//------------------------------// // Chapter 7: Expedition // Story: Luna's Dreamscape Journey // by ugugg93 //------------------------------// When Luna first jumped off of the Eventide Balcony several hours before, she didn't know where the hay she was going that evening, let alone what she was going to do. She had pictured herself taking off and doing a few tricks in the sky to relieve a good chunk of the stress that she had been accumulating over the last few months. Maybe she would just lay on a cloud for a few hours, and let the unique fluffiness of the surface cushion her as she relaxed the night away. Another thing that she thought she might have done was simply run away for a few days, and visit some of the cities and nations of the world. She did not think that she would spend part of the night with her entire face submerged in a river, desperately attempting to get the horrible taste of bile out of her mouth. Leaning her head back, she gargled a large mouthful of water in the back of her throat as she did her best to purge the taste. After a few seconds she bent back down, and spat out the contaminated water. Smacking her lips lightly, she still tasted the remnants of the... chunky aftereffects of viewing Pipsqueak's dream. Even now, what must have been fifteen minutes after she bolted out of the colt's window, she still shuddered at the memory. Luna forced herself to take a few deep breaths to try and suppress the nauseous feeling before it had a chance to return. Slowly, she began to climb the shallow embankment out of the stream. The ground itself was surprisingly slick, so much so that she was actually forced to flap her wings a little bit to lift herself up and out. Upon her hooves touching down onto the ground, she finally got a good look at the area that she had skipped over on her way here. In her haste to find somewhere to take care of her... situation, she had apparently flown right up to a small house. At first glance, Luna thought the house was built into a tree—the leaf-like roof was the major indicator of this—but that wasn't the case at all. Instead, the home appeared to be a normally built residence, while the “leafy roof” was actually carefully maintained mosses that gave it a natural green color. However, the most notable feature of the house was the absurd number of animal homes in literally every nook and cranny that one could be fit into. Every few meters on the ground, a small burrow for some creature had been dug. Looking up, almost every single branch that was strong enough had a birdhouse hooked onto its branches. That wasn't even including the few nests that were placed in the trees, as well as whatever fish that might have been living in the creek below. Luna cringed at the thought of the evils she had brought onto those fish just moments ago. Vowing to send those fish a gift basket or something, Princess Luna thought about going back to Canterlot. She had gotten her fair share of dreams for tonight, and she felt she had seen enough, especially in that last dream. Indeed, there would be more boring nights without any representatives to meet with, so there would be more than enough time for her to go find other ponies with dreams. It wouldn't be like she was losing dreams to look into. In fact, since she knew where they all lived now, she could even go back and look into the dreams of the ponies that she had already looked into tonight. She would definitely check up on Scootaloo in the future to see if she was alright. On the other hoof, why the hay would she want to go back to Canterlot, especially considering there was a new dreamer just a few meters from her right now? Therefore, instead of taking to the skies and making her way back toward Canterlot Castle, she transformed into a mist, and darted to the second story windows to try and find a way in. Such a search was fairly short, for the very first window she went up to was open to the night breeze. In fact, as she looked around, Luna realized that every single window in the entire house appeared to be wide open. Not wanting to waste any more time, Luna zipped into the room. For once, her luck won out, for she now found herself right inside of the resident's bedroom. The inside of the room was... curiously decorated. Sure, it had the standard things that most bedrooms tended to have—four walls, a wooden floor, a stone fireplace, a small throw rug, and a few pictures on the walls—but there were also the most curious additions that caused Luna to gape in wonder. Shifting back to her alicorn body, she stared at the room around her. Above her, instead of the typical ceiling that was flat and hid the support beams, the ceiling was removed, allowing full visibility of the roof above. The rafters themselves were covered in vines that ran along each beam, giving the house a very “living” vibe. Of course, that was not the most interesting part. That was reserved for the two dozen or more nests and birdhouses that populated the support