The train sped quickly down the tracks, rolling across the hilly roads towards the mountain city of Canterlot. Inside a private car, Trixie sat on a seat away from the talking mares that had made up her team. One part of her mind was listening to the mares acquaint themselves with their latest member, Lightning Dust, while the other was on the papers before her. She looked carefully at the list of ponies she had managed to recruit, and then at the list of strange visions that she had received upon meeting each member of the team,“Let’s see if Trixie has this right-In one world, Trixie is magic and am friends with Lyra and Carrot Top, who are Loyalty and Generosity. In another,Trixie is Laughter and am friends with Tavi and Blossomforth. Lastly, I am Generosity and Dust is magic.
Now, the fact that Trixie is these elements makes sense since, as a magician, Trixie needs to be generous about her talents, laughter comes from the stories she tells, and as for magic...well, Trixie is the most powerful unicorn in Equestria now that Twilight is an alicorn. But, Trixie has never met these particular ponies before, so why in Equestria did Luna-”
Trixie was quickly taken out of her thoughts by an exclimation from Lyra, “Oh my gosh! I just realized where I remember Dust from. It was so obivious!”
“Where?” Asked Dust, looking at the mint-green unicorn.
“Ok, think back, back to when you went to Canterlot for a semester,” Lyra said, taking a part of her mane and pulling it over her eye.
“One eye?” Dust asked, seeing the way Lyra had set her mane and face. “I can’t believe I didn’t recognize you!”
“Well, it kind of helps that I didn’t have my mane parted like it did those years ago,” Lyra chuckle.
“Wait, wait, you two know each other?” Asked Trixie.
“Well, we weren’t close friends, but I remember sometimes paling around with this unicorn I used to call one-eye,” Dust said, smirking.
Feeling the mare’s looks of confusion on her, Lyra added, “I had a real bad problem with my right eye for a few weeks when I moved to Canterlot. There was a lot of surgery involved and I had to wear something over my eye to hide the bandage. So, I used my mane for the first few weeks of the semester, the look was popular with ponies and I kept it. I met Dust and she has been calling me one-eye since.”
“You moved to Canterlot?” asked Octavia.
“Yeah, from Ponyville. Not a lot of music schools in there, so when I got my mark, I moved to Canterlot to study,” Lyra said, looking down at her cutie mark for empathsis.
“Wait, I remember now,” Octavia exclaimed as the memory came to her. “ You and Dust used to cause so much trouble back at the music school I attended.”
“Sitara’s string academy?” Asked Blossomforth, “Oh, my! I used to work there with my mother at a little flower shop across the street.”
“You know, now that I think about it, I used to deliver carrot cakes to that shop with my father sometimes. I think I probably saw you girls there,” Carrot Top added, the happy memories flooding her mind.
“So, somehow, we all met before in Canterlot and never even knew it? Wow, what are the odds?” Lyra chuckled, looking down at the floor.
“Very high, you girls just seem to flock to me,” a smirking Lightning Dust said, giving a confident shrug.
“All of you, except for Trixie,” Trixie said. “Back in the old days, Trixie was far more into being glamorous and the greatest show-mare and powerful unicorn in all of Equestria to make friends. She had fans, not friends.”
“Don’t be so sure, my little pony,” Lyra snarked. “ I seem to remember catching sight of a fellow unicorn leaving Celestia’s school in a huff. She looked really ticked about an ‘unfair retest’ and ‘what do they mean that Celestia’s student position was filled’, along with a few other terms.”
Octavia’s eyes shot up, “That was you?” At Trixie’s nodding, Octavia continued, “I tried to talk to you about what had happened and probably would’ve helped you if you had stayed for a little longer.”
“Heck, I know I would've helped you out. Maybe even made friends with you,” Lyra said, smiling. “Like we are now.”
“You would've...considered Trixie a friend?” Trixie asked, her face showing disbelief.
“Well of course! Who wouldn't want to pal around with an awesome magician like you. Who knows what type of stories you had,” Lyra shouted, throwign her hooves in the air.
