//------------------------------// // Prologue: Memories // Story: When We Were Young // by FlimFlamBros. //------------------------------// Her eyes shot open as a chill ran down her spine. Princess Celestia was in a cold sweat as she lay in the silk covers of her bed. Her sheets were damp, making them rather uncomfortable to lie in. What had awoken her from her sleep? A dream no doubt, but like many dreams it had evaporated like water upon waking up, lost to her. It hurt her head just thinking about it. Trying to remember one’s dream was a dire struggle against a mountain, or a futile war with the sea. The sun princess could spend all night trying to recollect her thoughts and make no progress doing so, but she knew the one pony that could. She kicked the blankets off of her and slowly crawled out of bed. The large golden clock on her wall said that it was only two in the morning. Celestia would have to raise the sun in roughly four hours. Part of her wanted to just get it over with right now, but that would throw off the balance, and she’d rather not risk doing that again. Her favourite pink housecoat was cast in the seat of her makeup chair, neatly folded by one of the maids earlier that night. The princess quickly threw it on, slid her hooves through the sleeves, and tied up the belt using telekinesis. With the coldness of night staved off she slipped on her royal slippers and walked out of her room. The castle was quiet but not inactive. Guards patrolled the hallways in silence, making sure no nightly intruders or unwanted guest walked the premises. They would nod silently or give a quick “Your Majesty,” when passing by the princess, who in return would nod back or respond “As you were,” or something like that. It was too early to be awake, much less proper formalities. Sometimes, she felt like the hallways of the castle were like one giant maze. It was impossible to find where you needed to go, especially at night. But she eventually found the room she was looking for, the dark blue doors at the end of the west hall, the room of her sister Luna. Celestia approached the imposing night-shaded doors. There was strange and muffled music coming from inside, her sister’s soundproofing trying to keep the metal music from awaking the whole kingdom. With a heart of caution, she opened the door. “Luna, can I talk to you for a moment?” Her sister didn’t respond. The night princess was captivated in one of her movies, the heavy background music blasting from her speakers. Her eyes were glued to the large television screen as it presented a flurry of colours and sounds. She threw a few pieces of popcorn into her mouth as she sank deeper into her beanbag chair. “Luna,” repeated Celestia. “Shh!” hushed the night mare. “This is my favorite part.” “Can’t you pause it or something?” Luna rolled her eyes. “I guess,” she sighed, her horn glowing a bit as the show on the TV froze. “So, what brings you to my room so late in my night?” “I had a dream,” she said. “And I’m having trouble remembering it.” “So?! What do you want me to do about it?” grumbled Luna, the tone in her voice clearly indicated her annoyance with being interrupted during her movie. “Well, I was wondering if you could go into my dreams and maybe help me remember it?” “Art thou insane?” muttered the night princess. “I don’t want to know what goes on in your head.” “Luna, please…” “Remember last time you had me look into your dreams? I couldn’t sleep for days!” “Oh, it wasn’t that bad,” smiled Celestia, “And it’s not like you’ve never had a sexy dream before.” “You’re my sister!” barked Luna. “And that was the most perverted thing I have ever seen!” “Yes, but that was then and this is now,” the sun princess said. “And right now I really need you to help me remember.” Celestia gave her younger sister her best innocent smile, hitting her with the puppy dog eyes and a splash of ducky lips. No pony was that strong enough to resist that. “You never have played fair, Tia,” sighed Luna, caving into her sister’s whims. “Come over here, I’ll take a look. But if this is another one of your perverted fantasies I am never talking to you again.” “Deal,” giggled Celestia as she approached Luna. “Do your thing.” “Whatever,” she said, getting up from her bean bag chair and stretching out her muscles. “Let’s just get this over with.” Princess Luna’s eyes started to glow as she stared into those of her sister’s. Celestia’s own eyes widened, the strange sensational magic of her sister was coursing into her mind and the deepest depths of her subconscious. Luna’s horn began to glow as flashes of light were emitted into both of their minds. Visions and clips of their past flew by in a split-second collaboration. Ideas were exposed to sight and quickly lost as well. “Where is it?” Luna asked herself. “Tia, do you remember anything about the dream?” “If