//------------------------------// // Night Mares and Dreamscapes // Story: The Changeling of the Guard // by vdrake77 //------------------------------// I awoke alone, in a nondescript and yet still familiar room. Whilst this would normally be cause for mild alarm, I was finding that this sort of ‘lack of detail’ seemed to be a rather standard event in a particular circumstance, and I sighed, adjusted my covers, and waited patiently. Though not exceptionally so. In fact, after several minutes, I fear either my annoyance or concern prompted me to act. “Princess Luna?” I sensed a flare of magic from far in the distance, and the entire world rippled. I clung to the bedsheets with concern as the now-fluidlike dreamscape seemed to bounce off of me, traveling back towards the epicenter. “There you are!” I flinched hard enough to fall off the bed, and the very wall opened up like taffy pulling apart to allow the night princess passage. She was looking around with a sort of irritated amusement bordering on offended. “Dost thou have any idea how hard it is to find someone so completely dedicated to making the landscape a grey void upon which everything is miserably the same? We hast sought thee for half an hour!” “You are still wearing the nightcap,” I noted, particularly bemused myself. “And I apologize, I was expecting you to make an entrance earlier, and my… first impressions of the Crystal Empire were not particularly favorable.” The moon princess gave me a sour look. “We had not gathered. Our own short foray into the Crystal Empire in the waking world was not nearly so bland and miserable. More importantly, we dislike that thou appear to shift to lucid dreaming so suddenly. Typically ‘tis our presence that heralds such an awakening. And if thou likest it so much, you wear it!” With that, the princess reached up, grabbed the little star-spangled puffballed hat, and tossed it in my face with no real malice. “A… thing of changelings, perhaps?” I was forced to school my features and chose not to acknowledge the duplicate cap that had immediately formed upon the ‘removal’, dutifully putting my own on in solidarity. She scowled, but I could see the corners of her mouth turn up even so. “Are you not the Princess of Dreams? I did not realize you could be so… mired?” “‘’Tis complicated, as well thou know.” She gave a firm snort, stomping hard enough to crack the dreamscape. Interestingly, a feeling of solidity seemed to emanate from the dark alicorn. “Enough of that, as well. I will adopt that particular quirk of speaking when I prefer, thank you.” My eyes flicked to the top of her head, but I made no further comment about headwear. I also saw another on the ground just beyond the split in the wall, and just perhaps one lying further in the direction she’d come. “I am surprised you did not appear in my immediate vicinity. I thought that was how these things tended to work?” “In many, yes. With you, and a good number of others, I have to… immigrate from wherever I am envisioned, though I do typically have some leeway in my travels.” “...surely I did not make you fly from Canterlot, Your Highness?” “Heavens forbid. I should be quite put out if your first dreams after leaving the capitol were so broad as to encompass not one but two entire nations. Nay, I came from the vast expanse of absolute horrors you experienced between Canterlot and the Crystal Empire. It was vague enough that you separate it from ‘The Empire’ for whatever reason.” I felt a shiver run through my entire body as I understood. “...The trains.” “We are going to discuss that later, and in depth. Suffice to say I shall not be returning the way I came. You have had entirely too long to develop these nightmares and never the opportunity to face them. They are… a matter for later, as I said. I would not spoil your new homecoming with a lecture.” "We could cheerfully ignore the matter entirely…?" I was not aware one could be silent in Royal Canterlot voice. Or that one could speak mountains with aforementioned silence. I cleared my throat before offering lamely, "-then perhaps you have other reasons to call?" “Is it not enough to check on a friend who has doubtless had an… interesting day? It does not sound like the majority of it was pleasant. I do hope it ended on a high note?” “Perhaps leave the fishing to ponies with boats. I believe I recognize the hooves of royalty upon the scales of my fate.” Luna sniffed, only half-feigning her displeasure. “Less than you might think. Young Cadance plots prettily, but she is not terribly subtle. My sister is… surprisingly… prudish…? Yes, prudish, on such matters. Whilst I doubt not that she would support your courtship, I strongly believe