Chapters Early afternoon in the Everfree Forest was as it had been for millennia. The cool breeze whistled through the gnarled trunks of the trees, the smell of damp earth from the recent rainfall wafted through the brush, and the long grass was alive with the movement of unseen critters scuttling on their way, disturbed only by the sound of a single set of hooves and a gentle voice.
"We're not flawless," Princess Twilight Sparkle sang to herself as she trotted down the path to Zecora's hut. Despite the trouble publishing the journal had caused, it had brought about a renewed understanding of each other, and rereading the book brought about nostalgia that she welcomed. The alicorn began humming her way through the rest of her song when a rustling in the underbrush caught her attention. She stood to her full height, ears swiveling to and fro in an attempt to locate the sound.
The rustling stopped and was replaced by a moan of pain. Twilight immediately broke into a gallop, veering off the path and into the depths of the forest. "Hello? Are you alright?" she called out as she approached the source of the sound.
Twilight rounded a tree and skidded to a halt before a Pegasus mare, ensnared in a bush. Twigs stuck out from her pink and white mane and tail, the bows tied in each torn to shreds. Her pale olive coat was matted with leaves and scratches from what had clearly been a violent crash landing. Her left wing was bent and held at an awkward angle, clearly broken. She looked up at Twilight with a dazed look.
"Wha' happened?" She murmured groggily. "Where am I?"
"That crash must have been a doozy," Twilight said, helping the mare stand and strip herself of the twigs and leaves. "I'll help you back to town. I'm Twilight, by the way. What's your name?"
The Pegasus opened her mouth to answer, then closed it, a confused look spreading over her face as her vermillion eyes roved back and forth.
"I don't remember," she whispered, some panic showing through. "I can't remember, I don't..." She fluffed her good wing and Twilight got a clear look at the mare's flank, where the cutie mark was.
Or should have been, rather. A round, ragged scorch mark covered the area on both flanks. At first, she thought this was the mare's cutie mark, till she saw the reddened flesh and shriveled fur. Twilight sucked in a breath with a sympathetic hiss.
"Let's get you out of here," the Princess declared, unfurling a wing and draping it over the Pegasus, whose confusion was turning to panic and fear. "I'm sure we can get to the bottom of this, but you need that wing patched up first. My friend Fluttershy's cottage isn't far from here."
As they walked, Twilight remembered an entry on amnesia from her studies and how it could be caused by physical or emotional trauma. It could be temporary or semi-permanent depending on the method of induction and severity. She hoped that this was only a simple case of emotional repression and not physical trauma.
But she had never heard of a case where the pony's cutie mark would vanish as well. Sure, there were ways to disguise a cutie mark, and she herself had had her own tampered with twice, but she couldn't fathom how this particular one had been removed.
The Pegasus walking alongside her was silent, but as they passed out of the forest and into the sunlight, Twilight saw that she was crying, tears streaming across her face.
Questions instead of Answers
Fluttershy was whispering soothing words to the other Pegasus as she applied a salve of herbs to the wing to numb some of the pain, while her marefriend Sunset Shimmer splinted it.
"This is broken rather badly," Sunset said, turning to glance at Twilight. "We should get her to the hospital so it can be set and heal properly. I can only do so much."
The alicorn nodded, scanning the olive Pegasus' eyes for any sign that she had come out of the catatonic state she had seemingly sunken into. Since arriving at Fluttershy's cottage, she had accepted water and a small bit of food, but didn't respond to any questions or other words spoken to her. It was as though she had lost any of her sensibilities.
"What happened to her, do you think?" the lavender mare whispered, more to herself than either of the other ponies present.
Fluttershy shrugged. "The memory problems could come from the crash," she said in her sweet, demure voice. "We've seen Dash have some blank spaces after a few of her wipe outs."
Sunset's magic receded from the rough splint. "I don't think a crash could erase a cutie mark like this though," she said. "Starlight might know more, but it's also probably a sore subject to bring up."
Twilight bit her bottom lip, replaying the events of the last several hours. The Pegasus looked as though she had crashed, but the lack of hearing said crash made her wonder how long she had lain there before coming to. There could be more serious injuries than the broken wing.
"Sunset, can you get her to the hospital and have her checked out?" she asked. "I want to go examine the crash site and see if I can find out what might have caused it."
Fluttershy lifted her head with a questioning glance.
"You can come too," Twilight said. "But tonight is the full moon, so you shouldn't be out too long until we know how hard the curse is going to affect you."
Fluttershy shrank into her mane slightly, ears folding back. She had never truly recovered from the side effect of the spell Twilight had cast on the vampire fruit bats that had infested Applejack's farm a year past, and it manifested from time to time on full moons, with varying degrees of intensity.
"I don't think it will take too long," the Pegasus protested. "Any weather-related causes would have disappeared by now, and she's not that large, even for a Pegasus."
Twilight glanced over at the motionless mare, then nodded. "We'll make it quick," she decided. "One pass, then we're back here." Sunset leant over to nuzzle her marefriend, then lifted her charge in her magical grip and left the cottage.
Fluttershy nodded, and the two trotted out the front door, and took to the air.
Back at the crash site, the Pegasus and alicorn hovered above the forest canopy to determine the angle of the injured mare's crash.
"This makes no sense," Fluttershy said as she touched a broken branch. "The angle of this fall, she would have had to... I don't even want to think about it."
"Fallen straight down," Twilight finished. "She was unconscious or possibly not in control as she fell."
"And her cutie mark, that wasn't a burn that lightning would leave," the butter yellow mare murmured. "What could cause something like that?"
Twilight shook her head as she landed next to the bush the mystery pony had crashed onto. A quick search turned up a series of broken bangles and a few scraps of cloth from the bows she had had in her mane and tail.
"I don't know, 'Shy," she admitted. "She's a blank slate right now, and it seems that we only keep finding more mysteries."
Author's Note
For more on Fluttershy's curse, see Eventide .
Twilight let out a slightly frustrated breath as she rotated the bangles under the mage-light, viewing them from every conceivable angle.
Rarity took the delicate bracelet up in her cornflower aura and inspected it slowly. "This is a marvelous piece," she declared. "I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out to be an heirloom of some sort." She indicated a pair of markings on the inner surface. "These are the marks of Proudhoof, a rather gifted silversmith from fifty years ago. Few of his works ever leave family possession."
"Is there a way to cross-reference his sales to families?" the alicorn perked up.
"Sadly, no," the fashionista replied. "I tried to acquire some of his works myself, but it seems he only did something of this sort for friends and family. His normal craft was in cutlery and other dining ware."
Twilight shut her eyes, rubbing her temples. "So in other words," she sighed. "These provide interesting, but useless information."
"I wouldn't say that, darling," Rarity drawled, carefully fitting the broken ends together and starting to mend them. "I'm sure that our dear friend would love to know that we recovered her missing effects. Maybe they will even help with her recovery."
"On that front," Starlight said as she entered the study. "I just checked in on her, and the doctors have a basic diagnosis. They say she's suffering from mild dehydration and a moderate concussion, in addition to the broken wing and some bruised ribs. She's still catatonic, though, and I may know why. The burns on her flanks are mantic in origin. Somepony forcibly removed her cutie mark." She glanced down as a wash of guilt crossed her features.
