Chapter 17 – Lost in Thoughts
Fragments of Memories
By Starwin
Chapter 17 – Lost in Thoughts
“Let’s get this party started!” shouted Pinkie Pie, jumping excitedly into the air.
“Very well,” said Luna with a nod.
Her horn began to glow with soft eerie blue light. The aura of magic expanded beyond Luna and spread outwards to Spike, Rarity and Pinkie. Slowly the magic around them began to spin. Gradually, the light picked up speed moving faster and glowing brighter. Then, with a flash and a soft pop, the four of them vanished, as if they had teleported away.
“So how are we going to help them from out here?” asked Night Light, breaking the silence left in the wake of the spell.
“That’s the easy part,” answered Wild Heart. Her own horn illuminated with sparkling pink magic. The air in front of her shimmered and a swirling portal of light spun into existence. It was like looking down into a well filled with stars. “I can open a window into Twilight Dash’s mind. From here we should be able to keep an eye on everypony.”
A thin winding path of rainbow light spread its way out across the stars. Wild Heart gently touched the sides of the magical window. As she did, their view zoomed forward coming to a stop just above the path. A moment later four figures trotted forward along the rainbow bridge. Luna took the lead while Rarity and Spike kept just behind her. Pinkie brought up the rear, her head excitedly darting back and forth as she tried to take in all the wonder around her.
Words floated out from the other side of the window. The tones had an odd whisper quality to them that made it sound as if a ghost were speaking.
“Stay close,” instructed Luna. Each step she took made the rainbow bridge shimmer with light. Pinkie seemed to also have noticed the effect. She started hopping from hoof to hoof to make the rainbow around her pulse with light.
“All of you must remain focused,” explained Luna. “Remember that we are searching for Discord. Do not let your thoughts wander, or you will be carried away by them.”
“This is AWESOME!” cried Pinkie as she bounced around the rainbow beneath their hooves.
“But this is just a dream, right?” asked Spike. “Can’t we just imagine ourselves finding Discord?”
“We are not within their thoughts yet,” said Luna. “This is the space between spaces. A universe of thought, rather than things. And no, we are not going into their dreams. We will be entering their mind. The two are very different. In fact, we should avoid their dreams at all costs.”
“Why?” asked Rarity. “What happens if we enter their dreams?”
“It will be similar to your own dreams,” answered Luna. “You will lose your way. You will forget your task and your reality. You will become their dream; lost within thoughts and memories that aren’t yours. So you must stay focused.”
“This is really weird,” whispered Breeze. Wild Heart jumped slightly, she had forgotten the other ponies were standing around her watching.
“As Luna said, it is the realm of thoughts,” explained Wild Heart. “You are seeing thoughts. Each one of those distant stars is the mind of some pony.”
“No, I meant spying on them,” said Breeze shaking her head. “I feel like we should have gone too.” Wild Heart frowned.
“Honestly, I think Luna should have gone alone,” said Velvet before Wild Heart could answer. “Our daughters have enough voices in their head already, they don’t need four more!”
“Luna knows what she’s doing,” said Wild Heart, trying to sound reassuring. Yet, she couldn’t help but inwardly agree. What did Luna know about these three that Wild Heart did not? Was bringing them along really worth the risk? Perhaps she should have gone…
“So we’ll be able to watch them through here?” asked Sky, jabbing a hoof at the shimmering window into the stars. Wild Heart nodded. “Can they hear us?”
“No, at least not in the same way that we can hear them,” explained Wild Heart shaking her head. “We would have to connect with…” the stars suddenly blinked out of existence. The rainbow bridge trembled and the ponies walking across it froze.
“What was that?” cried several voices from beyond the portal, as well as a couple from their side.
“The connection felt like it was… interrupted,” said Wild Heart. It was that same strange sensation she had felt back at Twilight Dash’s room. Except, this time, it had been stronger.
