//------------------------------// // Chapter 15 // Story: These Dreams // by lorettafox //------------------------------// Twilight was awaken when Cadence shook her after they had fallen asleep for an hour. "Twilly, are you alright? You must have had a nightmare because you were crying in your sleep." stated Cadence. "I was?" Twilight questioned. "You kept calling out please don't hurt him! as well. Something troubling you, Twilight?" asked Cadence. "No, I'm fine. It was just a nightmare is all." Twilight spoke. "Let's head back to the castle. We have to get ready for the opera at the Magic Theater, right?" Cadence stood on her hooves. "I guess you're right. We should best head back to the castle." ------------------------------------------- It was later in the day and Twilight was all ready for the opera that night. She walked outside to where her brother was training the newest recruits to the royal guard. "Now, what would you do if the castle came under attack?" shouted Shining Armor. "Protect the princesses!" the recruits shouted back. "Right! Now, you fillies are gonna run around this castle! Now!" he shouted as the recruits left. "That ought to keep them busy for awhile." he laughed. "Hey, Shining Armor!" shouted Twilight. He turned around and smiled at his little sister. "Hey there, Twilly! Haven't seen you all day today! Hanging out with Cadence today?" Twilight smiled. "We just went to breakfast, did some shopping, and spent a little time in the park. We're gonna head out to the opera in just a little while. I just wanted to see what you were up to is all." "Just training the newest recruits. What opera are you seeing with Cadence?" he asked. "Wicked. It's my favorite!" smiled Twilight eagerly. "I know that." he laughed. "You have talked about it aplenty before." "It's wonderful. Even Elfie has a forbidden romance with Fieryro, it's so romantic. Shining, what do you think about forbidden romances?" asked Twilight. "What are you asking such an odd question? Are you in one?" Shining Armor asked. "What? Oh no! I was just asking what you thought of the plot device of forbidden romances like the one in Wicked." Shining Armor wanted to say he knew about Discord, but he promised Princess Celestia that he wouldn't say anything about it to Twilight. "Oh. I was worried for a moment you might be going out with some stallion that may be worse than that Passion Heart!" Twilight flared her hooves in protest. "Oh no, no, no! I've also re-read Wicked again and was just curious about what you thought is all. I'm not with any pony that is anything like that jerk Passion Heart! I'm still single, BBBFF!" Twilight smiled though she wished she didn't want to lie to her own brother. Shining Armor faked a breath of relief. "I'm glad to hear that, Twilly." he smiled lightly as he saw Cadence come walking up. "Hey there, dear!" "Hi dear. Do you like my outfit for the opera?" Cadence asked as she showed off the simple purple dress she was wearing. "You look fantastic. A very simple contrast." he smiled. "I need to discuss something with you when you get back, Cadence." Cadence looked at him in worry. "Oh no. Has something happened?" "It's not too big of a deal. Just a simple matter that we need to talk about is all." Shining Armor said, sounding as confident as he could. "What's wrong, Shining?" asked Twilight. "It's nothing, Twilly. Just some husband and wife matters is all. No big deal." he stated. "I'm glad it's just a simple matter, is all." Twilight said when a voice was heard behind her. "Shining Armor, may I have a word with you?" asked Princess Celestia when she spotted Cadence and Twilight. "You two look wonderful for the showing of Wicked tonight! You two will have a most wonderful time!" "Thank you, Tia." smiled Cadence. "If you both will excuse me, I need to speak with Shining Armor in private about a very important matter." Celestia smiled. "Come along Twilight, let's grab a snack before we head out to Wicked." Cadence said as Twilight followed her to the kitchens, leaving Celestia and Shining Armor. "Have you told Cadence yet about the matter at hoof?" she asked. "Not yet, your majesty. You told me not to say anything until after Twilly and her went to the opera." said Shining Armor. "Good because I must tell you what I have finally thought of how to purge Discord from us and not break Twilight's heart." "How so, Princess?" "They both must be put under a sleeping spell." Shining Armor panicked. "But, Princess, you can't do that to her! She hasn't done anything wrong!" Celestia sighed. "I know she hasn't but I also don't want her to suffer a broken heart when I thought of a way to stop Discord from causing any potential problems for us. This was the only situation to the problem at hoof without hurting either of them." "B-But what about me, my family, and her friends, Princess?" Celestia's eyes began to tear as she spoke her next sentences. "I wish I didn't have to do something like this, but it is the only way that Equestria won't be any under any chaotic harm and she is not unhappy. I know it'll have a devastating toll on you and everypony else, but this is the only way I could do it." "She'll be asleep