//------------------------------// // Chapter 8 ~ There Are Dreams And There Are Dreams (V2) // Story: Lunarium // by Tramper //------------------------------// Princess Cadence had lived a hundred years ago, long before even Twilight’s father was born. There were many stories about her, but only the vaguest concerning the place she hailed from. These few told of her march all the way from the north down to Equestria. The strange thing about them was that in the far north, there existed not a single place that could sustain life. Some legends even spoke of unliving monstrosities who hibernated there, untouched by the fall of magic. Yet, this one filly had walked down from the endless wasteland and into Equestria. The legends said that she had disguised herself as a normal pony as she journeyed across the land. What sorry state she found her homeland in, it made her weep bitter tears. After she reached Canterlot, the disguised alicorn searched for audience with the administration of the country, those elected earth ponies and pegasi that were the first servants of the state. When the time finally came and she stood before all the ministers, she took off her cloak and recited the ancient equestrian laws, that when an alicorn arrived at the heart of the land, it was upon them to seize control of the country and bring forth harmony again. Twilight had read quite a few versions about the reactions of the ministers when the princess spread her wings for the first time. Most she knew from very funny picture books. They relented, however reluctantly, and Cadance, the first alicorn to appear since the demise of the old princesses, took the royal crown and the title that came with it. “Mi Amore di Cadenza, Princess of Equestria” took the reigns of a nation, despite not being a grown adult yet. No matter what opposition she faced, the young mare brought forth a small golden age for the land of Equestria. She made friends with everyone aside from the ponies in her own country. Even the griffons, after so many hundreds of years of fighting, welcomed her with open arms as she honored their fallen and promised to relinquish the colonies Equestria held on their land. She forged peace where the ponies lusted for war and created a stability in the realm that hadn't existed since the reign of the old princesses. Above all else, she nearly banished all corruption from Equestria. Many ponies wondered how she’d done that, how the country ran as smoothly as it did under her rule. So it appeared a sad truth that half of the work she had started remained unfinished by the time she died of a sickness that had been believed to have vanished from equestrian soil. Twilight had heard the tale a thousand time but never the continuation what had happened after the ministers took over again. Yet even she had heard voices how the country would look if Cadance had lived on a bit longer. Despite being frowned upon at first, Cadance became a hero years after she had died. However, the leaves fell from the tree as autumn came and Twilight would look out of the window of an Equestria ruled by voted politicians everypony knew to be corrupt. It made her feel bad to look at the outside, since the world where princesses lived and every being existed with harmony in their heart was not what she saw there. The streets were filled with trash, the houses were old and falling apart, and the ponies were angry and unsatisfied with their lives. Amidst it all, she was a mere small filly with the same sickness as the princess of love, the same thing that had nearly killed off every unicorn right after the death of the old princesses. She sat there, always looking out of the window, gulping medicine that wouldn't help, slowly dying away. That was what Twilight Sparkle dreamt of this time. She dreamt of herself looking out of the window, the empty hospital room all quiet. She dreamt of herself wishing to go outside to jump around and play beneath the trees and beside the houses. "Come on,“ she heard a white colt with blue mane say. "If you'd just get up, all our lives would get easier.“ "Come on,“ she heard her papa say. "Your brother was worthless, but you're smart. Smart ponies know how to stand.“ "Come on,“ she heard Trixie say. "I'll even help you.“ She reached out with her hoof, which was a first. All Twilight had had were books, but she didn't just want those anymore. So Twilight Sparkle took the hoof and then they stood amidst ruins and rubble, staring at the center of what had destroyed the once proud city of Canterlot. Rain fell hard on their shoulders, but this time Twilight Sparkle did not shiver. She looked at her lavender colored hooves, and felt the strength rile up inside her. She smiled, she could do this, just like back then. Before them rose a fissure from the air, with something clawing at it from the other side. Cracks grew in the sky, trying to shatter the wall in a new attempt at every passing moment. The sound created sounded like a hammer hitting a glass floor, the shards ramming themselves into her eardrums. The shrieking and howling that came from beyond the fissure was almost unbearable, but Twilight told herself that she could do it, even if it might have seemed impossible. To her sides stood five other ponies. She knew them now, each by name: Trixie, Octavia, Lyra, Derpy and Raindrops. She knew them even though they looked so different than before. Trixie with her azure coat, Lyra with her cyan mane, Derpy with her golden eyes and Raindrops with the blue mane. Only Octy looked not