Under the rays of the early sun, many of the same ponies walked on the sidewalk beside the same big buildings. There were some ponies on the streets, pulling the carriages of well-dressed unicorns. Nopony outside seemed to mind what was going on inside the buffet restaurant.
Painted white on the outside, the restaurant was decorated with canopies and spacious windows, giving the passerby a clear view who was inside and even what they were eating if the table was close enough.
The carpets were red and yellow, the floors were many, the ceiling was way up there on the top; all provided a sense of grandeur. The rich and esteemed ponies of Canterlot were not the only ones eating there. There were tourists and visitors from all over Equestria—although some walked out immediately when the receptionist pony told them a price that was too much for their wallets.
On all floors, tables and chairs abounded. Many ate the food by using their magic to float the mouthfuls of food into their mouths. Some did it with their eyes closed, savoring the flavor and the texture of what they ate.
Around the customers were bright lights fixed on the walls and on the ceilings. Serenading them with classical music was a group of suited ponies with their classical instruments such as the piano, the violin, and the cello. Under the lights and near the walls and at other places on the floor were long tables and booths with huge containers of food and drinks. Behind the counters and the tables were chefs, preparing an endless supply of food to be served until the restaurant closed at night.
And a green, smiling changeling was alone in front of one of those booths.
"I'm surpised you have enough money to survive one day here," a chef said while he brought an uncooked pizza to the brick oven. "At this point, half of the ponies staying here would leave by now because they've ran out of bits."
Humerus grabbed a big spoon, his mouth wide open. "Well, that's not all right! They should be feeling all the flavors and all the tastes this restaurant has to offer!"
"Stop shouting!" the chef said. He looked, with a nervous face, at the other customers. "You're excited that you're here with lots of food and that's OK, but there are other clients here."
Humerus went on and grabbed spoonfuls of cream corn soup in front of the chef.
"I hope you heard me." The chef walked away and focused on the cooking pizza.
The changeling grabbed an entire pizza and flew to his table. Dropping the bowl of soup and the pizza on his prepared plate, he pushed away the silverware. They dropped on to the floor. He opened his mouth, showing his fangs, and closed his eyes.
"Appetizer, here I come!"
He closed his teeth on open air.
He opened his eyes and saw an empty plate. The bowl was now empty, too.
Across the table sat the dark blue Princess of the Night, crowned with her black crown and her flowing mane.
"Luna?!" His eyes were wide though there was no smile on his face. "Princess Luna?! What are you doing here? Why did you eat my pizza and soup?"
"Are you sure your pizza and soup were there?" Luna's face showed a wide grin.
"You got my food, didn't you?" Humerus shouted.
"Do not shout like that," Luna said. "Did the chef not tell you about being quiet here? It is a good thing that you are in a dream so nopony could hear you besides me and yourself."
Humerus gasped. "This is just a dream?"
Luna nodded. "Yes, this is just a dream. Did I not just say so?"
The changeling was shuddering. "That means that the pizza and the soup and all the food...they aren't real?"
"In a sense, they are not real, although this restaurant"—Luna gestured a hoof towards all of the restaurant—"is a real place in the real world. The restaurant you are in now is exactly like that restaurant, except that it is not real." She blinked. "Do you understand my explanation?"
"Maybe?"
The alicorn sighed. "I should have told you earlier my nighttime duty besides raising the moon and maintaining the night sky with its stars."
Humerus grinned. "You're the dream alicorn, right?"
"Yes, Humerus, although I would not call myself 'the dream alicorn.'"
"But, I heard from ponies that you enter into ponies' dreams while they sleep!"
"Not just ponies." Luna took a sip from a glass of water. "Although most of our constituents are ponies."
Humerus leaned on the table, still having a smile on his face. He turned towards all the ponies eating and serving and playing. Looking up and around him, he saw the walls and the lights and the ceiling of the restaurant. He looked at the table and the plate and bowl in front of him. "Wait a minute, are you sure this is a dream?"
"It is a dream, Humerus," Luna said. "It is very life-like, is it not? You thought that it was all real and that there was nothing out of the ordinary until I appeared. I should know, for this is your first dream."
Humerus cackled. "I'm finally experiencing a dream! What can I do here? They say that in your dream, your imagination is the limit!"
"Not all dreams work like that." She turned to the side, frowning. "There are...how will I say this?" Luna looked back at Humerus. "There are nightmares that—"
Humerus broke out into a fit of laughter.
"Do you not know basic things such as dreams and nightmares?" Luna asked. "I understand that you are changelings and that you have only turned good recently. I did not expect that you would react as if you had no knowledge of these things."
"Sorry, Luna!" And Humerus laughed on. "But, you said 'nightmare' and...." The changeling stifled another fit of laughter with a hoof. "Guess who the one and only nightmare is!"
Luna groaned. "I know, Humerus, I know. Nevertheless, you would not want to have a nightmare instead of a dream, would you?"
