It felt like the inspection took weeks. Both Twilight and I were in the same kind of state; we both gave each other occasional glances as the Groves looked around Twilight’s library, and the actual living quarters; they even went as far as to remove some of the books to see if there were and ‘dangers’ behind them. I wondered if we actually had to follow them around, but I guessed it would give me the ‘experience’ of being in the home. The only upside was that it was quite clear that the Groves were impressed with Twilight and seemed to like her house just as much, which could of course only mean one thing in my mind. At first it was hard to judge because both of them looked so serious, which was a little bit uncharacteristic of Joy, and it was unnerving to watch her assess everything with a rather stern look of concentration on her face. Despite what I say in confidence, I cannot deny that I was nervous because even as they just checked the top of the shelves for dust I felt my heart jumping out of my skin because I didn’t know what was important in these assessments. It seemed like too little a detail, but I couldn’t make any assumptions because I just didn’t want to get my hopes up. Twilight nudged me as we sat in the middle of the main room, the wood at the bottom of our hooves made the familiar sound as I tried to regain my balance and stomped my hooves on the floor to confirm it. That caught their attention and both of the Groves looked back to me and Twilight, both of us forcing out a sheepish grin as we waved at them. We sighed in relief as they went back to their thorough examinations. Twilight looked down to me and sighed in relief. “How do you think it’s going?” she asked me but all I could do was shrug because I had about as much idea as she did. “Well I think it looks like it’s okay.” She smiled, trying to assure me.
I wandered over to my two current carers and cleared my throat “Are we done yet?” I whined, looking bored at them, but they didn’t respond and they carried on working “Excuse me……No? Really?” I raised an eyebrow as they didn’t even respond when I raised my voice. I gave a small smirk as a rather childish plan formed, my eyes narrowing as my smirk spread across my face. Part of me was telling myself to not even try it because it’s really not like me, but a new discovered part of me was raring to go and ready to try this. I stood a little bit closer to them and inhaled deeply, but before I breathed out I found myself blushing at how embarrassing this could be. I could literally feel the blood rushing to my cheeks, making my blush almost show through my black coat. I glanced back to Twilight to see if she had figured out what I was doing, and it was obvious she could see what I was trying to do. She shook her head at me and urged me to get back to her. I felt small beads of sweat forming as I finally let out all the air from my lungs, but it wasn’t in the way I planned. There was no piercing scream to force their head to turn; instead it was nothing more than a silent sigh. As I walked back to Twilight she gave me a look that was telling me to behave, but my mood had immediately changed after my plan was foiled and I huffed at her “What? I want to know when we’re done.” She nipped at my ear and I blinked from the pain, but didn’t make a noise “What was that for?” I frowned.
“That was for being rude. You know I’m trying my hardest and it won’t be much longer; they’ve been at it for about two hours, so I’m sure it’s coming to a close.” I sat down and casually began tapping my hooves on the floor, seeing if I could make a rhythmic pattern of it, even if it was only me who could hear the rhythm behind it. It then hit me; I wouldn’t be able to listen to the music that I was so fond of back on Earth. Being here had so many flaws that I didn’t want to notice, but it was the little things like that I was going to miss. I knew all the lyrics to the songs I liked most, but I wouldn’t be able to hear them from the voices I remembered in their most angelic. I slight smile appeared on my face as I thought of how I could probably recreate the music, finding the right ponies and making them learn everything to be my personal band. However, I had a slight flaw with that, I didn’t know anypony who was a musician, or not as far as I knew. I was nudged from my stupor again by Twilight. “Why do you keep zoning out?” she tilted her head very slightly at me. I gave a small, nervous grin and shook my head, assuring her I was fine. I could tell she wasn’t sure if she should believe me or not, but I wasn’t questioned any further.
