Dreamwalker's Tale: An Anthology

Two weeks earlier.

A trek through the Everfree Forest was a depressing matter. At least when done alone. The sight of gnarled and twisted trees all around me. The songs of birds always sounded that little bit scared or angry or hectic. The rustling of nearby bushes, possibly hiding one of the many options of ambush predators living here. And despite my slight aversion to direct sunlight — the thick canopy overhead, blocking out most of the daylight, certainly did not help either.

The Everfree was dark and gloomy. A fact easily forgotten when in the company of friends.

As usual, there were only a hoofful of reasons to go in here in the first place. I was certainly not adventuring. Or an adventurer in general. I did not need any flowers or tree bark or was running to aid a critter of some kind. And with those rarer reasons out of the way, usually only two remained: The old castle ruins or Zecora.

It was the door of the latter’s house I eventually found myself standing before. I could already hear her rummaging around inside. A sharp knock and the rummaging stopped, only for the door to open a few seconds later.

“Good morning, Zecora,” I greeted with a smile.

“Ah, Dreamwalker! What a pleasant surprise. Please, come in, but avert your eyes,” she replied. I was confused at first, until she widened the gap by opening the door further and I got a good glance at her home. “It… is a little messy, I can tell you that,” she continued with a sigh. “And I will have strong words with that devilish cat.”

A cat? A cat did… all of this? The room was a mess, alright. Shards of pottery on the floor, mixed in with residue of liquids and semi-liquids. Powders on the floor as well. And a sticky patch on the wall. That had to be one disgruntled cat. Or a large one. Either way — as far as I knew, Zecora did not have any pets, per se. This mess was the work of an intruder, then? Or maybe a ‘guest’. I knew that on rare occasions, she did something quite similar to Fluttershy: Care for those who need tending. Most critters made it to the edge of the forest, where Fluttershy could take care of them. Those who could not had two options and two options only: Taking care of it themselves, or visiting Zecora.

However, I was not about to sink deeper into this riddle. It became quite clear that I had visited at a bad time. But the trek out here was annoying in its own right and I wished to repeat it as few times as possible. Just a couple of quick words and I would be out of her mane again. “Right… are you sure you got time right now?”

“I can assure you, I listen well,” she insisted, despite at the same time scanning the room. “Goodness me, what an acrid smell…?”

She seemed distracted. She followed her nose around until she identified the patch responsible for the stench permeating the room. And after a quick mental mathematics, she figured out what that had been, only to then huff in frustration as she turned to look for something else, only to find that pot smashed as well. She still managed to scrape some dust from the floor and scatter it on top of the patch. It started to fizzle and bubble and the stench vanished. The sticky patch remained though.

I had watched her the entire time. Something she became aware of while walking around the room, inspecting it for further things that needed immediate attention. She stopped in her steps and probably realized that I was waiting for her to finish this business. She sat down with a sigh, right where she stood. “This will take quite some time… the smell, the powders, all that slime…” A deep sigh and she closed her eyes and shook her head for a moment.

“I wanted to order a potion of sorts,” I interrupted her thought process. “Maybe it would be best if I just told you about that and then I’ll be out of your mane?”

She was not exactly pleased with the condition of her room. With the necessity of my proposal. But after a moment of consideration, she hung her head in defeat and nodded. “This might be best for both of us. And once you leave, I can clean and cuss…!”

I smiled lopsided. Cleaning up after somepony else’s mess was a frustration I knew a thing or two about. Mostly thanks to Rainbow. That mare was a prankster extraordinaire, but she also almost always tried to shirk cleaning up after the fact. Usually Pinkie kept her in line, but Rainbow occasionally went on a pranking spree all on her own. “Alright, I’ll make this quick then. Just a heads-up, it’s a bit weird. I need a potion that has three effects. First, vomiting. Second, weakness. Third, sleep. Think you can mix something like that up?”

Her brow creased immediately. Which was to be expected with an order like that, honestly. “What in Tartarus do you want this for? You’d be writhing in misery on the floor.”

She quickly realized that I might not have myself in mind when it came to consumption. It was an obvious conclusion. It really was. It was also a false one. “I know,” I hastily replied. “But I’m willing to put up with that. So, uh… making the potion decently safe to consume would be another priority, I guess. Heh. Oh and if Twilight asks, or anypony else, really… I wasn’t here. I didn’t talk to you. And I certainly didn’t order anything.”

She watched me closely for a good minute. She tried to bore into my skull with her gaze. She tried to read my body language. And I most certainly felt like being presented on a silver platter. I was naked anyway, but feeling naked still made me anxious. Eventually, she seemed to reach the conclusion that I was responsible enough to be trusted with such a concoction. “You promise me of no ill intent… and I will mix this brew and have it sent.” There was a certain gravitas to her words. Both a plea, and a warning. This promise, if given, meant something.

Of course I would never promise anything lightly anyway. So I smiled and nodded. “I promise.”

I held her gaze for a moment longer before she stood back up again and sighed. She returned to slowly making her way across the room, inspecting the damage, while still partaking in our conversation. “And how quickly do you need this brew? It might be some time until—… is that glue?!” She groaned, raised her hoof and inspected the sticky substance clinging to both floor and hoof. I wondered how her rhyme had been supposed to end.

“I knew it’s a bit of an unusual order, that’s why I came by as early as possible. I’d say… two, maybe three weeks. Would that be sufficient?” To my relief, she nodded, while trying to get the glue scraped off. “Alright, I’ll, uh… I’ll come back later, then. No need to send it, I will just come visit you.”

It was unusual to see her this distracted. She simply nodded once more, still occupied with the glue, while I made my way to the door. I opened it and looked back once more. “I wish you luck with the mess,” I quietly stated. Quietly, because somehow, the thought of speaking up felt like a disturbance. Zecora did not reply. I stepped outside, closed the door as quietly as I could and took a couple of steps away from her tree home.

And then I stopped.

Good luck with the mess. Really? I was in a bit of a conflict with myself for a few seconds. Maybe a minute. Behind me, I could hear Zecora starting to rummage through her stuff again. And a quiet, almost inaudible curse. What was that damn song again?

A true, true friend helps a friend in need…

I groaned a little and turned back around. I opened the door without knocking, closed it behind me and under her slightly confused gaze, picked up a dustpan and brush, bucket and mop. Her grateful smile was enough to make it worth it. And we got to work.

Everything was coming together. And I was giddy with excitement. I just knew: This was going to be goood.

