A Talk In The Night

Within the realm of dream land, Twilight could feel some kind of a physical application gently nudging her. Whatever it was, she ignored it, just further engrossed in her dreaming. How could she not be? She was dreaming of having a picnic with her friends in the park on a beautiful day! Who wouldn’t want to remain in such a sweet dream?

But the nudging continued. Twilight looked all around her to see who or what was nudging her. She guessed it might’ve been Spike, since he had a habit of doing so when he wanted to get her attention. But there was nothing there. Her friends weren’t the culprits either, as they were happily chatting away and eating their sandwiches.

Another nudge.

“Come on, Twilight…it’s time to wake up,” a disembodied voice sounded from somewhere.

Ascentia gently nudged the pony again, trying to wake her up, but was having no success. Of course, the last thing she wanted to do was to wake her up by force, but she also had to get her waking up soon.

“Wake up, Twilight…time to get up,” she coaxed.

“Mmm…” A sleepy groan emitted from Twilight was she rolled onto her back.

“Princess…I don’t want to go to school today… I wanna stay here and make cookies with you…”

Chuckling, Ascentia shook her head and continued nudging the pony awake while running a hand through her mane. “That’s a lovely thought. But we can make cookies later. It’s time to get up.”

“Five more minutes...”

Exhaling, Ascentia glanced at her wrist, even though she wasn't wearing a watch. She shrugged, deciding to give Twilight a few more minutes to sleep. Then again, she was partially awake anyway, so it was likely that it wouldn't take too long. It occurred to her then that she might have been having a good dream, which she was glad for, at least Twilight's sleeping periods weren't filled with endless nightmares. At least, she hoped so.

A few more minutes passed before Twilight stirred again. Ascentia gently nudged her awake, with Twilight responding this time.

The unicorn yawned, opening her eyes to face the woman above her. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes, trying to focus on her surroundings. Stretching her limbs and body, Twilight rolled over onto the floor so she could get up properly. Even though she wasn't facing her, already she could sense Ascentia observing her, as if waiting for her to say or do something.

“Mm... Good morning,” Twilight yawned a bit.

A small smile overcame Ascentia's features, “Good morning, Twilight. I trust you slept well?”

“Yeah, I guess.... I slept fine,” Twilight nodded, sitting down on her haunches. “But what about you? You look like you haven't moved all night.”

Ascentia raised a hand to dismiss her concern. “I'm all right. There's nothing you need to concern yourself about.”

Twilight blinked blearily, waking herself up a bit more, and nodded. “All right. I guess I'll make some breakfast. Pumpkin should be up soon, anyway. I usually have something ready for her. ...Are you hungry? Do the Val'Kyr require anything specific?”

Chuckling, the woman stood up to follow Twilight to the kitchen, looking amused. “Much like any sentient being, of course we do require food and drink for sustenance. I however am not picky, so you do not have to worry about me. I'll be happy with whatever you serve.”

“Are you sure? I mean, I don't have much, but I could make toast or waffles or pancakes or something,” Twilight said, searching the cupboards with her magic. “You can sit down if you want.”

Twilight rummaged through the cupboards as she heard Ascentia take a seat at the table. Though the Val'Kyr made no immediate response, at least Twilight had something of an idea of what she could do.

“Anything is fine. However, I do hope you'll follow up on your offer to make some cookies.”

Turning around, Twilight faced Ascentia quizzically, only to find the woman suppressing a smile as she hid it behind her hand.

“What do you mean?” She wanted to know.

Ascentia chuckled lightly. “You were in a dream state, and had said you wanted to make some cookies rather than go to school.”

“I did?” Twilight tilted her head, then turned back to her rummaging. “I don't remember saying that.”

“Of course not. I didn't expect you to.”

“Then...were you joking?”

“You can say that. Normally, I do not partake in very much levity. Considering my line of work...” Ascentia let that sentence hang for a moment before continuing. “But it never hurts to lighten the mood from time to time. A moment such as this certainly is one of them.”

“I guess you're right. Pinkie Pie did that...a lot.”

“Is Pinkie Pie the one of your original party members that had been killed?”

Saddened, Twilight nodded as she faced away from her. “...Yes. ...She might have been loud, oftentimes a little grating with her constant talking and excitement... But she was a really good friend. Pinkie had a sweet, fun, easygoing way of life. She really didn't deserve to be killed...”

