Compatī (Abridged)by CorejoChaptersI - The JournalII - A Distant NightmareIII - Wise Words from a Wise FriendIV - Cleansing the NightmareEpilogue - As the Stars in the SkyI - The JournalThey were right to fear me. They are right to fear me still. These lunar shackles hold fast, and my flesh is raw where skin and sinew have refused their lesson in patience. But Nightmare is eternal—unshackled, unbridled. Beyond the sight of Sister’s precious, little sun, the waning moon sharpens my power over dreams to a knifepoint. The dreams of our little ponies are oh so easy to bend when they slip into my nightly embrace. Hell is but a state of mind, and in the nigh thousand years I have spent in darkness I have elevated its craft to an art form. Sister sought to replace me with these protégés of hers. Folly. They learned to rescind their titles, denounce her as their loving princess or else suffer my wrath. And her newest, this Sunset Shimmer, shall too understand the gravity of her trespass. She will become my plaything, my instrument of Sister’s ruin. For I sense greatness in her. Sister should never have crossed me. Her place in Tartarus was reserved the moment she refused me my birthright. The new moon rises, and it is hungrier than ever. I lay on a purple velvet cushion with a little smile on my face. Rare were the moments I had time to chat with Sister’s star pupil when the world wasn’t in peril. I found her innocence and perspective on the world most refreshing, even if it meant entertaining myself with her… eccentricities. I folded my hooves, took a sip of coffee, and continued watching Twilight Sparkle fret over her assortment of astronomy literature. “Or maybe you’d rather read Guilderbeak’s Guide to Gargantuan Galaxies.” Twilight Sparkle hefted a book levitating beside her. She gasped. “Oh, where did I put Star Gazer’s Anthology of Astral Anomalies?” She raced for the next aisle from my little corner nook. An avalanche of books sounded from around the bend. “Ow.” She returned with the aforementioned book, plus one open-faced atop her head. ’Twas unapparent if she knew it was there. She wore a winning smile as she placed Astral Anomalies on my lap. I closed my eyes and smiled. “Thank you, Twilight Sparkle, but I believe this is sufficient reading material to choose from.” We both looked at the stacks of books surrounding me. It could well have passed for a fortress had she kept at it. Was this how Sister felt all these years teaching this mare? Twilight half spread her wings and lowered her head. “Eh, heh… Right.” “Additionally, my reading interests are not solely focused on the night sky, Twilight. I entertain myself with myriad studies.” I pulled the least astronomical-looking book from the pile. Modern Linguistics for the Absolute Beginner. I shifted my head back to double check the title before raising a brow at Twilight. She stepped back and gave me that sheepish chuckle of hers. “I-I’m just gonna go, uh, sort some of these books.” She lifted half the surrounding stacks and took off down an aisle. I chuckled. ’Twill be a sad day indeed when young Twilight loses that innocent charm of hers. I set Linguistics aside and glanced over the remaining pile. A brown-and-gold spine stood out from the brighter blues and greens. Curiosity bid I take it. A blazing red-and-yellow sun greeted me from the cover. ’Twas heavy. I could already feel the weight of knowledge it carried within. I opened it, and to my surprise it was not a textbook. Dear Princess Twilight,— I shut it. ’Twas a letter book—a diary of sorts. I glanced back the way Twilight had fled. No. ’Twas her privacy. I set it aside and perused my remaining options. Not a moment later, however, it glowed and began vibrating. I started to my haunches and fanned out my wings. I leaned in for a closer look, then hefted it in my magic. “What a strange enchantment.” “Oh, hey,” Twilight said, returning from the aisle way. “Sunset Shimmer’s writing to me.” Sunset Shimmer? I almost dropped the book. I pointed my ears forward, then snapped them back against my skull. I looked away as hesitation wrapped its cold hooves around me. Twilight took the book from my grasp. She flipped it open and read to herself. “Huh.” I watched her eyes scan line after line. The silence of the library crept back in, to the point that I pitched my ears forward. “Is something the matter?” “Huh? Oh, no. There’s just this thing called a ‘movie’ she saw—which is sort of like a play, but not acted live—and she needs to gush about it.” She smiled, a little blush rising to her cheeks. “And apparently one of the lead roles is really cute.” “I… is that all?” “Mmm, looks like it. But she did also say to tell all my friends ‘hi’ and that she hopes they’re doing well.” Twilight flashed me a smile. “She didn’t say so,” she said, “but I know that would include you. So, Sunset Shimmer says hi.” She giggled. I laid myself down and refolded my forehooves. “I… that is wonderful to hear.” “Princess Luna?” Twilight stared at me with that same concern Sister oft did when she caught me ruminating. “Is everything okay?” I felt the pout form on my lips before I could stop myself. I looked away. “No. But it is my concern, and I wish it to remain as such.” “I… Are you sure?” She creased her brow. I felt her heart reach out to mine. I could see and feel the dreams of our little ponies whenever their souls melded with mine in sweetest slumber. Though Twilight was not asleep, her daydreams and their associated emotions fell within that domain. When I blinked, I saw darkness—myself lying alone in a derelict Castle Everfree. “There are many duties I must see to myself.” I considered her unfaltering gaze. The tether that bound her subconscious to my soul pulled taut. “If I require your assistance, I will be sure to ask.” That seemed to mollify her. She looked aside, then back at me. “I’m here to help, Princess. Whatever it is. We all are.” “Thank you, Twilight.” I stood and strapped on my saddlebags. “For now, it is getting late, and I must see to the dreams of our little ponies.” She raised a hoof, hesitant on letting me leave so suddenly. However, she lowered it and nodded. “Goodnight, Princess.” “Goodnight, Twilight.” I headed for the door. I felt her gaze on the back of my head, and a dozen scenarios thrummed on her tether in a symphony of nightmares. I thankfully left that silent room unmolested. An evening sun kissed the far horizon and washed the sky in a watercolor spray of yellows, pinks, and oranges. A light wind inveigled my mane to dance among the growing Spring around me. I would have smiled at the myriad signs of regrowth had I not stumbled upon that book. The moon had waned these last weeks to but a sliver, and tonight would see it rest ere it grow in kind with the burgeoning leaves. Forever had the moon followed its cycle through the night sky, but with my return the new moon became my symbol to the ponies of Equestria that I was reborn, that I was no longer that being of nightmares. To continue that cycle was to relinquish my rightful place in the sky for a night. ’Twas my humility, my promise, my repentance. But with that reminder came the subtle nature of the dark, the dangers the ponies of this age did not know thanks to Sister’s wise rule. The full moon was synonymous with insanity and revelry, but a new moon played harbinger to misery, to death and chaos. Though I always tried separating the symbolism and metaphor of the dreamscape from my interpretations of the waking world, the coincidence of finding that book on a new moon brought a chill to my withers. The dreamscape called to me, and so did my past demons. Fate deemed it necessary I pay Sunset Shimmer a visit. I knew not what the future had in store, but I knew a long and winding road lay ahead. For myself, and for her. Pretty, perfect Celestia. Forever adored, forever despised. ’Tis quaint that Sunset Shimmer would dream of her. Oh how she fawns, how she preens beneath Sister’s despicable attention. Yes. Yearn for that praise, bask in her light. I will teach you greed, little Sunset. I will foster in you unfettered ambition. You will know what it is to be denied your dues, and you will want me as you do her. Author's Note Onward and Upward. II - A Distant NightmareHello, Sunset Shimmer. I have waited ever so long to meet you. ’Twas a long while I journeyed through the dreamscape for Sunset Shimmer's dream. Innumerable were the spiraling galaxies and twisting nebulae that made up the collective Equestrian subconscious, but time being malleable as it is in the dreamscape afforded me time enough to wander. At first I feared her cluster of stars merely an echo, a distant memory of our world, as she had long since found her place on the other side of the mirror. But she was forever a daughter of Equestria, and so her mind yet came to rest within my bosom when she slept. I need only close my eyes and follow my heart, for it would never steer me wrong. Hers was a radiant star amidst the dreamscape, a beacon to all that here slept one of Equestria’s great heroines of this age. Though, as I neared, something seemed off. ’Twas translucent. I saw and felt all there was to it, yet its presence was somehow diminished. I assumed it a side effect of her place across the mirror. I touched the veil of her consciousness, and as if passing through gossamer curtains, I entered her dream. ’Twas innocent enough at first glance. The dream itself retained that translucency, as if concealed by a dense fog, but I knew I stood in a courtyard of grass and concrete. A building of brick and mortar rose before me, with two flanking arms that enveloped the courtyard. ’Twas all blurs and suggestion, the broad strokes of a distant mind. Dreams did not maintain their details. ’Twas only as the dreamer neared them that they would sharpen and take on their real-world properties. As the dreamer left them behind, they would lapse back into blurs and suggestion. Despite that fact, however, this place was devoid of any living creature. No ambient noises sounded overhead—no birdsong, no insects. There should have been the blurry interpretations of ponies or whatever sapient creature ruled her world, at the very least. I stepped up to the entrance and cast open the doors. Within awaited a darkness blacker than death. ’Twas as if her dream did not exist within this space. Though I had entered Sunset's dream, I had not yet made myself a part of it. I remained a ghost, an observer. I was impervious to anything this dream might contain, yet still I flared my wings in anticipation of the unknown. This was a not a dream, but a nightmare. I felt it before I saw it—a fanged grin painted on the blackness. I heard the beating of a heart in the cavernous dark. I stepped forward, nose set low. I knew this demon. I knew it before it rose a maniacal laugh to the void, before it spread its wings and let loose the maelstrom that was its mane. I knew it before those slitted eyes fell hungrily upon the figure collapsed at its hooves. ’Twas Sunset Shimmer lying before that monster. I knew it by the tether that held her soul fast to mine, that reached out and begged I offer succor. Hers was an odd form. She was no longer a pony, but rather some other manner of creature—this oddly shaped body, this 'human' form Twilight had once mentioned. I knew not what to make of her new form, yet fear was a universal language, a wide-eyed gaze that drew her eyes up to that demon. “That is enough,” I said. I flared my wings to make my presence known beyond the veil of Sunset's subconscious. I was starlight and fire. This was my domain. Nothing happened. I faltered. The magics that veiled me from the dream itself did not fall away at my command. I was still a ghost, yet I knew not why. I cursed my weakness and redoubled my magic. My mane and tail lifted into the air about me. There was a density to the air, a thickness of atmosphere I could not penetrate. I saw it in the light of my horn, a haze that suffused the dream and sapped the power from my being. ’Twas the distance between our two worlds that chained me so. I could only watch as that thing lorded overtop her like a wolf staring its prey in the eye before the killing blow. A fierce grin tugged at the corners of Nightmare Moon's mouth. It rolled out a slavering tongue to trail up Sunset Shimmer's chest, neck, cheek. Sunset Shimmer shied away from it. She winced as it caressed her cheek and continued on to loop around her ear. She had not the faculties to move in earnest, merely to squirm and cry out. I… I turned away. I shut my eyes and flattened my ears to drown out her whimpers. For I could do nothing to help her. I folded my wings about my chest and lifted from the ground. As if falling upward into the soft pillows of my bed, I passed through the veil and again drifted among the stars of the dreamscape. I watched them twinkle for me, let my body tumble in lazy silence. The nightmares I had wrought in my search for vengeance yet plagued her. Twilight had regaled me with her exploits of the human world, and Sunset Shimmer seemed well on the surface. Sunset Shimmer had learned to hide her pain, yet she knew not how to overcome it. The scope of my transgressions was beyond me. I knew it my responsibility to see that she find peace, but if the past had taught me anything, I needed counsel before I acted, lest I set in motion even greater catastrophes. Sister knew Sunset Shimmer better than anypony. She would understand the gravity and the intricacies of my query. A final flash of light from my horn, and I opened my eyes to my bedchambers. I gave my legs a quick stretch ere I rose for the door. Sister would know what to do. Stone Wall, Sister’s personal bodyguard, stood aside when I approached Sister's bedchambers. His was an understanding mein, one that knew my presence to be a harbinger and not to be hindered. I rapped my hoof on the door. Inside, Philomena stirred, her gentle coos turning irate for the intrusion. ’Twas not often a phoenix fell victim to irritation, but Sister did oft spoil her. The door opened. Sister did not have her regalia, and she seemed almost taken aback at my presence. “Luna? What’s wrong?” “Sister, may we speak in private?” She held her gaze upon me a moment before stepping back. Though there was no breeze to speak of, ’twas cool in her room, a benefit of the wide windows and balcony separated by only sheer white curtains. I made myself comfortable at her tea table in the middle of the room. Sister sat opposite me. She poured a cup of tea for me before I could decline, so I took it out of politeness. ’Twas still warm, meaning she had only recently bedded down. She had been up thinking about things again. “What’s wrong, Luna?” “I spoke with Twilight yesterday,” I said. I took a sip. ’Twas bitter, whatever it was, meant to sharpen the mind rather than relax it. Her late-night musings were of some higher importance than mere day-to-day affairs. “Yes, I remember you saying something about meeting her for dinner.” She did not pour a cup for herself, perhaps intent on returning to bed the moment I left. I curled my lips at her remark. “If by dinner you mean having hundreds of astronomy books shoved down my throat, then yes.” Sister chuckled. “Twilight has always been eager to please. But I assume that's not what this conversation is about.” Sister wore her signature smile. Beneath it, however, lay her true statement: ‘what is wrong, little sister?’ “She... has a book.” “She has many of those, Luna.” Her smile turned to a smirk. I rolled my eyes. Even in the sublunary hours, she spared me no expense of her witticisms. “Tis Sunset Shimmer’s. They use it to speak with each other.” Sister’s smirk faded. We shared a moment of silence. “You still feel guilty about it.” ’Twas not a question, though I frowned and let the bridging silence be an answer regardless. Sister came around the table. She half spread her wings, ready to drape one over my shoulder should the need arise. Not that I would allow myself to show such vulnerability. Though, the look in her eyes bespoke I had failed in that regard. “It was a long time ago, Luna,” she said. “But it has not left her, Sister. What I did still haunts her. What I… What I did to her.” “She’ll work through her dreams in her own time, Luna. You’ve told me that time and again.” I shook my head. “That may be true for normal nightmares, Sister, but this was more than simply a nightmare. There is a piece of Nightmare Moon still inside her.” Sister knitted her brow. “How’s that possible? Didn’t Twilight and her friends cleanse all traces of Nightmare Moon when you first returned?” I slanted my mouth to deflect the sting of her words. I had to remind myself she did not mean it as such. “I do not know. My only guess is that since she was on the other side of the mirror at the time, hers was unaffected by it. “Same as how my dream magic is greatly diminished when I explored her dream. I had hoped time would heal her wounds as it is wont to do, but this wound runs deeper than I have yet seen if the Elements could not cleanse it.” “We all have our scars, Luna.” She placed a hoof on my shoulder. “Some of them are larger than others, but we all learn to heal. For some ponies, it takes longer than others.” I remained silent. No, Sister. This was not a scar. Scars were wounds that had since healed. This nightmare that yet plagued Sunset Shimmer was a festering boil that needed lancing, and, perhaps, more abrasive measures. Though I was the knife that wounded her, I could also be the salve that saves her. I could be the smile that sees her Tantabus to rest. Mine still lay dormant in my heart. ’Twas like an old ache that never truly left. “I must right this wrong…” I afforded Sister a pleading gaze, despite knowing I must do this alone. “Are you asking me for guidance, Luna, or permission?” Hers was an inquisitive face, one I had seen few times in my life. ’Twas a serious question, one that knew the gravitas of my worries. She was right, however. Now that I knew my wrongs still plagued Sunset Shimmer, to even step hoof into her dream felt criminally invasive. I knew trespass the most straightforward method, and part of me wanted some outside volition to give me direction. Yet two wrongs did not necessarily make a right. “I… I do not know, Sister. All I do know is that she does not deserve to suffer for my transgressions.” I looked away. I could not bear Sister's gaze. Sister might have forgiven me, and I too have found peace with myself. But to see the consequences of my actions yet lingering in the mind of one I had sworn to protect stirred within me that phantom doubt—the Tantabus that I would forever carry with me. I could not allow it to consume me as it nearly once had, yet I refused the prospect of ignorance. “I know what I must do.” I smiled at Sister, as briefly as it might have been. “’Twill not be easy, but I must face my fears all the same.” “May I ask?” I looked at the fleurs-de-lis in the carpet beneath me. “I will write to her, in Twilight's book. I must explain myself.” “Are you sure you want to tell her who you are? Who you were?” A pause. I nodded. “I must. ’Tis better to be honest than to let that hammer forever hang above my head. I will swallow my pride. I will dig out this cancer by the root.” I headed for the door. I expected Sister to leave me a few parting words, but she remained silent. Only Philomena bid me farewell with a little chirrup before I shut the door behind me. ’Twas dark in the hall. The night sky outside the window twinkled its well wishings to me, and I saw that circular void in space, the new moon that bid due omen of things to come. ’Twas quiet enough to hear the blood flowing through my veins, and in the nighttime silence of the hallway, I heard Sister pour herself a cup of tea. I am the shadow cast by the light, the beholder of the unseen and unseeable alike. I am the answer to the questions that tug at your heart, the greatness that awaits you atop the distant mountain. I am knowledge unending. My name, you ask? ’Tis not important. The real question is, what do you wish to call me? What is it you wish I am to be for you? ‘Nocturne?’ How… Portentous. As for your name, little Sunset, I could say the same. Calm yourself, little Sunset. I will answer all your questions in due time. But before we can begin, I must ask of you something. Smile for me. Author's Note Onward and Upward. III - Wise Words from a Wise FriendI know your frustration, little Sunset. ’Tis difficult to bide oneself when on the cusp of greatness. I see in you strength. I see in you power. Restraint is for the weak and the fearful. But within you, there is fearlessness. Come hither, little Sunset. There is much for you to learn. I will be your epiphany if you but lend me your ear. I will show you the greatness that She never will. “You need what now?” Twilight Sparkle stared at me as if I had asked her to fetch Cerberus from his post. She lay sprawled on a pillow in the main reading area of her library, a large green textbook propped comfortably on a pillow beside hers. “The book,” I said. “The one you use to communicate with Sunset Shimmer.” She smiled. “Oh! Sure. Is… something wrong?” "I must speak with her." She regarded me with a searching gaze, her mouth curled in a little hook-like frown. "Alright." She left for one of the many bookshelves lining the hall and returned with the book. She held it aloft a moment before handing it over. Myriad were the words on the tip of her tongue. "If you need anything, just let me know," was all she said, however. She afforded me one last glance before settling back in. I tucked my nose in to my chest. I had been rather abrupt in my appearance today. ’Twas rude of me to intrude on her affairs two days in a row, especially during what little free time she had. I was thankful she understood, however, and so I retreated to the little corner nook where this journey began. I laid myself down upon that same purple pillow and crossed my forehooves. I frowned at the book. It stared back, unassuming. Still it weighed heavy in my grasp, but rather than the weight of knowledge, ’twas one of foreboding. I opened it to a clean page and drew up a quill and ink. Tip against paper, I hesitated. What was I to say? How best to navigate these treacherous waters? The prospect of failure chilled the blood in my veins. Dear Sunset Shimmer, I stopped there. I had made the leap into the unknown, yet still I knew not the words to use. It appeared I was idle too long, however, as words inked themselves across the page in tight, intricate cursive. Hey, Twilight! Cat got your tongue? I was actually hoping for a quick break from all this calc homework. Study hall can be a bore sometimes. How’s it going? I grimaced. I apologize, Sunset Shimmer, but I am not Twilight Sparkle. My name is Luna. Princess Luna? Princess Celestia's sister? Wow, to what do I owe the pleasure? How are you? Twilight’s told me so much about you. I bit my lip. Shame's vice gripped tight about my heart. She had no knowledge of who I was to her. And she seemed in such a cheerful mood. It pained me to know I was about to shatter it. Though, ’twas to my advantage. I might yet appealed to her if I maintained discretion. That is wonderful to hear. She has likewise regaled me in your exploits. I hear you are doing well in this other world. Yeah, things are pretty good here. I mean, there’s a lot to keep a girl busy, what with all the Equestrian magic that keeps finding its way here and just normal day-to-day stuff, but I do miss Equestria. Her neat writing took a turn for the messy, as quick as she had written it. Her homesickness was doubtlessly genuine. Is everything okay? she asked before I could reply. I mean, I do appreciate you writing to me, but this is a bit out of the ordinary. I’ve only ever talked to Twilight in this book. Well, recently anyway. The quill trembled in my grasp. I knew this confrontation was inevitable, yet it did not lessen my hesitation. I am afraid not, Sunset Shimmer. I am the guardian of the dreamscape. In my workings, I stumbled upon your dream, and what I found there has earned me no lack of distress. I wish to help you, I continued. I can dispel these nightmares you experience, but I cannot act across the span that separates our worlds. You can enter dreams? But— There was a long pause. Her cursive trembled. —there's only one pony who can do that. My heart thundered in my chest. I replied with similar trepidation. There is much that I have done in the past, Sunset Shimmer, and twice as much to make up for. I wish to right the wrongs I have caused you. She did not respond immediately. When she did, however, her cursive had regained its tight form, but the loops and strikes had a sharpness to them. Please give the book back to Twilight. I waited seconds, minutes, for more. Nothing. Sunset Shimmer, plea— A violent pen slashed across my words and startled me into dropping the quill. Once, twice, thrice. Ink exploded in a long, splattering streak across the page that blacked out my plea and swallowed up half the rest. A moment later, little circles warped the page here and there as if it were being wetted. I waited with trembling breath, but she wrote nothing more. I swallowed hard and bowed my head. As I had feared, she clung to the past, had failed to see my intentions for what they were. I could not blame her. I closed the book and returned to Twilight. “She wishes that I return this to you.” Twilight stared at it, then at me. “Princess, whatever’s going on, please tell me. I’m here to help you.” I considered her offer. Sister knew Sunset Shimmer the longest, which I must regretfully accept is not the Sunset of today. However, Twilight knew her, the Sunset who had saved the human world from destruction on multiple occasions, the Sunset who made friends and earned her redemption. Perhaps it was wrong of me to seek Sister’s counsel instead of hers. “I have done things I am not proud of, Twilight Sparkle. In my exile, I used Sunset Shimmer as a means of foiling Sister’s attempts to gather the Elements against me.” I rubbed a hoof along my foreleg. “I am the reason she fled Sister’s tutelage. I am the reason she tried enslaving a foreign world to destroy Equestria.” Twilight laid her ears back. She knit her brow and looked longingly at the book in her grasp. She turned those innocent eyes my way. “You should go see her. Tell her how you feel. She’ll understand. Maybe not at first, but she will later.” I grimaced. “I do not believe you understand just how much I hurt her, Twilight. I did not simply haunt her dreams. I manipulated her mentally and emotionally. I took advantage of her love for Sister and her ambitions of becoming one of Equestria’s greatest unicorns. I tore her apart from the inside while claiming to love her in return. “And when I finally accomplished my goal I...” I knitted my brow, clenched my teeth together. My lip trembled, and I almost couldn’t speak the words. “I broke her, Twilight.” Twilight lowered her ears and looked away as if searching for something. “There’s an old Zebrican craft I read about once. Whenever a pot is broken, they use gold and epoxy to repair it. Even though it’s not the same as it was, the patterns caused by the broken pieces makes it unique and oftentimes more beautiful than it was before.” “But she wants nothing to do with me.” Twilight smiled and placed a reassuring hoof on mine. “And that’s why you should go see her. I’m sure what you did was bad, but look at all the good that’s come of it. She’s in a place where people care for her, and she has a whole group of friends that couldn’t be happier.” “And,” she said, her smile growing just a hair, “she’s reformed, just like you. That’s common ground. You have something to relate to.” ’Twas true. Common ground oft was the foundation for many a treaty. Yet I knew not how to bridge the fact that I was the reason for her need to reform in the first place. “It’s why you want to help her. Isn’t it.” A tingling sensation ran up my spine. I saw in Twilight’s eyes the yearning of one who wanted to understand, but knew she couldn’t. When I blinked, I saw Everfree Castle, myself, Sister—that first embrace we shared after my cleansing. I felt the Tantabus within me, dormant, yet ever present. “Because you know what that’s like,” she said. I looked away. I could not bear her face. She was right, however. In my attempt to destroy Sister through Sunset Shimmer’s manipulation, I created something new. I formed from her a kindred spirit, a victim that, like myself, fell prey to the temptations of ambition. ’Twas my doing that broke her so, yet still I knew her struggle. I felt the pain I inflicted upon her as if it were my own. Whether it were for her salvation or my own, I would know no other recourse. I smiled and looked Twilight in the eye. “I… yes. Thank you, Twilight.” She returned my smile, confident she had done her due diligence. She was not wrong. “No problem, Princess Luna. I’m happy to help. Did… you want to go now? I mean, if not, you’re more than welcome to spend the night here. I’ll have Spike prepare you a room.” I waved away the notion. “Nay, Twilight. I should go tonight. I cannot bear the thought of her enduring one more night of this.” Twilight nodded. “In that case, I’ll take you to the mirror.” ’Twas in an interior room not far from the library. As one might have expected, shelves full of books lined the walls as if it were merely an extension of the library. In the middle of the room, she had designed some sort of contraption of hardwood, tubes, pipes, and wires, all centered around a pedestal above the mirror itself. Twilight placed the book upon the pedestal and touched the contraption with her horn. Like an engine whirring to life, the energies of the portal activated, and the mirror’s once solid surface rippled like that of a lake teased by a light wind. My reflection stared back at me, but beyond the surface lay the faint haze of another world. “I’ll keep it open as long as you need.” She gave me that endearing smile unique to her “I cannot thank you