//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: An Absence // Story: Selene Embers // by AFanaticRabbit //------------------------------// The stars had been different since that night. The constellations that Luna used to navigate the dreamscape were skewed, and the cluster she had used to mark east was too far to the right, putting her off course and away from her current watch. It took her some time to realise as the collection of dreamers beneath her felt off, and that the feeling wasn’t just in her belly. Banking to her left, Luna flew toward the dreamscape’s ‘north’. She had to guess where she was now, estimating off the bubbles of unconsciousness she could see. She was working on her own dead reckoning, albeit it was unreliable as not every pony dreamt or even slept. Yet with her entire world, her entire self out of sorts, it was all she had to work with. It took her some time to find the dreams she wanted. There were few bad dreams tonight, just as there had been in the days since Somnambula left, allowing her to descend on a familiar bunching of them and specifically to two abstract streams of thought slowly loosed into Luna’s realm. She neared, and after steeling herself, let one expand. One she was familiar with. Luna was without shape before entering the dream, and as it forced itself around her, she guided it into a dark blue moth. As the world coalesced, it took her a scant few seconds to recognise where she was. A river, its banks low and calmly babbling by. A bridge, made of a mix of new and old timber and reinforced with stone. A tree, under which a pair of ponies sat, and behind them an entire farmstead that perhaps did not belong, but was not out of place. Settling into the lower branches of the tree, Luna watched. She recognised the curly pink mane of Red Anjou as she lay on her front with a blanket between her and the dirt. Beside her sat a green stallion, a wide brimmed straw hat hiding his mane from Luna, though she knew who he was. Both ponies stared at each other, and Luna felt their smiles rather than saw them. Their hooves touched—one wooden, but now painted a bright red—and a spark ran through them as it did through Luna. As the pair shuffled closer, both their faces now hidden beneath the hat, that deep pang tugged at Luna’s chest once more. It hurt her knowing she would have to wait to share her revelations. Then it occured to Luna that maybe she didn’t have to wait. The little moth fluttered its wings and took off from the branch, then burst forth from the dream. Luna’s ember flared, shining like a lantern, and she took shape around it, hooves and wings and head becoming solid and real. She flew south, perhaps not directly, and she arced across the dreamscape like a shooting star. Luna looked down below, watching the minds beneath her. Since her time with Red Anjou she had begun to see small details of their lives and psyches. Enough that she didn’t pass into a dream unprepared. It also served to confirm that she was headed in the right direction, toward that dream where they first met. That was when Luna slowed, then stopped. Certainly she could identify vaguely where she was by the memories of the dreamers around her, but Somnambula may not be there, not to mention she would need to scour each dream to recognise a pony she had yet to visit. All that was assuming the pegasus was dreaming in the first place. Frustration filled the alicorn and she shut her eyes, closing out the stars and nebula around her. All this flying, this uncertainty of where she was, what dreamers she could help. Then Luna thought of her second night with Somnambula, pulling Mount Avalon closer to them both. She could expand others’ dreams, and they could then command their dreams themselves. What’s to say she couldn’t do the same for the world between? With her eyes still shut, Luna thought of every dreamer, every star and nebula and wisp and ember and she pulled on them all. She felt nothing. So she pulled again, picturing each dream as… books. Ordered by location, organised neatly. She pictured the gaps between them where some dreamers were absent. Borrowed… No. That wouldn’t work as it was. Dreams weren’t borrowed, they were lived in and used as spaces. Like homes and houses. Like the rooms of a castle. And like that, Luna’s hooves settled on flagstones beneath. When her eyes opened, she found herself in a corridor lined with doors as far as she could see. Wood and stone and metal, some pristine and new, others rusting, almost falling off their hinges. This still didn’t help her, but Luna knew what would. Another thought, and the doors slid along the walls. She turned to face the wall to her right and an arched, peach tinted wooden door settled before her. Without a moment’s hesitation, Luna stepped through. She found herself inside a traveler’s carriage, one a little too small for her princessly proportions, though she only brushed the walls and ceiling. Below her, head on her forelegs, sat Somnambula, staring at the wick of an oil lamp. She then looked up and met Luna’s gaze. “Little moth?” asked Somnambula, the words creaking out. She sat up straight. “What are you doing here…?” “It worked.” Violet eyes squinted at Luna, and Somnambula’s memories shot through Luna’s mind. Luna suppressed the urge to shake her head, not wanting to intrude on these specific memories, but she was nonetheless forced to rewatch their last conversation in brief. While she tried to shrug off the discomfort of spying on Somnambula’s memories, the pegasus’ eyes opened wide. “Red Anjou…? That is fantastic news!” Somnambula leapt to her hooves, knocking the lamp over. To Luna’s confusion it didn’t spill its contents nor did the flame burn the wood or rug. “You’ll have to tell me more when I…” She trailed off, going quiet for a moment. “How did you get here? I hadn’t told you where I was headed...” With a laugh, Luna lifted a hoof and gently pressed Somnambula’s mouth shut. Neither pony said a word as Luna looked over to the impossible state of the lamp, and a smirk broke across Somnambula’s face, aimed back at Luna. “I found a way,” Luna said. “You keep impressing me.” “What sort of princess would I be if I did not impress?” Leaning in, Luna lowered herself from the ceiling and put both their faces close together. She desperately wanted to feel Somnambula’s breath. Not the version in a dream, but to actually feel her. Luna swallowed down her nerves. “Truth be told, I missed you,” the princess said, her voice coming out calm despite how shaky it felt. “Like with my scheme with Red Anjou, I was driven by impulse to you tonight. It has thus far paid off.” This time Somnambula laughed. The deep, hearty chuckle settled Luna’s heart, and while the ache lessened, still pulled her toward the pegasus. “I hope this chance does too.” Their lips brushed together in the briefest kiss. The odd feeling of touching something that was not there teased Luna, frustrating her desire even further. Somnambula’s lack of reaction only carried that feeling further. Luna tried to swallow down her nerves again, but this time they stuck fast in her throat, frayed and delicate. “I wish you hadn’t done that.” And then they unraveled. Somnambula gently shoved Luna away. “I’m sorry, little moth—Princess Luna.” The pegasus tore her eyes from Luna, and held a hoof against her own chest. “I mean no disrespect. I just… Oh sand and wind...” Her eyes misted, so she shut them tight with a hoof over them and drew in a deep breath. She held it for a scant few moments. “I am glad you feel the way you do. I had even hoped for it, yet I am not certain I can return the feeling now.” A chill passed through the carriage, and the lantern dimmed. “You mean to tell me no? After building me up, you tell me thou cannot?” She stepped forward, staring down at Somnambula and ignoring the stinging in her eyes. Somnabula shrank down, her wings uncoupled from her side. “I mean to say not yet.” Luna’s next step stalled. “I… I didn’t mean to lead you on,” Somnambula continued. “Recent events changed things, and I may not…” With a shake of her head, Somnambula briefly roused her wings before snapping them back to her sides. “One more week. If all goes right, that is when I will see you again, my little moth.” A laugh like molasses filled Luna’s mind. “I’ll make sure to see you outside your dreams.” Not a word more was said between them. All the rage and sadness and love sloshed through Luna’s veins, but she stowed them all. She could wait one more week. Even if Luna didn’t quite believe her.