Nightmare Moon has returned to Equestria on the Summer Sun Celebration, and there was nopony to stop her. Now, in a world where the night lasts forever, it is up to two ex-students of Princess Celestia to fix it all.
Nightmare Moon has returned to Equestria on the Summer Sun Celebration, and there was nopony to stop her. Now, in a world where the night lasts forever, it is up to two ex-students of Princess Celestia to fix it all.
“Ah, there’s nothing like a well-deserved rest after a day full of studying, don’t you think, Spike?”
No answer. I could have sworn that my Number One Assistant was around here somewhere just a minute ago, but he seems to have wandered off. Oh well, it’s his loss, and more of these delicious cream biscuits for me! Not that I was going to share, anyway, because I need exactly three and three quarters to satisfy my hunger, and there are only that many left on a porcelain plate in front of me.
Still, tasty treats aren’t the only reason why I like it here. Just take a look around — everything about this place is great! The decor is simple but elegant, the staff presents friendly and professional approach, and lazy atmosphere pouring smoothly from that antique gramophone is just what I need to relax. The manager knows that once in a while even quiet, book loving ponies like myself want to unwind in a more socialized environment. But not too socialized. I prefer secluded spots with corner walls to my back, providing a good view of the clientele.
And what a clientele they are! So distinguished, so fitting the place! Take that elegant couple chatting over there, for example. The stallion is wearing a bowtie in the color of the sapphire blue ceiling, and if his companion’s scarf was wider it could easily double for one of the equally lavender tablecloths. I can’t hear what they’re talking about, but I bet it’s something science or history related, since the ponies frequenting Les Doux Maregots are not only refined, but educated as well. Good for them! Now, what else… oh, their hairdos are rather simple, like my own: practical and definitely not extravagant.
In short, this café is a perfect place for Twilight Sparkle to spend a lovely—ouch!
I burned my tongue! How is that even possible? Everypony knows that beverages served in here have this peculiar quality of keeping the same temperature for hours. But now, out of the blue, my coffee is hot as the sun itself? Has something changed while I wasn’t paying attention?
Indeed it has. There’s a newcomer by the doors, and one glance is all it takes to tell that she doesn’t belong in here, since her wavy, crimson-yellow mane and amber coat brightening the otherwise calm interior simply aren’t fitting the general picture. Come to think of it, she looks like a random spark bursting out of the fireplace, one about which you can’t really tell if she’s going to die out in the air or set your favorite rug alight.
This one, to my surprise, has decided to come over.
“Hi.”
“Hello,” I reply. “I’d ask you to join me but I’m afraid there’s only one—”
She sits in a chair of her own. That’s odd, I’ve always thought this was a table for one. Somepony from the staff must’ve added an extra seat recently. I’m fine with that, but couldn’t they at least get one from a matching set instead of picking this oversized, golden throne with red pillows? It’s so unlike the chair I’m sitting in. Mine is a typical piece of furniture, made of dark wood, with perfectly aligned back rest and steady, four-legged support.
“Right.” I smile and push the plate towards her. Though I usually sit alone, common courtesy requires offering a sharable treat to anyone joining you during mealtime. “Would you care for a biscuit?”
“Why would I? To let my subconscious trick me into believing they taste delicious? To fool myself with something that’s not real at all?” She frowns and pushes the plate away. “Listen, we don’t have all day. Well, we have all night, in our case, but that’s not the point. I think I’ve left the window in your bedroom open, so unless you want to get us both cold I suggest you wake up already.”
What a weird mare. I avoid labeling others most of the time, but I think she may have some kind of a mental disorder. She certainly sounds slightly delusional with her ridiculous logic. How do I know she’s wrong? Well, all you have to do is go over the facts.
Fact number one: this isn’t my bedroom, this is clearly Les Doux Maregots, a café by the Promenade in Canterlot. Fact number two: it’s about three or four in the afternoon, so something you’d hardly call a night. Fact number three: there’s a certain distance between us and the windows, and it’s temperate outside. Therefore, there is no way either of us could get cold, which completes the proof.
I try to look at the mare with sympathy, but she just snorts.
“Still not getting it, huh? I honestly expected more than that.”
“Excuse me! It must be your first time in Canterlot, because otherwise you’d know we treat each other with respect around here!” I point my hoof away from the table. “Please, I don’t want to sound rude, but I think you’d better go.”
“Oh, I’ll leave, you can bet on that. Staying in this place for too long makes you lose yourself,” she replies. “But before I go, tell me one thing: what do you think about the decor?”
Sigh. I look around, willing to do anything to make this unpleasant mare go away. Let’s see, I like the vivid redness of the ceiling, I’ve always liked it. I like how tablecloths and carpets are in the color of honey, there’s also that—
Hold on a second! Something is definitely not right about this picture, something isn’t the way it’s supposed to be. I don’t recall the manager changing the design, yet there it is, different than before. I must be seeing things! Red ceiling and honey carpets, check. Scarlet bowties and amber scarves, check. Wavy, over the top hairdos, loud conversations, and lively music coming from the three-horned gramophone — triple check!
I look down at my half empty cup. I swear that porcelain used to have smooth, geometrical patterns in rose and violet, but now the markings are crimson and erratic, like thorns wrapping around the cup. And on the top of that, the coffee inside seems to be boiling!
“What is this? Who are you? What is going on!?”
The mare rolls her cyan eyes, and with this gesture the whole café turns to the side. The sudden shift in gravity pulls me out of my chair and sends into a corner, but neither the mare nor anything else in the room is affected, ponies, furniture, and porcelain plates included. My mind rebels against this nonsensical inconsistency, but gets flooded with waves of sudden dizziness in return. All I see are swirling shades of red and yellow, and the mare taking a peek from behind the table. She grins and helps herself to one of my three and three quarter cream biscuits.
“Name’s Sunset. Sunset Shimmer,” she says between the bites. “Wake up, Sparkle. We have a war to win.”
* * *
Surrounded by darkness, but awake.
Come to think of it, “awake” doesn’t quite describe my current state. “Awake” implies becoming alert, conscious to your surroundings, and ceasing to sleep, so I’m somberly half-awake at best. It will take a moment before my brain springs into action again, but scraps of data are already coming in. I can tell that it’s raining outside, loudly, that I’m wrapped in my quilt, and that I can’t see a thing. Not surprisingly, it’s the middle of the night, after all.
Unable to fight my eyelids, I nestle my head into the pillow. Its softness reminds me of a strange dream I had, though I barely remember it. There was some wicked mare who didn’t like biscuits, something about a war and, I don’t know, all sorts of crazy things. Like any dream, it was pretty confusing, and thinking too much into it will not help. Luckily, now that the rain has been muffled for some reason, I can shut down my thinking for the next couple of hours and go back to sleep. I turn to the side with a prolonged moan.
“You’re finally awake? Good.”
Unknown female voice instantly breaks me out of torpor, sending chills down my spine. I see a pony-shaped silhouette by the window, only barely illuminated by the lights of the city that never sleeps. Who is she, and why is she struggling with the handle like that? She must be a burglar! Oh, I’ll teach her to break into someone’s flat!
Channeling my magic at the tip of my horn, I shape an orchid missile of arcane energy and thrust it at the intruder with all my might. This should do nicely!
“Please don’t.”
A blinding opal bubble appears out of nowhere and surrounds the mare, lightening up the room and assaulting my eyes, still not accustomed to anything brighter than a candle. She must be a unicorn like me, but much more acquainted in the arcane arts, because what I considered “all my might” has withered before reaching the surface of the shield. I guess you could compare it to throwing a tiny, plush ball against a concrete wall.
“Wah!” I shout, both in surprise and due to the sudden glare. I cover my eyes to protect them from any further bedazzlement, though at the moment I’m pretty sure I’ve already gone blind. “Turn it off!”
With my eyes closed I have no idea if she did, so I’m relying on other senses for now. I reach to the side to draw a mental map of my bedroom, using the bed itself as a reference point. Shape after shape, I fill my vision with pieces of furniture and other objects I can remember, which is not too difficult for somepony who has never changed the layout of her room.
I pick up a splat somewhere in front, most likely originating from a drenched fabric being thrown to the floor. Something heavier joins it with a metallic jingle, likely a saddle or a bag. A moment later there’s a sound of mechanical adjustment and the rainy ambiance gets cut off.
“There you go!”
I hear satisfaction in the intruder’s voice. My sight is almost back to normal, but I’m playing helpless for now. Maybe I can’t compete against her in the field of spellcasting, but I’ll gladly introduce my hoof to her muzzle as soon as she gets closer.
Hoofsteps. Any second now. Wait, no, it turns out that she’s not coming my way. A globe creaks. She must be about six steps to the right, close to my desk.
“Aww, sorry about that,” she says with a genuine note of, what is it, care? Kindness? That’s not fair, I suddenly don’t feel like punching her into a coma. “I didn’t know what to expect from your magic so I poured quite a lot into my defenses, just in case.” She moves around, then drags something towards me across the wooden floor. She must be close now, I can smell the wetness of her coat. “You can open your eyes now.”
I take my hoof off my face. The first thing I see is a magical ball attached to the ceiling, illuminating the room and the mysterious mare with soft light. Despite numerous bruises and general rawness of her coiffure, tips of which are still watering the floor, she seems casual and relaxed as she dangles her rear legs from the chair. I have no idea who she might be, yet there’s something about her crimson and amber appearance that feels oddly familiar. Is she somepony I should remember from my time at Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns? Oh, I knew I should’ve been paying more attention to other students while I still could!
I get up. “Care to explain who you are to break into my bedroom in the middle of the night?” I ask, perhaps a bit bluntly, but that’s what you get for spending about seventy percent of your day with books and not even a tenth of that time with ponies your age.
The corners of her mouth twitch into a slightly asymmetric smirk. “I thought we were already past conventionalities. I’m Sunset Shimmer.”
That name! Ah! Of course!
“You! You’re the mare from my dream!” I shout, feeling the somnolence gone from my systems, and replaced with a huge dose of excitement. “But how did you get in there? Or in here, for that matter? This is the sixth floor!”
As I’m trotting around the room in disbelief, Sunset raises her hoof. “Listen, I’ll gladly answer all of your questions. Preferably with my stomach full. I haven’t eaten a thing since—” she punches her guts to silence the arising growl “—eh, far too long.”
