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Journey to My Imagination

by DeiStar

Chapter 8: Endless Night: Part III

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Chapter 7: Endless Night (Part III)
*****

Lauren’s heart sank deep in her chest. She gulped, trying to understand why Celestia claimed to know her. Know who I am? But… how!? What does she mean with that? Does she know about my person? Does she know about humans and the real world? Does she know that she’s just a character in a cartoon? All those questions were running through her mind at the same time, as she stared a clueless Twilight.

“P-Princess! I’m confused! What’s going on? How is she from another world?” Twilight hesitantly asked.

“Yes, ‘Tia! And why do you say that you know her?” Luna added, still keeping an eye for any suspicious signals from her sister.

Celestia cleared her throat. “Please, calm down, everypony,” she said. “The last thing we want to do is to stress Lauren again.” And it was true, Celestia couldn’t afford to make Lauren stress out again. If she wanted to dig more into Lauren’s mind, she’d have to do it gently from now on.

“Yeah, you’re right, Princess.” Twilight rubbed one hoof against her other one. She smiled at Lauren with a soothing smile, as if she was promising her that everything was going to be okay.

Lauren, however, was still shocked due Celestia’s last claim. “What… what do you mean with who I am, Princess?”

Celestia nodded, looking at the nervous alicorn. “I already told you,” she said. “You’re the third alicorn Luna and I saw that night.”

Lauren felt some sort of relief upon listening to the Princess’ last words. I still don’t know what she’s talking about, but I’m glad she didn’t mention anything about a human or something. She let out a soft sigh in relief, trying to not make it look so obvious.

“But that’s not important right now.” Celestia looked at Twilight. “Twilight, do you know what the important issue is?” she asked, attempting to see if her most beloved student had been paying attention to the whole matter.

“Uh, I…” Twilight pressed a hoof against her chin. Why would Celestia ask her? Was she testing her? “The fact that she claims to be from another world?” Twilight guessed with a nervous smile.

“Close,” Celestia chuckled. “But no, that’s not the most important matter.” The Princess looked this time at Luna. “Sister, care to tell us?”

What is it about? Just say it! The suspense is killing me! The ‘most important matter’? Hello! I said I’m from an alternate dimension and you say there is a more important issue? Lauren gently bit her tongue, trying to keep her thoughts just like that, as thoughts.

“I have no clue, ‘Tia.” Luna shrugged.

“Well, seems like I have to be the one who points it out then,” Celestia laughed.

Is this a game? Or why is she laughing a lot like that? Lauren glanced at the Princess, who stared at her with a mischievous face.

“Lauren, my dear, care to explain us how you knew Twilight?” Celestia said.

“Uh, what?” Know Twilight? Oh, that’s right! Shoot! What do I say now? Lauren tried to keep her face expression as blank as possible, wildly thinking of an answer for the Princess’ question. Well, I did tell them I kinda ‘observed’ what happens in this world… so I guess I can use that, but I have to be subtle about it.

“I’m actually curious about that too, Lauren,” Twilight said. “Have you heard of me or something? I’m not even that famous, I mean…”

Well, here we go, nothing to lose. Lauren took a deep breath. “Yes, I do know you, Twilight,” she claimed, with a very confident tone. Twilight and Luna glanced at her with a bit of shock on their faces. However, Celestia kept smiling. “Remember how I told you that I kinda ‘observe’ what happen in this world? Well, that’s how I know about you.”

Twilight tilted her head in confusion, still unable to grasp the whole idea. Know me? How can she know me? How could she observe this world from hers? What’s the whole meaning of this?

“Which leads us to our next question,” Celestia said. “How do you observe what happens in this world from your own?”

A television? Well, not like they know what a television is… they don’t exist here, do they? I really don’t know what to believe anymore. “Well, uh, it’s like… a book,” Lauren said.

“A book?” Celestia asked.

“Yes, uh… it’s like a story, you see… I know about this world… because it’s like a story in my world,” Lauren said, trying to cover the real truth as much as she could.

“Strange,” Celestia said, tilting her head. “So you know about this world because it’s a story? That sounds amazingly familiar.”

