Twilight glanced at the candle. It was less than a quarter of its initial height and yet she didn’t feel tired at all. She let out a deep breath. It felt good to remember, like she had found a family heirloom that she didn’t even know was missing.
Then she noticed that something about the room was off. It was dark. Twilight held her breath in disbelief. The small candle was the sole light source in the room. Did something happen to the Sun? Considering that the last Pulse that reached the Sun left Princess Celestia blind and weak and outright put her sister into coma for decades, she didn’t want to even think about that possibility. Instead, she rushed outside.
The city was gone. Not just ‘empty’ or ‘destroyed’, a thick blanket of indistinct darkness enveloped the world in every direction. Twilight’s eyes frantically darted from one point to another, hoping to see anything – or anyone – familiar.
“What happened?” she asked herself aloud, “Did I miss it?”
At last, a shining star appeared in the darkness. It drifted towards Twilight, bright and firm against the backdrop of ghoulishly stale nothingness. When it landed, the world went silent, dutifully obeying the unspoken command.
“Really, Twilight,” the star said in a familiar voice, “You of all ponies should know better than to fall asleep when reading.”
The stranger stepped out of the light. Her coat was lighter in shade than Twilight remembered. She was much shorter than she used to be. But the most notable change happened to her mane. It was rippling through the air, countless tiny stars shimmering in it as the alicorn raised her head to meet Twilight’s surprised gaze.
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Luna smiled, “I assure you, I am very much not a ghost.”
“Luna!” – Twilight jumped forward to hug the blue alicorn – “I was so worried for you! But where– how– what– I thought–“
Luna returned the hug. “I’m really happy to see you, too. It’s been far too long.”
“I can’t believe that I’m saying this but please, tell me that Princess Celestia was mistaken. You don’t mean to destroy the Vault, do you?” Twilight asked with pleading eyes.
“I do.” Luna didn’t try to look away. “And you’re right to question why. As was my sister. Come with me and I’ll try to explain everything.”
Princess Luna’s horn erupted in a blaze of dream magic and three spectral doors appeared before the alicorns. The door closest to Twilight was slightly ajar, hot sulfurous air coming through the gap in the stone frame. The middle door was upside down with no visible handle. From a distance it looked like a pane of a multitude of different materials stuck together and painted over in just as many colors without any rhyme or reason.
The last door was the largest one, resembling a towering castle gate more than any ordinary door. It was made from a material resembling highly condensed dark blue clouds. Or at least that’s what I imagine it looked like, Twilight thought, before it became a charred ruin. Furthermore, in the present a large part of the door and its frame had collapsed, blocking the entrance. Twilight noticed that someone dug out a tunnel through the rubble. It was barely wide enough for a single pony to pass through.
Ultimately, Twilight decided to go with Luna. Despite what Princess Celestia said, she was still the same pony, her friend. Listening to what she had to say was the bare minimum of what she should do. Not to mention, Twilight just had to know how the other alicorn was using her dreamwalking powers dozens of years after all magic was declared an impossibility.
“If you say so,” she said. “I trust you, Luna, I really do, but I don’t know if there’s anything that could possibly justify what you’re suggesting.”
“Thank you, that’s all I wanted to hear.” Princess Luna stepped through the first door. Twilight followed.
The air was uncomfortably hot and reeked of sulfur. Twilight looked around. She was standing on the top of the highest mountain in the surrounding mountain range. Its entire peak had been mined out, revealing a flat granite surface used by the Dragon Lord as both his dwelling and a courthouse.
The Dragon Lord was the largest creature Twilight has ever seen. Although he was mighty and dangerous, causing the earth to shake with every step he took, he was also far from a simple brute. His slender, unbeastlike build coupled with a pair of small, intelligent eyes gave him the appearance of the legendary dragon-philosophers of old. An image that he carefully cultivated, making sure that his naturally golden scales were always polished to a mirror sheen. It was hardly a coincidence that the glistening scales drew every onlooker’s attention away from his wingless back.
The royal court was already in session when Twilight and Luna arrived. Hundreds of adult dragons were circling the mountain, the oldest of them landing on nearby mountain peaks. Before Twilight could see who interrupted Dragon Lord’s slumber, his voice echoed through the valleys.
