“You know, we really should bring a couple of chairs out here,” Princess Luna snidely remarked as she approached her older sister, who was standing on a balcony that overlooked the shining city of Canterlot.
“I don’t think that’s necessary.” Princess Celestia smiled at the Princess of the Night’s arrival. “I’ve always found the railing to be perfectly adequate to take the weight off my hind hooves.”
To prove her point, the Princess of the Sun did just that, crossing her front hooves and placing them atop the railing, her eyes still fixed on the city below.
“How was your slumber, dear sister?”
“Quite well,” Luna replied. “Did anything interesting happen in Day Court today?”
Celestia smiled. “Actually....”
Luna didn’t want her sister to waste a second. “Oh, this should be good.” The dark blue alicorn copied her sister's position on the balcony’s railing and waited in anticipation for what was sure to be an amusing tale.
“One of my petitioners was this male pegasus from Las Pegasus who wanted me to use my power to free ponies from, in his words, ‘the social trap of compulsory tipping.’ Said he didn’t believe in it.”
“While that is unusual, I fail to understand the humor of this story, sister.”
“The funny part about it… is that he actually makes a good point.”
“You’re not saying that he made you reconsider tipping, are you?!”
“Of course not, sister, but it made me realize how vibrant and different our little ponies’ lives are compared to ours. Suppose, for a moment, we didn’t tip waitresses when we went out to eat. Would anypony look at us any differently?” Celestia asked.
“Considering the way they worship the ground we walk on, I suppose not,” Luna remarked.
“Exactly. It almost feels like we’re on different planes of existence to them. While we toil away up here, running the government, there could be a young stallion out there trying to woo a mare he’s become smitten with or a single mare trying her hardest to make it in the big city. There must be thousands of great stories out there that never reach our ears.”
“Does Sunny Skies need to make a return? I could always take over raising the sun for a few decades or so. It’d only be fair,” Luna suggested.
“As much as I’d love to, it hasn’t been long enough yet. I have to wait about 300 years so I don’t raise much suspicion.”
A calm silence accompanied the two royal sisters for a minute as they stared at the city below.
“Sometimes, I envy you, sister,” Celestia said.
“Oh?”
“You don’t even have to assume a disguise to be close to our little ponies. There was a psychologist a century ago or so that said, ‘Dreams are the gateway to the subconscious.’ So, in a way, you do every night what takes me centuries. Funny, isn’t it?”
Luna looked to her sister, and while she didn’t look like she’d ever cry at this notion, she noticed a longing look in her sister’s eyes as she observed the city below.
Suddenly, the Princess of the Night got an idea.
“You know, I could always tell you about the dreams I visit tonight when you wake up tomorrow morning.”
Celestia looked to her younger sister in shock. “Sister, I couldn’t ask you to do that! Isn’t that…”
Luna raised her hoof, signaling for Celestia to stop. “I know, it’s a bit… questionable, but you’re my sister, and I hate seeing you like this. If there’s a way I’m able to help, I want to do it. Plus, it’s only for one night, and well, what no pony knows won’t hurt them.”
Celestia thought it over. “All right. If you’re sure.” A mischievous smile crept onto her face.
“It actually feels kind of nice to do something sneaky for once,” Celestia admitted.
“Don’t get used to it,” Luna said, smiling at her sister’s joy.
“I’ll go ahead and leave you to it then,” Celestia said as her horn began to glow orange. In response, the sun began to set lower and lower in the sky until it disappeared under the horizon. “Have a pleasant night, sister.”
Luna, in response, activated her horn, which emanated a calm blue glow, which brought forth the moon from below the horizon. Once it was properly in the sky that overlooked the city at just the right angle, the celestial body was left to its own devices.
“Good night, sister,” Luna said.
As Celestia made her way back inside, Luna took a moment to admire the stars that accompanied the moon in the sky the same way one would admire a great piece of artwork.
However, she couldn’t do so for long, for she had one other goal tonight. Not only was she making sure of the mental well-being of her little ponies, but she also was on the hunt for great stories for her sister.
With another blue glow of her horn, Princess Luna entered the dream realm.
Similar to the starry sky, the dream realm was awash with many glowing white spheres, about the size of a pony’s head. She made sure none of the immediate spheres around her were rapidly blinking, an indication that a pony was having a nightmare. For the moment, there wasn’t one.
“All right then, I guess we’ll just pick one of you at random,” Luna thought to herself. “Eenie-meenie-miney-mo, catch an Ursa by the toe, if he hollers let him go, my mother said to pick the very best one and you… are… it.” The alicorn selected a sphere that, at first, was moving about 3 meters to her right, and levitated it over to herself.
“Let’s see what we’ve got here,” Luna said as she enlarged the sphere with her magic until it was a large enough size for her to walk through.
Once she stepped right in, a white glow enveloping her being as she entered her first dream of the night.
Vinyl Scratch never thought she could be nervous before a gig. Not since she had first turned tables in that Manehattan night club had she ever had this much sweat forming on her coat, and even then that was because that cheapskate owner decided to skimp on air conditioning for the place.
What was she even nervous about?! This was what her whole life had been building towards! If her life were a play, this would be where she got her happy ending. So, why wasn't she happier about this? The white unicorn rested her body on her hotel room door, sliding down to the floor.
Suddenly, she felt a knock on her hotel room's door, interrupting the DJ's train of thought.
Magenta eyes widening, she brought herself up from the floor as fast as she could, desperate for anything to keep her mind off of her performance later that night, a first for her.
The door opened to reveal a dark grey earth pony. For once, she had let her mane go wild, and while Vinyl always liked the pink bowtie, pink leg wraps on all four of her legs was quite the sight to see. She made a mental note to properly thank her for coming after her performance.
"Oh, thank Celestia!" Octavia said in relief as she leaned in to hug her marefriend. "I got down here from Canterlot as fast as I could! There was no way I'd miss this."
The two separated and Vinyl placed both of her front hooves to her chin before taking both of her front hooves and moving them downward. Thank you for coming.
She made way for Octavia to enter the hotel room, a pretty simple layout that reminded Octavia of the odd Hay-ton she'd stay at on occasion when she was performing in clubs across Equestria.
"I'm so glad I was able to catch you before you went on," Octavia said. "I just wanted the chance to see you before you finally achieved your dream! How does it feel?!"
The unicorn suddenly found the floor to be very interesting, telling Octavia all she needed to know. The earth pony propped herself up on the hotel bed, patting the spot next to her.
The DJ followed the cellist's instructions, her music note cutie mark sinking into the mattress, before placing her head onto her marefriend's shoulders, like two puzzle pieces being put together.
"Remember that promise I made?" Octavia asked.
The unicorn gave a small smile. How could she forget? Arguably, that promise was a major reason for how she managed to get herself here. She nodded her head in affirmation.
"If you ever start to get anxious, then find me in the crowd and pretend it's just another night at home," Octavia suggested. “Like you’re just playing for me.”
Actually, that wasn't a bad idea. If she were completely honest with herself, Vinyl's best compositions were usually birthed when she was just playing for her marefriend at home.
"You know," Octavia added. "If you told me at my cuteceañera that I'd be attending Coltchella of all things, I'd have said you were crazy. Yet, here I am, and that's all because of you, Vinyl."
Dang it, she was crying now, wasn't she? Sure enough, when she pressed her hoof close to her eye, she could feel a bit of moisture. Vinyl really couldn't have come this far without her 'Tavi.
The DJ pressed both hooves to her cheek once more. Thank you.
Then, she took her right hoof, pointed to herself, crossed both of her hooves together over her heart, and then gestured with her right hoof to Octavia. I love you. She gave her marefriend a peck on her lips.
After that display of affection, Octavia noticed the clock. "Let's go, Vinyl. Destiny is calling."
"Give it up for DJ Pon-3!!!" The MC screamed, hyping up the crowd to fever pitch.
Vinyl, now bearing her trademark glasses, stepped up onto the stage to a setup she'd spent so many hours in front of that it was practically a part of her. Once she took her place behind the turntables, the crowd only got louder. She scanned the sea of ponies, looking for one in particular. She could have sworn she saw Princess Luna, but she could check later. Finally, she found her near the back, where ponies didn't have to be packed together like a parasprite hive to witness the performance.
Octavia gave her a reassuring wave, a smile of pride never leaving her face.
She only had one thought for her entire performance, and even for a while after. She was going to make this the night of 'Tavi's life.
