Shadowby Dragonfire2lmChaptersChapter 1Chapter 2chapter 3Chapter 4Chapter 1Dust motes danced in the early morning light that streamed through the windows of one of Canterlot Castle’s oldest tower. The old wooden floor reflected the soft sunlight and added to the inviting warm glow the room possessed. Extravagant tapestries and banners made in honor of the diarchy bung on the worn marble walls and bookshelves piled high with old tomes and scrolls were neatly arranged around a seating area with tables and cushions. The room’s entrance, two old wooden doors, glowed in a golden aura and creaked open as two ponies walked inside. Princess Twilight Sparkle entered first, her saddlebags jingled with the weight of inkwells and rustled with the sound of parchment as the newly ascended alicorn almost bounced in place with excitement. Behind her, Princess Celestia smiled warmly at her former pupil's infectious joy. There was a certain comforting silence in the air as Twilight stood in awe at the opportunity that stood before her. "These are the books I was able to transfer to Canterlot after I banished Nightmare Moon," Princess Celestia explained as she moved to stand beside Twilight."Though many of the books left behind at the old castle are being recovered and restored, I thought this small collection of mine would aide you in your studies for the moment". "This is amazing!" the purple alicorn exclaimed gleefully. "You have no idea how much trouble I've had doing my research into pre-Nightmare Moon history, with all the water damage and insects ruining many of the books I found at your old castle, I was afraid I'd have to ask you or Princess Luna for answers." Twilight looked bashful when Celestia gave her a questioning look. "I didn't want to trouble you," she stated. "You're both busy and I wanted to make sure I could cite several sources before I showed you any findings". "Luna and I would be more than happy to answer your questions twilight, but I can understand the value of learning under your own merits," the sun princess replied. "I'll leave you to it, just remember, if you come across any spells you don't understand or are unsure of its effect, make sure to ask either Luna or myself if it's safe to use." "Don't worry princess; I'll make sure to seek your advice if something comes up." *** Twilight removed her saddlebags and began to skin across the tittles of the books on the nearest shelf. Occasionally she would pick one up in her magic and floated it over to the slowly growing stack on a table. When she felt that she had a significant amount of texts, she opened up her saddlebag and withdrew an inkwell, a quill and several scrolls of blank parchment and placed them on the table. Finally, she pulled out a scroll bound in a plain grey ribbon and set it aside from the others. With a smile, she cantered over to the table, sat down on a cushion and after organizing her work space, she set to work. She opened up the bound scroll and skimmed through its contents. Let's see... she thought. So far I've found several re-tellings and re-imaginings of the legend of nightmare moon and a few scattered reports bout Luna herself. Hopefully these books can fill in the blanks on how Celestia and Luna were treated a thousand years ago. Ancient history was subject Twilight had always been fond of, while fables and ancient myths were aplenty in both ancient and modern literature, few historic records of Equestria and its long lived rulers seemed to surface. The tales of Starswirl the Bearded, as numerous as they were, often were a product of their time. Of monster slaying heroes and uplifting tales of bravery in a time when the common pony had more to worry about than an occasional beast escaping the everfree. Her desire to know only increased when she discovered the magic of friendship. Her eyes were opened to the possibilities of old legends and ponytales being more than a way to frighten little ponies or to teach a moral to young fillies and colts. With each new threat Twilight and her friends took down, the more questions were raised about the stained glass windows that often accompanied their success. Scenes of times long past were only connected to a disjointed concept or half-remembered legend and she often wondered if the heroic efforts of her friends had put their all into performing would someday be reduced to a tall tale with only the princesses left to truly understand what had transpired. With those concerns at the forefront of her mind, she decided to enlist the help of her friends to see if history could provide any closure or peace of mind. *** "Uh, Twilight?" Applejack asked as the mane six walked through the Everfree Forest. "Why are we heading to the Princesses old castle? I’m sure princess Celestia or Princess Luna could help you find what you're looking for". "I know Applejack, but I've been thinking-" Twilight replied. "Yeah, and?" Rainbow Dash interjected as she hovered above them. "You do egghead stuff all the time, and the princesses would know more than some dusty old library." "That's the thing, I'm not just looking for things the princesses can answer for me," the purple pony princess stated. "This is a personal research project that's going to need source material from ponies other than Celestia or Luna. Facts, figures and even viewpoints from ponies that lived a thousand years ago could prove useful". "Even so Twilight, couldn’t you ask them to send you the books you needed?" Rarity asked. "It would certainly be easier than walking all this way to their old castle" "I agree with Rarity," Fluttershy added. "What if we run into a manticore, or a hydra, or a...dragon?" "There's no need to be scared, we've been through this place lots of times!" Pinkie Pie chirped cheerfully. "Walking through the scary forest that's not-so-scary- anymore to help Twilight with her super secret project is just another nature hike, except you know, with monsters." "If you say so..." the yellow pegasus replied. "I really appreciate your help everypony," Twilight said. "With all of us working together, we might be able to find more information on what Equestria was like a thousand years ago". "You're dragging us all the way out here for a history lesson..." Rainbow grumbled. "Boring..." "I've noticed some gaps in my history books back in the library and I was hoping to fill in the blanks but I didn't want to bother the princesses," Twilight explained. "Plus it's only good study habits to have more than one piece of reference material for an article. I was going to write a report on my findings" *** The result of that day was the smell of damp books that clung to her fur and barely anything new to add to her report. While her study session with her friends had indeed been fun, Twilight was disappointed with the state of disrepair that the old castles library had fallen into. She quickly wrote a letter to the princess explaining what she had tried to accomplish, which led to Celestia starting the process to save the information contained within those thousand year old books. Hours later, Twilight sighed in tired relief and placed her quill in the inkpot. The wax candle she had beside her still burned brightly in the dimming light that signaled the approach of night. She closed the book she had been reading and sorted through her notes. The pile of scrolls were neatly rolled up and swept into her saddlebags. Just as she began to wrap the ribbon around her growing checklist of important points, she heard hoof steps approach that signaled the approach of a pony. Author's Note Limited time to write means this is all I can do for now, I'll be working on the draft for the next chapter when I can. Let me know if you spot any typos i might have missed and let me know what you think of this in the comments. Fun fact- everything, except for the paragraphs after the flashback, was written between 3am and 4am in the morning (cold medicine kept me awake..all night...) and the idea for this started off as a clopfic, but then i fleshed out the story and thought it would be better as a stand alone, non romance thing. Enjoy my sleep deprived nonsense! Edit- I tried to um...improve my shitty grammar....key word is 'tried' Chapter 2"Oh, hello Princess Luna," Twilight said to the moon princess as she entered the room. "How have you been?" "Fine, as always. I had heard of your recent interest in Equestria history, how goes the search?" Princess Luna inquired. "I'm actually really surprised at what I've been able find in these old books," Twilight replied and floated a scroll scribbled with neatly organised bullet points and references. "The accounts I was able to find on what happened after Discord was first defeated are incredible!" "Oh? I had presumed that my sister had released such knowledge to the public after my banishment," Luna said in mild surprise. "I was the one who forbade such information from becoming public knowledge." "Really? I mean I can see why, I just never expected the two of you to be at odds like that now." "Look at these writings Twilight," the moon princess instructed. 