Descendants of Starswirlby Filly JeanChaptersChapter 1: The DoozieChapter 2: The Velvet BalloonChapter 4: Dreams and IllusionsChapter 1: The DoozieNight in Equestria was a wonderful sight to behold. The stars shone brightly though the clear purple sky. The air was crisp and refreshing, like the bite of an apple. A lonesome figure stood in the countryside, peering at the mountain in the distance which held, on its peak, the city of Canterlot. The figure removed its hood, revealing the long white mane of an exotic-looking mare. She breathed in the night air and savored it, as though she had never experienced anything so wonderful. Peering once again at the sign she was reading, the mare smiled and set off in an excited trot down the road. Deep in the Crystal Castle of Ponyville, Princess Twilight Sparkle yawned and rubbed her eyes. Stretching, she closed the book in front of her with a snap and lifted it by magic to its rightful shelf. Glancing at the position of the moon outside, which bore an uncanny resemblance to Nightmare Moon, she found it was almost midnight. Sighing, she got up and grumpily traversed the stairs up to her chambers. She fell down on her bed in much the same way a tree does when cut down. Barely had she closed her burning eyes, came the resounding chimes of a hoof knocking frantically on the crystal from the front doors. Her eyes snapped open and she got up very, very reluctantly. Opening the crystal door a few moments later, Twilight stared into the eager face of Pinkie Pie. "Ugh, FINALLY!" She barged her way into the castle and Twilight shut the door behind her. "My tail's a-twitchin'! - and you know what that means!" "Pinkie," Twilight grumbled, grinding her teeth, "It's the middle of the night!" "I know!" she gasped excitedly, "Isn't it exciting?" Pinkie's eyes locked into Twilight's. "But seriously, my Pinkie Sense is going haywire!" Twilight rolled her eyes. "Alright," she plonked a hoof atop her head and pulled it over her snout like a window wiper, "What's going on?" "I don't know!" Pinkie glanced at her twitching tail, "Whatever it is," her eyes met Twilight's, "it's gonna be BIG!" Twilight's face looked like a pumpkin that was left out in the sun too long after Nightmare Night. With no warning, she suddenly opened the door with magic and practically forced Pinkie out. "Well," she said over Pinkie's loud protests, "When you figure it out, let me know OK?" She slammed the door and slumped against it, fast asleep. "Twilight?" came Pinkie's muffled voice from the other side as she hammered on the crystal, "I figured it out!" Silence. "Hello? Twilight? I figured it out!" The knocking resumed, with each frantic tap, Twilight's purple head slid a little on the door's surface. "Oh well," Pinkie sighed, "I'll tell you later then!" She hopped away into the night and all was quiet. Early the next morning, Twilight was awoken by a sharp pain on her forehead. "Twilight, wake up!" said a voice somewhere far away from her and she received another prod on the forehead. Her eyes creaked open like a rusty barn door and she glanced upwards groggily. Something purple swam into her field of vision, blurred and swaying. Twilight blunk a few times to focus on the face of Spike, her little dragon assistant. "Morning, Spike." she slurred, her cheek stuck to the crystal in a pool of drool. "Morning, Twilight. Say, what happened last night to fall asleep on the floor?" Twilight pulled her face free from the door and rubbed her cheek with a hoof. "Pinkie Pie." The sound of chatter outside made Spike peer out the window. His green eyes lit up. "Oh, what a coincidence! She's outside right now!" Twilight sighed, got up and shuffled down the corridor to the kitchen. "It's too early in the morning to deal with a pony like Pinkie." she mumbled and took a carrot from the fruit bowl on one of the counters. Sitting down at the large round blue crystal table in the middle of the kitchen, she started eating breakfast. A resounding chime blew through the castle as the front door was slammed open. Twilight silently counted the precious seconds of peace she had left; three, two, one... "TWILIGHT!" Pinkie's voice, which was magnified by the enclosed bowl-shape of the room, hit her like a hammer and she nearly jumped out of her pelt. Thinking of all the unpleasant things she could do to that pink pony to help her remember that sound travels extremely well over crystal, she was halted this train of thought by the sound of her good friend Applejack's country accent. "Simmer down there, Pinkie! I'm sure Twilight heard you!" Her curiosity peaked, she heard another, more sophisticated voice say, "Show some decorum, Pinkie dear. This is, after all, a princess' castle." Ah yes, thought Twilight, as she continued her breakfast of acorn- flavored hay and wheat grass juice, that would be Rarity. She heard more chatter and then a sharp crack as some fragile decoration piece smashed on the floor. Heaving a sigh, Twilight finished her breakfast and cleared her throat. "I'm in the kitchen, in case you were wondering, girls!" she called to the front porch. "And Pinkie, get Rarity to fix that vase you just knocked over!" "Sorry, Twilight! I got a bit carried away there!" Yep, that's always the case, isn't it? thought Twilight and sipped her juice. An orange earth pony poked her head into the kitchen at this point. "Mornin', sugarcube," said Applejack, and stepped out of the way to let Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy enter behind her. "Morning Applejack." Twilight nodded to each of the other four ponies individually. "Morning, girls." Rarity nodded, Rainbow Dash saluted her in a chipper sort of way and Fluttershy whispered something that was drowned out by Pinkie's excited noises. The mares took their seats at the round table. "So let me guess," said Twilight, finishing her juice," Pinkie won't tell you why you are all dragged here?" Every pony except Pinkie nodded. "She just showed up in the middle of the night, actin' all crazy-like." said Applejack and nodded at Pinkie next to her. "Come to think of it, that's kinda normal, seein' as it's Pinkie an' all." Rarity, the white unicorn, swung her head elegantly sideways to get her turquoise mane out of her eyes. "I agree." She glanced at Pinkie opposite her, as if somepony was showing her something she wasn't really interested in but was forced to watch out of politeness. "She was ever so distracting in my boutique, I can tell you!" "Oh," whispered the pale yellow pegasus Fluttershy, looking directly at Pinkie through her draping bugglegum mane, "You weren't bothering me at all, Pinkie." Silence drifted across the table. Fluttershy looked awkwardly at the nonplussed faces of her friends and added, more to herself than them, "well, maybe a teensy little bit..." Twilight turned her attention to the pink pony, practically bouncing up and down in her seat like a filly throwing a tantrum. "What is this all about, Pinkie?" "Does it have anything to do with your Pinkie Sense?" asked Spike, poking his head into the room, evidently eavesdropping. Pinkie Pie stared at nothing in particular, they could practically see a light flickering behind her glassy eyeballs. "OH!" she exclaimed suddenly, launching out of her chair and hitting the curved ceiling with such force that the chandelier next door chimed musically. She fell back onto her seat again, and swayed slightly. "I remembered why I came here!" she said, slightly cross-eyed. "Oh look! Birds!" she waved her hooves wildly about the air around her head and fell off her chair. At this point, a loud belch filled the kitchen, accompanied by a flash of smokey green light. They all turned to see Spike holding