The main hall of Everfree Castle was bustling with petitioners the next morning. About 30 well dressed ponies were gathered around a central plinth where Celestia sat on a small cushion, dressed in one of her finest white court gowns, trying to make sense of the voices of concerned and complaining ponies echoing off the walls.
Celestia liked the open door policy that she had when holding day court, but on days like this, she wondered if she should be a bit more selective.
Today started with one or two ponies at a time, each with small but important concerns. Others came seeking advice, which never ceased to give Celestia a level of satisfaction in serving her ponies. As the day went on however, the more skittish of the townsponies began flocking in larger groups. Now it was approaching midday, and the small groups of individuals have grown into a small mob.
“We’re running out of food, my lady. We won’t make the winter!”
“My wife saw a timberwolf near our carrot fields!”
“Am I the only one who saw the purple light yesterday?”
Whatever these ponies were saying was lost to the awful din the rest of the voices. Celestia couldn’t understand the cacophony. Without moving from her seat, Celestia flared her wings, and sent a light pulse of raw magic through the crowd. The blast of warmth soothed the petitioners, as they all went silent at their ruler’s display of power. Celestia’s face softened to a caring smile as she looked upon her subjects, as they waited with bated breath for Celestia to speak.
“I understand your concerns,” Celestia began. “But, there is no need to panic. Yes it has been difficult due to recent events, but we have held strong, have we not?” Celestia paused, awaiting a response from the crowd, receiving none. Stretching her back slightly, Celestia folded her wings to her side. “Perhaps now would be a good time to break public court for the morning. I will see to those who have individual concerns in a half hour. Feel free to enjoy the garden in the meanwhile. It’s a gorgeous day.”
As Celestia stood, the ponies began shouting. The din returned in full force, with some ponies trying to approach their princess, only to be stopped by the throne room guards creating a barrier with their spears held sideways..
Flanked by two of her armor clad guards, Celestia left the petitioners to be escorted out the main door by the rest of her guardsponies. The doors closing behind her, Celestia dropped the mask of a smile she was forcing, letting out a tired sigh as the sound of the ponies in the courtroom began to fade. Celestia loved her ponies, but found it difficult to deal with their more skittish tendencies.
“Busy court today, your highness,” one of her escorts spoke. The stallion was covered from his barrel down in iron rings, woven together into a sort of barding. Segments of iron plates adorned his chest and around his neck, leading to a white cloak that draped over his back. His black mane was cropped short, and his coat was well kept.
“Yes, yes it was,” Celestia said as the princess and her guards continued through the winding halls of the palace.
As the group of ponies reached one of the longer corridors that lead to the dining hall, multi-colored light shone across the stone floors as sunlight passed through the various stained glass windows, each one showing a moment from ponykind’s history.
The first showed three ponies. A pegasus, a unicorn, and an earthpony glared angrily at each other while being separated by jagged lines. Around the outside edges of the window, white swirling shapes formed a blizzard with ghostly horse-like figures hidden within the wisps.
The second depicted a large pink heart made of fire. Below, three different ponies, one from each race, pushed back against the blizzard, their mouths open in song.
‘It’s hard to believe that was only ten years ago,’ Celestia thought to herself as she looked at the next window.
The three kinds of ponies stood united before two familiar figures. Celestia remembered this day quite clearly. She didn’t know what to make of the ponies at first, but soon enough, the ponies began turning to her and Luna for guidance. It wasn’t long until the ponies gave the princess’ their titles.
The ponies wanted to use queen, but Celestia found that to be a bit too pretentious.
Celestia averted her gaze from the next set of stained glass windows as she lit her horn, opening the tall double doors that lead to the dining hall and private dining room. It was approaching midday, as Celestia thought 'I could really go for a nice warm bowl of oatmeal right now.'
After a quick brunch, Celestia began going through the rest of the day’s schedule. She spent some time with the petitioners that wished to be addressed individually, as promised. In an attempt to keep these meetings short, Celestia had her guards enforce a strict five minute time limit per petitioner. If she let her ponies talk without limit, she’d be answering to them all day,
Following that, Celestia’s day was a blur as she met with most of her senior staff. She had received situation reports from Guard Captain Hurricane and Lieutenant Sabre; addressed an issue in regards to the cluttered storeroom with Quartermaster Beardy; ordered tea and crumpets from Chef Julienne so that she could share a nice evening tea with her sister; and she had just finished writing a letter to Clover the Clever in regards to the magical pulse that came from the Everfree the day prior.
