A Cultural Exchange

by Illiad_Easle

An Exchange of Slumber

Indeed, Dax was in his room, alright... and he wasn't alone, either.

"Illiad!"

Silver made her way over to the Trojan and gave him a fierce, tight hug.

"Ohhhh, I can't WAIT to see what's in store for tonight! Well, I mean I COULD wait, sure; but I reeeeeeeeally don't want to!"

She let loose a whinny-giggle, then pulled Illiad over to the center of the room, where the blankets and pillows had already been arranged for the night's activity. She sat down, pulling him down alongside her and rewarding his being led with a quick peck on the cheek. She blushed just a bit from such, but the smile she wore grew to match her enthusiasm.

Match that to the sense of adoration that was rolling off of her like fog for Illiad, and add in Dax's own excitement, and it was quite a happy mess that the Empathic was ensconced in... not that it was overwhelming or anything; more like it was two good friends who were happy, and unafraid to BE happy.

Illiad was surprised, and a bit disappointed to be honest, to find that Silver was already there. His plans for how he would romantically collect her from her shed were tossed out as he entered the room.

Dax sat down and pushed a small bowl full of cherries in front of the opposite couple.

"Here - I grabbed a few things before I left the kitchen, so we can go ahead and start talking and stuff... I figure we might need a bit before we actually get tired enough to sleep, right?"

Silver smiled sweetly. "As long as I have you two handsome stallions with me, I don't care if we're in the belly of a whale eating seaweed - I'm happy with the company, so I'm happy all around! Sleep'll come when it comes, right?"

Silver took a cherry and tossed it lightly in the air, catching it in her mouth and chewing with her eyes closed. Dax tried to follow suit... but his cherry bounced off the end of his muzzle and landed right back in the bowl. Silver and Dax both burst out laughing at this.

This felt good.

Illiad’s smile grew as he took a seat on the blankets and with the sudden yet not unwanted kiss. He had never really been a fan of cherries so he left those to his friends, hopefully, another of the snacks in the night would be a bit more to his liking.

He idly wondered as he watched the other two get started what they could possibly talk about or otherwise do to pass the time before they got tired enough to entered a shared dream together. "So, now that we're all here, what do we want to do on this our last night together for some time?"

Silver looked over at Illiad with a sweet little smile on her muzzle.

"I really enjoyed playing tag with you last time... will we do something like that again?"

Dax gave a puzzled look, but with a grin in it. "Hunh... here I thought we'd do more dancing, but... I dunno? Maybe..."

"We could ask to see what the moon looks like... or perhaps we could ask about the past? Would she remember enough? Maybe we could see if she'll take us flying over-"

"What would Selena want?"

Silver had been going along merrily with her ideas, but Dax had simply stopped her cold.

"I mean, she's done all of this for you and I, Silver... not to mention what she's done for the entire quarry... and for you, Illiad. It kinda seems like everypony else is always asking her to do things for them; what does SHE want? Wouldn't that be fair - to ask her, for once?"

Silver blushed, embarrassed. "Oh, Dax... you're right. Now I feel all selfish. Illiad, would it be fair to ask her what she wants?"

Dax grinned. "Yeah, anything she ever wanted to try; I'm game!"

Illiad looked a bit unsure as he pulled his diamond out from his robes, "Well if we are to do anything really with Selena it would have to be in the dream as I can't really manifest her as well as be a participant in anything that isn't solely or at least mostly verbal. I mean we could all just go to sleep now and do everything tonight with Selena, which is certainly an option. Otherwise, it's again what we can do until we're ready to go to sleep, though an idea comes to mind."

As his horn started to glow the diamond shifted into an object that looked just like the crystal radio he had gotten just a few weeks before the changeling attack on Canterlot, he still had it, even though it was a little big and out of date, as it made a really good side table and alarm clock. As he adjusted the dials on the radio a voice came into focus, " He.... Is this wor.... Hello Hello? Ah, that sounds better."

Illiad smiled, "As this form is inanimate, mostly, I can maintain it much longer than if it were a full manifestation and this way Selena can at least talk with us before we join her in the dream."

He turned back towards the radio which he placed to complete a sort of square from the participants, "So, they wanted to know what you would be interested in doing tonight, any thoughts?"

The voice was silent for a bit, "Well... Hmm, I'm not used to really being asked. Usually, Illiad and I just sit and talk, we could do that I guess, given there isn't much else I can do outside of the dream. Inside, though... OOOOh! We could have a building contest! A competition of imagination to design the coolest and funnest things! I always wanted to do that but with only Illiad as a participant, I could never really judge before! That can wait though until you guys are ready to join me, perhaps from what you guys design I can think of other things that would be fun for everyone to participate in. Until then, though, I'd really like to just talk to you guys, answer questions you have since I know you have some."

They were both pleasantly surprised at the radio, yet quite happy to have Selena there with them. Silver seemed thoughtful for a bit, but Dax was READY.

"Okay, so I wanted to ask about the whole 'Balance' thing, at least as far as Illiad's concerned... I know you kinda gave me the quick rundown, but you also said you could go into more detail. Tell me about it - I mean, was Illiad hoof-picked and destined, or did it just sorta... happen?"

Silver smiled a kind smile at Illiad; she was also curious as to this question's answer, it seemed.

The radio, being inanimate, didn't move. "Well, The balance in regard to Illiad is different than it was in regard to Luna, given he has me and she did not. The way it is now is more that I am the balance and he is my designated wielder, a chosen champion if you will, upon which several but not all of the abilities and responsibilities of balance fall. For instance, Luna could cast the Retribution and Total Balance spells, while Illiad cannot except through me. As to how Illiad became my champion is a bit of both chance and destiny. He was born with the predisposition to become my wielder, though had Luna not shown him how to find me he would not have progressed. If it had become necessary I could have groomed one of those around me to align them to what I needed a wielder to be, but that can get messy so I'm glad I don't have to do that like the storm sapphire is." There was a low hum as Selena stopped speaking, "I think that answers your question, do you have another?"

Silver leaned forward this time.

"Hi, Selena! I do, actually... I wanted to ask about what you and Princess Luna mean to each other now? I mean, what sort of relationship do you maintain with her... I just always felt like Luna never had many ponies that she could possibly keep a friendship with for long, but you? The two of you are good friends, I hope... and I also hope it's not... ya know... awkward?"

Dax seemed impressed by the question Silver offered... but Illiad could tell he already had another one lined up.

"Luna and I? I suppose I'd say our relationship is quite similar to a mother/daughter relationship. She dote's on me when she's able and I think it is a key factor in the amount of effort she's putting forth to get me some form of real body to be in, so she can actually dote on me like a real daughter. Though on another level it's almost like the sibling-esque relationship that Illiad and I share, given I have most of her past memories and can really relate to her. We are, at the very least, close friends, and there is never an awkward moment between us even if we are slightly different from each other."

"Have you ever fallen in love, Selena?"

Silver gave a start and turned to look at Dax. "Don't you think that's kind of rude, Dax?"

But the Blackwater stallion was unhindered.

"No... I mean, I don't think so. I'm genuinely curious - with so much about you having to stay a secret, I was just wondering if you'd ever had the chance to experience love before? I mean, like, ROMANCE love? I'd kinda figure that, as special as you are, you've probably had a number of Special Someponies over the years - and I'm just curious to know what it was like for you..."

He blushed a bit as he realized the personal nature of his question; innocent and oblivious Dax. "Uhm, if you have, that is?"

While the radio did not look the part, she certainly sounded surprised, "Me personally? You do remember I've only been on Equis for like four years right? And since then I've only been fully developed for the past year or so since Illiad found me? So no, I can't say I've ever really fallen in love, though it's likely due to a lack of contact. Luna on the other hoof..."

The dials on the radio dashed to the left, then the right, in an almost conspiratorial gesture before returning to their proper positions. "Well, before I was split off from Luna she met this very handsome and altogether charming stallion, Midnight Star. Oh, they were perfect for each other, he motivated her to try new things, to be more outgoing and adventurous, to step out from hiding in her sister's shadow and really be her own pony. He made her feel truly happy, more alive than she had felt in a long time. To thank him for what he did she gave him a gift of immortality so that he would never die of old age nor age physically beyond his prime, that combined with his earth pony constitution protecting against all but the most lethal of blows meant a near perfect immortality for him. Now Celestia didn't know that Luna and Midnight were interacting in this way, in fact, Luna was supposed to be doing battle with Midnight to stop him from ransacking the countryside in his quest to free the zebra slaves with the Black Knight."

She sighed wistfully, though it turned sad at the end. "Then it all came crashing down just days before I was split off. Celestia herself came down with Luna one fateful night to do battle with the Black Knight herself since she found that Luna was clearly not up to the task. In the end, the Black Knight surrendered to Celestia so that Midnight would be spared, thus he was sealed in stone and Midnight was made a slave and given to Luna. Luna, of course, had no real choice in the matter, but it put a real strain on their relationship anyway, to the point where Midnight told Luna that she was worse than all the slavers he had fought before fleeing into the night."

She paused as if shrugging, "And I don't know if they've even seen each other since then. Luna tells me she wishes she could have been stronger, given Midnight his freedom instead of forcing him to take it, forcing him to leave her behind. Luna had never felt love as pure as Midnight's before, and as far as I know she still aches for his forgiveness."

"Oh... that's... th-that's so sad..."

Silver teared up, eyes brimming with sympathy for Luna and Midnight... her kind heart was aching for them, as one would expect from such a sweetheart as Silver Studs.

