//------------------------------//
// Chapter 31: Little Bit of Sunshine 
// Story: When the Everfree Burns 
// by SpiritDutch 
//------------------------------//

Five days after the Summer Sun

When the morning came, and trying to go back to sleep failed, Twilight sat up. There was the chirping of birds and muted chatter of ponies through the window, and Twilight wondered why a nurse hadn't come to check in on her at all. Despite just waking up, she felt tired, mentally but not physically. Her sleep had been restless as well as dreamless.
Dreams…  Twilight felt an indescribable wave of apprehension whenever pass over her. There had been a whole night that had happened that she’d forgotten. Forgotten, had faded, or worse.

She rolled out of bed and trotted to the broken window. The sun was shining in the sky without a cloud in sight. That stuck Twilight as distinctly wrong, though she couldn’t quite grasp why. Again it was a vague feeling, like something out of a dream, something that she should have remembered. But why would there not be a sun?

Twilight hobbled into the hospital hallway. It looked like there had been an earthquake with how everything in every room was off its shelf and strewn all over the floor. There were no other ponies. The lobby was a total loss, and Twilight had to dance around broken glass to make it out the empty doorframe.



“Heya! How are you feeling?” 
Twilight craned her neck to look above her, to the black earth pony from the night before, Iillor, standing on the cracked slab of what had been the top floor. 

“Well enough good.” Twilight called back. “I remember more. Not much, but some.”

“That’s good.” Iillor wound up, and jumped off the roof like a cat. Also like a cat, she landed deftly on the earth without so much as a wince from her fall. “What can you and can't you remember?"

"My fillyhood and life in Canterlot is cleared up. At least... mostly cleared up." Twilight's brow furrowed. "Everything from my time in Ponyville is less clear, or missing. It's strange." She held her tongue on the concern somepony had been tampering with her memory.

"Do you remember anything from the forest yet?”

“That part is hardest of all. I have impressions: Light blurs, Dark blurs, and a lot of, um, anxiety. Fear, much fear.” Twilight sighed. “It something I probably won’t be happy remembering.”

“Are you saying you're trying not to remember?”

“I…” Twilight hesitated. “Mis Iillor, do you believe that some things that we shouldn’t know?”

"Maybe that’s true of some ponies, Lady Twilight, but that's because many commoners are going to be farmers or craftsponies forever and it would just be a distraction. Someponies have a duty to know as much as possible, because they're the ones that make decisions.”

Twilight cocked her head. "Are you a pony that makes decisions?"

"Not important ones." Iillor laughed. "But then again intrepidness is its own reward."

“I guess that sounds right.” Twilight said. It sounded like something Celestia would say. The princess was always urging her to pursue more magic.


“Sure. Now that you’re up and about Duke Lightdowser will want to see you. He has a lot of questions, and a lot he's given up to get them answered.” Iillor shook her head. “Yesterday I told him you were still knocked out.”

“Why were you lying to the duke?” Twilight asked.

“He can be a very forceful pony. I didn’t want him shaking you up while you’re still gathering yourself.” Iillor offered. “Though actually he’s not in Ponyville right now. He got impatient, and this morning he took some knights into the forest to find the the battle site.”

Twilight thought about her many nights of discourse and strife with Nightmare Moon, inside her dreams. That had been in a castle, Everfree Castle. She could vaguely recall details about it’s real world counterpart.


“They should have waited. I think I might have found the direct way to where they're going.” Twilight said. 

“Maybe, but Duke Lightdowser is happier being lost in a forest than sitting around waiting. He took enough supplies for a week so I think he's prepared for some meandering.” Iillor said with a shrug.



Visions danced through Twilights periphories, causing her to gasp in fear before she realized it wan't real. She saw statues of  Nightmare Moon, dressed in her gleaming armor and reared up to smite her enemies, and many-eyes creatures scampering around in its shadow. The Nightmare Moon in real life was not quite like that anymore.


“Why is it daytime?” Twilight felt stupid for asking, but the detail stood out to her.

Iillor surprised Twilight by considering the question for a moment. “Everypony has guesses, but basically we don't know. The week of night left us thinking that with Princess Celestia missing it was going to be dark forever. Then suddenly the sun rose and went back to its normal schedule, with some randomness. That was a day before we found you."


Another vision, much more demanding, of the sun being eclipsed by an ascendant moon. Twilight tensed. She knew what was coming. Right before her she saw her princess, battered and exhausted, unable to call upon her star’s power. The enemy, a dark mass of nightmarish energy, lorded over her, laughing maniacally.
Twilight stumbled forward, landing on the grass next to Celestia. The alicorn looked so helpless.  'Princess', she whispered, following her mentor's pittiful gaze up towards the black beast. It was hazy, indescribable. Maybe it was Nightmare Moon but it was hard to tell.

When Twilight blinked the vision was gone. Iillor was looking at her curiously.


Twilight cleared her throat with some difficultly. "Princess Celestia is missing?"

