Luna finds the dreams of something that doesnt belong in Equestria.
Princess Luna does not only raise the moon, but she is also the defender of dreams for all those within her domain. One night Luna discovers a dream that does not belong, when curiosity get the better of her she enters. What she sees are landscape never seen before and objects of impossibilities. Luna sets out to find the dreamer in order to question how it seen so many things nopony has ever dreamed of.
A/N: Gore will be present in nightmares. Also crossovers like there is no tomorrow.
I ‘awoke’ within a void, not sure how I knew I was awake or not. I could not see anything or even feel my extremities. It was quite a unique sensation to say the least. I couldn’t tell where my body ended and where the void began. I tried to turn my head to see if I may have just been facing my bedroom wall or not, but either my brain was not sending the signals or my neck was not receiving them. It sure didn’t feel like I had a neck anymore. When I tried to ‘feel’ for my neck itself the message my brain received through me for a loop. My body was essentially telling me that my ‘neck’ was somewhere on my right heel. Now I just had to figure out where my right heel was.
Oooookay, I thought to myself. Perhaps I’m lying in my bed caught in the limbo between awake and asleep. Not the first time I’ve been there. This was both frightening but at the same time an uneasy sense of weightlessness was also calming.
So now that I’ve convinced myself I am still sort of asleep I try to recall my dream. Only to find out I cannot remember anything about it. Not the first time I had forgotten my dreams but still quite the disappointment. You see not so many years ago I taught myself how to have lucid dreams. Best damned choice I’ve made in my life. I find myself quite an enthusiast when it comes to expanded universes that resided in the fiction section of today’s media, be it books, movies, or games. While these universes themselves are quite exciting it’s what lies under the hood that enthralls me, so to speak. Such things like ‘if the flood in the Halo series were such versatile and resilient parasites, why are their infection-forms so fragile?’ along with ‘if the markers from Dead Space reanimate dead tissue what would happen if your arm lost circulation?’ and lately ‘do griffons from the show My Little Pony: FiM lay eggs or give live births?’ These are the kinds of questions I keep myself up with at night pondering.
Yes I watch MLP: FiM, it is quite a fantastic show in my opinion although I don’t quite voice it. Does that make me a Brony? I don’t know I think I’m on the fence about that one. If being a fan of the show and participating within several Brony-centric online communities makes me a Brony then yes, I am a Brony. If I have to run around at conventions screaming “RARITY IS BEST PONY” with a cutie mark tattooed to my butt then no I am sadly not a Brony.
So back on topic MLP has been the latest universe to enthrall me with its possibilities. Such as ‘how does the griffon government operate?’ or ‘was Gilda’s attitude the average or an outlier for female griffons?’ and better yet ‘are ponies, dragons, griffons and diamond dogs the only intelligent races? Could there be other races that exist off screen, Such as fairies, centaurs or perhaps even sea-ponies?’ I can literally drive myself bonkers with the possibilities, and then lose my sanity trying to figure out how they would interact with ‘established cannon’. I enjoy every last minute of it.
That’s where lucid dreaming has really brought me the most joy. I can literally create entire worlds around myself and watch it in motion. My subconscious even goes so far as to fill in and of the minor details whenever I call attention to them, it’s amazing. If you’ve ever seen the movie Inception, I like to think of myself as an architect and I get to build myself wondrous worlds for myself or go on epic adventures. Although I am quite ashamed to say that my social life has taken quite the nose dive upon learning to lucid dream. Seriously who wants to go see a late night showing of the latest blockbuster movie, which is actually a rehash of a 1990’s movie? When you could take a stroll on the surface of mars in your swim trunks while holding a decent conversation with an alligator… or was it a crocodile?
So there I am floating, trying to recall when I fell asleep or if I even did fall asleep. Suddenly a small white flame flickered to life in front of me. With nothing to get a frame of reference from; I had no idea if this flame was right at the end of my nose or even hundreds of kilometers away. Even with the light it was giving off did nothing to illuminate the void. “OH? You’re awake… or should I say aware?” said a female voice that was almost to smooth to be human. If I still have eyebrows one of them would be raised.
“Huh?” my voice almost squeaked.
“I was expecting a reaction with a little more excitement. Perhaps even some screaming?” the voice almost cheered to itself.
“Why would I scream?” I replied. Then subsequently shocked myself into silence when I realised, I just talked without any sensations from what should have been my mouth. Or even signals from what should have been my ears.
“Oh I don’t know, to make things a little more exciting, I suppose.” Saying this almost seemed to bring her flame down to a low simmer, before it burst back to its original brightness. “Now where are my manners…” there seemed to be a pause while she considered something. After a moment there was something akin to the sensation of someone trying to get you to shake their hand, but from behind you, while you’re not looking. “You can call me Flynt, since I’ll be providing the spark for your journey.”
“Hi, you can just call me Ryan.” While I was still processing her last sentence I tried to take in my surroundings again, just as the handshake sensation left my ‘back’? ‘NOPE, still void’. “So Flynt, where are we?” if I was talking to disembodied voices in my bed I was probably insane. Or perhaps I wasn’t in my bed anymore, ‘did I even get in my bed to begin with’ recalling that I still couldn’t remember going to sleep.
“Oh right. Welcome to INBETWEEN!” Flynt announced with so much grandeur that if she had hands I’m pretty sure she would be groping the ceiling.
“In between what exactly?” I tried to get here to finish her statement. “heh heh, why the universes silly.”
It took me a little longer then I would have liked for it to click for me. “…oh” this response seemed to get her flame to sputter for a moment. “’oh’? Is that all you have to say to this great and wonderful reveal? Is ‘oh’?” she replied almost sounding wounded.
“Well when I can create almost entirely different cities each night in my dreams. Finding out that the space between UNIVERSES is just an empty void, its kinda depressing.”
“Right I guess it is… oh that reminds me while we are here. How would you like to be part of another universe?” I could almost feel the smirk radiating off of the flame. It took a few moments for what she said to make sense to me.
“Wait you can do that?” I practically blurted it out.
“Sure it’s not sweat off my back, how about Equestria? Your sitting right on top of it.” I tried to look down but I was still in a void and could not make out any boundaries. That’s when it hit me.
“What’s in it for you?”
“Oh nothing I was just bored” she giggled to herself.
“Idle hands are the devils playthings” I muttered to myself.
“Maybe I am the devil?” Flynt whispered without conveying any emotion what so ever, sending shivers down my entire non-existent body. Just as suddenly as it left her cheeriness returned “you don’t have to worry about a thing. I’m doing this entirely for my own benefit.”
Her voice took on a more somber tone “I was lonely so I decided to pull someone out to talk to, that just so happen to be you. And since it will take the same amount of effort to send you back as it would to send you somewhere new. I’ve decided to give you the choice as a reward for entertaining me.”
“Thank you Flynt.” I responded with all the gratitude I could fit within my voice. “Perhaps Equestria would be a suitable change of pace, Earth is kinda giving me the cold shoulder.”
This seemed to flip a switch in the little flame as it started to hop around in circles giggling to herself. When she had finally stopped dancing to herself I could ‘feel’ her turn to me. “Now we just have to talk about what your new body will be.”
“Hmmm?” Flynt kind of lost me on that last sentence but was willing enough to explain.
“Well a human body would not be able to survive on equestrian for long. Being creatures without a magical spark in a land such as Equestria, you would suffer from magical osmosis. It would overwhelm your body and corrupt it to the point where it could no longer function.” Her voice took on an almost deathly tone. “Imagine your kidneys start producing cotton candy instead of filtering your blood.”
I grimaced, or as close to a grimace as I could, without a face. “Ouch! Like magical cancer. What a way to go?” Flynt was back to her happy self again. “SO!? Watcha wanna be? An earth pony? How about a unicorn or maybe a Pegasus? Oh, oh you could be a griffon?” Flynt suddenly inhaled. “you could be an ALLIIIIIICOOOOORN!” she stopped cold, then just as suddenly started giggling to herself. “You know you don’t even have to be a stallion, you could be a mare. Or maybe even something in between.”
If I still had a face you probably would have been able to see all my emotion fall off of it as I deadpanned. “I’m not even going to touch that. And on a separate note I would rather like to keep my thumbs, my dad said they were only good for one thing… sticking them up my ass.” We both shared a laugh at my expense.
“So I guess ponies are out? You know, you don’t have to limit yourself to something from their own universe. I could send you in as a pokemon if you really wanted, with the ability to talk of course and if you want I can find room a few extra thumbs.”
I just had to giggle at her enthusiasm. “So your telling me that you could send me into Equestria as anything I want?” “Yup, as long as it has its own internal magical spark that is need to survive in such a magic filled land. It doesn’t really matter what magic it does, it just can be human. Don’t ask me how the universe works I just visit.”
“Wow… well I have an idea. Something that is similar enough to the natives that they do not suddenly panic, but at the same time different enough that I would not fall into pre-established prejudices.”
“Oh you’re a smart cookie.” Cooed Flynt.
We spent who knows how long talking about what I would become upon entering Equestria. We discussed some very odd combinations on what I could recall from the show. I had settled of canon only. Since I didn’t know what kind of, if any, fanon applied. We had some interesting suspects from feathered dragons, to the downright creepy such as ponies with hands. We finally settled on a combination I found favourable. When I decided what I would be Flynt gasped, the preceded to giggle like a mad woman. She wouldn’t tell me what was so funny.
“Oh and make it fluffy. Nothing is as disarming as ‘HUGZ MEH IM FWUFFY’” I said with as deadpanned a voice as I could muster, trying to imagine myself extorting hugs.
“Will do captain, now that just leaves colour.” I could almost swear I saw the little flame salute. I pondered for a moment considering the options “I think I’ll go for something exotic. How about albino?” “aye, aye a little splash of no colour whatso ever.” Flynt gruffed.
With a twinge of sadness she said. “Welp, this is what you’re going to look like. Does everything look up to snuff?” she then began to project the image of what I would look like. The fruit of our labour was displayed to my mind’s eye. Realising that we would soon be departing ways, my voice almost cracked “Perfect.”
“Well I guess this is goodbye and good luck?” it sounded like she was on the verge of tears. “Goodbye. And perhaps you should come visit some time?”
Flynt’s reply just before my world was filled with a Technicolor showdown along with some colours I’m sure were beyond the range of normal human sight was there.
It had been a week since both Celestia; Princess of the day. And Luna; Princess of the night, had felt the magical eddies formed from a rather peculiar disturbance. They had both spent a greater portion of that day extending their magical senses, in an attempt to find the cause of the disturbance and prevent disasters before they came to a head. When nothing could be felt, they had sent out an order that guards stationed in populated areas to report anything unusual.
Two days since that order was sent, it had mostly been reports on Timberwolves getting too close to roadways, nothing out of the norm in essence. Luna had told her older sister, “Perhaps it was just a unicorn foal, trying to get their cutie mark in either magic or perhaps even alchemy.” While it did not give either of them an explanation of its cause, it put both sisters at ease. Things returned to normal by the fourth day.
It was now the seventh day and Luna sat in the throne room watching the last noble leaving. The stallion was just one of a handful of nobles that had attended her night court. While Luna very much appreciated the idea of her ponies airing their concerns and suggestions to her, she consistently had to remind herself that ponies were not nocturnal.
With her night court adjourned early and her sister resting in preparation for raising the next day’s sun, Luna found herself with perhaps too much time on her hoofs. Turning to the closest attendant Luna announced, “We shall be retiring to our chambers, do not be afraid to call upon us should anything arise.”
“As you wish your highness,” came the reply from the young mare.
Luna began to her trek through the halls of Canterlot Castle to her chambers. As she wondered her idle thoughts turned to one question, what shall We do to pass Our time?
Upon entering her bed chambers Luna berated herself for not coming to the conclusion earlier. “If our ponies shall sleep through our night then we shall guard their dreams,” Luna declared to no one in particular. With that thought in mind her horn began to glow softly, a matching aura began to glow around her drapes as well as the double doors leading to her balcony. With a soft click both doors swung inward allowing Luna to step through, and out under her night sky. Turning her head to the east Luna watched as her moon rose higher into the sky, it still had a far distant to rise before it reached its zenith, the night was still young.
“Do not worry my little ponies, while you sleep under Our night sky We shall remain vigil!” Luna declared to herself. She sat on her haunches then began looking over Canterlot, she could see Ponyville in the distance. She then closed her eyes; her horn began to take on an aura of soft blue. Luna’s body stilled, her breathing became shallow and distant. Slowly her senses closed off to the world around her till there was nothing left.
*DRIP*
Luna carefully opened her eyes to find herself floating, wings displayed in their full glory as she glided over a liquid ocean so still it acted as a polished mirror. Floating just above this ocean there where hundreds perhaps even thousands of tiny white motes of light, each drifting slowly on unseen currents. Occasionally one would dip low and touch the surface of the ocean, a light tinkling sound would accompany the ripple that would be created. After surveying her horizons Luna looked to the sky. There directly above her stood her moon, but there were no stars. Turning her gaze down to directly below herself Luna saw herself reflected, with her moon directly behind her reflection creating a silver halo. But there was a difference in this reflection, in the oceans reflection the sky that held her moon also held the stars one would find in the real world. Princess Luna had entered the Dreamscape.
Within the Dreamscape each mote of light represented a living creatures dream within Equestrian soil. Surveying her surroundings Luna would occasionally spot a mote drop down below the surface of the ocean, creating a faint ripple and its accompanying twinkles. This was representation of the dreamer awaking. Although given the time of night more and more motes of light were rising out of the ocean settling at arbitrary heights, meaning somepony had just tucked themselves in for the night.
“Another aspect of Our night that goes unseen by our ponies,” Luna grumped to herself, her voice taking on a soft ethereal nature in the space between dreams, her face having taken on the stoic features that she normally reserved for the nobles of Canterlot. After releasing a heavy sigh Luna raised her head, a small smile drawing across her face. “Never the less, We shall guard our subjects from terrifying nightmares and debilitating fears.”
With a renewed spirit and a pump of her majestic wings, Luna set herself gliding at a more appropriate pace. Keeping constant watch for any signs of nightmares and powerful fears Luna sailed across the sea of dreams. That was until Luna flared her wings bringing herself to a full stop, something had caught her eye.
There in the distant near the horizon was something that just seemed odd, like glimpsing an orange in pile of apples and the other end of the isle at the marketplace. Luna turned to face this new direction and with another powerful pump of her wings set herself towards her new target.
As Luna approached her target she began to her it, a soft tinkling. This called for Luna’s attention, gazing around Luna noted that all the motes around her and her destination were drifting about at their usual heights; none were dipping or even leaving. As Luna continued her approach she noted that the tinkling never stopped but at the same time never continued long enough for a pattern to be discerned. When Luna approached her target she was stunned by what she saw. The object that had drawn her attention was also the cause for the constant sounds. There floating in front of Luna, about the size of her head, was a mote of light easily three times larger than those around it. While most motes that represented stable dreams were either white or silver in colour, this one appeared to cycle between a deep orange to a light blue. But what had stunned Luna was the features of this particular mote, none for which see had ever seen on any other dream. Every dream that Luna had seen since she had first laid eyes upon the Dreamscape had been perfect spheres. This one was not; it had several wispy tendrils that seemed to rise up above it flowing in an invisible wind. This effect made the mote look to be attempting its own imitation of a candle flame, poorly. It was then Luna noticed that one of the tendrils was not floating along with the others, this one tendril was pointed straight down and continued to draw lazy circles on the surface of the ocean eliciting the stream of twinkling that Luna had heard on her approach.
Luna’s voice while soft and near ethereal carried great distances in the Dreamscape.
Looking down at the ball of light once more Luna couldn’t help but to be overcome with curiosity. She had never seen anything like this. It was, for all she could discern, a dream. But it was unlike anything either her ponies or any other thinking creature within her domain could create.
“Well there is one way to for Us to find the dreamer.” With this said Luna set about entering the dream. Her horn began to glow as she manipulated the Dreamscape with her magic. Through the use of magic a small halo formed above the ball of light and began to expand outwards. How odd, Luna thought to herself as she noted the wisp like tendrils that flowed from the ball. They seemed to wrap around the edges of the halo, and stretch out while it expanded. Once the halo was large enough to fit a pony of Luna’s stature, she dimmed her horn releasing the spell. An orange desert faded into focus within the confines of the halo.
“The Badlands? Perhaps this is the dream of a dragon entering a one hundred year slumber?” Luna was trying to rationalize why she had never seen something like this before. But it was common knowledge, to those who were interested, that such forms of sleep were dreamless lest the dreamer go insane.
Luna closed her eyes before taking the steps that would lead her across the portals threshold into the dream.
Suddenly Luna felt a wind buffeting against her side, but she could not feel the wind blowing through her fur. When she opened her eyes she found herself wearing a robe, hood and scarf. Her hood covered her mane and draped down around her horn. The scarf was wrapped around her muzzle to protect it from the sand being blown along in the wind, the scarf was then wrapped around her neck and lead out the back of her hood flowing freely in the wind. The robe covered her from her neck to half way down here tail, both tail and robe flowing in the strong wind. only her hooves were exposed. All of her new garments were a deep purple in colour. Stitched into the hood and robe along all the edges was a pattern of golden, rectangular, segmented runes. Her scarf through was still deep purple but completely blank around her face, but the section that flowed out behind her had small runes stitched in parallel along the edges, while much larger versions of the runes seemed to have a golden glow about them ran straight down the middle.
Luna was suddenly taken aback by her appearance. Whenever she would enter a pony’s dream she would appear as herself, but there were occasions where she would have to change her appearance. Those times were almost always due to the fact that the pony she was attempting to help would still believe that she was still Nightmare Moon. But this was another in a line of firsts, as she was not experienced to having changes forced upon her. All in all the clothing seemed appropriate for the local, so she would not shed them.
After overcoming the shock at her sudden appearance change, Luna began to survey her surroundings. Looking across the horizon, all she could see were dunes of sand in three or the cardinal directions, the fourth was taken up by a large steep rock face. All Luna could think about was how this looked nothing like the Badlands, the colours were off; too bright. There was also way too much sand. Looking up to the sky in an attempt to get her bearings Luna immediately fell to her haunches, her breath caught in her throat and her eyes wide.
Luna looked to the sky expecting to see her sister’s sun, and to realign herself with the cardinal directions. What Luna saw instead stole her breath and left her mind frantic. There in the sky rose not one but two suns, the first being nearly twice the size of Celestia’s while the second was easily a faction of that. The two suns drifting through the sky reminded Luna of a mare dragging her foal through the park. Luna’s mind snapped back to normalcy with a revelation.
“This creature is having a nightmare; they believe the suns with scorch Equestria to dust. We must find them and set their mind at ease.” With this said Luna went to her next task; to find the dreamer. Her horn began to glow as Luna sent out her magic to detect the boundaries of the dream, only to blink in response. “How is this possible?” Luna couldn’t find the any bounds to the dream she was inhabiting, not even the rock face behind her seemed to have- there, she found it. But she didn’t at the same time, Luna had found the bounds to this dream but every time she would she would reach for it, it would pull away. But when Luna would pull her magic back the bounds would follow just out of reach of her magic. The more Luna learned about this dream the more questions it raised. This was just another oddity Luna had never experienced before, the dreams of ponies were normally small, generally they would encompassed a house or even a large forest clearing. But here was a dream that, for all Luna could tell, was as big as the Badlands themselves and could just keep going if pushed. The questions just kept piling within her head, she would only get her answers if she found the one that was dreaming. Calling upon her magic once more, Luna sensed for the dreamer themselves. Once she had the direction Luna rose and began to trot, cresting the first dune.
***
Luna had been trotting for a while now, she wasn’t tired at all; this was a dream. But the silence was getting to her, all she could hear was the wind. The land felt… dead. This was not helped at all by the fact that on top of every odd dune there were a set of tall stone tablets, similar to a tombstone, etched with a single rune in the center. When she would approach one and lay a hoof on the rune it would glow white, along with the corresponding rune on with her robe or scarf. These sadden Luna to the point where she tried to ignore them.
For a while longer Luna just kept trotting towards her target. She continued to ignore the stone tablets and the occasional stone pillars that she would come across. In the silence Luna was trying to keep questions like “Where is this place?” and “What happened here?” from overwhelming herself. She once again sensed for her target only to find that she had not closed the distance as much as she would like; her target was moving in the same direction as she was. Just then the wind died down, leaving Luna to her thoughts.
Just as the silence became unbearable, Luna decided that she had to find this dreamer NOW! Lest she drive herself mad with questions. And with that Luna spread her wings causing her robe to bundle about her back. With a powerful pump Luna rocketed into the sky leaving behind a ring of sand to dance about the spot she was standing just prior.
***
Luna was soaring high above the sand, what she was seeing nearly made her regret taking flight. The stone pillars that Luna observed before began to take shape. Pillars became bridges, bridges became roads, roads lead to buildings these buildings formed cities. All of which were destroyed, worn and swallowed by sand, these were ruins. It looked to Luna as an entire civilization was just left for the sands to swallow.
“What happened to this creature and where would it have come from in order to have dreams such as these?” Luna asked herself. More questions were piling up onto the ones she already had in mind, question she would ask the dreamer when she had found them.
That’s when Luna spotted it. A depression in the desert nearly as big as the Evergreen forest, with the sand from around the hole pouring into it as if they were waterfalls. As Luna drew closer she could see a tower rising above the edge. This tower was part of a massive structure that sat in middle of the hole, surrounded by building of a smaller nature.
“The capital?” was all Luna could say before something caught her eye, near the edge walking towards a broken bridge that was jutting out a few meters above the hole.
There starting it walk across the broken bridge was a figure robed in a snow white robe, with crimson runes running along the hems and scarf. Luna began her decent towards the only living thing she had seen since she had entered this dream, the dreamer. Luna landed at the foot of the outstretched bridge just as the robed figure reached the edge, the runes of it robe began to glow a bright red as it jumped.
Calling on her magic again Luna brought forth the Royal Canterlot Voice. “WAIT!” but it was too late the figure had already jumped, and continued to float up, higher and higher. Luna was perplexed but what she saw, the creature had no wings. Could it be self-levitating, Luna questioned as it turned around. As soon as, what Luna considered its eyes, meet hers the glow from the runes stopped. And the creature fell.
“NO!” Luna yelled in the Royal Voice, while simultaneously leaping into the air to chase it. All Luna could think of was that if the creature fell it would wake up before it hit bottom. Luna couldn’t let this happen she still had too many unanswered questions. As soon as she flew over the edge she saw the robed creature diving, not falling, not flailing and not screaming as it descended. But head down limbs tucked, as it flew towards a cave entrance. Luna entered a dive and gave chase.
Luna had lost sight of the white robe when she passed the threshold of the cavern entrance. The dream hadn’t ended or become unstable so she could only assume that the creature’s actions were intentional. Taking in her new surroundings Luna was once again taken aback by the contrast. Where above everything nearly glowed orange and was constantly being blown about in the wind. Underground everything was aglow from the blue light that radiated from the ceiling, although the light never seemed to go far enough leaving everything that was not directly underneath the source shrouded in darkness. The air itself was also different, above ground there was the wind and a heat that was just bearable. But underground the air was silent, cold and still. Luna shivered.
The cavern was similar to that of the great halls in Canterlot castle. Larger ornate pillars and arched ceilings, but taken to a scale where two of Canterlot’s tallest towers could be stacked and still have room to spare. You could also fit a cargo train end to end across the width of cavern, and the sand had claimed this as well with dunes reaching almost halfway up some of the pillars. Luna continued to observe until she spotted the robed creature trudging along in the sand as it entered a fallen pillar that had been hollowed out.
Luna flew over and landed at the same entrance the creature used and entered. Only to find the makeshift tunnel was unoccupied. Luna continued along the tunnel until she exited the other side, and found herself on the crest of a dune looking into a valley with a large piece of ceiling arch lying in the middle. But what caught Luna’s eye was the white robe that sat crouched behind the rock. There was the creature Luna sought, if only she could get it to stay still so she may question it. The head of the creature turned around and stopped once its eyes made contact with Luna’s. its robe began to shift as a slender limb ending in a set of blunted ‘claws’ were brought to its face. its claws where balled into a fist except for one which it brought up to its scarf wrapped face, similar to how a pony would cover their muzzle with a hoof. Luna saw the creature recognise her, and took the opportunity to address it.
“WE BEG THEE, STAY STILL! WE WISH TO QUESTION THEE.” Luna was unsure if her normal voice would carry down to the creature. As her declaration echoed through the grand hall they were situated in, the creature below gave her a wide eyed expression before its focus was snapped skyward. Luna was pondering how she managed to startle the creature when it looked straight into her eyes. Her thoughts didn’t get too far when they were interrupted by a loud bellow, which seemed to be a cross between a train whistle and a foghorn. When Luna’s world seemed to start glowing a bright red she followed the creatures gaze skyward.
There above Luna staring down at her was the singular red glowing eye that constituted the face of a giant segmented stone serpent. When the eye suddenly turned green and lunged Luna called on the quickest spell she could recall, and teleported. When the world had come back into focus Luna noted she was at least a hundred meters in the air. Looking down she could not spot the creature anymore, but when the cloud of debris settled Luna could see the construct attempting to pull its head free from the dune. Luna was about to ponder what kind of menace that was when her thoughts were again interrupted by another train whistle, foghorn wail. Spinning around Luna found her world filled with green light, as another stone serpent flew towards her.
Luna’s eyes flung open as she gasped for air then proceeded to jump to her hooves only to trip over her hind legs; she landed on her back when her vision was greeted with a concerned looking Celestia. While on her back Luna tilted her head so she could peer through the railings of her balcony, her sister’s sun was peeking just above the horizon.
“Lulu what happened? You were dream walking all night and when I found you in such a state I could not wake you.” Celestia’s voice was full of concern for her sister’s well being.
“We had been observing the most peculiar of dreams.”
After reassuring her sister that she was fine and that there was no need for concern, both Luna and Celestia headed down to the dining hall for their respective supper slash breakfast. While they ate Luna retold her adventure she had in the strange dream. Celestia’s face bore a look of concern.
“Lulu what you did was nothing short of reckless.” Chided Celestia, but Luna was not phased.
“Tia you should have seen it, the land was both beautiful and saddening at the same time. And We are most certain that such a land does not exist in all of Equestria. For such a creature to dream of a place, perhaps it may not terrestrial.” Luna’s mind was once again giddy with excitement at where this train of thought had led her. If the creature she had seen was extra-terrestrial, where would it have come from? Did it come in peace? Did it find socks appealing? All these thought were brought to an abrupt stop as Celestia drew her attention back to the table.
“Luna! I do not know how you could have made such a reckless decision so easily? What you experienced could have easily been the trappings of a Dreamweaver. You could have just as easily fallen prey to its web as anypony.” The concern for Luna’s safety was radiating off her seated form.
“Oh hush Tia, where is your sense of adventure? We both know that Dreamweavers are near non-existent. We dealt with them in the very much the same way you had dealt with the Windigos.” Luna recalled her sisters hatred toward the spirits that had both caused and fed off hatred.
“Yes I understand, but you had been absent for a thousand years. Both you and I know that I cannot traverse the Dreamscape in the same manner as you. Anything could have happened within such a time frame” Luna nearly beamed at the indirect complement.
“But can you not admit that We have piqued your interest? We had traversed a dream of a creature We had never seen before, while it was dreaming of a location We do not believe to exist on this planet. And this very creature slumbers within our borders.” The jubilance in Luna’s voice could not be understated.
“Very well, this evening I shall accompany you within the Dreamscape. So that we may find its whereabouts within our borders and determine the threat it poses to our little ponies.” Celestia could not help but smile when she heard a faint squee drift over from the other end of the table.
