Chapters “Hello?” Rarity called out into the abyss. “Is anypony there?”
She was alone, standing in the middle of darkness. Even with the illumination of the blue light from her horn, she could still see nothing around her but the pitch black of nothing. Rarity darted her head in every direction, in hopes of finding a trace of something, anything, in the area with her. But there was nothing to be discovered. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and tried to focus.
“It’s okay Rarity,” she said to herself, “You’ve been in worse situations. Just remain calm.” She then lowered the illumination, and tried to keep silent in the hopes of picking up something. And it paid off. Her ears perked up at the sound of small hoof steps in the distance. It was faint, but there. I suppose it’s the best I have for now.
Rarity slowly walked towards the direction that she could hear the hoof steps coming from. “Is somepony there?” The hooves went silent, and then began to move even faster. So Rarity picked up her pace, and proceeded to follow the sound. “Please, I just need to talk to somepony, I want to know where we are, what’s going on?” The hoof steps went faster, now sounding like they were running. With no other leads, Rarity had no choice but to chase after it. As she ran, the area around her began to change shades, turning from pitch black to dark grey, and finally to a lighter grey. She could finally see the source of the hoof steps, a pony’s silhouette was seen in the distance, running away from her. “Hold on, please!” The pony stopped, allowing Rarity to finally catch up. She slowed down to a trotting pace as she approached the silhouette. Despite the land being much more visible as opposed to before, Rarity still could not see who or what the pony was.
“I’m so sorry if I startled you.” Rarity stopped a few meters away from the silhouette, to give the pony some space. “It’s just that you’re the first pony I’ve seen here, I wanted to know if you knew something was going on. Something like where we are, or-”
“Shut up.” The pony snapped.
“Wh-what?” Rarity was taken aback by the response. Not only in the rudeness of it, but the voice sounded familiar to her.
“You’re so stupid. Can’t you take a hint?” With that, Rarity knew exactly whose voice it was, but was in complete disbelief of it.
“…Twilight?”
“Princess Twilight Sparkle when you address me!” The silhouette flashed, revealing it was in fact Twilight Sparkle. She unfolded her wings, and flapped them in such a fashion only to display how grand they looked, with her head held up tall.
“What has gotten into you?”
“I don’t need to explain myself to a pony as low as you. Go back to your concerns of clothing and style, some ponies have actual importance.”
“I don’t understand…”
“No, you wouldn’t, would you?” The ground beneath Rarity and Twilight began to shake, and a grand pillar arose where Twilight was standing, lifting her high into the air. And beside her, four more pillars emerged from the ground, two on her right and two on her left. They were noticeably shorter than Twilight’s own pillar, but still very high above Rarity. And for each new pillar, a new silhouette materialized.
“You’re not loyal.”
“Unkind.”
“Dishonest.”
“And just not that funny!”
One by one, the silhouettes disappeared, and revealed themselves. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack and Pinkie Pie stood beside Twilight, all glaring down at Rarity.
“Girls, what’s going on?!” Tears began to form in Rarity’s eyes. “The ponies I know would never act like this!”
“Well did it even ever occur to you that we’re just putting up with you?” Rainbow Dash scoffed at Rarity. “It’s incredible we’ve managed to put up with you this long!”
“If we really just need a token dress pony, they’re a bit a dozen all over the place.” Pinkie Pie snickered, “I mean really, what makes her so special in the first place? She’s such an idiot that she let somepony steal from her.”
“And then the time she nearly got herself killed by being such a spotlight hog.”
“Which time, there are so many!” A wave of laughter grew from the five ponies, sounding more like the roar of thunder as opposed to genuine entertainment.
“Stop it!” Tears rolled down Rarity’s face, leaving black streaks of mascara running down her cheeks. “You’re my friends!”
The laughter continued to grow amongst Applejack, Rainbow, Fluttershy and Pinkie, but Twilight’s face turned very solemn as she stared down at the sobbing mess of a pony, and shook her head. “Stupid Rarity,” Twilight’s voice boomed over all other noises, “in order to be a friend, you’d actually have to be that pony’s equal.”
****************************************************************************************
“Rarity!”
Startled awake by the sound of her name shouted into her ear, Rarity opened her eyes to see her younger sister standing on her bed. “Sweetie Belle…” She let out a small yawn and shook her head, still trying to figure out what just happened. “What are you doing, do you know how late it is?”
“I heard you crying, I came in to check on you. Were you having a bad dream? It sure sounded like it.”
Rarity tried to get her bearings together, and shook her head. What was that? That certainly didn’t feel like a typical nightmare. It felt… genuine. But at the same time, Twilight would never act like that.
“Rarity? Did you hear me?” Sweetie Belle waved a hoof in front of Rarity’s face, trying to capture her attention as she appeared dozing off again.
“I’m sorry Sweetie, I’m a little tired. What did you ask?”
“I asked what the dream was!”
“Oh, well uh… it was one of those typical nightmares, the kind everypony has. I was naked at one of my fashion shows, it was incredibly embarrassing. You know how it goes.”
Sweetie Belle raised an eyebrow. “But you never wear clothes at your shows.”
“And that’s why it felt so real.” Rarity picked herself up from her bed, and looked around, finding her cat Opalescence curled up and hiding in one of the corners of the bedroom. “Did you do something to startle Opal when you came in here?”
Sweetie Belle turned and looked where Opal was lying. “No, she was over there when I came in. She was hissing a bit too when I came in. I think something scared her.”