I had already knocked on her door. Thrice. But she took her time to answer it, and despite considering knocking a fourth time, I refrained from doing so. My nervous energy instead expressed itself in me prancing in place a little. Until finally, finally, finally, she opened the damn door.

“I want to prank Luna,” I immediately blurted out. And judging by the slightly painful ache in my cheeks, my grin threatened to split my head in two.

Moondancer stood there, rather unimpressed, before she groaned and slowly turned around. “You’re an idiot,” she flat out stated. She walked towards her kitchen, leaving the door slightly ajar.

I stood there for a moment, a little deflated, but my excitement would not die down this easily and built up again rather quickly. I followed her inside, closed the door and found her in her kitchen, as she was preparing a cup of coffee for herself. “Upper cupboard on the left,” she announced. My gaze was drawn there and I opened the little door, finding a stash of juice bottles. Grape and cherry. Nice.

“Thank you.” I opened one up and took a small sip. And for the first time since arriving, I took a moment to actually look at her. Her coat was ruffled, her mane unkempt. She yawned occasionally, even though she tried to hide it. I had woken her up. Oops.

When her coffee was ready, she took a seat at the kitchen table and gestured for me to do the same. Sitting down did not quite feel right, as I was still too nervous, but I wanted to be a good guest at least. So I sat down, took another sip and tried not to grin too much, lest I would annoy her only further.

And finally, her words clicked in my overzealous head. “Hey! I’m not!” I replied in outrage.

At least that got a little smile out of her. “That took some time,” she mumbled into her coffee cup, took another sip and after reveling in its effect, looked at me. “So. What’s this nonsense about?”

“And it’s not ‘nonsense’ either!” I insisted.

Moonie just smiled. “Sure it is. You want to prank Luna. That is stupid on so many levels. And you are about to drag me into this. You want my help. And you will likely get it, too. I just want to know what I am getting myself into this time.”

I felt quite insulted. What did she mean, this time? I had not gotten her into trouble. Ever. Right? Try as I might, I could not remember a single instance of actual trouble. A couple minor hiccups and incidents, sure. But surely she was not referring to those, right? It was just a dog-ear after all. And a few minutes past lunch break. And a single drop of honey, that could easily be wiped off. And—

That’s not the point, I had to remind myself.

And with my attempt to refocus, I noticed something else. “Wait. When it’s such a stupid idea, why are you on board anyway?” She grimaced a little and quickly mumbled something into her mug. And a faint tint colored her cheeks. Despite not understanding a single word, I grinned. “Didn’t quite catch that.”

“Because you are my friend, alright?” she suddenly snapped, before hiding behind her cup again.

My grin grew a little wider. “Aaaw, little old Moonie’s going soft on me,” I teased her, only to gulp a little as her withering gaze met mine.

“Ever had a coffee cup-induced concussion before? They are quite the experience,” she growled.

I chuckled and raised my hooves. “Fine, fine, I’ll let it go. Still. It’s not a stupid idea,” I kept insisting.

She raised a brow and shrugged. “If you say so. Let us call it a ‘Dreamwalker’-idea, then.”

I was not sure if that was meant as an insult or not. Moondancer was not inherently hostile of course. But she could sometimes be surprisingly snappy. “Alright, so. Luna and Celestia have had this prank war going on since basically forever. And no, I’m not stupid enough to actually enter that battlefield. I would not stand a chance, I’m aware of that. I just want to prank Luna, and Luna only, and this one time only. Because quite frankly, I’m not a prankster by nature and this idea won’t work twice. It’s just too hilarious to pass up. And it’s quite unique, too. I don’t think she’ll see that one coming. I honestly believe that I’ll get her with this. She will have her revenge of course, and I will bear that with as much dignity and grace as her retaliation will allow me, but that’s just the price I’ll have to pay to get one over on her. Just this once, I want to genuinely surprise her. And yes… I need your help.”

She rubbed her muzzle with a hoof and put her coffee cup down. “I already told you I’m in. So… maybe spare me the pitch? You use a lot of words to say little of substance. What is this about?”

I grimaced slightly. Again. My enthusiasm would not survive continued exposure to her morning grumpiness, I realized. It was time to hasten the process. “Right, no pitch then. We are going to fake a vacation, sort of. I will make it known that, in one week from today, I will visit you for a few days. Two or three days should be unsuspicious enough. Anything longer and they will start having questions. I’m not actually coming here though. I just need you to be ready. If Luna — or Twilight or anypony else — suddenly shows up at your doorstep and asks you about my whereabouts, I need you to lie. Fabricate something. I’m out for groceries. I’m off to organize a nice little restaurant plus orchestra-evening for us. Something like that. Anything that could explain why I’m not with you for the moment, and why I might not return for a few hours, and why it’s hard to track me down. The lie doesn’t have to be complicated. And it doesn’t need to hold up for long.”

I felt bad. Rightfully so, I assumed. The moment I mentioned a vacation, a few days exclusively spent with her, she seemed to perk up a little. Something I had not foreseen. Moondancer was a loner by nature. An introvert. Other ponies were exhausting. Trying. And she was insecure, usually fumbling her way through most conversations that did not have a clear, direct goal. I just simply had not expected her to enjoy the thought of that. Of me visiting her. Not just for a couple of hours, but for a few days, even.

And with my plan explained, her ears lay flat against her skull. She was awful at hiding her disappointment. Maybe she was not even aware of it herself. Despite her soured mood, she eventually nodded to signify her understanding. “You want me to lie. To a Princess of Equestria.” Despite her intonation, it was a question.

“Yes,” I simply replied.

“How sure are you that this will not backfire? That I will not be the scapegoat of your ‘prank’?” Her doubts and concerns were understandable of course. To her, Celestia and Luna were Princesses. Twilight less so, because she knew her personally. She was a friend of hers. And that was the point. Moondancer did not know Luna and Celestia like I did.

“One hundred percent,” I replied with utter conviction.

“One hundred?” she asked doubtfully.

“One hundred,” I insisted.

“How.”

I grinned. “Well. First off, there’s the chance that you won’t have to do anything. That nopony will show up anyway. Secondly, both Celestia and Luna have used accomplices in the past. Sometimes these accomplices didn’t even know of any pranks, or were unwilling and yet participated anyway. The important part is: This is a ‘war’ between them. And they take great care to avoid collateral damage.”

