Dreamweaver

by Revenant Wings

Chapter 4 - Royal Confessions

Twilight was busying herself with the astronomy book she had received from the town hall’s book donations. She enjoyed flipping through pages of star charts, looking at the constellations Luna had placed in the sky, then going out in the evenings to find them herself. It was like the children’s game of “I spy”, searching around the stars to find the constellations as they appeared in the sky. Twilight enjoyed it and found it good fun, writing down the angles and coordinates of constellations she particularly enjoyed the look of.

Right now, it was midday. Twilight was going through the books she had received from the donations, looking through them both for content and for any problems with them that she might have to take to have fixed, either with reparations with the cover or binding or any torn pages that were small enough to be mended. She finished with the astronomy book and put it aside for later; it would be available on the shelves, but she liked putting some of them aside to look through them once more “just to make sure there was nothing I missed”; in reality, she wanted to have a few days with the book all to herself without anyone bothering to borrow it. Any particularly good ones she would later order for her personal library.

Twilight was thankful for the peace and quiet, too. Derpy the mailmare had come around with the mail that morning and Spike was off helping Rarity with digging up gems, so she had a long period of time all to herself. Twilight loved these days, setting herself up with a sandwich with market-fresh produce and a glass of apple juice from Sweet Apple Acres and sitting with her book and her lunch on the patio. She closed the library for an hour at that time and relished the relative silence she had – Ponyville itself was busy with life as it usually was, but it was a quaint feel and didn’t disturb Twilight in the slightest. Not like the boisterous and noisy crowds of Canterlot, who caused her to relocate to somewhere quiet every time she wanted to read.

Twilight had just started with the fourth book from the donations before a knock came at the door. Twilight sighed and brought in the remainder of her lunch (Rainbow Dash had once taken half a sandwich she left out there when passing by) to the desk in her study before heading downstairs to the main library floor. Twilight was fully prepared to let whoever was out there know that the library was closed for the hour, but when she opened the door she saw a member of the royal guard – a white pegasus with a brown, two-toned mane and golden armor – holding a scroll gently in his mouth.

“A letter from Princess Celestia to her student Twilight Sparkle,” the stallion guard reported, saluting the unicorn. “The letter contains information about the upcoming Nightmare Night events. She would have sent it by flame, but her flume is broken and refuses to send anything.”

“Thank you very much, sir,” Twilight said, taking the letter with her magic. “You can tell Princess Celestia that her letter arrived safely and I should be sending a letter back this evening.”

The stallion guard became at-ease and nodded. “I will. Good day to you, Miss Sparkle.” And he took off into the skies, flying back to Canterlot Castle as Twilight took the letter inside.

The letter was stamped with the royal seal of a sun with its rays. Twilight took the letter back up to the study and opened it there, continuing to eat as she scanned over the contents of the letter.

Dear Twilight Sparkle:

I’m afraid to say that I have little information for your plight involving the dreams. However, I do have some better news for you: Princess Luna has again decreed that she will be heading to Ponyville for the Nightmare Night celebrations, choosing there over Baltimare and Phillydelphia, and will be staying there for a few days. I am sure that this information will please you, considering how close you two have become over the years and how much your friendship has grown. She has told me she is willing to look into your dreams and see if she can’t find an interpretation for them. If the dreams come back again, please write them down as this would make things easier for Luna to deal with them.

Your concerned yet proud mentor and friend,

Princess Celestia.

P.S. Concerning the fact that your dreams have been showing you very detailed looks of Canterlot Castle, perhaps you could explain how the hole appeared in the door to the entry hall? (I’m just kidding…)

“That couldn’t have really happened in Canterlot Castle, could it have?” Twilight asked aloud to no one in particular. The events of last night’s dream had nearly evaded her, yet now they returned to her: the stallion, the chase through the halls of Canterlot Castle, the letters, the paintings, the conversation with the stallion at the door leading into the entry hall. Had it really caused a hole in the door? But… Twilight’s own magical power wasn’t that strong, was it?

No, that can’t be it. It was just a dream, just a coincidence. There is no evidence of things like clairvoyance or predictions in dreams. No sufficient amount of studies have been done on the issues, and with how many books I’ve gone through on the subject of dreams and dream meanings I think I would know if there was information for that.

