Perchance to Dream

by David Silver

77 - Nap and Wine

I returned to the castle. A room had been set aside for me, and it was there I went. Since I had started napping in Equestria, it seemed it had become part of my 'cycle'. It just felt right, and as much as I wanted to crash that emergency meeting, sleep felt like a thing I wanted more. I settled on the royal bed and nodded right off.

Did I mention I could dream in pony land? I did that time. I had a family of little ponies, and a wife. I never got a good look at them, and it didn't matter within the scope of the dream. It was enough that they all existed. One of my foals had gotten a bad grade or something and we had a family meeting to encourage them. I couldn't tell you what words were used exactly, but that's how dreams go sometimes, right?

It ended with hugs and kisses and promises to make it all better.

I was pretty certain I had other equine dreams, but that one was the one I remembered when I woke up. I looked around for a clock, but ponies did not keep them at hand at all times in all places. Time was different for them, it seemed.

Slipping back to my hooves, I got myself straightened out, then headed for the door. I noticed I didn't turn to stone if I napped in Equestria. That meant... something? I suppose it meant my mind didn't actually leave that fuzzy body when I took a nap like that.

Opening the door, a piece of paper dropped from it in front of me. It had Celestia's seal. I must have missed her, a fact that annoyed me.

I willed it up and open and got to reading.

Good Morning, True Shot

I heard you were awake last night and came to find you sleeping again. I didn't wish to disturb you, but I simply must know your thoughts. This matter cannot be allowed to fester any longer than it already has. My little ponies are looking to me to see it resolved, most wishing for a peaceful end, and some less so. We should not let irrational voices win in this matter. From what you have said and shared, any actual conflict could result in terrible losses for all sides involved.

Besides, that is not the pony way. That is not the way I wish to show as being remotely acceptable. If I am asleep when you stir, ask for Luna.

Best Wishes,
Princess Celestia

I set the letter aside and poked out into the hallway. There was a guard there, as there always was. "Hello."

"Sir," he replied with a faint nod.

"Which Princess is awake currently?"

"They are having breakfast together, sir."

What fortune! "Can you show me the way? Celestia said to see her immediately."

The guard got right to it, walking purposefully as I followed. A little question niggled at me. "Say, how do you all look so similar? Do ponies who look like that tend to join the guard, or?"

He looked over his shoulder. "I'm not allowed to answer that, sir."

A secret? That ill-fit in the image I had created for Celestia. I didn't pry though. I could ask Celestia if it was that important in the end.

We arrived in a dining hall. Both of the princesses were there, and both looked exhausted. The guard nodded to me and went back towards the room he had been guarding without word. I approached the table. "Good morning, both of you."

Celestia's face brightened as she saw me. "True, good to--" She paused to let out a great yawn. "Please, excuse us. Luna has finished her shift, and I had mine extended uncomfortably."

Luna nodded lightly. "I would normally be planning what cushions I will use to sleep, but with sister this tired, I am forcing myself to stay awake a little longer."

"I heard of the meeting." I slid into a wide-bottomed chair close to them. "Sorry I didn't attend. I wasn't sure if I would really help there, and I had something else to check on."

Celestia raised an ear at me. "Something else?"

Luna sat up. "I trust you will be sharing that with us?"

Sharing or not sharing information was one of the key factors of my life it seemed. "We found a human, a child. Before you ask, they're not from my country. My world, sure, but not my country."

Celestia's head canted faintly. "Does that matter?"

"The United States government's reaction is not going to be the same. They won't go out of their way to ensure the safety of another country's citizen, and China--"

"What?" they asked in unison.

"Another country." Seeing them nod in unison in response was amusing. "China is so large and... I have no real contact with them to even inform them of the situation... Ultimately, I would vote to just return the child as quickly as possible. He won't help get ponies back, but that brings up another fact... If he's here, there's no reason at all to think ponies can't end up where he's from, which means there are ponies scattered across the globe, which... means this is more complicated than I had thought."

Luna's nose wrinkled as she shook her head. "That cannot be."

"How not? It seems less likely that it isn't so."