“The wise and fair Princess Celestia,” he bellowed, “With the valiant and no less beautiful Princess Luna, to us better known under another name. Together in the heart of the Dragonlands. It is not a sight many Dragon Lords could claim to have ever seen. Welcome to the domain of Dragon Lord Thorn. What brings you ponies to the end of the world?”
Twilight squinted her eyes. On a stone pedestal opposite of the dragon lord stood two tall alicorns dressed in ornate sets of battle armor.
“We suspect that you already know,” said the white one.
“Of course I do,” responded Thorn, an ugly smile forming on his face. "How could I miss an impenetrable wall of invisible filth rapidly approaching the western border of my kingdom. I’ve lost three of my most elite warriors trying to fight it off before we realized it’s a purely magical phenomenon.”
“Our deepest condolences,” said Celestia, “But if you got so close, have you by any chance noticed any weak points that could be exploited? Details that might not be apparent to someone maintaining a safe distance?”
Thorn let out a raucous laugh. “For months I had hoped one of you would come here with a solution. Today I learned that you know as little as I do. More than that, you came here to ask for help to save your own kingdom, haven’t you?”
“With all due respect, you’re wrong, Dragon Lord,” said Celestia, standing proudly below the sea of swirling wings, claws and teeth, “We wouldn’t leave our neighbors alone against such a deadly threat. That is why I won’t waste any more of your time sugar-coating our advice; You have to take your dragons and head east.”
Thorn stretched out his body towards the Princesses until his enormous head was less than a hoof’s reach from Celestia. His gaze, previously calm and intelligent, flared up with anger. “Do not insult me in my own home, pony,” he hissed. “We dragons are fearless warriors. Tales of our conquests are told to scare the young of every civilized creature. The adults shiver in fear when we take flight, for we have only lost but once in our long history of wars against all manners of threats. No, we will not run away like stray dogs.”
Celestia took a few steps back and said, “You misunderstood me, Dragon Lord. You can’t stay here. Our studies are still underway but from what we’ve learned it’s clear that you will not endure. Instead, we’ve prepared a mountainous part of Equestria where your dragons could wait things out until–”
“SILENCE!” he roared, “We need not your pity, pony princess.”
“Is that so?” Princess Luna, who up to this point was silently observed the conversation, walked between the great dragon and Celestia. “Drop the act, Thorn. We’ve known your great-great-great-great-grandfather while he was smaller than a colt. And –“ Luna noticed that as soon as she started talking the dragons above their heads flew higher up “– I’ve also seen enough frightened dragons in my life to see through your empty threats.”
The dragon returned to his previous spot, his fake anger replaced by a genuine respect. He grinned. “The Dragonslayer of Havoc’s Pass speaks at last! The only pony to ever spill the blood of a Dragon Lord in a duel. We still tell the tales about that fight.”
“Then tell your subjects that what my sister has said is also my wish. We’re giving you the lands you once tried to take by force.“
“I can do that,” the Dragon Lord agreed, “but they won’t listen to anyone, not even to you. Since Dragon Lord Havoc’s death, every dragon swears to protect the Kingdom with their life.”
“I see,” said Celestia, “Your ancestor’s dragon code is being held in high regard. Is there nothing that can be done?”
“I’m afraid so. Unless –“ Thorn scratched his chin “– Wait here, I have an announcement to make.”
The mighty dragon turned away and stepped towards the edge of the cliff. His scales reflected the long rays of the sun, shining as if they were on fire. He cleared his throat to get the attention of every nearby dragon.
“Hear me, dragons!” he yelled, “For millennia we have thrived, spreading the tales of our might far and wide. We seized land, gathered treasure and sown terror in the hearts of weaklings. But as time went on, simple conquest proved to be not enough. To this end, the Dragon Kingdom was established and with it, the age of the Dragon Lords has begun.
“The Kingdom has served us well. We are now more numerous and wealthier than our ancestors could even imagine. But the times have changed once more. There shall be no more Dragon Lords after my death, that is my final decree. The Dragon Kingdom will pass into legend and you will be free to pursue whatever goals you deem worthy. Go to Equestria if you want to, carve our history into the stone of their mountains. Or stay here and watch the end of an age. The court is over!” With that, he released a large burst of green flame into the air.
Thorn turned back to Princess Celestia. “I made a mistake. I sensed your fear and assumed you were afraid of me and my dragons. But that wasn’t it, was it? When you spoke about the threat on our border you didn’t tell me the whole truth.”
