//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: A Dream Come True // Story: Black as Sin // by BearstarSeraph //------------------------------// Chapter 3: A Dream Come True Bulla opened her eyes. She was in a very familiar looking forest. Her eyes widened and she gasped, grinning from ear to ear. Bulla tried to stand and discovered four wiggling legs. She looked at herself. She was snow white with her tail being her same blue hair. She saw no wings. She felt her head. Bulla carefully came to her hooves and tested out her limbs. Then she started to bounce. “I’m a unicorn! I’m a unicorn! I’m a unicorn!” she sang. Suddenly she tripped over herself. “Oweee.” She found a stinging scuff mark on her front left leg. Bulla stood up again, “Guess I need to practice more.” Bulla walked through the forest. Her grin returned long ago as she studied the trees looking for familiar features. She gasped and ran over to a tree. She spun around in a circle, “These are the trees from Pinkie’s scary song!” She looked down at the ground, “And the road!” “I know where I am~! I know where I am~!” she pranced. Then she stopped, “Wait the manticore is up ahead.” Then she walked around in a circle, “Or is it the river?” She shrugged her shoulders, “Well when I find one, I find the other.” Bulla chose a random direction. She made her way slowly along the road, twitching her ears in every direction to listen for the manticore. A deep roar startled her, and she ducked into a bush. The manticore sounded far away, and the crashing was fading fast. Then there was nothing. Bulla came back onto the road. “And what are you doing here little girl? The Everfree Forest is not the place to take a whirl.” Bulla’s eyes widened and began to sparkle as her smile devoured her face. “You’re Zecora!” She began to bounce around her. “You’re Zecora! You’re Zecora!” she sang. Zecora was taken aback. “Don’t tell me that this good cheer means I am the reason you ventured here?” “Oh I didn’t just come to see you. I came to see everyone!” Bulla continued to dance. Zecora thought. “Then you are not from Ponyville?” “Nope.” “Where are the ponies you came with?” she asked. “It is getting late, and your companions will be glad to see you are safe.” “I’m not with anyone,” she said proudly, “I came here all by myself.” “You came to this place alone!” Zecora shouted, stomping her front hooves. Bulla stopped dancing and cowered with her ears pinned back. Zecora lowered her head to look her in the face, “Do not tell me you have run away from home?” “I...” Bulla stuttered, “I don’t know what running away means.” “To run away from home is when a child leaves home intending to never return,” Zecora said, “Don’t you understand how much your fate is of your family’s great concern?” “I’m not leaving forever,” Bulla said, “My parents will figure out where I am once they follow the magic…” “You used a spell to come? Then use it again to go home.” “I can’t,” Bulla said, “I didn’t cast it. I made a wish to the dragon.” Zecora stared at the small filly. “Come with me, child. I believe your tale is too long for the wild.” Bulla followed, looking up at her cautiously with her head lowered and ears pinned back. Zecora glanced back. “I bet you have a lovely name, to go with that pretty mane,” she smiled, trying to relax her. “My… name… is… is Bulla, Miss Zecora, Ma’am.” “Bulla?” she asked, “Bulla what?” “Bulla Brief, Ma’am.” “And how old are you, little one?” “I’m this man…” Bulla began to hold out her right hoof. “Oopsie…” Zecora watched her panic. “Ummm… Ummm….” Bulla walked in such a tight circle she trips over her own hooves. She then covered her face with her hooves and cried. “Why do you cry in the dirt?” Zecora leaned down, “Are you hurt?” “No,” Bulla said, “I’m not smart like Mommy. I need my fingers to count. And now I don’t have any…” “What is a ‘finger’?” she asked. Bulla leaned up and started pawing at the dirt. Zecora realized she was drawing a picture, but of what she did not know. If the stick drawing was like other childrens’ stick drawings, it’s of a living creature, possibly standing on its hind legs, but whatever it was, her speed and certainty meant she had drawn this many times before. “This is a finger,” Bulla said pointing at the picture. “A creature like this I have never met. Is this perhaps your pet?” “No,” Bulla shook her head, “This is a person,” she tapped the center of the picture. “This is a finger,” she tapped the same line at the edge of the figure again. Zecora scratched out the picture. Bulla gasped. “We don’t have time to talk here. But my house is very near,” she turned forward, “Come.” They rounded the next turn in the road and Bulla spotted the house tree. Bulla cheered, and ran forward. She danced at the door, “House tree. House tree. I found Zecora’s House tree.” “And what makes