The Alicorn Matchup, a my little pony fanfic

"Thanks for doing so much for me, Lunar. I honestly don't deserve this kind of treatment from anypony, but here you are, doing something life-changing for me."

Lunar raised his hoof in a politely dismissing way, "Think nothing of it, Astral. I was tasked with sharing my knowledge all throughout Equestria, and I plan on doing so one pony at a time."

With the two ponies spending time together inside the library, they continued their small talk for a little while longer. After teaching Astral the past couple of weeks a lot that he knew about the subject of friendship, Lunar decided that it was best to shift gears briefly and show Astral a few artifacts that interested both of them.

They came across one that Astral pulled to herself quickly, idolizing the interesting colors that it had as well as the designs it had. Lunar noticed the specific artifact and quickly took control of it, dragging it away a bit. Astral cocked an eyebrow, clearly annoyed by the sudden takings. Apologizing, Lunar explained his actions to her.

"This, Astral, is one of the most powerful artifacts in all of ponydom," he said, "and the reason why I took it is because it's one that should have stayed in hiding, all things considered."

"What do you mean?" Astral wondered, shifting her glance from the artifact to Lunar.

Lunar chuckled to himself, bringing the artifact closer to him and inspecting it closely. It had a small alicorn on the top half of its structure and, at the center of it, a ruby encrusted gem. The alicorn was a slate color, housing an evil looking red eye to compliment the highlights on the wings that were on either side of it. In addition to the red tips, the wings themselves were also a darker shade of the same slate color the alicorn head had. The metal around the ruby gleamed impressively and drew the eyes into it as if it had a spell on whoever were to look its way. Placing the artifact down gently, Lunar looked to Astral and explained himself a bit more.

"This is the Alicorn Amulet," Lunar told her, "and, to be honest, this should be in hiding."

"Why's that?" Astral asked, staring at the ruby once more, losing her chain of thought relatively quickly.

"Well," continued Lunar, noticing Twilight walking by the doors to the library, "ah, perfect."

"Huh?" Astral wondered, watching as Lunar called Twilight over.

Looking behind her, Astral noticed Twilight walking into the library, smiling slightly. She greeted her politely and positioned herself to the left, making room for Twilight to sit. Twilight kindly accepted the seat and thanked Astral, watching as Lunar took his seat once more. When they were settled in, Lunar rose the Alicorn Amulet and revealed it to Twilight.

"Twilight," Lunar smirked, "would you like to explain why this is a dangerous object?"

"To be fair," Twilight began, "it should still be in hiding. Where'd it come from?"

"I must have accidentally taken the real thing instead of the replica," admitted Lunar, "honestly, teleporting a lot of this stuff from different locations at the same time was a bit more tolling than I had originally anticipated. The Storm King's staff, the Inspiration Manifestation spell book, even Prismia's Necklace. A lot of this took a while to bring here."

Twilight cocked an eyebrow and looked at the objects some more, setting her sights on the amulet, "I can see why. It did take some kind of magic and concentration when I did it myself, so I understand. Still, I thought I hid the actual Alicorn Amulet better than this."

"Maybe I know you a bit better than you think," smirked Lunar, winking at Twilight.

Astral rolled her eyes playfully, giggling to herself as well, "Still, why is this particular artifact dangerous?"

"Well," Twilight replied, taking control of the amulet, "this particular item, when in use, can amplify the user's magic seemingly exponentially."

Astral tilted her head slightly, looking between the Alicorn Amulet and Twilight, "That's not necessarily a bad thing, right?"

"Enhanced magical abilities would be a great thing to have," Lunar admitted, looking to Twilight in the process.

"However," continued Twilight, "this particular item slowly corrupts the user the more they use it." She brought the Alicorn Amulet closer to her and explained further. "This amulet makes the user on par, strength wise, to those who are the greatest unicorn spell casters Equestria has seen."

"Like Star Swirl the Bearded?" Astral wondered.

Twilight nodded, "And, when worn by a unicorn, their eyes glow a crimson color and their magic aura gains the same red glow. When its power is needed, the Alicorn Amulet glows red as well. From what we've come to learn about this amulet, it seems to gradually smother the goodness and wellbeing that is within a pony's heart. Conversely, it amplifies the evil intentions that they may have. Taking it off is the only way to reverse the effects felt."

"And that's the other issue," added Lunar, "the Alicorn Amulet has a magic lock on it."

"What does that mean?" Astral asked.

"That means that only the user has the power to take it off," answered Lunar, "and, seeing how incredible power is offered to whosoever should use it, getting them to take it off is immensely difficult."

Astral began to idolize the benefits that the Alicorn Amulet offered and, trying to make it less clear and obvious to Twilight and Lunar, tried to steer the conversations elsewhere, while still in regards to the amulet. She stared briefly at it, then towards the two alicorns next to her.

"So what would happen if, say, a Pegasus or an Earth pony were to wear it?" She asked innocently.

Lunar rubbed his chin slightly, looking towards the Amulet briefly, "I, uhh, I actually don't know. I don't think there would be much use for either of them to use an artifact like this. What do you think, Twily?"

Twilight conjured for a moment, looking at the Amulet intensely, "I'm not certain myself. I have to imagine that, for an Earth pony, they would be granted enhanced strength from the Amulet and Pegasi would be granted an increased ability of flight? I wouldn't see either of them using it like a unicorn or an alicorn would."

Astral cocked an eyebrow, pushing forward with her growing interest in the Amulet, "What would an alicorn be like with that on them?"

Lunar chuckled, "An alicorn wearing the Alicorn Amulet? Knowing Twilight, she'd be completely unstoppable if she had that around her neck, wouldn't you, Twily?"

Twilight rolled her eyes playfully, going with Lunar's joking, "I already am unstoppable, to you at least. I always win against you."

"Play me in Buckball, Twilight," smirked Lunar, "I bet you all my bits that I beat you in that."

"It's impolite to beat a lady, you know," Twilight winked, giggling softly in the process.

Lunar chuckled and winked back playfully, "Somepony scared of losing?"

"Are you talking to a mirror?" Twilight laughed.

Astral rolled her eyes amusingly and turned her attention back towards the Alicorn Amulet, growing more hypnotized by the red glow in the eyes of the alicorn. She tried to come up with a way to test out the strength the item had on her own, but couldn't follow a chain of thought while staring at it. Eventually, Lunar and Twilight noticed this and called out to her. Shaking her head briefly, Astral snapped back into focus.

"Wh-what was that?" She asked cautiously.

"What are you looking at?" Lunar repeated, noticing where she was looking.

"It just looks so pretty," she said aloud, hoping that she didn't.

"Perhaps," continued Lunar, cocking an eyebrow and moving the Amulet off the table, "but it's best to forget about it. Like Twilight and I said: it's a dangerous object and should be kept in hiding."

Teleporting it into his room, Lunar looked to the clock and nodded. Twilight looked as well and widened her eyes slightly, surprised by the time.

"I didn't think it had gotten that late," she admitted.

"Me either," added Astral, pretending to yawn while looking to Lunar, "I think I'm going to call it a night, Lunar."

"Same here, Luny," smirked Twilight, lifting herself from her chair, "I'll see you later, okay?"

"See your pretty face in your pretty little dream, Princess," Lunar chuckled, watching as Twilight proceeded out of the library and to her room. He blew a kiss to Twilight, who playfully caught it.

"Goodnight, Lunar," Astral smiled, "I'll see you in the morning."

"Sleep tight, Astral," Lunar replied, "and don't let the parasprites bite."

Leaving the library, Astral began plotting a plan to find the Alicorn Amulet. She wanted to see just how powerful it truly was.

Inside the Dream Realm, Lunar found that his dream-walking duties were of little noteworthiness tonight. Everywhere he looked, all the dream bubbles featured ponies having dreams of all kinds, which ranged from adventurous ones to happy ones. With Princess Luna taking a much needed break for the next few nights, Lunar was left by himself and decided to check in on his friends next.

"Let's see who's dreaming of what," he smirked, gliding towards one of the dream bubbles.

Noticing that the dream belonged to Rainbow Dash, Lunar decided to enter into it and mess with her just a bit. Once he was inside, Lunar noticed that she was dreaming of an incredible race that was between her, Spitfire, and Applejack. Looking down at the race in an invisible ghost-type body, Lunar watched as each of the three ponies gave it their all in the race. In typical Rainbow Dash fashion, she dreamt that she was winning and leaving Spitfire and Applejack in the dust.

Let's turn up the dial, thought Lunar, changing his form and his body so that he wouldn't be as noticeable.

Waiting at the finish line, Lunar smirked and redesigned the end result of the next race that Rainbow Dash would partake in. As if it were on cue, Rainbow Dash bolted through the finish line and saw how cocky she was acting upon finishing in first.

"Aww yeah!" Rainbow Dash cried happily. She turned back and saw Spitfire and Applejack crossing the finish line together. "That makes four!"

"Best outta nine, Dash," Applejack sighed, collecting her breath for a moment.

"I gotta say," added Spitfire, stretching her wings, "the Bolts are lucky to have an awesome Pegasus like you in them. We oughta make you the lead Bolt."

"That's what I've been telling you since I joined," Rainbow Dash responded, chuckling in the process, "I am way too awesome to be beat by anypony."

Lunar smirked and approached Rainbow Dash in his disguised form. Tapping her on the back gently, Lunar prepared himself to challenge her. Turning around, Rainbow Dash cocked an eyebrow and wondered who the new face was.

"Uh, can I help you?" She asked.

"I see that you're a pretty fast pony," Lunar replied, slyly smiling at Dash in the process.

"Obviously," Rainbow Dash said, flying around quickly in a circle to show off her speed, "what gave that away? Was it my awesome speed?"

"Perhaps," nodded Lunar, "but I was wondering if you've ever lost a race."

"Not in a long time, friend," answered Rainbow Dash.

"I challenge you to a race then to determine who the faster pony is," Lunar spoke, "I bet you that I can beat you, hooves down."

"You?" Rainbow Dash scoffed. "I doubt that. I'm way too awesome to lose to somepony like you."

"So what do you have to lose?" Lunar retorted. "If you're so sure of winning, show me."

"You're on!" Rainbow Dash accepted.

Smirking some more, Lunar chuckled, then prepared himself to "race" Rainbow Dash, setting up everything with her.

We'll see who's fast, Dashie, thought Lunar, using his magic to turn the odds in his favor in the dream.

"I win again!" Lunar chuckled, walking backwards over the finish line, eyeing Rainbow Dash the entire way.

Panting and trying to collect her breath, Rainbow Dash groaned and slammed her hoof on the ground in disgust. Lunar chuckled, flapping his wings and crossing his hooves amusingly. All that seemed to do was make Rainbow Dash angrier.

"Th-that's impossible!" Rainbow Dash claimed. "There's no way that you could be faster than me. I'm the fastest pony in Equestria!"

"In Equestria?" Lunar repeated. "Maybe, buuut…" He used his magic to change back into his original form, slyly smirking at Rainbow Dash before continuing. "As long as you're sleeping, you'll always be something else inside the Dream Realm."

"Ugh," cried Rainbow Dash, "Lunar?!"

"The one and only," chuckled Lunar, using his magic to walk up an invisible set of stairs and outside of the dream.

Rainbow Dash flew upwards towards Lunar, "I'll get you for this, Lunar! I promise you that!"

"Keep telling yourself that, Dash!" Lunar replied, exiting Rainbow Dash's dream, reentering into the Dream Realm.

After having some fun with Rainbow Dash's dream, Lunar tried looking for the dreams of his friends. Specifically, he wanted to see what Twilight was dreaming about. Finding it without much trouble, Lunar turned himself invisible and proceeded to enter into the dream.

I'm here, Twily, thought Lunar, let's see what's in store tonight.

Back in the waking world, Astral was having difficulty getting to sleep that night. She couldn't stop thinking about what kind of fun she could have with the Alicorn Amulet at her disposal. Since she was still awake, she was mapping out a few more constellations on a map that she'd been working on since her first day arriving in Ponyville.

