• 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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40 - Alien Visitors

Starlight stepped free of the truck with only a little help before she did a circle in place. "You really can feel the sun against your skin, can't you? It's... odd, but nice."

Kevin and I were giving relieved stretches for being freed from the moving van.

Before us was our destination. It had a huge fake alien with a bulbous head on top, waving hello. Behind it was a UFO made out of scrap metal. A sign proclaimed we had found 'The next best thing to Area 51!', which I doubted, but was amused enough to want to see more. "Kevin." He looked over. "Thank you, again. I would have missed all this if not for your idea."

He gave a thumbs up. "It's too easy to get comfortable in your safety zones."

Starlight reached for the sky a moment as her eyes wandered curiously. "Now, I may have some experience, but I'm still not quite up to the task of proper note-taking. Can I ask either of you to lend a hoo--hand?"

Kevin produced his phone. "Even better. I'll video the whole thing."

"Video?"

So Kevin showed her, turning the phone towards her as she blinked. He flipped it around and repeated the video he just made of her startled reaction. She burst into laughter. "Oh! I know that spell!"

"It's not a spell. It's--"

Starlight waved it away. "Yes yes, your lightning magic. Very good though, that will do nicely."

I moved towards the entrance. It seemed we were the only ones there at the moment, gauging from the empty parking lot. "Let's cut down on any talk about magic or spells, especially here. St--" I frowned. Was Starlight a good name? Actually... "Congratulations, you're a hippy now."

"What?"

I went back to the van and dug around until I found the wreath of flowers I had won at some company function. I threw it over Starlight's head and it draped about her shoulders perfectly. "A hippy." I threw her a peace sign. "Like, far out, peace and good vibes, man."

Starlight blinked softly. "Like Fluttershy's friend?"

Kevin burst into laughter. "Yes, exactly her! She's the hippiest pony I know."

"I can do that..." said Starlight with a frown before she half-lidded her eyes. "This place is, like, totally messing with my energy fields."

I nodded. "Perfect. Welcome to your first human attraction, Starlight." I let her wander ahead and leaned towards Kevin. "Fluttershy's friend?"

"I'll show you later," he assured even as he worked to get an image up.

And there she was. She was the image of pony free peace and love. She was amazing. "Wow." Beneath her was the title, Tree Hugger. It was a perfect name for a perfect stereotype.

"You two coming?" Starlight had her hand on the door's handle. "Let's see what's inside."

We hurried to catch up and headed inside. It was not air conditioned and was stuffy as a result. Simmering in baking clear ovens were various artifacts from alien sightings and supposed alien encounters.

The guy at the counter was more enthusiastic that day. "Hello! Are you two sisters?" He looked between Starlight and me. "We have a sister discount."

"Then we're sisters," declared Starlight without hesitation, taking the advantage she could get. She reached over and hugged Kevin to her side. "And here's our brother. You have a family rate?"

The man laughed. "You're a cold one, but we do." He pressed a few buttons on his cash register. "Welcome! Be sure to visit the observatory up top. We've had no less than five sightings this year by guests like yourselves. You ever see a UFO?"

Kevin moved to pay for that stop, surrendering his card a moment before we got three alien-themed tickets.

Starlight had already found a knick-knack. A necklace with a classic grey alien head, big eyes staring. "This totally fits my chakra," she proclaimed. "Can I have it?"

Swipe, went my card as I bought it for her. "Consider it repayment for the lessons you've been giving."

"Oh, we're hardly finished with those." She adjusted it, but seemed put off with how it hung. Her voice lowered to a whisper. "How do human females deal with anything hanging when they bump into things on their chest?"

Kevin snorted out a little laugh but had the sense to remain without words.

I put a hand around Starlight gently. "Just like ticklish fur, it's just a thing we get used to."

We roamed the site, scoping out the various curios they had available. The highlight was the 'authentic' alien under glass, half dissected. The plaque read that it was straight from Area 51. I doubted it immensely.

A new, but familar, voice spoke suddenly, "Does it give you the heebies?" It was the clerk from the front. "Figure it would, seeing one of your kin done up like this."

I arched a brow. "Excuse me?"

He hiked a thumb. "Don't take it the wrong way." His hand moved to give the vulcan sign. "I come in peace, and I hope you do too."

Starlight glanced left and right before she pointed at herself. "Are you calling me one of these things?"

"Are you some other kind of alien? That's cool too!"

Kevin put himself between the boy and Starlight. "Ease up there. This is Starlight. She's not an alien."