"Could whatever spell was cast have caused her to lose consciousness?" Twilight asked. "From what Fluttershy and I gathered, she fell nearly vertically from a height of three or four hundred yards. I can't picture her doing that willingly."
"Unless she wanted to... end things," Starlight whispered. "I know it's not a pleasant thought, but it could be a possibility."
"I won't consider that until we have more information," Twilight said, shuddering at the image of the Pegasus mare hovering, and then folding her wings willingly. "In the meantime, we should really come up with something to call her until her memory returns. We can't keep calling her 'The Mare', after all."
Rarity tilted her head in thought as she set the last bangle down, the silver bracelet gleaming dully. "What should it be, though?" she asked. "We know nothing of her, other than she has a rather interesting coloration."
"I'm drawing a blank too," Starlight said. After a moment, she grinned sheepishly. "After all, I did name the village I started 'Our Town'."
Twilight pondered for a moment. It seemed like every time they had some sort of information to help the mare, they wound up wiping the slate clean again.
"Blank Slate," she whispered, a little louder than she thought.
"Seems a little ignominious, don't you think?" Rarity said. "After all, just calling her name would remind her of what she lost."
"Tabula Rasa," Starlight said. "Old Equish for basically the same thing. At least that way, it doesn't immediately remind her."
"Unless one of the other girls has a better idea, I think that will work," Twilight said. "I'm going to go check up on her, see if I can at least bring her out of this comatose state."
"How do you plan on doing that?" Rarity asked.
"Remember how we helped Princess Luna stop the Tantabus?" the alicorn said, stepping out onto the balcony and spreading her wings.
"I'd say she might be willing to lend a hoof
"I am not entirely certain that what you propose will work, Twilight," Luna said as the two walked through the halls of the Tower of Duty. "Dreamwalking is an imprecise art, as you learned while combating the Tantabus. And if she is merely catatonic, her mind may not lapse to sleep in such a way for her to create a dreamscape."
"I know," the lavender alicorn said. "But I'm no closer to finding answers than I was when we found her. Something horrible happened to her, and I want to find out what it was and make it right, especially if somepony is out there ripping cutie marks from other ponies. We have a duty to the citizens of Equestria to protect them, do we not?"
The midnight mare closed her eyes and sighed as she opened the doors to the balcony of the Tower. Celestia stood there, her horn shimmering with golden light as she lowered the sun.
"Sister," Luna said with a dip of her head. When it rose again, her midnight blue aura flared into being and the moon slowly rose into the night sky.
Celestia turned to her sister and gave her a brief nuzzle before noticing Twilight. "Twilight! I didn't know you were coming to visit."
"I had something to discuss with Princess Luna and I knew it would go faster face to face," Twilight said. "I should have at least told you about it. The visit. I'm sorry I didn't."
"Don't worry, my little pony," the alabaster alicorn said. "We all have concerns that can outweigh our minds. Please, while Luna finishes creating the night sky, won't you please fill me in?"
"This is indeed grave news," Celestia said as she lowered her teacup. Luna sat beside her at the table as Twilight finished the recounting of her finding of Tabula and her sinking into distress and catatonia. "I can organize a discreet investigation for a missing Pegasus matching her description, but it will be slow, given just how vast Equestria is."
"Thank you, Princess," Twilight said, bowing her head slightly.
"Please, we are in private," Luna said, lifting her cup and taking a sip. "I at least would prefer not to be called by my title by a friend outside of official duties."
Celestia nodded. "I notice that you don't refer to Cadence by her title, either," she said. "Is it so difficult for you to see us as ordinary ponies?"
Twilight waved her hooves in front of her. "No no," she said. "Just years of habit. It's hard to break free of the traditional forms of address. Cadence was my foalsitter before I even knew she was a princess, let alone destined to be the Empress of the Crystal Empire."
Luna closed her eyes for a moment, a faint sheen covering her horn. Opening her eyes, she looked to Twilight.
"The first dreamers are starting to enter the Dreamscape," she said. "Lead me to our troubled mare."
"Of course," Twilight said, moving to give Celestia a quick hug before trotting onto the balcony with Luna and making their way to Ponyville.
Luna glanced at her companion as they flew.
"This spell you have described should allow us to see her innermost thoughts," she said over the sound of the wind. "But be forewarned, dreams are the domain of subconscious fears, and they can be most dangerous to the unprepared."
Twilight nodded as they landed in front of the hospital and entered. "I'm aware," she said. "That's why I wanted you with me." She saw Starlight and Sunset standing outside Tabula's door. "Do you have everything?" she asked.
Sunset held out a crystal pendant. "I'm not sure this is a good idea, Twilight," she said. "Gem shielding is a new enough branch of magic as it is, but to combine it with dream magic?"
"I agree with Sunset," Starlight said. "I know you plan on using it as a tether, but you could at least test the theory first on one of us."
Twilight hesitated for a moment. She had checked, double checked and triple checked the calculations, and they had come out the same each time. This was safe on the theoretical level, but she had seen theory trumped by reality before.
She opened her mouth to speak when a whimpering moan came from Tabula's room. Luna's horn glowed for a moment. "She slumbers, but fitfully," she said. "She may form a nightmare if this continues, and that would be the easiest time to enter her Dreamscape."
Twilight took the pendant. "We may not get another chance," she murmured. She glanced at Sunset. "How's Fluttershy?"
Sunset shrugged. "Little more amorous than normal, but in control of her faculties," she answered. "I think the effects will be fairly mild this time around."
Twilight glanced down for a moment. "Let her know that I'll keep looking into a way to reverse the spell," she said, a flash of guilt flaring in her mind. "I think I have some ideas that might work this time."
She pushed the door open and saw the olive Pegasus laying in the bed, her wing splinted and bandages on several areas of her body. Her eyes were closed, and she seemed to be sleeping, a frown on her features. Twilight slipped the pendant onto the sleeping mare's neck and glanced at Luna, her horn starting to glimmer with power.
"Ready when you are," she said.
Twilight closed her eyes as she felt Luna begin casting the Dreamwalk spell. Grabbing hold of the fabric of the spell, she wove it into the crystal hanging from the sleeping pegasus' neck. As she tied the anchor point off, she also began to slip her own psychic link alongside the silvery thread of dream magic. She took a deep breath and began to ease more of her awareness into the link...
And opened her eyes to a long cloudscape next to Luna. She looked around and spotted Tabula sitting on the cloud, gazing longingly at other clouds as they drifted along.
"I wish it was as easy as that," Tabula said. "You just get to drift along, not having to worry about anypony judging you, asking you questions about your past." Her wings shifted uneasily.
The sky started to darken, storm clouds rolling in with a rumble of thunder.
"It's always this way, I suppose," continued the Pegasus. "Never thought I'd end up like this, though." She rose, and Twilight could see a hazy shape on her flanks, the pattern almost recognizable but blurred.
"Is there any way to see the cutie mark more clearly?" Twilight asked.
Luna closed her eyes and her horn lit briefly. "Not at this point in the dream," she said. "It is still somewhat blocked by the trauma that affects her in the waking world. We will not discover any information that way."
"Can you make it so I can speak with her?" Twilight inquired as she stepped forward, feeling the slightly springy cloud beneath her hooves. "Maybe I can jog her memory here."
Luna looked doubtful. "I am not sure I can do such through the breakwater of the amulet you placed upon her, but I shall try."
