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// Chapter 6: Awakening 
// Story: The Deepest Magic 
// by ChronicleStone 
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     “No turning back.  No turning back.  No turning back.”
He repeated the mantra in his head over and over as he slowly advanced into the city.  He tried to remind himself of the sheer determination and fearlessness he had experienced not long ago, just before entering the city.  At least, he didn’t think it was too long ago.  But he had a very loose grasp on the concept of time, and focusing on it didn’t seem to help much.
But here he was, in the city of lights...and it terrified him.  Most of the lights were relatively stationary, but there were just too many to be comfortable with.  He had managed to keep his distance to this point, but the more he tried to weave his way around the lights, the more he found himself going the opposite direction from where he felt he was being called.  That one light just had to be there: right smack dab in the middle of it all.
“Where else would it be?” he grumbled in a hushed voice, afraid that anything spoken too loud would draw the lights.  “It only makes sense.  It’s like there’s some law that states that nothing is ever as easy as it should be!”
It was a slow, agonizing dance that led him through the shadowed areas of the city at a (relatively) safe distance from the lights.  He kept himself aware of the lights and wherever they were, hoping to avoid the chance of having one sneak up on him.
He hazarded a glance towards the brightly glowing hub of radiance towards what he figured was the center of the city.  It pulsated with energy, like the beating of a heart.  And at the center, he could feel the mysterious light calling out to him, reaching for him, yearning for him.
Suddenly, he felt a new sensation: he could feel his thoughts drifting to visions that were not his own.  Strange scenes began to play across his mind.  In them, he saw a friendly-looking sky blue pegasus, his navy blue mane and tail flashing as the sun caught a couple of long silver streaks running within them.  He was donned in brightly-polished golden armor, and his wings seemed to glisten against his sides.  His head was thrown back in laughter, apparently having been amused by some scene or joke that had been told by somewhere nearby.
The vision of the laughing blue pegasus sent a warm, familiar feeling through his mind.  “It…it feels like I know him,” he mumbled.  “I don’t know where or how, but…he just seems so…”
His thoughts were interrupted as he caught sight of a light passing beside him, within a few mere feet.  He quickly retreated from the light, though he was surprised to find that he had felt no increased fear or dread in spite of its presence.  As he increased the distance between he and this other light, he became aware of a most peculiar thing: the second light seemed to have reached out to him.  As he pulled away, he saw what appeared to be misty, ethereal tendrils of light dissipate between he and the newcomer, as though the two of them had interacted in some way.  And as the light faded completely, the strange vision of the jovial blue pony faded, leaving him as alone as he had been before, but more confused than ever.
“What in the name of all that is good and holy was that?” he asked as he watched the light slowly saunter away.

“Well, that was odd.”
Night Crest looked around for a moment before shrugging and continuing his patrol.  He was a deep navy blue pony with a dark auburn mane and tail.  His shimmering gold armor contrasted with his naturally darker hues to the point that he almost felt lost inside of it whenever he was on duty.  He turned his head upward to the night sky and took a deep breath.
“It’s been months since that happened,” he mumbled to himself.  “We were just talking that one day while we were on duty together, and we had been talking about how we were a couple of hopeless bachelors.  The more and more we talked, the funnier the conversation got, until we were just laughing our heads off.  Heh…what was his name?  Cloud something?”  His forehead wrinkled in thought.  “No, no…Sky, maybe?  Yeah, that sounds right.  Sky.  Wow, I wonder what brought that memory back.  I wonder what he’s up to.  Might be nice to catch up with him again.”

“Is that what happens when the lights get close?  I have visions of some kind?” he wondered.  “But what do they mean?  Is there something I’m supposed to understand from that?  There was a laughing pegasus.  Whoopty-do.  What good does that do for me?”  
He caught sight of another light off to his left.  “I think I need to test a theory…”