enough, Twilight. Are… are you sure you do not wish to accompany me? I could use your expertise, not to mention the assurance you would no doubt instill in her.” She flitted her wings, and a wistful smile entertained her but a moment. “I want to. I miss my friends at Canterlot High, but I think this is something you have to do yourself.” She put a reassuring hoof on my chest. “Don’t worry about what to do or say. She’ll understand your intentions.” I smiled. “I suppose you are the Princess of Friendship. Thank you again, Twilight.” I stepped up to the mirror and placed a hoof through it. “Oh, before you go,” Twilight said. She held up a hoof. “Two legs, not four. And don’t freak out about your muzzle.” She put her hoof to her mouth and looked up. “Or your hooves. Or your mane or tail… Just, uh, don’t freak out.” She smiled apologetically. I raised an eyebrow at her. “I will keep that in mind.” I returned my attention to the portal. A final moment of preparation, a deep breath, and I entered. There there. Do not cry, little Sunset. Let not the shimmer of tears mar your perfect face. Relinquish these fears you hold close, dispense of the Celestial worries that torment you. For I love you in ways She never could. Kiss me, my sweet. I will drain from you all the pain, all the anger and regrets that lie heavy upon your heart. I will bear the burden for you, little Sunset. You dare look away? Do not shy from me, foal! You will look me in the eye when I speak and know greatness! Easy. Easy, my dearest. Do not fret, do not fear. I would never hurt you. She is the one that desires your suffering. I know not what She said to hurt you so, but now you know where her allegiance lies. And so I must ask you… Where does yours? Author's Note Thanks to Cold in Gardez for proofreading this chapter. Onward and Upward! IV - Cleansing the NightmareYou know I am the cause of your hardships. I feel the chill of your touch, the shiver up your spine as you hold yourself against me. The way you cower in my presence, how you lower your gaze when I speak. But the drug that is love draws you to me. I hurt you, yet you smile. I spit in your face, and you thank me. For I am all you ever wanted, want, will want. I am the power you crave, the ambition that drives you to the brink of sanity. You will peer over that ledge and into the abyss, and you will dive headfirst into my open arms. For you know the fear of losing that which you gave up everything to gain. You know the fear of ending up alone... Don’t you, little Sunset? I said: don’t you, little Sunset? Yes. Good girl. You know that I love you. I will become one with you. I will subsume your essence, and Sister will know my hatred remains as sharp as the day I refused her precious sun. Come, little Sunset. Embrace me. I opened my eyes. The first thing I noticed were my forehooves. Or, what used to be my forehooves. They had grown these odd appendages, like the claws of a dragon but without their sharp talons. What in Orion’s name was I? I shook my head. ’Twas not important. I needed to find Sunset Shimmer. I stood in a courtyard of concrete and grass carpeted in leaves. Heavy clouds hung over a large building whose arms reached out as if to swaddle the courtyard. ’Twas then I realized this was the same place as Sunset Shimmer’s nightmare. This was Canterlot High, the very place Twilight had mentioned in her exploits. I reached out to place my forehooves on the ground when I realized I stood on my hind legs. It took a moment to register, but Twilight’s words came back to me. I stayed upright and took my first step with only my hind hooves. I was rather unsteady, but I managed to reach the stair railing without incident. Already I felt the lack of magic in the air, my disconnect from the dreamscape and the ponies slumbering within. I did not try forcing open the door, but rather considered my new forehooves. I reached out, grasped the handle, and opened the door. ’Twas an awkward gesture, but I oddly enjoyed the manual dexterity of this body. An open entranceway waited inside, lined with display cases and adorned with banners rallying around a group called the Wondercolts. I recalled Twilight mentioning Sister and my counterparts once. We were the principal and vice principal here. I followed the signs to their office. Twilight advised I not ‘freak out’ over my new body, but she did not give such advice for Sister. ’Twas Sister sitting behind the desk, though, at the same time wasn’t. My not-Sister looked up from the manila folder lying open before her and raised a brow. “Aren’t you supposed to be in the gym supervising the pep rally setup?” “I… No. I apologize, um, Celestia, but I am not who you think I am.” She laid the folder down. “What are you talking about?” I raised a hoof (hand?), but lowered it. I wasn’t sure what to do with them, so I clasped them together and held them at my waist. "Do you recall Princess Twilight?" Celestia stared at me a moment longer than was necessary. ’Twas uncanny how her expression resembled Sister’s, and just as apparent her mind wound through the same labyrinth before finding the conclusion she sought. "You’re my sister from that other world." I nodded. “Yes. I must speak with Sunset Shimmer. ’Tis urgent,” I added, at that scrying stare of hers. ’Twas the same she oft gave me during our rare games of chess. “What do you need?” Oh, dearest Celestia. Ever protective of her subjects, no matter what form she took. “’Tis in regards to lingering traces of Equestrian magic here on this side of the portal.” She seemed to consider me a moment longer before pressing a button on a little box atop her desk. “Sunset Shimmer, please report to the principal’s office. Sunset Shimmer, please report to the principal's office.” She gestured at the seat before me. “Please have a seat.” “No thank you, Sis-er, Celestia. I would rather stand.” She blinked, then leaned forward in her chair. She rested her elbows on the desk, clasped her hands together, and hid her mouth behind her hands. “What exactly is going on with this lingering magic?” “’Tis what I wish to discuss with Sunset Shimmer. I am not entirely certain of its nature." ’Twas technically a lie, but I deemed it necessary to withhold that information for the time being. This Celestia was skeptical of me, and I did not wish to ruin my chances of gaining an audience with Sunset Shimmer. The door opened behind me. “You needed me, Principal Celestia?” Sunset shimmer stopped halfway into the room upon seeing me. Perhaps it was the way I held myself, or maybe she retained some affinity for Equestrian magic. But one look and she knew who I was. I took a step forward. “Sunset Shimm—” “I told you to give the book back to Twilight.” She balled her hands into fists, but even though she maintained a brave face, she leaned away from me. “I didn’t say I wanted to talk to you in person. What are you doing here?” “You must listen to me. I know why you still have these nightmares. I can help. There is still a piece of Nightmare Moon inside you. I don’t know how or why, but—” “No, you listen to me,” she said. Her voice trembled, and in her eyes swam the fear of a cornered animal. Had I my powers over the dreamscape here, I feared what images I would have seen when I blinked. “You have no right to invade my dreams like that. Not then and not now. I don’t want anything to do with this. I don’t want anything to do with you. Leave me alone.” I grabbed her by the shoulders. She flinched as though I were about to strike her. “Listen to me, Sunset Shimmer. I—” “That is enough!” came Sister’s voice. I stepped back instinctively. Sister’s doppelganger had rounded on the desk and stepped between us. In her eyes shone that protective fury she held close that fateful night I fell. Behind her, Sunset Shimmer stood with head bowed and hands held close to her breast. She stared terrified into the distance. “I don’t know how you do things back in your world, but here on Earth and especially in my school, we do not manhandle students like this.” She pointed at the door. “Go. Leave.” Sunset Shimmer looked away. She leaned against the wall, one arm hanging at her side, the other holding it. She looked as though the terror of the moment had ended, but the scars were ever present. I bowed my head. “I am sorry. I did not mean to cause alarm.” I looked at Sunset Shimmer. “Sunset Shimmer. You do not have to love me the way you did before. You do not even have to trust me. All I ask is that you allow me the chance to right my wrongs. I cannot bear the prospect of somepony hurting for my mistakes. And if you still wish to never see me again afterward, I will gladly grant you that wish.” She turned away, still leaning against the wall. She squinched her eyes shut. I turned for the door. “If you change your mind. Please. Do not hesitate to find me.” I left that cold room and colder farewell. The late autumn winds bit through my clothes, and I shivered as I came to the portal. I gave the school one last glance over my shoulder and sighed. I stepped through and found myself once again in Twilight's castle. It seemed that either time flowed faster in the other world or the journey through the portal lasted longer than an instant, for I saw the thin crescent moon hanging outside the high window. Sister must have raised it for me in my absence. Twilight lay dozing amidst a bundle of pillows in the center if the room. A book lay open beneath her hoof, and a blanket lay half draped over her. She had been waiting for me in case I returned early. I smiled and pulled her blanket up over her shoulders. “Sweet dreams, young Twilight.” I lingered there a moment, endearing myself to that mare. She was a true Princess of Friendship. She would make a fine ruler one day. I came across Spike on my way to the castle entrance, and he told me Twilight had prepared a room for me. He insisted I stay, so I acquiesced and bedded down for the night. I spent the long hours of sleep drifting amongst our subjects’ dreams. I played my part in defending them from their nightmares, but all the while my mind lingered on Sunset Shimmer. These nightmares were rote, predictable things. Little could be said for the ease of overcoming them, but they lacked the same urgency. Or, perhaps Twilight was more correct than I initially thought: I needed to save Sunset Shimmer, just as much as she needed saving. When I deemed the dreamscape quiet, I set off in search of her dream. The stars and nebulae that composed the dreams of our subjects, much like their true stellar counterparts, followed relative orbits through the dreamscape. One could know which cluster of stardust or shining star belonged to which ponies and where to find them if they paid attention. I followed the trajectory of Sunset Shimmer’s orbit, though I could not find her blazing star. I struggled to feel her tether amidst the others, and I feared it an omen. I felt something touch my shoulder. I turned, curious, but I floated alone in the void. Something disturbed my body in the waking world. I lit my horn and pulled myself from the dreamscape. A warm, orange glow bled through my eyelids. I opened my eyes and sat up. There before me stood Sunset Shimmer, a magelight spell at the tip of her horn. “Sorry,” she said. “You... didn’t wake up when I knocked.” We shared a moment of silence. In her eyes, I saw a fledgling hope emerge from its shell. “Twilight said you were here. She said...” She rubbed a hoof along her foreleg. Her eyes landed upon everything but me until a final moment of courage brought them around. There was hesitation, but also trust. Twilight must have convinced her to give me a chance. “You… You can make the nightmares go away?” My heart fluttered at the opportunity, and I sat up in full. “As sure as the stars in the sky.” A smile found its way to her face, but worry bid she bite her lip. “I-I’m sorry for how I acted back there. I—” I placed a hoof to her lips. “Shh. Say not a word. I understand your hesitation.” I rose from my bed and stood beside her. She took a step back, and a brief fear flickered in her eye. But a moment’s resolution showed on her face, and she stepped forward again. “Are you sure you’re willing to do this?” I asked. “I know you do not trust me. I will not be offended if you change your mind.” She raised a hoof as if for stepping, and she searched for something in the crystal beneath her hooves. She looked at me with those wide eyes of hers. There was understanding in them. “Twilight told me about the Tantabus,” she said. “I… I trust you.” Oh, how my heart sang to hear those words! I flitted my wings, if only to maintain my composure. “I am glad to hear it, Sunset Shimmer. I…” I considered the tiny smile on her lips, the slight peak of her brows. She knew nervousness, but her tether thrummed with hope. She saw a light in the distant dark of her mind. I gestured toward the bed. “Please, make yourself comfortable.” She hopped into bed, and I pulled the covers over her. I gathered my magics to my horn and touched her forehead. “Sleep, Sunset Shimmer. I will join you shortly.” She closed her eyes, and relaxed her head onto the pillow. Her mouth hung slightly open. Hers was a deep sleep that knew momentary peace. I brushed her mane out of her face. I had forgotten how beautiful she was. It pained me to think I had once used that fact to corrupt her thoughts and play to her emotions. No more. I was no longer that monster. I would right my wrongs and see her to that paradise she desperately sought. I closed my eyes and wound a thread of magic from my horn to hers. I stood in a featureless plane of dark orange. ’Twas natural for dreams to begin amorphous, colored by the waking emotions the dreamer last experienced. Dark orange was a foreboding color, one of hope yet of presaged violence. Blood would be spilt by dream’s end. The world drew itself to life as if beneath the pen of a master artist. I stood in the entranceway of Canterlot High. A presence materialized behind me, and I felt Sunset Shimmer’s tether pull taut ere I turned. She stood in human form, mind empty as her soul fully took seat within her dream body. She blinked and looked around. “Where am I?” I wanted more than anything to emerge from beyond the veil of her consciousness and hold her close. But I knew the Nightmare prowled somewhere in the shadows. If I were to best it, I would need every advantage I could find. So I waited, invisible, for it to show itself. It did not take long. The room darkened as if a blanket of clouds hid away the moon, and a guttural laugh rolled in from the dark. Sunset Shimmer staggered away. She raised her hands in front of herself, eyes up and into the high ceilings that began rising beyond sight. “Who’s there?” My heart hammered in my chest. I felt its presence long before I saw it, the ghostly chill that ran up my spine like ice water. I turned toward the left hallway, and there I saw the first tendrils of its mane slithering toward us. They lashed out like whips to snare Sunset Shimmer by the ankles. She fell backward screaming and