//------------------------------// // Chapter 20 // Story: Dreams About Friendship Are Magic // by Soft Story //------------------------------// Manehattan at night was a sight to see. All the buildings were lit up and glowing with soft lights. Twilight sat in the middle of an extremely fancy restaurant at the top of a tall tower wearing the dress that Rarity had picked out for her, the large windows on each wall looking out over the skyline. Across the small wooden table sat Celestia, wearing a similarly elegant dress. Most of the restaurant was empty, the other patrons seated along the edges of the room, giving Twilight and Celestia some privacy. Royal guards stood evenly throughout the room without their armor, keeping an eye out for anyone who might make a move against the Countess or Princess. Celestia smiled warmly as the couple sat, just looking at each other in the peaceful quiet. The empty plates and glasses on the table served a reminder that their food had not yet been served. “You just look so stunning in that dress, Twi.” “You said that three times now, Tia,” Twilight replied, her face turning a soft shade of red as she shyly turned her head away. “That doesn’t make it any less true,” Celestia countered, her gaze locked onto Twilight’s. Twilight’s face only turned a brighter shade of red. She looked around the restaurant, looking for any sign of the waiter. “I wonder why our waiter hasn’t returned yet,” she asked nervously, hoping to change the topic of the conversation away from her looks. Celestia’s fierce attention was making her somewhat embarrassed. The Princess’s magic grabbed a bottle of wine sitting on the table. “Here, why don’t you have a drink while we wait.” She poured out two glasses, floating one over to Twilight. The Countess accepted, looking at the liquid that filled her glass. “White wine? I thought you preferred red.” “What do you mean, Twi? It is red wine,” Celestia said, a bit of concern in her voice. When Twilight looked down at the glass floating in her magic she did a slight double take. The wine was now clearly red. “Oh... I could have sworn it was white for a moment there.” “Your main course, ladies,” the waiter said, appearing at the side of the table. Twilight jumped slightly startled by his sudden presence, as if he blinked into existence. Several plates floated down from his magical grasp and placed themselves in front of the two mares. “Main course? But what about—” Twilight halted her thought mid-sentence as she watched the waiter removed a plate of half-eaten salad from in front of her. She didn’t remember the salad ever being served. In fact, she had been fairly certain the plate was empty. She must have spaced out. Celestia levitated up her silverware as the waiter vanished just as suddenly as he appeared. “Don’t worry, Twi. I know you’ll love this. I’ve been trying to get this chef to move to Canterlot for years now.” Forcing herself to smile and pretend like nothing was wrong, Twilight mirrored Celestia and readied her own silverware. “It smells amazing.” She cautiously took a small bite, feeling Celestia watching her. It tasted just as good as it smelled. “Delicious,” she commented, a smile tugging at her lips. Celestia grinned, her gaze never wavering for a moment. “I told you you’d love it.” Their dinner continued smoothly, with Twilight bringing up a recent case they encountered while holding court. Several times Twilight would misplace her silverware, having set them down only to find them on the other side of the table, or not there at all. At one point she was utterly convinced she had finished her plate, only to look down and see that there was still some left. Thankfully she had still been hungry. Once the triple chocolate fudge cake had been served and eaten, Celestia led Twilight out onto the streets for a walk to a nearby park. The two of them walked side by side, one of Celestia’s large wings resting on Twilight’s back. The royal guards surrounded them in a protective formation and had donned their armor. The city’s lights were so bright that when Twilight looked up, all she could see was the full moon looking back down at her. For some reason, the lunar sight made her stomach clench in anxiety. “Ah, here’s the path,” Celestia commented. A rough dirt path led from the street into the park, weaving around the trees and bushes. Nearby, a small sign informed Twilight that this trail was created nearly four-hundred years ago in honor of an ancient explorer whose name sounded vaguely familiar. Celestia quickly led Twilight down the A.K. Yearling Memorial Trail and soon after the city vanished behind the grove of trees that made up the bulk of the park. As they walked through the wooded area, Twilight’s gaze flittered from side to side, taking in all the plants and animals that surrounded them. In