Celestia, lighting her horn, watched as the scroll rolled up, tied itself with her signature red ribbon, and dissolved into a multicolored ball of gas, flying off to wherever Clover may be.
Looking up at the stone ceiling of her personal study, Celestia heard a few pops as her stiff neck loosened. The rays of the evening sun passed through the window panes, showing off the reddish stained wood of the bookshelves that took up almost all of the available wall space. Most shelves held thick tomes that left no available space in between. Others held an assortment of trinkets of various importance and value.
Celestia sat at her long, mahogany desk that curved with the walls of the circular room, sitting beneath the largest of the three outward facing windows. A pristine white quill sat next to it’s inkpot on one side, and a sizable stack of notes, letters, and papers were piled neatly on the other.
Celestia leaned forward, looking down to the garden below, gazing fondly upon the beds of colorful flowers and well groomed topiaries. ‘If only if the garden was larger,’ Celestia mused. ‘We could have built a hedge maze like the one back home. Luna would like that.’ Celestia let out a heavy, nostalgic sigh, tinged with a fair amount of longing.
Celestia closed her eyes, sitting back into her cushion. ‘Luna will be awake soon, I should go make sure tea is ready.’
Standing from her desk, Celestia made her way to the door, ruffling her wings by her side. Descending the spiraling staircase past windows that overlooked the village far below, and the Everfree beyond, Celestia opened the heavy steel door that guarded her study, to find two of her personal guards flanking her as she entered the hallway of the northern wing. About to turn left towards the kitchen, Celestia’s ears perked to the sound of armor clad hooves galloping down the hallway to the right.
As if on cue, another castle guard came galloping around the corner, eyes locking onto his princess. Seeing said guard, Celestia’s escorts moved to intercept. Not in a threatening way, but as a mere precaution.
The galloping guardspony came to a quick stop, snapping to attention immediately, speaking through labored pants.
“Your highness, I don’t mean to intrude, ~huff~ but there’s a situation.”
Celestia’s full attention was given to the guard as she cocked her head to the side in confusion, thinking ‘What is it this time?’
“Speak freely corporal.”
“I… personally think it’s best you see this for yourself.”
Celestia, even more curious now, motioned for the corporal to lead.
Followed by her escorts, the princess followed her guardspony through the locked passageways of the servants living quarters, and towards the main hall and the entrance to the castle. Lighting her horn, Celestia pushed the large double doors, entering the main hall, eyes wide.
In the center of the main hall, six leather clad members of her town guard held pikes towards the thing that truly caught Celestia’s eye. A tall bipedal creature stood hunched over, its body devoid of any fur except for it’s strawberry blonde hair plastered to his forehead with sweat and dried mud. A light tan skin shown through holes in its tattered clothing, revealing dirty bandages. A pair of spectacles hung from the neckhole in its tunic, one lens clearly cracked.
Slung over its shoulder was a similar creature, slightly taller than its companion. This one’s hair was shorter, brown, and had more waves to it, but what really caught Celestia’s eye was the makeshift tourniquet and wrapping around its leg, all stained red from what was clearly a lot of blood.
Celestia jumped when the creature doing the carrying did the unthinkable.
“Sorry pretty horse,” a clear masculine voice emanated from the creature’s mouth. “But I’d really appreciate it if your attack ponies didn’t point sharp sticks at me while I keep my friend here from bleeding out on your carpet.”
The princess nearly fainted.
-~xXXXx~-
The barracks underneath the Everfree castle wasn’t glorious in the slightest. The air held a musky smell from the colts that lived and slept here. The stonework was rougher than the upper floors of the castle, and the living spaces were much more spartan than the ornate decorations of the main hall. However, despite its appearance, Nick found his surroundings surprisingly clean.
It would set Nick’s mind at ease if these pony guards would stop eyeing him like a tiger about to pounce.
