//------------------------------//
// Chapter 9 - Dreamwalking  
// Story: Lessons From Ponyville Elementary 
// by Blade Star 
//------------------------------//

    For the second time in my life, I found myself standing in the strange celestial void that was the dreamscape, completely lucid. It was just as it had been when Luna last brought me here. All around were stars and planets, with comets streaking across the sky. The world seemed to shimmer with a heat haze as the magic of this place saturated everything. A few moments after my arrival, Luna appeared. 

The night princess smiled as she landed on the pathway and walked up to me.

“Margaret, a pleasure to see you again as always,” she said kindly. I smiled back.

“It’s good to see you too, Luna,” I replied, offering a slight bow. “Have another mission for me, do you?” The princess laughed and shook her head.

“No, no, nothing so complicated,” she answered. “I’ve been touring the dreamscape this past week paying call on everypony in Ponyville, thanking them for the part they played in saving Equestria and helping me conquer my own demons.”

Ah, she was talking about the Tantabus. There’d been something of an incident about a week ago now. It first began with Twilight and her friends noticing that they were each experiencing a sudden rash of nightmares and bad dreams. As I’ve said before, dreams were much more important in Equestria than they were back on Earth, so this epidemic was of serious concern. 

However, before Twilight had a chance to investigate further, she was approached by Princess Luna, who confessed that she was partly responsible for the sudden surge. You see, the once mare of darkness had been torturing herself for many months. Fearful of what might happen, should she one day slip back down the path that led her to become Nightmare Moon, she fashioned a creature, which she called the Tantabus. Its purpose was simple; each night to give her the same nightmare of falling to darkness, to remind her of her past failings. Harsh yes, but she deemed it necessary.

However, the creature soon found itself no longer content with just her dream and managed to jump to those of Twilight and her friends, having encountered a dream version of them in Luna’s dreams. The risk was that it could spread in such a way, until it gained sufficient power to enter the real world, where it would retain its powers to warp reality into an unending nightmare. 

Well, we couldn’t have that now, could we? So, with Luna stabilising the dream, the girls all attempted to help her capture the Tantabus. Unfortunately, the wily demon was too quick and clever to be caught. What was worse, after it entered Pinkie Pie’s dream, it gained access to everypony in Ponyville. 

The next night, Luna and Twilight were forced to take drastic action. If the Tantabus was not stopped at this point, it would surely escape. So, we all found ourselves drafted into a rag tag group to try and defeat the creature in our collective dream. The advantage was that, being lucid, we would be able to do anything we could imagine. 

Still, it was not an easy task, and the Tantabus almost escaped. It was only when Luna confronted her own self-loathing that the Tantabus was brought under control. Luckily, it did not escape, though it came very bloody close. We all played our part doing everything we could think of to stop the Tantabus, myself included. 

“No need to thank us, Luna,” I replied. “Hay, I’m not surprised you’re not just taking a break for a couple of days.” Luna shook her head.

“Alas, marauding nightmares are never entirely dormant. Although it has been quiet these past few nights. And, now that you mention it, I have been ‘taking it easy’ somewhat.” I cocked my head to one side.

“Oh, how so?” I asked curiously. 

“I have been joining my subjects in their dreams, taking part in their many adventures. It has been a most pleasant change of pace, just like the old days when Tia and I were youngsters. Perhaps you would care to join me tonight, as a favour for all you’ve done for me in your short time here?”

“Sure, I don’t see why not. It isn’t like I have anything pressing until the morning,” I replied jokingly. Luna beamed. 

“Excellent!” she declared happily. “Then let us begin!”

With a flick of her horn, Luna summoned up the many doors that led into each pony’s dreams. Walking over to one with an apple motif on it, she gestured for me to follow.

“Come,” she said. “Let us see what your dear ‘Bones’ is up to.” 

Pushing the door open, we stepped through into the white void.