"I just don't understand it," she said to nobody in particular, jotting down a series of patterns on the map, "why would they show it to me if they didn't want anypony to use it? That's reverse psychology. It almost never works out in the way ponies hope for."

Sighing some more, Astral continued her cartography, realizing something in the process. Slowing down gradually, she came to the realization that now would probably be her best chance to find the Alicorn Amulet and give it a try while Lunar, Twilight, and Starlight were all fast asleep.

Placing her quill gently on the desk in front of her, Astral wrapped up her map and used her magic to cast a spell of silence on her body, making it so that her hooves wouldn't clack against the ground this late at night. With a determined look on her face, Astral began to exit her room and search the castle for the Alicorn Amulet, starting with Lunar's personal room.

I'll find it, she thought to herself, I just know it.

Inside Twilight's dream, Lunar was having a fun time. Twilight was dreaming about a perfect version of Equestria and that her royal duties were complete for the month, allowing her and a dream version of Lunar to spend as much time as they wanted with each other.

Watching for a little while, Lunar enjoyed the sights of the Twilight cuddling by the dream version of himself. The two ponies were enjoying a nice, quiet picnic by themselves under a tall redwood tree in the middle of the park. Chowing down on a couple of hay-and-daffodil sandwiches, Lunar decided that it was time to overshadow the dream version of himself and really spend some time together with Twilight. It had been a bit of time since it was just him and her – royal duties for the two of them mainly getting in the way, despite them doing each task together – and all Lunar wanted to do was get as close to Twilight as possible. All he has been thinking about doing with Twilight lately was starting a family with her, but he wasn't feeling quite certain if Twilight had felt the same way, so he decided to take the safer ground and not mention anything about it to her yet.

Overshadowing his dream counterpart, Lunar smiled and turned to Twilight, lightly booping her on the tip of her muzzle playfully. Giggling sweetly, Twilight turned to Lunar, placing her sandwich down on a small plate in front of her, wiping her mouth clean politely. Turning her head, Twilight began fluttering her eyes at Lunar, welcoming him at once.

"What took you so long, big guy?" She winked, nuzzling him softly. "I was starting to think you'd never show yourself."

"You know I'd never do that to such a lovely, adorable, cute princess like yourself," smirked Lunar, "besides, I had to check up on any nightmares, you know that."

"So I take it that the nightmares were at a minimum tonight?" Twilight wondered.

Lunar shrugged, "Nonexistent would be a more accurate word. It's strange…"

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked.

"I can't recall the last time the Dream Realm has been uneventful in an evening," replied Lunar, "especially since I'm the only pony performing that duty tonight."

"It sure was nice of Princess Celestia to grant Princess Luna some much needed time off," Twilight said, "she deserved it very much."

"You're telling me," agreed Lunar, rubbing Twilight's back softly with one of his wings, "I can't recall the last time she had a few days off. Hopefully she treated herself to a spa day like you suggested."

"Same here," Twilight responded, "those spa ponies really know how to take away the stress of being a royal pony."

Lunar chuckled, rubbing Twilight's back softly some more, "Oh please, Twily. All you have to worry about is smiling and waving. I got so much more to worry about than you do."

"Name one thing," challenged Twilight, smirking slyly at him.

Lunar placed a hoof on his chin and jokingly scratched it, "Hmm…one thing, huh? I dunno, that's really hard to do, Twily. It's almost like making sure your happiness isn't my ultimate goal or anything."

"That's an obvious one, big guy," giggled Twilight, kissing Lunar playfully on his cheek, "and it's not like I'm trying to do the same thing or anything myself."

"I know, sweetie," Lunar replied, kissing Twilight back on her lips softly, "and you do an amazing job at it."

"Lunar," Twilight said, "can I ask you something?"

"What's up, buttercup?" Lunar responded, chuckling slightly at his question.

"Earlier tonight with Astral," continued Twilight, "did you think something was off with her?"

Lunar cocked an eyebrow, "Off in what way?"

Twilight shrugged a bit, "When you showed her the Alicorn Amulet, didn't it seem weird how that was all she set her focus on afterwards?"

Lunar rubbed his chin lightly, "I didn't really notice it until you brought it up. Was something really that off about it?"

"I may be overthinking it entirely," admitted Twilight, "probably since my only history with it was Trixie's magic duel."

"I'm sure Astral wouldn't do anything similar like that," Lunar reassured, "besides, it's kept in a secret place that not even you could find."

"Is the small crawl space behind your bed really that good of a hiding spot, Luny?" Twilight laughed.

"It's locked up, you know," Lunar retorted, "unseen by ponies, untraceable by even Spike when cleaning the castle, and locked up if in the unlikely event it is seen by anypony. There's nothing to worry about, Twiggles."

Twilight giggled once again and cocked an eyebrow, "Twiggles? Where'd that name come from, Lunar?"

"Eh," smirked Lunar, "hard to say, but doesn't it sound cute?"

"About as cute as you are, umm…" Twilight had a hard time coming up with a different nickname for Lunar. She thought about saying 'Night Light,' but felt that it was weird to say call Lunar by her father's name.

Lunar noticed Twilight having a hard time and rubbed her back softly again, "Can't come up with anything other than 'Luny,' Twily, can you?"

"It's hard when your first name can't really be shortened to anything else," Twilight replied, "and your last name matches my father's name."

"Yeah, imagine that," Lunar slyly smiled, "calling your coltfriend 'Night Light.' That wouldn't be weird at all or anything!"

Twilight rolled her eyes playfully, "Hush, you."

Lunar kissed Twilight softly on her lips and pulled away, "Make me, Princess."

Twilight closed her eyes halfway and kissed Lunar back on his lips, "Is that a challenge?"

"Maybe it is," Lunar said, exchanging another kiss with Twilight, "maybe it isn't. You'll just have to find out."

"I'll be willing to take that challenge," smirked Twilight, exchanging more kisses with Lunar.

Back in the waking world, Astral was sneaking around the castle as quietly as she possibly could. The spell she casted earlier helped suppress the sound, which impressed even herself. Going up the stairs to the fourth floor, Astral began to search the next room she came across. Opening the door slowly, Astral peered inside and made sure that the room was empty.

"Coast is clear," she whispered, turning on the lights to the room.

Looking around the room, Astral noticed that things were mostly empty. The room appeared to be a standard, guest bedroom that Twilight and Lunar would offer to one of their friends. Cocking an eyebrow, Astral began wondering if she should even search the entirety of the room, considering that it looked like a normal room with nothing out of the ordinary.

"Probably not worth it right now," she told herself, "if I can't find it, then later on."

Turning off the lights, Astral closed the door and restarted her search on the floor. She went from room to room, looking for the Alicorn Amulet that Lunar and Twilight showed her earlier, wondering where they could have put it.

"If I were an artifact," Astral said aloud, "where would I be hidden?"

She continued trying to answer that question as she searched each room on the floor, making sure that everything was put back in its original place when she was finished in each room. Coming to the third-to-last room on the floor, Astral opened the door and nearly yelped when she saw Lunar standing in the middle of the dark room. She took a closer look at the prince and noticed that he was deep inside the Dream Realm using his magic.

Taking a deep breath, Astral finally understood how Lunar was able to perform his duties, "It looks very creepy, but it's nice to see just how he does it. I…I wonder if he can hear me in his current state."

Deciding not to further jeopardize her mission, Astral silently searched Lunar's room up and down, hoping that Lunar would not wake up and return to the waking world. Glancing everywhere in the room, Astral wondered if Lunar would be dumb enough to actually hide a powerful artifact in the comforts of his second room in the castle. Lighting up her horn a little bit more, she noticed a small crease in the corner of the room and, glancing back towards Lunar every now and then to make sure he was still out of it.

"Let's see what's back there," she said softly.

Tugging a little bit at the wall, Astral found a small compartment and noticed something that was being hidden inside of it. Looking back at Lunar one more time briefly to determine if the coast was clear, Astral pulled out the small box and levitated it open in front of her.

"Oh," she giggled, "this is too perfect."

"So, big guy," Twilight smirked, "what other dreams have you been in tonight?"

Lunar chuckled, "You know I can't talk about that, Twily."

"I know," Twilight replied, playfully poking Lunar's cheek, "but there's nothing that says that you can't show them to me, you know."

Lunar rolled his eyes playfully, glancing towards Twilight with loving eyes, "Let me guess, sweet pea: you are gonna keep pressing me until I show you one of our friends' dreams, aren't you?"

Twilight giggled, "It's like you know me so well."

"You know how much trouble that could get me in, Twily?" Lunar smirked, nuzzling Twilight lovingly. "I know Princess Luna would probably be wondering what I would be doing on my own for an extended time while she's taking her break, and I definitely know that she would be super mad if I just brought an outsider into another pony's dream."

"Didn't she bring another pony into Starlight's dream once before?" Twilight replied.

Lunar chuckled, then rubbed Twilight's back with his wing softly, "Technically, that was Princess Celestia bringing in Princess Luna to her dream, at least that's what she told me in our free time in the Dream Realm."

"Still," continued Twilight, "they brought somepony else into a different dream. Why can't you show me a different dream?"

Lunar sighed slightly, then nuzzled Twilight slightly, "Alright, but if we get caught, you're gonna have to be the one who does all the explaining, okay?"

"Deal, Luny," Twilight agreed, kissing Lunar's cheek softly and holding onto him closely.

"Alright, Twily," smiled Lunar, tapping Twilight's horn with his own, "get yourself ready, okay?"

"As you say, Luny," Twilight replied, closing her eyes.

Using his magic, Lunar prepared to take Twilight into one of their friends' dreams.

Returning to her room with the box, Astral closed her door quickly and placed the box upon her bed. She felt giddy and anxious at the same time and wondered again why such an item would be kept in secret. Consumed with the desire to know what the amulet could truly do to her, Astral opened up the box and took it out, inspecting it closely with her hooves. She locked her eyes on the gems that were gleaming in the moonlight shining through the window and admired how pretty it looked.

"What harm will one little wear do, huh?" She wondered, deciding to place the amulet around her neck.

She used her magic and wrapped the chain around her neck, locking it into place. Jumping slightly, she nearly yelped, trying her hardest to keep herself from making a peep.

That was close, she thought, looking down at the amulet, then up towards the mirror she had in her room. She approached the mirror and stared at herself in it, smirking happily. It looks so cool…why keep this to themselves? I don't think this thing could really make a pony evil. That sounds preposterous.

Feeling a sharp pain shoot into her head, Astral rubbed the top of it lightly, trying to ease the pain a bit. The pain got to a point where she had to lie down on top of her bed for a while, hoping that it would eventually cease. Groaning a bit, Astral tried opening the windows with her magic, but it was no good; she couldn't concentrate well enough to do such a thing.

Seeing a bright red light flash suddenly, Astral began wondering if maybe Lunar and Twilight were right after all.

"Oh, come on! This is ridiculous!"

"Maybe I just got lucky, Rainbow," Twilight giggled, looking back to see the distraught Pegasus approaching.

"Y'all are somethin' else today, ain'cha?" Applejack asked, cocking an eyebrow in suspicion. She was catching her breath, befuddled as to what just happened, "Ah mean, no offence, Twi, but'cha ain' the sporty type."

"Like I said," repeated Twilight, "maybe I just got lucky is all."

Lunar flew down next to the three ponies and smirked, "Perhaps, Twily, or perhaps you really are one heck of a pony. If I remember correctly, you did beat them in one of the Running of the Leaves contests before, right?"

"That's only cause Rainbow an' I were too busy tryin' to beat each other!" Applejack protested.

"That reminds me of an old saying," Lunar chuckled, "Winning is winning, whether it's by a hoof or by a mile."

"Bet'cha that won't happen again, Twilight," Rainbow Dash challenged.

Twilight looked to Lunar and simply giggled, "Alright, Rainbow Dash, but don't say I didn't warn you."

"Shall I teleport to the other side of the field then?" Lunar wondered, winking at Twilight.

"I'll be sure to meet you there first, Luny," Twilight answered.

"On your marks," Lunar replied, "get set…Go!"

Teleporting away, Lunar readied himself to see Twilight first, rigging the race inside Rainbow Dash's dream again, I wonder who'll be the first to realize what's happening.

