Only in my dreams

The Canterlot ballroom was filled with lights, decorations, and everything that any uptight pony could possibly dream of. What looked like hundreds of ponies, mostly unicorns, were scattered through the grounds, dancing, drinking, and chatting alike.

Most held their heads high, turning away from any pony that would try to talk with them, while a very small amount of others would talk with any other pony that would cross their way, while Celestia and Jesse, who stood on a balcony high above the floor, kept silence between them.

Jesse had been mostly keeping to himself the past while, finding it hard to accept that he would never be able to see his home world again. While he wasn’t ignoring Celestias whenever she tried to talk to him, he wasn’t answering most of her questions or responding to her. Instead, he would look at her, shake his head or nod and go back to thinking about whatever was going through his mind.

“ Would you please share with me what is going through your head. It’s killing me to not know.” Celestia begged, hoping to get a word from him.

He sighed, breaking from his mind's grasp with slow progress coming to terms with his new reality. “ I’d think you’d be able to read my mind.”

Celestia tilted her head, giving him a disappointed look. “ I would never do that to anypony.”

Jesse shook his head lightly, thinking over any response he could. “ It’s a swirl of emotions. I’m not sure if I should be mad or disappointed or even happy.” He let of a small chuckle. “ I bet this is what it feels like to be a women.”

Celestia frowned, somewhat offended by what he said, but decided it was best to not wonder about it. “ Perhaps we should leave this topic.” She suggested, bumping into Jesse’s side with her shoulder.

He looked down at Celestia, for the first time that night, actually seeming interested in what she was saying. “ Like?”

Celestia stared down at her hooves, taking a moment to decide what she wanted to ask him about. “ What happened with Octavia and Fleur. I mean after I left?”

Jesse tilted his head up, looking at the ceiling as he tried to recall all of the events of that night. “ Octavia is coming back tomorrow. She wanted to give me Cello lessons.”

Celestia gave him a puzzled look. “ I thought you weren’t planning on staying here.”

Several strange looks crossed his face before he responded. “ I wasn’t thinking. It didn’t really appear to me till you brought it up.”

They both stared off at the crowd, neither wanting to say anything after his answer. Celestia noticed a single pony down at the bottom, sending her a confused frown. “ Look at him,” Celestia stated, looking directly at the pony that had been staring at her. Jesse followed her gaze, looking for whomever she was staring at until he noticed a single pony jerk his head to turn around. “ He probably thinks i’m crazy, sitting up here and talking to you.”

“ And why is that?” He asked.

“ They can’t see you.” That caused him to stare down at his hands, not sure how they couldn’t see him. Celestia had no horn, causing him to think back to the mind reading portion of their conversation, which meant she was incapable of using magic. At least, thats what he figured.

Celestia noticed what he was doing, and quickly explained that she had had one of her guards cast an invisibility spell on him.

Not a moment later, a dark blue alicorn walked in on the two. Jesse figured it was Celestias sister considering he had never seen another alicorn before. “ Good evening sister. I take it you are having a fine evening.”

“ As best as one can get when they are surrounded by nobles.” She chuckled in response. “ And how are you sister?”

Luna frowned, seeming to be worried by something. “ Something is happening to the souls of my stars.” She started. Jesse took a step back from the edge of the balcony to get a better view of Luna. “ I can no longer feel their emotions. Something, or somepony, is doing something to them. They are crying out to me, but i’m not sure if they are cries of agony of blithe.”

“ Souls?” Jesse asked, causing Luna to jump back. Her horn lit up, before she sighed in relief.

“ It is just the human.” She said, placing a hoof over her chest as her breathing slowed. Once her heart had caught up to her mind, she said, “ Celestia, I would like to have a word with you, if you wouldn’t mind. “

Celestia nodded, “ Of course.” Luna took Celestia to the edge of the balcony, whispering to her all the while. Every now and then, one or the other would turn to look at Jesse, but mostly kept the conversation between the two of them.

Near the end of their conversation, Luna turned completely towards him. Her horn lit it a bright aura, causing him to take refuge behind his arms. When he was finally able to see again, Luna was gone.

“ What was that about?” He asked as Celestia approached him.

She slowly shook her head. “ There is no time to explain. I must be going now so you need to head back to the room.” Then, Celestia disappeared in a blue flash of her own.

