//------------------------------// // Best Day Off? // Story: The Legendary Nightsong // by Darth Cookie //------------------------------// Twilight had no idea how long she fell. She had no idea what she was passing or what was going on. It wasn’t because it was too much for her mind to take in or anything like that. It wasn’t because the Dream Realm was blocking anything or that there simply wasn’t anything there. No, the reason was much simpler than that: she had her eyes closed. Well, until she felt the ground beneath her hooves. Slowly Twilight opened her eyes and saw that they we back in the waking world. The Crusaders were right next to her, a little shaken but safe and sound. And next to them was Nightsong, who had a very calm look on his tired face. But it was odd that they were at the edge of the Everfree Forest and that the sun was just starting to rise in the distance. “That’s odd,” said Twilight as she squinted into the distance. “I was sure we were only gone for an hour. Two tops!” “Yes, that seems about right,” said Nightsong with a nod. The then began to look around, staring at the buildings, the trees, the grass, everything. It had been so long since he stood on real land and had seen the waking world. He closed his eyes as the birds began to sing. It had been a little under a thousand years since the last time he had heard them and wanted to take in the noise. “But that can’t be,” said Twilight. “I mean, we entered the Dream Realm at around twilight so how can it be morning?” “Time difference,” said Nightsong as he opened his eyes. “The days in the Dream Realm are only six hours long.” “S-Six hours?” stammered Twilight. “But if that’s the case then why don’t you come out here to eat and sleep? Wouldn’t you have more time?” “Well, back when I first got my cutie mark I did,” said Nightsong as he began to help the Cutie Mark Crusaders up. “But once my mother was banished I really didn’t feel like coming back here for a while. And when I did feel like it, I was simply too busy to leave.” “Well, I got to get home,” said Scootaloo. “My mom is going to kill me for being gone so long.” And with that the little orange Pegasus flew off while waving a hoof at the group. “Well, we better get going as well,” said Twilight. “We first have to stop at the library, so I can pick up a few things, and then we can head to Sweat Apple Acres. Does that sound alright?” “I have no problem with that. How about you two?” Nightsong asked the remaining crusaders. The fillies agreed and with that settled the group began to move out. XXX “Alright now,” said Rarity to the other ponies. Once the others gathered around her she continued to speak. “I think I know a way we can finish our work load quickly and efficiently. Now, for starters, Rainbow Dash would you be a dear and get that map? We’ll need it to find our way around here. After that you can help Apple Jack and Pinkie Pie gather the dreams.” “I’m on it,” said Rainbow Dash as she gave Rarity a salute. “And what pray tell will you be doing?” asked Apple Jack. “Both Fluttershy and I will be organizing and recording the dreams,” said Rarity. Apple Jack gave her a look that said she didn’t like what she was hearing so Rarity decided to explain. “Neither Fluttershy nor I are as fast as you three are. I also happen to know that our penmanship is much better than yours. Besides, what would you rather be doing? Going out in the wide unknown and seeing what few ponies ever get to see or staying here and doing nit picking work?” Apple Jacks reaction was just as Rarity expected. The orange earth pony at first looked embarrassed at the mention on her writing skills. Truth was that Apple Bloom was much better at that kind of stuff than her. Apple Jack did brighten up; however, when Rarity mentioned all the things she would get to see and not have to bunk down with the boring work. “All righty then,” said Apple Jack. “Ah, excuse me,” cooed Fluttershy. “But I was wondering if I could first feed Nightsong’s fishies. Those poor dears must be so hunger.” “Of course Fluttershy,” said Rarity with a smile. “I’m sure we have time for you to do that while the other begin to collect the dreams.” And with that they all began to head out. Rainbow Dash headed straight towards Nightsong’s hunt as Apple Jack and Pinkie Pie took off. As she watched them, Rainbow couldn’t help but think that maybe she and Apple Jack could have a little competition. Maybe see which pony could collect the most dreams. But she shook her head and sighed. First there was simply too much work to do and they might get carried away like at the Running of the Leaves. And second, it would kill her if Pinkie Pie somehow won. Opening the door she did a double take at the amount of dust. Bringing a hoof up to cover her face she began to search the hut for anything that could be considered a library. All she saw was a bed with nightstand next to it, a small