Canterlot Academy: Knights of the Dark Moon

by LordLycaon


The Dreamscape, Part 1

The streets of Canterlot at night were normally quiet and relatively peaceful. Usually, the only sound one would hear would be the flickering of the magic street lamps that illuminated the roads whenever the sun set, or the occasional clicking of hooves from guards on patrol, keeping an eye out for undesirables. Canterlot nights were usually quite serene.

A lone earth pony mare turned a corner at full gallop, nearly falling over and leaving herself wide open for her pursuers. Righting herself quickly, she ran as fast as her legs would allow, desperately trying to find shelter, help, or, ideally, both. To her great despair, none seemed available. Her pursuers had chased her into an area with few places that would provide either for very long. It was mostly jewelry and clothing stores on this street.

A bolt of blue energy flew past her, and she heard a stallion’s voice shouting to catch her for “recruitment.” Whatever that meant, she was pretty sure she didn’t want to find out.

She turned another corner into an alley, still galloping, then ducked away behind a dumpster, where she pressed herself against the stone wall behind the receptacle. She sat in a fetal position, keeping her hooves close to herself out of instinct. She held her breath when she heard the hoofbeats of her two pursuers stop.

“You keep going,” one of them said. “I’ll check here.” She heard somepony grunt, followed by the sound of hoofbeats, which slowly faded off as they got further away. She heard the sound of somepony walking her way, slowly and methodically. She heard the sound of trash cans being knocked over, refuse spilling out onto the alley floor, and the low grumblings of a frustrated stallion.

Frantically, she looked around herself, trying to find some means of defending herself against her would-be assailant. She found an old pipe lying on the ground near her and grabbed it, holding it close. She doubted it would do much, but it was certainly better than nothing.

She held her breath. The stallion was getting closer. Closing her eyes, she prayed that he wouldn’t find her, that he would give up and finally leave her alone. She could see his shadow looming luridly by her hiding spot. She dared not to take her eyes off of it. She held her impromptu weapon closer to her chest, waiting for the stallion to inevitably find her. A thousand possibilities ran through her mind, each more terrible than the last.

A slight, yellowish glow came from the source of the shadow she was watching. The dumpster she was hiding behind became enveloped in a glow of the same color, slowly lifting off the ground. She braced herself and waited.

Before he could react, she swung the pipe, striking the stallion on his head, then galloped off again, leaving out through the other side of the alley. With any luck, the stallion would be out cold, and she wouldn’t run into his partner again. She was home fr—

She struck something as she turned a corner, and fumbled back a few feet. Still panicking, she looked up with wide eyes at what she collided with. The unicorn guardspony in front of her quirked an eyebrow at her, and she heaved out an overdue sigh of relief.

“Oh, great Faust in Elysium, thank you!” she exclaimed. “I was just being chased by these two thugs who keep spouting off stuff about ‘recruitment’ or something! Please, sir, you have to help me!”

The guard smiled and placed a hoof on her shoulder. “Relax, ma’am. You’re safe now.” His horn began to glow with a bluish aura, probably readying a spell to stop and apprehend at least one of her pursuers. She felt relief and calm wash over her for the first time all night. Finally, somepony who could help her!

Wait… why couldn’t she move now?

She opened her mouth to say something. At least, she tried. Her mouth wouldn’t even open! She couldn’t even blink! She couldn’t move her legs, head, she couldn’t even so much as flick an ear! All she could do was look around, slowly moving her eyes as panic and fear rapidly retook their hold over her heart and mind. What was happening?

The guard looked to somewhere behind her, saying, “You’ve gotten sloppy.”

“Am I supposed to know you?” said the voice of the stallion from the alley. He slowly walked into view. She saw he had large welt on the side of his head where she had struck him with that pipe. He glared spitefully at her, no doubt out of derision for what she had done to him.

The guard pulled out a medallion from his armor. The trinket bore an image of the moon, complete with the face of the Mare in the Moon. When the alley stallion saw this, he sighed and shook his head.

“Figures.”

“I’ll take her to recruitment,” the guard said, tucking away his medallion. “You go and find your partner.”