I could remember anything, do you think we would be doing this?” “Ugh… everypony remembers flashes of their dreams,” said Luna. “I… I don’t know if I can re- Oh…” gasped Celestia. “Luna, you can stop.” Luna’s eyes started to stop glowing and the flickering of memories stopped in both of their eyes. “Did you find it?” Her older sister nodded. “Yes, I did. Thank you for helping me, you can go back to your movie.” “Great,” said Luna, throwing herself back into her bean bag chair. “Could you get the door on your way out?” “Of course,” the sun princess said, walking out the front door. She was just about to close the door when she stopped. “Luna, did you happen to see what I was dreaming?” “Hmm?” wondered the younger sister. “Oh, I saw something, but it was kind of blurry. It was like a statue or something in a forest.” “Oh… anything else?” “No, why?” Luna asked. “Nothing important,” smiled Celestia. “Goodnight, Luna.” “Try and get some sleep sister,” said Luna. “You actually need it.” Celestia closed the door behind her. She heard the metal music resume behind the doors, signifying that Luna had resumed her movie. She knew that she needed to get some sleep, but now that she remembered her dream, her mind was more cluttered than ever. There had to be a way to get all of this out of her system. She needed some air, so she headed back to her room through the labyrinth of hallways. When she finally found her room again, she stepped out onto the balcony, letting the crisp night air wash over her. Her balcony had a great view of Equestria, overlooking the painted landscape of green and blue. There were the rivers running down the mountains and into the fields that dotted the countryside where the little town of Ponyville laid nestled near the heart of her kingdom and beyond that, the Everfree Forest. This wasn’t helping her. Overlooking the fair kingdom she governed didn’t suffocate the dream. She regretted having Luna bring it back but it had just been bugging her for so long that night. The princess slouched down and collapsed onto the hoof railing, looking down upon the royal gardens and the endless amount of flora and ornaments. The exotic wildlife were all sleeping soundly in the moonlight, nestled in the shade of the leaves or the cozy nooks of their burrows. Then, her eyes drifted to the stone statue. Standing there as it had for a thousand years, The Statue of Discord stood still and stony within the gardens. Never moving, yet tonight it seemed to call to the fair princess. Celestia picked herself up from the rails and spread her wings, jumping off the balcony and slowly gliding down the castle, eventually landing silently in the gardens and in front of the Discord statue. She cautiously walked up to the sculpture; the draconequus’ unmoving gaze was still frozen in stone, keeping the same horrified expression when he was turned into stone. Celestia just stood there in the silence, waiting perhaps for Discord to respond; which he couldn’t. And it was she who finally broke the silence. “Hello.” There was no response, of course. “It’s… it’s been awhile since we’ve last talked, hasn’t it?” Celestia took another step closer. “What has it been, eight, nine hundred years? Maybe it’s been millennia’s and I haven’t noticed? I don’t know…” She took a deep breath, taking a seat on the ground. “What am I doing?” she asked herself. “I’m talking to a rock… am I really that stressed?” The princess slid back, resting her side against the base of Discord. “I have a wonderful sister, loving subjects that respect and care for me, and Twilight is even learning the magic of friendship. At this rate she’ll transform faster than Cadence did. So… why am I so unhappy right now?” The stone was cold against her fur as she rested her head near his feet. “This never happened when you were still here,” she sighed. There was a tear forming in the corner of her eye, threatening to drop at any moment. “Sometimes I wish things could have been different and… well it doesn’t matter now, does it?” She didn’t even bother looking up as she took another heavy sigh, letting the air drool out of her mouth as if to savour the expression. “I… I had a dream tonight,” she finally said. “It was about us; back before all of…” she shook her head a little before she gazed up slightly, looking out into the horizon of the night. “Do you remember when we first met?” she asked Discord. “Do you? It’s something I haven’t really thought about in a long time and would like to forget. But just when I think I’ve forgotten you, just when I think you’re out of my life, I see you in the gardens. I mean, I never wanted you dead, but I wanted you… I just wish things could have been different.” Celestia gave a long yawn, as her eyes started to finally flutter shut, sleep finally overtaking her. “I just wish things could have been different…”