Dream Sickness

Chapters

Chapter One: Furthest From Home
Chapter Two: Warp Runner
Chapter Three: Eternal Nightshine
Chapter Four: The Map
Chapter Five: Last Ship Out
Chapter Six: The Expance
Chapter Seven: Eris
Chapter Eight: The Abyss

Chapter One: Furthest From Home

The dark sky, bloated with thick clouds, allowed only a few pillars of pale sunlight to beam down upon the vast emptiness of the flat plain. Dust danced on the wind, forming dry waves across the dull expanse, its path broken only by patches of thick shrubs or the odd withered tree. No life aside from the occasional tumbleweed floundered its way across the wasteland, and no sound aside from the howl of the wind or the rustling of loose branches filled the dry air. It was an oddly morbid tranquillity. A desert robbed of its harsh sun and left to wallow in overcast gloom as small bolts of rain plummeted to fill the puddles pooling between the weblike roots of the scarce trees.

Then came the lightning, lancing to the peak of a squat hill, the only bastion of land bold enough to rise above the endlessly flat expanse beyond the distant mountains far off on the horizon. Yet the spear of celestial fire that blasted down from the clouds was not the kind the desert was used to, nor was the swelling dust shroud that was conjured across its striking point, scorching a crescent moon of enchanted runes and glyphs into the earth. The flash was a ‘blink and miss it’ event, leaving in its wake a benevolent blue alicorn, coat as dark as midnight and mane a canvas of cosmic radiance, to gently drift down to the dust. Her arrival was so smooth it was almost perfectly entwined with the stillness of the dark desert. That was, at least until the large mass of lavender scales, ruffled leathery wings, and overpacked saddle bags thudded into the dust next to her.

"Luna, you could have warned me!" Twilight Sparkle, the once-beloved princess of friendship, at least before the mysterious affliction that had transformed her had run its course, groaned as she rubbed her draconic snout.

"Teleporting with a body this big is completely different, I'm still used to being a mare!" the dragoness declared as she sat up and blasted sand from her nostrils.

"My apologies, dear Twilight. I was simply concerned that your affinity to enact every last precaution would hinder any progress," Luna responded, waving a forehoof dismissively. "We really did not need to bring three telescopes, all those books, quills, or half of your castle's supply of ladybug repellent."

"What? Have you never heard of the great Pranceivan orbit beetle?" The dragoness shuddered. "They literally do have eyes on their carapace!"

For a moment Luna appeared unsure what to make of that. A creature so big and fearsome terrified by the mere prospect of an exotic insect was not something she'd expected to see even in her long lifetime. Even so, it was hard for Twilight not to think that way; her concerns wouldn't even be an issue if Luna was able to keep her own desires in check. Regardless of the minor animosity, however, the way the princess of the night straightened herself, form lean and muscular, taut under her smooth, glistening coat, made Twilight's heart seem to skip a beat.

Urg, why does heroism have to look so attractive? She looks like the warrior who should slay the dragon, not fall in love with it!

"Fear not, I swore to ensure that no harm would come to you like this, did I not?" Luna declared, then winced as Twilight's face drooped. "At least until I have returned you to a body in which you are more capable."

"I can still handle myself, Luna... I just... I want to get this over with as fast as we can," the dragoness grumbled as she dusted herself off.

Luna nodded, trying not to appear too downcast as Twilight sighed and added. "And don't blame yourself, I know that look."

There was a leathery wing on the alicorn's back as Luna murmured. "I... I don't, we can fix this."

Caught between awkwardly looking away and daring to try and see Luna's reaction, Twilight leaned in to nuzzle the mare's neck as she would sometimes do her friends. Luna stiffened, seemingly trying very hard to discern whether Twilight's affections were platonic or romantic, just as much as the dragoness herself.

"No doubt I do find your antics quite endearing, dear Twilight. Though you must forgive me... My ability to show affection has been... Well, let's just say it's been some time," Luna assured, glancing away slightly.

She thinks I'm endearing? I-I mean, she's kinda cute too. Look at how small she seems now... Heh, she really is kinda adorable! A thought of Twilight's, taking the mental image of her old alicorn self, beamed as she pranced around the dragoness's mind.

Meanwhile, the side of her still content with thinking like a grumpy dragoness huffed imaginary smoke. Sure, she's strong, powerful... She'd make a good dragoness, you sure you can't find a way to transform her too in this realm of dreams instead?

Twilight shook her head, flexing a claw. "Yeah, I guess your track record is pretty... Rough. I imagine usually turning a mare into a dragon comes after you ask her out."

Luna's expression turned awkward, her feathers ruffling. But Twilight smiled and brushed her new leathery wings against Luna's.

"I'm joking... If somepony loves me enough that it literally turns me into something else, then there must be some weight to it, right?" she assured and Luna cocked her head.

"You say that as if you approve of my feelings?" the princess of the night asked, and Twilight bit her bottom lip as she once again truly contemplated how she felt in return.

"I don't disapprove... I mean, I kinda like you... Ugh, okay, cure for this first, romance talk later, please?" she improvised, motioning back to her transfigured body.

Oh, why could we have not just asked somepony else for help? Starlight, Celestia, is this realm of dreams really so dangerous that two of the most powerful mares I know can't handle it?

Luna, seemingly knocked into full awareness by the revelation, shuddered up straight again and nodded. "Right, of course, forgive me... It is hard to maintain royal formality knowing there's nothing left to hide from you."

Oh, wouldn't you like to believe she's got nothing left to hide? Look at that body, slender, refined. She is a warrior, Equestria's sword... You really would like to uncover... Twilight pressed a claw to her face. Okay, I really hope that's dragon instinct talking!

"Haha, don't worry about it... Kinda hard for me to be all formal-looking like this," Twilight stammered awkwardly, before marching over to the edge of the sandy hill to peer out at the vast wasteland. "Where are we anyway? I've never seen a place like this."

The sound of Luna's soft hoofsteps as her crystal slippers hit the sand heralded her appearance beside Twilight, the wind blowing at her mane and feathers making them dance in a way the dragoness was starting to find hard to ignore.

"The far west, beyond the Luna ocean. Most ponies just call it the expanse, it's about as far as I can teleport using the old rune ways," the alicorn elaborated as Twilight's studious side drank in the new information.

A whole new land across the ocean, lost to rumors and tales from old scholars and ather sailors! Never before had she been so far, not even when driven to find Mount Eris or Tartarus. Yet for every part of her old self that would have been fascinated by the new world to explore and catalog, her new dragon self only huffed impatiently.

Agh, let me have this moment! Her little mental princess demanded, even as the sleeping drake growled. Unless you plan to make this into your new dragon empire, I don't care.

"And we're here because? I thought you had no idea where the passageway we need to find is?" Twilight asked skeptically, doing her best to ignore her inner conflict.

Luna smirked. "No, I know not where to find it. We'll need a guide, a map," Luna responded. "And I have a feeling that one who may be just that will be right down there." She nodded to the west where the wasteland gave way to a monstrous chasm.

As if the land itself just disappeared into the clouds, the cliff beyond must have been impossibly large. Even so, it was almost as featureless as the dreary desert around it, save for one break in the dull canvas. The spires of the distant sky port rose high upon a peninsula jutting out from the edge, the flying ships that came in to dock there like flies buzzing around the picked clean skeleton of a long-dead corpse. If not for the distant lights and smoke-belching chimneys, the lower layers of framework and structure sprawling out from the port's central tower, it would have looked abandoned by comparison. Yet the trails and caravans of creatures heading into the city through its many gates, looking no bigger than ants from this distance, proved otherwise.

One glance at it and Twilight was filled with both intrigue and apprehension. There was a will to learn, find out everything she could about the port and any creature that may live there. Then there were the new blunt dragon feelings, wondering just how much of it was flammable.

"Ironstall, that's what traders call it. The last stop before ships head off into the cloud-spire," Luna explained, nodding to the port and then the thick wall of clouds beyond the cliff.

Twilight cocked her head as she regarded the princess. To Luna, it looked like nothing new, like she'd seen it all before, leaving Twilight to wonder just how many things in the world the night princess had seen in her impossibly long lifetime.

"And you want to go in there...? You're a princess, they'll recognize you!?" the dragoness exclaimed, then looked herself over too. "What about me, how are they going to react to a dragoness!?"

Luna rolled her eyes. "I thought you'd been to a place like this once before, have you not?" she asked. "All kinds of creatures dwell here, your appearance will not be out of the ordinary."

Twilight snorted.

"Yeah and last time I was almost sold," she huffed, only for Luna to reassuringly nudge her side with a wing.

"Well, I'm sure nopony will try to sell a dragoness like you... They're used to... Well, let's just say the hierarchy is based on size and whether or not you can breathe fire," she assured.

Great, so now I fit in because I'm a freak! The dragoness mentally grumbled, looking at one of her foreclaws as it flexed in the dust. I guess I don't have to worry about hurting anypony here though.

"Okay fine, but what about you?" she finally relented, and the way Luna's smirk had failed to disappear over the course of the conversation made Twilight’s new scales crawl.

"Oh, I assure you, my dear Twilight, I was a master of shape-shifting magic long before we even knew changelings existed," Luna explained proudly as the two of them, hidden under shadow hoods Luna had conjured from darkness, made their way through the busy streets of Ironstall. "The spell even masks our names, scream my title from the rooftops and onlookers will only hear what I desire."

To think that the night princess would have come in here looking like her regular self seemed silly now, especially every time Twilight looked at the face of the tall, prim-looking silver unicorn with a dark blue mane and tail. She had a cutie mark of a dark moon covering the sun, it was a persona that Luna called Eclipse... One that she teased Twilight had seen far more often than she knew.

And you still like the way she looks, don't you? Her mind mused as she tried her best to keep her eyes turned upwards, away from Eclipse's flanks swinging under the cloak. Well, it's better than wanting to buck a dragon right... Okay, yeah, she's hot, now's not the time!

"And you and Celestia use this magic how often?" Twilight pressed, genuinely curious, despite the implications her idols' shapeshifting abilities summoned in her overly analytic brain.

"From time to time, like I said, it comes in very useful in places like this," Luna responded as she ducked under a board that two gargoyle-looking creatures were carrying by.

Twilight was forced to weave around and duck under another set of hanging orange tarps, but failed to notice her tail brushing through a stall of dead bird-like creatures hanging by their necks. The dragoness winced, muttering a brief apology to the strange fanged-fish creature running the stall as he scowled at her. She looked back into the busy street as fast as she could, the smell of spices and exotic cooking thick in the hot air.

Yet as she was once again faced with the bustling crowd and the dust they kicked up in the narrow ramshackle street, her heart sank. The disguised Luna was nowhere to be seen. There were griffins, hippogriffs, minotaurs, centaurs, zebras, and changelings that looked suspiciously like those under Chrysalis' rule, only with orange eyes wings and carapace, walking around openly.

Then there were those creatures like she'd never seen. Griffons with zebra stripes, ponies with talons, and even snake-like creatures with scorpion stingers. Kirin, like the images from her books, Saddle Arabian horses offering exotic remedies, a pair of timber wolves tethered to a wooden post, and even a stall selling seafood tended by a water-filled-barrel-bound hippocampus. Birds with four wings buzzed amid large blue beetles, while glowing dragonflies and crab-like spiders scurried in the shadows. Foals and fledglings scampered around her claws, the game to not step on them not aiding in her efforts to avoid thrashing every store and stall she staggered into.

And here I thought the last time I left Equestria was hectic! She thought to herself as a pony that looked about half as draconic as she was snorted fire and glared at her.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" she repeated over and over as she bumbled her way in the direction she'd sworn Luna had gone. "By Celestia, I take my eyes off of her for a second and she's..."

The dragoness's words were cut off by a grunt as she slammed face-first into what felt like a brick wall, the force knocking her on her tail and almost sending the contents of her bags scattering in the street. Rubbing her muzzle, she muttered another apology, glancing up to see the large, red-scaled dragon peering down his muzzle at her.

His scarred hide seemed to be missing a good few scales and his orange wings were like old, tattered parchment. One eye was covered by an eyepatch, ragged clothes draped over his back, while a neckless composed of what appeared to be plucked fangs and scales adorned his thick neck. The rattling spines on his back were like that of a rattlesnake's tail, and in any other situation, Twilight would have immediately been on the magical defensive. At his toothy grin, however, her draconic mind melted like hot butter. She blushed hard, pony fear and the dragon attraction that had been so infuriating when Spike had been around going at each other like rabid wolves in her mind.

"Well, well, ain't you just a pretty little thing?" the dragon growled, snaking his head down to Twilight's level. "Scales like those could get dirty in a place like this."

Okay, Twilight, we've been in awkward positions before, do I really need to go through it again? her little mental avatar asked, as her dragon side swooned at the large drake.

"Little, right... hehe, believe me, I've not felt little in days," she improvised, backing away as onlookers began to stop and stare.

"Hmmm, you don't say? Still big enough to have plenty of scales though." The way he licked his lips made Twilight wish for nothing more than to have her magic back.

A good shield spell would come in very useful right now! She noted. Diplomacy with dragons is always so risky.

"Not as many as you, it seems. Now I really must be going, sorry for any interruption," she responded quickly, before swiftly darting for an opening in the crowd.

The dull pain in her tail as weight came down upon it caused her to stumble mid-stride as it went taut, full bags rattling as she almost fell flat on her face.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" For a brief moment, the dragoness side of her mind was in control again, and she spun, snorting smoke in the larger dragon's face. "Because if you're trying to intimidate me then I've seen way worse."

"Oh, some fight in you, I like that." He pressed a foreclaw to her muzzle. "You seem new here, so I'll go easy on you. The price for any dragon to come into my city is a claw full of gems... No gems, then it's three scales from your back and you have such pretty..."

The dragon trailed off as the crowd went quiet, so much so that a lone set of dusty hoof steps were audible. He lifted his claw from her tail and edged back like an oversized puppy, leaving Twilight dumbstruck for a brief second before she looked to where everycreature else was staring.

"Razorback, how good to see you're still in business," Eclipse mused as she trotted up beside the perplexed Twilight, hood down to show off her disguised self.

"S–Silver mask... You... You're supposed to be dead," the dragon stammered as a collective sense of awe and unease came over the crowd.

Eclipse chuckled, forehoof to her chest as Twilight looked at her in confusion. Eclipse, Silver Mask, what in Equestria is all this supposed to mean? And why are they all looking at her like she's the one to be afraid of?

"Legends don't die, Razor." She narrowed her eyes as she smirked, flashing a glare that would cut through steel as she added, "This dragoness is with me, you have issues with your territory toll, you take it up with me."

He snorted, looming over her as he lifted to his full height and growled. "A lot has changed in the past millennium, I'm not some dumb little drake no more."

"Then, by all means, do what you will," she offered, standing before him and gazing right up into his fiery orange eyes.

The dragon glanced around, from confused faces to fanged scowls. Then he swept a wing through the dust and turned.

"Mark my words, one day some creature will get you," he hissed as he stomped off into the crowd, the dust he kicked up causing the onlookers to cough as he barrelled through.

"Pity, it seems, that it will not be you to do so," Eclipse called after him before pivoting to address the crowd. "Anycreature else have anything to add?"

They all went back to their business with a murmuring series of grunts, groans, and mutters as the disguised princess finally turned to Twilight.

"Are you alright, Twilight?" she asked as the dragoness inspected her tail, groaning before she nodded.

"Yes, I think..." she admitted then reluctantly looked at her claws. "Thanks, I almost lost it there, really, really have to keep the urge to lash out under control."

Luna placed a forehoof on Twilight's side. "I understand, keeping my feelings in check was never my strongest attribute either."

Despite her smile, Twilight couldn't help but guess that something along the lines of the night will last forever would come about if Luna lost it.

And this is the mare who loves you? Her thoughts commented as she followed Luna more closely the deeper they progressed into the city. Those feelings only came about because I saved her from the nightmare? So how genuine are they... How much gratitude does somepony need to mistake it for love?

Twilight silenced her mental debate for the time being, as the effort she had to put into walking straight down the cramped alleys with their high walls and low looming bridges took up most of her focus.

"So what was that all about?" she finally asked Luna as she lifted her leg to let a little colt with foreclaws and a lion’s tail scamper by. "It sounded like you knew that dragon."

Luna sighed. "Razorback, he's an infamous scale trader, among other foul things. Dragon parts are very useful in the making of fire salts out here, and he does not seem to care for his own kind," she elaborated, looking rather downtrodden.

"I'd have thought after all this time he'd be gone. Though a millennium is but a decade in the life of a dragon," she added, taking out her frustration on parts of a shattered clay pot littering the alley.

Put's other dragon's scales on the table before his own, more like. Twilight suspected as she looked at the layer of shimmering lavender where her fur had once been. If they knew who I really was, would that make it worth even more?

"And yet he seemed surprised that you'd lasted just as long?" Twilight inquired, even if she knew Luna had spent most of that time on the moon.

"The Silver Mask, it's the title they bestowed me around here. Solar Flare is my sister, one does not live as long as we have and gain reputations solely as princesses," Luna added, glancing back.

"So you're what? Like a vigilante on the side?" Twilight pressed, not sure how she felt about that.

Spike would love it, she's just like some of the characters from his comic books. She supposed, but Luna shrugged.

"I prefer the term ‘hooves-on ambassador’... But the description fits."

So, how are we feeling about all those secrets, Twilight? Her mind asked as she ducked under a set of hanging carpets and rugs. Just think, how many centuries will you live before you are doing the same?

"Still, it would be preferable if you were to avoid fiends such as Razorback. I fear his employers may see opportunity in my return." Luna glanced back, sincerity in her newly-green eyes. "I could not live should any foul fate befall..."

"Luna, I know... I... I'll be careful, it would just be a lot simpler if I was my old self," Twilight admitted, almost tripping over a claw as a pair of zebra fillies with what looked like a small, two-headed rat scurried by. "Though your care is appreciated."

What is that, is that my heart fluttering? Oh Celestia, really? There had been very few ponies to make her feel like that, maybe Rainbow Dash once or twice. What, so I'm a sucker for protective mares, I like a filly-flank in shining armor!

She pressed a claw to her face, wondering if she and Luna had switched roles, what her own desire may have turned the midnight alicorn into. A shield? Turtle, a literal suit of royal armor?

She was so lost in thought that she failed to notice that Luna had stopped right in front of her, pink blush clear on her silver cheeks as she pulled up her hood. Okay, that love is starting to feel more genuine again!

"Thank you, Twilight Sparkle, your appreciation holds great value to me," Luna admitted, before clearing her throat, straightening herself out, and marching up to a large wooden gate behind a raised iron portcullis.

"Don't mention it, Luna... What are good friends for, right?" the dragoness added awkwardly as she caught up.

Friends, hmm... How sure about that are you, princess? She wanted to bury her face in the dirt. Shut up, brain! It's not the time!

Luna simply nodded to her once before proceeding to knock on the wooden gate with one forehoof.

"You may want to act a little more composed... Creatures down here maybe after you for more than just scales," the disguised mare warned, and Twilight dreaded to think about that as clunking locks sounded and a small window in the gate slid open to reveal a beady-eyed griffin.

"Yeah, who goes there... Coin or business?" squawked the gruff avian-hybrid, raspy voice broken by coughing fits.

Luna pulled down her hood for a brief moment and the cloudy yellow eyes peeking through the hatch went wide.

"Talons and tail feathers, you're supposed to be dead!" She rolled her eyes as she once again pulled up her hood.

"Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated. Now, I'm here to see somepony. Would you mind allowing me and my friend here passage?" She motioned back at Twilight and the dragoness awkwardly waved a foreclaw.

"You come back with dragons..." With another series of clunks and rattles, the door was unlocked and swung inward. "Legends walk the sands again... Bless my tail feathers!"

"Thank you," Luna said with a bow, levitating a jingling blue pouch from a pocket inside her robe and offering it to the scruffy griffin.

He regarded it like a precious diamond as Luna trotted by and down a set of winding steps, while Twilight offered the crazy-looking feather-winged creature her thanks too. When all he did in response was shove the bag of bits into his mouth and proceed to awkwardly swallow it, however, she winced and swiftly dashed by.

"Gizzard hoarding, featherwing. Woe whomever he pays with that gold," Luna chimed as Twilight followed her down the winding steps, the sensation of odd slimy things under her paws something she tried to ignore.

"I dread to think. Seriously, Luna, where are we going?" she asked, but just as she did so the stairs looped round and the cave opened out into a vast chamber.

Seemingly a cavern below the cliff’s edge that had been invisible from above, the dank hole was illuminated by dreary sunlight streaming in from an opening on the far side. Large enough to house a small town, the odd, step-like walls looked like they were formed volcanically. A series of many hexagonal granite pillars, like geological features she'd read about in her many books. The Centaur's Steps, The Longma Causeway, she recalled as she placed a claw down on one of the odd natural pedestals.

Beyond the bottom of the steps, a wooden walkway led out to a small sprawl of ramshackle wooden structures, built into the walls of the cave, like flies caught in a spider’s web. Some larger ones boasted metal chimneys and other small docks at which smaller skyboats sat moored. Luna, like a mare on a mission, seemed to know exactly where she was going as she marched by a pair of bipedal felines Twilight did her best not to get involved with.

"Really feels like the place for a first date," she joked as she caught up with Luna, trying not to think about an odd, pony-griffin creature regarding her from a pillar across the dock.

'The Lusty Hippogriff.' Silently reading the title of the backwater establishment Luna had brought her to from the decrepit sign swaying above served as a poor distraction.

The chipped image of the skimpily dressed pony-avian hybrid on the rotting wood was even less endearing.

Can't imagine what Queen Novo would have to say about this place. She wondered as she looked down at Luna.

"Well, isn't this place charming?" she offered, yet the disguised princess was not looking at her, but out across the docks as if searching for something that should not be there. "Everything okay?"

Looking for herself, Twilight was swiftly reminded that nothing here was the 'normal' she was accustomed to. Yeah, just like you, starting to feel like you fit in yet?

"Fine, Twilight, I assure you," Luna told her as she moved to the door of the tavern. "It just doesn't do well to linger in such places. Come, there's somepony we should meet."

One last glance over her shoulder turned up nothing but a few rowdy gnolls having a brawl on an upper walkway, and Twilight followed Luna into the tavern. The reek of smoke, alcohol, and a whole room full of rowdy, heated creatures struck her like a wall. There were just as many, if not more, creatures in here as there were on the streets above. Only, crammed into such a small space, between wooden card tables, the bar, and rotting seating booths, the craziness was amplified tenfold. It was like the underworld counterpart to Sugarcube Corner, though after her last experience at the Ponyville bakery, she could forgo the comparison.

I did not trash it nearly enough to make it look like this! She inwardly exclaimed as she tried to keep pace with Luna.

"Mind telling me who we’re searching for?" she called, ducking her head under a crooked banister before a pair of drunken ponies fell in front of her, forcing her to swiftly sidestep.

"You speak as if it will be easy?" Luna called over the shouting as one of the ponies knocked to the floor was pounced upon by a foreclawed mare that proceeded to try and kiss his face off with a fanged muzzle.

Luna lifted a hoof away from the show, muzzle wrinkling in disgust. "I have a feeling that, in a place like this, she will be the one to find us."

"Well, that's helpful," Twilight grumbled with a roll of her eyes as the pair continued to sail through the turbulent crowd toward an isolated back area.

If the smell near the door had been bad, then back here it was put to shame, so much so that Twilight’s muzzle scrunched at the stench and she covered her nostrils with a foreclaw. The wood the furniture was made from, and even the rotting walls, were almost green with mold and only the light of a few candles chased away the still gloom. It was enough even to make Luna's disguised form look as radiant as her natural beauty by comparison, and she guessed even she must look more princess-like being so clean in a place like this.

She's literally brought me to the rear end of the world. Please tell me this is not where the gateway to the dream realm actually is. The little princess in her head asked as Twilight finally spoke up.

"You know this friend of yours really has great taste in living space." She'd even take the cave she'd slept in while out in the Everfree forest over this squalor, that was at least until Luna's ears perked under her hood.

Twilight paused, about to ask again, before from nowhere a dark blur slammed into Luna's side. The silver mare jumped back with the grace of a darting dragonfly, her cloak knocked free. Yet before either of the princesses could even make another move, their mysterious assailant tackled Luna, pinning her under a pair of dark purple hooves.

"Princess Luna, I know that's you! You have a lot of nerve coming back here!" declared the cloaked stranger, leathery bat wings exploding from her sides as Twilight lowered herself, baring her fangs and snorting smoke.

"Get off her, now!" The force of her breath as she bellowed blew back the stranger’s hood, revealing the tufted ears and scarred face of a fanged mare, one eye blue, and one eye red.

A bat pony, she's a thestral!? Twilight's analytic mind noted swiftly, yet then came grinding to a halt. I never remembered thestrals having horn stubs on their foreheads like that!

Author's Note

Finally, the next part of the story posted easier this year, Love Sickness. Sorry to say, but updates may be a little slow on this as a lot of real-life issues are going on right now, affecting this and my other stories. Though if you're still interested, stay tuned, I'll be doing my best.

Thanks for reading!

Chapter Two: Warp Runner

"Y–you... You're an alicorn?" Twilight stammered as the fanged mare was lost in a moment of confusion.

"What... D–don't you ever call me that!" she spat, bristling like an angry manticore and covering her horn stump with a wing.