you may be moving more swiftly than she truly approves of. To be fair, in this, I might agree with her.” I shifted, feeling like a colt caught doing something awkward. “I… that is to say, it only appears-” “Tis far too late to be coy, friend Idol. I do not mean to judge, I have seen far worse.” I could not suppress the deadpan, “I suppose you have.” “And far more active,” she winked, giving me an impish grin. “Even from you. Regardless, I only mean that I do not want to see anypony hurt because you are rushing intimacy into a relationship because you have delayed it overmuch. ” I sighed, completely unable to meet her eyes anymore. “I did not intend to. I simply… wanted to, though I knew I should not.” “Then you should be forthright about your concerns. This is not a pleasant dream you find yourself in, for all my presence. That you are troubled is clear, I would not see it devolve into a true nightmare.” The princess then gave a firm nod, as if this was all as close to self-explanatory as it could possibly be. “You should resolve them.” I blinked, taken aback. “I still fear that I do not quite understand. Could you not explain how this works, perhaps just a bit? Maybe… tell me why my dreams are troubled?” "Idol, know that I love you as a dear friend, but I will not explain your own dreams to you. I never have, and never will. Should dreams twist into dread, I will aid all who need it... but not in this. What greater joy than discovery, of that new beginning? You cannot ask me to take that from you." “...It would make this much easier.” “And yet I shall not. Truthfully, it is likely I cannot. You are…different, friend Idol. If you have troubles, speak them plainly and as a friend, I shall aid you.” “But not as the Princess of Dreams?“ Luna looked sheepish, but nodded. “If that is amenable?” I considered, and found that it indeed was. “Our relationship has transcended traditional boundaries since you sicked up on me. I could use an…old friend while so much is new. I already presume too much upon Prince Shining and Princess Cadenza-” “Cady, Idol. You know she insists. Cadance if you must but such excess formality will hurt her. Shining… may prefer a bit of distance for the moment. I confess, I was not as close to him myself.” “-fine, Cadance, when they have so much else to do. If these calls are purely to be personal… I confess I could use the assistance. And I confess that discussing my concerns about Topaz with Topaz herself-” “You should absolutely do that.” “...I feel you are doing precisely what you said you were not going to do.” “Then I am a most hypocritical friend. I have seen many a pony ‘sweep it under the covers’, and it rarely results in healthy relationships. Thou art not a fumbling colt, pull upon thy suspenders and approach the matter forthwith.” “That is the single oddest way of phrasing ‘deal with it like an adult’.” “There is more to it but you did get the gist.” I allowed myself a minor rolling of the eyes, but winced. “...we did not even discuss the nymph.” It was Luna’s turn to blink. “Thou… really are new to this ‘fatherhood’ business, aren’t you? Rest assured, she is being tracked to whatever extent we can manage. Blueblood has found her to be the ‘single most aggravating dustmite in all of Equestria’. Sister nearly defenestrated him at the very comment, and has informed him that he will not hire a child.” “I shudder to think how much of that is literal. My relationship with Cersus requires discussion with her as well. The two of you have presumed much, but she is neither adopted nor inherited. What we are is… not family. Or perhaps was not, until recently. Changelings do not do ‘family’ in any way that ponies would really recognize. Even the concept of reproduction is less one of continuing on a family line and more of continuing the will of the Hive. We are numbers more than we are individuals.” I blinked at Luna’s aghast look, then rolled a shoulder. “It is very ‘not-pony’.” “I should say so. And your people are content with this?” “I would say many of them crave it. The Hive is orderly in all things, and change, be it to the way of things or even simply minor inconvenience, is rarely tolerated.” “That does not particularly align with the invasion, you realize.” “The hive always seeks growth. Perhaps Cadance- forgive me, Cady, was… too big of a food source to allow her to go to waste. Perhaps the invasion was simply… a new type of expansion?” I let the words linger, the taste of them displeasing. Luna perked up. “You think otherwise?” I paused, taking a moment to gather thoughts and courage alike. “I think something is wrong with my Queen. I cannot make sense of her actions, no matter what I try. All