Authors note: I want to give a warning to all the new readers here. This story was initially rated as mature, and there was a reason for that. Though it turned out that it wouldn't be as bad as I first planned for, and so I have lowered the rating to teen. That being said before you get into the story you should now that it balances a bit on the edge towards mature, and if you are squeamish concerning blood and death you might hold off on reading this story. So consider this a warning, the story might not be under mature rating anymore, but it should be considered "older teen" perhaps. It has the dark tag for a reason. Now if that didn't scare you away, get to reading. And leave a comment or two telling me what you think of it, and if you decide to down vote I would definitely like to hear what you didn't like so something constructive might actually come out of it.

My little pony: Friendship is magic belongs to Hasbro and Lauren Faust. The original characters belong to me.

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Snow fell silently on the ground outside of the old house. It was made almost entirely out of stone and on the roof sat a large chimney releasing a steady stream of smoke out into the winter night. Evening had barely fallen but the sun had set many hours ago, as is usual so far up north during winter. The stone was deathly cold to the touch on the outside, but had anyone stepped over the threshold they would have been greeted by a comfortable warmth inside.

The house wasn't a particularly large one. It had a bedroom barely big enough to hold a bed and a table at the same time, and a rectangular kitchen just wide enough to open the fridge door. A careful observer would see that these two rooms showed little signs of regular use, as if the owner of the house had little interest in eating or sleeping.

The living room was the direct opposite of this. It was spacious and occupied by several couches and a large writing desk in one corner, the latter of which was barely visible beneath the mountain of books piled around it. It was in this room that a figure sat on one of the couches with a book in his lap, reading by the light of a fire burning barely two steps in front of him.

Curiously enough the fireplace was not only contained by a pair of small glass doors, but also a small iron gate with a keyhole, and beside the fireplace was a fire extinguisher within easy reach. Despite these obstructions the fire managed to give off enough light for the figure to be able to read in the otherwise darkened room.

The figure, though obscured by shoulder length hair and a loose black robe, was obviously male. The short dark beard was a dead giveaway after all.

He looked to be at a young age – clearly below his thirty's – and the glow of the fire reflected gray eyes shining with barely contained eagerness as he read. The book itself looked far older; Its spine was cracked and the bare cover contained only the title printed in faded black ink upon its dark brown surface. “The Intricacies of the Mind and Dreams”. The man seemed entirely occupied by the book and hardly noticed when the fire's light grew dimmer and dimmer.

Eventually the words became too hard to discern even for this veteran of low light reading, and he looked up and stared into the dying fire. Furrowing his eyebrows and clenching his jaw he stared as the fire died down and did not once shift his gaze from it. Eventually the fire went out entirely and only glowing embers remained.

This seemed to satisfy the man, and he rose up out of the chair and gently tossed the book behind him to the couch before stretching his arms to his sides and arching his back. It gave off an audible crack as his spine re-aligned itself after having spent so much time bent over the book.

Scratching his neck, the figure turned to the doorway leading into the kitchen and took a deep breath before loudly stating, “Time to get to work.”

He moved into the kitchen at sedated pace and opened a small door inside it leading down to the basement of the house. He flipped a switch to his right and descended down the stairs.

The basement looked like someone had called Hogwarts' interior decorator and given them free reign and a ridiculous budget. A huge circle was marked into the stone floor and inside it were several layers of triangles, additional circles and various symbols of mixed origins. There was also a mattress pushed into one corner next to a small wooden desk upon which rested several objects generally connected with the mysterious and occult. Staves, wands, cups, chalices, daggers, swords, robes and even more books.

The man reached the basement floor and walked unhurried to the mattress in the corner and laid down upon it. He gently closed his eyes and began breathing in a strange pattern until it seemed to have become automatic. Unmoving, the figure silently began counting down within his mind.

“Three....two...one....sleep.”

************************************************************************

It was dark and cold, he seemed to be hanging in the middle of a black vastness, stretching before him infinitely in all directions. At first his mind shied back as it tried to comprehend all that around him, but he soon calmed himself .

