//------------------------------// // Dream Theorist // Story: Obsidian Series // by Furious Thestral //------------------------------// Starlight Glimmer woke up with a soft hum, a sign of a good night's sleep, as she stretched her forelimbs and spine to pop the joints to wake up her body before she jumped off the bed on all four hooves and headed to the joint bathroom of her bedroom to freshen up for the new day. It didn't take her long to be presentable as she pranced down to the halls. Deciding to head directly to the personal kitchen for breakfast, with any luck she might still be on time to have a plate of a freshly cooked meal and a steamy mug of coffee. The mere thought of such delicacy made her add a skip on her step as she went a bit faster to her destination. On her way down a hallway she suddenly came to a complete halt as something caught her attention from the corner of her eye. From the open door that lead into the main library she spotted several books flying around like it was a whirlwind of literature, as the books moved around relentlessly with their pages flapping about. "What is going on?" Starlight wondered to herself as she entered the flying books maelstrom and weaved around books, big and small, until she reached into the eye of the storm, which also happens to be the center of the room. Twilight used her magic as she checked and analyzed each book that floated in front of her, setting aside those she needed and flying back to their spots those that were not needed. "No, no, no… this one is good and this one." The mulberry alicorn muttered to herself as she continued in her search. Meanwhile Spike was evading the books that threatened to hit him as they flew around and as he rushed to a safe spot to organize the books that remained on the floor. Until an encyclopedia rammed into him, taking the little drake for a spin with the other books that floated around the entire room. As he wondered if it was worth the risk to make the jump down to the floor, and expecting to reach down harmless, a teal aura picked him up from his ride and carefully descended him to the floor, close to the pink unicorn who rescued him. "Morning Starlight." Spike smiled from the air in which he was suspended. Starlight glanced at Spike then at Twilight and back at Spike, "I take it that Twilight is doing extensive research today?" She asked, only receiving a nod for an answer. "Great, does she need help with any of that?" She looks back at Twilight and the flying books. Spike waved his claw dismissively, "nah, she will be there until she finds the books to make for a light reading," he explained as he walked past Starlight. "Besides, I better get going to the kitchen to make breakfast for us three." Spike gestured to the pink unicorn to follow. "Alright, sounds good to me ." Agreed Starlight, walking next to her friend directly to the kitchen. Once there, Spike donned his apron and selected his cooking utensils in preparation to make some hotcakes. Using his fire to start up the stove while he worked on putting the ingredients needed to make the batter into a mixing bowl. Starlight was preparing her coffee as she glanced at Spike with a look of curiosity in her eyes. "So, what new subjects is Twilight researching on now?" The pink unicorn sat on a stool behind the counter as she stirred the black liquid. Spike focused on making breakfast and decided to answer his friend as he began to pour the batter on the hot skillet. "She is investigating dreams and trying to get a full grasp on the meaning of some of them." He explained, reaching out for the spatula and flipping the pancakes. “It's because she has been having some strange dreams for a few moons and she wants to know what they mean.” he added with a small shrug. Starlight changed her focus from her mug to Spike with curiosity, “strange dreams, as in Nightmares?” She guessed, trying to know the meaning of Spike’s words and waiting for him to elaborate more. Spike hummed in contemplation, as he continued cooking, "they're not exactly nightmares, as Twilight tells me, but what I do know is that she dreams about being the sole ruler of all Equestria and that everypony bows before her, don't know if she means as a queen or empress though." Spike finally set up a plate with a stack of pancakes and gave them to Starlight, along with syrup and butterscotch to go with it. "She also told me that the only inconsistency is that the dream changes from place, from the Castle of Friendship to Canterlot Castle, there was even one she said happened in the old Castle of the Two Sisters right by the Everfree forest. They all still have the same theme though; everypony bowing before Twilight as if they were hypnotized, or something." He sat next to Starlight with his own plate already piled high with jades and emeralds. Starlight