//------------------------------// // The Talk {RE-EDITED} // Story: The Poisoned Barb // by ManlyDerp //------------------------------// I-I suppose it was too much to ask for old Bluebelle to use up all of the Prince’s free time today like she usually does. There’s no running away now… Or is there? “Are you s-sure you wouldn’t like me to just keep writing instead?” I ask, grasping at straws. “T… t-there’s still so much more to sa-” A raised hoof swiftly silences me. “I believe I’ll be fine for now, dear child,” replies Prince Solaris kindly with a small smile. “Thank you for the offer though. I may request to read a more completed copy later, but for now…” Tap tap “... this book,” he finishes with a quick rap across the item in question’s surface. Drat. Worth a shot I guess. In a bid to buy time, and to calm my nerves, I take a long swig of my poured tea. Living in a unicorn city such as Canterlot provides the uncommon benefit of having cups around that are claw compatible. Most pony tea sets skimp out on the handle portion, instead opting to make loops better designed to be manipulated with hooves and mouths. This leaves dirt and slippery saliva everywhere, but not with unicorn levitation. I contemplate on this… when in reality I should have been mentally fortifying myself for this talk. I’m gonna crack I’m gonna crack I’m gonna crack!! "Breathe!" … Inhale… Exhale… Bleh. Not my day. Not my day at all… Inhaling again for good measure, trying to avoid tipping off the Prince, aaaannnnnddddd done. I’m… I-I’m in no shape to lead this off, so… so I suppose Solaris will need to. Okay… … O-okay… … INHALING AGAIN CAUSE THIRD TIME’S THE CHARM!! AAAANNNNDDDDD…  Setting my cup gently down on its saucer, my face the perfect (ish) mask of calm, I look up at the alicorn across the table and speak with all the bravado I possess. “W-w-w-w-what do you want to know, y-your Highness?” Smooth, Barb. Smooooottth. I receive a soft and polite sounding chuckle for my troubles. “Haha. Barbara, child, relax. Relax... This isn’t a trial.” Bal to the ony, your Highness! Taking a long sip of his own cup, his face a picturesque image of content, my ‘friend’ lets out a long sigh of enjoyment before drawing his eyes back to the book by his spot. With the wave of his horn, he levitates the object before his face and opens it wide. His eyes begin to scan the pages, seemingly at random, before he closes it and brings it floating over to me; smiling all the while. “Do you know what this book is?” he poses as a question, though I knew it really isn't one. “T-the… the book I bought for Dusk the other day, sir?” Another chuckle leaves the Prince’s lips. “No, nothing of the sort,” he explains around this laugh. “This is actually my own copy of it. I imagine Dusk’s is currently within his possession right now. Perhaps he is even reading it as we speak?” “H-heh. One can only hope, sir.” Though his smile never drops, I can tell that I had just done something to upset him. Oh God oh God o- “Please, Barbara... no more of this ‘sir’ nonsense! I can’t convince my student that it isn’t necessary but I hoped I could you. It makes me feel old, haha.” … h God. Ugh, I’m jumping at shadows here… “But moving on,” the stallion then states, resting the book in the middle of the table. There it lays open with but a single image present; a two-page splash image of a white stallion with a red mane… and a dark blue stallion with a light blue mane. “I believe it’s safe to assume that you’ve read this book before, yes?” “... Yes, si- Solaris,” I admit as neutrally as I could. No point in lying now. I j-just need to not crack, that’s all. Just don’t crack like an egg and maybe, just maybe, surviving this will be possible. … If not survive... then… t-then maybe try to last long enough to convince him to send Dusk to Ponyville anyways, with or without his ex number one assistant. Just because my life is about to be ruined doesn’t mean that his has to be too. Solaris’ mane continues to blow at its usual pace as our conversation continues. I've tried in the past to see if I could spot it moving differently at all whenever the Prince lied or was being his usual self, but it was ultimately a fruitless endeavor. He has little to no tells; the perfect smiling poker face. Truly a frightening individual. “Hmm. I figured as much,” came his eventual reply. It came out so simply and plainly that I couldn’t discern what emotion he was feeling. Prideful? Amused? Angry? I'm left with nothing but frantic guessing! “It could have simply been something that caught your eye