My friend wanted my help. She wanted to become a trifle.
Being a good friend - or so I liked to think - of course I helped. Eagerly, in fact. Why wouldn’t I? It was what she wanted after all.
It was only once it was done and dusted that I realised the gravity of the situation, that I felt the full weight of what I’d done.
My friend! Gone! No more conversations! You could talk at trifle, you couldn’t talk with trifle!
What had I done!
Sadness overwhelmed me as I stared at the many, many dishes of trifle my beautiful friend had become. They knew I was there, somehow, and I knew they knew, somehow, but that wasn’t enough. It was gone, all gone!
“This is new,” I heard someone say and, turning my head and wiping tears from my eyes, I saw Luna.
“Oh hey Luna,” I said. Then I paused. “Wait. Why are you here?”
“You’re dreaming again.”
“I am?” I asked, goggling at her and then looking down at the trifle I was holding in my hand. Without eyes it looked back at me, so familiar yet now so different.
Maybe she had a point.
“Okay, I am, let’s go with that,” I said.
If I had a better grasp of who I actually was as a person I might have felt more affronted by the repeated invasion of my privacy. As it stood, I still thought an ability to just go wandering into dreams was kind of cool. And it wasn’t like I had anything to hide anyway.
“Trifle?” I asked, proffering the tub I was holding. Luna looked at it gingerly.
“Um, no, no thank you. I’m here because I wished to apologise.”
“For what?”
“You and I may have got off on the wrong hoof, and I believe it was my fault. I have treated you shortly and with discourtesy.”
“Uh,” I said, not really sure what other input I could make.
Hadn’t I only spoken to Luna once? And that hadn’t even been in real life? The only time I’d seen her in reality she had mostly just been talking to Celestia, I’d just been in the same room.
Maybe that’s what she was talking about? Some people apparently find that kind of thing rude. For whatever reason.
“You are not to blame for the circumstances you have found yourself in, and I am not disappointed in or angry with my sister for what she chose to do. Not really, anyway. I may not have done the same exactly, but I can understand her motivations. It was more that my sister was keeping secrets from me at all, than what those secrets were. You are here through no fault of your own, and taking out my displeasure on you was unkind. For this I apologise.”
Wordy. I chewed that over.
“Oh, right, well, it’s fine, really. You don’t need to apologise. I’m a big boy,” I said, at length. Kind of an anti-climax after what she’d clearly practised a bit but I couldn’t think of anything else to say. An apology just wasn’t something I’d expected.
Where even was I? Like, location-wise. The dream hadn’t clarified, so beyond the trifle - which stood in heaps of little pots, all of them somehow watching me - my immediate vicinity didn’t actually have any detail at all. Things just weren’t there, and my eyes didn’t want to look at anything that wasn’t there. It was disturbing, so I mainly just kept looking between the trifle and Luna.
“No, I have acted poorly and it is only right I apologise. Of course, you are more than welcome not to accept my apology…?”
The more thought was unbearable to me.
“No no, I accept, don’t worry about that. I just don’t see the need to. But if you do then fine, I accept. It’s all cool, all fine. We’re golden. Right?”
“Right,” she said, though she somehow managed to make the word sound unfamiliar. I imagine she was doing it for my benefit. Which was nice? I guess?
The two of us then stood in the formless, trifle-filled void of my dreamscape in total silence for a minute. Kind of awkward.
Luna cleared her throat before too long, the first of us to break.
“Celestia tells me you are having issues recollecting your past and your world.”
Kind of a long-winded way of putting it, but sure, yes. Also, was this small talk?
I was exchanging small talk with a horse who had stepped into my dream. I guess my life could have been worse, really.
“I’m a little fuzzier on some of the details than I’d like,” I said, and would have been happy to leave it there but a detail from Luna’s sentence caught up with me: “She told you that?” I asked. Luna nodded.
“She has spoken of you more than I would have expected her to. And I must admit, my sister has been happier these last few days than I have seen her in some time now.”
“That’s probably just a coincidence,” I said, utterly refusing even to consider any other possibility.
“I think you do yourself a disservice. She has become somewhat fond of you, this much is obvious.”
This was straining credibility.
“Come on, I’ve only been conscious for, what, two or three days now?”
I hadn’t been keeping exact track but this sounded about right, and it was certainly more than enough time for someone to dislike me, but nowhere near enough for anything like fondness. That sort of thing, with me, could take years. If I was lucky. Surely!
“Why are you arguing over whether my sister likes you or not? Would you rather she didn’t?” Luna asked.
“Ah, uh, well you see, ah - “ I floundered.
Good point.
“She’s very nice,” I said, to cap off the floundering, shifting in place and staring at the tub of trifle I was still holding. I remained acutely aware that the trifle was staring back at me. Dreams are weird.
Now it was my turn to clear my throat.
“Anyway,” I said before that particular topic of conversation could be pressed further. “How does it work having two princesses anyway? Are there many others hiding around the place I just haven’t seen yet?”
“You appear to be changing the subject,” Luna said, her eyes narrowed.
“No I’m not. Well, I am, but we were done with the last one, right? This is just the conversation flowing naturally onto the next topic. It’s fine.”
“Is talking about my sister something you’d rather avoid?”
“What? No. Yes! I mean, well, what else is there to say? She’s nice. I don’t really - look, listen, uh-”
I was getting played in my own dream. How humiliating.
Only then though did I notice that Luna was grinning at me so I stopped putting my foot in it and frowned.
