• Published 22nd Dec 2016
  • 5,490 Views, 1,260 Comments

Perchance to Dream - David Silver



Linda settled for bed, only to awaken in the middle of a garden of statues of horses. She was one of them, only not so stone. When she eventually slumbered there, she returned home. Living two lives, can she make sense of it all? Fix it, or enjoy it?

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15 - Spotlight

With the attention focused squarely on me, I rose up to my hooves. I felt like they wanted me to say something, so I did, "People of Equestria, it's a great pleasure to be back among you all. Please give me some time to regain my bearings."

Regain, that was a bit of a white lie. Still, they seemed to buy it, with clopping hooves and soft stomps on the floor of what seemed to be of approval.

The stallion seated beside me leaned over. "Is it true you once shot three dragons in the heart without reloading?"

Gah, I certainly hoped not, unless... "I simply let them see the tie that brought them together."

The stallion made an appreciative, if somewhat puzzled, noise, but his attention slid back down to the front.

I wasn't bothered until recess was called. I stood up again to make my retreat to find a trio of mares smiling at me just a touch too widely. They were also dressed just that touch too fancy. They smelled a bit too strongly of perfume. Yes, just about everything about them was just one step too far.

"Sir Shot," one of them called, beckoning me closer with a subtle hoof gesture. "Have you but a moment?"

I was spared from having to make an excuse by waking up.

I glanced over to the clock and saw I had woken up a few minutes early. But it was only a few minutes, so there was no point in trying to go back to sleep. I slid from bed and got to greeting the day. Bathed, dressed, ate, not always in that order.

Celestia was pushed out of my head for the moment. I was awake, and that had its own problems to worry about. Would my boss have an answer for my outrageous request? Would it be yes? Would I help Kevin along the way? Would that be smart?

I hadn't even noticed when I'd gotten into my car, and that bothered me. I cast aside worries of the future and focused on the immediate to drive safely to work.

I pulled into a spot close to the building. Lucky! I slid out and trot--walked briskly to the entrance. The air had just a little nip to it, nothing to really complain about, but enough to hasten me along inside to the warmth within.

The secretary gave me the subtlest odd look as I went by. Had the boss mentioned my request? I couldn't know, and it wouldn't have been right to ask, so I didn't and strode past her to my office. I settled down and conjured my email to start the day of sifting and doing when I noticed one lonely folder in my physical inbox.

I flipped it right open and saw it was a new project. I let out a little breath. Sure, most people would grump a little at new work, but being given a new task meant things were getting back to a sort of normal. I had work to do, and got right to it. Look up this permit, fill in that form, and look up who can get it filed with the greatest speed. The process had become, in part, standard for me, but that was due to practice. I wouldn't wish the job on anyone untrained.

A soft knocking came from the door an instant before it swung open, revealing the boss looking quite severe.

I tensed at the sight. I had a feeling this would be an announcement, one way or the other. "How can I help?" I swiveled my chair towards him, giving him my full attention.

He kicked the door shut easily as he walked up to my desk. "So, I hear you and Kevin are getting along."

I thought I was tense before. I was wrong. I was as still as the statue I was some of the time. "What brings that up?"

"As it turns, that might be the answer to two questions." He put his hands on the desk, looking into my eyes. "He's scared shitless trying to brave the real estate market out there without a support network, and what do we have? Someone who's getting a house who's already his friend." He straightened out. "Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not suggesting you two become related. In fact, I'd suggest against it, that gets awkward, but once you see what I found for you, I know you'll agree you'll have the room for him easily."

On the positive, he had just said I got my demand, and from the sound of it, it was a nice place. That was... good, really good in fact. On some level I felt like complaining would be almost insulting in the face of such a payout. "Can I see?" That seemed safe enough. I wanted to see what sort of place I was getting to make sure he wasn't playing it up.

He waved to the computer. "Check your mail, should just be showing up."

Well, alright then... I swiveled back to the monitor and pulled up the email fast. There was an unread mail from the HR department and I opened it up. There was an intense amount of legalese explaining how the purchase of the house would be considered income on my part, taxes, etc. etc. But then, there it was. The house looked...

"Lovely." Four bedrooms, two baths. One floor, but plenty of space. The garage had been modified to more interior space, but parking on the street wouldn't kill me. It looked quite nice. The only catch remained, did I want to share it with Kevin?

I swiveled back away from the screen to see the boss with a big grin, waiting for me to agree. I held up a hand. "I'm going to need to take care of the house I have right now, arrange for moving my things--"

"So, yes?"

