Stanley trotted around the bright sunny landscape, squinting his eyes as he walked along the soft, but sturdy cloud that made up the floor. Random objects floated around, seemingly with no rhyme or reason to them, and the sky’s hue constantly shifted between bright blues and golden oranges. A lone unicorn sat in the center of the cloud, fishing in a small pond that sat in front of him.
“Did I ever tell you that you have some of the weirdest dreams I’ve ever seen?” The night pony laughed out.
“It’s a bad day for fishing, you know?”
The night pony raised an eyebrow, “You know, I don’t.”
“Well there’s going to be dinner later. Lots of flying fish on the menu and the clouds too.” He replied back, as a comically large fish started to fly out of the water before turning into clouds that evaporated into nothing a few moments later.
“The clouds too, right, sounds delicious. So, having any luck today?”
The unicorn shook his head, “They’re not being very friendly today.”
“Mhmm,” Stanley nodded along and placed a hoof on the unicorn’s shoulder, “so why don’t you really tell me about it Patrick.”
The unicorn stared up at him in confusion for a moment before blinking a few times, “Haunting my dreams again, eh Wolfie?”
Stanley let out a small laugh, “Oh you know, maybe. What can I say? It’s easier than trying to yell into my phone and hoping it doesn’t pick up my overly conversational parents.”
“They’re still a couple of chatterboxes? Man that’s got to be so annoying.”
“Ehhh it depends,” he shrugged, “I sleep like a rock, always have. You remember summer camp right?”
“Oh you mean when you fell asleep and left me to chat with your parents during the ride up? Yeah… Yeah, I do.”
“Well I can tell you they sure haven’t changed.”
“And neither have you apparently.”
Stanley smirked, “Guilty as charged.”
Patrick looked around at the peaceful landscape and then back toward the other stallion, “I promise you I have no idea where any of this comes from.”
“Don’t worry, you’d be amazed at how many weird and surreal dreams I run across. Most of the time it feels like it’s rare that I find a normal one. A couple of my friends have made a game out of running around weird dreams and stopping nightmares— it’s kind of their way of having fun.”
“Sounds like a weird way to have fun… but I’ll take your word for it,” He paused for a moment, “So is this a personal visit or should I just assume that you’re here to tell me you’re on your way and need a place to crash?”
“Maybe a little bit of both.”
“How far are you then?”
“Well, we crashed overnight in Kingman, and we’re about an hour away I think? Honestly, time works kind of weird here.”
“I’m just going to guess it’s night pony stuff and roll with it.”
Stanley nodded, “That’s for the best, trust me. I’m sure you’ve got your own brand of weird unicorn stuff that I wouldn’t even begin to understand either.”
Patrick smiled, “There’s a whole lot of weird unicorn stuff that I don’t even understand, so we’re in the same boat there, believe me.”
“So, anything we need to know before we actually get there? You know, stuff like where to park, what to expect, et cetera?”
“Not a whole lot. I don’t think they thought of parking when they set this all up, so I guess just park anywhere you can. Should be some old dirt lot not too far away that they haven’t touched yet.”
“A simple dirt lot, gotcha. I’ll let my dad know so he doesn’t drift around trying to find the right spot. So how’s the actual town?”
“As in?”
“Well, what’s it like. Big? Small? Maybe somewhere in between?”
“I guess you could say somewhere in between. The place has honestly grown so much since I’ve gotten here, it’s hard to gauge just how big it is. They’ve done really well for themselves, dug into the history books to make their buildings and all that.”
“Really?” Stanley asked with a raised eyebrow, “What kind of stuff are they doing there?”
“Lots of down to earth stuff, mainly farming and trading with other smaller villages. The whole place is made up of these cozy adobe buildings— a little old fashioned, but surprisingly nice.”
“And everyone has one?”
“Kinda?” Patrick shrugged, “There’s a lot of us that choose to room together, but if you really want your own they’ll gladly make one. The earth ponies love it, it brings the whole place together like one big family.”
“It really sounds wonderful. I’m not going to lie, I had my reservations at first but it honestly doesn’t sound that bad. Do you have any friends down there at all?”