“Her airship crashed in the fields outside Ponyville, and she went into the forest. Other than that, we know nothing.” Iillor sadly confirmed. “One of the duke’s ponies, Mis Lock, will be back soon from Unicornia. Maybe they’ve heard something we haven’t.”

"Okay." Twilight swollowed. Her heart quivering she accepted that she should not get her hopes up. The mighty empress who had cared for her and returned her love and adoration for a decade was gone, Twilight just knew. Whatever the eclipse and the night had been, it had killed Celestia.


“I’m going to go for a walk.” Twilight said quietly.

Iillor perked up. “Mind if I come? I’ve got nopony to talk too since my ward Risky’s got his nose stuck in a book again.”

“Sure.” Twilight said after a second's hesitation. She felt she would rather be alone, but at the same time she wondered if she were still in danger. "I hope you don't mind if I don't talk much. I have to go over my clearer memories." She frowned. "I have to remember what happened..."







 The night of the Summer Sun 


Twilight would not have left the physical world so soon after escaping from her brief time on the moon if she didn't have to. Indeed the realm she found herself in reminded her of the moon's stark greyness, but with a murky atmosphere that choked the endless forest.  Great slate trees, trunks ten hooves around and disappearing into the mist above, was like nothing that existed or could exist in the physical world. The thick roots twisted and tangled across the forest floor, forming little rills among the leaf litter. 
Twilight felt oppressed by the weight of the mundane fog. It was not muggy, but pressing, like a blanket wrapping around her. So not at all like the moon, Twilight had to concede. The only thing it had in common was that homogeneous grey.

Rarity was somewhere out there in that realm, among the trees. Twilight just prayed it was not too late.
Pray to who? Twilight blinked at the question to herself. She...  She didn't have a princess to pray to. Her situation hadn't quite set in yet, and Twilight was happy for that: She had to work before reality caught up with her.

"Time to get trotting then." Twilight said to herself. She retained her form as a little purple unicorn in the Forest, so after a calming breath she picked a direction went.

Talking in the forest felt unclean, and unnatural, as if it would break an infinite peace that had reign over it. Even the crunch of her hoofs in the leaf litter frightened her a bit every time. Twilight searched quickly but thoroughly, moving between the fat trunks of petrified pine and oak. Every now and then a distant howl reached Twilight, and she stopped until the echoes died away.



The amount of time it took her was unclear, and ultimately meaningless. She found Rarity slumped against a tree trunk, moving neither forward or backward. The unicorn's customary curls had adopted some of the Forest's pallor, and she was looking off into the forest, so motionless that for a moment Twilight thought she was already dead. But the crincle of the leaves made her ear twitch, and soon her eyes followed.

"Twilight?" Rarity's voice peaked in uncertainty.

“Rarity.” Twilight whispered, stepping closer. “Rarity, I’m here to save you.”

Rarity didn’t move from her reposed position, but she reached out and poked Twilight's ankle “Twilight? You're alive... But back to how you were. How? Did the ritual fail?” 


Twilight gave the surrounding forest a quick glance before sitting beside Rarity. "How are you feeling? Not too cold?"

"Forget the cold. You're back to normal. And..." Rarity rubbed her own cheek and inspected her white body. "And I'm back to normal. Well done Twilight. I almost didn't think it was possible but you-"

"Rarity." Twilight interrupted. "Yes, the ritual worked. But I'm not back to normal, far from it. I look like this because this is a dream."

Rarity froze. "A dream."

"To posit it in a way you immediately understand. This is a different realm, just the dreamscape is a different realm" Twilight said. "Like the dreamscape, our soul decides how we manifest here."

Rarity was silent, looking for more explanation.

"Out in the physical world, the ritual did indeed fuse me to Nightmare Moon's body. My soul is the same though, so I'm me here." Twilight ran a hoof along the ground, and up the side of the tree trunk. "And you...   I'm sorry, Rarity. I..." She swallowed. "Look, if I opened myself to everything I was feeling right now I'd collapse. Selfish as it is, its all I can say right now. I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?" Rarity asked quietly. "For the Tower? For the nightmare? There is a time to apologize, and I appreciate that you feel regr-"

“You died.” Twilight interrupted forcefully, but dropped back down to a whisper. “The ritual killed you as it completed.”

Rarity turned away, returning inspecting the grey panorama while she contemplated.
Twilight, dedicated to thinking about anything but her guilt for a moment, ran a hoof through her hair, which had somehow tangled into pink and purple knots in her short dash through the forest. She waited for the outburst but it never came
"Rarity?"

"Dead." Rarity laughed to herself. "Good job Twilight Sparkle. My future was already gone, but now so is my life. And this place..." She nodded towards the endless trees and mist. "Is what comes after."

"The Forest is a transitional plain-"

"Enough, Twilight. I accepted the risks, but I should have known things were always going to go the worst possible way." Rarity was slowly working her way into a fury. "Good job Twilight. Every roll of the die I took with you ended with me losing, What a journey."