'What does it tell you of how Celestia and I helped those who had suffered under Discord's rule?' "It's very stylized for a start, it's written in poetry and at first I passed it off as exaggeration," Twilight replied and read the piece aloud. "Under the warmth of day we played and worked to forget our woes, the memories of chaos' past buried in deep holes. As we toiled and lived under the golden sun, the princess of day watched over us like a mother with her foals." "Yet in the dark of night when our fears could not be quelled, the shadows of our minds didst rise. In our solitude of sleep the mare of the night did come forth and bring peace to many a troubled mind," Luna finished calmly. "That was written long ago, and was the first of many works to praise the work of Celestia over my own." "I didn't quite understand princess," Twilight said. "It calls Celestia a princess and you a 'mare of the night', it was only one mistake, possibly written for the sake of not sounding repetitious..." "That was not the issue, look more closely. what does the poem say of our approach to helping our subjects?" Luna asked. "I thought about that, so I looked for other accounts and a lot of them say the same thing," Twilight replied. "Ponies worked and lived to forget their fears during the day and faced them at night, but a lot of the later entries don't even mention you at all..." "What pony remembers their dreams?" Princess Luna asked theoretically. "Very few can control their own dreams, let alone believe what happened was real to some extent." Silence passed between the two, the conversation at a standstill from the implications of Luna's statement. In an effort to bring a happier tone to the topic, Twilight pulled out a book and skimmed through it until she found the relevant page. "I found a few pieces on your battle against Tirek," Twilight began. "Some of the artwork that was made in commemoration was beautiful." The book showed an image of the two sisters, a white alicorn with a pink mane and tail and a dark blue alicorn with a light blue mane and tail in the sky with their wings outstretched as they bound the centaur to the depths of Tartarus. Each Princess was decorated in armor with a helmet on their head, heavy metal plating on their chest and shoes that covered their hooves. The armor Celestia wore was gold with amethysts embedded into the metal, while Luna's silver decorated with white diamonds. "You've done a lot of things over the years haven't you?" Twilight asked. "But it doesn't seem like ponies thanked you for them." "History is written by the victor" Luna replied solemnly. "And in the fight to determine what we told our little ponies was ultimately one by those devoted to my sister. As time went on the small, though irreplaceable, roles I had to play were overshadowed by Celestia's more public image." "Was that why you turned into Nightmare Moon?" the younger alicorn asked quietly. "Because ponies ignored all the hard work you did?" Luna looked out a window, hesitant to answer. "Doth thou trust me, Twilight?" "Trust you? Of course I do, why wouldn't I?" Twilight replied and looked over her friend in concern. "Is something wrong?" "If thou would allow me a day to compose mine thoughts, I would ask thee to meet me in mine tower tomorrow night as I raise the moon. I will tell thee the truth then..." "Alright, should I inform Princess Celestia-" "No!" Luna answered hurriedly. "No....Forgive me, Twilight Sparkle but there are some things I would prefer to keep to myself for the moment. I will see you tomorrow night." *** Later that night, Twilight entered the her room in Canterlot. She was met with soft, plush red carpet and finely made wooden desks and draws for her things. To one side of the giant four poster bed was a large wardrobe and to the other side was a smaller bed fit for certain purple dragon. The room was dimly lit by the moonlight the filtered through the windows and as Twilight placed her saddlebags onto a nearby end table, a giggle caught her attention. She smiled and turned on the lights to be met with a full blown, Pinkie Pie style party in her bedroom. "Surprise!" her five friends, and one baby dragon, shouted. "It's nice to see you all, but you guys didn't have to come all this way for my sake," Twilight said. "I told you I'd back in a few days, a week at most." "Oh Twilight, darling," Rarity began with a wave of her hoof. "Think nothing of it, we know how hard you've been working on that project of yours and after the fiasco at the old castle we thought you could use some cheering up." "Besides, Pinkie here was getting a mite bit worried that we'd never see you again," Applejack said with a smile. "She was so worked up that we all figured you wouldn't mind an unexpected visit." On cue, the pink party pony rushed forward to envelop her friend in a hug. "I was so worried that you'd get caught up in your books that you would be lost in a sea of knowledge and that we'd never, ever, see you again!" "Cant...Breathe..." Twilight gasped out and the element of laughter loosened her grip. "Oopsie, sorry Twilight" "That's alright Pinkie, to tell you the truth, I think I needed a break anyway." "Aw yeah, let's get this party started!" Rainbow cheered. "I've been looking forward to this all day!" "We've all been very busy lately," Fluttershy said. "Some of the animals have been a bit jumpy ever since Discord came around for lunch last Tuesday." "I've been doing more work than ever on the farm," Applejack added. "Course I've been trying to give Applebloom some extra time to play with her friends, she's a hard working filly, but everypony deserves some time off every now and then." "The Wonderbolts called me in for training for the reserves last week," Rainbow said. "I've been run off my hooves doing their workouts and my usual weather duties! It's totally worth it though." "After my last order from Sapphire Shores was a huge success, I've been working around the clock filling in orders," Rarity explained. "If it wasn't for Sweetie doing what she did at the last second I don't know what would have happened!" "I haven't been busy!" Pinkie exclaimed. "i just noticed that everypony else has been busy and i thought 'gee Twilight must be super busy too', so I'll take everypony to Twilight's and have a 'you've all done a great job, so have some fun' party!" "I bet you found all kinds of neat stuff, right Twilight?" Spike asked. "Why don't we enjoy the party for a bit Spike," Twilight replied. "I think I've done enough reading for today." Author's Note Just a quick note on the time frame, Twilight's been in Canterlot for a few days and the trip to the castle of the two sisters was nearly a week prior. originally the poem and one word spoken by Rainbow were going to be in italics, the italics button doesn't seem to work properly on google chrome and internet explorer is being a douche to me at the moment. chapter 3The party, though confined to one room, lasted long into the early hours of the morning. At around midday, seven tired, yet happy friends made their way to the dining hall for a late breakfast. the atmosphere was warm and inviting with sunlight pouring in through the tall glass windows and the long table draped in a white tablecloth dotted with candles and vases filled with flowers. As Applejack went to ask the chefs to fix up some food, the others took their seats either next to or across from Twilight, who had brought a few of her scrolls with her. "So what did you find out?" Spike asked excitedly. "Anything good?" "Yeah you've been here for three whole day!" Rainbow added. "You must have found something by now." "Take a look at these," Twilight offered and passed around a scroll. "I found some interesting depictions of the princesses." "Are sure you should be showing us these?" Rarity asked. "Wouldn't Princess Celestia nd Princess Luna find it rather...Rude that you're spreading these around so soon?" "I think they look cool with the sparkly armor!" Pinkie stated. "I wish we had that when we fought Tirek." "They look scary..." Fluttershy mumbled. "Isn't that a good kind of scary though?" Rainbow asked. "They're protecting ponies right?" "What about this passage here Twilight? The one about dreams, where did you find that?" Rarity