Watching Twilight speed by Rainbow Dash and Applejack, Lunar congratulated his marefriend with a light kiss upon her muzzle. Twilight blushed buoyantly, then turned around to see Rainbow Dash and Applejack struggle towards the finish line. Panting, Rainbow called out Twilight for beating her and Applejack again.

"Something isn't right here!" She yelled.

"Face it, Rainbow," Twilight smirked, "I've gotten faster than you."

"Maybe it's the weights that are attached to your wings," Lunar thought, pointing to some heavy looking weights being added to the tips of Rainbow's wings.

"I knew there had to be a reason why I was going so slow!" Rainbow Dash stated, taking the weights off without once wondering how they got there in the first place. "Now I'll totally leave you in the dust!"

"Only one way to find out!" Applejack added, turning around.

"Ready?" Twilight asked, preparing herself again.

"Go!"

When the pain finally subsided, Astral rose from her bed and went back over to the mirror. She wondered why the pain was so sudden and wondered if the amulet had anything to do with it. Looking down at it once more, she thought about removing it, but questioned if that would be beneficial.

Why would this have anything to do with that pain? She thought to herself. An amulet that could do that? Unlikely…

Using her magic to open the window slightly, Astral took notice of the different aura color. Normally, her usual aura was a purple color that closely matched the color of her beanie. She became astonished as to the difference in color now and wondered if the amulet was responsible. Looking down towards the amulet, she spotted the ominous red glow that it had in accordance with her using her magic. Smirking, Astral tried casting a different spell, one that she's always wanted to try, but was never strong enough to perform.

"How about a little bit of Similo Duplexus," she smirked, remembering how Starlight would cast the spell, "with a little hint of Accelero, I believe she said."

Astral casted the combination spell and saw an exact copy of herself standing next to her, Alicorn Amulet included. Astral beamed delightfully, then reverted the spell, bringing her second copy back to herself, fusing together. The amulet shone red some more and caught Astral's eye once again.

"This amulet is incredible!" She exclaimed, eyeing the mirror briefly.

As if it were answering her back, the amulet's eye glowed brightly again, maintaining the glow for quite some time. Astral felt happy and empowered, knowing that she could now cast a rather complex spell easily. Noticing the time, Astral felt that it was best if she got a little bit of sleep. She felt that it wouldn't be too wise if she spent the entire night awake, feeling that Lunar would probably wonder what happened during the night. Hiding the amulet under a nightgown, Astral levitated herself into her bed, shut the light off, and started to drift off into sleep, smiling happily and eagerly awaiting for morning to come.

I can't wait to perform complicated spells tomorrow, she thought, yawning a bit while closing her eyes.

"Alright, c'mon Twily, I gotta get you back to your own dream now, okay?"

"Aww, Luny, can't we have a little more fun in one of our other friends' dreams?"

Lunar smirked, "Let's check the time back in the Dream Realm's void before I answer that, okay?"

"Oh, alright," answered Twilight, trying to make it sound sad.

Lunar rolled his eyes playfully, then encased Twilight and himself in his magic, stepping out of Rainbow Dash's dream and back inside the Dream Realm. Looking slightly to the right, he focused his vision on the position of the moon, noticing how high it still was. Helping Twilight out of the dream bubble, Lunar smiled and cocked an eyebrow.

"You okay, Luny?" Twilight asked playfully.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied, "just surprised, really."

"Oh?" Twilight wondered. "Surprised about what?"

Lunar motioned towards the moon's position, "How slow time has passed tonight so far. I've stepped hoof in three dreams tonight so far and spent quite a bit of time in each of them, but to know that I still have this much time left before either of us wake up? That's something else."

"I guess so, Lunar," Twilight condoled, scratching her neck softly.

"You have no idea as to how much time Princess Luna or I really spend in here, don't you?" Lunar chuckled.

"Well," said Twilight, "if I had to take a guess, it would be a lot."

"Good guess," laughed Lunar, nuzzling Twilight with his muzzle softly.

"I try," replied Twilight, looking around at the enormous amount of dream bubbles there were.

"I'd love to mess around with Starlight's dream," admitted Lunar, looking to Twilight slowly, "buuut, I don't think that would be the best of decisions."

"What makes you say that?" Twilight wondered.

Lunar pointed towards Starlight's dream bubble, "I don't think that would be wise."

Twilight spotted the bubble as well and noticed Starlight's dream. From what she could see, Starlight was reminiscing about a moment in time during her fillyhood, playing with her parents back in her old home town of Sire's Hollow. She nodded, understanding what Lunar meant and agreeing with him that it would be best to not intrude. Wondering who else would be a good fit to check in on, Lunar kept looking through each of their friends' dreams.

"Pinkie dreaming about a giant cake," Twilight said, "typical Pinkie Pie."

"She has a different form of pastry nearly every night," explained Lunar, pointing to a different bubble, "And there's Applejack dreaming about her parents."

"Probably not best to intrude there either," suggested Twilight, looking elsewhere.

"There's Rarity's dream, a huge fashion show with her as the main attraction," Lunar smirked.

"Sounds about right," giggled Twilight, spotting Fluttershy's dream, "are those critters larger than Fluttershy?"

Lunar nodded, "Fluttershy often dreams about being similar in size with them and experiencing what they do. I don't bring it up with her since I feel she would be embarrassed to know that Luna and myself have both seen it."

"Probably best not to," agreed Twilight.

Lunar scratched his chin lightly, "Hmm, that's odd…it should be here."

"What should?" Twilight asked.

"Astral's dream," Lunar answered, "ever since her nightmare, I moved her up after our friends, that way the wait wouldn't be long for her if she needed help in the Dream Realm again, but she's not here."

"Maybe she woke up feeling startled from something she saw in her dream," Twilight suggested.

"Maybe," considered Lunar, "but I'd doubt it."

"Why's that?"

"I would've felt something in my horn had that happened," Lunar said, "anytime anypony has a nightmare or wakes up like that, Luna and myself are notified of it. It isn't much and doesn't happen as often as you think it might, but it still does happen."

"You didn't get anything like that?" Twilight questioned.

Lunar shook his head, "No, and even if she didn't have a dream and was stuck in a void, we would know that as well since we are the ponies that come out of the void to talk to other ponies while they sleep."

"Odd," Twilight admitted, "but it sounds like the Dream Realm is a lot more complicated than we previously thought."

"You've no idea, Twily," smiled Lunar, wrapping a wing around Twilight's back playfully.

The two floated in the Dream Realm for a little while longer before making their way towards another dream. In the meantime however, Lunar began wondering why Astral's dream wasn't seen yet.

I wonder if something happened, he thought to himself.

The next morning, when Lunar woke up, he stepped down from his floating bubble and ceased the use of his magic, opening his eyes slowly. He adjusted his sights to the bright light that the sun provided and then approached the window slowly, opening it up and taking in the cool, crisp autumn air in Ponyville. Lunar looked down at the ponies in the streets, going about each of their mornings in their own way. He smiled at the sight, knowing that many of the ponies were simply enjoying the calm serenity that the weather provided.

The weather patrol really outdid themselves this morning, he thought to himself, hopefully this string of weather continues throughout the day.

Turning around and retreating back, Lunar decided to meet Twilight for their morning breakfast. He first checked the room they shared to see if she was still asleep, but found that she was not there. Nodding to himself, he figured that Twilight got an early start to the day and went downstairs to find her.

Figures she would be up and about this early, Lunar told himself, that pony really enjoys her mornings though.

Finally reaching the main foyer, Lunar saw Starlight and smiled at her politely, conversing with her as he was approaching. Starlight turned and waved at Lunar, returning his morning greeting with one of her own.

"Good morning, Lunar," she beamed delightfully, "how was your night?"

"It was well," replied Lunar, "nothing too drastic to report last night. Did you have a good dream?"

Starlight blushed slightly, "Uh, y-yeah, I did."

"That's good," exclaimed Lunar, "it seemed like you were having a lot of fun in there."

"I was," nodded Starlight, "thanks for not intruding, Lunar."

Lunar waved his hoof in front of Starlight and smiled, "Think nothing of it, Starlight. We were planning on it, but when I saw a quick glimpse of it, I decided against it. Dreaming about past memories is nice, and they shouldn't be meddled with at all." Lunar looked up briefly and closed his eyes, thinking back to the time spent with his mother and father as a young colt. "I sometimes wish I could have a similar dream myself, but it may hardly ever come because of my duties with Princess Luna."

"Maybe you should bring that up with her," Starlight suggested, "she might be able to share something similar with that."

"Perhaps," considered Lunar, "it has been far too long since she's seen her parents. Maybe I will, when she gets back, that is."

"When is that?" Starlight wondered.

"Not for another week or so," answered Lunar, "she really needed the time off. I don't blame her."

"Is it really that tiresome?" Starlight asked aloud, thinking that she hadn't.

Lunar nodded, "Well, yeah. While we are physically asleep in the waking world, we're working through the night in the Dream Realm, using our magic to help any and all ponies that experience nightmares. Depending on the day, it can get pretty daunting."

"I'd love to try that myself one night," thought Starlight, again thinking that she hadn't said that aloud.

"That's a conversation you'd need to have with Princess Luna then," chuckled Lunar.

Starlight rolled her eyes playfully, "And why not you? You're a royal pony too, you know."

"Maybe so," said Lunar, "but remember, my duties are to assist Princess Luna in the Dream Realm, plus whatever tasks Twilight and myself get assigned to us, so I can't just bring other ponies all willy-nilly into the Dream Realm to experience what Luna and myself do each night."

"Fair enough," smirked Starlight, looking at the clock, "Oh, I hadn't realized what time it was."

Lunar looked back to the clock and chuckled again, "Late again, aren't we?"

"Shall we make our way to the diner then?" Starlight asked, motioning to the door.

"Best to not keep the princess waiting," joked Lunar.

Side by side, the two ponies proceeded out of the castle's front doors and started making their way towards the Ponyville diner. Twilight mentioned previously how a morning breakfast at the diner would be nice and so Starlight and Lunar decided that today should be that day, telling their friends about it in the process.

"Why not go with her?" Starlight said, striking up conversation again.

"Well," replied Lunar, "the duties I have take me to a time where Twilight is already awake. She's such a morning bird, I wouldn't be surprised if she were a bird in a previous life."

"Yeah," agreed Starlight, "she really loves her mornings. I don't think I've met a pony more active in the mornings than her."

"Maybe Princess Celestia," thought Lunar, "but that might even be stretching it a bit."

"Possibly," giggled Starlight.

Silence fell for a few moments while the two continued walking towards the diner. Lunar smiled and admired the weather a bit more. The air was just crisp enough where a small jacket wasn't needed, and the sun was in a perfect spot to cast shadows across the streets. To the untrained eye, the sights looked as if it were a picture on a postcard, complete with a few orange- and red-colored leaves gently falling from the branches of nearby trees. Lunar found that, while living here in Ponyville, autumn quickly grew to be one of his favorite seasons. He still preferred summer because of the heat that came with it, but autumn quickly rose up to the second rank as favorite. Turning to Starlight, he proceeded again with a different topic for conversation.

"Are you going to take part in the Running of the Leaves this year, Starlight?" He asked politely.

"I'm not sure," admitted Starlight, "it seems like a beautiful experience, but I'm not exactly the sporty type of pony that could last long in a marathon, you know?"

"Twilight was the same way," said Lunar, "and she told me that she took part in it the first year she moved to Ponyville, just to say she got the feeling and experience of taking part in the event. She's not as sporty as Dash or AJ, but she did manage to beat them both."

"Is that so?" Starlight questioned, seemingly not believing in the claim.

Lunar nodded slightly, "You betcha. Granted, it helped that Dash and AJ were more focused on each other than the race, but Twi still managed to beat both of them. Dash and Applejack finished tied for last in the race that Twilight took part in."

"Last?" Starlight repeated.

"Yup," chuckled Lunar, "they were fighting each other by playing tricks and whatnot instead of focusing on the race. I think Twilight came in like fourth or fifth by pacing herself."

