- - - Day 3 pt 1 - - -
Celestia stumbled into the kitchen, the smell of breakfast keeping her from hiding under the covers for another half hour.
“Clover still asleep?” she asked, seeing only Luna and Merry at the table. Not that she'd fault him for sleeping in—like she wanted to.
Luna sat her coffee down to face her sister. “He was awake when I came home. Seemed to be in one of his melancholy moods. He was just sitting there, watching the toy train go around the tree.”
A little frown played across Celestia’s lips, only deepening as she looked back towards the guest rooms. “He seemed tired when I put him to bed.”
Luna shrugged. “I made him some sedating tea, then put him back in bed.”
Sitting at the table, Celestia sighed, but managed to gave Merry a smiling nod as she served her up a plate of golden hash browns. “I think Clover was something’s experiment.”
Merry and Luna both stared at Celestia.
“The poor thing,” Merry Hearth said.
Luna chewed for a moment before speaking. “An experiment in what?”
“I do not know, but it has become apparent that he has been both neglected, and deeply trained. I thought he was just quiet, but last night I discovered he had mind-body training.”
The room was quiet as Celestia picked at her meal. “Perhaps it is better that he is asleep right now. Luna... I-”
“I have tried that already. He is not receptive to me. Forcing my way in could do more harm than good,” Luna interrupted. Pushing herself from the table, she rose to her hooves. “But there is a trick I could try.”
Celestia watched Luna walk to her chambers. Looking back to her meal, she ate it for the sake of Merry Hearth. There was nothing she could do for either Luna or Clover right now.
Luna fetched a bundle of incense and a burner from her room. If she was going to have to force her way into the foal’s mind, she would use the softest tools she could. Shared sensations would obfuscate her within his mind, and smell was the most powerful sense to the subconscious.
Back in the colt’s room, she let the scent of sandalwood and jasmine permeate the space before lighting her horn. Looking down at the colt, she let her mind slip into its trance state, blurring the line between wake and sleep. Touching his mind, she met the wall of will that kept her out.
Every sapient creature had this wall; it was the surface tension that kept the self separate from the collective. Some were thicker, some were thinner. Ponies were naturally inclined to be thin, a side effect of their herd nature. Griffons on the other hoof, were all but immune to anything less than her full force. There were of course exceptions; every race had their weak and strong willed individuals.
Clover fidgeted in his sleep as Luna pressed against the colt’s will; he was already fighting her. There would be no slipping in quietly or passive welcome. She blanked out her own thoughts, and focused on the smell of the incense. She could have punched through his defenses: he was strong, but not extraordinarily so. However such a brute force method would plunge him into a night terror, leaving her with little to work with inside a dream, and possibly scaring the foal for weeks if not years.
There was no getting around giving the foal nightmares. She could feel them bubbling up within him already, but she refused to brew them into full night terrors. She made herself small and quiet. She had to fade into background noise, become hard for Clover’s mind to pick out from his own consciousness.
The world slipped away from Luna as she pried, picked, and snuck her way into Clover’s nightmare.
The dreamer’s world was tiny. No forests, fields, or even houses. Only a single room existed within. It was small and stuffy, but not unpleasant. This was the dream of a memory, not the whimsical construct of the subconscious. She had hoped for the latter, those were fluid, she could change those, use them as tools. This was as solid as reality; she could only watch, and at best, speak to the dreamer in hopes to try and snap them out of the memory.
Dull light from the windows gave it the illusion of morning, but nothing existed past the curtains. Clover had either forgotten, or didn’t want to remember what lay beyond. The door out of the room was also false. Clover himself was in his bed, the blanket pulled over his head. Dread rose from him like so much smoke in the dreamscape. What he was hiding from, was the mystery.
A hushed conversation on the other side of the door drew her attention. The words were mush, but the emotion was clear: dread and sorrow. The whole dream buzzed with foreboding as something on the other side of the door opened it, and shattered the dreamscape.
Luna found herself somewhere else, the cloying smell of funeral flowers filling her nose. The room was empty, except for her and a closed casket. Confusion swam in her mind, she couldn’t look away from it. All of her senses had become slave to the memory. She had gone too deep, no longer watching the dream, but part of it.