Joy and Earnest stepped away from where they stood and turned to face us. “Well the good news is that we’ve finished.” He chuckled “Twilight would you mind coming back with us? There are a few things we need to discuss.” Smiling softly at her, both of them turned around and picked up everything they had. They stood with their tails to us and called back “Twilight?” we started walking over to them, which let them know all they needed to. We walked out the door and Twilight closed it behind us, her magic closing it quietly. She caught up to us fairly quickly and was trotting next to me, with a noticeable spring in her step. “Twilight we must give you our thanks for being so patient. We know that going through somepony else’s home can be a little bit unsettling and, not to mention dull when we take a long time, but we can quite safely say that we were satisfied with how well the house is kept.” Twilight and I grinned at each other, my chance of getting out was getting better by the second as we heard Earnest carry on about how well suited Twilight seemed to be and how she is a brilliant role model for a young filly like me to aspire to be like. I still couldn’t help but shudder at being called a filly, but thankfully nopony noticed and I was able to get through the market without saying a word or doing anything that may look out of the ordinary.
Twilight seemed to perk up at their words and cheerily replied to them “Well thank you Mister and Misses Grove; I just hope that if I do get the chance to adopt Aero that she will be happy.” she seemed to be sticking to a script. It was obvious to me that she was being extremely nice to them just to sway their opinions further, and I had no doubt in my mind that the two ponies in front of us were feeling encouraged by Twilight’s admirable efforts that she promised she would put in. “In fact, I Pinkie Promise that if I am given the opportunity to adopt this filly, I will never let her down.” She called proudly.
Within just a second of her saying that a quick pink blast obscured my vision and made me unsteady, but when I looked to where Twilight was, all I could see was a pile of dust that was only just starting to clear. In the cloud of dust two figured were emerging, and I could tell who one of them was by the voice they used as they seemed to be struggling. Twilight’s form tried to push of the other pony, but that certain pony was not going to budge. Once the dust had cleared to a point where we could clearly see, it was apparent that the very pony to tackle down Twilight was Pinkie Pie and she was holding a deadly serious look on her face “Twilight you know you have to keep that promise now, and it’s a promise that lasts…..forever.” she said the last word with an eerily slow pace that made me shiver. However, Pinkie soon returned to her normal self and bounced off of Twilight, pacing away like she normally would. Twilight got up and watched until Pinkie had disappeared before she turned back to us. All three of us were confused, as well as the entire population that were present at the market. Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but she was caught off quickly by a raspy voice that came from nowhere “Forever..” Pinkie repeated. All of us looked around, but we couldn’t see where she was. It was definitely one of the creepiest things I have ever experienced.
Twilight shook her head and sighed “I should’ve seen that coming.” She looked back to us and saw our confused faces. I personally couldn’t believe how Pinkie managed to appear from nowhere and then seem to know exactly what was being said. “Pinkie Pie is really serious about her Pinkie Promises and she expects everyone else to do the same.” She explained and everypony calmed down, although I felt like I should have known anyway, after watching the first season, but I guess I didn’t pay a massive amount of attention the whole time. “Anyway…” Twilight chuckled “shall we carry on?” I nodded and turned around to see that the Groves had already started again and I had to pick up the pace to catch up because I was still a fair bit smaller so I couldn’t cover as much ground in one stride as they could.
I got playfully bumped on my right flank by Twilight, who got past me and followed closely behind the Grove duo. After a short burst of speed I managed to catch up to them, although I wasn’t sure if I would be able to carry on; to me it had been an especially long day. I was not used to getting up at some ungodly hour in the morning, and even if I tried I could never be a morning person…..pony. I gave a small yawn to show that I was tired and I received a small giggle from Twilight “You’re okay Aero, just a little bit further……oh we’re actually here already.” She said, sounding quite confused at how we’d gotten there so quick without even realising.
I looked up and saw that we were indeed in front of the very place I was having to call home for now. To me, everything of this place looked just normal now; no more images of Oliver Twist running through my head, only the fact that I was living there and just wanting to be adopted like every other pony in there, except for our two carers obviously. We walked into the building and made our way into the dining room. Much to my surprise, there weren’t the masses of young ponies eating their lunch; there were only the few very young ones who were sitting at the table, barely able to reach their food due to the chair’s height so they were standing on them. I couldn’t help but giggle at the sight of them all trying hard just to eat. It dawned on me that the reason why only these ponies were here is because the older ones were at school. “Shouldn’t I be at school?” I frowned, catching the attention of Twilight and my carers.