“I would have to agree,” Octavia muttered. “I know it would seem weird, considering our professions. However, when one takes in the company I keep,” she said, smiling as thoughts of Vinyl came to her mind.
“If I had seen you, I would've offered a sandwich or something to comfort you,” Blossomforth remarked sweetly.
“All of you? You don’t mind and would've be-” Trixie asked but was interrupted by Dust.
“Hey, any gal that is as determined and crazy as you, would definitely be worth talking to and paling with,” Dust said, patting Trixie on the back.
The group then turned their eyes to Carrot Top, expecting an answer. The yellow earth pony then let out a deep sigh, “ When you first came to Ponyville, I had you pegged for nothing more than a trickster and a liar. I was right, and then believed you to be a maniac when you attacked with the alicorn amulet. However, I've begun to see that there is a little more to you than the world’s biggest egotist. That there is some layers to you and...I think I wouldn't mind getting to know more about the mare under the ego.”
“But will we have the chance?” asked Blossomforth, looking at the group with a slightly worried expression. “ You all seem like such nice ponies, and I want to know more about you all, but after we finished this mission for the princess...we won’t need to see each other again. Me, Carrot, and Lyra live in Ponyville, but everypony else lives so far away. I don’t really want to go through all of this, become friends with you, and never see you girls again.”
With a soft breath, Octavia looked up to the ceiling, “ You know, I think I could make a few shows in Ponyville once in a while, and I could drop in on a few friends while there.”
Lyra smiled, “Yeah, and me and Bon Bon could have a few carrot cakes and share some tea or take in some flowers.”
“Trixie could spend some time traveling to Ponyville more often,” the blue unicorn said, looking at the others. They then turned to Lightning Dust, waiting for her response.
“What? Are you expecting something?” Dust asked, looking at the group of mares. After a fe moments of silence, she let out a grunt of frustration, “Fine! I’ll see if I can’t work something in my busy Shadowbolts schedule to visit you gals and have some ‘bonding time’. There, happy? We’re all one big group of ragtag friends, who are all saving a princess we barely know. Satisfied? But, we see how this little thing goes first, then I’ll decide if you’re worth keeping around.”
“I think we’ll see if you are worth it first,” Lyra snarked, a little giggle escaping her lips.
“Hey! I’m worth it,” Yelled Dust, before chuckling a little at the reaction from Lyra.
At Dust’s little reaction, Trixie joined in the chuckle and joy at watching Dust getting flustered. The blue mare then scooted over to the pegasus and placed a hoof on to her shoulder, “Don’t worry, we’ll accept you soon, perhaps after you have been decked by one of us at least once.”
“Ok, but only once. Then I’m fighting back,” Laughed Dust, causing the others to laugh in return.
As they laughed, Trixie began to look over the five mares she had gathered, her mind thinking back to the papers she had drawn durning their ride, “I think I see it now, Princess Luna...why you picked these mares.” A smile came to her face as she continued to look, her mind replacing the girls before her with the friends of the other worlds, all laughing and all together.
With a loud hiss and slow crawl, the train rolled into the Canterlot station. As Trixie and her five friends walked off the private train, they found a bat-winged mare waiting for them, “Miss Lunamoon? Moonlight Shadow,” the bat pony said, saluting, “Princess Luna was expecting to arrive with your team. Is this them?”
Trixie nodded before looking back to the bat pony, looking into her slitted yellow eyes, “Yes, these are the mares that Luna has requested for the mission.”
“Good,” Moonlight said, looking over the five other mares with observing eyes. “I have been given orders from Princess Luna to escort you and your team to the throne room immeaditly. Once there, you are to meet with the other bearers and get aquainted before the mission starts.” With that, the bat pony then turned and walked away, allowing the six mares to follow in her wake.
It did not take long for the group to reach the courtyard of the palace, and it did not take long for their arrival to be noticed by Luna as she watched from inside one of the hallways in the palace, “So, your team has arrived at last,” Celestia said, walking up behind her sister.
