Dreams, Nightmares, and Friendships

“So you’re saying he passed out again?” Twilight asked. Rarity nodded and looked at Darkrai’s sleeping form in concern.

“This is the third time this week counting the first time. I’m starting to become worried; what if he’s sick or something?” She said. Twilight frowned and her horn lit up with magic, and the same magical aura surrounded Darkrai. Everything stayed silent for a moment, and then Twilight opened her eyes, revealing the deep confusion that was now in them.

“…whatever happens to him when he passes out, apparently it’s somewhat natural. I get the signature of something akin to a knockout, or sleep spell, but I don’t know who or what could’ve done it.” She said.

“I think I accidentally did it.” Both mares jumped in fright at the sudden third voice and watched as Darkrai got to his feet swiftly, looking around indifferently.

“How so?” Twilight asked, giving in to her curiosity. Darkrai looked up at the ceiling and sighed.

“I’ve been recovering bits of my memory, or to be more specific, I have dreams that reveal them whenever I fall unconscious. So far, I’ve only remembered a bit more about myself. I can remember that I can…hmm, how to put this…use four different…spells, you could call them. One of them is called Rest, which is something I’ve been accidentally using; it makes me sleep for about thirty minutes to six hours at a time, and heals me of all injuries. That is why I’ve been prone to sudden unconsciousness.” He explained, still withholding his calm sereneness. Twilight blinked at the sudden knowledge.

“If you can use spells then how come you aren’t a unicorn?” Rarity asked. Darkrai shrugged.

“Dunno; oh by the way some prissy mare came by earlier. She asked where you were, and when she heard that I worked here she asked if I could give you this.” He said, holding out a cream colored envelope. Rarity opened and read it, only to gasp in excitement and disbelief.

“Oh this is a request from a very important mare! Darkrai, I won’t need your help for this one, but please do stand by just in case!” She exclaimed as she raced downstairs, no doubt already beginning to plan out whatever the client had requested. Twilight looked at Darkrai and suddenly thought of something.

“Darkrai, could I talk to you in the library?” The black stallion nodded and Twilight teleported them both to the library, surprisingly getting some astonishment out of Darkrai.

“I didn’t know you could teleport.” He stated, blinked several times.

“Well I can; anyways, would you mind if I asked a few things? I promise this whole conversation will be confidential.” She said. Darkrai shrugged.

“Why not?” He said.

“Ok then, thank you very much; first of all, do you remember anything prior to waking up in the forest where we met you?” Twilight asked. Darkrai thought for a moment.

“All I can remember right now is some type of beam hitting me, and then darkness.” He said. Twilight motioned towards the couch and sat on it, Darkrai uncertainly joining her after several moments’ hesitation.

“So do you remember any ponies that might know what happened?” Twilight asked, beginning to scribble in a type of journal that looked newly bought. Darkrai shrugged and delved deeper into his mind, suspending himself in a type of meditation as he came upon a bland plane. White mist rose from the ground and everything but that mist was black, so all he could really see was himself. No...Actually he could see a red…fog nearby. Whenever he tried walking through it, trying to reach his old memories, he was always somehow turned back, even if he knew he was walking straight the whole time. This time was no different, though he faintly saw the outline of a single pony with a quad colored mane of gold, indigo, pink, and fuchsia. Pulling himself out of this meditation, Darkrai shook his head and clenched his eyes shut as if shooing away a bad memory.

“That was odd; I’ve never seen amnesia like that.” Twilight suddenly commented.

“Excuse me you say wha?” Darkrai asked in surprise. Twilight snickered in amusement and smiled.

“I kind of hooked into your mind when you started meditating. Unicorn abilities and such.”

“Well then you’ll know that I don’t remember much at all.” Darkrai said. Twilight shrugged then thought for a moment and stood.

“I’ll be right back, I want to check something…” She said as she walked away. Darkrai watched unendingly as she went from bookshelf to bookshelf and eventually found what she needed. Trotting semi-excitedly over to the couch, she used her magic to open the book and smiled.

“Darkrai, would it be alright if I tried something?” She asked. Darkrai shrugged and cleared his throat.

“I concede.” He said. Twilight nodded and took a quick glance at the book’s text before gently setting it down and facing Darkrai.

“Okay, first I need you to stand up and extend your wings out to their fullest length.” She said. Darkrai dragged himself off the couch and placed his hooves firmly together on the floor. Opening his wings, he looked almost like an alicorn but with no horn. Twilight thought momentarily about what Celestia and Luna would think of the admittedly handsome Pegasus before shaking the thought away as her horn began to glow.

“Ok, I need you to focus on that red block that you saw in your mind. I might be able to take a peek and uncover a bit more.” She said. Darkrai nodded and closed his eyes, and Twilight gasped as she was suddenly flung back into his mind plane and she gulped before wandering towards the thick red mist. Forming a protective magical shield around her, she steeled herself before taking the first step. Instantly fleeting images began flashing across her field of vision. Several held an odd creature that looked frighteningly similar to Darkrai, except it was in a different form. It had a black body, no legs, a billowy…mane (?), and glowing blue eyes that looked furious. The next image, she used her magic and held the cloud of memory tightly. Staring into it, she found the same creature facing off with an odd yellow mouse with a lightning shaped tail, and a bipedal blue jackal with odd tassels on the sides of his masked face. Pricking her ears, Twilight strained to catch a glimpse of the conversation.

