The Apple Family’s farm, so charmingly called Sweet Apple Acres, covered an an enormous swath of land south of Ponyville. On the day she arrived by carriage, Twilight had seen that the orchards stretched from the village outer commons to the border with Whitetail, halfway to the horizon.
That ludicrous amount of apple trees would have been a management challenge even to a company of farmponies, but still it surprised Twilight just how little of it was under active cultivation. Outside of a tight ring around the homestead, the orchards had turned practically feral from inattention, with shrubs and oak saplings beginning to grow between the untrimmed and untended fruiting trees.
What had happened to the Apple Family Farm, to leave it in such a state? Why did Applejack alone work the orchards?
Twilight wandered along the paths between orchards, getting more comfortable with Ponyville and its surroundings.
It was the first truly hot day of spring, a cloudless sky letting the sun bathe the whole valley, so Twilight was wearing a thinner dress with a shorter skirt for her trot to Sweet Apple. Unfortunately for her, it was also oppressively humid, and the dress stuck to her back. "I should have borrowed a hat and fan from Rarity." Twilight panted.
Although having some of Rarity's articles would not have helped Twilight with her main target of the day, and the reason she was stalking Sweet Apple, Applejack.
Applejack, Twilight had decided, was the weakest link. Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy had much more emotional control (especially that little gremlin Pinkie Pie), so Twilight would have to pry at Applejack to see what she could reveal about Ponyville's secrets.
Twilight had not come unprepared. She had brought a small bag with various documents she had swiped from the empty town hall which related to Applejack and the farm.
However, approaching the big red farm house at the center of the orchards, Twilight saw that Applejack was not alone. Pinkie Pie was with the farm mare on the porch, talking about something.
"Damn, I should have checked that Pinkie was busy at the bakery." Twilight muttered.
They had probably seen her, so Twilight couldn't slink around until Pinkie had left. Quickly adjusting her planned conversations in her head, Twilight approached the farm house.
As it happened, Applejack and Pinkie Pie had not noticed Twilight, and carried on with their conversation: Applejack was completely reclined in her chair, staring at the roofing frame of the porch, while Pinkie Pie was rocking back and forth in the rocking chair so aggressively she probably didn't see anything but a blur.
"That whole pack of wolves has been looking at me funny since yesterday. Who the heck knows what's got'em riled up this time." Applejack said with an air of impatience. "You didn't mess with them any, right?"
"You were with me, like, all day, except for when I went to the bathroom. Even I can't cause mischief that quickly." Pinkie Pie said. It was hard to discern her words over the constant creaking of the rocking chair. "It must have been something internal. Fluttershy told me day-before-yesterday that some of Rarity's friends are getting antsy-pantsy."
Applejack snickered. "That's what happens when ya lay down with wolves. Ya wake up-" She grunted and sat up in her chair, immediately locking eyes with Twilight Sparkle, standing on the porch stairs. "With... uh..." She stuttered, feeling pinned by Twilight's stare.
"Is it fleas? Or was that some other folk saying?" Twilight asked, laughing to herself.
"Huh?" Pinkie Pie tried to arrest her rocking, but overcompensated and was flung off the chair. Miraculously, the pink pony landed on all four hooves right in front of Twilight. "Woah! Heya Viscount-lady Sparkle."
Twilight nodded. "Good morning Mis Pie, Mis Applejack."
Applejack was flustered, finally breaking eye contact. "I, uh, don't rightly remember invintin' y'all out here, Lady Twilight. ... I hope ya didn't come looking for any apples. I sold 'em all during market yesterday."
Twilight shook her head. "No, I came looking for you."
I see..." Applejack couldn't miss the subtle force behind Twilight's words. "Well, anything you want to say to me can be said in front of Pinkie Pie too."
Apparently Pinkie Pie thought differently. "Eh? I was just about to get back to Ponyville anyway." She threw Applejack a sly wink. "I don't want to hog Lady Twi's attention, especially if it would make you nervous, Applejack."
"That's not-" Applejack started.
"Too-dal-Ioo!"” Pinkie cartwheeled away, and her broad smile flicked into a frown briefly every revolution. “So you two can talk about whatever you need to!"
While Pinkie Pie might have thought it strategic to talk to Twilight one-on-one, Applejack now felt suddenly isolated with the unicorn. "Whelp..."
"Oh don't be like that. I don't know what you're worried about.” Twilight said. Although Pinkie Pie had obligingly departed, it was clear that the conversation would make its way to her eventually. That was fine. "In a town full of farm-mares, you're the only one I really know close enough to ask some agriculture-related questions."
"Uh, really?" Applejack queried. “Because I ain’t in the habit of talking about the farm.”
Twilight grinned. "Nope. I was just joking, sorry. Instead I thought I'd appeal to your other skill." Twilight unslung the small bag (it was too hot to wear the saddlebags) and opened it, revealing a set of scrolls. "Records! That's what you did in Manehattan, right? Accounting and records work?"
After a moment of consideration, Applejack sighed, and led Twilight onto porch. "Take a seat then." She brought over a table for Twilight to spread out the scrolls on.
Twilight struggled with the rocking chair for a while, trying sit up straight in it. "Uff." She gave up and sat on the floor. "These are property deeds and records of deeds and transfers. Property is, after all, the foundational unit of worth in the Equestrian social order. What property you are entitled to, own, collect rents from, are owed corvee labor from, and so on."
"Yes I know what a deed looks like." Applejack retorted. "These ain't much different from what I worked with with the Orange mercantile house in Manehattan." She eyed one of the deeds. "Hmm, bout the same age too. Some of them old trading families have debts to each other goin' back hundreds of years. Mutual debt was kinda like a, you know, commitment to each other. But that ain't how it works here."
Twilight felt a little thrill at the idea of talking about the evolution of equestrian property relations with Applejack. Alas it was not the time for that. "You saw me coming back from the western outskirts of Ponyville."
"Coming back from Rarity's old home eh?" Applejack guessed.
Twilight nodded. "Exactly. As it goes, I met her out there and we talked a bit but not about anything important. Still, I had the idea to chase after the deeds of that cottage and other landmarks. I wanted to make sure it really was her house, that the Golden Oak really was village property, etcetera etcetera."
The tapped one of the records. "And behold, I found a little something which said your family owned the east bank of the river at one point, right up to the edge of the Everfree."
Applejack looked surprised, then after judging Twilight expression for a few seconds, adopted a smirk. "Yup, five generations ago. My granny says her paw-paw received the grant from Empress Celestia herself.”
“Interesting. Quite interesting.” Twilight picked her notebook out of her saddlebags and started writing. “Can I speak to her, your 'granny'? I've meant to meet her since you first mentioned her.”
Applejack’s mood soured again. "You wanna talk to her about what we used to own?"
Twilight sighed, finishing her jotting and looking back to Applejack. "Yes, and other matters."
By other matters, it could be inferred Twilight meant the ongoing issue around Rarity and Applejack's brother. "Whelp, Lady Twilight, I'm plum sorry to say no, ya can't." The way Applejack looked, almost like she was remembering something that made her angry, broadcasted to Twilight that this was yet another off-limits topic. "And that's 'cuz she ain't here. Not at the farm or in Ponyville, and hasn't been for a year. She's an elder advisor type on the south frontier. Yup, s'a shame."
So that was how it was going to be then. "Yes that is a shame. Especially for you, I mean, with all your relatives away leaving you here. Though you got youthful wanderlust out of your system sooner, isn't that right?" Twilight laughed to herself. "It's fine, if you still have some of those granny saying memorized, so you can smooth out this little inconsistency for me.” She unrolled one of the scrolls and offered it to Applejack. "Look this over, from five generations ago, your grandmother's grandparents. According to the land deed records, that was about 135 years. Soon after, Ponyville was founded and the free city charter was granted."
"Sure was ma'am." Applejack agreed.
Twilight nodded. "All things considered, that's not that long ago. My mother's side of the family, who have been in Equestria for almost 90 years, is practically still considered foreign by some of the old clans. So what was the timing behind the free city charter, personally granted by the empress, with the associated land cessions to families like yours?"
Applejack looked over the scroll, confirming everything Twilight was saying. "Hmmm." She rubbed her chin with the back of her hoof. "Sorry, can't say."
"Ah, too bad. I'll have to sus that out on my own. I'll let you know if I find anything." Twilight said, rolling the scroll back up and setting down a different one. "Now try this on. With Ponyville only being 100 years old-" She tapped a line of scribbles at the top of the new scroll. "Why are there references to mayoral precedents going back 200, and even 300 years ago?" She leaned forward. "And why are all the names and details scratched out so aggressively?"
Applejack snatched the scroll and and inspected it closer. "Dont' say stuff like that. It's crazy talk.” She muttered. "These... these could be, I don't know, forged." She scanned down then back up, then lobbed it back onto the table. "This is a contract record, not a deed record. You're the mare with legal pretensions, not me."
"All deed records older than Ponyville are missing. Maybe there were no deeds, and no inhabitants here. Or..." Twilight tapped the scribbles again. "Maybe there were inhabitants before Ponyville, and the old deeds were destroyed, along with other traces."
Applejack jumped to her hooves. "W- Why that's stupid conspiracy talk! Hike on back to Canterlot and look-see the imperial seal on our free city charter. We're imperially ordained to be here. The sun and her princess gave us this land." She fumed. "Before bothin' me about this again you do your damn research, my lady."
"Who can I ask about this? Are there other ponies with old connections to the land like your family?" Twilight arched a brow. "Not Pinkie Pie or Fluttershy, definitely. Maybe some of the other market mares? Maybe I could ask... Rarity?"
"You'd be better off askin' the princess, like I done said." Applejack grunted. "Now I'm done sayin'. I'm tired and I'm taking a nap."
She kicked her rocking chair out of the way and stormed into the farmhouse. The screen door clacked closed behind her.
Twilight sat in place for a few minutes, thinking. "Interesting."
As she was putting the deeds and records back up, she spied a colorful shape watching from the edge of the orchard. Pinkie Pie had not run back to Ponyville like she had said.
