//------------------------------// // Chapter 7 // Story: MLP: Eternal Dream // by kurusagi16 //------------------------------// Chapter 7 In the castle, Princess Luna and the rest of the girls were in the guest room that Queen Amalthea had assigned to them. It was roughly medium sized, there were no windows, a couple chairs and a single bed, but other than that it was fairly cozy. The girls were settling down, getting comfortable in their temporary dwelling. "I know these are plain sheets, but the material is exquisite!" said Rarity complementing on the bed sheets that shimmered almost like satin. "In fact a lot of things in this castle are absolutely fabulous!" "And super shiny!" added Pinkie Pie rubbing the high polished floor that also shined to a glow with hooves. Making an occasional goofy face that made her giggle. "Too bad the ruler isn't as nice." said Rainbow Dash, trying to get comfortable on one of the chairs that would serve as her bed. "I hope Twilight and Discord are doing alright, if the Nightmares are anything like their queen, I can't imagine what kind of trouble that could happen to them out there." said Applejack, hanging up her hat. "I'm sure Twilight's doing fine, " said Rarity. "Discord however, I can't say the same for. He's gotten better, I'll give him that, but he's still unpredictable." "He better be careful." said Rainbow Dash. "We already lost Fluttershy, and I don't want us to lose any more friends." "Worry not Rainbow Dash," said Princess Luna confidently. "I know that Discord will do whatever it takes to get Fluttershy back." But in her mind she thought, 'I hope.' The nightly ride didn't seem like anything special. The Nightmares galloped along the milky pathway, scattering bits of light with each hoof beat as they stepped across it. "It's almost like the running of the leaves." Twilight whispered to Discord. "Never really cared much for it, the race was the only interesting thing about the whole thing." said Discord in a bored tone, further expressing his disinterest. His golden eyes looked around, trying to keep himself entertained despite the sheer boredom he was experiencing. They stopped and shot a hard glare at Moonlight Eve, who was doing her best to keep up with the group. It was all that pony's fault! He was just itching to grab her by the shoulders and force the answers out of her. Twilight followed his gaze and looked back at him. "Not yet." she told him. Discord scowled. He wanted to go interrogate her, but Twilight and Princess Luna had made him promise not to take action without their permission. He cursed himself for making such a promise, why did he even make it? Twilight had explained that it was for his own good, saying it was because he was in a delicate, emotional state and could over react if not careful. That he'd give them away. He was not in an emotional state! He was perfectly and chaotically fine. 100, no, 200% completely and utterly utterly alright, if not bored. He didn't need the permission of some princesses to do or not do something. If he were in his normal Draconequus form he'd have no problem getting his answers. But Princess Luna had been quite clear that while in Aestas, they'd all obey the rules. An activity he didn't care for and would rather avoid. 'This is all kinds of humiliating! If Celestia or anypony else were to find out, I'd never here the end of it.' There was only one thing that made him do all this, and it was not a promise to a couple of princesses. His mind thought of Fluttershy. Her quiet yet lovely voice, her teal eyes, the adorable way she'd blush and hide her face behind that silky mane of hers. He thought back to the time at the dinner party, where he'd been causing trouble and it was there that Fluttershy had declared him her friend. She'd shown him kindness while others might not have thought he'd deserved it. She even put up with him in her cottage when he'd contracted an actual sickness after being sneezed on by a giant worm, and nursed him back to health. She'd done so much for him, and it was time that he returned the favor. He'd do anything, even keeping a pathetic princess promise if it ensured further success of seeing her again, to giggle and talk with her once more. "Okay, let's stop here and take a break!" announced Starla. The Nightmares slowed down and stopped at a patch of luminescent flowers. The Nightmares moved about, grazing on theses plants. Twilight sniffed one of the flowers and took a small bite. "Not bad." she said. Discord also tried a flower. "Needs more salt." he said. Moonlight Eve knelt down near the pair, quietly eating the flowers. "Alright, I'll go and talk to her, and you'll stay here until I'm done." said Twilight. Discord narrowed his eyes. "Now that's hardly fair! I want to interrogate her too, we could do a good cop, bad cop routine." "I'll ask for your help when I need it." Twilight said. She turned and walked to Moonlight Eve. Discord rolled his eyes, wanting to do something other than be the princess' supervisor. Instead he would likely die of boredom before she got back. "Hey, mind if I sit with you?" Moonlight Eve lifted her head, surprised that somepony was talking to her, much less asking to sit with her. "Um...sure...." she finally said. The new Nightmare sat down beside her and began to eat some of the flowers. "You're Moonlight Eve, right?" she asked. Moonlight Eve nodded a light. "I prefer to be called Eve though, the Moonlight part isn't all that great." "Eve's a nice name." she said, making some small talk. "And you're Dawn, it's not often we get somepony new here, especially from the castle." said Eve. "You and your brother are sure to liven things up a bit." Dawn rolled her eyes. "You have no idea. There are times when he can be nothing but a pain, but so long as he's here I'm gonna have to put up with him and keep him out of trouble." "We could use a little trouble." said Eve. A small mischievous smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "It can get so boring and routine, that a little change is almost welcomed here." "Best you don't tell him that, otherwise he'd go all out." Eve relaxed a little, finding herself enjoying this pony's company, but only a little bit. For all she knew, she just wanted something from her, or to tease her as the others had. "So, how does this nightly ride work exactly?" asked Dawn