Darkness, that was all there was, just darkness. There was simply nothing else, only the unwelcoming void of pitch black darkness. No sense of direction, no feelings, not even the passage of time…

Beep

The veil of darkness was pierced by a sound, soon realization dawned, and the darkness began to ebb, revealing a small amount of light.

Beep

The same sound, it beat the rest of the darkness back, allowing great streaks of light to come through, creating an endless space of white. It was a blank canvas, which soon allowed the threads of consciousness to come through.

Beep

Again, the sound reverberated throughout the mind, seemingly encouraging it to work faster. The threads weaved together, creating a great structure, and just like that…

Beep

Cadance was awake. She was aware. She was confused.

Beep

A world of feelings flooded her mind, confusing her even further. Her head ached, her mouth felt incredibly dry, her entire body was sore, and her hooves stung. A bright light was shining directly over her eyes, preventing her from opening them. She shifted a bit, and immediately regretted it as every muscle in her body lit up with a dull, throbbing pain. Cadance winced and tried to relax her body, and the pain slowly began to fade.

Beep

That sound… What was it? Her alarm clock certainly didn’t sound like that, and Cadance could tell she was in a bed, but it wasn't her bed. Just where was she?

Beep

Cadance then noticed the sterile smell that permeated the room, and her heart sank. Oh no... was she in the hospital? For what? More confusion filled her mind, just what had happened?

Beep

A stream of memories began to trickle into her mind, and Cadance began to remember what happened.

She was captured, she was imprisoned! But she was rescued?... No, she got out on her own… Wait no, she was rescued… By a worm?... Then there was a wedding... Her wedding?... But she wasn’t attending it… And after all of that there was a fight? A battle?

Beep

There was something missing, some unknown force, something frightening that related to it all. Her capture, her captor, the wedding, the battle, even the worm… What was it?

Beep

In an instant, the rest of it all came crashing down upon Cadance.

Beep Beep

Her eyes snapped open and she sat up in a flash.

“Changelings!” She blurted out, then immediately winced as her sore muscles protested.

Beep Beep Beep

No reaction, all except for the increased frequency of the beeping. Squinting her eyes against the harsh artificial lighting, Cadance looked around the room in confusion.

Beep Beep Beep

Nothing, it was completely devoid of any life save for herself. Sterile white tiles, sterile white walls, and the sterile white ceiling were all that accompanied her in the hospital room. Cadance was completely alone.

Beep Beep Beep

She was alone!

Panic rising once more, Cadance gave the room another once over trying to find any changelings that could be stalking her, but there were no obvious black shapes against the stark white room.

Beep Beep Beep

There were no threats in sight.

Beep Beep

She was okay.

Beep Beep

She was safe.

Beep

Cadance looked towards the now much calmer machine that stood at the side of her bed, the frequency of its beeps having resumed their normal pace. Next to it was a bag of clear fluid up on a stand, and a thin tube coming from it that led directly into her foreleg, which was covered in bandages. Cadance grimaced, she didn’t like the idea of some unknown fluid being in her body, but she knew it was probably necessary.

Beep

Looking up, Cadance gave a closer inspection to the room she was in. There was a window on the far wall, but the blinds were drawn, so it was impossible to tell what time of day it was. Further to the right, and in the corner of the room, there was a white door, which also had a window, but at the angle she was at Cadance couldn’t see through it. Closer to her bed a white nightstand stood, and on top of it there was a small white vase. This room certainly had a theme, but that was it.

Beep

There were no other beds, no other patients, and that meant there weren’t any privacy curtains, which meant there was no way to have a dramatic reveal. This was nothing like any of those romance novels Cadance had read, she would’ve huffed if she could, but at least having a private room was nice.

Beep

Then the door clicked, and the knob started to turn. Cadance snapped to attention as the door slowly started to open.

Beep Beep

“Oh my, who left the lights on in here?” A soft voice said quietly,

Any worries soon vanished as a pony clearly wearing nurse attire entered the room, seemingly oblivious to the fact that Cadance was sitting awake right there.

Beep

“Hmm, must’ve been one of the interns,” The nurse continued, turning to fiddle with the light switch on the wall.

Beep

“And they didn’t put the ECG on silent?” The nurse complained, “Don’t they know it’s supposed to be sleeping hours?”

Beep

The nurse turned around to check on the machine next to Cadance, and immediately locked eyes with her.

Beep

They both stood there for a moment in complete silence, staring at each other with wide eyes.

Beep

Cadance tried to breathe in to speak, but it immediately caught in her throat, and she was forced into a coughing fit.

The nurse’s expression immediately shifted, “Oh don’t try to speak dearie, you’re still recovering. You just frightened me a bit, I didn’t know you were awake,”

Beep

The nurse looked to the open door, then back to Cadance, “I didn’t wake you up did I?” She asked, looking a bit worried.

Cadance shook her head rapidly, then pointed towards the machine with a bandaged hoof.

Beep

“Ugh, figures,” The nurse rolled her eyes, “Well let me get that for you dearie.” The nurse said as she walked around the bed to mess with the machine, a simple click of a button silenced it. “There, peace and quiet, now you can go back to sleep,”

Cadance cleared her throat, trying to get the nurse's attention, then she tapped the top of her fetlock, as if she was wearing a watch, only to wince as a small jolt of pain shot through her leg.

The nurse looked up and down at Cadance in confusion, then realized what she meant. “Oh! You want to know what time it is. Well it’s about midnight dearie,” She walked over to the window and flipped the shutters, revealing a starry night sky, then continued, “So you should try to go back to sleep, the doctor will be able to see you in the morning.”

Cadance opened her mouth to reply, but the dryness persisted, so she chose not to.

“Do you think you can go back to sleep?” The nurse asked, not entirely understanding what Cadance was conveying.

She just shrugged, and immediately cringed from pain.

The nurse gave her an odd look, “Well okay dearie,” She said slowly, “If you need anything there is a call button to your left.

Nodding, Cadance carefully laid back down on the bed, and the nurse soon left the room, but not before flicking off the lights, leaving Cadance in near complete silence and darkness. Unsurprisingly, she did not fall asleep immediately, and was stuck with a lot of questions about what had happened, but those could wait till tomorrow.