The unicorn shook his head, “I’m buddy buddy with a couple of farmers, but I don’t think that really counts as being friends. I’ve made a good impression with village management, I guess having that kind of organizational background looks good, but that whole group is so hush hush about everything. I guess the leader likes to run stuff so I haven’t really had the time or chance to network there.”
“Weird, seems like you’d fit right in there. You’d think they’d want an old apartment manager to run this sort of stuff.”
Patrick shrugged, “You’d think so, but they’re like a tight knit group. Run the place like clockwork and I guess it makes enough sense. Don’t want too many cooks in the kitchen and all that.”
“That’s gotta be boring for you I bet.”
“Ehh, not as much as you might think. I guess I should be thankful that I can just relax and run messages between the different villagers.”
“So you’re the village postman?”
“I like to call myself the village courier, it has a nicer ring to it. And it’s certainly better than the errand boy.”
Stanley laughed and shook his head, “Alright Courier. I should probably get going, but I can’t wait to see the place for myself.”
“I can’t wait either Stanley. It’ll be a blast.”
Stanley started to stir from his sleep, the dream fading in moments. Immediately his ears were bombarded with the sound of his parents’ conversation, bringing a small smile to his face. As he sat up he let out a long yawn, briefly making eye contact with his dad from the mirror.
“Did you sleep well?”
Stanley glanced out at the quickly moving desert landscape and gave a quick nod, smiling as he took in the sunset, “More or less, neck’s a little stiff, but I’m pretty sure I’ll live.”
“Did you dreamwalk to Patrick?” His mother asked, craning her neck over to look at the night pony, “He knows you’re on your way, right?”
“Yeah. How much longer do you think we have?”
“I don’t have a specific time frame, but not too far though, ” his dad answered back. “Did you need anything?”
Stanley started to say no, but stopped himself as he suddenly became aware of how dry his mouth was. “Oh.. uhh just some water if you have some.”
Valentino continued to look at the road as he gestured to the back. “Your mother left some in the cooler on the floor. Use that loop on the top to open it if it gives you trouble.”
“Thanks!” Stanley leaned over and carefully went to open the lid, struggling at first but quickly figuring out the makeshift handle his father had made. Awkwardly using both hooves, he pulled a bottle out and dropped it down on the seat in front of him. Biting down on the cap, he pulled up and began to take a few sips, already feeling a lot more refreshed.
“Thanks for getting the bottles with the easy to use caps. The local stores near where a bunch of the ponies have been staying have been out of these for a while. I guess regular water bottles are just too tricky.”
“It really seems like it’s a nightmare to not have hands,” his dad commented. “Is it really that hard to get by?”
“It depends on what you’re doing. I can’t play my games anymore which bums me out a lot, I can’t work on the computer without it being frustratingly difficult, and I can’t really grab anything like I used to be able to. It really makes me realize how much I took for granted when I can’t even open a door on my own half the time, unless I want to bite down on a doorknob.”
“That’s uhh… not exactly the most sanitary thing.”
“Yeah… don’t get me wrong though, there’s a lot of good that’s come out of this, but it’s a double edged sword sometimes. Makes me realize that ETS didn’t really make every aspect of life better like some ponies think it did.”
“You seem to be taking it in stride though,” his mother added, “It’s not always easy to make the most of a situation, and we couldn’t be any more proud of you.”
“What else is there to be proud of?” He laughed, “I haven’t done much as a pony yet.”
“Just in general,” the mare replied, “You’re so grown up and it’s hard to imagine you as the scared little foal you used to be.”
His father cleared his throat before cutting in, “Sorry to interrupt, but we should be coming up on the park soon. I don’t know if you want to try and call your friend or not.”
“I already told him we’d be there soon. He should be there to greet us.”
“Good to hear, I think we’ll camp out for tonight, and probably head out to Scottsdale sometime tomorrow.”
Stanley nodded, “Sounds good. If you want I can ask if you can stay in the village overnight. I don’t think they’ll mind at all.”
“You don’t need to, we’re perfectly fine sleeping in the car,” his mother replied back.
“Nah, don’t worry about it. It’s just for the night and you two deserve to sleep somewhere better than a cramped car while you’re on vacation. A cramped car might be fine for me and you, but Dad’s still a tall human. Plus I bet there’s some amazing views of the canyon for you to sketch out.”