After stepping through the door, I was blinded for a few moments. However, before long, my vision cleared.

I found myself facing Luna, who was sitting directly opposite from me on a rowing boat. Evidently, we were somewhere near the back, because ahead of us, I could see a few sailors heaving away at the oars. And behind me, there stood another, more senior man, presumably the coxswain. 

We were slowly making our way through the water towards a sailing ship a little ways ahead of us. It was an old ship, from sometime in the early nineteenth century at a guess. It was, I think, what you would call a sloop. A small, trim raiding craft that preferred speed over firepower. 

Fluttering from its stern, I saw the white ensign, with a quartering of the Union Jack; the flag of the Royal Navy’s Grand Fleet. So it was what they call a man-of-war, as opposed to a merchant or passenger ship. As we drew closer, I could make out the closed gun ports, ten on each side. That made this a twenty gun sloop. As we continued on our way towards the vessel, I made conversation with the princess sitting opposite me. 

“Any idea where we are, Luna?” I asked, curious to see what she knew. 

“Not as such,” she replied, after looking about herself for a moment. “This is clearly your world rather than mine.” She gestured to the men manning the oars. “However, I know that Blade Star enjoys a fine sea story as much as the next pony. So I expect that we shall find him aboard, waiting for us.”

“Waiting for us?” I parroted, curiously. Luna nodded and explained. 

“Typically, when I enter a dream, I cause the dreamer to become aware of their state. But since my mission tonight is mere merriment, I avoid taking such action. Thus, while the dreamer will recognise us, rather than making them lucid at once, we shall be integrated into their dream. The mind will give us a role to play. That is half the fun of these little trips. You never know quite what to expect.” 

As this explanation came to an end, we began to draw alongside the ship. Behind me, the coxswain order the men to first lay on their oars, and then toss them, that is, to stop rowing, and then raise the oars out of the water and into the air, in order to allow the boat to lay alongside the ship. 

A rope ladder was quickly unfurled and clattered against the wooden hull. I opted to take this route, pulling myself up to the deck. Luna meanwhile, who would find the use of such a device a little difficult, opted to use her wings to propel herself up. 

As I climbed, I heard a few drums begin to play out a long roll, as well as an odd whistling sound, from what I believe are called a bosun’s call, so named for the bosun’s who play them. 

I got up to the deck just after Luna did and, hauling myself up, found myself with quite a surprising sight. 

It seemed that most of the crew were turned out to greet us. I later learned that they had ‘piped the sides’ a practice reserved for greeting important visitors and the captain when they board the ship. Before me were the slightly ragged looking pressed sailors, the finely turned out officers in the dark navy blue coats and black bicorne hats, and the red coated, well-armed marines that stood to separate both parties. These now had their muskets presented for inspection and as the drum roll stopped, the officers who were gathered toward the stern removed their hats.

A quick look around found the odd man, or rather odd pony out in the large gathering. Bones was standing with the officers, with the markings of a commander, and was quite clearly the most senior man aboard. His expression was stern, but at the same time welcoming in a genteel way. To my surprise, when he spoke, it was with his old accent, with no trace of the Americanisms he’d picked up from living with the Apples. 

“Luna, Margaret,” he greeted us cordially. “Allow me to welcome you aboard His Majesty’s sloop the Sophie.”

Ah yes, my son was always a bit of a fan of the Patrick O’Brian stories. I guess he was standing in for old Jack Aubrey. I’d seen the films, but I’d never read any of the books. Meanwhile, Luna jumped straight into the fantasy that was provided for us.

“I apologise for having compelled you to divert here to pick us up,” she ventured. 

“That’s quite alright, Princess,” Bones replied, replacing his hat and walking down the small set of the stairs that led up to the quarterdeck. “We’ve only recently just finished up a French convoy trying to make a run through the straits, so it was a welcome break.”

“I take it though,” Luna asked. “That you’ll be getting underway now.”