beams. In fact, more than one nest was directly above the bed that the mare was sleeping on. Luna silently wondered how many times the pony woke up covered in... well... never mind. Now looking down on the very clean mare, Luna realized that she was another of the Elements of Harmony—the pegasus named Fluttershy to be exact. Once again, the actual Element that she represented eluded her. However, the one memory that she did distinctly have of the yellow pegasus was during Nightmare Night, when she was supposed to learn how to be less frightening from the kind and gentle mare. Instead, Fluttershy had been far too terrified to do anything except go comatose in fear. Just like all the others had. Luna looked away as she shook off the negative feeling, and rubbed the... dust out of her eyes. Getting the offending particles out, she sighed to herself once, and after she regained her composure, looked back at the sleeping mare. Fluttershy was almost completely silent in her slumber, with only the small rise and fall of her chest to signal to Luna that she was even alive at all. She readied her spell, and as Princess Luna bent down, she muttered to herself, “Alright, let us see what you have going on in there...” The first thing that Luna noticed upon synchronizing with Fluttershy's dream was that she was in a darkened forest. There weren't any notable landmarks or features, so it was nearly impossible to discern where exactly in Equestria this was—assuming it was an actual location, and not just a random place that the pegasus had made up in her mind. If there was something that Luna could say was notable, it was that the flora that she was able to see seemed to be temperate in nature, so it could possibly have been near Ponyville or Canterlot. The second thing that Luna noticed was the mare in front of her vision. Fluttershy was wearing the most curious outfit that she had ever seen a pony wear—even more so than Rainbow had in her dream. She was wearing a khaki vest over her chest, but was also wearing very short shorts of the same color over her hips. Fluttershy was looking out over the forest on the opposite side of where Luna was situated, though what the mare was looking for was completely unknown. Finally, the last thing of note that Luna realized was that she couldn't move. No, it was worse than that. Not only could she not move, but she couldn't even turn her eyes in any direction other than right in front of her. Suspecting it was something that went wrong with the spell, Luna tried to realign the frequency, but her efforts were unsuccessful. Desperate, she tried to teleport a short distance away to see if she could—as some of her guards put it—cheat the system, but once again, she was met with failure. Her only other option would be to leave the dream and then reenter, but that was time that she did not want to waste. Therefore, she decided to just stay like this, and see where it took her. Suddenly, a voice from behind Luna spoke up. “Alright... I think I have this sucker all set up... just let me... done!” Fluttershy turned around to face the voice, and with a smile on her face, she said, “Are you sure it's ready? I mean, there's no rush, I just want to make sure—” “Yeah yeah, it's ready.” That voice sounds familiar... too familiar. Apparently ready for whatever she was supposed to do, Fluttershy began to speak straight at Luna. “Hello everypony, and welcome to Fluttershy's Fauna! My name is Fluttershy, and this is my best friend, Rainbow Dash.” Luna's vision clumsily turned around, and she had to stifle a yelp when she was just centimeters from the pegasus' face. “Hey!” Quickly shifted back around, her vision once again faced Fluttershy. “Today, I’m going to show you all the wonderful and amazing creatures of the woods we are in, so without further delay, let's go!” With that, Fluttershy began to trot off. Rainbow began to move after her as well, apparently pulling Luna with her. This is weird. How are they able to move my vision, let alone my body? “Ooh! Look!” Fluttershy suddenly squealed in excitement. The excited mare slowly flew over to the left, just out of Luna's vision. Luna's vision jerking over to the side, her eyes fell onto a small group of deer that were loitering inside a small clearing. The majority of the animals were small fawns—easily recognizable by both the white spots all along their sides and their smaller size—but there were also a few mature females in the herd. Finally, there was only a single male in the herd, who was most likely the alpha of the group. Fluttershy flew a little bit closer, so that she was just a few scant meters away from the herd. “Look at these wonderful animals! These are the famous white tail deer! Very common 'round these parts. In fact, it is the large concentrations of these deer that give the woods their name!” Ah, so Whitetail Woods. I knew this place felt familiar. “Now, please watch out.” Fluttershy continued as she whispered, “White tail deer are very