“Well you should, but I have no doubt that Miss Cheerilee will be accepting of your reason, after all. You’ll be able to go to school after today, and you will have only missed one day so don’t worry.” Joy chuckled and brought me to my senses, why would I want to go to school anyway? We made our way to the far end of the table where nopony sat. “Where is Fluttershy?” Joy pondered whilst lazily looking around the room. “I’m sure she’s helping one of the little ones.” She looked back at Twilight now and gestured for her to sit. “Now Twilight, as we said. We’re very happy with the safety of your home and from the questions we asked, we are confident that you will be a good parent for Aero Crown.” Twilight’s face lit up with excitement, as did mine because I realised where this was going. I thought it would take a bit longer for them to decide, but I wasn’t about to complain at their decision. This was my ticket out of this place and I couldn’t be happier to know that I will be allowed to go. All that worrying I had done because I wasn’t sure if Twilight would be ready or if she suddenly didn’t want me, all of that worry was gone. Twilight looked at them with almost the same expression I was wearing and I could almost feel how happy she was.
She looked like she was finding it hard to stay on her seat “Does this mean what I think it means?” she questioned, trying to show a smaller smile to mask the excitement that she and I were both feeling. Both of the Groves nodded at her “Oh fantastic!” Twilight cheered before blushing a little bit and giggling at herself. “Sorry, I guess I just wanted to give one little filly a new place to call home. So, I did some research and……don’t I have some forms to fill in?” again, they nodded at Twilight and she nodded back to them, smiling quite contently, briefly looking to me with a grin plastered on her face. I shook my head and tried to stop myself from grinning, but I was too happy to stop myself. I was the happiest I had been in a couple of days. It seemed that I had almost gone a full rotation in emotions; and it was to such extremity that I could have rivalled Pinkie at being happy.
Earnest, who had been standing beside Joy’s chair the whole time simply walked over and shook Twilight’s hoof “Congratulations Miss Sparkle, of course we had very little doubt because of the great achievements you have already done. I’m sure this filly will grow up to respect you and we know she’ll behave because she’s been desperate to get out even though she has only been here one night.” He chuckled and winked at me, showing that he was happy for me. I know I didn’t really like the place, but even I could feel a small tear forming in my eyes; the two owners were two of the nicest ponies I knew. “Of course we must get you to sign the forms to confirm that you are eligible to adopt, and then there are the forms to sign saying that you are adopting Aero Crown. After that, it’ll all be confirmed and we will just have a two week provisional period.” He smiled sincerely.
Twilight frowned at him, looking like there was something she didn’t quite catch something that was said “Wait…a provisional period? What is that? I never read anything like that in any of the books.” It sounded like Twilight felt as if she was cheated of something, like she had passed, but the provisional period was just there to make sure she had definitely passed. “I thought you said I was fine to adopt…once I sign the forms anyway.” Her voice sounded like it was lacking the happiness she had earlier and it was replaced by irritation, and despite her best efforts to hide it, the signs were showing as I could swear the hairs on her main and tail were growing split ends. It actually made me giggle a little bit seeing Twilight overreact to this, although I was still a little bit concerned at what the provisional period was. It seemed as if Joy and Earnest had picked up on Twilight’s frustration and at first appeared to be a little bit uneasy about it, but Earnest stepped closer to her and placed a hoof on her shoulder, wearing a warm smile.
He duly let his hoof slide off of her shoulder “Please Miss Sparkle, don’t get worked up over this. The young ones may get worried if they see you like this. The reason you haven’t heard of the provisional period is because it is something that has only recently been allowed, and we are lucky enough to have been granted the permission on this policy. The idea behind it is that if the pony desiring to be a parent wishes to adopt, then the pony they wish to adopt can stay with them for a small period of time. The pony that visits will then come back after some time there and then we will ask for feedback from the visiting pony. If the pony has a good enough experience then we will let the adopting pony adopt the young one. However, in the rare case that the ponies do not get along on either party then we have the right to cancel the adoption. So you see Twilight, it isn’t that you haven’t done enough. It’s just to make sure that you and Aero can see what life would be like if she were to live with you. We are sure that the two of you will get along, and like I said; the cases we have heard of a pony returning unhappy is very rare. This is new to our centre, and we haven’t had anypony coming back unhappy yet.” He smiled down at me briefly “Aero will probably come back feeling her best.”
