Chapter 1 Strange
"Wake up Twilight." Said a familiar voice. Twilight groaned,
"Ugggg, what happened?" Twilight's eyes focused to see the purple and green baby dragon shaking her from her sleep. All she could remember of yesterday was being at a massive party bigger than usual and that's saying something.
"You can't remember? We were at a party when you had a little too much punch, I think somepony spiked it," Spike said chuckling to himself. "luckily I saw them sneaking into the room where the punch was so I didn't have any." He said proudly. Twilight stumbled out of bed and pulled the door open. With the sound of a firework Spike had to jump sideways to dodge the splintered door that was pulled off of its hinges. Splinters of wood and shards of glass fell to the floor as Spike and Twilight looked at each other, both with shocked expressions.
"Maybe you should lay off of using magic for a while." said Spike, still with wide eyes. Twilight just held her hoof to her head, the headache was unbearable. then suddenly her headache was gone.
"What the?" Said Twilight confused.
"What?"
"Nothing." Spoke the stressed Twilight, enough confusing and stressful things have happened, she didn't need to add another one to the heap. She walked downstairs, something was off, but she couldn't put her hoof on it. When the last traces of her headache disappeared she realized the library had tripled in size, what once was wood was replaced with stone tile and marble pillars, the wooden horse head in the middle of the library was replaced by a magnificent statue of Celestia with outstretched wings.
"Okay what's going on? Is this a prank, Rainbow Dash are you here?" Said Twilight.
"What are you talking about?" said Spike, walking in with a plate of sandwiches and two cups of sparkling apple cider.
"Are you in on it too Spike?" Said Twilight chuckling sarcastically.
"In on what?" Spike said muffled by a sandwich that he had stuffed whole into his mouth. Although he was a dragon who was supposed to eat gems, he had gotten used to the pony foods.
Twilight, feeling confused, galloped out the door in a hurry, being careful not to use her magic. As soon as she stepped outside she could see that all of PonyVille had changed, no matter where she looked everypony seemed to be reading a book. This seems familiar Twilight thought to herself, she would figure it out later, I need to find my friends. Twilight started walking towards Flutter Shy's cottage when she realized the road that usually lead there was gone.
Twilight levitated herself to get a better view, when she was launched over a hundred feet into the air. Twilight screamed as she slowly came to a stop. "What's happening!" screamed Twilight, but as she looked over the city she recognized it instantly. "Canterlot. But how?" She spoke aloud until she realized she was talking to herself. Then it all came flooding back to her.
When she was eight, she felt alone. She was being bullied at school and being picked on in her neighborhood. She felt dreadful. Shining Armor helped but when he left it was just her books. But when she was asleep, nothing could stop her.
She was the most powerful unicorn to ever live, her powers rivaled Celestia and Luna put together. Everypony in Canterlot loved her and all of the things she loved. Reading, studying and learning. As she looked around she recognized some of the ponies she made up to be her very best friends, you know because everypony else is her (best) friend. thinking back on it it's kind of sad. But that's not the point, what she was really worried about was, what she was doing here.
Twilight pinched herself just to be sure, but with the sharp pain, and the world not disappearing, she knew it wasn't a dream. In the distance she could see the familiar outline of PonyVille. Gently. she thought to herself. With her amplified powers she would need to be careful whenever she used them, according to one of her nightmares, she could tear the world apart without breaking a sweat. Twilight marveled at the speed and precision of her flight, because she had used them in her dreams so much she knew exactly which parts of the brain to stimulate.
As she got closer to the outline of PonyVille she noticed something was off, the buildings seemed to be warped. They were smaller than they looked from the castle but the paint on them made it look like they were stretched out and, as Twilight got closer, she realized they were 2D, cardboard cutouts of the buildings closest to Canterlot.
"What's, wrong, Twilight?" Said a voice between gasps. Twilight turned to see Spike who appears to have been following her this hole time. Impossible, Twilight thought, He couldn't have followed me all the way here in that amount of time. But then she realized He's not real. "Stay back!" Yelled Twilight, pointing her horn at Spike. "Twilight what are you doing?" Spike got worried and nervous, he knew how powerful Twilight was. He started moving closer, hands in the air.
"Calm down," He said, "That punch must've been really strong."
"Its not the punch, and you know it!" Said Twilight more threateningly, lighting up her horn with red lightning. A spell she didn't even know but she didn't care, with her amplified power she knew she had perfect control. Spike kept moving closer, hands outstretched towards Twilight.
"Twilight, you don't know what you're thinking." Said Spike moving ever closer.
"I said, STAY BACK!" And with a flash of light, the world ended.
Chapter 2 The Others
Twilight's ears were ringing. Once her eyes started to focus she noticed that she was somewhere else, the strange cardboard cutout houses and the fake Spike were gone, and replaced by a grassy field full of flowers, the sun was out and shining brightly. Somewhere to her right she heard a very familiar voice. "Angel, where are you?" "Flutter Shy?" Twilight said aloud. Flutter Shy flew over a hill holding Angel in her arms.
"Twilight, is that you? What are you doing in my dream?" "Its not a dream, or I think its not, or, it is and its projected around us somehow? I still need to figure it out." Twilight sat and thought for a second, but quickly snapped out of it when she saw the look on Flutter Shy's face.
There was a flash of white light right in front of the two. a familiar blue coated, white mined pony stumbled out of a white mist produced by the flash of light. "Well, looks like you have the pleasure of seeing the great and powerful Trixie once more." Trixie stood before the two, practically bursting with arrogance. but something was different about her. "Trixie are those, wings?" "beautiful aren't they," she said stretching them out.
"I dreamed them up when I was 4. It also came with immense power." Said Trixie, an evil grin spreading across her face as she lit her horn with bright purple flame. "Don't even think about it," said Twilight lighting her horn with the same red lightning she'd used on Spike. "I dreamed powers as well so back off." "wannabe." "you're talking Ms. Princess" "Girls!" shouted Flutter Shy rising a few feet off of the ground, and then slowly becoming her soft self again.
"Fighting is no way to solve this problem. Now, what do we know?" Twilight spoke first. "Well it appears each of us were sent into a dream world we made when we were younger, and apparently the only way to get out of it is to... Destroy it." Flutter Shy winced, clutching onto Angel tighter, Twilight knew Flutter Shy would rather die than kill one of her precious animal friends.
