Prologue: Dreams/Broken Bonds
Canterlot castle stood as a beacon over the city, the tower lanterns dimly illuminating the streets and building, silent and motionless aside from the slow wave of the Equestrian flag. It was the night of a new moon and the sky was filled with stars. Inside the towers of the castle, a fire burned slowly, lighting a bedchamber in a red glow. The firelight revealed a bed at the far end of the room where a still figure lay; resting but not yet asleep. She’d slept for long enough.
Her chest moved up and down; her breath made no sound. Her chest moved up and down; her breath made no sound. She concentrated her thoughts, and found herself in a deep black emptiness, although her body was resting on her bed. Suspended within the blackness, she paused and focused, establishing a physical body to cover her spirit form—it was easier that way. Majestic legs, large wings, the footwear, breastplate, and dark crown of the Royal Princess; her body—while not as grand as her sister’s, she inadvertently reminded herself with a hint of annoyance—still beautiful and defined. A starry mane fell by her side as she finished taking shape.
The world of the Dreamscape was hers to control—she built this region of space and had spent many years exploring and mastering its potential—too many. It was a world dotted in hazy points of light, each one a different dream. Luna flew out into the darkness; her duty was to feel and find ripples from the lights, which meant a troubled dream. Or a nightmare.
But there were no ripples. Every light was out.
Luna sent a pulse of magic to her horn, but it was impossible to light the void.
She stretched the ends of Dreamscape further, passing Ponyville, Manehatten, even out to Appleloosa. Empty. She pushed the limit of its reach out to the beginning of both seas and as far as the Northern Mountains, home of immigrant Griffon colonies.
Nothing.
Everywhere in Equestria, there were no dreams.
The night was quiet.
A sudden force slammed into her, pushing her back. Somepony was dreaming—this was the most powerful dream she’d ever felt. She turned and saw the dream’s light; a white star in the darkness.
She moved towards the light, and fell into the dream. Slowly, the world started to form around her—dreams however, were always hazy and the edges would ripple and sway. Mannequins draped with dresses were positioned around the room, and she carefully hid behind one—this dream was too important to interrupt. The shapes of two ponies started to grow from the ground; an orange one and a white one—Applejack and Rarity, she reminded herself, one does not forget the Elements of Harmony. Their voices were echoing and dropping; Applejack was tearing up while Rarity burned with anger.
“… could you? Why did you do it, Applejack?!”
“Rares, if y’were there, you’d have done the exact same.”
Rarity pulled her hoof up and struck Applejack’s face. That sound echoed throughout the dream. “never.” Rarity whispered.
Tears rolled from Applejack’s face; Rarity couldn’t hold back her own and they fell. She couldn’t stand the sight of Applejack crying, and struck her again.
“Go. Go back to your own life.”
All she could do was walk away.
Luna watched from her vantage point, shocked by the event of the dream. What could cause this disharmony? As she looked on, the dream shifted around her, the walls collapsing and the ground moving under her hooves. Rarity’s form melted into the ground—the world of the dream was changing—Luna found herself facing the back of a cottage. She peaked around but before she could see clearly, a rainbow streak flashed by her and she ducked behind the cottage.
“Fluttershy, open the door!” Luna knew that voice—it was of Rainbow Dash, another Element.
The door opened slowly and Fluttershy stood in the archway while the sound of crying resonated from inside.
“Pinkie, it’s all right, Rainbow will leave in a minute.”
“Come on Fluttershy, let me help you two. Damn it let me in already!”
Fluttershy stared at Rainbow, and responded coldly:
“I’m standing up for myself and Pinkie now, and I’m not going to be pushed around anymore. You’re a heartless bitch and you can take whatever you care for, if anything at all, and get… get the buck out!”
Rainbow opened her mouth, and closed it again. “I...” She tried to continue, but the door was slammed shut.
By now Luna would have interrupted any other dream, but she knew that this was not anypony’s dream; it was far too important to meddle with. But who is the dreamer? Rainbow Dash vaporized into a mist of colours and the cottage splintered into fine pieces; the dream shifting again. As it rebuilt itself, Luna was deep in thought, trying to piece together the fragments of the dream. There is no sense to this.
