Ascend

  Twilight stared at the sun setting, her luggage on either side of her. Cloudsdale had been closed down just as she arrived in her hotel room due to problems occurring all over the cloudy area. Not even Rainbow Dash gave her warnings, as Twilight and many other visitors unexpectedly could not leave Cloudsdale, and there were no signs before indicating that this would happen. Ponies from other places couldn't enter Cloudsdale as well. It was strange, like her arrival suddenly made all of these problems occur. The wonderbolt academy had been closed down temporarily, the rainbow factory stopped producing rainbows for some time, and many other things had lost their profits and went out of business for a while.

  The princess sighed. She hadn't caught a single glimpse of a pegasus flying around, let alone Rainbow Dash or a Wonderbolt. All she saw were the clouds drifting by slowly. Other ponies waited next to her, crowding the chariot stop with their bags. They talked to each other the entire time about Cloudsdale getting closed down.

  Twilight could feel her eyes closing, but the fire-colored sky kept her eyes open. It was beautiful, but too bright for her to fall asleep now. She would wait for a few more minutes. Luckily, the white, pink, and golden clouds blocked some of the burning sunlight.

  The purple mare layed down, putting all of her luggage in front of her to shield her face from the light. She spread her wings and covered her face with them as well. She yawned loudly into the feathers of her wings. Twilight wouldn't stay awake for so much longer. Rather than waiting for a few more minutes, she would simply fall asleep now. The princess slowly closed her eyes. Her wings rested, not covering her eyes as much anymore, then revealed her face and closed. The voices of the other ponies at the chariot stop slowly softened, then they were gone. She let out another sigh, and she was fully asleep.

  A hoof prodded Twilight in the side softly, eliciting a groan of some annoyance from the mare. Twilight rolled over, ignoring the hoof that felt like it had armor on it. It was cold and icy armor that bothered her and made her shiver, making her lose sleep.

  "Wake up," the firm voice of a mare said.

  Twilight weakly opened her eyes. Her vision was blurry at first from sleep, but when it cleared itself, she saw a dark blue figure with a starry, flowing mane and tail. It was none other than Princess Luna.

  Twilight sat up, confused. She rubbed her eyes thoroughly for a moment or two, then looked up at the princess of the night. She spoke, her words coming out of her mouth slowly, sounding soft and almost completely inaudible. She really was that tired.

  "Princess Luna? What are you doing here? Cloudsdale is closed down."

  "It is, but this is your dream," Princess Luna explained as if it was very simple. Twilight didn't understand though.

  "But...how are you in my dream? And..."

  Twilight looked around, her mouth gaping slightly as she gained a dazed expression on her face. She shook her head quickly, then finished her sentence.

  "This isn't Cloudsdale." Twilight realized it really was her dream.

  Princess Luna let out a small and short chuckle. "Did you forget already?"

  Twilight frowned, standing up. She looked slightly disappointed, but mostly perplexed. She took a step closer to Luna, who was smiling cheerfully.

  "Forget...what?" Twilight's mind was spinning. She kept her questions from tumbling out of her mouth.

  "I can enter dreams, I told you that before," Luna reminded the other exhausted and puzzled mare. "Now, look around."

  Twilight looked around once more, but the landscape had changed drastically. The two ponies were in Twilight's library. It was so familiar now, all of her books. She wished she was back here in reality. Twilight shot a rather abruptly stern look at Luna. The princess stood her ground, then spread her beautiful wings. Luna flew outside. Twilight ran after the dark blue princess, then slid to a halt, nearly bumping into her. Luna closed her wings.

  "Look once more, Twilight," Luna ordered sharply, yet calmly.

  Twilight opened her eyes. The landscape was nothing but clouds again. The sky was black, permanently nighttime. The ground was a thin layer of clouds, like Cloudsdale, but these white clouds had a tint of purple in them, like the clouds Twilight saw when she first woke up in her dream, first encountering Luna, and before she saw her library. They felt much softer as well. She could sleep on them, easily getting comfortable. But strangely, Twilight now felt energetic and healthy, no longer tired and weak. The purple mare looked back. Her library was still there.

  "This is your true dream," Luna said, looking away from Twilight. She was stargazing. The mare turned her head to stare at the bright moon.

  "But what about before I looked around?" Twilight pointed out, turning around. She took in the appearance of the clouds that made her sleepy.

  "That was simply..." Luna trailed off, then looked up in thought. Then she spoke again, turning her head to look at Twilight. "Say...a dream hub. It's the area you go to before you enter a dream. You can't just enter a dream quickly, you know."

  "Then why was it so empty in my dream?" Twilight pressed, feeling the small breeze run through her mane and tail.

  "Because you dreamed of being stuck somewhere, but you also had a longing to get home. You were stuck in Cloudsdale, remember?" Luna explained, finally approaching Twilight and meeting her gaze.

  Twilight remembered how she wished to be inside her house in reality when the two ponies had appeared in her library. Did dreams really symbolize thoughts, or did they simply create your wishes and desires? Twilight thought they did both. She didn't ask Luna, though.

  "Yes, I remember. It's really nice here. I never thought about it," Twilight said. She smiled, opening her wings. The light breeze flew through the feathers of her wings.

  The princess fell over on the clouds, taking in their softness. It was so relaxing to be in a dream.

  "It's so peaceful," Luna said, copying Twilight's actions. "Do you want me to take you to your friends' dreams?"

  Twilight yawned. She strangely felt energetic again shortly afterwards. She slowly blinked. She loved the sight of these clear stars. Twilight folded her wings and heaved herself up.

  "But it's private. And it's your job," Twilight said, now slightly nervous. She'd feel so guilty if she went into her friends' dreams with Princess Luna. She could be interfering with another princess' duties!

  "Yes, you're right for both, but you could help me. I was just going to visit them. Give them a surprise visit?" Luna asked politely.

  Twilight felt like she couldn't turn down Luna's offer.

  "Okay."

  "Then come on!" Luna said happily, grabbing Twilight and flying off of the edge of the clouds. They both dived down as they held onto each other, falling down fast.

  Twilight's mane and tail were blasted back by the wind. There was much more of the cold air below the clouds. Luna's mane and tail looked beautiful, though, as it waved in the air. The sparkles in her mane and tail looked perfect against the dark night sky.

  Twilight could only remember one last thing before the two princesses plunged into complete darkness. She was screaming in fear, but she was thrilled on the inside. Luna looked calm the entire way, and that was when Twilight's memories stopped. Luna's closing eyes was the last Twilight saw of the princess of the night.