Her horn lit, and the cloud began to feel more solid to the lavender pony. She walked up to Tabula slowly.
"Hello," she said. "Do you remember me? I found you in the forest earlier today."
Tabula glanced at her, her eyes showing no emotion. "Yes," she said with a sigh. "Thank you for getting me help, by the way."
"You're welcome," Twilight said. "Do you remember anything else? A name? Where your home is?"
Tabula shook her head. "Everything is foggy here," she said, pointing at her head with a hoof. "But I remember emotions. I was sad, and often scared. I remember soaring with the clouds, and sunny days perking me up, but I don't know why I was sad, or why the sun made me happy."
She shook her head violently, mane flying about. "I want to remember," she whispered. "But I'm scared of what I might find."
"Why are you scared?" Twilight asked. "Nothing you've done is worth being ashamed of."
"Can you say the same of your past, Princess?" the Pegasus asked sincerely. "That there is nothing in your past that you aren't willing to relive, somethings that you wish you didn't have to remember?"
The dreamscape shuddered violently, and suddenly they were standing before the Golden Oaks library.
"What in..." Twilight asked, just in time to see a bright flash on one of the balconies, seeing her slightly younger self step up to her telescope viewfinder.
"Luna, what's going on?" she asked.
"I'm not sure," the Princess of Dreams said, stepping into the view, horn glowing. "I cannot stop the image."
Twilight watched again as the home she had come to love was destroyed again, the pain stabbing her in the heart just a freshly as when it happened.
"Steel your mind, Twilight," Luna said. "Else the vision will repeat."
The young alicorn gathered her mental strength and managed to clear her mind, but instead of returning to the clouds, they were suddenly in the Castle of the Two Sisters.
"Oh, stars," Luna whispered. "I have relived this night enough times." She closed her eyes just before she and Celestia launched into battle again.
"We all have things we wish we could forget, Princess," Tabula said. "It just seems I overdid it, whatever I did." She glanced at her cutie mark. "And it must have been related to my special talent too. What a foal I was."
The dreamscape altered again, becoming full of fuzzy buildings and faceless ponies of indeterminate gender or tribe. Luna glanced around.
"It seems a spell caused this lapse of memory, not a trauma," she said. "We should withdraw and see what we can ascertain about it, and I have my duties to attend to."
Twilight nodded, putting a hoof on the forlorn Pegasus' shoulder. "We'll be there when you wake up," she murmured. "I promise."
Luna lit her horn, wings spreading slightly, only for her horn to fizzle out.
"How odd," she said, attempting again.
"What's wrong?" Twilight asked as the spell fizzled again.
Luna looked at her, worry in her eyes.
"I cannot sever the Dreamwalk," she said. "Something is interfering with my link to the greater weave of magic."
Twilight visibly paled.
"What does that mean?" she asked.
"It means that we are bound here until our host wakes and this dreamscape is destroyed," the midnight alicorn said.
"How long will that be?" asked Tabula, clearly aware of their continued presence.
"It is difficult to say," Luna said. "Catatonic patients often have erratic sleep, not to mention that time is fluid in dreams. It could be a few minutes or days to our perception." She glanced at Twilight.
"You wished for time to speak with her," she said wryly. "It seems you have gained your wish."
Twilight sat down on the cloud and took several deep breaths. Rapidly.
In fact, near to a panic as she came to the verge of hyperventilating.
"Twilight," Luna said. "You must breathe slowly. In, then out, then in again."
At the soothing words of the elder Alicorn, Twilight starting doing the exercises that Cadence had shown her, bringing her hoof to her chest then pushing it away as though shoving her anxieties from her presence. It worked and she slowly came back to rational thought.
"What are we going to do?" she moaned. "I don't know how to signal them to wake our physical bodies up! Why didn't I test this theory sooner?"
"You were worried for me," Tabula said. "Which I appreciate, don't get me wrong. But how are you supposed to help me from inside my own dream?"
Luna ruffled her wings. "Because you are now aware of the dream, you can also command it," she said. "Lucid dreams, such as what we have just created, can be shaped by the will of the dreamer. Perhaps while we await the time of your awakening, we can search for the answers that you seek."
"How am I supposed to summon up memories that are dim?" she asked.
"We go from here back," Twilight said. "The events are still in your mind, just locked behind some sort of arcane barrier. I'm sure if we trace the mantic residue from the spell we can follow it to it's casting." She closed her eyes for a second and her horn lit up, the lilac glow shifting and rippling along the spire's length. She turned slightly to each side before she sighed and her horn went out. "I can't localize the spell. It's everywhere it seems."
Tabula gave her a flat look. "You're inside my mind, Princess," she deadpanned. "Of course it's everywhere. I can't remember anything before you pulling me from that bush."
Twilight ducked her head sheepishly, giggling nervously. "Right,"
Luna sat down. "Perhaps it would be best to see what we can ascertain from what you do remember," she suggested. "You remember being freed from the bush, but what of just before that?"
Tabula laid down on the cloud surface. "I think...I think I remember falling," she said. "But it's almost as though I was dreaming, like when you go to take a step in a dream and you wake up when you take a real step." The Pegasus screwed up her face. "Before that, I think I was reading...something. I-I can't remember. Why can't I remember?"
The sky started turning black again, and a flash of lightning split the sky. "Calm yourself," Luna said, reaching out to place a hoof on the pony's shoulder.
Tabula swatted it away. "Easy for you to say," she snarled as thunder cracked. "You aren't worried about who you are or where you came from. Everything you've ever done is still there in your mind."
Luna rose to her full height, wings spreading as another bolt of lightning backlit her, momentarily giving Twilight a flash of Nightmare Moon.
"Take care of how you speak, youngling!" she said imperiously. "While my memories may be as fresh as the day they were made there are many that I would gladly give up if it meant that the trouble caused would be erased. Lest you forget, I am now the Princess Luna, but once I was Nightmare Moon! I was banished by my own sister to the moon to endure a millennia of exile for the crimes I perpetuated."
Tabula shrank down slightly, the booming voice of Luna echoing in the dreamscape. She drew in her wings and gestured at Twilight.
"Were it not for this mare, I would not be standing before you today," she continued. "She risked all to combat the Nightmare and won out, she and her friends. I am proud to call myself amongst them, and she would risk even the darkest reaches of your mind if it meant finding your lost past."
She looked at Twilight, a small smile forming. "Trust in her, as I did one Nightmare Night many moons ago." There was something in her eyes that Twilight could not place, but the warm glow her words lit made her smile back.
The skies lightened but remained overcast and gray as Tabula bowed her head. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "It's just so frightening, not knowing who you are. I have this huge gaping hole in my thoughts, sometimes, where I know something important was there but it's like it was ripped away."
She looked back up at the sky as the clouds broke apart and drifted on the wind again.
"It's like I don't want to remember sometimes," she mumbled. "Like I might find something I wished I hadn't."
"We really should have stayed in one place," Twilight griped as they stumbled through a thickly overgrown jungle landscape. "I can't tell if we've been going in circles or not."
"We may well be," Luna said. "This morass is of a mental nature, and with each step, it gets more tangled. The only one capable of moving through it effortlessly is our companion."
Tabula glanced back, the vines and thornbushes that tore at the two princesses peeling away as she walked.
"You keep calling this a morass," the Pegasus said. "But all I see are trees and flower bushes."