"Why..? I just don't understand why Celestia would even DO such a thing? I mean, it's-"

"Not surprised."

Silver turned to look at Dax with shock. "How can you say that?"

Dax sighed.

"A long time ago, zebras were slaves, too. According to the records locked away in the vault, my ancestor Weapon Black was one of the ponies in Equestria who offered sanctuary when they ran from their owners. He took in a zebra mare, and they fell in love with each other - but she was supposedly property, due to her name. Weapon argued with the slavers over this technicality, then he proved that names meant nothing in the wake of freedom."

"That was when he changed his name from Weapon Black to Wyland Blackwater, completely denouncing the importance of names; he was the first of our line to carry the Blackwater name. He apparently proved his point to the slavers, because they left the two alone, and Wyland married his zebra mare... whose name, by the way, was once Starke Whyte... but she changed it to Star Blackwater after they were officially a couple."

Silver had gone from sad to lovestruck again. "Oh, Dax... that's such a sweet story. And Weapon, or rather Wyland, sounds like he was quite the stand-up earth po-"

"He was a unicorn."

Silver blinked. "Wait... are you telling me that you have earth ponies, pegasi, zebras AND unicorns in your family tree?"

Dax grinned. "And a Crystal Pony."

Silver shook her head, then turned back to the radio.

"You say the lack of contact is why you haven't really had a chance to fall in love? Well, I'd been kind of working on a solution to that, but... well..."

Dax's eyes narrowed a bit, then opened again as he looked to Illiad.

"Yeah, speaking of which... you said you'd explain about this 'Panic' thing; now's the time, Illiad - spill it."

Illiad looked distinctly uncomfortable to be pressed in such a way to talk about such a thing. "Were I even slightly inclined to speak on the subject, there is no way I could convey it well without showing you what I've seen, thus we'd have to do it in the dream. Furthermore, this is the sort of thing that I want very little information getting out on. I want to influence that outcome as little as possible lest I make it worse or ultimately cause it to happen."

The radio spoke up, "What you seek is also hardly a pleasant subject, though I suppose it couldn't put a bigger damper on this evening than my last story already did. So we can go forward, but like Illiad said only in the true privacy of the dream."

Illiad sighed, "I am, though, once again, impressed both by your ancestors and your knowledge of them. I'm surprised he was able to actually keep the slavers at bay with just words while Midnight and the Black Knight had to literally fight them off with weapons. Though perhaps the story was altered in the last few centuries to be a bit more positive, but who knows?"

Illiad lifted the radio into a more central position to the group, "If you guys really want to know, then I guess we can start the dream now. No point really in putting off another sad tale when we can get it out of the way and move on with our evening."

Dax's mood dropped.

"Great. Now I've made everything all sad. I don't want to be the one to be responsible for us all being lumped in with bad news... ESPECIALLY right before a dream." He huffed a hard sigh. "Maybe I should stay out of this one..."

Silver gave him a look. "Dax - don't be that way. We want you there! I know I do, and I'm pretty sure Illiad does, too. Plus, as little company as Selena gets, you should be happy for a chance to see her again; I'll bet she's always happy to see you."

Dax looked (and felt) like he was pent up with remorse for asking what he'd asked.

"... I'm s-sorry, Illiad - I won't ask any more questions. I shouldn't ask so many personal things, anyway; not my business, right? I mean, it's not like I'll have anything to do with all that, anyway... you don't need me asking stuff that I don't need answers to."

Silver rolled her eyes and sighed.

Illiad's face drooped, it seemed even before it even existed PANIC was causing strife in his life. "There's no need to apologize Dax. You both really deserve to know why I reacted the way I did earlier, and perhaps in sharing it I'll be better able to deal with whatever is coming. Let's just wait until we have the extra privacy before we do, okay?"

"I really do enjoy your company Dax, and you ask good questions that I really do enjoy answering. I haven't had such a great opportunity to talk about my memories before and I know it will be some time before I really get to again. Besides, you have no idea what you will end up being a part of in your future. You could very easily change the course of the future by asking the right questions and knowing the right things, so please to ask away."

Illiad gave a slight smile as he looked towards Silver, "That goes for you too, really it feels great to talk without having to worry as much about what should remain secret. Liberating honestly."

Dax, though not wholly convinced he hadn't ruined the evening yet, nodded gently.

"I just... really don't want there to be anything bad this last night; I wouldn't want to throw a wet blanket on your time here right before we leave. I guess I'm just..."

He sighed, then looked up with a slight grin.

"... just being silly. Look, let's forget about it and just have fun for this last night, huh?"

Silver gave him another look, but then she simply shrugged.

"I'm just excited I get to experience this - I frankly don't care WHAT we do together! I'm with two of my favorite stallions in the whole world... and we're about to go meet one of the most incredible mares I've ever known! How can we NOT have fun! Oh, I could simply EXPLODE!!!!!"

She gave a slight giggle. "Okay, okay... maybe I won't ACTUALLY explode; more like I'll just burst out with random gigglefits until it happens!"

Dax nodded; his mood was still low, but he was putting on a brave face and doing what he felt would make everyone else happy.

Illiad rolled his eyes with a good-natured smile, "Dax, you know I know when you aren't really into it. Don't worry about it so much, you'd have to be trying if you were going to ruin tonight, we may have some sad tales to tell, but so far it's seemed to bring us closer together. Now..."

His horn lost a bit of its glow as the radio turned back into its typical diamond shape. "Shall we go in then? It seems we're all ready at least."

Silver's smile brightened. "I am SOOOOOO ready! Oh, this is going to be so coooooooooool!"

She hopped up and down on her hooves a bit, looking a lot like a school filly, then clapped them as she nearly squealed in anticipation.

Dax, though a bit less enthusiastic, all the same, settled himself in and awaited Illiad's word.

"Yeah... ready."

Illiad smiled a little wider, "Alright then."

Released from his magical grip the diamond floated slowly upward, spinning slightly as it did so until its point rested lightly on the starry ceiling, the light refracting from its faucets adding a new layer to the starfield as it continued to slowly turn.

One by one they settled in and were slowly lulled to sleep by the call of Selena's dream room until they each found themselves in their own small lever rooms just as they had the first time.

Selena was busy arranging the central room to be even better than the last, with the extra guest she would have a bit more strength to cause changes, so she could get a bit more elaborate than usual. In all the room was still white given colorizing was quite a bit of effort, but there was a comfortable chair or couch for everyone. She sat in the smallest of the chairs, given she saw herself as the smallest. She looked the same way she did when Dax first joined, a smallish mare with simple hair, rather than the larger form she had taken during Illiad and Silver's dance in the starfield. TO be honest she liked being small better because Illiad found the appearance rather cute and endearing.

Everything set up she sat to wait for the others to join in.

Illiad was the first to enter, being the most practiced, and he took his seat without a word, he looked slightly nervous about what he was going to tell them, but he had hope that in the sharing of the knowledge he would find support in his friends for the future.

There certainly wasn't any salt on Silver's tail, that was for sure.

She came bounding in, all smiles and sunshine. Again, that strange clockwork gear pattern was written over her entire form, but faintly - yet still as interesting as it had ever been. She made her way over to where the other two were sitting, and she hugged Selena as she approached.

"Oh, SO good to see you! I missed you, Selena - I'm glad we got a chance to see each other again before Illiad left!"

And Dax?

It was another minute before the doors opened again, and Dax crept inside. He made his way over to where the others were, and after a look around he elected to take a seat on the floor. He did give Selena a small grin and a wave... but otherwise, he was trying to stay as out-of-the-way as possible.

He fidgeted as he sat there... it looked as if he was waiting for the other horseshoe to drop.

Selena sighed as she saw Dax trying to stay out of the way. She quickly ghosted over to be sitting beside him. "Look, we all know you're bothered, you're disappointed in yourself that you brought up something that makes Illiad uncomfortable, but in the end, it's made Illiad decide to actually talk about it for once instead of just letting it fester within himself. He hasn't even really discussed it with me, and that scares me. I'm glad you brought it up because I think it will help him overcome his issues."

Illiad kept looking over at Dax, a look of sadness on his face at what he could feel, yet a slight bit of disappointment that Dax could tell was directed inward, Illiad was disappointed that he had failed to cheer up his friend. He kept his distance, knowing that Dax would talk when he wanted to.

Selena's chair was replaced by a projector screen, after which she nodded over at Illiad who sighed. "Alright, I'd like to just get this out of the way before it looming over my head can get me to ruin this night for the rest of you. It's been bothering me since I saw the designs, but..."

He sighed and shook his head. "I don't want to burden you guys with it too if you don't want to. If there's one thing I'd hate it would be to be a burden on anyone else."

Silver gave a sympathetic grin.

"Illiad... if this is an issue, then you really should talk it out. Trust me," she smiled at Selena, "letting things fester can be bad - and bad can ALWAYS be worse, right?"

Undoubtedly, she was thinking of the little talk she'd had with Selena after she'd seen her own war machine designs... she'd thought herself a monster then.

"It'll be so much better just to get it out, Illiad... besides, we're your friends; maybe we could help you come up with something against this? You'll never know unless you tell us."

Dax gave a small sigh.

"Illiad... I wouldn't have asked if I wasn't concerned. You looked like you'd seen a ghost. And if it worries you, then it worries me, too. I didn't mean to cause any problems... I'm just worried for you."

