...
"Unde evenit? Vulto scio..."
"TWILIGHT!"
Blinking, I sit up straight. Was I having a dream? I'm in my room, the sheets on my bed crumpled at the footboard.
"Twilight, art--are you alright?"
"Huh?" I look over at Luna. "Oh, um, I think so. I must have been having...some sort of dream." I look back at the sheets, clearly violently cast away. I look back and squint my eyes. "Luna?"
"Yes?"
"I thought you weren't coming to Ponyville tonight?"
"I haven't," she says, blankly, "which is what is concerning."
"But..." I look around at my room. Now that she mentions it, the light coming in through the window seems different than usual. Stepping down onto the floor, I walk over.
"We are within the Dream Realm," Luna says, as I watch openmouthed as an endless, luminous, starry night of whirling spheres dance outside my window. "Which is odd, because usually no constructs are allowed into this, er...connecting phase."
I turn back, puzzled. "Connecting phase?"
"Well, ah, if you will forgive the metaphor, this particular part of the Dream Realm is like the, the post office, and each of these spheres," she gestures to one just outside--it shows two brothers playing in the woods-- "are the letters, or dreams, they send through. Each dream has its own 'address' that brings my mind to theirs. Quite fascinating, addresses. Usually if ponies wanted to send a scroll to me, they would just tell the courier to bring it to 'the biggest building.'" She puts a hoof to her chin. "I suppose there were fewer ponies around in those days, so it was much easier to learn one's neighbors."
"But I digress," Luna says, shaking her head slightly. "This is somewhat perturbing. The fact that you have recreated your bedroom within a-- well, within a purely metaphorical interface, is unprecedented."
"Not to mention I was apparently sleeping here, too. Is that weird?" I frown. "Tell me it's weird to sleep in a dream."
Luna shrugs. "It's not as unprecedented, but certainly unusual. It usually occurs when a pony is entirely content or relieved when they fall asleep. I might warrant," she looks at me out of the corner of her eye, "did you have a good day yesterday?"
I nod. "As a matter of fact, yes, yes I did. I suppose when I went to bed I could have been pretty content, yeah."
"Well then that explains it. As for why you are here and not within your own dreamscape, your dream magic seems to have finally passed that 'critical mass' necessary for you to manifest into this particular plane. Quite wonderful. As for the rest of your bedroom, however, I'm not going to think about how you managed to bring a real concept into an abstract, representative interface. I don't think I'm quite smart enough to figure that one out tonight."
"That's reasonable," I say. "But hey, if it's alright, I have a few questions about, uh, well, where is here?"
"Oh, you mean the Everdream?" Luna nods. "First off, this doesn't exist in reality, it's a construct devised to allow ponies such as myself to understand the Dream Realm better. It certainly helps with navigation."
"I see, sort of," I say, blinking. "Are all of Equestria's dreams here?"
Luna waves a hoof indeterminately. "Most likely? It's a bit harder to find the dreams that belong to others besides ponies, but as far as I can tell, all the ponies, griffons, changelings, dragon or two and others seem to be here, most of the time."
"Wow...alright, does it function on curved-space principles of the bubble universe or does it have a border?"
"I beg your pardon?"
"Does it stop or do you just go back to where you started, if you go in a straight line?"
"Ah. The latter."
"Intriguing," I say, rubbing my chin. I'm about to ask another question when I remember something, something quite important. "Ah, Luna?" She tilts her head. "I have a different question to ask. Do you know," I frown slightly. "Do you know why I've started developing dream magic?"
Luna frowns as well. "No, but good question. Like I said, such a development is unprecedented. If you were actively looking to connect yourself with the Dream Realm, that would be one thing, after all," she chuckles, "that's how my mother discovered it to begin with."
Mother??? I've heard almost nothing about Celestia and Luna's parents. But I suppose the idea that Luna was the only one to use dream magic isn't correct, now. I really have to ask about that sometime, when we have a bit more time to talk.
Luna continues, "But no, you had no desire to, nor actions committed to, achieving such an end, so as far as I am concerned, I could be trying to find a needle in a haystack." She sighs. "I don't think it's anything to worry about, but it does strike me as strange, you understand?"
"Yeah, I get you." I sit down. "That seems weird to me, too."
Luna raises a hoof dismissively, then looks at me. "I was told," she says, quietly, "this gesture means the phrase 'what can you do?' Is that correct?"