skittish. You have to stay quiet if you don't want them to run away.” Rainbow Dash's voice cut off the whispered monologue. “'Shy.” Apparently not hearing her friend call out for her, Fluttershy continued in her hushed voice. “It's normal for there to be a single male, or buck, to lead a herd of several females, or does. It is also normal for there to be many fawns in the same herd as the does take care of them.” Again, Rainbow called out to her. “'Shy.” “Now, I know that you've seen many deer at my house before, but those are slightly different than these. While these deer might tolerate a pony like me coming close to them, I’m pretty sure that they wouldn't come out and willingly seek out a pony. Further, I highly doubt that they would help me set the table or fold my towels, unlike the other kind deer that live near—” Finally having enough, Rainbow Dash shouted, “Fluttershy!” Fluttershy quickly spun her head around when she heard Rainbow's voice. Blinking for a few seconds, she trotted over a few steps before saying, “Yes, Rainbow Dash?” “Fluttershy, I love you more than anything, but they're just boring deer.” To that, Fluttershy's ears slightly flattened against her head. “Oh... okay...” the pegasus slowly said as she trailed off. As the deer had been spooked by Rainbow's too loud of a voice, Fluttershy began to look around for something else to show off. Something much more interesting than—as Rainbow put it—“boring deer”. After a few seconds, Fluttershy turned back around, and with a wave of a forehoof, she beckoned Rainbow onward. With a small sigh from Rainbow, Luna found her vision turned downward until her eyes saw nothing but grass, and then felt the mare begin to move. Together, the pair trekked further into the woods. While the two seemed happy to be in their present situation, Luna herself was slowly becoming more and more agitated. Every minute or so, she would try to turn her head around to take a look at the landscape around her, but there was nothing that she could do that would change how she was looking at the ground. Not only that, but Rainbow Dash appeared to have complete control over which direction Luna was looking, as though the pegasus was holding some sort of crystal ball. The worst part by far was that Rainbow didn't seem to care about the quality of Luna's vision right now, for all she was able to see was the ground bobbing up and down in a sporadic and jerky way. If I cannot get this thing fixed soon, I might turn somepony into jerky... “Ooh!” Fluttershy shouted, breaking the shackled alicorn out of her thoughts. “Look over there! Oh this is so wonderful!” Rainbow quickly steadied Luna's vision, and with excitement in her voice, shouted. “What's there? What? A lion? “Don't be silly!” Fluttershy cheerfully said as she trotted closer to her target. “Lions can't be found in trees.” Again, Rainbow's excited voice entered Luna's ears. “Is it an orangutan then? I hear those things are awesome!” “Sorry Rainbow, but they don't live in the Whitetail Woods. I'll give you a hint. It's a bird!” “Ooh! I got it! Is it an eagle!? Or a falcon!?” “No, even better!” Fluttershy continued to shout as she flew up into the sky a little bit. Hovering next to a branch in one of the trees, she approached what looked like a bundle of sticks. “Look closely, for in this very nest, we have three wonderful examples of the beautiful cardinal!” “A... a what?” “A cardinal, Rainbow Dash.” Smiling in glee, Fluttershy did a quick twirl in the sky as she hovered. “Oh, how I love cardinals! They are one of many songbirds that live in temperate regions. They have very robust beaks that allow them to eat many kinds of seeds. In my opinion, I feel these beautiful red birds are one of, if not the most awesome of birds out there!” Obviously, this mare has never seen a cassowary before. Sure, they are dangerous, but definitely awesome. “It's just... just... cardinals?” Rainbow said with a slight bit of annoyance. After a few seconds to allow the information to process in her mind, Luna heard a heavy sigh. “Really? Just a bunch of songbirds? Fluttershy's wings lost some of the life in them, for the mare slowly lost a tiny bit of altitude. “Oh... oh dear. Is there something wrong with songbirds?” Rainbow must have relaxed her hold on the crystal ball thing that she was holding, for Luna's vision suddenly rotated onto its side. “I don't know. They're just... well... kinda lame.” Luna cringed at the hurt face that was now painted on Fluttershy. “Kinda... kinda lame?” Sighing slightly, Rainbow slowly said, “Yeah... just... a few small birds aren't really exciting to most ponies.” “Oh... I... umm...” Fluttershy looked around the area around the two for a few seconds before her face lit up slightly. Darting down from her position near the nest, she quickly made her way towards the ground, and right up next to an adorable squirrel. “Oh look! It's a gray squirrel! It... umm... they are very exciting, but... uhh... you should be careful! Yes, be