Ch 11 - Dreamception
Content warning: death and mentions of domestic abuse.
“I am Princess Luna, and you are going to tell me why you are in my niece’s body.” The midnight blue alicorn growled as she loomed over me, her horn glowing a faint blue. I couldn’t tell if it was an instinctual fear or what but I felt as if the Hand of God was floating over me, about to crush me in an instant.
“I don’t know! I just woke up from a night of drinking in this body.” As I spoke the truth I felt a rush of irritation come over me, overwhelming my sense of fear. I got back up to my hooves and stared her in the eyes as I yelled back. “If I knew, I'd go back home! I don’t want to be in this little body, I went through growing up once I don’t want to go through it again!”
Don’t think about puberty don’t think about puberty don’t think about puberty
“One does not just ‘wake up’ in an alicorn body.” Luna snorted, shaking her head.
“Oh, let me guess. You think I have an ‘active imagination’ too?” I scowled and started pacing back and forth on the bed. “I told Auntie Twilight that I was a human, not Flurry, and she brushed me off. Miss Cheerilee thinks I was tutored by a griffon due to saying ‘someone’ instead of ‘somepony’.” I stepped over and punched my pillow. “I feel like I’m stuck going in circles because no one wants to listen to what I have to say.”
“If it makes you feel better, I believe you aren’t a pony.” I heard Luna sigh a bit before using her magic to spin me around. She still had a look of irritation in her eyes but now tempered a bit. “This is the first time I’ve seen another soul in a pony body. Tell me, what do you mean you woke up like this?”
I shrugged, feeling my feathers almost itch in sympathetic anxiety as I felt like I was staring down at a goddess. Or well, as I was being stared down by a goddess. Since she was obviously a lot stronger than me if her hair was anything to go by.
“I went out drinking with my girlfriend the night before, trying to use liquid courage to build up the conviction to propose to her. When I came to, I was now a pink filly in a pastel world.” I rubbed the side of my head with a hoof. “I had apparently been in a coma for a week, my life barely saved by Auntie Twilight casting some kind of healing spell on me that aged me a few years.”
“‘Auntie Twilight’?” Luna frowned deeply at the words. “She isn’t your aunt, she is Flurry’s aunt.”
“Yes, well, the past few days I’d been pretending to be Flurry.” I shrugged, still feeling somewhat confident thanks to the adrenaline pumping through me. “Didn’t really have another option without possibly getting thrown into an asylum. Or being dumped with a ton of medication.”
The alicorn continued to scowl but slowly nodded. I breathed out a sigh of relief that she was actually somewhat listening to me, which was leagues better than anypony else so far.
“Hmm.” Luna rubbed her chin for a moment before turning towards the door. “A healing spell wouldn’t do this, however. What could it be....”
“Hey, wait, where are you going?” I yelled before trying to follow Luna out of the door. Instead, all I accomplished was falling out of my bed like a fool.
However, instead of hitting the floor face first, I continued to fall through a dark night sky. I screamed and extended my wings, trying to desperately end my fall. I felt the air whistle through my feathers and around my wings, feeling almost like I was swimming through the air. Except, well, I was falling through it flailing all four hooves like a maniac. Instead of being able to fly through the air, it almost felt like the air was rushing through my wings like water through fingers too open to redirect the water. I saw the ground quickly approach me in a pink and green blur and closed my eyes for the landing.
“Ow....” I rubbed my head as I got up from the ground, somehow still alive from falling from so high. Wait, dream logic. “How am I still asleep but in so much pain?”
“You were given sedatives at the hospital to help you sleep.” Luna appeared next to me, now looking even taller than she did in my room. Looking up at her started to make my neck hurt a bit so I quickly gave up and started to look around.
Apparently, my dream brought me to the Sakura tree park near the town I lived in before all this pony stuff happened. The trees were in full bloom, pink petals falling everywhere as the branches blew in the wind. The park itself was covered in lush green grass, tended to every day by a team of gardeners to ensure the plant life was well taken care of.
“Why did you bring us here, Luna?” I picked up one of the petals on a hoof and smiled. “Don’t get me wrong, I love this forest as much as the next man but I doubt you came here for the sights.”
“This is your last memory here.” Luna started to walk into the forest, heading towards the centre.