It was just enough time for Luna to get the upper hoof, and she twisted her body out of the other mare's grip. Like an elegant serpent, she corkscrewed back, wrapped a foreleg around one of the bat pony's, and flipped her to the floor. Twilight leaned back, sure that anypony would have been outmatched by Luna's alicorn strength, yet this mare was not so simply bested. Like lightning, the bat pony struck out with a rear leg, a hoof-to-hoof technique that Twilight was sure boasted reminiscence to that of ancient zebra monks and warrior shamans. Luna staggered, allowing the mare to slip free.

"Okay, that's enough. Both of you stop it!" Twilight thrust a wing between the two mares. "I did not come all this way to see two grown mares fight like foals!"

The pair looked at her oddly, Luna's ears folding flat to her mane as the stranger snorted and took a step back. "Well, I did not come all the way out here to be found by the likes of you!"

Luna's apparent shame at being scolded by the 'mare' she loved was washed away in seconds as she glared at the odd bat pony. "Lies, you know how hard it was for me to leave you. You would not go!"

"A thousand years ago, Luna! Where did you go all that time?" The stranger snarled, then pressed a forehoof to her chin. "Oh, yes, let me think... The world was not good enough for you, so you just had to try and take over!"

"A mistake, I swear, a transgression I am still paying for with my every waking second," Luna retorted. Twilight mentally noted how she was almost starting to slip back into her old Equestrian dialect.

"Not a day goes by that I do not regret what I let the Nightmare do." Luna's ears folded and her head drooped. "For years since I punished myself for it... It took others to allow me to see reason."

She glanced at Twilight, and no matter how conflicted the dragoness felt, she was sure a part of her heart melted at the sad look.

Oh, she can express emotions like she's some kind of masterful portrait. I never blamed her for Nightmare Moon, she knows that. The little princess in Twilight's head reasoned. Seems whoever this 'friend' of hers is sees things differently.

Twilight draped a wing over Luna's back, ducking under a low banister and a set of grimy pots hanging from it to stand alongside the night princess.

"Hey, she's not Nightmare Moon!" she declared bluntly, then peered down at the downtrodden princess. "The Luna I know is nothing like that monster."

By Celestia, that smile, so small yet so... Glancing at Luna, Twilight had to stop herself from getting lost in thought as the stranger pivoted and began to trot away with a flick of her dark red tail.

"The mare I know had more similarities to her than you might think. You always were ambitious, Luna, you must like to hide it. The freedom-fighting warrior princess to those who really knew you, introverted second sister to Equestria to the masses." The bat pony glanced back. "Siren to those who loved you."

"Neigh, thou lie and blaspheme thou...!" Luna began to bellow, before cutting herself off as Twilight could not help but shoot her an odd look.

Blushing, the night princess went on quietly. "Never did I care to fill the descriptions you offer, nor did I wish to leave you."

"Sure, just another one of those lost when you decided to become a psychopath." The stranger stomped a forehoof, ears pressed back as she drooped for a second. "I'd have at least thought I'd be the first pony you'd come back for."

"Well, she's here now, isn't she? Forgive me for saying, but I think this is the last place anypony would come looking for you," Twilight interjected, stealing the bat pony's attention.

The fanged mare rolled her eyes. "Did you ever consider that may be the point?" She fixed another glare on Luna. "But you knew just where to find me, even after so long."

Twilight blinked, yet Luna did not say a word to the bat-winged mare as her attention went from the disguised night princess, up to the dragoness.

"Looking at you I can guess pretty easily why you're both here, Princess Twilight." Twilight felt a sudden spike of alarm, but one reassuring glance from Luna and the tension in her loosened, wings drooping.

"Might I say, you're looking... Well, rather impressive. Though, being a dragon around here may not seem as luxurious as back home in Equestria," the thestral went on.

Twilight shook herself out of her stupor, then frowned. "So I've seen."

She glanced back at the mark Razorback had left in her tail before looking back at Luna and adding. "I have no idea who you are or how you know me... But I guess it's nice to meet you."

"The feeling would be mutual, that's if I was sure you were here just to see me," the bat pony responded.

"Do you still have the map?" Luna suddenly asked, seemingly reluctant to do so, and when the stranger's face dropped Twilight had a feeling she was about to understand why.

"See, after all this time that's all you're really after." She kicked a forehoof at a half-broken glass sending it clattering down a boarded offset of stairs. "Yes, I still have it, right where you left it. It's pretty hard to get something out of my dreams, Luna!"

"Wait, wait, a map? She's got the map to this realm of dreams?" Twilight asked, looking between the two, before fixing her draconic eyes on the stranger. "I'm sorry, do you at least have a name?"

The bat pony looked at the dragoness coolly, as if staring down a beast with fangs, claws and the ability to breathe fire was nothing. She seemed just about ready to open her mouth to introduce herself when, from the crowded tavern behind her, a new, gruff voice called out.

"Warp Runner!" The stranger's ears drooped and her head fell with a dry, bored sigh, before she turned to the door, pulling up her hood again.

Twilight cocked her head and blinked at the mare in confusion as Luna appeared very unsure, magically re-summoning cloaks around the both of them. The thestral merely looked back over her shoulder and shrugged.

"My friends call me Warp Runner." She said the word identifying the relationship as if it tasted foul, before adding with a huff, "And this could take a while."

The pair of them only had a moment before the mangy old curtains separating the back room from the rest of the tavern were shoved aside and in barged a rather grizzled set of shabby barding clad creatures.

From what Twilight could make out only one of them was a pony, unicorn horn and all. Yet his hind paws and talon-tipped forelegs, along with his lion tail suggested that he was not entirely equine. Another pair were griffins, glares made more menacing by one's clouded right eye and the other's metal beak. The largest of the group stood on her hind legs, had four limbs tipped with hooked claws, and a yellowed set of sharp teeth.

It had been years since Twilight had even laid eyes on a diamond dog, and never had she seen a female of the subterranean canine species outside of her books. Yet she could now confirm the shaggy brown-furred bipedal looked just as menacing as those depictions. Last of the group was another griffin, or that was at least as close as anything Twilight could compare her to.

"Did I hear the word friends there, lil-batty?" the lead creature cooed as the tapping of large talons on moldy wood signaled her advance."You flatter me, really, I'd never imagined I'd have friends before." She looked back over the others and the group seemed to force a laugh.

Most of her large, quadrupedal body was covered by a dark leather tunic, into which was sewn many pockets, bandoliers, and pouches. Many were filled with glass vials or jingled with coins. There were even two sheaths at her sides, each housing a set of serrated blades.

Is it just me or do those look like they're made of bones? Twilight wondered, studying the creature further. By Celestia, I really don't want to imagine where they came from.

Her sleek attire left all but her crimson wings, claws, tail, and head up to the imagination. The former most were similar to how Twilight's had been only a week ago, half-covered with feathers and mostly composed of a rugged, leathery membrane. The flesh at their base, near the creature's shoulders, was red and scaly, as was her long, serpentine tail, spines running down its length to where it ended in a tuft of maroon fur. Her head was most peculiar of all, covered in a shaggy ruff of feathers and equipped with a muzzle full of sharp teeth that ultimately ended in a serrated beak. Her eyes were bright yellow, more cat-like than any griffin the princess had seen, with pupils as thin as a knife-edge. Behind them, a rugged crown of dark red feathers sat between a pair of curved, ram-like horns

Goddesses, I've no issue with love across species but by Celestia! Twilight thought, trying not to stare as the little alicorn in her head chimed. I know, she's even more freaky than you, Twi!

"Oh, Gracie, I'm sure if you really wanted some friends all you'd have to do is ask." Warp Runner cocked her head with a smirk. "One mean look from you would have most folks just dying to follow you anywhere."

Gracie? Twilight caught the name, as her thoughts chimed. No offense, but she's about the least graceful thing I've seen all day.

Meanwhile, Warp Runner looked around at the group behind the dragon-griffin hybrid, while Gracie snorted smoke. "Come on guys, if any of you are here because you're actually this lizard brain's friend, please speak up!"

If nothing else, Twilight could not fault the bat pony's boldness. Warp Runner had the entire band of grizzled-looking creatures glancing at each other awkwardly after just a few sentences.

"So, when are you planning on telling me exactly who this mare is?" she asked, nudging Luna's side with a wing.

Luna did not budge as she muttered back. "I was hoping things would be less complicated. All you need to do is what I say and there'll be no need for trouble."

Twilight blinked. Why, what is she about to do this time? The more she wondered the more her draconic thoughts began to simmer. Oh, that's right, just stay behind the perfect pony princess, she'll keep you safe. Some dragoness you are!

"Watch that mouth of yours," Gracie growled, shooting her companions a dangerous look before glaring into Warp Runner's eyes.

"Why, you and the Syndicate gonna come lock me up? I know for a fact that Eris won't do that," the bat pony responded, calm and unflinching as the hybrid growled.

"The way I see it, you have two fangs and a flapping tongue. I got a whole mouth full and don't take smack from lackeys like you," she hissed, and when Warp Runner opened her muzzle to retort, the hybrid lifted a claw up to cut her off. "And, as a matter of fact, I'm here because Eris ordered me to look for you." She jabbed a claw at the thestral's chest. "You failed to pay in on that collection job, you owe us."

The bat pony seemingly pretended to think about that for a second before responding. "Oh, you mean that job?" she cooed, then rubbed a forehoof against her chest.

"Well, you see I was never in the business of shaking down creatures just because you think they owe you money. Life's hard enough for them down here as it is."

Gracie's growl grew louder as smoke began to seep from her muzzle, while Warp Runner still failed to even budge.

"If the Syndicate says someone owes us, then they owe us, end of story. So are you gonna pay up or am I going to have to make you?" she pressed, and once again Warp Runner feigned thoughtfulness.

"You, and I both know you don't want to do that," she stated casually, flicking a forehoof in the air. "Plus, you know the tavern rules, Syndicate's not allowed to start fights in here."

Gracie's eyes narrowed. "Like I care about that. I never got anything done by following the rules." The hybrid smirked. "Besides, what're you going to do, fuzzy ears? There's five of us and you're what... Gonna get your mysterious pals out there to help you out?" She peered around the fanged mare. "That's right, I see you, don't you know it's rude to have hoods up indoors?"

She gave a nod to the pony hybrid beside her and he proved his magic still worked as his horn lit up and telekinesis ripped down the pair's hoods.

Twilight instantly winced, waving a foreclaw awkwardly. Oh, what to say? Say something or say nothing, do what Luna says, or do what the dragon side of me wants to do? Urgh, my brain is so messed up!

Gracie only looked at Twilight with confusion, it appeared as if she'd have burst out laughing if her attention wasn't swiftly diverted to Luna. There her expression turned into one of bafflement, while the disguised night princess's harsh glare caused everycreture else in the group to fall silent and take a step back.

"By the great egg, Razorback was not kidding," the draconic griffin stated. "Ha, first time that dumb oaf's spoken a word of truth!"

Luna stiffened. "I'm sure that you've heard, yet I assure you that my business here has nothing to do with you," she declared, but Gracie snorted.

"Ha, you're kidding, right? You think you can just disappear for a thousand years and nobody’s gonna hold a grudge? Syndicate be damned you're my business." The draconic griffin finally laughed.

She drew one of her bone blades in a flash, running her claws along its edge. "I bring you in and I'll be so rich I'll never have to set foot in this squalor again!"

She grinned, calling back to the others. "You ready for an early payday, guys?"

The group gave a series of low cheers, drawing weapons of their own as Gracie spread her leathery red wings.

Twilight fidgeted, peering down at Luna unsurely. "Not to be an issue but I really don't think I'll be able to take anycreature on in here and not accidentally burn the place down."

"No one is fighting anyone, Twilight. We're leaving," Luna stated, moving to trot away.

"Oh no you're not, just because Razorback isn't tough enough for you don't mean I'll back down," Gracie threatened, yet before she could shove her way toward Luna, a dark blue foreleg was thrust between them.

"Gracie, you're too young to remember so I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. But, like I said, you don't wanna do this," Warp Runner said calmly, and that seemed to be the last straw for the hybrid griffin.

"Oh, I'll show you just what I wanna do!" She drew her second blade and leaped up with one beat of her leathery wings.

Dragoness or not, Twilight's eyes sealed shut as her forepaws covered her face. She's just going to slice her forehoof right off! Oh, Celestia what have I gotten myself into?

Yet there was no scream of pain, or splattering of blood. There was only silence, and when Twilight dared open her eyes she saw only Gracie staring dumbstruck at Warp Runner's very intact foreleg. Her very, ghostly-looking foreleg.

The scaly hybrid blinked once in confusion before her snarl returned and she bared her fanged muzzle.

"Oh no, don't think you can go pulling all your dumb magical tricks on me!" she roared before rearing up to strike her full weight down on the bat pony.

Warp Runner's bored expression was the last thing to disappear as the bat pony faded away in a cloud of dark smoke.

A 'go incorporeal' spell, I thought that school of magic died out eons ago? Twilight thought as Gracie's claws struck the floor with a splintering crunch.

As if the two had somehow orchestrated the attack perfectly, the hybrid had just enough time to let out a frustrated growl before Luna's hind hooves struck at her through Warp Runner's smoky haze. Staggered, the scaly creature fell back as Luna rounded on her and struck out with one forehoof, relieving the smoke-snorting griffin of one of her bone blades.

"What are you waiting for, an invitation!? Get them, you idiots!" Gracie called out to the others in her group, who'd seemed content with just watching apprehensively for the time being.

Meanwhile, Luna kicked up, spinning in the air like a silver hurricane and striking out with another of her forehooves. Gracie let out a grunt as she shifted aside and twisted back to her feet, striking out at the disguised alicorn with her claws.

"Luna, look out!" Twilight called as she shoved her way forward.

The sensation of something heavy landing atop her back and another thing wrapping around her neck gave the dragoness pause, however. She had about a second to look down and see the wooden shaft of a spear below her chin as well as the two muscular brown arms on either side of her neck.

"Silver Mask and a pretty bag of scales, boss is gonna give me... Uh, us a raze, yes, yes!" howled the diamond dog as she practically bear-hugged Twilight's neck, yanking the spear back and heaving the dragoness with her.

Twilight gasped, breath struggling to reach her lungs as she floundered. Smoke bubbled from her snout on instinct, but every time she tried to shake off her attacker the dog's claws ripped through her cloak and dug into her scales.

"That's right you ride that drake, Poppy!" called the griffon-unicorn hybrid as his magic lit up again and before Twilight knew it, there was a rope snaking around her hind legs.

"Ha, This one's going down like a total fool!" chimed one of the scarred griffins, as the one with the metal beak darted away from Luna's kicks.

"A little help here!" Twilight choked, catching the shocked look on Luna's face as the disguised alicorn turned.

The momentary break in Luna's focus was not something Gracie seemed about to ignore, however, and taking full advantage of her briefly diverted attention, the draconic griffin lunged.

"Look out!" Twilight called again, her wings surging open as she tried to bat off her canine assailant.

Luna was shoved aside, shattering a barstool before she was leaped upon by Gracie. The hybrid's face was a mask of exhilaration as she loomed over the downed silver mare triumphantly.

"See, you ain't so tough, no idea why my family's always had such trouble with you," she growled.

Twilight's draconic mind was screaming before she knew it. Argh, this is ridiculous. You're a dragoness, stop floundering like a stupid foal and do something!

"Luna!" she roared, kicking up with her hind legs, snapping her bonds, and throwing the dog perched atop her back over her head.

The spear clattered to the ground as the large canine was tossed through the air and right into Gracie's side, the pair of them slammed through several old seating booths before coming to a stop in a pile of moldy old wood.

Luna was on her hooves again in a flash, so too was she set upon by the metal-beaked griffin as the remaining two thugs both rounded on Twilight.

The dragoness snorted smoke. "Back off, I'm warning you! I really have no idea how to control this thing!" she warned, looking at one of her forepaws as she flexed her claws.

The scarred griffin and pony-avian hybrid exchanged glances, shrugged, then leaped at her with claws and sword ready. Twilight did all she could to ignore her instinctive equine drive to flee, and her usual urge to just use magic to solve her problem. Instead, she flared a wing in the path of the two attackers, flicking the lavender membrane forward and stunning the two with a blast of air. The half-pony fell back, head swaying while the griffin recovered first.

He was in the air before Twilight could even retract her wing, talons striking along the exposed membrane and cutting a series of painful gashes. Twilight winced at the sting, an uncontrollable grunt escaping between her bared teeth as, carried by his momentum, the griffin struck the side of her neck with all of his weight. Twilight staggered, her alien limbs floundering under her as she collapsed through another set of bar stools.

Miniature princesses dancing in her blurred vision, the dragoness looked up just in time to see the griffin land on her chest and press a claw to her throat.

"Scales ain't so thick on the underside, so how's about you just come along with us all nice and qui..." Before the avian-feline could finish a pair of silver hooves connected with his head and sent him tumbling down an old set of stairs.

"One would think that they'd have learned to speak less and just fight in the past millennium," Luna panted as she appeared beside Twilight.

The dragoness shook the fluttering alicorns from her vision and managed to lock her swaying sight on Luna.

"One would think you'd explain why I'm suddenly being assaulted by thugs in a tavern halfway around the world!" she exclaimed, lashing out with her tail and unintentionally smacking the pony-griffin hybrid across the room over the head with it.

Twilight winced as he fell into the mess of broken planks with a weary groan. "Urg, stupid body... He'll be okay, right?"

"As okay as any soul stuck out here I'm sure," Luna offered before reaching out a forehoof to assist the dragoness back to her paws. "Twilight, your wing, are you alright?"

The dragoness shifted the limb to inspect the gashes the griffin's claws had torn in it, wincing a little. "Nothing worse than I got running off into the Everfree forest."

Luna didn't appear quite convinced, but Twilight rolled her eyes. "You did say this trip may be dangerous, it's just a scratch, nothing a little healing spell won't fix."

Luna closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I... I... You're right... And a time and a place will come for explanations too, I assure you," Luna assured, then sighed. "For I had hoped to simply come here, get what we need, and leave without complication."

"Oh, if you think you can just wander into our town and get what you want, you got another thing coming," Gracie muttered as she rose from the pile of wood Twilight's toss had left her in, the stunned diamond dog groaning at her side with a paw to her snout.

Luna stepped in front of Twilight, her horn glowing as the scaly hybrid strode across the newly unconscious body of the metal-beaked griffin.

"Things have changed in the last millennium, now the Syndicate's got me and..." There was a sharp whoosh and the hybrid's words trailed off as her words faded. "And... I... sleepy..."

She hit the floor with a hard thud to expose Warp Runner standing behind her, a wing neatly folded across her chest. There was a small silver blade on its edge, like the elegant wing blades Twilight had read about in ancient thestral culture, before their oaths as protectors of the night.

Any other time she'd have squealed at the pure fact that she could lay eyes upon something of such historical significance. Right now, however, she wanted nothing more than to be back home in Ponyville with her old body and a whole month's worth of study material to work through.

"Night soul poison, remember that one, Luna?" Warp Runner asked as she inspected the small blade on her wingtip. "Just enough to knock most creatures out cold, never to kill."

Luna collected herself, running a forehoof through her messed up mane as she responded. "Old habits die hard, I see?"

Warp Runner chuckled as she folded her wing and stepped forward. "I just wanted to see if you were still all you used to be. Still a fighter, that's for sure."

Luna didn't look impressed in the slightest as she peered down at the shorter mare. "Glad to know I still impress, though more assistance would have been appreciated."

"Oh, but you had your big dragoness to beat them all up. Looked like you had it all under control," she countered, glancing around Luna to address Twilight. "Not bad, your highness. Those guys are trained to take down dragons."

Despite herself, Twilight blushed. "W–well... I... I–I...Thanks, I guess." She scratched the back of her head with a foreclaw, before finally giving up and letting it flop back into the mass of broken wood under her.

"So she is the reason you're here then?" Warp Runner went on. "You did the thing again, didn't you?"

Luna seemed to battle so hard not to look awkward at those words, a rosy blush pooling in her cheeks. "I... I may have allowed my feelings to slip... A thousand years out of practice, you see."

"So all we did is even wasted, figures," Warp Runner said with a long sigh, and a look of regret spread across Luna's face in place of embarrassment.

"Look, I really have no idea who you are or what's gone on between you and Luna, but she came halfway around the world to find you, so will you help or not?" Twilight finally interrupted.

Warp Runner turned her attention to the dragoness, an unsure look plastered upon her face. "Once I'd have helped with whatever my princess asked, but now..." she trailed off, taking a deep breath. "But it's not just our problem anymore, is it, Luna?" she asked, looking back at the disguised night princess as Luna sighed.

Twilight glanced between the pair, wondering what she'd have to say next to get them to stop arguing before Luna finally spoke up.

"No, it's not, this is my mistake and I have to fix it." She tentatively reached out a forehoof and placed it on the bat pony's shoulder. "But I need your help. So yes, that is what I came all this way for."

Warp Runner glanced at Luna's outstretched forehoof and huffed. "At least you can still be honest."

Luna's awkward smile returned as Warp Runner glanced back at the band of unconscious thugs and finally added. "All I know for sure is that if you don't want to end up in a dungeon, we're going to have to go somewhere other than here."

"So this Syndicate, what? Can they just do whatever they want out here?" Twilight asked as she squeezed her way down the narrow, rocky tunnel after Luna and Warp Runner.

"That pretty much sums them up, they got claws, hooves, and skies know what else in all kinds of places around here. Anything goes down this side of the Luna ocean and they'll know about it," Warp Runner elaborated as she led the way, startling glowing roaches and snake-tailed rats as she did so.

"Then how come I've never heard of them? I've read books on the far west before and all records stop at the east border, before the desert of glass," Twilight persisted, both curiosity and shame that she did not know everything pushing her to do so.

"All records of lands this far west are scarce in Equestria, the last trade routes to run here were lost over a millennia ago, so our current knowledge is limited," Luna explained, glancing back.

"Yeah I can tell, you come all this way and expect it to be just how you left it," Warp Runner added and Luna frowned.

"What is that supposed to mean?" the disguised princess asked, and the bat pony rolled her eyes.

"You just prance around the streets looking like that and expect no one to notice, you may as well just be your real self," she stated, much to Luna's apparent irritation.

"Well, do forgive me if I expected things to be a little more civilized. I thought the Syndicate was destroyed. Sure, I was prepared for a few thugs but it seems there is no fixing things this far away from home," Luna huffed, holding her head so high it was a wonder her horn did not scrape the low ceiling.

Warp Runner's eyes rolled again. "I see that sense of nobility hasn't gone anywhere. I forgot you're always right, Luna," she said, and the night princess frowned. "You're just lucky I'm in good with Riptide or you'd have to take a sum out of your treasury to fix up the tavern."

Twilight had no idea what the thestral had said to the hippogriff running the bar, she was pretty sure the muttering she’d heard and the subtle passing of bits between the two wouldn't have been enough to pay for the damage, no matter the state they'd found the back room in. Nevertheless, after that, and a swift healing spell from Luna on her wounded wing, Warp Runner had been swift to lead them both deeper into the caverns below the skyport, the only place she was sure the Syndicate would never look.

"And how was that our fault, those creeps attacked us?" the dragoness blurted, then pressed a claw to her muzzle.

What did I tell you about speaking for me!? The little princess in her head snapped at her draconic side. We don't just go around wrecking other's property!

"Still don't get it, do you? After that stunt back there, plus whatever you did with Razorback, the Syndicate's gonna be all over you." Warp Runner warned, looking at Luna in particular. "Eris is not going to let the fabled Silver Mask out of her claws."

How many more monsters are going to come after us now before we can get this mess sorted out? Twilight wondered. Look on the bright side, it's like a real adventure, like Daring Do or Lord of the Golden Horseshoes.

Hmmm, maybe there'll be treasure... Lots of treasure.She almost had to smack herself to keep from drooling as Luna once again spoke up.

"Let them try, I'll put them down like I did last time. Whoever this Eris is, I'd like to see her take anything from me," the disguised night princess stated.

"Yeah, just the Luna I remember," Warp Runner observed casually. "Doesn't look like you have big sis to back you up this time though."

You know I'd really like to know what Luna and Celestia neglected to put in their diary. Twilight wondered as she finally collected herself enough to ask.

"A–and why do you remember her, what is it between you two?" That gave the bat pony pause, and for a split second Twilight swore she could see a look of sadness in the fanged mare's eyes.

"W–we were friends... A long time ago," Warp Runner told her, before swiftly marching on towards a large metal door at the end of the tunnel.

She began to undo the multitude of locks, levers, and latches that sealed the door like one of the secure Canterlot vaults, muttering inaudibly as she did so.

"Warp Runner and I were... Well, it's a long story. I..." Luna began to say, but for the first time since Twilight had met the nightly mare, the princes of the night was silenced by a glare.

Warp Runner's red and blue eyes narrowed as she shifted a forehoof and the door shunted open.

Meanwhile, Luna huffed again. "What? It's not like you cared all this time either, I'll bet you didn't even keep any..."

The door swung open to reveal a small grotto, its right wall exposed to the sunlight below the cliff as the grimy cavern containing the tavern had been. A wooden walkway ran around its edge, supporting several tables, a charcoal fire, and a hammock. Glasses and vials littered the place, and hanging roots had been made into make-shift storage, from which hung food, drying cloaks, and the odd weapon. If not for the gusty exposure to the sky beyond the cliff it may have been cozy, but one glance to the middle of the cavern and it was clear why such a gaping hole was necessary.

