//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 // Story: Dreamstrider // by OkemosBrony //------------------------------// When I wake up and see my room full of warm light, I can’t help but smile. It’s the weekend! It’s really weird to think that just a week ago, I was back home and school hadn’t even started yet. Come to think of it, I think it was exactly a week ago that mom and I went back-to-school shopping. She hated going so close to when school started, but for once, it was her that forgot to go and not me. When I get out of bed, the marble floor’s a little warmer that it usually is, but still not a lot warmer. But Princess Luna got me a couple more rugs so my hooves wouldn’t be as cold, which is nice. I go to my dresser and grab my brush, then start working on my mane as I look around the room. It still looks like an empty room nopony lives in, but now that more of my stuff is unpacked, it's looking more and more like my room. It’s weird because it looks like it’s my room, but it also looks like it isn’t my room. Like, my room in somepony else’s house. I don’t really know how it works like that, but it does. After I’m done with my mane and tail, I put the brush back down on the dresser and exit to the hallway. There’s nopony to lead me this morning, but I follow what I think is the right direction; right, a left at the bat-pony armor, and a left at the really beat-up paper with all sorts of weird drawings that look like chickens scratched them out. Sure enough, I find the doors the Royal Guards are guarding, which they open to let me inside. When I enter the dining hall, not one, but two ponies look at me. Princess Luna is sitting on the side I usually sit on, and across from her is Princess Celestia! It’s a good thing I did my mane before coming, I guess. Wouldn’t want to meet a Princess with bed head. “Princess Celestia!” I manage to squeak out when I get up to the table, bowing nervously. “There’s no need for any of that,” she laughs. “Don’t be nervous, and you don’t need to bow. You’re Princess Luna’s private student after all, and so the relationship we’ll come to have will be much more casual than what I have with most ponies.” “Okay,” I laugh uneasily as I walk next to Princess Luna and sit down with her. “Why are you here?” “I decided to meet my sister’s new pupil,” she says while looking me over. “I had heard she was going to be taking you on and I wanted to meet you when you arrived, but this past week has been incredibly busy for me.” “What was the issue you said you were facing, sister?” Princess Luna asks, looking up from her breakfast. She sighs, and I swear I can see her roll her eyes a little. Now I can claim Princess Celestia does it if mom ever gets mad at me for it again. “The Minotaurs wanted me to help settle their dispute again. Their Emperor was deposed, and the remaining Kings cannot come to a decision on who should be the next Emperor. It was mostly a week full of the North-King reminding me how much he’s done to help Equestria.” “Why do they need you to decide?” I ask before putting food in my mouth. I have a feeling it’s going to be a long answer, so I can at least eat during that. "Their Emperor recently went mad, so they took him out of power," she starts, putting her hoof on the table. "The Kings are then supposed to decide on a new Emperor, but they cannot reach a consensus. They all have a say in important matters, so the other Kings usually deny anyone who is closely allied with any of the other Kings. Since they could not reach an agreement, they have looked outwards for a neutral party to help decide; first me, and I suspect they will contact Princess Cadence next.” She moves her hoof from the table to her chin. “I suppose I should probably warn her...the South-King has been known to cause damages wherever he stays.” “Enough about politics, sister,” Luna smiles while shaking her head. “Enjoy yourself! You are the Princess; you are allowed to call a Royal Relaxation Day whenever you need to.” “I suppose you’re right,” she laughs while pouring herself some apple juice. She looks out over the table. “In fact, I think I know how I can have some fun right now,” she says, clearly starting to make a prank in her mind. Luna laughs. “Perhaps show my student how it is done? Teach her all the important things about living in the castle.” I think this is it: I’m about to see how Princess Celestia and Princess Luna prank their serviceponies! There are always rumors running around about how they do it, but I’ll be able to see it first hoof! Princess Celestia raises a hoof, and one of the ponies immediately runs over to her. “Yes, my Princess?” he bows. “Please go tell the chef I would like today’s lunch entree to be cream of mushroom soup,” she says, pointing towards the kitchen. “Yes, Princess. Right away, Princess!” He dashes away, and Princess Celestia looks back at Princess Luna. They both smile. If that was a prank, I don’t get it. Princess Celestia raises another hoof, and one of the other serviceponies runs over and bows down just like the first one. “Yes, my Princess?” “Please go tell the chef I would like today’s lunch entree to be wild hay soup.” “Yes, Princess. Right away, Princess!” When he runs off to the kitchen, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna look at each other and start laughing. If that’s what passes for funny around here, it’s not very good. “Is that it?” I ask. “Just wait,” Princess Celestia says, grabbing a forkful of food. “Give it a minute.” We all eat in silence for another minute, and then I can hear what sounds like a bowl being dropped from the kitchen. “Are you out of your GOD DAMNED MIND?” a voice yells. “Cream of mushroom soup is a travesty! We might as