"I saw something before I was sent into lala land." said Trixie, seeming to remember just now. "I saw what looked like Discord." "Discord." said Twilight, a look of disgust spreading across her face.
"he was crying." "Crying?" said Twilight surprised. "why was he crying." "Well I don't know," said Trixie sounding aggravated. "But he screamed and then next thing I know I'm practically a god." smirked Trixie spreading her wings. Suddenly there was a flash of white light and Apple Jack, stumbled forwards.
"Uh," She said. "Yall Just continue with your conversation, I'll catch on soon enough." Apple Jack just sat down and watched. "Uh... Ok?" Said Twilight walking over to Flutter Shy. "what should we do?" Said Flutter Shy, trembling. "Well I think..." Twilight, glanced at Flutter Shy, "I think we need to destroy all of the worlds."
"WHAT?" screamed both Flutter Shy and Trixie together, Twilight could tell neither of them wanted to give up their dream world, after all Trixie wouldn't be powerful, and Flutter Shy would lose the fake Angel. "Well I'm sorry but it's the only way," Twilight got up and started pacing. "When I destroyed my world I was sent here. Same with you Trixie." "Why did you destroy your world?" Said Flutter Shy.
"Fear. The fake Spike was getting too close and I wasn't quite as used to my powers as I thought I was. And you?" Twilight gestured to Trixie. "Revenge." Said Trixie, again a grin spreading across her face. "You are evil at the core aren't you?" Twilight looked disgusted. I try." Said Trixie, relighting her horn with the devilish purple flame.
"Careful where you're pointing that thing, it could kill us all." Twilight backed away slowly as she spoke. "Why should I?" Said Trixie who spun and pointed her horn. A spout of purple flame shot out of her horn at the base.
Both Twilight and Flutter Shy jumped and rolled out of the way, Flutter Shy clinging to Angel for dear life, but to their surprise nothing happened. "emotion!" yelled Twilight, then realizing she yelled she blushed and cleared her throat.
"sorry, uh, emotion is what causes the worlds to collapse. My world was destroyed because of fear and Trixie's world was destroyed because of revenge, which when you think about it is just anger. Apple Jack how was your world destroyed?" "Uh," Apple Jack glanced around.
"I don't really know what you're talking about but I was mighty sad when the ground split." "And sadness got it." Twilight smiled at her own brilliance. "Well scaring me is going to be easy but I don't think I can get angry, and there's nothing sad in this world." Said Flutter Shy, feeling somewhat proud.
"No, it cant just be a small scare, it needs to be (rip the world apart) scared." Twilight suddenly got an idea. "Flutter Shy, when did you make this world?" "I made it when I was 14 and I fell to the earth during that race, I though of how happy the world down on the ground was and I had nothing but happy dreams for days." Flutter Shy smiled at the memory.
"can you remember any nightmares about this world?" The smile on Flutter Shy's face faded into a grimace. The very world around them slowly turned dark, the sun was blocked by storm clouds, Angel leaped out of Flutter Shy's hooves and bounced away into a hole in the ground.
All of the squirrels and birds that had gathered near Flutter Shy left as fast as they could, looking repulsed by the very idea of coming near Flutter Shy. The ground beneath them shattered and fell away. They were falling when Flutter Shy screamed and there was a flash of white. Twilight coughed as she stumbled though the white mist.
Twilight looked up to see a swirling storm cloud. "Its another nightmare!" yelled Twilight looking towards Flutter Shy and Trixie. "Oh its no nightmare." Said a very familiar voice. from the center of the storm cloud a rainbow shot towards the ground like a bullet and, with an explosion of light for good measure, landed right in front of the three ponies.
"Aaawwww yeah!" Said the proud and ever so cocky Rainbow Dash, who was wearing a Wonder Bolt uniform. The storm cloud above cleared as three trails of sparking smoke came towards the ground as well. Behind Rainbow Dash Fleet Foot, Soarin, and Spit Fire landed, gracefully as angels. "Welcome to the best world ever."
"Rainbow, thank Celestia. Look we want to solve this as quick as possible, have you ever had any nightmares about this world?" "Nope." said Rainbow Dash proudly. Trixie groaned. "Come, on you cant tell me you don't have one fear or even one thing that makes you angry that you imagined about this world."
"Well, there is one thing." Rainbow Dash looked at the other Wonder Bolts feeling thoughtful. "Well tell us!" said Trixie, getting aggravated. "No I cant!" "Oh for Celestia's sake!" Apple Jack said, Aggravated by Rainbow's refusal. Twilight pointed her horn at Rainbow Dash and thought of her book on memory spells by Star Swirl the Bearded.
Suddenly she was in Rainbow's mind, all she could see or here was faces and laughter, then she saw Rainbow standing in front of the Wonder Bolts. Rainbow showed them the sonic rainboom, they just turned and walked away, seeming deeply disappointed. There was a rushing sound as Twilight came out of Rainbow's mind. Twilight walked over to the Wonder Bolts.
"I need you to kick Rainbow Dash out of the Wonder Bolts." "what?" shouted Spit Fire looking confused. "It's the only way to get out of this place, and if you don't do it willingly, I will use force." Twilights voice grew stern as she lit her horn with the red lightning she seemed to be fond of. Soarin spoke, Twilight had never heard him speak before, his voice was higher pitched but it was slightly gravelly as well.
"It will work better if I do it." He looked sad as he said it. "Why?" said Spit Fire. Soarin just gave her a quizzical look. "Oh." Said Spit Fire, putting two and two together. Soarin walked over to Rainbow and started to speak, Rainbow took off her goggles, tears welling up in her eyes. Soarin tried to walk away but Rainbow grabbed his hind hoof and held on as if her life depended on it. As Soarin walked away the world grew dark and once more, the ground shattered.
With the white mist clearing up Twilight saw they were in another sunny field. Rainbow was still crying and Flutter Shy was trying to comfort her. "They weren't real," said Flutter Shy in her tender voice. Rainbow looked up, her eyes focused on something. "I know who's dream this is." Twilight looked down to see a scooter missing a wheel, and a bright orange feather.