"Dreams are oft subtle," Luna said, using her magic to pull a briar-lined vine from her path. "And each sees the symbolism differently. Tell me, how much light is in your forest?"
Tabula glanced around. "Not much," she said. "It's not dark like the Everfree was, but it's not bright and sunny, either." She looked around. "I think I've passed that log already today."
As the Alicorns came up to her, Luna marked the trunk with her magic, the rotten and vine-covered wood now bearing the mark of a crescent moon.
"Now we may know if we travel around aimlessly," she spoke. "Though if you are truly searching for yourself, I suppose there is no wrong direction."
"That might even help," Twilight said, perking up a little. "I read that in dreams, wandering a forest could be representative of being confused. Which way should we go?"
Tabula frowned and glanced around. "That way," she pointed.
The trio trudged on for a few minutes before Luna called a halt.
"We should rest here, for now," she said, pushing brush aside and settling onto the ground. "We should conserve our strength when we can. You, especially, Twilight."
"Why?" the confused Alicorn asked.
"'Tis your spell that keeps us here and not drifting about the endless lands of the Dreamscape," the Princess of Dreams said. "Though you feel nothing, your mind is subconsciously keeping us linked. Should your will falter through fatigue, we may be lost in more than one mare's mind."
Twilight plopped onto the ground immediately.
A few hours later, a small voice spoke out in the darkness.
"Luna?" Twilight whispered.
"Yes, Twilight?"
The lilac pony fidgeted a bit before speaking again. "I'm sorry I got us trapped in here. I know you had your own duties to perform, and I'm interfering with them. This is all my fault."
Luna reached over a placed a hoof on the younger princess. "Twilight," she said gently. "I may not be as good with words as my sister, yet were she here she would say not to blame thyself. What you did was out of a desire to help one pony anyway you could. That is a noble effort, and one I can appreciate better than you can understand."
Twilight bit her lower lip. "But I could be more careful," she whispered. "You'd think that by now I'd have figured out how to not race headlong into trouble."
"I remember a mare," Luna said. "Dressed in the most accurate costume I had ever seen show me what the boundaries of friendship could accomplish, and how sometimes admitting your mistakes and forgiving yourself are better than holding onto the guilt." She glanced away for a moment, her cheeks coloring. "I have thought often of that night you freed me from the Nightmare and returned me to my sister. I have never truly thanked you."
"You don't have to," Twilight said. "I'm sure you'd do the same for me if I ever needed it."
"Let us hope that you do not," Luna said with a grin. "We may not be able to defeat you should you befall the same fate as I. I feel that should that happen, my heart would surely break."
"I wouldn't worry," Twilight replied, smiling. "Between the girls and you, Celestia, and Cadence, I'm sure you'll keep me on the right path."
"That isn't the whole of my problem," Luna said. "I think that..."
"This way," Tabula suddenly said, leaping to her hooves and racing off. "I can smell water!"
"Wait!" Twilight shouted, struggling to her hooves and following.
Luna rose, her head hanging for a moment.
"I think I love you, Twilight Sparkle," she whispered as she followed behind the other two mares.
The stonework was ancient and crumbling, moss growing on the exposed surfaces. A burnt and shattered roof hung over the top of the structure and a large stone capped its opening. It was scribed with strange runes and glyphs, and there was a partially melted spot in the middle.
"What is this?" Tabula asked.
"In dreams, wells often represent your unconscious," Twilight said. "Maybe this is why you can't remember certain things?"
Luna tested the stone. "It is rather tightly sealed," she said, lighting her horn. "And seems to be merged with the stones of the well as well."
Tabula stepped forward and touched her hoof to the melted stone, her gaze going distant for a moment. "My cutie mark was here," she whispered.
"You remember what it was?" Twilight asked swiftly, excitement in her eyes.
Tabula closed her eyes, concentrating. "No," she said after a moment. "It's hazy and indistinct. Maybe a cloud? Argh!" She whirled away, exasperated. "That's a revelation, innit?" she growled. "A Pegasus with a cutie mark that's cloud related!"
Twilight patted the air between them as the sky started turning gray again. "Breathe, Tab," she said. "Breathe."
The Pegasus took a deep breath and sighed. She gazed at the stone, a mournful look on her face. "All I want," she whispered. "Is to know who I am. Is that too much to ask?"
Luna traced her hoof across the runes and drew back her hoof with a hiss of sucked in air. "This is a memory hex," she spat. "Deceptive dark magic designed to rewrite the memories. It is usually part of a bid for control. It was outlawed generations ago."
"But doesn't it require a willing recipient?" Twilight asked.
Luna shook her head. "That is part of the deception," she said. "Once they are under the initial spell, any other memories can be re-written for the purposes of the magus."
"Then why don't I have any memories, if this is meant to re-write them?" Tabula asked.
"I don't know," Luna said. "Some of these runes are marred, as though not written correctly. It's possible the spell was improperly performed or interrupted."
"You did fall from a good height," Twilight said. "And some Pegasus do slip through clouds in a moment of distraction. Maybe you fell out of reach of the spell while under a trance?"
"Then wouldn't whoever it is have followed me to finish it?"
"The Ever Free forest is still regarded as dangerous by many," Luna said. "They may have given you up as lost once you breached the upper canopy."
"One thing, though," Twilight said. "Very few Unicorns know the cloud walking charm, and I can name half of them. And it's rare for a Pegasus to be able to cast a high-level hex like this. I doubt I could even cast it."
Luna smiled softly to herself. "There is little that I believe beyond your capabilities, Twilight," she said. "But your heart does not possess the darkness needed to power this spell."
"If we could remove this," Tabula said as she pushed on the stone a little. "Would my memories come back?"
"It is uncertain," Luna said. "You may regain some, or not. I do not understand truly how the spell works on existing memories, if it supresses them or erases them. I also am unfamiliar with any stories of this spell erasing a cutie mark."
She stared hard at the stone. "But I believe we are at the crux of the problem."
Twilight charged her horn and blasted the stone that capped the well in front of them. The stone shuddered a little, but that was about all that happened. She grunted and kept her attack up.
"Twilight," Tabula said. "I think I see something."
The strain was incredible, but she kept pushing until she felt a wing slide over her shoulders.
"That is enough for now, Twilight," Luna said. "You must conserve your strength."
"The stone," Tabula said.
The two Alicorns walked up, and where there had once been a charred spot there was now a faint impression of a cutie mark.
"It's definitely a cloud," Twilight said. "And some sort of line? Lightning, maybe?"
"No," Luna said. "It is too straight to be a lightning bolt. The detail is too slight to be sure of what it is at this point."
Tabula gazed at it for a long moment, the silence dragging on.
"Are you ok?" Twilight asked.
The olive Pegasus shrugged. "I suppose," she said. "There's progress. Maybe in time, I can at least figure out my cutie mark before I wake up."
The Princess of Friendship nodded. "And if we have that, we can find out what your talent is," she said excitedly. "I happen to know a few fillies that are experts in cutie mark meanings."
Tabula smirked. "They get theirs in cutie mark analysis?"
"Something like that," Luna laughed.
Tabula kept staring at the stone. "Those runes seem familiar..."
"Several are still in use today, though slightly altered," Luna said. "They are variants of Old Ponish, and few today know how to speak them."
"Lustru iktos norsko ith skortás, " Tabula said slowly. "Norsko ith aichiun deskar. "
Twilight and Luna stared at her.
