Twilight lay sprawled out on her side, resting comfortably and cozy against the soft tall grasses in the lush meadows.
Luna had risen from her sleep after mere minutes, restless to move on. She felt strangely rejuvenated, elated. It was as though she had regained strength lost long ago, in the dead tainted woods of Nightmare's Birth.
The battle should have drained her to exhaustion, yet here she stood, pacing, filled with energy, certainty, contentment.
The Goddess of Night kept vigil over the sleeping Goddess of Magic, breathing a soft sigh. She must exercise patience, for Twilight Sparkle may be asleep for quite some time... at least a full day, possibly more. This was her first time in the Valley of Dreams, after all.
The Guardian of Dreams would bring any creature that entered its domain into a deep powerful slumber, drifting into powerful dreams of intense enlightenment and vivid epiphanies.
But Luna had been here before, long ago. It was through her own dreams that she learned the art of dream-walking, and so became Sentinel of Dreams for ponykind.
No, she would stand vigil, and she had to. For even in the waking world, the shape and patterns of these meadows kept altering.
From cozy glowing full-moon slumber, to a wild haze of spring color, the grasses around Twilight growing, then curling, then changing species entirely, gradually alternating between every form of grass. The process was hazy, blurry, only happening whenever Luna blinked, suddenly not in the same place again.
The meadow was filled with chirping frogs in the streams, and then loud shrieks of migratory birds, and then there were deer, and then there were bear, and winter and summer...
Luna simply let it be. A walker of dreams did not become confused by such magic so easily. She arched out her wing, serving as a canopy over Twilight Sparkle, as rain poured down from above, then snow, then a torrent of leaves...
Twilight dozed for an eternity in her mind, drifting amongst the stars. There were thousands of possible paths to take, so many possible lives to lead... but each one led back to the path of stars. To continue to drift in the dreams...
It seemed impossible to wake. The dream was too beautiful, too intricate. Or at least, too compelling.
Twilight Sparkle strode through an endless library, simultaneously. She scanned and researched each and every tome. Her knowledge grew and grew, until she felt she knew all things. Yet still there were more books that opened up into new worlds...
The Goddess of Magic felt a pained longing. A lonely wistfulness. There had to be a way. To make it all okay.
There was one piece of the puzzle, still missing...
The blockage of conceptualization, of comprehension, the shroud slowly lifted. Suddenly, everything fell into place.
Twilight found herself standing at the crux of realities, a star brighter than the rest, and from this vantage point, she peered out into the dark woods of dreams. Was that Luna? Or more shadows?
Twilight sought her path through those darkened woods, avoiding all the paths of sorrow and despair this time.
She stumbled upon a small grotto, with a ray of sunlight shining down, upon a book adorned with a big red heart, held aloft by thick gnarled roots. A shiver ran down Twilight's spine, a sudden epiphany, as she reached out for this final book, perceiving herself surrounded by the Eternal Library at the same instant, one and the same with the Everfree Forest around her.
Twilight Sparkle opened the last book, a window into Luna's heart...
“Even when I returned, even when I was physically reformed into Luna... I was still Nightmare Moon, in my heart,” Twilight heard her voice, pained with shame.
Twilight turned, and saw the Mare of the Moon beside her, eyes filled with tears and sorrow, appearing in the smaller paler form she took after her initial defeat as Nightmare Moon. Her body spoke of youth and innocence, yet her voice and tears were filled with sorrow of many years.
“My intent was to sabotage and desecrate your friendships,” Luna confessed, “To wreck havoc upon Equestria with unleashed beasts. I hated you all for what you did. For taking my power and my pride. I glowered and I steamed in my chambers, for days, weeks, pouring my passive contempt into the very air of Equestria.”
Luna knelt down before Twilight, the tears spilling from her eyes.
“Still a monster, deep inside, too selfish. Celestia must have felt my contempt, for she kept her distance, with a watchful eye, for many weeks. All that time, she was patient. Patient and perhaps afraid. I was not even trying to be the Princess I should be, the Goddess I must be. Not until shortly before my first Nightmare Night... a holiday befitting my monstrous nature. My shame is unbearable.”