a small clearing off to their right, she saw a very familiar-looking yellow pegasus with a long pink mane sitting with some squirrels. She couldn’t see the pony’s face, but from the back it appeared to be Fluttershy. “Twilight,” Celestia said suddenly, drawing the Countess’s attention away from the pink-maned pony. She barely registered the fact that Celestia was now blocking Twilight’s line-of-sight involving the doppelganger. “Have you given much thought to the immortality spell I mentioned?” As soon as the word ‘immortality’ registered in Twilight’s mind, she came to a stop mid-step. They hadn’t discussed the spell in months, not since Celestia had first brought it up and let it go just as quickly. At that time, Twilight was still unsure of her relationship with the mare of her dreams. In the time since then, Twilight had become much closer to the Princess. She trusted Tia to help her with everything. “I’ve been considering it,” Twilight finally replied. “Why do you bring it up?” A guilty look appeared on Celestia’s face. “This morning I got a message from some ponies I trust. They said that there is a planned attack coming for you sometime in the next month, hoping to remove you from power for good. I want to cast the immortality spell on you as soon as possible so we won’t have to worry as much.” Twilight had spent most of her day at Celestia’s side and she never remembered any letter coming to Celestia, but then again perhaps it simply was another case of her misremembering events. She had been doing it more frequently, after all. She filed away the notion of a small vacation. “Do we know who? Can’t we send in the guard and stop them?” “I’m afraid they weren’t able to get any of the details,” Celestia answered. While a tentative step was taken towards Twilight, Celestia’s smile was anything but hesitant. “This way we can be together forever. I’ll even start trying to figure out how to make you an alicorn, if you want.” Twilight’s mind pulled up what seemed to be a distant memory of Luna explaining that Twilight was supposed to become an alicorn. A quick glance past Celestia’s new position told her that Fluttershy, if it even was Fluttershy, was gone. There was no sign that anyone or any animals had been there recently. It would make sense, Twilight mused; Fluttershy was the only one of her friends she had yet to see. She slowly turned her eyes back to Celestia, nodding once. “I think I’m ready. You can cast the spell on me.” A huge smile appeared on Celestia’s face, one that could be argued unnatural. Her eyes even began tearing up as she grabbed Twilight in a tight embrace. “Oh, Twi’; thank you. I promise I will do everything I can to keep you safe and happy.” Twilight returned the embrace, resting her head on Celestia’s shoulder. “Forever,” Celestia whispered into her ear. Behind Twilight, a stallion nervously cleared his throat. “Princess, your presence is required.” Celestia didn’t let go of Twilight, nor did she even so much as glance to acknowledge the guard. After a few moments, though, she responded. “What is it?” “A messenger has arrived,” the stallion replied. Twilight could tell by his tone that whatever it was wasn’t good. Reluctantly, as if it pained her, Celestia released Twilight. “I’ll be right back, Twi’. This won’t take too long.” “It’s fine; take your time. It sounds important,” she replied, smiling warmly. Twilight turned and watched as Celestia walked off, being led back down the path by a guard. They soon rounded a bend in the path and were gone from Twilight’s view. With nothing else to do, Twilight cast a glance around the park once more. In the clearing just off the path sat Fluttershy and her squirrel friends once more. This time, however, Fluttershy was looking back at Twilight with a smile on her face. “Fluttershy?” Twilight asked loud enough for the mare to hear. “Hello Twilight. Oh, um, I mean Countess.” The reply was so soft Twilight nearly missed it. Twilight smiled warmly as she walked into the clearing. “How are you doing?” Fluttershy smiled back, shyly hiding behind her mane. “Oh, I’ve been okay. What about you? If you don’t mind me asking.” Twilight sat down, careful not to catch her dress on anything as she did so. It was strange; now that she agreed to the immortality spell, she didn’t feel as bothered or anxious about this final meeting with the last member of her group of friends as she expected. “I’ve been good.” “Oh, um, really? I mean. I heard about what happened with Rarity. Doesn’t that sound serious?” Twilight’s gaze suddenly locked to the ground between herself and Fluttershy. “Oh. I guess that is a little serious. I mean, I don’t even know if Rarity was real. I don’t know if you’re real either, to be honest.” A sudden tone of serious determination filled Fluttershy’s voice. “It doesn’t matter what is