On the surface, breakfast seemed no different than normal. The meal itself was the same as ever. Serenity and Solaris were discussing the latest news from the front as the last of the Minotaurs began their retreat from the farthest reaches of Equestria, among other topics - I wasn’t really paying attention. Next to them, the princesses were discussing their lessons - Something to do with money, it seemed. I kept my own head down, speaking only when spoken to. Trying to catch Serenity’s gaze.
But she wouldn’t meet my eyes.
She knew something. Or at the very least, she had an idea of what was going on in my head. Of what was going on with that presence in my dreams… or, well, not my dreams, but the dreams I had found myself dragged into night after night. She had to. There’s no way she’d be sending me to meet the head of the Celestial Council otherwise. Sending her former mentor out looking for who knows what without even the faintest idea of what it could be? Without knowing that something was wrong? No. She knew more than she was letting on.
I felt my eyes narrow slightly as Serenity dodged my gaze once again, passing over me to instead smile at Celestia and Luna. She was keeping secrets about the contents of that dream from me. Surely that was something that I, if anyone, should be entitled to know.
So why wouldn’t she tell me?
Everyone around me began to rise from their seats, and I realized that everyone had finished their meal. I quickly moved to join them. Serenity motioned for me to join her, and so I moved around the table to her. I said nothing as I approached, choosing instead to let her speak first.
“I’m afraid I will be unable to take you to see Starswirl personally,” Serenity began. “I apologize, but it would seem the situation between our two allies is deteriorating rapidly. Solaris and I must intervene as quickly as we can. Luna will take you to see Starswirl instead.”
“You know something.”
Serenity blinked. “What?”
“About what’s going on in my head. In my dreams. You’re not telling me everything.
There was a brief pause as Serenity glanced to either side. Solaris had moved to the far end of the table, and was now waiting at the door. Luna, likewise, was waiting at the near end of the room next to the opposite door, while Celestia had moved past it and disappeared into the corridor. “What makes you say that?”
“You don’t deny it.”
Serenity let out a large sigh. “I’m sorry, Chris. I really don’t have time -”
“You’re not telling me everything.” I repeated. My eyes narrowed. “Again.”
That seemed to get to her, if the slight twitch in her tail was any indication. “I will tell you what I know. Or rather, what I suspect. I promise. Tonight.” Serenity glanced down the table towards Solaris, who was now staring back at us. “I will join you in your dreams again. And I will explain all that I can. If anything must be kept secret, I will try to tell you why. But right now -”
“Fine,” I cut her off. “Tonight.” I pulled away from Serenity and moved towards the door closest to me. Luna was waiting with her usual smile, a smile I forced myself to return as we walked through the doors and turned to the right door the corridor.
I tried not to let my frustration show. I really did. Yes, Serenity was keeping secrets from me. Again. This time about what was going on in my own head. But she’d promised to tell me everything tonight. And she had a good excuse for not taking the time to explain right now. If my experience with the phrase “deteriorating rapidly” was at all accurate, it sounded like two of Equestria’s allies were about to go to war. And so I tried to make myself calm. Tried not to let my frustration show.
But I must have been doing a poor job. We hadn’t even gotten halfway down the first corridor before Luna turned her head to me. “What’s wrong?” she asked.
I shook my head and forced another smile. “Nothing,” I lied.
It was clear she didn’t buy it. “We’re dedicating as many resources as we can towards finding you a way home. I promise. We’re doing everything that we can...”
“I’m… That’s not it,” I sighed. I closed my eyes as we continued to walk. “But thanks anyway.”
“Then what?”
“It’s.... complicated,” I finally settled on the most appropriate word I could think of.
I felt a light weight fall upon my shoulder. I opened my eyes to see Luna’s hand resting there. “Well… if you ever need to talk to somepony about it… or anything… I’ll listen.”
I felt a smile - my first genuine smile of the day - cross my lips. “Thanks, Luna.”
“Don’t mention it.”
It was only a few more steps before Luna turned right to enter the spiral staircase that led to the upper levels of the palace. I step in a few paces behind her, content to let my mind grow blank as I followed her up to the third floor. I’d begun to get a feel for the layout of the palace by now, but as I had never met this Starswirl or been to his study, I was glad to have Luna guiding me. Thankfully, she seemed to know exactly where she was going. Sure enough, it was only a few moments before she stopped next to a wooden door, halfway down one of the interior corridors.
