The purple light twisted in the air, unsteady. A cracked shield barely held back the pressure of a darkness that refused to stop advancing.
Twilight.
She was there.
Panting.
Backing away.
Her horn sparked with effort. Every defensive spell seemed to tear the breath from her lungs.
But she did not yield.
In front of her, majestic and merciless, Nightmare Moon took one step after another. Without hurry. Without losing her smile.
"You have will," she said coldly. "But you have no choice."
I didn't remember how I had gotten there.
I didn't know what had happened before.
I only knew this:
This was real.
She was in danger.
And I had to reach her.
But I couldn't.
A creature blocked my path. A monster with no fixed form, faster than thought, launching itself at me as if the air belonged to it. Every time I dodged, another blow came from the side. Every time I struck it, its body reformed.
No detectable magic.
No fear.
And it wouldn't let me pass.
Twilight screamed.
And then… Nightmare Moon raised her horn. A dark lightning bolt formed at its tip.
Twilight conjured another shield, weaker.
Far too weak.
"NO!" I roared, releasing a wave of magic, pushing the monster back, trying to fly, to teleport, to get there— "TWILIGHT!"
But the bolt struck.
And her body fell.
I didn't react at first.
I just saw the smoke.
And then I heard my own breathing.
Ragged. Broken.
I ran to her. The monster didn't matter anymore. The world didn't matter anymore.
She wasn't moving.
I knelt beside her.
Touched her neck.
Searched for her breath.
I pressed my forehead against her neck, trying to contain the knot rising in my chest.
I had failed.
If only I had been faster.
More efficient.
I drifted. I don't know for how long. Maybe seconds. Maybe less.
I snapped back at the sound of Twilight's scream.
And she was no longer in my hooves.
Again.
The same scene.
She, resisting Nightmare Moon.
And that damn monster blocking me, as if the universe were mocking me.
Not this time.
I drove my hooves into the ground, channelled the magic from the earth, and extended a trap under its legs. In its moment of clumsiness, I lifted it from the ground and decapitated it with a magical blade—cold and precise.
Done!
I turned.
Twilight…
I closed my eyes at the sound of her laughter.
Nightmare Moon.
Her again.
If I turned back once… I can do it again.
One more chance.
Just one more.
I just have to do better. I just have to—
The scream returned.
The same one.
Identical.
This time, I didn't wait. I caught the monster the moment it appeared, wrapped it in all my telekinesis and flung it into the sky with all the force I had. I didn't care where it went. I just needed it gone.
I ran.
And I used Flash, burning energy to propel myself towards Twilight. I saw her. Still standing. Still fighting.
I redirected Nightmare Moon's spell with an improvised reflective barrier. This time, it was going to be different.
"Oh, how sweet!" she said, amused, her smile stretching with irony. "Your little blue knight has arrived."
Her laughter was like ice cracking.
"But I think you should also pay attention to him," she added as her horn lit up.
I turned my head.
Off to the side—the monster.
The same one.
It was coming back.
Flying, almost, so fast it seemed to tear through the air.
I conjured a shield instantly, and Twilight reinforced it with hers. We held it together.
But when the monster bit the edge, the barrier shattered like wet paper.
A crack. A vibration.
And then…
A bolt.
Direct.
Twilight didn't have time to conjure another shield.
The bolt hit her side.
She gasped—
"Wiz..."
I saw the light leave her eyes.
Saw her body fall, slowly.
Heavily.
Rage bubbled inside me.
I threw myself on her, hugging her, channelling my magic in a desperate stream.
"No," I murmured through clenched teeth. "No, no, no…"
My magic surged, surrounding her, embracing her with everything I had.
But it felt like I was pouring it into a black hole.
No matter how much I pushed.
There was no end.
No response.
Only emptiness.
Until...
A voice tore through the scene like a different lightning bolt—clear, sharp.
"Breathe, Wizbell Star. This is a simple nightmare.
