Two Changelings, in a World of Foes

by Orkus


Chapter 5: The Dreaming

Chapter 5: The Dreaming

Princess Luna was asleep. She had raised the moon, checked the dreams of any pony that may have needed her help in facing the fears they may have had, and entered her own, her imagination wandering far and wide.

She dreamed of resting in the Canterlot Gardens, on a the world's most comfortable bed of mushrooms, the star-riddled night sky shining overhead. Stretched across it, waving about like some green, magical, spectral wave, was the breathtaking sight of an aurora borealis. Luna gasped in awe as the green waves in the sky gave a beautiful show, in a way most likely impossible to see from any aurora in reality.

It had been a short while since defeating the nightmare-inducing tantibus she herself had created originally to punish herself for her past deeds as Nightmare Moon. With he help of the ponies of Ponyville, she was finally convinced to forgive herself for her past actions. Without the product of her guilt to force her to witness, or relive her worse fears night after night, Luna could now do as every other pony did, and relax, letting her mind drift away. The night her current dream had made was peaceful, and quiet; the very stuff she craved after a long night of doing her duty, but a look of care suddenly came upon the Princess of the Night's face.

Something felt off. Very off. Getting up from her bed of imaginary mushrooms, Luna decided to take a walk down the path of the garden, exotic, and brilliantly blue moonflowers growing on every bush.

Then she heard it. It was clearly a deep, male voice, and it was singing a song she was unfamiliar with, but slowly. Ominously...

"Mr. Sandman... bring me a dream... make him the cutest that I've ever seen..."

Luna looked around, but saw no trace of where the noise could be coming from. She trotted forward, deeper into the dark garden, now clear that she was not the only presence there.

"Give him two lips, like roses and clover..." The voice was gradually getting closer, and much more familiar. "Then tell him that his lonesome nights are over... Sandman, I'm so alone... I've got nopony to call my own... Please turn on your magic beam..."

She rounded another bend, and as she predicted, the princess saw who she figured it was.

Moredread Enmity.

He appeared as he always did; a black, mist-like creature clad in that armor. His demented eyes appeared to be busy staring at a statue of a unicorn guard that stood, diligently, over a fountain, a spectral, armored hoof on his chin, as he finished the final line of the tune he was singing.

"Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream."

Luna just looked at him, a nothing short of a grimace on her face. The ghostly alicorn didn't seem to mind. He remained observing the marble construct with a hint of fascination in the stance he conveyed.

"Hello, my little moth," he greeted, in an unnervingly warm voice, as he finally turned to her.

"How did you get in my dream, Moredread?" Luna asked, clearly aggravated by his presence. "I know you are not a figment of my imagination."

"You weren't the first one to have inherited the job of protecting the dream world," he mused. "I still know my way around it."

He left the statue, and approached the princess. Ready for anything, Luna kept her guard up, though her appearance looked normal. It dropped slightly with what he spoke next.

"I have come to ask if you could help me with something," he spoke, politely. "And it is nothing serious, of that I assure you."

"You are expecting my help? Is this an attempt at being humorous?"

"It is not help for me, per se, but for somepony else," he chuckled, in a way that made Luna raise a brow. "It is for... well, Thoraxis. I set him up on a blind date, without his consent, to the most expensive restaurant in the Crystal Empire. I was wondering if you could assist me in the matter."

"You set Thoraxis... up on a blind date... to an expensive restaurant in the Crystal Empire?" the princess repeated, trying to make whatever little sense there was to be had in the words. "And you want me to help with that?"

"Yes," he replied. "I'm aware of another princess that rules it, Cadence, I believe her name is, and what I've come asking for you to do, my little moth, is to see if you can get her to make whatever happens seem as pleasant for the changeling and his date as possible."

"That's truly what you need help with, Moredread? I thought it was going to be something selfish..."

"Thoraxis is a good friend of mine. I did this to him, and I want it to go as smoothly, and in his favor as I can make it. For lack of a better term, I'm begging you to do this for me, Luna. You're the only one who I know I can rely on for this."

"Well... I've been monitoring your activity in Ponyville, and you have been most well-behaved," she said. "As long as it is only as you say it will be, then I guess I could see what I can do."

Moredread bowed his head, thankfully. "I appreciate your help, Luna," he said, sincerely. The ghostly alicorn then looked up to the sky, as the greenish glow of the aurora caught his eye.

"You're dreaming of an aurora, I see," he spoke, his voice becoming softer and less gravely, as, like the day before, the dark magic-infused color left his eyes, leaving them normal-looking for another, brief moment. "They're quite... beautiful... aren't they?"

"Yes, I suppose they are," Luna agreed. Judging from how his gaze didn't heed, she quickly realized that Moredread was, apparently, not listening. She noticed the smoky mist that made up his body looked as though it was fading slightly, as if losing its "power," but soon regained its darker complexion, albeit slowly.

"I will... I will see you at the Crystal Empire," Moredread spoke at last, his tone shaken. He turned around, and started to walk away, armored hooves clinking on the imaginary, concrete ground.

"Wait, Moredread!" Luna called out, quickly trotting up to him. Moredread stopped, and turned to her as she came by his side.

"Is there something wrong?" he asked.

"Yes," Luna replied, in a concerned manner. "Your power may have remained the same since we last met, but I also sense that you are... weaker. What has happened to you? What have you done to yourself?"

"The ancient, unholy seals I've placed upon my armor... the enchantments that have allowed me to live for so long after any other creature should have long perished... I erased the last of them a week ago." he revealed, calmly. "My physical form, if you could even call it that, is... dying. A few more days from now, perhaps even less than that, I'll be nothing more than a pile of armor. Heh."

Luna's expression changed to one of shock, moreso because of how easy he seemed to be from explaining it. "You're dying?!"

"That's what I said, and that's the truth," he replied, in a normal, still-cheery tone, that was slowly dropping to a more melancholic one. "I haven't told Skia or Thoraxis yet, but... well, I want to keep it a secret from them."

"In the last year, I've noticed that Skia's fondness for you has grown as much as her love for her father. How will she take this when it happens?"

"Skia..." Moredread said, his head lowering, slowly. "She won't take it very well, will she? Hmm..."

He walked several feet from the princess. Just when it appeared as though he was going to be silent, a subject-changing question came into his head.

"Luna, have you by chance heard of the tale known as "The Tragedy of King Longinus Eveningstar?" I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't; it came to be before your sister or yourself were born."

"I have... not. What is it about?"

"It's about an alicorn king. One who was groomed to be pure-hearted, wise, and just, ruling the kingdom in peace and harmony for many seasons... but one day his curiosity and lust for knowing more for the advancement of ponykind got the better of him. When that lust reaped its price, a price he could not bear to lose, he started to make all the wrong choices, until, eventually, both he and the kingdom spiraled off into chaos and madness."

Luna gave an interested glare, obviously intrigued by this enigmatic new turn in the conversation. "Was this based off of a true event? It's hard to tell, considering you destroyed most books and records detailing alicorn history under your reign."

As Luna finished her sentence, she realized Moredread was slowly starting to vanish; a sign of him exiting her dream.

"Well... let's just say I was there when it happened," he chuckled, lightly, before disappearing from Luna's dream entirely, leaving the princess alone in her mind once more, with more questions to her inquiry than answers.