Do Ponies on Earth have Magic Dreams?

by TikiBat

Chapter 45: The Best Time of Your Life

The week went by about as slowly as Silver could have expected it to, and in some cases, it almost felt even slower. He had been confined to bed for most of it, except for some light wing exercises and short nightly walks that he had been allowed to partake in. The wing exercises had left a lot to be desired and never got anywhere close to scratching that flying itch, but at least it helped alleviate the stiffness in his wings.

Being forced to do nothing but rest and letting another pony take care of him was starting to grow old as well, but he had to admit that it added an almost extra level of bonding to his and Scarlet’s relationship, even with her returning to work on most nights. Lastly, it also gave him a chance to practice the limits of his dream magic and attempt to learn more. Both Psychic Calm and Yinyu had been his guides and mentors throughout the week, and through their tutelage he had grown even more adept at slipping into the dream realm and crafting his own dreams.

These new abilities and the limitless potential of the dream realm were the perfect outlets for his boredom, and that’s the point he was at now. Crafting another corner of Somewhere— the name he had decided to give for his subconscious dream space. What started as a cabin had turned into an open desert with twisting psychedelic buildings, then become a sprawling volcanic island with intricate paths spread throughout it. Each day and night was spent adding onto the island and carving out new locations until he was pleased with the additions— then he’d move onto the next part. From industrial docks to intricate observatories to serene tropical hideaways— it was all part of his healing process.

In the times where he grew tired of designing things for himself, he simply pulled from his friends for inspiration. A peaceful retreat for him and Scarlet where the two could spend their time doing whatever they wanted, a bright neon arcade for Sine, a gothic castle built into the side of the volcano, and a quiet scenic overlook for Stanley. Such endeavors were where his creative energies lay in the present, and he was hard at work making some adjustments to his quiet cove at Scarlet’s request. Admittedly some of her changes like the large stage set up on the side would inevitably be used to embarrass him, but he could live with such indignities in here. This was his own private world after all, and much to his own enjoyment it had become a place that he could persistently create. The gentle feeling of a hoof on his side in the waking world cut through his perceptions in the dream realm, signaling that it was time to pause his progress for the time being.

He opened his eyes and adjusted himself in bed, smiling as he caught sight of his marefriend.

“Have a nice nap?” she asked in a gentle voice.

“Absolutely,” Silver replied. “I built some of the stuff you asked for in our little cove, and I really can’t wait for you to see it!”

Scarlet smirked, “Can’t wait either. But we’re gonna be late for our appointment unless you hop out of bed and get cleaned up.”

“I’m not that bad,” he fired back.

“Yeah? Well your mane’s a mess and you haven’t showered today so you better get to it unless you wanna get some talks about hygiene from the doctor.”

“When you’re right you’re right,” Silver replied.

With a carefully practiced precision he dragged himself out of bed and got right to it, and before long he was dried off and hopping in the back of Mrs. Delgado’s car. The ride to the clinic itself was boring and uneventful, though instead of jumping into another dream, Silver chose to cuddle up next to Scarlet and enjoy the scenery. Checking into the clinic was another boring and uneventful process that felt almost routine at this point considering they had already done it before. The familiarity of it was nice though, because it took some of the anxiety away from it all.

Next came the equally boring and personal questions about health, what they had been doing, how the healing process was going, exercises to do… the usual stuff that Silver probably should have paid more attention to but found himself struggling to. Finally, the two were split up and examined on their own, with Doctor Fitzpatrick taking care of Scarlet and Doctor Wu, her in-training protege, watching over Silver.

Despite lacking a lot of the training that his teacher had, Doctor Wu was still more than capable of examining Silver.

“So how’s your breathing been, Mr. Eclipse?” The doctor calmly asked him.

“It really only hurts a lot if I breathe in too deeply, but I don’t feel like I’m going to pass out or anything anymore if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Good,” he scribbled out a few notes with a pen held in his magic, “and any issues you’ve noticed come up since then?”

