Ponies on Earth and their New Horizons

by TikiBat

Chapter 20: The Dream Seekers

Phoenix materialized into Somewhere just as Silver had requested the night before, though the area he now found himself in was unexpected to say the least. Rather than finding himself in the usual cave with peaceful music echoing throughout, he now found himself standing in an upbeat neon nightclub with bright lights that accented everything from the walls to the furniture, and even the robot waiters that glided around the club offering glowing drinks to each of the night ponies. The whole place resembled something out of TRON, and he couldn’t help but feel intrigued at this unfamiliar place.

Not really seeing any reason to avoid it, he gladly took one and found that it tasted like cream soda, one of his favorite drinks. Taking a few hesitant glances around at the other ponies that had started to materialize in, he quickly recognized his longtime friend Moonlight Dream. A big grin began to spread across his face as he quickly ran over to greet her. “Hey Jess! Long time no see!”

“It’s Moonlight, Stan.” A smile slowly crept across her face, “Good to see you though, It’s been far too long since we’ve had the time to chat, how’s everything going out by you?”

“Pretty good, I took a new name too by the way. Radiant Phoenix, but you can just call me Phoenix.”

“Well Phoenix, what have you been up to lately?”

“Oh gosh, where to begin… well I stepped down as the operations director in the Oasis a while ago. It was fun but it just wasn’t really for me. I still live there but I run an antique shop during the night, spend a lot of the days as a sort of counselor on and off.”

She smiled, “So you’re still into dusty old antiques eh?”

He chuckled, lightly jabbing her side, “Yep, it’s not the most popular place, but it gives me something to do that I enjoy. Doesn’t really bring in a ton of money either, but it’s not like it really matters out here.”

Moonlight nodded her head, “Hey, no harm in doing something you love. Glad you’re doing well Stan… I mean Phoenix.”

“So what about you? Still leading things over in CC?”

She shrugged, “I was never really the leader there, you know that. But to answer your question, I’m still a protector, but there’s a lot more of us now so I don’t have to work as hard as I used to. Thought about maybe taking up a couple more hobbies, even started making some shared dreams for the little ones, and that’s when your friend showed up.”

“That’s really good to hear.” He glanced around towards the four other night ponies that were situated around the club. Some were chatting, but another sat alone in her own booth. For a moment he struggled to remember where he had seen her before, quickly remembering that she was one of the ponies that had visited shortly before the Great Storm. He looked back towards Moonlight, “So why do you think we’re all here? Silver only told me to meet him in Somewhere at a certain time and didn’t really mention much more, aside from he had something important to share with me.”

She shrugged, “He didn’t really say much to me either, just kind of chatted and asked about what I do, what I’d like to do in the future... that sort of stuff. Ended it by summoning a star and asking me to stop by if I was interested in helping him out with a project. I’m going to just go out on a limb and assume that the others were told the same.”

Phoenix shook his head “Maybe. All I know is that he’s been talking about making this dream into something useful for a while now. It kind of sounded like he wanted to share it with others, but he wouldn’t really go into any more detail, only telling me that I’d hear more when the time was right.”

“We didn’t really get off on the right hoof the first time I met him, so I don’t really have any idea why I’m here. And I don’t know anypony else here aside from you so I’m kind of clueless on this.”

Phoenix nodded, “I only recognize one other, but we never really talked much,” He said, gesturing towards Emily. “The others are all new though, I’ve never seen any of them in my life, so this should be interesting to see.”

Before the two could continue their conversation both the music and lights began to lower, revealing the form of Silver who was slowly walking up to a raised portion of the floor. He looked towards Moonlight, “We’ll catch up later, I feel like we’re about to get our answer.”

She nodded, “Right.”

---

One by one his six prospects began to materialize in the nightclub-like room he had spent the last day crafting. Upbeat music played throughout, and robotic waiters wandered around, offering drinks to the new visitors. Feeling that this was the right moment to make his entrance, Silver began to slowly trot into the room, looking around at the assembled night ponies once more. It was a small group to start with, but a group that he had done a fair bit of research and had felt were the best prospects for what he had in mind. The others could come later, once he had a better idea of how this plan would be received.

Rising Phoenix and Moonlight Dream sat chatting away in one of the booths while Emily sat alone in her own. Off to the side sat Morgana, Stardust and Koruk, who were engaged in their own conversation. As he walked towards the raised section of the floor the music and bright lights began to fade out, drawing the attention of the ponies to him.

