“Are you real?”
Noctilucent looked at Princess Luna, who stood at his bedside. He was terrified that he was still dreaming. He was having trouble remembering exactly what he had been dreaming, as it was already beginning to fade, but he remembered enough to know that he was scared. He remembered one thing all too well.
“I am real enough,” Princess Luna admitted, pressing her lips to Noctilucent and kissing him as a flood of ponies were rushing into his room.
“What happened?” Cactus Blossom demanded, looking around sightlessly.
“I do not know what happened,” Princess Luna confessed.
“Are the foals safe?” Holly asked. As a unicorn, she had felt an awful disturbance without understanding what it was.
“Everypony is safe,” Princess Luna reassured.
“Noctilucent, talk to me,” Cactus begged.
“I’m alright, I think,” Noctilucent muttered.
Princess Luna leaned over the pegasus in his bed. “Sleep,” she commanded in a low whisper. “Do not dream.” Noctilucent’s body jerked from magical compulsion and he was asleep in seconds.
Even now, a part of Princess Luna prowled in the pegasus’ mind, looking for answers, as the other part of her stood watch over his bed.
“Cactus Blossom,” Princess Luna remarked. “There is something new about you.” Princess Luna pulled Cactus Blossom close. “You have a cutie mark. It is a little stuffed pony version of you. When you dream next, you will be able to see it. I do believe your gift is comforting other ponies. When Noctilucent came to you, you comforted him, did you not? Do you know what might have happened if you did not comfort him?”
Cactus Blossom trembled, afraid to answer.
“The part of him that makes him Noctilucent may have been lost to us forever. I took a big risk sending him to you. The shock was quite damaging to his mind. You held on the very thing that makes Noctilucent who he is, the pony that we care about. Thank you for keeping him safe and preserving him. You have a very important cutie mark,” Princess Luna said, pulling the filly foal close.
Cactus Blossom wished that she could see the smaller version of herself as a stuffed pony on her backside.
“You have button eyes,” Princess Luna said to Cactus Blossom, who smiled weakly at the news.
“Is he going to be alright?” Holly asked.
“Yes and no,” Princess Luna answered honestly. “He might be remarkly foal-like for a while. I think. Hard to say. I am still not sure what happened. He will be fragile, but I know that all of you will look after him.”
“Of course we will,” Holly replied. “I don’t understand what happened. He came home so happy.”
“Came home?” Princess Luna asked.
“He went on a little date with Quirky,” Holly explained.
“So he is playing with fire?” Princess Luna replied.
Holly smiled in spite of the dark situation. “He had a nice time with Quirky. Came home with a runny nose because that silly mare tricked him into eating habanero picante. He was happy,” Holly explained.
“So Quirky found a way to burn him, hmmm. And you say he came home happy? This is all so very odd,” Princess Luna muttered.
“You foals need to get back to bed. I know you’re worried, but you need your sleep,” Holly commanded.
“Go on, listen to Holly, I’ll be here watching over you all for a while,” Princess Luna added.
Far away in Canterlot.
Princess Luna stood amidst a room full of her most trusted guard, the fierce lunar pegasi, and the assembled guard all around her were the ones with “The Gift,” rare types who could enter dreams using their shadow magic. The lunar pegasi all seemed disturbed, agitated, and upset.
“I want to know what in Tartarus that thing was,” Princess Luna barked. “Some kind of doppelganger. I have never seen anything like it before. It was dangerous and just about mindwiped one of my subjects. I want it found. I had to banish it from Noctilucent’s mind. I could not find a way to kill it. It is out there right now, free floating through the dreamscape, a mere fraction of what it once was, and I want it found!”
“I am not sure we should try to kill it,” Lethe said.
Princess Luna looked the lunar pegasus addressing her in the eye.
“Well, it stands to reason that it might be an actual part of Noctilucent’s mind. Maybe not a good part, but we need to know more about what it is. It sounds like a schism. A fragment. A break. Something that snapped off when it could no longer manifest and drive Noctilucent towards destructive behaviours,” Lethe explained. “A schizoid break. Think about Noctilucent’s life up to this point. Solitary lifestyle, his secretive and avoidant behaviour, lack of emotions and warmth, and his total apathy which led to his suicidal behaviour. He is the textbook definition of ‘aloof’ and I’ve thought about adding his photo to the textbook I am writing. He had no connection at all to his fellow equines and a complete lack of the ability to see how his behaviour might impact those around him. And then this behaviour is no longer allowed to manifest and continue to bring about self harm. Perhaps part of his mind broke off and manifested in the dream realm. We need to study this.”
