The next thing I knew, I was standing in what looked like a barren, empty wasteland. A sort of fog surrounded the entire area, and there was nothing in sight, no landmark to differentiate one spot from the next. There was only the sound of the wind blowing.
I was completely baffled, because I could have sworn I’d collapsed onto my bed when I was last aware of what was going on. How did I end up here? Where was everybody? Where was anybody?
“Hello? Is anyone here?” I called.
My voice resounded in a lonely echo, with no answer. There was nothing, no one, just complete, lonely emptiness.
But not for long.
As if by magic, I saw Scootaloo appear before me, stepping out of the smoke. Relief flooded me at the sight of a familiar, friendly face. I approached her, but then stopped, startled as I saw that her face was familiar, but not friendly.
She was angry, with tears running down her cheeks, and more glistening in her purple eyes. Her scooter and a small suitcase were right beside her. What did that mean? Was she…
No. No, no, that couldn’t be. I’d only just received the letter from Derpy earlier. How could this have happened already?
She began shouting,
“What were you thinking?! How could you ever think it would work out? I trusted you! I trusted you, and I never should have! Just get away from me!”
Her tough little voice rang harshly in the empty air, piercing like an arrow with its cold feeling of betrayal and hurt, overwhelming me until I could stand it no more.
Scootaloo, how could it have come to that? I thought everything had been perfect.
Then, she disappeared, wavering as if she were a reflection in a pool.
“Wait! Scootaloo, don’t go!”
But it was useless. To my astonishment, Twilight took her place. Once more I was relieved, and once more I was taken aback. There was cold disapproval in her eyes. A scroll of parchment was held in her magic.
“This was honestly the best you could tell me? Either you’re a very poor judge of your own world, or humans are the most boring creatures I’ve ever heard of. Why did I waste my time interviewing you? And here I was hoping the Princess would actually like what you had to say. She wasn’t impressed at all. In fact, she told me, in her reply, that if this is what humanity was, then humans must be the dullest, most boorish creatures to ever exist.”
The disappointment in her voice, the tone that spoke of dashed hopes and misplaced confidence, was more than I could bear. No more! Please, no more!
Twilight faded away into the mist, just like Scootaloo, and was replaced by…Mom and Dad?!
They were here! I could make amends for my vanishing away!
I ran to them, but was pulled to a stop, a thrill of surprise and shock hitting my heart. Just like Scootaloo and Twilight, their expressions were unfriendly and scornful.
“Talking ponies? Equestria?” they said. “How old are you, and you’re still playing these kinds of fantasy games? We didn’t raise you to play pretend at your age.”
No…no, this was all wrong. Why did they know about this? How could they have, when I hadn’t breathed a word, when I never even had the opportunity? The disappointment in their eyes and their voices, it hurt so badly.
Now they too vanished, to be replaced by…Pinkie.
Her mane was limp again, and a very woeful, miserable look was in her eyes. She said nothing, but those eyes…those eyes…they said all that was needed to be said.
Oh, Pinkie, what act of selfish cruelty had I done to wound your heart so, to make you subject me to this silent torture? What could I do to make reparations, Pinkie? How could I prove I was still your faithful friend?
But no.
Now I saw what this all was. It was just as Trixie had told me. The foundations of my friendship with these ponies, however strong they may have been before, were crumbling all around me. I didn’t belong here. I was doing more harm than good. It would have been better if I had never interfered in their lives at all…
I wanted to run over and hug Pinkie, to apologize, but I had no chance to.
In an instant, she too disappeared, and the fog enshrouding the wasteland turned red, as if a dust storm had blown through. Then, the ground began to shudder. Through the redness, like a great colossus, his hoofs shaking the ground with each step, came Ironmane. Somehow, he must have employed a spell to make himself the size of a giant, as he towered over me like a skyscraper, leering down his muzzle with a grin of cruel satisfaction. It was as if nothing pleased him more than to know that I was overcome with grief, that I had let my friends down, that they were hurt and angry because of me.
