Resent.

It was dark.

It was cold

But mostly dark.

Luna walked through the dreamscape. If it could be called a dreamscape. There were no trees. No mountains. Nothing. Just an endless darkness. If it she wasn't standing on a surface already, she wouldn't know if there was a floor to begin with.

And mist. There was a huge amount of mist.

It was both depressing and creepy.

"Its like if some pony turned off the dream like a candle…" Luna whispered. It was a little disturbing actually. There was no echo, which meant that there were no walls.

She could, however, hear some vague whisperings. They were very soft and very low, but she could recognize them immediately.

"If I can hear my sister and the bearers, then that means that this mind can hear them as well." she thought. "If thats the case, then all I have to do is turn this dream back on. But how?"

Whenever she entered a dream, Luna would use the dreams own rules and setting to her advantage, and help the creature in question. But what could she do when there was nothing at all to be used?

"I need to sit." Luna sat on a dark blue pillow that appeared under her. Altering the dream was safe as long as she kept it to a minimal. She could't help any pony if the subject kept waking up now could she?

"I don't think I have to worry about that though." Luna said. "This could take some time."

She wasn't really worried about taking too long in waking Sweetie Belle. Time in the world dreams transpired at a much faster rate than the real world. The problem wasn't how much it was going to take.

The problem was a how long had she been in this condition.

"A day and half at the most, if Twilight is correct." She tapped her chin. "Not that long, buts its better if we woke her up."

She looked up. Black infinity was all that met her eyes. Something had to be done about that.

"Let there be light." Her horn glowed. A pale spot started forming on the sky. After a few minutes, a large, white full moon was floating right on the sky, bathing the place with its light. Her eyes immediately adjusted to the dark.

Being the princess of the night had its perks.

"Still nothing…" she muttered. The never ending darkness kept going in all directions around. There was no pony on sight. There was nothing on sight.

She really was completely alone.

"This is getting me nowhere. I need a more direct approach." Luna pondered for a few seconds before a literal lit bulb popped above her.

"If altering the dreamscape wakes up the dreamer…" large empty canvas, already placed on a tripod, appeared in front of her. Floating with her magic were a brush and pallet with different colors.

"Good thing I took those art classes."

Meanwhile, out of dream, reality was less humorous. The five bearers were gathered around Sweetie Belle's bed. Rarity was holding her hoof, not taking her eyes away from for a second, desperately looking for any sign of activity.

"Ah don't get it. Why wasn't she all zombie like? Not that Ah'm complaining." Applejack asked.

"Maybe she wanted to rest in peace?" Pinkie joked. Nopony laughed. "Sorry…"

"I have seen this sort of enchantment before." Celestia answered. "But not like this. And never on this scale. But…"

"But what?! Don't leave us in the dark princess!" Pinkie complained. Celestia didn't answer, absorbed in her own thoughts. It took Fluttershy, of all ponies, poking her side to bring her back.

"Lets wait for my sister to finish. I want to hear what she has to say before coming to a conclusion."

"She sure is taking her sweet time." Applejack noted. Rarity tightened her hold on the hoof of her little sister, an action that did not go unnoticed.

"Don't fear dear Rarity." Celestia placed a hoof on her shoulder. "There is no pony better at this than Luna. She will bring back your sister. I promise."

The reassurance wasn't big, but it was enough to make Rarity smile for a few seconds.

Inside the dream, things were going at a much different pace. Literally.

Luna was wiped some sweat from her forehead. Her canvas was now sporting a nice, big blue castle. Not far from her, right on her sight, stood a gargantuan fortress made of lapis lazuli, shinning with the light of the moon. Luna drew a flag on one of the towers of her drawn castle. As in response, the largest tower if the fortress now had a flag. A moon was sewn on it.

"That should do it…" she said proudly. But the landscape didn't change one bit. "Damn."

There was however, a light buzzing. It was very faint, almost impossible to hear, but ti was there. Luna grinned when she heard it. It was working.

"A huge fortress only managed this little buzzing…" she glanced at her painting. "I am going to need a larger canvas."

