//------------------------------// // Chapter 41 // Story: Dreamstrider // by OkemosBrony //------------------------------// My first hoofstep into the river sinks, the muddy riverbank making me a few inches shorter. Now I’m just awkwardly standing here with one front and both back hooves on dry land, so I pull my back right closer to me and move my front right into the muck as well before bringing my back left right to the edge of the bank. Not quite as awkward as a position now, I guess. I try to move my front left again, but the mud is a lot stronger than I thought it would be. It takes all my effort to get it free, and when I do, the force sends me a few feet deeper into the river and narrowly avoiding hitting one of my back legs on a rock. Now I can see why this can be treacherous, but I have to go on. I reorient myself to just stand here, and the few feet made the water a lot deeper than I thought it would have. Or maybe it’s just the mud that’s deep, I don’t know. The water comes all the way up to the bottom of my neck, but I can’t tell how much of that is mud because it’s all just cold. I’m starting to lose feeling pretty much everywhere that’s underwater, so telling if the cold is because of mud or because of water isn’t exactly very easy right now. I definitely think that trying to swim this would be the route to go, but that will require me to get my hooves unstuck. I’m not too far from a rock, so I’m thinking that if I can get one of my front hooves out, I can then grab onto it and use it as leverage to pull myself out of the ground and into the water. With any luck, that won’t be so hard. My front right is closer to a rock than my left is, so I decide to try that. Yanking it doesn’t really seem to do much, so I try and go a lot slower to not meet as much resistance from the mud itself. After what seems like forever in this frigid river, I can feel it come free, and thankfully it’s long enough to grab onto a rock. The rest of my hooves go a little easier since I’m not relying on what little muscle I have, and before long, I’m clinging onto to a damp, slippery rock for dear life while all this river water is chilling me right to my bones. While I’m here, I may as well take a moment to plan out what I’m going to do. To be honest, it doesn’t even look like it’s going to be crazy to get to the other side. Maybe fifty to a hundred feet, and while the river is flowing kind of fast, it’s not like being sent into a rock will kill me. It might hurt, sure, but probably not kill me. I could even use this rock to launch off of, I bet. Now that I’ve got a plan, this will be a lot easier. I position myself to launch off with my back hooves, and when I do, I can feel myself get some good distance. I paddle a little closer, but then something slams into my side and nearly knocks the wind out of me. Thankfully though, I manage to wrap myself around what I can now feel is a rock and keep myself from struggling to stay afloat. While swimming in this won’t be awful, I get the feeling that staying still is not going to be beneficial. Gingerly, I put a hoof where I hit the rock and start feeling around it. I definitely didn’t break anything, that’s good. It hurts to touch it, which probably means it really hurts since all this could is no doubt dulling my pain a lot. I can still breathe fine though, so it’s probably nothing more than pain. The plan of trying to swim across is pretty much gone because I’d just get battered by the rocks, but getting roughed up by one gives me an idea. None of the rocks are really that far from each other, so I could probably swim from boulder to boulder and make it across that way. I also then won’t really risk getting tired, since it’ll only be short spats in the water while using the previous rocks as a launching-off point. Guess there’s only way to find out if this is going to work. I move carefully around the rock I’m on to get myself in a better position to go to the next one, trying my hardest not to slip and fall back into the water while doing so. Once I’m there, I plant my back hooves on the rock and take off, just barely managing to grab a hold of the next one. Well, that’s good. At the very least, this plan works at least somewhat in practice. Now to see if it continues to work. Hopping from rock to rock gets me a good ways across the river, but eventually, I get to the edge of the small cluster and just see open water between me and the shore. While there isn’t anything in the way that might hit me and make me drown, I still have to fight the current and might really hurt myself given the impact earlier. Unfortunately, there’s not much I can really do, so I just have to go for it. Once I push off from the rock, I try to coast as long as I can before beginning my swimming. I know how to swim, but swimming well is another question. My form isn’t exactly that graceful to begin with, and with this water and the pain in my rib, I probably am just thrashing about aimlessly. I try to open my