The stars shimmered back into existence. Spike and the three ponies were now hurrying forward. It took Wild Heart a moment to realize why. Then, she saw it. The rainbow bridge was crumbling apart behind them.
“What was that?” asked Sky.
“I’m… not sure,” answered Wild Heart, hardly paying the pony any mind. She was intently focused on what was happening beyond her portal. The view flickered again.
“Hurry!” called Luna. She was a good dozen hooves ahead of the others now. “We are almost there!” As Luna said it, Wild Heart could make out a great glowing purple star, with blue lighting bolts for points, materialize ahead of the group. The rainbow path led directly into its center.
“Hurry,” whispered Wild Heart, watching the crumbling path chase at their heels. They were almost there, they were so close.
A sharp pain made Wild Heart wince. Velvet let out a cry of distress. The rainbow path shattered and the group was flung outward. Sparks surrounded Spike, Luna, Rarity and Pinkie as they all fell like tiny comets towards the great glowing star below them.
Each crashed into a different section of the star and a moment later, the portal went dark.
“What… where did they go?” asked Night Light, his voice the same strange volume as the whispers they had heard through the portal. He looked towards Wild Heart, but she didn’t seem to have any answers for him.
Spike woke with a sudden start. He had been dozing off again. For a long moment, things seemed fuzzy and slightly out of focus. A voice was calling to him, saying his name. It sounded so distant.
“Spike!” said a very clear, very sharp voice. At once the world snapped into place and his drowsiness faded away. He was in the upstairs study, sitting at his desk.
Twilight was staring at him sternly in that sort of disappointed look she often gave him when he wasn’t paying attention. She had been saying something to him, but her words had washed over him without meaning.
He looked down at his notes, but they were mostly illegible scribbles. When he looked up, Twilight was trotting away. He tried to apologize, but, she was walking too fast. He hurried after her, stepping through his desk without noticing it vanish. He couldn’t keep up. He called out for her to slow down, but she did not.
Without hesitation, Spike broke into a run, his notes flying into the air around him in a storm of paper. Swinging his arms, he managed to bat the stray parchment out of the air. His way now clear, the young dragon found himself standing at the edge of a busy street. Ahead he could just barely make out Twilight’s mane moving through the crowd.
Pushing his way past the dozens of ponies, he followed after Twilight. He could hardly see her anymore. Every now and then he caught a glimpse of her head, or the swish of her tail. But a moment later she would vanish as some other pony blocked his view.
“Spike,” said one of the ponies as she passed by him.
Spike stopped, had he just heard his name? No, he had to stay focused on Twilight. He could no longer see her. This crowd seemed endless in all directions, nothing more than an infinite sea of strangers.
Another pony bumped into him, spinning the dragon about. He tumbled down to his claws and knees. A forest of impossibly tall legs surrounded him.
“Spike!” shouted one of the ponies. The colt that had spoken glanced briefly at Spike as he called his name. Then he continued walking before becoming lost in the crowd.
Spike worked his way back up. Something… didn’t feel right.
“Spike! Can you hear me?” demanded a different pony. Spike turned to find another stranger who was looking right at him in the most uncomfortable way. Then that pony also walked off as if she had said nothing.
Spike shook his head. No, he couldn’t get distracted. He had to find Twilight, that was his mission. He had to find her! Without thinking, he broke into a run, charging between the legs of the towering ponies around him. From every direction he heard his name.
“Spike. Spike? Spike!”
He closed his eyes, trying to block them out. Twilight, he needed to find…
Spike opened his eyes again. The other ponies had gone and he was all alone. He was walking down some kind of darkened hallway. Gradually it became lighter and now he could make out some details of his surroundings. And what strange surroundings they were.
He was in a library, yet this was like no building he had ever been in before. It was nothing but book shelves, floor to ceiling. In fact, even the ceiling and the floor were bookshelves. He was walking across books right now.
He slowed his pace. He had to be quiet here, it was a library.