an official-looking scroll in his clawed little hand. Applejack leaned backwards from behind Rainbow Dash to get a look at him. "Is that a letter from Princess Celestia?" she asked. Spike glanced down at the little golden clasp binding the parchment ,emblazoned with a little 'C'. "Yeah." he said. At the mention of a letter, Pinkie's blurred tail suddenly froze in mid-twitch. "Wait!" she gasped and jumped up on all fours fast as a bolt of lightning. She glared at Spike, bug-eyed. "Say that again!" "Um," he muttered awkwardly, "Yeah?" Pinkie waved a frantic hoof in the air. "No, no, no! Not that!" she honed in on Applejack like a magnet to metal. "The letter thing! Repeat what you said about the letter!" "All I asked was if it were a letter from Princess Celestia?" the earth pony replied, shifting uncomfortably under Pinkie's stare. "YES!" she bellowed excitedly, launching backwards into the air again, accidentally colliding with Twilight. While the alicorn picked herself up grumpily from the floor, the pink pony alternated between staring at her tail and the letter in Spike's hand. "That was the doozie!" "Hey!" came the brisk voice of Rainbow Dash, observing everything whilst hovering a few inches from the ceiling, "Is somepony actually gonna read the letter?" "Oops!" said Spike, laughing awkwardly. Clearing his throat, he unclipped the band, held the letter out and read it out loud to the kitchen: " 'My dearest Princess Twilight, My apologies for imposing on you but I would not disrupt your time with your friends if the situation here in Canterlot weren't so peculiar. A matter of great interest has arisen in Canterlot. We have recieved a guest who was unlike anything Equestria had ever seen. I intended to ask Cadence or Luna for help in this matter, but they are occupied elsewhere on royal duties so it has come down to you.' " "What are they doing, do you think?" Rarity asked Twilight. "I don't have a clue." she shrugged. "I've been out of touch with Canterlot for a while." " 'Until very recently, it was assumed that the wilderness beyond the Silver Rim was just that - A wilderness. However, it was not what we thought. In light of this new discovery, I plan to send an expedition team to make contact with this nation, and I ask you now if you would lead this team. I realize what a tremendous favor it is I bestow upon you now, so I think it would be better to have the other five Elements accompany you, just in case. I hope to see you soon and I eagerly await your reply. Yours sincerely, Princess Celestia.' " Twilight put a hoof on her chin as she mulled over what to do. Glancing at her friends, she recieved a bouquet of encouraging smiles in return. Making up her mind, she grinned and cleared her throat. "Spike, take a letter." The little purple dragon scampered away to the cupboards against the kitchen wall , opened a utensil drawer and pulled out a quill. Rarity spotted this and unwittingly poked her elbow into somepony so she could point out how odd she thought this was, which happened to be Rainbow Dash. "Ow!" Rainbow cried and massaged her side, glaring at Rarity, who had her sapphire eyes locked on Spike. "Funny place to keep quills, the kitchen drawer." "What did you poke me for?!" demanded the Pegasus. Rarity broke eye contact with the little dragon and swung her head over to Rainbow. "I'm sorry, Rainbow-dear. Did you say something?" Rainbow continued to glare at her for a few seconds, then sighed. "Never mind." Spike returned to the table with a silky blue quill in one little hand and a scroll of parchment in the other. "Ready!" he said, beaming. "Dear Princess Celestia," Twilight said out loud and Spike began to write frantically, "I am very excited to hear about the new discovery concerning the Silver Rim, so I would be glad to offer you all the help I can. I will depart for Canterlot quite soon and I will be joined by the Elements. Hope to see you soon. Please keep me informed of any new developments. Your faithful student and friend, Princess Twilight Sparkle." Chapter 2: The Velvet BalloonThe silver spires of Canterlot towered majestically over the land. Twilight gazed proudly at the amazing feat of pony design, perched atop a vast mountain. From this distance, the city looked to all the world like a vast marble crown, glinting and glimmering in the Equestrian sun. "Oh look! There it is!" cried Rarity, practically hanging out of the large weather balloon that carried them swiftly across the vast open spaces of Equestria. "You act as though you ain't never been there, when we all know for a fact we were." said Applejack, pulling her back into the safety of the basket. "Yes, I know perfectly well I have been there." said Rarity, running a hoof through her indigo mane, "It's just so glamorous a place!" "I wonder what we will be helping Princess Celestia with?" whispered Fluttershy, "Perhaps a critter who needs some special love and kindness?" Rainbow Dash scoffed next to her. "I doubt that!" she jabbed a couple of hooves through the air in quick succession. "She probably needs us to take care of some big ferocious monster. To give it the old one-two!" She jabbed a hoof so close to Fluttershy's face, it grazed a few hairs on her muzzle. The yellow pegasus rubbed her nose with her hoof, close to tears. "Oops, sorry!" Rainbow chuckled, awkwardly. "OH!" gasped Pinkie, launching herself out of her seat and on a collision course with the balloon, but she was caught by Twilight and Applejack. "Maybe she wants us to plan a super funtabulistic-super-amazing PARTY!" she rambled, as she came crashing down into the basket, causing a lot of turbulence. "I don't think so, Pinkie." Twilight said, as she glanced at the steadily-growing form of Canterlot in the distance. "Princess Celestia trusts the six of us, that's why she's calling us in her time of need." "A friend in need is a friend indeed." agreed Rarity, nodding. "Or six friends, as the case may be." "Oh my goodness!" gasped Fluttershy unexpectedly, so quietly that only Rainbow Dash next to her heard it. "Uh, did you say something, Fluttershy?" "Look!" exclaimed the yellow pegasus, pointing a hoof at the horizon. Twilight, Applejack and Pinkie Pie craned their necks backwards to see what she was pointing at. Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy herself hung out the sides of the weather balloon. Rainbow narrowed her eyes. "That big dark thing has never been there before, has it?" she asked, peering at a large dark shape perched in Canterlot's plaza like a lollipop. They could all see it now. Applejack twisted in her seat and hung her front hooves over the basket rim. "I think that's a weather balloon, like ours!" "That's not black," said Twilight, also flipping over to get a better view. "It looks like damson!" "It looks like what?" Rainbow asked skeptically, peering at it. "Damson," Twilight repeated matter-of-factly, "It's a kind of purple!" "Well, whatever it is, it sure looks exciting!" cried Pinkie Pie, bouncing dangerously to the point of shaking the balloon again. A few minutes later, their balloon gently touched down on the cobblestone of the Plaza like an experienced bee upon a flower. Exiting the balloon, the six mares glanced around with interest, chatting merrily amongst themselves. Rarity breathed in deeply and slowly exhaled, a look of pure delight shining on her face. "Ah, lovely Canterlot." she sighed, and flung her hair back just as a breeze flew through the air. "I have missed you!" A few colts standing quite close by, bantering with each other, stared at her. She gave them a warm smile and they both blushed. Rather deterred, they broke eye contact with her and attempted to resume their bickering over