Twilight suddenly reached out, squeezing Luna tight in her wings, nuzzling against her mane. “Luna, oh Luna! Of course I forgive you! I am not always a good pony myself either, you know. I've thought and done many terrible things. But we cannot keep clinging to guilt! You did no wrong once you returned to us, you resisted the temptation, and then you finally emerged a beautiful princess on Nightmare Night, your true self plain for me to see, to understand!”
Twilight softly licked Luna's cheek, reaching down to pet her soft pale mane, suddenly becoming darker, filling up with stars, twinkling and glowing brightly now. Had she been travelling amongst Luna's galaxies?
“We just have to learn our lessons and try our best,” Twilight continued. “Nopony is perfect, but everypony deserves love, and I will always love you, Luna. Because I understand you.”
Luna seemed overwhelmed with joy, growing back into her adult form, spreading wings wide, hugging close, nuzzling against Twilight's bosom. “Thank you, Twilight Sparkle. Your compassion gives me hope and strength.”
“I can say the same for you, Luna. Thank you. For your light, and your dark.”
Darkness and Light engulfed Twilight's mind then.
It was over.
Twilight Sparkle suddenly woke with a jolt, gasping for breath, eyes roving around the deliriously shifting landscape. It looked like a dream, and yet, somehow, she knew, this was a real place. The memories came crashing down. The tree spider, the mushroom bog, the great owl, the nightmare woods, and then, this place. The valley of dreams. The Everfree Forest. The Quest!
How long had she lingered in this place? It felt like eons...
“Ugh, I'm having trouble comprehending all that has transpired. It's simply aggravating!” she sighed heavily, shaking her head, her memories of reality and dream blurring together. “Luna, where are you? Are you alright?”
Twilight suddenly realized that Luna stood right beside her, the Goddess of the Night gazing up at the Moon. It glowed with a serene nurturing light, beyond the hazy glow of the meadow's dream aura. It seemed distant, unsure, because the sun was up there too, shining brightly. Was it sunrise or sunset?
“You are awake at last, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna whispered softly, casting her eyes downward. “I was afraid it would be some time yet before we spoke again." She breathed a soft sigh of relief. "Shortly before you awoke, I felt another weight lifting off my heart. I have defeated Nightmare Moon in waking life, to heal myself. Then you granted me forgiveness in dreams, to mend any lingering self-doubts. Perhaps I exaggerated how long I felt truly bitter about my defeat... but perhaps the memory of feelings can long outlast the actual feeling."
Twilight leaned against Luna's legs, happy to have her elder Alicorn as a watchful sentinel. “You forgive me too, right?” she asked suddenly, biting her lip. "For, well... my darker acts."
Luna leaned down and brushed a wing tip across Twilight's mouth. “Shh. You need not even ask. You have grown much since we began our Everfree journey.”
Twilight felt a glow of happiness and relief welling up inside... but then a pressing question popped up in its place. “We only just arrived in this meadow a few hours ago, didn't we?”
Luna shook her head. “Far longer than that...”
Twilight Sparkle felt herself tensing. “Oh no! We've wasted so much time here, how can we possib-”
Luna pressed a forehoof gently against Twilight's chest, calming the freshly agitated mare immediately. “Don't let yourself get worked up, Twilight Sparkle. You were asleep for exactly as long as you needed to be.”
Twilight breathed softly, closing her eyes, dizzy with the sleeping memories. “My dreams. They felt so vivid, so real... so painful.”
Luna nodded quietly. “In this sanctuary, even I cannot enter your dreams, not until you are ready to wake. Here, they are private, for only you.” She cocked her head to one side, staring down curiously. “I cannot help but wonder, what did you dream of?”
Twilight felt a sudden rush of many lifetimes that had transpired and faded away....
“I was... in a library... in the sky... above the Everfree Forest.” She looked up, beyond the haze of twilight. “I have no idea how it appeared on the outside, I was never able to get out. I was trapped... for hundreds of years.”
