//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: The Meaning Behind the Dreams // Story: My Little Senshi // by sister_mike //------------------------------// Chapter 1 The Meaning Behind Dreams Twilight Sparkle had been having this odd dream for a few months now. Every night, she would toss and turn, and wake up either screaming or in a sweat. Spike would always be there, calming her down, fetching her a glass of water. Eventually he would drift off again, and Twilight would be left alone with the terrifying memories of the dreams. After much research and reading, Twilight couldn't find any answers that might explain what her dreams were about or what the odd creatures were that she imagined. She finally decided to write a letter to Princess Celestia about the issue. When Celestia wrote back immediately, within the minute, and ordered that Twilight come to her at once, Twilight was nervous. She hesitated outside of Celestia's throne room. What if the princess was mad at her? Because her dreams meant something terrible? Something so sinister, that the princess had to summon Twilight to Canterlot, in order to lock her up? Shaking the nonsense out of her head, Twilight took a deep breath and opened the door. She was surprised to find that not only was Princess Luna there as well, but so was Princess Cadance. The three stopped whispering and looked up immediately as Twilight entered the room. Princess Celestia magically shut the door behind her. "Thank you for coming so quickly, Twilight Sparkle," Princess Celestia said gravely. "Please, take a seat," Cadance said quietly, gesturing to a lounge chair they had set up in front of the thrones. Twilight quietly took a seat. She stared at the three princesses, not even sure where she should begin. The three of them stared back at her, though Cadance kept avoiding direct eye contact and fidgeted with her hooves. Luna finally sighed and turned to Celestia. "It's time she knows the truth," Luna said. "I know," Celestia answered softly. "It's not just a coincidence that she's been having these dreams for the past few months, and now suddenly it's returned," Luna said. "I know," Celestia said, slightly more sternly. Celestia sighed and looked at Twilight. "Twilight Sparkle, please, describe your dreams to me once more," Celestia said, "I know you wrote in great detail what occurred, but Princess Luna and Cadance need to be informed as well." "Alright," Twilight said, "They've been happening for three months now. And it's not just when I go to sleep at night; they occur during naps and I'll see flashes of them in my day dreams too." "Flashes of what?" Cadance asked. "I can't even describe what they are. They're these beings, that walk on two legs. Their other two legs are attached higher up their torsos, and instead of hoofs, they have these odd ligaments stemming out from the ends of their legs. They don't have tails, but they still have manes. "In the dream, I am one of them. The only thing about the dream that sometimes changes is my perspective. Sometimes I can see which one I am, what I look like in the dream, but other times, I see through my point of view. There is a big group of us and it looks like we're fighting. We're in what I'm guessing are uniforms, and we all have tiaras. There's something about a magic crystal and we're fighting off some darkness, a darkness that wants to take over our world." "Is your name ever mentioned in the dream?" Celestia asked. Twilight shook her head. "Not 'Twilight Sparkle', no. I'm being addressed as Amy." Luna shot her sister a look. Cadance shifted in her seat. Celestia nodded slowly. "What you are experiencing Twilight, are not dreams, but memories," Celestia said. "Memories?" Twilight asked. Celestia nodded. "Yes, memories from a past life. A life when we were all humans," Celestia said. "Humans? What are humans?" Twilight asked. "The beings that you see in your dream. They have two legs and two arms—those are the ones that are higher up—and instead of hooves, they have hands and feet. You see, your eternal spirit is slowly awakening and reminding you of who you really are. The world and universe has changed since that time; but now, it is time for you to wake up, because danger is coming," Celestia said. "Danger is coming? To Equestria?" Twilight asked. Luna nodded. Twilight sat there for a minute, trying to let it all sink in. Memories? Of a time when she was a human named Amy? When she fought against other humans? Any other pony would have figured that the princesses were pulling a joke. But Twilight knew better. And what