Romp

Twilight ambled back to the shelf where the cerulean book lay. She lifted the book in her magic and pulled it close, gazing upon it sadly. “So… Rainbow Dash stopped in a couple of days ago after the weather team finished building the storm, just looking to hang out for a bit.” She flipped open the book and said, “Rainbow and I have never really been that close. We’re good friends, of course – element bearing and saving Equestria will certainly do that.” She frowned a little as she idly flipped through a few of the pages. “But we haven’t bonded much over the years, just one on one. I’ve had more opportunities with ponies like Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity… even Pinkie Pie. And sure, I’ve learned more about Rainbow over the years, like when she was preparing for the Wonderbolts exam and I discovered her attention to detail. But…”

She shook her head, placing the book back on its shelf. “When she came over, I figured maybe we could do something together that we’d both enjoy. The problem is, she tends to like things that are a bit more… intense, than I’m used to. Not to mention we were stuck in a castle at night in the middle of a storm. Not exactly a lot of things to do – that she’d enjoy, at least.”

Twilight stared at the book silently for a moment. She then expelled a long breath and turned around. “So she suggested I find a fun spell. I got out one of my old tomes, flipped through the pages, found a mystery spell, got excited at the idea of playing a giant pony and bonding with Rainbow, and…” She sighed. “Do I really have to get into the finer details, Princess?”

A few hooves away, standing at a break in the path where the shelves disappeared into the forest, Princess Luna looked at Twilight with a hint of a smirk. “Have you ever spoke with anypony else about your dreams?”

Twilight gulped. “No. Not before a couple of days ago.”

Luna nodded softly. “But you were comfortable sharing this part of you, for the first time ever, with Rainbow Dash?”

“I… y-yes. I, um… for the most part, I was.” Twilight gulped again for lack of a better response.

“Mmm… and yet,” Luna said, closing the gap between them, “you said you have not had the chance to bond much with Rainbow Dash over the years?”

“Listen, Princess,” Twilight said, averting her gaze, “I know it sounds odd. Even Rainbow Dash pointed out later that she was surprised I’d share something like this about me with her rather than one of our other friends. I just…” She groaned. “It’s hard to explain.”

Luna scrunched her muzzle. “Twilight Sparkle has difficulty explaining something?” A wry grin tugged at the edge of her mouth. “Then all those times my sister praised you must have been for naught.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow.

“That was a joke.” Luna’s ears flicked back. “Was it made in bad taste?”

“No! No, sorry, I’m just… ugh.” Twilight waved a hoof and took to pacing back and forth between the shelves. “So, yes, I trust all of my friends. And in other circumstances, I might have talked with someone like AJ, Rarity, maybe even Fluttershy about something like this.” She hesitated mid-pace. “But Rainbow’s the only pony I’d share the experience with. Maybe I could talk more easily with my other friends about it… aside from Pinkie. Knowing her, she probably already knows.” She smiled a little at the thought, affording herself a glance toward Luna. “But this is one of the few things I never planned to talk about. I had no intention of ever bringing this up to anyone, let alone somepony like Rainbow.”

Twilight stopped in her tracks and rubbed a hoof between her eyes, clenching them shut. “I just don’t know anymore, Princess. It’s been a long couple of days, there’s a terrible storm pouring in Ponyville right now, and Rainbow Dash just happened to show up when I just happened to be really bored and we found a spell that just happened to let me pretend to be a giant pony.” She looked at Luna, a twitch forming in the corner of one eye. “It makes sense, right?”

Luna shook her head and smiled. She trotted closer and said, “Well, reasons aside, I suppose you would like to know what is missing from your research.”

“Please? You have no idea how bad I feel for not doing the proper research up front.”

Luna giggled under her breath. “Everything is fine, Twilight. I apologize if I came across as cryptic earlier. I just needed to hear from you the nature of what had taken place.” Walking past Twilight, she added, “Besides, it would appear for all the research you did accomplish, this one fact would have eluded you anyway.”

Twilight looked over her shoulder. “So, what is it exactly?”