“That we shall, Princess,” he replied, bowing slightly. “It is indeed high time we got back out into open water. If anything came upon us here, this little bay might not be such a welcoming spot after all.”

Turning around, I saw that we were indeed in a large bay of a small island. Presumably that was where we had come from. 

Bones quickly gave order to dismiss all hands and get them back to work. The sailors went back to their work, the marines returned to their posts as did the officers. I’m no expert in military matters, but based on the insignias, the ships had a commander, a master, no post captain, a lieutenant, and four midshipmen. Walking back up to the quarterdeck, Bones turned to the lieutenant, a tall, dark haired man, who I’m guessing was the first officer. 

“Number One, if you would prepare to make sail?” The lieutenant nodded.

“Aye aye, sir,” he answered, turning to the deck below and raising his voice. “Prepare to weigh anchor! Man the capston!” Whistles piped out and orders were quickly passed. One of the midshipmen too now raised his voice.

“Hands aloft to loose the topsail!” the young lad bellowed. 

Men quickly began to climb the rigging to reach the sail at the top of the mainmast; the centre of the three masts on the Sophie. At present, like all the others, it was furled away since the ship was at anchor. Down below, in the bowels of the ship, men were preparing to push against the capston, the huge pulley that would haul the anchor up and out of the water.    

Bones watched the group climb up onto the mast and station themselves along the sail. Once they were ready, the first lieutenant called out again.

“Heave away at the capston!” he roared. The men all began to push against the wooden wheel, and it slowly began to rotate. A minute or so later, and we heard the midshipman call out again.

“Loose the topsail!”

All at once, the pristine white sail dropped down to its full length, quickly billowing as it caught the wind. A moment later, and the undulating motion of a ship at anchor was replaced by the more familiar motion of moving along on a rolling sea. Other sails were soon brought into play and before long we were underway at a fair old pace, at least by the standards of sailing ships. Bones now turned to the first lieutenant.

“Number One,” he said. “Set a course to skirt around Sardinia, and then take us back toward Gibraltar.” The man nodded.

“Aye aye, sir.” He then turned to the helmsman. “West by north-west, a quarter west.”     





We sailed on for about a half hour or so, although Luna told me that, in real time, this was probably only a couple of minutes. Still, it gave us both a chance to look around the Sophie and talk with both Bones and the various dream constructs that made up the crew. As Luna had told me, the two of us had been integrated into the dream’s narrative, and while Bones recognised us, his dreaming mind didn’t pick up on the contradiction of us being there. 

After a little while, Bones led us down into his cabin which was right at the stern of the ship. Walking down off of the quarterdeck, we headed inside. The room was fairly small, with a low hanging ceiling that made even me duck my head a little. In front of the large windows which dominated the stern of the vessel, there was a large desk and chair. On the desk was a set of old maps and nautical navigation instruments. Bones pulled out one of these maps and laid it flat on the table. 

From what I could tell, we were in the Mediterranean, not to far from the western coast of Italy. 

“The Sophie,” Bones explained. “Is what we call a commerce raider. Rather than going after other warships, it’s our job to capture enemy merchant shipping. Once taken, we can take them as British prizes of war, put a skeleton crew aboard, and then they can be sailed back to our base in Gibraltar. Once there, the Admiralty will purchase them, and we all make a tidy profit in prize money.” Luna raised an eyebrow.

“That almost sounds like piracy, Blade Star,” she commented in surprise. Bones chuckled.

“Were it not sanctioned by the government, Princess, it would indeed be so. But I have permission to engage in this kind of warfare and we remain bound by the Articles of War. We are not some damned privateer taking pot shots at whatever strikes our fancy.”

He was about to go on, when I heard a cry from outside. Bones scowled and, after excusing himself, headed back out onto the deck. Interested to see what was up, Luna and I followed him. 

Heading outside, we saw some of the crew gathered along the starboard side. Once again, we heard a cry from above. 