the price of cyder. The six ponies made their way through the plaza, stopping only to examine the curious purple balloon. "Twilight, come look at this." Rarity said absent-minded, spotting something on the balloon. Twilight stood next to her and followed her gaze up to see what looked like a symbol stitched across its velvety surface. "What do you suppose it means?" Rarity asked her. Twilight studied it. It depicted a star encompassed by a swirl. She shook her head in defeat. "I don't have a clue. I've never seen that symbol before." " 'Scuse me," said Applejack to a guard nearby, " Y'all wouldn't happen to know where this here balloon came from, would you?" The guard shook his head, his perplexed expression matching her own. " I don't know," he said, "I was only told that it was a very important visit." He glanced up at the crimson weather balloon above him, "When I asked who, Princess Celestia said that it was a very special mare." "Special mare?" Fluttershy whispered, joining the conversation, "Twilight," she said, "Could it be Princess Cadence?" "That wouldn't make sense." Twilight replied, thoughtfully. "Why would Princess Celestia keep Princess Cadence's visit a secret?" "Maybe it's not Princess Cadence." Applejack said, glancing between the two of them, "Maybe it's Princess Luna?" Twilight shook her head once more. "Again, same problem." "Or maybe," came Rainbow Dash's sarcastic voice from above the little group, "It's NOT a princess at all?" She crossed her front legs in a defiant sort of way. "I mean seriously, I've never heard the word 'princess' used so much in a conversation before!" Applejack gave the balloon a quick once over with her emerald eyes. "It obviously ain't anypony from Equestria," she re-adjusted her hat, which was sliding off her head. "Well, whoever it may be," Rarity said, "I for one think it is most uncouth of them to arrive unannounced!" Twilight put a hoof on her chin in thought, letting her gaze drift. When it landed on the guard, she felt a question form in her mind. "What did this mare look like?" she asked him. The guard strained his face as he tried to remember. "Well," he said, "she was kinda tall - not as tall as Princess Celestia but definitely taller than yourself, Princess." "What about her face? Her mane color? Her coat?" "I couldn't really see what she looked like, because she was wearing a greenish cloak that covered most of her body..." "Anything else?" Twilight asked, gently encouraging him. "Well, I'm not really sure," he said, "but I think she had stripes..." "Oooh!" Pinkie Pie sang, bouncing up and down excitedly like an over-wound spring, "I'll bet she's a zebra like Zecora, whoever this mare is!" "A zebra? Really? That's what all this fuss is about?" Rainbow asked with a slight frown, hovering impatiently in the air like a feather drifting in the wind. "Thank you for your help." Twilight said to the baby blue guard. He beamed. "Oh! No problem, Princess!" Twilight bowed before him with as much grace and majesty as she could muster, then joined her friends as they started moving again. The Mane Six made their way up to the Royal Castle. The Royal guard stationed at the great brass gates, saluted the Elements as they approached. Wordlessly, and with a smile to Twilight, he opened the giant metal door with the help of another guard, revealing the large spacious interior of the Castle. "Say, Twilight," Rarity spoke up as they walked down the corridor a few minutes later, "Do you know that dashing colt back there?" "What?" Twilight said in a surprised tone of voice that fooled no pony, glancing over her shoulder at her white unicorn friend. "N-no! I mean, kind of...It's just..." Her cheeks caught fire as she stammered nervously over her words, so she decided to stick with "It's a long story." "Well, one of these days you simply must tell me the whole story, Darling," Rarity said, with no hint of subtlety. "Not likely." Twilight mumbled under her breath. As they reached the inner door, Twilight lifted a hoof and knocked confidently on the brass surface. "Enter," came a voice from within, strong yet kind. Twilight then gently pushed the door open. She and the other Elements then entered the bright room beyond. Chapter 4: Dreams and IllusionsThat night as Twilight Sparkle slept, she found her dreams were not the peaceful clouds of knowledge and hills of books she normally visited - instead, they felt unwelcoming, like a stormcloud on a summer's day. The alicorn was standing on a hill, overlooking what looked like Ponyville, but there was something odd about it. She could tell that something was wrong by the blueish hue washing over her ethereal environment like waves at the beach. This was different. This was painful. This was a nightmare. She tossed and turned in her large bed, her wings twitching as her muzzle contracted into sub-conscious a frown. Twilight opened her mouth and asked aloud, "What in Equestria is going on here?" The sound of her voice echoed only a short distance, which was surprising, considering the vast open field she was in. "A very good question, Twilight Sparkle," said the familiar voice of Princess Luna, Mistress of the Night. The blue-and-black Alicorn materialized next to Twilight in a flash of light. "As thou can plainly see, your dreams are not what they should be," she said, casting a disdainful water-blue eye over the chaos around her. "Worry not, thou art not alone," "What?" Twilight replied, aghast,"You mean other ponies are also having these nightmares?" Luna's eyes narrowed, but she continued. "Yes, Twilight Sparkle, It is as you say," Her horn lit up, the dim blue light barely puncturing the near-blackness around them, "Recently, we have noticed that many of our subjects have succumbed to unrelenting nightmares," As Luna spoke, their surroundings exploded into glimpses of many different ponies, many unknown to Twilight, but all of them had one thing in common - They were all tossing and turning uneasily in their beds, some fillies were even crying. "What's causing all this?" Luna remained silent. "We don't know," she said after a while, "but we can do nothing to help alleviate our suffering subjects from their ailments without finding the source behind this..." the Princess of the Night glanced at the agonized faces, "...chaos," This sparked an idea in Twilight's mind. "Princess," she said slowly, looking up at Luna, "that's it!" Luna merely raised a regal eyebrow. "What if we ask Discord for help?" Predictably, Princess Luna instantly recoiled at the idea in much the same way Rarity would whenever she witnessed something 'uncouth'. "That monster?!" she bellowed in the Royal Canterlot Voice, echoing loudly over the ethereal grass, "Thou canst be serious, Twilight Sparkle!" "Why not?" Twilight asked defiantly, surprising both herself and Luna. "Discord is evil! He is the spirit of chaos!" "Exactly," Luna was uncharacteristically speechless, her face frozen halfway between a gasp and a frown, her mouth giving the occasional twitch. Finally, her resolve was broken by Twilight's determined expression. "Very well, Twilight Sparkle, We shall request the help of the draconicus, but we implore upon you; Are you sure about this?" Twilight smirked. "Don't worry, Princess - Discord wouldn't dare do anything too chaotic. If he does, we'll just turn him to stone," Her face fell at the sight of Luna's frown. Without another word, Luna closed her eyes and frowned in concentration. Her horn lit up again and their environment returned itself to its chaotic ethereal state. Curious, Twilight watched the Mistress of the Night's eyes dart back and forth under her regal eyelids. "What are you doing, Princess?" she asked in alarm, as the cold grasslands around them sparked in and out of existence like lightning across the sky. "Looking for Discord," Luna said simply. Their surroundings zapped into a blur as she guided them through dream after dream; Twilight caught glimpses of sunsets, romantic picnics and daring adventures with involving fire-breathing dragons. "We are getting close," said the Princess of the Night, and Twilight could see what she meant. The deeper they traveled through the nexus of swirling dreams, the more chaotic they seemed to become: The same strange blue hue ensnaring the sub-conscious dreamscapes of the mares and colts. They were now practically swooping through the cake mix of entropy, the dreams whirling past in colorful blurs fast as the Wonderbolts. Then Twilight saw something ahead of them just an instant before she heard Luna say, "There is something very chaotic nearby - Prepare thyself for a rough landing, Twilight Sparkle!" Instinctively, Twilight looked around for something to hang on to, despite her knowing full well she was dreaming. She wasn't fast enough to react anyway - the two of them hit the barrier of a particularly disorderly dream with such force that Twilight fell out of her bed. Remarkably, or perhaps because her mind was ensnared by Luna's magic, she remained asleep. Luna and Twilight found their hooves and got up rather shakily. Examining their surroundings after they managed to get their wits about them, they were met with an astonishing sight. Hills covered in pink frosting, rivers of chocolate milk and clouds of cotton candy. Streamers fell from the pink sky like multicolor flakes of snow, and there were bite-sized holes in the ground all over the landscape, which upon closer inspection by Twilight, turned out to be cake. "What happened to this place?" Twilight gasped in a mixture of awe and horror, staring at the insanity around her. "Nothing," came Luna's surprised voice, "this is a dream that has not been affected," Twilight's eyes were as wide as the holes in the ravaged landscape. "This is not a nightmare?" she asked incredulously as a gust of sweet-smelling wind carried a wisp of confetti overhead. Luna shook her head, her blank expression reeking of curiosity. Then the sound of party music hit their ears with such intensity, it could well have emanated from the air itself. Further assaulting their ears were the sounds of thousands of hooves galloping on the soft cake surface, carrying with it an ever-noisy crowd of pink ponies, all of which were the same. The thunderous roar of a thousand voices in unison made the previous noises seem quiet by comparison: "COME ON, EVERYPONY! WHO'S READY TO PAAAAAAARTAAY!?" Twilight's jaw dropped lower than Tirek's level of cruelty as she unwittingly blurted out, "Pinkie Pie?!" In response, the vast sea of Pinkies all simultaneously snapped their heads to face her and blasted both princesses with a booming, "TWILIGHT SPARKLE!" Luna dug her hooves into the cake in a futile attempt to remain grounded, but she slid on the frosting as the force of the cheerful greeting blasted her backwards into a cotton candy cloud. Twilight was a few feet behind her, shoulder-deep in a large piece of hill cake, a giant lollipop growing out of the soft surface nearby. Luna rolled her eyes in annoyance. Her horn lit up and seconds later, She and Twilight were standing in front of the Pink sea. Twilight glanced at Luna, then at the Pinkie crowd with raised eyebrows, clearly confused. "What just happened?" she asked. "You're dreaming, silly!" came the voice of one of the Pinkies, as her sea of clones parted down the middle to make way for her. "How else can you explain being hit squarely in the chest by a sudden change of air pressure and not being hurt by it in any way?" "I suppose that's true..." she contemplated, before her eyes narrowed as a thought struck her. "Wait a second!" she squinted at the pink pony, "Pinkie, since when do you know anything about physics?" "Are you kidding me?" Pinkie Pie smirked, "This is my dream you're in! Here I know everything!" "Then why don't you ever apply that knowledge to the real world?" "Aaaaah," she replied, producing a pair of plastic glasses with a white mustache chained to it from her hair and stuck it to her face, "What is the difference between dreaming and reality?" she asked in a profoundly deep voice. "Ahem!" came Princess Luna's impatient voice, "Hast thou forgotten why thou art here with us, Twilight Sparkle?" "Oh, right," Twilight smirked awkwardly. Glancing at the bubblegum-maned mare, she asked, "So, how are your..um..dreams doing, Pinkie?" Pinkie frowned at this. "Fine," she said, blinking. "Why do you ask?" "Really?" Twilight glanced at the ocean of bouncing pink balls of energy behind Pinkie, "There hasn't been any...um..." she tapped her muzzle with a hoof, searching for the right word, "...chaotic blueish things happening here, have there?" "Nope," Meanwhile, Luna's horn was a-glow, flickering pathetically as a few sparks escaped from it. "We do not understand!" the Princess of the Night bellowed in frustration, "Our magic does not work here?! How can this be?" "We need to find Discord's dream!" Twilight said in a panicked whisper, "Are you saying we can't get out of this dream, Princess?" Despite her failed attempt, Luna immediately regained her regal composure. "it would seem so, Twilight Sparkle" she said in monotone. "I can take you there, Twilight!" Pinkie beamed, drawing both Alicorns' eyes to her like magnets. "You can?" they asked in unison. "Yep! I do it all the time!" the pink pony giggled, holding a hoof out to thin air. Where her hoof stopped, a zipper appeared with a poof. Pulling it down, she undid the boundaries between her dream and the nexus of countless other dreams, much to the surprise of Princess Luna and Twilight herself. "How hast thou done that, subject?" Luna asked, aghast. "I dunno," Pinkie shrugged, "I just...did it, I guess..." Twilight's curiousity got the better of her and she stuck her head out of the dream. "Pinkie," She yelled above all the noise of the other ponies' subconscious, "I can't see anything in all this chaos!" "It doesn't really matter!" Pinkie replied, "All you need to do is think where you want to be and then just," she hopped excitedly, "jump!" Twilight peered hesitantly over the rim, "Just ... jump?" "Yup!" She continued jumping on the spot, her mane swirling around her head, making her look like a pink cotton candy cone, "Don't worry, it won't hurt you! This is a dream, after all!" She paused, thinking. "Technically, it's a dream in a dream within another dream.." She squinted at Twilight. "Dream-ception!" she whispered dramatically. "Well, ok then..." Twilight said cautiously, and it sounded like she was trying to reassure herself. "Here goes nothing, I suppose..." What happened next occurred so fast that she could barely comprehend: Just as she took a step over the threshold, Twilight felt the edges of her vision blur and her head grow heavy. What she could see of Pinkie's dream was no longer cheerful and bright, but encased in a dark blue mist. It was cold and dark, no longer the epitome of all things happy. It felt wrong. Very wrong. She heard the joy draining rapidly from Pinkie's tone and heard her terrified voice ask, "Where's that voice coming from?! I don't like what it's saying! Make it stop!" Something shoved Twilight hard between her wings and she felt herself tip - very slowly - into the breach. Twilight looked around just in time to lock eyes with a very distressed-looking Luna - her expression a mix of determination and panic. "Thou must wake up now, Twilight Sparkle!" Her voice was the last thing Twilight heard before she was enveloped into the inky darkness, "Thou must wake up!"