"Yes, Luna," I say, chuckling to myself. "That's correct."
Luna claps her hooves together and beams at me. "Intriguing! I would never have expected Modern Equestrian to incorporate so many components of sign language...I wonder why that is?"
I shrug. "I think I'm lost there as well, Luna. I've never really studied up on mouth morphemes and fossular positions."
"Just as well, then," Luna says, making her 'what can you do?' gesture once more. "I suppose that neatly ties up that tangent.
"As for the lesson I promised, why don't we get started, Twilight?" She smiles, and I walk over, excited. "Yes please! What do we start with?"
Luna taps her chin. "I will eventually need to have you learn how to enter the Everdream at will, not just when you are sleeping. But that is not pressing. What I will have you focus on instead is first, travelling about the Everdream and entering ponies' dreams. Direct influence can come further down the line."
"Alright...so basically, I'm going to learn the, well, the basics."
"Precisely."
"But wait, I heard from Starlight that Celestia was able to do those just fine, that time she switched Cutie Marks with you."
"Ah," Luna says, nodding. "Fair point. For anypony save my sister, these things take time. However, even though she was entirely unfamiliar with this particular branch of magic, within magic proper, there are spells that have similar 'representative' qualities to them. Things like limited pocket dimensions, or perhaps plane transitions...all of which," she eyes me in what looks like wariness, and I make sure to close my mouth and wipe the drool from it, "take decades of mental strengthening to even consider casting. But since dream magic can be considered a completely different 'species' of magic, in a similar manner to dark magic and chaos magic, many of unicorn--or alicorn--magic's rules simply cannot apply. Thus, you don't need to spend...oh, thirty or fourty years in meditation just to get the chance to actually cast the magic in the first place." She chuckles at my downcast expression. "Don't worry, Twilight. As an alicorn, your chance will come in time."
I nod, feeling a little better. I am immortal now, after all...but that just brings the question to mind, will my frien--
No.
I can't think of that now.
Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I sit expectantly a few hooves from Luna, who chuckles again, and stands up. "Come now, Twilight, I can lecture you for hours on end, but what good does learning how muscle fibers break and restore do to the pony who does not exercise? Let us take, for lack of a better word, a stroll."
I take Luna's hoof and stand up. "Aww...but I really wanted a lecture from you, Luna."
She shakes her head, a fond smile on her muzzle. "Then let us multi-task."
We walk to the door of my bedroom, where Luna slowly opens it onto the serene blizzard of dreams outside. "With representative magic, what you imagine is what will be. I know you have no lack of imagination, but like all things, practice is necessary." She gently floats into the...well, it can't be air. The space beyond the door. "To move in the Everdream, imaging is key. Find what moves you, so to speak...whether it be air, or water, or a gentle flow of magic. Imagining this force moving you will do so. Come, try it."
She holds a hoof out, and I frown, thinking it over in my head. "Is there any reason why you say to imagine a force moving you, as opposed to moving yourself?"
"Excellent observation, Twilight. Although you already have made an exception to the rule, 'real' objects cannot exist within the Everdream. Nonetheless, we ourselves are real, if not corporeal in this state, and thus imaging does not work from within us, but rather manipulates the images around us. For of course," she gestures around herself, "what are dreams but images our minds and souls create? Illusions, easily made and easily changed."
"I understand. So even you can't change your shape within the Dream Realm?" I scratch the side of my head. "But how do other ponies do that? I distinctly remember Big Macintosh growing a horn and wings when we fought the Tantabus."
"My, are we full of questions tonight," Luna says, and I blush, but she's not mad. "Well, we are not dreaming, now are we? Ponies' dreams exist within themselves, while we are merely voyaging through them."
I blink. "So...because a dream is inside the pony, it doesn't limit how that pony can see themselves, but because we are inside the dream, we cannot change?"
"I knew you would figure it out, Twilight. It appears you've been getting your lecture, as you desired. Why don't you try putting it into practice?"
"Oh, yeah, I can do that. Imaging, right." I scrunch up my muzzle. I have to use outside forces to move myself to where Luna is. I'm the most familiar with magic, so...could I in essence, 'levitate' myself over to Luna like Starlight does from time to time?
"Good work, Twilight," Luna says, and I start. I'm already out, floating next to her. "That must be a very effective image for you."