Chapter 3 Can't Let Go
"Scootaloo." Twilight said aloud. everypony looked at each other, this one was going to be tough, judging by the look on Rainbow Dash's face. Rainbow knew Scootaloo well and she knew that tearing her away from her dream would be difficult. Scootaloo is still young, that means that this dream world is relatively new for her, not only is this a world Scootaloo made to be happy, this is literally her dream, what she had always wanted.
"Woooooohooooooo!" a voice screamed from above. The four ponies on the ground looked up to see a streak of orange and purple fly straight towards them, then in a puff of smoke, a tall orange coated Pegasus with a purple mane walked towards them.
"Scootaloo?" Rainbow looked confused, Scootaloo was a lot taller than last they met and, Twilight noticed a bright purple shooting star on the flank of the tall orange Pegasus. "you, you're all grown up." Rainbow Dash's voice sounded concerned.
Twilight could tell Rainbow wanted to be there when Scootaloo learned to fly and when she got her cutie mark. After all Rainbow did take Scootaloo under her wing, she treated her like a sister. "Oh yeah I am." Said Scootaloo, in a lightly deeper and softer voice.
"I see all your dreams came true as well."
"How'd you know?" said Flutter Shy sounding surprise.
"Well Trixie is an Alicorn and Rainbow is wearing a Wonder Bolts uniform." Scootaloo gestured to Rainbow and Trixie with a smirk on her face.
"oh." responded Flutter Shy, blushing.
"listen Scootaloo," Twilight was trying to figure out the right way to tell this to her. "We need to um, look I know its not going to be easy but, we need to destroy this world."
"WHAT!?" Scootaloo shouted, having the same reaction as Flutter Shy and Trixie.
"listen I'm sorry but its the only way we can get out of this-"
"who says I want to get out?" This shocked Twilight.
"What about your friends, what about the cutie mark crusaders?"
"Well I guess that's true but hey its my world, why cant I dream them up too." Scootaloo scrunched up her face, trying to focus on Sweetie Bell and Apple Bloom, but nothing was happening.
"That's not how it works. its projected from the past, the only thing you can do with this world is interact with it, and destroy it."
Scootaloo flinched, again. "Scootaloo," Twilight spoke in a soft tone of voice, she knew she would have tot say this gently. "none of this is real."
"Why cant it be?" Scootaloo's eyes were welling up with tears. "Why cant this world be real, its real enough!"
"Scootaloo none of your friends are here."
"Well its only a matter of time until they destroy their world, then they should come here right?" Twilight had to explain all of this if she wanted Scootaloo to cooperate.
"That's not how it works," Twilight summoned a chalk board, she drew four circles all in a line next to each other. "I started here," said Twilight gesturing to the first circle. "Once my world was gone I came to Flutter Shy's world," Twilight gestured to the next circle.
"However the worlds aren't in order, they're not stacked on top of each other with us making our way down. Trixie destroyed her world and came to Flutter Shy's world also, however its not randomized, once a world is destroyed you head to the nearest one that isn't." Twilight drew a giant circle around the other ones, then drew more circles inside of the bigger one, then crossed out the original four.
"The world closest to Rainbow's was yours, once this world is destroyed we will be sent to the next one that's closest. I think if we destroy all of the worlds we will be sent back to reality." Twilight ended with a smile on her face, expecting the battle to be won.
"you think we will be sent back to reality, you don't know for sure, what if when all of the worlds are destroyed, we just end up floating around in darkness, what if there are an infinite amount of worlds, what if we accidentally destroy our world in the process?"
Scootaloo had just poked several large holes in Twilight theory.
"That's a risk we're going to have to take." Said Twilight, putting her hoof down. Twilight pointed her horn at Scootaloo and casted the same spell that she had casted on Rainbow Dash. With a rushing sound she found herself in Scootaloo's memory.
Scootaloo was sitting at a table crying, a letter was open on the table and in big red letters the word Handicapped was written. this isn't her nightmare, Twilight thought to herself. This actually happened. Twilight had gotten the wrong memory, she quickly focused and swapped memories. Scootaloo was flying through the same field they had just appeared in, Scootaloo was flying through the air with expert precision and speed, when some of her feathers started falling out.
Scootaloo wobbled in midair and she started to lose velocity. suddenly her wings disappeared and she fell through the air. Twilight quickly exited Scootaloo's memories, she didn't want to see the rest. Twilight knew what she had to do. She pointed her horn at Scootaloo and searched her memory for any wing removing spells.
I cant remember any Twilight thought to herself, however Twilights horn casted a spell anyways. Scootaloo tried to dodge out of the way but even with her expertize in flying she wasn't fast enough. with a blood curdling scream the world went dark, and the ground shattered. Twilight, once again, stumbled out of the white mist and she instantly knew who's dream they were in. All she needed to see was a single piece of confetti and a party hat.
Chapter 4 Laughter
All Twilight could hear was giggles and party music, over a hill to their right she could see the rooftops of Pony Ville and flashing lights. "Well this should be fun." Rainbow said, with a smile already on her face. "Yay." Cheered Flutter Shy, sharing the same wide smile. "Hahahaha, hey you guys!" Said a cheery pink pony who came hopping over a hill, confetti in her mane and a wide smile on her face.
"Welcome to my dream, no need to explain anything I already know," Pinkie's smile grew ever wider. "How?" Asked Twilight. She couldn't bear it. How was Pinkie able to do all of these things? "I read ahead!" Said Pinkie, bouncing up and down."Come on over, there's plenty of cake and punch for everybody."
Twilight looked at the others, now everypony had a smile on their face. This my be a nice break. Twilight trotted over the hill and saw... All of her other friends.
Rarity, Flutter Shy, Rainbow Dash, Apple Jack and... herself? It appears Pinkies dream was to party with all of her friends. maybe this will be harder than I thought. "Listen Pinkie uh," "I already know silly goose."
The world started to go dark, and the ground shattered, except this time it was kind of... soft, you know as far as the ground shattering goes. There was a flash of white and they woke up in... Rarity's boutique.
"How was that so easy for you." Said Rainbow, remembering how painful it was to hear Soarin kick her out of the Wonder Bolts, Twilight watched a shiver run up Rainbow's spine. Twilight never wanted to see any of her friends hurt like that ever again.
