A Dim Twilight

by FlutterAngel

Nightmares

Twilight opened her eyes to see she was alone in a thick and silent darkness. The only sound that could be heard was the sound of magic from her horn, making a bright magical light. She walked around aimlessly into the darkness, occasionally looking behind her after she took deep breaths. She started to feel frightened as the isolation and silence crept up her shoulder.

"Spike...are you there? Where are you?" A faint laughing sound could be heard after she called for him. She froze in her tracks and moved her ears to try to locate the source of the sound. Twilight looked at the direction of the noise and shouted as loud as she could.

"Hello? Who was that? Please answer me; I don't want to hurt you!" Again, the giggling could be heard this time however, multiple voices could be heard. Twilight took in a deep breath and ran as fast as she could in the direction they came from. After what seemed like hours, she could see a small ling.

The adrenaline in her body made her run faster than she was before. After several moments of running, she finally entered the source of the light. It was a field much like the one she had a picnic with her friends at before her brother's wedding. The bright light of the sun made her eyes hurt and her vision blurry.

She rubbed her eyes with her fore-hooves and saw something that brought tears to her eyes. It was her five friends, standing with smiles on their faces as they looked at her. She was speechless, partially because the running took her breath away. Many thoughts went through her head as she stared at the five mares in front of her. Was this possible? Was their death just a long dream? What was happening? Twilight got lost in thought, only to be interrupted by Apple Jack.

"You alright Sugar cube?" Twilight shook her head and looked at the orange pony. She wanted o say something but thought it'd be better to keep her thought to herself.

"No, I'm fine. I just got a bit lost in thought, that's all." Rainbow Dash laughed a bit and ruffled up Twilight's mane as she grabbed her.

"I'd say it was more than just a bit, Egghead!" She let go of Twilight, who suddenly felt a brush go through her mane. She turned to see it was Rarity. The white mare looked at Rainbow Dash with irritation.

"Rainbow Dash, stop with your nonsense, you messed up Twilight's mane!" The pegasus just rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Oh, calm down Rarity, I was just joking.!That is unless; you want me to mess up your mane too!" Rarity backed away after stopping her magic and hid behind Apple Jack.

"Don't you DARE touch my mane! Honestly, why do you have act so uncouth?!" Twilight giggled as Pinkie Pie wrapped her arms around her, making her giggle even more.

"Oh Dashie! Of course you can't mess up Rarity's mane! It's already been styled like Twilight's like twice! I think she looked nice but Spike got a funny look on his face!" Twilight gave a small chuckle as she turned to Fluttershy. She was looking down at the ground with a small smile on her face. Twilight walked towards her and put her hoof on her shoulder after Pinkie released her from the hug.

"Are you okay Fluttershy, not even you get this quiet?" She sighed and turned away from Twilight, continuing to stare down at the ground.

"Um yes, I'm fine...don't worry about me...I'm okay." Twilight raised an eyebrow and wrapped one of her wings around her friend.

"Come on Fluttershy, you know you can tell me anything. You're one of my best friends." She sighed and looked at Twilight with sad eyes. In a soft depressed tone, she answered her question.

"Well....It's just that you um....well you haven't um...you don't talk to any of us a lot anymore....and it makes me think I did something wrong..." She looked away as tears fell down her face and she tightly hugged Twilight. All of the other ponies looked at Fluttershy and trotted towards her. Twilight frowned and hugged her tighter as Apple Jack put her hoof on Flutterhy's shoulder.

"Come on Fluttershy, we told you it's not your fault. No pony did anything wrong." Rarity looked at her from the side, trying to force a smile.

"Apple Jack's right dear; Twilight's just busy with being a Princess and all. She just hasn't had the time is all." Pinkie Pie squeezed between Twilight and Fluttershy, hugging her even more tightly than she had done to Twilight.

"You didn't do anything wrong, Twilight's not being a big meanie pants and not visiting us because you did something wrong. She's just busy with doing big important Princess stuff like important reading and studying and writing! She's super duper tired and doesn't have the energy to do sun things with us silly!" Twilight's frown only got bigger as Pinkie said this. As the pain hit her heart, she walked away and sat down, tears once again in her eyes.

Many more thoughts entered her mind. Like if it was true that she had never spent time with them, and if she were not only a bad princess, but a horrible friend as well. This only made her grow sadder and sadder. Rarity noticed Twilight sitting isolated and walked to her. She used her magic to wipe her tears with a fancy hankie. She looked up at her for a moment and sighed as she looked back down at the ground.

"Thanks Rarity...and you too Pinkie, I really do appreciate it...it's just I...I don't know if I really am the cause of this...am I really that bad of a pony, let alone a friend? What has being a Princess done to make me so...so-" Rarity put her hoof on her friend's mouth, not letting her speak. She tried to make a bigger smile but could not and hugged her. She sighed and released Twilight from the hug and looked into her eyes.

"Shhhh. Darling, you didn't do anything. You can't help if your schedule if too full for us...it's not your fault. No pony is mad at you, I promise." Twilight gave a small smile as she wiped her tears away.

"Thank you Rarity, it means a lot." She smiled back, happy to see she felt better and to see her smile.

"Don't mention it; I am the element of generosity after all!" She giggled a bit and sighed and looked up at the sky. Twilight closed her eyes for a few moments and opened them to see she was once again alone. The field was empty of life besides the plants and wild life. Twilight felt a knot in her stomach as she frantically looked for them, screaming their names.