Silver reflected on his rather boring week and shook his head, “Not really my wings are just kind of killing me because I haven’t been able to fly around.”

“Mhmm, well that's completely normal. You’ve been keeping up on your daily exercises though, right?”

“Yeah. The wing stretches and all that. I’d kill for the chance to do some actual flying though.”

“I bet. I can’t imagine what it’s like obviously, but I’ll talk things over with Doctor Fitzpatrick and see what she says. She’s admittedly more of an expert on that subject than I am.”

Silver smiled, “Thanks.”

“My pleasure.” He glanced down at the clipboard held in his magic, “Have you noticed any pain or problems in any other part of your body?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well is your pain just limited to the injury site or is there any other pain?”

“It’s pretty much just around the ribs. The scrapes and bruises aren’t really bothering me anymore.”

“Good. And you’ve been resting as much as you can? No high stress or overly strenuous activities?”

“Only in my dreams, but out here I’ve just been laying around for the week.”

Glancing back to his list, he paused for a moment, “I apologize, this question is a little more personal than the rest.”

“Okay, go ahead.”

“Have you engaged in any sexual activities?” he read out in a flat, neutral voice.

Silver’s face reddened for a moment at the unexpected question. With a very quick shake of his head, he stammered out a response. “Nope, just been laying in bed like I’m supposed to.”

“Alright.” He checked off a few items on the clipboard and nodded, “Well that’s everything. If you’ll excuse me I’ll go check in with Doctor Fitzpatrick and she’ll be able to explain more to you. For now I’ll just have you wait outside and she’ll call you when she’s done with Miss Moon.”

“Thanks Doc.”

“Mhmm, it’s no problem. If anything I should thank you, you’re the first real pony patient I’ve had.”

“Glad I can help?” Silver laughed out.

---

Silver’s time in the waiting room could have been spent in the dream realm, but Silver decided to instead read one of his books that he had brought along. It was an old favorite of his— Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. It had been far too long since he had just cracked open a good story, and as much as he would have loved to just get lost in a dream instead, he wanted to save that experience for later. Everything was better in moderation after all.

He had of course read it more times than he could count, it was one of his childhood favorites after all, but it still never ceased to make him smile. Fond memories from his past that he had long neglected drifted back through his mind as he gleefully read page to page. Time itself lost all meaning to him as he got lost in the narrative, and before long the sudden sound of his name being called by a familiar voice pulled him back to reality.

Stepping out into the waiting room, Doctor Wu waved towards him and called his name again. “Mister Eclipse, please follow me.”

Silver glanced up from the book and nodded.

As he followed him down the hallway he leaned in close, “Is everything okay?”

“Everything is perfectly fine. There’s just a few things that Doctor Fitzpatrick wanted to talk to you and miss Moon about.”

“Gotcha.”

Turning down the hallway, he led him into the exam room that Scarlet had been brought to and gestured towards the open space next to the mare. “Please take a seat, this isn’t anything bad, but I think it’ll be better if you’re sitting down and comfortable.”

Silver was about to protest, feeling more comfortable standing than sitting considering all of the rest he had been doing. Hopping up onto the table next to Scarlet, he took a moment to make himself as comfortable as he could possibly be.

As he did this Doctor Wu quietly stepped out and Doctor Fitzpatrick entered with a clipboard held under one of her tattooed wings. She gave a small cough and chuckled, “Comfy enough or do you need a moment?”

Silver looked back with a surprised look as if he had been caught in the act of something, “No I’m all good.”

“I dunno Silver, we could always get you one of those dog beds you liked so much if you’re not comfy,” Scarlet teased.

Silver nervously laughed and shook his head, quickly changing subjects. “I think I’m all good, thanks for asking though. So how does everything look, Doctor?”