"Silly, I live my dream every day!" Pinkie's smile grew beyond the outline of her face, Twilight still knew of logical reason as to how or why she could do that. "How did you?" Twilight started, Pinkies smile grew ever wider. "Never mind." Pinkie always seemed to be excused from the laws of physics, the Pinkie sense, the knowing exactly what is about to happen or what has happened, Twilight just couldn't explain it.
"So who's left?" Pinkie asked, her voice trailing off as she watched a butterfly flitter past out the window. "Well, I think we need Rarity and who ever else is in a dream world... to be honest, I have no idea how many are left." "Well who's dream is this?" Said Rainbow Dash, looking at all of the dresses.
Outside Twilight could hear giggles. "This is so much fun Rarity." "Agreed Sweetie Bell, come on, lets go see Scootaloo." "okay let me grab my stuff." The front door opened and Sweetie Bell walked in, she as well was taller than usual and she had a red sparkling ribbon on her flank. Sweetie Bell was grabbing her saddle bag when Scootaloo cleared her throat.
"Ahem." "Huh?" Sweetie Bell dropped her bag. "Scootaloo? Is that you?" "Yeah," Scootaloo looked at her own flank, then to Sweetie Bell's. "Looks like we had the same Idea." Sweetie Bell smiled nervously. "So this is your dream." Said Pinkie inspecting a dress on a manikin. "I don't see a difference."
"Well Rarity never treats me like a real sister, I mean I know she tries but, she never wants to do anything I want to do, but now she does and we've never been happier." Sweetie Bell looked out the window at the happy Rarity who watched a bee buzz past, Sweetie Bell smiled.
"Well um, I'm sorry to say but, um we have to..." Flutter Shy hesitated, she would have to be careful, after all this would be like ripping Sweetie Bell's family apart. "Destroy all of the worlds." "Oh." Said Sweetie Bell, her smile slowly changing into a grimace. "Have you ever had any nightmares about this place?" "Well there was one where she disowned me as a sister, but that actually happened later so I'm not really scared of it anymore."
Sweetie Bell scrunched up her face, trying to remember any fears or a things that made her angry or sad. Twilight got an Idea. If Rarity starts treating Sweetie Bell horribly, it might make the world break. Twilight slowly slipped outside towards Rarity while everypony was focused on Sweetie Bell.
"Rarity?" "Yes darling?" Rarity looked away from the buzzing bee she has been watching for around ten minutes now. "I need you to tell Sweetie Bell that she's doing everything wrong." "Now why on earth would I do that? Sweetie Bell is the best little sister ever, she's kind and caring, and we all love the same things."
She's not real, she's not real. Twilight thought as she lit up her horn with purple smoke. "Then I have to use force." Twilight focused on a particularly powerful hatred spell, then thought of Sweetie Bell and Rarity. Rarity's eyes suddenly flashed a bright red. Cinnamon. Twilight remembered the real Rarity saying. Rarity got up and bucked open the door with all of the strength she could muster.
"What is WRONG WITH YOU!?" Rarity screamed, again the red light flashing in her eyes. "You think you can treat me like dirt in front of all of your so called friends?" Rarity seemed to be building hatred off of nothing. Already the world started to grow dark, the ground started to tremble.
"Now see what your doing? will you destroy this world just to be rid of me? Well good, I would rather die than spend any more time with you!" The ground shook even more but it wasn't enough. Then Rarity said it. "You're dead to me!" The ground shattered and they fell into darkness.
Chapter 5 Trapped
The cries of Sweetie Bell could be heard through the darkness and the sudden flash if white. When Twilight stumbled out of the white mist, she saw a giant black castle that resembled Canterlot, the castle had bright green glowing goo dripping from spouts in the mountain that the castle was placed on.
Flutter Shy was sitting on the black grass, holding the still weeping Sweetie Bell. "Ssshhhhhh, it wasn't real, it wasn't real, it'll all be ok, ssshhhhhh." Purred Flutter Shy, in her softest and kindest voice.
"Is this a nightmare?" Said Pinkie looking confused but still had a faint smile on her face at the same time. "I'm sorry to say its not." Said Rainbow pointing her hoof towards a dark, gloomy, storm filled sky. Out of the darkness, around fifty changelings came flying towards them, yellowing teeth bared, curved and twisted horns glowing a deep sickly green.
Twilight and Trixie lit their horns with the purple flame and red lightning. With both of their god like powers combined, the changelings didn't stand a chance. All fifty of them fell to the ground most of them smoking or missing limbs with the same sickly green goo up on the mountain gushing from their wounds.
Trixie extinguished her horn with a satisfied look on her face, however Twilight kept hers active, waiting for more to come looming out of the darkness. She was right to do so, as she looked up she saw over five hundred more flying towards her like a stream of bright green fireworks, but as her eyes came fully into focus, she saw Chrysalis herself.
"RUN!" Twilight yelled to the others, she knew this would take all of her power, no doubt Chrysalis dreamed herself some powers as well. Twilight summoned all the force she could muster, Chrysalis was doing the same, Twilight could see Chrysalis's horn light with green mist. Twilight clenched her eyes shut, there was an explosion and what sounded like a snapping tree, then silence, and darkness.
Twilight woke up to find herself in a jail cell. In the cell next to her, Flutter Shy was still unconscious, in the cell right in front of her was Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo, muttering to each other. Rainbow, Trixie, Pinkie and Apple Jack were nowhere to be seen. "Ugggg, what happened?" Said Twilight, repeating her self from what seemed like years ago. She reached up to touch her head. Something felt different but she couldn't identify it.
"Well," Scootaloo looked concerned as she spoke, sweat was dribbling down her forehead. "You told us to run so we did but when I liked back you like, exploded with energy. you knocked out Chrysalis instantly but you were knocked out too and you... You suffered... An injury." "What!?"
Twilight ran to a puddle of water that had somehow made its way into the cell. When she looked into it she studied her face. No scars, she thought to herself, confused. No eye patch or anything, no chipped teeth. She looked down at her hoofs. All still there Twilight was extremely confused, she walk looked down in to the puddle again and restudied her face. Uh oh... Oh NO! Twilights horn was snapped in half near the middle.
