Done by a Single Night

I reread the letter on my table again. How the hell could he have done this to me?!

I bucked the cloud wall, which just puffed a bit. Not the big explosion I was heading for. Soarin' may have been idiotic enough for me to catch him cheating with another mare, but he really did finish things up. He got Spitfire to write a frickin letter tellin me I ain't never getting to become a Wonderbolt. Damn bastard.

Anyways, after the whole incident, I just wanted to sleep. And sleep means dreams. The usual, right? Wrong. Big mumbo jumbo from random disco-suit glowing mares. Knowing what an egghead Twi is, I figure she has an interpretation.

I flew over to her treehouse and flung open the door. I jumped onto her couch. I didn't know she had a couch.

"Hey there Rainbow Dash! What're you up to?" Spike said. He was carrying books around, as usual, with no purpose I could discern.

"Not much, Spike," I responded. "Say, is Twilight around?"

"Yeah, she'll be here in a moment." He closed the door, and went upstairs.

I sat down, and looked around. If I knew Twilight, right now she'd be probably working on some new spell or something. It could be between minutes and hours before she'd be back. I sat down on her sofa. It had a price tag that said it was... from her quill shop? Yeah, I still don't understand that guy. Quills and sofas. She must've got a discount or something on it, she's such a regular shopper there. Next to the sofa was a large crate, that I couldn't help to be drawn to. Probably more books... I assured myself. I reluctantly pried my eyes away from it, and to the shelves.

"Daring Do and the Adamantine Helm... Daring Do and the Cards of Catastrophe... Daring Do and the Book of Horizons... Aha!" I picked up the newest book in the series. "Daring Do and the Chakram of the Skies!"

I jumped back onto the couch and looked at the cover. Daring was flying above a crowd of angry-looking dragons, clutching a starry disk to her chest with one hoof. Well, I got time to read.

Daring Do was panicked. The door simply wouldn't open!

"C'mon..." She pleaded. "How does it open?!"

She looked over the celestial spheres beside her. Both had two rings, one going around its circumference level with the ground, and one exactly perpendicular to that. The glowing golden sun had a ring of the Zodiac, and the light-seeking moon, the map of the heavens, each of the Zodiac's constellations.

That must be it! You set the rings!

But what date? This is no help!

She had about thirty seconds before the whole place crumbled. "Quick Daring... you've got to know the code... what date would be important enough for them to build an entire temple?! I mean, besides hosting the- That's it!"

Cancer, the zodiac of the summer solstice. It would be an extremely important date, the dragons of this tribe were always very celestially attuned.

The door still didn't budge.

W- what's wrong?

Oh... right.

Sagittarius faced its friend, the two aligning.

The two symbols glowed, and the door soon opened. She jumped out as the temple ceiling crumbled behind her.

"Well... all in a day's work."

I wasn't how sure how much time had passed, but when I looked up again, Twilight still wasn't there. What could be taking her so long?

I searched the room again, looking for whatever could keep me from being bored. Twi's desk had a Neighton's cradle on it, and that sufficed to keep me excited for a whole eight seconds! ...Yeah, I was still very bored. Spike still wasn't down yet. I wondered what Twilight was doing that was so important. My eyes were, again, drawn to the strange box in the corner. I couldn't help but feel that there was something important in there.

Dash, you can't open it; Twi will be mad. Plus, its not your stu-

What if she's hiding a secret?!

Why should you care? I mean, its just a freakin box-

OPEN THE BOX!!!

No, I shouldn't, its not right-

Do it! You know you want to!

...Fine, I suppose you're right.

Cautiously, I went over to the box and parted its lid. There were... four more boxes! Wonderful.

I opened one of the boxes, and out fell a- dagger?

It wa- what?

It came with a black sheath, one made of a material I couldn't describe. It withered at the touch, as if it begged to be unsheathed. I pulled out the dagger.

The handle was already something to see. Tapered clearly for a firm grip, it was made of... glass? Inside sloshed a purple liquid, which served no purpose as far as I could tell.

Did I mention it was used recently?