I stop by the window to gather my thoughts. I can’t say I like strangers coming to my life uninvited, but honestly, who does? Especially these days, when there are no “days” in their common understanding, when you can hardly rely on your neighbors, and when your very own bed could lead to a world so dangerous that most ponies would rather not sleep at all. Canterlot back then or Manehattan now, this is the reality we have to face ever since the Night has come. This is what the Nocturnal Empress has brought upon Equestria, sowing the seeds of indifference and apathy amongst us. Nopony trusts anyone, nopony cares. So why would I care about this weird mare who has invaded my both mental and physical privacy? I should just kick her out, giving it not a moment’s thought.
But I won’t. Not because I care about this Sunset Shimmer, but because I hate. I hate the Nocturnal Empress, I hate what she’s done to me, and I hate the world I’m living in.
I’m pretty sure that after six months without the sun you would too.
I turn around. “Why would I allow you to stay? Convince me.”
“Have you ever heard about the Elements of Harmony?”
In a matter of seconds I’m recalling everything I know about this particular subject, searching through numerous books, essays and excerpts I’ve read. My mind works like a thoroughly organized library, which probably explains why I wanted to work in one when I was younger. I would spend entire days on trying out new classification methods, shelving and reshelving books without end, immersing myself in the collective knowledge of those who came before me…
A foalish dream.
“Of course,” I reply. “According to folklore, Princess Celestia would use the power of the Elements to defeat Nightmare Moon a thousand years ago. But, just like the legend foretold, Nightmare Moon has returned from her banishment, proclaimed herself the Nocturnal Empress of Equestria and forbid the sun from raising ever again, effectively bringing nighttime eternal.”
There’s that smirk again. “Let’s focus on the positive part, shall we? You do realize that there is a way to end the Night.”
My immediate reply is my eyes rolling. “Oh, certainly! First, you would need to find the Elements, this mysterious source of power, then figure out how to harness their magic, and then somehow stand against the Empress herself. It’s not like she has, I don’t know, the entire army at her disposal, right!?”
Deep breath. I’m getting emotional again, and I promised myself I won’t be getting emotional about the subject of the Imperial Guard. Whatever happened, happened. Exhale.
I trot towards this Shimmer pony. “I have read several books concerning the Elements of Harmony, but so far I have no idea what they actually are, or where to look for them. I don’t even know what they do! So unless you have something real to talk about—”
“They are real!” Sunset exclaims, standing up and knocking the chair over. “My mentor told me about them!”
Huh? Perhaps my initial diagnosis of Miss Shimmer’s delusions wasn’t that far from the truth. Over the last century there was no spellcaster who would know more about magical artifacts than Princess Celestia, and I have been her student for a long time. A protégée, even! If the Elements of Harmony weren’t just a legend, the Princess would have certainly taught me about them.
But, as you may imagine, Sunset Shimmer has sparkled up my curiosity nevertheless. There is only one more piece I need to solve this puzzle.
“Your mentor?”
“Why, the wisest and kindest of all teachers, of course,” Sunset looks straight at me. “Princess Celestia. Ring any bells?
Twenty minutes. It has been twenty minutes already, yet she’s still not done. Twenty!
“I’ve prepared a little snack! Are you coming or not?”
Splash. “Just a minute!” Splashy-splash.
So twenty-one minutes in total spent on showering. That’ll be about six more than the average, and only three over my personal best, but waiting on this side of the door feels like forever nonetheless. I suppose this is what having a roommate must be like. A fascinating and relatively new experience for me, because shortly after I enrolled Princess Celestia’s prestigious school I was granted quarters of my own, while other students had to share their rooms. Perks of being a protégée: I never had to share my shower, fridge, or personal space with anyone else. Well, aside from Spike, but he wasn’t really that demanding, especially for a dragon.
I miss him. I wonder what he’s up to these days…
Now there’s another mare in my flat, waking me up at odd hours of the night and draining my hot water, which I don’t mind because letting Sunset perform her ablutions is actually in the best interest of us both. While she’s taking her time to get rid of that breathtaking stench of the road she’s wearing, I have a chance to learn more out of her belongings, namely her cloak. She’s taken her bag inside, but I sincerely doubt she’s carrying beauty products in there, so she probably trusts me as much as I trust her at this point. I can’t blame either of us for that. After all, which two roommates trust each other on day one?
I’m writhing the cloak over a kitchen sink. It’s a fine garment made entirely of silversilk, a rare material tricky to work with and practically unobtainable anywhere outside Saddle Arabia due to their ridiculous export policies. I wouldn’t even know about it in the first place if it wasn’t for Princess Celestia and her amazingly soft, autumn silversilk scarf. If I remember correctly, she’d received it as a token of gratitude for saving a desert village from a series of nasty sandstorms. She never told me the whole story, though.
Unlike that scarf, however, Sunset’s cloak didn’t stand the test of time. It’s tattered on the edges, the fabric has already faded, and there are two, no, three stitches marking former rips. I’m no expert on threads and needles, but Sunset doesn’t look delicate enough to have sewn it on her own.
She definitely looks good, I mean: clean, as she enters the kitchen wearing nothing but a towel wrapped around her freshly washed mane. Her coat is glistening with water droplets, and her hooves are finally devoid of dust and mud she was leaving all around my bedroom. Instead of sweat I can smell a pleasant fragrance of my lilac shampoo.
I have so many questions I don’t even know where to begin. Who exactly is Sunset Shimmer and what does she want from me? How is that Princess Celestia never mentioned her? How did she find me here, in Manehattan, when the only pony who knew where I was heading would never tell that to a random mare? What is this babble about the Elements of Harmony? These are all serious questions that need immediate answers!
“What happened to your tail?”
Of course, there are always those infinitely more pressing ones.
Sunset wiggles her tail, half as long as the one I remember from my dream. It looks as if it was mercilessly trimmed with a frayed razor. “A bunch of Nightguard idiots I ran into was counting on getting a good time, if you know what I mean.” She shrugs. “No big deal, but trust me, you don’t want to hear the whole story.”
“Not this particular one, I guess. But I have other questions, and I’m going to expect some answers.”
“Fire away.”
With Sunset’s cloak left to dry, I levitate plates, forks and a bowl of salad to the table. Hopefully nobody else will be joining us tonight, because I don’t have any more chairs to spare, and close to nothing when it comes to sharable snacks. I wasn’t exactly expecting company, you know.
“You claim to be the apprentice of Princess Celestia. How is that she never mentioned you?”
“Well, she wasn’t telling me about her former students either, though it’s pretty obvious she had many, given her age,” Sunset replies. “After I finished studying under her tutorage I’ve been traveling for some time, and haven’t had a chance to drop by. Perhaps that’s your answer.”
I suddenly feel so insignificant. It’s reasonable to assume that I wasn’t the first, or the only pony who’d study under the guidance of Princess Celestia, but I think I was better off believing otherwise. Students come and go, and not knowing your predecessors is probably better than being compared to them at every turn.
Luckily, right now we can be compared solely by our appetites. Sunset must’ve been on the edge of starvation, considering the rate at which the salad is disappearing. She seems to be enjoying it, but I refuse to believe that my absolute lack of any culinary skills whatsoever has contributed towards that. When she compliments it, she does it with her mouth full, which—dream or not—is her apparent habit. Not a healthy one, might I add.
“Mm, thish ish good! Diced cheese makes everything better,” she says. “Anyway, you’re probably wondering why I came to you. Apart from robbing your fridge, that is.”
“I figured it couldn’t be the only reason.”
Sunset puts down her fork, then leans forward in a conspiratorial manner. “I thought we could work together. It’s about the Elements of Harmony, and a certain project that I can’t—that I need more ponies for,” she says. “I was wondering, did Celestia tell you what the sixth Element is?”
Ah, so there’s a specific number of these artifacts. This is new. “No, not really. She didn’t.”
“But she did tell you about the ideas represented by the five?”
“About what now?”
“Oh.” Sunset falls to her chair. “I thought that somepony else’s head would be crammed with her endless lectures about opening up to others, but you, apparently, know nothing.”
“Hey, I know a lot about many subjects, the Elements of Harmony included!” I refute. “I know that they were used to banish—”
“Please, this you can learn from a bedtime story!”
The sound of the rain becomes the only thing filling the silence.
When I first learned about the Elements of Harmony I didn’t even get a chance to ask Princess Celestia about them. That was just before she disappeared and the Night has come, and all I could find in my books was cryptic and vague, at best. Predictions and Prophecies was the most reliable encyclopedia on the subject of, well, predictions and prophecies, but even in there the entry regarding the Elements was leading to Mare in the Moon, or Nightmare Moon.
A moment later, Sunset attacks the salad with her fork anew, more in disappointment than actual anger. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to jump on you like that. I was just hoping that Celestia would’ve told you something, anything that could help us repeat what she did a thousand years ago.”
Something akin to a gasp of surprise and disbelief escapes my lips. “That’s your project? Surely you can’t be serious!” I say, but then I catch a glimpse of unyielding resolve in Sunset’s eyes. “Wait, you are serious?”
Wow, Miss Shimmer, it seems that your delusions are affecting your self-preservation instinct. Don’t you know that there was no one to stop Nightmare Moon when she made her appearance in that village of Ponyville? Not even the Princess herself, and she was—she still is, hopefully, a very powerful alicorn. And now her ex-student wants to save the world? Good one! She’s crazier than I thought.
“I am serious,” Sunset says. “You know what, let’s try a different approach. Did Celestia at least tell you something about the magic of friendship?”
Yep, she’s an A-grade lunatic.
“What? There’s no such thing as “the magic of friendship”. I’ve been studying arcane theorems since I was a filly and I’m sure I’d know something if somepony had invented such discipline! I swear, if you hadn’t proven your magical capabilities I’d take you for a fraud!”
“Why, thank you.”
“You are welcome!”
Who am I kidding? I know nothing. Not about the Elements of Harmony, not about this supposed magic of friendship, nothing. As opposed to Sunset here, who knows it all. She’s the one who finished her studies with Princess Celestia, not me, yet she needs my help, she’s asking me questions? Where’s the logic in that? In this world without the sun, I demand logic!
Sigh. “Your plan is ambitious, I give you that.”
“Everlasting night isn’t just wrong. It will also be detrimental to our species in the long run. Isn’t that a good enough reason to despise the current government?”