“Spike!” said one of the ponies nearby. The pony was made from books too.
“Shhh!” hushed one of the other books with a moving picture of a pony on its cover. “This is a library!”
“Spike, you have to listen,” continued the book pony. “You have to remember what the Princess told you!”
“Quiet! This is a library!” shouted a shape growing out of the books. It waved a massive hand and smashed the book pony apart, sending pages flying in all directions. One of the books from the pony skidded to a stop at Spike’s feet.
“Remember, this is a dream! Focus! Remember!” said the pony on the cover of the book.
“THIS IS A LIBRARY! LIBRARIES ARE QUIET!” the voice boomed from all directions.
Books began to tumble off their shelves, raining down all around Spike. The ground gave way, rolling out from under him. He began to slide with it, caught up in an avalanche of books.
Spike managed to hop on top of a rather larger tome. The book supported him and he road it like some kind of strange book-board on a wave of literature.
In front of him, towers of books loomed up into the sky. He leaned left, shifting his weight and maneuvering around the first tower. The next one rushed up towards him. Then another, and another. Expertly he dodged each of them.
Gradually the book wave began to die down and at last, his surf-book came to a stop, sliding out across an empty wooden floor. He stepped off the book before looking behind him to see an insurmountable mountain of books behind him.
Just where was he? And where was Twilight? And did he have to clean all that mess up?
“Spike!” cried a voice again.
“Go away!” said Spike, trying to shoo away the air. A shimmering image of something familiar rippled where his claw swiped.
“Spike you have to listen,” said the voice. “It’s important.”
“Only Twilight’s important,” said Spike.
“I know where Twilight is, but you have to stop, and you have to listen!” cried the voice. The shimmering light had returned, floating in front of Spike like a golden window. There were fuzzy shapes beyond it, but he couldn’t make any of them out. It was like looking through foggy glass.
“Who are you?” demanded Spike
“Wild Heart,” said the shimmering window of gold. “You remember me right?” The light seemed to become more pony shaped for a moment before snapping back into its rectangular form.
“No,” said Spike shaking his head. “But… yes, kind of…”
“I know it’s hard, but you have to focus,” said the golden light. “You’re lost. I want to help you get back on track. Try to think back. Try to remember why you’re here.”
“I’m here… to find Twilight,” said Spike. Something felt wrong when he said those words. “I… have to…”
“Remember,” said the golden window. “Re…”
“Spike?” said another voice from behind him. “Who are you talking to?”
Spike turned away from the light to find a faceless Twilight looking at him with disappointment, or at least he thought she was. He was once more sitting at his desk, his notes in front of him.
“You’re alright!” cried Spike. He leapt up, pushing the papers aside and wrapping his small arms around her front leg. “I found you!”
“Spike, no!” cried the light. “That isn’t her! It’s just…”
Not-Twilight raised a hoof and with a swing of her leg, the golden light vanished.
“I won’t ever lose you again,” said Spike holding the false memory as darkness closed in around him.
The demand for dresses was insane. Rarity couldn’t possibly imagine how she had let herself get talked into this! Furiously she fashioned dress after dress, tossing each into the ever growing sky high pile. However, the moment she finished one, another pony would rush into the shop and request a dozen more!
Fabric flew through the air, thread spun off its spool before instantly refilling.
“You’re not listening to me,” said one of the customers. “Do it over but make it red. It isn’t blue enough!”
“Yes, of course,” said Rarity.
“Sis, come on, I want to help!” cried Sweetie Belle from someplace in the growing pile. “Look, I made capes out of your dresses!” She and a thousand of her friends were cutting apart the already completed orders.
“No!” cried Rarity. “Sweetie, you stop that right now!” She hurried towards her sister, but each step she took made the pile move further away into the distance. “Sweetie! You bring those back here!” But her sister just waved goodbye as the dress pile got further and further out of reach.