The dream materialized, and she found herself within the Ponyville Library—she’d spent much time there catching up on modern novels and stories which the Canterlot libraries didn’t carry. She looked around, but the library was empty.
Silence in the library.
The front door was slammed open, changing that, as a purple Alicorn flew through, and turned around and shot a burst of magic outside. Luna moved away, flying up to the balcony to watch what was taking place outside. She could see Spike, but he was very different—he’d grown larger than Celestia, and was held within a barrier cast by Twilight. What Luna knew of him was replaced by rage and power; he thrashed violently within the barrier and pierced it with his tail. He swung it towards Twilight, spikes extended, planning to slice her in two. However, she fired a blast of magic and threw him back, smashing a building into splintered wood and broken glass. He let out a howl of agony which shook the foundations of the library and blasted a barrage of fire as he stood on all fours. Twilight flew into the air and turned back to face him.
“SPIKE! YOU KNOW I DON’T WANT TO FIGHT YOU!”
He replied with a deep grown and stared at her.
“but if it comes down to it, I will.” These words were whispered, but their full force was unmistakable. She would end it if necessary. If a friendship breaks, it’s lost.
Spike flew up at Twilight, swinging his tail around to strike—in a flash, the end of his tail was blasted off and the ending was bleeding profusely; he thrashed around, the townhouses now coated with dragon blood. The tip of Twilight’s horn was dripping with blood and there was a red smear under her left eye. Spike cried out in pain, and fell back to the ground—clutching the bloody stump, moaning and howling at the sky. Twilight moved closer and focused her energy into her horn down to the end; bloodstained. A drop fell and she aimed at Spike. This spell would finish it all. She trembled and grinded her teeth.
She was crying.
“goodbye, my friend”
He growled softly and turned to her.
“I’ll always love you.”
Boom.
Luna was forced into the blackness of the Dreamscape—it was over. The memory of the dream was still playing over in her head; she felt a personal failure. Did Celestia and I not care for the Elements enough? Or could something else be afoot? She moved from the Dreamscape to her body, and on returning, shock violently and cried out. I should have anticipated that, from the power of that dream. As two guards burst into the room, she noted to ask Twilight about her dreams.
“I am fine, my guards, just a.. nightmare. Many thanks for your diligence.”
They could hear the shakiness of her voice but they gave their respects and left quietly. Luna looked at the sky and saw the tip of the sun rising over the Eastern shore. Her sister was up.
Celestia was in fact, still sleeping, but a force rushed through her; her horn started to glow with a bright yellow—the sun was slowly starting to rise over the land. She would realize the mistake in the timing of the sun when she woke and correct it later. Luna would rest during the day, and prepare a letter for Twilight.
Pinkie Pie started to jump up and down around her room, but her mane went flat and she fell back in bed—she was still asleep during this. And she was not smiling. Fluttershy threw her hooves up and cried out, pushing Angel Bunny off her. At the farm, Applejack bucked her legs out and whacked her bed frame hard enough to break the top piece off. Rarity shuddered and her magic started up, moving around all sorts of objects in her room—clothing, ribbons, and many coloured gems floated around the room—the grip of her magic crushed a few gems and tore the fabrics. Rainbow Dash started to tear up and whimper, but she did not have long to do this—one of Twilight’s wings shot out and smacked into her face, knocking her off the bed.
And so the morning started.
Sleepy Head/Beautiful Morning with you
Rainbow woke suddenly and rubbed her nose as she groaned:
“Ouch! Twilight, I thought I taught you to control your wings already.”
“Sorry Dashie, I don’t know what happened there.” Twilight leaned over the bed, looking at Rainbow, “are you okay?”
“Twilight, if I got hurt that easily, I wouldn't be the pesagus I am, would I?”
Knowing that Dash was not hurt, she moved down and kissed the tip of her nose, “All right then, tough pony, get back up here—it’s too early to be up.”
“Heh, for you maybe. At the Academy, we had to wake up at five in the morning for flying drills; not sure how long you’d last there.”
Twilight rolled onto the bed and pulled the sheets over her, and Rainbow flied back beside her. Muffled from the sheets, Twilight said:
“Well, it’s not the Academy, and I was up all night trying to study, and if I don’t study, I won’t do well on my duties, and if I don’t do well, no one will respect me, and if I don’t—” Silenced by Rainbow’s hoof resting on her mouth.