"Is she alright?" Fluttershy asked, giving Luna a worried look. The princess of the night was sitting on the other side of the bed, facing rarity. Her eyes were closed. A faint glow went from the tip of her horn towards Sweetie Belle's forehead. She occasionally moved, but nothing more than the occasional twitch.

"Don't worry. Luna usually does this while laying down, but can perfectly do it while sitting or even standing."

Sweetie Belle twitched. Rarity was immediately on her, looking for any other reaction, but nothing happened. She looked at the princess in worry and confusion.

"Luna is probably trying to wake her up by interfering with the dream. It won't be long now."

"How long do yah' think?" Applejack asked. Celestia looked at her sister for a few seconds.

"For us, a couple more minutes." She looked at Sweetie Belle. "For them, I'd say a few hours."

"Hours?!" Rarity asked.

"Time goes at a different rate in the world of dreams. I've never truly managed to understand the rate , since if varies from pony to pony. Luna should be able to explain once she's done."

If she could have seen inside the dream, Celestia would have probably thought twice when speaking, for inside the head of little Sweetie Belle was no longer a fortress in the middle of nowhere.

There was a huge valley. On the horizon, a mountain reached as high as the clouds, and at the very top, stood the fortress, now nothing but a shadowy figure on the distance. The sky was now covered in stars, adding to the night light.

On a small hill, Luna was focused on continuing her painting. Trees began sprouting around the hill as she added them to her work. A couple of small lakes flooded certain areas within seconds.

"Maybe another hill here….another one over there…" Luna mused while adding to the painting.

The buzzing was had disappeared. Now, small tremors assaulted the land with increasing frequency. Luna had to steady her tripod lest it send her canvas crashing down.

"Just a little more…" she murmured as she began, slowly but surely, to erase the fog from the canvas. With a few more strokes, the mist was completely removed. Of the old blackness, nothing remained. Only a beautiful night scape.

Suddenly, a powerful earthquake hit the land. For a while Luna was worried something went wrong, but after a few seconds, the shaking stopped. A couple of trees fell, but nothing more. The princess of the night stood still, quiet as a mouse, waiting for any sign of activity.

"Hello?" a young voice called. Luna didn't say anything.

"Is some pony there?" the young voice repeated. Luna decided it was time to intervene. The canvas vanished, along with the brush and the palette. Flying up to the sky, it didn't take her long to spot her target.

A small white dot slowly moved between the trees. Luna dived, carefully landing besides the small filly.

"Hello child." she called. Sweetie Belle turned around in surprise. Luna smiled.

"Uh…hi…" Sweetie Belle said softly.

"No need to be afraid child. I am here to help."

"Oh! Are you going to help me find the gem lilies for my sister?" Sweetie asked cheerfully. Luna blinked a couple of times in confusion.

She didn't remember anything?

"Sure. But before I do, I need to know something." Luna said. "How did you get here?"

"I was…I was…I don't remember. Sorry." Sweetie Belle smiled sheepishly. LUna smiled relieved. Not remembering the origin of the dream was normal. In fact she remembered anything else, then she had problem.

"Thats alright little one. Now we can go find your gem lilies." A door appeared in front of them. "In fact, I think I might help you finish your quest faster."

"Really?! What?! Tell me!" Sweetie jumped in excitement. Luna smiled and opened the door. White light was all that cam from it.

"Right this way."

Tense seconds passed in the real world. Nopony uttered a word. Rarity was getting more and more distressed by the minute, but stayed quiet. She wanted Sweetie Belle to wake up. She wanted to hug her and make sure she was alright

She wanted her sister back.

"Look." Celestia said. Everypony looked at Luna. Her horn stopped glowing, ending the connection between her and Sweetie Belle. After a few seconds, the little filly slowly opened her eyes. Her sight barely managed to clear itself from the blur before she was pulled into a monster hug by Rarity, who was crying and sobbing dramatically.

"Uh…I love you too sis?" Sweetie Belle said, confused and still half asleep.

