//------------------------------// // End of a dream (Revised) // Story: Twilight's Sleepless Nights // by L_Wolf //------------------------------// Day 4 Evening After they finished lunch, Spike and Twilight spent most of the evening having fun. Twilight really only had word games, so they played those, as well as memory and thinking games. Twilight did well, but Spike surprised her on a few occasions. They also found some party games Pinkie had forgotten at the library last time they had a party here. However, since they were Pinkie’s, they had been for groups larger than just a pony and a dragon, so they put those aside to return later. As evening rolled around, the rain had started. Twilight and Spike didn't notice until a rather loud crack of thunder interrupted a game of Twenty Questions. "I knew the pegasus ponies had planned some storm, I just didn't think it was going to be this bad." Spike said as he went to the window and looked outside. "Rainbow Dash said it was supposed to be heavy showers. I guess they overdid it." Twilight mused as she joined Spike at the window, and watched as another heavy streak of lightning rippled across the clouds, followed quickly by the roar of thunder. She felt a tingle run down her back from the sound. It wasn't that she was scared, but it made her feel uneasy. "So Spike, what do you want to do now?" Twilight asked as she tried to get her mind off of the storm. Spike looked up at Twilight then heard a rumble, this time from both of their stomachs and not from the storm outside. "I would say that answers that." Spike said with a sheepish smile. They had both been preoccupied with the games that neither had noticed how late it had gotten. Twilight cheeks reddened softly and she nodded to him with a smile. "I guess it does, Spike." Twilight replied with a nod and walked with him to the kitchen. She let Spike work on dinner, some pasta with a vegetarian sauce and fresh multi-grain bread. She decided to make a cup of that special tea Rarity gave her to calm her nerves a little. Spike finished preparing the dinner for the two and sat it on the table. She came to the table with her tea and joined him as he fixed both of them a plate. "As always Spike, it smells great." Twilight smiled at him and took a sip of the tea; it had a nice smooth flavor to it. She couldn't quiet place what it was but it was familiar. Reminded her of green tea, but with something extra mixed in. "Thanks Twilight," Spike said and smiled at the praise. Both of them ate in silence for a few minutes before Spike spoke up. "So what were you thinking about?" He asked, when he noticed the confused look from Twilight he clarified "In our game of 20 questions, that is." "Oh that," she gave a soft giggle and smiled at him. "My book stand," She answered with a nod. She had almost forgotten about the game, as she had been lost in thought about the flavor of the tea. She took another sip of it as she looked over at Spike. Spike chuckled at her; he had been way off with his guesses. "You’re good at that game Twilight, I was going for the telescope." Spike said as he finished his plate and took it over to the sink. He went back and joined her at the table. Since she hadn't been studying, today he had little in the way of chores to do. "Thanks Spike, I do try to come up with easy stuff to guess," she smiles at him. She had been eating more slowly and sipping her tea. "But not many ponies seem to be able to guess it. Not even when Applejack and Rarity had the sleep over here." She thought for a minute, "Come to think of it, last time I played 20 questions was during a storm too. That time it was the telescope though." Spike nodded and smiled, "I remember hearing about the sleep over. Too bad I was away on business in Canterlot. Sounds like you guys had a lot of fun, all things considered." Spike said. Twilight had told him about that night, during most of which Applejack and Rarity had argued about their differences. "Glad things worked out in the end for those two." He added. "Yes, that was a fun night after everything got settled." Twilight said as she smiled at Spike then over at one of the little statues Rarity had made of the tree branch that came through the window. She had kept one of them and gave the rest of them to her friends. "Those two can be so different, but so similar at the same time." She said more to herself than to Spike. After dinner, when everything had been cleaned up, Twilight went back to the main hall with her tea and took a seat near a window, slowly sipping the tea as she watched the skies quietly. She watched the lightning dance across the clouds. She seemed rather distracted by something on her mind, so Spike left her alone for now. He went to do a little cleaning