10. Play Against the Rules

The idea of choosing their own path tomorrow was changed to the next day, as Applejack was back to her old self then. The mares, including Luna, who convinced her sister that she needed a week of rest from her duties as caretaker of the night, were inside Twilight's little home, along with Spike, who was trying his best to impress Rarity, but to no avail.

“Twilight, have you written your experiences over the last few days, so your friends can now the truth?”

“Yes, princess, it’s all here on these sixty pages.”

Twilight levitated three large manuscripts in front of Pinkie Pie, Applejack and Fluttershy, and the mares began to read. They began to read the pages one by one, each and every detail described to a ridiculous degree. Including her time at the club, her first night with Rainbow Dash, and the current state of things. It took the mares an hour to get through the stuff, and both screams, groans and shock came from their mouths during their endeavor. Twilight could only muster a look of shame for her actions, and hope her friends could look her in the eyes the same way.

As each of them finished reading it, with undefinable awe, and a small dose of arousal at the scenes involving Bass. The three mares then formed a huddle, and began to debate about their current actions.

“Girls, I have to be honest with you, I don’t want to do this” Applejack admitted.

“But we have to save Rainbow Dash, Applejack! If it means having to face our demons then I am fully prepared to do so!” Pinkie Pie replied.

“No Pinkie, you are not! Listen, we don’t talk about it that much, but there is a side to you that is both dark and scary. Imagine having to deal with her, and her actions!”

“And you are just a coward, not willing to risk helping your friend!”

“There is a thin line between courage and stupidity!”

“Chicken!”

“Lunatic!”

“Traitor!”

“Maniac!”

“Girls!” Fluttershy interjected loudly, catching the two arguing friends off guard.

“I understand both of your concerns, and they are both warranted. Pinkie Pie is right about one thing and that is we need to act in order to save Dash. But recklessness and not thinking clearly will lead to our downfall. Twilight’s curse was the thing that got Dash into this mess in the first place, remember? If we save Rainbow Dash, only to see us become some serial killer or something worse, is that really winning? But leaving us on the sidelines will only result in more problems as well Applejack. I for one agree with the notion we don’t go through the Initiation, and stay the way we are, but insist we help them in some other way, as our normal pony selves.”

“Wow, Fluttershy, you really are a great speaker.” Applejack admitted.

“Well, I don’t like talking to a crowd.”

Pinkie Pie only nodded in agreement, as she coincided to the infinite wisdom of her Pegasus friend.
The huddle broke, and Fluttershy went to Luna, in order to tell their choice.

“Princess, we are sorry, but we will not join The Sisters. We want to help Dash, but in our merits, for what it’s worth. If you want to banish us now for breaking the blood pact, or erase our memory or something worse, then so be it.”

Luna stern look began to frighten everypony in the room, but her expression changed that to a warm smile, and she nodded proudly.

“No, I will do no such thing, Fluttershy. To be honest, if you did break the rules, you would already be either on my old home, or Tartarus.”

“But why banishment, princess? Are you not the one who saved us? Why this form of punishment for the ones you swore to protect?”

“Well, Twilight, I can try and explain. All those years ago, I was but a small alicorn princess, finding my way under my big sisters wing. I felt alone at times, and at times unappreciated. Those feelings didn’t leave until you all saved me from my inner darkness. But after Discord cursed the original ponies, I and Celestia had a stern argument about the faith of those who were infected. Celestia saw the conditions as a threat to other ponies, and our way of life in general. She loves you ponies with all her heart, but that love makes her blind sometimes in seeing the whole picture, like everypony does sometime. She wasn’t that wise as she is today mind you, and she wanted to banish each and every pony with your condition and that of the Changelings. I, on the other hoof, sympathized with your predicament, as we shared that urge to belong, to be loved and to love, even with our misfortune. But, with all my pleading, Celestia was stern in her resolve, and she did began to banish ponies who were infected, starting with those who became changelings. Her first victim was the original infected princess, who we met at the wedding. It is funny, for all her diabolical schemes and desire to take over this kingdom, I can understand her profound hatred for Celestia. As Chryslis and her kind were sent to the border of Equestria, Celestia was planning to do the same thing to the Sisters. That is where I intervened, wanting to right a wrong, and to stick it up to my big sis in the process. The problem was, in order for Celestia to stop banishing you; I had to make her believe she really did. This sort of magic is dangerous, and there is always a price when dealing with blood magic. In order to change a memory of an alicorn, both I and the Sisters had to sacrifice something. You sacrificed your freedom, forced to live in the shadows for as long as it takes. And I had to uphold to this oath, and banish each and everypony who broke the rules, regardless of my opinion and feelings to them. Luckily, the law of blood magic is strict, but fair. What isn’t written in the oath, doesn’t abide to it. That also includes talking about it to ponies that know everything, but are not infected themselves, such as you three.”

