Dreams of Forever

That could have gone better.

I told you she can't be trusted on her own, but nooo, you had to think she was better off acting independently.

Would you put aside your personal ambitions for once? She IS better off without us looking over her at all times. Her spirit can't be contained, and if you try, you will only make her grow to resent us and what we stand for. Would you rather deal with her while on our side? Or against us?

I hope you're right, otherwise we will have doomed Equestria to a bloody future.

Somnia looked out to the forests that passed by, her thoughts having drifted to somewhere else. Her mind kept going back to the talks with Scutellum and Shattershield. There was still much she was grasping to understand, but Grar assured her it would become more clear as she grew. Bits and pieces of her gave conflicting ideas, plans that connected and diverged, yet all outside her full understanding as to what or why these thoughts occurred. Why did she demand the formation of a 'Queen's Guard'? Does she actually need it? Why did it feel right in the moment?

Grar hadn't been very helpful. 'You need to learn for yourself', his not-so-subtle way of saying 'You're on your own, I'm tapping out'. She considered everything he told her about the 'Grand Council' over the years, how they behaved with reckless abandon in their pursuits due to their invincibility, consumed with the curse of forever. How the 'War of the Fallen' could have been avoided if only they learned from their mistakes. If they hadn't isolated themselves from pain.

Will I fall to the same thing? Am I doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past like all others?

That is for you and you alone to decide.

"Why the scowl?" Her mother's voice interrupted her thoughts. Smiling to her, Somnia gave the answer she always did for Fae.

"Just thinking. A lot has happened the past couple of days, it's good to finally have time to relax."

"I'll say. A freaky cutie mark swap, two alicorns, and a coronation. A bit much if you ask me." Rainbow stretched out next to Rarity. "It'll be good for things to get back to normal."

"Well, mostly normal." Applejack gave a smile to Somnia. "You should talk to Apple Bloom when we get back. I'm sure she'll be glad to have a new friendly face around."

"Oh, I never even thought of that!" Rarity chimed in. "Twilight, darling, you and Somnia must come to the next sisterly camping trip! It will be such a good opportunity to hang out some more."

"But we aren't--" Twilight tried rebutting.

"Don't matter." Applejack interrupted. "Neither are Rainbow an' Scootaloo. It'll be a good chance to hang out, an' the girls can get to know each other better."

"Assuming they get along." Rainbow added. "Who knows? Maybe Somnia's a changeling in disguise looking for a quick love snack..." She playfully eyed the filly.

"That's ridiculous!" Twilight rolled her eyes, landing them right on Somnia who stuck her forked tongue out at her. "GAH! Since when did your tongue look like that?!"

"Since I was born." She dismissed, turning to the other three. "So that's two out of three. Who's your sister, Rarity?"

"I'm sure she will introduce herself soon enough." The white unicorn peeked out the window to see the station coming into view. The train came to a gradual halt at the station with a cloud of steam covering the platform. The three older sisters departed first to take the brunt of the assault, the rest following behind with Twilight and her two dependents last.

"I've got to tell you what we did! It's the awesomest thing we've ever done!" The orange pegasus filly, who Somnia assumed was Scootaloo, excitedly rushed up to her 'adoptive sister'.

"Scoots and Sweetie were paintin' on them canvasses we got near the western orchard while I was posin' for them." Apple Bloom struck a pose, her sister glanced to Rarity and they both giggled at the display.

"Then a timber wolf jumped from the bushes!" Sweetie exclaimed, receiving immediate looks of concern from the adults present. "And we ran as fast as we could back to the treehouse!"

"We hid in there for it to go away, but it kept scratchin' at the door an' window. We made a plan in case it got in!"

"Apple Bloom went next to the door while I stacked a bunch of boxes on the other side to stand on and Sweetie hid behind the podium while we laid in ambush." Scootaloo excitedly fluttered her wings.

"That's when it opened the door. Just like a pony!" Apple Bloom shouted out.

"It creeped into the clubhouse, sniffing the air or something, and when it turned its head, Apple Bloom bucked it as hard as she could while I jumped onto its back!"

"Apple Bloom! What in tarn--"

"There's more!" Sweetie continued. "I made ghost noises while they fought it, hoping to scare it off".

"Then it ran out the clubhouse, me riding it all the way across the orchard until I fell off!" Scootaloo fluttered in the air briefly as she finished the story. "Pretty awesome, right?"

The sisters were appalled, looking between themselves. Rarity was first to respond: "Sweetie Belle! You could have been killed! What were you thinking?!"

"Ah agree. Apple Bloom, that was darn reckless of ya! Don't ever fight a timber wolf, especially not without knowin' how!"

"Yeah, that was pretty awesome." Rainbow reluctantly agreed with Scootaloo, receiving critical glares from her other two friends. "But the others are right, you could have gotten seriously hurt, or worse."

"But we won! And we can handle ourselves, which gave us an idea." The crusaders gathered together.

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADER EVERFREE TAMERS!" They hoof bumped in the air between them.

"Oh no you don't." Rarity tugged Sweetie Belle along, hovering her luggage behind her. "You're staying in Ponyville until further notice."

"Aww, but Rarity..." Sweetie whined as she was dragged away.

"Same with you, Apple Bloom. I'mma have to find where that timber wolf got onto the farm from, they don't usually cross the fences. Until I fix the hole, yer stayin' in Ponyville, near other ponies, understood?"

"Yes, Applejack." Apple Bloom turned to the ground disappointed. The group began to move away from the platform so each of them could get home.

"Please don't tell my aunts, Rainbow Dash! Please, pretty please!" Scootaloo begged to her idol.

"Don't go putting yourself in danger then." She retorted.

"The... Everfree?" Somnia turned to her mother hoping for an explanation.

