Nightmare Life

~The Princess of His Dreams

Night Riser had run as fast as he could as soon as Luna gave him directions to the home of the pony he had wished to see for so many years. He could hardly take control of his heartbeat and breath they were moving so fast as he sprinted through the woods. But a smile was lining his face, a laugh of joy in his heart. This was going to be the day, the night.

All he had dreamed for.

It was then Night Riser saw it, the cottage the Night Princess had described. It was as beautiful as he imagined, not in Luna's description alone, but also in the vision from his dream. It was a wooden place, warm and soft, not cold and rough like the lab, and it was full of life and blooming every second, whereas his home symbolized death and horror. He stopped, yes, to take this in, but it didn't satisfy him. He wanted to see the pony, even though not a Bat Princess anymore, herself.

He ran up a quaint bridge that led to the front door, almost tripping over his own hooves. However, he did manage to hit an up-grown root in the ground just beyond that, his back leg catching and leaving the rest of his body to fall flat to the ground. Night Riser hit his jaw on the unforgiving earth, and cried in pain. He also felt a tinge in his hoof where it caught. How embarrassing and undreamlike this was...

The pain, however, was not good in his leg. Night Riser clenched his teeth, hoping that maybe the pain would stop traveling through his nerves. But they persisted and he laid there groaning until a click came before him. A creak followed, along with a shimmer of light and a whisking smell of fresh lilacs. He tried to open his eyes, but couldn't due to how he was.

"Um, excuse me, who's there?" asked a whispering voice. Night Riser perked his ears. That voice...the tone of an angel pony. It was just the same as the one he had heard many years prior...

"Oh my goodness!" the voice then proclaimed. Night Riser saw through his lids that the light increased and he heard a door slam open. He sensed that the pony who owned the voice, whom he figured was the pony he was searching for, coming toward him.

"Are you alright? Can you speak?" she asked. Night Riser then forced himself to open his eyes. That was when he knew he had arrived...that he had found her. For when his eyes opened, they faced the two, blue-green shimmering irises that he had seen in his dream, treasured in his drawings. This was her.

"I...I..." he tried to say, but the pain came back. That, and all this time he had dreamed of seeing her, he had no idea what to say. He was lost for words. The mare in front of him grew panicked.

"Oh, I'll have to get you in right away!" she said, trying to pull him to his feet. "Here, I'll try to help you, maybe I'll get some other and-"

"No, it's fine," Night Riser said through his clenched jaw. "I can walk on the other three."

"Are you sure?" she asked. Night Riser confirmed. He then struggled to stay on his uninjured legs as best he could, trying not to make the mare work so hard. She hardly seemed up for carrying anyhow, and was amazed at how eager she was to help even though she was weak. But before long, he was in the cozy house lying on a sofa, the mare pulling out bandages beginning to wrap them around his injured leg, carefully and gently.

"There, that should be better," she then said while tying the bandage off in a neat bow. " Why, you must have fallen hard on that root. I really should've gotten that taken care of weeks ago, but, I'm sorry I didn't."

"It's fine, really, I should be able to heal in no time," Night Riser replied. Secretly, he hoped he was right. Who knows what would happen if he appeared to Dr. Zoid with an injured hoof.

"I really do hope so," said the mare. She then looked at him curiously, her pastel pink mane dropping in front of her face. "What brings you this way anyhow?"

"I...well, I was...looking," stuttered Night Riser. He really didn't know what to say at this point, and he definitely couldn't say it was she he was looking for, just when they had met.

"Oh, that's nice. Maybe we can find it soon," she said shyly. Night Riser looked hard at her covered face, only wishing that he was one of those unicorns he learned about. He really hated the mare covering her wonderful eyes with her drooping mane.

"What is your name?" he asked her. The pony backed up a little and looked away.

"Um...it's Fluttershy," she said so soft it was almost inaudible. But Night Riser was excellent at hearing. He caught the name instantly. Fluttershy. He said the word in his name in his mind over and over. Fluttershy. So lovely.

"My name is Night Riser," he replied to Fluttershy.

"I've never seen you here before," she responded.

"I'm here for Nightmare Night, really," said Night Riser.

"I was wondering about that," she said. " You must be here because I heard that here Nightmare Night is very good. And you do have a very good costume." Night Riser took a look at his wings, which were laid out this way and that under him. He kept staring at them, and then remembering that Fluttershy, as Luna said, wasn't a bat-pony. She was a pegasus, but that wasn't the same. He fumbled with the idea of telling her the truth.

"I thank you for that," he said slowly. "But...Fluttershy..."

"Yes?"

"These wings of mine...well...they are real." He closed his eyes tight when he said this. Again, he was waiting for the mock, for the discrimination. Fluttershy wasn't Luna, she didn't know anything. In fact, Night Riser started to feel stupid he revealed such a thing.

But Fluttershy surprised him.

"Amazing," she said. "I've never seen, or even heard, of a bat-pony before." She come closer and looked at his wings. "You're so unique. I wish I had wings like that." Night Riser widened his eyes.

"You do?!"

"But of course!" said Fluttershy with a smile. "When I was a little filly, I was so fascinated by bats. Especially their wings. I love animals of all kinds, but at one point, I do remember wanting that I wanted to be a bat. I wanted to be able to fly at night and well...." She stopped, heat drawing to her face as she then backed away. "Well...I wanted to be a bat, that's all."

"And what?" asked Night Riser.

"Oh, nothing much, really," said Fluttershy. "It was just a silly dream, I suppose."

"Oh, but it can't be silly! Dreams are never silly!" retorted Night Riser. "Why, isn't it dreams that lead us to where we wish to go, to our futures?"

"They don't really mean anything," said Fluttershy. "I mean, I've never seen a dream come true." Night Riser looked away from her a second, when he caught the craziest idea in his mind. He turned back to her, smiling.

"Tell me," he said.

"Tell you what?"

"The dream."

"Oh, no! I couldn't! It's far too absurd!"

"It can't be as absurd as me having the wings of a bat, can it?" Fluttershy looked at his wings and sighed.

"I...wanted...to touch the moon," she mumbled very quietly. Night Riser smiled.

"I don't think that sounds silly at all," he said in a comforting tone. "Not at all."

"You can hear me?" Fluttershy said surprisingly. "I usually speak that quiet so that...no one...can, you know..."

"I have very good hearing," said Night Riser twitching his ears. "I have the ears of a bat too."

"Oh," said Fluttershy, turning red. "Well, yes, that...that was my dream." Night Riser turned closer to Fluttershy.

"Did you ever imagine that it could come true?" he asked her. Fluttershy looked at him with wide eyes.

"Are you crazy?" she asked.

"No, and I'm not mocking you either. I think the dream is wonderful," Night Riser reassured. "But I need to ask...do you want a dream of yours, any dream, to come true?" Fluttershy let her hair fall in front of her face. She looked away, and then back.

"I guess," she said. Night Riser then placed is front hooves on the floor, then the last good one, and limping, began to walk toward the door. Fluttershy ran to his side.

"What are you doing?" she asked. "You need to rest!" But Night Riser opened the door, letting the chilly autumn air flow into the home. He let it whisk through his mane.

"Where are you going?" Fluttershy asked, now very confused. But Night Riser looked at her with his blissful golden eyes, and with a warm smile he whispered three words to her.

"Come with me."