//------------------------------// // Chapter 15: Elsewhere // Story: Ponyville, USA // by Rox //------------------------------// - Crystal Empire, Alberta, Canada - Ralph Neville hadn't been that excited in a very long time. He was a geologist by trade, and one of Canada's leading authorities in that field, his job taking him all over the country on government funded projects. He had been working in a glacier park when he had gotten a call not two days before. The Prime Minister had requested that he, along with a group of other scientists and delegates, visit the Equestrian city, meet with their leaders, and report back. Ralph was in geology heaven. An entire city made of crystals! Geodes had been what first interested him in geology decades before as a child in school, and his fascination with them had continued right through the present day. And here he was in geo-nerd heaven. The buildings were incredible. When he had first heard about the crystal city he had assumed they had just simply built everything out of crystal blocks, a beautiful but time consuming endeavor; But no, it was more like they had carved their buildings out of giant crystals. After walking not a block into the city, he couldn’t help himself as he practically pressed his face against the walls of one abode. The house had been carved to fit the odd shape of the red crystal, with the window and door frames carved with laser-like accuracy. But the crystal walls were also thick enough that they were opaque, offering privacy to the inhabitants. Ralph ran his hands along the walls like a kid at a petting zoo, the scientist in him analyzing the imperfections and patterns running throughout. He was completely oblivious to the world around him until he noticed he was being watched. In the doorway stood a pony with a sparkling, blue coat, and it had the unmistakable expression that one would give when questioning one's sanity. "What... are you doing?" she asked, not breaking her half concerned/half indignant stare. Ralph just then realized how ridiculous and unprofessional he must have looked. "Sorry," he apologized, snapping his hands away from the house and backing away. "You have a lovely home." The pony continued her stare for a few moments more, then just like flipping a switch changed her expression to a much happier one and said, "Thanks." And with that she went back in, leaving Ralph to catch up with his group who had long advanced far down the road. He probably didn't help the idea of not looking like a tourist as he did so, his head swiveling as he took in the architecture. With few exceptions, the majority of buildings were certainly carved out of singular, large crystals. Much larger crystals than anything he had seen before, but it was the truth nonetheless. "Where'd you go, Ralph?" asked one of his companions as he caught them. But judging from how more than a few of them chuckled, they had already seen where he'd been. So he laughed weekly too and apologized again for falling behind. Two armored ponies plus a third unarmored one, all with shiny crystalline fur and manes, were leading the group towards the obvious center of the city. The castle was probably not carved straight from a crystal, but the sources it used still must have been gigantic. Three massive arches supported the entire structure, with three towers surrounding the single, larger spire that was easily 250 meters, probably taller. It was a tower worthy of the capital of an Empire, and thus far was visually much more impressive than anything the Americans had seen so far, even if they did have a city entirely made of clouds. Chock one up for Canada. They were still at least 100 meters from the tower when they reached the first point of the star shaped plaza, another tribute to its grandeur. And it was also near there they were met by their appointment. A stallion unicorn with blue hair and a noticeably muscular build stood waiting, his coat standing out as being "normal" in comparison to his shining companions. "Welcome to the Crystal Empire. I am Prince Shining Armor," he introduced himself. He sounded fairly young, somewhat belying his size and apparent rank. It also struck Ralph that, unlike the Princesses he had seen on TV, he was without wings. Why was that? The appointed lead of their group introduced himself, extending a hand in which the Prince placed his hoof and shook. It seemed a relatively informal greeting for royalty. Ralph didn't know much about this creature and had been around him for a whopping 30 seconds, but Shining Armor appeared to be a natural at putting others at ease with him. Either he was a real people pony or one heck of a politician. "If you just follow me I'll be leading your tour of our city," he said, beckoning them on. "Feel free to ask questions." "I got one!" Ralph blurted before they even took a step. The Prince looked a little surprised but still looked on expectantly. "Er, just how long did it take to build this city?" he asked, a little embarrassed. Shining Armor put his hoof to his chin as he thought about the answer for a few moments. "Hmm. Well, the Crystal Empire is ancient, well over two thousand years old, three thousand if you count the time Sombra's curse caused it to miss," he said casually