ said Luna, ‘Nevertheless, it is an important object to you. One can do worse than cherish those regardless of the realm within which they exist. Trust me,’ she winked, to which Rarity responded with mild confusion.

‘Ahem, of course, I suppose tying up loose ends never hurts,’ she answered, before rubbing her eye with a hoof, ‘I must say though, I was already faltering somewhat but doing that… well, I’m rather tired, Luna sweetheart. You really don’t mind me commandeering this couch?’

‘Rarity, stop apologising! You are a guest here,’ Luna betrayed faint irritation as she sat back down, then snorted with amusement, ‘And this is the single greatest place to rest in all of the dreamscape, by my own decree. I like to think I know what I’m talking about!’

‘I shall, I shall, I shall,’ Rarity said, closing her eyes almost involuntarily, yawning before continuing, ‘My apolog– I mean, I graciously accept. You know, if I weren’t already dreaming I’d say this was the perfect… place to sleep…’

And with that, she relaxed totally; and with that, Luna watched as she slowly shimmered and dematerialised, awakening back into the real world of Equestria. ‘Have a nice day, Rarity,’ she said to herself, ‘I’m glad we’ve had this talk… may we speak again sometime.’


–––✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*💎*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧–––



Rarity stirred with a groan and a wriggle, turning from her back onto her side, feeling something hard pressed against her chest. ‘Mwugh… Luna, darling…?’ she murmured, already feeling like something important was fading from her memory, before feeling herself collide with something papery. She tried to remove her night mask only to find it blocked, and she squirmed in her disorientation for a moment before realising there was a rolled-up parchment nestling around her horn.

‘Oh!’ she breathed, before tossing the red blankets off herself and sitting upright, her mane matted and loose around her shoulders, her Safeshadow Amulet hanging over her muzzle and her shaggy pink nightgown loose around the rest of her, ‘Ah, I believe I’ve become entangled. One… thingy at a time, Rarity,’ she mumbled, not quite awake.

She shot the scroll off her horn a little too forcefully. It popped off like a firework with a “shunk”, and its trajectory sent it airbourne for several seconds as she removed her mask properly, just in time to see it land. Then she looked down at whatever hard object she’d had clutched to her furred bosom overnight, realising she was holding the fire ruby.

‘Did I cuddle that darned gemstone all night…?’ Rarity questioned, placing it back onto the bedside table and letting her amulet fall over her chest fur, before looking at the scroll that had landed on the bedroom rug. ‘I definitely didn’t take it to bed with me– oh, another message from Spikey!’ she exclaimed, almost hopping out of bed to retrieve it before pondering, ‘And Luna… oh, I don’t really remember now. I think Luna visited my dream… and I remember… Daybreaker.’

She paused, blinking stupidly in a failure to recollect, birds singing and the sun streaming through the window before concluding, ‘Daybreaker? It was the name of… somepony… and it’s daybreak now… oh, the intangibilities will return to me. What did Spikey-Wikey write?’

Horn magic levitated and unfurled the scroll in front of Rarity, and she trotted out of the room with her nose deep into it. Her bed laid unmade in its owner’s neglect for an entire five seconds before she popped her head back around the door. With a telekinetic smoothing over of the undersheet and a flap and replacement of the blankets, she apologised to her own bed aloud. ‘Oh, my mistake! It’d never do to return to that after a busy day. There you go, darling,’ she mumbled again before looking at Spike’s third letter.

It read:

“Hey Rarity,

One more thing! Indulge me while I experiment a bit with fire breath scrolls. Shining Armor gave me an ice cream coupon he’d pocketed and forgotten about last time he took Flurry and Cadance to Canterlot, and he said I could have it. But… I want you to have it! I’m gonna pin it onto this scroll and see what happens if I send it your way. Check below my signature; if there’s nothing there, well, experiment failed. But if it does work, enjoy a free scoop!”

That’s all! Looking forward to hearing from you in the morning,
~Spike 🔥 x”

Below Spike’s signature, Rarity found there was indeed a coupon; a little drawing of a pink unicorn colt and a blue pegasus filly wearing bibs and licking their lips as they beheld a huge bowl containing every colour of ice cream imaginable, next to text exclaiming, “Limited time only! Save your bits at The Castle of Lots ’n’ Lots’a Slop! Take a free scoop of any ice cream of your choice along with another scoop of equal or greater value. Coupon expires on Hearth’s Warming Eve.”

Rarity scanned the short but sweet letter twice, a smile spreading across her face. ‘Oh, Spike…’ she muttered under her breath as she blinked the sleep away, ‘I appreciate the sentiment, but I’m unsure if it would work after being sent via dragonfire! Ah, perhaps I’ll give it a go when I’m in the city next week.’

Contemplating strawberry and cinnamon ice cream she inhaled, suddenly gagging as that delicious flavour memory was rudely overridden by the waft of burnt toast. She immediately knew what it meant; Sweetie Belle was at large downstairs, making breakfast.

Rarity straightened her face and rolled Spike’s message back up, inserting it into her pocket. She tightened her nightgown around herself before trotting to the top of the stairs, an overly-cheerful affectation trilling, ‘Oh, Sweetie Belle~! Are you making breakfast down there, dearheart?’

A short, sharp shriek was the response, along with something hitting the kitchen floor with simultaneous “splat!” and “clang!” sounds. ‘Rarity!! You weren’t supposed to be up so soon! Go back to bed so I can surprise you!’

‘Absolutely not! I’m coming down, darling. I can’t offer my guidance on culinary matters if I’m still asleep now, can I?’ Rarity answered back, descending the stairs and quite prepared for the mess that was bound to ensue. It was time to seize a new day, and how better than by making breakfast with her beloved sister, regardless of how singed it may turn out? She grinned, something in the back of her mind insistent that nothing was better than that.


–––✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*💎*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧–––