“A machine world...?” Pilate stammered. His metal brow furrowed as he turned towards her from where they both sat on a sofa in the study room. “You mean everything you ever went through in the dream had to do with some sort of... primordial terrestrial state of existence?”
“It was the common threme throughout,” Bellesmith said. She fluffed her mane and leaned comfortably against him as she sighed into the shadows of the homely cabin. “Everything we ever went through, every secret we struggled to keep, even the very nature of Blue Shelf's experiment itself: it all had to do with this world that existed before time, maintained by a culture that only flying ponies knew anything about, and the only clues to be found were in the archaeological remnants they had to bequeath us.”
“And this... Rainbow Dust...”
“Dash.”
“Sorry.”
“It's alright, beloved.”
“Ahem...” Pilate wrapped a soothing forelimb around her as he spoke, “This Rainbow Dash was one of the flying ponies? A pegasi, as t'were?”
“Mmmm... No. Not exactly.”
“But I thought you said—”
“She could fly, yes. But she was a completely different pony altogether, a pony of her own.” Belle managed a slight chuckle. Her lips curved as she leaned closer to Pilate, inhaling the zebra's scent. In a relaxed tone, she continued, “She came from a world far away, called Equestria.”
“Equestria, eh? Not exactly that creative, darling.”
This time, Belle giggled without hesitation. “Yes, well, between disc worlds and zeppelin bombardments and chaos antlers, I suppose my imagination had to run dry at some point.”
“Chaos antlers?”
“Well, you would know.” Belle winced. “On second thought, you wouldn't know. You weren't there... and yet you were. Unnngh...” She clenched her eyes shut and ran a hoof over her aching head. “Blessed Spark, it's all too much...”
“You've shown incredible strength for withstanding the psychological pressures and mental exertion that you did, Belle,” Pilate said, squeezing her shoulder. “I know it may not be something you would wish to dwell on at the moment, but I'm very happy that you pulled through it as you did. As a matter of fact, I'm proud.”
“Proud?” Belle relaxed again with a nervous chuckle. “Why proud? You've got yourself a frazzled basketcase of a mare to share the house with.”
“Hmmm... perhaps for a little while. I'm not one to complain; basketcases are good for storing things in.”
“Pilate...”
“I'm just happy that Professor Garnet was kind and thoughtful enough to give you some time off. I wonder if your friend Mr. Dalton talked him into it.”
“No, it was all Garnet's doing,” Belle said. “Don't be so quick to judge him harshly, Pilate.”
The zebra's jaw tensed slightly. “Well, he does seem intent on keeping you down in that dank dungeon from time to time.”
“It's not a dungeon!” Belle snapped. She paused, then sighed, draping herself against him again. “I'm sorry, Pilate. I know none of this has been too easy on you...”
“I make do the best I can, beloved. But you know as well as I do that this is not a happy home unless you're in it.”
“Which makes me so glad to be back, my love,” she murmured, tracing lazy lines across his black and white stripes. “Though, it's... well...”
“Hmmm? What, Belle?”
“It's just surreal. That's all.” Her lips curved as she nuzzled him again. “I was so lost... so confused between one sphere or another... my mind drafting up all of these wild ideas. And yet, I wasn't alone. You were there.”
“Was I, now?”
“Mmmmhmmm.”
“That's rather odd, considering that I seem to have been here the whole time.”
“You know what I mean...”
“No, darling, what do you mean?”
“You... or at least a version of you was there...”
“Hah!” Pilate's lips curved. “You mean to say a phantom version of myself accompanied you on your dreamscape? Now, that's rather interesting.” He paused, rubbing his muzzle in thought. “Was this other 'me' blind?”
Belle opened her mouth, hesitated, then nodded. “Yes, Pilate. I... don't think I could have imagined somepony different. It just wouldn't have been you.”
“Nothing to feel apologetic for, beloved. This isn't an interrogation of sorts.”
“Oh, I know. It's just... everything that I envisioned was so very different from this world. So much... darker...”
“Well, then, I suppose it's only fitting I would have remained blind.”
“That's not what I meant. I guess I just find it surprising how familiar you were. There was... nothing wrong about you at all. You were there all the time to help me, to support me.”
“Hmmmm... good to know I'm a good mate to you,” he said with a smug grin. “In this dimension and the nebulous realms beyond.”
“I'm serious, Pilate. You... you mean so much to me. You're the anchor of my life.”
“That would imply that you're cast to sea somewhere.”
She shoved him playfully. “Will you just let me compliment you, already?!”
“Heheh... alright.”
She leaned against him, her voice very childish as she breathed against his ears. “I don't know where I would be without you, beloved. In this world and the next, I would be utterly lost. You were by my side the whole time, and I don't think I would have stayed sane in that delusion if it weren't for even the faintest semblance of you.”