The skyship was smaller than most, for a crew of no more than five, Twilight guessed. Its aetheric balloon was as sleek and narrow as its slender hull suspended in the dock below, each of them flanked by wing-like sails that, even tied down as they were, rustled in the wind. The deck was polished blue wood, as was the cabin towards the ship's stern. Yet most striking of all was the vessel's deep blue coloration, decorated with stars, comets, and nebulae as if to perfectly blend into the night's sky. One last detail, positioned just behind the sharp silverpoint upon the ship's bow, caught Twilight's eye.

"Eternal Nightshine." Squinting, Twilight read out the name of the vessel, while at her side Luna stammered and Warp Runner looked back at her with a grin.

"Y–you... You kept it?" the disguised alicorn managed to mutter as the bat pony nodded.

"Of course, I did. The thing's worth more than most of Ironstal," she assured, moving over to stroke the ship's hull. "And for where you're gonna have to go, I think you'll need her."

At that, Twilight had to fight hard not to feel faint. A journey by airship? The little princess in her head was giddy with excitement. Dear Celestia, I really am living out an adventure novel!

Chapter Three: Eternal Nightshine

"She's beautiful, I'd only ever read about skyships until we left Equestria a few years ago. But I've never come across anything like this," Twilight admired as she ran a wing tip across the smooth hull of the Nightshine.

The midnight blue vessel seemed to hum with magical energy, and she was pretty sure that, were she still an alicorn, she'd have been able to pick up on exactly what spells were woven into its intricate structure. The strands of silver metal that twisted and wound around the ship like a glistening spider's web were, she guessed, the source of the enchantments, and the pattern was only visible now that she was so close.

"Well that's to be expected, you wouldn't have heard of a ship like this before," Warp Runner stated, trotting down the small set of wooden steps onto the lower walkway and pressing a forehoof to the hull.

"Designed to be fast, nimble, and almost invisible from below. Chameleon enchantments, a shielding spell wave. You'll never find a more worthy ship," the bat pony elaborated, seeming to admire the vestal like it was some long-lost lover.

"And she's yours, you made her?" Twilight inquired, glancing back at the fanged mare.

Eyes still fixed on the mosaic of stars and nebula that adorned Nightshine's hull, Warp Runner snorted a laugh before shaking her head.

"You really think I could afford to build a ship like this?" She glanced over at Twilight and the dragoness shrugged.

"Not to be rude, but there's an awful lot about you that I don't know," she responded and once again, Warp Runner chuckled.

"Touché, but no. Nightshine was built back in Canterlot by the finest magical engineers of the last age. Commissioned by the princess of the night herself," she went on, shooting a knowing glance back at Luna.

Still disguised as Eclipse, the silver unicorn was lost for words, and it wasn't until a few moments later that she finally shook her head and stammered.

"N–no quite, she was more a gift from my sister, yet..." She trailed off, eyes tearing up with happiness. "She looks just like she did the day Tia first surprised me with her."

"Celestia had this built for you, why? What did you need a skyship for when you both have personal vessels in the Equestrian fleet?" Twilight asked Luna, yet her gaze was stolen from the shocked princess by Warp Runner's snort.

"Seriously?" the bat pony asked bluntly, before jabbing a forehoof at Luna. "Do you really know either of your princesses at all?"

"True, I have Midnight Dream and my sister has the Celestial Lance. But Tia gifted me Nightshine only a few years after our coronation. She said it would be good for me to get out and see more of the world on my own terms," Luna responded, and Warp Runner rolled her eyes.

"You mean it would make it easier for the two of you to get out here and mess with things," she stated and the disguised alicorn blushed.

"Well, of course, you should know most of all that I was never one to just sit around and do nothing," Luna said as if Warp Runner should expect nothing less.

"So wait, you used to be a masked vigilante and an aethernaut?" Twilight exclaimed, and an awkward, adorable little smile appeared on Luna's muzzle as she responded.

"Well, technically they can just be the same thing if one has a ship?" If the princess's humble look had not threatened to melt Twilight's heart like butter, she'd have pressed more on the topic.

I mean, she clearly did it all for the right reasons, right? The little princess in her thoughts reassured. Though if she didn't... Think of all the treasure she could have hidden away here!

"Hey, are you okay? I don't think a dragon's tongue is supposed to hang out all loose like that," Warp Runner asked apprehensively, and only then did Twilight realize she was drooling over the idea of treasure like a dog would a bone.

"W–what... Yeah, I'm fine, totally fine!" she declared, before stammering awkwardly. "Just silly dragon thoughts, n–nothing I can't handle!"

Warp Runner raised an eyebrow, appearing very unconvinced as she observed. "Wow, that transformation of yours really has run deep."

"All the more reason to get this issue corrected as fast as possible," Luna interjected, finally seeming to break free of her stupor long enough to fly down and land between the two of them.

Is it just me or does she seem even more uptight about it now that Warp Runner's around? Twilight wondered as the bat pony attempted to peer around Luna, before giving up with a shrug and marching back off up the steps towards her hammock.

"Whatever you say. Either way, you're not going to want to go anywhere until tomorrow," the thestral responded.

Twilight glanced around at the rugged wall of hexagonal pillars around her, then at the hanging stalagmites that loomed above like fangs.

One night in a cave was enough for me. How does she live so comfortably all the way down here? she thought, ruffling her wings against a wave of cold wind from outside even as her draconic side rumbled. It's a cave, it's where dragons are supposed to live!

"Why exactly would we wait so long? Nightshine was designed to operate under the cover of nightfall, should we not just use it?" Luna declared and once again, Warp Runner shrugged.

"We? For one, I never said I was going anywhere with you," she began, stoking her campfire and righting her hammock then rummaging through her supplies as Luna walked up the stairs towards her. "Two, I'm not the only thestral the syndicate employs. Nightshine was designed so your own night guards could make it out, so that's why it's not a good idea."

Luna snorted, rolling her shoulders and seeming to bite back a frustrated snort as she bit her bottom lip. Twilight took one last glance at the beautiful ship, before walking up the platform towards the pair, worn wood creaking under her draconic weight.

"Maybe she's right, waiting here for things to die down can't be too bad, right? At least we're not back up there with all the crazy creatures," the dragoness reasoned, gesturing to the cave roof and what she assumed were the streets of Ironstal above.

Luna planted her rear down on a set of crates as she seemed to consider that. Yet from the way her look softened, she appeared to be far more accepting of advice from Twilight over the somewhat blunt bat pony.

"Fine, one night here. Maybe I can talk some sense into you and get you to leave this awful place while I have the time," she retorted, shooting Warp Runner a challenging look.

"You wouldn't have to ask me twice now that the syndicate has it out for me. But to go where you're going?" Warp Runner tapped a forehoof on the deck. "That's a whole other question altogether."

From the way Luna's expression seemed to droop at those words, Twilight was sure the disguised alicorn was once again feeling remorseful.

By Celestia, what is it with these two!? she mentally growled, before correcting her thoughts. Okay, time for some research. They don't want to make what happened obvious, so I'll just have to figure it out on my own.

"You've been there before too, haven't you?" the dragoness asked, looking at Warp Runner as the bat pony began to pull ingredients from barrels and crates.

Pausing for a moment, the fanged mare let out a sigh before trotting back to the fire in the middle of her makeshift camp, depositing the supplies into a metal pot hanging over the flames.

"Yes, I have, and I can tell you now that it's not somewhere anypony goes lightly. Dreams belong in our heads, not the other way around," she warned, tapping a forehoof against her temple.

Yeah, because that makes me feel so much better about going there myself, Twilight's thoughts chimed anxiously as she glanced at the silver-coated mare sitting beside her. Please, say something reassuring again, Luna!

The night princess leaned forward, the emerald green eyes of her illusionary form shining in the light of the campfire's flames as she seemed to reflect on the idea.

"All my life that place has affected me, like a shadow over me. Looming, judging, waiting for a moment it could allow its power to seep into anything I cared about," she began to say, yet more to herself than anypony else as she continued to stare at the fire. Then she sighed. "Dreams have been a reality for me for so long that I can hardly tell the difference anymore."

There was no sad break in her voice. Even so, Twilight felt a pang of sympathy that the princess had to live with the fact that crazy things could happen at any moment she showed emotion.

This transformation, the Tantabus? Even Nightmare Moon, how much of that was influenced by her connection to that place? The dragoness wondered. Was she really born with that power or did she seek it out? Is it even her fault?

Regardless, the dragoness wrapped a leathery wing over Luna's back, as across the fire, Warp Runner paused to regard the two of them, the first genuine look of care appearing on her face.

"You still have a way with words I see," the thestral observed, taking a wooden spoon in her mouth and starting to stir the contents of the pot. "All and all, I can't say you've changed too much."

"Yet still you say that as if it's a bad thing?" Luna inquired, but Warp Runner did not look up from her stew as she muttered around the spoon in her mouth.

"If you want the truth, I don't know either way. Good, bad. I'd have followed you anywhere once, but you really did some stupid things, Luna." Once again her expression fell, before Twilight chimed in.

"But doesn't everypony make mistakes? I don't know if you've heard all the way out here in the middle of nowhere, but since the elements saved her she's been nothing but a blessing to Equestria," the dragoness insisted.

"And yet she still needed some magical rocks to save her in the first place," the bat pony was swift to point out, spitting out the spoon. "Do you know how worthless it made me feel when you ran away? How insignificant I felt when you declared that the world was not good enough for you?" she pressed, holding a forehoof to her chest.

Save for staring down at the chipped, wooden floor, Luna didn't respond. Meanwhile, Twilight's attention perked up once again.

"So that really would make you over a thousand years old?" she asked, and rubbing her forehead, right where Twilight had seen the stump of her horn, the bat pony grumbled.

"A millennia and then some... Now years go by like days, a whole decade could just be a week out here." She took the spoon in a forehoof and used it to tilt the contents of the stew pot into bowls.

"The Syndicate rules everything with an iron hoof, keeps everyone down and in line, while I just linger," she went on, before finally adding. "All parts of things I'd rather forget."

At those words, she glanced at Luna, and for a split second, the two mares' eyes met. Twilight looked between them, before finally asking.

"So what really happened to you... If you don't mind me asking?" Warp Runner did not take her glare off Luna for a long moment before muttering.

"Nothing that matters now," she finished, dishing out her stew before she slid bowls over to each of them. "But you're going to need something to eat if you're going out there, so here."

Twilight peered down her muzzle at the stuff, half expecting an eye to come bobbing to the surface of the steamy brown mixture of cabbage and carrots. She swore she could smell meat in the mix, and if she'd have been her normal pony self, she'd have had to fight not to throw up. Yet her dragon side merely scoffed at the meager offer, imagining the gemstones and minerals she would much rather seek out and consume.

"Thanks," Luna declared to her right as she took the bowl in her magic and levitated it to her lips.

Not so formal about drinking it right from the bowl out here, hmm? Twilight observed, pretty sure she was starting to like this 'not-so princess-y' Luna. I mean with the way you eat hayburgers, can you really call anypony else messy, Twi?

"Don't mention it," Warp Runner responded, as Twilight's thoughts caused her to hide a blush with a wing.

"There's more where that came from on the fire if you need it. That's if you haven't forgotten how to cook," she stated, glancing at Luna before downing her stew in one go and hopping up into her hammock.

"First light should be the best time for you to leave, right before the morning market fleet comes in and the Syndicate switches over the guards," she added as she rolled onto her back and stared up at the cave roof.

Twilight looked at Luna as the disguised princess finished her stew and nodded. "I'll adhere to your judgment then," she responded.

Warp Runner chuckled before adding, "Oh, well that'll be a first." She lifted a forehoof to rub her broken horn. "In that case, I think the best thing you can do for now is to get some sleep."

Ugh, come on, Twilight. You slept in a cave just a week ago and that one didn't even have a mattress! the grumpy princess in Twilight's mind muttered as the dragoness rolled and fidgeted uncomfortably on a set of rags she'd thrown over the deck for herself. Yeah, that last one was far more character-building.

Even so, there were far too many thoughts spinning around her head, so many loose ends, so many questions, most of which now revolved around Warp Runner. Seriously, I'll get to the bottom of what happened between her and Luna if it kills me.

As far as she could perceive, the two were very reluctant to speak to one another without encouragement. Neither had even brought up what they planned to do come morning, nor a word about Warp Runner's supposed map Luna had mentioned in the tavern. So finally Twilight slumped with a huff, smoke blasting from her nostrils as a low, draconic growl bubbled up from deep in her throat.

I hate this body so much! She inwardly groaned as she practically melted into a scaly heap of spines and lavender wings atop her nest of rags. By Celestia, if I still had my magic I'd do everything in my power to at least feel comfortable!

"You're not actually going to sleep, are you?" Twilight's ears perked at the sound of Warp Runner's voice across the deck, and one of her eyes momentarily flashed open to catch the leathery winged mare still laying in her hammock, forehoof batting a ball against the ceiling in a continuous motion.

"You know the night is my time, how could I sleep?" Luna responded, laying with her forehooves crossed in front of her.

"Because I'm guessing you've been awake for at least a whole day, if not more," Warp Runner reasoned, before groaning. "So much for adhering to my judgment."

"I have restrained my ambition to make for the sky as soon as possible, have I not? Am I not still here now as you advised?" Luna countered, but Warp Runner shrugged.

"What really happened to you, Luna?" she asked, and at that question, Twilight's ears perked even more eagerly.

Yet there was only a sigh from the midnight mare. "You know if I were to tell you everything we would be here for years."

"Try me, I've got plenty of time. You were the mare I looked up to once. No pony would have dared even think about putting down others while the fabled Silver Mask and Solar Flare were around," Warp Runner mused, almost like a filly would about their comic book heroes, and there was a slight chuckle from Luna.

"I would be lying if I said I did not miss the times we were free, my sister and I." There was another long pause before the alicorn added, "We were able to do what we wished with who we wished, when and where we wished, we felt like real ponies, not idols."

"Well forgive me for saying, but you went ahead and made a pretty bad idol of yourself since we last spoke," Warp Runner declared.

"A shame I'll carry for the rest of my immortal life, you must understand," Luna responded, and once again there was a pause as the two mares seemed to consider what they'd missed.

"If you'd still been here back then I'd have knocked some sense into you. You shouldn't have cared so much what ponies thought of you. So what if Celestia was so high and mighty, you mattered more to me than any of those fools in Equestria." There was a ruffling of wings and the sound of magic sparking to life.

"Who did your sister have that was as close to her as we were to each other? Nopony, and you..." Twilight caught the flash as Warp Runner's words trailed off and opened her eyes again to see that Luna had dropped her disguise.

It was now the bat pony's turn to stammer speechlessly as Luna awkwardly covered a blush with her wing. "Still all you remember?"

"N–no, not exactly..." Warp Runner stammered before seeming to correct herself. "Your mane looks different."

"A boost in power, my sister would have you believe. For the citizens of Equestria have warmed to me like they never did over the millennia before," Luna elaborated, and Warp Runner caught the ball she was bouncing,

"I'm guessing that's why your dream magic's so out of check," she questioned, and once again Twilight's attention was on edge. "All that power's gonna be harder to contain."

"It's a possibility. Twilight saved me from Nightmare Moon, saved me from my own self-inflicted torment when the Tantabus threatened Equestria. I could not keep my admiration for her in check... Though my newfound strength may have been the reason the transformation overtook her so much, so fast," Luna proposed.

"I'll say, it changed her into a completely different species. I didn't know you had a thing for dragons." The sly tone the bat pony employed was unmistakable, and Luna snorted before stammering.

"I–I... I don't... You know as well as I how dreams can be manipulated... It's just a personification of the desire I have for strength and power in a partner, that's all," the night princess insisted.

"Whatever you say, I know you at least had a thing for ponies that were taller than you," Warp Runner quipped.

"Neigh, thou hast no idea... I..." Luna's sudden shouting trailed off into a squeak. "I... Okay, perhaps, but any pony of such merit was so rare."

"Oh, the struggle of being a pure-born alicorn. Everypony literally has to look up to you," Warp Runner chimed, before adding. "But if you're really gonna try and fix this I guess I'm going to have to give you the map back, right?"

"It would be necessary, yes," Luna responded and the bat pony sighed once again.

"Okay, we fall asleep and I'll let you in this once," she stated, before rolling over in her hammock and fixing Luna with a glare. "But you go in, get what you need, and leave, okay."

Luna nodded firmly, before tentatively reaching out with a wing and placing it on Warp Runner's shoulder. Despite herself, the thestral appeared to be resisting the urge to melt at the soft touch of Luna's pinions as the alicorn assured.

"Thank you."

Warp Runner glanced away. "Well, either way, once it's out of my head the better. Maybe then I can sleep straight."

"I have a spell that can help you sleep if you want to?" Luna offered, but the fanged mare shrugged her off.

"N–no... I've slept well enough with it for centuries, I'll be fine," she insisted, and once again, Luna nodded.

"Well, goodnight then," the night princess said, retracting her wing and curling down to fold it over her head.

"Goodnight," Warp Runner responded, and at that, there were no more words from the two as silence fell over the cave.

Twilight had no idea at what point she'd actually managed to fall asleep in the awkward position she'd been forced into. Now she stood in a large meadow of open grass, wildflowers swaying in the breeze around her, but she did not care. For here, unlike in the waking world, she did not have claws and scales, but hooves and a smooth, lavender coat. She could just run forever with her real legs, flap her feathery wings, and use magic to her heart's content. Yet before she could even budge, a shadow passed over her and a soft voice spoke up.

"I noticed you were having trouble sleeping, so I helped you along," Luna declared as she landed beside Twilight in the meadow, majestic alicorn form glistening like diamonds as her ethereal mane billowed in the soft wind.

Yet at the words, Twilight blinked, stammering. "Y–you knew I was awake?"

Luna smirked. "And that you also probably heard every word I and Warp Runner had to say." The larger alicorn chuckled. "Worry not, dear Twilight, your curiosity is more than justified and our conversation was hardly too private."

Even as Luna offered a reassuring wink, Twilight could not help but stammer, an awkward blush pooling in her cheeks, no matter how much she attempted to will it away.

"I... I... I, I didn't mean to eavesdrop, I'm so sorry... It's just you came all this way to see her and well..." Luna pressed a wing tip to Twilight's muzzle, silencing the babbling mare before she began to trot on along a yellow brick pathway that materialized before them.

"Warp Runner is a friend of mine from long before my banishment. We met one time that myself and Celestia were out here for some freedom," she began to explain as the meadow around her fell away, scattering into a cloud of blue and red-winged butterflies.

Twilight followed, several of the fluttering insects passing by and finding perches on her muzzle and wings. She shook them off with a ruffle and a snort, earning a small giggle from Luna as the alicorn glanced back playfully.

Aaa! Even when it feels like I'm in my own body again she makes my insides feel like they're dancing! Twilight thought.

Even so, blush still burning on her cheeks, the lavender mare pressed on with her questions. "But if you've known her so long how come you've never mentioned her?"

At that, Luna's ears folded and her head drooped. "Just another part of my past I dared not go back and face after the Nightmare. Warp Runner locked me out of her dreams so I was worried she may not want to remember me. But true to what she says, she helped a lot in the days of ages past. When I allowed my dark feelings to overcome me I betrayed her as much as I did my sister."

Twilight blinked at the confession, just as the world around the two of them came alive with starlight. The winding path that led away from the meadow was now snaking its way through the night sky. Odd fireflies and glowing birds darted across the cosmos as comets whizzed by. Yet the lavender princess maintained her focus on what Luna was saying, her mind now clear of her draconic side, coming to all kinds of conclusions.

"You two must have been very close, I–I'm sorry things had to come between you," she admitted, pretty sure the two of them may have been a little more than close.

How else can somepony just become an alicorn, if not the same way I and Cadance did? Twilight wondered. Could Luna's feelings have done that to her?

"You could say that..." Luna began before she cut herself off, shook her head, and added. "But it's in the past, it does not matter."

Twilight cocked her head. Oh, I think it does, I'm not the only pony she's loved before, am I? she wondered. Then again, she's thousands of years old, what am I to expect?

"What does matter," Luna swiftly resumed, "Is that I promised you I'd teach you a thing or two about dream magic, if you're still interested."

Twilight perked up at the prospect. No matter how curious she was about Warp Runner, a unique form of magic such as Luna's was not something she was about to miss out on. Meanwhile, around the two of them, the stars became brighter, until the world was eventually transformed into an ethereal blue haze, similar to the reality in which Twilight knew a pony could become an alicorn. Only where she remembered there'd been screens displaying triumphant moments of her life, here there were only rows of doors, one side of them blue, and the opposite red. Every single one of them was chained shut, with a multitude of padlocks and bars sealing them. All save for one red door.

"So this is how you do it? Like the time you had us help you with the Tantabus?" Twilight asked, and Luna nodded.

"On the surface, yes, though this is more of a behind-the-scenes view. I seldom bring ponies here," The night princess informed, and once again, it was hard for Twilight to not squeak at the idea she was in a place of such magical significance.

Luna's smirk returned as she glanced down at the shorter princess. "It's good to see that my misguided meddling has not dampened your curiosity."

"Ha, it'd take more than sprouting scales and some claws for me to not be interested in this. Your dream abilities are legendary," Twilight exclaimed, and at that, it was Luna's turn to hide a blush.

"Yes, well, ponies will have to do without me this night, for we have work to do," she declared a second later before her horn flared and she opened the only unchained red door.

"You need to get that map, don't you?" Twilight asked, looking at each of the locked doors around them and swiftly connecting the dots. "This is Warp Runner's mind, right?"

"Of a sense, yes, though more of a converging point of her dreams. Come, stay close to me. I'll teach you what I can, but we must tread lightly. I promised her I would not interfere with anything more than what I needed," Luna elaborated.

Not that it looks like she can mess with anything, this place is locked up tighter than the Canterlot vaults, Twilight observed.

Nevertheless, the lavender mare nodded as the two of them made their way through the door and into a suddenly materializing set of winding stairs. The sudden drop caused her to stagger and she'd have ended up flat on her face if not for Luna's wing opening in her path.

"The first rule of dream walking, reality is not what we perceive. Physics as you know it, has no place here," the dark alicorn explained.

No physics? What, how can any place work without physics!? Twilight's thoughts exclaimed, but she nodded to Luna nonetheless. Look on the bright side, think of all the interesting things that could occur with utterly different laws of nature.

"So what do I do if I end up falling upwards or something?" Twilight inquired as the two of them made their way down the winding staircase, surrounded by darkness.

There were voices in the gloom, shadows darting around in the corner of her vision. She swore she could hear Warp Runner's name drift like a ghost caught in an ethereal wind. There were mentions of Luna, Nightmare Moon, and even Celestia.

"How could you think that... Where would you go?" whispered one voice as another responded.

"I stay here and they'll hunt you down because of what I did... They're monsters all of them... Need to be destroyed." Twilight's head snapped back as she thought she felt a claw tap her shoulder.

"Oh, and you're the one who could rule them... Of course!" There was nothing behind her but darkness.

"Eyes on me, Twilight. Seldom does one look back in this realm and find themselves perceiving where they were before." The sound of Luna's voice as Twilight felt a wing on her shoulder called the mare back.

"I thought I heard voices, they were all around us," she admitted, but Luna didn't even so much as glance around.

"That you did, echoes, lost memories cast out in the void between dreams where they can be forgotten. It is best to ignore them so they can stay that way," Luna warned as the darkness around them seemed to break.

Like a web of frozen lightning, twisting fingers of light cut through the pitch black, growing more and more in number until the darkness was replaced by golden sunshine and clear blue sky.

"But I heard your name and..." Twilight's words fell utterly flat as she glanced out at the vast landscape stretching out before her. "By Celestia."

The sun shared the sky with a pale blue moon, both shining down on rolling hills of dark purple sand, broken by mountains of red crystal. Clouds the shape of bat-winged foals drifted overhead along with birds with feathers of red and blue. Below, where the sand gave way to a rocky labyrinth of ruins and maze-like walls, cracks, and crevices shone with a baleful green light. Among them were broken statues, most of them depicting yet more thestrals, with one great bat pony standing at the center upon a jagged hill.

Forged from a shimmering black stone and ten times the size, the great statue of the bat-winged mare had one eye of brilliant sapphire and another of deep red ruby. The long horn that protruded from under her mane was topped with a sphere of solid gold that glowed brilliantly in the light of both the moon and sun. Yet even that great monument was utterly put to shame by one far grander that loomed over the thing, an alicorn statue so vast that its feathery wings filled the alien sky.

Stars lingered under those wings like fireflies trapped in glass, yet the entire thing was cracked and broken. Huge chunks had crumbled away and it looked mere moments from a devastating collapse that would surely bury everything below it. Nevertheless, the second Twilight's eyes fell upon it, she was almost sent tumbling back from the stairs in awe.

"L–Luna, is that you?" she asked, gesturing to the monolithic alicorn with a wing tip. Luna did not even gaze up at the titanic statue made in her image as she nodded.

"One's personal dreamscape is often the truest reflection of oneself, providing it can be deciphered," she declared before reluctantly adding. "And never have I met a pony who had dreams like Warp Runner."

Chapter Four: The Map

Despite the twisting reality as bat-winged keys and tattered scrolls fluttered around the two dream walkers like prismatic birds. The last thing Twilight expected to find in the great Luna statue’s crumbling hind-hoof, was a set of winding stairs. At first, they appeared to be made from the same black marble as the rest of the structure, the pale veins and seems within the rock ebbing and flowing as if alive.