that has happened… it is not changeling. It is too complex, too… big.” “Then perhaps you should allow this problem to fall to others. I shall speak to my sister and investigate your concerns. But friend Idol, you take too much responsibility for things beyond your control.” I looked about, at the formerly bland walls, trying to determine when they had become faceted, and the world had brightened again. “Perhaps I have, and do,” I admitted, giving the princess a weak smile. “It does appear to be a recurring fault of mine.” “As a favor, to me, as your friend? Try not to be so hard on yourself.” A faint smile graced her own features as she looked upon me fondly. “While I cannot speak to your skills as a parent, you can hardly be blamed for not realizing you were becoming one in the first place. You shall be a fine aid to the Crystal Empire, and eventually I’m certain a wonderful father. I have heard it is usually not until the second or third that one ‘hits the stride’, so I believe there is plenty of time.” I had to scoff at that. “Order preserve, Princess! Allow me a moment to come to terms with being a parent once before suggesting I do it thrice. And it is most unbecoming to suggest premarital child-rearing to your subjects.” “Fie upon it, then. I hope you marry the mare and have a whole clutch,” Luna sniffed in mock indignation. “Several, in fact. May your spawn blot out the sun.” “Do not curse my potential horde of inheritors with fulfilling your ancient fantasies, even if they will not or in fact cannot exist.” Her grin was infectious, and I could not help but return a smaller in kind. “Touche! But on the topic of time, I have other duties while you laze about-” “Unfair! If I could labor in my sleep, you know I would. And… if I could aid you—” “Oh, I know, but you can’t and I must. And I think I would welcome your aid once you are a little more comfortable in the dreamscape. As I was saying, time flows differently in dreams, but flow it does, and I must be off.” The princess rolled her shoulders and began stretching her wings. I sighed. “Then I suppose I shall wait here until I wake…” Luna blinked, then frowned at me. “Not necessarily, there is a trick to it, and it would save me some time. Watch.” Then she rapped her hooves together twice rapidly— I woke with a start, jerking out of bed, the no-longer-gossamer sheets in reality far more tangled than those of my dream-self as I caught a face full of golden wing, spluttering into a sleepy Topaz’s feathers and eliciting a shriek from the aforementioned mare, who then started flailing, further entangling the sheets as we both learned the perils of our temporary sleeping arrangement. “Idol you can’t just wake up and raspberry the underside of my wings-” “I did not, your wing was on my face, who sleeps like that—” “I guess I do! Who wakes up and goes face-first into the nearest thing?!” “I guess you do, and I guess I do!” “I guess!” And then the two of us stared at each other for a long moment until the sheer absurdity of the situation overtook both of us, and each of us began to snicker and then break into full blown laughter, and Topaz ended it nearly in tears, resting her head on the pillow as we both settled. She offered me a languid smile, full of warmth. “...hey.” I tried to think of anything more intelligent to respond with, but in the face of that smile, words utterly failed me. “...hello.” Topaz rolled over, no longer looking me in the eyes. “We’ve got a lot to talk about, don’t we?” The pegasus began wriggling herself free of her fabric cocoon, and I confess, there was something very interesting about watching her do so. “Yes, we do. And probably should have last night. Or at least… before last night.” Now free, the pegasus began limbering up, stretching both legs and wings. “Maybe so, but not sorry~” she winked at me. “I wanted to make it very clear that we both had choices, and we decided on them. Nopony manipulating us.” “Nopony manipulating us directly,” I countered, but without heat. “That we are victim to machinations is unquestionable.” “Ehhhh, you might have been a little bit of a victim to manipulation. I was using feminine wiles and an active participant in the machinations. You did sort of put me through weeks of panic and frustration. From what I remember, you even told ponies that they needed to communicate their issues after the whole mess with Discord. Kiiiinda not great that you didn’t follow your own advice.” I blinked, taken aback. “But that was different.” “Okay, how? Absurdly powerful being that you have no business facing off against? Check, from what I understand your Queen is actually terrifying, and not just to you. I talked to Wane after I