Ponies on Earth and their New Horizons

by TikiBat

Epilogue: A Dreamer Seeking Dreamers…

Silver paced around his office in Somewhere, musing over the many thoughts that ran through his head. In contrast to the first meeting with his newly formed group just a few days ago, he was all alone today, which would normally inspire him to go run off on some adventure or make some cozy scene for him and Scarlet, but not today. Today he was laying out the fundamental plan for his group going forward, and that was a task that he held in very high importance. Still though, a lingering shadow of a presence could be faintly felt. He wasn’t sure if it was just some residual part of his subconscious manifesting itself in this subconscious dream, or whether it was a warden… or perhaps even something unknown that he had yet to learn. Whatever it was, it didn’t matter much to him, and as long as it didn’t pose any threat or distraction he was fine letting it persist.

Bringing people together and sharing a world of collected knowledge, talents, inspirations, and so much more wouldn’t be easy, but that’s why he had chosen the ponies he had chosen. They all had widely clashing personalities and beliefs, but much like the Dreamwardens, his pupils had talents, viewpoints, and skills unique to them that would make the group greater than the sum of its parts. Fostering and shepherding that group would be the hard part though, but this vision was something Silver had spent so much of the last two years building up towards, and it was a dream that he was not ready to give up on anytime soon.

As he wandered over to the large window that overlooked the bay below, a calmly soothing voice spoke out from behind him. “You have a wonderful ability to create such detailed scenes.”

He hesitantly turned towards the source of the voice, marveling at the strange dragon like creature that had materialized in the center of the room. He cocked his head to one side in confusion “I’m sorry but are… Are you one of the wardens?” He paused for a few moments, thinking this over. “No… no, you’re something else aren’t you? Have we met before or something? I can’t help but feel like I know you from somewhere…”

She smiled and shook her head. “I am certainly not one of them and we have not met, though I have been keeping an eye on you for some time now.”

He was taken aback by surprise as a fleeting sense of realization passed through him. While he hadn’t seen this… creature before, he had absolutely felt their presence lately, and the unknown only gave him more reason to question who they were. “You’re the lingering phantom I see in my dreams every now and again then, aren’t you?”

“Indeed, I have visited your dreams often as of late.”

“Mhmm,” he slowly nodded. “So what are you here for…” He paused for a moment, flashing an embarrassed look. He stood up and walked over to greet the creature. “I’m sorry, how rude of me. I’m Silver Eclipse, and you are?”

She smiled warmly, as if to ease his confusion. “While I long for the day when I might hear my name spoken aloud again, it is far simpler if you merely acknowledge me by Triss.”

He slowly nodded his head again. “Nice to meet you then… Triss. Feel free to make yourself comfortable here.” He gestured towards one of the chairs by his desk. “So uh… to what do I owe the pleasure? You’re not just a normal dreamwalker and you’re definitely not a dream… are you an angel or ghost or something?”

Triss hesitated, meeting him with an unreadable expression. “You know of the Equestrian princesses, the Alicorns, I am… this reality’s only remaining one, though I am not a pony as you can likely tell. As for why I am here, I have been watching you for some time now, I believe you have the potential to accomplish tasks far above what you have done so far.”

He idly inspected one of the many shelves that surrounded them, nodding his head and turning back towards her. “If you don’t mind me asking then, what do you mean by potential?”

She hesitantly sat down in one of the offered chairs, shaking her head in response to his question. “I’m here to get a sense of who you are. You spent a considerable amount of time to create this dreamscape, please tell me about what inspired you to shape it?”

He shrugged and smiled, taking his seat behind his desk. “No one’s ever really asked about this much before. But to answer your question, I guess it’s a sort of representation of my subconscious. That’s apparently what this dream actually is; and that’s why there’s so many abruptly different things around here. Each one tied into a deeper part of who I am, I guess.”

“Oh?” She raised a brow. “Could you elaborate?”

He nodded. “It’s stuff I like or stuff that’s close to me. You know, stuff like some of the stories I’ve read, the places I wish I could be, and places inspired by my encounters out in the waking world,” He swiveled his chair around, warping them both out onto the balcony, “That submarine down there for example; I’ve always loved the ocean and that was one of the first things I started building here after making my wife’s cabin,” The two were suddenly standing in the Nautilus’ Grand Salon, “In this case I was inspired by one of my favorite books, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. I guess I always found a certain sense of peace from having a little world to myself under the sea.”

“I see. And what about being under water soothes you? Do you wish to hide away from the world?”

“It’s really the opposite honestly. There’s always so much on my mind, you know? The world’s such a hectic place sometimes, in comparison, the ocean is a tranquil place away from it all, a place where I can just sit and reflect on everything and not have to worry about the world out there for a little while.”

Her questioning continued. “So you feel helpless at times? That you want to do more but find that you can not?”