“He’s got a point Aurora.”
The mare nodded, “Alright, well we can give that a go then. I just don’t want to be a bother at all.”
“Don’t worry about it, Patrick said the place is like one big family, they’re not going to mind at all.”
“Well in that case then we’ll wait and see. Are there any humans in the village?”
Stanley shrugged, “I’m not sure to be honest, but I imagine there has to be. Ponies can do a lot but they still can’t do everything that a human can. I can’t imagine that building houses and buildings is easy with hooves, even if some of them can use magic.”
“You know, I for one can’t wait to check it out, the sunset and sunrises have to be amazing,” Aurora added.
“Going to do some sketching, mom?”
The mare smirked, “I might. Maybe I’ll even try working on some portraits, nature is just so inspiring and I’ve been meaning to pick that back up for a while now.”
“Well you’ll definitely have plenty of time to work on that,” his dad chimed in from the front, “Is that it over there Stanley?”
The night pony glanced over in the direction his father was pointing, noticing a collection of clay-like buildings surrounded by a wooden fence.
Stanley gave a quick nod, “That looks like a pony centric village if I’ve ever seen one.”
“Where should I park?”
“Probably a good distance away from it, you know how ponies get around cars Val,” Aurora replied back.
“You two seem alright with them.”
“Alright is one way to put it. Yes, they might be a part of our normal lives at this point, but that doesn’t mean we really like them,” she scrunched her muzzle in disgust. “They’re noisy and the smell makes me nauseous most of the time. The ponies out here probably won’t be too happy with it, especially if they’ve been camping out here this far from the rest of the world.”
The human nodded and pulled off to the side of the road, “Works for me.” He turned off the car and turned back in his seat, “Would you like any help with your things? Or do you want us to hang back here for a bit while you get settled in?”
“Why don’t you just hang back for a bit, let me scope everything out.”
“Afraid we’re gonna embarrass you?” Aurora teased.
“Maybe just a tad.”
“It’s alright, we won’t take it personally,” his father joked back.
“Gee, thanks. Anyhow, I won’t be long. I’m just going to see what’s up and then I can introduce you to everypony, sound good?”
“Sounds great,” the two replied in unison.
Stanley wandered around the mostly empty national park, nervous and excited to see what waited for him inside the village. For lack of anything better to do, he sat and just breathed in the cool air for a few minutes, looking over at the Canyon in front of him. He knew his friend would probably be on his way, and as if on cue a loud commotion could be heard from within the nearby brush.
A smile came to his face and he turned around, standing up and turning to greet the source of the noise, “You know, you didn’t need to sneak through the brush just to be dramatic.”
“Man is it good to hear a familiar voice.” His friend stumbled out of the brush, dusting himself off. “Would you get a load of the local wildlife?” he joked.
“Believe me, I already have. So how have you been man?”
“Oh me? I’m great. It’s really good to see you again, it’s been waaaaaaaaay too long Wolfie,” he dramatically emphasized, “It must have been at least three or so years since we’ve caught up in person right?”
“Only two… but that’s still too long. I’ve been doing great, I had some… help… with getting over my fears.”
“That’s great to hear! Anyone from the old gang?”
“Well… Let’s just say they’re a friend and leave it at that.”
“Hey that works for me, so how was the drive?”
“It was great, slept like a rock through a lot of it.”
“Good, good. So how about I show you around town and introduce you to everypony else.”
“Sounds great.”
Stanley and Patrick began to walk along the narrow trail that hugged the canyon wall for a short while until they reached a smooth adobe wall and an open gate.
“All hoof made in case you’re wondering. It was kinda awesome to see them set these up,” Patrick commented as he gestured at the adobe walls.
“I bet, ponies haven’t had a chance to do this kind of thing out by me.”
“They haven’t yet? Weird, I would have thought they would have. Happened a lot out in Goodyear.”
Before Stanley could reply back, the two were interrupted by a red-orange night pony with a fiery mane, “Evening Patrick, is this our newest resident that you were talking about earlier?”
The unicorn smiled, “Evening Dawn, sure is.” He turned toward Stanley and gave him a pat on the shoulder, “This is Stanley.”