Probably…

Hospital food was… Not the best. The soup was watery, the bread was a bit stale, and the celery stalks were floppy, but none of that stopped Cadance from devouring it all. Well, almost all of it, the dessert remained untouched, and while it was probably the best part of the whole meal, Cadance just couldn’t bring herself to eat it.

Green Jello

The sight of it made her sick to her stomach, it only served as a sick reminder of what happened on her wedding day. The consistency and color were eerily similar to changeling insides, and it jiggled and wobbled with every slight movement. Cadance couldn’t stand to even look at it, so she pushed it off to the side of her tray, trying not to focus on it.

Thankfully, only a few moments later the door to her room opened, and in walked what was obviously the doctor, stereotypical stethoscope and all, along with a larger, and much more familiar figure.

“Celestia!” Cadance rasped, quickly moving her tray over to the table beside her bed.

Princess Celestia smiled as she entered the room, “Hello Cadance, it is good to see you awake,”

Cadance’s voice caught in her throat again as she tried to respond, and another fit of coughing soon followed. Princess Celestia’s smile faltered, and she floated a cup of water to Cadance, who graciously accepted it, and while she was busy drinking, Princess Celestia turned to the doctor.

“How is her condition doctor?” She asked,

“Well… Nothing too bad,” The doctor began, flipping through a clipboard, “Let’s see… Cadance appears to be suffering from some minor dehydration and malnutrition along with some minor bruising along the body. Despite that, the only real major issues present are the stress fractures sustained within her legs, the moderate cracking of her hooves, and the slight nerve damage throughout her whole body.”

Cadance’s ears perked, and she stopped drinking for a moment to look up, “Stress fractures? Cracked hooves? How did that happen?” She asked, carefully inspecting the coverings on her hooves.

Princess Celestia gave her an odd look “Cadance,” she said, “You bucked the castle’s front doors off their hinges.”

“Oh yeah…” Cadance smiled sheepishly, remembering just what happened and what she had done, “Sorry,”

Princess Celestia’s expression softened, “I’m just glad you're alright,” then she turned back to the doctor, “But did you say nerve damage?”

The doctor adjusted his glasses, “Yes, almost every nerve ending along Cadance’s body appears to have suffered some very minor damage. This damage is consistent with that of electrocution or severe burns, but only the nerves are damaged, the surrounding area is fine, which leaves only one other cause...” He paused to flip a page, “Exposure to malicious magic.”

Princess Celestia furrowed her brows, “Of course the changeling queen would do something like that…” She trailed off.

Cadance glanced at her for a moment before looking worriedly at the doctor. “That’s not permanent is it?”

“It’s unlikely, the damage sustained is only minor, meaning you should be able to fully recover with little if any long term effects, though in the meantime you might experience either hypersensitivity, hyposensitivity, or a combination of both.” The doctor said,

Cadance breathed a sigh of relief, “That explains a lot,” she said, “But what about everything else?”

“Well, malnutrition and dehydration are easy enough to treat, just make sure you are eating and drinking enough. For the nerve damage there isn’t much we can do besides simply letting it heal, of course we can give you some pain medication if you need it, and the same goes for the minor bruising. As for your legs and hooves, just keep pressure off of them, and since you have wings, I recommend lots of flying, and while you should be able to stand for a short amount of time, you shouldn’t pick up anything heavy, nor should you be walking, at all, as otherwise you might have to wear special boots. Overall, I’d say you’re looking at at least five to six months of recovery time.” The doctor tapped his clipboard,

Cadance’s face dropped.

“Actually doctor,” Princess Celestia joined in, “It should really only take two months at most.”

“Really?” Cadance asked,

“I’m sorry?” The doctor asked.

Princess Celestia nodded to the doctor, “Cadance is an alicorn, which brings many benefits, including a faster metabolism.”

“Hrmm” The doctor put a hoof to his chin, “Well if that is the case, then please disregard my previous estimate. If you truly do recover that fast then you could even be discharged within the next few days. Though I recommend you still exercise caution, your wounds are still healing, even if it's at an accelerated rate.”

“Thank you doctor,” Princess Celestia bowed slightly, “Though now I must ask that you leave us, there are some rather important things I must discuss with my niece in private.”

“Oh, uhh… Of course your highness,” The doctor returned a bow, then quickly shuffled out of the room. Princess Celestia made sure to close the door behind him, and to check through the door’s window to make sure nopony else was actively listening in on their conversation.

“Do alicorns really heal that fast?” Cadance asked, breaking the moment of silence.

Princess Celestia turned back towards her, “Yes, we do.” She answered, “It’s a lesser known attribute that can be incredibly useful, but that is not what I would like to discuss with you.”

“Oh?” Cadance said, carefully setting her cup on the bedside table. “Then what did you want to talk about?”

“I am sure that you can guess,” Princess Celestia said as she sat down next to the bed.

Cadance put a hoof to her chin and spent the next few moments thinking.

“The worm?” She said after a moment

Princess Celestia nodded, “Precisely,”

Cadance hummed, “Where is it?”

“It is asleep,” Princess Celestia said, and after a very confused look from Cadance, she elaborated. “We were worried about what it might do without you there to control it, so I had Luna put it under a powerful sleeping spell.”

“How long has it been asleep?” Cadance asked with a frown.

Princess Celestia looked up in thought for a moment, “We put it to sleep only a few hours after you went unconscious.” She answered.

“Wait…” Cadance paused, “How long have I been asleep?” She asked worriedly.

Princess Celestia once again paused for a moment of thought, which only made Cadance more anxious about what the answer would be. She didn’t feel like it was that long, but her sense of time at the moment was far from accurate, just how long had she been out of it? Cadance braced herself for whatever Princess Celestia would say next.

“It has been about two days since the wedding and subsequent invasion.” Princess Celestia said,

“Oh.” Cadance immediately relaxed, “That’s not too bad.”

Princess Celestia frowned, “You almost sound disappointed.”

“Well… It’s just that I was expecting it to be much...” Cadance trailed off.

“Longer?” Princess Celestia suggested,

“Yeah…” Cadance admitted, “Something more like weeks, even months. I was thinking about how much I would’ve missed.”