It was as curious as it was disturbing, while the second Twilight thought to take notes on the subject, a journal and quill flashed into reality beside her. Never before had she been so startled by mere paper, almost leaping out of her fur as she hopped left, impacting one of the dreamscape’s glassy walls with a ripple.

“One’s thoughts tend to manifest easily here,” Luna elaborated as she reached the base of the stairs, peering upwards. “Most of all in Warp Runner’s mind…” She paused to think for a second. “She has a way with creativity.”

“You’d know that better than most,” came the voice of the mare in question, right as a faded apparition of the bat pony flickered into existence beside the pair. “Having fun in my head?”

“I’d have thought you’d not see fit to accompany us,” Luna said, looking slightly put off by the mare’s presence.

How can she not expect Warp Runner to be in her own head? Twilight wondered, a miniature mimic of a very thoughtful-looking purple princess poofing into being beside her as she did so.

“You know you can’t enter this passage without me, Luna,” quipped the thestral as she tapped on the crystal floor. “Or maybe I just didn’t fancy seeing you two caught up in here forever.”

“I think you’ll find I can still take care of myself,” Luna responded, sweeping between Twilight and the smaller mare.

“Right, sure,” Warp Runner scoffed, trotting up the ruined stairs. “And I think you’ll find I’ve made a few changes. It’s a little crazy in here.”

“You could say that again,” Twilight responded, swatting the swarms of bothersome notebooks away, only for one to spit a spray of loose parchment at her, while the quill poked at her snout. “Ouch, hey!”

“Yeah they do that,” Warp Runner deadpanned, then looked at Luna levelly. “You didn’t think I’d leave your precious map in any old dream?”

“Your machinations aside…” Luna turned away from the thestral, waving the bothersome book off with a forehoof. “One can never be so… Physical when interacting with the dreamscape, Twilight.”

The tome swirled away in a puff of smoke, much to Twilight’s annoyance, while the quill turned blue and merged with the dark alicorn’s wings. “One must play upon this world with their mind, not their hooves.”

“How do I do that if anything I imagine just comes after me?” the smaller alicorn retorted, scampering up behind Luna before any more of the crazy realm’s denizens could assail her.

“It only does so because I made it that way, crafting a dream with purpose is just as hard as dream walking itself,” Warp Runner elaborated, her voice seeming to echo within the realm itself as she led the way, much to Luna’s apparent chagrin.

“I suppose it bears little difference to your organizational skills, in a manner,” Luna interjected as the two stood side by side in the warped stairway. “Take these stairs for example, what do you see?”

What does she mean by that, they’re just stairs? She thought, the little princess in her head shrugging to make sense of the question.

“Well… They’re…” Twilight rubbed her chin. “Moving, it’s like they’re alive, look.” She jabbed a forehoof at one of the pulsating seams, and almost like fluid, the marble recoiled from her touch. “Gah, by Celestia!”

“True, in a sense,” Luna added with a light chuckle as the smaller princess took a step back. “But the dream can sense your unfamiliarity with its lores, your desire to rationalize must be abandoned here. Organize things in a more… Loose manner.” The nightly mare waved a forehoof in the air, before taking another step.

Unlike it did for Twilight, the floor seemed to harden at Luna’s touch, forming a silver plate, while the rest of the dark marble writhed and twisted around it. Before her, the winding passageway bloomed, expanding upwards in a manner Twilight had failed to even see at first. Appearing less like a stairway to nowhere in seconds, the purple alicorn felt her muzzle work, and words fail to formulate.

“She means be less literal,” Warp Runner chimed in, tapping a forehoof on the solid stairs under her. “A dream responds to your thoughts as much as it does your touch.”

How do I organize the unorganizable? She already said there’s no physics here, how do I make sense of that? She was infinitely glad her dragon self appeared to be taking a back seat, even if she hardly felt any smarter than her beastly side when confronted with such impossibilities. Think, if it’s all based on how I imagine it should be… Urg, my brain!

She dared not think about taking notes, lest the book and quill return to assault her once more. Therefore, she swiftly hopped up the solid steps after the pair, before the floor could sink into the umbral depths again. She was at least glad to be smaller in such a narrow passage. Unlike in Ironstal’s streets, she wasn’t blundering into everything. At least until the memory of the rugged alleys crossed her mind, and as if to spite her, shimmers of such places appeared in the glassy obsidian around them. She blinked, jabbing a forehoof at the faded reflection, as behind the three of them, the base of the stairway closed.

“A reflection of your thoughts, you were thinking about today, were you not?” Luna asked, glancing back. “The closer we get to the center of this dream, the more that may start to transpire.”

“It was just for a second, but yeah.” Twilight closed her eyes, doing her best to let her mind go blank, and just as Luna indicated, the image faded.

“The less you think of that place the better,” Warp Runner muttered as she tapped an odd rhythm out on the floor, as if they were codes to force her dream to expand deeper. “Ironstal has a certain way of capturing those who dwell on it too long.”

“And is that not what it did to you?” Luna asked, but the mare shrugged, the whole dream quivering as she did so.

If it’s that easy to think of nothing, it would explain why I’m not glimpsing Luna’s thoughts. Twilight considered that this may be how she discovered what the night princess was still hiding. Or Warp Runner too, this is her dream, after all.

At those thoughts, however, a new reflection materialized in the obsidian glass, instantly making the lavender mare’s cheeks fill with heat. Luna, beset by the radiant glow of a great moon, stood proud and mysterious, ethereal mane flowing like a dazzling constellation for all to see.

“O–oh, I see,” the true night princess observed, her real instance of shock not lost on Twilight as the smaller princess stammered, while Warp Runner rolled her eyes.

“I–it... It’s nothing, I was just thinking about how weird this place is, that’s all!” The lavender alicorn floundered to rub the image from the wall, only to smear it like thick paint, turning her hooves black with inky gel. “Gah, what is this stuff!?”

“This place is meant to play on your feelings, Princess,” Warp Runner called, almost a little too much pride in her voice for having seemingly conjured the trap.

“Calm yourself, Twilight.” Luna came between the two, breaking Twilight free of her stooper. The soft touch of the night princess’s dark wing on her shoulders as she coaxed the smaller princess along. “Do not allow your emotions to overwhelm you, here least of all.”

Yeah, because if I do, those I care about are going to turn into dragons or something! Part of her yelled, only to wonder what else she could conjure. Or they’ll become books… Just copies of Luna… What do I really look for in a partner!?

“How do you rationalize any of this?” she finally exclaimed, as the pathway ahead opened out. The left wall suddenly boasted grand arches that allowed an expansive view of the vast dreamscape far below.

“That’s the interesting part, you’re not supposed to.” Warp Runner laughed, gazing outward as the proud architect of this twisting place.

It felt as if they’d only been trotting upward for a few minutes, and already they had to be halfway up the statue. More odd birds flitted about the thestral-like clouds, while a fog drifted among glassy spires far below. Across the breach, the statue of Warp Runner herself was visible above the clouds. Positioned as if to gaze up at the last vestiges of the larger alicorn, the golden orb at the tip of her horn was poised for Luna’s shattered statue to receive.

“She is right, neither of us attempt to do so,” Luna admitted as she withdrew her wing. “But I do categorize what I know of it. Tia tells me often of your organizational skills, if anypony could make sense of it, it would be you.”

Twilight hated that as much as the credit from her former mentor made her chest swell with pride, Luna’s adorable faith in her made her cheeks redden almost as much. The feeling summoned several miniature Celestias, each flitting about on rapid wings as they chimed praise. Twilight closed her eyes, pressed a forehoof to her chest, then let out a breath, and they were gone. A refreshing motion the whole world seemed to share as an ethereal breeze blew by.

“Picture what I want, believe it can happen, right?” she asked, and both mares nodded as the lavender alicorn stepped forward. “Like a pathway to the top of this statue, I’m guessing?”

“It had been my intended destination, yes,” Luna confirmed, waving her horn towards Warp Runner.

“At least you remember some things,” the bat pony huffed, the chiseled-down horn hidden under her mane flaring into existence for a second as she jabbed it ahead.

Like a pair of vast stage curtains pulled aside, the dark walls rolled out of their way, revealing a long tunnel lined with wings of dark marble, while a silver floor bloomed out under their hooves.

“And if you learn to do so here, you may do so anywhere,” Luna added cryptically, as she followed Warp Runner up the ever-expanding tunnel.

“And why are her dreams different from anypony else’s?” Twilight asked, making sure her thoughts were always half focused on keeping the ground under her hooves solid. “Why hide the map in her head?”

“It is not such a simple thing to talk about.” Sighed the larger alicorn as she bowed her head, flickers of shame radiating in the walls around her.

“You could say that,” Warp Runner admitted with an equally downtrodden tone. Almost as if whatever had come between the two were still rather fresh to them.

At the latter’s confession, faint voices, muffled as if underwater, corresponded with faded images of the mysterious thestral. In all her leather-winged alicorn glory, similar to her dream’s statue, Warp Runner looked far more vibrant. Twilight also recognized a younger Luna, the two looked so happy together as they flew through a moonlit night. Another image of the two on a cloud, followed by them on the deck of the Night Shine. Until finally, the images became colder and darker. The two were shouting at one another.

“If you think any of that is going to protect me, you’re wrong!” snapped the vision of Warp Runner, while a similarly ethereal Luna stomped a forehoof, countering.

“To say such things. Thy doth not love us enough to see the truth!” Thundering away, the dark blue alicorn scoffed and spread her wings. “One day thou will be most grateful for what we will do.”

“Twilight?” The image faded, as Luna’s real voice drifted into Twilight’s ears, while Warp Runner’s eyes were totally averted. The princess blinked, then shook her head, looking over to see a very worried-looking set of blue eyes fixed on her. “What did I say, do not dwell.”

Don’t dwell on what you and Warp Runner are hiding? She wanted to say as much; pretty sure her dragon self would if it had a say right now. Or I wait, if she does care, she’ll have to tell me.

“Sorry.” Twilight winced as Luna swiftly turned away, looking to her bat-winged companion as she asked.

“I take it you cannot proceed as before?” Warp Runner gave her a knowing look, as if she should already know the answer to that question. “I see.”

“The seal is still intact, only you may go forward,” she stated, while Twilight glanced between the pair.

“What, you’re saying there’s parts of your own dreams you can’t get to?” she asked, and after a second of thought, both of them nodded.

“Only I could get you up the base of the statue, while only Luna can get to the map itself,” she began, nodding back the way they’d come, or what was left of it in the inky mass. “Therefore, we can only get it back when both of us agree.”

“And I thank you for allowing me,” Luna assured with a bow, before gesturing for Twilight to follow her.

“Make sure to wake up in one piece,” the thestral called, before adding. “And please don’t break anything up there!”

“We can’t actually break her mind, can we?” Twilight asked, finally emerging onto a vast platform that appeared to be grown from the crescent moon neck brace of the Luna statue. “I don’t remember seeing this from down there.”

“The sight you saw from below no longer exists. Dreams are in such flux that only the points around us are stable. Save for anchors such as these,” Luna explained, nodding to both the statue of her, and the opposite one of Warp Runner. “They represent her perception of me.”

Seldom had Twilight heard the night princess’s tone so solemn, as Luna stepped up to the precipice. She followed, gazing outwards across the radiant landscape, until her eyes fixed on the golden orb above the opposing statue’s horn, now perfectly level with the pair of them.

Makes sense why it’s so much bigger than her own statue then. She noted, before also realizing the dower implications of the Luna statue’s dilapidated condition. I wonder if there’s a statue of me in Luna’s dreams?

Glancing over at the dark alicorn, silhouetted against the prismatic sky of the shimmering dreamscape as her majestic mane swirled in the ethereal wind, her curiosity about that hypothetical statue only grew.

“But they’re both still here, that must mean she still cares about you, right?” Twilight pressed as she followed Luna around the edge of the platform.

“It means that she has failed to forget me, at the very least,” she responded, yet after their evening of getting reacquainted, Twilight was sure forgetting the night princess was the last thing Warp Runner desired. “Though it matters not. Come, I always promised her I would go no further than the map required.”

“You mean this is the map?” Twilight asked, looking around, only for several scrolls to appear above her and topple down like rain. “Urg, I did it again!”

Despite her frustration, seeing the adorable look of amusement her antics summoned on Luna’s face, she was pretty sure tripping over her newfound dream skills wasn’t the worst thing.

Just how many ponies has she been able to do this with? She wondered, pretty sure Warp Runner had once been one such mare. No wonder she’s not forgotten her, that smile is way too cute!

Conflicting feelings aside, Twilight shook off the scrolls as Luna positioned herself in the very center of the platform.

“The Nightmare would have given anything to access this,” she began, standing tall with both wings flared as her horn glowed softly. “Warp Runner promised she would never see it come to pass. I can be thankful her faith in me was restored enough for her to lead us here.”

The words sounded more like a reformation for Luna herself as she closed her eyes, and around her the dream stilled. “Observe, dear Twilight, how one can manipulate this realm.”

Despite a spark of apprehension, Twilight glanced about as a deep rumble shook the world. As if mountains were moving, rocks ground against one another below. Peering over the edge of the platform, she could see why. The statue of Warp Runner began to shudder, animated stone moving as if alive, while it ebbed and flowed over the countless pale veins that had sprung up over its jagged surface. Odd birds flitted from the glassy formation in great waving flocks, while clouds were split like smooth butter as the monstrous idol’s monolithic hooves moved.

And here I thought moving as a dragon was cumbersome. Entire valleys were ripped away as the huge alicorn thestral stooped into a bow, the stomp of her hooves shaking the dream to its foundations as she presented the golden sphere up to the platform. I really hope this doesn’t count as breaking her dreams.

The submissive symbolism wasn’t lost on Twilight, even if Luna’s own statue failed to do little more than crumble further under the force of such titanic movements. Looking back at the dark mare in question, she observed the strained expression beginning to twist Luna’s features. Her eyes locked tight, her ears folded, while her brow and muzzle wrinkled as her horn grew brighter. Meanwhile, the great golden orb drifted closer.

“L–Luna?” she asked, barely able to pull her eyes away from the encroaching sphere as she glanced between the two. “Luna, are you alright?”

Around them, the whole world quivered. The sky above cracked like glass, exposing a dark void beyond. While the wicked landscape below was torn aside by great fissures of pulsating blue light.

“W–worry not, dear Twilight… The barriers we erected to safeguard… They’re still as strong as we intended,” Luna forced through her exertions, before the whole platform lurched.

Steadying herself, Twilight had just enough time to glance down, seeing one of the great Luna statue’s monstrous limbs vanish in a cloud of dust before the boom of impact surged up to shove her back from the edge.

“I thought she said she’d give it to you?” called the lavender mare as Luna forced open one tearful eye, teeth grinding as her muzzle scrunched tight.

“She is, these defenses are my doing…” A web of shimmering blue cracks spread up the wall behind her, sparking with eldritch flames as the whole statue leaned left. “The map must be seized before she wakes, or it will be lost to her. Twilight, when the sphere opens, you must grab it!”

“What!?” Twilight balked, flaring her wings awkwardly in an attempt to stay balanced as she floundered on the tilting surface. “When were you planning to tell me I need to do that!?”

“I admit, I did not anticipate it would prove this difficult,” Luna grunted, one foreleg slipping out from under in an odd mimicry of the statue’s own lost limb.

Twilight was at her side in a flash, supporting the larger mare as the golden orb smashed into the platform’s edge. She swore she could hear the disembodied voice of Warp Runner yell not to break anything. All the while, lines appeared along the orb’s shimmering surface. As if sliced by draconic claws, the rents bloomed wider and wider. Twilight’s eyes fixed on what appeared to be no more than an ordinary tattered scroll within.

“Worry not for me, Twilight. Seize the scroll!” Luna called as the whole world started to fall out under the two of them. “Leap for it, I will greet you when we wake!”

Wind began to tear at Twilight’s mane as she fought to stand, let alone jump. No calm breathing exercise was going to slow her racing heart now.

“That’s it, but what if I miss?” she asked, clinging to Luna more for her own support, rather than the other way around.

“This is a dream, you will not!” Luna insisted as Twilight gulped, spread her wings, and kicked off, moments before the statue fell away.

Screaming, she floundered through the air, both magic and forehooves grasping for the tattered paper as the dream fell away in a flurry of dusty starlight.

“I got it!” roared the dragoness, covers cast flying in all directions as she surged up, only to slam her head hard on the cave roof. “Ouch, pony feathers!”

Flopping back, she rubbed the tender scales between her horns, wincing at the few stones that toppled from the ceiling. Only then did she notice the sensation of something in her opposite foreclaw, and glancing over, she unfurled her clasped claws to find a dusty, old scroll.

“Good morning, Twilight.” Luna’s propensity for stealth was ironically on full display even in her disguised form. The sound of her voice right next to the dragoness, almost had Twilight jumping into the roof again. “My apologies, I did not mean to startle you.”

“L–Luna. But you… I… We were just…” Twilight’s stammering once again drew the most adorable giggle from Luna, regardless of the unicorn persona she currently boasted. “How are you already awake?”

“The time between dreams and the waking world is seldom constant. Though, I have only been awake for a few minutes,” she elaborated, straightening her rough mane. “I will say, you were quite the sight for a first-time dream walker.”

Okay, is she saying that because I was actually good, or because she just liked the fact I was there? She thought, while her dragon side scoffed at the idea. Don’t think just because you can hide in dreams you don’t have to act like a real dragon.

“Speak for yourself,” groaned Warp Runner as she rubbed her head, mane a total mess as she sat up from her hammock, weary complexion little better than a zombie pony. “My head is killing me, I told you not to make a mess up there!?”

“I had to override the temporal locks. They were still in place,” Luna admitted, looking down at one of her forehooves. “I did not anticipate collapsing that part of your dreamscape, I apologize.”

“It’ll grow back. For the better, without that dumb thing in there,” the thestral huffed as she rolled out of bed, dribbled to the floor like a scruffy waterfall, then stood, and shook herself. “Still, let it never be said we didn’t do a good job, looks the same as the day we left it.”

The mysterious mare nodded to Twilight’s foreclaw, drawing each set of eyes to the scroll. Slightly perplexed as to how she could have literally grabbed something from a dream, the thing appeared far more mundane in the waking world than it had been while Warp Runner’s subconscious had been collapsing around them.

“I can’t believe I actually managed to grab it,” Twilight admitted, lifting the thing to discover a ring of runic markings on one side, while the other side boasted the icon of a crescent moon. “I thought you said it takes a lot of magic to retrieve something from a dream?”

“It does, you saw just how much the Tantabus had to generate in an effort to escape,” Luna responded, as both she and Warp Runner lurched at Twilight’s claws running over the paper. “Just… Take care, Twilight. Such things are irreplaceable.”

The dragoness blinked, opening her talons towards Luna. “Maybe you should take it, I’d rather save priceless magical artifacts for when I can actually study them properly.”

Horn flaring, Luna took the thing in her magic, holding it out before her while rotating it left and right. Her eyes passed over it with an urgency that caused Twilight’s spines to prickle with apprehension, while Warp Runner tied back her mane loosely, and trotted over to peek.

“Trust me, Princess. Some things are better not studied,” she warned cryptically as she snatched a glimpse at the scroll over Luna’s shoulder. “All still there, I’m guessing?”

“It would seem so, you performed your charge admirably,” chimed the princess as the thestral rolled her eyes.

“As if I’d ever do otherwise.” Warp Runner took a step back, turning to rummage through the many sacks and crates littering her cave. “I’m making breakfast.”

“What, I thought you said we were to leave when we awoke?” Luna protested, only for the bat pony to glance up at her with a flat expression.

“You have reading to do, besides…” She nodded to the gloom outside. “Don’t you have some duties to attend to, or has big sis’ relieved you of those?”

Twilight winced, feeling that such talk may be a little too harsh. Yet Warp Runner only smirked as Luna pouted, setting the scroll down.

“I will have you know Tia’ has trusted me with the moon since the day I returned,” she declared, pressing a forehoof to her chest. “Surely you noticed the shift in dawn and dusk’s grace over the past few years.”

“I might have,” the bat pony cooed, naught but her tail visible as she dove back into her bags.

She speaks to her as if she’s not a princess at all. It’s like she’s never been. Twilight noted, bristling a little as she noticed Luna’s eyes linger on Warp Runner’s flanks. What, am I jealous… I’m not jealous!

“Twilight?” The sound of the nightly mare’s voice suddenly broke the dragoness’s stooper.

“I… wasn’t looking!” She blurted, then winced, stammering. “I mean cooking, what are you cooking…? You know, for breakfast?” Both mares peered at her with perplexed expressions, as Warp Runner lifted an eyebrow.

“I was just gonna go for hay soup again,” she responded with a shrug. “Hardly anything better out here.”

“That sounds great,” Twilight declared, tapping her claws together as she masked her awkwardness with a toothy smirk.

It was a disguise Luna apparently saw right through as she asked. “Are you certain you’re alright? Present form a side?”

The look of care in the disguised mare’s eyes left the dragoness stunned for a long moment. Most of all when Luna reached out a silver hoof to Twilight’s claws.

I’ve never seen anypony look at me like that. It’s just how Rainbow looks at Applejack… Or Spike with Ember… Her mind felt more chaotic than it was back in the dreamscape as she forced.

“Sure, sure…” She waved off the notion with a wing, before rapidly diverting back to the previous topic. “But you did tell Celestia about the moon before we came out here, right?”

“I… In a sense.” Luna finally sighed as she stood up and shook herself. “I told her I may be predisposed,” she added, and Warp Runner snickered, earning a sharp glare. “I will be but a moment.”

Hooves clopped on the rotten dock as Luna made her way to the end of the pier by the Night Shine. The silver coat of Eclipse shimmered in the growing dawn’s light as the radiant orange glow began to fill the cave mouth. Watching one of her idols raise the sun never got old, yet after learning what she knew now about Luna, Twilight couldn’t help but see the transition in a new light.

Maybe I’m attracted to power too, the radiant, majestic kind? Celestia is regal, but Luna is mysterious. She wondered, pretty sure if their places were actually reversed, there was nothing her subconscious could change about Luna to make her more perfect. How have I never noticed how gorgeous she is?

It was apparent that the feeling wasn’t solely hers. Warp Runner lifted from her satchels to gaze out at the new dawn, eyes shimmering as if filled with as many stars as Luna’s mane.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen that,” she muttered, and for a moment, it was as if all the animosity between the two washed away, right up until the bat hopped down with three more bowls.

“What is it between you two?” Twilight asked, sure if Luna wasn’t going to open up about it, Warp Runner might.

“Like I said, we go way back, Luna and I,” she began, eyes constantly shifting to the scroll as she went about making breakfast. “But there’s no history books for me, no songs. I was always just hers.”

“You loved her, didn’t you?” She was pretty sure it was the dragon side of her that made the question so blunt, at least sure enough to slam a forepaw over her snout before she could be any more rude. “Sorry, sorry… I didn’t mean to ask that!”

Warp Runner stopped, lifting her head and remaining still as the rocks around her for a second. Twilight felt like doing nothing more than sinking into the cliffs to be free of the tension. It was almost as awkward as her final transformation in Sugar Cube Corner, until Warp Runner finally let out a small chuckle.

“Once maybe,” she said simply, looking at one of her unfurled leathery wings. “But she loves you.” If she’d felt like melting away seconds ago, the moment the thestral’s bicolored eyes set on her, she felt like she really would just wither into dust. “Those wings and scales are proof of that.”

“I… I… I’m still just trying to work that part out,” the dragoness stammered, while the draconic side of her brain yelled at her to stop acting so cowardly. “But I think she does, yeah.”

“Ha, so naïve,” quipped the mare as she went back to making the food, while the minor jest summoned Twilight’s mental drake into action.

“Naive, what about you? If she made me a dragon, is that why you’re a bat pony alicorn?” She didn’t even have time to slam a paw over her muzzle, nor mutter an apology before the thestral’s eyes were back on her.

By Celestia, it’s like staring down Nightmare Moon herself again! For some reason, the aura was uncanny, as if the full weight of the night were behind Warp Runner, despite the rising sun at her back. What, you’re scared of her? She’s smaller than you even when you’re not a dragon!

“Love is a complex thing.” Twilight had never been more glad to hear Luna’s voice as the silver mare slipped in to rescue her. “Is it not, Warp Runner?”

“You’d know,” countered the bat pony, as she slowly went back to cooking. “Just get that map read and get out of here.”

The way Luna wilted at those words made Twilight’s heart ache. Yet neither mare said anything as Luna levitated up the scroll. “Let us hope this works the same as it did before.”

Suspending the parchment before her, she took a step back, while her horn started to glow brighter. For a second, Twilight was worried she was about to witness a repeat of the dreamscape’s struggle, yet Luna bore little strain as the runes on the paper began to glow too. All the while, Warp Runner shot periodic glances at the magical display. Twilight, on the other hoof, couldn’t take her eyes off the swelling mass of blue radiance. The air around it almost appeared to darken, as if the three of them were plunged back into the gloom of dusk.

The glow at the core of the spell failed to allow the darkness to utterly take hold, however, as it blossomed outward into a web of sparkling stars and dusty specks of dancing illumination. Like a swarm of a million fireflies, the weaving coils grew, conjuring swirling pathways, before lines like the constellations of Luna’s divine mane were weaved into the ethereal display.