"Hmm," Starlight responded, considering the option for a moment, "perhaps if I get a bit more insight, I might do it. Might, Lunar."

"You don't have to tell me twice, Starlight," Lunar smirked, "I understand if you don't think you can beat me."

"Is that a challenge?" Starlight replied, cocking an eyebrow playfully.

"Perhaps," answered Lunar, "or perhaps not. I won't tell."

"Am I going to have to force it out with my magic?" Starlight implied.

"What's this about magic now?" Someone called.

The two ponies turned around and saw that Astral was approaching them. She had on a coat that covered most of her body, leaving just the tips of her hooves shown. She smiled at the two ponies and quickly joined them, stopping right beside them. Lunar smiled, then explained to Astral what he and Starlight were talking about.

"Hey Astral," he beamed, "we were just talking about the Running of the Leaves that's coming up soon."

"Yeah," added Starlight, "and Lunar here thinks that I can't beat him in that race."

"I mean," boated Lunar, "I am a sporty pony. Marathons aren't really my cup of tea, but I believe that I can do better than somepony like you or Twilight. Maybe not as well as Dash or AJ, but I can probably give them a run for their bits."

"What's the Running of the Leaves?" Astral wondered.

Lunar cocked an eyebrow, then tilted his head to the side a bit, "You've never heard of the event?"

Astral shook her head, "No…you say it's a marathon, but why is it called that then?"

"I guess it makes sense," admitted Lunar, "this is your first time in Ponyville with that happening, after all."

"So what is it?" Astral asked again, eager to know.

"The Running of the Leaves is a Ponyville tradition where ponies run through Whitetail Woods," explained Lunar, "and the running that the ponies do cause the leaves to come loose from their branches and fall to the ground. It's more about the leaves falling than the marathon itself, really. Ponies get medals based off of how well they perform, but it's more important for the leaves to fall."

"Sounds tedious," Astral said.

"Weeelllll," thought Lunar, "yes and no. Tedious in part that it takes a lot of time, energy, and skill, but it's also a very beautiful sight to behold. Twilight took part in it in her first year of being here and I was considering doing it myself this time around. I don't have a lot of assigned royal duties in the way this year as I normally do, so I thought it might be fun to do it myself. Were you planning on joining it, Astral?"

"Maybe," answered Astral, "I'd like to research a bit more on it first though."

"No problem at all," smiled Lunar.

The three ponies continued their trek towards the Ponyville diner, still talking about the Running of the Leaves and the athleticism of Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and apparently Lunar.

By the time the trio arrived at the diner, they were hungry. Twilight spotted them rather quickly and motioned with her hoof for them to come over and sit down with them. The gang was all together at the table and chatting away happily about various topics. Lunar, Starlight, and Astral quickly joined the remaining six ponies and proceeded to gaze at the menu, deciding what they wanted for breakfast.

"I think I'll take a couple pieces of toast and a daisy-and-daffodil hay sandwich to go with them," Lunar said, looking to Twilight, "did you ponies already order?"

"Not yet," Twilight answered, "we've been waiting for you three."

"If only you weren't so slow," smirked Rainbow Dash, joking with Lunar, "then we would've already eaten by now."

"Oh, is that so?" Lunar chuckled in rebuttal. "Lemme ask you, Dashie: How was your dream last night?"

Rainbow Dash blushed a bit, then corrected herself before any other pony could notice, "I-I knew you were messing with me in my sleep last night. There's no way Twilight could beat me in a race like that without her using her magic. I'm simply too awesome! No offense, Twilight."

Twilight raised an eyebrow slowly, "None taken, Rainbow, but you should really mind yourself."

"What do you mean?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"How's about we race after we eat?" Twilight boldly offered.

The rest of the group gasped as they heard the challenge being presented. Normally, Twilight wasn't the one to be so bold with something like this; that usually belonged to somebody like Applejack. Rainbow Dash chuckled slightly, repeating the challenge to Twilight.

"Y-You want to race me?!" She laughed. "That's a good joke, Twilight!"

"You said I couldn't beat you without using my magic," Twilight repeated, "so what do you have to lose? If you're so sure of beating me, why not accept the challenge? Remember, I beat you once in a race before."

"Yeah," scoffed Rainbow Dash, "in a race where you weren't even my main competitor. I was too busy then."

"A win is still a win," Twilight recited, raising a hoof in the process, "whether it's by a hoof or by a mile."

"So, Dash," Lunar smirked, "whaddya say? Race Twilight?"

"You're so on!" Rainbow Dash declared.

As the waiter finally arrived at the table, everyone ordered their breakfasts and continued to enjoy themselves immensely. It was a long time coming and these kinds of things made Twilight very happy.

When the breakfast finally ended, the group made their way over towards a nearby field for the race. Twilight looked over to Rainbow Dash, whom was performing her usual stretching routine, then looked back over to Lunar, winking at him. Before leaving the diner, she asked him for assistance and he reluctantly agreed only because it would put Rainbow Dash in her place.

"I'll set up over by the finish line," Lunar said, making his way over towards a tree on the other side of the field, "whoever reaches there first will be the winner."

"I'll make sure of that," boasted Rainbow Dash.

Applejack rolled her eyes slightly, "So much for modesty, Dash."

"Modesty, shmodesty," Rainbow Dash replied, "I know I'm gonna win this race, hooves down. I'm one of the best flyers in all of Equestria, remember?"

"You could have an off day, darling," Rarity thought, "everypony does, even myself."

"Off days take days off from me," Rainbow Dash insisted, flaring her wings proudly.

"To each their own, I suppose," Starlight said.

"Okie dokie!" Pinkie Pie shrieked, jumping in between Twilight and Rainbow Dash. "I'm gonna be the one who starts this bad thing up!"

"Of course, Pinkie," Twilight smiled, shifting her view from Pinkie to Rainbow.

"Sure thing, Pinkie Pie," added Rainbow Dash.

"You're both gonna do your absolute very bestestestesterest!" Pinkie Pie beamed, bouncing in place again. "Ready! Steady! Go-sies!"

Smirking, Twilight began flapping her wings and flying at a pace she was comfortable at. As for Rainbow Dash, she tucked in her wings and immediately blasted off towards the finish line. About halfway into the race, Lunar started to use his magic.

"Wh-what the?" Rainbow Dash grunted. She noticed she was having a hard time keeping her speed, watching as Twilight slowly flew by her.

"Faster than me, huh?" Twilight giggled.

"Yeah," continued Rainbow, struggling to move quicker, "when you're not using your magic!"

Twilight pointed to her horn and stuck out her tongue playfully, "I'm not, Dash."

"Then Lunar is," protested Rainbow Dash, "that's gotta be the only reason!"

"If he is," said Twilight, "I believe you said earlier that I was the one who wouldn't be able to beat you without using my magic. You never mentioned another pony's magic."

"You know that's not what I meant," Rainbow Dash yelled, watching Twilight fly further away.

"Word choice, Dash," called Twilight, "it's important!"

Flying further ahead, Twilight crossed the finish line first, followed by Rainbow Dash moments later. The rest of the group approached the finish line as well, certainly surprised by the outcome.

"My, Rainbow Dash," Rarity chimed, "I didn't think that would be the result."

"It wasn't," Rainbow protested, turning to Lunar and pointing at him, "he used his magic to slow me down!"

Lunar chuckled, "Weren't your words that Twilight couldn't beat you if she used her magic?"

"Still," continued Rainbow, "that wasn't fair!"

"Regardless of the outcome," Twilight said, "it's pretty obvious you would have beaten me, Rainbow. You can perform a sonic rainboom, while I still sometimes struggle with basic flying. I just wanted to teach you a lesson about modesty, that's all."

Folding her hooves, Rainbow Dash simply grunted once more. The others, however, laughed at the gesture and continued on with their days as normal.

"What a day!" Twilight beamed, looking at the clock. It was late when they arrived back at the castle to turn in for the night.

"Yeah," yawned Starlight, "I didn't think Pinkie Pie would have as many cakes to try as she did."

"The Cakes are sure to win the competition now," Lunar added, "especially with Pinkie helping now."

"Where is that located?" Astral wondered, still wearing her coat from earlier, hiding the Alicorn Amulet.

"Canterlot, Astral," answered Lunar, "and it should be this weekend, but my guess is that the Cakes want to set up their display table early this year."

"Makes sense too," agreed Twilight, "considering what happened last time they went to the competition."

"What happened last time?" Starlight asked.

"Let's just say that the experience was a tasteful one," Twilight replied, "and not in the way that you may think of first."

"Okay then," Starlight responded, yawning again, "I think I'm gonna turn in for the night. This pony needs her z's."

"Goodnight, Starlight," Twilight smiled, "sleep tight now, okay?"

"Same to you as well!" Starlight beamed, yawning again before proceeding to her room.

"I guess that's my cue to start my duties for tonight, Twily," Lunar said, nuzzling Twilight affectionately. He looked to Astral next, "Tomorrow, we'll continue with your lessons. Sound good?"

Astral blushed softly, "Th-that sounds good. Thank you, L-Lunar."

Lunar smiled, "Good. I'll see you both in the morning! Enjoy your dreams!"

Teleporting to his post, Lunar left Twilight and Astral alone. Twilight smiled, then rolled her eyes playfully.

"I guess the night shift must be more eventful than we thought," she smirked, "wouldn't you say so, Astral?"

"Huh?" Astral replied. "Oh, y-yeah, guess so."

Twilight noticed the coat still on, "You okay, Astral? You've seemed a little more…jumpy…than usual."

"I-I'm fine," protested Astral, adjusting her coat slightly, "I think I'll turn in for the night, Twilight."

"Okay," Twilight replied, cocking an eyebrow a bit, "if you're cold, you can let me know."

"Th-that's fine, Twilight," Astral quickly said, "g-goodnight!" She quickly teleported herself to her room without a thought.

Twilight blinked a few times, "Umm, okay then?" Turning around, she proceeded to the library to catch up a bit on her reading before turning in for the night.

Popping back into her room, Astral immediately went towards the mirror and took off her coat, revealing the amulet to her once more. Astral levitated the coat away and set it around the chair in her room, noticing that her aura was a different color again. She had come to admire the deep red color of it, matching the eyes of the alicorn on the amulet, and thought that she was getting stronger by the minute just by wearing it.

"I feel that the teleporting was easier than expected," she told herself aloud, "and it's never been that easy." She thought about spells that she's wanted to perform, but never had the strength to do so. "How about a transfiguration spell?"

She looked to one of the books on the shelves close to her bed, focusing on one of the older looking books. Pulling it off the shelf, Astral looked at the cover of the book and read the title - Unicorn Magic 101: The Basics Spells For Beginners - and tried to cast a transfiguration spell on it. She felt her eyes strengthen their focus and shot the book with her magic, reconfiguring the molecular structure and transforming it into a potted plant. Astral looked at it and smiled happily to herself, pleased that she was able to handle such a spell now.

"I wonder…" She thought, briefly looking at the amulet again.

She focused her power and forced it out in an outburst, trying to aim it at the plant she just made. Drenched by the magic, the plant began to change and grow, almost as if time itself was being accelerated on it. Unfortunately for Astral, that wasn't the only thing to be affected by the magic outburst. When the light dissipated enough, everything in the room appeared as if it was transported ten years into the future. A bunch of dust, fabric that looked worn out, and other things all lined the room now, giving Astral a bit of a scare.

Looking around the room, Astral began to panic about having Twilight see what she did. She went even further and wondered what Lunar would think as well. She began to lose trace of her magic, failing to notice that the amulet was glowing again. She felt a power surge flow through her body and blinked a few times, rolling her eyes afterwards.

"Hmph," she grunted, looking at the plant again, "perhaps it would be best to dispose of you…for now, that is."

She blasted it with a concussive beam of magic, leaving nothing but one leaf falling to the floor. Chuckling to herself, Astral levitated herself to her bed and shut off the light, feeling very proud of herself.

Such a rush of power, she thought, thinking about what she could do now, perhaps I could use this power to show Lunar what I can do now.

She drifted off into a deep sleep afterward, excited to show off her newfound power to her mentor.