Octavia walked the lamp-lit streets of Canterlot alone.  She enjoyed the cool evenings and the quiet atmosphere—it was hard enough to get with a roommate like Vinyl Scratch.  Still, here in Canterlot, she knew all of the good times and places for some solitude, and this was one of them.  In her head, she worked her way through her newest piece of work, a wonderful string quartet that she had been composing for months now.  She closed her eyes, imagining her cello and bow in her hooves, playing her lovely melody in front of huge crowds within a beautiful amphitheater.
Suddenly, a new vision replaced her dream.  It was a memory of not but a few weeks ago.  She had been walking through the streets of Canterlot again, but a stiff wind had proven to be quite a hassle, and several pages of her score had been caught up into the air and were flying away, much to her chagrin.
Just then, a light blue pegasus had come streaking by, shouting “I got it!” as he proceeded to rocket through the air, snatching all of the lost pages and returning them to her with a charming toothy smile.
“Thank you, kind sir,” Octavia said.
“No problem!  Keeps me loose and limber.  Besides, I couldn’t have just passed you by when you needed help like that,” came his slightly-too-extroverted reply.
“Just the same, I appreciate it…I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name,” she continued, trying to prompt a response from him.
“Oh, it’s Sky Streak.  But you can just call me Sky.  It’s what my friends call me.”
“Well, then, thank you, Sky Streak.  You’ve saved me from a great deal of trouble.”
“Aw, well, you’re most welcome.”  He glanced up at the clear blue sky that matched his own color almost perfectly.  “I’d love to stay and talk, but that sky is just begging to be flown in, and it’s calling to me.  Have a great day!”
And just like that, he had gone.  She smiled at the memory.  “He was just a bit outgoing, but he was as nice and friendly as any pony I’ve ever seen.  Perhaps I should try to find him again.  He did help me then…it would be a nice gesture to invite him to my next performance, as a way of saying thank you.”  She continued down the street, entertaining her new line of thought.

“Well, now,” he mused, “this is getting interesting.”
He watched the light float away as the thin streams reaching out to him slowly evaporated.  “That same blue pegasus again.  And now I’ve got a name to go with it: Sky Streak.  Is he important somehow?”  He pondered the situation for a moment when he realized something: he wasn’t frightened of the lights anymore.  Now he was more fascinated and intrigued by the curious mystery they held.
He made his way through the lights, drifting close to the occasional one, and found himself fascinated to find that each time, another dream came to him, and each one with that cheerful blue pegasus.  As he continued through the city, a new question came to mind…one that both excited him and worried him.
“That blue pegasus…Sky Streak…is he…me?”
He couldn’t deny how the distinct the possibility was.  Of course, there was no way to be certain (at least, none that he knew of), but the fact that he just kept showing up meant that there was something important about him.
Eyeing another light, he drew near to it, wondering what he would see this time.  But as he passed within a few feet of the creature, he found that no visions came to him.  No blue pegasus, no ponies, nothing at all.  He stared at the light incredulously.  “Hey, what gives?  Where’s the dream?” he asked, slightly offended.
The light glimmered before him, but no matter what he tried or said, he could not connect with it as he had with every other one before.  “Wait,” he said, as the gears in his mind began to turn.  “Every time I have a vision, I see Sky, and those lights connect with me…somehow.  But this one doesn’t do anything, and I have no visions at all.  I wonder…”
He chuckled to himself.  “I think I understand.  I’m seeing their memories.  Their memories of Sky Streak.  And if I keep seeing him whenever they react with my presence…”  He dared his mind to believe the evidence he was piecing together.  “…then they’re seeing a memory they have in common with me.  Which means that I’m Sky Streak.”
He looked to the center of the lights, where the one calling him awaited.  “So, if I’m Sky Streak, then who are you?”
Now more determined (and curious) than ever, he raced past the pinpoints of light around him as they stretched into streaks in his wake.  He just had to find that one.  The one that could solve everything.
He zigzagged between the lights throughout the city, heedless of their presence or the visions they could bring.  As he passed them by, he occasionally caught a quick glimpse of a memory—usually just enough to see himself smiling, or flying, or doing something to help whomever he had been with at that time.  And as the images flashed through his mind, he felt—or perhaps, he merely imagined it—that  somewhere behind him, he could feel a pair of wings beating against him, propelling him on his flight.
Suddenly, he came to an almost immediate halt as he spotted the most amazing sight: there were two lights, but quite unlike the others.  They were brilliant, dazzling, almost enchanting with their glow.  They floated one beside the other, each one basking in the other’s radiance and mingling with it much as the lights had done with him.  The one on the left emitted a powerful yellow light, and it seemed to illuminate the darkness.  The second one, on the right, shone with a cold blue light that did not dissipate the darkness, but instead, it filled it.  It did not send the darkness away: it merely gave the darkness a light of its own.
Whatever the hay that meant.  He found it hard to explain.
Distracted by these two powerful spirits, he approached them, wondering what they could be.  As he neared them, he watched as the telltale ribbons of light reached out to him, bathing him in their glory and washing him in a wave of memories.