table, and a dresser. There was also another door near the back. Seeing no books, or anything that even resembled a library, she decided to check out what was behind the door. Personally Rainbow Dash thought it might just be a back door seeing that this was a one-room hut. But when she opened the door her jaw hit the floor. On the other side was a long hallway lit with torches. Books lined the shelves as far as her eyes could see going into the darkness. Rainbow then looked to her right and then her left to see a similar sight. She shook her head to clear it. She didn’t have time to stair, she had a job to do, Rainbow took flight and began to fly straight. But as she went the scenery didn’t change. Sure she could see that she was passing lots of torches and books but it didn’t look like she was making any progress. She looked behind her to see that she could no longer see the door that brought her to this place. This began to panic the little Pegasus so she began to speed up in a desperate attempt to reach the other side. Faster and faster she went but still no change. No longer was she worried or scared, now she was getting upset. Her pride as the fastest flier was being tainted by this place so, with that thought, she used her Sonic Rainboom. The shockwave she created put out many of the torches and threw books off their shelves but she didn’t care. She was going to reach the other side. For several long minutes she continued at this speed leaving a rainbow colored trail behind her. But she couldn’t keep up this pace forever. Eventually she had to stop and rest. Sadly, while going at the speed she had caused many of the books to be caught in her tail wing and when she stopped they all crashed into her. Luckily for her she wasn’t hurt except for her pride. “He better have Darning Doo in here,” mumbled Rainbow as she began to pull herself out of the pile. Outside the hut, Fluttershy was standing at the edge of Nightsong’s land while holding the can of fish food he had given her. On the can were the instructions to stand at the edge and just call out for them and to only feed them one cap full. It seemed strange to Fluttershy, but then again most thing about this place were rather odd. She was glad that there was some normal things in here that would help calm her down a bit. And nothing calmed her down like helping animals. “Here fishies, fishies,” she cooed as she shook the can. The yellow Pegasus waited for a minute or two until several large shadows fell upon her. Slowly she looked up and she saw Nightsong’s four ‘fishies’. The first, and largest, was about 67 feet long. Its head was almost square shaped and took up nearly a third of its body. Its color looked kind of grayish. The next two were black and white creatures. They were not nearly as large as the first, but they were still big with large dorsal fins. The last one was the smallest. It was just a little longer than her with a pointy nose and it was a sleek silver color. But what she noticed from all four of them was that they all had flat tails. Fluttershy looked at the tiny can in her hoof and then back at the four large creators that seemed to be swimming in space above her. Only one thing came to mind. “I’m going to need a bigger can of fish food,” she said. XXX The town of Ponyville was just waking up as Twilight, Nightsong, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom entered the business district. All around them the pony folk were setting up their shops and getting ready for another day of business. Yet despite how busy they were some couldn’t help but notice Nightsong. Never before had they seen a stallion alicorn before and never had they seen any creature who was that starved before. Many of them began to whisper amongst themselves, but Nightsong seemed to be able to tune them out. Truth be told, he was simply fascinated by how much things had changed. The pony’s homes were far superior compared to the ones a thousand years ago. And he could already smell many of the foods from the stands and the homes, which caused his mouth to water. Twilight watched the long lost prince in amazement. She had expected him to act in fear or in shock by how much things had changed. She also thought that he might go running around, try to examine everything he saw. However, he acted calmly and behaved himself. From time to time he would pause to get a better look at something but that’s all he did was look. And he didn’t look frightened in the least, just curious. “I wonder in Princess Luna had the same reaction,” Twilight said to herself. Her eyes widened as she realized that she said that out loud. She talked about Nightsong’s mother and she was sure it must be a sore subject to him. She turned to face him as they continued to walk. “Prince Nightsong, I’m so sorry.” “Don’t worry about,” he said calmly. “I’ve known she’s been back for awhile. Actually, the night after you defeated