“Remember what the book said, that one can not capture or contain the infinite with a finite mind, only accept the small measure one is shown.”

Repeating the phrase as if a mantra seemed to bring a sense of solidity to himself, though the effect itself was bizarre. It seemed as if he was repeating it out loud yet he was only thinking it.

“I guess there is no border between thought and action here.”

As if saying the correct magic words, his environment suddenly shifted and he found himself standing in a meadow. It was daylight and the sun's rays gently trickled down upon him. It was a pleasant sensation, and he briefly enjoyed it before looking around himself more carefully.

Noting all the details he could see that the trees were not of his native north, the great expanses of pine and Norway spruce. No, these were leafy trees, and ones he did not recognize; but they seemed ancient. Great and powerful trunks holding their crowns high above the earth, not swaying the slightest in the wind.

“Enough” the man's thoughts echoed out into the open, “I am here with a goal in mind.”

He turned around and faced the sun directly and looked straight into it. There was no risk to his eyes since it was only a dream. He gathered as much power from inside of him as he could muster, and poured it into his thoughts as it spilled out from him. Strengthened by his channelled power, the words struck like a thunderclap and spread out far and wide in all directions.

“SHOW ME ONE WHO CAN ANSWER MY QUESTIONS AND INDULGE MY THIRST FOR KNOWLEDGE.”

The words seemed to vibrate into his surroundings to the point that he became worried he might have set off something a little too powerful. He had no idea how fragile this dream place was. After all, his mind was still floating in that infinite darkness, and this was merely a temporary setting that his little mind could comprehend without eventually breaking.

The man continued to stare into the sun waiting for something to happen. As time passed by his brows knitted together and he huffed before preparing to try again with even more power. As he drew upon the power from within himself, he abruptly felt it being scattered as if it had been caught in the wind and he stumbled forward in fright.

“Stop that! I could hear you loud and clear the first time,”a voice called out behind of him.

The dreamer picked himself up from the ground and turned around, and saw a stranger leaning against the trunk of one of the trees.  He wore only a pair of leather pants and boots which did nothing to hide the hardened muscles covering his upper body. His face seemed to scream of mischief and trickery, and the crooked smile he wore on his lips exuded a vague criminality and charm.

“I called for someone who could grant me knowledge, not a drinking buddy that will cheat me at cards,” the dreamer thought dryly before remembering that it would be heard out loud as well.

The stranger merely smiled before throwing back his head and laughing, it was a deep laugh that spoke of nights filled with clever schemes and deeds executed flawlessly at the cost of others.

“Oh you think me the kind without secrets and knowledge undreamed of? Well, I guess you will actually dream of them now if you play your cards right. But as you previously stated, I cheat, so maybe you will not.”

The strange man merely smiled his crooked smile and looked at the dreamer expectantly. The dreamer in turn was furiously considering all the facts he could glean from the figure and the brief conversation they had shared so far.

“Hmm strange. He acts with confidence when he says he could offer me what I want, but then again he is obviously a trickster of some kind. But that does not mean he is not truthful. A trickster is just the kind of being that can hold knowledge considered dangerous or taboo in the eyes of others.”

The stranger patiently sat still and listened, having pulled his legs up to his chest so that he was now hovering in mid-air, while watching with a grin at the not so internal dialogue. Eventually, as the dreamer more and more began to argue in circles with himself, he finally gave up and simply asked the stranger.

“Fine, so what do you have to offer?”

The stranger gave a disappointed frown and asked in return, “That's it? No sly questions designed to bring insight into my being? No clever wordplay designed to confuse me into giving away secrets best left unspoken? Frankly, I expected far more from someone that would resonate with myself when calling for assistance.”

Curious the dreamer tilted his head and thought.

“So you came because your nature resonated with mine? I find that hard to believe. I might be an occasional lover of trickery and deceit, but my true nature has always been dedication to the pursuit of knowledge and power.”