“Alright Sweetie. Thank you for coming in to check on me. But I assure you, I’m fine.” Rarity rubbed her eyes, and let out another soft yawn. “Now it’s late, will you please go back to sleep? I don’t want mom and dad thinking I kept you from sleeping all night when they pick you up in the morning.”
“Okay…” Sweetie Belle hopped off of Rarity’s bed, and trotted over to the door. “Goodnight sis!”
“Sleep tight Sweetie.” And with that, Sweetie Belle closed the door. Rarity looked back in the corner of her bedroom where Opal was hiding. Rarity stepped out of her bed and turned on the lamp on her nightstand. “Opal, baby what’s wrong?” Her cat didn’t respond, she just looked up and glared at her. Rarity walked a little closer to Opal, yet still trying to keep her distance so as to not make her feel cornered. She knelt down on the ground to get on her level, while avoiding direct eye contact. “Opal…?”
The response given to Rarity was a sharp hiss and a swipe of the cat’s claws, enough for her to know that Opal was in no mood to talk. I’ll deal with her tomorrow, I’m in no mood of being bandaged up tonight. Rarity slowly backed up, and returned to her bed. But something still struck her as odd about Opal’s behavior. It wasn’t just a sign of Opal being in an aggressive mood, the expression was closer to that of fear, and not recognizing her owner as who she is. Perhaps she just needs her rest too. And I need my beauty sleep too.
Rarity turned off her lamp, and slid her sleeping mask back over her eyes. That’s all I need. Beauty sleep, that’s it. Everything is fine.
Rarity trotted up to the entrance of Twilight Sparkle’s castle. She looked up and stared at the doorway, watching the crystals glimmer in the daylight. Rarity never felt comfortable walking in the castle alone, occasionally having the thought that she didn’t quite have the right to enter, as if she was doing something wrong. But as always, Rarity brushed off the feeling, took a deep breath, and opened the door.
Should I even tell Twilight about the details of the dream? Rarity thought to herself while she walked down the grand corridor. I know she would never treat me like that, and she’s my friend. She deserves to know what’s on my mind. She took a moment of pause, and let out a small sigh. No. You’re overthinking things. Stop letting a bad dream bother you like a filly, and just try to reconnect with Twilight a little more. That’s probably the reason you had such a nightmare in the first place. When was the last time you two just had some girl time?
“Rarity! There you are!” Rarity’s ears perked up at hearing her name called, and she looked down the hall to see Spike running towards her.
“Spike? What are you doing?” She picked up her pace and met with him in the middle. Spike, completely out of breath, put his hands on his knees as he tried to explain himself.
“Since you didn’t show up… they sent me to go get you…” Spike panted, barely getting the words out. He took another deep breath in, catching his breath once
“What are you talking about?”
“Didn’t Sweetie Belle tell you?”
Rarity raised an eyebrow. “Tell me what?”
“I stopped by your house this morning, Twilight asked me to get you. And of course Rainbow, Pinkie, Fluttershy and Applejack. There were a couple things she wanted to talk about with the map. But you weren’t there, Sweetie Belle said you were asleep. So I asked her to tell you to get here when you got up. She said she would, but seeing how you only came just now, I don’t think she did…”
Rarity rolled her eyes. “And I don’t know why she said she would tell me and not do so. But mom and dad picked her up this morning, I suppose she left before she could say anything. I do apologize, how tardy am I?”
“Well…Turns out the map really didn’t have a need for you today. It just needed Applejack and Rainbow to head to Appleloosa, and Pinkie and Fluttershy to go up to Quebuck. I was going to run over to your house to tell you that you didn’t need to come over.”
“You were going to go back to my home to tell me I didn’t need to go, then just run back here?”
Spike rubbed a claw on the back of his neck. “It would have given me another chance to stop by your place?” Rarity gave a bit of a giggle in response to that, and Spike let out a small laugh too.
“Well,” Rarity’s tone shifted a little more seriously, “is everypony still here at least?”
“Oh, yeah, sorry, they’re still in the throne room.”
“Thank you.” She said to Spike with a warm smile, before she trotted off to find the throne room. Despite knowing the way to get there at this point, Rarity still had a feeling that she was lost in the grandiose halls, with all the enormous doors and tapestries having this sense of looming over her.It all just nagged at her, contributing to the fear that she really shouldn’t be wandering around a place like this on her own, for it seemed like it was more of a place for royalty than a home of a friend. That’s nonsense to think that, of course it’s a home. It’s Twilight’s home. She too had these fears, I even tried to make it feel more like a home for her. And she loved it. So why is this bothering me now?
Despite not being that far, going to the throne room felt more like a journey to Rarity. After the corridor from the entrance there was the towering staircase, followed by another long corridor, which then had a smaller staircase at its end, leading to another corridor, until Rarity finally was able to reach the final turn to the throne room. She pushed her hooves on the door, but it wouldn’t move. She placed her hoof on the doorknob, and tried pulling. But again, the door wouldn’t budge. Locked? Why?
“Girls? It’s me, I’m sorry I’m so late.” Rarity knocked her hoof a couple of times on the door. A few seconds passed with no response, so she repeated knocking. “Twilight, anypony?” Aren’t they there? I didn’t see anyone coming down as I came up, and Spike seemed to imply they were still here. Rarity leaned her head in quite a bit, and kept her ear on the door to try to listen if something was going on, but the door was too thick to allow much sound to travel through. It doesn’t seem like-
“Wahaha~!” The door swung open, and Rarity stumbled head first onto the floor.
