There came a knocking at the door, roughly around 11:43 pm, just as I knew it would come. I could tell someone would be in need of my... special talent, pretty soon. My hoofsteps echo through the quiet halls of my humble, two story house. I look out the window
to Luna's great night, the stars shining against the night sky like diamonds. New moon tonight as well...I shrug and continue down
to the door. The knocking has picked up in urgency just as I make it to the door. I waited until the visitor started knocking again before opening the door, a habit I picked up from a friend of mine in Ponyville. Waiting for me on the other side of the door was a gray earth pony mare with a dark brown, disheveled mane, who seems scared, tired. This is to be expected, otherwise she wouldn't have come to me this late. Her purple eyes widen as they meet my soft blue right one and my ruined left.
"I was expecting you, Miss Philharmonica. Care to step inside?"
+++++++
"I take it you are Mr.dreams?" Octavia asks, sitting down on the unremarkable couch in the equally unremarkable living room.
"Indeed I am," I reply, levitating a couple steaming cups of chamomile tea from the kitchen, sitting across from the pitiful mare. I give her one cup and sit on a chair just across from her. "And judging by your current state, you're in need of my particular help."
She looks away with a look bordering nervousness. "Is it true what they say about you?" she asks.
I raise an eyebrow at this sudden inquiry. "That depends on what is said about me. Ponies talk about noble's children daily." I take a sip of my tea, a soft purple aura, matching my coat, enveloping the cup.
She continues to avoid eye contact, but continues, "They say you can enter the dream realm, similar to princess Luna."
At this, I give a faint smile and set the cup down. "You can't always believe gossip you hear among the common ponies."
"You didn't answer the question." she observes, finally making eye contact.
"To answer your question, yes." I reply, my smile growing.
Her eyes widen in disbelief, "Can you prove this?" she asks, a little skeptical.
I get up, and slowly walk over to her until we're a mere inches apart. I lower my horn to her forehead, my dark pink mane drooping into my eyes. I activate my magic, my horn once again enveloped by a soft purple aura. Octavia's eyes slowly close, and she goes limp on the couch, snoring lightly. I feel the familiar sensation of my limbs going to sleep and my body being squeezed through a tube as I enter the Dreamrealm.
+++++++
I come to consciousness,or rather unconsciousness, and take in my surroundings. The sky is a blank gray, the only building in sight being a gleaming concert hall a yard away. So, with no other path presented to me at the moment, I approach the doors.
As I step inside, I hear a scream coming from the back.
"It appears I'm just in time." I say idly to no one. Picking up my pace,
I enter the main stage area, the many chairs onstage in orderly rows, rising the further back you looked. I wasn't paying much attention to the chairs, however. No, what I was focused on were the horde of bleeding, gore-smeared, ravenous zombie ponies
chasing Octavia....who was running frantically towards me.
"Help!! Please, help me!!" she cries, the zombies slowly gaining ground.
Really? This was all it took to scare her? Zombies? I charge my horn with magic, shaking my head at the scene before me.
Octavia, and by extension the zombies, were getting closer. Finally, I let loose my magic, causing a ripple in the dream. The scene changes, and Octavia is sitting in the lead chair, a crowd of ponies sitting in the audience waiting expectantly. She looks around,
understandably confused, and spots me. give her a reassuring wink, and she smiles. Her cello appears out of nowhere, and she starts to play, causing the audience to go quiet. I charge my horn, and my limbs fall asleep, my body once again feeling like it's being squeezed through a tube as I leave her dream.
+++++++
I return to consciousness and open my eyes. Octavia was still asleep, but now she was smiling, curled up slightly on the couch.
I look at the clock to see it was now 12:01.
"Huh, new record." I say to myself, a bad habit of mine, and leave the mare to her sleep.
I shake my head, remembering the nightmare in question.
"Zombies. Tsk, my maid's daughter has worse dreams than that,"
I comment in disappointment. "But she should be fine now." Just before I ascend the stairs, I glance back at the mare on my couch,
a smile touching my lips as she gives a slight twitch.
"Sweet dreams, Octavia."
