Chapter 8
Twilight found herself returning home to the safety of her castle as the moon began to make its ascent over the mountains. The remainder of the day had all but been forgotten spending time with her friends, all that is, except for one thing. She remembered the unwelcomed news of her duty to help raise the sun during the Summer Sun Celebration, something that in her focus on these recurring nightmares she let slip from her mind. Now the task returned to her like an unwelcome guest and at the worst time possible. It seemed only too convenient that her having to use large amounts of magic would coincide with a nightmare warning her of what would happen if she used too powerful of a spell.
“What if when I try to raise the sun I fail and end up burning Ponyville and killing my friends?” Twilight said as she teleported up to her room, not wanting to use her magic but feeling there was no choice to avoid others, “I know Princess Celestia and Luna will be there to help me with the sun, but what if something goes wrong? What if I hurt them too or worse and they can’t help me? I don’t think I’m ready to do this, not after what I know from these dreams. I don’t want to do this, but tomorrow I’m going to send Princess Celestia a letter saying that I can’t raise the sun with her. But what lie can I make up to convince her why I can’t? She’ll see right through what I say and know something is up, and then what will I say? There’s no way out of this for me. I’ll be seen as a liar and an ineffectual ruler or worse dangerous. But if being called that is what it takes to protect Ponyville from any danger that is what I’ll have to do!”
With the decision rooted in her mind and with a heavy sigh of hopelessness that there was no way to escape facing the issue, Twilight climbed into bed and fell asleep, hoping that this night would be the first night where no nightmares would rob her of sleep.
She found herself again in the burning nightmarish landscape with its smoke filled air, deadly consuming flames and the lifeless bodies of ponies she knew around her. Her eyes left the now dead Pinkie Pie as she saw to her horror the bodies of her friends there strewn about the road. She was the only survivor of what took place, and by all accounts she resigned herself to believe she was the cause. She began to wonder if maybe avoiding the events of the Summer Sun Celebration was enough. Would she still a week, a month or a year from then somehow cause this tragedy with her magic? She would have to leave Ponyville and her friends, even leave Equestria herself. Maybe she could be a hermit in the Everfree Forest, or travel somewhere new where her power was diminished.
“Twilight Sparkle,” a voice suddenly echoed from all around the lavender unicorn, snapping her out of her despair. She watched as the smoky skies parted and down descended Princess Luna, coming to rest before her.
“Princess Luna,” Twilight said struggling with what to say, “I…this nightmare… my magic…”
“Please be still,” Luna said calmly as she wrapped her wings around the frightened Princess, “I know what you are experiencing now. I watched you these many nights with your nightmares playing out. I’m sorry that I didn’t intervene sooner, but it is my principle to let the dreamer try and solve their dream first before intervening. It is like the saying goes: ‘Give a pony some hay and feed them for a day. Teach them to farm and then they will never be hungry again.’”
“Wait,” Twilight said, “You said this is my nightmare? But I thought it was…”
“A prophetic dream?” Luna interrupted, “Yes, I assumed that was what you would think having this dream recur so many nights. I take it that you read my book on the interpretation on dreams and read about prophetic dreaming, is that correct?”
“Yes, I did,” Twilight said.
“Twilight, dreams are very complex as no dream fits into a certain mold. Each dream is different just as each pony is different. I must say that I am sorry to have led you astray with the passage in the book. Perhaps then this wouldn’t have made the situation as bad as it is now. While there have been cases of royals receiving inspiration from dreams that they thought were delivered to them by some supernatural means, I am inclined to believe that these manifested themselves by the subconscious of the dreamer’s mind. Our minds are very powerful, especially as we sleep where we are no longer focused on everyday tasks. It is here where our minds can delve deep into our memories and our own magical sources and craft our dreams.”
“So you mean that this dream I created?”
“In a way yes,” Luna said, “Walk with me please.”