"It's a dangerous forest outside of town." Twilight pointed in the general direction of where the forest was. "It's right near Fluttershy's cottage. I don't want you going out that far until we know why the timber wolf wandered so far from the forest, understood?"

"It's a free-forest?" The filly asked.

"In a way. Ponies don't control the weather there and it grows very quickly. Far too dangerous to walk in alone."

"No, I mean, is it a free-forest? We called the caretakers wild-foresters, they're creatures the lurk beneath the ground using nature magic to control forests." She explained. "Can I talk to it? Maybe it's all a big misunderstanding."

"You can't talk to the forest, especially not one that has killed ponies before." Twilight felt a little silly for the declaration about not letting her daughter talk to a supposedly unthinking object, but stranger things had happened the past couple of days.

"But I knew a wild-forester from the Crystal Expanse! Isirilas was a friend of the family!"

"Isirilas?!" Fluttershy looked back to the filly surprised. "Where did you hear that name?"

"My aunt took me to--" She glazed her eyes along the horizon, taking note mountain formation nearby. "Here! It's Isirilas! They're friendly, if I can just--"

"No, and that's final." Twilight put her hoof down, hoping to stop this before she got any bright ideas. "Even if it is this 'Isirilas', they have killed ponies before, foals even. I'm not going to allow you to put yourself in danger because you might know them."

"Pleeeeaaaaasssee?" Somnia pleaded, giving her most innocent smile. "I promise I won't go into the forest."

Twilight sighed. Evidently, she had a lot of work to do in teaching her to take caution. "I'm sorry, but I'm not going to risk it."

Somnia frowned, and not even a moment later her mind began planning. Sneak out of the library at night? No, the owl will probably alert Twilight. Make a fake excuse and go during the day? Somepony might see her, and she can't go by Fluttershy's cottage either.

Keep this up and you're never going to be let out of the library.

Don't you want to see Isirilas? They've probably had a tough time since the quarantine couldn't be enforced.

Of course I want to speak with them again. I'm just not sure if now is the right time. Perhaps a bit more patience? Wait until your mother is willing to let you go near the forest, then we can act without her knowledge.

Better plan than what I was thinking.

I know. You would have gotten grounded forever if you did that.

"I know that scowl." Twilight shook the filly from her thoughts. "Don't even think about it."

For crying out loud...

The three finally got back to the library, and the first thing Spike did was go to his basket to take a nap. There was something Somnia wanted to ask her mom, but she wasn't sure how she would react. She trotted over to where Twilight was sitting at her desk signing papers, steeling herself for the conversation to come.

"Hey, mom, can I ask you something?"

"I really should be getting these letters filled out." She took one look at the stack before putting down her quill. "But that can wait. What would you like? It better not be about the Everfree Forest."

"No, you were clear about that." Somnia muttered, still a little annoyed, but she pushed it aside for now. "I wanted to ask you to teach me."

Twilight's eyes went wide. "Shoot! I completely forgot to enroll you in school! We'll go see Ms.Cheerilee tomorrow, and we can even stop by town hall to give Mayor Mare the paperwork for you living with me." She floated over a small pile of papers. "There's a few questions I couldn't answer, so I was hoping you could help me fill in the blanks."

"Umm, okay." Somnia went to the side of her desk, waiting for the first question.

"Alright, so exactly how old are you?" Twilight didn't exactly know why Celestia took a guess at the age, but it would be better to get it filled in correctly.

"Almost nine. My birthday is late summer." She replied.

Twilight wrote down on the paper, a little surprised that she was younger than the CMCs by nearly a full year. She seems more mature than that...

"Okay... Who was your previous teacher?"

"Grar mostly. You taught me about royalty stuff, and dad taught me military things, but Grar mostly taught me about the math and science-y stuff."

The tutors the queen hired weren't happy to learn I was teaching beyond her age. Speaking at less than a year old, able to perform calculus by age four, nearly completed the mandatory curriculum for all ages by the time of our displacement. I take great pride in my work, although she isn't an ordinary student. I probably could have pushed her more, but that would have been an unnecessary burden on her. Grar filled in for Twilight.

"I'll just write 'Grar - limited contact'." Twilight scribbled down the answer. "We'll probably need to test what your reading comprehension and general knowledge is."

"Actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about!" Somnia interrupted. "I, um, can't read Ponish."

Twilight blinked a few times, making sure what the filly said sunk in. Of course she couldn't read Ponish! She couldn't even understand it when they met!

"Oh." She floated a few books over, Twilight giving a quick look at their contents. "That's going to be a problem. I guess I'll have to teach you before we can enroll you in school. All the other fillies and colts your age know how to read and write, I'll need to catch you up."

Somnia nodded, waiting for the next question. "Let's see..." The next sections were subdivided by pony type, and given that Somnia was an alicorn, all three sections would apply. "When was the first time you cast controlled magic?"

"Oh..." The filly winced, looking away nervously.

"Have you not cast controlled magic before?" Twilight thought it a bit strange at her age to have not at least tried using magic for basic tasks, but Sweetie Belle still had problems with her own magic.

"I, um..." She backed away, voice lowering. "I can't use magic."

"Pardon?"

"My horn doesn't work." She mumbled barely loud enough for Twilight to hear.

"I guess I will add a visit to the doctor on top of our plans tomorrow." Twilight didn't want to ask the next couple of questions, but she needed to know. "Have you flown before?"

The filly flapped her overgrown wings as hard as she could, not even getting a bit of lift, giving an answer for her mother. "And have you displayed any earth pony characteristics? Unnatural strength, gardening prowess, baking, or..." She knew the answer by the ashamed look on the filly's face. There was one last question that she could fill in under 'psychology', but Twilight herself dreaded to ask it.

"Is that it?" Somnia asked deflated by the round of questions.

With a deep breath, she decided to wing the last question. "Yup, that's it. Thank you for answering these for me. I do appreciate it."

"Yeah, whatever." The filly walked away, headed out of the room. Twilight felt kinda bad that she couldn't use magic or fly. Perhaps there is something medically wrong with her? Her thoughts immediately went back to what Somnia had said about the royal family and her dad. Could she have lost functionality by inbreeding?

Not wanting to dwell on it anymore, Twilight went back to her paperwork. More than half of the stack still needed to be read and signed. Even so, she looked back to the last question on the form, dreading to know the answer.

'Has the foal undergone a traumatic event that has caused a major negative impact on their psyche requiring special attention?'

You know I am sorry, right?

Yeah, you've apologized a thousand times.

Only six-hundred-thirty-seven, still a few hundred more before I reach a thousand.

Is there anything you don't remember?

If I knew that, I would remember it.

Right... Somnia rolled her eyes. She didn't want to stick around the library, and she was certain that her mom was feeling bad about bringing her inadequacies up. Good thing she could meet an old friend again to hopefully feel better.

"Hey, yer the filly from the farm." A familiar voice called out to her from the right. Turning to the yellow and red filly, she saw her with the other two hanging out at a table setup outdoors, the building they were in front of being some sort of bakery. "I never did get yer name."

"Somnia." She walked over to them. "I already know yours from the train station. Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle, right?"

"Yup! Did you hear what we did? It was totally awesome!" Scootaloo exclaimed, clearly wanting to tell the story again.

"She probably heard us talking to our sisters." Sweetie remarked. "Probably knows we're grounded too."

"Yeah, sorry about that. But your sisters are kinda right, timber wolves are pretty dangerous if they don't know who you are."

"Is it possible to tame a timber wolf?" Scootaloo raised an eyebrow.

Somnia shrugged. "Is it possible to tame a pony?"

"OOoo, oh! Rarity has books with ponies chained up like dogs." Sweetie added. "They seemed to be training them!"

"Ah don't think that's the same thing, Sweetie." Apple Bloom and Scootaloo giggled.

"Yeah, not the same." Somnia playfully rolled her eyes. "My aunt and uncle sometimes used to do things like that when they spent alone time together. Well, at least they thought they were alone."

"Speakin' of, what were ya doin' on the train with the others? Did ya come from Canterlot?"

"Are you staying in Ponyville for a while?" Scootaloo excitedly got up on her hooves, leaning over the table.

"I guess so. I don't think my mom will be moving away anytime soon." Somnia took a seat at the table, hoping to avoid getting in trouble with Twilight for going against her orders. Plus she really should get to know others her age. "She won't be challenging the decree, so I think I'm going to be staying here."

"Your mom? Did she just move to Ponyville?" Sweetie questioned. "Oh! Were you in Canterlot because you became an alicorn recently?"

With a giggle. "Oh no, I was there for my mom's coronation."

The fillies stared at her. "Princess Twilight's yer mom? But I thought--"

"Neither did she until a few days ago." Somnia preemptively answered. "It's a bit of a long story."

"Oh, okay. Are you going to be going to school at the schoolhouse? Or do you have some royal tutors that the princesses gave you?" Scootaloo asked, curious. "It would be cool to have a new filly in the class, especially one who's a princess!"

"We don't know she's princess." Sweetie countered, looking thoughtfully to Somnia. "Are you one?"

"Of course she is! All alicorns are royals!" Apple Bloom answered. "An' even if she wasn't, Princess Twilight is, which makes her a princess too!"

"We don't know that for certain!"

"The other two are right. I'm technically a princess." Somnia nodded to Sweetie, turning to the group at large: "Don't treat me like one though. I can handle myself like anypony else."

Says the filly who constantly gets herself in trouble and needs somepony to help her.

Shut up, Grar. We wouldn't be in this mess if you hadn't done that insane experiment that split you in half.

I was just poking fun. I know you can handle yourself, and in due time you won't need to rely on others to save your flank every time you manage to get chased by wolves or assassins.

"Somnia?" Scootaloo waved her hoof in front of the filly's face.

"Huh? Can you repeat that?" Somnia snapped back to reality, a little embarrassed about zoning out.

"Are you joining the class? You're our age, right?"

"Oh, um, I don't know. My mom still needs to teach me some things." She conveniently left out what those things were. "And I might have learned past my grade."

"Thought so. Princess Twilight wouldn't let her own foal fall behind on the books." Apple Bloom winked. "How come we haven't heard of ya before? I'm sure Applejack or Rarity would have mentioned if Twilight had a filly."

Somnia drew a circle on the table with her hoof. "She didn't know about me. She kinda, sorta, is a resurrection of my mother from a really long time ago. I returned less than a week ago."

"How old are you then? Are you as old as Princess Celestia?" Sweetie questioned.

"I don't know for certain, but several tens of thousands of years have passed." She gave a shy smile. "I'm only eight, nine in a few months."

"Hey, I got an idea!" Apple Bloom excitedly huddled with her friends, whispering quiet enough so that Somnia couldn't hear, or so they thought.

"She's new to Ponyville, right? And might not be in class, so why don't we help her make some friends?"

"I don't know, she's a princess. What if others only want to be her friend because of that?" Sweetie Belle added.

"Come on, it's worth a shot. Cutie Mark Crusader Friendship Makers?" Scootaloo excitedly whispered. "Haven't tried that yet!"

With nods of agreement, they turned back to the patiently waiting filly. Apple Bloom spoke: "Hey, Somnia, do you know anypony our age in town?"

"Other than you? No, I haven't really had time to talk to other fillies and colts." She admitted.

"Then that's what we'll do!" Apple Bloom declared. "Don't worry a hair on your head, we'll introduce you to the others in town!" She cast a glance to the sky, checking the position of the sun. "Tomorrow at noon, meet us at the schoolhouse. I'm certain the others would love to get to know ya!"