Twilight and Luna remained quiet. They were still clueless about all of Lauren’s claims, so they just waited for Celestia to give an explanation to them.

“Familiar? How?” Lauren asked.

“You see, I know that the third alicorn had certain… ability.” Celestia looked around at the books in the library walls. “You could call it, a power, or skill.”

Luna was still curious about the matter. An ability? Now that I think about it, ‘Tia claimed to know who the third alicorn was, yet, she never really told me who she was or how she knew her. I’ll wait and let her say what she has to say.

“And what’s this ability about?” Lauren questioned. If what Celestia claims is true, then does that mean that I have this ‘ability’ as well?

“Why, it’s quite simple,” she said, pointing her hoof at Lauren’s flank. “See your cutie mark? It actually has to do with it.”

“Uh? My cutie...” Lauren rolled her head and stared at her ink bottle cutie mark. What could she mean with that?

“If I recall correctly, this morning you told us that your special talent was writing, correct?” Celestia asked. Lauren simply nodded in agreement. “Well, that’s it.”

“I don’t follow. Was that alicorn’s talent writing?” Lauren questioned, still unsure of the answer.

“Sort of, you see.” The Princess stretched her wings a bit. It had been a while since she had arrived at Twilight’s library and she was starting to get tired. “She had this certain ability to... know everything.”

What? Know everything? Lauren stared at Celestia, filled with curiosity to hear more about it.

“Perhaps I should explain it.” Celestia cleared her throat once again, taking a deep breath. “The third alicorn had a certain ability like nopony else. This ability was unique, and it was symbolized in her cutie mark; a small bottle of ink with the tip of a curved quill in it. Like yours, my dear Lauren.” She glanced again at the little alicorn’s cutie mark. “She knew everything about everything. There was nothing she didn’t know, and it was true. Nopony knows how she knew everything, but it was never questioned.”

“Know everything? Like a genius or something?” Twilight asked.

“I’m afraid it’s something bigger than that, my dear Twilight,” Celestia chuckled. “But that’s why Lauren claims to know this world.”

That’s one way to see it. I could agree with Celestia, but I’d be also agreeing that I’m that alicorn as well. “Well, that’s one way to put it… but I don’t know everything about everything as you claim, I just know about this world.”

“Do you know everything about this world?” Luna finally asked, curious about the whole matter. She had been waiting for a chance to talk.

“No, not actually. In fact, there are many things I didn’t know about this world before… appearing here,” Lauren confessed. “But I have a general knowledge about it.”

“I see,” Celestia sighed, closing her eyes to meditate about the entire situation.

Twilight yawned. She was starting to get tired, and nopony could blame her. She hadn’t had any sleep since she woke up in the morning, and the party she had with the girls earlier that night wore her out. She just wanted to hop on her bed and get a good night sleep, but she had to be awake to listen to the whole situation.


“It is most peculiar this whole situation. There’s no doubt that you are the third alicorn, but you say that you weren’t born back then,” Celestia said, re-analyzing everything that Lauren has said thus far. “Also, the fact that you said you were from another world is interesting.”

Just what else does she want from me? I’m running out of ideas. Lauren hummed and tilted her head.

“I’m also wondering about how you claim to know about this world. Could you tell me like, what aspects do you know about it?” Celestia requested. She saw Twilight’s yawn and she knew it was indeed late already. Even if she was a Princess, she had to sleep as well to raise the sun next morning.

“Well, I know that this is the land of Equestria,” Lauren said, trying to come up with the most basic stuff without going too deep into the matter. “I know the land is ruled by you two, Princesses. You, Princess Celestia, raise the sun, while Princess Luna raises the moon.” She tapped a hoof on her chin. “Also that here are three kinds of ponies; earth pony, pegasus and unicorn.”

“Well, I see you’re quite informed,” Celestia commented. “I don’t fully understand what’s going on at the moment, but I’m sure we can figure it out.” She looked at a sleepy Twilight, who tried her best to hide away her drowsiness. “It’s getting kind of late, so I suggest we leave this conversation for another day.”