And we arrived before you could harm anyone… in the real world."
Reality broke.
A silent snap in my mind.
The magic around me pulsed, bubbling, wild. A heartbeat of power about to explode.
My emotions had surpassed all limits.
And if she hadn't spoken… if that voice hadn't anchored me—
A magical surge would have destroyed everything… and anyone nearby.
I inhaled.
Once... Twice.
And with every breath, with every thought, the real images began to return.
Everything had turned out fine.
Twilight was alive.
The monster had been defeated.
The sun had risen.
I was safe.
I told myself.
Again and again.
Until the trembling in my legs stopped.
"Forgive us," said the voice—gentle but firm. "We didn't know you were suffering."
Her tone was not reproachful.
It was filled with genuine concern.
With care.
"It is rare to find our subjects asleep at this hour," she continued. "That is why we were delayed. And that delay… was used to torment you."
I slowly turned my gaze towards the voice. My hooves still trembled. My horn still buzzed with restrained magic.
And there she was.
Princess Luna.
Tall. Serene. Cloaked in her nocturnal mantle, standing atop a shapeless creature—a grotesque shadow squirming beneath her hooves, half-faded. It did not seem of the physical world...
It was a nightmare.
A real creature from the dream realm.
Everything...
Everything was beginning to make sense.
My magic. The cycle. The pain.
None of it had truly been mine.
It wasn't just exhaustion.
Someone—something—had fed on my deepest fear, wrapping it in a perfect illusion, wearing me down from within while convincing me it was real.
Luna took a step towards me.
Her expression, though solemn, was gentle.
"You have endured more than you should. But you faced it—and you are not alone, Wizbell Star."
I lowered my head.
Not because I doubted her.
But because, deep down, it still hurt.
Even if I knew none of it had been real...
the emotion was.
"It was horrible…" I said aloud, barely above a whisper. "The feeling of helplessness..."
I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to erase the echo of Twilight's last scream.
It didn't fully work.
But at least it didn't hurt the same.
"Thank you very much, Princess Luna," I finally said, my voice cracked but sincere.
She nodded, her figure imposing and serene, silhouetted against the dream sky that was beginning to rebuild itself.
"The pleasure is ours," she replied solemnly. "For now, we must take our leave. The banquet awaits us, and our duties must continue."
A brief pause.
A slight smile.
"Continue enjoying your dream, Wizbell Star. Tonight… there is nothing left to fear."
With an elegant turn, her form dissolved into a blue mist that merged with the stars.
The silence that followed wasn't heavy.
It was light.
Comforting.
And then, slowly…
The dream returned to a normal path.
The shadows faded.
The air smelled of open fields again.
The sky, now stable, no longer threatened to crack.
At first, I knew it was a dream.
I could feel it, I could distinguish it.
Until… I got lost in it.
————————————————————————
[The next day]
I woke up feeling renewed.
I must've slept more than twenty hours.
I felt stiff, but calm.
I opened my eyes slowly, noticing that daylight already filled the room.
Stella was still asleep beside me, wrapped in the blankets like nothing in the world could bother her.
The clock read 9:07 a.m.
I sat up carefully, and as I did, a few cracks ran through my joints.
"Agh…" I muttered, stretching.
Without thinking, I released a small aura of sacred magic.
The energy swept over my body like a warm breeze, relaxing muscles, adjusting joints, repairing the minor tensions caused by sleeping too long and in such a poor position.
My own magic was healing me.
And for once… I was thankful.
"Yaaawn…" I yawned without holding back.
I felt alive.
And that was more than I could say about the night... or the day before.
Stella stirred a bit in her spot.
"Just a bit more… just a little more…" she murmured in her sleep, biting her toy with a dreamy smile.
I let her be.
I got up slowly and walked to the bathroom, still feeling a bit heavy from so many hours of sleep.
"Yaaawn…"
On the way, as I passed the mirror, I saw myself.
My mane completely messy, looking like I'd fought with an enchanted pillow.
