Land of Friendship and Magic

by Archmage Ansrit

Wake-up Call Dreaming

(Arrival Era, one week after the adoption)

I stomped my way through the house. Starswirl was... Gah! He was really annoying! Exuberant like Pinkie, inquisitive like Twilight, and an insane scientist/wizard.

"Is there a problem, Typhon?" Wind Whistler said, peeking out of the kitchen. She'd taken a lot of interest in my world's food, and from the smell I'd say she was cooking something with bell peppers. “I heard indecipherable grumbling.”

"Starswirl is starting another of his lectures." I said, and one of her eyes and ears twitched. "I slipped up and mentioned dream-based magic altering reality—because being awake and in two places at once twenty-four/seven is confusing me—and he just went into a huge fanboy-slash-wizard tirade about discovering the way to use it. He's excited that there's so much new stuff to learn, and mad that I keep breaking his perception of the universe. I get it, he's excited, but seriously! At this rate, I think that the only way to make being around him tolerable is to become a mad scientist myself."

"I, too, shall join you." She deadpanned, before adding in a more upbeat tone. "This foreign magic you study seems like it can accomplish great things if combined with what we already have, and what we can research in other worlds."

"I think we have to progress on our mindscape-building before that, though."

“More meditation and self-discovery?” Whistler raised an eyebrow. “How much more enlightenment do you seek?”

“You know, it’s getting harder and harder to tell if you’re actually complaining or making fun of me.” I replied, crossing my arms and pursing my lips.

“Then everything is going as I wish.” She smiled before sticking her tongue out at me.

“I fear for the sanity of the stallion that ends up with you.”

*****

(The Present, Ponyville)

Rarity knew there was something off about the two ponies she was looking at, but for the life of her she couldn’t rightly tell what.

“How could you just take the last ProtoPony action figure for yourself like that?” The unicorn of the pair, a bubblegum-pink mare with a blonde mane and cutie mark of a smiley-faced sun, half-whispered angrily to the other pony. “I thought I told you that I was going to gift the MegaMare figure!”

“And I distinctly remember saying that it was just the one missing from my collection.” The other mare replied with a huff; her mane was a midnight blue, and her coat and wings a very light cornflower blue, with a purple heart for a cutie mark. “Did we not agree to handle the gifts separately, in any case? Going back and forth every other one?”

To that, the unicorn bit her lips. It appeared that she forgot.

They kept their bickering fairly quiet, even as the party was winding down so that the party colt and his family had the chance to go to the train station to celebrate his birthday with the rest of the family in Las Pegasus.

Rarity may not have had much dealings with Ditzy or her family in the past, but it seemed that she was more appreciative of the dress than she thought. Little Crackle Pop was simply ecstatic to travel all across Equestria with his siblings, if not by train then likely courtesy of Typhon taking them in a carriage thousands of meters up into the air. He just loved spoiling all the foals in Derpy’s family, and even her from time to time, and her sisters… the list was going to be rather long, all things considered.

The pair from earlier was still at it, though, now arguing about how intense each other got about their hobbies.

They were obviously familiar with each other; their discussion just had that feel of two ponies that loved each other deeply yet drove each other up a wall. Really, she thought they might even be sisters, despite being as different as night and day!

Night and day?

But that- and they-! would they just-?

They would!

It was—paradoxically—simultaneously sudden and as if she had always known. The world broke apart like glass, fell away in shards, and left behind… pretty much the same scene—save for the two alicorns that stood at the very peak of the Equestrian Government, that is.

Princess Celestia looked very strange with the proportions of the average mare, although her solid-pink, non-flowing mane helped Rarity distance what she was seeing from what she knew (or thought she knew) of the world. Luna, for her part, looked like an even shorter version of the pony she had met that fateful day of the Thousandth Summer Sun Celebration.

In hindsight, she felt like she should have expected something of the sort to happen after everything that had already happened. All that you could really know was that you knew nothing, or something of the sort that Twilight had said somepony famous had said.

She would have approached them, had she been the pony she had been before the second coming of Discord; as it was, however, she figured that they were simply hiding who they were to attend little Crackle Pop’s party in peace.

Something felt slightly odd about the whole day—that is, besides the fact that royalty had apparently decided that they should have a sisterly spat during a foal’s birthday party—and she couldn’t tell what. Derpy and her husband were as love-dovey as always, and their colts and fillies were full of energy (and cake)… what, if anything, could be wrong about this day?

For a moment, she thought about maybe the number of foals was off, but counting them in her head and listing their names revealed nothing yet made her think she may have been on to something. Crackle, Amethyst (or Sparkler), Dinky, Dipsy, Chirpy, Dizzy, Twerpy… nopony was missing, so why did she feel something had changed?

Before that thought could truly start bothering her, she had spotted her quarry.

A pegasus she was sure had never seen the particular color combination before, nor the cutie mark, but the other tells were there: wings, hairstyle, odd lack of certain body language and exaggerated gestures to compensate. He was currently talking to Pinkie Pie.

“Sorry; without everything going on full, this is the best I can give—” he gave her a relaxed smile and pointed at his own face “—and not look fake. See?”

He was right, as he tried smiling more widely, which made his expression seem plastic. Odd, but then again, he was indeed projecting a different feel to him, almost like he had stopped being Typhon and was… she didn’t know who, but maybe he was the pony who had decided to become Typhon, like in Spike’s comics.