“How did you—”

“She said she was being chased by two stallions,” the guard answered with a nonchalant shrug. He lifted the mare up with his magic and placed her on his back. “Just do it.” Mumbling, the other stallion turned and left to do as told. The guard turned the other direction and trotted down the street.

The mare’s panic only grew the further the guard carried her. She still couldn’t move. Her whole body felt like it was locked in place. Try as she might, she couldn’t bend a leg, twitch an ear, open her mouth to scream, or anything. She was completely and utterly helpless.

For several minutes, the guard kept walking, soon entering an area in which most of the buildings looked abandoned, or at least just really old. He headed directly for some kind of warehouse, where another pony in guard’s armor stood watch by the door. The guard carrying the mare displayed his medallion to the other guard, who nodded and opened the door, ushering him in and closing the door behind them.

He unceremoniously dropped her onto the floor, where several robed ponies gathered around her. One of them nodded to the guard, who nodded back and left without a word. The robed ponies set her up in a chair, strapping her down as a unicorn’s horn glowed. She soon regained control of her body just as they finished locking her in place. She struggled and pulled against the restraints, to no avail.

“It’s no use,” one of the ponies, a mare, said. She stood directly in front of the earth pony mare, whose eyes widened in fear. She was a unicorn, with a pure white coat and mane. Her dark red eyes held a certain glint of amusement, though her scowl made it difficult to judge what she was actually thinking.

“Wh-who are you?”the bound mare asked.

“All will be answered soon.” The robed mare turned to her cohorts. “Are we ready to begin?”

“Of course, Lady White Star,” a cloaked stallion answered.

“P-please,” the earth mare begged. “I have a family to go back to! Just let me go, I beg of you! I won’t tell anyone about this, I swear! I don’t want to die, please!”

The snow white unicorn gave a small, strangely comforting smile. “Fear not. It will all be over soon. You will see your family again once we are finished here. You have my word.”

White Star nodded to her cloaked counterparts. A lantern flared to life behind her as the rest of the room dimmed. Slowly, the lantern began to orbit the trapped earth mare. “You will denounce your beliefs,” the unicorn said in a bizarrely approachable tone. The lantern kept going around the trapped mare, settling on a pace at which she could only see the light for a second before it disappeared beyond her vision, then reappear a second later. “You will renounce your love for the sun. You will renounce your faith in the hypocritical rule of Celestia.” The lantern’s light was slowly becoming more attention-grabbing, while the mare White Star’s accompanying voice held her ears.

“You will embrace the truth,” White Star said. “You will love the shadows of night. The only light you will love is that of the moon. You will place your faith not in Celestia, but in She Who Wakes the Stars, She Who Weaves Our Dreams, the One Queen who is truly meant to rule.

“You are to be a servant of the Nightmare.”

“N-Nightmare…”

“Renounce the sun,” the robed ponies all spoke in unison. “Embrace the night. Renounce the sun. Embrace the night.”

She couldn’t keep track of how long she was strapped to that chair, forced to watch as that lantern spun around her, forced to listen the robed ponies’ mantra. Her mind was becoming a haze. She could see the snow white unicorn’s horn glowing with a reddish light. The mare’s very thoughts became slurred, unclear.

Gradually, her mind faded, the world slowly becoming black. All other thoughts were slowly pushed aside to make way for three very powerful statements.

‘Renounce the sun. Embrace the night. Hail to the One Queen.’

-o-

The Dreamscape scroll was laid out upon the desk before Twilight and Trixie, its contents plain to see for all. Having already read through the scroll herself, Twilight gave her old friend a quick synopsis of what the scroll said, imparting all of the relevant information to the azure unicorn.

After Wanderer gave her the scroll, Twilight had poured over it, especially after the mystery it presented with the name Luna written in it. When she finished, she told Trixie about it, and she eagerly volunteered to help decipher its mysteries. Twilight accepted her friend’s offer of assistance just as excitedly. A pony didn’t live whom she trusted more than Trixie Lulamoon.

The two unicorns studied the scroll as thoroughly possible, with Trixie pointing out a few things that Twilight herself hadn’t noticed, like a mention of a common creature that dwelled within the Dreamscape called a Night Terror, voracious spirits that fed on the fear that mortal beings in the real world felt while having nightmares. They would be more or less harmless to mortals exploring the realm of dreams through magic, but they were something that one should still be wary of.