"Starlight... What a perfect name." He looked dream-struck. "I've seen her moving around. That's a human suit, right? This is so amazing!"

It was all going downhill uncomfortably quickly... "Look, we just want to see these kooky displays you have, then we'll be on our way."

"Is that the way hair normally looks for your people?"

Starlight reached up for her hair. "Is something wrong with it?"

That only made him smirk as if he had more evidence. Suddenly, Starlight stepped forward, looking deep into his eyes. "Alright, you figured it out."

His eyes went wide.

"But I need you to keep this a secret." She leaned in, nose almost to nose. "Keep this a secret and we will reward you."

"Y-you will?!"

Starlight gave a slow nod. "Oh, of course. We aliens have lightning magic beyond your comprehension, and others beside. You be good, and we will come back and reward you. But, for now, we're on a mission."

Kevin looked to me, but I wasn't sure if I should get in the way. The boy was being manipulated by Starlight quite well.

"W-what kinda mission?"

"A great migration," spoke Starlight honestly enough. "Here, to remember this by." She dug into a pocket and produced a single golden bit and pressed it to his hand.

He gasped with amazement. "I-I can't!"

Starlight tilted her head faintly.

"I know how this works." He pressed the coin back to her. "If I have that, the cops'll be busting down my door. No, um, you keep that, uh, good luck, alright?" He scooted off like he had narrowly avoided something dire.

Kevin shook his head as he stepped up. "Well, that was interesting. Maybe it's time to get a move on?"

We all agreed and it was back to the van to continue our great trek. That hadn't gone ideally, but it could have gone much worse still. "Starlight." She looked to me. "In the future, let's not go handing out physical evidence of our passing. You are an alien, after all. I promise not to hand any ponies any confusing artifacts either."

Starlight waved it away gently. "I had that poor little foal wrapped around my hoof, er, hand. He would have barked like a dog if I had asked nicely enough." Her eyes were on the passing roadside and they suddenly lit up. "A pony farm? What is that?" She pointed at the sign as it went past, bumping into me along the way.

Kevin, the one driving at that moment, helpfully supplied, "a pony farm is where they tend to raise and make available ponies, small horses. Not like you, Starlight."

Starlight rolled a hand. "Can we see it? I want to see what, uh, we look like. It'll be like witnessing ancient history and Twilight'd explode if I didn't get some evidence of that."

I could imagine Twilight's plaintive cry if we just passed it by. "We'll get the next one, I promise." I began tapping at my own phone to find the next horse or pony ranch anywhere along the route we were headed. "There's one just three hours ahead, a full on ranch." A few taps pulled up more details. "Full size horses and little ponies. That looks like a more interesting stop anyway."

"Starlight?" Kevin's eyes were on the road even as he talked. "Do you need to renew your spell or anything?"

"Good idea. When we get to the ranch, I'll stop in the back and do just that. We don't need sudden pony ears sending people into a panic."

I reached and flicked Starlight's little alien necklace. "The irony of you wearing that is getting to me."

Starlight just grinned at that a moment. "Delicious, isn't it? I figured since it was so clearly seen as fake, wearing one of these will make most ponies even less likely to think I'm strange."

We stopped for food before the ranch. There, Starlight ordered a traditional cheeseburger. "It's not any of the cows I know," she said to us, though it sounded more like she was rationalizing it to herself more than anyone else. "They're like the horses, right? They never evolved." It was a strange thing watching her taste it, then devour it when it apparently appealed to her human tongue.

Kevin shook his head. "So what kind of burgers do, uh, people back home tend to have?"

"Hay burgers are popular." Starlight licked her fingers clean, then grabbed at some napkins and got to wiping clean. "Fish burgers aren't bad either. I saw you had those, fish burgers that is. Not a single hay burger in sight."

I felt the urge and did not resist it. A quick search on the internet revealed the answer. "Hay is not toxic to humans, but is also not really digestible. It's just fiber to us, without all the gut bacteria that grazing animals tend to pack, like horses."

"Bacteria?"

Kevin shook his head. "That's a more complicated tale than we should probably get into. Suffice to say some animals can enjoy plants, and others are more limited. You wouldn't feed a pet cat hay, right?"

"I suppose not..." Starlight's musing expression brightened. "That makes sense enough." She picked up her own trash and even reached for me. "It's my turn."

I wasn't complaining and let her grab it all up. "That's nice of you."

Kevin hiked a thumb at the van. "I'm going to go gas up." And off he went to get that done.

I watched Starlight as she dumped things away. She was getting better at moving her human body around by good leaps and a steady stride.

Author's Note:

That was an interesting little visit.

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