He stood motionless for a second, trying to process what had happened, yet nothing came to mind. It seemed like they were talking about him, but he didn’t have a clue as to what about. Deciding it was best to not worry about it, he headed towards the edge of the balcony, taking one last look at the crowd before turning around.

It was at that moment that he heard a scream from below. “MONSTER! IT’S ATTACKING THE PRINCESS!”

Almost instantly, several guards wearing golden armor pounced on the poor human. Hooves went around his arms and legs as they lifted him off from the podium and into the air. He struggled in their hooves till he realized he was several feet above ground, slowly lowering him to the ground.

Frow where he was at, he could see staring at him, eyeing him with caution or disgust. Mostly the later since nearly all the ponies here were nobles. Several of them were starting to close the distance, slowly approaching to get a better view of what had supposedly been attacking the princess.

One the the guards, who he assumed to be their leader, stepped forward, lips curled back as  he let off a deep growl.

Of all times for Celestia to leave...

oOo

Starswirl trotted beside the king, struggling to keep up due to his shorter legs and the king standing at least twice his own size. Next to Celestia, he might be the same size if not a little taller. Not only that, but he was much more muscular. Through his feathers, his muscles almost looked like they were ready to pop from out of his skin.

While griffons may not have any magical advantage over ponies, they were much stronger. Being natural hunters, they worked themselves since they were chicks barely out of their eggs. Ponies, however, were much different.

When a foal is born, they are cared for and raised, while griffon chicks are often abandoned if the parent doesn’t find them pleasing enough. Due to this, griffons also had a large environmental advantage over ponies as well.

This is why Starswirl chose to go the griffons for help over any other race.

“ You said that Celestia has no way of reversing the spell. I will take your word for this. The human will be the foundation of a conflict between us.”

Starswirl looked up at the griffon, giving him a questioning look that asked the King what he was thinking.

“ We will put Equestria in a place of turmoil. Convince the ponies that the human will only bring harm to their society. Turn Celestias own ponies against her, and we both know what Celestia will do from their.”

“ And if she doesn’t?” Starswirl asked.

The griffon waved a claw at the pony, causing him to back away so he wouldn’t get his face mauled by the kings claws. “ Leave that to me. It is unlikely, but still possible none-the-less, so I have a plan.”

Starswirl flinched as the King twisted around, opening a door behind him. He motioned with his claw to the inside of the room, seeing a large table piled high with an assortment of foods. “ Now. Why don’t we eat. “

oOo

Jesse found himself in a strange and foreign room, the fog of sleep slowly lifted from him, only to find guards clad in golden armor surrounding him. All of them held spears pointed to the ceiling. His wrists were tied to the back of a chair, and his legs bound by thick rope. The room as all dark but a small light held over his head. In the small area that he could see, there was a table in front of him, but the rest of the room was bare of any furnishings.

The loud clanking of armor echoed from outside, along with several voices from ponies he guessed to be guards talking to scared or even curious nobles. A small outburst from the nobles shouting over the guards erupted, but was quickly put down.

The guard in front of Jesse’s ear flicked and moved around like a radar scanning for any new sounds. Jesse recognized him as the pony he thought to be the leader. Cautiously, he approached the human, lips curled back in a snarl. “ SPEAK!” He screamed, sending spittle in every direction.

Jesse furrowed his brow as he tried to pull his head back to avoid getting spit on. Luckily, most of it had gone around him, but some had made way to his shirt, and a little on the side of his nose.

The chair rocked slightly as his weight shifted, causing the guards to lower their spears his  chest and neck. Jesse held his silence, hoping he could convince the guard that he couldn’t talk.

This caused the guard to look even more pissed off and approached Jesse, grabbing the collar of his shirt in his hoof… somehow. “ WE KNOW YOU INTELLIGENT! SO SPEAK!”

“ Fine. I can talk,” he said. Half the guards jump back like they didn’t believe the could say anything. “ If you know I can talk, why are you holding me down?”

The guard pointed a hoof in his face like he was trying to make a point. “ BECAUSE YOU! Are a danger to the princesses!” The guard poked his forehead, leaving a small mark where his hoof digged into the skin.