Morning, 7:00 am
I wake up to Celestia's sun shining through the somewhat frilly curtains, heralding the time to rise and start the day. I get out of bed,
stretching, then exit the bedroom. Further down the hall, I open the bathroom door and enter, levitating a brush towards my head, and begin brushing. After taming my bedmane to satisfaction, I head downstairs. Octavia has just awoken, thankfully.
She gets off the couch and yawns, already looking a lot better than when she entered last night.
"I take it you finally got some sleep?" I ask, to which she looks at me, smiling in gratitude.
"Good morning, Mr.Dreams," she says,
then gives a yawn, and continues "Thank you, I haven't gotten a good nights rest in ages! How much will this cost me?"
I give a chuckle at this and reply, "Nothing. That nightmare didn't even take half an hour to banish." Her eyes widen at this, and I return to
my bored look as she heads for the door.
She stops and looks back at me, "If you insist, but I will pay you next time!" she says, smiling. Then she opens the door, the sunlight flooding in the doorway, and shuts it behind her.
"Done it again, Sweet," I say to myself in triumph. "Done it again."
With that business over with, I decide to go and find my bit bag for some shopping. I head to the little tiled-floor kitchen, complete
with oven, stove, and toaster, and find it on the counter. Finally, I open the door, sunlight once again flooding the doorway, and
head out. The cobblestone road is mostly empty save for a few stalls and a couple early birds, which is honestly how I prefer it.
Always watch your back, especially in crowds. Anyway, paranoia aside, I head down the road to the flower stall, currently being
watched by a younger earth pony filly with a green coat and red mane, a filly I knew all to well.
"Heya, Uncle sweet!" she calls enthusiastically, waving at me.
"Hey, Bud!" I say as i approach the stall.
I close the distance and get tackled in a hug by bud. Nice little filly, my friend Petal's little sister. I ruffle her mane playfully, eliciting
a giggle from her. She lets go and goes back behind the stall.
"What'll it be today?" she asks, going into businessmare mode.
"You have any wild cherry blossom today?" I ask hopefully. Cherry blossom is my favorite, after all.
She looks in the compartment under the stall, humming. Finally, she pulls the delectable, unmistakeable petals out and wraps them
in a bouquet. Some more ponies are out and about now, but at the moment, I could care less, watching the petals of the flowers as Bud worked. Finally, they're wrapped up in a sizable bundle.
"Here we go! That'll be five bits!" she says.
I reach into my bit bag and toss five bits on the counter, levitating the bouquet with my magic at the same time. I remove one flower,
idly munching it, and put another in Bud's hair, getting another giggle out of the little filly.
"The flower goes well with your eyes," I tease, chuckling. In truth, her eyes were a shade of green just lighter than emerald. I feel a tap from behind and am on my guard instantly. Though when I turn around, I see Petal. Her green eyes shone in mirth as I dropped my guard.
"My, someone's on edge today!" the deep pink earth pony laughs. "And you're up early! What's the occasion?" She adds, giving me a wink. I just smirk and pop another flower in my mouth.
"I'm just-" I immediately stop, sensing someone was watching me. I look around, not seeing anything out of the ordinary, then i spot her.
A sky blue pegasus mare with a prismatic mane was watching me intently from the air. I look back at her, narrowing my eyes. Seeing she was caught, she immediately flew away, toward the castle. That mare was fast, have to hand it to her. I look back at Petal and Bud,
who were giving me strange looks.
"Do you know who that was?" Petal asks in a somewhat worried tone. Truth be told, I didn't.
"No, not really." I admit, scratching the back of my head.
"That was Rainbow Dash, the element of loyalty!" Bud answers, smiling in self pride for knowing.
"...And? National hero or not, you know I hate when people stare. Especially in my blind spot." I comment.
"Sis,sis! Can I hang out with Uncle Sweet today?" Bud asks Petal, giving her those puppy eyes I can't say no too when aimed at me. Petal puts a hoof to her chin in mock thought.
"Well, alright. I'll watch over the stall." She finally answers, smiling at Bud, then turning to me. "Can you have her back by three?"
