//------------------------------// // Chapter 9 // Story: Welcome to the jungle // by Hiver //------------------------------// Stretching my wings and looking around, I reached out for what bad dreams there were. Not a lot of them, but then again not a lot of ponies asleep at this time, at least outside of Nocturnis. But there were some and I set to check them for Nightmares and then cancel any that were just bad dreams. No actual Nightmares found today. Which was good not only because it was good for the pony it was feeding off, but also because I didn’t want to fight it today. Feeling around, I shifted the dream realm around me and moved up next to Luna as she studied a dreamportal before her. Slipping in beneath her wing, I leaned my head against her shoulder, “Hey.” “Hey,” Luna said and shifted to nose at my mane, “How was your night?” “Long. Yours?” “Same,” she agreed and stole a small kiss, “...Miss having you on my couch for it.” I looked up into her eyes and bumped my nose gently against hers, “I miss being on it.” She smiled at me and earflicked, “And what’s this?” she asked and nosed at the feather behind my ear. “Sparks and I…” I started before I frowned, “Wait, you know about this already!” “I do,” she said a bit smuggly, “I’m surprised it took you this long. You’re not quite this dense.” “Yes I am and you know it,” I chuckled and shifted in a bit further beneath her wing, “But that not why I didn’t do this well over a year ago.” Luna nodded, “So it would only take a year of sleeping with her for you to get that you like her?” “Quiet you,” I said and then shook my head, “I… didn’t realize that she wanted to stay in Nocturnis. I thought that after the decursing was done, she would leave for Equestria. It’s bad enough to be away from you like this, but Sparks too… or Sunny…” “Sunset wouldn’t leave you.” I shook my head, “No… I know. It’s just…” “Just?” “I feel bad enough about hauling them out here as is.” “Page!” I cringed, “I know, I know,” I admitted, “I shouldn’t talk like that. And I like Nocturnis. I just wish there was a way to get things moving back and forth easier.” “I know,” Luna said and looked thoughtful. “But sadly the railway is the fastest way we have,” I admitted, “A week or so isn’t too bad. The timing just have to be right. I just feel bad about hauling them all the way out here, away from their friends.” “Stupid stallion,” Luna whispered softly into my ear, holding me close. “I know,” I admitted before I frowned and looked at Luna, “...Why did we never do the entire feather thing? That's a pegasus tradition from your time and you grew up as a pegasus.” “It is,” Luna agreed with a nod, “But the meaning depended on the tribe. Some were romantic and some were… less romantic and more possessive,” she explained and shook her head, “The one my sister and I grew up in were sadly somewhere in the middle, depending on the family.” I slowly nodded. I knew stallions didn’t have quite as many rights as mares in the past… or any really depending on the time period... but that was quite a while ago. Luna and Celestia had stomped it down when they united Equestria and then made sure it stayed there. “Besides,” Luna said playfully, “Everypony knew you were mine already with the medallion.” I blushed slightly, “There is that.” “But if you are going to be wearing Twilights feather, you are going to do it right, you can’t just stick it in your mane and hope it stays put,” Luna said and smiled playfully, “I’ll show you how.” “I love you. You are My Sky.” “My Page,” Luna said with a smile, pulling me tighter with her wing, resting her head ontop of my head. ############ I slowly blinked my eyes open from movement on the bed. The bubble of darkness was already gone and the sun was setting somewhere outside according to the light filtering in. “Nooo…” I groaned and tightened my wing around Twilight. Sunset was already long gone, usually being the first one up. Sparks sighed softly and leaned against me for a second, “I wish I could stay,” she admitted and kissed my cheek, “But I have to meet Midnight.” “Can wait,” I countered and kissed her softly. She smiled into it before she sighed, “Sorry…” and pulled back, “And you have things to do too.” “Lesson with Celestia just after sunset,” I admitted and stretched my wings, “And then meetings all night.” “Meet for lunch?” Sparks suggested and gave her mane a quick brushing, “I should be able to corral Kitten for it too.” “I hope so,” I said and sighed, “I think I have lunch between a couple of meetings and court, but things usually drag out on time.” Sparks nodded, “We’ll try,” she said and leaned in to kiss my ear, “Have a fun lesson and say hello to Princess Celestia from me.” “Will do.” Then she was gone, the door closing behind her and I was alone. I stayed there, watching the shadows quickly creep across the walls, the sun sliding beneath the horizon. Lighting my horn, I lifted Sparks feather from my mane and watched it for a second before I took that lock of my mane in my magic and made a small twisting braid out of it, slipping the feather back into place in the middle. I shook my head quickly. Luna was right, that held it much nicer. Setting my head back down, I closed my eyes with a sigh. This would have been such a good night to spend with Sparks and Sunny. Instead it was just yet another night filled with meetings, paperwork, court and general bullshit. Closing my eyes, I cast the spell to go into the Dream Realm. Sunshine wasn’t asleep yet, but it had been scheduled to just after sunset so I just settled down to wait. Settling down to wait in the sparkling emptiness of the dream realm, I folded my wings. I could have started to patrol the dreams of everypony that was already asleep, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it Luna was awake by now, likely having breakfast, leaving me on my own in the quiet. I just… The silvery portal appeared before me and I looked up. Sunshine was asleep. That was fast… or was it? No, I had been here almost an