“It has been too long since we last dream-walked together Tia. We cannot help but be reminded of the times we pranced together through the dreams of our ponies.” Luna had to place a hoof over her muzzle in a failed attempt to stifle her giggles.
“I remember many of them not being wholly appropriate.” Celestia remarked with a shudder and she recalled the many, many times both Luna and herself would walk into a stallion’s wet dream. There was a loud thump, as Celestia looked up from her plate all she could see were her sister’s hind legs flailing in the air. Luna had fallen over backwards laughing so hard it brought tears to her eyes.
The rest of the meal was eaten in relative silence. Celestia with a small smirk on her face as she recalled the fond memories she had with her sister before she had declared herself Nightmare Moon. At the other end of the table Luna occasionally let out a muffled giggle as she recalled the many times she led Celestia to a dream of a stallion that only had eyes on one mare, the Princess of the sun. She still found that many stallions preferred Celestia with a pink coat instead of her more regal white.
With their meals finished Celestia excused herself, as she had her duties to attend to. Luna on the other hoof could not contain her excitement. Her body was well rested from spending the entire evening dream walking, but her mind was racing with unanswered questions about her unknown dreamer. Then there was also the anticipation for that night, as hopefully both Luna and Celestia would be able to get some answers. But seeing as Luna was normally asleep during the day there were no duties for her to attend. Luna was restless as she fidgeted with her hooves, and then the cutlery.
Luna, Princess of the night needed something to do.
***
It was late afternoon, and Luna was laughing so hard her sides began to ache. She had decided that the best way to spend the day was to prank Celestia’s day guards. Luna would use her magic in order to disguise herself as either a strange mare or stallion, and then trot past a guard station. When they would call out for her to stop, she would turn a corner and "disappear".
Luna was currently disguised as an orange coated, red maned Pegasus mare perched on the roof of a castle tower. She couldn’t help but laugh as she watch whole squads of guards ran around the castle grounds, looking for the “Extremely Evasive Tourists”. Her laughs were silenced when her stomach began to growl. Perhaps there is still some cake in the kitchens that Tia has left un-demolished, Luna thought as she took off heading for the nearest servant’s entrance.
As Luna entered the servant’s break room that connected the kitchens to the outside gardens, she could not help but overhear a conversation between two of the castles staff.
“Wow that is just gorgeous.” Exclaimed the off-white coated, yellow maned Pegasus. “Where did you get that?”
With her interest piqued Luna couldn’t help but glance over to the corner the two servants were occupying. There floating in the magical aura of the light blue coated, brown maned unicorn stallion was a rose. Luna was about to continue on her way to the kitchen when she noticed something odd about it, the rose was not grown but crafted. The petals on the metal flower shone a brilliant gold, the stem was a sterling silver it even had blunted thorns. And there sitting in the middle of the bud was a shimmering ruby, the light reflecting off its many facets. It seems so delicate, was Luna’s thoughts on the artificial flower.
“On my way back from Manehatten, I went to go pickup my brother's guard armor. He was having it repaired by an old blacksmith that lives in that mining town along the train tracks. When I went in to pick up the armor I saw this on display and thought ‘this would make a great gift for my wife’. I just had to pick it up, apparently the blacksmith had taken in an apprentice a couple of days back and he started making things like this. I wished to thank the apprentice myself but he was out at the moment. I never thought a pony would be able to make something so delicate.” Explained the unicorn stallion.
Luna continued on into the kitchen with a smile on her face. She knew the blacksmith the unicorn was talking about. Many of Luna’s own guard would take their equipment to this blacksmith for repairs, his name being Iron Ingot. The reasoning was that the local blacksmith in Canterlot didn’t like to deal with ‘unique’ look the Lunar guard sported. That and Iron's worksponyship was by far the better, but he was still getting on in age. Also Iron being an earth pony was extremely stubborn and calling him a grouch would be a compliment, still it brought a smile to Luna’s face to think that the old goat was finally willing to pass the torch.
***
Luna had just raised her moon and was now sitting on her balcony, waiting for her sister to arrive. She was so giddy with excitement that she couldn’t keep still, her fore hooves constantly tapping out a rhythm on the tiled floor.
“Evening Lulu, perhaps you would know something about our elusive tourists that have been seen wondering the castle grounds today” Celestia glided down and seated herself beside her sister, with a knowing smile spread across her muzzle.
“We could not sleep, Our mind was plagued with many a question. And Our body was restless.”
“You were always the one between us that would ask the important questions. Shall we begin then?”
Luna nodded and then tilted her head over towards her sister. Celestia mirrored Luna’s posture until their horns crossed half way up the elegant shafts. Both sisters closed their eyes, as Luna focused her magic her horn began to glow. The cooling blue aura of Luna’s magic started at the base of her horn and began to climb along its regal shape till it reached the tip. Then Celestia’s horn began to glow a brilliant gold, starting at the tip and working its way down in a reverse fashion until both horns were alight. Both princesses were almost statuesque as they sat there, only the slow shallow rise and fall of their barrels were an indication that they still lived.
*DRIP* … *DRIP*
Both princesses open their eyes at the same time, to find themselves floating within the Dreamscape. While Luna’s dark coloured form and sparkling mane allowed her to blend in seamlessly within the Dreamscape, Celestia’s form was quite disruptive. Celestia’s white regal coat along with her rainbow hued mane stood out almost as bright as her sun in contrast. But that was not all; the radiance that Celestia’s body naturally produced was almost harsh compared to the comfort it provided in the waking world. It was this radiance that her body produced that swept away all of the dream motes within a large radius, and the reflective surface of the ocean beneath them constantly rippled outward with Celestia at the center. The expression on Celestia’s face was crestfallen.
“This is your domain Luna, I do not belong here” Celestia’s voice carried the same regal strength as it did in the waking world, and caused a few motes directly in front of her to float further away.
“Oh come now, We are sure that there is a stallion or two somewhere here that would take a liking to you.” Luna whispered in the ethereal voice that seemed to carry everywhere at once. Both sisters began to smile as they flew out over the Dreamscape in search of the one thing that interested them both.
When they found what they were looking for both sisters were surprised by what they found. The first thing Luna noted was the colour; it was now cycling between a bright angry red and a dark depressing blue. The second was that the dream was not anchored to the ocean’s surface as she had seen it do previously. The third was that it tendrils that flowed out around it in the mimic of a flame were now sporadic; they would whip about lashing and flexing but never settling.
The concern on Celestia’s face was as clear as her sun in the sky, “Are you sure that this is safe?”
“We are most certain, but it appears as if they are having a nightmare.”
Luna opened her eyes when the air around her was suddenly hot, humid and filled with putrid smell of rotting vegetation. Circling around herself she took in her new environment, the first points of interest were the trees; put simply they were massive. The trunks of these massive plants were easily as wide as a normal pony’s abode. But they were also ten times as tall leading to a leaf canopy so thick the sky could not be viewed. As Luna focused gazed up at the canopy she found a few gaps, through them the twinkle of stars told her that it was night time.
While their height was staggering, their roots were breath taking. At the base of each tree just before the roots entered the earth they bulged out forming massive bulbs; these bulbs could be occasionally be seen every time the root resurfaced from the earth. What made the roots so astounding was that they glowed, they glowed a sickly yellow that managed to illuminate everything within a small radius around each bulb. This illumination never managed to reach higher than a fifth of a trees total height. Luna reached out to touch one of these luminescent bulbs, while in appearance they looked like someone had filled a balloon to bursting with liquid candle flame, they were in fact quite solid to the touch reminding her that they were part of a larger tree. When Luna looked over her shoulder she smiled, Celestia had fallen to similar case of curiosity and was minding a bulb of her own.
“While I can say that I have never seen anything like this in all of Equestria, I recall you telling me that this creature was dreaming of a desert landscape.” Celestia finally replied when she noticed Luna’s gentle smile.
“We are as surprised as you are, but it would be foalhearty to assume that where ever this creature originated would only have a single local.” Retorted Luna as she trotted up to her sister.
“True but were you not best by a construct of the very creatures dream? Regardless we should proceed with caution, it would not bode well should we find ourselves awaking on your balcony before we even reach the creature,” said Celestia earning a huff of indignation from Luna.
“Agreed, but We were only bested as We did not expect such a level of cunning from a creature made of stone.” Luna’s response was met with a stifled giggle from her larger sister.
As Celestia observed her surrounding once more she questioned her sister, “So? Where shall we find this creature within its own dream?”
Luna’s horn began to glow as she attempted to find the creature in question. “This dream is rather unstable, as is the case with most nightmares. We cannot locate the dreamer through Our normal means, but We can trace it as if we were to follow hoof prints.” Luna once again spun her body around till she stopped to face a certain direction, “Its trail starts off in that direction.” After turning back to her sister, “shall we proceed?”
“After you Lulu.”
The two sisters traveled through the swamp following a small path that was worn into the earth. The swamp seemed to be brimming with life as there was the constant chittering of insects with the occasional whooping of a bird call. The glow from the tree bulbs was enough to illuminate the swamp floor, allowing either princess to avoid any hazards that may have obstructed their path.
“This swamp seems to be brimming with life, but at the same time I cannot help but notice it feels empty.” Celestia finally said breaking the silence between them.
“It is because we have yet to see any wild life. While we can hear it all around us and even smell it this is still but a dream, an illusion.”
“Very well, but why then does it feel so real?”
“Most dreams cannot help but feel real, but we do not remember most of them as we forget as soon as we wake. This dream feels real to us because we are awake, but experiencing another dream.”
Luna’s tangent was interrupted when both sisters crested a small hill, revealing what lay beyond. What Luna saw see quickly recalled as temporary military headquarters; there were rows and rows of tents that would function as barracks, a large canopy over tables littered with maps and some strange tools which made it easily discernible as the command tent. There was also a large tent with multitudes of benches setup in front of it; this meant it was probably the mess. All of this was situated around a butte, with what Luna surmised was a cave entrance on one of the geological formations sides.
“I don’t see anypony down there.” Observed Celestia
“The creature’s dream originates from within that camp, we may as well investigate.” With that said both Luna and Celestia spread their wings and glided down to the camp grounds. Once they landed in the central commons area they began to investigate their surroundings.
“If I recall correctly, I remember you telling me that the only living thing you saw in its dreams was itself.” Celestia said as she stuck her head into one of the tents to find a lamp still burning and the bedding disturbed.
“True, but we could be observing another memory from its past. It is possible that the events we are perceiving currently predate those We observed last night.” Luna was slightly disturbed by what she was finding. Fires were still burning, lamps were still lit. Food was left on the benches untouched, while others where only partially consumed. It was as if everypony had just gotten up and left. This only added to the awkward feeling of emptiness Luna was receiving, whilst the sounds of the swamp tried to prove contrary. Luna’s unease escalated when she walked into one of the larger tents, it was clearly meant to be the armoury. It was large enough and held enough weapon racks that it could have supplied a small army. Luna’s unease stemmed from the fact that each and every rack was empty, there was not a single weapon or tool to be found. When Luna stepped out of the tent she was met with the concerned face of her older sister.
“This is quite odd, it appears as everypony just got up and left. Many lights have been left aglow; I’ve even found a letter stopped in mid-sentence with quill still wet.”
“Yes We have seen this as well, but what concerns Us is that the armoury is bare. There is not a single weapon to be found, and it was not ransacked; they were retrieved. You do not go through the trouble of setting up the type of command structure just to walk away from it.” Luna kept glancing around trying to find that one clue that would tell her exactly what happened here, she did find it. “This is of little consequence; we still have our unknown visitor to find.”
Luna’s horn began to glow again as she felt for the path she could trace back to the dreamer. “It would appear that it went down that way,” said Luna as they approached the large cave entrance on the far side of the camp.
“This cave is not a natural formation, somepony built it.” Celestia commented as she observed the entrance.
“We wonder what gave it away; perhaps it was the flat, finished surfaces? Or perhaps it was the sharp angles and the supporting columns? It could not have been the lighting fixtures that are distributed evenly along the ceiling could it?” was Luna’s reply as a sly grin plastered itself across her muzzle.
“No need to be smug Lulu I was only making an observation.”
“And We thank thee princess obvious, you have saved us from repeating was is already known.” Luna gave a small flourish and a bow before standing with a giggle. Celestia could only sigh.
With Luna’s theatrics done the sisters proceeded down through the entrance. They were surprised to find that the ‘cave’ was smaller than they thought; with the shallow ramp, bisected by two pillars a couple meters apart, leading into a chamber. This chamber was barely wider than the ‘cave’ entrance, which could easily fit four stage coaches side by side, and was three quarters long as it was wide. All the surfaces of the chamber seemed to be carved out of solid rock; there were no seams anywhere. The stone surfaces had quite the odd characteristics; it had a sheen similar to that of polished metal, and just below the surface there were angular designs that appeared to shift ever so slightly when you were not looking directly at them. But what drew Luna’s attention, as well as her sisters, was the gaping hole sitting in the center of the chamber.
Luna was about to tell her sister that the path they needed to follow lead straight down the hole. But before Luna could get a word out a muffled screech followed by a hum was heard emanating from the hole. Both Luna and Celestia immediately took an aggressive stance, one on either side of the hole ready to flank whatever approached. Luna’s horn began to glow as charged a combat spell; she would not let another stone serpent get the drop on her. Celestia taking a cue for her younger sister charged a spell of her own.
What arrived, with a non to subtle thump, was a glass platform framed in the same strange stone-metal that the chamber was constructed with. Celestia was the first to ease back into a passive stance, but still remained alert. “I assume we will have to head down?”
Luna agreed with a nod before both she and her sister mounted the platform. Luna began to ponder what form of magic allowed the platform to stay afloat but remain as steady as if it were a rock itself; seeing as it was not attached to anything, it just floated there. Tapping a hoof on the glass to test its sturdiness Luna was able to see through the glass, and how far the shaft below them descended, there was no bottom in sight. Luna noted the perplexed look on Celestia own face as she probably pondered the same questions.
“How far down do we have to go?” questioned Celestia just before the platform gave a shudder and began to descend.
The platform finally completed its descent leaving both Luna and Celestia in a chamber similar to the one they just left, but instead of a ramp leading outside the wall before them had a single door flanked by two green lights. Looking down Luna could clearly see that the shaft continued again till all there was left to see was darkness, looking over to her sister Luna could that her sister was also perplexed by the fact they after such a long descent they had not reached the bottom. As they disembarked from the platform they had only managed to get a few steps towards the doorway before a shiver went down Luna’s spine, her sister shuddered. Both princesses hackles began to rise, Celestia was the first to comment.
“You sense it was well don’t you?”
“Yes, the very air down here seems wrong.” Once Luna put her feelings into words she noticed it; the air, it was an extreme contrast to the air of the swamp they were in just before hand. The swamp air was hot, humid, and carried the sounds of wildlife. The air this far underground was cold, stale, and silent. So silent in fact that Luna could hear her sister breathing. The silence seemed almost supernatural; as if waiting for Luna to make the wrong sound before bringing untold horrors down upon her. Luna tried to think of something to say in order to bring comfort, “It is but a dream, we cannot be truly harmed. Although it does show the symptoms of a nightmare.”
Luna could see her sister forcibly calm her body before putting a stoic expression upon her muzzle. “I believe we should find our dreamer before he wakes.” With this said they made their way to the only door set before them. Neither of them dared to speak after that, the silence was all encompassing.
When Luna was within legs reach of the door it hissed open, splitting into three pieces which receded into the surrounding frame. The door opened to reveal a corridor that was barely wide enough to accommodate the two alicorns side by side. The corridor had lead to a cross way where two of the four doors were flanked by red lights; they didn’t respond when Luna approached, she assumed them to be locked. Leading her sister, the remaining door opened for them Luna crossed its threshold closely followed by her sister Celestia.
Entering another chamber Luna found herself on the second floor, each corner of the chamber containing a pillar. These supported a platform that circled the chamber allowing access to the doorways mirroring those on the ground floor but halfway up the wall. Luna could observe eight in total; two for each wall. Many were flanked by red lights indicating it to be locked. Catching her sister’s attention Luna directed with her horn the doorway the dreamer had taken; the doorway of the far side of the room, on the second floor. Spreading their wings they quickly covered the distance and went through the door.
The sisters trotted in silence, with only the sound of their hooves to keep them company and break the silence. Both of them were still not talking, uncertain of what wraith breaking it would cause. Occasionally they would reach a fork in the corridor, or a wide open chamber similar to the first one they encountered after their lift ride into these catacombs. Some of these chambers were empty but others would have large machines of unknown function situated in the center, all of them bearing the same odd angular designs found etched into the flooring and certain walls. Whenever they were presented with multiple paths of travel that were not barred by locked doors, Luna would call upon her magic to trace the path that dreaming creature had taken. They were gaining ground; while their target was still a ways off they were indeed getting closer.
Luna was leading her sister down a ramp, what lay in wait at the bottom was another door. This one however was different from the others as the lights on either side flickered occasionally; one was red while the other was green. But on the door itself was a strange box, the surface facing Luna held a large green button. Luna calling upon her magic once again found that the dreamer had indeed passed through this door. Luna turned to her sister, “be prepared, our dreamer has traveled this way.” Celestia took on an aggressive stance; horn aglow and wings flared. Luna tentatively reached a hoof out and pressed the button, the door immediately hissed open.
A shadowed figure nearly as tall as Luna lurched forward through the door way. Luna gasped and stumbling backwards nearly fell to her haunches, just then Celestia threw the figure into the chamber beyond with a wave of telekinetic magic. The air that washed of the sisters was horrid with the smell of black powder and the reek of iron; it was so overwhelming Luna began to taste copper on her tongue. The look of disgust was evident on Celestia’s face as her nose scrunched up, but what could be sensed under all the reek raised both their hackles and set their hair on end. It was death.
Neither Luna nor Celestia were prepared for what they saw through the doorway. They carefully entered the elongated room, several doors running along each side of the chamber and a single door on the far wall. As Luna continued into the room her hoof clinked against something; sending it skittering across the floor. Looking down Luna found that the floor was littered with tiny brass cylinders, with the occasional red plastic tube. Levitating one close to her face for inspection Luna realised that they were the source for the smell of black powder. It was upon hearing a strangled gasp Luna looked over to her sister. Celestia was standing over the figure she thrown into the room with her magic, a look of shock clear across her muzzle. Celestia was looking at a corpse.
As Luna walked over to her sister she began to notice the rest of the room. There were drying pools of blood scattered throughout the chamber, it was also splattered on the ceiling and streaks smeared across the walls. As Luna scanned the destruction a thought entered her mind, there is too much blood; there should be more than one body. That was when Luna turned her gaze to the corpse that lay before her sister. Celestia was snapped out of her stunned state when she noticed Luna moving.
Luna had occasionally walked the dreams of griffons; being omnivorous predators they would occasionally dream of hunting. Having seen them hunt both in dreams and the waking world Luna couldn’t help but be awed at their grace, stalking their prey till it was the time to strike. What Luna noted most was that when griffons went for the kill it was quick and clean. Looking at the remains that lay before her she nearly gagged; this creature was brutally mutilated. Glancing over to her sister before investigating the carcase, Celestia was scanning for threats while trying to avoid filling her vision with the signs of death. Being rulers of a nation both princesses were familiar with death, but Celestia ruling through nearly a thousand years of peace had softened her to the cruelties. Luna being banished to the moon had no such luxuries, for a thousand years all Luna had were her memories.
Looking over the corpse in closer detail Luna came to her first conclusion, based on the shape she was able to observe it was not like anything she had seen in Equestria. Other than the fact that this creature was wearing armor; its body was covered in a fabric with a green camouflage pattern with olive green plates along the straight surfaces of its limbs. She was unable to piece together any discernible features due to the massive bodily damage it had received. Its head was smashed in; all that remained was a pulpy mess of muscle, bone and a few scattering of teeth. Tracing the damage down to the creatures barrel Luna gagged once again; its chest was cleaved open from its lower abdomen to its right shoulder. Both the creature’s ribs and chest plate were pried apart exposing a surprising lack of internal organs; the remains of which were sitting above its groin as a shredded mass of browning flesh. Moving back to its shoulders Luna’s gaze traced down its forelimbs only to find that they ended abruptly, after its elbow joint all that remained of each forelimb was the shattered shards of bone, its marrow exposed, surrounded by browning muscle.
When Luna finished her observations she turned to her sister, a little shaken at being surrounded by the signs of such death and destruction. “Sister we should prepare ourselves, we will most likely run into whatever caused this in any attempts to get to the dreamer.”
Celestia’s response came after a heavy pause, “This creature’s mind frightens me, to have something so violent so close to our little ponies. It scares me Luna, I need answers.”
“And We shall have them once We are able to glean them from its mind. But in order to do that We have to find it first.” Luna’s attempt at comfort did not go unnoticed.
Celestia was about to thank Luna for the gesture when she was interrupted. A loud crash was heard from the door on the far end of the room. Luna and her sister immediately dropped into a combat stance, horns glowed as they prepared spells for whatever they would face. The crash sounded again and then for third time before the room was filled with screech of metal, the door being sheared from its frame revealing what stood on the other side.
What Luna saw standing above the wrecked remains of the door was the headless horse. That was until she saw that it still had its head; the monster’s head hung limply in front of its chest. Its neck was broken and pushed to the side, in its place was a misshapen bulge with red tipped antenna protruding from it. Its coat a sickly brown with a shedding and matted black mane, its back was covered in pustules and whip like tentacles thrashed from its right shoulder. Its legs were mismatched sizes and the skin was bulging; oozing green ichor. At the end of each leg bone pierced the skin and wrapped around shattered hooves, ending in wicked claws. The one eye that faced the sisters looked at Luna and blinked, its mouth moving wordlessly, and then it leapt.
The monster pony arced through the air all four hooves outstretched, ready to cave Luna’s skull in. Luna still shock at the horrid rendition of a pony could only stare as it flew towards her. Celestia although just as shocked and deeply disturbed reacted first, seeing her sister in danger she reacted instinctively. Luna watched as the mass of malignant meat was speared by a solid ray of golden light, the light instantly incinerated the flesh where it contacted. With its midsection non-existent the upper and lower half of the monster landed with a disturbing squelch spewing green pus along the floor.
A wave so thick with the putrid smell of rotted flesh washed over the sisters, it reeked so much that to smell it invoked their gag reflexes but to breathe through their mouths would cause them to taste it. Luna would have taken the time to void her stomach of its contents if it weren’t for the multitude of creatures that came through the wrecked opening. There were more monster ponies, each a perverted shade of the colours they should have had. Then there were the tall ones, each one was as tall as the princess and walked on two legs. Their heads lay on their shoulders; each one was twisted into the look of a silent scream similar to the faces of the pony monsters. The forelegs of these new monsters were mutilated into grotesque shapes, one foreleg; but seeing how these monsters walked arms seemed more appropriate was bloated, skin stretched taught while the other was a writhing mass of tentacles wrapped around a bone spear that used to be its forearm. Crawling around walls and reaching the ceiling like ants from a kicked ant hill; were tiny little things just larger then Luna’s hoof with the appearance of a potato with a snubbed tail and too many roots, the larger monsters charged.
Celestia’s golden ray cleaved through the creatures, either leaving flaming remains or just piles of ash. Luna took aim at the bipedal monster closing in on her; aiming for the center mass and the most vital of organs, Luna unleashed a lance of silver magic. The pinpoint magic hit the creature in what remained of its heart, as it pierced the monster it passed through leaving a clean hole but neither killing it nor halting its progress. Luna was again saved by her sister as a wave of telekinetic magic threw the monster into the wall. Upon its impact Luna heard several bones break and its bloated arm burst; splattering the wall with green ichor and revealing the brown bones still held in place buy tendons. The crumpled remains began to rise and charged again, even though its leg was bent at a wrong angle; each time it took a step the bones in its leg would pierce and shred what was left of skin.
With her lance ineffective Luna switched tactics; she flicked her horn vertically, sending a crescent blade of silver magic racing towards the monster. As the blade reached the monster it passed through without hesitation, cleaving the biped into left and right halves. The two halves splattered to the floor spreading the green sludge that now vacated its chest cavity. Luna began to flank her sister throwing out crescent blades while Celestia burned anything that moved. The monsters continued to pour out of the doorway; they were either cleaved or incinerated by the magic of the alicorns. That was until the potato shaped ant-things began droping from the ceiling with their ‘root’ like appendages outstretched. Both sisters noticing the skyward assault reached out with their magic to grab hold of them, much to Luna’s surprise; as soon as she gripped them they burst. They popped as if they were just balloons the whole time, but with so much force it caused a chain reaction; popping others that were too close to those that burst. Just as Luna marveled at the apparent fragility of the small things, the door they had used to enter the room shrieked as it flew inward; spewing forth another torrent of monstrosities.
Luna and Celestia stood side by side; each facing the opposite direction, covering the others rear. Luna didn’t know how long they stood there laying waste to the monsters, the air was so thick with their stench that Luna could feel it crawling down her throat each time she drew breath through her mouth. Then just as suddenly as they came; they stopped. It was like someone had turned off a faucet. Luna stood guard waiting for more of the things to arrive, when a gasp from her sister caught her attention.
Looking over Luna saw her sister staring at the lower half that remained of the first creature she had killed. Luna followed her gaze to the legs, and grit her teeth, there on its flank was a cutie mark; a shield overlaid by a spearhead. Observing the remains of the carnage Luna could make out all types of ponies; earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi but with their feathers stripped and the remaining bones turned into serrated blades. Each and every pony monster had a cutie mark; some even still had the plate armour of the royal guard. Looking over the remains of the bipedal monsters Luna saw that they were mutilated versions of the creature they examined before they were attacked; most of the monsters still had ruined remains of the olive green armor.
Turning to face her sister Luna saw tears running down her muzzle, Luna spoke slowly, “If you wish it, We could return us to the Dreamscape.”
Celestia turned to face Luna, a fire burning within her tear filled eyes, “No! I must find out what could do this to my little ponies, and if this creature that resides within our borders brought this threat with it. Which way do we proceed now?”
“Through there.” Luna pointed to the door that the monsters first came through. “Be ready.”
As Luna travelled through the corridors with Celestia in tow, she noticed a rather stark difference to the corridors and chambers they had seen when they arrived. These rooms had been fought in; blood and ichor splattered the walls. Brass tubes littered the floor and the scorch marks of combat spells could be seen. Both sisters were on edge, they had yet to be attacked again but they now had the uneasy sense on being watched. They proceed down the corridor ready for anything, except what they found in the next chamber.
Luna walked into the chamber from the second floor, looking down she saw the purple dome of a familiar protection spell. Luna could make out four vague pony shapes within the dome, surrounded by at least four of the biped monsters and three pony monsters.
“Shining?” as soon as Celestia saw the protection spell she leapt into the air, and burned the monsters to ash before they could react.
“Princess? You shouldn’t be here.” Came a calm stallions voice from within the bubble, it was easily recognizable as the voice of Shining Armour. The spell was then released; revealing Captain Armour, two grey stallion unicorns and a single white pegasus mare. They were all wearing royal guard armor; Shining’s being its usual purple while the other wore the traditional gold. The three other ponies were huddled together, their eyes red and puffy; betraying the fact that they had been crying. Upon seeing the two rulers of Equestria they immediately got to their hooves to stand at attention, cheeks still damp.
Luna landed beside her sister as Celestia stood before the ponies before her. “Sister that is not the real Armor, it is but a projection.” Celestia turned to Luna.
“How? Shining is with Cadence watching over the crystal ponies. How could this dreamer know enough about him to provide such a detailed projection?”
“We do not know, perhaps our dreamer read about him in a local newspaper. But if he is part of this nightmare we can use him to gather information.”
“You do know I’m standing right here?” Shining huffed. His voice then took on a darker tone, “Your highnesses, you shouldn’t have come here, this place is far too dangerous.”