As the Princess walked along Princess Luna’s side she was still distracted by the nightmarish scene that was around her. Strangely Luna paid little heed to it.
“Tell me Twilight, do you have much experience is studying nightmares?”
“Only a little really, and certainly not as much as you,” she said in an honest tone.
“Twilight, you flatter me. Even I don’t know everything about dreams. I’m merely able to enter the dreams of others in the hopes of helping ponies overcome the nightmares. I cannot create dreams for them nor can I make them stop without the pony choosing to assist. But nightmares are at their most basic level a manifestation of our deepest darkest fears, augmented by events we experience in our waking life. Ponies create them, but there are times when nightmares then take a life of their own because a pony gives such experiences life.”
“So you’re saying that I’m letting this nightmare continue because I want it to? Forgive me for saying this Princess but that’s silly. I don’t want this dream to continue! It’s ruined my sleep and my energy and strained my friendships and my ability to plan events and rule!”
“True, your dream has taken quite a toll, but remember that dreams are mirrors of our deepest thoughts, and the fat that it keeps repeating each night with growing intensity means that your mind, whether you consciously know it or not, is trying to tell you something. That is why I am here to help.”
“Oh thank you Princess! If my mind hears the answer from you then I can put this horrible nightmare aside!”
“Unfortunately that’s not going to be that easy Twilight as simply making the dream go away. But I said I will help you resolve this dream, and I will make every effort to do just as I have with every other pony who has been tormented. So tell me Twilight, what do you see in this nightmare?”
Twilight felt upset that Luna couldn’t just wish the dream away, but she was willing to do anything if it meant breaking the cycle off nightmares, “Well, I see Ponyville in flames, my friends dead, and me as the only one alive and unaffected by the destruction.”
“And who do you think did this to the town you rule?” Luna said.
“At first I didn’t know, but then I realized it was me. I destroyed the town somehow and killed my friends with my magic.”
“How do you know it was you?”
“Because Pinkie Pie said to me before dying ‘You’ meaning it was my fault. Andd that’s why I’m afraid I might do something like this in my waking life, even by accident!”
“And there we have the reason,” Luna said with a satisfied smile, “it’s not about the destruction or the flames. It’s about protecting what matters to you most: your friends. All those times you faced danger you were able to save your friends and Equestria, but in your mind there is the painful truth that one day you may not be able to save your friends or others. On top of that I sense another fear tied to this one, am I right?”
“I’ve been thinking about that time when you, Princess Celestia, and Princess Cadence gave me your power and how I had a hard time controlling my magic. Even though that is done, I still remember how I couldn’t stop Tirek on my own and how I put my friends in danger! Even now I am Princess and that power has been restored to the three of you, I still think that somehow I might lose control. But I knew this was what my dream was about! How is this helping me?”
“Twilight, do you think you are dangerous?” Luna said after a few seconds of silence.
“Well yes…no… I don’t know anymore!”
“I’m not asking about whether you think that you can accidentally harm your friends as that fear is a burden that all ponies carry inside them whether they are farmers and shop owners or Princesses. I’m asking if you are afraid you will hurt them on purpose.”
“Of course not! I’d never hurt them intentionally!”
“I know that, but this proves a point. If you’re afraid that you’ll lose control and hurt your friends but you know you would never intentionally do it, then it comes down to one word: power. Believe me Twilight when I say power is important but it comes with responsibility. Some fear their power will be lost while others will feel that they will lose control of their power. Some treat power too lightly and lacking responsibility let power corrupt them, and that’s why I think deep down this is what your dream is about. Follow me.”
Luna walked through the burning town with Twilight until they stood before the towering monolith of the Castle of Friendship looming overhead. It wasn’t the cheery crystalline palace that she remembered it to be in the day but dark and foreboding in the night. The smoke and embers seemed to encircle it like a serpent but did not dare touch its walls. The dense smoke darkened the skies to the point that the moon above took on a blood red hue, bathing the castle in an eerie glow. But even with the smoke and moonlight the castle looked darker like enchanted to be unwelcoming. The Princess of the Night spread her wings and took flight as Twilight followed, scaling the dark structure until they flew into an open window.