“I stuck by your side the whole time?”
“Well, you were with me until—” Belle grimaced, her smile dissolving altogether. A pale sheen rolled across her golden coat, and she had to clear her throat before saying, “Yes. The entire time. I was unbelievably lucky.”
“How remarkable...”
“My mind even invented a theme to excuse it,” she said with an amused smile. “We were both 'Eljunbyro.'”
“I beg your pardon?”
“An ancient symbol. The Xonans could read it, though it wasn't in Xonan. It was written by ponies older than Xonan civilization or Ledomaritan or even the ancient caribou who once dwelled upon this continent.”
“I assume you're bringing up the flying ponies again.”
“That's right.”
“What in spark's name would a unicorn and a zebra have in common with such a precursor civilization?”
“Well, it had to do with our mutual friendship with Rainbow Dash. We were there for her when the pegasus needed us, for her journey was something that would restore the spark that was long lost to this world.”
“How very interesting... and did she have a name too?”
“Heh, as a matter of fact, she did. She was 'Austraeoh,' the destined pony, bound towards a perpetual flight eastward.”
“To what end, I wonder?”
“Well, to fly beyond the end, really. There was a spot on the dark side of the world, where the sun doesn't shine, and she was destined to fly there. At least, this was true, according to the knowledge she brought with her from Equestria, supported by Whitemane—erm...”
“Who?”
“An ancient alicorn. It's a long story.”
“Sounds like a riveting one; we're bringing alicorns into it now?”
“Ungh... I don't even know where to begin...” She rubbed two forelimbs over her face as she groaned. “I feel like everything is coming forth inside out. Shouldn't I be forgetting all of this? Just... taking all of Rainbow Dash and Austraeoh and Enforcer Shell business and shoving it out of my mind? Letting it all rest?”
“However you decide to recuperate is fine by me, beloved,” Pilate said. “I was only curious...”
“And I would love to share, beloved, it's just that...” Belle quietly sighed. “I don't know. I feel limp as a noodle... and numb. I think I would do well to have a bite to eat...”
“I know...” Pilate sat up straight, his ears pointing straight up. “How about I make you some supper? I do believe I have the fixings for a scrumptious fruit salad.”
“Don't you bother, beloved.” Belle patted his forelimb and stood up from the sofa. “I'll do it.”
His brow furrowed. “Buh?”
“No need for you to wait on me fetlock and hoof,” the pony said as she trotted into the kitchen. “I didn't come back here to burden you, after all. I'll prepare something myself.”
“You're very thoughtful, darling,” he said with a smirk, standing up after her. “But please, you should allow me. I'm blind, not crippled.”
“Nonsense. Besides, it would do me some good to get used to the house,” she said, fumbling for plates and dishes. She pulled a fruit basket off a hanging hook and began sifling through the contents within. “There's no better way to get the mind back together than getting reacquainted with one's homely surroundings.”
“There is some truth to be said in that,” Pilate remarked with a nod. He trotted to a stop and leaned against the frame that led into the next room. “I find it curious that you were so quick to leave your house in the dream.”
“Heh, yes, well...” Belle deposited bananas, clusters of grapes, and a few pairs into a bowl. “Garnet's of the opinion that I had several secret reservations about the Ledomaritan experiment as a whole, and that I kept all of them suppressed within the darker recesses of my mind. It would explain why I created such a negative portrait of the Council and their tasks here in Blue Shelf.”
“All of this darkness seems like an intensely prevalent theme,” Pilate said.
“Yeah...” Belle's brow furrowed as she reached into the fruit basket again. “Your point?”
“I wonder if there was a divine, mental purpose for your attempt to reach the dark side of the world.”
“I never said it was my purpose to get there, Pilate. But, rather, that it was Rainbow Dash's.”
“Austraeoh?”
“Right.”
“But, wasn't Eljunbyro tied to Austraeoh?” He gazed at her quietly, intently. “Just how far would we have gone, if Rainbow Dash had wanted to take us? Wouldn't we have known it was dangerous? Wouldn't all of the things you learned about this 'machine world' have scared you off?”
Belle was silent.
Pilate gulped and asked, “I just wonder what that says about us, Belle... about you... about how much you're willing to give up for a stranger.” His jaw clenched as he said, “Unless, of course, there was something about her that you knew—beyond the shadow of a doubt—was more important than anything else...”
Belle continued to be silent. She stared intently into a piece of fruit resting within the crook of both of her hooves.
“Bellesmith?”
Her gaping expression reflected off its smooth, green skin. The world jolted from each riveting heartbeat that throbbed through her eyes.
“Beloved...?”