Transatlanticism

Chapters

Eyes Closed
All New Materials
The Cascade

Eyes Closed

The relentless pounding of wheel into track, accompanied by the constant chug of the engine, clashed a cacophonous tangle of noise. The massive train sped across the tracks, a light in the inky blackness that only starless, moonless nights can bring.

The thundering pounds and chugs faded into a constant hum inside the silent train cars. Most of the train’s passengers for the night had wasted no time in taking advantage of the nocturnal journey, as snores and snorts emanated from different sections of the train.

Despite the hour, and the slumber of the other ponies, a pair of indigo eyes gazed steadily out to the passing terrain, until their owner shifted. Turning away from the window momentarily, she instead took a passing glance at her fellow passengers. Seeing the lack of ponies that wanted to strike up a conversation, she sighed and rested her head on the wall, returning her attention to the fleeting land that zipped by.

Not like she could see anything, anyway. The light that beamed from the train’s front-facing, and only, headlight, stretched far in one direction. That one direction did not include either of the train’s sides. As such, the sitting pony only saw the ground right in front of her as it flew by.

Twilight Sparkle sighed and shifted again, only to bump into her seat-mate. The same one who had taken the extreme consideration of sprawling out on the seat in his slumber, and the same one who let loose monstrous, train-shaking snores far too often. With this respect for those around him, he left the unfortunate unicorn bunched up against the wall.

Another sigh, and Twilight shifted again, careful not to disturb the snoring stallion. After a moment, all four hooves rested on the cushy seat, and her head rested against the wall again. Figuring that this was as comfortable as she would get, Twilight allowed herself a moment to think.

Maybe she was crazy. Maybe she had gotten a little too caught up in her hobby. Maybe stargazing from her library just wasn’t enough. Maybe she had this idea that if she went to some remote, secluded place, away from everything and anything, that she could really see the art of the night sky. Maybe that’s why she had booked a train ticket to Appleoosa, which just so happened to be surrounded by remote, undisturbed terrain, and was a mere train ride away. The meteor shower that happened to fall on that very day didn’t help Twilight’s thinking, either.

The librarian remembered, all too well, the conversation she had with Spike before leaving.

“All right, Spike, I’ll be on my way now. Don’t forget to remember to lock the library door after I leave.” Twilight had trotted out the door, intending to shut it behind her.

“Wait...” Spike’s voice carried through the open door, making Twilight pause. She turned around to see him standing at the door. “Where exactly are you going again? And why?”

Twilight hid her growing impatience under a thin smile. “Well, I’m going to Appleoosa for tonight to watch the meteor shower. It’s just a train ride away, and it has a lot of undisturbed spots to watch the stars from.”

“By yourself?”

Twilight shrugged as best a pony could. “I doubt any one of my friends would go out of their way to watch this meteor shower. I’ll be back as soon as I can, hopefully before tomorrow night.” Her thin smile grew into a reassuring grin.

“Okay, Twilight... it just seems like this is a bit out of the blue.”

“Well, it is, but how could I miss an opportunity like this? Ponyville and every other place around will just manage to get in the way.”

“Well, I guess there’s no stopping you.” Spike conceded. “Just... be safe, okay?”

“Of course! I always have this to get me out of a sticky situation!” Twilight tapped her forehead, earning an eyeroll from Spike, who shut the door. The unicorn checked her saddlebags, ensuring that every part of her telescope was there and that she had spare parchment, quills, and ink. Satisfied that everything was in order, she struck out for the Ponyville train station.

She had set off for Appleoosa with high hopes and high spirits. A clear night, no disturbances, and a wonderful, breathtaking view included what she had in mind.

Maybe, then, the storm clouds that had settled right above her that night were more than mere coincidence. Maybe nature itself was telling Twilight Sparkle what not to do if she wanted to see a meteor shower. What not to do apparently involved taking a train to a remote place, only to end up soaking wet and without a view.

After some wandering around Appleoosa, the storm had struck unexpectedly, leaving many curious Appleoosans and one disgruntled unicorn. Some asking around, and it didn’t seem like it was going away anytime soon.

One dash to the train station later, and Twilight found herself on the first train back to Ponyville. Where she would most undoubtedly stay the next time a meteor shower or something similar rolled around.

Something struck the train’s window, making Twilight cock an ear and nudging her out of her thoughts. Another strike, and another. They grew faster and more frequent, until they fell into a rhythm of the pitter-patter of raindrops against glass. One corner of Twilight’s mouth curled into a small smile. The bookworm had always had a soft spot for the rain. Perfect weather to read to, or fall asleep to. Now, she was finally considering the latter. If she fell asleep now, she wouldn’t have to wait through the train ride back to Ponyville. Her mind made up, she closed her eyes...

The first thing to come to her attention was that she wasn’t on the train anymore. She felt herself on her back, being supported by a rough and ticklish substance, compared to the train seat she had fallen asleep on.

A drop of water landed on Twilight, making her flinch slightly. What in the world...? Twilight’s eyes opened, and took in the sight of a solitary cloud above her. The cloud produced another drop of rain, which fell onto her. Mystery solved, she thought. Standing up, she took in her surroundings. Looking around her, she was met with grass, grass, and more grass, as far the eye could see. Stretching over flats and rolling over hills, it was everywhere. Everywhere, except for one place. In the distance, the grass abruptly dropped off into what appeared to be a massive fissure in the ground. Though Twilight squinted, she couldn’t see beyond that. Except for the one cloud above her, the sky was fully open and cloudless.

By now, Twilight was fully aware she was dreaming. Vivid dreams such as this one were anything but rare for her, and she had long since gotten used to winding up in strange places such as this. Noticing the hole in the ground, her curiosity led her in the direction of the abyss in the distance.

If she had looked up, she would have noticed the single cloud following her.

==================

Twilight did not know how long she walked. Minutes? Hours? Days, or possibly even months? Apparently, time did not matter in this dream, and she had given up trying to keep track.

It was also difficult to gauge distance, because though Twilight was sure she was putting one hoof in front of another, her landscape remained unchanging. The gaping hole that was her destination didn’t seem to be getting closer, either.

However, as her trek onwards continued, her surroundings finally began to yield to change. The once flat plain now sported hollows in the ground every so often. Passing them, the hollows began to widen and expand, becoming gaps and holes of ever-increasing size. Some rivaled the expanse of the basin in the distance, and yet they all were featureless, and, to Twilight, useless.

During her journey (or was it more like a leisurely stroll? Twilight had no way of telling), one thing had been weighing on her mind.

What does all this mean?

Sure, Twilight had had vivid dreams before, but they had never been so... mysterious. Her walk hadn’t given her an answer, or, perhaps more importantly, a purpose.

At least, not yet.

============

According to the book Dreams and Fantasies: The Workings of the Mind by Helping Hoof, every dream has some kind of meaning, no matter how hidden or convoluted. This thought was reached on the idea that dreams are a way to connect to the subconscious.

Here’s what the book has to say about the matter:

...the subconscious possesses knowledge that a pony may not even know that they have. Reflex, forgotten memories and knowledge, and the like are all contained in a pony’s subconscious.

Perhaps most important is that the subconscious contains unacknowledged perceptions and ideas. This includes hidden, maybe even suppressed, feelings, desires, and wants. Dreams open the door to the subconscious. They can, and will, draw from these recesses of your mind, and possibly make you aware of these feelings.

Unusually vivid dreams are often those that draw from your subconscious. Be on the lookout if you find yourself in a dream like this.

======================

Naturally, this book had found a place in Twilight’s vast collection. Dreams had amazed and stumped her ever since her first foalhood nightmare. Though her parents had comforted her and assured her that none of it was real, Twilight was left wondering: Why did I, or my mind, make this up? This was a question she carried, and asked, after every dream she had since. Upon her finding of Dreams and Fantasies, the idea of the subconscious mind fascinated her, and she kept a quill and notebook by her bedside, in case inspiration or epiphany struck. Until now, though, it never had.

===============

These thoughts buzzed around in Twilight’s head as her destination loomed in front of her. After the appearance of the holes, Twilight was able to tell that, in fact, she was getting closer.

She had no idea why, but Twilight felt her nagging question would be answered when she finally reached the sheer cliffside. Her pace quickened, and she trotted the last few paces to the edge of the hole. When she got there, she stopped cold.

Taking in the sight of the imposing hole before her, Twilight looked right and left, but saw no end to this obstacle in either direction. She peered over the edge, looking down... and down... and down. Try as she might, she wasn’t able to pinpoint a definite bottom. In fact, the sides of the abyss stretched downwards, until they faded from view, into shadow and darkness.

Twilight squeaked and jumped back. She had never thought she had a fear of heights. In fact, she was sure she didn’t, until just now. Trying to focus her attention elsewhere, the unicorn snapped her head up and squinted across the crevasse, searching for the other side. While the abyss seemingly expanded down and to each side, Twilight hoped this wasn’t the case lengthwise.

When her eyes made out the sight of what appeared to be another side, Twilight let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. It looked to be close enough to see in small detail, but far enough that its specific features were slightly fuzzy. Concentrating, Twilight thought she could make out some buildings, small ones that dotted the other side. One building in particular caught her eye: one that reached above the rest and was topped with a cone-like structure. The base appeared to be circular, and closer inspection revealed two flags that fluttered atop small masts.

Twilight put a hoof to her chin: her typical thinking pose. What is it about that building that makes it so familiar? The circular shape, the cone-y top, the flags... She let out a nervous chuckle. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think it resembles...

The unicorn’s eyes widened. But it does, doesn’t it? It looks exactly the same, because it is exactly the same.

Twilight was looking at the Ponyville town hall.

Her eyes darted back and forth; her mind did the same. The other buildings appeared to take shape right in front of her: those of houses, stores, and market stands. Not just any old houses and stores, but those from Ponyville. Looking at them now, Twilight could have kicked herself for not recognizing them earlier. Why? Why is this here? What’s my mind trying to tell me? Twilight took a step forward, but stopped as her hoof met empty air, reminding her where she was. Swiftly withdrawing it, she resorted to pacing.

“Okay... what do I know right now?” She stopped for a second, trying to assess the situation. “I’m in a dream. I’m in a really, really vivid dream. My book said that vivid dreams try to tell you something...” -she stopped again, recalling her book- “...from your subconscious. My mind, right now, is trying to do just that. But what does all this mean? How am I supposed to find out?”

A sound, indiscernible, drifted from the other side. Twilight paused in her pacing, and her ear perked up. When nothing came, however, she gave up and resumed her pacing. That’s weird. I was sure that I heard something coming from somewhere. The other side, maybe? “Now, where was I-” the sound came again, louder. Twilight stopped, fully alert. There it was again! The unicorn whirled to face the other side of the crevasse, ears perked. Listening for something, anything, the sound came once more, louder than before. This time, it was loud enough for Twilight to tell what it was.

The sound of voices.

As Twilight watched, other forms began to materialize in her dream-Ponyville, to her, out of nowhere. Moving, breathing, living forms. Forms of ponies. In the park, more than a few ponies chatted on benches, while others talked during their strolls down the paths, enjoying the mild warmth of a late afternoon. In the town square, there was much of the same, in ponies making light conversation while they went about their business.

These chats and talks produced the voices that floated from the town. Twilight was sure she normally wouldn’t be able to hear this, but she had learned long ago that dreams have a natural tendency to disregard reality.

These new developments didn’t help Twilight one bit. “Hello?” she called out tentatively. Unsurprisingly, nothing and no one on the other side gave any sign of hearing her. Thinking that any attempts at getting anypony’s attention would be useless, Twilight simply stared at her dream-Ponyville. The same dream-Ponyville that was now an exact replica of its real-life counterpart, citizens included.

“I have so many questions, and still no answers!” Twilight muttered to herself. “Why is Ponyville in my dream? Why is there this giant... thing between Ponyville and me? Why does - aah!”

So lost in thought as she was, the single drop of water that struck her back came as nothing less than a shock. Twilight sought out the guilty party, and her eyes came to rest on a small, dark cloud. Strangely, it looked almost identical to the one at the start of her dream.

“And that! What is that supposed to...” Twilight trailed off as her cloud drifted over the crevasse. This wasn’t what caused Twilight to lose her train of thought, however. As Twilight’s eyes followed the cloud, she caught sight of something coming over the horizon, to her left.

A mass of billowing, towering clouds crested the horizon. Not a group of white, fluffy clouds where Rainbow Dash took her naps. These were storm clouds. Dark grey banished any traces of blue as these clouds advanced, moving faster than any storm front should. The mass of grey spread over the sky, its dark tendrils leaving no blue untouched, but appeared to focus its power on the crevasse in front of Twilight.

As the storm front devoured the last bits of blue, the dreamworld stopped.

Twilight held her breath, and time seemed to stop around her. The dream-Ponyville across from her had fallen silent, the chatter and activity gone. The clouds above loomed overhead, as if waiting. The dreamworld seemed to take Twilight’s lead, and all signs of life, of any existence, ceased as every breath was held.

And it started to rain.