Luna rolled a hoof at me. "And yet, your world is ignorant of our people's reality. If they were scattered across the world, this would seem vanishingly less likely." She plucked a wine glass that was filled with orange juice from the table with a glowing horn. "Look at this. If I poured from the top here, I could spread it far and wide without much effort." She turned to show the narrow end. "If it came from the other side, especially without the base, the same tunnel could drop a much smaller area. Would that not explain what we are seeing?"

Celestia's hooves came together in a light clopping applause. "Clever thinking, sister. Though, I imagine we are speaking of things entering, rather than leaving... Actually." She sat up taller. "You may be onto something... If this is the rough shape of this phenomena, it means that the humans will be dropped in a wider area, across the world..."

"Or at least perhaps larger than Equestria," I ventured. "That reminds me, how large is your world?"

Luna waved away the question. "That won't help us. Let's, for the moment, assume ponies are being dropped in a relatively restricted area, your country. It would help if we knew where that place was. I should think your contacts would know where that is."

Celestia reached suddenly, placing a hoof on my shoulder. "I must apologize... I must have sounded a little... forced last night. Please, I am aware you are not truly a citizen of mine, and even if you were, I am no dictator. You are within your rights to refuse me."

Kind words, but I felt something there. Celestia was being kind on purpose. She was the ruler. Her word was law. She could insist. She was just choosing not to. She was a dictator, just a gentle and benign one.

Luna's eyes rolled. "That is all very well, but let us focus on the matter at hoof. True Shot, you are our contact. What can be done? The unicorns must be verifiably safe and being treated well. Preferably, we would be given leave to evacuate our people. The fact that we aren't is annoying me increasingly. Why are we--"

Celestia put out a hoof in front of Luna. "It is more complex than you are envisioning, dear sister. We do not--"

"--I do not care," spoke Luna bluntly. "Let us address the matter directly and be done with it."

The two were exchanging tired and frazzled looks, so I changed the topic. "There was a mare that said she knew where several other humans were." That had them look towards me. "There was something... interesting about her. She said she wanted to be heard, and was willing to use me as a mouthpiece to get those words across, to you two, likely."

Celestia lowered her head to rest on a hoof. "Can you tell us anything about them?"

I described the mare, slender, tall, attractive, and with sharp teeth.

"Sharp teeth?" Luna frowned faintly. "That is a distinct marker. Did they have wings?"

They did not, and I said as much.

Celestia glanced at Luna and back to me. "Did she strike you as... manipulative?"

"Yes." I sat up a little. "I didn't feel threatened, but she obviously wanted something and was willing to use me. That much was quite clear."

Luna clopped a hoof down on the table. "Do you think?"

"I do." Celestia nodded. "I did not think she would be so... bold."

All the pronoun games were annoying to me. "And she is...?"

Celestia lifted a hoof. "No one you should be concerned about. If she wishes to be heard, that is a step in the right direction. I will hear her."

Luna licked over her snout. "I'm not sure I agree there. You should be concerned. Be careful with that one. If she is who we believe, she could be dangerous."

Right... "Can I have a name and some background? There are enough mysteries in my life."

Celestia and Luna shared a look before Celestia nodded. "We have no proof it is who we fear it is, which is why I would prefer to not say..."

"Chrysalis," spoke Luna bluntly. "Her hive was recently reformed, but she remains at large with a fair portion of her people."

"Hive? People?" There was so much I wasn't being told. Then it clicked. I saw that episode. That Chrysalis?! Wait... "Reformed?"

Celestia let out a sigh, low and long. "They struggle still with their new identity, but they are on a good path towards cooperation and growth. Chrysalis refused a hoof of friendship and swore revenge... I would not hold it against her if she put it aside."

Luna smirked a little. "I would laugh, in private."

That got a glare from Celestia. "They are shapeshifters. The mare you saw, if she is one of them, was not showing her true form."

I got to thinking of other mares that struck me the same way. There was one. "I think she tried to approach me once before, but Spike was there and it didn't go the way she was hoping."

Celestia smiled. "That she didn't get violent about it is hopeful..." A yawn broke her expression. "Come, sister. We have things to attend to. True, you're welcome to eat and enjoy yourself. Thank you."

Luna rose to her hooves. "Consider our words. Your are our most direct line, but not our only. Failure to act means we will be forced to do so instead, and I feel you would rather that be avoided."

