//------------------------------//
// Explanations, Exclamations, And Explosions 
// Story: Dreams, Dimensions, and Dang it Yang 
// by otakufan217 
//------------------------------//

	It hadn’t been a normal night in Canterlot. Indeed, the castle was buzzing with little bits of activity, with conversations between princesses and theory upon theory involving magic and dimensional travel. Twilight Sparkle had theorized a few weeks prior that the souls of other beings could be brought to Equestria, and Luna had expanded on it by stating that the other beings could be an important link to the expansion of technology in Equestria. Celestia had called a meeting between the princesses to discuss their findings, if they had even found anything at all.
Twilight sat in the throne room of Canterlot castle, waiting as the sun’s final light shone through the bright stained-glass windows, which cast a bright, multicolored glow throughout the room. As the moon began to rise, casting a peaceful and welcoming light around the room. The throne room doors opened with a loud bang as Princesses Celestia and Luna entered the room and quickly sat and prepared to discuss their findings.
“So,” the sun princess began, “Shall we start?”
“Wait,” Twilight interjected, “Where’s Cadence?”
“She’s been delayed preparing for the Equestria Games,” Luna explained, “As such, she will be a little late. Now Twilight, how has your experimentation into the observation of these beings been going?”
“Well, I’ve been able to find many suitable subjects if that’s what you’re asking but... ”
“But what, Twilight?”
“I’ve found one world in particular, as you all know, but I think we should consider trying to contact them first and at least asking if they want to participate”
“And how are we to do that?” asked a voice from across the room. Cadence had arrived at the perfect time, it seemed.
“Well, I have a theory that, as long as we have a connection to our world, then we should be able to use our magic and other abilities to enter their dreams without any harm done to either party,” Luna explained
“But the only one who has any experience with dream magic is you, Princess Luna! Are you really saying that you’re willing to put yourself in such a risky position?” Twilight asked.
Luna nodded in response.
“If it shall further advance Equestria and her people, then I shall take the risk and use the dreamwalker spell to contact these beings.” 
“I...I see. I have my doubts, but I assume you’ve taken huge measures to avoid any accidents?”
“Yes, but one must always be prepared for the worst case scenario.”
“May I interrupt?” Celestia asked, stepping forward, prompting a “Yes” from Twilight.
“As you know, we have been researching the travel between dimensions and the possibility of bringing other beings here,” Celestia explained, “We entrusted Twilight Sparkle with observation of our chosen subjects, which she has done masterfully. She has allowed us to see just who we’re bringing here, after all. Through your observations, Twilight, I’ve learned much about their universe despite only seeing a small part of it. And Cadence, I have seen your work on the link to their world. It is impressive, truly. The methods you’ve used, through expanding on Twilight’s magic, may just be enough to bring them here. All that’s left to do is combine the spell with Luna’s dream magic. So, before we truly start...I’d like to reflect on all that we’ve learned.”
“I’ve had the pleasure of witnessing the daily lives of these beings and though they may be hard, and though their world may be dangerous, I believe that the technology that their world possesses will be the most beneficial until we can study more,” Twilight said, “I’m curious, though...how exactly did that spell I did work? And why did it show me that world? You discovered a reason behind this, right?”
Celestia nodded.
“Indeed I did. You, by chance, found what is known as a ‘link.’ Links are gateways, it seems, to other worlds. A recent test confirmed that we cannot use this link to travel to their world. I have thought that there may be magic placed in the link, as if perhaps we aren’t supposed to head to theirs. Or perhaps it is something that we don’t yet understand about links,” Celestia explained.
Twilight’s mind flickered back to when she had discovered that link. Other worlds, save for the one she had visited, had just been a thought back then. There hadn’t been any confirmation. She had discovered the link entirely by accident, in truth.
It had been a complete accident, but it had been a wonderful one indeed. Who would have guessed that a small magical distortion would lead to such a discovery? Not even royalty would think it possible, and yet it happened.
It happened, and it led to so much more.