up around the library, making sure everything had been put away. Twilight had been lost in thought, her mind wandered on things that had happen since she come to Ponyville and all her friends she had made. Even the three little fillies, The Cutie Mark Crusaders. She smiled and thought about the three, so full of energy and potential. She took another sip of her tea, and finished off the glass. She sat it on a small table near her, then looked at the clock and noticed how late it had gotten. With the cloudy sky, it was hard to keep track of what time it was by the position of the sun or the moon and stars. She moved to get up. "I'm heading to bed Spike," she told him as she made her way up the stairs. "Alright Twilight, sleep well." He replied as he picked up her empty cup and went to the kitchen to finish the last of his chores., "Sweet dreams, Twilight. You could use them." He said quietly to himself, he hoped his plan worked as well as Rarity's tea. Once his chores had been finished, he turned out the lights and went upstairs. He didn't go to bed though, he went and sat by the window, half watching Twilight, half watching the storm outside. He wanted to be awake incase Twilight had another nightmare. Twilight wasn't sure how long she had waited in the holding cell. There were no windows to look out; the only light came from a lantern hanging from the roof. She tried to keep track in her mind but after a couple of hours, she lost count. She sighed softly and paced around the room quietly. She did know she had been here long enough for them to bring her something to eat. Some hay, bread, an apple, and a cup of water. Though she wasn't very hungry so she just drank the water and waited until they took the tray away. She started to count again and about an hour after they took the tray back, the guards opened the door to her cell and let her out. She carefully left the room and looked at the guards. Unicorns, horns seemed constantly at the ready. She herself still had the clamp on her horn to keep her magic locked. "Follow us, don't even try to run." One of the unicorns said firmly and Twilight nodded. The guards escorted her down the hallway. After a few minutes of walking, she started to recognize where they were going: Princess Celestia's Throne room. She gulped and started to shiver a bit, fear running down her spine. She knew this couldn't be a good sign. As much as she wanted to talk to a friend, she knew prisoners going to the throne room didn't end well. She might have been Celestia's prized student and a friend of hers, but that didn't excuse her from Equestrian law or punishment. Twilight took a deep breath as the doors to the large throne room opened. She saw ponies had filled the audience chamber, pegasi hovering high overhead. In addition, all of them watching her as she entered with the four unicorn guards around her. She walked slowly forward, the royal guards cutting a pathway through the crowd. She kept her eyes focused straight ahead so she wouldn't have to see the other ponies. She was scared of seeing her parents, her brother, or her friends in the crowd. Afraid to see the look of disappointment or judgment in their eyes at what she had done. She raised her head and looked forward. Standing on the daïs in front of their thrones were Celestia and Luna. Both looked on as she came forward and lowered herself in a deep bow. "We demand silence in the court!" Luna said, in her booming royal Canterlot voice. The room instantly fell into dead silence and all the ponies gathered now stared straight ahead and paid attention to Luna as she continued. "Rise Twilight Sparkle, stand and face your judgment!" Her voice still booming in the royal Canterlot voice, ensuring that everypony present heard their princess’s voice loud and clear. Twilight shivered but did as she was commanded. She got up onto her hooves and looked up at the princesses. Her sadness and fear still present inside her. Luna kept her stern expression as she looked back down at Twilight, but even she couldn't hide the regret in her light cyan eyes. Celestia was harder to read. Twilight had known her most of her life, but if she wanted to, the princess could hide her emotions very well. "Twilight Sparkle, the royal court of Canterlot has found you guilty of murdering your assistant, burning the library, assaulting royal guards, and evading capture." Celestia spoke her eyes on Twilight as she did. Her voice loud and clear, but soft as well. She didn't use the royal Canterlot voice as Luna did, she didn't have to. Twilight felt dread over take her as Celestia continued to speak. "These actions, even if they had started with a simple accident, cannot be overlooked, not even by me. So it is with deep regret and a