Chapter 1: The DoozieNight in Equestria was a wonderful sight to behold. The stars shone brightly though the clear purple sky. The air was crisp and refreshing, like the bite of an apple. A lonesome figure stood in the countryside, peering at the mountain in the distance which held, on its peak, the city of Canterlot. The figure removed its hood, revealing the long white mane of an exotic-looking mare. She breathed in the night air and savored it, as though she had never experienced anything so wonderful. Peering once again at the sign she was reading, the mare smiled and set off in an excited trot down the road. Deep in the Crystal Castle of Ponyville, Princess Twilight Sparkle yawned and rubbed her eyes. Stretching, she closed the book in front of her with a snap and lifted it by magic to its rightful shelf. Glancing at the position of the moon outside, which bore an uncanny resemblance to Nightmare Moon, she found it was almost midnight. Sighing, she got up and grumpily traversed the stairs up to her chambers. She fell down on her bed in much the same way a tree does when cut down. Barely had she closed her burning eyes, came the resounding chimes of a hoof knocking frantically on the crystal from the front doors. Her eyes snapped open and she got up very, very reluctantly. Opening the crystal door a few moments later, Twilight stared into the eager face of Pinkie Pie. "Ugh, FINALLY!" She barged her way into the castle and Twilight shut the door behind her. "My tail's a-twitchin'! - and you know what that means!" "Pinkie," Twilight grumbled, grinding her teeth, "It's the middle of the night!" "I know!" she gasped excitedly, "Isn't it exciting?" Pinkie's eyes locked into Twilight's. "But seriously, my Pinkie Sense is going haywire!" Twilight rolled her eyes. "Alright," she plonked a hoof atop her head and pulled it over her snout like a window wiper, "What's going on?" "I don't know!" Pinkie glanced at her twitching tail, "Whatever it is," her eyes met Twilight's, "it's gonna be BIG!" Twilight's face looked like a pumpkin that was left out in the sun too long after Nightmare Night. With no warning, she suddenly opened the door with magic and practically forced Pinkie out. "Well," she said over Pinkie's loud protests, "When you figure it out, let me know OK?" She slammed the door and slumped against it, fast asleep. "Twilight?" came Pinkie's muffled voice from the other side as she hammered on the crystal, "I figured it out!" Silence. "Hello? Twilight? I figured it out!" The knocking resumed, with each frantic tap, Twilight's purple head slid a little on the door's surface. "Oh well," Pinkie sighed, "I'll tell you later then!" She hopped away into the night and all was quiet. Early the next morning, Twilight was awoken by a sharp pain on her forehead. "Twilight, wake up!" said a voice somewhere far away from her and she received another prod on the forehead. Her eyes creaked open like a rusty barn door and she glanced upwards groggily. Something purple swam into her field of vision, blurred and swaying. Twilight blunk a few times to focus on the face of Spike, her little dragon assistant. "Morning, Spike." she slurred, her cheek stuck to the crystal in a pool of drool. "Morning, Twilight. Say, what happened last night to fall asleep on the floor?" Twilight pulled her face free from the door and rubbed her cheek with a hoof. "Pinkie Pie." The sound of chatter outside made Spike peer out the window. His green eyes lit up. "Oh, what a coincidence! She's outside right now!" Twilight sighed, got up and shuffled down the corridor to the kitchen. "It's too early in the morning to deal with a pony like Pinkie." she mumbled and took a carrot from the fruit bowl on one of the counters. Sitting down at the large round blue crystal table in the middle of the kitchen, she started eating breakfast. A resounding chime blew through the castle as the front door was slammed open. Twilight silently counted the precious seconds of peace she had left; three, two, one... "TWILIGHT!" Pinkie's voice, which was magnified by the enclosed bowl-shape of the room, hit her like a hammer and she nearly jumped out of her pelt. Thinking of all the unpleasant things she could do to that pink pony to help her remember that sound travels extremely well over crystal, she was halted this train of thought by the sound of her good friend Applejack's country accent. "Simmer down there, Pinkie! I'm sure Twilight heard you!" Her curiosity peaked, she heard another, more sophisticated voice say, "Show some decorum, Pinkie dear. This is, after all, a princess' castle." Ah yes, thought Twilight, as she continued her breakfast of acorn- flavored hay and wheat grass juice, that would be Rarity. She heard more chatter and then a sharp crack as some fragile decoration piece smashed on the floor. Heaving a sigh, Twilight finished her breakfast and cleared her throat. "I'm in the kitchen, in case you were wondering, girls!" she called to the front porch. "And Pinkie, get Rarity to fix that vase you just knocked over!" "Sorry, Twilight! I got a bit carried away there!" Yep, that's always the case, isn't it? thought Twilight and sipped her juice. An orange earth pony poked her head into the kitchen at this point. "Mornin', sugarcube," said Applejack, and stepped out of the way to let Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy enter behind her. "Morning Applejack." Twilight nodded to each of the other four ponies individually. "Morning, girls." Rarity nodded, Rainbow Dash saluted her in a chipper sort of way and Fluttershy whispered something that was drowned out by Pinkie's excited noises. The mares took their seats at the round table. "So let me guess," said Twilight, finishing her juice," Pinkie won't tell you why you are all dragged here?" Every pony except Pinkie nodded. "She just showed up in the middle of the night, actin' all crazy-like." said Applejack and nodded at Pinkie next to her. "Come to think of it, that's kinda normal, seein' as it's Pinkie an' all." Rarity, the white unicorn, swung her head elegantly sideways to get her turquoise mane out of her eyes. "I agree." She glanced at Pinkie opposite her, as if somepony was showing her something she wasn't really interested in but was forced to watch out of politeness. "She was ever so distracting in my boutique, I can tell you!" "Oh," whispered the pale yellow pegasus Fluttershy, looking directly at Pinkie through her draping bugglegum mane, "You weren't bothering me at all, Pinkie." Silence drifted across the table. Fluttershy looked awkwardly at the nonplussed faces of her friends and added, more to herself than them, "well, maybe a teensy little bit..." Twilight turned her attention to the pink pony, practically bouncing up and down in her seat like a filly throwing a tantrum. "What is this all about, Pinkie?" "Does it have anything to do with your Pinkie Sense?" asked Spike, poking his head into the room, evidently eavesdropping. Pinkie Pie stared at nothing in particular, they could practically see a light flickering behind her glassy eyeballs. "OH!" she exclaimed suddenly, launching out of her chair and hitting the curved ceiling with such force that the chandelier next door chimed musically. She fell back onto her seat again, and swayed slightly. "I remembered why I came here!" she said, slightly cross-eyed. "Oh look! Birds!" she waved her hooves wildly about the air around her head and fell off her chair. At this point, a loud belch filled the kitchen, accompanied by a flash of smokey green light. They all turned to see Spike holding an official-looking scroll in his clawed little hand. Applejack