After his brief experience with what Nick assumed to be the leader of the civilization of kaleidoscope colored mythical equines, the leader gave her orders. The guards rushed both Nick and the unconscious Will to the medical ward beneath the castle. Nick’s wounds were minor, so the healer pony simply changed Nick’s soiled bandages. However, Nick did manage to get a glimpse of Will on the other side of the curtain that divided the two friends. Flashes of light and faint twinkling came from Will’s bedside.
Nick was moved out of the ward a moment after his new bandages were wrapped, (he was still impressed at how dexterous these creatures were using their mouths and hooves). As he was escorted out by more guards, he saw blood soaked bandages float through the air in a yellowish aura, into a bag of refuse.
And now Nick was across the hall, sitting on a low bench, being stared at by four armed and armored horses. One even had wings folded to its side, and another had a horn protruding from its shaggy mop of a mane. Each one at the ready to attack if Nick made anything that could be construed as a hostile move. Clearing his throat, Nick shifted in his seat as the guards flinched at the movement.
“So… do you guys do glue here?… or..?” Nick joked awkwardly, and was met with only more silence.
Sighing, he looked to the guard with the horn, the stallion’s armor being the most ornate out of all of the guards present. This pony was probably the one in charge at the moment, and even though the small horse only stood at chest-height to Nick, the stallion’s eyes told of experience.
“Look, I’m going to be honest with you horses, I’m about as freaked out as you are. Can we just calm down for a moment. Talk like normal people? Equines? Creatures?”
Taken slightly aback, the guard paused, eyes widened, then let out a soft breath, letting the cold visage he was holding drop for a moment, before hardening again.
“We have orders to watch you until the princess arrives to question you,” the unicorn spoke up, his voice sounding like tires rolling on gravel. “Until then, you will be guarded until further instruction.”
‘The princess herself is going to question me? Why not just this guy?’ Nick thought.
Subconsciously realizing he was conversing in common english with a horse-like creature, Nick felt a headache coming on. Hopefully this was all just a bad acid trip, and he was hallucinating all of the talking ponies, but he would have to deal with the hand he was dealt. And apparently that hand had talking ponies. Great!
“So… you're are all ponies here?” Nick asked. The guards took a moment to look to each other in brief confusion before the unicorn guard spoke up again.
“Well, yes. Unicorns, Pegasi, and Earth Ponies. You’re not from around here, obviously.”
“Have any of you heard of Canada, the Roman Empire, or Anime?” Nick inquired. When he received a collection of head shakes, he had his answer.
“Well, then I am a very, very long way from home.”
-~xXXXx~-
“Your highness, the creature has lost a significant amount of blood. He seemed to have lost consciousness about a full day ago. We were able to make duplicates of his blood vessels, but the wound is quite deep. Aside from that, we have him in a stable condition. Other injuries include two broken ribs, and a fractured bone just above the joint connecting the leg to it’s fleshy hoof.”
Celestia listened intently as the healer continued to explain the condition of the creature known as Will. Even still, her mind wandered.
‘What are these Creatures? Where are they from?’ and other questions plagued the
princess's mind as her eyes roamed over the being laid across the medical bay cot, eyes closed. Having removed the clothing that was ruined in whatever fight Will was involved in, she could somewhat make sense of the musculature. Whatever created the form of these beings was clearly an expert. Not any handiwork Celestia had seen before, but the clear skill involved was baffling. Not a single muscle or bone out of place.
A bit too much fat for Celestia’s liking, if his somewhat chubby midsection was anything to go by. Though, the one being held by her guards looked much leaner.
“Thank you Heartbeat, see that the creature’s condition doesn’t deteriorate further.” The healer bowed before Celestia, and swiftly returned to her work. Somewhat satisfied, Celestia left the medical ward, turning down the clean stone brick hallway as she made her way to the barracks.
“I’ll have Ms. Stitch look after him once he’s stabilized.”
Opening the doors, Celestia spotted the other creature sitting against the wall, the bench clearly too short for it’s lanky legs. Her guards that surrounded the creature snapped to attention as they spotted their princess entering the room.