"You can read Old Ponish?" Twilight gaped.
"Just these," she said, reaching up to touch the runes. "For some reason..."
As soon as her hoof touched the rune, her eyes flew open and began to glow with an inner white radiance. The dreamscape suddenly swirled to show a sprawling cloud bank where Tabula stood, her cutie mark still obscured taking a scroll from another Pegasus who was cloaked in shadows. Tabula then opened the scroll.
Walking up behind her, Twilight looked over her shoulder. The scroll contained the same runes from the stone, as well as some obscured other
"This is it," Tabula said. "The end to all things."
And she began reading the scroll, the obscured letters coming out as silence.
And black light began to coalesce around her before she started thrashing around and screamed.
"Stars above," Twilight gasped. "She did it to herself."
"What happened to her that she would willingly forsake her life as such?" Luna asked.
The image of Tabula shook as a bolt of green lightning took the cutie marks from her flanks. As the dark cloud vanished, the Pegasus stumbled, then fell over the edge of the cloud.
"One part of the mystery is solved," Luna said as the dreamscape faded back to the well. "Maybe this will uncover some memories."
Twilight turned towards Tabula, but her face paled as she saw the Pegasus.
She was collapsed by the well, barely breathing.
"Maker," Luna gasped, rushing over. She touched her horn to the body, and sighed in relief.
"She yet lives, but the trauma of reliving the effects of the spell has left her weak," The Princess of Dreams turned to Twilight. "I am unsure of how long until she awakes."
Twilight nervously looked around. "What will happen to the dreamscape until then?"
A low growl sounded in the bushes, ominous and threatening.
Luna stood, her wings spreading and horn flaring to light.
"We are about to find out," she said grimly.
The brush began to rustle as the two Alicorns took up positions on either side of the unconscious Pegasus.Twilight swiveled her head to and fro, trying to track the sound, but it seemed to be coming from all around her. She felt Luna shift and glanced at her, eyes widening at her appearance.
The Princess of the Night had grown slightly in size, her mane and tail taking on the appearance of black voids. Her horn was ablaze with her aura and her front hooves dug into the ground, small tendrils of blue-white energy crawling up her forelegs.
“Luna?” Twilight whispered.
“Stay near to the mare, Twilight,” Luna spoke, her voice echoing slightly. “This is my realm, and within which I fear little. Ward our charge should aught pass me by.”
The brush directly ahead of the midnight mare burst open, revealing a misshapen form, it’s leonine face snarling as it stalked forward, oxen body born on six stubby, clawed ursine paws. A gleaming carapace covered its back as a dripping stinger waved back and forth over it on a segmented tail. As it squared off against the older princess, it roared in challenge and Luna shifted her stance slightly.
“A tarrasque,” she muttered. “Lovely.”
“What is it?” Twilight asked. Her mind raced as she tried to recall anything she had ever heard resembling this creature, but she came up dry.
“A creature that wanders the Dreamscape and eats the essence of fear left in a nightmare’s wake,” Luna replied. “For it to have entered a dream that still plays, the fear in our charge’s mind must be far more than she has let on.”
Another tarrasque stepped out of the brush, slightly to one side of the first and somewhat smaller. The brush continued to rustle as the clearing around the well slowly filled with a low growling and snapping brush.
“A pack,” Luna said, worry starting to show on her face. “This is bad.”
Sunset’s horn dimmed, her face taking on a worried look.
“Their heart rates just shot through the roof,” she said, turning to Fluttershy and Starlight. “I don’t know what’s going on in there, but it can’t be good.”
“Sever the link, then!” Starlight said. “Pull them out of the dream!”
“I can’t,” Sunset said. “Twilight’s magic has fused her with Luna’s Dreamwalk spell, and as strong as you and I are, we can’t break the power from two Alicorns in their elements.”
Fluttershy stepped forward, her eyes turning slightly red in the shadows as she shifted her membranous wings.
“Let me try,” she whispered, her voice stronger and deeper than normal. “Open Twilight’s eyes, please.”
Sunset shook her head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, love,” she said slowly. “You could get pulled in instead of pulling her out.”
“I’m willing to try,” the shifted Pegasus said, moving slowly around to settle in the front of Twilight’s stiff body. “She’s our friend, and she’s risked a lot for us before.”
Sunset sighed, lighting her horn to gently spread the closed lids of the younger Alicorn.
Fluttershy raised her gaze to meet the glassy orbs in front of her and let out a deep breath before her eyes turned hard.
“Twilight,” she sing-songed. “Oh, Twilight…”
As she blasted one of the tarrasques back, she turned to step back over Tabula. Luna had conjured a shield built of magic and was managing to ward them against the brunt of the assault. She went to step forward and cover Luna’s left flank when suddenly she froze in place, unable to move.
Twilight… a voice sang in her ears.
“No,” she gritted, fighting against the thrumming stream of magic trying to pull her into obedience. “Not now, Fluttershy, please not now!”
She forced her body forward, the process agonizingly slow, and she cried out as a stinger flashed out and buried itself into the unprotected side of the Princess of the Night.
“NO!” she bellowed, her magic flaring out and blasting the landscape apart, the small space around the well floating in the black void as their attackers fell into the abyss.
A bright flash of light washed through the room, hurling Fluttershy back and into one of the hospital ward’s walls, her cursed form dissipating momentarily. Her vampiric look came back as she struggled to her hooves, an amazed cast to her features.
“She rejected me,” she whispered in surprise. She then saw that the two Unicorns were gathered around Luna.
“What happened?” she asked as she came up, seeing the perspiring coat and pained breathing coming from the elder Alicorn.
“I don’t know,” Starlight said, bringing over some spare blankets. “But she’s burning up and going into something like shock.”
Fluttershy nosed the princess, sniffing deeply. She raised her head and frowned. “This smells like a manticore sting, but she’s no wounds.”
“What in Equestria is going on in there?” Sunset asked, looking at the gleaming gem resting on the throat of the comatose Pegasus.
“Luna,” Twilight whispered, nudging the mare with her hoof. “Luna, can you move?”
The Lunar Diarch groaned and attempted to stand, only to fall back, a gasp of pain sliding from her mouth.
“The poison is not bad,” she said. “It cannot affect my astral form, but the wound itself may fester. We must find a way to clean and bind it until I recover enough mana to heal it myself.”
Twilight looked around. “I don’t see anything I can use!”
“Twilight,” Luna said calmly, despite the pain and sweat evident on her face. “You are one of the most resourceful and gifted of my sister’s students. If anypony can conjure up a bandage, you can.” She opened her mouth to say more, but her eyes rolled back in her head as she slipped from consciousness.
“Luna!” Twilight shouted, then started scanning the area, whispering to herself.
“Basic laws of transmutation require like for like,” she muttered. “Linen can be made from plant fibers, so…”
Her horn lit up as she transformed one of the surviving bushes into a roll of clean bandages. Bringing them over to her, she scanned around for other materials.
“Loose stone,” she whispered, eyeing the floating debris from her explosion of magic. One of the stones shifted slightly as her aura surrounded it. “I can make this into a basin to hold water. But where am I going to get water?”
Her eyes fell on the well.
“Oh, this just keeps getting worse and worse,” she muttered.
“What happened?” Tabula asked groggily as she started to sit up. Her eyes fell on the Princess of the Night. “Princess Luna! Is she ok?”
