//------------------------------// // Extra 4: Dreaming Across Dimensions -Jason // Story: The Heroes of Olympus: The Other End of the Pit // by Surprise Pie //------------------------------// Demigod dreams suck. It was a fact that was generally agreed on by both Roman and Greek Demigods alike. They always took turns towards the scary, creepy, confusing, or just downright weird. The fourth category was what Jason was having tonight. It was with lots of reluctance, and a little charmspeaking from Piper, ("No fair!" Jason had moaned.) that he went to bed that night. It had been two days, now, that Percy and Annabeth fell to Tartarus, two days since they got an Iris-message from Grover telling them about how Percy and Annabeth were now stuck in a magical land full of talking ponies. Jason hadn't believed him, but when Grover mentioned the name of the place, Equestria, Nico flipped out, saying that they won't have to worry about Percy for a while. That naturally made Jason worry even more. Tonight's dream was odd. Jason found himself doing random things in random places, sometimes reliving both good and bad moments of his life, sometimes seeing what he thought was important moments of others' lives. Finally, the roller coaster dream ride stopped, and Jason found himself standing in a vast and empty white space, with a dark gateway floating in front of him. *It's a trap. Don't go near that thing.* Jason's mind was yelling. The problem is, he didn't have to. The doorway was coming towards him, and he couldn't move. Jason's vision faded to black for a moment, and then a light winked into existence. The light expanded, and Jason found himself floating above a large plain. the sun was shining bright, and behind him stood a massive spear of crystal, reaching straight for the sky. Some sort of commotion could be heard further away, and Jason turned his attention towards it. A war was going on, it seemed. Jason floated his way over to the battle. He easily recognized the participants one side of the battle: Telkhines and dracanea for the most part, and a few other monsters Jason couldn't remember seeing. Opposing the monsters, Jason couldn't believe his eyes, were small horses of all colors, some of them even had wings or horns. *Not horses, ponies. They're too small to be horses.* Jason thought. A yell came from below him, and he looked down. "Percy, to your left!" the voice said. A deep blue pony with wings turned to it's left and slashed at the telkhine that was harassing him, vaporizing it. "Spike, behind you!" the pony called back. A burst of green flame parted the ocean of monsters for a few seconds as the flames passed by, vaporizing everything in it's path. The source was a little purple lizard. *It breathes fire, so it must be a dragon.* Then it clicked in Jason's head. The dragon had called his pony partner "Percy", and the Percy pony sounded exactly like his friend Percy. Squinting to get a closer look, Jason noticed the sword the pony was using. It looked exactly like Riptide. *No way. It IS Percy!* Jason realized. *So if Percy is here than Annabeth mustn't be too far off...* And so the search began. After flying for a few minutes, Jason found a baby-blue pony, this one with a horn, fighting with a knife that looked like Annabeth's. The heads-up the pony next to her, a midnight blue pony with both a horn and wings, who was larger than the others, confirmed Jason's suspicions. "Annabeth, I must retreat for a moment. Something is present in our dreamscape, something unfamiliar to me. I must see to it that it does not mean us any harm." Annabeth nodded, levitating her knife in a wider arc to give the larger pony some cover to back away. *I wish I could talk to them.* Jason thought, *That way I'd be able to tell them how we're doing...* his thought was interrupted by a clear voice coming from behind him. "Now I understand what I sensed. Your energy if both familiar and alien to me." Jason wheeled around to see the same midnight blue pony who had backed away from the fighting below. "A warm welcome to you, Jason Grace." the pony added. "How do you know who I am? And who are you?" Jason asked. "Your friends Percy and Annabeth have told me about you, and the others as well. Leo, Piper, Hazel, Frank, and Nico. As for me, my name is Luna, I am the Princess of the Moon and of the Night." "I'm sorry, Princess, but I'm not exactly familiar with how your politics work." Jason said plainly. "It's rather simple, really. There are currently five Princesses governing Equestria. My older sister, Celestia, is the Princess of the Sun and of the Day, our adoptive niece, Cadence, is the Princess of Love, my sister's former pupil, Twilight Sparkle, is the Princess of Magic, and my closest friend, Jetstream Shimmersky, is the Princess of Lightning. We each have our own individual roles in our society. Mine is to raise and the set the moon and the stars and bring out the night. I am also responsible for watching over Equestria's dreamscape. I can dreamwalk, you see. It is the practice of entering the dreams of others and possibly manipulating said dreams for the comfort of the dreamer." Luna explained. "So when you said you sensed something odd in the dreamscape, you meant me?" Jason asked. "Indeed. It is unusual for anypony, or in this case anybody to find themselves in the dreamscape at this time. In Equestria, it is the same time of day everywhere. The only ones who are usually asleep at this time are my personal subjects, a colony of bat ponies who live in the caves underneath our capital, Canterlot. To find an individual such as yourself was, as a result, all the easier." Luna replied. Jason thought for a moment, curiously observing the Moon Princess as he did. "Tell me more about you ponies. I see some with wings, others with horns, some with neither, and you have both." Jason said. "It's delightful that we can exchange information like this. Allow me to explain: There are four types of ponies in Equestria. There are Earth Ponies, who have neither wings nor horn, Unicorns, who have a horn, Pegasi, who have wings, and finally, the rarest type, Alicorns, who possess both a horn and wings. Earth Ponies have enhanced physical strength, Unicorns can use magic with their horns, and Pegasi can fly. Alicorns are a perfect balance of the three, and as such benefit of all three types of