“ If you know I can talk, that means you talked to Celestia. Didn’t she say anything about me not trying to hurt anyone?” Jesse responded, shaking his head lightly.

The guard went to respond, but was cut off as the door swung open. Behind said door were two other guards. Both were unicorns. He recognized the first as Row, the unicorn that he had been with for a short while just earlier in the day, the other he was unsure of.

The one he didn’t recognize had his helmet held to his side using his magic, exposing his dark blue mane with lighter hued streaks. His coat was almost as white as Celestias own. Over his body, he wore purple and gold armor with a star painted on the crest that rested over his chest. To top it all of, ever his armor, he a war a saddle, barely visible but still there that seemed to keep everything together.

The pony in front of Jesse snapped to attention, and held his hoof to his head as the two walked by.

“ At ease.”  The new pony said. He walked up to Jesse and held a hoof out at him. “ Captain Armor. You?” Finding that the ropes trying his to the back of the chair had been undone, he slowly extended a hand to the pony guard. After a few tense second, Jesse took Armors hoof and his hand and slowly shook it before pulling away.

“ Jesse.”

Armor shook his head, looking between Row and Jesse. “ Come with me.” Captain armor turned and walked out of the room, Jesse and Row close behind. As they walked through the hallways, Armor kept looking back at Jesse to make sure he was still following.

Once they were a good distance away from the other guards, he stopped and turned to face the two. “ Jesse, as i’m aware, you have already been acquainted with Captain Strong Row.”

Jesse stared down at Row, an uneasy look on his face. “ I guess. We didn’t really talk much. He kinda freaked out then ran off.”

Armor glared at Row. “ You ran off?”

“ I had important stuff to do.” He defended.

“ Anyways, “ Armor said, “ I believe proper introductions are in order. I am Shining Armor, Captain of the royal guard in the Crystal Empire and husband to Princess Cadence. You already know Strong Row. He took my place as Captain for Canterlot after I left. Strong Row should have stayed with you and Celestia to ensure her protection, but decided his personal work was more important.”

Rows ears folded back as Shining Armor talked down to him, causing Jesse to laugh as he saw Row whimper.

“ I haven't heard of Cadence yet. I know Celestia, Luna, and a few other ponies now, but i’ve never heard a word about any Cadence.” Jesse said.

“ I’m sure you’ll learn all about her soon enough,” Shining Armor said with a chuckle, “ But for now, we best get going. Otherwise my sister might find us and… well, we don’t want that.”

Jesse gave Shining armor an uneasy look. “ And why is that?”

Shining smiled at the human. “ For your own sanity, hope you never find out.”

oOo

“ So it plays movies with color and sound?”

“ Yep.”

“ And you can take it anywhere?”

“ Pretty much.”

“ … Thats awesome.” The bat pony smiled wide as she sat back in the couch. For the last several hours, she and Jesse had been watching movies on his phone. At first, she was a little reluctant to accept his invitation, but didn’t regret it when she did.

After he had returned from his little escapade with Celestia, Jesse had soon became bored and started watching movies on his phone. Curious as to what the noise was, she entered to check up on to make sure everything was alright, just as she was instructed to do.

When she had peered over the couch to see the source of the noise, she had found him splayed across the piece of furniture, face lit up by the screen of the object in his hand. It hadn’t taken him long to notice her as the movie had just started, so he invited her to stay and watch. She was reluctant at first, but decided that it wouldn’t hurt anypony.

Just minutes into the first movie, he had told her to wait till the end before asking questions. Instead, that one movie soon became multiple and a few hours grew into several. She had been so engrossed into the films, she had almost forgotten to question the device and how everything seemed to be such a high quality.

But now, sun shining through the curtains, he had stopped their little movie spree and decided that it was best if he got a little shut eye before the day really began. Feeling her eyes become heavy, she agreed and had almost left the room but remembered her strange curiosity for the object in his hands.

“ Heh. Yea it is. This model just came out last year. The battery on it will last a month without charging. And the best part is that its solar charged! Just leave it out in the sun for a few hours and its ready for whole nother month of anything you can think of.” He sighed, and took in a large breath through his nose, a large smile coming across his face as he recalled a few memories. It was soon replaced by a frown.  “ 2024 was a great year. Yet I can’t help but feel nostalgic about it. Like something big happened but I can’t remember yet I just to reach out and want to do it all over again.”