"It was a fluke. I'm sorry."

"As you said." Rarity grunted. "Why are you here, Twilight? You want to give me that explanation and a heartfelt farewell? I'm sorry darling but I have nothing to say to you. This relationship between us, dire drama that it has been, is going to end as pettily as it began. Send Sweetie Belle along to my parents and burn my belongings."

"This attitude I'm getting from you is not becoming Rarity." Twilight frowned, feeling stung more than she thought she deserved. "I'm here to save you."

“From death."

"Yes."

Rarity pursed her lips. "Marvelous, darling. I get to rely on you once again. My existence is, ONCE AGAIN, in Twilight Sparkle's hooves. I-' She clenched her teeth, as tears began to form at the corner of her eyes. Her voice began to waver. "I have the grand privilege of being this noblemare's necromantic experiment.

“Necromancy is a fairly established, if taboo science." Twilight corrected. "Think of it more as a procedure than an experiment."

"Oh, yes, that comforts me greatly.” Rarity let out a shakey breath. "You will save me, and all my anger will become invalid."

"That's not what I-"

"No no, Twilight, think no more of your transgressions. You're making up for it and so it all evens out." Rarity said with force sweetness. "Just tell me what to do to receive your salvation."

Twilight rubbed her forehead. "Rarity..."

"You said you're sorry and everything is better now." Rarity smiled wide. "Or it will be, won't it. Do you want to tell me about your 'procedure' or skip right to it?"



Twilight liked her lips. Rarity's mask of banal contentment was about as unnerving as anything could be, but she swallowed her doubt and started the explanation.
“This place, the Forest, is like a road between the physical world and some other place. It's hard to explain, but the Dreamscape, the Forest, and further places are all part of the same phenomenon. Dreams, magic, energy, souls... They move around in the universe, sometimes interacting with the physical world and sometimes not. It something we don't understand well, partially because its frowned upon, and partially because its dangerous to a pony and everypony around them." She frowned. "How dangerous is the force that can ruin lives and ensnare ponies based on pure thought. I hope nopony after us ever has to delve into the Dreamscape.

Rarity, shocking to Twilight, was paying close attention. "Is it all real?"

"It's not a place that exists. It's inherently non-physical. What we're experiencing right now is..." Twilight chose her words carefully. "An interplay of invisible, spaceless forces." She blinked, throat tightening as she remembered something. "Princess Celestia used to call them slices of the same phenomenon,  ‘different interpretations’ of the physical world.“

“I choose to interpret myself as still alive.” Rarity said.


Twilight laughed at the absurdity of it, but when thought begot creation, it wasn't all that farfetched.  Rarity’s humor, deceptive though it may have been, was making this easier. Or maybe Rarity was being genuine. Twilight was not in a state to work it out, and it still tore at her being here and knowing it was her fault, again, that a pony had died.



“I guess that choice is why you’re still here, and not what beyond the Forest.  I... ” Twilight squeezed her eyes closed. “I hoped I would find Princess Celestia here, and Nightmare Moon if I dared. But I couldn't have tried without the new body, and enough time had passed that..." She sighed miserably. "But they're alicorns. Mortal concepts like death treat them differently. I'm kidding myself that I could have ressurected souls as powerful as theres even if they were here."



“Maybe they went back to their places in the sky."

The forest had no sun or moon, but that didn’t stop Twilight from reflexively searching the grey mist for them.
"I don't know how ponykind moves beyond this. The sun was gone. The consequences...  How do you begin to guess! T- They're alicorns! Death isn't supposed to have meaning to them!" Twilight sunk to the ground, hissing into her hooves. "IT'S WRONG!  IT CAN'T BE REAL!" She looked to Rarity, desperation in her eyes. "Please tell me this isn't happening. I'm not really here. Everything since I arrived in Ponyville is a delusion, a dream!"

Rarity swallowed awkwardly. "Twilight-"

"How is it that we survived, and they died? It doesn't-   Look, it's flipped around! This must be death. Where their souls went, that's true life. Being left here on the earth is death." Twilight whined. "I can't understand. Everything we were ver tought-"

"Twilight." Rarity said firmly.

Twilight jumped like a filly caught.

Rarity pushed herself to her hooves. "I know you might think my forgiveness is disingenuous, but it isn't. You're as much a victim as I am, a product of things beyond our control. What did you call them? Invisible, spaceless forces? Sometimes, that is just what life is."

Twilight closed her eyes. "You don't have to comfort me Rarity."


“I do Twilight. The mare you cared about most left you with only her memory."

"She left more than that. She left a body and a troubled legacy." Twilight snorted, agonized with herself for thinking that way.

"Listen to me, stop it.” Rarity recaptured Twilight’s attention. “I’m sorry too.”