Celestia cast an irritated look, but they both left.

Good cop, bad cop. Both wanted me to be their savior. Both were likely willing to take action if I fell through, one way or the other. They wanted to save their ponies. Could I blame them? Well, yes. Of course I could, but was it a bad blame? I nibbled at the food they had left behind. Their discarded breakfast was tastier than most of what I actually ordered on Earth. I blamed it on being new.

I hadn't turned to stone after eating. I was still free to explore and enjoy Equestria, but where did I want to go? I could try to find that mare, Chrysalis? I could roam the streets of the city and just take in the sights. Lord knew there was plenty to be seen that I hadn't seen yet, but taking time to sightsee in the middle of the crisis felt... wrong.

I could combine the two, however.

Author's Note:

Some mysteries get some light shone on them. Are we moving in the right direction?

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Comments

[Booster Spice]

Someone might be pushing for a too fast resolution, so fast that not just minor mistakes will be made, especially when tired people are concerned?

Tired people make far more mistakes, and those in power are less likely to change thir mind in order to appear decicive.

[badninja]

She was a dictator, just a gentle and benign one.

Celestia is a royal ruler. She is viewed as a sovereign ruler and everything she has seen and knows so far points to this. So what prompted the thought of a dictator then?

[Sylica telca]

Of course everything must be in an enigma of confusion and secrecy.

[StormDancer]

The Guard! He's a typoling!

towards the room he had been guarded without word.

...had been guarding...

[David Silver]

8277092 All fixed!

[Warrior Kitten]

8276589

I got to thinking of other mares that struck me the same way. There was one. "I think she tried to approach me once before, but Spike was there and it didn't go the way she was hoping."

I think what this refers to is what I'm talking about.

[terrycloth]

8276927 *looks up the definition, which is unhelpful* *looks up a more complicated discussion on wikipedia*

Okay, I think she might qualify as a dictator under the 'cult of personality' sub-type. The rule of law does appear to exist (although it's not as oppressive or pervasive as the rule of law in the modern world), but she makes decrees that overrule it including using that to punish her political opponents (eg, Discord).

[Daremo]

And yet, your world is ignorant of our people's reality [...] Look at this. If I poured from the top here, I could spread it far and wide without much effort [...] If it came from the other side, especially without the base, the same tunnel could drop a much smaller area. Would that not explain what we are seeing?

Hmmm... the trouble here is that our Princess of the Night—she who spreads her star-dusted mane across the evening sky, the guardian of dreams who soars on midnight wings—ahem... Princess Luna seems to be working from a single data point with regards to humans crossing to Equestria. Much as it pains me to point it out, her analogy doesn't quite fit with what we do know. Humans are disappearing from a large area of the Earth and are possibly being deposited only within the relatively small borders of Equestria. if it is the case the the aperture is larger on earth than on Equestria it guarantees that ponies from Equestria are being scattered over as much of earth as humans are disappearing from, which is Linda/True's hypothesis. Unless there are two separate funnels at work, but there is as much evidence for that as Luna's conjecture. Truly, any speculation at this point seems premature, the author has not revealed enough puzzle pieces.

Linda could clear it up by at least asking agent Swanson if there are ponies known to be held captive in other nations, even a refusal to answer reveals something. There is also the show to consider, could MLP:FIM be marketed worldwide to help cover a globalized sprinkling of magical equines popping up all over the globe?

[tsaukpaetra]

Interesting. What if Chrysalis enacts one of the more traditional envisioning of changelings and starts infiltrating Earth? Hmmm.
Pushy pushy pushy, Luna shows her youth.
Keep going! ;)

[NightmintHLW]

Luna's eyes rolled. "That is all very well, but let us focus on the matter at hoof. True Shot, you are our contact. What can be done? The unicorns must be verifiably safe and being treated well. Preferably, we would be given leave to evacuate our people. The fact that we aren't is annoying me increasingly. Why are we--

the last " has gone to another world!

[David Silver]

8421575
Fixed!

[Luckyfanisaac]

Luna waved away the question. "That won't help us. Let's, for the moment, assume ponies are being dropped in a relatively restricted area, your country. It would help if we knew where that place was. I should think your contacts would know where that is."

I think Luna should just Dream walk to find ponies in other countries.