you think this is my home?” she asked, surprised. “Because it looks just like the pictures~,” Bulla sang. Zecora lowered her brow. “This filly is very strange,” she thought, “A trip to Twilight’s must be arranged.” She walked over to the dancing filly, “Come. Let us go eat. I believe you will enjoy my special treat.” “Yeah!” Bulla began to hop in a circle, until she tripped over herself again. “Owee…” Zecora nuzzled her to her feet. Then they walked inside. Bulla’s eyes sparkled as she ran around the home looking at everything. “Come here little one and sit. So, I can cook something you cannot resist.” Bulla ran over and sat politely on the pillows. Zecora made a dandelion salad with hay, lettuce, carrots and strawberries. She carried the bowl and a cup of water over to Bulla. Bulla attempted to eat, and to Zecora’s surprise, struggled like a newborn’s first attempts to chew. Her attempt to drink was also disastrous. She gave up on lifting the cup with her magic, then spilled 90% of the water before dropping the cup on the floor. “I got it!” Bulla jumped off the cushions. She put her hoof on it to pick it up, but it did not stick. She tried several times before switching hooves. “I think that is enough,” Zecora said, “Even a changeling foal would not be so inept at mimicking on their first attempt.” She lowered her head to look at the now very frightened foal, “What are you, truly? Before I get unruly.” Bulla backed up into the pillows with her ears pinned back. She started to scream and cry. “You’re not this mean on the TV,” she whimpered. “Tee Vee? What is Tee Vee?” Zecora demanded. “It’s a box that lets you watch things really far away!” she wailed. Zecora raised her head and glared at Bulla. “Then you used this thing to invade my home! For such a thing you must atone.” “I don’t use it to watch you! I use it to watch Rarity and the girls!” “And do you think this will make me feel better? Why do you watch the Elements of Harmony? What else are you not telling me?” “I… I like learning about friendship!” she cried. “And why is this? Do not lie!” “I don’t have any friends!” Bulla shouted at the top of her lungs. Zecora took a step back. This was the one answer she was not expecting. She watched Bulla curl into the smallest ball she could and whimper with her front hooves over her eyes. Zecora inched closer. “And why do you have no friends?” she said softly, “These emotions are not pretend.” “I live in a really big house, and I’m not allowed to leave. I mean I can go out in the yard. I just can’t go beyond the fence. Mommy’s always busy. My brother’s always out with his friends. And… and Daddy’s scary,” she shivered at the last part. Bulla sniffled, “It’s just me and all my Little Pony toys. I have a bunch of everyone, and and the houses, and and I… I wanted everyone to be my real friends, not pretend anymore…” Zecora lay down to be at eye level with the small filly. “That picture you drew. Was it really a picture of you? You are a per-Son? And the magic that sent you here also made you such a cute dear?” she comforted. Bulla uncovered her eyes. Zecora smiled, “It is alright little one. I promise my scariness is done.” She stood, then nuzzled her. Zecora lifted her head, “It seems I have some lessons to give, if in Ponyville you want to live.” Bulla looked up at her. Zecora smiled, “First you must learn to eat and drink. The rest will come after 40 winks. The sun will soon set and the moon will rise, and it will be time to close sleepy eyes.” She nuzzled Bulla again. Bulla nodded, still sniffling. Then she hunched her shoulders. “What is it?” Zecora asked, worried. She blushed, “Ummm… can you give me a lesson on what a pony body does when food is gone first?” Zecora giggled, “Of course little one. This way.” She led her to the bathroom. ~~***~~ “You seem tired, Sister,” Luna asked. “The sun, it felt… heavy tonight, for some reason,” Celestia said. “Yes, the moon too feels heavy,” Luna said, “And the stars are… distant. It is much more difficult to move them just a few inches. It feels like thousands of miles.” “Are you trying a new pattern Luna?” Celestia asked. “No,” she shook her head, “And this is not the pattern we left them last night. They have either moved on their own or…” “Was someone about to say my name?” Discord appeared from the ceiling. “Discord! What hasth thou done to our stars!” Luna demands. “Me?” Discord said floating down to the floor, “I have done nothing. I was going to ask you about that great surge of magic this afternoon. I felt like I got struck by lightning.” He put his hands together, placed them on his right cheek, tilted his head and blinked his eyelashes, “The chaos within it was the most beautiful thing I ever experienced.” Then he vanished only to reappear between the princesses. He put his arms over each of their necks and