“What a mess,” said a voice that drew Rarity back to her waiting line of customers. Rainbow Dash was standing right in front of her. “Maybe I should just come back later.”
“No! No!” exclaimed Rarity. “What can I do for you darling?”
“I want something sleek! Something fast!” said Dash, pushing her hoof through the air as though it were flying. “I need to win at the dance competition tonight!”
“Yes, of course!” said Rarity, grabbing a hoof full of fabric and mashing it into her machine. The fabric clumped up, building bigger and bigger, overflowing into the shop. A wave of the fabric caught Dash and began to carry her off.
“Wait! It’s almost done!” shouted Rarity. She leapt over the counter and broke into a gallop. However, she hadn’t taken more than a dozen steps before one of the other customers grabbed her by the leg. She tried to pull herself free, but the faceless pony held tight.
“Rarity, focus!” said the customer.
“I’m sorry, I have to go rescue my friend or her outfit will be ruined!” cried Rarity. She couldn’t seem to shake off the surprisingly strong pony.
“Remember what the Princess said, don’t lose yourself. Remember why you’re here!” said the pony.
“Yes, yes, of course,” said Rarity dismissively. At last the pony let her go. She rushed to the door and flung it open. The empty sky greeted her. She began to fall, tumbling through the clouds down towards the ground below. She screamed.
“Rarity!” shouted one of the clouds. It was glowing gold. “You’re lost, you have to focus. You have to find them. You have to remember! They need you! Your friends need you!”
Rarity smashed into the golden cloud and it popped out of existence. She continued to fall, with the ground getting ever closer. She tried flapping her arms, but it did no good, she continued to plummet like a stone.
Dash rushed down from above, soaring next to Rarity. The blue pegasus smiled at her.
“Hey, how’s my thing coming?” asked Dash.
“I’m working on it!” cried Rarity, finding her sewing machine back in her hooves as she fell. She shoved more fabric through and an instant later the outfit was complete. She held it up for Dash to see.
Without hardly even looking at it, Dash snatched it up. She pulled it down over her head and easily slipped into the full body suit. It was a very shiny blue, with glittering rainbow lighting bolts down each front leg.
“Awesome! I love it!” cried Dash. “This should totally let me win!” She blasted off towards the enormous stadium below. It was packed with cheering ponies. They ‘oohed’ and ‘aahed’ as Dash soared overhead.
A moment later she landed in the center of the stadium and began to dance, to much applause.
“Well, at leas they like the outfit,” said Rarity with a smile. She glanced down just in time to see the ground rush up at her. She moved her hooves in front of her, expecting to crash. However, she hit something soft instead.
It was a mountain of dresses. She was still falling, well, sliding, down its side. She couldn’t make out where it ended. She glanced back up to see Dash taking a bow to a roaring crowd.
Rarity’s hooves collided with the floor and she landed upright, back in her shop. A moment later her sewing machine crashed through the roof, landing right in front of her. Trails of dust trickled down around her.
“Hey! Is my dress ready yet!” shouted one pony.
“Sorry!” apologized Rarity. Quickly she resumed her dress making.
“Yeah! Hurry up! We don’t have all day!”
“I’m going as fast as I can!” exclaimed Rarity as she finished another dress and tossed it into the pile behind her.
“Remember, Rarity,” said the golden dress she was pushing through her machine. “Remember what Luna told you!”
“Yes, yes,” said Rarity as she pulled the completed glowing dress out before tossing it away. “Just after I finish doing this.”
Rarity faded away into shadows inside the shimmering portal. Wild Heart’s horn glowed again, trying to reestablish contact, but the portal stayed dark.
“It’s no good,” said Wild Heart in frustration. “I just can’t get them to listen. They aren’t willing to accept that their dreams aren’t real.”
“And you still can’t get through to Dashie, or Twilight?” asked Breeze. Wild Heart shook her head.