“But what did you sacrifice, princess?”

“I, I don’t know. I know I did, but the magic must have taken my recollection about it. Whatever it was, there is still a chasm in my heart because of it. It reminds me to be your protector, every day and night.”

“And we are thankful for it, princess.” Rarity smiled.

“Twilight, there is one more plea I have.”

“What is it princess?”

“I need a place to stay, can I sleep with you?” Luna said with a sheepish grin.

Pinkie Pie began to roll on the floor in laughter, as snickers came from the others.

“I meant in the library.” Luna corrected, as she realized by the red face from Twilight.

“Sure, Spike can prepare the couch for me.”

“No need, I will take the couch.”

“You are an alicorn princess.”

“Not this week, I am on vacation, remember? This week it’s Luna.”

The mares went into their respective homes to prepare for the upcoming quest to save Rainbow Dash from inside the hive. Rarity went to work on some hard battle suits, which combine stylish with survival functionality of course. Applejack began to ration food and other utensils, while Fluttershy was preparing mentally for the trip. Vinyl went back to Octavia, and continued to catch up on what they missed.

Luna, Spike and Twilight had a nice and cozy dinner, and the quiet moment was a welcomed change in light of the recent events.

“Those are some fine potatoes, Spike!”

“Thank you, princess!”

“Luna, dear, no need for fancy titles.”

“Thank you, Luna then?”

“Much better! I hope my presence is not a burden to you two.”

“Oh not at all prin… I mean Luna! I love company and Twilight seemed down in recent times.”

“He is right Luna, it is nice for a change.”

“Well, I am off to bed, do you two need anything?”

“No thanks Spike, we can manage everything from here.”

“Alright, good night then!”

Spike waved and went up the stairs, into the sweet embrace of slumber. After they were sure the little dragon was no longer awake, Twilight and Luna shared a collective sigh.

“The situation is getting worse with each passing day Twilight. I did want to ease you in the training, but outside factors have led me to put the lessons into one big bunch.”

“I am ready Luna, all I want to is to fix this whole mess.”

Luna glanced at Twilight one more time, and as she saw the resolve in her eyes, nodded in approval.

“Okay, your job is to go to sleep, and I will do the same here on the couch. Once you enter the Dreamscape, I will find you and we will delve into the depths of your mind, or at least it’s projection inside the dimension.”

“Wow that sounds really complex and awesome!”

“I’ll be sure to send you some of my notes while I studied the subject once this ordeal is over.”

“I will take your word for it! Pinkie promise?” Twilight said with her tongue sticking out in playful fashion.

Luna’s reaction was that of bewilderment at first, but she smiled soon after. This simple gesture meant all those barricades of her being royalty were now down. They were just two friends, and a tingle went through her body for the first time in ages. Sure, she was over two thousand years older than Twilight, but she was always a bit more loose then her sister, and this relationship was something she always wanted.

“Pinkie promise, I guess. But you will have to explain first what a “Pinkie promise” is!”

After a somewhat long and hilarious story, full of laughing fits from both of the mares, Luna knew what the phrase meant, and reiterated her vow to deliver the scripts to Twilight.

“Alright, I guess I will see you in an hour or so, Luna.”

Twilight left for her room, and Luna levitated a blanket over her backside, and laid her head on the couch pillow.

“Well, this is going to be one wild ride.” she whispered and closed her eyes as well.

Author's Note

We have return, with the answer to the question, "Will they or wont they?" and prepared the scene for a 6k+ chapter of training with Twi and Luna. Hope you guys like the Dreamscape!