“Think of it this way, Twilight. She is in another place now, her nightmare is, for the most part, over now,” Ascentia said softly. “But I understand that you miss her. It is never easy to face the loss of a loved one.”

“No, it isn't. My father died a few years ago...” Twilight paused as she produced a box of cereal and a loaf of bread. “I hadn't seen him very much since I became Princess Celestia's student, or when I moved to Ponyville. I mean, I know everypony can and will die sometime...it's pretty much one of the only certain things in the world...but it's so final, and really sad when you think about it.”

Ascentia was quiet for a moment before speaking up once more. “That's very true. It even leads to the questions everyone has, about what happens after we die. No one knows for sure. Even those who departed cannot return to tell us.”

“...Well...maybe they're not supposed to,” Twilight said thoughtfully. “Maybe...it's just something we have to find out on our own.”

A murmur of agreement sounded from Ascentia, and the two spoke no further on the subject.

Some time later, a few minutes, which felt like an eternity, Twilight managed to prepare some French toast. Along with the bottle of blueberry syrup, the unicorn levitated the items onto the table, alongside a bowl of cereal for when Pumpkin would awaken. When the plate and a glass of orange juice were placed in front of her, Ascentia glanced down at the meal. Twilight studied her expression, seeing that it was her normal stoic one. But then it quirked into thoughtful as she took a brief sniff of the food. Without a word, the woman took hold of her fork and knife, proceeding to slice off a piece of the pan-baked bread.

Noticing Twilight watching her, Ascentia glanced up at her.

“Is something on your mind?”

“No, I just... Want to know if you like it.”

Ascentia gave a smile, then took a bite of the baked toast. She chewed a couple of times, then swallowed, “It's good.”

While Twilight was unsure why she felt so compelled to make sure it was to her liking, at least to the level she was thinking, it did relieve her to know she did her job well. Taking a seat as well, she too began to eat her own helping after she poured some syrup on her plate. After doing so, Ascentia took the bottle as well, pouring some onto her own French toast.

They ate in silence, with nothing but the quiet clinking of utensils against the plates reaching their ears.

As they ate, Twilight couldn't help but wonder things about the night before. Especially about what she herself had said. While she certainly didn't hesitate to refer to Ascentia as a friend, she wondered about it in full. At least, to the best of her knowledge.

Of course, Ascentia was far different from her friends. But when you really came down to it, removing a lot of the differing factors at hand, she really could have just been something like any other pony she'd meet. Somepony who was reserved, acted with proper judgment instead of emotion, patient, quiet, stern... The list went on. On a personal level given who Twilight knew, she was different. It was easy to say that Ascentia was by far the most fascinating friend she ever had, with or without the factors at hoof about her line or work, skills or species.

But then again, it was partly because of her that this happened. But Twilight couldn't entirely fault her. Ascentia was just doing her job, it was nothing personal. That was what the Val'Kyr just did. Despite the extremities within the details of their work; it was, to them, a day on the job. This was something Twilight could see, especially from having met Ascentia that day, fifteen years ago.

The fact she was coming back to try to set things right, at least within her own power, was admirable. Twilight expressed this before, to which Ascentia had said,

“It isn't hard to own up to your mistakes. Many are just too egotistical to do so.”

Twilight felt a smile come to her lips. It was then that Ascentia's voice broke her out of her thoughts.

“You have been very quiet, Twilight. Something is on your mind, isn't it?”

Looking up to the Val'Kyr, Twilight bit her lip. She wasn't too sure how to respond.

A small smile came to Ascentia's lips as she placed her knife down, “You also have been looking toward me for the past little while. Is there something you'd like to ask or tell me?”

“Well...” Twilight began before she could stop herself. Now Ascentia was expecting some kind of an answer from her, and she just couldn't sit on a big open field of nothing. But what to tell her? What to ask? What could she say? “I don't know. I guess I just...well, I'm trying to make sense of some things.”

Taking her last bite, Ascentia eyed her, even gently waving her hand to prompt her.

“Just...well, not just everything about this, but...us.”

“What do you mean by 'us'?”

Twilight looked down at her plate, “It's just...I know what I said last night, about the fact that I do think you're my friend.”

For a few moments, the woman was silent. Her expression was unreadable, but certainly not of anything offended nor angry. In fact, the closest Twilight could discern from her scarred facial features were that Ascentia was contemplating.

“Before you fell asleep, I had said that you're my friend, too.”

“...So...you did say that? I wasn't dreaming?” Twilight blinked her eyes.