Lethe was an exceptionally well trained psychologist and one of Princess Luna’s most trusted advisors. The mare was old, canny, and seldom wrong. Her cutie mark was a Psi, the symbol of psychology.
“Anyway, I am announcing my retirement,” Lethe said.
“No, I need you, you can retire when you die,” Princess Luna retorted.
“No, I am old, it is time for me to retire, I think I will rest my bones in Mustang Springs for a while. I hear the medicated hot springs are nice,” Lethe said pointedly.
Princess Luna narrowed her eyes and stared at Lethe. “Perhaps I was mistaken. Get out of here you batty old mare, at your age, you are practically useless,” Princess Luna snarked.
The old mare nodded. “I know when I am not needed, I’ll show myself out, you heartless old nag!” Lethe became somewhat transparent, a shadow of her former self, and then vanished completely, disappearing from the room, having dove into shadow and traveled along unseen planes, the thin shadowy places in between reality.
Other lunar pegasi were already studying Luna’s memories, sprawled on cushions, lost within the dreaming realms, looking for answers or details that Luna might have missed.
Princess Luna began to disperse more of herself into the dream realm, and poured more of her will into the version of her standing watch at Noctilucent’s bedside. If something came back, she wanted to be prepared.
Noctilucent wandered around in a slight daze, having awoke just before dawn. Princess Luna followed him around the building, worried, acting more like a mother hen than anything else. His mood had improved considerably when Shortbread Cookie had been slung around his neck, the foal having a calming effect on the troubled pegasus.
Both Holly and Princess Luna hoped that Quirky would have a positive effect when she stopped by for a feeding.
The foal fussed, hungry and knowing something was wrong with her caretaker, she squealed and cried a bit.
Graves, something of an early riser, had awoken first, as he usually did, and sat in the common room watching Noctilucent, looking worried. He occasionally watched Holly in the kitchen, who was fixing breakfast.
“You pulled him out of his own mind?” Graves asked suddenly.
“I had to,” Princess Luna replied, turning to look at Graves. “I had no other choice. I was faced with an impossible decision and I had to remove him to keep him safe.”
“I wish I understood more about what happened,” Graves muttered in dour tones. “This is difficult for me to comprehend.’’
“Graves, given time and maturity, you could be one of the few who would really have a solid grasp on what has taken place. You have a fine mind. Continue to develop it,” Princess Luna said to the donkey foal.
There was a soft rapping from the front door.
“Quirky,” Graves said, trotting off to the front door to get it and let her in.
Only it wasn’t Quirky.
“Hello Graves, you absurdly cheerful little extravert. Is the antisocial alicorn with a maternal fixation and photophobia here?”
“Princess Luna, I think it is for you,” Graves said, a faint smile on his lips.
“Lethe, how could you,” Princess Luna protested as the lunar pegasi came down the steps. “I have been a lot better about my fear of the light,” the alicorn pouted, her lip protruding.
“Noctilucent,” Lethe said in greeting to the pegasus. “I am Lethe. I just retired. I am planning on doing a bit of volunteering around here.”
“Wonderful,” Holly cried from the kitchen. “Help is always appreciated. How have you been Lethe?”
“Well, after so many years of faithful service, I was callously sacked,” Lethe replied, moving her large body through the kitchen door and looking for the coffee maker.
“I did not sack you, you retired,” Princess Luna argued into the kitchen.
“You called me ‘batty’ you obsessive compulsive control freak,” Lethe retorted from the kitchen.
Graves began to chortle.
“Very rude, calling a lunar pegasi a ‘bat pony’ or other bat-isms. You don’t call solar pegasi ‘bird pony’ or any other silly names like that,” Lethe continued her protest.
“Yeah,” Noctilucent muttered, sounding slightly dazed. “I am not a bird pony,” he agreed.
The smell of coffee began to drift out of the kitchen and slapped Noctilucent in the face. He seemed to perk up a little more. “I feel very confused right now,” he muttered.
“Be at ease, Noctilucent,” Princess Luna soothed. “You are safe, and I will not leave your side until such a time that you are calm again and feel safe.”
“What if that never happens?” Noctilucent asked, wide eyed and worried. “I feel like I will never feel safe again. I don’t remember much, but do remember one thing in particular…” his voice trailed off and fear made his eyes glassy.
“If I have to spend the rest of your life at your side, than I shall do so, as awkward as that might be. I have vowed to keep you safe, and I will do so,” Princess Luna promised.
There was another knock at the front door.
“That had better be Quirky,” Graves said, heading up the steps.
“Graves, you are supposed to smile when you answer the door,” Quirky said, her voice drifting down the stairs.