He quickly looked up at her and nodded his head. “That’s exactly how I feel sometimes. Not all the time mind you, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel like I’m just trying to make up a greater purpose for my magic.”

“Why would you feel that way?” She continued. “Do you feel like your magic has some greater purpose?”

Silver shrugged. “Sometimes maybe? I know I’m not the strongest night pony in the world, but I can do a lot of things that others can’t… and I guess a part of me wonders why? Like am I supposed to be special or something? Is there some reason why I’m able to craft dreams the way I do?.. it’s all stuff like that I guess.”

“I see.” She nodded. “Why don’t you tell me a little more, about this place— about your dreams. I can tell that you really do care about the world around you and I am curious at what motivates you.”

Their perspectives shifted once more, giving a beautiful overhead view of the Island, “Well I guess I can start with the beginning. You asked what inspires me to make dreams like this, I guess I never really thought much about it before. When we all first… well transformed I learned that with practice you could craft your own dreams. It wasn’t easy at first, but it was something I could work on. It was originally something I could distract myself with, something I could do to keep my mind off of what was troubling me at the time but it quickly spiraled into this grand place once I figured out how to make things stick around after I had awoken.”

“Was it merely things that you feared? Or something else entirely?”

They were suddenly back in the Grand Salon, the room seeming to darken a little as he thought back to those days. “Well, it was more than just my fears. It was unease, anxiety... the kind of stuff that makes you feel like you’re helpless in the world. At the time I felt helpless. I had just had my entire body changed into something completely alien to me. I didn’t really know any other ponies, and until I met my wife I didn’t really have a ton of close friends.”

“And I am assuming you found some after meeting your partner?”

Silver nodded. “I found a whole lot more. Once I met Scarlet everything changed. We visited dreams more, we met other talented ponies, and in a way I feel like I found a family. We had some ups and downs, but in the end everything worked out and meeting those friends and seeing what they could do— what we could do together, made it feel like anything was possible. Maybe we’re not super strong ponies like Wild Growth or Sapphire Sky, but that doesn’t mean we can’t make a change in the world either.”

“That is very noble of you, young Silver. Being the change you wish to see in the world is not an easy path when one wishes to see grand change.”

“It’s not just me. It’s my friends, the people that live in the Oasis, and even my students in here. That’s what this is all about— it’s a chance to try and show the world what’s possible if we all try and make a difference together. Some would call it a fool’s dream, I call it optimism.”

She pressed on further. “Do you ever feel that you could be doing more?”

He considered this for a moment. “To tell you the truth, I don’t know. There’s lots I’m doing right now, but is there more I could be doing? Do I even need to do more?” He paused. “Is… is that why you’re here?”

She nodded. “It is a reason, yes. Though I had hoped not to weigh our first meeting down with such a difficult subject.”

“But the cat’s out of the bag now isn’t it?”

“I am not familiar with what that idiom means.”

“It means that something secret is now known.”

She looked away for a moment with a smile on her scaly face. “That tale you mentioned earlier, it has been so long since I have been able to read a story, tell me, was a cat let out of the bag in it?”

Silver was confused by the sudden change in topic, but didn’t press it further. Instead he sat up in his chair as the two were returned to the Nautilus, “That’s… That’s just an expression, so not literally. It’s basically a fantastic story about three humans who hunt what they think is a sea monster and wind up getting lost at sea after they are shipwrecked and saved by the mysterious Captain Nemo. He and his crew roam the ocean in the Nautilus, but because no one can ever learn of the Nautilus, they are his prisoners. At first it seems like they’re in pursuit of their own scientific knowledge, but then he shows a more vicious side, sinking ships in an act of revenge against the world that he believes has wronged him.”

“Is his reason for vengeance a just one? The ones he hurts deserving?” She asked with both concern and curiosity in her voice.

“It’s… kind of tricky. You see, Nemo believes his cause is just, but he was misguided, overcome by grief after losing his family and home. He’s not a complete monster in the story, at times he even grieves for enemy sailors. He’s neither good nor evil.”

“I fear that there is nuance lost in this summary.”

Silver looked off into the distance. “I wish it was possible to share these with you, there’s probably so many different stories that you’ve never even had the chance to hear about, and they’re all just so interesting to read.” He seemed a little sad at this thought. “Humans have been sharing stories around the fire for so many centuries now. Some that tell tales about legends, and others that touch on stuff that seemed out of their world. Stories about trips to the moon, aliens invading the earth, invisible men, time travel, monsters, legends, impossible odysseys… so many that might seem impossible, some that are now all too real after ETS. But a lot of them also share good lessons that we can learn from. That’s why I always liked them and why I want to bring people together in dreams. I guess in a way that’s like the modern day version of us sharing a story around a fire.”

A dark shadow passed over the room as a shape flew past the portholes, and Silver felt the presence of a Dreamwarden manifesting in his dreamscape.