different at all, save for her cutie mark. Twilight smiled at the fissure and then bellowed something heroic, though she didn’t hear her own voice over the screaming and shouting that erupted from the oncoming tear. Nonetheless she jumped towards it. The rain still fell, leaving a cold mark on her coat. Drops fell into her eyes, making hard to see what lay before her. Despite it, almost as if it was beyond her control, her horn lit up. A warmth pulsated through her veins and she could feel how her head grew lighter, distancing itself from the world as the light grew. It was the sort of feeling she would’ve loved to feel forever. With a widening smile on her face and her confidence growing, she released the magic. Then, Twilight Sparkle woke, feeling colder than ever before. A hot water bottle was pressing against her chest and layers and layers of blankets covered her tiny body. Yet she felt as if she had just plunged into a frozen lake. Her teeth were chattering and she was shaking. The filly tried to roll herself into a ball again, as she did so often, but just the thought of moving felt far too tiring for her. It took a few moments, but she noticed that her stomach wasn’t roaring angrily, so she hadn’t spat out the food again. Having her hunger sated for once felt truly, truly great, yet it was about the only good thing she could get out of this situation. Heck, even the mobile was above her head again, even though those were for babies. She wasn’t a sunforsaken baby! Her heart was pounding though, and so she kept herself from moving as much as possible and, remembering Trixie, took calm breaths. This was all she could do, and so she calmed herself and looked at the mobile again. Twilight tried her best to take her mind off the cold, and the moving breezies and stars seemed the ideal solution. She only hoped that nopony would see her like this. Nevertheless, she had never felt this way upon waking up before. Usually she was cold and hungry. The nurses always said that the two symptoms were related, that her body hadn’t enough fuel to run on, but now she was colder than ever before. You're alive, huh? I knew you had talent, but I didn't think you had guts too. Twilight blinked, then felt a strange shudder run down her spine. Whatever this ghostly voice was, the fact that it resounded from the depths of her head made her feel uncomfortable, even though it didn't seem to have ill intentions. Maybe this ghost knew what had happened and why she had blacked out the way she did. She took a deep breath. "What happened?“ The world works according to rules, one of that rules is: No magic. Guess what you did yesterday? Magic. Twilight tried to turn towards the window, spotting the nightlight burning in the corner of the room. She could see past the curtains that it was dark outside, the kind of dark most of her dreary mornings had. Now she had two good things happening to her this morning. She had only slept through the night. Another morning with grey and black clouds in the sky, but it was her morning now. The cold was still horrible enough to make her long for another warm hug, but she felt a bit better now. Not only that, but that voice in her head existed meant something else. The ordeal with that strange world and the cotton candy clouds had been real. "Are you talking about this Magia thing? For a moment I thought that had only been a dream,“ she almost cracked a smile as she said that, silly filly that she was. There are dreams and there are dreams, Twilight Sparkle. One word can have different meanings. The world Magia resides in should only be a realm of fantasy, something the mind of only a most fearful creature could conjure up. The fact that you broke into it is quite insane. In its own right, you could call it a dream, but that was until you managed to get out. You woke up in this world, the real world and you managed to do the impossible. The truth is, you might have weakened the walls that hold up the reality of this universe. "What?“ Oh, Twilight Sparkle, I know this may seem like something a smart filly would already understand, but I want to tell you this secret anyway: Nightmare Moon isn't real, the monster under your bed is a fantasy and magic never really was a thing in this world. There followed a quiet moment. If Magia breaks from its world into this one, these things are going to be very real. And you can believe me, it's going to be far worse than cotton candy clouds with scissors when that happens. You need to listen to me. You need to get to the Lunarium, you need to- The voice said something else, but the door crashed open with loudest of bangs and suddenly a grey pegasus landed face first on the floor, groaning for a moment before she rose up with a, “I’m fine.” Yet again, Twilight found herself completely entranced in the other pony's eyes. Derpy simply smiled stupidly at her. Sure, enough, the filly got up quickly and ran over to Twilight, pushing her face close to the unicorn’s. "You're awake again!“ The obvious had to be stated and at that moment Derpy was the mare on the case. Still, Twilight nodded. Derpy still grinned and then retreated a bit before something new appeared out of nowhere right in front of Twilight’s nose. "Have a muffin.