“I am smiling,” Graves replied, heading back down the stairs, shaking his head as he went.
“I smell coffee,” Quirky quipped. “And I see my pegasus friend. Why so glum?” she asked, looking worried. “Princess Luna,” Quirky acknowledged, bowing her head slightly.
“Quercus? How is Shady?” Lethe called from inside the kitchen.
“He’s getting better. Each day he makes a little more progress,” Quirky replied, heading over to Noctilucent. When she reached him, she leaned in and gave Shortbread Cookie a smooch.
“Noctilucent had a rough night,” Princess Luna explained. “A very troubling dream. Well, more than actually,” she added, remembering Quirky’s need for honesty.
“Aw, poor thing, I hope I didn’t cause it,” Quirky said, looking sad.
“No,” Noctilucent replied. “Shortbread is hungry,” he added, changing the subject.
“I know,” Quirky said, wrapping the foal in a bright orange aura and pulling it free from the sling. She trotted off to the other side of the room, settled herself on a pile of cushions in the corner, and placed the foal in a position to nurse.
Arroyo peeked out from the stairs, looked around the room, and then headed for the kitchen, waving briefly at Princess Luna as he passed. He yawned as he went through the kitchen door. He sat himself down at the kitchen table and waited.
“What’s for breakfast?” Arroyo asked.
“Pancakes with agave syrup,” Holly replied.
“I hope Cactus doesn’t drink the syrup again,” Arroyo mumbled.
“Cactus Blossom drank syrup?” Lethe said, her voice full of real fear.
“Yeah,” Arroyo replied.
“She must have been unbearable,” Lethe said, recoiling in horror.
“You have no idea,” Holly replied.
“Cactus got her cutie mark last night,” Arroyo said with a yawn. “It is a little stuffed pony version of herself. She saved Nighty Night.”
“Fascinating,” Lethe replied, getting a cup of coffee, using her grasping digit that extended from her central wing knuckle to hold the pot. Once poured, she grabbed her coffee and sat down at the table with Arroyo.
Sassafras was the next one up the stairs, her eyes nearly closed, she marched sleepily through the room, paying no attention to anypony or anydonkey as she passed. She headed right for the kitchen table, sat down, and rested her head on the table, saying nothing.
“You are not an earlybird,” Lethe chuckled at the young griffon.
Sassafras did not reply.
“Noctilucent, get in here and get some coffee,” Lethe bellowed.
The troubled pegasus did as he was bid, heading into the kitchen and sitting down at the table, Holly floating a cup of coffee over to him. He stared down at the mud in his cup, eyeing it warily.
“This isn’t coffee,” he announced.
“Yeah it is. I fill up the whole little basket thingy, rather than use a couple of scoops,” Lethe explained.
“Uh,” the pegasus protested.
“Shut up and drink your coffee,” Lethe growled in annoyance.
Noctilucent took a sip and immediately shuddered, his whole body contorting from the taste of the thick brown sludge. “Uuuuglaaauuuh!” he muttered, his tongue lolling out.
“See, it is good for you,” Lethe said, taking a drink of her own cup. “You can trust me, I’m a doctor. I have a vow to do no harm.”
“What would happen if Cactus Blossom drank this?” Noctilucent gasped, each one of his eyes now blinking out of synch. His ears vibrated.
“Never speak of such things,” Lethe commanded. “Nightmarish!”
Biscuit emerged from the stairs next, his face damp from being washed, and he ran, not to the kitchen, but to Princess Luna, and began to squeeze her leg. She pulled the foal close and returned his affection, and kissed him on top of his head.
Candy Corn appeared next, Cactus Blossom trailing along behind her. Candy yawned a greeting to the foal snuggling alicorn and headed off to the kitchen, Cactus on her heels.
“Go get breakfast,” Princess Luna said to Biscuit, gently prodding at his backside with a wing. Biscuit resisted for a moment, looked to the kitchen, looked at Princess Luna, and then took off reluctantly. “Quirky, join us when you are done,” Princess Luna invited.
“I plan to,” Quirky replied. “I need to cheer up my pegasus friend.”
Yay Cactus has a cutie mark. Thats good
4449386
Did the whole story load for you? I was having some troubles, the site kept eating half of the document.
4449390 It loaded right
4449393
Hrmph. At my end, it failed to load anything past the Psi symbol, and I had to ditch it to make the page properly load.
Was frustrating. I was hoping nobody ran into a problem.
I don't think you included the entire chapter. It breaks off at "Her cutie mark was a Psi (" and doesn't even close the parentheses.
That said, having a piece of Noctilucent's mind break off from the whole is very intriguing. I can't wait to see where you're going with it.
