//------------------------------//
// Chapter 78: The Guide 
// Story: Marshmallow Dreams 
// by Halira 
//------------------------------//

"And that is how the Crystal Empire came to be as it is today and why in all fairness, it should be demanding reparations from Equestria," Jimsonweed announced as we walked down a row of shops. Shopkeepers were giving her dirty looks as we passed. "Not that it will ever happen, but the ponies of Equestria screwed the empire over."

Considering all the grizzly details, I could have done without the history lesson. I was puzzled over something. "Why didn't Luna just stop Sombra if he used mind control?"

"Not a stupid question, good job," Jimsonweed replied. "When Sombra became a shadow pony, he stopped needing to sleep. If he wasn't sleeping, then Princess Luna couldn't confront him in the dream realm. There's always a way for villains to get around things. For the record, Princess Luna does tend to be rather lenient on mind magic users if there isn't any long-lasting damage. Earth's Dreamwardens would never let fly the stuff she does, but it is all in how you interpret the Oaths, I guess. It's been years since she has even given someone a serious talking-to over here when it comes to mind magic." 

"What did manage to draw her ire?" Blanche asked. 

Jimsonweed seemed to think about it. "I'm told that one of the first things she did upon getting back from the moon was give Princess Cadence an ultimatum about how she used love magic; the night princess was not pleased to learn about the forcible alteration of ponies' emotions. Princess Cadence doesn't use her magic like that without permission anymore, but she had a bad habit of it back when she was a teen. I'm told there was also a non-pony who had mind-controlled Shining Armor for a while that Princess Luna told in no uncertain terms that she would break the mind of if tried again. You can try to conquer Equestria all you want, but don't use mind magic to do it."

"Why didn't Luna crackdown on Cadence when she was Nightmare Moon?" Roger asked. "It doesn't seem like being on the moon would stop her from doing her duties."

The filly sighed. "Fortunately for Princess Cadence, when Luna was Nightmare Moon, nopony felt like telling her about when mind magic abuses were happening—or talking to her at all. I'm told she came down hard on dream magic abuse during that time. Like, Sha'am Maut hard. However, since no one was talking to her, mind magic abuse went largely untouched in that period unless something was so totally wrong and widespread that it caught her attention on its own. She's not like the undead Dreamwardens who monitor every dreamer all the time, whether they are trying or not. She has to choose who to pay attention to and is reliant on ponies reporting things."

"Ghadab and Yinyu do pull most of the policing weight these days," Jonathan observed. "That would explain why, but why not Arbiter?"

The filly shrugged. "Probably figures they've got it covered. It is already redundant with two of them doing it; why does she need to bother?"

I fluffed my wings. "Hey! We're off subject. We are supposed to be learning about the Crystal Empire, and I really want to know how trees are growing on the crystal and how they aren't shattering the crystal or damaging foundations."

Jimsonweed turned and looked at me, then looked at a nearby tree. "Those aren't normal trees and grass. They aren't trees or grass at all—they are effectively something like a cross between a standard plant and a moss. That means they don't have root systems that go into the soil. They latch on top of the crystal. You still need to water them, and they need lots of watering, so they're very high maintenance plants. I think it's a waste of time caring for them, but ponies here do a lot of stupid stuff."

"You are well educated for a filly. How old are you?" Jonathan asked. 

"Fourteen," Jimsonweed replied. I was a little surprised by that answer. I had estimated she was around ten. She seemed to be too small for fourteen, and she didn't have her mark yet—which most teenaged ponies had. I suppose she could be lying, but her voice did seem to be too mature for ten, and she didn't seem to think like someone that young either. If she was that age and from Earth, that also meant that she wasn't conceived as a pony, maybe not even born as a pony. That age put her right on the edge of ETS.

She puzzled me. "Why do you and Krik-" 

"Master Krik," Jimsonweed corrected again, flattening her ears in annoyance.

I took a deep breath before continuing. "Why do you and Master Krik live in the Crystal Empire instead of Canterlot or wherever the night ponies live? I know you said he gives art lessons to the teenaged princess, but I'm sure they could find someone else to do that."

Jimsonweed chewed on her lip for a moment before answering. "I don't know why Master Krik doesn't want to live in Canterlot or Ponyville or Manehatten. As for why he doesn't want to live in Mountainshade… the night ponies are kind of scared of him."

Blanche looked puzzled. "I haven't heard of a night pony town called Mountainshade. Is that another name for Hollowed Shades? I was told that was the primary night pony settlement."

Jimsonweed shook her head. "Hollow Shades was a major night pony settlement in ancient times. You can usually recognize whether night ponies originally settled a place because it will have shade in the name. Shade and home are interchangeable terms in the old night pony language. Most night ponies consider that Hollow Shades cursed, so it is mainly just old empty buildings. Mountainshade is to the southwest of that, under a mountain, and most night ponies live there. Your information is way out of date, but I guess most Equestrians don't know much about night ponies either."

"And why are they scared of him?" I asked. 

"He was a Dreamwarden, stupid!" Jimsonweed snapped. "Most ponies in Equestria don't have a clue what a Dreamwarden is. I promise you, I could go up to any of these dumb crystal schmucks and ask what they thought of Dreamwardens, and they would just give me a baffled look. Night ponies are different. Night ponies are terrified of that word. Luna doesn't even use her title in Equestria because she doesn't want the night ponies to crap themselves when she comes around."

"I don't believe you," Roger said with a hint of smugness. "All these ponies live right next to the portal. They have to have heard of Dreamwardens."

Jimsonweed glared at him. "You really are the dumbest of the batch, aren't you. First checking mares for non-existent dicks and now acting like you know the ponies in this city better than me. Just watch and listen."