“Oh, I have others, believe me,” I say. “But right now I’m no use to you. I mean, it seems I haven’t reached certain lessons yet. If you want my help, you’ll have to teach me about the Elements, and this magic of friendship of yours.”
Sunset chuckles, almost choking on the last cube of cheese from the bottom of the bowl. “Right, I think it’ll be easier to start with the Elements. Can’t say I’m an expert on that other thing.”
While I’m clearing the table, Sunset fishes a bulky book out of her bag, the cover of which has a shimmering sun matching the one on Sunset's flanks. The book has more pages than expected from this binding, which suggests she’s probably been doing additional notes and putting them in between. They don’t seem to be organized in any way, though, as there’s no indication of sections or chapters. Some practical solution such as colorful, adhesive labels would do nicely, but even despite this reprehensible lack of order Sunset can navigate through her notes pretty well. She goes to about one-third and turns the notebook to me, revealing a set of pictures.
“Here’s a brief lecture. There are six Elements of Harmony, but only five are known. They are called: Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty, and Loyalty. The sixth one is a mystery, but Celestia told me that when the five are present, a spark will cause the sixth Element to be revealed, whatever that means. That spark has to do something with the magic of friendship. Again, whatever that is.” Sunset glances at me. “I also studied arcane theorems, and like you I haven’t found anything.”
Mesmerized, I’m flipping through the pages when Sunset stops me, a smirk adorning her face once again. “Now that you know what I’m after, are you still in?”
If someone had come to me with such proposition a year ago I’d say yes without any hesitation. After all, Sunset’s offer is about working in the fascinating field of study relevant to my interests and skills, and a chance of bringing back the Equestrian sun and moon cycle. Who knows, perhaps we’ll even find Princess Celestia along the way, and everything will be back to normal?
On the other hoof, accepting the offer means going against the Nocturnal Empress and her armies including incorporeal nightmare forces, bat-like thestrals, and ordinary ponies of the former Royal Guard whose hearts have been filled with fear and despair, who had no choice but to submit to their new sovereign.
What pushed some of them over the edge is now what's pushing me forward. Remember when I told you that I had other reasons to despise the government? Well, it seems that working with Sunset might just give me means to take back what Nightmare Moon has taken away from me.
I point outside. “If you really intend to fix this mess, then I guess I’m with you,” I say. “Under one condition. You’ll show me how to enter other ponies’ dreams.”
Sunset reaches out her hoof. “You’ve got yourself a deal, Sparkle.”
* * *
Great, he’s wandered off again. What a surprise. Now, where was I?
Ah, that’s right: the biscuits. Among many different factors that make Les Doux Maregots my favorite place to unwind, their famous cream biscuits are by far the most relevant one. I don’t know if it’s due to their crunchy tastiness, or the filling as fluffy as a morning cumulus, or simply because I happen to have soft spot for them. Whatever the reason, I just can’t imagine my afternoon without these nutritious treats. Good thing that there are still three and three quarters left!
As I’m about to help myself to them, something in the back of my mind tells me not to. It’s a strange sensation, like a mixture of doubt and, I don’t know. Why I feel bothered? Is it because I left something back at the library? No, that’s unlikely. Any confusing or controversial dissertations that I can’t take my mind off? Not really, I don’t remember reading such literature today, in fact—and that’s really weird—I can’t recall anything I’ve read today during my four-hour, morning study session! Is my long-term memory acting up?
Something’s definitely not right. I stand up, leaving my coffee and biscuits untouched, then make my way towards the exit door. It occurs to me that the ponies I’m passing by look oddly similar to the decor, as if they all decided to wear the colors of the café today. Before you say it’s peculiar, know that it gets even weirder once I’m outside. It’s a bright and sunshiny day, though I’m pretty sure it was the middle of the night just a minute ago. And that I wasn’t even in Canterlot, but in Manehattan instead. And that it was raining!
That’s it!
“Am I dreaming right now?” I ask myself, looking around for a second opinion.
Sunset is leaning against the wall of Les Doux Maregots. “If you’re asking whether your body is lying helplessly on the floor of your bedroom, then the answer is yes,” she says. “Is it always that sunny in your dreams?”
“I think so. Wait, why am I on the floor?”
“Focus, and you’ll remember.”
It turns out that I do, only that my mind needed a moment to start running properly. It’s like those first moments after waking up. Initially, your dreams and real life feel like one, coalesced together, but then you get out of your bed and separate yourself from the figments of your imagination. The chances are you’ll forget ninety percent of whatever you’ve been dreaming about within the first ten minutes, but if you focus well enough you can access imprints which your subconscious has left in your memory. My situation is reversed, in a way. I can reach things that I left in my currently dormant, conscious mind, although they seem blurred and distant.
I might be overcomplicating this. What’s important is that I have awoken inside my own dream, while on the outside I am still asleep.
“I remember now,” I say. “To the last moment I couldn’t figure out the most optimal position for the spell you were casting, and I think the magic kicked in just when I was going to get an extra blanket.” I turn to Sunset. “Okay, so it worked. But… where are we exactly?”
Sunset waves her hoof around. “This, Twilight Sparkle, is the Dreamworld. You can think of it as of a place among the stars where the mind of a pony is free to roam. Come on, let’s take a walk around your subconscious.”
We’re walking down something resembling the Promenade, the main street of Canterlot, only that in here it’s cutting through a milky miasma in which various buildings, often partly disassembled, seem to be floating. Whenever I look at a particular place of this warped vision, the clearer and more coherent it becomes: the buildings are hovering down to join the street level, white gaps are disappearing, and ponies of all kinds start filling the area. Nothing, except maybe the sun, is constant in this realm.
So that’s the Dreamworld. Wow. I know it’s just a fantasy, but it looks so tangible, so genuine! Also, a hundred times better than the gloomy reality.
“I like it here!”
“You like it because your subconscious is projecting things you like into it. It is actually a very unstable place, but dreamers like us can stabilize it for some time,” Sunset explains. “Let’s say that the Dreamworld is an ocean. When you’re dreaming, you create your very own bubble within, and you will notice that everything inside that bubble is made of the very essence of who you are. Whatever you represent, whatever wishes or fears you’re holding in your heart, will have its reflection in here.”
As we go further down the street I’m noticing more, and only now I see how ridiculous the scenery is. Buildings, with occasional rows of books replacing bricks, have sapphire walls and purple rooftops. Lavender telescopes are sticking out from between magenta flowerpots, as if everypony in this neighborhood was an avid stargazer. They certainly look a bit nerdy. I hear them discussing alchemical recipes, bantering equations and formulas, or reviewing ancient historical events on the scale of one to one hundred. In short, everything which no sane pony would ever bring up in a casual conversation.
That’s what I represent? I’m no longer sure if I like it. It was brought to my attention many times that it’s difficult to keep up with some of my antics, so I don’t know if I could live in such a me-world.
“It all looks so... so me.” I glance at the strands of my mane. “Even the colors are! But the café changed last time you were around.”
“Remember when I told you that I overdid my shield? I also cast a pretty potent dreamwalk spell to make sure I’ll reach you,” Sunset says. “It wasn’t easy, you know. At first I thought you were actively protecting your mind in your dream, so I pushed on with even more magic, but then the barriers just disappeared. And your chunk of the Dreamworld became very—” she squints at the sky with a quizzical expression “—welcoming.” She turns back to me. “As for your question, the spell allowed my subconscious to pour into your dream, changing and shaping it more than I intended. Ironically, that was all I needed to wake you up.”
“Or, you could’ve just knocked on the door. You know, like a normal pony.”
Sunset smiles deviously. “I wanted to see if I still got it. Besides, visiting your dreams first allowed me to meet your sheer subconscious and see what kind of pony I’ll be dealing with.” She looks around. “These guys seem studious, perceptive, and dedicated to what they do. I’m inclined to believe you’re the same. Most importantly, you’re the first pony I met who’s capable of speaking about Nightmare Moon and not shaking like a leaf in the process.”
“About that. What are our chances? Realistically speaking?”
“Well, with the two of us, about—uh-oh.”
“What is—”
“Don’t stop. Come.”
Sunset takes my hoof and leads me towards the nearest shopwindow. It’s a fancy boutique from what I see, well, at least as fancy as a boutique in here can be. The dresses on display are simplistic, composed of moderate colors and labeled as practical instead of all the usual slogans employed to boost sales.
“Wouldn’t you rather visit a designer’s mind to do your shopping?”
Sunset looks at me with a stare that could vanquish a dragon. “No time for jokes,” she says. “Twilight, I need you to do exactly what I tell you. We split up. Turn around and head back to where we began, to your café. And whatever happens, don’t look back.”
“What’s going on?”
“I have a bad feeling about one of your dream constructs.” She discreetly points at the reflection of the street behind us, feigning interest in one of the dresses. “The stallion with deep rose-ish mane, can you see him? I think he might be a nightmare.”
“Why would a nightmare—”
“Just go!”
As Sunset sets off to a trot down the street, I turn the opposite way, ruminating over the possibilities. I don’t remember ever meeting that stallion, which isn’t a good sign, because according to an essay I read some time ago, in our dreams we see, quote, only the faces of ponies we’ve already seen in our life, end quote. If this theory is true, then Sunset’s concern is more than valid, and we really are being watched by a servant of the Nocturnal Empress. I’ve heard rumors about these creatures appearing in the dreams of other ponies, but I have never encountered a single one myself. For some reason, my bubble within the Dreamworld was always serene, always filled with that sense of security, and never disturbed by anything nightmarish.
Until now.
I know I’m being followed, I can feel it, but I’m keeping the urge of looking back under control. Trust issues aside, Sunset is an expert in this field, not me, so if she says that I should go then I’m willing to comply. And I’m not turning my head! Or maybe I should? After all, if I’m going to fight the Nocturnal Empress, then I should know my enemy, her troops included. Just a peek...
Focus! No peeks, reviews, glances, or looks! Get it together, Twilight, Les Doux Maregots isn’t that far away from here. Just think of something constructive, anything to pull your train of thoughts onto other tracks. Like a shopping list. You’re going to need more food and supplies now that the average consumption in your household has tripled. So, six tomatoes instead of two, at least twice as big chunk of cheese, and a couple of extra rolls for good measure. That’s for breakfasts. Now, what should you get for—
“Twily?”