“Well, I’m glad you only missed out on a few days rather than a few months.” Princess Celestia said with a smile, eliciting a similar reaction from Cadance, “Besides, there were several things these past few days that you would have wanted to miss anyway.”

“Oh? Like what?” Cadance wondered.

Princess Celestia leaned forward and said one word, “Cleanup.”

Cadance grimaced and looked away, “I see,”

Princess Celestia frowned, and decided to change the subject, “There is some good news.” She said, causing Cadance to look back at her, “Everypony is safe and accounted for, and only a few were injured.”

“That is good.” Cadance said. Then her eyes widened in realization, and she sat up straight in her bed, “What about Twilight!” She nearly shouted, “Is she alright? Is she okay? Where is she?” Cadance asked rapid fire.

Princess Celestia looked down, “Twilight is… Alive, but she is far from okay.” She said somberly, “Her condition is stable, but unlike you she has yet to wake up, and her injuries will take months, maybe even years to completely recover from.”

Cadance recoiled in horror, “Oh my goodness! What happened?”

“You were right,” Princess Celestia said, “The changeling queen did trap Twilight within the crystal caves, but she was nearly crushed by a cave in. She was barely alive when her friends found her.”

“A cave in?” Cadance asked, then gasped loudly, surprising Princess Celestia

“What is it?” She asked,

“It was the worm!” Cadance exclaimed,

“Pardon?”

“The worm caused the cave in!”

“What? Why?” Princess Celestia demanded, standing up.

Cadance took a moment to catch her breath before continuing. “When the worm helped me escape it did it by tunneling through the earth, it had to smash through the crystal walls just to get to me.” She explained.

The explanation seemed to calm Princess Celestia a bit, and she sat back down, though she looked uncertain.

“The cave I was in nearly collapsed,” Cadance continued, “I guess the worm did more damage than I thought…” She put her head in her hooves, “Oh no, it’s all my fault.”

A moment of silence passed over the two.

“No. It isn't,” Princess Celestia spoke up in a serious tone, causing Cadance to look back up, “You are not the one at fault.”

“But I summoned the worm.” Cadance argued, “And it caused the cave to collapse.”

“Did you know Twilight was in the cave with you?” Princess Celestia asked,

Cadance paused, “No, I didn’t, but I had assumed, which is why I called out for help in the first place. I guess the worm just responded first.”

“Hmmm. So you did not mean to call for the worm?”

“Of course not!” Cadance exclaimed, “I didn’t even know it was alive, much less that I could call for it.”

Princess Celestia reached over and put a hoof on Cadance, “Then it was an accident, you were not the one at fault, if anything it was the changeling queen’s fault.” She said, “Or mine… Since I allowed all of this to happen in the first place, but the blame is not on you Cadance, you had no way of knowing, you only did what you could’ve, and there is nothing wrong with that.”

Cadance looked down, “I still feel terrible about it,”

“And that is a good thing. It shows that you care, and Twilight will understand that.” Princess Celestia said,

“What should I tell her?” Cadance asked, looking back up.

“Everything,” Princess Celestia said simply, “She will no doubtedly be confused when she wakes up, but we shall be there for her when she does, as well as her friends.”

Cadance smiled, “Okay, that sounds good,”

“However that brings me back to my main question, regarding the worm,” Princess Celestia added,

“Oh?” Cadance asked, leaning forward to listen more closely,

Princess Celestia continued, “What do you hope to do with it?”

...

“I’m sorry?” Cadance asked after a moment of confusion

“What do you hope to do with the worm?” Princess Celestia repeated the question.

Cadance shook her head, “No no, I heard you the first time, I’m just not sure what you mean by it.” She explained.

“Hmm…” Princess Celestia paused to think, “Then let me put it like this. The worm has very obviously formed a bond with you, for whatever reason I do not know, but right now you are the sole reason why it has yet to be either resealed in stone or exterminated.”

“What!?” Cadance asked in surprise, “Why?”

Princess Celestia sighed, “Because the worm poses a great danger, a thousand years ago there were entire crusades against it, and hundreds lost their lives because of it. Now it has come back, and it has proven itself to be just as lethal and dangerous as it was in the past. I care a lot about my little ponies Cadance, and I do not wish to risk their lives by keeping this worm around.” She said sternly.

Cadance just stared at Princess Celestia, slowly taking in everything she said.

She continued, “But, I also care a lot about you, and your input. It is clear to me that you have also formed a bond with the worm, however minor it might be. So I am asking for your input on what should be done about the worm. However I must warn you, since its bond is shared with you, it will be placed directly under your responsibility.”

“I…” Cadance was at a loss, “I… I don’t know. This is all so sudden. I... need more time to think about this.” She finally said,

Princess Celestia stood up, “I understand, this is a difficult situation, and those take time, but time might not be something that we have much of. I do not wish to rush you on your decision, but I am unsure as to how much longer we can keep the worm subdued, so please think about it soon.” She finished, then began to walk out of the room. “I am sorry to leave you on such an important decision, but there are many things that still require my attention.”

Cadance watched as Princess Celestia exited the room, her thought process full of everything that she had been told, then something new bubbled up to the surface.

“Wait!” She called out, hoping that Princess Celestia was still in earshot.

A moment later Princess Celestia peeked back into the room with a confused expression on her face.

“Is there something else you need?” She asked.

“How is Shining Armor?” Cadance asked in return.

Princess Celestia smiled, “He is fine, if not busy with the guard. He should be able to come visit you soon.”

Cadance also smiled, “Thank you,”

“Goodbye Cadance,” Princess Celestia concluded, then disappeared back out the door, closing it behind her.

Once again Cadance was left alone with her thoughts, only this time with much more information, along with a major decision to make. What should she do with the worm? Cadance laid back down on the hospital bed and stared at the ceiling in thought. This would certainly take some time.

The sun lazily yet gracefully dipped below the horizon, and the moon soon rose to begin its long journey across the sky. Princess Celestia similarly walked gracefully down the hallways of the castle, passing all manner of staff, guards, and nobles, all of which bowing at the sight of her as they retired for the night. She gave only a curt nod to everypony she passed, and continued down her path through the corridors.

