//------------------------------// // 60 - Hopes and Dreams // Story: Lateral Movement // by Alzrius //------------------------------// Celestia and Luna were silent after Line left, each digesting what they’d learned from their conversation with the newspaper editor…which hadn’t been very much at all. Finally, Luna looked over at her sister. “That went about as well as we’d hoped.” “It was worth a try,” said Celestia with just a hint of resignation. “Even if it wasn’t likely, it didn’t hurt to ask if Line had any additional information that he could have given us.” She picked up the newspaper from the side table, perusing its headline story again. Luna frowned. “Are you sure about that? He seemed rather suspicious of how we were asking so many questions about that article.” “I’m sure he was,” admitted Celestia. “He is a very good reporter, after all.” A faint smile crossed her lips as she said that, like a mother talking about her foal’s having gotten an “A” on a school paper. “And that worries you not at all, Sister?” pressed Luna. “A newspony being suspicious of us?” Celestia shook her head, not looking up from the paper. “Line trusts our judgment, unlike the subject of this piece. He won’t start an investigation just because he thinks we were acting a little odd.” “I hope you’re right,” sighed Luna. She sat quietly for a moment before admitting, “I was hoping for some good news, after reading everything in there.” Celestia looked up at that, giving Luna a look that was equal parts concern and lack of understanding. “There’s nothing in here that we didn’t already know about.” She tapped the newspaper with a hoof. “We knew that he had powerful magic. We knew that he’s very unfriendly, but still devoted to the wellbeing of the ponies around him.” “We also knew that he’s very ambitious,” countered Luna. “That was why we offered him rulership over Vanhoover, in hopes that it would quell his thirst for power and let him build closer relationships with the ponies there while he labored on their behalf. But now,” this time it was Luna’s turn to point a hoof at the paper, “he’s taken control of another city!” A pensive look crossed Celestia’s face at that. “You’re certain that he’s become Tall Tale’s new mayor?” That Lex had assumed authority over Tall Tale wasn’t in the newspaper article about him, but there were other ways of gathering information from a distant city. Luna nodded. “The ponies I spoke to after I quelled their nightmares were quite clear on that subject. He runs the city now, and has for several days.” A fatigued look crossed Luna’s face as she spoke, and she stepped down from her chair. Crossing the room, she laid down on the couch that Line had recently vacated. Celestia watched her with worried eyes as she did so. “I know I’ve said this before, Luna, but I worry about how hard you’ve been pushing yourself these last few months.” “It is my royal duty, Sister,” replied Luna. “When our little ponies have nightmares, I am the one tasked with entering their dreams and soothing their fears. That remains true whether the number of ponies that need my help each night is ten or ten thousand.” The last few months had been difficult for everypony in Equestria. Tirek’s rampage had been bad enough, but that had barely become a memory before the elemental bleeds had rocked Equestria, causing harm on a scale which hadn’t been seen in millennia. Although the planar incursions had been suppressed, a great many ponies were still stricken with anxiety about what had happened and what it meant for the future, and it had resulted in Luna’s constantly needing to go and soothe the troubled sleep of their subjects. It had only been due to luck that she had, two nights previous, entered the dream of a pony that was having a nightmare about being attacked by a dragon. After alleviating their nightmare, she had spoken to them and learned of Lex’s recent activities…including that he had been offered the position of mayor of Tall Tale, which he had subsequently accepted. The newspaper article confirming most of what Luna had been told had been a grim portent for both sisters, but right now Celestia was less concerned about that than about Luna. “Be that as it may, there’s no need for you to try and allay every single nightmare you come across. Ponies got along fine…” She trailed off, realizing that she was about to say something impolite, but it was too late. Luna’s face hardened as she replied. “Ponies got along fine while I was imprisoned within the moon. That’s what you were going to say, weren’t you?” Celestia closed her eyes, mentally kicking herself for stumbling onto such a sensitive topic. Opening them again, she gave Luna an apologetic look. “I’m sorry, Luna. I didn’t mean to imply that your work isn’t important, or be casual about what happened before.” Luna’s features softened some, but not completely. “It’s quite alright, and I do appreciate your worrying about me, but have no fear. This is merely another challenge that I must overcome if I am to become a goddess.” Celestia winced slightly, both at the mention of Luna’s desire to undergo divine apotheosis, and the knowledge that she had mentioned it purely to get back at her for being so flippant about sealing her in the moon. When Twilight Sparkle had returned from her first sojourn to Everglow – inadvertently