In seconds, Twilight had water streaming off her coat in currents, as the torrential downpour soaked everything it touched. The clouds poured their water out in cascades, enveloping the dreamworld in water.

In the midst of all this, Twilight simply sat there, rooted to the spot. Her world was now nothing but rain. She felt the droplets striking her coat, heard the drumming of rain on grass, and took in the sight of the downpour around her. Her mind was blank of most thought, quite simply because she didn’t know what to think. She just sat, unmoving, while the torrents fell around her.

Time passed. With no sense of time, Twilight had no idea of how long she was there. Just like her stroll/walk/journey, Twilight could have been sitting there for hours, maybe even days, and she wouldn’t have been able to tell. All she knew was that some amount of time had gone by since the rain had started to fall. She was pretty sure, at least.

The drumming of rain on grass soon gave way to a new sound: the splash of rain against water. And it was coming from behind Twilight. The unicorn whipped her head around at this sound. Despite the veil of rain everywhere, she was still able to see the holes she had come across on her walk. The splash of rain on water seemed to come from these holes. Seeing one not seven feet away from her, Twilight stood up and walked to the hole. Peering inside, she immediately gave a yelp of surprise and jumped back.

The hole was filling up, as expected. Yet, the rain seemed to flood the hole at an alarming rate, water getting closer to Twilight’s hooves with every drop. Eyes narrowed, Twilight leaned in and studied the hole. “That’s not physically possible!” she said aloud. “If the water is falling into the hole at a rate of...” -she looked up for a minute to study the rain- “38 millimeters a minute, then it will take at least-eep!”

Twilight’s calculations were forgotten as she felt water seep into her hooves. Looking around, she saw another hole, right next to her, filled with rainwater. This hole, though, had reached its limit and its water had started to leak over the sides. Twilight’s eyes swept the landscape as much as the rain’s veil would allow, and she was met with more of the same. Everywhere, the rainwater overflowed the cracks, holes, and basins of various sizes that dotted the landscape. Right before Twilight’s eyes, land was replaced with water as the rain continued its onslaught, leaving the plains of the land submerged. Only the hills and higher lands were spared, and the water rushed around them, almost as if they were islands.

With a start, Twilight realized that she was not on a hill or a highland. Which, naturally, meant she would be submerged along with the ground she was standing on. Her eyes darted around, looking for safety, but she only saw water. Rushing water that cascaded over the land, swallowing everything in its path.

And it was coming for her.

Twilight felt herself take a step backwards. Then another step. Then another step. And another step... but this time, her hoof only met empty air. Her head whipped around, and too late, she remembered where she was.

On the edge of a cliff.

Time slowed to a crawl. Twilight’s gaze turned downwards, and she saw that the rain had the same effect on the massive fissure as it did on the holes. What seemed to be bottomless was now flooded with rainwater, making steady progress in its climb to the top. It doesn’t look like a bottomless pit anymore, Twilight thought, almost absently. It looks like an ocean.

Now, Twilight felt herself falling. She was vaguely aware of her front hooves scrabbling for a grip on the edge, but the ground there was wet, slippery, and unforgiving. Certainly not the right ground used to save a pony from the edge. What little grip she had failed then, and she plummeted through rain and empty air to the ocean below.

==================

Twilight bolted upright. Her breath came in short, shallow gasps, a far cry from the feeling of near-calm she had moments ago. Instead of water all around her, her four hooves sunk into the soft bench, with no water to be seen or felt anywhere. Twilight felt beads of sweat dripping down her face, her mane stuck to her forehead despite the relative coolness and lack of moisture of train air. Her gaze shifted to the nearby window, and she saw the same inky blackness she had earlier.

“It was a dream...” As if she had to say it aloud to let that completely sink in.

Twilight sat down again, still trying to catch her breath, as she tried to fully remember her dream. It wasn’t too difficult a task, as vivid as the dream was. And yet, Twilight still wasn’t given any answers to her many questions.

Why did it rain so hard in my dream? Why was I separated from Ponyville? Why did the rain form an ocean between me and Ponyville?

What did my dream mean?

Twilight sat there, her head falling against the wall again, as these thoughts buzzed in her mind. Even as she thought about it, though, she felt fragments of her dream slipping away, as if she knew she dreamed but she didn’t know what. She tried to remember, but the more she focused, the farther away her dream seemed. Eventually all she knew of about her dream was a cliff between her and Ponyville. And water. Impossibly large amounts of water, spilling over everything else in her dream.

She felt the train’s momentum slow, the previously steady hum starting to falter. We’re here.

Twilight still knew that she was apart from Ponyville in her dream. But now, as she arrived, the memory arrived at the forefront of her thoughts. I was separated from Ponyville in my dream. But I’m here now. Which means I’m not apart from Ponyville anymore.

My dream must not have meant a physical distance between me and Ponyville, then. But if it didn’t mean that, what could it mean? Again, she was nudged out of her thoughts by an outside force. The sleepy train car began to stir, ponies stretching and yawning as the train crawled to a stop. Twilight got out of her seat along with everyone else, stretching her unused limbs. She climbed off the train, along with many other ponies whose destination had been Ponyville. At this hour, there was not a pony in sight to board the waiting train. The train closed its doors, and with a cry of its horn, the train slowly chugged forward, slowly picking up speed and eventually fading into the distance to continue its journey.

The night sky did not bring forth its countless stars to decorate the endless array out of everypony’s reach. Or rather, if it did, then the specacle was blocked from view by clouds that hung invisible in the sky at this hour. Always one to appreciate the night sky, Twilight let out a small sigh when she saw that she couldn’t see a thing. She stepped off of the boarding platform, beginning the short walk from the station to her house. The town lay silent, the only sound coming from the rhythm of Twilight’s hooves on the path. All of the other ponies had left for some other direction, and Twilight had no one to walk with. Instead her mind swarmed with thoughts of her now fading dream.

So deep in thought was she that she only realized her house when she bumped into the front door. A few tries at the door proved it to be firmly locked. Of course. She had Spike promise that he would lock the door after she left, after all. Her horn glowed, and the “WELCOME” mat under her hooves was brushed to the side as her spare key was lifted up to the door. Returning the mat to its place, a faint click was heard, and Twilight walked inside.

Twilight stepped inside to darkness, turning the doorknob as she closed the door behind her so that it wouldn’t click. Twilight blinked as she tried to adjust herself to the darkness. After a few seconds, however, she still couldn’t see her hoof if she held it in front of her face. Sighing, she started to grope her way blindly through the library. I hope I know my way upstairs- “Oof!” she smacked headfirst into something wooden and very much rooted in place. Something had to give from this momentum, and it wasn’t going to be the thing that had just been bumped into. Twilight reeled backwards, falling into something very much like what she had just smacked into. “Ow...” she sat there, dazed, until unknown, book-sized objects rained down from out of nowhere, right onto Twilight’s head. “Ow! Agh! Ack!” she yelped in pain with each hit.

Immediately, a rustling came from her bedroom, followed by a voice. “Stop, thief! I have claws and I know how to use-” the light flicked on, making Twilight scrunch her eyes shut. She opened them a moment later, seeing a baby dragon standing at the top of the stairs, his jaw hanging open. “Twilight?”

The guilty pony looked around, seeing the mass of books laid out around her and the empty bookshelf behind her. “Uh, I wasn’t exactly quiet, was I?”

“Twilight, why are you here so late at night? I thought you were a thief or something, with the racket you were making down here!”

Twilight chuckled sheepishly. “Sorry... I wanted to get home as soon as I could.”

Spike raised an eyebrow at her. “What are you doing home so soon anyway? What happened to the meteor shower?”

Twilight sighed. “There was a storm. I can’t see any stars with a storm in the way.”

“Oh. Well, it’s nice that you’re back so soon. Running the library by myself isn’t much fun.” Spike responded, turning his back to Twilight as he walked back through the bedroom door.

“But you don’t do much work in the library...” Twilight trailed off as Spike left her view, presumably to continue his sleep. Which, she realized, she needed as well.

A few seconds later, and Twilight stood in her bedroom. The clouds had apparently been merciful enough to let a few moonbeams though, and if Twilight squinted, she could make out the shape of her bed. She walked over slowly and climbed in. However, she planned on doing one more thing before letting sleep take her for the second time that night.

After some blind groping on her nightstand, Twilight held a small book, bound with black cloth, in her hooves and a quill in her magic. She opened her book up to its first page. It wouldn’t be blank for long.

Dream Journal Entry #1:

Twilight paused for a moment, wondering if she should list her journal entries by day, for future reference. With a shrug, she returned her quill to the paper and added:

Day 1

Just this night, I had a dream.

Not exactly out of the ordinary, but it’s the characteristics of my dream that makes this so... important to record. This dream was especially vivid and clear. It’s almost as if I were awake, save for the strange landscape and occurrences that are normal to a dream.

Ugh... I wish I had written this down right after I had my dream. They have a tendency to fade from memory after a relatively short time.

However, my dream mostly consisted of a cliff, which separated me and my hometown. And it rained in my dream. I’m pretty sure it rained so that it flooded almost everything in sight.

Unfortunately, this dream produces a lot of questions, and no answers. Why was I apart from Ponyville, unable to reach it? Why did it rain so hard? What does all this mean?

Twilight looked over her notes that she had taken so far. “Does this sound ridiculous or silly?” she murmured. This was just a dream, after all...” a rustling sound came from the side of the bed. Peering over the side, Twilight saw Spike shifting in his blanket. “Oops...” Twilight whispered, annoyed at herself for not remembering Spike was still asleep. It was still the middle of the night, after all. Returning her attention to her journal, Twilight made a mental note to keep quiet, and the sounds of quill scratching on paper resumed.

Maybe I’m just overthinking this whole thing. Despite everything, this was only a dream. Dreams are random, strange, and don’t always have to have meaning...

No. My book says that vivid dreams are a message from your subconscious, and are used to send you a message, of sorts, from there. This dream was definitely vivid. And I’m sure it was trying to send me a message. What kind of message, I’m still not sure. But I’ve got a hunch that this dream is important. And hunches are right. Most of the time. Maybe.

Oh, I don’t know, I’ve never had a hunch like this before. I guess I’ll have to give this time, and see what happens. Time, and research.

Satisfied, Twilight shut the journal and returned it to its correct place. She lay back down, determined to go back to sleep. Her mind, however, was determined to stay awake. Two conflicting ideas. Buzzing with thoughts and questions, her restless brain kept the unicorn awake. Eventually she gave up, allowing herself to think and wonder until the sun poked its head over the horizon.

===============

Morning came, and with it, sunlight. The sun cast its beams down, filling the land with warmth and light. One such sunbeam shone through a window of the Ponyville library, right into the eyes of a certain baby dragon. Spike stirred and opened his eyes, sitting up. He let loose a massive yawn, stretching his inactive limbs. Rubbing his eyes, he clambered out of his basket without taking a look at the bed behind him. He always got up before Twilight did, after all. Still in a haze, he stumbled down the stairs. When he reached the bottom, though, he stopped. Listening, he picked up the sound of pages rustling coming from another room, a sound that one would quickly grow accustomed to when one lives in a library. “Twilight?” Spike called out while walking to the room. Reaching the door, he poked his head inside. Sure enough, Twilight was inside. She was seated on the floor, her face unseen, seeing as it was buried in a book.

Hearing Spike, Twilight turned around. “Oh! Good morning, Spike. I didn’t see you there.” Twilight’s greeting, however, was lost on Spike as he saw Twilight’s condition. Her normally neat mane stuck out in every direction, and dark circles sagged under her eyes.

“Uh... Hi, Twilight. Why are you up so early?” Spike could not stop staring at his friend.

Twilight didn’t seem to notice. “Oh, no reason,” she waved him off.

Spike to raise an eyebrow. It wasn’t like Twilight to keep something from him. And it seemed that Twilight was keeping something from him. “Really? Because you didn’t get a lot of sleep. You’re not telling me something.” Spike concluded, crossing his arms for emphasis.

Twilight snorted, followed by an unsure chuckle. “Really, Spike, it’s nothing important.” She gave Spike her best, winning smile.

“Oh, so it was something.”

The smile persisted. “Yes, but it’s nothing you need to worry your little head about. She reached over and patted Spike on the head.

The baby dragon sighed. He had never liked when Twilight treated him like he was a baby. Even though he was one, but still. “Well, if you say so. Just remember, you can tell me anything, okay Twilight?”

“Mmhmm.” Twilight had her snout buried in the book once again.

With one final glance, Spike left the room to make breakfast.

==========

Hearing Spike’s footsteps recede, Twilight let out the breath she had been holding. “I don’t want Spike to worry about me. Especially since I may be overthinking this whole thing,” she muttered to herself. She paused for a moment. “But I can’t be sure unless I do some... extensive research today.”

Holding her copy of Dreams and Fantasies, she flipped rapidly through the pages, looking for a certain section... “Aha! Section 5: Deciphering Your Dreams. This should have something...” Without further hesitation, she flipped to the next page and started reading.