Inside the Dream Realm tonight, Lunar had his work cut out for him. With Princess Luna still taking her much needed break, Lunar was the only pony who could help others who were experiencing nightmares, and he had his hooves full tonight.

With an unusual amount of ponies experiencing nightmares tonight, Lunar had to make tough choices on who he visited and helped inside each dream. He sought out those who were experiencing worse nightmares than others, but if time allowed so, he would return to those who had a nightmare in general. It was tougher than he thought it would be tonight, but Lunar tried his hardest in making things right in the minds of each pony and helping protect their psyche as well.

After exiting the dream of a young filly, Lunar sighed a bit. He was tired, but continued his hardest in an attempt to do his best and show Princess Luna that he was ready to take on more of what the Dream Realm had to offer. Turning to the other dream bubbles, he could hear the echoes of ponies crying out for help, most of them being young fillies and colts.

Collecting his breath for a moment, Lunar looked to another dream bubble and prepared to enter it, only to be stopped when he heard a voice calling out specifically to him. He turned around and spotted a bubble approaching him slowly. Cautiously looking around, Lunar reached out and grabbed the bubble, wondering how the voice was getting through to him. Lucid dreams were a specialty in the Dream Realm, but Lunar did not possess the magic to do something like that and Princess Luna rarely ever gave that kind of a dream to a pony.

"Uh, h-hello?" Lunar said, hearing his voice echo within the Dream Realm.

"Oh, finally!" The voice from the bubble answered. "I thought I'd never reach you here!"

"Reach me?" Lunar repeated. "What do you mean?"

Placing the bubble down, Lunar saw that it started to glow brightly. He shuffled backwards a bit and watched as it started to shatter. Prior to the bubble shattering, Lunar shielded himself with his wings, waiting to see what had happened. When the bubble finally broke, a pony had entered into the Dream Realm, catching Lunar by surprise.

"A-Astral?" Lunar questioned, rubbing his eyes to make sure he wasn't simply seeing things. "How in Equestria are you here right now?"

"I reached out and tried exiting my dream the way you and Princess Luna have," answered Astral, smirking proudly, expecting some praise from Lunar.

"How could you do that though?" Lunar asked, still not believing what he was seeing. "That kind of magic isn't shared with ponies like that. Not even Star Swirl could do something of this caliber, and he wrote the spell that Princess Luna and myself use."

"Maybe my magic is stronger than you originally thought," Astral insisted, "you have been teaching me about friendship magic, after all."

"But friendship magic and unicorn magic are two very different types of magic," Lunar replied, cocking an eyebrow.

"Stop! Please!" A voice called from a dream. "Somepony, anypony!"

Astral looked towards the bubble and smirked, "I got this one, Lunar."

Without giving Lunar a second to reply, Astral used her magic to enter into the pony's dream and help them. Blinking again, Lunar came to his senses and followed Astral into the dream, looking around for her. The dream had Tirek stealing magic from a small town and the pony running for their life. Lunar extended his wings and began gliding down towards the pony to protect them, but was cut off by Astral defending the pony instead.

"Wh-who are you?" The young colt cried, quivering behind Astral for protection.

"I'm here to protect you," Astral stated, looking to the dream version of Tirek.

"Pitiful pony," Tirek declared, "you think you can defend others? I will show you not to mess with me."

"My magic will defeat you!" Astral yelled, blasting Tirek with her new power.

Lunar was set to interfere and stop the dream, but was thrown for a loop when Tirek was drained of his own magic by Astral. The pony hiding behind Astral noticed that Tirek was being dealt with and smiled happily, jumping up and down in place. Astral noticed Tirek in his weaker form and smirked again, using her magic to dispose of him in Tartarus.

"That takes care of that," she said, looking to the colt, "you okay, little one?"

"That was awesome!" They replied, still jumping up and down.

Lunar cocked an eyebrow, then used his magic to pull Astral out of the dream with him. Once they were back inside the Dream Realm, he looked to Astral with displeasure. Astral noticed this and wondered why that was the case.

"Aren't you happy that I helped you out?" Astral asked.

"Okay," sighed Lunar, "I have two things to say. Number one: when did your magic get that powerful? And number two: do you have any idea how the Dream Realm works? Princess Luna and I don't simply hop into dreams and take care of the nightmares like that. It's our job to help ponies cope with fears and struggles that they experience in their nightmares, otherwise they'll still continue to have them, even if the dream ends happily."

"What difference does it make?" Astral shot back. "The dream was taken care of and the pony was helped, problem solved!"

"But it doesn't work like that, Astral," Lunar repeated, "a pony needs to come to terms with what scares them and how to overcome those fears."

"Overcome them?" Astral responded. "How? It's not like the feelings in the dream are actual ones."

"Maybe so," said Lunar, "but they're representative of real feelings. Ponies won't learn anything if somepony else solves the problem for them."

"It's not like I did a bad thing," Astral continued, rolling her eyes, "one nightmare was taken care of and, by the looks of it, you have plenty more to deal with tonight. Need some help?"

Lunar bit his lip and twitched his left eye a bit, "No, I don't, Astral. You shouldn't even be here in the first place!"

"I offer my help," Astral replied, "and this is the thanks I get?!"

Before he could respond, Astral left Lunar in the Dream Realm, teleporting out of it. Rolling his eyes, Lunar sighed, then turned to the army of nightmare dream bubbles that collected behind him, entering into the next one.

Waking back up, Astral felt hurt. All she wanted to do was help Lunar in his night of royal duties, but to her, Lunar didn't seem to appreciate that help. Lifting herself out of the bed, she levitated herself to Lunar in the castle, determined to get back at him for talking down to her earlier in the Dream Realm.

"I hope you know that this is going to be for your own good, Prince," Astral said, eyes flashing red once more.

Teleporting to the room Lunar kept himself in, Astral felt another surge of power enter into her horn and saw that the red aura was lighting up the area now. Lunar, suspended in mid-air, did not notice Astral enter the room, busy with the increased nightmares in the Dream Realm. Astral let the power take over her horn and, looking down, saw the eyes of the alicorn flash red once more. Casting a spell, Astral blasted Lunar with it, knocking him from the suspended animation, disturbing him and waking him up.

Shaking his head, Lunar rubbed his eye. He looked to Astral and wondered what was happening. Struggling to stand up, Lunar called out to Astral.

"What are you doing?!" He asked. He prepared his horn for a defensive spell.

"You'd like to know, wouldn't you?" Astral responded, feeling an even more powerful burst of magic make its way into her horn. She focused her energy and blasted Lunar out of the room, into the hallway and against a stone pillar. She made her way towards him and looked to him, preparing a new spell. "Now, I'll make sure you forget about this whole thing!"

Blasting the downed alicorn, Astral turned and levitated herself back to her room, leaving Lunar alone. She fell asleep soundly for the night, happy that she had this new source of power.

The next morning, Lunar awoke in the hallway and felt as if his head was hit by a carriage. He rose himself and held a hoof to his head, rubbing it gently. When he finally looked around and gathered his surroundings, he noticed that nothing looked familiar. Slowly walking around, Lunar tried to find out what happened, where he was, and how he got there.

I…I don't remember anything, he thought, looking around some more.

Running into Starlight, Lunar tried to sidestep her, not remembering who she was. Starlight smiled at Lunar and waved politely at him, conversing with him in the process.

"Morning, Lunar," she smiled, "you're up pretty early. How was your night?"

Lunar looked at the unicorn with perplex, wondering who she was. "I-I don't…I can't remember who you are."

Starlight cocked an eyebrow and gave off a feebish chuckle, "C'mon now, that's not a good joke. Sounds like you need help from Pinkie with your joke telling."

Lunar tilted his head to the side, "Who's Pinkie?"

Starlight felt a bit more nervous, "Who's Pinkie? Pinkie Pie, our…our friend? You okay, Lunar?"

Lunar shook his head, "That name doesn't ring a bell."

Starlight wondered if Lunar was still playing tricks on him and approached him slowly, "D-do you remember who I am?"

Lunar looked to Starlight and rubbed his head softly, "I…I don't know. I can't remember."

Starlight thought that something was wrong. Grabbing Lunar, she teleported them to Twilight's location and startled her, causing her to spit out some of the coffee she had made for herself. Starlight blinked, then dried herself off with her magic, looking to Twilight in the process.

"Sorry, Starlight," Twilight said, blushing a bit in the process. She turned to Lunar, "Good morning, Luny!"

Lunar looked confused, "Luny? Who's that?"

Twilight giggled softly, thinking that Lunar was joking, "You, silly. It's the nickname I call you sometimes, remember?"

"Wh-who are you?" Lunar asked.

"Twilight," Starlight added, "I think something might be wrong with Lunar. This doesn't seem to be a joke either."

"What happened, Lunar?" Twilight wondered.

"I think he's suffering from amnesia," Starlight thought, "he can't remember anything, let alone the names of our friends."

"How did I get here?" Lunar said, looking around the tall room.

"Is there a spell that we can use to fix this?" Starlight continued, looking to Lunar in the process.

"I think so," admitted Twilight, "I haven't used it in such a long time though. I'll need to look up the spell again."

"Library?" Starlight suggested.

"Library," agreed Twilight, taking Lunar and Starlight to the library inside the castle.

Inside the library, Twilight and Starlight were looking furiously for the Memory spell that Twilight once used on her friends some time ago. Astral entered into the library a little while later than Twilight and Starlight and smirked, looking between the two ponies, then towards Lunar. Twilight and Starlight noticed Astral entering the library and asked for some help.

"What did you need help with?" Astral wondered.

"We need to find a memory spell," Twilight answered.

"What for?"

"Lunar is suffering from some sort of amnesia," Starlight advised, "we're not sure how it came about either."

Astral smirked and hoped she didn't, "Is that so?"

"Yes!" Twilight cried, using her magic to bring another book to her.

Astral noted how Twilight was feeling and started to feel slightly bad, but didn't offer much help. She glanced around at some of the remaining books on the shelves and pretended to be searching for a spell to assist Lunar. She knew what happened to him and even knew a spell that could reverse the effects, but with the Alicorn Amulet wrapped around her neck still, she couldn't find the decency to help him. She was still angry with Lunar for how he spoke to her last night in the Dream Realm.

"Astral," Starlight called, "have you found anything yet?"

"Nope," replied Astral, moving on to the next book on the shelf.

"I think I have it!" Twilight beamed hopefully.

Starlight approached the table while Astral continued rummaging through the books on the shelves, seeing if there were any other spells she could try herself.

"What did you find, Twilight?" Starlight wondered.

"The memory spell," Twilight smiled, "I can use this particular one to give Lunar his memories back. It isn't the same as the one I used on my friends when Discord was still evil, but it should be one that works similarly."

"Hmm," Starlight pondered, looking over the spell, "seems pretty challenging, but I know you'll be able to do it."

Astral rolled her eyes playfully, Challenging, huh? I'd doubt that.

Looking over the spell once more, Twilight nodded, then turned to Lunar. She told him to stay put and attempted to cast the spell on Lunar, focusing all of her alicorn magic to her horn. Lighting a magnificent magenta color, Twilight's aura surrounded her horn and was unleashed on Lunar, wrapping him completely.

Lunar closed his eyes tight, then felt Twilight's magic pelt his body. He felt the magic lift himself up and take control over his body and mind. Opening his eyes wide, Lunar saw all of his memories play rapidly in front of him, from early childhood to his coronation and beyond. When the magic gently released him, Lunar collapsed on the ground from exhaustion and looked up, wondering what had happened to him.

"Are you okay?" Starlight asked.

Astral looked over to Lunar and cocked an eyebrow, Did it work?

Lunar nodded slowly, "I-I think so…what happened?"

"You were suffering from amnesia," Twilight explained, approaching Lunar and rubbing his back softly, "I'm not certain how it came about though. Do you remember anything?"

"I think the better question would be 'what is the last thing you remember,' Lunar?" Starlight added.

Lunar rubbed his head slightly, while Astral looked onward with intrigue. She wanted to make sure that Lunar couldn't remember what happened and, if he did, wanted to be sure that he would stay quiet about it.