asked and pointed to one the pieces of writing Twilight had copied down under the various drawings. "That was something I looked through for a while, I wrote it down to remind myself not to get off track," Twilight explained. "it's a theory that links various points of equestrian history to the presence of Princess Luna. There's the usual stuff like defending the land against Discord and King Sombra, but it goes more into what else she's done over the years beyond working alongside her sister. I was going to ask her about it yesterday when she stopped by to visit, but..." "Something on your mind?" Applejack asked as she came back in. "Why don't you tell us all about it after breakfast, some good food ought to help calm your nerves." "Good idea." *** "So Twilight, what's the big deal anyway?" Rainbow asked as the group sat around the table. "I tried to talk to princess Luna about some of things I've discovered in my research, but she only gave vague answers and when I brought up the subject of Nightmare Moon, she got nervous, like she was hiding something," Twilight explained. "I know it was a horrible time for her, but I didn't think it was still a sensitive subject for her, she even started using the royal we." "Ya mean that funny way she was talking on Nightmare Night?" Applejack. "I thought she stopped using that?" "I know, but from what I've found on it, her use of it makes sense," Twilight replied. "The use of 'thou' instead of 'you' is used as an informal way of addressing somepony, It was only used when in the company of ponies the royal family could trust, ponies who didn't need to see them as a prince or princess, but as friends or trusted allies." "So when she was using it on nightmare night.." Rainbow began. "She was being friendly?" "I think so," Twilight replied. "But i don't understand, she wants me to meet her tonight to watch her raise the moon, but when I brought up Princess Celestia she seemed, afraid, like she really is hiding something." "Maybe it's a sisterly problem?" Applejack suggested. "i know I've had to convince Applebloom to tell me when she's done something wrong, could be something as simple as that." "Well, sometimes there re some things we're not comfortable telling somepoines, but telling a good friend is easy," Fluttershy added. "It must be hard for Princess Luna to tell her sister about things from a thousand years ago, maybe she just wants somepony to talk to." "Maybe...I still can't get over the fact that so many history books just skimmed over all the things Luna has done for Equestria," Twilight grumbled. "She invented the calendar and there's an entire history of psychology inspired by her work of patrolling dreams a thousand years ago." "Really?" her friends replied. "Three hundred years ago a pony called Colt Jung collected stories and accounts of princess Luna's dream walking abilities and combined with a whole bunch of other things to create an entire field of pony psychology," the purple princess explained and sighed. "Maybe Luna just needs somepony to talk to after all, I know I feel much better after talking to all of you." "Yeah and afterwards, we can throw Princess Luna a party, that'll cheer her up for sure!" Pinkie added. *** As the sun began to set, Twilight stood outside the door to Luna's chambers. The navy blue door emblazoned with the crescent moon opened and Luna quietly welcomed Twilight inside. Light streamed in from the balcony opposite the large four poster bed and highlighted the rich blue carpet and the elegantly carved wooden furniture that sparsely decorated the room. Star charts were neatly organised on the wall above a desk covered with unfinished charts and pieces of paper, the cushion that served as a seat had a few stray feathers around it, as did the large couch by the fireplace at the back of the room. "Welcome to my humble abode, Twilight Sparkle, please take a seat," Luna stated and motioned to the couch. "We have much to discuss." Author's Note Sorry for the short chapter guys, I wanted to pace myself. I think I fixed all the typos. Chapter 4"Is everything alright Luna?" Twilight asked as she sat down on the couch. "For the most part, yes and I apologize for my outburst yesterday," Luna replied. "The topic at hand is...a tad difficult to explain and I fear that my sister may react badly. So I brought thee-you- here in the hopes of 'breaking the ice' as it were." "By telling me, you could summon the courage to tell Celestia right?" "Yes, I would also like to impart some knowledge of dream walking to you as a payment of sorts for your aide." "Dream walking? You want to teach me how to dream walk?" Twilight asked. "I'm honored but you don't need to bribe me to help you Luna, I'm your friend." "I know...My apologies Twilight, it has been quite some time since I could call somepony a friend." Luna explained. "Mind you that was in a less truthful sense than the meaning of it today." "I'm guessing the nobles weren't much different a thousand years ago?' Twilight quipped. "Indeed, for all those who are petty and selfish today, their ancestors were worse!" said Luna and the two shared a small laugh."Fret not Princess Twilight, thy friends shall save thee from the gold-hoarding masses...But we should get to the reason I called for thine presence this night, ah I mean..." "I don't mind if you use the royal we," Twilight said. "It's great that you trust me enough to use it freely." Luna smiled gratefully. "Tis a comfort to me as much as a way of speech," she replied. "This now outdated tongue is the only way I know of to express how grateful I am that I have a pony who does not see me as an old, obsolete ruler nor as princess who has much to learn compared to her sibling..." "Is that what's bothering you?" Twilight asked gently. "You mentioned the truth behind Nightmare Moon, are you worried it could come back? Or is there something that I'm supposed to know? Is it really that bad that you won't even tell your own sister?" "Thou shalt get the answers that thou doth seek, but to tell that tale, my friend, There are concepts thou must understand and grasp to know the true origin of Nightmare Moon," Luna stated. "This intertwines with the purpose of teaching thee to traverse the realm of dreams, for only through the sea of the unconscious, of memories of the past, can the story of my fall to the nightmare be told in full." "Memories? You mean like that potion Zecora gave me that only responds to alicorn magic?" "In a way, only this time you will have somepony to guide you, to explain the events that have already unfolded," Luna explained. "Now close your eyes and link your magic with mine..." *** Twilight found herself standing on a sea of twinkling lights and surrounded by a fog that changed color to various shades of blue. She tried to walk forward and found herself almost floating with each hoofstep. "Princess Luna?" she called out and in response the voice of the moon princess echoed around her. "This is the dream realm, a vast ocean of the thoughts and dreams of all things. Focus on where you wish to go and this place shall take you there." Twilight nodded to herself and walked onward. The area seemed to blur around her and she would have lost herr footing were it not for Luna, who steadied her. "Easy Twilight, if you lose focus, you could endanger yourself," Luna said. "Dreams are not as safe as they appear." "They're not? But how, they're dreams." "Well, how to put this, ah I know" Luna began. "A dream is much like the number zero, it may start off as nothing but it has infinite possibilities, much like how the number zero is a part a near infinite combination of numbers." "I think I understand, anything could happen right?" "Precisely. I have kept watch over the dreams of my subjects for many centuries and over the years I noticed changes within ponies, their dreams reflected how they truly felt about the world or showed the darkness within themselves that they wished to hide away." "You mean their fears?" Twilight asked. "As well as the parts of themselves they disliked" Luna elaborated."A pony may view a piece of their personality as bad or evil, so they try to to suppress it, be it cowardice, selfishness or greed, they would try to hide it away from the world and themselves. I saw what that did, so I made it my duty to help ponies at least understand, if not accept that part of who they were." "What happens if you fail?" "A good question," Luna replied and tapped a hoof on the ground. the area blurred once more and a row of doors appeared on either side of them. "Why don't we find out?" "Are you sure that's ok? What if somepony gets mad at us for invading their privacy?" Twilight