“You don’t belong here,” his voice bellowed, though it carried a tone of grim calmness. “You should never have meddled in the affairs of a world you have no place in. Equestria must be cleansed of your presence.”
Ironmane lowered his head, and his horn began to glow a vivid green. I stood, rooted to the spot, unable (or unwilling) to run away. I knew it was more likely the parenthetical reason, for how could I go on, knowing that my own parents had shunned me, and my new friends had lost their respect for me, were no longer my friends, and that my attachment towards them was meaningless?
All I wanted was for it all to end.
There was a sound like a gunshot.
...
…But the blast never struck.
There was a roar of anger and pain, and I looked up to see the enormous figure of Ironmane dissolving into nothingness, pierced through the chest by what looked like a ray of bluish-black light. Then, the red haze evaporated, to be replaced with a black, starry sky all around me.
I felt an odd weightlessness about me, and small wonder, for, looking down, I saw that my feet weren't touching ground at all! I was floating in space!
If the grief of what I’d been going through hadn’t been stifling my senses, I would have probably freaked out, but seeing an enormous Ironmane about to do me in was freaky enough without this.
And then, out of nowhere, a voice spoke.
“Do not be afraid, pilgrim of the human world. You are safe now.”
The voice was very regal, gentle in tone but still bearing a hint of dignity to it. I looked about for the source, and then, with a graceful sweep of the wings, a large pegasus appeared in front of me.
No, wait, she had the wings of a pegasus, but the horn of a unicorn as well. At any rate, she was close to my own size, with a very dark blue coat and a slender build with rather long legs. Her mane and tail, blue and starry, looked like clouds of vapor or gas, and seemed to flow of their own accord, regardless of any wind interference. She had blue eyes, a black tiara, silvery shoes on all four hooves, what looked like a black necklace around her neck, and her cutie mark resembled an inky black blotch with a white crescent moon.
Was this…?
“Princess…Luna?” I ventured.
She gave a slight nod.
“I-I beg your pardon, Your Highness,” I said, attempting a bow, and only sending myself in a tumble in the lack of gravity. “Forgive me for not showing you proper respect.”
“You need not apologize,” said the princess, “as this is not a very ordinary situation.”
“No kidding. I’m in space, for Pete’s sake. How did I get here, anyway? Where am I?”
“Well, to be blunt, you are locked in the turbulent confines of your subconscious,” said Luna. “In other words, you’ve entrapped yourself in a dream.”
“A dream?" I repeated, bewildered. "This is all a dream? Then, all of that…that never happened? It wasn’t real?"
Relief, warm, glorious relief surged through me.
"It wasn’t real! Nothing’s changed! My friends are still with me!”
I was liable to cry with joy, so happy was I that all of those horrible apparitions were…well, apparitions, but a new thought checked me.
“But, is your talking to me part of the dream, or are you on the outside, talking to me within my dream?”
Boy, wrap your head around that…
“More the latter,” said Luna. “I could sense the grief and pain in your heart as you forsook consciousness, and it seemed I arrived just in time to save you from your dream. Although, I have to admit, I am not entirely versed in the details of your stay. I thought it unusual that the beast I would save you from would be a giant Minister Ironmane.”
“Is this…something you normally do?" I asked. "Going into others' dreams?”
“It is. As I am princess of the night, ponies’ dreams fall under my domain as well. But I do not exploit it for my pleasure!” she added, sharply, as if I had implied such a thing. “I may be a princess, but the dreams of ponies are still their own. I only get involved if the need arises.”
“So, what was it about my dream that made you so anxious to step in?” I asked.
“I would think you would be the one to tell me," said Luna, raising an eyebrow. "You obviously experienced something truly traumatic to commit yourself to such a condition.”
Upon hearing this, the remembrance of my talk with Trixie came right back, her words paining my insides like a knife as I recalled them. I hung my head, not daring to meet her gaze.
“Well, you see, Your Majesty, before I passed out, I had been talking with a pony who has a…very different view of the world.”
“Yes?”