her I gave her the first dream she had in over a thousand years.” “Wow, I bet you two had a lot to talk about,” said Sweetie Belle. But Nightsong shook his head. “We still haven’t spoken yet,” he said as he lowered his head a bit. “But why not?” asked Twilight. “I’m sure you could take some time off work to see her. And I’m sure that the princesses would understand if the dreams weren’t delivered for just one day.” She paused for a moment as she thought about a possible reason. “Or do you hate her?” Nightsong stopped dead in his tracks. “No!” he said fiercely. “How could I hate her!? She’s my mother!” His eyes widened in shock from how he had reacted and he took a deep breath as he began to walk again. “The truth is that I’m afraid to see both auntie and my mother again. I understand why they both did what they did. My mother only wanted ponies to play more at night and appreciate all the hard work she done. But they only paid attention to auntie and the daytime she created. Every day I saw how hurt she was, when auntie was showered in the love that mother craved. But I can understand why auntie had to seal my mother in the moon. It was just part of her job to protect her subjects.” Nightsong closed his eyes for a moment and when he opened them again there was a look of regret in them. “I guess, the truth is that I feel like I caused it to happen. Before I got my cutie mark, there were no dreams. But afterwards, many ponies began to go to sleep sooner and sooner so they could experience the dreams I gave them. I…I just made things worse.” Twilight felt sorry for the stallion. He had probably lived with this guilt for a thousand years all by himself. These thoughts must have been plaguing him for a very long time. She could also see the differences between him and Blueblood. Nightsong was such a hard worker and took on so much reasonability that it was tearing him apart both physically and emotionally. Blueblood, from what she had heard from Rarity, was a self-centered jerk. “Don’t worry Nightsong,” said Apple Bloom. “I bet when your momma see’s ya again she’ll be mighty happy.” Nightsong gave the filly a small smile as they reached their first destination. Nightsong took one step into the library and all the composure he had vanished. He began to race around looking at all the books, sometimes using his magic to get a closer look. And the look on his face was of pure joy. It was like he had forgotten how tired and hungry he was. “Morning Twi,” said Spike as he walked down the steps. “Glad to see that you’re…ah, who’s your friend?” “Good morning Spike,” said Twilight. “This is Prince Nightsong, Princess Luna’s son.” Spike stared at him for a moment and Nightsong, well, ignored him. “If you say so,” said Spike with a shrug. “I’m going out to get some gems for breakfast.” He began to walk out but then stopped. “Before I forget, you got a message last night.” Twilight’s eyes widened and raced up the stairs. It must be from Princess Celestia! Once she was up the stairs and in her room she began to look for the usual scroll. However, all she found was a small golden egg on her bed. Using her magic, she picked it up and brought it closer. Written on it were the words ‘break me’. Twilight was confused seeing that the princess had never done anything like this before. Not knowing what else to do, Twilight stopped her magic which caused the egg to fall to the ground and break. Once broken, the shell turned to dust, which began to spread around into an oval in front of Twilight. Once it had done that, an image appeared in its center and soon Twilight was staring at the image of Princess Luna. “Ah, Twilight Sparkle,” said Luna who at first had looked worried but then relieved. “I’m glad to see that you got my message.” “I just got back Princess,” said Twilight. She couldn’t help but marvel at the magic that Luna was using which her older sister had yet to use. “Is everything alright?” “Everything is fine now,” said Luna with a smile. “I only just heard last night from my sister what was going on. There were also the reports of the high levels of nightmares all over the world. I thought that something was going wrong in the Dream Realm. I had hoped to help you in some way using this as a means of communication. I guess Celestia was right, you are perfectly capable of handling yourselves.” She then stopped and then began to talk very quietly. “So, how is he?” “Tired,” replied Twilight who knew whom the princess was referring to. “We managed to convince him to take the day off while my friends are helping him gather the dreams.” Luna let out a sigh of relief. “That’s good to hear,” she said. “When I heard that he hadn’t left the Dream Realm at all during these last thousand years I so worried.” “Well, we’re heading to Sweet Apple Acres,” said Twilight with a smile. “If you want, you could meet up with us later.” “I can’t” Luna almost screamed. Twilight