pulled them together in a group hug, “So which of you lovely ladies did it?” “I thought you did that since it came from Ponyville!” Celestia gasped. “Why doesth thou accuse us of this deed?” Luna demanded. “The first I don’t know what it was, but the second burst was most definitely alicorn magic. And Princess Cadence is not even remotely that powerful, and no explosion Twilight has ever caused can hold a candle to it. By process of elimination,” he vanished and reappeared in front of them. He bopped their noses, “That leaves you two.” “There wast two surges?” Luna said startled, “We hast felt only one!” “Yes,” Celestia concurred, “There was only one spike.” “No, there were two from where I was in Ponyville,” Discord said, “They were very close together but there were most definitely two.” “What is happening there?” Celestia asked, “I haven’t gotten a letter from the girls.” Discord shrugged his shoulders, “The two surges came from the Everfree Forest. I helped search, seeing that I felt it stronger than anyone, but it was like it never happened. No residue, no phys…” Luna shook her head. “What? You don’t believe me?” Discord faked shock. “Sister?” Celestia asked, worried, seeing her scrunch her nose. “There is a nightmare forming,” she said, “One of great suffering. Full of fear and anger. We’ve… never felt… anything like this before. Excuse me.” Luna lay down on the floor and closed her eyes. She opened them almost immediately. “What is it?” Celestia asked. “The dreamer sensed we wast there and startled awake,” Luna said unnerved, “We… I have never woken a soul before…” she tried to correct her accent. She looked up at Celestia, “But was not a pony I felt. The being was full of pride. Perhaps a griffon hath entered our kingdom?” Suddenly a scroll materialized in front of Celestia’s face. “Well,” Discord crossed his arms, “That must be the letter from Twilight.” Celestia opened it. Dear Princess Celestia, Today we felt two powerful surges of magic come from the Everfree Forest. I don’t know if you felt it as far away as Canterlot, but it was very powerful here. At first we all thought it was Discord, until he appeared and asked us what had happened. We searched the forest, but other than a mother manticore saying she chased a black pegasus away from her nest, there was nothing unusual. We did search for the pegasus to see if he was all right, but all we found were black feathers caught in the bushes. There was no trace of any of the magic in the forest that we could find. Not even Pinkie Pie felt anything. We will search again tomorrow. Sincerely yours, Twilight Sparkle Celestial realized Discord was floating over her shoulder. “Well, well,” he said, “She didn’t mention the blood we found at the bottom of the cliff.” “Blood?” Celestia gasped. “Yep, Twilight cast a spell on it to see if it was pony blood. But it was negative. It actually came back as nothing at all. But it definitely wasn’t red paint, that’s for sure.” “Could this spell say if it wast griffon blood?” Luna asked. “Oh, yes. It most definitely would have.” Discord said, “Twilight was very adamant it could identify everything.” Luna closed her eyes again. She scrunched her nose. “I’d be careful with that face, Luna,” Discord chuckled, “It looks like you’re taking a poop.” “An Alicorn!” she screamed suddenly, jumping so high she almost embedded her horn in the plaster ceiling. “Sister, Sister!” Luna said panicking, “We saw a black Alicorn through the moonlight. It was gravely injured. Perhaps an ascension was what we felt?” She turned to Discord, “Takest us to the place of blood.” Discord took his finger to his chin, “Now is that the ‘Royal We’ or do you want me to take the both of you? It is extremely hard to tell what you mean when you talk like that.” “Just take Luna,” Celestia ordered, “I will alert the medical staff.” She galloped off. “All right then, Princess Luna. Hold on,” Discord said, wrapping himself around her like a snake. They vanished. They reappeared in the Everfree Forest. Discord unwrapped himself. Luna looked frazzled. “What kind of teleportation magic is that?!” she screamed. “That felt a little tingly, didn't it?” Discord chuckled. “Where wast the blood?” she asked. “Over here,” Discord said. He led her to the cliff. Luna sniffed, “Yes tis doeth smell like blood.” She noticed the rocks and dirt and looked up the cliff. “Something fell down the cliff. Impacted about half way.” She looked at Discord, “Did the girls even notice this?” “Yes,” he said, “but it was decided nothing could be done. There were so many tracks, Fluttershy couldn’t tell which way was up. And with no feathers there was no proof it was the pegasus, plus the blood wasn’t pony.” “The alicorn was at the river,” Luna said, “North of here.” She galloped off. “This is the spot,” Luna said, spinning