Wordlessly, Twilight re-slung her bag and trotted out to meet Pinkie Pie.
"Find what you were looking for, lady?" Pinkie Pie grinned churlishly.
"No, did you?" Twilight asked. "Why did you leave Applejack out to dry?"
"So you'd talk with her. Duhh." Pinkie Pie rolled her eyes. "Jackie (don't tell her I called her that) is deceptively good with numbers and stuff, but she doesn't have the kahunas for strategy. Storming out like that was, like, bad strategically." She shrugged. "She hasn't been planning ahead for what to do if you found out about Dneighper Crypt. That made her a teensy bit flustered."
Dneighper Crypt. Had Twilight heard those words before? It sounded dire. "A crypt?"
"Nah, that's just what they called it. IFC of Dneighper Crypt." Pinkie Pie reached into Twilight bad and pulled out the contract record. "See, it's been scratched out. Actually let me-" She reached into her dress and produced a quill and oil pot. "I'll just jot it down."
"Wait that's a 300 year old document!" Twilight lamented, as Pinkie re-wrote 'IFC of Dneighper Crypt' above where it had been scratched out. For good measure, Pinkie drew arrows between the two. "Oh goodness Pinkie, my archival studies professor would be fuming."
"What, no thanks? I just save saved you, like, ten days of searching." Pinkie Pie blew on the ink to dry it out and rolled it back into Twilight bag. "I'll even give you another hint, if you make me a promise."
Of course. Only the first sample was free. "Uh huh. Let me dwell on that last hint though." Twilight nibbled her lip. "So, Dneighper Cript. There was an imperial free city, IFC, before Ponyville, on this very same land." If it was really a free city, that meant it would have been imperially chartered. But given that free cities were so protective of their rights, how could the old one have been wiped away to make way for the Ponyville IFC charter? The charter, old deeds, and who knows what other evidence, had been erased.
Wiped away and suppressed, just like the legends of the Nightmare Pretender, wasn't it? "Were there ponies living here back then?"
"At least one, but that's part of the second hint." Pinkie Pie smirked.
Twilight sighed. "Okay, lay it on me."
Pinkie Pie nodded. "You have to promise, and I mean like super duper Pinkie Pie promise, never ever to go into the Everfree Forest."
"Of course, the forbidden fruit, before which such chains and bars arise." Twilight nodded. What else could it have been? It seemed that other secrets were still subsidiary to the main big secret the Ponyvillians had around the devil forest. Wouldn't it be ironic if Twilight already knew it? What were the chances they were just hiding the castle ruins or something she had already seen during the nightmare rendezvous? "You want me to never go for my entire natural life? Even in my dreams?"
"Natural life, unnatural life, and not in your dreams, if you can help it." Pinkie Pie confirmed with a stern nod.
Ah, had Pinkie just made a verbal slip-up? That 'if you can help it clause' would be rife for abuse.
"Mis Pie you make me so very tempted to run in there right now. You ponies, sheesh." Twilight sighed. "But verbal agreements like this, even if magically bound, can be rescinded later." Hopefully Pinkie would dwell on that part and not the 'if you can help it' clause. "So, banking on that, I'm going to agree. I promise, Pinkie Pie."
"Great!" Pinkie Pie nodded aggressively. She reached for Twilight bag again.
Twilight hissed and jerked her bag away. "Uh uh, just tell me. I'll write it down later."
"Fine. The greatest burgermeister mayor of Dneighper Cript was a mare named Solemn." Pinkie Pie said. "But be careful who you say that name to. It's even pricklier than Dneighper Cript."
"Pricklier?" Twilight repeated. "Mayor Solemn. Huh."
"Here's other names of the old mayors. Oddity and Peculiarity. You can match where they've been scratched out by name length." Pinkie Pie said. "Pretty wierd earth pony names, right?" She said with a grin.
"Right..." Twilight settled her bag again. Despite her flippancy she did feel thankful since Pinkie Pie had likely spent considerable time finding those secrets in her time in Ponyville. "Care to walk with me back to Ponyville or are you going to go tell Applejack that you spilled the beans to me?"
Pinkie shrugged and started down the path alongside Twilight. "Eh. Some beans got spilled, but there's lots of beans. Like, I have spare beans, so I'm not sad about these specific beans spilling." She said. "I'm fond of beans. Actually I really really like them. You can tell I can be a little gossipy, but when it comes to the biggest, and most serious beans, I've never even spilled a single bean. It's always other ponies letting those spill, not me." She fixed Twilight with a serious stare. "That's how I've learned to carry the beans. Other ponies can't handle the beans you give them. If you want your beans unspilled, beans them yourself."
"Wow you commit more to metaphors than I do." Twilight observed. "What a droll little mare you are. We could have almost been friends if we'd met while you were in Canterlot."
"Doubt it." Pinkie Pie giggled.
Fine, Twilight thought. It was a different time for Twilight, as it had probably been for Pinkie Pie as well. With commitments to the Court, Princess, University, and other studies, there was no way that Twilight would have had the patience for a mare like her. Though, if she were fully honest, Twilight wasn't sure she really liked the flamboyant mare now. Would they be walking and talking if they didn't need something from each other?
"So, what's your angle against Rarity and Fluttershy?" Twilight asked.
Pinkie Pie jittered, almost breaking stride and tripping. "Huh?" She asked, unconvincingly confused.
"I can understand Applejack's antipathy, but not yours. It's gotten clearer that you're not against Rarity because of your friendship with Applejack. Rather, it's the other way around. You two are allies of convenience against Rarity." Twilight said. "Did Rarity ruin one of those poofy dresses you wear? Did she insult your tribe? You know, I could see her hiding a bigoted side."
Pinkie Pie walked in silence for a few moments. "Didn't I already tell you?"
Twilight nodded. "I think so. Why, don't remember the lie you gave?"
Pinkie giggled softly. "Lucky me, you must have forgotten too." She glanced at Twilight. "Let's go with the dress thing. Rarity's got issues, but she has no tribe prejudice."
"Fine. Condolences about the dress." Twilight said.
They reached the edge of town. Pinkie had one last question before they went their separate ways. “Ya know, it's almost dry enough for a picnic! Let's forget all this silly La-li-lu-le-lo stuff and do something fun. You want your merry band to work as a team, right? So, let's all have a picnic, together tomorrow."
Twilight didn’t want that level of commitment, but decided outright refusal would be too rude. “Would a quick lunch meet at the bakery be okay?"
“Nope! Only a picnic will do." Pinkie said, transfixing Twilight with a broad smile.
Twilight chuckled and shook her head. "Very well mis Pie, a picnic it is.
"Great-er-roonie! I'll let everypony know. See’ya Twilight.” Pinkie said with a giddy nod, then bounced off towards the bakery.
“Until next time, Mis Pie.”
Sometimes Twilight wished she smoked, just to have a cigaret to flick away dismissively to punctuate her words. Pinkie Pie wasn't like the other Ponyvillians. In Twilight's approximation, Pinkie Pie was also sussing out the town's secret's too, but was just a bit farther along than Twilight was. So, what did that mean for the forest?
The dream was inescapable. It snagged, it caught, it subsumed. A swirling abyss that was slowly drawing the world in. Was there ever going to be an end to it?
Twilight was sat up in her bed waited in her bedroom, staring to where Spike was sleeping. The dragon-boy had been very diligently sticking to his studies. That was more than Twilight had been doing, and a certain guilt chased her like when she left homework until the last minute: The clock was counting down until the Summer Sun, and she was nowhere near ready for putting on a fair. Instead she had been spending her time chasing nightmares.
She would be chasing nightmares that night too. Hopefully it would be drier than it had been the last few nights.
Twilight fell asleep and before she knew it she was sitting right before the Nightmare Altar, the hum of magic in the air.
"I had a pretty good day. I hope you did too." Twilight said.
Unfortunately, the lack of rain was did not make up for by the sour company.
"I will not be tricked again." Nightmare Moon's etherial voice preempted Twilight's further words. "Tonight's fight will be fair."
"Hey, I have no desire to trick or fight you. I did what I had to survive, which you're all about, but we can be civilized about this." Twilight replied.
Nightmare's altered voice was almost baleful. "Our battle is unavoidable, Twilight Sparkle. You would be a fool to not see that we are destined enemies. We cannot coexist. Both by your persona of peace, and what lurks beneath."
"What? I thought you said that the secret 'Stars' contrived for us to meet. Why would we be destined enemies?" Twilight asked. "Besides we're not even ponies right now, only dreamers. What grand purpose of destiny can a squabble in a dream have?"
"What purpose can a friendship in a dream have?" Nightmare Moon countered. "Would you have us join hooves and sing hymns?"
Twilight smirked. "I would. Pact accepted." Nothing happened. "It was worth a try."
The Nightmare snickered. "Yes good try." There was a lul before she spoke again. "Lady Sparkle, last dream when you spoke of your great 'victory' over Celestia, was that all true, or a trick? I do not understand why you would offer that pact, unless you intended to tell that tale all along. You must have known your claim would put you in great peril."
Twilight didn't have a good answer. "It's complicated and... I don't want to talk about it. I thought I could sanitize the story in a way I was more comfortable with, which is the way I'm more habituated to thinking about it." She sighed. "You put me on the spot and it came tumbling out. I suppose that since the story fulfilled the summoning pact and dispelled the dream, I share the correct interpretation of events, or something like that. Please forget I said it."
"I will not." The Nightmare chortled. "And in return, I hope you remember, very clearly, what I shared."
Quippy exchanges in the heat of an argument were easy to forget. "Sorry, I don't." Twilight apologized.
That dampened the Nightmare's mood. "Fine. It was... sentimental nonsense anyhow. AHEM. Now, Sparkle, think up some pact and let me through. I grow impatient."
"How do you exist, right now? Where are you?" Twilight asked.
"On my moon, sitting solitary." Nightmare replied. "I look up into by black sky and see a pale blue dot, high overhead. I imagine you are looking back at me, Sparkle."
"Not exactly, the moon is hiding behind the treeline right now. I think she's a bit bashful about her behavior last night." Twilight smiled. "My Lady, fret not. We'll come to a plan to end it this dream forever."