in a store one day, but I had my suspicions that there was more to it than that. Haha.” Please stop laughing like that, pony. It isn’t helping me at all here. “Y-you… ahem. You did, Prince Solaris? W, w-why?” The warm smile of the sun lord keeps on beaming softly, never changing into a frown or becoming any weaker. The consistency is keeping me on edge. “Well, you see,” answers the alicorn as he starts to explain. I take note that something had begun to creep into his tone at this point; a tone that I swear sounds… playful. Oh whatever higher power that watches over souls throughout the multiverse; nothing is scarier than a playful god. Please save me. “I was planning on giving Dusk this book to read today as well!” Crap crap crap crap poo! My earlier guess was right! I didn’t actually need to do anything! “Really?” I ask as clueless sounding as I could. I don’t know if it'll work on that front, but at least I finally replied without stuttering like the guilty idiot I am. “Really,” he jokingly parrots… or, at least I assume it was jokingly and not, say, mockingly. “There are stories in this tome that I feel will serve my student well in the days to come. You having read it yourself is an unseen boon! Tell me; was it recently that you read it, or perhaps instead back during your time with the Bluebelles?” I take this moment to quickly stick a purple claw into my bowl of gems and just as quickly pop one into my mouth. I did this for two reasons, one of which being, admittedly, comfort food. It works almost as well as chocolate on dark days. My second reason though was more practical; it bought me a precious few seconds to not only compose myself but to also think. I shouldn’t answer any more of these questions instantly, not even simple ones like this. Remember; all of Solaris’ questions are secretly tests. Every one of them… and, again, I’m not paranoid! I can’t answer these things simply with one or two words; I need to answer them fully without stuttering, less I make him even more suspicious than he already is. So I shouldn’t give short answers, but I also shouldn’t give long answers either. With my current mental state, I’m liable to say more than I mean to. I can organize my thoughts better with paper than I can with my tongue. This is one of the few quirks about me that stayed the same through my reincarnation, and has served as a thankful sign that my past life was real and not just the delusions of a creative child. Tick… tock… tick… tock… The clock in the room once again acts as a reminder that I, unfortunately, aren't allowed to dottle right now. Washing down the emeralds with a sip of my drink, taking a moment to sigh contently from the brew’s lovely aroma and taste, I return my attention to the Prince and finally answer him with a wisp of confidence. “Yes, Prince Solaris. I read it during my time at the Bluebelles’ estate. However, I’ve forgotten quite a bit about it since then. Sorry.” “Not completely though, I assume?” he was quick to ask, I guess not wanting the conversation/interrogation to halt again. “Yes that’s correct,” I offer honestly. I remember quite a bit, but I actually have forgotten a large portion of the tome over time as well. The legends, the monsters, the lore… none of it really appealed to me at the time. I wasn't quite into mythological creatures and tales like my son wa- Is. Like my little boy probably still is into, even to this day... Even as the fine young adult he’s grown up into w-without m-m-m- Chinkchinkchink... The grip on my teacup tightens briefly as a hole starts to form in the pit of my heart. Small cracks ran up its handle, threatening to reach the cup itself. As quickly as they had appeared, though, the feelings and pressure both soundly vanish as I slowly ease up. I smother the emotions deep inside, just as I always have; deep inside my heart for later use. Not now... I… I can’t afford to wallow in melancholy right now. Not now... “I… remembered a passage about stuff happening a thousand years ago though,” I finished as soon as I could, not wanting there to be a questionable pause in my speech. “That's why I bought it, your… your majesty…” “Ah,” Solaris spoke soon after, hopefully having not noticed anything to be amiss. “So because of this one and perhaps only passage, you felt Dusk would enjoy it today?” “Yes,” I say with the nod of my head, contradicting my earlier decision of not giving him short answers. Frankly though I'm just glad that he finished my sentence for me, seeing as how I was knocked off my already shaky game there for a second. I