as he continued to think. "I can't say for sure, but it probably was built slowly over long time as the city grew. It most likely saw most of its growth after the founding of Equestria." Shining Armor was then deluged by several questions at once, his explanation opening a floodgate. Three or four of Ralph's group were all trying to talk over one another in an unintelligible garble that was finally silenced when Shining Armor boomed, "HOLD IT!" his horn flashing just a little bit. Effectively quieted and looking a little bit like chastised school children, the delegates waited for him to continue. "Look, I can try to answer all your questions but I'll have to ask that you do it one at a time," he said. "How about we begin our tour and we'll talk as we go?" Nods of agreement settled it as their host turned and beckoned them once again onward towards the tower. Ralph couldn't help but have a sense that no matter what happened, everything was going to change. But that didn't mean he wasn't going to enjoy it! He half listened to the questions explaining some convoluted history involving a power hungry evil king, a big revolt, and some bologna about a curse causing them to skip a thousand years’ worth of time, though from a legend standpoint it was almost as interesting as the huge crystal formations dotting the landscape. - Nicaragua - "What do you mean we can't find them?" The boss wasn't happy. He had sent a shipment of very profitable "product" on its way through the jungle to his buyers in Mexico about a week before, and he had just gotten a very rushed call that the shipment had never made it. "Well, boss, we did find Roberto but he's in bad shape. We found him crawling around in town with a couple of shots in him and babbling about a flying demon." "If I find out when he wakes up that someone stole from me, or if Ricardo turned, there's gonna be some bodies in the river!" "We'll get looking boss. They couldn't have gotten far in the jungle and we'll know it if they show their face anywhere in Nicaragua." His lackeys sped out of the "office," weapons in hand and on shoulders as they hastened to do his bidding. Inwardly the boss mulled over possibilities. Perhaps another gang was getting in on his business and some skulls needed cracking. Or maybe that babble about a demon just simply meant they had an encounter with a jungle predator. But flying? That didn't make sense one bit. No, Ricardo was probably just crazy, so the boss once again turned his thoughts on how he was going to fix this problem and get his product up north where the money was. - Lyra Heartstrings - Ponyville, CO - How did I get stuck with this job? Lyra thought for the thousandth time in a week. Lyra knew that in terms of work she was a bit of a transient when it came to jobs but that was no excuse! Here she was, set up in a makeshift shack, taking names of all the human visitors to Ponyville. Officers of the Ponyville PD watched with a bored glaze in their eyes as the humans relentlessly arrived. Some came with large trucks, offering products to sell. Lyra was actually grateful for these because then she could just pass them off to Meadowlark, who was in charge of things like that. But most were just tourists. Annoying tourists. "Waddya mean I can't go in now?" one such human asked indignantly. He wore a thick sweater that had a collar hiding most of his neck, despite the fact it was nearly 90 degrees in the middle of summer, and these glasses that for some reason seemed to announce "HEY! I'M A JERK!" "We have a policy of only 60 visitors a day," Lyra recited without any feeling. "You are number 72, and there's a two day waiting list. The earliest I can put you on the list for is Thurs-" "That's ridiculous! How could you possibly not--" the human interrupted, slamming his hands down on her desk and scattering some of her papers. If this hadn't have happened at least a dozen times each day, Lyra might have gotten angry, but instead she continued to deadpan the rules over the top of his ranting. When it became clear that he wasn't gonna listen and was just holding up the line, Lyra did decide not to bother the security this time. Focusing her magic, she extended her aura around the human, who was surprisingly heavy for such a light build, and then proceeded to move him ranting and raving through the air and out the door. She dropped him, and to her slight satisfaction he stumbled and fell over when she did so. She straightened the papers with her magic as the next couple walked in. They had two adorable little children with them, and Lyra was taken a little aback when one of them suddenly called out, "Mommy! Look at the pretty pony!" Then the little one, whose blonde head hair pulled back into two cute bundles, dashed away from its mother trying to control them both in vain. It ran around the side of the desk and right up to her little stool, it's big, bright eyes looking at her with pure awe. "Pretty pony!" she said again, clapping her hands and bouncing in place just like Pinkie Pie did when she was excited. "I'm so sorry," said the mother tentatively as she tried to reach around the desk to grab her offspring. "No it's fine," Lyra found herself saying, lowering her head to lean in closer to the little human. She