“Yes,” the blue alicorn responded with a soft sigh. “Now their mission can finally begin.”
Celestia noticed the tone in her voice as she walked with her to the throne room, “Is something wrong, Luna?”
“Huh? Oh, it’s nothing,” Luna said, turning her head away from her older sister.
“Luna,” Celestia said, her tone taking a more authoritative tone, “I thought we agreed, no more hiding our feelings from each other. Now, what is it?”
Luna sighed and looked up at the taller alicorn, “It’s just that, I have never led something like this before. I have always been the one on the front lines, the soldier, the fighter, but not this. I’m not like you, I’m not a leader. You are always the one in the back, planning strategy and ploys, making the enemy do your work for you. I don't think I can do that.”
“Oh Luna,” Celestia said, smiling softly as she draped a wing along Luna’s back and held her close. “ I’d be lying if I told you that no leader has ever felt this way, but they have. Feeling like this and worrying about it shows that you know how serious this is. You know how careful you have to be when leading them, and what e all stand to lose if you fail. I know, because it is the same weight that is on my shoulders every time I make a decision for this kingdom. Every time I send Twilight out there to save everypony, I wonder if I had made the right decision or if she was ready for the large task ahead of her.”
“But you are so good at it!” exclaimed Luna.
“Practice,” Celestia smiled.
“It’s just that, I know that if I fail, then we lose the princess of magic and Mirage gets what she wants. Worse, if this fails, if I chose wrong or if I failed in teaching Trixie, then you lose one of the most precious ponies in your life and I,” Luna stopped herself as she looked out the window once more, “will lose one of my dearest friends.”
Celestia used her wing to drag Luna into a deeper hug, and then gave her a comforting nuzzle, “You won’t fail, Luna. I have the upmost faith in you. You have chosen your student well, taught her everything you could, and gave her a good team to lead. You have done everything in your power to make sure that she will succeed. It is all up to them now, and I know you will lead them to greatness.”
Luna looked up to her sister and smiled softly, “Thank you, sister.” She then got herself out from the embrace and walked down the hall, “Now, if you’ll excuse me, its time to meet the troops.”
Meanwhile, in the throne room, the bearers of harmony milled about as they awaited the arrival of the other six. Their waiting was soon rewarded as the door to the throne room opened slowly to reveal the mares, and as soon as Pinkie got a good look at one, she let out a squeal and ran towards Octavia in a blur of pink, “TAVI!!!!!!!! EEEEEEEEE!!!”
“Hello, Pinkie,” Octavia said, a little tired as she was immediately glomped by the pink mare.
“Pinkie, I know, that’s why I’m here,” Octavia said, managing to find a way out of the back breaking hug that she was in.
“Wait a second,” demanded Applejack as the others walked into the throne room to join the bearers. “How do you know her?”
“Oh, Tavi is my cousin!” Pinkie said with a smile as she walked with Octavia, “She used to come by the rock farm all the time when we were fillies and play her cello for me and the other girls. Oh, I am so glad that you are going to help us save Twilight!”
“It is my pleasure,” smiled Octavia as Pinkie hugged her again.
Applejack, turning her head away from the small family reunion for the moment, looked at Carrot Top and growled, “Carrot!”
“Apple,” Carrot Top growled as she walked up to the orange mare and placed her forehead against the other earth pony, “ I have, so far, made over a thousand bits in carrot sales. What about you?”
“nine hunred nintey, but will pick up again in cider season, and you know it,” Applejack smirked.
“We’ll see, we’ll see,” Carrot smirked, before breaking into laughter and giving Applejack a hug.
“Uh, did I miss something?” asked Rainbow Dash, looking at the two ponies with an arched eyebrow.
“Oh, its just a little friendly rivalry between competitors. Helps to get ponies more interested in our services if they think that there is a big carrot/apple war going on,” Carrot giggled.
“ Um...hi?” squeaked Blossomforth as she hid behind Trixie to avoid Fluttershy’s sight.
“Hi,” Fluttershy squeaked in return.
“Wow, it seems like almost everypony here is getting along huh?” Lyra asked Rarity.
