Falling Into Shadow

Chapters

Troubled Sleep
(Re)introductions
A Match Made in Heaven

Troubled Sleep

Do not set foot on the path of the wicked
or walk in the way of evildoers.
Avoid it, do not travel on it;
turn from it and go on your way.
For they cannot rest until they do evil;
they are robbed of sleep till they make someone stumble.
Proverbs 4:14-16

Twilight could feel the rapid thudding of her heart inside her chest; drowning out all other sensations or thoughts. She'd shut her eyes as soon as warm lips had enclosed hers. The world became small and far away to her, nothing mattered except the here and now. No book could have prepared her for a moment like this. Entirely out of her element, Twilight could only remain rooted where she stood.

The lips pressed against hers had started to move, opened slightly, the sudden exploration of a tongue surprised Twilight enough that she jerked back and broke the kiss. Panting to catch her breath, the recently elevated alicorn reflexively sampled the foreign wetness on her lips. The stallion opposite her was silent, looking at her, waiting for an answer for why she'd flinched.

"I'm sorry..." she apologized.

The ash gray unicorn quickly shook his head, "don't be, I should be the one apologizing. I was too forward." His voice was like velvet, if sound could be given texture. A deep bass that she felt entranced while listening to.

"I want to, though." Twilight couldn't help but stammer a bit as she spoke, they were difficult words to say. She felt confused, desire warred with nervousness, was she ready? Still, she couldn't refuse without offending him and he was too important to her for that. "I love you...and the night has been wonderful so far."

He smiled at that, though it was more of a smirk than a true show of happiness. "And I love you too, Twilight." He took another step forward and kissed her again.

This time she didn't pull back, instead focused on returning it. Caught up in the moment she moved her leg back and came in contact with her bed, their bed now. Had it always been there? The bed was enormous, king sized even, and seemed to beckon to her. Suddenly confusion melted away into perfect clarity in the young mare's mind. She was here in a bedroom, alone, with the most important stallion in the world to her.

For all that she lacked in practical experience, Twilight was gifted with great skills of deductive reasoning. There could only be one thing that they were here for. Her throat felt tight, unable to relax enough to give her the power to say it aloud.

"N-now?" she managed, though she might have more accurately asked 'that?' with equal confusion.

The stallion nodded. "I want to, don't you?" He'd echoed her previous words and suddenly began to press her up and back onto the bed so that she fell, bouncing lightly atop the familiar mattress.

If she had been skittish about the inclusion of tongue, in what had been a mostly chaste kiss, the prospect of...of, she would not even think the word, made her doubly nervous, triply, perhaps even quadruple. Yet still she did not move from her vulnerable position laying on the bed and now looking up at the grey stallion who regarded her.

Her wings, new and outstretched, tingled in unfamiliar sensitivity while refusing to move at her will. "But...I've never. I'm not s-"

Before she could give words to her misgivings he was over top of her. A hoof was pressed against her lips, stilling her voice. Those green eyes were captivating, entrancing in their sharp intensity and intelligence. "I want to." He repeated, lowering himself so that they were now pressing belly to belly.

His fur was soft but moreover his whole body and weight seemed to be surrounding her. They were face to face and, without wanting to admit that she might have once sneaked a peak at a more nontraditional 'research' book, was not the orthodox way that ponies had se...might find themselves together intimately.

Yet it seemed so much more intimate. "We are one, Twilight, together." He told her, his deep voice already soothing her away from her fears. "Here I have you and you have me. Mind, body, soul." No stallion had ever spoken to her like that, no pony in the world. It seemed terribly romantic in the utterly possessive tone that he used.

He kissed her then, before she might have responded. This time she returned it fully, succumbing to that moment as her bodies natural desires won over the vague sense of warning which had, up until her surrender, been nagging her thoughts. Her fore hooves sought out his shoulders, pressing in to seek more of the contact that was sending tingles through her whole body.

Twilight could feel the pressing of something against her inner thigh and knew what it was without having to look for a second. Pinned to the bed as she was there was little she could do beside continue kissing feverishly back against the male. She thought it would hurt, as he finally shifted his hips so that they would be perfectly aligned, many of the anecdotes she she both heard and read had said as much. But instead on the moment that they became as he said, one, she felt only bliss.

Indescribable pleasure, warm and intoxicating, emanated up from her waist and through her body. He'd never broken the kiss, his eyes open while hers were shut. Twilight's moan was muffled, her bodies jerking convulsion restrained all from how he held her. Though he did not move an inch her pleasure built within her body. Metaphor and simile failed her in attempting to describe it. Ecstasy raged itself towards a climax, all rationality ceased in the utter surrender she'd offered up at his insistence.

Just at the moment that utter, ruinous orgasm was about to take her the stallion brought his hooves up and held her face steady. Her eyes opened at that moment to gaze into his. A malevolent glow akin to dancing purple fire were present as he held her tight. "You are mine, Twilight Sparkle. Mine." He'd said with a distantly familiar and sinister edge at the very moment that she reached her peak.

Twilight Sparkle jolted awake in her bed. Wide eyed, her breathing coming in rapid pants she looked all around. Her thoughts were racing at a mile a minute as she tried to make sense of her surroundings. The unicorn turned alicorn was utterly drenched in sweat. It clung, clammy, all along her coat and dripped itself down the side of her face.

"A dream....that was a dream. Just a dream." She told herself, finally calming down her rapid breathing.

A dream, but one with such sharp detail and feeling that Twilight bit on her tongue just to be sure she was actually awake. Pain blossomed and reassured her that she was indeed conscious. But the dream had felt so real. A traitorous thought crept into the back of her mind.

The contents of the dream itself registered and Twilight knew that she was likely blushing brightly by the warmth on her cheeks. Rubbing at her face, as much to wipe away at the perspiration as to try and remove the evidence of her embarrassment, she utterly failed to push the memory of her dream away.

Every detail seemed as vivid and real as if she was still experiencing it. Everything but the specific details about the male that she had been...had been. Again the dream's subject was enough to force her face into her hooves out of total mortification.

I'm Twilight Sparkle; bookworm, nerd, Element of Magic, Princess. I do NOT have dirty dream about random stallions.

But you just did.

She might have continued on in internal banter like that for quite awhile if not for the slight chill she now felt. The sweat that had bathed itself around her was drying and leaving her shivering cold.

The water is evaporating. The cold feeling is because of heat dissipating into the air. It's also really gross, I need a shower.

Thinking in technical terms helped calm Twilight down as it usually did. Her rapidly beating heart settled and the moment began to pass as she rose out of bed. Seeing the impressive amounted of moisture that had made its mark onto her bedsheets was surprising. Hopefully the maids and staff who would come in to replace them wouldn't comment on why their newest princess had woken up in such a sweat.

"Just a bad dream." She said aloud, hoping to settle the matter in her own mind. A nice warm shower would help relax her. Also she'd probably smell really bad if she just let herself dry off naturally.

Twilight steadfastly refused to think about the dream any longer, officially removing it from her internal list of 'things I should think about'. It was also important to her that all of the moisture still left on her body be officially categorized as one hundred percent sweat and nothing else.

It is mostly anyway, within an acceptable margin of error.

Finally, thankfully, the warm spray of the shower above her head cast away inappropriate thoughts completely. Sighing, Twilight turned her mental checklist over to something far more productive and spoke aloud. It even helped her pretend, just a little bit, that she was speaking to Spike for her morning checklist routine instead of herself.

"First, breakfast with the Princess'." Spike had decided it was important to stay at Ponyville Library rather than follow her here to Canterlot. It still surprised her because she couldn't recall ever being truly apart from her adorable little assistant for any great stretch of time. But in earnest he had said that he'd mind the place for her 'until you get back'. She had her suspicions that he was mostly still set on winning Rarity's heart someday and didn't want to risk losing a second.

"Second, attend Day Court with Princess Celestia.". It still hurt though. Twilight felt like she was between a rock and a hard place here. All of her friends were now back in Ponyville without her, carrying on with their lives. Twilight had briefly returned herself until Celestia had asked her to stay at Canterlot and properly learn the 'ins and outs of being a princess'.