casually, changing the subject entirely. "Well, you know of course we can't directly interfere with the dreams of dreamers, so we ride down the milky pathway, scattering a special dust that helps bring good dreams to dreamers." Eve explained. Dawn's face filled with intrigue and curiosity. "So you indirectly influence whether a pony er dreamer will have a good dream?" Eve nodded. "Dreamers have the power to have either good or bad dreams, but good dreams are nicer, and we assist in helping dreamers have them." "But, won't the dreamers be fine without us?" Eve lowered her head, and pawed at a flower. "Maybe so, but the queen believes that we're helping them, that we are vital to the dreamers. But...I think she's just afraid." "Afraid? Afraid of what?" asked Dawn. "What else? Of becoming useless, of becoming forgotten. When Princess Luna abandoned us, we had no direction or leadership other than the queen's. She saw this as an insult to all Nightmares, and out of pride decreed that we would separate from the dreamers, that we didn't need them, but that they needed us." Eve became quiet, she looked over at the other Nightmares who were blissfully talking and eating. "But that's not what's real." Eve continued. "The real truth is that we need dreamers. But unless the queen says otherwise, nothing will change." She looked up at Dawn embarrassed. "Sorry, I'm probably talking your ear off, just like Starburst. I probably sound like a downer." Dawn shook her head. "Not at all, you're only saying the truth, and there's nothing wrong with that." said Dawn. Eve looked away and bit back a small smile. "Thanks." Eve mumbled. Dawn smiled at her. "What are friends for?" Eve hid in her mane, and ran a hoof over her bangs, trying to hide herself. "Excuse me, I...I have to go and...do something." she said, moving to another spot. Starla sat next to Dawn. "Don't mind her, Eve's always been a little weirdo. Honestly, I don't see why she tries to make friends when she should know it's never going to happen." Dawn lowered her eyes at her. "Isn't that a little...mean?" she asked. Starla scoffed, tossing her fire red mane over her shoulder. "Maybe it is, but that Nightmare should buck up and start acting like a Nightmare." Dawn frowned. "Excuse me, I need to check on my brother." said Dawn. "It was good talking with you." Starla said with a wave good bye. "I can't believe her!" Twilight said huffily to Discord. "That...Starla is nothing but a mean pony who bullies Eve around. What did she ever do wrong?" "Um, how about kidnapping our friend?" said Discord matter-of-factly. Twilight shook her head. I meant to the Nightmares! They just seem...awful, with ponies like these, who needs enemies?" Discord arched an eyebrow at her. "You're not actually feeling sorry for her, are you?" he questioned. Twilight sighed. "I don't know, maybe a little. Eve just seems to be lonely, and not really evil, maybe we can convince her to let Fluttershy go in exchange for friendship." Discord snickered. "Oh yeah, I can see that going smoothly." he said sarcastically. "Excuse me Eve, would you mind terribly if we took back our friend? We promise that if you let us we'll show you the 'magic of friendship'." He used his hooves to make air quotes around 'magic of friendship'. Twilight groaned. "Okay, okay, so we need a better approach." said Twilight. "Really? I hadn't noticed." said Discord. He grinned as Twilight rubbed her forehead in irritation. "Why couldn't I have been paired with Applejack or Rarity? Heck, even Pinkie Pie would've been better." Twilight complained. "Well get used to it princess, because we're gonna be stuck with each other for a while, and in that time you're my only source of entertainment." Twilight's pupils shrunk. What had she gotten herself into? Queen Amalthea was walking down one of her many long hallways, she enjoyed strolling down them whenever she needed to think. And she had a lot to think about. What with Moonlight Eve disobeying her and the return of Princess Luna, a pony she'd hoped never to see again. Was she being petty? Perhaps, but it was justified. 1,000 years with no word, suddenly appearing and demanding her help. As soon as this whole mess was over, the two would continue on with their lives and never have to speak to each other again. As the queen was nearing her chambers, she was stopped by the very pony that she'd been thinking about. "Amalthea! We must talk." Queen Amalthea stopped and turned to look at Princess Luna trotting to her. "About what?" asked Amalthea, trying to be patient with her, even though she didn't want to have any further business with her. Princess gave the queen a no nonsense look. "You know exactly what I want to talk about, we need to talk about...the incident." said Luna. Queen Amalthea's whole body stiffened, her eyes turned to slits. "We've already agreed to leave that in the past, and to keep to ourselves." she said through gritted teeth. "We did no such thing." argued Luna. "You sent me one, one letter when I returned saying that you had cut all ties to the dreamer world, and haven't answered any of the countless letters I've sent to you." Amalthea's frown deepened with each word that left Luna. "I know what I did was wrong, which is why I'm trying to make up for it." Amalthea opened up her chamber doors and gave a quick glare at Luna. "You're 1,000 years too late your highness." said Amalthea as she shut the door in Luna's face. Luna heard the click of the lock on the other side. Luna knocked loudly on the door, trying to call out to the queen. "Amalthea, open the door! You can't avoid this forever! Sooner or later, we need to deal with this issue." No reply came. Luna heaved a sigh. "Very well, when you feel like talking, you know where to find me." Princess Luna stalked off, back to her room where the others were waiting. In the queen's chamber, Queen Amalthea leaned her back against the door, listening as the hoofsteps faded away. Though she wholeheartedly denied it, she felt a twinge of regret. All those years she'd believed that breaking away was the right course of action to take, and yet now, she was having doubts about her decision. Which was impossible! A queen was never wrong. And yet, she was beginning to feel unsure. "We can't change the past Luna." she whispered. "I've accepted my actions, but have you truly accepted yours?"