“I’m an introvert using a lot of tricks to make myself more expressive.” His ears fell flat against his head.

“Oh, don’t you worry about a thing.” Pinkie placed a hoof over his shoulders. “I have a sister somewhat like that.”

With a gentle hug, they went their separate ways.

Which meant Rarity had the moment she needed to get some questions answered without needing to get Pinkie involved.

Seriously. Just because she loved her friend did not mean she wanted the Pony of Mass Distraction herself near while she tried discussing things of a delicate nature.

It appeared that Rainbow Dash had the same idea, because she was coaxing Fluttershy in the same direction.

And she really shouldn’t have been surprised to see the royal sisters had something to say, too, but she still was. A little, but still.

With a nod of his head towards the door, they headed outside for a bit of peace.

There had been a quick drizzle during the night, compensating for a brief dry spell caused by Everfree’s winds disrupting the schedule; the wind felt chilly despite the clear skies, although it was not quite scarf weather just yet, even with the slush on the ground.

Soon after, they were talking next to the fountain in the middle of the plaza.

“Before we begin…” he held up a hoof, then brought it and his other one around Luna in a bone-crushing hug.

“Thank you.” He closed his eyes, sounding greatly relieved about something.

Luna, for her part was struggling and squirming, trying to wiggle out of the hug that—Rarity could plainly see from the princess's expressions—was actually crushing something.

By the look of surprise on Luna’s face, he had gotten much stronger and was doing a lousy job of holding back.

Whatever the princess had done, it had to have been quite something to make this new form of his react like that. He was even less expressive than normal, and she could tell even if she had only been around him for a few minutes today.

Just as she felt like saying something and just as she saw princess Celestia move as if about to interfere, Typhon released the mare, who for her part rolled her shoulders and hissed slightly.

There were tears in his eyes, and he was smiling like a fool as he ran a hoof through his mane.

“You- I don’t know how you did it, but you changed things!” He chuckled and looked dazed; Rarity thought he actually looked overwhelmed. “You saved Runic Script!”

Alright, now Rarity was simply confused.

“How so, darling?” She thought back to the party as she spoke. Crackle Pop was with his parents, Amethyst was running herself ragged trying to keep up with the others, Ditzy was… well, being herself, if overly affectionate with her husband, while Runic was not much different from other times outside of keeping his brother Written Script close whenever he wasn’t with Carrot Top. They were not giving any kind of indications that any of them had had a brush with death in the short period of time since she saw them, but who ever knew anything for certain nowadays? Typhon himself bounced back from nearly anything with an ease that would have concerned her were it not for him acknowledging that his mind had been altered by the Void somewhat.

Right, his words had been “even more”, so maybe she should be concerned anyway.

“Sorry, sorry.” He ran his hoof through his mane again as he breathed in, clearly trying to see where to even begin. “She did something, something that changed the past; it concerned me, in a way, but because my personal timeline has always been muddled in relation to this one… I remembered. Sort of.”

“I tried to see if I could help, see if time itself could be bent to recover that which should have never been lost.” Luna, melancholic, stared off into the ripples of the water. “Lucky Clover and Wind Whistler were my friends, and I had the need to know if I could have done something more. Could do? ‘Tis confusing to explain.”

“There had been an accident.” Typhon drew a deep breath, steeling himself before continuing. “It’s likely what would have made Applejack follow the same path as many of the other alternates of her. Runic had been keeping an eye out; he stepped in… he didn’t get out.”

Rarity flinched, now understanding slightly better what had happened earlier. Whatever Luna had done, it caught up to them sometime between the last time she had seen Ditzy, or whichever name she wished to be called, and that very morning.

“Anyone native to this world is less likely to even notice, unless they have enhanced perspectives or the like…” Typhon sighed and looked downcast, pausing for a moment. “Like Bright Eyes- well, like Ditzy.”

And now, all of the present either winced in sympathy, or froze as the horror struck full-force.

“I’m sorry if I brought the mood down.” He once again reflexively ran a hoof through his mane.

“Never apologise for grieving.” Celestia said with conviction.

“Thank you, Sunshine.” Typhon replied in gratitude and hugging her lightly.

“So there is something I want to know….” Typhon began and paused as he sniffed.

“I want to know, how did you know who I was that fast?”

Fluttershy perked up. “Well, your tail is longer than most stallions, your wing and remex size is relatively-unique for your height, your body language is subdued in places so you exaggerate gestures, you never bump into anypony even when you’re not looking, and Rainbow Dash noticed you don’t make puddles splash when you step on them.”

The sisters (plus Rarity) turned back on the path they had taken, and noticed that there were, indeed, a few puddles leftover from the quick winter sleet the previous night.

“I, uh…” Rainbow Dash was about to say more, but she was hesitating too much and looking at the disguised sisters. “I think anything I say can wait, your hi-I mean, prin-”

She slapped a hoof over her own mouth to keep quiet, her eyes darting from side to side.

Rarity wondered if she could make fedoras that fit Fluttershy’s and Rainbow’s color scheme without being overly bright; they deserved it.

“Thank you, Rainbow.” Celestia smiled warmly and nodded to the speedster. “My sister woke up this morning with symptoms curiously resembling those of a hangover, compounded by the fact that she actually woke up during the morning. She insisted on asking something of you before she told me the reason.”

