Penn and Stone: Dynamic Duo

by Pennington Inkwell

Restless

"Honor be to Sunstone Orthos Borealis of the Adelind blood! May his scales stay forever bright and his fire burn eternal!" Moonstone called out, bowing graciously and kneeling on one of her legs.

Spike's heart was beating a mile a minute as he forced himself to stay on one knee with his head bent down in respect, just like Moonstone had told him to until she properly introduced him.

Still, it was hard to keep his eyes off of a ten-story-tall dragon with orange-brown scales, teeth the size of cannons, wings that looked as though they could carry an entire nation on his back, and a pair of razor-sharp horns jutting out of the back of his head.

The elder dragon stared down at them with searing red eyes and an angry scowl. With one gigantic clawed hand, he reached down, and Moonstone obediently jumped on. He raised her up to eye level, inspecting her with utmost scrutiny.

"Moonstone Chalcedony Alis, you have directly disobeyed the orders of your father AND the head of your household!"

"I know, Father..."

Spike could barely hear her whimpered reply at their far distance.

Hey! That's not fair! This was an emergency! Why is he yelling at her?

"I specifically told you... to come home SOON!"

All at once, Sunstone broke out into a massive grin, nuzzling the tip of his snout against her belly.

"AAAAAAH! HAHAHAHAHA! DA-HA-HA-AAAAAD! STOP IIIT!" Moonstone shrieked, collapsing into a fit of giggles as he father tickled her relentlessly.

"Accept your punishment gracefully, daughter of mine! Or it shall only be increased!"

"DAAAAD! YO-YOU'RE EMBARRASSING ME IN- IN FRONT OF MY FRI-HE-HE-EEEND!"

Spike chuckled softly as he felt his guard lower again. Moonstone wasn't in any unfair trouble, and it looked as though her father was nicer than most other dragons he had met. When Sunstone's gaze shifted back down to the ground, Spike quickly ducked his head back down into the respectful bow, hoping he hadn't been caught staring. Finally, he stopped tickling Moonstone and turned his attention to Spike.

"And what is your name, little one?"

"Oh! I'm Spike!"

Sunstone raised an eyebrow, only for Moonstone to drop down and land beside him.

"Spike of Equestria, Dad. He has no bloodline names."

The older dragon nodded sagely, reaching down and offering his clawed hand as a platform. Spike could guess the implication, looking to Moonstone for affirmation. When she smiled and nodded, Spike grinned and hopped up onto the hand, letting it raise him up to eye level with the much larger dragon.

"It has been many, many years since I last visited Equestria, young Spike. Perhaps you and Moonstone could tell me of how things have changed over the years?"

Spike's eyes lit up at the opportunity and he quickly nodded.

"Of course! What do you want to know?"

"Well, perhaps you could tell me more of this 'Princess Celestia' I've received letters from? When last I saw Equestria, it was ruled by the Council of Thirteen."

Spike's eyes widened in surprise. The legend of "The Council of Thirteen" was only predated by the founding of Equestria, itself! If Twilight knew that their host was someone who had been present before Celestia and Luna became the rulers of the land, she would NEVER leave Sunstone alone until she had squeezed every ounce of information out of him she possibly could.

"Well, Celestia and her sister Luna rule Equestria as a constitutional diarchy, and they have for the last... gee, 1500 years, I think?"

Sunstone raised an eyebrow, bringing his hand to his shoulder so Spike and Moonstone could climb on.

"Really? Tell me more..."

Spike and Moonstone exchanged a glance, both thinking the same thing:

It's going to be a LONG night!

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The first moment Luna was free, she dashed back to her room as fast as she could. Bursting through her door, Luna felt her heart sink as she saw Eclipse sitting dejectedly on her bed.

"What did Miss Yearling say? Will she help us save Pennington?"

She felt her hopes fall as Eclipse shook his head.

"She said we should just 'have faith in him.' Apparently we just don't believe in him enough. She even agrees with Celestia about Pennington being the next scribe, but thinks he'll come out the other side still himself."

Luna couldn't believe what she heard, at first. Seconds later, guilt began to bubble up in her chest.

I never thought all of this worry and panic stemmed from a lack of faith...

She quickly shook off the thought, peering out on the horizon. The sky had grown dark, and the last few vestiges of light from the sun had already disappeared from behind the clouds.

The sky is completely overcast. Nopony will notice if I put off raising the moon for a few minutes.

"I'm going to search out Pennington's dreams, try to contact him there. Guard the door."

Eclipse tilted his head in confusion. Luna rolled her eyes.

"Three... Two... One..."

Luna's bedroom door burst open with a flash of blinding light and a loud bang. When they both could see again, Celestia was poking her head into the door with a grin just a little too wide.

"Hello, Luna! I just wanted to let you know it was time for you to raise the moon!"

Luna rolled her eyes.

"I am aware, Celestia. Just as I am every. single. night."

"Oh! Well, never hurts to be sure, right? Well, toodles!" With that, the Princess of the Sun disappeared, closing the door behind her. Luna turned to Eclipse with a sigh.