“Hiya! What are you doin’ all the way down there?!”
A shock went through Rarity’s body as she heard that, sparking a memory of the dream. No. Go away. She shook her head to wipe the thought from her mind, and turned her head upwards to see Pinkie Pie smiling down on her. Rarity picked herself up, and while returning the smile to Pinkie, she dusted herself off.
“What are you here so late for?!”
“I’m sorry, I just had a bit of a long night…” Rarity tried to step past Pinkie, but she was still standing in her way, with a gleaming smile on her face. “Pinkie.”
“Yes?”
“Excuse me, I’d just like to get in.”
“Right!” Pinkie laughed and skipped to her own throne, allowing Rarity to enter, and took a seat at her own throne, next to Applejack and Pinkie, who had just hopped onto her throne herself. Conversations were already in full swing, as Applejack and Rainbow Dash were discussing how excited they were to return to Appleloosa in hopes of seeing Braeburn and Little Strongheart again, while Fluttershy wasn’t at the table at all. Rarity looked across the table at Twilight, who was buried face first in a book, titled Pre-Princess Recorded Equestian History, vol. 2
“Again, I’m so sorry for only just coming in now.” Rarity said, attempting to find a way to step into the conversation, her head darting in each direction around the table just trying to make eye contact with a friend. “Like I was just I had a very long night.”
“Heya Rarity,” Applejack nodded to acknowledge her friend, before turning back and continuing her discussion with Rainbow Dash. “But as nice it’d be to see them again, ‘I wouldn’t want to have to see them fight all over again.”
“You know there’s more ponies in Appleloosa than just Braeburn! And it’s not like they could only have issues with the buffalo again!” Rainbow Dash refuted as she waved her hooves around.
“Alright, alright.” Applejack stood up. “No point just chit chatting about it here. ‘I don’t wanna get to Appleloosa too late.”
“Yeah, okay.” Rainbow flew up from her seat, and waved down at Twilight, Pinkie and Rarity. “I’ll see you guys later!” She gave a wink down at Applejack. “And race you to the train station Applejack!”
“No you can’t do that, we’re supposed to get there together now!” Applejack leaped from her chair, as both she and her pegasus friend bolted out of the room.
Rarity turned to Pinkie Pie, who seemed more willing to talk as she bobbed up and down on her throne, rather than Twilight who still looked like she couldn’t take her face away from her book. “Pinkie, where’s Fluttershy? Spike said you both were going to Quebuck together?”
“Yes! Well, she left earlier because she wanted to feed the animals before we left. She didn’t seem that excited to go, but I’m so excited to! I’ve never gone there, and I don’t think she has either but oh my gosh, we’re going to have just the best time there!” Pinkie Pie began shaking in her seat, looking like a rocket ready to fire off. “I just need to go any second!”
“So why did you wait here, instead of just leaving with her?”
“Oh yeah. Huh. I don’t know!” She rubbed her hooves on her head for a bit, looking as if she was pondering the great mysteries of life, and finally she clapped her hooves together. “Oh duh! Of course, I needed to wait for you to ask you something! About Quebuck I mean.”
Rarity was a bit puzzled with the response, unable to figure what Pinkie would want from her, considering she’s never been there either. “And what would that be?”
Pinkie Pie rubbed her head much harder than before, only this time she ended it with a shrug. “I completely forgot! I’ll go then!” She leaped from her seat, and galloped out the door. “See ya Twilight, see ya Rarity!”
An uncomfortable silence took over the room, as Rarity sat alone with Twilight, who still remained focused on her reading. Rarity wasn’t even sure she turned the page.
“So… Twilight…” Rarity’s words wandered off, as she just tried to get her attention at this point. “Since we’re the ones left, do you want to go out for a treatment day? Maybe get a hooficure? We haven’t done anything in quite some time.” Rarity paused, to see if she could get a response from Twilight. But there was nothing. “Twilight? Is everything alright?” Rarity got down from her own throne and move closer to Twilight. She waved a hoof in front of her face, but it was to no avail, as her eyes never lifted from the book. This is ridiculous. She put her hoof over the book and covered up one of the pages. “Twilight!”
“Ah!” Twilight dropped the book, and swatted away Rarity’s hoof before she could even realize what just happened. “Oh my goodness, I’m so, so sorry Rarity, I hope I wasn’t ignoring you. I was just a bit too concentrated on something.”
“No, it’s okay. I’m sorry I interrupted your concentration, it got a little worrisome.” Rarity glanced back at the book. “What are you reading this one for? Didn’t seem like you were reading it for pleasure.”
“Well, Princess Luna said there was a matter to be discussed, and it was in regards to something before her era. So I figured it’d be a good idea to study what I could before seeing her. In fact, I better get going.”
“Get going? To Canterlot…?” Rarity didn’t even know why she bothered to ask that, she knew the answer.
“Well of course! Where else would I go to see Princess Luna?”
A sense of disappointment took over Rarity, aware of the fact that her plans for a nice day with Twilight probably weren’t going to happen anytime in the near future. Still, she tried to make the best of it. “Well, would you want me to maybe go with you?”
Twilight chuckled a little bit. “Oh Rarity, it’s okay, you don’t have to keep me company, I’ll be fine.”
Keep * you** company? The words cut into Rarity with a quick, sharp pain before she disregarded them. *What’s wrong with her saying that? It’s nothing, she wasn’t acting selfish at all by saying that. Stop it. “Well, we haven’t spent that much time together recently, so maybe after you meet with the Princess, we can have a little girl time in Canterlot?”