looked shocked and confused. “But he’s your son! Don’t you want to see him again?” “I do,” insisted Luna as she regained control of herself. “But…I’m afraid to.” Twilight sat down, still very confused and waited for Luna to continue. “You see, Twilight Sparkle, I abandoned him. I gave into my own darkness without even thinking about my own son.” Tears began to form in the princess’s eyes. “He was the only one who ever really appreciated my night skies. When he was little, we would sit on the grass as we watched shooting stars. He would always beg me to let him see the moon raising ceremony. Oh, why couldn’t I have been content with his praise?” “But he’s here right now princess,” said Twilight. “I’m sure that if you two spoke for a-“ “But what if he won’t forgive me?” interrupted Luna. “I wanted to see him the moment I got back, but that one fear has kept me from seeing him. I hope that he will forgive me, but if I go to him and he doesn’t…what then? That hope will be gone forever.” Luna then jerked her head to the side. She nodded several times before saying that she would be there in a moment. Then she returned her attention to Twilight. “I’m sorry but I must go. Royal duties and all.” And with that, the image of Luna vanished and the golden dust fell to the floor. Twilight got up and began to slowly make her way down the stairs. It was just so sad. Both mother and son wanted to see each other again, but their fears and guilt was what kept them apart. Was there any way she could help them? “What is this thing?” Twilight was snapped out of her thoughts as she turned her attention to Nightsong. “That’s a globe of our world,” she said simply. Nightsong’s eyes widened. “You mean the world isn’t flat?” he asked in amazement. XXX “Here you go Rarity,” said Apple Jack as she and Pinkie Pie brought over the first batch of dreams. It amazed Rarity that even while flying in the air, Pinkie Pie could still be bouncing up and down as if she was on solid ground. Behind the two were hundreds of thousands of blue dream sprites all making a pleasant humming sound. “Boy that was a lot of fun,” said Pinkie Pie. “Did you see that thing with the thing? Didn’t it look so funny?” “Oh my,” cried Rarity before Apple Jack could answer the pink pony. “Apple Jack that must have taken a lot of work to bring them all here.” “Nah, these little critters just followed me here,” said Apple Jack. “This is much easier than apple bucking.” Sensing that some pony was missing she began to look around. “Say, where is Fluttershy? And for that matter, where is Rainbow?” “I have no idea,” said Rarity with a sigh. “She came over here all in a panic and said something about needing more fish food. Then she just took off. As for Rainbow, I bet she decided to take a nap somewhere.” Rarity let out another sigh. “Well it can’t be helped. We’ll just have to work a little harder until they get back.” “That’s no problem at all,” said Apple Jack. “Yee-haw!” And with that Apple Jack, followed by a bouncing Pinkie Pie, flew off. Once they were gone, Rarity got to work. She opened up the large tome to find that the print was super tiny. Using her magic she picked up the magnifying glass that Nightsong had left and found it much easier to read. The first dream went to a young Pegasus colt named Artie Cumulous whose special talent was cloud sculpting. Rarity opened up the first notebook and wrote down his name and then went to pick up a dream sprite. She picked one at random, brought it to her ear, and then closed her eyes. All she saw was mud, filth, and children playing in it. Shrieking, she tossed the dream over to the side and allowed it to float away. She then proceeded to the next one. Meanwhile, Apple Jack and Pinkie Pie were heading over to another spot. Personally she wished Rainbow would hurry up with that map. This place was crazy and she had no idea where she was heading or where she should go next. Also, she was worried about Rainbow. Despite what Rarity had said, Apple Jack knew that Rainbow was too proud for her speed not to get the map for them and then brag about how easy it was. Deep in her hooves, Apple Jack had a feeling that something was wrong. Suddenly something went rushing past Apple Jack from behind. She turned around and it was gone and so was Pinkie Pie. She turned her head and gapped at what it was. At first it looked like a comet, but at second glance she realized it was ice cream in a waffle cone. And Pinkie Pie was the new cherry on top. Apple Jack began to run after her pink friend with all her might while said friend began to lick the ice cream. “It tastes like salsaaaa!” wailed Pinkie Pie as she got further and further away. Soon, she was out of Apple Jacks vision. With a sigh, Apple Jack began to head in the direction of her crazy pink friend. There was no way she could just up and abandon a friend when she was in trouble. And as Apple Jack traveled at her