//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: Magical Mysteries and Practical Histories // Story: Night Terrors // by TikiBat //------------------------------// Silver had been left with an uneasy feeling ever since his encounter in Sapphire’s dream the other night, and no matter how much he rested or took it easy, he couldn’t shake whatever it was from him. He couldn’t quite explain what it was that he was feeling other than it felt as if his mind was clouded by a fog that no amount of sleep would remove. “Everything okay Silvie?” Scarlet asked as she noticed that he had hunched over the table as if he was on the brink of falling asleep. “Huh?” Silver looked up from his breakfast and shook his head. “I don’t know… I just feel… weird is all.” Scarlet trotted up and nodded, holding a hoof up to his forehead. “It doesn’t feel like you have a fever or anything. Do you think you’re coming down with something?” He shrugged. “I don’t know to be honest. I don’t really feel tired anymore, but… I don’t know, this is going to sound stupid.” Scarlet raised an eyebrow. “You’ve said some goofy things around me, but never anything stupid. So just lay it on me.” Silver nodded. “It just feels like my brain is tired and I don’t know why. I’ve slept really well the last couple of days, I’ve been trying to take it easy… but I just feel like there’s a fog going through my head and nothing I do clears it.” “Do you think you’re just anxious about whatever happened in Sapphire’s dream? You didn’t really ever get into what it was, or why you were so shaken up by it.” Silver hesitated before giving a response. “It was just a strong dream I guess. Pulled me into the narrative without my control and all I could do was watch from the sidelines. It felt like I was riding in someone else’s body and couldn’t do anything else and it was terrifying.” “And that’s what got you shaken up enough to pull Sapphire into your dream?” The stallion shook his head. “No, what happened next did. I somehow managed to break free from her dream and pause it, but then some nightmare or something broke through that and tried to attack her… I guess a part of me just grabbed onto whatever dream I could and pulled her to it for safety.” “Hmmm… I see,” Scarlet nodded. “I might know what’s getting you down then.” Silver perked up. “You do?” “Mhmm. I think you’re exhausted.” Silver slumped back down and rolled his eyes. “I knew that much, hon.” “No, not physically exhausted. I mean magically exhausted. I’ve never gone through it but it’s not like it’s hard to diagnose either. You were trying so hard to break out of Sapphire’s dream and then pulled her into yours, you probably over-exerted yourself and now this is the result of that.” “Okay, I…” Silver began to protest but stopped himself. “Okay. You’re probably right and I didn’t even think of that.” “I figured you didn’t, but it’s not your fault. It’s not like this stuff is reported often anyways. You’re not all there and you’ve never done that kind of magic before.” “So how do you suppose we fix it then?” He asked, not really expecting an answer. Scarlet shrugged. “I don’t know how we fix it, but I know that you need to take it easy and not make the problem worse. So that means either rolling with whatever dream you fall into when you sleep or asking for a dreamless sleep.” Silver seemed to cringe back over the thought of not spending his sleep crafting dreams or going off on some adventure with Scarlet. His disinterest in the idea gave him just enough energy to protest, which he did this time. “That’s like asking a fish not to swim, or a bird not to fly. You know that right?” “Sure, and I know you like making things for Orion, spending time with your students, and running around dreams with me. And I know you’re smart enough to know that if you burn yourself out you’re going to hurt yourself more, or worse.” “Or worse?” He considered the possibilities. “What do you think will happen?” Scarlet shrugged again. “I don’t know. Maybe you’ll hurt your magic or somehow hurt yourself in the waking world or something, but I’d rather not find out.” Silver nodded. “Okay… I’ll talk with Psychic about it today,” He took a few bites of his food, not really having an interest in it, but doing so regardless because he knew he needed the energy and nourishment it’d give him. “Sorry I’m being so weird today.” “You don’t need to be sorry, just take care of yourself and don’t make the problem worse. I’m your wife, and I care about you more than anyone else, but I need you to take this seriously.” “I will, and I am. As you said, I’m out of it and it’s making it hard to really say what’s on my mind without sounding patronizing or like I’m phoning it in,” He replied, finishing his food and standing up to go wash his and Scarlet’s plates. “But I really do appreciate it, we’re in this together and I know you’re not trying to baby me.” “Thanks for understanding,” She smiled. Wanting to brighten the mood a little, Silver decided to change subjects. As he set the plates in the sink and started the faucet, he spoke up again. “So what’s on the agenda for today anyway?” “I’ve got to run down to the observatory for a little bit and get a couple of newly hired interns all situated, then I need to go meet Starry and his representative from the astronomy program to talk about my application.” He continued to scrub the plates, but put all of his focus and attention into the conversation. “That’s great, I know you’re going to just wow them with everything.” “Thanks,” She smiled. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t super nervous, but it’s just such a big thing.” “Of course it is,” He started to laugh. “Looks like it’s my turn to give you a pep talk now. You’re a genius with what you do and Starry knows that too. I need you to take a few deep breaths and try to clear your head. He’s your friend, and this is probably all just one big formality,” Silver kicked off the water and set the plates out to dry. Satisfied with another chore being done, he washed and dried his hooves and then trotted over to her. “So you go slay it and we’ll celebrate when you get back home.” Scarlet pulled Silver into a tight hug. “Thanks Silvie, I love you.” Silver weakly smiled. “I love you too Scarlet. Give me a call when you’re all done, I can’t wait to hear how it went.” The mare started to collect the few belongings she’d need for the day and then turned back to Silver. “Don’t forget, Starry’s wife is going to be here with her foals, so make sure you show her around and make her feel welcome. She’s never been to earth before, and I know it’s a big shock to her.” “Gotcha. I’ll make sure she feels right at home here,” He paused for a moment and smirked. “I guess that’ll be a good way to unwind and relax as you suggested.” “That’s the spirit. Now, she should be over by Sweet Treats’ cafe outside your work, so you might want to just head right over there with Orion after breakfast.” Silver turned over to the foal in question, who was greedily scarfing down his breakfast. “You hear that little buddy? You’re going to get some new friends to play with today.” Orion paused for a moment and his eyes widened at the prospect of getting to play with new friends. “New friends?!” Scarlet laughed. “Be good for your father and our friends, okay?” Orion furiously nodded his head. “Okay!” With a final kiss goodbye to them both, Scarlet excitedly trotted out of the house. As Silver approached the tall imposing buildings that made up the center of the Oasis the colt riding on his back let out an adorable awed squeak. No matter how many times Silver would bring him along to work, Orion never failed to be amazed by the tall buildings. Every little excited Eeek and awe just made Silver’s heart melt, and he couldn’t help but laugh whenever Orion would respond to their surroundings like that. “You excited to see your new friends?” He asked the young awestruck colt. Orion’s entranced daze broke and he excitedly started buzzing his webbed wings. “Are we almost there?!” Silver laughed again and nodded. “We’re almost there little buddy.” “Are mommy’s friends really from Equestria?” The next question sparked something in Silver. He paused and looked back at the colt. “Yeah, they are.” “Are the ponies there different?” “I don’t think so.” Undeterred by Silver’s simple response, Orion launched into a barrage of questions. “What’s Equestria like? Can I go there? Can we go there? Does mommy get to go back there?” Silver started to chuckle to himself. “You’re asking the wrong pony, Orion. Mommy’s the only one who’s been there.” The colt’s eyes widened even more and he seemed to be struck by a very profound, and probably very incorrect realization. “Mommy’s the only one who’s ever been there?!” Silver laughed at the four-year-old’s logic. “Well no, lots of ponies have gone there, you know that.” “They have?” he asked. “Yeah. Like Auntie Sapphire,” Silver replied. “You know this, kiddo.” “Oh,” Orion stated bluntly, seemingly not really ever connecting the dots. “Is Auntie Sapphire an Equestria pony?” Silver laughed again. “No? But Uncle Crescent is.” Something about this struck Orion even harder than his original realization had. “He is?!” “Sure is!” Silver laughed. “Didn’t I ever tell you that?” Orion shook his head. “No!” “Ahhh, okay,” Silver shook his head. “Well, that’s who got Mommy into Equestria when you were just a little colt. And that’s why we only go visit them every once in a while.” “Oh,” He replied. “Is he going to help get mommy back there?” Silver shrugged. “Who knows, mommy’s going to tell us later. But for now, why don’t you just relax and behave for her friends? Maybe if you’re really good we can go get some ice cream with her foals.” Orion seemed to consider his options for a moment. Clearly, he still wanted to ask questions, but the prospect of getting ice cream was proving too tempting for him, and in a decisive moment he finally nodded his head. “Okay!” “Good! Now we’re almost there, so why don’t you hold your questions for a little while.” Orion didn’t reply, but from his gleeful expression and cheerful demeanor, Silver knew that he was content. Sure enough, the quaint little cafe nestled between a few of the shorter, though still tall, buildings came into view, and with it the forms of their guests; a Pegasus mare and her two foals. The cafe was bustling with other ponies and even a few humans, but right away Silver knew exactly who their guests were without having ever met them before. “Painted Skies?” Silver asked as he trotted up to them. The green pegasus mare smiled. “It is a pleasure to meet you Mr. Eclipse.” Silver smiled. “You can just call me Silver,” He turned slightly and gestured up to Orion. “And this is my son Orion.” The foal excitedly hopped off of his father’s back and ran up to greet Painted Skies. “What’s Equestria like! Do you live with the princess? Are dragons real?! How do you go there?!” Painted Skies just laughed and nodded. “So you are the adorable little pony that Scarlet was so excited to introduce me to.” Orion smiled at the compliment, briefly pausing his barrage of questions. For a moment it seemed as if he was about