“We were attacked by some dreamscape beasts while you were unconscious,” Twilight said, running some figures in her head. “I need water to clean her wound, and the well is the only place.”
“But we can’t move the stone,” Tabula replied. “We tried.”
“No, we can’t,” The Element of Magic said, standing as her horn started to blaze with light. “But I can teleport some of the masonry, maybe.”
She looked at the Pegasus. “But I don’t know what sort of effect it will have on your memories if I do,” she said. “Disturbing the well could cause the stone to move or fall into the abyss around us. Maybe even shatter. There’s no guarantee that doing this to save Luna may not have an impact on you.”
Tabula Rasa looked at the well and the capstone that showed how her memories were bound away, then at the shivering Alicorn.
“Do it,” she said firmly.
Several of the bricks began to glow in the lavender aura and they shifted slightly before vanishing with a bright white flash. A silvery fog began to drift out, and Twilight immediately encapsulated it with her magic and brought it to the stone basin, the mist condensing against the smooth sides of the bowl. She teleported another brick out to increase the amount of water vapor she could access, but as she did, the well gave out a groaning sound. A greenish light began to emanate from the fissure, and it reached out to grab Tabula.
“Twilight,” she said. “Something’s happening.”
The Alicorn glanced over at the Pegasus in time for hazy lines to appear on her flank, forming a cloud and a series of diagonal lines hanging from the bottom of it.
“My cutie mark,” she said in awe. “I remember my cutie mark!”
“That’s wonderful!” Twilight said as she continued to bring out water vapor. “I’ll try and move some more stonework, see what else we can dredge up.”
But as she teleported another brick out, another groan sounded and the well began to buckle, held up only by the magic of Twilight.
“Focus on the Princess,” Tabula said. “My past isn’t worth it if I wind up being the reason she dies.”
“I can hold it for a few more minutes,” she gritted. More fog floated out along with another tendril of green.
“I remember now,” Tabula said. “I did it, I used a memory charm on myself.” She shook her head. “I wanted to forget…to forget…something happened. Something about my family.”
Twilight gritted her teeth, the strain of trying to hold the well up becoming more present in her mind. She tried to replace the bricks she had removed, but the wall had shifted in such a way that they wouldn’t fit anymore. The capstone shifted and the well collapsed, the graven stone sealing the well as it crashed to the ground.
Tabula cried out, clutching at her head as the stone landed, tears welling in her eyes.
“It was my fault,” she whispered. “It was my fault.”
When Twilight stirred, she felt little better than when she had went to rest. She thought that if anywhere would provide a restful sleep, a dreamscape should be one. She groaned in disappointment when she realized she was laying on something warm and soft. She opened her eyes and saw that she was nestled up against Luna’s coat, the elder Alicorn’s wing draped over her.
“Welcome back,” Luna whispered.
Twilight sat up suddenly, her cheeks blushing red. “Sorry,” she babbled. “I just needed a little rest after the attack, and…”
The midnight wing slid over and laid across her lips. “You should be soft,” Luna warned, whispering still. “Our host slumbers yon.”
Twilight turned and saw Tabula asleep nearby, one leg kicking slightly in her rest.
“How long have you been awake?” Twilight whispered, turning back to Luna.
“It is difficult to judge time in a dreamscape,” the Princess of Dreams replied. “But I would venture no more than two hours. You slumbered over my withers, so I adjusted you to a more comfortable position. Am I to assume you did not rest well?”
Twilight nodded. “I feel as though I’ve been running for days.”
Luna sighed. “It is similar,” the Alicorn whispered. “While within a dreamscape, we cannot escape into our own dreams. To go for too long without dreaming, our minds will slowly shred against their own strain. Three days without dreaming will begin the onset.”
Twilight thought for a moment. “I think we’ve been inside for nearly a day,” she posited. “But I think we’re close to a breakthrough.” She glanced at the bandage around Luna’s side. “How is your wound?”
The Lunar Diarch stretched and shook her mane. “It does not pain me, though I will be weak for some time due to the poison that was within.”
Twilight sat up straight again. “Should I make a poultace?” she asked.
Luna patted the air between them. “Peace, Twilight,” she laughed. “My nature alone will bleed the venom from my body with time. You have no reason to fear for me. Though the explosion you caused after my being struck was truly impressive.”
Twilight blushed again. She wasn’t sure why simply talking to her mentor’s sister was causing these reactions. “I was worried about you,” she whispered shyly.
Luna’s eyes twinkled with merriment, and behind them, Tabula yawned.
“Are the two of you ok?” the Pegasus said sleepily.
“We seem to be ok for the moment,” Luna replied. “How are you now?”
“Tired of doubting myself,” she said. “I think its time to wake up and go forward. I can’t find out anymore trying to go backwards.”
“A fine plan,” Twilight said. “And I’ll be there to help in any way you need.”
“That’s good,” Tabula said, a slight blush rising to her face.
“Do you have any idea how to wake me up?”
Twilight thought for a moment. “I’m…I’m not entirely sure. I’m locked into a spell matrix that allows us to see inside this dream.”
Luna agreed. “My Dreamwalking is locked into this shared matrix as well,” the Alicorn said. “But I believe that by severing the spell, you may be able to awaken.”
Tabula looked at Twilight. “And will that get you two out?”
Twilight grinned sheepishly. “Maybe?” she guessed. “This was a fairly new spell, so I’m not sure how to sever it, but I have some ideas.”
“Okay then!” Tabula said, laying down and rest her head on her hooves. “See you on the other side?”
Twilight agreed, turning to Luna as the Pegasus closed her eyes, shifting to a slightly more comfortable position on the clouds.
“Cast your Dreamwalking spell,” the lavender mare said, stepping close. “I should be able to piggyback the dispelling charm along it to disconnect us from the crystal.”
Luna frowned for a moment, looking away for a moment. “I must ask,” she whispered. “Is there risk in this method?”
The lavender pony looked down for a moment as her ears pinned back. “Well….”
The Princess of the Night turned at her. “Be you not afraid to be honest with me, Twilight,” she said softly. “It could lead to unwanted consequences.” She looked away briefly. “I would know.”
Twilight swallowed. “There may be a risk of it just untethering us from her,” she admitted. “She’d be able to wake up, but we’d still be adrift in the Dreamscape.”
Luna nodded. “I understand,” she whispered. She was about to speak when a strange ululating howl split the air.
Twilight whipped her head around. “Tarrasques,” she whispered.
Luna’s horn lit with a flare.
“Might be best if we hurry,” she said.
“I agree,” Twilight said, her horn lighting as well.
Fluttershy was watching the comatose mares when the Pegasus sat up suddenly.
“You’re awake!” Fluttershy cried out, waking Sunset up as well. “Oh, that’s such good news!”
Tabula looked around groggily, then spied Twilight and Luna, still bound within their trances.
“Why aren't they awake?” she asked in a raspy voice before falling into a coughing fit.
Sunset’s horn lit, probing the crystal around the coughing mare’s neck. There was no change to it or the Alicorns, and she sighed. She released the medallion and she turned to speak to Fluttershy when a ringing sound carried forth from the crystal. It started to glow, shuddering as it spiderwebbed, then shattered, falling in dust to the blankets.