Trixie pursed her lips at the entry on the Night Terrors. “They sound like a barrel of laughs,” she remarked.

“We’ll be fine,” Twilight replied with a grin. She knew that this whole thing might turn out dangerous, but the reward was most definitely worth the risk. “We could be the first ponies in millennia to set hoof in the Dreamscape! We’ll make sure to take as many notes as we can, and we’ll leave if something happens. No worries.”

Trixie raised an eyebrow at her. “And if there’s a problem?”

“Why do you think I suggested we use one of the magical practice rooms?” the lavender mare inquired in return. The Academy’s practice rooms were built specifically for… well, magical practice. They were special rooms where ponies could practice with new spells, regardless of the spell’s subject. Each room was covered in wards to make the walls virtually indestructible, so even higher level combat magic short of a blast from Princess Celestia herself couldn’t break through.

The rooms were all split up into three sections, too. One section was mostly bare except for some large weights and meant for unicorns, who could use the weights to practice levitation on heavier objects, while the weights were also warded to serve as targets for practice with combat magic. Another section had rooms that contained numerous variants of clouds, which pegasi could use to hone their inborn weather magic. The third section was mostly greenhouses, where earth ponies could work to perfect their magical connection with the earth by growing plants and using an earth pony magic that Applejack called “standing firm,” which basically made them nearly immovable. Whether that was the actual term or not, Twilight never bothered to learn.

Trixie gave a slight nod and a shrug. “Fair enough. So, how are we going to do this, exactly?”

Twilight skimmed the section instructing on how to enter the realm of dreams. She scanned the passage thoroughly, taking in as much information as she could. “It looks like we’ll need to cast a spell to protect our minds, to ‘keep us as ourselves’ while we explore the Dreamscape.”

Trixie raised an eyebrow to that. “‘Keep us as ourselves’?”

“It says that travelers in the Dreamscape run the risk of their mind diluting and taking in more information than they can handle. The result is often that they come back as a raving lunatic. Or a vegetable. Or both.”

“You… know the spell, right?”

“Of course!” Twilight puffed out her chest proudly. “I’ve studied numerous forms of magic. I’ve just never had an opportunity to use some of them.” Trixie gave a sigh and a smile. She shouldn’t doubt her oldest friend so much. The purple mare then said, “We then need to cast a unique sleep spell. It’s listed here in the scroll, including how to do it.”

Curiously, Trixie looked over the section mentioning the spell. She tilted her head at the spell’s name. “The Dreamwalker’s Charm? Apt, I suppose. It looks like it’ll be like falling asleep normally, but we’ll wake up in the Dreamscape.”

Twilight nodded, memorizing the instructions in the scroll, reading, rereading, and re-rereading the the unique magical matrices that were required for the spell to work properly. It was complex, but doable, though it would require a lot of focus on both their parts. When she finally finished, she sat and waited for Trixie, who soon finished reading the instructions and sat across from Twilight, both of them facing each other.

“You ready?” Twilight asked, as her horn glowed brightly, the mind protection spell taking place. When Trixie nodded, she cast the spell on the azure mare’s mind as well. Both their horns glowed for a few minutes then, casting the Dreamwalker’s Charm upon themselves.

The spell required very little magic. Almost too little. It was difficult to focus such a tiny amount of power, especially for Twilight, whose own magical reserves were much greater than the average unicorn. Eventually, however, the feeling of sleep washed over her.

For a moment, there was nothing. Nothing happened. Nothing really existed, or lived, or anything. She drifted in darkness, the peace of slumber being oddly seductive. Suddenly, something rough shook her around, forcing her eyes open. Trixie stood before her, a worried look on her face that was soon replaced with relief. She offered a hoof, and Twilight took it, standing a bit shakily on the… blackness?

She looked around, seeing nothing but empty blackness all around them. The only color was from the two mares standing next to each other.

“Is…” Trixie began, brushing her silvery mane from her eyesight. “Is this the Dreamscape?”