around. “Alicorn! Alicorn!” she shouted running around, “Alicorn!” “If the pony just ascended, why would it respond to Alicorn?” Discord said. Luna glared at him, “Help us look!” “Can’t you sense where he is from his dreams?” he asked. “Only if he’s dreaming!” she confronted him, “And he’s not! Help us look.” Discord searched quietly while Luna continued to shout. Then he noticed the half cave. He walked over and searched the bushes. Then he noticed something in the poison joke. He used his powers to move the leaves without touching them. “Ho oh,” he chuckled. “I think I’ll just leave this alone for now,” he thought rubbing his hands, “This is going to be so much fun.” “Have you found anything?” “No nothing yet!” Discord shouted. He tiptoed away. An hour later, the two returned to the palace. “What type of teleportation magic are you using on us!” Luna screamed again. Celestia and two guards ran up. “Did you find him?” she asked. Luna hung her head, “No… we cannot sense him in either the dreamscape or the moonlight.” “What does that mean sister?!” Celestia gasped, fearing the worst. “Now. Now,” Discord said, trying to calm them, “It probably means this pony is hiding somewhere where there is no moonlight and is having a dreamless sleep.” He extended his arms like rubber bands, grabbed the princesses by their necks and pulled them close into a hug, “Now why don’t you go to bed, Celestia, and Luna can keep an eye out for his dreams. That’s all we can do right now, agree?” Celestia sighed, “Unfortunately… it appears you are right.” She looked at her sister, “Keep an eye out for him.” Luna nodded. “Excellent!” Discord said. He popped upside down in front of them. “I believe this would be my cue to say ‘tootles’.” Discord vanished. Celestia and Luna exchanged glances. Then Celestia walked towards her chambers. Luna headed to the night court. ~~***~~ As the night continued, the guards and the courtiers noticed Luna was quite distracted. “Forgive me,” a Lady asked, “But you seem distracted tonight?” Luna raised her head. “Oh!” she said surprised, “Please forgive me. The children seem to be having many nightmares tonight. It is quite odd.” The courtiers nodded. “Yes, my Lady,” several said bowing and curtsying. Luna closed her eyes again, searching the dream world for the suffering she felt. Then she felt a child’s twinge of fear, but it was not a pony. She delved inside. She saw an odd, bipedal creature with no fur, save for the blue mane on her head, dressed in white and pink clothing. The creature appeared to have been playing with the Elements and Zecora, but now was hiding under Rarity. Luna turned to look at what she was looking at. There was a swirl of darkness around a creature. Luna gasped and took several steps back. “King Sombra!” she thought, “No. It can’t be!” Then the creature raised a limb, and Luna saw it was a biped like the child. The dark swirl was joined by a wild explosion of flame. It gathers the fire in its paw for a fire spell. “Daddy! I’m sorry! Please!” the child screamed. The spell released. Luna jumped in between and used her power to dispel the flames and darkness. Then she turned around and lowered her head. “Come here, child,” she said softly. The creature crawled out from under Rarity. It ran over and to her shock, the child penetrated the barrier and hugged Luna’s leg. “This creature has the power to control dreams as well?” she thought, “What is this thing?” Luna’s fear was superseded by concern as the sound of the child’s sobbing broke her from her thoughts. She nuzzles it. “It is all right, child. No harm will come to thee. My name is…” “Luna,” the child interrupted, “Princess Luna.” Luna was surprised. She tried to nuzzle the creature off her leg for it to only cling tighter. “Its strength?!” she thought. “What is your name child?” Luna asked softly. “Bulla,” it answered. “Forgive me little one, but I have never witnessed your kind before. Are you male or female?” Bulla looked up with her tear-soaked face. Luna knew she did not recognize the words. “A colt or filly? … …How about a boy or girl?” “I’m a girl,” Bulla answered. “How old are you?” Luna asked. At this the child released her grip on her leg and Luna used the reprieve to lay down so she was eye level with this girl. She watched Bulla count on her pudgy claws. “Five,” she said, holding out her paw with its digits spread out. “And what brings you to Equestria, little one?” Luna said sweetly. Bulla looked at the ground. She grabbed her skirt and wringed it in her paws. “Miss Zecora says what I did was ‘running away from home’,” she said sheepishly. “And what do you think you did?” Luna asked. “I just came to visit!” Bulla pleaded, “I didn’t mean anything bad! I… I just…” She looked back down at her twisted skirt in her hands, “I just wanted a friend. Even just for a little while… Until