“Captain what are your standing orders?” Luna immediately took on an authoritative tone and addressed Shining as the Captain she expected him to be.
“Princess,” Shining gave a quick salute, “I was leading a platoon of guardsponies in a joint operation with human forces to retrieve an ancient artifact called The MacGuffin.” Both Luna and Celestia paused at the mention of humans. Luna could only recall them as myths; it was said that they walked the surface of the planet long ago, before they suddenly disappeared without a trace. There were still ponies out there that believed them to be real.
Celestia asked the next question, “Shining why are you here?” gesturing to around the room and the remains of the monsters she had slain to get to the Captain. Shining cringed as he recalled the events leading to their current predicament,
“We are all that are left, aside from the squad of marines that continued on to the objective.” While both princesses gasped in shock, Luna was the next to question.
“Of a whole platoon? What happened?”
Shining drew in a deep breath before he continued, “We encountered these horrid monstrosities. A parasite of sorts is all we can determine; it would steal a pony’s body turn it into misshapen shadow of their former selves and use it against us. They attacked in waves, every time we would lose many of our own their numbers would increase in turn. While the human weapons proved effective against them, our weapons and certain combat spells are nearly ineffective.” Gesturing to the three guards behind him Shining continued, “we got separated from the main force after the last attack, and are the only ponies left. The human officer told us to find a spot and bunker down, and that he would return for us after he has retrieved The MacGuffin.” Luna assumed that the dreamer was either with this officer or more likely was the officer itself.
“Captain it is of vital importance that we reach this human officer at once. We request the assistance of your remaining forces; as you know more about what we dealing with.” Luna knew that this was only a projection of Shining but he was also part of this dream; meaning that he would have access to the dreamer’s knowledge. Knowledge that was invaluable given the alien nature of their current environment, as well as to its threats they now faced. Shining's reply was cut off by a blood curdling scream, everyone turned to face the source.
The scream had come from the mare; she had one of the parasites on her back. Blood sprayed as it quickly sliced through the plates of her neck guard; before anyone could do anything it deflated and slithered into the hole it created. Luna could see it moving around underneath the mare’s fur, suddenly there was an audible pop and the screaming stopped as her head went limp and flopped down to hang in front of her chest the look of horror frozen on her face. One of the stallions leapt to her side using his hooves he scrapped at the hole in her neck trying to get to the parasite.
“Rose! No! Rose not you. Take me inste—HRRK” The stallions barrel was suddenly wrapped in tentacles that had burst through the mares shoulder plating. There was a sickening crunch as they constricted; his rear legs hung limply as his spine was broken. The stallion was still trying to remove the tentacle with his forelegs when three doorways suddenly burst towards them, filling the chamber with monsters from all directions.
Celestia tore the stallion from the tentacles grip and threw the mare into a larger group of monsters, she arced her golden ray through them incinerating most. Luna flanked the second stallion, slicing the monsters with crescent blade while the guard at her side set those she missed ablaze with fireballs. Shining had dropped to help the stallion who lay limp screaming, his back broken in several places.
Luna was just about to deal with another wave of monsters when something heavy collided with her from behind, the weight of it threw her to the floor. Looking at what lay on top of her she saw purple armor, its owner’s neck bent at an awkward angle while the plates around his barrel were caved in. Shining was unmoving; he no longer drew breath. Looking up at the culprit Luna saw it as it brought its hoof down on the wounded stallions head; reducing it to a pulped mess. This monsters coat was a browning lavender, its mane was nearly all gone but was remained was purple with a stripe of pink. Its rib cage pierced the skin near the spine; splayed outward in a grotesque display resembling wings. Its head while inverted turned to Luna its one eye, the other being covered it a green-brown growth, shed tears that traveled down its forehead. Its mouth began to move, forming shapes and with a rasp said one word.
“…run.”
Celestia just barely catching the strange yet familiar voice turned around, what she saw nearly stopped her heart.
“No! No! NO!” Celestia reared up and brought glowing hooves down with the final word. The floor cracked, and began to glow the same colour as Celestia’s magic. Everything froze as the glowing cracks spread across the floor, and then the cracks began to on the monsters. Luna’s mind was filled with the sound of shattering glass as large chunks of the room fell into light so blinding she had to close her eyes.
When Luna couldn’t hear anything but quiet sobbing she opened her eyes. She was once again on her balcony, her sister sat before her as tears streamed down her face and neck. Luna reached out a hoof to comfort her sister, but before she could reach her she teleported away.
Luna had spent the rest of the evening in Celestia’s chambers. Both sisters were lying on Celestia’s bed, Luna pulling her sister under wing as she wept silently; until Celestia finally cried herself to sleep. Luna knew her sister would be facing her own nightmares tonight, and it saddened her that she would not be able to help. But being awake for nearly two days straight was taxing to her concentration, the images still raw in her mind didn’t help either; Luna would be facing her own nightmares.
It had taken a while and some begging before Luna was able to get into her sisters chambers, but looking around she could she why she wanted to be alone. There on Celestia’s desk, candle still burning, were a small pile of scrolls. Levitating them before her Luna skimmed through them all; they were letter drafts, some addressed to Shining asking how he and Cadence were doing in their recent rule. But most of them were addressed to Twilight Sparkle; Celestia’s personal student. The writing on some of the drafts ranged from blatant requests on her current safety to subtle questions veiled in the form of an assignment. Luna looked over her sister’s prone form, and spotted a scroll cradled under her wing. Gently levitating it out in front of her Luna read it.
It was a response from Sparkle herself; probably having a late night reading session if Celestia was able to get a response so soon. The letter was reaffirming; in it Sparkle replied that she was fine and in good health. It continued on to say that the strangest event of the day was Pinkie Pie throwing a party for the newest arrival in Ponyville, and the ensuing mess when it was discovered that the piñata was filled with cake batter. Luna then returned the letter back under Celestia’s wing, her eyes began to droop as the events and questions of the past days flooded her mind. Luna would face her nightmares; she needed to be strong for her sister.
Luna awoke by mid-afternoon, the images of her own nightmares rapidly fading from memory. Looking around the room she found that she was the only one lying in the bed, Celestia’s desk was clear of the scrolls from the night before and the double doors were open; letting in a cooling breeze. While chasing down a potential threat to her ponies was a concern, Luna still had other royal duties to perform. Getting out of bed Luna set about preparing for her evening rule; she had quite a backlog built up.
***
Luna had just finished her nightly court session in the throne room when Celestia entered through the grand entrance way. Luna let a relieved smile spread across her face; she was glad that her sister had recovered from last night’s ordeal so quickly. She got off her throne and met her sister half way, and they both peered out one of ceiling high windows watching the moon sail across the sky.
“I’m sorry Luna, but I must ask you to enter the dreams of our foreign creature again. This creature is either living with or near my little ponies, and even though it was a dream the potential frightens me greatly. I need you get any information you can on its current whereabouts so that we may capture and interrogate it.” Celestia’s voice was sullen as she spoke.
“You need not ask Tia, Our concern for our little ponies is great as well. We were just about to dream walk after supper.” Luna was about to leave for the dining hall when she heard her sister call out behind her.
“I have sent orders for a census to be taken, if this creature is hiding amongst our ponies we will find it!” Celestia’s final words were filled with conviction.
***
After wishing Celestia a pleasant night and tending to her hunger, Luna found herself once again on her balcony entering the Dreamscape. Finding the strange dream was getting easier as Luna found it in no time at all. It sat looking just as it had the first time she found it; cycling through a gentle blue then to white and back again. Its tendrils flowing like a mock flame, one of the tendrils drawing small twinkling sounds as it made lazy circles on the surface of the reflective ocean. Luna set her horn glowing as she prepared to enter the dream, when a slight hum could be heard as well as felt through her hooves she opened her eyes. Set before her was a large panoramic window; showcasing stars, lots and lots of stars.
Luna walked up to the window to peer out; all she could see were stars. Looking down she could see the radiant white ship plating, along the edge Luna could make out the glowing smear that was a nebula. “Where are We this time?” As Luna pondered this as she heard the hiss of a door, fearing a re-imagining of the dreamers nightmare she spun around horn aglow. She quickly settled at what she saw.
“Oh? Admiral Luna I wasn’t expecting you to be on the observation deck.” Before Luna stood a biped; alive and unmarred by the parasites she witnessed the night before. The creature was just barely tall enough to match Luna’s eyes; it quickly snapped its legs together and brought one of its arms up in a quick salute. It had been far too long since she was addressed by a military title; peace was scarce after the original defeat of discord. And seeing the military action directed towards her, her mouth went off before her mind could register.
“At ease.” The creature immediately relaxed; spreading its legs. Luna could see the curve of its hips and chest through the fatigues, but the feminine voice sealed it; this was a female of the species. The female seeing Luna eying her decided to speak up and break the silence.
“I’m off-duty at the moment; I always come to this lounge to read a good book.”
Luna took this moment to observer the rest of the room that she currently occupied; there were couches, lamps and even what Luna assumed was a bar in the far corner. She decided to ask the next important question, “Where are We?”
There was a glimpse of confuse on the biped’s face before it shifted to a look of realisation. “We are aboard the Mother ship Celestia, we are currently holding position in front of an asteroid field collecting resources before we make the next jump to hyperspace. The disorientation should fade in a day or two. I know what cryo-sleep can do to someone’s sense of time.”
Luna was perplexed that this creature, while military was not hostile. And that once again she was somehow incorporated into the dream itself, looking over her body confirmed this. Luna’s regalia was gone, in its place she was wearing what approximated to officer fatigues; with gold bars on each shoulder and collar, as well as a few pins on her chest. Looking back at the biped Luna spoke again, “I’ll leave you to your reading.” The biped gave a quick salute before stepping out of the way, giving Luna access the hall way behind her. Okay so We are part of this dream, it is not like the nightmare and everything is calm; perhaps We could use this to our advantage, Luna thought as she light her horn again in an attempt to locate the dreamer.
Sensing his location she determined that if she was on a ship, the dreamer was located near the bow. While sensing she noted that once again, like the first time, this dream was huge but was now filled with projections. Walking down the hallway she ran into two of them as they worked in front of an opened panel, Luna was surprised to see that one of them was a unicorn pony. They both got up to get her a quick salute before returning to the opened panel as she passed. Luna pondered the cooperation between the species, if this dreamer was peaceful what then was the nightmare about. Recalling the horror that it was, Luna remembered the projection of Shining mentioning humans, ‘are these the humans of myth?’ Luna’s train of thought derailed as she arrived at a set of branching paths; she didn’t know how to reach the bow.
Luna was just about to use the deductive reasoning of ‘Eeny Meeny’ to pick a hallway when a familiar voice sounded from above. “Resources collected, okay everypony prepare for hyperspace.” “Twilight Sparkle?” Luna looked up to trying to find the lavender unicorn, all she found was a speaker mounted on the ceiling.
“Oh? Luna, you’re awake? Did you enjoy your nap?” Twilight sounded a little chipper than Luna was accustomed to; perhaps it was the speaker her disembodied voice originated from.
“Where are you Twilight?”
“Me? I am currently hooked up to the Mother ship's central maneframe, I help regulate the ship’s major systems and assist in the hyperspace calculations. We wouldn’t want to drop out inside a sun now do we? Anyway I’m sure the disorientation will fade soon, if need be I can direct you to the nearest infirmary.” There is was again, the dream was making excuses for Luna’s lack of knowledge. While she could use this to her advantage she couldn’t draw too much attention to herself.
“Actually Twilight We could use your assistance.”
“Let me guess you want the millionth digit of Pi? It’s four… or was it nine? Hold on, let me start again. Three point one --”
“No Twilight, We are looking for somepony, or more accurately someone.”
“You’re looking for the Captain aren’t you? He is on the bridge currently.” Luna stood in silence for just a moment.
“And that is where ex—“
“Oh! Hold one let me light a path for you. If you need anything else don’t hesitate to ask” Just as Twilight finished, amber lights began flashing along the edges of one of the hallways.
“Thank you Twilight,” Luna said as she the proceeded down the illuminated hallway. She would occasionally pass by a ‘human’ or pony and they would give her a quick salute before moving on. It was strange to Luna, not only was she being respected by creatures she had never seen before, but the act itself seemed right. Luna, just like her sister despised their ponies constantly bowing before them. For Celestia it felt like her ponies believed themselves below her, but for Luna it put the pony bowing in a position of vulnerability; a quick salute gave a sign of respect but you could remain at attention.
The flashing lights led Luna to a small lift, after a short trip they opened up to reveal a massive storage hanger. There were rows upon rows of stacked storage containers while pegasi could be seen skirting the tops of the stacks, Luna just spectated the room below her as she walked across illuminated catwalks until something caught her eye. Down below in one of the isles was a bipedal machine painted yellow and black walking around with one of the containers gripped in its arms. Clearly visible within the machine was a grey coated, blonde maned pegasus mare; the machine was clearly imitating the mares actions within her protective dome. When the grey mare saw Luna watching her she gave quick salute accidentally clubbing herself in the forehead, unfortunately the machine decided to follow through with this action; clubbing the dome the mare was seated in. With the sudden change in balance the machine began to backpedal; colliding with the stack of containers behind it. The first stack collided with the second and then the third, continuing to domino. Luna could only cringe at the noise as the display unfolded before her, when the noise finally died down Luna could hear the faint voice of the mare call out “I’m okay!” relieved that no one was hurt Luna followed the catwalk to another lift.
Luna continued to follow the flashing lights till they lead to a larger door with a sign reading ‘Command Center’. Luna steeled herself before crossing the threshold.
“Admiral on deck!” someone shouted from her right, the effect was immediate. Every ‘human’ and pony in the room stood at attention, turned to Luna and snapped a salute. Again before it could register Luna fell into forgotten traditions.
“At ease.” Everyone on the bridge visibly relaxed and returned to their duties, giving Luna a chance to view the bridge in its entirety. On the far wall were massive screens portraying a starry filled sky, below these screens were four alcoves lowered into the floor. Smaller alcoves lined the circumference of the room and there raised in the center, surrounded by smaller screens, was a rather large chair. Each station was manned by either a ‘human’ or a pony, but more importantly the chair in the center was manned by what Luna assumed was the captain, and her magic tagged as the dreamer.
The ‘human’ that stood before Luna was just about the same height, its eyes level with the base of her horn. She noted that it was a male of its species, the only hair it had was on top of its head; cropped short, black, but still curling. Where its skin was exposed she could tell its colour was a slight tan similar to that of toasted bread, and resting on its nose was a set of square shaped, thinly framed glasses. He was wearing an officer’s uniform similarly decorated to Luna’s own. She walked up to the captain and when she was close enough she asked, “Who are you?”
The captain blinked, “I am Captain Ryan Rosenberg, I have been charged with the command of the Mother ship Celestia on its journey to colonise new worlds. Are you feeling alright admiral? Should I walk you to an infirmary?” Luna had to play it careful, she did not want him to realise that she was not part of the dream lest she miss her chance.
“No, We shall be fine. We are just… disorientated.” She lied through her teeth, but it wasn’t a lie if it was based on truth, was it? Luna was defiantly a little confused with the environments and level of magic and technology his dreams had shown her.
“If you are sure. May I ask what brings you to my bridge?”
“We came to witness how you function, when in command,” another half-truth.
“Very well then.” He then turned to regard one of the screens that surrounded the captain’s chair. With his back to her Luna charged her horn, ready to begin extracting his memories. Unfortunately Ryan caught the glow reflecting of the inside of his glasses. He turned around to face Luna. “What are you doing?”
“Nothing… nothing at all.” The glow around her horn winked out as his eyes focused on it. What he did next caused Luna to raise an eye brow, Ryan pulled out a bit; an Equestrian bit but with a hole cut through it. Filling this hole, with a jeweler’s setting, was a tiny ruby; looking through the bit would tint everything on the other side in red. And then he flicked it, as it spun through the air he reached out to grab it, then slapped it against the back of his other hand. He regarded the result for a moment before turning back to Luna; she was still confused at the whole display. His eyes narrowed as stared Luna with intense focus, Luna’s muscles tensed preparing for a fight. After a moment his face took on a stoic expression before asking a question.
“You’re the real Luna aren’t you?” She was taken aback by Ryan’s sudden revelation, but more so was the fact that the dream was still stable. This surprised Luna, for whenever a pony was to become aware of their dream it would fall apart; unable to keep itself going. It was how Luna would wake her ponies from terrifying nightmares. But here was Ryan, the odd creature in equestrian; acutely aware he was dreaming, but nothing happened. Luna decided to press her advantage.
“Yes We are, and We would like to know what you are doing in Equestria. As well as what those monsters were that plagued you the night before. You terrified Our sister greatly, she cried herself to sleep.” As Luna’s voice began to raise, the look on Ryan’s face shifted from stoic to fearful.
“Oh… ah… shit,” Ryan immediately vaulted over the rear of the captain’s chair and bolted for the door yelling, “Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.” Before he could get through the door, Luna dropped from the raised platform and grabbed him with her magic. Teleporting to his side she threw him into the wall and using a voice just a few decibels short of the Royal Canterlot Voice began to question him.
“Who are you? Why have you come here? What were those things in your nightmare?” Luna was so focused on the ‘human’ she had in her grasp she couldn’t her one of the officers calling out behind her.
“Somepony get security, the admirals gone rampant!”
Ryan’s face was filled with the look of shock and his eyes held fear, “Look… I’m sorry you saw that. I had a tough day at work, the bellows jammed and my hammer broke in two places. I didn’t know anybody would be watching; I completely forgot about you.” Luna was perplexed by the response; this ‘human’ was apologizing to her for having a nightmare as well as forgetting her? She had never seen this creature before in her life, but before she could question him again four rather large stallions burst through the door. In an instant they pony piled the princess before producing a pointed peripheral, Luna’s body was suddenly wracked with electricity. Her muscles seized, her eyes clamped shut, her jaw locked and she couldn’t breathe. Just as suddenly as the feeling came, it left. Luna opened her eyes with a gasp of fresh air; she saw her moon again in the sky as she was seated on her balcony. She released an exasperated scream.
Luna and Celestia were in the dining hall, early morning, having their usual shared dinner/breakfast. As Luna looked over the table she saw her sister was actually playing with what was on her plate rather than eating it, the bags under her eyes quite visible. Luna decided it was time to share her late night discovery with her sister, so she cleared her throat before beginning, earning her Celestia’s attention.
“We believe We have some news worth sharing Tia.” Celestia slowly placed her fork back on the table before looking at her sister.
“Oh? Do share Lulu.”
“We were able to make contact with our mysterious creature last night.” Upon hearing this, a small smile began to creep along Celestia’s muzzle.
“Really? What have you learned, did you manage to find out where it is hiding?”
“We are sorry but We were not able to read his memory before we were… forcibly ejected from the dream.” Celestia’s face returned to its stoic expression used for dealing with nobles.
“’his’? And what do you mean ejected?”
A small blush worked its way across Luna’s cheeks as she recalled the fact that she was bested a second time by a dream, from the same dreamer. “We are still uncertain but We have learned a few things, such as the fact that he is a male. And more interestingly was the fact that he knew that he was dreaming.” Luna had expected a reaction at that last statement, but that gasp may have been overdoing it a little.
“You mean it was aware the whole time? How is that possible?”
“We are still uncertain; We only managed to get close to him because he believed Us to be part of the dream. As such the dream treated us accordingly; We were aboard a very peculiar vessel that would sail the stars with Us in a position of ranking above the dreamer. It wasn’t until he regarded Us with suspicion that he deduced Us to be the real Luna, it was at this point he tried to run and when We apprehended him for questioning the rest of the crew regarded our hostility as insanity and attacked Us.”
“So what were you able to learn? Were there any more of those vile abominations within that dream of its?” Celestia’s brow furrowed, Luna could tell it would still be a sore spot for some time.
“None but it was quite an interesting sight regardless. I saw a vessel that housed hundreds, possible millions, which would sail the stars with both ponies and what I believe to be humans working together.” One of Celestia’s brows was thoroughly buried underneath the flowing mane that crossed her face, before beckoning Luna to continue with her hoof. “We do not know the extent of the dream or the aspects of it as Our goal was not to learn of his dreams but to learn of him. What We have learned so far is that his name may possible be Ryan, Rosenberg or both; We are uncertain as to what was name and what was title. And that he apologises.” Celestia’s second brow followed the first.
“Apologise? For what? And for what reason?”
“He said he was sorry for the nature of his nightmare, that he had not realised his dreams would be observed. And that the cause for said nightmare was induced from work related stresses.” As Celestia’s brows returned to their places above her eyes, an almost impish grin slid to the corners of her muzzle.
“If it is working than it must be near my little ponies, and if it is near my ponies the census will catch where its hiding. Luna I don’t suppose you have any details to what this job would entail?”
“As a matter of fact We do, he mentioned a malfunctioning bellows as well as a broken hammer. We can only assume that he may possibly be working in a smithy.”
“Thank you Luna this information will greatly reduce my search. But I ask of you to return to its dreams and gather as much information as you can.”
“Are you quite certain that this is all necessary sister, while We may not have been able to read his memories his reactions were not that of a monster to be hunted. Coupled with the fact that nothing of great evil has been committed since his arrival; We believe that he does not pose the threat you believe him to be.” Celestia’s eyes narrowed as she frowned at her sister.
“Luna, one does not leave a lit lantern unattended within an occupied barn. It is either moved to a location where it can be observed… or it is snuffed out.” It was Luna’s turn to frown, this time at Celestia.
“Tia are you sure you are alright? That is not something you would usually concern yourself with.” Celestia’s gaze turned back to her unfinished food as she began rubbing her temple with a hoof.
“No it is not Lulu, my sleep has been restless. I am still haunted by the images I saw during that nightmare. Regardless I cannot allow this creature to wonder Equestria until I am certain that it does not represent a threat to our little ponies.” With that said both princesses returned to their respective meals and ate in silence. With their meals completed; Celestia went about her duties while Luna prepared for bed.
***
It had been two days since she had first made contact with the strange creature in his dreams. But now Luna couldn’t find his dreams anywhere, she had searched the entirety of the Dreamscape that was under her influence. She was beginning to become concerned, he knew she would be watching his dreams now. So either he found a way to hide his dreams or he left Equestria, both possibilities were dangerous; either because he knew magic that she herself did not, or he moved on to achieve his goals somewhere more private.
Celestia noticed the sullen look on her sister’s face as she walked into the dining hall, and with a questioning tone asked, “What seems to be the matter Lulu?”
“We are sorry that we could not help you with your own dreams sister, but we have searched the Dreamscape high and low for the dreams of our strange creature. And We have found nothing of him.” Celestia could only smile at her sister as she seated herself.
“It knows you are watching for it, so it is hiding.”
“But how could it be hiding its dreams from Us? There are no such magic that would accomplish that.”
“Tell me Lulu, when are you not able to watch other ponies dreams.”
Luna brought a hoof to her chin in contemplation, when it slowly dawned on her. “When… We are… dreaming!” Luna shot straight up knocking her chair back so hard it nearly fell over, “Thank you Tia.” Was all she could say before she teleported back to her chambers.
Celestia could only giggle to herself as her sister left without so much as touching her dinner, but that was fine for her; she got to have moon pies with her breakfast.
***
Luna was once again on her balcony preparing to enter the dreamscape. Except this time instead of her moon rising above the horizon it was her sisters sun. With her senses fading and breathing slow and shallow, Luna for the second time that day found herself on the Dreamscape.
Above her was still her moon, but that’s where the similarities ended. There were far fewer dream motes as there would have been in the night, as ponies began to wake for the day. Then there was the reflective ocean below her, it did not reflect her moon or her night sky but instead showed her sisters sun surrounded by a crystal blue sky. And there in the distance; almost like a beacon as bright as the solar orb represented below her, was the dreams of the one creature she had sought after.
“Reactor online, sensors online, weapons online. All systems nominal.” Luna opened her eyes when she heard the strange tinny voice of a mare. She found herself seated within an oddly shaped cabin, there were strange lights, screens and switches arrayed around her. Looking over herself Luna found that she was wearing a strange grey jumpsuit, she also had a helmet adorning her head; it had a hole for her horn to slip through. But what was concerning Luna at the moment was that the visor to her helmet was displaying strange symbols, bars and texts. Given that she had another change of wardrobe; Luna deduced that she was once again integrated into the dream. It was then that she noticed the panoramic view the window to the cabin gave her.
Just outside Luna saw what she could only amount to being a dry dock. The lighting outside her cabin was dark but there were still dim lights that allowed her to see the catwalks and scaffolds; they crisscrossed above her and she could see humans walking about. That’s when she noticed the statue to her right, it was a massive bipedal thing; it had legs and what looked like arms but without hands. It reminded her of how Ryan looked but a lot more bulky and constructed out of metal, its features didn’t make sense; blocky with plates placed in odd areas, but it was still freighting to look at. On her left was another statue but it was only a fraction of the size of the first one she spotted; its ‘legs’ were bent backwards, reminding her of the shape of ostrich legs. These were topped but a square ‘head’ but at the front of the head she noticed a glass canopy; looking closely she could see a figure move within. ‘Am I within a statue as well?” Luna mused to herself. Looking past the small statue she noted a bigger one behind it; it was roughly three times larger than the small one she spotted but about the same size as the one she spotted on her right. Luna decided that now was as good a time as any to find the dreamer, so lighting her horn Luna began to search.
Only to find out that he was right in front of her. Looking over the displays, buttons and switches in front of her Luna realized that some of them were built into the back of a seat. Leaning forward and craning her neck Luna was able to peer into the front of the seat, there busy working over some of the mysterious controls was the ‘human’ Ryan. He was wearing a similar jumpsuit to that of Luna’s as well as a similar helmet. Luna decided to make her presences known, “Hello Ryan.”
“Are you alright?” Luna asked in concern, she was not sure what had just happened but Ryan was busy holding his left elbow with one hand and used the other to clutch a knee. Not knowing what exactly happened, she was fairly certain that she had startled him.
“Ow… yeah I’m fine just jerked a knee and hit my funny bone.”
Luna blinked, “But it wasn’t very funny, it looks like it hurt.”
“No, it’s a nerve in the elbow that when struck causes odd sensations within the body, sorta like pins and needles.”
“Then why is it called a funny ‘bone’?”
Ryan began to turn around to face the direction of the voice, “I’m not really sure, I believe it to be—“his eyes widened in surprise as they meet Luna’s before narrowing. He then returned to a proper seated position facing forward, when he spoke again his tone was a bit flustered, “mechs are supposed to be single pilot, I’m not even sure how you got in without me noticing. I guess I’ll just chalk it up to dream logic.” Luna saw him pull out the modified Bit; this time with an emerald in the center, giving it a flick before catching it again. She couldn’t see the result as he was too far forward. Luna was pulled out of her efforts to see was Ryan was doing when a female voice, not at all tinny but more natural sounding, almost gruff, filled her helmet.
“Alright Diamond Dogs, we are approaching the mission objective. We will be dropping in five mikes.” Ryan began flipping a few more switches and pushed maybe three buttons, before laying his hands on a pair of larger levers. He didn’t turn his head as he began talking again.
“Welp if you wish to stay, you’ll be in for a little adventure. By the way, how do you know when I’m dreaming?” seeing the opportunity to have a little fun Luna craned her neck again to bring he face above Ryan’s other shoulder. In a voice that was just barely a whisper Luna hissed.
“We always know when you’re dreaming.” Luna could help but stifle a giggle when she saw Ryan visibly stiffen and then shudder.
“Okay, not creepy at all. The fact that I have had not only one pony but two prancing about in my head while I’m dreaming is quite disturbing.” In a hushed murmur barely audible to Luna he muttered, “I’m just glad you didn’t see my first few dreams.” Continuing in a to speak in a normal tone, “Why are you prancing around my dreams in the first place?”
