What if the way into Equestria has some rules... rules that lead to unforseen consequences?
"To visit Equestria" is a dream of many... But only a few have actually succeeded. Especially if Equestria is really a dream... One from which you might not awaken...
What would you do if by accident you became an immortal alicorn, one that everypony knows and loves?
Would you play along? Or would you change the world as you'd see fit?
If you’re reading this, then that means that either you want to read a good story or you want to go to Equestria. I can’t really help in the first case as this is being written as I experienced these events by myself. If it’s the latter, then I can at least guide you to a better understanding of the so called “Equestria”.
Let’s begin by some quick facts. Equestria is a small town in Southern Africa, but that’s not the Equestria we all strive to visit, right? The second thing I want to establish is that there is no portal in Russia (or any other place in the world). You also don’t need to die or fall into a coma to get there. This raises the most important question of this chapter – how exactly does one get to Equestria?
The answer is pretty simple – dreams. Dreams can be a very powerful experience and the subconscious aspect of the experience of a dream makes it somewhat magical. And you can guess what Equestria is. That’s right; it’s another plane of reality, hidden inside a dream. It’s a pure dream - as such it is filled to the brink with magic. And that’s how you get to Equestria – you synchronize your dream with that magic.
I have tried this many times and only recently I have achieved success, but at a great cost. First, I need you to know me better, to see why I failed, so you can avoid my mistakes and succeed. I’m actually nobody. I am 23 years old and I don’t have a good education, I have no job and I live as a freeloader at my parents’ house. Pretty lame, right?
I have tried to be helpful many times but my lazy nature doesn’t help me. I spend hours and hours in front of my computer, reading stories, watching movies and cartoons, listening to music and playing games. But my laziness made me stop enjoying that too. So I tried escaping into the dream world. My first attempts at it were associated with other shows or games I tried to get into, but I had almost no success – simply because the worlds aren’t stable enough or lack the certain “magic”. Oh, don’t get me wrong – I visited many worlds, but that’s all – I could only visit for mere minutes or hours.
This took some time. And then a friend introduced me to My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. My reaction was pretty similar to everyone – I was skeptical. But then I ended up watching the entire season and then the second season and now, by the time I’m writing this, the third season is running. I started to enjoy the creations of the community – the art and the music. But like everything, even this was tainted by my laziness. So once again, I tried my hand at the dream traveling.
To my surprise, I managed to establish a pretty stable link to the Equestrian plane of reality. But that was still not enough. I saw fuzziness and occasional glimpses of their reality. So I tried another approach. As you probably know, large quantities of magic tend to influence lesser quantities. Equestria is trying to make your magical signature similar to its own. That is why most people end up as equines when arriving there. You need to have a pretty strong signature of your own to stay human.
So I got rid of all my internal magic (it’s quite easy in a dream) and tried to go to Equestria again. I ended up as a pony, but as one of the background ponies, as my observations lead me to believe. That means that I need to have at least a spark of magic to establish myself as a separate entity. I started experimenting with the amounts and at one time I finally succeeded. I was in Equestria.
I “woke up” with a start. I opened up one eye and took a quick peak around. The room was very sharp, unlike any I had “dreamed” before. From what I saw by a quick look around, I was in a circular chamber, probably inside the Canterlot palace, judging by the regal décor. I was lying on a bed, which looked like a giant pillow. The surrounding walls contained many bookshelves filled to the brim with many tomes. There was also a dresser with a large mirror on one wall. Would that mean I’m a female pony? Or is this standard equipment in a palace’s room? I would have to check later. There also were three pairs of double doors. I guessed one was the entrance - one was open and led to what appeared to be a giant bathroom. That proved my assumption of being in the Royal Palace.
I then turned my gaze to the last pair of doors, these ones had framed colored glass on them and probably lead to a balcony. These doors interested me most, I would even go as far as saying they were calling out to me. I quickly tried to rise from the bed and unlike most people assume, it didn’t prove difficult. I guess the dream magic makes it feel natural. Now that I was up, I was planning to look at myself, but the increasing urge to go to the balcony got the better of me. I quickly trotted to the doors and opened them up with magic. Huh, I realized I had a horn and knew how to use it. Even if the experience of magic was known to my borrowed body, it still felt unreal to be touching the door knobs without using actual limbs.
I exited into the dark balcony and breathed in the fresh Equestrian air. My form knew what to do next as I stretched all my six limbs. Six, you ask? Well, I noticed I also have wings. Great, now everybody will rant over me being “overpowered”, why couldn’t I land in a background pony’s body like last time?
My form instinctively rose to its hind legs as my horn flared to life. I suddenly felt a very powerful presence, as the sun rose in the east. It was unlike everything I’ve experienced before during my experiments with Dream magic. It felt… raw, invigorating and I relished its touch. But like with everything, it came to a sudden end.
