Shortly after being rescue, mom didn’t wasted time and start to put everything back in order, despite my episode there weren’t any casualties and although they were wounded, nopony seem to be in any sort of critical condition.
…Liars! All of them, even if I wasn’t a changeling anymore I could still see right throw all and each of them, of course information would be tamper and wrap, of course there would be wounded or even deaths that day. Chitin ensure to show it to me, it was crystal clear and yet, even my own mother refused to tell me the whole truth. And now either the city our my family will never be the same ever again
‘I was just another victim of Chitin trap’ that is what they all said, just another casualty in that horrible nightmare. Yet I can’t get mad at them, none of them.
They only wanted to protect me, reassure me that things could get better, and I really appreciated that. But I know better. My self proclaim family is far from done with me, and this act was just their way of saying that their grip is still there and is as stronger as ever.
Exos, Tempress, Chitin, Freya, Cicada, and Chrysalis. All of them, sociopaths determined to turn their puppet around again, and willing to give one hell of a fight to get it. I need to do something to stop them, as long as their strings exist, nobody is truly safe around…
My inner thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a knock on my door that startle me for a second as I look back at the entrance who was slowly opening and from it aunt Luna poke her head out.
“Dear nephew?” Her eyes start to inspect the place until they landed on me, her expression being one of pure concern and worry. “May I come in?”
I just sigh and close my eyes as I turn around back, to look at the full moon in display from my balcony. “Go ahead”
I hear the door closing follow by my aunt hoof steps approaching me “Why are you still awake dear nephew? It’s pretty late at night”
“Couldn’t sleep, I had a nightmare”
“Really?” Aunt Luna told as she stand next to me “Well in that case I would need to tell me more of this fascinating nightmare that you somehow manage to suffer while remaining awake, since I know for sure that you never went to bed on the first place. In fact, you have barely sleep for the last three days” she tell me with sarcasm. I didn’t need to turn to know that she was crossing her arms and had one eye raise at me
I look back at her in surprise “How did you…?”
“…Oh dear nephew, please don’t, don’t try to foul the princess of the night” She tells with a small smile as she used her wing to cover my back and bring me closer to her.
“So care to tell us what is afflicting you?”
With a heavy sigh, I look down at my feets “I’m that transparent?”
“Very” I can feel Luna putting her hand on my shoulder in an attempt to comfort me
I sigh in defeat and look down “I still think of what happen in Manehattan, and all of the ponies I hurt”
“Yeah, I imagine that could be the case, and believe me dear nephew, I’m more than familiar with the shame and guilt of harming others”
Looking back at her I could see how aunt Luna was looking at the moon with a thousand yard stare in pure contemplation and guilt. “Like you, I too walked through the wrong path once”
Signing in defeat I decided to look at the horizon in though “Why did you all decided to hide the truth from me?”
“Because there was nothing to hide, what we disclose with you is all truth. When Chitin took over…”
“…Enough!” I yell at her in complete rage “See? Right there, you are still doing it, you are still refusing to tell me what really happen and just expect me to believe that a miracle. Aunt don’t you get it? It’s impossible that there wasn’t any casualties, Chitin show me the footage, he made me remember, I…” shaking in place I slowly lift my hands so I could see them “…I can still feel the blood on my hands”
“And do you really believe it was all real?” Luna told me with a calm voice
“What?” I turn to her in confusion.
“Tell me nephew, have you ever experience a vivid dream? A subconscious experiences, so real that you can actually feel the heat of a flame or the cold of an ice?”
“I…I think I have” I answer honestly trying to remember, both my new and old life experience. Something that at the moment resulted very difficult to recall.
“Well, what if I told you that a very powerful illusion can make the lines of dreams and reality if not the same, extremely blurry” My aunt said with a knowing smile. “And it can work backwards too”
“Is…is that possible?” I ask in growing wonder and she just nod at me.
“Nephew if it will put your mind at rest I will tell you what my sister and I decided to avoid mentioning”
“Ah ha! I knew it! I knew you weren’t telling me…” Luna soon stop me by raising her hand to silence me.
“…But I will only do so, with the condition that what you are about to hear will not leave this room, ever” She tells in a very serious tone. “I’m serious Caeruleo, not even the elements knows of this secret and, I can assure you, if this knowledge falls in the hands of even Twilight Sparkle, it can spell a catastrophe on all of Equestria”
“Wow, a secret that not even mom student can’t know? Is it really that dangerous”
“It is, and that is why I must repeat, do we have an agreement?”