Although Twilight had sufficiently convinced herself that nothing could have happened, the images from the previous night now burned into her mind, images of the shadow stallion, the dark blue eyes piercing out from the blackness that melted into and out of the light almost without Twilight ever noticing. And his words… what was she not ready for yet? What did it mean by telling her that she could not see him clearly because she was behind him? And the pictures… Twilight didn’t even want to think about the pictures.

Twilight left the note on her study and went back to reading the books from the donations. She finished with the final one early that evening and shelved them all in the proper places. She sorted some papers from her recent experiment and made sure the downstairs lab was completely cleaned and that she had enough of her ingredients for another experiment. When Twilight had finished the clock hardly fifteen minutes has passed and she was nearly two hours ahead of schedule.

It was strange, to say the least. Time always seemed to slow down for a short while after Twilight thought of Princess Luna. Twilight of course knew that time didn’t really slow down and only felt like it did, but it never did at any other time. It seemed to go faster when Twilight was deeply involved in her reading or research or experiments, and also flew by when she went out with her friends. But in matters involving Princess Luna, time seemed to slow down and Twilight always finished ahead of schedule with time left to spare.

Twilight prepared herself a bowl of oatmeal and fruit and sat down at the kitchen table to think things over. Spike would be due any minute from Rarity’s boutique, likely having finished eating a large meal of gemstones left over from their haul. Even so, Twilight cooked another bowl of oatmeal for the dragon when he came home and headed into the main library floor, pulling out a book and reading it.

Spike came home tired, exhausted, and happy. Twilight barely listened as she listened to his tales of going out and finding a huge stash of gems and Rarity pulling out a map to mark it to go back sometime soon. He also told Twilight of spending dinner with Rarity and Sweetie Belle, and how he had been given a few gems as a treat. Once he had finished eating and told Twilight his story, Spike took himself to bed early and Twilight went up after him, tucking him in as she usually did.

Once Spike was put to bed, Twilight went out onto the balcony and stared at the night sky for what seemed like hours until she grew tired and drowsy herself. When she headed back in and looked at a clock, Twilight found she had only been out there for fifteen minutes. Unsure of what else she could do that evening, Twilight turned down the lights and went to bed.

For that night, and every night for the next week, Twilight had no dreams.

* * *

Early evening on the day before Nightmare Night, Twilight was cleaning up a guest bedroom for Princess Luna. It was moderately furnished, but like previous times, Twilight knew the princess wouldn’t mind the more rustic conditions in Ponyville compared to the castle. The unicorn had Spike help her sweep the floor and dust the furniture in preparation for the princess’ arrival, afterwards taking up the duty of making the bed herself as Spike went downstairs to the main library, grateful for the quiet time to think.

The Princess herself would be arriving any time soon, and for the only time that Twilight could recall, she was nervous about the whole thing. For the last four years, Nightmare Night had been something that Twilight looked forward to, from the costumes to the candy to the games to the multiple pranks that were pulled around this time of year. And yes, she even looked forward to seeing Luna come down for the few days surrounding it. It was a time when studying actually took a secondary role in Twilight’s life, only reading or researching when Princess Luna was in her room for a nap. But now… because of the dream, Twilight didn’t want Luna coming and didn’t want to face her and she wasn’t even sure why.

Twilight knew she wasn’t going to receive that reprieve. This had been planned weeks, likely even months ago considering how Baltimare and Phillydelphia had been competing for the lunar princess’ attention. Twilight somehow knew Luna would choose Ponyville. After all, she had every year for the past five years.

While it was the time that Luna was supposed to arrive, there was no sight of her. Twilight went up to her balcony and sat there to think until Luna did show up. Why did Luna choose Ponyville at all? Why didn’t she go to one of the larger cities for Nightmare Night celebrations? Twilight had figured as much for the first year that the Elements of Harmony had something to do with it, and Twilight had helped Luna fulfill a want of meeting those who had saved her. But there hadn’t been any further reason to come back. Nightmare Night had been reinstated by Luna herself four years ago. And since her return to Canterlot, Luna certainly must have had friends in other cities if anything was to be learned from the responses Celestia sent back on Luna’s condition whenever Twilight asked.

Twilight supposed that the letters and Princess Luna coming to Ponyville had something in common. She couldn’t figure out what it was, though.