Illiad's mood seemed to improve at their words, "Alright then, I'll show you first then tell you what I know."

The projector screen lit up as Illiad closed his eyes, a picture came into focus as the sound of wind could be heard. The picture seemed to be the view out of someone's eyes. It was a rather impressive facility, or rather what once was an impressive facility. The sand around the facility was littered with craters that seemed to glow with a sickly purple color, the walls were damaged and completely collapsed in places allowing them to see into the small, dried out oasis at the center of the facility.

Suddenly a deep rumble was heard as the picture shook, or rather the image within the picture shook, more pieces of the facility fell inward as a large section of the floor of the dried out oasis fell down, revealing a structure that had been built beneath the oasis, the interior of which seemed coated with the same sickly purple glow as the craters. Out of the hole climbed a damaged mechanical pony, sparks flying off it as it moved. It didn't look very much like Silver's designs at all, except for the eyes.

The cold dark eyes that looked directly at the viewer, staring emotionlessly as bits of dried blood flaked off in the wind.

Then the scene suddenly changed, the picture depicted a view from atop a hill of dead grass near what seemed to be Ponyville after Discord had shuffled the locations, Canterlot Castle, for instance, was much closer than it used to be. The mechanical pony could be seen with wings, attacking a rag-tag outpost of ponies all while a low sound seemed to permeate everything.

Return Baseplate to Colonel PANIC or be Destroyed.

All the while the eyes continued staring, emotionlessly as they knocked a pegasus from the sky, smashed the horn of a unicorn and broke the leg of an earth pony.

Return Baseplate to Colonel PANIC or be Destroyed.

Any magical damage the ponies tried to inflict seemed to splash harmlessly off of it while physical damage didn't seem to last long before it was hardly noticeable.

Return Baseplate to Colonel PANIC or be Destroyed.

Eventually, they did enough damage and it left, but the ponies were too tired to pursue or do much more than prepare their defenses and hope that it wouldn't be back tomorrow.

Return Baseplate to Colonel PANIC or be Destroyed.

Then a second rumble was heard, only this one came from the sky. A large cloud city moved into view, pristine above the damaged landscape below. A glowing winged came down and did battle with the mechanical pony. The sound stopped as they fought until the winged one was the only one standing of the two.

With that the image and sound stopped, the screen went away to leave Illiad standing in front of everyone. "That was a vision I had not long after the changeling invasion. Both Luna and Celestia had similar dreams though when they tried to take action they just had a worse vision. When the visions began it was a coup led by one Colonel Panic, Celestia then removed all the guards with the last name of Panic from the guard. Then Luna had the vision of a griffon invasion by Colonel Panic, cities burned to the ground in his wake. After intense discussions with the griffon province he would have come from, her visions stopped, and mine began. From what I've gathered each time the vision is canceled it pushes the date further back as well as increase the casualties, thus I fear to try and stop this, lest it bring about the end of the world. Yet, this vision shows Colonel defeated, thus if I were to stop it I may prevent the only chance of a good ending from it."

He sat down and sighed, "It really is hard to know that such a bad thing is coming, but being unable to do anything about it for fear that it could make it all even worse."

Silver and Dax both had very interesting reactions to this.

"Hmmmmm... well, even if you won't stop it because it's the most likely ending available for a mark in the 'win' column, it hardly means we get to sit idly by and do nothing to prepare for it, right? I mean, since we know what's coming, perhaps I can act where YOU can't? I won't stop him, per se... but I can minimize civilian casualties by preparing evacuation plans and hidey-holes for ponies to use during his attacks, right?"

Silver began to pace, and as she thought and spoke, those gear-like glowing designs on her began to visibly turn faster, adding a deeper visual expression of her own wheels turning.

"This way, I wouldn't be changing the future to stop his actions; I'd be lessening the aftermath of his choices. Wouldn't that work, Illiad? Selena?"

"But... why?"

Dax looked as though he was about to cry.

"Why did it come to that? Did you see those eyes? What sort of harrowing, horrific thing could he have seen or done to cause him to do such things? Why would he do that?"

He looked between the three of them, each in turn, with a look of sympathy so great, it almost hurt Illiad.

"What could have caused such a magnificent machine such as him to feel a need to cause such destruction, Illiad? Why?"

He actually felt genuinely bad for the construct - truly, sincerely sorry for him.

Illiad looked unsure, then sad, "That's the scariest part now, isn't it? We have no idea why it’s doing what it's doing. And at the same time, I don't want to know, because if I knew why I might try and stop it, and end up making it worse. For instance, I could try and ensure that this Baseplate was never taken from it, but would that help anything? Could that even be prevented? Maybe, maybe not."

A slight smile came to his face, "I'm glad, though, that I have you guys here to share in the burden. And I think your idea is a great one Silver, ways to keep the defenders safe when the attack comes. I think it would do quite a bit of good if implemented correctly."

He shrugged, "But enough about that now, there's nothing we can do about it here so there's no sense in worrying about it now. Let's do something fun okay?"

Silver nodded, plenty pleased to be changing the subject at hoof. Dax also nodded, and even attempted a smile... but as an Empathic, Illiad could tell the thought was still gnawing at him. He was willing to let it go, but Illiad got the impression that this conversation was only on pause for now.

"Oh, something fun, yes! And we had wanted to do something YOU wanted to do, Selena! You said something about building things or something like that? Honestly, Dax was right - you really deserve to have somepony ask YOU what you'd like to do, at least once in a while!"

Dax, pulling himself into the situation, tried on a smile. It wasn't a bad fit.

"Yeah. It'd only be fair, after all. You've done so much for us - it's the very least we could do for you in return. Besides, that's one of the things friends do for each other - they concern themselves with making sure you're included."

Both of them smiling at Selena, waiting for her decision.

Selena and Illiad both smiled, "I did say something about a contest of imagination, didn't I? Well, I for one think that would be pretty fun, especially if you guys can come up with really fun things!" She nodded and a set of three doors appeared on the back wall, almost mirroring the ones they had all come in from. Through the doors, they could see a big empty room, but already they seemed to shift with their individual wonder. "Go on in! I've made it so it is easier to influence the rooms in their so it won't take nearly as much effort to make things in there as it would in here. Not to say that it's particularly difficult to change things in here, just that it is very easy to change things in there. I even made separate rooms so you guys wouldn't be distracted by each other and so you can save your wonderment for when we show off to each other."

She sat on her chair and tapped her hooves together in a giddy gesture, "Oooh! I can't wait to see what cool stuff you guys all come up with!"

With that Illiad entered the room closest to him and already it was changing around him, a desk and a chair appeared when he moved to sit and already designs and ideas were manifesting themselves before him.

Silver clapped her hooves and made her way promptly into her room as well. As soon as she got there, she looked around and grew a thoughtful moue.

"Hmmmmm... I'll need to plan this out..."

She concentrated for a moment on what she wanted to see... what she wanted to feel... and sure enough, a dry erase board formed up out of the floor, along with a blue marker. Levitating the marker into the air and removing its cap with her magic, she smiled broadly.

"THERE WE GO! Now... let's get to work!"

Dax, meanwhile, was left alone with Selena for a minute, and he took that minute to look over at her and ask her a question.

"Selena? Uhm, I wanna play this game and all, and I will, yeah... but... first, I gotta know something. Illiad says that he's afraid to try to change anything else, or it might end up even worse than before, but... I can't help but feel like he's... well, just scared. Do you think maybe there's another way that he just doesn't see yet... and do you think it might be up to someone else to help him see that? Maybe THAT'S why we found each other?"

Dax was so concerned about Illiad that Selena didn't need to be Empathic to feel it.

Selena looked a little bit down, "Dax... In truth, I think Illiad's more afraid that it's something he won't be allowed to change, rather than won't be able to change. As the balance, he has to allow and sometimes cause bad things to happen just as Luna did. In a way, I suppose you could say he is scared, not about what it might do, but about what he might have to do to cause it. What I think he needs is someone he feels he can talk to, someone he can trust to be told about this sort of thing and not judge him for it. And I'd like to think he's found exactly that in you and Silver. However, he's too kind for his own good, if he sees that talking to you about this sort of thing troubles you, he'll stop to spare your feelings."

Dax looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Yeah. I... I guess I get it. Someone to vent to who won't hate him for what he might have to do. Yeah."

She smiled caringly at Dax, " You've done a phenomenal job already getting him to open up about what troubles him, now you need to go out there and assure him that he can confide in you without it troubling you. So go and have fun, keep being the amazing friend you've been."

Dax's mood lightened.

"I can do that, sure. Everypony needs someone like that... and I'd be more than willing to do so. I... might not be able to help feeling bad about some things, but that doesn't mean I want him to stop talking. Okay, I'll..."

He smiled. "I'll do my very best for him, Selena... thank you."

He turned and made for his own doorway... then paused, right outside of it.

"If it's all the same, though... I'm still gonna try to figure out how to help. I might not come up with anything... but what kind of friend would I be if I didn't try, right?"

With that, he entered the room. Looking around, he thought back to what Selena had said about these rooms...

Influence... with my imagination... changing things...

He closed his eyes, and the room responded.

Selena simply smiled at Dax's words before he left to start his own creation, then leaned back in her seat. She pulled a book out of the collective subconscious that supported the dream, reading for herself one of the books that either Dax or Silver had read that Illiad had not. It was a good way for her to pass the time and to keep her from peeking in on what they were building so it would be a surprise to her as well.

From a dreamworld perspective, Silver's room was pouring out energy.

