//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1: Dreams 
// Story: A Call to Vespers 
// by AlicornPriest 
//------------------------------//


A Call to Vespers
an MLP:FiM fanfic by Alicorn Priest
a sequel to “The Grey Factor”by Japko
Chapter 1
Dreams

“I must... disappointment...”
“Don't worry... I will always love you...”
“I'm sorry... irreparable damage...”
“A miracle of science and magic... so proud...”
“Please... Don't be upset...”
“It's gone... hope is lost...”
“I tried... enough? No... if only...”
“You are... even if...”
“Impossible... without a... how...”
“Jade and I... we will stay...”
“Are you willing to pay the price?”

Twilight woke in a cold sweat. She noticed it was still quite late at night. With a single movement, she removed herself from her bed and stared out the window at the waning moon. 
It had been two months since she and Professor Jade had discovered the strange truth of the royal guards and their perfect similarity. It was a genetic experiment called Project Orphan, unknown to all save the Princesses and the clones themselves, designed to create a team of super-soldiers that could protect Equestria from an otherworldly threat. And she, Twilight, was perhaps the linchpin of the entire project.  She carried a gene known as the Grey Factor, a superlative talent for magic born from the genetic code of a mad wizard-unicorn and key to the plans of the cloning project. However, she herself did not display the gene in a way beneficial to the Princesses. No, it was a talent passed only from mother to son, and someday, her son would be the one whose genes would be the blueprint for the perfect unicorn clones. No other carriers of the Factor were known, and no child could do it but hers. She did not know what that would entail, but she trusted the Princesses.
However, perhaps the worry had been bothering her more than she had thought. She had been so sure that what she had promised to the Princesses was right, but ever since her adventures, she'd been having strange dreams. She could hardly remember anything about them but fragments and hints, but they worried her nonetheless. She had never been one to believe in the power of dreams, but there was something going on in her head that she did not fully understand. Perhaps her subconscious was trying to tell her something. She resolved to talk to a psychologist to see what was the matter. She went back to bed, but, try as she might, she could not return to sleep. It was as though something was keeping her from returning to the land of dreams.
She had been like this before. All she needed was to find something to relax her mind. She went downstairs to find a book, maybe one she hadn't read yet. As she hit the ground floor, her thoughts were suddenly drawn to her desk, where her pen, ink, and parchment lay dutifully waiting. That's it, Twilight thought. I should write a letter to Princess Celestia. I'm sure she can figure out what's wrong. She grabbed a clean sheet of parchment, dipped her quill, and began to write.
Dear Princess Celestia,
I have been having some strange dreams recently. I have a feeling that this is related to Project Orphan, somehow. I can't say anything about what the dreams are about, but they don't seem to be the natural creations of my thoughts. If you know anything that would be helpful, I would be very appreciative.

Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle

As she was writing, she heard the soft patter of scaly feet coming down the stairs. “What are you doing?” asked Spike. “It's 3 o'clock in the morning!”
“Sorry to wake you up,” said Twilight. “But, while you're awake, could you send this letter for me?”
“Uh, sure, I guess,” Spike replied. He puffed up his chest and released a puff of green flame. The letter vaporized into a magical cloud and whisked itself away to the castle. “Are you coming back to bed then?”
“Not yet, Spike,” Twilight said suddenly. She hadn't considered doing anything else, but the thought had just suddenly jumped into her head. “I also need to write a letter to Professor Jade about what's going on.”
“What exactly is going on?” Spike asked. “You never told me what you got up to with him, anyway.”
Twilight paused. She had wanted to tell Spike about Project Orphan, but she wasn't sure what Celestia or Luna would think about it. He wasn't old enough to understand the science or the ethics of the situation, at any rate. “Just... something's come up from before, and I want to make sure everything's all right.”
“Whatever.” Spike was suddenly interrupted by a letter returning through him. He expelled the fire, bringing forth the letter directly before Twilight's eyes. She caught it with her magic. 
“What's this? A response already?” wondered Twilight. She opened the letter.