No, it looks exactly like her mane. Twilight noted, spying comets, tiny levitating islands, and even whole moons within the bubble. So this is a map of where dreams come from?

Transfixed, she almost wished to have her dreamy powers of notebook conjugation back. If only to take every observation she could, from Luna’s glowing eyes, to the way one line of constellations lit up a brilliant gold.

“There it is,” rumbled the night princess’s voice, reverberating with magic might as her glowing eyes peered blindly into the cosmos. “And the doorway still lies across the Expanse, behind the tempest. Night Shine could reach it in days.”

“Lucky you,” Warp Runner grumbled as she strode through the spell, seeming to pick out every detail as if she’d seen it a hundred times. “But she can only take you as far as the gateway, she’s not cut out to go beyond the vale.”

“A trivial obstacle, once we enter, we need only find my connection to Twilight and temper it,” Luna boomed, the thrum of her voice sending a small shiver down the lavender dragonesse’s spine as she glanced from the empowered mare, to the Night Shine.

She barely caught the worried expression Warp Runner shot her way, at least until the thestral’s tufted ears perked. Her head shot up, eyes fixed on the horizon, hardly visible beyond the shroud of Luna’s spell. The enchantment failed to mask the acrid smell of spark-engine smoke, however, as the grim hulls of the wicked ships loomed into view of the cave mouth.

Cutting through the fluffy pink clouds of dawn like poisoned daggers, the crude things were the total opposite of Luna’s elegant vessel. Rust gnawed at the gnarled-green plates, while wicked silver barbs jutted outwards like the angry spines of a manticore. Twisted rudders tilted below the rattling thrusters that protruded from below the tilted cabins. Blades like meat hooks curved across the impaling bows, while baleful green furnaces and crooked chimneys belched foul black smoke into the air with the ferocity of a dragon.

“Tell me you know those guys?” Twilight asked meekly, jabbing a wing out at the encroaching pair of skyships.

“Oh, I know them,” Warp Runner hissed, narrowing her eyes. “But that’s not going to make things go any smoother.”

Chapter Five: Last Ship Out

“By the night, they found me. You need to move, now!” Warp Runner declared as she darted for the Night Shine, leaving Twilight with the still very spell-enraptured Luna.

“Wait, wait, what do I do!?” the dragoness called. With no ability to cast a counterspell, and the ships encroaching fast, she was faced with few options. “Oh, sorry about this, Luna.”

Seizing the disguised alicorn between her foreclaws, she shook the mare as slightly as her draconic strength would allow. The sudden explosion of rock above her made any efforts of subtlety mute, however, as she ducked.

What, they’re shooting at us! Her mind screamed, chancing a glance to see the foremost of the sky ships– cannon primed on its bow, as it drifted into range. So what, just get out there and torch them!

“Urg, what… Twilight?” Only when she looked back, did the dragoness see Luna leaning groggily between her foreclaws, the spell having cut off with a sharp flash as the disguised mare rubbed her horn. “What’s going on?”

“I think your friends from the tavern are back,” Twilight declared, releasing the princess with a meager apology as the weaving illusion of the dream realm was sucked back into the scroll, leaving the parchment to fall to the floor. “They’re shooting at us!”

Oh, what I’d not give for a shield spell right now! She inwardly cried as the boom of a second cannon shot heralded the collapse of the roof above. You’re kidding, right? You’re a dragon!

Reflexively lifting a wing to protect both herself and Luna from the tumbling boulders, Twilight winced at every hard thud against the lavender membrane. At least until Luna leaped into action, returning to full alert as she hopped up, horn flaring to telekinetically toss more of the rocks away.

“Where’s Warp Runner!?” the princess demanded, peering out to see the two ships were moving to block the cave exit.

“On the ship, you two have a plan to get out of this, right?” She hated just how useless she felt without magic, even as her draconic mind screamed at her to sore into action.

“I fear any plan of Warp Runner’s will be rather eccentric,” Luna observed, while the closer the offending ships got, the more obvious the mix of griffins and pony-hybrids loading the canons became. “Twilight, take the map, we cannot allow them to attain it.”

“And what about you?” asked the dragoness, earning a sideways glance from the mare as she winked.

“I believe that these fools have forgotten just how I gained my reputation,” she cooed, leaping up. “Get to the Night Shine, we’ll show these roughens a true battle.”

Before the dragoness could even call out, Luna surged into action. Her lack of wings hardly hampered her, she hopped and bounded along the rocks towards the cave mouth.

Wow, she really is…! No, no, Twilight, not the time! The Princess gave you a job to do! She fixed her eyes on the scroll, scooping it up in her talons. Yeah, she did. Imagine how valuable this thing is!

She built a mental wall in the face of her draconic instincts, right as another cannon fired. She ducked, expecting an explosion, only to have the rusty metal net that had been aimed at her wrap around her cover with a clatter. It slid down as she peaked up, catching the griffin that had fired the shot cursing over his near miss.

Oh, and now they’re trying to net you up like some common whelp… You’re by far the worst dragon ever! The dragon in her head bellowed, only for the little alicorn princess amidst her thoughts to counter. Well, I don’t see you having any smart ideas! Any options other than just burning them all!?

Regardless, the syndicate goons didn’t appear willing to offer her the luxury of indulging in her mental debate. While the cannon griffin reloaded, two more took to the air, strange weapons grasped in their talons. Twilight darted aside as the first swooped in and took aim, blundering down the steps towards the Night Shine as the harpoon the avian-hybrid loosed pinged from the rocks where she’d stood with a splintering crack. Scroll clutched tight in her foreclaws, she rolled, swatting out with her tail to batt her attacker aside. The griffin weaved under her assault, reaching for a satchel on his flank to load another harpoon.

With his attention fixated on the dragoness, he was totally vulnerable to the mare that leaped from the rocks beside him, however. As if wrangling a bucking buffalo, Luna dove atop the griffin’s back, yanking his aim away before he could assail Twilight once more. Her horn flared, snatching the weapon from his talons as he swerved into the cave wall, seemingly to try and shake her off.

“Luna!” Twilight called, only for the second griffin to materialize before her, brandishing a similar harpoon gun.

“Get to the Night Shine, Twilight!” called the camouflaged mare as she wrapped her hind legs around the griffin’s midriff, yanking him toward the foremost syndicate vessel. “Worry not about me, just see she is ready to make haste!”

There was no time to argue as Luna forced the griffin down, slamming into the deck of the gnarled ship in a cloud of dust and scruffy feathers. Twilight wanted nothing more than to keep watching and ensure her princess was okay. Yet before she could even glimpse Luna, the second harpoon griffin fired. Staggering aside, she barely avoided the projectile impacting her chest, instead feeling the searing pain as it tore her wing, puncturing a bloody hole through the lavender membrane.

The dragoness’s eyes narrowed as she grunted, sharp teeth grinding while sizzling embers and smoke seared between them. Pain oozing into her thoughts like molten iron, she could hardly think straight as the fire lapped from her muzzle and she sent a blast of purple flames toward the griffin. Her dragon side cheered, and the little princess in her head covered her eyes in terror. The harpoon-wielding avian swerved aside, the rock at his back searing red-hot. Before the princess could come to her senses, there was a new boom, and another of the nets was loosed right at her.

Wrapping around her muzzle with a dull clatter, the force of the impact sent the dragoness reeling. Only when she was toppling horns over tail did she finally come to her senses, eyes popping wide as the rotten deck cracked and splintered under her draconic weight. Wings flared to at least offer some hope of balance, she reflexively clawed at the chains wrapped tight around her snout. As if glued to her scales by some accursed charm, the thing wove and wound to counter every one of her efforts, before she felt hardwood under her claws, and finally floundered onto the deck of the Night Shine.

The momentary relief that she had solid ground under her claws was swift, however, as the griffin appeared above her. Against her better judgment (and the protests of the little princess in her head) she started to summon fire in her throat. The net almost felt as if it softened under the heat, every cinder fleeting her muzzle causing it to bubble and ooze with an acrid scent.

Wait, no, no, no! The little princess mentally screamed, calling her to reason. You know that smell, the thing’s made of lead!

The smirk on the griffin’s face as he did little to avoid the swelling fire only confirmed that if Twilight’s breath melted the thing, she’d have far more toxic problems. Thankful that some semblance of intellect still resided in her bedraggled brain, she swallowed her fire. Smoke hissed from her snout, yet ignoring the acrid taste that the backfire summoned, she kicked out. Clearly, she wasn’t as ineffective a dragoness as the syndicate assumed, the griffin didn’t appear to anticipate just how fast the former mare could move as her hind claws sent him careening into the Night Shine’s mast.

Oh, sorry Luna. She winced as the avian struck the blue wood, the flash of the ship’s protection weave flaring as he toppled down to the deck with a hard thud. Really, to care about a boat?

One thwack from Twilight’s tail saw the griffin was out cold before he could lift his weary head. Meanwhile, the sudden moment of reprieve, allowed her to at least sit up and try to pry the net from her muzzle. Across the cave, she saw one of the syndicate ships slip into the cavern, only for its ragged hull to impact the rocks with a loud crunch. Luna danced and wove along the deck, baffling the crew with her elegant flurries of hoof kicks and blasts of stunning magic.

Don’t get distracted, Twilight! Ripping her eyes away from the impressive display, her netted gaze fixed on the scroll.

She’d no idea when the thing had slipped from her grip in the tussle, but now it lay in the center of the deck. It was also the moment the doors to the ship’s interior flung open, and wrapped head to tail in ropes, Warp Runner frantically darted up from below.

“Nice of you to drop in!” called the bat-winged mare as she dashed by, tossing one rope up over the mast before rapidly rushing to secure another of the ship’s fixtures. “Do me a favor, tie this down!”

Blinking at the rope the thestral threw down at her talons, Twilight took one look at the thing, then at Warp Runner before jabbing a foreclaw to the net on her face.

“Melp mee mout miht mis mirsat!” The best she could manage was a muffled demand for aid before the bat pony spun to face her.

“Oh, right!” Free of the ropes, the mare swooped over, wrapping a forehoof under the net. “Anti-dragon weave, be glad you didn’t try to burn it!”

“Yeah, I figured that bit out!” Twilight called the moment Warp Runner turned the net incorporeal and slipped it off. “Luna said we need to get this ship moving!”

“Well isn’t she the master of the obvious!” Warp Runner rolled her eyes, glancing over to the ship Luna was currently taking on single-hoofed. “Leave me to do the boring stuff while she has all the fun, as usual.”

“What do you need me to do?” Twilight asked, scooping up the rope in her talons, while she curled her tail around the scroll to sweep it closer. “I’ve never flown a ship this complex before!”

“Just tie that line to the mast, then I can loose the sail. Night Shine’s good to get us out of here on her own if we open her up!” Warp Runner assured, shooting to the peak of the mast with the opposite end of the rope as Twilight did as instructed.

Urg, by Celestia, these claws are so cumbersome! She mentally huffed, fumbling with the fine knot before yanking it taut. This is why dragons have no care for such petty things.

“Ha, okay I got it!” declared the triumphant princess, looking up only to see a dark shadow appear above Warp Runner. “Look out!”

The bat pony appeared stunned for a split second as the red ball of scales, spines, and leathery wings dove by her and right toward Twilight. She lifted a wing, right as Razorback slammed into her, claws scattering across the polished deck as she sprawled out.

“You’re not going anywhere,” mused the larger dragon, smoke hissing between his fangs as he loomed over the fallen dragoness.

“Twilight!” called Warp Runner, swooping back to dive bomb the dragon, only for an equally vibrant ball of scales and feathers to tackle her from the sky.

“What’s wrong, Lil’ Battie, thought we wouldn’t find your secret hidey hole?” called Gracie as Warp Runner flashed away from her talons.

“Sure took you long enough!” countered the thestral, darting aside before returning to a corporeal state to kick the draco-griff across the face.

“You little… I’ll kill you!” growled Gracie as the two swerved out of sight, leaving Twilight face-to-face with the much larger dragon.

“I don’t want to fight you,” she huffed as she staggered to her claws, feeling the instinctive smoke swell in her chest.

The burly red dragon merely smirked at the gesture. “Really now, that’s very unlike a dragoness of your…” He rolled a foreclaw in the air. “Well, let’s just say you’re very strange.”

“Likewise, why even come after us?” Twilight countered, looking him up and down, surmising that in a one-on-one, with no magic, his experience with his draconic body would have her beat.

That’s not counting his buddies with the nets. She noted, hoping Luna could keep at least one of the boats off her back as she glanced around Razorback to the mast. The sail is set to loose. By Celestia, if only I had magic!

“You really are new here, aren’t you?” he said cooly, then shrugged his wings. “Oh well, then at least no one is going to miss you when I’m done!”

The sight of a dragon almost twice her size leaping across the deck at her with curved foreclaws outstretched, and fire blazing between his sharp teeth, had the little princess in her head screaming in a panic. Her equine urge to run was so strong she had to fight not to simply leap off the boat, while the call of her dragon side to just bite him hardly felt like a better option.

Taking a third route, she ducked under Razorback’s lunge, seeing him sail over her as she rolled across the deck, scroll rolling from her grip. Momentum carried him through the air, he slammed hard into the ship’s cabin, the magical shield spell that encompassed the midnight vessel’s hull flaring like a sea of stars as he did so.

Ha, see, not that bad at this! Cheered the little princess in her head triumphantly, only to yelp in alarm along with her dragoness-self as Razorback’s tail swatted back and knocked her forelegs out from under her. Seriously!?

“Slippery little thing, aren’t you?” her scaly adversary grumbled as he pulled himself free, rubbing his bruised muzzle. “Those pretty scales of yours better be worth it when I pluck them off.”

Glancing between him, the scroll, and the mast at her back, Twilight snagged one of her foreclaws on the loose rope Warp Runner had tied, and pulled it taut.

“Sorry, my scales aren’t for sale!” Razorback raised an eye crest in confusion, right as the sail above him unfurled, and the boom of Night Shine’s central mast slammed down on his head.

The ship lurched, and as if possessing a mind of its own, it began to tug away from the dock. Ropes pulled taut, ripping the rotten planks still fixed to the cave free. With the fiery ambition of Luna herself, the Night Shine wouldn’t be held back, storming from its mooring with an eager flare of its sails.

“You little wyrm!” spat Razorback, stumbling as the ship loomed out into the dawn’s radiant glow.

Seizing the opportunity, Twilight dove for the scroll, only to have his tail lash out, connecting with her muzzle. Reeling, she fell back as he dove atop her and pinned her to the deck with one foreclaw. Any effort to break free felt utterly futile as her weaker claws scraped his leg, fireproof scales seeing her breath would only result in harm to the Night Shine.

“What’s this that’s so important?” he asked, scooping up the scroll with a wing. “Some kind of spell, I see.”

“That… It’s nothing!” Twilight did all she could to diminish his interest, sure if the thing was as dangerous as Luna made it out to be, the syndicate would definitely be considered the wrong hooves. “Just a simple sleep spell.

“A terrible dragoness and a terrible liar,” he mocked, moving a foreclaw to clasp her neck, stealing away her words as she choked. “Not that you’ll have to worry about that now.”

Tail, claws, and bloody wings thrashing, Twilight did all she could to batt him off. Yet he was as much a solid statue as the ones in Warp Runner’s dreams, fiery scales blazing in the dawn’s light as he failed to budge. Battling to keep the wicked tendrils of unconsciousness from creeping too far into her sight, all Twilight could fixate on was his devious grin. That, and the shadow of a syndicate skyship that suddenly appeared behind him.

Luna at the helm, the shrill scraping of metal on wood cut through the air as the rugged green vessel rammed over Night Shine’s deck. If not for the blue ship’s shield, the majestic timber would have surely been torn in two. As it was, the rugged bow of the thing bounced upward, threatening only the two dragons as it slammed into Razorback, shoving him over the edge and dragging Twilight with him.

The dragoness screamed, seeing the red-scaled drake plummet into the pink abyss of fluffy clouds, before feeling hooves drape around her foreleg. As if she’d been suddenly plunged into cold water, the world around her seemed to fade. Razorback’s grip on her passed away as if she were little more than a specter, and only then did she notice Warp Runner at her side.

That incorporeal spell of hers really is powerful. If she’d still been an alicorn, learning all she could about such magic would have been at the very top of her to-do list, now however, all she could fixate upon was the draco-griff coming around to shoot the bat pony with a harpoon. Oh no!

The spell dropped, seeming to take its toll on Warp Runner as she panted. Yet not before the weapon fired. Twilight didn’t even think, wrapping the bat pony in her wings and tossing her forward, under her scaley spine. The flare of pain as the harpoon impacted her hard dorsal scales was like a bolt of lightning, eliciting a yelp of pain as cinders flitted from her wrinkled muzzle.

“Talons and tails, just roll over and die!” Gracie spat, the tell-tale clunk of her reloading reaching Twilight’s ears as she hunched over the prone mare.

Catching her breath, Warp Runner shook her head, peering up at the dragoness, and then at Twilight’s flank. The former princess really didn’t want to think about the feeling of warm fluids trickling down her scales, nor the sensation of something hard lodged in her back. She barely even registered Warp Runner’s panicked words as she staggered, slumping to the deck in a heap of scales.

What are you doing, you’re seriously going to let this half-breed poultry best you!? She imagined if a dragon like Razorback had such a driven inner monologue, he’d make far better use of it.

She could barely move as the draco-griff took aim, ready to finish her off. The bolt of eldritch lightning that reduced her crude weapon to dust before she could fire put a stop to that. Silver coat glowing like a fallen star in the dawn’s glow, Luna leaped from the ship she’d commandeered, hind hooves smacking Gracie across the face. The pair fell, Luna to the deck of the Night Shine, while the half-breed careened out of sight.

“Thou shall not harm our charge!” boomed Luna as she loomed tall on the deck, almost willing the Night Shine to surge faster.

One look ahead, and even in her blurred vision, Twilight could see why. The second syndicate craft lingered dead ahead, its broadside exposed to the Night Shine’s bow. Upon Luna’s will, the front of the radiant blue vessel began to glow, fire summoned into the shape of a great crescent moon blade materializing. The offending crew could do little but leap into the sky, or beg to be carried free by one of their winged companions as the Night Shine’s blazing bow tore the crude vessel clean in two, banishing its rusty debris into the abyss below.

Staggering to the deck, Luna panted as the sky cleared, the fury of her ship’s fire diminishing as she did so. And she did all that for what… To protect me?

“Twilight!” The night princess gasped through her exertions as she stumbled over and knelt beside the fallen dragoness.

Twilight didn’t like the way Luna winced at the sight of her wounds, thankful that such things were out of sight as she slumped against the deck.

“T–the dream scroll… I think Razorback got it,” she forced, and while she glanced about urgently, Luna only pressed a forehoof to the dragoness’s cheek.

“Worry not about him just…” It was seldom that Twilight saw words catch in the princess’s throat as Luna assured. “Just don’t move, Warp Runner and I can heal you.”

“Oh, I don’t think I’m going to be going anywhere,” Twilight droned, half in a daze as she added with a weak laugh. “I’ve had enough adventure for one day.”

Twilight saw the dreamscape reaching out before her in a whole new light. Never again did she think she’d be able to dream the same way. Even if she was thankful to be her alicorn self in the unconscious world. A dull pain still throbbed between her wings, while movement and voices shifted about her in a ghostly haze, echoes of what was transpiring in the waking world.

"Roll her over… Take it out, then use this!”

“You Should be back at the helm!”

“I’ve never treated a dragon before!”

“Remain strong, Twilight. I will allow no harm to befall you.”

She could barely focus on the muffled sounds as she trotted down the silvery halls, the occasional door looming up from the pale expanse, only to sink back down as she passed. Unlike Warp Runner’s, most were unbarred and unguarded, allowing her fleeting glimpses into wild realities beyond. From one dream of some unknown colt racing a scooter through a land of cotton candy trees and sugary clouds, to another of a gruff-looking griffin petting the most adorable kittens while surrounded by a sea of gold bits.

I must still be backstage. She wondered, looking into another door to see the dreams of a unicorn, masterfully crafting the most exquisite pottery. If these are just random ponies' dreams though…

She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath as she cast her mind back home. The doors on either side of her rushed away, replaced by two more identical sets that glided up on each flank like newly arrived trains. Not one was hidden from her, and instantly the recognisable cutie marks upon the ethereal wood sparked joy in her chest. The door closest bore the familiar mark of a rainbow lightning bolt, opening with a sharp gush of wind to reveal a brilliant blue sky.

Rainbow, what did I expect? Twilight thought warmly as a bolt of prismatic fury sored by the open door, swooping upward at the head of a dazzling Wonderbolt formation.

She had to crane her neck so much her spine started to feel like putty, just to keep up with the mare, while Rainbow swerved forward, peeling away from her formation and accelerating to create a prismatic explosion of… Apples?

“Whoa, nelly, now ta wer’ a good'n’!” The entire atmosphere of the dream shifted as the apples cascaded down in a crimson rain, filling the orchards below as the green landscape was painted into existence.

“Ha, I told you I could do just about anything for you, AJ!” called Dash, Wonderbolt uniform melting away from her as if turned to inky water. “Call that one the sonic… Appledash… Boom?”

The cyan mare landed, lifting a forehoof to her chin in thought, yet her orange marefriend seemed to care for the name as much as she did her hat that flew off in a dash to embrace the pegasus.

“How ‘bout ah show ya’ some apples now, Dash,” cooed the farm pony, forehooves wrapped around Rainbow’s neck as her eyes became lidded.

Okay, and not the kind of dream I need to see! Twilight backed away the second the pair started to kiss. How does Luna do this without interfering with everypony’s privacy?

The loud slam of Rainbow’s dream door only served to reinforce the notion as she staggered back. The world around her shuddered, and before she knew it, she slammed wings first into another door, tumbling through as it opened before she could catch herself. Floundering head over hooves, she flared her wings, magic sparking to life as she finally righted herself. Just as she did so, the floor appeared to materialize under her, yet in the solid blankness that filled the entire space, it was hard to make out.

And whose dream is this? She hadn’t caught the mark on the door, and glancing about, she gleaned nothing. I never thought any of my friends would dream about blackness.

“I–I’m sorry, Twilight!” The panicked voice echoed about the space several times, causing the princess’s mane to stand on end as she frantically searched for the source. “I’m sorry I couldn’t fix it.”

I know that voice. Twilight’s ears perked, attention poised to finally come to rest on a lonely mare, curled up under a bold pillar of pale light in the dark oblivion. Starlight?

She called the name of her former student as she tentatively crept to the pink unicorn’s side. Starlight appeared not to notice her, and the moment she was finally close enough to reach out, her forehoof merely passed through the prone mare’s flank like a ghost.

“Starlight, it’s okay,” she cooed, unsure what exactly there was to worry about in here, only to consider.

Maybe this isn’t a dream, maybe it’s… Something shifted in the gloom, something huge and scaly by the sound of it slithering across the invisible floor. A nightmare.

"I–... My magic... Starlight, I can't do it!" Growled the grizzled, draconic tone of the monster, as clawed feet and ragged wings shifted in the shadows. "This... This can't be happening... How can I fix this without magic?"

I know that voice too, is she having a nightmare about me!? Twilight wilted at the prospect as Starlight threw her forehooves over her head, eyes closed as she stammered.

“Okay, Twilight calm down, I can fix this, I'm sure.” The huff of smoke from the gloom suggested that Twilight’s nightmare self didn’t approve, and from the shadows loomed the vast scaly head of the dragon.

For a second, she was infinitely glad she didn’t quite look as devilish as this in the waking world. The nightmare dragon’s scales were dulled to a purple hue, the cracks between each glowing with a baleful green fire. The same flames burned within her eyes, as well as the embers that spat from her flared nostrils. Wicked horns, like jagged stalactites jutted from the back of her slender skull, curling around like those of a ram to create a menacing crown of thorns atop her head.

“You were supposed to fix me, Starlight, I was counting on you!” roared the dragoness, emerald flames crackling in the back of her throat as an equally monstrous body shifted in the gloom behind her. “But you made me go to the party, you ruined it all!”

“You still think you let me down?” the real Twilight muttered to herself as she glanced between the cowering mare and the dreadful dragoness. “But you didn’t, Starlight. You came to find me!”

Once again, it was as if her words fell on deaf ears, until recalling what Luna had told her about dreams, Twilight stoically posed herself between her friend and the nightmare.

“Hey, you!” She declared, flaring her horn. “Leave her alone, she didn’t fail me, she didn’t let me down. Even if she did, this isn’t how I’d treat her!”

The feeling of magical power forced the alicorn’s heart to swell as she blasted a bolt of purple light at the monster. Like it were made from sticky tar and dark mist, the thing parted around her assault, its oily innards laced with beady eyes and fangs. Moments later, it reformed, sneering at her like she were a mere bug.

Haven’t I fought myself enough for one lifetime? She thought, falling back on all she knew about this place. It’s not as simple as blasting it, I need to make Starlight think differently. Come on, Twilight, what does she like?

Drawing back, the dragon snorted a smoky laugh, right as an idea crossed Twilight’s mind, and she looked back to the thing with a smirk.

“How about we try this.” Unleashing her magic once again, she corrected the spell.

Instead of trying to damage the thing, she sought only to change it, and just as she’d planned, in a puff of purple smoke, the dragon became a brilliant draconic kite. Robbed of its menace, the thing shunned the gloom around it, appearing to chase away the darkness as Twilight snagged the kite’s string in her magical grip.