Not 5 minutes later, Twilight slammed the book shut with a huff. “I can’t believe it! This section claims that it knows how to decipher dreams, and then it goes and doesn’t provide any examples! All it does is tell me that dreams ‘can have many meanings, and it’s up to me to decide exactly what.’” She performed her best imitation of a know-it-all upper-classpony. “Ugh!” she stamped a hoof. “What kind of book is that?”

Her rant was cut short when a purple and green head poked around the door. “Uh, Twilight? You okay in there?”

“Gah!” Twilight recoiled, heat rushing to her cheeks. “Spike?! How much of that did you hear?”

“All of it. You were pretty loud. I could hear you from the kitchen.”

“Oh. Heh, heh...” she gave an embarrassed chuckle, not sure of what else to say. Luckily, Spike did.

“You want some breakfast? You seem like you need to take a break.”

Twilight thought for a moment. Breakfast did sound nice, and Spike was probably right. “Yes, please. That sounds great.”

==========

After a hastily gobbled breakfast (and an even hastier thanks to Spike), it was back to research. The first step to good research: finding material to research. For a pony who lived by organization, Twilight usually had difficulty finding the books she wanted. This time was no different.

The bookworm sat herself down in the main lobby of the library. “Okay, last time I organized the books, did I organize them alphabetically, by genre, or by topic? Or maybe I organized them in a combination of genre and topic. Or was it a combination of alphabetical and genre? Maybe all three?” Twilight said to herself.

It was going to be a long search.

====================

With a magical shimmer, the book set itself on a wobbly, towering pile of other books.

“Phew! That’s the last one!” Twilight exclaimed. Looking at her checklist, she scanned the list for any books she may have missed, before going to the bottom and marking the book there with a slash of the quill. “According to my checklist, that’s the last book in here that may help me.” Before starting her search, Twilight had gone through the library’s archives, looking for any book under the keyword “Dreams.” It had saved her a lot of time and effort, she liked to think. Speaking of time...

Twilight turned her attention to one of her windows. Looking through it, she saw the sun just passing overhead. Her eyebrow raised, she turned towards the nearest clock. It read 12:30 PM.

“Wow. That took a long time.” Twilight glanced at her tower of books, which stretched over her head, and then some. The last book almost scraped the top of one of the bookshelves. All the while, it wobbled this way and that. Looking at it now, it seemed an impressive feat of balance. Smiling, she rubbed her front hooves together. “Okay! Now, time to get reading!” Closing her eyes, the massive tower of books was enveloped in a magical glow. The unicorn cracked open one eye, and led the way into her bedroom, the tower of books following. The two disappeared, Twilight shutting the door behind them, but not before hanging her custom sign on the outside. It said: Do Not Disturb - Reading.

==============

Spike watched Twilight vanish into her room, the myriad of books not far behind. He sighed. It was going to be another one of those days.

==============

Day turned to dusk as the sun neared the horizon, casting an array of red, pink, orange, yellow, and other colors of warmth across the skyline, ones that only became more prevalent as the sun continued its descent. Sunsets can truly be a sight to behold. After all, Princess Luna is not the only royal artist of the sky.

Unfortunately, this particular spectacle had gone unnoticed by Ponyville’s resident librarian. Though one to enjoy a sunset every now and again, today her sights were focused elsewhere. As per usual during her study sessions, not a peep of sound came from her bedroom, save for the ticking of the clock and the rustling that page-turning produces. Occasionally, a third sound added itself to the quiet: that of quill scrawls. This sound, however, was few and far between the persistence of the other two.

Twilight glanced at her page of notes. Her single page. Even worse, it was only filled halfway with actual notes, the rest of the paper being dotted with random doodles. With a sigh, she closed the book she had been studying (which had been about lucid dreaming. Looking at it, Twilight didn’t know why she had picked it up in the first place). It was lifted into the air, and promptly dumped into the growing pile of other, already-read, of-no-use books. The bookworm instinctively reached for the next book in her unread stack, but her hooves found only empty air. Glancing over, she noticed the strange absence of books in the stack.

Have I really read all the books already? Twilight looked at her single page of notes again. Her eyes scanned the paper, but didn’t find anything of special importance or use. Which, to her, meant she had found next to nothing. Why did I even write these down in the first place? “It is unknown how, exactly, dreams work?” “Some speculate that dreams are completely random and arbitrary, while others think that dreams draw directly from your mind?” I already knew that!

Another sigh. The paper crumpled itself into a ball, and fell into the nearby trash can.

Twilight casually glanced out the window. She did a double take when she saw the sun, halfway hidden below the horizon. I’ve just, essentially, wasted a perfectly good afternoon! She stood up, still thinking. I still don’t have much to go on about this whole dream thing. My books told me almost nothing, and that’s pretty unusual. The unicorn left the room, still lost in thought. Hopefully a good dinner, courtesy of Spike, would provide a good distraction.

===============

That night, Twilight lay in bed. Naturally, she was waiting for sleep, but once again, her mind persisted in being awake. I hope I have that dream again... or something like it. And even better, it could be even clearer as to what it means. But what are the chances of that? Dreams are pretty random, and I don’t know how to choose what I dream about. Her mind still buzzing, she closed her eyes, hoping for sleep to take her.

She was just feeling herself drifting off when she heard something. Twilight sighed and opened one eye, listening. Hearing nothing but the soft, rhythmic breathing of Spike next to her, she sighed and shifted, trying to get comfortable again. Just when she did, however, the sound came again, louder this time. Twilight swore she could have heard the rustling of leaves, coming from above her, of all places. Now fully awake, she sat up, waiting for the sound again. After a few moments, it came again, another rustling. Definitely coming from above. Above her balcony, to be exact.

Twilight sighed. I really need to get my roof to be reinforced... Any thoughts of sleep were abandoned, replaced with curiosity as she climbed out of bed. She walked over to her balcony and out into the night air.

A small smile graced her mouth as she looked out at the night. With not a cloud to be seen, countless stars could were visible, decorating the night sky. At first, it seemed to be only a few, but as Twilight’s eyes adjusted to the dim night, more and more poked their heads out, twinkling down at her. To accompany the stars, a round, plump moon hung in the air. Fully visible, it cast moonbeams down, giving a calm, peaceful light.

Twilight let out a content sigh. This is why she loved the night so much, if not to study so much as to simply admire. Another rustling from above, however, startled her from her introspection. There was no doubt in her mind anymore; whatever was making that noise sat right above her. The unicorn froze slightly, her imagination just now starting to kick in. What can be up there? A thief? A monster? Oh no, what if it’s some kind of horrible beast that only comes out at night and eats curious unicorns?

...Stop being so silly. There’s only one way to find out, anyway. “Is... is anyone up there?” she called out, her voice wavering slightly. Her wild imagination hadn’t completely left her. “Hello?” she called again, louder this time. A rustle greeted her in response. “H-Hello?!” her voice started to shake. Twilight shook her head, as if it would help alleviate her fear, and steeled herself. Her horn glowed, surrounding the branches and leaves above her with a magical aura. Her target locked, Twilight grinned, and the section of the tree shook violently. Had it not been controlled by her magic, it surely would have snapped off of the rest of the tree.

In a few moments, a shifting sound came from above, quickly followed by a surprised yelp. Crashes and scratches of a body into unforgiving trees and branches quickly followed, accompanied by “Oof!”s and “Ugh!”s. Soon enough, the intruder smashed into the hard floor of Twilight’s balcony with a shuddering *THUMP.*

“Ha!” Twilight exclaimed, triumphant. “I’ve got you now!” She cantered over to see who, in their right mind, would try to break into her house. “Care to explain yourself...” she stopped, seeing her intruder for the first time. Her jaw fell open, and she turned away, rubbed her eyes, and looked back. Her eyes didn’t deceive her. “Rainbow Dash?!”

The guilty pegasus was sprawled out where she had fallen. She groaned, and clutched at her head with both forelegs. Twilight’s eyes followed, and came to rest on an angry, red lump on the side of Dash’s head. The blue pony turned at the sound of her friend’s voice. “Oh... hey, Twilight-ow.” She winced as her hoof came into contact with her injury.

“Uh...” Twilight winced at Dash’s apparent pain. “Did I do that?” she asked sheepishly, and only received a glare in response. “Heh... sorry.”

Rainbow sat up, waving off her apology with a hoof. “No, it’s okay. I probably should’ve told you what I was doing. I figured you’d do something like that, anyway.”

They both sat there after her statement, Twilight waiting for her friend to elaborate. When she didn’t, however, the lavender pony sighed. “So... what were you doing, exactly?”

Looking closer, Twilight could have sworn that she saw her friend’s cheeks redden at her query. No... Rainbow doesn’t get embarrassed by anything! The thought was pushed out of her mind, though, as she heard Dash muttering to herself. “... shouldn’t have said anything... darn it.”

Curious, Twilight raised an eyebrow. “What? What are you talking about?”

Her cyan friend sighed. “Well, now I’m just gonna have to show you.” With that, her wings flared, and she hovered off the ground. Then she shot forward, sweeping Twilight off of her hooves and into the air, supporting her with two strong forelegs. Not without protest from the bookworm, of course.

“Aah! Rainbow, what are you doing-” she stopped when she heard the pegasus snickering.

“Hehe, relax Twilight. It won’t be long.” She experimentally bounced her friend up and down in her forehooves. “Wow. You’re light,” Rainbow commented, earning her a glare from the uncomfortable pony in her forelegs. She only snickered, and she gave a few, powerful wingbeats. In a few seconds, the two hovered a few feet above Twilight’s house. Descending a few feet, Twilight was able to see a small indent in the roof of her house, a resting spot that cut a few feet into the leaves that made up her house’s natural roof. Rainbow then dumped her friend into the shallow hole, with a small “Hey!” of protest from her friend. She turned over and crossed her hind legs, while folding her forward ones behind her head. She then folded her wings, and dropped beside Twilight.

Rainbow let out a content sigh. “Aah... this is nice, isn’t it?” She only received a blank stare from the unicorn next to her. “Oh, right. I should tell you what this is about...” she took a deep breath, as if revealing some massive secret. “Sometimes... when it’s been a long day, at work maybe, or something on my mind, or some stuff like that... I like to go out here and look at the stars.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “A long day at work? Every time I see you, you’re just sleeping in a cloud!”

“Hey! That’s hard work, too!” Twilight merely rolled her eyes at this.

“I’m sure it is, Rainbow.” she responded.

“Exactly.” Twilight’s sarcasm seemed to fly right over Dash’s head.

They fell silent after that. Neither of them seemed to know what to say to one another, and the only sound that could be heard was the calm rhythm of two mares breathing.

Eventually, Rainbow glanced over at Twilight to see a wide grin across her face. She shook with suppressed laughter, a few giggles slipping out every few seconds.

“What? What’s so funny?” Dash asked her friend.

Twilight couldn’t control herself any longer. She burst out laughing, but in between bouts of giggles she managed, “Y-you.”

Dash only raised an eyebrow, but Twilight could have sworn that she saw Rainbow’s cheeks redden among the darkness. Finally, she responded, “I’m not trying to be funny...”

Twilight took a deep, shaky breath to calm herself. She managed to make herself stop laughing, although the occasional giggle persisted. “Well, you’re the last pony I’d expect to do something like this. It just seems ridiculous when I think about it.”

“Why?”

“You’re Rainbow Dash, the self-proclaimed best flyer in Equestria! You’re a speed demon, you’re the coolest pony around, you can’t stand anything that’s not “awesome” or “cool.” You do things first, and ask questions later. Not that there’s anything wrong with those things, of course,” she quickly added, upon earning a raised eyebrow from the pegasus next to her. “In fact, that’s part of what makes you so... admirable.” Wait... where did that come from? Why did I say it like that? Pushing that away, she continued. “Staring at the stars at night doesn’t sound like something that would be awesome or cool. It’s something that I do, when I like to think.” Dash shot Twilight a glare at this implication. The unicorn merely giggled. “I’m just kidding, Rainbow.” She’s so easy to tease, Twilight thought, smiling.

The pegasus shrugged. “Hey, I can think too. But that’s not why I like doing this. To be honest I don’t really know why I like to stargaze.” She gestured at the stars above them. “It’s just so... I dunno, relaxing. Being the coolest, most awesome pony around can be pretty stressful sometimes.” She smirked at Twilight, seeming satisfied with her explanation.

“I guess I can see that.” Twilight conceded.

They fell silent again.

Instead of looking at the stars, Twilight found her attention elsewhere. The moonlight seemed to bathe Rainbow Dash in an otherworldly glow, bouncing off of her features and mane. The blue pony’s mane and tail seemed to shine in the light of the moon, doing the same for everything else about her. Her eyes, her beautiful rose eyes, sparkled as they sought out the stars above.

Twilight shook her head. Wait... what? Why am I looking at her like this? She tore her gaze away, only for it to drift back again. Her thoughts did the same. Why have I never noticed this before? She really is-

“Twilight? Are you still there?”