found out about the invasion, he’s apparently making money hoof over fetlock on pest control work because ponies in Canterlot are about as freaked out as you can get. Elements of mind control? Check. You weren’t in complete control of your actions, and your side of things is a little more confusing. But I was; if anything that’s on me, and I’m still clearly okay with all this. If you were mad at me for what happened, I’d understand, but I’d still rather work through it and stay friends at least. And since you’re not mad at me, I was willing to push my luck a little.” She shrugged, satisfaction radiating off of her like a cat. “And I’m glad I did.” I sighed. “Yes, well, I am aware that my people can manipulate the emotions of others. I feared that I had done so to you. You must understand that suddenly becoming aware that you felt anything beyond friendship towards me was an intense and very unexpected situation. I don’t even typically read your emotions unless I let my guard down or I believe you to be giving permission. I did not want another incident like when I husked you. That was… terrifying, and I would rather die than risk doing so again.” “That’s… fair,” she allowed, nodding her head slowly before taking a seat by the bed and faking nonchalance. “But I still think you owed me a conversation and not running away.” “That is also fair,” I accepted, watching her with puzzlement before comprehending. “...You are going to watch me get untangled.” Not even a hint of guilt. “Welllll I mean, what’s good for the goose~” I tried not to scowl, but do not think I was quite as visually captivating as Topaz herself had been, though I confess she does take fascination with watching butterflies emerge from their actual cocoons- Order, I nipped that thought in the bud before I began ascribing indecency to the mare. It was not the same thing. “...Are you blushing?” “No.” I struggled to get free a little quicker, managed to tangle myself worse for a moment before freeing myself entirely. Not having wings in my unicorn form made it considerably easier than it had been for Topaz, but it was still not the simple ‘slide out of warm slime’ that a cocoon would have provided. “Because it looks like you’re blushing. Idol~?” “It… it is nothing. Please do not worry about it,” I groused, clearing my throat as I finally freed myself from the thick coverlet. “Beyond that, I was afraid my… other self had seduced you in ways I was not aware of.” “...You thought you were so good that I just fell madly in love?” “I… well… maybe?” Topaz looked momentarily stricken, but covered it quickly. I could not remember the last time the mare had so completely smothered her emotions. “...What?” “I… I hate to tell you this, Idol…? But, I mean I did just tell you that we needed to communicate more, so…” she sucked in a deep breath. “...Youweren’tverygoodyourfirsttime.” I blinked a few times. Checked my ears, found them in working order. “...I what?” “You… fumbled around a lot. I mean… it was your first time, it happens. And it was… uh… quick.” “...I am an unsatisfactory lover?” I had not even approached the possibility, and I suddenly felt cheated by the world. “‘Were’ might be a uh… more applicable term.” Heat rose up in her cheeks. “...Let’s just say you’re a quick study, very perceptive and… a lot more fit than I gave you credit for. You don’t remember much of it, but um… you’re very attentive, and you’re improving at a very good pace. You aren’t quite where you were by the end of that marathon, but uh… I’m not actually worried.” The heat transformed into a full on flush. “You’re still a little bit distracted, and you were very focused by the end. I mean you’re not the only one who didn’t realize Canterlot was under attack.” “...Oh.” She considered her words a moment, but went on. “I mean, you can tell when I like something, Idol. And you’re not afraid to capitalize on it.” “I did catch myself doing that once, last night, and feared it was impolite.” “See, that’s what I mean. You’re more hesitant now. You were like nopony-” she coughed and cleared her throat. “...You were pretty good, by the end. Like I said, I’m not worried, and don’t have any real complaints. If we treat last night like your actual first time…? Not a bad start.” I remembered the thunderclouds, and felt a bit of pride and jealousy towards the pony I could have been. Or… had been? I pushed the odd feelings down, trying to focus on more important matters. “There is also the matter that I am not completely certain as to what we are to do with the nymph.” Topaz sucked in a breath through her teeth, biting her lip. “Oh. I’ve been struggling with the details for that one myself. Managing it is going to be