leaned backwards from behind Rainbow Dash to get a look at him. "Is that a letter from Princess Celestia?" she asked. Spike glanced down at the little golden clasp binding the parchment ,emblazoned with a little 'C'. "Yeah." he said. At the mention of a letter, Pinkie's blurred tail suddenly froze in mid-twitch. "Wait!" she gasped and jumped up on all fours fast as a bolt of lightning. She glared at Spike, bug-eyed. "Say that again!" "Um," he muttered awkwardly, "Yeah?" Pinkie waved a frantic hoof in the air. "No, no, no! Not that!" she honed in on Applejack like a magnet to metal. "The letter thing! Repeat what you said about the letter!" "All I asked was if it were a letter from Princess Celestia?" the earth pony replied, shifting uncomfortably under Pinkie's stare. "YES!" she bellowed excitedly, launching backwards into the air again, accidentally colliding with Twilight. While the alicorn picked herself up grumpily from the floor, the pink pony alternated between staring at her tail and the letter in Spike's hand. "That was the doozie!" "Hey!" came the brisk voice of Rainbow Dash, observing everything whilst hovering a few inches from the ceiling, "Is somepony actually gonna read the letter?" "Oops!" said Spike, laughing awkwardly. Clearing his throat, he unclipped the band, held the letter out and read it out loud to the kitchen: " 'My dearest Princess Twilight, My apologies for imposing on you but I would not disrupt your time with your friends if the situation here in Canterlot weren't so peculiar. A matter of great interest has arisen in Canterlot. We have recieved a guest who was unlike anything Equestria had ever seen. I intended to ask Cadence or Luna for help in this matter, but they are occupied elsewhere on royal duties so it has come down to you.' " "What are they doing, do you think?" Rarity asked Twilight. "I don't have a clue." she shrugged. "I've been out of touch with Canterlot for a while." " 'Until very recently, it was assumed that the wilderness beyond the Silver Rim was just that - A wilderness. However, it was not what we thought. In light of this new discovery, I plan to send an expedition team to make contact with this nation, and I ask you now if you would lead this team. I realize what a tremendous favor it is I bestow upon you now, so I think it would be better to have the other five Elements accompany you, just in case. I hope to see you soon and I eagerly await your reply. Yours sincerely, Princess Celestia.' " Twilight put a hoof on her chin as she mulled over what to do. Glancing at her friends, she recieved a bouquet of encouraging smiles in return. Making up her mind, she grinned and cleared her throat. "Spike, take a letter." The little purple dragon scampered away to the cupboards against the kitchen wall , opened a utensil drawer and pulled out a quill. Rarity spotted this and unwittingly poked her elbow into somepony so she could point out how odd she thought this was, which happened to be Rainbow Dash. "Ow!" Rainbow cried and massaged her side, glaring at Rarity, who had her sapphire eyes locked on Spike. "Funny place to keep quills, the kitchen drawer." "What did you poke me for?!" demanded the Pegasus. Rarity broke eye contact with the little dragon and swung her head over to Rainbow. "I'm sorry, Rainbow-dear. Did you say something?" Rainbow continued to glare at her for a few seconds, then sighed. "Never mind." Spike returned to the table with a silky blue quill in one little hand and a scroll of parchment in the other. "Ready!" he said, beaming. "Dear Princess Celestia," Twilight said out loud and Spike began to write frantically, "I am very excited to hear about the new discovery concerning the Silver Rim, so I would be glad to offer you all the help I can. I will depart for Canterlot quite soon and I will be joined by the Elements. Hope to see you soon. Please keep me informed of any new developments. Your faithful student and friend, Princess Twilight Sparkle."
Chapter 2: The Velvet BalloonThe silver spires of Canterlot towered majestically over the land. Twilight gazed proudly at the amazing feat of pony design, perched atop a vast mountain. From this distance, the city looked to all the world like a vast marble crown, glinting and glimmering in the Equestrian sun. "Oh look! There it is!" cried Rarity, practically hanging out of the large weather balloon that carried them swiftly across the vast open spaces of Equestria. "You act as though you ain't never been there, when we all know for a fact we were." said Applejack, pulling her back into the safety of the basket. "Yes, I know perfectly well I have been there." said Rarity, running a hoof through her indigo mane, "It's just so glamorous a place!" "I wonder what we will be helping Princess Celestia with?" whispered Fluttershy, "Perhaps a critter who needs some special love and kindness?" Rainbow Dash scoffed next to her. "I doubt that!" she jabbed a couple of hooves through the air in quick succession. "She probably needs us to take care of some big ferocious monster. To give it the old one-two!" She jabbed a hoof so close to Fluttershy's face, it grazed a few hairs on her muzzle. The yellow pegasus rubbed her nose with her hoof, close to tears. "Oops, sorry!" Rainbow chuckled, awkwardly. "OH!" gasped Pinkie, launching herself out of her seat and on a collision course with the balloon, but she was caught by Twilight and Applejack. "Maybe she wants us to plan a super funtabulistic-super-amazing PARTY!" she rambled, as she came crashing down into the basket, causing a lot of turbulence. "I don't think so, Pinkie." Twilight said, as she glanced at the steadily-growing form of Canterlot in the distance. "Princess Celestia trusts the six of us, that's why she's calling us in her time of need." "A friend in need is a friend indeed." agreed Rarity, nodding. "Or six friends, as the case may be." "Oh my goodness!" gasped Fluttershy unexpectedly, so quietly that only Rainbow Dash next to her heard it. "Uh, did you say something, Fluttershy?" "Look!" exclaimed the yellow pegasus, pointing a hoof at the horizon. Twilight, Applejack and Pinkie Pie craned their necks backwards to see what she was pointing at. Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy herself hung out the sides of the weather balloon. Rainbow narrowed her eyes. "That big dark thing has never been there before, has it?" she asked, peering at a large dark shape perched in Canterlot's plaza like a lollipop. They could all see it now. Applejack twisted in her seat and hung her front hooves over the basket rim. "I think that's a weather balloon, like ours!" "That's not black," said Twilight, also flipping over to get a better view. "It looks like damson!" "It looks like what?" Rainbow asked skeptically, peering at it. "Damson," Twilight repeated matter-of-factly, "It's a kind of purple!" "Well, whatever it is, it sure looks exciting!" cried Pinkie Pie, bouncing dangerously to the point of shaking the balloon again. A few minutes later, their balloon gently touched down on the cobblestone of the Plaza like an experienced bee upon a flower. Exiting the balloon, the six mares glanced around with interest, chatting merrily amongst themselves. Rarity breathed in deeply and slowly exhaled, a look of pure delight shining on her face. "Ah, lovely Canterlot." she sighed, and flung her hair back just as a breeze flew through the air. "I have missed you!" A few colts standing quite close by, bantering with each other, stared at her. She gave them a warm smile and they both blushed. Rather deterred, they broke eye contact with her and attempted to resume their bickering over the price of cyder. The six ponies made their way through the