heavy heart that I must pass my judgment on you, my once faithful student." Celestia said and raised her head to look out at the ponies gathered in the throne room. Twilight could see the emotions Celestia had been hiding start to surface, a look of both disappoint and sadness as her former teacher, and presently, her judge, found her guilty. The look of disappoint stung Twilight hard. The last thing she wanted to do in her life was to disappoint her mentor. "Twilight Sparkle, you are to be stripped of your magic, and sentenced to living out the rest of your days in Canterlot's prison as a hornless unicorn." Celestia said that as she clapped her hoof loudly on a piece of wood signifying that she had finished passing judgment. Twilight's eyes went wide in horror, she had heard rumors of unicorns being stripped of their magic and losing their horns. The prospect terrified her, and her heart started to race in her chest. The gathered crowd gasped and a handful from Ponyville started to cry when they heard the sentence. Twilight could hear Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Rarity crying and looked over. She felt tears roll down her cheek when she saw her friends gathered with her parents, her brother Shining Armor, and his wife Princess Cadence. Twilight looked back up at Celestia and took a deep breath; Celestia spread her wings wide and lowered her horn towards Twilight. A beam of magic leaped from Celestia's horn into Twilight’s which sent an intense pain through her head and down into her body, the magic gripped her body and raised her up off the ground. She opened her mouth to let out a cry of pain, but she couldn't find her voice. Twilight felt like she was in the grip of Celestia's magic for an eternity, pain coursing through her head. In reality however, it had only been about three minutes before she was back on the ground, lying on her side. A light wisp of smoke coming off her, and for a moment it looked like she was dead. Fluttershy had fainted and Rarity was by her side, attempting to awaken the pegasus. A few guards had to stop Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Shining Armor from rushing to Twilight’s side. After a few moments, Twilight shifted and slowly got to her hooves, a little unsteady at first. The crowd all gasped when they saw her. Her horn was gone, replaced with a small patch of gray fur; her cutie mark had also disappeared, also replaced with just a patch of gray fur. Twilight looked up towards Celestia who looked back at her, with a sad look before she turned and quietly left the throne room. Luna raised her head and spoke in her loud Canterlot Royal Voice. "Court dismissed!" the sentence punctuated by a deafening crack of thunder. The four unicorn guards approached Twilight and led her away from the court. She still felt woozy and her head hurt so bad it made her vision a little blurry. She caught sight of herself in a shiny piece of decoration in the throne room and shuddered, for the first time she could see that her horn was gone as well as her cutie mark, the thing that made her special. Fresh tears slowly rolled down her cheeks as the guards took her back down the hall to her holding cell to wait before being transferred to the prison. After they reached the holding cell, she went inside without any protest and the door closed. She went over to a pile of hay and curled up on it. She felt defeated and her headache was bad. She just wanted to sleep now. As she let her emotions overtake her, she finally broke down into sobs of pain and sadness. She turned her head to look at the gray patch where her cutie mark had been before she flopped her head back down and closed her eyes. "I'm sorry everypony... I'm so, so sorry.... I let you all down... Spike... forgive me." A loud crash of thunder caused her to jump to her hooves and look around. However, she wasn't in her cell, she stood in nothingness. She looked around a bit more as she grew confused before she could see herself. She almost thought she had been looking in a mirror but then she saw her horn and cutie mark. She remembered she didn't have either anymore, and for some reason, the horned version of herself seemed to be taller than she was. The horned Twilight had a wide-eyed look as she found herself looking at the smaller, hornless and cutie mark-less version of herself. She slowly walked around the hornless version of herself and looked her over before stopping and she stood in front of her. "I think... I understand now. The dreams, and the uneasy feelings," Horned Twilight said as she looked at her hornless counterpart. "Am... I dreaming?" Hornless Twilight asked the other quietly her mind still feeling foggy and hurt from being stripped of her horn. She watched the