Luna, felt her breath slow, averting her eyes. “And did you find what you were looking for?”
Twilight laughed, looking at her own hooves, oblivious to the crickets and birds and whistling wind swirling around her, the constantly twisting landscape of relaxed tranquillity, a new cozy napping place with every blink.
“I became so tired levitating books that I would resort to holding them in my hooves. I became so alone, so sad. I felt vague visitations from you, from Cadance, from Celestia.”
Twilight closed her eyes, sitting down, a weight on her shoulders, momentarily. “I had an intense affair with one of my friends, that ended in a trail of poetic letters, and finally, a tragic acceptance. Honestly, I may have had every conceivable relationship with everyone I know... But it was all within the confines of the library. I would experience stories within that dream, dreams within dream...”
The Alicorn of Magic shuddered, wrapping herself up in her wings. “Yet each story would end, and then I would be so alone once again, amongst those endless corridors of bookcases, thousands of rows going in all directions... I kept wanting to know why I was trapped. I became convinced I had self-banished myself to that library. I couldn't figure out why...”
Luna reached out to gently pet a nearby bird, dozing in its nest in the grasses, perhaps experiencing a thousand dreams too. “Did you ever find out the reason you were trapped there?”
Twilight sighed thoughtfully. “Maybe, but I've forgotten it if I did. I'd rather think that I simply never found the answer, than lost it. In the end, I suppose it wasn't something in my control, since it was a dream here.. in this valley of dreams.”
Luna nodded quietly, scanning the horizon, watching the sun set and moon rise, ten times in a row.
Twilight closed her eyes. “A thousand lifetimes in that place. I lived in so many worlds, accessing them through the books... and some of the books were written by me too.”
Luna tilted her head to one side, her eyes glowing. “Seems you have gained enough knowledge to satisfy even you.” Twilight looked up at Luna, her face a mask of shock.
The Goddess of Night could not help but laugh. “So, do you now feel you have no need of this quest?”
Twilight Sparkle frowned at that. “I feel exhausted from knowledge-gleaning, for once, but... it was all self-contained knowledge, wasn't it? Things I already felt aware of, playing out in different patterns...”
Luna hummed softly. “Perhaps. And perhaps not. This sanctuary, this entire meadow... it is the guardian of dreams. It is here that I first learned how to walk among dreams. I slept for what felt like... well, possibly as long as being on the moon felt...”
Twilight Sparkle stared at Luna. “You learned how to dream-walk here? Then, why could you not enter my dream.”
Luna leaned close, whispering gently in Twilight's ear. “I said I couldn't do so until the end. That's because in this place, you must face your dreams alone. Just as I had to face my Nightmare alone.”
Twilight smiled, returning Luna's earlier gesture, gently touching the larger Alicorn's chest with her hoof. “Perhaps it was for the best then. But I do not know if I have really learned anything...”
Luna gazed across the fields of magical darkness and light, contemplating the possibilities. “The power I procured from sleeping here, it did not manifest all at once. It was a gradual learning process. Training seemed to continue for several dreams beyond those here. Thankfully never feeling like too many lifetimes though, unlike here.”
Twilight sighed heavily. “I suppose that makes sense. Even after that life-long dreaming, it seems I must still learn patience.”
“Do you wish for us to continue our journey? Or shall we return?” Luna questioned, turning to look back towards Equestria, so far away now... at least, she thought she was looking in the right direction.
Twilight laughed softly, staring up at the sunlit sky. Tall arching trees of an abstract nature reached overhead, its scent and sight alternating between various species of towering plants, as she breathed in the lovely scents.
“No,” she decided. “We should continue. I always want to push myself. To go further. There are two things I have learned in my dreams, or perhaps, been strongly reminded of...”
Luna looked out towards the blurry edges of the meadows. “Pray tell, what would that be?” she demanded, deeply curious.
Twilight just smiled and kissed Luna on the mouth.
Luna pulled back with a start. “Thou art not usually so direct!”
Twilight Sparkle laughed. So much joy billowed forth from her heart, tears streaming down her face.