My form lowered to all fours and I turned around to enter my room. I approached the mirror in order to take a look at myself. What I saw shocked me, although I should have been prepared for this occurrence, if I had properly read the previous clues.
Staring at me from the mirror was the regal form of Princess Celestia. The act of surprise flared my reflections pristine white wings, but the body’s inner nature quickly corrected its posture and erased the expression of shock from its nuzzle, replacing it with a polished smile. The alicorn in the mirror wasn’t wearing any regalia, but the mane was flaring in non-existent wind. I quickly turned around and noticed the golden tiara, torc and shoes on the nightstand. I approached them, weighting each piece of solid gold in my hooves before putting them on.
I hastily turned to check my look in the mirror, but by doing it too fast, I hit one bookshelf with my wing, tipping it over. The bookshelf fell on me and I was quickly covered in books. I guess the noise was loud enough because after the dust settled a pair of Royal Guards, dressed in their typical armor barged in. They quickly examined the room before turning to me.
‘Are you okay, Princess? We heard a noise so we came in.’ – Asked one of them.
My form reflexively knew how to answer as I quickly looked around to make a valid excuse.
‘Yes, my little ponies. There was a rough wind after I raised the sun and it knocked the bookshelf over. Would you be kind enough to ask for a cleaning crew as well as a fixing crew to secure the furniture in here?’ – I quickly replied, using the body’s diplomatic voice.
‘At once, Princess!’ – They replied together as they hastily exited, each going in different direction to finish the task quicker. I guess the staff really is well trained in the palace.
As I thought that, my stomach grumbled, reminding me that it was time for a breakfast. I quickly walked out, relying on my borrowed forms knowledge of the castle. Suddenly, as I was walking down another set of stairs, there was a swirl of green magic and a scroll materialized in front of me. I quickly caught it with my magic and unfurled it.
My dearest teacher,
My continuing studies of pony magic have lead me to discover that we are on the prese thre bri something really bad is about to happen. For you see, the mythical Mare in the Moon is in fact Nightmare Moon, and she is about to return to Equestria, and bring with her eternal night. Something must be done to make sure this horrible prophecy does not come true. I await your quick response.
Your Faithful Student,
Twilight Sparkle.
I instantly realized the implications of this letter. First, I arrived precisely at the day Twilight was supposed to go to Ponyville and two; I could change history. I went over the pros and cons of changing the content of the reply but I came to the conclusion that in order for Twilight to awaken the Elements of Harmony, she needs to have the crazy adventures I already saw.
I summoned a scroll and a quill and quickly wrote the appropriate response and with a burst of green magic from my horn I sent it back to Twilight. I could already see her unbelieving expression as Spike would read the letter to the purple unicorn. With that out of the way, I quickly navigated to the Royal Dining Room. The cooks and waiter ponies were already running around, absorbed in their preparations for this day’s breakfast.
I announced my arrival with a discreet cough and several waiters arrived to my side. I was feeling adventurous so without waiting for them I asked for the usual. They run off to the kitchens to pass the word. While waiting for food I took a look around the Dining Room. Suddenly, while looking at the tapestries, my form saddened. After a second I realized why. The tapestries only contained Celestia’s coat of arms. There was no sign of Luna’s Moon. I quickly changed to my normal expression, internally being glad that the Night Princess would be back tomorrow.
The food arrived and to my surprise there was quite a lot of it. I guess alicorns have an appetite. Or perhaps it’s Celestia that likes to indulge herself in eating. The breakfast consisted of several French toast, smeared with butter, some kind of cereal, alfalfa leaves (yuck) and a nice smelling tea, which my form’s instincts told me was chamomile.
To my surprise that wasn’t all. After a second or so, the waiter ponies arrived with a big piece of a layered cake and with a wink set it on the table. I quickly nodded to them with a smile and switched my attention to the food.
After tasting bits and pieces of everything, and discovering that to my borrowed body alfalfa tasted good, I quickly obliterated the cake. Sated, I arose and thanked the serving crew for an excellent meal, just like usual.
Now, after I finished, my hoofservant arrived, my mind telling me her name, Scrolls. She quickly read me the list of today’s tasks, while we walked to the throne room. The list wasn’t too big as I, or rather Celestia, was scheduled to be preparing for the Summer Sun Celebration. One of the most important tasks, though, was the usual holding of the Royal Court. Normally cases are handled by a separate Court, consisting of highest ranking officials in my court. Sometimes, a case was too complicated or required my voice to be approved. Cases like these ended at Celestia’s Royal Court.
