//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: Practice // Story: Selene Embers // by AFanaticRabbit //------------------------------// Luna had never read so much in so little time. She had read the hoofful of books written by Somnambula in a day, then moved onto the other titles she recommended, devouring them over a week. Biographies, reports, essays, all of which seemed unrelated to one another. But Luna saw the connections. “The colt I helped was Prince Hisan?” Luna asked, flying alongside Somnambula within the dreamscape. They weren’t in any pony’s dream this time, while Somnambula’s ember was still clearly visible through the pegasus, deep in her chest like a flaming heart. “I could have sworn he was older than us, is he not?” “He is,” Somnambula answered with a light hearted chuckle, one that Luna reciprocated immediately. “But he still has the occasional nightmare of his bullies when he was a foal. Sometimes those fears never quite go away.” “That sounds… unsatisfactory.” From Luna’s guess, they were somewhere to the east, headed toward the County of Manehattan, some fresh new territory given to some new peer of the realm. “There is nothing that can be done to correct the issue?” Somnambula shook her head, then glanced off to the side, away from Luna. A tiny handful of dreams were nestled into a colourful grove of stars and wisps, though one bubble was taking on a deep grey tint. Both mares banked toward it. “It isn’t a simple process, and sometimes the issues are so fundamental to a pony they cannot be changed.” The two mares settled around the dream as it turned into a sour stormcloud. Luna couldn’t grasp any details, just the raw emotions beneath, deep in the pony’s mind. “Ah, poor thing. Abstract dreams like this are always difficult to deal with.” Somnambula pressed a hoof to the growing terror and her ember flared, but Luna rose a hoof to pause her. “I have given that some thought,” said Luna. Somnambula’s ember darkened, and she watched Luna patiently. “Go on.” Luna smiled briefly, and she pressed a hoof to the dream too. “In this shape, these dreams are but emotions and fragmented memories. We can only soothe the emotions and hide away anything clearly terrifying.” Luna’s own inner light glowed. She couldn’t see her own ember, but the silver-white light reflected off her translucent form and brightened Somnambula’s faded face. “But we can address vivid dreamers directly, and you have seen what I can do when I am truly in control of a dream.” The stormcloud-dream exploded, and the two mares were engulfed into the ballooning expanse. The transition from the ethereal night to a wet and rainy road was instant, and Luna shivered as water soaked into her coat and made her pale blue bob of a mane stick to her scalp. Somnambula, to Luna’s delight, stared at her with wide eyes and her jaw ever so slightly open. Luna let her be for a few moments, glancing around and shivering off the rain. They were on a road beside a river, its banks coming dangerously close to overflowing. A foal clad in an oilskin galloped across a nearby bridge, but before they could cross two thirds of the way across, there was a great and terrible crack as a loose log in the water smashed into the bridge, cracking the timber and carrying away a segment. “I firmly believe it should be easier to help this dreamer this way,” Luna stated. “Please calm the storm. I will rescue the dreamer.” “An entire storm?” Somnambula laughed with wide eyes and threw a wing at the sky. “Nopony I know could handle this on their own.” Luna chucked back and lowered her head. “And nopony I know could move an entire mountain. You can do it, my flame.” A deeper pink crept across Somnambula’s face, and she nodded. “I will try, and I hope you know what you are doing.” Another piece of floating detritus hit the rear of the bridge as the pony tried to turn back, sending cracks all through the wood. This left them trapped and panicked, standing on a small section still held up by now weakening supports. The poor thing didn’t have to wait long, and a few wing beats after taking off Luna had them held tightly in her legs. The bridge collapsed fully behind her in a cacophony, and she squeezed the squealing, trembling mass firmly against her barrel. She couldn’t see a change in the storm yet, and Luna bit her tongue as she turned around. She found a lone tree on the opposite side of the road to the river, and made for it, depositing the foal there. She kept her wings outstretched, keeping her head and the foal covered from the rain above. That’s when the lightning came. Luna felt it first, a preternatural feeling she had grown accustomed to on stormy nights. It was, supposedly, a gift that pegasi had, and a part of weather they had yet to master. The white streak of light shot down toward Luna and the tree, and she tucked herself over the foal. There was a thunderous noise, but it did not strike. The tree was unharmed, and the energy simply… vanished. A few moments later, Somnambula dropped down, energy sparking across her back and tail. Her sheer clothes appeared fried, but she looked none the worse for wear. “Thank you,” Luna mouthed, and she turned her attention downwards once more. “You are safe now, little one,” she said, her voice soft and cool. The foal continued trembling, but small leg movements turned them to face Luna. Beneath the oilskin was a filly with a coat of red, a little on the older side, with wide, green eyes and a curly pink mane that stuck to her face. She swallowed. “Wh-who are you?” “I am Princess Luna,” she answered. “What is your—” Red Anjou. The name shot through