Twilight paled slightly. Was this the Dreamscape? Was this the place that ponies visited every night in their dreams? This was the mystery world she wanted so badly to see? “This is it?” she half-shouted, half-complained. “But… but… this can’t be it! Granted, I didn’t know what we should expect coming here, but THIS!?”

Trixie back off a little, giving Twilight some room to vent.

“This can’t be it! I would’ve thought that the Dreamscape would be a vast world! A massive realm filled opportunity and mystery!”

Trixie’s eyes slowly began to widen. “Uh… Twilight?”

“I would’ve at least expected some sort of castle! The scroll said that a princess used to come here! You’d think she would’ve built herself a house here as a base of operations or something! I would’ve even settled for a shack!”

“T-Twilight?”

“But ‘NO!’ All we find is an empty void! There’s nothing here except nothing!”

“Twilight!”

The violet mare cringed at Trixie’s volume, her ears falling flat against her head. Trixie had a look of amazement and shock on her face, clearly fascinated by something. Slowly, she pointed behind Twilight. Upon seeing what her friend saw, Twilight’s jaw fell open.

Before them stood everything that Twilight had just described. A tiny wooden shack stood at the foot of a beautifully flowered hill, which expanded into a massive, verdant field that lead into mountains in the distance, with blue skies above, and puffy, white cumulus clouds floating overhead. Far behind the shack, but not quite reaching the mountains, was a grand palace. The towering keep loomed in the distance, its walls made of polished white marble, its peaks covered in bright blue shingles that gave it an even more regal appearance than it already held.

The two mares just stood there, staring in awe at the sight ahead of them.

“That… wasn’t there before,” Twilight observed. “Was it?”

Trixie shook her head. “Should we… go and… look around?”

Trixie nodded her head, and they approached the field.

The grass felt surprisingly real, its familiar texture and smell catching them off guard for a moment. They investigated the shack, which had bare accommodations, with only a cot and an improvised sink of sorts in the form of a water bucket. The wood that the shack was made from was felt as real as the grass outside, and the cot was rough, but apparently usable.

Leaving the shack, they climbed up to the hill’s peak, where they had a decent view of the great fields before them. Looking back, Twilight could see the field begin and end and suddenly shift into a plain of black. Looking up, she saw that the same could be said of the sky. Clouds that drifted into the blackness vanished, suddenly cut off from existence. The surreal nature of this… world made Twilight shudder slightly.

“I don’t get it,” she said in a tone strictly reserved for the few times when she was greatly confused. “All of this… it just… appeared?”

“Just as you started describing what you expected,” Trixie answered. “This is just a theory, but… maybe the reason why we appeared in that void is that we didn’t know what we were expecting. I mean, this is the Dreamscape. As far as we know, at least.”

Twilight thought on that for a moment. Her friend made a valid point. “So, the world changes according to our whims?”

“That’s what I’m thinking.”

The lavender unicorn thought on that for a moment more. She looked over at the castle in the distance. It was almost insulting how far away it was.

‘The world changes as we describe it.’

“I’d like to get a closer look at that castle,” she stated. Hopefully, the theory she and Trixie were now working on would prove correct. “That castle is only a few yards away now.”

“What?” Trixie looked at her friend, confused.

Suddenly, soundlessly, the castle rapidly approached them, zooming along the ground before stopping just a few yards away from the pair. It was even bigger than either of them had expected, easily far larger than Canterlot Castle. Its towers scraped against the heavens, at once awe-inspiring and intimidating.

“What just happened?” asked a dumbfounded Trixie.

Twilight grinned at her newest discovery as she gripped Trixie in an excited hug. “I was right! Just as we thought, the Dreamscape changes depending on our descriptions! This is incredible!” She released her friend and galloped to the castle’s entrance, astounded by the detail in which the castle was… would constructed even be the right word? Regardless, it was simply amazing!

“Do you think we could create anything here?” Twilight inquired giddily. “Could we imagine and create creatures as well as buildings and landscapes? Is there a limit to what we can do here?”

“Are you asking me?” Trixie asked with a raised eyebrow. “I know about as much about this place as—”

She was interrupted by a buzzing sound. Twilight’s raving inquiries were silenced as well. The buzzing was faint and distant, but sounded as though it was coming from all directions at once. It was like a swarm of bees, but… bigger. The two unicorns looked around, scanning the landscape for any possible source.