“ Twilight looked at the chocolatey delight that Derpy held out in front of her. She hadn’t seen that thing on Derpy before, had she missed it? "Wha–How?” Twilight asked, mouth agape, but Derpy only smiled. “Uhm … thanks?” She took the thing and weighed it in her hooves. It was one of the same kind as she had eaten yesterday, but it was cold now. She figured that Derpy must’ve hidden it away, because taking food from the table wasn’t something that was allowed. "You suddenly collapsed, everypony was worried, you know,” Derpy suddenly said. “It’s neat that you’re fine though. Raindrops’ bed is probably really comfortable, since she usually doesn’t like sleeping without that mobile above her head, or without a nightlight, but she’s fine now. She slept with mommy!“ That filly could talk, Twilight noted as Derpy took a breath only after finishing. Also, Raindrops? She tried to remember who that was, thinking about the dinner. The black, quiet pegasus? This was her bed? She still slept with a mobile? Twilight wondered if it was a normal thing then. Nevertheless, she'd taken up space, hadn't she? “I’m sorry,” she said instinctively. It was always the same, at home or even at the hospital. She always inconvenienced others with her sickness, it was the most annoying thing ever. "It's no problem, that's how Octy started to live here, too. She collapsed, although she didn't came from a hospital, and it was because she was red all over, her zello-“ "Cello,“ Twilight corrected immediately, like the smart little filly that she was. "Jello, that's what I said. Anyway her jello was without a scratch, though.“ Twilight remembered Octavia as the little filly who had tried to walk with her nose so high she hadn’t been able to see her own four hooves. It must’ve been a normal thing for her to just fall down on her nose. However, Twilight wondered why Octavia had been red when she collapsed. The answer came to her quickly: She must’ve been painting! That kind of stuff happened when you painted. Like when Shining had showed her hoofpaint for the first time. In the end most of the colors had ended up on their respective coats and her papa’s laughter still warmed her heart. It must’ve shown on her face. "Why're you laughing?“ Derpy asked as a slight giggle escaped from Twilight. "No reason.“ The grey pegasus seemed displeased with that answer,"You can tell me.“ "You wouldn't understand.“ "Tell me!“ she insisted, puffing her cheeks up like it made her look more intimidating. It didn’t. Twilight just huddled up beneath her blankets and started eating the muffin. Even if she would want to tell Derpy, the truth was that she had no way of describing how her father had laughed, nor of why something so simple made her so happy. The other filly still insisted on being told why Twily had giggled, but Twilight felt her attention shift the moment another party stepped into the room, a small white filly with a grin so wide and so painful. Lyra looked like her usual self this morning but Twilight noticed that her steps were a bit more careful on the ground, she was almost on the tips of her hooves as she moved forward. Twilight wanted to wave at her, but Lyra gestured her to stop. The unicorn blinked in wonder, and Derpy still insisted. Step by step Lyra closed in, as quiet as a shadow. Twilight’s head held no idea what this was about, at least not until Lyra suddenly moved her hooves under Derpy’s arms. “Surprise tickling,” the unicorn declared, the quick movement eliciting a squeal of laughter from the surprised victim. Derpy broke down laughing and tried to kick her assailant off, but Lyra didn’t stop. Their squabble brought forth another smile from Twilight, which was quickly noticed by Lyra, who stopped her attack to have a good look at her. "You're fine again,” she said, as forcefully happy as she could be. Meanwhile, Derpy’s laughter became smaller and smaller, and she tried to play as dead as possible, as to not make Lyra turn her attention back to her. Twilight used the chance to answer. “Yeah, thanks. I’m a bit cold, but Derpy got me a muffin and it’s a little better now.” Lyra blinked, turning her attention back at Derpy, "I thought all the muffins were gone?“ Derpy just scrunched her face and looked into two different directions. Then again, she always looked into two directions. Considering how little of an answer that was, Twilight merely shrugged. “It must’ve been the last.” That wouldn’t have been too weird, and Lyra seemed to accept it too, but said nothing against Derpy taking food away from the table. If not she, then Hugh Jelly, he’d be furious, Twilight was sure. There followed a dead silence, as Lyra shuffled around, moving a bit away from Derpy. Her eyes were back on Twilight and she also opened her mouth a few times. It was the strangest thing, as she seemed to struggle with the words. "Anyway, I wanted to tell you something important.“ Twilight tilted her head. "What?“ For a moment Lyra hesitated, she was clearly trying to remember something. Maybe Hugh Jelly had told her to tell Twilight something. Maybe it was a lecture, maybe it was that she should leave the house, maybe he didn’t like having another unicorn in his house, or somepony as sick as her. He’d seemed so nice, too. "You slept right through another earthquake.“ The first thing Twilight thought, against all odds, was that this sort of news wasn’t so bad. Just another earthquake. Sure, it seemed to have happened rather quickly after the last one, but that didn’t mean anything special. Sometimes earthquakes happened, it was just a thing and Twilight really couldn’t understand why Lyra was struggling for words as much as she did. Weird, how at that very moment she thought of someone telling her to go to the Lunarium, whatever that was, whyever they had told her that ... "They say half the city collapsed, too.“