“She told me that making friends is pointless if your stay is only temporary. All that you would be doing is making it painful for both of you, since you have no guarantee that you’ll ever see each other again. That’s why it hit me so hard, because I know that I’m not destined to stay in Equestria forever. I’ve got to return home eventually, but I was brought into this world by an accident. I have no way of knowing for sure whether or not that accident will happen again. I may never see my new pony friends again when I return. I’d be doing harm not only to myself, but all these wonderful ponies who’ve shown me nothing but kindness and friendship. What do I do, Your Highness? What do I do?”
I looked up, and was surprised to see that Luna had turned her back on me, so that I couldn’t see her face.
“Princess?…Princess Luna?”
“…Who?”
“Huh?”
“Who would ever tell you such things?”
“Well, I don’t really think I should name names-”
“Tell me who it was!” thundered Luna, whipping around to face me.
All at once, her voice became deep and commanding, and seemed to acquire an extra tone to it, like what some people do to create the effect of demonic possession. It also put the force of her words on steroids, as I could feel the pressure against my face as she spoke, like a surge of wind. I would have cringed back, but the lack of gravity kind of prevented that. Her eyes blazed with white fire as she continued,
“Whoever has told you such blasphemy is no pony in possession of a heart! To poison a poor, unoffending lad’s mind with such venomous words is atrocious!!”
Then, all of a sudden, the fierce look on her face vanished, and she seemed quite frightened at what she had just said.
“Oh…Oh, my word,” she said, in her usual voice. “Forgive me, human. I had promised my sister I would never invoke the Royal Canterlot Voice except when appropriate.”
“Are you sure I’m out of my nightmare?…” I squeaked.
“The name isn’t important. What matters is that no one should ever use such horrid words.”
“But, let me be so bold as to say, Princess," I said, tentatively, "in a way, there’s some logic behind them.”
Luna gritted her teeth, but I said, hastily,
“Let me finish, please! Look, I know the way it was said sounds mean-spirited, but it makes some sense. I have no idea how long I’m to exist in this world. I could be sent home tomorrow, or in a week, or even a year. Also, like I said, I have no way of knowing if I’m ever going to return. Does that make all of this just pointless?”
The curl of Luna’s lip faded away, and she looked reflectively into the starry sky.
“I used to think so.”
“You did?”
“I had never thought about the consequences," she said, heavily, "the day I let myself be consumed by the malignant force of Nightmare Moon. They were unpleasant years, those of my banishment, with nothing but my own bitter thoughts and equally bitter memories to occupy me.”
“T-That’s right!” I spluttered, “Twilight said it was for 1,000 years! I could never even imagine living that long.”
“It is one of the least admirable traits of longevity, I’m afraid: living long enough to amass a millennium of regrets. But, in any case, 1,000 years is more than enough time for reflection. Unfortunately, my mind was divided between my old self and the influence of Nightmare Moon. That latter part of me tried to convince me that I was justified in rising against Celestia, that her sealing me away in the moon was an act of cowardice, since she dared not fight back any other way. It did little to assuage the depression of my sane half. It was a miserable millennium, to say the least.”
“Princess…”
Luna seemed to regain herself a little, and she cleared her throat.
“To answer your question, human-”
“Er, if I might interrupt you for a moment, Your Highness, my name is Dave.”
“Dave…" mused Luna, before nodding. "Hmm, very well, then. Well, to answer your question, Dave, I do understand the pain of leaving your loved ones behind, and do know how hard it is to think that those loved ones will never be the same again. I had, unfortunately, known many ponies dear to me who didn’t live to see my return.”
“Oh. I’m so sorry…” I said, sympathetically.
“I had lost hope of being free from my imprisonment from Nightmare Moon’s malignancy, so I grew uncaring of what happened when I returned. However, when Twilight Sparkle and her friends, those chosen to wield the Elements as my sister and I had once done, intervened, I found myself my own mare once again, and Celestia…She wasn’t cross with me, as she rightfully should have been. She…extended her hoof in friendship towards me. She was still the sister I had dearly loved, before I let my own sins taint me.”