It wasn’t until late in the evening that Princess Luna finally arrived. Twilight could see her from the balcony, noticing the princess' dark blue fur turned nearly black against the light of the full moon ahead, only revealing a set of dark blue eyes. For a minute, Twilight rubbed her eyes with her hooves as though in disbelief of what she was seeing, but as the princess made her way closer, Twilight could see the finer details of the princess as she gently landed on the balcony in front of her, including a large bag strapped to her back. Almost immediately, Twilight ran up and threw her forelegs around the princess.

“Princess Luna!” she exclaimed. “You’ve finally made it!”

“I am sorry to keep you waiting so long, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna replied warmly as she wrapped a hoof around Twilight. “I had some business to take care of before leaving Canterlot. Ah, well, I hope my arrival hasn’t kept you up too late.”

“Not at all,” Twilight replied, leaving the hug and leading Princess Luna inside. “The sun only recently set; I normally am up for a few more hours doing research and experiments at this time, or just curled up with a good book and a cup of hot chocolate.”

“A cup of hot chocolate sounds good right now,” Luna said, licking her lips. “It’s been a long flight.”

Twilight led Luna to the guest bedroom, where the alicorn dropped off the bag draped over her back, and the two moved on to the kitchen, where Twilight began heating up a few cups of milk and brought out chocolate powder and marshmallows, in addition to a few cupcakes she had picked up from Sugarcube Corner. It wasn’t long before Twilight and Luna were each sipping a mug of hot chocolate and eating a cupcake.

“So, how have you been doing lately?” Luna asked once they had settled in. “It’s been a long time since we’ve last spoken. I believe it was your birthday a few months ago that I last came down to visit.”

“Oh, things have been running fine,” Twilight replied with a smile. “I’ve just been doing the normal research and hanging out with my friends here. Not too much has happened since our visit to the Crystal Empire for the Equestria Games, though.”

Luna was not smiling. “From the sounds of the letters Celestia has been sharing with me, you haven’t been doing ‘fine’, as you put it.”

Twilight’s own smile faded. “I have been having these strange dreams lately. You are someone who controls dreams and can make certain dreams appear, so perhaps you could be able to explain it to me. I’ve found nothing in any of the books I own and—”

Luna placed a hoof over Twilight’s mouth and smiled at her. “Then if dreams are subject to my whim and my control, who is there to say in a book they can explain how they work?”

Twilight blushed sheepishly as Luna’s hoof left her mouth. “I guess I didn’t think of that before.”

Luna continued smiling. “Twilight, dreams are only as predictable as the pony’s mind. Yes, I know more than anypony else on the subject of dreams, but everypony’s mind forms a dream differently. Tell me, then, what the dream was like. What did you see, what did you feel? Perhaps if we examine things closely enough we can uncover what is bothering you.”

Twilight gulped and nodded. “Well, I always start off in a hallway at the entrance of Canterlot Castle. And it’s dark and it’s always night with very little light. Throughout the dreams, I wander through the castle and find various things. I’ve found letters, official documents, my old friendship reports that, when I’ve written to Princess Celestia about them, are all real down to the letter.”

“Canterlot Castle and its images can come from memory,” Luna said. “It is a familiar place, one which is like home to you, and so you remember it. But perhaps there are things you do not know that the darkness is hiding from you. It being night, I wager there is something you don’t know about me.”

“There is plenty I don’t know about you,” Twilight said. “I hardly speak with you except for when you come, and my letters lately have not been as frequent.”

“That is very true. As for the official documents, is there a recurring pattern among them? Anything familiar you remember about them?”

“I… I don’t know. I remember finding a friendship report, a notice to send letters to Phillydelphia and Baltimare, and a notice of a letter to be sent to me.”

“Where were they located?”

“…in your wing of the castle, I think. But it’s strange. I once sent Celestia a map of those chambers and have realized I’ve never gone through any of them, yet my mind seems to know where they all are.”

Luna put a hoof to her chin as though thinking, though Twilight thought she saw the corner of her mouth curve upwards in a smirk. She quickly drew back her hoof, however, and whatever smirk that Twilight saw soon vanished as she continued her questions. “Is there anything else you remember?”

“Yes. Ever since the sixth night, there has been something watching me and following me. It has tried talking to me sometimes, but I do not know who it is. It looks like an alicorn like you or Princess Celestia, but it has a mouth and voice like that of a stallion and is almost entirely covered in shadow. The only thing I have been able to see of it is its dark blue eyes.”

“Do the eyes look… familiar?”