Once again, Luna was greeted with a flash of white as she exited Vinyl's dream, a warm smile mirroring the DJ from earlier in her dream. It was a nice change from nightmares she normally honed in on, that's for sure.
"Note to self: Get sister Coltchella tickets for next Hearth's Warming," she thought.
Despite sharing Octavia's dislike of music festivals, though less for the musical content and more for the overwhelming environment, she did have to admit Vinyl's performance wasn't going to be leaving her head anytime soon. Maybe the next dream would help distract her.
A solid glowing dream about five yards below her caught her eye. Her horn glowing dark blue, she captured the dream and pulled it to herself.
"Can we go now?!" An ecstatic Derpy Hooves was practically vibrating as her companion hurriedly checked through his machinery. "You promised!"
"Trust me, my dear, there is no other place I'd rather be right now," her companion reassured her. "However, after my little run-in with the Weeping Alicorns, I have to make sure the TARDIS isn't going to malfunction and leave us stranded in the void of space."
"...oh."
Time Turner—or as Derpy liked to call him, "Doc"—took a calming breath as he went to address his special somepony's impatience. He rounded the TARDIS' circular control panel to put his hoof onto Derpy's cheek, the grey pegasus affectionately leaning into it.
"There isn't a day that goes by where I don’t feel horrible when my duties come in the way of our family, and that was especially true last Hearth's Warming...."
Last Hearth's Warming
"I need you!" Derpy shouted into the communication device Doc had given her. "I'm cooking Hearth's Warming Dinner!"
"I'm being shot at by Cyberponies!" Doc said, proven by the fact that Derpy could hear crashes of the shots hitting the TARDIS in the background.
"Well, can't we do both?!" the grey pegasus pleaded as she burst into the kitchen to transport more food to the table.
"I'm terribly sorry, love, but I'm afraid this isn't just going to resolve itself."
Derpy let out a resigning breath. "Alright, but you owe me, okay?"
"Of course, my dear," Doc replied. "I'll see you at home. Bye!"
The device let out a long drawn out beep as Derpy sighed in defeat.
"... but I assure you that you'll love what I have planned for tonight's date," Doc reassured.
"Well, you already got a sitter for Dinky, so you're off to a good start, but why do you have to be so mysterious about where you're taking me?" Derpy's crossed eyes pleaded for the information she craved, but Doc was far from weak-willed. He removed his hoof from her cheek and walked back around the console to continue the pre-intergalactic travel checklist.
"It's all in the surprise, my dear," Doc said as he made a couple of quick adjustments. "Alright, I think we're good to go."
Derpy's ears perked up in anticipation. "Can I say it this time?!"
Doc gave a smile to his beloved. "It's all yours."
"Allons-y!"
Doc pulled down a lever with his hooves and a sound began to emanate from all around them, indicating the TARDIS was functional.
Derpy was prancing around the control panel, giddy at the destination that awaited them on the other side of the TARDIS' door. As the sound began to fade, Derpy's prancing became faster and faster, to the point that she was going so fast she wasn't paying attention and collided with Doc. As the two tumbled to the floor, the brown earth pony couldn't help but let out a chuckle, which Derpy joined in on.
"Alright, my dear," Doc prepped. "Are you ready to explore the planet Kolac?"
"What's planet Kolac?"
"Well, why don't you see for yourself?" Doc gestured to the silver TARDIS door.
Derpy got up on her hooves before taking flight, bursting out the door and immediately meeting darkness as she crashed into… something. She felt a pull on her tail, undoubtedly Doc trying to get her out. After a couple of heaves, he managed to free Derpy, like pulling a carrot from the ground.
"Are you alright, love?"
"Yeah, Doc, but… what did I hit?" Derpy asked.
"Why don't you take a second and look around, love?"
Heeding her special somepony's advice, Derpy looked to examine the object she collided with further only to find a large light brown structure that had to be so massive it rivaled the size of Sugarcube Corner. When she saw what topped the gargantuan object before her, she found a little bit of yellow liquid seeping from a sliced lemon. Was this what she thought it was?!
The grey pegasus went just to the left of where she flew into the muffin and took a bite, and indeed tasted that combination of sweet and sour that she loved so much. She turned to Doc, befuddled. "Is this a Lemon Muffin Surprise?!"
"I'll admit, this one was an addition I made myself quite recently, but everything else around you is just the way I found it," Doc explained.
Derpy looked behind her special somepony, and she saw them all. Muffins. Giant muffins! Giant muffins everywhere! As far as the eye could see! She looked down to her hooves. Even the soil was made of muffin. The grey pegasus' crossed eyes went wide as she gasped sharply. She rotated her body completely around, and aside from the blue of the TARDIS, her entire surroundings were pretty much muffin brown.
She could see a blueberry muffin about fifty yards to her left. She could see a banana muffin close by the Lemon Muffin Surprise she flew into. It was like she died and went to Muffin Heaven.
She looked back to Doc, a smitten grin adorning his face as he took in his special somepony's reaction. "Do you like it?"
He got his answer when the grey pegasus walked, not flew, walked up to him and took his lips into her own, the kiss expressing everything Derpy felt in that moment: awe, wonder, excitement, a slight bit of hunger, but most of all, appreciation. Finally, when they parted, as if the stallion needed any more confirmation of his successfully planned date, Derpy put it into three simple words.
"I love it."
The two spent the rest of their date exploring the planet, eating every muffin they could along the way. Derpy even got the fine idea to take Doc in her hooves, fly up, and drop him onto one of the large muffins, like dropping a foal on a bed.
Several hours later, nearly every muffin that she could see, and even some parts of the ground, were now marked multiple times by the teeth of the pair of intergalactic travellers. Now, they were taking a quick break, sitting against the Lemon Muffin Surprise that was right next to the TARDIS.
The grey pegasus gazed at their surroundings like she was watching the dragon migration.
"Can we honeymoon here?" She absentmindedly asked, more of a wishful thought than a serious request.
"If it comes to that, I don't see why not," Doc approved.
Derpy took that moment to snuggle closer to her special somepony, thinking of the past, present, and future to come.
The Time Traveler's Wife did have a nice ring to it.
It was just as he pulled up to the stadium that he got swarmed.
"Mr. Will! Mr. Will! Do you have anything to say about the allegations of malpractice against your businesses?" There must have been at least ten minotaur reporters trying to get a quote from hi—.
Wait, malpractice?! Iron Will wasn't a stranger to reporters crowding around him once in a while whenever his business ventures, be it speaking tours or cruise liners, happened to do something newsworthy, but malpractice!
"Iron Will always conducts himself in a professional and legitimate manner," he responded, getting out of his carriage and sauntering to the VIM entrance. "I guarantee that any accusations that are made against Iron Will are nothing more than misunderstandings or outright falsehoods. Iron Will comments no further!"
With that declaration, the crowd seemed to back off. Whether it was genuine respect for Iron Will's personal space or fear for his retaliation, he didn't know, nor did he care. All Iron Will wanted was to have a fun night at the races. Was that so hard?
Maybe Iron Will should invest some of his vast net-worth into building a racing stadium closer to his estate. It was always a pain whenever he had to come to Minótavros for any reason. Even if there were the races and the night life, there were also all these blasted reporters, draining business meetings, and the odd government hearing in the capital.
At least with a stadium closer to his residence, he'd have a shorter carriage ride and a smaller chance of this many reporters bombarding him, not to mention stadium owner privileges… yeah, that settled it. He'd begin exploring that opportunity first thing tomorrow. For now, however, it was race night.
As he entered the stadium's club level, Iron Will made a beeline to the betting booth. It always made race night more interesting. As he gazed at the list of athletes’ names displayed above the betting booth, one caught his eye.
"Iron Will puts 10,000 bits down on Steel Nerve," he announced to the bookkeeper, a dark grey minotaur with a glazed look that would only be complete with a giant "I really wish I weren't here right now" sticker. The bookkeeper stamped a small slip of parchment and slipped it to Iron Will before collecting his bag of bits.
In return, Iron Will slipped him a business card. He always kept them on his person in case he ran into a creature that could benefit from his services. "If you think you were meant for more than this, then let Iron Will teach you how you can be the minotaur you were meant to be at his next seminar."
The grey minotaur looked down at the card, and a ghost of a smile appeared. "I think I just might do that, Mr. Will."