“You know you’re kind of a silly pony, right?” Rainbow asked, smiling.
Twilight blushed lightly, difficult to see under her lavender coat, but Rainbow could tell. She moved the sheets over and pressed against Twilight, whose wings were splayed out beneath her. Her head rested under Twilight’s, and she kissed up her neck softly; Twilight relaxed and moved close into Rainbow.
“A few minutes, nothing more,” Rainbow whispered, “we've got that invitation to Applejack’s, something about another great Applebuck season.”
Twilight acknowledged with a small noise and kissed the top of Rainbow’s head. She continued to kiss down until she reached Rainbow’s nose, and licked it.
“Hey!” Dash said and licked the tip of Twilight’s wing, making her shudder. Smiling, she rolled onto Rainbow and kissed her, trying to pin her down. “We've got to be there in an hour, so we have twenty-eight minutes for fun, two to stop, fifteen to fix our hair and coats, and five to fly to the Apple farm. Then, we’re ten minutes early!” Twilight stated, very proud of her planning.
“Ha, maybe if I was the only one flying. You might be able to fly, but you need to work on your stamina. It’ll take about fifteen, so we’ll be just on time.”
“I think I’m turning you into a full-on egghead, Dashie.”
“M-maybe.” Rainbow said, looking away.
“Well,” Twilight said, starting to kiss up Rainbow’s neck, “that’s not a bad thing”
Rainbow gasped lightly, and whispered, “how long for fun again?”
“Fun? Fun’s all the time, silly!”
“PINKIE?!”
They both tried to fly off the bed, but got tangled in the sheets, falling on the ground. Pinkie was sitting at the foot of their bed, and said:
“Well, that didn’t really look like much fun.”
Twilight groaned. “No, Pinkie, it was not.”
“Well, I mean, the ground can be fun, if it’s shaking or if there’s something cool on the ground or if it’s really super comfy, then there’s lot of fun! But that just looks like it hurt.”
“What made you guess that, Pinkie?” Rainbow mumbled, not amused with her situation.
“I don’t know, maybe just ’cause it looked like that, or maybe because Twilight sounded a bit sore. But hurry up sillies! You can have fun at Applejack’s, we’re all going to be there having apple treats and pie and cake and sarsaparilla and all kinds of games!”
“Hurry up?” Twilight asked, getting up and throwing the sheet off. “Why? We've still got at least an hour before we’re supposed to be at Applejack’s.” she said, pointing to an hourglass beside the bed. “I used a simple spell to reset it every hour, on the hour.” The glass bulbs had small marking for every fifteen minutes, and numbered cards placed to the side, which changed with the hourglass.
“You know, Twi, we have a clock,” Rainbow said, pointing to the wall.
“It’s always breaking down.”
Twilight spoke again:
“So how could we possible be late?”
“Well Twilight, maybe it’s your magic, or maybe Rainbow bumped into it and messed it up, but that’s not what the sun is saying!” Pinkie announced as she opened the blinds of Twilight’s room. The room was filled with light, and Rainbow threw her hooves in front of her eyes while Twilight squinted and looked outside. The sun was high in the sky, at least an hour later than the time Twilight’s system displayed. That’s not possible, my calculations and timing are perfect.
“Anyway, you’re both late! Let’s get to Applejack’s already!”
Pinkie jumped over Twilight towards the balcony and pulled out her Party Cannon from he side, jumping inside. “See you at the celebration!” She pulled the cannon’s string and fired.
Twilight and Rainbow started at the cannon on the balcony, then at each other; both sharing a mortified expression.
“Did she just-“
“Yeah,” Twilight responded, “she did.”
Twilight Sparkle looked out at the little village, visibly from her balcony. Ponyville was as it always was; quiet, peaceful, a good place to live. All her friends were here, and her dear Dashie—a name which she rarely used, and one which Rainbow begrudgingly allowed, from time to time. She nuzzled Rainbow, and sighed happily. It was a normal day; it would be a good one. I must have made some calculation error. Than again, Pinkie could have just messed it up beforehand. Sighing quietly, she and Rainbow started to get ready to visit Applejack’s home.