really liked the way this one was looking at her. A few young ones had come in before, but most of them had just hidden behind their parents and a few had even made rude comments. But this one wasn't scared nor did it look at her like a freak. It was refreshing. "Hello, what's your name?" she asked. The little creature squealed excitedly again and said, "Kaylie." "Kaylie? That's really pretty," Lyra replied gently. "My name's Lyra." "Can I touch your hair?" Kaylie suddenly asked, with stars in her eyes. Lyra had been asked before and had always given a stare that might have killed with prolonged exposure. But to this little cutie, she just couldn't deny her. Lyra bent farther over, holding her head level just below that of Kaylie's. The child spread her species' strange looking fingers and very gently ran her hand through Lyra's head mane. It was a strange feeling that was truly incomparable to anything she had felt before. The sensation of the five little digits dragging through her hair were better than any brush and felt dang good. Kaylie did that for only about 20 seconds before finally heeding her mother and dashing back around the table. Lyra composed herself again and was able to smile as she helped the family. She decided that perhaps an exception could be made this day as she gave them the permission slips and sent them on their way up the hill. As she began to help the next human in line, Lyra decided to keep her smile. Maybe she could get used to humans after all. Didn't change the fact her job still really stunk though, which was driven home by the next 12 visitors all expressing irritation at the two day wait. - Maverick, Texas (now just outside of New Braunfels) - Jessica had been looking forward to this date for a while, but to be honest it was kinda turning into a bust. The guy was good looking, sure, but man he had the personality of a doorpost. On top of that, he was kind of a cheap date. But, to his credit, he had come up with an interesting locale. In what had to be the biggest coincidence of all time, an Equestrian town called Maverick had been magicked into existence right on the town limits of New Braunfels. While the streets didn't match perfectly, for all appearances the buildings were placed just like they had always been there. Even without any policing of the "border" one had formed on its own. The ponies seemed to have abandoned the last two buildings on their street to create a bit of a buffer, only ever coming across it if an officer or the mayor brought a message for them. Jessica had heard that they had been supplied with TVs along with most of the rest of their towns so that their big, dark blue leader over in D.C. could communicate with them quickly if need be. Her date had chosen an old Whataburger, which was situated just 20 yards or so from the buffer zone, a fact that had turned the business into the most popular restaurant in New Braunfels. Again, he was cheap. The line was ridiculous just to order a burger guaranteed to satisfy your taste buds and clog your arteries in the same instant, and Jessica found herself standing outside in the hot evening air next to her date, who only seemed to care about what was happening down the road instead of her. Mostly out of spite that it wasn't going well she resolutely looked straight ahead into the fast food restaurant, ignoring the pony town and deciding that she would make him pay for the biggest meal that she could handle. "Hey, babe! You're lookin' good!" "Yeah! Just come on over here!" Jessica whirled around, ready to snarl at some cat caller, but was surprised when she saw a couple of guys not looking in her direction but towards the Equestrians. Giving into curiosity she looked and saw that there were a couple of ponies, most probably mares, making their way to one of the buildings nearby. They weren't paying any attention to the catcallers as they made their way, but it didn't stop the guys from making more remarks. They couldn't have been serious, as they were laughing friends after each stupid line with each other and a small gang of friends. Jessica just rolled her eyes and mentally cursed their brazen immaturity as she turned her mind back to trying to enjoy her date by ignoring them. It didn't really help when they started shouting epithets and insults that no lady, human or not, deserves to hear. By this time, the two mares had already re-emerged from the buildings and were carrying some folded items on their backs. Jessica rolled her eyes in disgust as the jeering continued, and she mentally applauded the two ponies who just kept on walking like those boys didn't even exist. That's about when a meteorite suddenly smashed down onto the street just inches away from the tormentors. Jessica screamed in spite of herself at the sudden impact, jumping back a foot or two out of instinct. She half expected to see an explosion overtaking the crowd, but instead a pegasus stood with his wings flared like an angry hawk The pony had an orange coat and blazing red hair under a cowboy hat of all things, and he looked very angry. "Jus' what did you say!?" he demanded through clenched teeth, extending his neck to be inches away from the guy's face. And for some dumb reason, the young man decided to