I stop dead in my tracks. The café entrance is just a stone’s throw away, but my curiosity takes over. I look around, driven by a desire to relive one of my happiest memories, and when I do, I see that the Promenade around me is changing. The ponies are disappearing, the shops are losing their displays, and signboards over the restaurants are becoming blank. My mind switches its focus to make the vision as vivid and detailed as possible, as if nothing else has ever mattered.
“Shining?”
The stallion smiles and sweeps the fringe off his eyes. His mane is much like my own, only with bluish streaks instead of pink ones, and a certain degree of raggedness in the place of my perfectly trimmed tips. He takes a step closer, then spreads his forelegs into a welcoming hug. “It’s good to see you again, Twily.”
“You too, big brother,” I reply, feeling the softness of his coat against my neck. “What are you doing here? I didn’t know you could enter other ponies’ dreams as well. You always preferred practicing your external magic over internal.”
“I was shown such wonderful things, and the ability to visit the Dreamworld is only one of them.” He breaks the hug. “Why did you leave me, Twilight? Why did you leave Canterlot?”
“You know I had to.”
It gets colder all of a sudden. Shining Armor’s stare becomes resentful, and so does the tone of his voice. “You abandoned me when I needed you the most. Is that the way siblings treat each other?”
“It’s not like that. Nightmare Moon made you—”
“YOU made me who I am now, Twilight!”
A glimmering miasma of dark blue energy appears behind Shining Armor, then stretches out to wrap around his hooves, chest, and finally his head, taking a form of ebony plates contrasting greatly with his white coat. It isn’t what he was wearing during his service in the Royal Guard, no, it resembles the battle armor in which the Nocturnal Empress is usually seen. Covered with spikes and pointy edges, a set like this is more suitable for a parade rather than actual combat, and has a single purpose: to strike fear into hearts of those who see it.
With Shining Armor’s every step towards me, drips of ethereal darkness are oozing from the armor, blackening the cobblestone beneath his hooves. His posture becomes stern and imposing, and his voice brings a severe dose of hate and disdain. “I have given you everything, and what I got in return? A worthless brat who dumps her family and friends without any remorse! Look what has become of me because of your selfishness!”
“No! This isn’t real!”
“LOOK AT ME!”
I’m trying to move away from this monster, but my legs don’t seem to obey me anymore. My vision, obscured by tears and the rising darkness, is limited to where Shining Armor stands, with the rest of the street hidden behind an impenetrable void. With my options that limited I just cower in fear. “No! Go away! You’re not Shining Armor! I want to remember!”
“I DESPISE YOU, SISTER!”
A blazing lance of light pierces the shroud of darkness, encasing Shining Armor in a shimmering grip. The golden glow shreds his unicorn form and reveals a terrifying creature hidden underneath, a servant of darkness armed with incorporeal claws and wearing a twisted grin in a place where his face would have been if he had one. The nightmare shrieks trying to reach me, but burns and withers before drawing near.
It’s peaceful again.
I’m lying in the middle of the street, my face turned towards the sky, and seconds later a distorted silhouette of Sunset appears against the disk of the sun. A moment before everything goes out of focus I’m wondering if it’s possible to lose your consciousness while being essentially unconscious.
I’m wiggling, shaking back and forth, but all my efforts to get up are in vain. There seems to be a hoof placed atop my chest, right over my rapidly beating heart, though I’m pretty sure that neither the hoof nor the rest of the blurred form kneeling by my side belong to Shining Armor.
“Stay,” Sunset says. “If you’re not used to it, the transition between the Dreamworld and reality can be a bit nauseating. Give yourself a moment before you spring out, and try to relax.”
Relax? Ugh, good one.
The world around me keeps spinning like a gyroscope, but I force myself to stare at the ceiling. I don’t want to close my eyes. I fear that if I do, the monster to the creation of which I contributed will haunt me again. I knew that Shining was going through a hard time, and what did I do? I ran away! I abandoned my brother when he needed me the most! Maybe if I’d stayed in Canterlot the events would have taken a different turn, and maybe then I wouldn’t have to face my fears in my sleep.
Come to think of it, it was just a matter of time. Every hour of the night the ponies of Equestria are dealing with nightmares of their own, so why should I have it any easier? The fact that I haven’t had a bad dream in months—until today, that is—was a mere statistical fortuity, just as I suspected.
Sunset puts a flexible mass under my head, making the hard floor and my life a bit more bearable. Perhaps hiding in a pillow can’t solve all the problems, but since being drenched in a cold sweat, with your heart hammering like crazy, and the rest of your body still quivering is hardly a state to which anyone would like to awake, I’ll gladly take anything I can get.
At least I’m safe now.
“You were right. He really was a nightmare in disguise. But why did he attack me?”
“Nightmares, in their twisted nature, are scavengers,” Sunset replies. “They disassemble whatever we have built in our dreams and feed on it. Up until recently they would wait for us to wake up, but after the Nocturnal Empress took over the reins, they have grown stronger, and become much more destructive. They might even try to consume your dream with you still inside. But the worst thing is,” Sunset takes her hoof away, “that they will try to mess with your head.”
She pauses for a moment to let the words sink in.
“Listen, about the form he assumed—”
“Yeah, thanks for taking him out.”
I turn to the side and bury my head deeper, but at the same time Sunset moves around, not letting me escape that easily. She takes a moment to speak up, and out of the corner of my eye I see that her mouth is opening and closing as if she was looking for the appropriate wording. And now she’s rubbing her neck. Why does she look so embarrassed?
“What I meant was… I mean, normally I wouldn’t even ask, mostly because I’m terrible at this, but if… uh, if you want to talk, or something, then… then I’m here. I guess.”
So that’s where we are right now? Roommates for less than a day, we know close to nothing when it comes to our favorites, we’ve only managed to share one flavorless meal, yet she expects me to talk about my secrets and fears? Surely she realizes that partaking in a spell induced dream trip does not make us friends!
Or does it? It’s not every day when two ponies can go on such trip together. Besides, Sunset’s probably just trying to help, and while I can’t say I’m too eager to share details of my past with her, I could definitely use somepony willing to listen to what’s on my mind.
I lean my back against the bed. I think I can start making my way up into a more respectable position with no risk of collapsing in the process.
“Shining Armor.”
“Huh?”
“That’s his name, Shining Armor, and he is my brother,” I say. “When the Nocturnal Empress arrived at the gates of Canterlot with her army of thestrals, Shining found himself face to face with her. He tried to fight back, stupid, but was forced into submission in the end.”
“Ouch.”
“Not so much, thankfully,” I reply, then allow myself to a slight chuckle. “It’s almost funny, you know. All his life he aspired to become somepony important within the ranks of the Equestrian military. And soon after the Empress usurped the throne, Shining was offered the rank of captain in the newly formed Imperial Guard, as he was supposedly displaying great potential to become one. So he took it. Not to work his way up the ladder, but to do something good for his fellow guardsponies. My brother chose to become a buffer between them and the wrath of the Empress.”
“Sounds like a decent guy, this Shining. What happened next?”
“He couldn’t resist her. When she discovered that he’s incorruptible by the power she vested in him, she started to affect him through his dreams. At least that’s what I think, because at some point, every time he’d wake up he was either sad or resentful, or didn’t want to talk to me or our parents. He became convinced that he’s the captain that Equestria needs to survive. Shining… well, it was only downhill from there.” I turn to Sunset. “Whatever happened to him, happened inside his mind. Inside his dreams.”
“So that’s why you want to learn how to dreamwalk. You want to help your brother out.”
I simply nod, leaving the silence to tell Sunset how I feel. I want to believe that my brother’s downfall wasn’t of his choice, but that he was manipulated by the Empress. I want to believe that he wouldn’t denounce Cadance and brand her as the enemy of Equestria if it weren’t for the dark forces which clouded his judgment. I want to believe that there is still good in him. But, after seeing him again as a nightmarish shadow of his former self, I don’t know if I remember what the name Shining Armor really stands for.
Sunset gives me a while to be alone with my thoughts, then sits by me, closer than before but still at a certain safe, comfortable for both parties distance. “I know it’s not easy,” she says. “Just… just try to remember that whatever you’ve heard in your dream wasn’t actually your brother speaking. It was one of the nightmares which knew very well what to say, and what shape to take in order to break your spirit, just like they did with countless other ponies to make them obey the Empress.”
“So they adapt to a dreamer. Interesting. I wonder how do they look to others.”
I take a poorly timed, needlessly prolonged glance at Sunset. Before I can realize how nosy asking about someone’s greatest fear actually is, Sunset’s eyes go wide. For a fraction of a second she seems distressed, but that’s all I can get. She turns away and climbs up on the edge of the bed.
“I-I’m sorry. That was inappropriate. I didn’t mean to sound intrusive.”
There’s something different about Sunset now, as if her character became smaller all of a sudden. She’s keeping her hind legs clenched together while securing her chest with the fore ones. Her eyes are obscured by a fringe of her forelock, and her mouth is opening only enough to let out a single whisper.
“Thank you.”
I take a mental note to ponder on that sudden change in Sunset’s demeanor sometime later, because she immediately regains her easygoing posture, clears her throat, and throws the excess of her mane out of her face. “Well, our little escapade was meant to show you the Dreamworld so we could practice the spell now,” she says. “But we can leave it for later if you want.”
“You’re right, I don’t feel like coming back there anytime soon. However, I think it’s about time I worked for my scholarship. How do you propose we begin our search for the Elements of Harmony?”
“Well, we need to do two things. Find out where they are, and what they do,” Sunset says. “As you know, there aren’t many reliable treatises with systematic approach that we could use. So we’re left with researching myths and legends, regardless of how vague they may seem. Every time there’s a powerful magic involved there’s a chance they’re actually talking about what we know today as the Elements.”
“Myths and legends, got it. Any particular period?”
Sunset chuckles. “All of them. You can try with going over my notes, see if I missed anything. In the meantime,” she trots across the room to a massive chest where I’m keeping my books, “I’d like to break into your little library here,” she says, already half-submerged in the pond of knowledge. “Nice collection. I see positions I’ve never read before. Ah, and you also have the classics!”
I glance at the hovering book. That’s Predictions and Prophecies, the foundation of my collection and the only book I had when I moved to Manehattan. With no other things to read, I immediately went on a shopping frenzy, obviously disregarding my basic needs and expanding my study instead.