kicked at them, but she could not break free. The Nightmare stepped forward from the shadows. Black fog rolled out from its underbelly like dry ice as it took long, predatory steps. It had changed since last night. No longer did it appear as my former self, tall and slender, but rather ’twas a body that I likened to the muscular form of a panther. Its wings dragged across the ground at its sides, and it set its heavy jaw square with her beneath white, featureless eyes. Its mouth opened like a jagged gash across its face, and out rolled a long, ichorous tongue. Before it could take another step, I cast aside the veil of her consciousness and entered her dream in full. “Unhand her! You have violated the sanctity of Sunset Shimmer’s dreams long enough. Submit, demon.” It stopped and regarded me. A surge of magic thrummed along Sunset Shimmer’s tether, as if a gangly talon plucked it like a string. In a bassy, demonic voice, it spoke without moving its lips. “You have failed. She is mine.” I sensed the potential coiled like a viper within its breast. ’Twas stronger than before, drew power from the turmoil I had caused Sunset Shimmer this eve. I lowered my nose and flared my wings. “I am Princess Luna of Equestria, Keeper of the Untamed Forest, Wielder of the Elements, Daughter of the Seven Tribes of Harmony, and Regent of the Heavens. You will not harm her.” It lowered its head and smiled at me. “You are wrong.” Without another word, it turned toward Sunset Shimmer. It leapt on top of her, and there was a blinding flash. Sunset Shimmer screamed. She writhed on the floor, and then rose into the air. Her eyes glowed white, and she landed gently on her feet. Her jaw hung slack, her head lolled to the side. She stared into the distance with blank eyes. Black, spidering veins pulsed beneath the skin of her face, arms, hands. A croaking death rattle rolled out from her throat. I stepped forward on instinct, but when I realized what happened, I staggered back in horror. It… joined with her? This was unheard of. I had seen dreams corrupted by nightmares, subconscious landscapes twisted into depictions of hell and the eldritch alike. But I had never seen a nightmare conjoin with the dreamer themself. This was bad. The dreamer’s body within a dream was the manifestation of their very soul. As such, the dreamer was sacred within the confines of their dream. But this sort of corruption reached deeper than the surface, had bound itself to the foundation of her being. I could not leave her like this, nor did I know the state of mind she would awake in should I fail. I had to separate them somehow. Sentience returned to her in some capacity. She stared at me with wide eyes. Tears rolled down her face. She staggered forward with an arm outstretched. “Luna...” Her voice barely registered over my thundering heart. I rushed to meet her. “Sunset Shimmer! What has it—” She touched me, and her hands were like fire. My skin hissed, and I cried out. I pushed her away. The dream shifted. We were no longer in Canterlot High. Blackness stretched all around us. She crumpled to her knees and held herself by the shoulders. She wept, and black steam wafted from her back. “Please... It hurts.” “Hold fast, Sunset Shimmer. I will wrest this demon from thee.” “You said you’d help me.” She looked up at me, a snarl on her face. “You said you’d make me the greatest unicorn in history. You said you would love me the way She never could.” I stepped back. There was a disconnect in her words. She spoke of the now and yet not. These were both her regrets and fears given voice. The Nightmare spoke through her. I stood my ground. “I said many things, Sunset Shimmer. I said many things that hurt you, that made you do things you wished had never come to pass. That was the evil that held me prisoner, as it now holds you. “But that was the past. You have overcome your failings as I have. You are stronger than your former self.” I fanned my wings and stood tall, but the dream shifted yet again. The darkness around us did not change, but it felt as if we fell deeper into it all the same. Her tears turned black, and color drained from us both. She stumbled to her feet and backed away. “I gave you my magic. I gave you my heart. I gave… I-I gave you…” Her face twisted in horrified disbelief. She clutched the sides of her head and screamed. “Sunset Shimmer, please! I know what it is like to be alone. I know how it feels to be misunderstood and cast aside by those you love." The tears started down my cheeks. I could not hold them back. "But the past does not control you. I know the good in you, and I wish to be a part of it. But I cannot if you do not fight back against this Nightmare! Do not allow it to consume you. You must fight back!” I felt the Nightmare reaching deeper into her, its corrupted roots digging through to the center of her being. If it infected her fully, I feared what would happen—what I might have to do. She shook, her body finally slipping out of her control. Her eyes went blank, and her jaw fell slack. She was lost in the abyss of her Nightmare. She could not save herself. Compassion bid I step forward, and I felt something I had not expected. The Tantabus stirred within me. It reached out to her, like the opposite pole of a magnet. I knew what it wanted, what I had to do. “I cannot take back what I did to you,” I said. “But I can take that which still hurts you.” I wrapped my hooves about her despite my boiling skin and pulled her close. When my bosom touched hers, our hearts beat as one, and I kissed her. I subsumed that fire, drank in the pain and countless years spent in darkness. Sunset Shimmer placed trembling hands on my chest. Her fingers curled inward, she dragged her knuckles down my chest, and she relaxed to release all that plagued her. I knew the touch of doubt, the taste of greed, the hunger of ambition. I felt the hatred for authority, the emptiness of love unrequited. I drained every last bit of the misery I had inflicted upon her and let it rest in the seat of my soul. The Tantabus flared to life. It craned its stellar head toward the firmament of my being, and it rose to face the maelstrom. I squinched my eyes shut, refused the tears that wanted to run free and douse the fire they could not reach. I pulled away from the kiss and pressed my forehead against hers. When I breathed, I felt the war raging in my breast ebb and flow, as if I were breathing in the noxious fumes of her personal hell. The pain was unbearable, and I grit my teeth, unsure how long I could hold it in. I felt a hand caress my cheek. Sunset Shimmer stared into me. In her eyes shone fear—not for herself, but for me. I felt the seedling of Nightmare within me, the lingering malintent the Tantabus had yet to wrestle under control. I pulled free of her before I lost control and hurt her—or worse, set the Nightmare free. I wrapped my wings about my chest and fell upward through the veil of her consciousness. Faintly, as if from across the span of the dreamscape, I heard, “Luna!” I opened my eyes. All was quiet. Somehow during sleep, I had gotten into bed. I had been known to sleepwalk from time to time whilst guarding the dreamscape, but I had never done so in such a manner. Sunset Shimmer lay curled up in my grasp, our hooves intertwined. Her head rested in the crook of my neck, and her sweet breath warmed the fur of my chest. I took a deep breath of her mane. She smelled of rainfall and sunflowers. The Tantabus slumbered in my breast. I felt the cohabitation of its foe, Sunset’s misery finally at rest. I closed my eyes. I did not search the dreamscape for her star. I did not look inward for the thrum of her tether. Rather, I listened for her soft breaths in the silence, felt the warmth of her fur against mine, the beat of her heart. ’Twas a moving experience, to feel her next to me. I hadn’t felt this way in millennia. I pulled a hoof free of her grasp to brush her mane out of her face. She wrapped her hooves about mine and pulled it close. She mumbled in her sleep, “Don’t go…” I smiled. I kissed her on the forehead and rubbed my muzzle against hers. “I am not going anywhere. Rest now, dearest Sunset. I will hold you til the dawn.” I knew her asleep, but the little smile that graced her lips was worth my weight in gold. I closed my eyes and let the rhythm of our hearts carry me to sleep. And in her warm embrace, I dreamed of the wind in her mane and sunshine upon her face. Author's Note Special thanks to Cold in Gardez for his review of this chapter. Onward and Upward! Epilogue - As the Stars in the SkyI awoke to find myself alone. All was quiet, and the sky still dark for the crescent moon out the window. I sat up. “Sunset Shimmer?” The only light I could see came from the strip beneath the door. I followed it into the hallway. Nopony seemed to be home. Only my hoofsteps echoed off the high ceiling. I panicked, thinking Sunset Shimmer might have left without a farewell, but I closed my eyes and placed a hoof to my heart where her tether still held fast to my soul. She was thinking of the sunrise, of a yearning for the potential such a sight can oft evoke. I found my way to the balcony. She sat by the railing, looking up at the night sky. A faint pink rimmed the horizon. The sun stirred beyond sight, awaiting its turn in the sky. I closed my eyes and reached out to the moon. When I opened them, Sunset Shimmer had bowed her head. She felt my presence. “It is nice out here.” I said. I sat down beside her. ’Twas cool, and a light breeze teased our manes. Sister brought the sun over the rim of the horizon, and the sky's pinks faded to blue. In the growing light, Spring burgeoned green as far as the eye could see, dotted by the swatches of color from the gardens around Ponyville. Birds sang from their nests, and even the breeze whispered us well wishing. It whispered of change. Of the seasons. Of ourselves. “Yeah. It is.” Gone were the nightmares that plagued her mind. Yet still there remained a sense of loneliness, of companionship lost. She knew herself better off, yet she still yearned for the idea of what could have been. ’Twas only natural. Life was fleeting for those not blessed with immortality, and to see it through to its end without another by one’s side was the true darkness beyond the ledge of the unknown. However much I feared the past, it pained me to see her feel this way. No matter what the past held, here, now, we could have something real. I owed it to her to try. But more than anything, I had to know. “How did it survive?” I asked. “How did what survive?” She had that look about her, the one of half-raised ears and bated breath. She knew shame for what I asked of her. “The Nightmare. Hadn’t Twilight and her friends cleansed you with the Elements?” She looked down and scraped a hoof on the stone. “I… I don’t know. I mean she did, yeah, but I guess part of me was just so… so terrified of letting go, of being vulnerable. I wanted to change, but I also didn’t want to take that leap. I mean, there’s some evils that you can blast with magic to make them go away. "But then there’s others that stick with you, no matter how badly you want to get rid of them.” She chuckled and looked at me. “You don’t just flip a switch and everything’s good again, you know? It’s a process. A long process.” I nodded. The sounds of Spring and the waking residents of Ponyville reestablished their hold of the open air. I breathed in and let go the smell of growth and life and potential. “Did you really mean it?” She regarded me with those luminous, turquoise eyes. There was a nervous hope to her voice, one that took form in the slight peak of her brow and the tension in her jaw. “Mean what?” “You said you knew the good in me. And… You wanted to be a part of that.” I looked down at the railing. ’Twas polished to a shine and sparkled in the sunlight. “I would not have said it had I not meant it.” Another moment passed in silence. She rested her head against my shoulder. I laid my head atop hers, and my heart beat faster. I did not want this moment to end. “So what happens now?” Hers was a weak voice, bordering on fearful. She wanted to hear me say that everything would be better, that I would sweep her off her hooves and never put her down. But I knew better than to tease her with empty promises. “You must return to your world, as I must stay here in mine. You have friends there. You cannot abandon them.” She drew in a shaky breath. “I know. I just…” I brushed her mane out of her face and caressed her cheek. I could have remained here forever, but nothing gold can stay. “Come.” I rose for the door. “We must get you home.” The portal was still active when we arrived. ’Twas a melancholic weight in my chest at the sight of it. ’Twas inevitable she must leave, yet that did not lessen the feeling. She looked at me, and I at her. “Well,” she said. “I guess this is it.” “It is not the end, Sunset Shimmer.” I smirked at her. “That is, unless you decide to chase after any ‘cute movie leads’ whilst you are away.” She laughed. “Twilight told you about that? Heh. Uh, sorry but you’re too late there. I already have, like, three posters of him on my wall.” I smiled, and we shared another laugh. Our laughter died down, and she looked aside. I likewise found it difficult to summon the courage for a farewell. “Well,” she said. She raised a hoof for stepping. “I’ll see you.” “Farewell, Sunset Shimmer.” She stepped up to the portal, but stopped and looked down. She turned around and sprinted for me. Before I knew what was happening, she wrapped me in a hug. “You promise you’ll come see me?” she whispered into my chest. The tears soaked through my coat. I smiled and kissed her on the forehead. I cherished the smell of sunflowers and rainfall one last time. “As sure as the stars in the sky.” We held each other for what felt like eternity. But eternity was not long enough, and I let her pull away when she was ready. Tears shone in her eyes, but she wore the happiest smile I had ever seen. She stepped back—once, twice, then turned without looking away. She stepped through the portal, and the ripples calmed to a placid sheen. A faint yearning blossomed in my chest that she would come racing back. I waited minutes, could have waited days, but the portal remained smooth and unbroken. I let out a shaky sigh. ’Twas a bittersweet feeling, standing there alone. After all we endured, I felt surprisingly empty, like a piece of me had stepped through that portal with her. But I knew patience as I hadn’t before. The time would come for me to visit her, and she likewise. We would find a way. And I felt, for the first time in millennia, a glimmer of hope find purchase in my heart. “As sure as the stars in the sky,” I whispered. Author's Note Special thanks to Cold in Gardez for his help with this chapter. Compatī (Cohm - pah - tee) cum + pati, latin. ‘To suffer with.’ It is the origin of the word ‘compassion.’ Beyond sympathy—beyond empathy—it is to feel alongside another person, both the good and the bad, the joys and hurts of life and what comes with it. And I think that’s beautiful. As always, Onward and Upward!