“Deck there!” a man yelled. “Sail ho!” Bones called back up. 

“Where away?” he called back.

“Three points abaft the beam to leeward, sir!” the man yelled.

Frowning slightly, Bones walked up onto the quarterdeck to get a better view. Whatever had been spotted was behind us, and off to our right. He quickly called for a glass to take a look at the small speck that had appeared behind us. It seemed to be getting closer too. After observing a moment longer, he put down the glass and turned to the first lieutenant.

“French frigate,” he said gravely. “And a thirty eight by the look of her. Number One, clear for action.” The officer nodded and shouted out. 

“Clear for action! Beat to quarters!” Once again, the ship came alive as it was prepared for combat. The drums and pipes played out the signal for battle stations. Bones’ expression however, remained concerned. He turned to us to explain.

“That frigate has more sail than us, three times our complement, and ten times our firepower. We may be in for some rough weather, I’m afraid. As soon as we come about they’ll be able to close with us.” At that moment, the pursuing frigate put a shot across the Sophie’s bow, splashing water into the deck. At this though, Bones seemed to get an idea. He called over one of the midshipmen

“Take four men with you up for’ard. I’ll be going about shortly. But a moment later, I shall change my mind. On my signal, I want you to run the jib up and flat it out to starboard. Understood?”

“Aye, sir,” the young man replied, hurrying towards the bow of the ship.

“Stand by to go about!” Bones order the helm. I could feel the tension rising, particularly as another ball splashed into the sea near us. Bones instructed the master to watch the closing frigate and report on its movements. 

“Hands a lee!” Bones barked out. The command was echoed by the helmsmen and the ship wheeled hard to the right, rolling in the seas. 

“He’s following our turn, sir” the master reported. The frigate was turning inside of us and would soon be able to empty its guns into us. Before that could happen though, Bones yelled out.

“Avast! Brace all back again! Set the headsail! Hard to port!”

The Sophie now released a lot more sail and wheeled back on itself, turning almost in place and swerving. The frigate meanwhile, lacking the maneuverability, couldn’t match the sudden change. Bones laughed and called out to Luna and me.

“Ha! He’s tried to follow us but he’s been taken all aback. He’s helpless!”

On the deck below, the red coated marines made ready with their muskets. While the cannons were wheeled out of the open gun ports. 

“Number One, take command of the guns. We’ll render passing honours,” Bones commanded dryly. 

“Aye aye, sir. Run out the guns!” the first lieutenant ordered. 

“Gunners!” Bones called out. “Hold your fire until her mainmast is in your sights!”   

Both ships now closed within firing range. There was a strange whizzing sound as musket balls shot past us. Before long though, the frigate had managed to bring some of its guns into range and opened up. The entire ship shook on the impact of the ball and one of the cannons was knocked free of its mount. The Sophie returned fire though and before the two ships had passed, there was a sound of splintering wood from the frigate. The centre mast wobbled and soon toppled down, taking the sails, and the ships speed with it. Amidst the cheering of the crew, Bones let out a sigh of relief as the French crew ineffectually fired muskets in their foe’s direction. 

As the Sophie withdrew to a safe distance, out of range of the now crippled frigate, Luna and I congratulated Bones on his success. I had to admit that the little adventure had been quite fun, given that as this was a dream, we were quite safe from harm. Bidding him farewell, Luna lit up her horn, and the two of us returned to the dreamscape and on to our next adventure.  





Once again, everything went white for a few moments before my vision cleared up. Luna and I now found ourselves in a steaming hot tropical jungle. The undergrowth was thick, and the canopy all but blotted out the sky. There was no sign of Lizzie, but I could just about make out the sound of people talking a little ways off, so Luna and I began to trek towards them. 

I found that was dressed for jungle trekking, as was Luna, though it was still boiling hot and I found myself quickly breaking out into a sweat. Luna ended up creating a sort of magical machete, using her alicorn magic to cut through the thick undergrowth and trees.