“You’re not going to take no as an answer, are you?” Twilight sighed, and gave her friend a smile. “Alright, let’s go. But this isn’t really anything important most likely. Don’t say I didn’t warn you if things get a bit boring.”
************************************
Twilight certainly wasn’t kidding. Despite being on the train to Canterlot for some time, Rarity could not find a way to maintain any sort of conversation with Twilight, her mind was definitely not in the moment. All she did was continue to read her history book very intensely, or shuffle throw a notebook she brought with her.
Rarity glared out the window, watching the terrain speed and change behind them. They were still a decent amount of time away from Canterlot, and she certainly didn’t want to spend the rest of the ride in complete silence.
“So, Twilight,” Rarity said, attempting one more time to spark up a chat, “You never really quite explained why you were so keen on reading all of this now.”
“Yeah I did. I said Princess Luna asked me to.” Twilight replied, unable to look up to Rarity.
“You said Princess Luna wanted to talk to you about history, and you were the one who wanted to read up on it.”
Twilight put her books down on the seat next to her, and looked up at Rarity. “If you already know the answer then why did you ask?”
“Well I was hoping you would maybe elaborate a bit, that’s all.”
“How can I elaborate when I’m not even sure what exactly the Princess requested me for?”
“Nevermind it, Twilight.” Rarity took in a deep breath and exhaled as she went back to just staring out the window.
“Rarity, no. I’m sorry.” Twilight’s voice softened to a more sympathetic tone, realizing she hurt her friend with how she was talking. “I am just a little anxious at the moment. Princess Luna rarely requests me to go to Canterlot. If anything, it’s her sister. The fact that she called for me makes me feel it’s an urgent matter.”
“If it was that urgent, why did she only request you?” Rarity said as she continued to watch the scenery go by.
Twilight opened her mouth to respond, but instead she paused for a moment. “Rarity… what’s bothering you?”
Rarity turned her head so it was facing Twilight, but she wouldn’t make eye contact, she just stared down at her own hooves. “I haven’t been feeling well over a couple of things.”
“Like what? Talk to me.” Twilight raised Rarity’s chin so she could maintain eye contact her, and she gave her a small smile.
Look at her. How could you ever think she sees you as anything less than a friend? “I’m sorry.” Rarity rubbed her eyes a bit, trying to hide the fact that they were getting a bit teary. “I just was feeling a bit left out.”
“Because the map sent away the others, and I had to go too?”
“Well it’s not just that.” She stopped at that to take a moment to choose her words carefully. It is worth mentioning to her, it could be important, but again, do you want to sound like some little filly? “I had this dream last night-”
“Princess Twilight! Princess Twilight!” Seemingly out of nowhere, a stallion’s voice cut off Rarity mid-sentence. Rarity looked behind her into the aisle to see a tall unicorn with a grey coat and a light golden mane standing beside her, with his attention clearly focused on Twilight. He lowered his head, and bowed to Twilight. “It’s an honor to see you again.”
“Oh, Silver Lining, you don’t have to do that.” Twilight said, waving a hoof.
“You know each other?” Rarity asked, with a slightly confused look on her face as she glanced between the two ponies.
“This is Silver Lining, he’s a representative from the Crystal Empire.” Twilight then looked at Silver. “And this is my friend Rarity.”
“It’s very nice to meet you.” Rarity smiled at Silver Lining, extending a hoof out to him, however it was ignored as Silver Lining just sat down next to her, while still only focusing on Twilight.
“It’s very coincidental to have found you on your way to Canterlot as well. Princess Cadence has asked me to relay a message to Princess Celestia regarding the Empire.”
“I was actually on my way to see Princess Luna myself. By the way, how is my brother doing?”
“He’s doing rather well, though there has been a bit of a growing concern in the Empire of a changeling spy, so the royal guard has been on very high alert.”
“Oh dear, is it serious?”
“Not exactly, and so far, fortunately, nothing seems to point to there being a spy at all. However, of course it is better to be safe than sorry.”
“Oh absolutely. And I’m sure Shining is more than equipped to handle the circumstances.”
Rarity just watched as the conversation just bounced between Silver Lining and Twilight, as she couldn’t find a way to rejoin as they began chatting more and more about matters she knew little about, or one would cut off the other, and allow no room for Rarity to interject with something to say herself.
Well I certainly know a third wheel when I see one. Rarity stood up, and tried to step over Silver Lining, who wouldn’t budge, making it more difficult for her to get out into the aisle.
“Twilight.” Rarity said as she finally was able to step over the oblivious Silver Lining. “I’m going to head over to the café car. Can I bring you back anything?”
“No thanks Rarity, I’m good!”
Silver Lining finally turned to address Rarity for the first time. “I’m fine as well.”
Of course * that’s** what gets your attention.* Of course Rarity was incredibly irritated that the stallion only spoke to her when he wanted something, but she tried her best not to show her irritation, and just smiled before she trotted down the car to the door. The café car was just two more cars down. Before she opened the door to the next car, Rarity turned back to look at Silver Lining and Twilight. The two ponies were already re-engaged in a full conversation, and there was no difference whether Rarity was with them or not.
“Maybe coming here wasn’t the best idea, perhaps I should have remained at home. At least then I could have finished another project, or done something.” Rarity told herself as she entered the next car. “Just let Twilight deal with him, and you can finally get back together.” She knew Twilight wasn’t to blame, but she still felt a little booted out considering how Silver Lining interrupted them right when Rarity was about to share her concerns. Just terrible timing. Whatever. It doesn’t matter. She thought as she made her way to the end of the next car, now in front of the door to the café care.