"Glad thats over…" Applejack yawned. Now that every immediate problem had been solved, their bodies started remembering how tired they were. Even Pinkie, patron saint of energy and cheerfulness, was starting to fall asleep right where she was sitting.

"It would seem that Twilight is not the only one who needs a good sleep." Luna said, opening her eyes.

"No, we just…we just…" Applejack yawned again. Celestia smiled. With a quick spell, everypony was placed on their beds. Seconds was all it took for them to fall asleep. Rarity struggled a bit, but eventually relented.

"What about me? I'm not tired." Sweetie Belle said. Before she could utter another word, she vanished in a flash of golden magic.

"Where did you send her?" Luna asked.

"With Apple Bloom, Applejack's little sister."

With the five bearers fast asleep, Celestia and Luna quietly left the room, closing the curtains and turning off the lights as they left. By now dawn had completely ended.

A beautiful day covered Equestria.

"So, what did you see?" Celestia asked.

"A lot of things. I believe you and I will have a long talk." Luna stopped. "But before all that, could you please explain to me what the devil is going on?"

Meanwhile, far from there, in Fillydelphia, a cart stopped in front of a run down house, hidden between all the large and newer buildings. Spike jumped off, landing neatly on the ground. The cart trembled a little at the sudden loss of weight.

"I don't remember the cart being so close to the ground…" he began thinking, but was interrupted when Diamond Tiara cleared her throat. Spike pulled his arms up, helping the filly descend from their transport.

"What is this place?" Derpy asked.

"Fillidelphia has a surprisingly big number of abandoned houses." Snowdrop said as she jumped off the cart. "The previous owners moved away and simply forgot all about it."

"And we are going to stay here? How crass." Diamond said.

"Be patient little one." Snowdrop walked towards the door. "Its only temporary."

The inside was surprisingly intact. It was dusty, but nothing really bad. The windows were still there, albeit dirty. Spike felt a sudden tinge of nostalgia, seeing all the dust.

"Twilight would have a fit if she saw all this dust…" he said without thinking.

"And she would have you clean it up, wouldn't she?." Snowdrop said. Spike blinked a couple of times.

"Yeah."

Nothing else was said while the three ponies and dragon explored the house. Given the lack of clean windows and inside illumination, darkness was pretty much everywhere.

The house was very simple, having only two floors. The first one was one large room, completely empty, which was connected to what used to be a kitchen. The second floor was a short hallway, with doors leading to three different rooms.

All of them were empty.

"What now?" Spike asked.

"We can't act out during the day. We'll only manage to bring attention to us." Snowdrop said.

"I thought we wanted that?" Derpy said.

"We do, but not yet." Snowdrop answered. "For now we just have to bid our time."

"Doing what? There is nothing except dust." Diamond complained. Snowdrop tapped her chin.

"We are going to need some directions. Tiara, you walk around and study the place around the house. Look for corners and passages." she turned towards Derpy. "You will find what kind of places ponies gather in this city. Try to find one thats close by."

"Okay." Derpy smiled and walked out of the house, soon followed by Diamond Tiara. "We'll be back soon!"

"What about me?" Spike asked. "I wanna help too."

"You?" Snowdrop grinned as she turned towards him. "You and I are going to have a talk."

"What do you mean?"

"Have you ever heard the expression 'big fish in a small lake.'?"

Spike cocked his head in confusion. Snowdrop rolled her eyes, but continued.

"It means when somepony is being held back by its environment."

"I don't understand." Spike said.

"Say, did you grow anything while in Ponyville?" Snowdrop circled around him. "Did you get any bigger? Stronger?"

"Eh…no? At least, not in a permanent way."

"Why?" Snowdrop asked.

"I just…didn't want to hurt any pony by accident."

"Really? Is that you believed?" Snowdrop got closer to him. "Or what Twilight told you?"

Spike frowned. His mind began putting things together. Snowdrop noticed, and kept talking.

"Remember that I saw your memories Spike. You lost control once. And Twilight immediately took action, making sure you wouldn't grow again."

"But why would she do that?" Spike asked.

"Because she feared you." Snowdrop answered. "Thats why she put in all those menial tasks afterwards. So your greed wouldn't greed triggered again, even though she could have helped you control it."