"Uh, thanks, that kinda just happened without me noticing. I was thinking about how Starlight levitates herself with her magic, so she can fly as a unicorn, in a limited sense. But," I frown, "I notice I didn't actually use my magic."
"Of course not--you used the images around you. There was no need to do something so cumbersome as casting a spell." She giggles at my shocked expression. "I am, of course, being silly. But it is much easier to simply imagine than to cast a spell, no?
"Besides," she starts floating through the slowly drifting spheres of dreams, and I follow, somewhat wobbly still, "Spells don't work here. Not unicorn or alicorn ones, at least."
"That's where the dream magic comes in, right?"
"Exactly." Luna smiles. "I think you will take well to this."
I grow warm at the praise. "Thanks, Luna."
"You're welcome," she says, a light in her eyes. "And, I think I had a good idea for your inaugural dream lesson."
"Oh?" I tilt my head. "What's that?"
I sit in silent, nerve-wracking concentration.
Sweat beads on my cheeks, but I don't bother to wipe it off, my mind focused on the board before me.
Across from me, my opponent leans back in his chair, yawning softly, as if bored with the way this game is turning out.
Like he knows how it's going to end.
I'm being backed into a corner, I can feel it. I've lived for millennia, and I've headed successful war campaigns against other developed countries. I've played the game for so long, I can hardly remember learning it.
And yet, the knight, rook, and bishop still stare at me, smugly, from their squares on the board, cutting off my escapes and not giving me any room to breathe.
I take a small, hopefully imperceptible glance up at my oppressor. He's slumped in his chair, likely bored out of his mind, his tassels hanging lazily down from his corners.
May the great earth below have mercy upon me--I can't believe it, but I'm losing to a rug.
"Celestia?"
I let out a certainly un-Princess-like yelp and topple over in my chair, a hoof connecting to the table and sending it, the board, and the thirty-two pieces flying. The rug looks up just in time to be absolutely beaned by the airborne table, smashing him against the back of his seat and bringing them both to the floor. I look up from my carnage to see Luna and Twilight standing a few hooves away.
"Luna? Twilight?" I say, disoriented. "How in Equestria did you find me?"
"What?" Twilight looks confused. "Celestia, wha--"
"You're dreaming," Luna says, cutting Twilight off.
Actually, now that she mentions it, I do, in fact, seem to be dreaming. Now that I think about it, it seems kind of strange that I'd be playing a rug in chess...if I remember, the last of the great flying carpets was lost in the Alexandria fire nearly eight hundred years ago.
"Ah. So I see, now. What brings you to my dream, Luna?"
"Nightmare, apparently," Luna replies, a glint in her eyes. "You did not seem to be having a good time, if I recall."
"Uh," I look over to see the rug picking itself up off the fallen chair, dusting itself with its tassels. "Well, I suppose."
I raise an eyebrow, and turn back to them. "Actually, Twilight, how are you here? Is Luna taking you on a tour of other ponies' dreams?" I turn to Luna, frowning. "I thought that was your duty, your sacred duty, and yours alone." I'd rather keep the content of my dreams to the least amount of ponies possible...for obvious reasons.
"Oh, of course, normally," says Luna, unfazed. "But as you see, it may not be only my duty for long."
I...am not sure what that means. "And...Twilight now shares it with you? What? I fail to see..." I look over to see Twilight fiddling with her hooves. "Hmm." I stand up and dust myself off as well, "Well? Could you please explain?"
"Uh, yes, Celestia," Twilight says. "I have developed dream magic recently, and um, and Luna is teach..."
She trails off as I stare at her. I blink. "Come again?"
"I developed...dream magic...recently."
Still looking at Twilight, I pick up the chair in my magic, set it upright behind me, and slowly sit down. "You know what," I say. "I was not expecting that response. You've developed dream magic? But that's," I stammer. "That's, well, nopony, uugghhh..." I put my head in my hooves. "Twilight, you never cease to amaze. You are the Element of Magic, but this..."
"Is...is that bad?" Twilight says, softly.
I raise my head sharply, "No! No, no it's not bad. It's merely something I never would have expected, that's all. Which begs the question," I turn back to Luna. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
Twilight shakes her head. "No, Princess Celestia, don't blame her, I didn't figure it out until yesterday evening, and Luna didn't know until later than that. We weren't trying to keep anything from you, I promise."