Ascentia shook her head, “You were not dreaming, I did say it. I would have not said that if I didn't mean it, Twilight.”

“I wouldn't have, either,” Twilight said softly, still not quite looking at her, “I'm just sorry if I made it harder for you.

“What do you mean?” Ascentia wiped her mouth with a napkin, keeping her atrophied eyes on the unicorn.

Gathering her words, Twilight hopped down from her chair. She came around the table, over to where Ascentia sat. It seemed silly, since they were still in the same room, within earshot and eyesight of each other, but Twilight felt the need to be closer to her. As if it would further emphasize what she wanted to say.

“Being a Val'Kyr requires that you do your job without letting your emotions get in the way. Acting on emotions isn't the best way, because it compromises the entire situation It's kind of like...” Twilight frowned, trying to think of an analogy for it.

But Ascentia seemed to catch on, “A doctor, a surgeon perhaps, being unable to perform surgery on family members, especially that of immediate family.”

Twilight nodded, laying her head on Ascentia's lap. She relaxed a little when she felt the woman's hand gently run through her mane, much like the night before.

“Yeah, that's what I mean. Having to do your job, but with...your friends to think about within it.”

“It isn't your fault. Even I know well enough that we cannot help how we feel about things, especially when it comes to forming relationships with others. We don't choose how we feel about someone one way or another, it's just how we end up feeling. Of course, that is an entirely different matter altogether. Picture this. Do you know of survival horror stories, especially about epidemic breakouts of the undead? Or as it is commonly known, zombie attacks?”

Twilight glanced up at her, nodding a little, “I haven't read many of those. But I do know about them.”

"There were many stories about zombie outbreaks. While some consisted of the same formula, they did vary. Be it on the zombies themselves and how they functioned, or the story situations and elements. But that is, again, another story altogether. Perhaps we'll speak of that some other time. It is interesting to think about. What I mean to get at, is this. Imagine that a zombie apocalypse occurred around here, or anywhere upon Equestria. Imagine any of your friends becoming infected.”

Twilight considered, looking up at Ascentia then, “Well, how? How would they be infected, what would happen, how long would they-”

Ascentia gently cut her off, “That doesn't matter. Let's just say one of your friends has become infected and is turning into a zombie. You are faced with a choice. To put them out of their misery, or, to let them live on as one of them.”

“Is that a trick question? I mean, that's really hard to choose. I don't know what I'd do if that happened.”

“No one would know. But, it's about choosing between proper judgement, or, your emotions. On one hand, your emotions would be distraught at the idea of actually killing one of your friends, no doubt. But on the other hand, the logical standpoint would be this. Your friend is no longer living, they are dead, and now just an empty shell. They are a zombie, who will kill you with absolutely no hesitation or consideration. No longer are they who they once were. To kill them would be best, not only to prevent the infection from further spreading, if that is the case, but to put them out of their misery.”

Ascentia exhaled, running her hand through Twilight's mane again,

“I think you understand what I am trying to say. Despite that I do care for you, I will not let it interfere with my work. I cannot let that happen. How I feel does not change, and shouldn't affect it. We may have to make that choice, at times, and when we do, it is best that we realize the right thing. Maybe the right thing isn't always what we want, but it is the right thing to do none the less.”

Letting it all sink in some more, the unicorn considered it. Twilight wondered, deep down, if such occurrences would arise. In it that she would have to make such life-altering decisions and choose between her emotions and logic.

“A part of making such decisions requires rational thinking,” Ascentia went on, “Patience is key. When we rush or let our minds run away, we can end up making something worse. It's why we have to think about the situation before taking action.”

A few minutes of silence passed as the two remained this way, contemplating. Twilight closed her eyes, feeling nothing but the fabric of Ascentia's robes beneath her head, and the said woman's hand running through her mane. She could see nothing, hear nothing but her and Ascentia's breathing. A lot was running through the lavender mare's mind by then, an onslaught of questions, theories, all sorts of things she had to consider within their discussion.

Friendship, or any sort of feelings toward someone, definitely resulted in emotions taking minds of their own and deciding what to feel. Emotions were indeed a mystery that even Princess Celestia herself couldn't fully answer. But who could? Even Star Swirl the Beaded himself could never truly explain and take apart emotions, or even love. Sitting down and trying to logically explain any of it, to try to understand how it work, was foolish.