As the dreamer thought the last word, the stranger seemed to explode from his seated position in the air and became a blur of motion, instantly transporting himself to scant inches in front of the dreamer.

“Hahaha, now you get it! You think that knowledge and power only take the appearance of solemn old wizards and boring scholars with their heads full of ideas and theory.”

The strangers eyes seemed to draw the dreamer in and the words he spoke struck deep as if latching on to his very soul.

“Remember my words little prospective mage. The true magic is the one that wakes you up to the world around you, that which connects you to the infinite mysteries that play as we speak. If you think that the greatest wielders of magic are the ones locked in basements and towers only concerned with the dusty tomes and rusty tools of their trades, then you are not only ignorant but you are a fool that has bought into your worlds dangerously stupid, popular notions. Remember, the wider spread any conceived notion is the more likely it is to be untrue.”

The stranger moved away just as quickly as before and in the time between two heartbeats he was standing at the other side of the meadow, frantically waving his arms as if trying to catch the attention of the dreamer.

"Come now! We have a long way to go and our time is beginning to run out!”

With that final remark the stranger turned around, and as he did a wide path leading into the woods seemingly appeared out of nowhere. The dreamer hesitated for the barest of moments before setting off after the almost skipping stranger ahead of him.

This continued for what seemed a long time. The dreamer trying frantically to keep up with the stranger, and despite the impromptu dances and hand stands the stranger performed, the dreamer was unable to catch up regardless of his speed.

Finally, he just gave up and started walking in a slow and relaxed way. And he simply tried to enjoy the surroundings; it was quite beautiful after all.

He had barely started doing so when he noticed he had managed to catch up to the stranger after all, and he was now walking beside him. The stranger himself merely turned his head and stated in a curious tone.

“Do you get it?”

“No I don't,” the dreamer thought out loud, “but I will eventually.”

“That's the spirit!” the stranger said, “but please do try anyway.”

The dreamer sighed and stopped in the middle of the road, before him there were only trees and more forest. As if the road only appeared as they walked upon it.

“Well I only caught up to you after I stopped trying to reach you and simply slowed down and began walking in my own pace. If I had to guess, I would say that I only caught up to you then because this is my journey, and as such I can only travel it as fast as it is meant for me to. Which in turn means that I did not catch up to you at all. It was just an illusion. Your job is merely to show me where the road is, the actual journey takes place where I happen to be on it.”

“Exactly!” the stranger exclaimed and threw up his hands in the air and did a few jittery dance steps in celebration, “and what does that in turn mean do you think?”

“Well...” the dreamer responded hesitantly. “It probably means that the purpose of the entire walk was for me to realize this, which means there is no purpose in walking any more since I have already arrived at the end.”

And just like that the forest in front of him was gone, and he stood before the great vastness of the void once more. But this time it was beyond the borders of the small image of existence his mind was busy holding on to.

At first the dreamer was afraid that seeing the void his illusion was masking would fracture it, but he took notice of how the edges of the road he still stood on remained strong against the nothingness beyond and calmed down.

“So does this mean I am done with the games? You will give me some of that hidden knowledge you boasted of and then I will be on my way?”

The stranger shook his head and smiled to the dreamer, a glint of amusement evident in his eyes.

“No, not even close to that,” he laughed a little and simply said, “We are waiting for someone to arrive, or somepony as is the case this time.”

“Wait, what was that?” the dreamer asked confused.

“Oh she'll get here eventually, that sun you hung up in your sky should work well enough as a beacon I think. But until our mystery guest arrives we should speak further about the two of us. I believe we will have little time for personal talk after she finds this place.”

“If you say so, let's begin with who you are,” the dreamer stated with a meaningful look towards his enigmatic companion, who in turn merely huffed at the question.

“If you haven't figured it out by now you don't deserve the answer since you must have have neglected your studies. But let me give you a hint; I am a being that has been connected to the land in which you were born and currently reside upon. Even though knowledge of my existence has faded a bit lately among the general populace, I remember when all knew my name. Different though it was between the different peoples. But even if the local dialect's name for me was unrecognizable they all knew me by my nature and manners.”