The energy of creation and imagination almost seemed to want to burst through the door and yell surprise; the sheer output of creative horse that was blasting away in Silver's room was almost a horse unto itself. There were sounds of hammers, drills, rivet guns, bangs, clangs and all sorts of other noise that was whooping up a pure racket. Whatever Silver was creating in there, she was certainly going all-out in the construction phase!

It was as if the power of a small sun going nova was evidencing itself in there, and Silver was the one to raise and lower it - and it was apparently High Noon in Silvestria! It was simply amazing, the amount of power she was putting into this project.

By way of comparison, Dax's door was oddly quiet... but if energy could be measured, the level of output that single room was giving off blew Silver's room away.

Illiad's room, by comparison, was quiet. The energy normal and altogether ordinary, he had quite a bit of practice in regulating his mental energy output so as to not burn himself out in the room as that led to quite a rough morning. He sat at the desk and drew, and as he drew his ideas slowly faded into existence, and out again as he revised, not making anything permanent until he was sure about it. A slight smile was on his face as he worked, This is going to be great.

Silver's mental collection of novels was actually not quite as large as Selena would have thought... but the novels contained within were an eclectic mix: a few short stories, some engineering manuals, a single epic science fiction novel, an etiquette book, three saucy romance books, and fifteen different schoolbooks. The number of books she had ever read in her life didn't even reach triple digits.

However, there was a PLETHORA of blueprints and designs stored away - and there were some truly magnificent ideas there. Things that could change history. Things that defied explanation. Things that could alter the course of Equinekind forever. Yet, through these things, it became obvious that, as rapidly as these things passed through her brain, it would still be quite some time before any of the most powerful ones would even be realized... and some would never be built. COULD never be built. But there they were, all the same, up for Selena's perusal.

Dax?

The size of the mental library lurking within the mind of the middle Blackwater child was astounding; he'd voraciously read anything he could get his hooves on, from classic memoirs and history papers to magic tomes and scrolls, to science and fantasy and horror and drama and all SORTS of books filled the shelves of what seemed like an almost endless library.

Dax had spent so much time alone as a colt, he'd practically devoured any and everything readable he came across. In a way, it was somewhat sad... but in another, it was quite impressive.

But the STARS...

There were diagrams, charts, navigational observations, missives, diary entries from famous astronomers, entire tomes by ponies no one had ever heard of, almanacs... everything on the subject of the stars that had ever passed even remotely close to Dax had been absorbed, his greedy little mind taking it all in as if it were water into a sponge.

Daxter Blackwater held as much knowledge of the stars as any pony had ever known; no wonder he'd been so accurate with the mural on his room's ceiling - he'd known by heart where every star went, every comet swooshed, and every galaxy called home. It was astounding... especially seeing as he'd never even attended any outside institution of learning for all this knowledge.

Selena gave a low whistle, to anyone in the room with her it would seem she was doing nothing, however, she was quickly filing away copies of everything interesting she could find so she could sort through it later. The blueprints would certainly help in making bad things happen while also minimizing casualties, so she started there, carefully sorting them by brief inspection before placing them away in her own mental library, then she moved on to Dax. Most of the historical books she knew a bit better, so only a few were copied over, but many of the more recently published books intrigued her, she copied them over with a note to read them first. She, for the most part, ignored the star stuff given how much they changed and how much she knew as a first-hoof experience.

Once she had a few hundred books and charts in her read later list she stopped, this would last her a good few years if she were particularly bored. But with that, she decided to check up on their progress.

She noticed that something was drawing a large load on her capabilities, while she was purely magical, she was not immune to some illnesses that plagued the magic of unicorns. Thus she was a bit worried that perhaps she had contracted something during her stay at the quarry, some parting gift from Havoc? Nonetheless, it didn’t seem serious enough to call off the night just yet. If it got too low though without her finding the problem she’d have to end their night early.

She shook her head as her focus returned to the dream room, a low tone echoed in the three rooms similar to a bell, by an exertion of will motion was stopped in the rooms so they could hear her without distraction. "Alright guys, I'll give you a few more minutes to work, so finish up quick and come back out here so I know you're ready to show off what you've built."

Illiad looked up at the tone and shrugged as he looked back down at what he had drawn up, then over into what it had built and smiled. He rolled up the paper as the construct took on a more real texture, starting to take a few steps into it. He closed his eyes as he felt the wind start to blow cool and soft. "Yes, I think this will do nicely."

With that, he made his way back into the main room.

After a bit, Silver came out of hers, smiling sweetly and practically skipping. "Oh, I can't WAIT for you to see what I did! It's gonna be SO much fun!"

It was a few moments more, but before Selena could give another request to hurry up, his door opened. Dax came out, shyly closed the door behind himself, and walked over to meet the others.

"Okay, uhm... I'm done."

Though he looked somewhat shy about everything, his emotions betrayed his excitement.

"Oh! Illiad! I want to see what YOU did first, okay? Can we?"

Dax just smiled.

Illiad's smile grew, "Alright then, I can go first if you guys want."

He led the group over to his door and opened it whilst gesturing them all inside. Within they could see a simple sandstone and marble house. From the front, they could see that the foundation was made of large marble slabs that extended out the front to become a porch. Nine marble pillars extended from the foundation to support a second floor made of a thinner slab of marble that also extended past the front to cover the porch and provide a railed balcony accessible from a set of double glass doors on the second floor. The pillars sat four at the corners of the building, as well as four along the front of the porch. The walls of the structure were made of sandstone with two glass windows on either side of the front door.

"Tada! It's my house! I know it isn't really that creative, and I did make a creative thing to show you, but I thought that this would be the perfect opportunity to show you guys what my house looks like both before Dax sees it himself and since it could be some time before Silver could see it. Selena can attest to the fact that I didn't embellish it for this demonstration."

She nodded, "While it is a bit cleaner than usual, likely to save on effort, it is a faithful recreation of his house. At least from what I can see out here."

He smiled some more as he made his way up the small step to the patio and up to the door he opened, "Come on! I want to show you the inside!"

Inside the house demonstrated the rather utilitarian use of the available space. The house was not very wide, to begin with, but despite that it still felt fairly roomy within. In the center of the house, the ninth pillar stood at the corner of two interior walls forming a room in the back left corner of the house. On the left wall headed towards the back was a set of cantilevered marble stairs leading to the second floor, as well as a couch against the interior wall, thus facing the left window, and a box in the same shape Selena had taken to talk to them before the dream. In the back right, was another door as well as a desk similar to the one Illiad had used to build this dream. In the front right corner was a simple kitchen with a cold box, stove, sink, and cupboards.

"So this front left corner is my sitting room where my friends and I hang out on occasion, the back left is storage and where I hang my paintings to dry, the back right is my work area, and is typically much busier, and the front right is my little kitchen."

With that he practically dragged the others up the stairs, at the top of the stairs were two doors, one in line with the stairs, and one to the right, he moved through the door on the right to reveal a bedroom, the bed sitting in the back right corner along with a side table that had a smaller version of the radio downstairs on it. In the back left corner was a small room with a closed door. On the front side of the room were the same double glass doors they saw from outside as well as a small closet area. This room was by far the biggest single room in the house.

"And this is my bedroom. So, what do you guys think of my house?"

Silver gasped in delight. "Oh, neat! It's such an efficient little place! So cozy!"

She took her time, looking over details and enjoying the structure itself. She kept looking all over, taking it all in as she did.

Dax was also quite fascinated. He kept peeking around corners and checking out the layout.

"Illiad... your house is so... so... NIFTY! Wow! You put such good use to all this space, and not an inch of it wasted! How cool is it that ALL of this is yours and ONLY yours! Oh, this is so COOL!"

Dax ran back downstairs to gander over the rooms again; even though he lived in a huge manse, Dax seemed so excited for the fact that, even given the comparatively small amount of space presented, it all belonged to one pony. It spoke a bit about how Dax wasn't spoiled or inclined to brag - he seemed just as proud of the small home as Illiad himself was.

Silver looked over the bedroom again.

"This is so very perfect for a single pony... or maybe, a couple?" He smile went wide, and here eyelids lowered to a sultry level. "TWO ponies here, well... they'd have to spend a LOT of time being rather close to each other, wouldn't they?"

To illustrate, she slid close to the stallion and nuzzled him gently, letting go a soft little sigh of contentment. Her eyes turned up to look at him as she nestled in closely.

"Oh, Illiad... maybe one day, you and I could-"

"Is this what it looks like outside?"

Silver smiled, stood up once again and looked at Illiad.

"Should we go see what Dax found now?"

What Dax found, when they reached him, was a window. He was staring out of it, looking at... something.

Given all but one of the windows of his house faced the front, and the front faced the door they had entered the room from, there was only one window that would see anything other than the whiteness surrounding the door. Illiad gave one last nuzzle with some whispered words, "Maybe some day."

He moved to where Dax would be standing, the small window on the back wall by his bed. "I would hardly get so see something so interesting as that from my window every evening, it's usually just a view of the back side of the row of houses behind mine. But if we proceed out the back door of this version of my house, I'll get to show you that other thing I've made up close."

What they could see from the window seemed to be a very abstract piece of architecture, something of a maze of stairs winding in and out of each other with no real regard for up as a direction. Upon which a number of slinkies seemed to be making their way around the sculpture.