Joy nodded and continued for her husband “Oh no doubt about that. The main thing we wanted to discuss with you was our plan for Aero Crown’s provisional period. Earnest and I think it would be a good idea if we adopted a sort of two-to-one scheme. What we mean by that is we will let Aero Crown stay at yours for one day and one night, to be returned by midday, and then she will stay here for two days and two nights before we switch over again. Does that sound fair?” she smiled; her tone had changed from excitable to soothing and soft in just a few sentences. Her voice was so soothing in fact that I felt another yawn let itself be heard. I smacked my lips together a couple of times before resuming to listen to Joy “Of course if that becomes a success then Aero will be able to live with you full time.” Twilight nodded and looked to me with a calm smile, although it soon shifted to a giggle when she saw I was drowsily stumbling on the spot as the early morning was finally taking its full effect on me.
I felt like there was a weight that was gradually applying more and more pressure onto my back, forcing me to lazily trip even though I stayed practically on the same spot. I could feel the other two looking at me now and I could tell they were trying not to giggle along with Twilight; I must have looked like a complete state, almost as if I was drunk “It appears that a certain little filly needs a nap whilst the grown-ups discuss important things.” Joy chirped. I couldn’t even respond with any more than a slow shake of my head and a tired groan, which caused them to start laughing even more. I didn’t care because I was too tired to even feel humiliated. I tried to spy out a clock and when I caught sight of one at the other end of the room, I let my eyes adjust away from their blurry state and I focused so I could see the time. It read to me that it was only five minutes past eleven. “The poor dear has been awake since five this morning.” I turned my eyes so I was able to see Joy through the corner of my eyes, wanting to glare at her for waking me up at that time, but I just couldn’t keep my eyes open for long enough each time I tried. I stumbled again, only to find myself leaning on Twilight, who had got down from her chair and was now standing next to me. “I could tell when she woke up that she was not a morning pony, but I didn’t know it was this bad a case.” She chuckled again. I felt like I was about to stumble over again, but I found that it was now impossible for me to move myself because I was surrounded by a comforting magenta light.
I regained my feeling of weightlessness as Twilight lifted my body up, which was making it easier for me to just start to drift off. I hadn’t been this tired in so long and it felt odd, almost as if I shouldn’t have felt that tired. Something in the back of my head was nagging at me, telling me that I was almost being in an induced sleep. It was a ridiculous idea though because I could see why I might be tired. I must have only got a little bit of sleep the night before and then I had to wake up early in the morning, so it made sense that I was tired, but something was telling me that my incoming slumber had been put forward by a few hours. “Wow she’s really taken a turn…I’ll go put her to bed first and then I’ll sign those forms if that’s okay?” I found the power of gravity exert itself on my back and my hooves spread out as I noticed through my now hazy vision that I had been placed on Twilight’s back and I could just about make out the two older ponies nod to her before she turned and walked out of the room. After then I just closed my eyes, Twilight new which room was mine. I could feel her neck muscles shift and I heard her giggle “You sure are tired Aero, maybe today was a little bit too much for you. At least you’ll get to nap; I still have to study and sign your forms and…huh, I guess she’s asleep.” She gave a soft sigh and turned her head again, turning a corner and I could tell that she was close to my room now.
She must have thought I was asleep, so to tell her I wasn’t I let out a small groan and shuffled a bit on her back. “Oh you’re still awake? Well we’re at your room now.” She opened the door and I heard the short squeak as the door started to pivot on its hinges until it met the wall and was forced to stop with a light tap. Instead of being gently lifted off, Twilight opted for the approach that involved me sliding off of her back so that I was lying horizontally on my bed. I didn’t even have the energy now to open my eyes. It was a strange experience because I was still hearing just fine, my only sense that had been lessened was sight, and that had been completely cut out. I could tell that the room was quite well lit because the brightness was just about seeping through my eyelids, making the inside to them appear orange. Once again I heard Twilight chuckle and along with it, my ears twitched as the sound of the blankets being folded told me that Twilight was probably getting my bed ready, and seeing as I was practically immobile I had no complaints.