“I wished to inquire as to the nature of Twilight Sparkle’s more recent development.” Luna said, slightly flustered. “Our recent encounter in the psychoplanes emboldened me, along the creation and stabilization of this minor if highly-successful time loop, it thus gave me an idea—”

“Confessing in dreams is a little cheesy.” Typhon pointed out, making Celestia burst into laughter while falling to the ground with Rainbow Dash following soon after, Luna began sputtering incomprehensibly, and her cheeks acquired a pink tint to them. Fluttershy made a somewhat neutral expression by biting her lips, refusing to comment or show a reaction.

The sound of a hoof striking somepony else’s forehead resounded in the plaza.

“Huh, that’s the first time you actually managed to hit him.” Celestia commented before bursting into giggles again.

“And now you’re not as worried as before.” Typhon said, with Luna’s hoof still on his forehead. "Also, you hit like a cannonball. Ow."

“Yes, well, I would rather keep this from becoming a puerile comedy; let us move on before my sister starts talking about her pairing charts.” Luna evidently took no small satisfaction in the speed with which Celestia stood up and went quiet.

“Just because I like romances that doesn’t mean I want to imitate my niece.” She pouted as she replied, making Typhon chuckle a little.

Luna raised an eyebrow in suspicion, but muttered that it had been centuries. That and a quiet "Maybe she changed?"

“That is not what I meant, sister.” Luna narrowed her eyes, leaning forward just enough to make Celestia understand that she had to make a better effort to remember what Luna originally meant. “I seem to recall some unsolicited advice in romantic partnership?”

The wince told her that Celestia finally remembered.

“Your question, Luna?” Typhon cleared his throat, and gestured to the other three mares, now awkwardly trying to make it seem like they were not feeling awkward with being sidelined by (yet another) sisterly spat.

“Ah…” Both sisters had the decency to look ashamed before getting the conversation back on track.

“I wish to know the particulars of this ‘Hope’ Aspect that you say Twilight Sparkle possesses.” She said, making Typhon give a low whistle, and getting Celestia’s (and Rainbow Dash’s) full, undivided attention. “You spoke of its immense capabilities, and that she has been the most attuned to it you have seen in this world.”

Even Fluttershy was extending her neck to listen more clearly, watching intently as Typhon pondered something.

After a few seconds of keeping quiet and stroking his chin, he asked.

“She did something, didn’t she?” He then added. “More importantly, you did something, and she blindsided you, didn't she?”

“Yes.” Luna lowered her gaze in admittance. “I wish to better understand her growth.”

Rainbow raised her hoof. “Uhm, excuse me-”

“Moonlight Raven, in public.”

“... Moonlight… what is it that you did?” She asked with some confusion, and Rarity understood; Twilight had been with them through the previous day, and even if Rarity hadn’t been there for most of the morning, when she saw Twilight last near the end of the day, there weren’t any signs of a royal visit, nor anything grand enough to surprise the lunar princess.

Granted, after thinking about it some more, it did not necessarily have to be great in size, nor dazzling…

“I must confess that, after our own meeting and subsequent philosophising over our ‘selves’, my worries over the future and my ability to instruct Twilight Sparkle in the arts she… requested became much lessened.” She tapped the tips of her hooves together. “I sent her a letter through young Spike to meet during her dreams for the first of her lessons.”

“Do we get to see the flashback?” Celestia asked with a sly smirk. “It sounds like it went awry in quite a spectacular way.”

Luna let out a quiet huff, looking thoroughly unamused.

“Fine.” Luna looked around quickly, then her horn glowed for a moment before there was just a small *pop*.

“Was that-”

*****

Last night

I had just finished scouring the dreamscape for nightmares-

”Ahhh! Princess, what the hay!?”

”Oh my, Rainbow?”

”This is mildly disorienting...”

”Sister, please, some warning might have been appreciated.”

My apologies, it is simply that these… these are events beyond my ability to describe, as I do not yet understand the nature of what transpired during her dreams; I was hoping that you could enlighten me as to how she accomplished these feats.

Typhon nodded at Luna, watching as the see-through ponies looked at themselves or each other. The black blank space they were in was replaced by the starry field of the realm of dreams, with another, solid-looking princess Luna entering a wooden door marked with a candle.

I had, through the night, simply carried on my duty of keeping ponies’ rest peaceful, while also thinking of the ways I would instruct Twilight Sparkle in the arts of the dark safely. It is imperative that one be mindful of what they are doing, as these magics are not as forgiving as the light’s, which have the decency to tend towards preserving the mind of their users unless they were already willing to make those mistakes.

”Typhon just blunders through. The light doesn’t blind him, and neither does the dark… yet, he is not well suited for the harsher side of either.”

”Not without extreme conditions, no.”

I realized that.

Stars above, I am aware of it.

I arrived at her mindscape, most likely developed actively by herself during her time as your student, sister, with many other subconscious changes through her recent ordeals.

”Whoa…”

A statue of princess Luna in stone and silver, rearing proudly, broke apart to reveal the actual pony underneath. Stepping down from the platform she glanced about the garden she found herself in, bordered with trees and dotted with statues, just then noticing that she had her own place with a plaque that read simply “Resolve”, her own cutie mark placed to the side. Her sister’s statue featured prominently, the pink-tinted white marble and shining gold managing an amazing likeness of her, with a plaque that read “Teaching” and displayed her sister’s sun.