This world was reminding Twilight of the moon a lot now. She remembered the confession Nightmare Moon shared with her. Just like then, ruinous hate was bleeding out of them.  But that void where the hate had been ached, and Twilight felt like she would do anything to fill it again, even if it was with more hate. How must Rarity have been feeling? 


“You’re not a bad pony Rarity.” Twilight said. “I forced you to resort to terrible things.

“You didn’t. It was that wretched nightmare.” Rarity sighed. “I can’t even understand how that villain took hold of you.”

“Rarity, you shouldn’t worry, my problems-”

“Your problems are my concerns, Twilight.” Rarity pushed herself up into a sitting position. She looked earnestly to Twilight, trying to catch the other’s evasive glance. “I was jealous and envious before. Now I want to understand you, and maybe I can try to improve myself instead of just resenting you.”

“You don’t want to be like me.” Twilight was on the back hoof. She’d come here to save Rarity, and now Rarity was drilling into her aching heart. She both did and didn't want to talk about it. Twilight had to face the truth gradually or she'd start screaming again.  "Princess Celestia..."


“Take your time darling.” Rarity lent a supportive hoof.


Twilight was burning and wailing inside.
“It wasn’t a sudden thing.” Twilight started, her voice wavering. “You were watching what Princess Celestia and that monster said to each other. The nightmare, Forlorn Spark...  You saw what it was. It was like me. Me but more. More passionate, more unabashed, more honest."
Twilight gave a short, pained laugh. "She gave voice to everything I felt about Princess Celestia but was too cowardly to admit to myself and others. The resentment, humiliation, and fear I pushed way down in myself came out of her as those...   vitriolic jeers."
Twilight relived what she'd seen and felt. The murderous, gleeful, lascivious bend to the nightmare beast's words and movement made her gut wrench even from memory.
"Rarity, Nightmare Moon taught me not to fear her, the Dark, or the nightmare. I forgot not to be afraid of myself, and the nightmare swallowed that part of me whole."

"Stop Twilight. You are back to blaming yourself. Applejack and I feared you too, and that played directly into the nightmare's plans." Rarity said. "You and the princess, Twilight. If you wish to be honest with yourself, start with you and the princess.


"Yes, well...  That is a story. Princess Celestia and I had big disagreements, but I never forgave her for how she dropped me like I was old meat. I retained court title and a place on the council, but every ouce of trust she and I shared dried up." Twilight sniffled. "A goddess, honest, generous, willing and ready to support you through every kind of trouble. That is what Princess Celestia was.  But when I wanted to explore the world outside her orbit, the love goes missing. I try to give her a hug and she starts lecturing me on proper formality and..." Twilight sighed. "Yes, all I ever wanted to do was please her. She was a mare worth pleasing."

"That has led to this." Rarity whispered.

"Princess Celestia sent me here, after all. "


Rarity’s eyes widened in understanding. “That is right. You came to Ponyville on her orders.” There was something off about her tone Twilight didn't catch.

“I didn't hide that. it is funny though, that you might almost forget that with everything going on. But there is more.” Twilight tensed, anticipating rejection. “The day before I left Canterlot, Princess Celestia and I argued about Nightmare Moon.”

“You knew... from the beginning.” The words stuck in Rarity’s throat.

“It was just a dumb prophesy! But it mentioned Nightmare Moon and I wanted to know more. How in heaven did it happen that Princess Celestia sent me to the village on the edge of the Everfree, the FIRST PLACE her creeping influence would be felt? Did the princess know even before I did? It can't be a coincidence. But if it isn't and the princess sent me here because she knew of Moon's return, was dying part of her plan?" Twilight asked herself.   "But on that day, when I asked her directly, Princess Celestia dodged me and enacted imperial court bullshit! I don't understand! I just-"
Twilight sighed. "Did I say the wrong thing? Is all this, two dead alicorns and four cursed mares, my fault or her oversight? How do I begin to understand the question, let alone the answer? None of it feels real." She cradled her head again. "Gods take pity. I know I'll never really know. I just have to find a way to live without asking myself every minute."

“My… My goodness. You must have been burning up inside, thinking about all that.” Rarity added a second hoof to the first, pulling Twilight into a hug. “I had no idea. I can’t imagine what you’re feeling now.”


Twilight let a hiss of air out through her clenched teeth. Telling Rarity hadn’t been cathartic really, but Rarity’s acceptance made her more confident of disclosing to everypony else.
“Don’t feel too sorry for me. You’re still dead.”


Rarity released her hug and looked sheepishly around the forest. Before Twilight had come it had a certain familiarity to her, like it was where she needed to stay. Now it felt alien and foul. “I suppose that’s true. How do we go about fixing that?”

Twilight flipped back into lecture mode. “After a soul leaves the body when a pony dies, the body undergoes a metaphysical change and becomes unable to house another even if it’s fully intact. We don't fully understand why but it has something to do with how Destiny guides us. To ressurect a departed pony, we have to trick the body  into letting you take control again by using a bound proxy object. It’s a pretty basic necromantic procedure, not unlike how I used the armor to bind myself into Nightmare Moon's body." She grinned sheepishly. "Which I haven't had time to fully inspect yet. I chased you in here right after the ritual ended."