Twilight knew that more and more, especially in the past years, and ever since she first made her true friends. She had felt so many emotions she never knew, about herself, about her friends, about a lot of things. Feeling more in touch with her emotions was wonderful, yet, scary.

She could only wonder what could come of it.

Exhaling, Twilight rose up, placing her hooves on Ascentia's leg. She rose up, leveling herself at the woman's height as best as she could. Coming to her face, the unicorn leaned in and gently nuzzled her cheek. Ascentia stiffened lightly, but didn't otherwise oppose the contact. When Twilight lowered herself back down, she observed as the Val'Kyr brought a hand to her cheek.

Shifting her atrophied eyes back to the unicorn, Ascentia brought her hand down toward Twilight's face, gently touching her cheek. Twilight was surprised at the response, but leaned her cheek into Ascentia's hand.

Neither of them spoke, they only looked at each other. Their bond, even their alliance, may have been strange and so out of this world, but it didn't change that friendship could reach even the strangest places.

“Ascentia?”

“Yes?”

Twilight squinted a bit, then pulled back a bit, “You have a bit of syrup on the side of your mouth.”

“Oh?” Ascentia raised her hand to her mouth, wiping it off, “Ah, what do you know,” she chuckled, taking a napkin and wiping her mouth and hand.

Twilight smiled a bit, “Anyway, what you were saying before, it's true. That's some of the things I've learned when I was studying under Princess Celestia.”

Nodding, Ascentia stood to help her clear their dishes, “I don't doubt that. I'm certain she must have had certain difficulties when it came to having to seal the Xoroth within the moon.”

“...You know about that?” Twilight gaped, using her magic to carry some of the items to the sink.

“Of course. I know many things of your world. I have studied upon many of its stories and philosophical documentations, all kinds of ways of gathering the information,” Ascentia told her, “I also know of how over a thousand years ago, the Xoroth had become a manifestation of her resentment and jealousy, that of the spirit of Nightmare Moon.”

Twilight nodded, looking out the window with a faraway look in her eyes, “Yeah, that's what happened. Princess Luna was sure nopony cared about her... Eventually her jealousy, resentment and self-depreciation manifested into Nightmare Moon. Princess Celestia tried all she could to reason with her and stop her, but nothing worked. Especially that they were no longer connected to the Elements of Harmony. She didn't want to have to banish her own sister...but she knew she had to, for the good of her sister and of everypony in Equestria. After all, Nightmare Moon wanted to bring eternal night.

“Things changed since she was brought back. Everypony now are new generations from a thousand years ago, someponies didn't even know Princess Luna had once existed. It was all a big learning process for Princess Luna and even many ponies across Equestria. And now, well, there are ponies who have night jobs, there are night clubs, and other kinds of events that happen at night. Many ponies no logner miss the wonders of the night any longer. Ever since, Princess Luna has created beautiful night skies with all the stars, and meteor showers! It's about time...don't you think?

“I know why Princess Celestia had to do what she did. She never banished Princess Luna because she was cruel or any of that sort. Having to choose between her sister and her kingdom weren't easy at all... But she did the right thing, even if it wasn't what she hoped it would be. A lot of ponies disagree with that... But they didn't understand it the way she did, the way even I did...the way we all did...”

As they stood side by side washing and rinsing the dishes, neither spoke for a moment or two.

Ascentia looked down at her after a moment as she dried a plate, “Not many understand a situation if they do not see it for themselves. But that is an example of having to choose between your emotions or logic. Sometimes, in situations of that, we have to choose between the life of one...or the life of many.”

“The needs of the many outweigh the needs of one comes to mind,” Twilight remarked.

“Very much so,” Ascentia nodded, “As the ruler of Equestria, it's no wonder she had to make such a difficult choice. But it had to be done.”

“Otherwise, Equestria would never see the sun again,” Twilight sighed, placing the cleaned dishes into one cupboard with her magic, “...What else did you find out?”

“As I said, many things,” Ascentia paused for a moment, “I did read one strange story that involved...baking ponies into pastry goods.”

Recoiling, Twilight reared with shock and disgust, “What?! That's...ew! That's disgusting!”

“I found it fascinating,” Ascentia mused, chuckling, “And I must say, you reaction was priceless.”

“Would you cut it out?” Twilight frowned, sighing, “This is serious.”

“All right, no more teasing,” Ascentia said evenly, dropping the levity, “Anyway, I had read a lot of things about your world, to understand it a lot better. After all, as an outsider, I had much to learn.”