”This is absolutely gorgeous!”

Beautiful, I am aware.

”Twilight thought all of this?”

Not quite as prominently as the enormous statue that she was at the back of, recognizing the group as Twilight’s family thanks to her father’s head being in profile respective to her position in the garden, with the statue of young Spike sitting on what could be lady Velvet’s shoulders.

The group of spectators briefly dissolved as Rainbow Dash and Rarity were unable to resist looking more closely at the statues that bore the forms of the residents of Ponyville and Canterlot. Fluttershy kept close to the actual princess Luna narrating the events, while Typhon and Celestia simply admired the solidity of the mental construct.

It was not hard to see the five platforms that held places of honor among the other statues.

Rainbow Dash’s statue, rearing as Luna’s had been yet this one with an intense, confident expression, bore a plaque marked “Determination”; Applejack stood with her legs crossed and a warm smile, bearing a plaque of “Diligence”; Fluttershy was lying down, partially curled around what would have been empty space were it not for a freshly-built nest with eggs in it, protected from above by the statue’s extended wing, eyes closed with a serene smile on her face and “Affection” written on its plaque; Rarity had one leg lifted into the air, pride and elegance rolling off of her with “Insight” engraved on her plaque; Pinkie Pie-

Pinkie Pie’s statue was not there, where she would have expected it if the other statues and the plaque of “Passion” with three balloons were any indication. Walking more closely, the memory’s princess Luna stroked her chin in contemplation at seeing nothing but perfectly smooth stone. Turning around to the other statues in search for clues, she was mildly startled to see Rainbow Dash’s statue missing, and the plaque changed to read “Bravery” instead.

It was not like the statue had decided to simply leave, I had thought at first, immediately before my mind recovered from the surprise and realizing that, as a dream and mental construction, they very well might have—After all, we all have had moments where we ask ourselves “What would this pony do?” and picture them in our minds, giving us advice or reassurance.

And that, everypony, should have been my first clue; had I not dismissed it as an indication of a normal occurrence, I would have changed my approach. Regardless of whether or not I understood the significance of the statues appearing and disappearing, it explained why the inscriptions and epithets were changing like so, as no pony can be described using one word alone.

I decided to approach the center of her mindscape, but I heard—it was not strictly “hearing”, more like her thoughts being left exposed—a conversation.

“Am I going to do well?” A little filly asked, clearly nervous. Her Inner Foal.

“I can do anything, if it’s for the sake of my friends.” From the sheer warmth of her voice, I deduced it was lady Sparkle’s Dam—the fragment of her psyche, not her actual mother.

“Hay, yeah!” That would be Rainbow Dash’s part inside her heart. “You have this in the bag!”

“What if I’m not good enough?” By this point, I had gotten close enough to find the source.

The princess, having walked through the garden towards one of the edges, peered around one of the massive trees to find a scene she had seen many times before.

A little filly was clinging to a mature mare, both of them completely identical in color, identifying them both as Twilight Sparkle. The filly’s cutie mark faded in and out of view with her confidence, and the mare’s heart glowed through her body like a tiny star had decided to reside within.

Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash flitted about, speaking reassurances or reminding the filly of past deeds and simply showing their love.

What had surprised her slightly, and convinced her more than ever that Twilight Sparkle was ready for her lessons, was the pony that had spoken last before Luna found them.

A pony composed of shadows and blackness, looking pained and vulnerable, that nonetheless got a brief nuzzle from The Dam.

The Shadow. Our weaknesses, our fears, all we dislike in ourselves.

”Countless people just bury them in the dark, or send them away, slay them temporarily, or even rip them out of themselves. Me? I simply change what I don’t like, and tell myself to be good. It’s that simple, even if it isn’t easy.”

Indeed; not many have the inner strength to reassure those fears and work with themselves like Twilight Sparkle was doing right before my very eyes.

…

I did not.

”Sister, please, enough of that.”

I know, I know. I drank the same swill as you did, Celestia.

”What?”

”It’s the personal recipe of a famous guru.”

”This guru could not have been human, or maybe ascended beyond the need of functioning taste buds.”

I decided to turn around and head for her consciousness, not without first managing to hear my sister’s voice speaking more reassurances, of course.

It did not prepare me in the slightest.

Princess Luna went the other way, walking in between the statues of the bearers, through the treeline, to come out the other side to a massive library. The surface of the building rippled like water until it settled in a baroque façade, regular generic statues bordering the roof and magnificent architecture that had tree branches coming out of the windows.

The lobby was wide and decorated with the very trees whose branches peeked out of the front of the building, although there were more windows from the inside than the outside, which Rainbow quickly zoomed about to look out as well. There was a fountain of a merpony water carrier, which Rarity couldn’t help but admire from all possible angles—an easy task when somepony was an incorporeal mental representation of their own self. Behind the statue, the bookshelves towered over all, spreading into the distance.

A sound from the reception desk got past-Luna’s attention before she could get too distracted pondering about the books and other sources of knowledge stored in the building.

“Ah, princess!” Twilight Sparkle, wearing glasses, waved at her for a moment before suddenly shaking her head.

“This is a little confusing, even if I expected it.” She rubbed her eyes, glasses poofing into nothingness as she tried to use physical sensations to make sense of what was happening in her mind.