Twilight looked across into Luna’s cyan eyes, similar in shape from what she remembered but nowhere near as dark or as foreboding. “…no. Not from what I remember.”

Luna’s face became questioning, but if she was confused about something she didn’t say anything about it. “I’m afraid I don’t know what to think. If there is a figure you don’t know, perhaps it hasn’t revealed itself to you yet here while you are awake. Give it time. How long has it been since you last had the dream?”

“A week,” Twilight said. “Right before I received the notice that you were coming to Ponyville for Nightmare Night.”

Luna nodded. “I’m afraid I can’t explain any further without much more context. If you had remembered the contents of the letters contained, I would perhaps be able to offer a connection, but because you don’t, I can’t. I’m sorry. I wish there was more I could tell you.”

“No, it’s fine,” Twilight said. “In explaining those things alone, I am already more at ease. Perhaps if I have the dream again, I will be able to understand what it means.”

“ I am hidden in the back of your mind, I am encased in shadow because you choose not to look at me. You do not see me for who I truly am.”

Perhaps I am ready to know…

Luna looked at Twilight and the smile returned to her face much more noticeably. “In the meantime, perhaps you have an experiment you’ve been working on that you would like to show us?”

Now, Twilight was much more in her element. The mare eagerly led Luna to the basement where her recent chemistry experiment was in progress: seeing which foods gave the most energy and would make a pony stay awake physically and mentally longer. Luna looked through Twilight’s notes and listened to her discussions with rapt interest and even proposed things that Twilight took more notes for the next time she continued her experiment.

When they had finished, they returned upstairs for another cupcake before heading into the library to read the new Daring Do book that had come in (Twilight’s own personal copy). The two lay together on the balcony and read it by the light of the moon, and were up until late in the night and nearly finished it. However, Twilight felt her head and eyes slowly begin to droop, and soon she laid her head down on the crossed hooves of Princess Luna and listened as she continued reading in her gentle intonations.

A long time later, Luna stopped reading as Twilight lay next to her. Twilight barely registered movement as Luna unfurled a wing and set it over the unicorn, not bothering to disturb the sleeping mare. Luna leaned over and gently kissed Twilight on the forehead.

“Good night, Twilight Sparkle. Perhaps you shall see us some night soon.”

* * *

When Twilight awoke the following morning, she was in her bed and Luna was in the guest bedroom leafing through another book. Twilight left Luna to her business and went downstairs to make some oatmeal and fruit for breakfast, serving up two portions of each plus some orange juice; Spike had already left to go help Pinkie Pie with preparations for the Nightmare Night celebrations. It was only after breakfast was made when Twilight knocked on the door to Luna’s room.

“Come in, Twilight,” Luna said, looking up from the book as Twilight pushed the door open. “How did you sleep last night?”

“Better than I have in a long time. What happened?”

“You fell asleep on the balcony as we were reading the Daring Do book. I let you sleep for a little while under my wing, not wanting to disturb you. As soon as I knew you were sound asleep, I brought you in and laid you in your bed. Don’t worry; the book is safely back in its place on the shelves.”

“Ah, thank you.”

“What about the dream?”

“If I did have one last night, I would have remembered it.”

Luna smiled and nodded.

“Breakfast is ready, if you’re interested.”

Luna nodded and closed the book as they walked out and downstairs. Twilight served Luna the oatmeal with fruit and toast and orange juice and the two ate and talked at the table. Whereas the previous night had been Twilight telling Luna about their experiments, today was Luna telling Twilight about matters in the royal court. Most was boring to Luna, but Twilight listened and took (mental) notes of every detail as she listened with her full attention.

Luna finished telling Twilight a story of two nobles fighting over a piece of land that had ended up in some bloodshed and how she and Celestia had peacefully resolved the conflict, which Twilight thought would actually make a good book, when she suggested heading out into Ponyville to pick up some candy for Nightmare Night celebrations later that evening. Luna agreed and the two went walking out into Ponyville.

Twilight’s first stop was Sugarcube Corner. Around this time of year, the Cakes usually partnered with a pony named Bon Bon to help sell candy, which was in high demand and the single Earth pony couldn’t handle on her own, so she usually sent some to the Cakes to help her sell. Twilight knew the bits would go to Bon Bon and to the Cakes, so she decided to help both of them out and buy a few bags of candy.