Nightmare was silent for a moment, then laughed. "End it?! Ha ha, you are a clever one, and so brave. It's about time!” She mocked. “Will I be taking your last request, Twilight Sparkle?"
It was a nasty insinuation, which brutally clubbed Twilight out of her sappy disposition.
How could she keep forgetting how fundamentally dangerous the Nightmare was? For some reason her heart was drawing her towards the beast, even while she chafed so much with ponies. The Nightmare of the Moon had unleashed terror and death on the Everfree Principality and led to the deaths of thousands! There was a very, very, VERY good reason that Nightmare Moon was locked away.
Twilight had to kick herself of her delusions. She had to! There was no niceness behind Nightmare's savage expression. Every kind word was manipulation. Twilight was letting the monster exploit the psychological wedge between herself and Celestia. She could NOT, under any circumstances, allow herself to replace Nightmare Moon in her esteem for her liege empress.
"Ah, not exactly." Twilight nibbled her lip. After another moment of contemplation, she vowed to herself to approach Nightmare with much more caution. First, she had to keep up an open attitude, but remain aloof of Nightmare's tricks. Second, she had to finally put some effort into getting free of the dream.
Even if she had the alicorn's cooperation, how could she break from the dream? Twilight's mind paced through possible avenues. Could she glean a magic spell that could force herself to never dream again? Could she make the dream a calmer, more tolerable place?
Or, could Twilight learn something to reinstate herself into Celestia's good graces? Was there a weakness or detail that Nightmare would let slip, that could justify the terrible betrayal Twilight felt she was committing? Celestia would have the solution, if Twilight were willing to beg.
"Nightmare of the Moon, from everything you have told me, the bits I learned from the prophesy and scraps of history are better contextualized. " Twilight said. "But there's still one thing that I know nothing about. Even if it is Dark heresy to investigate what my princess censored, I do wish to know."
"I admire your conviction to suffer." The Nightmare chortled.
Not quite. Twilight did feel like she owed nearly enough to Celestia to suffer on her behalf. "Nightmare, tell me about your rebellion." She intoned.
"I do SO look forward to hearing about your's." Nightmare chuckled. "Pact accepted."
The phantasmal black alicorn stepped out of the altar's aura. Her cloud of a mane sparked alive as she stepped out of the shadow of the collapsed roof and let herself bathe in the starlight. "I miss the rain already. I receive enough starlight up there." Nightmare Moon said. "Lo, a question for you, pony. What prompts such questions of heresy and duty, when weeks have passed without it?"
"My tasks in the waking world have led my thoughts there." Twilight said. "I work to fulfill empress's expectations of me, but every day it feels more and more like an empty gesture. She doesn't actually care. She never cared. It makes me feel so silly that I cared about things like that before."
"Do I see a nihilist born?" Nightmare asked, amused.
"Hardly. Princess Celestia is not the sole arbiter of propriety. I am a good pony, with or without her love. I've accepted I will do without, to be my own mare, doing my best." Twilight said. "And I do believe in goodness. I think... I believe almost everything I always have, and which every equestrian believes. Their taboos are mine, their culture, their songs and virtues." She paused. "Except the virtue of faith, I guess. I want to be a faithful pony. Only, it's never worked out for me."
"Try faith in ME, Twilight. You would not be the first pony worship me, but you would be my most favored. How tempted I am, to share the deepest secrets and universal truths of this world and cosmos, if only you believed, Twilight." The Nightmare purred. "If you give me time, perhaps I could disabuse you of the system of virtues the sun alicorn implanted in your species' head. Then you could hear mine, spring clear."
You are no better than her, Twilight thought. Empty promises of favor and instruction. "Your system has been used to torture and ritually murder me. Forgive my hesitance." She said flatly.
"Oh, how harsh, Sparkle. Allow me to make a suggestion for curing your doubt." Nightmare strutted up to Twilight and sat down. "If you developed the right spell, you could summon me outside the dream. Then the summoning pact would be completely on your terms. That dastardly altar would not compel or trick you there! Then, you would have me at your mercy."
"What the hell? Why would I ever try something that dangerous?" Twilight blurted out. "99% chance, you break free. As far as I'm concerned, that's just you again telling me to kill myself just with different wording."
"Every mortal dies eventually. How else do you expect to go? In a bed, aged and decrepit? Disgusting! Surely you want more from your last breaths!" Nightmare demanded. “Darkness and silence, each day as with each life.”
"I liked it better when we talked about philosophy and history." Twilight sighed.
That elicited another contemptuous look from the Nightmare, but her expression gradually softened. "I am being too wild for trying to convince a mare of my, ahem, good intentions. How wrong besides that I deny a dying mare her last requests!"
"I'm not dying."
Indeed it was most amusing that Twilight was not dying. Well, not that amusing. Twilight just had to keep the Nightmare's interest and pray the alicorn didn't suddenly change mood, as she was prone to doing.
"By my estimation, Lady Moon, I have died one less times than you. My condolences, by the by."
"Harumph. Do you wish to know the type of mare I was in life?" Nightmare asked.
"I do, if it is necessary to understand the pact we've made." Twilight nodded.
"Something you must understand about great ponies, Twilight Sparkle, is that they are capable of great intensity. Most ponies live like drones or ants, conforming utterly to the role the society has for them. Great ponies recognize the truth of the world, and strive to stand above the rule of others, and be the ruler themselves." Nightmare Moon said. It was nothing new, nothing she hadn't said before. "It is the duty of great mares to remake the world after their dream, and slaughter anypony who fights for a contrary dream."
Giving ponies a 'duty' to slaughter anypony who disagreed was distressingly extreme, and Twilight was one again glad that the nightmare was locked away. "I suppose you're one of those great ponies."
“I was once a lesser being, like you, living in the cozy niche my sister so generously provided for me. The sun princess plotted her world, and enacted it though toppling the gods and kingdoms of Equestria, while the moon princess followed behind. That was the arrangement that built the principality of the Everfree, and seeded the meme of alicorn rule to the souls of ponykind. But that was not my dream, it was hers. I slaved away for a future that was not my own.
"I was not ignorant to my slavish condition. I saw the light in the eyes of the mortals, and the dark fire in the eyes of the monsters, as we trampled them underhoof to pave this new nation of Celestia's, to forge in blood and bone. Then did I meditate many nights under dark skies, seeking peace with my troubled heart: All the courts of heaven, the stars, planets, and moons, lambasted me for my thoughtless obedience to the designs of the Sun and her princess.
"Thus did I feel a dream swell up within me, a purpose that I could call my own. I was meant to check the Sun's conquest over the earth, not feed it. Celestia was the punishment of mortal ambition, and I would be the punishment of hers. The moon princess, and I just born beside her, plotted the overthrow of the unjust and un-righteous hegemony of the Sun."
Nightmare Moon spoke with a tenor somewhere between a fond remembrance and a swelling speech, glancing between Twilight and a far off horizon.
How much of what she was saying was actually true? Would the summoning pact be fulfilled if the Nightmare hid bits of truth in a story that was wrapped in lies? Twilight would have to parse it later.
"At the last midnight the moon princess and I stole away from our sister's camp, to make a declaration atop the Mountain in the name of the Moon and heaven, for how our new dream would sweep away the Sun's. I rose an army, a coalition of all the princes and monsters Celestia and I had not destroyed yet, and with this army I set Everfree under siege. It was the greatest battle in Equestrian history, and champions of every realm and polity were in show. Thousands of banners and streamers of varied colors, above or below the walls of mighty Everfree, and light and fire in the eyes of the teeming mass of mortal and monster-kind assembled there. They who would be victor would decide the bend of history, and the fate of the continent.
"But my army failed me, and my lieutenants betrayed me. In the end, I found that there were no half measures: I could not eat of the Darkness and play in the light. I embraced the intensity and power within myself and vowed I would recognize no restraint, no imposed limitations, and no contrived rules any longer. I razed Everfree to the ground. But it was not in the burning fields and villages, or over the lands where her subjects were dying that Celestia faced and... and defeated me. Not a principality, or a castle, or a single pony did she stir to save. No, my sister rose to face me only once this throne was directly jeopardized."
Her eyes flashed back towards the twin thrones at the head of the room, silhouetted against the broken stained glass windows. The way the gold throne was broken at the base was a sign of the violent battle that must have taken place those ages ago.
"Such is the hazard of a dream. If you dare to give everything to a future of you own making, you run the risk of defeat. There is a subtle glory in that. That is why I can not revile my enemies if they dreamed. They were too great to lie in contentment. They took a risk and lost. I will deride their strength of arms, but not the strength of their souls. I will remember the light in their eyes forever."
That was about the limit of Nightmare Moon's kindness: Respecting somepony while she murdered them. Perhaps the moon princess had once had noble intentions, before the nightmare fully consumer her mind, or that was what Twilight had inferred from the story.
"That was very fascinating my lady. Your tale matches up pretty well with what the books I read. I’m just fuzzy on one detail. What were you planning to do after you had the throne?”
“If you think I care about thrones and empires you must not have been listening. I wanted to punish all of you, mortal and alicorn, Twilight Sparkle. They would have been be punished for their hubris, humbled, and brought to heel.” Nightmare explained. "The degenerate meme of alicorn rulership cut both ways, for while being shackled to the task of mortal custodianship degrades the alicorn soul, alicorn overlordship also poisons mortal souls. We are a kind apart, meant to stay in our respective spheres, heaven, dreamscape, and earth."
There was a lot to respond to there. "So you want, or, wanted, to conquer Equestria for what you view as purely altruistic reasons: Reestablishing the natural order of the world." Twilight had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. When her sarcasm didn't elicit a response she pushed it a bit further. "You know how that sounds, right? To me, sounds to me like you were burning with resentment and wanted to scrap with Princess Celestia for reasons of spite."
"That is because you have a diseased little pony brain and understands NOTHING." Nightmare Moon glowered. "Oh, actually, I think you do understand. You are trying to provoke me again, to test the limits of my beliefs and to chip away at my sense of righteousness, or some nonsense like that." She adopted an almost pitying expression. "You think you can unwind me with logic."