don’t think he noticed the pause, but who could really say besides him? My response causes the pony in questions' ever-present smile to brighten just slightly. Unlike how it did at the beginning of the talk, this time the change wasn’t followed by a feeling of dread for me. That's a good sign. “So you got it for him because of today’s celebrations, hmm? Is that correct?” With my gloomy moment having momentarily passed, the pain still there but repressed, I was again able to separate myself from this affair and analysis Solaris' seemingly simple question towards me smartly. What is he trying to learn now? Is he trying to connect my actions to the Nightterror’s return prophecy? That might be it… As I think about all this though, desperately trying to decide what the ‘proper’ response should be, I'm suddenly and unexpectedly struck with an extreme sense of... déjà vu? Huh? Why would I be feeling that right now? It’s what this feeling is though, I know it is... but the last time the two of us sat at this table with intent like this the atmosphere was completely different. It was back during that first check-up two years ago; I was angry beyond belief and the Prince was in no position to play the games he’s playing now. Now that I think about it, this isn’t the first time I’ve had this feeling before since the talk began! It happened right at the beginning; the instant the book appeared. Yeah… that’s right… So again I’m left to ask myself this; why does this suddenly all feel so famil- … !!! A scene starts playing in my mind’s eye; a scene from years long since passed. Its appearance threatens to tear my already fragile heart to ribbons. “... Ashley, sweetie? Can you come here to momma for a second?” Through the hallway’s entryway, I watch quietly as the little brown girl on the living room floor looks up briefly from her pony toys and their imaginary games and quickly jumps to her feet. With a spring in her step, she happily skips her way across the threshold and into the kitchen, where I was busy adding spices to tonight’s stew. “Yes, mommy?” my little angel inquires sweetly, flashing me a big old smile that lacked a single tooth. It was beautiful all the same though, just like her. I soon smile down at her just as brightly… … but then I move my hand over to the counter beside me and present to her the report card I had just received in the mail. “Wanna explain to me what this is all about, baby girl?” Her smile drops faster than a brick off a third-story balcony, but it suddenly leaps back just as quickly without warning. “Oooohhhhh, well, momma, you seeeee…” she began simply enough, leaving me none the wiser, but as the conversation dragged on she speedily deployed every single deadly technique known to cute little girls everywhere on my old unsuspecting self; transforming me into pure putty in her youthful hands. The guilty as sin, yet still victorious scamp ended up getting double desert that night; a fact that still baffles me even to this day. Though I had to fight against a second wave of melancholy, and hide my misting eyes, my once seemingly benign question had been answered. I’ve been feeling déjà vu up to this point because the positions had been reversed. Now I'm the brat trying to get away with a ‘naughty’ secret, namely my greatest secret of all, and Solaris is just the adult trying to get answers he feels he deserves... … Again this assumes that he doesn’t already have said answers and isn’t just playing with me... but that’s beside the point. This whole situation, I think it might be possible to slip out of it now just like my daughter once did! I don’t think I’ll be getting cake like she was always able to do, but perhaps by using a number of her ‘weapons’...? … Let’s try now. So the question was ‘So you got it for him because of today’s celebrations, hmm? Is that correct?’ Solaris knows me as a mature person, so I can’t go too crazy, but I can at least do… this. “Yes, I did…” I answer in a voice that was a few octaves higher than normal, making me sound younger and, more importantly, ‘innocent’. Tilting my head to the side, placing a single claw tip on the edge of my pouting lips, I give the Prince a questioning expression. “W-was that a bad thing to do?” “O-oh no! Not at all, dear!” Solaris stutters out quickly… … wait. Solaris… stuttered? … ... Solaris stuttered?! T-that’s a thing that can happen?! “It wasn’t a bad thing you did!” he, I can’t believe I’m saying this, stammers. “Absolutely not! Please don’t fret any longer.” H… h-holy crap it works. It actually works... … I  I… … … Why haven’t I been doing this for years now?! Years?! I know how to push ponies like Dusk and Bluebelle’s respective buttons, and my natural cute charm as an infant sorta just worked instinctually, b-but this… This can potentially work on everypony.  