Luna looked up at her sister.  “Tia, do you feel that?”
Celestia’s head was already in the air, scanning the throne room where the royal siblings were seated.  “I believe I do,” she replied.  “It feels like…like something is here with us.  Something familiar.”
Luna arched an eyebrow.  “I find it interesting that I can’t help thinking about Sky Streak right now,” she said as her memories of the fallen pegasus danced through her mind.  “I mean, of course I’m thinking of him, but now…”
“Now it’s almost as if he’s here with us,” Celestia completed the thought.  “Yes, I feel it.”
“What is it?” Luna asked, uncertain of the answer.
Celestia narrowed her eyes as she continued to inspect the chamber, apparently looking for something important.  “Perhaps you are right, sister.  Maybe Sky Streak is here with us.”
“Come again?”
She turned to the lunar princess.  “You yourself said that when you found Sky’s body in the Painted Forest that it felt like his spirit was no longer within him.  What if you were right?  What if Sky’s body and spirit were separated, and now, his spirit is returning?”
Luna’s eyes grew wide.  “I did not think that such a thing was possible…”
“But if it is possible, even the smallest chance, we must try to help it as much as we can.”  She rose from her seat and headed for the doors at the opposite end of the room.  “We need to go to him.  Perhaps we can bring Sky’s spirit to his body.”

He was amazed at the scenes that played before him.  There were ponies of all colors, shapes and sizes.  There was a rainbow-maned pegasus and an orange country-bred pony.  He saw a shy yellow pegasus, a classy white unicorn, and a ridiculous-looking pink pony with a curly tail and mane to match.  And then there was the last: a cute purple unicorn that he felt a strange connection with.  She was not the pony that he was looking for; that much he knew.  But somehow, she shared something with him.
And, of course, there were the two alicorns.  He recognized them instantaneously as the lights he was currently in the presence of.  One was deep blue with a dark tail and mane with what appeared to be tiny pieces of glitter that sparkled like stars in the night.  Her eyes seemed to possess an almost-bewitching charm.  And, Sky thought, it was a spell that he might not mind falling under.
The other was tall and white, proud and regal, yet kind and compassionate.  Her mane was long and flowing, and it waved in the breeze as the colors of the sunrise rhythmically danced down its length.  He could sense the power she possessed, yet her eyes shone with the wisdom of countless generations.
He looked on, spellbound by visions, unable to draw himself away from what he saw.  He felt so welcome, so at peace, so at home…how could he leave?
But then, a new image rose to the front, and his mind awoke.  His purpose was renewed as he saw her.  It had to be her.  There was no doubt.
She was a beautiful white unicorn with a mane and tail as green as the leaves in summer.  Her eyes seemed to shine as she looked directly at him in his dream.  Then he realized it: it was because she was crying.
His heart broke.  She was so pure, so wonderful…he did not have any recollection of her, but he knew, deep down, that she was exactly who he had been looking for.  No…she was more than that.  He cared for her.  He loved her.  He needed her.
In a flash, he was gone.  The final leg of his journey.

The sudden absence of Sky’s presence worried Celestia.  “He’s moved,” she said, whipping her head around to face her sister.  “Come, Luna!  We must locate him!”
But Luna remained seated, eyes closed, but a confident smile appeared on her face.  “There’s no need.  Sky will be fine.”
Celestia tilted her head curiously.  “And how do you know that?”
“Because I know that he’s going to see Lily.  And she’s currently with his physical body.”
“But how do you know that he’s going there?”
Luna opened her eyes and flashed her sister a look of clever wit and craftiness.  “Because, sister, I sent him to her.”

He could feel it.  Every fiber of his existence screamed like a live wire as he searched for the light.  She was close…extremely close.  As soon as he had seen her in the visions from the alicorns, he knew that she was the one he was after.  None of the other lights mattered at all.  None of the memories, none of the answers—nothing was as important as she was.
He adjusted his course to the right a bit, not slowing down at all.  He passed dozens of lights, with most of them reaching out to him as he shot by.  Then, in a sudden blaze of glory, one light erupted as he came up beside it.  He stopped instantaneously and inspected it.  It only took a moment for it to engulf him in its glow, and he knew what he had found.
A word came to him as the visions filled his mind.  “Lily…”

“Sky?”
Her head rose from the bed, eyes fixed on the motionless pegasus beside her.  He was not awake, but she had felt it, clear as day: she had felt him.  Just like back at the windigo colony, when she had first realized that she could sense his emotions.  Then, it had been his anxiety before it transformed into sheer determination.  Now, it was…peace.  Relief, as though he had come to a conclusion of something.  She stared at his face as a disturbing sense of worry draped itself over her.  “Sky…if you can hear me…wake up.”
And in response, a vivid portrayal of every memory she had of him came roaring back to her.

