Voices of Unity: Song of Iron

" It has been over a week, dear sister. How can somepony have nary a single dream?"

The dark form of Luna stood upon the balcony of her tower room, gazing at the night sky that she put her heart and soul into for her subjects. Her voice seemed to carry upon the wind, a moment later her ears perking up and her face shifting as if listening to someone.

"Yes yes, we understand he has been put under much stress, but even so, even when under the harshest of strain, a pony can dream...and under my night, all should dream! 'Tis part of the magic of our night sky!"

Slipping back and forth somewhat in her archaic speech, she shook her mane as she heard something she didn't like.

"Even so, just because he is from another world does not mean he is not of this one now. Thy reasoning is discredited sister!"

He ears flipped back, a sigh escaping her lips, before she lifted her left ear back up, contemplating something.

"Perhaps he is on another plane of dreaming? After all, not all creatures dream upon the same dreamscape. Perhaps the Roavi had their own plane? I shall delve once again sister, now go to bed already. You know what happens when you stay up too late."

She brought both ears up, then chuckled gently into a raised hoof.

"I see I am already too late. Your attempt to hide the sound of a midnight snack has failed, Tia. But I thank you for your counsel nonetheless. Fear not, I shall keep our little ponies dreams safe still. I can handle many tasks at once perfectly fine."

She stepped away from her balcony, the passage into her room blocking the sound of her sisters loving laughter. It did not take much magic to whisk away the sound of ones voice and carry it such a short distance without worry of being overheard. After all, they were a pair of the most powerful magic users in the world. Something such as this was trivial.

The Alicorn of the Night stretched out upon her bed, which she never really needed really. Unlike her sister, Luna never needed to sleep. It was a nice thing to enjoy now and then, however. But as a creature empowered by the night itself, she drew her rejuvenation from the light of her own moon. This did come at a price, unfortunately. Much like that very glow that gave her such power, it was a gentle magic. Where Celestia was a hammer, Luna was a dancer with her magic.

She chuckled to herself, remembering that their magic was the polar opposite of their physical combat prowess. Celestia was fast and fluid when she used her hooves to fight, while Luna...well...she rather enjoyed being able to land a physical blow that could cause an actual minor quake felt for miles. Not that she ever had done so...that her sister knew of anyways.

"Let us see if we can find thee, Davis, among the land of the dreamers. Thou will not escape us in the sleepers realm forever."

He was falling...falling forever. That world before him, his hands turning into claws.

It was the same as always. Every night, he dreamt of his fall to Equestria...or Equus, as Twilight had informed him in one of her many lectures. She'd taken him under her wing, sometimes literally, to teach him about where he'd landed.

Celestia and Luna had recommended he stay in the much quieter town of Ponyville once he'd finished rehabilitation, which was going much faster than any of them had anticipated. Davis had at least one thing to be happy about with his origin. Humans were always boasting about their ability to adapt, especially on a mental level. He seemed to be proving that quite right, though even he felt it was going too fast.

Oh yeah...falling to the planet. It always cut off about the same place he remembered passing out, right after Discord had decided to play with his body even more than Bedlam had. Same dream...same thing...several times a night. He remembered each time too. He'd never remembered his dreams before, but now, he could remember every keen detail, down to the small scales that grew upon his soon to be talons as he passed out.

The only major difference he could see, though, was that sometimes, he wouldn't see the Cheroa continent that held Equestria, but the other one. Ferraes. According to Twilight, it was considered throughout Equestria to be an untouchable land. One that they could not visit for various reasons, chief among them being that the magic over there was wild and difficult to tap into. Its few denizens were usually once renowned explorers or their descendants, and power hungry creatures that wanted to take the wild magic for themselves. The results from either were usually dark and destructive beings, hardly even ghosts of their former selves.

This time he was seeing that continent, and he had to admit, it did look pretty dark. Purples, dark blues, reds...he didn't see a speck of the landmass that had the green of vegetation or the light blue of clean waters. Not even the white of snow seemed to show.

The dream ended...right where he knew it would. He was back in the void now. That strange space that Bedlam had met him, and as it had been each previous time, no one but Davis was there.

He'd fall again eventually, so he just waited for it. Looking at his hands, he clenched them gently, his memory of their feel still so vivid. He curled his toes inside his shoes while he still had them, flexed several muscles, saddened at the memory, as nothing felt the same when he awoke. He was so...alien now.

He pressed a hand to his face, wishing he at least had a chance to look in a mirror in this dream. But it was not to be.

He stood up, taking a deep breath as he prepared for the fall. He couldn't even speak in his dream. No scream, no yell, just a silent fall. Even in his mind, his voice had been taken from him.

Anger...sorrow...hate...that's all he felt now, as he looked down towards the blue ball in space that would soon be where he fell towards.

He remembered looking around quite a bit while talking to Bedlam and never seeing the planet...but it was always there in his dream. Taunting him with what was about to happen, over and over. A reminder of what he'd lost...and what it gave him in return.

Something was not right...why wasn't he falling? He looked at his hands...no, his talons! When had he gotten back on all fours? When did his body change again? This wasn't the right order!