The dreamer looked upon the stranger and took in all his features, his black hair and tightly cropped beard. His elegant muscles and the fingers that occasionally twitched as if they could not contain themselves. His playful manners and evasive personality. There are plenty of entities that share in that kind of energy, but only one that is known above all else to have played within the northern lands the dreamer was born of.

“You are the one named Loke, the trickster god and father of Hel, Fenrir and Jormungand. I thought you were supposed to be chained up below Yggdrasil while poison dripped down upon you?”

For a moment the old god seemed to shiver and a look of dread was upon his face, but it quickly disappeared and was replaced by a smile as he looked into the dreamers eyes.

“Ragnarok is still a long way off little mage, and I still dance unchained by rules or borders, for such is my station. Which brings me to why I am here in the first place.”

The god crossed his legs and once again hovered in the air and tried to create a look of sage like wisdom and depth upon himself, without success.

“I was the one your call went out to because of all the nearby entities it is my energy, my nature and being, that resonated most clearly with yours. You are a student of the arts of magic and mysteries in devotion yes, but your personal nature is one of a trickster even if you don't know it yet. You are a player of the great game of power, and the role of the trickster is without doubts one of the most favourable to hold in this game.

“Why, you wonder? Well because when we ignore the rules and gently skip around the edges of the borders of what is allowed, we are doing exactly what we are supposed to do. Our rules are that we are supposed to stretch the rules. No we do not outright break them. We are supposed to act with a charm and gracefulness in our goings. We do so because to us the rules are not set in stone, but a shivering string that if approached in the right way will allow us to stretch it out far beyond it's usual borders."

“Remember that because it is what you will be channelling. Oh yes, the magic arts have their own guardians and rules, and each demands their own kind of displays of dedication. But that is the role of your vocation, the trickster is the role of your inner personality. In the end the two will join into one and then that is where the true fun will begin. But that is far into the future and only if you can manage to reach that far."

“So that's the knowledge I offer you, freely. Now, I mean to show you a.......display of it's practical application.”

“What do you mean,” the dreamer asked in a suspicious tone and narrowed his eyes. He did not fully trust the god yet, even though what he had said had a certain unmistakable ring of truth.

“What I mean is that you and I are going to be skirting the rules a bit now.”

“What kind of rules?” the dreamer asked, and he could feel a small chill travel down his spine in fear of what the answer may be.

The God's smile turned into a grin that went from ear to ear and with barely contained laughter he managed to say, “Why the rules of reality of course.”

     ***************************************************

She was floating in the middle of the darkness, but it wasn't really darkness, it was just...nothing.

When she first came here she had felt fear and tried to go back to....that place....from which she came. Did it have a name? She knew it had a name, but she had lost it to the emptiness that surrounded her.

She didn't know how long she had been here. It could be moments or lifetimes, but it didn't matter because she could not remember, and she could feel more and more of herself slipping away. This place was not supposed to hold things that are. It was nothing, and nothing more should be here.

She wanted to do something because she was so afraid, so sad, because she knew that soon she would become nothing as well. She didn't know what it was called any more, that something, but she still remember how it felt. It felt like her eyes were spilling the very sadness that held her. It was warm and stung as it would travel down her cheeks and eventually fall off her chin.

She wanted that to happen but it couldn't, the knowledge of how was lost as well.

But then there was another feeling, it was strange for she did not recognize it....Wait! She remembered it had a name! Oh, what was it called? She knew it began with an H sound.

H..He....Ho....Hoo...Hope! Yes, that was it! She was feeling hope!

It felt so wonderful that for a moment her sadness was gone. Not forgotten to the void, but just gone. But it was strange. She did not know where it came from. It had not been there a moment ago. Why would something new come up in this place?

This was not a place for new things, only loss of the old.

She carefully felt around in the emotion and realized it was new! And it seemed to want to tell her something too!