“Twilight?”

“Yeah, Trixie?”

“Didn’t that scroll mention something about the denizens of the Dreamscape being… dangerous?”

“Yeah. It did.”

“What do you think that sound is?”

“If I had to guess? Locals.”

As if on cue, the source of the buzzing came into view. All around the area, zeroing in on the two mares, was a swarm of black… things. And they were fast. Almost the instant they were in sight, one of them was in front of the mares, hovering listlessly in the air.

The thing was like a cloud of black smoke, and emitted the same buzz as the rest of its ilk. It had no truly defining features, being like a floating void in and of itself. More of the creatures surrounded the two of them, all forming around like a dome. Once the dome was complete, they just hovered in place, watching Twilight and Trixie with what the unicorns hoped was merely curiosity.

“Um…” Twilight stammered to try and say something, though the only thing that she could think to say was: “Hi?”

Out of nowhere, there was an ear-piercing shriek from an outer part of the dome. Quickly enough, all of the creatures began shrieking violently. Their middles split open to reveal gaping maws filled with teeth that looked like literal razors, complete with a metallic gleam. Some of the creatures had specks of dark red on their fangs, something that would’ve made Twilight gag any other time, were she and Trixie not screaming themselves.

The dome of smoke-beasts rapidly turned into a storm of darkness and teeth. Twilight felt a number of those teeth cut her skin in various places, though they were too fast to pinpoint, and she was too panicked to check the damage. She tried blasting the creatures with her magic, but her bolts went right through them, agitating the monsters more than anything else.

Just as she was sure she was about to be eaten alive by a swarm of nameless smoke creatures, she felt a hoof fall on her shoulder and pull her away, dragging her through the storm of black. She briefly struggled against before being thrown out of the swarm. A thunderous boom echoed, silencing the demonic howls of the beasts.

Panting heavily, Twilight looked around frantically. She was in what looked like a massive foyer of some kind. Was this the inside of the castle? But how…?

“Trixie!” she exclaimed suddenly. She turned to see her best friend lying back against a massive set of doors, panting exhaustedly and covered in countless scratches and bite marks, not doubt from the creatures outside.

“The door is replaced with a wall!” the azure mare said between heavy breaths. The door suddenly went from carved oak to solid marble, hopefully capable of keeping those monsters out. Twilight quickly helped her friend back up to her hooves.

“What in Tartarus were those things?” she asked, eyeing the place where the door used to be.

“Night Terrors,” Trixie answered almost immediately. When Twilight gave her a questioning look, she said, “I mean… the scroll only ever mentioned the Night Terrors when talking about creatures that live in the Dreamscape.”

“Right,” Twilight said skeptically, though she didn’t press it any further. “Well, I think we’ve seen enough of this place. Let’s just try to get back home.”

“No,” Trixie said in a sudden, very adamant tone. “N-not just yet. We should be safe from the Terrors for now, so why not explore this castle a bit?”

“Trixie—”

“Twilight, this whole thing was your idea. What kind of trend-setting genius explorer/mage would you be if you gave up after one little unforeseen encounter?”

“We could’ve died out there!”

At that, Trixie cringed, then hung her head, as if ashamed. “I… I know, but…” She hesitated. Twilight, with a mix of curiosity and concern, placed a hoof on her shoulder. Her friend seemed at least a little comforted by that. “This place is just… I don’t know. Something about it is… it’s hard to explain, but I feel like this place is… natural?”

“What do you mean?”

Her shoulders rose in a shrug. “I don’t know. It’s weird. I just want to take a look around for a while, see if we can find out anything interesting about this place. Is that all right?”

Twilight thought on that. On one hoof, those Night Terror creatures were more than likely scratching at the walls, looking for any kind of point of entry. She definitely didn’t want another run-in with those things. However, on the other hoof, they still had a whole world to study and document as best they could. The Dreamscape was a place unlike any other, one that likely only a tiny hoofful of ponies have ever seen, or even heard of.

Trixie was giving her an almost pleading look. That was completely unlike the bright blue unicorn. It was jarring, even. Inevitably, Twilight heaved out a sigh of defeat and nodded.