“It is our duty to safeguard the dreams of our little ponies.”
“Yes I know, but I’m not a pony so why the interest?”
“Well when we first found your dreams, the differences intrigued me. But it wasn’t until We tried to show your dreams to Celestia that you really caught our attention. Those monsters that we observed were so horrifying that brought Our sister to tears as she shattered the nightmare.”
“That was Celestia?” He brought his hands up across his chest to clasp his shoulders; trying to steady himself as he began to shake. Luna could only frown at this reaction, as he went silent. Just when she about to ask if he was okay, he spoke up again, “The Flood.”
“We beg your pardon?” Luna was uncertain as to what water had to do with those monsters, when he explained.
“They are called The Flood; a parasitic life form that feeds off sentience and is capable of molding flesh to fit it whims.” Luna was trying to wrap her head around how such vile creatures could exist. Luna was busy considering the potential threat that The Flood posed and how it could be dealt with, when her thoughts were derailed again by the mare’s voice within her helmet.
“Alright Dogs, we are above the target, dropping in three… two… one!” Luna’s heart and stomach where fighting for dominance over her throat. The scaffolding and catwalks of the dry dock flew up past the canopy, the glass viewports were suddenly filled with the orange glow of a sunset sky. The horizon slowly creeping upwards, Luna’s internal organs quickly settled themselves when she realised that she was falling. Looking out to her sides, Luna quickly recalled the statues she saw before. But this time they had large black rings fitted around them; each corner of the rings had massive barrel shaped object attached.
“You do realise that we are falling correct? I do not believe that this contraption is capable of flight.” Luna questioned.
“Just give it a moment; it doesn’t need to fly it just needs to land.” There was no doubt excitement was in his voice. Just before Luna could question him again she heard a massive roar erupt from her right. Looking over to the sound Luna spotted the massive statue, but this time the objects at its corners were spewing massive columns of fire and smoke slowing its decent. Luna heard a second roar off to her left and spotted the other two statues doing the same.
“Well since you’re here you might as enjoy the ride. Engaging retros… now!” The cabin Luna occupied was suddenly filled with a similar roar and began to shake violently. Luna suddenly found her stomach sitting in her lap at the sudden deceleration. There was a massive thud and a shudder felt through the cabin, the view outside the cabin was filled with lush green of plains with sparsely spread trees; they looked so small. ‘how high up are we?’ Luna thought as she surveyed the outside of the cabin. That’s when her sight was filled with massive bulk of one of the statues, as it continued to move forward of its own power; each step slow and ponderous with a resounding thud.
“What are those?” Luna didn’t really ask anyone, but Ryan heard it anyway.
“Mechs, that there is an Atlas our heavy hitter. There,” Luna caught Ryan pointing out front to the smaller metal statue sprinting across the trees “is are scout, running a Flea,” pointing to Luna’s left was another mech with massive box shoulders and pointed ‘arms’ “ that’s our brawler a Madcat, and we are fire support in a Vulture.” Luna was awestruck as these massive machines were able to move across the uneven terrain.
“Yes but what are they?”
“Oh, heh, I forgot you wouldn’t know of them. They are… sort of hard to explain, it’s easiest to say that they are machines of war.” With the movement of one of his arms the cabin began shifting left and right and was filled with the sound of repeating thuds; they began moving forward.
“Why would you need things of such size for war, wouldn’t infantry be more subtle?”
“uhm? Think of these as weapons platforms that carry multiple weapons capable or massive destruction. And the easiest way to defeat a mech is with another mech. And currently we are assaulting a mercenary stronghold, know to contain mechs, in order to retrieve The MacGuffin.” There it was again the artifact Luna had learned about in the nightmare. recalling her experiences, not only from the nightmare, but from the other dreams as well, Luna asked the questions that had plagued her the most.
“Why am I not able to influence your dreams? And why is it that when you are aware that you are dreaming you don’t wake up?”
“Wait? You don’t know about lucid dreaming?”
“Lucid dreaming? What is—“ Luna was suddenly interrupted by a harsh sounding male voice that blared into her helmet.
“Enemy mech spotted… tagging.”
“Hold on to that thought I’m going to show you something nopony has ever seen before.” Within Luna’s visor new symbols began to appear, primary among them was a large red rectangle. Luna felt the cabin shift as the green circle in the center of her visor was brought within the red rectangle; a single tone sounded though her helmet as the green circle turned red. When a solid beep responded to the tone, loud whooshing could be heard just outside the glass on either side of the cabin. What Luna saw next were several long cylindrical projectiles travel through the air on columns of smoke. The projectiles arched through the air, meeting up with several more that could be traced back to the Madcat. Luna watched as they landed on another mech, that was framed with red on her visor, as it crested a hill. As each projectile made contact there was an explosion. When the clouds passed Luna could see the other mech’s arms to be missing. Luna gapped at the damage done to something so large, until repeating thunder cracks sounded from the Atlas. Luna was again in awe as she watched the opposing mech getting battered by massive shaped cannonballs, each successful hit mangling the armor of the enemy. The opposing mech started to turn to face Luna and Ryan, but before it could bring its self to bear the cabin was filled with a loud thrum. Luna watched as four lances or bright neon energy reached out to touch the damaged opponent; two blue and two green.
The lances of energy touched the chest of the enemy mech, some from Ryan’s own another four green one from the Madcat and several small red beams. The armor the beams made contact with began to glow bright orange. When the spots began to glow white, slag began falling to the ground. When the lances died down the opponent stood there; missing an arm and covered with glowing holes burned into its chest plating.
A bright white light began shining through the holes in its chest as it began to tip. The enemy mech fell with a reverberating crash. Luna watched as the fallen mech began to glow; rays of white light shone through its joints and back. The light began to glow so intensely Luna covered her eyes with a hoof. When the light suddenly brightened then died, she risked dropping her hoof and opening her eyes. There Luna saw the remains of the attack; what looked like a metal skeleton covered in warped metal, within relatively small crater.
“That was quite the show of destructive potential.” Luna commented dumbstruck by the capabilities of the giant walking machines.
“You think that was impressive? This is just the Wests take on mechanised combat, you should the Easts interpretation. They believe that--” Ryan didn’t get to finish his sentance when he suddenly shook, a large ripple sent through the entirety of the dream. “OOF!”
Luna’s helmet was filled with the tinny mares voice again, “Oy? You better not be asleep there.” As the voice continued to talk it took on a more masculine tone, by the time it finished talking it sounded like a stallion. Luna recognised the events taking place within the dream.
“Someone is trying to wake you, why?”
“Eh… well, I’m not to privy to having ponies waltz about in my dreams so I’ve tried to stay awake at night. instead I’ve kinda been falling asleep while working, and Ingot doesn’t take too kindle to sleeping on the job.” Again the voice sounded through Luna’s helmet, the voice was defiantly that of an aged stallion, it sounded a little too familiar.
“Iffin you don’t wake up by the count of three imma fetchin the BIG hammer. One… ” Luna could only raise an eye brow at the statement as well as the reaction it seemed to garner from Ryan; he was suddenly frantic, searching for something around his seat.
“Two…”
“AH HA! Found it, well it has been nice meeting you again princess, but I must be off.” He gave something under his seat a hard yank. The glass canopy above their heads blew open, and Luna’s chair was violently launched into the air. The massive mech she had just occupied moments ago got smaller and smaller as she rode a chair balanced on a column of fire and smoke. Looking back down she saw the mech engulfed in a white light, there was a sudden burst of light that blinded Luna.
Luna sat there waiting for the light to subside, but after a minute and a half of waiting when nothing happened she hazarded a peek. The reason the light didn’t fade was because Luna was once again on her balcony, her sisters sun sitting on at its zenith basking Luna in its golden glow. So blinking away the spots in her vision Luna began to ponder the events that lead to another ejection from Ryan’s dreams.
“Ingot… Ingot? As in Iron Ingot?” a small slowly crept its way across Luna’s muzzle until it threatened to split her face in two.
Luna had spent the rest of that morning preparing for her departure. But now she was now sitting in her personal chariot pulled by two of her lunar guard, heading towards Dodge City.
It was just past noon when they began circling the ‘city’, if it could be called that. As they circled again for an approach Luna looked over the mining town. With its rock farms, and proximity to both the gem rich quarry to the north and the ore saturated earth that was the Badlands, Dodge City was one of Equestria’s main sources of metals and gems. While the gems were easily accessible from the quarries, the Badlands were another story. The desert was filled with wyverns, Quarry Eels and the occasional sand worm, it was extremely dangerous and the safest way to traverse it was underground. And that’s why Dodge City had a treaty with the Diamond Dog pack living within the Badlands, they would bring in ores and gems to trade for services that only the ponies could provide. This would include magic, medicine and even occasionally education; while most dogs learned through the vocal teachings of their elders, it was not unheard of for a dog to be curious.
With the treaty between the Badlands pack many of the dogs had come to embrace pony culture, this lead to Dodge City having the highest non-pony to pony population ratio. Over the years Dodge City had become a beacon for pony cooperation, as more and more non-pony species moved into Dodge. Looking over the streets Luna could see not only ponies, but dogs, goats, a few minotaur and even a zebra couple. Luna’s focus was dragged away as she spotted a full griffon weather team moving a cloud bank, them may not be able to manipulate the weather as well as a pegasus but they could clear a sky easily enough; that and the fact that the griffons were more naturally suited to deal with wyverns that strayed from the Badlands.
Luna had her guards set down within an ally way; there was no need to draw attention to her arrival. With that in mind, as Luna disembarked from the chariot, she lit her horn; with her magic the regal form of an Alicorn was replaced with the more common appearance of a light blue Pegasus. As Luna left the ally way she looked over her shoulder to see the two lunar guards disappear into the shadows, where they could keep watch over their charge. After watching the display Luna could only think about how blaringly obvious her sisters own guard was, just like her sun.
As Luna began heading down the main street towards her objective, the sound of sizzling and a faint aroma caught her attention. What had drawn Luna’s focus was a small food establishment built into the side of a building; it was called ‘Ramses’. Seated on the stools before the eatery, were two dogs, a minotaur and a griffon while behind the counter was, not too surprisingly, a ram. He was busy hacking the scales off of a rather large hunk of meat before throwing it onto a grill, the smell was both tantalizing but a little nauseating to Luna. But it didn’t surprise her that in a town where more than fifty percent its population were omnivores, there would be dining more suited to those that preferred meat. She couldn’t help but marvel at the ingeniousness of Ryan’s cunning; what better place to hide in a nation full of ponies, then where there are the least ponies.
Luna suddenly remembered why she had arrived in the first place, and continued on her way down the street towards her destination. She soon found herself before ‘Ingots Blacksmith’; while Luna may not have known the stallion personally she had thanked him on several occasions; for providing services to her guard when others were too frightened by their appearances. Looking around the town his shop was situated in, Luna realised that the stallion was not one to judge by appearance alone, further concreting Luna’s suspicions. That and the fact of what most of the citizens faced nearly on a daily basis from the Badlands, he never had a shortage of work. Luna walked up to the door and let herself in.
Walking in Luna was able to see all the stores wares, there were armors of all shapes and sizes. Then there were the weapons racks; Luna could spot the spears that were favored by the dogs, the swords for griffons as well as the massive hammers the minotaur’s liked. Everything looked just like the last time she was here; the wares may have been different but the layout was the same. That was until she noticed the display cases near the counter; they were filled with all forms of jewelry. Within the cases were flowers of gold and silver, broaches made of finely woven gold wire with gems centred within and quite a few bracelets with gem charms. They were beautiful but at the same time she had not known Ingot for his delicate hoofwork, these were too finely crafted. Luna was pulled from her admiration by the voice of a gruff aging stallion, “you liking what you’re seeing?”
“Quite, they are extremely detailed.” Luna said as she lifted her head to regard the stallion. On the other side of the counter stood a tan brown stallion with a cropped and graying mane, his cutie mark was that of an anvil overlaid by a blacksmith’s hammer.
“They are little beauties’ aren’t they? They were made by my apprentice, his even received requests from the nobles in Canterlot for his works. Makes me wonder what them stuck up ponies would do when they find out who’s been making them.” Ingot said as he regarded a small broach; a dark gem dressed to look like a golden spider sitting within a web made of silver wire.
“Ah yes, that is why We are here.” Luna said as she let her disguise fall. To his credit Ingot only looked on with slight amusement.
“Well hello Princess—“ Ingot was interrupted by a loud crash from past the door that lead to the back of the shop; where the furnaces and other tools used for smithing was kept. Luna raised an eyebrow as a fierce scowl crept onto Ingots face as he reached under the counter. Turning to face the doorway he raised a hoof that now held a decent sized hammer, and yelled, “Oy, that is not your armor to be going around and dropping.”
Another voice called out from outside Luna’s sight, one that seemed both familiar and foreign “Sorry, my ha—paw slipped.”
Ingot yelled again but Luna hear the jovial tone that laced his words, “weren’t you the one that always telling me that thumbs are far better than hooves? I haven’t dropped one single thing since I’ve opened this shop”
The strange voice sounded again, “I’m still not sure how you do it, you have—“ there was a soft thud followed by a clatter, cause by the hammer that Ingot had loosed through the doorway, “…ow”
A small smile worked its way onto Ingots muzzle, “now look what you’ve gone and done, you’ve broke mah hammer.”
“Hah! We can all be as soft headed as you now can we?” Was the reply, after the little bout Ingot turned to regard Luna again but with a small smile on his face.
“Sorry about that, anyway what can I help you with Princess.”
“We are actually here to meet with your apprentice.”
“Oh is that all,” Ingot said raising an eyebrow before turning to face the back of the shop again, “hey Stone get up here, the princess wants to see you.” All either of them could hear was the chatter from outside the shop and the crackle of a fire burning. Ingot began to frown at the silence and was just about to call out when the voice spoke up again.
“uh… sure… just give me… hold on,” there was a sound of moving tools and a rattle of what Luna suspected to be a chest piece for a suit of armor, “coming.” There was the sound of soft feet on hard wood floors; Luna prepared herself for what she expected to see. But was still taken aback by what appeared in the doorway, she was expecting something entirely different.
What stood in the door way looking up at Luna was a Diamond Dog, as she took in the sight she began to notice all the small details that varied from the traditional look of a Diamond Dog. The first was his size, he was barely taller than a pony, his eyes leveled with the base of Ingots ears. Then there were his ears; instead of flap-like ears that drooped down, on each side of his head were pointed ears each about the length of an average unicorn’s horn and tufted, they were both rotated to face Luna. She couldn’t see his eyes as they were hidden behind the massive coloured lens of the goggles that sat on a pointed muzzle, contradictory to the squashed muzzle of the dogs that were found within equestrian, and it ended in not a black nose but one of light pink. The biggest difference was his front paws, unlike most dogs wherein they reached from shoulder to ground, his paws only came down to his first set of knees. Since his arms were not of the expected massive proportions his posture allowed him to stand straight up instead of hunched forward.
Luna then began to take in what he was wearing. From the bottom up Luna saw a loose pair of leggings, which was wrapped in a heavily padded apron; the pouches of which were filled with the tools of a blacksmith. Wrapped around his chest, but still exposing the front, was a dirty olive green vest which had its pockets stuffed with the more delicate tools of a jeweler. That was when she noticed the one article that was missing from his body; the collar. The collar to a Diamond Dog was their most valued possession; it signified their connection to their pack and was given to them when they would first open their eyes. A dog without a collar was a dog without a pack, either meaning he was disowned or never had a pack to begin with. With her mind concluded that he was a stray, one without a pack, she took in his colouration. The fur around his head was a dirty white, his chest grey and his front paws nearly black. Luna then realised why it had taken her so long to notice the missing collar; his fur. It was too fluffy, instead of the short coarse fur of most underground dogs, his fur was almost invitingly soft especially around his neck; it looked like someone had shoved his head through an overstuffed pillow and left it hanging around his shoulders, the fur of his neck fluff almost reaching his chin. Luna suddenly found herself fighting the urge to climb over the counter and hug him, just to find out if he was really as soft as he appeared. Luna was brought back to reality when he began to speak, pulling off his goggles revealing eyes with rounded irises of crimson red; he bowed his ears spun around to lay flat against his head.
“Welcome your majesty, I am LodeStone, but you may just call me Stone. If you would allow it I would like to wash up, I am currently covered in soot.” This was another nail in the coffin that was Luna’s suspicions, almost all dogs spoke in broken Equestrian, but here he was forming complete sentences. When those sentences made it through her mind she realised she had gotten his fur colour wrong; they weren’t greys and blacks, which were instead soot from the furnaces. Wishing to see his true colours, she decided to let him clean up before they had a little chat.
“Very well We shall wait her for your return.”
“Thank you your highness.” Luna watched him as he rose again and turned around to walk back through the door, only for Luna to spot his tail; instead of the knobbed clubs that was meant to be the dogs tail, his tail was a mass of fur, nearly a ball, but it tapered off to a point at the base of his spine.
As soon as he was out of sight Luna turned to Ingot, “Do you know where he comes from? He does not seem to be a native Diamond Dog that is for certain.”
Ingots face suddenly went flat, “nopony really knows, Bertha found the pup just over a week ago wondering the tunnels leading to the badlands, no collar and no gems.”
“Pup?” Luna raised an eyebrow the timing seem a lot more than mere coincidence, “how old is he?”
“19”
Luna frowned, for that was an extremely young age for a dog to be without a pack, if he truly is a dog she mentally added. Luna was about to question Ingot more while she waited when they both heard a door open and nearly being slammed closed again, it had come from the back of the shop, in the same direction LodeStone had left to go. Looking to Ingot to see the worried expression Luna immediately jumped the counter and headed into the back of the shop, running past the furnaces and partly finished projects she burst out through the back door followed closely by Iron Ingot.
Looking over the yard Luna spotted Stone climbing a mass of chopped firewood, when he reached the top he turned around and spotting Ingot said, “…sorry”
With that said he jumped down the other side. With Stones actions nearly confirming her suspicions, Luna couldn’t let him get away. Charging her horn she levitated each and every piece of wood into the air, only to reveal there to be a hole in the ground. She quickly placed all the wood in another pile on the other side of the yard as she stuck her head down the hole. Looking through the tunnel, too small for Luna to fit through, she could see Stone running on all fours away from her. Luna shouted a command for him to stop in the Royal Canterlot Voice before she pulled he head out and began running along the surface following the underground tunnel with her magic.
That was until Luna came to a screeching halt, the ground ahead of her suddenly erupted in a geyser of dirt and stone. There before her stood a Diamond dog, nearly a head and a half taller than Luna herself. The dog that just erupted from the ground was wearing a bright red vest, pockets full of gems, and a mass of chains around its neck with a small emerald dangling from the ‘collar’. It stood there holding Stone by the scruff of his neck with only two claws. Suddenly royal guard pegasi began landing in circle to surround the large dog and Stone, it was then that Luna realised that the dog was part of the local guard forces, as indicated by the golden helm and pauldron that adorned its right shoulder, emblazoned with the royal symbol.
It was at this time that Celestia herself descended into the circle of guards and faced the giant dog. But it was the dog the spoke first, “what does pretty pony want with pup? Pup has done nothing wrong.” Luna was surprised to hear a female voice rumbling out from the massive dog.
Facing the dog Celestia said, “I am sorry Bertha,” and then turning to face the limp form of Stone said, “LodeStone you are hereby under arrest as a threat to national security.”
Luna was just on the outside of the ring of guards when she heard a response.
Luna was presently making her way to the dungeons; Celestia had arrested the odd diamond dog which was now housed in a special cell within the castle. Celestia had intended to interrogate the dog herself but had been called off to deal with an unknown emergence in Ponyville. Luna planned to use this time to subject the dog to her own questioning. Turning a corner and pushing through a doorway Luna found herself within the guard’s area before the cells.
As she entered the room she gave the two guards on duty a nod, they saluted back, before she made her way to the table stationed in the corner. Spread across it were all the belongings that had been on the prisoner’s body before being admitted. Using her magic Luna sifted through all the articles laid out before her, first were his clothing; the leggings, the heavy apron and the vest. They were all worn and of substandard crafting, next Luna moved over to the heavy items; there was a hammer, pair of pliers and his goggles. The tools appeared to be in pristine condition, well taken care of. Moving onto the smaller items she noticed the jeweler’s tools, again they were in pristine condition as they shone with a polished finish. The next item was an unfinished necklace; the chain was incomplete, but the golden ring held a small amethyst, which it allowed it to spin, captivating her attention. Placing the unfinished necklace back on the table she spotted the last item on the table, a small bit with a clear diamond seated in its center.
Levitating the bit before her Luna observed every millimeter of the modified currency. It was both the same item she had seen in his dreams but not, the gem was different. Luna only grew more curious, it was too similar to the one she had seen in his dreams but the dog they had was clearly not the same she had seen him as. She tried to imitate what she saw in the dreams, but without the appropriate appendages she could not flick it properly. It was maddening, everything she had learned pointed to that dog as the dreamer she found only a few days ago, she needed to question him. As Luna was about to exit the room into the cell block she remembered that both Lodestone and Ryan had not reacted positively to her initial appearance. She would need to be subtle.
Using her magic, Luna once again took on the appearance of another pony. Now disguised as a grey unicorn guard she made for the cell block. Looking back at the guards on duty, they both gave her a knowing nod before she opened the door. She made her way down the stone corridor towards the only cell currently being guarded. Luna went to relieve one of the guards on duty then took his station; looking over to the other guard she allowed her eyes to flash their original turquoise. The guard gave a small smirk and a nod before returning to attention.
Luna looked over the cell; it was clearly designed to house diamond dogs. The walls, ceiling, floor and bars were steel and warded against physical harm. A dog may eventually be able to dig its way out, but it would make a lot of noise and take a while to accomplish, plenty of time to pacify the occupant. Looking over the room she spotted the dog, huddled in the corner behind the cot, shivering. His fur, snow white, was matted and damp from the rinse off he got before being incarcerated. He sat huddled in the corner head in his lap, ears folded back, while hugging his knees, his tail firmly wedged between his legs. The way the fur hung off his body made him appear lanky, almost sickly, when compared to fluffiness she noted when she first set eyes on him. Luna began to worry, how her sister could treat this creature as such based on one dream; that one horrible nightmare she probably relived every night since. Luna cringed at her failings to protect her sister from her own nightmares, while she herself went off seeking Ryan to sate her own curiosity.
“so…” one of the dogs ears flicked up to face the source of her voice, “what you in for?”
There was a pregnant silence before Luna got a muffled response, “…bad dreams.”
Luna was mentally cheering to herself; this had to be the same person she had visited several times within his dreams. She just had to push a little more for confirmation. “I’m pretty sure we cannot make arrests for bad dreams.”
Stone lifted his head to look the guard over with his round red eyes, irises of crimson but plenty bloodshot; he was scared and had been crying. “… it was a nightmare actually, bad enough to make one of the princess cry.”
While the other guard gave an almost silent gasp, Luna struggled to keep her expression stoic as she mentally whooped to herself. She had found Ryan or Lodestone as he called himself while awake, now she just had to find out why he was a diamond dog.
“I’m not sure what the nightmare was about, I cannot remember all of it. I spent most of the day as a quivering mess; speaking gibberish. I couldn’t even walk till the next evening.”
While the other guard’s face was stern, Luna outwardly cringed. As she recalled that evenings trek through his nightmare she realised that she hadn’t pulled herself and her sister out. The dream hadn’t ended or washed out, her sister, Princess Celestria, diarch of Equistria, and raiser of the sun itself had SHATTERED it. And possible his mind with it, Luna had to admire his resilience if he was able to piece himself back together again. She began to ponder the implications this may have had on his mental state when the doors leading to the guard’s room opened, allowing Celestia and four guards flanking her to enter the cell block.
Luna remained stoic at her post but her mind was frantic, she had believed herself to have more time. She could only watch as her sister approached, Luna had wanted to learn more from Stone in order to dissuade her sister from such actions but she proved too slow.
As Celestia stood before the bar of the cell, a discernible yelp could be heard from within. Luna thought, without a doubt, that Stone recognised the presence of the being that had literally left his mind in pieces. Celestia hesitated for a moment.
“Stand,” Celestia’s tone, while commanding remained calm and balanced. Stone quickly rose and made his way to the center of the cell with a whimper, he stood there shivering and silent. While her face was the stoic mask it always seemed to be, Luna could make out the conflict within her visible purple eye. She was most likely expecting to see one of the monsters she encountered in her dream, or perhaps a different monster entirely. But here she was, towering over a pathetic and scared excuse of a diamond dog. She was most likely warring within herself between questioning him and hugging him just to stop his shivering. “I have questions for you, answer truthfully and your stay will be plenty comfortable. Do you understand?”
“Y-yes.” Stone was still shivering, he had his eyes locked onto Celestia’s hoofs not daring to raise them above her chest.
“Very well. My sister has seen your dreams and has claimed you to be a human; a creature of myth. But I ask you, why do you appear before me as a creature known to be extinct?” everybody else gasped.
“W-what?” Stone’s eyes went wide, looking up at Celestia for the first time.
“Turn around.” With another whimper Stone lowered his head and began to turn. That was when Luna noticed them; Stone had crystals growing out of his back. There running along his spine, starting underneath his collar of fur, were scales made of a clear blue crystal that ended half way down his back. Then there were the crystal spines, four in total with two on each side, sitting folded against his back underneath each shoulder blade. The upper pair were primary, being just smaller than an unicorns horn, while the second pair below the first were half the size. “Those mark you as a Shard Fox, and they have been extinct for over a millennia. So I ask you again, how is it that a human can stand before me as creature whose race long ago died out?”
“… I… I don’t know. M-my human body c-could not survive being in Equestria. S-so I needed a new body before I arrived.” Stone still had his back to the princess, tail tucked between his legs while the spines on his back were pressed flat.
Celestia raised her visible eye brow before questioning again, “And where is it you come from? And please face me.”
Stone let out another whimper; he was now shaking. Turning to face the bars not daring to raise his eyes he said, “…Earth.”
Everybody present began staring at Stone, for which Celestia had now identified as a fox. Luna could see the unease as Stone began to take a step back under everyponies gaze. Until Celestia had decided to break the tension. “but we are on earth.”
“…a-a-a different earth, f-f-from another u-u-universe.” Stone was now shaking uncontrollably and was hugging himself in an attempt to stop it. Celestia looked down on him with concern.
“If that is so then how did you get here?” Celestia’s voice conveyed a lot more gentle tone, she did not like how Stone was reacting to her presence.
“I-I-I… t-t-there… ah... i-it—“
“Please calm yourself,” Celestia let out a small sigh, “It is getting rather late, and I shall allow you to rest. We will meet again in the morning, I wish to learn more about you.” With that Celestia made for the exit with her four guards. Luna could only watch as Stone continued to stand in the center of the cell, still shaking barely able to keep it under control. She turned to leave, to catch up to her sister in order to discuss today’s events.
She was half way down the hallway when she heard crying.
Luna chased after her sister through the hallway; she had long ago let her escort depart. She had let her disguise fall a while back. “Sister we need to talk.”
Celestia halted her progress and turned to face Luna as she trotted up, “yes Luna? What is it?”
Luna met the eyes of her older sister, as she returned a gentle smile. Luna only returned a frown, “we need to have a discussion,” she began to look around, spotting several guards and servants. “In private.”
The gentle smile faded from Celestia’s lips, “Very well.”
***
Luna found herself seated within Celestia’s private study, with the table between them holding a tea set from which they were both drinking from. Luna was about to have a serious discussion with her sister. As she set her cup down Luna drew in a breath and started, “Sister what you have done is wrong.”
To her sister’s credit, her face remained as stoic as it always had when she was diplomatic. Her eyes though told a different story; to Luna it looked as if she had been slapped. Luna took this as her queue to push the matter further. “You have imprisoned an innocent creature. Why would you do such a thing?”