He cleared his throat and began to address the group, “Hello again my friends, I am glad you all were able to make it. I’m sure you are all wondering why I have called you to this place, and I’ll gladly explain it to you all in just a moment.” He looked towards Emily, Phoenix, and Moonlight, “Some of you are already acquainted but to those who aren’t, my name is Silver Eclipse, and I have a lucrative proposition for all of you.”

The white night pony that went by the name Koruk was the first to speak up, “And what kind of proposition would this be, Mr. Eclipse?”

He smiled, “I’m glad you asked. Before I get to that I’d like to know some of you a little better, specifically, what do you all value most? How do you put your individual talents to use to better those around you?”

Morgana was the first to respond to his question, replying back with a raised hoof, earning a silent nod from Silver. “Well what is there to say, I like everything about nightmares and seeing what they can do… not in a bad way of course, but in a constructive kind of way.”

He nodded, “And what do you find useful about that? What about nightmares stands out to you the most?”

She smiled, “I think that they are some of the most important tools that we have been given. I’m a firm believer in the Warden of Fear’s teachings, and I personally think that nightmares offer us a chance to examine our inner demons and make peace with them.”

“Any chance you could go into more detail with that? Not that I’m saying you’re wrong or anything, but what makes them so important?”

She continued, “Well, Silver, you fear the Devourers and arachnids, no? Those are common enough fears for many, but what I find interesting is seeing how fears like that can drive a pony. I like to see the positive impacts that their nightmares and fears have on their lives and help them realize that role it plays when they don’t. You could say that I am a devout follower of the Warden of Fear and her teachings on the subject, and you would be correct. I believe we should follow our fears and see where they guide us, like how you created the Oasis because of your fear of the Devourers and a desire to find a place where you could fit in. If those beasts had never existed then you wouldn’t have created that place, correct?”

He nodded his head. “That is correct.”

She smirked, “Well there you go. Your fear fascinates me because it specifically drove you to create a place like that when you might not have before. Now just look at what else you can see with it. Out there in the real world I live in an area that could be seen as a rough neighborhood. It can be a scary place sometimes, a place where you don’t always know if you’ll be safe or not. There’s fear and nightmares all around, but those nightmares are what drive the ponies around me to try and better themselves.”

“And you, Phoenix? I believe you have a similar viewpoint on fear.”

Phoenix nodded, “I used to be afraid of my own shadow, you and Moonlight know that very well. Realizing the effect it had on me and other ponies, like you, showed me that we shouldn’t try and run from our fears. So in my case it’s not nightmares, but rather the fear that makes those nightmares that I think we should learn from.”

“Mhmm, So in two cases we can learn from something we pick up in dreams. And you, Moonlight?”

She slowly nodded “Out in the waking world I’m one of my settlement’s protectors. I explore the dreams around me and make sure that the dreamers aren’t stressing about anything. If they’re worried about something, their dreams give us a safe place to talk and work through it without the fear of having anyone overhearing it. Obviously others can if they’re present with us, but the rules make it clear that they can’t do anything with that information.”

“I see. You’re a big part of your village, and this gives you an avenue to help your fellows and ensure that everything stays confidential. Now, not everyone here is fascinated by fears, worries and nightmares.” He turned towards the white night pony, “Koruk, I believe you have an entirely different viewpoint on what you can use your talents for, please share if you don’t mind.”

The white night pony nodded, “I am what might be known in the world of the waking as a Collector— of many things. Be it objects, artifacts, ideas, cutie marks—”

“You collect cutie marks?” Emily cut in.

Koruk shook his head, “Not in the literal sense. To put this in more standard terms, I am curious about what inspires others, but more importantly what feeds their talents and what they in turn do with them. I travel the world in search of these unique talents so that I may try and understand them better. Cutie marks are an interesting enigma, for in my travels I have found duplicate marks that correspond to different talents.”

“And how do you use dreamwalking to do that?” Silver asked.

“That is how I choose where to go next. The stories heard in the dream realm can spread far and wide, and give me direction on where to seek out these unique ponies. That is how I learned of you after all. It also fosters friendships without the boundaries of language and location, friendships that have brought me to acquire some of my most valued artifacts and make the memories that give them their true value.”

“And that my friend is the most important part of this. The ability to collaborate beyond any distance. Stardust, I believe you have a similar idea in mind with your own talent. Do you mind sharing your story?”