Heck, it can probably work on everybody! I… I-I feel like I just wasted that last sev-, no; the last forty seven years of my life… “I’m just curious as to your reasons!” the stallion goes on, knocking me out of my inner contemplation of this new great and terrible power. His cheeks were bright red now from apparent good cheer and forced laughter. “That’s all!” Still taken aback by the simple fact that I had caught Solaris off guard for the second time in my life, a feat that will remain with me for many years and reincarnations to come, I numbly nod my head in response... Which probably adding to the act quite nicely. “O-okay…” “Were you worried that you were in trouble, Barbara?” “A… a little...” I admit truthfully and, for good measure, cutely. We're not out of the woodworks yet. Solaris returns my admittance with a hearty “Ha!" before adding "Preposterous. All you did was give a friend a book! For whatever reason would a pony, or dragon in this case, haha, be punished for that?” "It’s more the implied implications of this meeting that scare me, Prince Solaris, not the actual..." Can’t rightfully say that out loud though, so I'll instead fall back on my newly discovered ‘cute clueless child’ routine instead. “I-I guess that wouldn’t make a whole lot of sense, huh?” “Indeed it wouldn’t! Haha!” For the first time since I had entered this bedchamber today, I smile genuinely… Mostly this was out of fear that it would seem out of place if I didn’t right now, but it was genuine all the same. He just wanted me to tell him why I got that book for Dusk today, that's was all. And I just did technically! Perhaps if I quickly start unfolding my report scrolls now, I can switch the conversation to that instead. Then... Then I’ll be home free. “Well with that settled; I brought Dusk’s check-up sheets for you today, your majesty!” I roll out my plan with great haste, not allowing him a second to respond. I continue to smile brightly as I do, and proceed to stand up in the chair so that I could properly wave this unrolled scroll about in a distracting manner. It seemingly works. Come on… come on! “It’s pretty much the same as your last inspection, but Dusk was able to learn two new spells last week alone! Two! Want me to share them with you? They’re really neat!” The Prince blinks surprisingly at my childlike display. It’s working! Yeeesssss! Mental fist pump! As I silently celebrate in my head, the sole pony in the room grips my held paper with his golden magic and hovers it across the table towards himself. “Really now?” he asks, eyeing my written scroll with genuine interest. Yes yes yes! With claws planted firmly on the table, I bounce my head up and down quickly in agreement, almost knocking over my bowl in my actual excitement. First I appear to be the victim, unaware that I had done anything wrong. This saddens the ‘adult’ for his or her actions. Then I change the subject enthusiastically, improving the ‘adult’s’ disposition... I think that’s how little Ash always did it to her father and me, all those years ago. It seems to be working so far, so let’s keep things up! “Uh-huh!” I cheer in mirth, allowing my honest pride to shine through. I know how big a deal learning a new spell is to a unicorn, thanks to my time being one’s assistant. Dusk could hardly stop talking about it the rest of the day when it happened to him! Just remembering that big old grin on his face when he showed Gleaming, how could I not feel happy for him as well? Using that logic... “Yeah! Two whole new spells! Teleporting and this really cool wind thing! It makes pretty music when he uses it!” “Ah. Fascinating,” Solaris chimes in, his eyes still glued to the magic parchment. “And teleporting as well? Such a difficult spell, that one. We called it ‘winking’ back in the day; did you know that?” I shake my head ‘no’, my smile now completely and utterly real. I’m… I’m free! “Really? No! I didn’t know that. Why did they call it such a silly thing?” “Hmmm, well that’s actually an interesting story,” he speaks louder, scratching his beard. As he did, I finally allow my mind to breathe a well-earned sigh of relief. “The pony who discovered the spell, a certain mare with a ridiculously long mane, had to explain the complexity of the magic to her not as bright peers as, and I quote "The