	It had been a long winter night in Ponyville. Snow blanketed the area, covering rooftops in a thick layer of sparkling white. The local princess hadn’t wanted to go out in such weather, but there was something bugging her. There seemed to be a disturbance in the magical energy around the area, and she had intended to find out what exactly it was.
Behind her, her assistant, Spike, begrudgingly followed. The young dragon hadn’t been out this late in moons, yet Twilight suddenly needed his assistance. In truth, it was because she was afraid. Twilight had been afraid of something going completely wrong, of the possibility of putting Ponyville in danger.
So Spike had really just been there to reassure her.
"Spike, I’m sensing something,” Twilight said, “I don’t know what it is, but I think the magical energy is a little strange over he-”	
Twilight had been cut off by a spark. It was a vision, one that forced itself into her mind and showed up as a flash. She could barely make anything out, all she could see was a bright row of lights, a cliff, and…
Something was running up the cliff? Along the lights? She couldn’t make sense of anything, but whatever was on the cliff, it seemed to be dragging along a huge beast not unlike what one would see in the Everfree Forest, in an attempt to kill it. The vision began to clear up, little by little, as Twilight watched on.
Eventually, she could make out the being.
She realized then that this world wasn’t unlike the other world she had visited. But she couldn’t figure one thing out: This girl, the one with the streaming red cloak and deep red hair,l clad in black...What had she been wielding? It was definitely a scythe, or at least it appeared to be a scythe, but there was something about it that had Twilight incredibly curious.
The girl now stood on the clifftop. The beast, a huge avian of some sort, had been decapitated by her.
Yes, Twilight was definitely curious, though in an almost morbid way.
She had been interrupted by a call from her assistant.
“TWILIGHT!”
Suddenly, she snapped back to her own world. What had she just witnessed? What caused her to see that? And most importantly, could she see it again? Questions raced through her mind at a mile a minute, but she was certain of one thing: She had to tell Celestia.
“Tw-Twilight, you just stopped moving! A-And this circle around you, it began to glow! What was-”
Twilight interrupted Spike, placing her hoof out in front of her.
“Spike, I’m not sure myself,” she gasped, “So I need you to take a note. Tell Princess Celestia that I need to speak with her about this. And I’ll need you there as well.”

Truly an eventful night it had been. Twilight couldn’t help but smile to herself as she recalled what had happened.
“Through studies back in the Crystal Empire,” Celestia continued, “Cadence learned that the mirror that you once travelled through, Twilight, had a spell cast on it that would allow travel through the worlds, but only at certain times, due to the entry link and exit link being disconnected. I understand you’ve read Cadence’s reports from that day?”
Cadence found herself zoning out, just as Twilight had, flashing back to her own contribution to this project. It had been a rather uneventful night in the Crystal Empire, despite the preparations for the upcoming Equestria Games that left the entire Empire buzzing with activity almost constantly. This night, she took it upon herself to take a brief look at a certain mirror.

The mirror was certainly an interesting thing. It opened and closed at regular intervals, leading to another world for brief periods of time. Certainly something like this would have some sort of lead, some means of discovering more about what Twilight Sparkle had seen!
This was what Princess Celestia had thought, it seemed, as Princess Cadence had soon been sent a letter asking her about examining it. Despite the busy life she was leading, preparing for the Equestria Games, she had no qualms about doing so. After all, this particular night hadn’t been that eventful, and since there seemed to be no more plans for the night, Cadence figured that she had found her single chance.
Cadence, as she headed through the hall of the Crystal Palace that led to the mirror, took it upon herself to re-read the letter sent to her by Princess Celestia.
“Cadence,” she muttered to herself, “I have received reports from Twilight Sparkle of a recent distortion in Ponyville’s magical energy. It appears as if she has received a vision of some sort, what she believes to be another world. I ask that you examine the mirror in the Crystal Palace closely in an attempt to clear any mysteries up. Enclosed are the details of Twilight’s vision, as well as the details of what her assistant, Spike, saw, and how to recreate the spell Twilight has used to uncover the magical distortion…”
Her voice trailed off. That was right, she had to use some sort of spell. It was a spell similar to many observation spells, yet there was something about it that had never been done. It was, apparently, a way to look into what seemed to be another world.
She arrived at the storage room and stepped inside. Now there had been another issue at hoof: Where to cast the spell. Cadence had thought of doing the obvious and casting it upon the mirror, but something had been telling her that this wouldn’t work. 	Nevertheless, she had decided to do it anyway, though she was completely aware that the spell could, potentially, drain her of a lot of her energy.
Her horn began to glow, sending a bright blue beam of light towards the mirror, revealing a shimmering circle of light. Yet, when Cadence tried to look into it, all she saw was…
All she saw was herself. Standing in the room, deep in focus, watching herself. There was one other thing that seemed to stand out, though: A second circle glowing faintly on the wall.
Cadence opened her eyes, and though she felt the strain of casting the spell, she managed to bring herself to cast it again, this time on the wall where she had seen it.
What she saw was unlike anything else she had seen. Were these the beings Twilight had seen? Was this what she had been for a night? She seemed to be watching as a few of them, one of which resembling the pony known as Sunset Shimmer, repaired a gaping hole in a brick wall.
Though it wasn’t eventful at all, Cadence was fascinated.
The vision quickly faded, however. She had no energy to keep going, plus there was the issue of leaving Shining Armor worried. This was the very reason she had never wanted to overuse her magic: It wasn’t because of her own health, it was because of his.
She had to head back to their bedroom, obviously, but before she did so, she had a letter to send.