I was placed on the bed in the right position and then I felt the blankets move onto me, snugly fitting on top of me, making me give a small whinny in comfort. I feel Twilight get closer to me and then I feel her give me a gentle on my forehead “Have a good rest Aero, I’ll see you soon.” She murmured softly into my ear, causing them to twitch almost uncontrollably as her warm breath sent me into a further state of relaxation. Afterwards I could only hear faint hoof steps as Twilight left the room, but something was telling me that my hearing was now leaving along with my sight. There wasn’t anything distinct to really catch my scent, or so I assumed, but again, I couldn’t be sure. Despite the light still reaching into my room, I was still able to easily drift away into a deep sleep; the last thing I’m able to remember is how soft the blanket felt. I opened my eyes for a second and then closed them to cut out the blinding light. However, I noticed something odd and opened them again, only to be shown nothing. I was totally confused about all of this.
The pitch darkness began to fade and I could now see in front of me. I reached out my arms until I decided I’d give the finger joints a little click. I looked down at my bare feet and wiggled my toes with a small smile. I suddenly stopped what I was doing as I realised something that had somehow escaped me until now “I’m back to being me!?” I shrieked, sounding shocked. I looked at my hands again and moved one to my mouth. I proceeded by putting a finger in my mouth and I started to bite down. I quickly pulled my finger out and looked at the worryingly deep teeth marks “Ouch.” I exclaimed. It may have hurt, but it did give me a smile “Looks like it was all a dream any….nope, it’s not a dream… this is.” I turned my happy expression to a blank one as I looked around where I was standing “Unless I’m in some weirdly colourful mental asylum, then I can safely say that I’m just dreaming. How many places are just endless streaks of colour?” I ask myself, starting to find my questioning rather funny.
The colour in question I was staring at was a dull beige, nothing exciting, but because of that I figured it wasn’t likely and so I didn’t get my hopes up. I soon felt as if there was someone else there with me. I looked around, turning a full circle to see if I could spot anything, but all I could see was the sea of beige flooding my sight. The colour was even dull enough to make me yawn. “I’ve never yawned in a dream before.” I pondered on that sentence until I heard a ‘swoosh’ go past, behind me; the gust of air that followed alerted to me to which direction it headed. I turned and saw something quite a long way in the distance. Whatever it was, it was turning around and landing. It got closer and closer until it landed when it stopped for a few seconds. I squinted my eyes, trying to get a better look at whatever it was, but it was still too far for me to make out a clear shape.
The figure in the distance was getting closer to me, but before I could get another clear look, I was almost blown over by a large gust of wind. I covered my eyes as I waited to fall again. I looked to the ground as soon as I opened my eyes and sighed in relief as I saw that I wasn’t head over heels, I was just standing upright. However, when I looked down for a little bit longer, things felt different. I saw at the bottom of my revision something black. I followed my sight to it and immediately I groaned “Oh fantastic! So now I’m a pony in my dreams.” I sarcastically called out to no one in particular. I huff and kick my hoof into the floor, making a small ‘clunk’ as it bounced back into the air before I let it back down on the ground. I shook my head and sighed again. “This feels so out of place…” I pause to look around again. “This just doesn’t make sense…why am I even saying that. Turning into a pony doesn’t make sense.” I looked down to the floor again, but this time I was greeted with the sight of an extra pair of hooves. I quickly jump back, raising my head to look at the equine that had joined me in my own dream. I didn’t actually think of anypony in my dream. “This is new…” I muttered as I saw the pony in front of me was covered in a dark blue fur. The coat itself had a perfect sheen to it, telling me that this was a very well kept pony. The further I looked up, the more my sight was filled with navy blue, and quite strangely the colour changed from beige to a lilac colour that wasn’t too dissimilar to Twilight’s own fur. For a moment the navy blue was stopped by two circles of white, filled in with two smaller coloured circles. Once I had got past that there was a little bit more navy blue until I saw a beautiful mane. It was flowing as if there was a constant gentle breeze urging it to come to life; it seemed to glimmer small specks of light, much like an array of stars in the night sky. I could have sworn I could make out a constellation to. How was the night sky on a pony’s mane? I shiver as I mentally run over what I had just seen “A p-pony with no eyes!?” I screamed as my imagination gets the best of me and I turn tail and try to run away, only to find I was going nowhere and I was bound by a cobalt aura. “What the heck?” I mimic my tone from before and try harder, but to no avail.
