• Published 29th Mar 2014
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Dreams About Friendship Are Magic - Soft Story



Twilight Sparkle wakes from a coma after being cursed. However not everything is as she remembers.

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Chapter 18

The sun was barely over the horizon when Celestia stepped out into the palace gardens. The morning air was crisp and smelled of the various flowers and plants scattered around the grounds. But she couldn’t stand about and waste time. She needed to have a rendezvous with a certain somepony. Closing her eyes, she sent a wave of magic out towards the Griffon border. Her magical senses had been honed over the past few years to find and keep tabs on Twilight, to the point where it was almost reflex. Instinct. In less than a second she found her marefriend, laying in bed at an Inn. Celestia charged up a teleportation spell and silently popped back into existence at the foot of Twilight’s bed.

It was a gross intrusion on privacy to use that spell, as the spell told her exactly where and what Twilight was doing at any moment. With practice she could use it on anypony she wanted, but for now Twilight was the only one she had trained herself to seek out. She had used it once before, directly after the report of the attack that put Twilight in a coma reached her.

Spike’s loud snores soon filled her ears. He was curled up right on the end of the bed, sleeping soundly and undisturbed by Celestia’s teleport. Twilight was sprawled over the bed, not even under the sheets. Celestia spotted a mostly-empty wine bottle over near the window, with a single glass on the floor still stained with droplets of wine. A quick magical investigation revealed traces of high levels of alcohol in Twilight’s body.

Celestia frowned at that fact. Twilight hadn’t even so much as looked at alcohol since she awoke. When asked, Twilight simply stated that she had no interest in drinking. She would have a little at a function, but otherwise she was fine with juice or water. “Twilight,” Celestia whispered, giving her marefriend a gently nudge.

The Countess grumbled softly but remained asleep. Celestia tried again, nudging a bit harder. After a third nudge, Twilight awoke with a protesting groan. “Who is it?” Her speech was mumbled and nearly incomprehensible, the final proof that for some reason Twilight had drank far too much wine last night.

The stay must have stressed her immensely, the Princess thought. “Hold still, Twi,” Celestia whispered as she charged up one of many complex spells from her repertoire. She touched the glowing tip of her horn to Twilight’s head and let the magic go. It covered Twilight and cleansed all the alcohol from her system, as well as preventing any hangover symptoms. For a normal unicorn such a spell would be extremely difficult to pull off, so it was limited to being used to treat alcohol poisoning or to clear up some pony who was arrested while drunk.

Twilight moaned once more, this time sounding much more together and awake. “What was that?” She asked, looking up at Celestia. Revelation arose on her face. “Oh! Tia!” She jumped up, instantly awake, to give her marefriend a hug.

The Princess laughed as she returned the tight embrace. “Good morning, Twi.”

“What are you doing here?” The two pulled away from each other, a smile on both their faces. Spike groaned and rolled over, the noise Twilight made waking up disturbing his sleep.

Celestia gently nuzzled Twilight as she spoke. “I got your letter. I think it would be best if you returned to Canterlot now. We can resume discussions with the Griffons later.”

Twilight’s brows furrowed in confusion. “But what about this pony who was smuggling seeds across the border? If somepony out there is threatening peace between us and the Griffons, we need to find out who paid him to—”

“The Griffons can conduct their investigation; it is their law that has been broken after all. Not ours,” Celestia said firmly. It was so firm in fact, that Twilight flinched at the authority. Celestia’s voice became less harsh, but her eyes didn’t lose their passion. “And even if we had reason to investigate, the ones behind this are most likely the same ones that want to cause harm to you. You are the last pony in Equestria I would allow to look into this. For now you should stay with me in the palace, where I can protect you.”

A defeated look of understand passed over Twilight’s face as she mulled over what Celestia was saying. “I... suppose that makes sense.”

Celestia nuzzled her marefriend once more. “Besides, as Countess it is your job to run the country, not conduct investigations.”

A flare of her own passion swelled inside Twilight as she stepped back from Celestia. “Then allow me to appoint somepony to work with the Griffons and investigate this smuggling job. I can’t let this go. Somepony out there is trying to hurt me and my friends.”