“I must say you are adapting quickly, nonetheless.” I replied, glad to see her dominion over herself be like such. “This is very impressive for one your age.”

She blushed as I pondered adjustments to my lessons, based on what I had just seen.

“Our first lesson shall be more of a demonstration.” I could feel the curiosity already beginning to boil in her mind, which solidified my decision. “You shall learn the dangers of the power that the darkness represents.”

The princess pulled out her memory of the scroll once more, weaving her magic as the image of the blankness within, a likeness of the place between dreams, was pulled out and replaced the library they had been inside of.

A floating scroll that helpfully read ‘Twilight Sparkle’ was in front of the unicorn, facing towards Luna.

I have been experimenting with some spells, like illusions and transformation spells, trying to replicate some of the phenomena that have happened when you are around. Spells that mediated the effects through a magical construct as an interface were priority.

”Did you research spells that make that arrow thing appear?”

They were the focus; of particular interest was a modularity spell… the near-ancient scroll had a note scrawled on the side that read “Pony Customize/Create, alpha version?” in what I believe to be your writing.

The ponies of the audience watched in mild confusion as Typhon chuckled and tried to hide a wide smile, not getting the joke that was far too likely a reference to something out of their world.

Except Fluttershy, but her mild, if ever-present, embarrassment made her keep quiet and not say anything about any imported ‘graphic novels’. Definitely not comic books.

Luna was pacing around her past self, evaluating her own posture and aura.

I then said: “You need to be prepared to face the wonders and terrors that come in the dark.”

”Please, Luna, for the love of all that is sacred, please tell me you aren’t going to do what I think you’re about to do.”

“I shall use the darkness to test you to your limits, your goal shall be to land a single blow on me before that happens.”

”Luna, you issued a despair-based test, on a Hope-aspected Element of Magic with some Mind and Light for good measure, inside her own mind?! Were you high?”

”Goodness! That hardly seems like the way to beha-”

”Luna, you are my sister, and I love you; you have my support in anything you need, but times like these make me wonder if you have, indeed, accidentally consumed more of that ‘Moon Sugar’.”

I did not know what it was! I just found it inside a memory in the Void!

”Well, can you blame her? I have yet to meet anyone, scratch that, anything with the power to make that kind of test actually go as intended.”

”Yeah! I mean, Discord tried something like that, and he failed, and he was out there!”

”Umm… what happened next? I- Is it scary?”

It… depends. I did attempt to scare Twilight Sparkle.

The blackness of her shoes seemed to snake about the air, stretching and gathering in a shape the length of one of Typhon’s arms; the dark substance broke away and left behind a straight pole shaped like a spine, vertebrae and all, with a hoof-sized skull on one end and an equally-small sacrum on the other, all of it the color of bleached bones. The skull’s jaw opened slightly, and a triangular blade slid out, the width of the mouth and less than half as long as the shaft—then the black returned, filling out a much larger, straight darkened metal blade that was wide enough for a pony to hide behind, and longer than most ponies were from nose to tail, ending in a triangular point; there was a bone-white accent along the very center, with a pair of horn-like extensions to the sides both near the furthest end, making it look like a trident, and near the base, looking like antlers. The only normal thing about the weapon was the edge, which looked like simple polished steel.

One of the few blades Typhon is wary of, even now, despite his ability to dissolve into the very air.

”It’s a sealing sword! It literally eats a lot of energy! That being said, even Necromancer can’t help you—”

”It’s called WHAT?!”

Sister, please, if We judged everything by name alone—

”Equestria would be a pretty boring dump populated only by ponies and without a lot of modern commodities?”

”I admit that there are many products with unflattering names, and most chemicals sound...”

”Nasty? Even if they are something nice?”

Precisely.

Twilight’s eyes were staring directly at the skull on Luna’s weapon, tensing in either fright or sheer anticipation. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

“Don’t let fear clog your system.”

I recognized the voice as yours, although it was not necessary to understand those had been your words.

“Now is time; see how the Mistress of Dreams commands her realm."

The princess of the moon closed her eyes, and her armor seemed to meld into her coat, turning black and smooth as the crescent shone with a pale light as did her cutie mark, and glittering stars dotted her new appearance and her eyes shone with moonlight as her mane appeared to turn into a thick nebula sprinkled with stardust.

Celestia felt a little uncomfortable, trying very hard to remind herself that Twilight had, somehow, surprised her sister even when she was like this. The girls stared in awe at the princess’s transformation. Typhon nodded in appreciation, before igniting his cigarette with a spark of lightning between his primaries and easing into a sitting position.

”Ooh~!”

”Always a treat to see things like this with my actual eyes.”

He let out a ring of smoke, then placed his cigarette back in his mouth. Nopony knew where he had gotten it, it was just there.

If it had had any effect, it was more awe than the fear I expected. Not that it was immediately apparent.

“Do be prepared.” I said in arrogance. “Darkness and the unknown go hoof in hoof; only fools are devoid of fear towards them.”

I knew I miscalculated something when she giggled.

“Princess, you of all ponies should know that in old times it also meant simply reverence and respect.” She surprised me by scowling, and widening her stance for a charge. “And many, many things are much, much greater than fear. Music, for example; remember, I live in the same town as Pinkie.”