The Apple Family barn was bursting with activity; voices, doors opened and shut in quick succession, piles of apple based food and confections, and ponies moving back and forth to prepare the celebration. Applejack had spent the morning putting the final touches on the barn, setting up the tables and food, getting everything ready in time. Big Mac and Apple Bloom had pitched in with the preparations; the celebration of the most successful apple harvest was about to start. Applejack placed the last tray of apple fritters on a table and sat down, looking around the barn, trying to see if anything else needed to be set up. It was a few minutes before her friends would arrive. Barn cleaned, plates, food, and decorations, yep, all good. She shut her eyes and rested her head for a moment. Even though Big Mac had helped with the harvest, she was still exhausted from bucking the fields full of fresh apples—she needed a good night’s sleep. She didn't get to sleep until late in the night; she and Granny Smith had been preparing the cider and food. However, it was a restless, troubled sleep. She was plagued with the feeling of something dark—trying to wrap around her, crushing her. She couldn't breath, and kicked out, smashing a piece of her bed frame, and fell back asleep; Apple Bloom had woken her up, jumping on the bed and yelling. Applejack spent the beginning of her morning in a panicked frenzy preparing for the celebration, and was finally taking a chance to rest. Come on Applejack, rest a bit, you've earned tha’ much. She sat quietly, trying to stay awake; the rest of the family was inside, waiting for the guests.
Small mutterings brought Applejack out of her restful state as she looked up to see Rarity walking around the table pilled with food; some of it now floating in the air. Rarity was at work.
“Well, we have to move these over here; otherwise the dip is too far away—well, I suppose that’s not a problem for me or Twilight, but what about the others? And really, this was going to fall off if someone bumped into the table. Though the tablecloth is nice, if I do say so myself.”
Rarity was talking to herself in a low voice, trying to fix what she would call “a crisis of organization” while not waking up Applejack. She was levitating at least 15 trays of treats, and did so without strain. Most unicorns wouldn't be up to the task, but Rarity was skilled at using her telekinetic magic to manage multiple objects at once. She knew her skills could not match Twilight’s, but she prided herself in her abilities nonetheless. And of keen organization, which she was putting to practice. I've almost got it, just need to move-
Her thoughts were interrupted as Applejack cleared her throat, getting up slowly.
“Oh! Applejack, dear, I’m sorry that I woke you up! I was just trying to… well… help with the celebration,” Rarity was muttering and she was blushing from being caught, “I really am sorry about this.”
“Ya know Rares, ya can just ask if you want to help.”
“I know, but you looked so peaceful resting, and really, with all the work you did for the harvest, you deserve a little rest. Something I didn't get much last night.” Her last words trailed off, like a forgotten dream.
“anyway, I just wanted to be able to help put the finishing touches on things,” Rarity said, putting the trays down. She walked over and sat beside Applejack, “Did you know when the others will be getting here? It would seem I’m fashionably early. Or is fashionably late popular now?”
“Well, they should all be gettin’ here pretty soon, otherwise the food‘ll get cold!” Applejack responded, getting up and walking to the barn door.
“Applejack! I just sat down.”
“Then stay sitting if ya want, Ah’m just gonna wait fer the others.”
Applejack opened the barn door and found herself face-to-face with Fluttershy, who jumped back with a small cry.
“Sorry! I was going to come in, but then I heard you and Rarity, and I thought ‘maybe I should wait till they’re done talking’ but then I was just going to knock and then you opened the door. You startled me a bit there.”
“Sorry ‘bout that, Fluttershy. Come on in, food ain't getting any warmer with us keeping the door wide open.”
“Oh, right!” Fluttershy trotted inside, shutting the door softly behind her. “is everyone else here?”
“I’m over here, darling!” Rarity called out, walking over to Fluttershy. “Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie have yet to arrive, but I’m sure they’ll be here soon. After all, you know how good Twilight is with her planning. Besides, Pinkie wouldn’t miss the cake we’re having.”
“No I wouldn't!”
Everypony jumped as Pinkie appeared behind them; Twilight and Rainbow flew in from the door following Pinkie. They were all together, ready to begin celebrating.
It was a good day; like any other. It was also the last one. A halcyon day.