And seeing the fierce, protective side of Luna's personality always makes me want to cheer. Go Luna! Beat up that dream rapist!
4449402
Go and reload.
Not seeing the problem where I am for all it's worth.
Well, I ended up unfollowing this. While the update schedule was nice and brisk, unfortunately the story feels rather unfocused and choppy; many things happen, but it feels like so many things are being thrown around at once that it becomes muddled. It feels too matter of fact at times, which greatly reduces the impact of dramatic moments; the latest chapter is a great example, where a character gets introduced but we are given no reason to care about her.
Indeed, so many characters have been introduced that it is hard to really care about any of them all that much. It was somewhat inevitable that many characters would be introduced, but the impact ends up feeling low and as every new character comes into the story, it just ends up more and more dilute.
three chapters in one day? You're spoiling us.
4449407
Huh, it's trying to eat my comments, too. Bizarre...
I love Lethe. She's just so...abrupt. She's the kind of lady who just shows up right out of the blue and has a situation firmly in hoof before anyone dares ask just how the hell she got there in the first place. My grandmother's much the same way.
I also love her relationship with Luna. Somehow I get the feeling that Lethe was instrumental in helping Luna acclimate herself to the present day...am I right?
There's just one question I gotta ask...is there anything Cactus Blossom can eat that does not make her gassy? Kid's in store for a hellish case of restless bowel syndrome when she grows up...
4449427
Sorry for the character introduction.
Note to self, no more new characters. Story will now be unfinishable.
4449432
Yes. You figured out a major plot point. Lethe restored Luna. I am now worried I telegraphed too much into their relationship.
Clearly, everyone knows her, but the reader gets to feel Noctilucent's point of view of not knowing her or what is going on.
4449432
Also...
Cactus Blossom + sugar = HORROR.
4449435
Well, according to my count, at this point you have introduced Noct, Luna, Holly, Quirky, the six orphans, and now Lethe - eleven characters in 15 chapters. That's a pretty high volume of characters. And there's at least one more character you're going to be dragging into the story soon, as you've already mentioned them - and possibly some others as well, as there is Noct's... not at all ex-girlfriend as well. And that's assuming I haven't missed any.
And that's not counting the foal as a character, or the dream figment.
That's a heck of a lot of characters to bring in, and it puts a pretty high burden on the reader. Even something as insane as The Wheel Of Time only really introduced 7 characters in the Eye of the World; sure, there were more, but they were more peripheral.
The fact that some of the dream chapters are just very obviously trying to be very heavy on the Freud didn't help, either.
The result of it all was that I lost my ability to really care about the characters. I didn't really care about what happened to Noct anymore, and I lose track of who half of the orphans are. Quirky and Lethe were both introduced, but I had no real connection to either character, and both feel kind of superficial. And I still really don't grok Holly.
Thus, I bowed out, but I thought I'd at least give a reason why I did so, as feedback can be helpful; just seeing another downvote is unlikely to really give any useful information to a writer.
do you sleep? every time I double check my fav list, this story always pops up...
anyway I enjoyed this!
keep up the awsome work
4449460
The Chase has an impossible character count. I understand.
4449444
Right now, all I know is that Luna and Lethe can casually throw vicious insults at each other without causing any of the other lunar pegasi any amount of alarm. That simply lets me know that they are obviously good friends, and since Luna is a millennium behind the times, she really needed the help of a few friends beside Celestia to get used to modern times. You haven't told us how Lethe helped Luna yet, or why, and that is the real meat of the relationship there; wanting to know that is why I'm still interested. I think you did a good job on that point.
I also think you did a good job on the...well, for lack of a better word, clusterbuck that has got to be Noctilucent's mindset right now. I read this and kinda got that feeling of detachment that my sister described coming out of anesthesia after a surgery. "Oh, hey, I don't feel like I'm quite caught up with the world or my legs or my brain right now, so I'm just gonna...Grandma's here. That's new. Okay, sure, whatever. Where did my nose go?" It was kind of hard to follow that scene, but the fact that Noctilucent (the viewpoint character) wasn't really following anything either showed that you did indeed mean to do that. I'm confident that you know where you're going with this.
Also, "Nighty Night" is about the cutest nickname I've yet heard for Noctilucent.
Not "a doctor", there must be "the Doctor"! :)
Like Doctor Lecter, but pony? :)
4449505 Possibly after the mythological river Lethe, whose waters, when drunk, erased memory.
Wikipedia quote: "The shades of the dead were required to drink the waters of the Lethe in order to forget their earthly life. In the Aeneid, Virgil writes that it is only when the dead have had their memories erased by the Lethe that they may be reincarnated."