Luna's eyes sparkled with tears, her voice having grown husky as she neared the end of this speech.
“Wow…” I murmured.
Luna cleared her throat again, then continued softly,
“Well, what I have to say to you is this, Dave. I agree that it is painful, having those close to you leave you behind, when you know or feel you will never see them again. However, it appears to me that the hurt is merely a reminder of how much their company and love meant to you. You will still have the memories of all the good times you have had together, something no one can ever take from you.”
“But, I’ve only been here for five days, Princess," I said. "So much has happened to me that I doubt would have happened to anyone else in that span of time. I’ve met a lot of wonderful ponies, rescued a filly from the Everfree Forest, and helped that same filly gain a family. How can I leave all of this behind, possibly forever, in good conscience?”
“It’s never easy, I know," said Luna, "but that is all part of time passing. When you have lived as long as I have, you learn that goodbyes are simply another part of life. What’s important to remember, however, is that life is just as equally full of hellos. Do not dwell so much on the former, and instead look forward to the latter.”
…Yes.
I felt I understood what she meant.
“So, what you’re saying is,” I said, slowly, “that I shouldn’t keep my eyes on the future, but just appreciate what goes on in the present?”
Luna nodded.
“Exactly. If you constantly keep your eyes fixed forward, you miss what is before you.”
“It won’t be easy," I said, with a sigh. "I do still want to return home, but I also don’t want to leave my friends so readily.”
“No one said it would be easy, Dave, but I have faith that everything will work out according to plan in the end. Don’t focus on the ‘then’, keep your gaze on the ‘now’.”
I stared straight into those blue eyes, full of calm, understanding, and compassion. Their gaze made me feel...somewhat bolder.
“I’ll try,” I said, with confidence. “I’ll certainly try.”
Luna smiled.
“Then that shall suffice. Now, all that remains is for you to wake up…wake up…wake up…”
As she said this, she began to fade away, as if she had learned that trick from the Cheshire Cat. Her voice had become an echoing mantra, and her horn began to glow with a bluish light. It enveloped my entire field of vision, blinding me, her words still in my head.
“Wake up…wake up…wake up…”
But…something was happening.
Luna’s voice was changing. It was losing its calm complacency, and was being replaced with frantic urgency. Even her tone was altering, from her melodious lower tones to a higher pitch, one I recognized.
“Wake up! Davie, please, wake up!”
My eyes opened. A familiar pair of light blue eyes, full of panic and anxiety, were boring into mine.
“Pinkie?”
“Davie! You’re awake! Oh, thank Celestia!”
(Thank Celestia? Thank Luna, you mean…)
“Pinkie, what’s going on?” I asked. “What happened?”
Pinkie took a deep breath, and said,
“Well, I didn’t know how long you would be at Twilight’s, so I decided to pop over and see how it was going along. You’d already left long before when I got there, so I asked around for you, but nopony knew where you’d gone. I started to get worried that you’d pulled another ‘Everfree’, but when I came back here, Mrs. Cake told me you’d left with a basket of muffins, and you had said there was somepony who really needed them. I didn’t know who that could be, at first, but when I thought of the muffins, I thought of Derpy, so I decided to ask her if you’d been by her house today. Then, as I got close to the woods by Derpy’s house, I thought maybe you'd gone to visit Trixie again. I dunno why it hit me, but I decided to go with it.
“I went to the clearing where Trixie’s caravan was, but I didn't see you there. I hammered on Trixie's door until she answered, and she told me you'd left not too long ago. I went back to Sugarcube Corner, and found you here. You were thrashing around in your sleep, and you looked like you were in a lot of pain. I tried waking you up, but you wouldn't. I got really worried," she added, in a whimper.
My heart ached worse than ever at the sight of her face, the tone of her voice.
“Pinkie, I’m so sorry to keep you worried like that, but I’d rather not say what really happened.”
“No? Not even to me?”
She looked me straight in the eye with those cute, pale-blue orbs of hers, compassion and understanding filling them. I gripped her shoulders.