Quieting her mind, she let the dream take her.
‘This is his mother.’ she knew. A memory not her own nagged at her, another casket, from an earlier time, ‘that had been his father’.
Behind her a voice cried out in anguish. The dream turned to face the sound, but faded to black before they came into sight.
Luna kept herself as small as possible in the darkness. The dream had ran its course, and Clover was in dreamless sleep for the moment. Centering herself, Luna reached out to the foal’s mind, feeling for memories. There were too many memories, and none of them in their proper place. His mind was more than jumbled, there was real damage here.
With no memories to use as a seed for a dream, Luna pulled from herself the sensation of peace. She wanted to see where his mind would take them to match the feeling.
Clover’s mind filled the blank space of his sleep, with the image of her sister, memories of the great room and its fireplace soon completed the scene. Clover’s entire being relaxed as his affection for Celestia gave the dream a surreal appearance, but a quiver of confusion also ran through the dream.
The confusion worried her. Letting go of the rest of his mind, she focused on that single emotion. She searched for its origin, and was pleasantly surprised at how close the cause was.
‘He is confused by his own feelings.’ The foal was embarrassed that he had attached himself so freely to her sister.
Luna smiled, both in body, and within the dream. Unraveling her magic from Clover, she left him to dream the soft dream, and stepped back out into the hall.
“Well?” Celestia asked.
“I could not control his dreams, but I can tell you he has buried both his parents, and I feel he is several years older than he appears: at least seven, maybe ten. There is some very real damage to his psyche. It would be a bad idea for me to press further upon him.”
Celestia's heart hung heavy. Instead of answers, she had found only more questions. Questions with implications she did not like. “Do you think he went mustang; after he was orphaned? Malnutrition would explain his size, but where would he have learned meditation or that strange language?”
"Living in the wild would answer several questions," Luna said, returning to her coffee. "His language could be entirely self created, or perhaps he took up with some creatures we do not know about. How he found his way into the middle of Canterlot is still a mystery, but his fear of other ponies makes sense." Taking a long drink, Luna gathered her thoughts. "As for meditation, I suspect it was something his mother taught him, and he used it as a coping tool in the wild. I would not be surprised if he gets his mark in something related to it."
Celestia hung her head, she had already failed him. Mustangs happened, but It was one thing for an adult to spurn society. Some wholesomely preferred the lifestyle, others used it as an escape from hardship. But for a foal to have wandered into the wild: that was her failing to serve her little ponies.
“Twilight wrote me back. She and Rarity will be here tonight.”
Luna nodded. “Sergent Green Bean has offered to watch Clover whenever needed; till he returns to his farm in the spring. I shall ask him to care for Clover during the midday; from the time I retire, till you finish with court.”
Throwing a wing over Luna, Celestia gave her a hug. “Thank you.”
I can't really respond much to this one. But just... Yeesh! That was some pretty bad stuff going on his head for a time there!
Wow... He buried both his parents may have gone feral? That is brutal. Clover reminds me of Gau from Final Fantasy 6. He lived most of his life in the wild as well. His speech pattern is some conglomeration of English and whatever howls, growls, barks, and whistles the wildlife on The Svelte taught him...
Luna knows the night terrors and long-term mental scarring a foal victim of her more forceful dream intrusion methods can develop? That means she has prior experience with that.
Well, there goes most of my trust in her until a good justification for said experience comes up...
Also,
*:Sergeant
Sedating tea? Sounds a bit like an oxymoron, since tea is loaded with caffeine.
5426412
I will nether confirm nor deny, that this is a Shawshank Redemption cross over.
5426938
Think about Nightmare Night.
A thousand years later, and foals are still scared of her.
The collective memory of her as a princess is completely gone by S1E1. The memory of her as usurper and doom bringer are scoffed folklore. Discord is remembered as real, but Nightmare Moon is only real to foals. Foals that know not to sleep in her shadow.
5426948
I use the word tea as a common euphemism for any steeped herbal drink. Not as a drink made strictly from Camellia sinensis.
