//------------------------------// // 9: Joy to the World! // Story: Book of Sparkle // by Homeshine //------------------------------// "Oh, you Adorable thing!" Prince Blueblood, or at least his dream-avatar, was gushing over little Aurora Glory as she danced merrily around him, using, to the fullest, the inherent bounciness of the cloudy terrain of the dream realm. Twilight asked Aurora, "Do you know who this is?" "I'm Prince Blueblood. I'm going to be the Emperor of Equestria," he gave out before even giving her a chance to answer. "Oh, like Princess Platinum!" Aurora replied, still bouncing in circles around him. "Er... yes, I suppose." he spun in place, trying to keep him in front of her. It was starting to make him dizzy. "I have called thee here to see that my sister is alive and well. Gaze upon her." Blueblood stopped twirling and looked at the bed where the "real" Celestia was sleeping. "Ah, I see. Still, how do I know this isn't some sort of trick? This is a dream; you could have put this here yourself." "Does that mean you're related to Princess Platinum?" Aurora broke in. "I suppose, distantly. ... And how do I know any of this is real? This whole room might not be real. You might not be real!" "Will you play with me? I love bouncing on this. We should have a bounce race!" She bounced extra high for good measure, eventually coming eye-to-eye with Blueblood." "As adorable as you are, I have other things to do." "No you don't! Not until morning! You're asleep, remember?" "Still, I should talk with, erm... Luna." "But you said this wasn't real. If it's not real, you should have fun! If it is real, you should ... have fun anyway! At least until morning! C'mon! We have 8 hours left!" and she bounced away, Blueblood in confused pursuit. Twilight asked Luna "Should we do something about this?" Luna replied "Nay. He stopped insisting on us, and is focused on something else for once. I believe, in her own way, She knows what she is doing." Pinkie brightened at that, "I'm going to go help!", bouncing to join them. Truly, that was Pinkie's true purpose in life. * * * "So this is what happened to her," Twilight said to Luna, "Apparently, Celestia was learning something about dream magic before she went to bed and tried an experiment, likely entering my dreams. Being more unpracticed in that area than you are, it backfired. Celestia is here, asleep, and her dream-self woke up, instead, from her dream at the time. Pinkie and I were sharing a dream because of the ongoing effect of the telepathy spell, and we each woke up as each other when the dream collapsed. Trouble is, none of us can remember our dream, so we can't tell what happened with much precision. "Does Blueblood know he's playing with ... Celestia right now?" "No, but Pinkie Pie does, and I think Auror- Celestia is beginning to understand, especially the more she sees you around. I was kind of hoping she simply comes to her senses. The only other alternative is to teach Pinkie Pie both the dream-walking and telepathy spells, and have her cast them both on top of each other, in the walking world, and I'm not sure she's capable of all that. Could you not help in some way?" "No. At the end of the ... erm, day. We're all entering your dream world. Your body is the one that's really asleep back in Canterlot, and it is currently in possession of Miss Pie. Currently, she is the one who has final say what happens here. "Pinkie's in charge? Celestia help us all" * * * "You want to help?" Aurora glory asked Blueblood, Pinkie Pie bouncing up and down in the background behind him, being very distracting to the conversation. "With what?" Blueblood replied, trying not to be distracted by the constant poompf poompf of the trampolining of the clouds behind him. "building a snow pony, or a cloud pony," Aurora Glory was already mashing cloud material into a snowball with her hooves. Pinkie Pie stopped bouncing for a nanosecond. "I'll help, c'mon!" * * * "Well," Twilight mused. "Pinkie Pie does have a way with children. Aurora and ... whatever Blueblood is." Luna snickered at that, "He is indeed much like a child in many ways. Perhaps Pinkie Pie can share her magic with him, as well." Luna thought for a moment, and then continued, "... and... don't count my sister out just yet. Even in her current... state, I'm sure she has several tricks up her sleeve, so to speak."