I was lucky. The vendor pony said he intended to donate his books to charity, but he dropped the idea when I dropped the bits on his counter. It occurred to me later that I probably denied the joy of lecture to some young fillies, assuming that he wanted to support a school or an orphanage, but at the time I decided that me staying sane was more important. I still feel guilty about it, and if I ever get a chance, I shall make it up to them by giving away my entire Daring Do saga. That’s twelve tomes from the original print, hardback edition. Worth more than this entire flat. Or not. How should I know, I did not pay for either.
It doesn’t take us long to rearrange my bedroom. Perhaps one day, when this is all over, I’ll be living at the Castle again with all the workspace I need, but for now I’ve ordained compulsory trips for any and all useful furniture. Kitchen table gets outfitted with blank parchments, a couple of old quills, and a half-empty bottle of turquoise ink. Sunset brings her notes, or at least the pages she’s willing to share, because she’s keeping her notebook close to herself. I honestly don’t care about its contents now, I have work to do! I already feel invigorated by the dry smell of paper and dusty old covers, and however conflicting it may sound, it’s like a breath of fresh air!
I take a copy of Not So Monstrous and pass it to Sunset. “Check this one out. The part marked with the yellow bookmark is an old legend about Harmonica, a six-headed hydra who allied herself with the pony race to save the kingdom from great evil. I always considered it a metaphor, and now that I know there’s exactly six Elements in existence… well, it’s a good start as any.”
“Sounds fun. Let’s get to work!”
From what I can gather of Sunset’s notes, the Elements of Harmony are usually depicted as orbs of various colors, placed on massive pedestals or as parts in orrery-like models. There’s also a single sketch in which they are hanging from a tree, but this one is surrounded with more question marks than I can count. It’s also difficult to keep track of how many different methods Sunset has utilized to determine the missing Element. She hasn’t been very successful so far, but the sheer amount of collected data is impressive.
My journey across the ages of magical advancement starts with an ancient sorcerer called Prospearo, the alleged inventor of the atmosphere altering magic. Hmm, it seems that at some point, Prospearo called upon the power of the Elements to create a devastating tempest and sink a passing by ship. But wait, Sunset’s addendum here says that the author probably meant ‘elements’ as ‘forces of nature’, not the actual Elements of Harmony. On the top of that, Prospearo drowned his notes when the pegasi tribe learned to control the weather, so I’m not going to learn much from his tale anyway. Dead end.
Then there’s Gancalf, a wizard whose proper sobriquet is still a subject of debate among historians. Both ‘Gray’ and ‘White’ are correct, by the way, and the Equestrian Archivist Society would find out why if they had read any of my twenty-three letters I’ve sent last year about glaring inconsistencies in the Summer issue of their Archivist Quarterly! Anyway, Gancalf theorized that a fellowship of ponies is required to bear the Elements. It makes sense. While Princess Celestia used all of them at once to defeat Nightmare Moon, she’s an alicorn, so non-alicorns would have to work together to control such power.
Unfortunately, Gancalf was notoriously inconsistent about the exact number of ponies needed. He sometimes wrote about three Elements of Harmony, about seven, or even nine, but sometimes about just one! Now we know it’s six, but that doesn’t match his theories. Unless we treat six as five plus one, which would then fit the one-three-five-seven-nine sequence of odd numbers. But wait, does it mean there are different sets of the Elements consisting of three, seven, and nine pieces?
Questions, questions. Onto the next.
Ah, this is where fantasy meets history. Marelin, called the Princess of Enchanters by some, was a mighty sorceress who aided Unicornia numerous times during the prosperous reign of King Argentus. From driving away dragons and moving colossal stones across the land, to foretelling the inevitable future of the tribes, the girl’s done it all. Interestingly enough, in all of these stories Marelin is drawing her power from a necklace of six glowing beads. Coincidence? I think not!
Marelin left Unicornia shortly after Argentus’ son, Prince Aurum—the father of Princess Platinum, the famous unicorn leader—was crowned. Quote: through the southern gate, and down the valley of bloodied oaks, Marelin, never to be heard or spoken of again, left us with tears. End quote. Gosh, I do hope that it’s just a poetic way of describing the Red Oak Valley and concerned citizens saying their goodbyes.
Phew! Hours have passed, and I’m not even at Star Swirl the Bearded, surrounded by myths and legends instead. Who knows, perhaps there’s a grain of truth to them? I myself was convinced that the Elements of Harmony were just an old ponies’ tale, yet there they are, turning more and more real with every line I read. To sum up, I still have no idea where to look for them, or how exactly do they work, but at least I’ve soaked up enough stories to formulate my own theories.
“I’ve been thinking about that sixth Element.”
Sunset’s tearing through Experimental Magic, vol. III: Go Ancient or Go Home, with only her horn protruding from behind the greenish cover. “Well, what did you come up with?”
“At first I thought it would be another quality to follow the pattern. Loyalty, Honesty, and so on, they all represent certain virtues, so I asked myself what others can a pony posses. Off the top of my head, the sixth Element could be Creativity. Or Vigilance. Courage, even.”
“There’s a... wait.” Sunset searches the table for a piece of yellowed paper. “Right here. I once made a list of about hundred possible traits. Go ahead and check it out, you’ll see that literally anything fits.”
“That’s exactly my point! There’s too many words for positive qualities in our language. You can’t just pick creativity over vigilance. You can’t choose, say,” I skim through the list, “determination over humility, or freedom over integrity. They are all equally important.”
“Go on.”
“Then I remembered what Princess Celestia told you: ‘when the five are gathered, the sixth will be revealed’. What if the sixth isn’t anything specific, but something that binds the remaining five and makes them all complete? What if it’s something pointing at their connection from one to another?”
A heartfelt smile appears on Sunset’s lips. “Heh. ‘From one to another, another to one…’”
“Hmm? What’s that?”
“Pfft, beats me. Celestia used to tease me with word puzzles like this one. You know, it was one of those tasks in which she wouldn’t give you any instructions, but counted on you to find the solution by yourself. I never really like those, to be honest.” Sunset puts away the book, then gets up to stretch her limbs. “Hey, it finally stopped raining. About time. Now I can go get us some foodstuffs.”
“You really don’t have to.”
She grabs her notebook and puts it into her saddlebag. “No, no, it’s only fair. You’re earning your scholarship, I’m earning my rent. You want something specific for dinner?” She waves her hoof in a dismissive fashion. “Nah, don’t answer, I know exactly what your fridge needs.”
“Please use the door on your way back, will you?”
Sunset trots outside, giving me that smirk again. I don’t know why, but I really like the way she smiles. I mean, I like it in a totally objective and non-emotional way. I just find that slightly skewed expression… charming. Well, I said it. But don’t you get any ideas!
I’m back at the table, towering over the sea of parchment. There’s a book archipelago on one side, guarded with pointy quills sticking out like palm trees. On the other, an armada of scrolls sails towards the turquoise treasure hidden at the heart of the island. But I’m not sailing with them. My thoughts are elsewhere.
It is true that Sunset impressed me with her knowledge and magical prowess, but more importantly, she gave me hope. I mean, I was never really taking the Elements of Harmony at face value, and if anything, I considered them symbols or ideas, not actual means to fight the Nocturnal Empress. I fear her, of course I do, and so does everypony in Equestria. But as a poet William Coltgreave once said, fear comes from uncertainty. And while I’m not certain whether this two-mare war is winnable, I am certain that it is my duty to at least try solving this mess. That’s what Princess Celestia would expect from the last of her students.
My attention to the sea of knowledge reawakens with fishing out a page from Sunset’s notes. It is unlike the rest she gave me, folded in half and as slightly yellowed as her list of virtues. Let’s see. Is that September twelfth, or seventeenth? It’s impossible to tell, and I can’t read the year either through the smudged greenish ink.
It looks like a misplaced journal entry. As I read it, my heart starts pounding.
I’m done with Canterlot.
I can’t stand this city, the students who will never match my level of aptitude, and my so-called “teacher”. The teacher who can’t see the potential I possess! The teacher who limits my progress because she is scared of how much I can accomplish! If the Elements of Harmony “aren’t what I should be interested in right now”, then there’s no use in staying here. I could count only on myself before I enrolled (enrolled, good one, as if I had a choice) this stupid school, and I should have known that it’ll end like this.
So I’ll go by myself. I will find the Elements of Harmony and I will surpass Celestia.
What’s surprising is that I am a lot of them myself. We’re both talented spellcasters, former students of Princess Celestia, and ponies pretty knowledgeable on all things arcane. We differ in our approach, though. While I rely on books to understand the nature of magical phenomena, Sunset excels in putting them into practice. I suppose you could say we’re making a good team together, she and I.
How mistaken you would be.
Sunset is a blatant liar hoping to exploit my fondness for the Princess and magical research. I believe that under a clever façade of goodwill she’s actually planning not to dethrone the Empress but take her place instead, most likely abusing the power of the Elements as she goes. Not on my watch! Trading one tyrant for another won’t do Equestria any good. Moreover, I don’t like the idea of somepony outsmarting me and getting away with it.
On the other hoof, her cooking is divine. I have no idea how could I live without knowing such perfect symphony of sweet and sour tastiness. My minimalistic diet has always been about the basic set of nutrients mandatory to power up my brain and what little muscles I have, but this, this is a torrent of amazing looks, smells, and tastes conveniently wrapped in a single culinary experience. Color sorted, too!
At this rate I’ll crown her myself if she keeps cooking for me like that.
Ugh. My reasoning is despicable.
“So, did you like it?”
I cover my mouth to silence the arising burp. “I have a whole new level of respect for the rice now, thanks. Were culinary arts a part of the curriculum Princess Celestia had for you?”
“Good one. You know how she hates cooking.” Actually, I did not know that. Noted. “No, these skills I picked during my time in Shanghay. Ponies there know how to eat well, and by ‘well’ I mean ‘a lot’. You ever been?”
“Nope. I got as far as the Unicorn Range to the west, and Manehattan now, but I never had a chance to go abroad,” I reply. “Speaking of travelling, you’ve said you were out of Equestria when the Night has come. How did you find me?”
“I had a hunch Celestia would take another student after me. She’s too much of a teacher at heart to do otherwise. So, first off I went to Canterlot and broke into her chambers.”
Wonderful. My very first impression of Sunset was correct after all. She’s not only a liar, intending traitor to the nation, and unicorn obsessed with power but also a burglar. What a combination! I bet that by the end of our little chitchat I’ll learn that she considers squirrel taxidermy a good sport.