After a few moments though, she suddenly signalled me to stop where I was, and gestured forward. 

We had come to the edge of a medium size clearing, the sun was beating down and off in the distance, I could see a pyramid like structure that was reminiscent of the Aztecs. In the clearing, I saw several ponies. Firstly, there was Lizzie, like us, she was dressed for the conditions. But standing next to her was Daring Do. 

Daring Do is something along the lines of Indiana Jones in Equestria, an explorer/archaeologist/adventurer that spends her time tracking down historical artifacts and occasionally saving the world from the likes of Ahuizotl. The series is written by A K. Yearling and has become a favourite of my daughter’s ever since Rainbow Dash introduced them to her.     

Surrounding Lizzie and Daring on all sides, armed with spears were earth ponies, covered in war paint, and they didn’t look too friendly. Standing opposite the pair, was one of Daring’s nemeses; Dr. Caballeron. 

“Ah, Daring Do, you chose the wrong friends. This time it will cost you.” He extended his hoof.

With a snarl, Daring hoofed over a small golden idol, while Lizzie watched the surrounding tribesponies. Caballeron smiled as he took it from her.

“And you thought I’d just given up,” he went on, examining the trinket. 

“Too bad these ponies don’t know you like I do, Caballeron” Daring remarked, glaring at him as she gestured to the surrounding ponies.  

“Yes, too bad,” he replied smugly. “You could warn them…if only you spoke Hoofitos.” It was then that Luna stepped out into the clearing. 

“But I do, good doctor,” she called out

She then shouted out something in a foreign tongue that the tribesponies seemed to take notice of. Caballeron also turned to the two of us as we came out.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Daring and Lizzie promptly bolted, with Daring leaving behind a monochrome trail behind her, like Dash does when she rockets off. As Caballeron turned back, Luna used her magic and seized the idol from him. And with that, we began to run too, following Lizzie and Daring. I was glad I could keep up with Luna in this dream, normally a pony at full gallop would easily outpace me. As we ran, I heard Caballeron shout out at the tribesponies, followed by the sound of galloping hooves at our heels. 

We soon caught up with Lizzie and Daring, who were also running hell for leather, and weaving left and right as the spears, tipped with poison, came flying through the air and landing all around us. 

Before long we broke out of the jungle onto an open plain. Ahead of us was a large lake, with a floatplane sitting idle on the surface. 

“Thank Celestia, RD’s still here!” Lizzie cried out. Daring then began yelling. 

“Dash!” she yelled “Dash! Start the engine! Get it up! Get it up!” 

I spotted the familiar form of Rainbow Dash perched on one of the floats; she had a fishing rod in her hooves and seemed to have something on the other end. But luckily, she decided to abandon her quarry and leapt into the cockpit. A few moments later, we heard the rotary engine fire and the propeller began to spin. The tribesponies were still behind us, still throwing spears. 

As the plane revved up, Dash turned it into the wind and began to roll in preparation for take-off.

“Come on, Margaret!” Luna called out over the noise. “We shall have to fly to Rainbow! Jump up!” 

I quickly leapt onto Luna’s back, a very strange sensation, and we took a short flight before landing on the floatplane. Daring got in the rear cockpit, Lizzie perched herself just behind the rudder, and Luna and I clung onto a float each.    

Dash opened the throttles and we soon began to outrun the tribesponies. And with the idol in hoof, Daring and Lizzie were very pleased. 

As we climbed into the air though, Daring got the shock of her life as Gummy, Pinkie Pie’s pet alligator jumped up from wherever he’d been hiding and clamped himself onto her trademark hat. 

“Ah…there’s a big gator in the plane, Dash!” she exclaimed. Rainbow turned slightly and called back.

“Oh, yeah, that’s just Pinkie’s pet gator, Gummy. He wouldn’t hurt anypony.”