As she stepped inside the café car, she took a moment to stare at the menu above the counter. Not even to actually read it to see what was available, just to zone out, clear her mind. She stood there, thoughtless.
“Eh, uh, miss, can I get you something?”
“Oh, I’m sorry.” Rarity shifted her focus to the pony working at the counter. “Yes, I’ll just have a coffee. Just black, please.”
“Coming right up.” The pony turned her back to Rarity for a moment to fix the coffee machine, before pouring some of it into a cup and sliding it across the counter. Rarity placed a couple of bits on the counter.
“Thank you, please keep the change.” Rarity took the coffee cup and walked over to a booth, and took a seat. She picked up a sugar cube and just held it over the cup. What’s the problem, why can’t I focus?
“Princess Twilight Sparkle when you address me.” A Twilight’s statements from the nightmare began to flash in her head.
No, that’s not her. Rarity closed her eyes and exhaled, trying to clear her mind.
Is it now? What was originally Twilight’s voice, transformed, distorted, sharpening into something sounding more like a hiss. It didn’t seem to be so just a few minutes ago.
She’s busy with royal duties. It’s part of her job to engage in such matters of importance.
And how did she get that ‘job’? After making a mistake and suddenly getting rewarded for it?
That’s not at all what occurred. Twilight worked hard as Princess Celestia’s student, she earned that. And I’m proud of her.
Whatever you want to delude us into thinking, fine, the voice crackled, but we can’t keep avoiding the truth.
Rarity’s eyes shot open as she felt a hoof nudge her shoulder. It was Twilight, standing right beside the booth.
“So this is where you were hiding? Come on, we’re here.” Twilight chuckled a bit.
“Already? But I thought we still had a decent amount of time left.” Rarity took a sip of her coffee, only to immediately follow with spitting it out. “Oh goodness, it’s… cold?”
“You must have just briefly fallen asleep, come on, let’s get going.” Twilight kept her hoof out, helping Rarity get out of the booth. “I already asked one of the attendants to take our bags, they’ll actually send someone to deliver them over to the castle for us so we don’t have to pick them up ourselves.”
“Thank you, Twilight.” Rarity was still trying to get herself together, still feeling quite disjointed after missing what seemed to be a long period of time. “Where’s that one stallion?”
“Oh Silver Lining?” Twilight said, as she led Rarity out of the door of the train and onto the station. “He got off already. Besides, quite honestly, I didn’t want to go with him to Canterlot. He can be a bit pretentious.”
“I could tell.”
“I know he interrupted you, and you didn’t get a chance to talk. I’m sorry.” Twilight walked down to the road, and looked around her. “Did you want to get a cab?”
“It’s a short walk, right? I don’t mind. And it’s fine.”
“Are you alright?”
Rarity hesitated for a moment, thinking about her nightmare, and the thoughts she was having in the café car. “Well… I suppose it’s a good thing we’re seeing Princess Luna. I think I really need to talk to her.”
“You were going to tell me about a dream you had. Is that what this is about?” Twilight paused, and looked Rarity in her eyes with a concerned expression. “Is... is it about me, and that’s why you don’t want to talk to me about it now?”
“Well, no, it’s not that.” Rarity lied, averting Twilight’s eyes. I don’t want to hurt her feelings. She’ll think I genuinely hate her. “It’s just that, well, you know if the dreams are bothering me, who else better to ask for advice than the Princess who sees over the night?”
“Alright. Just tell me what she says about it, please.”
“Of course!”
It wasn’t too long before Twilight and Rarity had made it to the grand castle in Canterlot, and were standing just outside its grand doors. The guard ponies who stood watch over it, immediately recognized the two of them and let them into the castle together. Upon entering, they were both greeted by another member of the royal guard.
“Princess Twilight Sparkle, what an honor to see you again. Please, right this way, Princess Luna is expecting you.” The guard pony addressed Twilight, and led the way for her and Rarity to Princess Luna’s personal study room. Upon reaching the door, he gave it a very hard knock before stepping aside, giving room to Twilight and Rarity to stand in front. The door then began to open, and behind it stood Princess Luna, and upon seeing her, both Twilight and Rarity instinctively bowed.
“Welcome, Princess Twilight. Come in, we have much to discuss.” As she spoke to Twilight, Luna looked beside her and saw Rarity as well. “Miss Rarity, I didn’t not expect your company here as well.”
“Please forgive me, Princess. I asked to accompany Twilight here to Canterlot, not her. I hope I am not intruding.”
“No, it is not an intrusion, it is wonderful to see you again.” The words spoken by Luna started off welcoming, but then transitioned into something much more serious in tone. “But unfortunately, this is a matter I must discuss with Twilight alone, and I must ask that you remain out here.”
Twilight stood up, and made an attempt to protest. “But Princess-”
“Twilight,” Luna cut her off, “I’ll explain it to you inside. Please come in.”
Twilight opened her mouth as if about to make one last objection, but instead accepted it, and turned to look back at Rarity as she walked inside. “I’m sorry, I’ll see you in a little bit, as soon as we’re done.”
“No, it’s okay, I understand, I’ll just wait for you two.” Rarity said, attempting to hide her mixed feelings of embarrassment, disappointment and loneliness dwelling within her.
“Please forgive me, Rarity. This is a discussion for Twilight and I. I will be able to speak to you when we are finished.” And with that, Luna closed the door, leaving Rarity in the castle halls, alone.