Rarity arched a brow. "Are you bragging about the body you acquired through killing me?"

Twilight blushed. "Only making the comperison. There was nothing else to say, other than I am going to use the binding procedure on you. It is low risk and fairly stable."

“But I’m not going to be the same.” Rarity sniffed.

“Much more the same than me.” Twilight quickly said. “Not much time has passed, so your nervous and organ systems will still work. You might not notice any difference at all, most of the time. You might feel weird around the object I use to bind you, protective maybe, but that’ll be about it.”

“I’ll still be a nightmare.” Rarity whispered to herself.

Not necessarily, Twilight felt like retorting. The nightmare was going to be physically distanced from Rarity’s soul, and Twilight had no idea what that would cause. But she didn’t want to jinx it, so she said nothing. "We will cross that bridge later."


Rarity accepted that. “You have done this before, right?”

“You see…” Twilight had wanted to avoid this question. “I, um, no. I haven’t.” Seeing the spectrum of apprehension and fear flash over Rarity’s face, Twilight quickly followed up. “But I’ve studied extensively. Though I never summoned or bound a soul, I’ve been here in the Forest several times during my studies. The first time was towards the end of my studies with Celestia, with her guiding me. We watched some other souls pass through, but never interacted with any.”

“Other dead ponies?” Rarity leaned around the tree to see if she could spy any ghostly others.

“The souls of ponies aren’t not much different from ponies just walking around in the world. I mean, look at us. Basically, we’re the avatars of our soul here (a poorly understood concept itself), and anyone else here would manifest similarly. The dead have all the same qualities they did in life, with the unfortunate addition of completely lacking fear of death.” Twilight set her jaw. “This Forest can be deadly to trespassers. It’s one of the reasons necromancy is so taboo, and even illegal in most of Equestria. Celestia was there to protect me but it’s very, very dangerous to novices.”

“Are you safe right now?” Rarity asked.

“It’s quiet right here. I’m not sure what it is but I’m not attracting the usual crowd.” Twilight waved into the mist. “Populated places like Canterlot have a lot transitioning ponies. They can be very insistent in wanting to be summoned back to the real world, like a fake second chance at life. Other times they can be violent, trying to take over the necromancer’s mind and body.  Other places have a lot of lost souls. Like here, under the Everfree Forest. They haven’t bothered me, but I can hear them all around us. I was afraid they’d swarm me, and I’d never find you. I think that they can’t tell I’m alive, because of how half of me is still inside Moon’s armor. Interesting, right?

Rarity listened carefully, even listening for the lost souls Twilight mentioned. It the last words, a morbid thought pecked at her. “Twilight could it be that you don't attract them because you're dead too?”


“The thought had crossed my mind. When I was in the armor, I was really only a hair’s breadth from being dead. One reason why I was so hasty to do the ritual was that I was afraid of loosing grasp of the armor and becoming a lost soul. When that happened, the soul loses its sanity, self-image, and manifestation. They’re masses of soul without any guidance, totally feral. If I lost my grip on reality, I suppose I could have gone mad and be imagining all this.”

“Well you aren’t mad, but are you dead?”

“The spell to come here is a certain type of fake death. I’m not sure if I could tell the difference.” Twilight arched a brow in amusement. “So let’s suppose I failed the ritual, and just imagined the circumstances of my arrival here. The necromancy maybe could remove you from the Forest, but without anypony out there to attach your soul to a binding object, you’d become a spooky ghost.”

“A ghost?” Rarity looked horrified.

“A spooky ghost.” Twilight smiled. “A perfect addition to the castle ensemble of night’s horrors.”

“You could have just said there was no chance.” Rarity was feeling a bit better if Twilight was confident enough to joke and even more for sharing it with her. “Let us do it already.”


“If a soul rejects the necromancer, this would be a fight where I try to contain you. Then when I return to the world, I’d tie the soul to a binding. That’s how I remember it at least.” Twilight rolled to her hooves, feeling much better. “Since I assume you don’t plan to fight me while I’m binding you, you just need to think happy thoughts.”

“Happy thought?” Rarity felt rather than saw the tendrils of Twilight’s magic begin pulling her out of the forest, between the spaces in reality. “Will that help you?”

Twilight eased her concentration before weaving the spell in earnest. “It’ll make Sweetie Belle feel better.”







Day


“Do you remember anything yet?”

For all the support she was giving her, Twilight was starting to feel a bit annoyed at Iillor’s frequent inquests.
“If I do, you’ll be the first to know.”


They were walking along the edge of Applejack’s farm, straddling the line between the meadows and overgrown orchards. They would be at the river soon, and have to walk along it nearly to Ponyville to get to the crossing point of the stone bridge.