“Lily…oh, Lily.  I remember now.”
He was no longer a third party, viewing the events of the past.  These memories were his life, and he was reliving them.  The windigoes.  The town of Polarmino.  The Grains and Clocks.  And, yes, even the Chimera.  They were all there; players in the forgotten act that was his past.
And he had the lead role.
He could feel the frigid temperatures of the night in Polarmino, and the welcome warmth and taste of Lily’s special cider.  Cuddles’ purring resonated in his mind.  The screeching of the windigoes and the roaring of the Chimera.  He saw his battle with the terrible monster, and the wonderful date he had shared with this very pony not twenty-four hours later.  If he could have cried, he would have.
Something on the edge of his vision distracted him.  As he focused on it, he observed an unusual sight.  The streams of light from Lily’s spirit had merged with some streamers he had not seen before: his own.  The sets of ribbons wound around each other, weaving a beautiful strand of light that slowly worked its way through the air until they both began to wrap around a dark object a mere few feet away.
As he looked on, the lights illuminated the object, gradually revealing its natural light blue hue.  He stared on incredulously as strands of navy and silver hair became visible.  Its eyes were closed, and it did not move, but he didn’t need to see any more to be positively certain of what was lying before him.
“That’s…that’s Sky.  His body.  My body.”
Unlike all of the other ponies he had passed by, which had all had their lights encased within their bodies, his own body was empty.  Dark and hollow…almost lifeless.  He approached the dark form of his physical existence, drawn by more than his own desire.  This was the end of his wandering; he could return to his body and be reunited with his past.  But as he drew close, a familiar voice echoed in his mind.
You don’t want to do that.
“No?” Sky said caustically.  “I thought you were gone, and yet here you are, trying to delay me from making a definitive choice yet again.”  He was getting mad now.  “Get lost.”
I’m warning you.  Uniting with that body will only result in pain and sorrow for you.
“‘Pain and sorrow’?  That’s obviously a lie, because I’ve seen my past, and it’s been filled with joy and happiness.  Any pain I might have endured was short and fleeting.”
You may wish it will have been a lie, but I speak the truth when I tell you what awaits you.
There was a brief moment of silence when the truth struck him.  “Wait…how do you know that ‘pain and sorrow’ await me?  If that isn’t a lie…”  He felt sick as his anger reached the boiling point.  “You’ve known who I am all along!  And you never told me!  How dare you claim to be a friend!”
Say what you will, but that does not change the truth.
He looked upon his hollow body longingly.  It would be wonderful to unite it, if for no other reason than to find some kind of physical outlet to vent his frustrations.  “Maybe you’re telling the truth.  I tend to think not, but I don’t know.  But here’s one thing I do know: I’d take a lifetime of pain and suffering if I had my friends with me over anything else with the likes of you!
“I’m ready to go home.”
Ignoring all else, he reached out and touched the nearest hoof of his body.  He suddenly had the strange sensation of having himself stretched out and pulled into a tiny opening.  He wriggled uncomfortably as he gradually became tangible, though he welcomed the feeling of being encased in his own warm flesh.  He saw his own familiar ribbons of light stretch out all around him as his body illuminated itself from the glow of his spirit.  And distantly, he heard the sweet voice of a long-sought pony.
“Sky…if you can hear me…wake up.”

Her heart jumped in her chest.  Had…had she just seen him move?
Maybe her eyes had played a trick on her.  No…she had felt him again; his anger like a searing hot iron.  Somehow, he was here.  She eyed him closely for a moment.  “Sky?”
She felt the blanket tighten beneath her.  Looking down, she heard a soft hissing sound, like air being slowly released from a balloon…or a tire.
Or like a pony taking a deep breath.
Her eyes were on him in a flash.  She was startled to see that his head had moved.  It had fallen from its upright position, and though his eyes were still closed, his head was now facing towards her.
The wind blew gently in the night air.  The stars glittered brightly as the occasional cloud passed silently by.  No birds sang.  No critter stirred.  
And while all of Equestria slumbered, one pony awoke from his sleep.
“Well, this is a pleasant surprise,” Sky said in a gravelly voice as his bright blue eyes flashed in the dim light of his room.  “Nothing like waking up to you.”