world around the user not so much as ‘blinking’ but instead ‘winking’ briefly upon activation". It, unfortunately, caught on for a few hundred years afterward, being replaced with the incorrect ‘blinking’ term for a few short decades before being properly analyzed and documented.” I giggled a little as I sat back down on my tail/rump in the chair. Dusk has tried to explain spellweaving to me, the art of casting magic, as this complex algorithm-like procedure that requires years of dedication to master. Matrixes need to be recorded, terms need to be memorized, an ungodly amount of math needs to be performed... A description as simple as what Solaris just told me would probably give the poor boy an aneurysm! “Ha! That’s silly,” came my ‘youthful’ answer... though I probably would have answered similarly even if I was still a proper ol-, er, mature lady. “Haha, I suppose it was in hindsight,” he laughs with me, effectively lifting the heavy atmosphere from the whole discussion once and for all. “Remember though that they did not live in the same era of magical advancement as you and Dusk now find yourselves a part of… Do you know what else I find silly, dear Barbara?” “What?” I ask in good cheer; my eyes closed and my smile beaming. There was a pause. “... Well… I find it sill-, no. I suppose the actual word I’m looking for here is... ‘amusing’. In that case; I find it amusing, little dragon... that you’ve not questioned at all why I’ve brought you here today.” My heart skips a beat, but my face remains frozen in the ‘cheerful’ image I had just been trying so hard to project. If one were to look closely, they could easily spot the lines of sweat that had suddenly resurfaced upon my brow. “T-to…” I attempt to answer. Opening my eyes and forcing myself to breathe normally, I again try to respond. “To answer your question of why I gave Dusk that book?” I know that was the reason, he wrote it in his letter! I even answered that question so far! Because of the festivities! W-what more does he wan- “Well?” I find myself blinking blankly in the face of Prince Solaris’ sudden thought derailing question. “... Well what, your majesty?” The pony’s face remains smiling, even as one of his eyebrows begins to rise over the other. “Aren’t you... curious at all as to why I wanted to know your reason behind gifting that book to Dusk, dear? Or why I was going to give it to him today?” My mind goes blank. I had assumed it was to gather information on me and to prove his ultimately benign suspicions. I can’t say that outright though soooo... Ummmm… C3 ‘(cute clueless child) protocol activate! “N-not really…?” 'Wrong, freaking, answer, girly' came the instant horrifying response, as delivered via a white horse’s sudden Cheshire grin. “Really now?” inquires the stallion around pure white and square teeth. The heavy atmosphere fell upon us again with a vengeance as he leans closer down to my eye level from his side of the table. “Not at all? Not even a simple ‘why’?” A long and dark chuckle then emanates from his throat, chilling me to my spot. He gazes at me now with amused eyes. “Is this because you’re simply not curious, Barbara dear… “... Or are you perhaps preoccupied with using this as a chance to breathe a sigh of relief...?” N-no. No no no no no!! H-h-he can’t have… have… And again that smile grew. “Gotcha.” I couldn’t stop myself, so incredibly shocked and scared was I that I blurted out a quick and all damning “W-what?!” before I had the chance to slap my claws over my mouth. Thoroughly entertained by my torture, laughing up a storm, the overgrown pony wipes a tear away from his eye with a hoof. “Hohoho! T-terribly sorry, child. Terribly, terribly sorry, but I’m afraid years of ‘teatime’ with my subjects has granted me a leg up when it comes to picking up signs and tells. The surprise in your eyes, how quickly you grasped onto a change in topic, those little pauses… You play a mighty fine game, young lady! “... I’ve just been playing it far longer.” Sitting up straighter in his seat, placing both hooves upon the table-top, the Prince makes a few taps against its surface as he elaborates further to my petrified self. “I’ll be honest with you, Barbara; for the first time since I’ve poured our tea. This talk has been a long time coming.” “N-no,” I whimper weakly, watching as my world crumbles around me. “Yes,” he says, his mirth noticeably weaning. “I’ve been... watching you for the past two years, just as I've been watching Dusk since the day he received his cutie mark... I’ve had my suspicions.” “S-s-suspicions?” He