rambled. "I have already thought of that" Luna interrupted. "I have asked one of thy friends to allow us to look in on their past, it will do thee and thy friend some good to learn what I have to teach." One of the doors opened and in a burst of confetti and streamers, Pinkie Pie popped out. "Ooh sparkly, Hi Twilight, hi Princess Luna!" the party pony exclaimed. "A good night to you Pinkie Pie," Luna replied. "Are you ready for the lesson?" "Yupperoni!" Pinkie replied. "But are you sure you want my help? Maybe Fluttershy or Sweetie Belle might be better for this..." "Pinkie?" Twilight asked. "Are you alright? You don't have to help out if you don't want to." "I'll be ok Twilight, it's just a little embarrassing that's all..." "Rest assured that what transpires here will not be told to anypony, you have my word" Luna stated and much to Twilight's astonishment, performed the actions of a pinkie promise. "Ok then, come on in!" Pinkie replied cheerfully and bounced on back through her door. *** When the bright light faded from her vision, Twilight found herself standing in a side street in Ponyville. She was about to speak when Pinkie pushed a hoof over her mouth and made a gesture to stay silent. "Shhh!" she stage whispered. "Or I'll hear you." The pink hoof over Twilight's mouth forced the purple pony to look over at a bale of hay on the other side of the street. It had an old grey coat over it, a baseball cap rested on top and familiar pair of blue eyes looked out over the street behind a pair of groucho glasses. Before she could question anything, Rainbow walked past wearing a pair of saddlebags, instantly recognized the pony hidden under the hay and proceeded to run away like a bat out of Tartarus. Te scene shifted several times to show the sheer insanity of Pinkie seemingly able to keep up with Rainbow as the pegasus did her best to hide from the pink pony. It dawned on Twilight what she was seeing as Rainbow made a beeline for Applejack's barn. "This was on your birthday!" Se exclaimed after pushing Pinkie's hoof away. "Yeah..it's mostly after this part that tings got weird..." Pinkie replied as the scene shifted again to show the dream Pinkie at Sugarcube corner with Spike. "Pinkie!" Twilight exclaimed as she saw the mock interrogation scene that unfolded before her. "How could you do that to Spike!?" "I wasn't really thinking straight, honest!" Pinkie replied. "He's lying! They're hiding something!" the voice of the dream Pinkie echoed around them. "What could they be hiding? Why would they hide something from me?" Twilight stood shocked as the monologue continued. "Why won't they spend time with me? m i doing something wrong?Maybe they don't like my parties- No! I can still be fun, they can't not like my parties." The real Pinkie wilted slightly as her dream counterpart forced Spike to lie about the true reason her friends avoided her. "Don't leave me..." the monologue finished as the dream Pinkie sat on the floor, her mane deflated. "Please, I don't want to be alone..." Twilight looked over the real Pinkie and wordlessly Pulled her into a hug. Pinkie smiled gratefully and motioned back to the scene, it had shifted once again to show the pink pony's room decorated for another party. A table was laid out with dining implements and plates with a cake as the centerpiece. The walls were decorated with streamers and a few balloons were scattered here and there. The most unusual thing were the party guests, a variety of inanimate objects were seated around the tabel, with the straight maned Pinkie at the head. "I'm not alone" The thoughts of the dream Pinkie echoed around them again. "I have new friends, we'll ave tea and cake and be just peachy!" The innocent tea party soon twisted and warped to reflect the delusion of its host, even the monologue echoed the conversation around the table as the straight maned pony feel further into her madness. Twilight's jaw dropped at the mention of Pinkie abandoning her and the rest of their friends in exchange for the assortment of objects seated at a party fit for the Mad Hatter. "Pinkie Pie's enthusiasm to spread joy to her friends often overshadowed a desire to validate her own self worth," Luna explained. "While the need for others to prove one's own worth is not inherently bad, if done to an excess, one may bury the undesired parts of who they are to fit in with others. If these desires are not faced and dealt with, they fester and grow to a point where a great amount of stress may bring those feelings to the surface and control one's actions." "But's its ok, it's all under control now," Pinkie said happily. "it doesn't bother me anymore." "Oh really?" the dream Pinkie replied. "Try telling that to yourself!" A dark aura appeared around the other Pink pony and her eyes changed from blue to yellow and almost seemed to glow menacingly. "What in Equestria is that?" Twilight exclaimed in shock. "This is a reflection of Pinkie's inner thoughts, her shadow in a sense," Luna explained. "these are the thoughts she has tried to hide from even herself and she must accept them for it to go way." "I don't want to be alone," the 'shadow' Pinkie said. "If I have to act like an idiot to keep my friends, then I'll do whatever it takes!" "What? No I would never-" Pinkie tried to counter. "I can be smart like Twilight!" the shadow continued. "Look, look! I can be just as random as you want, notice me! Don't leave me by myself!" "That's not-" "I just want ponies to be happy," The shadow interrupted again. "I don't care what happens to me as long as i'm not alone." "I...I guess you're right," Pinkie finally admitted. "i do want ponies to like me and sometimes I do stupid things for attention but that's not the main reason why I throw parties or want to see everypony smile." "Everypony can be a little selfish or afraid of something sometimes," Twilight said. "But a true, true friend won't ever judge you for that, I promise." Princess Luna nodded in agreement and Pinkie smiled softly. "I guess if you're ok with me... Then I'm ok with me too," she said and walked over to her counterpart and pulled out a cupcake. "Friends?" "Friends." her shadow agreed. *** Twilight and Luna bid farewell to Pinkie and continued on down the hall of doors. "I think I'm starting to understand" Twilight said. "in the legend of the mare in the moon, it mentioned that your jealousy turned you into Nightmare Moon...Is Nightmare moon your shadow?" "Luna nodded sadly. "When my envy first took root, i ignored it for the benefit of my subjects, they needed a perfect princes to guide them through their own darkness. s the years wore on it twisted my perception of reality and by the time I realised it had grown too powerful, it was too late." "Wasn't there somepony you could talk to?" "On the day I attempted to bring my concerns to my sister, the fear and anger at myself was all Nighmare Moon, my shadow, needed to control me, the potion you mentioned before showed you what happened next..." "What about after my friends and i discovered the Elements of Harmony?" Twilight asked. "Didn't we...?" The hall of doors blurred past them and the two came to a stop at its end. t the end of the impossibly long hallway was a set of dark blue double doors bound shut by golden chains, The lock that held the chains in place was decorated with six genms that represented the elements. "The elements returned control to me and sealed Nightmare away in a place where i could face ion my own terms" Luna explained. "yet I have ignored my own well being for the peace and stability of my subjects..." "You're worried history will repeat itself, aren't you?" Twilight replied. "But hasn't your bond with Celestia been repaired? what's stopping you from telling her?" Luna smiled sadly. "To put it simply, my sister wears a mask of sorts when dealing with our subjects. She is a ruler, a teacher and a symbol of perfection. I often worry that she has become that mask and she is no longer Celesti...Should i bring my concerns to her, she could view as a threat to the kingdom." The Princess of the Night looked over at the door and sighed. "I ask thee to forgive me once more Twilight, for up to this point I have treated thee as a teacher would their pupil, now i ask of thee, wouldst thou accompany my s my friend, as mine anchor to myself as I face the one thing I fear most? Willst Thou join me as I face myself?" Twilight nodded and placed an encouraging hoof on Luna's foreleg. Author's Note I once again bring you a chapter originally written in the early hours of the morning and this the point where we enter crossover territory with persona 3 and Persona 4. As usual point out any typos I may have missed and leave a comment!
