A Vivid Dreamer

by Kronoxis

Ch16: My mind is your mind

A Vivid Dreamer – Ch16
My mind is your mind

Luna and Celestia were walking down the halls of Canterlot Castle in the early morning. Celestia turned to her sister. “Do you mind telling me what happened? The guards came to me when you would not respond to their calls. When I arrived I found you and four other guards incapacitated.”

Looking at her sister's concerned face, Luna replied. “We are not sure. We went to convene with Lodestone, but the guards were asleep.” Luna paused to shake her head. “The cause was Lodestone; he was unconsciously maintaining a potent sleep spell, but what I found most curious was he managed to drag the guards into his nightmare. We believed ending his nightmare would solve the problem.”

Celestia smiled. “It did, and the affected guards awoke a while ago, but they were extremely hesitant to discuss their experiences. Tell me, sister, what was his dream? Why will they not tell me?” Luna frowned as she recalled the last moment she witnessed within the nightmare.

“We believe he attempted to face his fear… and failed.”

Celestia noticed her sister's grim expression and somber tone, and grew curious. “Was it the monsters we witnessed together in the last nightmare?”

“No.... We are not sure you would... appreciate what we witnessed.”

“Marigold told me the same thing. What could be so horrible?”

“Why not ask him ourselves? He is in the infirmary, no? But it has Us concerned; why is he there?” Luna asked as she gave her sister a questioning look.

“After you accomplished your goal we were finally able to approach his cell. By what doctor Goodwill has told me, I assume he experienced a stress induced magical epiphany.”

Luna thought for a moment and recalled hearing about a similar event. “Did not Twilight have a similar experience?” Celestia gave a nod. “We are still confused by his magic, but why would that cause him to be infirm?”

Celestia stopped and let out a sigh. “You may have noticed Lodestone does not look like a common Diamond Dog.” Luna nodded. “He is of a different species; he is a Shard Fox, a close relative of the dogs, which we know today. This is peculiar because the foxes went extinct several hundred years ago.” Celestia’s face became stern, “Because of that and his not being a native Equestrian I am troubled. Regardless, he is in the infirmary because I did not know how to intercede against his specific breed of magic. He suffers magical exhaustion.”

Luna nodded in understanding.

Celestia motioned for her sister to follow again as she resumed walking down the hall. “I haven't questioned him yet; he is not awake.”

“Very well, but why are we not walking to the infirmary?”

“That is because we have duties in the Court. Three petitioners are here to plead for Lodestone's release, and because of the atypical nature of this case I wish to use a specific type of magic.”

As they walked to the throne room Luna noticed the petitioners, a massive, beige Diamond Dog, who was readjusting her golden pauldron, an Earth Pony, who laid prone and snored, and a light blue Unicorn, who glared at the snoring pony through square framed glasses as she tried to read a book.

“Those three are from Dodge city, and claim to be Lodestone's friends.”

/*\

Luna and her sister sat on their thrones. Celestia turned to their attendant. “Please, bring the first petitioner.”

They watched the pony nod and slip through the overly large entrance. It did not take long for Luna to hear heavy footsteps approach the doorway. When they stopped a questioning mumble could be heard, but the door opened after a positive sound replied. A massive creature stepped through, whom Luna had only seen twice before.

The creature was a Diamond Dog. As it approached the thrones, Luna could see it was wearing a bright red vest, a golden pauldron, which carried the Equestrian seal, and a chain-link collar, which held a single emerald. Luna was impressed by its size; not many creatures were taller than herself or Celestia. It stood in its natural quadruped posture and it was more than a head taller. If it were to stand in its biped posture it would tower over Luna. Once it reached the dais, it bowed low as its massive frame allowed.

“Rise.” Celestia commanded. “You are Bertha of the Badlands pack, and a member of Equestria’s Subterranean Defence Force, correct?”

The diamond dog rose and with a quick nod she replied. “Yes.”

“Very well. Tell us, Bertha, why do stand before us?”

“Alpha Ponies took pup away—“

Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Pup? You mean Lodestone, correct?”

Bertha nodded. “Yes, pup. Alpha Ponies took pup away, said he was threat. I... think Alpha Ponies are mistaken. He has done nothing wrong since I found him.” She sounded hesitant as she spoke her position.

Both Luna and Celestia raised their eyebrows, but Celestia spoke first. “You found him? What do you mean?”

“I was patrolling the tunnels when I found him wandering, lost, and sick. Pup has done nothing wrong since I found him.” Bertha used the opportunity to reassert her position with more conviction.

“Really? How can you be certain he has not committed any crimes?”

Bertha tilted her head before speaking, “He is pup. When I found him he was sick and weak. Alpha allowed me to care for him. He has only tried to help Ponies and Griffons and Dogs.”

Luna took this moment to ask her own question. “Do you know exactly when you found him?”

Bertha brought a paw to her chin as she thought. After a moment she said “It was not more than eight moons ago”.

Luna nodded before turning to her sister. “If that is true, her discovery is close to the time, when we felt the magical disturbance.”

Celestia nodded in agreement, then turned back to Bertha and asked “Bertha, are you willing to submit to a memory reading to confirm your statements?”

“Yes. If it will please Alpha Ponies and let pup go, I will let you see my memories.”

“So this is why you needed Us, Tia?”

“Yes. I would like to know how he came here and to know no foul horn is at play.” Celestia whispered before she announced “Then let us proceed!”

Both princesses' horns began to glow. Luna's was a cold blue and Celestia’s was a radiant gold. They touched their horns and their magic auras intermingled. Luna stepped down from the throne, and a small silver thread connected her to Celestia. Bertha bowed, and allowed Luna to bring the tip of her horn to the dog’s forehead. Luna slowly began to lose her sense of the world as the memory spell took hold.

Author's Note:

A/N: First things first, I would like to thank Queue for proofreading and editing my newer chapters. So if everything from here on in reads differently its cause of his aid.
Secondly the next view chapters will be different, as I have said before I feel that my characterization is my weakest point. so I'm experimenting, in fact this whole story can be viewed as an experiment.

Comments

[mapu]

O come on, we need more!

[Rain_Bow_Dashie]

AHHHH FFFF HURYE UP!

[WIL_I_ZIN]

Just checking here, but you do know that a 'moon' as a measurement of time means the time between a full phase of a moon. So he came about 8 months ago, correct?

[Rhombicosidodecahedron]

2779723 Let's chalk it up to "this might happen in the real world but not here"