eyes and see where I’m going and if I’m getting closer, but water gets in them and they just get blurry. Well, suppose all I can do is keep going in what I think is the right direction and hope for the best. After a very worryingly long time, I feel one of my hooves touch mud, so I make one final push and try to get myself grounded. Once I feel like I’m not going to be swept away by the current anymore, I work on pulling one of my front hooves out of the mud before wiping my eyes clear and seeing where I am. Now that I have vision again, I can see that I did indeed drift a bit downstream. I’m past the moss-covered bridge, so I guess I’m just lucky I didn’t hit it on my way down. “You’re almost there!” Aspen calls as she starts running up closer to where I now am. “Just a few more feet!” She’s right, I’m so close now! It takes everything I have to get my hooves out of the mud and walk towards the shore, but with each one I get out of the muck, the better I get at doing it. Unfortunately, I’m also starting to feel a little tired, so that’s counteracting the ease of removal I’m getting. Before long, one of my front hooves makes its way onto solid ground. The others all soon follow, and I hardly have the energy to stand so I just lay down on the ground. I don’t care that I’m freezing and soaking wet and don’t have a towel or anything like that, I’m just glad for it to be over. “You did it!” she beams. “I don’t believe it! You made it across okay!” I groan, then roll over onto my back. “More or less. One of those rocks got me pretty good.” Instead of a response from her, I can feel a small hoof come down on my ribcage, causing me to buckle up and yell a bit in pain. “You may have bruised your rib,” she says. “I didn’t even know I could bruise a bone,” I moan. “Well, the bone’s fine. You’ll be fine too, it just is going to hurt for a bit.” She lets out a little squeak. “Unfortunately though, we’re going to need to bring you back to the village. It’s not like it’s that far away, but you’re still going to need to walk it.” “Just give me a few,” I pant. “I got a bit roughed up, and I’m not really athletic to begin with. Kinda took a lot out of me to do that.” “It never is an easy experience for those who make it across,” she informs me as she sits down next to me. “Having so many spirits moving through you at once is very tiring.” “So your father will listen to me now, right?” “Yes,” she confirms. “He would not go against tradition in this way. He may not like the fact that I told you to do it and that you succeeded, but he is obligated to assist you to the best of his abilities.” I roll my head to the sky, and can swear I can almost see a tiny bit of sunshine poke out of the light gray clouds above the leafless canopy. That’s nice. Maybe now it’ll get a little warmer, and maybe I can dry off quicker. But for now, I just have to sit here and focus on not feeling like a train hit me. As we walk through the tree gate to the village, I try and look around, which I wasn’t able to do before. Aspen is helping me walk so I can’t stop or slow down as much as I’d like, but I can see that it is indeed a very interesting village. An almost literal wall of trees surrounds the homes here, and even inside this clearing there are a decent amount of them. All the houses look to be made from the same bark as the surrounding trees, and they’re all fairly small except for a larger one in the center. My guess is that’s where the Chieftain and his family live. A few deer start staring at us as we’re walking through town, and I can’t say I blame them. The Chieftain’s daughter, practically carrying a still-damp outsider through town? They’re going to be talking about this for a while, I bet. “Father!” Aspen calls out once we get close to the big house in the center. Chieftain Thicket walks out few seconds later, then grimaces when he sees us. “Aspen, what are you doing with the Equestrian?” Out of the corners of my eyes, I can see some of the bucks with crystals in their antlers walk up to us, their crystals starting to faintly glow. “You need to speak with her,” she demands. “I made it very clear that she is not to return to our lands, lest she face the consequences.” He nods to the bucks, and they start walking towards us. “She crossed the river!” Aspen blurts out. Like they were clockwork, the bucks stop and face the Chieftain, who now has a look on his face I can’t quite place. Some confusion, some frustration, some disappointment, but also what seems almost like a sense of enjoyment. Clearly, a lot’s going through his head right now. “And you saw her do so?” he asks. “Yes,” she nods. “I was there the whole time, from when she went in to when she came out.” “And how did she know to do so?” he questions further. “I told her,” she states, trying to sound confident but having a voice crack during. “I know you’re mad at me, but she crossed the Olenmanegy and survived. You have to help her.” For what seems like forever, the only sound is the wind blowing