The mental construct that was to be our battlefield shuddered, control of it having begun to shift towards Twilight without my notice, and a song began to float about us and I felt how she was going to use it to bolster her spirit. The construct that was the identification scroll changed with her self-perception, before disappearing to get out of the way.

Faithful Student

Twilight Sparkle

I see how - this is going to be. She stared directly at Luna’s eyes.
I’m not going to let somepony else dictate the pace for me.
Sorry, princess, there’s too much at stake, and I’m not afraid of what it could take.

Luna’s perception of Twilight changed, as evidenced when the construct reacted to her change in mentality.

I’m not going to let you set up the rules
I learned not to let others think me a fool

Luna almost took her eyes off Twilight when she felt that there was a layer of water covering the floor of their arena.

So let’s go, let’s get this going
You won’t scare me because your eyes are glowing

Water burst forward and Luna answered by throwing a star from her mane, sending the water every other way. The princess countered with a swipe with the flat of her blade, magical hold sending it flying towards Twilight, who laid down to let it swipe over her.

Go ahead and try to scare me if you’re able
You should know by now my heart is much more stable.

Jumping over the return swipe, Twilight sent a flat arching blast with a swipe of her own horn, which Luna avoided by flowing into a sphere the size of a baseball and floating above it.

I can see the smokescreen you are spreading
Like I won’t see the road I am treading

A spherical shield blasted outwards and smacked Luna’s sword hard enough for the feedback to starle her, almost getting hit by a column of water blasting into the sky from below her.

You think I’ll forget because we are not together
My friends are going to stay with me forever
Simply being apart won’t be enough to scare me
That won’t get the better of me, please spare me

Luna threw dozens of ink-black blasts, forcing Twilight to roll, shield and all, away. When she stopped, the shield winked out and was replaced by a smaller one that Twilight began to wave about to bat the sword away once more, waves following her motions instead of just the bursts of magic.

Magic is made of Lo~ove. Love. Love.

Luna used her own hooves to hit the shield and deny Twilight her attacks with her blade, allowing the mare to get so distracted with dodging the blasts of shadows to avoid getting hit with her tail.

“Fear of pain alone will make the energy spike a good cushion” Celestia’s words from before floated through the mindscape as Twilight splashed and rolled along the floor before managing to get her hooves back on it, skidding for a brief moment.

Twilight charged, but Luna anticipated the feint by letting two blasts and a star fly not against her, but each other; the explosion sending Twilight tumbling into the air for a few seconds. The water almost seemed to reach for her to soften her fall with its motion.

This is who I am. This is where I stand.
If you think you can scare me then you’d better change your plan.

Twilight stood up from where she landed, her heart filled with her inner strength which was reflected in their mental battlefield. Every stray hair aligned itself back in place, staring intently at Luna’s eyes.

The magic of our friendship, it shall shine as proof
I won’t let your words distract me, I won’t end beneath your hoof.

Twilight sent blast after blast, watching the sword turn them away or outright cut them.

Go ahead and try to scare me if you’re able
You should know by now my heart is much more stable.

Surrounding herself in a spell, Twilight endured another swat with the sword’s flat, then hitting a star with a burst of her own magic followed immediately by a second one.

I see you think you make me feel afraid
Even if you try I’ll remain unswayed.

Luna barely had time to move her head from the way, eyes widening at how much faster Twilight was starting to move. She called the shadows, a great mass of them forming a snake beneath her that Twilight stared at intensely.

I am even more now that I have friends
Everything they care for I do as well

She braced herself, horn lighting up as the snake lunged forward with a snarl.

The jaws were stopped by a wall of water. Twilight closed her eyes as a second layer formed around her horn.

That is our power, that’s integration
Through socialization.

Raising her horn into the air, a bright beam of light speared the construct and made it melt, the distraction, however, did not make her lose track of Luna, who once again hit a small, mobile shield with her hooves instead of its conjurer.

I am made, of love, lo-o-ove, lo-o-ove~
And I’m stronger than you.

Twilight’s face had a brief look of realization before getting swatted away by another swipe of Luna’s blade, which she did fail to keep within her sight, being sent flying once more; the unicorn didn’t seem to lose her spirit, much to the princess’s annoyance, and even chuckled as the music wound down and she rolled on the ground of their imaginary arena, thoroughly soaked.

“I get it!” Her jubilant exclamation confused me, because I hadn’t. “It was an even greater distraction than I thought! Devious~...”

”OK, that pretty much answers the question about what she’s been practicing to do.”

”I am glad this is all mental; those would be simply dreadful bruises.”

”Um… was hitting her so hard necessary?”

”Sister, couldn’t you have been more gentle?”

“I won’t let you get the better of me, for this test I have my friends with me. And together there is friendship in magic.” This one was more a thought than a voiced statement. “It’s like the scroll, again.”

”And this, ladies and gentlemen of the rea- well, just ladies of the audience, is the part where Luna realizes she’s completely screwed.”

”Typhon!”

”I dunno, it sounds like it’s about to get nasty.”

That is correct.

“No matter where we are. No matter what happens. Time and distance. It does. Not. Matter.” She was rambling, or so I thought. I of course recognized the many things you have said previously, but I had no idea what was her destination, particularly once she started to think about our friends reaching into and touching our souls.

In hindsight, that I did not understand it at that precise moment makes me feel foolish.

