Dreamstrider

by OkemosBrony

Chapter 11

I peek around the corner quickly, then snap back behind it when I see who’s guarding the door to Luna’s private quarters. It’s Sveta again, and she looks just as frustrated as she always does. What’s she even frustrated at? She knows I’m not here to cause any trouble.

“Just come out,” I can hear her sigh from around the corner. Has she caught me?

Meekly I walk out, and she rolls her eyes a little at the sight of me. “How did you know I was there?”

She doesn’t say anything, just instead flicks her ears a little bit. I guess having bat ears would make your hearing better.

“So, uh...can I go in?”

Again without words, she steps aside to let me inside Luna’s personal chamber. The door slams shut behind me, closing the room off and somehow making it feel a lot cozier. There’s a lot of magic in this room, I can feel that now. And although I can’t really tell what it all is, there’s a lot of heaviness in it, making me just want to stop and think. About what I don’t know, but I can tell that Luna has had a lot of memories here, and not all of them were exactly good ones.

“Good evening.” I didn’t expect her to be out of her bedroom, so my head snaps to the couch, the source of the sound. She’s laying on her side and reading a book, not even looking up at me.

“Good evening to you too,” I reply, walking around the couch and sitting on the end where her back hooves just barely give me enough room to not be squished up against the arm. “Why did you want me to be here?”

“I just wish to speak with you a little bit,” she says happily, closing her book and levitating it onto the small coffee table in front of us. “How are you doing, Aurora?”

“Good, I guess.” I shrug a little. “Not a lot important going on.”

“You’re making good progress with Dreamstriding, I can tell.” She raises one of her eyebrows. “I can tell because I can see you running around in the dream world at night, something I specifically remember telling you not to do.”

My face is probably turning a deep red, so I try and cover it with my hooves. “Are you sure that’s me?” I ask, hoping she’ll fall for this.

Laughing, she nods. “Yes, it is indeed you. I can tell when somepony is a Dreamstrider, remember?”

Oh, right.

“It’s okay,” she smiles warmly. “I was quite similar to yourself when I began my training, not wanting to listen to rules and procedures. At the least, you have not yet gotten stuck between worlds and needed somepony to come help you out.”

“It’s just a really exciting experience,” I beam.

Her response is a smile and a quick nod. “How about you and I go for a little stroll in the dream world? There is a place I have been meaning to show you.”

“Sure,” I shrug.

“Sveta!” she calls to the door. “Please, would you fetch my tea set?”

I peek over the back of the couch, and Sveta has entered the room and closed the door and is now placing some things on a silver platter before carrying in her mouth to us.

“As requested, Princess,” she bows after placing it on the coffee table in front of us.

“Thank you, Sveta,” she smiles while starting to brew some tea for us. “You may return to your post.”

Bowing again, she walks back to the door and opens it, but not before shooting a quick glance my way when she passes me.

“Here you are,” Luna says after a few minutes of silent preparation, levitating a full cup my way. It’s the really fruity kind, I can tell by the smell. She smiles a little as she takes a cup of her own in her hooves. “Cheers.”

“Cheers,” I reply before we both start drinking. Once I can feel my thoughts calm down a little, I close my eyes and push through to my dream. It’s still pretty difficult to do so, but it gets easier each day I try it.

Now’s the hard part; actually getting into the dream world. Closing my eyes again, I try and imagine my body draining of everything, leaving me weightless. It’s a bit easier because the tea also calms my body down, but shutting everything out completely is still not very easy.

Eventually, I feel I’m ready and slowly jump up, and it must have worked because I’m not coming down. When the cool mist surrounds me, I reach out and hit solid ground with my front hooves, and my back hooves soon follow.

“Good work,” Luna says from behind me. “Lead the way out of the cave, and I shall lead the way. It is a long walk, so I hope you are ready.”

“Yeah,” I say, walking towards the blue and silver light coming from the cave’s entrance. “I don’t mind a long walk.”