"So she was being paranoid?"

"Yes…but thats one of the differences between Twilight and me." Snowdrop smiled. "I am not paranoid. Or afraid."

"So…."

"So I can help you grow."

"But I don' t wanna be that big again." Spike said.

"And you don't have too. Haven't you noticed how you have been getting a bit heavier? Or taller? Thats because you are no longer restraining yourself. The moment  you don't any more growth, you simply have to stop wanting it."

"And you'll help me?" Spike asked.

"Of course. We are friends after all."

In the mean time, Derpy walked amongst the mares and stallions of the city. Most of them ignored her, though a few of them gave her some passing looks. They were innocent looks, but Derpy couldn't but to feel a little small.

"They probably think I'm some sort of hillbilly with a defect…." she thought bitterly.

The ponies in Ponyville did the same thing, and now they were little more than zombies. Snowdrop assured her that they weren't hurt by it. It didn't make it easier doing it though. Or leaving her daughters in their care.

"They are safer there." she repeated what Snowdrop told her just before they left. Did that mean things were going to get dangerous? Violent even? Were more ponies going to get hurt?

"I hope not." she thought. "At least my girls are safely sleeping. They won't have to see a thing."

The same could not be said from Diamond Tiara. The little filly carefully jumped over a puddle of mud. Her fur was a little stained from the dust of the house and her hooves were getting increasingly dirty with the surrounding area.

"Why do I have to do all this…" she muttered. "Shouldn't I be getting all the attention?"

Her parents never listened to her. Never spoke with her. Never really spent time with her. The whole

Ponyville thing changed that. Ponies listened to her. Spent time with her. If she needed attention, if she wanted affection, she could ask for it. And now here she was, getting her hooves dirty when she could just ask anypony to do it for her.

"Still…Snowdrop was right the first time….She was the one who started all this." she thought.

Blank flanks always got all the attention. Everypony talked about them and how they had limitless possibilities. She had found her cutie mark. Did that mean that she was boring? That she was no longer fit for being included in the group?

"I'll just have to show them then." she grinned.

Meanwhile, up in the sky, the sun continued its path, now approaching the middle of the day.

Snowdrop looked through the stained window as Spike hid the cart besides the house. Looking up, she took a moment to look outside at the sun.  Her confident grin was replaced with a scowl.

"I will show you." she spat. "Tonight I will show you."

Back in the castle, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom played on the gardens. Chasing each other, playing catch. Doing what kids did best.

"Where is Scootaloo?" Sweetie asked as they rested under a shadow.

"Ah don't know. Applejack wouldn't tell me. Ah don't even know whats going on." Apple Bloom answered. "Ah' hope she's alright."

"Of course she is! She's Scootaloo! Rainbow Dash's sister!" Sweetie cheered. "Nothing in the world could take her on."

"Except a bee." Apple Bloom chuckled. "Ah' bet she wouldn't even come close to one."

"Yeah!" Sweetie belle laughed.

The two fillies stayed quiet for a few minutes, enjoying each other's company. On the distance, they could see the balcony of the chambers of the princess. Celestia and Luna were standing there, but they were two far away to be heard.

"What do you think is happening?" Apple Bloom asked.

"I don't know." Sweetie Belle said. "Its got my sister all worried though."

"What happened?"

Sweetie Belle told Apple Bloom about what happened that morning, making no effort to hide how bizarre it had been for her. Apple Bloom laughed a little when she heard how Rarity had nearly crushed her friend in a bear hug.

"I haven't seen her since they teleported me to you. I hope she's alright."

"Of course she is. She's a friend of mah' sister." Apple Bloom said. "Any friend of may' sister is a strong pony."

"You think that something is wrong?" Sweetie Belle asked after a few seconds of silence. "Everypony is acting strange lately."

"Ah don't know." Apple Bloom answered. "But if it were, Ah' wouldn't worry too much about it."

"Why not?"

"Cuz Twilight has something do with it." Apple Bloom smiled. "And she always finds a way to fix things."