through the area before he sighs and shakes his head. “You are indeed correct. Follow me, Equestrian.” He walks fully out of the house and closes the door behind him, then starts walking to the edge of the clearing and to what looks like a large circular tent. “Only she may enter,” he says as we get there, pointing at me. “Additionally, she must leave her things outside. As with the river, she may only enter with what nature has given her. Nothing more.” Aspen nods, then gently places my sweatshirt and bag on the ground outside the tent before taking her hoof off of me. Seeing that I’m really shaky when trying to stand on my own, Chieftain Thicket puts his own hoof around me and walks inside. “Sit down by the fire and relax,” he instructs as we walk inside the tent. I do as he says, and for being a fire inside of a small, enclosed tent, the smoke and heat don’t really seem that bad here. I expected it to be sweltering and nearly be choking on the smoke, but it’s just nice and toasty in here, like being under a few blankets on a cold winter’s day. “I am going to need to ask you a few questions,” he tells me while pulling out some clay jars and assorted plants. “Answer them honestly, or otherwise this may not work. You have proven yourself once, Equestrian, and I imagine you would not want to prove yourself to me again.” “What kinds of questions?” I ask. “Simple ones about who you are so I may get an accurate feeling on your spirit,” he tells me as he starts putting a few herbs inside one of the jars. “I can clearly see that you are a doe and a unicorn. You appear young, is this the case?” “Yes,” I nod. “Just a few months away from being seventeen.” He picks up an herb next to the ones he was already working with and adds it. “Tell me about your birth parents. Races, current marital status, relationship with each other, relationship with you.” “Both unicorns,” I tell him. “Happily married to each other, and I have a good relationship with both of them.” “Siblings?” he inquires. “Two older sisters.” “How much older?” “Nine and seven years older than me.” He nods, then grabs a flower further away from where he currently is before adding it to the jar. “Are you currently in a romantic relationship with another?” “No,” I shake my head. “Have you ever laid with a buck?” “Have I ever what?” “Made love with a male,” he clarifies. “I need know not of any lovemaking with females, it is irrelevant to what I am doing.” Instinctively, my face grows hot and my hind legs get a little closer together. “Why?” “A doe’s spirit changes after her first physical encounter with a buck,” he explains. “It recognizes what has occured, and begins shifting itself to be more nurturing and conducive to the creation of life.” “I can’t say I have,” I admit. I guess I’m only sixteen, but I don’t really know what age is when somepony’s expected to do that for the first time. Come to think of it, I’ve never really dated anypony, either. Pretty sure both Snowy and Dew Drop had by my age, but they were in high school and actually around ponies their age. “Have you any chronic illnesses, of the mind or of the body?” he continues like we didn’t just have an awkward conversation with each other. “Neither.” “Finally, what do you fear most in life?” “Does what I’m scared of alter my spirit that much?” He walks over and hangs the jar over the fire, then adds some water to it. “Not necessarily, although you need to open yourself up. Admitting secrets or vulnerabilities are some of the best ways to do so. I could ask a different question should you wish, although do understand that any I ask will touch on very personal matters. I have simply found that inquiring about fears is one of the least invasive ways to open oneself up. Your fear may be an event, an emotion, a person, anything that truly horrifies you and you would go to great lengths to prevent.” I don’t really know what kinds of things he’s looking for, so I just turn to look at him. “What sorts of things have others said that they fear?” “I am forbidden to discuss what others have done in here,” he says with a shake of his head. “Simply think of what others fear: death, the future, loss of loved ones, sadness, loneliness, losing status, losing control, harming others. Whatever it is you fear and you do not like talking about.” That didn’t really help me that much. “Can I have some time to think about it?” “Of course,” he nods. “It is not an easy question, and one that requires some level of thought. The tea requires some time to brew, anyways.” As I start deep into the fire, I start going through my brain of what it is I fear the most in this world. The immediate thing that comes to mind is centipedes, but my guess is that’s not what he’s looking for. Not something I find revolting, something I try to block out of my mind at all costs and would be devastated if I ever encountered it. That still includes centipedes, but I’m not going to say that’s my one thing. I’d say I’m pretty afraid of Shooting Star