Twilight and Lauren gasped, surprised that Celestia simply decided to finish the conversation. “What, Princess? But there’s still too much to talk about!” Twilight complained, almost letting out a faint yawn after her last word.

She’s right, I mean, I just unloaded to them that I’m from another world and stuff. I was expecting a bit more of reaction coming from Celestia, but she just wants to leave it for another day? Lauren glanced at Celestia who placed a hoof on Twilight’s head.

“Twilight, no need to rush, it’s very late and I’m sure you’re tired,” Celestia said, looking at Twilight’s weary eyes who agreed with her. However, Twilight shook her head in denial.

“But, Princess… I mean, this is…” Twilight didn’t want to finish the conversation. She still wanted to know more about the matter at hoof. She couldn’t waste her time sleeping while she had a huge mystery lying right on her bed. Finally, she gave up, realizing her mentor had decided to end the conversation for the night. “Fine,” she sighed.

“Wait, ‘Tia, I agree with Twilight Sparkle, there’s still more we should ask…” Luna stopped talking as she received a cold stare from Celestia. She had never seen that kind of expression on her face. She suddenly felt chills through her body and a lump in her throat. If stares could kill, Luna would be dead right now.

Celestia stood up from her seat. “Just one more thing, Lauren,” she said, before turning around. “You are not a pony, are you?”

Lauren felt a bump in her chest. How would she know? I never said anything about not being a pony.

“Princess? What do mean she’s not a pony?” Twilight asked, examining Lauren’s body for no apparent reason.

“If you’re wondering why I’m asking this, it’s quite simple, dear,” Celestia replied, turning around her head to look at Lauren one last time. “Nopony and I mean nopony can forget how to use magic. Not even if they have the worst case of memory loss.”

So, does that mean that… Lauren gulped.

“Yes, you guessed correctly, my dear,” Celestia chuckled. “You claimed that you forgot how to use magic this morning, correct? Well, since that moment, I’ve known that your memory loss story was false, and I can safely say that you are not a pony, or at least, you weren’t. Let me repeat it again, nopony can forget how to use magic.”

Well, it’s like riding a bike, you can’t forget how to ride it. But wait, does this mean that since this morning, she knew that my memory loss story was false? Why didn’t she mention it before? Lauren thought, tilting her head.

“What!? Is this true, Lauren? You’re not a pony? I mean, you weren’t a pony!?” Twilight shockingly asked, moving closer to the alicorn who was sitting on her bed. “Come to think… you were very clumsy holding objects with your hooves, and you tend to walk sloppily,” she added. “And at the party, Rainbow even taught you how to fly!”

“Well, ponies can forget how to fly though,” Celestia commented. “But that’s not the issue, the issue is about your magic, that’s the one which is truly unforgettable.”

How? How is Celestia debunking every claim I throw at her? Maybe I underestimated her for being a fictional character. Maybe she is really wise and clever. I think I should be more careful with what I say from now on… of course, if there’s anything else to say. Lauren looked at the Princess, who was awaiting for her answer. There was no other option now, since yet another of her covers was blown up. “Yes, I was not a pony. I turned into a pony the moment I arrived at this world.” Lauren lowered her head, confessing the truth.

“I see. Quite interesting. I’ve never heard of such thing happening before.” And you know, if somepony as old as Celestia claims to have never seen anything, it’s because it has basically never happened before. “Just one more thing,” she said.

Oh, come on! What else does she want to know? My shampoo brand? “Yes, Princess?” Lauren said, almost biting her tongue to avoid saying what she was thinking.

“Do you have any idea of why are you here? Do you have any idea of how you got here?” the Princess asked. Luna, who had remained silent, stared at her sister, looking for any strange reaction from her; a facial expression, or one more of those cracks that came from her. However, she didn’t spot any of them, for now.

“No, I have no idea. I just woke up here,” Lauren said, recalling the events from last night.

“Do you remember what you were doing before you woke up here?” Celestia asked. She was sure Lauren wouldn’t lie anymore, since she had the memories of her past intact.