plaza, stopping only to examine the curious purple balloon. "Twilight, come look at this." Rarity said absent-minded, spotting something on the balloon. Twilight stood next to her and followed her gaze up to see what looked like a symbol stitched across its velvety surface. "What do you suppose it means?" Rarity asked her. Twilight studied it. It depicted a star encompassed by a swirl. She shook her head in defeat. "I don't have a clue. I've never seen that symbol before." " 'Scuse me," said Applejack to a guard nearby, " Y'all wouldn't happen to know where this here balloon came from, would you?" The guard shook his head, his perplexed expression matching her own. " I don't know," he said, "I was only told that it was a very important visit." He glanced up at the crimson weather balloon above him, "When I asked who, Princess Celestia said that it was a very special mare." "Special mare?" Fluttershy whispered, joining the conversation, "Twilight," she said, "Could it be Princess Cadence?" "That wouldn't make sense." Twilight replied, thoughtfully. "Why would Princess Celestia keep Princess Cadence's visit a secret?" "Maybe it's not Princess Cadence." Applejack said, glancing between the two of them, "Maybe it's Princess Luna?" Twilight shook her head once more. "Again, same problem." "Or maybe," came Rainbow Dash's sarcastic voice from above the little group, "It's NOT a princess at all?" She crossed her front legs in a defiant sort of way. "I mean seriously, I've never heard the word 'princess' used so much in a conversation before!" Applejack gave the balloon a quick once over with her emerald eyes. "It obviously ain't anypony from Equestria," she re-adjusted her hat, which was sliding off her head. "Well, whoever it may be," Rarity said, "I for one think it is most uncouth of them to arrive unannounced!" Twilight put a hoof on her chin in thought, letting her gaze drift. When it landed on the guard, she felt a question form in her mind. "What did this mare look like?" she asked him. The guard strained his face as he tried to remember. "Well," he said, "she was kinda tall - not as tall as Princess Celestia but definitely taller than yourself, Princess." "What about her face? Her mane color? Her coat?" "I couldn't really see what she looked like, because she was wearing a greenish cloak that covered most of her body..." "Anything else?" Twilight asked, gently encouraging him. "Well, I'm not really sure," he said, "but I think she had stripes..." "Oooh!" Pinkie Pie sang, bouncing up and down excitedly like an over-wound spring, "I'll bet she's a zebra like Zecora, whoever this mare is!" "A zebra? Really? That's what all this fuss is about?" Rainbow asked with a slight frown, hovering impatiently in the air like a feather drifting in the wind. "Thank you for your help." Twilight said to the baby blue guard. He beamed. "Oh! No problem, Princess!" Twilight bowed before him with as much grace and majesty as she could muster, then joined her friends as they started moving again. The Mane Six made their way up to the Royal Castle. The Royal guard stationed at the great brass gates, saluted the Elements as they approached. Wordlessly, and with a smile to Twilight, he opened the giant metal door with the help of another guard, revealing the large spacious interior of the Castle. "Say, Twilight," Rarity spoke up as they walked down the corridor a few minutes later, "Do you know that dashing colt back there?" "What?" Twilight said in a surprised tone of voice that fooled no pony, glancing over her shoulder at her white unicorn friend. "N-no! I mean, kind of...It's just..." Her cheeks caught fire as she stammered nervously over her words, so she decided to stick with "It's a long story." "Well, one of these days you simply must tell me the whole story, Darling," Rarity said, with no hint of subtlety. "Not likely." Twilight mumbled under her breath. As they reached the inner door, Twilight lifted a hoof and knocked confidently on the brass surface. "Enter," came a voice from within, strong yet kind. Twilight then gently pushed the door open. She and the other Elements then entered the bright room beyond.
Chapter 4: Dreams and IllusionsThat night as Twilight Sparkle slept, she found her dreams were not the peaceful clouds of knowledge and hills of books she normally visited - instead, they felt unwelcoming, like a stormcloud on a summer's day. The alicorn was standing on a hill, overlooking what looked like Ponyville, but there was something odd about it. She could tell that something was wrong by the blueish hue washing over her ethereal environment like waves at the beach. This was different. This was painful. This was a nightmare. She tossed and turned in her large bed, her wings twitching as her muzzle contracted into sub-conscious a frown. Twilight opened her mouth and asked aloud, "What in Equestria is going on here?" The sound of her voice echoed only a short distance, which was surprising, considering the vast open field she was in. "A very good question, Twilight Sparkle," said the familiar voice of Princess Luna, Mistress of the Night. The blue-and-black Alicorn materialized next to Twilight in a flash of light. "As thou can plainly see, your dreams are not what they should be," she said, casting a disdainful water-blue eye over the chaos around her. "Worry not, thou art not alone," "What?" Twilight replied, aghast,"You mean other ponies are also having these nightmares?" Luna's eyes narrowed, but she continued. "Yes, Twilight Sparkle, It is as you say," Her horn lit up, the dim blue light barely puncturing the near-blackness around them, "Recently, we have noticed that many of our subjects have succumbed to unrelenting nightmares," As Luna spoke, their surroundings exploded into glimpses of many different ponies, many unknown to Twilight, but all of them had one thing in common - They were all tossing and turning uneasily in their beds, some fillies were even crying. "What's causing all this?" Luna remained silent. "We don't know," she said after a while, "but we can do nothing to help alleviate our suffering subjects from their ailments without finding the source behind this..." the Princess of the Night glanced at the agonized faces, "...chaos," This sparked an idea in Twilight's mind. "Princess," she said slowly, looking up at Luna, "that's it!" Luna merely raised a regal eyebrow. "What if we ask Discord for help?" Predictably, Princess Luna instantly recoiled at the idea in much the same way Rarity would whenever she witnessed something 'uncouth'. "That monster?!" she bellowed in the Royal Canterlot Voice, echoing loudly over the ethereal grass, "Thou canst be serious, Twilight Sparkle!" "Why not?" Twilight asked defiantly, surprising both herself and Luna. "Discord is evil! He is the spirit of chaos!" "Exactly," Luna was uncharacteristically speechless, her face frozen halfway between a gasp and a frown, her mouth giving the occasional twitch. Finally, her resolve was broken by Twilight's determined expression. "Very well, Twilight Sparkle, We shall request the help of the draconicus, but we implore upon you; Are you sure about this?" Twilight smirked. "Don't worry, Princess - Discord wouldn't dare do anything too chaotic. If he does, we'll just turn him to stone," Her face fell at the sight of Luna's frown. Without another word, Luna closed her eyes and frowned in concentration. Her horn lit up again and their environment returned itself to its chaotic ethereal state. Curious, Twilight watched the Mistress of the Night's eyes dart back and forth under her regal eyelids. "What are you doing, Princess?" she asked in alarm, as the cold grasslands around them sparked in and out of existence