Luna could see small flame flicker within the deeps of Celestia’s eyes, a sudden resolve. Luna listened to Celestia’s response, “To protect Our little ponies. You have said, and he has proven as well, that he is indeed alien to Equestria. That alone warrants an investigation.”
“But imprisonment Tia? Has he not proven that he means no harm? He has lived with ponies for over a week since his possible arrival.” Luna interjected.
“He may be biding his time till the most opportune moment, or he may not. But we have seen his dream, and if such monsters exist. If he is able to visit us, who is to say those monsters could not follow?” Luna had to admit that it was a frightening possibility, but her sister had overlooked an important fact.
“You have only seen one dream, a nightmare at that. Who is to say that those were nothing more than his headless horse?” Luna tried to remind her sister, maybe herself as well. Nightmares could recreate their own and worst monsters.
Celestia closed her eyes before giving a small nod, “true but you cannot deny the fact that the potential is still there.”
“Which is why we must learn from him and not cage him.”
Celestia opened her eyes to see Luna looking at her intently, “What do you mean Luna?”
As Luna’s brow furrowed she began, “why is it that our little ponies are far more accepting to change than you are?” Luna watched as her sister drew her head back at the accusation. “Why is it that it took Our return to convince you that griffon locomotives were a valuable asset to have. Being able to cross our nation in days instead of weeks was a massive boon to our economy. But it had then again taken Us another year to convince you on using them as intended, with fire and steam.”
Celestia furrowed her brow in confusion before relenting, “I must admit that my fear of the steam engine may have been unwarranted, but I do not see how this relates.”
Luna sighed as she rubbed a temple with her hoof, “our steam engines are almost two hundred years behind what the griffons are using. If Our reports are correct, they have the ability to construct cannons they can carry on their backs. What could we do if they decided to attack?”
Luna did not like to bring these images into her sister’s mind, they tended to lead to the almost irrational behaviors she had been witness to the past week. While it was true that diplomatic relations with the griffon kingdom was strong, there were still the odd pirates they had to deal with. “If we wish to defend ourselves from all threats we must learn to adapt Tia. Which is why if you wish to protect you ponies from these monsters that have frightened you so, you must learn of them first. We have that source of that information scared witless by your presence and actions. You first contact with him resulted in a shattered mind, do you remember? And then you had him torn from his friend and probable home.” Luna paused as she allowed her sister to recall the events, then continued, “Which is why, if we want such information we would need to earn his trust. He has already proven himself harmless; We see no objection to move him from the cells to one of the ambassadors quarters. While a gilded cage is still a cage he would far more approachable in comfortable lodgings.”
Luna saw her sister cringe, coming to terms with an inner conflict. She admired her sisters desire to protect their little ponies, but that far too often left her short sighted. Luna hated to do this, she was aware of the conflict she was fueling within her sister. But what she would say next would always drive the point home. “Celestia, if We told you that smiting down a single griffon hatchling or diamond dog pup would protect our ponies would you do it?”
Celestia sat there for a few moments, not daring to look Luna in the eyes before replying. “…yes”
“But that peace would only last a day.” With that Luna rose to leave her sisters study. She had hopes that moving him to more luxurious accommodations would garner some form of trust from the human turned fox. The idea of being able to tap such wealth of alien knowledge had her skipping with glee.
***
Luna made her way back to the dungeons, she would be telling him of his release. That he would no longer be jailed, but would have to remain on castle grounds while they determined his intents. While this was true, Luna was hoping to earn hiss trust and as such gain access to his knowledge. What she had seen within his dreams had captivated her, if she could learn of his technologies and magic; the advancements to Equestria own could be astounding. That is if Celestia did not try to hamper Luna’s attempts for progress.
As she approached the dungeons however, something felt wrong. Making her way to the guard house she noticed the extra guards posted outside. She questioned the first guard she approached, “Why are you posted in the hallway?”
“We are currently dealing with an emergency within the dungeons; the ponies guarding the prisoner fell unconscious. The medic has failed in every attempt to resuscitate them.” The guard reported, his expressions remained stoic but Luna could hear the concern.
“Do we know the cause?” Luna questioned, this could not have been a coincidence. Stone’s instability at the appearance of Celestia and the emergency she now faced were too closely related.
“I am sorry, we don’t know. We cannot get close enough to the cell to investigate,” The guard’s expression turned worried, “Whenever somepony got too close they would fall asleep. Lost another two guards in an attempt to recover the first two, we almost lost the medic before some levitated them back.”
“Allow Us passage, We believe to know the cause.” The guard hesitated, but allow the princess to pass. As she passed through the doorway into the guard’s room she was met with the sight of frantic ponies. There were two guards bracketing the doorway leading to the cells, over by the tables were the unconscious forms of four guards, there was a nurse and a medic walking between the tables checking their vitals. Luna turned to the medic, an orange coated unicorn mare wearing medical saddle bags.
“Quick Stitch, what are their conditions?”
The mare turned to face the direction she had heard the voice, “Oh, Princess Luna. I don’t really know, as far as I can tell they are asleep; they respond to outside stimuli. But for the life of me I cannot wake them.” Luna looked over the closest grey stallion guard, she could see his chest rising and falling. Using her magic she indeed confirmed that he was dreaming. “My first assumption is a sleep spell, but I cannot find any charms maintaining it; I’ve tried every means of dispelling and warding I know. Nothing has worked.” The mare was obviously frantic, not used to ailments she was not able to diagnose.
Just then one of the other guards started screaming, hooves flailing. Everypony in the room was stunned by the fear that the scream held. Once his actions settled to a quiet whinnying Luna stood over him and lit her horn. Running her magic over his prone form, from hoof to horn, Luna could not find anything out of place. He was a perfectly healthy stallion, the only magic she could find were the enchantments used on his armor. It wasn’t until she scanned his mind she noticed something odd, he was dreaming or more specifically having a nightmare, but there was an odd tugging; a tugging that lead down to the cells.
“The reason you cannot cure their bodies is because they are perfectly healthy, someone is channeling a very odd spell and has a hold of their dreams.” As Luna finished she looked up at the door leading to the cells.
“You mean the diamond dog?” Quick Stitch face was twisted in confusion, “But he should not be able to use magic.”
Turning back to the orange mare, Luna responded, “He is not of a common variety of dog Stitch, and as such we do not know what he is capable of. If he is indeed the cause of our current predicament, it would be interesting to measure his involvement as well as to put an end to it.”
When Luna heard the shuffling of armor and the snap of wings she looked up at the source. Standing in front of the door way to the cells were the two of the guards; wings crossed to bar her path. One of the guards spoke, “We are sorry your highness but we cannot allow you to enter with hazards present.”
Luna could only smile at their attempt to protect her, “Do you believe that We, Princess of the night, would be bested by simple sleep spell?” Quick Stitch’s brows raised in confusion as she began objecting.
“But you just said that there was no sleep spell.” Luna turned to face Stitch, smiling at her obliviousness.
“There was no spell cast upon them, but instead around them. They cannot be awakened because what has put them to sleep now has hold of their dreams.” Stitch’s face bore a look of extreme concern.
“But why?”
“That is what We wish to find out,” turning again to the guards Luna continued, “unless you believe Us be helpless?” The two guards looked at each other then back to Luna before returning to their stations, the look of dejection clear on their features. Luna walked through the doorway then turning to them again, “Thank you.”
The stone corridor looked the same as it had earlier that day, but she could feel it; something was off. Walking down the silent corridor, it didn’t take too long for Luna to pick it up; the quiet whimpering. It didn’t seem to get any louder as Luna proceeded to walk towards the cell it originated from, but when she a cell’s length away it hit her. It was like a wave crashing against her, forcing her mind into unconsciousness. As her eyes drooped Luna quickly stumbled back, and just as quickly as it arrived, it vanished. There was definitely a magic aura originating from the cell, Luna’s horn began to glow faintly as she warded her mind against its influence before working her way into the cell.
As Luna opened the bars to cell she found a lump lying on top of the cot, releasing the occasional whimper. Luna stood over the lump of bedding before she began to prod it with a hoof, “Lodestone wake up.” When she didn’t get a response she tried again with the flat of her hoof, “Ryan wake up!” this time she received a small yip. The tugging she had felt from the stallion definitely led to Lodestone. She decided to try again, placing a hoof on the lump she began to shake it, only to receive as small jolt running through her foreleg. As she drew her leg back in surprise she levitated the bedding off the cot.
There lying in the cot was Lodestone, curled up into a ball so tight, that with his fur now dried, he looked like a white pompom with ears. But his ears were not the only thing protruding from the ball of fur, along his back the crystal spines stood erect. Every few seconds a small arc of blue electricity would travel up in the space between spines. This was the source of the spell; Luna could feel it emanating magic. But then she felt something else, something underneath the radiating magic, a connection to something else, to the Dreamscape.
Luna was not entirely sure what was happening, Lodestone was the cause of what had befell the guards that were stationed at his cell, but he was exhibiting the same symptoms as well. He was asleep; held in that state by his nightmare. If she wanted to end this she would need to end the nightmares themselves. As she backpedaled to the center of the cell she sat down, and began to charge her horn; ready to cast the all too familiar spell.
When she opened her eyes she found herself on the Dreamscape, in front of a disturbing site. There floating in front of her was what could only be Ryan’s dream, but what disturbed Luna was that the wispy tendrils, that would flow in an unseen breeze were currently wrapped around four other dream motes. Ryan’s dream pulsed an angry dull red, but every time it pulsed the colour would travel down to a dream mote held within the tendrils grasp turning them a bright orange. Luna knew that the dream motes being grappled belonged to the guards currently unconscious and being tended to by Quick Stitch. It was then that Luna watched as one of the guard’s dream motes descended for the ocean’s surface, only to be yanked back up by the tendril that it was wrapped by.
It only came with slight relief that she theorised; if she could end Ryan’s nightmare it would release the dreams of the guards as well. And that perhaps at viewing his nightmare find out what had him so troubled. With this in mind Luna entered the second nightmare of something so alien to her, she did not know what to expect this time but if it was the same as last time she would be able to deal with it without Celestia’s interference.
Luna opened her eyes when she heard the creak of metal, and sounds of gears. What she saw, she could only think of as Canterlot Castle. Except with pillars replaced with iron girders, where there should be stonework was instead a patch work of metal plating, and the windows were replaced with iron bars. The lighting was extremely dark, there was the scent on blood and everything was covered in rust.
As Luna began to take in her new environment she felt slightly disturbed, every dream she had seen so far piqued her interest. They were so alien to her she couldn’t help but get excited, even the first nightmare she had witnessed. But this disturbed her because it was a familiar place, only twisted. Luna stood in one of Canterlot Castles many hallways; it was easy enough to tell. But there was no stone work to be seen, everything was metal. The walls were either metal plating or the occasional grating, the windows were barred over and the glass fogged and opaque. There was a hint of blood in the air and everything was covered in rust.
Lighting her horn she began her search for Ryan, her magic telling her that his trail started somewhere further down the hallway. Luna made her way down the passage, occasionally passing buy a wall grating that exposed massive rusted pipes or grinding gears that squealed through the rust. As Luna continued she became aware of her nerves, while she was unsettled by the perversion of her castle something else irked her. She soon realised it was the loneliness; the last time she had traversed Ryan’s nightmares she at least had her sister with her. But now she was alone, and had no idea what she was going to face. But she had to continue as four ponies relied on her finding a way to wake them.
When Luna entered the foyer she took in the perversions around her, from the plated walls to the grated stairs; showcasing a set of rusted pipes spewing brown sludge through some king of drain. Looking up saw what was now the chandelier, it was now a jagged ring of barbs and metal; a ring of thorns ready to drop.
It was then when Luna noticed something near the entrance, which had proven to be rusted shut. It was a stand and on it was a single pamphlet, looking it over she discovered it to be a tourist’s guide to the castle; complete with a map of each level. Luna placed it back on the stand; she didn’t need a map because she already knew the castle like the bottom of her hoof. And with that she picked the closest exit her magic pointed her towards, that was neither locked or rusted shut.
As Luna trotted down another rusted hallway she heard somepony call out, “get…away!”
The voice was far too feminine to be Ryan’s; it was most likely a projection. Luna sped towards the source if she aided the projection she could use to locate Ryan himself, but at the very least she wouldn’t be alone. As she approached the source of the voice Luna would occasionally hear a loud thud or a thump.
Just as Luna approached the doors the sounds emanated from, they burst open. And out flew a vaguely pony shaped entity; it was the size and shape of the average pony, but it had no eyes, mouth or nostrils. It was as if someone attempted to make a pony out of white clay, but they stopped when they had the basic shape. Luna observed the thing twitching on the floor, until a cream coated Pegasus mare with a green mane bolted out the door as well. The mare ran up to the twitching creature before rearing up and bringing her fore hoofs down on its barrel with a sickening crunch before it stilled. “And stay down!”
The mare watched the pony shaped monster for a moment, waiting for it twitch again. When it remained still she finally noticed Luna looking down upon her. “Princess Luna? What are you doing here, it isn’t safe.”
It took Luna a moment to place the voice; it belonged to one of the guards stationed at the dungeons. One of the guards, Luna now realised, that now lay unconscious on a table. She was not expecting to see the pony, much less without the enchanted armor that gave the guards their uniform appearance. Luna stepped forward and with her magic scanned the mare; she was indeed the same pony but as to how she was in Ryan’s dream perplexed her. “Daisy Cutter, are you well? Have you been injured?”
“Yes your highness, I am fine. But I am at a loss as to how I got here.” Daisy waved her hoof about motioning to her surroundings. “One moment I’m sitting at my station when I hear a noise. I went to investigate I found Frost Fire and Marigold knocked out, I went to help but I must have tripped and knocked myself out cause next thing I know I’m here.”
Luna gave a quick nod in response, “We are uncertain as to the circumstances but we are in a nightmare.” Daisy gave a quick look down the hallway then back again at the creature she had bested.
“I’m not really seeing it, sure it’s creepy and all. But to call this a nightmare would be pushing it.” Daisy looked up at Luna thoughtfully, before raising an eyebrow in confusion, “wait if this is a nightmare how come I haven’t woken up yet?”
“Because this isn’t your nightmare.” Luna’s brow creased as she began to think over their current predicament, “We are still uncertain as to why this has happened, but you and perhaps your fellow guards have been pulled into the nightmares of your charge. And it would seem that as long as he is dreaming we cannot wake you.”
Daisy was suddenly concerned; she now faced being held against her will in a setting that did not quite feel homey. “You mean the dog… but how?”
“We are just as concerned, We believe it to be the use of magic—“
“Wait magic? But he is diamond dog how can he be using magic.”
“We as of yet do not know, We have not seen anything like this before and We do not understand the implications of it. We believe that the safest way to awaken you and the other guards is to find Ryan and awaken him from his nightmare.” Luna beckoned Daisy to follow her and was about to head off when the mare stopped her.
“Ryan? The charts said the dog’s name is Lodestone.” Daisy’s eyes were narrowed as she focused on Luna.
“Yes well he refers to himself as Ryan within his dreams. Come we must make hast, to either insure the wellbeing of your fellow guardsponies or to awaken Lodestone and return you to the waking world.” To this Daisy brokered no complaint, she had received an order from a princess and her fellow ponies could be in danger. Luna and the unarmoured guard traveled down the hallway at a decent trot, following a trail she had picked up using her magic. The trail led to a huge set of double doors, opening them with her magic Luna was confused at the sudden change in scenery.
There on the other side of the door was a dining hall, but it was not crafted out of the plated metal the hallways exhibited. The large dining hall was constructed as it should have been; tiled floors, stone walls even the tables were set out. But just as Luna took in the familiar sights, the oddities began to show through. The walls showed signs of crumbling, the tiles were water damaged, the cutlery on the tables were tarnished and the food rotten. Luna was so busy taking in the creepy display she barely felt somepony prod her foreleg. Looking down she saw Daisy as she began pointing upwards, “your highness, up there do you see?”
Looking up towards the third floor Luna saw the balconies that overlooked the hall. They were currently barred over making them look like bird cages. But what caught Luna’s attention was that one of them was currently glowing blue. Before Luna could even mouth words of caution, Daisy had taken to the air. Turning around mid-flight she waved Luna over, “come on let’s check it out.”
Luna followed Daisy up to the glowing balcony, and while she was surprised by the sight she was also relieved. There amongst some debris were two unicorn stallions, one with an ice blue coat and red mane while the other had a green coat and a two toned blue mane. Daisy being ahead of Luna was the first to make the introductions, “Hey Frosty your alright—“ Daisy suddenly let out a gasp when she saw the second stallion’s condition, “Mint! What happened?” Frost Fire, the red unicorn, had his horn glowed a bright blue as he tended to the Mint Floss.
Frost was waving his horn over the prone form of Mint, using a rudimentary healing spell. Mint lay there a small gash on his fore leg and a bruise showing through on his chest, Mint gave a grunt as he looked at the new voice, “Daisy? Princess? Oh thank Celes—thank Lu—I mean you’re okay!” Frost following the prone ponies gaze met eyes with Luna and Daisy; he gave quick nod before returning to his spell.
Luna suddenly grew concerned when she saw the condition of Mint, “What happened? How much does it hurt?”
Mint gave a dismissive wave of his gashed hoof, earning a concerned frown from Luna and a scowl from Frost as he forced it down before focusing on it with his magic again. “Oh this? It’s nothing, got it when I misstep on a grating. As for the bruise, those monster ponies sure can pack a wallop. I’ll be fine though once Frost finishes up.” As the gash on his leg faded Mint began to stand up. Turning to Luna he asked, “your highness do you know what’s going on, one moment I’m guarding the prisoner and then the next moment I’m wondering castle rust with Frost here.” Frost Fire just gave another nod.
“You are all trapped within a nightmare, as far as We can tell.”
“I wouldn’t really call this a nightmare, maybe creepy. But wait if—“
“It’s not your nightmare; we have all been pulled into the dog, Lodestone’s nightmare. And it seems that to end it we need to wake him up.” Daisy interjected, when both Mint and Frost turned to Luna for confirmation she gave a curt nod. As Mint began to put weight on his leg he turned to Daisy.
“So all we need to do to end this is find the dog and tell him to wake up?” Daisy nodded. “Well then I suggest we split up, Daisy take the princess and search the ground floors. Frost and I will search the top and we will meet in the middle, got it?”
“Got it, let’s go” Daisy saluted.
But before anypony could leave Luna spoke up, “you won’t be looking for a dog, what you are looking for is a tall hairless biped and responds to the name Ryan.” The guards surrounding Luna gave her a series of extremely confused faces.
“What, why?” Frost broke his silence.
“Do not question it; We are still trying to figure out how you were dreamnapped.” Luna said, perhaps a little too sternly. But all she got was a serious of nods before Frost and Mint headed through a doorway at the back of the balcony. They were still guardsponies and they would follow her commands.
Luna descended with Daisy back down to the ground floor. As they landed Daisy raised a hoof and pointed it towards a servant’s entrance, “shall we start with the kitchens?”
With an affirmative Luna and Daisy worked their way through the tables towards a set of door. That was when the lights suddenly went out, plunging them both into to complete darkness. Daisy let out a slight ‘eep’ as Luna light her horn with a light spell, but it barely did anything except illuminate Daisy and the closet tables. They stumbled their way around tables making for the last known location of the door, when the lighting suddenly reappeared allowing both ponies to see that the dining hall was now populated.
Every seat in the dining hall had a ponikin in it, there were a few spare around tables acting like waiters but most were seated in a manner that made them look like they were either eating or conversing. The ponikins themselves were unremarkable, taking on the basic shape on a pony but without any features other than ears, and covered in a yellowed aged fabric. Daisy whispered to Luna in a hushed tone, “perhaps we should leave.” “We agree.”
Just as they began making their way towards the door again, avoiding contact with the closest ponikins the lights went out. Luna and Daisy stood there frozen, not daring to move. Luna’s light spell could not cut through the darkness, as they stood there surrounded by silence. she dared to take a step, as soon as her hoof touched the floor the lights returned. What Luna saw in the new light was that every ponikin in the hall, more than a hundred, were now looking at her. Each and every head of a ponikin was twisted to face Luna, regardless of whichever way the body was facing. But what had unsettled Luna was the fact that each and every muzzle piece of the ponikins were stained in blood that streaked down their necks.
Luna and Daisy were both panting heavily, they had over exerted themselves. Luna slumped against the stove, tables and kitchen sink that they had managed to pile in front of the door. Their attempts to blockade the ponikins proved fruitful when the scraping could no longer be heard on the far side of the door. Daisy climbed the pile to look out the window; Luna was suddenly brought to attention by her scream as Daisy fell off the blockade onto her back.
“t-their still out there.” Daisy said as she pointed a hoof towards the porthole. As Luna followed the pointed appendage, she found herself staggering backwards. There in the window was a blood stained and featureless head looking in. “We believe it to be in our best interest to vacate the premises.”
“r-right behind you.” Daisy said as she worked herself back onto her hooves. They worked their way through the kitchen, Luna making several observations. She noticed that there was no longer any of the rusty construction, instead she found herself wondering a water damaged and run down kitchen. The only things rusty were the kitchenware; knives, pots, pans and even the ovens. It wasn’t until Luna noticed the smell of blood that she realised that the kitchen counters held the occasional hunk of rotting flesh.
The sinks were filled with a red-brown sludge, with several unidentifiable chunks floating about. Upon the counters where there were cutting boards lay large hunks of unknown flesh, some still with bone jutting out at odd angles. As Luna surveyed the kitchen Daisy commented, “I think I’m going to be--” Daisy quickly turned her head to the side, shoving it between two shelves; a small splattering could be heard as the Pegasus voided her stomach before looking back as Luna, “sick.”
“While We agree that sight is disturbing, We believe it best we do not dwell of whom this meat once belonged to or whom it is for.” While the thought itself brought a great sense of unease to her, Luna couldn’t help but smile at Daisy’s disgust. Daisy had returned to her spot between the shelves; dry heaving.
“Please Princess, focus we still have to find a way out of here.” Luna let her smile drop as she nodded in agreement. It was then they heard a heavy shuffling, when both ponies realised that neither of them were moving they turned around to face a hideous four legged and bloated monster.
The creature was massive, nearly tall enough to come up to Luna’s chin resulting in it towering over daisy. Its faded grey fur bulged and warped from growths under its pelt. As it slowly shuffled its way across the kitchen several of the growths on its legs began to writhe. Looking upon its face Luna saw that while it had no eyes, it did have a blood stained mouth filled with jagged and broken teeth. As the thing reached a counter it leaned over and began drawing a fetid, browning hunk of flesh into its mouth. As Luna watched in disgust she realised that this thing was blocking the rear exit of the kitchen. It was then daisy spoke up, “I’m sorry princess… ugh. But I am not going anywhere near that thing.” Covering her mouth with a hoof Daisy heaved again, “Besides you’re the one with the one with the horn.”
Luna picked up on the cue and nodded as she began charging a spell. Lowering her head, Luna aimed her horn at the monster before letting loose a silver lance. The lance crossed the kitchen to strike the creature center mass, piercing it and scorching the wall behind it. As the thing fell it let out a shrill cry before landing in a twitching heap on the floor, black ooze bubbling out the new holes Luna had given it. As the smell from the ooze began to fill the kitchen with its presence; a rancid and fetid smell so thick Luna could feel it on her fur, Daisy once again heaved but only managed to bring up bile. Luna could no longer hold it herself, so bowing her head she finally allowed her stomach to void itself onto the floor.
With the air within the kitchen becoming unbearable, Luna spread her wings and began to take flight with Daisy following suit. The glided near the ceiling of the kitchen neither of them looking down, not willing to see the rotten meat and bloodied workspaces. But least of all the massive bulging mass of flesh that twitched and writhed spewing forth the black ooze that filled the kitchen with the horrid smell. As Luna landed near the door she reared up, and bucked the door with her fore hooves, the doors swung open as Luna charged out into the fresh air to find herself in an alleyway.
Luna slowed to a trot, then to a walk and finally stopped. She took a moment to draw in fresh air when Daisy came sliding to a halt next to Luna. Gasping for air with an extremely confused look on her face she turned to Luna, “But, how… what?” Luna watched as the mare spun in circles taking in their surroundings; the door they had exited lead out the back of a small restaurant, not the castle kitchens they occupied moments ago. “But we should be in the gardens.” Looking over the restaurant Daisy couldn’t make out any building higher than three stories, “where is the castle? We were wondering its halls not even five minutes ago.”
Luna took pity on the poor mare’s state, everything felt too real to not be a dream but at the same time nothing made enough sense for it not to be. “Daisy please calm down, remember that we are within a nightmare. And more specifically on that is not your own, if we wish to end this soon we must find Ryan and wake him.”
Daisy took a few calming breaths, helped by the fact they were not choking on the smells from the kitchen before straightening herself out. “Right, which way now your highness?”
With that said, Luna’s horn began to glow. Picking a direction the two set off down the alleyway.
***
Daisy followed Luna, guided by her magic, around a small town they found themselves in. A town that Luna did not recognise; the buildings were too square to be from any of the smaller settlements; they followed the designs used in the cities like Manehatten and Fillydelphia. But again it didn’t fit as the buildings were too small. Luna had trouble following her trail through the town as there was a fog so thick that she could barely see more than two meters before her. And they would occasionally stumble across massive crevices that would cause roads to end suddenly. This posed no trouble however as whenever it came to such an obstacle they would just spread their wings and fly across.
Luna looked to her side to see Daisy walking as close to her as possible without touching. She was eyeing each and every shadow looking for potential threats. But Luna knew what was concerning the mare; as it was creeping on her as well. The silence, the stillness and the emptiness the town was exuding was oppressing. Ponies are not solitary creatures; always near others and trying to make friends. To be in a place that was not only empty but the air itself seems to be isolating must have been driving the mare insane. Daisy caught Luna looking down at her, “How much further?” her voice was flat, almost cold.
Looking back up Luna checked for the trail once again, “We believe that he has entered this building.” Daisy looked up to see that they now stood before a massive theater, the walls showing signs of neglect and the sign itself falling apart. The two pushed their way through the dilapidated entrance to find themselves in the worn out entrance hall. The carpet was riddled the holes, paintings hung lop sided; corners curled on most. A dark and ominous presence could be felt but not pinpointed. Luna checked her magic once again, “we are close, come let us find a way upstairs.”
The stairs creaked as they made their way to the second floor of the theater. The wallpaper peeling in many places and some of the floor boards missing allowing for a view to the floor below. Luna approached one of the doors and opened it, stepping through she found herself on the second story viewing platform of the large theater. Many of the seats had either rotted away or were completely broken, but to her surprise few remained whole.
Luna walked down the aisle with Daisy trailing behind, she was surprised to find that the trail was getting stronger. As she neared the edge of the balcony a small golden glint caught her eye, even stranger yet was that the trail led her towards it. When she got close enough to it she levitated it out of the rubble it had fallen into. It was a bit, or more specifically a defaced bit; for within the center of it laid a purple amethyst. When Daisy saw the ruined currency she spoke up, “What is that?”
Using her magic Luna caused it to spin before letting it drift upwards, then letting it drop she caught it in her hoof. The gem setting now held a stone of bright amber, Luna was uncertain as to how it had happened as she could not sense any magic from it. She spun and flipped the coin three more times, each time the setting held another colour of gem. “We do not know, but We have seen Ryan with such an item both on his person and within his dreams. If it is here then we must be getting close.”
Just as Luna placed the bit behind her neck piece a siren began blaring. The noise itself came from nowhere and everywhere at the same time, both her ears and Daisy’s swivelling madly trying to pinpoint its origins. Luna looked to Daisy as her head spun looking for danger while a frightened look creased her face. Luna was about to offer the mare her comfort when her own ears caught a new sound, it sounded like tearing parchment and fluttering. When Luna looked towards the sound behind her, her eyes went wide. A shrill gasp sounded when Daisy spotted the same thing.