“Ah!” Twilight flushed red, blushing deeply. Focusing, she saw Rainbow’s eyes narrowed, looking intently at her. Apparently, she had looked over at Twilight at some point. And Twilight had been staring back. “Y-yes? What is it?” Did she catch me gawking at her? What will she say?

Dash peered closely at her before continuing. “I was just saying that you can’t tell anypony about this.” Twilight released the breath she was holding. She didn’t catch me. Then, what her friend had said registered. “Why not?” she asked, curious.

“Because this” -she waved a hoof at the stars again, causing the leaves under them to rustle slightly- “is an egghead thing to do.”

“What makes it an ‘egghead’ thing?”

“Well, you do it. And you’re an egghead, so that means it’s an egghead thing.”

Twilight opened her mouth, ready to lecture Dash on exactly what was wrong with that conclusion (“it’s a logical fallacy” being first on her list), but paused, realizing how much of it her pegasus friend would understand (none at all). “What’s so bad about that?” she asked instead.

“Really? You think that being an egghead is a good thing?” Rainbow asked incredulously.

Twilight nodded.

The pegasus sighed and rolled her eyes. “Only you, Twilight... only you.”

At this, Twilight had to smile. She’s so funny. Thinking this is some kind of massive secret that would destroy her reputation. Her mind began to wander, again. It only had to wander a matter of inches, though, since the target of her thoughts was sitting right next to her. Why haven’t I noticed these things before? She really is funny, and awesome, and cool, and... pretty. Her smile turned into a full-on, Pinkie-style grin, and she sighed contentedly. Only a few inches between them, and they would lie in each other’s embrace, and Twilight would tell Dash how awesome she was, and Dash would lean in and-

“Uh, Twi’? You okay?” Twilight snapped her head up, slamming her head into the hoof that had, apparently, been waving in front of her face.

“Ow!” Twilight yelped from the impact. Rainbow, on the other hoof, got away less hurt. Wringing her hoof from the unexpected blow, Rainbow peered closely at her friend for the second time that night. “As I was saying, you’ve been acting a bit... weird.”

Twilight rubbed her forehead where she had slammed into Dash’s hoof. “Uh?” The silly smile had returned, and she gazed at her friend through half-lidded eyes.

The pegasus raised an eyebrow, seeing Twilight staring at her. “Seriously, Twi’, you’re starting to scare me a bit. What are you staring at? Is there something behind me?” She whipped her head around, but seeing nothing, she turned to face the unicorn again to see Twilight’s gaze still fixed upon her. Dash blushed and shifted around, her blush growing as her friend’s eyes followed her. “Uh... oookay, then. If you’re not gonna tell me why you’re doing that, I’m just gonna go now, alright?”

Twilight only giggled. She’s so adorable when she’s embarrassed, she thought wistfully. “Mmhmm.” Was the only response she could get herself to say.

“Alright, then...” Rainbow rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. “See ya.” Her wings flared, and she gave them a few test flaps before shooting away.

Twilight sighed happily, still watching the sky where Dash had flown off. Her mind was still in a haze of cyan blue and rainbows. She climbed down (not without difficulty) from her spot in the branches, landing, not so gracefully, on her balcony. Walking over to her bed, she climbed under the covers. All the while, her silly grin stayed with her, even as she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

All New Materials

She regained consciousness before her eyes opened. Coming to her senses, Twilight felt her back pressing against grainy, tiny pebbles. Sand, she thought to herself. Perking her ears, she heard the crash of waves pounding into the shore, followed by the softer whoosh which signaled their retreat.

Twilight opened her eyes, expecting the same environment as last night’s dream. Instead, she only found sand, and water. The sand stretched to each side, endlessly, even fading off into the horizon. In front of her, a massive expanse of water loomed; the deep blue of the ocean, and the whitewash of the waves which crashed onto the shore.

The unicorn felt water seeping into her hind legs. Withdrawing, she saw the waves lapping at her hooves, almost teasing her, calling her. Another dream, huh? Standing on all fours, she looked around, searching for a way, a direction. Her search turned up nothing until she looked down.

To Twilight’s right there was only featureless sand, but to her left, imprints in the miniscule grains trailed, seemingly without end, off into the distance. Putting her hoof over the dent in the sand, she saw it once held an object of roughly the same shape and size. “Hoofprints...” she murmured. Looking around once more, to reassure herself there was nothing else to follow, she started to follow the hoofprints... wherever they could possibly lead.

=================

One hoof in front of the other. Again. And again.

How many times had Twilight repeated this motion? She had no idea of telling. The monotony, the repetition, had quite literally numbed her mind. She was only aware, she only thought, of the soft, slight crunch of the sand under her hooves, the rush of the ocean next to her, and her light breaths that disappeared into the air. And of course, the hoofprints. Impossibly, they continued, and showed no sign of stopping.

A light breeze rustled Twilight’s mane. Her eyes continued to focus downward, as she paid the wind no heed. She paused, though, as the wind picked up, blowing into her face and dislodging her mane from its normal place. Her ears perked, as she realized that it wasn’t the inaudible, indecipherable whoosh of your average wind. Winds, after all, are capable of carrying things, both physical and intangible.

This wind carried voices. A whisper of wind, if you will.

Twilight was frozen where she stood, listening intently. Try as she might, she was unable to figure out what the voices were actually saying, much to her annoyance. She heard, though, the excitement in their chatter, their barely-contained impatience. These voices rushed on, talking impossibly fast. In turn, the wind only picked up speed, roaring all around. Sand picked up around Twilight, too much of it pelting her face (much to her dismay). Just as it seemed the wind could get no stronger, the voices stopped, and the wind died.

Coughing and spluttering, Twilight tried to rub the sand out of her eyes. After much scratching and rubbing, she was finally able to open her eyes without too much irritation. After getting her bearings, Twilight’s eyes widened as she took in her surroundings. Her new surroundings.

To her left, the beach ended abruptly, replaced by grassy fields and the occasional hill. The hoofsteps remained, as did some of the beach, but they both disappeared around a corner, hidden by a conveniently placed hill.

The lavender pony had no less than thousands of thoughts shooting around in her head. What was that all about? Why did everything change?

She thought for a moment longer. I must be close to whatever this dream wants to show me. That wind was carrying voices, which much be close, maybe even around that corner. Without another moment’s hesitation, Twilight started forward again, this time at a gallop. Rounding the corner, she skidded to a stop.

Her last dream had been void of any interaction between herself and others. She had expected this dream to be no different, for good reason. And yet, there stood before her a dozen or so ponies, all chattering excitedly.

Twilight blinked. She blinked again, more rapidly, but they were still there. She looked to the right and her eyes widened. Instead of the ocean continuing, like she had thought it would, the sea level had somehow fallen in this area. Though she was still walking on sand, the ocean was now hundreds of feet below her. To add to the strangeness, twelve or so rowboats had stranded themselves on the beach. Somehow, though she had never seen one before in her life, she knew what they were.

Looking out into the sea, Twilight was met with the sight of Ponyville. Again, she blinked, but it seemed to be as real as a dream could possibly make it. Her home (or more accurately, her dream’s version of her home) seemed to have drawn closer than in her last dream. Squinting, Twilight was able to make out everything from the leaves on the trees to the blades of grass in the ground. All this stunning clarity, almost that she could reach out and touch it, and yet it still seemed too far away. I normally wouldn’t be able to see all this in such detail, the lavender pony mused to herself.

Dismissing it as another strange working of her dream, Twilight studied the rest of her surroundings. This seems to be the same place I had arrived at in my last dream. The unicorn took a step back, hearing the crunch of sand under her hooves. ...With some changes, of course. Surveying the environment, Twilight only became more sure that she had come to the same place. Behind her lay the expanse of grassland. It had apparently suffered through the storm of Twilight’s last dream, as lakes, ponds, and bays of every size dotted the land. The chasm-turned-ocean still separated her and Ponyville, as it concentrated into a small strait, lazily churning across the gap between the two areas of land before widening out again in the distance. Looking around, Twilight saw no way across other than the strip of water in front of her. Just like last time, the unicorn noted.

Satisfied, Twilight turned her attention to one of her dream’s new appearances. The group of ponies next to her still buzzed with conversation, but though Twilight got closer, she still wasn’t able to understand what they were saying, as if it were another language or just plain gibberish. However, they occasionally pointed to the sky, as if to make a point, and then resumed chattering.

“Hello?” Twilight paused for a moment, and then prodded the nearest pony, a yellow-ish earth pony with an orange mane and a carrot across her flank. However, the pony simply continued talking with her companion, paying Twilight no heed. The unicorn raised an eyebrow. She can’t possibly be ignoring me like that. “Hello?” she asked again, waving a hoof in front of the pony’s face. But the orange mare stood there, unfazed by Twilight’s efforts.

A thought crept into Twilight’s mind, despite this newfound confusion. “Can... can you hear me?” Another poke, and a wave. No response. “Can anyone hear me?” Twilight’s voice started to rise slightly. “Hello?! Anypony?!” she darted in between the group, poking, prodding, and even shaking everypony before her. Despite her valiant efforts, the group of ponies continued to look through Twilight as if she was air, or simply wasn’t there.

Defeated, Twilight slumped down outside of the group, ears flattened. “What is going on here? These dreams are getting more and more frustrating! I still don’t have any answers!”

Moping as she was, Twilight was oblivious to the rising volume of the conversation next to her. When she looked up again, the ponies were been shouting and pointing, not at the sky, but at the town across from them. What in Equestria... the unicorn walked to the edge of the cliff and peered across.

Narrowing her eyes, Twilight could make out new shapes that she hadn’t seen before. “Why didn’t I see these last time-” she cut herself off as the forms grew clearer. Not just any old shape, but those of other ponies. They stood on the edge of their cliff, shouting and waving to the ponies on the other side. Twilight’s side.

“Interesting.” was the bookworm’s only thought on the matter. At this point, Twilight was simply waiting for something to happen, anything that would give her answers. Standing there, an idea suddenly worked its way into her mind. What if... her eyes searched the ponies next to her, then the ones across from her, but she found none that she found familiar. She had almost dismissed the thought, until she had swept the other side, and locked eyes with the pony on the far right. A pegasus mare stared back, her prismatic mane somehow shining, and her cyan coat doing the same. The same pony Twilight had just stargazed with. Twilight blinked, shook her head, turned away and rubbed her eyes, but the pegasus was still there.

“Rainbow?” Twilight mouthed silently. Her blue friend only stared back, her expression blank. She gave no sign of recognition, her gaze still fixed on Twilight with those piercing, yet beautiful rose eyes of hers. The unicorn tried to look away, until she found she couldn’t. She was doing it again. Even from this distance, even in a dream, Twilight found Rainbow Dash as amazing as she had just that night. The way her mane fell across her face, the way those eyes, despite their odd lack of emotion, looked back at her, just everything about her almost made Twilight try and run to her without a second thought. Almost.

Twilight probably would have stared forever if the buzz and chatter next to her had not continued growing, until it invaded the unicorn’s thoughts. “Ugh...” she muttered, “what is it now?” Turning to the group beside her, she watched as they paced impatiently, stamping their hooves and taking frequent glances at the sky. Then one of them pointed at the sky excitedly, turning everypony’s attention to the area of blue above the ocean. Twilight was no exception. She turned to look at whatever it was that was causing this much excitement, and gasped.

A billowing mass of dark grey had settled between the two cliffs. The storm clouds rumbled ominously, which only managed to increase all of the waiting ponies’ apparent impatience. In this dream, however, the clouds did not spread across the sky. They remained over the strait of water, and as they had all collected in one, concentrated area, they seemed even more potent and fearful.

Another, louder rumble from the clouds managed to silence everypony around. Every breath was held, and every eye was on the clouds.

And again, it started to rain.

============

The rain relentlessly pounded into the water below, the torrents creating a sheet of water so thick, nothing could be seen past the waterfalls.

For the second time in two nights, Twilight’s dream had a knack for defying the laws of physics. Peering over the edge, the lavender pony was met with the sight of water rushing towards her, impossibly fast. In what seemed like a second, the ocean water surged upwards, filling the empty space about ten percent to the top. Two seconds, and it was twenty percent. Three seconds, thirty percent. Four seconds. Almost halfway to the top. A blink, and the water splashed right in front of Twilight’s eyes.

Twilight felt herself taking a step backwards, away from the newly formed deep blue. If there was one thing she had learned in these dreams, it was to fear the power of rain.

The rain continued its downpour, rushing into the ocean. Twilight, whose jaw had been slack and her mind blank during the downpour, now managed to form her first coherent thoughts. Oh, no! What if it keeps raining, and everything floods like in my last dream? The ocean water started to spill over the sides, lapping at Twilight’s hooves. She closed her eyes, turning away.

Just as Twilight was sure that she would experience her second dream flood, she heard a strange sound. Or rather, a lack thereof. The sound of rain splashing into the ocean had stopped. Risking a look, she noticed the odd absence of a blanket of rainwater in front of her; only the deep blue of the ocean, now level with the ground, remained.