I had to trot to keep up with her, my little legs straining to keep up with her much longer ones, much more than the other ponies. As we went I noticed the air had a faint chill to it, but not as much as I would expect to feel being naked in the woods. As we reached the centre of the woods I saw the old, large tree that the park was built around reaching up to the sky.
Pacing in front of it was my human form, all bundled up to protect against the cold. My pale skin shone against my black jacket and jeans, my shoulder-length straight black hair and eyes betraying my mixed heritage. I was short and stocky, not super short but enough that I felt like it when at work.
“I would assume that is you?” Luna asked, looking down at me. I nodded, a little surprised at this image of myself. “Strange. You look almost like a Minotaur or a Centaur, just with non-equine legs. I’m sure if Twilight was here she’d be freaking out over a new creature to study.”
I frowned a bit at that thought but was quickly distracted by the entrance of a second figure into this quiet area of the park. At first glance, I thought it was a young woman on her way home, but as I looked closer I could see that she was making a beeline towards me. On top of that, her clothes looked ragged, worn down over a long period of time. As she got closer to my human self I saw myself turn around towards her, a polite smile on his face.
“Hello!” My old self greeted her in Japanese, giving a respectful nod before moving to continue his pacing.
The young woman stepped closer to me before pulling her hand out of her ragged jacket, procuring a pistol. As my human self raised his hands in the air she slowly stepped closer, yelling at him.
“Give me your money, now!” she yelled, her voice cracking a bit as she did so.
“Okay, but I am going to need to reach into my pocket to do so.” My human self sweated a bit but otherwise remained calm. “Can I do so?”
“I-I, yes!” The young woman yelled, clearly nervous about the situation but too far in to back down. “Slowly!”
My human self slowly inched one hand down towards his pocket, trying to not endanger himself when he didn’t need to. Before he could reach his hand to his pocket, a branch snapped nearby, drawing both of our attention to the sound. Standing in the middle of the path was Themis, in all her beautiful glory. The young woman immediately turned the gun towards her, yelling at Themis to back up or get hurt.
“No!” my human form yelled in desperation, jumping towards the mugger to distract her from Themis. Instead, all he got was the young woman turning around and firing the gun blindly.
I closed my eyes and covered them with my hooves as I heard the sounds of Themis screaming and my body hitting the tree. The mugger swore and ran off as Themis ran over to my body, sobbing the whole way.
“Storm, no, please hold on,” Themis begged, sobbing as she no doubt held my body in her hands. Feeling a sense of emptiness in my chest I slowly lifted one hoof to get one last look at my love, seeing her crying over my bleeding body.
Above the two of us, the sakura tree seemed to glow with rainbow colors before the entire scene fell away into darkness. Luna and I were left standing in a field of nothingness, mist, and shadows extending into infinity.
“That was....I am not quite sure how to put that into words.” Luna sat down next to me, her voice a little rattled by what she saw. “I could see how you thought you were waking up hungover, however.”
“I died!” I wailed, curling into a ball and sobbing. “I fucking died! Does this make me a zombie or something? Does this mean I can’t go home?”
“I do not know.” Luna sighed, the irritation in her voice now gone, replaced with concern and confusion. “I do know that whatever that tree was, it shimmered like the Tree of Harmony. Oh, Twilight, what did you do?”
“Luna, am I stuck here?” I whimpered, completely overwhelmed by the fact I DIED.
“Quite possibly.” Luna rubbed my back and hummed before getting to her hooves. “If you are, I wish to see who you truly are. After all, I cannot abide some ruffian inhabiting my niece’s body. Even if...” she grit her teeth, cutting herself off from finishing the sentence. “No, that will wait until I can speak to Twilight in the flesh.”
“I-I....okay.” I sniffled and slowly got to my hooves. “What do you want to see?”
“How about a happy memory?” Luna gave me a gentle smile. “We should clear the air after, well, what we just saw.”
I nodded, trying to think back to a good memory. I grinned and pointed a hoof up at Luna in victory, causing her to raise an eyebrow.
“When my siblings were born!” I grinned at the memory, spacing out a bit.
“Then let’s go there.” Luna’s horn glowed with a faint blue light before the area around us changed.
“Storm, come over and see your sister Mary!”
I watched as a 10-year-old version of my human form ran over to my mother’s bed, jumping up to see the baby in her arms. Behind me was my father, who was watching from the doorframe with his arms crossed. I could still hear my younger brother in the other room, too young to understand what was going on so he was being watched by the midwife.