She was so happy that she made a sound, it sounded like a...a....a squeal! Yes a squeal, that's right. She had squealed because she was not alone any more. She had hope and hope wanted to tell her something. She did all she could to listen to hope, feel hope, taste hope, see hope, smell hope, but it was so hard. She tried her hardest, she tried so hard that she started to feel pain. She did not like pain, she remembered that but this was important.

Finally there was a faint whisper that simply said.

“Look up.”

She had not realized that there was an up, but as she did something amazing happened. There was something there! Away, not here but something else, in the....the distance! There was something there that was something because it was not nothing! She felt strange as so many things started to return to her, so many words and thoughts that meant something. It sounded like a stream of chatter rushing out of her and into her at the same time.

Then she realized that there was no distance between her and....It. There was simply nothing. And if there was nothing between her and it then that meant...

She realized that she was standing on a dirt road under a warm shining sun, surrounded by huge trees with crowns brimming with emerald shining leaves. She stood there transfixed by the sight as more and more of her memory rushed back into her. She understood so many more things, so many things that were not of that horrible empty nothing that had been slowly taking away all that she was.

She stood there, feeling how she was becoming more and more her former self. She even felt how her being was shaping into a body to house her mind! However her joy was cut short as she jumped when she heard a very loud cough behind her.

There were two creatures standing there, although she did not recognize their form. She just knew that they did not have the same as the one she had been shaped into just a second ago. They were taller than her, both of them were at least twice as tall, but they were standing on their back legs. She thought about that for a moment and realized that she did not stand the same way, and even if she were to stand on her back legs she would still only reach up to their shoulders with her muzzle. YES, that was the name! She was remembering even more now!

When she looked more carefully, she noticed the creatures were different despite having the same type of form. One of them had....clothes...only on his lower half  and was showing off his teeth. It puzzled her at first, but then she remembered it was called a smile and showed when someone was happy! Did it mean that it was happy to see her?

The other creature was different. His mane was longer than the other's and he also had more fur on his face, but only at the bottom and it hung down and hid his jawline from view. He was also not smiling. His face looked weird, but she started to remember faces as well. Widened eyes...slackened jaw....and brows that tightened as he looked at her. He was surprised to see her.

The one that smiled began to make noises and she realized that he was talking to her, but it sounded strange. It sounded deeper and darker than what she remembered voices were supposed to sound like.

“Ah yes, she's finally arrived. I was beginning to wonder if I would have to come to get you myself. Of course, that might be difficult since you have been here all along.”

The other creature's face tensed up at this, and she knew that what he was doing was thinking hard on what the other had said. She honestly did not care what they were doing. It just felt so wonderful right now to simply be doing anything!

                                 ***********************************************

The dreamer was lost in thought at this unexpected turn of events. He had imagined quite a few scenarios of what the trickster god might have been planning, but this was definitely something he could never have anticipated.

“So, what do you think,” the god asked as he began chewing on a blood red apple.

“Where the hell did that come from!.....Right, thoughts not so private. Well I certainly did not expect your mystery guest to be this.”

The god chewed loudly as apple juice flew in all kinds of directions from his mouth.

“And what exactly is this unimaginable mystery guest then?”

The dreamer looked towards the subject of their conversation and analysed its appearance.

“Hmmm. Well, she is purple, vaguely equine in her form and has a horn in the middle of her forehead. Kinda small and her eyes are so large I can't help but wonder if her entire sensory system has been devoted to sight.”

“Is that all?” the god smirked.

“And she has a dark purplish mane with a little streak in it.”

“And?”

“And judging by her reactions to our conversation she is intelligent and understands our speech....well she has basic telepathy at least since we don't talk but think.”

“And.”

“Fine, she's also kinda cute.”

“There we go,” the god beamed with pride at the dreamer, who only rolled his eyes.

“Remember.” The god continued. “We are tricksters, charm is our way, deceit is our way, trickery is our way, playfulness is our way and also...” The god leaned in closely to the dreamer and whispered in the loudest way possible while wiggling his eyebrows.