An intriguing mystery and a nice bit of characterisation. I just worry that Celestia will have to give this little one up for the greater good of Harmony in time and it will be a heart-rending separation to them both.
I'll put down my marker here - Clover wasn't even originally a pony. Whatever he was wasn't a quadruped and apparently had manipulatory digits on his forelimbs. A human who fell through the Mirror or some equivalent magical device? It's possible, I suppose.
Sentient?
I love the mystery element in this fic. I have a theory, and it's a bit out there, but oh well.
I think Clover is "not of this world." I'm not sure what he was, but he wasn't a pony. His awkward gait was a pretty big clue there. His inability to to pick things up with his hooves shows he at least hasn't developed the same as ponies in Equestria. But the way he uses his fetlocks to carry things, similar to the way a human might cradle something with their wrist, suggests that he may have not always been an equine, and at one time had arms.
His fear of other ponies, and just about everything else around him suggests he is in a world he doesn't know (literally) or understand. The idea that he came from the wild seems to be logical speculation on Celestia's and Luna's part; however, he was found in the middle of Canterlot in a near catatonic state, suggesting he didn't just wonder into Canterlot, but arrived there very suddenly; and overwhelmed with fear and confusion, he shut down.
Of the dream Luna sees, both his parents are dead, which explains a lot of his emotional turmoil. But in the room, where Luna couldn't see beyond, was interesting. Does this mean that Clover is suppressing traumatizing memories? Or, is it simply because the dream exists in a place that Luna can't comprehend? Or both? His meditation thing doesn't seem to be a very "pony" thing to do, although this fic hasn't really said, I'm just going off canon for that.
Well, whatever it is, I really love this fic. It makes you think, and it keeps you guessing by stringing you along with little clues.
5427212 Sapient.
Sentient just means 'capable of suffering'; sapient means being capable of higher forms of thought.
5427223 Ah, okay. Yeah, I was looking at the wrong definition of Sapient.
This is not a dream. This is not a dream. We are using your brain's electrical system as a receiver. We are unable to transmit through conscious neural interference. You are receiving this broadcast as a dream. We are transmitting from the year 1-9-9-9. You are receiving this broadcast in order to alter all of the events you are seeing. Our technology has not developed a transmitter strong enough to reach your conscious awareness. But this is not a dream. You are seeing what is actually occurring for the purpose of causality violation.
5425913 Ooh nice speculation. I love a good mystery, don't you?
5427238
Why did I read that in a very particular voice; that I don't recognise?
More please?
5427187 I have a good feeling it might be too.
5425525 Not if humans were the twist. Then that would spoil it.
I really liked how you explained Luna entering his dreams. This fanfic has the mystery that keeps you reading and plays on your emotions quite well. Great job on this so far; I can't wait to read more.
5426938 I would say she got this experience, as she learned about her ability in young years.
--------------------------------------
Mustang, i didn´t find a translation, does this just mean a wild horse? I think they think, that he had no home right?
Good story, but i would like a larger chapter, actually i can´t decide if i want to wait and get more than one chapter, or if i want many shor chapters.
I really like it, but the story always ends to soon for me.
5427223 A sentient being is basically just a 'thing that feels', and not just suffering. It's also sometimes used to refer to a self aware being, or one capable of civilization.
The word Sapience is rooted in Homo Sapiens, so it's usually used to refer to beings with human-ish qualities. Sentient is probably the better word here.
stay classy
5427494
Mustangs are the wild horses of North America. They were once domestic, but went feral. For the MLP universe, I'm using it as a term for ponies that choose to live in the wild. Hermit dose not fit them, because they may form small herds, or at least don't spurn company when they find it. Homeless doesn't really fit ether, as they see the forest and fields as their home.
5426952 Not just Nightmare Night, but the name Nightmare Moon itself. The flashbacks at the beginning of season four somewhat cut this theory off at the legs since Luna's rebellion seems to have been a very brief event, but I've been wondering ever since we found out about Luna's dream powers in Sleepless in Ponyville if her choosen moniker in any way reflects what she got up to while evil. Powers over dreams would be pretty easy to abuse.