“I didn’t lie to you, Thorn,” said Celestia, consternation written on her face.
“Perhaps. But as I said, you didn’t tell me the whole truth, either,” the dragon glanced at her, “You already know what your studies will show. That… thing will not stop at Dragonlands. It will eventually devour everything and there will be nothing anyone can do against it. Am I wrong?”
Celestia recoiled, struck by his words. “N… no. We can’t be sure yet,” she mumbled.
“As I thought.” A very sad smile crossed Thorn’s face. “And what do you make of it, valiant Luna?”
“As my sister has said, we still don’t know enough. But if you’re right –” she firmly placed her front hoof on the ground. “– we will still fight. Contrary to you, we’ll have nowhere to hide. And…” A shadow of a smug smile appeared on her face.
“And what?”
“And although we ponies may not be fearless warriors and no creature tells the tales of our conquests, we have yet to lose for the first time.”
Thorn laughed and lowered his head to meet the Moon Princess’s gaze. “Ha! I see the tales were true. You know I could take those words as an insult and challenge you both to a fight to the death.”
“You could,” Luna said with a calm nod that revealed no emotions, “And then you’d die.”
“And then I’d die,” the dragon agreed in an equally calm voice, “Die as the last Dragon Lord, one who fought a legendary opponent at the heart of our Kingdom. Indeed, I could do that.”
The dragons sensed the rising tension and started circling faster and faster. Princess Celestia adjusted her helmet. Princess Luna stood firm, preemptively preparing a shielding spell. For a moment, the dragon and the two ponies sized each other up in silence.
“I could,” Thorn finally broke the silence, “but I won’t.”
“You won’t?” Celestia and Luna asked simultaneously, the former relieved and the latter surprised.
“I will not.” The dragon walked along the edge of the cliff. “Because it doesn’t matter. I do not believe in the success of your quest but I wish you luck regardless. Farewell.” Thorn took a step over the edge and his massive body disappeared immediately.
He fell for a long time. The earthquake that followed was felt in all lands from the western edge of the world up to the capital of Equestria. But Twilight couldn’t have known that, for Princess Luna had ended that projection inside the dream well before the impact happened.
Twilight looked around in confusion. The landscape of the first dream remained unchanged, save for the stone door disappearing immediately after she and Luna went back through it. The stillness of the castle was especially eerie in contrast to the ubiquitous noise that permeated the Dragonlands.
She gestured with her hoof towards the former location of the stone door. “Was that real?”
“It was a real memory, if that’s what you’re asking,” said Luna, “But the events themselves took place almost three hundreds years ago.”
“Then why haven’t you or Princess Celestia told anyone about his sacrifice?” asked Twilight.
“He wasn’t always a bad ruler,” Luna responded, “We decided to let him be remembered that way. So did the dragons, it seems.”
“What do you mean, Luna?” Twilight blinked rapidly. She suspected that Luna wanted her to reach the conclusion on her own but none of what she just heard made any sense. “Thorn’s selfless sacrifice would–“
“His what?!” Luna interrupted Twilight with a hint of anger resonating in her voice. Although she was hiding it well, it didn’t slip past Twilight’s attention. “How many dragons have you seen take shelter in Equestria?”
“Zero, I guess?” Twilight was confused by Luna’s sudden outburst.
Luna furrowed her brow. She turned around and walked over to a pond in the castle garden. “Correct, not a single one abandoned their kingdom and returned with us.” She picked up a dozen of flat stones with her telekinesis and focused her attention on throwing them one by one. “Thorn must have known it would happen.” The first one skipped twice and sank with a plop. “He gave up on everything long before we arrived.” A stone skipped, then disappeared underwater. “Then he used us, my sister and I, to put up a show.” Another stone flew perpendicular to the water’s surface only to sink immediately. “I don’t doubt that he even tricked himself into believing that he was doing something noble, especially with the speech that he worked on so hard mere days before the end.” The next stone skipped four times before sinking. “But he simply chose to quit, selfish fool!” She dumped the remaining stones into the pond.
Twilight gasped and trotted over to Luna. The Princess of the Night was shaking. Twilight said, “Um, Luna, I… None of this is about some long dead dragon, is it?”
Luna wiped the tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. “I will say nothing more.” Her horn glowed and the mismatched door appeared next to them. “We still have two more memories I’d like for you to see before you cast your judgment. Shall we?”