to continue, but he suddenly noticed the two little fillies peeking out from behind their mother. His eyes widened again and he seemed to fill up with even more energy than he had before. “I’m Orion!” The little pegasus seemed to jump back behind her mother, but the other filly with similarly webbed wings to his own slowly peeked out more. “I’m Trinket,” Came her neutral reply. Silver could tell that Orion was overjoyed to have met a new friend, and was clearly excited to go play with them. Before he could do that, however, Painted Skies stepped in. “This other shy little filly is Bristle, and I know she’ll warm up to you once she gets to know you.” Silver smiled. “There’s a really good park not too far away if we want to give them a chance to burn off some energy for a bit.” Painted Skies nodded. “That would be a wonderful idea. It will give Bristle a chance to get to know Orion a little better too.” “Perfect!” Silver cheered. “I know they’re going to love it. So would you like anything from the cafe before we head over then?” Painted looked down at the menu, pointing towards one of the pastries that evidently had a name she couldn’t quite pronounce. “Ah, some beignets? I can do that. Anything for the foals?” She considered it but shook her head. “More sugar is probably not a great idea, but they can have one of mine.”  Silver nodded. “Alrighty, can do. If you just want to watch Orion for a second I can go grab some for us.” Orion normally loved to go everywhere with Silver, but this time he seemed perfectly okay with staying by his new friends. “I would love to.” Painted replied with a smile. “Great, thanks!” Silver trotted the short distance to the counter, leaving Orion to introduce himself. Right away he started speaking up more, and Silver couldn’t help but look back as he placed their order and paid with a tap of his gauntlet. “Trinket is a pretty name!” Orion exclaimed. Trinket walked a little closer to the colt. “Is your name a Star?” “It’s a constellation,” He proudly explained. “Mommy and Daddy liked it.” “Do you remember Mrs. Scarlet?” Painted Skies asked. Trinket smiled. “She was the nice lady that came to Canterlot!” “Very good!” She gently nudged Bristle forward. “You remember her too right? She gave you the pretty flower she found while walking around with your father.” Bristle slowly nodded her head, but didn’t take her eyes away from Orion. “Bristle’s a pretty name too!” Orion cheered, stepping a little closer to her. “Thanks,” She meekly replied.  “Do you wanna play with me?!” Orion excitedly asked the two of them. “What do you wanna play?” Trinket asked. Orion paused before giving a suggestion. “Tag?” “What’s… tag?” Bristle asked, seeming to warm up to Orion a little. Painted Skies smiled, switching into a sing-songy voice that sounded pretty but with words that Orion couldn’t really understand. Both her daughters replied back in the same sing-songy way, and Bristle seemed even more cheerful at the prospect after it. “Why were you singing?” Orion asked with an adorably confused look on his face. “They were speaking Equestrian,” Silver replied as he trotted up with a bag of pastries tucked under a wing. “Like how mommy does with you sometimes.” “Oh,” Orion replied. “But they said things that mommy doesn’t say.” “Well?” Silver started to reply. “That just means you don’t know enough yet. You’ll have to have mommy teach you more later. I know she’ll be more than happy to soon.” “Okay...” He answered back, though Silver could tell that he was a little annoyed at not being able to understand what Painted had said to her fillies. Picking up on this, Silver came in with a suggestion. “So how about you go show Trinket and Bristle how to go to the park, and we can let you lead the way.” Being allowed to lead the grown-ups around seemed to cheer him up, and right away he perked up again. “Okay!” He hopped out of his seat and started towards the street, stopping to look both ways and waiting until the adults had given him a silent nod to continue. With eager excitement, he led them across the street towards the park, and Silver could tell that the three foals would be the best of friends sooner rather than later. The foals’ game of tag had taken off with much excitement and enthusiasm and Silver couldn’t help but chuckle as he watched Orion and Trinket being chased by Bristle, who seemed decidedly more playful now. “You really called it. Looks like they’re really getting along great.” “I knew they would. Bristle is painfully shy, but she really comes out of her shell once she’s had a chance to warm up to others. It’s something that Starry and I have been trying to help her grow out of, but it’s not always the easiest thing to do.” “It never is,” Silver admitted. “Orion was the same way for a while too. When he met Crescent Shadow’s daughter he almost didn’t want to do anything else but hide away behind me, but after that first weekend, they became fast friends. He’s grown out of it a lot, maybe even too much,” He laughed. “He does seem very excitable,” Painted joined him in his laughter. “But that’s better than the alternative.” “It absolutely is,” Silver agreed. “He’s a goofy kid but I love him to death and he’s so smart. Scarlet teaches him about the stars, and I teach him about old history stuff and dreams.” “Sharing what you can with your children really is the most rewarding thing. It’s why I was so happy to finally visit earth after all this time.” “So you can share those kinds of memories while they’re still young, eh?” “Indeed. Starry and I wanted to bring them over earlier, but there was