"Sure! Shouldn't be a problem." I reply, bending down slightly to let Bud on my back. She climbs up my mane, her head peeking
out from behind mine. Petal giggles and goes behind the stall as Bud and I head off to the main market, closer to the castle. She does some sight seeing from the top of my head as we walk, eating the cherry blossoms I recently bought.
Oddly enough, there seems to be more guards on duty today, watching the street and patrolling. While indeed odd, it doesn't warrant much attention from the citizens, I notice sadly. Ponies really need to watch for these things.
"Uncle Sweet, can we go to pony Joe's?" Bud asks sweetly, pointing a hoof at the doughnut bar in question. It was a simple doughnut shop, with a sign that say "Pony Joe's" on the front, with the second "O" replaced by a giant doughnut. I think for a minute,
then shrug. What harm could it be?
"Sure, Bud." I reply as I turned to the direction of the shop.
Bud seems really happy, bouncing on my head in excitement. I smile at her antics, having a quiet laugh. Upon reaching the doors, I
notice what appears to be a purple dinosau- I mean lizard, sitting at the bar closest to the register.
I reach the counter to hear, "Another doughnut! Extra sprinkles!" from the lizard. I reach up and lift Bud off my head, sitting her at the
seat closest to us.
"Ah, good to see you again Mr.Dreams! And you too, Bud!" the pony behind the counter exclaims happily. At the mention of my name, the lizard- no wait, that's a baby dragon. my bad- looks over at us, his eyes widening slightly.
"I'm just here to get something for her." I explain, ruffling the filly's hair playfully. she tries to swat my hoof away, laughing.
"What'll it be?" he asks, leaning on the bar.
"How about a jelly?" I ask Bud, who nods in agreement. I notice the dragon has left...Hmm, better watch the door.
"Alright, jelly doughnut coming right up!" Joe says, then goes in the back.
"How about we get a booth instead?" I suggest.
"Okay!" And with that, we moved to a booth by the door. Somepony might think I'm paranoid, but I've learned not to take many
chances. Joe walks over to our booth, passing the plate with the baked good to Bud, who tucked into it eagerly. As he goes back behind the counter, I hear the door open, causing the bell to jingle. I look toward the door and immediately see a familiar sky blue
pegasus and rainbow mane.
She walks in, looking around the shop. On instinct, I cast a shroud spell on me and Bud. I don't know why she's following me, but
it's safe to say that the baby dragon is working with this "element of loyalty." My thoughts are immediately interrupted by the arrival
of five other mares. A butter yellow, pink maned pegasus. A unicorn with a styled purple mane and coat so white it almost hurt to look at. An orange earth pony with a blonde mane and stetson. A lavender unicorn mare with a purple mane with a pink stripe running through it, and...a bright pink earth pony mare with the same mane as me, but poofy. The pink one immediately looked over at our booth upon entering, and an impossibly wide smile broke out over her face.
I reenforce the shroud spell, hoping the dim light our booth will hide us. The pink mare starts walking toward the booth, and I break out in a sweat. She stops, looks dead at me.... then says loudly, "I can see you, silly!"
This draws the attention of her friends. "You find him, Pinkie?" the blue one asks. I remember her name was Rainbow Dash, the one that I caught watching me. The whole group moves to the booth, and I drop the spell, sighing. "Why are we following me?" I ask, a
little irritated. Bud looks up and sees the group.
"These are the bearers of the elements of harmony, Uncle Sweet!" she pipes up.
The purple one speaks up, "Hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle, and these are my friends Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy
Rainbow Dash." after her introduction, I rub my temples with my hooves, feeling a headache coming on.
"That doesn't explain why you've been following me." I note, crossing my forelegs.
"We need yer help." Applejack says bluntly. I raise my eyebrow at this, and Bud looks interested too.
"Any of you having nightmares?" I ask, my bored facade coming back to me. The lavender one, Twilight, rubs the back of her head nervously.
"In a way, yes. We do have a Nightmare problem." she says, trying to be vague. Too bad for her, I immediately put the pieces together. I rest my head in my hooves, elbows on the table.
"You think she's coming back?" I ask, somewhat nervous. Twilight looks at the others, then back to me.
"Yes."