“I… What’s going…?” Starlight muttered as she dared lift her head, only to find the string of her new kite levitating before her. “Twilight?”

“You can see me?” asked the lavender mare as the unicorn took the kite in her magic. “Starlight, it’s me. I’m with Luna I’m… Well, kinda okay.”

Cocking her head, Starlight simply smiled at her. The look was odd, almost as if she were looking through Twilight more than she were actually meeting a true friend.

“She doesn’t think you're real,” came Luna’s voice, and in an instant the midnight blue princess appeared from the brightening sky above. “It takes a great deal to convince the subconscious of such things. Though healing one’s nightmare, it is impressive.”

“So that’s what I just did?” Twilight asked, taking a few steps back from Starlight as the unicorn peacefully enjoyed her kite.

“In a sense, yes. Not only that, but the fact you even located your friends’ dreams is also rather remarkable,” Luna added, as Twilight finally approached. “Are you alright, my dear Twilight?”

“I–I’m not sure…” she muttered, part of her wishing to ask just what Luna meant. She was pretty sure her dragon self was in pretty rough shape, yet surely Luna knew more about that than she did. “I miss them, I miss home.”

“I understand, I do.” Luna wilted, the dream around her growing a little darker as she sighed. “Warp Runner has Night Shine underway, her speed is unmatched. We should be able to fix this and return within the week.”

“If I don’t get myself killed,” Twilight sighed, and Luna balked as the smaller alicorn elaborated. “I’m not good at being a dragon. Fighting in the Everfree was one thing, but Razorback almost killed me. Gracie shot me!”

“I am aware,” Luna admitted with a wince. “Worry not. A dragon’s hide is tough, the wound is not fatal, though you will need time to recover.”

“While you and Warp Runner fly the ship all by yourself?” Twilight shot the dark alicorn a flat look. “No offense, but you bicker like your lives depend on it.”

“Her and I are… Strained, but yes. Night Shine is in no better hooves,” the princess confessed with a sigh.

Strained? Like when I accidentally press her for answers she looks like she wants to kill me? The sharp glare of Warp Runner’s bicolored eyes was still branded into Twilight’s memory. Or if I even so much as sneeze about her horn!

“She is also glad you saved her life.” Luna’s next words caught Twilight off guard as the alicorn smirked. “And believe me, her gratitude is hard to come by.”

“Stubbornest friend I’ll ever make, that’s for sure.” Despite herself, Twilight smiled at the fact she may now actually have some of the mare’s respect, even if she’d had to take a harpoon to do it. The second her thoughts returned to the skirmish, however, she blurted. “But wait, what about the scroll, Razorback had it when he fell!?”

“A fact of which I am also quite aware,” Luna admitted, ears folding. “For now the best we can do is hope the syndicate lacks the means to decipher it. Once we are done in the dreamlands, I will close off the passage marked on it too, it will become harder for it to be misused.”

So she’s not going to try and get it back? Every moment she considered that, Twilight couldn’t help but wonder. Is that for me? Is she putting me before her powers?

“Right now, it matters not, however,” Luna went on, smiling down at Twilight as she gingerly rested a forehoof under the smaller alicorn’s chin. “You are safe, but need rest. I fear when you wake, the pain may need some acclimatizing to.”

“Lucky me.” Twilight couldn’t help but blush as she peered into Luna’s dark eyes, each like a serene pool of impossibly deep ocean. “But I can’t say I don’t have a great mare to take care of me.”

Was that too forward, was that too…? Luna only averted her eyes a little, the blush filling her dark cheeks evident as her wings ruffled in an effort to unfurl. Okay, so maybe she likes forward?

“And for you, dear Twilight,” the night princess began as she leaned in a little closer. “I will always try my utmost to be that mare.”

Chapter Six: The Expance

“Oh, don’t be such a big foal about it!” chastised Warp Runner as Twilight let out another smoky yelp. “Really, are you a dragon or a…? Okay, forget I said anything.”

With a tug, the last shreds of metal that had bore into Twilight’s scales were yanked free, along with a good few of the gleaming lavender plates. It had been a long time since she’d been medicated so thoroughly, often a few healing tomes and spells were enough to deal with most cuts and bruises.

I become a dragon and in the first week, I’m attacked by plants, shot at, and harpooned! A long breath escaped the dragoness as she slumped, almost taking up the whole deck as her reptilian body uncoiled. Is Luna sure this is a personification of power? I was more powerful with my magic!

“That should be the last of it,” her nurse confirmed, hovering up to take another glance at the wound. “Pierced your scales, caught in the underlayer. Painful, but not too dangerous.”

“You got the pain part right, that’s for sure,” Twilight grumbled, craning her neck to get a better look at the crimson gash marring her scales. “I really should have asked Spike and Ember more about being a dragon before I left.”

“And here I heard you were the most studious of all Equestria’s princesses,” the bat pony quipped, washing the dry blood from her hooves, before scooping up the metal she’d pulled from Twilight’s scales and dumping it over the edge. “Granted, I’m a little out of date.”

The late afternoon sun grazed the sky, the thick clouds still a blaze with Celestia’s golden light. Never before had Twilight seen a sky so vast, it was as if they were soaring high above the clouds, yet both Luna and Warp Runner had assured that their altitude had increased very little. The expanse was truly that, a great nothingness. Whatever lurked below the clouds seemed as mysterious as the depths of Equus’s great oceans. While above, barren peaks broke through the misty shroud in sparse clusters. Odd creatures, wings lean and leathery, flitted about, while beasts like winged sharks wove hungrily among them.

I doubt even Fluttershy would know that these things are. The sensation of being so far beyond the edge of the map made her just as uneasy as the spear that had been lodged in her back. It’s literally like the world just fell away.

It left just the three of them, the Night Shine was a speck of reality amid a void that didn’t feel too dissimilar to how it felt to be within the dreamscape. While Warp Runner appeared to be letting her guard down, just a little– after her initial grumbles regarding being dragged along. It was to the bow of the ship that Twilight’s eyes were drawn, however. Still disguised as her silvery persona, Luna bore a ruffled black cape around her neck, as she levitated a looking glass to her eye.

“You sound like you know a lot more about me than I know about you?” Twilight countered, attempting to stagger to her paws, only to falter.

“I’d still take it easy if I were you. Give your scales a few moments to seal, then Luna can cast the healing spell again,” Warp Runner suggested, trotting about the ship with such purpose, that it was as if she were attempting to crew it all by herself.

“Great, so I can feel useless again.” Twilight huffed as she flopped down once more, causing the whole deck to creek and shudder. “Urg, I messed up Starlight’s dreams, lost the scroll, and I can’t even ride a boat right anymore!”

“Night Shine’s got enough in her to take a hundred dragons, don’t get your tail in a twist.” The thestral waved the notion away with a forehoof as she set about tending to the sails. “As for the scroll, if we can close the passage marked on the map on the way out, it’s useless to them…” She trailed off, running a forehoof through her mane. “And I’ll admit, if not for you, I may have taken that harpoon.”

Twilight didn’t really want to think about that. The mere graze to her back had been bloody enough. While the bat pony could have easily been impaled by Gracie’s weapon.

“So that’s a thank you?” the dragoness asked with a slight smile, and the eye roll from the mysterious mare was almost as audible as the creaking mast. “Don’t suppose it encourages you to que me in on the two of you?”

She nodded to Luna, drawing Warp Runner’s eyes to the dark mare as her black mane billowed in the cool air. For a moment, the dragoness expected another death glare, yet ultimately, the peculiar mare simply sighed.

“You’re smart, probably have it figured out,” she stated bluntly, before grumbling to herself about stupid alicorns as she lifted a rope with a forehoof. “Yes, I have a horn. Those don’t just grow overnight, the same way ponies don’t just become dragons.”

So she wasn’t always this way, I knew it! The little princess in her head cheered, retrieving a mental notebook and quill while her dragon side scoffed.

“You see, a long, long time ago… Luna and I…” She bit her bottom lip, fangs poking free as she grumbled to herself. “We were an item.”

She stomped a forehoof on the deck, as if forcing those words out was physically painful. For a second, Twilight wondered if the thestral was about to toss herself overboard and fly away. The air between them was so tense she felt as if she could cut it with her claws, even if she was sure the mare was ready to open up. After a pregnant pause, however, she asked.

“You were just a regular thestral before?” Warp Runner snorted a laugh, her leathery wings ruffling as she glanced over them.

“No, I was a pegasus. Second of the new Equestrian Sky Fleet. Right below Commander Hurricane, icy old feather duster,” she began to explain, while Twilight blinked.

Wait, that would make her as old as Equestria itself! The look of stunned bafflement on the dragoness’s face must have been obvious, while Warp Runner smirked.

“Tell me, Princess Twilight. In all your books, all the tales of my kind. Do you know where thestrals come from?” she pressed, and presented with a question, Twilight’s brain sprang into action.

“Well, there’s the tales of Umbra’s Cavern, they say thestrals come from a land far, far to the south. There’s also the Nocturnalus account of Star Swirl that says they descended from Pegasi who became isolated in caves.” She counted out each theory on a talon, taking a breath before adding. “There’s also the legend that they were the guard of Nightmare Moon, Pegasi corrupted when she rose to power, but you obviously disprove that.”

“Really, they say it took Nightmare-coo-coo? Give me a break.” Warp Runner shrugged that idea off as she trotted over to fasten down more lines. “No, no, we created them, and I was the first.”

“Wait what!?” Twilight blurted, smoke unintentionally hissing from her muzzle, before she pressed a forepaw to her snout. “But what… How?”

“What, she turned you into a dragon by accident.” Warp Runner flared a wing, admiring the dark limb as she added. “Let’s just say her tastes back then were a little more… Sharp.”

Is it really that hard to believe, she did change me? She wondered, falling back deeper into what she knew of the royal sisters’ past. Celestia made me an alicorn too, is there any reason Luna couldn’t have done the same back then? Even if it was by accident?

“But wait, thestrals are a race. There’s more than just you,” Twilight pressed, only for the bat pony to nod as if she’d expected just the follow-up question.

“Yes, and I’ll admit that I… Wasn’t as opposed to the changes as you are,” she confessed, nodding to Twilight’s wings. “It was the last time we delved into the dream realm, those that came with us were called the Children of the Night, ponies Luna had tended to in their dreams for decades.”

She let the loose lines of rope slip from her hooves, appearing utterly lost in the past as she trotted over to the edge of the ship.

“They became the first of my kind, for the dreamscape is where we come from.” Twilight’s miniature mental princess was scribbling away frantic notes so rapidly, that it was a wonder the smoke that simmered from her draconic snout wasn’t the result of such baffling revelations. “Of course, this is leaving out the politics of it all. Celestia wasn’t pleased, but we are what we are, and so thestrals were born, becoming the night guard.”

“And then they sided with Nightmare Moon, of course,” Twilight rambled as the pieces finally fell into place, while Warp Runner didn’t look back at her.

“Some, most. But not all of us, not me,” she stated, peering out at the late afternoon sun. “Luna was always so scared of being alone… The two of us were happy when I… Well, became immortal, we’d always have one another. But then she started to care what others thought, not just of her, but my kind too.”

Twilight cocked her head, some of the distant words from the dreamscape flitting about her mind as she wondered.

“So you’re saying she did that all to protect you?” she asked, catching the sad look on the bat pony’s face.

“I ask myself that every night. Sometimes I wonder if it was to impress me, give me the perfect world. But I’d seen the great winter, I knew what disharmony could do, and… I left her.” She sighed, tufted ears drooping. “Without me or the map, Nightmare Moon had no access to dreams as Luna does.”

What if she had? Twilight dread to think, wondering just what kind of chaos the dark mare could have wrought if she’d had her thestral queen by her side. This mare saved Equestria… Maybe saved Luna in the end?

She said as much, but Warp Runner shook her head. “I only saved myself, it’s all I ever do. I hate that a part of me regrets it, thinks I should have let the night last forever… Because you don’t betray those you love.”

“You do when they act the fool. Fool enough to endanger all.” Warp Runner froze, both her and Twilight’s attention snapping back to see Luna had materialized beside them without either of them noticing.

The setting hue of dusk only just starting to set in beyond the bow behind her, the dark mare flicked her horn, dropping her disguise.

“I don’t blame you for…” Seeing the real Luna, beyond some dream or the mask of Eclipse, looking as vulnerable as the day Twilight had first met her, swelled a yawning pit of sorrow in the dragoness’s chest.

Warp Runner on the other hoof, didn’t respond, offering barely more than a glance back as she stiffened. Even as Luna reached out a slipper-clad forehoof, she received no more than the cold shoulder, drooping as she huffed.

“I will see to the engines, and resupply the talismans.” She turned away. “We must make good time if we are to be done with this before the syndicate makes sense of the map.”

“Luna, wait!” Twilight called, body aching as she reached out a foreclaw, yet as if carried on a mist of shadow, Luna vanished into the ship’s cabin.

“Let her be,” Warp Runner suggested as she finally turned around. “Besides, you need rest, and she’s right. We’re pressed for time here.”

The mare offered Twilight little in the way of options as she hovered up to the top of the mast, adopting a lonely position amidst the sails as the sun finally started to set.

As far as rest went on the shifting vessel, Twilight wasn’t getting any. The constant rocking as the cool wind blew did little to aid her aching back as she lounged across the smooth deck. The Night Shine’s sleek surface was almost invisible in the pale light of the moon, as if the ship had adopted a whole new personality upon Luna’s rising of the great celestial orb. It creaked and groaned as if alive, thirsting to push forward faster than the light breeze would allow. For a night out in the literal middle of nowhere, it was impossibly calm, however, if not for the light spilling up from the galley below, accompanied by Warp Runner and Luna’s voices.

“We’ll need to make a stop, gather more food, and water. The way stone at the maelstrom’s edge should be a good bet,” suggested the bat pony, barely visible as Twilight awkwardly peered down through the grated deck. “Gems too, the engine is running dry, and I imagine you don’t fancy sitting with your horn hooked up to it for days.”

“I thought you prepared for a voyage with a crew of half a dozen?” Luna asked, pacing opposite the galley table from the fanged mare, as Warp Runner shifted what dwindling supplies they had from one end of the room to the other.

“A crew of ponies, not a dragon. You’re new marefriend eats a lot.” That had Twilight biting her lip in awkward embarrassment, more so as her stomach still grumbled for more.

“M–my marefriend… I assure you, she has not allowed me the right to call her such things,” Luna blustered, dark wings ruffling as she stopped mid-step. “Nor do I believe I have attained such a privilege. I have done little but ruin her life these past few days.”

The right? It was an odd notion, while Twilight couldn’t help but feel she’d given Luna the same negative impression as she’d left upon Starlight. Maybe I blame her a little, but after seeing how far she’s gone for me.

You’re soft. How do you know she won’t just toss you aside like she did Warp Runner? Her more blunt side snapped. But she’s not like that, I know she’s not.

No matter how much she was sure that Luna was no longer Nightmare Moon, the fact that her feelings had still transformed Twilight left her wondering just how different she really was. The desire for power, her ambition, it was all still there. If Warp Runner was right, and part of her fall over a millennia ago was due to her love for the bat pony, then how could she be sure such a thing wouldn’t come to pass again in another few centuries?

“Sure, Luna, I totally believe that,” the thestral responded, stashing away the last of the food and turning to the dark alicorn as she wiped her forehooves clean. “So all this coming back, taking on thugs like the old days, that’s not just for her?”

“To fix her, correct my mistake,” Luna countered, jabbing a forehoof at the bat pony. “I have to save her, the way she saved me.”

“Saved you from a prison of your own making!” The fanged mare stomped a forehoof, her collected demeanor slipping as she pressed. “And she needs fixing, does she? By all accounts, she should be perfect for you, your dreams seem to think so.”

“Blasphemous lies, I…” Luna caught herself, shrinking back with a huff. “Fine, maybe part of me does seek some approval. Would you call me a fool for not wishing her to see the old me, as you once did?”

“So long as it doesn’t turn out like the last time.” Warp Runner shrugged her wings. “I think I’ve made it pretty clear how I felt when you left me, Luna. I’ve moved on, I got over it, but you…” She marched over and jabbed a forehoof at the alicorn with little care for Luna’s celestial aura. “You need to understand that you don’t need to be better to be good enough. I think Twilight knows that.”

Do I? Do I want her to be better? If she’d asked herself that question years ago, the answer would have been obvious, Celestia and Luna were everything to her, perfection given form. But to consider one of them her special somepony, viable given their shared immortality. She could be a dragoness, that would be an improvement.

She needed to remind her draconic self that the only reason she wasn’t down in the galley with her lover right now, was because her scaly butt was far too big. Even so, the desire to be with the night princess, embrace her, and assure her that she was already perfect was so strong she had to fight not to claw her way through Night Shine’s extravagant deck.

“I do understand, but you would not have me fix my mistake? See she is returned to her true form?” Luna asked, and the bat pony withdrew.

“I say we close it off for good this time. Make sure crazy dream magic stays in your sleep where it belongs,” insisted the leathery-winged mare. “Most of all now the syndicate has the map.”

“In that, we are in agreement. Perhaps if we had taken more care last time…” Warp Runner rounded on Luna before she could finish.

“There it is again, the blame!” she pressed, flaring her wings. “Just forget about that, Luna. Focus on the here and now, on the good things you can have… And if Twilight is right, you deserve.”

The strain in her voice was evident, and despite being barely able to see her, Twilight could detect the sorrow in her tone. She suspected a good life like that was all Warp Runner had ever wished for, before dreams, and Nightmare Moon. The words left Luna stunned for a second, long enough for the thestral to slip out. All the while, Twilight peered at her through the grate, only to steal her eyes away the second Luna glanced upwards.

I do want to give that to her, don’t I? Robbed of the sight below, Twilight’s eyes fixed on the stars sailing by above. A whole canvas crafted by the mare she really believed she was coming to love.

Part of her didn’t even care if Luna deserved it, she desired to be with the regal mare no matter what. After all the years of seeing her friends settle down, and find their special somepony while she lingered in fear of her immortal responsibilities. Her wounded spines ached as she lay there, eyes fixed on the stars, catching a lone comet shoot across the umbral sea, a starry expanse she was really beginning to see in a whole new light.

It's true, isn’t it? I love her. She felt rather odd that she had to quantify something as elusive as love– she’d have to ask Cadance about it sometime. If not for the more open side of her draconic mind she may never have even been able, even if that reptilian part of her brain just wanted to picture Luna with a scaly tail and flaming teeth. Is that so bad, no matter how she looks, she’s still the same mare… I look totally different, I feel different, but I am still me.

She dared not accept the dragon too much, still living in hope that in a day or two she’d be her old self again. Then she could really work things out, maybe take many more trips to Canterlot, and allocate more time to spend with Luna. Most of all, make sure that the night princess knew that regardless of her past flaws, there was one mare who really was starting to care for her.

“Careful on here, this far off the map, you never know what you’re gonna find!” Warp Runner called as she finished mooring the Night Shine to the mountain island’s shore, gliding down to the rough, rocky surface.

Much like an ocean peak, the lone bastion of solid ground in the vast expanse was covered in many unique features. From the manner in which rocks twisted and curved as if plucked from the depths below by divine hooves, to the prismatic array of flora that glowed in the sun’s radiant light. Flowers easily the size of a full-grown pony bloomed beside the winding roots of purple trees. Strange insects fluttered about them, from dragonflies with wings that rotated about their whole body, to skittering beetles the dragoness did her best to avoid.

“Is everything out here so strange?” she asked, lifting her paws to allow some feathery mix of bird and lizard to scamper by, only for it to be suddenly snatched up by the tong of a bulbous, pink frog and devoured. “Gah! I should be taking notes, but I wouldn’t know where to start!”

Is that me or my dragon side losing track? She wondered, not that she had never been exposed to something this alien so rapidly before. Fluttershy would curse me for not at least giving these creatures names.

“Every soul out here is unique, only having evolved on such isolated peaks,” Luna informed as she began to lead the way up a winding trail of what Twilight discovered were overgrown steps. “I often see something new every time.”

“Helps that you left it to grow for a few centuries,” Warp Runner reasoned, scooping up every fruit and berry she could as ahead, Luna’s magic bore a path through the winding vegetation. “Bless my fangs, never seen this one!”

Twilight had no idea whether the deep blue berry the bat pony salvaged looked safe to eat, most of all as sparks like storm clouds swirled within its umbral depths. It was tossed into the thestral’s saddlebags regardless. Peering ahead, on the other hoof, it was becoming increasingly clear where the pathway led. The higher they trekked, the steeper the passage became, vegetation thinning until the three of them were trapped with a steep incline on either side, a cliff wall on one, and a sheer drop on the other.

Note to self, try to avoid wing injuries when in a place where there’s hardly any ground to stand on! The dragoness’s wings ruffled uneasily as loose rocks fled from under the weight of her paws. Afraid of heights… Scales help me!

Lucky for the precarious princess, the passageway swiftly wound its way around the peak of the island, opening out onto a small plateau at the very top. Bathed in the radiant light of Celestia’s mid-day sun, the view was nothing short of spectacular. From the steep sides of the mountain slipping away below them– its crinkled green surface like that of an old rug. To the Night Shine, an indigo speck far below. Beyond, the endless expanse of pale clouds reached on as far as the eye could see.

Several other islands lingered on the horizon, growing in density past the far side of the island, where the glow of day became swamped by a gathering wall of dark clouds. Like the wicked coast of some cursed land in a Daring Do book, the sense of adventure wasn’t lost on Twilight as she observed the swirling storm beyond the rugged cliffs and shattered rocks.

An uneasy wind was conjured in its wake, as purple lightning sparked and flashed across the sheer wall of swirling grey. Thunder followed, barely audible at such a great distance, yet rumbling in her perked draconic ears, nonetheless.

“Just as charming as the last time,” Warp Runner observed as she peered out over the stormy devastation.

Luna, meanwhile, paid the tempest little heed as she trotted down into a squat pit at the center of the hilltop. Much like with the strange fauna of the isolated island, Twilight had to fight the urge to note down every detail of the pale ruins scattered about the lonely summit. The circular impression in which Luna stood was lined with pale stone, its weathered circumference gnawed at by countless shrubs and vines, yet easily large enough for all three of them to stand in.

Around the squat steps at its curved edge, what remained of several arches stood proud against the buffeting wind. While curling roots and budding pink flowers fought to undermine their structural integrity. A tree bloomed from one, casting the only shade over the small grotto. The shadow highlighted another oddity, however, the sparkling cyan glow of a rune, bearing the outline of a crescent moon. Shifting her eyes to each of the remaining arches, she made out the same glyphs, their glow drowned out by sunlight.

The whole place was like a shrine to Luna herself, only reinforced by the sprawling series of markings on the floor under the trio. Full moon at its core, a neat, eight-pointed starburst stretched out in all directions, constellations woven around it like winding paths in a very similar manner to the dream map spell. At the tip of each point were yet more intricate siglas, above, the sun. Below, a crescent moon. To the left, was an icon that looked suspiciously like Warp Runner’s cutie mark, and to the left…

“Hey, is that my cutie mark?” Twilight asked, jabbing a claw at the etched marking, so impossibly old that nopony who crafted it could have known about it.

“Yes, dear Twilight,” Luna admitted simply, glancing at the mark. “Everypony to ever dreamwalk with me is noted here. For time has no place in the dreamscape, for those who study it well enough, such information has always been.”

If the lack of relativity and physics in the dreamscape had made her head spin before, the idea it could also leak into the physical world to such a degree just simply gave her a headache. After becoming a dragon– just because Luna felt that way about her, however, she was sure she could accept anything the dark mare said at this point.

“And mine’s still here, neat!” Warp Runner mused, trotting over to her mark in the stone, flicking her tail at her rump. “Just be glad there’s no more.”

Luna drooped a little at that, while Twilight was pretty sure knowing she had only ruined two ponies' lives was hardly a comfort.

“Just proves we’re meant for each other, right?” Twilight awkwardly suggested, offering Luna a toothy smile. “No surprise future marefriends, or whatever.”

Warp Runner grinned tufted ear to tufted ear, while Luna blushed, babbling incoherently as she hid her face with a wing. It was impossibly cute, driving the nightly mare to fluster like that was certainly becoming an increasingly rewarding pass time as Twilight stashed away her own awkwardness.

Oh, you bet I’m going to tease you, if we’re going to be an item! Never before had she actually felt so warmly about wanting to make somepony blush. The desire to see Luna smile was alien to her, but it was hardly a bad thing. Payback for all that teasing you and your sister do, at least.

“My loyalty is assured I…” The night princess’s sudden retort was cut off by a snort from Warp Runner as Twilight glanced between the two.

“It was a joke, Luna. Couples do that, remember?” The manner in which the princess blushed more at the confirmation, only made Twilight desire to press deeper, while the bat pony ushered. “But what did we say about time?”

“Right, right, you are correct.” Shifting back to attention, Luna took up a position in the center of the ring, igniting her horn as every rune motif around the ruins began to glow.

“First layer of protection around the dream well is that storm,” Warp Runner informed Twilight, leaning close to the dragoness as she nodded ahead. “My best work, back when I was still a pegasus, at least.”

“You created a storm like that!?” Twilight gasped, pretty sure she knew a certain rainbow-maned mare who’d like to ask her a few questions.

“Eh, when you’re bedding the second most powerful pony in all the land, it kinda becomes easy to leave your mark.” The bat pony shrugged, while Twilight blushed so hard it felt as if her scales would melt off.