“...Wow,” Twilight said as Celestia finished, though Cadence hadn’t heard much, “That’s...a lot.”
“Indeed it is,” Celestia replied, “But every bit is important. So, shall we head forward, then?” 
A resounding ‘Yes!’ was heard throughout the room, despite only coming from three ponies. Celestia opened the door with her magic, letting the other three ponies leave first. After they stepped out, she led the way, down long hallways and into the lower portions of Canterlot Castle. Soon they arrived at the ritual site, a blank stone room underground, and quickly began to cast the spell that would send Luna on her way.
“Twilight,” Celestia instructed, “You and Cadence should stand in opposite corners of the room. I’ll be standing here and Luna will be in the center of the room. Cadence will initiate the process, bringing the link into view. You, Twilight, are to provide us with our target. You’re the one who decided whose dream Luna shall visit. During this time, Luna is to cast the dreamwalking spell, which will then send her off to the dream of whomever you choose. I’ll be providing energy to the spell, as well as use my own magic in case of an emergency. Do we all understand our roles?”
Twilight and Cadence were already standing in the corners of the room, with Luna standing in the center. At that moment, Cadence’s horn began to glow brightly. A beam of bright blue light shot through the room, striking straight through Luna’s body, not ending as it hit her. Luna closed her eyes, concentrating hard. Twilight began to cast as well, though her mind was racing. The question had been running through her mind and would be answered through a spur-of-the-moment decision: Whose dream would Luna be entering, anyway?
For some reason, as she thought long and hard, Twilight could only think of one being she had observed: The girl in white. All she could think of was how this girl had changed quite a lot during her observations. Her experienced would make one heck of a letter to Celestia, that was for sure.
She cast her part of the spell, sending a beam of light forwards into the link.
Suddenly, Luna was passed out, though she looked to be at peace.
“She’s in a dream now, isn’t she?” Cadence asked, “We’ve succeeded, right?”
“Absolutely,” Celestia answered, “And now, it’s all up to her. Though I do have something to ask.”
Celestia turned to Twilight.
“Whose dream did you choose, anyway?”



Luna found herself in an almost empty white space when she arrived. Though a lone creature lay in front of her, she could see almost nothing else, save for fleeting darkness. Was this her doing? It had to be. She knew that, on certain rare occasions, nightmares had to be sent away by force, since the fears were often too strong.
This fear was definitely too strong.
The being in front of her was similar to the ones Twilight had encountered, yet her skin seemed much less...colorful. Her hair, however, was a striking white, which likely stood out amazingly against the darkness that may have filled the room just moments ago. This girl, though for a fleeting moment Luna had thought she was wearing a white dress, among other things, was now dressed in a nightgown.
“E-Excuse me,” Luna said, trying not to make his introduction awkward, “I realize this is a dream, and you may not believe that I am actually real, but I assure you, I am, and I wish to help you.”
The being turned around slowly, shuddering violently. A look of horror had been on her face, which was soon replaced with a look of pure confusion. 
“Who or what are you, exactly?”
“My name is Princess Luna, I come from… far away and I wished to talk, but in your current state, we may have a problem with that.”
“W-well, Princess, my name is Weiss Schnee. I would love to know what you wanted to talk about but, in case you haven’t noticed, we’re in the middle of a battle, so unless you’ve got some mystical macguffin with you, stay down and stay out of my way!”
“But this is a dream, as I said,” Luna replied, “I have driven away the battle for now. We may talk freely.”
“What, but that’s im...possi...ble,” Weiss trailed off as she realized that the sounds of battle had suddenly vanished.
“Uh, what?”
“I am princess of the night, after all. I must watch over dreams, as they are part of the night. However, this dream in particular is unique, as it  is the first time I have entered a dream outside of my own world.”
“Wait,” Weiss interjected, “Outside of your own world?! What do you mean?, What’s going on? And why, in all the academes in Remnant, did you pick my room at Beacon?”
“While I am not sure why you in particular were chosen, I believe it may have something to do with your potential. You see, the reason I came to your dream is because I have a request for you, as well as your team.”
“Alright, it’s official, I’ve died and this is some crazy god’s way of messing with my mind.”
“Perhaps, but I did dispel your nightmare,” Luna stated, “So perhaps you could at least listen to me.”
Weiss sighed.
“Alright, fine. What do you want?”
“I would like to ask this of both you and your team. We have been studying travel between worlds in my world. We would like to ask you all: Would you be willing to come to our world for a short while?”