“Well, here we are,” Luna announced. “Starswirl the Bearded’s study.” I caught her gaze twitch towards the door for an instant before it returned to me. “Before you go in, let me just warn you that Starswirl is a bit… eccentric.”
“Eccentric?” i raised an eyebrow. “Eccentric… how?”
“...You’ll understand in a moment,” Luna replied. She raised one fist and brought it towards the wooden door. “Just remember that, regardless of his… quirks… that he is one of the most brilliant magical minds of our age, and perhaps to have ever lived. One of the foremost magical researchers in Equestria, and an incredible mentor. He’s the one that taught me, Celestia, and mother most of what we know when it comes to magic, and it’s quite possible that he’ll play a role in your education as well. So just… be respectful.” With that, she rapped her knuckles sharply three times against the door.
Almost before her hand had lowered, I heard a distinct click echo from the door. A second later, the door swung inwards. I felt something nudge me in my back, and I took a few steps forward through the frame and into the room beyond. I glanced back towards Luna, and she gave a quick wave just before the door creaked closed.
Looking around the circular room that I had stepped into, it was clear that whoever spent time in here loved to read. A lot. Bookshelves lined every wall, from floor to ceiling, and each shelf was crammed full of books. Not neatly, either. There were books on their sides, books crammed in backwards or upside down, books left open with their spines up in the air. And the scrolls! Heaps of them, lining the base of the bookshelves, or on the shelves in front of the books, or mixed in among them. Some were still rolled up and sealed, but a great many of them were unfurled and left to lie there, and still others had clearly been hastily retied and cast aside.
I was careful to avoid stepping on any of the books or scrolls as I stepped further into the center of the room. Beneath the paper and parchment, I could see that the floor was hardwood, a stark contrast to the marbled tile in the corridor outside. The planks of wood were arranged in such a way as to divide the room into two sections - an outer ring, where the planks pointed inward, and an inner circle, where the planks were actually curved to form a circle. Four marble pillars rose out of the ground where these two sections met, rising up to the ceiling. Above the central circular area, a glass dome allowed the morning sunlight to come streaming into the room.
And from this angle, the light fell towards the far end of the room, illuminating a great wooden desk. Yet more scrolls and books and bits of parchment encircled the desk, though they did not obscure the large inkwell and rainbow-colored quill upon it. Two chairs surrounded the table - one on this side of the desk, and one on the opposite side.
And in that second chair, looking directly at me, sat the Unicorn that could only be Starswirl the bearded.
He seemed to be of average height, though it was difficult to judge while he was sitting. His fur was a dark, storm grey, starkly contrasting his snow-white mane. He bore a beard that can only be described as glorious - it put Gandalf’s beard to shame, stretching from his chin down to his lap. It remained grey like his fur near the chin, but quickly became as white as his mane. He wore the stereotypical wizard’s robes - blue, with a matching pointy hat, and stars and crescent moons emblazoned upon them both. The upper rim of his hat, however, was adorned by a dozen tiny, golden bells - as was the hem of his robe, I noticed a moment later.
By now, I’d seen him staring at me for several seconds. And as the seconds stretched on, his gaze never left me. He didn’t speak. I couldn’t even be sure if he was blinking. He was just staring at me, brow furrowed, hands folded behind his beard and beneath his chin. The silence was deafening. And awkward as hell.
So finally, I had to break it. “Uh… hello?”
As soon as the first sound left my lips, there was an immediate reaction. He blinked twice, and his brow unfurrowed. He glanced to either side quickly. “What? Huh? Who’s there?” He all but yelled, to which I had to stop myself from snorting. I’d been expecting his voice to be deep and… epic, I guess. Like Dumbledore, or Saruman. Instead, it was more like.. Disney’s Merlin. A bit higher pitched, a slight British accent, almost squeaky but not quite.
My small movement must have drawn Starswirl’s attention, for his eyes snapped back towards me. “Ah, what have we here?” He asked, rubbing his chin. His free hand reached down towards the desk and produced a pair of glasses, which he put across his eyes. He leaned forward across the desk towards me, eyes narrowing. “Aha!” he exclaimed, causing me to jump. “Yes, yes, of course! You must be that new thingummywut that Serenity said was coming to visit! Come in, come in, my colt! Sit down, make yourself comfortable!”