“Rarity and Dash are sharing the same dream,” explained Wild Heart. “But for some reason, Dash simply won’t answer. Possibly because it’s her dream, while Rarity is just sharing in it? I’m not sure.
“Spike is lost in his own dream though,” continued Wild Heart. As she spoke her magical portal switched from darkness into a split image of Spike — hugging very tightly to a faceless pony meant to look like Twilight — on one side, and Twilight — sitting beside a nice warm fire chatting happily with Princess Celestia over hot coco — on the other. “And just like Dash, I can’t seem to get Twilight to hear me either.”
Wild Heart focused the portal’s gaze upon Twilight once more. On the mantel above the fireplace, one of the pictures came to life. It glowed gold for a moment as Wild Heart projected herself within Twilight’s dream.
“Twilight!” shouted Wild Heart through the portal. “TWILIGHT!” If the purple unicorn heard, she didn’t react at all. Wild Heart shook her head and the glow faded from the picture.
Swiping her hoof across the portal the images changed once more, now following Dash. The pegasus was doing some sort of extreme dancing that utilized her wings like legs. Wild Heart lingered on her for only a moment before moving on.
“Still no sign of Pinkie or Luna,” mumbled Wild Heart. “I can sense them but… I can’t find them.”
“So what do we do now?” asked Velvet. “Do… do we go in after them?”
“Even if I had that kind of magic, I don’t think that would be a very good idea,” said Wild Heart. “For the moment, we just have to keep trying to get through to somepony and help them get back on track. They need to find Discord and put an end to this!
“I just hope Luna and Pinkie are both alright…”
“Helloooo!” called Pinkie out into the empty whiteness. Not even an echo came back to her. She tapped the completely white floor beneath her hooves. Tiny, nearly invisible dots vibrated into existence at the touch of her hoof, before fading back into white. It was solid, but she couldn’t feel it. It was like the floor wasn’t even there. Even though she knew there was a floor there,
She looked around for Luna, or Rarity, or Spike. But she was all alone here. Wherever here was. And here was… strange, even for her. Streaks of long gray lines raced across the white sky like cloud trails. Enormous fields of shimmering gray dots would pop into existence before floating away.
“HEEELLLLOOOOO!” shouted Pinkie again. Only the silence answered back.
She tried walking forward. She could see her hooves moving. With each step, the gray dots returned, although always in a different shape or pattern. She knew she was moving. But without something to move towards, she might of just as well been standing still.
It didn’t feel like it was a dream. Her dreams usually had candy and streamers and balloons and party hats and presents and cakes and… She glanced around hopefully, but none of those things appeared.
Perhaps this wasn’t her dream. But she didn’t see anypony else. What if she was dreaming about dreaming that she was dreaming about a dream?
“Oh, no, you aren’t dreaming,” said a voice from overhead. Pinkie glanced up. A collection of gray lines and swirling dots were slowly coalescing into a familiar shape.
“You!” shouted Pinkie accusatorially. The lines condensed, the dots filled in the blank spaces and Discord appeared as if somepony had painted him in. He floated lazily above her, as if he were on some invisible cloud. He lay there nonchalantly hardly seeming to be interested in Pinkie at all.
“Me? Yes me!” said Discord dropping down to land beside Pinkie. “Do I look like a you?” He changed shape, transforming into a mirror image of Pinkie. “Or a Yew-Ewe?” He changed again, becoming part tree, part sheep. “Or a U?” he transformed once more into a large purple letter ‘U.’
“Very clever!” said Pinkie with mild amusement. She poked discord with a hoof. “But that isn’t going to stop me from stopping you, from stopping me! You let Twilight Dash go right now!” demanded Pinkie.
“Let her… go?” repeated Discord in surprise. With a pop, he returned to as normal as he ever was. Then he let out a boisterous laugh. “Oh, how funny. You think I have control over them?”
“Of course you do!” said Pinkie, although she felt a little less sure now. “Don’t you?”