so much work to be done that neither of us could find the time to make the trip. We can both thank Scarlet and the hard work of her colleagues for helping us move things along.” “And that’s why she’s even being considered for the long-term contract?” “It’s why she and her other colleagues are being considered for it.” Silver nodded. “Those humans who joined her the first time, right?” Painted Skies nodded her head. “Them and a few others.” “I see,” Silver looked back at the trio of foals, and laughed as he saw that Orion was now it. “So tell me then, what’s your favorite thing about earth so far?” Painted Skies smirked and looked up from the playing foals. “Your history.” “Our history? And what about it is so interesting to you.” “The simple fact that so much is known about it. You go back a thousand years in Equestria and the history slowly starts to fade. The actual records vanish leaving only the legends, and sometimes those legends don’t paint a clear picture of what actually happened. Ruins disappear, artifacts cease to exist past a certain point, and even fossil records are inconclusive and scarce. It’s almost as if there’s a black hole in our history past the middle of the Chaos Era, and that makes my job— the job of an archeologist, very difficult.” Silver raised an eyebrow. “Chaos Era? I haven’t read too much into Equestria’s history, so please humor the questions of one history buff to another.” “So you’re a historian then?” She asked, momentarily ignoring his question. Silver nodded. “I am. Maybe not the best, but I’ve always loved old historical stuff, and it makes me so proud that Orion does too.” “I can understand that. The past has so much to tell us and if I’ll be honest, that’s what I love about your earth so much. Even though our record is lacking a lot, I still find myself learning new things every day. To answer your question though, the Chaos Era is what we call the period where Discord, the spiritual embodiment of chaos and discord itself, reigned over Equestria. As far as we can date what few records remain, that era lasted for at least one or two millennia before Princess Luna and Celestia petrified him and restored harmony to the land.” “And that’s when your history starts becoming more clear then.” “Exactly. I’ve always specialized in early Equestrian history, but the ancient history is what really fascinates me. Discord had the power to change landscapes at the snap of a claw, make reality conform to whatever he wished, control the minds of others, bring nightmares themselves to life... and with those powers civilization as we knew it was torn apart. Settlements were wiped out, inverted quite literally in some cases, and it all had a profound effect on what we know of our own history. He was later freed and reformed, but even he can’t fill in the gaps of what he never knew.” “He never knew what came before his rule?” “As far as anyone can tell, no. Whether he’s being coy or genuinely doesn’t know— it’s left to be seen. Some theorize that chaos in the lands fueled his birth, others hypothesize that he simply always existed until one day taking form. No one genuinely knows, and probably never will, but that doesn’t stop me from trying my hardest to dig up what I can.” Silver nodded slowly. “You mentioned he could bring nightmares to life, like as in, cause them?” Painted Skies shook her head. “He could take your worst nightmares and give them life. Some would chase you in your dreams, others would torment you in the waking world…” She paused for a moment. “At one point Luna had even created a nightmare for herself so strong that it shattered the boundaries between the waking and dreaming worlds, and according to the interpretations of some of the legends, Discord’s nightmares were born from the Chaos Realm. Silver gulped, thinking back to Sapphire’s nightmare that had come to life. “I see… And do I want to ask about the Chaos realm or should I just leave that up to my imagination?” “The answer is ultimately up to you, but I’m afraid I can’t offer much in the ways of an explanation for that. It’s known that Discord calls it home, and as the name might imply, it’s said it’s a world bereft of order. As far as I am aware, few have ever visited it, and fewer still have ever left it alive…” “Right… that totally doesn’t sound terrifying…” Silver slowly replied. He wasn’t afraid, but something about the legends that Painted Skies had shared only served to make his imagination run wild.” More laughter from the trio of foals drew his attention back to the center, and those thoughts quickly faded. “Now isn’t that sweet?” Painted Skies commented, gesturing towards the three who were taking turns going down the slide. He looked back over to her. “Seems like they’re starting to wind down, eh?” “For now,” Painted giggled. “I’m sure I don’t have to tell you to never fall into the trap of thinking a night pony foal is going to stay calm for long.” “Not at all. But now might be a good time to go show you around town if you’d like, then we can let them splash around the lake if you want. Orion loves that, and something just tells me that your fillies would love that too.” Painted Skies nodded. “I agree. Why don’t we round them up and then work our way over there?” “Sounds like a plan,” Silver agreed, standing up. “Alrighty Orion, how about we show your new friends around the Oasis? If you’re really good we can even stop by the lake and you can show them how you collect the shells!” Orion paused his play and perked up at the sound of getting to play with his new friends in one of his favorite areas.