That was not quite the case: Twilight was just being a jackass. But was it possible, as the Nightmare said, to break apart the shared dream by exploiting a flaw in one of their psyche's? "Why do you ask? Are you trying to unwind me?" Twilight challenged.
"Behave, pony. I have been staggeringly forthcoming tonight." Nightmare Moon grunted. "And, if it will mollify you, I apologize for rousing you to suicide."
At this point, had the Nightmare apologized more than Twilight had? That had to be one of the more bizarre things of the entire dream experience so far. It made Twilight tingle in her skull.
NO, NO, bad, bad brain, Twilight lambasted herself. She was being deceived again. There was no chance the Nightmare meant it sincerely.
"Well I didn't, so you can take the apology back. All it did was make me feel bad, and your other actions account for that enough." Twilight clucked her tongue. "I wanted to ask about what each party to the alliances of the Everfree War wanted."
"Who cares! Mortal drivel! Vendettas over millennia old blood feuds, territorial opportunism, lust for plunder, those lines drawn up between the armies of the sun princess and the moon princess was utterly haphazard. At the time I was happy to woo and tempt those warlords, seeing it as necessary. Now I wonder if that pragmatic compromise doomed me." Nightmare Moon said. Her head drooped, and she stared into the ground growling to herself. "We were not unflinching enough, not pure enough. Our time on the bright world had already degraded us by then. I was weighed down scraps of mortal memes on my soul, a terrible plaque that spelled my doom."
Twilight arched a brow. "Then why did Celestia win if she was even more involved with ponykind."
Nightmare Moon froze up.
Then silence.
There was no rain like previous nights, to hide the fact that the Nightmare of the Moon had no excuse to offer up.
After a few minutes, the tops of the ruins were gently illuminated by the moon rising in the west. Silvery moonlight on the bleached marble, the carcass of a long-dead past.
"I didn't ask her, I asked you." Twilight glanced toward the moonrise. "Lady Moon, what gave Celestia her strength at your final battle, when everything should have been going your way?"
Very reluctantly, the nightmare alicorn lifted her eyes back to Twilight.
"She had... Harmony magic on her side." Then the alicorn shot to her hooves, suddenly enraged. "Damn you pony!" She kicked at the unsuspecting Twilight catching her in the shoulder. Twilight was launched and rolled a few meters away. "I won't let her fall by your hooves, you wretch! Fight and struggle and suffocate against the alicorn will, and die! Die! Then I can destroy her! I am the sun princess's destined end, her sunset, not you! No, not you!"
Twilight lay on her back, pain radiating from her shoulder, while Nightmare raved. She'd brought this on herself.
Leaning herself up, Twilight tried to use her magic and found it denied to her. "Come on moon. Not fair." She mumbled. The only thing to do was execute a secessio plebis and withdraw from Nightmare Moon's anger. So, Twilight waited until the Nightmare was pacing the other direction to get up and scramble behind a pillar.
"Huh? TWILIGHT!" Nightmare barked. "Are you even listening to me?!"
Twilight sighed to herself and nursed her shoulder. She was out of patience both with herself and the deranged maniac alicorn. Before the next night, she would have a way to protect herself against Nightmare Moon's bouts of mania. That meant she had to get her magic back from the moon.
"Twilight! Twilight Sparkle!" Nightmare shouted. "I'll only forgive you if you come out right this second, pony!"
Maybe if she had her magic she could bargain, but powerless as she was, Twilight thought it wiser to remain absolutely silent.
That didn't please the Nightmare. "I told you so much tonight, and you spurn me like this? Over a little misunderstanding? You perfidious mare! You're no different from any of them, a contemptible slave. You disgust me!"
So it is, Twilight thought to herself. If she just sat there all night, letting Nightmare get angrier and angrier, it would sabotage the rapport they had slowly built up. The silent treatment wasn't going to work on the bipolar demigod, but it was exhausting to keep engaging with her.
The moon finally rose enough above the trees to illuminate the entire ruined throne room. Twilight was mostly out of the moonlight, but it made the fur tickle on her outstretched leg. "Are you going to take her side? Fine, but I won't do it for free." Twilight muttered.
"I heard that. I hear you." Nightmare said. levitating a pebble and flicking it towards Twilight's hiding spot.
Twilight sighed and stepped back out into the open, limping to her sitting spot. "Come on then." She groaned and fell into a sitting position. "Pick me up by the neck and start skinning."
Nightmare Moon went silent again, her etherial form shimmering as she stared down her nose at Twilight.
"Hey, whatever I asked that bothered you so much, I already forgot, okay." Twilight lied. "Are we going to keep this conversation up or are you going to torture me to death and end the dream?"
Nightmare closed her eyes, keeping her thoughts and mental correspondence with the moon to herself this time.
Twilight waited in discomfort. The stone she was sitting on was hard, and everything in the castle that could have served as a pillow had almost certainly rotted away. Though, Twilight remembered, there were the large banners and tapestries, magically protected, in the other rooms. She could fetch and sit on them. And it was not like she would be soiling the actual artifact, just a dream facsimile.
But before Twilight could do that, the Nightmare's eyes snapped open. "Twilight I am sorry for hitting you. At that moment, you did not deserve it."
"Gee thanks." Twilight sighed.
"You must understand, especially after I explained, that this is not personal. I get no gratification from your pain." Nightmare Moon tried to sound dispassionate, even a little bit regretful... But Twilight saw the curl of a smile. That lie was too outrageous even for the demon alicorn. "I do what I have to. I may be much, much more powerful than you Twilight- to a laughable extent, really- but I have less freedom. Yes, while you mortals' dreams and ambitions are suppressed by alicorn rule, we alicorns have the constant attention of higher beings who seek to oppress, manipulate, and crush us."
"Damn, I've never had anypony try to manipulate me before." Twilight said sarcastically. "It matters much more that you're hurting me than why you are doing it." She sighed and leaned back. "Your Heaven didn't order you to make my life miserable. That was something you chose to do yourself."
Twilight conspicuously turned her eyes skyward. "Am I wrong? Did your heaven order you to be a bratty jerk to me?"
Nightmare let out a hiss, visibly restraining herself from going into another manic fit. "I don't take orders from the outer gods."
"You could have fooled me since you allude to them so much to justify your behavior."
"My 'behavior' needs NO justification. What I want is right, and things are unjust only to the degree that they keep me from me desires." Nightmare declared. "I am no vassal of Heaven, no, but the court decrees have an evocative beauty: Ever kindled, the soul is capable of great purpose, so hold on to it and never let it be denied to you, ever! I would go further, that failing to pursue your dream is in fact a dire sin!" She pushed Twilight's head back to a stare-off. "But you must defend that dream with the strength befitting its breadth."
Her expression became stern. "That is why the Stars, those once-mortal blasphemers, are so disgusting to me. They gave up their dreams to make a grasp at the nature of the divine. Revolting creatures!"
Twilight smirked. "You want to talk about those mysterious Stars now? Nice tangent. You're not trying to distract me, right?"
"No I don't want to talk about the Stars. It's who came to mind when I thought of wretches who forsake their dream." Nightmare said.
"Aside from literally everypony in Equestria who you loath for letting themselves get pushed into a niche by Celestia." Twilight observed. Whether or not Nightmare Moon had been deflecting, it had the desired effect of abating Twilight's frustration. They could get back on topic.
"My lady, when you speak of 'dreams', do you mean as in asperation, or as in slumber."
"Those are one and the same, obviously. For mortalkind the dreamscape is the well of the soul where both all forms of consciousness swell together."
Fine, Twilight wasn't going to get a clear answer there. "Then why-" She sighed. "It's just, I know you're supposed to be an alicorn of dreams, but I have been taught that those two concepts don't go together. Alicorns don't have dreams."
"Most definitely not. They are toxic to us." Nightmare Moon confirmed. "But I will NOT discuss alicorn peculiarities with you, seeing as you teeter on being an enemy of my race."
"You were berating me earlier for not wanting to fight with Cadenza." Twilight sighed.
The Nightmare chuckled. "I very much desire for you to fight with that Cadenza alicorn, perhaps even Celestia as well. That is the way I sense your dream leading you, though I can not determine why... But I hope you lose. They might even kill you. Twilight Sparkle, to perish in the pursuit of your ambition is the most grand, and I should even say the most noble, of acts a mortal like you is able to preform. I know you think I am a cruel creature, but I wish to save you from living and dying as a wretch under Celestia's hoof."
"Yeah you'd rather I just die." Twilight said.
Ever-so-slowly, Twilight was collecting all the pieces of Nightmare Moon's internal logic and ideological paradigm: All creatures should endlessly battle in a free-for-all to test the 'virtue' and 'strength' of their 'dreams', and in this battle only the most powerful and worthy would rise to the top and impose their vision of the world on everypony else. It was a frightening thing to imagine, but slightly less than when Twilight thought the Nightmare was just a barbarous nihilist.
The only minor hypocrisy was that the Nightmare arbitrarily thought that alicorns deserved to triumph over ponies. Nightmare hated how Celestia controlled ponykind, but in world ponykind could only barely free themselves mentally, not institutionally. Ponies could only become martyrs, not masters of their own fate, until she, Nightmare Moon, could destroy Celestia and her Sun's control over ponykind, to usher in an age of anarchy.
"We will see about that." Twilight said to herself. Next time Nightmare tried to hurt her, she'd show the alicorn that ponies could do more than be martyrs for her ideals.
“Enough on that. I have spoken far beyond the expectation. It’s your turn to answer to me, pony.” Nightmare grunted. “I charge you to tell me... whatever the summoning pact conditions were. You exasperated me such that I do not remember whatever nonsense you asked.”
The Nightmare was feigning forgetfulness, assumedly, so Twilight dithered and didn't fulfill the summoning pact, giving the alicorn an excuse to kill her.
"So I could talk about anything and you commit to listening rapturously?" She teased. "I could wax on about the conversations I had this morning with the Ponyvillians?"
"Oh?" Nightmare asked. A dispassionate tone concealed a sudden interest in her eyes.