“Luna, where are we going?” Twilight said as they plunged into darkness, the twisted halls and stairs barely illuminated by their glowing horns. The place looked aged and neglected like nopony had visited it before in a while.
“We are going to meet somepony,” Luna said solemnly as they stopped at a giant set of double doors that Twilight knew instantly was the throne room. As she opened the door she saw the light of the moon streaming down through the window, illuminating dimly her throne and to her surprise the silhouette of a figure sitting on it.
“Who are you?” Twilight said as she approached the throne.
“I am you,” a voice said that sounded like Twilight but was darker. The figure rose and approached, revealing an Alicorn that looked like Twilight but not quite. The other Twilight’s coat was darker, almost near black purple. Her wings were frayed and dirty and her mane and tail were unkempt. Her body looked worn down as if lack of sleep as the figure carried herself not dignified but depressed.
“Luna, why am I seeing me, this darker me?”
“I’ll say it again,” Twilight said in a more frustrated tone, “I am you, or more specifically, I will be you. I feared my power and feared that I would destroy my friends, so withdrew my magic and my help from others. Do you know what happened when I did that?”
Twilight was about to shake her head when a thought popped into her mind and she said, “Ponyville burned and my friends died.”
“Because I did nothing, my friends weren’t able to be saved because I wasn’t there to save them! If only I wasn’t stupid enough to see that I can’t control everything. Now I sit here, a Princess without a place to rule and no friends to come here. My castle has become a tomb, a memory of how things were. Will you promise me something Twilight?”
“Anything!”
“Don’t be like me. I know I’m you, but you need to understand that accidents will happen and we have been given great power becoming Princesses. But we can only control ourselves and what we do.”
“I promise not to lock myself away that I’ll try to use my power and position to the best of my ability.”
“That’s all I need to know,” the other Twilight said with a smile as she suddenly dissolved away as the lights went on in the throne room, no longer the decayed neglected state but how Twilight remembered it to be in the waking life.
“Congratulations Twilight,” Luna said, “You found your fear and confronted it. Remember, power isn’t something that you need to fear or hide away from the world once you have it, but as long as you use it effectively then you can do wonders. I too faced this same nightmare upon being restored.”
“You did?”
“Yes, I did. I was afraid that I’d hurt ponies again or succumb to the Nightmare again. I tried ignoring it but the nightmares still lasted. It was only when I reconciled that I had power and that I controlled my destiny, as you control yours.”
Luna looked at the space before adding, “It seems the dream is about to end, but I must ask you a question Twilight.”
“Sure,” Twilight said feeling better than before.
“Why didn’t you come to me when you had these nightmares before?”
“I was afraid that you or your sister would think I’m ineffective as a ruler or worse that I would be a threat.”
“Twilight, you need not rule alone. You have your friends to help you in Ponyville as you have Princess Celestia, Princess Cadence and myself as your friends as well. As Celestia said to me, ‘we were meant to rule together.’ Apart we are strong but together we will lift each other up and come to our aid. So next time you have something you cannot face alone, will you trust your friends and trust us as fellow rulers and friends to help you?”
“Absolutely!” Twilight said, “Thank you for everything Princess Luna.”
“Please Twilight, we are equals. Call me Luna.”
“Ok Luna,” Twilight said, “Let’s leave this nightmare behind.”
“I agree. I know you have much to plan tomorrow. You still plan to raise the sun with my sister, right?”
“I will be my honor,” Twilight said not giving it a second thought.
“Then we shall go forth,” Luna declared as the doors of the castle opened and the two stepped forth into the light of hope, the nightmare no longer threatening Twilight’s sleep. She knew that no matter what unforeseen accidents might happen she was not alone as long as she had friends.
The End!