Moondancer was silent for maybe half a minute and simply watched me. Silently questioning my sanity. “One hundred percent?” she asked again.

I chuckled and nodded. “One hundred percent,” I repeated.

“I will hold you to that!” she threatened.

At that point, I cracked up and laughed. “Yeah, sure, go ahead. I’m that confident.” And I was. I truly was.

“Alright, fine. I will do it. Can I go to the bathroom now? Otherwise I am going to be late for work.” She stood up, gave her mug a rinsing and put it down to dry.

“You’re not going to ask what’s in it for you?” I asked after a moment of consideration… and hesitation. I had seen her disappointment. And it was something I did not like seeing.

The faint tint returned to her face as she groaned quietly. “No. And I already told you why. Don’t make me repeat it.”

I chuckled and stood up as well. When she tried to walk out of the kitchen, I sidestepped and blocked her path. “Well, let it be known that being a good friend comes with its own perks,” I announced with a grin and pulled her into a hug. “Once everything is done and dusted, I’ll come by again. I will tell you the whole story and how it went, and… maybe I can stay for a couple of days? For real, this time?”

She had accepted the hug with her usual lack of experience, but as soon as the offer was on the table, she tensed up a little. Only to melt right into me a second later. “I think I would like that.” Her voice was soft. Quiet. Vulnerable. And I knew I had done the right thing, offering it.

“Me too,” I answered equally quietly.

I heard her sighing deeply, right before she pulled away and gave me a little shove. “Now get your sorry rump out of my house, I still have to shower and eat. And thanks to you, I will have to run to the Archives.”

“Checking out my flank again? You know I could keep you company, right?” I teased.

And I was delighted to see her entire face light up. It took her a couple of seconds to overcome her shock and disbelief, but once she did, she levitated her cup into the air again, wiggling it around threateningly. “You lecherous fiend! Get. Out! Out, out, out!”

I laughed like a maniac while quickly retreating into the hallway and finally, out the door. I stood on the sidewalk for a moment or two, still chuckling to myself, and I did notice her looking out the window. Probably to make sure that I was truly gone. She even made a little ‘shoo!’-gesture.

I started to make my way back to the palace with the widest grin and I kept in mind that I would make a little detour to the Archives to inform the head librarian that Moondancer might be a few minutes late due to informal business with a princess. That should be enough of an explanation to deter further questions and get her out of this bind.

One week earlier.

Everything had been prepared to the best of both my knowledge and my capabilities. As experts of pranks, Celestia and Luna probably would have been able to pull this off within a few days. If not faster. But I was slow and I worked methodically. I poured over checklists again and again. Checklists Twilight would have been proud of.

No loose ends. None I could take care of, anyway. Moondancer hopefully knew what to do. Zecora hopefully had not been a blabbermouth. Spike hopefully did not suspect a thing. As far as I knew, he was not even supposed to be home today. A lucky coincidence.

I looked over my shoulder. The edge of the Everfree Forest was close by. With more than six years living here, and so, so many memories from other iterations contributing, this sight was not all that unusual. Certainly not unsettling. And yet I shuddered anyway. This… this was the point of my arrival. And as far as I could tell, it always had been, and probably always would be. I did not claim to understand why. This was just space. A space. A wide open field with no significance, as far as I could tell. Fluttershy’s cottage was within sight, sure, but even that was still a good distance away.

I shrugged. Both physically, and mentally. The latter in an attempt to free myself from my musings. It was just another form of procrastinating, I knew that. Because deep down, despite my continued anticipation, I really was not looking forward to the next required step.

I sat down and took the potion into my hooves. “I will hate this,” I murmured.

Her — or their — faces will be worth it, I told myself. I opened the potion, closed my eyes and drank all of it in one go. Just as Zecora had promised when I went to fetch the bottle, it tasted utterly awful. I closed the bottle again and quickly hid it in a small hole I had opened up. Now, with the bottle inside, I closed it. I would need to retrieve the bottle later. But I was not about to litter, as I had considered just throwing the bottle out of reach and sight. And I could not keep it around either, as both the bottle and potential saddlebags would have betrayed my carefully constructed scenario.

My stomach was upset. Quite upset with me and my life choices. Which it aimed to make quite apparent with a mighty rumbling. “I’m sorry,” I tried, but to no avail. The rumbling intensified until I started to feel the potion’s effects. The sudden dizziness made me struggle for balance, even though I was already sitting. There was a blur in front of my eyes that would not vanish, no matter how much I blinked. My limbs felt strangely heavy, prickly and numb at the same time. My neck was sore. I started to feel tired. And my stomach finally decided that enough was enough. With a curse half uttered, half drowned, I vomited onto the ground.

I. Hate. Every. Second. Of. This.

Even after my stomach was empty, I continued to retch. The tiredness seemed unimpressed with that, continuing to grow even further. To the point where I had difficulties staying awake. I tried to take a few steps away from that awful puddle, but my knees buckled and my legs gave out.

A job well done, Zecora. Maybe a little bit too well done…

All attempts to get back up again were in vain. I was lying on the ground, and no matter how hard I tried, I would not get back up. Sleep was closing in like a pack of hungry wolves, circling around the ever decreasing horizon of my consciousness.

Zecora had said that the potions effects were severe. They would come fast and they would leave fast as well. I was hoping she had not been exaggerating for that latter part. Because this state of being was just utter misery.

I gave up and closed my eyes, and as expected, sleep quickly took over.

The dreamscape welcomed me with open arms. A beautiful night sky, dotted with stars and constellations, decorated with dancing dream spheres. Despite no air being in this place and no requirement to breathe, I took a deep breath anyway. To steady my nerves and get my game face on. The next part depended on my qualities as an actor and despite knowing Rarity for years now and being under the impression that she was rubbing off on me — maybe even a little bit too much, at times —, I still was not sure about the quality of my acting.

Only one way to find out.

It was early afternoon. Luna was supposedly fast asleep, given no unforeseen emergencies. And the fact that the dreamscape was this pretty meant that she was around. So it was not all that hard to ‘accidentally bump into her’. Literally.

“Oh, sorry, I—” I mumbled apologetically before I looked at her. Or rather, ogled her. “L-Luna?”

She regarded me with a confused expression. “Dreamwalker? What is the meaning of this? Wherefore art thou asleep at this timeth of day?”

I had to struggle so freaking hard not to snicker. I had not expected her to relapse into her old speech patterns. She did that from time to time of course. Not expecting it here and now was an oversight on my part. But at least my continued silence seemed to contribute to her confusion and thus worked in my favor.