She tried the red lightning spell again. With the force of a train she was sent flying into the cell door. The bars dented and the headache she had tripled in pain. "Oh goodness, are you alright!?" Flutter Shy seemed to have woken up because she was at the bars of her cell looking at Twilight with an extremely concerned look on her face. "I'm fine," Said Twilight, rubbing the spot where the rest of her horn used to be.
"You'd better not use your magic." said a soft familiar voice from the cell to Twilight's left. Twilight looked up to see Celestia looking out the window, a worried look on her face. "You did some real damage, you dreamed yourself up some real power," Twilight swore she saw a faint smile on Celestia's face but it was gone in an instant. "You could defeat Discord without blinking an eye."
Twilight blushed, she didn't want Celestia thinking she was self centered. Twilight walked over to the window. "Woah." A giant crater lay where Twilight cast her spell, The area around the crater was scorched pitch black, the scorch mark was in the shape of a very familiar star. "Woah." Said Twilight again.
She hated to admit it to herself but, she was impressed. She knew she made herself powerful but she didn't know she was powerful enough to snap her horn and make an explosion that big.
"Back away from the bars!" Hissed a voice from behind. Twilight turned to see a slightly grey colored changeling, behind it was a deep, deep blood red one that was slightly taller and broader. "I said back!" The changeling was looking straight at Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell who had stretched their hooves through the bars and were trying to hit the changelings.
Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo started insulting the changelings. "You stay back! you see that crater outside? that'll be your face if you don't let us!-" "Quiet!" screamed the grey changeling shooting a ray of green lightning at the two. With a scream they fell to the floor.
"Touch them again and I swear I will end you!" If Twilight hadn't seen Celestia's mouth moving, she would have refused to believe it was her who spoke. Celestia was at the door of her cell, her was illuminated with the familiar golden glow that Twilight knew so well.
"You're all to come to the throne room, there her excellency will speak to you herself." Said the red changeling with a slightly deeper voice. "Get in the cage." Twilights cell door opened by the magic of the grey changeling, Twilight felt a sudden lurch as the grey changeling levitated her into a black cage that was glowing faintly green. No doubt they cast an enchantment to prevent anyone breaking out.
The grey changeling levitated Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell next, they refused to leave each other's side. they next levitated Flutter Shy, but when they tried to levitate Celestia the grey changeling went flying into the bars of Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell's empty cell. "Don't," Celestia raised a hoof, "Touch me." The red changeling lit his horn, but with one look from Celestia, he backed away. Celestia then walked into the cage Flutter Shy followed and the door slammed behind her.
The cage started rolling down a hallway, then took a sharp left. Twilight looked at Celestia, she knew Celestia wasn't the kind of princess who would be disgusted at being in a stinky ,smelly, dirty cage like this, she was humble like that. But she still seemed worried, there was no change in expression, but Twilight could see it in her eyes. They took another left. "What are we going to do?" Twilight asked. "Leave that to me."
Celestia raised her head as she spoke. "No offense but last time you went up against Chrysalis she beat you." "Don't worry Twilight, like you, I have dreamed some powers of my own." Now Celestia wore a grin, and Twilight couldn't help but grin back. "We have arrived."
The cage doors opened and Twilight looked up to see a twisted, throne, black as the night sky, as Twilight looked up further she saw Chrysalis sprawled out on it like some sort if demonic slumbering cat. To Chrysalis's left there was another throne that seemed to be darker than black. To her right was a bright pink fuzzy throne that was currently unoccupied.
"Welcome to my kingdom of darkness." Twilight was confused because Chrysalis had not said this, it was a much deeper male voice. "I hope you enjoy your stay." When Twilight found out where the voice was coming from she gasped and backed away. "You!" "Yes," said the familiar pair of bright green flaming eyes. "Me."
Chapter 6 Shadow
Twilight was scared, facing not only Chrysalis but Sombra as well? Let's hope Celestia has some powerful spells at the ready. Twilight glanced nervously at Celestia, Celestia winked back then stared straight into Sombra's green flaming eyes. "Looks like you fell victim to Discord's powers as well." Sombra said as he sat at a Black charred mahogany throne beside Chrysalis. "You know about that?" Twilight asked surprised.
"Know about it, I helped cause it. It wasn't voluntary help I admit." Sombra shrugged. He seemed to be talking about this casually, Twilight hated it. The face of pure evil. Twilight thought as she gazed at Sombra who had a wicked smile on his face, then she noticed something. His horn is back. "How did you return?" Asked Twilight, trying to keep a straight face.
"When I was destroyed," Said Sombra, getting up from his throne and starting to pace, the hole time looking at Twilight. "A piece of my horn survived, from that my soul survived, I was wandering aimlessly through Equestria. I've seen things you would never believe. But eventually I was strong enough to reconstruct my body out of shadow."
"And what about you?" Said Twilight now looking at Chrysalis, who was still sprawled on her twisted throne. "Are you part of his dream?" Chrysalis giggled.
"Well I like to think I would've been," Purred Chrysalis blowing a kiss towards Sombra, but Sombra didn't react. "But it turns out some pure evil people have a connection. We are just sharing a dream, which is better because we got to take over the world, together." "So what now?" asked Twilight, "Are you going to kill us."
"Well unfortunately I want to get out of this nightmare." said Sombra his face growing more intense. "Uh, you mean dream right pumpkin?" "Sure." "What did you do to make Discord freak out?" Asked Celestia, still maintaining the same facial expression, hate.
"That's for you to find out." Sombra's smile widened. "Spoilers!" mimicked Chrysalis, now getting up and walking over to Sombra's side. "How do we get rid of this world?" Sombra asked flatly. "Well," started Twilight uncertain as to whether she should tell him, but she was interrupted by a flash of golden light from her left.
suddenly they were standing in a field, almost exactly like the one from Flutter Shy's dream. but there was still a golden glow to Twilights left.
"Stay back! I can't control it!" Yelled Celestia. Her horn was glowing gold and it was slowly growing brighter. eventually, with much pain from Celestia, the glowing stopped. Celestia sat down with her hoof on her head. "Discord tried this same trick on Luna and I when we first tried to defeat him, instead of destroying the worlds I was able to teleport us back into reality. I thought I should make myself more powerful, just in case he tried it again," Celestia closed her eyes. "looks like I made myself too powerful."