"Third, research at the Starswirl the Bearded section of the Royal Archives." But it seemed like all she was learning was what she sought out independently. Not that she'd ever complain about that, of course, but long hours of research in Canterlot wasn't the same as it had been years ago. Twilight missed her friends.

"Fourth, Lunch with the Princess'" She did like to be here though. She liked spending time with Princess Celestia and Luna. But...her thoughts skipped a bit, halted in their idle drifting beneath the warm constant spray of the shower. No 'buts'. She liked spending time with Princess Celestia and Luna, period.

"Fifth, write letters to friends." Maybe it wouldn't be to much trouble to skip out to Ponyville for awhile. Certainly Celestia wouldn't mind, Ponyville had become as much her home as Canterlot ever had. But then she'd need to make arrangements...need an honor guard. All the citizens of Ponyville, let alone her friends, probably wouldn't mind. But already Twilight was worried it might not feel the same as before when she'd been just another pony.

"Sixth, go see Flash and..." A subtle disquiet within her mind had faltered on thinking about lunch but now completely stopped. Rather than face a tumult of unexpected negative emotion for something so seemingly innocuous Twilight instead ended her reverie with the realization that she had been standing for quite awhile in the shower.

She looked down at a hoof and noted that it had become remarkably wrinkled from exposure to the water. She didn't have to think a second longer before a burst of magic turned the shower off and left her dripping, still alone, with thoughts she refused to fully entertain.

Things were fine, more than fine. Everything was perfect even, she'd achieved her destiny after all. Now all there was to do was...was. "Go to breakfast." She answered herself, stepping out of the shower and hurriedly drying off. If she was lucky neither Princess Luna or Celestia would notice her slow start to the day.

As it was Twilight did not have such luck. Both the Princess of the sun and moon had been waiting for her, food cooling on each of their three plates. Celestia was quietly sipping at her tea while Luna merely waited, looking tired.

"Twilight I was beginning to think you might have slept in this morning." Celestia's voice had always seemed so regal and motherly to Twilight. She could hear the gentle concern in her tone, her mentor not needing to say that Twilight wasn't the type to ever sleep in without cause.

"I'm sorry Princess. I...just took a little longer than I realized while making a checklist for the day." Was her explanation, joining them at the table.

Luna said nothing, her eyes moving between the two and beginning to eat now that Twilight was seated. As Twilight understood it the moon princess had been making an effort to stay up late enough to share at least an early morning meal with Celestia. After long nights ruling over Equestria the dark blue alicorn was usually fairly quiet, subdued and, on occasion, grumpy.

Twilight had been looking at Luna long enough that she'd noticed. Luna returned the look, silence stretching for enough time that the night princess raised a questioning eyebrow. Now caught staring, Twilight looked down at her plate, feeling heat on her cheeks from embarrassment.

Celestia gently cleared her throat, Twilight looked back to her and saw continued concern mixed with affection. "Twilight, you don't need to refer to us as 'Princess' anymore. We're equals now." Celestia reminded her, again. "You also forgot to fully brush your mane, its sticking up in the back."

Now Twilight had two reasons to be embarrassed. "I'm sorry." she said by reflex, reaching up and trying to smooth her hair out with a hoof and knowing it was a futile gesture.

"Don't be." Celestia said which had the unintended effect of jolting Twilight's memories to a place she'd sworn was closed off. Celestia had said it in her usually affectionate way; safe, motherly, tender. That other voice, from what she was willing to remember, had been anything but those things.

The Sun Princess had been speaking, usually a cause to hold Twilight's complete attention, but she had managed to miss the first few words. "...You'll get use to it in time. I know it is a big change and I am so very proud of how far you've come since you were a little filly." Were her words which still never failed to make Twilight smile at hearing them.

"It is time we retired to bed" Luna rose up from the table suddenly, pushing her plate a few inches in. Her ethereal mane was drooped towards the floor, the unseen wind apparently at a low ebb at the moment.

Celestia smiled at her sister regally and nodded. "Sleep well, little sister, sweet dreams."

Luna had walked over and nuzzled her sister in an affectionate hug, which Celestia was all to happy to return. "And we hope you rule well today, big sister."

Twilight was touched, truly, by the tender moment. But something seemed out of place. That something became very clear when Luna began to pass her, heading towards the living quarters. The night princess paused, looking at Twilight, and gave her a single nod. "Have a good day as well, Twilight Sparkle" she said and continued on.

It was Twilight that was out of place. Do I really belong here? was Twilight's traitorous internal thought buried deep down in a corner of her mind.

A remarkably downcast thought but one that had begun to grow in strength not long after her coronation. Adventures in a strange world with alternate versions of her friends could only distract so much. Twilight picked at the food on her plate without much enthusiasm, mired in doubt

"Is something bothering you, Twilight?" Celestia asked her, her one visible eye looking towards Twilight while the rest of her face remained hidden behind her mane.

Twilight didn't want to look up, knowing it was silly to feel like a child in trouble when she hadn't done anything. She hated to disappoint Celestia in any way and it might hurt the Princess' feelings if she admitted she had doubts about the change. "I'm okay Princess...but."

"But?" Celestia prodded gently, waiting patiently.

"But I don't know if I really belong here. Being a Princess seems to come so easily to both Luna and you. What if you made a mistake?"

Getting up from her seated position, Celestia slowly made her way next to Twilight. Twilight couldn't help but always be amazed at just how tall Celestia was, something she'd always found vaguely reassuring. As her mentor draped a wing around Twilight, drawing her in for a hug, Twilight felt like a warmth in her chest. All became right with the world at the simple gesture.

"I know for certain that I did not make a mistake. Cadence said much the same thing when she was where you are."

"Cadence wasn't sure about being a Princess?" Twilight was surprised, the circumstances surrounding Cadence's ascension were shrouded in guesswork. Neither Celestia or even Cadence had told her how it had happened or what Cadence might have done to be worthy of so great an honor. Twilight had only ever known her foalsitter as an alicorn and, until now, it had never occurred to her to ask.

"She did, though Cadence was younger when she achieved her destiny." there was a wistful tone in Celestia's voice. Twilight was about to ask her to tell her about how Cadence dealt with the responsibilities when a pony at the door interrupted them.

"My apologies for the interruption your highness's" The guard began and looked directly at Celestia, who'd broken apart from the hug to regard the pony. "Princess Celestia, Day Court is about to begin and the petitioners and court are assembled."

The guard excused himself quickly. Though they were alone again Twilight could tell that the moment had passed and that things were more or less back to 'normal'.

"Twilight" Celestia began, standing up and smiling warmly. "If you would like to miss Day Court I would fully understand. And, if you were so inclined to want company, I might miss as well. I think Equestria can manage if I cancel a regularly scheduled court once in a few centuries if I feel like like doing so."

Princess Celestia was very talented in masking her intentions but over the years Twilight was able to read some of what lay behind her mentors words. In this case Celestia was teasing at the notion that she wouldn't mind skipping official duties if it meant 'hanging out' with her for the morning. She nearly jumped at the chance to do so, always prizing time spent speaking to her mentor.

But wasn't responsibility important for a princess? There were likely dozens or more ponies lined up with problems needing to be addressed. Twilight couldn't act like a little filly needing attention all the time, that was why Celestia had made her an alicorn in the first place. She was fine, Twilight was sure of herself.

Besides, she'd be spending the time observing Day Court with Celestia anyway. How bad could that be?

"Thats okay Pr-Celestia. I'm here to learn how to be a Princess and I won't let you down. I don't want to miss watching you at court." Twilight had braced her voice with determination she usually used for taking down dangerous threats to the country.

Some of Celestia's smile faded at Twilight's answer. Panic flashed through Twilight at the idea that she'd given the wrong answer. But the Sun Princess looked contemplative a second later and then nodded.

"Very well, Twilight. Lets not be late." The two began to walk out of the room, Twilight hastening to keep pace while Celestia spoke. "Don't hesitate to sit next to me at the dais. I have to admit that over time these appearances grow more than a little boring."

It had actually turned out to be less boring than Celestia had promised, but not by much. It hadn't been the first time she'd sat in on court, of course, but it had been the first time any of the ponies there had done more than glance at her. Twilight had sat at Celestia's right, in front of all of the important ponies in Canterlot high society, and they had been clearly measuring her up. Twilight found she had very little to say to anyone, though, Celestia did the majority of the speaking.