With a wave of her hoof, Celestia signaled her ponies to be at ease. They cleared a hole for Celestia as she approached. A soft smile crossed her lips as the strange creature looked up to meet her gaze.
“Apparently we have gotten off on the wrong hoof,” Celestia said using her most comforting tone of voice. “Would you care to join me for tea.”
The guardsponies in the room looked to each other in slight confusion, while a smile also crept across Nick’s face.
“How can I decline an offer like that?”
Nick assumed that sitting in the royal sitting room was usually reserved for whoever ran this acid trip of a kingdom of ponies, but in this instance, this so called princess was apparently willing to make an exception. Sitting across from Nick, the large alicorn known as Celestia was pouring two decent sized cups of tea, the pot floating in mid-air in a golden glow. He swore he could even hear the sound of windchimes as the princess’s horn began glowing in a similar aura. He was too busy trying to understanding this sorcery to notice the teacup and saucer floating in front of him.
“Ahem,” Celestia cleared her throat, bringing Nick back into the moment. Shaking his head, he focused intently on the ruler he happened to be sharing an afternoon tea with .
“My apologies, your highness,” Nick said, head slightly bowed as he took hold of his hot beverage. “It has been a long couple of days.”
“I can tell by the way you and your friend looked when you walked through my door, you must of had quite the ordeal.” Celestia’s voice was smooth as silk, but Nick caught a bit of nervous warble in her tone. She was clearly trying to keep up her appearance.
“Sorry about the ‘bleeding on your carpet’ comment.”
“Not to fret, I took no offence. You were clearly speaking out of stress and jest.”
“Although, I have to wonder, princess, why did you help us?”
Celestia paused to take a sip of her tea, and Nick followed. Now Nick was quite the connoisseur of ‘hot leaf juice’, but whatever nectar of the gods he was drinking could have sent him to cloud nine, and die happy. He hummed in satisfaction.
“Well, to be honest, I was a bit confused when I first laid eyes on you. Never have I seen anycreature quite like you or your friend. At first I thought, ‘what demon kept clothed, hairless monkeys as pets,”’ Celestia turned away and gave an embarrassed chuckle before righting herself again. “-But then you spoke.”
“Well princess, allow me to give a formal greeting on behalf of the human race,” Nick said with a smirk.
“Can’t say I have heard of any race quite like that. Especially not of any race or civilization as advanced as yours appears to be, given the complexity and quality of your clothing.”
“And I can’t honestly say that I have heard of any kingdom of talking equines, yet, here we are.”
“If that is the case, how did you and your friend get here?”
Nick began retelling nearly every event of the day prior, from the car crash, to being assaulted by the oversized crocodile, being very careful not to divulge anything too specific. He only gave generalizations. When Celestia was confused by the concept of a car, Nick simply explained it away as a motorized wagon or carriage. The entire time, Celestia’s eyes never left Nick’s, her attention firmly on the human.
“My, you two have suffered quite a bit haven't you?”
“You could say that,” Nick shrugged. “The important thing is that we’re alive.”
“I can respect somepony that strong of will and resolve.”
The survivor and his savior lapsed into a brief silence, as the two enjoyed their tea. Nick shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Mostly, it was an involuntary action. Currently, the cushion he was sitting on was positioned in a way that left his back open to a window. A fact that his paranoid mind greatly detested.
“You’ll be pleased to know your friend, William, that is his name, correct?” With a nod from Nick, Celestia continued. “Well, William’s condition is stable. Our healers are doing our best to mend the torn flesh and broken bones, but he may not be able to wake up for a few days.”
Nick breathed out a sigh of relief. Nick and Will had been friends since highschool, and now that the two of them were in an alien nation, they would need each other more than ever.
“Now, I do not believe I have had the pleasure of knowing the name of our visiting human here,” Celestia softly laughed.
Nick reached forward with a hand, expecting a handshake. Celestia, slightly confused, placed her hoof in Nick’s palm, which he took firmly planting a small kiss upon it before letting go. Celestia pulled her hoof away holding it close to her barrel. “Is this a customary human greeting?”
“Only to royalty, your highness. Nicholas Winters, a pleasure.”