was surprised as she poured maple syrup on her stack of pancakes, "wow...that is certainly a very dark dream to have," Starlight took a moment before taking her mug and drinking from its contents. "I always thought that Twilight had modest dreams of herself reading in giant libraries or enjoying an adventure with her friends." She gestured absentmindly with her fork before plunging it into her pancakes and using a knife to cut them apart before eating them. Spike nodded in agreement, cutting his own stack of flapjacks, "yeah, Twilight usually tells me about her dreams and they do end up from being simple to extraordinary. Including the very bizarre nightmare of quesadillas." He then gave voice to a small idea that was lingering in his mind. "Maybe her dream is trying to tell her something." he guessed, considering the idea based on the books Twilight chose for her investigation. Starlight lit up as she slammed her mug on the table, "a premonitory dream!" She exclaimed, looking at Spike, who looked back with certain confusion. "It’s a rare type of dream that shows a glimpse of the future. Sadly that is as much as I know about them." She explained, proving what limited knowledge she had on the matter was more extensive than what Spike knew. Spike then considered a thought and voiced his idea. "Does this mean Twilight will be the newest villain and that she will conquer all of Equestria in a single weekend?" He fumbled on his glass filled with milk, swaying its content as he contemplated the answer. Starlight let out a soft laughter as she shook her head in disbelief. "Now that is a ridiculous idea," she tried to contain her laughter as she covered her mouth with her hoof. "Imagine her being in charge of the entire kingdom and that her first claim would be that all citizens must become friends with everypony." She joked, looking at the little drake, who was now starting to laugh. "Yeah, maybe she will make a new law that hugs will become a form of greeting as well." Spike joined in, with his laugh now increasing in volume. "It is by law that all ponies must be cordial at all times and if they do not abide by this law they must pay the sentence of spending fifteen minutes in the tickle chamber." Starlight continued on, making a decent imitation of Twilight as she continued giggling. "All residents in the kingdom must have at least three books in a proper bookshelf and in order by the Dewey decimal." “ponies must help one another in any way they can or must be punished to wear the cone of shame.” “friendship will be divided in three different categories; Good Friends, Best Friends and bestest Friends. Which brings privileges of certain benefits above the others.” They both laughed at the ridiculous proposals they made for the supposed tyranny of their mutual friend. Enjoying the hilarity of the situation until their laugh became giggles and it too died down to a moment of sudden silence. Spike downed his glass of milk and sighed to ease down the good mood he was in, "I'm kinda curious, though; how would Twilight manage to take control of all the entirety of the kingdom of Equestria?" He poked on his hotcakes while pondering on the question. "Kinda like a big order, if you ask me." He added, lifting his gaze to meet Starlight. The pink unicorn noticed him looking at her with her with her mouth full of breakfast. She swallowed all and drowned the food with her coffee before thinking of possible ideas that Twilight would use. "She doesn't need to," she began, looking at Spike with a gleam in her eye. "She can mind control the figureheads of Canterlot and probably those of the major cities of Equestria, with which the ponies would easily fall in line and obey her commands...probably." She explained giving herself a second thought on her idea. "Another option could be that she could create a spell powerful enough that can charm Equestria entirely, with the help of powerful unicorns by her side to make it work… that is if Twilight knew where to find unicorns powerful enough to pull that kind of spell off." She chuckled lightly, completely ignoring the pale look of Spike as he stared in aghast. "Starlight… Twilight does have powerful unicorns as friends." She was a bit surprised but still looking at him, "she does, who?" She wondered, knowing a few herself but not having a full grasp of all of them. "I know she has a few but not all of them are that powerful, right?" Spike lifted his claws and used them to count off Twilight's unicorn friends. "Well there's, Sunset Shimmer, Moondancer, Tempest Shadows, Sunburst, Shining Armor maybe, Rarity and you." He said as he listed the ponies off from memory. "What about Trixie?" Starlight asked, looking at Spike wondering why she was on the list. "What about her?" "Well, you know… great and powerful and all