//------------------------------//
// 9. I the dream / I the dreamer (KitsuneRisu) 
// Story: Dream A Little Dream Of Me 
// by horizon 
//------------------------------//

Potluck

I the dream
I the dreamer
I the judge
I the guilty

I watched a dozen voices a dozen times over

I listened
I spoke
And now


I tell the truth


For the true tragedy is not that of the death of a single pony
but the death of every pony else

for Peridot is the cause
and reason
and end
to all

and the second fall of Myinnkyun.

I sit by the wayside and listen
and brand words into my heart
but I fear it is too late

For when a thousand opinions and a thousand facts finally clash
then we see
how it begins and ends


with a lie.


I must do what I must do
But let me tell you the final tale of Myinnkyun.

The day that Peridot disappeared
was a day when

when

when


when a single rotten pony used a lie


for gain

for trust

for power

Majority Vote with tongue of silver and heart of black
used the town
influenced the mind
whispered words in the ears of those who would listen

And Andi Quote listened
and spread
like a disease


the foul lies


it sickens me


the foul lies


that would give him power retained
at the cost of reality

and when reality became
that an innocent kelpie
took Peridot’s life
so did it incite the town.


This was the first lie



a lie of the tongue.



The second lie is a lie of carnality.


The one named Littlemoth
committed a crime
wreaked by guilt
haunted by what she had done

and her dreams echoed her panic
and fear in the face of immediacy mixed with what she would be blamed for

for what had she done was worse than kill an innocent
but no innocent life was taken by her

her quarrel was not with Peridot
her quarrel was with everypony else

for she had slept with many
allies and enemies
and many nights before the disappearance of Peridot
did Littlemoth find herself in bed
with the Mooken

And upon being caught
did she flee.

Up the ramparts did she fly
seizing a spear to use as a weapon
A weapon that Spotlight was not looking after

But as of dates and ownership
a drunken mind is an unreliable one
And a pony who believes two weeks after to be many days before
can be trusted less with possessions.

The spear was not his to take care of
for the spear was not his own but that of Dawn Patrol’s
who happened to be in the area
and he vouched for Spotlight as he was guilty of the same disregard.

Dawn

too

was lax

in care

of his weapon

and chose to allow Spotlight to take the blame.


More lies.



The third of convenience.


How long Littlemoth had been sleeping with the enemy is something
that I do not know
nor wish to know

what is important is that
it was the first time she had been caught
and now suffers for it in the mind and soul

as all things do in the end.

But she bears not the punishment
for the owner of the spear
Dawn Patrol


committed the fourth lie


on the night with no moon


a lie of proxy.


Sunspot recognizes the use of sympathetic magic
weaved and crafted by the shamen

using Dawn Patrol’s spear to channel their focus
they broke into his mind
like a thief with a safe
but not to steal
but to plant

and there they placed doubt

fear

madness

and so it is so

for as I enter his dreams at night
I hear but the torrents of a second voice
yelling over the first
like a typhoon swelling over a town

causing disharmony

and disharmony caused Dawn to chase off the boats on the moonless night
a wicked Mooken magic
so for Dawn to distract the others not to attack his love


All lies now converge.



All lies come to a boil.


In a pot
mixed by a dozen hooves
all of which know not of the brew.


The lies shift



the lies change



the lies mutate



and they turn into truths.


The kelpie murdered Peridot?

The Minotaurs sunk the ships?

All a matter of circumstance.
All a matter of layers.

Sunspot hunted the kelpie
and another story is cast into tragedy
as two innocents are driven apart by the seed

the crack in the pavement
caused by the unstoppable force of the plant that grows from within

and its fruit

war

war is here

war is coming.

But there is a murderer to discuss.

And to that I say


that within the lies



I must maintain the truth


and within

and without

and it gives me fear


but the truth


is precious


and to the truth I will hold



~



the murderer



is me.



~


For that night in the bar

had I not raised objection
had I not called for a single song

the events
like the flapping of the wings of a moth
would not have transpired

Dawn would not have danced with Littlemoth
Littlemoth would not have been incensed to find love

Dawn’s mind would not have been muddled
with nothing else to latch onto
allowing magic to fill the spaces between

I cast off the first ship
into this sea of fire

and like everyone else
am guilty of the murder
of Myinnkyun.

But as they now take up their spears
but as they take up their swords and magic
as they march

I will not march with them.

I do not abandon my post easily

I do not run away for the sake of running

but I do so to reclaim the innocent soul

I do so to save the one most deserving of saving


For I have one last truth to rely on


and the knowledge

that the dead

do not dream.


I can only rely on the truth of Cabotage


who both hated and knew Peridot the most
for he was a brother and enemy in trade

and he knew of her habits
and knew of her state

and knew that in her age
she was a clumsy fool

and when she fell into the water
after a walk that night
and disappeared into the waves

she was swept away

and is somewhere

in the waters

dreaming

and waiting

and the thoughts on her mind

are those of peace

are those that wish for everyone not to fight

she has been there for some time

and will not last long

but she woke with the sun

and will sleep with the moon

and now I must leave
to find her
to save her
to rescue her

as is my final duty

as is my repent

I will cheat my fate

I will not be truthful to the same punishment that I so deserve

And after I find her

I will not be seen again

for Peridot is the cause
and reason
and end
to all

and everything has begun

and ends


with a lie