nods curtly, sipping his tea as he does. “Hmmm. Yes. Suspicions. Suspicions that you are... more than you appear to be.” No no no… “T-that’s not true…” “Isn’t it though?” he interrogates me in a tone that suggests kindness, but I can’t be sure anymore. “You’re different than most, Barbara, and I’m not referring to your draconic nature.” “I’m… I-I’m just like everypony else, s-sir…” “Hmm. Far from it, dear. Far from it...” The Prince then… suddenly grew quiet. I wasn’t in the mood to speak up either, so I sit silently as he excuses himself from the table and walks slowly over to the balcony on the other side of the room. From there the doors are opened and fresh air was allowed to enter. I watch as the pony steps over to the telescope setup stationed outside and casually uses it to gaze down into the city streets below. He stays mute as he does this, never saying a word; leaving me questioning what he was doing. The waiting eventually got to me, my nervousness not allowing me to sit still, so I reluctantly screw up the courage to ask “W-what are you…?” “Dusk just entered the park,” comes the swift reply, catching me by surprise. “Seems he stopped by that one mare’s donut establishment; his muzzle is covered in crumbs.” Despite the circumstances, I offer a weak giggle at this. “Sounds like him.” “Hmph. Indeed.” Silence reigns. Solaris eventually steps away from the scope and reenters the room. Instead of returning to his spot, though, he approaches the other side so that he can stand before, gulp, m-me. Needless to say, even with the increased height provided by my chair, he was still a literal horse in comparison to my minuscule self. ‘Intimidating’ doesn’t even begin to describe the feeling. “... Once upon a time,” he starts innocently enough, though it still frightened me greatly. J-just spit it out already and get it over with... “There lived a pony who was born with an interesting gift. The realm of dreams was his domain.” “... O… o-okay,” I offer, not sure how to respond. He moves on, beginning to absentmindedly wander away from me and towards the other side of the table, where the book currently lay. “He could enter the dreams of ponies and control them, but he instead chose to protect them; to ensure nopony suffered nightmares.” A burst of golden magic lifts the book from off of the table and flouts it towards the Prince’s face; said face became unreadable as he gazes at its pages passively, lingering only on images of the blue alicorn. Was… was he talking about his brother? Could Princess Luna actually do that? I don’t remember much of her from the show after all these years... and the ponies of this world don’t even know that the Prince has a brother! Why is he talking about him now…? Though it took apparent effort, the white stallion eventually sat the book back down. Soon he was speaking again, but this didn’t happen until he took a noticeable breath of air. “My dear bro-... this stallion was selective with his power though. He vowed to only use it for the foals of Equestria, for he was always a sucker for a crying babe.” Putting the severity of the situation and the heavy feeling of doom I'm currently being subjected to at the moment aside… I find that to be a sweet notion. What a kindhearted pony. I tell the Prince as much, though not without a great deal of work on my still frightened part. “I tend to think so,” came his reply, again devoid of high emotions. “He felt as though it was his duty… Yet he wasn’t the only creature in this land with the gift. Zebra Shamans are capable of the same feat with their potions and chants, and the ability has been known to appear in Earth Ponies from time to time; what are dreams but new lands to care for, after all? The stallion just so happened to be the most gifted with the power; that was the only difference.” “I… I see,” I say, again unsure how to respond. Where was this all going…? “... There is something that makes you different as well, dearest Barbara. Something that marks you as extraordinary… and I believe I know what that is.” Eep! I didn’t want it to go there! “N-no you don’t!” I try to argue pathetically before the Prince, now starting to feel like Bluebelle before me. “You d-don’t know because I’m perfectly normal! Yup! Completely normal… well except for the whole dragon thing! H-heh, yup! Just that! Only that! M-maybe you’re thinking that! A common mistake! I mean, ponies don’t know a whole lot about us, so it stands to reason that even you don’t know everything! So, yup, perfectly normal! Peeeerrrfectly nor-” A hoof suddenly