"Iron Will will see you there!" He bid the bookkeeper goodbye as he went to take his seat. Tonight's maze looked pretty difficult. If there was one type of person Iron Will admired, it was athletes like these. Not only did they have to be fast and strong, but they also had to have the wherewithal to navigate their way through the maze without any help: a perfect competition that required both a minotaur's brains and brawn. The only reason Iron Will himself never wanted to be an athlete like this was because the training for it would take so much time out of his day that he'd become bored with it sooner or later. That said, he was an avid fan of the sport and would always attend a race if he could.
Soon, a bell was rung to indicate the start of the race. Iron Will picked out Steel Nerve, a light brown minotaur with solid white horns and a large #219 bib on his abdomen. Once the field of racers entered the pristine grey walls of the maze, they began to diverge, each racer with their own strategy for how to navigate the maze.
As a spectator, Iron Will was able to see if any of the racer's paths could lead to success, and luckily for him, Steel Nerve was one of them. Races normally lasted an average time of three minutes, but it depended on a maze's difficulty.
As more seconds passed and the main field continued to thin out as different racers chose different paths, Steel Nerve was now one of two that were on the right path to the maze's end. The crowd, full of minotaurs young and old, a good portion of them, likely Minótavros residents, began going crazy.
More seconds ticked away, and the finish line came into the racers’ view. Iron Will was on the edge of his seat. Steel Nerve and his opponent—Molten Nickel, if Iron Will remembered correctly—made a mad dash to the finish. As they crossed the line, he couldn't tell who'd won.
He waited for the stadium loudspeaker to give the word on who won the race, more sweat pouring off his face than when he would work out in his overly large private gym.
"And the winner, by the tip of a horn, is… Steel Nerve!"
"Iron Will is victorious!" Iron Will shouted triumphantly at the top of his lungs. Just as he said that, he found himself covered in what seemed like enough bits to fill a large bathtub.
If Iron Will had been hesitant on building his own racing stadium before, he certainly wasn't now.
Luna exited the dream looking like she’d finished a particularly bad book: drained and unsatisfied.
"We really need to make sure he keeps his business ventures out of Equestria," Luna noted to herself. She still remembered the fiasco that happened after he scammed the Sparkle Family into being the main attraction on his airship cruise.
Hopefully, the next dream she picked out would put her in a better mood.
"Alright, soldiers!" Captain Rainbow Dash addressed her fellow guards, pointing to a "Wanted" poster that was taped to the chalkboard at the front of the room. "We've just been informed that this criminal has just escaped from Tartarus, and that she may be hiding out somewhere in our area."
While rocks would always be her passion, Sergeant Maud Pie was never one to refuse a call to service. In this case, being on Guard Reserve in Ponyville was the least she could do to not only be close to her younger sister, Pinkie Pie, but also serve the nation she called home.
"So, I'll need a volunteer to go out and bring her in," Captain Dash explained. "Now, anyone that wishes to volunteer, step forward."
While Maud did not step forward, she looked to her left and right to find that the rest of her fellow Reserve Guards had taken a step backwards, leaving her standing in front of them all.
"Sergeant Pie," Captain Dash said in acknowledgement of her ‘decision.’ "Your country thanks you and is behind you all the way. Last intel we received was that the escapee was making her way through the Everfree Forest."
The earth pony gave a salute, her golden armor standing out from her dark grey coat. "I shall not disappoint," she vowed in a monotone. With that, she gave an about face and trotted off toward the forest.
"Golly," Cozy Glow arrogantly said to herself. "If I could only have seen the look on Headmare Twilight's face when she found out I escaped. Doesn't say much for Tartarus if li’l ol' me is able to escape." She giggled to herself at the thought.
Just as the criminal pegasus was about to give herself a wing-pat on the back, a certain earth pony decided to make her presence known.
"Halt," Maud Pie unenthusiastically said. "In the name of the Princesses."
Legends among the Everfree critters say lawmare and criminal stared at each other for a full five minutes, only breaking when the pegasus guffawed at the mare before her.
"You...." She had to contain her laughter in order to taunt properly. "You were the best they could throw at me?! At least get somepony that can chase me into the air!"
Cozy Glow's hooves left the ground as she took flight. "Tell the Princesses that they need to do better than that to catch the likes of me!"
With that final taunt, the pink pegasus made her escape, taking wing above the treeline and making her way to the Castle of the Two Sisters, about a ten minute flight if she had to guess.
"Alright," Cozy muttered to herself as she walked through the ruins into one of the structure's last rooms that still had most of its ceiling and uncollapsed walls. "Now, if I were an old book of spells, where would I be?"
"I would check the library," a monotone voice behind her suggested.
"Oh, thank you," Cozy said. Then her pupils dilated to the size of a needle point, and she turned her head to find that same earth pony she had just finished talking to. Something wasn't adding up.
"I thought… but you… and I… how… what?!"
"Halt, in the name of the Princesses."
"As if!" Cozy shoved the logistics of how the earth pony could have beaten her to the castle to the side, instead focusing on getaway strategies.
She made a beeline to the door she entered from and pulled it open, wood slamming against stone and almost knocking the door off its hinges.
"Halt, in the name of the Princesses."
Cozy almost gave herself whiplash checking to see that there weren't somehow two earth pony mares with the same dark grey coat and the same disinterested look in her eye trying to capture her. She promptly slammed the door in the earth pony's face and escaped the room out of a hole in the ceiling only just a bit bigger than her.
Now, Cozy Glow would never be one to admit that she was a fast flyer, but at this point, she was flying as if her life depended on it. Finally, after exiting the Everfree, she sped to the School of Friendship.
"Come on, come on, come one. Please still be here… a-ha!" Cozy found the secret passage she left that led her to the Crystal Caverns beneath the building. "No one would ever think I'd be back here. The perfect hiding place!"
She entered the passageway, covering her tracks behind her, and made her way down until she spotted the swath of crystals that signaled her entrance into the tunnels. "I should be safe down here."
"Halt, in the name of the Princesses."
"Oh, come on!!!" Cozy Glow shouted in frustration before she fled back through her secret passageway and away from the School.
Finally, Cozy Glow was able to sit down and take a breather. That non-stop flight from the school to Manehatten had taken a lot out of her. At least now she could enjoy this play that she had managed to sneak into.
The curtain opened, signalling the start of the show.
"Halt, in the name of the Princesses."
Sure enough, the armored grey earth pony had somehow beaten her to Manehatten. Cozy Glow promptly reacted like any sane mare would in this situation: scream bloody murder and get the Tartarus out of there.
Upon exiting the theater, she spotted a cloud drifting just above the city. "Of course!" Cozy Glow realized, smacking her forehead for not thinking of it sooner.
The pink pegasus took flight and promptly sprawled herself across the cloud, finally free of her monotone pursuer… or so she thought.
"Halt, in the name of the Princesses."
Cozy Glow almost certainly pulled a muscle craning her neck to find that the earth pony had already acquired a small red balloon and had ridden it up to her cloud in an unnatural amount of time. She probably also lost her voice after she screamed again.
Tears began to leak from the pegasus' eyes. "I can't take this anymore!"
She fled into a close-by building and rushed to find someplace where she could hide out and collect herself, as much of a fruitless endeavor as that was. She found the closest door she could and huddled up against the wall inside, just waiting for the voice that signaled that the blasted mare was already in there with her… yet it never came.
Cozy dared to open her eyes, only to find the single thing worse than her pursuer… prison bars. In a nanosecond, she went from traumatized to resigned fury.
"Fine!" she shouted for the whole city to hear. "I give up! Just as long as I don't have to see that stupid guard ever again!"
"We're glad you've seen reason," a chorus of monotone voices said.
They say Cozy Glow screeched so loud that all the glass windows on the block were cracked, if not outright shattered.
Meanwhile, in the cavern of the Mirror Pool, Maud enjoyed one of her favorite places to excavate.
Luna's laughter was still going strong as she exited the dream.
"Now that will make a good story for my sister," she thought to herself.
However, just as she was wiping the last of the moisture from her eyes, she noticed a flash coming from directly above her. Sure enough, about five feet above her, she saw a lone sphere strobing. Somepony was having a nightmare.
Luna swiftly grasped the sphere with her horn, converting it into the large white door frame that allowed her to enter and galloping onward to her subject in need.