"I know the feeling." Said Twilight, looking up to her broken horn. "When you wake up It'll still be there." Said Celestia reassuringly. "Now," Celestia let out a deep breath. "Who's dream is this." It looks like Flutter Shy's Twilight thought to herself.
"I have no Idea." She admitted, looking around for some sign of life, but there was none to be seen. suddenly there was a flash of blue light, Rainbow Dash, Trixie, Pinkie appeared in front of her, they stumbled around, trying to regain focus, however Pinkie seemed perfectly fine. She still had the same smile that she had when the Changelings appeared.
"How did you?" "Luna." Celestia said instantly. "She can see into peoples dreams and speak to people, sometimes she can interact with them to but other than that she cant do much." Celestia looked up, her eyes focusing on a Luna nobody else could see. "What happened to you guys."
"We managed to get far enough away from the explosion, we didn't get captured but after about three hours we were teleported here." Rainbow said looking around, trying to identify the field she was in. "Hey Guys!" That voice, Twilight knew it from somewhere.
"CHEESE!" Pinkie flung herself upon the Chestnut pony standing before her, he wore the same smile Pinkie had. Are they having a, "Who can smile wider," contest?Pinkie's smile grew even wider. How is that possible!? Twilight thought to herself, but stopped thinking about it when she remembered it was pinkie.
"Well what do you know? Cheese Sandwich." Said Rainbow Dash flying over to Cheese and hugging him. Rainbow's Birth-aversary was truly awesome.
"Now there are two of each of you? That means..." Cheese started, but Pinkie finished his thought. "That means, DOUBLE THE PARTYING!!!" Pinkie screamed at the top of her lounges. Pinkie went hopping over a hill to Twilights left. Again Twilight saw the outline of Pony Ville and Flashing lights.
"Oh, Thank Celesti- sorry." said Rainbow Blushing when she remembered that Celestia was standing right next to her. "No problem at all." Celestia responded with a soft and kind smile. "We need a break." said Flutter Shy. exhaling deeply. Everypony started walking up the hill when a very familiar voice spoke from behind them. "You need to stop trying to escape." Twilight turned to see an exhausted looking, puffy eyed Discord.
Chapter 7 The Plan
Celestia reacted instantly and shot a bolt of golden light at Discord. Discord just casually raised his hand. The ray of light fizzled out of existence in mid-air. "I dreamed my self powers as well." Discord blew his nose of a handkerchief. "I knew you would prepare." "Why should we stop trying?" asked Twilight defensively, about to ignite her horn but remembered she would probably kill everybody if she did.
"You should stop because the outside world is too terrible." "I can't live like this!" Retorted Twilight, pointing her hoof towards her broken horn. Discord rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers. Twilight felt a sharp pain on her head, and a new horn sprouted from where it had snapped. "Done, anything else? No? Good." Discord blew his nose once more and disappeared in a flash of white light.
Twilight and Celestia instantly looked at each other. "We need a plan." Said Twilight. "Agreed. But first some rest, you look exhausted." Twilight and the others walked over the hill to see Pony Ville. Even though it wasn't real, it was nice to see it in 3D instead of a warped cardboard cutout.
Some ponies walked over to eat food or party in Pinkie and Chees's case but Twilight limped to the Library. Now that all the intense things are over, the pain started hitting. She opened the door, remembering to be gentle. "Twilight!" A baby dragon came running down the stairs.
"I thought you were still at the party, Its been going on for hours." He's not real Twilight thought to her self. "Spike, I'm really tired, I think I'm going to sleep for a while." "Me too," said Spike yawning and stretching out his arms to the side.
Twilight started walking up the stairs towards her bedroom, Spike followed closely behind. when Twilight reached her room she smiled at the welcoming sight of home. She got under the covers of her bed and Spike flopped over onto his cushioned basket. Twilight stayed awake for several hours afterwards, even though she wanted to fall asleep.
She spent most of her time looking at Spike. I could stop trying, Twilight thought to herself, still gazing at Spike. This is close enough to home. Spike is here, all of my friends are here. Why can't I stop trying?
Twilight was suddenly disgusted by her own thoughts. You can't stop because something might happen in the real world. Twilight got up and walked down the stairs. What if a monster attacks? What if Discord is attacking while we are asleep, they'll need us to activate the... Twilight suddenly stopped. The Elements of Harmony! Twilight finished her thought.
Twilight went running out the door, sending it flying off of its hinges but she didn't care. She couldn't believe how stupid she was. How had she not realized this before? Twilight ran up to Celestia, out of breath. "We need the-" "Elements of harmony, I know." Finished Celestia, smiling as she talked. "But how do we get them?" Twilight knew that Discord didn't want them getting out, so they wouldn't be in the Library. "I think I know how." Said Celestia.
She scrunched up her face, her horn started to glow. "Laughter, Kindness, Loyalty, Generosity, Honesty, Magic." Celestia had begun reciting the elements, she kept repeating them over and over, but after about the tenth time Celestia said, "Hope." Twilight felt a warm tingle in her stomach, she looked back and saw that her cutie mark was glowing.
"What the!?" Rainbow's cutie mark was apparently glowing as well because she was now chasing it like a dog chasing it's tail. suddenly there was an explosion of rainbows right in front of the two.
Through the light and flash of colors, Twilight could see the outline of a familiar crown. When the rainbow explosion was gone Twilight saw the six elements on the ground in front of her. "Now we can finish this." Twilight said sharing the same smile that Celestia had. "But first we need a plan." Said Celestia looking up, again focusing on an invisible Luna.
"Wait." Said Twilit realizing a problem. "Discord is too powerful. He was a god before, but now there's no way we could beat him now, even with the elements of harmony." "Oh, I know how to solve that as well," Celestia's smile slowly faded as she looked at her own "But we will need as much power as possible." "So," Said Rainbow Dash, walking over the hill with Pinkie, Cheese, Trixie, Flutter Shy, Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell following closely behind. "What's the plan?"
Chapter 8 Nightmare
Twilight sat alone in her room, running the plan over and over in her head. Celestia had told her to get some rest but Twilight was too excited. They were finally going to get out. Twilight ran through the plan once more. And that's where I come in. Twilight thought t herself, finally finishing the plan for about the fiftieth time.