Luna reached out with a wing, gently petting her friend. “Rush of feelings?”
Twilight nodded. “I am happy to be alive. I am happy to have you by my side. I know we can do this still. We can still take everything the depths of Everfree throw at us. Because you are here.”
The two Alicorns of darkness gently touched their horns together, eyes closed, as they stood in the ever shifting landscape of the valley of dreams.
Luna opened her eyes first, after perhaps an hour of blissful silence.
“We should leave now. Or we may dream awhile again,” warned the elder Alicorn. “Follow me, quickly.”
Luna's body blossomed into a dazzling glow of deep blue, a night light in the rapidly rustling landscape of half-realities.
The Goddess of Moon ran as fast as she could, her magical aura trailing behind. Twilight felt a powerful sense of déjà vu... how many times had she followed Luna's lead in the Everfree? Chasing after magical sprites, rushing through the nightmare woods, and now trying to find sure footing in this tranquil yet hypnotizing meadow of endless existence.
Twilight Sparkle felt a sudden urge, staring up at the moon. “I hope it is just an old pony's tale,” she remembered herself saying once, speaking it aloud again.
Without warning, Twilight spread her wings and leapt upwards, soaring up towards the moon, beating her wings as she rushed towards that distant, immense celestial body.
Luna stopped in her tracks, startled and surprised, and mildly irritated. “What are you doing? That's not the way out! I've tried flying before.”
{ Oh, but it is! }
This voice seemed to come from the moon itself... until Twilight splashed into its surface, a rippling pool of water in the sky, the moon fading into its depths.
This new voice, this old voice. Luna knew this being, too.
Suddenly, the blurring shifting landscape settled, a true dawn of rising sun appearing on the horizon. Luna found herself upside down... no, rightside up, standing on the true meadow, wondering if she flew down there to the sky, or if she fell, it all happened so quickly.
Luna stood on the shore of the pond, staring at the hazy blurry fading imagery of the moon. Slowly rising up out of the pool, she beheld Princess Twilight Sparkle, the younger Alicorn's eyes filled with swirling blue waters, her feet elegantly tiptoe upon a rising rippling column of water.
{ Your disciple has done well. She has found the seal, and broken it before you. Perhaps she can be a dream walker too. }
Twilight levitated aloft above the pond, her wings slowly floating in mid-air. Never had Luna seen the Princess of Friendship so tranquil... so possessed.
“Release her at once, Keeper of Dreams, or I forfeit my duty as Sentinel of Dreams!” Luna threatened, eyes glowing in anger. She would not tolerate this!
A melodious laugh echoed across her ears, Twilight gesturing graciously to cover her mouth, unable to hide the powerful mirth.
{ Twilight Sparkle is here of her own will. I speak through her of her own will. She has allowed it. Do you trust our word, daughter of moon? }
Luna folded her wings, the glow in her eyes fading, sighing heavily. “You are not capable of lying, at least not when you speak directly. Very well then.”
{ We trust you as well. It is good we have this mutual understanding. Your journey grows stranger and wilder, more potent and absurd. Magic is at the heart of this forest. You both will find it, at last. }
Luna took a step forward, a gleam in her eye. “Truly, Oracle of Dreams? We will find the deep secrets of the forest guardians, at last? The great power of Everfree?”
Twilight shifted in midair, putting a hoof against her cheek, smirking, even as her wings steadily beat, too slowly to support without the whirlpool's updraft from bellow.
{ You have defeated your dark half, not long ago, on the outskirts of my domain. You have freed the nearby woods of the darkness you cursed them with. For that alone I would grant you safe passage, but you have also brought this beautiful, amazing enigma into my presence. I have not been so delighted with a mortal for some time!}
Twilight Sparkle spread her wings wide, twirling in midair, bliss and joy in her smile. Luna could not help but blush at the naked delight. “So long as she is enjoying herself too.”
{ Do not be overprotective, daughter of moon. You know my possession comes with mutual acceptance and understanding. }
“So we may pass.”
