Dreamstrider

by OkemosBrony

Chapter 45

As I finish A Compylation of Magycks of Anchient Sipponi, I groan and close the covers together before laying my head down on my desk. Why does every single book about magic have to be so boring? And on that, why do all the books about dream magic have to have been written so long ago? I can’t even keep track of all the books I’ve read about the subject looking for any way to track down something in the dream world or anything else that might help us stop Shooting Star, but still no luck. Worst part is, I know I still have a long ways to go. I’ve been reading almost nonstop since I got back to Coltlumbus, and I know that I’m probably going to be reading nonstop until I leave here, too. Young Aurora would’ve loved that idea, but it’s just so miserable now that I’m living it.

There’s some light knocking on my door, so I lift my heavy head and stretch my back a little bit. “Who is it?” I call out.

“It’s me,” dad replies quietly. “Can I come in? We made you some hot chocolate.”

That does sound nice, it’s been a long day and I’ve been watching the snow fall outside my window for almost the entire day. Using my magic, I open up the door and look towards it to see him with a weak smile on his face and two steaming mugs in his magic. “Mom and Dew Drop are just taking theirs downstairs,” he informs me as he places one of the mugs on my desk and sits down.

After taking it in my magic and blowing on it a little bit, I take a sip and nearly burn my tongue. Still too hot. “Not taking yours downstairs with them, too?”

He blows on his own mug, then takes a sip. “I wanted to come up here and spend some time with you.” While dad’s never really had a harsh voice, it seems much softer and more gentle right now than it usually does.

“Kinda busy right now,” I tell him as I put mine down on the desk. “You could go spend time with Dew Drop, I won’t mind. I know she’s busy a lot and you don’t get to see her very often.”

“Don’t get to see you often either,” he points out. “And you’ve been busy a lot this trip, so I figured I’d just give you a break. You know, just talk for a little bit.”

“Maybe some other time,” I sigh before grabbing another book with my magic and putting it in front of me.

“What are you working on?”

“Just Dreamstriding stuff.”

“Must have a lot to do if you’ve been cooped up here almost your entire time back,” he guesses.

“I do,” I confirm.

“I imagine that must be pretty stressful,” he continues.

“Yeah, it is.”

“Are you okay?”

The question takes my surprise and it honestly is likely I misheard him, so I turn around and look at him. “What?”

“Are you okay?” he repeats. “You really do seem very stressed, do you need somepony to talk with?”

“I’m fine,” I mumble.

“You aren’t seeming like yourself recently.” He pauses for a moment, a thick silence hanging in the air between us. “I’m just a little worried about you is all. You’ve always been a little quiet, but you’ve hardly said anything since you got here. And when we’re all together, you seem almost distracted. Yeah your mind would sometimes wander even when you were little, but this is beyond that.”

I sigh, and I can feel my voice starting to quiver. “I guess I am kinda overwhelmed.”

“You know I’m always here for you, Aurora, in whatever way you need it. I’d be happy to give you advice, lend an ear, or even help you find and pay for professional help should you need it. I know asking for help can be hard, but I promise you that us or somepony else can help you get through whatever it is you’re going through.” He gets up and sits next to me before putting a hoof around me and bringing me in for a hug. It’s not really that tight or that loose, but just the right amount of firmness while keeping the right amount of warmth. “I know how much you love Hearth’s Warming, so it’s upsetting to see you so down right this time of year. I know there’s no magical cure or anything, but I’m willing to help you with whatever it is you need.”

Scooting a little closer to him, I let myself get more enveloped in the hug. “Did mom send you up?”

I can hear him laugh a little bit. “Come on Aurora, I’m not that unperceptive a father; I like to think I know all four of my mares well enough to tell when something’s upsetting them. I don’t even know if mom or Dew Drop has noticed anything, mom just seems excited that two of you are here for Hearth’s Warming and Dew Drop is glad to be off work and not be in the Hayseed Swamps sweating her tail off. I figured if I didn’t come up here and talk to you, nopony would. And that would only make everything worse.”

I don’t even say anything, just try and get up right next to him to make the hug even tighter. I can still smell a little bit of aftershave on him, a smell that just brings up all sorts of nostalgia from when he used to apply it pretty liberally when I was younger. Or maybe it’s because now I’m both here less and hug him less often, I don’t know. Regardless, it’s a nice smell.

“You know,” he begins, “I don’t think I tell you this enough, Aurora, but I love you.”

“Where’d that come from?” I ask as my face grows a little warm.

“Came from my heart,” he winks. “But in all seriousness, I’ve probably been ruminating on it ever since you two showed up for Hearth’s Warming and Snowy didn’t. Just kind of hit me that she and Dew Drop are adults, and you’re just a few months from being one. I just want to make sure you know I really do care about you, sweetheart.”

I nod slightly, then rest my head on his shoulder. “I know.”

“You don’t have to talk to me right now if you don’t want to. Just know that I am here if you need me, okay?”

“Okay,” I mumble back.

“You excited for Hearth’s Warming?” he asks, completely changing the subject.