They found themselves in the throne room. Nearby, Twilight from the past stood next to Princess Celestia, neither of them looking any different than their present day selves. They were discussing something when the gate suddenly swung open. The sound of many trumpets filled the room. The Princesses weren't especially surprised.
“So, you’re leaving.” Celestia said to a draconequus who had just entered the room. He was dressed in a Hawaiian shirt, with a pair of shades on his eyes and a travel bag in his right paw.
“Time is running out, my dears.” He theatrically checked the time on a nonexistent wristwatch. “I know I don’t look my age but the Pulses have been getting unbearable for me, too. One or two more and I might not make it to another world.”
“Another world…” Twilight scratched her head. “Discord, I take it this isn’t your first time leaving a world before it collapses. Is it always like this?”
“You mean some unstoppable cosmic energy vanishing every creature it touches?” Discord pouted, his sunglasses sliding slightly down on his face. “That’s typical, although some civilizations have managed to wipe out all of the intelligent life themselves, without any outside assistance.
“But let’s leave reminiscing for later.” Discord opened his bag and pulled out an old map of Equestria. “Speaking of, take this, Twilight. I marked some places you might want to visit. I even ordered them for your convenience!”
Twilight rolled her eyes and said, “Discord, I don’t have the time for a scavenger hunt! The entire Equestria is on the brink of destruction!”
“Oh, you don’t have to,” he patted Twilight on her head, “But trust me, you might want to. Don’t you want to fill those holes in your memory you’ve been complaining about? Besides, you might find that the real treasure was found along the way. Or something like that.”
“Let's say I’ll consider it.” Twilight sighed and reached out for the map.
“I know you will.” He grinned. “Oh, I might be some thousands years late but nevertheless,“ – Discord made an exaggerated bow to Celestia. – “thank you for not turning me into a garden statue again. Goodbye, Celestia.”
“Goodbye, Discord,” said Princess Celestia.
“Goodbye,” added Twilight.
“No, Twilight.” He swiped his claw through the air opening a dimensional rift. “See you soon, I hope.”
“Wait!” Twilight cried out, “How many times did you go through this?”
The smile momentarily left his face. Twilight thought he looked impossibly tired. “I lost count eons ago.” Discord snapped his fingers and disappeared from the room in a flash of light, closing the rift as he did.
Twilight opened her eyes. She was in an open field outside a small town. To an untrained eye, nothing would seem off. Twilight, however, spent enough time traveling to- and from- the lands overtaken by the Pulse to quickly localize an invisible border cutting the area in two. The most telling sign was the sound around the line. On its left side, the grass was unnaturally silent, not a single grasshopper could be heard playing there.
Princess Luna was standing next to her, still translucent. Twilight looked at her own hooves and noted that they’re also see-through. “Luna, where are we?” she asked.
“This memory is not over yet, look!” She pointed to a barely visible figure in the distance. “I’ll have to leave you soon but don’t worry, Twilight. I’ll open the way back for you when it’s time.”
The black dot on the horizon became bigger and bigger until Twilight recognized it as Discord. The draconequus lost his previous attire, now sporting an oddly-shaped metal helmet and a lance. He was riding a small flying pig.
“Hello again, Twilight! Long time no see, Luna!” He called out in her general direction, “I’m glad you made it. I’d make a fool of myself if you didn’t. I am, of course, not a fool.” His clawed arm detached itself from his body, crawled over the shoulder and patted him on the back.
Once he got closer, Twilight noticed large patches of gray hair on his neck and torso. They weren’t there during the conversation in the throne room. Discord folded his lance like origami paper and jumped off of his peculiar mount. The pig oinked and immediately flew to the town, scared. Discord groaned and made a number of pained steps in the opposite direction.
“Another world to leave and start over. Again and again and again. Insanity, isn’t that right?” He burst into a hollow laughter, the sound rising over the empty plains. “Perhaps I grew bored of it. Maybe it was something about Equestria or you, ponies, that convinced me to stay. Even now I’m not sure.
“Once I thought myself invincible; today I’ll prove myself wrong – in defense of a kingdom of Harmony, no less. The irony of that –” he snorted “– isn’t lost on me. Discord, Knight-Errant of Harmony.” He knocked on his helmet and it fell off, split in half.
“Farewell!” With one final step, Discord crossed the invisible line.
