You sit next to Twilight on the couch in the library. It had been a long day of work, and you found your eyes merely going over the words without your mind actually comprehending what was being said. Knowing you weren’t going to be able to get anything more of consequence done that day, you lean your head back and rest the open book on your face.

“Hey, Twilight,” you begin, your voice reverberating through the book.

“Yes?”

“Do you ever get lonely?”

“Lonely?” Twilight parrots. “...Well, honestly, no. Not really. I used to be lonely all the time, before I met my friends, but I don’t think that I even knew it at the time.”

“Hmmmm,” you groan into your book. The old paper is slightly rough and gently scratches your muzzle as it moves.

“...Do you get lonely?” she asks.

“I don’t know,” you sigh. “Reading all about the mares in these books, juggling their own need for affection with society’s expectations and a deep, invasive sense of ennui...Maybe I’ve always been bored and didn’t even notice it.”

“Maaaaybe you’re overthinking things?” she insinuates. A purple glow surrounds your book, and it floats away, leaving you looking into Twilight’s smiling face. “That’s enough reading for today!”

“My entire life feels like it’s been a hazy dream,” you muse, moving your head and squinting up at the crystal dome above you. “Just now, the fog is clearing…”

Twilight’s smile melts off of her face, and she tilts her head curiously at you. “Oh? And what are you seeing?”

“I don’t know yet…” Lifting your head, you look into her eyes again. “To be honest, I’m a little scared of what I’ll find as everything gets clearer.”

Giggling, Twilight hops onto the couch. “I don’t know what you’re feeling, but I awoke from a dream-like life too, and found reality to be better than I ever imagined.” She twice prods you comfortingly with her muzzle. “And, just in case what you find is scary, I’ll be here to go through it with you.”

You glance back up at the ceiling for a few moments, then look back to Twilight. “Like Countess Poinsettia in Midnight Requiem?” you ask, waiting a few moments before letting a grin take over your face.

“Exactly like Countess Poinsettia,” Twilight replies with a smile.

“You still need a strong stallion to come and sweep you off your hooves to be like the Countess,” you add, lifting your eyebrows twice in insinuation. “What do you say to a midnight requiem in the serfs’ prairie, Princess?”

Twilight simply rolls her eyes at you, but you notice that her smile has grown wider and more genuine.

Proceed to Chapter 24.

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