“I… I-I’m not… sure? So… so you know me? W-Where are we?” I stuttered.

There was a pregnant pause while she puzzled over my words, and her eyes went wide with a sudden realization. “No. No, no, no!” She quickly grabbed me by my shoulders, and the strength behind that gesture was even slightly painful. “What is the lasteth thing thee remember?”

“I… I’m not sure, I couldn’t… I couldn’t s-see straight, for some reason. I… I think I puked?” Her eyes went even wider. “I remember birds chirping? A-And green… uhm… wind? M-My legs wouldn’t carry me…”

“Sun and Moon, please, no,” she mumbled to herself. Her gaze drifted off into the distance before she refocused it onto me. “I bethink I might knoweth where thou art. I shall waketh thee up. T’is not safe where thou art. I shall cometh and receiveth thee — stayeth there!”

“Uh… okay?”

She did not wait. She did not utter a single word more. Within an instant, the dreamscape was gone and I was shunned out, back into my body. I uttered a miserable groan. My bones were heavy, my head was spinning, and the acrid smell of vomit was emanating from somewhere nearby. Zecora had said the potions effects would wear off quickly. She did not say just how quickly. And my conversation with Luna had admittedly been a lot shorter than I had expected.

Yet despite that, I had already won. In my book anyway. I had seen her face. Shock and disbelief and panic. Maybe this prank of mine was a little bit mean-spirited? Maybe a lot. There was a sudden bout of doubt. All this time, the last few weeks, I had focused so hard on the How. Maybe? Maybe I should have thought more about if I should do this?

The idea had seemed hilarious at first, sure. Heck, it still did. But maybe that was not a good thing. Maybe that was more of a condemning statement about my character? She was genuinely worried that she might have lost me.

Was it really ‘fun’ to make somepony think they might have lost a loved one?

The more I thought about it, the less enthusiastic I was about the whole deal. While doubt started to form regrets, I started to panic. Luna was very much capable of long-distance teleportation. She was not quite as experienced with it as Twilight was, and it exhausted her a great deal more than Twilight, but she would arrive any moment. And I was torn between abandoning this entire ‘hoax’ and sticking to the plan. Worse still, the latter was only an option because I had no plan of action for the former.

I was overwhelmed. By myself. Moondancer had been right all along. This entire idea was stupid. It had been from the start.

But before I could make up my mind, Luna arrived. A sudden increase in air pressure, a flash of silvery, soft light and she was standing a couple of feet away and frantically searched her surroundings until she noticed me. She rushed over immediately.

I knew that any second now, I would fall into choice paralysis. And once that happened, everything would spiral out of control. It would end with me having yet another breakdown. And with my loved ones comforting me. Again.

I was grateful to have them, of course. Grateful that they cared so much. Grateful that they were willing to put up with me. But sweet Celestia, I was so not willing to fall into that routine.

And yet, to avoid it, there was only one way forward. Stick to the plan. See it through. And bear the consequences afterwards.

So while she looked me over for superficial wounds, cuts and bruises, I raised my head and regarded the forest for a second, before turning my attention back to her. “Is that the Everfree?” She just nodded and I tried to stand up. My knees still buckled, but this time, they held. The potions effects were subsiding, at least. She conjured a waterskin from who-knows-where and I took a greedy gulp from it. It was worth it to get rid of the awful taste, if nothing else. And with that taken care of, I regarded her for a longer moment.

Her coat was ruffled. Her mane was even more of a mess. Ethereal, yes, but one could clearly tell the difference between her usual, regal appearance and this tangle of wavy strands. She looked like this after dancing away a free night in a club. I was no club-pony. The flickering lights, the absurd volume of the music, everypony yelling and the entire space crammed with bodies, heat, sweat, alcohol… one of my least favorite places ever. But I had accompanied Luna on two or three occasions. The first time because she had begged me. The second time because I had quickly learned what an experience it was.

Seeing her dance was entrancing. The movement of her body. Her wings. That excited shimmer in her eyes. She had even managed to rope me into dancing with her the second time. I was a natural disaster on the dancefloor, of course. But she did not mind. And it had allowed me to be so much closer to her. See her from up close. Watch her as she got lost in that own little world of hers that consisted entirely of sound.

She was beautiful.

Back on that dancefloor, and here, right now. If only there would have been less panicky worry in her eyes. But even that was heartwarming to some degree. She cared so much about me. I could have pulled this stupid prank on anypony. Literally anypony. But not for one second had I considered pulling it on Celestia. Or Twilight. Or any of my friends.

Maybe because Celestia would have seen through the entire charade in an instant. Maybe because Twilight’s panic reactions were legendary and should not be provoked lightly. Or at all.

It was a misconception on my part, of course. Something I wrangled with every now and then. Celestia loved me. I knew that. From the bottom of my heart, I knew that. I might not understand how, or why. But the fact remained. And I knew that Twilight loved me as well.

And I really should have known that Luna loved me just as much. I did know. But there was just this teeny-tiny voice that would not die. It fell quiet for long stretches. Weeks and months, at this point. But every now and then, it would chirp up again. And remind me how our involvement had started. Luna and Twilight had been in love long before I had arrived. I was an intruder. I was attempting to snatch Twilight away from her.

I did not, of course. Not just because of decency and manners. I wanted them to be happy. With each other. I loved them so much, and I wanted them to be as happy as they could be. And my memories told a clear-cut story there: They were happiest with each other.

I was an intruder. A trespasser. And Luna’s jealousy was just as legendary as Twilight's panic reactions.

She had agreed to a relationship with me. We had agreed upon this. To open up possibilities. Test the waters. Make a few ponies even happier. Without risking the wrath of her jealousy. We had tried, hoping it would work. And it had worked. We had grown to love each other.

It was the weirdest thing. I had already loved her. My memories were clear on that, too. I had loved Luna so many times, in so many lives. I had chosen her, and she had chosen me. But those memories were fractured. Parts. Bits and pieces. Never a full story.

I had loved many Lunas, but I tried to remind myself constantly that this one was ‘new’. A different Luna. And she deserved to be treated as such. Thus, I loved Luna, yet I did not love Luna. I had to get to know her first. And I did. And I learned to love her again. And all of it felt incredibly backwards.

Knowing the result, and willfully constructing the task to get there.

