My Family and Other Equestrians

by Blade Star


Chapter 58 - Live from The Sands

For the second time since my arrival in Equestria, I found myself completely lucid and taken from my dream, which I do not remember, standing on a moonlit hillside. The sky was clear and filled with stars. To my left was the Princess of the Night herself. Having not just been pulled from a vivid bad dream (I hate to use the term ‘nightmare’), I asked the obvious question.

“Luna, what brings you here?” The princess smiled and settled herself down beside me.

“I thought I could come and talk with you for a while, since we haven’t had a chance to speak since Nightmare Night. Equestria is quiet and peaceful for the moment and I just parted ways with the last petitioner for the night. Thus, I am here, as are you,” she replied.

“You wish to talk about my love life I suppose?” I offered, unintentionally sounding bitter. Again though, she smiled.

“Your ‘love life’ and what you choose to do in it, is none of my concern, Blade Star. I am here solely to ‘catch up’ as they say, with a friend.” I breathed a silent sigh of relief, at last somepony who wasn’t intent on sticking their snout where it didn’t belong! I turned to briefly hug her.

“It’s good to see you again, Luna.”

We talked for, in reality, only a few minutes. Those of you familiar with the mechanics of dreams will know that time passes within them at a greatly accelerated rate. So while it seemed as if we talked for a good three hours or so, in the waking world, it was probably no more than thirty minutes.

Luna chatted about her own Night Court, the natural counterpart to the Day Court in which my father sat as an advisor. It was steadily finding itself with more serious and genuine petitioners. To begin with, it had either been unattended or been populated sparsely with Solar zealots and idiots who believed the wise, kind alicorn to still be the evil demon that sought to bring about night time eternal. Luckily though, as the months had crept by, and with her successful visit to Ponyville, these ponies had steadily trickled off and been replaced by actual petitioners.

Many saw Luna as being slightly more approachable than her elder sister. Others saw her as an alternative to Celestia, who at times would hold back on serious issues. Luna may be calm and kind, but harm her ponies, well; you’ve seen what happens when she gets mad. Of course, Luna also dealt with more crime than her sister, giving her own Lunar Guards plenty of work to practice infiltration as well as presenting an unusual use for her dream walking. When she saw the dream of a crime and confirmed it to be a memory, she would silently send two of her guards to bring the guilty before her. It was an interesting system, I’ll say that much.

“Sounds like you’ve actually got a fair bit on your plate for once, Luna,” I commented as she finished summing up her night.

“That was actually why I came here, Blade Star. You provide some pleasant company and relaxation without the distraction of my title. Tell me, how familiar are you with the concept of ‘lucid dreaming’?”

I was aware of it, in fact on several occasions I had even managed to achieve such a state, though often by luck rather than judgement. It was an interesting concept, to be able to take control of your dream and shape it as you wish. It was like having access to the illusion spell Twilight had taught me, but on a much grander scale. And of course, such a world is populated by characters.

“Ah tried it once or twice, why do you ask?”

“With my dream magic, I can keep a dream stable almost indefinitely, hence how I am able to converse with dreamers after removing nightmares. However, it is much easier when I myself am not the dreamer. Were you to weave a world for us to visit, I would be able to keep us both lucid.”

Now that, fillies and gentlecolts, was an interesting proposition. I could effectively go anywhere and do anything, retaining my awareness throughout and have Luna along for the ride. I wracked my brain for somewhere suitable. It would definitely have to be someplace on Earth, somewhere to talk and relax, music maybe.

That’s when it hit me, if it were still possible, I would have snapped my fingers. A place that had good music, drinks and a certain appreciation for life at night. Carefully focusing on the image in my mind, I began to weave the world.

Firstly, the peaceful moonlit hillside we sat upon promptly vanished, and we found ourselves sitting in a white expanse. Then the world began to form around us. It was like you were looking at a film that was not quite in focus; the image was blurry and the sound distorted. But as Luna flared her horn, the image, and consequently the dream, stabilised. We found ourselves in a large expansive room with mint green ceiling and walls with teak highlights. Small faux chandeliers hung from the ceiling bathing the room in warm yellow light. At the front was a fairly large stage, with lavish curtains. Sitting right in front were row after row of long tables dotted with small tableside lamps and covered with lavish white tablecloths. Further back, a waist high rail and few steps separated that from a set of smaller tables more suited for couples and small groups. Soft carpets could be felt underhoof.

With the world formed, I quickly began to populate it. The tables were filled with people laughing and chatting to each other over drinks. The scent of perfume and cigar smoke hung in the air, whilst a swing band played an interlude in the background. Finally, to fit us both in, I added some evening attire. For me, a sharp suit with a black jacket complete with a matching tie of course, and for her, a silky little dark blue number that was just a shade or two darker than her coat which turned to black as you reached the edge, along with her ever present obsidian crown.