The back wall of the theater began to fall to pieces as the sirens blared. The wall paper, wood and doors began falling apart; but as the pieces tore themselves off they floated upwards revealing the metal rusted appearance Luna first witnessed when she arrived. As the degradation worked its way towards them it revealed more and more of the rusted land scape. When it passed over the seats it revealed wooden benches, each armrest sporting a heavily rusted metal restraint. Both Luna and Daisy stepped back; attempting to stay ahead of the wave, until they backed into the balcony’s railing.
As the wave passed over them they both launched forward, the railing they were leaning against had become a low wall of barbed wire. They could only watch as the wave passed over the theatre, turning it to a rusted and mocking imitation of what it should have been. As the wave passed the stage Daisy pointed a hoof and said, “What is that?”
Luna looked over the stage witnessing its transformation. The curtains almost looked as if on fire, the bottoms began to shred as the pieces floated upwards, revealing a metal grated stage. But what Daisy was pointing at was not the stage itself; it was what the stage was presenting. There on the stage in the center was a pony-form, similar to the one she encountered when she met Daisy. But this one was chained down to the stage over a massive metal block. It seemed very familiar; it was faded brown in colour without any discernible features and a slight greying colour running down its neck. Before Luna could bring herself to question why the dough-like monster reminded her of somepony she heard heavy chains being dragged along metal grating.
The trapped dough pony started to become restless; testing its restraints pulling at its chains in a dire attempt to free itself. But neither Daisy nor Luna noticed, there attention held by something thing that had made itself know. Walking onto the stage was a tall alicorn, while it walked onto the stage it dragged along with it heavy chains linked to massive manacles on each leg. Its fur was a bleached and sour white with faded brown-red stains around each hoof, its horn, wings, and along each cheek. Its multi-hued mane and tail hung limp from its neck and haunches as they dragged along the floor. Its wings were tattered shreds and its horn had a crooked spiral to it that led to a jagged point, but what concerned Luna most was mark on its flank; a sun stained as red as blood.
“i-i-isnt that Celestia?” Daisy stuttered as she pointed to the parody of the solar princess.
“No, that is but a projection of the dreamers fears. It is not my real sister.” Luna said with a frown; she was afraid of the implications this could have.
“But how? How could anypony see her as such a thing, she is the most benevolent ruler Equestia has ever seen since its inception”
“How indeed.” Luna muttered to herself as she considered her sisters strange behavior as of late. She was drawn from her thoughts as noticed the alicorn was standing over the chained pony-thing’s form while it still struggled in its attempts to free itself. The alicorn reared up on its hind legs, chains and manacles dangling from its for legs. Luna called out instinctually when the chained pony’s muzzle broke through the material that gave it its dough like appearance revealing a tan coloured muzzle gasping for breath, “SISTER—“
Luna was shocked into silence as the alicorn looked straight up at her, but without having eyes. The alicorn had bandages wrapped around it head covering all but its mouth; red stains flowing downwards where each eye should have been onto each cheek. The alicorn didn’t break its stare as it brought its hoofs down on the trapped pony with a resounding crunch. Blood, bones and pink matter spewed from the pony’s mouth as the alicorn began to slide the pony across the metal block until each leg pulled free from the torso with a tear and a pop. The alicorn threw the remains off to the side, legs still chained to the floor but now without a body, all the while looking straight at Luna. When the alicorn started walking towards her, it wasn’t until it was halfway up the aisle that Luna realised she was being shaken by Daisy, “Princess I think we should go, it’s coming for us.”
“Right, right…” looking around she spotted the door they had entered in, “Come let us go.” She said as she charged for the door, and used her magic to pull it open. Luna skidded to a halt as she soon realised that beyond the door was a black pit leading down to an unknown depth. She didn’t even get a chance to consider its sudden appearance when she was bowled over from behind by a hasty Pegasus.
The fall was just long enough to give Luna time to straighten herself out and halt her descent. She hovered there for a moment before Daisy fluttered in beside her, a sheepish smile on her face, all she said was “Sorry your highness.”
“No injury befell Us, so all is forgiven.” Luna replied, but Daisy’s smile remained apologetic. Luna took in their new surroundings, the pit fall had deposited them within another rusted out corridor but she could not tell from where it belonged. Using her magic once again searched for Ryan, and was quite surprised to find that he was close. Heading down the corridor she turned to Daisy, “we are close.”
Luna and Daisy walked down the rusted corridor, nothing worth note other than the occasional rusty pipe that dripped fetid water. That was until they approached a large set of double doors, a series of loud thumps could be heard from the other side. A muted voice suddenly spoke up from behind the door, “I think it’s dead, you can stop now.”
“Marigold!” Daisy’s ears pointing straight forward at the sound, her body straightened as she charged straight for the door. Luna had to use her wings to catch up.
Luna rushed through the door in an attempt to stop Daisy from hurting herself or running into danger, when she found herself within a large green house. The walls still rusty and the glass of the dome so foggy it was opaque or shattered in places revealing a blood red sky, and then there were numerous dead trees. But in the center of the room held an interesting sight of Marigold, a yellow Pegasus with a blonde mane, holding back Daisy. Ryan stood there surrounded by the corpses of at least three pony things, holding a bloodied pipe in hand.
“Mari what are you doing, that thing is going to hurt you.” Daisy shouted as she tried to push her way past her friend. Ryan looked at the two ponies rather dejected.
“Hurt me? Daisy he saved me, we’ve been looking for a way home.” Pointing a hoof behind her Marigold continued. “ever since I woke up here, he has been helping me get back to Canterlot, and his name is Ryan.”
Daisy looked over her friends shoulder to the human as he gave a sad smile and a wave, “That’s Ryan?” Daisy let out a relieved sigh before she continued, “Mari you never left Canterlot, we are all asleep and everything we have experienced has been a nightmare. His nightmare.” Marigold’s face was the picture of shock before in morphed to one of confusion. Before anyone could continue Ryan spotted Luna and his expression weaved into that of a scowl, walking up to Luna he raised his pipe at her.
“You! What is my mind to you? Some sort of tourist attraction? ‘come one come all to see the human of myth? Or have you brought more ponies into my mind so they would hate me?” Luna took a step back inorder to distance herself from the blood covered weapon.
“No, We have done no such thing. We came here to end the torment of this nightmare as well as free the four ponies you have drawn in with you.” Ryan lowered the pipe a fraction as he raised one of his eyebrows.
“Torment? What torment, I am free to do as I please here. It is when I wake up I’ll be tormented, still be behind bars being punished because you and your sister decided to barge into my mind and didn’t like what you saw.” The anger in his voice washed over Luna, Ryan raised the pipe at Luna once again. “What gives you the right to enter another’s mind to do as you please?”
Luna could not fully understand why he was so angry, but she would not be threatened. Standing tall over Ryan her eyes began to glow bright white, “We are the Princess of the night, it is Our duty to not only safe guard our subjects but their dreams as well. We came to you cell ease the burden of false imprisonment, but what we saw was that you have threatened four ponies under Our protection with this nightmare that you have trapped them in.” Luna finished by stomping a hoof, eliciting a crunch as small silver cracks radiated from the impact.
Ryan immediately dropped his pipe in order to clutch the sides of his head with a loud grunt as he staggered backwards. Seeing Ryan hurt Marigold flew in between him and Luna, “Princess stop, while I’m relieved to know that this is a nightmare and my life was never in danger. Ryan here stood guard over me as if it were.” This calmed Luna as her eyes dimmed allowing her irises to return, she looked down at the floor beneath her hoof and cringed. While the silver cracks were still present they slowly began to recede. She looked back up at Marigold whose face was screwed in concentration, “wait, princess if this is Ryan’s nightmare and he now knows his dreaming. Why hasn’t he woken up yet?” Daisy nodded in agreement.
Ryan straightened himself out and shook his head, turning to face Luna he frowned, “you have no idea how much that hurts.” He bent down to pick up the pipe once again, “I’m not sure how ponies dream, but when I’m having a bad dream it ends when I face the big bad or I wake up normally—“
“You will not.” Ryan looked to Luna confused, but before anypony could question she continued, “The reason We are here Ryan, is because your body is radiating potent sleep magic. We do not know how, but it is keeping you asleep as well as causing those around you to slumber as well. Those that fell asleep by your magic were pulled into this dream and cannot be awakened until you have been awakened. It is this nightmare that is keeping both you and those ponies you are connected to asleep.”
Ryan slumped as he looked over the two pegasi before turning to Luna, “Please Luna, take it for what it’s worth but I never intended for this to happen or to harm your subjects...” he then looked up at the sky as if searching for something. Luna followed his gaze skyward, just in time to witness the red sky turning a more natural grey. “now… you said there were to other ponies in here with us?”
Luna nodded, “Yes but we split our search to find you, and when the dream shifted we found ourselves in unfamiliar places. We should set out—“
“No need, they are right there.” Ryan pointed the pipe to a set of double door in the corner of the greenhouse. As Luna watched, the door suddenly burst open allowing two unicorn stallions to charge through. As soon as they were in they slammed the door shut and braced it with their shoulders.
“Do you think this door would hold them?” One stallion said to the other, who just nodded in response.
“What door?” Daisy giggled as she watched the frantic panic of the two stallions. The two looked over to Daisy before going back to the door, then doing a double take. The stallions were firmly braced against a brick wall. The two quickly recomposed themselves when they realised that they were in the presence of not only the two other guards, but Princess Luna and who they assumed was Ryan.
“Well then, now that everyone is here I think it’s time to wake up don’t you?” Ryan said as he swung the pipe over his shoulder.
“Right, and just how would we achieve that?” Mint asked, “If I’m not mistaken you should have awoken when you realised you were asleep.”
Ryan turned to the questioning pony, “yes well there have been complications, seeing as I can’t wake myself…” he turned to glare at Luna, “and I do not wish to be awakened by the same manner as your sister seemed fit.” Luna cringed as she recalled the event in question, “I guess I’ll have to face to the reason I’m having this nightmare.”
“It is the reason We not only entered your dream, but why We enter the dreams of those under our protection. We will help you in this matter.” Luna watched as Ryan opened his mouth to say something, but the words died on his lips as a loud crack was heard. Everyone turned to the door the noise came from, it was the same door that Luna and Daisy entered the greenhouse with.
“She’s here” Ryan chimed as the door burst open with another crack. The doors crashed to the floor as the hinges splintered the door frame. Luna charged her horn, ready to face this assailant when the target would present itself. As the dust cloud settled however, everypony but Ryan froze.
There in the doorway stood the projection of her sister, jagged horn, shredded wings, bandaged face and chained legs. It looked too much like her sister for her to act against it, and it seemed that the other ponies in her company had the same problem. Ryan did not however share the same hesitation, and to Luna’s shock was already on the creature. The ponies could only watch as Ryan brought the pipe down on the alicorn’s face and again on the upswing. It was on the third swing however that the pipe was encased in a sickly yellow glow, one that was matched by the glow of the alicorn’s horn. Luna couldn’t see his face but she heard the grunt of surprise that came from Ryan as the pipe was launched out of his hand. The ponies present watched the pipe sail across the green house as it impaled a tree husk with a wet crunch, followed by a garbled gag.
The noises however did not come from the tree, they had come from Ryan. Luna looked at the slumped form of the human, held up by the ivory spear that protruded from his back. It was stained red as blood drained around the spirals of the horn. The alicorn brought her head up allowing his body to hang in the air, Ryan gagged in his uplifted position spewing forth a red froth from his mouth that ran down the alicorns back. Luna couldn’t do anything as a smile crept along the alicorn’s face.
Luna’s body didn’t respond to her commands, her senses dulled as colour washed from her vision, and then time stood still. Everything began to crumble to dust leaving behind a vast, empty white void. The other ponies that stood beside her were now gone as everything continued to crumble away. Everything Luna could see turned to dust until all that was left in the vast white was the alicorn with Ryan skewered on her horn. Luna could only watch the image before her in horror as her vision began to fade. With nothing to see but black, Luna tried again and again to open her eyes.
When she finally managed to get her eyes open, what she saw was the underside of her canopy to her bed. Luna could hear the telltale sound of quill on parchment, looking around she found the source of the sound to be her sister working at her table. Upon hearing her movement the writing stopped, Celestia look to the bed her expression as mix of relief and concern. “Luna you are alright, I was so worried you have been asleep for some time.”
Luna blocked out most of what her sister was trying to tell her, she had one thought on her mind “Where is Ryan!?”
Celestia was shocked by the outburst but still remained collected, “You mean Lodestone? He is in the infirmary recovering. Why?”
Luna and Celestia were walking down the halls of Canterlot Castle in the early morning. Celestia turned to her sister. “Do you mind telling me what happened? The guards came to me when you would not respond to their calls. When I arrived I found you and four other guards incapacitated.”
Looking at her sister's concerned face, Luna replied. “We are not sure. We went to convene with Lodestone, but the guards were asleep.” Luna paused to shake her head. “The cause was Lodestone; he was unconsciously maintaining a potent sleep spell, but what I found most curious was he managed to drag the guards into his nightmare. We believed ending his nightmare would solve the problem.”
Celestia smiled. “It did, and the affected guards awoke a while ago, but they were extremely hesitant to discuss their experiences. Tell me, sister, what was his dream? Why will they not tell me?” Luna frowned as she recalled the last moment she witnessed within the nightmare.
“We believe he attempted to face his fear… and failed.”
Celestia noticed her sister's grim expression and somber tone, and grew curious. “Was it the monsters we witnessed together in the last nightmare?”
“No.... We are not sure you would... appreciate what we witnessed.”
“Marigold told me the same thing. What could be so horrible?”
“Why not ask him ourselves? He is in the infirmary, no? But it has Us concerned; why is he there?” Luna asked as she gave her sister a questioning look.
“After you accomplished your goal we were finally able to approach his cell. By what doctor Goodwill has told me, I assume he experienced a stress induced magical epiphany.”
Luna thought for a moment and recalled hearing about a similar event. “Did not Twilight have a similar experience?” Celestia gave a nod. “We are still confused by his magic, but why would that cause him to be infirm?”
Celestia stopped and let out a sigh. “You may have noticed Lodestone does not look like a common Diamond Dog.” Luna nodded. “He is of a different species; he is a Shard Fox, a close relative of the dogs, which we know today. This is peculiar because the foxes went extinct several hundred years ago.” Celestia’s face became stern, “Because of that and his not being a native Equestrian I am troubled. Regardless, he is in the infirmary because I did not know how to intercede against his specific breed of magic. He suffers magical exhaustion.”
Luna nodded in understanding.
Celestia motioned for her sister to follow again as she resumed walking down the hall. “I haven't questioned him yet; he is not awake.”
“Very well, but why are we not walking to the infirmary?”
“That is because we have duties in the Court. Three petitioners are here to plead for Lodestone's release, and because of the atypical nature of this case I wish to use a specific type of magic.”
As they walked to the throne room Luna noticed the petitioners, a massive, beige Diamond Dog, who was readjusting her golden pauldron, an Earth Pony, who laid prone and snored, and a light blue Unicorn, who glared at the snoring pony through square framed glasses as she tried to read a book.
“Those three are from Dodge city, and claim to be Lodestone's friends.”
/*\
Luna and her sister sat on their thrones. Celestia turned to their attendant. “Please, bring the first petitioner.”
They watched the pony nod and slip through the overly large entrance. It did not take long for Luna to hear heavy footsteps approach the doorway. When they stopped a questioning mumble could be heard, but the door opened after a positive sound replied. A massive creature stepped through, whom Luna had only seen twice before.
The creature was a Diamond Dog. As it approached the thrones, Luna could see it was wearing a bright red vest, a golden pauldron, which carried the Equestrian seal, and a chain-link collar, which held a single emerald. Luna was impressed by its size; not many creatures were taller than herself or Celestia. It stood in its natural quadruped posture and it was more than a head taller. If it were to stand in its biped posture it would tower over Luna. Once it reached the dais, it bowed low as its massive frame allowed.
“Rise.” Celestia commanded. “You are Bertha of the Badlands pack, and a member of Equestria’s Subterranean Defence Force, correct?”
The diamond dog rose and with a quick nod she replied. “Yes.”
“Very well. Tell us, Bertha, why do stand before us?”
“Alpha Ponies took pup away—“
Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Pup? You mean Lodestone, correct?”
Bertha nodded. “Yes, pup. Alpha Ponies took pup away, said he was threat. I... think Alpha Ponies are mistaken. He has done nothing wrong since I found him.” She sounded hesitant as she spoke her position.
Both Luna and Celestia raised their eyebrows, but Celestia spoke first. “You found him? What do you mean?”
“I was patrolling the tunnels when I found him wandering, lost, and sick. Pup has done nothing wrong since I found him.” Bertha used the opportunity to reassert her position with more conviction.
“Really? How can you be certain he has not committed any crimes?”
Bertha tilted her head before speaking, “He is pup. When I found him he was sick and weak. Alpha allowed me to care for him. He has only tried to help Ponies and Griffons and Dogs.”
Luna took this moment to ask her own question. “Do you know exactly when you found him?”
Bertha brought a paw to her chin as she thought. After a moment she said “It was not more than eight moons ago”.
Luna nodded before turning to her sister. “If that is true, her discovery is close to the time, when we felt the magical disturbance.”
Celestia nodded in agreement, then turned back to Bertha and asked “Bertha, are you willing to submit to a memory reading to confirm your statements?”
“Yes. If it will please Alpha Ponies and let pup go, I will let you see my memories.”
“So this is why you needed Us, Tia?”
“Yes. I would like to know how he came here and to know no foul horn is at play.” Celestia whispered before she announced “Then let us proceed!”
Both princesses' horns began to glow. Luna's was a cold blue and Celestia’s was a radiant gold. They touched their horns and their magic auras intermingled. Luna stepped down from the throne, and a small silver thread connected her to Celestia. Bertha bowed, and allowed Luna to bring the tip of her horn to the dog’s forehead. Luna slowly began to lose her sense of the world as the memory spell took hold.
The return lanterns allowed mining teams to easily find their ways back home. The task of maintaining them and protecting the outer tunnels was generally tasked to groups of three dogs, but Bertha was an exception. Her longer strides allowed her to move more swiftly than most dogs, and her impressive size and strength allowed her to beat most foreign threats by intimidation alone, and what didn't fear her soon learned.
Although no other dogs were out on her patrol route, the lanterns still needed to be maintained so they would be ready for peak hours.
Pawing through one of her pockets, Bertha pulled out a fair sized gem and replaced the dying light of a lantern, and gave it enough charge to last another day. She hung it on a support beam before moving to the next tunnel. She had performed this task an uncountable number of times during her shift already, and many more lanterns remained. Patrol was usually monotonous work.
Usually.
Bertha began patrolling the tunnels again, but stopped when she felt faint vibrations. She balled up her paw and began tapping out a call signal against the tunnel wall, and waited. No dig teams should have been out, though, so she wasn't surprised when she did not receive a reply... The only thing Bertha knew for sure about the vibrations was they were coming from the Badland Tunnels, from wyvern country. That usually meant trouble.
She was running as quickly as she could while minimizing the sound of her footsteps, but every few minutes she had to stop to relocate her target. As she neared it she become more and more worried; these tunnels weren't usually maintained because of the risk of attracting the wrong kind of attention, and on occasion they became the nesting grounds of unwanted neighbors. She was forced to hold one of her light gems aloft to find her way through the maze. Minutes passed before she finally saw the light reflecting against two bright, red eyes, which quickly hid themselves further in the dark. Upon seeing the creature, Bertha dropped to an aggressive stance and unsheathed the great sword from across her back.
“Show yourself!” She barked as she directed the gem in its general direction. The tunnel was flooded with a harsh blue light, which washed away the darkness and blinded the eyes it concealed. While Bertha was relieved the eyes did not belong to a creature of scales and wing, she was still on edge. What she saw was definitely a dog, but not one she could recall ever seeing or smelling. She slowly walked down the tunnel and shielded the gem's light as she approached. As she neared she picked up more of the nuance of his scent; he wasn't simply unfamiliar, he was young, too. Only a pup. This was not something she had expected.
“You should not be here, little one. These tunnels are not safe.” His ears twitched to face the sound of her voice. The white dog dropped the paw covering his face and started to blink his eyes clear. Seeing Bertha’s legs before him, he tilted his head back… further, further, and further, until he had to arch his back to look Bertha in the eyes.
“Wow… you're big.” He managed to rasp as he leaned back until he lost his balance and fell onto his haunches. In his seated position he held his paws to his head. “I've been... in these tunnels... for days... I think?”
Bertha could only stare as he fell back unconscious.
After recovering from the shock of his poor condition, she brought the gem closer to inspect him. She was surprised by what she saw. She was able to discern was he was a canine, but he didn’t look like a normal diamond dog. His arms only reached to his thighs, his ears were large and stood upright on the top of his head, and his snout was long and pointed. However, in spite of the strange proportions of his body, his most striking feature was his long, soft, snow white fur.
As she become more confused by his form and concerned by his condition, Bertha ran her paw through the large frill of fur of his neck, searching for his collar. “Come pup, your parents must be worried about you.”
“Stray?” Bertha exclaimed as she pulled her paw back in shock. Questions flooded her mind as she couldn’t understand why a pup of this age would be wondering these tunnels alone, without a pack, without a collar.
She leaned down and carefully lifted him into her arms. She watched with concern as he curled up into a small ball against her chest, unnerved by how light he was. She began the slow trek back to the Den, but she never took her eyes from him.
The rest of the return lanterns would have to wait; this was too important. The Alpha needed to know.
/*\
Bertha walked through the training caverns while seeking the Alpha. She entered a large area and heard the sounds of many dogs wrestling, sparring and exercising. After spotting her pack leader speaking to his charges on a raised platform, she continued forward.
A pair of pups sparred with blunted spears as she passed. The two jabbed and parried until one was lucky and nicked the other one's ear. The injured pup yelped and clutched his wound before turning to his opponent. With a bark he leaped forward and the spar devolved into a two toned ball of fur rolling around the pit. Bertha couldn’t help but smile as she watched the spectacle and heard the frustrated cries of their instructors.
Bertha climbed the platform and approached the greying Alpha; she still held the sleeping pup in her arms as she waited for him to finish speaking. The old dog, realizing he was being overshadowed, ended his conversation and turned to address her. “Bertha, shouldn’t you be on patrol?”
Bertha bowed as low as she could, dropping so her head was below his. “Forgive me, Zak, but I thought you should know...” Standing up again, towering over him, she gave him full view of the pup. “I have found stray.”
Stepping forward to see, He ran his paws over the pup's form. Not finding a collar, brand, or tag, he began sniffing. “I haven’t seen dog like this before. He does not seem well. Take him to Sparky and doctor pony. We'll talk when he wakes.”
Bertha gave a small bow as she headed to the infirmary. She stepped through the entrance and found herself in a long chamber filled with rows of mattress covered slabs of stone. Many of the beds were filled with dogs, who suffered sprains and bruises, but a few were in casts. There was a brown dog, who was half of Bertha's height. He wore a white lab coat and a stethoscope, and he was talking to a patient. The other doctor was a white unicorn, who was reading a notepad, but did not otherwise seem busy.
Seeing Bertha approach, the unicorn made a mark on her document and set it down. She looked up with a small smile. “Bertha? What brings you here? You hardly ever get hurt.”
Bertha knelt down, so her chest was level with the pony's head, and rolled her arm to reveal her charge. “Miss Charm, I found him wandering Badland tunnels.”
Healing Charm let out a gasp as she saw him curled up in Bertha’s large forearm. “Come, put him down here. Let's see his condition.”
Bertha gently placed him on the mattress. As soon as she removed her paws the pup shivered from the sudden drop of temperature. Her horn glowing, Charm used her hooves to inspect as much of his body as she could. “Very odd, indeed. He is definitely of the Terra Canidea family… but I somewhat doubt he's a Diamond Dog. He vaguely reminds me of one of the old fox breeds. He is quite young and show signs of albinism...” She muttered as she worked. When she finished her horn dimmed and she looked up at Bertha with a smile, which allowed the large dog to relax. “Aside from mild dehydration and being underweight he seems in good health. Once he's awake we’ll get some water and a few gems in him and he should be fine.”
They stood there for a moment or two before Bertha began to scuff at the floor with her foot. Charm tilted her head as she watched the large dog. “Is there something else you wanted?” Bertha nodded. The two stood in silence again before Charm spoke again. “Well then? What is it?”
Bertha drew in a large breath before releasing it. In a whisper, which was barely audible to Charm, she said “I can take care of him”.
Charm, pretending she didn't hear, looked around the infirmary before allowing a smile to creep on her face. She turned to Bertha and asked “I’ve got quite a few injured dogs here. It’s really no place for a sleeping pup. Why don’t you take him off my hooves?”
Bertha vigorously nodded her head up and down.
/*\
Bertha made her way through the tunnels to the female chambers. As she rounded a corner she ran into a yellow dog, who was barely tall enough to reach Bertha’s chest. The new dog quickly noticed the white form hugged to Bertha's chest. Seeing Bertha’s hopeful face saddened her. “Bertha? Why are you carrying that pup?” The yellow dog leaned in to take in the pup’s scent before looking back up. “This is definitely not one of our pack. Why do you have him?”
“I found him wandering lower tunnels. He is stray, Izzy. He is not well. I took him to see Charm, and she said I can take care of him.” As she looked down at the pup cradled in her arm she smiled to herself.
“Even if he is stray… Bertha, he is not yours. Don’t get hopes up. He may not accept you as mother.”
Bertha’s smile fell and her eyes lost their shine. “No, Izzy, I am only making sure he is healthy.”
Izzy shook her head as she walked past Bertha, stopping only to give her a pat on the shoulder. Bertha continued in silence as she walked down the tunnels to her bed chamber. As she entered the alcove she reached up to activate the gem lantern and illuminated the room.
The room was simple. The back wall had multiple grooves carved out, which acted as shelves. The right wall held a mirror and a small collection of tools used to maintain appearances. The left side of the chamber was dominated by a collection of pillows, which lined a large divot in the floor. That was her bed.
Bertha removed her weapon and placed it on the wall by the entrance before she walked to her bed. She carefully placed him in the center of the pillows and took a seat under the mirrors. She watched the rhythmic rising and falling of his chest as she remembered her dreams.
/*\
It did not take long before the pup became restless. His movements woke Bertha, who was lightly dozing. Seeing the pup raise its head, she quickly reached for her water urn and began pouring it into a clay bowl. She watched as the pup began to inspect his surroundings until his eyes settled on her. She lowered the bowl to him. “Drink.”
He brought the bowl up to his face and peered inside. After he determined its contents he lifted it to his lips and eagerly drank. When he finished he placed the bowl in his lap and looked up at her. “Thank you, Miss…”
Bertha tilted her head slightly, “My name is Bertha. Not Miss.”
“Sorry... Thank you—“
“Oh! You must be hungry!” She smiled as she turned to open her gem bag. Her smile widened as while she sifted through its contents. Satisfied with her pick, she turned around and dropped a large gem in the clay bowl. “Eat!”
The pup looked wide eyed at the diamond in his lap. It was half of the size of his head. He gave Bertha a quizzical look, but she motioned for him to eat. He took the diamond in both paws and stared at it as he turned it over. The pup looked up at Bertha again as his ears folded back. “Seriously?”
Bertha tilted her head in confusion. A hungry pup sat before her with a gem in his hand, but he did not touch it. “Doctor pony says pup is sick and needs to eat more gems. I agree, I carried you and you are too light.”