As he led them up close there was, as it seemed, a way to enter the odd construction in the form of the stairs ending at the ground. "This... is something I came up with as an example of what can be accomplished here in the dream room. An item that is impossible in reality for a number of reasons, primarily being the lack of regard for safety as well as gravity, in addition to completely defying conventional laws of spacial relativity in that we could have two parallel lines meet up at even a perpendicular angle. It is a very weird place on those stairs which is why it is meant mostly as a thought experiment and that I have yet to get a slinky back from it and they tend to change color at some point."

Now that he mentioned it some of the slinkies were rather odd colors, and shapes.

The other two ponies viewing this impossibility both made observations.

"Well... perspectively speaking, it would seem to mean that, at some point, there's a place or part in your design that isn't as well-defined, so the random changes to slinkies you're seeing possibly stems from an abstract portion of this design that changes the structure in minute ways, so that-"

"Can we climb it?"

Dax looked raptly at the impossibility. "I mean, is it safe to climb? Is it even POSSIBLE to climb?" He kept walking back and forth, looking at it from a number of different angles.

Silver gave a slight chuckle. "That's Dax - show him something impossible, and he'll want to DO something impossible with it!"

Dax gave a sheepish grin at that, but his eyes remained on the fascinating structure and the various coils of metal falling repeatedly in every direction.

"Illiad, this is... well, it's certainly something I've never thought of before! But seeing this DOES make me want to show you what I made even more!"

Still, regardless of her words, her eyes also stayed glued to the weirdness before her.

Illiad smiled, glad he was able to impress or at the very least amaze Silver with what he had created, "Well I can't wait to see what you two have come up with. Though Dax I would definitely advise against entering the thing until it can be confirmed safe. Wouldn't want you getting stuck in there after all."

Selena nodded, "While difficult, you can still injure yourself pretty badly here in the dream world, just the damage is mental rather than physical."

She turned towards Silver, "I for one would love to see what you've built now if you're ready to show it off."

Silver clapped her hooves and trotted toward the way out, eager to make her display... but Dax lingered a bit, still looking over the house as if he'd never seen one before. It was as if he were committing it to memory, for when he was ACTUALLY going to be there - plus, it afforded another look at the fantastic sight in the back.

Satisfied, Dax made his way over as well. He was smiling; a good sign.

Silver was almost hopping up and down as Illiad and Dax came over to her door. She opened it and leapt inside, whinnygiggles abounding. Dax chuckled a bit himself; it was so cute to see her this excited.

Inside the large, blank room was... well... it was...

It stood about seven stories tall, and had all sorts of tubes, pipes, coils, levers... but it was completely unidentifiable as anything Illiad had ever seen before. Perhaps Dax had seen something like this, but-

"Uhm... what IS it?"

Okay, scratch that.

Silver gave another giggle, and stepped lightly over to an area covered by a tarp. Her horn glowed, and the cover was whisked away to reveal... what looked like a large hamster ball. It was made of smooth, flexible-looking metal, and it had what looked to be a soft, personally tailored cushion in the middle, suspended by hinges and wires.

Beneath it was a steel platform, and next to that was a simple lever with a plastic daisy for a handle topper.

"So... who wants to be FIRST!?"

Her smile went all the way across her muzzle; it looked both overjoyed and a tad manic.

"Come on, come on! Who's first?"

Dax looked at Illiad, then turned to the unicorn mare. "I... guess I... c-could?"

Silver laughed. "Oh, you'll be perfectly fine, Daxie! Just climb inside that ball there, and sit on the seat; don't worry about belts, it's perfectly secure!"

The Blackwater looked around himself dubiously as he wriggled his way into the sphere. "Perfectly secure? Well, what do I do no-"

"ENJOY!"

She slammed down the lever, and the platform underneath the ball SPRANG straight up, disappearing into a tube above it. As Illiad watched, he began to see what was happening...

The ball shot through the tube, rolling down through it as Illiad heard Dax screaming in pure terror. Little slotted windows in the tube allowed him to see where the ball was, and from what he could tell, Dax was still perfectly upright and contained. At a bend, the side of the tube suddenly popped open, and the ball whooshed out of it!

It flew across a part of the huge machine, only to be caught in a net which dropped the ball into another tube, this one a spiral. As it twisted around and around, Illiad began to hear Dax's screams of fear beginning to turn to whoops of excitement. Whirling out of the tube below, it then shuffled sideways into a steel trench, which carried it along rails that made the ball roll faster, even performing a loop-the-loop before simply flying off a ramp into the air.

Perfectly aligned with the rails on the other side of the gap, it then magnetically latched onto a panel that began to lift the ball up, up, up... until, close to eight stories up, it suddenly dropped again - but a pair of rails popped out of a side tube, caught the ball, and brought it back into the adjoining tunnel.

It was obvious now... Silver had made one heckuva roller coaster!

The sphere kept zipping, rolling, and flying around the entire contraption as the two watched. Dax sounded as if he were having the time of his life inside. Silver, meanwhile, turned to Illiad and leaned on him, giving him a nuzzle as she did.

"When I was a filly, my parents took me to a fair once... and I fell in absolute LOVE with the roller coaster there! It was great to feel all that momentum, the wind in my mane, the thrill... oh, it was wonderful! It was also one of the things that really got me interested in mechanical work. So... this, Illiad, is my homage to roller coasters! It's not an impossibility like your backyard display, but I DID dampen the physics inside the ball - so you don't get thrown all over the place."

The ball suddenly popped out of a hatch in the ground flew RIGHT past Illiad and Silver, and landed with a sharp >CLANG!< back on the platform it started from. Dax sat there, his eyes huge and his pupils tiny. He sat there for a moment, breathing hard. Then he turned his eyes onto Silver Studs.

"That... was... AWESOME!!!!!"

Silver laughed as Dax climbed out and made his way over to them. His mane was a tad wilder than usual, but he was otherwise unharmed.

"Illiad! Oh my Luna it was SO AMAZING! Once I realized I wasn't gonna fly out of that thing, it was SO much fun! You've GOT to try it! You've just gotta!"

Silver smiled at the Trojan. "Well? You're free to say no, but... well, I wanted to ride with you if you said yes."

The smile Silver was giving him took a bit of a saucy twist, and her eyes went half-lidded.

Illiad looked a bit unsure, having never really been one for thrills like what was posed to him. Still, this was no doubt a very impressive piece of engineering. He looked over at Silver with an intrigued, yet skeptical look. "Well... if you think it's safe enough for two... who would I be to deny you your moment?"

He sighed, steeling himself for what was coming, "Alright, let's do it."

Selena stifled a laugh as she watched the exchange, she knew Illiad wouldn't like the ride too much to start, but it would be funny to hear him traveling through it with Silver. No screams though as he just got quiet whenever things had gotten tense or exciting like this in the past.

Silver's smile grew. "Glad to hear it. C'mon!"

She slid effortlessly into the sphere; Illiad... not so much. But he did manage to get inside - and it was actually comfortable, as there was room enough on the cushion for two. As long as they sat close.

Silver nestled in next to Illiad then glanced out at Dax.

"Pull the lever, Dax!"

The young stallion smiled. "Have FUN, Illiad!" Then, he pulled it.

The initial takeoff was... fine. Absolutely fine. Illiad felt almost NO inertial drag at all - but the contraption was shooting them through the tube. From the outside, there were only little windows to see the sphere's progression; INSIDE the tube, multi-colored lights zoomed past, giving the illusion of being whisked away through a field of colorful stars, streaking past the two of them. The lights were interesting, but the different shunts through other parts of the machine were just as exciting.

However, Illiad only got to see part of this wonder...

As they reached the spiral, Silver suddenly wrapped her hooves around Illiad and kissed him DEEPLY. She pulled him tightly to herself, hungry for affection, and continued to plant kisses all over his muzzle and neck, nuzzling and snuggling in between each one.

Apparently, Silver had not only made a grand roller coaster... but she'd also made a place where she and Illiad could have a moment alone... well, pseudo-alone, as far as Selena was concerned. It wasn't until they were underground that she finally sat back and gave him a shy, sweet whinny giggle and a wink. With that, the ball launched from the ground, and >CLANG!< back onto its' platform.

Dax walked over and looked inside. "Didn't I tell ya it was fun!?"

Silver simply kept smiling... though, by now, her name might be better suited as 'Crimson', as the blush she wore almost seemed to reach her barrel.

It seemed the ride was a series of surprises for Illiad, first, the reduced feeling of the forces on the ball made the ride feel quite a bit more gentle than it had looked from the outside, altogether much more enjoyable than he had anticipated. Then there was Silver's display of affection, while not entirely unexpected, it was certainly a bit more forward than he had anticipated. That's not to say he didn't appreciate it, however, it was a fruitless endeavor to try and keep up with Silver's affections while inside the ball, so he did what he could and resolved to just enjoy it.

Once they reached the end he too had a pretty deep blush to match, but that didn't stop him from giving her one last kiss before exiting the ball. "Well, that was quite the experience."

Selena had a pretty smug expression on her face as she watched them disembark, having had a decent view of the whole thing, though her expression shifted to a bit more of an impressed smile as she caught llliad's attention with her waggling eyebrows. "Well this has certainly been a creative adventure, I guess that just leaves Dax left to show." She turned over to face him with a curious look, "If you're ready to show us that is?"

Dax gave a small, cryptic smile, yet turned and headed for the door.

"Okay... follow me."

He led them out of Silver's doorway and to his own, where he opened it and motioned to Illiad and Silver.

"After you."

They stepped inside.

The first thing they noticed was the absolute lack of a blank room.