“Yes, I was… uh…” Well, I was just writing the plot for an upcoming episode when all this happened, and of course, I can’t say that. “I was just working at my office.”

“Would you care to tell us what happened?” Celestia requested, taking a seat again. It seemed that her previous decision to leave slipped out of her mind. Twilight unwillingly yawned again, shaking her head to keep herself awake.

“Well, I was just there, minding my own business. There was a terrible storm outside, so I decided to leave and go home, when I heard a weird noise from outside of the window,” she explained. “I went to check what it was, but there was nothing outside, so I decided to ignore it. Moments later, I heard the same noise again, but again, there was nothing outside.”

Twilight knew she had heard that before, but where?

“And then, I heard a third noise, and that’s when I saw it,” she said.

“Saw what?” Celestia asked.

“I’m not sure… it was too dark outside, and with the storm I could barely see. There was a weird creature standing just outside of the window on a pole,” she said, recalling the creature’s shape in her mind. “I’m not totally sure about it, but I think it was a pony.”

“A pony?” Celestia surprisingly said. “How could a pony appear in that world of yours?”

“I… I don’t know, I just saw that creature, so I snuck my head out of the window to get a better view, but then a lighting bolt struck and I lost consciousness. The next thing I knew was that I woke up right here in this same bed,” Lauren explained, looking at Celestia who had a more surprised look on her face, for a change.

“That’s it!” Twilight exclaimed. The three remaining mares stared at her in confusion.

“What is it, Twilight?” Celestia asked. “Something of what Lauren said rang a bell for you?”

“Yes, Princess! You see, right before I found Lauren, I heard noises too, like thuds,” Twilight said. She was right. Right before she found Lauren, the same thing happened. “I heard two noises outside the library, but there was nothing outside,” she added. “Then, I heard a third noise, and that’s when I found Lauren lying under the storm.”

What? So Twilight heard these strange noises too? What’s the meaning of this? Lauren questioned in her mind.

“That’s rather interesting,” Celestia commented. “And it strongly implies that these two events are connected.”

“Huh? Two events?” Twilight asked.

“Indeed, Twilight. The mysterious pony and Lauren’s arrival to Equestria must be connected somehow. Besides, what else do the two events have in common?” Celestia asked, once again testing her student. She already knew the answer, but she was sure that Twilight could figure it out as well.

“Ah! Last night there was a dreadful storm, just like Lauren claimed in her story!” Twilight exclaimed. Her mentor cheerfully smiled and nodded in agreement.

“Very good, my faithful student,” she chuckled. “Yes, it seems that there were storms in both Equestria and Lauren’s world that night, so it just strengthens the theory that both events are connected, somehow.”

Wow, she’s good to spot even the tiniest details! Lauren praised the Princess in her mind. “So what does this mean?” she asked.

“I’m afraid I don’t know yet, I’d have to do further investigations into the matter,” she said. “But as I said a while ago, it’s too late already.” She glanced at Twilight who was about to yawn yet again, but she shut her mouth close to avoid it. “Thank you for receiving me here and sorry for all this.”

“Oh, no no no! Don’t worry Princess! You’re always welcome here! And it was not a problem! You’ve helped us a lot!” Twilight nervously exclaimed.

“I… I just want to go back home,” Lauren muttered, lowering her head and looking at the stars on Twilight’s bed sheet.

The library remained silent for a moment, until Celestia cleared her throat to speak. “Don’t worry, my dear Lauren. We’ll find a way to help you get back to your world,” Celestia giggled, standing up from her seat. “Now, I think we should go, right, Luna?” she asked, looking at her sister who swiftly nodded, standing up from her seat as well.

“Well, uh, thanks for stopping by, Princess,” Twilight said, staring at Luna. She couldn’t finish whatever she wanted to say earlier, since Celestia appeared and interrupted her. However, she looked like if she wanted to say something.

Lauren hopped off the bed and walked along with Twilight downstairs. They walked across the foyer and finally arrived at the front door.