"I…I'm not certain," Lunar admitted, "I remember being in the Dream Realm last night, then…" His eyes opened wide and focused on Astral, "You!"

Astral turned around and looked at Lunar, "Me?"

"I-I remember seeing you in the Dream Realm last night!" Lunar exclaimed.

That statement got Starlight and Twilight to turn their attention towards Astral. Starlight was baffled and wondered how Astral could perform such a task since she herself could not even perform such a spell.

"How did you get into the Dream Realm, Astral?" Twilight asked. "Only Princess Luna and Lunar know the spell that's used to enter into it."

Acting quickly, Astral answered Twilight in a mostly smug attitude, "The library has thousands of books. You'd be surprised what you'd find inside one of them."

Twilight cocked an eyebrow, "I've stocked and restocked these shelves hundreds of times, Astral, and I would have remembered seeing a book that housed that particular spell. It isn't often a spell like that comes up in a book, you know."

Starlight was scratching her chin softly, then used her magic to remove the coat that was around Astral's body, revealing the Alicorn Amulet to everyone. Astral, noticing that the coat was removed now, flared her eyes red and glared at Starlight angrily.

"I should've known," Starlight commented, "this is the work of that amulet."

"Astral," Twilight said, cautiously approaching her, "this isn't you. Take this off and let's work through this together."

"Why?" Astral smirked. "I'm only now beginning to understand what kind of power magic really has. You think you're strong with your alicorn magic? I'm more powerful than you now, Princess."

Starlight cocked an eyebrow and pointed to the amulet, "Umm, you do realize that the magic coursing through your body is alicorn magic, right?"

"Astral," Lunar called, lifting himself off the ground slowly. He flared his wings out to her and spoke to her, "I haven't been around perilous things that often like Twilight has, but I'm pretty certain that you're making a mistake. This isn't you, Astral. I know you!"

"Magic is power, Lunar," Astral smirked, her pupils being consumed by the redness from the amulet, "and power is beautiful!"

"Astral," Lunar shouted, "take that off now! You're not like this!"

"You're wrong, Lunar," Astral cackled, "you have no idea how wrong you are!"

Consumed by the amulet's influence, Astral used her magic to blast away Lunar, sending him flying backwards into the wall and out of the library. Twilight ran after him while Starlight casted a defensive spell across the three of them.

"Go," called Starlight, "I think she'll lash out more at Lunar if you stay!"

Twilight looked back at Starlight, helping Lunar up, "But Starlight-!"

"Go!" Starlight interrupted, losing strength on her defensive spell. "I'll hold her off!"

Hesitating, Twilight looked back to Lunar. Looking up at Twilight, Lunar knew that they needed to follow Starlight's advice and flee for the time being. Once Lunar was on his own hooves again, he and Twilight fled the castle in search for some help on how to beat the amulet a second time while Starlight kept up her fight.

"You will FALL!" Astral shouted, feeling the power of the amulet increase and push Starlight back, breaking through her spell.

Starlight was flung back to the wall and hit a pillar hard, knocking her out unconscious. Astral approached the fallen unicorn and smirked slyly at her.

"And they'll be next," she told a knocked-out Starlight, using her magic to teleport Starlight into the library and locking it.

Fueled by the corrupted magic, Astral now searched for Twilight and Lunar, ready to deliver more pain to the weakened prince.

Meanwhile, Twilight and Lunar were using the time that Starlight had given them to create a distance big enough between them and Astral. Lunar felt ashamed of himself for allowing Astral to fall to the corruption that lies within the Alicorn Amulet. He wanted to make things right, but knew that the only way to return things to normal was to have Astral take the amulet off herself and, judging by how she attacked, that plan seemed very unlikely.

Twilight took Lunar out of the town and into the Everfree Forest, searching for Zecora. She remembered how well Zecora helped her out the last time the amulet was in Ponyville and had a hunch that more of her help could be useful. Seeking out the hut, Twilight wondered why Astral would risk wearing the amulet, especially after both her and Lunar told her that the amulet itself was beyond dangerous. She caught a quick glance at Lunar and saw how disappointed he was. She tried to make things better in the disgruntled prince's mind.

"It'll be okay," Twilight said, rushing alongside Lunar through the thick forest, "we've dealt with worse, you know."

"You have," Lunar sighed, spotting some Poison Joke to his right. He dodged the plants and continued running, "I haven't been on that many adventures like you have."

"Perhaps," acknowledged Twilight, "but this wouldn't be the first time I've gone up against that amulet. I know that Zecora can definitely help out; she did so the last time."

"I sure hope she can," Lunar mumbled, jumping over a stump in the ground.

When the pair of alicorns finally arrived at Zecora's hut, Twilight knocked on the door rather quickly, hoping that she would answer. Knocking again in quick succession, Twilight started to feel a bit of panic rise inside of her. Lunar looked back and hoped that Starlight put up a good fight against Astral, preparing an apology for her in the process as well.

"Oh my," Zecora called, opening the door, "Twilight Sparkle, what a pleasant surprise." She noticed Lunar's eyes once he turned back around and saw how much he was in disarray. "Lunar Nights, whatever is the trouble in your eyes?"

"Zecora," Twilight answered, looking back briefly, "may we come inside? It's not safe for Lunar right now."

"Of course, Twilight," Zecora replied, "come inside. I'll make certain Lunar is not caught in a tide."

Stepping aside, Zecora allowed the two alicorns to enter into her home. She shut the door behind them and turned to them, approaching them slowly.

"What has the two of you in disarray?" Zecora asked. "Neither of you have been like this for quite some time, I must say."

"Zecora," Twilight spoke up, looking to Lunar briefly, "the Alicorn Amulet is being used once again. We need help in outsmarting the pony who's wearing it now."

"The Alicorn Amulet is back again?" Zecora repeated, receiving a couple of nods from Twilight and Lunar. "Why, that amulet is nothing but a pain."

"You're telling me," Lunar stated, looking up while folding his ears a bit, "it's my fault too. I was the one who told Astral about it. I put it into her head how powerful, yet dangerous that thing could be."

Zecora approached Lunar and smiled at him in a friendly manner, "Mistakes are made from time to time, but that does not mean that Astral won't be fine. If you wish to defeat those tricky tricks, you must use-"

"The six," interrupted Twilight, "right?"

Zecora nodded, "The six will help you without a doubt. With their help and mine, you can take that amulet out."

Twilight blushed slightly, "You wouldn't happen to have another doorstep we could borrow, would you?"

Zecora chuckled, then lifted another one of the doorsteps, attaching it to a faux gold necklace. She gave it to Twilight, who encased the necklace in her aura. Looking at it, Lunar cocked an eyebrow doubtfully.

"Are you sure this'll really work?" He asked.

"Lunar Nights," Zecora smirked, "don't cast suspicion on these tricks. Ask Twilight, for they will sure have you up in a fix."

Lunar turned to Twilight, "Is it true?"

Twilight nodded, "I'll explain it on the way, Lunar."

"Good luck, you two," Zecora offered, "and Lunar, try to not feel so blue."

Lunar chuckled, "Kinda hard when my coat's a shade of blue, Zecora, but thank you."

"Thank you, Zecora!" Twilight added, leaving the hut with Lunar by her side.

With a faux amulet in place, the two decided to return to Ponyville and trick Astral into taking the amulet off.

Back in Ponyville, Twilight had Lunar hide inside Sugar Cube Corner, if in the event that Astral was out of the castle and looking for him. In the meantime, Twilight went to round up her friends.

Waiting around for Twilight, Lunar was pacing back and forth. He wondered if a simple trick would fool Astral and thought of composing a backup plan in case something were to go haywire. He thought long and hard about what he wanted to do and, when he finally decided on what to do, he waited impatiently for the others to return.

When the door opened up, Lunar sighed out of relief and pulled Twilight away from the others. Surprised, Twilight wondered what was up with Lunar.

"Everything okay, Luny?" Twilight asked.

"Look," Lunar said, sighing heavily in the process, "if things go sideways, I'd like to have a backup plan ready to go."

"This will work, Lunar," Twilight assured, "it worked against Trixie and it'll work now."

"Still," insisted Lunar, "I'd like for a backup plan to be in place, just in case."

"Really?"

"Humor me, Twily," Lunar said, "please?"

Twilight rolled her eyes playfully, "Fine, Luny. What did you have in mind?"

"An alicorn's magic is matched by that amulet, right?" Lunar stated.

"Yeaaahhh," replied Twilight, unsure of where Lunar was going with this, "go ooonnnnn."

"And alicorn magic can be exchanged from one pony to another, right?" Lunar continued.

Twilight tilted her head, assuming what Lunar was getting at, "You're not insinuating that you give your magic to me, are you?"

Lunar nodded slowly, "I know that since your Element of Harmony is Magic that you, of all ponies, should be able to handle something of this caliber. If things go sideways, I want to make sure that you can handle yourself and defend yourself well. If your strength is doubled, then maybe you could do something if this trick doesn't work."

Twilight looked at Lunar and stared into his eyes. They've been around each other for an extended time now and she knows when Lunar is being serious. From his eyes, Twilight could see that Lunar was worried about what would happen. Understanding where he stood, Twilight reluctantly accepted Lunar's proposal and positioned herself to take his magic. Standing tall on his own hooves, Lunar proceeded to drain his own magic and transfer it over towards Twilight, who looked up at the large ball of indigo-colored magic, surrounded by a flowing white-colored aura.

Feeling drained and weakened, Lunar watched as Twilight absorbed his magic and combined it with her own. He smiled softly, then hugged Twilight with his front hooves. Twilight returned the favor, looking into his eyes after pulling away from him.

"Thank you, Twily," Lunar whispered.

"You're welcome, Luny," Twilight answered, "now, since you don't have magic of your own to defend yourself with, I suggest you stay here and out of sight." She playfully charged up some of his magic in her horn. "Wouldn't want to get bruised and hurt, now would you?"

Lunar rolled his eyes and nuzzled Twilight softly, "My hero."

Twilight giggled, then kissed Lunar on his cheek, leaving him behind in Sugar Cube Corner while she and the rest of the gang left to go trick Astral into taking the Alicorn Amulet off.

Back in the castle, Astral found herself immobilized, impressed and simultaneously stunned that Starlight had found enough strength to stand back up and proceed with their squabble. Pushing herself to the limit, Starlight tried her hardest to cast a halting spell that Twilight showed her, holding Astral still in her place.

Grunting, Astral unleashed a ball of magic from her horn, trying to knock Starlight over. While dodging the attack, Starlight looked up towards her horn and saw that her aura was flashing around her horn, making the spell she was casting unable to be kept. When the aura dissipated, Astral was finally free and approached Starlight slowly.

"You have my respect, Starlight," Astral said, focusing some more magic to her horn, "but this is where you and I part ways. I'm far more powerful than you will ever be, and this will be the last time you see this castle in this way."

"I doubt that," Starlight huffed, stumbling out of the library slowly.

Astral rolled her eyes and followed Starlight out of the library and, eventually, out of the castle. Once they were outside, Astral looked up and spotted Twilight and the others. She laughed, then noticed the medallion that was kept around Twilight's neck.

"Astral Flare," Twilight called, "I challenge you to a magic duel!"

Astral smirked, "Finally, somepony that I can test out my magic against. Twilight Sparkle, I accept your challenge!"

"Shall we start with a simple age spell?" Twilight smirked.

"We shall," agreed Astral, casting the spell on Starlight's body.

She twisted the magic to make Starlight a younger pony, bringing Starlight back to her fillyhood self. Starlight looked at herself and yelped a bit. Outside of the spell she wrote for her and Sunburst a while ago, Starlight was astonished to see another pony use a variance of the spell.

"Beat that," Astral cockily said.

"Fine," replied Twilight, turning to Rarity, "Rarity, if you would please?"

Perplexed, Rarity stood in front of Twilight and made sure to stand directly in between her and Astral. Twilight, using her own alicorn magic, focused on Rarity and shot her, creating a large puff of smoke. When the smoke cleared out, Rarity appeared to be much younger, similar in age to Starlight now.

Astral smirked once more and chuckled, "How about we make them older now?"