Was it just my doubts again? My constant self-deprecation? Was it just that, making me think that maybe, the way we got together was the reason why I chose Luna for this prank? Would that not make it even crueler?

… was I a bad pony?

I gulped. I really, really tried to refrain from tearing up. It was not fair. Not fair to her. I lunged forward as best as my unsteady hooves allowed and hugged her fiercely. I wanted to apologize, but my mind was a chaotic mess and could not form a single, coherent sentence. I breathed her scent in. Familiar. Loved. And pulled back just enough to kiss her. A fierce, passionate kiss. Full of longing. And maybe a tad more despair than I cared to acknowledge.

“I’m sorry,” I managed to croak out once I pulled back. I wanted to say more than that, but I still could not.

And that certainly was not helped by the fact that apparently, she took all this in and… formed her own narrative from her observations. She smiled warmly. “Don’t be. I think I understand.”

And she would, would she not? Celestia had felt slightly uncomfortable with my knowledge of her. I had talked about it with her once or twice. She was a pony very much in control of her life. She controlled every aspect of it. Who knew what about her, for example. Me dragging knowledge from previous iterations into this one was not an issue, per se. Just something that rubbed her the wrong way, on occasion. So I tried to avoid using it. Tried to avoid falling back onto knowledge I had not yet gathered.

Twilight was a lot more relaxed in that regard. She was curious about it. Curious about the nature of my being. Was it other timelines? Reincarnations? Alternate dimensions? Other worlds? The thought of other Twilights, other Lunas, other Celestias and more intrigued her. Always the scientist, always the scholar. She just saw a field of study. But her stance was clear once it became a question. Having that knowledge was one thing. Acting upon it was another matter entirely. And I should not do that.

Most of my friends shared either her sentiment, or that of Sunny.

And then there was Luna. Brazenly claiming that I should accept who I was. And that this entailed who I had been in the past. That these memories were my own. That there were not, in fact, dozens and dozens of Dreamwalkers, living their lives. But one. One who remembered, and moved on, and rebuilt, and rekindled. Luna had always been the one to encourage me to use these memories. To build upon their wisdom and knowledge. Even when it concerned her. Because at the end of the day, there were differences between lifetimes. Luna's favorite flower was the moonshine daisy. Or was it a blue rose? Or maybe she did not even like flowers to begin with. Details changed, after all. And yet she always encouraged the use of memories that might provide outdated information.

I had told her a lot about what I remembered. She probably knew more than everypony else, including even Twilight. It was so much easier to talk about this with her. And thus… maybe she really did understand.

And honestly, she did not seem too appalled by having been kissed. A small smirk graced her lips as she leaned in and gave me a quick peck on the cheek. “The important part is that we get you somewhere safe and then I need to look into a few things.”

She’s using New Equestrian now, good. Panic’s over, it seems.

I nodded, like the good stallion that I was, and on slightly wobbly legs moved to her side. She draped a wing over my back, to keep me steady. Or maybe to keep me close to her. Or both. Why not both.

And we started to walk towards Ponyville.

Despite my inner conflict, I kept the charade up and running. I asked if that was Fluttershy’s cottage. And then, before she could answer, who Fluttershy was. I asked if that was Ponyville, and waved to a few good friends I had known for years like I was seeing them for the first time, right before ‘suddenly remembering’ their names. I probably confused a lot of ponies that day. Most of them did not quite remember my initial arrival six years ago. To be fair, despite Ponyville's status as a village, the town had a rather active life. It was easier to forget weird things happening when ‘weird things happening’ was the normal state of being and a weekly occurrence.

We eventually arrived at the castle and Luna ushered me inside. Spike was coming towards us, with a big grin on his face and a small backpack on his back. So he was not gone quite yet. Oh well. He stopped and furrowed his brow when he noticed Luna. “Uh… Princess Luna? What’s going on?”

“You’re Spear, right?” I asked with a shy smile. “N-No, wait. Spike. It’s Spike.”

He just stared at me dumbfounded before slowly turning his gaze towards Luna, wordlessly asking what was going on again. “We seem to have run into a bit of a problem here. Nothing to worry about, however. You may run along and I will find Twilight and we shall work this out.”

He slowly nodded and looked back to me once more, a clear frown on his face and worry in his eyes. “Yeah, sure, you, uh… you do that. Twi’s in the main library.”

“Thank you, Spike,” Luna and I replied in unison. Luna giggled — I blushed.

A moment of hesitation later and Spike started moving again. Soon enough, he was gone and we were on our way to find Twilight. Just as Spike had announced, we entered the library and found her sitting in a mound of books. Because of course she was.

She looked up and a beautiful smile bloomed on her lips when she saw us. Full of warmth and love and genuine joy. “Luna! Dreamwalker!” Aaand just like that, her pretty smile wavered as her brow furrowed. “Wait. Are you not supposed to be in Canterlot with Moondancer? Did something happen?”

“Who’s Moondancer?” I asked with a slight tilt of my head.

The very moment that question left my mouth, Twilight turned to Luna with an increasingly confused expression. “He ran into me in the dreamscape. Quite literally. I found him at the edge of the Everfree Forest. Please keep an eye on him, I will try to teleport to Canterlot and ask Moondancer about his whereabouts.”

The implications were quite clear. Twilight struggled to contain her slight horror and nodded after she took a deep breath. After all: My flashes never showed me the end. In none of my memories did I ever see myself die. So I had no idea whatsoever how these iterations, circles, lifetimes or whatever they were ended. Or what happened for them to be restarted. How that was experienced by somepony other than myself.

“Wait,” Twilight spoke up as Luna already readied herself. “Let me teleport. I’m more adapted to the strain than you.” Which really was her nicest way of telling Luna that the Element of Magic had deeper reserves and she could stomach long-distance teleportation a lot better, and do it a lot more.

Something Luna begrudgingly accepted. “Fine, you go then. I will wait here with him. Moondancer should be in the Archives right now.”

Twilight nodded, put a bookmark in her latest tome and without further delay, teleported away. Luna sat down on her haunches and rubbed her muzzle with a hoof. “What a mess.”

“I… I’m sorry? I don’t… I still don’t quite understand what’s happening,” I offered.

“You remember Twilight?” she asked and once again watched me closely.

In my head, I conjured the images of Twilight. This plan had been well-prepared, after all. I imagined Twilight, sprawled out on her bed, her back legs slowly, enticingly parting. Her tail covering her modesty just enough, before slowly slipping away as well. It was enough to make my blood heat up and rush downstairs. Enough to make me blush quite heavily.

