Twilight didn't know how long she stood there staring out the window, but time didn't really seem to matter much at the moment.

Too many thoughts ran through her head—too many questions about what she had seen. She had spent all day in her room just... thinking.

To be fair, that wasn't completely new for the studious mare, but normally that was done with a quill, some, parchment, and a lot of books.

She was used to jotting her thoughts, theories, and findings down, but this time there had been none of that. She simply shut herself off from the rest of the world, crawled back into bed, and just... ruminated.

She didn't have to force herself to remember both dreams, but it was hard on her nevertheless. Still, she had grit her teeth and bore it as best she could.

It never got any less horrible, but Twilight was diligent if nothing else, and—while she wanted the dreams to end more than she had ever wanted anything—her traitorous and inquisitive mind also wanted to unlock the mystery of just what was going on.

To that end, she replayed the scenes over and over again, trying to find some sort of hint as to what connected these dreams together and why she was the one that was having them.

In the end she had gained nothing but a growing migraine and some very dark thoughts for her troubles. By the time Spike had knocked on her door, Twilight had been ready to spend the rest of her life in bed.

She knew she should've gone to see her friends about the dreams—the most recent one especially—but she just couldn't bring herself to divulge their terrible contents, and she was beginning to feel like they wouldn't listen anyway.

"Twilight?"

The mare's ear twitched at the sound of Spike's worried voice, but she didn't otherwise react. She heard Spike sigh and speak again.

"Look, Twilight... I know you're hurting," the little dragon began quietly, "and I know the others haven't really been... taking this as seriously as they probably should... but—"

He cut himself off and snapped a wide eyed gaze towards one of the darkened corners of the room, convinced that something had shifted within the shadows.

His fear and—a moment later, relief—was confirmed when a midnight blue alicorn stepped out of seemingly nowhere and leisurely made her way over to the two other occupants.

Her hooves hadn't made a sound, and though Spike knew she was there to help, he couldn't help but feel a slight bit of nervousness and confusion at Luna's chosen method of arrival.

Twilight said nothing and made no move to greet the Night Princess immediately. It wasn't until Luna had joined her by the window that the smaller lavender Princess glanced over, her eyes dull and distant.

Luna had taken to looking through the window and up into her own night sky—an unreadle expression on her face.

Twilight went back to her own stargazing and for a time, neither mare said anything. Spike looked between the two, torn on whether or not to break the silence.

He eventually decided to speak on Twilight's behalf, but as he was about to do just that, Twilight spoke first—her voice dry, slightly raspy, and heavy with exhaustion.

"I can't figure it out, Luna."

Luna glanced down at Twilight, who hadn't taken her eyes off the sky. She didn't respond as she waited for Twilight to continue, and continue she did.

"I spent the entire day thinking about what these dreams meant... but I couldn't come up with anything," she shifted her stance so that she partially facing the other alicorn, "after I had the first dream, I searched through every book I had relating to dreams, nightmares, the subconscious, and even prophecies... but nothing helped."

Twilight caught Luna's raised eyebrow and shook her head before turning to stare out the window once more.

"I know I could've just asked you directly," Twilight continued with a sigh, "but... I don't know. I told my friends, and they didn't think much of it, so I started to think..."

"You were afraid I would not take your plight to heart and so did not even bother."

It came out as more of a statement than a question, and though it lacked an accusatory tone, Twilight still winced and hung her head in guilt at Luna's words.

She looked back up at Luna when she felt a hoof rest gently on her shoulder. Luna looked back at her with a sad, knowing smile before gazing out the window once more.

"I do not blame you in the slightest, Twilight Sparkle," Luna began, her voice soft and reassuring, "there was a time when I assumed much the same of my sister," she frowned, "you've seen first hoof what such a mentality had wrought in the end."

"But this isn't like that," Twilight replied, shaking her head, "I don't know where any of this is coming from, and... and I'm scared—terrified it'll happen again. I can't sleep, I've hardly eaten anything, and I haven't seen any of my friends since..."

Twilight trailed off and looked away.

Luna turned and gave the despondent alicorn a troubled frown. Twilight looked back and was puzzled to see that the older mare looked... unsure.

She looked as though she wanted to say something, but didn't quite know how to put it. An uneasy feeling began to rise in her chest as she watched Luna struggle with herself for a moment.

Eventually Luna sighed and, when she next spoke, her words were hesitant and her expression was apologetic.

"Twilight, I... I'm sorry you've had to go through such an ordeal... and had I known about it to begin with, I would not have hesitated to intervene, as is my duty to my subjects... but..."

Twilight took a step back from Luna, her eyes wide with disbelief.