horned version of herself shake her head as she came over to stand in front of her. Moving a hoof up to gentle rub the front of her head easing the pain away just a little before setting the hoof back down. Horned Twilight took a deep breath and closed her eyes before shaking her head slowly. "No, you're not dreaming, I am. And it's time to end this dream." She said as lowered her horn, the tip started to glow as she touched it to her forehead where hornless Twilight's horn use to be. A soft warm glow started to cover both of them. Out of the shadows, a pair of soft cyan blue eyes watched. Luna's horn glowing light cobalt as she worked her own magic, hornless Twilight faded away and disappeared, leaving only a light ripple of magic. Horned Twilight opens her eyes and sighed softly. As she looked around she spotted Princess Luna as she came out of the shadows. Princess Luna made her way from the shadows over to Twilight and looked down at Twilight who was bowing. "Twilight Sparkle, no need to bow to me. I am not the princess you know." Luna said her voice soft and normal since she had no need to use the royal Canterlot voice here. Twilight stood and looked up at Luna, "What do you mean Princess Luna? Are, you from the same timeline as the other me?" She asked a little confused but Luna nodded her head to confirm what she thought. "Will, she be alright?" Twilight asked a few tears threaten to roll down her cheeks. "Do not worry Twilight Sparkle, she will be just fine. Provided you take good care of her." Luna said with a kind smile as she saw Twilight grow slightly more confused at the statement. "Let us explain and you will understand. After the trial, I found my sister in grief over her actions." Luna said as she started to explain. "We talked it over and thought it for the best that she starts a new life. While dream-walking I felt your presence and I knew what must be done. The world of dreams is much different than ponies think. It can connect different timelines together, not unlike a spider's web." Luna said and Twilight nodded as she considered this information on dreams before hearing Luna speak again. "I used my powers to bring you both to this central location. Though to bring our Twilight here in a physical form, I had to turn her into a filly. I allowed you two to meet first, then when you went to remove the connection you had due to the experiment, I used my power to send her to your timeline." Luna said as finished explaining what happen. "What is going to happen to her in my world? Where will I be able to find her?" Twilight asked a look of concern on her face now at the thought of a young, hornless Twilight now in her timeline. "She must be confused, lost, and scared." She continued tears now freely flowing down her cheeks. "Calm yourself Twilight Sparkle, do not worry I arranged it with your Princess Luna. She will be taken care of, things will be explained to her, and she will be guided to you in Ponyville. Now you must go to your dream world, and be at peace." Luna said dipping her horn down, it started to glow and a bright flash of light blinded Twilight for a moment. Twilight slowly opened her eyes and sat up in her bed she looked around, she could feel tears still rolling down her cheeks but she smiled softly. She quietly got out of bed and made her way into the bathroom to wash off her face and look at herself in the mirror. Her horn still in place, she turned and saw her cutie mark. She gave her reflection a sad smile. "Good bye, Twilight." She said softly to her hornless counterpart. She got herself a drink of water before she made her way to her bed, and paused near Spike's basket. When she didn't see him there, she looked around quietly before she saw him on the windowsill curled up asleep. She gave him a smile and rolled her eyes lightly. "Oh Spike, you'll catch a cold sleeping there." She said softly, used her magic to move him gently from the window to his bed, and covered him up. She leaned down and kissed him softly on the forehead, to which even in his sleep, he made a face. She smiled at him again. She went back to bed and curled up under the covers, she closed her eyes and drifted back to sleep. This time her dreams were peaceful and pleasant. She didn't have any more bad dreams, just her normal happy dreams of spending time with her kind, generous, honest, loyal, happy friends. One dream did stick out though, of a small purple filly with gray patches of fur on her flank being removed from a cell in the Canterlot dungeon by Princess Luna, and taken to a suite in the Canterlot Royal palace and where she was allowed to recover as Luna explained things to her. Nevertheless, the dream was vague and when she awoke, she couldn't remember too much about it.