I thanked Scrolls and passed through the giant double doors of the Court, opened to me by two Royal guards, that stood on both sides of the doors, their magic alight. I walked up to the throne and tried to sit comfortably, my form telling me that this was not going to be too interesting.
The scribes quickly called in the first applicants and the court officially begun. I tried to be active but quickly got bored and left my form to do everything instinctively. Time flew by as I pondered what I could and couldn’t do while being Celestia and I was brought back out of the back of my mind by the royal bell, announcing it was dinnertime.
I quickly excused the rest of the applicants, telling them to come back the day after tomorrow, when I open the court again after the Summer Sun Celebration ends. After a hasty dinner, consisting of some soups, salads and even more greenery, I returned back to my chambers.
I decided to have a relaxing bath. What I didn’t expect that the bathrooms in my chambers could easily be called a spa. There was a giant hot tub, filled with what I confirmed as hot water, even if I didn’t see any heating devices. I guess I can attribute it to solar magic. After removing my regalia, I slipped into the tub, looking around carefully. The bathroom, unlike my sleeping chamber, was square and appeared too large to fit in the tower. My form quickly answered me by classifying this as spatial magic.
The room was covered in white tiles, with pure gold etchings, depicting various ponies. On each of the walls, there were colored glass windows, portraying special events. To my surprise, one of them depicted Luna raising her moon. I guessed Celestia didn’t want to get rid of all traces after all.
I began to wonder about Luna. How and why did she change and was there another way for Celestia to handle the situation a thousand years ago? But the heat quickly got to me and I slipped into a peaceful sleep. I awoke, figuratively poked by the Sun, quickly drying myself as I made way to lower the sun and bring out the moon. After switching the celestial bodies, I quickly used my magic to merge myself to the sun, knowing that the next time I awoke, I would finally be seeing Celestia’s beloved sister, Luna.
A few hours have passed. Although merging with a star does make time flow differently. Let me rephrase to faithfully express what I was feeling. A few eons have passed. Eons are an interesting measure of time – one cannot imagine what an eon feels like. Unless one is an alicorn, to which eons can pass like minutes. It feels like seeing a supernova being born, in the alicorns case – giving birth to supernovas.
Alicorns are such a weird race. They seem immortal, unmoving. Sounds like a certain star, which I was fused with. The sun. Seemingly it’s eternal, burning for time immeasurable with the power of billions of celestial spells. But it cannot sustain itself forever. A time may pass when a sun burns out and dies.
Now alicorns, they also seem immortal, eternal. But like a sun, an alicorns heart burns for a long time with the same power a sun does. It also has a limited lifespan, although there is not another being that can see it in perspective.
But there’s another thing that the sun and an alicorn share. A sun can die unnaturally by being sucked up by a black hole. The same can happen with an alicorn. Darkness can be born in one’s heart. The darkness slowly consumes the alicorn, changing it from inside out, twisting its beliefs and reasoning. It has happened before.
Nobody truly knows what it was, which planted the seed of darkness inside of Luna. At first Celestia was skeptical, figuring it to be a hard period in the younger alicorns life. It was a surprise for her, when from her beautiful sister a monster was born, threatening everything that she and Luna stood for.
So Celestia was forced to act. She had to take the precious artifacts. The same artifacts that not a thousand years before, helped to defeat the Discord. And now they were being used to cleanse Luna from the Lunacy. But Celestia overlooked one fact – that her sister was also a bearer of the Elements. Unable to side in the conflict, the Elements did one think they could – they banished Luna to the moon, saving the conflict till proper bearers emerge and breaking Celestia’s heart in the process.
There was a time when Celestia was in doubt and the darkness tried to bloom in her heart. But one thing kept her going through the ages as she watched and protected her ponies – that she might once again be reunited with her sister. I understood all this, as all the feelings and events played in Celestia’s and my mind. And at some point I began to doubt myself – am I a human dreamed himself into Celestia; or am I just a fragment of the alicorn, given free thought to keep company during the lonely millennium.
But I was brought out of my misery by the sun. It rose by itself, freed from Nightmare Moon’s spell. I knew it was time to act. I released myself from the Sun’s hold and traveled as a beam of sunlight to the Everfree Castle’s ruins.
‘Indeed you do’ – I said as the sun rose from the horizon. I manifested myself in my best regal pose. I took in the sight before me as five mares before me bowed and the purple unicorn approached me and nuzzled to my neck.
‘Princess Celestia!’ – She exclaimed and Celestia beamed with pride as she responded – ‘Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student’ and nuzzled her back. ‘I knew you could do it!’
‘But, you told me it was an old pony’s tale!’ – She replied with doubt.
