//------------------------------// // Chapter n-1 where n=7: I Would Do Anything For A Pony’s Love (But I Won’t Do That) [Lucky Dreams] // Story: Ponemurdered // by The Gentlecolt //------------------------------// Twilight fell. She tumbled through blackness, past stars, planets, and galaxies. All the while, loved ones drifted in and out of vision, but whether real or imagined she couldn’t say. She saw Rainbow Dash shouting at her; Fluttershy held onto Applejack, who in turn had a hoof on Rarity’s shoulder; and Pinkie Pie was practically drowning in a pool of her own tears. “I’m right here,” Twilight called out. “Why are you all crying?” But none of her friends answered, then the darkness swallowed them up and she continued to plunge through the void, gaining speed until she was the fastest thing in the universe. Her heart pounded. “Help!” she shouted. “Somepony, please!” Suddenly, there was light! Twilight covered her gaze, and the light spoke. “Come back,” it said, its voice indistinguishable from Celestia’s. “It isn’t time for you to die yet, Twilight Sparkle...” Smack. She gasped as she fell face first on the floor. Scrambling to her hooves, she clutched the side of her bed, groaning as beads of sweat trickled down her forehead. Her vision slid in and out of focus. “Get a grip,” she whispered. “Celestia’s not here. You just had a bad dream, that’s all.” Desperate for something, anything to take her mind off the pain, Twilight glanced around the bedroom... but this made her feel queasier than ever. This wasn’t her room. In fact, this wasn’t even her house. Half of the mysterious room was taken up by the four-poster bed from which she had rolled out of, and the tiled floor resembled a giant chessboard. A chandelier hung from the ceiling. The furniture was made from the finest oak, and consisted of a wardrobe, a set of drawers with golden handles, and a mirror larger than a full grown pony. Twilight stared at herself in the mirror, in particular paying close attention to her flanks as details of the dream dripped back into her head. The fur around her cutie mark was rough and matted, but she didn’t care, for the important thing was that there was no wound from where Octavia had stabbed her, nor was there any blood. She almost cried with relief. “You see?” she said to herself. “It was only a nightmare!” Closing her eyes, she pictured the musician’s sword piercing her flesh, digging its way through her muscles and her guts. The steel had felt cold. The look on the mare’s face had been one of pure triumph... A wretched sensation brewed in her stomach, threatening to rise up through her throat and redecorate the chequered floor in shades of yellow and brown. And that’s when Twilight Sparkle decided that what she needed more than anything else in the world was a nice hot cup of tea. That, and a good book, of course. The bedroom door led to a spiral staircase which, to Twilight’s delight and bemusement, led straight down to the Royal Canterlot Library. That she had never known about the bedroom’s existence worried her—there had once been a time when she practically lived amongst these shelves—but at least she had regained her bearings. Also of concern was the total lack of any other ponies. “Hello?” she called out, cheeks blushing at breaking the most basic rule of library etiquette. Yet there was no-one around to answer her. There were no unicorns, nor were there any pegasi or earth ponies. The librarian had disappeared without a trace. Twilight shook her head. Unnerved though she was, being surrounded by thousands of books was as marvellous as sinking into a hot bath—she couldn’t help but feel calmer, especially now that she had something else to occupy her thoughts... something as unexpected as it was wonderful... The feel of Celestia’s breath on her cheeks, and their tongues meeting. Much like everything else that had happened in the dream, her stolen kiss with the Princess had felt so real. And now she had had a chance to settle down, she could not stop thinking of pressing her mouth to Celestia’s. A world of grand new truths stretched before her: she loved Princess Celestia, loved her with all her heart! And she had always done so, but it had taken the strangest, most terrifying dream to make her realise that the Princess didn’t just raise the sun, but also her heart and her soul. Twilight whispered Celestia’s name to see how it felt on her tongue. Saying it out loud made her heart flutter and her cheeks blush. Lost in thoughts of Celestia, Twilight wandered over to a huge window which looked out over Canterlot and the surrounding landscape. It was possible to make out Ponyville far away in the distance. But there was something else