---

There’s a slight cool breeze going over us, making the grass dance. I wish she didn’t suggest we take a quick break and rest here, because while she’s tall enough, I’m not and so I keep getting hit in the face with the ends of the grass.

“We’re nearly there,” Luna says with a small smile. She gets up and looks up at the sky, taking a deep breath. “I know I have said this before, but it good to no longer be alone here.”

I get up too, brushing some grass away from my face as I do so. “It’s kinda fun to be in here,” I smile. “So this world we’re in, like...does this place only exist in our minds? Or is it one of those things where it’s kind of an alternate reality to where we live?”

“It is…” She pauses for a little bit. “I am...not exactly sure. Many of the demons here do not care to attempt to discover what exactly the world around them is, and with so few Dreamstriders and the inability to take anything from our world into here, it is near impossible for us to conduct our own research.” She looks up at the sky again. “I believe that to be part of the beauty of this place; there is mystery surrounding it. I continue to find myself surprised at what I find in here.”

“So nobody knows what this place is?”

“Rumors exist of very old demons living deep in this world that know exactly what and where it is, though I give little faith to them. And if they did exist, I do think that perhaps I would not want to know. There is something comforting in not knowing, don’t you agree?”

“Not really,” I admit. “I don’t really like not knowing, especially something something as big as what a whole other world is.”

“Different ponies have different views, I suppose. That is good for the Dreamstriders: if we all think identically, then we will never have any fresh or new ideas.”

We continue walking for a few more minutes, the trees around us growing thicker and thicker. Luna stops walking a little before we exit the forest, a small clearing in the trees with bright silver moonlight coming through it not too far in front of us.

“Everything okay?” I ask her, and I can see her start to hang her head.

She just stands there, still as a stone.

“Luna?”

“Yes, everything is fine,” she says, some pain clear in her voice. I can feel a little sadness in the magic around us now, too. “It is just that this place means much to me, and so I just ask that you be respectful in it.”

“Oh.” What should I do? I end up just walking over and putting a hoof on hers, hopefully that will help.

“Thank you,” she says, taking her hoof away from mine. “I can explain when we are there.” She starts walking towards the light in the clearing, and I follow her.

When we pass through the trees, I can see that there’s a large valley in front of us, as far as the eye can see. Long grass, some streams, and no trees anywhere. “It gets better once we’re down there,” Luna says happily, rushing straight past me. She must be really excited to get into the valley.

I follow her down and to a large flat rock, which she is now laying down on. There’s plenty of room for me when I reach her, so I climb up with her help and sit down.

“Now look at the sky,” she says, hardly containing her own excitement.

When I turn my head skyward, what I see stuns me: millions and millions of little lights scattered throughout the sky, with tons of colors up there. There are the scattered white lights in the darkness, but stretching all across the center of the sky is a massive band of colors, ranging from dark purple to bright pink and pure white. It all seems to be flowing ever so slowly across the sky, making it almost literally an ocean of stars.

The moon is low in the sky, making it huge and prominent. It’s casting blue and silver light all over the valley, and it’s the most quiet I’ve ever heard in my life. I can’t hear a single thing, not even that faint buzzing everypony hears when there’s no noise. It is dead silent, and it sounds like nothing has ever disturbed this area, ever.

“Fascinating, isn’t it?” Luna asks after a few minutes, breaking the calmness we were experiencing.

“Yeah,” I agree. “What is this place?”

“I have never named it,” she responds quietly, shaking her head. “To try and describe the true beauty of this place in words would be fruitless, and I feel it would be an insult to it were I to try and do so.” She looks back up at the sky, and it looks almost as if some tears are starting to pool in her eyes.

“You told me to be respectful before we came in here.” She takes a deep breath. “If you’d like to tell me, why? I can tell this place means a lot to you.”

“I come here often to be alone with my thoughts,” she says, parting her mane a little bit. “It is calming. Being immersed in magic such as in the dream world allows one’s emotions to be felt in ways impossible in our world, and I know I will not be distracted or disturbed here.”