that." Starlight shrugged nonchalantly. Spike blinked a few times, as if to process the information,"I always thought that was her full name." The silence that ensued was far more than just awkward as they looked everywhere but to each other. Starlight decided to continue the conversation. "Twilight does indeed have powerful unicorns as friends, not that it can change things." She admitted, scoffing at the idea she had mentioned. "Not like any of them would partake on a plan to take over the kingdom just like that." Spike was in his own thoughts, remembering all the experience he gained from all of his comics about corrupted champions and fallen heroes. All about the trope on how every important character had suffered the syndrome of staring too long into the abyss that it stared back. Such is the fate of virtuous souls that fought evil for so long. "What if…" he started off in concern, fidgeting his claws together in nervousness. "What if Twilight really has become evil and has been reuniting powerful unicorns in order to take over Equestria?" He guessed, his eyes growing wide in panic. Starlight could barely hold her chuckle as she burst out laughing as she hugged her barrel to get a hold of herself,"oh Spike, you do have some jokes in you." She kept on chuckling, taking a few deep breaths to ease herself. "Not that I mind joining Twilight with a special project but I can't see myself, or any other of her friends joining up to some world domination." She declared, leaning back on her chair and smiling mirthfully. "But most of Twilight friends were villains that tried to take over Equestria, no doubt they would all join in such nefarious plan like the evildoers they once been… uhh, no offense," he said, wincing slightly at the last comment noticing Starlight rise her eyebrow. The pink unicorn let loose a sigh and set her forehooves on the table. "None taken,Spike," she dismissed the comment with a wave of her hoof. "But even if I used to be... that mare, Twilight helped me overcome such a dark path and that same goes for others, or at least from Sunset and Trixie." She was certain of her own words as she would never forget the lengths that Twilight went through to help her out of her obsession with Cutie Marks and revenge. Spike mulled over the idea and grumbled in acknowledgement, "I guess you're right… probably." He mumbled, looking at Starlight and averting his eyes to the floor continuously. "Seriously?" "What if you and the others are some sort of sleeper agents that once the time arrives you will follow a protocol to enslave the town for Twilight?" Spike frantically shaked his claws as he started to panic. "I mean, you might not be aware of it because you don't remember it ever happened. Like in Power Ponies number two five seven; Mindless Mane-iacs!" He added. "Spike, I am starting to believe that you have been into those comics more than you think you have. Real life is not a bit close to fiction in any conceivable way." She gave him a small smile and set her hoof on his shoulder. "And even if she did go and turned evil then we will do our very best to help her the same way she helped me." She stated, with a smile of pure confidence. Spike pondered on her words and soon found himself smiling at Starlight. "You're right, if worst comes to happen we can help Twilight together with our friends return to the good side, no matter what!" He exclaimed, inflating his chest off to show his determination. Starlight nodded in agreement as she raised her hoof to Spike to bump with him, which the drake did so happily. "I'm gonna deliver Twilight's breakfast to her before it gets cold and she forgets to eat… again." The little drake set up the plates filled with food on a platter and dashed out of the kitchen, with a confident smile and a jump on his step. Starlight groaned tiredly once Spike was out of the room and had to take in everything they had been talking about and the ridiculous idea that it all stemmed about, she was not ready for this day as it seemed. She slowly got off her chair and picked up the dirty dishes from the table and set them on the sink to start washing them while a small thought crept onto her mind and considered the thought for a moment. “Queen Twilight Sparkle, Supreme Ruler Twilight Sparkle... Empress Twilight Sparkle, hmm,” in her thoughts the pink unicorn couldn't stop herself to voice out how it felt the titles that Twilight could have if she was to achieve such height in power until the cold realization hit her with more fierceness than she would have liked it to. “okay… no need to panic, just gonna head out to my room and make a quick scan spell to see if there are any signs of dormant spells within me that forces me to give unconditional loyalty to Twilight. Hehehe~" she chuckled, going from a walk to a quick canter to her personal