of interest, something moving up amongst the clouds: a black dot. Twilight rubbed her eyes as the dot grew larger. Whatever it was, it was travelling fast... and it had wings. “Celestia!” she said with a gasp. Wasting no time, she tried to flatten her mane, still messy from her terrible night’s sleep. Was her coat dirty? Did she need a shower? Perhaps her room had an on-suite bathroom. Was there time for a wash before the Princess arrived in the library? Too nervous to look at Celestia, Twilight turned away from the window and shut her eyes tightly. “She’s seen you in much worse states than this,” she reminded herself. “Just... be like Rainbow. Act casual.” With a deep breath, Twilight turned back around to face her destiny. She opened her eyes. It wasn’t a moment too soon. The winged object was on a collision course with the window, and now that she saw it up close, it turned out not to be Celestia after all, but instead an airship. Each of its four propellers was bigger than a full grown stallion. The main body of the ship was suspended from a giant, cigar shaped balloon. But there was only one detail that Twilight cared about, and that was the pilot. Her jaw dropped. It was Rainbow Dash. Twilight rubbed her eyes, but there was no doubting who it was: multi-coloured mane and tail, crimson eyes full of life and energy. And Rainbow was waving her hooves wildly, gesturing to Twilight to get out of the way. Without wasting another second, Twilight turned and ran for her life—if only she had had wings! She ignored the stabbing pains in her lungs and legs— Her breath caught as she tripped over a book— For the second time that morning, she fell flat on her face. Desperate, she swivelled around, just in time to see the ship before it collided with the glass. Time stood still. SMASH! The window was obliterated into a million tiny shards. Stone, brick, and mortar rained down upon the enormous airship as it destroyed everything in its path: shelves, books, chairs, tables. The noise was tremendous. Twilight focused on Celestia, all her mind given over to the hope that she and the Princess would meet again... Then the rumbling stopped. After a few moments, Twilight plucked up the courage to open her eyes again, coughing as she breathed in a lungful of smoke—there was so much of it that she couldn’t see more than a few pony lengths in front of her. Yet even through the smoke, there was no mistaking the great, hulking shape of the airship which had come to a halt scarcely three feet in front of her. “There you are!” said a voice. “C’mon Twi, we’ve got to get outta here, fast!” Rainbow Dash emerged from the wreckage, clambered down the airship and stood next to Twilight, whose face was a perfect mask of bewilderment. “Rainbow,” she said, weakly. “Where... wherever did you get this ship?! What’s in that satchel you’re wearing?” Rainbow, Twilight thought, looked much too pleased with herself for somepony who had just caused thousands, if not millions of bits worth of damage. “This?” she said, shaking her saddlebag. “You’ll see soon enough... and oh man, this airship is sooo cool, right? But there’s no time to explain where I got it. We’ve gotta move, we’ve gotta move fast. And don’t yourself killed this time.” Rainbow attempted to shove Twilight away from the airship, but the unicorn refused to budge, not with so many unanswered questions. What was Rainbow doing here? Where had she learned to fly such a monstrosity? One question stood above the others. “What do you mean, ‘this time’? You can only die once, you know.” Rainbow Dash planted a hoof on her forehead. “Sheesh! Ya think a pony would remember getting stabbed through the flank.” She gave Twilight’s cutie mark a short, sharp tap, causing the unicorn to wince. “D’you know how long it took me to find you again after what happened in the opera house? I’m not letting ya die on me. Not again.” The smoke was clearing. Outside, a storm was brewing, and it was formed of dark, crimson clouds. When Twilight spoke, her voice was distant and her legs shook. “Octavia really stabbed me, didn’t she? I mean, it was real, wasn’t it? It wasn’t just a dream...” Rainbow Dash placed a hoof on the unicorn’s back. “Haven’t ya figured it out yet? Nothing is as it seems. Octavia, she’s... I dunno how to explain it. She’s got ya trapped inside your own head or something, or in her own little dream world! But it’s alright. I’ve come to save ya. And you’ve gotta get outta here before Octavia finds ya.” The two ponies winced as a new voice introduced itself, one which Twilight recognized as belonging to a certain grey, murderous earth pony. “I suppose that doesn’t leave you with a great deal of time.” Octavia’s voice had a