“Well then, Nicholas, my name is Princess Celestia Solaire of Equestria, pleased to make your acquaintance.”
Standing up, she opened the door that lead to the hallway, where her guards were waiting at attention. “Corporal, if you would, ask one of the maids to make up a guest room for Nicholas here,” Celestia ordered. It wasn’t harsh, but the tone was slightly more authoritative. “Oh, and could you see if my sister is awake? I think we have something that requires her talents. Have her meet me in the medical ward.”
“At once, your highness. Shall this Nicholas continue to be guarded?” The guards words gave Celestia pause, as she turned to Nick.
“Nicholas, I mean no offence, but I’m not quite sure what to make of you at the moment. I will have my guards watching you in the meantime.”
Nick tensed at this, but was, at the same time, relieved. He was surprised at how casual his meeting with the princess was. It was unusual that she didn’t even bring a guard into the room during the conversation. Then again, Celestia clearly used magic. Nick didn’t know how to fight magic. At least Celestia’s want to keep an eye on him assured Nick that there was still some predictability in the ponies of this world.
“I don’t mind Princess.”
Celestia nodded, as the corporal came into view.
“Sir, if you would follow me.” For the umpteenth time today, Nick was escorted by armed guards through an unfamiliar castle. But paused when Celestia left him with some parting words.
“I rather enjoyed our conversation, Nicholas. Perhaps we could share pleasantries some other time.”
Nick nodded, giving a small smile and a shallow bow. “Of course your highness.”
As Nick was lead around the corner and out of sight of the princess, a thought occurred to him.
‘Wait… Sister?’
-~xXXXx~-
As Luna made her way down the staircase from the royal quarters, she yawned. The guard that greeted her said that Celestia needed her for… something. The stallion didn’t give any specifics, just to meet her sister in the medical ward. Perhaps it was another case of nightmare memories with another guard, those seemed to come up more often these days
The twilight sun shone through the windows of the Everfree Castle, meaning Celestia had already began lowering the sun. Looking to the eastern horizon, Luna lit her horn calling upon the inner magics of the weave, reaching out to her beloved astral body, and lifted. Luna’s short blue mane began waving in a non existent breeze, horn began to glow the typical azure aura, and her eyes glowed a cool white as the moon began its ascent into the air, bathing the skyline in a cool blue and purple blanket of darkness. Smiling to herself, Luna made her way to the stairs into the basement, and after, the medical ward.
Opening the door, Luna was greeted by her sister, coming out of a contemplative pose as Luna made her presence known.
“Sleep well Lulu?”
“Like a foal sister. Thou didn’t wait for us for our usual afternoon tea. Is something the matter, sister?”
“You could say that.”
Lighting her horn, Celestia pulled at the curtain of what Luna assumed to be her charge for the evening. What she didn’t expect was to see a near hairless, ape-like creature lying in a cot much too small for its larger body.
“Pray tell sister, what is that?” Luna asked, a bit startled.
Celestia began explaining everything she had heard from Nick, and the experience of when they first met in the foyer. Luna’s gaze turned from shocked, to curious, then to attentive as Celestia gave as many details as she could. Luna nodded as Celestia finished her explanation, with one question on her mind.
“Well the creature seems contained for the moment. What do you need of us?”
“William here has been stabilized, but we have no bearing of his mental well being. I was hoping that you could delve into his dreamscape, and possibly confirm this story Nicholas had told.”
“It is possible, yes,” Luna began. “But depending on the state of the creature’s mind, We are not sure that his mind would be stable enough to enter the dreamscape. And do not forget sister, that a dreaming mind is not usual coherent enough to speak with any sort of meaning. The realm of dreams is usually a generalization of somepony’s character, worries, and fantasies.”
“Is it that much to ask to try?” Celestia asked, a bit annoyed. Luna grumbled under her breath at Celestia’s scolding tone..
“Tis’ not, We were simply making you aware.”
“And Luna, there is no use to use the royal We anymore. This isn’t the Hidden Valley.”
Luna hung her head with ears pinned to her skull, partly in embarrassment, and partly in nostalgic sorrow.
“We- I mean, I know sister. It’s just that I have never gotten used to the common speech of this era. It’s difficult for me to… forget.”
