I didn’t bother knocking, as I ran I simply jumped into the air. I pulled back my forelegs as I approached the large wooden door, I felt Spike squirm on my back. As I came within touching distance, I kicked out my forelegs and blasted the door wide open. With only a second’s pause to dump Spike onto a nearby sofa, I rushed up to the closed door of Twilights room. I flung myself onto the door, my chest slammed against it as I pounded the wood above my head with my hooves.
“TWILIGHT! LET ME IN!” If any response came, I didn’t hear it over the pounding of my hooves on the flimsy wooden wedge in front of me. The door remained locked. “TWILIGHT! CELESTIA DAMN IT OPEN THIS DOOR! THIS IS IMPORTANT! DO YOU HEAR ME? IM ANGRY, I’M YELLING! THAT’S WHAT YOU WANTED RIGHT?” Still nothing. I stopped pounding against the wood. I collapsed onto the floor, beside the entrance to the unicorn’s room.
My heart felt as though it was breaking all over again, someone had set out to HURT Tom, and I knew who it was! And the only damned pony that could help me wouldn’t open the stupid door! I let out a few bitter sobs, no tears came from my eyes, maybe I just needed to release my anger and that was what my body had decided was the most fitting thing to do. “You said... you said if I ever needed anything from you, all I had to do was ask...” Silence, then a muffled movement. I looked up just in time to see the catch on the door slip, and the wide panel swing open.
There stood Twilight, she looked as distraught as I felt. I wasn’t sure how the unicorn felt about my being here, she seemed terrified at the sight of me and yet she had opened the door. “You came back?” she asked shakily. “I didn’t think you’d want to after how I acted.” She looked at her hooves in pure misery, “I said a lot of things that I didn’t mean, I guess I was...still am jealous of what you and Tom had.” She looked up at me with pearls in her big purple eyes. “Forgive me?” I stood up and smiled shakily with relief my friend wasn’t still mad at me and just wanted to reconcile.
“Nothing to forgive Twi.” And through those tears, Twilight Sparkle gave me a wide smile of gratitude and joy.
The two of us sat in Twilights room talking for a long time, mostly about how we wanted things to be the way they were between us. The unicorn explained to me how it hadn’t been so much about hating me, but hating herself at how jealous she was. I sat and took it all in, letting her pour out her innermost feelings towards me, and when it was all over Twilight looked a lot better.
“Uhhmmm, is everything ok in here?” Spike peered around the corner nervously. At the sight of her number one assistant, Twilight ran over to the dragon and pulled him into a huge hug. Over her shoulder Spike winked at me and mouthed the words “Thank you.” To me, before returning the hug.
It was time I told Twilight, maybe not about the picture, and maybe not about ‘Nightmare moon’ but definitely about the dreams and the magic causing the crash. Hopefully that would be enough to find out what was going on, I didn’t want to ruin Twilights faith in the Princesses unless there was no other option.
“Twilight?” I began tentatively, as Twilight looked happily through one of her books. We had moved down to the main room of her library now, and once we had made up Twilight had begun to act reasonably normal again. (So of course, she broke out the books)
“Hmm?” she invited me to continue without looking up from her page. I licked my lips, choosing my words carefully.
“What...do you know...about dreams?” The unicorn looked at me, her head tilted to the side in obvious bewilderment.
“Uhmm, they’re the form of our thoughts surfacing from our subconscious while we sleep. We perceive them as images as our eyes are closed and we basically leave a blank canvas for our thoughts to paint whatever they want.” Her eye’s grew wide as she realised she had rambled, she blushed slightly and smiled. “Well, yeah I kinda like to think I know a few things about them, why do you ask?”
“You see, for the past week and a bit now, I’ve been dreaming. About Tom, and”-
“Well that’s to be expected, after all you were so close, and losing him was a bigger blow than to you than to any of the others.” She smiled, reassured that she had understood my problem and solved it but before she could look back at her book she caught my eye, and sensed something was wrong. “There’s something else?” I nodded grimly, Twilight sensed this was serious. So she shut the book and turned fully to face me head on.
“Every night it’s the same dream, it’s the night of the accident. We come down the mountain road we were driving down that night.” My mind flashed with Toms smile. “Then there’s this rock at the bottom of the road.” The huge boulder swept across my mind’s eye momentarily. “And when we reach it, something comes out from behind it and tips the car over completely. And... well that’s when I usually wake up, but sometimes I don’t and that’s when I see what it is. It’s a pony’s magic.”
Twilight stared at me for a moment, she looked completely dumbstruck. “Y-you’re sure? That was what you saw? A pony’s magic?” I nodded, I silently prayed that she could help me. “B-but you said that when you were with Tom that he just lost control!” She looked about as confused as I felt.