The twists and turns of the castle interior were almost like a maze, but Princess Celestia knew them by heart, and soon enough, a familiar set of double doors appeared before her. Paying little mind to the intricate designs on each door, Princess Celestia simply pushed them open, revealing a cozy study. It was warmly lit, and decently decorated, several bookshelves lined one side of the room, while a large desk sat on the other, plenty of parchment, ink, and quills were set upon it. Towards the center of the room however, was a set of lounge chairs along with a small table, a tray consisting of plenty of tea accessories and an array of baked goods.

As soon as Princess Celestia closed the door behind her, her demeanor immediately changed, she exhaled and relaxed her body, clearly slouching, even her mane seemed to droop a bit.

“Tired this evening, sister?” Princess Luna asked, sitting on one of the lounge chairs, a steaming cup of coffee held within her magic.

Princess Celestia sighed, and took up a seat of her own, “Yes, today has been a long one.” She replied as she began to set things up to steep her own tea.

“How so?” Princess Luna asked, taking a sip from her coffee.

The tea started to steep, so Princess Celestia answered her sister while she waited, “There is no end to the amount of things that require my attention, especially in these past few days. This whole invasion debacle is harder to put to rest than I originally thought.”

“Can you not just simply speak out and set things right?”

“Oh how I wish it were that easy,” Princess Celestia said, leaning back into the seat. “But it simply does not work that way anymore, ponies today must know what is going on, and while the press does a good job at that, they are also excellent at brewing paranoia.”

“I see…” Princess Luna said, then took another sip of her coffee.

“But I do not wish to talk about those matters, for they have consumed too much of my day already,” Princess Celestia spoke, checking the progress of her tea before setting the cup back down.

“Mmm… Then what would you like to talk about sister?” Princess Luna asked,

Princess Celestia closed her eyes, sinking further back into the chair, “I spoke with Cadance today, she has finally woken up.”

“Wondrous,” Princess Luna said, “What, pray tell, did you two speak about?”

“I informed her of the more important events that had happened in the last few days, as well as reassuring her that mostly everything was alright. Though the conversation did turn towards Twilight.” Princess Celestia looked down

Princess Luna also looked down, “Poor Twilight Sparkle, she deserved none of what happened to her.”

“Yet it still happened, and the blame falls mostly on me.” Princess Celestia stated.

“Nonsense!” Princess Luna said, taken aback, “What of the late changeling queen? Surely she is the one to blame here.”

Princess Celestia sighed, “That may be true, but it was because of my ignorance that this entire ordeal made it this far in the first place. Tell me, do you know how long the changeling queen had been impersonating Cadance?”

Princess Luna paused to think, “I cannot say for sure, for I am not particularly close to Cadance herself.”

“But I am,” Princess Celestia exclaimed, “and I did not have any suspicions until the wedding day itself.”

“Then the changeling was an excellent impersonator.” Princess Luna deducted,

“No, she wasn’t. Yet she still had me fooled the entire time,” Princess Celestia admitted, “I had noticed the change in attitude and personality, but I only assumed it was stress from the upcoming wedding, only in hindsight do I realize just how obvious it was.”

“Then how long was the changeling in place of Cadance?” Princess Luna asked, “Surely if it were that obvious it could have only been a couple of days.”

Princess Celestia looked away in shame, “I believe that Cadance was replaced on the night of her bachelorette party, nearly three weeks before the wedding.”

Princess Luna lurched forward, and nearly spat out a mouthful of coffee, thankfully she was able to hold it in, and she took a moment to swallow it before speaking. “That is preposterous! How could such a thing like that happen?”

“I do not know,” Princess Celestia said, “But what I do know, is that I failed, as a ruler, as an aunt, and as a teacher.”

An uncomfortable silence descended over the study, and it no longer felt as welcoming as it once did. Princess Celestia continued to stare blankly at the floor, while Princess Luna took a much longer than necessary sip of her coffee.

“Perhaps we should talk about something else.” Princess Luna suggested

“Yes, perhaps we should,” Princess Celestia agreed.

Princess Luna thought for a moment on what to ask, or to wait to see if her sister would ask her anything, but after several more moments of silence, she decided to break it.

“What else did you and Cadance talk about?” She tested.

Princess Celestia looked back up, “We spoke about the worm, and what was to be done about it. I’m having her decide upon its fate.”

Princess Luna visibly flinched at the mention of the worm, “Could we possibly talk about something else?” She asked,

Princess Celestia immediately noticed this, so she decided to press further, “Is something wrong Luna?”

“N-no,” Princess Luna said quickly, then took another unnecessarily long sip of her coffee, so long in fact, that she finished it, yet she did not put the cup down. Instead she used it as a shield from Princess Celestia’s scrutinizing gaze.

It was hardly effective, and soon enough Princess Celestia continued. “Is it about the worm?” She asked,

Princess Luna paused, then set her cup down before replying, “Yes, it is.”

“Shall we talk about it?” Princess Celestia sincerely asked,

Princess Luna looked uncertain, and stared intently at Princess Celestia as she thought about it for a moment, her mouth silently forming words and sentences before she finally sighed in defeat.

“Alright,” She agreed slowly,

Princess Celestia softened her expression, “Tell me about it,”

Sighing once more, Princess Luna spoke, “The worm is… an uncomfortable reminder of my past, and my legacy.” She began, “Every time I see it I am reminded of the mistakes I made so long ago, and I can only imagine what our subjects think of me now that it has returned.”

Princess Celestia listened carefully to what her sister was saying, then responded, “Except the worm is not tied to your legacy,”

Princess Luna looked at Princess Celestia strangely, “But it is, sister… I was the one that summoned it.”

She nodded, “That may be, but I changed history, the worm’s story simply fell into mere legends and folktales.”

“Just like my banishment?”

Princess Celestia cringed, “Yes… but just like yourself, those legends evolved into something else, traditions and holidays, completely separate from your legacy. Nopony nowadays would ever assume you had anything to do with the worm.”

“I am unsure if that is a good thing or a bad thing,” Princess Luna said,

“Mmm.” Princess Celestia hummed,

The two sat there for a moment, neither speaking.