“Look around you,” said Discord waving his clawed hand at the whiteness that extended infinitely in all directions. “What exactly do you think I have control over?”
Pinkie glanced around. This wasn’t at all how she imagined the inside of Twilight Dash’s mind to look. She had expected some books at the very least, or perhaps a cloud or two. Or, maybe a whole wall filled with trophies, that would be more Dash than Twilight… She shook her head, returning her focus to Discord.
“But you’re in their mind!” cried Pinkie.
“As are you my dear little pony,” replied Discord. “How in-control do you feel?”
Pinkie had to think about it for a long moment. Experimentally, she waved a hoof around, trying to see if it did anything. But she felt more or less the same as before. This place was empty.
“Oh, no,” said Discord with a shake of his head. “It’s not empty at all. It’s packed full of stuff, you just can’t understand any of it. You don’t know how to see it.”
“Wait a second,” said Pinkie. She glared at Discord. “How did you know I was thinking that! Oh my gosh! Can you read minds now too? Or, is it because we are in another ponies mind that you can hear my thoughts, because here, thoughts are thoughts and we are all thoughts!”
Bingo, thought Discord with a smile.
“Aright, so if you aren’t controlling Twilight Dash, who is then, huh?” demanded Pinkie.
“It’s a long story,” said Discord with a sigh. Pinkie glared at him. “Somepony that isn’t me. A pony I thought I destroyed long ago.”
“Annnddd?” said Pinkie.
“That’s another, long story,” said Discord with a dismissive wave of his pawed hand. “Needless to say, with her in control, things aren’t looking good for Equestria. The last time she was here she tried to bring order to everything.”
“That doesn’t sound so bad,” said Pinkie.
“You don’t know her the way I did,” mumbled Discord. “Her idea of order is… well, so orderly. I just wanted to have a little fun, but with her in control, who knows what will happen. She’ll probably turn the whole world to crystal by the end of the day.”
“Oh no she wont!” cried Pinkie. She reached up and grabbed Discord pulling his head down so that she could look him right in the eyes. “You’re going to help me stop her!”
“Easier said than done,” answered Discord. He vanished in a poof of dots, leaving Pinkie coughing for a moment. He reappeared a dozen hooves away, floating lazily in the air. “You can’t exactly leave this place.”
“That’s because I haven’t tried hard enough!” shouted Pinkie. And with that she galloped off with a battle cry of determination. Her voice faded into the distance before suddenly returning from the opposite direction. She came to a halt next to Discord, back exactly where she had started.
“Hey, stop moving,” said Pinkie.
“Oh, you can’t get out like that,” said Discord with a shake of his head. . “Do you even know where we are?”
“You know exactly where we are. Twilight Dash’s mind,” answered Pinkie. Discord shook his head.
“No, where are we?” pressed Discord. Pinkie looked around again but didn’t answer. “We are in their unconscious mind. The place without thought, memories or control. I was forced to hide down here by… the pony in control.”
“So then how do we get out of here?” asked Pinkie.
“I’ll share a little secret with you,” said Discord gleefully glancing around. He motioned for Pinkie to come closer so that he could whisper to her. She moved up to him leaning in close. “I'm not going to tell you.”
Luna felt the rainbow bridge quiver beneath her hooves. She galloped onwards, focusing her thoughts and her magic on their destination. Giving it everything she had, Luna forced open an entrance into Twilight Dash’s mind.
This wasn’t the way Luna had wanted to enter. The bridge would have led them there had they simply followed it to its end. But there was no longer time for that. In fact, forcing her way in was easier than she expected. There was hardly any resistance to the intrusion at all. It was as if… as if they were asleep.
The bridge trembled again and Luna felt it shatter beneath her hooves. Spike and Rarity let out cries of distress as they were flung outwards. Pinkie let out a ‘weeeeeeeeeee!’ of joy as she soared past overhead.