Twilight put a hoof to her forehead, as if trying to process these recent events. “Okay... so this time, I didn’t die from a flood. The rain filled out the needed ocean water. Now what?” Fortunately, Twilight didn’t have to wait long.

The group of ponies next to Twilight erupted in cheer. Smiles, hugs, even dances had a part in their sudden celebration. As quickly as the party started, it stopped, and the ponies all took to the rowboats in front of them. Pushing and heaving the watercrafts, a collective sploosh signaled the start of their sailing expedition.

Twilight watched everypony set sail. Without even knowing why, her gaze fell and her ears drooped as she slumped to the ground. Why am I acting like this? she thought, suddenly embarrassed at the spectacle she was undoubtedly putting on. Why am I so sad that everypony left? Pondering for a moment, she thought of something.

...Can’t I go too?

“Wait for me...” Twilight called feebly, but of course nopony paid her any attention. They were too far out, even if they could actually see her, or hear her, or even acknowledge her existence.

The unicorn lay there, lost in thought and strange emotions, until she heard something from the other side. Sitting up, Twilight cocked an ear. The sounds of cheering responded from the other side.

The rowboats lay at the shore on the other side, somehow neatly docked of their own accord. The reunited ponies laughed and celebrated, as if they had been apart for far too long.

All except one.

Standing apart from the laughing crowd, Rainbow Dash looked exactly the same as before. Rooted to the spot, her rose eyes still stared across the ocean, her gaze boring right into Twilight.

The bookworm took all this in, taking a step back when she locked eyes with Dash again. Rainbow, why are you apart from them? Those ponies look so happy. It seems like you came here to be reunited with somepony, just like all the others. But who?

Twilight froze. She knew why her friend was still looking at her. Rainbow didn’t want to be reunited with just anypony.

She wanted Twilight to be with her.

Twilight stood there, at a loss for words, or thought for that matter. WIthout rational thinking to get in the way, emotion took over. Twilight ran frantically up and down the shore, looking for a way across. With her emotion in charge, her feelings were clear. She wanted to be close to Rainbow, so much closer than she was now. But how? she wondered, a thought that only grew as she failed to find a way to cross the ocean between them.

Eventually, Twilight heard her rapid hoofsteps on the sand slow. She stumbled face-first into the sand, coughing as she lifted her head. She felt a wetness claw at the bottom of her eyes, and it dripped down her cheeks, pooling in the sand right below her.

I’m sorry, Rainbow. I failed. But... I need you closer. So much closer...

=============================

Twilight’s eyes flew open. Her blankets clung to her, and beads of sweat dripped down her face, adding to the perspiration that already pooled into the covers and mattress. She felt a cool wetness coming from her eyes, which spilled over and down her face, creating a strange mix of sweat and tears.

Twilight clamped her eyes shut, hoping to delay the steady stream of tears. It didn’t work. They leaked out the edges of her eyes, and she let them come while she tried to catch her breath and calm her pounding heart.

Soon enough, her breathing slowed, and her heart calmed its thumping in her chest. With the rush and panic of her dream fading, she could start to think coherently again. Her eyes remained closed as she allowed herself to think.

What... what just happened?

Her dream journal. She had to write everything, lest she forget fragments of her dreams, or, even worse, clarity. Twilight’s horn glowed, and she floated her journal and quill over to her. Cracking an eye open only to flip to the next blank page, she closed her eyes again as she imagined what she would write. The quill in the air mimicked her thoughts perfectly.

Day 2

I had another dream, similar to the first one I had last night. This one, however, I can write down fully.

In this dream, I walked a great distance, to the same destination: a cliff with Ponyville across from it. Looking at this now, there appears to be some continuity between these two dreams. It seemed like this dream took place right after my last one. There were many bodies of water that must have been formed as a part of my last dream, as I’m pretty sure that they were rained on by the storm in the dream that I had last night.

That’s where the similarities ended. When I arrived, there were ponies standing on both sides of the cliff, the low ocean separating the two groups. The ponies on my side... no, nearly everpony in my dream acted like I didn’t exist. I tried many methods to get their attention, but nothing worked. Everypony seemed excited about something. Later, I found out what got them so worked up.

When I tried to see if there was anypony that I personally knew, I didn’t find anyone. Until I looked across to the other side, and found Rainbow Dash staring back at me. Twilight sighed happily, smiling when she recalled this particular moment.

Oh, she was just so... Beautiful. Now that I think about it, I haven’t been able to get her out of my mind ever since we stargazed just... -she stole a quick glance outside, seeing the stars and moon still hanging in the air- hours ago. How her mane falls across her face, her amazing eyes, the way she literally shone... Twilight sighed again, then gave her mind a mental kick.

But I’m off topic. After seeing Rainbow Dash in my dream, she only stared at me. No words exchanged, no attempt to start talking to me, nothing. It was as if she was expecting something from me.

After this, storm clouds gathered over the cliff that separated the two groups. It rained into the ocean until it was level with the two sides of the cliff.

Twilight paused, wondering why, exactly, this would reoccur in her dreams.

Maybe it rained to end the separation between the two areas of land? To reunite these people with their loved ones? Hm...

Back to the dream. After it stopped raining, most ponies were overjoyed, and took to their boats. Which were conveniently placed on our side of the cliff. They rowed across, and were reunited with the ponies they loved.

But why was I shown this? Why wasn’t I taken across the ocean? Rainbow Dash didn’t take part in the celebration, it seemed like she wanted me to go to her! And I wanted her, too! I wanted to be close to her, for her to comfort me, to hold me, to -

Twilight froze, her quill clattering to the ground as the magnitude of her written words finally started to sink in. Her eyes flew open for the second time, searching the page in the dim moonlight. All these strange new thoughts, the way she had seen Rainbow just that night and ever since, how much she had wanted her to be closer, how crushed she had been when she was denied that. Hesitantly, she lifted her quill to her journal again. There could be only one reason.

Am I... in love with Rainbow Dash?

She dotted her question mark at the end of her sentence, and immediately, the reasonable part of her mind broke out in protest. You can’t be in love with her, Twilight! You’d be crazy to! You’re an egghead, an antisocial bookworm, with absolutely no interest in what’s “cool,” you’d far sooner read a book on the history of Canterlot banking than even risk a stroll outside, and to top it all off, you’re both mares! Why in Equestria would she take an interest in you?

The hopeless romantic in her fired back. But it makes sense. Why then, would you ogle her, dream about her? Why else would you want to be so much closer to her? Like it or not, Twilight, but you’ve fallen hard for her. And in the course of one night, too... she could almost see this voice laughing bitterly, shaking its head. Twilight, that part of your mind has one thing right. You’re crazy.

Twilight shook her head vigorously, putting a hoof to it. She only now realized how her chest heaved with every breath, how her mane was glued to her forehead, sticky with perspiration. Not bothering to use magic, the purple mare leaned over the side of her bed. She groped for her journal and quill, which had been dropped sometime during the war between her conflicting thoughts. Seizing them after a few seconds of blind searching, she lifted them to eye level. Her horn glowed, enveloping the quill while she held the journal in her forelegs. Taking a deep breath, Twilight steadied herself before putting her quill to the page.

I... I think I do like Rainbow Dash. It would make a lot of sense, and perhaps give me some answers to these dreams I’ve had. If I just give this some thought.

I couldn’t reach her in my dream, even though I wanted to. I couldn’t take one of the rowboats, and it would be featherbrained for me to try and swim across.

The ocean is what separated us. I couldn’t get across it to reach her.

Of course I have to remember that dreams draw from my subconscious, often trying to send me a message. I’m sure that’s what’s going on here. So far, it’s made it clear enough that I have feelings for one of my friends. So what’s it trying to say when it separates the two of us in my dream?

Maybe... it’s showing that we’re separated in real life? Not necessarily by an ocean, of course.

...No, we’re not far apart from each other. We just stargazed a few hours ago, after all.

...Oh, I have no idea. Still so many questions I haven’t been able to answer.

I do think that she is the reason for my dreams, though. It’s nice to have at least one answer to all of my questions, although that in itself brings up a whole new set of questions. I can’t even bring myself to ask some of them. I’ll save it for another day. Hopefully I can get back to sleep and make this wait.

Twilight clamped the book shut, putting it back on her nightstand. Her quill followed suit, and she lay down again. Though she tried her best to slip back into sleep, her head swarmed with newly discovered thoughts and feelings. Eventually, the unicorn dreamed of cyan blue and rainbows.

With her eyes open.

===========

Another night ended as hints of light crept over the edges of the horizon. Assured that the time was right, the sun poked its head out.

Again, the sunbeams glared right into the eyes of a sleeping Spike. It was impossibly far away, yet it somehow possessed perfect aim. Spike stirred, grumbled, and rolled over, away from the intruding sunlight. To no avail, of course, as sleep would no longer take him. Promising himself to move his basket next time, the baby dragon started to climb out of bed. He didn’t have to, though, as a monstrous snort echoed through the library, coming from out of nowhere. Spike jumped and fell out of bed at the unexpected sound, quickly righting himself as he looked for the source. Another snort, and he turned towards Twilight’s bed. Sure enough, Twilight lay there, sprawled out on the covers, with her stomach down and her face buried in the pillow. Her forelegs wrapped around the cushion, and a thin stream of drool trickled from a corner of her open mouth. She let out another rumbling snore and shifted slightly in her sleep.

Spike smiled for a moment, seeing how odd Twilight looked in her new sleeping position. His smile faded, though, as he inspected his friend closely. Her cheeks were stained with something wet, something that glistened when the light angled itself correctly. Walking closer, Spike saw that the stains grew in size the closer they were to Twilight’s eyes.

Twilight was crying? But why?

Spike’s eyebrows furrowed as he went over yesterday’s events in his head. Twilight had woken up early, and she didn’t get much sleep yesterday. She seemed to be in a hurry after I cooked for her, and she locked herself in her room for the whole day, probably to study all those books she had with her.

Now, she looks like she was crying last night. The baby dragon saw how the tear stains tried, and failed, to mask the heavy circles under Twilight’s eyes. And it doesn’t look like she slept a lot last night either.

Spike had known Twilight for a long time, second only to her parents. He knew when something was wrong. Living with a pony for many years had that kind of effect.

...Something’s on her mind. Something, that she’s not telling me. Sighing, Spike turned to leave the room. With a final, worried glance back at the snoring pony, he closed the door behind him, preparing to make an extra cup of coffee for that day’s breakfast.

=========

Twilight opened one eye, and was promptly met by a blinding beam of light. A grumble, a groan, and she was sitting upright on her bed, rubbing her eyes. She stumbled out of bed, drawn out of her room by the smell of coffee drifting from the kitchen. The purple pony inhaled deeply, sighing at the wonderful aroma as she nudged open the door. Still in her morning haze, her eyes were not on the set of stairs in front of her, and as she put forward a hoof, it only met thin air. She tried to correct herself, but her weight had been shifted too far forward. Twilight felt herself falling, before slamming into the first stair. The momentum sent her tumbling head over hooves into the next stair, a vicious cycle that continued until she landed in a heap at the bottom of the stairs.

“Twilight? Twilight?!”

Twilight opened her eyes to see a very worried Spike staring down at her. “Spike?” she tried to say, but it came out as more of a “Unnhh.”

“Twilight, what happened? Did you fall down the stairs?”

The fallen pony only groaned again.

Spike shook his head. “Yeah, I could tell from all the crashing noises and the cries of pain.” His eyes went to something above Twilight’s head, and he gave something there a light push. The unicorn felt her weight shift. Something landed on the floor with a dull thud, which Twilight realized was her aching rump, along with the rest of her.

Twilight then realized how silly she must have looked, lying face-first on the floor. “I really should be more careful, shouldn’t I?”

“Yep.” Spike was now peering at Twilight, causing her to shift uncomfortably. “Say, Twilight...”

“Yes?”

Spike narrowed his eyes at his friend for a moment longer, before shaking his head, apparently having second thoughts. “...Never mind. Breakfast is ready.”

At the mention of food, Twilight perked up, forgetting about Spike’s strange behavior. “Great!” She followed Spike into the kitchen, at once reminded where that wonderful smell of coffee was coming from.

=======

Breakfast, however, was the last thing on Spike’s mind. Aside from Twilight’s incident with the stairs just moments ago, she appeared to be acting the same as she always was. She had fallen down the stairs before, after all. Even though previous occurrences usually involved a lack of light, or otherwise understandable circumstances.

They sat on opposite ends of Twilight’s simple wooden table. Though this was how they always sat during breakfast, Spike made especially sure of this today. On the table lay a steaming pot of coffee, along with two bowls heaped with oatmeal.

Spike dug into his oatmeal right away, but always kept a lookout for the pony across from him. Twilight, as he had expected, had poured a steaming mug of coffee, hastily downing the whole thing in a matter of seconds. However, her enthusiasm for the oatmeal was a different matter. She occasionally poked at it, stirring it with her spoon, but sometimes forgot even that, simply staring at it for minutes on end. The whole time, her eyes were narrowed, her brow furrowed, and Spike could almost see the gears turning in her head.

