Second Interlude
Luna
The room's darkness was no concern to Princess Luna. It embraced her like an old friend as she went beyond the reach of the last moonbeam's light. Luna's steps echoed softly as if the shadows silenced sound as well as dousing any light sources. To the cleaning crew, it appeared that the Night Princess merged with the shadows and disappeared. Her fading hoof steps the only sign she'd passed by.
Once Luna got to the approximate location of the green ember that had answered her magic search, she created a small will o'wisp light to scan the area. A small signal usually means a focus was used for the magic...
The dancing light revealed something else; or rather somepony else. Rainbow Dash.
"Rainbow Dash. What are you standing around in the dark for?" Luna queried, as she approached the pegasus. Her nerve endings stood on edge as Dash didn't reply and continued to stare straight ahead.What has happened to her?
Luna directed her light closer, then recoiled. Rainbow Dash's eyes were covered in a green film and the green stripes reflected Luna's magic - taking on the appearance of glowing.
A very soft rustle drifted into Luna's ears - her heightened senses pinpointing the source. Reacting quickly, Luna turned her head and threw her light towards the cause of the noise, hoping to catch the culprit off guard.
It only partially worked, she did see the culprit - but the culprit was ready for her. The light bounced off an easily raised shield, and a long-suffering voice spoke out.
"You are too predictable, Princess Luna. Though perhaps that is as much my fault as it is yours."
The figure stepped forward, lowering the hood and allowing the wisp's light to fall on her face. Magic light glinted off emerald eyes and highlighted a golden mane.
"Kavrama. It has been a long time, too long for you to mess with this world." Luna observed, "Release Dash from your hold, and be at peace."
Kavrama glanced at Dash's form and then back at Luna. With a contrite smile, her reply came.
"I'm afraid that's not possible. I cannot change what has been done."
"Then I will." Luna stated firmly, turning back to Dash. Her horn gathering magic as Luna sought the shape and form of the enchantment used to hypnotise Rainbow.
Kavrama raised her hood again, disguising her own horn lighting up. Kavrama focussed on the distracted Princess and carefully wove a net around Luna's mind.
"I cannot let you interfere, Princess. I'm sorry." The net tightened, causing Luna to freeze. Her mind held in a fugue state.
You passed the broken doors, wrapped up in thoughts about the unusual reports. You failed to pay enough attention in the dark and tripped over the edge of the fallen door. Kavrama wove the net threads into a new memory and erased the one of finding Dash and meeting her.
Pressure pushed at the new threads, making Kavrama frown. What is fighting back? Luna can't be. More magic poured out forcing the false memory back into place. It dislodged again as the unknown force made its displeasure known.
Holding the memory in place, Kavrama sent out a questing trail of magic to find the source of resistance. She found it, a self-contained entity. One with a mind of its own - and this mind was angry at the intrusion.
Knowing she couldn't keep two minds frozen while working, Kavrama sent a powerful mental shock at this entity. This shock overwhelmed it - and Kavrama was able to finish her memory replacement. She was rushing too much to notice that the other entity absorbed the real memory into itself before being knocked out by the shock. That took more than I thought it would... that other mind was a surprise.
Kavrama surrounded Luna with a green aura. For the false memory to stick, Luna had to come back to her senses next to the doors.
A bright green flash lit the room, the cleaning crew's collective eyes drew towards it.
As one, everypony yelled "Changlings!"
Then they scattered as fast as birds startled by a predator.
Kavrama had teleported Princess Luna to a location a few inches off the ground, next to the end of the fallen door. Once released from the magical transportation, gravity took over and Luna landed face-first. Kavrama winced at the impact, before taking her own leave, her emerald eyes darkening as she faded out.
The impact shook the Princess out of her enforced reverie. Ow! She raised her head and brought her hooves back under her. That wasn't our most graceful descent. She got back up and used her magic to dust herself off. I hope our subjects didn't get startled by the lack of balance.
Glancing back, Luna could see that no pony was left of the clean-up. I think they can forget the extra holiday.... She was slightly put out that none had come to her aid, as well as for them abandoning their posts.
An itch started in the back of her mind, the same itch that usually meant that she'd forgotten something - yet it came from a different section of her mind. A section she didn't wish to open. Tossing her ethereal mane, Luna resumed her path - this time paying attention to the fallen door.