"Oh, villagers of the waking world I mean. Just the type of mediocre content pony you don't respect." Twilight said. She had her issues with the Ponyvillians, but even mentioning them to the dark alicorn could put their lives at risk. A renewed dread settled over Twilight as she wondered if Nightmare Moon would enact reprisals against family and acquaintances if she got free. That is why it was necessary to end the nightmare threat, one way or another. "It was a joke. I'm not very personable and don't talk to ponies if I can help it." She cleared her throat. "I obviously make exception for you, Lady Moon."
Nightmare Moon shrugged and looked away, letting Twilight's deflection go uncommented. "Do you need encouragement, pony? Oh come now little Sparkle. I said at the start that I was eager to hear of your rebellion. Do you intend to disappoint me? We already know..." Her voice dipped into a throaty purr. Nightmare Moon grew powerful on her ill thoughts. Behind those cold blue eyes was a mind with its every capacity turned to making Twilight suffer. "The treacheries you harbor in your soul."
"Disregard all my previous sinful words. I have a tendency to ramble, but I am not a traitor." Twilight protested.
"Say it more convincingly, please." Nightmare Moon said.
Twilight sighed. "I know I don't seem like Princess Celestia's most loyal vassal. In fact, I have a lot of personal gripes with her, and I've aired them in front of more ponies than you. Nevertheless she is the sovereign. She protects and guides ponykind, and I am proud to have been recognized by her, even if that pride gets in the way of me admitting it."
"I am starting to adore the way you turn a phrase, Twilight Sparkle. You are like a filly who squeaks out excuses when she is caught breaking her parents' rules." Nightmare Moon said. "But there is light there. Yes... I'm starting to see a light and a fire. You very well may be the daughter of those unicorn warlords I knew so long ago." She leaned in, so Twilight's breaths ruffled the fur of her nose. "So Twilight Sparkle, what could your rebellion be?"
Twilight sighed. “I’m going to help you-”
Nightmare Moon instantly faded away, before Twilight could finish the sentence, as as the light cast by the magical auras in the room vanished. The shadows of the dream deepened and spread, until all was black. The truth had been spoken and the summoning pact was concluded.
When Twilight woke up, something seemed different. It was not how the world looked or smelled, but how it felt. All the edges seemed sharper, more menacing. Spike in his bed asleep did not look innocent so much as vulnerable. It was still nighttime, but Twilight felt wide awake. There was an imperceptible vibration in the floor and walls that faded once she focussed on it.
“I don’t feel so good.” Twilight mumbled, but what she thought was ‘Nothing seems right anymore’.
That was because it wasn't 'right'. Things had changed and she was subtly at odds with the world around her.
Twilight slid off the bed and crept to the closet to get a bed sheet, then went downstairs, then out of the Golden Oak.
Ponyville was still and silent. An hour until dawn, the moon hung directly over the Mountain and Canterlot.
Twilight didn't want to teleport for the sound it would make, so she trotted due north out of the village, to the grassy green field between the cottages and the rings of crop fields. Once she spread out the sheet on the grass, Twilight knelt on it in the direction of Canterlot.
A knot of anxiety twisted her Twilight Sparkle's stomach, as she gradually summoned up the courage to speak. "Princess, for lack of a temple, I beseech thee thus. Please forgive me. I'm doing what I can. I'm just... doing everything I can." She bowed her head a few times before returning to face Canterlot. "I'm not asking for guidance, else I'd be asking during the day. I can only ask what I ask now, when it is not the hours of the Sun or her princess. It's her hour, and the princess of dreams is watching over me as I beg for you to understand." She bowed her head again.
A slight breeze began to blow.
"Princess, I've made an oath to the Nightmare of the Moon and the remnants of the Moon princess which still linger within her, to aide her ambitions. She conspires to destroy all hierarchies in Equestria, that all of ponykind will clash against itself in a war of all-against-all." Twilight said. "That will not come to pass. With my assistance, the Moon Nightmare will free exactly one pony from the bonds of the Sun's destinies: Me."
She swallowed down her terror. The hard part had been said. "I have brushed up against it. It's there... something I've only seen once before, when I earned my mark. There is a dream I was born with but have never known. I want to find it, understand it, and be a part of it. Then I..." She lifted her head. "Maybe I'll be fulfilled. I'll be able to push the Nightmare aside and go back to you, understanding myself a little better. There will be no reason to resentful, or bitter, or envious. We can... can be friends again?"
Obviously Twilight received nothing for her awkward prayer: Even at high noon the Sun and princess were exceedingly unlikely to answer a supplicant right away. It was the moon's hour, and though the message had not been intended for her she had clearly taken an interest in the fretful little unicorn mare. Twilight couldn't help but have her eyes drawn up from Canterlot to that heretical satellite, and its dark profile of craters.
'Do not shine on me like that. Do not illuminate my shame', Twilight whispered. Unlike in the dreamscape, the moon was coy with her attention, if it was there at all.
Twilight felt both better and worse after the prayer. She had the outline of a plan in her head about how to deal with both the Nightmare and the shared dream, but it was going to be an ordeal. She might as well enjoy the night breeze, as it was the best day she would have for months to come.
It was an all-around beautiful day in Ponyville, and the villagers went about their lives with obvious jubilation. It was a bit infectious, and despite the trouble start to the day Twilight was gayly nodding alone to the whistles and songs around her. It made the picnic she had been roped into slightly tolerable.
"Oh, I see you started without me?" Rarity trotted up to the park table everypony else was seated around.
"I saved a sandwich for you." Fluttershy motioned to the picnic basket.
"You're lucky I didn't include any with pickles." Pinkie giggled. "But I thought about it."
"And the anticipation alone of my disgusted reaction fulfilled the prank? If only it could always be that way." Rarity daintily took a seat next to Fluttershy and levitated out her sandwich. "Good day Lady Sparkle, Applejack."
Applejack grunted her reluctant acknowledgment. She didn't seem happy with any of the ponies at the table, not Rarity or Fluttershy obviously, not Twilight for the dispute the day before, and not Pinkie Pie for dragging her to the picnic.
“Hey.” Twilight said between bites.
"Hello Mis Rarity." Spike beamed.
“What a happy day today is, just like I knew it'd be!” Pinkie laughed. “The awful-wawful rain is gone and it’s sunny skies and happy days forever!”
"Are you a child? Why are you talking like that?" Rarity said, suddenly irate.
"Why, ya like yelling at children?" Pinkie smiled broader, unsettlingly so.
“Please, don't.” Twilight said. “Just keep it civil.”
Things settled down as the mares (and dragon) ate their sandwiches. It was not quite the atmosphere of a picnic, but not too bad without ponies being snippy with each other.
To underscore that it was less a gathering, more six separate meals happening beside each other, their attentions drew apart: Twilight pulled out a book, Spike scooted closer to Rarity and began making observations about the weather, Applejack pretended to take a nap, and Fluttershy started squeaking at the nearby squirrels.
This didn't please Pinkie Pie. They were ruining her team-building activity. "So..." She leaned on the table, waggling her eyes at Rarity while nudging Applejack. "How is married life treating you?"
"Aw shut up. Am I gunna have to live with that bad joke following me forever?" Applejack grunted.
Rarity stopped politely listening to Spike to appraise the situation, then deciding her own discomfort was worth Applejack's chimed in. "What a thing to say. Am I a joke to you, darling?" She fluttered her lashes.
Applejack tipped her hat away from her eyes so she could stare Rarity down. "Depends." She growled.
Pinkie Pie's little provocations were not missed by Twilight. Spike seemed annoyed as well. "Geeze, if I wanted to watch an argument I'd visit the uni debate society." He said flatly. "That's a Canterlot joke."
"I know. I used to be a member." Pinkie Pie said. "Just kidding, I wasn't. That's a Ponyville joke."
Rarity stood up and brushed the crumbs from the table. "I think I would enjoy a walk by the river."
"Last to arrive, first to leave." Applejack clucked her tongue.
Spike hopped up. "Hey, can I walk with you Rari-" He was interrupted by a shiver running through his body. "Uh oh." He shivered again, then doubled over and clutched his stomach. "Uhhh." He groaned
The ponyvillians grew concerned. "You're not allergic to anything, right?" Pinkie Pie asked.
Twilight sighed and set her book down. "Give him space."
Spike shivered again, then began to dry heave. "It's... urg!" He wretched and let loose a modest torrent of green dragonfire, scorching the grass around him.
Rarity yelped and jumped backwards. "Oh dear!"
Spike let out a relieved sigh, then scooped up a scroll which had appeared at his feet among the flames. "Whew. That was a bad one." He passed the scroll to Twilight.
"Somepony did a sloppy job enchanting the dragonfire teleport." Twilight eyed the wax seal holding the scroll together. "The Canterlot Castle alchemists usually do a good job. I wonder..." She unsealed and unrolled it, to read silently to herself.
Spike recovered quickly, while the other mares still seemed uncomfortable with what they had seen. "Still going for a walk?" He asked Rarity.
Rarity eyed the scroll. Remembering the encounter at her parent's cottage, she knew she had to know whatever Twilight might be up to. "I want to give you a moment."
"But I feel fine." Spike laughed.
Twilight glanced over the scroll. "Spike, have you ever heard of a pony named Seacrest Blackhorn?"
"Huh?" Spike was caught off guard by her suddenly serious tone. "Uh, well, I know there's some old regalia with famous jewels called the Blackhorn something-or-rather. But not that specific pony, no. Should I? Is she a Canterlot pony?"
"Yes, or, maybe. It's unclear. Some joker signed that name in place of Fancy Pants's on this document." Twilight levitated the scroll in front of him long enough to read that indeed was signed 'Grand Vizier Seacrest Blackhorn'.
"That's a good joke. I bet they knew it'd confuse you for a week." Spike said.
"Hmm..." Twilight rubbed her chin. She would have suspected a forgery, especially considering the messy dragonfire teleport, except that the seal and stationary were very privileged material. "Well, nevertheless, this message brings some good news. And it's convenient we're together like this, since this regards the Summer Sun Fair."