Luna giggled. “You do, then. Good. Well, it all depends on what Twilight finds out. The short version is this: Either you are ‘our’ Dreamwalker and are, for whatever reason, currently suffering a massive relapse or memory loss of some kind… or you are a new ‘Dreamwalker’ that has just arrived the eerily same way our Dreamwalker had arrived a few years ago. Neither possibility is especially appealing, as you surely can understand, but for obvious reasons, I am very much hoping for the former.”

“O-Oh,” I stuttered and fell silent, letting my shoulders sag and hanging my head. She gave me a little squeeze with her wing, but remained silent as well. After maybe a minute, I raised my head again to look at her. “Why? If… if I may ask?”

“Why would I prefer you to be him?” she asked for clarification. And I nodded. She took a few moments to mull her answer over before voicing it. “Well, I care about him a lot. That obviously does not mean that I do not care about you, or could not grow to care about you in the same manner, but despite possibilities, it would most likely never be the same. If, however, he — you — is merely ‘injured’ in some way, I am confident that we will find some sort of remedy, cure, spell or the like to reverse the effect.”

“Thank you,” I replied with a smile.

“What for?” She even seemed a little confused.

So I leaned into her and closed my eyes for a moment. “Well, you seem like a really nice pony. And… no matter what option holds true, you care either way. And I’m grateful for that.”

With a heavy sigh, she laid her head on top of mine. “You are welcome.”

We remained in that position for what felt like a few minutes, before a bright purple flash, a pop and the smell of ozone announced Twilight's return. “Moondancer says he arrived yesterday, as planned. They were planning on a quiet evening. I was at her house as well, after she allowed me in, and found a note from him telling her to dig through her dresser for something ‘fancier’. I think he’s about in Canterlot, arranging for a nice evening. So… that would mean he is…”

“… new,” Luna concluded with furrowed brows. Twilight nodded. “Well, now we have two, apparently. That is… interesting.” She lifted her wing from my back and refolded it on her own. Luna stood up and walked over to Twilight and cast some sort of spell. I saw her horn light up in her usual blue aura, but a second later, they were talking. And I did not hear a word. It was muffled to an extent that made it incomprehensible.

I knew that spell, of course. I knew it from Twilight. Spike had once described it as the ‘perfect librarian-spell’ and I found no fault with that description. It was a little jarring right now though. They were clearly talking about me as they constantly looked over. They were probably trying to figure out what to do with me now.

And the longer they took, the more nervous I became. I started to shift around on the ground and eventually stood up again. I wanted to walk in circles, just to have the movement to focus on, but before I could decide on that, the sound distortion bubble vanished.

“I am sorry for the exclusion,” Luna started. “We just had to quickly decide on a course of action.”

“That’s alright,” I replied with a sigh of relief. “What ‘course of action’ did you decide on?”

While Luna stopped right in front of me, I noticed that Twilight did not. She walked up to my side, and stood quite close. Close enough that I could almost feel her body heat. “Well,” Luna said quietly and a smirk grew on her lips. “You appear to be new around here. So we thought about a proper introduction and a more heartfelt welcome.”

“Oh? U-Uhm, okay, and wha—“ That was all I managed to get out before she leaned down and sealed my lips with her own. Her wing once more extended, and laid itself upon my neck, pulling me further in. She slightly tilted her head and her tongue darted across. There was a well-known, familiar fire in her eyes that made me shiver in anticipation. For some reason, Luna always, without fault, managed to inspire desire in me with as little as a glance, a flick of her tail, a brush of our coats. I loved and desired Celestia and Twilight just as much, if not more. But her effect on me was unmistakable, undeniable and infallible.

And I lost. I lost myself to her kiss, to my own desire. She had once again effortlessly sparked a raging inferno that threatened to consume me. And I wanted it to consume me. I pushed against her, raised a hoof to pull her in myself, deepening our kiss further, while I forgot all about the prank or my surroundings.

That was until I noticed Twilight's lips brush against my cutie mark. The sensation was not dissimilar to an electric shock. Furthermore, I felt her trail down my barrel, inwards. She was making a beeline for my sheath.

No. Wait. What? No, this is wrong!

I did not know what was going on. But I knew a few things with unerring certainty. Twilight would be too embarrassed to be this brazen. And Luna would never, ever, share. I tore myself free from her kiss, and her embrace. She tried to hold me in place with her wing, but my sudden and quite hectic movement was enough to free me. I stumbled a few steps back, careful not to hurt Twilight in my unplanned retreat.

And that was the moment I saw it.

Green eyes.

Just a fraction of a second. But it had been there. I had seen it. And ‘Twilight’ raised her head with a smug expression I found mirrored on Luna's face as well.

Queen.

My blood froze.

Somewhere in the back of my head, a tiny voice tried to yell about magical auras or something. But it was utterly drowned out by the sheer panic of my situation. The fun was over. No prank. This was a real situation, with a real threat attached, and I was way out of my league here if that ‘Luna’ really was a changeling queen.

Without hesitation or a second thought, I yanked at the arcane thread connecting me to my armor. It landed with additional weight on my back and for once, having that additional weight felt reassuring. I just wished I had a soul-bound weapon as well. Without letting either of these two get out of my sight, I scanned the room and sparked up my telekinesis, quickly grabbing the fireplace poker and bringing it to my side.

“Where are they?” I asked.

“We have no idea what you are talking about,” Luna said in an alluring tone.

“Are you feeling alright?” Twilight chimed in. “You seem a little… stressed. We could help you with that, you know?”

They exchanged a single glance. And while Luna stepped to the right, Twilight stepped to the left. It was the first step. They would circle around me. Try to get behind me. Attack me in a pincer move maneuver. I had heard of that before. I was alone, unprepared, outnumbered and soon enough, I would be flanked as well.

However, my training kicked in. And goodness gracious me, was I grateful for that. The door was right behind me, a few steps away. Changelings were capable of magic and flight. The castle was close to Ponyville. They could not risk being discovered, being seen out in the open. Too many witnesses would alert Celestia.

Heavens above, I hope Sunny is alright…

I pushed my fears to the wayside. Not now. While they started to circle around me just as I had expected, a plan formed. And was swiftly executed.

I swung the poker with all I had to give. A hit like that, straight to the skull, could have cracked said skull and killed whoever that skull belonged to. But they were alarmed and ready. And speed was not my strength. They probably saw the attack coming from a mile away.