My mother and father were like night and day compared to each other. My mother was small, Japanese, and quiet while my father was large, American, and very loud. Seeing her in bed again with my baby sister brought a tear to my eye. She looked so tired from giving birth but hid it to not scare me.
“Your name is Storm?” Luna looked down, her eyebrow raised in surprise. “That is a very...pony name. No offense.”
“None taken.” I couldn’t help but let out a small sigh at seeing my mother again, even if only in memory. “It’s a nickname given to me by my mother since I was born in a storm. My actual name is Noah Smith. But please don’t call me that, I prefer Storm.”
“I see.” Luna nodded before looking out the window to the mountains of Utah. “This doesn’t look like where you died. How did you end up all the way out there if you had family here?”
“I ran away from home with my siblings in tow about eight years after this moment.” I sighed, continuing to stare at my mother’s face as a tear slipped down my cheek. “My father wasn’t the best man and was abusive towards my mother. One day he got into an argument with her and....removed her from the family.”
I couldn’t help but choke a bit at the memory of finding my mother’s body, barely noticing the midnight blue wing that draped over me.
“Shortly after that my brother came out as gay to me. I didn’t want him to end up like my mother, so I grabbed my siblings and ran as far and as fast as I could.” I chuckled a bit, a small smile growing on my face. “Ironically, the skills my father taught me to defend our home against those he didn’t like helped us hide from him. I ended up immigrating to Japan with my two siblings as dependents since my mother always told me about where she grew up. Figured we’d be safe there.” I frowned, rubbing one of my hooves into the floor. “I guess I wasn’t safe after all...”
“Regardless of that, it sounds like you did the best you could as an older sibling. Not every pony would be lucky to have that.” Luna nuzzled the top of my head, pulling me tighter into her embrace. With a flash of her horn the memory fizzled back into nothingness.
“I guess. But that raises the question, what’s going to happen to me?” I looked up at her, brows knitted in confusion. “You’re cuddling me like a child, but I am not your niece. I’m a ghost shoved into someone else’s body.” I sighed and looked down at my hooves. “Am I going to be banished, exorcized, thrown in prison?”
“I do not know, this is a unique situation.” Luna moved so she was sitting next to me, still keeping a wing around me. “Nopony, not even the dread necromancer Grogar has been able to actually resurrect anypony. If Twilight did what I think she did, you’d be in a legal grey area that I would need to talk to my sister to fix. In my eyes, though, you are just like any other pony, and are entitled to live your life.”
“Then...what should I do? I can’t go home, I’m dead.” I grumbled, rubbing my face with my hooves.
“Take a breath and think about the future. You’ve been given a second chance at life, not many ponies have that.” Luna used one of her hooves to push mine down so I couldn’t hurt myself with them. “Make friends and get used to your new body. If my sister and I can’t find a way to send you home, you will have it for a while.”
“Okay....” I sighed before nodding to myself. “I can do that.”
“Good. I will be there in a few days, traveling by train from the north takes far longer than I would like.” Luna smiled at me, making me feel incrementally better. “Together we will speak to Twilight and figure this all out. I promise. Now, our time here is done.”
I woke up from my sleep with a start, still curled up in my hospital bed. I opened one eye to see Twilight asleep in her chair, snoring away. I couldn’t help but smile at the sight before looking at the slowly rising sun in a good mood for once. I couldn't change the past, but Luna was right. I had a second chance of having a happy life, and I can't waste that.
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Well, that was unexpected. Almost like Living Nightmare by Autum Breeze.
My standard for dark fics are pretty skewed, and would consider this light-ish... but, I hope this isn't the end of dark chapters
Great job on the new ch thank u
From the clues in this chapter, I'd say that whatever happened to Flurry killed her but Twilight's efforts to revive Flurry preserved the body long enough for another soul to fill it. Twilight may have used some unorthodox magic that crossed worlds. I think Storm has a life as a filly ahead of her.
It's borderline Tabula Rasa.
I dont knooooow.
Getting isekaied by a gun and not truck-kun makes this whole situation rather unrealistic.
TBH I kind of expected something along those lines for what happened to Storm. Now we just need to find out what happened on the Equestrian side. What's going on in the Crystal Empire that Shining and Cadence can't be there to check on their daughter?
wait, mugger with a gun in japan?