"Heh..."
I said nothing else.
I stepped into the tub and prepared a bath of magical bubbles. I sank in up to my neck, letting the warmth do its job. I didn't think about anything. I didn't want to catch thoughts.
Just... be.
I let my mind drift.
No duties.
No dreams.
Just foam, warmth… and silence.
When I got out, I dried off with a light spell, gave myself a little shake, and went straight to the kitchen.
I made myself an overly sweet coffee.
Probably more sugar than coffee.
I paired it with soft cookies, topped with strawberry and vanilla marshmallow.
A slow start to a good rest.
I sat on my extra-soft sofa and simply… enjoyed the silence.
The kind I'd already grown used to in this world.
"Hmmm…" I murmured as I took a sip.
I should buy a television.
I know they exist.
It'd be nice to have one… I'll place an order later.
What could I do today…?
I looked out the window for a moment, without much expectation.
"Maybe I could… Oh! I know!"
I jumped up, still with the cup and cookies floating at my side, held in my telekinesis.
I ran straight to the lab.
The four scrolls were still there, floating in a circle where I had left them. Waiting for me.
My last experiment… I'd left it unfinished right before the chaos.
Today, finally, I could pick it back up.
Hehehe… the excitement welled up at the possibilities.
The complex spell I had constructed was ready, and I… I...
I looked at my magic.
At my two magic circles.
"Right… I have another now."
It was like a bucket of cold water.
I sat down right then and there, unmoving, analysing myself.
Looking for anything different.
Any change.
Any benefit.
The first—and easiest—to notice was the density of my magical power.
It had increased again.
So had my reserves.
And my regeneration… twice as fast with the second ring.
But there was more.
"I don't know if… oh… yes."
I extended my magical perception.
Before, my sense was like a constant bubble. A sensory sphere that surrounded me twenty-four hours a day, non-stop.
Now…
Now I could direct it.
I could turn it off.
Redirect it.
As if my magical senses had matured.
It was strange, as it always is…
Novel.
Curious.
But strange.
Another detail caught my attention:
I was absorbing magic from the environment.
I no longer relied only on what I generated from my internal core—that one that, long ago, had become like a second heart—but now… my reserves increased passively.
The magical particles in the air…
They drifted towards me.
As if something in me drew them in.
As if there was a charge difference between them and me.
And every time they got within a metre of me...
They were pulled in.
As if I were at the centre of a small magical gravitational field.
Bringing my hoof close to one of those invisible particles… I saw how it bounced away, then curved back toward my chest.
And there it vanished.
Or rather...
It fused with me.
I didn't feel any loss of control.
No disconnection from my magic.
Quite the opposite.
I felt more connected to it.
More than ever before.
And for that very reason… I could feel it.
A clear, firm intuition, as if my magic were whispering it from deep within:
There was room for another ring.
In my core.
In that magical heart already beating with two perfect circles…
There was space for a third.
The feeling was certain.
It wasn't a whim.
I knew it.
But I also understood something else:
Not the time.
Not now.
Maybe in the future.
When I've reached my full potential with this second ring.
When I fully master this new state.
I'll need a power source.
Or find a way to accumulate enough magic on my own.
Maybe…
Yes. Maybe this time, I'll form it myself.
No accidents.
No external interventions.
No unknown variables.
I'll use all my magical power to forge it.
My will.
My design.
My pace.
A third ring…
when I'm ready.
As a small test of skill, I decided to summon the most complex magic circle I know.
The same one in front of me.
It had to be identical.
I had created it.
My magic had shaped it.
Therefore, they had to resonate with each other… until they fused.
I stood before the floating scrolls and began to move my magic with care.
Slowly, with precision.
Every line, every rune, every curve had to fit perfectly.
There could be no mistakes.
Not in this.
"What are you doing so early… nya?" said a sleepy voice behind me.
Stella had come down to the lab.