And as the glow faded, all ponies present watched with bated breath as a nurse entered the room. A minute passed with no noticeable change to the comatose princesses. The nurse moved forward to check vital signs when Luna let out a shuddering gasp, eyes flying open. Twilight followed a moment later. The two Alicorns collapsed, panting as Twilight started laughing.
“It worked,” Twilight giggled, leaning over and hugging Luna. The midnight Alicorn returned it with a surprised look on her face.
“It worked!”
The doctors had insisted that they all stay for observation, but Luna resisted, saying that she needed to patrol the dreams of those that slept. Eventually, the doctors won out, restricting her to scanning the Dreamscape and only intervening if needed.
Twilight didn’t sleep, turning over every misstep she had made in the construction of the spell. She couldn’t stop thinking about Luna standing between her and the tarrasques, taking the brunt of the attack on the guise that Twilight needed to maintain her strength and defend the Pegasus.
But in the aftermath of the attack, not only had she managed to destroy the dreamscape immediately around them, but transmuted various aspects of it as she tried to tend to the Alicorn. In theory, she shouldn’t have been able to if her magic had been so heavily tied to the crossover linking her into the dreamwalk as Luna had suggested.
She was protecting me, Twilight realized.
And that worried her. When she had touched Luna’s magic to pull them from the spell, she had a momentary flash of emotion from the elder princess. Worry, which she had expected. There had been a possibility of the spell not freeing them.
She also had detected determination, again, wholly expected given the circumstances.
But she had also felt love, which wasn’t expected.
It also made her look inside to see just how she felt. Twilight wasn’t exactly good with introspection when it came to feelings. They were fickle, inconsistent, and totally without a rational cause.She liked facts, science, research. They had firm rules that you could see and replicate.
The door opened, admitting the midnight pony. “Twilight Sparkle,” she began, a slight flush on her cheek. “I was wondering if I could speak with you.
Oh, ponyfeathers, Twilight thought, her mind spinning quickly.
“I feel that we should talk after the experience,” Luna continued without noticing the internal panic building in the lavender Alicorn’s face. “I feel we should clear the air between us.”
“What do you mean?” Twilight stammered.
“What you did was foolish,” the Princess of the Night said softly. “It was reckless and ill advised. If anypony else had suggested it, I would have rejected it outright.”
The midnight wings twitched. “And I should have done so with you,” she continued with a sigh. “But you have handled many seemingly impossible feats successfully before, so between your past and…other reasons, I agreed to go along with your plan.”
“Other reasons?” Twilight squeaked. “What other reasons?”
“Faith in a fellow Alicorn,” Luna said, lowering her eyes. "A fellow princess. Belief in the pony who had done what not even my sister Celestia had done.”
Teal eyes met purple, and Twilight felt surprise as she saw the admiration and anxiousness reflected there.
“And I may feel a little infatuated with you,” the Princess of Dreams whispered, turning away slightly. “It is a silly thing, and I know that you likely do not feel the same for me. But I feel that…”
“Luna,” Twilight whispered.
“I just felt you should know,” Luna said before turning to leave.
“Luna, wait,” Twilight said, holding out a hoof.
But the other princess teleported away without looking back.
And Twilight slumped back in her bed, more confused then ever.
She saw Tabula sitting in the fields just outside the castle, staring at the clouds drifting by, her posture a lot more relaxed than Twilight recalled seeing previously.
“You look better,” she said as she sat next to the Pegasus.
“I suppose,” the olive pony whispered. She had a small smile on her face as she fluttered her wings. The burns on her flanks were healing, and beneath the lines of her cutie mark was starting to show again. The fluffy cloud with dashed lines underneath was faint, but it was still there.
“I still don’t remember a lot,” she admitted. “I don’t know why I wanted to erase my memory, and some things are just hazy.”
“We could try to reverse the spell,” Twilight suggested, turning her gaze to the clouds as well. “I’m coming real close to reversing a spell on my friend Fluttershy that went awry. We could use it on your memory hex.”
“That’s a really kind offer, Princess,” she said. “But I think I’ll be turning it down.”
“Why?”
“Whoever I was,” she said, closing her eyes. “She had a reason to want to forget everything. To start over again. She made mistakes and maybe one day those reasons will find their way to me. And if they don’t, that’s ok. I’m here now, and I’m going to see who I turn out to be.”
“And if you never remember anything else?” Twilight asked. “If you can’t find answers?”
“Then I’ll decide when that day comes,” Tabula said. “I can’t sit around waiting for something to tell me who I am.” She glanced over. “How are you doing?”
“A little sore,” Twilight said. “Borderline mana burnout. I’m supposed to take it easy for a few days.”
“And Princess Luna?”
“I…” Twilight hesitated. “I’m not sure. I haven’t seen her since we left the Dreamscape. I’m sure she is just busy with her duties.”
“So you two don’t see each other very often?” Tabula frowned. “I didn’t get that impression from you.”
“What?”
The Pegasus shrugged. “I thought you two were closer than that. Certainly seemed that way.”
“Tabula,” Twilight stammered.
“Serene,” the olive pony said.
“What?”
“My name,” the Pegasus said. “It’s Serene Showers. That much I remember. And they way the two of you swapped looks sometimes, you’d think you two were an item.”
“Serene,” Twilight sputtered. “We don’t have a relationship like that.”
Serene turned her vermillion eyes on the Alicorn. “You don’t sound so sure,” she said as she stood. “Maybe you should figure out what you want, Princess.”
“I’m so confused,” Twilight said as she sipped her tea. “I mean, I never saw any signs.”
Sunset smiled at her, lowering her cup to the table and leaned forward.
“Twilight,” she spoke kindly. “Take it from me; you never see it coming. You think I really saw things with Fluttershy coming? Especially with the way I was being treated when I first came back?”
Twilight bit her lower lip. “That’s a good point,” she admitted. “But you and ‘Shy work so well together, though! How could I even begin to make her happy?”
“Luna?” Sunset shrugged. “I barely know her, honestly, so I can’t speak to that. But, from what you’re saying, sounds like she’s already pretty hung up on you.” She stood and walked over to the Alicorn, giving her a quick hug.
“My advice?” she whispered. “Talk to her and be honest. The worst that happens is you two stay friends. At best?” She winked. “Trust me. It’s better to be up front in things like this. Trust your heart.”
Twilight sat staring at her cup long after Sunset left, twisting the porcelain bowl back and forth as she wrestled with her thoughts.
Sleep did not come easily that night. Part of it was how much was on her mind, and part was just the fact that sleep might involve meeting with Luna before she was ready. What should she say? How should she phrase any of it?
Twilight rolled over, her wings twitching in nervous little motions. She hasn’t even solidified her thoughts about the incident in Serene’s dreams. In retrospect, it had been foolhardy. But it had seemed to help the Pegasus move on from her trauma, so she was willing to chalk it up as a win.
But things with Luna were so much more complex. She liked the Lunar Princess, and had been glad to help her reacclimatize to life in modern Equestria or to defeat the Tantabus. But did she only feel the same fondness as she did with her other friends?
With a growl of annoyance, she grabbed her pillow and covered her head with it. She could feel fatigue at the edge of her awareness, but she couldn’t stop her mind.
Trust your heart… Sunset’s voice echoed briefly in her head.
She glowered at the window as a shaft of moonlight filtered in between the curtains.