“Sure, I think dreamwalking is an incredibly useful power. Out in the real world I’m a graphic designer; kind of a weird talent for a pony, but I really enjoy it a lot. Dreamwalking lets me share ideas and what I have in mind with my pony clients or associates very easily. Back when I was a human before ETS, I’d have to send proofs back and forth until we got somewhere that we agreed on. With dreams I can just tweak things to their liking in here, and then get to actually working on it out there and save a bunch of time and resources. It’s a cool way to easily collaborate when we could be a few cities or even entire time zones apart.”

Silver nodded again, “I think you can all see where I’m getting at with this. That of course brings us to Emily. Now Emily has a talent for creating vivid dreams that can be shared like the vision, in a sense she took something malevolent and found a benevolent use for it. Now I want you all to imagine a place; no, a classroom where anyone could learn together without having to deal with language and location barriers. A classroom where the important information could be beamed directly into their minds.”

“And where would this classroom be?” Morgana asked with a furrowed brow.

Silver smiled and gestured around at the large panoramic windows, “You’re standing in it, or rather, a part of it. This dream is what I call Somewhere, and it persists even when I’m awake. Not every pony is capable of doing something like this… but then again, you’re not all exactly average everyday ponies, are you?”

Koruk sat up in his seat, “So what you are saying is that we could create our own persistent worlds such as this one?”

Silver shook his head, “No, creating something like this is incredibly difficult and takes some serious meditation and practice, but I do think at least some of you will be able to do it. As for the rest, well you have a drive to help others and that’s just as important, because what’s a classroom without teachers to give it purpose?”

“So you want us to be a bunch of dream teachers.” Emily added in.

Silver nodded, “I like to think of us more as seekers. That is, ponies that want to seek out others like us who have that same drive, the others that want to put their talents to good use but might not know the best way to do it. You six are just the beginning, but there’s so many talented ponies out there and we just need to find them. If we really want to make the world a better place, setting up a hub where we can all collaborate without being tied down to any one place is the way to do it.”

Morgana raised an eyebrow, “And if we’re not in?”

“Then that’s perfectly fine. I’m not saying you have to be a part of any of this, but you all have some real talent that I think could be very valuable if put together like this. All I ask is that you consider doing this, or even simply help train others to do what you can do. We’re not special because of how powerful we might be, what makes someone special is how they choose to use that power. It might be a small start, but you have to start somewhere right?”

Moonlight looked around, “Well I’m in, might as well give it a try.”

Phoenix looked over towards her and nodded, “You already know my answer.”

Silver nodded and turned towards Morgana next, “And you?”

“A chance to guide others with the teachings of the warden of fear? You can count me in!” She responded with a confident smile.

“Koruk?”

He raised his hoof up towards his chin, as if to imply he was deep in thought. “So Mr. Eclipse… I’ve done a fair bit of research on you, and it just seems… a little shady that a pony that wants to change the world as you do would befriend such a prominent Shimmerist, especially after the stormy retribution that was enacted against your Oasis—”

Silver quickly turned around, cutting off Koruk with a rare show of aggression, “We’re not friends, and I’m not a shimmerist!” He quickly flashed an embarrassed look and composed himself, “I apologize for that outburst, what I meant to say is at best we’re business associates and nothing more. Shimmerism is far too speciest for my liking, and the way she handled the aftermath of that storm incident was little more than a quick assurance that the ones responsible weren’t acting under her orders and a promise that they were let go. Not exactly reassuring, but the fact of the matter is that she gave us some important funding and resources when we were just barely getting off our hooves, and as much as I’d prefer to cut ties with her altogether, my group can’t really afford to right now, we’re branching away though, and hopefully a few years down the line we’ll be self sufficient enough to meet our own goals the way we want to.”

The white night pony slowly nodded, “I apologize if you took that as an insult, it’s just that my own curiosity drove me to research more about you after our initial meeting. It’s not often that I’ve been approached in a dream and offered the chance to assist with something that could change the world. If it’s any consolation, this has cleared up my concern. I would very much be interested in seeing what you have in mind.”

“It’s all good, sorry again for snapping at you, our partnership isn’t really common knowledge and by the time you really delve into the rabbit hole it all understandably looks very suspicious. I wish I could explain more, but I’d be putting my whole operation at risk if I did, I hope you can understand.”

Koruk nodded, “I believe you Mr. Eclipse, I’m not exactly one to talk. Given my personal interests and the life that I’ve chosen to live, many simply write me off as some weird hoarder or fanatic.”

Silver nodded, “Well I’m glad we’re on the same page then. I hope we’ll learn from each other in that regard.” He turned towards towards Stardust, “And you?”