There had been a great many ponies that needed their problems addressed and each deserved, and received, the full royal attention. Hours had seemed to drag on without interruption, making it an exceedingly boring day. The only chance that Twilight had to contribute was at the petition of a group of engineers who were presenting their plan for a bridge. She'd quite literally jumped from her place at the throne to review the blueprints, thankful she'd delved into a book called The Big Book of Bridges: From matchsticks to concrete. Fortunately they'd been very thorough with their design, though Twilight wished she'd gotten the chance to do some math to relieve her boredom.

Eventually court ended and Twilight couldn't have been more thankful. She'd excused herself very quickly to the bathroom and now found herself in one of the far wings of the palace. The location had been deliberate on her part, Twilight hadn't wanted to accidentally bump into any members of the aristocracy if she could help it. In time she'd probably get use to the manipulation and influence mongering that Canterlot high society liked to indulge in but now wasn't it.

Twilight had begun to wander the seemingly deserted hallways, lost in thought when she was interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Princess Twilight, It's nice to see you again."

Twilight turned, surprised to see an armored, orange coated pegasus with blue hair. He'd just finished his perfunctory bow, a grin on his face. "You're not lost, are you?" he asked.

She shook her head at first, unable to say anything to Flash. All of a sudden her mouth felt like it was full of cotton, her throat tight and a tight little ball of tension formed in her stomach. Twilight desperately hoped he wouldn't be able to tell, half sure her cheeks would be a touch red with a blush.

Unlike the first times she'd noticed the fairly cute looking guard, though, there was something...off about her feelings.

"Oh uh, no...I'm not lost. I've been to the palace tons of times, since I was a little filly. I know it like the back of my hoof." Twilight knew she was rambling, the smile she put on was a touch strained as well.

Flash chuckled a little at what she said, still relaxed. "Well I'm glad you're not lost. Is everything alright?"

Was everything alright? Twilight wasn't entirely sure. She felt awkward but that wasn't unusual, she'd never been particularly good at talking with colts. If only the various books on the subject had been actually helpful.

"Yes, I'm fine" she started to say, mostly running on autopilot. "Its been kind of a long day, though, I mean obviously the day is the same length every day but I just got done with court. So I was just wandering...until I figure out what I wanted to do, that is."

Flash was giving her a bit of a strange look, pausing until he'd evidently made sense of what she'd said. "Well, if you didn't have anything to do, would you like to have lunch? I know a great place in the city. If that's okay with you Princess."

'Yes, of course I'd love too.'

That was what she was suppose to say. It was like something out of one of Rarity's romantic books, the shy Princess being romanced by the handsome guard.

"W-well...." she stumbled in reply.

But it didn't feel right.

Which was a major problem because Twilight couldn't begin to guess why. Flash was nice, polite and if his alternate universe version was anything to go by, good coltfriend material. Her friends approved of the idea, had even teased her a bit in a good nature fashion. A handsome stand out officer in the royal guard that her family certainly wouldn't mi-

A horrible, terrible connection was made very quickly that fixated itself in Twilight's thoughts. Had she had a minor crush on Flash because he reminded her of her brother? No, that was ridiculous and altogether too terrible a proposition to consider at the moment. But now there was no way she was going out and eating lunch with Shin...Flash.

"I'm...sorry, Flash." Words spilled out before she could reconsider them. His face fell, as she'd suspected it would, at the rejection. Seeing the disappointment hurt, but not enough for her to change her mind. "I have...research to do in the library. An important project for the Princess. Princess Celestia, I mean."

"Oh, alright Princess Twilight. Sorry to bother you." Flash had done a remarkable job of keeping discipline, bowing courteously. He wavered a moment, clearly unsure if he was suppose to start walking away now. Twilight was just thankful he didn't offer to escort her personally there, something that sounded like it would be painfully awkward.

Right now she just wanted to be alone, away from the world on what seemed to be a particularly unpleasant day.

Twilight shut the door to the library behind her and let out a long sigh once she was sure that she was alone. Here she could have a measure of serenity and peace of mind. Already, walking past huge bookshelves, she could feel herself relax. Every pony likely had a place of special deep significant for them. Twilight's was a library, though the Canterlot Royal Archives was perhaps the most special.

A library was truly awe inspiring, in her opinion. Collected here were the outpouring of countless intellectuals and minds in one definitive place. The sheer amount of knowledge in this place was like an oppressive weight for Twilight. It seemed impossible to imagine that any one pony could ever truly read or know everything held here in this place (though she'd tried to defy that notion with countless hours spent here). Whats more a library was a living, breathing thing. New and old texts would be added over time and what self respecting scholar wouldn't entertain the idea of adding something herself?

She ran a hoof down the spine of a book she remembered reading many years ago. She could spend a lifetime, several lifetimes, here. But things had become so much more complicated lately, even more complicated than when she'd been in ponyville...

Twilight stopped herself with the realization that she'd spent a remarkable amount of the day navel-gazing. She felt silly for doing so, for even feeling downcast in the first place.

This had to stop and, thankfully, she had the perfect solution.

She fished a book off the shelf that looked incredibly weighty and dense, just what she needed.

"Psychology of the Unconscious...by Complex Jargon," she read out loud. A book about psychology was unlikely to take her mind off of her problems but she didn't want to just put it back without reading at least a little bit.

She laid the weighty tome on a table, opened it and began to read. All of the issues of the world fell away as she began to focus on the text. The book was laden with terms, ideas and esoteric interpretations of the psyche that were a challenge to understand. Complex Jargon was living up to his name.

Sunlight from an open window was warming Twilight enough to make her feel drowsy, not helped by the sudden relaxation from her previous stress. She batted a hoof against her mouth, yawning while re-reading a paragraph for the third time...something about a 'Shadow' that reflected a ponies unconscious characteristics. She'd selected right in that the book was relaxing.

Her head jerked a bit from its sudden loll forward, her eyelids feeling heavy. Twilight sleepily chastised herself for nearly nodding off. She should at least stand up, maybe stretch or else she'd actually fall asle-.

Author's Note

Hi there! I started writing this fic years ago and just never got around to publishing it. The first two chapters were finished, and now that I'm trapped during the big cough it seems like a fun idea to keep it going and maybe actually finish it. The exact timing of this particular fic is set roughly exactly following when Twilight became an alicorn. For the purposes of consistency unless otherwise noted no other story elements or things after season 3 episode 13 and technically the Equestria Girls special are 'canon' . I hope you enjoy!

(Re)introductions

Twilight shot back up straight from her position; face down in the middle of the book that she'd been reading. The library was dimly lit now, no sunlight coming in through the windows and likely sometime late in the evening. She felt remarkably...stiff, hardly felt like moving from her seat at all.

"Great...I slept all afternoon," she groused to the empty air, rubbing at her eyes.

"Don't you know that you're not suppose to make noise in a library?" A deep, familiar male voice said immediately to her right.

Twilight jumped, completely startled and felt heat rising to her cheeks in a blush. She'd just committed the cardinal sin of libraries. Turning, intending to apologize profusely, she was stunned in recognition of exactly who it was sitting next to her.

It was the stallion of her dream last night, she was certain of it. Ash gray coat, long dark black mane and impressively large. The unicorn was paying her absolutely no attention, looking over his own book before flipping a page with a flash of green hued magic.

Her mouth hung open, unable to formulate something to say. Strangely a large part of her was entirely unconcerned by the recognition and urged her to say an apology. It was just on the tip of her tongue and, even more strangely, she had a feeling that she knew what the stallion was going to say in reply in broad terms. It would be something charming, witty and also flirty...

Before she could follow along the 'script' laid out in front of her she saw the pages of the Psychology text that she'd been reading. Immediately she focused on them, not that it helped her read anything. The printed letters were smudged and altogether impossible to make out in any meaningful way. The puzzle pieces fit together and, quickly, she arrived at the only possible conclusion.

"I'm dreaming," she wondered aloud, now examining her hooves at the self realization. Everything seemed far more 'free' compared to the murky predestination that the dreamworld had seemed moments ago.

That statement also succeeding in completely catching the ash gray unicorn's attention. He was staring at her now, his eyes an intense green that were very familiar to her, where had she seen them before?

