The Wanderings of a Mad, Mad, Madmare

by Retribution

Chapter 4

Shock. That was the feeling that flitted through Shattered Nova's head at that moment.

"Wha?!" the lavender mare exclaimed, well... shocked by the design levitated before her.

Confusion. It seemed to follow so quickly.

"B-but that's scientifically impossible! How could this happen?!" she quickly followed the previous statement with.

Intrigue. Such a thing ought not have happened, yet did, clearly, as a quick glance at her flank confirmed.

"The only thing that could do this is a master magician of Celestia or Luna's caliber! How did I break such a fundamental principle?" she continued her tirade.

Fear. It flooded her as cold logic and reason cut in.

"Wait, but if only the princesses could cast it, then how..." Her eyes widened. "Are they following me?!" the insane mare shouted.

Acceptance. Such a thing was like water after a long walk in the desert, and she knew all about that. Plus, reason seemed to have slapped logic upside the figurative face, had a short spat, then decided to work together.

"Celestia Probably thinks I'm dead or still wandering, as should Luna, despite her dreamwalking, so it must have been..." Her eyes now drifted up towards a certain bone-like structure on her own forehead. It looked a little longer than before.

And then she realized that she'd said all this out loud, much to her chagrin.

Cotton Candy placed a hoof on Twi-- no, Shattered Nova's head. "Are you alright, dear? It sounds like the sun got to you." The recipient of the temperature check flinched at the mention of her former mentor's celestial body, and the irony struck her; the sun had indeed gotten to her, but not in the way this disconnected pony thought.

Then came the random sleep sequence that is so often used as a transition.

-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-

Now, this dream wasn't so much of a nightmare as a blank white expanse, cold and harsh, yet bright all the same.

And then there was the rift. It started small at first, but soon it grew to the size of a door, shortly thereafter taking the form of said portal. It was made of a dark indigo wood inlaid with intricate silver patterns. Then it opened, quite dramatically, and through stepped a certain eldritch princess, all decked out in midnight regalia. Said princess seemed quite glad to see her first friend still alive and well, which it did not take her long to voice, and quite loudly, might I add.

"Twilight!" the lunar princess called out. "It has been too long, my friend," she said, embracing the former Twilight Sparkle.

Shattered Nova looked back in surprise at the apparently dream-walking alicorn. "Princess Luna?! What are you doing here? I didn't know you could dream walk!" Then she paused, thinking. "Wait, but if you're here, then what of Princess Celestia? Is she through that door too? Or is another one going to show up with her inside? Perhaps with a bag of-" she was stopped by a hoof in her mouth.

"We already told thee, thou mayst call us Luna, as thou art our friend. Tell us how hast thou been? And didst thou manage survival?" Luna asked, only then removing her hoof from the lavender mare's mouth.

Nova decided to go along with the spontaneous conversation, as the other party appeared to be a bit of a Lunatic as well. "I've been fine, despite being stuck in a desert for the past few days. Also, I found a tiny out of the way village with a water tower, so I assume that they must have given me water at some point, although I don't remember it. And my name's not Twilight, it's Shattered Nova. I got a bit tired of that name and it seemed like it would be better to have a name that matched my mental status."

This caused Luna to take a moment to process what she had just heard. Did Twilight say that she had changed her name? No, that would mean she was insane, and Twilight was definitely NOT... Okay, she was a little insane, but only a little! She wouldn't do something like that... right? There was only one way to know for sure. "Excuse us, didst thou just say that thou changed thy name? We could have sworn-"

Nova was quick to the response. "YES! I've been thinking, and if magic is who Twilight is, but magic will not comply with me, then I cannot be Twilight! There was only one thing to do then: change my name, and thus who I am as well!"

And so Luna decided that this pony was too insane to be of any use, and so fled the dream realm, waking up in a cold sweat in Canterlot, and Twilight slept for a few months, locked away with none but her imagination and the voices in her head for company.

Author's Note:

I've taken far too long on this story, and I apologize for that, but one must realize that this story is only meant to follow my muse, and as such, it will be a bit insane. Nonetheless, I will try to make it make sense. Also, if you have an idea for this story, comment or send me a PM; I might just use it when my muse is slowing up. Still looking for cover art.

Comments

[Trithtale]

Pfff, bloody rulers and trying to use those that they have already hurt, and then when they find out they can't be used anymore, they throw them away.