“I guess,” I shrug.

“You guess?” he repeats, hardly holding back some laughter. “I remember a little filly who could hardly sleep on Hearth’s Warming Eve because of how excited she was, I have a hard time believing she now ‘guesses’ she’s excited.”

A smile does start to grow on my face. “Well, it’s no longer mountains of new books and all the chocolate I can eat. Can see why that would make any foal excited.”

I can hear a few laughs escape from him. “Books were the gifts we gave Snowy and Dew Drop to feel like we were good parents by offsetting all the doll sets. And if I remember correctly, it wasn’t supposed to be all you can eat chocolate. Given I’m the lenient one, I doubt mom was letting that happen.”

“Too late to say my sisters let me do it?”

“Blame Snowy,” he winks. “She’s not here to defend herself. That’s what younger foals do, right? It’s what Uncle Proscenium and I did once Uncle Galangal Root moved out.”

“Wonder what she’s doing,” I wonder. “Can’t imagine what I’d do for Hearth’s Warming away from Coltlumbus.”

“Got a letter from her the other day. She does miss us, but they’re really excited to celebrate their first Hearth’s Warming as husband and wife together. It’s really sad for mom and I to not have our oldest foal here for the holidays, but we understand. We were in Coltlumbus for our first Hearth’s Warming together, and unlike us, they’re familiar with the city and there’s a lot to do there.” He rubs my shoulder a little bit. “Not that mom and I don’t love your hometown, but there’s not exactly much to do here. Especially considering we both grew up and went to school in big cities, coming here was a bit weird for us. Not that we’re complaining; we were both government workers, so if we wanted to leave, we would’ve. We just hope you three enjoyed growing up here.”

“I don’t even know where to say I’m from,” I admit. “Technically speaking, I think I’ve spent more time in Canterlot than I have here.”

“Nine and a half years,” he states while shaking his head slowly. “Hard to believe. Seems like you’ve enjoyed yourself, even if times like this can get pretty rough.”

“Yeah,” I shrug as my mood starts dropping again after being reminded of exactly why I’ve been stressing so much.

“You need to take breaks like this one. I remember when I was in college and would be up to my horn in studying, I’d need to force myself to walk away once things got super stressful. Grab some drinks, get some dinner, talk with friends, spend time with mom...just something to distract me.”

My problem’s not quite as simple as taking a break, but I guess it doesn’t hurt. I’m not sure if it’s actually taking a break or dad somehow always knowing how to cheer me up, but I really am starting to feel better.

“Cocoa’s probably pretty good to drink now,” he says as the mug gets levitated in front of me. “Don’t want it to all go to waste now.”

“You know me so well,” I comment, reaching my hooves out and wrapping them around it. It must be really cold in my room, because the warmth of the drink is really a shock to my hooves. Must have been boiling right as it got poured for it to be this warm.

“So what’re you reading?” dad asks as he takes my book in his magic. “Looks real old. And where’s Sipponi?”

“Somewhere under the desert in Saddle Arabia. And it’s boring reading, just looking for anything useful.”

“Useful for what?”

“Useful for…” I just trail off, not entirely sure how to end that thought. How do I tell him without telling him too much? I’m not sure how much Luna wants me going around and telling ponies, and even then, I don’t know how much I’d want to tell somepony who can’t do anything about it. All he could ever be able to do is just worry, not like he could jump in the dream world with me and help me solve all these problems.

“Just some independent research,” is what I settle for. “The first ever recorded Dreamstriders were in Sipponi and they were at the top of society, so there’s probably something there we could learn from. Starting from the beginning, so I’ve got a few thousand years of written history to go.”

“You’ll do fine,” he asserts. “You always were really bright, definitely had to have gotten that from your mother. I’d say I look forward to reading whatever it is you write in the future, but it’ll probably in Demon I imagine. Even if it wasn’t, I wouldn’t understand a word of it.”

As he’s speaking, I let out a huge yawn before taking a sip of my hot chocolate. “What time is it?” I ask.

“Not even eight,” he laughs. “Tired already? I know you like to sleep, but I think this might be a new record.”

“Maybe it’s because I was buried in really boring books all day,” I say through another yawn. “I can stay up, don’t worry about me.”

“You can go to bed if you want to,” he smiles as he exits the hug and gets up. “Keep the cooca up here, drink as much of it as you’d like tonight. Maybe tomorrow we could do something together? Mom’s still procuring boxes of decorations from Celestia knows where, but you and I could sneak out of the house real quick and go do something, just the two of us. Probably haven’t done anything like that since those daddy-daughter events around town, right?”

“Here’s hoping whatever we decide to do is more fun than those,” I laugh. “I think you were always the only stallion who wanted to be there. Kinda fun for us, but the atmosphere…”

“We’ll find something to do,” he brushes off. “Tomorrow morning, after breakfast?”

“Sounds good,” I agree.

Instead of heading out my door, however, he walks up to me and plants a quick kiss on my forehead.

“Sleep well, sweetheart. I love you.”

“I love you too, dad.”

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