Before she could dwell much on his looks he snorted for a second and then chuckled. "Very observant of you."

Twilight shot him a look of annoyance at the tease, her dreams shouldn't be allowed to make fun of her. Still, a question gnawed at her. "Who are you?"

The male paused for a moment, considering the answer. "I am...Dream Walker."

Twilight stared for a moment, "That is an incredibly lame name," she deadpanned.

'Dream Walker' shrugged. "I am your idealized stallion. Technically you named me, or at least your subconscious did."

This was a strange conversation to be having essentially with herself but still very interesting. Though, something he'd just said stuck out to her. Her thoughts shot back to the first time she'd actually 'met' Dream Walker and blushed at the memory of it.

Dream Walker seemed to know exactly what she was thinking and smirked at her. Even more annoyed now at him, she raised a hoof and smacked his arm, surprised at how solid he felt for a dream projection. "My idealized stallion and I would not do that. At least not before I even knew his name."

Dream Walker didn't flinch at the smack, only raised an eyebrow. "You do not need to keep up false modesty with your own psyche, Twilight. Here at least you can relax, free from the expectations of your friends and mentor."

Not at all pleased with the slight against Celestia, she turned her nose up and folded her arms petulantly. "I am completely relaxed already. I'll show you." Twilight was capable of being stubborn if she so chose and some of her denials were very well established. It would take more than one (admittedly very attractive) stallion who she'd had a dirty dream about to get her to admit he might have a point.

Dream Walker cocked his head to the side, looking off put and searching for a way to reply.

Before he could say something she found annoying Twilight looked around. "If I'm aware I'm dreaming doesn't that mean I can do whatever I want?" she asked out loud, extending a hoof out experimentally.

"Of course. Its called lucid dreaming. You can do anything you set your mind to. But am I really boring you that much?" Dream Walker answered dryly.

"Yes you are, very much so," Twilight quipped and aimed her hoof at the male. A sudden idea occurred to her and she focused intently.

Her focus was rewarded by the dignified looking stallion's jet black hair turning a Pinkie Pie shade of pink, which of course made him look ridiculous. Dream Walker was clearly horrified by his transformation and reached up to grasp at his mane, tugging on it. "That was not funny."

She'd laughed, because she certainly thought it was. But then she decided to ignore him, and instead turned to look at the rest of the dream library. Like a loaded weapon she aimed her hoof at bookshelves and thought of different things for them to become. The room began to physically warp to her will; flowers sprouted up from the stone floor, books jumped from the shelves and began to dance on newly sprouted legs, and, on a whim an enormous ice cream sundae appeared in the center of the room..

It was all a touch childish but she'd been unable to think of much else. Whatever she thought of became so, felt so. Twilight had been just about to jump into the sundae to see what it tasted like when she was grabbed at the shoulder. Whirling around, she was confronted by the pink-maned Dream Walker, looking less than pleased.

"Twilight while you have taken to lucid dreaming very quickly I can think of something far more interesting. I can show you something that would take your breath away...if you turn my mane back to the right color."

She strongly considered blowing him off, or perhaps blowing him up. A part of her wanted to accuse this particular dream entity of being the cause of her bad day. If he hadn't done...what he'd done, with her, she'd have woken up normally. If she woke up normally she wouldn't have taken so long in the shower. Then she would have made it to breakfast on time and had a non-awkward conversation with her mentor. Then Court (or maybe they'd have skipped it even) would have gone well. Then she'd have gone out to lunch with Flas-.

"You can't possibly think that's my fault. You didn't go to lunch with him because he's just like your brother, which certainly bothers you. And here you thought you'd squashed that whole complex after the wedding..." Dream Walker cut her off, still sounding very smooth and detached.

"Stop reading my thoughts!" Twilight wanted to blast him now, 'cool' guy act or not. Of course telling him not to read her thoughts was futile, he knew everything she knew it seemed. But, curiously enough, she couldn't do the same to him when she tried. It seemed as if Twilight was unable to probe the depths of her own subconscious, or at least the part of her subconscious that secretly wanted smug, condescending perverts.

Dream Walker rolled his eyes and then focused directly on her. "We'll drop the subject if you let me show you the full extent of what these dreams are capable of...and turn my hair back to normal." As casual as he tried to make the request sound, Twilight grinned at the small victory that she'd gotten under the stallions skin.

After a few moments of trying to look like she was considering his offer Twilight relented, mostly because she'd grown just a little curious about what he had in mind. Though she had to remind herself that 'he' was really just an imaginary creation and wasn't real. With a wave of her hoof Dream Walker's mane returned to its original black color.

'Its way better looking that way anyway,' Twilight thought to herself, 'I certainly know how to create good looking Stallions...'

"I am pretty handsome aren't I?" He sounded smug, answering what she thought had been kept to herself.

Instead of yelling at him, which didn't seem to get her anywhere, she just grumbled and marveled at the complete malleability of this dream world. She'd never known that such a thing was really even possible. Sleep, with the occasional dream she might recall for a hour or two on waking, had previously been only a necessity. But this was something new, exciting even.

What wasn't currently exciting was Dream Walker, the unicorn standing still now with his eyes closed. He'd promised to show her something. She began to impatiently tap her hoof on the stone, thinking that she might wake up any moment and be torn away from this fascinating place.

Then, in a single blink, she was a million light years away from Canterlot. Both of them were suspended in a void of absolute nothingness, empty space. But there was nothing empty about where they were.

"This...this is...." Twilight refused to close her eyes for even a second, thankful she didn't have to blink if she didn't want to.

Dream Walker nodded, a tiny smile on his lips. "A bit more impressive compared to a telescope or a scrying spell don't you think?"

She could only nod, awestruck. They were floating in space, the warped physics of the dream had made it possible for the wonders of the universe to be seen with the naked eye, yet retain all of their incredible vastness. Twilight saw binary stars circling one another in an endless dance, impossibly massive nebula of cascading multicolored hues and all the billions of galaxies in the universe, which might as well have each been snowflakes of light; not one was like the other.

There was more than that as well, an infinite amount, and Twilight wanted to witness it all. Dream Walker had fallen silent after his little quip, gazing with her over the entirety of the cosmos without a word needing to be said. Twilight had always had an interest in stargazing but the field itself was underdeveloped in Equestria. Few enough ponies had special talents related to astronomy and even fewer in making telescopes.

Telescopes could only see so much, contending with interference from the atmosphere as well as light from the ground. Twilight had, on occasion, attempted to use magic to see the stars. But the scrying bowl and water presented a murky at best image, nothing like what she was witnessing now.

"How is this possible?" Twilight felt compelled to ask, her voice was barely above a whisper at this point.

Dream Walker looked her way and appeared amused at the question. "Are you doubting the power of your own mind? In this place things are limitless."

It sounded good, sounded wonderful, but Twilight was finding difficulty in believing it. "I've never even seen...could never imagine anything like this. Is this really what the universe looks like?"

The unicorn gave a wry smile for a moment. "With some embellishment, where appropriate," he answered, gazing out over the spiral arm of a massive galaxy. "I have always loved the stars ever since I was young. The great unknown of it all, each star could be like our sun. For all the beauty of Equestria, we truly are just a tiny cosmic speck floating in a sunbeam. There's no teleportation spell that could allow one to visit, but it is something to atleast gaze upon a million, billion worlds...and wonder."

Twilight was now looking at Dream Walker, staring. What he'd said was terribly romantic in a way, enough to make her blush at the sentiment. But what had really caught her attention was the allusion to a past. It was separate from her, though she'd had similar thoughts while growing up. Dream Walker really did seem to be the 'stallion of her dreams' but...it was just a dream, wasn't it?

The two remained floating in the endless void of space, enjoying the view, for what like hours to Twilight. Then the stars began to dim and all faded into black. Alarmed, she looked around for her companion and was surprised to find herself relieved that he hadn't faded out as well. In a few moments they were back in the dusty library, like nothing had changed.

"You're nearly about to wake up, Twilight." Dream Walker informed her, sounding disappointed.

"But..." Saying 'I don't want to wake up' was a bit morbid if taken out of context but Twilight really had been having a wonderful time. "Will I see y...have another dream like this again?"