with him forever then." "That is where you are wrong, Captain. I plan to only put the couple under the spell for a few years only so I may in that time change the public's thinking on Discord and have them also have no problem with their relationship when they awake again. I couldn't let them sleep forever." "H-How long exactly, Princess?" "I was thinking a three year span. It would be enough time for Luna and I to change the public's opinion in that time. I wish I could shorten the time span, but any shorter would not give us enough time in case there may be any setbacks during then." Shining Armor sighed. "Are you sure this is the only way, Princess?" A tear dropped from Celestia's eye. "I'm afraid so. I will inform your family and Twilight's friends tonight of the grave news and have them come to the castle after Twilight goes to bed tonight. I will perform the spell tonight with Luna's help." Shining Armor spoke in protest. "W-Why tonight?" "I don't want it to be tonight either but it has to be so that Equestria won't get harmed any sooner. Captain, I want you to go to Wicked with Cadence and Twilight. They haven't left yet. Spend time with Twilight before she has to leave the waking world." "B-But what about the recruits, Princess?" "I will have second in command train them for tonight. You must spend time with Twilight. You need to also tell Cadence of what is to happen as well." Shining Armor looked at the ground sadly. "I wish she wasn't in love with that creature and none of this would have to happen. But, Equestria's safety is more important than my own feelings on the matter." "I know it hurts, Shining Armor, but this fate had a silver lining. Twilight will come back and she'll be the same as she was today. She shall not age nor will anypony but time will still pass as it still does. It's not as bad as it seems even though it does hurt. Everything will be ok, Captain. I can promise you this. Now, go join Cadence and Twilight for one last time." Shining Armor gave Celestia a sad smile. "Thank you, Princess for caring about my sister. It does mean alot to me." "I care for all my subjects, Shining Armor. She will return on this day in three years time. Now go, before they leave and you must inform Cadence on this matter. I will inform your family and friends while you three are out. Now go!" Celestia said as Shining Armor ran past her as Cadence and Twilight walked out. "To Wicked!" Twilight said eagerly. "Cadence! Twilight! Wait!" he shouted. "What is it, dear?" Cadence asked. "I want to come with you lovely mares to the opera tonight. Spend some time with my favorite mares." Shining Armor said with a heavy heart. "I thought you had to train the new recruits, dear?" said Cadence. "Celestia informed me that she was going to have second in command do it for me. She wanted me to come with you both. When does the play begin?" he asked. "An hour and half. I like getting to places a little early." Twilight smiled. "Oh, it seems we have a little time then. Cadence, I need to talk to you in private. Right now." he said sadly. "What's the matter?" asked Cadence as she and Shining Armor walked to a corner, away from Twilight and out of her earshot. "Shining Armor, what's the matter? You look like somepony told you lost somepony." "We are losing, somepony. We're losing Twilight." he said. "What do you mean we're losing, twilight? I know she's heading back home to Ponyville tomorrow but we can visit her whenever we want to." "It's not that. You remember Discord or his invasion? Well, he's been freed." "What?" Cadence panicked. "We have to tell Twilight and Celestia immediately!" "Cadence! They both already know." "If Discord's been freed, why haven't we seen any traces of his magic or even heard about it?" "That's because Twilight has been containing him in her bedroom. Celestia informed why she was sleeping that entire week as well." "Why so?" "It's because Discord had been visiting Twilight in her dreams. He still was able to send a small portion of his magic to her through her dreams. In those dreams, he...he..." Shining Armor stuttered. "He what?" asked Cadence in slight panic. "What did Discord do?" "He was able to make Twilight fall in love with him without the use of his magic. Just simple romantic techniques." Cadence gasped in shock. "I was feeling an odd love feeling coming from her but I didn't think it was for him! I thought she was just crushing on a special pony that she was just to just to say something about." Shining Armor sniffled. "But, Celestia is worried that he may recreate chaos with Twilight by his side and has informed me that she must put Twilight and him under a sleeping spell so that Twilight won't have her heart broken in the process and Equestria can be safe from possible chaos." Cadence began to tear up at the thought of losing her new baby sister. "B-But, Tia can't do that do her! She hasn't done anything yet!" "I know it hurts Cadence but Celestia told me that she is only making the spell last for only three years. In addition to that, she's also casting an anti-aging spell on all ponies in Equestria until she reawakens once more." "What about her friends? Our family?" she