"You have the trap ready, darling?" a blonde-maned pegasus asked her husband, eyes trained firmly on their prize as it made its way onto dry land.
"She's all set and rarin' to go, love," her husband confirmed from behind her,
Cragadiles always proved to be a mighty foe for Snap Shutter and Mane Allgood, but the adventurers extraordinaire would take on any task, no matter the difficulty, for the one life that could be impacted by the service they provided, even parenthood.
"Alright, Scootaloo, when Mommy tells you, throw the rope at the crag’s snout, just like we practiced," Mane instructed.
The orange filly nodded in acknowledgement, the rope dangling from her mouth. She stared down the cragadile as though it would run away if she took her eyes off it for even a second.
"She's all yours, love." Snap trotted up behind his wife, signaling that the trap was all set for her to spring.
The family had engineered this maneuver down to a science. Snap would surprise the creature, his physical prowess making him uniquely able to wrangle it. Scootaloo would neutralize the creature by lassoing either its mouth or a dangerous appendage. Once father and daughter steered the creature into an awaiting containment unit, Mane would release the rope holding the door open at just the right moment, and gravity would do the rest.
Mane took her position behind the containment unit as Snap and Scootaloo disappeared into the brush, off to wrangle the family's find.
She had to admit, it had been a hard decision between leaving Scootaloo with Snap's sister, Holiday, or taking her with them on their globetrotting adventures, but after some time to recover from giving birth, she and Snap both agreed that once Scootaloo was able to walk on her own, they all would head back out together as a family.
She never regretted that decision once. Sure, it had its scarier moments, but seeing how much Scootaloo has blossomed into a capable young filly filled her with so much maternal pride that she couldn't see her doing anything else.
"Yes, you could," a deep voice that sounded suspiciously like Scootaloo whispered from somewhere behind her.
"Who's there?!" Mane asked, making a full turn of her body, but she found nopony there. She shivered and shook it off.
Sure, having her daughter around meant worrying about her safety sometimes, and her and Snap's line of work did come with some occupational hazards, but she wouldn't have traded the experiences the three of them had had together for anything in the world.
The voice entered Mane's ears, once more, but this time with a booming guffaw. "Oh, this is rich," the voice taunted between laughs. This time, Mane was getting annoyed.
"Alright, you two," she relented. "You got me, now come on out and take this seriously."
"What, like you took your job as a mother seriously?" the voice, now sounding exactly like her daughter, began booming into her mind as if it was coming from within her very skull. The pegasus took both her front hooves and placed them in her ears, which ended up being a fruitless effort to keep them safe from the sheer auditory intensity of the voice’s taunts.
Suddenly, she saw her daughter walk up to her from her left, which was weird since she just saw her leave with Snap into the brush in front of her about a minute or so ago. Only, this Scootaloo looked different. Sure, her coat was the same gamboge color, but instead of a combination of her own long locks, bound up in a rubber band, and the cerise of Snap's mane, this Scootaloo's mane was shorter. It was almost like if Snap's mane had been blown from behind his head to on top of it.
However, what really set the two apart was what was on their flanks. The Scootaloo that just left had a cutie mark that featured a compass sitting on the corner of a map, the perfect marriage of her husband's mark and her own. Yet, the Scootaloo standing before her had no such mark. In fact, she had none at all.
The taller mare went on the defensive, ready to pounce on the imposter at a moment's notice. At least, she thought it was an imposter. "Who are you, and what did you do to my daughter?"
The copy once again let out a thunderous laugh. "Did you know that all the kids in school call me an orphan?"
That was when everything clicked. The Scootaloo she was talking to right now was the real one. Mane and Snap actually did leave her with Holiday in Ponyville. So, the one she just saw leave...
"But that was never the worst part, I could handle that," her daughter explained. "The worst part was this." She pointed to her blank flank.
"Oh, sweetie..."
"I would go home, crying some days, after kids would tell me I'd never get my cutie mark, just wanting to be close to you," she said, each word more cutting than the last. "I wanted to feel my mother's touch, so that even though I faced that cruelty, I knew everything would be okay. You know what I got? Nothing!"
The jungle began fading away, night somehow setting in, until there was only Mane, her daughter, and a single tree that supported the containment unit for the cragadile illuminated by moonlight.
"Scootaloo, you know how important our work is for Equestria..."
"Oh, so is that an excuse for leaving your daughter to grow up parent-less?" Scootaloo fired back.
"You had Aunt Holiday!" Mane swore she could feel herself shrinking, the shame only increasing with each biting remark.
"It's not the same, and you know it."
She could feel tears beginning to leak. "I'm sorry, sweetheart."
"Sorry's not gonna help me now, is it?" Scootaloo went for the final blow. "What I needed was my mother, and you weren't there."
Mane crouched down, her hooves covering her head.
"You weren't there!" her daughter repeated, like the words would stab her in the back. "You weren't there!"
"Do not fret, Mane Allgood, for there is still time," a soothing voice echoed through the darkness.
"What?" Mane said, confused. She lifted herself back to her hooves, sniffling, to look for the new presence.
The moon suddenly let out a bright flash, and emerging from that flash was the Princess of the Night herself, landing just in front of her. As she did, the blank-flanked Scootaloo faded away.
"Princess Luna," Mane breathed. She began looking around with a new sense of perspective. "I'm dreaming, aren't I?"
"That you are, my little pony," Luna confirmed. "You are tormented by anxieties of how your absence in your daughter's life has affected her growth."
"Hit the crag right on the head." There wasn't much point in lying to a princess.
"While I won't lie to you and say it has been perfect, I've had the privilege of visiting young Scootaloo myself," Luna explained. "She has grown into a brilliant young mare. Beloved by many that call Ponyville home."
"That still doesn't change the fact she grew up without parents in her life," Mane countered, her gaze traveling to her hooves.
"Perhaps so, Mane Allgood," Luna admitted. "However, if you were to ask me, you had no other choice. Scootaloo has made so many friends in Ponyville. Friends she never would have made had she traveled with you and your husband."
Mane gave a small smile. "That ended up being the clincher for why we left her."
"You did what was best for your child," Luna assured. "No one can fault you for that. What's really causing your mind distress is that you want young Scootaloo in your life, is that correct?"
Mane faced the Princess once more. "Yes," she admitted. "I know it's selfish, but..."
"Cease," Luna interrupted. "There is nothing selfish about wanting to be a bigger part of your daughter's life."
"But how are we going to do that if Equestria needs us here?" the pegasus argued. "I don't want to let anyone else in Equestria down."
A moment of contemplative silence passed between the two.
"Tell me," Luna said at last. "How long is your current assignment expected to last?"
"Probably for another month or so, why?"
"Normally I wouldn't intervene with how one addresses conflicts in the real world," Luna prefaced. "However, due to your service to the nation of Equestria, I may be of some help in this situation."
Mane's eyes widened. Was the princess doing what she thought she was?
"I'll put in a good word with your department to ensure your next assignment will be to a place where you are more able to give Scootaloo the care she needs," Luna promised.
Tears of joy now began to leak from the pegasus' eyes. "Thank you, Princess."
"For the mother of one of the finest young fillies I've ever met, it's the least I can do," Luna responded. "Would you like me to conjure up a new dream for you?"
Mane looked in the direction where she had seen Snap and the fake Scootaloo leave. "I think I'll stay with this one, aside from that version of Scootaloo coming in. I know that... this never happened, but I'd like to at least pretend it did. Just for the night."
Luna nodded her head in acknowledgment. "Very well. Pleasant dreams, Mane Allgood."
The creases of her horn lit up white as a flash of light encompassed Mane's vision before she found herself back in position, and just in time too, for from the brush emerged Scootaloo pulling a rope that had hit its mark around the cragadile's snout. Snap was even doing his part and holding the creature's tail in place to avoid it being used in defense.
"Get ready, Mom!" Scootaloo shouted.
Mane braced herself as Scootaloo made her way into the trap, the bars just big enough for her comparatively smaller body to squeeze through.
Once Snap placed the cragadile's rear on the floor of its cage, he dashed out of the door and Mane cut the rope holding the door up. Gravity did the rest.
With their objective accomplished, the family embraced in celebration.
"We did it!" Scootaloo shouted.
"We sure did, sweetie," Mane congratulated. "We sure did."
It was dreams like these that made Luna wish she'd tried her hand at being a parent. She always admired how they would go through Tartarus to ensure the well-being of their foal, even at the cost of their own physical or, in this case, mental well-being.