She'd nearly asked if she'd ever see him again, which was alarming to her internal reservations. Liking Dream Walker was basically narcissism wasn't it? It was silly, the more important question was whether she might enjoy another Lucid Dream experience again; with or without ash gray unicorns.

Dream Walker obviously knew what she was thinking, his mouth pursed in a thin line pushing on a frown. "It is likely you may, in time. There are ways to make it a guarantee though. Simple magical spells."

Of course! Magic was the solution to almost all the problems of the world and assisted in all the others anyway. Summoning her magic took next to no effort for her, she could quite literally do magic in her sleep and proved it now. It was only as Twilight activated her magic, a faint tingling in the back of her head now, that she realized that she didn't think she knew the appropriate spell.

"I know the spell...", There was a slight pause, but as she felt a pang of confusion he continued. "As a part of your subconscious. You saw the spell in a book, years ago, for only a few seconds. But there are very few things you truly forget, no matter how long since you read the text." Dream Walker spoke up, answering the question that hadn't been asked yet. "I am surprised you are thinking of essentially getting rid of me, Twilight. Did you not enjoy my present?"

That had, amazingly enough, managed to make Twilight feel guilty just a little. "I did...it was wonderful. But..." She shouldn't have to explain this, surely he knew the reasons and agreed? Unless it was something her subconscious actually wanted her to do in the first place.

"But I am a figment of your imagination? Twilight..." Dream Walker chided her gently with a wave of his hoof. "I told you before. Here, in the deep recesses of your mind, you should have no need to keep up a false front. Why shouldn't you enjoy the company of the perfect stallion for you?"

'Because you're not real?' Twilight answered without speaking. Already the dream was fading away, now only on the surface of her mind as control of her real limbs was returning to her.

Dream Walker had disappeared, Twilight's eyes were shut now. But she could still hear his answer.

"All the better to not worry, or feel embarrassed. Your mind is a powerful thing, Twilight, and within it...it's only you that you have to worry about. " Things were so fuzzy and unclear that Twilight couldn't reply even if she wanted to. "But before you wake, the spell you cast is a special one, a granting you acuity of mind while dreaming. It won't take you much effort at all to become lucid at will. Of course, as you're such a novice at it, I thought it appropriate to modify it just enough to include a humble guide...on a more permanent basis."

Twilight had slipped back into consciousness very slowly. Her face was pressed down into her book and her whole body felt stiff in the uncomfortable position. That was the first hint that she was very much not dreaming now. Yawning off remaining drowsiness, she straightened up and began to stretch. Rewinding the last parting words of Dream Walker took longer than it would if she hadn't just woken up.

When she did digest the information she scowled in annoyance. " I didn't say you could do that!"

Was it really entirely sane to yell at herself for casting a spell that she apparently wanted to cast on a deep, subconscious level? It most certainly wasn't sane to refer to an imaginary fantasy created for a dirty dream as if he was really alive either. An imaginary fantasy created for a dirty dream that was apparently going to feature in all of her dreams from now on.

"At least you're not hearing voices in your head" she said, though reflected that talking to yourself was certainly not much better. Her throat felt remarkably dry. It took only a glance to the window to realize why. It was dark, very dark, outside. She'd slept the entire afternoon away and now was going to have a miserable time getting back to sleep...if she even wanted to.

She didn't want to, not just yet anyway. Twilight knew sleeping spells certainly, though unicorns were warned against abusing them because of the unpleasant side effects and the risk of dependency. She'd come into the library to get away and to perhaps think, but now had a whole host of new questions to consider.

But first she should get out of the library and get something to eat. Princess Celestia was probably wondering where she was, if she hadn't already gone to bed. Princess Luna would almost certainly be awake, perhaps Twilight could spend time with her. Before leaving she placed the book she'd taken from the shelf back where it belonged.

She was disappointed in herself when she sighed on facing the exit. Already a tight knot of tension was forming in her stomach at the return to the awkwardness and uneasy feeling of her place in the palace. 'I don't want to be here.' Twilight realized finally and this time did not shut down at the revelation.

Dream Walker had shown her that much...or she had shown herself the truth. The long dream still stood out in vivid detail and Twilight was having a great deal of difficulty reminding herself that none of it had been real. An enjoyable retreat from her problems for awhile but still not real. If she was going to see Dream Walker again it wouldn't hurt to just treat him as though he were real, constantly reminding herself that he wasn't would just give her a headache.

'Besides, he wasn't bad for a fantasy.' was her final thought on the subject as she emerged into the hallway and returned to her life as a Princess of Canterlot.

A Match Made in Heaven

"We're just so proud of you, sweetheart", Mom said putting down a heap of pancakes on the table. Twilight practically blanched at the sight of them, a second serving was far more than she was going to be able to handle.

Breakfast with the princesses promised master crafted food, with a side serving of awkward tension. Breakfast with her parents only came with servings of love, and more pancakes than she could eat. It was not a very difficult choice given how yesterday had gone.

"Mom, please...I really can't have another bite..." She weakly protested, placing her hoof on the plate and inching it away across the table.

Dad was on the other side, beaming nearly as brightly as Mom was. "You're still a growing mare! It's also great to have you home, too, now if we could get your brother and Spike to come by more often that would be perfect. Maybe we could even do some sort of vacation together!" Her parents were approaching retirement age, not that anyone ever really thought of it that way. They were getting older though, Twilight could see it in the faint gray hairs in their manes.

"That sounds great, Dad," and it did sound like a great idea, she'd went from being swept up in her magical studies to being in Ponyville. It was embarrassing to realize at the time that her friends knew nothing about Shining Armor until he was getting married. It was also embarrassing she didn't even know he was getting married herself, especially to Cadance! "Though maybe it would be easier if we all went to the Crystal Empire so Cadance could be there too?"

Mom nodded sagely at the logic, sitting down at the table for a change, though neither her or Dad's plate of food had really been touched. "We try and go up when we can, but running a whole city seems like a lot of work. And to think now you'll be running..."

The warm parental affection from her mother paused for a moment, as more genuine confusion seeped in. Twilight stepped in to provide the missing information. "Princess Celestia told me that it will take some time before I take on more...princess-like responsibilities, for now I suppose I'm the Princess of Friendship, but I'm sure she has something in mind for me."

"She better," Dad said, with a challenging tone and a grin. "If she's not careful, you'll be ruling all of Equestria before she knows it, with one hoof tied behind your back."

"Dad..." Twilight groaned, rolling her eyes at the over-enthusiastic dadding she was getting at the moment. Thank goodness nobody else was here to see something so mortifying. Her parents were far and away her biggest cheerleaders and never hesitated to tell anyone who was unfortunate enough to be caught in the crossfire. Fortunately it came with no expectations, they were just genuinely amazing, loving parents.

"Funny she didn't tell us that a few days ago," Mom mused, finally picking up a knife and fork with her magic to begin digging into her pancakes. It was only likely a few minutes before the syrup managed to completely soak through and render the cakes a soggy unappealing mess.

Twilight tilted her head slightly, brows furrowing at her comment. "'She'? Princess Celestia came here?" Celestia hadn't mentioned anything like that before.

It wasn't meant to be a secret, at-least, as neither Mom or Dad looked especially guilty. With Mom in mid bite of pancakes, Dad took up the conversation. "She came by to see how we were doing with you now being a Princess. She even asked if we wanted a guard detail, as if any bad guys would mess with us here in Canterlot." He laughed at the idea, which Twilight felt was perhaps a bit misplaced. The changelings had attacked not even a year ago, and there were other threats. Though it wasn't like guards were going to do much against a threat like Discord, or even changelings.

"She also told us you were talking to the new royal guard captain!" Her mother sing-songed her words to maximize embarrassment. "I remember Shining mentioning him, did you know that Flash Sentry was a candidate for the Wonder Bolts before joining the Royal Guard instead?" Mom practically squealed as the information, and though Dad had a protective roll of his eyes he hadn't voiced any complaints.

In other circumstances Twilight might have blushed and stammered out denials, which even she knew would only reinforce the perception that there was something to it. Instead of blushing, though, Twilight only felt a flash of...annoyance? It was a strange thing to feel on a topic like this. "No...I mean, I've spoken to him before, but Princess Celestia has it wrong, it's...not like that." There was no stammer, no blush, and her voice was firm enough that her mother snapped out of teasing to look more than a bit surprised.