With determination I stand in front of her “We do aunt Luna, I will not tell a soul”
“Good” Aunt Luna expression soften as she nods and then goes to my bed before laying on it, resting her head on my pillow. “Now come dear nephew, lay next to me”
“…What?” That is the only thing I manage to tell as I process what she was demanding.
My aunt stand up and she gave me the biggest puppy eyes I have ever seen in my life “Are you going to deny, a request from your old, and fragile aunty, that love you so much?”
“Ok! Ok! I’m coming, I’m coming, just please stop doing that” I tell her as I approach the bed and her expression soon change of one of cheer as I lay next to her, while she didn’t waste time in bringing me for a hug and used her wing to cover me like a blanket.
“You can be the worse sometimes aunty” I grumble as I decided to just go with the flow and get comfortable.
Luna meanwhile just giggle as she rest her head on top of mine. “Let it this be a lesson dear nephew, no other pony in Equestria can guilt trip others like I do”
“Whatever” I tell her with a roll of my eyes “So, the secret?”
“Oh of course” Aunt Luna tells as she stare at the ceiling. “Pay attention dear nephew, look closely to what I’m about to show you” Her horn soon start to glow and with the flick of a finger, the rooftop of my room soon open up like a mouth and from inside of it, I could see space itself moving like water and like a drop slowly entering into the room.
“Behold! The gate of dreams Caeruleo, the realm in which I rule and watch over. What are you seeing is the collective subconscious of our citizens, resting on a plane of existence, away from what we perceived as reality”
As the substance start to get closer, I try to touch it with my bare hands only for it to pass throw like it was air. I couldn’t even feel a thing in doing so, it was as if image in front of me was not really there.
Aunt Luna giggle at my frustration as she raise her own hand and the substance start to circle her hand “I’m afraid it's not tangible nephew, like I told you, what you are seeing its the subconscious itself, dreams and thoughts that fly free and wild. So unless you have my gift, to you all of this was nothing but a pleasant, picture”
Her horn start to grow even brighter and soon the image morph into a small robin made complete of space who fly around us until finally landing on Luna hand.
“Beautiful, isn’t nephew?”
“Yeah, it is. But I still don’t get it, what does any of this has to do with what happen in Manehattan?”
“I assure you everything will connect in due time, but now I will need your assistance” She extend her other hand toward me “This spell requires a lot of power, I’m afraid that I’ll need your help to perform it”
“Me? But I’m still new when it comes to magic, I don’t even know how to make a spell yet”
“That is ok nephew, I will just need to borrow some of your magic, you will not have to do anything”
I look at her hand and then at her “And…will it hurt?”
“I assure you, you will only feel some mild uncomfort that is all”
“Well…ok” Still a bit unsure I hold her hand and soon I see how a magic purple ribbon emerge from both ours hands and bind us in a spiral. Soon I see a blue aura appearing on my arm and slowly moving toward aunt Luna ones.
Like she said I could feel some mild uncomfort and getting a bit tired.
“That will be enough, thanks” Aunt Luna release me and I could see how her horns start to glow even brighter.
“Now, like I told you there are cases where dreams can appear to us so real, that we can be easily be fooled into believing that we are awake” Using her magic she shoot a spell at the robin and in front my eyes I could see how it start to shape and transform into a real red robin, who start to sing. “Or sense of hearing, of smell…” The robin flew out of her finger and landed on mine, without it facing throw. “…of touch”
I couldn’t believe what I was witnessing. If it wasn’t for what I saw earlier I could have sworn that, this was an actual bird. I could feel his feathers and feets on the palm of my hand, when petting, it actually chip in happiness, I could even felt its weight on me
“It is…alive?”
“It is now” Aunt Luna tells with a smirk
“What?!” I immediately turn to her in complete astonishment, scaring the bird who flew away, as she silence me once more by placing her finger on my lips. “Please nephew, there are ponies sleeping”
“You can actually transform illusions into reality?!” I harshly whisper to her and she nods.