Luckily, she was fortunate to come across one of her little ponies where she was able to provide more than just sage advice. Contrary to her statement, she always relished the opportunity to throw a little royal power around to help, but only if it absolutely required it.
With no other spheres flashing around her, she was now able to return to her quest to find enticing stories for her sister.
As much as her marefriend’s kind words helped alleviate some of the tension that had consumed Octavia's entire being, it wasn't enough to vanquish it entirely.
The two were sitting on the loveseat that lay on Octavia's side of her and Vinyl's shared house in Ponyville. They had just been in the middle of a wonderful jam session. However, that had come to an abrupt halt when, out of the corner of her eye, she had spied a grey-coated mail mare placing a letter into their mailbox before flying off. Now the letter was on the coffee table, its contents still hidden.
Octavia felt the couch shift as Vinyl leaned in closer, placing a comforting hoof on her shoulder.
"I... I just don't know if I can bear another one, Vinyl," Octavia said, her breathing getting a little deeper.
The earth pony had been thinking about the piles of other letters she possessed in her bedroom, all of the rejections she'd received over the years.
"So what if it is another one?" the unicorn said.
"So what?!" the earth pony questioned, Vinyl's hoof separating from her shoulder as she leaned away and turned toward her marefriend in confrontation. "I've applied to so many orchestras, Vinyl! If I don't make this one, that's it!"
Octavia took a moment to breathe, gathering her thoughts in a calmer manner, not wanting to drive Vinyl away for just trying to help her feel better in her own... Vinyl-y way.
"I don't want to be in Ponyville forever, Vinyl," she explained. "I want music to be able to take me to places I've never seen. For Celestia's sake, it's my special talent. If I don't make this, what kind of musician am I?"
A pregnant pause entered the room for a few moments.
"Not the orchestra kind, I guess."
If Octavia were in a better mindset, she'd almost find that remark funny.
"What else is there for a cellist?" Octavia countered. "Classical musicians don't just succeed on their own anymore, Vinyl."
"Well, we'll just have to find out," Vinyl explained. "'Tavi, if there's one thing I know, it's that you have the same passion for music as me, and you've seen how I am with my beats. Even if this is a rejection, then maybe it just means you're not meant to be in an orchestra... maybe it means you're meant for something greater than just being a cog in a musical machine... maybe it means you and I found each other for a reason."
The grey earth pony had a look of puzzlement cross her visage. "You mean our sessions?"
"I mean, how many classical and electronic collaborations can you think of?" the unicorn posed. "If you're not supposed to make it with an orchestra, maybe it means you and I are supposed to be in this together. Two ponies, each passionate about their own type of music, coming together to make something nopony in Equestria has ever heard."
Octavia just gave a resigned smile, as she leaned onto her marefriend’s shoulder, staring up at the ceiling.
"You know, I'd ask you if you knew how unlikely that would be, but I already know that'd be useless," the cellist remarked.
"You know you love me," the D.J. responded.
Octavia allowed herself to be consoled with dreams of other paths her life might take her, should the letter not contain the response she'd be hoping for. Suddenly, it didn't seem like the end-all and be-all anymore. Life would still go on, and if that life had Vinyl in it, then at least it would be a fun ride.
"You always know just what to say, you know that?"
As Luna exited the dream, she could not help but feel for Octavia slightly. Her marefriend's dream was the first one she'd visited that night. The fact that Vinyl did not speak in her own, while she did in her marefriend's, told Luna all she needed to know.
Ponies’ subconscious desires always manifested themselves in their dreams, whether major or innocuous.
The Princess of the Night couldn't help but think back to the memories she still had from her thousand year imprisonment on the moon. Once she heard her sister's voice for the first time in centuries, it had made her realize how important just hearing another pony's voice was.
Luna could only hope that this currently innocent part of their relationship wouldn’t lead to tension later on.
She magically grabbed a new dream that sat about a foot above her head, ready to see what the next dream had in store.
He's never seen so many ponies at once in his life.
Bridleway always seemed like a far off fantasy, especially to someone growing up on Sweet Acorn Orchard. Yet, through some twist of fate so hard that it must have been a pretzel at this point, Pistachio found himself not only smack dab in the middle of Bridleway, but there with his biggest inspiration, Rarity.
Speaking of Rarity, he’d better make sure to not lose her in this crowd.
She hadn't been lying when she said she'd take him to fashion week, and while there was little reason to doubt a pony with a mile-long positive reputation such as her, saying something and actually doing it were two vastly different things.
The duo were making their way to Rarity For You. The veteran fashion designer had offered to put her protégé up for the week, as the shop was not only her place of business, but the third floor of the building served as her residence while she was in Manehattan. Once they entered the boutique, now separated from the rest of the Manehattan population since the store was closed at the moment, Pistachio was unable to hold in his excitement any longer.
"I still can't believe I'm actually here!" he exclaimed.
"I don't blame you," Rarity replied, looking nostalgic. "I remember when I first opened this place, I had the exact same feeling."
As the two made their way upstairs to the residential floor of the building, Pistachio decided he had to take the opportunity of having a private moment with Rarity to pick her brain a little.
However, before he had the chance to ask anything, Rarity had opened the door that led into her residence, and it was exactly like the colt had pictured it. There was a small, cozy kitchen, a hallway that likely led to separate rooms in the apartment, and an entertainment area by a set of two windows that included... a fainting couch.
Sure, there were other normal seating arrangements surrounding it that matched its light reddish color, as well as a dark brown coffee table, but the colt really stopped paying attention to everything else after he saw the fainting couch.
"Do you mind if I...?" Pistachio started to ask.
Rarity seemingly read his mind. "Go right ahead."
Pistachio carefully placed his luggage between the back of the couch and a chair that served as a portion of the dining area of the apartment. Out of the corner of his eye, the colt noticed it wasn't that big of a table, with wood legs painted white and a finely varnished wooden top that preserved the natural grain. However, he had other things on his mind.
The aspiring fashion designer took a step back to brace himself and threw himself onto the fainting couch, letting out a dramatic sigh for good measure. Rarity couldn't help but giggle at the display.
However, the sign of acknowledgement from his fashion idol returned him to the thought he had had a few seconds prior.
"Hey, Rarity?"
"Yes, darling?"
"What was it like getting into the industry?"
That made the white unicorn pause for a second. "Well, that's a bit of a long story, darling."
"Fashion Week doesn't start until tomorrow," Pistachio goaded, pulling off his blue stetson hat and holding it to his chest. "Besides, I'd really like the chance to get to know you. You've always been this larger-than-life figure. I figured I might get the chance to just see you one day, but to meet you and then be here, I don't want to waste it.”
Rarity gave a nostalgic sigh before going to the kitchen and magically grabbing two white tea cups. "What tea do you like, darling?"
"I've never had tea before."
"Earl Grey it is, then."
With tea cups in hand, Rarity and Pastichio set themselves up in the entertainment area of the apartment, the unicorn sitting on the fainting couch with the earth pony sitting on the loveseat across from it.
"So, you want to know about my rise in the fashion world, yes?"
"Yes, please."
"See, I don't know if it'd be best to tell you," the veteran fashionista admitted.
"What do you mean?"
"There is no ‘one size fits all,’ in life and in this industry," she explained. "I'm sure you know that I was first discovered by Hoity Toity."
Pistachio nodded in confirmation.
"And that's just it," Rarity said. "It all depends about the connections and friends you make along the way. You have to forge your own path, and not try to copy those that have come before you."
"If that's the case, then why bring me here?" the colt asked, taking a sip of his tea.
"Well, like I said, if Hoity Toity hadn't come to Ponyville, I wouldn't be where I am now," the unicorn explained. "Before that, I was just like you, an average pony with a dream. When I met you, I saw a younger me, and if there was one thing I wish I had had when I was at your age, it would've been having somepony in the industry stumbling upon me, and encouraging my passion. I brought you here so that you can see the work of my associates, and possibly meet them. Perhaps one day, they'll end up being your Hoity Toity."
"Are you saying that you're not my Hoity Toity?"
"Darling, I'd love to be, but we're not at that point in time yet. Now that we're alone, there is something I have to confess. I told a bit of a half-truth to your parents when I said you had a future in fashion," Rarity admitted.
That caught Pistachio off-guard.
