My Audience With the Princesses
*insert wavy dream transition*
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Disclaimer: This is a work of nonfiction. The events leading to, during, and after the dream are exactly as I experienced them. I won't change anything to remove plot holes or inconsistencies, as that would be falsifying this first hand account. Dreams rarely make sense when you look back on them.
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Ugh. I felt horrible. I had been sick with some sort respiratory infection for a week, and sleep continued to elude me. I'd wake up every few hours choking on various disgusting fluids, be it drool or otherwise. I always hated being sick with a passion. But I suppose it made me appreciate times of good health more.
I had finally got comfortable with calling myself a brony, and the two guys that got me into the show had come over today to visit for the first time since they moved to the other side of the state months ago. We ended up watching the new episode (Read it and Weep) together and talked nonstop about ponies, Transformers, and the times we went to cons in our Decepticon rigs late into the night.
After they left some time near midnight, it was time for me to sleep. Or rather try to. My throat wasn't hurting all that badly, but the hours of talking had taken what voice I had. What really got me was my blocked airways. After staring at the ceiling and thinking about ponies for about an hour, I somehow drifted out of consciousness. Normally that would mean short blackness followed by a sputtering cough as I woke and choked up the disgusting crap that was coating my bronchi. But not this time.
*insert wavy dream transition*
I was walking down the halls of Canterlot Castle. I took in the details of the magnificent building; the elegantly carved mahogany paneling, the silk tapestries, the fine oil paintings that adorned the walls. I must have been in a hallway flanked by courtyards, as there were magnificent stained glass windows lining both sides the room. I couldn't believe the detail in everything. I started to think that this had to be a dream, considering where I was. But then I thought, This can't be a dream... it feels too real...
I felt the brilliant red carpet beneath my feet, its plush softness caressing my hooves... wait, hooves? It was then that I realized I was a pony. I was an off-white unicorn stallion with a dark blond mane.
This is so awesome!
I realized I had better hurry, as I was here on royal business. Princess Celestia had personally requested an audience with me, and who was I to make her wait? I stopped ogling the architecture and continued down the hall. I stopped at a pair of ornate doors made of stained cherry wood inlaid with gold. On either side of them stood a royal guard. Again I stopped and stared, as these were no cartoon ponies. They were reality mixed with the show in the best possible way. I could see every white hair of their coat, and every detailed engraving in their armor. As I stood there taking in the perfect blend of realism and animation, the guards began to get uncomfortable under my scrutiny.
"Uh, the Princess is awaiting you in the throne room," the one to the left said gruffly.
I returned to my senses and entered through the massive doors.
The room within was breathtaking. Marble floors, even more intricately engraved mahogany paneling on the walls, grander stained glass windows that told the history of Equestria, a massive golden chandelier, and at the end of the room where the red carpet ended were two thrones, one of gold and one of silver. The gold had red velvet cushions, and the silver had blue. Upon the silver was Princess Luna, who was looking at one of the windows to her left lost in though.
But none of this I saw first. What my eyes fell upon first was Princess Celestia of Equestria. She was beyond beautiful. Her coat was a white brighter than white that almost hurt to look upon. Her mane was a flowing mix of plasma and hair, and it floated independently of any breeze, instead blown by cosmic winds as it gave off a faint luminescence. Her armor and crown were of gold covered in eldritch runes and inlaid sparingly with gems. And she had risen from her seat as I entered. The goddess of the sun had risen for me. She looked at me, not as a subject, but as a mother would who hadn't seen her child in years. I was in awe.
"Welcome, my little pony," she began, her voice a mix of ancient wisdom and sweetest honey. "I am very glad you could arrive on such short notice," she smiled kindly, lovingly at me. I quickly knelt on one foreleg, knowing that the being before me was deserving of all the respect, honor, and love I could offer, and far more.
"It is my great honor to be summoned by you, my princess. What is it you require of your humble servant?" I asked in the most reverent tone I could possibly muster.
"Rise; there is no need for such formality," she said softly.
I did so immediately, yet still felt undeserving of standing in her presence.
"Thank you. I apologize for not telling you why you were called here today," she said. She closed her eyes briefly and then her expression took a more serious turn. "I need, no, Equestria needs your talents. There is-" she began, cut off by what sounded like a far-off explosion.