She takes another deep breath, a single tear starting to force itself out of her eye. “I asked you be respectful because I first encountered this place after Starswirl the Bearded, a close friend of Celestia and mine, passed away, and so I attempt to be respectful here to honor his memory. He was not a Dreamstrider himself, though he was the one who encouraged me to develop my talent. Though it may seem fitting now for a Princess to have abilities such as mine, I was intended to be perfect in every which way, and being a Dreamstrider was not part of the vision my parents had for me.”

“Why would they not want you to be a Dreamstrider? Wouldn’t that make you a better leader because you could help the ponies of Equestria?”

Sadly, she just shakes her head. “No, I was not destined to be the ruler of Equestria. That privilege was given to Celestia, the oldest child. They wanted a second child so that they may offer her hoof in marriage to the highest bidder, the prince or lord or king whose marriage to me would prove the most fruitful for Equestria. But no ruler of any esteem would take a witch as his wife.”

“A what?” I ask, making sure I heard that right. I’m pretty sure that’s one of the words my sisters use amongst themselves and their friends but always tell me never to use around mom and dad.

“A witch, yes,” she confirms. “A terrible word, but one that was accepted back then. Though it is a less-than-polite term for somepony now, when I was young it meant any pony who held some form of unusual magic. Earth ponies and pegasi who could perform magic, unicorns who held power over the earth or sky, or in my case, a Dreamstrider. I was groomed from a young age to be the perfect wife and the perfect Princess and Queen, though when my gift was discovered, I was simply sheltered. The Unicorn Tribe had been gone for a long time by then, and so little was known about Dreamstriders. They were unsure what to do with me; to them, I was no longer a child, I was a liability. Celestia even was instructed to keep a safe distance from me, lest my powers somehow hurt her.” Pausing, she wipes the trail that the tear left on her cheek. “She listened to them and believed that I was dangerous, something I know she feels regret towards to this day. But I do not blame her; we were both young, and our parents were strict. She was too intelligent to disobey them.”

“So Starswirl was the first pony to really care about you?”

She nods. “Yes, he was brought in as a private teacher for Celestia. When she let slip that her sister was a witch, he grew curious. He was the first pony to tell me that I was not dangerous and that my ability to Dreamstride was a gift and a blessing, not a burden.”

“So he’s...basically the first pony to believe in you, then.”

She nods. “Yes, he provided both of us great counsel, and acted almost like a father to us when our own parents passed on.”

I bite my lip a little. “You know, it sounds almost as though you liked him more than your own parents.”

She puts her tongue in her cheek, clearly thinking something over. “I am not surprised that is the impression I am giving you. While yes, I do miss my parents, I will have to admit that it is not a strong feeling. They were my parents yes, though I cannot say I agree with how they treated their children more like objects than ponies. Celestia does long for their return, though I feel that is because she was indeed treated better by them. She was allowed not only to walk the castle without fear, but also to pursue her own interests as opposed to what was deemed to be most attractive to potential suitors. She was allowed to choose who she wished to marry, if at all, instead of having the world scoured for anybody who would take a risk marrying a mare with special powers that she was never taught to use correctly.” She sighs heavily. “I blame my parents for planting the seeds of jealousy towards her that would eventually take root and allow Nightmare Moon to take over my body and mind, endangering all of Equestria and robbing me of a thousand of years of life through an exile that I forced my own sister to give to me. I saw how they treated her and I saw how they treated me, and when I saw the ponies of Equestria loving her day more than my night, it brought me back to watching my sister play in the courtyard while I was locked in my huge, empty room as a filly, incapable of understanding why she was allowed to do so many things I was not. Yet again, I had found myself on the wrong side of favoritism.”

“I kinda know what you’re talking about,” I tell her to comfort her, a little jealousy growing inside me as well. “I’m the youngest too, and I get what it feels like to see your sisters get to do stuff you don’t get to do.”

“Be glad your parents love you,” she smiles warmly. “I visit them occasionally in their dreams, and it pains them that you are so far away. They may not let you do everything they let your sisters do, though they still care for you and see you as a blessing in their lives.”