causing the elemental bleeds, though that information had been suppressed – she had revealed that the ponies of that world acknowledged the existence of powers even mightier than alicorns. These beings, called “gods,” were said to be so strong that, from a pony’s point of view, they were truly omnipotent. And yet, for some reason, they would not or could not walk the world directly, instead dwelling in distant realities, content to remotely encourage ponies to worship them and do their bidding, rewarding their faithful followers with divinely-gifted magic. For Celestia, the knowledge that these entities were so far removed from that world’s ponies, but still content to impress their own agendas upon them so directly, was enough to put her off of them. Such behavior went against everything she felt that a ruler should be: accessible to those who wanted advice or assistance, without treating them as pawns to be maneuvered for personal gain. Although she suspected that it was possible for her or her fellow alicorns to become gods – after all, every alicorn had once been an ordinary pony that had managed to ascend into something more, and if they had done it once then there was no reason that they couldn’t do it again – she had no interest in testing that hypothesis. Luna had felt differently. In hindsight, it had been completely understandable. Luna had always felt underappreciated, since her royal prerogative – to raise and lower the moon and stars – was one that most ponies slept through. Even her shepherding of dreams had garnered her little praise, since Equestria was so idyllic that few ponies needed her to save them from nocturnal terrors. It had been enough to cause Luna, over the years, to more and more consider her job a thankless one, and Celestia still felt guilty for not realizing how much her sister had been hurting until she had openly rebelled against her. That was why, after her initial shock at Luna’s announcement that she wanted to become a goddess, Celestia hadn’t said anything against it. If that was what her sister felt she needed to be happy, then she wouldn’t try to deprive her of it. But in that initial reaction she had already let her disapproval show, and it had become another sore point between them. Determined not to make the same mistake twice, Celestia had spoken to Luna at length about her desire to become a goddess. She had listened attentively as Luna had talked about the process of imbuing followers with a shred of her own power in the form of spells – so similar and yet so different from when the two of them and Cadance had given their magic to Twilight – and how it felt to receive their prayers and their worship in return. She had smiled and nodded to her explanations about the differences between what was expected of a princess versus that of a goddess. Even if her efforts had been completely transparent to Luna, who knew her better than anypony else, Celestia had still tried her hardest to be happy that her sister had found something so fulfilling. But inside, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was losing her sister all over again. Her expression must have shown on her face, because Luna suddenly got up and approached her, her upset look fading as she did so. “Forgive me, sister. That was spiteful of me, bringing that up when I know how you feel about it.” Celestia smiled, suddenly feeling relieved. “You don’t have to apologize. I was the one who was being insensitive.” Leaning forward, she wrapped a hoof around Luna, feeling her do the same. “Whether you’re a goddess or not, we’ll always be sisters.” “Indeed.” The smile was audible in Luna’s voice. They parted, and Luna glanced at the newspaper again, before looking back at Celestia. “There’s something I haven’t told you.” “Oh?” “Yes,” Luna replied, before pausing. “I didn’t want to say anything before because…because I felt slightly ashamed.” Celestia’s eyebrows rose. “Ashamed? Of what?” Luna didn’t answer for a moment, going back to the chair where she had originally been sitting. Only after she had seated herself did she reply, not making eye contact as she spoke. “My duty to safeguard the dreams of ponies is one that I take very seriously. I would not presume to do something as intimate as looking into the dreams of another unless I thought that they needed my help…” Celestia nodded silently as Luna stopped talking, giving her the time she needed to make whatever confession she was leading up to. A moment later she continued. “After that meeting we had with Lex Legis, where we agreed to let him rule Vanhoover…I tried to look into his dreams that night.” She let out a sigh of self-recrimination. “I know it was wrong of me, but I was worried. All I knew of him before that was what you and Twilight Sparkle had told me, and I wanted to know what sort of pony we’d entrusted one of our cities to.” Celestia reached out a hoof, laying it on Luna’s shoulder in a gesture of support. “You were doing what you thought was best for Equestria,” she said softly. “But what did you mean ‘tried to’?” Now Luna looked up, meeting Celestia’s eyes. “Exactly what I said, Sister. I attempted to look into his dreams…and I failed.” There was a troubled look on Luna’s face as she spoke, and Celestia could feel the same expression on hers as she considered this new information. “We know