real and what isn’t.” That statement caused Twilight to jerk as if she had been slapped. “All that matters is that you are our friend, Twilight. We love you and we’ll do everything we can to help you. Whether in reality, or your heart. Just remember that one thing for me. Your friends are here to help you.” Twilight looked up at her friend, surprised by the force Fluttershy spoke with. Did it truly not matter whether her friends were real or not? Every hair on her body believed Fluttershy and knew that she was telling the truth. “I… I will… I mean, of course I know that…” Twilight stammered out, still mentally working through the change in Fluttershy’s demeanor. The expected wave of anxiousness had arrived thirty seconds late. Fluttershy got up and hugged Twilight, whispering to her. “Trust me when I say that Luna will help. You don’t need to be afraid.” The Countess felt her eyebrows furrow; what did Luna have to do with anything? “Twilight?!” Celestia’s voice called out through the forest, echoing slightly off the trees. Fluttershy and the squirrels vanished, the warmth that had been pressed against Twilight disappearing with a breeze. In their wake was skittish pondering. Fluttershy had said to trust Luna, and Luna had said that her current life was all a dream. Did Fluttershy mean that what Luna had said was true, or that when Luna next appeared it would be to help her, like all her friends had done? “I’m just over here!” She called out, still rooted to the spot. Celestia came rushing into the clearing, horn alight with anticipated divine righteousness. “Twilight, what are you doing? None of the guards saw you walk off the path. You could get hurt without an escort!” “Sorry, Tia. I just wanted to see this clearing.” The Countess looked up at the empty night sky. Where the moon had gone, she wasn’t sure. Celestia, her anger at Twilight merely walking off, departed as she followed Twilight’s gaze. “If the buildings were all gone, there’d be an amazing view of the stars from here.” Twilight suddenly found herself being embraced gently by Celestia, her horn returning to a peculiar glow she had not seen since the one time she had awoken from her nightmare. “Is everything okay, Twi?” “I... think so,” Twilight replied, leaning against her marefriend. Despite the words coming out in a level tone, she definitely didn’t feel like everything was okay. But there would be no reason to worry Celestia; especially since she was part of the dilemma. A sigh left Twilight, and her eyes gently fluttered shut for a moment. “I think so.” Celestia had set up the next Saturday, right after lunch, as the time to gather the required amount of unicorns to assist in Celestia casting the immortality spell. The days between their date in Manehattan and the day of the spell past quickly for Twilight. Numerous times throughout her day, she would encounter situations where the details of her world suddenly changed. During an economic meeting with some bank offices, all the numbers Twilight had been discussing for three hours suddenly changed, making all her mental calculations completely useless. Luckily, Spike was able to step in and assist her with the new maths. Celestia was concerned though that Twilight was working too hard, but Twilight turned down the offers to take some days off to rest. She would be getting plenty of rest after she was immortal, Twilight conceded. Bronze Spear appeared after a day of court with a bit of good news: The ponies responsible for hiring Mister Bolt to smuggle the illegal seeds across the border had been found and turned over to the Griffons. A retrial was scheduled for the Monday following the immortal spell. According to Celestia, Twilight would need several days of bed-rest following the spell while her body recovered from the amount of magic that would be pumped into her during the spell. So, she asked Bronze Spear to attend the retrial in her place and report back to her immediately. Celestia surprised her, the night before the day of the spell, by bringing her parents to the palace for dinner. Twilight and her parents were able to spend several hours together before it had become late enough that she headed to bed. Spike was already asleep in his basket when she walked into her room. Celestia laid in the bed, a book floating over her frame. “Nervous?” Celestia asked without looking away from her book. Twilight climbed up into the bed with her. “A little.” She snuggled up against the side of the larger mare. Celestia finished the page and set the book aside, turning to fully embrace Twilight. “I will keep my promise to you. Nothing will ever hurt you.” Twilight’s eyes closed as she relaxed against Celestia’s chest. The Princess’s horn started to glow yet again as she whispered softly into Twilight’s ear. “No one will take you from me again.”