“First thing’s first, let’s start with you. You’re showing very good signs of recovery though you’ve still got a long road ahead of you. I’d like to see you back next week if possible just so we can gauge how it’s going, but you could see a full recovery in less than a month’s time maybe even sooner if you keep taking it easy.”

“What about flying?” he asked almost with a hint of desperation carrying in his voice.

Doctor Fitzpatrick grimaced and shook her head, “I would really prefer if you didn’t for right now. You’re on a good road to recovery and I don’t want to risk having you overexert yourself and now you’re back to square one. However, if you really absolutely have to fly then keep it low to the ground and no more than ten to fifteen minutes at a time. I don’t want you flying without a partner either, the last thing we need is you getting injured and falling back to Earth alone.”

Silver rolled his eyes at the thought of still not being able to fly. He had to cool his frustration though, the doctor was right after all. It was only a minor grounding and would at least ensure that he wasn’t grounded even longer than necessary.

“Okay, that’s fair. So low to the ground for a short period only. Gotcha.”

“I know it’s frustrating, but it really is for the best.”

“I totally get that,” Silver smiled. “Don’t want to be grounded forever after all.”

She nodded, “Glad you understand.” Turning to Scarlet, she continued, “Now I have two things for you Scarlet. I talked with Doctor Ramirez about your sprained leg and as of right now it looks like you’ve made a very good recovery. The X-rays show no signs of any lasting or permanent damage, but I would still take it easy for a little while longer just because it might be a little stiff or tender. Obviously continue with the exercises you’ve been doing, and if there’s any issues then feel free to call Doctor Ramirez or myself, but aside from that you’re good to go.”

Scarlet let out a happy squeak, “That's great to hear! I know Silver’s been stressed about that for a while now and I’m glad neither of us have to worry about it.”

“Now we just have to worry about me,” Silver interjected.

“Hopefully not for too long,” Scarlet seemed to hesitate for a moment, “why don’t you tell us, Doctor?”

The mare smiled, “During your examinations Scarlet told me about how you two were planning on starting a family together.”

Silver’s heart dropped in anticipation of what she’d say next. Was this going to be big news or disappointing news? Would it change the way they lived? Was there something wrong? All of these questions and more surged through his head but he stopped himself before breaking into a frantic line of questioning that would probably scare the doctor away.

“Uh huh? So what’s up?” He gulped.

Looking back towards a very anxious looking Scarlet, Doctor Fitzpatrick continued. “I ran a pregnancy test and was able to get the results back. Now Scarlet asked me to wait to tell her until you were present too, and well…” she trailed off, leaving Silver in suspense.

“Well?!” He blurted out, realizing that he had practically yelled it after the fact.

“Well, the result is positive,” she smiled. “Now, I don’t know the tribe or gender because it’s way too early to know any of that stuff, but I do know that based on the test results, you two have a foal on the way. I know it’s all super early but I’m here to tell you that I’ll be able to answer any questions you might have on that because believe me, I know you probably have a lot and there’s a long road ahead.”

Ignoring her offer for the moment, Silver pulled Scarlet into a tight hug, momentarily ignoring the sharp pain that shot through his side.

“Oh my gosh, Scarlet we’re gonna be parents!” He excitedly shouted out.

The mare leaned into his embrace and held Silver close. “I love you so much Silver!”

“I love you too!”

Art by: https://twitter.com/FanDrawsArt

Visions of the things he wanted to do with her and their foal danced through his head, and both pride and excitement filled him from top to bottom. The worries, anxieties, pain, and everything else faded into the background as he was overwhelmed with happiness. Finally after a few long minutes in each other’s arms, the two broke their embrace.

Doctor Fitzpatrick smiled, “I’m very happy for you two. So are there any questions?”

Scarlet looked at Silver and raised an eyebrow, “Where should we start?”

“Maybe with the obvious?” he answered.

She gave a nod and started asking the doctor what was on her mind, taking the lead from Silver.