very careful, because if you move too quickly towards it, it might attack!” she finished with an extremely wide smile. … Fluttershy smiled wider. “Seriously, too close, and it'll try to jump you.” … “Like a monster—a ferocious, awesome, exciting monster.” … “...Rawr?” If the desperate mare was looking for anything else, she was going to be disappointed. Unfortunately, all there was to greet the mare after that... questionable statement, was complete and utter silence. If Luna had a face to stare with, she would be slightly slack jawed at the absurd assertion that a simple gray squirrel was going to somehow jump up, and attack. Now, bunnies might be a different story. Apparently in large groups, they can combine into boulders. Slowly, as if making absolutely sure that she wasn't going insane, Rainbow spoke. “You're telling me, that the squirrel, right there, is going to attack me.” Fluttershy thought to herself for a second, before nodding with a overly guilty smile. “How could it even... I mean...” Rainbow trailed off, and Luna heard the mare sighing to herself again. Taking a few extra moments to gather her thoughts, Rainbow continued. “Fluttershy, I’m sorry, but this is boring.” Fluttershy's smile never faltered. “It's... it's boring?” “Like, really, really boring. Look, I’m sure ponies that are really into animals like you will like this, but normal ponies at home are going to look at this and not see anything interesting.” The timid mare's smile finally broke, and with a frown now on her face, she looked down, and began lightly scratching the ground with a forehoof. Her voice now a whisper, she softly said, “Do... do you... find it boring?” Luna heard Rainbow Dash sigh, and felt the hesitant pause of silence. If Luna was able to be seen and heard right now, she would rush up to Fluttershy, and let her know that no matter what, one's special talent was special, and always exciting in it's own ways. She would let Fluttershy know that there were wonderful and amazing animals out there, and that the mare had an amazing gift. Of course, Luna was not able to be seen or heard, so it was up to Rainbow to say these things. Granted if Fluttershy could see Luna, she would probably pass out again, so it was probably for the best that she couldn't. Finally, Rainbow spoke. “It's... a little boring right now.” Fluttershy wilted at the statement, so Rainbow was quick to try to clarify. “I mean, I’m alright, and I love hanging out with you today, but all of this camera equipment is really, really heavy, to the point that I can't really move my wings well.” “Oh... I... I see...” “Fluttershy... I don't mean to make you sad, I’m just trying to think of the ponies at home that will be watching all of th—” “RAWR!!!!” Quickly, Rainbow turned around—her sideways tilted vision going along with her as she did so—and Luna found out quite quickly where the roar came from. In front of the two of them, was a gray squirrel the size of a grizzly bear. There were three things that Luna initially noticed about the squirrel monstrosity. The first was that while it was not the absolute largest squirrel Luna had ever seen—that one time in the jungle took the cake—it was definitely one of the larger squirrels that Luna had laid eyes on. To put it in perspective, the squirrel's front paws were easily the size of the average pony's head. The second thing that Luna noticed was that the squirrel appeared to have not eaten in quite a while, with clearly visible ribs being the first and best sign of this. Luna knew from experience that the hungrier a wild animal got, the more desperate the animal became, and the more likely it would attack a pony like Rainbow Dash. The third thing Luna noticed was that the foaming creature was now charging towards Rainbow Dash. In a desperate attempt to escape, Luna heard Rainbow try to flap her wings and take to the sky. However, instead of taking off with a blast of energy, they only got a few inches off of the ground before Luna's vision was smashed by a wing, sending them back to the ground. Again, Rainbow attempted to take off, but whatever device that was housing the alicorn's vision was preventing the pegasus' wings from properly flapping. The sounds of heavy and panicked gasps now entered Luna's ears as Rainbow tried to find a way out of the monster's path. With the squirrel getting closer now, there seemed to be nothing that Rainbow could do to even attempt outrunning the squirrel now. For all intents and purposes, the pegasus was a dead mare walking. With just twenty meters left separating Rainbow from certain doom, Fluttershy flew as hard as she could at the squirrel, smashing herself into the massive creature. Somehow, the small mare actually began to not only fight the creature, but put the predator into a powerful bear hug. The squirrel—obviously confused about the ridiculous position he let himself get himself into—was quickly pulled off of the ground by Fluttershy, flipped over the mare's head, then