5427712 You have that backwards, the use of sapient in homo sapiens goes from the former to the latter and not the other way around. Sapient means wise, and would be the correct term for any of the intelligent species that were seen in the show. Spike, the ponies, Gilda, all sapient.
5427819 i think that helps, thank you
5427212
sa·pi·ent
ˈsāpēənt/Submit
adjective
1.
formal
wise, or attempting to appear wise.
(chiefly in science fiction) intelligent.
"sapient life forms"
2.
of or relating to the human species ( Homo sapiens ).
sen·tient
ˈsen(t)SH(ē)ənt/
adjective
able to perceive or feel things.
"she had been instructed from birth in the equality of all sentient life forms"
most mammals on earth are sentient, WE are sapient. Closest way i can explain it- we don't rely (as much as an individual; as a crowd however) on instinct any more, other things do. i think. DON'T QUOTE ME UNLESS ITS THE GOOLE'D DEFINITIONS.
5427819
There's also canon evidence for it in the form of Ms. Peachbottom, who described herself to Shining Armor as "just an ordinary wild mustang from Mustangia." I mean, you have to unpack that a bit to make sense of it and apply your own spin, but there it is.
5427278 You mean this voice?
5428158 Sapient means that you're aware of your own consciousness. Pretty much if an animal ask you if it has a soul then you know its sapient .
Has anyone ever heard of the case of the Green Children of Woolpit?
Careful professor teaching him language, he could pick up more than you think he could.
A small adorable colt, just the thing for sniffing out all a kingdoms secrets...
Space 1999 example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCmxbFESrDg#t=696
The rest of the episode gets kinda gross, but not beyond g-rated...you have been warned
The problem with using the word "mustang" in this context is that the show has already canonically used the word to refer to ponies from Mustangia, e.g. Ms. Peachbottom:
vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/mlp/images/e/e1/Ms._Peachbottom_hardly_S3E12.png
Maybe just using the word "feral" would be better.
5428158 um...okay? I already said in another comment that I misred the definition. You don't need to be a dick about it.
5428738
.....i didn't see that comment string? sorry if i came off as an ass.
this just happens to be one of my few buttons. the misuse of these two words is actually pretty bad IRL.
5428730
actually i can see disgruntled ponies (not just males) yelling 'FUCK IT ALL' and leaving and making a new town...which then continues the process...endlessly.
5428756 all good.
Interesting that Luna gets to see neither Clover nor any other living being directly in Clover's dream...
The 'Human' tag only means that a central theme is characters that are human.
one
lips, only
5430465 I think Celestia is just naming after Clover the Clever.
This is a really good start. I am almost afraid of finding out what happened, yet the suspense is killing me.
Motherly concern seems to be overriding logic for Celestia: being unused to walking and not being sure that he can eat grass does not fit in at all with his surviving on his own in the wilds.
welp...you hooked me deep.
just keep those chapters coming.
The mistery of clover is very interesting
5434221 I concur
5426948
You never heard of Sleepytime Tea? http://www.celestialseasonings.com/products/sleepytime-teas/sleepytime
There are plenty of teas that are meant to calm or relax instead of wake up.
5430906
Celestia named him after the guy that taught her the song she sang in Chapter 1: "Meillion." It means clover (in Welsh I think).
These sentences are kind of awkward. I never thought I'd say this about any story, but there are too many buts. ( )
5444123 I love that kind of tea, used to drink a cup before bed every night. but once i didn't finish my tea and it had lots of sugar and the next morning when I drank some i felt a wiggly object going down my throat and i looked down and saw ants galore and i realized i swallowed one! EEK!
...
I'm really enjoying this story so far, but it seems to have some odd fixation on throwing in needless words like this with no explanation. Seriously, first yearling and now mustang? Why are these words being used. Are you trying to say he lived in the wild? Then why not just have Luna say that he lived in the wild?
>>Luna Secret Stallion In all honesty, if my pet asked me if it had a soul, I would not be thinking about it's new-found sapient status. I would be busy getting witnesses.
.....though to be honest, I'm pretty sure that dog IS sapient.
6180714 No sentient is what you mean still don't what the difference is I just know there is a difference
6126173 Mustangs are wild horses.