"You're only a quarter of the way there, darling. You have the passion, and I admire that, but you've yet to begin creating your own material yet. Until you can begin doing that and your Hoity Toity finds you, that's when you really have a future."
Then, the colt's mental gears began churning.
"You mean..."
"I'm just trying to give you more of a chance, yes," Rarity confirmed. "The more veteran designers know you and the more inspiration you have, the better the chance you have at one day making it here."
"It's all about networking, isn't it?"
"It's important, that's for sure."
The aspiring fashion designer gave his idol a smile. "Thank you, Rarity."
"Any time, darling."
Many moons had passed since that fateful fashion week, and in that time, Rarity had risen to the highest heights in the fashion world. Some would dare call her a fashion queen, but there were rumblings among insiders about a new face making a name for himself: Pistachio.
Many joked that he was born to be Rarity's successor. The two had very similar humble upbringings: Rarity coming from small-town Ponyville and Pistachio coming from Sweet Acorn Orchard. However, what really sealed it was his rise in the industry.
Many fashion icons say they first remember Pistachio as a young colt at Manehattan's Fashion Week many years before, but it wouldn't be until much later that he had begun making a name for himself.
He had taken a style that Rarity had introduced and brought it to its logical next step. It was really a matter of time before the veteran and the rising star joined forces. Fashion Week had arrived once again, and Rarity and Pistachio were rumored to be unveiling their newest pieces together.
Meanwhile, in the third floor of Rarity For You, two ponies were once again having a conversation over tea.
"I still think you were being too generous about you not being my Hoity Toity," Pistachio chucked. He had never given up the hat that he would always say changed his life forever. However, he had added a light yellow scarf to his signature look.
Nothing too much had changed for Rarity, just a few wrinkles here and there, but despite that, she had aged gracefully.
"I didn't want you getting too sure of yourself," Rarity responded. "Yet, I do remember keeping a close eye on you to make sure I could get you a job at one of my boutiques before anyone else could."
"Working for you while attending Princess Twilight's School of Friendship was an excellent experience, though," Pistachio said. "So, would you say I have a future now?"
"You did the moment you stepped into this apartment all those years ago."
"How many times have I thanked you for that again?" the rising fashionista asked.
"Too many."
"Well, make that too many and one," the stallion responded. "Thank you, Rarity, for everything."
"It was my privilege, darling."
If helping Mane Allgood made Luna think about being a parent, this one made Luna think of taking a page out of her sister's book and taking on a student. Twilight and Cadence seemed to be her sister's pride and joy these days, so perhaps a student of her own might bring her similar feelings.
Oh well, best save mulling that over for later.
The Princess of the Night magically grabbed a hold of a sphere to her immediate right, expanded it into a rectangular shape that allowed her entry, and made her way to the next dream.
The doorbell rang, to the eagerness of one Mayor Mare.
Everypony at City Hall had said she was crazy to host Equestrian Games Inspector Harshwhinny at her personal home for lunch, but she'd show them. If the stories from Pinkie Pie and her friends held any weight, pulling this off should help guarantee Ponyville next year's Equestrian Games for sure.
Just imagining all the good that could come to the town through hosting the Games was enough to make her prance around like a schoofilly in excitement, but first she had to get through this lunch.
She opened the door to find Ms. Harshwhinny, holding a jar of apple cider.
Nice to see the Apple Family has done their part, now it's my turn, she thought to herself.
"Well, Miss Mayor, I made it, despite your directions," the Inspector noted, looking to her itinerary to find that, sure enough, the directions to her house had been misprinted. No matter.
"Welcome, Ms. Harshwhinny, welcome," Mayor Mare greeted. "How's your stay been in Ponyville so far?"
"Well, it's been quite the experience, I must say," Harshwhinny answered. "The town has certainly changed a lot since the last time I was here for the Summer Sun Celebration."
"Yes, we Ponyvillians are quite proud of the recognition our home is getting recently." The politician couldn't help but brag a little. "Where are my manners?! Come in! I hope you're ready for an unforgettable luncheon."
"Quite a high bar you're setting for yourself, Mayor," the Inspector remarked as she entered the humble abode.
As she sat down at the table, placing the apple cider in a bowl of ice at the table's center, Mayor Mare went to check on her roast hay. Once she saw the smoking oven, she realized, to her panicked chagrin, the exact thing that her staffers said might happen had happened. She opened the appliance to survey the damage.
"Oh my Celestia!" she muttered. "My roast hay is ruined!"
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed The Hay Burger outside her window. She'd always been fond of how one of her favorite eating establishments was in close proximity to her house, making it easy to grab a quick bite on her way to the office, but perhaps it just might save Ponyville's chance at hosting the games.
"But what if I were to purchase fast food and disguise it as my own cooking?" She gave the idea a mental once-over. She found a few holes, but she could probably make it work.
"Well, it's not like I have any other options." She resigned herself to her situation before propping open the window to make her escape. Unfortunately, that's when a certain pony happened to come through the door.
Ms. Harshwhinny's expression looked startled at first before turning into suspicion. "What is the meaning of this?!" she pointedly asked.
"Terribly sorry, Ms. Harshwhinny, but I figured I'd wait for our meal to finish by stretching my legs on the window sill, isometric exercise. Care to join me?"
Her suspicious gaze turned to the smoking oven. "Why is there smoke coming out of your oven, Mayor?"
"Oh, it isn't smoke, it's… steam." She mentally congratulated herself for working her way out of that one. "Steam from the steamed hays we're having. Mmmmm. Steamed hays."
The suspicious look never left the Inspector's face as she retreated from the kitchen. Relieved at her guest’s departure, Mayor Mare made one of her own, hopping out her window and making a mad dash to The Hay Burger.
One Purchase Later
"Well, Ms. Harshwhinny, I hope you’re up for some mouthwatering hay burgers," Mayor Mare said, placing the tray full of said food items onto the table.
The orange earth pony raised an eyebrow, seemingly confirming a suspicion she had. "I thought we were having steamed hays," she said slowly, like she already knew what was going on, and all she needed was a conformation.
"Oh, we are," the politician said as she took her seat. "That's just what I call hay burgers."
"You call hay burgers… steamed hays?"
"Yes, it's a regional dialect."
"Uh-huh, what region, might I ask?" She still wasn't buying it.
Just pick a region!!! Mayor Mare internally screamed.
"Uh, Southern."
"Really?" The Inspector’s eyes narrowed. "Well, I'm from Dodge City, and I've never heard anyone use the phrase 'steamed hays.'"
Buck! the politician inwardly cursed. I seriously had to pick the region where she grew up?!
"Oh, not in Dodge City, no, it's an Applewood expression." Mayor Mare hoped to Celestia Harshwhinny would buy that.
"Ah, I see."
The pale amber earth pony let out an internal sigh of relief as she began to enjoy the hay burgers. Hopefully, her troubles were now over.
"You know, these burgers are quite similar to the ones they have at The Hay Burger."
And just like that, her hopes were dashed.
Mayor Mare gave a small chuckle, "Oh no no no. They're an old family recipe I got from my mother."
"...for steamed hays?"
"Yes."
"And you call them steamed hays, despite the fact they are obviously grilled."
Why couldn't Harshwhinny just confront her about her fib already?!
"Ye...You know, the... One thing I should..." The politician wiped her mouth with her napkin, stirring to come up with a reason for what her guest just pointed out, only to come up with nothing. So, she did the only thing she could. "Excuse me for one second."
"Of course," Harshwhinny said.
Thank Celestia for table etiquette, Mayor Mare internally praised as she entered the now-burning kitchen. No time to deal with that! She needed to get the Inspector onto the next part of her visit now. She exited the kitchen a mere couple seconds after she walked in.
"Oh well, that was wonderful," the Mayor said. "A good time was had by all. Say, isn't it about time you went to see the School?"
Ms. Harshwhinny checked her watch and, sure enough, it was about time. "Yes, I should probably be..." Unfortunately for the already stressed mayor, she caught a peak at the flames going in the kitchen. "By Celestia, what is happening in there?!"
"Aurora Borealis." Immediately the politician internally facehooved. Did those words seriously just leave her lips?
The orange earth pony gave a surprised "Uh-," not quite sure she heard what she thought she did. "Aurora borealis?! At this time of year, at this time of day, in this part of Equestria, localized entirely within your kitchen?"
Oh well, no use going back now. "Yes."