“One of my acquaintances lives there.” Twilight pointed to the weather vane visible over the apple-laden canopy. The rest of the farmhouse was obscured. “Applejack.”

“Acquaintance? That’s a funny thing to call your friends.” Iillor joked.


Twilight wondered why she had said what she had. It had just seemed natural. For a brief moment of conversation, being distant and noncommittal about ponies had become Twilight’s paradigm.
Twilight thought of herself as an affectionate pony, but she couldn’t think of a single pony in Canterlot who’d call her a friend. Besides Princess Celestia, of course, who had always been supportive and caring towards Twilight.

“Yeah it is.” Twilight laughed along. Silently, she wondered again if she was going crazy.
In the back of her mind thoughts were starting to bubble, of whispered screams of unwanted thought.








Night


A burning tingle at the tips of Applejack’s ears roused her from unconsciousness. She felt weak, but not ill or queasy. She got up and surveyed the scene.


In her last moment of lucidity, Applejack had felt the exquisite experience of the ritual using her mind for its purposes, very much a facsimile of grinding her brain on a quern-stone, salting it, and stuffing it back in her head. Applejack steadied herself for several minutes, just trying to put the bright bursts of afterimage color out of her mind. Then she remembered the fillies.
The three fillies, jumping up and charging at Twilight, only to be caught in the devouring grasp of the magic. Shehad only to open her eyes to see and be infinitely grateful that all three of them were intact and unharmed. Sweetie Belle was even nestled against Rarity, though her face was wet from tears.

"They followed us." Applejack said to herself, to discover to her disappointment it was still the deep clip of her nightmare form. A surge of anger flowed through her, telling her to destroy something precious, but she suppressed the thought with some effort. 


Applejack looked around more. At the other end of the room, Celestia and Twilight’s body still lay side by side, the later breathing slowly and the former not at all.  While Rarity had been quick to commit to killing Celestia once fallen into the nightmare, Applejack maintained a respect for her princess. It saddened her immensely to see the alicorn body neglected as it was.
Again a Dark urging came, telling her to desecrate the body, to molest it, to bite it. Applejack shivered with disgust at herself and turned away.

Speaking of alicorn bodies, Nightmare Moon’s body lay on the floor, nose to nose with a sleeping Rarity. Applejack took a step closer to inspect the black alicorn in more detail when she noticed a thread of wispy purple magic spun around her horn, betraying a spellcasting.

"Isn't that something." Applejack murmured. "Twilight is in there. She did it."
And her instinct demanded crush the body before it awoke and had a chance to resist.


Applejack lay her attention lastly on what had awoken her. The sun, her alarm clock for a decade, was missing from the sky. Gentle moonbeams now frolicked among the ruins.  It would have to do.
Good morning, Applejack thought. She smiled whistfully. Everything was calm, and for the first time in about a month, Applejack let herself be optimistic.



“Good morning.” A grave voice said by her ear. Applejack jumped forward and twisted around, to face the bright purple eyes staring at her. Bright eyes.

Twilight's eyes. It's eyes were a dilated slit, teal speckled with purple, somewhere between a cat's and a reptile's. They rested on a sleek black face, on a sleek black body, on sleek black limbs. Applejack thought sleek, and while the thing was slender, its fur stuck up in places like it was perpetually aggravated. It's black coloration was, in very particular angles of the moonlight, revealed to be a very very dark purple. Its mane and tail were shorn short, but seemed to be lighter shades of purple, but still very dark.
The black alicorn stood up after a few attempts: Twilight was clearly unused to guiding a creature of it’s size, and held her limbs and head at odd angles. Her wings hung off her sides limply, dragging on the floor.

With her nightmarish body, Applejack had been a head above Twilight’s unicorn body. Nightmare Moon had been even taller than Rarity, and it was now only Twilight’s bad posture that kept Applejack from having to look up when talking to her.

“Twilight?" Applejack whispered, more than a little intimidated by how beastly the alicorn was.


“Applejack? Feeling okay? Look, we did it.” Applejack hadn’t heard Moon speak for very long before Celestia had seemlingly killed her, but Twilight’s new voice was a hybrid of her own and that smooth ice the night alicorn had used, but then that ice was cracked and crushed. In a word, it was very rough, like the spell hadn’t healed her throat properly.
Twilight moved around, making the elegant alicorn form look gangly. “This perspective...  Ooh, this feels even weirder than when I was a ghost. Everything is stretched out. I’m going to need some time to get used to this.”

“Twilight, Twilight, take things slow. Sit down for a minute.” Applejack suggested, afraid Twilight would fall over. "The worst is over Twilight."

“Oh, well, actually I have to do this one thing.” Twilight coughed. She started moving up the hall, tripping over herself as she went. “I can talk while I work.”


Applejack trotted after Twilight, observing how she moved through the halls examining every detail. The mare had just been deprived of her own body then taken another! What was so important she could not take a short time to recouperate?!
“What's wrong? Was there a problem with the ritual?"