Luna nods. "I figured now would be the best time to tell you, as well as provide undeniable proof as well. You know as well as I that nopony other than me can enter dreams. Nopony, that is," she smiles, "who does not have dream magic."
I nod slowly, looking at Twilight. Suddenly, I dart my eyes back to Luna. Her eyebrows are up, but somehow...disinterestedly. It's scary. "What are you smirking about, Luna?"
Luna crosses her forelegs. "Nothing much. Simply, I don't believe I've heard you say, hmmm...'uugghhh'...in millennia."
I blanch, then scowl. "I have nothing to say to you."
As the carpet sulkily cleans up the fallen chess pieces, they finish explaining the situation to me.
"Yes, alright, that does make sense," Celestia says. "I believe you, too. Luna can link dreams and bring ponies between them, but you both truly entered my dream. That's only possible for someone who can manifest in the Everdream."
"That's good to hear," Twilight says, sighing in relief. "It was fun, learning how to enter ponies' dreams, but I was a little uncomfortable when I found out it was yours I'd be entering."
Luna laughs. "Don't worry, Twilight. Celestia is quite merciful, I've heard, even when others discover her dream involved losing to a rug."
Twilight squirms a little as I glare at Luna again, but I sigh. "It's alright, Twilight, we all have strange and embarrassing dreams at times. I'm sure there were much more embarrassing ones that you could have witnessed."
The scenery around us flickers for a moment, the image of a beach at sunset briefly appearing, before I clamp down on the stray thought and bring us back to the parlor, my eyes wide.
I don't even need to look at Luna to tell what expression she's wearing. "Case in point, Twilight, and Luna, if you speak a word to her I will banish you to the moon again."
Twilight looks confused, obviously not getting the bigger picture. Luna slides a hoof across her muzzle, then frowns. "That means 'my lips are sealed,' is that right?"
I sigh heavily, then chuckle. "Yes, Luna. Anyway, since you came out all the way to see my dream, why don't you...practice a little?"
"Practice?" Twilight tilts her head, and Luna nods. "Yes, Twilight, let us have you practice changing another pony's dreams." Luna gestures to the rug, tassels folded in a pout. "Since this is the closest to a nightmare that we'll be seeing for now, why don't you try getting rid of it?"
"Uh, alright," Twilight says, "more imaging, right?"
"Precisely," Luna answers, "and since it is an outside force, it looks like you can just manipulate it directly."
Oblivious to the rug's consternation at its apparent fate, Twilight narrows her eyes.
And just like that, the rug is gone. I feel an inordinate amount of pleasure from that.
Luna applauds. "Excellently done. Now, when dealing with real Nightmares, they are too powerful to be dealt with directly. Since they have so much...how to say, staying power, it is very hard to change them." Twilight nods, and a little notebook appears next to her. She's clearly imagining that, too...it's endearing.
"Most of the time, the easiest way to deal with a Nightmare is to find its weakness. What emotions allowed it entry into that pony's dream, and what course of action can be taken to loosen the grip it has?" Luna frowns. "This is the most difficult part, as it requires both quick thinking and a clear understanding of each situation. Thankfully, most nightmares are fairly simple. A stressful job, a phobia or fear, a nagging doubt. But," she puts a wing on Twilight's back, "until you are quite familiar with the process, I will be accompanying you on your excursions, just to be safe."
I felt something at that. Something like a twinge. What is it?
Oh. I get it.
I see myself in Luna. She's echoing how I was just a few years ago, when I became Twilight's mentor. It's...both warming and frightening. I'm happy that Luna gets to expand her experiences and finally take a student of her own...but...
I suppose my own possessiveness and sentimentalism still stick with me, even after a thousand years.
I decide to keep those thoughts to myself.
"Thank you, Luna, for looking out for me, even though I'm sure you still have your own duties and all," Twilight says, ruffling her wings anxiously.
Luna beams. "Of course, Twilight! Yes, I will have to perform my vigils, but tutoring you is also a priority of mine." She then turns to me. "Would it be alright, sister, if before Twilight and I practice each time, we could meet in your dream? I'm sure you are also interested in Twilight's development."
"Well, that sounds fine, but..." I trail off. I don't want to get in the way of their growing mentor/student relationship, and, as foreign as it is, I don't trust my own emotions not to show.
Luna's face is filled with worry. "Is it at a bad time, Celestia? I'm sure we don't need to impose."
