Night Mares and Daydreams

by Dreams of Ponies

Chapter Twelve: Prelude

“P-Papa!” Starbright pressed quickly back against the cold stone wall of the tower. “I…”

A hard, firm slap exploded out, reverberating down the tower like an old tuning fork. Starbright fell back, hitting his head against the wall. I took a step towards him, but Daddy’s hoof was out against my chest before I could blink.

“Do you have any idea how worried you’ve made your mother?!” The older stallion stormed close enough to loom over Starbright, the poor colt quivering. “And now I’ve wasted time better spent elsewhere. You know this hasn’t been a good harvest, and the crop needs my constant attention if we’re to survive the winter.

“What do you have to say for yourself, Starbright?” He shook his head before regarding his son with a sadness that seemed worse than any amount of anger. As he looked over to where I stood, Daddy’s hoof curled protectively, pulling me close to him. “I find you around with the likes of that? And next you’ll tell me you were trying to go to that ridiculous magic school again.”

“Uhh…” Starbright turned beet red, even as he risked a glance at me. I could see tears in his eyes as he looked between me and his father. “No, I…” He closed his eyes for a moment, took a deep breath, then glared at his father. “Yes. Yes, I did.”

The rather large earth pony stomped a hoof closer, grabbed Starbright by his ear and promptly dragged him like a sack of potatoes towards the exit. With only minimal effort, he was nearly through the door with his son before looking at Daddy.

“Thank you for caring for my son, alchemist. I’ll remember this.” With a yank, he brought his son to his hooves, shoving him out and down the stairs.

We waited until the sound of them descending had faded into distant echoes. I hugged tighter to Daddy’s leg, taking long breaths until I was able to speak.

“What… just happened?”

Daddy looked up and smiled at nothing in particular. “And the plot thickens.”

“Daddy?”

He extracted himself from my grip. “Oh, nothing, Moony. For now, let’s go home.”

---

As we entered our tree house, I shivered. Blinking, I stood at the threshold as Daddy moved inside. “Why does it feel colder?”

Daddy stepped past his pack of Canterlot supplies that must have been dropped off in a hurry. He looked from the stairs, to the fireplace, and then past me to the forest beyond. “Hearts and hearths, my Moon Flower. Come now, let’s settle our stomachs. You can tell me of your adventure while we eat.”

I opened my mouth to speak, but a rumbling in my tummy held off any more questions. Daddy smiled and so I moved to set the table. Soon the whole tree was oozing an aroma that made my knees weak. Creeping and crawling, I made my way next to Daddy as he stirred the cauldron of deliciousness. I was nearly close enough to see over the lip of the pot when Daddy spoke.

“No spoilers, little Moony. I got a few special things tonight, and well, of course for your special day next week.” Daddy bent over and kissed my snoot. He grinned as I jokingly wrinkled my nose in annoyance. Then I blinked.

“What? Next week…” I stopped, thinking over the number of passing moons and seasons. “Oh, it’s my birthday! How did I forget…”

Daddy set the stirring stick aside before giving me a knowing look. “Oh, my daughter must have been getting up to some real mischief lately if she’s forgotten such an important day.” He followed this statement with a firm ruffling of my mane; his eyes closed as my face burned and I squirmed beneath his hoof.

“That’s not— We were just—” The wood beneath my hooves vibrated as I stomped. I pressed my lips together as Daddy simply raised an eyebrow. He didn’t laugh. He wasn’t laughing at me. His cheeks started to pucker. “Stop laughing!”

With an eep from me, Daddy swooped me up into his hooves, his face melting into an absolutely true smile. “I’m so happy you’ve made a friend, my filly. Real friendship can be quite magical if you give it the chance.” He reached forward, his hoof connecting with my snoot like a bee to a needing flower bud.

I growled just a tad as I was subjected to more fatherly boops before I was set down. With routine ease, we were at the table with lovely bowls of bubbly goodness. The smell was something that defied explanation. It was as if rotted cabbage had been mixed with milk that had been left to ferment for at least ten moons. It was glorious, utterly amazing hot garbage.

“Duriana Dumpling Stew!” Daddy banged his bowl down on the table, licking his lips as his eyes dilated rapidly. “Only the tastiest treats for the most wonderful filly in Equestria.” His fur was damp, like he’d just taken a quick dip in our stream.

“Daddy?” I raised a hoof as he nearly fell out of his chair, then excused himself outside, knocking over a jar of amberosia, that was, liquified amber mixed with tree sap. I picked it up out of habit as I started after him. Then I heard the unfortunate sound of Daddy regifting his dinner to the forest spirits from around the side of the tree house. “Daddy?!”

“I’m—” Intense hurling noises filled the woods once again. “—fine!”

It was a while before he was ready to come back inside. He held his hoof against the bark wall, shuddering as he walked inside. I held up a wooden bowl of water I’d filled only minutes ago. Gratefully, he swallowed half of it, then used the rest to wash his mouth and face. He pointedly did not look towards the dinner table.

“I’m glad at least you seemed to like it, Moony.”

I hugged his leg, my head pressed against his chest. “I loved it, but please don’t do that again. I thought you were going to throw up a lung, daddy.” He wheezed as I hugged him, but smiled and reached down to ruffle my mane.

“Soooo…” I shifted, rubbing one hoof with the other. “When are we going to get Starbright?”