“What ever happened to the other two beings that were summoned?” Princess Luna asked with worry,

“They were both destroyed in the fight, only the worm survived and escaped.”

“And what happened afterwards?”

“It went on a rampage, and it took nearly three years to stop it.” Princess Celestia explained,

Princess Luna gawked, and stared straight at Princess Celestia, “Three years?! Is the worm really that powerful?”

Princess Celestia looked stern, “No, it isn’t, but it was a paranoid and fearful creature, and it would flee the moment it knew the fight could not be won, it valued its life above all else…” Then Princess Celestia realized something, “At least until it met Cadance.”

“What is their relation? They have only just met, have they not?” Princess Luna asked confusedly.

“That is one thing I do not yet understand,” Princess Celestia said, “The worm is far, far older than Cadance, maybe even more powerful than her, yet it would still defend her with its life if it had to. There must be something to it, bonds like that do not simply form after a first meeting.”

“That is quite strange,” Princess Luna agreed,

Another moment of pause.

“What of the golems? Could you not have used them against the worm?” Princess Luna asked

Princess Celestia stopped for a moment, unsure of what her sister meant, then she remembered, “I could’ve, but that would’ve only caused more problems,”

“How so?”

Princess Celestia sighed, “Because the power they hold is not my own.”

Now Princess Luna was really confused, “Yet you can control them?”

“I’d prefer not to.”

“Because it is not your power?”

“Because the power comes with a risk,” Princess Celestia corrected, “You know how I am, I love and care for all of the little ponies within Equestria, and my magic reflects that. But that power… It does not seek to bring prosperity, or to help anything at all. No, all that power wants to do is to burn the world into sinless ash. Every time I use it, I can feel its original master, and the more I use it, the higher the chance is that the power’s master finds out.”

Princess Luna looked at Princess Celestia in surprise and confusion, “Then how can you use that power? If you and it are so different, there should be no connection between you two.”

Princess Celestia looked up to the ceiling of the study, the well made designs were barely visible in the soft light of the room. “It’s because the power resides within a sun,”

“A sun? So not your sun?” Princess Luna quickly pointed out.

“Correct, I believe that the power comes from another world.” Princess Celestia said,

“Then I understand why you are so hesitant to use it, bringing forces from another world is incredibly dangerous, something I wish I knew before I summoned the worm and its colleagues.” Princess Luna said

Princess Celestia did a double take, “The worm is from another world!?”

Princess Luna just gave her a blank stare.

“Right,” Princess Celestia said after a moment, “It is a little obvious.”

They both sat there for a moment, unsure as to what to say next.

“What else do you know about the worm, or its origin?” Princess Celestia asked,

Princess Luna sighed, “Unfortunately, not much, I sparsely remember even having the summoning tablet in the first place, much less where or how I obtained it.”

“How is that possible?” Princess Celestia asked, confused, “Surely traveling to another world is not something one would forget so easily.”

“I do not remember because of the nightmare,” Princess Luna explained, “It held sway over my mind for far longer than you might think, and in that time it implanted itself deep within it. Many memories have been locked away, some lasting years at a time. Only now that I have been freed from its control that they are coming back, but as of now it is safe to say that I would not remember anything the nightmare had done before.”

Princess Celestia looked towards her sister with worry, but one particular question came to mind, “But you remember our fight?” she asked.

“The nightmare was a malignant and evil entity,” Princess Luna said with a serious expression, “It had no mercy, not even to me as its host. It let me remember our fight because it knew it would tear me apart inside, and had I broken because of it, then the nightmare would have assumed complete control over me.”

Princess Celestia was at a loss for words, she had never known that side of the story, she didn’t even know where to begin.

“Thankfully,” Princess Luna continued, “Deep down I still held onto the belief that everything would turn out okay, that you still loved me, and that I still loved you. And look at what has happened because of it, we are both still here, together again, and in a far better place than all those years ago.” Princess Luna finished with a small smile.

Princess Celestia felt her eyes begin to water, and she also smiled, she took a moment to recollect herself before speaking once more. “That is wonderful to hear sister, and thank you for telling me all of that. I had not expected today’s talk to be so heavy.”

“Neither did I, but I’m glad we were able to talk through it” Princess Luna said,

“As am I” Princess Celestia agreed

Princess Luna glanced at the clock on the wall, “Though now I believe I must attend to my duties.”

Princess Celestia also looked to the clock, “Oh my, perhaps it is also time for me to turn in as well,” She said, “Though, there is still one more thing I would like to ask of you sister, regarding the worm.”

“Oh? What might that be?” Princess Luna asked, having gotten out of her chair.

“I feel that there is still too much that is unknown about the worm.” Princess Celestia began, “Is it possible for you to delve into its mind to try to find out more about it, specifically regarding its relationship with Cadance, or its past?”

Princess Luna paused for a moment, “It is not as simple as that sister, the dreamscape may be connected to a creature’s mind, but they are not one in the same, there is only so much that I can do.” She explained, “But, I will see what I can do.”

“Thank you Luna,” Princess Celestia nodded,

And with that, Princess Luna left the room, leaving Princess Celestia alone in the study. She looked down, and noticed her forgotten cup of tea sitting on the table, the one she had set to steep earlier. She pulled the tea bag out of the cup, and went to taste it, only to be met with lukewarm bitterness. It had definitely been steeped for too long, but that was okay, everypony makes mistakes.

The dreamscape

A realm of imagination and visions, a concept that is hard to grasp by most, yet easily navigable for some. For Princess Luna however, who had been working with it nearly her entire life, it was almost second nature for her to slip in and out of the dreams that appeared within the dreamscape.

Each one was entirely unique, based entirely off of the memories and subconscious of whatever entity they originated from. And they each held characteristics that reflected that of their owners. The size of the dream showed how imaginative the dreamer was, the larger it was, the more imagination the dreamer had, and the same went for how small they were.

Both the color and shape dictated what was happening within the dream. Colors tended to show emotion, and shapes showed how active the dream was. A smoother, mostly blue dream would most likely take place somewhere calm and relaxing, while a spiked, yellowish dream would most likely show an adventure, with plenty of action and excitement.