“I’d like to meet you tomorrow at Sugarcube Corner, if you don’t mind,” Celestia requested Twilight, who nodded right away. “I’ve been craving for some sweet cupcakes!” she chuckled, enveloping the door’s lock with her faint golden magical aura and turning it in order to open the door. She walked outside and turned her head back to the inside. “I’ll send you a note with Spike tomorrow before my arrival,” she added. “By the way, where is he?”

“Oh, Spike walked Rarity back to her place. It’s way past his bedtime, so I guess he should be fast asleep already,” Twilight chuckled.

“Hmm? Did Rarity come here?” Celestia asked.

“Yeah, earlier this night, Pinkie decided to throw one of her ‘welcome parties’ to Lauren right here at the library,” Twilight replied, looking back at Pinkie’s forgotten camera that was still on a table.

“So, your friends know about Lauren’s… secret?” Celestia asked, totally surprised by the matter.

“Well yeah, they kinda suspected that I was an alicorn the whole day,” Lauren commented. “It’s okay if they know, right?

Celestia smiled, amused by Lauren’s question. “It’s all right, my dear,” she said. “However, I beg you to keep your secret as a real secret from now on to anypony,” she said, as she turned back to look at the starry night sky.

“Yes, Princess, I understand.” Lauren nodded, looking back at Luna who seized her sister’s distraction to whisper Twilight.

“Twilight, Lauren, listen,” she quickly whispered. Both mares swiftly looked back at the royal blue alicorn. “I heard another of those crack noises coming from ‘Tia just a while ago, but this was somewhat different,” she continued.

“Different? How?” Twilight softly asked, glancing outside the library to check on the Princess, who was still staring at the sky.

“I can’t explain right now, but please, I still feel something is wrong with ‘Tia,” she said. “I beg you, if you find anything else about the matter, please talk with me first.”

“But, how can we contact you, Princess? All the letters Spike sends are received by Princess Celestia,” Twilight whispered in the lowest but most understandable voice tone, glancing again at the Princess.

Luna’s horn glowed in its usual blue aura, creating a little spark of light right before Twilight’s eyes. The spark began taking shape, until it was finally done. The spark disappeared and the item was now hovering thanks to her magic. It was a little wooden stick which resembled a match, with a small blue bubble on one of its sides.

“This is a Blue-Fire Match,” Luna whispered. “It’s magically connected to me, so if you burn a letter with this match’s fire, I shall receive it. Don’t worry, it will never consume, you can light it as much as you want.” She levitated the match and placed it on the table, right near to the camera. “Don’t let my sister find out about it,” she requested.

“Got it, Princess, but what is the matter with…” Before Twilight could finish talking, the Sun Princess interrupted their whispering.

“Luna? Is something the matter?” Celestia asked, looking back inside the library. Twilight, Lauren and Luna looked at her.

“No, nothing, ‘Tia… let’s go,” Luna quickly said, walking outside of the library.

“Very well then.” Celestia glanced one last time inside the library, looking at Lauren. “Please, take care. We shall discuss more about this tomorrow,” She finally said, spreading her wings and taking flight into the dark skies of Equestria.

Luna stared at the two mares standing there. She nodded and turned her head and flying behind her sister without saying anything.

Both ponies stared at the flying alicorns until they got lost into the darkness of the sky. Lauren turned her head and looked at Twilight who was still staring at the sky. “Well, what a night, eh?” she joked, trying to warm-up the situation. However, Twilight didn’t answer. “Twilight?”

“Who are you?” Twilight asked, without looking at Lauren. “I… I don’t understand… who are you?” she asked again, this time looked at a surprised Lauren who wasn’t sure about what to answer. “Another world, third alicorn, storms… ugh! My head hurts!” she said, pressing her hoof against her forehead.

“Twilight, I…” Lauren said, trying to come up with a reasonable explanation. Maybe it was too much unloaded information for the poor Twilight…

“Sorry, sorry, I didn’t mean to say it like that.” Twilight waved her hoof, closing the library’s door and walking towards the table which had the camera and Luna’s match resting on it. She looked at the match, examining it. “But, I still don’t know what’s going on.”

“I’m just as clueless as you, Twilight… I don’t know what’s going on either, but I didn’t mean to lie to you, honestly,” Lauren mumbled, rubbing one hoof against the other.

