Cracking Dawn

by Didily Winkles


Chapter 10: An Obsession

Chapter Ten

Dawn was the first to wake up. April was on the other side of the bed, lying on her belly with her limbs stretched outwards, and taking up as much real estate as possible. One wing was fully out stretched gracefully flapping, pushing near to no air around. Dawn giggled at the sight. Huge bed equals a lot of territory for ponies to conquer in their sleep. Dawn just laid there, watching April fly in her dreams until she too woke up.

"Morning." Dawn greeted as the she pulled April closer to her with her magic.

April blinked the sleep away as she was dragged across the bed. April found herself in a warm embrace of an affectionate pink unicorn. "Look who's a morning pony today."

"It is a rare occasion I assure you." Dawn said into the back of April's neck. "You hungry?"

"Very. What time is it?" April asked.

Dawn lifted her muzzle out from April's mane to search for the clock she had put in here. "Only Six?" She asked, doubting the clock. She relaxed back into her embrace with April.

"Lemme go use your bathroom." April crawled out of Dawn's renewed snuggle and out of bed. "Then we can grab some food." April added as she walked out of the room.

Dawn flopped out of bed, meeting the ground with every bit of grace she could afford. Her muscles didn't complain for once. She did a quick run through of all her joints, working out the night's stiffness then made for the lower level of the room. She sat in her chair behind her giant desk looking towards the bathroom. Dawn's freshly awakened mind started to wander about as her comb worked through her mane and tail.

"You unicorns typically have such nicely brushed manes. Why don't you brush yours?" April asked. She had managed to sneak up on Dawn.

"I own a brush..." Dawn started to say. "Ready?"

"Yep. Where you want to go?" asked April.

Dawn's horn was aglow with a bright pink aura as she focused on the dining room. With a flash and a pop she landed on her feet in the dining room. April gasped for breath on the floor next to her. "Great way to travel in the morning huh?" Dawn asked, giggling. Dawn looked around the room while April recovered from her traumatic experience. Princess Celestia sat at the table, eating some of her morning cake.

"My word Dawn I thought your name was 'Incredibly Ironic'. I just raised the sun not 15 minutes ago." Princess Celestia said with a warm smile.

April, just now realizing whom she shared a room with, dropped to the ground in a low star struck bow. Dawn took a more forceful approach this time by pushing the reluctant mare into a seat with her magic. "You really need to stop doing that." Dawn laughed as she settled into a seat in between the princess and April. "Princess this is April Showers, inspiring teacher, and fillyfriend of yours truly." Dawn added.

Princess Celestia giggled at the display then put on a very warm and loving smile. "It is lovely to meet you dear." April remained silent, moving her lips with no sound coming out.

In a dark poof of smoke, Luna joined them at the dinning table after the sisters exchanged there usual greetings. Knowing April would be star struck with her sister here, Luna started to break the ice for her with offhoof questions about topics she and Dawn had talked about previous nights. A dozen or so stammered and mumbled sentences about her stance on clowns later, April was getting used to the princess laden atmosphere of the room.

"By the way Dawn, I finished your book. Twilight has it right now. I am sure she will return it to you when she wakes up." Princess Celestia said after finishing her morning cake. As if she was on beckon call, Twilight popped into the room with a flash of magic. "Good morning Twilight." Greeted the sun princess as she leaned over her chair to nuzzle the bed headed Twilight.

"Good morning." Mumbled Twilight, only half noticing and half registering April and Dawn as she took the seat across from them. Twilight blinked away the sleep, focusing on the less familiar mares across the table. The chef bounded into the room surprising only April. After quick bow he asked with his usual energy, "What can I make you this morning?"

"Waffles!" Luna proclaimed loudly. Twilight and Celestia winced at the morning energy of the night princess.

"That sounds good." Dawn agreed. April silently nodded her head in agreement as well.

"And you Lady Sparkle?" The chef asked.

"Waffles..." Twilight reluctantly answered.

"And you my princess?" Turning to Celestia

"Celly! Waffles!" Luna demanded.

Princess Celestia gave a reluctant sigh. "Waffles..." She admitted.

"Waffles..." Chef Stew repeated as he slowly backed out of the room.

"So 'Lady' Sparkle I understand you have my book." Dawn stated, inspecting the freshly out of bed Twilight. Twilight ignited her horn and in a flash of purple later she had teleported the book in front of Dawn. "Much thanks." Dawn said, lifting her tome to inspect it for any damage. When she found none, she let it dissolve it into her 'bank' where it belongs. Dawn let out a gentle sigh as stress, which she did not realize was there, relaxed in her neck.