top speed she soon came across the most frightening thing in this crazy world. It was a large door the size of the princess’s castle. That’s all it was, a large blood red door not connected to any building. But it was chained up tightly and it gave off an eerie feeling to it. Apple Jack was going to ignore it when she heard something. “Apple Jack,” said a strange, childlike voice. The farmer pony stopped in her tracks and stared at the door. “Is someone there?” she asked. “Apple Jack, won’t you please let us out,” said the voice again. “We’ve been locked away in here for so very long.” “Well, I don’t know,” replied Apple Jack as she took a step back. She could feel a chill going down her spine each time the voice spoke. “I’d have to talk to Nightsong.” “You shouldn’t trust him,” said the voice. “He’s the one who locked us away in here. And besides, he’s not here right now.” “How’d you know that?” demanded Apple Jack. The voice giggled and Apple Jack turned around. “I’m not opening no door as creepy as this one.” She was about to leave when another voice spoke. “LET US OUT!” demanded a darker voice. It was like nothing she had ever heard before and it filled her with more dread than she had ever felt in her life. As it spoke the door shook and the chains rattled. “WE WILL BE FREE! NIGHTSONG WILL PAY!” Now Apple Jack was fleeing from that door with all her might. Whoever that voice belonged to she hoped she would never find out. Back in the library, Rainbow Dash had finally made it to the other end. She was panting heavily, but she had made it. Now she stood before a mural of three young colts. The one in middle had to be a young Nightsong. To his left was a red Pegasus with a white mane and scarlet eyes. But the weird thing was that he had an X drawn over his face and several rude comments were written around it. On the young Nightsong’s right was a unicorn colt, whom had a dark blue coat and his mane was an electric blue. He also wore an odd hat like the one Twilight wore on Nightmare Night. And below the three of them was a single piece of paper. Rainbow’s heart leaped for joy. It had taken her longer than expected but she had finally gotten the map. She took several steps before she realized that this wasn’t the map. It was a note. It read: ‘Note to self, the map is in the dresser next to bed. Please don’t forget!’ Rainbow’s eye began to twitch before she let out a scream of frustration and rage. She had wasn’t so much time, gone so far, and for what? She grabbed the note with her teeth and began to tear it up while growling like a dog. After she was finished she decided to get out of there and help her friends. But as she turned to head back in the direction she came, she noticed that there were paintings of other ponies on the walls. Curiosity getting the best of her, Rainbow turned back and walked over to take a closer look. The walls were painted to resemble outside at night while colts and fillies did nighttime activities. In one spot she saw two having a campfire. In another Rainbow saw a young filly collecting fireflies. And further down was a group of ponies playing torch light tag. Picking up a torch for herself, Rainbow began to fly upwards. She saw that the libraries ceiling was dome shaped, which was painted to look like the night sky. As she flew, from time to time she would see Pegasus ponies sitting on clouds as they watched shooting stars. And there, in the center of the ceiling was the moon with Luna’s image inside of it. “Was all this done for you?” asked Rainbow aloud as she looked at the picture of Luna. Then, all of a sudden, Rainbow remembered her friends. “Oh no, I got to get out of here!” And with that she sped down as fast as she could. XXX Twilight was reading a book she had brought from her home as Nightsong slept next to her. After they left the library, the four of them made their way to Sweet Apple Acres to get Nightsong some good food. Once there, Twilight explain the situation to Granny Smith and Big Mac. Both of them felt sorry for Nightsong and brought out as many apples as they could spare at the moment. As soon as they placed the two large barrels of apples in front of him Nightsong dove right in, literally. He ate them whole, core and all. Tears of joy flowed as he took each bite. And when he was done he fell asleep right there. “Poor deary,” Granny Smith had said. “Must still be tired.” “Eeyup,” said Big Mac with a nod. So, Twilight had used her magic to move Nightsong beneath a tree so that he could rest more peacefully. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle had decided to go off and play. While she waited for him to wake up she pulled out her book. Hey, you never know when you’ll need a book to pass the time! Hours later, Nightsong began to stir. When he first woke up he seemed startled. “Wh-where am I?” he asked in a slight panic. “Sweet Apple Acres,” said Twilight gently. “You passed out after you ate every apple that the Apple family gave you.” “Oh, right,” said Nightsong as he calmed down a bit. Twilight gave him a smile. He was looking better, but not by much. It would take time for him to get back to one hundred percent, much longer than a day. But she knew that this time off was all he would allow himself so she would make sure he enjoyed every minute. “So, did you have a nice dream?” she asked. Nightsong returned her simple question with a glare as he stood up. This confused Twilight. Up until now he had seemed calm and patient, but now there was anger in his eyes. “Is that supposed to be funny?” he demanded. “What?” asked Twilight as she got up. “It was just a question.” “I can’t believe this,” said Nightsong as he began to walk away from her. “I would have thought some pony like you would know not to bring up a sore subject like that, but it seems I was wrong.” Twilight used her magic to teleport her in front of Nightsong so he could look her in the face. And what he saw was the face of a very hurt pony. “Look,” she said seriously. “I don’t know what’s wrong. All I asked was a simple question. If you don’t want to tell me then fine. Just say so and I’ll drop it. But don’t go acting like some kind of a jerk.” Nightsong’s anger vanished as he looked away. He now seemed ashamed. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “I just thought that some pony as smart as you would have known.” “Known what?” asked Twilight. “I can’t dream,” he said. “Before I got my cutie mark, no pony had dreams. But, after I began to deliver them I realized I could never have one. I must willingly give them to a sleeping pony, you see. So when I go to sleep I am unable to put the dream inside of me.” “Nightsong, I had no idea,” said Twilight. Nightsong gave a sad laugh. “I was teased about it for years,” he said. “You can imagine the irony of it all. The master of dreams is unable to dream himself. What I would give for just one dream.” “So what happens when you go to sleep?” asked Twilight. “I go to a dark place,” said Nightsong. “All around me is an infinite darkness. There’s just nothing there. It…scares me sometimes.” Twilight, wanting to change to subject, she looked up at the sky and saw that it was getting late. “Why don’t we head to Sugarcube Corner?” suggested Twilight. “I don’t know how Pinkie Pie will react if we don’t at least stop there.” “I don’t mind,” said Nightsong with a smile, which Twilight returned. And with that the two of them set off. XXX Back in the Dream Realm, Pinkie Pie was still on the ice cream comet. At first it was exciting and fun, but it got boring real soon. All it did was fly around fast. At least she was getting to see a lot of funny looking stuff in the Dream Realm. But the worst part was that the cone didn’t even taste sweet! Then, after a couple of hours riding on it, something happened. A strange fish like creature began to swim/fly next to her. It was so fast and sleek that Pinkie Pie laughed which caused the creature to laugh to. Then it began to swim/fly backwards as it laughed. “Oh, oh do you know any other tricks? Do ya?” asked Pinkie Pie. The creature gave a laugh and began to do back flips in the air. After doing a couple it gave a daring look at Pinkie Pie as if it were challenging her to do the same. Pinkie Pie decided to take on this unspoken challenge and make a game out of it. After doing a couple of back flips the creature suddenly moved under her as she was in the air so that she was now on top of it when she landed. Once she did the creature began to fly away from the ice cream comet. Pinkie laughed as the creature swam/flew, bouncing all the way. After a while the creature met up with three others that were much bigger than it. And on the biggest, Pinkie could see a familiar yellow Pegasus. Smiling, well, when isn’t Pinkie smiling, Pinkie Pie charged over to her friend. “Fluttershy!” yelled the pink pony so loudly that it caused Fluttershy to shove her head in the creature’s blowhole. “Is that a new game you’re playing? Can I play too? Can I?” A moment later, after she calmed down, Fluttershy removed her head from the blowhole. “Oh no,” she said softly. “You see, I’ve been looking for something to feed these poor dears. But so far I haven’t had much luck.” The creature they were both standing on gave out a whimpering sound. “There, there. It’ll be alright.” But the creature continued to whimper as it turned and began to swim/fly in a different direction. “Where’s he going?” asked Pinkie. “I’m not sure,” admitted Fluttershy. “It looks like we’ll find out soon.” XXX “Wow, I never knew that picking the dreams was so difficult,” said Twilight. Both she and Nightsong were now at a table in Sugarcube Corner. Once they got there she ordered two cupcakes. And while they waited for their order, Twilight began to ask Nightsong about how he decides who gets what dreams. “Well, it