Luna glanced back with a lit horn. A doorway popped into place in front of the Princess, silhouetted by a bright white light. “Come. I will show you.”

__________

Princess Luna strode through the doorway into the world between dream and waking. When Twilight stepped in behind her, she pointed at a door adjacent to the one they had walked through.

“Hm?” Twilight looked over at the single cerulean door, glowing with a soft white brilliance. “Rainbow Dash’s dreams?”

“Yes,” Luna said, stepping between the door and her to point at the space between. “But this is what I want to show you.”

Twilight looked where Luna suggested. She stared blankly at the space between Rainbow’s door and her own for a moment, then stepped closer, kneeling down to squint at a flickering light. “Wait… what are these?”

“These,” Luna said, wrapping the dim strands of light that ran between the doors in her magic, “are the result of your spell use.”

A queasy feeling rose within Twilight. “Is…” She gulped. “Is this bad?”

“No. Not in this state.” Taking a moment to pull the threads taut again, Luna said, “It has been quite some time since I have seen magic like this, probably because the spells that create these threads have long since been out of regular use.”

Twilight continued to gawk at the strands, equal parts curious and concerned. “What exactly are they?”

“At the time such spells were in use, not much study was placed on what these were,” Luna said, motioning to the threads with her head before stepping over to Rainbow’s door. “There were few unicorns then who could access this realm, but the few who could determined this was the result of a specific kind of spell.”

“A specific kind?” Twilight knit her brow. “You mean spells that interact with a pony’s consciousness?”

“Not quite. Threads like these are not formed with just any spell of the sort.” Turning to face Twilight, she said, “To put it simply, these are the result of certain… intimate spell use.”

“Intimate?” Twilight blinked. “Uuhh… yeah. Definitely didn’t read anywhere about this being an intimate spell.”

“Indeed, you would have not, given that pony culture at the time this spell was created was quite different from what it is now.”

“So…” Twilight looked back at Luna. “What do these threads mean then?”

“It means that further spell use could cause yours and Rainbow’s dream realms to fuse. Permanently.”

Of all the times Twilight had blinked throughout the course of the past couple of days, this blink was by far her most profound. “What?!”

“Before Starswirl created the system of categorizing spells we use today, many spells were created of a more ambiguous nature. It is most likely the reason why you did not discover this during your research. At the time, matters pertaining to intimacy were rarely spoken aloud, let alone beyond closed doors. But that did not prevent some spell-crafters from creating magic of such nature.” Her gaze drifted in thought. “If I remember right, this particular spell was responsible for more than a few complaints amongst lovers who separated.”

Twilight blushed ever so slightly. “Yeah. I guess I could see how that might be, uh… inconvenient.”

Luna giggled. “That is most surely an understatement. In any case, there is nothing to worry about at this point.” She suggested to the threads with a hoof. “At their current state, these threads have yet to form a permanent bond. But using the spell any further could risk a fusion between yours and Rainbow’s dreams forever.”

“I see.” Twilight ran a hoof across her chin, examining the threads closely. After a moment, she said, “You know, this is the first time I’ve ever used a spell so blindly. I figured since it was in a tome I’d used for years, it was as safe as any of the other spells.” She winced a little as a certain memory crossed her mind. “I didn’t tell you this before, but… I accidentally hurt Rainbow Dash during one of the spells.”

Luna tilted her head. “What happened?”

“Well… let’s just say I got carried away and leave it at that. If that’s okay.”

For a few seconds, Luna stared at the mare, scrutinizing her statement silently before giving a response. “I trust your judgment. But hopefully that experience, as well as this new information, will help you to make the right decision.”

“You mean to not use the spell again?” Twilight scoffed. “I wasn’t planning on it anyway. After the last time, I seriously doubt I’ll ever want to play ‘giant pony’ again.” She frowned and said, “I’m just afraid after dabbling in all this, the nightmares are only going to get worse.”

As if in response to those very words, the silhouette around Rainbow Dash’s door flickered. The two looked over as the white light surrounding the door began to dim.

Luna furrowed her brow, stepping closer toward the door. “Perhaps your dreams are not the only ones affected by recent events.”