pony magic. Alicorns are also eternal, meaning we will live on forever, so long as we can endure, for fault of a better term. I we are not killed by sickness or weapon, or otherwise, we live forever. Annabeth has actually made a connection between Alicorns and the gods of your world." Luna explained. "Huh." Jason said, having only caught about half of what the Lunar Princess had said. "You zoned out, didn't you?" Luna deadpanned. Jason lowered his head, guilty. "'Tis fine. I'm aware of you demigods' inability to focus for very long. Annabeth claims that only a few demigods, such as herself, can even come close to staying focused on one subject for more than a few dozen minutes, let alone a few hours. But tell me, Preator Grace, how different is life as a Roman demigod as opposed to a Greek?" she asked. "Well, I've lived in both for a while, so I can at least compare. Camp Jupiter is actually a city, rather than a summer camp like Camp Half-Blood. Roman demigods live in a more strict, more disciplined style of life. The way of the Legion, I like to call it. We Romans live in a more traditional style of life compared to the Greeks. Camp Half-Blood's lifestyle is way more laid-back and comfortable, though it's not as sophisticated as Camp Jupiter's. Over at Camp Jupiter, we have schools and colleges for demigods of all ages, and unlike Camp Half-Blood, where most demigods are first-generation, not to mention all aged anywhere between twelve and eighteen, the demigods at Camp Jupiter are of just about any ages, and are first, second, third, even fourth generation demigods." Jason explained. "When you speak of "generations" what do you mean?" Luna asked. "It's simple. First generation demigods are direct children of the gods and of a mortal parent. Every following generation are the descendants of those first generation demigods. Children, grandchildren, even great-grandchildren in a few cases. Also, Camp Jupiter has it's own miniature version of the Roman Legion. The Twelfth Legion of Old Rome survived the fall of the Roman Empire and made it's way over to America, where they founded Camp Jupiter at the gods' request." Jason said. "Fascinating..." commented Luna, "But tell me, what is your current situation against the Earth Goddess, what was her name? Gaea? Annabeth has told me about how she's trying to take over your world and destroy Olympus." Jason hesitated. This was still some valuable information in the hands of his enemies. But then again, if he couldn't trust this princess, who could he trust? After a minute's debate, he opened up. "Right now we're trying to figure out how to cross Italy's western mountain range. The problem is, every time we try to approach them, we're intercepted by some very territorial wind spirits. We have about two weeks to reach Eprius and close the Doors of Death, and then head to Greece to confront Gaea in person and stop her from awakening. And to top it off, we still don't know what to do with the Athena Parthenos, the statue we recovered thanks to Annabeth." Jason sighed. "It is known to me that you do not have access to magic the way we ponies do, therefore I could not suggest you to get through with the aid of such magic. However I am certain you will find a way to achieve your goal. If there's anything I've learned from Percy and Annabeth, it is that you demigods are very resourceful creatures." Luna said. The fighting below went on, as ponies fought waves upon waves of monsters. After a while, Annabeth's voice rang from the crowd. "What's taking Luna so long? Maybe something's happened to her in the dreamscape..." "Looks like they're getting worried about you." Jason noted. "They are. I must be going, but first, I've a gift for you, Jason, if you would accept it." Luna said, holding a small box in her magical grip. Jason opened the box, and found a silver chain with a crescent moon attached to it, and underneath the chain, was a large photograph. "For me?" Jason asked, "What is it?" "That's a Lunar Charm. So long as you wear it, your vision at night will be as clear as that of day, yet the moon and the stars will be as visible as the cloudless nights can offer. Also, this photograph is a gift from Percy and Annabeth, and all of their pony friends, to you and your companions. Simply place a finger upon a pony to receive information on him or her." Jason gave it a shot, putting his index on the dark blue pegasus in the front row. Percy Jackson, Age 17 Percy is the demigod son of Poseidon, Greek God of the Seas. He hails from a dimension vastly different from Equestria, and despite him only having been a pony for four months, he is already well respected in Ponyville's community as a skilled flier and an accomplished weather pony. Percy specializes in rainclouds and has a powerful gift revolving around water. "Woah. That's amazing." Jason said. "Thank you so much, Princess." "I'm glad you like it. But now, I must go. Perhaps we will meet again someday, Jason Grace. Farewell." "Wait! Tell Percy and Annabeth that we're doing okay for me!" Jason called after her. "I will. When I exit the dreamscape, however, you will awaken, and you will find your gifts in your arms. Good luck, and we shall see you at the Doors of Death." Luna called back, before fading away. Then, everything was black. Jason could hear the dull thrum of the Argo II's engines, and a light tapping at his door. Someone was knocking. Getting up, Jason immediately noticed Luna's gifts on his sheets. Picking up the charm, Jason gently put it on, marveling at the craftsmanship. Looking out the window, he could see the starry sky, but the landscape below was as clear as day. Someone knocked at the door again, and called: "Jason, are you awake?" It was Hazel. "Yeah, I'm up. I'm coming." Jason opened the door, finding Hazel in her nightgown standing there. "What's up?" he asked. "The wind spirits are getting mean again. Could you try talking to them one more time?" Jason sighed. "Alright. Say, how long was I asleep for?" he asked. "Only about three minutes or so. Sorry to interrupt you, by the way." Hazel replied. *Three minutes? Then I must've spent hours talking to Luna...* "Hey, don't sweat it. I'll be on deck in a sec, 'kay?" Hazel nodded and ran back down the hallway, and up the stairs. *Looks like we'd better get this sorted out.Again.* Jason grumbled internally.