"Even since we were little fillies, Celestia has been a master of the art of bothering someone every five minutes. She will return over and over with one well-meaning excuse after another. The first time she did this, it continued until nearly sunrise, and her stamina has only improved." She walked across the room, poking her hoof into his chest. "She KNOWS depriving me of sleep is torture. She will come with cake. She will come with 'urgent' matters from the Night Court. She will come declaring she has had a premonition of my endangerment! Believe none of it. Give her no quarter! Understood?"

Eclipse nodded, straightening his posture and giving a quick salute before dashing to the door and stepping outside. Luna sighed with relief and closed her eyes. Pennington's distance made her magic less effective, but if he was dreaming, she would find him.

The world around her faded away into darkness as her consciousness passed into the dream realm. Small pinpricks of light filled the void like the countless stars, each one a dreamer somewhere in Equestria. Luna could feel their joys, their fears, their hopes and their despair. The atmosphere lay heavy as worry dwelt in the minds of her subject, and she knew that the night ahead would be a long one. But for now, she had one dreamer in particular she searched for. She began to walk, trotting her way away from the bulk of Equestria's dreamers. The farther she went, the greater her strain grew, but she could still pick out one familiar aura just out of reach.

"Just a little... farther!" Luna grunted, reaching out even farther with her magic. To her joy, a bubble of light emerged from the darkness, floating within her reach. She reached out her hoof, trying to reach out and touch it-

Tink!

Luna blinked in confusion as her hoof simply collided with the bubble, bouncing off. She reached out again, pulling the bubble of Pennington's dream close to peer inside.

There lay Pennington, Lily on one side and Twilight on the other, all together in some kind of hot bath. The bubble was empty and hollow. Luna's breath came in a sharp draw as she realized that she wasn't looking at a dream. The image was reality. There WAS no dream she could enter.

But... why? HOW? How is he in such a deep sleep, yet still dreamless?

Luna kept her grip on Pennington's bubble, but turned to an ornate blue door with gold inlay of the moon and stars in their constellations: her own mind. She pushed open the door, watching as her own memories flickered by. She KNEW she had discussed Pennington's dreams with him before, mostly about the nature of his sleep paralysis affliction. All at once, the stream of her memories stopped, freezing on an image she had nearly forgotten about.

It was an image of Pennington holding what appeared to be a hollowed-out gourd, the top open to reveal a pile of white pills inside.

"These? A friend of mine makes them for me, she's a Zebra shaman living near Ponyville. No dreams, no sleep paralysis! I mean, I only take them after a stressful day, or they'd lose their effect! But they get the job done, so I'm more than happy to take them!"

Luna fell back onto her haunches as the door shut and vanished again.

"No dreams..." she whispered, staring back down at the orb in her hooves. "Medicinally induced dreamless sleep..."

If his mind had been simply empty, she could have filled it, but this was more than that. It was a physical block, outside reality affecting the dreamer. She was just as helpless to enter his mind now as she was to rescue him from his paralysis in the past.

"I MUST try!" Luna closed her eyes, focusing her power on trying to pierce the shell, force her way through the block and create a dream.

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Luna opened her eyes, panting for breath as sweat poured down her face. After a few seconds, she blinked, unsure if she was still in the dream realm or not.

Eclipse was there waiting for her, his body covered in heavy soot. There was a painter's palette in one hand and a stuffed plush of Nightmare Moon with a blue tutu in the other. His face was covered in what appeared to be clown makeup and his mane had been turned a neon blue that glowed brightly enough to completely light the room.

"Any... luck?" he panted breathlessly. Luna lowered her head in shame, shaking it in the negative.

"Well, raise the moon and try again..." he sighed, glancing down at a watch that had appeared on his wrist, only for the front to pop open and a cuckoo bird to fly out and strike him between the eyes. "Celestia's back."

Luna opened her mouth to ask him a question about his appearance, only for him to slip back out the door.

"Thirty seconds longer, my distractions must be getting better."

Author's Note:

Sorry for the short update, everyone! I really wanted to get SOMETHING published today so I could just say...

Happy 5th Anniversary to this story!

When I started this story 5 years ago, I was a completely person, and if I'm totally honest, these five years have had some of the most intense ups and downs of my life, which played a major role in taking so long for me to complete it.

Luckily, I finally feel confident enough to state unequivocally that Penn and Stone is entering the third act! This is where everything is going to finally come together, and while I can't say with certainty that it will be finished by the end of the year, I will say that I will NOT still be working on this come the 6th year!

Thank you to everyone who has stayed with me through all these years of ups and downs, I look forward to continuing this and other adventures alongside you all!

-Penn

((P.S. I AM currently starting another project, mostly for the purpose of stress relief. While I have yet to publish it, I can tell you three things about it.

This project is focused on Sunset Shimmer. This story is a crossover completely unrelated to my other interconnected stories. The working title: "It's A Long (And AWESOME) Story..."

Hopefully I'll feel confident enough to publish it soon, possibly once this story is finished!))

Comments

[AltGrendel]

Happy Anniversary!!!!!