"What's in the book?" April asked, turning awkwardly in her chair towards Dawn.

"Spells I've made up over the years." Dawn answered, indifferently. I wish she could appreciate them. As she answered the pegasus quickly lost interest.

"I would argue your life's work is in that book." Luna chimed in. "Ney! Your heart and soul!" Luna's wings flared up as she adopted an inspirational speech giving voice. "The very essence that makes you unique to this world is in that book."

"Wouldn't be far from the truth." Twilight agreed, as Princess Celestia quietly nodded while holding her head with a hoof.

"Yes, a tome full of the magical mysteries of Wingopolis." Princess Celestia added with a bite of derision. Twilight giggled as Dawn fell under a brief yet familiar glare from Princess Celestia.

"I would love to read it some time then..." April paused after gaining a few skeptical looks from the surrounding ponies. "I know I won't understand most of it but I would still like to see it." As if on April's command, the large tome reappeared in front of her. "Oh, thanks love." The pegasus pulled the book towards her, opening it with a delicate hoof.

"So... How long have you two been together?" Twilight asked, choking on the repercussions of her question after the fact.

"Quid pro quo Twilight." Dawn answered.

April gave out a heavy sigh. "That's rude Dawn..." She broke her gaze from the large tome she currently towered over. "It has been only about a month since we've been seeing each other more regularly." She answered, before returning to study Dawn's tome.

"That is not how you play the game..." Dawn mocked a pout for April benefit. "And what of you and...Oof!" A less than subtle kick of magic hit Dawn in the side, forcing her to stop short.

Spotting the purple unicorn's horn glow, Princess Celestia protested. "Twilight! What was that for?"

"Oh... Nothing... right Dawn?" Twilight was looking innocently and expectantly over to Dawn, grinning through her teeth.

"Oh! We saw Twilight with a very lovely young mare the other night sister. I think that is what she is trying and failing horribly to hide." Luna announced, indifferent to Twilight's pleas to shut up.

Princess Celestia's face stretched to a very wide grin. "Oh you don't say." She said, as she slowly leaned over the violently red faced Twilight. "Who is this lovely mare you have been keeping from me?"

"I haven't been keeping her from you..." Twilight was intent on avoiding the sun goddess's eyes. "I mean... Trixie... Her name is Trixie."

"What a fine name for some one who is dating my Twilight." Princess Celestia let up from Twilight, smiling all the same. "Now sister did you make this discovery by invading Twilight's privacy?" She asked across the table, now donning a more stern face.

"Of course not! It was all Dawn!" Luna accused, pointing a hoof towards the pink unicorn. "I wanted to take the chariot."

Sold out by my own teacher... "You don't say..." Princess Celestia and April both said in near unison.

Under the scrutinizing gaze of her fillyfriend and Princess Celestia, Dawn considered many different escape routes. Many of them included growing wings and flying through the glass windows up above. Just as the air got to its peak of intensity with scrutiny a cart bounded through the door of the dining hall loaded with five plates of...

"Waffles!" Dawn yelled in surprise, successfully breaking the glares of her fillyfriend and the sun princess. She magically served every one their waffles, much to the pleasure of the servant pushing the cart. Oh fluffy goodness that is waffles.

Princess Celestia let out a sigh of disappointment as she lifted her silverware with her magic. Luna was already devouring the unsuspecting waffles when the unicorns picked up their silverware. The only non-magical pony sat and struggled to hold a knife and fork at the same time.

"Unicorn food is so tasty but it's so impractical to eat..." April muttered as she fumbled with a fork.

Dawn laughed at the display. "Here lemme help you." She cast an animation spell on April's fork and knife. Controlled by the faint pink aura around them, the silverware started to dance around the plate like a tribal ponies of old. "Open your mouth when you want them to cut you a bite." Dawn instructed as she lifted her opened book into her bank.

"Oh this is your silverware spell from your book." April asked as a fork darted for her mouth with a bite sized waffle, nearly stabbing her eye as she turned to watch Dawn's book float away.

"Careful it has its flaws..." The fork jumped around the plate right after it delivered a second bite full into an already full mouth.

"One shouldn't talk with their mouth open." Luna laughed while chewing her own waffles.

Princess Celestia face hoofed.

Seeing a golden opportunity, Luna turned her attention to April. "So what are you planning on doing today April?"

Without thinking, April opened her mouth only to find it full with a new bite full of waffle.