What they saw was a beautiful shoreline of pure, white sand. Palm trees framed the beachfront, fading into an entire forest of them stretching back behind it and into the distance. From said forest, sounds of animal life peppered the background ambiance of the waves.

And the water...

The ocean before them was a beautiful, luminescent blue. Its soft glow seemed to almost pulse with the tide, and it was cool, blue, and soothing. The ocean seemed to stretch out for miles, far past the horizon line behind it. The light of a single moon shone down, illuminating the entire area with the glow of precious moonlight.

Above, there were a number of stars... though they didn't fit any sort of pattern or constellation that had ever been seen, heard of, or existed. They twinkled above, winking at the three entities standing on the beach.

Silver looked around with her mouth hanging open. "Dax... where ARE we?"

Dax blushed. "Planet Illiad."

Silver gave him a look of pure incomprehension.

"Well," he began, smiling sheepishly, "we were able to make anything our imaginations could come up with, right? So, I just thought about all the stars and our world, and all the things I'd read about in my books, and... well, I made a planet."

"You... made... an entire... world?"

"Well... actually, I made a whole galaxy."

Silver just stared.

Dax pointed at the stars above them. "See, each one of those stars up there is another planet - fully formed and even populated with little animals and such. There's Planet Silver, Planet Slapper, Planet List, Planet Zinger, Planets Beck andCall - they're a binary star - and all sorts of stuff. There's even a Blackwater Nebula, where my family's planets are... right there, see?"

He pointed to a visible swirl of purple and blue, five stars dotting the interior.

"How... how did you..."

"That part was actually kinda easy. See, when I had lots of spare time as a colt, I used to imagine up my own worlds, where other ponies all liked me, and everything there was exactly how I wanted it, regardless of anyone else's ideas. I could pretend I was on my own planet whenever I felt lonely, or afraid, or just miserable... and it usually made things feel better, afterwards. So, with that in mind, I just adjusted my own designs for my own little world, duplicated them a LOT, then changed the makeup of each planet until not a single one was like another. That... took some thinking... but I think I accomplished what I'd set out to do."

Silver was absolutely speechless.

Dax turned to Illiad. "Is... is it good?"

Selena's reaction seemed a bit out of place, "So THIS is what was draining so much of my energy!" She didn't look angry, though, in fact, she looked rather relieved, complete with a sigh. " I was worried I had contracted some sort of magical illness or something. I would never have thought you would be able to create such a draw all by yourself."

Illiad on the other hoof had quite a wide-eyed stare. "You... really did all this yourself? I mean you'd have to I guess but this... this is simply unbelieveable. I mean, it took a bit of doing for me to make the thing I did, but for you to have put forth even a rudimentary approximation of complex life from just your own mind and willpower is simply amazing."

Her form shuddered and seemed to lose focus for a bit before she drew herself back together. "That being said, though, you are understandably well over the sustainable resource limit, so if we want this dream to last longer than the next few minutes we're going to need to trim some stuff down okay? I already archived Illiad and Silver's things to memory, but we're really going to need to slim what you've done down."

She looked serious, though caring, with a slight bit of pain as well. "I really do like it, though, you've far outdone what the others have done at this point. I just can't hold it all here for long. I may be more mentally conscious than the rest of you but even I can't keep all of this in my head for too long."

Dax looked (and felt) a bit hurt by Selena's request, but he nodded.

"I... kinda figured it might be too much. Hold on."

He closed his eyes. Almost instantly, the green glow that usually followed him in the dream world reached out from his form, and bathed the entire area in an emerald light. As they watched, one by one, the stars in the sky winked out, until there was nothing above them but a blank black expanse. It looked lonely and chilling, looking skyward and seeing nothing there.

Slowly, though, the black began to fade little by little until it was the familiar white of the blank room's walls once more... although considerably farther out. Apparently, the planet was still whole, still there. But even that began to shrink, bit by bit, until there was nothing more than the sandy beach they'd first stepped onto, surrounded by white.

It was surreal; the edges of the beach just sort of petered out, fading to white like an unfinished painting, the canvas showing at the edges. It now appeared that they were standing on a small strip of sand... and there was a small sandcastle there now. Nothing spectacular - a colt could have built it - but it certainly wasn't there before.

Otherwise, they were surrounded by the white room once more. Dax's glow slowly sunk back into him, and he opened his eyes again.

"Sorry," Dax looked to Selena apologetically, "I didn't mean to put any strain on you, or anything like that. I just wanted to... to... I'm just... I'm so sorry."

Though his emotions were a mixture of disappointment and shame, he still gave them a small, rather sheepish smile.

Selena sighed as the strain was lifted off of her, "Oh Dax, you're far cuter and more caring than you have any right to be."

She ghosted over to him to wrap him in a hug, "Now it's time for me to do something for you."

The white walls around them started to take color again, though instead of it being an inverse of what Dax had done, it was more like what they had seen earlier was being painted on the walls, the beach for all intents and purposes seemed to stretch out into the distance, the ocean seemingly endless, and the stars starting to dot the night sky again, each twinkling like they had before. She lifted Dax's head to see it as she gestured out at the expanse. "You see? Now it's like your room. Everything you thought up is still there, just presented in a way that it takes up very little active space. The other planets and stars simulated as much smaller, and much closer to keep the room small, and the rest mostly illusions rather than actual constructs. We can even move about your worlds by generating the constructs as we come into contact with them rather than keeping everything built all the time."

Illiad got over his awe enough to take a seat near where Selena had embraced Dax. "I do like that sandcastle, it's really a nice touch to the beach. I am curious, though, about more than one thing. First, what is it that makes this planet Planet Illiad? I suppose Silver too would want to see the planet you've made for her as well as what makes it really hers."

Dax's blush almost outshone his black coat when Selena embraced him... but he did lean into it a bit. Illiad felt a small explosion of emotion from this: confusion... surprise... a touch of shock... and maybe a bit of a shy crush, as well.

Silver was still boggled by what she'd seen. "A whole galaxy? Dax, I... I had no idea you had this kind of... I mean, you never seemed to... w-w-what I MEAN is..."

Dax gave a humble smile. "Well... I did a LOT of thinking when I was a colt. I'm serious when I said I didn't have any-..."

His mood dipped for a second, but he shook his head and smiled at Illiad.

"I call it Planet Illiad because it's what I put together based on you. See?" He pointed to the ground. "Sand, to start with - of course - but it's more than that - the sand's actually made of tiny little pearls. Look," he scooped up a hoofull and held it out for them to see. Inside, on close examination, were hundreds of tiny little pearls, all rounded and smooth and VERY shiny.

"Each one is a pearl - that was me trying to actualize the fact of Illiad's being a secret treasure... 'cause, y'know, he's...special."

Silver gave the Trojan a sweet smile. "He certainly is."

He continued, "But then there's the palm trees, which I read about in one of my natural biology textbooks - and further back, past the forest, there's a palace for him. Though," he said, "it might be a bit too regal for your tastes. Still, I wanted to try to put a bunch of nice things here for you. Such aaaaaaaas..."

He pointed with a hoof, and they all saw a very curious sight: running down the beach at a breakneck pace, was what appeared to be a paintbrush with legs. It was being chased by a square of canvas, which was flapping away behind it and keeping pace.

"The brush and scroll are friendly; they love to be picked up and doodled with - there's a bunch of 'em on Planet Illiad! There's pencil-critters, too... and paint blossoms... and even wild paper rolls! And they all really enjoy being used, so you'd never be out of art supplies here!"

Illiad seemed to be just stuck staring at all there was to see, watching Selena conjure things right from Dax's memory of the creation as they became relevant. With such a level of detail, it was no wonder it had reached the upper limit of Selena's mental faculties. It took a while before Illiad was able to compose his thoughts into actual words, wishing there was some way of this place Dax had created to be real, to be somewhere he could visit outside of a dream, though he had no doubt that he would be visiting this place again in another dream.

"I just... wow." Words could not express how much amazement sat within himself at such a mental feat, to carry this around inside himself. He wondered if any other creatures had such universes inside them.

He began to pace a bit as he spoke.

"The planet is roughly about 40% water, with land masses ranging from snowy mountains to bowl valleys. It has a single moon, which I named 'Odyssey', an exotic word that means an adventure - like the one we're having now! The majority of the planet is covered in either sand or palm trees, but there's a few surprises as well, like an active volcano and a waterfall where the water falls UPWARDS; that can be seen from the palace."

He smiled though at the mention of the moon's name, "Funny you should name the moon Odyssey, I'm actually familiar with the culture the term came from, though it also has a more personal aspect that you'll be more familiar with next week."

"There's a deep well, where you can draw buckets of whatever you'd want to drink - you can get soda, water, apple cider, orange juice... whatever you can imagine, just drop and then raise the bucket, and it's yours! There's also-"

There was a rumbling sound that almost seemed to shake them all to the core, but the Blackwater simply smiled.

"... then there's HIM."

From above, what looked like the massive bulk of a dragon came whooshing out of the scant cloud cover and dove directly at them. Once it was close enough, it slowed and flapped. That was when Silver spoke up.

"Dax, is... is that a..."

The dragon landed... or, more like the dragon machine landed.

It was a clockwork dragon, complete with wings and tail, and what appeared to be small flames guttering in the back of it's steel throat. It was all shiny silver and red chrome, with scales that reflected the faces of those around it, not to mention the scenery. It had what looked to be twin Blackwater-Cut emeralds for eyes, which seemed to glow with an inner fire.

