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// No Moping During Chill Time 2 
// Story: Never Alone 
// by SoloBrony 
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"I'm merely stating that your abstract style of writing and discussion may make it harder for a student to grasp the applications of your ideas."

Musashi grunted in annoyance as he adjusted my katana stance, shooting a quick glance at Sun Tzu in the process.

"So to say it would be far better to provide instruction on army movement and simply hope that the student recognizes the broader strategic meaning of such things?"

I took an experimental swing of the katana as Sun Tzu rolled his eyes. "The human mind – or pony mind, for that matter – cannot help but wander, to see the commonality in all things. Illustrate the value of a lesson in clear terms, and the student will grow to the point of teaching that lesson in time."

Musashi gave up assisting me altogether, taking a few steps to the side and leaving me to my own devices as I tried to perfect the cut he'd shown me. "That is simply untrue in any case where a single concrete idea may be extrapolated to many abstract ones! Who knows what sorts of frameworks a single tactic might lead to, if the student is not guided on the correct course of thinking?"

I sighed as I kept practicing. Should've known better than to put two philosophers in a room together.

Sun Tzu held up a hand and shook his head. "And who among us can say your particular ideal of abstract strategy is the best-suited to a student's life? Teach the lessons, allow them to apply their own thinking."

"That statement is part of my lesson! Teaching a student to learn is part of my instruction!"

I groaned. "Guys, still need instruction over here..."

Sun Tzu shook his head at Musashi. "And how is a student to learn how to fell an army with your sword metaphors? How does telling them to 'strike to the face or to the heart' lend itself to clear battlefield strategy?"

Musashi bristled at that, folding his arms and applying a frown so deep it could dim the lights at a carnival. "You think far too little of our students, Sun. Clearly, the goal is to either strip the foe of coordination or strength; thus—"

Mom cleared her throat loudly, causing all three of us to turn to look at her. I was still holding my katana in a relaxed pose to practice the flash-cut technique.

Mom looked between all three of us, before finally settling on me.

"Who are these two? Why are you a human?"

I laughed uncomfortably as the two master strategists disappeared in a puff of dream logic. "Oh, umm, I was just trying out some of those lucid dreaming techniques I was reading about. I figured I could get some more combat practice in while I slept, but, uhh... it didn't go great."

Mom snorted and trotted up to me. I hadn't noticed when I turned back into my usual form, but I trotted up to her in turn and we had a quick nuzzle. She smiled at me.

"It does lift my spirits to see you take an interest in such things as lucid dreaming. I'm afraid that, when starting out, the mind does still have a tendency to wander."

I smiled back, then cocked my head. "Hey, why are you here? I'm not having a nightmare tonight."

She smirked. "So I'd noticed. I suppose that is why you've been practicing?"

I shuddered in recollection of some of the nastier dreams she'd had to help me with in the past. "Yeah... I figured this was better than just relying on you to deal with them."

She shrugged and patted my head. "It's been some time since you last had one. I am glad to see things have improved so much for you. As to why I am here, I thought... well." She flushed slightly and smiled. "I wanted to ask if you would like to accompany me for an evening."

My eyes widened. "You mean dreamwalk with you? Fight nightmares together?"

Mom's smile became uneasy. "I-I understand if it's not precisely to your interest; you can resume your training—"

"No! No, let's totally go and do that! That sounds great!"

Mom seemed somewhat taken aback, but certainly happy about the turn of events. "Ah, I did not realize you had such interest! We can get started immediately!"

It wasn't the first time Mom had pulled me out of a dream, so I stayed calm during the familiar transition to the dream 'hub' she used. I just giggled at her. "Of course I'm interested! It's a way to help ponies and drive off their fears – it's basically super heroics that I can still do!"

Mom's blush got deeper at that. "Oh, I don't know if I would go that far—"

I laid a hoof on her shoulder and looked at her seriously. "I remember how important it was to me when you helped me. Don't sell it short. Besides," I gave her an affectionate bump, "it's a way to spend more time with you."

She just sighed contentedly as we journeyed out into the hub world in search of our first nightmare.





As we skimmed through the various dreams of slumbering ponies, I regarded my daughter discreetly. It had been some time since I had last visited her in dreams, and much had changed. 

She was happy, energetic, practically glowing. Her wings had taken on flowing pattern of rainbow energy, and she seemed to have not even noticed.

That terrible black crystal that burdens her in the waking world does not seem to have penetrated into this place. Perhaps sister is right, and it will pass in time?

It lifted my spirits, at any rate. Still, it was with some trepidation that I found our first nightmare and we began our venture into it.

All may appear well so far, but there's no telling how she will react to stress...

And yet, to my surprise, she seemed even more optimistic and upbeat as we dove into our task. A bold declaration of 'Fear not, the Nightmare Patrol is here!' greeted several nightmare-addled ponies, followed inevitably by a spectacular entrance. While far removed from my typical style of doing things, the heroic bombast she displayed had its own charm.

More than once, she chose to actively fight with monsters from ponies' nightmares rather than let me simply dismiss them; she claimed this was to help the pony get over their fears, but I strongly suspected she was simply having fun.

By the time we were finished, I was far more exhausted than I would be from a typical evening, but I couldn't suppress my grin, either. Cozy, for her part, was borderline manic.

"Did you see how I took down that manticore-slime-thing?! Oh dang I wish Dash had seen that! There's gotta be some way to do some sort of dream replay thing for her, right?!"

I laughed and rolled my eyes. "You know dream magic is far too temperamental for such trivial applications, dear."

Cozy snorted. "I bet Dash would agree on the importance of it."

I suppressed a snort of my own. "Likely so."

I yawned, prompting a concerned look from Cozy. "Time to call it quits for the night?"

I nodded. "I'm afraid so. I enjoyed this greatly, however. We should do it again soon."

"Totally! Just let me know!"

With that, we parted ways; Cozy returned to her own dream world (with a 'Good night, Mom'), soon to wake, while I gently settled into my preferred dreamscape for rest.

I must remember to thank my sister. Cozy seems so much more at ease, now. I suppose her wings aren't nearly the threat to her wellbeing as I believed.

With that, I fell into a happy, peaceful slumber.





I trotted back into the training room I'd put together for my katana exercises earlier with a big grin on my face.

"Did you have fun with mom?"

I grinned at the living shadow in the corner of the room, which coalesced into a dark mirror of myself and approached.

"I really did! I think we made the right call, splitting up for the evening like this."

The shadow looked downcast. "Well, I'm just your useless baggage from before, so obviously things go better when I'm not around."

I quirked an eyebrow and tapped my chin with a hoof. "I don't think that's really true, y'know? I don't think I could have gotten this far without you. But it's probably best not to drag Mom into it, is all."

The shadow paused for a few moments, considering. "Am I really a part of you that keeps you safe or drives you forward... or just the part that holds you back?"

I woke up with a start.