"She wanted to check out the university and then fly over to Cloudsdale, check out the schools there." Dawn answered for the grateful pegasus.

Luna gave a small pout before shoving more waffle into her mouth.

April was the first to finish her breakfast. "Can I finish reading your book Dawn?" She asked while shoving her plate a fair distance away from her.

"Sure." Dawn replied with a mouth full, syrup dripping from the corners of her mouth. A moment later a tome was placed down before April. April retook her reading position from earlier, slowly leafing through the pages of runes she didn't understand and reading the spell titles, addendums, and spell affects that she did.

"What's this spell?" April asked, turning the book to Dawn. "Creation?"

Dawn peeked over to the book, knowing full well what the spell 'Creation' was.

"Demonstration!" Luna decreed.

The sun light that filtered in through the stained glass windows that lit the room, started to dim. Dawn's magic was already at work. An orb popped up from her horn and started to tick down from red to green. By the time it had ticked to green the only sources of light in the room were the sun princess's and Twilight's horn's which were feeding them their waffles.

The orb exploded into a disk of millions of glittering flares lighting up the room only to swirl and shape into a galaxy. The very same galaxy that was demonstrated only a week ago in Fatty Joes. The spell took its course, keeping the focus of all the ponies in the room until it shrank and exploded, allowing all the light to flood back into the room.

"Neat." April said after the finale before returning to Dawn's book.

The spell, however, had a profound affect on its creator. What if... Dawn's head was processing to its max capacity as she watched Celestia's horn glow with magic. The void, shadows, the devouring light, the small amount of facts that she did know about the subjects were just enough to give her a brilliant idea. She blinked out of the dining room to her room. She walked over to the large amount of scrolls and tomes Luna had gathered for her the other day. She pulled a couple off the shelf and flung them to her desk below. On second thought... Dawn lifted the entire collection of scrolls and Tomes. The collection flew over the railing to stack neatly on or near the desk. In a flash of her magic Dawn was sitting in her chair, levitating several scrolls open for her to read.

Blank sheets of paper sprung out from a nearby cupboard to be pilled on the desk. Her ink and ever last quill jumped forward from nonexistence. The quill danced along the paper as she read the scrolls in front of her. Dawn became so engrossed in her work she failed to notice the two alicorns, a purple unicorn and a sky blue pegasus behind her desk.

"Luna, what do you have her working on?"

"Star Swirl's Spell..."

"Why?"

"Who's Star Swirl?"

"Luna's last apprentice... Student."

"Dawn?" A hoof nudged Dawn's shoulder. Ignore it. Not important. This needs to be perfect. Don't want to miss anything.

Somepony let out a heavy sigh. "Sister I hope you know what you are doing."

"She will be fine..." A voice from behind her said.

"Come April. I hate to say it but I think we can only leave her alone. Why don't I join you on your trip to Cloudsdale."

"I thought Star Swirl the bearded' spell was lost when he died. He never taught any one. That it..."

"I think that is the point my sister is making Twilight."

----

The pages of paper Dawn had already written on filled the left side of her desk, towering high in an unknown organization. Everything was getting hard to see as the light that once flooded her tower dimmed. Dawn's eyes strained to focus. A flare of her magic later and light returned in an orange glow. She was levitating one of the last books of the Luna's collection, Black Star. Her quill tapped the bottom of the ink well with a clink. Another Ink pot jumped in the place of the empty one, knocking it to the others on the ground.

"You. Miss Duster, correct?"

"Ye... yes my princess. Feather Duster. How can I serve you?"

"Has Dawn eaten at all today?"

"Not to my knowledge Princess. She has been there behind that desk for the hours I came by to clean."

"Have any of you seen her get up to eat?"

"No my princess." Several voices answered in unison.

"Don't worry April. I can not. Will not, have a student that neglects her body like this."

"She doesn't do things in moderation... I never thought... I don't think we can force her..."

"I... What do you suggest we do than?"

Somepony let out a tired sigh. "She's been at this all day. She has to wear out... Right?"

"I don't know her well enough to make that judgment."

"Dawn?" Somepony pushed Dawn's shoulder again. Another hoof? Ignore it. I am so close. The hoof started to shake Dawn's shoulder. What ever it is, it can wait.

"I guess we wait like you said then..."

A warm press against Dawn's cheek. A kiss? Drop of warm water on my hoof too? Something to figure out later not now.

"Yah..."