“Face it you creep, your plans were never meant to succeed! Cresselia will win, and you might as well die!” The yellow creature snarled in a female voice. Twilight gasped as the creature responded.

“Don’t you get that I am creating an ideal world?! I seem to be the only one to see the beauty of the world I create, not this dismal and boring place!”

“How could you think that?” The jackal interrupted. Twilight remained silent, gripped by the conversation.

“I think the way I do because I have been blessed, shown the truth! Why does no creature in this world accept my ideals?!” The black creature shouted, swiping at the air for emphasis.

Twilight backed up, released the cloud of memory, and hoped with all of her willpower the next memory was a better one. No such luck. No other bits or shreds of memory showed up at all. Sighing, Twilight released her grip on Darkrai’s mind and slid back into her own body, and Darkrai opened his eyes.

“Did you find anything?” He asked, unable to keep the curiosity out of his voice. Twilight frowned, trying to decide how much to tell the Pegasus stallion, then decided against telling him anything.

“Not yet. I saw a couple of shreds, but nothing I could catch.” She said. Darkrai tilted his head, almost as if he could sense she was lying, and then sighed.

“Fine then; I’ll be on my way then. Until next time Twilight Sparkle.” He said, making for the door. Twilight gently bit her lip but shook her head and walked up the stairs, grabbed a paper and quill, and began writing.

“Dear Princess Celestia…there’s a matter I need to discuss with you. Two nights ago a strange Pegasus stallion showed up near the border of the Everfree Forest, and I can’t fathom whether or not I should trust him. I…I know that this isn’t the type of letter I usually send, but this is very urgent. He saved Rarity the first night he was here…but ever since I’ve had an odd feeling about him, as if there’s more to him than just his gentlemanly ways…is there a possibility that you could give me some advice?” Twilight then shook her head.

“No, I can’t tell her this! She has better things to do than to read about some funky feeling I get about some Pegasus stallion!” She said, rolling it into a neat scroll and setting it on the table for Owlowiscious to throw away later. Turning towards the journal she had left on the couch, she grabbed her quill again and began writing.

~-~-~

Spike tilted his head in confusion upon noticing the scroll that Twilight must’ve set on the table. Not wanting to open it, fearing what might happen if it was a personal message that Twilight wanted Princess Celestia alone to read it, he shrugged and picked it up.

“Hey Owlowiscious, do you know if Twilight wanted me to send this?” He asked the owl. Seconds later he realized that asking Owlowiscious anything was probably a dumb idea, as all he ever said was, ‘hoo’. Rolling his eyes, Spike shrugged to himself again and looked at the scroll again before deciding.

“If Twilight wanted me to send this and I didn’t she’d probably do a rerun of one time with the Smarty Pants doll.” He snickered. Reliving the time when Pinkie had told him about it, he laughed a couple more times before setting the scroll on fire, thus sending it to Princess Celestia. With that he patted his claws together as if dispelling dust and walked away to grab a couple of gems.

~-~-~

“Cresselia…I worry. We have yet to hear of Darkrai from any of the other Legends.” With a sigh, the psychic type lunar incarnate turned towards the large dragon that stood nearby. Dipping her head she admitted to it. She had lost track of her rival, and because of that she was becoming very edgy. Darkrai could attack at any moment if she was unaware of his position.

“I…I admit that I must agree Palkia. I can’t help but feel that the fight with him isn’t over…but how can’t it be if he has amnesia?” She questioned, feeling a tinge of despair worm its way into her heart. The water and dragon type Master of Space sighed and looked at her worriedly.

“Calm, Cresselia…but what worries me is that I fired a Spatial Rend at him. I should be able to feel the remnants of torn space still hovering around him, and that would help me to find him…but I can’t find him anywhere. I’ve scoured the entire region. He’s nowhere to be found. I even asked Dialga for help to search the centuries for traces of him! He’s literally nowhere to be found.” Palkia said uncertainly. Cresselia’s usually calm sapphire gaze instantly came up to search his ruby red.

“Y-you don’t think he was sent to a different dimension do you?! That dark type is a genocidal maniac, he could bring chaos down upon whatever world he comes across with his horrid nightmares!” She said, panic starting to take over. Palkia grabbed her face so that he could look into her hysterical eyes.

“Calm down Cresselia! We’ll find him. It may take a bit of time, but we’ll find him eventually. He can’t hide under a metaphorical rock forever…also, what do we do when we find him? He can use an array of moves that’d be effective against us both.” Cresselia nodded.

“I actually came up with a plan for that. Team Poképals may yet help us again.”

“Haven’t we employed their help enough? They’ve done enough to deserve Arceus’s Blessing of Power.” Palkia commented. Cresselia recalled all that had been done by the Riolu/Pikachu duo. Defeating Primal Dialga, resorting Time, tracking down the Seven Treasures, conquering Sky Peak, dispelling young Azurill’s nightmare, defeating Palkia TWICE, tracking down Darkrai, and finally defeating him. Yes, they definitely deserved to be recognized, by even The Great One himself.

“Are you ok Cresselia? You seem troubled…” Palkia asked. Cresselia shook her head.

“I will be fine…after Darkrai is dead.”