Princess Luna turned around after closing the door, and stepped past Twilight Sparkle as she made her way towards the center of the room. “There is much I need to discuss with you, Twilight.”
“But Princess,” Twilight protested, stomping a hoof on the ground. Not to show any disrespect for Princess Luna, but she knew she had to speak up for her friend. “What was that just about? Why wouldn’t you allow Rarity in?”
“It was my fault for not making it clear. I intended this to be a discussion for the two of us only. And I apologize for that,” Luna said, not completely giving attention to Twilight. She walked up to one of the bookcases, and raised a hoof to it, running it across the various titles. “But this is a matter that cannot be spoken about outside of this room. For if it does, I have concern it could bring danger to all of Equestria.” Luna stopped her hoof on a thick, black book. She pulled it off the shelf, dusted it off and then placed it on a nearby table, before turning back to Twilight.
“But isn’t that all the more reason to have Rarity present? I say this not only as her friend, but because of the fact that without her help, as well as the rest of my friends, Equestria could have fallen to danger many times! If something presents a threat, my friends and I would be the first to stand up against it! You and Princess Celestia should be very aware…” Twilight began to trail off at those last words, feeling that she may have been sounding a bit impolite to the Princess of the Moon. She bowed her head with the thought of that. “Forgive me Princess, I didn’t intend to sound-”
“It’s okay Twilight, I understand your feelings.” Luna returned her focus to Twilight, which in turn gave her the cue to raise her head back up. “The truth of the matter is, it’s not that I do not trust young Rarity, or your other friends, but the fact is I am concerned with their own safety and wellbeing as much as you are.” Luna turned to face the window, and let out a heavy sigh. “And in addition to that, this is something I have not yet discussed with my own sister yet, either.”
Twilight shifted her posture upon hearing that, and her mentality changed from defensive to curious. “What would you need from me then?”
“Because the truth is, I cannot deal with this alone. I need somepony’s help. Somepony very educated in ancient magic. There’s an uncertainty with what could possibly happen, and I will need another’s help.” Luna’s words carried a very serious tone with them, and Twilight could also feel a trail of concern rooted in them as well. “But Twilight,” she continued, “I do not wish to place this responsibility on you, as I fear it could place you in danger as well. If you do not feel comfortable with this, I want to give you the opportunity to walk away with no repercussions.”
The princess’s words hit Twilight deeply, and she took a moment to thoughtfully consider what she could be getting into. After a period of silence, Twilight raised herself up, and stood proud for Luna. She knew what she had to do. “Princess Luna, I would be honored to help you in whatever way I can.”
Luna gave a subtle nod to Twilight. “Thank you. I knew I could count on you for assistance.”
“But what could possibly present such a problem that you are hesitant in discussing this with Princess Celestia?”
“Just as I am concerned for the safety of your friends, I also am concerned for her. And this might be something you have more experience dealing with than her.” Luna paused for a moment, reflecting on her own words. “I have reason to believe that the dark magic may be gathering together. But a very particular type of dark magic…” She took a very deep breath in, and attempted to hold herself together at the thought of what she was about to admit. “Nightmare magic.”
Twilight took a step back in complete disbelief. “How…?” Her mind cleared, and went silent, before her head flooded with new questions, yet she was at a loss of words and could not speak.
“As you know, I watch over the dreams of ponies all across the land…” Luna began, “but over the past couple of nights, I have noticed something very foul. A number of ponies have been having eerily similar dreams. While the exact details of the nightmare would vary from pony to pony, they each shared a similarity. A purple fog which engulfed the land, as sharpened, jagged crystals pierce the ground. That was all I was able to see, as upon entrance to these dream, the fog would retreat and the crystals would recede back. I would certainly know the dark magic of nightmares when I see it.”
“I don’t understand. If Equestria is in danger of nightmare magic, why would you not want the rest of my friends to know?”
“Because there is something about this particular nightmare magic that appears to be able to spread to other ponies, not unlike the Tantabus.” Luna said, as she contemplated her own experiences with the two. “It all started several nights ago. I myself had my own dream where I foresaw this fog and purple crystals that tore through the land. Knowing what magic it was, I asked my chamber guards if I did anything unusual that night. The reports was nothing out of the ordinary. On the following night however, while I did not receive the dream myself, the chamber guards who were off shift of the ones I spoke to, each had similar nightmares, and woke up in sheer terror, and it lasted throughout the day. I had to cast a spell on them to ease their minds for the time being.”
“So that was the second night, what has come since?” Twilight inquired.
“Some of the guards on duty responded to the waking cries of the other chamber guards. And the following night those guards too had their own nightmares. It was enough for me to deem a potential crisis was coming. But I can only oversee so many dreams in Equestria at night, and I fear explaining this to my sister right away, for it could result in her awaking the same way as the guardsponies. It may not be as simple to ease her own mind. And as for your friends, I feel the same for them. But I did need somepony’s help; a pony strong in magic and knowledgeable with the history of Equestria. You were one of the few qualified, and one of the few I can trust.”
Twilight was flattered by Luna’s words, however she quickly realized there was something was missing. “I feel as if you’re not telling me one last thing.”
Luna closed her eyes, took in a deep breath, and exhaled. “There was one thing mentioned in one of the ramblings, last night actually, and it was another reason why I called for you today on such short notice.” She opened her eyes, and paused as she just stared at the young princess before her. “Your name was mentioned.”