---

Light flooded into the room. Dawn was in the shadows behind her towers of paper. Scrolls of all kinds stacked neatly in the shelves behind her. Her horn was still aglow as a quill engulfed in a pink aura scratched across a fresh piece of paper. It must be perfect... Dawn scrunched her strained eyes at the paper she was writing on. Such a simple answer... With one last rune written down, the quill took a much needed rest on the side of the paper. Dawn collapsed to her side, tipping over the chair and falling to the ground with a heavy thud. The cold marble was refreshing and welcoming. Sleep found her quickly.

Dawn walked through a disconsolate plane littered with heavy rain clouds. She kicked them with her feet so she could get to her destination. A daisy towered above her. It blew in a very cold wind that sent shivers down her spine. Dawn went up to hug the giant daisy. 'I am here' is all she could think. The daisy felt cold to Dawn's touch, forcing another shiver through her body. She backed away from the daisy.

The daisy turned around to face the pink unicorn. The face on the daisy was sad and lonely. "You betrayed me!" It whimpered.

"I would never!"

"But you did!" The daisy wilted to meet Dawn face to face. "You and no one else betrayed me..." It whimpered.

Dawn felt tears run down her face. "Please I'm sorry." She cried, holding out a hoof towards the daisy in desperation.

The giant daisy poked Dawn in the chest with a spiny root. It went inside Dawn as she gasped desperately for breath. It was suffocating. The daisy turned around away from Dawn.

"Dawn I trusted you." The daisy said from a distance.

Tears poured out of Dawn's eyes. She mouthed 'I love you' to the retreating flower but no sound came out. She gasped for breath instead.

Dawn awoke gasping for breath, tears still pouring down her face.

"Ahh, look who's awake." Said a light turquoise unicorn Dawn did not recognize. "Having a bit of nightmare are we?" A box of tissues was levitated towards her.

Dawn blinked fiercely to clear her eyes of tears. She was in her bed room at Canterlot castle. She sat up. Her entire body ached with a soreness she hasn't felt in a long time. She wiped her eyes with her hoof ignoring the offered tissues.

"I understand you've been asleep for a little over thirty-six hours. You were running a fever when somepony found you." The unfamiliar Unicorn said.

Dawn laid back down. It felt like she just spent a day working in the cherry fields with the earth ponies. The turquoise mare left the room, closing the door behind her. Dawn could hear voices outside but a dreamless sleep found her before she could listen in on them.

When she awoke again, Dawn was greeted by a lovely sky blue face donned with grey eyes and all framed with a white mane. Their eyes were locked, speaking volumes without a single word spoken. The grey eyes were hurt, sad and worried while the green eyes apologetic, confused and tired.

"Ah good you are awake." Luna said, breaking April's stare.

"It appears so." April replied.

"Good. Since this was self inflicted I will feel no pity to you Dawn." A dark blue aura lifted Dawn gently from the bed, dragging a bit of the bed sheets with her. "But..." Luna set her on the edge of the bed next to where a tray of vegetables sat. "Since you still have a use and because April has convinced me so..."

"The doctor's said you need to eat all of this once you woke up." April said, pushing the tray of food closer to Dawn.

"...I will forgive you just this once so long as you obey a condition that you never do anything like that again." Luna finished, taking a seat next to April.

"I'm sorry I didn't..." Dawn started to say. Her voice was raspy, stale, and weak.

"Think? Feel? What you did was utterly selfish." April snapped quickly. Her voice was seething with anger.

Dawn avoided April's eyes. They were painful to look at now. She ignited her horn to bring some of the food closer. Even her horn seemed to ache in protest as a large carrot was lifted to her mouth. As her teeth crunched down on the sustenance, she thought how she could make this better with the two mares in front of her. They apparently didn't like what she did. Her mind was unfocused and was failing her quickly.

"I'm sorry. I had no control over myself..."

"That's it? You had no control of yourself? So you are completely innocent?" April interrupted.

Dawn accidently looked April in eyes. A fresh wave of pain splashed into her gut at the sight. She quickly adverted her eyes to concentrate on her food.

"Tsk tsk tsk. I thought you smarter than that." Luna said as she got up. "I'll let you two settle things."

"No, there's no point in talking to her like this." April got up and joined Luna. "Eat it all." April said before walking out with Luna and closing the door behind her.

What am I a child? Dawn laid back into her bed, summoning more food from the trey to her mouth. She closed her eyes as she tried to focus her thoughts. "I can't think in this stuffy room!" She pooled all the magic she could focus on to teleport to the gazebo in the eastern gardens, hovering the trey next to her. Satisfied with her new surroundings, she walked around the tree in the center to watch the eastern horizon only to find that she was not alone.