act like he wasn't even fazed by the dramatic entrance or the sneer that could have belonged to a rabid wolf. "Oh yeah? Whatcha gonna do about it?" he laughed with a confident smirk. The pony seethed but still didn't make a move, standing perfectly still. That's when it got really crazy. The kid was so busy laughing, and the crowd so bewildered, that he didn't see another pony, a blue one only slightly smaller than the first, booking it down the street towards the line before taking a flying leap into a tackle over his compatriot's head. The kid was laid out as the pony spun from the impact with the much larger being and somersaulted back to its feet, his eyes blazing. The kid was dazed but not out as one friend began pulling him up. They may be dumb but they were pretty big themselves. A third friend wasn't about to wait to get hit again and swung at the pegasus, catching him on the cheek. The orange pony flinched but didn't falter, throwing a punch of his own with his front hoof. The second pony didn't wait, once again charging and throwing himself into the body of another of the guys, sending them both wrestling to the ground. Out of nowhere a third and fourth pony came running into the fray. A blue one looked ready to fight and was already trying to throw punches at an increasing mess, while a sea green colored one was actually trying to pry the fighters apart. Jessica couldn't believe what she was watching. There was an all-out brawl between teenagers and talking, multi-chromatic horses taking place on the street outside of the town Whataburger. Humans started jumping in too as more ponies noticed the commotion and joined up. Some people were fighting and others were trying to stop it, holding back kid and stallion or whoever needed to be pried apart. Two ponies teamed up to pull one of the humans off one of their own by grabbing each shoulder and picking him up off his feet. They set him down but stayed airborne in front of him trying to get him to calm down. Then, also out of nowhere, the police showed up. No less than four police officers started demanding everyone to break it up and separate. The fray lasted only about a minute and a half. The officers started trying to get the story out of all those involved, including the dozen or so ponies that were now milling around the scene. The three that were part of the initial fight looked like they had taken some good shots, and the same went for the teens who all sported bruises and limps of their own. "That's it! We're just gonna take you all in! You! You! and You!" the Chief finally said. He pointed at three or four of the guys and the officers immediately handcuffed them and began to lead them away as the chief kept going. "And these three as well!" He pointed at the orange pegasus, who was still seething, as well as his friend who made the tackle and the third stallion who had joined the fight. "Are you serious?" one of the officers asked. Jessica was surprised too. He was really gonna arrest them? "Of course I'm serious!" he shouted. "I will not have disorder in my town! Take 'em in!" The officers looked very tentative and unsure as three of them approached the three ponies. They obviously were completely clueless as to how to take them in, or what to do if they resisted. The orange pony looked like he might try to run or fly away for a second when another pony milling about stepped up. "Sunny Day, yer gonna go with them. I would do the same if you pulled that nonsense in town," the brown stallion said firmly. "That goes fer all y’all. Now grow up and deal with it like stallions." The three ponies looked very surprised, but one by one they looked away with a tone of surrender, one of them muttering, "Yes, Sheriff." Everyone watched as the three allowed themselves to be led away and put in the back of a cop car and driven away to the holding cells. "I'm sorry for the trouble those three caused, Sheriff," the brown pony said to the Chief, and in a way to everyone else. "They mean well but they can be a bit hotheaded." "Far as I can understand they did nothin' I wouldn't have done," the Chief replied. "I'll keep you posted... Sheriff." The exchange would be the subject Jessica's Twitter post a few minutes later (directly followed by one pleading for someone to rescue her from her date) that would soon be re-tweeted over 2 Million times in the next 24 hours. And it wasn't until later that a certain irony caught her eye. The high school boys had been wearing their school t-shirts, which in big white letters had proclaimed their mascot: the Unicorns. - Vinyl Scratch - Santa Monica, CA Now this is the life. DJPon3 sat reclined in a chair backstage to a music production set in a place called Southern California, happily stretched out just like a human, with her hooves behind her head. Ever since her dramatic entrance to that party back home, she had been "discovered" as the saying goes, and she had been whisked around the country. She'd been desperate to get truly discovered for years, doing parties all over Canterlot Valley. She had been stuck in that strange zone between being totally broke and being famous, and it had been that close to driving Vinyl crazy. Not anymore. She and her partner (who leaned against the back wall