“I guess it couldn’t hurt,” she said, earning a sincere smile of gratitude from her friend. Deep down in her gut, Twilight had a feeling she was going to regret this. Maybe it was just jitters from the Night Terrors. There was probably nothing to worry about.

Right?

-o-

The two mares continued to walk down the unadorned halls of the dream castle, hoping to find more than marble hallways and none of the vicious Night Terrors. Their hoofsteps echoed down the hall, which only sounded louder as they walked in silence. Twilight kept a curious eye on the unusually quiet Trixie. The blue unicorn walked in a blank silence; whatever was plaguing her thoughts right now, it took her full attention.

After what seemed an hour of walking, Twilight spoke up. “So, what are you thinking about, Trixie? I haven’t seen you so preoccupied in a long time.”

The other unicorn continued on, apparently not having heard her.

Twilight frowned faintly. “Trixie,” she said more intently.

Trixie’s head snapped back in surprise. “Hmm? What’s wrong, Twilight?”

The purple unicorn looked to her friend in concern. “Are you alright? You’ve been unusually quiet for a while now. It’s not like you.”

The other mare lowered her head. “Sorry, just… thinking.”

They turned down another featureless hallway. “Do you… want to talk about it?”

Trixie’s silvery locks swayed when she shook her head. “I would if I knew what I was thinking about.”

Twilight flicked her tail in irritation. “How does that even make sense? How can someone not know what they’re thinking about? It shouldn’t even be possible.”

Trixie shrugged helplessly. “I don’t know… I just don’t.”

Twilight sighed. “I guess.” She looked around the stone halls with a frown. “I hope we find something soon. We haven’t seen anything but boring stone walls since we got in here.”

Trixie peered down the hallway. “There has to be something at the end of this, right?”

It was Twilight’s turn to shrug. “I hope so.”

The two walked on for a bit more in silence before Twilight’s thoughts drifted inward. Despite their close call with the Night Terrors, their venture into the Dreamscape was rather uneventful. That wasn’t to say making it to the Dreamscape wasn’t an accomplishment in and of itself, but she had hoped for more. She wasn’t sure what that “more” was, but she felt there should’ve been more to see. If she had come alone, she wasn’t sure how things would have worked out with the Night Terrors. Having her best friend along not only saved her life, but gave her someone to share her experience with.

Twilight turned a fond smile to the blue unicorn, though the other didn’t notice. Twilight and Trixie were the best of friends during their foalhood. They had done many things together growing up, and when they had earned their cutie marks, the two had turned their talents into some fun and interesting times. One such misadventure in particular crossed her mind, and she couldn’t suppress a chuckle at the thought.

Trixie looked at her curiously. “What’s so funny?”

Twilight chuckled again, her smile growing. “Nothing. I just remembered something, that’s all.”

Seeing Twilight’s expression, Trixie couldn’t keep her own grin from growing. “What is it?”

Twilight’s eyes sparkled in mirth. “Do you remember all the experiments we tried after we got our cutie marks?”

The blue mare blinked before chuckling at the old memories. “I remember the ones that didn’t work out so well. We got in trouble more often than not.”

“Exactly. But do you remember when we started experimenting with illusion magic?”

Trixie wasn’t sure if she wanted to smile or wince at the memories. “Which ones?”

“Remember when we tried altering mane colors?” Twilight found it was very hard to keep her laughter in.

Trixie snorted out a laugh. “You don’t mean…?”

Twilight nodded quickly. “Yes: the time we talked my brother into letting us practice on him.”

“We dyed his mane a neon pink, and only found out later the spell didn’t wear off for a week.”

The two shared a deep laugh, tears of mirth forming around their eyes. “I just remember how mad he was. It was his first week on duty as a royal guard, and he was so embarrassed he never took off his helmet once the whole time.” She took in a deep breath to calm herself. “He was so mad at us!”

The blue mare also got her giggles under control. “He wanted to kill us, if I remember correctly.”

An enraged shout caused both mares to whirl to the source. Twilight’s eyes widened in shock. “Shining?”

Behind them stood Shining Armor, dressed in his full guard armor, glaring at the two angrily.