winning this stalemate. What exactly about it do I dread, though? I wouldn’t be afraid simply because I failed, so I guess failure isn’t the thing I fear. Letting ponies down is kind of upsetting, but that’s not really it either. For reasons I don’t understand, my mind starts wandering to the Village of Dreams, and the subjugation they had to endure in his name. That little filly I met just stands out, and for whatever reason, I can’t stop thinking about her. “I guess I fear letting others get hurt,” I admit. “It’s one thing to fail, but it’s another for it to impact others. I’m not exactly a fan of failing as nopony is, but I wouldn’t want other ponies to have to suffer because of me.” “And do you feel as if the path you are on may lead to failure?” Well shit, now I do. “May lead to, yes. I don’t really know what to do, and I’m worried that I have to make a lot of decisions in the heat of the moment.” He inspects the tea over the fire, then takes it off and pours it into a clay mug before giving it to me. “Drink this in one gulp,” he instructs. “If you leave any in there, we will need to start this process over again.” I take the mug from his hooves, and strangely enough, it doesn’t feel that warm. I put it to my lips and tip my head back, and despite just being over an open flame, the tea is just warm. Not hot or room temperature, but warm. It doesn’t even really taste like anything when it goes down, and I have to tilt my head as far back as I can to make sure I get every bit out of it. The mug is taken from my hooves. “Now close your eyes, and you will see what it is you need to see.” As I close my eyes, I can feel the magic around me get more and more intense. But strangely enough, I don’t feel the pulling in my mind. Only once have I not been able to feel it, but that was because a devourer demon severed my connection. I haven’t been feeling weak recently, so that can’t possibly be it. I open my eyes, but instead of seeing the inside of the tent I’m in, I instead just see fog. Lots and lots of fog. “Chieftain?” I ask out. My voice dies down soon after leaving my mouth, seemingly absorbed by the fog around me. It’s almost a little unsettling, actually. Once I stand up, I notice that the fog is giving me very little room; not even an inch away from my body is when it starts. I lift one of my hooves very slowly, and the fog seems to almost move in reaction to my own moving. When I put out said hoof and try to touch it, however, it starts swirling and coalescing, almost as if it knows where to go. After a few seconds, the fog appears to be in the shape of an enormous spider. Like, really enormous. The thing has to be at least three stories high, and even though it made that shape far away from me, I still have to crane my neck to see the top of it. Some of the fog is leftover, though, and almost seems to be wrapping itself around the spider. Once it does, the form seems to solidify into chains while large bulges appear all over the spider. They look almost like...they could be eyes. I’ve heard of this creature before: a massive devourer demon, chained deep within the dream world, put there by the ancient ponies of Neighpan after it ate all their dreams for centuries and grew fat off them. “Baku,” I say aloud without even thinking to do so. Once I do, every single bulge peels back to reveal an enormous eye. They all turn in my direction, causing my heart to nearly explode, but they don’t really seem actually see me. “You’re awake,” a stallion’s voice says from behind me. Instinctively I turn around, and can see the fog form of a unicorn stallion walking towards me. Or rather, towards Baku, because he literally walks right through me. Now all the eyes are pointed at the stallion, and Baku gives out a pained moan. “Scourge of Neighpan, chained like a common animal,” he sighs. “My apologies, where are my manners? My name is Shooting Star, and I may be able to help you.” Wait, Shooting Star? I’ve never seen a picture or anything of him before, and it’s just so weird how...normal he is. He’s maybe in his early 30s, and he looks just like any other pony I could pass on the street. Baku moans again, this time less with pain and more almost curiosity. “I believe you could also help me,” Shooting Star smiles. Before Baku or Shooting Star can say anything more, all the fog starts blowing away as if in a strong wind. There’s clearly not any wind, though, I can feel that. It all blows away, however, just leaving me in darkness. It’s weird, because while I can see myself just fine, everything else is pitch black. “Open your eyes,” a voice says from somewhere in the darkness. Where exactly it’s coming from I can’t tell. “Who are you?” I call out into the blackness. “Just open your eyes,” it repeats. But that’s impossible, because my eyes already are open. Actually, now that I think of it, I don’t think I’ve blinked the entire time I’ve been here. As I just stand there for a few seconds, I notice that my eyes don’t hurt and start