“You broke into the Royal Castle right under their noses?”
“Entering without permission is my forte, as you might have noticed, and sneaking through the gardens was like childhood all over again. Fun times,” she says. Her smile leaves me wondering if her concept of fun involves stuffing or needling. “As I was saying, I rummaged up some letters signed with your ever-so-faithful name. Then I discovered a whole cabinet filled to the brim with reports summarizing what you’ve learned each week, month, or semester. You’re a one crazy filly, you know that?”
Can’t say I’m not, but that’s none of her business. I spent the first three months of my time here writing letters to the Princess, fully aware that a notebook was just a flimsy, one-way substitute for reaching out to her. It definitely helped me deal with the new reality back then, that’s for sure. For the record, I now limit myself to just three entries per week.
“What did you do next?”
Sunset leans over our research-dining table and picks out a small bottle from between salt and pepper. “I followed the Sapphire Blue trail. You’ve been using this ink forever, haven’t you? Each letter, each assignment, and you’re using it now.” She presents the bottom of the bottle. “Courtesy of Inks and Seats, I presume? Mr. Inkblot sends his greetings, by the way.”
Wha—how?
Come on, did she drag poor Mr. Inkblot into this? Did she intimidate him and forced to spill the beans on my whereabouts? He was the one who suggested Manehatten to me, sure, but he would never share that with anyone! Oh, she’s evil. She’s downright evil. She must be!
Sunset plays the bottle between her hooves. “Too bad it’s not Tsavorite Green. You know, I’ve always enjoyed dropping by the old geezer despite his endless cynicism, or maybe because of that. Did you know he got himself a fat puffer? I swear, the beast’s greedier than me, especially when it comes to cheesecake,” she says, then draws a rectangle with the bottle. “The cake was that big. One bite, and it’s all gone.”
Oh. Feeding aquatic life forms and supporting old ponies and their businesses must be what evil does these days. Now I’ve seen everything.
“I asked him if he knew anything about Celestia’s newest pupil, and he was kind to tell me where you went. From then on it got easier. Manehattan has its size, but a combination of gentle inquiring, detection magic, and the fact that you’re a creature of habits led me straight to your doorstep.”
“My windowsill, rather.”
Sunset grins as she gets up, taking the dishes to the kitchen. “You’re not covering your tracks as well as you think, Twilight. We’re going to have to work on your subterfuge if we’re to form a working resistance. A for effort, though!”
This is beyond unfair! Why can’t it be more like the books? It should all go from the clear distinction between the good guy and the bad to an inciting incident, followed by a sudden discovery or two and, most importantly, a heroic victory for the good guy—that’s me, by the way—complemented with the ultimate damnation of all things evil. Sunset is the bad element in this scenario, but why is she so supportive, so kind? Is she trying to put my vigilance to sleep by buttering me up? I don’t need her care. I don’t need anyone’s patronizing!
She’s a good actress, I give her that, but I know the truth. I just have to wait for her to teach me everything she knows about getting into other ponies’ dreams.
Such opportunity arises in the evening, after another fruitless hours of analyzing myths and legends. You have no idea how hard it is to separate the wheat of history from the chaff of fantasy when it comes to Star Swirl the Bearded. I’m a big fan, of course, and his remarkable deeds are the reason he’s my second favorite magic user, but the problem with such half-legendary figures is that you can never tell if they actually did what the sources claim. Really, if I could travel back in time I would catalogue all those so-called pivotal events in the Equestrian history.
Sunset is sauntering around the table. “Ahem, so, you already know what the Dreamworld is. Now, for the spell you’ll need—” She stops and puts her tea away. “Sorry. I just realized I never thought of myself as a teacher, so please bear with me. It feels weird. Right. You know the components of the memory spell?”
“Of course.”
Spell components are words on which one has to focus during casting. For example, moving an object requires a word “move”. It doesn’t have to be vocalized, the important part is for the meaning of the word to appear in your mind. That’s why the kids’ magic is so unstable. They don’t see the difference between pushing, hurling, or launching which leads to catastrophic consequences their foalsitters have to deal with. Most of the spells are more complicated, like the memory one which requires the words “open”, “mind”, and finally “past”.
“The formula here is very similar,” Sunset continues. “In the casting sequence, while you’d be focusing on the past, focus on the present instead. Add ‘sleep’ as an extra component in the end. Not in the beginning, mind you, or you’ll end up falling asleep before you’re done.”
“So it goes like open-mind-present-sleep? What happens then? Will I awake at Les Doux Maregots?”
“Quite likely. Your café is a symbolic representation of the state your mind goes through while switching between sleeping and dreamwalking. A point of entry, if you will, or open skylight as I like to think of it. The barriers between the Dreamworld and the real one are the thinnest there, which makes it the easiest way in or out,” Sunset says, then takes place by the wall. “Come on, give it a try.”
I find myself a piece of the floor not occupied by book stacks. I need some space. Memorizing spell sequences is like choosing your paints for the arcane arts, but the real magic happens once you start swinging the brush.
My horn, the catalyst for spellcasting starts to glow, surrounding itself with pale magenta mist. I open my mind to the invisible particles of magic around me. I feel this ocean bursting and bubbling with eldritch energy, just waiting to be ordered into proper spell patterns. Converging the streams at the tip of my horn comes natural to me, but it hasn’t been always like that. My first attempts were not as intuitive, more like imitative, based on what I’ve read about the recommended patterning for the spells. Then I got better, and by the time my cutie mark appeared I discovered that my special talent involved this magical intuition, so to speak.
Most unicorns are natural with two or three spells. I aim to be such with them all.
With the streams aligned I paint the sequence of ideas inside my mind. One, then another, then two more. Done, ready. I could cast the spell now, but I release the magic instead, allowing it to disperse. The streams return to their erratic flow, and the mist evaporates into thin air.
Sunset claps her hooves. “Nice! You’re catching on quickly. I’m beginning to understand why Celestia chose you.”
Awkward warmness rushes to my cheeks, bringing a feeling as sudden as it is useless. “Thanks. Learning new spells is something of a specialty of mine. Anything else I should know?”
“With the dreamwalk spell you’ll find yourself as close to the contents of one’s mind as possible. You can use it for the purpose of participating in a dream, enhancing mental processing, planting an idea, or digging through memories.”
“I see. Mental magic isn’t really my favorite branch, and the memory spell is pretty much all I know of it. I’m glad to see something else deriving from that one.”
Sunset yawns like a hippo, then drinks up her tea. “Bringing back a memory is essentially dreaming of the past, is it not?” she says. “Class dismissed, I guess. I have a few exercises in mind if you’re interested, but not today. Today I’m hitting the hay.”
I nod.
“Sleep well, Sunset.”
Showered and dried in just a tad over eighteen minutes, I climb into the bed as well. My soon-to-evicted roommate is already fast asleep. I’m pleased to see that she’s keeping her extremities to her half of the bed, laying with her back to the wall, hind legs clutched on the quilt, and her face nuzzled in of the three pillows. It would be so easy to disable her now, to make sure the Elements will never land in the wrong hooves…
No. It wouldn’t get me the answers I need. First I have to find out what really happened between her and Princess Celestia. Perhaps she had something to do with her disappearance?
Luckily for us both, if the memories are nothing but dreams of the past, I may as well do the investigation in my sleep. Resorting to breaking and entering feels bad for the whole two seconds, but in the end it’s just justice. Quite poetic, I’d say. I have no respect for scoundrels of her kind.
Still, she cooks pretty darn well.
Ugh, how is this my life?!
* * *
What are you really after, Sunset Shimmer?
Hey, I think I know this place. Yes, this is definitely one of the hallways of the Royal Castle. Western wing, if I’m not mistaken? The scenery outside is slowly assembling itself from scattered chunks, and after a while it’s already clear that Sunset’s Dreamworld is nothing like my own. I had it all neat and ordered whereas in here everything feels erratic and inhospitable. I’m pretty sure the buildings are missing a piece of wall or roof here and there, and on the top of that, there are some blurred lights all over the cityscape. What are these for? I open a red glass window to see more.
Canterlot is on fire.
As far as the eye can see the city is wrapped in scarlet flames. Amber outbursts are consuming the streets below, and cracks in the walls are glowing with scorching power devouring the buildings from the inside. The architectural supremacy of Canterlot is no more, as if gigantic siege engines had come and conquered it. From each pile of rubble four dark pillars are growing upwards, like vertical edges of a wall-less cuboid. They resemble trees, but I can’t see their crowns due to the omnipresent smoke tickling my olfactory nerves.
I cough out the smell of brimstone and close the window shut. Quite the subconscious you have in here, Sunset! No wonder my coffee boiled and the café went crazy when you showed up. I hate to admit it, but evil as she is, at least the Empress isn’t after mindless destruction.
“Memories, memories. I want your memories, Sunset.”
I commence my investigation from a red carpet, the only object in the hallway which retained its original color after everything else was tinted Sunset Shimmery. The Princess and I have walked it hundreds of times talking about the progress I’ve made, so if Sunset’s study path was at least somewhat similar to mine, she has to have some memories associated with this place.
The air shivers, and a transparent silhouette of Sunset appears. A lost memory strand, perhaps? If this is some sort of projection of her mind, then maybe I can use the good old memory spell to bring it back. My horn glows all the same, and the streams of magic act alike, but it seems that casting in here is more difficult. Am I really aligning them, or just dreaming about it? I definitely need to find out if magic is transcendent between the realities. After I’m done with Sunset, that is.
A single drop of lavender appears at the tip of my horn, then falls down leaving a trail like ink poured into a glass of water. The trail spreads in midair, grows into a circle and breaks out a purple tinted window suspended in the air right in front of me. The tremble that follows is a little unsettling, but I have no idea if it’s due to my investigation or the madness outside. I couldn’t care less, because what I see through the window takes all my troubles away.
Princess Celestia enters the hallway, regal and imperious as ever. Even if she’s slightly ethereal—being a memory and all—it’s still great to see her after all this time. For a moment I consider jumping through the breach to get closer to her, to see her smile, to once again feel the touch of her coat, but something tells me that getting out wouldn’t be that easy. Instead, I watch Sunset joining the scene as she walks past the alicorn without even taking a glance at her. She appears much younger than the one I know, but still older than a first-year student.