Hundreds if not thousands of dreams lay across the expanse of the dreamscape, floating about, with very rough correlation to their real world counterparts. Princess Luna drifted past dreams of all sorts, ignoring all of them in search of one particular. She certainly wouldn’t have to look for long, nor travel very far, as the worm was being held in the castle gardens, which was typically devoid of any dreamers.

Soon enough her quarry was within view. It was quite a bit different from the other dreams meandering about in the distance. For one the dream was quite massive, clearly displaying the worm’s imagination, yet it was a complete sphere, devoid of any activity whatsoever. Further yet, it showed only a matte grey, meaning there was little if any emotion present inside the dream. But all of this was typical for any soul who had been deprived of consciousness for long periods of time, though it did mean that the worm’s memories were harder to access.

That was not a problem for Princess Luna however, and as she inspected the dream closely from the outside, she lit a spark beneath it. Ever so slowly, the grey dream of the worm began to shift and warp, small waves began to ripple across the surface as its mind became active once more. The dull grey color faded, revealing an interesting mix of nearly every color as the world inside the dream began to take shape. After several moments however, only four colors remained visible. A great deal of yellow, indicating happiness, along with a good amount of light blue, whatever was happening inside the worm’s dream was far from the worst, at least from its point of view.

But there was more, unlike the larger amounts of yellow and light blue, there was also a smaller splotch of a deeper blue, along with an equal amount of purple, which was worrying. The darker blue indicated sadness, which wasn’t uncommon among dreams, but it was odd that it was accented by both happiness and calmness. Then there was the purple, which confused Princess Luna the most. Purple represented fear, and it was most common among nightmares, yet the worm did not appear to be having one. This was far from normal, Princess Luna had to get a closer look.

Peering into the dream, Princess Luna could only see clouds, sky, and nothing else. But that couldn’t be right, the shape of the dream had progressed from small ripples to much larger and choppy waves, which meant something had to be happening within the dream. Yet there was nothing, only the endless expanse of the sky.

Just then, a flash of white zipped past, Princess Luna couldn’t make out what it was, but it certainly caught her attention. Something was happening in the dream, but Princess Luna couldn’t tell what, she would have to enter it to find out.

Of course Princess Luna was going to enter the dream anyway, but she hesitated, perhaps it wasn’t the best idea to appear as herself within the dream. Normally when she entered dreams it was to quell fears and dispel nightmares, and Princess Luna would normally appear as herself. Of course the ponies of Equestria recognized her, and of course they are grateful for her, but this was different.

The worm wasn’t having a nightmare, Princess Luna would be entering a normal dream, which she almost never did, especially since most saw it as a huge breach of privacy. Still, she would be intruding upon the worm's mind, nevermind the fact that it probably didn’t even know who she was, much less respect her in any way. So it was probably best not to appear before the worm as herself, lest it find out she was the one messing with its mind.

Princess Luna peered back into the dream, the endless expanse of sky unchanged since she last looked in. Focusing, she turned into a blue mist, and entered the dream.

Clouds and sky were the only thing in Princess Luna’s vision, there was no ground beneath her, and no sun above her, even though it was clearly day within the dream, but most importantly, there was no worm. Which was impossible, a creature cannot have a dream without themselves in it, which meant the worm had to be somewhere, it just wasn’t visible for whatever reason.

Still, this gave Princess Luna time to hide herself, as a blue mist was actually pretty visible against the backdrop of the sky. Spying a cloud that was particularly close, Princess Luna moved over and possessed it, giving it a slight blue tint.

It appeared that she did it just in time too, as not even a second later, a white form dashed passed her, throwing the cloud into a spiral, nearly dissipating it. Quickly recovering, Princess Luna kept the cloud from completely disappearing, and instead turned to see what had flown past just a moment ago.

To say it was an odd creature was an understatement. It had a long and lithe body, nearly pure white fur with a scaled light pink underbelly. Green feathers followed the dorsal side of the creature, running from a crest on its head all the way down to a plume on its tail. There were only four short legs, two close to the head, and two more towards the tail. It looked both mammalian and reptilian, and its morphology was eerily similar to a certain chaotic entity, only it was much larger and much more uniform.

Despite its apparent lack of wings, the odd creature flew gracefully to and fro in the sky, seemingly wandering about. After a few moments of this however, the weather started to turn, rather fast actually, Princess Luna noticed a sudden increase in clouds, so much so that they started to blot out the sun. The creature noticed this as well, and began to move more cautiously, keeping an eye on the cloud cover forming above it.

Soon enough, rain started to fall, and Princess Luna could feel water droplets start to pierce through her cloud, focusing once more, she made the cloud more resilient, enough to not worry about being torn apart in the rains. The creature, on the other hoof, let out a distressed wail, and it began to fly in a single direction, trying to distance itself from the storm above it. Princess Luna decided to follow it at a distance.

There was a flash of lightning, and a crack of thunder, which spooked the creature enough for it to make a break for the open skies. It dashed forwards at an alarming speed, intent on escaping the turmoil, Princess Luna didn’t have any trouble keeping up, but it certainly surprised her for it to start moving so fast.

An ear piercing screech echoed through the storm, and a split second later, the worm dove through the storm clouds above. Its previous armor donned, the massive beast descended upon the fleeing creature, intent on catching it. The hunt was on, and Princess Luna was right in the middle of it.

The creature was quite fast, but so was the worm, though it was clear that its heavy armor plating was slowing it down. Still, they looked to be traveling at about the same speed, though after a while it was obvious that the creature was just a slight bit faster than the worm, and it looked to be making headway against it. At least that was before the lightning strikes.

Bolts of lightning flashed down with increasing frequency, some nearby the creature, while others further away. The creature was able to nimbly avoid most of them, but there were simply too many to dodge, and several bolts managed to strike it. Though it appeared that the creature was resistant to the lightning, as the bolts only bounced off, leaving minimal damage. Still, it was damage nonetheless, and the creature started to lose speed, allowing the worm to catch up.

The pair burst out of the storm, seeing as how it was unable to keep pace with the high speed chase, this didn’t deter the worm however, as it kept up the attack, relentlessly sending bolt after bolt of lightning without the aid of clouds. The creature was in a losing battle, and it desperately tried to escape, weaving back and forth trying to dodge the lightning onslaught. The worm neared ever closer, and soon enough it was right on top of the creature.