Celestia draped a comforting wing over Luna’s withers, pulling her younger sister into a comforting embrace. She bent her head low, touching her forehead to Luna’s.
“I know, but we need to move forward. We can’t keep looking back like this. Just keep looking forward. Things will be better, you’ll see.”
Luna gave a slight sniffle, nuzzling into the warm embrace of her sister. “Thank you, Tia”
“You’re welcome Lulu.”
Retracting her wing, Celestia allowed Luna to approach the bedside to get a good look at the catatonic human.
“Well then, let us give this a try, shall we?” Luna closed her eyes, as a bead of white light appeared at the end of her horn. The mote of light floated gently through the air towards the sleeping creature. When the strand of light connected with Will’s forehead, Luna’s vision flashed white from beneath her closed eyelids.
As Luna’s vision cleared, she found herself standing, or rather floating in a blackish purple void. Vague dots of light imitated stars as she looked around the dreamscape of the human known as Will. Despite the lack of a moon, the fur of Luna’s coat was faintly lit as if she was standing in the open night air.
There was no smell, but the sound of music came from everywhere. A plucked stringed instrument of some kind, accompanied by a faint violin in the background. The song was slow and soulful in cadence, as a baritone voice joined the music.
*Second verse from Every Rose has its Thorn, by Poison*
Turning her head, she saw what must be the source of the music. Will, not seeming to notice Luna’s presence, kept singing. Luna approached slowly.
Even though dreamers couldn’t truly see her due to the nature of the subconscious, she didn’t want to disturb the performance. To Luna, it was impressive, that even in this state, this human was able to recall such lyrics in such a deep sleep
*Chorus*
As the last word of that chorus led into a shift in tone, Luna came around to see the spectacled face of this creature.
Will was sitting on a wooden stool, his dreadnought acoustic guitar in hand, with a keyboard to his side, and microphone at his mouth, all connected to a pedal at his feet. His usually unkempt five o’clock shadow was trimmed into a neat goatee. His curly brown hair sat neatly atop his head, giving Luna a clear view of his closed eyes and near sorrowful expression.
He tended to get pretty emotional while singing.
Dressed in an open collared shirt and khaki pants, he relished in the moment as he began
the bridge of the song. He opened his eyes, and they immediately locked onto where Luna was standing, and the music suddenly stopped. Even though Luna knew that it was impossible to comprehend her presence, she stood starkly still.
“Well this is interesting,” Will said nonchalantly, placing the guitar on a stand that seemed to appear out of thin air. “I’ve never had a shared dream before.”
Luna didn’t move. Luna didn’t speak.
“What’s wrong? Is this new for you too?”
Luna sputtered for a moment, shocked into incoherent speech until she gathered her thoughts.
“You- you can see us?”
“Well, yeah. I can see you just fine. I can see me too, but that’s most likely because it’s my dream,” Will chuckled.
“You’re aware that you’re dreaming?”
“Yup. Always been able too. I have to say, that’s an interesting form you’ve dreamt up for yourself. Might have to give it a try.” As Will said that, his human form shifted as the musical equipment faded to nothing, temporarily forgotten. In mere moments, Luna stood face to face with a near perfect replica of what a male alicorn would look like. Will still had his curly hair, but it adopted a more magenta color, as his skin turned into a deep violet coat. His glasses rested on a more blocky, masculine muzzle. “How do I look?”
“How are you doing this?” Luna inquired, generally curious, and choosing to ignore the question.
“I’m a lucid dreamer, I can essentially dream up anything I can imagine, and it will happen. Don’t know why it’s this good tonight though. Typically, I can’t dream up things this extreme. Better than the nightmare I had before this at any rate.” There was a shiver that ran through Will’s astral pony body. Steeling himself from the memory, he smiled back to Luna. “The name’s Will by the way. William Thorne.”
“You may know us as Princess Luna Selene.”
It was in this moment, Will's faulty social filter decided to malfunction.
“Princess huh? You must think highly of yourself,” Will chuckled good naturedly.
“Such Insolence!” Luna bellowed, her voice causing Will to flinch back in fear. “How dare you mock our status! We could have thee thrown into a cell to rot for such a comment.”