There was a tense moment of silence as Celestia stared into Twilight’s eyes. Eventually, the Princess sighed in defeat. “Very well. But in return you must promise me that you’ll not go running off.” Gently, some may dare say obsessively, Celestia stroked Twilight’s mane. “You’ll stay where I can keep an eye on you, and can protect you if something happens.”

“I can agree to that,” Twilight answered as she leaned up and gave Celestia another hug.

“Ugh.” Spike’s voice suddenly cut through the room. Twilight and Celestia looked over at the bed to see that Spike had woken up. A disgruntled expression marred his face as draconic eyes glared at the pair. “I thought that coming out here would mean you two wouldn’t be all over each other at sunrise.”

Both mares broke out in a fit of giggles at Spike’s disgust for their display of affections. Twilight walked over and gently nuzzled him. “I’m sorry we woke you, Spike.”

He pushed her away, but not before a small smile could worm its way onto his face. Celestia stepped over to the two of them. “I will let you two have something to eat before we depart back for Canterlot. I’ll inform your guards that you’ll be returning via teleportation and not the chariot.”

Twilight’s first order of business once returning, after unpacking her bags, was to find a pony to lead the investigation. It was already well after lunch by the time she and Spike learned of a pony who they could ask. His name was Bronze Spear and he was a former member of the palace guard. He currently held one of those mostly ceremonial positions working as an advisor, which mostly amounted to being sacked by paperwork.

The door to his office was ajar as Twilight, with Spike on her back, approached. Blankly, and without warning, the familiar scene reminded her that she never informed Gerald of her early departure. She would need to remember to apologize for that, at a later time. Shaking it away, Twilight poked her head in through the doorway. “Bronze Spear?”

The dark orange coated earth pony stallion jumped. “Yes? What can I do—” he immediately froze when he realized just who it was peering through his open door, mouth frozen as his words died on his lips.

Twilight grinned and walked straight in. “Aha! See, Spike; I knew I’d find his office.” She gave his office a quick look-over as she moved to stand in front of his desk. It was rather banal, all things considered. Though one wall seemed to be covered in photos and awards from his time serving in the guard. A few photos behind his desk showed him posing with a light green pegasus mare.

“Only took us half an hour,” Spike grumbled in response, loud enough for everyone to hear his displeasure.

Bronze finally unfroze, looking somewhat panicked as he tried to stand up straight and salute her. The heavy thud of his hoof’s arrival to his forehead caused Spike to wince. “Lady Countess! What are you doing here?”

“I’ve come to ask a favor of you, Bronze Spear,” Twilight said very formally. She waved at him to stop saluting, which he tentatively did. She decided she should use the same tone she and Celestia used while making declarations in court. “It’s purely voluntary, so feel free to say no.” Bronze nodded once, still listening attentively. “While I was visiting the Griffons, there was an incident. A pony tried to smuggle illegal goods across the border. He claims he was just paid to run a delivery, and I’m inclined to believe him.” Twilight’s smile slowly vanished. “The first thought that comes to mind is that it is one of the groups who are… unhappy… with my current position.”

Twilight gave a firm nod, and stared into Bronze Spear’s eyes. “ I’d like you to look into this for me, and see if we can pin anything on these ponies.”

The stallion looked somewhat stunned as Twilight explained everything to him. Once she had finished, Bronze took a moment to collect his thoughts. A flabbergasted look overcame him as he absentmindedly rubbed the back of his head. “That sounds really important, Lady Countess. Why are you asking me, of all ponies?”

Twilight’s smile returned. “Celestia spoke highly of your service, and some of the others I spoke to said you had… plenty of time for a side project.”

Bronze chuckled softly, knowing exactly which ponies would have pointed the Countess to him. “Well, I suppose I do. I suppose it also helps that I have a few old friends who have gotten themselves mix up in some of the groups you were talking about.”

That was surprising to both Spike and Twilight. “Really? Then you might be the perfect pony for the job. If you want it,” Twilight added quickly.

“I probably am,” he agreed. “And I don’t want anyone to hear that I turned down the Countess, so I’ll do it.” Bronze saluted her once more.