lyrical quality to it. Her words were the notes of a cold, wintery tune. So this was all happening inside another world, thought Twilight—one that wasn’t quite reality, but at the same time, not quite a dream. As strange and unexpected as Rainbow’s explanation was, something about it clicked; it was like cleaning a room and discovering the missing piece from a thousand word jigsaw puzzle, the one that tied everything together. Twilight held onto Rainbow’s hoof. How her dear friend had found her she had no idea, but in the moment, neither did she care. She was just relieved that she didn’t have to face this alone. “You can’t hide, Octavia,” Twilight yelled. Octavia chuckled. “You’re quite right, my little pony. Why don’t we talk face to face?” The smoke vanished. In the ruined window, framed by lightning and those terrible, crimson clouds, was Octavia. She floated about ten feet in the air with no visible means of support, and she wore a look of pure hatred. “Twilight Sparkle,” she said. “The mare who doesn’t know how to take a hint.” “Why are you doing this?” Twilight said, hoping against hope that she came across as intimidating. This earth pony had created a whole world as a prison for her, and what’s more had managed to make her forget that none of this was real. Not even Princess Celestia wielded that kind of absolute power. Octavia’s grin widened. “Oh come now,” she said. “I expect better from you, so don’t give me that rubbish. I didn’t make a deal with the stars to imprison a good-for-nothing airhead.” Twilight’s mouth was dry. “You made a deal with the stars? But why?” If before Octavia’s impatience had been simmering below the surface, now it erupted into terrible life. The lightning intensified. Octavia screamed at Twilight as though she had been waiting years to have this conversation. “You want to know why I did this? For Celestia, of course!” Twilight glanced at Rainbow Dash, the pegasus’ look of confusion a mirror of her own. “Celestia?” Twilight asked. “What does Celestia have to do with anything?” “Everything!” said Octavia. “Princess Celestia, my one true love! She deserves somepony special. Somepony like... me. I played at the Grand Galloping Gala for five years straight. I attended every garden party, and every social event possible if I thought it would make her pay attention to me. But did it ever work? My solo at her birthday celebrations was so good that it reduced the audience to tears, yet she barely glanced at me. “I asked myself, ‘Octavia, what are you doing wrong? Your music is brilliant, your manners impeccable. Why won’t she give you the time of day?’ And that’s when I realised that the problem wasn’t me. It was you.” Twilight and Rainbow Dash gaped at the insane mare, struggling to take in her story. Octavia continued. “Perfect Twilight Sparkle, the Element of Magic and everyone’s favourite pony—what chance does a plain earth pony like me have next to you? You had to go... but then how to go about it, I wondered. Murder? Hah! So messy and tacky. No, there had to be a better way, something with elegance and spark. After months of research, I found the perfect solution. “I made a deal with the stars, Twilight. The stars locked you away in this dream world, a world that you will never escape from and in which I have all the powers of a God! And with you finally out of the way back in the real world... well.” She grinned wickedly. “The playing field is clear. All I have to do is make my move, and Celestia’s love will be all mine, mine, mine!” A clap of thunder acted like an exclamation mark to Octavia’s monologue. Before Twilight could even begin to think of how to respond, Rainbow Dash shouted, “That’s the dumbest story I’ve ever heard in my life!” Octavia laughed coldly. “Your attempts to save your friend are in vain, pegasus. I’m going to kill you. Both of you. And last time, I was kind enough let you have the life of an action hero. This time, I gave you a whole library to read and enjoy. Don’t expect that sort of nice treatment the third time. When you wake up, you’ll both find yourselves locked away miles beneath the surface.” “Celestia will never love you,” Twilight spat. “She’ll know what you did!” Octavia laughed again. Then her eyes turned black, and the darkness seemed to leak out of her eyes and into her fur. Soon, her whole body was made of shadows, and with a final, horrifying shriek, she burst into a thousand purple sparks, and vanished. There followed the most awful silence the two friends had ever experienced. “I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Rainbow said, stepping closer to Twilight. As if on cue, the floor began to shake. They could sense the vibrations through their