Faithful Twilight,
My sister is currently abed. However, We would be more than willing to help thee with thine conundrum. We are the Mistress of Dreams, after all, and We have much we can tell thee.
Dreams, such as they are, are the effect of the brain entering the “morpheic state.” Thou hast not read much on this topic, We wager. It is an effect little known to all save ourself. This morpheic state is a greater consciousness, a conjoining with the greater energy of the universe. For most ponies, it effects a peaceful, restful slumber. For some, it causes discontent and worry. But to the rarest of ponies, it can afford them the ability to foresee that which is to come. However, this most commonly occurreth during the period of greatest physical development, that which ponies now call the “teenage years.” Suffice to say, thou hast little worry of this, save if thou beest in a similar period of hormonal change. 
Wherefore thou seest strange visions is perhaps beyond Us. As such a talented unicorn as thou art, perhaps thou perceivest echoes of the world's energies. Art thou seeing normal ponies acting out their lives, with neither the bizarre of the implausible nor the vortex of the ever-changing? This chaos in dreams is most common in the dreams of normal ponies. Should this not be so, then thou art seeing a more plenary version of what is. It is a good tiding, not ill! Rest easy, for these visions shall only worry thee if thou sufferest them to do so. 
Thy constant servant,
Princess L'argento Luna

Twilight scanned the message. It only barely made sense. Something about dreams being prophetic... sometimes, and otherwise being healthy? Dreams being the activity of the brain in a hyperconscious state? Luna may have been able to modernize her speech, but she was still as formal as ever in writing. Perhaps a doctor nearby would be able to be more helpful. She sighed and turned to the next sheet of paper. 
Dear Professor Jade, she wrote. Her quill stopped. What had she wanted to write? She had felt so confident before. She needed to write something... but what? She dipped her quill in the ink and wrote three words and no more.
I need you.
That seemed to appease the buzz in her brain. She set the quill down and put this message in an envelope. She put a stamp on it and prepared for its trip in the morning. With that, she returned to bed, where she slept a dreamless sleep.

“Tell me, when was your last checkup?” This was Dr. Stirrup, the best pony doctor in Ponyville.
“Six months ago,” said Twilight sheepishly.
“You didn't stop by two months ago during that Pony Pox outbreak?”
“Well, no. I was out of town.”
“Hmm,” was all he said. He asked her to stick out her tongue, took her blood pressure, weighed her and measured her. “For this next part, I need you to hold still.”
“Why?”
“I have a special spell I've developed; got my degree for it, actually. It'll give me the 'life signs' of all of the ponies in this room. It'll double check what I've got, but it'll also determine your blood type, your blood sugar level, and your respiratory rate.”
“Ah, sounds useful! Teach it to me sometime?”
“Maybe later,” he said with a chuckle. His horn broke into a bright orange light. However, it quickly fizzled out.
“What's wrong?”
“I don't know,” he responded. “It usually only does that if I've miscounted the number of people in the room. I can usually do up to 50, but--”
“Never mind that. I think I know the problem. Pinkie Pie has this tendency to hide away in the nooks and corners nearby. Can you get her?”
“Sure. Coincidentally, she had an appointment today right about now. Let me go get her.”
Dr. Stirrup left and returned with the bubbly pink mare. “Hey Twilight!” she said. “I'm here to get my teeth whitened!”
“Pinkie, this isn't a dentist's,” Twilight said. 
“I know! I'm really here for a vaccine. But every time I get a shot, I go get ice cream, and my favorite flavor is vanilla, so I always get ten scoops of that, and it gets all over my teeth, and they get all white! So rather than thinking of that scary old shot, I like to think of it as getting my teeth whitened!”
“Of course.” 
“So, what did you need?”
“Nothing, really. Can you promise not to teleport around or do any of your weird Pinkie Pie stuff?”
“Sure!” she burbled. 
“All right, Doctor. Run the spell again,” Twilight said.
He obliged. His horn once again lit up, sparked, and stopped. “I don't understand it,” he said.
“Ooh, ooh, didya count yourself?” Pinkie asked, naïvely helpful.
“Of course I counted myself!”
“Still, maybe you should add one, just in case.”
“If it will get you to be quiet, sure...” said Dr. Stirrup. He lit up his horn. This time, it flashed four times in the air. The flashes lit up the entire room, before being sucked into his eyes. At the end of the spell, he shook his head as if confused.
“What did you see, doctor?” Twilight asked. “Who is the fourth?”
“That's just it,” he said. “There are four of us here: you, me, miss Pie...
“And your child in the womb, miss Sparkle.”