I think I heard a small, thin piece of something fall far in the forest.

“Tomorrow, my Moon Flower. Sleep now, if you can. We’ll be traveling as the sun rises.

My wings buzzed so happily that I didn’t even hear the part of traveling during the day. “Woooooo!”

---

With a wiggle of my rump and a flex of my wings, I leapt from my high perch atop a tree branch and pounced upon the poor critter that was my prey. The first rays of torturous light were just beginning to seep through the trees as we trotted along through the Everfree. Daddy was pointedly whistling loudly as he ignored my hunt. Well, more for me!

Biting and tearing, I ate my fill of meaty goodness before flapping wildly to catch up. I crept the last ten or so paces before asking the question that always prickled Daddy’s fur. “Are we there yet?”

He turned his head towards me, eyes closed and teeth tight. “No. No we’re not, Moony.” He took a deep breath, then turned forward. “Anyway, we’ve got one stop first. On the rush back, I spotted something I know you’ll enjoy.”

I flapped and hopped up onto his back, looking over his head with one wing pressed against my forehead. “What? Where is it?”

Daddy chuckled, which tickled my hoofsies. “Just a bit near the edge of the northern woods. You’re in for a real treat.”

It was about an hour before we came to the entrance to a large cave tucked inside a grass hill. It sloped downward quite steeply, and the strange scent of night air and dew grass drifted up to my snoot. Daddy went first, his hooves finding grooves in the slope that looked like they were trod often.

I glided down as soon as Daddy was safely at the bottom. When he didn’t immediately light a torch or bring out the firefly lantern, I gazed further down into the darkness. Soft lights, hundreds of them, shifted towards us slowly. I blinked, then blinked again until the stars got close enough for a shape to be revealed by the tiny amount of light from above.

“Teddy!” I jumped at him, grabbing a hold of his fur with glee. He grumbled and batted at me without any actual effort. Then I heard scraping against the ground and looked down to see something far more adorable. “Tiny Teddy!” The baby ursa was barely smaller than me, and was easily the fuzziest and most amazingly huggable thing I’d ever hugged.

“He’ssofluffyandsquishyandwarmcanIkeephim!” My mouth ran faster than my brain, and Daddy laughed as he sat down, keeping a respectful distance as momma bear finally came to see what the ruckus was. She looked at me wrestling with her cub, then at Teddy. Then she snorted, and just went back to bed.

“I guess you’re just… unbearable.” Daddy’s smile was practically oozing cheese. Then he snorted, and I snorted, and then I redoubled my tickling of the tiny cub. The little stars within his coat were mesmerizing, and he snuggled against me like a warm pillow.

“I suppose we can’t keep him, can we?” I looked up, eyes watering.

Daddy looked at me with a cocked eyebrow. “I didn’t think I’d be having this conversation with you for at least five more years, ten more if I could help it.”

“Huh?” I blinked, unfurling myself from little Teddy as Daddy pressed a hoof against his face.

“Nevermind, Moony. Now, we can’t stray for too long. Starbright’s father said he was only in town looking for some extra help for the farm. I doubt he’ll stay longer than a day. Come along.”

I gave Little Teddy a few ear scritchings, then gave Big Teddy a hug, which he returned this time. “I’ll come again soon. Don’t eat any ponies without their permission, okay?” He grumbled at me, and I glared for a second longer before Daddy pulled me out by my tail.
Together, we trotted out from the fuzzy heaven and back out into the night. I hopped, screed and flapped until I was nestled on Daddy’s pack. He didn’t even grunt from my weight, because Daddy’s back was stronger than the sturdiest Emberbark trees.

“Canterlot! Canterlot~! I wanna visit you… a lot.”

The silence that cut through the forest around us made me stop only a moment after I had started singing. Daddy looked back at me over his shoulder. “That was terrible, Moony.” My face fell, but I looked back up when bounced once to wake me. “Keep going! We’ll make a songbird out of you yet!” His beaming smile poured liquid gold down my throat, filling me to the brim with confidence.

“Canter! Canterlot! Here we trot! Let’s see the best you’ve got!”

This was going to be the best adventure ever!

Author's Note:

Hey, pones! Back at it again with a transition chapter. You can expect things to probably get real next chapter, so be ready for that. Anyway, I hope everypony is staying safe in these uncertain times. Please, remember to love each other and... be awesome

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

Will this story be a long one?

[Dreams of Ponies]

That depends on what you define as long, Starlight. It'll probably be under a hundred-thousand words, but who knows, really. It takes as long as it takes

[vivian9x]

Puppy love. How cute.
Another good chapter and never judge a story by length!
Quality over quantity
Soccar

[badninja]

Well this is going to end well. So which of the bearer families are we about to see get founded? I bet more then one, hopefully one of them is the Sparkle clan.

[Ninjadeadbeard]

This has been reviewed.

Now get back to writing!

[Aklinstar]

This was going to be the best adventure ever!

No, no, no! No was, IS. IT IS going to be quite the adventure!

...This is going to be an adventure, right?

Checks last chapter's published date.

Finish it! Oh, pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeee, finish it! I beg thee! I love these characters so much! This story has so much potential that it's killing me! I— we need this adventure.

Please?

Begging aside, I do hope you sincerely consider continuing this. It really is quite good.