"Fine by me," Twilight stated.

"Hey!" Starlight and Rarity called, frightened a little bit by the potential magic that was headed for them both.

Focusing their magic, both Twilight and Astral aimed their spells at their respective ponies, again changing their age and making them both appear older. The two unicorns were shaking in their own hooves and had trouble staying up. Astral nodded approvingly, recognizing Twilight's power.

"Now, revert them back to normal," Twilight declared.

"Fine," agreed Astral, blasting Starlight back to her original, normal-aged self.

Twilight did the same and saw Rarity return to normal. Dazed, Rarity felt her eyes roll in their sockets, baffled by the strength Twilight had now. Even Sweetie Belle, who was supposed to fill in for Rarity's filly self, was surprised with Twilight's power, as she wasn't even needed.

"Duplication spell!" Twilight shouted, firing a beam of magic at Rainbow Dash.

A cloud of smoke once again appeared, this time around Rainbow Dash. Ready to pounce, Fluttershy joined Rainbow Dash in the cloud of smoke and acted as her double, however, both she and the actual Rainbow Dash were stunned to see a third copy of Dash next to them. Each copy stared at the other and wondered what just happened.

Astral raised both eyebrows and bit her lip. She knew she was stronger, but wondered how in Equestria Twilight was able to do such spells. She turned to Starlight once more and casted the Similo Duplexus and Accelero combination spell, but when the magic beams hit Starlight, a second copy of Astral appeared next to her. Twilight smirked, then challenged Astral again.

"Too much for you?" She teased.

"It's this amulet," huffed Astral, looking to Twilight's medallion, "yours is clearly stronger. Now give it to me!"

"I think not, Astral," Twilight said, feeling a little bit of magic tug at her neck. She allowed for the medallion to be ripped from her, looking at Astral, "Hey!"

"I've always dreamed of having this amount of power," Astral smirked, holding up the faux necklace, "it's true, ask Princess Luna, and now, with this medallion, I'll be unstoppable!"

Removing the Alicorn Amulet from her neck, Astral felt all of the power release from her body. The release was too strong and caused her to fall over, feeling dazed from what just happened. Rubbing her head softly, she looked up and felt a headache settle in.

"Ugh," she groaned, "wh-what just happened?"

Twilight cocked an eyebrow, then used her magic to teleport the Alicorn Amulet back to a secure hiding place inside the castle. She approached Astral and helped her up with her hoof.

"You don't remember a thing?" Twilight wondered.

"Remember what?" Astral questioned, rubbing her head more. "I feel like I've just been hit head-first by a carriage or something."

Looking back to her friends, Twilight sought for some assistance. They quickly helped Astral, Rarity, and Starlight into the castle, leading them to the library carefully. Once they were there, Twilight asked Pinkie Pie to retrieve Lunar from Sugar Cube Corner.

"On it," Pinkie Pie smiled, bouncing out of the library.

In the meantime, Twilight and the others checked on the three tired, dazed, and confused unicorns. Twilight tried using an expanded healing spell on the three, but with the amount of energy that was drained from all three ponies, that seemed like a monumental task, even with her increased strength.

Astral rubbed her head slightly one more time, blinking a couple times as well. She looked between Rarity and Starlight and wondered what happened to them now. She felt worried about them and wanted to help them, but felt a bit more pain enter into her head, pushing her back into the chair that Twilight and Fluttershy helped her onto.

"Easy now, Astral," Twilight suggested, "you've been through a lot recently."

"Ah jus' don' understand this, y'all," Applejack spoke up. She looked to Astral, then continued speaking, "You really don't remembah what happ'n'd, Astral?"

"No," answered Astral, rubbing her head a bit more, "I don't."

"But," Rainbow Dash wondered, "didn't Trixie have full memory after she took it off her?"

"Yes, Dash," Twilight acknowledged, briefly looking towards Astral, "but she also didn't feel this type of pain. Plus, from what Starlight and myself have seen, I think it's fair to say that Astral used the amulet much more often than Trixie did. It is known to corrupt the user the more they use it, but what isn't known is how badly that corruption can become."

"Not even my magic could do something like that," Starlight said aloud, thinking she heard the conversation properly.

"Do what?" Fluttershy wondered.

Starlight blushed slightly, then motioned to Astral, "The amulet is pretty powerful and, honestly, other than reading about it, I didn't think it could do something like that to a pony."

"It's kept in hiding for a reason," Twilight stated, "Lunar and I have a replica of it to use for conventional purposes, but the real thing is nearly unstoppable on its own, especially since the pony who puts it on is the only one who can take it off."

"Could you please keep it down, everypony?" Rarity asked. "It's too loud in here."

Tending to their friends, the group tried their hardest to help each of them feel better, waiting for Pinkie Pie to return with Lunar.

When Pinkie finally returned with Lunar, he still felt weary and tired without his magic inside of him. He noticed Starlight, Rarity, and Astral all in chairs feeling similarly to how he was. Pinkie pointed to the three and let Lunar know what they did.

"How'd the amulet come off?" Lunar wondered.

"Oh, that's an easy one," smiled Pinkie, "Twilight used her super duper smarty smarts to trick Astral into taking it off!"

Lunar blinked, "Did she need my magic to help her?"

"Eh," shrugged Pinkie, "I dunno, but this is the second time that Twilight's tried that tactic and it's worked like a charm!"

Lunar was flabbergasted, only managing to mumble aloud, "It is absolutely ridiculous that that worked."

"If it ain't broke," Pinkie smirked, "don't fix it!" She bounced over towards the others.

Lunar followed behind Pinkie and stopped next to Twilight. Twilight hugged Lunar closely and looked at the three unicorns, unsure of how long each of them would feel this way. Before anything else, Lunar looked to Twilight's horn and tapped her side softly.

"Would it be too much trouble to ask for my magic back, please?" Lunar wondered.

"Perhaps each of you should get some rest," Twilight suggested, looking towards the clock in the process, "maybe each of you just needs a good night's sleep."

"We'll help you to your home Rarity," Fluttershy and Applejack offered.

"I'll help you Twilight with Starlight," added Rainbow Dash.

"And I'll help Lunar with Astral!" Pinkie beamed.

"Thank you everypony," Twilight said, nodding a bit.

With a plan in stow, each group helped their respective pony get to where they needed to be. Waiting until the next day was best, Twilight thought, since it would decipher if each of them were simply exhausted or not.

That night, Lunar and Twilight went to their room. Lunar, laying down on the bed, looked over to Twilight and politely asked if he could have his magic back once more. Twilight, deciding to toy with Lunar a bit more, cuddled in the bed next to him and giggled.

"I dunno, Luny," she smirked, "maybe I'll keep it and do your duties for tonight. Maybe I can enter into your dreams!"

Lunar cocked an eyebrow and glanced down at Twilight, "You do realize that I'm the only pony who is working inside the Dream Realm for the next few days, right?"

"Then I'll bring you with me to help," smiled Twilight, nuzzling Lunar softly, "c'mon, Luny. You've been through a lot today and deserve a night off."

"I'd love a night off honestly," Lunar admitted, "but I can't leave the Dream Realm unattended to."

"Then I can do that for you," repeated Twilight.

Lunar rolled his eyes playfully, "Lemme guess, Twiggles."

"Twiggles?" Twilight giggled.

"I'm not going to change your mind," continued Lunar, "aren't I?"

"Nope."

"And it's not like I can make you," said Lunar, "since you have my magic, after all."

"Eeyup."

"If Princess Luna finds out, however," explained Lunar, "then you're the one who'll have to do the explaining, understand?"

"I know," Twilight replied, booping Lunar with her muzzle softly, "besides, if I need help, I can always find you for help."

Lunar smirked, "You really don't know how the Dream Realm works, don't you?"

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked.

Lunar shook his head, "I'll let you figure that one out."

"So get some rest," Twilight said, charging up some of Lunar's magic playfully in her horn, "and I'll do your job for you tonight."

Lunar yawned, "Okie dokie, Twily."

"Goodnight, Luny," Twilight smiled.

"Goodnight, Twily," Lunar replied, closing his eyes and falling asleep rather quickly.

Twilight nodded slightly and felt determined to show Lunar a thing or two herself in the Dream Realm. She felt his magic encase her body and prepared to enter into the Dream Realm herself.

Inside the Dream Realm, Twilight took note as to how many dream bubbles were lined up around her. She tried looking for Lunar's dream bubble specifically and wanted to play a few jokes on him inside his own dream, but had to attend to other matters first.

Inside the Dream Realm, nightmares tend to be amplified for whoever should appear in the void for the night. Those nightmares usually are the first to be entered into by either Lunar or Luna, but Twilight didn't know this. She looked around and saw that the dream bubble the nightmare was inside of was approaching her. Looking closely at it, Twilight entered into it and spotted a small filly running away from a giant shadow with red eyes. Twilight flew towards the filly and protected her, casting the shadow away and smiling at her accomplishments.

And Lunar says that this is too hard, Twilight smirked, feeling as if the task were easy.

"P-Pwincess Twiwight?" The filly asked, wondering what she was doing here.

"Are you okay, my little pony?" Twilight replied, glancing down at the filly hiding under the comfort of her own tail.

The filly nodded slowly, "What was that thingy?"

"A shadow, little filly," answered Twilight, "but it's okay; it's gone now."

"Gwone gwone?" The filly responded, coming out from hiding a little bit.

Twilight smiled, showing her signature white-toothed smile, "Gone gone."

"Thwank you, Pwincess!" The filly beamed, hugging Twilight's back leg tightly.

Twilight giggled, then wondered what caused the shadow figure to appear in the first place, "Is something troubling you in the real world, little one?"

The filly shook her head, "No, not weally."

Twilight nodded a bit, "Okay. I just wanted to be sure."

"The weal world?" The filly repeated. "Is this a dweam?"

"Yes, it is," said Twilight, using a bit more of Lunar's magic to show the filly that it was a dream.

"Hmm," the filly wondered. She looked up and dreamt that she had a horn, seeing one appear. Noticing it, she jumped happily up and down, "Unicworn!"

Twilight smiled softly, then looked up towards the portal that led back to the void of the Dream Realm. She wished the filly a good night, then exited her dream, looking back to see the filly play with a ball and a couple friends.

That's adorable, Twilight thought, reentering the Dream Realm's void.

Returning to her search for Lunar's dream, Twilight flew past a few bubbles. She stopped in her tracks as she passed one of the bubbles that belonged to Astral, gazing into it. She noticed that the overall feeling of the dream was sad, seeing how much of the bubble was colored dark, and began wondering why this dream wasn't being channeled as a nightmare to her. Peering her head into the bubble, she looked around and noticed a downpour happening with Astral sitting down by herself.

Hmm?

Twilight decided to fly into the bubble and talk with Astral to see what was wrong. She positioned herself in front of Astral and began speaking to her.

"Astral?" She began.

Astral looked around frantically, startled by the new sound. She hadn't noticed that Twilight entered into her dream, nor could she see her.

"Wh-who's there?" Astral replied.

"It's me," Twilight said, "Twilight."

"Where are you?" Astral continued.

Twilight looked at her body and noticed that she hadn't taken form yet; she was still in her invisible form that happens upon entering into a dream for the first time. Astral jumped slightly, then calmed down after realizing it was only Twilight.

"Is everything okay, Astral?" Twilight wondered, approaching Astral slowly.

"I, I don't know," Astral admitted, wiping her eye dry briefly. The rain was starting to come down harder now, outdoing the work Astral did.

Twilight looked at her and continued her approach, "What's the matter?"

Astral shook her head, looking away from Twilight, "I feel like I'm a disappointment, Twilight."

"A disappointment?" Twilight repeated. She used Lunar's magic to remove the rain from the dream, taking a seat next to Astral on a nearby log. "Why would you think that?"

Astral looked at the cleared-up weather, then at Twilight, "Is…is this a dream?"

Twilight nodded, "Yes, it is."

"Where's Lunar?"

"He's been through a lot today," Twilight said, "and I thought that he deserved a night off to recollect and rejuvenate himself."

Astral looked back down and sighed, "So it's my fault then, huh?"