does get tricky,” said Nightsong with a blush. “I remember this one time with your friend Apple Jack. All the previous dreams I have given her didn’t seem to have any effect. Not surprising seeing that they were apple-based dreams and she lived on an apple farm. So I tried a different approach. I began to give her dreams about city life to hint that she needed to go there. I believed that if she went away she would be able to see where her heart truly was.” “I see,” said Twilight. “So sometimes you have to get a pony to do something else in order for them to understand what they truly love.” Nightsong nodded. “That’s why I keep detailed notes on every dream I give out and who gets them,” he explained. “I also list when they get their cutie mark, what it is, and various other information. It helps more than you think.” “Here you go you two,” said Mrs. Cake as she brought out two fresh cupcakes. Both of them had green frosting and an apple slice on top. As she set them down on the table she gave Twilight a small wink that caused Twilight to blush. Sitting alone like this must have given the Cake’s the impression that they were on a date or something. “What’s this green stuff?” asked Nightsong. “It’s frosting,” said Twilight. “Try it. It’s really sweet.” Looking a little unsure, Nightsong closed his eyes, picked up the treat with his magic, and then took a bite. As soon as he did his eyes opened wide and he began to eat the rest quickly. “I have never tasted anything like this in my life,” exclaimed Nightsong. “Back in my day the sweetest thing we had were rock candy crystals.” He then looked outside to see it was getting dark. “Oh, I’m so sorry Twilight. It looks like my nap took up most of the day.” “It’s no problem,” replied Twilight. “But we’d better hurry if we want to make it to the Dream Realm in time.” Nightsong let a smirk slip out. “Please,” he said. “Have you forgotten who I am? I can enter and leave the Dream Realm any time I want. I’ll have us there in no time flat.” XXX “Rarity, we have a problem,” said Apple Jack. She had been looking for Pinkie Pie for hours with no luck and there was too much ground to cover for just one pony. So she headed back for Nightsong’s home to see if the others could help. But all she found there was Rarity. “I’ll say,” said Rarity. “We don’t have any dreams at all.” “What do you mean we don’t have any dreams?” demanded Apple Jack as she looked around. Sure enough, there were no blue dream sprites anywhere. “Well, the dreams you and Pinkie Pie brought back had nothing to do with the first pony on the list so I let the all go,” said Rarity. “Besides, they were all so filthy.” “So you just let them go!?” yelled Apple Jack. “But we could have used them for other ponies. You should have put them to the side for later instead of just tossing them out.” “But they were just so…unclean,” complained Rarity. Apple Jack was about to make a comment when the door to Nightsong’s hut opened. Slowly, Rainbow Dash began to crawl out of the hut and she was covered in sweat. “And where have you been?” demanded Apple Jack. “It’s (gasp) a big (gasp) library,” wheezed Rainbow. “Oh this is just great,” exclaimed Apple Jack. “We got no dreams, Pinkie Pie’s missing, and Rainbow’s too tired to help look for her. And where is Fluttershy?” “I’m over here,” said Fluttershy softly. “I’m here too,” said Pinkie. Every pony turned around and gasped at the sight of the two ponies standing on such a large creature. Apple Jack was about to say something when a bright flash of light appeared behind them. They all turned to see Twilight standing next to Nightsong. “Those are…” began Twilight as she pointed to the creatures but the words became lost to her. “They’re my fishies,” said Nightsong with a hint of pride. “Ah, Nightsong, they’re not fish,” said Twilight. “They’re mammals. That small one is a bottlenose dolphin. Those two black and white ones are orcas or killer whales. And that big one is a sperm whale.” “Really?” asked Nightsong. “Back in my day we just called them fish. Really big fish.” “Trust me on this,” said Twilight. “I have read several books on them.” “Ah, excuse me,” said Fluttershy as she flew over to Nightsong. “I tried my best but I was unable to feed them.” With that said she gave Nightsong back the can and hung her head in shame. “It’s fine,” he said calmly. He then used his magic to open the can and pour some of the flakes into the cap. Once he had done that he threw the flakes at his pets. And as they sailed in the air they began to turn into real live fish that began to swim around. Nightsong’s pets let out cries of joy as they began to case the fish around. “Oh wow,” cooed Fluttershy whose reaction was similar to all the others. “See, it wasn’t so hard. I guess I should have explained more,” said Nightsong as he put the cap back on. “Now, I’d better get back to work. So, where are all the dreams?” “Well, the truth