"Oh really? By how Princess Celestia told it, we expected we might be having another wedding before the year was out." Mom laughed, even as Dad managed to finally sigh. "I'd like to at least meet him before he goes and tries to woo my princess, but you know how fast Pegasi like to take things."

"Dad..." Twilight groaned, and shook her head. "I really mean it, I don't even think he'd be my..." without realizing it a sudden and immense yawn came over her. With it came a bout of tiredness, which she'd been fighting to ignore all day so far.

Mom looked concern, as any parent would, putting down her fork from a bite she'd been about to take. "Are you tired, Twilight?" She asked, "You do look a little worn out."

"I didn't...sleep very much last night, that's all. I accidentally feel asleep in the afternoon and it threw everything off." Twilight admitted, sheepishly. The Plan had been to stay awake all day and then crash as early as was reasonable to do so. If she was already yawning this early it did not bode well.

Now Dad looked concerned, his lips pursed for a moment and he exchanged a look with Mom. "Well, your room is always ready, if you wanted to take a nap we're certainly not going to make you go back to the palace." He offered, smile quickly returning.

A nap. Princesses didn't take naps, Twilight didn't even take naps before she was a princess. No matter how...alluring they could be. She tried, and failed to stop another yawn before giving a moan of disgust with herself. "Okay, okay, I mean...I don't really have anything on my schedule anyway. A nap wouldn't hurt, thanks Dad, Mom. You're really the best..." She meant it too, standing up from the table and moving around to give each of them a great, big hug.

It was a short walk up to her bedroom, familiar steps she'd taken more times than she could count when growing up. Even after so long away, everything looked exactly the same. It was like her childhood home had stayed locked in time, and Twilight couldn't decide if it was because her parents were just genuinely happy with how things were, or had kept it this way for their children. It was probably the former, the latter thought was because she really was quite tired.

Her bedroom was a personal showcase of the Twilight of many years ago, from even before she'd been accepted into Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. Dolls lined the dresser, and endless numbers of books lined the bookshelves, there were a few posters of Celestia up on the walls...and Twilight suddenly wondered if the Princess had come into this room during her visit. She'd never live it down if she had, the possibility of death by mortification seeming very real.

Though Celestia hadn't mentioned she'd visited her parents to her, which was even stranger than her visiting in the first place. Princess Celestia never did things without reason, not as far as Twilight knew. She didn't know why she felt troubled about the news, but another yawn interrupted her thoughts and she dragged her protesting body into her bed. It was getting a bit small, but the mattress was still exactly how she liked it. Not too firm, not too soft, and she didn't even need to get herself under the covers to get comfortable.

Getting her head on the pillow brought on a sudden rush almost like vertigo, and the unusual sensation of actually falling asleep almost immediately. Twilight didn't decide to fight it at all, and let go of the last fleeting thoughts that were shielding her from unconsciousness.

There was a feeling of times passage to be sure, Twilight couldn't help applying a degree of analytical thinking even when sleeping. The cycles of sleep were passing every further towards rapid eye movement, which was where she 'awoke'. She was still in her bed, though that she was dreaming was obvious by the smudged out of focus quality that was apparent the moment she looked out the window.

"Are all of my dreams going to be where I fell asleep? I thought they'd be more...somewhere else." She groused, not even startled when she recognized the presence of another in her room.

Dream Walker was over by her bookshelf, browsing through the many options without having selected one. "Normally, but I thought it might be a good idea to have a talk. You're more upset with your mentor than you realize." His deep, smooth voice didn't hold any mocking within it this time. Instead, he sounded quite serious.

"I'm not mad at Princess Celestia!" She protested, rejecting the premise from her subconscious out of hand. "There's nothing wrong with her visiting Mom and Dad."

"You're lying to yourself, Twilight. That isn't going to work on me." Dream Walker pressed on, glancing behind him to level her with a aside glance. "She's setting you up, did she think you wouldn't notice? Shouldn't she have asked before she started to meddle?"

Twilight had started to shake his head before he'd even finished. "Celestia always has my-"

"Your best interest at heart?" Dream Walker cut her off, and now had turned fully to face her. He was frowning now, unhappy. "You know her duty is to Equestria, not just you. If the two were in the balance, which would she pick?"

"That isn't fair!" Now she was getting angry, unable to listen to him, herself, say such things about the princess. "I may not always understand what she intends for me to do, or my destiny but that doesn't mean she doesn't care about me! I'm sure she has a good reason for me to...well, whatever she wants for me and Flash Sentry."

Dream Walker rolled his eyes at her attempt to avoid saying it outright. "She's pairing you up. Mating you. You're not even a princess for a month and she's already arranging the marriage, Twilight. You didn't even know colts existed until two weeks ago."

"I...I did too, I just have been...busy doing other stuff. It's not like I haven't looked, or thought about..." Twilight flushed, and hurried herself out of bed. Laying down while having this conversation was making her feel weak. In fact, it felt wrong to even approach this subject in her childhood bedroom. Remembering that she was in control of her own dream was a welcome relief and distraction.

A simple wave of her hoof and the pair were quite suddenly pulled away from the cramped bedroom and left in a lush, green field of grass that stretched for as far as the eye could see. Perfect, a chance to be creative.

"Twilight..." Dream Walker began, "running away from this isn't going to make you feel better."

"I am not running away, I just want to do...something else while listening to you try and convince me that the Princess is evil." Endless green fields were nice to some degree but what it could really use was a nice river.

"I didn't say she was evil," Dream Walker retorted, watching as she focused a few paces away to their right as a river three pony lengths across split the ground and began flowing along as if it had been there for tens of thousands of years. The detail of the water within her dream was something to behold when she focused on it. It looked absolutely real.

After a few moments of not hearing more from Dream Walker, she tore herself away from the river she'd created. "You're making everything she's doing sound bad, you don't know why she wants me to be with Flash."

"And do you know? Why don't you ask her? In fact, why don't you tell her that you aren't interested, that he makes you feel uncomfortably close to the idea of dating your brother." The last part made her wince and squirm again, did he just have to keep bringing that up?

"M-maybe I'm just being nervous for no reason." She protested, sounding weak even in her own ears. "Princess Celestia is good at...at matchmaking like this, she's why Shining Armor and Cadance are together."

"Ah, so you are willing to admit you noticed that." Dream Walker sounded pleased, and began to walk a few paces off to the side. "There should be a few trees along the river, and maybe a few stones."

"Of course I noticed..." She affirmed, though part of her wondered if she was walking into some sort of trap. His suggestion was a good one though, and with focus sprouted up a couple happy little trees along the river. Tall ever pines, and gray lumpy boulders began to appear near their bases. "The river is too...straight," she muttered.

Dream Walker nodded along in agreement, and lowered his head enough so that his horn would point to a spot further up the stream. "If you raise the elevation, and put a particularly large boulder, you could justify bending it around. Or, you could let me help." He offered, chuckling lightly.

"I think giving my subconscious free reign to control my dreams defeats the point of being lucid within them, besides I know what sort of things you would do if you were in control." She narrowed her eyes at the stallion, who looked extraordinarily smug as both their minds inevitably were drawn to their first 'meeting'. Her bad mood allowed her to avoid feeling too embarrassed about it at the moment. "So, are you going to tell me how Shining Armor and Cadance being together was a bad idea?"

Dream Walker had chuckled at her first retort, and then only shook his head after. "No, no, they're clearly very happy together. Some ponies can afford to remain ignorant about how things happened, but you're not so lucky. Are you sure you'd remain happy knowing you're still Celestia's pawn?"

"I am not her pawn!" Twilight was once again protesting, almost automatically. Her hackles raised, she'd forgotten all about diverting the river and rounded on the ash gray stallion. "I'm her student! Her most faithful student at that! She trusts me, and I trust her."

"You didn't say she and you were equals, which is remarkable considering she made you into a princess. She says you're equals, and wants you to use just her name." Dream Walker was good at arguing, which hardly was surprising to Twilight at this point. Was this really how she felt beneath the surface?