Rarity calmly nodded as she looked around, only to be shocked as she heard Rainbow Dash yell at seeing Lightning Dust, “What the buck is she doing here?”
“I was invited,” Dust said as Dash flew right up to her face, nose to nose.
“Look, Dust. This is a very important mission to save my friend and we don’t have room for a hot headed egotist around here to mess things up,” Dash said, pressing her forehoof onto Dust’s chest.
“Pot and Kettle, miss deserter!” growled Dust as she pushed back, “ I was invited here to save your princess from whatever is hurting her. So don’t blame me for being here. Besides, at least with me, they have a chance. Unlike you, who’ll abandon their wingmare for one little mistake.”
“MISTAKE! You almost got my friends killed!” Dash yelled, “You almost got my friends killed!”
“You should’ve backed me up when I was-”
“Oh, don’t you start! I tried to get you back but you had left already!” Dash shook her head to get her mind back on target, “Look, my friend’s life is on the line and if you think I am going to let a reckless mare endanger us all!”
“The only danger I see is you and I-”
“WILL YOU BOTH SHUT UP!” yelled Trixie, putting a wall of magic between the two pegasi. “This is no time for petty squabbling, we have something far more important to do.”
“We agree!” Luna said, strolling in regally to the throne room.
“Princess,” the mares said as one, bowing to the diarch.
“This is the time for all of us to come together and work as one to save a dear friend, not for personal struggles. We will leave all of that behind us for the time being and all disagreements will be handled after this mission is done.” Luna then walked next to Trixie, “Trixie, come, we have some thing to discuss. The rest of you, take this moment to get antiquated with one another and work out your problems. Then, in thirty minutes, you are to meet us in the meeting room to discuss the details of the plan.” With that, Luna led Trixie out of the throne room and down a hallway alone, “Tell me, Trixie, do you understand why I chose those five mares for your team?”
“Trixie, thinks she understands mistress,” Trixie said, looking back at the throne room and smiling softly. “It was to show that if things had been different, if Trixie had done something else, or made a different choice, then when she had lost everything she would not have been alone. She would’ve had true friends who would’ve helped her, kept her from grabbing amulet, and not make a mess of her life.”
“Then you have learned a very important lesson, my student,” stated Luna, a sense of pride coming to her face. “It is one that Twilight Sparkle had learned not too long ago. That it doesn’t matter how you are born or how different your life has been from world to world, but it is what is in here, in your soul that is most important. The bonds of comardarie that we have formed in this world are as eternal as we are. Those bonds of friendship, will always lead you back to each other in some way, no matter what world you live in. It is those bonds that we will use to fight Mirage. She has already studied five elements, she will not be expecting five more.”
“Five more?” Trixie asked, arching an eyebrow.
“That was the other part of the lesson, to show you something important. That the key to being a bearer is more than just being a representation of your chosen virtue, but you need the will to act upon the chance to save others. If things had been different-” Luna began but Trixie finished.
“Then they would've become bearers themselves,” Trixie said.
“Yes, that rainbow shine you may have been experiencing was your inner bonds with the other bearers shining through. The deep connections that your souls had made in other worlds is reaching out to one another, binding you once again as friends,” Luna said.
“A trust that we will see each other again,” muttered Trixie.
“Hmmm?”
“Nothing, mistress,” Trixie said, shaking her head.
A small smile came to Luna as she looked down at her student, “One last question, Trixie. One I will trust you to answer truthfully,” Luna said, watching Trixie nod in response, “IF, I were to give you the same oppertunity that my sister had given Twilight not too long ago, would you take it?”
“You mean, make Trixie a...a...” Trixie studdered.
“Yes, an alicorn. If I were to give you the chance to become one, with all of the power and prestige that came with it, woud you take it?” Luna asked.
Trixie stood there for a few moments, shocked at the offer. For a few seconds her eyes went back and forth across the room, trying to think of a response before taking a deep and breath and say, “Trixie would...”