“I hate gators, Dash! I hate ‘em!” Daring yelled back irritably.  

“Oh come on, show a little backbone will you, Daring,” Lizzie called out. 

We banked away toward the setting sun, well away from angry tribesponies and evil rogue archaeologists working for the Griffons. With everything now much more relaxed, in spite of our somewhat perilous position riding on the floats, we began to chat. 

“So, wait, this is all a dream?” Lizzie asked Luna. The blue alicorn nodded. 

“Sorry, Lizzie, but you aren’t going off on adventures with Daring Do just yet,” I said. 

“So you and Luna are real,” Lizzie said, pointing to both of us. “What about Dash?” Luna shook her head.

“No, that’s just a dream version of her conjured up by your mind,” Luna replied. “Here’s the real Rainbow Dash.” 

Bringing her magic to life, Luna produced a sort of tear in the dream world, through it, we could all see Rainbow Dash. She was busy fighting changelings, as well as unsettling singing flowers. Perhaps she’d had some bad cheese or something? 

As the plane came into land at a nearby port town, where Daring and Lizzie were planning to head back to civilisation from, Luna and I bade them farewell. 

“Well, that was a bit of fun, Lizzie,” I said. Lizzie grinned. 

“Next time,” Lizzie replied. “I get to crash your dream, right princess?” Luna smiled. 

“Perhaps, young one,” she answered non committaly.  

Jumping down off the floats and onto the nearby jetty, Luna powered up her magic again and returned up back to the dreamscape. 





For the third time that night, I found myself n that strange, mystical realm that was neither completely a dream, nor entirely real. Luna described it once as ‘the world between the worlds’, a fitting description given the millions of dreams, all intricately detailed and remarkably real in their own way, that were connected to the dreamscape.  

Standing on the semi-solid looking pathway, Luna led me down a long winding road, past dozens of doors, some of which were familiar to me, while most were just random doors whose owners I could only guess at. Eventually, we came upon two doors, both identical and very familiar. Luna gestured to them both.

“Care to take a guess at the owners of these doors?” she asked. I thought for a moment.

“Er, a couple?” I offered. I could think of few explanations for why a door would crop up twice. Luna nodded. “Mine and Roger’s dreams, right?” Again, she nodded.

“Indeed,” she replied. “It would be pointless, and quite possibly rather dangerous to open your door at present. But, while it is not long before my sister ushers in the dawn, I think we have time to visit one more dream.” 

It would be rather interesting to see what Roger was dreaming about. I’ve known him for over twenty years, yes, but he is still a fairly private man at times. And he doesn’t seem to care much for talking about dreams. Every time I try to tell him about a funny or strange dream I had, he just rolls his eyes. 

Casting her horn alight, Luna pushed open the door, revealing the same white void that marked the event horizon. We both stepped through.

And then, the world exploded.





Okay, it wasn’t literally the world, but I’m fairly certain that in real life my eardrums would have been blown out by the racket we stepped into. Luna and I found ourselves on some street somewhere. It was hard to see much of anything to get an idea of where, or when, we were. We were in some sort of side street or alleyway, and just ahead of us, there was some sort of battle raging. I could hear the sound of gunfire and explosions, as well as men shouting, some screaming in pain. Every now and then, the world was rocked by a larger explosion. It all seemed to so close. 

Being a dream, I wouldn’t come to any harm. But your mind doesn’t really pause to think about that when there’s a real chance of you getting shot or blown up. Luckily, Luna put up a small shield around the both of us, as well as some sort of spell that made everything quiet again. 

I’d thrown myself down on the floor and covered my ears with my hands. I was terrified, and understandably so. But when things went silent, I opened my eyes and got back to my feet. Luna was standing stock still, looking all around at the now seemingly silent dream through her light blue magical shield. 

“What the hell is going on?” I asked as I looked around. 