slammed headfirst into the ground. A loud crack resounded through the forest. For almost a full minute, there was silence. Fluttershy had placed herself on top of her fallen foe, her wings still flared in determination as she stared down at it. The squirrel was barely moving as he lay on his belly, his four legs splayed out in all directions. Rainbow, on the other hoof, had stopped breathing after observing the violent display. Luna wished she was able to see the mare's face for herself, because she was almost certain that Rainbow's heart had stopped as well. Though Luna had to admit herself, she was dumbstruck at what she had just seen as well. Finally, Rainbow found her voice. It was a loud shout. “Sweet mother of Celestia!” Forget mom! What was that!? As Fluttershy moved her hooves over the squirrel's back to maintain her balance, she looked up at Rainbow. For a second, her hardened glare drilled into the shocked pegasus' eyes. Instantly though, she dropped her glare, and her face softened back into a small smile. “Yes, Rainbow Dash?” “You... you... you just suplexed a squirrel!” Rainbow stuttered. And you performed this “suplex” quite admirably, if I may add. Her small smile transforming into a confused frown, Fluttershy cocked her head slightly to the right—her balance apparently very precarious on top of the squirrel, as she kept adjusting her stance. “What's a suplex?” “What's a—” Rainbow stammered as she tried to make heads and tails over the situation. “What's a suplex!? A suplex is exactly what you just did there!” “That's a suplex?” Fluttershy asked as she retained her confused face. “I guess I was never told what that chiropractic maneuver was called.” “Chi... chiropractic!?” “Oh yes!” Fluttershy nodded as she answered. It was only then that Luna realized that Fluttershy was not adjusting her stance to keep her balance at all. Instead, the normally flighty and timid pegasus was massaging the squirrel's shoulders. Indeed, the squirrel seemed to be reacting quite favorably to the kneading—the previously ferocious squirrel now acting like nothing more than a cute and cuddly kit. As for Rainbow Dash, it was the situation with the normal sized squirrel all over again, for she was just standing there speechless at what was revealed to her. Luna could almost feel the way the pony uselessly worked her jaw—the necessary words never forming in her throat. When noises came from her mouth, they were little more than short and high pitched squeaks. There was a slight bit of jostling in Luna's still frustratingly sideways vision, signaling to her that Rainbow was trying to move or do something, yet was constantly failing to do so. Luna just wanted to be able to see and move properly. It was Fluttershy who broke the silence with a beckoning hoof and a smile. “Come up here. I'll show you how to do it correctly.” Princess Luna could feel Rainbow take a small step back. “Are... are you serious?” The once faltering mare now had the most angelic smile imaginable. “Of course I am, Rainbow. Trust me, it's perfectly safe, and pretty fun and relaxing at the same time.” After a few moments of what must have been careful consideration, Luna felt her vision begin to shift and move all around in every direction. In doing this, she nearly cheered that her view was at least oriented properly instead of sideways. However, Rainbow was not done with whatever she was doing, for the crystal ball was still shaking with motion as the pegasus continued to fiddle with it. It was a few more moments before Luna finally became still—a sure sign that whatever Rainbow was doing was finally complete. That task was apparently to put the crystal ball on some sort of stand, for Rainbow Dash appeared out of the left side of Luna's vision. Slowly, the pegasus approached the squirrel and her friend—obvious trepidation in her steps. The entire time that Rainbow walked, a smiling Fluttershy beckoned the mare on with a forehoof, patiently waiting for her friend to cross the distance. It was a short walk, but with how slow the normally speedy pegasus was going, it may as well have been miles. However, after an age and a day, Rainbow finally made it to to the oversized squirrel. Looking up, Rainbow's eyes fell on a yellow outstretched forehoof belonging to her friend. With one last breath or three to work up the courage, Luna saw the mare take her friend's hoof with her own, and allowed her friend to pull her onto the squirrel. For a second, Rainbow had no idea what to do. However, almost immediately, Fluttershy began to massage the squirrel slightly slower, and said, “Here, like this.” Rainbow watched Fluttershy's expert hooves work the squirrel's back for a little while, carefully studying the way that the yellow appendages worked the strong muscles of the animal's back. Several minutes of careful studying passed before the pegasus began to work her hooves along the squirrel's shoulders and back as well—the mare doing her very best to mimic her friend's motions. As