The world around Twilight erupted into flames. A wave of irrational panic washed over her body. It's just a dream, right? Surely Luna wouldn’t let anything dangerous happen if her dream powers have returned as she claimed, she tried to calm herself, the crackling of fire undermining her attempts.
Meanwhile the air itself started to burn with a strangely captivating multicolored flame. The inferno spread in every direction with newfound ferocity, consuming all in its path. No, that’s not right! Twilight pointed out to herself, It can’t cross the border to the safe area. Another wave of fear assaulted her. This time, however, Twilight kept her composure and identified the source of this sudden attack – it wasn’t her fear, the very air around her was lashing out in a blind rage.
And then it stopped, as suddenly as it started. Moreover, not a single blade of grass was scorched and not one leaf on a nearby tree damaged. If not for the smell of burned flora and a missing draconequus, Twilight would question if what she saw a moment ago had really happened.
She looked around. Luna was still nowhere to be seen. Thankfully, an open door was standing where she last saw her. She walked through it and once again ended up in the isolated castle shrouded by the night.
Luna was sitting on the ground, staring into the dark void enveloping the castle. Twilight wondered if the Princess of the Night saw something in that unending abyss.
“I apologize for leaving you out there,” said Luna, “I couldn’t endure experiencing that memory again.”
“It’s fine,” Twilight reassured her, “I think I understand why did you want me to see it. The Pulse slowing down after Discord’s… departure wasn’t a coincidence, right? He somehow weakened it.”
“That’s a part of it, yes,” Luna nodded, “He could’ve ran away. By all accounts he had the right to run away. But he didn’t, he chose to buy us time instead; for you to remember who you were, for my sister to finish her project and for me –“ she wistfully looked at an undefined point on the horizon “– to wake up.” She stressed the end of that sentence.
The two alicorns stood in perfect silence, Luna’s spectral mane rippling through the air. Her posture was firm, with eyes full of determination. Twilight thought that there was something comforting in the way she carried herself in the face of the approaching doom.
“There’s something I still don’t understand,” Twilight’s voice wavered, “ whose memory have I just seen? And for that matter, what did Discord do to achieve what no pony managed before? If he was able to slow the pulse by decades then the defense of the Crystal Empire led by Cadence should’ve had observable consequences, too.”
“Sharp as always, I see,” Luna smiled, her gaze still glued to a sight visible only to her. “The spell that he had cast that day was no ordinary magic. As for the memory –“ Luna pointed at the last remaining door “– the answer lies there.”
Twilight trotted over to the pile of rubble which has reappeared next to them. She squeezed through the tunnel and grabbed the gigantic handle. But no matter how hard she tried, the door remained shut.
“Wait, Twilight,” Luna called out to her, “Before we head there, you need to know that what you’ll see there won’t be just a regular dream or memory. That gate leads back to the remains of my dream realm. What you’ll see there may be more than slightly uncomfortable. Are you sure you still want to go?”
“I am.” There was no hesitation in Twilight’s voice.
The gate opened just wide enough to let the two ponies pass.
The dreamscape resembled an abandoned battleground. The few stars still shining were giving a dim glow, standing out among the sea of dead gaping holes left all over the sky in mockery of the constellations. The light was insufficient to illuminate the realm, leaving it covered in a sad state of permanent semi-darkness. Ugly gray cracks marked the ground and the sky like cosmic scars that never healed properly. Icy wind blew through these cracks, chilling Twilight to the bone.
She looked around. The rows upon rows of doors stretching towards the horizon in every direction were gone without a trace, alongside the dreams of ponies whose minds they used to lead to. All that remained was a couple dozens of doors arranged in a humble semicircle. And even between those few doors still left standing, all but two were buried in piles of heavy, charred dream matter. The door she used to enter this forsaken place was carved from a single piece of bright purple oaken wood. The other still functioning portal was cast from pure gold. Once upon a time it was decorated by elaborate bas-reliefs portraying Equestria's greatest victories, now abraded to the point of unrecognizability. It was closed shut.
Princess Luna was already waiting for her. She asked, “What do you think of my realm?”
“What happened here?” Twilight was shocked. After Luna’s warning she expected the dream realm to be in a bad state but the reality was so much worse than anything she could have imagined.
”It has seen better days, –“ Luna tossed away a large piece of the dream matter that rolled onto their path “– but it still exists, and is still under my control, limited as it were.”