“I've read a lot about the Val'Kyr, too,” Twilight said, sitting on her haunches. “Well, you already know that... But even despite the...less than ideal ways of describing your kind, it's very fascinating. I mean, I'd read stories about there being the kinds of beings such as you, but nothing quite like it.”

Ascentia nodded, turning off the water in the sink, “I do appreciate you taking the time to learn more of the Val'Kyr than what is already presented, as I said before. The fact you try to understand is more than I can say for anyone.”

“Well, of course I want to understand. I mean, when I see a situation, I want to know all about it before I can make my own judgement.”

“That's a very admirable notion, Twilight. I could see that in you back fifteen years ago.”

Twilight smiled a little bit before she stood up, going to check on Pumpkin in her room.

Some time later, after Pumpkin had gotten up and eaten her breakfast, Twilight sat in the library with a book in front of her. Ascentia sat with her, leafing through a book as well. There wasn't much going on, they were just “hanging out”, so to speak.

The unicorn faced the Val'Kyr for a moment, wondering yet again about what she had come to think of the night before.

“Ascentia...you know what I said, about what it'd be like if things were different?”

Ascentia nodded, “Certainly. We all wonder things like that,” she said, and looked down at her, “Tell me, when you read a story of some kind...do you ever wonder what would it be like if something changed? Such as if a character said or did something else?”

“You mean, how different the outcome would be if things went differently?” Twilight asked.

“That's right, yes. Any kind of given story always seems to house alternate realities. Mostly known as 'What if?' scenarios, as it were. Many believe that in life, there are alternate dimensions.”

“Alternate dimensions?”

“Yes,” Ascentia nodded, placing the book on her lap, “Some would say that there are alternate dimensions out there, where our lives are lived in different ways. There are endless possibilities. Such as...a life of what it would have been like for you if you had never been enrolled into Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, for example.”

“What could've happened if Rainbow Dash never made that Sonic Rainboom...” Twilight said softly, contemplating.

“Exactly, and many more possibilities. Those alternate dimensions live the same, just with different outcomes to any situation.”

“So, maybe...out there, there's some kind of other world where...maybe...what we have is different?”

Ascentia nodded, “That's what some believe. Who knows, maybe there is a universe out there where...say, I am a pony among you all. Maybe in another, you're a Val'Kyr like me.”

“Me? A Val'Kyr?” Twilight wasn't sure what to make of that idea. It was fascinating, to be sure, but she wasn't certain if it was the best thing. “I don't know, I don't think I'd be good at it.”

“Why not? Twilight, if that were to come to pass, of course you would be thoroughly trained and taught the ways of the Val'Kyr. It would not be some kind of an overnight transition. Why, I myself had difficulties in the past when I was but a child learning the ways. It is not something you acquire quickly or even can think of as you are now. You reach it when you do, and then you fully understand what it means to be one. To think like one,” Ascentia ran a hand through her mane, gently,

Nodding, Twilight leaned against her a little, “I know what you're saying. Of course learning new things and the ways of a line of work take a lot of time and practice. But I guess it is hard to imagine having to do all of that.”

“Of course,” Ascentia nodded, “But as I said, it is only a possibility within an alternate dimension. In some other dimension, we could be anything.”

“Such as fish in the sea?” Twilight threw in.

The woman chuckled, “Don't tell me we're going to spout out different possibilities. We'd be here all week if we did that.”

“I know,” Twilight giggled, “But I guess it's interesting to think about. Well...if you were a pony, what race would you be?”

Ascentia shrugged, “I don't know. I suppose the closest would be a unicorn. I have long since lost my ability to fly, so I do not think I would be a pegasus. So, I think I will go with unicorn.”

Nodding, Twilight glanced down at her book again. Bookmarking her page, she placed it down on the floor next to her with her magic.

“It'd be interesting if things were different...without everything at hoof... Who knows, we could be friends... Have fun together...not have to worry about as much as we are,” Twilight mused.

A few moments of silence passed before Ascentia responded.

“It's a lovely thought. Dwelling on it will do you no good, but I certainly appreciate the sentiment,” she smiled a bit, “I don't blame you for thinking this way. Sometimes, it's nice to think of more comforting possibilities to ease the hardships all around us, even if we know they may not come to be.”

Leaning against the woman a bit more, Twilight felt her hand run down her back in soothing strokes, “Yeah...sometimes we wish for things to be different, even if we know it's not possible.”

“You never know, Twilight. You never know.”