taking a nap) had already been on three TV shows and were already getting ready to start some real music work. On the little table next to her sat a little device called an iPod, which had been blaring all sorts of music through headphones resting on her ears for the past three days straight. The humans had such a huge collection of recorded music to work with and she was itching to get her hooves on some of it. It helped that a bunch of different music companies had been clamoring to get the "First Equestrian Label" and had been practically groveling to try and convince them to sign with them. She still didn't fully understand their money system, but they had thrown around some really, really big numbers, so she just picked the biggest one and went with it. Not that she cared about that. Music was her life, a fact permanently stamped on her flank. She thought it was kind of sad humans didn't get that benefit of knowing their destiny through a cutie mark. She had always kind of felt bad for donkeys and the like who went through life like that. "Ms. Scratch?" The question managed to reach her ears over a rambunctious chorus by some guy with a name even weirder than her own, getting her to slide the headphones off her head and around her neck, like several of the humans working there. "We're all ready for ya in the sound booth," the eccentrically dressed man said as he pushed open the door. "Alright...." Vinyl stretched and jumped down onto her back two legs. She tried taking a couple of steps like that but was forced to abandon the endeavor quickly. She'd been trying it every once in a while to see if she could actually stand up, liking the idea of being taller, but she was finding it rather difficult and increasingly implausible. "Hey Toasty, get up," Vinyl said, aiming a soft kick at the young stallion, waking him with a start. "Time to get to work." "Hmm? Okay," the yellow pony replied, rolling onto his hooves and lifting himself up. "Got any ideas yet?" "A few," Vinyl said. "Hope you're ready to be on your game." "Always," he answered with a smirk. The two ponies sauntered confidently down the hallway, both of them drawing satisfaction from the looks of mixed awe and curiosity that the humans still couldn't help but spare for them as they walked by. Their destination wasn't a big room by any standard, yet it was crammed with equipment of all sorts, half of which Vinyl hadn't the foggiest what it did. "Hey Jason," she greeted the producer of their project, a short human with tan skin and an affinity for black clothing. "Vinyl," he nodded back. "Let's get this place rockin'!" - Phoebe - Reno, NV - Phoebe didn't know what to think anymore. Life had never been good to her and had a nasty habit of throwing unwanted surprises her direction. A sick draconequus living in her spare room, watching TV and drinking copious amounts of water and snack food was definitely one of these unexpected occurrences. There had been a couple times that she had considered just calling the authorities or some hospital or vet or something and just having them take him off her hands. It would have been so easy and really would have removed a pain in her neck from her life. But he was still the most interesting thing that had happened in years, and at the moment that was enough to keep her from doing just that, even if that fact was just a bit saddening. She heard a noise coming from the room upstairs, prompting her to go and see what was up this time. Discord had been gaining mobility slowly and could now raise himself up. He even had taken a couple of steps the previous day, before collapsing on top of her in a comical heap. She opened the door slowly, a little wary of any possible hijinks. You don't get a name like Discord for nothing after all. The tall combination of creatures was sprawled out on the bed and was snoring emphatically, limbs and tail spread about like he didn't have a care in the world. If she didn't know better, she'd think he was faking it. But he really did sleep like that, and for all appearances was out like a light. She glanced around the room. The TV was still on, showing some re-run of a Mythbusters episode. Several empty chip bags littered the floor along with several empty water glasses stacked up in random assortments. Lord of Chaos was becoming more and more an appropriate title. The bed itself was unmade and the blankets all over the place, and the pillow of bubbles was holding up. Wait. What? Phoebe didn't often do double takes because she usually didn't care enough to spare the time, but when she did her eyes confirmed that instead of a down pillow that she had lent him to sleep with. There was a perfect, pillow shaped blob of bubbles under his head. She got startled a little bit as she stared when Discord suddenly snorted and shifted a little bit. As he did so he stretched his talon arm towards the ceiling, and then snapped his fingers. Phoebe jumped back in surprise when she realized the once plain white door she had been standing next to was now an ugly red, blue, and green plaid. Just like that! Instantaneous color change. You mean all that BS about magic wasn't.... BS!? She rushed over and immediately began shaking him awake. She was afraid that he might do something