"Oh yeah?" Pinkie Pie sat up.
"Yup. The funding is secured." Twilight said.
“That’s just a piece of paper.” Fluttershy frowned. “Are the bits on their way?”
“I’d wager that there is what in Manehattan they call a license.” Applejack said. “It gives Lady Twilight tax and credit power in Ponyville.”
“Close.” Twilight said. “This is an authorization to buy supplies using credit against future taxes. So it’s almost like a license, but I’m paying with taxes that haven’t been paid yet. I guess I'll read over the details later.” She rolled it back up and stowed it in her bag. "It's very a lazy way to do funding, in my opinion. No hard decisions about setting aside funding. You instate a program, give it as much money as it needs, and siphon from taxes for as long as it takes to pay it back." She shrugged. "It's the latest thing they've been using to finance the overseas expeditions. The colonies in Chitin are payed for by taxes the pegasi won't owe for twenty years."
“Woah. That’s crazy!” Pinkie exclaimed. “Does that work? That’s like baking with flour that’s still wheat.”
“Flour is made out of wheat?” Rarity acted surprised. “Hmm, the more you know.”
Twilight gave Rarity an incredulous look. “You’ve lived your whole life in a peasant farming village and you didn’t know that?”
“I'm joking obviously.” Rarity toyed with her curls. "Trust me, I deplore to digress from your little tax novelty into culinary topics. I do so want to hear about how that scroll will please anypony you ask to labor on your fair."
"My fair?" Twilight said defensively. "This is the princess's damn fair. If I were sovereign and were putting on a national solstice celebration I could think of a dozen better places than here. The princess is the one very high hopes for you all, not me."
"And for that, am I expected to thank her highness above what is already asked by the faith?" Rarity deadpanned.
"Goddamn, shut yer trap already. I'd greatly rather talk culinary topics than this." Applejack interjected. "You're damn disrespectful, of the princess, and us. You couldn't last a day doin' what Pinkie or I do. Ya couldn't live without us neither!"
Twilight sighed and picked up her book again. Why did she bother?
“Umm, I think ponies could live off grazing if they didn't have farming or cooking.” Fluttershy informed.
“Ehh I'll give you that. We could do some foraging too.” Pinkie contributed.
"How is that functionally different from grazing?" Rarity challenged.
"You're such a damn contrarian you can't but chide her even when she's agreeing with you." Applejack snickered.
"Stop cursing at me or you'll regret it." Rarity threatened.
"Umm, grazing is mostly about grass, and foraging is mostly about berries, uh, I think." Fluttershy said.
“Like I'm going to eat grass and berries. I could survive off magic hunting.” Twilight muttered from behind her book.
Spike, accepting that Rarity had chosen to get drawn into the argument rather than go for a walk with him, hopped back onto the seat beside Twilight. "Hunting? Can ponies actually survive by just hunting?"
“It wouldn't be a fulfilling life, but yes.” Twilight was annoyed to have to put her book down once again. “According to the new evolutionary theories, that why unicorns evolved to have magic, so they could supplement their diet by hunting. Didn't I put that in your lesson plan last year?"
"Yes, and you said 'supplement'." Spike pointed out.
"Going to get smart with me over semantics? If pushed, yes, a unicorn could survive just barely just by hunting." Twilight grunted. "But it's much harder in cold climates with higher m-calorie demands which is why the ancient unicorns of the Far North-"
"Hey what'chya talkin' about?" Pinkie Pie loudly interrupted from over Twilight's shoulder.
Twilight jumped a bit. "Geeze! I'm talking to Spike. You can back to yelling at the others."
"Rarity got fed up and went for a walk so that's died down for now." Applejack chuckled.
"I did not! I simply decided to sit by the river!" Rarity yelled from her new spot on the riverbank.
"We were talking about hunting." Spike helpfully supplied.
“Hunting?” Applejack asked cautiously.
“Hunting… Animals?” Fluttershy squeaked.
“No, scavenger hunting.” Twilight rolled her eyes. “Of course I mean animal hunting, in the traditional unicorn fashion." She hunched defensively. "Even if you don't catch anything it's a fun social outing, though if we're talking about survival, catching is the point."
Spike was more cued in that none of the other mares had any idea what Twilight was talking about. “Every couple years Twilight’s family visits her uncle's lands in Foal and go hunting for magical animals. I'm not a unicorn but Princess Celestia told me dragons have a similar tradition, so I get a kick out of it as well."
“So, like, tracking down and animal and... whoah. That's extreme. And you do it just for sport?” Pinkie was wide eyed.
“Just for sport! Plain barbaric.” Applejack spat.
“Now see here…” Twilight was at a loss at her acquaintances’ reactions. “Rarity! Rarity get over here and back me up on this.”
Rarity plodded over, but seemed confused. “Lady Twilight, back you up on what? It would seem to me you are not exactly describing a unicorn tradition, but a noble pasttime.”
"I'll have you know unicorns evolved to hunt, as I was just explaining to Spike." Twilight said pointedly. "If anything, it's more natural than these sandwiches- Tool use and food preparation came a thousand years later."
"Evolved?" Pinkie cocked her head.
"You know, what we were 'designed' for by generational selection!" Twilight snorted impatiently.
“H- How can that be? Unicorns were designed to kill and eat little defenseless animals?” Fluttershy was looking betrayed, on the edge of tears.
"Kill? Eat?" Twilight blinked. "No, no, that's absolutely gruesome. Why would unicorn hunters kill their prey?" She cleared her throat. "Okay, maybe 'hunt' has different connotations to you rural ponies who apparently contend with dangerous Everfree predators. You really don't know anything about what I'm talking about."
"I'm kinda on their side, Twilight. Maybe it is just a noble thing." Spike said.
"No, Spike, masquerade balls are 'just a noble thing'." Twilight said, looking sour. "Am I really going to need to explain this? And to a unicorn no less?" She eyed Rarity. "It would be like explaining clouds to a pegasus."
"Um, okay Twilight, we can talk about that later too. I kinda grew up poor so my family didn't have clouds." Fluttershy joked quietly, immensely relieved by Twilight assuagement that animals were not being fatally harmed.
"Okay, okay, I get it. You think I'm a fancy mountain brat." Twilight glowered. "It's fine if you don't care, because if it's really just a 'noble thing' then there's no use explaining."
Rarity stifled a sigh. "Lady Twilight, we would be ever so grateful if you gave us a short but clear explanation so we are not left wondering just what the heavens you are talking about."
Twilight fidgeted, thinking of a good way to start. "I mean, surviving purely off magic isn't unique to unicorns. Some para-animals, like sprites and breezies, can survive almost entirely on the raw magical current running through our world. And changelings, which themselves evolved from a proto-changeling para-animal, eat magic reductively pattern-expressed as emotions. Oh, and changelings eat passifloria fruit too, but that's because of a nominative contrivance."
Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were trying to pay attention, but Applejack and Rarity seemed to be loosing interest fast.
"Hypothetically almost any highly sentient mortal creature could magic hunt, if they had magic training, but unicorns are the best equipped." Twilight tapped her horn. "You see, magic reacts to us all, flowing through us, forming into patterns based on our electro-chemistry and circulation. This forms the magical aura, an expression of ourselves in the magical currents around us." Twilight brought up a hoof to indicate the area around the back of her head, then down to her heart. "At its simplest, hunting is bolstering one's own magic aura by taking from another's. So the ponies of the pre-migration ancient north, especially those who lived in the magically rich mountaintops, became more-and-more attuned to the conscious use of magic to hunt magic from others until they became the first unicorns."
"I ain't never seen a pony get fed by taking a bite outta thin air." Applejack snorted. "How's an aura nourish a pony?"
"It's magic." Twilight rolled her eyes.
"Do correct me if I am wrong, darling, but the magic in our bodies is connected to our soul and our dreams. A pony lives and dies on the survival of their soul in this world, so sustaining the soul through magic can keep a pony alive past where their body should have died." Rarity posed.
"Ehh, it's not exactly that simple, but sure, you can think of it that way." Twilight shrugged.
"Damn long way of saying ya eat souls." Applejack said, trying to hide a tone of disgust.
"No, it's just the magic around the soul. Eating souls is an entirely different magical act and- LOOK, I explained it very clearly." Twilight puffed out her cheeks in frustration. "The point is, hunting causes no permanent harm, okay? At worst it just knocks the animal out. On our outings to Foal, my family just goes after things like rabbits or foxes. They're barely conscious and don't have much magic in them, but it also means it doesn't cause them much discomfort to have their aura eaten."
"And para-animals are catch and release only." Spike helpfully supplied.
Twilight nodded. "Oh, yeah, absorbing the magic pattern of a para-animal would cripple it." She shrugged. "But they are bright little balls of magic. The ancient unicorns had no such scruples and regularly hunted sprites."
"Oh yes, you are refined, sophisticated tribe now." Rarity quipped.
“I mean I was wierded out but it makes more sense now. At least you're not hurting them. It would be worse and more brutal.” Pinkie pondered, looking introspective. "Hmm."
"Yeah, I already mentioned para-animals, but sentient magical phenomena like nightmares or shades obviously subsist on magic as well, at least on some level. Their magic hunting is, well, primal." Twilight elucidated. "And what is more, there is an avante garde discipline of cosmologists who think the pure-magic heavenly creatures predate on each other the same way."
"Eh? Heavenly creatures?" Applejack glanced toward the sky as though she would at that moment catch sight of something she had never noticed before.
"The gods, broadly stated, elder siblings of the alicorns." Twilight nodded.
"Darling, it seems like you are expanding our your definition of this magic hunting buisness to make it as inclusive as possible to reduce its bizarreness." Rarity said. "That magical creatures exist is hardly useful to explaining why you and your courtiers bandy about the mountains harassing forest creatures."
Twilight was a bit taken aback. Inexplicably, Rarity seemed to be instigating a second argument. Was it something she'd said? What was Rarity acting out of? "It's a family outing that commemorates an ancient unicorn tradition. What's not to understand?" Twilight grinned. "Are you jealous?"
"Jealous?" Rarity repeated.