As she walked into the darkened room again, the itch got more insistent. Luna sighed internally, paused and strengthened the barriers she maintained against her mental resident. The itch didn't go away completely, but was reduced to a manageable, ignorable level.
Her moonsilver shoe brushed against something on the floor. Something magical. The enchanted alloy reacted with the residual magic left behind, causing a light source to flare up. This light flickered between green and dark blue.
Luna levitated this pulsating light, so she could examine it closer. It was a gem, clearly green even with the light contained within turned blue. Odd...
While the light was blue, Luna could catch glimpses of a strange scene. They seemed disjointed, unconnected, almost like a dream sequence. As she examined the gem, and the scenes shown, a nagging pressure built in the back of her mind.
This was one she knew well, it was a call to duty. Somepony in the dream realm was facing a lucid nightmare. While Princess Luna couldn't stop nightmares completely, she could at least deal with the more dangerous ones. Lucid nightmares tended to have longer lasting effects on the victim and as such needed to be dealt with - swiftly.
Luna closed her eyes, and used her magic to cross the realm barriers. Her physical form was left behind while her spirit travelled.
The entry to the dream realm was rather featureless: a grey fogbound land that stretched as far as the eye could see. A dream-walker could influence the surroundings however, and that is what Luna proceeded to do.
Dreams formed from the fog like bubbles rising. Coloured tints indicted the type of dream within. For example: rose-tinted bubbles contained dreams of love, sky-blue were wishing dreams. The colour of lucid nightmares rendered the dream bubble opaque - they were solid black. This was what Luna looked for - so she could step in and soothe the dreamer.
She found it - or rather it found her. A ball of shadow ruffled her wing feathers as it darted past. Now that shouldn't happen.... get back here bubble!
Luna shot after it, her wings working effortlessly to keep her aloft. She overtook the bubble, and turned to face it. This time, the bubble followed Luna's mental commands to stay still.
Luna approached, and placed her hoof against its surface. She pressed forward, in a stepping motion to enter the dream. The surface resisted, there was some other power underlying this lucid nightmare. Frowning, Luna lowered her horn to touch the surface; a concentrated application of magic was enough to remove the barrier to her entrance.
Inside the dream, Luna hovered over familiar tree tops. Everfree Forest - one of the more common places in nightmares....
As she looked for signs of the dreamer, the sound of crashing caught her attention. It seemed that there was something disturbing the undergrowth. Luna descended in a silent circle, and soon found the cause.
A group of hooded, cloaked figures seemed to be pursuing another smaller figure through the woods. I think I found the cause as well as the dreamer....
Luna flew like an owl above the pursuers, ever watchful for an opportunity to divert and remove them. An overgrown bramble there, a raised root here. Just some subtle changes of the surroundings, manipulating the course of the dream to allow escape.
Only one problem - the dreamer wasn't heading for safe ground, but further into the Everfree. Luna followed the dreamer to get them onto the road out, but was foiled by a green vortex that swallowed the dreamer up.
A dreamer that was familiar to Luna. Back-lit by the green vortex, riding on a distinctive red scooter was Scootaloo.
Kavrama, you do not mess with fillies like Scootaloo. And you do NOT mess with my REALM. Luna narrowed her eyes at the vortex, and used her own magic to slip through to the other side. The vortex resisted Luna's passage and threw her off her intended trajectory.
When she recovered her equilibrium, she spotted Scootaloo's abandoned, damaged scooter and immediately looked around for the filly. A slightly dazed Scootaloo was being dragged off into a strange looking temple-thing.
Luna didn't like the look of that, so propelled herself after the retreating figures.
Keeping herself aloft, Luna concealed herself in the shadows that played on the ceilings. Hmmm, lets see if I can change the scenario. Luna sparked her magic - thinking to alter Scootaloo's status from prisoner to exalted guest. Her magic was immediately snuffed out, by the same power that had originally blocked her entry. It was also accompanied by a migraine from the magical backlash.
Ow! I get it... no interference.... Luna mentally muttered and massaged her head. She could only watch as the procession continued. Her horn sparked once more, dislodging Scootaloo's helmet, in the vague hope that they'd stop to pick it up and she could then intervene. Physically if not magically.
They didn't stop.
A large resistance barrier blocked Luna from continuing. No matter how hard she pushed, or how she tried to slip through a crack: this barrier didn't budge. Frustrated, Luna tried the horn trick that got her past the first one.