“She is correct. Though, I fear we may have allowed it to grow a little out of hoof,” Luna called, levitating upwards with one slow beat of her wings as from the runes surrounding her, extended a pillar of dark blue magic.

“It’s at the tail-end of nowhere, who cares?” Warp Runner waved a forehoof dismissively, as the pillar of magic bloomed upward, like a ghostly section of the ruins no longer standing.

It ceased growing at equal height with Luna, warping into a perfectly rectangular obelisk, while at its center blossomed a smooth hole. Markings lit up upon the opening’s circumference, similar to the directions of a compass as Luna retrieved her looking glass to peer through the breach. Eye fixed on the storm, the wall of gray almost appeared to shudder and shift, curving inward under her scrutiny. The frantic little alicorn in her head added it to the increasingly large list of magic and creatures she was going to have to follow up on once home, at least in the moments she didn’t plan to commit to Luna.

As if to cement her radiant beauty further, the night princess flicked her horn, and from the eye of the obelisk beamed a new lance of blue magic. Swirling inward on itself, the pulsating line of cyan flame shot off toward the storm, illuminating the dark clouds from within as it cut a neat path through the devastation.

“I knew it would still work,” Warp Runner mused confidently, smirking at Twilight’s wide-eyed awe as she leaned back.

“The way through the storm is clear. Providing my memory of the map serves true, our path is set,” Luna declared, while the idea that she was going to be her old self again filled Twilight with relief, even as she clapped her foreclaws for the night princess.

She opened her muzzle to express such gratitude, before something caught her eye. In the vast emptiness of the expanse, most things stood out on the hazy horizon. Safe to say, regardless of the smoke that loomed up in its wake, the ship steadily cutting its way toward the island was rather obvious.

“Errm, what’s that?” Doing her best to mask the unease in her voice, Twilight jabbed a foreclaw at the thing, leaving Luna to redirect her looking glass.

From the way the nightly mare’s eyes popped wide, Twilight dreaded that her fears were true. Most of all as Luna readopted her Eclipse disguise, and dropped to the floor, the passageway spell still beaming the way ahead as she declared.

“Nothing good, I fear!”

Chapter Seven: Eris

“That’s the Prime Immortal, Eris’s ship. I’d recognize it anywhere!” Warp Runner declared as the three of them scampered down the mountainside back to the Night Shine. “How did they find us so fast!?”

“I thought you said it would take them ages to decode the scroll?” Twilight gasped, wings flared as she leaped into the boat.

The whole thing swayed upon impact, and she muttered a small apology to the magnificent vessel as it creaked and strained against its moorings. Above, the direction spell Luna had conjured still blazed, casting a beaming lance out into the storm, while also making it quite obvious where the three of them were located. All the while, on the island’s far side, the pillar of acrid smoke belched into the sky by the approaching ship turned the sun’s glow a sickly green.

The closer the infernal hulk loomed, the more Twilight could make out the sheer scale of it. Putting even the wicked warships of the Storm King to shame, the thing was easily four times Night Shine’s size. Like the smaller scout ships that had attempted to cut off their escape back in Ironstal, its many mismatched decks and turrets were crafted from crude sheets of rusting metal, painted with a dull green aesthetic. Spines ran the upper edges of each, above the arches of countless cannon ports.

She really didn’t want to consider just how much firepower was carried aloft by the thing’s tattered sails, as those towering above the deck were equaled by those flanking its stern. Given the low roar of its engines as it approached the island, she guessed it was comparable to more than a few dragons’ worth. It hardly helped then, that flying alongside the ship, was at least one red drake, as well as over half a dozen winged hybrids.

“It matters not, are we ready to make way?” called Luna as she darted to the stern of the Night Shine, looking at the oncoming ship through her spyglass. “We are faster with the wind, are we not?”

“Yes, though the storm’s really gonna throw that through a loop,” Warp Runner called as she took up a post at the helm, ordering Twilight to cut the mooring line.

“Aye, aye!” Despite oncoming certain doom, and the fact she was a dragoness, never before had the lavender princess felt like she were literally living out an adventure story with so much dramatic accuracy.

Dashing over, she snagged the rope with her foreclaw, loosing the taut chord with a sharp crack. She barely had time to call that they were free before the ship lurched, swooping away from the shore and out into the open sky. All the while, the dark hull of the Prime Immortal cut a swath through the clouds as it rounded the opposing side of the island.

“Luna, take the helm, I need to feed the engine if we’re going to outpace them!” Warp Runner ordered, letting the wheel free.

Luna blinked, as if she’d never again expected to be the master of her own ship, only to dart for the wheel as it spun free of the bat pony’s grip. Wincing as it caught her forehooves, the ship lurched as the rapidly spinning wheel ceased. Correcting the Night Shine’s momentum, while directing her bow toward the valley cut through the storm by the navigation spell.

“I cannot safeguard the stern and steer at the same time, Runner!” Luna called, as the bat pony shot by and ducked below deck.

“Don’t worry, I got your back,” Twilight assured, swaying only a little as she slinked her way up the steps to stand behind the disguised princess. “If they can’t keep up, it’s only their flyers we have to worry about, right?”

“We can hope,” Luna responded, only for a boom to shatter the dull tranquility of the expanse, right as the clouds to the left of the ship erupted in a flash of cannon fire.

“Or we can already be in cannon range,” Twilight muttered, seeing the weapons mounted on rotating frames, built into what was now very obviously a draconic skull decorating the Prime Immortal’s leering bow.

“I will not allow us to come this far, only to be outmatched by those beasts, hold on!” Luna declared, spinning the wheel to force Night Shine behind the far edge of the island, right below the cliff from which the guidance spell beamed. “The way finder should vanish behind us as we go, that should give us some cover.”

Just as the night princess indicated, the moment they were ahead of the spell, the beam of light above fizzled out behind them. In the same instant, cannons sang again, the cover of the island lost as the Prime Immortal loomed into view on the left.

“It’s a straight shot into the eye of the storm, we can out-pace them,” Luna declared, hunkering down on the wheel as she narrowed her eyes at the wall of clouds.

Is it just me or does she look like she’s enjoying this? Twilight observed, seeing the eager grin on her lover’s silver face. I mean, why not? Are you scared of a little rough flying?

“But Warp Runner said with the wind!” Twilight called, her mane buffering in the gale as if to be some mockery of Luna’s own ethereal splendor. “The closer to the storm we get… We’ll be against it.”

“Night Shine’s engines will hold true!” Luna assured, patting the ship’s wheel like a beloved pet. “Coupled with her sails, we can…”

As if sensing her certainty, more cannon fire sang, the whiz of projectiles surging overhead forcing the pair to duck, before with an almighty crack, one shot tore the mast asunder. Night Shine’s shields flared, yet stood no chance against the sheer force of a direct hit, faltering as splintering shrapnel blasted outward in all directions. Luna screamed, eyes wide in horror as without thought, the dragoness threw herself over the stunned mare, saving her from the sharp wooden flurry. The splinters were no harpoons, glancing harmlessly from Twilight’s hard scales as she winced, peering down at the stunned princess under her.

“M–my ship, how dare they!” hissed the disguised alicorn, proving she wasn’t only okay, but now very angry.

Not that Twilight had the time to ask, staggering back as the mast fell, crushing the steps to the left of the wheel. Luna surged back to the helm, stabilizing the Night Shine before the ship could veer into any of the sharp rocks dotting the edge of the storm.

“Those engines are still good, right?” Twilight gasped, yet before Luna could reason, shadows darted overhead, the telltale beating of feathery wings accompanying them. “Never mind, just focus on steering, I got you!”

Okay, dragon thoughts, if you want me to be a dragon, now’s the time to teach me how! She thought, reluctantly giving in to herself as the brooding dragon in her head roared in delight. It’s about time!

Fangs bared, she sneered an ember-spitting snarl at the first griffin, right as the avian hybrid swooped in with a harpoon launcher. The ship reeled as she drew back, unleashing the breath of fire that had been swelling in her throat. The griffin swerved, darting low under the flames. Bolt loaded, he drew up to fire, yet after observing Razorback’s usage of his tail in combat, Twilight whirled. Claws planted firmly on the deck, she kicked out, momentum carried along the scaly length of her spine, and to the tip of her tail. Like a whip, it struck out, sending the griffin careening away into the cloudy soup.

His weapon thudded to the deck with a heavy clunk, bounding away from the dragoness’s claws as she noticed that the clouds around them were becoming far less calm. Like the rolling waves of a great ocean, the smooth white sheet was starting to swell, broad arches of cloud rearing upwards, mist trailing from their peaks like the dazzling manes of galloping stallions. It would have been pretty, if not for the flashes of lightning that illuminated the sky overhead, as the almighty tempest began to arch over them.

“What in the night’s name did you do!?” Warp Runner called as she materialized from below, only to duck under a harpoon the second she peeked her head out. “Hey, watch where you aim that!”

The pegasus stallion with griffin claws who’d fired the thing didn’t appear willing to take such orders as he reloaded, while Twilight had to dodge another of the sharp projectiles fired her way.

“We are down a main mast!” Luna called, heaving the wheel left to avoid another set of rocks, only for the ship’s starboard flank to graze the jagged edge with a sharp crunch. “Gah, curse the sky’s name!”

Night Shine’s shields flared, while above, several of their assailants swooped down to avoid the wind rapidly starting to buffer the conflict. One landed within hoofs reach of Warp Runner, learning just how much of a specialist in hoof-to-hoof combat the bat pony was, while another swerved in low at Luna. The hybrid was met with a wall of purple scales as Twilight batted her away from the princess, while the ship lurched right, tossing the dragoness off her paws as she yelped in alarm.

Overhead, the swelling storm grew, darkness enveloping the ship on all sides, leaving only the flashes of lightning and the beam of blue light guiding them onward. Behind them, the vast maw of the storm tunnel loomed tall, and filling its berth like a ghastly mountain was the dark shape of the pursuing syndicate ship. Countless more flyers flitted about the ramshackle behemoth, while the clank of cannons loading within the forward-facing turrets of the skull-adorned bow, were Twilight’s only warning to duck.

She did so right as the larger vessel opened fire once more, scattering the flyers harassing the Night Shine’s stern. She was almost glad for the small moment of reprieve, at least until the rear of Luna’s ship exploded. Tossed muzzle first into the deck, she barely made out the blast of green flame as it surged upward from below the helm, hearing the shrill roar of the wounded engines as she peeled herself from the wood. She cared for none of it, her attention was fixed on Luna as the disguised mare was thrown from the wheel, spinning head over hooves toward the broken mast.

“No, Luna!” Twilight flared her wing, feeling the impact of the silver mare against her aching membrane as she winced, and the pair were flung over the broken timber.

“Urg… My head,” Luna groaned, rubbing under her horn as she sat up, only for her eyes to pop wide at the smoldering sight of the helm. “No, those cursed fools!”

“A–are you alright?” Twilight asked, drawing her lover’s attention as she lifted her head groggily from the rubble.

Luna opened her muzzle to seemingly respond, only to suddenly lower her horn and send a lance of cyan magic over the dragoness’s head. Glancing back, Twilight hadn’t even noticed the griffin that had been swooping in to shoot her, muttering a flustered thanks.

“I assure you the feeling is mutual, dear Twilight,” Luna responded, looking back to the desolated stern of the Night Shine as her ears folded. “But with no propulsion, we are dead in the storm!”

True to that, the ship began to shudder, and if not for the open tunnel Luna’s spell had bore into the maelstrom, Twilight was sure the Night Shine would have been ripped apart. Is that before or after the syndicate rips us apart first?

The latter appeared to be a far more pressing reality as the larger ship began to close the distance behind them. Up close, it was apparent just how large the Prime Immortal was, appearing to have been scavenged from a great many smaller ships, all crudely fused together. The sheer number of rabblesome crew mates grew far beyond just the griffins that had flown ahead to harass the Night Shine. From zebras, to dogs, to even what looked like a barrel-bound sea pony, there were countless creatures cheering on the chase.

If she’d still had her magic, a simple shield spell may have come in very handy. Yet looking at Luna, it appeared the princess had other ideas.

“You have a plan, right?” Twilight asked, peering ahead to where the tunnel was starting to narrow.

There’s no way both ships are going to fit down there side by side. She thought, ducking under another volley of harpoon fire as a griffin was kicked across the deck at her forepaws.

“Seriously, I go below deck for five seconds…” Warp Runner chastised as she hopped over and bucked the prone griffin in the face.

Not to be one-upped, the syndicate ship roared, and the cannons on its flanks rolled aside to reveal a large array of barbed weapons. Twilight made them out roughly a second after her companions, as both Luna and Warp Runner ducked.

“Twilight, down!” called the night princess as the dragoness felt magic wrap around her horns, dragging her to the deck as the new weapons sang.

The ship-sized harpoon tore the Night Shine’s port flank asunder, impaling the smaller vessel like a fish caught on a line. A hulking chain attached to the projectile pulled taught with a great, rusty clang, tethering the two skyships together.

“My ship!” both Luna and Warp Runner exclaimed in perfect unison as they lifted their heads from the carnage.

Twilight’s focus, meanwhile, went from the chain, to the rapidly narrowing passage ahead. Specifically, the sharp rocks that loomed in the way. She narrowed her eyes, the smaller princess in her head scribbling out the math as her dragon side watched on in bored disinterest.

“Hey, can we break ourselves away with those rocks? It’s going to be too narrow for them to follow if we can just get ahead!” she suggested, nodding to the jagged cliffs in question.

“Stars and scales, talk about bold!” Warp Runner muttered as Luna pressed a forehoof to her chin.

“Can we still over boost the emergency engines with charge from the sails? Even if the main thrusters are ruined, it could give us the acceleration we need,” she reasoned, as they were heaved almost close enough to the larger ship to be in boarding range.

“Maybe, but that chain won’t break, we’ll be tossed right into the side of the Immortal!” exclaimed the bat pony, only for a look of realization to dawn on her face, as she and Luna both said in perfect synchrony.

“Enough for us to ram her!”

And she calls me bold!? Twilight thought as the two leaped into action, the exact same moment there was a chorus of eager yells from the neighboring ship, ropes pulled taut as syndicate goons jumped the gap.

“Twilight, guard my rear. I will see this plan to its completion!” Overlooking the rather casual way Luna gestured to her rump, Twilight nodded, swatting aside a pair of sword-brandishing earth ponies that thudded to the deck.

Her draconic side roared in triumph, more so as she slashed her claws at a griffin that dared swoop too close. The little princess in her head winced at every possible casualty, while her reptile brain made sure she knew that her attackers had started it, and that they’d regret doing so. She lost sight of Warp Runner as the mare ghosted into the ship’s lower decks, while Luna battled her way to the bow of The Night Shine.

I can do this, I’m a dragon. I don’t need magic, I’m three times their size and can breathe fire! Panting on cinders, she reassured herself over and over, right up until the moment she once again met her match. Oh, come on!

“Don’t see any boats to drop on me this time, little wyrm!” sneered Razorback as he swooped in to tackle the lavender dragoness, only to thud into the deck as Twilight rolled.

“Lucky for me, I’m not going to need one,” she snarled, back arched and spines flared as she growled. “I’m a fast learner!”

The other dragon shook off her threat, little care for the scarred ponies he swatted aside as he charged across the deck at her. Unlike the last time, she wasn’t about to back down, not planning to allow him a clean shot at Luna. Rearing up, she flared her wings, catching his charge as she brought her full weight down atop him. The change in tactic appeared to shock the dragon just enough for her to dodge his foreclaws, her far more slender form slipping out of his grip as she scrambled over him and kicked out.

“Impressive, your little pony friends been teaching you tricks?” he mocked, scrambling to a stop before he could impact the broken mast, while Twilight came to land between him and Luna by the stern.

The disguised princess was caught between battling to keep the pirates off her back and casting her fire spell on Night Shine’s bow. While below, she could only hope Warp Runner had time to get the engines in order.

“No, picked that one up all by myself,” Twilight countered, earning a grizzled laugh from the dragon, as he nodded her way.

“Then try this one out.” At his direction, several pintle-mounted turrets on the deck of the opposing ship took aim, cackling crew ponies igniting fuses right as Twilight noticed them.

Hopping aside, the first cannon fired, one of the vicious lead nets scattering across the deck where she’d stood as a second was loosed. She barely had time to avoid the first, rolling aside to ensure the second projectile wrapped around her foreclaw, rather than her muzzle. Not to be outdone by his companions, Razorback barrelled into her before she could stand, the squat rail of the Night Shine cracking under the impact as lightning flared in the abyss beyond.

“You’re confident, I like that in a dragoness,” mused the larger drake as he pressed a foreclaw into her shoulder. “Almost makes me not want to pluck off your scales… Perhaps maybe even make you mine!”

Twilight snarled at the devious grin plastering his scarred face, moments before a hard kick to the cheek smacked the expression right off.

“Silence thy words, fiend!” Luna roared as her hind hoof connected with his face. “For thy princess is spoken for!”

The second the weight of his claws was off her, Twilight leaped upward, tossing the loose net wrapped around her foreclaw over his muzzle. The dragon scrambled to heave it off, but with all her draconic strength, Twilight pulled back, then shoved him down into the deck as she loomed over him. Through it all, however, she could only ever think about the rather baffled way Luna was peering at her.

What, am I all that strength and power you hoped I was, Luna? She was unsure whether the confidence was summoned by her draconic half, but she grinned at the stunned mare, nonetheless. Just wait until I show you some real magic!

“W–where is Warp Runner?” stammered the alicorn, regaining her composure as she blasted away a zebra with a bolt of magic.

“Here, engines are good to go, just need a spark!” called the bat pony, her dark form shadow flashing from below with a kick. “Just say the word and…”

“Silver mask!” Twilight’s ears perked, as did the attention of every creature around her as the new voice sounded. Deep and feminine, there was a roughness to it only matched by the ragged hull of the Prime Immortal.

Under her, Razorback shuddered, his struggling slowing as he did his best to chance a glance up to the larger ship’s deck. Even Luna appeared baffled as the battle lulled, Warp Runner on the other hoof, was glowering as the deep thud of hooves on wood thundered. Finally daring to look to where all eyes had suddenly become redirected, Twilight saw just what they were all staring at.

She’d only ever seen a centaur once, that day had been branded into her mind ever since. Yet far from the muscular powerhouse Lord Tirek had been, this humanoid beast bearing the lower end of a pony was far more slim and lithe. A testament to just how far she was from Equestria, the monster’s silvery figure was scarred, under the blades of rough armor that adorned her flanks.

Tail black as midnight, and cloven hooves studded with gold, the skin of her upper half was a pale blue. A wrap of cloth masked her bust, while silver pauldrons broadened her shoulders out into a wide arch. Her head appeared relatively small by comparison, wicked black mane flowing down her back while two sheared horns loomed over her dazzling red eyes. Her hooves thundered on the deck with a series of echoing thuds, clawed hands tapping on her ship’s rail impatiently as she leered down at the Night Shine with a fanged smirk.

“Or should I say…” She clicked her fingers, stubby horns flashing red, and in an instant, Luna was very much her real self. “Princess Luna.”

“Eris,” Warp Runner growled through gritted fangs, as the very baffled Luna, looked herself over, ruffled her wings, then glared daggers at the syndicate leader.

“Well, well, well, this is a surprising revelation!” Arms stretched wide, Eris’s crew cheered around her, a battered-looking Gracie cackling at her side. “After all this time it was the princess of the night herself. How about we thank her for the moon, every creature!”

As if the storm around them had stilled, all thoughts of a dashing escape were forgotten. Twilight only watched as Luna stepped forward to address the leading hybrid.

“I take it that you are the one known as Eris?” began the dark alicorn, the jeering crew stilling at the conversation. “I should warn you that I have dealt with your kind before.”

“I expect you mean that muscle head Tirek, all brawn no brains– hard to believe he’s royalty,” mocked the centaur, making a yapping gesture with her hand. “I think you’ll find that the rest of us few centaurs left, prefer a less direct role… And not to be defeated by pretty little ponies.”

I’d like to see her say that when he’s trying to throw a mountain at her. Twilight thought, pressing her claws down on Razorback, even as she watched the passage grow tighter and tighter. We can’t just stay here chatting, somepony has got to make a move.

“I invite you to come down here and say that to my face,” Luna warned, a muffled wave of mutters running through the crew as Eris scoffed.

“Oh, don’t tempt me, Moony,” she cooed, winking at the dark mare. “But as I said, I’m more interested in where you’re going than taking revenge for all the trouble you’ve caused the syndicate over the years.”

“Not your syndicate,” Luna countered, while Twilight caught her glance to the open lower decks. “I am well aware it was not you the Silver Mask slighted all those centuries ago.”

How long do centaurs even live? Twilight wondered, certain that the myth of the Silver Mask had been around since before Nightmare Moon. Then again, if Eris has any powers like Tirek, she’d have surely just drained our magic by now. So I doubt she’s immortal.

“Times change, leaders come and go. Meaning that I’m the strongest so far,” Eris responded, a series of cheers echoing through the crowd as the monster casually inspected her claws. “And I’ll have you know I’m very interested in this.”

She held out the dream scroll in her opposite claw, letting the parchment flail in the wind for all to see. Luna’s eyes narrowed, while the centaur shot her a smug, sideways glance.

“I’m not a betting mare, but I suspect this is the only reason you came back.” Her look hardened as she shifted her focus to Warp Runner. “To get this, from that little pest.”

“Just a little pest? Eris, you wound me,” cooed the bat pony, as she subtly sidestepped a cable into the lower decks. “I would at least consider myself a… Medium pest at best.”

“I don’t care what you are, all I want from you is what you owe!” spat the centaur, while at her side Gracie huffed.

“You can start by letting me go a few rounds with her.” The bat pony winked at the draco-griff, yet before the angry hybrid could shout anything more, Eris pressed.

“Of course, I think this is worth just as much.” She waved the scroll vigorously. “I know it’s a spell, some kind of map judging by that light show up there.” She nodded to the beam of light leading into the clouds above, all eyes cast upward for a split second as Luna nodded to Warp Runner.

All the while, the best Twilight could do was keep Razorback pinned as the buffering storm began to force the two ships closer together. Rocks thudded and buckled against the hull, and it was becoming increasingly obvious that if they didn’t act soon, the larger bulk of the Immortal would smash Night Shine to bits in the narrow breach.

“Luna… You have a plan, right?” No more than a whisper through gritted fangs, Twilight awkwardly glanced her lover’s way, the rocks growing closer by the second.

“Tell me what it is, let me take whatever treasure you’ve come so far to recover, and I may consider all of this…” Eris gestured to the devastation around her. “Forgotten, including her record.”

She jabbed a claw at Warp Runner and the thestral’s head perked sharply. Now practically peering into the galley, the mare was frozen solid. She only shifted to glance at Luna, while the alicorn’s eyes did the same.

She could save her, all she has to give up is the map. Just like the thestral had made clear, exactly how far would Luna go to safeguard those she treasured most at the cost of others? Don’t listen to her, Luna!

She wanted to call out, demand the nightly mare stick to her resolve. But seeing the rush of emotion on Luna’s face, the words caught in her throat.

“Come now, we don’t have all day,” Eris beckoned, nodding for a few of the rope lines tethering the vessels together to be cut free as the stormy maw grew closer. “I’ll count to three… One… Two…”

Warp Runner shook her head, the motion barely visible in the chaos, before she flashed into the galley. Everything transpired so fast, the little princess in Twilight’s head was floor by taking it all in.

“Nigh, such power would only destroy thee!” Luna called, horn flaring to life, summoning the fiery moon at Night Shine’s bow as below, a green flash lit up the galley.

In the same instant, the chains finally struck the rocks, pulling taut between the two vessels as the length heaved the smaller and lighter Night Shine around into the flank of the far larger syndicate ship. Only as she saw the blazing ram suddenly curve ninety degrees, did Eris appear to grasp Luna’s plan, crimson eyes flared wide as she called.

“Port to starboard, now!” There was no time for the monstrous ship to move, and the centaur was tossed back with her entire crew as the burning ram impacted the Immortal’s side.

Twilight was tossed horns over tail, Razorback abandoned to slip down the tilting deck as the storm drew the Night Shine along the broadside of the Immortal like a searing blade through butter. Cannons came tumbling free as the larger ship’s crude metal frame was ripped asunder. Any creature with wings took to the sky to avoid the shaking devastation as Twilight tumbled toward the smoldering rear of the ship.

“Luna!” Flaring her wings, wincing at the sharp pain in her shoulders, the dragoness’s eyes fixed upon the dark alicorn, magically diverting any splintering rubble that was tossed her way as the two ships began to plummet into the gnawing maw of the storm.

“Twilight!” called the night princess, glancing around, before the two’s eyes finally met amidst the chaos.

For a small moment, it was as if the world had stilled around her, naught but the deep tranquility of Luna’s dark eyes filling her reality as wood and metal alike were torn asunder all about her. Despite the devastation, part of her wished the picture could last forever, blazing glory beset by the dazzling beauty of a divine mare. A monstrous squeal of metal broke the tranquil illusion as the blazing ram was drawn right back to the Immortal’s engines, disproving the vast ship’s bold namesake in a blazing green explosion of balefire fuel.