Twilight rolled her eyes at the gesture. “Please keep me updated on anything you can find out about these groups and their goals, and if they are behind the smuggling crime.” Twilight and Spike spent the next half an hour telling him all about what had happened at the border, getting him up to speed. When they left, Twilight felt that the investigation was in good hooves.

Several hours later, after getting all caught up with Celestia about what had happened in the two sessions of court she missed, Twilight decided to return to her room early and take a long bath to relax. Celestia was still working on paperwork elsewhere in the palace and Spike had run off without a word after they had finished dinner. Tired after all the events that had happened, Twilight couldn’t help but sigh as she walked down the long corridors leading back to her room.

A maid cleaning the hallway that Twilight hadn’t noticed before turned to face her. “Feeling down, Lady Sparkle?”

Twilight turned to give the maid a friendly smile, stopping to chat a little. “Just worn out. It’s been a long few days.”

“Oh, I can understand that. You must be super duper busy being the Countess and all. Why, I bet I wouldn’t even understand half the things you do everyday!” The maid’s tone was bubbly and friendly.

Something about that voice struck Twilight as being very familiar. She focused on the maid’s face, trying to see if she recognized the pink mare in front of her. Suddenly, like a dam exploding, she realized just who was talking to her. “Pinkie Pie?”

The maid gasped in an overly dramatic fashion. “You know my name!? Oh my gosh, the Countess knows my name!”

Twilight stared at her, dumbfounded beyond belief as the maid—Pinkie Pie, bounced around in happiness. “Pinkie, what are you doing here? How did you get here?”

Pinkie Pie tilted her head to one side, ceasing her gravity-defying jumping. “Whadda mean, Lady Sparkle? I’ve always worked here. In this hallway. With this cute costume!” She jumped in the air and spun around in a circle, the frills on her maid dress flaring out. “Isn’t it awesome?”

“What are you doing here?” Twilight asked again, her mind unable to come up with any sort of logical reasoning why Pinkie Pie would be in front of her. A accusatory hoof was leveled towards Pinkie. “You shouldn’t exist!”

“I shouldn’t? That doesn’t sound very fun,” Pinkie replied, looking sad. She perked back up instantly. “But if I’m not here, then how are we talking?”

“I don’t know!” Twilight replied. “What were you doing before I got here?”

Pinkie tapped her chin. “Hmmm… I think… I think I was throwing a party…” Pinkie Pie gasped. “Oh my gosh! Sorry Lady Sparkle, I’ve got to run. Some of my friends are all super duper sad about a friend of ours who is sick! I need to cheer them up! Bye!” She took off running down the hall before she could finish her sentence, leaving a smoke trail behind her.

After a moments pause to figure out what had happened, Twilight took off running after her. The smoke trail vanished quickly, leaving Twilight with no way to know which way Pinkie ran. Eventually she came across two guards, diligently patrolling the halls. She skidded to a stop in front of them. “Have you two seen a pink Earth pony mare dressed as a maid?”

Despite the rather absurd question, neither of the stallions flinched. The guards both simply shook their heads ‘no’, the one on the left replying to her. “No, Lady Sparkle. Are you looking for someone in particular?”

Suddenly realizing that what she had just seen was most likely part of her imagination, Twilight laughed nervously. “Oh, no… Heh… I just thought I saw someone… Carry on!” Her horn lit up and she teleported herself to her bedroom with a loud pop. They would surely inform Celestia that she had been acting strangely, but for now Twilight just needed to wrap her head around what had happened.

Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and now Pinkie Pie. She was seeing visions of her past friends, and they were becoming more and more real. She had actually had a, admittedly short and confusing, conversation with Pinkie Pie. Were her friends just her mind playing tricks on her, or was there something more to this? She’d have to start looking into it, without Celestia getting too worried about her.

Twilight started to draw a hot bath as her mind raced through all sorts of magical and physical tests she could prepare and run the next time she saw one of her old friends in front of her. She’d need to gather proof that they were nothing but hallucinations. Because if they weren’t hallucinations…

She didn’t want to think about it.

Author's Note:

After a full week's delay, here is Chapter 18! I'd leave a big comment here about what happened, but you can read my blog or tumblr for that information if you care.

See you all next week for Chapter 19
-- Soft Story