---

The car ride home was loud and full of tons of questions from Scarlet’s overjoyed mother. In an unsurprising move she even put Scarlet’s father on the car’s speakers, and the human was just as excited to hear the news. Their joy was infectious, but it also filled Silver with a bittersweet longing for his own family. He hadn’t thought about them in a while, but the warm happy feeling that Scarlet’s radiated brought his own family to the forefront. So much had changed since he had left them, and he wondered what they’d think of the course his life had taken so far.

“Hey Silvie, what’s got you down?” Scarlet asked, clearly taking notice of his more restrained body language.

“Hm? Oh, not much. Just thinking about family stuff.”

She hugged him and nodded, “I get it. It’s hard.”

“It really isn’t, they were kind of toxic to me and I didn’t need that in my life.”

“But it still hurts, they’re your family.”

Silver shrugged and felt tears well up in his eyes, “That’s what makes it so hard you know? I almost want to call them and tell them the news but I haven’t talked to them in months. I’m such a different pony now, would they even recognize me as their son?”

“Maybe you should?” she offered. “If they love you then they’ll be happy about the news, and if they don’t then oh well. Guess they miss out on this really awesome chapter of our lives.”

Silver nodded, brushing a hoof against his eyes, “I’ll call my brother first, I know he’ll be so excited to hear this.”

“And then your parents after?”

Silver paused, not giving an answer. He had no obligation to tell them, but he almost felt as if he owed it to them. “Maybe. I’ll tell them when the time is right, I don’t need anything bringing my mood down.” He smiled at her and hugged her tightly, “I love you so much.”

Joyful tears welled up in Scarlet’s eyes. “I love you too. I’m so excited for this Silvie, we’re going to be parents! I just can’t stop thinking about everything we’re going to do with our bright little star.”

“I can’t either Scarlet. I just can’t. We’re going to go to so many places, see so many things… and we’re going to do it as a family.”

She leaned into him and held him close, “I don’t want this feeling to ever end.”

The stallion cuddled up to her and smiled, “Me neither Scarlet, me neither…”

The world faded away as he thought all about everything that was happening. It all felt so unreal, yet here it was happening in real time. As happy as he was, his joyful reverie was interrupted only by the realization that their meeting with Tonya was scheduled for later that day, and that almost paled in comparison to the current news.

---

The rest of the evening was spent cuddled up under the stars with a picnic dinner courtesy of Mrs. Delgado. The blanket of stars above gave them a calming sense of peace, and surprisingly enough there was very little conversation. Just happy giggling between the pair followed by romantic embraces. Before long the sun was rising and the excitement of the night was beginning to take its toll on the two, and the call of their warm bed was more alluring than they could hope to avoid. Foregoing the usual bedtime routine, they simply hopped into bed and made themselves even more comfortable, quickly falling asleep in each other’s arms.

Silver found himself in a specially designed room on his dream island. It was a completely unnecessary addition, but one he had gleefully worked on during some of his down time. Dark mahogany paneling accented the room’s walls and ceiling and a large panoramic window looked out into the deep blue undersea world that laid beneath the island’s bay. A handful of comfy velvet cushions sat around the low sitting oak table, and decorative glasses sat at each place.

Silver, Scarlet, Sine Wave, and Stanley all had seats at the table, and a fifth seat sat at the far end of the table for their special guest. With the exception of Scarlet, none of his guests had appeared yet, though he sensed a distinctly familiar presence lingering in the background of his dream, and if he had to bet one or more wardens were currently present.

Not feeling too particularly concerned with who it was, he ignored that feeling of having some unseen presence staring at him. Instead he turned towards Scarlet and smiled, “I don’t know about you, but I’m getting pretty antsy thinking about this.”

“I can tell,” she giggled.

“Yeah? Is it really that obvious?”

The mare playfully jabbed at the fancy suit that Silver had conjured up for himself and nodded. “You never dress up this fancy in here unless we’re having a special dream.”