is,” began Rarity but stopped. “Well,” said Apple Jack as she stepped in for Rarity. “The truth is a lot of stuff happened, ya see. And, well, we weren’t able to get any dreams.” Nightsong’s eyes widened in shock and horror when he heard those words. He looked around, hoping it was a joke of some kind but he soon realized it was true. He then began to run around in circles. “I can fix this, I can fix this,” he cried as his eye twitched. “I haven’t been late in a thousand years. No way am I going to start now. I just need to get billions of dreams in the next couple of seconds. No problem? Oh why did I let them talk me into this? I knew it was a bad idea. Why? Why? WHY?” And with that, Nightsong just fell to the ground and began to sob as the stress from his job had finally gotten to him. He just couldn’t take it anymore. It was just too much for him to handle on his own. Moments later there was another flash of light. The girls turned around and saw both princesses standing before them. They all bowed down to show their respect. “Twilight,” said Celestia. “What is going on here? No pony has gotten any dreams and…” “Nightsong,” cried out Luna as she saw her son. She raced to him with Celestia right behind her. Both were shocked to see the state that he was in. When Nightsong saw his mother he began to cry even harder. “Nightsong, my handsome son, what has happened to you?” “I tried,” he cried. “I tried so hard. I really did. But I failed. I just couldn’t keep going. There are just too many dreams I have to give out. I had to cut out eating and sleeping just to make it by the end of the day and then start all over.” “But then why didn’t you tell me?” asked Celestia out of concern. “I would have sent you some ponies to help had I known.” “A-at first everything was fine,” cried Nightsong. “But each year the population grew and when I realized I needed help I couldn’t leave.” He sobbed harder than ever. “I’m a failure! You must be ashamed of me mother.” “No,” said Luna as she lay down in front of her son. “I could never be ashamed of you. I love you with all my heart and it pains me to see you like this.” Nightsong said nothing but continued to sob. XXX It was two weeks later. Twilight and her friends as well as the Crusaders were now at their favorite café as Twilight told them about a letter she had gotten from Princess Celestia. “I got it this morning,” she explained as she took a sip of her tea. “It seems that Nightsong is doing better.” “Well, he might not be for long,” said Apple Jack. “You saw what that job of his did to him.” “Not to worry,” said Twilight. “While he’s been resting and getting his strength back, he’s been training his new helpers. He now has forty ponies working under him to help him gather the dreams, document them, and so forth. He’s even having his home rebuilt.” “Thank heavens for that,” said Rarity. She then looked at Rainbow Dash who was looking a little sullen. “What’s wrong Rainbow? Aren’t you happy for Nightsong?” “I just don’t get it,” said Rainbow. “How did three fillies do a better job than us?” “I have been wondering that as well,” said Nightsong from behind Rainbow, which caused said Pegasus to jump in the air. “Why do you always sneak up on ponies like that?!” yelled Rainbow. Nightsong just laughed. Everyone was pleasantly surprised to see the change in him. The dark circles around his eyes were gone and he looked fuller. Even his mist like mane seemed to be livelier. “Prince Nightsong, what are you doing here?” asked Twilight. “Please drop the ‘prince’,” said Nightsong. “I never asked my friends to call me that a thousand years ago and I’m not going to have them start doing it now. Well, to answer your question, I wanted to thank you all. If you hadn’t done such an awful job I would never have gotten all this help. And all it costs me is that now I have to have Sunday brunch with the family.” “Ah, thanks,” said Fluttershy who was not sure if it was a compliant. “I also wanted Twilight to have this,” said Nightsong as his horn glowed. A moment later a necklace with a small black stone in it appeared in front of Twilight. As it landed gently on the table Nightsong looked away. “I, ah, had this made for you so that you can come to the Dream Realm whenever you want.” “I’d love to,” said Twilight, which caused Nightsong to smile in delight. He then looked at the Crusaders. “I also owe you three a lot,” he said. “If there is anything you need just let me know and I’ll see what I can do. Well, until next time.” With that he turned and walked away. “Wait, next time?” said a confused Fluttershy. “What’s that supposed to mean?” demanded Rainbow Dash. “Let’s just say that you might be seeing more of me,” said Nightsong with a laugh. He then vanished in a bright blinding light. For a moment, no pony spoke. Then… “Oh no,” cried Apple Bloom. “We forgot the reason we went to see him in the first place! Our cutie marks!”