“Pinkie, I do trust you, but this isn’t an easy burden to place on you. You’ve had enough of a scare this morning.”
“This morning?” she asked, confused.
Then, after a moment’s reflection, the remembrance of earlier today returned to her.
“Ohh!”
“Mrs. Cake said you were pretty out of it," I said. "I was worried about you.”
“Oh, Davie,” she said, in a kinder tone. “I’m ok now. I was a little distracted today, but I’m all right, really.”
“Are you sure?”
“Super-duper-sure.”
“Now there’s the Pinkie I remember,” I said, with a smile.
Pinkie giggled. Seeing her happy again, after all the emotional turbulence she had had to be subjected to recently, brought tears into my own eyes. It would have hurt like a sword to know how hurt she would be to see me have to leave, but here and now, she was still my dear pony friend.
“Davie? Are you ok?”
“...Pinkie, I need to be serious with you,” I said, decisively, sitting up.
“Aww, being serious is no fun,” said Pinkie, in a pouty voice.
“Pinkie, please,” I said, sternly. “This is important.”
Pinkie flinched, as though hurt by my harsh tone, but nodded assent.
“Listen,” I said, patiently. "I’ve only been in Ponyville for 5 days, but…” I breathed a sigh, “What a 5 days it’s been, know what I mean?”
“Uh-huh.”
“But, you see, Ponyville’s not my home. I have a home back in the world I came from, and I can’t just abandon it altogether. One of these days, I’m…”
I paused, as I was coming to the more difficult part of this speech.
“One of these days, I’m going to…to have to leave Ponyville and…and return home.”
“I know,” said Pinkie, sadly.
“But…there’s also…also the possibility that…when I do return…I might not be able to…be able to…”
(Come on, man, get it out into the open. You can do it…)
“Be able to…return to Equestria.”
I’d done it. I’d hit the mark, just as I predicted I would. I saw the impact these words had in Pinkie's stunned look, saw her eyes began to fill with tears. I couldn’t lose her focus just now, though. I gripped her hooves tightly in my hands.
“Stay with me, Pinkie, stay with me. I know, it’s hard to think about, but keep it together long enough for me to ask. Even despite of all that, Pinkie, in spite of entire worlds separating us, would we still be friends?”
The tears still shimmered in Pinkie’s eyes, and I was having a hard time keeping it together myself, but I didn’t let go of her hooves for an instant.
“Davie, how could you ever ask me something like that?”
“I know, Pinkie, I know…”
“You ought to know me better than that.”
“It was cruel of me, especially after-…Wait, what?’
I looked straight into Pinkie’s eyes, and she was…she was smiling.
“I’ve made lots of friends in Ponyville, Davie. In fact, I don’t think there’s a single pony in Ponyville I don’t know, but that doesn’t mean every pony I know in Ponyville stayed in Ponyville. Some moved away, so they’re all over Equestria. I know they’re not as easy to see anymore, but they’re still my friends, and that’s never changed. Neither will it change with you, Davie. I'll always be your friend, because you’ll always be right here .”
And with that, she drew one of her hooves in, my hand still clasping it, and placed it over her heart.
“I could never have asked for a better answer, Pinkie,” I choked out, about to lose it.
“Come here, you big softy-heart,” she said, and she threw her hooves around me as I did the same, holding her close as the tears rolled down my cheeks and into her soft fur.
God bless you, dear Pinkie Pie. God bless you…
“I do have some good news, Pinkie,” I said, after a pause.
“Mm?”
“As much as I’d hate to disappoint Fluttershy, she’s not going to be a tree anytime soon, so you can put your mind at ease about that.”
Pinkie burst into a hearty fit of laughter, into which I soon joined her, the two of us restored in spirit by the reaffirmation of our friendship. Also, I secretly swore that I’d try to patch things up with Trixie, since my previous attempts at trying to be civil with her had ended quite disastrously. For now, however, it was enough just to be safe and sound with my first, and best, pony pal.