“Hah… yeah, good point. Just wanna make a good impression I guess, you know?”

“Of course, I totally get it.”

The sudden appearance of Sine Wave quickly shut the conversation down as she trotted over and leaped into her seat, kicking her hooves up on the table in a fittingly dramatic fashion.

“I gotta say, you clean up nicely Blue.” She glanced towards Scarlet and batted her eyes at her, “and you don’t look half bad yourself Red.”

Scarlet rolled her eyes and laughed, “Nice to see you too Sine.”

A flash of light marked the arrival of Stanley, who cheerfully trotted up to one of the open seats and took his place. “Hope I’m not late or anything.”

“Not at all,” Silver smiled, “you’re actually right on time.”

He pointed to the large bar off to the side, “Feel free to grab a drink. I tried making stuff that tasted good out there but I have no clue if it’ll carry over for the rest of you… I’m still new to this kind of thing.”

Sine Wave and Stanley poked around at the bar and both left with cans of soda that leapt up and poured into their glasses on their own. Sine Wave looked up with a skeptical glare and smirked, “Gee Blue, got a flare for the dramatic or what?”

Scarlet simply laughed and shook her head, “That’s my Silvie all right.”

The group was suddenly interrupted as the large doors at the end of the room swung open, followed by the unmistakable form of the orange pegasus who had visited them before walking in.

Silver smiled and straightened up in his seat, “Welcome back Tonya! Feel free to grab a drink and take a seat. I brought a couple of friends along, they’re part of the group. I’d have the other’s along too, but they’re not in your… unique position.”

“That makes sense.” She briefly stopped by the bar, eying the drinks before leaving with a bottle of water, “So how have you been? Feeling better I hope?”

“Well,” he looked at Scarlet, “we just found out that we’ve got a little one on the way so all things considered I’m pretty happy. How about you?”

The mare smiled, “That’s really great news! I’m doing well too.” She looked between Sine and Stanley, her gaze lingering on the latter. “Nice to meet you two, I hope this isn’t too much of a surprise.”

“Convicted mind magic abuser stopping by and offering some crazy deal? Yeah seems pretty unsurprising,” Sine laughed out.

“Uh huh…” Tonya replied, clearly having no idea what to actually make of Sine’s response. Instead she turned towards Stanley, “You’re Stanley right? Phobia’s said some nice things about you. I guess she was the one who met you when you first dreamwalked?”

“Yes… she was.” He nervously looked around, “It’s uhh… nice to meet you outside of a trial...Glad that uhh… worked out well for you?”

Silver sat up in his chair and took a sip of his own drink, “With the greetings and small talk out of the way, why don’t we talk some business?”

“You all thought it over then?” Tonya asked.

“Mhmm,” Silver nodded. “Took some bouncing back and forth, but I think we’ve come to an agreement in regards to what we’d like to request from Sunset in return for our… services.”

Tonya sat up in the chair, taking a sip from her drink. “I can’t wait to see what kind of crazy and wild requests you’ve thought up. So why don’t you lay it on me then?” she said, smiling.

Silver smiled, taking another sip of his drink before continuing. “Well you said we’d need a base of operations, and the inventors seemed to have an idea for one that would work really well and also act as a home for a couple dozen ponies that might be in need of one very soon.” He looked towards Stanley, “The place they have in mind is an abandoned mining town in the Verde Valley out near Sedona. Last they checked it was basically abandoned and up for sale. From what I understand, all we really need is the land and mineral rights, a small construction crew to help clean up the town, and some basic materials to get a solar farm up and running. Stanley’s got a team of ponies that can help with farming and agriculture, and if Sunset can help us with the other stuff then we’re open to assisting her with any project she needs our help with going forward.”

Tonya raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Huh… ok, well that’s not as crazy as I thought it would be. I was expecting some crazy out of the blue idea like a rocket or submarine or something that you might have found in one of your old Jules Verne books.”