“Woah woah calm down, it was a joke!” Will nearly cowered at the mere presence of the horse lady in front of him. In the panic, he inadvertently returned to his human form. “I didn’t mean to offend, honest.”
Luna took a second to gaze at the human practically cowering like a foal beneath her before settling back down. “We accept thine apology. See to it doesn’t happen again.”
“Noted your highness.”
“Now, tell me of this nightmare you had.”
Will stood and conjured a couch to sit on, looking at the alicorn princess in confusion. “Wait, you scream at me and now you are trying to help me with my bad dreams?” Will softly chuckled to himself.
“Indeed. It is why I came here.” Luna thought that perhaps this nightmare could give her some insight into the mind of this human, and possible correlation to the story from the one called Nicholas.
“Okay… Well then, take a seat.” Will said as an identical couch appeared behind Luna, and a massive black TV began floating in mid-air. Luna did just that, making herself comfortable as the strange black metal window flashed in bright colors, a painting coming to life before her eyes, and, to her surprise, began moving.
Soon enough, Luna realized she was watching a near perfect retelling of the story Celestia was told by Nicholas. The motorized carriage, the purple flash, the crash, the kragadile attack, everything. The Will in the television was clearly speaking, but no words left his lips, probably because dream Will couldn’t recall the exact words. Some sentences were spoken, but the rest was silent. ‘The other human, the one with the reddish hair must be this Nicholas’, Luna concluded.
As the film faded to black, Will shifted in his seat.
“And that’s where the nightmare ended. I’m probably just worrying about the New York trip in the morning. Doesn’t explain the massive crocodile though.”
Luna was silent for a moment. Should she tell him? If she didn’t, Will would be in for quite a shock when he woke up. With a more reserved posture, she turned to Will on the other couch again, speaking with more of a softness to her voice.
“We don’t believe that was a nightmare, William.”
“How could it not be? There are no jungles in Connecticut. That, and I’m pretty sure crocodiles don’t get that big.”
With a roll of her eyes, Luna lit her horn, causing the dreamscape to bend and fold the mental space to her will. The void closed in on the two dreamers, replacing the emptiness with the stone walls, and beige curtains of the medical ward. Will looked on, wide eyed as he witnessed the hijacking of his own dream.
With a hoof, Luna pulled away the curtain, gesturing for Will to enter. Poking his head through the veil, Will nearly choked on his dream tongue as he inhaled sharply, blindsided by what he saw.
It was him. Well, another version of him maybe?. He was lying unconscious on a cot, arms at his side, the only movement being the slight rise and fall of his still breathing chest. Bandages covered his body, more specifically a thick wrapping around his left calf. Dream Will didn’t breathe for what seemed like ages. Luckily, in a dream, oxygen wasn’t a necessity.
But this wasn’t some copy Luna had conjured up, and Will stared blankly at his unconscious body, all he could only say one word. “Why?”
“Why what?” Luna asked, a worried expression cast in the direction of the very tense human.
“Why would you show me this?”
“We’re afraid we don’t quite understand what you mean.”
Will’s fists clenched and unclenched at his sides. He practically was vibrating in a maelstrom of emotions.
Luna began slowly approaching a if she was trying to get close to a dangerous predator. “William, what is wrong?”
“Why couldn’t it have just been a dream? Why couldn’t I just wake up in my bed at home, go to work, come back home, and just not deal with all of this bullshit?!” With that last word, the entire dreamscape shook like an earthquake. Gone were the walls of the medical ward, and the purple, star filled sky. Will stood there in a black empty void, eyes closed off from his subconscious.
“William,” Luna’s authoritative voice broke through whatever wall Will was trying to build around himself. “Thou needs to remain calm. A torn psyche can tear the dreamscape apart with it. We do not wish what that could do to thy mind in the state thou is in.”
With a slow inhale, every muscle in Will’s body contracted, nearly to the point of being painful, and with an even slower exhale, that tension slowly dissipated, as Will slumped down on the non-existent ground, arms hugging his knees close to his chest.
“Princess… Where am I?”
Luna only paused for a moment, changing her tone to a more neutral one.