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked.

"Ever since Princess Luna told me that I should learn from Lunar," Astral stated, "I feel like I've been nothing but a disappointment to him. He tries so hard to show me friendship and its magic, but I just can't seem to do right with it." She sighed heavily and shut her eyes. "Perhaps it would be best if I just went back home."

"I don't think you're a disappointment, Astral," Twilight replied, resting a wing along Astral's back, "in fact, I can see that you're really trying at friendship, and I'm sure that Lunar can see that as well."

"Then why do I feel like this is all my fault?" Astral said in rebuttal. "It's my fault I put him, Starlight, and Rarity, as well as everypony else in danger."

"You were under the influence of the Alicorn Amulet, Astral," Twilight responded, "you didn't know what would happen."

"I did though," Astral shot back, "both you and Lunar said it yourselves: that amulet is dangerous!"

"Maybe so," continued Twilight, "but I know that you feel awful for what happened. Lunar knows this too and understands how you feel. I do too. We all make mistakes, Astral, and these mistakes don't define who we are. It's our actions that we take afterward that define us and make us the ponies that we are."

"I appreciate the gesture, Twilight," Astral sighed, "but I think even Lunar would agree that it would be best if I just went back home to Whineysota."

Twilight cocked an eyebrow, then used some of Lunar's magic on Astral's dream. She turned to Astral and told her to wait a moment. Astral looked back down, rolling her eyes and following Twilight's advice. As for Twilight, she flew through a small hole she created and went to retrieve Lunar. When she returned, she sat Lunar down in front of Astral and took a seat back on the log again.

"Now tell him what you want to tell him," Twilight said.

Astral blushed and hid herself behind her mane and under her beanie, "I-I can't."

Twilight nodded, then looked to Lunar, telling him what Astral told her moments ago. Lunar cocked an eyebrow, then stared at Astral in disbelief.

"Astral," he began, "that's the furthest thing from the truth. I'm not disappointed in you and I don't view you as a disappointment either."

"But I attacked you, Lunar," Astral exclaimed, "what kind of student attacks their own teacher?"

"You were under the control of the amulet and found out firsthoof that its strength and power can really corrupt a pony," Lunar replied, "and, take it from me, we've all made mistakes that we aren't proud of, but that's just life. If everypony was perfect, then what would be the point of failing and learning from any mistakes? There would be nothing to learn from."

"Easy for you to say," Astral blurted, "you're an alicorn. You can't make a mistake!"

"You'd be surprised," Lunar and Twilight answered in unison.

Twilight giggled, then took the lead, "I think I speak for both of us when I say that we've both made plenty of mistakes, even before becoming alicorns."

"Name one," challenged Astral.

"Let's see," Twilight said, lifting a hoof to her chin in a joking manner, "well, I did create a friendship problem amongst all of Ponyville when I was only a unicorn because I was afraid of missing one of Princess Celestia's deadline. The spell I used got out of hoof and Celestia herself came down from Canterlot to make everything right again."

"And I continuously put off friendship until Princess Luna finally told me that I had to learn about it from Twilight," added Lunar, "similar to you, Astral. I was independent and focused only on my work and, if Princess Luna never requested for me to do so, I don't think I would have left the comforts of my home in Baltimare or, if I did leave it, I probably would've returned to my father's home in Ontneighrio."

"That's not a mistake, Lunar," Astral stated, "and besides, you're just saying that."

"I'm actually not, Astral," Lunar responded, "and, since this is a dream," he turned to Twilight playfully for a moment, "I can show you my letter I received from Princess Luna that basically forced me to learn from Twilight."

Dreaming of the scroll, Lunar brought it forward to Astral and allowed her to read it fully. While she was reading, Lunar explained a bit of context around it.

"I'd been studying with Luna for about three years at that point," he explained, "and I never established any connections with any other pony outside of Luna and my family. She told me that I had to learn from Twilight about friendship, otherwise I'd never be able to move on in my studies. I had already mastered nearly everything else Luna threw at me and that was the final thing she decided to test me with." He turned to Twilight and blushed slightly, "Probably the best thing to happen to me, too."

"Aww, Luny," smiled Twilight, reaching over and nuzzling the alicorn prince.

Astral finished the letter and sighed, "It just feels that I'm failing spectacularly."

"You're not," Lunar insisted, "I may not have had my wings as long as Twilight or know about as friendship as much as she does, but I know that everypony deserves second chances, even after committing a mistake. Take Starlight, for example. You've heard of her past and what Twilight did for her. I'm certain that if there is anypony who has felt similar to how you're feeling now, it's her."

"Lunar's right, Astral," Twilight added, "and, like a phoenix, you too can rise from the ashes and come out stronger and more resilient about friendship."

Lunar rested a hoof on Astral's chest and stared into her eyes, "I can see how hard you're trying, and so can Princess Luna. That effort means a lot more to us than any mistake ever will."

"Plus," Twilight smirked, "if you're ever feeling down about something, there's nothing like a little bit of sympathy cocoa or a hug from a protection blanket can't help."

Astral blinked, "What?"

"Starlight's methods really do help ponies in need," Twilight said.

"And I'm certain you can speak to her more if you want to clear your mind," added Lunar, "and the same goes for us. We'll never view you as a disappointment, Astral, and we're always going to help you spread your wings and take off into the skies."

Astral smirked, looking between the two alicorns, "Is that a metaphor or a vision?"

Flaring their wings, Twilight and Lunar both answered Astral.

"Well," Twilight stated, "we are in a dream."

"Lead away," Lunar chuckled.

The next morning, Lunar and Twilight awoke feeling refreshed. Lunar looked down to Twilight and nuzzled her playfully, asking her yet again for the return of his magic. Twilight rolled her eyes in a joking manner and agreed to Lunar's request finally.

"Fine," she giggled, "if it gets you off of my chest."

She focused herself and separated her magic from Lunar's, ejecting Lunar's magic from her body. Lunar looked up and saw his indigo-colored magic floating in the air. He moved his head up so that his horn broke through the white-colored aura and felt the magic be absorbed into his body. Eyes flashing white momentarily, Lunar felt his strength increase tenfold and smirked, looking to Twilight. He used his magic to lift her up in the air playfully, then hugged her as he rested her on top of him. Twilight giggled once again, feeling tickled by Lunar's magic, and looked down into his eyes lovingly.

"My magic's back," he joked.

"I couldn't tell," Twilight laughed, booping Lunar with her muzzle softly.

Lifting herself off of Lunar's body, Twilight suggested that they check in on Starlight and Astral, hoping that they were feeling better themselves. When they exited their room, Twilight made conversation with Lunar about the Dream Realm and his duties.

"Had fun last night?" Lunar smirked.

"After I left you and Astral," Twilight said, "it got a lot busier than I thought it would. How do you and Luna manage to do that?"

"It gets easier the more you do it, Twily," admitted Lunar, "learning how to handle all those nightmares is probably the most challenging piece of the whole task."

"I suppose so," continued Twilight, "but there are hundreds of thousands of dreams there. How do you handle all of those and still have time to mess around in your friends' dreams?"

"Like I said," Lunar chuckled, "the more you do it, the easier it becomes. There are nights where that doesn't happen, but those are few and far between. I'd say maybe once or twice every week that happens. Normally, nights are smooth enough for Luna and myself."

The two lovebirds continued to talk back and forth about the Dream Realm until they finally reached Starlight's room. Twilight stepped forward and gently knocked on Starlight's door, waiting for a little bit before the door became encased in a cyan colored aura. When the door opened up, Starlight was revealed to Lunar and Twilight.

"Morning, you two," Starlight smiled, "you're both up early."

"The same could be said to you," Lunar replied.

"How are you feeling?" Twilight wondered, noticing that Starlight didn't seem to be in too bad of shape.

"I feel good," Starlight answered, showing off her magic, "I think going through those spells from Astral yesterday left me feeling exhausted more than anything. Speaking of which, how is she doing?"

"We were just about to check ourselves," Lunar told Starlight, "from what she told us in her dream last night, I think her being ashamed might be an understatement."

"I was kind of hoping you would join us, Starlight," Twilight admitted, "she needs to learn that making a mistake is okay as long as it doesn't get the better of you and, between us three, I think she'd relate to you the best."

"Because of my past?" Starlight responded, raising an eyebrow.

"Because you're a unicorn," insisted Lunar, turning to Twilight.

"She kind of doesn't believe that alicorns have made mistakes," Twilight added.

"Riiiight," smirked Starlight, "because you two are the epitome of perfection."

"Exactly," Lunar chuckled.

"Will you help us, Starlight?" Twilight asked.

"I'll see what I can do," promised Starlight, joining Lunar and Twilight by their sides.

Standing outside of the door to Astral's room, Lunar looked between Twilight and Starlight, gently knocking on it. He waited for Astral to answer, but when no answer came, he proceeded to open the door and ask for her.

"Astral?" Lunar softly spoke. "You in here?"

Opening the door completely, Lunar, Twilight, and Starlight found Astral looking at the scroll Princess Luna gave Lunar before his arrival to Ponyville. She held it in her magic and turned to the three ponies entering into her room.

"This is all true then," she said aloud, referring to the scroll, "isn't it?"

Lunar nodded, "It is. I wasn't the best of unicorns before all of this happened, you know."

"Nor I, Astral," added Twilight.

"Then how'd you get those wings of yours?" Astral requested, pointing to Lunar's wings in the process. "You too, Twilight."

"By overcoming our mistakes," Twilight answered.

"You'd be surprised how often we've made mistakes," Lunar said.

"Same goes for me, Astral," Starlight insisted, approaching Astral, "you know of my past and the mistakes I've made. When Twilight and her friends defeated me and removed me from power from my village, I sought out revenge, like you know. She showed me what happened after I messed up the timeline over and over and over and over again. At that point, I would have never imagined Twilight offering her assistance in helping me rekindle my spotty relationship with friendship. I was prepared to be banished, punished, thrown in a dungeon, you name it. But I wasn't prepared for that.

"Let me be the first to tell you," continued Starlight, "mistakes come and go, Astral. If you don't believe Lunar or Twilight, at least believe me. I've made my fair share of mistakes as a unicorn," she eyed Lunar and Twilight, who both blushed bashfully, "and know that they definitely don't define you."

"Believe her, Astral," heeded Lunar, "Starlight is wise in that field. Besides," he rested a hoof on Astral's chest, "learning how to push past your mistakes is an important lesson," he shuffled back so that he was standing in line with Starlight and Twilight, "especially when you push past them with your friends."

Astral cocked an eyebrow, "You're a really forgiving lot, you know that?"

"It's what happens when you develop strong friendships over the years," Twilight said.

"Discord, Starlight, Nightmare Moon," Lunar smirked, shrugging his hooves, "yeah, I'd say we are."

"Everypony deserves a second chance, Astral," Starlight added, "I'm sure the others will still accept you, regardless of what happened."

"And no matter what," Lunar continued, "you are not a disappointment; never were, never are, and never will be."

Astral cracked a small smile for the first time in a couple of days. She reached out and hugged Lunar, Twilight, and Starlight closely, crying tears of joy.

"I'm so sorry for what I've done," she stated, "and I promise I'll make it up to you."

"It's quite alright," Lunar said, "and you don't have to. As your mentor, it is okay."

"Recognizing a mistake and taking the chance to reflect on it are important," Twilight admitted, "Apologizing for your actions is also an advanced lesson to learn and I think that you're doing just fine on the road to friendship."

"Thank you," Astral cried happily, "all of you."

"Anytime, Astral," smiled Lunar, hugging Astral again, "now whaddya say we take a day off from lessons today?"

"Sounds good to me," Astral replied, giggling softly in the process.

"Come on, everypony," Twilight smiled, "I know of a really cool spell we could all try together. The effects will blow your mind!"

Eager to learn more about it, Astral and the others followed Twilight to her library. Astral still felt a bit embarrassed about what had happened previously, but she now felt that she was in good hooves with Lunar as a mentor and a few examples of ponies learning from their own mistakes around her.

I promise you, Mom, Astral thought, I will get better at this, just for you.

END