That's right. The knife's blade, a simple white contoured flat piece of metal, was dripping with blood.

Why would Twilight... I don't even...

A soft tapping came from the stairs behind me.

I quickly sheathed the dagger, and threw it into the box. I whipped around to see the mare in question coming down the stairs.

"U-uh hey Twi!" I said shakily.

Twilight gasped for breath. "H-hello Rainbow... Dash... Sorry for the uh... wait..." She then panted a bit and caught her breath. "So, what brings you here?" The confused look on her face was quickly replaced by one of excitement. "Oh! Did you hear? The new Daring Do came out!"

"Yeah! I kinda read it while waiting..."

She chuckled softly. "Yeah, sorry for all that. Well, what do you need? I'm sure I can help."

I shuffled my hooves. "Well, er, its complicated. I'm not sure if you'd be able to understand it all..."

"Dash, you're talking to a mare who helped discover the Hooves Boson."

"Ghesundheit. Anyways, what I came here for is a dream interpretation."

Her face darkened. "I can't help you there. You should probably talk to someone who knows a bit more about the Arcane arts, like Zecora, or maybe Pinkie, or-"

"That's not what I meant. I know you have definately read on psychology, and- wait, Pinkie?"

"Yeah. That and Pinkie has her Pinkie sense, and she's checked out some books from here on gypsies."

"...Okay... moving on... Anyways, I need you to help clear some things up for me. Recently, I've been having some odd dreams when I go to sleep."

"What kinds of dreams?"

So, you ever dream of falling? Yeah, I had dreams of rising. I rubbed my eyes and woke up... in the dream. Well, it felt pretty realistic though, like I was awake... but I knew I was asleep.

Why?

Well, first off, I wasn't in my bed. Or anywhere I had been before. I was on a white rock, floating in the sky.

The sky around me wasn't much either. Just an ever-stormy cloud drop, with lightning cascading down. It went on for miles, and the land below was an endless abyss of darkness.

All I felt was a cold floor under me, made of some sort of gemstone. The floor glowed softly, like the moon. The material kinda was like pearl, I kinda can't describe it any other way.

But yeah, other than the floor, there was practically nothing.

"Is anyone there?" I shouted out into the endless void. Not expecting, nor receiving a response, I sat down again and looked at the ground. The pale substance reflected back my face. Then, all of a sudden, my reflection moved.

"'Sup?" She said, pointing a hoof at me. I looked around, surprised. "Hey, I'm talking to you!" I looked down at my reflection, and jumped. My alter ego just sighed, and put her head in her hooves. "C'mon, answer me!"

"W-who are you? How are you doing that?"

"Isn't it obvious? I am you. A part of you, at least."

"No, I'm me."

"Yes, and I am you also. I am just a bit of you, amplified."

"Stop speaking in riddles, this makes no sense. Who. Are. You."

My reflection sighed again. "Fine, if you need call me something else, you can call me 'Lexis." She faded from the mirror, very slowly, as if tiny bits of her were being torn out of the ground. At the same time, a fine white mist came from where she once was, and swirled until it assembled itself again, in the shape of an earth pony.

Now, she claimed she was me, but aside from body size, she was nothing like me. She was bathed entirely in a white glow, matching the room. It was so intense, you couldn't figure out what her coat color was. Her mane branched out behind her, floating as if she was underwater. Kind of like Celestia... I thought.

She gave out a chuckle. "I am quite a bit different than Celestia. Now, I know you told me to stop speaking in riddles, but this is customary..." She cleared her throat. I still found it odd to be speaking to a mare with my voice. "I am Intellexis Cognitare Calculatus. Keeper of Your Thoughts, Librarian to the Soul's Memories. I have surfaced from the sea that is your soul to provide assistance."

"...What?"

"Long story short, I'm here to stay."

"So, again... who are you?"

"Must I go through that again?" She said with a bit of a pout. "I am Intellexis Cogni-"

"No, no, its fine! Its just uhh... what does all of that mean?"

She smiled. "It shall all make sense soon enough. Now, let us get to buisness." She pulled out a slip of paper, and floated it over to me. "This is a contract."