like lightning across the sky. "Looking for Discord," Luna said simply. Their surroundings zapped into a blur as she guided them through dream after dream; Twilight caught glimpses of sunsets, romantic picnics and daring adventures with involving fire-breathing dragons. "We are getting close," said the Princess of the Night, and Twilight could see what she meant. The deeper they traveled through the nexus of swirling dreams, the more chaotic they seemed to become: The same strange blue hue ensnaring the sub-conscious dreamscapes of the mares and colts. They were now practically swooping through the cake mix of entropy, the dreams whirling past in colorful blurs fast as the Wonderbolts. Then Twilight saw something ahead of them just an instant before she heard Luna say, "There is something very chaotic nearby - Prepare thyself for a rough landing, Twilight Sparkle!" Instinctively, Twilight looked around for something to hang on to, despite her knowing full well she was dreaming. She wasn't fast enough to react anyway - the two of them hit the barrier of a particularly disorderly dream with such force that Twilight fell out of her bed. Remarkably, or perhaps because her mind was ensnared by Luna's magic, she remained asleep. Luna and Twilight found their hooves and got up rather shakily. Examining their surroundings after they managed to get their wits about them, they were met with an astonishing sight. Hills covered in pink frosting, rivers of chocolate milk and clouds of cotton candy. Streamers fell from the pink sky like multicolor flakes of snow, and there were bite-sized holes in the ground all over the landscape, which upon closer inspection by Twilight, turned out to be cake. "What happened to this place?" Twilight gasped in a mixture of awe and horror, staring at the insanity around her. "Nothing," came Luna's surprised voice, "this is a dream that has not been affected," Twilight's eyes were as wide as the holes in the ravaged landscape. "This is not a nightmare?" she asked incredulously as a gust of sweet-smelling wind carried a wisp of confetti overhead. Luna shook her head, her blank expression reeking of curiosity. Then the sound of party music hit their ears with such intensity, it could well have emanated from the air itself. Further assaulting their ears were the sounds of thousands of hooves galloping on the soft cake surface, carrying with it an ever-noisy crowd of pink ponies, all of which were the same. The thunderous roar of a thousand voices in unison made the previous noises seem quiet by comparison: "COME ON, EVERYPONY! WHO'S READY TO PAAAAAAARTAAY!?" Twilight's jaw dropped lower than Tirek's level of cruelty as she unwittingly blurted out, "Pinkie Pie?!" In response, the vast sea of Pinkies all simultaneously snapped their heads to face her and blasted both princesses with a booming, "TWILIGHT SPARKLE!" Luna dug her hooves into the cake in a futile attempt to remain grounded, but she slid on the frosting as the force of the cheerful greeting blasted her backwards into a cotton candy cloud. Twilight was a few feet behind her, shoulder-deep in a large piece of hill cake, a giant lollipop growing out of the soft surface nearby. Luna rolled her eyes in annoyance. Her horn lit up and seconds later, She and Twilight were standing in front of the Pink sea. Twilight glanced at Luna, then at the Pinkie crowd with raised eyebrows, clearly confused. "What just happened?" she asked. "You're dreaming, silly!" came the voice of one of the Pinkies, as her sea of clones parted down the middle to make way for her. "How else can you explain being hit squarely in the chest by a sudden change of air pressure and not being hurt by it in any way?" "I suppose that's true..." she contemplated, before her eyes narrowed as a thought struck her. "Wait a second!" she squinted at the pink pony, "Pinkie, since when do you know anything about physics?" "Are you kidding me?" Pinkie Pie smirked, "This is my dream you're in! Here I know everything!" "Then why don't you ever apply that knowledge to the real world?" "Aaaaah," she replied, producing a pair of plastic glasses with a white mustache chained to it from her hair and stuck it to her face, "What is the difference between dreaming and reality?" she asked in a profoundly deep voice. "Ahem!" came Princess Luna's impatient voice, "Hast thou forgotten why thou art here with us, Twilight Sparkle?" "Oh, right," Twilight smirked awkwardly. Glancing at the bubblegum-maned mare, she asked, "So, how are your..um..dreams doing, Pinkie?" Pinkie frowned at this. "Fine," she said, blinking. "Why do you ask?" "Really?" Twilight glanced at the ocean of bouncing pink balls of energy behind Pinkie, "There hasn't been any...um..." she tapped her muzzle with a hoof, searching for the right word, "...chaotic blueish things happening here, have there?" "Nope," Meanwhile, Luna's horn was a-glow, flickering pathetically as a few sparks escaped from it. "We do not understand!" the Princess of the Night bellowed in frustration, "Our magic does not work here?! How can this be?" "We need to find Discord's dream!" Twilight said in a panicked whisper, "Are you saying we can't get out of this dream, Princess?" Despite her failed attempt, Luna immediately regained her regal composure. "it would seem so, Twilight Sparkle" she said in monotone. "I can take you there, Twilight!" Pinkie beamed, drawing both Alicorns' eyes to her like magnets. "You can?" they asked in unison. "Yep! I do it all the time!" the pink pony giggled, holding a hoof out to thin air. Where her hoof stopped, a zipper appeared with a poof. Pulling it down, she undid the boundaries between her dream and the nexus of countless other dreams, much to the surprise of Princess Luna and Twilight herself. "How hast thou done that, subject?" Luna asked, aghast. "I dunno," Pinkie shrugged, "I just...did it, I guess..." Twilight's curiousity got the better of her and she stuck her head out of the dream. "Pinkie," She yelled above all the noise of the other ponies' subconscious, "I can't see anything in all this chaos!" "It doesn't really matter!" Pinkie replied, "All you need to do is think where you want to be and then just," she hopped excitedly, "jump!" Twilight peered hesitantly over the rim, "Just ... jump?" "Yup!" She continued jumping on the spot, her mane swirling around her head, making her look like a pink cotton candy cone, "Don't worry, it won't hurt you! This is a dream, after all!" She paused, thinking. "Technically, it's a dream in a dream within another dream.." She squinted at Twilight. "Dream-ception!" she whispered dramatically. "Well, ok then..." Twilight said cautiously, and it sounded like she was trying to reassure herself. "Here goes nothing, I suppose..." What happened next occurred so fast that she could barely comprehend: Just as she took a step over the threshold, Twilight felt the edges of her vision blur and her head grow heavy. What she could see of Pinkie's dream was no longer cheerful and bright, but encased in a dark blue mist. It was cold and dark, no longer the epitome of all things happy. It felt wrong. Very wrong. She heard the joy draining rapidly from Pinkie's tone and heard her terrified voice ask, "Where's that voice coming from?! I don't like what it's saying! Make it stop!" Something shoved Twilight hard between her wings and she felt herself tip - very slowly - into the breach. Twilight looked around just in time to lock eyes with a very distressed-looking Luna - her expression a mix of determination and panic. "Thou must wake up now, Twilight Sparkle!" Her voice was the last thing Twilight heard before she was enveloped into the inky darkness, "Thou must wake up!"