I ‘tried’ to bash the smaller drone’s skull in and just as expected, a shield was thrown up before it could connect. A purple shield. Conjured by a purple aura. From a purple horn.

That tiny voice was screeching at the top of its non-existent lungs, but I did not listen. I was in battle. I could not afford the distraction. I used the momentum of the fire poker to let it loosely fly off in the direction of the queen. While the drone recoiled, the queen sidestepped the ‘attack’, and I quickly turned and made a break for the door.

I made it into the hallway and saw Spike, just about to close the main door. “Oh, hey Dreamwalker. Forgot my comics. You feeling bet—“

“Spike, run! Changelings!” I yelled and gave it my all, running at top speed. For what I could muster, that was decently fast. Of course, changelings were faster. But what did that matter if they just teleported.

I barreled through the door and tried to grab Spike on my way out. I tried to pull him with me. But just outside the door, I barreled full speed into ‘Luna’, who stood firm and unmoving like a mountain.

A second later, the three of us — minus Spike — were back in the main library.

“Wait!” ‘Twilight’ pleaded. “Please wait!”

Honestly, there was little I could do anyway. I had no idea where the poker had flown off to. In addition to that, that bright purple flash had blinded me for a second, and I felt incredibly nauseous after that teleport.

… which is exactly what would happen after Twilight teleports you…!, that angry voice in the back yelled.

And it finally clicked.

A purple shield. Even before that, when she had teleported to Canterlot. A purple flash.

I slowly sat down on my rump. And slowly turned my head to see Luna levitate the poker back to the fireplace. In a cobalt blue aura. The one thing one could count on was changeling magic being green.

While my head still spun and tried to process this development, my mouth decided that action was required. My head snapped around and I frantically moved over to Twilight. “Oh no, sweet Celestia no, are you alright?” I pulled her head down, turned it left, turned it right. I had seen the poker connect to her shield. There had been a shield.

There had been a shield. Calm down. She’s fine.

But clearly, that was not how it worked. It was not that easy. Not that simple.

Twilight pulled away. She pressed her hooves to my face to stop me from moving around too much. “I am alright. I am fine. Calm down. You did not hit me.”

When I said it to myself, it was worthless. When she said it… it somehow worked. It did not quench all my worries immediately. But it did soothe my frazzled nerves considerably. “I’m so, so sorry…!” I whispered, tilting both her head and mine down a little and putting our foreheads against each other with our horns crossed. I had to bite down on my tongue to refrain from constantly repeating that like a maniac.

And while a part of me tried to sort through all this mess, another one simply stated the facts. I had almost bashed her head in.

This truly had spiraled out of control. Utterly out of control. I trembled.

She hugged me. And despite how nice that felt, and despite how much I would always love that, I felt icky. Undeserving of such gestures. Right now, at least. So I pulled away. And for a moment, I faced Luna. I dared to look in her direction.

And much to my surprise, I saw no judgment. There was the faintest hint of a smile. But otherwise, she just sat there and kept silent for now, observing. I silently begged her to come over. And after a moment, she did. She sat down beside us, and with ease enveloped the two of us in her wings.

“What a mess indeed,” I choked out in an attempt at gallows humor. I felt Luna giggle, even though I did not hear it. “What… what was that? All of… I don’t… I’m so confused right now… everything went sideways so quickly…”

“I will agree that it is about time for some explanations,” Celestia chimed in.

All three of us froze. We slowly raised our heads, turned it to the side and watched her lift an invisibility spell.

Suffice it to say, I did not get any less confused.

“Sister?” Luna asked in utter bewilderment. “Since when have you been spying on us?! Has this been your idea?”

Celestia smiled and shook her head. Calm, warm, serene. As usual. “I can assure you it was not. Does this bear the hoofprint of my work, Luna?”

After just a second of hesitation, Luna sighed. “It does not. Then what exactly was all of this about?”

While she switched her gaze from one to the other, Celestia stepped closer to us and sat down as well. She leaned down and nuzzled my cheek. It was such a nice and soothing feeling. “It was a valiant attempt, love. Please. Explain what happened.”

I sighed deeply and looked at the three of them. Celestia was smiling. To encourage me. To bolster me. Twilight… was curious. She was neither afraid nor angry, just… slightly confused and curious. And Luna, well. She tried to play Celestia’s game. She tried to hide her reactions, her emotions, her thoughts. But she had always been a terrible liar. And I saw that faint smirk.

None of them were angry with me.

Should they be? Maybe they should be? They should probably be angry with me.

Heck, even if they would not — I was, most certainly.

With another sigh, I scraped together my thoughts and tried. “You two have this prank war going on. It’s… it’s a thing you share. I don’t want to take that away from you. I don’t want to, uhm… intrude upon that. I can’t really… I’m not funny. I don’t really ‘get’ pranks. I think. I mean, this proves it, I guess. I just… I wanted to contribute something? A few weeks ago, I had this really stupid idea. You would never see it coming. Because despite all your experience and all your knowledge and all your years, you never had to deal with somepony in my circumstances. I could try to get you with a trick that only I would be able to pull off. A trick you would never have seen before. So I planned a ‘prank’. Really should have consulted with Rainbow and Pinkie, in retrospect. I asked Zecora to brew me a potion that would mirror my miserable state when I arrived here. I asked Moondancer to provide an alibi for me in case you would go search for ‘me’. A-And I played up the whole ‘I don’t recognize anypony’-thing. A lot. I-I thought it would be… funny. A surprise. I didn’t… sweet Celestia, I almost bashed your head in…”

I fled. Sort of. As I choked out my words, I crawled over to her as quickly as I could and Twilight welcomed me into another embrace with waiting arms. I buried my muzzle in the crook of her neck for a couple of seconds and tried to just breathe. To steady myself. To calm down my raging heartbeat. “I’m sorry,” I repeated.

“Well, it worked almost flawlessly, I admit,” Luna spoke up. “You successfully had me fooled. Up to a certain point, that is. As far as I can tell, you only made two crucial mistakes that gave the play away.”

Only a minute later, after I had once again managed to calm down a little, did I pull back from Twilight and look over to Luna. “Which?”