feeling dry like they normally do. But how can I open them if I never closed them? For some odd reason, however, I do feel like I can open my eyes. I do so and instead of my eyes in here changing at all, the bottom of my field of vision suddenly becomes light. I open them a little bit more, and more light starts flooding my vision. Once they’re open all the way, everything just looks hazy. Instantly, my chest feels heavy and I instinctively take a deep gasp as I fill my lungs up with air. My head also feels light, and as I sit up, I start feeling dizzy, causing the Chieftain to reach his hooves out and catch me to keep me sitting up. “Did you see what you needed to?” he asks. “I think I did,” I say between deep breaths. “Did I stop breathing?” “Everyone who participates in this ritual does,” he confirms. “As such, visions tend to be short. You can imagine that those with longer ones tend to not wake up.” “Is that common?” I ask weakly. Scary to think I just did something that could have killed me, but I guess that wouldn’t be the first time today. “Not very. I have only heard of it, never witnessed someone dying during a vision myself. Even if they did, it would help them achieve their goal in some way. Are you feeling as if you may sit up on your own?” “Probably,” I nod. He takes his hooves off me, and while I’m a little wobbly, I manage to stay up. “I know Aspen despises when I help her,” he mentions. “I figure you may be the same way, even if you are still recovering.” “You were pretty mad at Aspen,” I point out. “What are you going to do with her?” He takes a deep breath, then shakes his head. “I am unsure. I never know what to do with her.” “She a troublemaker?” I ask. “She didn’t really seem to be one.” “Quite the contrary, she has never had any major issues when it comes to discipline. She is simply very strong-headed, even since she was a young fawn. I cannot say I am surprised that she assisted you, for she is rather set in her views towards Equestrians.” “How do you know she feels that way? She told me she doesn’t express those views, says it would hurt you if your only child was saying things so opposite of what you believe.” “She does not express them publicly,” he corrects. “Unfortunately for me, she got my mind for politics. I do suppose it is endearing in a sense, although it is one thing I wish she took after her mother in.” “If you don’t mind me asking,” I speak gingerly, “where is her mother? I don’t think she mentioned her, either. And she explained the position she’s in and the uncertainty surrounding whether or not she’ll be Chieftain, so I would have guessed that you would have tried to have a son.” “You would be correct in believing that we would try,” he nodded. “Her mother died giving birth to her. I suppose I got attached to Aspen and wished to focus my attention on her as opposed to another doe, which is why I never took another wife.” “Do you miss her?” He simply shrugs. “Her death was unfortunate, yes. While we never truly cared for each other in a romantic sense, I respected her and saw her as a good friend, and she felt the same towards me. There are worse marriages to be arranged, I suppose.” “Even if you didn’t lose a lover, you lost a friend. Must have been difficult.” “We do not mourn death as heavily as Equestrians do,” he explains, “or perhaps not even at all. Especially not those that occur during birth. Life is not a straight line as your kind believes it to be, but a constantly repeating loop. Her life ended, but the life of another began that day. And although her body was buried and will waste away, it is not to say her life will be gone forever. Her corpse shall feed the worms and the insects, who fill feed the plants and trees, who will in turn feed the deer. And because her life will be feeding us, we shall not starve, and another young buck and doe may have fawns of their own, and the cycle shall continue. Life can never end, Aurora Borealis. It may only reorganize and restructure itself.” “I don’t know, to me, you still lost someone important to you. Even if their life is still present, everything else about them is gone. Whatever made you enjoy being around her, you’ll never have again.” “We understand the perils of birth and accept their possibility. When a doe is ready to give birth, she and the fawn’s father enter the forest alone and only come back once it is done. Anyone who does not return is hardly spoken of again, for it is understood that they returned to the forest from whence they came. We are all children of the forest here, and our death is what keeps it moving and allows the forest to survive for our children, and their children. One day I shall succumb to death, and my body shall return to the forest and ensure my daughter’s fawns survive.” “She mentioned needing a husband soon to start having children,” I nod. “So you really have all the say in who she marries?” “In theory. In practice, I care for her and do wish for her to find a buck she will hold feelings