Once it reached the ground, it looked them all over before focusing on Illiad... and bowing low before him.

"OH MY GOSH, IT'S A CLOCKWORK DRAGON! Dax, how did you..?" She was all over it in a heartbeat, zipping from angle to angle, looking it over with hungry eyes.

For a brief moment panic struck Illiad at its mechanical nature, but it subsided as he saw the eyes, they weren't the unfeeling ones from his vision, though not very emotional they still made an attempt to convey something of emotion.

Dax just smiled his smile.

"It's not sentient... but it IS yours, Illiad. After all, it's your planet... and everything here is under your command."

Illiad shook his head and chuckled at the whole thing, it spoke of both the sophistication of an adult and the childishness still within Dax.

Selena disappeared from Dax's side and reappeared atop the clockwork dragon with a smile on her face. "This is sooo cool!"

The Blackwater stallion smiled up at Selena. "Isn't it, though?"

"Dax... that dragon... how do YOU know so much about clockworks?"

He blushed a bit. "Well, from books... and you, Silver."

Her eyes widened. "M-m-me? But I've NEVER built anything like THIS!" She made her way over to the dragon, and tentatively laid a hoof on its' side. "I mean, it's beautiful... but you REALLY couldn't have come up with... with THIS... from MY work, could you?"

"Silver," he grinned, "your work is amazing. I've seen you sketch out a number of things, seen you bring some of them to life, and I've watched you fix all sorts of stuff around the quarry - if I hadn't picked up SOMETHING, then I'd be pretty dense, don'cha think?"

Sighing, she smiled back. "Dax... if I had even the smallest hoof in this, I'm flattered. Really, I am."

He beamed at her, then turned back to Illiad. "I'm really glad you like it; I was kinda wondering if it would be... well, if you wouldn't like it. I just wanted to show you that... well..." He motioned to their surroundings. "... your friendship means the world to me; even if it's another world entirely."

"Awwwwww..." Silver smiled sweetly.

He turned to Selena. "I even have a planet for you... but, um... well, it's not like a... normal planet. Because you're nowhere in the same room as 'normal', anyway - you'd need something REALLY unique! And Silver," he turned to her, "yours is really cool, too. I just..."

He looked at them all questioningly. "I didn't want to take up all our dreamtime with just MY stuff... this is supposed to be for ALL of us, right? Am... am I being selfish?"

Selena looked down at Dax from her perch atop the clockwork dragon, seemingly content to pretend it was flying around despite not really having the room to fly around on it without dragging the others along. "Are you foaling me? You create for us these amazing things, and wonder if you're being selfish by showing them off? I think hardly! You won't get another chance like this to show this off for a long time, I for one wouldn't mind spending the rest of tonight on a guided tour of your universe, or at least to what you made for Silver and I. Given what you made for Illiad here I know it will be something truly amazing!"

Illiad smiled too as he chimed in, "You thought up this amazing world and you've only known me really for a few weeks at best, you've known Silver for so much longer, thus I would think her world would be even more amazing in regards to things she would enjoy. This whole universe even... Honestly there isn't anything I'd rather do tonight than get to see it with the two of you."

If Dax's mood had sunk when he'd been told to shrink the world, it soared as he was asked to give them a tour.

"I'd love nothing more... really. Thank you - all of you."

He smiled broadly as he turned and looked to Selena.

"Okay... Planet Silver next!"

Obligingly, the world around them shifted until they were standing in an open field of flowers.

Steel flowers.

Each set of petals on every flower was a gear, which spun softly as the wind lightly blew past them. Their stalks had little trails of green light that pulsed from flower to ground, and combined they made a green rippling effect across the surface, which was also steel.

There was a forest at the edges... but the trees? They too were metal; it was as if they were Weeping Willows - but their flowing greenery was replaced with what looked like tinsel. Each strand seemed to have a mirrory-shade to it, reflecting light softly, in a dazzling array of colors, like a prism.

Floating in and around these metal beauties were tiny little balls of light. There were numerous colors, and they seemed to lazily drift along in the air, almost like bubbles. One of these, a green one, landed gently on Silver's muzzle. She crossed her eyes, then suddenly gasped.

"It's... it's a clockwork! B-but I don't... what is it?"

Dax laughed. "They're supposed to be like Breezies, which I learned about those from Mr. Stump, one of my old biology tutors. I just took the design, made it metal instead of its' usual composition, then gave it a glow. Cute, aren't they?"

At the outskirts of Illiad's vision, there was a flash of white light.

In the distance behind them, a large, dark stormcloud was rolling in. It looked quite ominous, especially as a small jolt of lightning arced through said cloud, sending runnels of electricity rolling along the boiling, cottony surface.

"It's a storm?"

Dax smiled. "Eeyup - a BRAINstorm!"

As if his joke conjured up reality, it suddenly began raining - and the rain looked more like cartoony thought bubbles, the kind you'd see in a comic strip when someone was thinking. One of them landed right on Illiad's head, and he heard Silver's voice in his mind:

[... seven ounces of titanium dust, mixed with a gel-based polymer, soaked overnight in pure saltwater...]

And it was gone. The thought hadn't been intrusive, nor blaring; it had simply sounded like he'd heard her muttering to herself in passing - but inside his mental ear instead of his physical ones. It was... a bit strange. But, in his own way, Dax had brought a pun to life; it was literally raining ideas.

"Now, above that cloud is YOUR palace, Silver!"

"A-a-above?"

As the cloud parted from the rest of its surroundings, a large gathering of tubes - like a pipe organ - resting atop a platform that seemed to float impossibly on top of the cloud itself. It was a mobile castle! It soared over their heads, the bubbles of the brainstorm popping lightly on the ground around them.

"Dax..." she said, but stopped there; she was smiling and speechless.

"The castle moves around all over the planet's surface, never taking exactly the same path twice. Where the brainstorms go, it gives some of the mecha-critters below ideas, and they use their own mechanical skills, in turn, to build the forests and flowers you see here. The entire planet is constantly replenishing itself, thanks to your castle and the brainstorms. It's all one big machine, and every creature and plant is a cog..."

She turned to stare at him. "Dax... this is... it's... wow..."

He smiled, and Illiad could feel the absolute joy and acceptance radiating from him as he took in the reaction and praise.

"And every bit of it responds to you."

As if on cue, a swarm of colored lights flew upward out of the flowers around her, surrounding her with a whirlwind of a display. She laughed in surprise, and turned a few circles as they passed her, floating toward the forest's edge, ready to create once again.

Dax turned to Illiad. "Planet Silver is roughly two-thirds the size of Planet Illiad. It has mostly flatlands, but there are mesas and plateaus that dot the landscape as well, and there's a LOT of lakes, but no ocean - and the lakes are all freshwater, so as not to promote rust. There are TWO moons here - named 'Not Really' and 'More Like'."

Silver gave a short bark of a laugh, then covered her muzzle and just blushed.

"And there's a Lake Easle... and it's heart-shaped." He smiled sheepishly again. "With pink water."

Illiad remained standing, even though the field was very pretty steel was not all the comfortable to sit on given all the angular edges of the flowers. He was, nonetheless, amazed at everything there was to see around him. "You really are much smarter than most give you credit for. Even though I get the idea that most of the clockwork is more an approximation where the dream takes it the rest of the way rather than you having the fundamental understanding of how to build everything here, otherwise you would actually build these things in the waking world and become rather famous for it, imagine a pony your age creating the first approximations of artificial life."

He shook his head slightly with a big smile, "Really, though, I must say I'm impressed."

Dax gave a soft grin.

"Yeah, the actual clockwork's kinda fudged... but the concepts are valid. I've always been really imaginative - or so my tutors have told me - but I've..."

He teared up just a bit.

"... I've never really had anypony... actually, anyONE... to really share it with before. Harcourt and Oglevy - they've seen some of it, but... you're the first friends I've really ever had the chance to do ANYTHING creative like this for.... that I WANTED to do this for... which makes me want to go all out for you - ALL of you."

Silver walked over and gave Dax a tight hug. "Dax Blackwater, I am absolutely honored to call you a friend; I knew you were clever, but this? This makes ME feel like I'm slacking!"

"Silver, I never would have even considered anything like this if it hadn't been for your tinkering... and your willingness to share and show. Thank you for that, Silver - your kindness and skill went a long way for me."

He turned to Selena. "And this dreamworld... this place of such amazing fantasy... I don't think words exist in the Equestrian language - in ANY language - to ever properly thank you for an opportunity like this. To just... create... you're an amazing miracle of magic, Selena - and you're a wonderful friend."

Now he focused on Illiad. "And you. I..."

He suddenly dashed over and threw his forelegs around the Trojan, hugging him tightly and almost literally gushing the kind of affection that good friends often share.

"Thank you; none of what I've experienced this week would have been even remotely possible if you hadn't sent that first letter. You'll never really know what that meant to me... but I'm sure by now you could take an educated guess, I'll bet. Thank you, Illiad Easle, for being my friend."

He sure was a huggy-type, wasn't he?

Illiad returned the hug as he ruffled the colt's mane, "And thank you Dax Blackwater, for being my friend. Thank you for showing me this wondrous world of a quarry and this unique universe of yours that you keep in your head."

Selena came over to join the hug too, "I suppose I am a miracle of magic, there may never be another like me, but I know there will never be another quite like you Dax, and I'm glad I got to be myself around you." She looked up and over at Silver, " You too, of course, I'm glad I got to spend time with both of you."