‘I told you to make some friends, nothing more.’ – I corrected her – ‘I saw the signs of Nightmare Moon’s return and I knew it was you who had the magic inside to defeat her. But you could not unleash it until you let true friendship inside your heart. Now if only another will as well’ – I explained while turning to Celestia’s long lost sister.
‘Princess Luna’ – I addressed her, overwhelmed with the positive emotions coming from Celestia. – ‘It has been a thousand years since I have seen you like this. Time to put our differences behind us. We were meant to rule together, little sister.’ – I announced and the mares behind me gasped in shock as they struggled to accept that this was Celestia’s sister. – ‘Will you accept my friendship?’ – I asked.
There was a tense moment as Luna understood the chance and she ran to me, nuzzling to me with tear in her eyes. Celestia’s emotions mixed with mine and tears appeared in my eyes.
‘I’m so sorry! I missed you so much, big sister!’ – She apologized.
‘I missed you too!’
The heartwarming moment didn’t last long. But I would have more time to spend with Luna when we returned to Canterlot. Suddenly the pink mare shouted something about a party and we quickly found ourselves in Ponyville, pulled on the chariot in which I was supposed to arrive, where I watched with pride as Luna was accepted by the town’s ponies.
But I saw that not everypony was overjoyed. My faithful student had doubts about leaving her newfound friends. So I asked Spike to take a note, assigning Twilight to her studies of Friendship and assigning her as the new town librarian.
With that done, we quickly asked the guards to pull us back to Canterlot and we departed with the capital in mind. After arrival, I quickly smuggled Luna to my bedroom, to avoid any staff seeing her.
Once we arrived in my chambers, I ordered the guards to keep everypony out. I turned to look at Luna, comparing her to memories that Celestia has of her. The first thing I noticed after taking a proper look at her, is her size, she is so small, just like she was when she and Celestia played under the watchful gaze of their mother, without a care in the world. Ah, those were the good times.
I was brought out from my reminiscing by a gentle cough, that I could have possibly missed.
'Sister... Your room... It looks exactly like it did in the old palace.' - said Luna gently.
I quickly found Celestia bringing up images to the front of my mind and a reason why it is so.
'Yes... I felt the need to have a... constant. It has been a long thousand years for the both of us.' - I replied as gently as Luna before. - 'Having a reminder of the days before helped me remain sane.'
She hung her head and in a breaking voice muttered 'A thousand years...'
I couldn't take it anymore and quickly gathered her in a desperate hug, trying to relay the feelings of the great love that I felt for the only one that could ever understand me truly, the one that shares my joy and pain as we travel along the same path. But also conveying that I am also ashamed, as I bear the fault as equally as Luna does for that one simple mistake that broke our bond for so long.
'Sister...' - she starts and I look at her, waiting for her acceptance. - 'I am... sorry once again... and I also forgive you. I had a long time to ponder, trapped in my body along with my alter ego. I should have realized that the way I have chosen would not bring our ponies closer to me. In fact it probably pushed them away. Do you think they still remember me? Do they know who guards the night?'
'Sadly, no. I was forced to slowly erase your disappearance and blame it onto Nightmare. But facts became legends, legends became myth and now Nightmare Moon remains as a boogeymare. I plan to reintroduce you to our little ponies and have you come back to ruling alongside me.' - I say.
As I explain it to her, she starts to tremble, so in order to calm her down, I tighten my hug and she slowly relaxes again. Finally, she gathers enough strength to give me a reply.
'I do not think 'tis such a good idea, sister. Perhaps it would be best if we... gave some time to both of us, to get us used to each other. And for me to learn how Equestria has changed... in my... absence' – she explains and I'm forced to agree.
'Very well, let's take this one day at a time, after all, we have all the time in the world for ourselves.' – I reply enthusiastically.
Luna shifts a bit in my embrace and a frown marks her face.
'Sister, I have been meaning to ask for some time, but... even if it has been a thousand years... you should not have changed so much... yet there is something off about your presence...' - she slowly comes out of the embrace and backs off a bit. - 'Sister! Do you have an alter ego within yourself?' - She exclaims.
I sit within the mind of Celestia and realize that if anyone would have detected my presence here, it would have been Luna. Yet Luna's question brings up unease within me. Am I just an ego as I thought? Or am I really an observer from outside? I sense that control shifts and Celestia takes reigns.
'No.' - I hear myself say, through her mouth. - 'It is not an alter ego. It's... something else. But do not fret, Little Lulu, I sense that it has best intentions and I quite enjoyed its company since it arrived the day before yesterday'
I am quite surprised that she knew, but hey, I guess it does seem kind of obvious. Luna on the other hand (hoof?), grasps onto something else.
'Lulu... How long since it has been, since I heard that silly name, Tia?'