She watched as the pup brought the diamond back to mouth. He opened it and tried to take a bite, but his teeth only scratched the surface, which caused a loud squeal. Bertha had to cover her ears and the pup yelped in pain as he dropped the gem to cover his. After recovering, Bertha looked down and picked up the gem.
He watched as Bertha closed her entire paw around the clear jewel. The muscles of her arm tensed until the gem cracked under her might. She opened her paw and revealed the once solid diamond now lay in jagged shards. The pup's eyes were widened in shock, his jaw was opened in surprise, and his ears were folded back in fear. She placed the shards in the clay bowl, picked him up, and held him close. He yelped in surprised and asked “What are you doing?”.
“If you won’t eat gem then I’ll feed you.” Bertha picked one of the smaller shards and brought it to his mouth.
“Wait—“ Bertha shoved the shard into his mouth soon as he opened it.
She tightened her grip against his struggles and held his muzzle closed with her paw. While keeping him trapped under her forearm and holding his muzzle as he tried to pull away, she lowered her head to his ear and spoke in a low tone. “Chew.” He immediately stilled and his ears folded back. She repeated again, but with a softer tone. “Chew.”
She could feel his jaw moving within her grip. There was a slight crunch, which was followed by slow chewing. When she was certain he was eating, she released his muzzle. After he swallowed his bite he looked up at Bertha and gave her a crooked smile.
As the memory faded, Luna took a step back. The glow around her horn died and the thread connecting her horn to her sister’s faded away. As she returned to Celestia's side Luna watched Bertha shake her head free of the odd sensations of the spell. With a whisper she chided. “It would seem your 'Big Bad' has been bested by a wanting mother. You must be so proud your subjects were able to deal with this ‘threat’ by themselves.”
Celestia ignored Luna's taunts and addressed the petitioner. “Bertha, would it be safe to assume you have ‘bonded’ with Lodestone?”
Bertha looked down and nervously clacked her claws on the fine finish of the floor. “I do not know. Pup was independent... But several moons ago pup... Broke? Wouldn't respond. Just stared ahead. Not even book or forge ponies's gabbings helped.”
Luna's eyes widened as she realized what Bertha was saying, and she glared at Celestia from the corner of her eye as her sister continued.
“Book pony? Forge pony?”
“Are other petitioners here. Book pony has silly, infantile crush on pup. Pup is forge pony's apprentice.” Celestia could hear a mocking tone in Bertha's voice as she described “book pony”.
“I see. But apparently he recovered?”
“In one cycle of sun and moon. After pup was less independent. Pup started returning affection more. Pup was more like normal pup.”
Celestia rubbed her chin as she pondered Lodestone's reported change of behavior. “So you did bond?”
Bertha was an incredibly large and intimidating creature, but her answer made her seem small and pathetic. “I hope...”
The air felt uncomfortable after Bertha laid her heart bare to the princesses. To break the metaphorically forming ice Luna cleared her throat and renewed the questioning process. “If you value Lodestone like your own child, why did you participate in his capture?”
Bertha straightened under the weight of the implied accusation of her potential disloyalty and regained her intimidating posture. “Duty to pack comes first. You are alpha ponies. You command and I obey. I am not snivelling collar chomper, not like dogs of Rambling Rock. I do not disobey when convenient.” As she finished speaking, however, her bravado melted away again. “... But I do have questions. Why? Pup is just pup. Has been nice, kind, helpful. Even made insufferable book pony more tolerable.”
Celestia could feel the erratic airflow of Luna's tail angrily twitching, though the ethereal nature of her tail made the gesture unreadable from a distance. She ignored her sister's silent accusation as she replied. “Lodestone has many apparently impossible traits. For example, he is a Shard Fox, a specie, which has been extinct for a long, long time. He has ties to Old Powers, which have long remained dormant. Powers, which should always remain dormant. I cannot tell you more.”
Bertha took another low bow. “Thank you. I trust alpha ponies.”
“You are dismissed. However, we would appreciate if you would send... “Book Pony” to see us in five minute's time.”
“Yes, alpha moon.”
/*\
“Tia, this is a dangerous position. Bertha is loyal to a fault, but she expects loyalty in return. If you betray her... We could end up losing her pack. They're the only thing keeping Dodge and its trade alive. If they turned their backs to us many of the smaller, weaker packs would join them.” Luna sighed as she rubbed her temple with a hoof. “Let Us say this. We understand this is a difficult situation for you... But you have nothing to fear from Ryan, and much can be learned from him. You are letting your fears dictate your actions.”
Celestia's eyes were closed as she tried to sort her thoughts. “I do admit... My fears do seem childish after witnessing Bertha's perception of him. But! Looks can be deceiving. I'm not willing to place any trust in him when we know his mind does not reflect his body.”
Luna nodded, “Then let us see if we cannot lay your fears to rest this day.”
/*\
Book pony was a sky blue unicorn with a dark tan mane, and she was trying walk across the throne room. Her gait had an unsteady stutter, and she was looking at everything in the room except the diarchs. Luna was able to see the square framed glasses, which sat snug on her muzzle, and the brilliant orange eyes behind them. When she finally came to the throne the mare was so frazzled she forgot to bow and landed roughly on her haunches.
“And who are you? You'll excuse us, Bertha only called you “book pony”.”
“Ah... Eheh. Did she say anything else?” Book pony was sheepishly playing with her tail as she averted her eyes from Luna.
“She might have, but we'd like you to tell us about yourself.” The sight of the nervous and obviously embarrassed pony was making it hard for Luna to keep a straight face.
“Well, I'm Dust Cover, Dodge's librarian. I sort books. I repair books. I read books, and... that's all I do. I'm kinda boring, really.” Insincerity were oozing from her pores as she finished answering the question.
“Huh... And how do you know Lodestone?”
“He comes to the library to research things most days.” The reply was more terse than Luna thought appropriate for the situation.
“Is that all? Why petition for the release of a simple patron?”
Dust's cheeks turned a bright red as she heard the question. “H-he's not a simple patron. Almost nopony visits the library and it gets boring and lonely there by myself. I love books, but being surrounded by them all day is depressing.”
Luna could barely contain her amusement as the librarian became flustered. “Bertha said you had a crush on Lodestone. I wouldn't imagine his being your primary form of social contact would be a good basis for a romantic relationship.”
Dust's voice squeaked as she fumbled for a reply. “No! Nononono, it's nothing like that! I just enjoy his company! He really livens the place, he's interesting, smart, and I don't even mind when he's noisy!”
Luna was barely containing her mirth at this point. “It sounds like Bertha was right, you do have a crush on poor Lodestone.”
Realizing she was only digging herself a deeper hole, Dust quickly shut her mouth and nervously rocked her left hoof on the floor.
After several moments of silence Celestia decided to intercede on the awkwardness. “Perhaps if my sister weren't so amused by her fantasies of young love we could continue?”
“Y-Yes, your majesty.”
“As Luna was asking, why is Lodestone important to you? Why petition for him?”
“It's embarrassing... I don't think I'll ever... He's help... It's...” And, again, Dust cloistered herself in silence.
“Luna, perhaps we should take a different approach? Young Dust Cover doesn't seem comfortable in her words.”
Luna stepped down from the dais and lowered herself to Dust's level. “We would like to see your memories of Lodestone. You don't need to show us anything uncomfortable, but we'll be able to make a better decision about him if we know more about him. We would appreciate your showing us as much as possible. Is that acceptable?”
Dust had seemingly shrunken to the size of a filly under Luna's gaze. Although Luna had meant to appear less intimidating, it hadn't worked very well. Dust's reply was almost inaudible. “Anything you want!”
A Vivid Dreamer – Ch19 Memory: The Rebinding of Book
Dust Cover sat behind her desk, working on her current project. Her horn was aglow as she reordered the pages of a book. Its spine had unravelled and she was performing her routine maintenance. The book was called Caring for the Paper-bound: Spells and Techniques of Book and Tome Repair. The irony was not lost on her. With some strain and a flash she conjured a spine and bound all the pages and the covers into a whole book. The sound of the front doors' opening and closing marked the arrival of the library’s first, and only, attendee of the day.
Dust set down the restored book and turned to face the entrance way. The library was not the biggest, but it was still fairly sizable as it occupied the east wing of town hall. Unfortunately, most of the town residents were not patrons of the facility. That left her with a little too much time on her hooves and she had a tendency to go stir crazy, so to occupy herself she would often try, and fail, to write her own stories. It was just a hobby and she didn't expect to write anything of note, but it did help her keep her sanity and prevent future Noodle Incidents. But today she had a visitor! The social contact alone would keep her going for several days! The visitor would... The visitor was a diamond dog, and in her experience diamond dogs were extremely poor conversationalists.
Dust watched as the white canine walked inside. He was barely as tall as she was, and his pointed ears made up the difference. He wore an olive green vest and what seemed to be a ragged set of leggings. He was looking around the greeting area and smiled when he saw her. Dust got off her chair and stood beside her desk. “Let me guess, you’re here for a pictured reference guide to gems?”
With a tilt of his head he gave her a quizzical look. “There is actually such a thing?”
“Yes, but I’m afraid the only two copies I have are currently borrowed. I'm afraid you're out of luck for the moment, but if you want I can reserve a copy for you when one comes back.”
Straightening out he smiled at her, “Oh? That won’t be necessary. I came here looking for something more substantial. I don’t suppose you would have any encyclopedias, would you?”
Dust was surprised. The few dogs, who did come to the library, always wanted that one reference guide. Well, with the exception of that brown dog in the lab coat, who seemed a little high stung. She had recently checked out a book on magical storage. “You're new around here, aren’t you? I don’t think I've seen you, and I'm pretty sure I would have noticed a white diamond dog.”
He looked himself over as he replied. “Oh, yeah, I guess you could say that. I've only been here about three days now, although I’m not exactly a dog. Healing Charm says I’m more like a fox. My name's Lodestone, by the way.”
“I'm Dust cover, Librarian of this quiet establishment. Why do you want an encyclopedia, anyway?”
Lodestone began to rub the back of his head. “Well, I want to learn, and an encyclopedia seems like a good place to start.”
“Sure, but what kind of topics would a… diamond fox like you want to study? ” Lodestone frowned as he tried to think of something. “It's just odd to see you show an interest. Most dogs can't even read Equestrian.”
“Yeah, most diamond dog knowledge is passed down verbally. But I would like to learn more about the world at large. Diamond Dog lore is biased and mostly limited to the pack and its territories.”
“So I've heard. I must warn you, my collection of encyclopedias is a little dated, though it should still provide you with mostly accurate information.” She heard a low, dissatisfied grunt, but when she looked at him he didn't appear displeased.
She led Lodestone through the aisles until they came to a particular set of shelves. “Here they are, but these are not tomes you can borrow. You can use the desks in the back.” Dust watched as Lodestone eyed the collection of ‘Encyclopedia Equestria’. “So, is there anything in particular you wanted to study?”
Lodestone ran a paw gently along the spines before stopping at a random book. “Well, I would like to know what kinds of technological developments ponies have developed.”
Dust didn't quite know what to think about the smug grin he was wearing, but she put it out of her mind as she started flipping through the “T~V” book of the encyclopedia. “Then you'll want to start by reading about Tech Demonstration and his many inventions.” She passed the book to Lode.
“Thanks, I appreciate the help.”
“Think nothing of it. The quest for knowledge is a noble one. If you need me I’ll be at the front desk.” Nodding, Dust left Lodestone to his book.
/*\
As Dust walked back to her desk she began to realize the many peculiarities of the encounter. The obvious was he was a canine, who was interested in literature. He was also a new arrival, which went against what Dust knew about Diamond Dog territorial behavior. From his appearance alone she could tell he was not from the local pack, but she couldn't fathom why he would have been sent away from his own pack or allowed to remain here. She tried to recall the heraldry of his collar so she could place his home, but upon reflection she realized he wasn't wearing one.
She knew collars held great significance to dogs, but as she pondered this another thought stole her attention. It didn’t seem significant at the time, but now it was bothering her. He was able to hold a conversation with her like any pony could; his speech was not the broken Equestrian of the dogs, nor the lazy, malformed speech of the pups. By his size and complexion he appeared to be very young, but he mostly acted like a mature adult. As she thought she found many possible explanations ranging from dwarfism or stunted growth to his apparent Fox ancestry. Could dogs and foxes crossbreed? What was a fox? Were they all like Lodestone? Did they have packs or collars? Did they eat gems... or ponies?
Before her train of questioning could become more grim she was interrupted by a loud yelp and the clatter of falling books. “GAH… OW… mrhmph. Merh gewrd twart herrts!”
Not understanding how anypony could get hurt in a library, Dust quickly trotted to the back. As she rounded the shelf she was greeted by a ridiculous sight. Dust looked down at the sprawled form of Lodestone. He, his chair, and several books had fallen over, leaving him sprawled out on his back with the first finger of his right paw in his mouth like a pacifier. Dust continued to look down upon him with a confused expression on her face. “What... What happened?”
Looking up at the voice, he gave a crooked smile around his finger. “Perper kert.” He mumbled before realizing his speech was impaired. He pulled his finger from his mouth with a slight pop, rolled over on his front, and stood. He inspected his finger for a moment before he shook it in a vain attempt of nullifying the sting. “Sorry… got myself a real bad paper cut.” From where she stood Dust couldn't see the affliction. “I never thought my pads would be sensitive like this. That hurt way more than it should have.”
“Aren’t dog paws supposed to be callous? I mean you dig through solid rock on a daily basis.”
Lodestone looked at the ceiling as he pondered his reply. “I can only dig through soft, alluvial soil, like a graboid.” He held his paw out for Dust to inspect. “See?”
The pads were a dull pink similar to his nose and the insides of his ears. Tracing the paw's shape to tips of each digit with her eyes, Dust could barely make out the tip of a white claw within the long fur of his coat. Sitting on her haunches she held out a hoof. “May I?”
“Sure.”
Dust took his paw into her grip and was surprised to find that it was soft and yielding. It was either not accustomed to heavy digging or it was never intended for it. Tracing her hoof along one of his digits, she instantly pulled her hoof away when Lodestone flinched. “I’m sorry, did I hurt you?”
“No, not really. It's just still a bit sore.” He smiled, trying to disarm her worry. He leaned down and began gathering the fallen books.
Watching him handle the books caused a Dust to realize another peculiarity. “Where did you learn to read?”
He visibly tensed, but he replied after a moment of silence. “From my pack.”
“Really? Why would your pack teach you to read?”
He set the books on the table and began looking for his page. “Education was important to them.”
“Oh? I didn’t think learning how to dig required higher learning.” Not until after the hateful words left her mouth did she realize how unintentionally offensive that was, but Lodestone didn’t seem to take it personally.
“It’s not just about digging.” He looked at Dust and asked “Did you know most diamond dogs do know how to read? Just not Eng—Equestrian. They have their own writing system, caneiform.”
Dust’s curiosity was piqued by the prospect. “If that were true why haven't I seen it before? I live right on top of the largest pack in the area.”
“Well, like I said, almost all pack knowledge is passed verbally. There isn't a culturally driven onus for it to be written. It’s mainly used for work orders and unambiguous communication. It's not flowery like Equestrian can be. It wouldn't be useful or interesting to most ponies.”
Dust was busy nodding her head in understanding. “I guess that makes sense, but why would your pack be interested in reading Equestrian?”
“Because we like to learn, but verbal knowledge tends to be colored by the speaker’s biases. Look around you, there are so many collections of knowledge and stories here, and I wouldn’t be able to access any of it if I couldn’t read.”
“So your pack learned Equestrian to read in pony libraries? If that were the case why haven't I heard about foxes before?”
Lodestone gave her a deadpan look. “You presume only ponies have libraries?”
“Well, no, but I thought you said dogs didn't have a... “culturally driven onus for written knowledge”? You sound like my old professor sometimes.”
“That’s what I know about the Badlands pack. Alpha Zak has told me each pack has its own set of rules and tradition.”
“Like your pack?” Dust questioned.
Lodestone thought for a moment. “You could say that, but my pack wouldn’t be anything like you would expect.”
“Really? Sounds very interesting. Where is your pack?” Lode could hear the eagerness oozing out of her voice.
“Uh… They are no longer with us.” He said as he turned back to the tome he was reading.
Dust deflated as she looked at him while he read and frowned. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t—“
“No, its fine. Nothing bad happened. I just don’t want to talk about it.”
The two sat there in silence for several moments. Dust just watched him as he read until he stopped at a page and traced a claw along the words. He looked up and began searching the shelves closest to him.
“Need help?”
“Yes, please. I don’t suppose you have an Atlas, would you?”
/*\
Dust was carrying the atlas on her back to Lode's reading desk. There she found Lodestone looking through one of the earlier tomes she had brought. He was busy paging through it, searching for something.
"Dust, is Democracy a thing?"
She looked off to the side and racked her brain for the definition of the word. "Demo-what?"
Bemused by her incomprehension, Lodestone shook his head. "...Never mind." He watched as she placed the book on his desk with a thump and grinned as she gave him an annoyed look.
“Its not entirely up to date, but it should have all of the important locations on it.” Dust said as she looked over the cover. It read Atlas of Equestria.
“Are you sure this is the only atlas you have? Nothing about anything outside of the borders?” Lodestone asked as he pulled it closer. Reaching over he pulled it open to a random page, which showed a map of the city of Tall Tale.
“Well, nopony really sees a need to leave the borders, so not a lot is known about the Otherlands except what we learn from immigrants.”
Lodestone frowned. “So you’re telling me ponies don’t have any ambition to explore?”
Dust shook her head. “Oh no, its just we don’t know what’s out there. It could be very dangerous.”
Lodestone sighed and wore an exasperated look on his face. “…Never mind.” He turned back to the atlas and started paging back to the front cover, but stopped when he saw the national map. “Seriously!” he huffed as he looked at the map.
“Whats wrong?”
“This map is completely inaccurate, it even says so right here!” He pointed a claw at the bottom left corner of the map, where it said ‘distance not to scale’. “And you say this is the official map of Equestria?”
“Well, it’s a little outdated, but this was official at one point. Really, what's wrong with it?”
Lodestone slapped his paw to his face and allowed it to slide off his muzzle. “An accurate map is very important when you travel. It allows you to judge distance, to measure travel time, and to orient yourself to surrounding landmarks. Without one you can easily get lost… searching for civilization while… hungry and dehydrated.” Dust watched as he visibly shuddered.
Dust was very confused at this point. “Why would anypony get lost?”
“Uuuh... I just told you. If you don’t have a proper map you can't navigate by land marks. This map doesn’t tell you how far,” he gestured to the map, “Dodge is from, say… Appleoosa.”
Dust was thoroughly bewildered by what this implied about Lodestone's past. “I’m not sure what maps your pack used, but this map isn’t meant to show any of that”
“What?”
“No, it’s meant to show and remind ponies the names and places of each town and city. Then the pony just needs to use Skynet to guide them to their destination.”
Lodestones eyes shot open, allowing Dust full view of his crimson irises. “S-Skynet?”
“You don’t know about Skynet? I guess that would explain your confusion... But I thought everypony learned about Skynet!” Dust looked at him as his face bore an odd expression of shock crossed with disbelief. “Would you like to see it?”
“Y-yes please, as long as it’s safe.”
“Why wouldn't it be safe? Come along.”
Dust led Lodestone out of the library and back to the central entrance of town hall. Her hooves quietly clopped on the wooden floors as they travelled through the meeting hall towards the belfry. As they walked Dust's fur began to bristle. She'd never felt like this before. It was a really eerie feeling, like she was being followed... but she already knew Lodestone was behind her. They were only half way to their destination when the feeling reached its peak and should couldn't stand it anymore. She stopped and warily examined the hall, but only the two of them were there.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I'm fine. It was... Nothing.” Dust started moving again and could hear the sound of her own hooves, but she was only able to get a few steps before the feeling became unbearable again.
He silently approached her and rested a paw on her withers. “Are you sure you’re okay? You seem really tense. You sure Skynet's not dangerous?”
Something clicked in Dust's mind, but she wanted to make sure. “Would you mind walking up to that window?”
Lodestone gave her a questioning look, but assented. “Uh... Sure.”
As Dust watched him taking steps towards the window, her ears twitched, searching for a sound that never came. She sighed as this seemed to prove her theory. “Do you know you don’t make a noise when you walk?”
Lodestone stopped and leaned against the wall for balance so he could look at his foot pads. Dust could see his eyes widen and glint with understanding. “Huh, I never realized. I must have been setting off your prey instincts. Heh… I suddenly feel like Snake.”
“That’s what I thought as we... What?” The last part of his statement confused her. “Why would you feel like a snake?”
“Not A snake, THE Snake. It's like a... thing sent to deal with the Metal Gears.”
“You mean a snake that deals with the gears of a clock?”
“I dunno. Maybe a snake made of gears?”
Dust thought for a moment, “Like a clockwork snake? Sounds like an interesting idea.”
Lodestone stood up straight and looked down at his feet and wiggled his toes for a bit. “My claws aren’t big enough to reach the floor, so I can't really force myself to make noise.”
“Oh, that’s fine. You can just walk ahead of me.”
“But I don’t know where to go.”
“...We're almost there, We just need to get to the belfry.”
The pair walked to the end of the hall with Lodestone in front, in plain view of Dust. After walking up the stairs they found themselves several stories above ground in front of a closed door.
“Here we are. Our Skynet beacon is in this room.” Dust opened the door with her magic as they walked inside. The room was round and ringed by small windows, which allowed for a 360 degree view of the town.
In the center of the room was a pedestal, which looked like a purely aesthetic support because the orb above it floated by itself. The orb held a roiling mass of what appeared to be cloud, but it would occasionally change colour as it cycled through the visible spectrum.
Dust watched as Lodestone was transfixed by the globe. “From what I recall it was a Pegasus creation. Cloudsdale, being made out of clouds, drifts in the wind and is impossible to hold stationary. They created the first beacon sometime before the founding of equestrian. It would allow anypony, who knew the name of the beacon, to follow it to its location. After the founding the magic was shared between the tribes and a beacon was placed at each major settlement. Maps don’t need to show distances or size; they just need to show direction and the name of the town. The beacons tell ponies where to go and how to avoid obstacles and dangers.”
Lodestone walked around the pedestal with a perplexed look on his face. “That's amazing. All of its done by this little globe? …huh.”
“Well, not the glass. That just contains the spell. But were you expecting something else?”
“Yes, actually. I thought there would massive rows of terminals linking together a massive communication network, and all of it would be controlled by an artificial intelligence, which hopefully wouldn't go insane and on a homicidal rampage.” He stated as he looked at the glass orb, watching it cycle through many colours. He had his back to Dust and could not see her look of confusion.
“What?” That was all she could say. His answer came so far out of left field.
Lodestone turned around and looked at Dust before chuckling to himself. “Oh, nothing. Never mind me and my silly superstitions.” Then a smile spread across his face. “Hey, Dust, do you know what an artificial intelligence is?”
Dust thought for a moment. “An intelligence... that is artificial?”
The ignorance laced in her reply doused his glee. “...Never mind. What about artificial constructs?”
“You mean like a golem?”
The possibilities of her question rekindled his smile. “You mean ponies actually practice golemancy?“
“No. It is as forbidden as necromancy and hemomancy. It cannot be practised without sanctioned permission from Canterlot.”
Lodestone’s ears were both fully pointed as Dust. She had his full attention, and he wore a stoic expression. “Why's that? I get necromancy and hemomancy, but golemancy shouldn't be more dangerous than any other kind of utility spell.”
“Forgive me if I'm not too learned on the subject. Almost all research is locked away in the Canterlot archives. I don’t know all the details and all of this is second hoof, but there was an incident a few decades ago when somepony attempted to create a golem. It seemed everything was going fine. The golem obeyed commands and was able with do heavy, dangerous jobs without damage. And then... It went berserk.”
“Do they know why it went berserk?”
“By what I understand it was just an automaton. It shouldn’t have done anything without being told.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“What do you mean? Of course I don’t know. I'm just telling you what I was told.”
“No, I mean perhaps the golem wasn’t just an automaton. If I were forced to follow someone's instructions to the letter as they forced me to do things that could hurt or kill me I would do everything to get free. If given the opportunity I wouldn’t hold back.”
Dust thought on that for a moment. “You're saying that they put a pony inside the construct?”
He shook his head. “Not necessarily. That could have been what happened, or they may have created new life. I wouldn't be surprised if they were doing things to it you or I would never do to a living being. It sounds like that was the point.”
Dust wore a disturbed expression as she gazed at Lodestone. “How would you know so much about this?”
Lodestone gave her a smirk. “Reading fiction tends to free the imagination. Anyway, I'd like to get back to the library now. Nothing feeds a good imagination like knowledge, eh?”
/*\
Dust was in the middle of reorganizing books when she heard someone enter. When she got to the front desk she was greeted by the beige form of a diamond dog, who towered over her. Looking past the dog and outside through the door, Dust could see the dim oranges along the horizon. It was dusk. She had lost track of time and hadn't realized how late it was while she helped Lodestone. She looked up at the massive diamond dog. “Hello, how can I help you?”
“You must be book pony?”
Dust cringed. She didn’t like how most of the dogs would call her that. She had a name, after all. She researched the issue a while ago and discovered that diamond dog culture rarely allowed dogs to call non-pack members by name. While she understood it, it still irked her.
The dog’s massive size allowed her to peer over the shelves, and she seemed to be looking for something. “Forge pony said pup came to see book pony. It is late. I came to fetch pup.”
“Pup?”
“Yes.” She raised her paw to the level of Lodestone's eyes. “About this high, white—“
“You mean Lodestone? I thought he had a stunted development.”
The large dog frowned at Dust, which caused her to flinch. Instead of risking insulting the intimidating dog, she decided to get to the point. “Yes, he's here. He's reading at the back.”
Dust led the massive creature through the aisles to the reading desks. She was surprised by how the dog was able to weave herself around the shelves without disturbing anything. When she reached Lodestone's desk she couldn't help smiling.
Lodestone had fallen asleep while reading. He was slumped over in his chair with his arms hanging by his sides. His head rested on the edge of the table, and occasionally a breath would cause the pages of an open book to turn. Her smile only widened as she watched his tail flick and his foot twitch. When she looked up at the large dog's face Dust could see a similar smile.
“Pup asked Alpha Zak many questions. He told pup ‘go talk off pony ears. I still need mine’.”
The beige dog bent down and cooed into his ear. “Come pup. It is late.” His ears twitched, but he remained asleep. The large dog let out a happy sigh and reached under, and lifted him up to her chest with one arm. Lodestone reflexively curled up close as the dog walked past Dust to the exit. Dust followed them and watched them leave. The massive dog turned. “Did pup not try to borrow a book?”
“No, most of the materials we went over are not meant to leave the library.”
The large dog nodded. “Forge pony told me if pup were here with book pony he should get book. What was name? Hammer hard?” she asked, tilting her head as she tried to recall the name.
“Hammer Me Hard: Techniques of Shaping Steel? Yes I still have that book on the shelves. If you give me a moment I can get it for you.”
Dust headed to the non-fiction section, while the large dog waited at the door, and she went through shelves until she found the book. She brought it with her to the front desk. “Seeing as Lodestone is currently indisposed, I'm sure you wouldn’t mind checking it out for him. All I need is your name.”
“Bertha.” She stated.
Dust filled out the ledger with her name and a quick description of her appearance.
Dust floated the book over to Bertha and watched as she took the book with her free paw and stuck it in her vest. “Now, that book is your responsibility. I don’t want to see it returned with any bite marks.”
Bertha huffed. “Yes, book pony, very good, book pony. I will refrain from using book as chew toy, book pony” With a shake of her head Bertha left the library and Dust had the familiar feeling of tasting her own hoof after making a bad joke.