Twilight looked outside to see the sun start to rise. I've been up all night. Twilight thought, looking up to her bedroom longingly. Having finally decided she was way too tired to go over the plan again, she started to walk up the stairs. he once again smiled at the friendly welcome of sleep. Twilight got under the covers and within seconds, she was asleep.
Twilight woke up in the middle of town. Everypony was screaming, the buildings were on fire and the sounds of Timber Wolves, and Discord. Twilight looked around, but she couldn't see any creatures. The world started to fade, halfway through its conversion Twilight saw the silhouette of a dark alicorn standing near a fading building in an alleyway.
"Luna?" Twilight said aloud, starting to approach the shadow but it disappeared just before she could reach it. the world she was in was pure white now. Twilight could see no visible walls or sigs of life anywhere. She started to run but she couldn't tell if she was moving or not.
"Help!" Twilight yelled aloud. then there was a flash of green and Chrysalis was standing before her. Twilight tried to light her horn, but when she looked up she saw it was broken. Chrysalis laughed and laughed, the echoes of manacle laughter echoing through Twilights brain. The white around her began breaking like glass, falling away into a black nothingness. Twilight kept running but eventually the Darkness consumed her, she was falling, there was nothing she could do!
"Twilight!" Twilight woke from her sleep with a start. Spike was shaking her shoulders, mimicking the same movement from what felt like years ago. "You were having a nightmare, and then you screamed I, I had to wake you up."
"Oh its fine Spike." Said Twilight holding her hoof to her head and feeling delight when she felt her horn was still in tact. Twilight looked at the clock to see it was ten thirty. I've missed it! Twilight thought to herself. Twilight jumped out of bed and ran out the door, leaving it on its hinges this time. I'm getting used to this strong magic. Twilight grinned looking back, until she realized the top half of the door was missing.
At the top of the hill they walked over when they first arrived, was Celestia and the others, all looking down at Twilight. "Sorry I'm late," Said Twilight, out of breath. "I overslept." "It's quite alright Twilight," Said Celestia lighting her horn with the glowing golden mist. "ready to go?" "Yes!" Said Twilight happily, she wanted more than anything to get out of here.
Celestia screwed up her face, and with a flash of light they were in a dark forest, full of the sounds of owls and wolves. Twilight looked around, trying to find some form of life besides trees but she couldn't find any. "Over here," whispered a familiar high pitched southern voice. "under this tree." Twilight located where the voice was coming from and followed it.
When Twilight arrived at the source f the voice she saw Apple Bloom hiding in a hollow dead tree. "Get inside quick!" She whispered nervously, then disappeared inside the tree. Twilight gestured to the others and they followed. When Twilight walked into he tree she realized it was a lot bigger than she had expected, but when she looked around some more, she recognized it.
"The library?" Twilight asked looking astonished. "This must be a nightmare." Celestia said, looking at the dusty, broken bookshelves on the floor. "It is." said Apple Bloom, moving a sheet off of a bench and releasing a puff of dust. "My greatest fear was being alone." Said Apple Bloom, looking down at her hoofs nervously.
Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell looked at each other, a touched look on their faces. "Well luckily we know how to get out of here faster than ever." Twilight said, looking at Celestia smiling. "No," Said Celestia with an apologetic look at Twilight. "Sorry but I nearly lost control casting that spell. We can't risk it, there's too much at stake.
"Well then how do we get out of here?" Asked Apple Jack, taking a seat on the bench Apple Bloom had uncovered. "I'm not sure," Said Twilight thinking hard. "It seems unlikely that thinking about a nightmare would work in a nightmare." What if you think about a happy dream, then think about a nightmare?" Asked Scootaloo. Twilight tried not to laugh but Celestia spoke first. "Brilliant idea." Celestia smiled.
Apple Bloom scrunched up her face. The world started to get lighter. The colors of the walls started to get brighter, some of the bookshelves started to float back up into their spots, the world around them started rewinding like an old VHS tape. Cobwebs started shrinking away, dust started floating back out of the hole where a door used to be.
Before Twilight realized it, the world was back to normal. When Twilight looked back towards Apple Bloom to see she was taller with a Hammer on her flank. "Awww dang it! A hammer!? Apple Bloom said, disappointed.
"You didn't dream for a specific cutie mark?" asked Scootaloo stifling a laugh. "No. I just dreamed I had a cutie mark but then Apple Jack woke me up." "Well sorry but the south orchard needed buckin' and Granny smith and Big Mac were gone." Said Apple Jack defensively.
"Alright we need to get out of here and fast." Said Rainbow Dash, interrupting the two. "Agreed, Apple Bloom if you please." Said Celestia nodding towards Apple Bloom. Apple Bloom once again scrunched up her face. The world began to go dark. Just before the ground shattered Twilight noticed a single tear rolling down Apple Blooms cheek.
Twilight woke up. Her head hurt and she didn't know where she was, somewhere in a field. Why is it always a field? Twilight asked herself. Her vision was slowly narrowing. No! She thought to herself, Get Up! Twilight slowly got to her feet to see Celestia wearing a crown with her cutie mark on it.
She did it, She did her part in the plan. She created her own element, Hope. Twilight stifled a smile when she saw Discord firing back blasts of red and black energy. "Give up, its no use!" Yelled Celestia. But Discord kept firing back, a look of anger on his face. Twilight became worried. Did they continue the plan without her? She would have to find out later. When Twilight's eyes fully came into focus she saw Sombra and Chrysalis fighting back as well.
She's fighting all three. Twilight thought astonished. Twilight could see Celestia losing the battle so she jumped in, putting on her crown and firing the red lightning, she didn't know what it truly did but it had been effective in the past. Twilight heard a yell from behind and Trixie jumped in on Celestia's right. She began firing the devilish purple flame. Twilight took a moment to glance back and see if the others were awake. The elements would only work if all of them were activated.
Everypony else was unconscious but Rainbow Dash and Apple Bloom were starting to stir. Twilight didn't have long to look because Chrysalis fired a green beam of light at Flutter Shy lying on the ground. Just before the light hit her Discord jumped in the way and deflected it. "Capture, not kill!" He yelled back at Chrysalis.