Chapter 1Dust motes danced in the early morning light that streamed through the windows of one of Canterlot Castle’s oldest tower. The old wooden floor reflected the soft sunlight and added to the inviting warm glow the room possessed. Extravagant tapestries and banners made in honor of the diarchy bung on the worn marble walls and bookshelves piled high with old tomes and scrolls were neatly arranged around a seating area with tables and cushions. The room’s entrance, two old wooden doors, glowed in a golden aura and creaked open as two ponies walked inside. Princess Twilight Sparkle entered first, her saddlebags jingled with the weight of inkwells and rustled with the sound of parchment as the newly ascended alicorn almost bounced in place with excitement. Behind her, Princess Celestia smiled warmly at her former pupil's infectious joy. There was a certain comforting silence in the air as Twilight stood in awe at the opportunity that stood before her. "These are the books I was able to transfer to Canterlot after I banished Nightmare Moon," Princess Celestia explained as she moved to stand beside Twilight."Though many of the books left behind at the old castle are being recovered and restored, I thought this small collection of mine would aide you in your studies for the moment". "This is amazing!" the purple alicorn exclaimed gleefully. "You have no idea how much trouble I've had doing my research into pre-Nightmare Moon history, with all the water damage and insects ruining many of the books I found at your old castle, I was afraid I'd have to ask you or Princess Luna for answers." Twilight looked bashful when Celestia gave her a questioning look. "I didn't want to trouble you," she stated. "You're both busy and I wanted to make sure I could cite several sources before I showed you any findings". "Luna and I would be more than happy to answer your questions twilight, but I can understand the value of learning under your own merits," the sun princess replied. "I'll leave you to it, just remember, if you come across any spells you don't understand or are unsure of its effect, make sure to ask either Luna or myself if it's safe to use." "Don't worry princess; I'll make sure to seek your advice if something comes up." *** Twilight removed her saddlebags and began to skin across the tittles of the books on the nearest shelf. Occasionally she would pick one up in her magic and floated it over to the slowly growing stack on a table. When she felt that she had a significant amount of texts, she opened up her saddlebag and withdrew an inkwell, a quill and several scrolls of blank parchment and placed them on the table. Finally, she pulled out a scroll bound in a plain grey ribbon and set it aside from the others. With a smile, she cantered over to the table, sat down on a cushion and after organizing her work space, she set to work. She opened up the bound scroll and skimmed through its contents. Let's see... she thought. So far I've found several re-tellings and re-imaginings of the legend of nightmare moon and a few scattered reports bout Luna herself. Hopefully these books can fill in the blanks on how Celestia and Luna were treated a thousand years ago. Ancient history was subject Twilight had always been fond of, while fables and ancient myths were aplenty in both ancient and modern literature, few historic records of Equestria and its long lived rulers seemed to surface. The tales of Starswirl the Bearded, as numerous as they were, often were a product of their time. Of monster slaying heroes and uplifting tales of bravery in a time when the common pony had more to worry about than an occasional beast escaping the everfree. Her desire to know only increased when she discovered the magic of friendship. Her eyes were opened to the possibilities of old legends and ponytales being more than a way to frighten little ponies or to teach a moral to young fillies and colts. With each new threat Twilight and her friends took down, the more questions were raised about the stained glass windows that often accompanied their success. Scenes of times long past were only connected to a disjointed concept or half-remembered legend and she often wondered if the heroic efforts of her friends had put their all into performing would someday be reduced to a tall tale with only the princesses left to truly understand what had transpired. With those concerns at the forefront of her mind, she decided to enlist the help of her friends to see if history could provide any closure or peace of mind. *** "Uh, Twilight?" Applejack asked as the mane six walked through the Everfree Forest. "Why are we heading to the Princesses old castle? I’m sure princess Celestia or Princess Luna could help you find what you're looking for". "I know Applejack, but I've been thinking-" Twilight replied. "Yeah, and?" Rainbow Dash interjected as she hovered above them. "You do egghead stuff all the time, and the princesses would know more than some dusty old library." "That's the thing, I'm not just looking for things the princesses can answer for me," the purple pony princess stated. "This is a personal research project that's going to need source material from ponies other than Celestia or Luna. Facts, figures and even viewpoints from ponies that lived a thousand years ago could prove useful". "Even so Twilight, couldn’t you ask them to send you the books you needed?" Rarity asked. "It would certainly be easier than walking all this way to their old castle" "I agree with Rarity," Fluttershy added. "What if we run into a manticore, or a hydra, or a...dragon?" "There's no need to be scared, we've been through this place lots of times!" Pinkie Pie chirped cheerfully. "Walking through the scary forest that's not-so-scary- anymore to help Twilight with her super secret project is just another nature hike, except you know, with monsters." "If you say so..." the yellow pegasus replied. "I really appreciate your help everypony," Twilight said. "With all of us working together, we might be able to find more information on what Equestria was like a thousand years ago". "You're dragging us all the way out here for a history lesson..." Rainbow grumbled. "Boring..." "I've noticed some gaps in my history books back in the library and I was hoping to fill in the blanks but I didn't want to bother the princesses," Twilight explained. "Plus it's only good study habits to have more than one piece of reference material for an article. I was going to write a report on my findings" *** The result of that day was the smell of damp books that clung to her fur and barely anything new to add to her report. While her study session with her friends had indeed been fun, Twilight was disappointed with the state of disrepair that the old castles library had fallen into. She quickly wrote a letter to the princess explaining what she had tried to accomplish, which led to Celestia starting the process to save the information contained within those thousand year old books. Hours later, Twilight sighed in tired relief and placed her quill in the inkpot. The wax candle she had beside her still burned brightly in the dimming light that signaled the approach of night. She closed the book she had been reading and sorted through her notes. The pile of scrolls were neatly rolled up and swept into her saddlebags. Just as she began to wrap the ribbon around her growing checklist of important points, she heard hoof steps approach that signaled the approach of a pony. Author's Note Limited time to write means this is all I can do for now, I'll be working on the draft for the next chapter when I can. Let me know if you spot any typos i might have missed and let me know what you think of this in the comments. Fun fact- everything, except for the paragraphs after the flashback, was written between 3am and 4am in the morning (cold medicine kept me awake..all night...) and the idea for this started off as a clopfic, but then i fleshed out the story and thought it would be better as a stand alone, non romance thing. Enjoy my sleep deprived nonsense! Edit- I tried to um...improve my shitty grammar....key word is 'tried'