"Okay! I'll be there!" Somnia nodded happily. She was looking forward to meeting more ponies, and hopefully it would go smoothly.

"Somnia! Get up!" She heard the voice of Spike through the pillow. "It's almost noon! Come on!"

Her eyes shot open. I need to get to the schoolhouse. Jumping from bed, she quickly trotted down the stairs to the main circular room where she spotted Twilight sifting through a box of books.

"Hey, mom! Where's the Ponyville schoolhouse? Those three fillies from the train station want to introduce me to some ponies."

"Good morning to you too." She glanced over annoyed with her daughter. "We have plans, remember? We need to stop by town hall and the doctor's office. We can go to the schoolhouse after."

"But I need to be there for noon!" She complained as Twilight packed up the box she was looking through, floating saddlebags onto herself.

"We can meet them after school. Right now, we need to run errands."

"Aww." Somnia reluctantly followed behind her mother as they left the library.

"Spike! Can you attend to anypony while I'm gone? Thank you!" Twilight called back before closing the door. "Alright, town hall first. Your appointment is for one-thirty at the doctor, so we should have plenty of time to get through the paperwork."

"Why do we need to go to the doctor? I'm fine!"

"No, you're not. All other fillies and colts your age should at least be able to channel magic by now." She stopped, lovingly lifting the filly's head with a hoof. "It won't hurt to have you checked out. If it's fixable, then wouldn't you like to know?"

"It's not though!"

"How do you know? Do you know why you can't use magic?"

Yes. Grar answered for her.

Twilight narrowed her eyes. "Either way, I made the appointment and it wouldn't hurt to have you checked." She stated firmly, resuming her march to town hall. It only took a couple of minutes before they arrived, a few ponies casting curious glances at the alicorn duo.

Entering into town hall, they headed back to the mayor's office. Lightly knocking on the mayor's door, the brown and grey maned earth pony answered rather quickly.

"Princess Twilight! What can I do for you today?" Her eyes fell on Somnia. "She's staying in Ponyville? I thought the princesses- Nevermind. How can I help you?"

"There are some papers we need to go over." She floated out a sealed letter from her saddlebags. "This is also for you."

The mayor took the letter as the three settled at her desk. Somnia and Twilight sat across from her as she looked over the letter, a smile slowly forming on her face. Reaching back to a filing cabinet, she opened it and took out another letter, comparing the two. She chuckled, putting them away in the cabinet before turning back to Twilight.

"Princess Celestia really hasn't changed her format in all these years. So, you wanted to talk to me about some papers?"

Twilight floated the bundles of paper from her saddlebags over to the mayor. Taking a quick look through the papers, the mayor's expression changed between surprise and professional stoicism.

"I was hoping you could finalize these forms. The royal decree at the top authorizes certain exemptions to be made in the process." Twilight added.

"I must admit, it is surprising to learn you are a mother after all these years." The mayor began separating the papers into four piles. After finishing, she passed a few papers back to Twilight. "Keep these for your own records, they are just copies." Looking over the largest of the piles, she went through the papers, reading them and signing. One particular paper caught her attention.

"Is something wrong?" Twilight nervously asked.

"I need a doctor's signature for the birth certificate."

"We'll be seeing the doctor after we're done here, I can get them to sign it."

"No, I need the attending doctor to sign it." She hoofed back the sheet. "I can't in good conscious approve the birth certificate without their confirmation. Of course, it isn't necessary if they are no longer practicing medicine, but if you don't want to go through a medical examination to determine her age and your parentage then I would recommend seeking them out."

Twilight bit her lip, quickly looking back through the royal decree, seeking something specific. "Category seven, section eight, sub-section B." She placed the paper in front of the mayor.

"I guess that settles it." She signed the certificate, moving on the to remainder of the pile. Taking the decree back, she combined the three remaining piles in a particular order before turning around and putting the files into a small tray. "We're done here."

"Really? It's that easy?" Twilight asked confused.

"Normally, no. With the royal decree I can bypass nearly every procedure we would normally undergo for adoption. I'll need to file away those papers later, but otherwise you are free to go." She smiled back.

"Oh. Alright. Thank you, mayor!" Twilight shook the mayor's hoof, looking to Somnia to do the same. Once they said their goodbyes, they made their way out of town hall and towards the bakery Somnia saw the previous day. There was the crow again, sitting atop the sign preening itself. Twilight couldn't keep her eyes off of it, that night's confrontation still fresh in her mind.

"I thought we were going to the doctor's office?"

"Now you want to see the doctor?" Twilight smirked to the filly. "That went faster than I expected, and since you have been behaved so far, I thought that we should get some cupcakes."

"I'm not gonna argue with that." Somnia got a bit of a skip in her step as they made their way over. Pushing open the door, they saw a pony was finishing up their order and Pinkie Pie waving over to them.

"Hi, Twilight! I'll be with you in a minute!" She yelled out, Twilight and her daughter taking a seat in one of the booths. Closing her eyes, Somnia could feel motions around her. Pinkie Pie was unpredictable thus far, and she wanted to learn how to anticipate her actions.

"Still tired?" Twilight asked softly. "You were pretty restless last night."

"I'm predicting." She bit her lip in concentration.

"What can I get for ya?" Pinkie said, a disappointed Somnia opening her eyes to see the pink mare standing next to their table with a notebook and pencil in her mane's grip.

"Two cupcakes!" Twilight answered.

"Three cupcakes!" Somnia countered, giving her mother a sly smile.

Twilight shook her head playfully. "Two cupcakes, one with extra frosting."

"I'm hungry! I didn't have breakfast!"

With a sigh: "Three cupcakes." Twilight relented.