There was little that Luna could do for them. She just hoped they would be able to find their way to her. And if not, that they wouldn’t lose themselves forever within Twilight Dash’s fractured mind.
Luna focused her thoughts once more on the enormous blazing star ahead. Her horn began to glow and a great circular opening expanded in the center of the star. With a flap of her wings and a light touch of her hooves, she landed softly at the edge of Twilight Dash’s consciousness.
Streams of silvery thought flowed all around her. She caught half formed glimpses of whispered words and shapeless ideas still in the making. Carefully, Luna moved herself onwards, gliding through the murkiness of another ponies mind.
She could make out sounds now, the crackling of magic, muffled voices from the next room, her own breathing. She could feel the marble floor of the palace beneath her hooves. And she could see the element of magic embedded halfway in her chest.
She now shared the conscious mind of Twilight Dash. It had been a very long time since she had experienced shared thoughts with another pony. So long had she lingered in dreams and nightmares that Luna had forgotten what it was like to be somepony else. She did not like the feeling and the sooner Discord was expelled the better.
And yet, there was a different presence here than she had expected; one wholly focused on the task at hoof. From what Luna could sense, the thoughts she now shared weren’t Discord’s. She had seen his unorganized mind enough to know how he thought, even from afar.
This mind was… structured and organized. It was very similar to Twilight and yet… there was a confidence in the current task that Luna had never seen in Twilight’s dreams.
Whomever had control of Twilight Dash, Luna was going to put an end to it. She would return the element of magic to its rightful place. And if she had to, she would make this pony walk all the way to the dungeon.
“I command you to stop,” said Luna aloud. Luna felt a shiver of fear go down her spine as the other pony in Twilight Dash’s mind realized it was no longer alone.
Luna felt thoughts race frantically around her, trying to find where Luna was in her mind. But Luna was ready for this. She had entered the dreams of other ponies for thousands of years. If she wanted to stay hidden, she knew how to do that.
Frustration built in the mind around Luna.
“I will not stop,” said the pony. Its attention returned fully to the element of magic. It had abandoned the search for Luna for the moment. “And you cannot stop me. The element has already partially bonded with my body.”
Luna was able to see through the ponies eyes. Less than half of the element of magic now extended out of their chest. Luna could feel it. The warmth and the pain. The element was resisting.
“You’re not Discord,” said Luna, speaking with Twilight Dash’s voice. She needed to keep this other mind distracted, to delay the bonding as long as possible. “Nor are you Twilight or Dash. Tell me your name and what you want with this body?”
Luna could feel the mind searching for her once more. She slid between the thoughts, listening to them, seeking answers. Words drifted in and out of her mind in a garble.
whoisthis.whatdoesitwant.discord.twilight.imagination.hallucination?theelementofmagic?howinmythoughts.iwillfindyou.who.how.me.another.mybrother.wontgiveup.wontgoback.toclose.notagain.almostthere.
There was little that Luna could make out as the thoughts rushed by. But there was something she gleamed in their passing. A connection… to Discord. Brother… It couldn’t be…
“Harmony,” whispered Luna out loud. She felt Twilight Dash’s body stiffen. A new wave of panic surged around Luna and it was all she could do to keep from succumbing to it. Shared mind meant shared emotions. She had to be very careful not to let them overtake her.
“That isn’t my name anymore,” answered the pony. “Harmony died a long time ago. I’m Rainbow Sparkle now. A new name, a new body, a new pony.”
“A stolen body,” corrected Luna. “And it would seem your goals are still the same as ever. It was you that let loose the crystal mist in the south. You haven’t changed at all.”
“No!” cried Rainbow Sparkle. Luna could feel another wave of genuine emotion rush over her, too strong to block out. Confusion, fear, panic; all mixed together. “The mist was just a distraction, to get Celestia and all the unicorns out of the castle.”
Luna could sense that she wasn’t lying. There was no deception in her thoughts.