that he has powerful magic; perhaps it was a warding spell? Or maybe some power of King Sombra’s that he’s availing himself of?” “Possibly…” “But you don’t think so?” Luna shook her head. “It…I’m not sure how to explain it. It felt different. It was like…like…” She rolled a hoof, searching for the right metaphor. “Entering somepony’s dream is like walking into a room. I just open the door and enter, without any difficulty. If their dream was warded somehow, that would be like locking the door; I could use my magic to try and pick the lock, but this was different…it was like he had bricked up the doorway.” Celestia frowned in confusion. So Lex wasn’t using magic to block off his dreams? “So his dreams were completely impenetrable?” “It seemed that way,” admitted Luna. “I could have tried harder to get in, to knock down the wall, if you will, but doing so seemed…imprudent.” “I can imagine,” agreed Celestia. “Still, this is troublesome. If it’s not some spell that he’s using, then why is there a wall where the door to his dreams should be?” “I don’t know. It’s like nothing I’ve ever come across before.” Celestia stood up, starting for the door. “I’ll send a letter to Twilight asking if she knows anything about this. Maybe she can find something-” “No!” Luna sprang to her hooves immediately, spreading a wing out to block her sister’s path. Visibly surprised at the outburst, Celestia stopped in her tracks. “Why not?” “Because…” Luna licked her lips, “as Equestria’s future Goddess of Dreams, this is another challenge that I would prefer to overcome on my own. And besides,” she shrank a little, “I’d prefer that Twilight not know that I attempted to peer into another pony’s dreams without good cause.” “Luna, your heart was in the right place,” chided Celestia gently. “Twilight wouldn’t think any less of you.” “Even so, I would ask that you indulge me in this, Sister.” There was the slightest pleading tone in Luna’s voice, and it was enough to make Celestia nod almost immediately, drawing a relieved sigh from Luna. “Thank you.” Celestia was about to reply when there was a knock at the door. “Come in,” she called. Instantly, her personal steward leaned his head inside. Giving them each a perfunctory bow, he fixed her with a stern look. “Please pardon the interruption, Your Majesty, but you’re supposed to have retired to bed an hour ago.” Having to bite back a laugh at how stuffy her attendant was, she nodded, knowing that he’d become progressively more and more upset the more she deviated from her schedule. He worried about her as though he’d known her since she was a foal, rather than the other way around. Turning back to Luna, she gave her a reassuring smile. “I’ll leave things to you, then.” “I appreciate it. Goodnight, Sister.” “Goodnight Luna,” nodded Celestia cordially as she exited the parlor, her steward closing the door behind her. For a long moment Luna stayed there, trying to calm the rapid beating of her heart. That had been too close. She had brought up the issue of Lex’s sealed dreams because she’d been feeling guilty about keeping secrets from her sister and embarrassed that it involved her trying to spy on somepony else’s dreams for political purposes, and the tender moment they’d had earlier when they’d apologized to each other had caused her to suddenly confess what she’d been withholding. Doing so had been a mistake, and very nearly a costly one. While Luna knew that Twilight had no inherent power over dreams, there was little way of knowing what abilities the new magic she’d picked up on Everglow possessed. If Celestia had told her about the mystery of Lex’s dreams, then it was entirely possible that Twilight would have been able to figure it out, and that wouldn’t do at all… Luna had, ever since she had returned from her imprisonment inside the moon, punished herself for all of the evil that she had done as Nightmare Moon. She had done so by creating a mental construct, which she had dubbed a “Tantabus,” to fill her own dreams with terrible nightmares. Spending each night reliving the guilt and shame and horror of what she had done was, Luna had decided, a fitting penance for her perfidy. As an autonomous construct, however, the Tantabus had no ability to care about why it did what it did. Its only directive was to carry out its sadistic duties, period. That was why Luna always made sure to keep her dreams isolated from everypony else’s – only utilizing her ability to dreamwalk when she was conscious and awake – lest the Tantabus slip into another’s dream and torment somepony that didn’t deserve it. That was why she had never once told her sister or anypony else about her nightly punishments, lest she encourage them to dream of her and accidentally make their dreams touch, letting the Tantabus out. Luna had initially thought that the sealed entrance to Lex’s dreams was to keep her out. But as she’d investigated it, she’d performed the dream-equivalent of pressing her ear against it and listening carefully. Inside, she had just been able to make out his voice, though not the words he’d been speaking. But there had been another presence in there, utterly silent yet unmistakable, at least to her. After all, she’d felt that same silent malevolence countless times in her own dreams for almost two years now. Lex Legis, she’d realized, had a Tantabus of his own.