I - The JournalThey were right to fear me. They are right to fear me still. These lunar shackles hold fast, and my flesh is raw where skin and sinew have refused their lesson in patience. But Nightmare is eternal—unshackled, unbridled. Beyond the sight of Sister’s precious, little sun, the waning moon sharpens my power over dreams to a knifepoint. The dreams of our little ponies are oh so easy to bend when they slip into my nightly embrace. Hell is but a state of mind, and in the nigh thousand years I have spent in darkness I have elevated its craft to an art form. Sister sought to replace me with these protégés of hers. Folly. They learned to rescind their titles, denounce her as their loving princess or else suffer my wrath. And her newest, this Sunset Shimmer, shall too understand the gravity of her trespass. She will become my plaything, my instrument of Sister’s ruin. For I sense greatness in her. Sister should never have crossed me. Her place in Tartarus was reserved the moment she refused me my birthright. The new moon rises, and it is hungrier than ever. I lay on a purple velvet cushion with a little smile on my face. Rare were the moments I had time to chat with Sister’s star pupil when the world wasn’t in peril. I found her innocence and perspective on the world most refreshing, even if it meant entertaining myself with her… eccentricities. I folded my hooves, took a sip of coffee, and continued watching Twilight Sparkle fret over her assortment of astronomy literature. “Or maybe you’d rather read Guilderbeak’s Guide to Gargantuan Galaxies.” Twilight Sparkle hefted a book levitating beside her. She gasped. “Oh, where did I put Star Gazer’s Anthology of Astral Anomalies?” She raced for the next aisle from my little corner nook. An avalanche of books sounded from around the bend. “Ow.” She returned with the aforementioned book, plus one open-faced atop her head. ’Twas unapparent if she knew it was there. She wore a winning smile as she placed Astral Anomalies on my lap. I closed my eyes and smiled. “Thank you, Twilight Sparkle, but I believe this is sufficient reading material to choose from.” We both looked at the stacks of books surrounding me. It could well have passed for a fortress had she kept at it. Was this how Sister felt all these years teaching this mare? Twilight half spread her wings and lowered her head. “Eh, heh… Right.” “Additionally, my reading interests are not solely focused on the night sky, Twilight. I entertain myself with myriad studies.” I pulled the least astronomical-looking book from the pile. Modern Linguistics for the Absolute Beginner. I shifted my head back to double check the title before raising a brow at Twilight. She stepped back and gave me that sheepish chuckle of hers. “I-I’m just gonna go, uh, sort some of these books.” She lifted half the surrounding stacks and took off down an aisle. I chuckled. ’Twill be a sad day indeed when young Twilight loses that innocent charm of hers. I set Linguistics aside and glanced over the remaining pile. A brown-and-gold spine stood out from the brighter blues and greens. Curiosity bid I take it. A blazing red-and-yellow sun greeted me from the cover. ’Twas heavy. I could already feel the weight of knowledge it carried within. I opened it, and to my surprise it was not a textbook. Dear Princess Twilight,— I shut it. ’Twas a letter book—a diary of sorts. I glanced back the way Twilight had fled. No. ’Twas her privacy. I set it aside and perused my remaining options. Not a moment later, however, it glowed and began vibrating. I started to my haunches and fanned out my wings. I leaned in for a closer look, then hefted it in my magic. “What a strange enchantment.” “Oh, hey,” Twilight said, returning from the aisle way. “Sunset Shimmer’s writing to me.” Sunset Shimmer? I almost dropped the book. I pointed my ears forward, then snapped them back against my skull. I looked away as hesitation wrapped its cold hooves around me. Twilight took the book from my grasp. She flipped it open and read to herself. “Huh.” I watched her eyes scan line after line. The silence of the library crept back in, to the point that I pitched my ears forward. “Is something the matter?” “Huh? Oh, no. There’s just this thing called a ‘movie’ she saw—which is sort of like a play, but not acted live—and she needs to gush about it.” She smiled, a little blush rising to her cheeks. “And apparently one of the lead roles is really cute.” “I… is that all?” “Mmm, looks like it. But she did also say to tell all my friends ‘hi’ and that she hopes they’re doing well.” Twilight flashed me a smile. “She didn’t say so,” she said, “but I know that would include you. So, Sunset Shimmer says hi.” She giggled. I laid myself down and refolded my forehooves. “I… that is wonderful to hear.” “Princess Luna?” Twilight stared at me with that same concern Sister oft did when she caught me ruminating. “Is everything okay?” I felt the pout form on my lips before I could stop myself. I looked away. “No. But it is my concern, and I wish it to remain as such.” “I… Are you sure?” She creased her brow. I felt her heart reach out to mine. I could see and feel the dreams of our little ponies whenever their souls melded with mine in sweetest slumber. Though Twilight was not asleep, her daydreams and their associated emotions fell within that domain. When I blinked, I saw darkness—myself lying alone in a derelict Castle Everfree. “There are many duties I must see to myself.” I considered her unfaltering gaze. The tether that bound her subconscious to my soul pulled taut. “If I require your assistance, I will be sure to ask.” That seemed to mollify her. She looked aside, then back at me. “I’m here to help, Princess. Whatever it is. We all are.” “Thank you, Twilight.” I stood and strapped on my saddlebags. “For now, it is getting late, and I must see to the dreams of our little ponies.” She raised a hoof, hesitant on letting me leave so suddenly. However, she lowered it and nodded. “Goodnight, Princess.” “Goodnight, Twilight.” I headed for the door. I felt her gaze on the back of my head, and a dozen scenarios thrummed on her tether in a symphony of nightmares. I thankfully left that silent room unmolested. An evening sun kissed the far horizon and washed the sky in a watercolor spray of yellows, pinks, and oranges. A light wind inveigled my mane to dance among the growing Spring around me. I would have smiled at the myriad signs of regrowth had I not stumbled upon that book. The moon had waned these last weeks to but a sliver, and tonight would see it rest ere it grow in kind with the burgeoning leaves. Forever had the moon followed its cycle through the night sky, but with my return the new moon became my symbol to the ponies of Equestria that I was reborn, that I was no longer that being of nightmares. To continue that cycle was to relinquish my rightful place in the sky for a night. ’Twas my humility, my promise, my repentance. But with that reminder came the subtle nature of the dark, the dangers the ponies of this age did not know thanks to Sister’s wise rule. The full moon was synonymous with insanity and revelry, but a new moon played harbinger to misery, to death and chaos. Though I always tried separating the symbolism and metaphor of the dreamscape from my interpretations of the waking world, the coincidence of finding that book on a new moon brought a chill to my withers. The dreamscape called to me, and so did my past demons. Fate deemed it necessary I pay Sunset Shimmer a visit. I knew not what the future had in store, but I knew a long and winding road lay ahead. For myself, and for her. Pretty, perfect Celestia. Forever adored, forever despised. ’Tis quaint that Sunset Shimmer would dream of her. Oh how she fawns, how she preens beneath Sister’s despicable attention. Yes. Yearn for that praise, bask in her light. I will teach you greed, little Sunset. I will foster in you unfettered ambition. You will know what it is to be denied your dues, and you will want me as you do her. Author's Note Onward and Upward.
II - A Distant NightmareHello, Sunset Shimmer. I have waited ever so long to meet you. ’Twas a long while I journeyed through the dreamscape for Sunset Shimmer's dream. Innumerable were the spiraling galaxies and twisting nebulae that made up the collective Equestrian subconscious, but time being malleable as it is in the dreamscape afforded me time enough to wander. At first I feared her cluster of stars merely an echo, a distant memory of our world, as she had long since found her place on the other side of the mirror. But she was forever a daughter of Equestria, and so her mind yet came to rest within my bosom when she slept. I need only close my eyes and follow my heart, for it would never steer me wrong. Hers was a radiant star amidst the dreamscape, a beacon to all that here slept one of Equestria’s great heroines of this age. Though, as I neared, something seemed off. ’Twas translucent. I saw and felt all there was to it, yet its presence was somehow diminished. I assumed it a side effect of her place across the mirror. I touched the veil of her consciousness, and as if passing through gossamer curtains, I entered her dream. ’Twas innocent enough at first glance. The dream itself retained that translucency, as if concealed by a dense fog, but I knew I stood in a courtyard of grass and concrete. A building of brick and mortar rose before me, with two flanking arms that enveloped the courtyard. ’Twas all blurs and suggestion, the broad strokes of a distant mind. Dreams did not maintain their details. ’Twas only as the dreamer neared them that they would sharpen and take on their real-world properties. As the dreamer left them behind, they would lapse back into blurs and suggestion. Despite that fact, however, this place was devoid of any living creature. No ambient noises sounded overhead—no birdsong, no insects. There should have been the blurry interpretations of ponies or whatever sapient creature ruled her world, at the very least. I stepped up to the entrance and cast open the doors. Within awaited a darkness blacker than death. ’Twas as if her dream did not exist within this space. Though I had entered Sunset's dream, I had not yet made myself a part of it. I remained a ghost, an observer. I was impervious to anything this dream might contain, yet still I flared my wings in anticipation of the unknown. This was a not a dream, but a nightmare. I felt it before I saw it—a fanged grin painted on the blackness. I heard the beating of a heart in the cavernous dark. I stepped forward, nose set low. I knew this demon. I knew it before it rose a maniacal laugh to the void, before it spread its wings and let loose the maelstrom that was its mane. I knew it before those slitted eyes fell hungrily upon the figure collapsed at its hooves. ’Twas Sunset Shimmer lying before that monster. I knew it by the tether that held her soul fast to mine, that reached out and begged I offer succor. Hers was an odd form. She was no longer a pony, but rather some other manner of creature—this oddly shaped body, this 'human' form Twilight had once mentioned. I knew not what to make of her new form, yet fear was a universal language, a wide-eyed gaze that drew her eyes up to that demon. “That is enough,” I said. I flared my wings to make my presence known beyond the veil of Sunset's subconscious. I was starlight and fire. This was my domain. Nothing happened. I faltered. The magics that veiled me from the dream itself did not fall away at my command. I was still a ghost, yet I knew not why. I cursed my weakness and redoubled my magic. My mane and tail lifted into the air about me. There was a density to the air, a thickness of atmosphere I could not penetrate. I saw it in the light of my horn, a haze that suffused the dream and sapped the power from my being. ’Twas the distance between our two worlds that chained me so. I could only watch as that thing lorded overtop her like a wolf staring its prey in the eye before the killing blow. A fierce grin tugged at the corners of Nightmare Moon's mouth. It rolled out a slavering tongue to trail up Sunset Shimmer's chest, neck, cheek. Sunset Shimmer shied away from it. She winced as it caressed her cheek and continued on to loop around her ear. She had not the faculties to move in earnest, merely to squirm and cry out. I… I turned away. I shut my eyes and flattened my ears to drown out her whimpers. For I could do nothing to help her. I folded my wings about my chest and lifted from the ground. As if falling upward into the soft pillows of my bed, I passed through the veil and again drifted among the stars of the dreamscape. I watched them twinkle for me, let my body tumble in lazy silence. The nightmares I had wrought in my search for vengeance yet plagued her. Twilight had regaled me with her exploits of the human world, and Sunset Shimmer seemed well on the surface. Sunset Shimmer had learned to hide her pain, yet she knew not how to overcome it. The scope of my transgressions was beyond me. I knew it my responsibility to see that she find peace, but if the past had taught me anything, I needed counsel before I acted, lest I set in motion even greater catastrophes. Sister knew Sunset Shimmer better than anypony. She would understand the gravity and the intricacies of my query. A final flash of light from my horn, and I opened my eyes to my bedchambers. I gave my legs a quick stretch ere I rose for the door. Sister would know what to do. Stone Wall, Sister’s personal bodyguard, stood aside when I approached Sister's bedchambers. His was an understanding mein, one that knew my presence to be a harbinger and not to be hindered. I rapped my hoof on the door. Inside, Philomena stirred, her gentle coos turning irate for the intrusion. ’Twas not often a phoenix fell victim to irritation, but Sister did oft spoil her. The door opened. Sister did not have her regalia, and she seemed almost taken aback at my presence. “Luna? What’s wrong?” “Sister, may we speak in private?” She held her gaze upon me a moment before stepping back. Though there was no breeze to speak of, ’twas cool in her room, a benefit of the wide windows and balcony separated by only sheer white curtains. I made myself comfortable at her tea table in the middle of the room. Sister sat opposite me. She poured a cup of tea for me before I could decline, so I took it out of politeness. ’Twas still warm, meaning she had only recently bedded down. She had been up thinking about things again. “What’s wrong, Luna?” “I spoke with Twilight yesterday,” I said. I took a sip. ’Twas bitter, whatever it was, meant to sharpen the mind rather than relax it. Her late-night musings were of some higher importance than mere day-to-day affairs. “Yes, I remember you saying something about meeting her for dinner.” She did not pour a cup for herself, perhaps intent on returning to bed the moment I left. I curled my lips at her remark. “If by dinner you mean having hundreds of astronomy books shoved down my throat, then yes.” Sister chuckled. “Twilight has always been eager to please. But I assume that's not what this conversation is about.” Sister wore her signature smile. Beneath it, however, lay her true statement: ‘what is wrong, little sister?’ “She... has a book.” “She has many of those, Luna.” Her smile turned to a smirk. I rolled my eyes. Even in the sublunary hours, she spared me no expense of her witticisms. “Tis Sunset Shimmer’s. They use it to speak with each other.” Sister’s smirk faded. We shared a moment of silence. “You still feel guilty about it.” ’Twas not a question, though I frowned and let the bridging silence be an answer regardless. Sister came around the table. She half spread her wings, ready to drape one over my shoulder should the need arise. Not that I would allow myself to show such vulnerability. Though, the look in her eyes bespoke I had failed in that regard. “It was a long time ago, Luna,” she said. “But it has not left her, Sister. What I did still haunts her. What I… What I did to her.” “She’ll work through her dreams in her own time, Luna. You’ve told me that time and again.” I shook my head. “That may be true for normal nightmares, Sister, but this was more than simply a nightmare. There is a piece of Nightmare Moon still inside her.” Sister knitted her brow. “How’s that possible? Didn’t Twilight and her friends cleanse all traces of Nightmare Moon when you first returned?” I slanted my mouth to deflect the sting of her words. I had to remind myself she did not mean it as such. “I do not know. My only guess is that since she was on the other side of the mirror at the time, hers was unaffected by it. “Same as how my dream magic is greatly diminished when I explored her dream. I had hoped time would heal her wounds as it is wont to do, but this wound runs deeper than I have yet seen if the Elements could not cleanse it.” “We all have our scars, Luna.” She placed a hoof on my shoulder. “Some of them are larger than others, but we all learn to heal. For some ponies, it takes longer than others.” I remained silent. No, Sister. This was not a scar. Scars were wounds that had since healed. This nightmare that yet plagued Sunset Shimmer was a festering boil that needed lancing, and, perhaps, more abrasive measures. Though I was the knife that wounded her, I could also be the salve that saves her. I could be the smile that sees her Tantabus to rest. Mine still lay dormant in my heart. ’Twas like an old ache that never truly left. “I must right this wrong…” I afforded Sister a pleading gaze, despite knowing I must do this alone. “Are you asking me for guidance, Luna, or permission?” Hers was an inquisitive face, one I had seen few times in my life. ’Twas a serious question, one that knew the gravitas of my worries. She was right, however. Now that I knew my wrongs still plagued Sunset Shimmer, to even step hoof into her dream felt criminally invasive. I knew trespass the most straightforward method, and part of me wanted some outside volition to give me direction. Yet two wrongs did not necessarily make a right. “I… I do not know, Sister. All I do know is that she does not deserve to suffer for my transgressions.” I looked away. I could not bear Sister's gaze. Sister might have forgiven me, and I too have found peace with myself. But to see the consequences of my actions yet lingering in the mind of one I had sworn to protect stirred within me that phantom doubt—the Tantabus that I would forever carry with me. I could not allow it to consume me as it nearly once had, yet I refused the prospect of ignorance. “I know what I must do.” I smiled at Sister, as briefly as it might have been. “’Twill not be easy, but I must face my fears all the same.” “May I ask?” I looked at the fleurs-de-lis in the carpet beneath me. “I will write to her, in Twilight's book. I must explain myself.” “Are you sure you want to tell her who you are? Who you were?” A pause. I nodded. “I must. ’Tis better to be honest than to let that hammer forever hang above my head. I will swallow my pride. I will dig out this cancer by the root.” I headed for the door. I expected Sister to leave me a few parting words, but she remained silent. Only Philomena bid me farewell with a little chirrup before I shut the door behind me. ’Twas dark in the hall. The night sky outside the window twinkled its well wishings to me, and I saw that circular void in space, the new moon that bid due omen of things to come. ’Twas quiet enough to hear the blood flowing through my veins, and in the nighttime silence of the hallway, I heard Sister pour herself a cup of tea. I am the shadow cast by the light, the beholder of the unseen and unseeable alike. I am the answer to the questions that tug at your heart, the greatness that awaits you atop the distant mountain. I am knowledge unending. My name, you ask? ’Tis not important. The real question is, what do you wish to call me? What is it you wish I am to be for you? ‘Nocturne?’ How… Portentous. As for your name, little Sunset, I could say the same. Calm yourself, little Sunset. I will answer all your questions in due time. But before we can begin, I must ask of you something. Smile for me. Author's Note Onward and Upward.
III - Wise Words from a Wise FriendI know your frustration, little Sunset. ’Tis difficult to bide oneself when on the cusp of greatness. I see in you strength. I see in you power. Restraint is for the weak and the fearful. But within you, there is fearlessness. Come hither, little Sunset. There is much for you to learn. I will be your epiphany if you but lend me your ear. I will show you the greatness that She never will. “You need what now?” Twilight Sparkle stared at me as if I had asked her to fetch Cerberus from his post. She lay sprawled on a pillow in the main reading area of her library, a large green textbook propped comfortably on a pillow beside hers. “The book,” I said. “The one you use to communicate with Sunset Shimmer.” She smiled. “Oh! Sure. Is… something wrong?” "I must speak with her." She regarded me with a searching gaze, her mouth curled in a little hook-like frown. "Alright." She left for one of the many bookshelves lining the hall and returned with the book. She held it aloft a moment before handing it over. Myriad were the words on the tip of her tongue. "If you need anything, just let me know," was all she said, however. She afforded me one last glance before settling back in. I tucked my nose in to my chest. I had been rather abrupt in my appearance today. ’Twas rude of me to intrude on her affairs two days in a row, especially during what little free time she had. I was thankful she understood, however, and so I retreated to the little corner nook where this journey began. I laid myself down upon that same purple pillow and crossed my forehooves. I frowned at the book. It stared back, unassuming. Still it weighed heavy in my grasp, but rather than the weight of knowledge, ’twas one of foreboding. I opened it to a clean page and drew up a quill and ink. Tip against paper, I hesitated. What was I to say? How best to navigate these treacherous waters? The prospect of failure chilled the blood in my veins. Dear Sunset Shimmer, I stopped there. I had made the leap into the unknown, yet still I knew not the words to use. It appeared I was idle too long, however, as words inked themselves across the page in tight, intricate cursive. Hey, Twilight! Cat got your tongue? I was actually hoping for a quick break from all this calc homework. Study hall can be a bore sometimes. How’s it going? I grimaced. I apologize, Sunset Shimmer, but I am not Twilight Sparkle. My name is Luna. Princess Luna? Princess Celestia's sister? Wow, to what do I owe the pleasure? How are you? Twilight’s told me so much about you. I bit my lip. Shame's vice gripped tight about my heart. She had no knowledge of who I was to her. And she seemed in such a cheerful mood. It pained me to know I was about to shatter it. Though, ’twas to my advantage. I might yet appealed to her if I maintained discretion. That is wonderful to hear. She has likewise regaled me in your exploits. I hear you are doing well in this other world. Yeah, things are pretty good here. I mean, there’s a lot to keep a girl busy, what with all the Equestrian magic that keeps finding its way here and just normal day-to-day stuff, but I do miss Equestria. Her neat writing took a turn for the messy, as quick as she had written it. Her homesickness was doubtlessly genuine. Is everything okay? she asked before I could reply. I mean, I do appreciate you writing to me, but this is a bit out of the ordinary. I’ve only ever talked to Twilight in this book. Well, recently anyway. The quill trembled in my grasp. I knew this confrontation was inevitable, yet it did not lessen my hesitation. I am afraid not, Sunset Shimmer. I am the guardian of the dreamscape. In my workings, I stumbled upon your dream, and what I found there has earned me no lack of distress. I wish to help you, I continued. I can dispel these nightmares you experience, but I cannot act across the span that separates our worlds. You can enter dreams? But— There was a long pause. Her cursive trembled. —there's only one pony who can do that. My heart thundered in my chest. I replied with similar trepidation. There is much that I have done in the past, Sunset Shimmer, and twice as much to make up for. I wish to right the wrongs I have caused you. She did not respond immediately. When she did, however, her cursive had regained its tight form, but the loops and strikes had a sharpness to them. Please give the book back to Twilight. I waited seconds, minutes, for more. Nothing. Sunset Shimmer, plea— A violent pen slashed across my words and startled me into dropping the quill. Once, twice, thrice. Ink exploded in a long, splattering streak across the page that blacked out my plea and swallowed up half the rest. A moment later, little circles warped the page here and there as if it were being wetted. I waited with trembling breath, but she wrote nothing more. I swallowed hard and bowed my head. As I had feared, she clung to the past, had failed to see my intentions for what they were. I could not blame her. I closed the book and returned to Twilight. “She wishes that I return this to you.” Twilight stared at it, then at me. “Princess, whatever’s going on, please tell me. I’m here to help you.” I considered her offer. Sister knew Sunset Shimmer the longest, which I must regretfully accept is not the Sunset of today. However, Twilight knew her, the Sunset who had saved the human world from destruction on multiple occasions, the Sunset who made friends and earned her redemption. Perhaps it was wrong of me to seek Sister’s counsel instead of hers. “I have done things I am not proud of, Twilight Sparkle. In my exile, I used Sunset Shimmer as a means of foiling Sister’s attempts to gather the Elements against me.” I rubbed a hoof along my foreleg. “I am the reason she fled Sister’s tutelage. I am the reason she tried enslaving a foreign world to destroy Equestria.” Twilight laid her ears back. She knit her brow and looked longingly at the book in her grasp. She turned those innocent eyes my way. “You should go see her. Tell her how you feel. She’ll understand. Maybe not at first, but she will later.” I grimaced. “I do not believe you understand just how much I hurt her, Twilight. I did not simply haunt her dreams. I manipulated her mentally and emotionally. I took advantage of her love for Sister and her ambitions of becoming one of Equestria’s greatest unicorns. I tore her apart from the inside while claiming to love her in return. “And when I finally accomplished my goal I...” I knitted my brow, clenched my teeth together. My lip trembled, and I almost couldn’t speak the words. “I broke her, Twilight.” Twilight lowered her ears and looked away as if searching for something. “There’s an old Zebrican craft I read about once. Whenever a pot is broken, they use gold and epoxy to repair it. Even though it’s not the same as it was, the patterns caused by the broken pieces makes it unique and oftentimes more beautiful than it was before.” “But she wants nothing to do with me.” Twilight smiled and placed a reassuring hoof on mine. “And that’s why you should go see her. I’m sure what you did was bad, but look at all the good that’s come of it. She’s in a place where people care for her, and she has a whole group of friends that couldn’t be happier.” “And,” she said, her smile growing just a hair, “she’s reformed, just like you. That’s common ground. You have something to relate to.” ’Twas true. Common ground oft was the foundation for many a treaty. Yet I knew not how to bridge the fact that I was the reason for her need to reform in the first place. “It’s why you want to help her. Isn’t it.” A tingling sensation ran up my spine. I saw in Twilight’s eyes the yearning of one who wanted to understand, but knew she couldn’t. When I blinked, I saw Everfree Castle, myself, Sister—that first embrace we shared after my cleansing. I felt the Tantabus within me, dormant, yet ever present. “Because you know what that’s like,” she said. I looked away. I could not bear her face. She was right, however. In my attempt to destroy Sister through Sunset Shimmer’s manipulation, I created something new. I formed from her a kindred spirit, a victim that, like myself, fell prey to the temptations of ambition. ’Twas my doing that broke her so, yet still I knew her struggle. I felt the pain I inflicted upon her as if it were my own. Whether it were for her salvation or my own, I would know no other recourse. I smiled and looked Twilight in the eye. “I… yes. Thank you, Twilight.” She returned my smile, confident she had done her due diligence. She was not wrong. “No problem, Princess Luna. I’m happy to help. Did… you want to go now? I mean, if not, you’re more than welcome to spend the night here. I’ll have Spike prepare you a room.” I waved away the notion. “Nay, Twilight. I should go tonight. I cannot bear the thought of her enduring one more night of this.” Twilight nodded. “In that case, I’ll take you to the mirror.” ’Twas in an interior room not far from the library. As one might have expected, shelves full of books lined the walls as if it were merely an extension of the library. In the middle of the room, she had designed some sort of contraption of hardwood, tubes, pipes, and wires, all centered around a pedestal above the mirror itself. Twilight placed the book upon the pedestal and touched the contraption with her horn. Like an engine whirring to life, the energies of the portal activated, and the mirror’s once solid surface rippled like that of a lake teased by a light wind. My reflection stared back at me, but beyond the surface lay the faint haze of another world. “I’ll keep it open as long as you need.” She gave me that endearing smile unique to her “I cannot thank you enough, Twilight. Are… are you sure you do not wish to accompany me? I could use your expertise, not to mention the assurance you would no doubt instill in her.” She flitted her wings, and a wistful smile entertained her but a moment. “I want to. I miss my friends at Canterlot High, but I think this is something you have to do yourself.” She put a reassuring hoof on my chest. “Don’t worry about what to do or say. She’ll understand your intentions.” I smiled. “I suppose you are the Princess of Friendship. Thank you again, Twilight.” I stepped up to the mirror and placed a hoof through it. “Oh, before you go,” Twilight said. She held up a hoof. “Two legs, not four. And don’t freak out about your muzzle.” She put her hoof to her mouth and looked up. “Or your hooves. Or your mane or tail… Just, uh, don’t freak out.” She smiled apologetically. I raised an eyebrow at her. “I will keep that in mind.” I returned my attention to the portal. A final moment of preparation, a deep breath, and I entered. There there. Do not cry, little Sunset. Let not the shimmer of tears mar your perfect face. Relinquish these fears you hold close, dispense of the Celestial worries that torment you. For I love you in ways She never could. Kiss me, my sweet. I will drain from you all the pain, all the anger and regrets that lie heavy upon your heart. I will bear the burden for you, little Sunset. You dare look away? Do not shy from me, foal! You will look me in the eye when I speak and know greatness! Easy. Easy, my dearest. Do not fret, do not fear. I would never hurt you. She is the one that desires your suffering. I know not what She said to hurt you so, but now you know where her allegiance lies. And so I must ask you… Where does yours? Author's Note Thanks to Cold in Gardez for proofreading this chapter. Onward and Upward!