She stepped back from the hug as stared at a tiny sundial that appeared on her hoof, "It looks like we have enough time to visit another planet before we'll have to end the dream as Illiad and Dax have a pair of trains to catch."

Dax nodded. "Okay then - next stop, Planet Selena! But, let me tell you," he grinned, "it's certainly different."

The scenery shifted once more, and they were all standing on what appeared to be a large, square platform made entirely of diamond... CLOUD diamond, to be exact.

The platform was simply floating there, and surrounding it were all sorts of other platforms, all moving in different directions: up, down, sideways, diagonally... and their slow progression made it look almost like they were situated for leaping from one to the other. They moved seemingly randomly, but after a moment's examination it appeared as though each platform had a predetermined pattern that it followed, keeping every one of them from accidentally striking each other.

"What in... Dax? W-w-where's the planet?"

The Blackwater laughed. "We're ON it! Or rather, a section of it - take a look!"

He motioned to the edge, and Silver tentatively stepped to it... and gasped.

Beneath the platform were what appeared to be MILLIONS more, all moving and twisting in their random-yet-determined patterns below them; there was no actual planet surface there - it was all made of these platforms.

Yet as one looked, the shifting squares took on momentary visages below; a strange, yet wonderful form of flowing, moving art as they arranged themselves, completely by design, into three-dimensional landscapes, portraits, still-life art... and a number of these were displayed at each simple movement - blink, and you'd miss a Manehattan gallery's worth.

Silver didn't comment or react, other than the stare of a mind awed by the sight before it. Dax turned to face Selena, and gave her a soft smile.

As they had traveled, Selena held on to the slightest bit of fear that what Dax made for her would be... underwhelming, it would be understandable, though, she was the one he knew least after all, thus how could she expect that he would create something that uniquely represented her?

She was pleasantly surprised to discover that not only was the planet very much like her, it surpassed her wildest dreams of what something so unlike her could represent her so well. She stared in wonder at all the things around her as Dax demonstrated, there was the freedom of her dream realm, the changeability of it all.

"It's more of an idea of living art than a planet, actually... but since we first met, I've seen you as a miraculous creation, beautiful and wondrous, that represented something that NO ONE has ever truly known before. So I really had to think about this one abstractly, and find a way to make it the most incredible thing in the entire universe - literally."

"From every angle, with the right kind of eyes, you can see hundreds of pictures in less than a minute... and it's perfectly safe, too! Watch!"

Dax stepped right off the platform... and fell UP. The stars were visible in what would be an eternally night sky, but it was the moon. And the one next to it. And the one next to THAT one. On top of this, there wasn't just the sight of multiple moons to view; they were all in a direct line across the sky, perfectly spaced and enchantingly luminescent - like a lunar belt.

Outward from the 'planet' he went, panels seemingly pre-pre-programmed for his passage and moving aside. He 'fell' until he cleared the entire area... then floated there for a moment. His eyes closed, stepping confidently, a happy Dax simply started walking in air. As he drifted back down, he began stepping on another platform - as smoothly as if he'd been there to begin with.

"All gravity here is relative; you can fall any direction you'd like. In fact, if you think at it hard enough..."

He squeezed his eyes shut, making a rather determined little face, until the platforms all shifted mere fractions of inches - and there were multiple views of Illiad Easle, from the moment he stepped off the train to this very scene, and flashes of each and every moment in between he'd had with the Blackwater stallion.

"... you can make it display anything you could ever imagine or remember."

"Selena - this is all for you." He grinned shyly, but the genius behind his eyes shone like an emerald in the moonlight. "Thank you for being my friend."

Illiad looked over the edge of one of the platforms and shuddered from a familiar memory before moving squarely to the center of the platform and willing the one he was on to stop moving, Selena remembered that experience and didn't blame him for making himself feel a bit safer.

She turned towards Dax, a serene smile on her face, " I never thought you would be able to capture me so well after having known me for such a short time. I do appreciate your friendship too Dax. Thank you for being my friend."

A thought occurred to her and she willed it to life, a few of the nearby platforms shifted into motion, looking a bit like angular ponies and dancing about, floating in every direction in loose circles around the group. Nearby one particular angular stallion, who looked a bit more there than the others, was dancing with a much less angular mare who looked strikingly like Selena, though Selena was still sitting with the group. If anything the angular stallion looked a bit like the thing that attacked PANIC from before.

" Only in one particular dream had I danced before you came around, Dax. Illiad always was too close to me to do it without an audience. I really do appreciate it."

Illiad looked a bit chagrined by the comment, "Yeah, I guess I didn't want to look like I didn't care. I saw how much she enjoyed dancing with you, so I wanted to experience that enjoyment for myself as well."

After a few minutes of the dancing, Selena stopped it, letting the platforms return to their natural state and motions. "Well, it looks like our time is just about up. Illiad and Dax are going to need to head out for their train soon, wouldn't want to make you guys oversleep just for my enjoyment."

Dax chuckled. "It's weird - having had a night like this, only to wake up to another adventure... but a weird I could get very used to."

Silver turned and locked Dax in a hug. She gave his mane a friendly touseling, then stepped back and gave him a thorough looking-over.

"Dax Blackwater - this just tells me you're as smart as I always knew you were. I hope you have a safe trip, and you'll no doubt come back with all sorts of stories! You be careful out there, okay?"

He nodded at her, then she turned to Selena.

"This is all so amazing... I really mean it! YOU'RE amazing! I've never ever, ever, ever met anyone like you... and from what I've experienced? Your friendship is its own kind of magic... thanks for being so very stellar!" She gave a slight giggle. "Well, maybe not exactly a heavenly body in the sky, but more like you're out of this world!"

She walked over and gave Selena a hug, then turned to face Illiad.

"You."

She sauntered over to him, the look in her eyes being one of rather undisguised emotional hunger.

"You've done what no other stallion has ever managed to do - you got my attention romantically, Mr. Easle. For years, I purposely AND accidentally stayed clueless as to the wiles of romance... and then you came along. Illiad, you've shown me a type of love I'd been missing. And you've shown me what sort of things I'm actually capable of. And best of all?"

She leaned in and kissed him fully on the lips, lingering there long enough for the stuff of dreams and memories to record.

"... I do believe I LIKE it."

She nuzzled against him, warm, soft, and scented like machine oil and lavender.

"I love you," she whispered.

Dax looked over at them and smiled; it did his heart good to see two good friends finding something special in each other. He then glanced over at Selena as Illiad and Silver had their moment. Selena certainly was the most unique being he'd ever met. She was so kind, so sweet, so very intelligent, so kind, so...

Stop it, Dax - I know what you're thinking... and there's no way someone like her would ever find someone like you to be...

Dax shook his head and looked over toward the pair. "Illiad? You wanna stay here, or should we get ready to leave now?" He chuckled. "Or do you perhaps need an extraction?"

Illiad smiled as he kissed Silver back and returned the affectionate nuzzle. "I love you too." He whispered right back at her.

Selena was glad to see that Illiad had found someone who could care about him as much as he cared about everyone around him, there weren't too many of those in his life and most of them were changelings. Not to say that the changelings were bad, just that it was nice to have another non-changeling in the friend group. Besides, if this kept up she would have another guest on the regular.

She sighed as she thought about Dax, while he was so adorable and so much someone she could see herself falling in love with, she was already infatuated with another, in a vision she had, one she hadn't shared with Illiad, she saw who she would end up with, someone who completed her so perfectly, another being of magic. Nonetheless, she could still appreciate Dax as a friend, a very good friend.

Illiad sighed as he looked over towards Dax while still staying close to Silver, "I guess we should get ready to go then, wouldn't want to feel rushed in packing and then forget something after all."

Selena nodded as the contents of the room slowly faded, a sad look on her face as she realized she wouldn't be able to hold up such a wonderous place again without all three of her guests to help support it, it was just too complex for her to hold up on her own in any capacity beyond just looking at it.

They all found themselves back in the center room they started in, then that too started to fade from their vision, slowly being replaced by the darkness that was the back side of their eyelids.

Author's Note:

In which Dax, Illiad, Silver, and Selena spend one last night together.

We're at the second to last chapter of this half of the story my dear readers. Soon we will switch to Dax and switch to another author.

It's been great writing this story.

Comments

[Randimaxis]

This chapter... made me sad.

Don't get me wrong; it's an excellent chapter, and it gives some more detail on Illiad's home - and his inevitable future with PANIC. It also allows Silver to get a lil' bit o' lovin' in, and it shows what kind of fire for creation and imagination that Dax TRULY has. There's a lot of really cool stuff happening here, and it's a great chapter to really bring the quarry half of this narrative to a decent close.

But... well...

I tried a number of different ideas, all in order to try to see what could possibly be set up for the future... but, in those cases, the reply I got seemed to tell me that things were ironclad; there would be no breaking the chain of events, nor shaping them in other ways.

After so much change has come from Illiad Easle's presence in the Blackwater Quarry, I had simply been hoping that Dax would possibly affect things in a similar manner in Troy - but there were three times in this single chapter alone that I attempted to try to see if I could influence things... and in all three cases, I got the distinct impression that each possibility was stopped cold.

It's okay; I accept that Illiad's story is not my own to tell - that will have to be his own narration, and he's quite talented when it comes to spinning a yarn. Doubtless, the characters and events that take place in the Trojan's world will be incredible, and it'll be a great read when he finishes it.

I can hardly wait.