Chapter 2"Oh, hello Princess Luna," Twilight said to the moon princess as she entered the room. "How have you been?" "Fine, as always. I had heard of your recent interest in Equestria history, how goes the search?" Princess Luna inquired. "I'm actually really surprised at what I've been able find in these old books," Twilight replied and floated a scroll scribbled with neatly organised bullet points and references. "The accounts I was able to find on what happened after Discord was first defeated are incredible!" "Oh? I had presumed that my sister had released such knowledge to the public after my banishment," Luna said in mild surprise. "I was the one who forbade such information from becoming public knowledge." "Really? I mean I can see why, I just never expected the two of you to be at odds like that now." "Look at these writings Twilight," the moon princess instructed. 'What does it tell you of how Celestia and I helped those who had suffered under Discord's rule?' "It's very stylized for a start, it's written in poetry and at first I passed it off as exaggeration," Twilight replied and read the piece aloud. "Under the warmth of day we played and worked to forget our woes, the memories of chaos' past buried in deep holes. As we toiled and lived under the golden sun, the princess of day watched over us like a mother with her foals." "Yet in the dark of night when our fears could not be quelled, the shadows of our minds didst rise. In our solitude of sleep the mare of the night did come forth and bring peace to many a troubled mind," Luna finished calmly. "That was written long ago, and was the first of many works to praise the work of Celestia over my own." "I didn't quite understand princess," Twilight said. "It calls Celestia a princess and you a 'mare of the night', it was only one mistake, possibly written for the sake of not sounding repetitious..." "That was not the issue, look more closely. what does the poem say of our approach to helping our subjects?" Luna asked. "I thought about that, so I looked for other accounts and a lot of them say the same thing," Twilight replied. "Ponies worked and lived to forget their fears during the day and faced them at night, but a lot of the later entries don't even mention you at all..." "What pony remembers their dreams?" Princess Luna asked theoretically. "Very few can control their own dreams, let alone believe what happened was real to some extent." Silence passed between the two, the conversation at a standstill from the implications of Luna's statement. In an effort to bring a happier tone to the topic, Twilight pulled out a book and skimmed through it until she found the relevant page. "I found a few pieces on your battle against Tirek," Twilight began. "Some of the artwork that was made in commemoration was beautiful." The book showed an image of the two sisters, a white alicorn with a pink mane and tail and a dark blue alicorn with a light blue mane and tail in the sky with their wings outstretched as they bound the centaur to the depths of Tartarus. Each Princess was decorated in armor with a helmet on their head, heavy metal plating on their chest and shoes that covered their hooves. The armor Celestia wore was gold with amethysts embedded into the metal, while Luna's silver decorated with white diamonds. "You've done a lot of things over the years haven't you?" Twilight asked. "But it doesn't seem like ponies thanked you for them." "History is written by the victor" Luna replied solemnly. "And in the fight to determine what we told our little ponies was ultimately one by those devoted to my sister. As time went on the small, though irreplaceable, roles I had to play were overshadowed by Celestia's more public image." "Was that why you turned into Nightmare Moon?" the younger alicorn asked quietly. "Because ponies ignored all the hard work you did?" Luna looked out a window, hesitant to answer. "Doth thou trust me, Twilight?" "Trust you? Of course I do, why wouldn't I?" Twilight replied and looked over her friend in concern. "Is something wrong?" "If thou would allow me a day to compose mine thoughts, I would ask thee to meet me in mine tower tomorrow night as I raise the moon. I will tell thee the truth then..." "Alright, should I inform Princess Celestia-" "No!" Luna answered hurriedly. "No....Forgive me, Twilight Sparkle but there are some things I would prefer to keep to myself for the moment. I will see you tomorrow night." *** Later that night, Twilight entered the her room in Canterlot. She was met with soft, plush red carpet and finely made wooden desks and draws for her things. To one side of the giant four poster bed was a large wardrobe and to the other side was a smaller bed fit for certain purple dragon. The room was dimly lit by the moonlight the filtered through the windows and as Twilight placed her saddlebags onto a nearby end table, a giggle caught her attention. She smiled and turned on the lights to be met with a full blown, Pinkie Pie style party in her bedroom. "Surprise!" her five friends, and one baby dragon, shouted. "It's nice to see you all, but you guys didn't have to come all this way for my sake," Twilight said. "I told you I'd back in a few days, a week at most." "Oh Twilight, darling," Rarity began with a wave of her hoof. "Think nothing of it, we know how hard you've been working on that project of yours and after the fiasco at the old castle we thought you could use some cheering up." "Besides, Pinkie here was getting a mite bit worried that we'd never see you again," Applejack said with a smile. "She was so worked up that we all figured you wouldn't mind an unexpected visit." On cue, the pink party pony rushed forward to envelop her friend in a hug. "I was so worried that you'd get caught up in your books that you would be lost in a sea of knowledge and that we'd never, ever, see you again!" "Cant...Breathe..." Twilight gasped out and the element of laughter loosened her grip. "Oopsie, sorry Twilight" "That's alright Pinkie, to tell you the truth, I think I needed a break anyway." "Aw yeah, let's get this party started!" Rainbow cheered. "I've been looking forward to this all day!" "We've all been very busy lately," Fluttershy said. "Some of the animals have been a bit jumpy ever since Discord came around for lunch last Tuesday." "I've been doing more work than ever on the farm," Applejack added. "Course I've been trying to give Applebloom some extra time to play with her friends, she's a hard working filly, but everypony deserves some time off every now and then." "The Wonderbolts called me in for training for the reserves last week," Rainbow said. "I've been run off my hooves doing their workouts and my usual weather duties! It's totally worth it though." "After my last order from Sapphire Shores was a huge success, I've been working around the clock filling in orders," Rarity explained. "If it wasn't for Sweetie doing what she did at the last second I don't know what would have happened!" "I haven't been busy!" Pinkie exclaimed. "i just noticed that everypony else has been busy and i thought 'gee Twilight must be super busy too', so I'll take everypony to Twilight's and have a 'you've all done a great job, so have some fun' party!" "I bet you found all kinds of neat stuff, right Twilight?" Spike asked. "Why don't we enjoy the party for a bit Spike," Twilight replied. "I think I've done enough reading for today." Author's Note Just a quick note on the time frame, Twilight's been in Canterlot for a few days and the trip to the castle of the two sisters was nearly a week prior. originally the poem and one word spoken by Rainbow were going to be in italics, the italics button doesn't seem to work properly on google chrome and internet explorer is being a douche to me at the moment.
chapter 3The party, though confined to one room, lasted long into the early hours of the morning. At around midday, seven tired, yet happy friends made their way to the dining hall for a late breakfast. the atmosphere was warm and inviting with sunlight pouring in through the tall glass windows and the long table draped in a white tablecloth dotted with candles and vases filled with flowers. As Applejack went to ask the chefs to fix up some food, the others took their seats either next to or across from Twilight, who had brought a few of her scrolls with her. "So what did you find out?" Spike asked excitedly. "Anything good?" "Yeah you've been here for three whole day!" Rainbow added. "You must have found something by now." "Take a look at these," Twilight offered and passed around a scroll. "I found some interesting depictions of the princesses." "Are sure you should be showing us these?" Rarity asked. "Wouldn't Princess Celestia nd Princess Luna find it rather...Rude that you're spreading these around so soon?" "I think they look cool with the sparkly armor!" Pinkie stated. "I wish we had that when we fought Tirek." "They look scary..." Fluttershy mumbled. "Isn't that a good kind of scary though?" Rainbow asked. "They're protecting ponies right?" "What about this passage here Twilight? The one about dreams, where did you find that?" Rarity asked and pointed to one the