I heard something sigh behind me, and I could only assume that it was the pony, it sounded annoyed, but I wasn’t going to ask and find out, so I doubled my effort in vain “Why must everypony fear me? I seek no harm to you, young one. I was just curiously peeking into your dream. When I saw you were having a dream in another form it tweaked my curiosity and I could not help but get a closer look. However, yet again it seems my past mistakes have come back to haunt me again.” The voice, which belonged to a female, seemed sad about my reaction, not angry or annoyed. “It seems the stories of my disastrous past have even led the young to believe there is no good in me. Perhaps it is best if I remain in absolute solitude.” She sighed and I felt her magic grip on me fade away completely “Go on little one, run away. I cannot blame you; for I am to be seen as the monster of whom I once became.” I could hear her voice almost cracking and she seemed like she was about to cry. I chanced my luck and turned around to see the pony.
I couldn’t have felt any more stupid than I did because I realised that the white spots on the ‘pony with no eyes’ were in fact a pair of moderately toned cyan eyes. I felt really terrible that I hadn’t actually noticed, but I think in the rush I was in to see who it was, I didn’t pay close attention. Her eyes shimmered in the current light, although I could tell that they had that particular shimmer because in my rash actions I had upset her, or my reaction triggered a suppressed memory. When I looked her up and down again I realised I had missed something pretty important. At her chest was a patch of black fur with a crescent moon on her. I looked up to her face again, my mouth agape. “Say what you wish to. I have grown used to grotesque language to describe myself now. It is something that seems synonymous with me.” Her sorrowful display was making me sad and I knew I should say something.
“Y-you’re Princess Luna.” I stammered. She nodded solemnly. She mimics my earlier actions and looks to the floor, and she rubs her left forehoof slowly on her right one; the noise of the two hooves scraping together only making the scene even more awkward for the both of us. “You’re not Nightmare Moon, so you’re not scary…I wasn’t expecting to see you and when I did, you were kinda up close and then when I looked up at you, I might have thought you had…no eyes?” I say the last bit whilst wincing as if I was expecting to receive some kind of brutal beating for my sheer stupidity. “I’m sorry I tried to run away…I just didn’t know what to do…I wasn’t sure if…never mind. I’m sorry Princess.” I gave a small bow to her. I looked up to her again and she seemed somewhat surprised at my actions.
She frowned and leaned in to get a closer look at me “You do not see me as a monster? You mean to say that you see me as your Princess, in joint rule over Equestria with my dear sister, and not as the mare whom desired eternal night?” her eyebrows raise up slightly and she gives a soft chuckle before petting me “What is your name little one?”
I smile at the patting, because as patronising as it was, I still like it. “My name is Aero Crown.” She smiles down at me and then proceeds to sit on her haunches. “Uh, Princess Luna…am I right in saying that this is a dream?” she nods to me “Well how come you’re so…well not influenced by my thoughts? Aren’t all dreams influenced by the thoughts of those having the dream?” she looked back down to me and gave me a somewhat comforting smile, petting me for a couple of seconds before stopping and looking distantly.
She started speaking “Well, Aero Crown, as the bringer of the night it is my duty to check on any of my subject’s dreams. However, your dream looked particularly intriguing.” She looked around “It wasn’t so much the area that sparked my interest, but I believe it was something to do with the strange form that your body manifested itself into. I am aware that anything is possible in dreams, but this is the first time I have seen your type of dream. I was simply too curious to pass up the opportunity to observe. Unfortunately it appears that my presence startled you and in the panic, your form was able to reassess itself and shift you into your true form.” I thought about how ironic that was. In actual fact I felt like I had been startled out of my ‘true form’. She noticed my attention had turned to something else and cleared her throat “My apologies Aero Crown. It appears that my fascination perhaps went too far.” She smiled nervously at me, as if I was now the one who could attack her.