Without warning, the worm thrust down upon the creature, giving it barely any time to react. The creature pulled to the side, but it wasn’t fast enough, and it was clipped by the worm as it passed by. The creature screamed, and it tried to start flying once more, but the gash on its side was deep, and it prevented it from going anywhere near as fast as it once was.

Coming up from below, the worm struck the creature once more, this time not missing its mark. The creature jerked, and gave out a low death moan, then fell limp within the worm's mandibles, its once pristine coat was now stained with burn marks and its own blood. The hunt was over, the worm had secured the kill. Crimson droplets rained down as the worm began to feast on its meal, but Princess Luna had seen enough.

Using her power, Princess Luna took more control over the dream, and forced the immediate area to fade out, effectively cleaning the slate of the dream. Only the worm and a light blue cloud remained, most likely causing it quite a bit of confusion. Normally when Princess Luna did this, she would inform the dreamer, but this was a different case, it would be better to keep the worm in the dark as she worked.

Extracting memories and information through dreams was not easy, it wasn’t just like she could file through each individual memory within the worm’s mind. It was more like testing, Princess Luna could create an image or emotion within the dream, and the worm’s mind would use its memories to build around it. It wasn’t one hundred percent accurate, but it was enough to get a general idea on where the worm had come from, and why it did the things it did.

Gathering her power once more, Princess Luna began with a small test, just creating a single figure out of dream matter, Princess Celestia. The worm gazed upon the imaginary pony, and a new dream began to take shape. Dark storm clouds gathered, and the periodic flashes of lightning created an incredibly similar environment to the first dream, however this one was different. There was shouting, the clashing of metal, and screams. Princess Luna watched as inconspicuous forms dashed back and forth in the storm, obviously pony in nature, but with no other discernible features.

A great battle was taking place, squads of soldiers would engage in hit and run tactics, and then try desperately to avoid an incoming attack from the worm, most were unsuccessful, and many bodies soon fell through the storm. But then, there was a great beam of light, which lit up the storm, and swept across the worm’s now unarmored hide. With an echoing screech, the worm whipped its head around, and spotted a much larger target, Princess Luna recognized this target. In a flash, the worm was in front of dream Princess Celestia, and they both stood there, hovering within the storm. Then the worm spoke.

“F E A R”

Princess Luna paused, fear, the worm had said fear. Quickly looking past the rain, through the clouds, and out of the storm to the outskirts of the dream, Princess Luna focused on the colors showing. Red, pure red. The worm was outright furious at Princess Celestia, and it showed, but the splotch of purple and blue remained constant, the exact same size they were when Princess Luna first saw them. The worm was clearly not afraid of her sister, no, it was afraid of something else entirely.

Focusing back in on the dream, Princess Luna realized that they were no longer in the storm, in fact, the worm was flying at an alarming speed away from it. So fast in fact, that after only a few seconds of flying, the storm had gone from an overwhelming typhoon to a simple spot in the distance. Whether the worm was exaggerating its own speed within the dream or it actually flew that fast Princess Luna didn’t know, but this part of the dream was over.

Princess Luna forced another clean slate, then conjured up another figure. A single changeling drone, she would’ve made the changeling queen but she didn’t actually know what she looked like, considering her body was never found, but there were plenty of drones to clean up in the aftermath, Princess Luna got an uncomfortably close look at some of them. Nonetheless, the worm viewed the imaginary figure, and a new dream began to take shape.

Once again it started within a storm, but this time, instead of armored ponies fighting for revenge, there were changeling drones fighting for their lives. From the looks of it, none of them really knew what was going on, and in that confusion the worm excelled, managing to pick off entire groups at a time as it disappeared and reappeared in the storm. That is, until a single voice pierced the roar of the storm.

“Help!”

The worm stopped, and in the next instant was rocketing towards the origin of the call, Princess Luna followed closely behind. They broke through the storm, and soon arrived at the entrance of Canterlot castle, with two very prominent figures standing right outside. While the worm went to confront them, Princess Luna looked back to the outskirts of the dream. Some red still persisted, but there was also some yellow, and a great amount of pink began to form as the worm met with Cadance down below. As the pink increased however, so did the purple, along with the blue. The worm clearly cared for Cadance, yet something about her made the worm wary.

A moment later a shockwave passed over Princess Luna, and the cloud she was possessing was nearly torn apart, the previous resilience she had added barely kept it together. As Princess Luna reformed the cloud, she noticed a similar reaction to all of the storm around her, nearly every cloud was torn apart, causing most of it to simply dump any remaining precipitation down below. In only a few moments the storm had faded away to a clear blue sky.

Even though Princess Luna had been told what happened, to actually view the storm be so effortlessly destroyed was still amazing, but the absence of a storm made one thing apparent. Hundreds of changelings were gathering around the trio, and while Princess Luna knew the outcome, it was still a bit of a worrying sight.

Soon enough, the changeling queen appeared before them, shouting something incomprehensible, Princess Celestia returned with something equally non understandable, and from there it was clear that the worm cared little for their argument. However in the next few moments, things really picked up. The changeling queen attacked Cadance, but the worm blocked it, and Princess Luna could see red begin to overtake the dream.

Then the real fight began, the worm was pelted with offensive spells, which only seemed to enrage it further. Princess Luna watched as the dream turned completely red, even blotting out the previous purple and blue. The worm was about to go on a rampage, and unleash a primal fury. Princess Luna did not want to see what happened next, so she forced the dream to fade.

Giving the worm a moment to calm, Princess Luna prepared the next test. Instead of producing a single figure, she would force the dream to feel a certain emotion, and the worm’s mind should reflect that with memories. So to start, Princess Luna flooded the dream with yellow, happiness.

The dream soon morphed back towards the endless sky expanse that Princess Luna had first arrived in, and a quick look around gave her the answer she needed. The worm was absolutely devouring the creature it had killed, and it seemed to be enjoying every moment of it. It was obvious that some time had passed since they had left, as the creature now carcass was nearly completely eaten with not even bones remaining, the worm just seemed to consume everything, midair even. Princess Luna only watched for another second before forcing the dream to change.