hooves, but only when little bits of debris began to fall from the ceiling did it dawn on them precisely what was happening. They rushed to the window, and the rumbling got stronger until it caused buildings to collapse and roofs to cave in. The very mountain on which Canterlot was built started to crumble—Octavia was going to destroy the city, taking them with it! “Don’t sweat,” Rainbow said to Twilight with a wink. “I said I was gonna get ya outta here and that’s exactly what I’m gonna do.” Grabbing Twilight in her hooves, she flew high, high over Canterlot. Oddly, above the cloud layer, everything was dark, an infinite void of blackness that made Twilight shiver in Rainbow’s hooves. Then they looked down, and saw that, all of a sudden, Equestria was gone, replaced an endless expanse of darkness. All that remained of Canterlot and the storm was a gargantuan, blood red vortex of swirling clouds and lightning and thunder, waiting directly below them like a monster of the deep. Right in the centre of the maelstrom was a gaping hole. It made the vortex look uncannily like an eyeball, one made of evil and malice. But it didn’t hold Twilight’s attention for long, because at last, Rainbow Dash opened her satchel to reveal— “Rainbow!” said Twilight, clapping her hooves to her mouth. “Are those what I think they are?” The pegasus grinned. Careful not to let go of Twilight, she jingled the contents of the satchel. “You had them on ya when Octavia stabbed ya. Thought they might come in handy... and wouldn’t ya know it, they did. They spoke to me. Said they’d changed their mind about ol’ Octy, and then they told me what I had to do to get you outta here.” Twilight couldn’t resist. She reached her hoof into the satchel, and by Celestia, it was full of stars, apparently the exact same ones that Octavia had made her bizarre deal with! They had the appearance of tiny crystals, except normal jewels didn’t glow yellow and white. Rainbow spoke again with a smile in her voice. “What ya gonna do when ya get back?” The answer emerged from Twilight’s mouth as though it was the most natural thing in the world. “I’m going to see Celestia, and I am going to tell her that I love her.” “What if she doesn’t love ya back?” A hundred different feelings churned inside Twilight’s stomach: intense love for Celestia; the fear of rejection; and most of all, she worried that the one pony she cared about above all others wouldn’t feel the same way about her. But even if she doesn’t, said a voice in Twilight’s head, surely you’d be happier off knowing... Twilight gritted her teeth. “Dash,” she said. “Whatever the stars told you that you had to do, just go ahead and do it. I want to go home.” Rainbow Dash peered down into the void, frowning at the monstrous vortex. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but at the last second, looked away from Twilight. “It’ll work,” the pegasus whispered, every word soaked in desperation—Twilight had a strong suspicion that Rainbow wasn’t actually talking to her, but rather to herself. “The stars told me it would work, so it will.” She looked Twilight in the eyes. “When ya wake up, don’t forget about...” Rainbow gulped, finishing off the rest of her sentence in a whisper. “Don’t forget about the ponemurdered...” Twilight nodded solemnly. For a second, Rainbow held her tighter than ever, then let go of both her and her saddlebag. Twilight fell. Wind rushed in her ears, her mane trailed behind her, and the vortex was getting closer and closer, like she was being sucked into a black hole in outer-space. Dumbstruck, she looked back up, however Rainbow had already flown away, presumably to find her own way out of the dream-world before she became trapped there herself. Twilight opened her mouth to scream. But then she shut it. Instead of calling out for help, Twilight faced her destiny head on, and stared at the gateway back to reality. She was rewarded. The stars whizzed past her and struck the vortex, exploding on impact in dazzling bursts of white light; and amazingly, the clouds began to change. Whereas they had once been blood red, now they were pure white, the same colour as the stars. Twilight didn’t know what kind of magic this was. All she knew was that, although before the vortex had led to a place of pain, death, and misery, now it led somewhere else... Her final thought before crossing the threshold was of Celestia. All was bright. Then, a moment later, everything went dark. A bird was singing. Twilight Sparkle opened her eyes, and unlike the mysterious bedroom above the library, this place didn’t make her feel uneasy. Everything had a solid, tangible quality to it. Twilight sobbed from joy. It was all real. She was alive.