"Three cupcakes coming right up! Want anything specific to top them?" Pinkie inquired.

"Just frosting on mine."

"Sprinkles on one, coconut flakes on the other!" Somnia answered.

Both mares blinked. "I'm sorry, we don't have coconut flakes." Pinkie apologized with her best service smile.

"How about dried dates?" She asked hopefully.

"I can check in the back, but if I don't have any, is there anything else you wouldn't mind?"

"Pepperoni bites would be nice!" She gleefully said, just as another pony was entering into Sugar Cube Corner. They choked on the drink they had while the two mares next to the filly looked at her slightly disgusted.

"Somnia! We can't eat meat. It's not good for you." Twilight chastised.

"We don't have that either." Pinkie added with a shrug. "No griffons in town, and Mr and Mrs Cake don't want to have that reputation either."

"Alright, sprinkles if there's no dates." Somnia mumbled.

"Okie-dokie! I'll be right back!" Pinkie trotted off happily. Sitting across from her, a worried Twilight nervously tapped her hoof on the table to get Somnia's attention.

"Hey, um, try not to tell anypony you like meat, okay? Most ponies aren't comfortable with that."

"With eating meat? Aren't thestrals meat-eaters?"

Twilight lowered her voice so only they could hear. "We don't have any thestrals in Ponyville, or in most of Equestria, for that very reason."

"Huh? But what about griffons? They eat meat more than thestrals do!" Somnia countered.

"Griffons are different. They tend to keep to themselves and aren't aggressive towards ponies usually."

"Aggressive? Thestrals aren't aggressive to other ponies!" She stared into her mother's eyes, noticing the shifting emotions. She couldn't tell all of them, but there was at least a bit of fear mixed in.

"Just... Don't mention it to anypony, alright?" Twilight reiterated sternly.

Somnia crossed her forelegs, sinking back into her seat with a huff, brooding and disappointing her mother. A minute later, Pinkie Pie brought their cupcakes over. "Sorry, didn't have any dried dates. You wouldn't believe how popular they are with Cranky and Matilda! Enjoy!"

The two sat in silence as they ate. Twilight took a bite of her cupcake, thinking about everything Somnia has said over the past couple of days. She was an odd filly, that was for sure. Her mind wandered back to the school enrollment form, the one question she still hadn't answered.

"Somnia?" She spoke up, grabbing the filly's attention mid-bite into her second cupcake. "Has anything bad happened to you before? Like, so bad it keeps you up at night?"

"Take your pick." The filly shrugged, going in for a bite. Swallowing, she continued. "How many times have you seen ponies decapitated? Or raped? Or seeing your own family being tortured? Honestly, you have to narrow it down."

"You've... seen all of that? When? How?" Twilight asked, her apatite receding.

Another bite. "Every night, more or less. I saw a vision of you with Spike and another pony about to be killed by shadow monsters. Looked like a wasteland."

"What?! You dream of this every night? But why?"

"Ask Grar." Somnia mumbled, filling her mouth with the rest of the cupcake. "You gonna finish that?"

Twilight pushed her remaining bite over to Somnia. "I've seen you in the morning, Somnia. You cry in your sleep, you toss and turn, are you sure--"

"Yes!" Somnia slammed her hooves onto the table. "I'm fine! I've been having these dreams for nearly nine years and will for the rest of existence! Do you think I want to see creatures suffer?!" Droplets fell onto the half-eaten cupcake. "Do you think I wanted any of this?! To see my friends and family hurt?! I deal with it, like I deal with everything else! I've lost friends of mine to assassins! I've been attacked by somepony I trusted, nearly killed because of them! My entire family was murdered, then I find out they were resurrected with no memories of me! I don't have a choice! Better for me to suffer than for somepony else! And when I grow up, I want to stop the pain before it happens to others!"

Twilight looked over to see Pinkie at the counter along with the customer, both staring at the filly with concern. Getting up from her seat, Twilight motioned for Somnia to follow. The filly hesitated at first, but followed along after another motion. The two walked in silence towards the hospital, both wrapped up in their own thoughts.

Twilight, you must--

"It's your fault, isn't it?" She growled.

The answer went silently as they got to the hospital. Entering into the reception area, Twilight approached the nurse at the front desk. "Is Doctor Horse available? The one-thirty appointment might be longer than I thought."

"Let me check." She picked up a folder disinterested, her eyes widening in surprise at what she read, turning up to see Twilight. "Princess Twilight! I'm so sorry! Of course the doctor's available!" She got up from her chair, going into the back offices. A moment later, the doctor came out smiling.

"Princess Twilight! You're early! Please, come this way." He led them to an examination room. Twilight levitated Somnia onto the examination table, the filly still looking absolutely miserable.

"You had concerns about her horn and wings?" The doctor asked Twilight.

"At first, yes. But I think there are a few other things that are wrong."

"I'm fine!" Somnia yelled back. "I can handle it! I need to handle it myself!"

"Somnia, you're experiencing it every night. I'm not just going to sit by and let you suffer."

"Pardon, but I'm lost." The doctor interjected. "Is she having nightmares?"

"I'm fine!" The filly yelled again. The doctor motioned for Twilight to follow him into the hallway. "I know what your going to say! Might as well just say it!" She yelled out to them as they left.

"What is it doctor?"

"She's defensive, meaning we won't get much from her right now. Can you describe the symptoms?"

"She has troubled sleeps every night, sometimes her pillow is damp in the morning, I've caught her purposely trying to stay awake whenever she is tired."

"Any bed wetting or dark mannerisms?" The doctor asked concerned, Twilight immediately understanding what he was getting at.

"No, nothing like that. I think it has to do with her cutie mark." She wasn't entirely certain, but Somnia had dodged the question on more than one occasion always deflecting with 'Ask Grar'. If he had done something horrible to her that earned her that cutie mark...