“Seduction.”

The god giggled as he retreated and watched the dreamers shocked expression.

“You can not be serious. This creature is of an entirely different species. Besides, she is a mere spirit without a body, so unless you are asking me to merge my mind with hers you can forget about it.”

The God looked down with a knowing smile and shook his head. “Oh you have so much to learn. Three things.”

He held up his hand and displayed one finger. “One: You need to remember my mythology and who I slept with and spawned.”

He held out an additional finger. “Two: This adorable little bundle of huge pupils and attractive colouring happens to have a physical body.”

Finally he held out a third finger. “Three: Merging your mind with hers is exactly what I expect you to do.”

Satisfied with his little speech the god started munching down on the apple again, which had somehow become whole and uneaten once more.

The dreamer's mouth hung open and he stared at the god as if he were insane.

“YOU EXPECT ME TO MERGE MY MIND WITH A RANDOM TINY UNICORN YOU FOUND WANDERING THE VOID! ARE YOU INSANE?!”

The dreamers thought screamed like a storm wind until it broke down into gibbering insults and noises.

“Thats enough,” the god finally said in a calm voice, and immediately the steady stream of outraged thoughts receded from the dreamer.

The god turned to the little unicorn and smiled politely at her, then asked in the nicest tone the dreamer had heard from him so far.

“My dear, would you mind explaining your predicament to my childishly melodramatic friend here?”  

The purple unicorn looked startled at first to have been directly asked a question from one of them, and she lowered her head before speaking.

“Well....I don't remember all of it. I was doing a...a spell that would allow me to travel outside of my body to different places. The book from which I took the spell was mostly theoretical with little instruction, but it did say that if one managed to succeed then anypony could simply lay down and sleep, and in one's dreams you could travel outside of your body to entirely different worlds and incredible places. I was so excited that I barely had time to create the spell before I tried it! But when I did I ended up...over there...in the...nothing. And I couldn't get out.”

The unicorn spoke quieter and quieter, and at the end she barely spoke above a whisper.

“Huh,” the dreamer spoke. “So this unicorn made her first attempt at out of body travel trough the dream veil without any kind of instructions on how to navigate the void. That's incredibly stupid, you're very lucky to still exist. Had I not appeared you would have scattered yourself all over the infinite void trying to fill it's vacuum and cease to be in the hopeless attempt.”

The unicorn looked at the dreamer with a terrified expression and tears began trickling down her muzzle. Strangely enough, when she noticed she almost seemed happy by it.

“I...I know, I could feel how I was losing things. Losing parts of myself...help me...please.”

It was the pleading that got to him, the dreamer was not made of stone and the sadness and fear that shone out of the little unicorn was so palpable that he almost instinctively embraced her.

Instead he simply said, “I don't know how I can.”

He instantly regretted thinking it, as the unicorns lips began to tremble and he could clearly see how her entire body quickly followed.

The dreamer turned to the god in desperation, and Loki in turn merely looked at his nails before arrogantly brushing them against his muscular chest.

“Ohh I'm sorry, did you want something?” he said with a display of utter lack of concern for the situation.

“Yes, I want you to tell me exactly what I am supposed to do.”

“And why are you asking me now again?” he said still admiring his nails.

“BECAUSE YOU PLANNED ALL OF THIS! Because you already have all of this figured out and are just waiting for the time to tell me when it will be the most amusing for you!” the dreamer screamed his thoughts and angrily waited for the god to admit to his accusations.

The god merely tilted his head and let his arm drop down to his side.

“Very good little mage, you are learning how the game is played on our side of the board. So I will tell you now. Thanks to her prolonged stay in the void the damsel in distress here has almost no link left back to the body in her home world. So this is what you will do; You will allow her to have a little seat in the back of your mind and she will follow you back into your body. Then, you will create a ritual designed to reinvigorate that almost shredded bond and then catapult her mind along this line back to her body. Since the bond is connected to her mind it will also be connected to yours while the ritual is performed, this will allow you to guide her trajectory as it is and she will simply be flung back home.”