“Sunset Shimmer,” Celestia says. “I have heard that you’re not getting along well with the other students. We’ve talked about the fact that personal relationships—”
“Personal relationships? Who needs anypony? The most important thing in life is to be the best.”
“We’ve talked about friendship and its importance before, and we’ve discussed that you need to start opening yourself up to new friends. And remember that talk we had about humility?”
Sunset snorts. “I remember how boring it was.”
The breach closes, leaving me yet another thing I can add to Sunset’s list of offenses. Burning down the city is one thing, but shooting your mouth off to Princess Celestia like that? She’s gone too far. She doesn’t deserve to even think of herself as the protégée of MY mentor!
Now that I know how digging through the memories works, I set off to my next destination: the library.
My foalhood dreams return with all their force the moment I take a step into the aisle. With the soothing images of bookcases on both sides I’m almost tempted to abandon my investigation and start rearranging all these tomes as they should be. Red backs would go to the right, yellow to the left. Pocket editions would land closer to the entrance, for convenience, and hardcover ones down the aisle so that only true seekers of knowledge would find them. Oh, just who left you here, you poor thing?
Before I can attend to the tome orphaned on the floor I spot a projection of Sunset. I want to open another window, but she disappears around the corner. I follow her, but then, at the edge of the History section she disappears again. Wait, is she going where I think she’s going? I hope not!
She is, just my luck. She’s heading to the Dark Magic section.
I stop in my tracks. Princess Celestia has explicitly stated that I am not allowed to enter this part of the library until further in my studies, so I obliged. I don’t feel it’s further now. Does non-physical entering counts? It feels like cheating to me, and I despise cheating in all forms. What if I enter, and the Princess finds out? Will she be angry at me? Will she give me extra homework, or just banish me straight to the magic kindergarten?
Get it together, Twilight! You’re here with a noble intention of uncovering the truth! Pursuing the truth never got you into too much trouble, now did it? Just how difficult it is to push the doors saying “No Entry” and enter a room you’ve never been to before?
Alright, I can do it. Gosh. I’m terribly sorry, Princess.
If the library out there was a beautiful orchard, then this must be the least travelled path in the thickest of woods. The room has no windows, and only a couple of reddish candelabrums illuminate the deep crimson rows of books, many of which look strange. Sinister, even. I swear the one over there has its back incrusted with claws. Is it me or did they just move? And what’s with these jars, anyway? Graveyard dirt? Powdered bat wings?
Oh, this is a bad place. A really bad place.
With my every step the ghost of Sunset becomes more visible. She seems to be sitting atop a pile of transparent books. I break the window to the past again, and the floor shakes just like the last time. Is the castle under siege? No, the tremors are too coincidental. Perhaps I shouldn’t be overusing that spell, or any kind of magic while I’m here.
“How dare you keep this kind of magic from me!” Sunset shouts at me. “You know that I’m ready for this, that I can be great!”
Darn it, I placed my breach in the literal middle of the action. Well, no harm’s done, I’ll just keep running around to follow it. Here’s Sunset, and here’s Princess Celestia accompanied by two Royal Guards. Ouch, she looks upset.
“You could be great. I thought I saw compassion and sincerity in you, but it was nothing but ambition. You’re being selfish, you need to step back and reflect.”
“I’m selfish?”
Sunset tosses a tome she was reading, but Princess Celestia blocks it with a field of magic. At the same time, she’s holding off her guards who seem as if they wanted to strike Sunset down as soon as possible. Now that’s the Royal Guard I remember!
“That book right here says I could become as powerful as an alicorn princess. I could rule here. It’s selfish of you to keep me from my rightful place. I deserve to stand beside you and be your equal,” Sunset says with a menacing stare. “If not your better. Make me a princess.”
“No. Being a princess must be earned,” Princess Celestia replies calmly. “I have been trying to teach you everything you need to know, but you’ve turned from it. Every time you say you ‘deserve’ to get something without the effort just proves to me that you are not ready.” She looks down, a saddened sigh escaping her lips. She then raises her head. “Sunset Shimmer, I am removing you from your position of my pupil. If we cannot get past this, your studies end here. You are welcome to stay in Canterlot, but you are no longer welcome in the castle.”
“We’ll never get past this because you aren’t seeing how great I deserve to be. Is that really all you have to say to me?”
“Yes. The guards will escort you out.”
Sunset walks towards me as I look through the window and boy, isn’t her face terrifying. Just before the window closes, I see her eyes burning with scorn and hatred.
“This is the biggest mistake you’ll make in your entire life.”
Oh. Uh-oh. Gosh.
All is clear to me now. At some point, Sunset rebelled against the Princess, then left Canterlot to seek the Elements of Harmony on her own, just like she described in that entry I’ve read. She may have used her silver tongue on me out there, but here, in such proximity to her mind and her memories it must be the truth. Also, the Elements can grant somepony the power of an alicorn princess? Thanks for leaving this crucial piece of information out, Sunset, and for giving me yet another reason I can’t let them fall into your greedy hooves.
I leave the library, knowing that I need to confront Sunset here and now. I don’t stand a chance against her in real life, she’ll outdo me in magic, but here… perhaps here we’re not bound by the regular rules. If she was able to mess with my Dreamworld by using the power of her subconscious then I can do the same. I’ve grown tired of these reds and yellows anyway.
Right around the corner I bump into something.
“Hello, filly.”
“Wah!”
My heart, no, my whole body jumps a few good inches. There’s a faceless, tar-black stallion standing in front of me. I’d say he’s looking at me, but he has no eyes, or any other distinctive features for that matter, with only a thin slit in the place where his jaw should be. In his posture and overall blankness he resembles a fashion form used to hold dresses on display, only that he seems very much alive, yet expressionless.
“Hello, filly.”
“Uhm, are you talking to me? Who are—”
“Hello, filly.”
Alright, that’s officially beyond weird now. I take a step back, expecting a threat to arise, but nothing at all happens. Slowly, I make my way around the creature as he keeps watching me with a creepy, mouthless smile. He seems to be aware where I am despite having no visual processors, but if he had them I’m pretty sure he’d be devouring me with his stare.
Down the hallway I go, double-checking if he isn’t following me. I take a glance outside the window to get a better view on the castle grounds. There’s the main courtyard, and a path leading towards a glowing dome. Yet another fire? No, it’s much too regular, but that’s definitely not a building either. If I remember well enough, there should be the entry to the sculpture garden there. Perhaps that’s where Sunset is hiding?
I notice something strange. No, I must be seeing things. For a moment I was under the impression that one of those strange trees moved. I squint my eyes again, but they’re all unstirred. Come on, imagination, give me a break.
It doesn’t take long to reach the dome, a shimmering field of gold standing out against the ruined scenery, though the smoke and occasional bursts of flame are making the walk rather bothersome.
I take a step through.
The place on the other side is unlike the rest of the Dreamworld, sheltered from fire and smoke, and filled with blissful serenity. Under a clear blue sky, a gentle breeze caresses my cheeks and causes the trees to rustle. Their trunks are as tall as the dome appeared from the outside, crowned with vivid red leaves which bring the time of early autumn to mind, while birds and furry critters are scurrying from one hollow to another.
It’s just so peaceful in here.
In the very center of this secret seclude, on an elevated platform of white stone there’s a splendid statue of Princess Celestia watching over the planet and covering it with her wings. I’ve been to the sculpture garden countless of times, but I don’t quite remember this particular one. The Princess was made looking at the landmass on which Equestria is located, with a gentle smile on her face which only adds to the sense of security which arose in my heart the moment I crossed the barrier.
Sunset Shimmer is sauntering around the pedestal. She’s humming to herself as her broom sweeps the excess of grass and leaves from around the statue. The moment she notices me she puts the broom away and waves in a cheerful manner. “Hi there, Twilight! Didn’t expect to see you here,” she says, then points to a nearby table. “Come on in, take a seat. Would you care for a biscuit?”
A silver tray with three and three quarters cream biscuits feels oddly enticing, true, but I’m not letting that fake hospitality deceive me. Sunset’s betrayed my mentor and she poses a danger to the entire pony nation, and this eye candy scenery will not help her. I set off to a slow walk towards her, looking around for any advantage I could use in the upcoming fight. Either she’s going down, or I am.
“Save it,” I reply. “You don’t want the Elements of Harmony to restore the balance in Equestria. You seek them for your own personal gain, and you wanted to use me to get to them. Did you think I was stupid enough to fall for that?”
“What are you talking about?”
I conjure a purplish vision of Sunset shouting at the Princess just as I saw it earlier. The earth shakes all the same but I’m already used to it. In fact, perhaps a little quake to her psyche is what I need to make her talk!
“You abused the relationship we share with the Princess to buy my trust, but I know the truth! I’ve read your diary!”
The real Sunset waves the visions away, shattering them with her own magic. “Stop! You don’t understand! Just tell me, what exactly have you read?”
“Your bold plan to take the throne of Equestria, that’s what! There was something about working on your own, leaving Canterlot, and how you supposedly deserve it all!”
Sunset slumps down, her eyes squeezed shut over a grimace of pain twisting her face. She punches the ground several times, and with each hit the scenery changes a bit. The critters dash away to their nests, the breeze becomes strong enough to ruffle my forelock, and clouds began to appear all over the hitherto clear sky.
Sunset lifts her head with resignation written all over her face. “That’s what I suspected. Darn it. I thought I’ve burned that part ages ago.”
“Like you’re burning my whole city now? That’s what you dream about, right? All of Canterlot suffering while you sit in your cozy little garden eating biscuits? Choke on them!”
I surround Sunset with another series of visions revolving around Princess Celestia. I shape each of the constructs to express sadness, disappointment, or even anger. Since there’s only that many faces I can remember from Sunset’s past, I fuel them with my own memories. As much as I’m ashamed to admit there have been some instances in which I didn’t exactly meet my teacher’s expectations or otherwise failed her, but they serve me well now. It doesn’t matter they aren’t about Sunset per se. They are all the same.
The tremors are getting stronger. It’s alright, I need only a couple more visions before she will finally confess. No more lies!
“You’re burning it all so you could erase your past!”
“So I could escape it!” Sunset shouts back, struggling to hold against my visions of pain and regret. “Twilight, you have to believe me! I’m not cherishing it, I’m dreading it! What you see outside isn’t my wishful thinking. It’s my nightmare!”