On one such staring-into-space session, Spike had finished off the last of his own oatmeal. He looked up and saw Twilight staring blankly at her bowl, her oatmeal still untouched (and definitely ice-cold). Spike looked at the clock exactly fifty-three times after that, in which five minutes had ticked by. He turned back to Twilight, and saw that she hadn’t moved a muscle, her gaze still cast downwards and her mind still Celestia-knows-where. That was it. Something was definitely on her mind.

“Twilight?” Spike asked, hoping to snap her out of whatever she was so lost about. Twilight gave no sign of hearing him. “Twilight?!” Louder this time. “Twilight!” he now shouted.

“Aah! What? What’s going on? What did I do?” Twilight snapped to attention, her pupils tiny pinpricks.

Spike sighed again, deciding to be blunt. “Twilight, are you okay?”

“Wh-what? Of course I am! Why wouldn’t I be?” she added with a nervous chuckle.

The baby dragon only crossed his arms and frowned at his friend, narrowing his eyes. When Twilight withered under his glare, he spoke up. “You haven’t been getting much sleep for the past two nights, you locked yourself in your room all day yesterday, I saw the tear stains under your eyes this morning, and now you’ve been staring into space this past five minutes!” He sighed again. “Look, Twilight, I’m worried about you. Something’s on your mind, and you’re not telling me what it is.”

During Spike’s list of claims against her, the librarian had been shrinking into herself with every point he made. Now, she looked every bit the trapped animal. An eternity of silence passed between them before Twilight finally spoke up, her gaze fixed to the floor. “I can’t tell you.” she nearly whispered. She kept her eyes to the ground before feeling an arm touch her shoulder. Turning, she saw Spike, who stared back for a moment before smiling reassuringly.

“Twilight, you can tell me anything. You know that. You trust me, don’t you?”

Twilight looked at Spike for a moment longer before tearing herself away. “I do... but I can’t tell you this. I’m sorry, but I just can’t.”

At this, Spike didn’t glare at Twilight, or shake his head in dismay, or anything Twilight expected. He only nodded, adding, “If you say so. But just remember, I’ll always be here if you need help, okay?”

Twilight drew Spike into a hug. “I’ll remember. And... thanks for this.”

Spike returned the embrace. “Anytime, Twilight.”

==============

Twilight sat at her desk, her tail flicking absently. The window next to her gave a generous panorama of Ponyville and beyond, usually something she would stop to admire for a second. Usually, but not today. She had long grown tired of pacing around her room, and the rhythm of her hoofsteps against the wooden floor had become a reminder. They were too similar to the rhythm of her hoofsteps crossing flatlands in her dreams, dreams that kept her from the one pony she so wanted to be closer to.

A heap of books rested to Twilight’s right, tossed and left right where they landed. One of these books was titled in large red print, and read: Confusion: Sorting Out Your Feelings.

All of those books had been forgotten. Instead, Twilight had her dream journal in front of her, hastily scribbling into it.

All of the books on the topic of romance in my library essentially say the same thing:

You must first confirm that, in fact, you have romantic feelings for somepony.

After this, you must get closer to them. Show them that you care about them, in any way that you can think of.

Most importantly, you must tell them about your feelings. No matter what, you can’t let this just be something that hangs in the back of your mind.

Also, you must remember that they may not always return your feelings. You must be prepared for this, and be ready to move on, no matter how difficult.

I am mostly sure that I am in love with Rainbow Dash. If “having romantic feelings for somepony” means that you find them attractive, that you want them to be closer to you, to hold and comfort you, and that you can’t get them out of your mind, among other things, then yes, I do have romantic feelings for her.

But how do I get closer to her, much less tell her my feelings? In my dreams, we’re so far apart. The two of us are separated, with no way to get across to each other. This would be less of a problem if I knew how this applied to our real-life situation. Are we really so far apart? Is there really something that’s keeping us from getting closer? If so, what is it? How can I get rid of this... this ocean that’s between us? What if -

“Twilight?” a voice sounded right behind her. Twilight yelped and whirled, clutching her journal to her chest.

“Spike?! W-why did you sneak up on me?!” Twilight nearly screamed. Not only had Spike scared her out of her fur, he had almost seen her journal. Not something she planned on letting anyone look through anytime soon.

If Spike had seen Twilight’s journal, he was quite good at not showing it. “Well, you usually come downstairs for dinner on your own. Dinner’s been ready for a while now, and you still haven’t showed up. And I didn’t sneak up on you. You always leave your door unlocked, so I figured that I can walk in at any time,” Spike added with a shrug.

“Oh. Uh, thanks I guess.” Twilight said, putting her journal back onto its rightful place on her nightstand. “Now that you mention it, I am pretty hungry...” she murmured, more to herself as she walked out the door.

Spike stayed behind for a moment. His eyes went to the small book on Twilight’s nightstand. She did seem like she didn’t want anyone to see that. Could that be where i can find out about what’s bothering her? Though he respected Twilight’s privacy, his curiosity was about as strong. Spike stared for a second longer, before shaking his head. “You can’t do that, Spike! That would be invading Twilight’s personal space!” His mind made up, Spike left the room, but not before one final glance at that little black book.

===========

Twilight raised a hoof to her half-eaten daisy sandwich. She knew she should be eating, especially with her lack of sleep. Her stomach had even complained a few times before she had sat down to dinner. And yet, the thought of taking another bite didn’t seem to be too appealing. Instead, her mind preferred to wander, taking her mind away from the meal.

Spike looked up from his diminishing stack of gems when he heard a clattering coming from the sink. Twilight had gotten up at some point, and Spike raised an eyebrow when he saw Twilight move towards the trashcan, her half-eaten daisy sandwich in her magical grasp. “Uh, Twilight? What are you doing?”

Twilight stopped. “Oh, uh, I’m not that hungry,” she lied. Her mind still insisted on directing her thoughts to a subject she had thought about quite often over the last twenty-four hours. “I’m... just going to go to bed now. I haven’t gotten much sleep lately, after all.” She yawned to emphasize her point. “Good night, Rai- I mean Spike.” she quickly caught herself. Did I almost say ‘Rainbow Dash?’ Oh, what’s coming over me?

“Okay, Twilight. Good night.” Spike responded. He watched Twilight retreat to her bedroom. A thought nagged at him. What did she almost call me? He tried to shrug it off, but it continued to stick in his head. Almost as if he were so close to figuring out what was bothering his friend, but it wasn’t quite there yet.

=======

Sleep seemed to be an escape. Where emotions could be sorted out and answers to questions could be explored, without interruption or interference.

Twilight opened her eyes, scrambling to all four hooves when she saw only grass and water around her. The water still filled every hole, and the grass still stretched in every direction, except to Twilight’s right, where it transitioned into a beach that overlooked the ocean.

The grass cut a clear path to the ocean, and Twilight immediately set her hooves on the trail. This time, however, her steps faltered every now and again, no longer falling into the rhythmic clop of hooves upon grass. With every hesitant step, new doubts invaded the unicorn’s thoughts.

Why are you so eager to dream every night? came the question from her ever-inquisitive mind.

“Because I think that this is the only way I’ll ever find anything out,” she responded to herself.

Do you really think so? And what, exactly, have you found out so far?

Twilight stopped dead. “Uh... well, I... I’ve found out that there’s a big ocean that’s separating me and Rainbow Dash?”

The purple mare could almost hear her mind blow out its cheeks in an exasperated sigh. That’s very well and all, but do you know what that means? What anything else in these dreams mean?

“Um... Well... no.” she finally admitted, hanging her head.

Exactly. So tell me again why you want to have these dreams so badly? When all they’ve given you are questions and ideas clouded in mystery?

Twilight sighed. “Because... these dreams are what started this... this mess in the first place!” She only realized then how silly she must have looked, shouting at herself in the middle of a heated argument with her own thoughts. In a quieter voice, she continued. “It seems like they can give me answers, if I study them enough. And you’re not being any help! You’re my mind, and this dream comes from my mind. So why aren’t you telling me anything?!”

Her mind fell silent for a moment. Just when Twilight thought she was getting a response, it simply said: You’re here.

“Wh-what? What kind of answer is tha-aah!” Twilight flinched when she felt a wetness soaking into her hooves. Looking down, she saw the whitewash of the ocean lapping at her hooves, rippling at the shore, before retreating. Apparently, she had been so engrossed in her self-conversation, she had failed to pay attention to her surroundings, even when the rustle of grass had faded into the mini-crunch of sand.

The same place as before. Ponyville across the water, still within clear sight. Again, ponies gathered on either side, and again, Twilight’s heart skipped a beat when she caught sight of a striking cyan pegasus on the other side. Again, the same blank stare from her. No sign of anything glaringly out of place compared to Twilight’s previous dreams.

The unicorn noted the way the ocean stayed level with the land, and the calm rhythm of waves crashing against the beach. “Looks like there isn’t going to be any rain this time,” she thought aloud, glancing to where the ponies on her side gathered. Behind them lay a dozen or so rowboats, faced towards the endless sea and eager to start their journey. Another glance, this one directed to the sky, assured Twilight that this dream would bring forth no more rain. Her attention was brought back to the water as a unified splash sounded on the shore. For the second time, these ponies had started their sail home. All the rowboats had been taken again, or so Twilight thought. Watching the ponies start their sail home, her gaze flicked absently to the shore in front of her. Immediately, her eyes widened.

Directly in front of her, a rowboat floated lazily in the shallow shore water. Twilight glanced around to see if anypony was simply late to get in their boat. The beach had been deserted, and when Twilight looked back at the boat, her boat, it still floated there, as if invisibly anchored.

She took slow steps to the waiting boat, the seawater sinking into the bottoms of her hooves before she stood next to her vessel. The rowboat proudly sported two wooden slats for seating, enough to fit around four ponies. Two oars, one on each side, were kept in place by small rings that wrapped around their middle.

One awkward boarding later, which involved slight splashing and flailing, Twilight sat in the boat. She stared at the oars, realizing her lack of experience in rowing a boat would probably hinder her journey. A moment longer and she remembered that she wasn’t going anywhere. “Well, here I go...” Hoping that basic principles of physics would apply to rowing a boat, she grasped the oars in her magic. They rotated in their rings, rising out of the water before falling back in again. The oars thrust themselves backwards in the water, sending the tiny vessel the smallest bit forward. Even so, Twilight noticed that she had been set in motion. She smiled, thanking Celestia that laws of physics still applied to dream boat-rowing. “I’m on my way, Rainbow,” she murmured before lifting the oars out of the water again.

========

This new rhythm was something that Twilight could get used to. The slight splash of the oars rising out of the water, the creak of the paddles against the boat as they twisted in the air, another splash as the oars eased back into the deep blue, and the soft rush of the water, propelling the little vessel the slightest bit forward before the cycle began once more.

Twilight found herself gazing into the water, the ocean casting a rippling shadow of herself back to her, before the oars broke the surface and blurred Twilight’s reflection beyond recognition.

She leaned back into the boat and sighed. Was everyone else’s journey so long? Did they row this far? How far did they row, exactly? How long had she been rowing? How could she tell? Twilight’s eyes scanned the horizons, searching for any sign that she was closer. She froze, her hair standing on end as she saw her destination. But Ponyville seemed to have drifted farther away, the distant shape of the cone-topped town hall being the only indication that the town still stood there.

A quick sweep of her surroundings, but no other land presented itself. Twilight’s mind reeled. Just when she thought she could finally get across the ocean that had always plagued her dreams with separation, here it was again. And the distance seemed farther than ever before, certainly much too far to row.

Twilight slumped on the edge of the tiny vessel, defeated. She felt her balance shift, and too late, she realized her mistake. A mistake that couldn’t be corrected. Her boat tipped, tipped too far, sending its only occupant over the side.

Time slowed to a crawl. The fall couldn’t be more than a foot from the boat to the ocean. And yet, Twilight felt herself falling for miles. For hours on end, the water shifting to accept her. Less than a foot until impact. Inches. Fractions of an inch. As she hovered above the water for a moment, Twilight could have sworn that the ocean had been a deep, dark blue a second ago. Not the cyan blue that it was now.

She closed her eyes and hit the water.

============

Twilight felt herself come to without opening her eyes. The gasping for air, the sweat-soaked covers, the hot tears that dripped down her face, were all things that she had come to expect.

Her dream was firmly rooted in her mind, and refused to leave. The crushing defeat that had followed her firm hope now came back with full force. Twilight rolled over, burying her face into her pillow. Though she had already been crying, she was now sure that the tears had only just begun. I hope that Spike is a heavy sleeper... she thought before the tears started to flow.

She sobbed openly into her pillow, her mind full of the impossibly large separation, of no way to get across, no way to be so much closer. Her need to be closer was nothing in comparison to the mass of water between them. The clarity of her dreams made it seem so real, and in every one, the distance between them always seemed to grow. Now, it seemed there was no way to cross this distance.