Silver smiled, “Oh, believe me, I was pretty surprised that it was so tame too. The inventor’s aren’t anywhere close to those projects yet, so let’s just say we all got lucky there,” he laughed.

Tonya smiled back. “I don’t see why that wouldn’t be doable. For starters though, let me just tell you what Sunset’s going to want in return though, because she’s got her own terms for this kind of thing.”

“Sure, sure. What’s she want from us then?”

“Well, firstly I know you had a concern that your friends wanted to work on their own projects too and that’s fine. Sunset’s not going to force you to come up with anything for her, and in fact she’s only going to give you the details of her projects on a case to case basis so you should be fine doing your own stuff. I know some of you also had some concerns about the nature of her projects, but she wanted me to let you know that they won’t be anything unethical or overly dangerous, and you’ll never work on them for more than 60 calendar days, but keep in mind that those might not always be consecutive days.”

“Okay, I suppose that sounds fair enough. So she’ll be able to get what we need then?”

“Oh don’t worry, Sunset can get you what you need for her projects, and any other equipment you need, but just keep in mind that those will be loaners. You can use them as much as you want though, and for whatever you want, but if you purposely stall or delay her projects or decide to end the agreement then she’s going to have to ask for the equipment back. If you really really need it then I’m sure you can work out a payment plan. That’s understandable right?”

“Right. I can only assume that she just wants to make sure her investment isn’t going to waste, and that’s perfectly fair. So how’s the land management going to work then? I’m guessing the catch to her paying for it is that she’s going to own it or something?”

“Not personally. There’s a separate company set up to manage this kind of thing, and they’ll be taking care of that. You can either lease the land from them freely in return for your assistance, or you can finance it until the initial investment’s paid off. It doesn’t matter what you do, though from the sound of it you’ll want to own the land for yourselves eventually.”

“I guess that’s the price we have to pay if we want to do this then, eh?”

“Mhmm.” She continued, “If it helps, think of it this way. The majority of the work you’ll be doing is an extension of things you already wanted to do. It might not be the craziest stuff ever, but believe me, you’ll be helping a lot of ponies whether you realize it or not.”

“So are we just going to wind up doing small things then?”

“It could vary,” Tonya admitted, “she’s looking for ponies that have a particular area of expertise. I think most of what you’ll be working on is smaller components using some of our existing research as a base, but that doesn’t mean you won’t be doing important research. All of this stuff, it’ll be for a greater purpose in the end. Maybe it’s small computer chips that wind up being used in consumer products, maybe it’s some components for the military, or maybe it’s even those gauntlets you and your friends were working on? Sunset’s got connections in that industry too you know?”

The idea was tantalizing, and even though the inventors weren’t present, Silver wasn’t exactly in a place where he could refuse. The thought of asking the wardens to bring the two day ponies into a shared dream was tempting, but given the strict secrecy that the night ponies were sworn to (and the scarily harsh punishments for breaking that secrecy) kept his request at bay. He didn’t need to take part in a trial of his own after all. Besides, he was fairly certain they would trust Sine and him.

Nothing was definitively stopping him from rejecting the offer though. He could have if he really felt it wasn’t worth it, but the pressure of crushing the hopes of half a village’s worth of refugees looking for a home and the potential financial security in his future was keeping him from denying it. Thoughts about the family he was starting with Scarlet came to mind too, and the chance at making a better future for their foal was just too much to sway him.

Seemingly picking up on his hesitation, Tonya continued with another reassurance. “If it’s ever too much or crosses any lines then you’re free to tell us that. We’re not forcing you to work for us after all, and UMAD won’t just throw you off property if you do decide to pull out of the deal. Just keep in mind that the equipment is SPEC’s, and she’s letting you guys use it in return for helping her.”

“And if we want to buy it instead of leasing it?”