again and change her into something crazy if she just let him sleep. "Wha- wah? Oh, good morning Phoebe. To what do I owe this generous wakeup call?" he said in his usual infuriatingly unfazed manner. "It's afternoon!" she practically yelled. "What the heck is that?!" She pointed at the door, which had somehow changed again to bright pink polka dots. Discord, for a change, looked surprised himself, taking a long look at his hand. "It appears that my magic is finally beginning to return," he mused. "The magic field must have finally reached this charming little town. About time I say. I expected it to expand much faster. I wonder if my counter spell had anything to do with it? Oh well..." Most of that went over Phoebe's head, this being the first she had heard of a "magic field." But her candy striped door and an affront to hydro physics posing as a pillow were broadening her acceptance, if but for a short time. Discord started laughing before going into another coughing fit. "I do believe that's the first time I've seen you crack a smile," he laughed. "Fluttershy's right. It does feel nice to do that for someone else. Who knew?" In spite of her brain still wanting to grasp her changing reality, she asked, "Who's Fluttershy. You've said her name, like, five times." Discord pushed his body up as far as it would allow him, a reclined seated position, and smirked fondly (how is that even possible?) as he said, "Oh, a good friend of mind. We're pen pals she and I." Pheobe's mind immediately switched back into her normal mode. Perhaps it was intense jealousy or something else, but whenever anyone mentioned anything about a "good friend" she got really moody really fast. And for pete's sake, this... thing has a girl too? When Phoebe hadn't been able to keep a boyfriend for more than a couple of months and hadn't had so much as a date in nearly a year. What's up with that!? "Oh," Phoebe said icily. She didn't care if that's what he actually meant, it was still disheartening. "Ah, there's the normal you," Discord laughed. "I was beginning to wonder if I had somehow accidentally addled your mind. I could do that you know." "No thanks," she deadpanned. "So will you be better soon?" "I should begin healing much faster now, but who knows when I'll be 100%," he lamented with false tragedy. "Whatever," she said as she turned to leave, passing by the orange swirled door without even a bored glance. "Just don't destroy everything or I'm gonna make you pay me back." "How? I don't think I have your little green papers you use for money!" he called back playfully as she went back down the stairs towards her refuge in the land of the Internet. - Luna - Washington D.C. - "We-- I am not sure I understand what you are proposing," Luna said to one of the Congressman sitting across from her. "A total currency exchange," the man repeated. "We would establish a flat rate, then make a direct exchange of Bits for Dollars. This would allow Equestrian citizens to easily purchase goods and services from Americans, as well as allow Americans to do likewise from Equestrians." "To be clear, you propose my citizens trade in their bits for your... dollars?" Luna repeated slowly. "That is correct, y- Your Highness," he said. Luna had no idea why the title had come out sounding so awkward, but since it had been consistently occurring she just ignored it for now. She glanced at President White, who was watching virtually expressionless, for the moment staring at the congressmen with a quizzical look. "Congressman Polaski, where will these funds come from? We don't have the budget for that kind of thing. Not to mention it’ll cause the worth of the gold we already have to plummet. We could destabilize our own economy," another representative cautioned, igniting a few other loud comments about their budget betwixt each other. Luna had never been too involved in the Equestrian economy, having never been much of a mathematician herself, but to these humans it seemed that figuring out how to use their money, however badly they did it, was the top of their agenda. It had been so for most of the meetings that Luna had attended with them. "I'm afraid I must bring up another potential grievance with your proposal," Luna said, cutting into the conversation at the first lull. "Your plan seems to assume that the spell will not nor cannot be reversed. Should the mystery be solved, 'twould leave my citizens in a strenuous situation upon their return to Equestria." A quick flicker of annoyance crossed Congressman Polaski’s face as Luna explained her concern. Luna in turn received the impression that this in particular representative really wanted to put all their gold currency under the control of their government, not really caring how that happened. A few others had given similar impressions over the preceding days when it came to money matters. This was nothing new. Dealing with the nobles of Canterlot often yielded the same kinds of interactions. "However, I am currently inclined to agree with the notion of a small scale exchange rate where parties wish to purchase goods," Luna added. This had been discussed before, but-- "The exchange rate for everyday purchase would be far too unbalanced." T'was true. Gold was far more common in