Luna suddenly perked up, and both Celestia and I turned to look out the window that she had been staring at since I arrived.
Off in the distance, I saw through one of the clearer sections of the magnificent window a dark wave rapidly approaching. It was easily large enough to swallow the castle whole.
Just as it hit the window, everything went into slow motion. The window began to bow inward, before snapping back and shattering. Colorful glass was propelled inward with the wave as it gushed in.
The other windows along the throne room soon followed suit, and the whole room began to rapidly flood.
Still in slow motion, Luna began to furiously beat her wings, leaving her throne for the door I had just walked in through.
Celestia raised a magical forcefield around herself; I watched as her long spiral horn glowed a brilliant pink that arced in front of her, the shield forming around her like a bubble.
Glancing to her side, she saw that Luna had not done the same, and she dropped the shield just as the waters slammed into it, propelling herself upward with her majestic wings to go after the sister that had only recently been returned to her.
Luna had been hit by a torrent of water that ripped her out of the air, snapping one of her wings in a gruesome display as she crashed into the floor.
Celestia, hovering high above the rapidly rising water, grabbed her with her telekinesis and lifted her out of what was nearly her watery demise.
Afterwards, she glanced to where I had been, and saw me battered and broken struggling to stay above the surface of the dark waves. She reached out with a pink aura at the last second, trying to save me as well, but it was too late. I had one last glimpse of her with a tear running down her cheek before my vision darkened as I went under for good.
I awoke from my dream death suddenly, choking and coughing, having slept for longer than usual. I had nearly drown in my own saliva, and I rushed to my bathroom to cough up the rest of the fluid into my sink. I looked up at my mirror. I definitely wasn't a pony anymore.
As my mind began to recall the events of the dream I was so rudely been awakened from, I realized two things. First, I had pretty much nearly drowned the royal pony sisters in a wave of my bodily fluids. Second, I could remember every detail crystal clear. Everything. And I remembered seeing Celestia most of all. I didn't see her as a brony. I saw her as a pony would. Not a cartoon character, but a benevolent, loving ruler, a goddess of the sun, and a mother to all Equestria.
And that was ingrained indelibly in my memory as well. To this date I have never seen an artist that could truly do her justice. Not even close. I doubt anyone ever will. But that stays with me, and will for so long as I live. Celestia will always be in a league of her own to me, separate from the other ponies I call my favorites. None of them could ever compare.
And so I laugh at Molestia, and snicker at Trollestia's lulzy antics. When I see a particularly good pic on deviantart, I'll favorite it. I'll vote up and fav a good Celestia fic if I find one. But you'll never find me saying "Celestia is best pony."
Because to me, she's so much more than that.
My Audience With the Princesses
More nonfiction. This was a dream that I actually had, albeit shorter. Decided I’d add it here anyway.
*****
I had another dream, one that disturbed me greatly. There was no intro; one moment I was falling asleep, the next I was there.
We were on a mountaintop, looking over all of Equestria.
Just Celestia and I.
Again, the level of detail was beyond jaw-dropping. It was late afternoon, and the forests, cities, towns, and mountains before us were cast in golds and oranges and reds. It was absolutely beautiful. But nothing compared to her.
I was in pony form, and we were sitting side by side. I was leaning into her, her mane flowing around me. I was like a child compared to her age, wisdom and height. Her scent was like after the first rain of spring mixed with life. Her coat was even softer than it was gorgeous.
As the sun started to drop below the horizon, Equestria began to fall into shade. Slowly, surely, the entire land was darkened by the shadow of the mountain range surrounding it. As the last rays of sunlight were peering over the peaks, I looked up to my princess. I asked her:
"Can I please stay here..."
"like this, with you..."
"forever?"
When she heard what I asked, she looked at me sadly. She closed her eyes as the sun disappeared below the horizon, and quietly said,
"No."
I then woke up.
It nearly knocked the breath out of me, the feeling of loss that followed in her absence. Being there, by her side... She loved me like I was the only pony in Equestria, like her one and only son. She loves all her ponies like that. And then she was gone. That one word, it conveyed more than a simple answer.
"No. You are not of this world. It pains me, but you cannot stay. Not with me, not here. Not ever. I'm sorry."
That echoed in my head as I clutched my Vinyl Scratch plush tighter and fell into dreamless slumber for the rest of the night.
And never again did I dream of Equestria.