I take a halt in oppressing my enemy. What is the meaning of this? Is it just yet another ruse of her? I couldn’t be wrong in my assumptions, could I? The journal entry, the memories, all of this? It’s just… it’s just that my bubble was built of my dreams, of good things which my subconscious wants to make true. It didn’t occur to me that Sunset’s would be made of—
The world around me quakes with a tenfold intensity than before, knocking me to the ground like a ragdoll. Ouch! It hurts, but should I be experiencing the pain for a body impact which happened only within my mind, thus technically not taking place at all? It feels real, that’s for sure, but a lightning splitting the sky reminds me this is no time for an academic discourse.
The barrier surrounding the garden fades, and the dark scenery starts pouring itself in through the newly formed cracks, while the blue sky succumbs its hue to the clouds of thick smoke. The black columns seemed to have moved closer—I swear they weren’t there when I was entering the dome!—because right now the place is surrounded with a row not unlike a palisade. The two closest columns break, their lower halves inclining towards the ground and the upper mirroring their motion. When a large shape descends along them I realize these are no trees at all.
These are legs.
“Hello, filly.”
I feel my eyes grow wide as a giant, faceless muzzle hangs over us with the slit of its smile resembling the one of a predator before a feast. Much like his smaller brother this one also just stands there, watching and not making a single move. He’s apparently more interested in Sunset, but that’s a rather paltry consolation, if you ask me.
Crawling, Sunset takes a position by the pedestal. Her horn shimmers as she pulls the table and the chairs into a makeshift barricade, then she clenches onto the broom as if she was holding a halberd. I think she’s trying something more complex with her magic, but this time the opal mist disappears like a candle’s flame on a windy day. The black stallions burst out laughing at her attempt, their voices assaulting my earlobes with high-pitched shrieks. I’ve heard that sound before. It’s the voice of the nightmares.
I get up and dash to Sunset. Her breath is erratic, she tries to cast the spell anew but her attempt withers yet again. Her voice is weak, drenched with whispers I can barely understand, but it doesn’t take a linguist or an expert on facial expressions to see that she’s frightened.
“Sunset! Sunset, what is happening?”
“I-I can’t cast myself out of here! My magic’s mostly fine, but the spell isn’t working!”
“How is that possible?”
“I don’t know! It bounces off some dark presence, and given the nightmares have surrounded this place, I think—” she pauses to steady her breathing, “—that the Empress is coming for us.”
“No! There has to be a way out! Come on, let’s make our way to the café,” I say, getting up and ready to gallop, or skirmish if necessary. “You said getting out would be easier from there!”
Sunset grabs my hoof, pulling me back behind the cover. “It’s no use in my bubble! She probably already knows there’s somepony capable of controlling this place, somepony from this chunk of the Dreamworld. If we could at least—” she looks up at the globe the alabaster alicorn is holding. “Wait, that’s the idea! You’re not technically from my dream, aren’t you? These aren’t your nightmares, maybe they won’t care about you. Cast the spell and get out of here!”
“Who do you think you are, some kind of a hero? We’re getting out of this together!”
Sunset smiles at me, she smiles that wonderfully skewed smile of hers. “Sorry, Twi, but this is my dream and I make the rules here. For the next ten seconds, at least,” she says, her horn once again wrapped with shimmering mist. “Just… please take care of my body out there. I hate being cold.”
“No!”
“Oh, and have fun tearing through my journal!”
“Reading it was—” The magic releases into a bright flash which pulls me into the orb over my head. “—what got you into this mess… in the first place.”
Sunset glances upwards but fails to cross my eyes. She raises the stick of her broom and bats the orb a few times, gesturing at her ear. The sound is muffled, but it’s definitely wood hitting the stone. For all I know, however, I am inside a bubble made of a pleasantly warm glass through which I can see the rest of the Dreamworld with ease, if a bit blurred. I guess this is a hideout not meant to be seen or heard from the outside.
Then, in an outburst of black miasma, the Nocturnal Empress herself appears.
Her form is well-known to me, but I have never seen her from up close. She looks even scarier in here than in the real world, with the edges of her silhouette distorted and seeping dark energy. Outfitted with a full battle armor resembling the one I saw on my brother, she also wears a helmet from under which her ethereal mane flows like a night’s sky reflected in a pond. The helmet doubles as a crown, apparently, its sharp spikes shooting upwards like a dread insignia of power, with silver touches here and there adding to her already regal posture. One could even tell she looks elegant if it wasn’t for the immensely fearsome demeanor she presents with her every step.
She moves into the circle previously protected by the dome, baring her teeth in disdain. A couple of her pony-sized nightmares fall to the ground around her, bowing and spreading their claws in a welcoming gesture. She does not honor them with her attention, turning it to Sunset instead.
“Kneel before thy Empress, child.”
That voice! As sonorous as it is imperious, it’s coming from every direction at once, and every spoken word makes me cower. I should kneel before her. We must all kneel before her and pay our respects. No, Sunset, why are you getting up? Stay down, stupid! Don’t you know that we have to obey our Empress? Aren’t you afraid?
A realization strikes me the moment my muzzle touches the glass, its warmth reaching my nostrils and spreading across my entire body in form of a shudder. I don’t actually think I should be kneeling, now do I? I don’t actually respect a leader who reigns with fear and violence. I have a right not to be scared!
No! My mind rebels against this intended act of defiance. The Nocturnal Empress is the rightful leader of Equestria now, and it’s only fitting to look up to her.
No, it is not!
Sunset leaves the barricade. “I will not. I am not afraid of you!” she shouts. “You are not my Empress! I am and I will stay loyal to the true ruler of Equestria, Princess Celestia!”
“DON’T SPEAK OF THAT NAME IN MY PRESENCE!”
Even from this angle I can see Sunset smirking. “Oh, is it that easy to make you lose your self-control? Celestia. Celestia. Celes—”
My heart cringes as the Empress sinks into the ground and reappears in front of Sunset. She takes a swing with her armored hoof. Sunset screams and falls, while the Dreamworld resurges with an echo of the brutal strike, causing something on the Canterlot cityscape to explode. The nightmares shriek in a perverted delight, knowing that the time of their feast is nigh.
“Insolence,” the Empress says, placing a hoof at Sunset’s throat. She looks around, but turns her stare away from the statue of the Princess for some reason. “You thought you could arrange a sanctuary in your dreams to stay safe from me? From the one who gave you dreams in the first place?” she shouts. “Very well. I was looking forward to try a little something on a worthless creature like you.”
Her horn begins to glow, shining like stars soaked in an inky blue aura of the night, and creating a puddle of darkness under Sunset. I can see the nightmares moving in excitement. I look up. The black stallions are all looking at the scene, their smiles getting unnaturally wide.
“I shall now make a prison of your deepest desires and unspoken wishes. I shall guard it with your fears and concerns. You will fall into an eternal slumber because I demand it, and you will not awake until I have allowed it!”
Sunset struggles for a breath. “Your... end will come, Night. Of that… I am certain.”
With a furious roar the Empress kicks Sunset in the stomach, sending her just underneath my shelter. She’s not moving, and her eyes are closed. I can’t even tell if she’s still breathing, because deep blue cords shoot out from the puddle and wrap around her tail, limbs and neck. The drag her on the ground to sink her within the darkness below.
“No!” I scream, punching the glass, but getting back nothing but pain to go along my tears. “NO!”
When I thought the worst was already behind me an even more terrifying sight comes to my eyes. The big, faceless stallions explode into hundreds, no, thousands of nightmares which descend on Canterlot like locust, destroying everything in their wake. They’re causing the building to crumble, trees to wither, and flowers to die, sucking the energy from what Sunset’s mind has constructed in the Dreamworld.
The Empress busts into a menacing laughter, equally frightful as it is mad.
* * *
I kick away the sheets, my breath coming in convulsive gasps.
“Sunset! Wake up, Sunset Shimmer!”
My frantic efforts to bring her back are in vain.
“Sunset! Please!”
Despite shaking her, shouting, and conjuring a source of light just over her face she is not waking up. As I raise her eyelids I feel my insides burning, as if something grabbed them with white-hot pincers and twisted them at least a hundred and eighty degrees. Sunset’s eyes, her once twinkly cyan eyes are covered with blackness similar to the one I saw just a moment ago. I can’t even distinguish the irises from pupils, for the eyeballs now resemble dark beads staring into nothingness.
A lonely tear forms in the corner of her blackened eye. It gets bigger and heavier to the point I can almost see my reflection contained within. My imagination immediately associates it with the glass prison in which Sunset protected me. Me, the one who got her into this! If I hadn’t started messing around the Dreamworld, then maybe she—
The tear slides over Sunset’s cheek and drips to the pillow below.
I vent off my frustration on the bed once, then another five times, but each subsequent strike turns out weaker and less meaningful. “No! No! This isn’t fair! I promise you, Sunset, I will find a way to get you out of this! I will find… I will…”
Tears of my own are quick to obscure my vision. First I’ve lost Princess Celestia, then Spike, and then Cadance went on a one suicide mission to the west. I’ve lost Shining Armor to the Empress, and now I’ve lost the only mare who was brave enough to make a stand against her!
It’s all my fault. I was so fixated on the idea of Sunset being my enemy I didn’t even notice when I let jealousy cloud my judgment. I couldn’t stand the fact that Princess Celestia taught somepony else more than me, and that Sunset herself knew my mentor better than I did. I was distrustful. I wasn’t kind when I met her for the first time, or honest when she reached out her hoof to me as a friend.
Now I see I lack these virtues, mostly because nopony seems to care about being noble anymore. The Empress surely knows the Elements of Harmony are a way of defeating her, so to keep us away from them she went as far as to dousing the very qualities they represent. Without the principles upon which Equestria used to stand, we’ve lost all hope and submitted to the nightmare she brought upon us.
No more.
I don’t know how, but I’m going to make sure nopony will ever repeat the mistake I’ve made.
In the middle of the night I scream, warming my vocal cords in the rising anger. My horn flares enough to wash the entire room in bright light, and even the air itself starts circulating despite the closed windows. For a brief moment every single particle of magic I can reach aligns around me into a perfect pattern pulsating with a wish of vengeance. They dare not to oppose me. I hold the magic for as long as my lungs can sustain my breath, then release it and allow the darkness to veil the bedroom again.