Triss seemed to glance at the porthole with a look of annoyance

Silver’s face briefly shifted into a look of concern, quickly changing into a cautious smile, “Well it appears you’re not my only guest today, Triss,” he remarked before a heavy metallic clang resounded against the closed door to the room. “Come in friend,” he called out.

The door unlocked itself and swung open but the large shaggy furred form beyond was too big to fit. There was a snort and then the Dreamwarden shrunk in stature just enough until the minotaur form that could only be Tikhiy Krik ambled through carrying a trident. With a few heavy steps he came in to sit down before resuming his previous size to almost have his head reach the ceiling.

Silver smiled as he stood up, extending a hoof out in a warm greeting, “Well this sure is a pleasant surprise, I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure of meeting you yet. Welcome to Somewhere. Please, do make yourself comfortable. If there’s anything I can do to make your stay more… hospitable, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

Krik regarded him with an unreadable expression before looking to the left where one wall had been replaced by a field of stars that shifted to spell out a sentence. Forgive me for intruding upon your dream.

“Oh hey it’s no trouble at all, you know that you’re all always welcome here. I’m not normally this popular in dreams, so I take it this isn’t some personal visit? If you’re wondering how this all works I’d be more than happy to share, I know you probably haven’t encountered too many perpetual dreams.”

It is not about that, Triss knows she is not welcome in the dream realm to conduct her business. She is here to manipulate you for her own ends.

Silver raised a pensive eyebrow. “I don’t mean to sound rude, but we were just having a nice conversation about old stories, you know, the books I like to read. That kind of stuff. I appreciate the concern though, I truly do.”

The Warden didn’t stir or change his expression, but Silver felt comfortable enough in his presence to talk to him as a friend rather than someone he was afraid of— and he couldn’t say that about some of the wardens.

Her nice conversation is a pretext to offers of ascension. I do not mean this as an insult to you but she is reckless and desperate to force others into the same curse of immortality as her.

He glanced back over to the dragon-like creature. “Ascension? What’s the deal with that, Triss?”

She nodded. “I recognize your potential and hope that I can help worthy ponies ascend with their eyes open to all the risks and rewards of doing so.”

He raised an eyebrow. “And just what are the risks and rewards?” He looked back to the Minotaur. “I’m not agreeing to anything. I’m just curious about what exactly she’s trying to offer, please let me hear her out.”

I will only force her from the dream if you request it, but know that nothing has ever bound her to the truth. Be wary of her silver tongue.

“That may be, but I’m also the one in charge of making my own life decisions, having power that’s far beyond any earthly comprehension is an extremely scary thought, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t curious about what she’s offering and why she’s offering it.”

She spoke up with a resigned tone to her voice. “I’m sorry, Silver. But I don’t think I’ll be able to properly explain with this one looming over us. He already knew we were talking without manifesting a form. So this is just cheap intimidation.”

Silver looked down. “I… I understand. I do wish I could hear more about it though, even if I’m not necessarily fully on board with the idea. I know what he says is true and that you’re not obligated to tell me the truth, but this is kind of like the cliffhanger to a good story. It just builds up all of the interest and leaves you hanging there.”

Triss gave Krik a dark glance before favoring him with a smile. “Sometimes, as another once told me, waiting is part of the story. I’m sure we will see each other again before long.”

“Hopefully it’s not too long.” Silver said with a smile, feeling as if he recognized those words from somewhere.

“Then farewell Silver Eclipse, I wish you the best of luck in your endeavours.”

Triss faded away as she left, leaving Silver and the warden alone once more.

He turned towards the towering minotaur as the two were suddenly transported to the peak of the smoking volcano, “Sorry if I seem a little annoyed, I’m sure you can understand that it’s frustrating when someone brings information like this up and leaves you hanging.” He stood up and walked over to the dreamwarden, extending a hoof out in greeting. “You know, it’s been far too long since I’ve had so much company here, let alone two unfathomably powerful beings, we should really do this more often. Please do give my regards to the others, it’s been genuinely nice to see one of you on better terms again. I do hope we’ll meet again under better circumstances someday.”

Krik looked at him and nodded, fading away and leaving Silver alone once more. He smirked and signed goodbye to the now vacant floor space, lowering his hoof back down. “Alright, nice seeing you too. Take care Krik.”

Silver didn’t know what to make of the encounter or the cryptic talk of ascension and cosmic beings… but one thing was for sure…

There was a bigger adventure waiting for him up ahead whether he was ready for it or not.

Comments

[Numinos]

Huh, quite the ending!

Great story, thanks !

[TikiBat]

11217202
Really glad you enjoyed it!!!

[ProgAltRocker]

A very interesting chapter. It seems Silver has found himself closer to the plans of powerful beings than he previously thought possible.

[PonyofEntropy]

Great story!