“No. I'm alive. I'm a pony again. I have a body to store energy in again. Thank you for that, by the way.” Twilight passed by a row of rusting armor, not finding whatever she was searching for. “It’ll take some time to restore all my functionality, and even then I might never have as much power as I did before.”

"This is just a stopgap measure, right?" Applejack asked. "That body, the ritual...  You are going to find a way to get your body back."

Twilight didn't say anything to that. 

Applejack continued. "You can't use that body forever. It's an alicorn's. It's a demon alicorn's. How can you return to society like that?"

"I don't know what my future has in store, Applejack. I'm not taking this lightly." Twilight said over her shoulder, voice dipping to somber tones. "Nightmare Moon was a pony I respected and loved. I don't take her image lightly, even if her body would have meant nothing to her after her death."

"Sure." Applejack had thought it was insane when Twilight proposed it, and thought it was insane now. There was something blasphemous about ponies taking the image of an alicorn, perhaps even more blasphemous that Forlorn Spark's play at divinity. Speaking of...  "Are you feeling alright? You went through a lot."


"I'm fine." Twilight took one of the branching hallways. Up ahead was a ruined central foyer. “It almost didn't succeed. My plan to tap into the moon didn't work. Something up there deflected me. I don't think it was the moon denizens, but something else."

“Something on the moon? Could it be Nightmare Moon is still alive?” Applejack followed a step behind.

“Or something like her. She and her moon were unified. I’d be no surprise if a small part of her survived.” Twilight agreed quietly. "I half wonder if it is best she is not alive. She was a good mare at heart but so troubled...  I feel she would have made life difficult for ponykind." Twilight's lips drew back as she realized the irony of saying such things while she was wearing Moon's skin. "I hope she's okay. I wish she's okay. Princess Celestia too. But my optimism doesn't change what I have to do to keep us alive.


Applejack thought that sounded very foreboding.


They exited the hallway they emerged in a partially collapsed ballroom. Twilight looked around uncertainly.
“Applejack, I need your help with something.” Twilight asked.

“Shoot.” Applejack drawled.

“It's Rarity." Twilight said hesitantly. "Is there something around here she would find pretty, or appealing?"

“I don't know about that.” Applejack mused. “Everything here is old, and a little bit decrepit.”

“Suppose that time was of the essence, and you had to choose a gift for her.” Twilight pressed. “Something small enough to carry.”


Applejack cast an eye along the far wall. “Those tapestries, maybe. She’d love to have one of those.”

Twilight teleported the length of the room to where the tapestries were. Twilight herself looked dazed by the magic and slipped onto her flank. "oof. I..." She grunted. "I'm not used to this body."

"Are you alright?" Applejack called over to her, trotting over.

"Don't worry about me." Twilight stood up. She scanned the tapestries, running a shaky hoof along the slightly frayed edge of a moderately sized blue tapestry, embroidered with a moon. "Would she like this one?"

"Twilight, you've probably taked more with Rarity in the months you have been here than I have in years." Applejack scrunched her nose. "What is this about?"

"Salvation."  The room was further illuminated by the flash of Twilight horn sending magic into the aged fabric. Purple and cyan light weaved in and out of it for several seconds in the air, and lasted for another dozen as they faded into the threads.

"I don't get it."

Twilight stared at the tapestry for several moments, intently studying something Applejack couldn’t see. “Oh thank goodness! The spell was a success! She’s completely intact, and should have full range with her body. Mortus has been averted.” She hummed. “With a couple protection spells she could last for a century or two. I did it. I did it.”

“Twilight, what the hay are you on about!” The prissy Manehattanite accent was slipping, and the rural twang came out.

“Things are getting complicated.” Twilight gave half a laugh. “Maybe when there is more time we can examine how the nightmare metamorphosed you, Rarity, and that pegasus Dash. How does life, death, and dreams affect the pony body?" Twilight posed. "What are the implications that I could take this body? Could I take another or has the ritual sealed me, so to speak, to this one? Could I resurrect Moon to this body if I leave it? I don't know, but I want to. I need to."

“I appreciate what you're going through, but you're not being clear.” Applejack growled, a surge of aggravation going through her. “I ain’t above hitting royalty you know. Just to knock you on kilter, ya know.”


The 'royalty' threat confused Twilight for a brief moment.  “Sorry. Things are already so confusing you don't need me adding to them. I suppose I could phrase it this way:” She took the tapestry off the wall gently with her magic and began rolling it up. “This is Rarity now.”







Day


Ponyville as a village was built entirely on the north bank of the Dneighper River. For what reason the stone bridge had been built, when there were few reasons of going to the south bank, was a mystery. Indeed there was little of anything other than tall grass, bunches of oaks of pines, and the Everfree Forest. Perhaps at some point, the ponies there had more reason to traffic to things across the river.
But there was one place worth visiting, especially in Twilight's mind. She pushed through the high grass towards a spot she vaguely remembered being east-ish of the stone bridge.

