Ghost of the Everfree

by David Silver

40 - Downtime Complete

Dry had a dream. He had a lot of those, more than one a night, though he'd be lucky to remember even one of them. But he remembered this one.

He was in a forest, familiar in some way. It was hard to put a hoof on exactly what it was, but he was hiding. Hiding was a good idea often, so this didn't strike him as odd. Besides, dream logic being what it was, he wasn't questioning much of what was going on.

Something was walking past, large and maternal. How did he know? Who could say? But he knew, and he trembled, for he knew. He just knew it was a being that could destroy him with the barest effort. That was why good little colts hid.

"You can't hide forever." It wasn't calling as if to taunt him out, but a warning. "Your peace fractures now."

"What are you doing in my pony's dream?" demanded another maternal figure, descending from the sky on blue wings. "Begone!"

The first turned to the second. "This is your realm." And with those words, she was gone, allowing Luna to gently nose aside the brush that was concealing Dry.

"Are you alright?" she asked in a gentle tone. She was large, but did not give the impression of the infinite that the other one had.

"Um... hello." Dry sat up, blinking up at the large alicorn. "Thank you for assisting me..."

"You are quite welcome." She inclined her head at the little colt and his fluffy mane. "I do not recognize you."

"Um... I don't know you either, ma'am... You look important."

Luna smiled gently at those words. "Flattery? I am Luna, princess of the night and guardian of dreams."

Dry gasped with amazement. "I didn't know!" He threw himself prostrate. "I am being visited by a god! Please don't punish me..."

Luna blinked softly at the odd reaction. "Though... tempting... I am not what one would call a god. I breathe, sleep, eat, and drink as all ponies must. What manner of colt are you that you speak of gods?"

Dry peeked up from his submissive position. Not a god? "What are you then, ma'am... No offense."

"Child, you do not offend me." She slipped a hoof under his chin, guiding him to sit up instead of lay on his belly. "I am a princess. To be specific, I am a pony princess. I was a unicorn before that. You are an earth pony."

Dry smiled. He knew something she didn't! Not that he wasn't ready to share it. "I'm a ghost pony, ma'am."

Luna narrowed her eyes. "Ghosts are old mare's tales." But it clicked. "Then again... Tell me, curious colt, where are you from?"

Dry waved a hoof vaguely. "Another world of another world. The ether of Everglow is where I am from. Equestria has been very nice to me, ma'am." He worried his hooves together. "Are you here to throw me out?"

Luna recoiled at that, emerging from the bush. "Have you done something improper, colt?"

"Um... I..." He colored darkly, shuffling in place. "I kissed a filly."

Luna blinked slowly. "Did the filly know and accept you were going to kiss her?"

"She started it." Wait, no, that came out more like a squabble. "She kissed me, and I kissed her back, um, ma'am."

Luna gently smiled, composure returning. "That is not something wrong to admit to, colt. I hope you and this little lady get along well then. Why would I banish a colt for sharing a kiss with a filly?"

He emerged from the bushes. Luna seemed safe enough. "I'm not from here. You chased away that other thing... I think it was from my home."

Luna glanced in the direction it had been. "Concerning... Do you know if their gods are visiting more than this time?"

Dry trembled, suddenly right back in the spotlight of potential trouble. "Will you be angry, ma'am?"

Luna arched a brow, but reached with her hooves to gently cradle the scared colt's cheeks. "I simply desire the truth. I am not angry, nor concerned, about your presence. What is your name?"

"Dry Whisper." He tried to bow, but Luna's holding hooves made that impossible. "Nice to meet you, um, Your Royal Highness, Princess Luna."

Luna mussed his fluffy mane. "Too many words, but very formal... No, this is your dream. Here, you can just call me Luna. Now, please, share."

Dry glanced back, a feat he could do better than a human in the same position. Head held forward, he could still peek back over his shoulder. "I am a cleric, Luna."

"Cleric?" But it came to her swiftly. "A wielder of a god's might?"

"Yes, ma'am..." He swallowed thickly. "I worship a kind goddess of books, magic, and friendship, ma'am."

"That reminds me..." Her eyes went distant, horn glowing. "You are... in Ponyville?" He nodded faintly. "Do you know a Twilight Sparkle?" He nodded a little less shallowly. "Does she know of this?"

"Oh, um, yes, ma'am. She likes her too, the goddess, but does not worship her." Dry considered a moment. "You said you were princess of dreams and the night?"

"I am." Luna angled her ears forward and down at Dry. "Why?"

"What is Miss Twilight princess of, ma'am?" He shrunk back a few inches. "Sorry if that is a rude question!"

Luna set a hoof atop his head instead. "Do not fear me. I am here to protect you, Dry Whisper. I thought you were being attacked by a nightmare, and came to intercede... It is not often there is an actual presence in a nightmare. More frequently phantoms of the pony's struggles lurk." She released him entirely, sitting up with folded wings. "As for Twilight, she is the princess of friendship, which is why I thought of her."

Dry gaped a moment, silence between them.

"Is that bothersome?" she asked of the small colt.

"N-no! No... No wonder she is drawn to Princess Luminace... Why doesn't she worship Luminace?" Dry brought his hooves together. "They should get along very well. Miss Twilight seems to like books too... And magic..."