She sat beside me and leaned against my thigh, rubbing her eyes with one of her forehooves.
Her mane was a disaster.
Styled by the chaos of sleep.
It made me feel warm… and amused.
"Good morning," I said softly, without breaking focus. "You look dangerous with that hairstyle."
She just snorted between yawns and stayed there, pressed against me, watching with interest whatever it was I was doing.
I continued with the spell.
Soon I finished the first circle.
Then the second, a bit faster.
And so I went on, speeding up the process until I completed all four.
I didn't release control at any moment.
The scrolls, which previously overlapped to maintain the structure's stability, began to vibrate.
They were trying to resonate with the spells suspended in the air.
As if they knew they were about to fulfil their final purpose.
Then… I let them go.
I released control.
And the circles began to fuse on their own.
The scrolls burned in a soft magical flame—no heat, no smoke.
Only pure energy disappearing with dignity.
I took the four suspended spells and unified them.
Fused them with surgical precision.
Until they took their final form.
The magic vibrated in the lab.
Not like an explosion.
Not like a tremor.
More like a perfect chord resonating in the air.
A historic moment… or at least for me.
Because I had just fused four magical circles, each level 6 or higher.
An almost impossible feat.
Twenty-six lines, multiple layers and structures… all held with precision.
"I must be insane for doing this…" I whispered with a grin.
But if this worked…
I could be recognised as an Archmage.
"You're giggling like a maniac, nya…" said Stella, lifting her gaze with a sleepy little smile. "I like it!"
"So… what does it do?" asked Stella, clutching the overly sweet coffee cup with both forehooves.
She held a cookie delicately, dipped it in the coffee for a few seconds, then brought it to her mouth without taking her eyes off the floating circle.
"This…" I said, still looking at the magical structure, "can summon anything."
She blinked.
"Anything…?"
I nodded slowly.
"Literally anything that has ever been created… or that's yet to be created."
Stella stayed silent for a few seconds, chewing.
"…Like an infinite cookie factory?"
"Yes." I smiled. "If I manage to stabilise it and anchor it to a large enough energy source, I could do that."
She let out a soft "woah" and dipped another cookie, as if she'd just seen a shooting star and that was the most natural thing in the world.
"And… what would you use it for?" asked Stella, still holding her coffee cup while dunking another cookie. "Are you going to summon some ultra-rare magical material? A diary full of history and witchcraft…?"
Her eyes lit up.
"A grimoire! That's a good one!"
She chewed with enthusiasm while staring at me, expecting something epic.
"Honestly…" I said with a tilted smile, "I invented it on a whim. For something more mundane."
"Eh?"
"I hope it works…"
I closed my eyes.
Took a deep breath.
And focused.
Not on a grimoire.
Not on a sacred artefact.
But on that.
That memory.
That nostalgic object from my other life.
Something without magic… but that meant a lot.
I transmitted the thought into the spell, guiding my intent like a silent signal.
Through my magical sense, I felt it.
The spell responded.
It received the idea, the concept.
It understood.
And it locked on.
A vibration ran through the floating structure.
Then, a second pulse—demanding.
The spell demanded magic.
Not just channelled.
Consumed.
Because what it was about to do… wasn't teleportation.
It was recreation.
Using pure magical energy to materialise the object from the Akashic records.
From the imprint it had left upon existence itself.
"Come on…" I whispered. "Work…"
The magic circle gathered so much energy that it became hard to see.
A dense light, almost liquid, wrapped around it, distorting the air.
But it could be felt.
The magic vibrated with each passing second, slowly transforming, releasing small magical pulses as every part of the object took form.
It wasn't a long process.
In fact, it all happened in a matter of seconds.
And when the light faded…
There it was.
In front of me.
A box.
Wrapped in shiny gift paper, with a perfectly tied red bow.
There was even a note tied to the ribbon…
But the message wasn't there.
There were no words.
Maybe because I hadn't asked for any.
Just the object.
Just what mattered.