"Good afternoon Dawn. Feeling better?" Princess Celestia was sitting on her quarters where Dawn took her nap the previous week. She spotted the trey Dawn was holding and connected the dots. "Ahh you just woke up. Come sit down. Don't mind me."

"Thanks." Dawn said in a raspy voice. Dawn sat down next to the sun goddess, setting down the trey in front of her.

"This is easily my favorite place to just think." Princess Celestia took in a deep breath of the perfume that permeated in the air. "I must say you had us all worried there for a moment."

"I'm sorry." Dawn admitted.

"Sorry for what?"

"For making you worry."

"Not for your actions? Not sorry for your selfishness?"

Dawn thought about an answer. It felt like shifting through fog for the sunlight. "No. I am a selfish pony and I am proud of what I accomplished."

"That is very big of you admit." Princess Celestia turned to face Dawn who was now munching on some of her veggies. "But are you prepared to pay for your actions?"

"I think I already did."

"Oh? Did you already talk to April?"

"No." Dawn closed her eyes. April's eyes were still burned into her mind's eye. "But I saw the damage that was done."

"I hope you have not already forgotten the conversation we had your first day here." Celestia turned back to the horizon.

"No Princess." Luna didn't seem hurt...

"Along with me, my sister, your fillyfriend you have also hurt my student as well."

"Twilight?" How'd that happen?

"Indeed. You were the first pony she had ever met that shares her love for magic. She was excited to be your friend. I believe she sent you a letter?" Princess Celestia gave Dawn a minute to let her words sink in. "She now believes you are conspiring against her, to embarrass her on a grand scale."

"Oh..." Dawn studied the ground below her in shame. I completely forgot about that letter.

"You have a lot of hearts to mend Dawn."

"I'm not so good at that..."

Princess Celestia turned to Dawn to pull her gaze off the ground. She gave the warmest smile in Equestria. "It will be hard work Dawn. I suggest you start with those closest to you."

A memory of April's eyes flashed before Dawn's, renewing a pain in her chest. She raised a hoof to her chest in attempt to assuage the pain but to no avail. With little warning to Dawn, tears started flow freely down her face sprinkling the gnarled roots below her. "How do I do that?"

Princess Celestia got up from underneath the tree and walked into the sunlight of the afternoon. "I can not tell you that. That is something you will have to figure out yourself." She looked back to the crying unicorn and gave her a loving warm smile before disappearing in a flash of sun light.

Dawn was alone. Alone with her thoughts. She wanted to turn off her brain. Her very thoughts hurt her. I messed up bad... How do I fix this? This question cycled through her head hundreds of times over the hour she stared at the horizon but no answer came.

Her mind spiraled around as it wandered only to find its center, April. She thought of nothing but April. How her mane smelled. How her coat felt against hers. How she was so smart. Kind. Dawn's horn lit up brilliantly against Dawn's will. Dark smoke snaked around her. She recognized this spell as the one she was in trouble for making. Relaxing and only thinking of April, she closed her eyes. She felt the world drop from under her. She was in the void. Absence of thought, light and magic. Her horn changed that. It had a mind of it's own as she soon found herself stepping down in a room with a hard floor. She opened her eyes to discover April sitting right there.

Dawn froze, she still hasn't been able to figure how she can make things right. You betrayed me Sir Casts'alot. April looked worn out, ragged almost. I don't know what to say. "I don't know how to make it up to you April..." Et tu? Stupid mouth. "But I will do anything." Dawn stood still in front of April with her chest threatening to tear itself apart. April just looked right back at her.

"You can say you won't do it again. I won't believe you but it will make me feel better. Or you can just not do it again." At this point April was totally occult and probably could have had Dawn do anything for her.

How do I respond to... "Alright." ...to that. Thank you mouth.

"Alright. would care to join me?" April offered a hoof with a small smile.

Dawn looked around her. She was in middle of what looked like a cafe. All eyes in the room were on her. "Where am I?" She asked, betraying her honest confusion.

"You don't know?" April asked, cocking her head as Dawn took a seat next to her. "It's the cafe down the street from the castle."

"Huh... and it is Monday?"

"No... Tuesday afternoon."

"Weren't you suppose to be home by now?"

April prodded Dawn's chest with her hoof. "I would be if you didn't go and do what you did. Luna spoke to your mom for me and got me a couple days off work."