I hardly had time to react before the chair on my side of the desk had pulled back, seemingly of its own accord. I took a few tentative steps forward towards the desk, and the chair slid back into place. “Now now, don’t be shy,” Starswirl beamed as I sat down. The instant I touched the wooden chair, a loud whistle pierced the air. I leaped back to my feet, searching frantically for the source of the noise.
Starswirl, however, seemed decidedly less startled than me. “Ah!” He grinned. “Tea time!” Sure enough, an instant later, a large kettle floated over my shoulder towards him, close enough that I could feel the heat radiating from it. The kettle began to dump its boiling contents into a large, ceramic teapot - Had that been there before? - before floating back over my shoulder. When I glanced behind me, I couldn’t see where it had gone to.
“Now, young thingummywut…” Starswirl began, drawing my attention back to him. He was holding the teapot in the air over his desk, and as I watched, a stream of steaming-hot tea fell from the spout into two teacups - those definitely hadn’t been there before - that rested upon two small plates, hovering in the air. As soon as he had finished pouring, he set the teapot down onto his desk. He glanced towards me, and one of the teacups floated over in front of my face.
“... One lump, or two?”
“I, uh…” I stammered. I was still trying to process what had just happened. I tentatively reached out and plucked the saucer from the air before gingerly sitting back down.“Uh… Two?”
“Good choice!” Starswirl exclaimed with yet another grin. Four cubes of sugar floated out from behind his desk, and two of them floated over to my cup, dropping into the tea with a small plop. On the other side of the desk, I could see the other two cubes dissolving into Starswirl’s own cup. “Serenity and Luna and Celestia only ever want one cube. Can’t for the life of me understand it.”
He paused for a moment to take a sip from his cup. I, however, refrained from doing the same. And not just because I was still trying to figure out what was going on. I’d only ever had iced sweet tea back home, so the prospect of hot tea seemed just… alien, almost.
Starswirl seemed to sense my apprehension, for he glanced over the rim of his cup towards me. “Something wrong?” he asked
“I… uh, it’s… it’s hot,” I explained. “Back where I come from, we tend to drink our tea cold.”
“Cold?!” Starswirl exclaimed, loud enough that I flinched backwards. “But… b-but… GAH!” Starswirl slumped forward for a moment, head hanging low. “And for a moment, I thought you had been gifted with a fantastic palette for tea as I had… Ah well. Can’t be helped. ‘Tis a lonely road I walk, I suppose.” And just like that, he was sitting up straight in his seat again, taking another sip from his cup. “Go on, go on, drink up.”
“But it’s still….” I began. Starswirl, however, seemed not to care, as he began pouring himself a second cup, humming a tune as he did so. Quite honestly, I wasn’t sure what to do at that point, so I slowly picked up the cup and took a sip. Rather than the scalding hot liquid I had been expecting, however, the tea was ice cold. Perfectly strong, with the faintest hint of citrus, and perfectly sweet. I found myself gulping it down, and soon the cup was empty.
But only for a moment, as the teapot and two more lumps of sugar floated over to fill it back up. “Good, eh?” Starswirl laughed. “Maybe not as good cold as it is hot, but still. The leaf is from a particular strand of tea plant, that I myself found in my travels, on an Island just off the coast of Griffonia, and it makes the best tea… better than anything the Ponies down in the kitchen can brew. I had to have it, and so I brought a shoot back with me. Haven’t had another tea since.”
“It is… quite good,” I agreed, taking another sip.
“Indeed, but I’m sure you didn’t come just to share tea with an old stallion.” Starswirl let go of his saucer, which continued to float in the air as he ran his fingers through his beard. “So tell me, young thingummywut, who are you?”
I took another sip of my tea before putting it back down on the saucer. “I’m a Human,” I began. “My name is Chris… though it sounds like Queen Serenity has already mentioned me to you,” I added
“Ah yes, Serenity did tell me to expect a thingummywut…”
“Human,” I corrected,”
“...Shame she couldn’t be here today,” He continued as if he hadn’t heard me. “I thought for sure I could convince her to take that second lump… Bah, no matter. I’m sure she’s busy doing… Oh, whatever it is she gets up to nowadays…” I opened my mouth to speak, but found myself cut off as he continued. “So! What brings you here today?”