"It was just...sudden, okay? It's going to take some time to get used to being a princess. I get comfortable with something, and it's tough to change." Her ears had drooped at the admission, and her stomach felt tight and heavy. "But...each time she shows me something new, it ends up being great."

"Except this time," Dream Walker said, though not without some sympathy. He'd walked over to her and placed his hoof on her shoulder. "It felt wonderful to realize you had your cutiemark, and to learn so many new things...and once you realized your connection to your friends, you never stopped loving them. This time...it feels different doesn't it?"

He was too damn good, and Twilight didn't shove him away. "Yes...Nothing changed, and everything changed too. I could get used to it though, I think it's just...realizing she's already preparing for another change, that must be why I'm especially upset."

"You should tell her then, how you feel. She'll respect you more, if you want to be her equal you should act like it." That sounded like good, solid advice. He dropped his hoof from her shoulder, and was smiling warmly at her.

She faltered, unsure of herself and his suggestion. "You really think so?"

His nod was absolute in its confidence. "Without scouring through your memories, I'm quite certain one of those many friendship lessons you've sent her way had something to do with the importance of not just letting yourself get pushed around. Especially if it leaves you unhappy, would Celestia really do something she knew made you upset?"

Dream Walker had her there, and though Twilight chewed her lower lip in apprehension about effectively going against her teacher, her mentor, she couldn't think of any counter argument against the argument. "Okay...I'll go talk to her about it."

"Wonderful," Dream Walker said with a touch of enthusiasm, his handsome face still exuding that warm smile. "Before you end your nap, there was something else I'd like to talk to you about. I had an idea that might be worth bringing up with Celestia, while you're speaking about the other thing."

Twilight hadn't immediately went to Princess Celestia after waking up from her nap. It had seemed like a good idea to give it some time, to carefully consider the suggestion Dream Walker had made. Her subconscious was being...odd, in a way that contradicted itself in how perfectly logical and illogical her experiences had been. Three times now, and every meeting with this supposed idealized stallion had been different.

He felt real, distinct, separate from her and yet she could also see how he was formed to reflect whatever was currently on her mind. Wasn't that how dreams and her subconscious were supposed to go? He was clearly intelligent, yet how he spoke and approached concepts felt almost alien to her. Was her mind really so powerful that it could generate a stallion with such a 'not her' personality while actively speaking to it at the same time?

While she did her best not to be too self conceited, Twilight knew she was highly intelligent. This seemed to the next level, though, maybe it had something to do with becoming an alicorn? There were so many questions, but reality was refusing to give her the space to really think. Her emotions were all over the place, and she missed her friends.

It was nearly time for dinner, Twilight had dawdled away her afternoon re-reading the same research material she'd already been failing to properly absorb for the better part of three days. Her mind consumed with so many other competing ideas, what was one more?

Now though she had been idling in the hallway which led to Princess Celestia's private study and office. Fortunately the honor guard were just outside, and thus couldn't witness Twilight pacing back and forth, nervously considering whether she should simply turn around and leave.

Just as she had committed, for the forty forth time, to knock on her mentors door, it opened. Celestia popped her head out, looking directly at Twilight with a face filled with confusion. "Twilight, I've felt you out here for almost twenty minutes. Is something the matter?"

Finding new reason to be embarrassed, Twilight let out a rather undignified squeak of alarm at being 'caught'. "N-no! I mean, well It's just...I did want to speak to you about something." As though that wouldn't be plainly obvious already.

Princess Celestia's confused look dissipated into one of more general concern. "Of course, Twilight. Come inside, I don't have to tell you that you've always been welcome to see me whenever you like. I'd make time for you even if we were being invaded by dragons." The doors to her office swung open, wide, and Celestia was beckoning her in with a sweep of her majestic, white wings.

"I'm pretty sure you'd be a little busy if it were dragons..." Twilight tried to quip, offering a sheepish, awkward smile. The office was simply enormous, so big that it worked very well for private magical lessons just between the two of them. This wide open office, with a desk far across on the other side, had always felt warm and friendly to her.

Now though, it felt like she was in trouble, which was ridiculous on its face. Celestia walked right beside her, though guiding them both off to the side where an assembly of couches waited. They weren't going to the desk, fortunately. "If the problem was big enough that you'd want to speak during an invasion, I think the dragons could wait." Celestia chuckled, the somewhat silly conversation doing its best to avoid the awkwardness Twilight felt. Once at the couches, Celestia took the largest one clearly meant for her and laid upon it. "Now, what's on your mind, my most faithful student?"

Here we go, the deep water all at once.

"I wanted to first talk about...well, Captain Sentry," using a more formal title helped to detach from the guard in question.

To her credit, Princess Celestia must have realized the topic was quite serious given its lead up and so didn't go for lighthearted teasing as Twilight had initially worried she might.

"Oh? And what about our new Royal Guard Captain, Twilight?" She asked, as good as Twilight had gotten over the years in reading her mentor her attempt at being casual was feigned. She had the Princesses complete attention.

Twilight took a nervous swallow and steeled her courage. "I...know you visited my parents not long ago and...told them about well, the idea of me and him maybe being...romantically involved. B-but I'm pretty sure I really am not interested."

In all her many years, this was as close as she had ever gotten to 'calling out' Celestia. It felt like an immense betrayal all the same.

"Why, Twilight." Celestia looked quite genuinely surprised. She had even sat up straight from lounging. "I am sorry if I gave any indication I was...pushing you for something you were uncomfortable with."

"It's okay," Twilight definitely wanted it to be okay. "I just...being a new princess is...a lot to deal with on its own."

Celestia nodded in agreement. "I'm quite certain it is. I was also happy to have heard you might be interested in finding 'romantic involvement' as you put it, it can be a wonderful thing. Though that is only if you want to...we can talk about it more if you like."

"N-no! That's okay!" Twilight was suddenly alarmed at the notion she might have anything close to 'the talk' with Celestia.

"Are you sure?" she pressed, one of her eyebrows arching in mild surprise. "To make one thing more clear. When I spoke to your parents they were quite interested in how things have changed since your ascension." Celestia allowed a quite sudden smile and warm chuckle. "Anything they may have said to you may have been more wishful thinking and imagination on their part. I'm sure they are just hoping for more grandfoals than just from your brother and Cadance."

Twilight felt her face burn, suddenly realizing this could have all been one terrible misunderstanding. "O-oh," was her only reply at first. Though there has to be more to say, surely. "I just worried that..." she trailed off in a mumble, feeling trapped from her own rashness to confront something that didn't appear true after all.

"What were you worried about?" Celestia wasn't going to let it drop so simply, even tilted her head to side to make the question seem more innocuous.

It still sounded ridiculous to say out loud, especially given the insinuation of wrongness that lay behind it, but Twilight could hardly turn away from elaborating on how she felt. "I suppose...I had been very happy being your faithful student, and being with my friends. I never realized you had...more things in mind for me, becoming a Princess, and a full alicorn. A-and being a princess is great! It's wonderful, really. It's just that being here, I'm not sure what you..." She paused, seeing sudden concern and a frown written all over Princess Celestia's face as she spoke. "I mean, what might be coming next for me. What I'm a princess even of. Also then...well, this colt just appears, and he's cute and nice but...it felt like everyone knew what was supposed to happen next, except me! I remember how...you helped Cadance and Shining Armor get together, and they're so happy and perfect together, yet I just...I don't know, I suppose there must be some greater destiny for me but I just wish I understood what it-"

"Twilight, I understand," Celestia cut her off finally, raising a hoof and speaking in a tone that was both soothing and clearly filled with more than a little sadness. "This is entirely my fault for leaving you in the dark for so long my faithful student. I am also sorry if it appears that I am in anyway pushing things upon you, or manipulating you. It's true, I did see from the beginning that your brother and Princess Cadance might fall in love and I helped ensure that they had that chance. Yet it was only that, a chance, their situation is entirely of their own choosing, as is yours. Your destiny has always been within your own hooves, Twilight Sparkle. I would never choose it for you, you ascended as a princess because you were worthy of it."

Twilight felt immense relief to hear those words from her mentor, it was all the reassurance she had been seeking. For a moment it was like a very heavy weight had lifted itself from upon her shoulders and she physically sagged into her own couch cushion as tension left her. Though it came back quickly, a small knot still in the pit of her stomach. "I would like to go be with my friends again." She quietly said, chewing her bottom lip in seeking for approval from Celestia.