pieces of writing Twilight had copied down under the various drawings. "That was something I looked through for a while, I wrote it down to remind myself not to get off track," Twilight explained. "it's a theory that links various points of equestrian history to the presence of Princess Luna. There's the usual stuff like defending the land against Discord and King Sombra, but it goes more into what else she's done over the years beyond working alongside her sister. I was going to ask her about it yesterday when she stopped by to visit, but..." "Something on your mind?" Applejack asked as she came back in. "Why don't you tell us all about it after breakfast, some good food ought to help calm your nerves." "Good idea." *** "So Twilight, what's the big deal anyway?" Rainbow asked as the group sat around the table. "I tried to talk to princess Luna about some of things I've discovered in my research, but she only gave vague answers and when I brought up the subject of Nightmare Moon, she got nervous, like she was hiding something," Twilight explained. "I know it was a horrible time for her, but I didn't think it was still a sensitive subject for her, she even started using the royal we." "Ya mean that funny way she was talking on Nightmare Night?" Applejack. "I thought she stopped using that?" "I know, but from what I've found on it, her use of it makes sense," Twilight replied. "The use of 'thou' instead of 'you' is used as an informal way of addressing somepony, It was only used when in the company of ponies the royal family could trust, ponies who didn't need to see them as a prince or princess, but as friends or trusted allies." "So when she was using it on nightmare night.." Rainbow began. "She was being friendly?" "I think so," Twilight replied. "But i don't understand, she wants me to meet her tonight to watch her raise the moon, but when I brought up Princess Celestia she seemed, afraid, like she really is hiding something." "Maybe it's a sisterly problem?" Applejack suggested. "i know I've had to convince Applebloom to tell me when she's done something wrong, could be something as simple as that." "Well, sometimes there re some things we're not comfortable telling somepoines, but telling a good friend is easy," Fluttershy added. "It must be hard for Princess Luna to tell her sister about things from a thousand years ago, maybe she just wants somepony to talk to." "Maybe...I still can't get over the fact that so many history books just skimmed over all the things Luna has done for Equestria," Twilight grumbled. "She invented the calendar and there's an entire history of psychology inspired by her work of patrolling dreams a thousand years ago." "Really?" her friends replied. "Three hundred years ago a pony called Colt Jung collected stories and accounts of princess Luna's dream walking abilities and combined with a whole bunch of other things to create an entire field of pony psychology," the purple princess explained and sighed. "Maybe Luna just needs somepony to talk to after all, I know I feel much better after talking to all of you." "Yeah and afterwards, we can throw Princess Luna a party, that'll cheer her up for sure!" Pinkie added. *** As the sun began to set, Twilight stood outside the door to Luna's chambers. The navy blue door emblazoned with the crescent moon opened and Luna quietly welcomed Twilight inside. Light streamed in from the balcony opposite the large four poster bed and highlighted the rich blue carpet and the elegantly carved wooden furniture that sparsely decorated the room. Star charts were neatly organised on the wall above a desk covered with unfinished charts and pieces of paper, the cushion that served as a seat had a few stray feathers around it, as did the large couch by the fireplace at the back of the room. "Welcome to my humble abode, Twilight Sparkle, please take a seat," Luna stated and motioned to the couch. "We have much to discuss." Author's Note Sorry for the short chapter guys, I wanted to pace myself. I think I fixed all the typos.
Chapter 4"Is everything alright Luna?" Twilight asked as she sat down on the couch. "For the most part, yes and I apologize for my outburst yesterday," Luna replied. "The topic at hand is...a tad difficult to explain and I fear that my sister may react badly. So I brought thee-you- here in the hopes of 'breaking the ice' as it were." "By telling me, you could summon the courage to tell Celestia right?" "Yes, I would also like to impart some knowledge of dream walking to you as a payment of sorts for your aide." "Dream walking? You want to teach me how to dream walk?" Twilight asked. "I'm honored but you don't need to bribe me to help you Luna, I'm your friend." "I know...My apologies Twilight, it has been quite some time since I could call somepony a friend." Luna explained. "Mind you that was in a less truthful sense than the meaning of it today." "I'm guessing the nobles weren't much different a thousand years ago?' Twilight quipped. "Indeed, for all those who are petty and selfish today, their ancestors were worse!" said Luna and the two shared a small laugh."Fret not Princess Twilight, thy friends shall save thee from the gold-hoarding masses...But we should get to the reason I called for thine presence this night, ah I mean..." "I don't mind if you use the royal we," Twilight said. "It's great that you trust me enough to use it freely." Luna smiled gratefully. "Tis a comfort to me as much as a way of speech," she replied. "This now outdated tongue is the only way I know of to express how grateful I am that I have a pony who does not see me as an old, obsolete ruler nor as princess who has much to learn compared to her sibling..." "Is that what's bothering you?" Twilight asked gently. "You mentioned the truth behind Nightmare Moon, are you worried it could come back? Or is there something that I'm supposed to know? Is it really that bad that you won't even tell your own sister?" "Thou shalt get the answers that thou doth seek, but to tell that tale, my friend, There are concepts thou must understand and grasp to know the true origin of Nightmare Moon," Luna stated. "This intertwines with the purpose of teaching thee to traverse the realm of dreams, for only through the sea of the unconscious, of memories of the past, can the story of my fall to the nightmare be told in full." "Memories? You mean like that potion Zecora gave me that only responds to alicorn magic?" "In a way, only this time you will have somepony to guide you, to explain the events that have already unfolded," Luna explained. "Now close your eyes and link your magic with mine..." *** Twilight found herself standing on a sea of twinkling lights and surrounded by a fog that changed color to various shades of blue. She tried to walk forward and found herself almost floating with each hoofstep. "Princess Luna?" she called out and in response the voice of the moon princess echoed around her. "This is the dream realm, a vast ocean of the thoughts and dreams of all things. Focus on where you wish to go and this place shall take you there." Twilight nodded to herself and walked onward. The area seemed to blur around her and she would have lost herr footing were it not for Luna, who steadied her. "Easy Twilight, if you lose focus, you could endanger yourself," Luna said. "Dreams are not as safe as they appear." "They're not? But how, they're dreams." "Well, how to put this, ah I know" Luna began. "A dream is much like the number zero, it may start off as nothing but it has infinite possibilities, much like how the number zero is a part a near infinite combination of numbers." "I think I understand, anything could happen right?" "Precisely. I have kept watch over the dreams of my subjects for many centuries and over the years I noticed changes within ponies, their dreams reflected how they truly felt about the world or showed the darkness within themselves that they wished to hide away." "You mean their fears?" Twilight asked. "As well as the parts of themselves they disliked" Luna elaborated."A pony may view a piece of their personality as bad or evil, so they try to to suppress it, be it cowardice, selfishness or greed, they would try to hide it away from the world and themselves. I saw what that did, so I made it my duty to help ponies at least understand, if not accept that part of who they were." "What happens if you fail?" "A good question," Luna replied and tapped a hoof on the ground. the area blurred once more and a row of doors appeared on either side of them. "Why don't we find out?" "Are you sure that's ok? What if somepony gets mad at us for invading their privacy?" Twilight rambled. "I have already thought