asked as tears fell down her cheeks. "Celestia is going to explain it to all of them while we are out. You must dry your tears Cadence and try to pretend I said none of this to you. Just have a good time with Twilly and don't think about this. I know it's hard but Celestia doesn't want Twilight to know. She doesn't want Twilight to worry." Cadence wiped her eyes with one of her hooves. "I'll be strong, dear. I'll be strong." "I'll be strong as well because after tonight, I don't know what will happen." said Shining Armor. They turned around to see that Twilight was on her back, laughing her head off about something. "S-Stop that! I'll get caught like this!" she laughed aloud. "Twilly?" Shining Armor spoke with all his strength. Twilight looked at him in surprise. "T-There was a bug on the ground and it began crawling all over me. It's nothing." she spoke quickly. "How about we get going? We don't want to miss any second of Wicked, do we?" she smiled. "Let's go!" Twilight said happily as the three began walking to a carriage. The three arrived at the Magic Theater where Wicked was housed and was playing within the hour. Twilight walked over to the concession stand and grabbed three apples for the three of them. She walked back and hoofed over the two apples to Shining Armor and Cadence. "Thanks, Twilly." said Shining Armor. "Thanks a lot." smiled Cadence. "No problem. An apple before any show is always great!" Twilight smiled as she bit into the apple. "Mmm! Juicy!" "Excuse me, I need to use the restroom before we take our seats." said Cadence as she walked towards the restrooms. Twilight walked to throw her apple core away when she walked head first into somepony's chest. "I-I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there!" She looked up to see had crashed into Flam! "Hello there, Miss Twilight. I thought I might find you here tonight." "Hello there, Flam. Apple cider still doing ok?" she asked. "Still as great as ever!" he said as he touched his moustache. "That's wonderful. I'm glad you and your brother have become honset workers now and are no longer scamming saleponies." "We learned our lesson after we tried in Manehattan. Wasn't a pretty scene either." "I'm sure it wasn't." Twilight laughed when she felt a presence at the touching the bottom of her hooves. It had to be Discord; he probably wanted to make sure nothing happened to Twilight like the last two times. She noticed the presence also seemed to be on her mane, as if it were stroking her head in an affectionate way. She could sense his presence was relaxed, but just a tad jealous by the way it was wrapped around her hooves. "Twilight, ever since that day you came to the Lunarian theater, I realized something after you bought some of our cider." "What's that?" she spoke as she felt his presence seemed to move from her hooves to her shoulders. It laid on her shoulders like an arm would, protective-like. She could tell he was becoming jealous as she had a feeling what Flam just might say next. "I realized that you are the nicest mare I met in a long time. I think I like you Miss Sparkle." he smiled. "That's really kind but I really already like somepony else." she spoke when she felt his presence. It was off of her but she could still feel it as it traveled up. She glanced upwards as she saw something like a pot starting to form in the air. Uh-oh. She better do something quick! "Flam, look out!" she yelled. She pushed him out if the way when a flower pot "mysteriously" fell from above. She glanced over and saw the pot was filled with Poison Joke. Discord did have some jealously issues, that was definte. She was now on top of him, her hooves on his chest, his moustache now tickling her nose that she was so close to him. Cadence returned when she caught sight of Flam and Twilight. She also took notice of the flower pot away from them, Poison Joke lying in the mess. Discord must have sent the flower pot, it would make sense. Not wanting to let Twilight to know she knew about them, she faked a happy smile. "Twilight, I didn't know you liked somepony!" she said as she faked a happy squeal, sounding like an authentic squeal. Shining Armor immediately took Cadence's approach. "He seems like a nice stallion." Twilight got off of Flam and blushed. "Oh no no no! I saw a pony from upstairs with a flower pot when she fell and dropped it over the railing. He would have been hit had I not done anything." she smiled. "Oh, you don't like this young stallion?" asked Shining Armor. "He's a friend of mine, yes, but I don't need somepony at this moment." she lied. "Oh." Cadence said with a smile. "I didn't notice the mess of flowerpot right there at first." "It's ok." said Twilight as she looked at Flam. "No hard feelings, Flam. You'll find the right mare for you." "I'm glad you were at least understanding, Miss Twilight. Perhaps I'll see you around Canterlot?" "When I return again from Ponyville." she smiled before she turned to her siblings. "Let's take our seats, shall we?" she said as she walked towards the seating area. "Let's." said Shining Armor. 'If she ever even leaves Canterlot, that is.' he thought to himself as the three walked to their seats.