Her magic flowed outwards over the barrier, then condensed backwards rushing back towards Luna's horn. The returned wave was mixed with another's power, resulting in a searing pain that ran from the horn-tip right down to the magic centre of the mind.
Ow, ow, ow! Luna instinctively tried to recoil away from the source of pain, and teleported herself away from the barrier.
The physical contact between horn and barrier severed, the pain slowly reduced allowing Luna's mind to clear. She found herself outside the complex, hovering in the night sky. She spotted Scootaloo riding on Dash's back while cheering.
Looks like she's resolved her own nightmare. Luna thought, but no sooner as it formed Kavrama's green magic flared up again - this time taking Dash out of the dream. Leaving Scootaloo mid-air and falling.
Kavrama.... you better hope I don't catch you..... Luna mentally swore, as she sped towards Scootaloo.
Performing mid-air acrobatics that would put the Wonderbolts to shame, Luna caught the filly and softened the impact on her back as well as the impact for Scoots. Even a filly, if going fast enough, would normally have caused hurt to both on collision - intentional or not.
Luna's wings raised to form a soft guard on either side while Scootaloo regained her breath and balance.
"Princess Luna! Where did Dash go? How did you find us - well - me, since that green thing took Rainbow? Was that the same thing that brought me here and wrecked my scooter? What was it anyway?" The questions tumbled out in fast succession from the active filly, to the partial amusement of the Night Princess.
Sounds like she wasn't winded at all.... though the fact she hasn't realised this is a dream worries me.
Luna smiled as she answered the questions as fully as she could.
"I'm not sure on Rainbow's new location. I followed you - or rather I followed your captors. Yes it is the same thing and it is a magical portal of sorts." As she spoke, Luna tentatively tested her magic again. No immediate pain or magic suppression seemed to occur, so Luna changed the scenery. Instead of the temple, an open courtyard garden, graced with a central fountain came into being.
Scootaloo was too preoccupied with Luna's answers and thinking of more questions to notice the faint glow of magic that shone through Luna's starry mane.
"Then who captured me? Did you know them? Are they a wanted criminal gang - that has evaded local law for so long that you've felt the need to step in?"
"Something like that - though I only know the ring leader." And she will pay. Luna answered, she figured that was partly true and wasn't sure if she could explain what was going on to the filly's satisfaction. Angling her flight downwards, Luna headed for the ground in a gentle glide.
It was then that Scootaloo noticed the change.
"Umm, where are we?"
"This is my sanctuary." Luna replied, with a sly grin as she landed alongside the fountain "A replica of my favourite foalhood grounds. It is also where I gained my Cutie Mark all those centuries ago."
At the mention of Cutie Marks, Scootaloo jumped off Luna's back.
"Think I'd get one here too?" Eyes shining as she looked around for something that hinted at her destined talent.
"Perhaps you will." Luna blushed as she scuffed her hoof along the fountain's lip. "Though I was hoping that you'd like to fly with me?"
There was one thing that Scootaloo wanted more than her cutie mark - and that was to be able to fly like Rainbow Dash.
"Could you show me how do some cool tricks?" Scootaloo asked, her wings flapping from excitement, then her face fell, "But I probably wouldn't be able to do them with these wimpy wings - they're too small to be any good."
Luna knelt in front of Scootaloo, and whispered conspiratorially.
"I'll tell you a secret. I had small wings too, once," then she winked, "I'll teach you, tricks and all."
"Really?" Scootaloo perked up.
Luna smiled and nodded. "Ready?"
"Of course I am."
"Then let us begin."
Luna coached Scootaloo, starting with some simple wing exercises to build strength - and to loosen the muscles up. If she remembers this dream - they'll help in reality too...
The repetitive motions were boring to Scootaloo, though if they got her flying she'd put up with the boredom. That didn't stop her mind from wandering however, going through one more wing stretch, Scootaloo couldn't help but ask:
"What would the group want with Dash though?"
Luna paused in her exercise count to frame her reply.
"I have some suspicions, but I'm certain that Rainbow Dash can handle whatever comes her way."
Scootaloo immediately blurted, briefly forgetting that she was addressing one of the Princesses.
"But if you don't know where she is, how can you know she'll be able to handle things?"
Luna had no convincing answer for Scootaloo's logic.
"Rainbow Dash freed me from the dark side created by my own insecurities, when I was powerless to do so myself. I have to believe she can face this as well." Luna looked directly into Scootaloo's eyes, "But if she needs aid - we'll both be there for her. Now back to flight training."