Twilight did not immediately respond to Luna. She looked down at the floor, and looked back up again, trying not to act out to the information presented to her. She knew exactly what could be inferred from this.
“Are you feeling alright? I think it’s important to secure your safety, as we don’t know what the future could hold in store. For the time being, I would like to ask that you remain here, in the castle. Just for a few days.” Luna placed a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “And I still would need your help to identify the source of this.”
Twilight straightened herself together, and raised her chin to Luna, and she found the attitude to take this with. “Alright. I will always trust in you.”
Luna gave Twilight a smile, before stepping back and walking back to her bookcase, as she continued what she was saying. “I only feel it’s necessary to watch over you for the next few days. What can be inferred from this could be a wide variety of things. It could something which intends to take you, or something that intends to…” Luna stopped herself, not wanting to even think about the other possibility. “Either way, I just want to ensure your safety as we work together. I’ve isolated the other incidents, and if things pass over with no new occurrences, then I feel we can safely bring in my sister to help us.”
“And my friends?”
“Yes, them too.” Luna’s eyes widened, as she came to a realization. “Twilight… did Rarity mention that she too had a nightmare?”
“Yes, actually, she said on the way here that she did want to discuss it with you.” Twilight quickly caught on to Luna’s own thoughts. “Do you think…?”
“I didn’t happen to see her own dream before, unfortunately I cannot oversee the dreams of every single pony in Equestria…” Luna raised a hoof to her chin and took a moment to think over the possibilities. “Seeing how she didn’t wake up as the other ponies did, I want to say it might not be something to worry about… however I wouldn’t want to underestimate anything in this circumstance. When we’re finished, I’ll speak with Rarity.”
“Thank you.” Twilight stepped over to the table beside the bookcase, and looked at the book Luna had placed there prior to their conversation. She picked it up the book, and held it up to Luna. “What exactly is this?”
Luna’s horn lit up, and she took the book from Twilight, levitating it towards her. The book slowly began to open up, and the pages flapped with it. “This contains everything I’ve been able to record about any type of dark magic. Of course it does not contain such magic itself, only what I have found it to be capable of, and its effect on ponies. I’ve been attempting to find events and cases that line up with what’s occurring now, and what has happened in the past. Have you studied up upon the early history of Equestria like I asked when I sent for you?”
“Yes, I read up everything I could about it before I got here. At least up until the reign of the Unicorn King Bullion.”
“Did the books you read mention anything about his brother, Obsidian?”
“There was a couple of brief mentions of his plot to murder his brother to obtain the crown, yes. It was his neglect to deal with his niece, Princess Platinum, that led to his capture.”
“And before that, did you happen to come across the Age of Eclipse?”
“Briefly, but I couldn’t find too much recorded about it.” Twilight tried to recall whatever she could about the Age of Eclipse, but the truth was it was a period where there were very little ponies who actually kept track of history. “All that I was able to learn about that was a small cult of ponies practicing dark arts.” Twilight paused. “Why bring this up?”
“It’s just important in regards to a theory I’m developing.” Luna trailed off, and she stopped for a moment, as intense emotions dwelled in her about her own past. But as brief as it was, Luna quickly got a hold of herself, not allowing herself to be overwhelmed with the struggle of regret. “This is not to say I am not responsible for my own actions, as Nightmare Moon. However, what I have theorized by studying these past events was there is a force generating magic that is capable of corrupting the desires of ponies, threatening the balance of harmony.”
Luna released the aura around the book, causing it to fall onto her hoof, and she extended it to Twilight. “What I need you to do is delve deeper into the history of the land. Cross reference what you can with this book, and help me try to find-” Luna immediately silenced herself upon hearing a knock on her door. She handed the book to Twilight, and walked over to the entrance to the room. She took a glance through the peephole, and on the other side was one of her personal guard.
“Welcome, though you were not expected to come to me at this time. Is there a problem?” Luna said, as she opened the door.
“Forgive me, my Princess.” The guard pony said as he removed his helmet and knelt down. “The representatives of Saddle Arabia have arrived. As Princess Celestia is not currently present, they seek an audience with you.”
“Thank you. You are dismissed.” Luna nodded at the guard, and turned back to Twilight, who still stood in the room. “I shan’t be too long. Now would be a good time to speak with Rarity, and have her tell you what was on her mind. When you’re finished, come back up here and continue studying the history as I mentioned.”
“It will be done, thank you, Princess.” Twilight nodded to Luna, and followed her out the door.
******
Rarity sighed as paced back and forth beside the first stairway on the first floor of the castle. She wasn’t quite sure how long it was since Twilight went to go speak with Luna. At first, she occupied herself by taking a casual trot in the castle, but of course the guards wouldn’t let her go too deep into the castle.
Isn’t it a bit ridiculous… Rarity thought, I’ve contributed to saving Equestria numerous times, and they still don’t even so much as recognize me. She stopped for a moment to look upwards at some of the grand stained glass windows far above where she stood. In the main hall, there were four of these, one of Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Cadence, but the one that kept Rarity’s attention was the window showing Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship. It just appeared to glow as Rarity stared at it, light shining through Twilight’s wings as they stretched across the window. Calling her appearance merely majestic would be an understatement. And at the bottom of the image in the window, there were five small ponies, nearly microscopic in comparison to Twilight. There was a pink one, a blue one, a yellow one, an orange one, and finally, a white one.
Is this all I am? Rarity squinted, just trying to focus in on what appeared to be the insignificant white pony-shaped spot on Twilight’s stained glass window. Am I just a footnote in the history of somepony much better than I?