It seemed like the Inspector was caught off guard by that confirmation, before her face morphed into a look of curiosity. "May I see it?"
Mayor Mare let a second pass, as if she'd actually let the Equestrian Games Inspector bear witness to a fire in her own home.
"No."
As the duo walked out to the Mayor's front porch, a certain mail mare's distressed shout almost blew her cover. "Mayor Mare, your house is on fire!"
"No, Derpy, it's just the Northern Lights."
Derpy's look of panic immediately left her muzzle. "Oh, all right. Have a nice day, then!" she said before flying off to her next delivery.
"Well, Miss Mayor, you are an odd mare, but I must say, you steam a good hay," the Inspector complimented. "I'll tell you this, with the growth Ponyville has experienced in recent years, I think it might be about time to christen it as one of Equestria's central hubs by having it host the games. I can't guarantee anything, since I still have a few more places to scout out, but I'm liking what I'm seeing."
"That means a lot coming from you, Ms. Harshwhinny. Do enjoy the School!" The politician bid her guest farewell with a good-natured wave.
Said good-natured wave continued even when the orange earth pony looked back again, even as her house burned behind her.
Only once the Inspector was out of view could the mayor finally breathe a sigh of relief. Sure, her house was burning down behind her, but Ponyville was one step closer to hosting Equestria Games, and that's what mattered.
Luna was almost wheezing as she exited the dream.
"I haven't laughed like this in centuries!" This was definitely one she'd be telling Celestia about later.
Still giggling a little bit, she randomly grabbed a new orb in her magic about five feet in front of her.
What was taking that damn mare so long?! She didn't feel like she could wait like this forever. She told Rainbow Dash to meet her on this hill five minutes ago. If she didn't get here soon, the sun was going to set and she'd have missed her chance!
Thankfully, the cyan mare finally arrived. "Sorry I'm late, Gilda, Pinkie asked me to help pick up after her parties and woah."
Gilda flashed a confident smile as she stretched herself to cover as much length of the picnic blanket as she could. "Hey, Dash."
Nope!, was all the Princess of the Night could think as she exited the dream as fast as she possibly could. This was another major reason why she didn't just enter dreams willy-nilly!
It's not like she didn't know ponies dreamt about... that... sometimes, but out of all the dreams of all the creatures in all the land, she thought the odds would be on her side that she wouldn't walk in on one of those.
Luckily, a flashing orb about three yards to her left caught her attention: another nightmare.
Thankful for the distraction, Luna magically pulled the orb over to her. The less time thinking about that dream, the better.
Hunger. Ceaseless hunger. That was the birthright of the Changelings.
Ocellus, though, had known that from a slightly earlier age than the average nymph. She'd always been a more introspective and observational type. However, when you lived in the changeling hive, having such traits usually led to feelings of bitterness and depression, because those changelings knew just how perilous the Hive's current state was.
She would always scout out a good place at the entrance of the Hive whenever she heard a new batch of drones were returning, hopefully with a high love surplus that could be distributed among the rest of the Hive. After Queen Chrysalis took her portion, of course.
The results were always the same: meager, at best. She could remember some changelings fighting tooth and hoof on multiple occasions just to get a little sliver.
She was about a couple weeks old when she first remembered going to sleep with a pit in her stomach that would slowly become her companion.
She'd laid on the dirt with the rest of her brood in their little niche of the Hive, forming something of a black blob in the sand. She had managed to scrounge up a few small rocks to support her head, and instead of sleep welcoming her with open arms, it had taken her hours, the pain eventually becoming too much for her conscious mind to bear.
She was about a moon and a half old when she saw Queen Chrysalis for the first time, the moonlight partially illuminating the Hive as she was passionately rallying up her subjects for some kind of invasion. Of course, being a nymph, she couldn't participate. Yet, the overall feelings of her audience were quite easy to distinguish.
There was another birthright if you were a Changeling: misery. Ocellus learned quickly not to have too much hope; it would only make the inevitable disappointments hurt less, but for the first time in her short existence, she'd finally had a little bit of hope.
Once the army took over Canterlot, all of the love produced from the ponies would be theirs and maybe, just maybe, she'd finally remember what it was like to fall asleep with a good meal. How twisted was that? She'd realize many years later how twisted it was to actively wish such a heinous act be inflicted upon creatures that she'd never met, ones that never did anything to deserve that.
It felt as though she was a spectator to her own life, yet she could still feel everything her younger self was feeling: the bloodlust, the hunger, the desperation.
What does that say about you? she asked herself.
Nothing. The Hive was a horrible... horrible place back then, but it's so much better now.
Yet, you continue to dwell on it...
The past has to be remembered in order to not repeat its mistakes in the future.
But what's going to happen if that hunger ever returns?
It won't. The Changelings don't need love anymore.
Maybe not love, but they still need sustenance from somewhere.
The Changelings have plenty of ways to get food now.
Have you forgotten about those famines you've read about in Equestrian History?
That was the past. There will be enough.
That's what you said when you waited for the drones to get back to the Hive. You think that just because you managed to get into school that everything that made you who you are is just going to leave you? Reformed or not, you're always going to be a Changeling, and the birthrights of all changelings are hunger and misery. They may not show their faces now, but at some point, they will. They always will. And what will you do then? What are you going to do when the pit returns?
It won't!
It'd be foolish to think it will never happen again. Might as well figure out what your plan is. I wonder what you'd do to keep the pit away. Transform.
No!
Lie.
No!
Hurt.
No!
Kill!
NO!
We both know you're lying. You can say all you want from atop the mountain, but you know what it's like to be at the base. If it's not at the Hive, it's going to be somewhere else. Once that pit returns, you might not look the same, but deep down you know... you'll still go right back to that twisted mindset you've become oh so familiar with, because that is your birthright.
"Not so, Ocellus!" a voice that said.
"Wha?" Ocellus said, finally vocalizing her thoughts, all of her terrible, terrible thoughts.
The moonlight that peeked into one of the Hive's central chambers flashed a sharp white, and a second after it returned to normal, a dark blue alicorn emerged from the caverns.
"Princess Luna?"
"Greetings, my little Changeling."
The Princess of the Night couldn't get to say much more as the Changeling immediately charged towards her, burying herself in her flowing mane that looked like the very night sky itself.
"I'm so sorry, Princess Luna, please don't make me leave! I promise I won't ever have thoughts like this again!"
"One cannot always control the tracks the train of thought chooses, especially when it comes to one's own past."
Ocellus removed herself from the alicorn's mane, "But... but what happens when it happens again?"
"Equestria has had bountiful harvests a hundred times more than it hasn’t. The chance of your past ever being recreated here in Equestria are quite remote."
"Remote doesn't mean impossible," the changeling rebutted, composing herself.
"Tell me, Ocellus, what is different about what you had now, as opposed to what you had in your past?"
"Three square meals a day?"
"Besides that?"
"A bed?"
"What I'm referring to isn't anything material," Luna hinted.
"Well sure, I have my friends, but I know what can happen if I ever sink that low again. If they ever saw me like that..."
"Ocellus, you underestimate just how much your friends have the capacity to care," Luna explained. "If hard times truly befall Equestria, your friends will be able to stop you from being the monster you are afraid of becoming. You may not always be able to control your circumstances, but your friends will be able to help you through them. You no longer have to suffer alone."
The Changeling wiped a little tear. "Thank you, Princess. I really needed to hear that. This is the last time I skip dinner before bed."
"A wise choice, my little Changeling. Any recommendations of the dream you want me to leave you with?"
Ocellus gave it a bit of thought. "Think I can reminisce on a few happier memories?"
Luna's eyes softened. "Of course."
The creases of the alicorn's horn flashed white first before the light consumed all of Ocellus' vision. When she was able to open her eyes again, she saw her first day at school, her first Hearth's Warming at the Hive, her second with her friends, and so many more memories that brought a smile to her face, including her own transformation, the day that her life began anew.
Luna exited the dream with sympathy in her heart, not just for Ocellus specifically, but for all the creatures like her who were finally letting themselves be vulnerable. The mental strength to do that, especially when they had been living a life that discouraged it, was astounding, but it came with consequences.
While she did not wish a nightmare on anypony, sometimes they were the only ways that they'd be able to face their demons they were meeting for the first time. It made her thankful that she had been blessed with the ability to assist them when they did.
"One more dream should do it for tonight," Luna thought.