Under Luna's tutelage, Scootaloo continued to absorb the information given, before making her first attempt to put it into practise.
Scootaloo's wings strained to gain enough lift: her hooves left the ground. Then the filly fell forwards, overbalanced from the unexpected ascent.
"That's it - just try not to lean forwards as you take off." Luna encouraged.
Each lift-off attempt achieved more - longer periods of sustained airtime, though Scootaloo quickly got bored with the yo-yo effect of Luna's basic flight lessons. She wanted to fly. So she started to add directions.
Adding directionality proved to be a bad idea. All that achieved was to destabilise her form, though it clued Luna in to her difficulties.
"The simplest form of directional flight is that of a forward glide. Using what I've already taught you about lift, take a running start to get airborne. Then use that momentum to keep yourself aloft for as long as possible." Luna instructed, wondering just how much basic wing power Scootaloo could generate.
Scootaloo took a deep breath before starting her run, her wings moving in sync with her hooves to attain the required lift and momentum for a basic glide. It worked, Scootaloo stayed airborne for just ten seconds.
Luna subtly lit her magic up, highlighting the leading feathers on Scootaloo's wings, wincing at the pain the simple charm was causing her.
"Again, this time a little faster and longer."
Scootaloo tried again, the basic glide being maintained with ease - this time lasting for nearly thirty seconds.
"Now lets try a gliding turn. Once airborne, dip the leading wing in the direction you want to go in." Luna coached, then clarified, "That is, dip your left wing for left turn and the right for a right turn."
Scootaloo nodded, launched herself from a running start and added a turn. Successfully, though it did reduce her airtime again.
Luna smiled, and then proceeded on to powered flight - flight that required wing beats to maintain.
These lessons proved more interesting and problematic. Wing powered flight was harder overall, but was closer to what Scootaloo had expected. As such she was… over-enthusiastic in her attempts.
On the first attempt, Scootaloo ascended further than was wise. She also made the mistake of looking down. Luna looked like a filly and the ground was rather distant.
The emotional part of Scootaloo's mind was ecstatic. This is so cool! I'm flying!
The logical part of the mind was worried about the lack of protection and that took priority. This caused her wings to miss a beat and for Scootaloo to start falling.
Luna spotted it, and called up a crash mat underneath the falling filly, ignoring the ache the magic caused. The set was guided down softly.
"If you find yourself not in control of your flight and falling, just remember this. Lock your wings in an extended position and use the slowing effect to glide into a safe landing," Luna told Scootaloo, before demonstrating the recovery glide. "Now try again - with less height this time."
It wasn't long after mastering the glide techniques that Scootaloo become proficient enough in flight that Luna could dismiss the crash mat. Scootaloo was flying slowly around the fountain under her own power. Her speed picked up as her confidence grew.
Luna watched as Scootaloo attempted some more advanced manoeuvres, gently issuing verbal corrections on wing position and posture.
Even an eager Scootaloo ran out of energy in the end. Landing alongside Luna, Scootaloo managed to pant out.
"That ....was.... awesome... Thanks Luna."
"My pleasure, Scootaloo. Time to put you to bed."
Luna wrapped Scootaloo in her dark blue magic, placing her securely on her back as an exhausted Scoots closed her eyes.
The courtyard faded out to be replaced by the mist of the dream realm. In front of Luna, Scootaloo's dream bubble floated, no longer black but a vibrant blue.
Sweet Dreams Scootaloo.
Luna returned to the physical world, with a smile on her face. That is, until her eyes landed on the gem still held in her telekinetic grip. The itch in her mind returned with a vengeance, along with a migraine.
The gem still shone - but this time stayed green. Luna frowned at it, bothered by how the gem could be linked with the troubles in the dream realm. This gem must have been Kavrama's focus. Luna recalled the small ember of green she had spotted with her earlier magic scan. If I find her... she better have a good explanation for her meddling in dreams - otherwise...
Luna merged the gem with her crown, flinching as pain flowed from powering the spell. The green gem settled on top of the pointed crest. What ever was in that dream was really powerful for it to have affected this form as well....
Luna continued on, the mystery of that power occupying her thoughts. The itch of the back of her mind pushed aside once more.
Why do you not listen? Have events in the dream realm not told you there is a bigger problem here?