was even stranger was that she was starting to believe it was true. Even though the same dream plagued her every night, sometimes she'd have little flashes during the day of other scenes. Scenes of her, in her human form, with whom she supposed were her friends, having fun and laughing. Sometimes even fainter images would appear, images of what looked like a different landscape and a magnificent palace. Someplace close to the sun. "She's starting to remember," Luna said. "Your human name was Amy Mizuno. You also had a hero name; Sailor Mercury," Celestia said. "Mercury? Like the planet?" Twilight asked. There was something about this that sounded very familiar. "Yes," Celestia explained, "like the planet. We once all drew power from our planets, in order to protect our solar system from evil. We were—and still are—a strong united force." Twilight nodded slowly, more and more of it coming back and sounding vaguely familiar. "So then... why are we now ponies?" Twilight asked. Celestia sighed. "There is much to explain, so please, get comfortable," Celestia said. Twilight nodded. "I'm ready to listen," she said. "There was a time, long, long ago—roughly maybe five or so thousand years ago, or longer; I have lost track—there was a kingdom called the Silver Millennium. It was a peaceful and prosperous time. I was raising my daughter to follow in my footsteps and become queen of the kingdom. You, Twilight Sparkle, were a princess on your respective planet—Mercury—and you served in my daughter's court. "My daughter fell in love with the King of Earth. Because of this and a jealous scorn, a dark queen attacked our peaceful kingdom, and it fell to ruin. Everyone was killed—everyone except for me. Heartbroken from the devastation of my kingdom and my people, I used up the last of my crystal and power, in order for my daughter and her court to be reborn again, on Earth, a thousand years later. "I hoped that they would be born into a different time, another time when peace reigned. But should they need to fight again, I made sure that they would be able to access their memories of who they really were. I broke the crystal—the Imperial Silver Crystal—into seven pieces, hoping that with it broken up, it would stay out of the wrong hands. But unfortunately, evil attacked once more. "My daughter and her guardians raged countless of wars against darkness that purged Earth. And due to a time lapse, they once fought in their future as well. "Eventually, my daughter had a daughter of her own. And once Earth was finally at peace, another millennium kingdom began. The heart of the kingdom was called Crystal Tokyo at that time. But evil struck once again halfway through the millennium. At this point, my daughter and granddaughter fought with all their strength; but as they were failing, I knew I had to make myself known. "Together, the three of us vanquished that evil, but at a cost; as the dark king who attacked Crystal Tokyo disappeared, the crystal city vanished with him. "Unsure of what to do, we decided to change the world and hopefully restore peace once more. With our combined powers, we completely transformed the earth. Humans no longer existed, and instead most of them became ponies. We made other creatures as well, ones that had been fabled in the past eras. We moved the hemispheres around, and created new lands. "Princess Luna and I ruled together. We still remembered our past lives, but strongly took on our new identities. With a new world, we knew that our old ones had to be adjusted, and that we had to change along with the world." Celestia stopped and Twilight let it start to sink in. "We've been ruling for the past thousand or so years; most of which was when Luna was banished as Nightmare Moon," Celestia said. Luna sighed and glanced away. "A time of which I would not like to remember," she said quietly. "It's alright; we've all strayed from the path at some point," Cadance said quietly. Twilight wasn't sure what Cadance was referring to, but the name "Wicked Lady" flew through her mind, as well as a flash of a human with pink hair. "And now," Twilight said slowly, "you say that there is danger coming?" "Yes," Celestia said, a serious tone in her voice, "The Crystal Empire has reappeared." "Crystal Empire?" Twilight asked. "That is what we call it now, in our Equestrian times. The Crystal Empire—aka Crystal Tokyo—has reappeared up in the north. And we fear that the king who overtook it has returned as well," Celestia said. "Tell me about this king," Twilight said. "His name is King Sombra. He was an evil magician, from a dark