for. I was lucky in that my wife was a very good friend of mine, although there were times I wished we held romantic feelings for one another. Alas, I feel Aspen does not wish to marry just yet, which puts me in a difficult situation.” He looks at me, and while his outward expression hasn’t changed, I can tell his face is a bit warmer than it was before. “Perhaps I shall marry her into service for the tribe, at least temporarily. If Equestria has created an ambassadorship to the deer, I feel it the polite thing to reciprocate. Perhaps we shall see if my daughter’s beliefs that opening ourselves up to Equestria will improve our status are justified.” “We would be honored to welcome her and your tribe into Equestrian diplomacy,” I say with a bow of my head. “If you do not mind me asking, what changed your mind?” “It would be false if I claimed that I have not seriously considered my daughter’s ideals before. I disagree with them and it would cause quite a stir amongst the other deer were I to do so, although a pony crossed the Olenmanegy and lived to return. Perhaps that shall blunt the tribe’s ire should I resume formal relations with your kind.” “But if you still disagree, why do it?” For the first time since I’ve been here, I swear I can see a small smile grow on his face. “I do intend to fight for my daughter’s right to claim a position that is hers by birth. I can almost certainly guarantee she is going to resume contact with Equestrians when she becomes chieftain, so I figure I should give her the opportunity now to create a good rapport and learn how to deal with your kind. And should it turn out poorly, I shall be the one to bear that burden on my name.” “You would really put your own reputation on the line to go through with something you don’t agree with just because Aspen wants it? What if it doesn’t work out?” “I am a father.” He looks down at me, and even though his smile is now gone, I can tell that there is warmth in his eyes. “Aspen is nearly fifteen, old enough to make informed decisions of her own. If these are the beliefs that she holds true to heart, then so be it. I would rather nurture her own independence and decision-making than impose my own beliefs onto her, even if said opinions clash against my own.” “Even if said opinions result in the Chieftain’s daughter openly disagreeing with her father?” “It is a parent’s duty to nurture their children, often at their own expense. When she was young, that expense was time and energy and sleep to make sure she was getting everything she needed. Now that she is older, that expense has changed. When my wife and I lay together, we were consenting to incurring the costs of a fawn, whatever they may manifest themselves as. I like to believe I am a buck of his word, and as such, I have no intention of reneging on such a promise I made to Aspen.” “And if they disagree with what you’re doing and want you to stop it?” “I imagine displeasure will be expressed, and perhaps a few tantrums thrown. They are not Chieftain, however, and so they shall have no real power. Functionally, it will amount to little more than noise.” “I suppose I should thank you,” I say with a bow of my head. “Potentially risking your reputation just to open diplomacy with us, it must not be easy. Know that we are very open to hearing your plea and doing what we can not only to improve your status, but rectify the mistakes of the past.” “Simply hearing an Equestrian say that does signify change is possible,” he states. “Hundreds of years ago, Princess Celestia attempted to justify expelling us from our own land and allowing her kind to clear it for a city of their own. Now, she is sending an envoy to us and having her say that her Princess is willing to reconcile for her previous actions. I wonder what has caused such a change in your Princess’ views towards us?” “Perhaps she has had time to consider what it was she did, and realized that your kind was treated unfairly.” “I feel it more likely you needed something from us, and she decided to send an envoy to accomplish two deeds at once.” He stands up, then extends a hoof to me. “Regardless, our two kinds resuming contact was inevitable. Now come, we must secure you lodgings for your stay here.” “Stay?” I repeat. “Of course, we must have some discussion about the specifics of our diplomacy. You seem a busy doe, although you will have some time to converse with us, will you not?” “I think I have a few days,” I respond as I take his hoof and use it to stand up. There’s a glint in his eye, and I swear I can see a tiny smile. “Perhaps I shall include Aspen in our talks. I am unsure whether or not I shall make her the ambassador to Equestria, although I suppose it does not hurt to have her sit in with us. And maybe you would not mind teaching her about your country in preparation for her possible visits there?” “I would love to,” I nod. “I just hope that one day, both the deer and the ponies be able to interact freely, with no ill will between us.”