the seconds ticked by, she slowly began to become more and more confident with her relaxing kneads, and began to go a little harder in her strokes and a little faster in her motions. Fluttershy's ecstatic voice cheered, “Rainbow Dash, you're doing amazingly!” Luna saw the mare smile at that. After a moment, Rainbow turned towards her friend, and smiled back. “You know what, I take it back.” For what must have been the hundredth time that dream, Fluttershy's face was filled with confusion. “Umm... take what back?” “Everything I said about this not being exciting,” Rainbow said back. Looking back down at her hooves, she continued to massage the squirrel below her. “This is totally awesome.” Luna watched as Fluttershy stopped her motions for a second—the smile overtaking the mare's face growing wider than the alicorn thought was physically possible—before she continued to rub the squirrel's back. “I'm... I’m glad that you feel that some things I do are awesome.” There was a moment of pause, where neither pony said anything. For Fluttershy, it was a silence of her relishing the wonderful feeling that her friend's words gave her. For Rainbow, it was a silence of her trying to think of the right words to say to her most wonderful of friends. Neither knew who should be the one to break it, and neither knew how it should be broken either. For Luna, she just wanted to get this situation going. Suddenly, Rainbow leaned closer to Fluttershy, and with quickest and most timid of motions, turned her head and kissed her friend on the cheek. Nonchalantly as she could, the pegasus spoke through the intense blush now on her face. “Everything about you is awesome.” Stunned slightly, Fluttershy's face shifted to an intense red as she looked at her friend. Quickly, she returned the kiss, and said, “And everything about you is amazing.” Oh dear, this pegasus feels the same way? I think I have seen enough of this. As Luna finally began to de-power her spell, she was left with the lingering smiles of the two mares before her. Both of them were massaging the massive squirrel, both of them had furiously red faces, and both of them had their wings splayed wide in excitement. She wasn't sure for certain, but as the smoky interference finally began to fill her vision, Princess Luna swore she saw the two once again lean towards each other. She pulled herself back up, and looked at the small mare below her. Fluttershy was still peacefully laying on the bed, a content smile on her face. Every so often, a quiet murmur would escape the mare's mouth, but it was always too soft for Luna to hear. It didn't really matter though, for she was fairly certain what she was saying—the words most likely dealing with a certain rainbow-maned pegasus. Even if she was trying to stay stealthy, she couldn't help but to giggle. “You two need to just get together already.” Thinking to herself for a little bit, Luna tried to think of any way she could help along the potential romance before her. Her thoughts wandered to the various things that she remembered that ponies did for each other when they liked each other. She was sure that ponies kissed each other, but she had no idea how she would pull off that one. Gifts were nice as well, but what did they like? Fluttershy loved animals, so maybe a pet would be nice. However, the mare seemed to have every single pet already, except... Luna shook the terrible idea out of her head. “No. While a cassowary would be, as they say, 'awesome', I do not desire to see either of them dead.” However, there was another idea that popped into her head. It seemed like a strange ritual, but she was sure she heard some of her guards talk about giving and receiving flowers before, so why not try it? Willing the magic within her to come forth, she lit her horn brightly, and with a small flash of magical energy, she willed a dozen white roses into existence. Setting them onto the bedside table, and with another spell, willed a piece of paper into existence. Focusing her magic, Luna dictated as she wrote, “To my lush efflorescence. From, Rainbow Dash.” Placing the note next to the flowers, she smugly smiled at the job well done. The flowers were placed in just the right way, the message was written with perfect accuracy, and she had even remembered to write Rainbow's name on it. However, even with all of it together, something felt... missing. “Ah ha!” Luna whispered to herself. Igniting her horn, she threw a small spell on the flowers. The plants quickly lit in a navy blue aura, and began to change. Where once there were white pedals, the colors were now transformed into a stunning and unique rainbow pattern. Not quite satisfied, she again ignited her horn, and placed one final spell on the roses. “There, now they will last for twenty moons.” Luna could barely contain her excited glee as she quietly and giddily hopped over to the open window, and with a new spring in her step, she leaped out of the window, and soared through the night sky.