bedroom to ease her worries. ~~***~~ It was dark. Beyond darker than any night can produce since there was no source of light that could be seen in this desolate room. Less than a room, it was a prison that contained a dangerous thing. It lay on a corner, sitting, waiting. It was its punishment to be here. To wait for who knows how long until somepony would set it free from the sunless cell. The wait seemed to be an eternity, with no way to tell the passage of time everything felt as if only minutes had passed, or years, until it all was finally over when a dull noise came from outside. It was repetitive, constant, like the noise from a hammer against a wall, the figure stood up from its corner and walked to the center of the room in preparation for the moment to be set free. The hammering continued on for some while but the figure didn't mind that, it had been waiting for so long to have a second chance to make things right, to be used for good and to live in peace. The rythmic noise soon changed as the loud noise of a wall crumbling down resounded on the other side of the cell. It was hesitant, wondering whether it should go to the door or stay in place, knowing well that those on the other side could probably be weary of it and what it was capable, so it was better to take on a seating position and wait for the door to be open. The clanking noise of an opening lock was heard then followed by a latch that opened the door. At the barest movement of the door a gust of wind rushed inside to fill the room with fresh air, lifting up the collected dust around the room, causing the figure to cough and swat away the dirt filled air. From the entrance the silhouette of a stallion walked inside the room, followed by two others from behind him, standing a bit close to the door but fairly away from it. It had a hard time trying to see who the mysterious figure was through the dust that still lingered in the air, but perhaps it was the figure of the one who had imprisoned it here. It opened it tried to speak but a small croak of its throat came out, it tried again with more effort this time. "Ro- Rock-" Something forced its mouth shut, preventing it from speaking another word causing it to be startled for a moment until she noticed the magic emanating from the stallion's horn. "You will speak when I say you can and nothing else," the stallion demanded, with a firm tone that made the thing feel intimidated. It thought it was necessary to be harsh, knowing well what it was capable of then perhaps the stallion was being cautious. The stallion soon composed itself and kept an eye on the creature, watching it was small and cowering from their brief interaction, "to think that something so valuable would be hidden inside a place like this? Truly baffling." He muttered to himself as he took a step forward to the thing. It paid attention to his voice, judging by the fake accent it was certain that he was from Canterlot, most likely a noble that could have an ego bigger than the mountain Canterhorn. It watched him and taking into account his appearance, it deduced that he was not a pony It encountered in the past nor one could be aware of its imprisonment so this could mean that its jailer has failed to keep it in custody and this stallion has arrived to set it free. "Now then," the stallion said huffing the last remaining specks of dust from the air. "You will start by doing as I say and expect that my orders are followed to the letter, am I understood?" The stallion instructed the creature without losing the grip of magic on its mouth. It trembled in fear, having a feeling that the stallion would force it to do horrible things like the time before the imprisonment. No, it refused to be used like such and be left to carry the blame. It shakes its head vigorously in denial. The stallion growled as he walked towards the creature. "Listen to me you unworthy clod, if I demand you to do something I expect you to do it!" He growled, holding the chin of the creature to make it look at his eyes. "Or is it you wish to stay here to the end of days?" He threatened giving it a stern glare, his magical grip only loosened by the chin of the creature. With only one option to choose, the creature nodded quickly in acknowledgement to the stallion's threat. The stallion nodded once and smiled, "since you have learned your lesson you must now see me as your master." He said with an air of smugness around him. "Now, let us begin with your name, and be careful if you speak out of line, hou hear?" He warned, while loosening the magic hold on the creature's mouth. The creature carefully moved her mouth to speak but hesitated for a second until it replied with a soft melodious tone that talked in a low bit hearable whisper. "M- my n- name is… Obsidian Mind, master." She said, giving a low bow.