planet on the outskirts of our solar system. The Empire reappeared once before, briefly, a thousand years ago; King Sombra reappeared with it, though now as a unicorn. We turned him to shadow and banished him to the outlands of the frozen north, freezing him in the ice. But with the Empire now suddenly returned, we fear that he will come back as well. The crystal ponies have been enslaved by him for years and years, in two different lives. "We thought we would be safe as ponies, fool the universe in thinking that the Imperial Silver Crystal was destroyed, and that we were a simple kind of folk. But we were wrong," Luna said. "What did happen to the crystals?" Twilight asked. Celestia smiled slightly. "They are now the Elements of Harmony," she replied. "But there are only six Elements; you said there were seven crystals," Twilight said. "There is a seventh; but it can act on its own accord," Cadance said. "So... what will you have me do?" Twilight asked. "First, we need you to awaken the other sailor soldiers," Celestia said, after a minute of hesitation. "Ok; do you know who they are in this life?" Twilight asked. "They are your friends," Luna said. "Rainbow Dash is the reincarnate of Sailor Mars; Applejack is Sailor Jupiter; Pinkie Pie is Sailor Venus; and Rarity is Sailor Pluto, the keeper of time," Luna said. "What about Sailor Moon? Fluttershy?" Twilight asked. Celestia cleared her throat. "My apologies; maybe I was not clear enough. I am—or once was—Queen Serenity of the Silver Millennium. Princess Luna is your princess. She is Sailor Moon, Princess Serenity, and Queen of Crystal Tokyo. Cadance is Small Lady—her daughter," Celestia said. "In this life, we re-made ourselves so that Luna and I are sisters, and Cadance our niece." "Are you going to fight with us then, Princess Luna?" Twilight asked. Luna shook her head. "I cannot. My place is here, to guard Equestria with Celestia. That is our directive now," Luna said. "I am no longer a sailor soldier." "But how can we fight without you?" Twilight asked. "You have the Elements of Harmony. Together, they make up a powerful force. Combine them with the seventh Element, and you have the full power of the Imperial Silver Crystal," Luna explained. "I do not wield that power anymore." "What of Tuxedo Mask?" Twilight asked. The more she talked about it with the princesses, the more her memories came back. It wasn't all together yet, but names kept floating around, and she felt she needed to ask about them. Celestia and Cadance both glanced at Luna. Luna looked away and towards the window. She stared up at the moon. "He did not make the last battle. We could not save him in time," she said quietly. "I'm sorry to hear," Twilight said softly. She paused a moment. "And of Sailor Uranus and Neptune?" "Lost as well," Luna replied. "What about Helios?" Twilight asked, not sure if she'd regret it. She looked to Cadance. Cadance smiled briefly. "Helios is Shining Armor," she said. "But... Helios and I were never related to begin with," Twilight said, confused. "We know. That is just the way you were reborn into this life, on this world. It's a coincidence," Cadance said. The four of them sat there in silence for a minute. Twilight looked out the window and up at the moon. It was so strange to think that the same spirit inside her had resonated for so long. "What about Luna and Artemis?" Twilight asked. "Both are lost; I took Luna's name in this world as an ode to her. She was, and always will be, one of my dearest friends," Luna said softly. "We provided you with Spike as your assistant and helper. He is completely original to this world," Cadance said. "Go Twilight Sparkle and awaken the others. We need them to remember that they are warriors, and we need you to go to the Crystal Empire and find a way to protect it. Princess Cadance will be there as well as Shining Armor. They will put up a barrier around the Empire, as you find a way to defeat King Sombra," Celestia said. Twilight nodded. She turned to go, but then paused. "What about Sailor Saturn?" she asked, as she looked back to the princesses. Cadance looked away—she had once been so close with Saturn. Both Luna and Celestia's faces darkened. "She lives among you; but she cannot be awakened. By awakening her, there is a chance that all of our lives would be put into danger, possibly more danger than what King Sombra brings," Luna said. "If it must come to it, we shall awaken her as well; but for now, do not speak of your solider lives around her," Celestia said. "Who is she?" Twilight asked, "in this life?" "Fluttershy."