The royal meeting room sat a few hallways away from the throne room and wasn’t hard to find for the eleven mares. Once there, they sat in the cold white room at the round table that lay within. They looked at one of the only two things that were inside the otherwise plain room, a chalkboard with a drawing of a pony brain on it. The only other thing was attached to the ceiling, a small six faceted diamond. After a few minutes of waiting, Trixie walked in with Luna close behind her, “Good, now that we are all here,” the lunar dairch began, “Trixie will fill you in on the details of your mission.”
Trixie smiled with conifdence as Luna looked to the blue unicorn, “Thank you, mistress. Now, as you may well know, dreams come from the middle part of the brain while ignoring the logic side of the left and imaginative side of the right. What Mirage is doing to Twilight, is allowing her brain to feel all of the trauma and euphoric high of both the dreams and nightmares. She accomplishing this by subjecting Twilight to seven dream worlds all at once.”
Lightning Dust arched an eyebrow at this, “Wait, seven different dreams? Is that even possible?”
“Mirage is a very powerful mage, with powers over illusions and dreams that rival even princess Luna’s. It would be easy for her to subject the princess to such a trap,” Trixe said as she turned from the chalkboard and fired a spell at the diamond above the heads of the other ponies. The diamond charged with magic before firing a light into the center of the table that formed a hologram in the center.
“So, pretty. Can you make the crystal do light shows too?” asked Pinkie.
Trixie shook her head, “This crystal is only meant for holograms. Trust Trixie, she tried,” the unicorn chuckled before turning the hologram into an image of Twilight laying in bed, with various dreams surrounding her. “As Trixie has said, Twilight’s mind is current split into seven parts: six pairs of dreams and nightmares with a final dream locked behind six psylocks that prevents us from accessing it.”
Fluttershy watched in awe as the hologram began to show a series of locks leading to a Twilight in a fatal position, before changing back to her in the bed, “But, why would we want to take her out of a dream?”
“Have you ever had a dream so pleasent, so perfect, and happy that waking up from it leaves you feeling miserable the next morn? Or a dream that you want to never wake up from? That is what Twilight is experiencing in the world of dreams.”
“And that is why we need to hurry,” Trixie said, turning the hologram into two Twilights, one in pain and the other smiling. “Twilight’s logical mind right now is having a hard time trying to figure out what is real and what is a dream. She is slowly losing her grip on reality and soon, her mind will pick one of the worlds as the real one. If she picks the dream, then she will fall into a deep coma from which she will never wake up from again.”
“What if it’s the nightmare?” Applejack asked,fear in her eyes.
“Her mind will keep her in a constant state of fear and terror, pushing too much adrenenalene through her body that her heart will not be able to take it for long and she will die of a heart attack,” Trixie said, showing the image of the Twilight in pain panting and soon dying.
The mares all let a gasp as they saw the images. Octavia then turned to look at Luna and Trixie, “What excatly are these dreams that she is stuck in.”
Luna began as Trixie assited through the use of the hologram, showing Twilight in a world full of sunshine, “The same ones that we all have had, once in our lives. We all have had dreams, my dear ponies. Sometimes they are the dreams of perfection where we achieve everything we want, even when it seems impossible.”
Lyra looked down at her hooves, holding one in front of her face as she whispered, “Bon Bon.”
“Dreams of our childhood and happier times,” the midnight ble alicorn said, looking at the image of a filly Twilight playing with Shining Armor.
“Oh, adorable!” Squealed Pinkie.
“Dreams of conquering your fears and achieving all of your goals,” Luna said, noting Trixie’s smile at the last one, as if she was anticipating it. “Then we have the nightmares, the nightmare of loss,” the images darkened to show Twilight sitting in front of a grave. “A nightmare of sacrifice.”
“Oh my,” muttered Rarity as she looked at the image of Twilight walking away from a fallen alicorn.
“Then, the nightmare of abandonment,” Luna finished, an image of Twilight sitting alone in a throne room passed by.
The bearers let out a gasp and looked to one another as they saw that image, quickly remembering one of Twilight’s worse fears. Carrot top was the next to speak up, “You said that there was seven dreams, what is the last one.”