The Cascade

Every night, it was the same. A mass of water in front of her. Everything that she wanted stood across the water, staring back at her. No matter how much she tried, she never found a way to cross the lake between them, or the sea, or ocean, or whatever kind of water lay between them. The size seemed to always change, but it didn’t matter. Its sole purpose was to keep them apart, it seemed.

Most of Twilight’s time was spent locked in her room. When she opened her journal, it seemed to be the same weight on both sides, and she had as much pages left as she did that were filled in. The only way the unicorn kept track of time was the day that she put at the top of every journal entry.

Day 8

How do you cross an ocean?

In my dreams, the water seems to have become larger and larger, and right now, it’s as big as I can imagine. The other ponies in my dream have no problem crossing it, but it’s much too far for me to row. Even though I need her closer, I’m always denied that.

It’s impossible to cross an ocean, what with I have anyway...

Why? Why can’t I get across? Why can’t I be with the one pony I want? Why is there such a big distance between us? It’s just not fair! I-

Something pounded against Twilight’s bedroom door. She flinched and shut her journal, only to realize that it was someone knocking. “Hello?” she called out.

A muffled but undeniable baby dragon’s voice sounded behind the door. “Twilight, let me in.”

Twilight sighed. She knew what was coming. The unicorn walked over to the door and removed the wardrobe that barred it.

Hearing the loud creaking of the wardrobe against wood, Spike opened the door. He walked in, shutting the door behind him, and blinked several times, no doubt trying to adjust to the room’s perpetual darkness. Courtesy of one Twilight Sparkle, of course.

Spike wasted no time in getting to the point. “Twilight, we need to talk.”

The lavender pony had sat down at her desk again, facing away from it and towards her friend. She thought for a moment, before deciding that this would have come eventually. “Yes, of course.”

Spike took a deep breath before continuing. “Twilight, I know that something’s on your mind. By the looks of it, it’s something pretty important. But I don’t think that this is a problem that can be solved by locking yourself in your room all day and not telling anyone what you’re doing. You haven’t been outside for more than a week!

He sighed. “Look, the point is, I’m worried about you. I’m sure your friends are worried about you too. I still don’t know what’s bothering you, but I think you need to talk to someone about it. And that means that you can’t lock yourself in your room today.” With that, he walked around Twilight and started pushing her towards the door.

“Hey!” Twilight shouted at the sudden movement. “Spike, what do you think you’re doing?”

Spike only resumed his pushing. “You need to go outside, whether you like it or not. I’m tired of you being down in the dumps for over a week.”

Twilight gave in, seeing no way out of this. “Okay, Spike, I’ll go outside. But only if you stop pushing me.” Spike, by now, had somehow managed to push Twilight down the stairs, and they approached the door.

“Promise?”

The unicorn rolled her eyes. “I promise.”

“Great!” Spike stopped pushing his friend, before adding, “You can’t come back before sundown, okay?” A nod from Twilight, and Spike grinned. He gave one final shove, sending Twilight out the door, which was promptly shut.

Once Twilight was out the door, Spike locked it, glancing around. Assured that he was alone, he hurried up to Twilight’s room. Once reaching it, he caught sight of what he had been looking for.

He walked to Twilight’s desk and picked up her dream journal. Sorry, Twilight, he thought. But you’re not telling me what’s bothering you. It’s my job to look out for you, and whatever’s on your mind must be something big. And I’m sure that it’s in here. He opened the book to a random page.

Day 5

The same thing, again and again and again. It’s like I can’t escape this dream.

I’m starting to think that this dream isn’t a good thing. It separates me from her, and I’m never able to get to her.

And yet, I need her. Still, we’re apart, and it doesn’t seem like there’s anything I can do about it.

Spots of a different color blotted the page, blurring the ink if the spots fell there. The blots bled through the pages, and Spike had to pry the pages apart when he turned to the next entry.

Day 6

Again. That’s six nights in a row, and I don’t know how to stop it.

I’m going crazy. I just know it. I’ve dreamt about Rainbow Dash every night, ever since I realized that I’m in love with her. If that weren’t enough, she’s been a part of my thoughts even when I’m awake.

My dreams are intent on keeping us apart. It’s maddening, really, since I feel like I need her closer.

So much closer...

The rest of the page was filled with doodles. Peering closely, Spike saw that they were actually detailed drawings. All of them depicted a cloud with a lightning bolt intertwined with a multi-pointed star, surrounded by many smaller stars of the same design. Two symbols that happened to be the cutie marks of very familiar ponies. Spike flipped through the rest of Twilight’s entries, seeing the exact same drawing decorating every page he turned to.

Spike shut the book, resting it on the table. He stared at it for a moment longer, before getting up and heading for the door. So that’s what’s been bothering Twilight all this time... She really does need help from someone.

More importantly, how can I help her? Now that I know what’s on her mind, I have to do something. Spike thought for a plan, something to help Twilight with her situation.

================

Twilight couldn’t blame Spike for throwing her out of the house. I have been locked in my room for over a week, after all.

She stood there, wondering where to go. Spike’s right. I need to talk to someone about this. But who?

Her mind made up, the next thing she had to do was find somepony to give her advice. Somepony who would keep a secret no matter what, who would take this seriously, who would give her solid and legitimate advice...

==============

“Pinkie?” Twilight knocked at the door of Sugarcube Corner. She looked at the clouds overhead, overcast and gloomy clouds that barred the Sun’s entry. Twilight hoped that it wasn’t getting to be dark at this time, but with the clouds above it was more difficult to tell. She tried knocking again. “Pinkie, are you in there?” she called for the second time.

Perhaps she had given it too much thought. But however long it took her, she had concluded that Pinkie had been the best pony to ask. Rainbow Dash was certainly out of the question, Rarity would lose herself in one of her grand romantic fantasies, Applejack couldn’t keep a secret even if she wanted to, and Fluttershy was no better than Rarity. Which left Twilight only one option.

Now that she thought about it, Pinkie could turn out to be a decent choice. She could keep a secret no matter what, and she always had good advice to offer. Even if, half of the time, that advice was given while bouncing off the walls.

Twilight’s ponderings were cut off as the door to Sugarcube Corner swung open. The familiar pink pony who stood behind it stared for a second, before recognizing her friend. “Oh, hi Twilight!” she exclaimed, her usual smile stretching into a full-on Pinkie-style grin. “Sorry the door was closed, I was just baking the last order for the day because we’re about to close and I didn’t think that anyone was going to visit so I just closed the door while I was baking my chocolate cupcakes and did you know that chocolate cupcakes are like the BEST THING EVER?! I mean, the smell when I pulled them out of the oven and how amazing they look and-”

Twilight watched her friend bounce around the bakery. smiling a little herself. Leave it to Pinkie to cheer her up, simply by being herself. She focused her wandering mind as she saw Pinkie’s bouncing starting to slow, coming to a stop exactly where she had started. “So, what brings you here?” the pink pony asked, flashing a smile at Twilight.

“Actually, I wanted to talk to you about something. Can we talk somewhere, well, private?” Twilight walked inside, immediately hit by the tantalizing aroma of freshly baked pastries, the signature smell of Sugarcube Corner.

Pinkie seemed to sense Twilight’s seriousness, and a softer smile replaced her grin. “Of course we can talk. Mr. and Mrs. Cake are upstairs, so we’ll just go into the kitchen.” Twilight opened her mouth to question Pinkie’s logic, but the party pony was already bouncing into the kitchen. Twilight sighed and followed her.

She almost froze when she realized that she lacked something. How could I be so stupid? I need to know what to tell her! Oh, horseapples, how much do I say to her? Do I tell her who I have feelings for? What about my dreams? Do I just-

“Uh, Twilight? You’re supposed to sit on the chair, not stand next to it!” Twilight snapped her head up and looked around. By some miracle, she had made her way into the kitchen. She sighed, and seated herself on the chair. Pinkie smiled at her and nudged a cupcake in her direction. Wait, where did she get that- ugh. Why do I even ask?

“So, what’s up, Twilight?” Of course she would ask that. Twilight was the one that wanted to talk to her, after all. Not like that made Twilight’s response any easier to come up with.

“I, uh. Well, you see, um...” Twilight spluttered and stammered. Why is this so hard? If you can’t tell Pinkie, than what makes you think you can tell... she let that thought finish itself.

“Twilight.” Pinkie’s voice no longer had the usual bubbly cheer. It was softer, yet encouraging. “You can tell me anything.” Twilight looked up, and saw Pinkie’s soft, reassuring smile.

“Can you promise that this stays between us?”

“Of course! Cross my heart, hope to-” Pinkie stopped when Twilight waved a dismissive hoof in the air.

“You don’t need to do that. I’m sure you won’t tell anypony,” Twilight said, even adding a mild giggle. “Ahem...” she cleared her throat, despite the lack of blockage in it.

“I-I think that I’m in love with... somepony.”

Pinkie tilted her head. “Who?”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Do I have to tell you?”

A nod was her only response.

Another sigh escaped the purple unicorn. “Well, if it’s for the best.” She glanced around, as if to make sure that they were alone, before mentally bracing herself again. “I’m in love with... with Rainbow Dash.” she forced out. She interested herself in the floor, not wanting to see her friend’s reaction. What would it be? Shock? Horror? Disgust? All of the above?

Then she felt herself falling, her vision filled with pink as she crashed into the floor. Stunned, she felt two soft pink hooves wrap around her neck in a crushing hug. Then, a bubbly voice saying: “Oh, Twilight, that’s amazing!”

Not the reaction she was expecting.

“Wh-what? Amazing? Why?”

“Of course you’re in love with her, silly! I always knew!”

Twilight scrambled to her hooves, forcing the party pony to hop off of her. “You did?! How?!” She stared, not believing what she was hearing.

Pinkie shrugged. “Dunno.”

“But-”

Pinkie cut her off. “So what did you need me to tell you? About this, you know?”

Twilight stared for a moment longer, then put a hoof to her forehead, letting out a sigh. She would never understand her pink friend’s mysterious ways. “I started... realizing this about a week ago...”

==============

“...and I don’t know what to do! I don’t even understand half of what’s going on!”

Chocolate crumbs and empty cupcake wrappers were all that remained of the cupcakes that Pinkie had laid out. Twilight needed to remind herself to come around to Sugarcube Corner more often. Shaking her head to clear her mind of delicious confectionary treats, Twilight looked over to her (hopefully good-advice-giving) friend.

Pinkie, after listening to Twilight pour out her story, uncharacteristically sat and rubbed her chin with a hoof. She looked up, brightening when seeing Twilight, as if noticing she was there for the first time. “So... how long have you dreamed about Rainbow?”

Twilight’s thoughts went back to her dream journal. “Almost a week, now.”

“Have you seen her ever since that one night?”

The unicorn shook her head. “That’s part of what’s bothering me. I think that she’s avoiding me, since I probably creeped her out by staring at her.”

“And you say that she’s always really far away from you in your dreams?” Pinkie was leaning over the table slightly now, focused entirely on Twilight.

“That’s what I said.” Twilight wasn’t sure where her friend was going with this, but she nodded anyway.

“...And you still don’t know why you keep having these dreams about her?” Pinkie sounded almost incredulous, her eyes widened slightly. At least she had leaned back in her chair, so she wasn’t making Twilight uncomfortable by being in her face.

“No! That’s why I’m asking you!” Why did Pinkie act like she knew everything all of a sudden? If she did, well, it wouldn’t be all too surprising, but-

“Isn’t it obvious? You’re the one causing those dreams! Since you’re not doing anything about your feelings for her, she’s only getting farther away from you.” Satisfied with her explanation, Pinkie resumed her signature grin.

Oh. Well.

Twilight simply sat and stared, the weight of Pinkie’s words settling in on her. Could it be? Was she really so blind as to not look in the most obvious of places? “You... you think so?” was the only thing she managed to get out.

“Yeah! So now you know what you have to do, right?” The pink pony bounced up and down in her chair.

“Wait... you’re not saying that I should go tell her how I feel, are you?” Twilight hoped to Celestia that this wouldn’t be the case.

“Of course, silly!”

Crap.

Pinkie continued. “You like her, don’t you? And if you like her, then you’ll want to be with her, right?” She chattered on without waiting for a response. “And what do you get from not telling her, anyway? She’s your friend no matter what, even if things don’t turn out the best.” She smiled softly again.

“I... I guess...” Twilight muttered.

“Not ‘I guess,’ it’s ‘I know!’ Now go get her, silly!” Allowing no further conversation, she leapt from her chair and started pushing Twilight’s chair to the door.

“B-but... what do I say? How do I tell her?” Twilight stammered.

“I dunno! You’re the one with the crush! Now go!” Somehow, the two had made their way to the door, and with one final shove, Twilight was sent hurtling out the door, landing in a heap on the base of the steps to the bakery. She was getting pushed around a lot today, now that she thought about it.

Well, that certainly could’ve gone worse... Twilight thought to herself as she got to her hooves, setting out for home. She knew that Pinkie meant well, but how could she just go and tell Rainbow how she felt, just like that? She couldn’t. It was as simple as that.