"Do you know how she got her cutie mark? What it means, or what talent it grants?"

"A little. She says that she can 'predict' things. I think she has some form of foresight, but I don't really understand more than that."

"I see." The doctor considered it a moment. "Perhaps I should reach out the Canterlot Employment Bureau, see if I can find somepony else with foresight. If they can find--"

"No, we won't find anypony." Twilight cut him off. "Only Princess Celestia is known to have semi-conscious foresight. I'll reach out to her, see if she had issues in her foalhood."

"That would be the best course of action." He nodded. "Now, what did you originally wish for me to check over?"

"Her horn, wings, and hooves. I want to know if there is a medical explanation for her not being able to use magic."

The two reentered the room, filly having collapsed in exhaustion, softly whimpering. The doctor gently nudged her to wake her up. It took a few attempts but she eventually opened her eyes.

"Somnia, right? I'm Doctor Horse. I would just like to take a look at you. Don't worry, I won't ask anymore questions." He helped her sit up, Twilight taking note of her legs shaking.

The doctor began by placing a magical aura detector next to her. "We're just going to be gone for a moment." The two briefly left the room and the doctor remotely activated the device. Returning to Somnia, he took a look at the readings, his brow raising at what he read. Picking up a horn fork, he lightly tapped it on her horn getting a wince from her.

"This is going to be uncomfortable, alright? Tell me if you are feeling hot or if it gets unbearable." He turned her around to examine her wings. He kept his hooves off of the wings at first, eventually slowly parting the feathers and stretching the wings. Somnia straightened her back but made no noise as he carefully examined them. The doctor eventually turned back to Twilight: "Do I have permission to examine blood flow?"

Twilight nodded, not exactly knowing what he was going to do. "Somnia? Is it alright?"

She nodded. The doctor began rubbing just under her wings, them naturally extending outward as he held a hoof to the artery. After a few moments, he let go, letting the filly relax. Somnia took deep breaths to calm herself down while the doctor turned her back towards him. Wrapping a small device around each hoof: "Would you please flex each of your legs one at a time?"

She obeyed, giving a flex on each leg. The doctor gently prodded the flexed area as he moved along. Taking off the devices, he reviewed all the readings before turning to Twilight. "I'm sorry, but there is nothing medically wrong with her. Her feathers are smoother than normal pegasus feathers, but that shouldn't impact her ability to fly, nor do I believe it is anything serious."

"Then what is wrong? Why can't she fly or use her horn?"

"Medically, she is in excellent condition. Muscles remind me of some of the farm ponies in town, similarly the wings are only surpassed by you and one other patient if you two were her age."

"Rainbow Dash." Twilight nodded. "She can't stay quiet about it whenever she gets her wings checked."

"While I'm not allowed to confirm or deny, it would be a good guess." He smiled. "Somnia's hooves, horn, and wings all are magically deficient. Simply put, she can't use any form of magic other than what her cutie mark is gifting her and to grasp objects with her hooves. I would say she possesses as much magic as the background-field if it wasn't for her unusual dreams and ability to manipulate her hooves."

"Told you." Somnia snarkily remarked.

"What did the device say? I remember back at the School for Gifted Unicorns we used them to determine enchantment strength." Twilight ignored the remark, hoping to get a bit more information.

"Background radiation and our passive influence from outside the room. She quite literally shouldn't have any more magic than my stethoscope. I would like to do an additional test using the complete-field TMI, if that would be alright?"

"But what about the schoolhouse? I want to meet other ponies!" Somnia whined.

Twilight went over to her, cupping her cheek with a hoof. "You want to know what's wrong with you, don't you? This is the last thing. It won't take more than a few minutes, I promise we'll be there when school ends." Of course, Somnia hadn't been paying attention to the time. It was barely one-thirty and school ended in an hour-and-a-half.

The doctor led them to a larger room with a massive machine, leaving to retrieve some technicians. Crystals were embedded into the side of the machine with enchanted servos pumping magical liquids through the device, a singular massive crystal pointing directly to where the subject was supposed to lay down. Twilight helped Somnia up onto the bench. "Lay on your stomach. You may feel ticklish during the procedure."

The doctor returned with a technician and nurse, the four adult ponies gathering inside a room to the side with a one-way mirror while Somnia nervously laid on the bench under the device. I hate hospitals...

"Alright, we are warming up the machine now. Don't be alarmed by what you will feel, it is perfectly normal." The doctor called out to her. A whirling sound filled the room, the glow from above her getting brighter. She could see the enchanted crystals shifting color, slowly at first then rapidly until they were a blur of white.

"We're ready to begin. Lay as still as possible."

The whirling got louder, her fur standing on end at the massive magic field being projected around her. Her eyes instinctively closed. Rolling off the side of the table, she barely dodged the large crystal shards as an explosion occurred directly from the center of the crystal.

She wasn't lucky enough to dodge the stray shards that cut her, but she dodged the filly-ending shards that punctured straight through the table. She opened her eyes to see every single crystal burst into small pieces along the machine, the magic capacitors breaking and spraying magical liquid around the room. There was a white glow all around her that intensified with each passing second.

"SOMNIA!" She heard her mother call out as she got up, turning over towards the door to the observation room and seeing her burst through before stopping her tracks completely stunned.

"Mom?! What happened?!"

"Sweet Celestia..." The doctor muttered behind Twilight, falling to his knees, her mother barely resisting the same urge. Arcs of magical energy impacted the walls and liquids around the room, breaking and repairing the walls, giving the liquids an even brighter glow. The air whipped around Somnia as though she were at the center of a storm, her mane annoyingly getting into her face.

A second later the white glow receded along with the other effects, leaving the room in a soft purple glow coming from the leaked magical liquid that the machine was using. Igniting her horn to provide light, a scared Twilight stared at her daughter. As the doctor shakily got to his hooves, Twilight slowly approached where Somnia stood.