“Sadly, Trixie had to pull out before she could get a look at it. She currently has no idea until we unlock it. Now, we are going to split up into teams of two-”
“Why two? Wouldn’t it be better for us to go all at once?” asked Lightning Dust.
“ Because we run the risk of spending too long on one dream this way,” Trixie said. “By splitting up, we can hit more dreams this way. We have to hurry, because in twelve more hours, Twilight’s mind will make it’s decision and we will be too late. Besides, there is another reason for us to be in teams.”
“Why?” asked Blossomforth.
“Mirage is expecting me and the bearers. She knows we’re coming and has had time to study us, to know how to handle us, and to hit us where it hurts. If we went in alone,” Trixie said, showing an image of the bearers being dragged into the darkness by monsterous hands, “Then she would be able to destroy us and lock us into those dream worlds much like Twilight is now. However, she doesn’t know you,” Trixie said, showing images of the other members of the team standing by the bearers. “This gives us an edge. Mirage will try to attack the bearers and if that happens, the partner pony will be there to back her up or will try and save her, maybe even get Twilight themselves.”
“So we’re using the buddy system!” Pinkie squealed.
“Yes,” Trixie agreed. “We’ll split into teams of two, then Trixie will insert those teams into one of the different dreams. Their task will then be to convenience Twilight that this is a dream, get her out of the world she is in, and grab a piece of her mind. This will then be one of the keys that will unlock the psylock’s surrounding the final dream. We then go as a group to get her out of it. Understand?” As she watched them nod, she then put up an image with the ponies together, “Rarity is with Carrot Top.”
“Well, that sounds pleasant,” Rarity said smiling.
“I don’t mind,” Carrot top said.
Trixie then smirked as she went to the next team, “Applejack is with Octavia.”
“Well, all right,” Applejack said, smiling to Octavia. “Always wanted to meet Fiddlesticks’ best pen pal.”
“Well, Fiddle did say you were ‘interesting’,” Octavia said.
“Pinkie is with Blossomforth,”
“YAY! I can’t wait to show you what I can do in a dream world!” Pinkie exclaimed.
The white pegasus gulped, “ Uh, maybe I should go with Flutter-”
Trixie interrupted, not hearing the pegasus’s plea, “Lyra will go with Fluttershy.”
“Sweet!” Lyra said, raising her hoof to Fluttershy in support.
“Finally, Rainbow Dash with go with Lightning Dust,” she then turned to look at the two pegasi who were about to complain. “No, arguments!”
“But, that means you will-”Blossomforth began.
“Yes, Trixie will be heading into the dream of competition. It is all right, that was the dream Trixie went to when she first went into Twilight’s mind. It was opening, welcoming, like Mirage was expecting me,” Trixie said, turning off the hologram.
“All the more reason not to go alone!” Dash exclaimed.
“Then if she is in trouble, Trixie will have to trust in that eleven brave mares will come to her rescue,” Trixie said before walking in front of them. " Old friends, new friends, Trixie knows that each of us is different. That each one of us are as unique as we can be and by all rights, shouldn’t have anythign to do with one another. But, let us not forget that three years ago, six mares as different as can be banded together to save all of Equestria by trusting in their freindship and their bonds. Today, Trixie has brought together five more to do a task far more important, to save a dear friend of hers. Trixie now asks all of us to put aside our differences and show the bitch the power of Luna’s DREAM WARRIORS! Who’s with me?”
The cheer from that group of ponies was almost as good as any applause.
“Uh, Trixie, are y’all sure you have enough mana to get us all into the dream world?” asked Applejack, looking with worry as the mares walked into the room with Twilight in it.
“You’ll find that, since training with Luna, Trixie’s mana reserves have increased 10ten-fold, “Trixie smirked as she lowered her horn to Twilight’s head. “Now, each of you stand with your partner and stand behind Trixie.” As they did so, her horn began to flare up in an azure glow. She then lowered her forehead to touch her horn to Twilight’s.