The night pony perked up, “Hm? Oh, yeah I’m in. Really seems like an interesting plan.”

Silver smiled and returned a nod, turning toward Emily, who cleared her throat and began her own reply before he even had a chance to ask. “I’ll wait to see what you actually want to do before I commit to anything.”

Silver nodded, “Absolutely, I just ask that you at least consider it, tag along with us if you want, and if and when you’re ready, you're more than welcome to be a part of the team.” The music began to pick up again, “Now, as for the rest of you, I know some of you are already familiar with this place, but I’d love to show you around again. I’ve been making a few changes here and there and there’s a lot to see.”

Morgana looked around at the panoramic windows, “Well where exactly do we start? This whole place doesn’t make any sense.”

“Well you’re absolutely right, none of it does.” Silver walked over towards a bland looking wall and drew a glowing outline of a door on it, stepping aside, “This will answer all of your questions I hope.”

Morgana stared at the wall in confusion for a few minutes, “I don’t get it. Is this some kind of practical joke?”

Silver shook his head, “I guess I forgot the most important part, please knock on the door three times.”

Morgana rolled her eyes, “you’re not serious are you?”

Silver nodded, “Completely. Please, humor me. Try and remember that this is a dream, it doesn’t need to be serious.”

With a sigh, she knocked on the door and waited for a few long minutes. Just as she was about to retort with a sarcastic response the locale suddenly shifted to a scene that could be best described as a bland hallway at some boring therapists office.

Silver cleared his throat and gestured towards the far end of the hall, “Aha, here we are, please follow me to my office, it’s just down at the end of the hallway.” Silver began to walk forward, passing a normal looking fish tank on his way. The rest of the group began to slowly follow his lead, pausing as they passed the tank. As if on cue, the fish in the tank suddenly swam right through the glass and into the dimly glowing blue floor below, earning a few surprised gasps and looks. Silver turned back towards the group and let out a small chuckle, “You guys coming? My office is just ahead, there’s so much more that I want to show you all, and only so much time to do it so the longer we wait, the less you’ll get to see.”

Morgana looked over to the now empty tank and then back towards Silver, “I don’t get it, why not just be direct about this? Why make a building that doesn’t make any sense? You said this would explain everything but it’s only given me more questions than answers.”

Silver smiled as the fish continued to swim along the floor, “Well my inquisitive little friend, if it’s not plain enough to see, I find that my imagination works the best when it’s set free. We’re in a dream right? This place can be anything I want it to be, any place too. Which works especially well for what I have planned, so why not let my imagination run wild?”

She shook her head and pressed forward, following Silver into his office with the rest of the group in tow. “It just doesn’t make sense though. If you’re trying to teach others why don’t you just set up a dream that feels more realistic? Surely that would be a better way to do this?”

Silver stepped behind his large desk and looked out at the bay below, “I know that this doesn’t make a lot of sense right now, but the real world is so bland and boring at times, why try and emulate it here? We have a chance to use our talents to change the world, so why not make use of them in a creative way? You six are just the start, a sort of trial if you will. So right now all I ask is that you look at this place with an open mind and see what kind of dream we can make, together…”

Morgana nodded, “I’ll try. I want to believe in it, but it’s a lot to take in.”

Silver smiled, “Of course, and that’s why we’re starting small, working on the broader details first. All of you have your own special talents, and I know you want to use them to the best of your abilities. Coming together and working as a team to do something amazing is just one way to do that, and I hope that someday we’ll find even more ways to work together, just imagine the possibilities if we can make the first real school where anyone can interact together from anywhere in the world? Sure we can do this online already, but this is so much more than some online classroom, it’s a chance to come together regardless of our own backgrounds and do something really special.”

“Do you think we can really change the world like you’re suggesting… Mr Eclipse?”

Silver turned his head towards Koruk, “Of course I do, I wouldn’t have even considered teaching others how to do something like this if I didn’t.”

The white night pony smiled, “Well then, we better get started.”

With a silent nod Silver brought his group out onto the balcony and began to give them the grand tour, constructing different areas suited to each of their own unique talents and dispositions as they went along. This dream wouldn’t be something that he’d finish in a day, or maybe even many years, but it was something that he could personally work towards with his new friends, and he couldn’t wait to show them everything.

Comments

[ProgAltRocker]

A nice chapter capitalizing on some Warden info, in particular what Phobia has given. And it's a great tie-in to earlier in this saga with Silver looking at a teaching position with dreams.