The filly marched over to a mare who was selling strange translucent berries out of a cart. The mare had been smiling but started scowling as she noticed Jimsonweed. 

"Hey, you! The pony who should be glad there is no such thing as a health inspector in the Crystal Empire. Tell me what do you think about Dreamwardens," Jimsonweed demanded.

The mare gave her a puzzled look. "Is that a spell or an artifact or something?" Her eyes narrowed. "Are you trying to pull another trick on me? Are you setting me up for another insult?"

"No, just proving a point," Jimsonweed replied. "We'll buy some of those crystal berries, with the palace credit. One for me and one for each of these out-of-towners."

The mare narrowed her eyes at the filly. "I'll serve them on the palace credit, but not you. You've insulted me one too many times."

Jimsonweed gasped. "What?! When was the last time, other than today, that I said anything bad to you?"

"Last week, you stood in the middle of the street and said that when we all go translucent, everypony can see we have no brains!" the mare snapped. 

"That wasn't directed specifically at you. It was a general observation about crystal ponies," Jimsonweed protested. 

"Excuse me, what's going on here?"

We all watched as Princess Flurry Heart stepped up to the cart and looked back and forth between the vendor and the filly.

The vendor eased up her scowl a little, but was still frowning. "Your friend just insulted me again, and I refuse to sell to her anymore."

Flurry Heart sighed and looked at Jimsonweed. "Jimson, you need to stop doing this. You're one of the most intelligent and funny ponies I know, and ponies would like you just as much as I do if you stopped being so mean to them. Mom says you have the capability to be one of the best diplomats in Equestria when you're older, but you need to show everypony that instead of this."

Jimsonweed glared back at the alicorn. "Stop talking about me being capable of being a diplomat. You know I don't like them trying to push me into a role."

Flurry stepped back a step. "I'm sorry, that was wrong of me. I do know that bothers you, and I shouldn't have brought it up. I also know you've got a better chance at finding what you actually want to do with your life if you'd just be nicer, so ponies don't avoid you. You have a unique gift, not to mention intelligence and wit. I want to see you succeed and be happy, not putting yourself in positions where you're struggling and miserable. I want that because I'm your friend, not because I'm going to get something out of it. Can you apologize to the mare, please, for me, your friend?"

Jimsonweed bit her lip and looked at the vendor who stood waiting with an eyebrow raise. "I'm sorry for calling you stupid or unsanitary. I offered these out-of-towners your berries because I know they are delicious, and they would enjoy them. I know you put a lot of hard work into caring for your berries, which shows in how they taste. Do you accept my apology?"

The mare gave her an unreadable look. "I would say you are only apologizing because the princess asked you to, not because you mean it, but she didn't say anything about complimenting my berries or my hard work, so I'll take that part as genuine. With that in mind, I'll overlook your earlier insults, for now."

Flurry Heart lit her horn and floated some coins out of her saddlebag and into a coin box the vendor had on the side of the cart. "You don't have to worry about palace credit today. I know it is an extra chore for you to have to go pick that up. Here is your payment in full."

That made the mare smile. "Thank you, Princess. Your friend could learn a thing or two by trying to be like you."

Flurry shook her head. "I don't want her to try to be me. I just want her to show ponies who she really is. She can be great when she isn't trying to convince people she doesn't deserve love." She lit her horn again and lifted several berries from the cart, and levitated a berry over to each of us. The vendor nodded her thanks and pushed her cart away.

I ate my berry as slow as I could, resisting the urge to gulp it down. If I gulped it down in one bite, I couldn't learn what they tasted like. I needed to savor it. It tasted a bit like huckleberry, only with a very different texture. 

"Thank you. That was good," I said as I finished swallowing. "So why do you try to scare ponies away?"

Jimsonweed shook her head. "None of your business. If you become the next Dreamwarden, you can psychoanalyze anyone on Earth you want, but I'll always be none of your business."

Flurry looked up with wide eyes. "Wait, she's a candidate to be Dreamwarden? I was right! Mom wouldn't say so, but I knew they had to be sneaking in the candidates soon, and this was an ideal opportunity."

"All five of these losers are," Jimsonweed said. "It's stupid that your family didn't let you know."

Flurry tilted one of her ears as she looked at the night pony. "Are you supposed to be letting me know?"

Jimsonweed shook her head. "No, but I just told you I think it is stupid they didn't tell you."

Flurry sighed. "Jimson, I agree with you, but can you please stop calling my mother and aunts stupid?"

The filly chuckled. "If you want to call the color yellow something like lemon instead of yellow, that's fine, but it's still yellow."

"Calling it lemon sounds nicer," Flurry said as she fluffed her wings. She then looked at us. "I was on my way to your hotel to make arrangements for my talk later since I'm kinda springing this on them. Mind if I escort you there along with Jimson? I want to get a chance to question the candidates to be the next Dreamwarden. I didn't get to meet the last group of candidates a few years ago, and talking to Master Krik; it is hard to get any details about Dreamwardens In Earth."

"I tell you lots of things for him," Jimsonweed protested. 

"Which I never know if you're censoring or not giving perfect descriptions of," Flurry reminded her. "I'm not you or Princess Luna; I can't ever be sure what your guardian is saying. Unless he writes things down, I have no clue how much you are paraphrasing, and Master Krik rarely writes things down."

"You never know who will read things," the filly said absently. "I have no objections. I think you should get your chance to talk to them too, but it's up to them."

We all looked at each other, sharing shrugs and looks of disbelief. It was Blanche who took the lead and answered—I noticed she did that a lot. I needed to step up my game. "We have no objections," Blanche replied.