IV - Cleansing the NightmareYou know I am the cause of your hardships. I feel the chill of your touch, the shiver up your spine as you hold yourself against me. The way you cower in my presence, how you lower your gaze when I speak. But the drug that is love draws you to me. I hurt you, yet you smile. I spit in your face, and you thank me. For I am all you ever wanted, want, will want. I am the power you crave, the ambition that drives you to the brink of sanity. You will peer over that ledge and into the abyss, and you will dive headfirst into my open arms. For you know the fear of losing that which you gave up everything to gain. You know the fear of ending up alone... Don’t you, little Sunset? I said: don’t you, little Sunset? Yes. Good girl. You know that I love you. I will become one with you. I will subsume your essence, and Sister will know my hatred remains as sharp as the day I refused her precious sun. Come, little Sunset. Embrace me. I opened my eyes. The first thing I noticed were my forehooves. Or, what used to be my forehooves. They had grown these odd appendages, like the claws of a dragon but without their sharp talons. What in Orion’s name was I? I shook my head. ’Twas not important. I needed to find Sunset Shimmer. I stood in a courtyard of concrete and grass carpeted in leaves. Heavy clouds hung over a large building whose arms reached out as if to swaddle the courtyard. ’Twas then I realized this was the same place as Sunset Shimmer’s nightmare. This was Canterlot High, the very place Twilight had mentioned in her exploits. I reached out to place my forehooves on the ground when I realized I stood on my hind legs. It took a moment to register, but Twilight’s words came back to me. I stayed upright and took my first step with only my hind hooves. I was rather unsteady, but I managed to reach the stair railing without incident. Already I felt the lack of magic in the air, my disconnect from the dreamscape and the ponies slumbering within. I did not try forcing open the door, but rather considered my new forehooves. I reached out, grasped the handle, and opened the door. ’Twas an awkward gesture, but I oddly enjoyed the manual dexterity of this body. An open entranceway waited inside, lined with display cases and adorned with banners rallying around a group called the Wondercolts. I recalled Twilight mentioning Sister and my counterparts once. We were the principal and vice principal here. I followed the signs to their office. Twilight advised I not ‘freak out’ over my new body, but she did not give such advice for Sister. ’Twas Sister sitting behind the desk, though, at the same time wasn’t. My not-Sister looked up from the manila folder lying open before her and raised a brow. “Aren’t you supposed to be in the gym supervising the pep rally setup?” “I… No. I apologize, um, Celestia, but I am not who you think I am.” She laid the folder down. “What are you talking about?” I raised a hoof (hand?), but lowered it. I wasn’t sure what to do with them, so I clasped them together and held them at my waist. "Do you recall Princess Twilight?" Celestia stared at me a moment longer than was necessary. ’Twas uncanny how her expression resembled Sister’s, and just as apparent her mind wound through the same labyrinth before finding the conclusion she sought. "You’re my sister from that other world." I nodded. “Yes. I must speak with Sunset Shimmer. ’Tis urgent,” I added, at that scrying stare of hers. ’Twas the same she oft gave me during our rare games of chess. “What do you need?” Oh, dearest Celestia. Ever protective of her subjects, no matter what form she took. “’Tis in regards to lingering traces of Equestrian magic here on this side of the portal.” She seemed to consider me a moment longer before pressing a button on a little box atop her desk. “Sunset Shimmer, please report to the principal’s office. Sunset Shimmer, please report to the principal's office.” She gestured at the seat before me. “Please have a seat.” “No thank you, Sis-er, Celestia. I would rather stand.” She blinked, then leaned forward in her chair. She rested her elbows on the desk, clasped her hands together, and hid her mouth behind her hands. “What exactly is going on with this lingering magic?” “’Tis what I wish to discuss with Sunset Shimmer. I am not entirely certain of its nature." ’Twas technically a lie, but I deemed it necessary to withhold that information for the time being. This Celestia was skeptical of me, and I did not wish to ruin my chances of gaining an audience with Sunset Shimmer. The door opened behind me. “You needed me, Principal Celestia?” Sunset shimmer stopped halfway into the room upon seeing me. Perhaps it was the way I held myself, or maybe she retained some affinity for Equestrian magic. But one look and she knew who I was. I took a step forward. “Sunset Shimm—” “I told you to give the book back to Twilight.” She balled her hands into fists, but even though she maintained a brave face, she leaned away from me. “I didn’t say I wanted to talk to you in person. What are you doing here?” “You must listen to me. I know why you still have these nightmares. I can help. There is still a piece of Nightmare Moon inside you. I don’t know how or why, but—” “No, you listen to me,” she said. Her voice trembled, and in her eyes swam the fear of a cornered animal. Had I my powers over the dreamscape here, I feared what images I would have seen when I blinked. “You have no right to invade my dreams like that. Not then and not now. I don’t want anything to do with this. I don’t want anything to do with you. Leave me alone.” I grabbed her by the shoulders. She flinched as though I were about to strike her. “Listen to me, Sunset Shimmer. I—” “That is enough!” came Sister’s voice. I stepped back instinctively. Sister’s doppelganger had rounded on the desk and stepped between us. In her eyes shone that protective fury she held close that fateful night I fell. Behind her, Sunset Shimmer stood with head bowed and hands held close to her breast. She stared terrified into the distance. “I don’t know how you do things back in your world, but here on Earth and especially in my school, we do not manhandle students like this.” She pointed at the door. “Go. Leave.” Sunset Shimmer looked away. She leaned against the wall, one arm hanging at her side, the other holding it. She looked as though the terror of the moment had ended, but the scars were ever present. I bowed my head. “I am sorry. I did not mean to cause alarm.” I looked at Sunset Shimmer. “Sunset Shimmer. You do not have to love me the way you did before. You do not even have to trust me. All I ask is that you allow me the chance to right my wrongs. I cannot bear the prospect of somepony hurting for my mistakes. And if you still wish to never see me again afterward, I will gladly grant you that wish.” She turned away, still leaning against the wall. She squinched her eyes shut. I turned for the door. “If you change your mind. Please. Do not hesitate to find me.” I left that cold room and colder farewell. The late autumn winds bit through my clothes, and I shivered as I came to the portal. I gave the school one last glance over my shoulder and sighed. I stepped through and found myself once again in Twilight's castle. It seemed that either time flowed faster in the other world or the journey through the portal lasted longer than an instant, for I saw the thin crescent moon hanging outside the high window. Sister must have raised it for me in my absence. Twilight lay dozing amidst a bundle of pillows in the center if the room. A book lay open beneath her hoof, and a blanket lay half draped over her. She had been waiting for me in case I returned early. I smiled and pulled her blanket up over her shoulders. “Sweet dreams, young Twilight.” I lingered there a moment, endearing myself to that mare. She was a true Princess of Friendship. She would make a fine ruler one day. I came across Spike on my way to the castle entrance, and he told me Twilight had prepared a room for me. He insisted I stay, so I acquiesced and bedded down for the night. I spent the long hours of sleep drifting amongst our subjects’ dreams. I played my part in defending them from their nightmares, but all the while my mind lingered on Sunset Shimmer. These nightmares were rote, predictable things. Little could be said for the ease of overcoming them, but they lacked the same urgency. Or, perhaps Twilight was more correct than I initially thought: I needed to save Sunset Shimmer, just as much as she needed saving. When I deemed the dreamscape quiet, I set off in search of her dream. The stars and nebulae that composed the dreams of our subjects, much like their true stellar counterparts, followed relative orbits through the dreamscape. One could know which cluster of stardust or shining star belonged to which ponies and where to find them if they paid attention. I followed the trajectory of Sunset Shimmer’s orbit, though I could not find her blazing star. I struggled to feel her tether amidst the others, and I feared it an omen. I felt something touch my shoulder. I turned, curious, but I floated alone in the void. Something disturbed my body in the waking world. I lit my horn and pulled myself from the dreamscape. A warm, orange glow bled through my eyelids. I opened my eyes and sat up. There before me stood Sunset Shimmer, a magelight spell at the tip of her horn. “Sorry,” she said. “You... didn’t wake up when I knocked.” We shared a moment of silence. In her eyes, I saw a fledgling hope emerge from its shell. “Twilight said you were here. She said...” She rubbed a hoof along her foreleg. Her eyes landed upon everything but me until a final moment of courage brought them around. There was hesitation, but also trust. Twilight must have convinced her to give me a chance. “You… You can make the nightmares go away?” My heart fluttered at the opportunity, and I sat up in full. “As sure as the stars in the sky.” A smile found its way to her face, but worry bid she bite her lip. “I-I’m sorry for how I acted back there. I—” I placed a hoof to her lips. “Shh. Say not a word. I understand your hesitation.” I rose from my bed and stood beside her. She took a step back, and a brief fear flickered in her eye. But a moment’s resolution showed on her face, and she stepped forward again. “Are you sure you’re willing to do this?” I asked. “I know you do not trust me. I will not be offended if you change your mind.” She raised a hoof as if for stepping, and she searched for something in the crystal beneath her hooves. She looked at me with those wide eyes of hers. There was understanding in them. “Twilight told me about the Tantabus,” she said. “I… I trust you.” Oh, how my heart sang to hear those words! I flitted my wings, if only to maintain my composure. “I am glad to hear it, Sunset Shimmer. I…” I considered the tiny smile on her lips, the slight peak of her brows. She knew nervousness, but her tether thrummed with hope. She saw a light in the distant dark of her mind. I gestured toward the bed. “Please, make yourself comfortable.” She hopped into bed, and I pulled the covers over her. I gathered my magics to my horn and touched her forehead. “Sleep, Sunset Shimmer. I will join you shortly.” She closed her eyes, and relaxed her head onto the pillow. Her mouth hung slightly open. Hers was a deep sleep that knew momentary peace. I brushed her mane out of her face. I had forgotten how beautiful she was. It pained me to think I had once used that fact to corrupt her thoughts and play to her emotions. No more. I was no longer that monster. I would right my wrongs and see her to that paradise she desperately sought. I closed my eyes and wound a thread of magic from my horn to hers. I stood in a featureless plane of dark orange. ’Twas natural for dreams to begin amorphous, colored by the waking emotions the dreamer last experienced. Dark orange was a foreboding color, one of hope yet of presaged violence. Blood would be spilt by dream’s end. The world drew itself to life as if beneath the pen of a master artist. I stood in the entranceway of Canterlot High. A presence materialized behind me, and I felt Sunset Shimmer’s tether pull taut ere I turned. She stood in human form, mind empty as her soul fully took seat within her dream body. She blinked and looked around. “Where am I?” I wanted more than anything to emerge from beyond the veil of her consciousness and hold her close. But I knew the Nightmare prowled somewhere in the shadows. If I were to best it, I would need every advantage I could find. So I waited, invisible, for it to show itself. It did not take long. The room darkened as if a blanket of clouds hid away the moon, and a guttural laugh rolled in from the dark. Sunset Shimmer staggered away. She raised her hands in front of herself, eyes up and into the high ceilings that began rising beyond sight. “Who’s there?” My heart hammered in my chest. I felt its presence long before I saw it, the ghostly chill that ran up my spine like ice water. I turned toward the left hallway, and there I saw the first tendrils of its mane slithering toward us. They lashed out like whips to snare Sunset Shimmer by the ankles. She fell backward screaming and kicked at them, but she could not break free. The Nightmare stepped forward from the