I wave my hoof at her and shake my head in a casual manner, which I think caught her a little by surprise “That’s no problem Princess. I do that all the time. In fact for the past few days it’s basically what has been keeping me sane. Although I always end up questioning, myself and then that might make me seem insane if I question myself allowed, but I can’t help it if sometimes I fell like I am the loneliest pony in Equestria. I have no pony to love me and that means that I only have myself to talk to because no pony wants to be around me or some ponies just don’t want me to exist. I know it all too well Princess. They ma….” I trail off as I find myself sobbing almost uncontrollably not for the first time. My thoughts were over the top, but whenever I said them, for some reason my mind would convince itself that my words were speaking the truth. I was also forced to stop because I felt the warmth of Luna’s wing as she embraced me in her feathered appendage. I looked up at her, teary eyes and sniffling like I had a really bad cold.
She used a fetlock to wipe away a stray tear that was sliding down my face. “Aero Crown I feel a degree of empathy for you. I know all too well what it is like to be abandoned and feel like you have no pony in the world to look out for you. I know it from a very deep level, and unfortunately it got the better of me. The tyrant that I became was a result of all my insecurities; I was so upset that no one appreciated me that it drove me into a blind fit of rage.” She gave a soft smile down to me and pulled her wing and my body in closer to her. The feeling of being in between her soft wing and her warm body was something that gave me comfort and I soon found myself calming down again. “As a young filly, I would say you are doing a far greater job of dealing with it than I did. Like I said, I got jealous, upset and insecure. The way you shed your tears is indeed a more clever approach and one that I’m sure has its benefits.” She used a hoof to lift my chin so I looked directly up at her “Aero Crown, do not let any hatred or jealousy rise, for it will make you no better than what you seek to change. I can promise you that.”
I gave her a rather delayed reaction “Thank you Princess.” I reply, my tone weak. I give a small sigh to the floor and I just let her wing hold me tightly “I just really miss my family.” I bit my lip as I realised that I may have just given myself away. “Uh…well y’know I just I-” my ears fall back as I feel Luna lower her head to look me in the eyes. In this dream I almost thought that Luna would come out with some kind of cliché line like ‘You are my daughter’. However, even in the dream I knew that it wasn’t going to happen, although I wasn’t really sure why that thought came to my head.
“I am not aware of your family situation. When you say you miss your family, are you lost?” I frown for a moment as her cyan eyes keep their focus on me. Technically I guess I was lost, so I nodded at her, keeping a frown on my face. “Well then I am afraid I can only sympathise with you on this occasion. If you are lost, do you have any idea where you are and where your parents may be?” I couldn’t help but feel like I had put myself in a tight corner. No one was going to be there to catch me if I fell and messed this up. If I was to give away my past then I risked possibly provoking Luna into some chain of events that would only end badly for me. Something was telling me that a suitable punishment was likely something that I wouldn’t be able to take. I shook my head free of the thoughts but Luna seemed to think it was my response. “Oh I see. I assume that you meant you don’t know where your parents are?” she raised an eyebrow at me. I couldn’t feel any luckier; I had just dodged a proverbial bullet then.
I start “Uh…” Luna’s eyes narrowed at me and I suddenly felt on the edge again. “I know where my parents are living.” I force my ears back and give a sad look up at her; I silently thanked taking up drama lessons because I was forcing out tears just when I needed to, and I made sure I was looking convincing. “L-Luna…Princess Luna they’re gone. A pony told me that they won’t be able to walk again. They won’t be able to breathe again. I’m young, but I’m old enough to feel the deep pain that it brought to my life. I feel the burn on my body every day. But I know I’ll somehow make it to a better place. Luna, I miss them so much. I don’t mind the orphanage, but I would much rather be back with my family. As impossible as it is, I know that it’s what would make me happiest.” I held back the real tears that were forming; it seemed I couldn’t stop being emotional, and I was mainly not on the good side of my emotions.
Luna’s wing pulled me closer and she gave a soft sigh, lifting her head to look off into the distance “I am truly sorry for your loss Aero Crown. Perhaps there is someone who is ad……hang on just a moment. My sister gave a small mention to me of how her student, Twilight Sparkle, had been taking care of a filly, but my sister informed Twilight that the filly must be put in an orphanage…Are you in PonyVille?” I nodded at her and smiled, knowing she had pieced it together “Do you know a young filly that arrived just yesterday? I believe my sister said that she was a Pegasus like you.” She gave a smile that seemed to wipe away her previously downbeat attitude. I was left feeling a little bit unnoticed because she didn’t even think I was the filly Twilight took in.