“Thine body is currently at rest in the medical ward of the Everfree Castle. Thou art being tended to by our best healers.”
“And where is this Everfree Castle?”
Luna, off to the side gave a slight shake of her head.
“If what thy friend Nicholas said was true-” Luna was interrupted as Will’s eyes snapped to hers, coming out of his fetal position.
“Nick’s there too? Is he alright?” Any hint of sadness fled from his voice, now replaced with concern.
“He is doing well according to our sister. If his story is the truth, Nicholas carried thee through the night and into the next afternoon.” Luna’s lips curled into a small, thin smile, noticing how Will’s muscles were visibly relaxing. “Thou has quite a good friend. If not for him, you very well could have perished to the kragadile.”
“Yeah… yeah I do... By the way, princess, is this horse form of yours just for show in the dream realm, or the real deal.”
“This is our true body, yes. We found it queer when you had mentioned it the first time. Dost thou not have any ponies where you are from?”
With a shrug and a shift in posture, Will made the couches reform, taking a seat on one of them.
“Kinda, I guess. Back home, ponies are a lot smaller than you are,” Will said, taking the first real good look at the princess. Despite the body being clearly quadrupedal with legs ending in hooves, Luna’s face still held a bit of familiarity to it. “-They don’t have horns or wings, and they aren’t sentient enough to talk. That and they don’t have that, how to put it… human quality about it? No, that’s not right.”
“We believe we understand what thou are trying to say.”
The conversation lapsed into silence that was deafening in the dreamscape, the only sound being a very distant drum beat. The two pulse rhythm, Luna realized, was Will’s heartbeat echoing through the dreamscape.
“I’m not in America, am I?” Will said, disappointment and resignation stained his voice.
“We do not believe so, no.”
“Fuck.”
“Thou art alive, no? We’d say that is a blessing.”
“I know, I know. It’s just… a lot. A lot to take in at the moment. I think I need some time to think, I guess.”
Luna nodded solemnly. “We understand. It must be a heavy weight we have placed upon thou. We will take our leave then.”
“Thank you, Princess, for the talk I mean. I kind of needed the wake up call I guess.” A somewhat sorrowful, but equally thankful grin on his face.
“You are quite welcome.” At his genuine gratitude, Luna couldn’t help but let another smile sneak onto her muzzle. He looked at her like ponies looked at her sister, and Luna couldn’t help but take a bit of pride in that.
“Will I see you again after I wake up?”
Luna lit her horn preparing to leave the dreamscape for the evening.
“We would like that very much.”
In a flash of white light, Luna left the human to his dreams.
-~xXXXx~-
Celestia never left the bedside, watching in silence while her sister delved into the mind of William. So far, it had been at least twenty minutes since Luna had cast her spell, and Celestia had started to worry. ‘What did she find in there I wonder,’
Nopony came or left at the medical ward, as per Celestia’s request. This was a private matter after all.
Luna’s horn began to dim, and motion returned to her body as the trance like state faded. Luna turned to look at her sister, a small smile adorning her face.
“Luna, everything went well?”
“Indeed sister, William seems to be a bit troubled, but perhaps that will pass in time. We shall see when he awakes.”
“Good, and on the topic of Nicholas’ story?”
“A perfect match.”
That comment caused Celestia to pause. ‘Didn’t Luna say that ’The realm of dreams is usually a generalization?’’
“How do you know?”
“He showed us, every moment of it matching what thou had described.”
“He showed you?”
“Sang for us as well. Quite the musician actually.”
Celestia gave an annoyed glance at her sister after the slightly snarky comment. To which Luna let out a small laugh.
“Yes, Celestia. Although, we do have to prepare for my nightly studies. Do you have any other tasks for me to perform before you retire for the evening?”
“I don’t believe so. Goodnight Luna.”
Luna made her way to Celestia, giving a warm hug.
“Goodnight Tia.”
And with that Luna left the medical ward, leaving Celestia alone for a brief moment. Before exiting, Celestia spared one last glance at the unconscious human.
‘I haven’t seen Luna laugh in months. What did you do to bring that out of her, Will?”
And with that, Celestia yawned, leaving the human to the care of the healers, retiring for the night.