She smiled a little lopsided. “Firstly, when I teleported to you on that field, I checked for your well-being.” I nodded, not quite understanding what her point was. “With all the spells I had at hoof.” I nodded again, still none the wiser. She sighed, but her grin grew a little wider. “I was the one implementing that arcane line, connecting you and your armor.” With that, it dawned on me. She found the line. And with that, she already knew that I could not have been a ‘new’ Dreamwalker. Once she saw me understand, she nodded. “And secondly, if you were a new arrival, Pinkie Pie should have shown up as soon as we entered Ponyville proper, right?”

I grimaced a little. “How do you know that?” The fact of the matter was that I had considered that. And I had simply resorted to counting on her not knowing. Because that had been easier than to rope Pinkie into this whole thing as well. Fluttershy and Pinkie had announced the former’s pregnancy roughly two months ago. Ever since, Pinkie had been quite busy. And she was in the middle of this phase she called ‘serious and caring Pinkie’, which was quite ridiculous, because Pinkie always cared. And serious Pinkie was both ridiculous and a sad prospect. Either way, I had just hoped Luna would not have adapted to Ponyville life enough to know about the usual Pinkie welcoming party.

Luna, for her part, just grinned. “You do realize that I lived here for a couple of years as well, right?”

I puffed out my cheeks a little. “You don’t. You come visit every so often, but you don’t live here.” She raised a brow and I sighed. “That came out wrong. But you know what I mean. I just… I misjudged that, I guess.” I wanted to tell her how much I would actually love for her to live here. With us. But this was not the right time, or place.

She leaned down and nuzzled me. “That is fine.”

I sighed deeply. Again. “So… what was this whole, uhm… the kiss and… that… what was that about?”

Twilight blushed a little. But I did notice that her eyes darted to the side, to Celestia. And that made me question as well: Just how long had she been around, and just how much had she seen?

“That is what we call a counter-prank,” Luna smugly replied. “We called your bluff and made a move of our own. Admittedly, the execution had been a little bit… crude.” Recoloring eyes. I wanted to smack my forehead with a hoof as I realized their genius ‘plan’. Luna had been distracting me with a kiss, so that I would not notice Twilight casting her spell to recolor her eyes. Recoloring was a fairly simple spell. Eyes, hair, coat. The real advantage of the spell was that it only lasted as long as the amount of magic provided allowed. A unicorn with a sufficient understanding of the spell could probably gauge the duration, and after the initial casting, no magic aura would be visible anymore. Furthermore, Twilight knew the extent of my magical sensibility. She could easily cast it in a way that would not trigger my usual awareness.

I turned to Twilight once more. “Don’t,” she just told me right away, with a small smile gracing her lips. So I held my tongue and did not say it.

Luna meanwhile turned her attention to her sister. “However, I have come to notice that none of this explains your presence.”

Celestia's smile widened a little. “It does not. Your sharp observational skills remain quite impressive, sister.”

Luna stuck her tongue out in a display of maturity, grace and defiance. “Tell us already, you old coot!”

Celestia shot her sister a warning glare before her expression settled into a content smile. At this point, she already knew all she wanted to know. “A certain shaman of the Everfree Forest was quite worried by an unusual potion request. She jumped through many hoops to contact me and inform me about said request. In turn, I asked her to inform me once the potion was ready. I placed an enchantment on the potion that would inform me as soon as it was used, and it would provide me with the information of where it was used. Said shaman was a dear and brewed an invisibility potion for me as well. You never know when you need these, after all.”

Celestia had been with me from the moment I drank the potion.

Luna had seen through the entire scenario from the moment she checked for injuries.

Twilight had known about it from the moment Luna told her in that sound bubble.

I somehow suddenly felt like an extra in my own prank. Then again… was that really a bad thing? Or rather: Did that really matter? I mulled these questions over and came to a simple conclusion. I decided that it did not. “Alright, so just to have it said properly at least once: This was a stupid idea, and I will leave the pranking to those who know what they are doing. I’m sorry for the mess I’ve caused and…” I looked over to Twilight and she simply nodded, sparing me another apology.

Luna was not done, however. And neither was Celestia. “To be fair, I have taken Twilight under my wing and trained her for years now,” Luna explained with a smirk. “We would not have been able to coordinate ourselves this quickly and efficiently otherwise. She is not a ‘natural prankster’ by any means, but she is a quite dedicated student.”

Celestia clearly perceived herself as being challenged by her sister’s bold statement and put an almost possessive wing around me. “Well, I have been thinking about taking on a student for myself recently. And as I said, despite some flaws in design, this prank had been a valiant attempt. I see a good deal of potential we could work with.” Oh no. Please don't. Please, love, don't...

I could feel the air growing thicker and tensions rising while Celestia and Luna stared at each other. I looked over to Twilight with pleading eyes and silently mouthed “Help!” With a grin, she charged her horn, leaned forward enough to touch a hoof to my shoulder and in a bright purple flash, we vanished.

“Urgh, I’ll never get used to that,” I complained as we both sat in front of Moondancer’s door. Twilight had already knocked and I tried to get my bearings again. The dizziness subsided quickly, but the vertigo took a while longer. I used the opportunity to lean over and kiss Twilight on her ear and cheek. “Thank you.”

The door was opened a moment later and Moondancer looked at us with a sigh, waiting for the inevitable.

“Please grant us refuge before the mighty celestial forces smite us,” I begged with an uneasy smile.

“One hundred percent, hm?” she stated.

I grimaced a little. “Ah, well, you see—” I quickly looked around, as if I could find some viable excuse lying on the floor, before I had a decent idea. “If you let us in, I’ll massage those knots out of your neck. And your back. And your everything.”

She raised a brow. “I don't have kno—“

Before she could spin her lie further, I quickly stepped forward and pressed a single hoof to a specific point on her neck. I knew the way she was sitting in her library when reading. I knew it, because Twilight did the exact same thing. And I knew that spot perfectly. It was tense. It always was.

She cringed a little and pulled back, smacking my hoof away. “Fine, fine!”

However, I did notice Twilight's rather quizzical look. “And I’ll massage your everything if you don’t ask about that.”

Twilight knew better than to ever assume that I would cheat on her. But even she was not above a little teasing every now and then. “My everything, you say?” she asked with a growing smile while she raised an eyebrow.

I grinned, leaned closer and whispered “everything” into her ear. And I was delighted as I saw her shudder a little.

After Twilight agreed with a nod, Moondancer stepped out of the way to let us in and closed the door behind us. “So. How did it go?”

I exchanged a glance with Twilight. Both of us grinned. “Worked like a charm,” she said.