Equestria, hence why it had become the primary currency since the beginning, but not so much here in the human world. Gold was worth an exorbitant amount of their money, which would give her own citizens incredible spending power on American goods but would make it very expensive for Americans to buy even the smallest of trinkets or treats from an Equestrian shop. An unusual conundrum indeed. "Perhaps we should adjourn for the night," a woman representative suggested. By stars these people adjourn court more often than Celestia does! However, a glance out a window did show that the summer sun was setting, and Luna was beginning to feel the familiar tingle of the dreamscape beginning to gain strength. It was getting late after all. The struck her as strange. She usually had such a good sense of time, seeing as it was her duty to bring the moon up every night. To come to a world where it did it on its own was... unsettling. After pleasantries were exchanged and after a trip back to the generous suite they had acquisitioned for her, Luna set up for the night. She hadn't the slightest idea how her sister had ruled over both day and night for her thousand year absence, because after just a few days of this Luna was beginning to feel really tired. True, she didn't have to worry about the position of the moon anymore, but she still felt a duty to watch over dreams. While she could practically do that in her own sleep, at each night's peak there were so many souls that she was positive the number was in the billions. She counted herself fortunate that only half the planet was asleep at any given time, and even more lucky that not everyone nor everypony would have a dream. But navigating it was difficult and taxing enough. On the surface human dreams looked no different than pony dreams, and their nightmares were no different either. In fact, both species were now having dreams that included each other in them, serving to make it all the more difficult to tell them apart. Some of those dreams were getting really weird. She entered the dream world, initially overcome again by the sheer scope of souls for a moment before getting it under control. Most of the dreamers appeared to be young for the moment. It would be awhile before the numbers would swell with adults. A commotion caught her attention, a surefire nightmare that Luna reacted to on instinct. She immediately dove into the dream, finding a frightening monster terrorizing its way through a dark forest. A common nightmare, but very frightening to foals. She quickly focused her magic and banished the monster in a dramatic puff of smoke, trotting into the clearing to find a small human boy. She stopped short. She hadn't even stopped to check if the dreamer was Equestrian! The fear was just so strong she had simply reacted. The little boy looked up at her, completely unsure of what to expect from this new arrival. "Do not fear. I am the Princess of the Night. You are safe," she said as soothingly as she could. Did human children react the same as foals? She honestly didn't know what to do, so the Night Princess stood still with a small smile that probably didn't inspire any confidence. The boy stood up from his position on the ground with a curious expression. "Is this a dream?" he asked. "Yes it is young one," Luna answered happily. "Oh," the boy replied looking contemplative. Then his face lit up. "Cool!" He then ran straight up to her, standing but a pace away as he craned his head back to look up at her, "So will you be friends with me? My name's Zack." That took Luna aback. Not once had any of her subjects just asked that straight out, whether in a dream or elsewhere. But here was a little human who had done it upon what was likely the very first time he had ever seen or heard of her. For a moment, she didn't know what to say or do. Zack started to look a little crestfallen when she didn't answer right away. This nearly made Luna's heart stop. It was the same look she saw on her own face in the mirror in the many months following her return from the Moon. The one longing for a friend. "Of course we can be friends Zack," she said. "Just call me Luna." "Luna... I like that name!" Zack said excitedly with his eyes lighting up, reaching in to hug her legs. He was barely tall enough to reach above her knees. She wrapped one hoof around her new little friend, still wrapping her head around what had just happened. Friendship was so rarely so easily earned. Suddenly something powerful rippled across the dreamscape that caused Luna to look up and outside of the dream. It was another one! She had seen it twice already on previous nights but hadn't been fast enough to react and find the source or its final resting place. This time was no exception. Some sort of powerful magic with the appearance of perhaps lightning or a shooting star (she couldn't decide) landing among the dreams. "Is something wrong?" Zack squeezed onto her tighter, prompting her to look away. Her gaze softened as she said, "Nothing is wrong. Don't worry." She wished she could believe herself. She had watched the dreamscape for over two thousand years and had never seen anything like it. And there was absolutely no question that whatever it was, it was almost pure nightmare.