“You don’t have any idea of how difficult you’ve made this,” she muttered as she climbed out of bed and wandered to the kitchen.
“I can’t be worthy of one of the Diarchs," she muttered. “I’m just a regular pony. Well, not so regular, but…” she shook her head and fluffed her wings. “I’m not sure what I’m thinking. Why should this bother me?”
She pulled out a cup and settled a pot of water onto the stove, her thoughts flying back to the attack in the Dreamscape. She had initially decided that the increased power she had used was to counteract part of the Command being sent by Fluttershy, but in the cool night of the waking world, she couldn’t leave it at that. Luna had been wounded and she had lashed out in anger and fear for her fellow princess.
As the water came to a boil, she set the pot to the side and spooned some tea into it, letting it steep. She’d have done the same for any of her friends, right? Of course she would. And had done in the fight against Tirek.
She poured a cup of the tea, inhaling the aroma of the herbal blend and feeling some of her tension ease slightly. She sipped it as she considered that last point. She had become friends with each of the girls without hesitation, just as she had befriended Luna shortly after her redemption. She had never once had moment of seeing her as more than just another pony, as she did with her sister, Celestia.
She blushed a little as she admitted that Luna did hold a somewhat humble beauty, something that Rarity attempted through effort. And the thought lingered, strangely tantalizing in her mind’s eye.
She sighed before taking a sip of her tea. She knew the answer to her quandary, but she had difficulty in admitting it for some reason. She took another sip and made her way to her library, settling onto a couch when she arrived.
Twilight looked around, confused. The clearing, ringed by tall oaks, felt warm and was filled with flowers of all colors. Hadn’t she just been in her library?
“You drifted off while contemplating deep thoughts,” a voice said on the wind. She turned around and saw Luna slowly walking out of the strand of trees. Her head was lowered slightly, not quite looking at Twilight but not turning away, either. “You were heading for ill rest, and after your recent ordeal, you repose should be as restful as possible.”
“Well, you haven’t made it easy,” Twilight sighed. “Especially after that confession of yours in the hospital.”
“I apologize if I have caused you discomfort…” Luna began.
Twilight walked up and shook her head. “No,” she whispered. “It was needed. I tend to avoid thinking about things like this. Feelings are too ephemeral, too random. I like facts, scientific and replicable. You surely heard of the incident when I thought I was going to be tardy writing Celestia a friendship report. I have a tendency to overthink things sometimes.”
Luna turned to look the lavender pony in the eye. “Sometimes?” she queried. “The issue your student solved between my sister and I wouldn’t be accounted among them, would they?”
Twilght blushed. “Well, I did say sometimes,” she hedged. “But I can’t think of a reason to admit anything to you. Nor can I find a reason to deny anything, either.”
“That does not leave many avenues of resolution.” The Lunar Diarch tilted her head back slightly. “Have you determined how to continue forward?”
“I can't deny that there is attraction there, Luna,” Twilight sighed. “It would be stupid to deny that or to pretend that it isn’t there. What I’m worried about is that I was just a common pony before I completed that spell. I’m not descended from some royal line or even any of the High Nobility. I might not be worthy of you in the eyes of other ponies.”
Luna giggled, then laughed fully.
“I’m being serious!” Twilight fumed.
“Of that, I have no doubt,” Luna spoke between giggles. “But the important opinions you should be concerned about is yours and mine.”
She slid a wing over the younger pony’s back and a cloud shone white, images appearing within.
“On a Nightmare Night some years ago, you not only helped me in many ways, but you helped other ponies see me for who I am, not who I was.”
The events of that night played on the cloud’s surface swiftly.
“Again and again, you have proved your worth as both a Princess and as a worthy bearer of the Elements of Magic," she said. “And you know my stance on the issue.”
Twilight blushed. “I do,” she whispered.
“Yet you remain unsure,” Luna stated.
“This is all new to me,” the Princess of Friendship admitted. “I’m not sure what to do with any of this.”
Luna stepped closer, reaching out slowly and rubbing her cheek against the lavender hair of her coat.
“Nopony does, Twilight Sparkle,” came the whispered words. “All one can do is the best they can as things go along.”
Twilight breathed a small sigh of relief. “At least the expectations aren’t too strict,” she breathed as she returned the small nuzzle.
“Day by day,” Luna said. “That is how things proceed.”
“Don’t you mean night by night?” Twilight asked, a small smile twitching on her lips.
The midnight Alicorn flicked a wingtip across the other mare’s nose.
“You know what I mean.”
Twilight awoke, the sun shining brightly and birdsong filtering through a window Spike was sliding open.
“Morning, Twilight,” he said. “Fall asleep reading again?”
The Alicorn smiled. “No, just thinking,” she said, stretching slightly.
“Anything shake loose?” the dragonling asked as he picked up the empty teacup.
“Yeah,” his ersatz sister replied, smiling deeply. “And I think that was the best sleep I’ve had in a while.”
Twilight used some of the conjured bandages to clean dirt and debris from the wound on Luna’s flank as Tabula sat with her back against the fallen capstone.
“Are you ok?” the Princess of Friendship asked as she began to bind the puncture wound.
“No,” the Pegasus said dully. “All this, my memory loss, I did to myself. And now I’ve trapped you and Luna in my mind, and she’s been hurt. I’m hurting more ponies when I only wanted a fresh start.”
“Do you remember why you wanted one?” Twilight asked after assuring the bandage would remain secure. “Why you resorted to a spell to get it?”
Tabula shook her head. “I remember that the spell was supposed to leave some memories, but it obviously didn’t.”
“That could be part of the nature of the way you cast it,” the lavender Alicorn mused. “Sometimes placing spells onto scrolls makes it easier to cast, but only if you know what you’re doing. A single mispronounced word can alter the spell, so maybe that’s what happened.”
“We need to get her out of here,” the olive pony said. “I don’t want to be the cause of us losing the Princess of the Night. You two have sacrificed enough for me so far.”
“I need you to do something for me,” Twilight said. “I need you to stay calm, first of all. This plane is tied to your emotional being, so what you feel, the plane transforms to match it. Do you understand?”
The Pegasus nodded.
“Good,” she said, lifting the unconscious Luna in her aura. “Now, I need you to bring us back to the point where we entered the dream. That is probably the most secure and safe point that you can envision, and we need that for Luna.”
“I-I don't know if I can,” Tabula responded. “If this place is tied to my emotions, then I could plunge us all down some ravine.”
“But you’re not,” Twilight said. “Because I believe in you. Luna and I came in to help you free yourself from this torment, and we’re going to get out.”
The Pegasus shook her head. “How can you be so sure?”
Twilight looked at her, her lavender wings spreading.
“Because I refuse to accept the opposite,” she said. “And I refuse to leave you to your demons.”
Tabula blinked, then closed her eyes. Slowly, the abyss closed in with fluffy white clouds, and a few light gray clouds full of rain. Twilight laid her fellow princess down on the clouds.
“What else can I do to help?” Tabula said.
“Accept that you’ve learned all you can right now,” the princess said, suddenly fatigued. “I’ve used a lot of mana, and it’s my power that keeps us anchored here. I need some rest.”
Tabula nodded. “I’ll keep an eye on Luna,” she offered.
Twilight laid her head across the withers of the midnight pony. “I know,” she whispered sleepily. “I trust you…”
She fell asleep, listening to the slow heartbeat of the other Alicorn.