Twilight bowed graciously in mid-air, then pressed her fore-hooves together and crossed her legs, a meditative pose.
{ Yes. It was lovely to feel your presence again, daughter of moon. You have grown more mature and more adorable over these centuries. I thank you for bringing the daughter of stars. I enjoy her powerful mind and spirit, immensely. But I cannot keep her, I dare not.}
Suddenly, the swirling waters faded from Twilight's eyes, catching herself for a moment as she levitated in midair, turning to stare down into the center of the whirlpool. She could not comprehend what she saw... but she knew it was the being that possessed her moments ago, that entrapped her here in this valley of dreams.
“You are a fascinating and beautiful being, and this merging of our spirits was quite intriguing I must admit!” Twilight gestured enthusiastically, and the rippling whirlpool seemed to churn in delight to Luna, unable to hear any reply now, no voice to carry it forth, speaking directly into Twilight's mind now.
{ That is one way to describe what has just transpired, and you are most certainly welcome for it! }
“Still," Twilight continued, grimacing in annoyance. "I'm still not sure I appreciate all that stressful dreaming I have done under your spell!"
{ Your dreams consisted of beauty and love too. Of knowledge and power. Enlightenment. There is potential pain and pleasure in all things. }
“Yes. That is true. Tell me, were my dreams entirely of my own creation, or did you meddle directly, beyond merely encouraging and enhancing the dreaming process?”
{ The very heart of this world moved in your mind, child of stars. You are a worthy guardian too. Both of you. }
Twilight began to get ahold of the difficult swirling air currents, levitating in much the same manner as when she was under possession, staring down into the sinkhole of the dream oracle. "Is there really any point in continuing this journey? This almost feels like an end to my quest for Everfree knowledge. After all, you seem capable of tapping into any and all dreams. Why wouldn't I just stay here, and learn from you?"
The waters swirled bellow, crashing against the shores of the pond, a mini monsoon generating, as giddy multifaceted laughter filled the air. Luna crept back, shielding herself from the spray of dream water.
{ The Valley of Dreams is but one step on the path of Everfree Enlightenment, young daughter of stars. You have learned all you can here, and there is much for you to discover still. You must continue forward, and find what else the stars hold for you! Farewell! }
A rushing geyser billowed forth, catching the two Alicorns in its clutches, gently setting them at the very edge of the endless meadows, before disappearing into thin air, the faint glow of the pond at the center, seemingly far far away.
Suddenly, it felt as though they were in true reality once more.
Twilight and Luna looked into each other's eyes for a time, deep in contemplation. “That guardian. I have never experienced or seen anything like that. It's power is absurd,” Twilight suddenly declared.
Luna laughed. “Oh, I suppose that was one of the more powerful Everfree guardians, yes.”
Twilight blinked. Only one of them? She wished to ask. She didn't feel in the mood to stress out just yet, though. “Were we just pawns, or did that... entity... just nudge us along?”
“You entered its pool, Twilight Sparkle. You broke its spell. To do that, you must have earned its complete acceptance and trust.”
Twilight looked out into the woods, sunlight beginning to creep between the branches. “Oh, I guess day is breaking, not falling. It was hard to tell before...” she gave a deep sigh, smiling ruefully. “It seems that I'm quite happy to be back in the dense claustrophobic forest, after all that endless dreaming.”
Luna leaned over and brushed her wing across Twilight's back. “Do you want to rest before we continue?”
Twilight laughed. “I've rested plenty. Let's continue our journey, please!”
Luna kissed Twilight on the nose. “Gladly. But this time...” she gently nudged Twilight forward, pushing her flank. “You lead the way.”
Twilight blushed heavily, her chest puffing with pride. “Thank you. I think I am ready now, for anything and everything these ancient woods can throw at me.”
Luna gave Twilight a pearly white grin, emboldening the younger Alicorn further. “Go forth then!”
Twilight Sparkle took off at a brisk trot, finding her footing easier than ever through the dense undergrowth, pressing on deep layers of leaves and fungi, of endless worlds deep underneath, and spreading high throughout the canopy above.