"A gift?" said Stella, her voice full of curiosity. "You're killing me with suspense, Wiz!"
She stepped closer and sniffed the box softly.
"Hmm… doesn't smell like anything."
And that, somehow… made it feel even more real.
Because it wasn't an object brought from another world.
It was a pure recreation.
A memory turned matter.
No physical past.
Only present.
And most importantly…
it was mine.
I opened the box with a small magical push, careful not to damage anything in the process.
The ribbon came undone softly. The wrapping folded onto itself.
And there it was.
A console.
Retro.
Black and grey, with strange slots and a design impossible to find in Equestria.
A Nintendo 64.
With it came several cartridges. Familiar titles, vibrant colours.
Games I knew by heart.
Games that brought back whole afternoons in another world, another life… when things were simpler.
"N...I...Nintendo… 64…" Stella read aloud, dragging the letters slowly. "What is this?"
She looked at me, confused, her ears turned in my direction like she urgently needed an explanation for that strange, alien device.
I just smiled.
"A relic from my world," I said softly, a warm knot in my chest. "Something I wanted to have again… just to have it."
Although… now that I knew I could summon more things…
I might as well bring everything I needed.
The console, the TV, the cables, the adapter, the controllers…
The full experience.
My mind began imagining it all.
A corner of my house with furniture from another world.
A little nostalgic sanctuary.
A piece of Earth, here.
"You're going wild!" Stella suddenly interrupted, waving her little hoof in front of my face. "Wiz to ground control! Wiz to ground control! Do you read me?"
I blinked.
Her face was right in front of mine.
"Seriously now, what does this thing do?" she asked, pointing at the box with a playfully desperate expression.
I chuckled softly, shaking my head.
"It's… a video game console.
A device for playing, basically."
She looked at me in silence.
Then slowly looked back at the box.
"That's it?" she asked.
I nodded with a calm smile.
"That's it. And also… it's a lot."
"Bah… what a waste!" Stella huffed, puffing her cheeks as she walked away with her tail held high. "You should summon a litter box if you're gonna waste magic like that."
I laughed under my breath, watching her walk away, still half-asleep, taking exaggerated offended steps… but not going very far.
"Noted on the priority list," I said quietly, amused. "Magical litter box with interdimensional self-cleaning system."
Stella didn't respond, but I saw one of her ears twitch toward me.
She'd heard me.
And she was smiling too.
"Alright then…" I murmured as I sat in front of the console. "I need to make a full list of what I need to build that room. And tests. Lots of tests…"
I rested my chin on a hoof, thinking.
"I have to make sure it works properly… Maybe the physical laws of this world—or the ambient magic—could corrupt something. I might need complete magical insulation, a neutral bubble with no arcane interference…"
I paused.
"And find a way to generate 110 volts of alternating current… That's not hard. The tricky part will be sustaining it. Hm…"
I stood up and started pacing in circles, speaking to myself.
"I could summon a generator… some batteries… Or better yet, I could recreate them myself! Study the blueprints, build them with solid magic…"
I stopped.
"…Or I could just ask the spell to give them to me ready-made."
I frowned.
"No.
That makes it boring."
I smiled.
Because the best part of all this…
Is that now I had something to play with.
Ding… dong…
The sound of the magic alarm echoed through the house.
Someone was at the door.
"Visitors this early…?"
I set the console down on a table beside the project notes and headed to the front hall.
As I arrived, I saw Stella poking her head out from her door. She gave me a knowing grin, raising her eyebrows playfully before ducking back into her room.
When I opened the door, I was met by a visibly concerned Twilight.
"Oh, hey!" she greeted, not giving me time to speak. "How are you? Are you alright? Are you feeling anything weird? Does anything hurt? Do you want to go to the doctor?"
She was about to step forward, but stopped just in time to grab Pinkie Pie by the mane—who had already been bouncing in my direction.
"No, Pinkie! Don't jump on him!"