I picked out the odd familiar British street sign here and there, as well as a street name; Springfield road. Directly behind that sign was a pub, which bore the name ‘Kelly’s Bar’. Aside from that, all I could see through the smoke and debris was the odd tracer round and a couple burning cars. Luna turned to me, a look of concern on her features.

“Your husband is having a nightmare, Margaret,” she explained. “And quite a serious one too. I’m having trouble trying to disrupt its hold over him.” I noticed that Luna’s horn was glowing brightly; she was using her magic. Another explosion suddenly went off close by, actually impacting her shield. 

“You are not in any danger, Margaret. But I think it would be best if I returned you to the waking world. Dawn is not too far off now. Once you are awake, you should be able to wake your husband up.” I nodded in understanding. 

“Alright, Luna. Wake me up then,” I replied. 

Luna’s horn began to glow even brighter, and the dream world around us briefly distorted, as if it was all a liquid. I then felt some force lift me off the ground, though Luna’s shield stayed with me. A moment or two later, everything went white, and I woke up with a start.





With a sharp gasp, I sat up in my bed. The first few rays of the early morning were streaming through our bedroom window, and it looked to be a pleasant day. 

But pleasant was the last word I would use to describe Roger. He was thrashing around on his side of the bed. Sweat poured down his face and he was mumbling to himself, though I couldn’t understand what he was saying. 

Luna was still fighting to dispel whatever in God’s name he was dreaming about, but as he showed no signs of calming down, which I would expect if she had succeeded. While she would eventually be able to stop the nightmare herself, I didn’t want to see Roger suffer any more torment. So I decided to wake him up myself, as Luna had suggested.

Grabbing him by the shoulders, I shook him roughly, as hard as I could; trying to give him a ‘kick’ as one certain movie called it. I found myself shouting at him to wake up as well. He kept rolling back and forth as I tried to keep a hold of him. Eventually though, the combined efforts of Luna and myself prevailed. 

With a start, Roger woke up. His eyes went wide, and his pupils were almost the size of pinpricks. He let out a sharp cry as he sat up in bed, knocking the covers off onto the floor. 

“It’s alright, it’s alright,” I said soothingly, putting a hand on his back. “It’s okay, sweetheart; it was just a bad dream.” 

Roger turned to look at me, his face still quite pale. He was breathing heavily, and the adrenaline hadn’t yet worn off. His hands were shaking. I did my best to calm him down for the next few minutes, and eventually, he settled down.

“I’m…I’m okay now, darling,” he said at length. Reaching over to his bedside table, he grabbed a half empty glass of water he’d put there last night. He drunk what was left down in one go before turning back to me. 

“You’re lucky Luna and I found your dream when we did,” I said, hugging him. 

“Luna?” he replied curiously. “And you?” I nodded.

“She dropped by and offered to take me on a little tour of the dreamscape. We were going to just drop in and say hello to you, but we soon realised that you were having a nightmare. Luna did her best to fight it off from within, and woke me up so I could wake you up just now.” I half chuckled at the silly sounding explanation. “What in Equestria were you dreaming about anyway? It looked like you were living through the bloody Somme!” 

I’ve always felt that talking about something scary like that is the best way to deal with it. Roger though, doesn’t subscribe to that view. 

“It was nothing,” he replied dismissively. “Just a bad dream, nothing for you to worry about.”

“Don’t give me that,” I replied worriedly. “You know how dreams work here. I didn’t see too much but I saw people shooting at each other and bombs going off. What the hell was it?” At this, Roger scowled. 

“I said it was nothing. Now leave it!” he warned angrily. 

I tried to wrap my arms around him and hug him, but he threw me off. He got out of bed and put his slippers on, before heading out the door into the hall.

“I’m…going for a walk,” he said quietly as he left. He then closed the bedroom door behind him. A few moments later, I heard the front door slam as well. From my bedroom window, I could see him walking off into town. 

Well, that all went sideways real fast, I thought to myself.