Dust Cover sat there for a moment longer and began to recall the odd discussion with lodestone at the beacon, which was made more confusing because now she knew he was definitely a pup. Something sparked in her imagination, a story idea, perhaps. “A servant made of iron, but having a mind like a pony. It could be a little dark, a little grim, but that could make it interesting, certainly more interesting that those awful Daring Do books.”
Luna snickered at Dust Cover. “You really do have a talent for saying the wrong things, don't you? You really should think before you speak.”
Celestia cleared her throat. “If I recall, Luna, the only reason you barely get away with your own social awkwardness is because you are a princess. I hardly think any advice you could give Dust would be applicable to her station.” After she ended her snide remark she turned to Dust Cover. “So you're here to petition for Lodestone's release because he is your... muse?”
Dust Cover was still cowering on the floor. Her reply was barely audible. “Y-yes, your highness...”
“And that is all? You have nothing more to say on his behalf?”
“I-is there anything e-else you want to know?”
Celestia sighed. “I'd like to know everything about Lodestone, but I hardly think a librarian's literary pursuits are a compelling reason to let him go.”
When it started it was a subtle thing. Only someone, who had a natural sensitivity to the atmosphere of a situation, would have detected it. As the moments passed, however, it became clear the dynamic of the conversation had changed. The first inkling was Dust no longer shook in front of her diarchs.
She slowly stood and for the first time she looked Celestia in the eye. “You missed the point.”
“Excuse me?”
Dust stepped forward and her posture became solid. “You missed the point!”
Celestia could feel her anger spike and although her stoic mask faltered, she was able to maintain her outward appearance; preventing her frustrations from showing. Very few of her subjects ever stood up to her, she had grown use to their compliance. “I'm sorry, but I don't think I did.”
“He's kind, considerate, tolerant!”
Celestia stood and spread her wings to appear intimidating, the cracks in her façade growing larger. “Pfeh, you saw that? I saw manipulation, treachery, and subversion!”
Dust stepped up to the Dais. “Really? You think he came to a public library just so he could manipulate the most awkward, socially inept, and bookish librarian in all of Equestria?”
The guards began advancing on Dust, but Luna stopped them with a motion of her wing. This was exactly what she wanted, an outsider's perspective of Celestia's actions.
“It seems to have worked! He preyed on your weakness, my little pony! I don't claim to understand the machinations of tricksters, but I can see his paw prints everywhere!”
Magic sparked from Dust's horn as she screamed. “You haven't charged him with anything! You don't even know if he's possibly done something! You're paranoid!”
Celestia folded her wings to her side and sat while she wore a smug expression on her face. “Am I? Am I? You openly disrespect the highest power of the land. I can see no better evidence of his foul influence than that.”
Dust, realizing how badly she messed up, stepped back from Celestia. She lowered her head as she spoke. “You haven't charged him with anything. You don't know if he's done anything wrong. He's my friend, and I'm scared. I don't want him to go away!”
“Your dedication to you friend is admirable, bu-”
“But nothing, sister! I've been telling you you've been overreacting from the very start of this. Even our subjects can see it.” Luna made a wide arc with her hoof in Dust Cover's general direction.
Celestia's eyes widened as her sister Spoke. “Luna!”
“Don't tell me I've embarrassed you in front of our subject, Celestia. You've already done that yourself.”
Celestia’s patience was thin and her temper was raw. She turned to Dust Cover and spoke in a chilling tone. “leave, Dust Cover.”
/*\
Luna sat upon the throne next to her sister. There was a tea tray between them and each held a teacup in their respective magics. Luna had called a recess to let Celestia calm and collect herself.
"Dust was right, though, you did miss the point."
"Pfeh. Must I endure this hassle?" Celestia grumbled into her tea.
"I'm not talking about that. This is something different." Luna smirked, but was careful to not show it to Celestia. “We have discovered Lodestone's weakness.”
Celestia turned and gazed uncomprehendingly at Luna. “I'm afraid I don't follow.”
"We no longer have to fear the inability to incapacitate the pup, who is barely taller than one of our little ponies."
"Luna..."
"We shall have the guards outfitted with paper based weaponry!" Luna announced as she rose to a standing position and pumped her hoof.
Celestia kneaded her temples with her hooves as she floated her tea back to the tray. "Luna, please, this is serious. I expect you to act accordingly."
Luna began to tap her chin with a hoof and appeared to be deep in thought. "You are right, Tia, this is serious indeed. I shall learn from your brilliant example and have the guards outfitted with the latest in overreacting paper armour!"
"Luna! This is important! That 'pup' has already incapacitated four guards and yourself!"
Luna put on a somber face. “You are correct Tia..."
Celestia gave a small smile as she hoped her sister's antics were over.
"We will need to modify the paper armour to allow for tin foil helmets!"
"LUNA!" Celestia's shout of frustration was short lived. When the echo finally died she let out a sigh of exasperation. For that moment the radiant ruler of Equestria was gone. In her place was a tired, dull, and unhappy alicorn. Her multicoloured mane no longer billowed, it lay limp at her side with most of the colours dimmed to a pink gloss. Her majestic coat no longer seemed to radiate with the glow of her sun, it appeared as pale and sickly. However, as soon as Luna comprehended the sight it was gone. Luna was once again looking at the co-ruler of her nation and raiser of the sun.
"Tia?" Concern etched across Luna's features. She had not seen this side of Celestia for over a thousand years.
"Lulu, I am fine." Celestia said with a gentle smile.
"If you are as you say, why do you maintain an illusory spell?"
With a sigh Celestia looked down and retrieved her teacup with her magic. She took a sip, but the liquid had cooled past her taste. She turned her gaze to her sister. "I was rushed this morning after last night. I could not find the time to make myself presentable."
Luna tried to reason with what her sister said, but she was unable to justify her sister's true appearance as a result of a single night of interrupted sleep. This must have been going on for some time. "Tia, that was no bed mane. When was the last time you have had a restful sleep?"
"Lulu, you must understand I am concerned for the safety of our subjects. We have an alien. We do not understand its intentions or how it arrived. I can't allow it to be free."
Fury started to build within Luna, and she could barely prevent it from turning her mane into a violent maelstrom. "Why do you show such hostility to a creature, which cannot even be in your presence without being visibly ill?”
“I do not care for his appearance or his personality. He has already proven himself to be a threat to our ponies after last night. He incapacitated four of our guards and you.”
“Is that all? I seem to remember you told me Twilight did far worse when she first used her magic! She destroyed part of the castle! Should I call the guard to arrest her, too?”
“Don't be ridiculous. Twilight isn't a threat.”
“She's a threat as Ryan is! I've seen his form and his people in his dreams. They're more like us than you know.”
“Showing you that may have been part of an elaborate plot. You saw in Dust Cover's memory how eager he was to learn. Not only of our technology, but of our geography. He may be a forward scout sent to retrieve vital information for a later invasion. He may only be playing weak and sickly to gain compassion.”
Luna let out a calming breath as she facehooved. “Tia, you are paranoid. You are drowning in your worries. I have seen the same memory. I did not see the gathering of strategic information, only simple curiosity. Furthermore, he seems to have a strong sense of ethics. We hadn't even considered the Come-To-Life spell might have ethical ramifications, even though by its name it should be obvious.”
Luna looked up to see a pained expression of shock on her sister's face.
“Did Dust not say she was writing a story based on one of Lodestone's ideas? He has corrupted her with his ideals! How many of our subjects has he tainted with the concepts and ideology of his home?”
“Tia, this is a perfect example of my point! Because he raised an ethical concern you're branding anyone, who's talked to him, as corrupted!” Luna stomped her hoof to emphasize her point.
Celestia sat quietly and chewed her cheek.
“Sister, he worries me, too, but you are taking this too far. If he's not an enemy yet, and I sincerely doubt he is an enemy, then you're going to turn him into an enemy by this abuse.”
Celestia hung her head. After several long moments she whispered. “I'm tired, Luna... I've safe guarded my little ponies for a thousand years alone. I've had to do drastic things for their safety, and I'm tired... I learned long ago the simplest, most effective way to protect them was to eradicate threats before they became a problem.”
“Tia...”
Celestia raised her head and spoke with a stronger voice. “You're right, I haven't been sleeping well. We have one more petitioner, do we not? We'll see him and I'll go to bed early.”
“As you wish, Tia, but I must warn you... Iron Ingot is a friend of mine, but he's very caustic. Try not to repeat what happened with Dust.”
/*\
With their recess over, court had resumed, and both princesses waited for the final petitioner. However, they had been waiting for ten minutes, and Celestia began to wonder if he was still in attendance. Addressing the closest guard, Celestia asked “Was there not another, who wished to attend today’s court?”.
“Yes, your majesty.”
“Do you know why he has not entered?”
“No, your majesty, but I shall find out.” The guard left through the door.
After several minutes a brown coated stallion entered the throne room. As the door closed behind him he let out a mighty yawn and rubbed an eye with the back of a hoof. The stallion gave a quick bow before taking a seat in front of the princesses and glanced out the window at the sun's position. “Oh? Forgive me, your majesties, it seems I've slept in.”
Luna let through a stifled giggle, “Welcome, Iron Ingot. Although you may not have noticed, that is not a sun rise. It is a sunset.”
Ingot looked out the window again, “So it is. Forgive me, Luna, but long train rides always leave me… disconnected. Anyway, how is Night Shade doing? Is the new helmet chaffing?”
Before Luna could reply her sister let out a polite cough. “Iron Ingot, you are here to petition for the release of Lodestone, are you not? Could we please proceed in a more serious manner?”
Ingot observed Celestia with a tilted head before he shook it. “With all due respect, your highness, no, I cannot.”
“Pardon?”
“I'm sorry, Princess, but the ruler of our great nation has arrested a pup, who can barely keep his fur clean, without placing any charges. I'm half expecting Lodestone to jump out from behind your throne shouting “I told you I'd get you back for the hedge cutters!”.”
Ingot smiled and Celestia gave a questioning glance. Luna leaned back and looked behind Celestia's throne. “Perhaps you have him hiding under the floor panels, Tia?”
This earned her a throaty chuckle from Ingot and a sigh from her sister, “Luna, please... Didn't you already have your fun? Be serious.”
“But where's the fun in that?” Luna pouted.
Celestia ignored her sister and turned to Ingot. “For what reason do you desire Lodestone's release?”
“Do I really need one?” Ingot asked in a flat tone.
“It would be preferable, yes.”
“Well, you didn’t seem to need one when you arrested him.”
Celestia grunted and barely contained her frustration. With a fake smile and through gritted teeth she replied. “Please, trust me, my little pony, I have my reasons, but they are not for the public.”
“Can I ask you something, Princess?”
“Of course you can, my little pony.”
Ingot put on his most stoic face and flatly asked “Are you a puppy kicker?”.
“What?!” Celestia’s shocked expression earned a smirk from both Ingot and Luna.
Ingots face was suddenly somber, “I ask because Lodestone was recovering from a fever that left him delirious and spouting nonsense, then suddenly you come flying in to arrest him. You metaphorically kicked him while he was down, and he is still a pup, therefore you are a “puppy kicker”.”
Celestia's voice shook as she spoke and tried to contain her anger. “Iron Ingot, I ask you refrain from addressing me like that. We have plenty of empty cells.”
Ingot raised his eyebrows in mock surprise. “So you need a reason to arrest me? Why's that? Is it because I'm a pony, but Lodestone's a canine?”
Luna quickly stood up and fanned her wing in Celestia's face to block her wrath. “Ingot! Today's been a long day for all of us. Please, just continue with your petition.”
Ingot bowed. “Forgive me, Princess Luna.” he locked eyes with Celestia before he spoke. “He is my friend, my apprentice, and guilty of nothing. I do not need any other reasons.”
Luna sighed. “That doesn't give me any information I can use to advocate for him.”
“I apologize, Luna, but I wasn't expecting things would be so grim. I thought this was all going to be a misunderstanding.”
“It may well be, but we need to know more. Please, may we see your memories of Lodestone?”
Iron Ingot was busy on his anvil, working on a recent order. Using a specially shaped horseshoe he was able to hold the iron as he hammered it into shape. The iron would glow a bright red as each resounding hammer slowly caused it to yield into shape. The iron and the ringing sound of the hammer against metal was his world, and nothing else mattered. Until he heard the bell of his store entrance ring out between swings.
Placing the iron back in the forge near the edge of the flames in order to maintain the heat, he hung up his horse shoe on the anvil so he could deal with his new customer.
Ingot walked up to his counter, and was able to see his customer observe his wares. Ingot was not inexperienced when it came to dealing with diamond dog pups; they would occasionally frequent his store out of curiosity, trying to find out where their parents get the ‘pointies’. The pup that had walked into his store looked like a diamond dog, but that was just it. He looked like a diamond dog but there were plenty things that seemed contrary.
First were his arms; they still held the basic shape seen in all diamond dogs. Wide wrists and large forearms, but his arm length was not nearly as long as they should be, meaning that he could not walk on all fours while standing. Because of this, the pup before him held his back perfectly straight, instead of the more natural hunched forward posture.
Secondly were his ears; while it was not uncommon for a diamond dog to have pointed ears, this pup’s was nearly ridiculously large. They were nearly as tall as his face was long, with his pointed muzzle. This seemed wrong to Ingot however, since diamond dogs had a sensitivity to high pitched sounds, having such large ears would most likely a detriment.
Third was the pups fur, not only was it an obvious shade of white, but he was positively fluffy. Such long hair had no place underground, it would constantly get dirty in the underground environment. His tail, which was longer than necessary, was an elongated ball of fluff. This was nowhere near the clubbed, spiked tail of a normal dog; should this pup find himself in a collapsing tunnel there is no doubt his tail would become a liability, getting caught under a rock would be highly probable. By this time Ingot realised that this pup had caught him staring, he just seemed to smile back.
Ingot decided to take the initiative, “Hello, and welcome to Ingot’s Smithing. I’m Iron Ingot, how can I help you today?”
The smile the pup wore faltered into nervousness, and he started to run his paw over the back of his head, “Hi. My name’s Lodestone, and I was hoping to apprentice under you.”
Ingot raised an eyebrow in a questioning expression before turning serious, “Listen, kid. I’ll tell you the same thing I’ve told every other pup that’s asked me. This is my place of business, not some playground. You can’t come here asking for me to teach you, just so you can get access to all the ‘pointy’ toys.” Reaching under the counter, Ingot pulled out a short sword and slammed it onto the counter, “THIS is not a TOY, this is weapon. I know some of the things your pack deals with in those tunnels, but there is a reason your mothers have you training with blunted, wooden sticks. This can kill you, if you don’t treat it with the proper respect.”
Ingot watched Lodestone nod in understanding, “If you feel so strongly about it, I could just learn how make your armors, I’ll stay away from your weapons and won’t ask about them.”
Ingot was a little taken back by this response, usually the pups he had dealt with would press, give up, or whine; which always ended in himself laughing his flank off as they irritated themselves more than they would Ingot. But here was a pup that somehow accepted his refusal to teach him, but pressed through another means. Not a lot of people knew about his armor smithing, mainly because he only had his weapons on display; he occasionally worked on the armors for the Lunar guard. Putting the shortsword away, Ingot took on a less threatening posture.
“Okay then, first answer me this. Why do you want to learn armour smithing?”
Lodestone held a crestfallen expression as he drew circles with his foot, “Well, the Badlands pack took me in. They’ve made sure I am well, feed me, and even allow me a place to sleep. But I have no means to repay them, the other pups can already dig tunnels. They may be small but they can still help, but, it turns out I’m terrible at digging. I was hoping that if I could learn from you, then I would be able to maintain and repair most of the pack’s tools and armour.”
Ingot thought about what he said until it clicked, “Ah, so you’re the pup Bertha decided to take in?”
Lodestone returned a questioning look, “How did you know?”
Ingot chuckled, “most of my regulars are dogs and griffons, other ponies frown at my art. And you are the talk of the pack kid. That, and I don’t think I've seen Bertha so happy before.”
“How do you know Bertha?”
Smirking, Ingot continued, “I'm pretty sure you noticed by now, that Bertha is the largest dog anyone has seen. That doesn’t really lend itself well to detailed tasks, so she brings her armor in for me to clean and polish every week. Also that greatsword of hers is the only weapon big enough for her, but not even a weapon as fine as that one can stand up to her strength so I’m regularly restoring it.” Ingot tapped his chin in thought for a moment, “Okay. I can see where you’re coming from. If you were an adult dog, Zak would probably have just made certain you would live, before throwing you back out. I guess it’s because Bertha took you in that the others are able to accept your presence, but without a collar you're still an outsider to them. I can see you trying to make yourself useful to the pack.” Giving himself a satisfied smirk he walked around the counter to face Lodestone, “Alright you’ve proven yourself to be more responsible than the other pups that have tried, but what can you do, that I can’t get another pony to?”
Ingot watched as Lodestone tried to devise a reason. He was a bit confused when the pup presented a balled up paw, and he raised an eyebrow to display as much. It was then that Lodestone popped his thumb straight up, giving Ingot a thumbs up. It wasn’t until Lodestone mirrored the gesture with his other paw, and started to wiggle his thumbs that Ingot couldn’t hold it in anymore. With a deep hearty laugh, Iron Ingot laughed his flank off.
“Alright kid, I see you’ll fit in just fine around here,” he said, through his chuckles, “If you can put up with me and not quit, I’ll teach you everything I can.”
Putting his paws flat together and holding them in front of himself; Lodestone gave Ingot a deep but sharp bow. “Thank you, you won’t be disappointed.”
Ingot just gave Lodestone a questioning scowl, “what the hay was that?”
“You don’t know? That bow can be a greeting, sign of respect, and in this cause to signify either the start or end to training.”
Ingot felt his eye twitch, as he let out a sigh, “You know kid? I give you about a week.”
/*\
Iron Ingot spent the better part of that afternoon shaping the blade he had been working on before meeting Lodestone. With his final swings he managed to get the edge of the blade just right, all that was left, was to heat the entire blade, and work out the stresses created from his shaping. So placing the blade in a trough filled with burning coals he made sure that the blade received the heat evenly, it would sit there until the entire blade was white hot. So Ingot decided to take this time to see how Lodestone was progressing in his tasks, he was a little quiet for Ingots tastes.
Walking into one of the side rooms Ingot found Lodestone sitting on one of the stools. Placed around him were various pieces of the tarnished armor he had asked him to polish. In his lap sat the barrel piece, at his feet was the tub of polish, and Lodestone was vigorously rubbing away. Ingot watched as he was able to use his paw digits to get the polish cloth in between the individual plates, something that would have required Ingot to use a cloth wrapped stick. And would require him to use his mouth to manipulate, giving him mouthfuls of the distasteful polish. He was more than happy to pawn this task off to Lodestone, as that armor had been a nagging presence; reminding him with it’s blemished surfaces that somepony had paid him to restore it.
Ingot continued to watch the pup in silence, he was busy muttering something to himself. He continued to listen as Lodestone repeated the same phrase over and over again. "Wax on. Wax off."
Ingot decided to make himself known, “so how’s it going kid? you do know that's polish right, and not wax?”
Ingot watched as one of his ears spun around to face him before his head followed suit. Lodestone looked down at the armor in his lap before looking back up at Ingot. “Oh I know, this just reminded me of a... story I know. Anyway, still working on the chest piece—“
“Barrel,” Ingot retorted.
“Huh?” Lodestone tilted his head at the interruption.
“This armor is for a pony, it wraps around the barrel. Its slightly different from chest pieces that a dog or a minotaur would wear.”
Looking down at the armor he held, Lodestone was able to make note of the different positioning the binding straps took, “Oh, I see.” Looking back up at Ingot he continued, “Well it’s a little tougher than I thought but I’m making progress.”
“What’s that, there?” Ingot queried, with a raised eyebrow.
Lodestone looked at Ingot with a questioning face, before putting the armor piece down along with the cloth he had been using. He then began to look himself over, searching his chest and legs, “What? Did I get some in my fur?”
Ingot tried his hardest to stifle a laugh, as he watched Lodestone pat himself down looking for imaginary stains. What Lodestone didn’t realise that while his fur wasn’t stained, his paws were stained by both the polish and the tarnish it was used to remove. Lodestone looked himself over and once he realised his mistake his ears folded back and a saddened expression grew upon the features of his face. Lodestone stood there, his snow white fur, easily stained, highlighting all the areas he had patted himself down with smears of grey and brown.
It was at this point that Ingot lost it, and started laughing. Lodestone looked up at the laughing stallion, then down at himself again before he started giggling. Wiping a tear that had started to form Ingot spoke to Lodestone, “You know what kid, If I can get you to polish a few more armors I’m sure I can get your fur the proper colour for a dog.”
Looking himself over Lodestone said, “Heh heh, maybe it would help me fit in with the pack more. But I doubt Bertha would want such a dirty dog in bed with her.”
“…” The room seemed to fall into a deadly silence, it seemed that even the world outside Ingot’s shop stood still. That was, until Ingot fell over, and began laughing his head off while rolling on his back. The recognition of what had left his mouth could easily be seen broadcasted from his face; his eyes shot open in shock, as his pupils shrank and his mouth was left agape. Lodestone shook the shock from his head as Ingot continued to roll on the floor.
“No, no, I don’t mean it like that. She is an adult,” he looked himself over, “and I’m just a pup. What I meant to say is that I’m sure she would appreciate it if I was clean before she slept with me.” Ingot, who was still laughing, was in the middle of getting up when Lodestone finished. Upon hearing his utterance Ingot found himself once more on the floor, but this time laughing a full on belly laugh.
It took a minute and a half before Ingot could settle himself enough to try and stand again. “HA HA, HA, HA. Jeez kid I nearly bust a gut, ho, that was fun.” Ingot looked up to see the flustered expression all over Lodestone’s face, he was busy racking his mind for some way to redeem himself, without using any more easily misinterpreted words. Seeing Lodestone so panicked Ingot couldn’t help but poke a little fun.
“Look kid don’t worry about it.” Lodestone looked at him, slightly calmer, but still searching for words to explain himself. So Ingot continued, “Bertha wouldn’t be interested, you're way too small to please her.”
Ingot watched Lodestone’s face redden, his tail tuck up between his legs and his feet cross. He barely managed to catch himself from falling over again as he let out another bout of full on laughter.
Once Lodestone managed to get his body under control and Ingot composed himself Lodestone spoke up. “Okay… all innuendos aside, I am sleeping in the same chamber as Bertha and she only has one bed. She tells me I’m too young, and that she doesn’t trust the rest of the pack around me just yet.”
Ingot dusted of a piece of lint that had clung to his shoulder. “No, I understand, I’ve been around enough diamond dogs to know that they are territorial, possessive and can be highly aggressive to those of another pack. If I am understanding their culture correctly; the reason you are even in this situation is cause they found you without a collar, correct?”
Lodestone felt around his neck for what was not there, “Yeah.”
“You probably don’t know this, seeing as you don’t have one. But a collar is very sacred to a Diamond Dog; it signifies their connection to their pack and their family. They are given to pups as a rite of passage, generally when they first open their eyes. Now, seeing as you don’t have one, you’ve been without family or a pack for a long time. As that can be a trying experience, probably one you’re not comfortable with sharing I’m not going to press the matter,” Lodestone gave him a small smile, “plus, we barely know each other. But, now listen carefully, you make friends and prove you can benefit the pack, and they will accept you as their own. You will gain a strong pack and family, one of the few that has taken in Equestria’s ideals as their own.” Placing his hoof on Lodestones shoulder, He gave a curt nod. Pulling back Ingot began to look about the room, “Now why did I come in here again?”
Ingot spotted the pieces of armor laid around the stool that Lodestone had been seated in when he walked in. “You seem to be taking this a little well,” He waved a hoof across the spread of armor segments, “Most others that try to learn under me always complaining about how they can't start hammering iron yet. Which leads me to my next question, why are you taking this so well?”
Lodestone picked up the barrel piece, and began to turn it over in his paws, “Well, how am I supposed to forge anything if I don’t even know what I’m making is going to look like?” Ingot was a little surprised by the response, Lodestone seeing this decided to continue. “how am I supposed to start making a barrel or chest piece if I don’t know what they look like. I didn’t even know there was a difference until you told me. Polishing this armor meant I get to see not only what it looks like, but also how it’s put together. Only once I know what I making can I actually start making it.”
Ingot gave a satisfied smile as he bumped Lodestone in the shoulder with a hoof. “You know you’re the first apprentice I’ve taken in that has actually gotten what I was trying to teach them.”
“Really?” Lodestone said in surprise. he then muttered to himself under his breath, "I was just assuming he was pulling a Mr. Miyagi."
“Yes. I’ve had dogs and griffons come to me, trying to learn how to make weapons. Even had foals come to me trying to find their cutie marks in smithing. Every single one of them complained about having to clean my wares, or griped about not being taught how to make them. To be honest, since I hadn’t heard anything from you I thought you had fallen asleep.”
Lodestone gave Ingot a thoughtful expression, “So the reason you came to check up on me was because it was too quiet?”
“In a way, yes. When I'm working on someone’s order my shop is filled noise, but on the slow days the quiet can be quite unbearable. “
An almost evil smirk appeared on Lodestones muzzle, “So, you’re saying you took me in ‘cause you missed the whining? I’m sure I can fix that.”
“Oh please do, it will bring back so many memories.” Lodestone’s smirk turned into a smile as he began to clear his throat.
“Okay how about this,” Ingot smiled a knowing smile as he watched the canine before him proceed, his voice raising half an octave. “Why does this polish smell so bad, it’s gone and stained my fur,” Ingot waited for the inevitable as Lodestone’s voice rose another half octave, “I think I’ve cracked a nail, this stool is too short,” as Lodestone’s voice began to crack as he tried to reach a higher pitch, Ingot knew what would happen next. “Why does this armour have to be so RU-AAAHHHHH” Lodestone’s squeals became a squeaky howl, as he clutched his ears trying to ease the pain he has induced on himself.
Ingot was clutching his stomach as he found himself in another round of heavy laughter. As Ingot once again composed himself he watched as Lodestone massaged the base of his ears, He had not seen a reaction this strong in any other pup; proving that Lodestone’s ears were most likely a fair bit more sensitive. As he got his breathing under control he barely caught Lodestone muttering under his breath, “note to self; don’t upset Rarity.”
“Who’s this Rarity?” Ingot asked, but when Lodestone snapped around to face him with shock on his face Ingot knew he never meant for him to hear.
“Ah… She’s no one,” Lodestone said with a little too much force. But a lecherous grin planted itself on Ingots snout as his mind put pieces together.
“Oh really now? Does little Lodestone have a crush?” Ingot watched as his pupils shrunk.
“No!” Ingot could see through the pups ruse, as if it was tissue paper.
“Now lets see, Rarity isn’t a dog name so… Oh? Does Lodestone have his eyes set on a mare?” Ingot chuckled lightly as he could see Lodestone’s pink nose slowly turn red and the color creep across his muzzle.
“No, no, no… besides it wouldn’t work out. She is a pony, and I’m not a pony. Then there is also the matter of age. The implications—“
“Oh stop, everypony knows that forbidden love is always the strongest.” The colour of his cheeks suddenly shot up another shade as his flustered expressions got the better of him. Lodestone quickly picked up the barrel piece and cloth off the floor and planted himself on the stool, back towards ingot.
“I need to get back to work!”
“Alright then, but remember: if you need any help, Iron Ingot can teach how to please a mare.” As Lodestone let out a frustrated growl Ingot turned and left towards the forge. Stopping at the door way Ingot looked over his shoulder to see the back of Lodestone, he was back to polishing the piece of equipment he held between his legs. He was rubbing with a lot more energy, as if to try and rub out the memories of their little conversation.
Iron Ingot smirked, and muttered to himself, “Poor kid has no idea what he’s gotten himself into… This is going to be so much fun.”