But then how could she solve her problem? If Pinkie was right, then keeping everything bottled up inside her would only make her dreams persist. She was sure of that, as the memories from her six (or was it seven? Or eight? She didn’t have an idea any more.) previous dreams came to mind. At the moment, Twilight didn’t prefer either option over the other.

She thought all of this as she plodded home. Sleep didn’t seem so appealing anymore.

======================

Spike opened the freezer, pulling out yet another daisy sandwich before shutting the freezer door. He was just setting the table for him and Twilight when he heard the door creaking open. A quick glance out the window told him that Twilight kept her promise.

The hoofsteps got closer, until Twilight appeared in the entrance to the kitchen. She wore a small smile, which was tired but reassuring.

“Hi, Spike. I’m back,” Twilight said unnecessarily.

“Hey, Twilight.” Spike put the last sandwich on the table and walked over to Twilight, giving her a short hug. “How was your first time outside?”

That earned him an eye roll. “Very funny, Spike. But it did help. Kind of.”

“Great! I, uh, have to go out myself. I’ll be back soon, but dinner’s on the table already.” Spike turned and started walking to the door.

“Go? Where?” Twilight raised an eyebrow.

Spike stopped dead. “Oh, um, I have to... Go get some more quills! Yeah, that’s it!” And without letting Twilight interject further, he hurried out the door.

Twilight stared for a second longer, then sighed and shook her head. Her daisy sandwich was calling, anyway.

======================

Thirty steps from the library, and Spike finally allowed himself to relax. Now, he could go ahead with his plan.

================

Sleep didn’t sound so good any more.

Sleep was supposed to be a rest. A time when everything that stressed or demanded or just plain annoyed could be forgotten, and all of that could be, for lack of a better word, slept away.

Not anymore. For Twilight, sleep was confusing, frightening. Not the rest that she so needed.

Naturally, she wasn’t too enthusiastic on the idea of going to sleep tonight. Though the sun was just starting its journey below the horizon, though the first stars were just starting to show their small but bright faces, and though Twilight wore dark circles under her eyes, sleep did not seem the slightest bit appealing.

Despite this, she told herself that she needed all the sleep she could get at this point. As such, she was just climbing into bed when she heard her front door creaking open. It’s probably Spike, the unicorn thought. Then, she heard a voice that made her blood freeze.

“So, Spike, what’s up? Why’d ya bring me here?” That voice could only belong to a certain pegasus. That same one who Twilight had dreamed about for the past week.

“Just wait a second, Rainbow.” Definitely Spike’s voice. A few seconds of steps getting closer, and a knock on Twilight’s door. “Hey, Twi? Are you there?” Rainbow’s voice carried through the door.

Twilight’s mind raced at an impossibly fast rate. Does Spike know? How does he know? Will I even let them in? What will I say? She found herself trembling, and a bead of sweat rolled down her face. She tried to say something, but all that came out was a whimper.

Apparently, Spike and Rainbow had other plans. The door nudged open slowly, and two faces poked themselves in. Their eyes widened at the same time when they saw the state that their friend was in.

In a second Rainbow was by Twilight’s bedside. “Twilight? Are... are you okay? What’s wrong?”

Twilight could only stare. If Rainbow had mesmerized her in her dream state, than that was almost nothing compared to the living, breathing version. Her rippling mane, shining coat, and everything else seemed almost unreal.

But her eyes. Twilight had grown used to Rainbow’s expressionless stare, devoid of emotion. The Rainbow Dash that held her gaze now, though, was full of caring and concern. All of it for her.

Twilight tore herself away from the pegasus in front of her to see Spike’s tail disappearing behind the door. Probably so he could do something downstairs. Which would be done for the express purpose of leaving the two alone.

A voice brought Twilight away from her thoughts. “Twilight? You’re really starting to worry me. I mean, first you act funny when we’re watching the stars, then nopony sees you for almost a week, and now this!”

She sighed, and continued, but not before Twilight realized that Rainbow had gotten closer, and their muzzles were almost touching. “Look, Twilight, I’m just worried about you. Seems like something’s bothering you.”

Their gazes locked. Violet eyes met rose. Twilight lost herself in those caring eyes. The two of them were so close, the only sound was Rainbow’s wings lazily beating in the air... She leaned in...

And suddenly their lips were pressed together. Neither of them was expecting it, but Twilight knew she couldn’t let this moment slip by. She closed her eyes, taking in the feel of their lips meeting, the feel of Dash’s breath inside her mouth, the taste of her-

Rainbow broke away. Twilight’s eyes shot open to see her friend staring at her, her pupils tiny pinpricks. Her chest heaved, and her jaw hung slack. Both of them opened their mouths to say something, but Dash’s wings flared and she shot out the nearest window. A window which happened to be firmly shut, and as a result, glass shattered in her escape.

Twilight stared at the fading trail that Dash had left behind. I... I just kissed her! Why? Why did I do something so impulsive and stupid?! I never had an idea whether she liked me or not!

Finally, that familiar wetness started to claw at her eyes again. She screwed up badly this time, and she couldn’t think of a way to fix it. She probably hates me now... was her last thought before her tears started to flow freely, as she cried herself into another night of dreams.

=======================

The house was silent. Not unusual for Rainbow Dash’s cloud home.

But after another moment of silence, a rushing of wind grew closer to the house, growing in size and volume, until the source of the sound revealed itself in the form of a cyan pegasus.

Dash burst right through a wall of her cloud home, with no intention of stopping. The impact, while not enough to stop her, still managed to momentarily stun her, and by the time she regained her senses, she saw the floor of her house rushing up to meet her. She vaguely realized how fast she was going (which happened to be quite fast) before the impact.

The blue pony crashed, headfirst, into the floor of her home, tumbling head over hooves before skidding, headfirst, to a stop right in the middle of her floor. She lay on her back, chest heaving. Only then did she allow herself to think.

“I can’t believe Twilight would do something like that!” she found herself talking aloud. “Why would she kiss me?! Is that what’s been bothering her all this time?!”

She rolled onto her belly and winced, instead choosing to sit up. Looking down presented her with a thin, raw, and red wound that cut across her underbelly in a neat diagonal, surprisingly the only injury that her impromptu escape had given her. Not like it bothered her, anyway. She had been through worse.

Naturally, her thoughts went back to the ineviable. “Ugh... what made Twilight think that she could do something like that! She couldn’t have thought that would be a good idea, did she?”

She remembered Twilight’s reaction after their... incident. They were both shocked, speechless. And she had bolted before either of them had a chance to say anything. But.. I did that because I don’t feel that way about her... she reasoned with herself. She had never shown any sign of liking Twilight, after all. Another sigh, and the pegasus rolled to her hooves and started pacing. She most certainly hadn’t had to deal with anything like this before. For once, a situation like this required her serious thought.

“Okay, so let me get all of this stuff straight... Twilight likes me. There can’t be another reason why she did that. That’s what’s making her stay in her house all day. I don’t like her back, and she probably knows that already.”

She stopped her pacing for a moment, instead putting a hoof to her chin. “Should I have run away like that? Sure, I don’t share those feelings with her, but now she probably feels terrible...”

Rainbow stopped fully as she realized what Twilight’s reaction probably was. Something that probably involved crying. A lot of it. All of it because of her.

That definitely didn’t help her feel any better, at least not any more than her already unsure state.

“Maybe I should talk to her...” Rainbow sighed. If Twilight had gone through all of that trouble to show her feelings for Dash, she didn’t deserve a reaction like that. She needed support, and right away. Her mind made up, Dash took to the air, zooming out the hole that she had made moments before.

=================

Endless ocean. Not such a thing that should be crossed in a rowboat.

Twilight knew this, but her dreamworld did not. Or perhaps it did, but it decided that it would be a good idea just to poke fun at her in its own twisted way.

No sign of land, or anypony. But Twilight expected as much. Since, well, her idea to kiss Rainbow Dash had been such a great one, after all.

Twilight no longer had any doubt in her mind that Pinkie was right. She was the one who kept her apart from the pony she wanted. She always had been, without even realizing it. And now, thanks to her genius idea, they were further apart than ever.

With nothing around, Twilight could only stare into the water. A forlorn pony, complete with flattened ears and tear streaks down her face, stared back. That pony seemed as resigned and regretful as Twilight herself.

She couldn’t look any longer at that pony. It seemed too sad, too...longing. Fortunately, she didn’t have to.

The pony in the water opened its mouth. And, much to Twilight’s surprise, it spoke. “Twilight...”

“Huh?! What’s going on?” The unicorn leaned closer, but her reflection stayed where it was.

“Twilight... I need to talk to you...” That wasn’t her own voice.

“What? What is it?”

Her reflection swiveled its head, almost as if it were searching for something. Then it turned back to her, worry in its eyes. “Twilight!” it now said with urgency. “Wake up!”

================

She felt herself being shaken, gently. “Twilight, wake up.”

Naturally, Twilight wasn’t used to being waken up by anypony other than Spike. Her eyes flew open, and she shot up.”Aah! Stay back! What are you doing in my house-” She got a good look at who interrupted her dream, the moonbeams shining just enough light to reflect off of her polychromatic mane. “Rainbow?!”

“Okay, you’re awake.” Dash took a step back. “Twilight... we need to talk.”

The shock of seeing her friend in the middle of the night disappeared, and she was immediately reminded of her actions not hours before. She felt her face growing hot. “Uh... About what?” Though she knew full well “about what” her friend was referring to.

“You know,” came the response. And nothing more needed to be said. She did know.

“Yes, I do know.” Twilight murmured. “And I just want to say that... that I’m sorry. I never should’ve done that. I don’t know what I was thinking, I-I just thought-”

Her friend held up a hoof, and Twilight stopped. “Twilight, it’s okay. I guess I have something to be sorry for, too.”

“Why would you be sorry? You’re not the one who did something stupid. Like me,” she added after a moment.

“Yeah, but I shouldn’t have run off like that. I’m the reason that you’ve been stuck up in your house all this time, right?” A small nod from Twilight, and she continued. “I can’t blame you for what you did, then. You acted on what you felt, without thinking twice about it. Celestia knows how many times I’ve done that,” she finished with a smirk.

“So... you’re not mad at me? You don’t hate me?” Twilight almost couldn’t believe it.

To her surprise, Dash drew her into a light hug. “Of course not, Twi,” she reassured Twilight with a few pats on her back.

“But... you don’t feel the same way about me, do you?” That was it. She had to ask. Even though she already knew what the answer probably was.

Rainbow sighed. “No, Twilight. I don’t. But... that doesn’t mean that I never will. I’ll think about it. How about that?”

Twilight couldn’t help but smile. Considering all of the possible outcomes that could come out of this night, this definitely was on the better side. “Okay, Rainbow. And, thanks for... understanding me.”

Rainbow finally pulled away from the embrace. “No problem,” she answered with her cocky grin. “Besides, I had to, or else you’d be a wreck right now. And I can’t leave my friends like that. Anyway,” she turned, flaring her wings, “I’m glad that we could work this out. I’ll see you later, Twilight.” With that, she flew out the broken window, leaving Twilight alone with her thoughts. Well, almost.

Twilight was still watching the window which her friend had flown out of, a small smile on her features. She was interrupted by a scaly dragon claw, softly nudging her side. “Twilight?” a sleepy voice asked. “Who was that?”

“That was Rainbow Dash,” Twilight responded. “We... well, we just needed to talk.”

“Oh...” was Spike’s only response for a second or two. Then, he cleared his throat and continued. “Actually, I wanted to say something about that.”

The two waited in silence before Spike unexpectedly reached forward from his position at the foot of Twilight’s bed, wrapping his arms around Twilight’s neck. “Twilight... I’m sorry. I brought Rainbow Dash here, I read your dream journal, and I just caused this whole mess... You’re probably so mad at me-”

Spike was stopped as he felt a hoof across him, and he looked up to see Twilight returning the embrace. “Spike, it’s okay. I probably never would have acted on my feelings if you hadn’t brought her here. And, even better, she doesn’t hate me after I did that like I expected her to. We’re still friends, and I might even say that we could be closer because of this, which is all I wanted. So I guess I should thank you for going through all that trouble.”

Spike’s eyes widened, an action that went unnoticed by Twilight. “So... you think that me invading your privacy is a good thing?”

Twilight couldn’t help but giggle. “Of course not, Spike! Only in this case. If it were under any other circumstances, you would probably expecting a lecture from me, at the least!”

Spike smiled, and gave a small laugh of his own. “Okay, Twilight,” he responded, pulling out of the embrace. “Good night.”

“Good night, Spike. And... thanks.”

No more needed to be said. As Twilight slipped under her covers again, she went over the day’s events in her head. She had done something stupid and impulsive, and yet her outlook was more hopeful and open as a result. Sure, Rainbow may not share her feelings, but at least she knew that they would always be friends, and they would always be close. At least Twilight would have that.

Twilight closed her eyes. She didn’t fear sleep any more. She knew that the distance between them had been crossed, after all. The unicorn fell into sleep with a smile across her features, and didn’t dream about oceans and impassable distances.