“I don’t understand!” Twilight started pacing between the collapsed doors, rapidly spouting one sentence after another. “A Pulse severs your and Princess Celestia’s connection to the celestial and dream realms, almost killing her and putting you into a decades-long coma, then you wake up days before the end of the whole world and you’re – maybe not fine – but better off than anyone else, somehow even retaining some control over magic. A feat which was thought to be impossible for more than thirty years. Then you take me on a round trip to the memories of Equestria’s fall – including Discord’s which you couldn’t have seen for multiple reasons – to convince me that it’s good to sabotage the greatest project we have achieved in centuries. For a moment I was afraid that you started working for the destructive force that is devouring Equestria, but I know that it’s not true, I’ve seen how you react to the remnants of our world. So, Luna, please stop with these riddles and tell me what exactly is going on here.” Twilight had to stop and catch her breath.
“I could tell you –” Luna trotted over to Twilight and stretched one of her wings over the purple alicorn. Her voice lost some – not all – of its firmness upon seeing Twilight’s breakdown. “– but I still think it would be best if you saw it yourself. Some of what you’ve said isn’t quite true. Would you like to see what really happened on that fateful night?”
Twilight took three deep breaths to recompose herself and said, “Alright. Yes, I would. Where–“
“Here,” Luna interrupted her, the glow from her horn enveloping the world around them in a blanket of blue light, “You must stay close for the protection spell to work.”
The light gradually dimmed revealing a completely different scenery than the one they saw moments earlier. A multitude of stars cast their warm and welcoming light on an even greater number of doors filling up the world. It was only after some time that Twilight noticed how sparsely placed they were, with only one of every nine designated slots holding a functioning door in it. The rest were either empty or filled with fake doors that didn’t lead anywhere, marked by the lack of a doorknob.
The host of this realm had her back turned towards them. Even though she couldn’t have been more than a few inches taller than Twilight, her presence permeated every corner of the dream world. Twilight instantly recognized her armor. It was the same ornate design that she wore on her last trip to the Dragon Empire. She dug in her hooves and watched a gray rift slowly growing in the air right in front of her.
“Observe, Twilight,” said the shorter Luna standing next to her, “And don’t worry about that me. Things won’t look good but as you can see, I did get better eventually.”
“Luna, this was borderline suicide!” Twilight blurted out, concern and resentment equally apparent in her tone, “Why didn’t you leave this place like Celestia?!”
“I couldn’t let the dream realm be overtaken by the Pulse,” she said with a bitter smile, “Look around, Twilight. Do you understand where all of these doors lead?”
“Oh…”
“Yes, ‘Oh…’ indeed.”
A gray, shapeless mass seeped through the gaping hole in the fabric of reality. Princess Luna gritted her teeth and addressed the intruder directly. “You have to go back, whatever you are. I will not repeat myself.”
It didn’t react and continued to pool itself not far from the ponies. “So be it,” said Luna. The alien parasite was hit by an enormous lightning bolt from the sky. Luna followed it up with a heavy energy beam that made the air around it sizzle.
When the dust settled, Twilight gasped. Not only did the invading creature (assuming it could be called a creature) survive, it continued to grow all throughout the onslaught of magic unleashed by this realm’s Princess Luna. The latter, however, was hardly surprised. She furrowed her brow and whispered to herself, “There really isn’t any other way, is there?”
She closed her eyes and let the magic of the dream realm flow freely through her. The air grew thick, waiting for its mistress to command the power accumulated in the sky over the millennia. For a short moment, she felt every dream and every memory lingering in the minds of her subjects. Then, she let a lone spark leave her horn. It floated for a second before drifting into the ground.
The blue fire burst in every direction, setting almost every inch of the dreamscape aflame. Twilight and the other Luna were now standing on the only safe patch of land in sight. A piercing shriek rang out in the minds of everyone who could witness the inferno. It came from the nondescript gray mass whose entrance point to the dream realm was sealed off by the raging magical flame. It shrieked again, seeking to break its opposition.
But the fire didn’t listen. It reached higher up than anyone could see. The stars were exploding like light bulbs before its heat. The boundaries of the dream were cracking from the immense magic, chunks of the dream’s ceiling causing earthquakes wherever they landed. The alicorn at the center of the inferno dropped to her knees, her mane becoming one with the surrounding cerulean blaze. Her armor was long gone, melted down in seconds.