I smile, warmly. "No, Luna. You would not be imposing in the slightest. I think it's a wonderful idea."
Luna knows better than to ask about my hesitation, and seeing as I'm alright with the idea, she just smiles in return. "Then it is settled. Twilight," she takes Twilight's hoof in her own, "we shall continue tomorrow night with you finding Celestia's dream on your own accord. I would like to stay and teach you longer," she taps Twilight's hoof with her other one, "but my vigils are in need."
"Oh, don't worry, Luna," Twilight says, nodding. "I understand completely. Honestly, this is much more than I was expecting on the first night. Thank you so much for all your, your help, and for teaching me!"
There is a hug, and then Twilight waves goodbye to me, before Luna sends her back to her own dream.
The twinge is back.
"Sister," Luna says, and I start slightly, "Are you certain it is not a trouble? I merely thought seeing more of Twilight would be good."
I sigh, and shake my head. "Yes, I am certain. I was just...overthinking things."
"I see," she says, although she still looks at me with an expression I don't see very often. "Well, sister, can I...can I at least give you a good dream, tonight?"
I shake my head again, but this time, I'm smiling slyly. "No, I think I have this covered."
The scenery around us changes to that beach at night again. Luna's face goes red, and she mouths 'oh'.
I chuckle. "Good luck, Luna. May there be few nightmares tonight."
Luna coughs into her hoof. "I, for one, figure that there's one pony I won't need to wish sweet dreams to, at least."
Shaking her head and giving me a final wink, she disappears.
I can't remember the last time I've had this particular dream, and now that Luna's gone, I can feel my lucidity slipping away.
"Celestia?"
I turn around, a coy smile making its way to my lips.
After Luna teleporte--actually, it wouldn't be teleportation, would it? I bet it's more akin to banishment, after all, you are sending somepony's mind back to where it belongs.
Anyway, after Luna 'banished' me back to my own dream, I found myself in a bit of a predicament.
The whole dream is white. There's nothing in it, no details or anything. I tried a bit to get things to manifest, in the same kind of way that I got rid of the rug in Celestia's dream, but I guess I don't have enough experience.
I focus my mind, trying to get my favorite desk chair to appear in front of me. Nothing happens. Alright, something must be wrong. There's no way Luna would just forget to tell me something so important as 'oh, and your own dream is probably going to be an existential void and you're not going to be able to do anything in it. See ya!'
She wouldn't have put it that way, either, come to think of it.
I mull the problem over in my head. Is the problem because I'm not focusing enough? Or, too much? But that wouldn't explain why the dream itself has nothing in it. Normally, ponies' heads are so full of thoughts, even when they sleep, that that would form the dreams around them. Aha! I might be in a certain pattern of sleep where dreaming doesn't happen, like, for example, I might be in a pattern of stage 2 non-REM sleep at the moment, and usually dreams don't occur then. That would explain why there's no detail, and why I can't summon anything.
But, that brings up the question of, why am I still lucid? I would assume that if somepony is, uh, transported back to their own dream, but they're in a non-dreaming state of sleep, they'd just not dream. Oh, but I have dream magic now. So what I undergo is almost guaranteed to be different than the normal. Hmm. But why, even though I'm thinking lucidly like this, would my brain still be functioning at a non-REM stage? I feel like the answer is right next to me, but I just can't see it.
Something taps me on the shoulder, and I pause for a second in my thoughts to turn and say "Yes?"
I then promptly launch myself backwards in terror.
Oh sweet Celestia, it's a NIGHTMARE! What do I do, what do I do!?
The...the thing blinks its...well, eye, I think. It looks more like a symbol etched into the strange, unfocused flesh of the creature. AHH WHY IS IT STARING AT ME IS IT GOING TO EAT MY SOUL--
Calm down, young one.
Oh boy, it sure sounds like a Nightmare. I should probably run away. Huh? Oh, looks like I did calm down. How'd that happen? Did...the Nightmare do that?
"Uh," I say, blinking. "You did that, right?"
Yes. Having you hysterical would prevent a good conversation, would it not.
Now that I'm not as panicked, I'm just confused. "You aren't a Nightmare, are you?" I sit down. "I think a Nightmare would be causing me to feel fear, not getting rid of it."
That is sound reasoning. No, I am not of the pale shadows.