And is that something we’re happy with? A voice hissed in the back of Rarity’s head once more. If we let our fate continue to follow the path it’s on, that’s all we’re ever going to amount to.
Rarity looked away from the stained glass window, and just faced the ground, not even trying to acknowledge the thoughts, knowing where they could take her thinking.
Don’t pretend this can just be ignored. Will the life of a designer really be remembered? We can make as many connections as we want, but the kinds of them will never stop looking down on us. We don’t want to be seen as beneath them, do we? The sharp, criticizing tone of the voice began to shift into something sounding much softer, closer to Rarity’s own, as it continued to speak. We just want to help us. We can be so much bigger than we are…
Leave me alone. Rarity immediately felt uncomfortable after thinking that. One of many things making her uneasy actually, like the fact that the voice referred to Rarity and itself as we, or how it constantly changed the sound of itself.
Impossible. We are one and the same. With that, the voice faded into the back of her mind, leaving Rarity alone, with the thoughts it introduced still lingering in her head. Rarity wanted to say something was wrong. She could feel it. But at the same time, deep in her heart she knew it wasn’t entirely wrong. And it resurfaced old thoughts Rarity wanted to keep buried and avoid for as long as she could. It wasn’t that she was jealous of her friend. Truthfully, Rarity was always proud of Twilight and her accomplishments. But at the same time, she also felt completely eclipsed by her. Being friends with a princess would certainly make one feel like a small shape on someone’s own giant stain glass window.
Rarity’s mind started to race with thoughts about Twilight’s own achievements compared to hers. Twilight’s vast knowledge in magic and spell casting compared to Rarity’s meager use of telekinesis, and spells to locate gems. How Twilight could work to uncover a changeling threat, and how she felt foolish enough after letting a competitor steal from her. While Twilight could travel to and save other worlds from oblivion, Rarity could only sit and wait for her to return along with everyone else.
She tried to turn back around to glare at the window, but her head only made it halfway, as it met with a familiar face. It was Twilight, wandering about the hallowed halls on her own. Rarity rubbed her face with her hooves, trying to rid herself of what was pestering her mind, and trotted over to see her friend.
“Oh, there you are Rarity!” Twilight smiled, waving to her friend as she approached. “I was looking for you for a bit, I just finished with talking with Princess Luna for now, and there’s some thing I need to discuss with you.”
“It’s good to see you again, Twilight.” Rarity put on a fake smile, trying to forget her thoughts from just a few moments ago. “If it’s okay, it might be important for me to go to talk to Princess Luna now.”
“Is it about the dream you said you had? You know you can tell me anything”
“Well, sort of. It’s more than that.” Rarity rubbed a hoof on the back of her neck, as she avoided direct eye contact with Twilight for a moment. What am I supposed to tell her? That I’m jealous of her? “Can we maybe go talk to Princess Luna about it, together?”
“Well…” Twilight barely started, but Rarity already began to brace herself, as it sounded to her she was going to receive some disappointing news. “Princess Luna is going to be unavailable for a bit. She’s having a meeting with some representatives of Saddle Arabia.”
“Oh.” Rarity let out a sigh of relief, as she feared what she was going to be told was going to be much worse. However, her mood improved even more upon realizing that she could finally spend some time with Twilight. “Then why don’t we just wait for her to finish? For the time being as we wait for her, why don’t we go do something! We’re in Canterlot together! We can go dine at Restaurant Row, or perhaps head over to Twin Tails Salon and get fabulous new mane styles, or maybe even-”
“Well, you can go do something if you really want, Rarity. I’ll just be here for the time being.” Twilight said with a smile, giving Rarity a bit of a wave off.
“What?” Rarity’s excitement was shot down as quickly as it erupted, her ears collapsed to the sides of her head. “What do you mean?”
“You can do something Rarity, and when you’re done we can go talk to Princess Luna. But I’ll just remain in the castle for now.”
“Remain in the castle? What’s going on?”
“It’s nothing, really.”
“You didn’t seem to think that way this morning.”
“Rarity, it’s not something I can discuss with you. Just forget it.”
“Why? Did Princess Luna tell you something? What was it?” Rarity’s ire became apparent in her voice, as the thoughts of what the voice said pricked her mind. She thinks she’s above us, that we don’t need to know because we’re not good enough.
“Just forget it, Rarity.” Twilight’s voice became stern,as she was responding to the increasing irritation that was growing in her friend.
“Why?”
“Because I was asked to.”
“Who asked you?”
“Princess Luna.”
“Why?”
“You don’t need to know.”
“And why not?”
“Because.”
“Because why
“Because Princess Luna didn’t ask for your help, because you are incapable of helping her!” Twilight immediately covered her mouth as the last word left her mouth, shocked and ashamed of what she said. “Rarity, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean it like that…”
Rarity didn’t immediately react to Twilight’s statement, she just glared at her. “Forgive me for stepping out of line, princess . I forgot a lowly commoner wasn’t allowed to be involved in such royal matters.”
“Rarity, please, don’t act like that.” Twilight pleaded, “I’m sorry, there’s a reason I can’t tell you. You just need to trust me.”
“I suppose the reason is I don’t have the royal clearance to know?” Rarity turned around from Twilight and started to walk away. “I’m going back to Ponyville.”
“Don’t be like that, what’s gotten into you?” Twilight stepped forward to place a hoof on Rarity’s shoulder, only to have it immediately swatted away.
“Leave me alone