well be serving cold shit for lunch!” Wow. What does cream of mushroom soup mean in Canterlot? Back home, it means soup. “It’s better than the abomination called wild hay soup! How that stuff isn’t used on the front lines as biological warfare is beyond me!” Princess Celestia and Princess Luna can hardly contain themselves now. It’s kind of funny, but all they really did was cause a fight. There’s more sounds of fighting, and eventually, it sounds like entire shelves are falling down. Another voice comes and yells, but I can’t hear what it’s saying. There’s a really long, awkward silence, and then one of the serviceponies comes out, completely covered in food and stands next to Princess Celestia. “Princess, I regret to inform you that there has been a slight...complication with today’s lunch menu.” “Oh no!” she says. “Is there something wrong with the minestrone?” “Mine…” He just pauses and stands there for a moment. “Yes, with the minestrone. The minestrone has caused a little bit of an issue, but I will go inside and get our minestrone issue solved so the minestrone can be served for today’s lunch, which is minestrone.” He walks away, and when he enters the kitchen, it’s just silent. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna just look at each other, both barely keeping their laughter in. “IF YOU TAKE ANOTHER GOD DAMNED STEP, I SWEAR I WILL SMACK YOU WITH THIS CAULIFLOWER SO HARD YOUR GRANDMOTHER’S GOING TO FEEL IT!” By now, they’re both laughing as hard as they possibly can. I guess it is kind of funny, though I feel bad for the kitchen ponies. “Which will they end up picking, anyways?” I ask. “My guess is sandwiches,” she says. “They’ll give up on deciding what I want and just give me something they can throw together when they realize it’s two minutes to lunchtime and they’ve spent the whole morning screaming and throwing food at each other. But I don’t mind; they haven’t given me anything bad yet.” “Why prank them?” I ask. “It’s a little bit of fun in our lives,” she says, calming herself down. “They try much too hard to wait on us, and it can be a little smothering sometimes.” She smiles slightly. “And besides, we always liked practical jokes. Still pull them on each other occasionally.” “She still hasn’t forgiven me for swapping her shampoo for mane dye,” Princess Luna laughs. “I had a meeting with the Caliph of Saddle Arabia!” she yells back. Princess Luna laughs even harder. “That was twelve hundred years ago, sister!” “My mane was changing color, and you spelled ‘Eat at Sloppy Joe’s’ in it! I had to cancel, and he threatened war because he claimed I refused to listen to him!” “He didn’t, and he got overthrown when he got back anyways, so what’s it matter? No harm done. In fact, that helped; we wanted him gone anyways, and when he couldn’t get an audience with you, the Saddle Arabians finally got fed up with nopony taking him seriously and replaced him. And I would say Empress Haisanh was far better than he ever was.” “You got lucky,” she says angrily, pointing a hoof at her. “You were completely reckless, and you completely lucked out.” “What I’m hearing is that I didn’t cause any damage,” she smirks. Princess Celestia grumbles something to herself, then goes back to eating. It’s nice to know it’s not just my sisters and me that fight. Seems like all sisters are like that. “Do you have any plans for today?” Princess Luna asks, looking from Princess Celestia to me. “Not really,” I shrug. “Would you like some?” she asks with a smile. “Perhaps learn a little more about our history?” “Of the Dreamstriders?” I ask. At least, I assume that’s what she’s talking about. She nods back. “I’ve collected a lot of artifacts over my lifetime, including many from before my life. Almost as long as ponies have been recording history, the Dreamstriders have been known.” “That’s really cool,” I say excitedly. “Is there a museum about it?” “Not a museum, but one of my collections in the palace. We can go there later today, if you’d like?” “Sure! Can we go after breakfast?” “We can go after you finish your homework,” she says with a smirk, bring her teacup up to her mouth. “It’s only Saturday morning! I can do it later!” “Responsibilities first,” she says firmly. “Wonder where I’ve heard that before,” Princess Celestia laughs. Princess Luna just glares at her. When I get to Princess Luna’s room, I look up at the bat pony guard, who’s staring down at me. Her bright orange eyes are really scary, causing me to take a few steps back. “Speak your business,” she hisses. “I’m...here to see Princess Luna.” “She is busy. Go away, child.” “Can you...please tell her Aurora’s here?” “Aurora?” she asks. Growling and mumbling something to herself, she goes into the room. After a little bit, she comes out and keeps the door open while standing beside it. “She has allowed you entrance.” When I walk through the door, I look around the room, which reminds me a lot like a dungeon. It's welcoming though, even though it’s a big, circular room made of all stone and with a big dome for a ceiling. There are torches all around the walls which are giving off some bright light that’s really good at lighting up the room but isn’t blinding. A fire’s going in the fireplace, and the combined lights show all the furniture in the room: a big couch looking straight at the fireplace, a few cushions next to the couch so other ponies could sit, and a large table on the other side of the room. Princess Luna walks out of one of the doors around the room and smiles at me. “Good to see you again,” she says, walking up to me. “All done with your homework, I hope.” “Yes,” I answer. “You’re just like my mom.” She laughs, then walks past me so I follow her. “I just want to make sure you’re