Twilight first reaction was to chase the point and berate Rarity, but she rethought it. "I ask because I am. I'm jealous of the past, of the height of classical unicorn culture after the migration, when the hunt was a magnificent occasion." Twilight said. "The greatest lords would festoon grand parties of hunters, thousands of participants on the occasion of some local holiday, chasing breezies, pixies, windigoes, dragons... The more dangerous and magical, the better." She reflexively looked off to the distant mountains where the degenerate remnant of alicorn nobility sulked in their keeps. "What daring! Can you imagine a gallant mare facing off against an arrogant dragon, tracking it then besting it, to be able to show off to the others how she hunted its magic?" She sighed.
"Yeah I'm not totally comfortable with imagining that." Spike said. He wasn't sure what had come over Twilight. She was extremely passionate about history but never harbored any nostalgia about it.
"So I was right, wasn't I. You admit it is purely for aristocratic snobbery." Rarity eyed the other mares, wondering why they weren't backing her up more.
Twilight's sentimental reverie was replaced wit annoyance again. “Rarity you’re a freaking unicorn! I've seen you use telekinesis and the magic hunt spell isn't that much more complicated if you take the time to learn it.”
"Time is not so free for working ponies as it is for your class, LADY Twilight. I don’t take trips to Foal for fun. I don’t even leave Ponyville.” Rarity said.
Applejack clucked her tongue disapprovingly. "Rarity you resent being born a commoner. You really are just jealous, ya haughty bitch."
"Woah, cool it down. No punches at the picnic, pretty please." Pinkie Pie grabbed Applejack's shoulder in a show of preemptively restraining her.
"Why do I gotta hear her act like she's so much better than me, as though some noble stench rubbed off on her in the dirt and forest, THEN hear her play up some narrative of salt-of-the-earth humility in front of the lady?! Why do I gotta stand it?" Applejack pounded the picnic table, shaking everypony and sending up bits of splinters. "You ain't salt of nothin'. Your ilk never deserved this land, which is why the princess gave it to us!"
Rarity grabbed up one of the sandwich knives and brandished it. "Uncouth cur. You are only playing at being a farmer. The last Apple anypony respected went to be a soldiercolt in Griffany. Nopony wants you here so why don't you trot on back to Manehattan and be a banker like you deserve. I can accept anypony else, but not you, most ungrateful of heathens. Go back to your own lands!"
Twilight was half-relieved and half-annoyed that things had digressed so rapidly. It had been guiltily fun to make her case about magic hunting. But now Applejack and Rarity seemed closer than ever to killing each other.
"Girls..."
"I am not so vulnerable now. Does that scare your bully's heart, to see me with a weapon and the will to defend myself?" Rarity barked. "Don't test me darling! I would hate for you to have to explain a cut on your face to your cute little sister."
"And I'd hate for you to hate to lie to yours again, that is, if you'll be able to." Applejack hissed through bared teeth.
Spike was much more alarmed about the possibility of violence. "Twilight stop them, please." He squirmed, eyes darting between Rarity and Applejack.
Twilight was about to say something, but she felt a shiver. It was suddenly very cold, but only for her. Rarity, waving the knife with her magic, was facing Applejack with her back to Twilight- And Twilight, overcome with a sensation she couldn't quite describe, couldn't think of anything to say, but instead felt a sudden fixation on just how vulnerable Rarity was to an attack from behind.
Twilight knew only very basic combat magic, just enough for magic duels, but Rarity was a stationary target and Twilight would have the element of surprise. Heck, Twilight could probably just pounce and use her hooves to save herself the magic.
"...the sweetest honey Is loathsome in his own deliciousness." Twilight murmured to herself, completely transfixed by the urge to pounce on Rarity. Then she was not quite looking at Rarity, nor at the ripples in her white fur from her jerky motions, but ripples around Rarity, to the pale glow of magic that Twilight witnessed as second sight, her magical senses overlapping her vision. What a vivid aura Rarity had.
Twilight slowly reached out a hoof. She yearned to touch. She yearned to take.
Fluttershy was about to second Spike's plea for assistance when she noticed Twilight's strange movements and distant expression. "Lady Sparkle did you hear him? And uhh, are you okay?"
This question was immediately answered when Twilight's horn flared with magic for a brief second, and both she and Rarity collapsed.
Fluttershy shrieked, rushing to make sure Rarity hadn't fallen onto the sandwich knife. Spike similarly rushed to Twilight.
"The hell?" Applejack wondered, cautious of a ruse.
"I think Twilight just cast a spell, but it was so quick." Pinkie Pie blinked, quickly piecing things together. "Was she trying to help, or..."
Spike shook Twilight where she'd fallen. "Twilight?!"
Twilight's eyes flew open and she bolted upright. "Woah. Woah. Woah. Woah." She repeated, her gaze unfocussed, a look of awe passing over her. "Woah. Something..." She spun in a circle several times. "Oh, my, I hear something."
Then, just as abruptly, Twilight began galloping in the direction of Ponyville.
"Oh gods, she's really not well. Whatever she was trying must have backfired!" Spike nibbled her claws nervously. "Please can one of you go after her? She might hurt somepony or herself!"
Applejack contemplated the situation for a few more seconds, gnawing at her lip in anxiety and aborted fury, before she wordlessly ran after Twilight.
"She has already hurt somepony. Rarity is completely knocked out. Her eyes aren't dilating." Fluttershy said in barely restrained panic. "We have to get her to the clinic. They have beds and medicine."
Pinkie Pie stepped around the picnic table and effortlessly rolled Rarity onto her back. "I gotchya! These legs are for more than carrying flour sacks, hee hee! Fluttershy you can go get the clinicians from town."
"I- If you're sure." Fluttershy stepped back, took a few deep breaths, and also ran to Ponyville to find the village doctor and nurse.
Spike began following behind Pinkie Pie as the two of them circled the village to the clinic building on the other side of the town.
"I just don't know what happened! It looked like Twilight was going to separate them with her telekinesis which is what I thought she would do. I don't get it and I'm really worried."
Jogging along while carrying another pony wasn't easy even with earth pony strength, so Pinkie saved her words. She silently hoped it was just an accident. The alternative was too frightening to bear, that possibly Twilight had decided enough was enough and was about to unleash some awesome Canterlot magic on Ponyville.
Things are about to become much stranger, Pinkie Pie thought to herself, stranger even than living gods and talking horses.
A kaleidoscope of colors and sounds assailed Rarity as she, helplessly, had every sense assaulted by the chaos of forms around her. Blinding flashing light, gave way to a field of tiny pinpoints, gave way to great spheres overlapping and merging and separating and bursting, gave what to a whirling screaming battle of indescribable geometries.
Then, a last vision, as abrupt as the last, a vast desert whose tactless dunes were blue under the calm night skies. Such a calming relief after the barrage of pain and fear, Rarity collapsed forward and hugged the cold sand. After a while she sat up again and saw something which had not been there a moment before: A black spike nailed into the horizon, taller than any mountain, a tower which pierced heaven to sky to earth.
Her role as witness fulfilled, Rarity was whisked away from this vision as well. But she was not released yet. Not hardly.
A low, rhythmic hum slowly brought Rarity out of her sleep. She turned over, groping about in search of her pillow. Only, her hoof knocked against the wall with a thud.
Startled, Rarity moved to pull away her sleep mask, but it wasn’t there. The world remained completely dark to her. She tore out of the sheets and scrambled to her hooves. In her haste, she painfully knocked her head against the ceiling.
A soft glow encapsulated everything, and Rarity could now see the dimensions of her cell. It was nary 10 hooves cubed, devoid of doors or window, or any features besides the mattress and sheets Rarity had been sleeping on.
“Hello?” Rarity’s panic choked her voice. Somepony had imprisoned her! “Somepony please get me out of here!”
There was a loud pop and a blinding flash from nearby, and Rarity stumbled back into the mattress and became tangled in the sheets. Rarity once again found herself unable to see anything, and feared to fall back into the pit of chaotic shape and sound from which she had just awoken.
"Oh goodness." Rarity tried to blink away the pain in her eyes.
With practiced pessimism, Rarity considered the possibilities. Had the imperial government nabbed her and was preparing to torture her? Was she in a cultic stronghold about to be sacrificed? Was she being trafficked into slavery in Griffany?
But wait... before that terrible dream... Hazy memories of the picnic came back to her. And the rising argument, then the shouting... What had happened after that?
The click of hooves nearby alerted Rarity that she was not alone.
“Going to bed early, are we? You’ll miss the beautiful night sky.” The voice in the darkness was Twilight’s, but strangely rasping. “But you’re here now, so I suppose it doesn’t matter too much. Welcome. Earnestly, welcome.” The flash had been her teleporting in.
Rarity tried to rise again, very careful not to hit her head this time. “Lady Twilight? What is going on?” Rarity asked, trying to control her voice despite racing emotions. Now that she was up again everything her senses perceived, from the air around her to the floor underhoof, seemed off and uncomfortable. "I feel ill, and have had the most terrible dream. Oh mercy... Are we still in Ponyville?"
“The awe-some dreams are not over. You are being punished, so we leave Ponyville below.” The Twilight voice said. “You have been a naughty sinner. I am privileged to your time here.”
Light bloomed through the room, letting Rarity see. But immediately, and with great horror, she wished she could not.
The thing in the cell with her was definitely not Twilight Sparkle. It was not remotely equine. Its violet undulating frame and many eyes defied description or comprehension. It was the size of four ponies and floated off the ground. Its central face was twisted into an unponylike mask of glee and hatred. It was a monstrosity, a nightmare. The clip of hooves was one of the flesh-ball's appendages tapping the wall in nervous delight.
Rarity squealed, pushing herself into the corner, gripped by terror. "Stay away!"
"I can not hurt you sinner, more than you have done to yourself." The wretched purple thing spoke from mouths all over its body. “The poison in your soul, the weakness in your mind, fear and terror and ugliness: I am all of these things. I am here because you are unfit before god.” As it laughed, the thing morphed, all of its appendages and features rearranging. Its central face split apart and rearranged on the other size of its boated body. “You are diseased by sin, and I am the Manifestation of that. You may address me such.”