Twilight sputtered. “Shining, what are you doing here? How did you get—“

He glared fiercely at her. “How could you!?”

She stepped back in reflex. “Shining, I—“

“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?!”

Even Trixie was taken aback by rage in his tone. “What is the matter with you?”

He turned his glare on her. “Both of you did this?”

“We—”

“This!” He ripped off his helmet, and instead of the two-tone blue mane they were used to, they saw his mane was a bright pink. “I’m gonna kill you both!” The stallion shot a bolt of magic at them.

Twilight barely dodged the bolt before she yelled at her brother. “Shining Armor! What has gotten into you?!” She ducked a second beam and felt Trixie pull on her.

“Run, Twilight!”

“But—”

“Just run!” The two turned and fled, the enraged, pink-maned Shining Armor in hot pursuit.

They turned down another hallway, dodging bolts of energy aimed at them.

“Twilight! Why is your brother trying to kill us?!” Trixie yelped as she hopped over a beam aimed at her.

The other unicorn ducked under a beam aimed at her, singing the tops of her mane. “I don’t know! He—” Her eyes widened. “The Dreamscape!”

“What?” Trixie yelled as she erected a bowl-shaped barrier that rebounded a beam back at Shining Armor. The stallion placed his own barrier up, and the bolt burst into harmless sparks.

“It’s the Dreamscape!” Twilight looked around frantically. “There is a door here!”

At her words, a set of double doors appeared, and she wasted no time in kicking them open as Trixie kept the hostile bolts of magic at bay. “In here!” She grabbed her friend and pulled her into the conjured doors.

As soon as she slammed them shut, she yelled. “Then the door was gone!” On cue, the doorway vanished, leaving no indication that it was ever there.

The two tried to slow their breathing, before Trixie sighed in relief. “What did you do?”

Twilight wiped the sweat from her brow. “I theorized that the Dreamscape responds to our spoken words. When we talked about what we did to Shining, it made him real based upon what we said.”

The blue mare looked at her incredulously. “So, when I said he wanted to kill us, the Dreamscape made an equinicidal Shining Armor to kill us?”

“Remember what you did at the entrance? This only proves it.”

Trixie sputtered before shouting to the rafters of the hallway. “You don’t have to be so literal!”

“We need to move before—” The wall behind them blasted inward, showing them with bits of stone and mortar. They looked through the dust to see Shining Armor standing over them. His eyes blazed in fury as he glared at them.

The magic around his horn began to glow fiercely. “Any last words?” he growled.

“My brother would never hurt me!” She raised her forelegs up with a squeak of fright as he charged his horn.

When the blast never came, she peeked at him slowly to see him smile down at her warmly.

“Twily, are you all right?”

They both breathed in relief. “I can’t believe that worked,” Trixie said.

The stallion then turned his enraged glare at her, his horn charging again.

“Twilight!” Trixie called frantically.

“Us! He wouldn’t hurt us!” she amended.

Before either could react, they found themselves wrapped up in a tight hug. The stallion nuzzled at Twilight’s mane affectionately.

“I love you guys,” he said, hugging them all the tighter.

They both struggled under his loving, yet crushing, hug. “Okay, Shining, you can go away now,” Twilight uttered.

In a flash, the conjured Shining Armor vanished; leaving the two thoroughly confused mares behind.

Trixie looked at her with a look of disbelief. “That was all it took? Just to tell him to go away?”

Twilight got back to her hooves, and helped her friend up. “I guess so. I should have thought of that sooner.”

“You think?” the blue mare grumbled.

Twilight used her magic to set her mane in its usual style after it was thoroughly mussed up from the nuzzling. “Come on, let’s keep looking. We have to find something at least.”

“Just no more stories. There are some that shouldn’t be mentioned again. Ever.” The two started on their way again, but not before Trixie smiled faintly. “Still, it was pretty funny to see your brother with a pink mane again. It looks good on him.”

Twilight chuckled and gave Trixie a sly look. “We’ll have to see if we can talk him into it again. I’m sure Cadance would love to help us out, too.”

The two shared a chuckle and continued down the hallway towards the castle’s center. All the while, they had no idea they were being watched.