“It’s a very ancient, and dangerous spell that takes a lot of effort and energy. So much that I always need to ask for some magic from my sister if I wish to perform it. Caeruleo, what Chitin made you do that day…its was beyond horrible, the repercussions of what would happen, the lives that were lost. He was bend on breaking your spirit as well as convince all of Equestria that you weren’t nothing other than a monster”
Her expression soon turns to anger “Tartarus would have frozen before me and my sister would let that happen”
“So this spell of yours, did you…”
“That is right, taking half of my sister energy, I create a magic dome in all of the city and for a second, impose the rules of a dream” Her expression soften as she looks at me “On a dream you can actually and have die…repeatedly even. Times itself also move different there too. So in one hour you could have at the very least have twenty dreams. Witch allow me to turn that horrible nightmare into that, just a very vivid dream. So it’s true Caeruleo” She told me holding my hand, with a worry expresion “You indeed, did kill all of those ponies…on a dream, a realm where nothings matters and the laws of life and death are none”
As I process that I stare into space in contemplation “All this time, those visions, aunt Luna I don’t…I yell at you” I tell her in regret.
Looking away in shame, I try to move but I soon found my aunt tightening her embrace on me “There is nothing to apologies for dear child, like I told you I too had walk that path, and I know of the pain you must be suffering, there is nothing you could have say that would have offend me”
“Thank you aunty”
“Anytime my dear nephew” When I felt her softening her embrace I look back at her “So, do you understand why I need to ask you keep this a secret? The knowledge and implication of this spell, a way to make literally anything you desire into a reality, even if complicated and paying a extremely large among of energy, the tentacion of such power, cool be too much for any pony, and even the purest of hearts could be willing to sacrifice more than his or her life in order to achieve it”
“I understand aunty, but do you really think that we can’t trust Twilight Sparkle? Her symbol represent magic and its studies, I’m sure she wouldn’t try it out, if we explains the risks”
I was answer immediately by my aunt giving me a deadpan stare “Tell me you jest”
“Ok point taken” I then notices the robin who had landed on my nightstand “And what is going to happen to him now” I look at Luna again “Are you going to turn him back into a dream again?”
“Nothing that extreme” She tells with a calm smile as she call the bird once more, as its flies and land on her finger “Creatures like this can of use to those lost in their own dreams” She breath on the robin and soon the feathers on it change to white and start to shine like a star. “Like lights that guides those scare and in search for help”
Moving her hand the, robin flew away and entered the void for witch he came from leaving behind a streak of white dust.
“Hope he is ok”
“Do not worry nephew, the robin will be safe and sound on my realm, and who knows maybe you will be able to encounter him again, in your next dream”
“Je I will make sure to keep an eye open for it” I told her as I try to stand up only to find most of my chest and the entire lower part of my body extremely heavy, and my energy almost gone.
“What the…” I try to move but to not avail
“Is there a problem nephew?”
“Yeah, I try to stand up but my body is not…” I start to tell but when I look back at her I notices how she was smirking at me.
“…Yes?” She ask with a raise eyebrow.
“You trick me into laying in bed and then drain me of my energy so I wouldn’t be able to fight the fatigue, didn’t you?”
Luna just giggle and nod in pride “You have being refusing to sleep for far too long young man” She bring me closer to her and putting a pillow under my head she rest next to me “I will not tolerate such crimes to continue for another second” She place a blanket on top of both of us. As I start to feel my energy starting to fade as well as my consciousness. “Now accept your punishment like a stallion”
“Weirdest punishment ever” I tell her with a roll of my eyes
“Just go to bed, Caeruleo, we will speak tomorrow” Luna tells me before I hear her lightly snoring besides me.
Wow, it really took a chunk of her energy if even she is sleepy
Hearing a bark I look to me right and see Pyra looking at me with a smile “Pyra my saviour, quickly help me get away from this bed”
To my horror she instead shake her head and approach my face “Pyra, what are you doing?”
She reach my cheek and start to lick it repeatedly “Pyra stop, Pyra, stop that” Soon I hear her purr as she nuzzle her own cheek with my own
“Pyra I command you, go get help, Pyra” In a last effort I see how she got underneath the blanket and then place herself on my chest and curl into a ball as she feel sleep. Her warm and fluffy fur, plus her light purr, were just too soothing for me to ignore as I was feeling my eyelash heavier and heavier.
“You…traitor” I manage to yawn before falling asleep.