"I see..." I really don't see, but it at least looks like this...thing really doesn't want to hurt me.
Nonetheless, I see you have no recollection of me. I wonder.
"Wait, you mean, we've talked before?"
Briefly. Never long enough to make a difference, and before you could remember, I suppose.
Suddenly, I recall...well, I don't recall speaking to him, but I remember remembering a faint outline of a shattered conversation...
"Now that you mention it, I think I have been having weird dreams lately, but I've never been able to remember anything about them. You're saying that was you?"
Most likely. It did not help that the Apparition was moving her eyes.
"Yeah, Luna did say that something in the Dream Realm was going on, but turned out that was me, after all."
Precisely--now, she is contented. I may speak to you openly.
"Sure," I turn to him, "But why? I mean, I don't even know what you are. I also feel like you're affecting my mind, on some level, beyond just calming me. Who's to say you don't have ulterior motives?"
I do. He raises a limb. And I apologize. I shall remove my effects from you.
Nothing changes. "Are you sure that OH HOLY CELESTIA WHAT IN EQUESTRIA ALRI--iight, let me just calm myself down, this time, please," I say, a hoof on my chest. "But you are not the easiest thing to look at, you know?"
That is understandable. Now that I look again, he--he? How does this thing have a gender? It's definitely a he, though how I know, I can't say. He's vaguely pony-shaped, but with skin that's hard to look at. When I try, my eyes can't focus properly, let alone tell what color it is. His sigil-like eye stares me down, and I can look at that properly, so I figure eye contact is probably the best bet for talking to him. He's...he's pretty frightening, I won't lie to myself. But then again, looks are only surface deep...does that apply here?
To answer your question more accurately, I do have ulterior motives. They concern you.
"Me? Is this the part where you eat my soul?" I meant that as a joke, but I think my knees are shaking.
Heavens no. In fact, almost exactly the opposite.
"What's that supposed to mean?" I say, confused, but he stands up, like a fluid flowing upward. The Apparition nears. Let us thank the strings of fate that we were able to talk so long.
"Oh, uh, alright...but," I frown, curiosity getting the better of my fear, "I'd better be getting answers soon, you hear?"
I would be remiss to not inform you. As he begins to fade, his eye blinks. Do you recall my name?
"Morpheme," I say, without thinking, then my eyes widen, and I put a hoof to my mouth. "Huh?"
Good. If he had a mouth, I can tell he'd be smiling. Keep your mind open to knowledge, young one. There is much growth waiting for you.
He disappears.
I blink.
Suddenly, I'm in my favorite desk chair, a neatly ordered list of tasks in front of me, all of them checked off.
"Oh, now it works."
"What works?"
I look up to see Luna opening the library door.
I make a dismissive hoof motion. "Don't worry about it. What brings you here, Luna?"
"Oh, I was wandering this way to patrol Ponyville's dreams, and I decided to stop by. Have you been lucid the whole time?"
I nod. "Yep. Uh..."
Reviewing the last conversation in my mind, I decide not to tell Luna about it, after all. I don't know why, just a gut feeling. After all, maybe I made a new friend tonight...
"I've been having fun working on manipulating my dream." I smile, pushing thoughts of my conversation back, before they appear around me in the dreamscape.
"This particular one is very you, Twilight," Luna says. I blush. "I...just like checking things off, alright?"
"Well, here." Luna walks closer. "I have to be on my way, but first, let me teach you some dream magic that will let you call me should anything happen you aren't comfortable with."
I nod, but those words ring a chord...
Something seems off about the creature known as Morpheme...something that, if messed with at the wrong time, might cause Luna and the rest to fall into danger. The one question that really bugs me, though, is why doesn't Morpheme want Luna to know about him? I can't trust Morpheme yet, but I need answers...I'll have to be exceedingly careful in the near future--something big is going on.
"That would be great, Luna!"
I wave goodbye to Twilight, and reenter the Everdream. Good. Now she can call me if she is, by some small chance, invaded by Nightmares.
But I can't help but remember those soft words I heard, somewhere out in the Everdream...
"Hei?"
"...Auctus magnus pro tibi manet."
Who was that, talking in Old Ponish? What does 'much growth waiting for you' mean?
Perhaps a scholar talking in his sleep.
I can't shake the feeling--something is happening, something that is not supposed to.
Pushing back a shiver, I turn my mind to my work.