"Discord! Get down from there!" Twilight heard the princess yell.
"Why should I? I get treated like a common dog by you and your precious sister. All I hear is 'Good boy, Discord' and 'Discord, could you please put the vase back where you found it' and 'Discord, give me back my tail'. Well I, for one, am sick of it. I shan't continue being your pet anymore!" Discord raged as the chandelier hung onto him for its life.
Princess Celestia peeked out the corner of her eye at her student only to fin that she had still not moved, or even smiled at what was transpiring in her living quarters.
"I'm sorry, Discord. I thought it would work this time..." Celestia pondered thoughtfully.
"Oh well. I played my part, now its time for you to play yours." Discord said looking at Celestia with a smirk.
"Fine," Celestia sighed. "Let us go to my quarters so as to not disturb Twilight.."
"Allow me, Princess," Discord replied and with a snap of his fingers they both vanished.
At the same time, Twilight felt another memory surfacing.
Bracing herself for what she knew was to come, she embraced the darkness once again.
--
74 years previous
One week after Applejacks death, all of Ponyville was gathered in a large, church-like tent.
There was a resonably sized chestnut-coloured wood coffin.
Inside it lay a very attractive mare.
Applejack had been cleaned and dressed in a simple, but elegant, dress which was designed by Rarity and given to the funeral parlour for this very occasion.
"You look so very pretty, Applejack dear," Rarity was telling the body in the coffin. "Too bad I couldnt get you to wear something like this when you were still with us."
And with that she broke into tears and walked away to sit down next to Spike, who cuddled her lovingly.
Next to pay her respects to her 'bestest friend in all of Equestria' was a very disturbing looking Pinkie.
"Hey Applejack. Hows it going?" Pinkie asked, her left eye twitching every now and then. "I've been having the most wonderful time. I ate three whole chocolate cakes yesterday."
She paused then as if listening to Applejack talking to her.
"Yes yes. I know i shouldn't have eaten three," Pinkie replied to the coffin, "but the Cakes make them soooo tasty."
She finished by smiling manically at the body before moving away and sitting in the seat next to Rarity, who moved her chair away from Pinkie as she slowly turned her manic smile on her.
"Oh, Applejack. If you could see what would've happened, would you still have gone through with it?" Fluttershy whispered quietly, more to herself than the pony in the box.
During the ceremony everypony had cried at least once, everyone except Pinkie who wore her manic grin through the entire ceremony. But when the coffin closed and the pall-bearers called Pinkie cracked.
She cried and tore at her mane before finally running out of the tent, almost knocking the coffin to the ground in her haste.
Fluttershy looked at her friends, not knowing what had just happened, and gave them a quizical look. They all shrugged to say they had no idea either.
--
Back in her room, Twilight was sprawled on the floor with a pillow under her head.
Tears were falling rapidly from her cheek onto the pillow.
The air reverberated with her sobbing, due to the high marble walls and concave roof.
She could feel the next memory trying to burst through into her eyes, but she shut them stopping the memory from arriving.
Lying there on the cold marble floor as it drained the warmth from her body, she shuddered violently.
--
Her eyes opened and she found herself in her loft room in the Ponyville library.
Standing on shaky legs she walks over to the window and looks over a desolate Ponyville.
Knowing this is not the town she left behind when she moved to Canterlot she leaves the room to explore...
Only to end up in a crumbling building.
Looking around she recognises the statues and realises that she is standing in the Canterlot Ancient Archives.
She picks up a book with her magic only to have it crumble into dust.
Twilight sits down and continues to do the only thing she does. Cry.
Not hearing the hoofsteps slowly approaching her she is startled when a dark blue wing encompasses her.
"Lu.. Luna.. Wha... What happene..." Twilight starts.
"Shh," Luna replies, "This isn't real. All of this is a dream."
"But the pain and agony of loss feels so real." Twilight starts to cry again.
"That's because your subconcious is feeding off the loss of your friends. What you see around you is only what your mind is feeling. Pain, Loss, Heartache and, most of all, the lack of happiness."
"But how do you know all this?" Twilight asked.
"Don't you remember? I married you," Luna replied kissing Twilight on the cheek. "Marriage is more than just a piece of paper to the royal family. It allows us to share the thoughts and feelings of our partners."
"Then how come I can't sense your feelings?" Twilight asked insightfully.
"Ah. But you can," Luna extended her hoof to help Twilight up, "But your own emotions are hiding it. Take my hoof and I will show you."
As Twilight grasps Luna's forehoof a blinding white light appears and swallows the two of them.
A few seconds later they arrive in what appears to be a dining hall.
There is a long table down the middle of the room, with comfy seats every few paces, adorned with fancy gold candle holders every 3 or so chairs to allow the table to fully lit.
Twilight was about to ask what they were doing here when Luna put a hoof to her mouth and pointed to the door.
Twilight turns her attention to the door as it swings open and she walks in accompanied by Luna.
Behind them is a whole host of hungry wedding guests with an ecstatic, but visivly older, Pinkie Pie leading the procession.
Everypony sits in their designated seats, with the happy couple sitting towards the middle.
"This is our wedding day," Twilight remarks.
"Indeed it is," Luna replies.
"Why are we here? Weren't you going to show me how you feel?" Twilight asked, confused at why they were re-living their wedding feast.
"Twilight, I am showing you how i feel. Can't you see the smiles on our faces? That is how i feel when i'm around you," Luna began. "But lately the feeling has been different.
"If you could take my hoof again, I will show you."
Another bright flash of light and they end up in a halway cluttered by trays of uneaten food.
A different Luna appears around the corner carrying a tray of fresh food.
Politely knocking on the door she calls out, "Um, Twilight? Are you in there?"
There was no reply from the other side of the door.
"Uh.. If you're in there, I'll just leave your food outside the door if you want it later", the other Luna continued.
Still no answer from the room, or its inhabitant.
Luna stood there and cleared away the trays with a wisp of magic while wiping the tears from her eyes.
"Wait," Twilight says. "This was Monday. The Monday just been."
"No Twilight. This isn't the Monday just been. This is EVERY Monday. Its always the same. Nothing ever changes," Luna cries. "I come by every Monday to see if there is any change, anything at all. Even if it is that you are sitting closer or further away from the door. But its always the same."
Luna breaks down and starts crying, while the memory-Luna places the tray down and walks away.
Twilight is stunned into silence. She didn't know that Luna felt this way.
When Twilight tried to comfort her partner, Luna shrugged the wing off her back and grabbed Twilight by the shoulders and stared into her eyes.
"Twilight, if you are trying to cheer me up please remember that we are in the Dream World. The only way to truly make me happy is for you to face your fears and work through your problems. You must accept the past before you can embrace the future. There is no changing what has happened, but you alter what you have become. Before you can make me happy you must first be happy in yourself."
With this Luna lept into the air and spread her wings.
The world around changed then, the ceiling and walls melting away to reveal a full moon and starry sky.
"I allow you to remember this dream, in the hopes that it will help you change," Luna boomed as she flapped her mighty wings, flying closer to the Moon with every flap.
"Wake now, my sweet. I shall see you soon."
And with that the Dream World was sucked into the moon leaving only Twilight behind in its absence.
She closed her eyes on the Dream...
And woke lying spread-eagle on the marble floor of her Royal Quarters.