She noticed his frown. “ You know what will take that sad look right off your face? Another movie.”

He looked down at the screen, reading the time. It was currently six in the morning.  “ Eh. Sleep is for the weak. Why not.”

“ Awesome.” She said, jumping over the back of the couch and back by Jesses side. Already, he was scrolling through the various movies on his list. All the ones that they had been watching before came in a room, but now that he was looking for a good one, she saw the vast amount of title he owned. “ Jeez. How many movies can you fit on that thing.”

“ Well. It has a terabyte of space on it sooo a lot.” She looked up at him, questioning what he had said.

“ I have no idea what terabyte or a hard drive is.”

“ Think of those wheels they have for your movies. Now imagine about a hundred of them.” He let that sink in, letting a wide smirk come to his face. “ Of course, I don’t have that many since I got other things on here.”

“ Wow. “ She responded. “ I can’t even imagine what Twilight would do if she got her hooves on that thing.”

He laughed for a second before returning her stare. “ Probably nothing. You ponies have no idea how to use this thing. Besides, I would never allow her to touch this thing. From what i’ve heard about her, she would probably break it.”

She bit on her lip, appearing to be deep in thought. “ Yea.  She probably would. So what movie are we watching next?”

Jesse scrolled through the list of movies, trying to decide what he wanted to watch. “ I’m not sure. Nothing is popping out to me.” He continued to scroll through the list as she watched.

“ How about that one?” She asked, pointing to a movie called ‘The Box‘

Jesse’s eyes lit up in recognition. “ Despite the terrible name, that movie gave me nightmares for weeks.” He said, a hint of fear in his voice.”

A wide smile spread across the bat ponies muzzle. “ So it’s a scary movie, huh? Lets watch it!”

“ No.” He replied, firmness in his voice.

She looked up at him with her best puppy dog eyes, pleading to watch the movie. “ Please!”

He couldn’t help but stare into her eyes. They seemed to be looking right into his very soul. The purplish hue holding his gaze till his eyes started to water from being held open to long. He tried to close his eyes, but found himself unable to do so. Instead, he continued to look into her own, trying to find his way out, but was met with nothing. “ Fine.”

“ YAY!” She squealed, wrapping her forearms around his torso. She dug her head into his side as Jesse started the movie, holding the phone down in front of the two so the could both comfortable watch.

He started to shift around, seeming to try and move away from her. “ Aww, are you scared?” She teased.

“ No. But you’re still hugging me and it’s starting to get weird.” He responded, tugging on the collar of his shirt.

She looked at her forehooves, but found nothing. Instead, they were wrapped still wrapped around his body as he had said. She pulled back, releasing him from her grip, causing him to sigh in relief, a small blush covering her cheeks. “ Sorry.” She said, trying to hide her face behind her mane.

“ No problem. Lets just forget about it and watch the movie.”

“ Hehe. Yea.”

Jesse started the movie. It started by the fields rolling by, a female voice narrating from the background. ‘ My name is Caroline Jamesfield. My life started like any other, me living with my parents back on our farm...’

He paused the movie at that point, causing the bat pony to look at him with confusion. “ Why’d you stop the movie?”

Jesse chuckled, pulling at the collar of his shirt again. “ Because I just realized we had spent the last several hours here watching movies and I still don’t know your name.”

Her brow furrowed, as she stared back at him. “ Seriously? You haven't even asked me for my name yet?”

He shrugged his shoulders. “ Sorry. I forgot. You know, movies and all.”

She stared at him, not sure how she should feel. Finally, she passed it off as a mistake and told him her name. “ My name is Halflight.”

Jesse stared at her for a second before shaking his head. “ Ok then, Halflight. Lets watch this movie.” He pushed the play button, letting the movie continue. ‘ in Wisconsin. They let me stay on the terms that I helped them with the farm. Of course I accepted, but things started to get weird…”

The movie continued march forward. Jesse tried to keep himself awake as long as he could, but the temptation to sleep poked at the side of his mind. The bags under his eyes felt heavy, and his brain told him that he desperately needed sleep. Around half way through the movie, sleep finally overcame him, overpowering his desire to make it through the movie.