I decided to speak up as Luna almost got lost in her thoughts “Twilight did take me in to the orphanage.” I smiled as Luna finally understood what I was saying. “I can’t actually remember my parents. I can’t remember anything before a few days ago when I woke up in Everfree forest. I know this makes me rather…unique. Twilight is probably signing the forms to adopt me as you and I speak…because we are in a dream.” I frown as I think of something and I couldn’t really have a better pony to ask “Because this is a dream, and because I’m controlling myself normally. Does that mean I can control the dream?” I start to feel a little bit excited at the prospect of being able to control my dreams if they’re all going to be like this.
Luna appeared to take some humour from my question. Her laughs were accompanied with small whinnies which I can only assume was a slight variation to her giggle “My dear child, as irritating as this may sound; you cannot alter what is happening in your dreams. Not unless you were to train yourself.” I gave her a frown “I am sorry Aero Crown, but some ponies aren’t able to control things like this.”
I shook my head at her “No I’m not mad at you, I’m just confused…this dream feels so real, which is weird because I’ve never had a dream like this before.” I stay quiet for just a moment, my thoughts processing a thousand memories a second. My ears perked up as I came to an idea “Well…uh…Luna…were you responsible for me falling asleep?” she shook her head at me and shot a curious look at me.
“I would have no desire to enforce a slumber upon an innocent pony, especially not a filly. Why do you ask?” she tilted her head at me, her eyes narrowing slightly in concern. I kept my thoughts to process for few more moments. I stepped away from her embrace and my brow furrowed in concentration.
“Ah hah!” I cheered as I turned around “As I was falling asleep, I felt like I should be awake and still raring to go for the rest of the day because ponies my age have energy right, lots of energy?” she nodded at me, giving me a look as if I was crazy, and I was sure that the excited look I was giving her was probably a bit creepy “Right I’m supposed to have lots of energy, but I didn’t. I felt like I had none, but if I think over it again then I think that I did have the energy, but something was pushing it away. I didn’t actually feel tired. I was being forced to feel tired. I didn’t naturally fall asleep. My sleep was induced. Someone changed my physical and mental capabilities so that I would go to sleep with a bit of magical persuasion. It went unnoticed to the others, so it was subtle…who would do that?” I asked as I finally started to calm down, my thoughts having lost their excitement now that they had been said. “Who could do that?” I frowned again.
Luna raised a hoof and waved it to get my attention “Aero Crown I am afraid I have very little knowledge of any magic that subtle. Twilight is one of the most gifted unicorns that my sister and I know. If she didn’t detect it, then the magic must have been extremely subtle. I think I have an idea of who could be responsible however.” She frowned slightly as she started to think of who it could be. “I believe the being responsible for this is……” I watched as her mouth moved, but nothing came from her actions.
I frown as she seems to be waiting for my response when I couldn’t even hear her prediction “I’m sorry Princess, but I wasn’t able to hear who it was you said. Could you please repeat?” I blushed lightly at her, as if asking was a crime. She opened her mouth and I saw words forming again, but I couldn’t hear them and I noticed that she was actually talking for longer. She was saying something extra now, but I couldn’t here it. She could have been telling me extra information about whoever had induced my sleep. Luna started getting smaller and smaller as I was being moved further and further away. Soon she was just a spec standing in the far distance; she wasn’t trying to catch up with me. I started to panic as I looked to the floor and saw that the colour was draining from it. The colour lost all its saturation and it was just becoming black; I lifted my head and saw that the rest of the colour had done the same thing. Soon I found myself standing on the last remaining blotch of colour. The next thing I felt was my legs going numb and the feeling was soon spreading across my body.
I stumbled and dropped down to the ground, crashing although I felt no pain from it. I tried to stand up again and get my bearings, but it was no use. I had no use of my legs and I could feel the same paralysing feeling soothing my neck, forcing the muscles to relax and I laid my head down on the floor only to feel the same thing happening to my eyelids. They felt heavy and I reluctantly closed them, although it was a losing battle and I shut them.
“Stay down! You must…….rd will……there’s no stopping……break it…go for the…” echoed in my mind as I lost every sense I had until I lost it all and went blank.