“When Princess Luna invited me here, I knew this would be my only chance to get the Element of Magic,” explained Rainbow Sparkle. “I didn’t intend for the mist to hurt anypony. In a day or so, it should be gone.”
“Well it has harmed other ponies,” said Luna. She could feel her own emotions starting to leak out. Her anger at this pony for putting Twilight Dash through this ordeal. Her guilt for letting this happen.
“Letting this happen…?” whispered Rainbow Sparkle. Luna hurried to pull her thoughts back in. She had overextended, let her emotions get the better of her. But it was too late, she had been seen, her thoughts shared. “Luna…?”
The fear surrounding Luna began to return. She could see it now, manifesting as horrible dark shadows. Memories of another life were flashing before Luna’s eyes.
Discord was hovering over her, his hands blazing with fire while horrible wicked laughter poured from his mouth. And standing in the back, partially hidden in shadow, watching without emotions… was Luna.
The memory evaporated. Harmony’s last moments before Discord had destroyed her. Luna had not thought about it for a long time. It had been her first step down the dark path towards becoming Nightmare Moon. Doing what needed to be done at any cost.
“Will you do it again?” whispered Rainbow Sparkle. “Whatever needs to be done…”
Luna closed off her mind. She had been too open with her thoughts.
“That depends,” said Luna, speaking through Twilight Dash. “On what you are planning to do with the element of magic.”
“I want to restore myself,” said Rainbow Sparkle. “You and Discord took away everything I once had. I’ve spent the last five thousand years in Death. Wandering without purpose. Having so little of myself that I was less than a whisper.
“Until Twilight Dash brought me back. From them I took memories, knowledge, names and friends. But there’s the problem,” explained Rainbow Sparkle. She lifted a hoof to examine it. “I’m just a soul, in a body that already has too many of its own. So I need the element of magic to finish what Twilight started and fuse one more time.
“When that happens, I’ll be able to pick the best parts. The only parts. Twilight and Dash will be nothing more than fragments of memories. And I will at last be whole.”
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But Harmony! Stealing the body of two poor souls is wrong!
*Discord
hehe fragments of memories. I CEE.
...Twilight and Rainbow are never going to be separated, are they?
I called IT!!!
this chapter was trippy as f
more please
Get out, Harmony!
C'mon Spike and Rarity! You can fight it!
As for Pinkie Pie and Discord, here's hoping that they figure a way out.
5459074 Called what? That is was Harmony? We knew that from the moment she was mentioned. You don't mention a name and then never bring it up again, the very fact it was mentioned at all makes it important, and having a soul as powerful as Discord and knows him in the same mind? Of course it's Harmony.
If you mean that there was already a third mind before Discord, then no 'I' was the one to theorize that first much much earlier in the story.
This story genuinely scares me: with others you have this underlying certainty that the characters you're rooting for will make it through whatever they're up against, but here I have none of that. I am struggling to see how Twilight Dash can win in this scenario, and I guess the root of my fear is that I'm not convinced anymore that they're even supposed to. Don't get me wrong, it's a great story, even if it is one where I'm as scared as I am excited to read the next word, and I look forward to (and dread) the next chapter.
whoa! Go team random!!! (Discord and Pinkie)
I've still got to ask why the hell this story isn't marked as "Dark"....
The wierd part of the story is over. Gladly.
Oh Yeah?
Aaaaand final fight impending!
Oh shit son
Um... What in the actual hell is going on here. Dresses, Dancing, Discord, Harmony, Screaming Books! I DONT GET IT BUT I LOVE IT!
Slight Corrections to be made;
Yew is a type of Tree. Ewe is the sheep.
5475901
Sort of corrected, thank you
Roll credits.
Roll credits. (Again)
5460692
Good point.
5459892
You named yourself after an undead plant. I cannot help but find that awesome. Keep up the good work.
Pinkie was right!