"Mom?" The filly asked, feeling more awake due to the adrenaline pumping through her. "What's wrong? Why did the machine blow up?"

"Shhh..." Twilight hugged her, getting bits of blood onto her own fur. "It's okay, you're alright. It's going to be alright. I'm here." Somnia wasn't convinced, given the fear in her mother's voice. The doctor slowly approached from behind, examining the now broken machine.

"That crystal is capable of handling energy surges in excess of four-thousand swirls!" He examined the smoking shards sticking out of the table. "It cost over three-hundred thousand bits for that crystal!"

"Doctor, I think there's more to- wait, four-thousand swirls?!" Twilight finally realized what he had said before shaking her head, there would be time later to worry about that.

"Now how are we supposed to examine advanced magical conditions?" He lamented, much to Twilight's annoyance.

"Doctor! She's hurt. A little first-aid would be expedient!" Twilight commanded, taking her own look over the filly. It wasn't too bad. The worst cut ran the length of her body, but none got deep enough to require stitches.

They retreated to the examination room where the doctor applied bandages along all the cuts. She looked like she had just been in a war-zone with how many bandages she had on her. Twilight didn't wait to stick around to get yelled at, instead choosing to leave a note to invoice any damages to the royal treasury before leaving.

A confused Somnia trotted alongside Twilight on their way towards the schoolhouse, her mother so deep in thought that she didn't even notice the other ponies in town excitedly chatting to one another.

Four-thousand swirls... Her mind remembered the estimates provided about the Elements of Harmony. They were nearly six-thousand swirls, maybe a few hundred more, but still within range. Her ascension was estimated at only one-thousand-two-hundred. They had barely reached town hall when a magnificent flash of light illuminated all around them. It was a light Twilight remembered all too well.

Landing in front of them, Princess Celestia stood tall, concern overwritten by confusion as she flicked her eyes between the two alicorns.

"Twilight, we detected a massive energy spike from Ponyville. Is there something I should know?" She raised a brow.

"The royal treasury will be receiving an invoice for three-hundred thousand bits?" She nervously backed away.

"Is she alright? Looks like she was thrown into a plunder-bush." Celestia leaned down to check on the filly.

"I'm fine. Hurts a little, but the doctor said it will be healed by tomorrow!" Somnia cheerfully stated, returning to her previous self after the near-death experience.

"That is good." Celestia turned to Twilight. "What was that about three-hundred thousand bits?"

"It would certainly explain the energy spike." Celestia mused as they sat waiting for the school day to end. "It should come in greater than the Elements of Harmony. I'm afraid we won't be able to cover up Somnia's existence for much longer."

"Shouldn't she have been noticed at the coronation?" Twilight asked confused.

"I've suppressed the news using my authority granted by the Noble's Council. However, a spike like that will entice researchers to investigate. Twilight, every pony from here to Canterlot felt it in one way or another. It's impossible to hide something that powerful from everypony."

Twilight gulped. "H-How much..."

"Too much. Eleven-thousand at least." Celestia put her head in her hooves. "Good thing it only lasted a second."

"But it was longer than that!" Somnia exclaimed from between them.

"The peak was eleven-thousand, it lasted only briefly." Celestia summoned a letter in front of Twilight. "Cadance wrote this to me before I left to find you."

Twilight nervously read the letter. The Crystal Heart activated spontaneously, and the northern Magic Anomaly Detection station equipment maxed out on their more sensitive devices even at that distance. Teleporting the letter away, Celestia continued.

"I'm going to be receiving non-stop dignitaries the next eight moons asking what happened."

"B-But wouldn't eleven-thousand swirls have wiped Ponyville off the map?"

"Unrestrained, yes. But that makes it even worse." She stared into Twilight's eyes. "Restrained means that it is at least several thousand more, maybe even double if the layer of magical protection wasn't fully repealed."

"And I can't use any of it!" Somnia laid down on the bench in huff, both alicorns chuckling at the display, a nice bit of relief from the seriousness of the situation.

The bell on the top of schoolhouse rang out, and a notable increase in chatter inside the schoolhouse alerted them to the oncoming foals. Bursting like a tide, the first students didn't even see the princesses casually sitting next to their schoolhouse. Then came the shocked gasps.

"I should be going. Take care of her, and please avoid situations like that in the future." Celestia stood up, smiling down the curious students. "Farewell, my little ponies."

Then she was gone in a flash. The CMC rushed out, all three spotting the bandaged up Somnia and rushing over.

"Princess Twilight! Somnia!" They called out excited, Sweetie was first: "You'll never believe what happened! Every unicorn's horns started sparking in the middle of class!"

"It was awesome! Sweetie looked like she was going to squirt all over her chair and desk!" Scootaloo laughed, getting a glares from the side by her friends.

"Scootaloo!" Cheerilee admonished from the doorway, nervously looking to the alicorns. "P-Princess Twilight, what are you doing here?"

"I need to talk to you about enrolling Somnia." Twilight stood up, turning back to the crusaders. "Keep her company? I'll just be a few minutes."

Entering the classroom with Cheerilee, the teacher sat down at her desk, pulling out a small bottle to drink. "What the buck just happened?!"

"Pardon?" Twilight played the fool, walking up to her desk.

"It felt like somepony lifted me into the air! And the fireworks from the students! How am I going to explain to their parents what just happened?!"

"I don't think you'll need to worry about that." Twilight rubbed her neck. "Princess Celestia is already on damage control, I'm sure this will be national news."

"Honestly, what happened?" Her eyes widened. "National news?!"

"It wasn't just here." Twilight nervously chuckled. "It impacted the entire town. And probably Canterlot too..."

