Goldilocks lay in bed atop the covers wearing nothing but her panties, her hair still wet from the shower. Her mind was running wild with images from the gala, which was brought to an early end after Princess Twilight apprehended the assailant. The civilians were ushered out, the guards placed on alert, and the palace was locked down for the remainder of the night.

With Gaius's help Goldie managed to fetch her clothes and make it to her room while (hopefully) avoiding any wandering eyes. They parted ways at the door, with him returning to the barracks and her retreating to the shower, grateful for the magic that laundered her clothes.

She relaxed a little in the shower, the last of the semen draining from her body. It was amazing how much Gaius had come, and she wondered just how much more he could have injected into her if they had kept going at it,

Stepping out of the shower, she did her best to dry her hair but was overcome by a sudden wave of exhaustion. She only managed to fetch her panties from the wardrobe and slip them on before collapsing topless on the bed.

It had been a little over an hour since then, and Goldie still couldn't seem to fall asleep, nor could she seem to settle on a feeling. She felt warm when she thought of her and Gaius on the balcony, and shivered when she thought of the false Luna and her shadow-magic. She recalled what the warlock had said to her back there, and what she had called her.

'I finally found you, princess.'

The last word, 'princess,' resonated with something in her mind. Another key, perhaps, and another lock undone, but the chains holding back her memory, though slackened, still remained. She tried to piece together what she had learned so far, and was disappointed by how little there was, and how random it all seemed.

Mermares, the human warlock, and being called a princess... Try as she might, she couldn't seem to draw any meaningful connections between them. She tried to expand her sphere of consideration to include shadows, monsters, and magical artifacts, but whenever she thought she might be on to something it seemed to slip away.

Her tired mind started to wander and she realized that some-pony was going to have to clean up the mess she and Gaius made on the balcony, which made her giggle. Her body was beginning to ache, but even so she placed her hand on her belly and imagined Gaius's huge horse-cock inside her again. She was apparently quite durable, though she knew come morning she would be really feeling it.

The gentle breeze through the window stirred the curtains, and there was a sense of timelessness, as though the day would only come if she were to allow it by falling asleep.

Of course, day had broken for a while during the Gala, though very briefly, with the sun withdrawing into the East not long after in order to restore the night. Such power Celestia wielded! To turn back the sunrise; slay the night whatever the hour.

Yet she also respected a certain order. The day had its place, and so did the night. Neither of them would be permitted to last forever, yet they would each be renewed in their own time.

What Celestia had done earlier, she did to stop the warlock, and to protect Goldie, Gaius, and her sister, Luna. When she was done, she set things right again, restoring her sister’s beautiful night.

Even when Luna fell to the nightmare curse and was sealed away in the moon, Celestia maintained the balance of night and day herself until her sister was ready to reclaim her place by her side.

Goldie admired the sun princess, and was glad to be her student. Though her memory was a mystery she felt that it was worth it for the opportunity to stay in the palace and make so many friends.

She regretted that Rarity had not seen her in the dress she made for her at the gala. The night had barely begun before it was interrupted.

She hoped to speak some more with Princess Twilight in the morning. She was curious how she was able to capture the warlock, and wondered where she was being kept. Maybe the warlock would provide the remaining keys to her memory, if she could be convinced to talk.

Perhaps she was being interrogated right then, and an unexpected twinge of sympathy struck her. She didn't know why, but she pitied the other human. There was something about her that seemed lonely and sad.

She knows me, too. The me I used to be.

The warlock was the first human Goldie had encountered in Equestria, as far as she could remember, and was apparently a counter-part to Princess Luna. This made Goldie wonder once again if she had a pony counter-part of her own; though if she did not one of the three princesses knew where to find her, or if she was really out there somewhere in Equestria, or the lands beyond.

Like Seaquestria, perhaps.

The realm of the sea-ponies was beyond the scope of the sister's gaze, and was the only place Goldie knew about that had a connection to a fragment of her memory. If she really did have a pony (or sea-pony) counter-part, perhaps she would find her there.

Goldie's thoughts kept her awake a little longer, but eventually they began to lose their shape and her body began to relax. Her thoughts and feelings began to blur together, her exhaustion finally winning out. Fuzzy images of winged unicorns and ocean waves filled her head and at last she finally slipped into a dream.

While she slept, she saw images of boiling water and a vast, thirsty desert. She saw flashes of gold and steel, a frightening woman with a fearsome grin, and she saw herself reflected in many fractured mirrors.

Author's Note

Originally this was going to be a part of a single chapter, but I decided to break that chapter up and expand upon the scenes within. Hopefully it works out.