“Well… I began slowly. “Queen Serenity was hoping you could… help me.”
“Oh? Indeed?” Starswirl took another large swig from his tea - surely that had to have emptied his cup again - before looking back at me. “Well I’ve certainly helped a number of Ponies in my time. But I’m afraid you’ll have to be a little more specific. After all, one stallion’s help is another stallion's trash… or am I mixing up my sayings again?”
“I, uh… well, it’s to do with dreams,” I began. “I’ve been having these really bad nightmares for the past couple of days. And Queen Serenity came into my dreams last night to -”
“Ah, she’s still got the Dreamwalker’s touch,” Starswirl grinned. “I always knew she was a natural.”
“...Anyway… she came into my dreams last night to try and help me sort it out, but… long story short, she believes I’ve been being dragged into someone else’s dreams for the past few nights. Someone, or something. But she can’t figure it out, because the original dreamer has been moving around or something like that, so we can’t track it down. And she was hoping maybe you had some sort of… idea… to…”
I found myself cut off as Starswirl’s gaze focused in on me. Even the teacup was leaning in towards me. Whereas before he had been jovial and lighthearted, his gaze now was that of dead seriousness. “Serenity can’t track it down, you say?” Starswirl asked, all hints of frivolity gone from his voice. “That’s… bizarre. Does she have any idea what it could be?”
“I believe she does,” I nodded. My mood suddenly soured, and I broke eye contact. “Though she won’t tell me…” I growled
“Curious…. Curious…” Starswirl mumbled. “Well, I suppose there’s only one way to get to the bottom of this.”
I sighed. “Poking around inside my head?” I guessed.
“Precisely! Sharp lad, you are, even if your taste in tea leaves a bit to be desired.” And just like that, the seriousness was gone from his expression. “Well, perhaps not your head, per say, but rather using your head as a conduit to determine… Ah, but I’m rambling. Yes yes, tonight I think I shall join you in your dreams, young thingummywut…”
“Human.”
“...and together,” He exclaimed, rising from his chair and pointing upwards towards the ceiling, “we shall track down this creature, and put an end to your nightmares! But please,” he continued, looking back down at me as his finger drooped. “Do go to bed at a… ah, reasonable hour, hm? I’m not as young as I used to be, you know, and I do need my rest.”
“I… suppose I could miss one lesson with Luna…” I mused. True, I wasn’t entirely thrilled at the idea. Particularly given how close I was to getting to that door and unlocking magic… but putting an end to the nightmares once and for all, and finding out whose dreams I had been sharing… Surely that would be worth putting it off for one night. Hopefully Luna wouldn’t mind…
“Good, good!” Starswirl’s sharp exclamation dragged me roughly from my thoughts. “Now, was there anything else, young thingummywut?”
“Human.” I scratched my chin for a moment before shaking my head. “No, I think that’s all. Queen Serenity said she’d be coming into my dreams as well tonight, so -”
“Perfect!” Starswirl’s sudden outburst caused me to jump once again. “I’ve been meaning to see how well she’s retaining her skills. This will be the perfect opportunity!”
“Right…” I muttered, rubbing the inside of my left ear. It was still ringing from that last yell…
“Well, if that was all, then I hope you’ll forgive my rudeness in asking you to leave.” With a small pop, the saucer and cup in my hands vanished, as did the teacup on Starswirl’s desk. “I’m in the middle of some fascinating research, and I’d like to get as much done as I can before our little excursion tonight. Farewell, young thingummywut.”
“Huma - woah!” Before I could rise to my feet, I felt the chair rocking beneath me. I clutched onto the seat tightly as it spun in place and began hopping away, over the scattered scrolls and books and towards the door. The door swung open once more as the chair approached, and with a couple of short hops I was at the threshold. I felt the chair tipping forward, and I had to put my feet out in front of me to catch myself and stop from falling flat on my face. I turned to give one final farewell, but had to flinch backwards as the wooden door swung shut in my face, not even an inch from the tip of my nose.
I stood there for a moment, just staring at the wooden door that had been slammed shut in my face. I blinked a few times before turning and walking down the corridor, back the way that Luna had brought me. Slowly, a small grin crept over my face, and as I entered the stairwell to go back down to the library, I let out a short laugh.
“Eccentric.” I muttered to myself. “Definitely eccentric.”