"For?"

"Nothing much. All it says is that you take full responsibility for your actions. I assure you, there is no fine print."

I looked down at the paper. At first glimpse, I couldn't read it, it was just a bunch of jumbled scribbles. But somehow, I don't know how, I was able to read it.

"Okay... why am I signing this?"

"You'll see. There are no ramifications of signing it, as I assure you you already take responsibilities quite well. Now, do you with to sign?"

"Erm, yeah." Just as I said those two awkward words, in the lower left corner of the contract, my cutie mark formed out of nothing. It kind of looked like reverse burning, as if somepony had recorded the picture being burnt, but then played it in reverse.

"So, who are you, for the last time! I need at least some of an answer!"

"She who wishes for answers must first ask questions."

"That I did."

"Yes, but I am not the one to answer that. Now, awake, as you have your answer to seek."

She leaned forward, and tapped me on the head with one of her hooves. I remember nothing more, but than the soft light of the room getting brighter, and brighter, until its intensity blurred out my vision. I closed my eyes in self-defense, and when I opened them again, I was staring at the roof of my room.

Though I half-expected Twilight to be asleep by this time, or at least bored, but she had surprisingly listened to every word I said. With every passing sentence, her eyes got wider and wider, almost impossibly so.

"Gee Rainbow, thats an uh... interesting dream..." Her voice seemed pretty calm, but there was a shaken undertone to it. I couldn't tell if she was actually thinking, or just pretending to to help draw me away from her voice, but either way, she looked as if her mind was reeling.

"What are you thinking about Twilight? You seem a bit apprehensive." I posed.

"You see, its uhh... oh! Apprehensive! That's a very nice word you used there Rainbow, you've learned quite a lot by reading, and uhh.... who knows what else you could learn?"

"Twilight, you're stalling. Plus, I've known that word since I was in flight school, and that's saying something."

In the corner of my eye, I swear I could see her glance at the box.

"So, Twilight, I'm pretty sure you know something about my dream. What's putting you off?"

"Uhh... n-nothing..."

"C'mon Twi. I'm the Element of Loyalty. I can't stand to watch one of my friends troubled, and I know something is bothering you. Is your diagnosis for my dream scary? Or something along those lines? Or do you have your own problems? Look, I am here to help you."

"Well, you see, umm..."

Suddenly, a third voice interrupted us.

"Umm, uh, hello? Twilight? Did you get the package?" A familiar yellow pegasus stepped into the room, and let out a small "eep!" when she saw me. "O- oh hey, Rainbow Dash... What brings you around here?"

"Oh, I was just asking Twilight about my dream. I had a very... strange one last night."

I didn't see it, but behind me, I swore I could hear Twilight making begging motions toward Fluttershy. She apparently got the message, and stalled.

"Umm, I have an idea! Why don't we have another sleepover? I mean, if that's fine with you..."

I shrugged. "Sure, why not. I'll go get the others." I opened my wings, and walked up toward Twilight's window, right about to take off when-

"Wait!" Fluttershy said at an abnormally high volume. "I mean, uhh... wait? Please?"

I turned around and closed the window. "What is it, 'Shy?"

"What I meant uhh, is, a sleepover, just the three of us."

I raised an eyebrow? "Oookay...?" Why would Twilight have begged Fluttershy to ask me to have a sleepover like this? A few moments ago, she was very shocked by my presence, wouldn't keeping me around be worse? Because she surely would know I'd ask her again.

"Great!" Twilight yelled, a little too loud. "So, I'll go tell Spike, get him out of the Library for tonight. Hehe."

"Umm, are you sure you don't want me to he-"

"Nope! I got it all under control. Yep! Mhm." She practically shoved me out, toward the door. "See ya then!" She slammed it shut, and I heard the sound of locks clicking. What about Fluttershy? If Twilight had something important to do, then why didn't she tell Fluttershy to leave also?

I flew home, thinking about it all the way. But when I stepped foot to the cloud, it all clicked for me. The strange looks they gave each other. How often they met up during night. The private conversations they'd always share.

Twilight and Fluttershy were dating.