“All a clever distraction—much more so than I gave it credit.” She ‘said’, and I prepared myself for a fiercer confrontation; I may have not been able to discern the nature of her epiphany, yet I did understand that it represented a dangerous unknown. “I guess it was silly to think I saw through everything; I mean, a princess and everything.”

Her nervous, embarrassed chuckle and a muttered apology just made me stand further on edge.

“Princess Luna, you may be the Princess of Dreams, but this isn’t your realm.” At this, I was simply confused, particularly once she seized control of even the greater aspects of the construct I had made and altered it to her liking, like the scroll I had used to label visitors.

”I have a selection of boss battle music that might accompany this.”

”I think… this one looks good.”

”Nice choice.”

“It’s mine.”

Element of Magic

Twilight Sparkle

Luna flung herself backwards on instinct as a wall of water exploded from the place she was standing, obscuring her vision for a moment.

Bringing her sword forward she swatted a- it was a cupcake, and the water revealed Pinkie Pie behind the mists, cannon at the ready. Luna twisted away just as there was an explosion of light and sound that tore through the air and felt like it almost tore out her mane from the pull of the wind.

Staring incredulously at was was unmistakably the trail of a Sonic Rainboom, she almost missed all the myriad hats, boxes, and other various things that flew around her.

Deciding to not risk it, she discorporated and flew to the side as mist just as Big Macintosh landed with a resounding slam where she had been standing, the earth itself blasting upwards and nearly hitting the crescent moon that floated inside her ‘form’.

A party hat fell on the stallion and, for lack of a better word, swallowed him before Pinkie appeared from underneath the diminutive cone, holding a top hat towards the cloud that was Luna. Avoiding once more staying in the line of fire, she dodged Rainbow Dash with a more comfortable distance once she burst from the hat, only to nearly get ensnared by a lasso coming from Applejack. Trying to fly higher did not help her as a guard, armor and all, jumped from inside a jewel box and threw a spell at her, before being caught by one of the pegasus ponies from Ponyville and redirected at her for another pass.

The ground rumbled as a tree sprung from just in front of a row of earth ponies and unicorns, making the plant grow and shoot its branches forward like arrows and swing like whips at her, with Luna swinging her blade quickly and precisely to open a path to herself, as the tree healed faster than what little black mist she could conjure could eat away.

An odd whistling sound made her shield herself from an attack on the ground, just on time for a white-hot fireball to explode against her blade, with Rainbow Dash reminding her that being between any two objects that lined up was a bad idea.

Fireworks exploded around her along the fireballs, gemstones and spears and arrows that whistled by as Luna extended as much of her dark cloud to have breathing room as she darted through the battlefield. Spike was the source of the fireballs, and Rarity was shooting gems at her. The curious thing was that one of her eyes was different.

”Wait, is that Trixie with the firew-”

”Is that Rainbow’s eye on my-”

Bolts of lightning slammed into the cloud that Luna made and started to eat away at it instead, making Luna hurry along and simply rain blackened stars to break up any formations on the ground. The hats made it hard to even aim, with a single breeze sweeping them away and taking with them any possible targets they flew over.

Luna could tell that allowing the pegasus ponies to gather more rain clouds would not end in her favor; if the lightning didn’t get her, the magic she could feel gather in the water would weaken both her attacks and her defenses.

It was then that I decided that Twilight Sparkle deserved all I could offer. I had to consider her as I would a peer. I was glad that she was neither this proficient nor this powerful back in the waking world.

Luna dove to the ground and impacted with tremendous force, sending a shockwave of shadows in every direction and dispersing the hats and boxes.

I did wonder where she was, only to receive an answer immediately.

The shadow fog parted around a brilliant dome with the silhouettes of a group holding tight to each other within.

Her family has always had many magically-talented ponies.

Luna, back in an equine shape, reared and made a black sphere grow around her, pouring her strength and intent into blasting everything and break through any defense.

Imagine my surprise, then, when I was reminded the hard way that there is another talented pony in her life.

The wall of the expanding dome burned away as a bright golden light pierced through with ease, her expression reflecting the horror she felt as her sister stepped through the darkness in a frightfully-accurate phantom of her glory; pearlescent coat shining and eyes glowing intensely, surrounded in motes of light and hair a white flame with an aura of rainbow colors much like an aurora.

I could see through her; she was nothing more than a mental ghost, naught but an idea of your radiance and splendor, sister.

Luna wasted no time in pointing her horn at the apparition, a small void appearing in front of her; she wove the spell, gave it instructions, then loosed it as one would an arrow. The dot became a line in an instant, turning slightly to strike the largest gathering of magic inside the ghost as the void sought to be filled according to the limits from the spell.

The phantom dispersed into sparks, but just as she was coming down from the rush...

“Hello.” The all too familiar voice sent a chill through her body. “My name is Brain-Ghost Typhon, and I am your Coordinator for the battle.”

It made sense, in a way. You did explain some of the aspects your powers covered, and all strikes had been too well-timed, too unified for Twilight Sparkle to achieve on her own without any practice.

The ghostly pony duplicate of Typhon, corresponding to his friendship with Twilight, saluted, then dispersed into the air.

I would not be taking any chances.

The shadows crept from under her, reaching upwards in the forms of beasts and birds of prey.

Sweeping the field with her sight made her eyes come to a stop by two piercing cyan somethings that her mind belatedly told her resembled Fluttershy’s eyes. She was unprepared for the intensity of the gaze boring into her, and flinched.