Twilight stopped staring at the match and looked back at Lauren. “I know, I know… no need to be sorry,” Twilight said, smiling at the cream colored alicorn. “It’s just that this is all too… odd for me to grasp.”

“Well, I'll be happy to answer any questions if you have any,” Lauren said. At this moment, Twilight was the only pony she fully trusted. After Luna’s claims, she wasn’t so sure about Celestia anymore to trust her with certain information.

“Thanks, but it’s very late now, perhaps we should get some sleep for now.” Twilight began walking upstairs, being quickly followed by Lauren who nodded in agreement. Both ponies made their way back to their beds.

Twilight moved away the bucket of water she had used a while ago so nopony could trip with it, placing it behind a table. She climbed on her bed and adjusted her pillow to get a good head support. “I still don’t understand many things.”

Lauren, who was already lying on her bed, glanced at Twilight who was now staring at the roof. “What do you not understand?” she asked.

“Well, I don’t understand why Princess Luna is making all these accusations against Princess Celestia, I mean…” She wanted to keep talking, but she stopped for a moment to think about Luna’s accusations for a bit.

“I don’t understand either, but I do believe something strange is going on with the Princess,” Lauren commented, hugging her pillow with her hooves; she turned it around to feel the cool side on her belly. “I mean, the way she overanalyzed everything just a while ago, it was too shocking.”

“Well, Princess Celestia is very intelligent and clever,” Twilight claimed, covering herself with her blanket.

No, it’s more than that… I’m sure she knew more than what she was supposed to know. “I guess, but she kinda overanalyzed everything, don’t you think?” Lauren said. “I mean, she knew that ponies can’t forget how to use magic, but she never mentioned anything when I said I couldn’t remember.”

“Well, I guess you’re right… I didn’t even know that unicorns can’t forget magic… I guess I need to study more unicorn biology,” she said, trying to keep her mind free of bad thoughts about her mentor. “And about you knowing this world… what do you mean with that?”

Darn, I didn’t want her to touch that topic again. Well, how can I explain it? “Um… well, remember that I said that it was like a book?” Lauren said, turning once again her pillow to feel the newly refreshed cool side of it.

“Yeah, but, what do you mean with that?” Twilight asked, looking at Lauren with confusion.

“Yes, you know… in a book, there’s a story,” Lauren said, trying to come up with the best explanation. “I know about this world because it's like a story.”

“Yes, but stories and tales aren’t real. This world is,” Twilight said, looking back at the roof.

Well, it’s real for you, sure, but not for me… “Yes, of course. But, like you read about many fantastic worlds in stories, tales, novels and such, I’ve read a lot of stories like that. I’m not implying that I read about this world in a book, I just used them to give you an idea.”

“I kinda understand, it’s ok. You somehow know about this world.” Twilight yawned. She had reached her limit. Her energy was totally drained and all she wanted to do was to sleep. “Well, let’s go to sleep, I’m awfully tired!” she giggled.

“I agree! If I don’t get enough sleep, I can get cranky after waking up,” Lauren chuckled. Twilight laughed as well.

“Okay then, good night, Lauren,” Twilight said, using her magic to turn off the lights of the library. It suddenly got pitch black, as expected with a night as dark as the one that was outside.

Lauren placed her pillow back to its place, resting her head on it, sighing in weariness. “Night, Twilight,” she said, before closing her eyes to catch some sleep.

Not a single noise could be heard inside the library, except from the soft inhalations and exhalations from Twilight and Lauren. The weather wasn’t too cold for the night, and Lauren could start to barely see the objects around her once her eyes got used to the darkness.

It’s been like twenty-four hours since I went missing. I wonder how everyone is doing? Probably worried sick about me. Well, I couldn’t blame them… Lauren started to feel her eyes were getting heavier, it was time to shut down her body. She cleared her mind of all thoughts and closed her eyes.

Within a few seconds, Lauren fell asleep, unaware of the long day she was going to deal with the next morning.

Next Chapter: Celestia's Secret Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 56 Minutes
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