I let out a slow sigh. "If it doesn't work out, what do we do then? I don't want to kick a friend out onto the roadside with nothing, not even in a state he has family in."

He slapped me lightly on the shoulder. He did that with everyone. "So keep it clean and professional. You two get along fine in the office, keep it there and there shouldn't be issues. He'll be paying rent, mind you. We might have negotiated that for you." He pulled a folded bit of paper out of his pocket. "This'll help pad your pockets and help pay the considerable taxes you have coming next year."

I accepted the paper and glanced at it. The price was high, but that was for here, not California. I had to look up what the going rates were there. I assumed it was reasonable though. Well... "If he pays his part, we can keep that nice and simple."

"I knew I could count on you! When will you be ready? We have a new lawyer handling the paperwork on that and he estimates about a month until it's ready for you to move in and all the forms are properly signed. You'll get the papers as needed, of course."

A month? "That should be long enough to get things in order. Did you already tell Kevin?"

"Just about to. Thanks for being you." He turned and walked out like he owned the place, which he did.

I let that tension escape with a heavy gust of air.

"What happened?" asked Twilight.

I looked up to see her peeking at me just above the task-bar.

"Is everything alright?" She rose up into proper view. "That's your employer, correct?"

"Correct," I agreed with a little smile. "How long were you listening?"

"I came just as you started looking at that house. What interesting architecture! It looks very nice. He's buying it for you?"

I returned to the current project. Just because I was going to be moving didn't mean I was off of work. Twilight kept glancing at the words I created, but her eyes were largely on me. "This must be a big day for you. You look frazzled."

"Is it that bad?" I pulled a mirror out of my desk and took a moment to straighten things out. "More unexpected than anything else. I'll be moving with a co-worker of mine that will become my tenant. It could get awkward, or it could become a wonderful thing, depending on how it swings."

Twilight nodded a little. "I had to move for work before. Princess Celestia kicked me right out of my nice, safe, library and sent me to the middle of nowhere. Some little town called 'Ponyville'." Twilight was smiling as she said it. "I thought it was the worst thing ever. I was so angry and confused and a little lost. All the ponies were new and a little terrifying..."

Hearing of the colorful pony's trials made me smile a little. "What'd you do about it?" I asked as I worked busily.

"Well... at first--"

Spike suddenly butted in on the screen. "She was a big baby and threw some amazing tantrums."

"Spike!" Twilight colored. "I may have been a little out of my element, but I did come around, and I met some of my best friends there. You really have to meet them eventually. In fact, I had meant to ask if you would be opposed to coming with me. I know Princess Celestia just announced you to Equestria, and that's going to get you in the limelight for a while." She leaned closer. "You can escape in Ponyville, in my castle. It doesn't even have guards. Nice, quiet, and out of the way. It's right next to Ponyville, so you can meet some new ponies, it just won't be the huge press that Canterlot is."

That actually sounded like a pleasant enough idea, but... "What would Celestia and Luna think?"

Twilight clopped her hooves eagerly. "I already talked to both of them. They both agreed to it."

I wondered a moment if Celestia was trying to avoid me. Still, maybe just a little time to digest it would do her some good. "Alright. Let's see Ponyville."

Twilight hopped up to her hooves. "Excellent! I'll have your statue brought to the train and you'll wake up at the new castle without having to wait on the train. I'll be extra careful, don't worry."

That brought up a question. "Twilight?"

"Hmm?"

"What would happen if something damaged my statue while I was away?"

"Well..." She looked shifty. "I couldn't say with absolute certainty, but I'm loathe to experiment and find out, considering the possible ramifications."

Spike, who was still sharing the screen, rolled his eyes. "Why don't you just have him hold something silly next time and break it off?"

Twilight blinked. "That's a great idea! If you hold something delicate and easy to remove without harm, that should suffice." She looked back at me from when she had been looking at Spike. "With your permission, of course, Linda." She lightly tapped Spike on the head. "And 'he' is a 'she' right now."

Spike stuck out his tongue. "I'm going to stick with True Shot. Not like we get to really hang out with his other half here." He gestured out at me. "Ponyville has some interesting places to see!" he suddenly exclaimed. "I'll show 'em to ya when you get here." He bounced off the field of the screen.

Twilight shook her head a little at him before returning her gaze to me. "I'll get out of your mane. See you when you wake up." She faded away gently, leaving me to the glories of my blank desktop and the email I was still typing away despite the conversation I was having with a brightly colored equine.

Author's Note:

You know, I avoid Ponyville in a lot of my stories, but we're going home!

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