"You... you didn't know?" she replied in a shocked whisper, "how... could you not know? How did dreams like these escape your notice?"

Luna's frown deepened slightly.

"Twilight, what you must understand is that there are some ponies who do not, or cannot dream, and I cannot help those who do not dream... and you..."

She trailed off and simply stared at Twilight for a moment, as though searching for something in her eyes that Twilight herself couldn't see.

Twilight took no notice of Luna's gaze, as her mind was replaying what the dark blue mare had just said, and her eyes slowly widened as she caught onto what Luna was implying.

"Are you... saying you can't see my dreams?" she asked incredulously, "that I'm not dreaming?"

Luna hesitated before giving a slow nod.

"I did not sense your presence in the Realm of Dreams, Twilight Sparkle," Luna explained, shifting her wings uncomfortably, her expression turning guilty, "I have an entire nation's worth of ponies whose dreams I must watch over.

"It is because of this that I did not think much of your absence... much to my shame," her guilty looked changed to one of concern as she eyed Twilight, "but once my sister informed me of your letter and I saw it for myself I chose to meet you in her stead so that I could hear the story directly from you."

Twilight opened her mouth, closed it, and looked over to Spike who had been silent up to this point. Their eyes met and Spike smiled wearily before giving her a small nod of encouragement.

Letting out a shaky breath, Twilight steeled herself and turned back to Luna, who was waiting with a patient, but expectant smile.

"I... had another dream—another vision—last night. This one was... different... worse. Much worse than the last one..."

And so she told the Lunar Princess of the most recent vision she had experienced. As she spoke, Luna's patient look grew into a grimace that only deepened as the story went on.

Spike, who hadn't heard the story yet, had dropped down from the desk he'd been standing on and made his way over to where Twilight and Luna were standing.

He couldn't believe what he was hearing, he didn't want to believe what he was hearing, yet he heard it anyway, and didn't know whether to feel sickened at the thought of his own death or proud that he had died defending the mare he loved.

Either way, the story was more than unpleasant and, perhaps in an attempt to purge herself of the horrible knot of feelings within her, Twilight had held nothing back.

The story eventually came to an end, and it was only then that Twilight noticed she had clutched her tail in her hooves and had started slowly and methodically stroking it at some point.

She hadn't done that since the smartypants incident.

Both Luna and Spike remained quiet for a long time afterwords, lost in their thoughts and more than a little disturbed at what Twilight had seen and experienced in her sleep.

"So..." Twilight began, speaking in a quiet, tentative voice, "what do you think it means? Am I just going crazy, or is there more going here?"

"...No, I do not believe you've gone mad, Twilight Sparkle," Luna replied slowly, a contemplative frown forming on her face, "there is no doubt that these visions mean something... and I get the feeling they may portend of something sinister to come."

She shook her head and gave Twilight another apologetic frown.

"Aside from my suspicions however, I cannot glean any more than you yourself have," she hung her head, "I am truly sorry Twilight Sparkle, but I cannot help you."

Twilight visibly sagged, whatever hope she had drained away and the returning brightness in her eyes dulled once more.

"So that's it then?" she asked in a low, defeated voice, "I'm supposed to just... live with these horrible visions and hope they go away?"

Spike rested a claw on Twilight's leg, giving her a sympathetic look before turning back to Luna with a furrowed brow.

"There's really nothing you can do?" he pressed, "can't you ask Princess Celestia or... or maybe find something in the Royal Archives?" he looked back to Twilight with what he hoped was an encouraging smile, "there's gotta be some books you haven't read yet. Maybe—"

"I doubt Twilight will find the answers she seeks within the Archives, young drake," Luna replied, staring out the window with a contemplative frown, "and while I cannot personally help her in this matter, all hope is not yet lost."

Twilight's ears perked up and she looked at Luna. Rather than the confident, morale boosting smile she expected to see, Luna instead wore an odd grimace of displeasure, as though she had eaten something terribly bitter.

"Princess?" Twilight asked, taking a step towards Luna with a pleading look, "what is it? If there's anything else we can do, I want... I need to know!"

"There is indeed another option... but..." Luna's grimace became more pronounced for a few seconds before she sighed in resignation and dropped it altogether, "I'd rather not go this route if I could help it... but I doubt my sister would know what to do either, so I suppose I have no other choice..."

She turned to fully face Twilight and Spike. Both the lavender Princess and the little drake shared a confused look at the irritated scowl adorning Luna's features, but returned their attention back to the mare as she spoke.

"There may not be much I can do to help you, Twilight Sparkle, as this situation falls just outside of my expertise... but I do know somepony who can possibly give you answers... that is... if they're willing."

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