Humerus laughed again. Then, he quieted down. "Sorry, Princess Luna, but I...just like having a good laugh."
"If the laugh is appropriate for the occasion."
"I see. So, what's a nightmare?"
This is like teaching a foal, Luna thought. This changeling is grown but has not the knowledge of dreams and nightmares? Humerus only knows that dreams exist and that they appear at night. He has not even heard of the word "nightmare."
She sighed. "It's a bad dream. Sometimes it's spooky, sometimes it's sad, sometimes it brings up things that you don't want to think about again."
Humerus shook his head very quickly. "Got it, Princess Luna! So, can you stay in my dream until I wake up?"
Luna frowned again. "Humerus, my duty as 'the dream alicorn' as you call it not only applies to your dreams and the dreams of your friends. It also applies to everypony in Equestria and even some ponies and creatures outside of Equestria. With so many earth ponies and pegasi and unicorns and also the crystal ponies of the Crystal Empire, two alicorns, several griffons and even the breezies—all of them and more sleep and have dreams. I cannot stay long in your dream."
Humerus's ears drooped. "Can't you stay, Luna? You're one of the ponies I want to meet ever since you freed us!"
"Neither I nor my sister freed you, Humerus. You can thank your king for freeing you."
The lights turned off. The ponies disappeared. The outside was gone. There was just darkness.
Humerus grabbed Luna's neck. "Wait! I don't want you to leave! It's been a good time with you!"
Luna glared at the latching changeling. Suddenly, she smiled. "It would be fun to spend time with you, too. Despite that, there are many other ponies to attend to that need my help and guidance in their dreams." She slowly removed the hooves of Humerus from her neck. "Wouldn't you want to help others, Humerus? You don't want to bring harm to anypony, do you?"
Humerus nodded. "No, Princess. I don't want to bring harm. At least not on purpose."
Luna sighed but smiled still. "Then you can start by letting me be away from your dream. Besides, I'm running late because of you."
He chuckled anxiously.
She walked away from him and out of the restaurant to the outside.
"I'm making you wake up fifteen minutes before Celestia raises the sun. I know your enthusiasm for us."
She disappeared. The restaurant disappeared into darkness.
Nice Chauffeur sat on her chair behind the desk. She looked out past the revolving doors. It was dark.
Her ears perked up. "Who's there?!"
There was a buzzing sound.
A changeling was floating in the air.
Humerus hovered above the carpet, down the wide and polished stairs, past the columns, past the potted plants, still above the carpet.
"Humerus?" she asked. "What are you doing so early?"
"Sorry, Chauffeur!"
He cheerily buzzed and glided through the revolving door and out.
"But, you have a letter from King Thorax!"
She sighed. She placed her head on the desk and her hooves in front of her. "This is not how my night shift is supposed to work out."
The alarm clock rang.
The room was still dark. Neon Guard looked at the clock. "Five fifty-five." He turned to his right. "Red Noise?"
The red changeling groaned. "I'm awake, Neon Guard."
"Blue Alarm?" Neon Guard turned to his left.
He saw the blue changeling already standing on the balcony.
"Awake." He stared at the outside night.
"Humerus?"
"He decided to go out," Blue Alarm said.
"When did he go out?"
"Ten minutes before."
"And you aren't trying to catch him?" Neon Guard threw the blanket off. "Are you letting Humerus just go out in the middle of the morning? He might get hurt out there!"
"I'm sure his cheery attitude would make anypony sympathize with him."
"Humerus is not here?" Red Noise pushed his front hooves to his head. "That guy is going to do everything we don't want him to do!"
"Do you have any idea where he's going?" Neon Guard demanded.
"Going to wherever Princess Celestia is."
"Then let's go get him!" Neon Guard ran to the door. He stopped and turned around. "Where is Princess Celestia?"
"At the central roundabout." Blue Alarm hovered his way to the door.
"How do you know?"
"Humerus told me before he sneaked past you two."
The three changelings speedily hovered over the red carpet and down the grand stairs.
"Hey!" Nice Chauffeur shouted at them. She waved at them, letter on her hoof. "A letter for you!"
Red Noise flew towards the letter and grabbed it with his teeth. "Thanks!"
The three changelings flew through the revolving door and out.
"You forgot to ask me about where Humerus is going to!" she yelled. She placed her head on the desk again. She sighed. "It's a slow night."
The more Humerus flew through the dark streets of Canterlot, the more ponies he saw and had to pass by. Occasionally, he bumped into a pony. One unicorn raised his fist at him, but Humerus was too far ahead.
Then, there was a roundabout.
The roundabout in front of Humerus had a wide cobblestone road, many roads connecting to it. The buildings there were tall and grand and of various colors. A crowd of ponies was gathering in front of the roundabout's center which contained a huge tree, a green and brown plant facing off against Canterlot's white and purple and gold and brown. In front of the tree stood the two Princesses. Celestia had a calm face. Luna had a calm face, too. She was looking up at the sky, sometimes looking anxioulsy at her sister and then looking back at the night sky—her night sky which was about to be changed for her sister's morning one.