Well, what can I say? Father is an asshole, Storm is well done. Death is quite common, which can happen to anyone. Apparently, Flurry's mind faded before her body died. Twilight, using some unknown spell (perhaps from Grogar's arsenal), did not intentionally put someone else's freed mind into her niece's not yet dead body.
Luna is a smart girl: listened, reassured and gave hope for the future. I applaud her.
I'm waiting for new chapters. All the best.
11154546
lel XD
11154596
In a story with magical ponies that is the most unrealistic part.
11154630
I mean, yeah. :) In these stories, we accept some things as willing suspension of disbelief so the story can happpen. But other things can still be wildly out of place. A mugger with a handgun in Japan is about as out of place as regular rocket service to the moon. It’s kind of jarring.
11154546
would it ease your mind if the author made it so the gun was one built to allow truckers to defend themselfs from highway robberey
> she’d be freaking out
does not sound like Luna's word choice
By the way, Themis is a really weird choice of name for a Japanese person.
11154546
You are right, for a normal person to get a gun in japan is hard. Crimes involving guns almost only happen when criminal organisations are involved.
11154596
11154699
I didn't know about that. I was going to say that I was surprised that his father didn't have anything to do with what happened to him, just based on how much setup he was given earlier, but maybe he did?
got killed by mugger with a gun in Japan...
even SciFi version of Japan in RE:Monsters, they still use knife... vibrato-knife
wow you're churning these things out! such a pleasant change. Do you have the whole story already written?
Well. I'll be honest, that's kind of a cliche death for an Isekai protagonist. Right up there with Truck Kun.
And how would she know that human names are any different that pony names?
11154128
It means that without really knowing, you are using many tropes that many, many anime/manga use in their protagonist's back stories. It's not really a bad thing, it just is what it is.
Examples that stand out are:
The foreigner coming to Japan, falling in love with a girl.... among the sakura tree blossoms... at a festival... while she is wearing a kimono.... while running from an abusive father.... that never approved of his son.
Ummm. Hmmm. Ok. I think you're just joking with me about the "I don't watch much anime" thing. If you really don't, it's a huge coincidence.
11156120
Ahhhh. Yeah, no. I based that chunk of Storm’s backstory off of the Vocaloid song The Last Revolver. The other half is based on a cousin’s life, minus the mom murder. They just got divorced.
https://youtu.be/9xsdMtgEJEg
So I guess anime-like. Welp, I promise not intentional.
Also yeah, the only anime I watch is One Piece and Total Fantasy Knockout.
Lmao, not gonna lie all.i could think of was at the end of the chapter talking to Luna was flurry rolling over to the sleeping twilight and whispering "oooh, your in trouuuuble" for when Luna gets there to tear twilight a new one for whatever she did here.
Just finished this chapter. The back story was not to dark. I like the name explanation and the additional info on our protagonist. Thank you.
Finally! Thank you, Best Princess.
Looks like Twilight has a whole lot of explaining to do.
c.tenor.com/OBcxnRyr-LUAAAAd/you-have-some-explaining-to-do-young-lady-ami-mckellan.gif
How comes Luna did not try to find out where Flurry's spirit has gone to?
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Commonly, her domain is the night, dreams, and darkness. Tracing a soul out of it's own body when there's another soul in there would be difficult even if it were in her domain. We'll probably find out when we learn what the hell twilight actually did. (I'm betting on her making a deal wih the spirit of harmony to bring her niece back to life. We're already in AU territory at this point with discord being dead, so it could happen.)
I was a bit worried at first, but now I am pleasantly surprised 😮! Excellent work so far!
Yup. Dead. And if Luna is up in the Empire, some fecal matter went down not too long ago....
Wait this isn't a changeling recreation of Equestria?
ok, now this is a bit awkwardly ironic now that japan had its first assassination by gun a few weeks back
So... Flurry Heart parents are dead?
Virgin "no, this isn't real, I'm not dead, I'm a human and I want to go home!!1!"
vs
Chad "I am dead and I have been given a second chance, let's get this bread."
11372221
You know, that sort of thing actually makes the problem worse. Everyone reacts differently - some are better at immediate reactions, others need a minute to reorient themselves. We don't always make objectively best decisions, either.
I love this fic so far, but the only complaint I have so far is this:
Guns are super hard to get in Japan because laws, but pocket knives aren't!