The Mistress of Dreams
Chapter 7: Behind the Wheel
The pink pony walked into the busy arcade. It was long after sunset, but there were no signs that anypony was ready to give up on the night any time soon.
“Easter egg hunt!” she proclaimed out loud.
Lunesta looked proudly at the game machines around her, machines that her company had built, that she and her predecessors had designed. In a back corner was Wall-Bounce, the game designed by the original Pinkie Pie shortly after the war with the dragons had concluded.
I’m not sure if Pinkamena or I would have actually invented that game, Pinkie Pie mused. I was far more a fan of Asteroids than Breakout.
She strode leisurely by such classics as Dance Dance Restoration, Ping, Lunar Lander, All the Bugs and Arabian. Finally she stopped before a game shaped like a mechanized chariot, halfway through the evolution between Princess Celestia’s phaeton and a modern spinner. The name of the game was Short Ride in a Fast Machine. She wasn’t too surprised to learn that the goal of the game was not to steer the chariot, but to keep from falling out. Nearby, a young colt was loudly complaining to anypony who would hear about the numerous failings of a nearby game called 4’33”. He never noticed that the game wasn’t plugged in.
Piflin arrived back at her enormous mansion. Her first act was to send her army of servants back to bed. Her second was to get out her training weapons and take out every camera and microphone in the mansion’s gymnasium.
“Why does the mansion have a gymnasium?” Spike asked Twilight once they were no longer being monitored.
“Piflin judged herself by how well she could dominate others,” Twilight replied with a frown. “Either through the law, or by pure physical force. This was the place where she learned every dirty fighting trick imaginable.”
“Alright,” said Spike. “So why are we here?”
“I’m worried by how badly we did in that dream battle,” Twilight confided.
“Well, reality was sort of breaking up by the end,” he replied.
“This is a dream, Spike. Reality breaking down should actually be expected. We’ve only got one more dream to go after this one before we have to face the Emperor.”
“Is that why you haven’t woken Rarity up yet?”
“Rarity’s a lucid dreamer, Spike. That’s why she was able to break out of Rainbow Dash’s dream so easily. She can end this dream whenever she wants to, but she hasn’t. Why?”
“Because the Dragon Emperor has his claws in her and she’s leading us all into a trap?” Spike asked nervously.
“No, I think that she set this dream up so we can improve our skills,” Twilight replied. “The way dragons and ponies are paired in this dream would never work in real life, but it precisely matches the relationship you have as my dream construct. That means that ‘Piflin’ has memories of a lifetime of using you to fight unfairly.”
“And what are you going to do with that information?” Spike asked nervously.
“Keep the parts I feel comfortable with, and toss the rest. I’d like to start our training with learning to see through each other’s eyes and to pass manna around quickly when under a magic-draining attack. Now help me move these barriers in place to try this out.”
Lunesta 1 stood very still, watching the attract mode play out on the arcade cabinet before her. Superficially, the cabinet was nothing but a comfortable couch with a small cage suspended above it, a cage equipped with magical blades for interfacing directly with the mind of the player. This was the cutting edge of video game development.
“Control all aspects of your chosen solar system’s development,” a recorded voice from the game informed her. “From stellar birth to death. Micromanage, or let your custom rules reign supreme. With a complete mental link to one of the most powerful computational simulators on the planet, you’ll truly have the power of a god...as well as the responsibilities. Over five dozen planets are yours to choose from, from Equestria itself to many popular worlds of fantasy, science fiction, or cutting-edge astronomical research: Barchan, Krynn, 40 Eridani A, Terra, Amino, Aladan—”
On hearing that last planet’s name, ‘Pinkie Pie’ rushed forward, presenting her hoof to be read to establish her financial credentials, and sticking her head into the rather nasty looking cage. Seconds later, she was floating in space, watching a solar system condense before her. Judge Ender eagerly reached out with her hands to begin exerting her control over the doomed Aladan system, not even noticing that she was no longer a pony...
Twilight and Spike were taking a break, after spending several hours working out an entirely new branch of cooperative magic. They were sitting side by side on the padded floor of the gymnasium.
“Twilight,” the dragon said. “If we are getting to the end of these dreams, then there’s something we need to get settled.”
“What is it, Spike?”
“What exactly is Spike to you? The real Spike, not me.”
“Why, he’s my number one assistant!” She looked over at Spike to see if this answer was satisfactory. When she saw that he was refusing to react, she reluctantly added, “My first and best friend.” She frowned. “As a part of me, you know this already.”
“I’m not sure you know it,” Spike replied. “I had to prod you to admit that he was more than just your employee. If all he was was your ‘number one assistant’, then you should be paying him. But he isn’t your employee, he’s your friend. So how come you never take him along on your adventures with the other Bearers?”
“Because those would be too dangerous for him!”
“And what about the lunch dates?”
“I remember to invite him...most of the time. But those sometimes turn dangerous as well.”
“Well, if he’s not old enough now, when will he be old enough?”
Twilight sighed. “Probably when I’m old and gray,” she said.
“Are you sure?” Spike asked. “What constitutes the age of maturity among dragons?”
“Awakening from the first major nap.”
“But the age when that happens varies greatly among dragons. You can’t be sure if he’s five years late, or fifty years too early. And besides, he was raised as a pony, and thinks like a pony. What is maturity for ponies?” Spike asked.
“Getting your cutie mark,” Twilight replied. “Although few ponies nowadays move out at their Cuteceñara. And that requirement is obviously not going to work for Spike. So I guess it’s when he moves out on his own.”
“But he’s not going to move out on his own as long as he’s your number one assistant. Especially if that’s all he thinks he is to you.” Spike stood up. “Twilight, if you got hurt really bad, and you had to go to a hospital, your family would be allowed to visit you, no matter how bad you were. Your friends wouldn’t have this privilege, and Spike wouldn’t have this privilege. Is that alright with you, that Spike would be waiting outside to find out what happened to you when your family is allowed to be with you?”
“I...well...no, no it doesn’t. I guess my relationship with Spike is more than friendship.”
“Do you think of him as your son?”
“No!” Twilight exclaimed, the volume of which surprised even herself. “No, I’m pretty sure that Spike sees Princess Celestia as his mother, because of how she raised him for his first few months after hatching. Even after all this time, there are some parts of that period that he doesn’t feel comfortable telling me. That’s what makes me think that he doesn’t think of me as his mother. That’s not to say that I haven’t comforted him after he’s had nightmares.”
“And he’s comforted you, after you’ve had nightmares,” Spike reminded her as he sat back down.
“That’s true.”
“So wouldn’t you say that he’s like a younger brother to you? Like Sweetie Belle is to Rarity?”
“Yes,” Twilight said with a satisfied smile. “Yes, that does feel right. I was more motherly with him at first, but he always looked up to the Princess instead of me. Instead we became more like best friends, with the Princess’ attention being what united us.”
“So are you going to do anything about that?” Spike asked, leaning on one elbow to watch Twilight’s face as she made up her mind.
“Yes,” concluded Twilight Sparkle.
There was a faint scratching at the door of the gymnasium, accompanied by mewing noises.
A curious dragon opened the door, and failed to notice the white cat sneaking in when he was looking the other way.
“What are you doing here, Opalescence?” Twilight asked after the door was closed.
“Don’t worry, I’ll get her,” the dragon said, grabbing the cat and raising her to eye level. He looked rather surprised at how easily he had accomplished this feat, much less doing so without being mauled.
“Is it safe?” a feminine voice whispered in his ear.
Spike was so startled that he tossed Opal into the air. Twilight easily caught her with her magic and lowered the cat to the ground.
“She talks!” Spike cried, pointing.