Luna raised one gauntleted hoof up. "I can't speak for her motivations, Dry Whisper. You would do better to ask her. Now, there are other dreams to patrol. You don't need me further, so I wish you a pleasant evening."

Dry waved as Luna took off on powerful wings, ascending into the sky. He didn't call out to her, that was how one drew trouble.

The rest of the night's dreams were forgotten, as most dreams are.

---

Dry hurried to Silver Spoon's, knocking on her door urgently. Her father answered. "Hey there, kiddo." He ruffled the top of Dry's head. Was his mane that pettable!? "Are you looking for Silver?"

"Yes, sir." He bobbed his head quickly. "Is she in?"

"She's off at school." He pointed the way. "Which you should be at too, hm?"

Oh shoot! "Right!" He twirled in place. "See you later, sir!" He took off in a sprint, long legs carrying him in eager darts across town to get where all foals were due at that time of day.

The stallion shook his head slowly. "Silly colt." But he had other things to do.

Dry zipped into the classroom to find many eyes were on him. The class had started. He was late. He shrank back, ready to flee.

"Dry Whisper," spoke Cheerilee firmly. "Take your seat, kindly." She watched him until he had settled. "Now, as I was saying..." The class went on despite his late entry.

A crumpled paper bounced off him. How had a paper reached him? Did someone drop it? How would they drop it on him? It wasn't like anyone was above him... His confusion only swelled by the-- Another paper came at him, tossed by Apple Bloom. He caught that one with a muffled squeak.

She made opening gestures like she were opening a book?

He was new to schooling in a proper setting, but he got that hint. He peeked inside the paper to find writing, which became all the more clear when he flattened it out to see.

Where were you? Everything alright?

--AB

A secret message! A way to hide one's communication. Smart... Perhaps the ponies of that world had some clue in how to hide oneself... He flipped the sheet over and quickly scrawled a reply.

I had a scary dream. I think I was visited by two dream guards. One had a warning! Talk at lunch?

--DW

He just had to get the note back to her without being seen. Not being seen was his specialty! He crumbled it up tight and waited for the opportunity, when Cheerilee was animatedly going over something for the class. Her back was towards them, but she was a pony. She had a wide field of view. That wasn't enough. He waited until she was directly looking away from where it was happening. The blindspot of any equine. With a toss, he sent the paper back to its original home.

Apple Bloom snatched it up and scooted it away instantly in that moment of opportunity. Cheerilee didn't see a thing. Perfect.

She nodded, not along with the lesson, but in response to the letter she got a peek at. The message was sent and recieved. Dry smiled in victory. It was time to pay attention to class and their talk about the founding of some local town. Why was that important? He wasn't sure, but it was the topic of the day, and being a bad student meant standing out, and he didn't want to do that.

When lunch came, he didn't find Apple Bloom. He found all the crusaders, and his girlfriend, and her friend. All the pintsized Everglow explorers! Diamond was at her table with her food spread out. "Have a seat and tell us why you were late."

Dry took her spot with the others. "It was a nightmare, or a dream? A vision! It was a warning..." He fidgeted in place, not eating. "I met a Princess Luna?"

The crusaders perked at that. Apple Bloom clopped the table between them. "Welcome to the club! Luna's a right nice watcher of the night."

"She's visited me before," admitted Sweetie Belle with a faint blush.

"I think she has for everypony, and now you too." Scootaloo pointed at Dry Whisper. "Another sign you're one of us."

Diamond scoffed at this decision. "It's up to Luna where she shows up. Was she the one warning you, and what about?"

"Not her..." He dared to take a nibble of something. Spicy! He hooved at his tongue a moment, red in the face. Hot hot, but it was calming. "Oh, sorry... Something else. It sounded like danger was coming. They were telling me about it. Luna came and talked to me afterwards."

Scootaloo inclined her head. "That isn't much of a hint, Dry. Danger could come any day."

Apple Bloom huffed. "I hate that yer right on that point. Danger could come any time."

"Any time!" blurted Dry, agreeing with that idea. "But if something that powerful comes to mention it, it can't be a small danger... It can't be! Why would they come and warn little me if it was a little danger?" He worried his hooves fretfully. "It has to be bigger than me... Much bigger than me. I'm not in danger... Everything's in danger! Something big at least... Something big is in danger... I wish I knew what it was... I could try to hide it..."

Silver Spoon threw an arm over her nervous boyfriend, hugging him from the side. "Relax... Relax. We're all here." She waved her other hoof at their friends. "Look at them. Really look at them. We're all here, together. We'll tell Twilight too. You don't have to fix this all on your own."

"Twilight!" he squeaked. "Yes... Yes that's a good idea... But they warned me... I must be involved, somehow... But how?"

Author's Note:

Forgot that adventure tag, did you? The story hasn't forgotten.

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Comments

[Booster Spice]

Dear Twilight.

Gods dont like being ignored.

[redmar]

Given that an Everglow being of the dreamworld warned him the danger is probably connected to Everglow.

[badninja]

11424576

Well Twilight has a tendency to forget, look at the Starfinder story.

Still I wonder if this is what will set Luna off on her journey? Now at least Dry has ponies he can call upon to help in his quest.

[geomease]

Dry thought he could hide from the Adventure tag, unfortunately he rolled a 1 on his stealth check.