The strange locale she found herself in along with our sudden change took Luna aback for a moment, and she was stunned into silence briefly as she looked around.

“Where in Equestria is this place?” she asked, her nose wrinkling slightly at the unfamiliar odour on the air.

“It’s not Equestria, Luna,” I replied, leading her to one of the smaller tables, which oddly had the same cushions you’d expect to find in Equestria. “Ah thought we might go someplace a little different. Welcome to Earth, specifically the Sands Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada. This is the Copa Room, and Ah’d say it’s about ten in the evening in 1963."

And with that, the announcer came over the speakers.

The whole show lasted about an hour. It consisted of a half an hour of songs, and around half an hour or so (go to 34:30) of the three men colloquially known as ‘The Rat Pack’ performing ad lib with each other. After the first fifteen minutes, the night princess sitting across from me was howling with laughter at Dean Martin’s on-going feud with the band leader on how long the last note ought to be held and the occasional questionable joke at Sammy’s expense. By that time we’d both ordered ourselves a drink or two (due to the dream state the fact that two talking ponies had wandered into one of the biggest casinos in Vegas was not an issue) and had settled down to watch the show.

It was certainly a pleasant experience; whilst AJ was closer to me than anypony, Luna was more of a dear friend I could talk to. As I said before, I liked to think we both had a lot in common. This was merely a good night out with a good friend. A friend who happened to at that moment be the head of state.

One thing that amazed me throughout the whole experience, was the details my mind. Every single person, and there had to be around four hundred people was unique, every song line was exact and I honestly thought I was sitting down watching the Rat Pack. I guess that’s why they say we only use around ten percent of our brains when we’re awake.


But as they say, all good things must come to an end, and the show eventually drew to a close. The two of us eventually found ourselves outside on The Strip looking up at the starry sky. Even with all the lights, you could still make out most of the stars in the sky, and of course the moon. Luna turned to me.

“I had a wonderful time tonight, Blade Star.” I smiled and pushed my fedora a little way back on my head, whilst my other hoof clung to my jacket that I’d slung over my shoulder.

“Me too, it was certainly an experience, Ah’ll tell you that,” I replied.

“Perhaps we should make a habit of this little venture,” Luna suggested. “This evening has certainly been a welcome change of pace for me and I would greatly value another chance to see a little bit of Earth.” That I could certainly live with.

“Sure, Princess, but err, call ahead first, eh?” We both laughed at that.

And with that, Luna released her hold over my dream. The world began to distort again and one by one, the lights of Vegas went out. The evening-wear I had on had faded from my form and eventually Luna herself disappeared into the night. As the world finally disappeared into the darkness, I found myself waking up once again back in Equestria, on Sweet Apple Acres. It had certainly been some night.

As the world became a void, a thought occurred to my rapidly awaking mind. What if I could do this sort of thing with Applejack sometime? Luna was able to link ponies’ dreams to her own for the purposes of her nightly work, but what if she could link two ponies and act as a sort of conduit? I could do something like this with AJ, okay maybe not the glittering lights of Vegas in the 60’s, but there’s bound to be something we could do together. I made a mental note to ask Luna if it was at all possible, and of course if she would be willing to do it, the next time she chose to drop by.


As we all sat down that morning for breakfast, Applejack, Big Mac and I talked amongst ourselves about what jobs needed to be done. With the health checks done and all the necessary trees felled and processed into lumber, we once again had a quiet spell. Aside from keeping an eye out for weeds and vermin, there was little to do now but wait and watch. At least, that was the situation farm-wise.

Outside of the Apples’ work mentality, there was quite a lot happening. The Equestria Games were only a few months away now, and the excitement was starting to build. Along with that of course, the family reunion was beginning to draw near, where every member of the Apple family would descend upon their ancestral home of the acres. Still, both those events were a fair way away. Consequently, the universe, perhaps seeing this calm as being too kind, threw in a monkey wrench. It began with a knock on the door.

“Ah’ll get it,” I said, having just finished up my own breakfast. Winona quickly followed me to the front door, barking happily as she went. Opening the door, I found initially no one. I looked around.

“Hey, down here!” called a familiar voice. I realised that Ponyville’s only resident dragon had called upon us.

“Oh, sorry Spike,” I said, quickly adjusting my gaze downward to find the little purple dragon. “What can Ah do for you this early in the mornin’? You’re usually still asleep this early.” Half-past seven was definitely well outside of Spike’s normal sleeping habits.

“It’s Twilight; she’s having one of her ‘moments’.” I cocked an eyebrow at that, a skill I’ve probably picked up from AJ. “Derpy came by last night with her daughter, Nurse Redheart and your mom. After that, she started going through every biology book she could find, I’m pretty sure she stayed up all night again.”

“Did any of them say what it’s about?” I asked. “And why the hay was my mom there anyway?”