The next scene was even more gruesome, and one that Princess Luna recognized. As expected, the worm was happily chowing down on its prey, however this time, they were changelings. Princess Luna immediately forced the dream to close, she didn’t want to see anymore, it was obvious enough that the worm enjoyed eating.

Princess Luna took a moment to recover from what she had witnessed, then continued with the tests. This time, she flooded the dream with pink, which typically represented love and compassion. However instead of forming a new dream, the worm’s mind seemed to conjure two figures. The first one was easily recognizable as Cadance, but the second one remained a mystery.

Princess Luna flew down closer to inspect the figure, unfortunately it wasn’t very clear, the finer features seemed to blur together, meaning this memory was an old one. One thing was for certain however, they were obviously a pony, and the worm held quite a bit of love for them as well. This was very confusing, considering the worm came from another world where ponies might not even exist, yet it knew of one, and loved it.

Isolating the blurry figure, Princess Luna hoped to see just what memories the worm had left of it, and a new dream began to form. It was dark and still, nothing seemed to move or make a sound. Princess Luna could actually see very well, but this came from the worm’s memory, meaning it couldn’t. Looking out of the dream, Princess Luna could see a great deal of purple, and little else. It was obvious that the worm was afraid at this moment, but it wasn’t as vibrant as before, meaning this wasn’t what kept the worm afraid, this was something else.

There was a sound, a thumping, something in the dream was making noise, a noise that quite obviously terrified the worm, as the purple surrounding the dream seemed to deepen. The noise drew near, and it became louder, along with the volume came motion, as the entire area around the worm seemed to reverberate as the sound continued to get closer and closer, the worm’s fear ever increasing.

Just then, something broke through the wall, and light flooded into the cave, which was now visible to both the worm and Princess Luna. Looking around quickly, Princess Luna could see that everything was just as blurry as before, meaning this entire memory was old, and nearly forgotten. However one thing caught Princess Luna’s attention as she looked around the cave, the worm, the tiny worm.

It now made sense why this memory was so blurred, as it looked like it took place when the worm was only an infant. For a creature such as the worm to have remembered something like this, it must’ve been important.

There was a muffled shouting, and another thump, and more light entered the cave. Princess Luna looked towards the source of the light, but couldn’t make out much, most likely because the worm’s eyes were still undeveloped. The fear the worm felt only increased as whatever was breaking through the cave wall continued.

There was a final thump, and what was probably the crumbling of stone, and the cave was completely filled with light. The worm could only squirm on the floor in terror, not able to do anything at all. Two blurred figures stepped into the cave, far too unclear to tell what they were, but then they started shouting again, once again too muffled to make out.

Then one of them raised something above its head like a weapon, and it looked like it was just about to bring it down upon the helpless baby worm, but then something stopped them. A voice, clearer than the others, but still incomprehensible spoke, the two figures stopped, and appeared to turn around as another figure entered the cave. It was the pony, still blurred like the rest of this memory, but less so than it. The worm obviously held this pony in high regard.

The pony seemed to speak with the two figures, calming them, which also seemed to calm the worm. Princess Luna watched as the fear began to ebb away. Then the pony approached the worm, and looked down upon it. The worm looked back up, and they stared at each other for a moment, Princess Luna tried as hard as she could to discern any identifying features on the pony, yet she couldn’t, this memory was just too old and faded. Still, the pony appeared to reach down, pick up the worm, and cradle it. Pink and yellow flooded the dream, but so did purple and dark blue.

The dream began to fade, and the worm changed back into its current form, yet the figure remained. The worm continued to stare at the figure, and dark blue began to overtake the dream. Princess Luna continued to focus hard on the figure, ignoring the state of the dream. The dark blue nearly enveloped the whole dream, but stopped. The only thing left was the small splotch of purple that was persistent with the worm’s modern mind.

Then it started to grow, slowly at first, but it started to pick up speed. In only a few moments it equaled the dark blue, then it surpassed it. The blurred figure was then engulfed in shadows, and only then did Princess Luna notice the intense fear the worm was experiencing. Thinking fast, Princess Luna tried to stop it, she tried to clear the dream, yet it didn’t work, and the fear only intensified. The shadows that wrapped the figure grew and distorted, then raised up above Princess Luna and the worm.

Princess Luna dropped her focus on the cloud, and reverted back to her original form, then she tried harder to quell the rising fear of the worm. The shadows persisted however, and only continued to grow, enveloping more and more of the dream. Princess Luna took a step back, and watched as the shadows just seemed to keep going, growing bigger and bigger as an absolutely gigantic figure began to take shape.

It was large, far larger than the worm, not to mention longer too, and even though it was cloaked in shadows, several things were apparent. Four eyes, ablaze with desire, multiple mandibles, each massive and sharper than a razor, with a terrifying amount of teeth behind them. But what was most intimidating about it, was the essence it radiated. Princess Luna could feel its menacing power, even through the dream. She had never seen anything like it.

The worm was having a nightmare, and Princess Luna could do nothing to stop it. Normally nightmares came from within, a manifestation of the mind’s fears, and Princess Luna would help quell those fears, but this was different. The fear the worm was feeling couldn’t be quelled, it wouldn’t let it be quelled. Whatever was being manifested in front of them was what the worm feared most, and it believed nothing could overcome it, which meant Princess Luna couldn’t help stop it.

The dream was completely engulfed in purple, which then darkened to black. The entire dream world began to shake and crumble, and Princess Luna realized something bad. Even though there was a spell keeping the worm asleep, it could be broken, even from within, any emotion, if it were powerful enough, can break a spell, even fear. The dream crumbled and shattered, then sunk below the surface of the dreamscape, disappearing beneath it, and Princess Luna was left alone.

The worm was about to wake up, full of fear, with nothing to stop it.

To Be Continued...

Author's Note

Oh my, I broke the 10000 word record, except it wasn't this chapter, an unpublished one actually broke it first, and you might see that later. I'm actually surprised at how long this one is, and I wanted to break it up, but I just couldn't find a good enough place to do it, so have an extra long chapter today. Though this does mean that the next one will be a bit shorter, but that is okay.