staying on top of things. I know you were a little worried about starting school, so I just want to make sure you can catch any problems that arise before they become too problematic.” “It was kinda hard, but I solved it. Tested all the charms to make sure they work.” “That’s good of you,” she says, walking out of the room. The bat pony salutes her, then glares at me when I walk out behind her. “That bat pony doesn’t seem to like me,” I say to Princess Luna once I know we’re far enough away she won’t hear. “That’s just Sveta. She’s a good guard, but she is a little...abrasive.” “Abrasive?” “She’s just a little tough to handle. Comes off as too aggressive to most ponies, but she’s just protective.” “Where are the bat ponies even from?” “Far, far to the southeast, beyond where even the dragons live. They live in the dark, in elaborate cave cities which may be miles underground. I have never been, but some of them used to tell tales of their homelands; I hope that someday I can go there and see them for myself.” “Do they come here a lot?” “Sadly, none of the bat ponies in Equestria have ever seen their homeland,” she says, hanging her head. “They are of the Thestral tribe, a tribe whose ancestors came here long ago, before I succumbed to Nightmare Moon. They were refugees, caught on the losing side of a civil war. Many lands turned them down, but we took them in. They had to hide during my time on the moon because they supported Nightmare Moon, but little by little, they have been coming back to me. Celestia was a little skeptical about letting them back in, but they have proven themselves.” “Are they all that mean?” “I do not believe she is mean. They’re just like ponies; they all have their own personalities. And Sveta has gone through a lot in her life, as they all have. They’re still a part of the Royal Guard, but when they try and go and meet the other guards, they just turn them away. As such, they tend to stick with each other and are not too fond of others. Even though she may seem like she’s annoyed with you now, treating Sveta with respect will cause her to ease up on you. She won’t admit it, but she’s lonely, like they all are. They were not always welcome before, and they hoped it would be different this time, but it has not gone as they had hoped it would. For thousands of years, her tribe has been outsiders, never feeling they have a place to truly call their home.” That’s kind of sad. They always told us in school that mean ponies were just lonely or upset, but I never thought it was true. I guess it really is. We walk in silence throughout the castle, passing all sorts of different wings that look like their own little museums until coming to a large set of old wooden doors, a gold plaque with some weird symbols on it hanging above them. “What’s it say?” I ask, pointing up at it. “I’ll let you read it yourself,” she smirks, opening the doors. “It’s the language of the creatures who live in the dream world; you’ll have to learn it as part of your training.” Learning a whole new language? Sounds really difficult. I don’t really know, I’ve heard it’s really hard. “It’ll be fine,” she laughs as she walks through the doors. “Your silence tells me you’re worried.” Wow, she’s really good at reading ponies. I walk in behind her, and once we’re inside, the doors shut behind me. “Is it dark in here?” she asks, turning around to face me. I look around, then back to her. “Kind of, but I can still see.” “Another ability of a Dreamstrider,” she smiles. “There is no light in here; to a non-Dreamstrider, it would be pitch black. Sure their eyes would eventually adjust, but they could still not see as well as we could.” “So we can see in the dark? But how come I always know when it’s dark?” “It just means your vision is much better. Your eyes do not create light so you can see.” I kind of think I get what she’s saying, but it’s hard to imagine the difference between me and somepony else because I’ve never had to live like that. I can’t really think of what it would be like to not be able to see really well in the dark. “Follow me,” she says as we go through a doorway on the right into a large room. Right in front of us is a large display case, where a mannequin wearing dark blue robes with a belt around the middle of their body and a hat with a crescent moon symbol sewn on is standing. “Have you ever heard of Sipponi?” I shake my head. “Is that what Dreamstriders used to be called?” “It is where the Dreamstriders were first documented, long since buried under the sands of Saddle Arabia. There they were called the Salilu Muttalliku, and they were some of the highest-ranking officials in their society. The most powerful magical families often tried to marry their children off into other powerful magical families so they could create a Salilu Muttalliku and launch their family’s prestige even higher, but it rarely worked.” “What if their foals wanted to marry somepony else, somepony not in the other family?” “Their opinion did not matter,” she shakes her head. “The family was given importance over anything else, including the individuals that comprised it.” “That’s terrible! Why wouldn’t anypony just stop it?” “When it was somepony’s turn to lead a family, they often felt that because they were robbed of their own free will, their family should be, too.” She sighs. “It was truly a dangerous cycle, one many say was too rigid. Sipponi eventually fell when they were invaded, and the peasants and lowly ponies were the first to be targeted. Because they were not at immediate risk, those high up did not do much to stop the invaders. By the time they were threatened, their enemies controlled everything that gave them power: their land, their crops, their