a bit trickier if we’re going to try to keep her hidden, after all, and I don’t know if she’ll fit in with the crystal foals…” “And your plan was…?” “Did you have one?” “Well… exactly the same thing we’re doing now, but in the Crystal Empire? I… had not actually thought much about it. It was simply a thing we… I… would have to do, and Cersus is… well, more or less self-sufficient.” She winced. “That’s… actually one of mine, too, because obviously leaving her unattended in Equestria for more than a few days is completely out of the question. I had a couple others, though! One was we adopt her as a foundling, but… well, with you being a known changeling, it’d just announce to everypony what she was. It’d be really hard to explain that we just happened to take in a child upon moving to the Crystal Empire, after all. And even harder to try to explain to our friends back home. Mother is going to kill me no matter how we play that, I swear, because she will find out.” “It is true, I do not see any way of doing this ‘legitimately’, but Cersus is hardly ‘legitimate’...” “And that’s fair… the other way is that we keep her in Equestria and I just bite the bit.” “...Bite the bit?” A long-suffering sigh. “I tell my mother everything and buy us some time.” I paused, considering before carefully asking for clarification. “...everything?” With a slightly manic tone to her voice, I could tell Topaz was also not terribly sold on this concept either. “Pretty much! I’m going to have to explain how my tenant, who I have been very insistent is just ‘my tenant’, and I have been taking care of a filly abandoned in his care for almost a year, and that the two of us have in fact shacked up together. Upon which she will most likely kill me in a flash of grandmatronly might, legally adopt Cersus as her granddaughter, and be impossible for the rest of my life.” “The life which just ended, because she killed you. And… none of this is your fault. And how does that resolve the issue of Cersus regardless?” “If mother doesn’t dote on her and make her so fat we need to roll her into the Empire on a cart, I’ll eat my thesis with salad dressing.” “I thought your mother lived in Cloudsdale?” “If I say the words ‘grand’ and ‘filly’ too close in the same sentence, the old crow is going to appear in a flash of sparks and smoke like a villain from a stage play,” the pegasus sighed. “I told Cersus where she lives, just in case, but… honestly, Idol, I just don’t have another option. If we tell anypony about her, she’s outed. Her friends know, I think, but we can’t just leave her to a bunch of foals and she needs you more than she needs me.” “So I have been told,” I admitted. “...I have not mentioned that Celestia and Luna know about her, have I?” Topaz gave me a slow blink. One eye twitched. “...What.” “Oh, and Blueblood as well. Oh, and the wife of the Captain of the Night Guard.” The strangled noise that escaped her would have done cat or kettle alike proud, and the mare pounced upon me, swatting me with a pillow. “I! Thought! She! Was! Secret!” “She was! Cersus was…” I felt like not revealing the full truth would be a betrayal, and yet, there was much personal revelation there that I was dutybound not to reveal. “...indiscreet. Her actions brought the notice of the crown, and it was nearly impossible for her not to be revealed. Topaz gave a most unladylike snort, then sighed. “It’s messy, isn’t it?” “Very.” “Then we’ll talk about it over breakfast. Coffee at least, I’m pretty sure you need to report to the palace, and I really do have work to do, we’ve been lying about too much already. C’mon, kitchen’s just about how you remember it. Pantry is a bit different. Coffee from last night still should be drinkable if we heat it up a bit.” I followed her into the hallway, then paused, Topaz preceding me downstairs. Checked my recollection of Topaz’s home in Canterlot, then peered more closely at the unexpected addition. No, two of them. Then, quite unsure of what to make of it and throwing caution to the wind, I opened one of the new doors, and found myself flummoxed. “...Topaz? What is this?” Her voice trailed up the stairway. “Spare bedroom. You never know when you’ll need to entertain. I even got two of them!” Oh, that made sense. “Ah. Wait, what-” “I told you I had room for you upstairs, didn’t I? It’s hardly my fault you weren’t paying attention. Or, well… maybe it was, but you certainly didn’t ask.” I continued to stare, complex emotions welling within me. “Do you remember how we just spoke about honesty?” “I do~!” “Then hear this. You are a terrible mare, and I desire you immensely.” And I found myself smiling at the sound of a pegasus spluttering on day-old coffee.