Mommy and Daddy find me and take me home…” Luna glanced back at her dream frozen in time. “You heard a story of the Element Bearers and have journeyed to greet them?” Bulla nodded slowly. “How did you journey here?” Luna asked, “You seem too young to come alone.” “I used a wish to come here and turn me into a pony,” Bulla said, “Miss Zecora found me in the Everfree. She is taking me to Ponyville tomorrow.” Luna’s eyes widened. “Is this creature?” she thought. “What type of pony are you?” she asked. “I’m a white unicorn with a blue tail,” Bulla said proudly, “But…” she returned to being quiet, “But I haven’t seen a mirror so I don’t know what my head looks like.” “Then how do you know you are a unicorn?” “I touched my head,” Bulla said, raising her right hand and pretending to touch a horn before returning to wringing her skirt, “I don’t have a cutie mark either.” Luna’s ears twitched forward and back as she thought. “You said you came here as a ‘wish’. What do you mean?” “I made a wish on the dragonballs,” Bulla said. Luna’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped. “A wish on a dragon’s-s-s balls?” she stuttered. “Yes. They’re magic gems about this big,” Bulla let go of her skirt and showed their size with her hands, “There’s seven of them.” Luna smiled and was visibly relieved. “What did you think I said?” Bulla asked, confused. Luna blushed and waved her hoof, “Oh! Nothing child. Nothing at all!” She cleared her throat, regaining her composure. “So how did you know about these ‘dragon balls’? How did you find them?” “Daddy took me dragonball hunting,” she said, starting to wring her skirt again. “Your Daddy?” Luna asked surprised, “The one you envisioned as the dark monster engulfed in flames?” Bulla nodded slowly. “Why did your father take you hunting?” “I don’t know,” Bulla said, “He just woke me up on Christmas Eve and he carried me out the window.” “What is Christmas?” Luna asked. Bulla was surprised, “But you have a Christmas. With all the snow? And the Christmas trees? And the wreaths? And the ribbons? And all the jingle bells?” “That would be Hearth’s Warming Eve, darling,” Luna smiled. “What is your Eve like?” Bulla became excited, “We have twinkling lights, and songs, and cookies, and and gingerbread houses, and and candy, and magic snow-people, and Santa Claus flies all over the world with his reindeer and gives toys to every good boy and girl in the ENTIRE world in one night.” Luna could tell she was very proud of being able to recite that. “That sounds absolutely wonderful, little one,” she said. Then she turned serious, “You are frightened by your father. If he is the one who gave you these gems to wish on, why do you fear punishment? Did you not tell him the truth of what you wanted to wish for?” Bulla twisted her skirt again, “I… Daddy just told me to wish for what I always wanted.” “But did he know you wanted to visit Equestria? I am certain he did not know you wanted to be a pony.” Bulla started to cry. Suddenly the dreamscape turned pitch black. The darkness began to swirl around them with fury. Bulla fell to her knees and as she wailed, the angry beast became stronger and stronger. Luna used her power to quell the storm, but it did not work. Soon she was putting more magic into banishing the darkness than she did into controlling the night sky, but it refused to obey. She opened her eyes from clenching them. “This creature,” she thought watching Bulla cry, “Doeth she not know… wait, she’s a child. Of course she can’t control her magic…” “Wake up child!” she screamed. The roar of the vortex responded by raising its own volume. Soon even Luna could not hear her own voice. Luna started to panic. She stared at the wailing girl. “Forgive me, child,” She spun around, “Wake up Bulla!” Luna opened her eyes. She was back in the throne room, and glowing a blistering white across her whole body. As her magic faded, she looked around the terrified hall. Luna glanced behind her and saw she had shattered the throne by bucking the back. “Excuse me,” Luna said. She stumbled from the throne room, shivering and dripping with sweat. Free from the eyes of the nobles, she permitted herself to collapse in the hallway. The guards rushed to her aid. “Princess Luna? What’s wrong?” “If that is the power of the child,” she panted, “What of the father?” ~~***~~ In Zecora’s home, Bulla screamed and tumbled from bed. She held her throbbing head. It almost felt like she had been bucked in the face. “Oh, thank goodness, you’re awake,” Zecora looked down at her, “Your magic was making my house quake.” Bulla opened her eyes and looked around. The inside of the house was smashed, almost like what Rainbow Dash did during the poison joke incident. She started to cry. Zecora lay next to her and wrapped her hoof over the little filly, pulling her close.