Rarity had no desire to address the bloated entity at all. She desperately scanned the box again, searching for a way out.
"Oh, yes, now that we have met, what constrains us may fall away." The Manifestation chuckled.
As the cell dissolved away around them, Rarity discovered that life inside the box was preferable to the outside.
"Ah!" Rarity leaned forward just before the cell wall she had pressed herself against disappeared. For right behind her was a sheer drop into an unseeable depth. "What is this hellish place?!"
The structure her cell had been built into was, it seemed, some towering structure of black obsidian, rising infinitely up and down from the precipice she stood on. If Rarity had looked over the edge, she would have seen rings of other precipices without number further above and below her. The void around the tower was grey with a light mist that offended Rarity's eyes and nose, almost choking her.
The Manifestation flaunted its weightlessness by passing over the lip of the tower to hover in the grey void. “Again welcome, welcome. This ambition is yours to suffer now. Welcome most of all because you are the first, and the Tower is desolate, but your arrival heralds that this ambition is awake now. By god, may it be granted that the Tower will fill with sinners like you." It laughed, a throttled mockery of Twilight Sparkle's laugh. "Let us reach heaven together!"
"What a nightmare. What a nightmare!" Rarity uttered. She backed away from the edge and pressed her back into the strangely warm obsidian. "A- And this is a nightmare... A living dream, sent to me. A piece of the dreamscape."
Realizing that should have brought Rarity some peace, that her monstrous tormenter and the awesome Tower were all in her head; But no, Rarity understood otherwise, that there was some metaphysical reality to what she was experiencing, that the Tower was real, that the bloated Manifestation was real, and that her terror was real.
The Manifestation laughed and laughed. "But if you know this place you must understand the joy of this meeting. Will you not rejoice with me?"
Was this the reward for her piety, Rarity wondered, or had she made her god unhappy to be punished so horribly? But she'd tried so hard, but apparently her message to the divine was poorly received. "My princess... Why?" She turned her head up, trying to find signs of sky through the haze as she prayed. "What can I do? We struggle for you for so long, but we get nothing but torment."
"She was never listening, you know. Not once. But I was." The Manifestation jeered at her. "And after all, why not? They gods are way up in heaven, and even the Tower does not reach that far yet. But I-" Through concerted squirming the monstrosity swiveled a leg around to gesturally tap at one of its foreheads. "I'm right up here."
Rarity slid into a sitting position and stayed completely silent, attempting, through the constant thrum running through the obsidian structure around her, to collect herself. Obligingly, the Manifestation did not talk at all, just watching her and chuckling sinisterly to itself.
Finally Rarity felt settled enough to start asking questions. “Wh- Why do you have Twilight Sparkle’s voice?” Her voice still trembled a bit.
“It is a joke I play on her.” The Manifestation said, gnashing its hundreds of teeth in laughter.
Rarity didn’t find it very funny at all. "You know her?"
"Ohhh yes. Not literally, though. After all, I am not a real creature with agency and the ability to know. It's in my name." The Manifestation let out a twee giggle. "But she is known. Very known, more known than she knows. Oh... but I can't let you leave with that last fact." Every face of the bloated thing suddenly became very serious. "So you will not be allowed to leave the Tower with your full memories."
That was fine by Rarity.
When Applejack arrived at Ponyville's modest clinic, exhausted from galloping, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Spike, were in the lobby finishing their conversation with one of the clinicians.
"Well y'all ain't that pink so she's alive still, I'd wager." Applejack attempted to joke though her heavy breaths.
Flutter sighed, tears welling up. “It's hard to tell what's wrong with her. It might be pressure in her skull, in which case the chirurgeon wants to operate.”
“I’ve seen ponies in wayyyyyy worse shape survive.” Pinkie said. “And Rarity has the added bonus of plot armor. She’ll pull through, no biggie!”
Applejack sighed. "I know I didn't lay a hoof on her, but it wouldn't'a risen to this without me. She's a stuck up prick but she don't deserve to be hurt, however it happened."
Spike was wringing his tail in empathetic guilt. He spoke up in a quiet, anxious voice. “Twilight’s never done that to a pony before. N- Not even close! I don’t know, I- I just don't know.”
“So does she get spells wrong often?” Applejack asked.
“I mean, not really.” Spike admitted.
“Either Lady Twilight did it maliciously, or not.” Pinkie scrunched, and put her earlier thoughts into words. “Draw your own conclusions I guess."
"Umm, Applejack, didn't you run after Twilight to, well, restrain her or something? But you're here?" Fluttershy asked.
Applejack scowled. "When she caught wise to me bearin' down on her she done teleported out of reach. She got in the Oak and locked herself in. So, I just wedged a bench in the door to keep her in so she don't cause no trouble."
Despite the situation Pinkie Pie snorted in amusement. "Okay then, I guess we'll deal with her ladyship later, if she stays put or not."
Buzzing buzzing buzzing. I little vibration in the air. Twilight could see it right in front of her- a small ripple, radiating out and bouncing back, the echoes reconverting and overlapping again, echo echo echo. Buzzing buzzing buzzing.
"Darling this won't do at all." Twilight moaned to herself, her too-wide eyes darting from wall to wall. "It's behind the books. It's behind the plates. Ants in the walls, maybe... Termites, dancing to the ripples, making the buzzing." She trembled, barely aware of herself yet bursting with a manic energy, and began randomly knocking rows of books off the shelves onto the floor.
She paused, then looked up to the second floor landing.
"Or is it- yes. Bugs bugs bugs, in my bed. Crawling over me in my sleep, trying to get in my ears." Twilight began to hyperventilate. "God damn communard bugs, radical bug infiltrators trying to eat me from the inside. They're buzzing under the floor..."
She galloped up to the bedroom and began knocking everything around, throwing wadded up clothes and sheets in every direction. "Ripples ripples, echoes echo- No, no, a whirlpool. It's all going down in, not radiating out. They're trying to..." Twilight's muttering was cut off when, despite all probability, she noticed a smallish paper box nested into the darkest corner of the small closet, previously concealed by the folded dresses she had tossed around.
"You." Twilight addressed the paper box. "Ripples, radiating out... But these ripples... My my. Your aura, darling, is so familiar."
Twilight listened. There could be heard, the distant refrain, echoing, pulling her in, a familiar dark melody.
"I see. Nice to meet you, finally." Twilight bowed to the paper box.
She scooped it up, held it tight, and felt the buzzing right against her breast.
"Let's reconnect us. She missed you, darling."
Twilight teleported directly in front of the clinic.
Spike immediately recognized the sound of the teleport, and turned to see Twilight gallop into the lobby. "Twilight!"
Applejack stepped between Twilight and the other mares. "Hey! What's the big idea, running all over the place?!"
"The big, nay, biggest of ideas, yes! I knew I had heard something. But Rarity heard it first, had been hearing it. I've only been hearing encores. She knew. Maybe you all knew. It's okay now, fine. It might even be good." Twilight explained in a rapid mutter. She trotted forward, and the mares allowed her to brush past them on her way towards the ICU.
"Umm, what was she was holding?" Fluttershy asked, very alarmed.
They wordlessly followed Twilight.
Rarity was strapped to the heavily padded bed, a nurse keeping watch. “Who are you?” She demanded of Twilight when the latter strolled in.
Twilight raised a hoof for silence. Then she trotted to the bed and released Rarity's right foreleg from it’s strap.
The nurse, finally recognizing the noblemare, slowly backed away.
Twilight caressed Rarity's hoof for minute, then bent over to whisper in her ear. "I felt things I really should not have, darling. It's made me a little loopy, actually." She laughed softly to herself. "But I was taken by that pounding fixation, and couldn't help it. Did I leave any for you, to thank for it?"
Twilight set the paper box on the bed, and carefully pried it open with the tip of her horn.
"Put in on then. I can't do it for you." Twilight guided Rarity's hoof into the box, waited a few second, then stepped away, apparently immensely pleased with herself.
Applejack, watching with the others just outside the room, glanced between Twilight and the box. "Ma'am what the fuck'r you talking about." She pointed. "And- ...the hell's that?"
It was a horseshoe, made from a blue-grey metal, far far too large for Rarity's hoof. Everypony's eyes were drawn to the thing, in a way nopony could understand. It felt cold to look at. What was that pressure in their ears, what was that tingle along their spine?
Something dire.
"Applejack..." Pinkie Pie nudged the other earth pony.
"Yup." Applejack mumbled.
"Turns out, we're all involved in things we really shouldn't be." Twilight giggled. She closed her eyes, sighed contentedly, and passed out.
"Not again!" Spike rushed to Twilight.
"Good grief." The nurse grunted. She knelt by Twilight and shifted the unicorn onto her side. "Hey doc, we need to prepare the other bed!"
While everypony briefly distracted by Twilight's collapse, Fluttershy darted forward, slapped Rarity's hoof away from the blue-steel horseshoe, and closed up the paper box. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry." She whimpered to Rarity, concealing the box under a wing.
"Out of the way, out of the way, please." The doctor pushed Applejack aside to get into the room. He quickly assessed Twilight. "Okay, you girls need to get out immediately. Magical contagions can spread between all ponies, not just unicorns. Shoo, shoo!"
Somewhat chastised and with a lot to think about, Pinkie Pie and Applejack slunk off to the lobby. They didn't pay much attention when Fluttershy ran past them out of the building.
"Something mighty peculiar's just happened." Applejack mused.
"Yeah. Too bad the picnic ended so badly." Pinkie Pie agreed. "Guess I have to go clean up now. Oh well."
"Best enjoy the nice spring morning. I've got a feeling that the rain is coming back." Applejack said. Even just thinking of the dark horseshoe filled her with an unspeakable dread, and regret that she had not turned away or closed her eyes. She had to abide that unsettling thought, of something large and evil wearing it. "Yup. Might be the best day we're going to have for a long while yet."
Pinkie Pie pouted and sighed. "Damn, you think so too? Maybe we will get answers, or maybe it will be enough for us to survive the rising action."
"Yup. Celestia protect us, amen."