The mare cheerfully extended a hoof, “Well pleased to meet you Stanley, I’m Dawnlit Blaze, the village leader, but you can just call me Dawn. We don’t have very many night ponies here so it’s wonderful to see another.”
Stanley nodded, “It’s nice to meet you. So what do you guys call this place anyways?”
“We like to call it the Sanctuary. It started out as a haven for ponies that were chased out of their homes, but we did eventually grow to have a few humans.”
“Sanctuary… has a nice ring to it,” Stanley looked around at the small homes and nodded, “How many ponies— er people, do you have here now?”
“Around forty, most of which are earth ponies and pegasi, though we do have a few unicorns like your friend here.”
“And at least two night ponies now,” he replied.
A door opening pulled Dawn’s attention away for a moment, before she returned a large smile, “Three actually,” she gestured with a hoof, “here comes my assistant, Midnight.”
A dark green night pony mare trotted up to the group, nervously looking back towards the building she had just exited from, “My apologies Dawn, I was caught up with that new earth pony that stopped by last week.”
“Is he still complaining about the farm?”
Midnight nodded, “Yep, I tried to explain that we can’t do all of the fancy stuff he’s been wanting to do, but he’s not having it. Says it’s an earth pony thing and we wouldn’t get it— should just let him take care of it.”
“Mhmm, well I better go have a chat with him, I’m sure it’s nothing we can’t sort out together.”
“Want me to tag along?”
Dawn shook her head, “No, we have a new guest here, I’d like you to show him around,” She gestured toward Stanley, “Midnight, this is Stanley.”
The mare smiled, “Pleased to meet you, I guess I’ll be showing you around while Dawn handles that.”
Dawn nodded, “It was nice meeting you Stanley, sorry I have to dash off but we can chat more at dinner, Midnight will show you there.”
“Sounds good, see you then,” Stanley replied back as the mare trotted off toward the building that Midnight had come from.
“Now Patrick said you came here with your parents, correct?”
Stanley nodded, “Yep, they’re just staying the night if that’s alright.”
“That’ll be fine. We’ve got a guest lodge set up by the creek, it’s nothing more than a makeshift tent cabin I’m afraid, but it’s better than being out in the open.”
“That’ll work. Why don’t we go grab them and then we can all take a tour.”
“That’s fine, you want to lead the way?”
Stanley nodded and waved her toward the place they had parked at, “It’s not too far. Just so you’re aware of the situation, my dad’s a human and my mom’s a pony. I don’t know if you’ve seen that before, but apparently some of the ponies around them think it’s weird.”
“Unconventional maybe,” she shrugged, “but if they make it work then more power to them.”
“So what do you do here Midnight?”
“I’m part of what Dawn calls the hospitality department. Basically the group that handles all the day to day needs. A lot of us came from hotel backgrounds, that’s actually how Dawn and I met.”
“You met before ETS I’m guessing?”
The mare nodded, “Yeah. Dawn and I worked at Buffalo Bill’s out in Primm. It’s right on the California border if you’re not familiar with it. After ETS hit we were kind of out of a job, and Dawn had this bright idea to move out here with a few of our other friends. Don’t ask me why she picked this spot, I couldn’t answer that but I think it has to do with wanting to just leave the old world behind. Reconnect with nature and all that jazz.”
“Makes sense. My dad’s in the hotel trade so I get a little bit of that from him.”
“Oh really? Where at?”
“The Anaheim Marriott, I used to live out there, my parents still do.”
“Oh, so you’re really coming from far away then. If you don’t mind me asking, what brought you all the way out here?”
Stanley pointed toward Patrick, “He’s my oldest friend, we grew up together and I honestly didn’t have anywhere else to go.”
“Huh, well that’s good at least. Dawn’s the only pony I know from before all of this, and it’s definitely nice not feeling so alone out here, especially given that we were the only night ponies here.”
“I’m definitely glad to be here, maybe we can all hang out tonight. I don’t know how much you work, but being able to hang out with other night ponies sounds great.”
Midnight smiled as the three neared the parked car, “That’d be great. Why don’t we all chat more over dinner, I can tell we’ll all get along just fine here.”