Shadow aglow in the emerald immolation, Twilight dove at her umbral lover, wrapping her within her fireproof scales before the alicorn could erect a shield. She proved enough of a dragon for the fire to harmlessly wash over her, feeling the sizzle of her scales as they glowed red hot. Of course, it was hard for her to think of anything when she looked down between her forelegs to see Luna peering up at her, wide-eyed and blushing.

“Sorry, I just didn’t think you’d get your shield up in time!” Twilight exclaimed, yet any moment of romantic tenderness was shattered as Luna called.

“No, look out!” One glance to where she’d indicated, and the dragoness watched the entire length of the Night Shine rip upward, dragged into the hungry storm like a mere toy under the weight of the Immortal’s bulk.

There was nowhere she could go, nowhere to move. Nought but the storm on all sides, and the looming wall of blazing timber above. She thought of home, of her friends, all things she may not have the chance to return to, but most of all she thought of the mare wrapped in her scaly limbs. The mare she was about to fail!

So lost was she in the face of utter doom, that she failed to notice the flash of leathery wings, nor the dark shadow that darted between the raining devastation to meet her. Warp Runner lived up to her name far more valiantly than the Immortal, weaving through the gauntlet of fire and reaching out for the two princesses with her forehooves.

“Don’t worry, I got you!” The world suddenly went cold and lucid, and a vale of magic pulled over Twilight’s eyes as she peered up at the plummeting wall of devastation, phasing straight through it, before tumbling into the abyss in the company of her exhausted companions.

Chapter Eight: The Abyss

The lucidity of Warp Runner’s spell didn’t fade, the blurred lines between reality and the dream realm contorted and entwined until they were indistinguishable from one another. The last thing Twilight recalled was falling. The ships were gone, the storm had consumed all. How many had survived that wreckage? Had she survived? Her little mental princess was making countless observations, if she were dead, then she’d surely have to take notes. All the while her dragon self was swift to assure her that it would take far more than a naval catastrophe to take down a dragon. She hardly paid any attention to either of them, blinking weariness from her eyes to find that she was in a long hallway and was definitely not a dragon.

So, either a dream or I’m really dead. Only the day she’d become an alicorn, had she ever felt so unsure about where she found herself. There was no Princess Celestia here to guide her in this void, nor did Luna appear to be present. But if this is a dream, then whose is it?

She was unsure if she could have willed herself into the backstage of the mysterious realm without Luna’s approval. Yet what she saw certainly reminded her of her past few ventures behind the curtain. The gloomy walls appeared to be conjured from prismatic glass, shimmering like obsidian mirrors in the pooling shadows. The only pillars of light that penetrated the prolific shroud, were akin to islands in the abyss. As if to step off them, was to fall forever, Twilight acted upon what Luna had once taught her.

If this is a dream, then I can’t be so literal. Just like with Starlight’s dream, I have to be abstract. That filled her with worry that this was yet another nightmare. Only it was too still. The dread here was looming, not immediate. It would help if I knew whose dream this was!

She considered that it may be her own, aside from her deep-rooted anxiety regarding her transformation, however, this didn’t feel like a product of her subconscious. Nor did it appear to represent her conflicted feelings about Luna, she was pretty sure of herself in that regard now. She loved the dark mare, enough to cross the world with her. Yet not knowing where the radiant diarch was now, was eating up at her. Therefore, utilizing her limited knowledge of the dream realm, she willed the pool of light under her to follow her steps, and like some obedient hound, it did just as she ordered.

Her hooves clopped on invisible marble, the wispy blue and purple veins that trailed through the umbral mass dotted with stars similar to how the Tantabus had looked. The sight had the little princess in Twilight’s head collecting her notes into a neat stack, siphoning off any observations that felt irrelevant, and offering a good idea as to whose dream this was. Only such things felt impossible. Of course, Luna dreamed, she’d tortured herself that way for years, but to stagger into the dream of the dream master herself felt insane.

How did I get here? The question echoed through the soupy oblivion around her in a reverberating hum, while she wondered if the Princess of the Night could have nightmares, as well as dreams. Of course, she can, but why would she let herself?

It had been years since they’d convinced Luna she didn’t need to mentally torment herself every night. Yet to detach herself from the struggles all others faced also felt unusually out of character. At the conclusion, however, Twilight only assured herself of one thing. If this was her lover’s nightmare, she was going to fix it. All she could hope then, was that her night princess was still as intact in the waking world.

At the assertion, the dream once again quivered, feeding on her intent just as Luna indicated it would. Sensing her ambition, doors appeared on either side of her, each a regal arch of gothic architecture similar to the castle Luna and her sister had once inhabited long ago.

Old school, sure seems like Luna. She observed, creeping up to one of the doors and inspecting the pair of draconic gargoyles that flanked it. Hardly captures the draconic look all that well.

It was easier to ignore her reptilian side’s disgruntled comments in here as she passed between the two stone sentinels, and pressed a forehoof to the smooth wood of the door. For as firm as it felt, however, the boundary offered no resistance as it slowly slipped open, creaking as if it needed a good oiling. Beyond, was another hallway, bearing similar décor to the door itself, the place appeared to be equally as old.

The smooth stone walls were a mottled gray, forming curved arches above, while a plush, red carpet covered the floor between flanking stands of dark armor. Tapestries drooped between the petrified attire, while moonlight beamed in from several windows, pooling in silver mats upon the crimson floor. Twilight recognized the hall, even if the majority of her recollection was a thousand years out of date. One glance out of the window, to the castle gardens bathed in radiant moonlight, and she knew what she was looking at.

“The castle of the two sisters…” she muttered to herself, voice echoing through the lucid dream as if the air were made of thick soup. “It’s just like the time I saw her become Nightmare Moon, only…”

“Tia, no fair!” The shrill sound of a young voice caused Twilight’s ears to perk, her head shooting tall just as swiftly as she glanced left down the hall. “That’s mine!”

She saw the two fillies just in time to avoid being blundered into by the rambunctious pair as they dashed along the corridor. Never in her life would she have imagined she’d call her mentor cute. As a filly, however, Celestia still had an aura of gravitas around her, even if it was more of an adorable one. Her mane was loose and pink, not flowing like the Princess Twilight knew, while her wings and horn were still rather small. Luna was smaller still, no more than a few years old, by the looks of it– even her niece was older these days.

This must be her past, she keeps it locked away in her dreams. Twilight supposed it was easy for Luna to do, dreams had to be based on some form of memory, after all. Meanwhile, as the two fillies dashed by without so much of a glance her way, the world shifted. She blinked once, and the hall changed to a balcony, just as beautiful, and moonlit as it overlooked the vast Everfree forest. Am I supposed to be seeing this? It’s surely private.

No matter what she thought, there was no way she could escape, no way she could turn the dream off. As if it were a recording forced to play out in front of her, Twilight saw Luna once more, notably older, her mane flowing with a canvas of twinkling stars that mirrored those above the forest.

“You should tell them, you know?” cooed another voice Twilight knew, albeit a far more recent addition to her memory. In addition to not matching the pony she was familiar with as the purple pegasus drifted down to Luna’s balcony. “They could kick me out of the Sky Guard, and what would I care? I’d still have you.”

Warp Runner still bore the same cutie mark and colors of her bat pony self, even if she was notably shorter as a pegasus. Twilight supposed that was why she didn’t seem too keen to land, she was more than used to the same attitude from Rainbow.

“We are a princess, we care not for what they think of us,” Luna responded, peering up at the pegasus with a smitten smile, the same smile Twilight had elicited from the dark mare several times now. “But the trouble it may cause thou do concern us greatly. We do not wish to sully thou’s life with our shadow, as we are saddled with that of thy sister.”

“Her shadow just makes you shine all the brighter, Luna,” assured the pegasus, swooping in for a kiss that shattered the world around them like glass. Twilight took a step back, feeling as if Luna’s balcony and bed chamber were going to fall out from under her, only to be snapped back as Luna shouted.

“Thy repugnant attitude, she cares not for thy plight. Thy sister would condemn us for this, on what grounds? Tis’ our love that conjured such a kind, and she doth not deem our children of the night as worthy as her other little ponies?” Marching back and forth, the only time Twilight had seen Luna look more scary was when she was on the brink of becoming Nightmare Moon.

Part of her wondered if that was what she was witnessing right now, only to see that Luna wasn’t the only alicorn in the room. With a horn, and mane flowing like her lover’s, Warp Runner looked even more like a night princess than Luna. Her leathery bat wings and sharp fangs really added to the nocturnal aesthetic. Celestia had once told her that she and her sisters’ manes flowed as they did due to the sheer amount of magic the two contained. One day, her own mane, and that of her sister-in-law, would flow just the same. Warp Runner, on the other hoof, appeared to brim with arcane might, her eyes shimmered, her coat shone, and her horn was a towering spire to rival the night princess’s own.

She must be full of Luna’s magic, the dream personified her desire for power the same as it did to me. Thestrals were certainly the most draconic of any tribe, so it made sense. While Warp Runner’s comments about Luna’s tastes once being sharper rang true. Only, where she knew a confident bat pony, and guessed a formally boastful pegasus, right now Luna’s past lover only appeared saddened.

She became the first new alicorn, and queen of a whole race overnight, can I blame her? She noted, while finding it hard to blame Luna for her discontent with her sister’s reaction. This has to be one of the things Celestia regrets, all those times she told me she never really saw what was bothering her sister.

She knew Celestia had never actually gone through with any discrimination against thestrals. Even after Nightmare Moon used them against her, the night guard had been employed as a small, specialized force until Luna’s return. But to have it all happen so fast, and by accident!

“Luna, I don’t care about any of that, or what she says,” Warp Runner insisted, and hearing the witty voice come out of a mare so divine felt incredibly strange. “You said it yourself, I’m like this because of love. I’m not going to pretend I understand it, but if it comes with loving you, then it’s all I want.”

Those words stuck as the two embraced, leaving her to think just about what she would do for love. Would she allow herself to remain a dragon, if the purity of true love had deemed that to be right? Part of her was sure she would. Only, Luna herself had assured her it wasn’t what she wished, simply a byproduct of her specific talents. Relationships went both ways, after all. As she thought about that, voices were cast about in the dream, she was sure she heard Celestia talking about how thestrals would have to be dealt with– going on about the night guard.

Then came flashes of Warp Runner and Luna, both wore dark dresses as they pirouetted around a ballroom floor, horns locked as a crowd of bat ponies watched on in nocturnal awe. It was a monument to the night, an idol to the natural darkness that mirrored the day. Until the balance was shattered by a vision of Luna stomping her forehoof against a mirror, scattering glistening shards of glass across her bed chamber.

“We will not allow thy sister to smother us any longer. Allow her ponies to shun thou for what thou are. Our children, our love, we treasure it more than thy sister could ever value her precious, little ponies!” yelled the dark mare, tossing the broken glass away with her magic.

“And that is something you would go to war over…? Over me!” retorted a far less ethereal Warp Runner, her modest, drooping mane parted only by her horn. “I am not going to let you do that Luna. I saw what the last war did!”

“Thou has no means to stop us! Thou has no faith in us!” accused Luna, flaring her horn to summon up shards of broken glass. “Thou are the keeper of our dreams, our most trusted confidant… Our Queen, and thou would abandon us in our hour of need!?”

“I thought I was always what you needed, Luna? You were perfect to me, but this…” Warp Runner swatted the offending glass away with a flare of her magic. “This is greed, this is insecurity… You don’t trust me when I say you’re enough!?”

“Thou lie only to assure we do not endure shame!” Luna lashed out with the glass, striking her lover across the horn with the sharp shards of silver, and in a flash, Warp Runner’s mane was drenched red, her horn falling to the carpet.

She screamed, Luna back peddled, eyes wide as the full moon as sparks spluttered from the thestral’s bloody horn.

“Thou… We…” The glass dropped around Luna in a silver cascade, cutting her cheek, while Warp Runner panted hard, one forehoof pressed to the severed tip of her horn. “Oh no…”

“Stay away from me!” the thestral hissed, fangs flared like a venomous viper, face marred by crimson as her bat wings spread wide. “You’re not my Luna, you’re not worthy of her!”

“Love… Warp…” Luna reached out, voice barely above a whisper, but like a liquid shadow the bat pony slipped off into the night.

The vision left Twilight stunned, every moment she watched Luna wilt away alone in her bed chambers, she gained a new perspective on just what had led to her fall. Days appeared to go by, and more, and more, the darkness grew. The self-loathing was more a shadow than those that swarmed in every corner of the chamber. No pony came to her, she sought out nopony in turn, until the day Twilight knew had come to pass dawned. Nightmare Moon rose, and as she had seen, Luna was banished until the day she and her friends had set her free.

How do I know that won’t happen again? She hated herself for the thought, the mere idea she could think so little of the mare she loved disgusted her. Can I risk Equestria if she ever lets herself slip like that again?

She had to be sure of herself, make certain that she wouldn’t allow that to come to pass. Luna wasn’t the same mare she was all those centuries ago, Celestia would never allow her to feel so alone again, nor would she. Luna had friends who cared for her, ponies who loved and adored her.

She has me. Twilight peered at the void, flickers of Luna and her former lover’s past flashing by. Warp Runner even forgave her, why else would she have helped us?

“She helped for your sake, not mine,” croaked a weary voice, while like schooling fish in the wake of a hungry predator, the flickering images scattered into the gloom. “Now you see the real me, who I am at my core.”

Luna appeared from the shadows, her voice low and as withered as her body. All the millennia appeared to have caught up with her all at once, her once radiant coat was dulled by an aged silver, as was her mane, while her eyes were faded, her face pitted by wrinkles.

“You mean who you were?” Twilight corrected, turning to face the warped personification of her lover. “I know you’re not that mare anymore, Luna. I understand how it must have felt, and if there was ever one criticism I’d say to Celestia’s face it would be how she once neglected you. If I didn’t know she already regrets it every day.”

“I do not require another pony to remind me of such things,” Luna chuckled, then sighed. “But that is not all of it. I’m old, Twilight, I have made so many mistakes, those that the kingdom is aware of, and those only I, and scant others, know came to pass.”

Her tired eyes were fixed on the carpet, and as if all around them had ceased to exist, the only break in the void was a pillar of light that perfectly illuminated what lay there. Warp Runner’s severed horn lingered in a dry patch of crimson.

“I always assumed she’d cut it off herself,” Twilight muttered, but Luna shook her head.

“I giveth with love, I steal with rage… True, she never wished to be an alicorn, she may have removed it herself in time, but I never gave her a choice in either matter,” the weary night princess admitted.

“But you are offering me a choice.” Twilight swallowed her apprehension, daring to look at the aged mare. “You’ve taken me so far off the edge of the map just to give me that option. That is the mare you’ve become. Even if she doesn’t love you, Warp Runner sees that too, she didn’t have to give you the map.” She took a deep breath. “And it’s the mare you are now that I love.”

“You just make sure I know that, Twilight,” insisted the old mare, and the lavender princess blinked, cocking her head and earning a chuckle. “I know it here, in the deepest parts of myself. I feel I have since the day we met, the part of me that changed you. But awake, I will need you more than you need me.”

“And when I wake up, you’ll be safe?” Twilight glanced about, recalling the last thing she remembered. “The crash, we could be dead?”

“The dead do not dream, dear Twilight,” insisted the old mare, before she smirked. “And I doubt the dragon inside would allow you to be bested by such things.”

“How do you know about that?” The idea anypony could see what that infuriating part of her said was terrifying, however, the aged Luna merely winked.

“I can sense who you are at your core just as much as you see me.” She tapped a willowy forehoof to Twilight’s chest, causing the princess to shudder in alarm as she pushed her awake. “Now go, and see I do not repeat my mistakes.”

The distinction between what was real and what was a dream had become so warped that Twilight still had no idea whether she was awake or dead. One eye flashed open to find her face pressed into a cold sea of grey sand, only to slam closed again as the tiny granules stung. The air around her was cold as ice, while flashes illuminated the darkness behind her closed eyes before she finally lifted her head to open them properly.

As the blurred images finally settled into place, she realized that the sky was just as dull as the ground. The vast expanse of grey sand was matched by a thick mist that turned the air into a swirling soup. The shadows of rough rocks loomed from the expanse, as if they were the grasping claws of a great beast petrified while attempting to rise from Tartarus itself. Odd creatures flitted about them, levitating snakes that appeared to project their own telekinesis from the bioluminescent bulbs dotting their flanks. It was oddly how she envisioned the bottom of the great oceans to look, more so as strange jelly-like forms bobbed by.

The light of the fauna was overshone by that raining down from above, however. Like a shower of falling stars, flaming wreckage lit up the cloud layers as it plummeted to the sand below. While in the mist ahead, the great burning form of a sky ship’s shattered corpse lay broken. The reality of what had transpired above finally caught up with the dragoness as something within the wreck exploded, while several more chunks of blazing debris rained down around her.

We fell, but… Where are the others? Shaking sand from her wings, Twilight glanced about, finally staggering to all fours as the grey granules slipped from her back. She was in my claws, where is she?

Jumping in alarm as a section of ship impacted the ground behind her in a flaming spray of dust, Twilight rolled down the flank of the great grey dune, sliding to a halt as she impacted the ground muzzle first. Above, something else erupted in a burst of flame, and she leaped forward just in time to avoid what she was pretty sure had been part of a ship’s engine falling on top of her.

“Luna!” she called out, voice echoing in the misty abyss, before she coughed. “Warp Runner… Anypony!”

No response beyond the rumble of devastation emitted from the gloom as the dragoness limped away from the raining devastation. Passing under the shattered remains of the great dragon skull that had once adorned the Prime Immortal’s bow, Twilight finally slumped.

Am I just stuck down here… Where even is here? Never before had she felt so utterly lost, no friends, nopony to rely on. She barely even had any visual reference in the pale grey depths, and no books that even hinted at what to expect. This is what you get for following stupid ponies. You should have just stayed in the forest like a real dragon!

The little princess in her head was seemingly struggling to not agree with the dragon side of her brain. If only to avoid admitting she was totally and utterly lost. Part of her almost wished this were still a dream, yet the bite of the freezing air, the sting of her wounds, and the fact she was still very much a dragoness disproved otherwise. Right until a sound broke the eerie atmosphere.

The weak sniff was as far from the distant booming of devastation as Twilight felt from her home. Her scaly ears perked, her attention shifting in the direction of the sound, while her eyes finally came to rest on a lone figure in the foggy gloom. Appearing like little more than one of the many lonely boulders that permeated the abyss, the dark alicorn drooped, wings loose at her side as her head bowed.

“Luna!” Twilight took no heed of the night princess’s dreary demeanor as she took off running toward her, sand scattering in the wake of her eager claws.

Luna hardly budged, lifting her head in surprise, ears perking, only to sag as Twilight reached her.

“Are you alright!?” asked the dragoness, skidding to a halt behind the dark mare. “Where’s Warp Runner!?”

“I… I know not.” The words seemed to catch harshly in Luna’s throat as the night princess appeared unable to meet her lover’s eyes. “I fear the worst… And worst still, how I have come to fail you both.”

Pulling up short, Twilight paused, any joyous relief that had blossomed upon finding her lover sapping away to see her so defeated. True to Luna’s word, there was no sign of their bat pony companion, while the wreckage raining down around them certainly did go a long way to suggest the worst may have come to pass.

No, I don’t give up on friends. Twilight’s resolve hardened, there was no way she would leave Warp Runner to the abyss, nor would she stand for Luna’s blame any longer. By Celestia, if I love her, I need to act like it!

“No, Luna. You’ve not failed,” declared the dragoness, eyes locked firmly on the downtrodden princess. “You got us this far, took me halfway around the world to try and help. That’s not failure.”

“And now those efforts result only in ruin.” She gestured to the devastation around them as she went on. “I thought I could relive old times, show you how I used to be, when I felt like I could love. I avoided my sister, your friends… All because I wanted you to see me, and look what that has come to!”

All that about this being too dangerous for them, about Celestia not understanding? The slight stab of betrayal at that confession stung, the idea she could have every pony she cared about here to help her, only to have it robbed from her by Luna’s ego. She’d go that far to prove herself to me… Does she even know me!?

Part of her wanted to scream, notably not the draconic half as the reality hit her. Yet she couldn’t find the angry words, couldn’t look past the defeated look on Luna’s face. Debating whether it was pity or genuine care, she finally let out a soft sigh, smoke sizzling from her nostrils.

“Luna, I’m nothing without my friends. Together we’re stronger, both of us would be stronger,” she began, taking a seat next to her lover as the sand shifted under them. “You never needed to prove yourself to me, I know who you are.”

“The villain you bested, the noble second sister you respect. Just as most ponies do,” Luna responded, eyes fixed on the sand at her forehooves. “I wanted you to see me as Warp Runner once did. Not the alicorn to call princess, but the mare to call love.”

I can see what Runner was talking about. Twilight noted, doing her best to set aside Luna’s deception, most of all now she knew what lay at the princess’s core. While she was sure there was no malice in it, it was also something she wouldn’t allow to happen again. She needs somepony, I can see that. I feel like I’m right but…

“You were doing that before you started blowing up ships,” Twilight admitted, gently wrapping a leathery wing over her fellow princess’s back. “Maybe for a while, I hardly thought of you differently from Celestia. But your sister’s my idol… You… You are different, Luna.”

“Forgive me if I cannot forgo considering that a negative juxtaposition,” Luna sighed, even as she stiffened at the touch of the dragoness’s wings. “I should have never deceived you. The moment we found her, we should have petitioned Runner to return to Canterlot with us. Constructed a far better plan.”

Yeah, you don’t say. Huffed Twilight’s dragon side, the little alicorn in her head once again in agreement as she folded her forelegs and nodded. Guys, do you really think she’d have come back with us?

“Maybe, but that hardly matters now,” Twilight reasoned, standing up to position herself before Luna. “We’ve been down like this before, though. All we need is each other, and we’ll always pull through.”

“You need your friends, not me,” Luna sighed, and with a huff, Twilight rolled her eyes. The dragon side of her begging to thwack some sense into the dark mare.

“You are my friend, Luna. We’ve always been friends,” she insisted, tenderly taking the nightly mare’s forehoof in a foreclaw. “More than friends… You’re special to me.”

“I–I… You… But after all I did…” Twilight pressed a wing to Luna’s lips, cutting her off as she interrupted.

“Yes, no matter what you did. I care about you, Luna, I want to make this work. Just know that you don’t need to dwell on the past any longer.” The blush that seeped into Luna’s dark cheeks put the blazing fireballs littering the gloom around them to shame as she shied away. “Now, let’s find Warp Runner and fix this. Once I’m a mare again, maybe I can show you a thing or two.”

“Well, isn’t this touching?” The grizzled voice stole the tender moment, and both Twilight and Luna’s attention snapped around to the very battered-looking centaur.

Armor dented, charred skin bruised, and hair singed, Eris marched out of the gloom, red eyes blazing with fury. Twilight sneered flames, Luna’s horn ignited, but the villain smirked as she stretched out one claw.

“Ah, ah, I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” she warned, as in her talons, bound by some strange, arcane collar, Warp Runner kicked and thrashed helplessly. “Not if you want to keep this one in one piece.”

“Let go of me, or so help me I’ll ghost you into a wall!” the bat pony hissed, squirming like a helpless fish caught on a line as the collar glowed in an effort to restrain her magic.

“You know what this is, don’t you?” taunted the centaur, as a flash lit up the sky behind her. “A null collar, so don’t even think about using any magic.”

“Shame, I’m starting to get pretty good at getting by without it,” Twilight snapped, only for Eris to waggle a finger.

“Then I’m sure you’re also willing to test how fireproof this little pest is,” she taunted, forcing the dragoness to swallow her swelling breath. “That’s a good, little drake.”

“What do you want!?” Luna thrust a dark wing before Twilight, rising from her stooper as she stepped towards the monster. “Your ship is in ruin, your crew scattered. Those who still live will never follow you again.”

“I’d not be so sure,” Eris countered, reaching back to pull the dream scroll from under one of her armored plates. “You came so far to get this. It has to be worth more than one ship and her crew.”

“I’d hardly call that raggedy-flank thing a ship!” Warp Runner jeered, earning a tight squeeze from the centaur that caused Luna to lurch.

“One more word out of you and I’ll rip off those wings to match that horn of yours!” Eris threatened, before jabbing the map toward Luna. “You take me to wherever this leads, I know you still need to.”

She glanced up, and sure enough, far above the beam of blue light cutting through the distant storm still pulsated.

“Don’t, Luna!” Warp Runner gasped, while the princess of the night maintained her standoff with the syndicate leader.

“I’m not a patient soul,” Eris cooed, while the brooding dragon in Twilight’s head was edging her ever closer to attacking the hybrid.

“If that is your wish, then so be it.” The shocked exclamation of the little princess in Twilight’s head was matched only by Warp Runner’s gasp. “But I warn you, you will fail to find what you seek.”

“I’ll be the judge of that,” hissed the centaur, nodding for the mare to lead the way. “Get a move on, I’m sure you don’t fancy becoming dinner for the void sharks.”

“Luna, you’re sure…?” Twilight caught the dark mare’s knowing look, knowing that now, at least, she had to trust her lover’s judgment.

“I am certain. Come, the way of dreams is not far now,” she called, taking the lead as Twilight fell in behind her.

I have to trust her. There was still a part of her tentative to do so. Luna had lied, deceived her away from the others. Something she knows she can’t do again, I won’t let her.

The conflict raged inside her head as Eris brought up the rear, obviously inspecting the pair for any signs of deception as Warp Runner snarled in her claws. We have bigger problems right now, anyway.