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// Chapter 3: A New Subject 
// Story: Dream Life 
// by Crescent Pulsar 
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Celestia's biological clock roused her from sleep at the usual time, but it was with an unusual amount of purpose that she got out of bed to perform her duty. She planned to discuss Empyrean with her sister, after all, and intended to do so right after she raised the sun.

Once she was ready to leave her bedroom and present herself to the world, she made her way to the balcony doors. When she drew the curtains aside with her magic, she saw that Luna had chosen to wait for her outside. She was facing the moon, which was brushing the horizon, but she looked over her shoulder to acknowledge her when she heard the doors open, then turned her attention back to the fore and began to lower the moon.

Celestia made it to Luna's side by the time the moon could no longer be seen, at which point she took hold of the sun and raised it into view. She turned her attention to her sister when she was done, who couldn't entirely hide her apprehension, no doubt expecting her to be against her idea.

"I have some questions," she began, not wanting her sister to stress over her intentions any longer than necessary.

Slightly relieved, but still a bit tense with worry, Luna drew herself up and prompted, "Yes?"

"What do you know about Empyrean?" Celestia levelly asked. "Why did you pick her?"

Not sensing that her sister was upset, Luna calmly replied, "I don't know much. To save time trying to find the perfect candidate, I did little beyond manipulating her dreams, to conduct personality tests and using the results to acquire a profile. I chose her because I found her personality acceptable, as well as finding her pleasant to talk to once I engaged her directly."

Celestia digested that before inquiring, "Did you learn anything about her personal life?"

"I didn't think it relevant," Luna admitted. "I watched a few dreams before I intervened, and from those I gathered that she might be directionless."

"I see," Celestia responded, understanding that her sister was comparing Empyrean to a pony who had yet to attain their cutie mark. She looked down at the city of Canterlot and thought about that, watching the stirrings of morning activity as she did so.

Wanting to know the reason for the questions, and the lack of any complaint, Luna queried, "Why do you ask? Is something the matter?"

Celestia didn't answer immediately. She couldn't help thinking about the opportunities that Empyrean presented to her, which would certainly tempt her if she offered aid where others had not — or had and failed. After weighing all of the factors on a scale, she turned to her sister and said, "I've decided to accept this arrangement with Empyrean."

"Truly?" Came Luna's surprised reply.

Turning about to leave, Celestia suppressed a smile as she explained, "She is in need of aid, and I'm in a position to provide it."

Luna barely began to feel relief and triumph when shock snuffed them out. "What? B-but—"

"Since she looks like a pony," Celestia casually continued, as she began to walk toward her room, "it'll almost be like attending one of our own subjects."

She knew it was a bit mean, but the irony was simply too good to pass up. That, and she hoped that it would discourage her sister from meddling any further. She appreciated the concern, but there were certain things that she was determined to do on her own, and in her own way.

As she left her speechless sister, she began to think about the topics that she could bring up with Empyrean while she helped her out. It would be nice to have something new and interesting to talk about, and the best part was that she was certain that it would be safe to indulge in.





Celestia found herself in the throne room once again. Rather than think about that, she got up from her throne and walked down to the floor, where she would wait for Empyrean's arrival. Hopefully she would also appear in the same place, so they wouldn't need to look for each other.

She wasn't sure how much time had passed when Empyrean arrived, but the wait had felt a bit long. Understandably, Empyrean was a bit confused as she took in the familiar surroundings. When Empyrean's attention fell upon her, the human-turned-mare remarked, "I thought I wouldn't be seeing you again."

"I changed my mind," Celestia responded, with a slight smile. "It seemed like you could use a vacation while you slept, and I'm not adverse to facilitating that."

Empyrean stared for a moment before shrugging and saying, "Well, if that's the kind of thing you like to do, I'm still willing to oblige."

"It is," Celestia confirmed, secretly appreciating Empyrean's shrewdness. "I happen to like helping my little ponies, so pretending to do that here — despite not being so little — is," she smiled with some amusement, "well, a dream."

"Are you sure?" Empyrean asked, just to make sure. "You're not going to burn yourself out doing what you enjoy?"

Celestia shook her head. "I'll be fine. So," she closed her eyes and focused, "let's get comfortable and have a little chat."

The world around them became a blur of motion and color, which quickly resolved itself into a new place. It was the conservatory that Celestia had pointed out to Empyrean while she had been showing her around the palace gardens. The inside was mainly occupied and decorated by plants, for the pleasant smells and relaxing atmosphere, and there were multiple lounging areas to accommodate for the time of day and whether one wanted to be in the sunlight or shade, as well as having a view of the grounds outside. In the middle of the conservatory was a sizeable fountain that added to the audial element of the atmosphere, which was the area where they were currently located.

She focused again and a low table appeared nearby, in addition to two large cushions for them to lounge on at opposite ends of it. On the table was a tea set, with steam wafting from the spout of the teapot, which was there for mood and distraction rather than for slaking thirst.

While Empyrean looked around and admired her surroundings, Celestia eased herself onto the cushion nearest to her and casually said, "To start, exactly how much input did you have in your appearance? I've been wondering about that."

Empyrean settled onto the other cushion and unconcernedly replied, "Oh, just the colors and the hair. It's not like I know anything about a pony's," she paused to recall the word that she was looking for, "physiognomy, so I had no problem with Luna handling everything else."

Nodding her head, Celestia queried, "And what inspired you to make the choices that you did?"

A brief look of realization crossed Empyrean's face, who had no doubt figured out that Celestia was trying to learn more about her character rather than trying to find any fault in Luna's actions. "Well, grey and silver are my favorite colors. And your sister's hair reminded me of the camping trips I used to go on in my youth, so I thought it would be neat to have hair that's based on the flames of a campfire."

"It looks warm and inviting as one as well," Celestia complimented, causing Empyrean to look away self-consciously. "Do you still go camping?"

Empyrean shook her head and evenly replied, "These days it's hard to motivate myself to go out anywhere. I kind of got into the habit of staying home to save on fuel, when times were particularly tough, and it felt easy to continue that when I could save money instead of limiting my expenses." She shrugged her shoulders. "Eventually I noticed that I just didn't have much interest in anything outside of my home. When I have some free time, I usually spend it on the Internet, watching movies or playing video games."

While Celestia was curious about the things mentioned in Empyrean's final sentence, she put that aside for a more relevant subject. "I thought you were open to doing new things?"

Turning her head aside, Empyrean rubbed the back of her neck and replied, "I am. It's just, uh... different here, like this. It's hard to explain, but I don't feel... I think world-weary is what it is."

After carefully thinking about it for a moment, Celestia offered Empyrean a look of sympathy and said, "I think I understand. You don't feel tethered here, by your circumstances or the usual worries that you have about your actions and behavior."

"More or less," Empyrean conceded after a slight bit of hesitation.

Noting that she had hit upon a sensitive subject, as well as one that was a bit too close to home, Celestia abandoned that tangent and tried to lighten the mood. "Well, I'm here to help and offer you a break, if you don't mind spending time with an old mare like myself."

Grinning wryly, Empyrean said, "I can't tell how old you are, so I'll have to take your word for it. Beyond that, I guess we'll just have to see."

Taking that to mean that Empyrean had accepted her offer, Celestia smiled and prompted, "In that case, is there any particular place you'd like to go to, or activity you'd like to do?"

Empyrean furrowed her brow and ruminated for a while, at times emoting with her mouth and eyes as she considered ideas. She eventually came to one that lit up her face before she could restrain herself. After some hesitation, she finally revealed what was on her mind. "How do you feel about an entire island made of cake?"