“What were your parents like?” I ask. “Just curious. Nopony really knows anything about where you and Princess Celestia came from.”

“I do not remember them terribly well,” she admits. “I remember mostly their actions, not their images. I know they had horns, though I do not remember if they were alicorns or not. My mother was…” She looks down at her hooves, trying to remember. “She had a magenta body, yes, and a...gold mane? Yes, it was. She spent nearly two hours a day having her mane and tail worked on, and about as much time being adorned with makeup and jewlery. She wore expensive, ornate dresses, and I don’t believe I ever saw her wear the same one twice. She would always scold me for not behaving like a lady, let alone a Princess. And she had little sympathy for my powers, telling me it would be disastrous if ponies learned about my ‘deformities’, as she called them.”

“That’s terrible! What about your dad?”

“Similar when it came to dealing with me,” she recalls sadly. “I did not know him as well, for he was the true ruler of Equestria and was often quite busy. And when he was not, he preferred to spend his time with Celestia, who he adored. As a result, she has much clearer and more positive memories of him than I, who cannot even remember what he looked like.” She stops and just stares blankly for a little bit. “He was called in when my gift of Dreamstriding was discovered. And I’ll never forget what he said.” She closes her eyes. “He said, ‘It is a shame that she is defective in this way’.” She jolts opens her eyes, which now have a lot of anger in them. “‘Defective’, as if I were some object! I remember thinking he hated me, so I began to bawl and beg him to still love me. I cannot remember what happened as I was in a fit of hysteria, though I cannot imagine he agreed to.”

Gently, I place a hoof on hers. “I’m here for you now,” I smile. “And if you’re going to be a freak because you’re a Dreamstrider, at least you have somepony to be a freak with.”

“Thank you,” she says, pulling her hoof away from mine. “While your kindness is appreciated, it is unnecessary. I am pleased with my life now: my sister and I have never gotten along better, a new generation of Dreamstriders is being born, and the ponies of Equestria accept me and love me as one of their Princesses.” She looks up at the moon, and a big smile starts growing on her face. “While yes, my life has not been easy, it is safe to say nopony’s ever has been and likely never will be.” She turns her head to look down at me. “Everypony has old wounds they do not enjoy opening; you have seen mine here tonight. Though that does not mean there are no parts of my life worth celebrating or remembering fondly. My relationship with my parents may have been very cold, though I had Starswirl and Celestia, even if we did not always get along.” Playfully, she pats me on the head. “You mentioned you empathized with me because of your own status as a little sister, so you will understand perhaps even better than I that a sister is, by definition, somepony you are never sure whether to hug them or strangle them.”

I giggle a little. She’s right.

“Thank you for listening,” she says softly, her voice full of gratitude. “After coming back from my exile on the moon, I realize it is important to embrace my feelings, not shy from them.” Looking up at the sky, she takes a deep and slow breath. “And I prefer to do it here, as I already mentioned. It is private, and I am able to feel the true depth of my emotions. And in the awakened world, everypony simply wishes to help, wishes to offer advice.” She takes another deep breath and smiles a little. “Demons do not. In some odd way, I enjoy not having anypony try and help me. Demons just listen, let you pour yourself out, and they are able to feel your emotions too through your magic and opening yourself up to speak with them. There is no disconnect as in our world.”

“I’m still sorry about your parents,” I tell her. “Even if I don’t always get along with mine, they always supported me.” I’m trying not to, I can’t help but laugh and blush a little. “Even when I had some really weird and stupid ideas.”

“Such as?” she teases.

“No,” I blush even more, turning away from her. “I did a lot of dumb stuff when I was a foal.”

Lovingly, she starts stroking my mane. “As we all have.”

Comments

[Dlaf rferg]

Damn this is a good story

[OkemosBrony]

7798854
Thank you! I'm having a lot of fun writing this, so it's nice to see others enjoying it like I am. Glad you like it.