"Apple Jack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie, Rainbow, where are you girls?" Twilight ran around the field, searching for them desperately. After about an hour, she found five figures in the distance. She ran towards them to see that it was indeed her friends.

"There you girls are! I've been looking for you! Why did you leave?" Twilight looked at them after catching her breath and saw they were all giving her angry glare, even Fluttershy. Apple Jack walked closer, gritting her teeth in hatred and anger.

"Yer’ asking us why we leave you? How about answering this, why did ya' leave us after becoming a Princess? Are we not important anymore?" She looked back at Apple Jack with confusion as she tilted her head.

"What are you talking about Apple Jack? I would never do that, you girls are my best friends." Rarity huffed and trotted to her, staring her down with her angry azure eyes.

"Oh please Twilight, don't act like you don't know what we're talking about! We know you don't care about us anymore; you made that perfectly clear after you blew us off every day! What do you have to say to yourself?" Twilight's heart sank as Rainbow Dash grabbed her and looked into her eyes and shaking from her anger.

"Yeah Twilight, I thought we were your friends! But I guess you don't like us now do you? You have your Princess pals now so you threw us away like trash, that is NOT cool!" The pegasus mare huffed and flew away into the clouds, silently sobbing as she hid herself. Twilight shook her head and looked at her other four friends.

"No, it's not true! I didn't abandon you, honest! You're the best friends I could ever ask for, and that I'll ever have!" Her friends continued to glare at her as they screamed hurtful things at her, making her feel even worse. Twilight lay on the ground, burying her face in her hooves and sobbing. After several minutes of this, a loud familiar voice could be heard from above.

"Enough is enough!" While she heard this, her friends’ yelling faded until it couldn't be heard anymore. Twilight looked up and saw Princess Luna standing in front of her. She smiled as she looked down at Twilight, and held out a hoof to help her up.

"It is okay Twilight Sparkle, it's all over now." Twilight continued to sob as she tightly hugged her. Luna rubbed her back as she returned the hug.

"Oh Luna, its true! What they said was true, I was a horrible friend, I ignored them, and this is what I deserve! They're dead and the last thing they could think of before they died was that I pushed them away! They think I hated them after I became a princess and it's my entire fault!" The Princess stopped hugging her and looked down at her.

"That is not true my fellow princess, they knew that you cared for them. This was just yourself conscious thinking the worst and your sadness. It's only a dream, what has happened here is not reality." Twilight hyperventilated as she tried to calm herself down enough to breathe regularly.

"But I was never there for them after that day, and I rarely even said hi to them even though I lived just blocks away!" The surrounding field began to break apart as Luna flew backwards into the sky and screamed down to Twilight.

"It is not true Twilight, you were a good friend!" With that, she woke up in a cold sweat. She put her hoof on her head and looked at a clock in her room which read 11:23 Am. She sighed and got out of bed and went down the stairs, not making her bed like she usually would have. She sat at the table in her kitchen where Spike was making his lunch. He turned to see her with bags under her eyes and her forehead slightly wet with sweat. He walked over to her side and looked at her, putting his hand on her shoulder.

"Twilight, are you okay? You don't look to hot..." Twilight looked at him for a short time and put her head onto the table as a tear rolled down her cheek.

"I'm fine...I just...had a bad dream is all..." The Dragon looked at her and rubbed her shoulder slowly.

"Do you wanna talk about it? I'm here you know, I'd do anything to help, just say the word and I'll do it." The mare shook her head and looked up at him with a weak smile.

"No, there isn't anything you can do...I'm sorry...I really appreciate it but, I just don't want to do this anymore...these wings were like a curse...I knew this would happen...Celestia must want me to suffer." Spike frowned at her and held the side of her head and looked in her eyes sternly.

"She doesn't hate you, she did this because you were ready, and she said this was your destiny. And I know you're strong enough to get through this, I've known you for all of my life; I know you can do it." Spike gave her a reassuring smile and gave her a hug. Twilight sat there, a few tears coming out of her eyes; she couldn't get the things they said out of her head. Those words hurt her more than anything could. Her friends’ hating her was a nightmare within itself, but hearing them say it was an even worse feeling, which she couldn't bear.

"No I can't Spike, the pain has broken me so much...I don't know how long until it breaks me and my sanity..." She cried harder just thinking about it. She really didn't know when or if she was going to break. She went deeper into thought and unconsciously hugged him even tighter. He smiled softly and hugged her back just as tightly and himself felt a tear rolling down his cheek. He absolutely hated seeing her in pain, he cared for her more than anything else in this world. Trying to hold it in, Spike took a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself so she wouldn't cry more. As he took deeper breaths, his eyes widened when he heard Twilight's soft voice.

"Don't cry for me Spike, maybe one day I'll be happy again. Or maybe I won't be, it's nothing for you to cry over. I love you Spike..." Spike's eyes widened even more as he heard it and he hugged her even tighter as he started to cry heavier.

"I love you too Twilight, that's why it hurts so much for me to see you like this. You're always depressed and I know what you have in your drawers, I know what those scars on your ankles and arms are from. All I want is for you to be happy again, for it to be like the old days. When we go out for errands and we laugh together, that's all I want." Twilight opened her tear filled eyes and saw a book on the ground. She used her magic to lift it up quietly so Spike wouldn't noticed. She looked at the title of the book and gave a small smile and thought happily.

"I know what I have to do..."