The dreamer was expressionless before a thought came from his mind. “And what exactly are the rules we are skirting with this?”

The god laughed loudly at this and shifted his gaze between the unicorn and dreamer as he spoke.

“You are learning indeed! Very well, it is simple. While the different means of outer worldly travel are entirely within the universe's rules, you will be doing something a bit differently. You will establish a bridge across the void. Since you will not be accompanying the lovely miss here back home, you need a line she will travel along that is bound but still separate from you. Outright forming of gateways between worlds are frowned upon unless specifically allowed from the grand powers themselves or in works that are within their design. But this is a personal business so you will technically be trespassing upon restricted territory. Dangerous indeed, but since the gate is connected to your mind instead of a physical manifestation it will be skirting the rules not breaking them.”

The god smiled and seemed pleased with his own cleverness, he would once again be toying with restrictions laid down by the most ultimate of authority in all existence and providing a practical lesson for a future trickster as well.

The dreamer looked at the god with a thoughtful expression, but no thoughts could be heard. He then turned and looked at the unicorn and instantly the decision was made.

Her eyes were so big you could drown in their depth, and within those huge dark purple framed orbs he could see so much fear, sadness and despair. But there was also something more within her eyes, something that defied all those other feelings that threatened to drown her. Hope.

Underneath that gaze there could be no question of what he would do.

“It will be done,” was the only thought echoing out from him, and with it came a sense of iron hard conviction. He had accepted the task and he would complete it no matter what obstacles he might face.

The God began dancing around in glee and the unicorn looked upon the dreamer with so much thankfulness in her eyes he started feeling uncomfortable.

He turned to the god instead and asked, “How shall we do this? I have never allowed another being entry into my mind in this manner.”

Loki stopped his ecstatic dance and his thoughts roared out loud, and in response to them the trees, sun, even the ground beneath them began shaking, and cracks appeared everywhere. The nothingness of the void was devouring the pitiful lie that was their safety net in the darkness. The unicorn wailed in despair as she saw the void coming closer to her once more in all its terrible hunger.

But beneath the roar of the ancient trickster gods thoughts, the both of them could suddenly make out the words.

“EMBRACE EACH OTHER!”

And as the world around them was ripped into tiny specks of creation before dying out entirely, the dreamer and unicorn flung themselves at each other and felt their arms and minds lock around the other as they fell down into the darkness. The only thing they felt was the warmth of each others being, and the last thing they heard was the shrieking laughter of a dark god before they both merged into one.

    **************************************

“Argh my head,” the figure in dark robes exclaimed as he slowly sat up from the mattress he had but moments ago slumbered upon in total relaxation. As he slowly got his bearings and rose up, he experienced a brief flash and all the events that had taken place within the void came back to him.

“Wait, does this mean...?” He quickly searched trough his mind until he finally felt it, an alien presence so utterly different that it could never be mistaken for a part of himself.

“Is someone in there?” he thought and mentally made a few knock knock sounds for some inexplicable reason.

A voice answered from the center of the alien presence, it sounded like warm oily water slowly cascading down his body, a warming feeling refreshing him while softly caressing him.

“What the fuck!?”

“Sorry I didn't mean to do that. I was just speaking like I normally do, well think like I normally do in any case." The mind of the little unicorn certainly hadn't expected that reaction and neither had he to be honest.

“Sigh, well if you are going to inspire those kind of thoughts, then I should at least have some kind of name for you to go by. It will make it easier for me to separate you from the rest of myself  as well.”

The unicorn sounded surprised by his reaction, he could feel how she clearly had expected a lot more blushing and stammering after that little incident. She certainly knew very little about him.

“Well first of all I'm a pony. That's what my kind is called. A unicorn is just the word for the specific kind of pony I am. And secondly, my name is Twilight Sparkle.”

Next Chapter: Chapter 2: Building a bridge Estimated time remaining: 27 Hours, 40 Minutes