“Where are we going?” Iillor asked.

“Fluttershy lives nearby.” Twilight said. “I want to talk to her before we head back into town. I have a feeling she knows something.”

“Fluttershy.” Iillor recognized the name. “What makes you think she knows what you were up to?"

Twilight frowned. "Not me specifically...  I just...  I have a feeling."


Iillor hid her scowl behind some tall grass. Twilight was proving to be a much more fickle source of information than she'd hoped. The mare had DOUBTLESSLY encountered Nightmare Moon or some other dark force, but was not leading her any closer to communing with them.
Iillor decided to be patient. Yes, she would be patient to a fault. 


“What other mares might know something? Somepony mentioned some ponies named Rarity and Applejack. Do you know where they might be?” Iillor asked Twilight.

“Rarity and Applejack? Um...” Twilight scowled in thought. "I... I'm not sure...  Are they missing or something?

“Nopony has seen them, but I don't think anypony has said they're in danger either. Nevermind I guess.” Iillor said.

"You're not wrong that they're important but I just don't know where they could be." Twilight shook her head. "Maybe Fluttershy will know."



They exited the tall grass, and jumped over a small stream to a gravel path into a hummock. The trees were alive with birdsong and the chirping of insects, as sure a sign as any that the caretaker was home.
And speaking of home, built into the largest of the oaks of the hummock was a house. Twilight wondered if the same architect who built the Golden Oak had been responsible for this hermitage. Probably not, since the tree library seemed much older.

“Somepony should build a path out here.” Iillor complained.

“I agree. I think I put that as part of the plan.” Twilight brushed the hitchhikers off her fur.

“What plan is that?” Iillor asked.


Twilight froze mid action. The words had just spilled out of her, but she wasn't sure now. What plan included a path to Fluttershy’s little cabin? A street plan? No... A renovation plan.  She plied her memory, trying to remember what the plans was for. "The... Summer Sun. I think." She said, unsure.

"What about the Summer Sun?" Iillor asked.

“Tisk, I don't know. Nevermind.” Twilight shook her head. She would think on it more when she was alone.
She trotted up to Fluttershy’s door, casting out a little with her magic to see if Fluttershy was home. Strangely, the inside of the house was stopping her was mired in turbulent magic like one saw in the Everfree, keeping her from sensing anything.
Twilight knocked gently; The pegasus would hear her however loud she was.

After half a minute the door cracked open. “Twilight?” Fluttershy’s dainty voice squeaked. "Um, hi." Fluttershy looked subdued and reluctant, wings folded tight, hunched over, her eyes darting around like she was trying to avoid meeting eyes with Twilight. “What brings you out here?”


“Gee, hard to guess. There was an eclipse. Princess Celestia is missing, and we fear the worst. Rarity and Applejack are missing too. Things are, well, pretty bad.” Twilight pressed against the door slightly. “I came to see if you’re ok. We have a lot to talk about.”

“Um, now is not a good time.” Fluttershy tried to shut the door but Twilight’s hoof blocked her.

“Not a good time? Fluttershy, I just woke up from a week-long coma! My memories are shot and something happened to me in the Everfree that I have no idea about. If you're problems are bigger than that, let me know." She hated to pry, but Twilight had the feeling part of the truth was being withheld from her. "I'm not being sarcastic. If there's a problem, I can help."


“Nothing. It’s just not a good time.” Fluttershy insisted.

Twilight blinked. She felt a tug on her heart, drawing her towards something inside the house. “Look, I don't recall everything yet, but we were fairly friendly with each other. What are you shutting me out for?” Twilight asked. 

“I- It’s not a good time, for you!” Fluttershy’s yell was about the volume of Twilight talking voice, but it surprised her enough for the door to slam shut. “Come back later!” The pegasus said through the door. "Just leave, please!"

Twilight pursed her lips, tempted to knock again. She felt weird and dissatisfied, not just because of Fluttershy, but because that strange pull. After several seconds, she realized what she was feeling was like what she’d felt in the hospital with Nightmare Moon.
“Hmm...”
She stared at the door for a moment, but shaking off the feeling she trotted back down the path to where Iillor was waiting.

“I don't know, but from here it didn't look like you got what you came for.” Iillor remarked flatly.

“She didn't want me there obviously." Twilight grunted. "I don't want to be rude and presumptuous, especially before all my memories come back to me."

"You're a noble. Your mother would knock the door open and get the answers she needed." Iillor snorted.

Twilight's shook her head. "That's not how Princess Celestia taught me."

"This is partially for the princess's sake, isn't it?" Iillor said. "Go and ask again."

Twilight frowned slightly. "Go and ask again, my lady."

Iillor laughed to herself.


Twilight trotted back down through the hummock, Iillor right behind, to make their way back through the tall grass towards Ponyville.
From the windows of the cottage behind them, a pair of turquoise and a pair of purple-speckled-teal eyes followed their progress. 'What do we remember, Twilight? What happened that night?'