"Oh! Sorry," said Pinkie, placing her front hooves back on the floor. "I just wanted to see if you were okay. You vanished out of nowhere yesterday! And Princess Celestia only said you'd be fine. Are you?! We were so worried! Big Mac got hurt, Flash has a sprain, and you ran straight from helping them to us!"
"It's true, dear," added Rarity gracefully. "If it wouldn't be too much trouble, I offer to repair your hoodie. I saw it was a bit damaged…"
"NO!" Twilight rushed to say. "Sorry, I got carried away. No need, Rarity. With a little magic he can fix it himself."
Meanwhile, Pinkie was watching everything with a growing grin that widened the more chaos unfolded.
I gestured for them to come in.
"And the others?" I asked as I closed the door. "Are they okay?"
"Applejack's at the orchards with her brother, collecting apples as always," answered Pinkie, already snooping behind a painting.
"Rainbow Dash is with Flash," she added. "She went to see him after hearing about the sprain. I think he pushed himself too hard with those exercises..."
She paused a moment and added in a slightly softer tone:
"As for Fluttershy… she's calming some animals. They got confused by the sun's cycle and ended up hurt."
I nodded quietly. Everything was beginning to settle back into place, though with minor consequences and a bit of disorder… normal after a night like that.
"Are you looking for your stuff again?" I asked, seeing her peeking behind a vase.
"I remember leaving some streamers here…"
"If you're looking for what you hid, it's all right here, Pinkie," I said, handing her a box full of party supplies and some wrapped cupcakes.
"YOU!" she exclaimed, eyes wide. "This means war!"
And without further warning, she dove headfirst into the box and began devouring the cupcakes like it was a battle for dessert honour.
"Oh dear… that wasn't necessary," said Rarity with a mix of grace and resignation as she helped clean up Pinkie Pie. "No one was going to steal your food."
Pinkie tried to thank her immediately, but her mouth was full of cupcake.
"Mmmf-mmf-mff… mmm!"
"Ah, ah, ah," Rarity interrupted gently, raising a hoof. "Don't talk with your mouth full, please. Finish chewing and then thank us, darling."
Pinkie nodded with her mouth still puffed out, while Rarity finished brushing some crumbs off her coat.
"So… what's the plan for today?" I asked curiously.
Pinkie raised her head with immediate excitement, as if she'd been waiting all morning for that question.
"I don't know!" she said cheerfully. "Sell cupcakes, catch bugclocks that eat cupcakes, make more cupcakes, sell them again, read the mayor's journal to see if there's anyone new in Ponyville, write in my own journal, take care of Gummy, chase Twilight at noon, brag that I got invited to a certain super special party earlier, visit Flash and pester him to stop his obsession with grapes, help Applejack with some small chores, visit the Ponyville school and hand out cupcakes and laughter."
She fell silent for a second.
Blinked.
"And after that… improvise!"
I simply nodded, slowly processing everything she'd just said.
Or at least… what I managed to understand.
"Let's just say I got what Pinkie meant," Twilight cut in, stepping forward with her usual formal tone. "It's my duty and assignment to help the ponies of Ponyville and discover the magic of friendship. A task entrusted to me by Princess Celestia."
She paused briefly and looked directly at me.
"Just as I must ensure that you are well… and not doing anything dangerous."
I held back a smile.
"And I've completed that last part, so… come on, girls! Let's not bother him any longer."
Without hesitation, Twilight began herding the group towards the exit.
Each said goodbye in their own way:
Rarity with an elegant bow.
Pinkie waving a hoof in the air as she was carried like a sack of sugar.
"You may not have noticed…" said Stella from the stairs, wagging her tail with amusement, "but she took the rest of your coffee. And also grabbed a bottle of your chocolate."
I gave her a tired look.
"Twilight…" I sighed. "Honestly, not surprising."
I stretched a little while closing the door.
"If she did it at the castle in front of Celestia… why not here too?"
Stella just let out a soft chuckle.