of that" Luna interrupted. "I have asked one of thy friends to allow us to look in on their past, it will do thee and thy friend some good to learn what I have to teach." One of the doors opened and in a burst of confetti and streamers, Pinkie Pie popped out. "Ooh sparkly, Hi Twilight, hi Princess Luna!" the party pony exclaimed. "A good night to you Pinkie Pie," Luna replied. "Are you ready for the lesson?" "Yupperoni!" Pinkie replied. "But are you sure you want my help? Maybe Fluttershy or Sweetie Belle might be better for this..." "Pinkie?" Twilight asked. "Are you alright? You don't have to help out if you don't want to." "I'll be ok Twilight, it's just a little embarrassing that's all..." "Rest assured that what transpires here will not be told to anypony, you have my word" Luna stated and much to Twilight's astonishment, performed the actions of a pinkie promise. "Ok then, come on in!" Pinkie replied cheerfully and bounced on back through her door. *** When the bright light faded from her vision, Twilight found herself standing in a side street in Ponyville. She was about to speak when Pinkie pushed a hoof over her mouth and made a gesture to stay silent. "Shhh!" she stage whispered. "Or I'll hear you." The pink hoof over Twilight's mouth forced the purple pony to look over at a bale of hay on the other side of the street. It had an old grey coat over it, a baseball cap rested on top and familiar pair of blue eyes looked out over the street behind a pair of groucho glasses. Before she could question anything, Rainbow walked past wearing a pair of saddlebags, instantly recognized the pony hidden under the hay and proceeded to run away like a bat out of Tartarus. Te scene shifted several times to show the sheer insanity of Pinkie seemingly able to keep up with Rainbow as the pegasus did her best to hide from the pink pony. It dawned on Twilight what she was seeing as Rainbow made a beeline for Applejack's barn. "This was on your birthday!" Se exclaimed after pushing Pinkie's hoof away. "Yeah..it's mostly after this part that tings got weird..." Pinkie replied as the scene shifted again to show the dream Pinkie at Sugarcube corner with Spike. "Pinkie!" Twilight exclaimed as she saw the mock interrogation scene that unfolded before her. "How could you do that to Spike!?" "I wasn't really thinking straight, honest!" Pinkie replied. "He's lying! They're hiding something!" the voice of the dream Pinkie echoed around them. "What could they be hiding? Why would they hide something from me?" Twilight stood shocked as the monologue continued. "Why won't they spend time with me? m i doing something wrong?Maybe they don't like my parties- No! I can still be fun, they can't not like my parties." The real Pinkie wilted slightly as her dream counterpart forced Spike to lie about the true reason her friends avoided her. "Don't leave me..." the monologue finished as the dream Pinkie sat on the floor, her mane deflated. "Please, I don't want to be alone..." Twilight looked over the real Pinkie and wordlessly Pulled her into a hug. Pinkie smiled gratefully and motioned back to the scene, it had shifted once again to show the pink pony's room decorated for another party. A table was laid out with dining implements and plates with a cake as the centerpiece. The walls were decorated with streamers and a few balloons were scattered here and there. The most unusual thing were the party guests, a variety of inanimate objects were seated around the tabel, with the straight maned Pinkie at the head. "I'm not alone" The thoughts of the dream Pinkie echoed around them again. "I have new friends, we'll ave tea and cake and be just peachy!" The innocent tea party soon twisted and warped to reflect the delusion of its host, even the monologue echoed the conversation around the table as the straight maned pony feel further into her madness. Twilight's jaw dropped at the mention of Pinkie abandoning her and the rest of their friends in exchange for the assortment of objects seated at a party fit for the Mad Hatter. "Pinkie Pie's enthusiasm to spread joy to her friends often overshadowed a desire to validate her own self worth," Luna explained. "While the need for others to prove one's own worth is not inherently bad, if done to an excess, one may bury the undesired parts of who they are to fit in with others. If these desires are not faced and dealt with, they fester and grow to a point where a great amount of stress may bring those feelings to the surface and control one's actions." "But's its ok, it's all under control now," Pinkie said happily. "it doesn't bother me anymore." "Oh really?" the dream Pinkie replied. "Try telling that to yourself!" A dark aura appeared around the other Pink pony and her eyes changed from blue to yellow and almost seemed to glow menacingly. "What in Equestria is that?" Twilight exclaimed in shock. "This is a reflection of Pinkie's inner thoughts, her shadow in a sense," Luna explained. "these are the thoughts she has tried to hide from even herself and she must accept them for it to go way." "I don't want to be alone," the 'shadow' Pinkie said. "If I have to act like an idiot to keep my friends, then I'll do whatever it takes!" "What? No I would never-" Pinkie tried to counter. "I can be smart like Twilight!" the shadow continued. "Look, look! I can be just as random as you want, notice me! Don't leave me by myself!" "That's not-" "I just want ponies to be happy," The shadow interrupted again. "I don't care what happens to me as long as i'm not alone." "I...I guess you're right," Pinkie finally admitted. "i do want ponies to like me and sometimes I do stupid things for attention but that's not the main reason why I throw parties or want to see everypony smile." "Everypony can be a little selfish or afraid of something sometimes," Twilight said. "But a true, true friend won't ever judge you for that, I promise." Princess Luna nodded in agreement and Pinkie smiled softly. "I guess if you're ok with me... Then I'm ok with me too," she said and walked over to her counterpart and pulled out a cupcake. "Friends?" "Friends." her shadow agreed. *** Twilight and Luna bid farewell to Pinkie and continued on down the hall of doors. "I think I'm starting to understand" Twilight said. "in the legend of the mare in the moon, it mentioned that your jealousy turned you into Nightmare Moon...Is Nightmare moon your shadow?" "Luna nodded sadly. "When my envy first took root, i ignored it for the benefit of my subjects, they needed a perfect princes to guide them through their own darkness. s the years wore on it twisted my perception of reality and by the time I realised it had grown too powerful, it was too late." "Wasn't there somepony you could talk to?" "On the day I attempted to bring my concerns to my sister, the fear and anger at myself was all Nighmare Moon, my shadow, needed to control me, the potion you mentioned before showed you what happened next..." "What about after my friends and i discovered the Elements of Harmony?" Twilight asked. "Didn't we...?" The hall of doors blurred past them and the two came to a stop at its end. t the end of the impossibly long hallway was a set of dark blue double doors bound shut by golden chains, The lock that held the chains in place was decorated with six genms that represented the elements. "The elements returned control to me and sealed Nightmare away in a place where i could face ion my own terms" Luna explained. "yet I have ignored my own well being for the peace and stability of my subjects..." "You're worried history will repeat itself, aren't you?" Twilight replied. "But hasn't your bond with Celestia been repaired? what's stopping you from telling her?" Luna smiled sadly. "To put it simply, my sister wears a mask of sorts when dealing with our subjects. She is a ruler, a teacher and a symbol of perfection. I often worry that she has become that mask and she is no longer Celesti...Should i bring my concerns to her, she could view as a threat to the kingdom." The Princess of the Night looked over at the door and sighed. "I ask thee to forgive me once more Twilight, for up to this point I have treated thee as a teacher would their pupil, now i ask of thee, wouldst thou accompany my s my friend, as mine anchor to myself as I face the one thing I fear most? Willst Thou join me as I face myself?" Twilight nodded and placed an encouraging hoof on Luna's foreleg. Author's Note I once again bring you a chapter originally written in the early hours of the morning and this the point where we enter crossover territory with persona 3 and Persona 4. As usual point out any typos I may have missed and leave a comment!