"Oh but that's no fun." She said lighting up her horn. Discord snapped his fingers and Chrysalis disappeared. "Where did she go!?" Shouted Celestia. "Back to her dream," Said Discord calmly. "I don't want you dead I want you captured and put back in your dreams." "Why?" Asked Flutter Shy who had gotten up, along with Rainbow Dash and Apple Bloom.
"I was sitting in my thinking tree when I asked myself, Discord, are they really your friends?" Discord paced as he talked, It was weird to see him talk without a grin on his face. "What do you mean?" asked Twilight, knowing fully what he meant. "Well you aren't my friends after all, I told myself, you just pretend to be my friends so I will use my powers for good, and believe it or not Flutter Shy's case is actually worse than all of yours." Said Discord, still pacing.
Flutter Shy looked offended. "I am your friend!" Flutter Shy shouted back. "That you are my dear but you don't want to be, you use the friendship deal I made with you to blackmail me." Flutter Shy didn't respond. "You know somewhere, deep down, that its true." "But why this dream scenario?" Asked Twilight, starting to pace herself but quickly stopped when she realized what she was doing. "While you are not my friend I still consider myself your friend." Said Discord with a small but disheartened smile on his face. "That doesn't answer my question." Said Twilight. "I didn't want to continue under the charade of us being friends, So I made new worlds for all of us, constructed from your happiest of dreams, however some of them went wrong." Discord gave an apologetic look at Apple Bloom who frowned back.
"What I'm trying to say," Said Discord looking away from Apple Bloom. "I just wanted you to be happy." Twilight saw a tear roll down Flutter Shy's cheek. She had just realized how sweet Discord can be and so did Twilight. "Look," Said Twilight, knowing this wouldn't be easy. "I'm... touched but, we cant keep living like this." "Why not?" Asked Discord looking confused.
"What if they need the elements of harmony back in Pony Ville?" Said Twilight. "The elements will find new owners." Said Discord, rolling his eyes. "What if something happens to our bodies, what if people think were dead and bury us alive? What if we starve or die of thirst?" Said Twilight, trying to poke holes in Discord's plan. "Your bodies are safe and sound, and my magic is keeping them nourished."
Said Discord smiling. Celestia stepped forward. "Discord, Twilight will die, if you keep us here." Everypony gasped. "Right," Said Discord sarcastically. "And I live in a mansion with four bedrooms, eight bathrooms and twenty five kitchens that I built myself... Actually I do." "Twilight's dream was she was powerful and super smart, Twilight do you feel any smarted? Asked Celestia.
Everypony looked at Twilight. "No." She said astonished, now that she looked back on it, she had dreamed herself smarter. "Even your powers couldn't do that Discord, they were being used up so there was none left for you needed to save some for yourself. However, your powers tried it anyways subconsciously and it was too much. It formed a tumor in Twilights brain, one that would've been enough to kill her in around two days, if I hadn't put an enchantment on her crown."
Said Celestia, gesturing to Twilights element on her head. "If you keep us here, Twilight will die." Celestia stepped back. Everypony knew she had won the battle. Discord looked from Celestia, to Twilight, to Flutter Shy. "Fine." Said Discord. With a snap of his fingers, Twilight woke up.
Chapter 9 Peace at last
Discord started to fly back to his thinking tree where he spent most of his time but instead of going up, he went down, into a cave on the outer edge of the Ever free forest. "The deed is done." Discord said without his usual silly manner, "They believe I'm still their friend and now, they believe they are mine as well."
"Good," Said a voice lurking from the darkness, the voice had a casual tone. "And the other one?" "Will be arriving shortly." Said Discord, a smile spreading across his mismatched face. "Our plan is in motion. All we have to do now is wait." Discord summoned a sofa as he spoke, and he sprawled out on it. "No," Said the voice, suddenly stern, "You must return to Canterlot, reassure everypony again and again if you have to, we need their absolute trust."
"I will do my best." Said Discord, and with a snap of his fingers, he disappeared.
She was in some sort of underground tunnel, one that she didn't recognize. When she looked around she saw everypony else waking up and getting to their hooves. The elements had been part of their dream so they weren't with them. To Twilights relief she saw Trixie no longer had wings however it looked like Trixie was either trying to grow them back or was constipated.
"You win," Said Discord, but he was cut short. Flutter Shy tackled him into a tight embrace. "Thank you." She said in a muffled voice, Twilight saw tears rolling down her cheeks. Twilight just realized that she was exhausted. "I think I'm gonna go to sleep." She said yawning. "Bad memories." Said Rainbow Dash, who began walking down the tunnel with Apple Jack.
"Discord? Do you think you could send me home?" Asked Twilight with an embarrassed smile. She was afraid she might collapse at any moment. Discord clapped twice and Twilight was in the library. Twilight smiled. Home. She thought to herself. She began walking up the stairs and opened her bedroom door, happy to notice it not ripping in half.
Twilight saw Spike asleep in his basket as usual. He was muttering to himself and rolling around. "Twilight? Where are you?" He grunted between snores. Little wisps of smoke came out of his nostrils when he exhaled. "I'm right here Spike." Whispered Twilight, Smiling.
Twilight got under her covers and was asleep in an instant. She had the best sleep she had ever had. When Twilight woke she noticed she had overslept but she didn't care. I deserve a good nights sleep. She thought to herself. No lessons about friendship today, It was about time Twilight took a vacation.
Twilight woke up in the morning to the sound of chirping birds and a soft, cool breeze flowing through her room. She opened her eyes slowly and was overjoyed to find she was in her own room in Pony Ville. No weird parallel world, no evil creatures, no Discord, no Sombra. Everything was normal.
Look's like that saying about looks being deceiving isn't always true.
Twilight climbed out of her covers and stretched. Several joints all over her body popped, a warmth ran up and down her limbs as she finally, fully relaxed.
Twilight started walking towards the door, humming a happy tune to herself when she decided she would wake Spike up with a custom made ruby cupcake from sugar cube corner. She was about to open the door when there was a flash of white. Twilights eyes had to focus, she tried not to fall over. Twilight looked up and was filled with dread and shock. "Not again!?" She said aloud, as she looked into the eyes of a battle worn... Twilight.
The End