”Bwa ha ha! Fluttershy, you’re awesome!”

”The Stare always makes me feel the chills.”

”Eep!”

”Sweet Faust...”

I should have recognized those tactics by now.

A gigantic lavender hoof pressed on her, startling her and momentarily making her forget to even move.

Technically, it should have ended right there and then, yet emotions were high, thoughts were plenty, and we were both caught up in that mental storm.

“Nightmare Moon made me admit how amazing friends could be, Discord taught me to never give up on them; I learned that if I fell, then my friends would be left exposed. They have taught me so much about life, and even myself, that I can never repay them. They have given me so much, I should show you just how much!”

The entire exchange took mere moments, still, the abundance of ideas and feelings made it seem like minutes.

A lilac star descended and approached Luna, who was far too dazed from the light’s magic.

“Our love, our joy, our sorrows, our hopes! Take them all!”

The light chased away my own thoughts, my emotions. This was a mental attack of a kind I had only seen from the wrong end once, as Nightmare Moon. The recognition, too, faded into soft light and warmth coursing through me.

I stood there for an indeterminable amount of time. I was barely aware of Twilight Sparkle cantering around my immobile form, looking sheepish.

“I-I’m sorry! I wasn’t trying to use that much magic! I just-!” I interrupted her apology by giving her a hug, as strong and warm as I could muster. She squeaked as I physically lifted her.

I stood there some more time, unable to form much coherent thought as she had buried me with the psychological equivalent of an avalanche.

Slowly, my faculties returned. She never had the intention to harm me, so the momentum of my recovery hastened with each passing second.

“Do not apologize.” I muttered, my mind taking a few additional moments to piece together a conversation. “‘Twas an amazing performance; I should have remembered you have trained yourself all this time as well.”

“Ahh… princess? Are you going to be OK?”

“I shall be. Before performing my duties and preparing our first lesson, I employed the same spell Nightmare Moon tried to use to tempt Rainbow Dash, in case I needed to remain with you for more time than there would be before dawn. I shall simply remain in rest and let any secondary effects pass on their own.”

Luna released Twilight, looking her in the eye. The princess was smiling, mostly because she doubted she had anything else inside of her that wasn’t warm and comforting, but she did indeed feel that Twilight would progress quickly and perform admirably.

“The real question, Twilight Sparkle, is if you are going to be. That was an intense performance, and even if your body is currently a mental projection, there are reflections and echoes upon the body; there is also the end, where you spent large amounts of mental energy and overall magic, even if the cost was greatly reduced by being inside the land of dreams; it may feel like you never slept at all tonight.”

“Oh don’t worry, I’ll be fine!” Twilight waved off the idea. “I’ve done my fair share of all-nighters before, this is nothing.”

*****

(Breakfast time, Golden Oaks library)

Spike swallowed the bite of his sapphire pancake as he looked at Twilight.

She had claimed to be perfectly fine, in between yawning, but now she was snuggling her pancakes and snoring.

Deciding he could leave her be for a little while before going to attend the party, he wanted to experiment. Would the blueberry syrup work better than condensed milk for his pancakes?

Author's Note:

This fought me all the way.

I had the whole thing in my head, it just didn't want to get down into words. At least, not without lots and lots of details added and removed all over.

Comments

[Fireeaters]

Shit, dude. Four years. Also, I think I spotted a reference or two.

[Fireeaters]

Also-also, I don't think this chapter hooks up with how I remember the last one ending, and it's confusing.

[Kontaro]

It's ALIVE!!! we need someone to post the correct link here!

Also, glad yer back! Missed this story!

[Midnight Loki]

Loved the song you had her sing, it really works, if in a different context to the original.

[Asolem2]

“I fear for the sanity of the stallion that ends up with you.”

Sanity is overrated... also it's your sanity on the line here

They were obviously familiar with each other; their discussion just had that feel of two ponies that loved each other deeply yet drove each other up a wall. Really, she thought they might even be sisters, despite being as different as night and day!

Night and day?

But that- and they-! would they just-?

They would!

Yup

[Balewood]

Cool to see you back, this was pretty awesome, Thanks for Writing!

[Timuri]

Was glad to see this story back, and that the plot was actually progressing, even if it feels completely disconnected from the last chapter...but it felt like there was a shark in there around the time the Steven Universe song happened.

[WUBZ-_-Vinyl]

I only got to 4 chapters in and I'm super confused and don't know jack shit about this guy but strangely enough I LIKE it! I have no idea what the fuck i'm reading but I like it so there's that.

[Pensive]

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7BjUUv10ko[/embed]
copy and paste this until he/she comes back online to continue or cancel his story.

[Kontaro]

Meh, might be back, since they came back after 4 years, not getting my hopes up tho, with the state of the world

[sinewystatue382]

continue it we all want to see more soon

[Kontaro]

At this point, sticking it in my dead fic folder, the author continues to appear on the site apparently, and yet doesn't respond, so I am assuming it's abandoned at this point, oh sure, maybe they might get around to another chapter eventually, but 4 years were between his last chapter, and the one before it, that he posted another at all is surprizing..but yeah, it's been another 2 years, not gonna stick around waiting for 2 more years hoping he posts another, if it happens? great! if not? oh well, abandoned as i thought..... least they could do would stick a hiatus or cancelled tab on it so we know not to stick around hoping