The noise around them was loud but not too loud. Several ponies blinked heavily and yawned, struggling to keep a smile on their faces in front of royalty.
A buzzing sound was heard.
Some ponies turned their heads at the changeling.
"It's that annoying changeling!" a unicorn said.
"Are you sure he's supposed to be here like last time?" another unicorn said to the first one beside him. "Yesterday was great. I just...think that the Princesses are doing this whole 'good changeling' business too fast. It's only been a few months and already they gave them the honor of escorting them to an event that has not occurred for a long while. Do the Princesses know that changelings don't become good and well-mannered in just a few months?"
The first unicorn slammed a hoof at his own face. "You're confusing changelings for foals, Nitpicker. If changelings could blend in well with ponies by copying good manners for infiltration, then they could easily learn good manners in their true identities. And, manners don't matter if you're not good—and the changelings became good in less than a few months—the Princesses themselves confirmed that they were immediately transformed into good beings, unless you haven't been paying attention to the Princesses' speeches lately, Nitpicker."
Nitpicker sighed. "That's a good reason, Hard Earned. Still, changelings aren't ponies! And, you just said that the changeling was annoying!"
"I'm only annoyed at a certain changeling and his friends who allow him to do things in ways that annoy everypony's day," Hard Earned said. "And just because changelings aren't ponies, it doesn't mean that we can't treat them as creatures that can think and reason for themselves. Answer me a question, Nitpicker." Hard Earned gestured with a hoof at Nitpicker to come closer."Do they have personalities of their own?"
"Yes, they all have personalities," Nitpicker said.
"Then, treat them well," Hard Earned said. "I'll be annoyed at you if you don't." He walked away.
Nitpicker looked at the changeling. Humerus was now above the crowds, flying still. He was close to the the podium where the Princesses stood on.
The unicorn looked behind him. "More changeling noises..."
Three changelings were following Humerus, flying in unison.
"Don't shout, don't make any distracting movements," Neon Guard whispered. "Do you understand?"
Blue Alarm and Red Noise nodded.
They kept flying.
Humerus was smiling at the Princesses. He looked on at Luna who wasn't looking back at him.
Then, he felt someone grab his front hooves and his wings. Another someone covered his mouth.
Humerus's shouts were muffled as he was forcibly taken higher up to a roof.
The four changelings landed. Humerus was dropped on to the solid concrete.
No one else was there.
"What were you doing and thinking, Humerus?" Neon Guard said. There was a tense restraint in his voice.
"Princess Luna met me in my first ever dream!" Humerus shouted.
"Be quiet, Humerus!" Red Noise said while he glared. "There are many ponies down there watching and you could've been with them if you weren't so proud of yourself about meeting the Princesses that you could just fly into a royal occasion!"
"You're not the only one who wants to meet the Princesses," Blue Alarm said.
Humerus faced down and frowned.
"Let me guess," said Neon Guard. "'I'm sorry,' you'll say."
Humerus looked up. "How did you know?"
"You've said that many times and it hasn't worked for us, both under Chrysalis and under King Thorax. You should know that."
Humerus looked down again. "Then, I'm sorry."
Neon Guard sighed. "I hope you mean it, Humerus. This time, I'm punishing you."
Humerus gasped.
"By limiting the food you eat."
Humerus gasped even louder.
"We have to punish you sooner or later, Humerus. You cannot just say 'sorry' and act like you haven't learned anything. That's not how it is supposed to be."
"Will you promise us not to do it again?" Blue Alarm said. "Not to ruin our image, not to ruin the changelings' reputation by acting like a crazy changeling?"
"We don't want the ponies to think we're infiltrating pony society by sending fake comedians, do we?" Red Noise said.
The other changelings laughed. They even heard Humerus's laugh.
"I guess that means that you accept my sorry," Humerus said. He grinned.
Then, they heard the cheer of many ponies below.
The four changelings flew and hovered up above the ponies and the streets below. Around and above them was the night sky with its stars and its shining moon.
And Luna's horn glowed.
The moon slowly moved behind the hills and the plains ahead. Several stars disappeared, several stars moved away. The dark blue of the sky grew lighter and lighter. Then, the sunlight peered through the mountains and then through all the sky. Bright yellow sunlight spread through the streets of Canterlot and the land of Equestria. The grass shone reflections of the sun's light. The buildings shone even brighter reflections. Then, the sun finally appeared rising into the bright blue sky.
Humerus looked around him. The morning that used to be normal now became a magnificent thing. The smile on his face and his wide open mouth testified to that. The ponies' faces were now clearly seen. Artificial lights were turned off, some one by one, others at the same time. He felt the warm warmth of the sun. It wasn't hot—just warm.
He hovered down to the roof. The changeling kept looking for a certain pony.
Luna looked at him. She smiled. She blinked. Then, she turned away and looked at the many ponies with that same smile. The ponies on the streets were smiling too as they walked away from the tree.