"My mom?" Dawn was even more confused. "So she knows..." Dawn concluded.

"Every bit. She wasn't surprised in the least though." April cocked her head again as if trying to look at Dawn from a different perspective. "Dawn what do I do for money?"

"Uhh..." Postalmare? She doesn't work on the cherry farms... not a teacher yet.

April face hoofed at Dawn's inability to answer. "Your mom is my boss..."

"Cloud pusher?"

"Oh dear Celestia." April faced hoofed. That looks painful. April let out a groaned sigh as she slid her hoof down her face. She then scooted closer to Dawn and pulled her into a tight hug, kissing her cheek as they broke apart.

Best make the most of this while I can. Dawn wrapped her tail around April's. "You already pay for your drink?" She asked, unsure what she was going to do with the answer.

"Yep."

Dawn's horn lit up, this time on purpose. Dark smoke churned around them. Dawn kissed April, getting her to close her eyes and relax. The smoke pulled them through the void, gently placing them in the gazebo where she was just pulled from not moments ago. The strong smell of flowers penetrated the two mares' noses.

April opened her eyes to look around. "Where did you take me?" She asked, amused on how she didn't notice them teleporting.

"Eastern gardens. This is where I ate my food before my horn pulled me to you." Dawn answered, still quite in a daze from recent events.

"Your horn pulled you where-what now?" April asked, staring over the eastern horizon.

"Unicorn thing. Magic willed by the unconscious some ponies might say. Others may say it acts on basic instinct. All in all I didn't intend to 'pop' into that cafe... I think... Never has happened to me before... I think. Often happens when a unicorn's get their cutie marks."

April pecked Dawn's cheek, only to lean against her. They sat there in silence, taking in the scenery, the scents of the flora around them, and each others heart beats. Maybe love for me is to share silence with another pony. Silence with April could never be awkward. I hope... April extended a wing over Dawn. Clarity of thought was granted to Dawn for the remaining time she spent between that lovely wing and that beautiful mare. They spent the better part of an hour looking at the vast expanse of land before them.

"I should go talk to Luna." Dawn said, breaking a very blissful silence. "And I need to figure out how to apologize to Twilight."

"I could use a nap. Why don't you come join me after you talk to Luna." April said, flaring both her wings to take flight. "In your tower."

"Alright."

With a grace only a pegasus could summon April took to the sky supposedly to her tower, which left Dawn alone under a very comfy tree. Now to Luna. With the slightest thought, Dawn sunk back into the void. The absolute silence of the void was very welcoming if not brief as she could not stay. Light poured into her eyes as she found herself on a balcony over looking the west. Luna's tower.

"I am glad to see you did in fact accomplish what took Star Swirl decades." Luna was behind Dawn, reading a familiar book. Her book. "I thought it would take you months. But you managed to surprise me on many levels."

"It won't happen again." Dawn replied, looking over the edge of the balcony with an avid cautiousness.

"I am glad to hear it." Luna levitated the book over to Dawn for her to take. The aura around it shifted from a dark blue to a bright pink. "I took the liberty to add the last page of your notes to your book."

"Thanks." Dawn took note of a page slightly out of line of the others and then slipped the book into her 'bank'. "Your sister worries I hurt you."

"Ha! My sister thinks me a child who gets her feelings hurt easily." Luna stepped up to the side of the balcony where Dawn was overlooking. "I have not known you long enough for you to hurt me. Not quite yet."

"I thought so."

"Do not misunderstand me. I care deeply for you. You are hope. Your name is far from ironic for me. But you as a pony is another story."

"I understand."

"I knew you would." Luna said as she lifted a hoof to Dawn's shoulder gaining the attention of her eyes. "You and April?"

"I think we are good now. She's taking a nap in my room. I'll take her home tomorrow night."

"Good. She is a special pony you will not find another like her." Luna set down her hoof. "She has even gotten on a title-less biases with my sister in record time." She laughed.

"I missed a lot then." Dawn and Luna sat and watched the descending sun for a short while. "Thank you Luna. I will see you at dinner?" Dawn asked, knowing the obvious answer.

"Of course."

Dawn sunk in and out of the void. That has become second nature quickly. She was in her bedroom. A sky blue pegasus was sprawled across her bed, wings stretched out around her. The designers of this giant bed must have had pegasi in mind. Dawn crawled into bed lying muzzle to muzzle. She closed her eyes after magically setting a sacrificial alarm clock for dinner time. April's gentle breathing tickled her coat as she fell asleep.