The Princess was only too happy to give it, nodding with a wistful smile on her face. "I understand, and you have always been free to see them and be with them whenever you like. I did enjoy your time here in Canterlot, but I didn't imagine I could keep you for very long."

That could have been that, and there could have been an easy return to normalcy, the weight was still off of her and she was free! Yet, her mind drew back to Dream Walker, and his suggestion...her subconscious suggestion. "I don't want to...stop learning how to be a princess though, that's why I didn't want to leave sooner." Celestia had been about to speak in reply, but Twilight decided in a moment that it would be better to simply say her idea than to draw it out. "I think I should become Princess of Ponyville!"

Where Celestia had been completely at ease, she looked rather startled at the idea. Her eyes drawing in a mix of confusion as well as curiosity that Twilight almost took as suspicion. "And why would you want to do that, my faithful student?" The warm, caring tone was subdued in place of something much nearer to being guarded.

Still, much like before there was no backing down once committed. "W-well, I thought that it could let me, well, practice at how to be a princess by administering the town while also being near my friends. That way I don't feel like I'm...well, not taking being a princess seriously."

Celestia now looked thoughtful, and even allowed herself a moment to rub her chin with a hoof. She was clearly taking the notion seriously, carefully considering the request. "Being a princess and being an administrator are not...always the same thing, of course. However, given how talented you are I don't think that's an altogether unreasonable idea."

Twilight was still waiting, half holding her breath in while watching Celestia slowly work her way through considering it. She had balked at the notion when Dream Walker first proposed it, pointing out how Ponyville already had a mayor, who seemed to do her job perfectly well. Dream Walker was persuasive, though, appealing to how much good she could do if she took a more active role in improving everyone's lives. Wasn't that what a princess should do if she were able?

"Alright," Celestia finally nodded, though she was no longer smiling quite so warmly. "I think that is something I can arrange, for tomorrow even so that you can return to your friends as quickly as possible. You will become the Princess of Ponyville, which will make you quite unique and the envy of the nobility I might add." Celestia wryly chuckled for a moment, glancing away with a far off look. "I spent hundreds of years slowly prying land from their control, you will be the first pony I will have granted a fiefdom to in well over a millennia. In fact, now that I think about it, you will be my only direct, landed vassal in all of Equestria."

Put in such terms, it sounded like Celestia was granting quite a lot now. Twilight's eyes had gone wide, trying to digest the breach of tradition she had just managed to do. "I-I didn't realize that I was asking that much." She began, wondering if it was even possible to backtrack.

"No, no, if I were to do such thing, you can be sure you would have been the first pony I would have thought of." Celestia chuckled, the smile back and fairly warm. "Apart from finding that elected and meritorious civil servants generally perform better, I mostly became tired of the endless ceremonies of granting land and receiving fealty. We'll have to dig out the etiquette books, they may even be in a museum somewhere. I'm sure that Proper Form, the Canterlot Palace's Master of Ceremonies will be thrilled, he's always been a fan for overly stuffy events like this."

They'd chatted pleasantly for hours, it was honestly up there on the list of 'all time greatest talks with the princess' and might be even placed in the top ten. They'd meandered through topics of Celestia's past ruling Equestria, what Twilight make expect as Princess of Ponyville and other more light topics. By the end, Twilight had wondered why she had ever felt nervous about talking to Celestia about her feelings and idea.

But now it was getting late, and Twilight was feeling positively giddy in anticipation of the future. Tomorrow there would be the formal ceremony, and then after that packing to return back to Ponyville to see all her friends! She was almost skipping as she entered her bedroom and did the necessary routine of preparing herself for bed.

All the stress of the day, and its following relief had also left her tired enough to make drifting off to sleep easy. The comfort of her pillow and the softness of her mattress was about all it took before she was descending once more into restful slumber.

"You have so many reasons to celebrate, and your only thought was to get some sleep?" A deep, self amused male voice spoke up from behind her.

Twilight opened her eyes to discover she was no longer in her own bed. Instead she was standing, with a breathtaking sight before her. She was atop an incredibly high towering spire, with a bright and vibrant city lit up below the night sky. The city stretched out in every direction, with the tower at its center. The sky above was filled with twinkling stars, in the dream world no amount of light pollution from below could cause them to dim.

Dream Walker was standing there behind her, wind softly blowing part of his dark black mane. At his side was a table with an expensive looking meal complete with candles and, of all things, a wine bottle in a bucket of ice.

Twilight burst out into laughter at the sight, turning to more fully look at the stallion. "You can't possibly be my subconscious, don't you know how ridiculously cliche that is?"

Rather than getting upset, or even blushing, Dream Walker glanced at the table and then gave a grin. "Cliches are that way for a reason, they're fitting. Even if you don't drink, the advantages of being in a dream is that it can taste however you want."

Twilight only rolled her eyes and returned to looking over the ledge of the tower they were perched upon. "What is all this?" she motioned towards the city.

"You don't recognize your creation from early today?" Dream Walker chuckled, joining her at the edge. "True, we only had just finished the landscape, so while you were busy with things I decided to finish it. A bursting metropolis is quite a bit better than an empty field don't you think?"

"I suppose it makes sense, now that I'm going to be ruling Ponyville myself. Is this some sort of...reflection on what I want to turn it into? Ponyville is kind of nice as a small...well, little village." Twilight tilted her head slightly, somewhat puzzled at where her subconscious was taking her.

Dream Walker looked her way, quirking an eyebrow. "That's surprising, and here I assumed you were a pony of progress. Scientific, as well as life advancement."

"I don't really know what kind of ruler I'm going to be, there's so much I don't know yet." Twilight admitted, now looking down upon 'her' city. The lights were enough to let her pick out individual details, tiny specks of shadow moving about must have been ponies going about their lives even at night. It wasn't easy to hear anything though, only the wind could be heard whipping itself past her ears.

The stallion next to her let out a low sigh, and turned to walk back towards the table. "We can talk all about that, are you sure you don't want to enjoy a nice romantic dinner under the starry night sky?" He said, his voice filled with smoothness and charm.

Twilight turned back to look at Dream Walker, he was already lifting the bottle of wine up with magic and uncorking it. "And waste a night of dreaming when I could be doing something more amazing? I'd much rather look at the stars up close."

It was actually rather entertaining to see Dream Walker's face fall and a scowl actually form on his lips and by the creases around his eyes. It did a lot to add to the illusion that he even could disagree with her or display emotions like this. "I take that to mean you don't want me to accompany you, either."

"Well, you certainly could do that," Twilight quipped, and made a point of spreading her wings. They'd felt stiff before, she'd hardly been using them lately in the real world or her dreams. Now stretching them out felt remarkably good. "But I'm afraid you're not fully equipped..."

Dream Walker snorted, and it was his turn to roll his eyes. "This is your universe, Twilight Sparkle. You can explore it however you wish." Was his stiff reply, sounding displeased.

She paused for a moment, and then walked over to him. "I really do want to thank you though," she said, softening her voice and smiling at him gently. "Imaginary or not, you really did help me through my issues today. I'll be sure to come back here to talk to you in the future if I need help and there's nopony else I can talk with."

He nodded, accepting her thanks. "You may want to consider coming to me sooner than that, there's no one else you can be assured of more confidence with than speaking to yourself you know."

"That's true." Twilight was smiling wider now, confident that things were on an upwards trajectory for a change. "It's just a bit weird, something I need to get used to. Like being a princess, actually. I hope you have a good night, Dream Walker. I've got a date with the stars though."

Dream Walker gave no reply, as Twilight was instead craning her head upward. She tensed her legs as she set her wings up and then flapped down at the same time that she jumped. Even in the real world she would have taken off into the air doing that, but in her dreams she might as well have been a rocket. Instantly she was propelled at near super-sonic speed, the gentle night wind giving way to the absolute silence of space.

Her dreams adjusted to her new perspective and desires, and much like the previous visit with Dream Walker the kaleidoscope of space and its many impossible beauties were laid out before her. This time though she seemed to have all the time in the world to enjoy it by herself. Twilight would find herself in the morning more rested, and at peace with the world than really any time she had known. The future looked bright.