appears over my lips, silencing me. Solaris looks down at me from my side yet again, though this time his smile was warm and inviting once more. “Child, please. You no longer need to hide what you are from me... I know the truth.” “...” Behind my hoofed gag, my eyes began to mist over. It’s… all over. A-all over. He knows. Solaris knows. “Y-you do?” I attempt to question around the hoof but the words came out garbled. Partially this was because of the aforementioned gag, but it was also due to the sob that had entered my voice. With the tip of a massive and beautiful wing, the Prince wipes the tears out of my eyes. He then looks into them with his own and he gives me a simple and honest “Yes. I do. “I know what you are.” Tears begin to flow freely as the hoof was removed from my lips. I turn away, unable to face one of the ponies who I had been lying to all these years. W-will I have to tell Dusk now? And Gleaming? W-w-will they even accept me after I do? My head was swimming as for the second time in years my world crumbles to pieces around me. “W-w-what’s going to, sniff, h-happen to me now?” I manage to spit out after a time, unable to even form cohesive sentences anymore. This was all too much. T-too damn much. “Nothing at all.” Sob. T-t… h-huh? What? “W… w-what? Sniff.” What I expected to find when I lifted my head again was a completely changed pony; I expected to see a Prince dealing with a possible threat against his kingdom… What I find instead was Prince Solaris being himself; an old yet kind stallion who, despite his flaws, possesses a big heart. Never was this more apparent than when I found myself in the midst of receiving a pony nuzzle. “Dry those tears, child. Dry them,” he whispers to me, the warmth of his light, his love, piercing my old tired soul. “You needn't worry any longer. Nothing is going to change this, or any, day. Not from me or others, to this I swear. “... I wouldn’t dare let anything bad befall one who bears the same curse as me, fellow Lost Soul.” “...” Time dilates to a standstill the moment these words grace Solaris’ lips. I stand frozen in place, unable to move, as what had just been told to me finally caught up with my slowly rebooting mind. “Y… y-you too?” I weakly mumble out, caught in a daze. A chuckle and a ‘yes’ were quickly given in exchange, leaving me to further piece my psyche back together. I’m… … … I’m not... alone? Solaris too? This… t-this can’t be real. This can’t be real… … This can’t be real, because I want it to be real so damn badly. I want someone more experienced than me to show me the ropes. I want someone to talk to about my past life. I want to bawl my eyes out on someone’s shoulder over my losses, and have them fully understand what it is I’m crying about. I want to be assured that death still has meaning, that it doesn’t simply lead to another cycle of life. I want continual reasons to stay alive. I want… no… I need a friend in all this, one who believes me fully without question, never filling me with painful doubts. Solaris… Solaris could be that friend. I know he could… but this can’t be real. It can’t. It’s too good to be true. Too, damn, good. Though my eyes start to dry and my sobbing begins to subside, my emotions are still in a roller-coaster state of ups and downs. I have to ask, have to get a clear answer, but my mind doesn't know how to process the idea. It was such a dark and sickly feeling, as if the secret behind Santa Claus, of all things, was about to be revealed. Whether I'm on the adult or the crying child’s side of that fence is subject to debate. Regardless, after a much-needed moment of silence, I finally make up my mind. The task wasn’t too difficult at all in the end, I came to realize. All I need to do is speak plainly and clearly one, single, word. “Really?” “Yes,” the alicorn delivers powerfully for me not even a second later. He breaks off from the embrace as he speaks, taking a step back to stand before me. Extending his wings fully, transforming his appearance into one that commands complete authority above those who would dare say otherwise, he declares to me with such confidence and conviction that “I am the same as you, Barbara The Dragoness…” He smiles warmly. My hopes rise to impossible heights as I wait on bated breath for those magical words to be spoken, for my fear and loneliness to be cured, for my grief to be forgiven, for the lies to cease. I wait and pray, pray to what little shards of faith I have left, for Prince Solaris of Equestria to reveal on to me that he is- “A Seer.” ... ... ... Wha?