“She said she thought there was something wrong with Dinky, so she told Derpy. Derpy took her to Ponyville hospital, but they couldn’t do anything so they took her to the library to see Twilight.” This was starting to sound just a mite odd.

“And ya didn’t happen to hear what this ‘problem’ was?” I offered. Spike shook his head.

“Something about her heart I think; everypony came back this morning and Twilight’s completely stumped.” I thought for a moment; they always say two heads are better than one. I’m sure seven heads are better than six. I turned back into the house and told AJ I was popping out for a minute.

“Alright, Spike, Ah’ll come back with ya; see if we can’t sort this whole mess out.” I briefly lit my horn and grabbed my hat from its place on the stand. “Come on, jump up; Ah’ll give ya a lift.” With Spike secured, I cast my horn alight again and powered a teleport, which would probably leave me a little out of breath. The pair of us promptly found ourselves in Ponyville, not too far from the library.


Arriving outside, everything seemed relatively normal. The library hadn’t gone airborne, there were no signs of smoke or fire and the laws of physics and quantum as well as temporal mechanics seemed to still be in effect. Still, the two of us remained cautious as we gently pushed open the door and walked inside.

We found the situation pretty much as Spike had described it. Twilight was pacing around the library, frustration clear on her features in spite of the various texts that surrounded her through her magical grasp. Sitting on one of the reading tables, in the place of the wooden horse bust was Dinky; Derpy’s daughter, and possibly one of the most adorable fillies in Equestria. Gathered around her was her mother, my own mother and Nurse Redheart. All three looked decidedly nervous, whilst Dinky seemed to be quite calm and more interested in the architecture of the library rather than any other issue. Just as I closed the door behind me, Twilight groaned irritably and tossed the book she had previously been consulting away.

“This doesn’t make any sense!” she exclaimed, throwing her front hooves up in frustration. “There’s no mention of anything even close to Dinky’s characteristics. And I can’t believe this is just a genetic quirk, there would be some record of it somewhere.” I began to think of a way I could calm Twilight down without placing my own continued existence in jeopardy. “I mean, it shouldn’t even be possible for somepony to have two hearts!”

What?

Was she serious?! This called for a sudden change in tactics.

“Twilight,” I called out. The purple alicorn, along with everypony else turned around and at last noticed Spike and I standing just inside the building. I tried to think about how best to proceed without breaking a Pinkie Promise.

“Does Equestria have access to x-ray equipment, or something similar?” Nurse Redheart responded instead.

“That’s how we confirmed what was going on with her,” she snapped, a little irritably. “Just because we don’t have that ‘tee-vee’ thing Twilight keeps telling me about doesn’t mean we live in the dark ages.” She handed me a small manila folder containing several x-rays, just as you’d expect to find in a hospital on Earth. Holding them up to the light I examined them for myself.

The vital organs could easily be distinguished in the shot, though they appeared somewhat transparent. Looking carefully I could see several characteristics that were definitely not equine in origin, Dinky did indeed have two hearts, a fact that set my own heart racing. Setting the x-ray photographs down I turned to Dinky herself, leaving Twilight to examine the x-rays for herself.

“Hi Dinky,” I said brightly as I walked up to her.

“Hi, Mr Star,” she replied politely.

“Looks like you’ve stirred up quite the ruckus,” I commented dryly. The filly smiled and nodded. “Ah think Ah can sort this out, but Ah’ll need ya to answer a couple questions for me first. Okay?”

“Okay.”

And so, I began to question little Dinky. I asked her questions mainly on science and mathematics. As my mother had already noted, she was incredibly smart for her age; too smart. As if her possessing two hearts, a binary vascular system, the ability to survive in unusually cold temperature as well as in otherwise inhospitable environments and her ability to sustain injuries that would kill most other beings, was not indicator enough. With my little bit of timewasting complete, I turned back to the group.

“Well, Ah can definitely tell you that you have nothing to worry about. Ah know what’s up with Dinky here.” I paused to ruffle the filly’s mane, and to enjoy the one moment in time where I knew something Twilight Sparkle didn’t.

“So what is the matter with her?” Twilight asked impatiently. I turned to my mother.

“Well, Ah’m surprised you didn’t work it out, Mom,” I said, looking at her in mock surprise.

“What do you mean?” she replied. “I don’t know nearly as much about Equestria as you do. How am I supposed to know something Twilight doesn’t?”

“Simple; Dinky here isn’t Equestrian,” I paused. “Actually to be fair, she is half Equestrian; Derpy is her mother after all. No, Dinky is a hybrid with another species.” My mother remained confused. “Come on, Mom; two hearts, intelligent to the point of being dangerous, a slightly eccentric disposition.”

“What on Earth are you on about?” she and Twilight exclaimed together. I suppose I had been lording it over them a bit.

“Alright, Ah’ll put it simple. Time Lord.” Silence followed for about three seconds.