shadows. Black fog rolled out from its underbelly like dry ice as it took long, predatory steps. It had changed since last night. No longer did it appear as my former self, tall and slender, but rather ’twas a body that I likened to the muscular form of a panther. Its wings dragged across the ground at its sides, and it set its heavy jaw square with her beneath white, featureless eyes. Its mouth opened like a jagged gash across its face, and out rolled a long, ichorous tongue. Before it could take another step, I cast aside the veil of her consciousness and entered her dream in full. “Unhand her! You have violated the sanctity of Sunset Shimmer’s dreams long enough. Submit, demon.” It stopped and regarded me. A surge of magic thrummed along Sunset Shimmer’s tether, as if a gangly talon plucked it like a string. In a bassy, demonic voice, it spoke without moving its lips. “You have failed. She is mine.” I sensed the potential coiled like a viper within its breast. ’Twas stronger than before, drew power from the turmoil I had caused Sunset Shimmer this eve. I lowered my nose and flared my wings. “I am Princess Luna of Equestria, Keeper of the Untamed Forest, Wielder of the Elements, Daughter of the Seven Tribes of Harmony, and Regent of the Heavens. You will not harm her.” It lowered its head and smiled at me. “You are wrong.” Without another word, it turned toward Sunset Shimmer. It leapt on top of her, and there was a blinding flash. Sunset Shimmer screamed. She writhed on the floor, and then rose into the air. Her eyes glowed white, and she landed gently on her feet. Her jaw hung slack, her head lolled to the side. She stared into the distance with blank eyes. Black, spidering veins pulsed beneath the skin of her face, arms, hands. A croaking death rattle rolled out from her throat. I stepped forward on instinct, but when I realized what happened, I staggered back in horror. It… joined with her? This was unheard of. I had seen dreams corrupted by nightmares, subconscious landscapes twisted into depictions of hell and the eldritch alike. But I had never seen a nightmare conjoin with the dreamer themself. This was bad. The dreamer’s body within a dream was the manifestation of their very soul. As such, the dreamer was sacred within the confines of their dream. But this sort of corruption reached deeper than the surface, had bound itself to the foundation of her being. I could not leave her like this, nor did I know the state of mind she would awake in should I fail. I had to separate them somehow. Sentience returned to her in some capacity. She stared at me with wide eyes. Tears rolled down her face. She staggered forward with an arm outstretched. “Luna...” Her voice barely registered over my thundering heart. I rushed to meet her. “Sunset Shimmer! What has it—” She touched me, and her hands were like fire. My skin hissed, and I cried out. I pushed her away. The dream shifted. We were no longer in Canterlot High. Blackness stretched all around us. She crumpled to her knees and held herself by the shoulders. She wept, and black steam wafted from her back. “Please... It hurts.” “Hold fast, Sunset Shimmer. I will wrest this demon from thee.” “You said you’d help me.” She looked up at me, a snarl on her face. “You said you’d make me the greatest unicorn in history. You said you would love me the way She never could.” I stepped back. There was a disconnect in her words. She spoke of the now and yet not. These were both her regrets and fears given voice. The Nightmare spoke through her. I stood my ground. “I said many things, Sunset Shimmer. I said many things that hurt you, that made you do things you wished had never come to pass. That was the evil that held me prisoner, as it now holds you. “But that was the past. You have overcome your failings as I have. You are stronger than your former self.” I fanned my wings and stood tall, but the dream shifted yet again. The darkness around us did not change, but it felt as if we fell deeper into it all the same. Her tears turned black, and color drained from us both. She stumbled to her feet and backed away. “I gave you my magic. I gave you my heart. I gave… I-I gave you…” Her face twisted in horrified disbelief. She clutched the sides of her head and screamed. “Sunset Shimmer, please! I know what it is like to be alone. I know how it feels to be misunderstood and cast aside by those you love." The tears started down my cheeks. I could not hold them back. "But the past does not control you. I know the good in you, and I wish to be a part of it. But I cannot if you do not fight back against this Nightmare! Do not allow it to consume you. You must fight back!” I felt the Nightmare reaching deeper into her, its corrupted roots digging through to the center of her being. If it infected her fully, I feared what would happen—what I might have to do. She shook, her body finally slipping out of her control. Her eyes went blank, and her jaw fell slack. She was lost in the abyss of her Nightmare. She could not save herself. Compassion bid I step forward, and I felt something I had not expected. The Tantabus stirred within me. It reached out to her, like the opposite pole of a magnet. I knew what it wanted, what I had to do. “I cannot take back what I did to you,” I said. “But I can take that which still hurts you.” I wrapped my hooves about her despite my boiling skin and pulled her close. When my bosom touched hers, our hearts beat as one, and I kissed her. I subsumed that fire, drank in the pain and countless years spent in darkness. Sunset Shimmer placed trembling hands on my chest. Her fingers curled inward, she dragged her knuckles down my chest, and she relaxed to release all that plagued her. I knew the touch of doubt, the taste of greed, the hunger of ambition. I felt the hatred for authority, the emptiness of love unrequited. I drained every last bit of the misery I had inflicted upon her and let it rest in the seat of my soul. The Tantabus flared to life. It craned its stellar head toward the firmament of my being, and it rose to face the maelstrom. I squinched my eyes shut, refused the tears that wanted to run free and douse the fire they could not reach. I pulled away from the kiss and pressed my forehead against hers. When I breathed, I felt the war raging in my breast ebb and flow, as if I were breathing in the noxious fumes of her personal hell. The pain was unbearable, and I grit my teeth, unsure how long I could hold it in. I felt a hand caress my cheek. Sunset Shimmer stared into me. In her eyes shone fear—not for herself, but for me. I felt the seedling of Nightmare within me, the lingering malintent the Tantabus had yet to wrestle under control. I pulled free of her before I lost control and hurt her—or worse, set the Nightmare free. I wrapped my wings about my chest and fell upward through the veil of her consciousness. Faintly, as if from across the span of the dreamscape, I heard, “Luna!” I opened my eyes. All was quiet. Somehow during sleep, I had gotten into bed. I had been known to sleepwalk from time to time whilst guarding the dreamscape, but I had never done so in such a manner. Sunset Shimmer lay curled up in my grasp, our hooves intertwined. Her head rested in the crook of my neck, and her sweet breath warmed the fur of my chest. I took a deep breath of her mane. She smelled of rainfall and sunflowers. The Tantabus slumbered in my breast. I felt the cohabitation of its foe, Sunset’s misery finally at rest. I closed my eyes. I did not search the dreamscape for her star. I did not look inward for the thrum of her tether. Rather, I listened for her soft breaths in the silence, felt the warmth of her fur against mine, the beat of her heart. ’Twas a moving experience, to feel her next to me. I hadn’t felt this way in millennia. I pulled a hoof free of her grasp to brush her mane out of her face. She wrapped her hooves about mine and pulled it close. She mumbled in her sleep, “Don’t go…” I smiled. I kissed her on the forehead and rubbed my muzzle against hers. “I am not going anywhere. Rest now, dearest Sunset. I will hold you til the dawn.” I knew her asleep, but the little smile that graced her lips was worth my weight in gold. I closed my eyes and let the rhythm of our hearts carry me to sleep. And in her warm embrace, I dreamed of the wind in her mane and sunshine upon her face. Author's Note Special thanks to Cold in Gardez for his review of this chapter. Onward and Upward!
Epilogue - As the Stars in the SkyI awoke to find myself alone. All was quiet, and the sky still dark for the crescent moon out the window. I sat up. “Sunset Shimmer?” The only light I could see came from the strip beneath the door. I followed it into the hallway. Nopony seemed to be home. Only my hoofsteps echoed off the high ceiling. I panicked, thinking Sunset Shimmer might have left without a farewell, but I closed my eyes and placed a hoof to my heart where her tether still held fast to my soul. She was thinking of the sunrise, of a yearning for the potential such a sight can oft evoke. I found my way to the balcony. She sat by the railing, looking up at the night sky. A faint pink rimmed the horizon. The sun stirred beyond sight, awaiting its turn in the sky. I closed my eyes and reached out to the moon. When I opened them, Sunset Shimmer had bowed her head. She felt my presence. “It is nice out here.” I said. I sat down beside her. ’Twas cool, and a light breeze teased our manes. Sister brought the sun over the rim of the horizon, and the sky's pinks faded to blue. In the growing light, Spring burgeoned green as far as the eye could see, dotted by the swatches of color from the gardens around Ponyville. Birds sang from their nests, and even the breeze whispered us well wishing. It whispered of change. Of the seasons. Of ourselves. “Yeah. It is.” Gone were the nightmares that plagued her mind. Yet still there remained a sense of loneliness, of companionship lost. She knew herself better off, yet she still yearned for the idea of what could have been. ’Twas only natural. Life was fleeting for those not blessed with immortality, and to see it through to its end without another by one’s side was the true darkness beyond the ledge of the unknown. However much I feared the past, it pained me to see her feel this way. No matter what the past held, here, now, we could have something real. I owed it to her to try. But more than anything, I had to know. “How did it survive?” I asked. “How did what survive?” She had that look about her, the one of half-raised ears and bated breath. She knew shame for what I asked of her. “The Nightmare. Hadn’t Twilight and her friends cleansed you with the Elements?” She looked down and scraped a hoof on the stone. “I… I don’t know. I mean she did, yeah, but I guess part of me was just so… so terrified of letting go, of being vulnerable. I wanted to change, but I also didn’t want to take that leap. I mean, there’s some evils that you can blast with magic to make them go away. "But then there’s others that stick with you, no matter how badly you want to get rid of them.” She chuckled and looked at me. “You don’t just flip a switch and everything’s good again, you know? It’s a process. A long process.” I nodded. The sounds of Spring and the waking residents of Ponyville reestablished their hold of the open air. I breathed in and let go the smell of growth and life and potential. “Did you really mean it?” She regarded me with those luminous, turquoise eyes. There was a nervous hope to her voice, one that took form in the slight peak of her brow and the tension in her jaw. “Mean what?” “You said you knew the good in me. And… You wanted to be a part of that.” I looked down at the railing. ’Twas polished to a shine and sparkled in the sunlight. “I would not have said it had I not meant it.” Another moment passed in silence. She rested her head against my shoulder. I laid my head atop hers, and my heart beat faster. I did not want this moment to end. “So what happens now?” Hers was a weak voice, bordering on fearful. She wanted to hear me say that everything would be better, that I would sweep her off her hooves and never put her down. But I knew better than to tease her with empty promises. “You must return to your world, as I must stay here in mine. You have friends there. You cannot abandon them.” She drew in a shaky breath. “I know. I just…” I brushed her mane out of her face and caressed her cheek. I could have remained here forever, but nothing gold can stay. “Come.” I rose for the door. “We must get you home.” The portal was still active when we arrived. ’Twas a melancholic weight in my chest at the sight of it. ’Twas inevitable she must leave, yet that did not lessen the feeling. She looked at me, and I at her. “Well,” she said. “I guess this is it.” “It is not the end, Sunset Shimmer.” I smirked at her. “That is, unless you decide to chase after any ‘cute movie leads’ whilst you are away.” She laughed. “Twilight told you about that? Heh. Uh, sorry but you’re too late there. I already have, like, three posters of him on my wall.” I smiled, and we shared another laugh. Our laughter died down, and she looked aside. I likewise found it difficult to summon the courage for a farewell. “Well,” she said. She raised a hoof for stepping. “I’ll see you.” “Farewell, Sunset Shimmer.” She stepped up to the portal, but stopped and looked down. She turned around and sprinted for me. Before I knew what was happening, she wrapped me in a hug. “You promise you’ll come see me?” she whispered into my chest. The tears soaked through my coat. I smiled and kissed her on the forehead. I cherished the smell of sunflowers and rainfall one last time. “As sure as the stars in the sky.” We held each other for what felt like eternity. But eternity was not long enough, and I let her pull away when she was ready. Tears shone in her eyes, but she wore the happiest smile I had ever seen. She stepped back—once, twice, then turned without looking away. She stepped through the portal, and the ripples calmed to a placid sheen. A faint yearning blossomed in my chest that she would come racing back. I waited minutes, could have waited days, but the portal remained smooth and unbroken. I let out a shaky sigh. ’Twas a bittersweet feeling, standing there alone. After all we endured, I felt surprisingly empty, like a piece of me had stepped through that portal with her. But I knew patience as I hadn’t before. The time would come for me to visit her, and she likewise. We would find a way. And I felt, for the first time in millennia, a glimmer of hope find purchase in my heart. “As sure as the stars in the sky,” I whispered. Author's Note Special thanks to Cold in Gardez for his help with this chapter. Compatī (Cohm - pah - tee) cum + pati, latin. ‘To suffer with.’ It is the origin of the word ‘compassion.’ Beyond sympathy—beyond empathy—it is to feel alongside another person, both the good and the bad, the joys and hurts of life and what comes with it. And I think that’s beautiful. As always, Onward and Upward!