laborers.” She smiles a little. “But enough about all that, I say we move on to the next room. I want to show you all the collections, and you may go through and look at all of the other, smaller items in each room when we’re done. I just want this trip to be a brief history, though if you want to revisit some of the rooms, I would be more than happy to accompany you.” We walk into the next room, where the mannequin is now wearing a metal shirt over a red tunic and a metal helmet, covering their head but exposing their face and neck. “And now, the Senatus Manulusque Romanus: the Romane Senate and Ponies.” “Cool,” I say, going up and putting a hoof on the glass in front of the armor. I always thought Romane stuff was really neat. “Unlike in Sipponi, the Romane Dreamstriders, or Indagatores Somniorum, were considered military, not bureaucracy. They were used very rarely, because they were always worried that their enemies would learn about them and learn how to stop them. Using their powers, they would enter the dreams of an opposing general and uncover information about tactics, plant false information, or change their views, such as making them want peace, want to surrender, want to utilize their resources poorly, or give them extreme and radical views that would cause infighting in their army and destroy it from the inside.” Even though that sounds more unfair than what they did in Sipponi, I still think it sounds cool. Now I can’t stop imagining myself in the armor in front of me, sneaking throughout the dream world. I know that’s not what she plans to use me for and I probably would hate doing that, but that doesn’t mean I can’t pretend. When we walk into the next room, I look at the case, which this time holds a pony wearing light blue tights, gold and white clothing over it, and a red cape which covers their back, the back of their back legs, and drags on the floor behind it. “These are from Germaneigh, and I actually knew the pony who wore these very same robes,” she says, pointing at them. “His name was Traumer, the last of the Schlafwandlers. Their religion said that the gods lived in the dream world, and Schlafwandlers were seen as prophets. They would go into the dream world and search for their gods, though it was never very clear what they were looking for. Some claimed they met the gods, though some said they still needed to search. Traumer said he felt he was close, but unfortunately passed on before he was able to confirm or deny his suspicions.” Now there could be gods involved? What would a god even be like, anyways? Would I even know? I remember reading once that some ponies said the gods were among us, so couldn’t it be that they found them and just didn’t know? How would you even know they existed, then? Before I can finish my thinking, Princess Luna walks into the next room, where the mannequin’s wearing a triangular purple poncho with a gold diamond pattern over soft blue robes. “These are the robes of a Battlemage,” she says, pointing at them. “In the Unicorn Tribe, they did not believe Dreamstriders to have any special abilities or powers; they were viewed simply as mages in another school of magic. Have you heard of the Battlemages?” “Not a lot,” I admit. I’ve read about them a little, but don’t really know a ton about them. “They were elite magicians, usually spending their whole life devoted to magic. They were usually allowed free discretion in their lives, so most of the Dreamstriders from this time did not have a specific purpose, such as the in the other areas we saw. They studied the dream world and dream magic, and most of the information about the magic surrounding Dreamstriders comes from them.” She points to the walls, which have lots of framed pieces of paper or display cases full of books pushed up against them. “I had these translated long ago, though I keep the originals for display here.” I’d like to go and look at some of them, but she’s already moving onto the next room. There’s no mannequin here, instead just lots of documents like maps and charts on the walls, as well as a drawing of the Dreamstrider office. “This is the Equestria wing,” she says happily. “It is devoted to what the Dreamstriders used to be in our land. We did not use them for influence, war, religion, or knowledge: we used them to protect. Nightmares have always been a problem for ponies, and we are able to enter the dream world and other ponies’ dreams, so it is only natural we work to protect them. We sought out knowledge about all the previous Dreamstriders, hoping we could understand our magic even more to better protect Equestria. We still explored and studied the dream world, but that was not our sole purpose. Our duty is to Equestria, and one that I hope this time around we will make sure to uphold.” “Did you not last time?” I ask. Closing her eyes, she pauses for a few moments. “Yes. We lost our direction, our purpose. We crumbled from the inside out.” “What exactly happened?” “That is a story for another time,” she says, dismissing my question. “What happened has happened. I will make sure we do not make the same mistakes this time around.” Shaking her head, she looks down at me and smiles. “But enough of that. Is there another room you wish to revisit, or is there another part of the palace you wish to see?” I look around the room we’re in. “I’d like to start here,” I tell her. “I’m interested in what some of these are.” Princess Luna smiles widely, then walks up to a chart with a big circle on it and a lot of lines coming out of it. “Now, I know this won’t make any sense to you right now, but when this was created, it caused quite a stir. One of the Dreamstriders, Night Owl, was tinkering around with his magic and had an idea…”