“That’s what I thought, but then the dreams started and well, I’m sure something else happened completely!” Twilight looked relieved,
“So you’re saying that this was all just because of the dream? Oh Rainbow you scared me! I thought you meant you realised you’d forgotten something about that night! That magic is probably just a form that your mind gave the accident in your dream, to make you feel as though there was some sort of reason behind it all.” I had been worried she’d say something like that.
“Tom saw it.” Twilight’s mouth dropped open in surprise at my curt and short statement.
“H-he...”
“He saw it, yes. He told me something had been there, and that he wouldn’t have simply crashed. He said ‘that’s my talent. What makes me unique here.’ He was sure he hadn’t been the cause and that something had been there.” Twilight still looked doubtful. “It was one of the last things he ever said to me...” I knew it may hurt Twilight to hear that, but it was the only way she would understand.
“So he did see it, there was something there obviously.” I sighed with relief, but my joy was cut short by her next question. “So what colour was the magic?” My stomach clenched at the inquiry. Twilight had hopped off of the sofa and had trotted over to a shelf looking for something.
“Uhmm, it was dark.” Twilight muttered to herself, it sounded like pony’s names. But each one seemed to receive a scornful remark from the unicorn as she thought of them.
“Anything else?” She hovered a book down to her height, cursed and then replaced it.
“It was... blue, very dark blue.” I hoped that Twilight would make the connection herself, meaning that I didn’t have to tell her.
“Dark blue...hmmm darn it!” she yelled as she threw another book back onto the shelf. “I thought i had a book on dark magic, or at least the recorded users of dark magic... why isn’t it here?” The unicorn paced across the room for a minute, I couldn’t help but feel comforted at how serious she was now taking this. She still obviously one of the greatest friends Tom could have ever asked for.
The unicorn’s face lit up! She turned to the stairs and yelled loudly “SPIKE! GRAB A QUILL AND PAPER!” and sure enough her little scribe soon appeared ready to write what was asked of him. “Dear princess, I’m sorry to bother you. But if you could, would you be able to permit me and my friends to stay in Canterlotte castle for a few days. I’m searching for a particular book, and I know that it’s in the Canterlotte library. This book is unequivocally...” She looked back at Spike who shrugged at her, I giggled at the puzzled expression on the dragon’s face. “Ummm. This book is vitally?” The dragon nodded happily. “Important, as it may help me discover someone in Equestria who is using dark magic to harm others! Yours faithfully Twilight Sparkle.”
She waited for her assistant to finish writing, and then nodded at the dragon, who took as the command to send it. With a deep breath he spewed a plume of green flame that engulfed and burnt away the scroll. The wisps left behind floated through the window on an unseen breeze. I watched until they disappeared in the distance, it was still day time so hopefully the princess would be able to reply soon enough.
Within ten minutes of silent waiting, Spike stomach began to rumble. I watched as I saw a light shine from behind his scales on his belly, and travel up his throat and into his mouth which he released with a mighty belch even rivalling me on a good day! Twilight unfurled it with her magic, read it and smiled happily. “Right, I’ll go talk to the others. I’ll explain everything! When they know what the truth is we can find this pony!” She looked suddenly serious. “We’ll all make them pay for taking Tom away from us!” She looked at me with a look that said “I promise.” Which made my stomach squirm with my secret being held inside.
She turned for the front door, looking over her shoulder back at me as she did. “I know today’s been hard on you Rainbow, putting up with me acting so stupidly and then letting all of this out. You must be tired, go home and rest. We’ll call by you tomorrow so we can go!” And with that she was gone.
Tomorrow? Why not today? I went over to the abandoned letter, passing Spike as he began to trudge back upstairs for a nap. I looked at the long curved writing I knew to only be Princess Celestia’s.
“Dearest Twilight, I completely understand your urgency in this matter and I am more than happy to accommodate you and your friends. Especially after the tragedy that has befallen you all lately.
Unfortunately I must ask if you don’t leave for Canterlotte today, for you see me and my sister have certain duties that need to be fulfilled. However, once you arrive tomorrow I can promise you that Luna will be more than happy to help you. She seems to have made it her mission to find Ponies using dark magic, almost as though she wishes to atone for her past.
I am sure my little sister will give you an insight to the dark workings of this kind of magic, after being so close to it for so long. I will inform her immediately, we will meet you in the throne room tomorrow my dearest student!”
Luna! She would be there! Within touching distance. My body seemed to fill with a rage I had never felt before in my life. My wings ruffled themselves in disgust. Luna would be there, and I could show them all what she had done...somehow. Luna would be there. Nightmare Moon...would be there!