hour. Taking a deep breath, I got to my hooves and entered the dream. It was always interesting to see what dream Sunshine would have, it was different almost every single time. This time entering the dream left me in a room I didn’t recognize. I paused and looked around, one hoof barely off the stone floor. The room was about the size of our bedroom, but with cloth hangings on the stone walls, several bookshelves with scrolls and actual leather bound books on them. A big fireplace was at one wall and there were a few small windows without glass, overlooking a snow covered village and a forest in the distance. Celestia looked younger. She was about the size of Luna, her mane and tail it’s usual flowing celestial colours and she wasn’t wearing her usual gold regalia, instead she had a small golden circlet like crown on her head. She was laying on a thick blanket by the roaring fireplace, a scroll laying on the floor before her as she read. Tapping my hoof against the stone floor, I solidified the dream and it shimmered out from me in a wave, getting just a bit more real. Celestia blinked and raised her wings before she smiled as she spotted me, “Page. Welcome.” “Thanks,” I said and looked around, “I think I know where this is.” “Oh?” she asked and rolled her scroll up, floating it towards one of the shelves before she paused and shrugged, dropping it into the fire instead, “Care for a guess?” I nodded and moved to look out the window before I quickly retreated back towards the warmth of the fire, “It’s the Castle of the Two Sisters. Before my wife's exile.” Celestia regarded me with a small smile, “Timeframe?” Pausing, I looked around, “Taking into account your usual cultural lag..” I said and studied the hangings depicting ponies and scenes with other creatures, “Between two thousand to fourteen hundred years ago?” She smiled playfully, “That’s a six hundred year gap, Page. I want a narrower timeframe.” I glowered at her and moved to sit down next to her and the warm fire, “Closer to two thousand,” I said after another couple of moments of looking around, “There is no glas in those windows and there are several books in the shelves bound with actual leather.” “Correct,” Celestia said with a nod, “That wasn’t starting to get installed until about a hundred years from now. Give or take a few.” “I bet that was a nice one,” I said and sank down onto the soft blanket to lay next to her on the fire side, “At least for ponies that get cold.” She nodded and then looked behind my ear, “I see that Twilight finally made up her mind.” “Yeah,” I agreed and sighed softly, “Last morning.” Celestia frowned, “You don’t seem happy.” I shook my head, “I am happy about that,” I said and looked at her, “I love Sparks. But do you know what happened this evening?” “What?” I flicked one ear and took a deep breath, shaking my head again, “I woke up. Sunset was already gone to work with the guard. Sparks needed to rush off for a meeting with Midnight. And my entire night is going to be full of meetings and lessons and-” I broke off and shook my head again, “I just wanted one night. One night to just spend with Sunset and Twilight but it’s like… They are here and I barely see them any more often than I do Luna!” Celestia nodded slightly, “Do you like ruling Nocturnis?” “I-I…” I started before I sighed, “I hate it,” I admitted quietly, “I don’t get the time to spend on Sunset or Twilight that they deserve, I don’t have time to take care of Fern, it keeps me halfway across the continent from Luna and y-” I answered before I broke off, shaking my head, “The worst thing is that I don’t see an end for it. I’m not going to get old and retire. It’s not going to get better. Maybe when the town is finished and everything is working it will lessen in some parts, but that will just bring new things that need my attention.” “When did you spend an evening…” Celestia started to ask before she flicked one ear, “Sorry, morning… writing? Or doing anything you enjoy doing?” “I don’t even bucking remember.” Celestias large warm wing settled across me, pulling me close to her and I leaned against her, leaning my head against her shoulder as her head settled down against my mane. We didn’t move for a long moment. “Do you do things like me and Luna?” Celestia asked finally without moving. “Closer to you,” I answered quietly, “I can’t do less, everypony else is working so hard to make this work, how could I-” “Page…” Celestia sighed, interrupting me, “You stupid pony. You stupid, stupid pony.” I didn’t answer for a long moment before I chuckled softly, “Thanks Sunshine, you always know how to make me feel better.” Celestia raised her head to look down at me seriously, “Page, everything that reaches me has already filtered through at least a dozen levels of bureaucracy. The only thing that doesn't apply to it is when I hold court and anypony can apply. Have you been doing that?” I hesitated, “I… well…” “Because a new village and a hostile environment or not, you should not be getting as much as I do with the entirety of Equestria,” Celestia said gently but seriously. “...I don’t have a dozen levels of bureaucracy to filter away things I don’t need to handle either,” I protested. “No, but you do have experts working for you handling different things such as the guards or construction planning,” Celestia pointed out, “You have to learn how to delegate.” “I delegate!” “Delegate harder!” I flinched slightly at her tone which reminded me a lot of Chrysalis for a second for some reason before I sighed, “Sunshine, everypony else is wor-” “No. No, they are not,” Celestia said firmly and frowned, “I’m starting to see my sister’s habit of biting your ears has a reason. When they are done working, they go home to their families, they do things they enjoy. They may be working hard, yes, but they do other things as well. I know how Sunset and Twilight get and they have to stop it too! I’m not going to allow my sisters husband to die from stress before his first century!” I flinched again.