“Then you can talk it over with Sunset’s accountant if you really feel you need to do that. If you’re serious about that, I’m sure she can work out a very favourable deal. Keep in mind though, SPEC’s a big company and can pay you very well for the work you’re doing.”

Silver looked around between the handful of ponies that he had assembled, hearing no objection from any of them. That didn’t mean he had his own reservations of course, but he was just the manager right now, and if Tinker and Gyro wanted to follow through with the deal then Silver saw no real reason to object.

“Yeah that’s fair enough.” He confirmed, “So I believe that that’s everything then? Nothing else on the agenda?”

“Oh, yes!” Tonya shot up in her chair, “One more super super important thing too. This is going to sound really really harsh but I can’t stress how important it is. All of the details about Sunset’s plans should be considered extremely classified. We’re talking like the highest government security clearance you can imagine. Under no circumstance are you to ever share any of it with anypony who isn’t directly involved with the project. If you do, Sunset will make sure that you’ll never be able to conduct serious research again. Those are her words not mine mind you. I know she sounds harsh but she’s putting a lot of trust into you guys and just wants to make sure that you all know how important these projects are and how serious the consequences of breaching her security are... I hope you understand that this isn’t personal, it’s just a serious matter to her.”

Silver gulped for a second, but quickly fell back into his confident all business mode. “I can… understand that completely, and I appreciate you bringing our concerns forward to Sunset. This is obviously a lot to take in, you’re basically handing everything we need to us on a silver platter, but if Sunset is willing to throw some cash and resources our way then we’re willing to look past our own reservations in return.”

“I’m glad you understand. I know it’s a lot but you guys are going to have the chance to change the world and help so many other ponies.”

“It’s only fair after all,” Silver agreed.

Tonya looked at Silver and the three other night ponies, “So we’re all good then? No other questions, comments, or concerns?”

Silver shook his head, “I think that’s everything. I talked about this with the lead inventor and he’s more than willing to work with Sunset as long as we can maintain a level of independence in our projects.”

“That’s perfectly fine, just remember that she’ll want to see progress on her own projects more than yours when they’re assigned and active, just to make sure her investment and resources aren’t being wasted.”

Silver sat up in his chair and reached for his drink. “I think that that means we’re at an agreement then.”

Tonya shifted in her chair, “I think we are! I’m glad this was able to work out Silver!”

“Me too. So do we need to send any of our info to you guys or…”

“Oh, you don’t need to worry about that. Sunset has all of the information she needs.”

Silver couldn’t help but shake the very uncomfortable sense that he was being watched, and with Tonya’s response, now he’d feel that in the waking world for a while. It shouldn’t have been all that surprising though, Psychic Calm had managed to track down the exact hospital he was in when he was injured and had already sent a highly trained night pony doctor to it. For all he knew everypony involved had some highly detailed file on some SPEC server with who knows how much detail… It was frightening, but then again he wouldn’t have been surprised in the slightest.

“Good to know…” he replied.

“I’m going to head out now, but we’ll be in touch about what you need sooner than later.”

“Send Sunset our regards, we look forward to working with you.”

“I sure will, she’s going to be so happy to hear that. Goodbye Silver! Nice meeting you three as well, I’m glad the trial didn’t scare you all as much!” she said, earning a hesitant look from the other three night ponies.

Comments

[The Marvel Horse]

Damn, I was not expecting this news so soon. But considering we are nearing the end, it felt nice to be able to read it and their reactions in real time, so to speak, in preparation for the next few parts. It also gives a nice break between the more serious/intense parts of the story and getting that all at once with their health progress feels like a good use of time.

It only now just occurred to me that dream building has been a largely impermanent endeavour. Silver's experience and being immobilized seems reminiscent of stories of being bound and finding outlets of creativity. Also minecraft.

This whole thing with Tonya feels too good to be true but also feels that, problems will probably come, just in another story.

[ProgAltRocker]

Heh, super secret squirrel research projects