She reached out with her magic to grab an orb ten feet to her right.
At last, the Dread Pirate Spike had caught up with Princess Raricup. Unfortunately, directly to her right sat the one who had dared kidnapped the fair maiden in the first place: Prince Bluebloodini, and the confidence he wore made Spike's inner blood boil hotter than a volcano. However, nothing would get in the way of his quest.
He slowly approached the wicked Prince, sitting behind a rock that held a bottle of wine and two goblets. It was actually quite a beautiful day too, all things considered, a nice partly cloudy sky and vegetation that stretched for miles around them. As for the Princess, her savior may have been oh so close, but she had already lost so much hope that all she could do was listen for the winner between the Dread Pirate and the Prince, thanks to the blindfold Bluebloodini placed on her earlier.
"So it is down to you, and it is down to me. If you wish her dead, by all means, keep moving forward," Bluebloodini taunted.
"Let me explain—" Spike started.
"There's nothing to explain," the Prince interrupted. "You're trying to kidnap what I have rightfully stolen!"
How come everyone the Dread Pirate came across thought he was trying to kidnap the Princess for himself? Just because he was a pirate didn't mean he wasn’t capable of doing good. It was discrimination, at best.
"Perhaps an arrangement can be reached, then?" the drake proposed.
"There will be no arrangement," retorted the Prince.
"Well, if there can be no arrangement, then we are at an impasse," Spike observed.
"I'm afraid so," Bluebloodini agreed. "I can't compete with you physically, and you're no match for my brains."
"You're that smart?"
"Let me put it this way: have you ever heard of Starswirl, Clover the Clever, and Twilight Sparkle?"
"Yes."
"Morons."
"Really," Spike said, not showing much of a reaction. "In that case, I challenge you to a battle of wits."
"For the princess?" The Dread Pirate nodded in confirmation. "To the death?" Another nod. "I accept."
"Good. Then pour the wine."
The Princess' captor followed the instruction as the drake reached into his satchel and pulled out a small brown vial. Sitting down on the rock opposite the one that had the goblets on it, he offered the vial to his opponent. "Inhale this, but do not touch."
After he did so, the Prince remarked, "I smell nothing."
"What you do not smell is called Kivi powder," the Dread Pirate explained. "It is odorless, tasteless, dissolves instantly in liquid, and being derived from the optic nerves of cockatrices, it is among the more deadly poisons known to Equestria."
"Hmmmm."
Spike took the two goblets, and turned around, hiding them from Bluebloodini's view. Once he was satisfied, he turned back around, placing one cup in front of the Prince, and the other in front of himself. "All right. Where is the poison? The battle of wits has begun. It ends when you decide and we both drink, and find out who is right… and who is dead."
The Prince looked at his opponent as if he held him for a simpleton. "But it's so simple," he explained. “All I have to do is divine from what I know of you: are you the sort of creature who would put the poison into his own goblet or his enemy's?"
He gestured to the goblet in front of the Dread Pirate. "Now, a clever creature would put the poison into his own goblet, because he would know that only a great fool would reach for what he was given. I am not a great fool," he said, gesturing to himself. "So, I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you. But you must have known I was not a great fool..." He now gestured to the goblet closest to him. "You would have counted on it, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of me." His hoof now returned to his side.
"You've made your decision then?"
"Not remotely," Bluebloodini started again. "Because Kivi comes from Dimondia, as every creature knows, and Dimondia is entirely populated with criminals, and criminals are used to having people not trust them, as you are not trusted by me, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you."
"Truly, you have a dizzying intellect," the Dread Pirate sarcastically remarked.
"Wait till I get going!" the Prince boasted. "Where was I?"
"Dimondia."
"Yes, Dimondia," Bluebloodini started again. "You must have suspected I would have known the powder's origin, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of me."
"Okay, now you're just stalling."
"You'd like to think that, wouldn't you?" The captor's hoof was now consistently pointing at the drake.
"You've beaten my giant, which means you're exceptionally strong..."
Indeed, the Dread Pirate had defeated the giant, Bulkzik. However, it wasn't because he was necessarily strong. He did it only because he was able to wrap his arms around the giant’s neck, causing him to lose consciousness from lack of breath.
"...So you could've put the poison in your own goblet, trusting in your strength to save you, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you. But, you've also bested my swordsmare..."
The less Spike heard, "My name is the Great and Powerful Trixoya! You killed my father. Prepare to die," the better.
"...Which means you must have studied, and in studying you must have learned that man is mortal, so you would have put the poison as far from yourself as possible, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of me." His hoof returned to his side again.
"You're trying to trick me into giving away something," the drake observed. "It won't work."
"It has worked!" Bluebloodini asserted. "You've given everything away! I know where the poison is!"
"Then make your choice," the Dread Pirate calmly demanded.
"I will, and I choose— What in the world can that be?" the Prince pointed to a bush behind Spike.
"What? Where? I don't see anything." The Dread Pirate turned around to see what the prince had spotted.
"Well, I-I could have sworn I saw something. No matter," the captor lied, unable to help a smirk from crossing his face.
"What's so funny?"
"I'll tell you in a minute. First, let's drink. Me from my glass, and you from yours."
The adversaries both picked up their respective goblets, each slowly taking a big long sip of its respective contents.
"You guessed wrong," Spike calmly said.
"You only think I guessed wrong! That's what's so funny!" the prince gloated. "I switched glasses when your back was turned! Ha ha! You fool!"
The Dread Pirate's calm expression never left his face.
"You fell victim to one of the classic blunders! The most famous is never get involved in a land war in Yakyakistan, but only slightly less well-known is this: never go in against a prince when death is on the line!! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!! Ha ha ha—"
Bluebloodini's seemingly victorious laughter came to a complete halt, as he no longer had the organic vocal cords to do that. Due to not having sat up on his center of balance, the now stony prince fell to his right, rolling down the hill, likely never to emerge again.
After taking a moment of pride in his clever work, the Dread Pirate stood from his rock seat and attended to Princess Raricup, removing her blindfold and letting her see her savior for the first time.
"Who are you?" the princess asked. That's right, she hadn't recognized him yet. He'd have to fix that as soon as they were in a more secure location.
"I'm no one to be trifled with," he warned. "That is all you ever need know."
"And to think, all that time it was your cup that was poisoned," Raricup whispered.
"They were both poisoned," Spike revealed. "I spent the last few years building up an immunity to Kivi powder."
"Hmmmm," the princess remarked, impressed at the dread pirate's clever gambit, before the two ran off.
"And that's how I met your mother," Spike said, as he got up from his seat next to a bed.
"That's not the end of the story, Daddy!" a light purple quadrupedal dragoness said as she was tucked in said bed.
"It is for tonight, little miss," he asserted. "You have school tomorrow."
"Mommy! Make Daddy tell the rest of the story!"
"You couldn't have waited till the weekend to tell that story, darling?" Rarity questioned as she passed her daughter's room, a laundry basket in her magical grasp.
"You know how much I love telling it," the drake replied.
"Go to sleep, darling," Rarity ordered. "Daddy will finish the story tomorrow."
That should be a good dream to end on, Luna thought to herself as the white flash that signaled her exit from the dream faded.
She took one more moment to gaze at the infinite amounts of dreams around her. Her sister had been right. There were so many creatures that lived in their magical land, each of them having their own likes, dislikes, strengths, fears, and insecurities. It was… beautiful, in a way.
Maybe Luna should take a page out of Celestia's book at some point in the future. Maybe a lifetime among her subjects could do her some good.
Leaving that thought to be followed up on another time, Luna lit the creases of her horn white, as she began to wake up.
As soon as Luna's eyes opened, she was greeted by a face full of white.
"Soooooooo," Celestia greeted. "How was your night?"
"Sister!" she berated. "You know I hate it when you get in my face like that."
"I'm sorry, I was just so excited!" The Princess of the Day pranced around the room, before immediately deciding to intrude on Luna's personal space again, even though she hadn't even gotten out of bed yet.
"What did you see?" she asked eagerly. "What did you see?"
Luna gave a small smile as she sat up, leaning her upper body on her bed's soft headboard. She'd have to be sure to keep it as nonspecific as she could. She didn't want to give away too much of their world's denizens' private thoughts.
Yet, seeing her sister look so eager and filled with life had made the journey worth it.
That said, if Celestia ever asked her to do that again, she'd do what she should have done in the first place and just make something up.