The shrieking stopped. The invading force was now only a tiny remnant of what it had been. Bit by bit, it ceased to exist with a satisfying sizzling sound. An order broke through the chaos and the fire retreated back towards the alicorn. Luna grinned with a triumphant smile and dropped to the ground, unconscious.
“Luna, no!” Twilight cried out. A blue hoof stopped her from running to help the collapsed princess.
“If you do that, you’ll only end up stuck here as I did,” Luna said, “or worse, given that you lack the inherent connection to this place that let me regenerate.”
She terminated the dream travel spell and soon enough the two alicorns found themselves back in the ruined dream world of the present. She waited for Twilight to start asking questions. But Twilight remained silent, proverbial gears grinding in her head until a valid hypothesis was found. Luna was perfectly content with waiting.
Some time later, Twilight’s ears suddenly perked up. She faced Luna – who busied herself with clearing the debris out of a ruined garden – and proudly exclaimed, “It doesn’t devour, it absorbs!”
Luna raised a brow. “That is correct. How did you figure it out?” She prompted Twilight to continue.
“Cadance and her Crystal Empire threw everything they had at the Pulse, and they lost without as much as slowing it down. So did the Royal Guard, now that I think of it, even with the support of the strongest wizards. But that didn’t happen with you or Discord.
“It didn’t make any sense until I found the key difference – Discord ignited the magic inside that thing. In your case, you prevented it from regenerating by turning all of the dormant magic around it into a scorching fire. But how did you know how to stop it?”
“It was a gambit,” Luna admitted, “one that I was not sure would succeed. When I first felt that thing worm its way into the dream realm, I noticed my magic in its vicinity was being drained. I tried the only thing I could think of.”
Twilight nodded, “And it worked. You briefly trapped it, whatever it is, here. That second memory wasn’t Discord’s as I initially thought, it was…” she trailed off, bothered by a contradiction she was about to say out loud.
“Yes,” Luna watched Twilight with a curious glance, “What you don’t know is that from its perspective, time only passes with the so-called Pulses. For us, Discord’s fight was still a decade away but in its mind, if it indeed has one, I saw it happen in real time.”
Twilight paced around the pond and the garden. Everything in the dream was perfectly still. Everything except for her, of course. And yet this was a different kind of stillness than the one she got used to on her expeditions. The gentle embrace of the dream was comforting more than it was depressing, calm instead of desperate, soothing rather than grating. The castle itself was a new development but its foundations were built on the legacy of billions of ponies who visited it over thousands of years. Despite its ancient history, the dream didn’t care that it would soon be unmade and forgotten. Twilight was jealous of that.
She took three deep breaths and sat on a bench overlooking the pond. She was stalling for time, hesitating to ask the last questions. She suspected that she already knew the answers but as long as the words remained unsaid she could at least feign ignorance to make the dream last a moment longer.
Luna silently teleported next to her and sat down without a word. Twilight looked at the empty benches on the opposite side of the pond and said, “It’s not right. There should be ponies playing and enjoying themselves.”
“There should be,” Luna agreed, “but there aren’t any. Reasons to celebrate have been scarce lately.”
Twilight turned her head and looked at Luna with uncertainty. “Luna, do you really want the Vault to be destroyed?”
“Yes,” she said, “but I won’t do it without your or my sister’s approval. If that’s the way Equestria wants to go, so be it.”
“But why?” Twilight raised her voice. “It’s an invaluable source of information! With it gone, there won’t be any trace of ponykind ever existing!”
“When I briefly looked into the Pulse, I saw many things. Above all of them, however, –“ Luna paused and looked Twilight in the eyes “– was fear. Twilight, it’s afraid of us. If we could replicate what happened here, then maybe, just maybe, we could achieve something no one has ever done before!”
“You don’t even know what you’re trying to accomplish!” Twilight fired back at her.
“It can’t be worse from building yourself a tomb and quietly waiting for the world to die.” Luna’s voice was firm but calm. “I felt echoes of every pony that got absorbed by the Pulse. We can’t just give up now. We owe them more than that.”
Twilight let out a resigned sigh. “I don’t know, Luna.” She shook her head. “I really don’t know what we should do anymore.”
Luna stood up and said, “I understand that it’s a lot to take in. I’m not asking you to decide right away. But there’s not much time left, either.” She walked in silence to the nearest portal. For Twilight, the dream faded away before she got there.