Luna’s mind, and the entire filly came into sharp focus. She was, for a moment, more than the image of a young girl. She was an entire lifetime, a plethora of experiences and pain. She saw a mare, an adult that looked just like the filly before her, except one of her front legs was made of wood. Luna shook the thoughts clear. “What is your name?” “Red Anjou,” the filly said quietly. “I’m sorry I didn’t recognise you. Why are you here?” “I saw you were in need.” Luna settled on her stomach, bringing herself low down to Red Anjou. “This dream is a frightful one, for certain.” Red Anjou blinked, and she peered out underneath Luna’s wing to where the bridge used to be. Only a few pillars of wood remained, just barely jutting up over the surface. “Oh. It’s… it’s this place.” She swallowed, and it was clear she tried to speak again, but something caught in her throat. Luna followed her gaze, sorting through the memories lent to her. “You have had this dream before. Reliving a memory.” She reached out with a hoof, covering one of Red Anjou’s. She turned it over, and the lower half was replaced with a wooden facsimile. Red Anjou nodded. The oilskin grew a little tight around her barrel, digging into her skin. “Yes…” She looked down at her hoof and shut her eyes tight as pain washed through her. Pain that Luna felt, making her wince. Luna lifted her head and peered through the feathers of her wings at Somnambula. The pegasus’ face was twisted into concern, a deep frown marred into her gorgeous features. Luna blushed, as much from acknowledging Somnambula’s looks as she realised she was being watched and judged. “You have struggled since, only recently finding somewhere to work and stay, is that right?” Luna asked. She knew the answer, somehow, but it felt wrong to simply tell Red Anjou her own life. Luna saw a stallion in her mind’s eye, taking her in and caring for a young mare. “Yes,” the growing filly answered, growing into the same young mare before Luna’s eyes. “Some fella took me in and gave me work. It’s… It’s hard with only three hooves and all, but he’s patient. Better than everypony else I’ve met.” Luna smiled, and a soft little laugh rose through her throat. As Red Anjou looked up into Luna’s face, the rainfall quietened down. “It sounds as though your luck turned around. As I understand it he is more than just patient.” Red Anjou blushed. “I suppose, sure. He’s given me my own space, lets me take time off when the leg aches too much. I swear to Luna—Uh, beg your pardon your majesty—he really does like me. I just… worry sometimes.” Luna nodded, and the stallion briefly flit across her mind. A flash of his own dreams, his own anxiety over the mare. The details she was presented with disturbed her, but not for their contents. “Concern like yours might seem silly, but it is natural and valid. That said, I firmly believe you are right to trust him.” “You really think so?” Red Anjou asked. The rain had let up entirely now, and the clouds let more light down. Somnambula noticed at the same time as Luna, glancing upward. “I guess… I don’t know, really. If you say so, then maybe it is true.” Luna didn’t move, aside from folding her wings back. She glanced over to Somnambula now that she was unobstructed. “That is ultimately for you to decide. It may take some time, but I hope you find comfort in what I have said.” The mare looked down at the mud, drawing circles with her good hoof. “I… I’ll try, Princess. Thank you.” With that, Luna nodded and rose. She turned to Somnambula once more, both their faces neutral and serious, and with a small flash the bubble around them burst. Again they were left in the dreamscape, their bodies translucent and embers exposed. Only then did Luna allow herself to smile, broad and smug. Somnambula didn’t smile back. “That was very dangerous. Have you even practiced that before now?” “I took a risk, I admit, but ‘twas not a thoughtless one.” Somnambula didn’t look convinced, frowning still and eliciting a sigh from Luna. Luna looked away. “I will keep a close eye on Red Anjou over the coming while, but I am fully confident”—she turned back to Somnambula, her gaze ironclad—”that I made the best choice. She will remember our conversation and be forced to think upon it.” “If you are certain…” The pegasus sighed. “Maybe I am just defensive over the art. It is not like I could stop you, anyway.” Somnambula huffed out a short little laugh. Anger tugged down at the corner of Luna’s lips, but Somnambula spoke up again before she could reply. “I will be absent for a while, perhaps a week or two, perhaps for a month, it’s hard to say. Star Swirl has asked for my assistance and it is hard to come here when travelling.” Something ached in Luna’s chest, and a tingling coldness filled her hooves. “I see,” she said flatly. “I would ask, but I suspect you or Star Swirl will avail me of the events after the fact.” Her exterior cooled, taking on the neutral, regal posture she had been taught for years. Somnambula sighed and drifted over the remains of the night terror. “I am sorry, little moth,” she said, and she smiled. That damned grin made the ache stronger as the realisation of its absence hit Luna. “You will have to survive without me for a while, and I am confident you will. You are beyond my talents already.” Their faces came close, almost touching, the ghost of a breath passing over Luna’s nose. She wondered if they even could touch in this realm. “I hope this little experiment works and you have good news to share when I return.” Luna had her question answered in the form of a kiss to her cheek, and the ache in her chest blossomed.