So in this case, it could be a reference to Dr Lethe's assistance in transitioning ponies from an old life to a new one. Speculation: she may do so by destroying or removing the doppelganger fragment, thus erasing that memory. And also, for it, proving, ahem, Lethe-al. Ah-hah-hah.
When I first heard "Solar Pegasi", I thought, I want to see one of those! Then, I realized they were just normal pegasi. Silly me.
Lethe is a pretty name. I can't wait to read more, as always!
4449448 DO IIIIIIIT!
4449505
4449556
Oh, thanks! Didn't understand that Lethe is english version of Лета.
4449583
Dude, that was a _joke_. Do you have sense of humor?
I'm glad Cactus Blossom has her cutie mark now. Why was Lethe so horrified at the idea of Cactus drinking syrup?
4449745
Sugar.
Cactus Blossom becomes interesting under the effects of sugar.
Or coffee. Or any other stimulant.
4449747 What? She becomes more flatulent than normal?
4449755
Well, that, and HYPERACTIVITY!
Cactus Blossom? With coffee?
treasure.diylol.com/uploads/post/image/430320/resized_wacko-o-neill-meme-generator-i-can-feel-the-warp-overtaking-me-it-is-a-good-pain-71647f.jpg
What Lethe pretty much described is the Jungian Archetype known as The Shadow. The Shadow is pretty much everything a person perceives as "wrong", either with the self or ones actions.
You don't destroy your Shadow, as your shadow is part of you. You deal with it.
At least, that's what Mr Edogawa's TV Classroom has told me.
The more Night Shining denies his Shadow, the stronger it will get. He's going to have to come to terms with what his Shadow represents and make his peace with it.. Then, he'll get a kickass Pers...
Wait, this isn't a Crossover.
4449901
Actually, Noctilucent has yet to discover his shadow, but daaaaamn you are perceptive.
**Squee** Somebody is getting this...
Fimfiction:
OM NOM NOM!
Author:
Why?!
Fimfiction:
Because it's delicious.
I have to agree about the whole introducing a bus load of characters in a relatively quick time frame and the Freudian dreams, but I'm still enjoying this story. I'm really hoping Noctilucent will get over himself and write that apology letter to Merriweather. Or, possibly, apologize to her in person.
And I believe that Cactus Blossom and Pinkie Pie would be best friends.
4449955
Story is going to be about 100k to 150k long. Give or take 100k words.
The first 20 chapters are character introductions. There is still the bat pony female foal from the character poll from the blog post.
The horror chapter was still a character introduction.
4449965
Like I said, I'm still enjoying the story, so keep up the good work.
Very much filled with d'aawwwwwwwws, sweet moments and photophobia?
Makes sense....
4450028
There was a very traumatic foalhood incident with Sun Butt...
4450051
Horse anatomy!
Horses dump heat from their ears. Blood flows rapidly through parts of the ear, bringing heat, and the air blows over the thin skin of ear, this, along with the process of evaporation, rapidly cools the blood flowing through the ears, making the horse (or pony in this instance) cooler.
4450031 I'm guessing it was a Rear Solar Eclipse over the head of the moon?
4450069
No worse... Sun burn.
4450051
I might make a few changes. Right now, writing.
4450074 Ah.
I wonder how that happened...
Also, I was referring to Tia sitting on Luna if you are confused,
4450119
Naw, I got it, I was being silly.
I have no idea what happened, I was just spouting off random speculation.
4450124 Ah, ok.
My idea involves a lot of shangaigans, involving blinding daylight, a towel, a compost heap, five pies, and reporters.
And Pinkie Pie breaking the forth wall because she is Pinkie Pie.
4450155
Cactus Blossom draws some inspiration from both and
4450158 I see.
Hmm, that would be an interesting story to write, I think...
4450190
No, I mean her character concepts and creation.
Story to write?
Like Cactus Blossom meeting Pinkie Pie?
The world would like... explode or something as Pinkie fed Cactus cupcakes.
4450199 I see and I meant for the photophobia. The other one is simply too much for one person to handle.
Although, Pinkie Pie adopting her comes into my head now...
read the author's note. Realized i haven't been on sites like this for long. What do you mean by eating the story? all of the little mistakes or something?
Yes! 'Nother new character! One that's not afraid to give Luna sass either!
4449758
i.chzbgr.com/maxW500/5691937024/hB12FA8EB/
I have decided that I am very fond of Lethe. Querky is still up for debate, but that's alright. I may have just grown overly attached to Noct and feel jealous. Not sure