"Well that's a relief." She took another swig from the bottle before putting it back in the locked drawer at the bottom of her desk. "Now, you wanted to talk to me about... what's her name?"

"Somnia." Twilight pulled up a loose chair. "I'm looking to enroll her at the school."

"Is she new to town? Her parents really should come see my directly." Cheerilee shrugged. "But whatever, today's been strange enough. Where did she go to school previously?"

"That's the thing, she was privately tutored. I don't have any testing documents I can grade at the moment because I need to teach her how to read and write Ponish."

"She... doesn't know Ponish?" Cheerliee took a moment to absorb it, letting out a sigh. "Who's her parents? She doesn't look THAT young. A filly her age should have been taught Ponish by now."

Twilight straightened up defensively. "I'm her mother, and it isn't because I neglected her, she knows her native language, just not Ponish."

Reaching for the bottom drawer again, Twilight stopped Cheerilee's hoof before she could reach it. "What do I need to enroll her when I finish catching her up?"

"Let go of my hoof and I'll show you." Cheerliee flatly said, getting free to reopen the drawer to pull out a single sheet of paper. "This is the admission form. Include the parental survey with this form filled out then bring it to me. That's it."

"Oh." Twilight looked at the sheet a little disappointed. "I thought there was more to it than that."

"There is, for me. I have to find a seat for her and teach her." Cheerilee smiled.

"I'll just take this and fill--"

The hairs on Twilight's back stood up, Cheerilee similarly straightened herself out feeling the same thing. Jumping from her chair, Twilight rushed for the door.

"Dinky even lifted her entire desk!" Apple Bloom excitedly told Somnia.

"It was awesome!" Scootaloo exclaimed. The group had moved over to the table on the playground to have somewhere to sit a bit more private. "I felt like I could fly!"

"You talk about others reacting, but we all saw your 'wingboner' fluttering. Eck." Sweetie mock gagged.

"Hey! I was just excited! You know, by all the fireworks." She crossed her forelegs embarrassed.

Apple Bloom and Somnia giggled. "So how 'bout you, Somnia? Feel anythin' from where you were?"

The alicorn filly shrugged, a knowing smile on her face. "Maybe I had something to do with it."

"Yeah, right." A voice yelled over from the side. "No pony could have done that."

"Here we go again..." Sweetie muttered under her breath.

"And who is this? Another poor pony to try convincing to join your little club?" A pink and purple filly wearing a tiara approached with her little grey pet following close behind.

"Like anypony would stand you for longer than a day." The grey filly snickered.

"Hey!" Scootaloo turned to them. "We're nicer than you! Why wouldn't somepony want to hang out with us?"

The pink filly gave a devilish smile. "Because you're a blank flank." She looked over to the side, spotting Somnia's cutie mark. "Come on now, why are you hanging out with these losers? You already have your cutie mark."

"Yeah? And?" Apple Bloom shrugged with a hoof, curious to see where Diamond Tiara was going with this.

"It's not right for ponies with cutie marks to hang around with ponies without their cutie marks."

"Why not?" Somnia spoke up, temper slowly rising.

"We have our special talents, and they don't. They're talentless. They'll only drag you down." She gave a deceptively sweet smile. "You don't want to be held back, do you? I'm sure a unicorn like you can do magic a hundred times better than her."

"That's mean!" Sweetie cried out, her own patience wearing thin. "Why won't you just leave us alone?!"

"I'm doing a favor for everypony." She circled the table. "It's the right thing to do."

Just like those would-be nobles, just like the businessponies from the coast... Somnia closed her eyes, hoping to push back the anger. She hated the teasing, the insults. A way for ponies to try putting each other down, and worst of all, it was disharmonious.

"And what is your talent anyway? Being mean?" Scootaloo shot back.

"I'm a natural leader. Unlike you blank flanks!"

"Blank flanks! Blank flanks!"

Blank flanks

Getting down from the table, Apple Bloom spoke up: "Somnia, wait!"

"You think your oh-so-high-and-mighty because you have a cutie mark, huh?" She marched towards the two bothersome fillies, both a bit surprised by the anger but still confident they could handle it. "What do you know about cutie marks anyway? You believe it is merely talent? It isn't. It's destiny. A marker of who you are as an individual and what your path in life is. Everypony, everycreature, on Equus has a destiny from the moment they are born until the moment they pass back into the realm of souls. You don't need a cutie mark to have a destiny."

The bandages along her body slowly slipped off of her, revealing wings that extended to their full length. A light breeze swept over the playground, sending a chill down the spines of everypony present including the few other foals that were off playing. Both now backed up, realizing they weren't dealing with a unicorn.

"These fillies may not have an idea of what their destiny is, but they are a hundred times the pony you are in character. They look for their destiny harder than you have worked in your entire life." Both fillies backed away from the menace approaching them, hair flowing in the wind, temperature dropping and light levels lowering slightly. The CMC stood up on the bench seats, watching with absolute fascination and unnatural pride.

"What have you done with your life? Nothing but torment those you see as inferiors! What does that give you? Satisfaction for hurting others? A sick sense of joy from the pain inflicted? I know who you are, what you are." The two bullies fell to their flanks, hugging against each other as Somnia practically towered above them, her unshakable gaze firmly focused into their souls. "You are pathetic bacteria! Worth nothing more than the grass of a rotting field! And you will always be so as long as you continue down the path of disharm--"

"SOMNIA!"

One blink. Two blinks. Then she snapped back to reality. The winds whipping around her flew off in all directions and it seemed as though the area brightened slightly more. Two shriveled and terrified fillies sitting in a puddle of their own making, holding onto each other crying, were directly in front of her. Slowly turning, she saw the CMC standing on the table, shocked yet not afraid. Her vision slowly settled on her mother next to the teacher, both looking horrified.

Buck...