A pressure...a presence. Something was behind him! He whirled around...nothing. No one was there. Looking down, Equus was gone. All that was left was the star filled void all around. But it wasn't right...no, the stars even seemed strange. There were far more of them than before. Even as he looked all around, they seemed to be fading into existence right before his eyes, until turning around, he saw her.

"Hello Davis. I see I have finally found your dreams."

Standing before him was Luna herself, her ever waving mane and tail vibrant with the stars that filled that ethereal hair. She seemed...bigger, and far more intimidating. But he also felt a cool and gentle kindness, reminding him of the feeling he got when looking at the moon on clear nights the rare times he went stargazing.

"I had hoped to meet you in the dreamscape to hear your voice and learn more about you. And rest assured, we will remember all that occurs."

He had remembered Twilight's insistence that Luna could dreamwalk, but he was still uncertain. However, he did know one issue.

"I can't even talk in my...own...dreams...I can talk! I can talk!" He started laughing and whooping and hollering, rolling around as he enjoyed the sound of his own voice.

"Luna, I can taaaaaalk! Yeeeeaaaaahooo!!!"

He nearly slammed into the princess with a massive hug, squeezing tightly, enough that even in her dream state she felt like she might get crushed!

"Ahem...Davis, you do realize you're trying to crush royalty? Even in a dream I do ask for a modicum of decorum."

Davis scooted away like he'd been hugging an ant pile, and bowed deeply.

"I...I apologize your majesty! Please forgive me! I meant no disrespect!"

She gave a gentle chuckle behind a hoof before meandering over and around him, setting herself beside him before pulling him under a wing in a soft hug.

"It is fine, Davis. I do not mind being hugged. Just try to hold back from turning my barrel into paste. Besides, it is refreshing to be treated somewhat normally now and then."

He looked up at her, his eyes watering somewhat.

"Are you alright Davis? You're not feeling pain in the dream are you?"

"Only the good kind. It is a heartache that stems from the joy of being able to speak again. If this were real, I'd be afraid of my chest exploding from the joy!"

Luna smiled and tapped his beak gently with a hoof, eliciting a sound not unlike a pen tapping on a desk.

"We are glad thou has thy voice back...ahem. I mean, I am glad you have your voice back, at least here. And do not fear, for your dreams are under my protection from here on after."

Davis smiled back, his eyes and ears displaying his joy since his beak only had so much motion.

"Thank you Princess Luna. I only hope my voice stays the same in the waking world. After all, I will not be able to sing my thanks very well if I have to learn a new voice."

She raised an eyebrow at the Roavi, tilting her head slightly as she did so. Davis wanted to laugh at the way it made her look, but held back on account of her likely being the reason he could even speak in this realm...that, and she was a Princess and also someone he felt safe around.

"You can sing, dear Davis? What dost thou...ahem...what is it that you sing of? Perhaps of epic battles? Love? Tragedy?"

Davis shook his head, raising a talon to point around them.

"My songs were about experiences from all the senses, and the emotions that often went along with them."

"Do sing something for me Davis!" She took a more regal stance, placing a hoof over her chest for a moment. "Your Princess demands her nightly entertainment!"

She smirked while looking down at Davis without tilting her head, her eyes full of mirth despite her well held posture.

He smirked and stepped away a little, taking a bow to her.

"I appear to be at royal command! Even so, I would not say no to such a beautiful l...mare."

Luna blushed a little, but held her posture, hoof though back on the ground.

"I believe I know just the song for this moment. I'm afraid it is not one of my own writing, but it is befitting this moment...that, and I know this will have all been real...if you remember any of the lyrics when we meet again."

After a nod from Luna, he took a deep breath, preparing to sing the first lyrics, when he heard the piano playing the opening for him. Remembering stranger things happened in dreams, he took his breath to meet the song with his voice.

Though she didn't understand all that was sung, the chorus alone stirred her heart, for it was as if someone understood exactly how she felt when she cleared somepony of their nightmares each night. Davis himself was smiling with tears in his eyes. It was one of his most favored songs to cover when he could, or even sing to himself in private. It always cheered him up, and seeing her face, he knew...if this was real, there was no way she would forget it...especially now that he found himself on the opposite end of a bone crushing hug, the Princess having wrapped him in her embrace as she cried into his feathery shoulder.

"We thank thou for such a gift of a song! We promise thou...we will watch for you every night like all our subjects. Ne'er shall a nightmare touch thee again! This we swear."

She released him, looking into his shocked eyes as she gave a little sniffle, her hooves still holding his shoulders.

"We...I am afraid you must awaken Davis. You have a class to keep with Twilight. But hearken to me, for we ask you to visit us in our tower tonight before thy head meets thy pillows. I wish to show you something then that I hope inspires you as you did me tonight. Fare thee well!"

Waking gently to the sound of a chirping songbird somewhere outside his window, Davis looked around at his guest bedroom in the Lunar wing, the star themed roof giving making him sigh at the sight. When he turned to look out the open balcony, the night having been comfortably cool, he dropped his jaw to his chest as he saw Luna standing there, her cheeks showing the stain of tears as she nodded to him before flying off from his balcony.

Choking back tears of his own, Davis vowed to himself that he would write a song just for her, and would sing it for the world to hear. After saving him from what could have been an eternity of that falling nightmare...she deserved it.