Carrot Cake was tending shop again when Twilight and Luna walked in, the alicorn princess wandering around the store as she looked at the candy and baked goods on sale. Twilight, however, walked up to Carrot Cake at the counter.

“Good morning, Twilight!” Carrot Cake said as she approached. “I see the Princess has come again for Nightmare Night.”

“Yes,” Twilight said with a nod. “Which means I’ll need an extra bag of candy again this year.”

“So, what will the order be?”

“Two bags of the milk chocolate balls, three bags of chocolate with peanut butter, two bags of chocolate and caramel, a two-dozen box of the pumpkin cakes and one small apple pie with the cinnamon dusted over it.”

“A large order, as per usual. Bon Bon will be happy for the money for the candy, and Missus Cake will be happy for the baked goods. I’ll get Pinkie to help out with baking a fresh batch of the cakes and apple pie and we’ll have them delivered to the library before dinner.”

“That sounds good!”

Twilight paid for the sweets with her bits, then decided it was a good time to head out to Sweet Apple Acres to see if she could get some extra cider. Princess Luna followed along next to Twilight, breathing deeply through her nose as though she enjoyed just smelling the clean air. When Luna spoke up, Twilight found she wasn’t far off.

“I love heading to smaller towns like this,” Princess Luna said, sighing contentedly as they walked out of Ponyville and into the orchards of Sweet Apple Acres. “The air is nice and clean, there’s not so many ponies so you know everyone around, and it just seems to free. Not like how it can get in Canterlot.”

“Isn’t the castle spacious?”

“Oh, it is. And the guards are friendly enough and it’s nice to be in the gardens. But Canterlot itself is horrible. There’s hardly any space to fly unless you’re on the main roads, which is where you have it packed with ponies who either respect you for your position or are too preoccupied with themselves to bother with you. And so many factories! In certain areas, the pegasi weather teams are almost constantly on patrol to get rid of the smoke. On the best of days, it’s still a relief to get back home. So when Celestia told me that Nightmare Night was coming up again, I just about immediately told her I was heading to Ponyville.”

“But why not some of the other towns? I’ve heard Baltimare is very pretty around this time of year, and Phillydelphia is packed with history and old buildings and architecture and is amazing for an educated crowd. Matter of fact, wasn’t it the quickest to accept you because they knew more than the other cities?”

“After Ponyville it was. And as for why not the other towns: they want it as a boast. There it would be a matter of pride, and ponies when they become too prideful start conflicts. As for here, the ponies treat me all as friendly company, like one of them. I’m able to relax and get away from a little while. And my best friends are here. There’s Applejack and Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, all of whom helped me with getting back to socializing with the ponies and helped me realize there were ponies who were happy to have me back.”

Luna stopped for a minute and sat under the shade of one of the apple trees, the leaves turning a myriad of reds and golds and oranges. “And there’s you, Twilight. You saved me from Nightmare Moon’s influence. You were the one who stuck by my side throughout my first Nightmare Night back in Ponyville, who showed me that friendship isn’t just a connection and that it really can be that powerful.”

Twilight blushed. “Well, it wasn’t just me who saved you. All the other Elements of Harmony were involved in helping to save you from Nightmare Moon as well. And we didn’t even think of it as saving you at first, only realizing that you as Nightmare Moon were a problem that needed our strength to solve.”

“But you were the first to truly accept me,” Luna said, looking wistfully at the bright blue sky. “After being stuck on the moon for a thousand years without company, it means a lot to me to have somepony who was willing to be a friend.” Luna looked back down at Twilight, and the unicorn could see the dark blue alicorn was blushing red through her dark blue fur. “Thank you, Twilight. For everything.”

Twilight felt her own cheeks get red hot and was sure she was blushing, too. It was not embarrassing, and Twilight felt she had no need to be embarrassed with nopony around. It was… warm, even comforting. Twilight felt her own heart skip a beat and she found herself staring at Luna, wondering how it took so long to notice how… how… enchanted she was by Luna’s eyes, how she always caught herself staring at her starry mane.

“Um… I don’t know what to say… I suppose I could start with ‘you’re welcome’…”

Luna giggled at Twilight, but the unicorn could tell it wasn’t in malice.

Comments

[Spacecowboy]

Whhy, do I spy a TwiLuna in the making? Gonna have to give this a read!

[Swirls]

2711316
TwiLuna is best shipping.

[Tom From Myspace]

Dat title.