“You’re just trying to get a rise out of me, aren’t you?” I asked, wagging the trifle in her direction. She stood up straighter and tried - and failed - to stop grinning quite so much.
“Whatever might give you that impression?”
“Har har. Look, right? One, she kept me from being dead, that makes me pretty well-disposed to her to start with. Two, she’s the only one here who, well, she’s my only friend here, really. That’s it. Happy now? I like to think that she’s my friend.”
I’d counted these points off on my fingers and only once I’d finished speaking did I realise that I was now making a rude gesture at Luna so I quickly dropped my hand back down again. Thankfully, this little faux pas was lost. Cultural divides and all that. Lack of fingers. Probably just as well.
“I hadn’t asked, but thank you for clarifying,” she said, with tactical-level coolness and reserve, all deployed with crushing expertise.
I would have had trouble keeping up with this conversation even had I been conscious. And I wasn’t! This was patently unfair. Magical horses invading my dreams to get under my skin with their snide insinuations and knowing grins. What do they know? I don’t know.
“Urgh, you’re worse than she is,” I said, finally tossing the pot of trifle back over my shoulder. From the sound of things it didn’t land anywhere. I looked around at the void. “When did I even fall asleep? I didn’t notice that.”
“No-one does,” Luna said, only she wasn’t there anymore.
I had the distinct impression of something very big rushing towards me.
“Oh for fucks’s sak-”
Wow, this thing is really stuck in your head, isn't it? Be sure not to burn yourself out now...
maybe his friend that got turned into a trifle is a metaphor of his past life or he just has random dreams
9330946
I CAN'T STOP HALP
9330959
The trifle dream is one I had. I woke up feeling genuinely distraught that I'd killed my friend, even though somehow they were also still alive but also trifle?
9330962
Sure thing buddy, I'll send Fluttershy right over.
images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/intermediary/f/740e745b-9a46-45e6-b5c6-603a24a22287/daqtawm-325f77f9-f841-4ada-a6c4-36cce942214c.jpg/v1/fill/w_1024,h_780,q_70,strp/um__oh_i_m_sorry_by_baron_engel_daqtawm-fullview.jpg
You're not allergic to any kind of tranquilizers, right?
9330965
did you ever get over it?
9330976
I'm allergic to insufficient quantities of them.
9330978
Apparently not!
9330979
Oh, that's no problem...
9330981
well then I am sorry for your imaginary loss
So you know the band Hammerfall don't you?
9331108
They some sort of beat-combo group?
This is quite the trip. Continue, oh wayward son!
9331109
No their heavy metal.
Amusing. He probably would think Luna should apologize for this conversation.
Lol
I once had a dream where I had to dig up a stump in my front yard, realised I was dreaming, and instead of fucking off, I "used dream physics" to make digging up the stump faster.
Perhaps he is afraid that responding to Celestias subtle advances would be trifling with her affections.
Don't bother I'll show myself out.
9331365
I have too much of a "writer's brain" - I can lucid dream, but my brain forces any dream physics to be "realistic" and "balanced." Like if I gave myself the ability to fly, it had to take lots of mental effort and only last for a limited time.
And whatever powers had to make sense within the context of the dream.
It's honestly rather annoying.
9331431
I once had a lucid dream.
I couldn't even get up from the floor.
9331431
Are you able to create or summon things? If so, it's not difficult (in my own somewhat limited experience, anyway) to bring into being tools or items capable of simulating the desired abilities.
And let's face it, there are a lot of literary universes which contain actively concealed magic, such that magic is available in settings which look otherwise completely mundane. Ditto for things like Force powers.
9330965
Well, at least there wouldn't be any legal repercussions from the transformation. After all, de minimis non curat lex.
9331414
Heyoh!
9331322
He's a very forgiving sort of chap.
Another chapter?! Yessssss!!!
This stuff is better then the highest grade cocaine straight from bolivia! Sheesh. Its truly amazing.
9331217
Forgive me for this but my grammar nazi senses and tingling, Its they're not their.
9331839
That and ponies, all ponies, have those damned huge eyes that just scream "I'm sorry, love me!" and of course, we're all helpless to it and submit to forgiving them with an ear scritch or two.
....but they have to be extra nice to get the coveted belly rubs. (And certain big-flanked white alicorns are FAR too big to pretend they're a little filly that can flop on her back into your lap and not expect to shatter delicate human bones)
9332137
Oh there'll be time enough for all that.
I'm firm in my belief though that most of the fun lies in the antici
pation.
9331691
Creating or summoning something goes against the "rules" of the universe, usually. Sometimes it might work, but not usually.
9332331
Sometimes when I get lucid dreams I try to summon things (actually basically every time but once, in which I flew through very odd methods). No matter how hard I try, some part of my brain is like "hey that's not how that works. reality and all that." Even when I know none of this is real and I can theoretically do whatever I want. My brain doesn't seem to care though. Leads to a lot of boring dreams involving me trying not to accidentally wake myself up by opening my eyes in real life.
9330981
Could've been worse--
You could've dreamed about the Aliens series of movies and really given Luna some entertainment.
9334836
I'd make a joke about Covenant but I'm too tired.
Yay! I knew it was just the temporary kind of grumpiness! Now I can like Luna.
Would anyone like some Cupcakes?
9336485
No. None of that. Nope.
This was a real dream! I'm super cereal.
9336491
Dude. That kind of crazy imagination. That is super rare.
Kewl. :3
luna... using sleep spells on him ? not cool.
Have a text error. Probably meant mere thought?
9330976
That is an awesome picture, btw!
Those last two lines: