Through the Night

Chapters

Prologue- Into a Nightmare
Words, Walls, and Dyes
Letters
Dovah

Prologue- Into a Nightmare

985 C.E. Canterlot Bazaar.

“Shoes! Get your shoes here! Good, strong build! Custom fit! Beautiful quality! Get your horseshoes here! Perfect for work, special occasions, and anything inbetween! Get your shoes here!” The stallion’s familiar mantra rang out over the crowd of shopping ponies, with only a few sparing the dark brown unicorn a second glance. His daughter, seated next to the stand, let out a sigh. It was always the same thing: a day of shouting himself hoarse, then just one pony would come to inspect her father’s wares. If they were lucky, they’d buy something. If they weren’t, the pony would leave and they’d have to pray the bit bag could take the hit for the night’s meal

The two, the little powder blue earth filly with the dark blue mane and her brown-coated unicorn father, were traveling sales ponies, simply selling horse shoes to whoever would take them. The cart had been their home for as far back as the filly could remember. Their drafty, shabby-looking, creaky, and cramped home. Her father had told her that it had been the only thing left to him by her mother.

“Is she...you know….?” The little filly had asked.

“Dead?” Her father replied harshly with a raised eyebrow. “In a sense. She’s dead to me anyways… She left us, kiddo. Left us with just this cart. She had been a fairly successful stage magician when I met her. Thats where the old beast here came from. It used to be her stage.”

The little filly had been fascinated with magic from that point on. True, she couldn’t really perform as her mother could, what with no horn and all, but she could at the very least enjoy the craft. That was how the filly spent most of her days: reading up on famous magicians from her dogeared copy of The Encyclopedia of the Great and Powerful: Stage Magic through the Ages.

Today, as it turned out, was one of the less lucky days. Not one single pony had come to look at her father’s horse shoes. With the normal reluctance, the smithy began to pack it in.

“Come on, dear, I think Canterlot was a bad idea,” Her father said. The filly hopped off her stool and helped pack everything away. She bounced up next to her father. “Where’re we goin’ now, papa?” she asked as her father fixed the harness to his back. Her father gave her the same cheeky smile he always did.

“Oh, you know, dear, further down the road!” he replied. The two ponies had been all over Equestria, looking for that one place where they could sell daily and make enough profit to settle down. They’d been to Manehatten, Dodge Junction, Fillydelphia, Los Pegasus (her father hadn’t let her out of the cart for that one), and now Canterlot. No place was biting.

Her father looked down at her, smiling gently as they walked out of the bazaar’s entrance, his front hoof ruffling her mane. “Don’t get so down in the dumps, kid. We’ll find our place soon enough. It’s just a matter of t-oof!” Her father’s words were interrupted when he suddenly walked right into another pony going to their right. The cart skidded to a halt, the clink of metal hitting her ears. The two merchants looked up to find the pony they had collided with was a guard… An on-duty guard… An on-duty guard who was part of a pair, both of whom were flanking a regal white unicorn who stood a head taller than him. The guard fixed the two with a neutral look as her father stammered, “P-p-p-princess Celestia!” and quickly bowed. The little filly could do nothing but stare, wide eyed at the alicorn. The Princess chuckled musically. “Well, it seems we’re both foal sitting today,” she remarked, tossing her head behind her and to her left. Standing next to her right back leg was a unicorn, a little older than the blue-coated filly, light purple with a dark blue mane so straight and symmetrical it looked like it was cut with a ruler, streaked with dark purple and pink. She had a bright pink star, surrounded by a number of smaller white stars on her flank. The filly next to her father felt a little self conscious of her own blank flank, but she tried to hide her twinge of nervousness. The stallion next to her grinned nervously and nodded. “Y-yeah, my little girl loves helpin’ her pop, don’t you, dear?” He turned to her, the filly nodding her head so hard she thought her brains were gonna shoot out of her nose.

“Oh, really? What is it you do, my little pony?” asked the princess, sitting down in the middle of the dirt road to have this little conversation. “What is your name?”

“I… Your highness, my name is Sole. Sole Weaver. And this...” Her father said, patting the filly’s head (partly to get her to stop nodding), “Is Dream Weaver. My own little Dream!” He grinned at her, giving her a little ruffle of the mane. “Dad!” Dream whined, but she couldn’t help but grin a bit herself. Her father returned his gaze to the princess.

“I make shoes, your highness. I’m a shoe salespony.” Celestia rubbed her chin, the filly next to her quietly looking back and forth between Sole and the Princess.

“Shoes, hmm? Tell me, what do you make of this?” A golden glow encompassed the princess’ horn, quickly followed by her hoof, as one of the golden horseshoes was pulled from her hoof, and floated over to Sole. Dream had never seen her father more excited than he was as he studied the regalia.

“Excellent craftsmanship, your majesty. Polished to perfection, gold, I take it, and powerfully enchanted with several shield spells. Let’s see…” He examined it silently for a moment before he continued on “Scratch and damage resistant, heat and cold, and with enough shock absorption to walk from here to Manehatten and barely feel any hoof pain.”

“And yet they insist on flying me there,” the princess joked with a playful roll of her eyes. The group chuckled as the shoepony passed her shoe back. “All in all princess, it’s a masterpiece.” The princess beamed at him, before she asked the question that made the group grow still.

“Think you could make something similar?” The group fell silent. Dreamy heard a soft ‘ting’ from across the street. “Opps, dropped my pin.” A pink filly said, swiftly picking it up and following her family and their cart full of rocks around the corner.

“I...your majesty! I would need tools, and gold! And…”

“You will be provided with everything you need,” Celestia interrupted. “From materials and tools to measurements, styles, and of course payment. But will you try?”

“I…” Her father looked down at her before he turned back to the princess, positively beaming. “Yes, your majesty, of course I’ll try.”

“Excellent! Well, come along then, my little ponies, and we’ll get you two set up in your rooms.” The princess, her guards, and her little unicorn began to trot away.

“Rooms?” both Dreamy and Sole asked together. The Princess paused to look at them, her one visible eye twinkling mischievously. “You don’t really think I’d let the royal shoe smithy sleep anywhere but in the castle, do you?”

The pair looked at each other, before they quickly trotted to catch up with the rest of their group. Dreamy began to suspect that Canterlot was awesome!

Later that night

Sole smiled down at his daughter, firmly nestled into a bed. “Big day tomorrow, kiddo,” Sole said, gently rubbing his daughter’s mane. “New job, home schooling, and that big shopping trip to plan for at the end of the week.” Dreamy giggled. Her father had been commissioned by the princess herself to outfit her royal guard with top of the line combat grieves! First the officers, naturally; Captain Glimmer Shield herself had been first in line for hoof measurements. Eventually, measurements would be taken from every member of the guard, but that would take months, if not longer, with even more made every time a recruit made the guard. Sole had a steady job for the first time in Dream’s life.

“Are you excited?” asked Sole, quietly brushing her mane. Dream shrugged and responded with a little, “Uh huh.”

“More than a bit nervous too, I bet,” her father replied slyly. She blushed and nodded.

“Well, Dreamy, you know what? So am I. But there’s one thing we don’t have to worry about anymore. And you know what that is?” Dream shook her head and her father gave her a grin. “We don’t have to worry about who’s feeding this tummy any more!” Her father began to tickle her, Dream doing her best to fight him off from beneath the blankets. They eventually settled down, still smiling, and still laughing occasionally. Her father kissed her head. “Sweet dreams, my Sweet Dreamy. If you need me I’m just in the next room.” Her father quietly stepped out of the room, dimming the lights behind him. Dream yawned, rolled over, and was asleep in an instant.

Once again, Dream arrived in the flat black space inside her head, a crystal star hovering in the air like a weird-looking disco ball signalling, once again, that she was dreaming. She smiled to herself and willed the world to shape around her. She felt like having a picnic tonight. The dream world quickly took shape, turning from black and featureless- save for the star- to a green meadow, full of flowers, trees in the distance, and with a small checkered red and white blanket spread out over the hill. Dreamy sighed contentedly, and pulled a massive cake out of the picnic basket.

Suddenly, without Dreamy doing anything at all, a candle popped into life on the cake. With a series of similar small pops, every flower had a lit candle situated between its petals. Dreamy’s eyes widened; it had been a very, very long time since she last lost control of her dreams. She tried to will the fires out, but they only grew brighter, the flower fires quickly setting their plants alight, and the one on her cake sprouting one fiery eye that looked at her maliciously.

“I see you~!” It said gleefully, as the fire all around her spread to the grass and the distant forest. Dream let out a yelp and quickly sprouted a pair of wings. Taking off not a moment too soon, as the fire left the field barren and formed itself into a fiery wolf. Its hungry jaws snapped at Dream as she ducked and spun through the air. Dreamy was off like a bolt, zooming as fast as she could through the hot air, with the wolf practically right on her hooves. “Aww where are you going?” It cackled. “I just wanna play!”

Dream rolled sharply to one side, the jaws missing her by millimeters. She pointed a hoof down at the ground, right as the wolf stepped down, and a geyser sprung to life, spewing boiling hot water into the wolf’s face. It gasped and stepped away, most of it’s face gone for a split second before the flames rekindled themselves. It tossed it’s head, growling at the filly.

“You’ll pay for that!” It leapt at her, Dreamy yelping and turning herself into a rock, dropping straight through the wolf’s throat painlessly and heading towards the ground. Inches from the charred floor, she turned herself back into a pegasus, skimming the dirt and shooting back off, the wolf beginning the chase again. She began to head straight upwards into the cloud layer, and the wolf suddenly turned into a fiery bird to follow behind her. She kicked at the cloud she was hiding in, and a downpour began with a few jagged lines of lightning shooting downward. The bird shrieked and dove to one side as Dream panted. What on earth was going on!? She had never been this helpless before! This was her dream! She continued to pant beneath the cloud layer, when she suddenly noticed the cloud turning to steam around her. She looked up just in time to see the firebird diving for her, talons spread. She screamed and dove out of her cloud, the bird of prey changing direction to soar after her.

“Aww, don’t you wanna play~! Come on this is supposed to be fun! Come ‘ere little filly!”

Suddenly, the filly changed shape, dropping through the sky like a lead balloon. The eagle dove and caught the newly changed filly in one talon, grinning down at her. “Aww, quit so soon? I thought we were havin’ fun with tag!”

The filly squirmed her head up out of the bird’s talon, grinning toward her captor. She had turned herself into a stonefish; her gray, rocky flesh easily keeping the talons of the bird at bay.

“Nope, just thought you might wanna play Mareco Pollo!” The fish grinned. The bird’s eyes widened, it’s head darting upward to find an ocean of water- complete with coral reefs, fish, and sand- rushing straight for the two of them. The bird could only say one thing before the water engulfed them.

“Uh-oh!”

With a crash and a hiss, the bird was gone. Dreamy let out a relieved breath, swimming away from the hot spot it had left… Swimming right into another fish. A dark blue lion fish with bright green eyes. “Well done!” It said, grabbing her fin and shaking it.

“You really did amazing out there! Now, you won’t be waking up for another couple of hours, but I want ya to remember this! I want you to go to the south wing. On the ground floor there's a statue in this alcove, can’t miss it; it’s of a diamond dog, a minotaur, a griffin and a unicorn playing poker. What’cha gotta do is make the Diamond Dog fold, pull the Griffin’s cards closer, make the minotaur check, and make the pony go all in! Good luck!” Before she could say anything, the fish disappeared with a pop and a bubble. Since she was in the safety of her own mind and had no risk of being reprimanded by her father, she felt no need to censor what she said next.

“What… the… fuck.”

The next morning

The filly couldn’t help it; her curiosity had gotten the better of her. Within a few hours of waking and being left to her own devices by her tutor, Dream found her way to the southern wing. Paintings, statues, and busts lined each wall between highly polished oak doors. As she walked past one, it suddenly popped open. A teenage colt poked his head out, glaring at her.
“Would yoush keep it down, you pesasshent!” The unicorn colt had a white coat and yellow mane, and his slurring was caused by a simply colossal set of braces. The nerve of this boy, to call her a peasant! Dreamy was normally a nice filly, but bullying was one thing she couldn’t stand. If this colt was going to push, she was gonna push back!

“Oh, I’m sshhhhooooo, shooooo shorrry!” She said, her voice thick with sarcasm… and saliva. “I didn’t knowsh my hoofshtepsh were shoo loud!” The colt gasped as her spittle peppered his face.

“Working clash shpit!” he screamed, before promptly fainting on the spot. Nudging him back into his room with her hoof, Dream Weaver grabbed a do not disturb sign, hung it on the colt’s head gear and trotted off.

Exploring the maze of hallways was, in and of itself, quite an interesting undertaking, but it was the statues in one alcove that got her heart racing. Just as the fish had said, seated around the poker table were four figures. On the far left sat a minotaur with a truly massive chin and mullet that looked right out of a cheesy action movie. His face wore a flat, vaguely annoyed expression. Next to him, a one eyed griffin with a rather boxy appearance, and had one feather on the back of his skull sticking straight up. He looked rather cocky, and had one elbow nudging at the unamused minotaur. Next to him on the other side was the pony- a unicorn- covered in scratches dirt, and what looked like stoney droplets. Around his barrel was a harness that kept a large cannon strapped to him, with the pull string for it next to his jaw, and his right hoof had been replaced by a thick metal prosthetic from hoof tip all the way up to his hock. He wore an easy, laid back expression, smirking arrogantly at her. Finally, on the far right from her point of view was the diamond dog, who seemed vaguely confused by the cards in front of him. The statue was dressed in a suit and tie with a diamond print design, and wore a fedora. Glancing briefly at the scene’s chandelier… that looked vaguely like a potato... Dream stepped forward towards the poker table.

She started with the minotaur, carefully grabbing his arm and placing his hand on the table to signal the check. She moved passed his chair to the griffin. She grabbed the cards and his hand, and drew them closer to his face. Next, she grabbed the pony’s hoof and pulled… it wouldn’t budge. Puzzled, she simply grabbed the chips instead, and found they slid forward. She pushed it all the way into the center of the table, and was rewarded with the soft click of the mechanism inside. Finally, she grabbed the diamond dog’s paw and pulled the whole thing forward, as if he was tossing his cards in. A light near one side of the spud lit up. It began blinking, pointing towards one end of the poker table. It pointed to the opposite way from where she had started: directly between boxy griffin and the unicorn. As she watched, the light flashed, revealing a spiral staircase in the wall. She began her descent, the players sliding back to their original positions.

Down and down she went, further and further into the bowels of the castle- far past the dungeons, she assumed- right down into caverns underneath the castle’s foundations. She didn’t know how long she had been walking, but when she found her way out of the stairwell, she found herself in a large, open room, with dozens of ponies of all races. At one end of the massive cavern sat a lecture hall, complete with podium, chalk board, and seats. In another adjacent room was a gym of sorts, with weights, exercise equipment, and even a wrestling arena. Down another adjacent corridor was a room full of beds, covered by enchanted domes. Dreamy stared in wide-eyed wonderment at the place as a dark blue pegasus with a light blue mane and a military-style overcoat approached her.

“Ah, you must be the little rock fish,” he said with a smirk, giving her a nudge with his nose. Too stunned to say anything, Dreamy simply looked up at him as he waved out at the cavern.

“Welcome, to The Dreamwalker's guild. Congratulations, kid: you just got drafted!”

From that moment on, Dream Weaver was trained in the art of Dream Walking, among other things, by the guild. Dream walking, as Dreamy found out, was not just an ability one could use as they pleased. There were plenty of things one needed to learn when going into another’s dreams; things like fighting, psychology, stealth, basic mathematics, table etiquette, and ways to geld a pony with just your hooves. The history of the guild was what she was most interested in, and her mentor, Star Hunter, was pleased to tell her. The Dreamwalker guild was created by the princess, as a shadow organization to help ponies deal with nightmares.

“Nightmares, especially recurring ones, can have a significant effect on the waking world. The magical energy given off by a pony suffering from a nightmare can cause quite a bit of problems; disrupting weather production, agitating and feeding emotion-consuming creatures, and a whole bunch of different stuff! And that’s before the sleep-deprived pony wakes up and starts stumbling their way through the day!”

The princess, however, had very little to do with the place herself. She acted more as their recruiting agent. Thats why she offered her father a job, Dreamy found out.

“Lucid Dreamers have a certain… look to them,” Star Hunter had explained. “I couldn’t tell you what it is if you had sword to my throat, but the princess is pretty good at spotting us. She does what she can to get us to stay around the guild hold, here in Canterlot.” Dreamy couldn’t help but feel a bit put out, knowing she was the reason her father had gotten such a good job, but Star was quick to derail her train of thought.

“Before you get your fetlocks in a twist, you’re the reason your father got a chance. His skill was the reason he kept the job. If he wasn’t good at his job, the princess would have done something else to keep you here. Probably make up some story about you having an incredibly horrifying nasal fungus that was crawling into your brain and turning you into a zombie or something. She’d tell him we’d have to quarantine you for an unspecified amount of time.” With that… rather specific and slightly disturbing thought in mind, Dreamy had let the subject pass.

The proudest day of her life was the day Dream Weaver finally made it out of basic and into one of the immersion pods. The pods were magically sound proofed, and all but light proofed. Nothing to distract the Dreamwalker from their duty. With Star Hunter as her guide, Dreamy was sent into a little filly’s dream. It was a rather small nightmare: the filly was worrying about getting her cutie mark. With Star happily watching from the side lines, Dreamy had entered the dream, under the guise of a cat. With her help, the filly had gotten over her anxiety, and Dreamy had gotten herself a tummy rub for her troubles. She was so proud of herself for helping the filly that she didn’t even notice the mark on her flank until after she had woken up.

Years went by, and Dream’s skills continued to grow. She worked her way up from lowly recruit to armed and dangerous dream warrior, and, eventually, she made it to the highest rank a Dreamwalker could receive. She was made a part of the Nightmare Corps. The Corps were the elite, hoof selected by the princess herself to take care of one specific pony. One pony whose dreams dominated the dream realm’s skyline. Her own sister: Princess Luna.

1000 C.E. 4:35 AM

Dream Weaver walked down the familiar hallway, followed by a very drunk Prince Blueblood. Ever since she had had her fun with him all those years ago, Blueblood seemed to have made it his life’s duty to make her life… well, not exactly horrible but more… annoying.

“Y-you know, you should be walking me to mah door,” said the prince, weaving as he continued to follow her.

“No, Blueblood. It’s right over there. You can find it yourself.”
“Did… did… did yoush just tell me to… to do somethin’ myself? I… I’ll have you know, I am a prince! And a prince… a prince…” He lost his train of thought.

“A prince doesn’t have to do things himself?” Dream supplied helpfully.

“Exactly!” Blueblood hiccupped, downing the rest of his martini and tossing the glass aside. Dream sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. The silence, however, was short lived, as she suddenly found Blueblood on top of her back, nuzzling into her shoulder blade.

“Ya… ya know… how would you like the… the honor of… hic!” He hiccuped once before continuing “How would you like to see… see my bed chambersh?” he asked, his hot breath on the back of her neck. Dream’s skin crawled. She promptly sat down, forcing him to slide off of her back.

“Blue, lemme make this so clear even you could understand. I would much rather hurl myself into a furnace than stoop to such a level. I would rather step inside a Cloudsdale lightning generator wearing a tinfoil hat than ever sleep with you! Do I make myself clear?”

Blueblood blinked at her slowly before replying. “Ish that a no?”

Dream groaned and rubbed her face. She slowly adopted a seductive grin, and motioned towards him. “Here… lemme show you.” The drunk prince immediately followed where she was leading him, and once again, he attempted to mount her. She threw open the window she was standing in front of, and with a swift roll and a buck, sent him hurtling out into the garden beyond, landing face deep in a hedge. She quietly closed the window, brushed off her hooves,continued back towards the poker game, and down into the guild hall.

The Nightmare corps was waiting for her, getting settled into their immersion pods. “Sorry I’m late,” Dream apologized, grabbing the edge of her own and tossing herself in.

“Blueblood?” one of her fellows, Artemis, asked.

“Blueblood,” she replied grimly

“Drunk as a skunk?” Artemis asked.

“Drunk as a rat who drowned in a cider glass.”

The Nightmares’ resident zebra, Kulala, piped up. “That unicorn is such a pain in the rear! He treats me like slime whenever he’s near!”

“Forget about him,” Dream replied with a roll of her eyes. “Lets get to the matter at hoof.” They nodded their agreement, and pulled down the lids of the pods. They were sent to the dreamscape in an instant, and made their way to the sun of this world of stars, arriving in the familiar battle ground. The night princess’ dream was a sparsely populated wasteland. Droves of pitch black monstrosities littered the place, and a great throne laid in the center, surrounded by the waiting army of shadow minions. In the throne lay a sleeping filly: an alicorn of about 5 years of age, with a light blue coat, and a dark blue mane around her. Also sleeping in the throne was a much larger, black alicorn, with a swirling purple mane, her forelegs wrapped around the smaller one protectively. Dream swung a hoof through the air, conjuring a spear and twirling it. “For the Princess!” she screamed, her words echoed by the others as they charged.

For centuries, her predecessors had fought this fight. Each one getting closer and closer to the end goal, and the rescue of the little filly. For years, they had fought tooth and hoof to get to this… but their goal would never be reached.

As they neared the throne- within spitting distance of it- two pairs of eyes snapped open. The little blue alicorn, with her turquoise eyes, stared out with a look of silent resignation. Her larger, black counterpart, grinned maliciously, showing her fangs, and those cat-like pupils of hers. “Time to play~!” she cackled.

The next thing Dream knew, she had sat up in her immersion pod, her head slamming into the soundproof glass. She flung it open, looking around at the others, who all looked back at their comrades, flabbergasted. “What… the hell… just happened?”

One sunrise, through an extravagant party thrown by a pony several miles away, and the lowering of the state of emergency level later, the group got their answer. Two sets of hoofsteps made their way down the winding stairs to their base. The guild was armed to the teeth and ready to jump the intruder… only to find their ruler’s smiling face peeking around the entryway. “Princess!” the collective shout went out, with the group quickly dropping their weapons, several stammering apologies.

Princess Celestia chuckled goodnaturedly. “It’s quite alright. You were on edge. I understand.” She cleared her throat, before quickly dropping the motherly tone, putting on the ‘Princess Royal Decree’ voice.

“Mares and Gentlestallions of the Dreamwalkers Guild, it is with great pride and joy that I welcome back the founder of your organization, Princess Luna!” She stepped away from the stairwell to reveal a slightly smaller alicorn, with a light blue coat, and dark blue mane. She grinned sheepishly and waved to the group. Dream Weaver and her Nightmares were the first to kneel.

3 H.E.

With a sigh and a slightly shaking hoof, Dream Weaver knocked on the huge door with the crescent moon on it.

“Enter!” Came the voice from the other side, and Dream hastened to obey, entering the Princess’ study. She had grown quite a bit since the first time Dream had seen her in the waking world, now standing taller than Dream, and with a much darker coat and a sparkling ethereal mane. The princess sat at a table at one end of the room, a hard wooden chair set on the other side, opposite the princess

“Taketh thy seat.” The princess ordered, and once again Dream obeyed, climbing into her seat and glancing around her. The room was sparsely decorated; the only thing on the wall being a large clock which ticked quite loud in the silence. On the desk sat a large wooden abacus, a feather quill, a picture of the princess and her sister sharing some ice cream, and a set of manilla folders.

“Miss Weaver, thou hath been with the Walkers for almost two decades hath thou?” Luna asked in a neutral tone, tapping her front hooves together in front of the desk.

Dream nodded, trying to fight down the worry boiling up in her stomach. “Yes, your highness. It’ll be 19 years next month.”

“Mmmhmm, we see.” The princess responded with a nod. “And thou hath been a Nightmare Warden for…?”

“4 years, ma’am,” Dream answered.

“Dost thou consider thyself the most experienced member of thy companions?” Dream hesitated. She so wanted to say yes, to brag, to boast, to do… oh, all sorts of things, if only to keep the job she loved. But she held back.

“No ma’am… I wouldn’t say that. I mean… we all have our strengths and weaknesses. Artemis has a real knack for long range combat that I could just never wrap my head around. Kulala can calm just about anypony down without much fuss, and I never met a pony quite as sneaky as Stoom. I wouldn’t say I’m the best at all… if anything, I’m probably the least valuable.”

Luna smirked. “Really, now? We only ask because thy cohorts seem to have a different opinion of thy abilities. They wholeheartedly put thou ahead of themselves when we asked.”

Dream blushed, but remained silent. “Tell us true, Dream Weaver: what dost thou know about Ponyville?”

Dream blinked. “Umm… it’s that little town about half a day’s train ride from here, within spitting distance of the Everfree Forest.”

Luna nodded “And ‘tis home to the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony. The group attracts danger like no other in Equestria. We find ourselves staring at a newspaper with the words, “Ponyville,” and, “Catastrophe,” almost every week. ‘Tis only a matter of time before something happens. Something serious.” The princess of the night leaned back in her chair.

“So… unto Ponyville… we will send thee.”

Dream nearly fell out of her chair “M-me? Why me?”

“Why not thou? We needest someone trained in the art of combat, one whom can blend into a crowd, and one who can protect them from any sorts of danger. Thou art honor-bound to serve as our ponies’ protector, art thou not?” Dream tried to weasel her way out of Luna’s logic, but found no way to do so. So, the princess continued on.

“The newly-appointed Princess Twilight hast refused our offer to train a set of personal guards on her behalf. We respect her decision, but hath found it prudent to provide protection nonetheless. As the saying goes: ‘What she doesn’t know, won’t harm her’. Thy mission is to infiltrate her group of friends by any means necessary, integrate thyself with thy targets, remain vigilant, and protect them at all costs. A story of deception will be provided for thee, and thou wilt find their personality profiles here.” She pushed the stack of folders towards her.

“Make haste, young weaver. Thy train leaves upon the moon rise.” Picking up her folders, Dream Weaver quickly bowed to her princess and ducked out. Whatever Ponyville had to offer, it had better be good.

Author's Note

Well...good news and bad news....the bad news is that I...once again, lost focus when writing a story....but the good news is I got a new editor who'll provide a good, swift, kick in the pants if I need to write a new chapter.
In regards to the story CE stands for the "Celestial Era" The era of Equestrian history when Celestia ruled alone. HE stands for the "Harmonial era" (Which ironically has a whole lot more monster attacks and major events than the Celestial era if we're to believe the show) the Harmonial Era starts on the night when Nightmare Moon is defeated and Princess Luna returns.

Words, Walls, and Dyes

As the train began to chug along by moonlight, Dream Weaver found herself laying in a private cart, a set of folders in front of her. Opening the one labeled “A” first, she pulled the letter out and read it to herself.

“Burn after reading. Your mission, should you choose to accept it...” Choice. That got a little laugh out of the dream walker. Choice, cute. “... is to infiltrate the settlement known as Ponyville and familiarize yourself with the group hereafter referred as The Six. The Six’s attitude towards strangers range from unbridled enthusiasm to indifference. Choose your target wisely.”

Dream rolled her eyes. Why did royal documents have to make everything sound like an assassination? She was going to Ponyville to make friends with these girls and protect them, not slit their throat and cart off the body! Continuing to read, Dreamy found her cover story. Luna had done her research: she had turned her hobby into her new ‘job’. Dream Weaver liked to… well… weave, in her offtime. Nothing quite made you feel more relaxed than turning thread or silk into something beautiful. Luna had set her up with a shop near the center of Ponyville, where she could sell fabric. Taking a bit to memorize the slogan for her new residence, she tossed the paper into the metal trash bin and cracked open another one.

“Jacqueline Apple, AKA Applejack. Age: 25. Earth Pony. Self-employed. Bearer of the Element of Honesty. Hobbies: Cooking apple-based confections, Rodeos, Hoof races, Abstract art.”

That last bit got Dream’s eyebrow up. She glanced at the picture included in the little portfolio. She really didn’t see Miss Apple as the kind to enjoy abstract art… but turning the paper over and finding her in front of one such creation, she immediately found out why this pony would enjoy such things. The art AJ made involved tossing an apple into the air, kicking it as it descended, and splattering the paste over a white canvas. Sighing and resisting the urge to rub the bridge of her nose, Dream returned to the profile.

“Personality Abnormalities: Stubborn to the point of obstinacy, honest to the point of bluntness, mildly competitive. Initial danger percentage: 17%. While strong even by earth pony standards, Miss Apple has no formal military training, and, moreover, is often quite friendly to newcomers. She is more likely to force free samples on you than attack you.”

Dream tossed the profile into the trash bin next to the note, making a mental note to only visit the Apples’ orchard after she had made friends with one of the others. She opened up another folder.

” Princess Twilight Sparkle. Age: 24. Alicorn Princess. Current Ruler of the newly created Kingdom of Friendship. Bearer of the Element of Magic.”

That was all Dream could make out, since the rest of the profile was covered up by a large red stamp that read: “ Classified ”

“Why even bother making this, then!” grumbled the pony, tossing the papers into the trash. She cracked open another.

“Prismalinda Chromono Dash, AKA Rainbow Dash.”

Dream couldn’t help but snicker. No wonder she went by a nickname.

“Age: 22. Pegasus. Weathermare/Wonderbolt Reserve. Bearer of the Element of Loyalty. Hobbies: Racing, Extreme Sports, Flying, The works of A.K. Yearling. Personality Abnormalities: Stubbornness, quick to anger, fiercely loyal, possible narcoleptic, perpetual procrastinator. Initial danger percentage: 22%. Rainbow would be more likely to injure you in a stunt gone wrong than through an open attack. Best to approach her when she is standing still.”

Dream could only nod to herself, still snickering from the ridiculous name Dash’s parents had given her. She opened up the next one, and was greeted by a picture of a yellow pegasus with big green eyes.

“Fluttershy Posey. Age: 24. Pegasus. Vet and Wildlife Caretaker. Bearer of the Element of Kindness. Hobbies: Environmental Activist, Tea Connoisseur, Animal Relocation. Personality Abnormalities: Demophobia, Mild Xenophobia, Ligyrophobia, Lygophobia. Initial danger percentage: 0.2%. This pony is physically incapable of harming another living thing. The only danger she poses involves her eyes; they seem to hold two (2) strange powers: the ability to hypnotise wildlife and the ability to cause mild heart burn within a pony affixed with her stare. It is speculated that the stare causes a spasm of the heart within sentient races, and could even prove fatal if the race had a particularly weak heart. More study is needed.“

“Okay… keep away from that one. Let the others introduce me.” Dream noted, tossing the profile and picking up the next.

“Pinkamena Diane Pie, AKA Pinkie Pie. Age: 23. Earth pony. Confectionist. Bearer of the Element of Laughter. Hobbies: Parties, Pranks, Tic tac toe. Personality Abnormalities: ”...”

After reading the laundry list of possible diagnoses and quirks about Pinkie, Dream Weaver began to marvel that such a pony even managed to keep her sanity in tact, much less function in society. Possible Dissociative Identity Disorder, precognition, the ability to bend physics around her, a mane that could store anything from candy to party based artillery...! Pinkie Pie… was fascinating! Quickly shaking herself, Dream continued reading.

“Initial danger percentage: 82.6%. Pinkie Pie is highly dangerous, and highly unstable. It is well-known that she will offer a welcome to anypony in town, but that welcome often involves an extravagant party, lots of sweets, a cannon filled with cake batter, streamers, and/or candy, or some combination of the above. It is best recommended to smile, nod, and try to enjoy oneself around her, lest the pony in question trigger another psychotic break.”

Dreamy shivered and made a mental note to stay as far away from Pinkie’s dreams as she could. She opened the final envelope.

“Rarity Belle. Age: 22. Unicorn. Fashionesta. Bearer of the Element of Generosity. Hobbies: Dressmaking, Fashion magazines, Gem mining, Romantic novels. Personality Abnormalities: Perfectionist, Loves beauty, Showboaty, Interest in fashion- bordering obsession. Initial danger percentage: 10.3 %. Miss Belle is the second most likely to attempt kidnapping, but is hardly malicious. Best to approach with caution: and never, under any circumstances, insult subject’s fashion sense. ”

Dreamy stared at the picture of the white unicorn, lost in thought. Pinkie Pie would probably be the most open to her, since she’s friends with everypony. But, at the same time, she was friends with everypony. She wouldn’t focus on her the way she did the other five. They were her best friends, and she’d have a whole town to compete with to get to that level. Princess Twilight was off-limits, which left four others she might be able to approach… but who could she get closest to? She sighed and reached into her bag, uncorking a bottle of liquid dragon fire and sprinkling some of the liquid into the trash can, setting the papers alight. She’d figure out what to do when she arrived. Nopony knew she was coming, so it wasn’t as if there’d be somepony waiting for her. She had all day to figure things out.

There was somepony waiting for her.

The moment she had gotten off the train and into Ponyville proper, she had been set upon by a certain pink pony, quite a bit of confetti, and a lot of cake batter. Dream just smiled good-naturedly, wiped the stuff out of her mane, and listened to Pinkie’s welcoming song. They talked… or, rather, Pinkie rambled, and Dream listened, for quite a while. After a while, Dream cleared her throat.

“Umm... Pinkie...”

Pinkie, all but oblivious, just kept talking. “And then, Spike says somethin’ about girls lovin’ it, and I’m all like, “‘There is no way you can pick up chicks in a tank made of a cardboard box!’”

“Pinkie,” Dream tried again, a little more forcefully this time. Pinkie, once again, all but ignored her.

“And then he’s all like ‘Yeah-huh! I can show you!’ And he peddles off, and when he comes back, the tank is on fire and he looks all sad, so I bought him ice cream to make him feel better!”

“Pinkie!” Dream shouted, clapping her hooves inches from Pinkie’s nose. Pinkie Pie blinked, and focused more intently on Dream’s face

“Yes, Dreamy?~” She asked sweetly.

Dream sighed, relieved she finally got Pinkie Pie to stop talking. “Since I’m kinda new here, do you think you can point me in the direction of my store? It has my cutie mark on the front.” She pointed to her flank and the mark on it: a spinning wheel with a starry, night sky blooming out of the needle. Not exactly how a spinning wheel worked, but whatever.

“Of course I do! The writer only has me here because I’m always welcoming new ponies and I know the town like the back of my hoof! It’s right down that way! The sign’s real big! Can’t miss it!” She began to hop away before Dreamy could even begin to process what she had just said.

After that… bit of insanit-

“Hey! It wasn’t insane! It’s called fourth-wall-breaking! Know the difference, missy!”

“Wah? Pinkie! You can’t be in here! Get back in the story!” The writer demands, unable to keep from narrating herself so as to keep some form of narrative flow.

“Oh, come on, lemme write for a while! Check this out!” The pink, majestic and super fun party pony supreme says as she pulls an entire circus tent out of her mane. Then she pulls out a buncha clown makeup, which she splatters on her face, then she begins to juggle her own head while balancing on a ball that she walks backwards up one of those spikey dinosaur’s back thingies. “See!? I totally got this! You can just go back to eating pizza and watching murder investigation shows!”

“I… I don’t even know how you highjacked my stor-” The writer starts to say, before she’s interrupted by the pink-maned mare.

“Internet.”

The writer blinks, rubbing the bridge of her nose. “Right… but you can’t just do that-”

"That one lady did in Plumbers Don’t Wear Ties!”

“You’re really bringing up that stupid game? Whatever, you can’t just highjack someone else’s story. I’m trying to write here.” The writer folds her arms, glaring at Pinkie. Pinkie’s ears go flat against her head and the writer… pretty much immediately feels bad.

“Look… Can you be patient? You’ll be brought back into the story again later.”

Pinkie continues to pout for a few seconds before brightening up. “Okie Doki Loki!”

After that… fourth-wall-break, Dream Weaver found her way to her store. The sign, as the pink mare had said, was quite large. It was hanging over the doorway, swaying in the breeze, with her cutie mark taking up the majority of it.

“Silk and Stitchings,” Dreamy breathed. If only her squad could see her now. She hefted her bags and headed inside. The place had been fully stocked by the princess; everything from cotton poly blend to spider silk lined the walls in large industrial-sized rolls. Behind the counter were several dyes in every color of the rainbow. Dream explored the ground floor for a bit before she headed upstairs to the living area; fairly simple: just a couch, a bookshelf, a bed, and a wardrobe. All the necessities. She examined the bookshelf a bit more closely, however. There was always something… Aha! There it was! A large, leather-bound book, near the left side of the shelf had the title, “Arms and Armaments: A reference guide.” Pulling it forward, Dream could hear the small -Click!- from just behind the wall before the whole shelf swung forward. Behind it lay her own private armory. Her guard’s uniform lay polished and waiting on the back of a manequin, a training dummy sat in one corner, and up against one wall, there were rows and rows of assorted weapons, including some of her personal favorites. She smirked. Princess Luna had truly thought of everything. She backed out and closed the bookcase door. Down below, she heard the distinct sound of her door chime.

“Just a minute!” She called, running to her mirror to make sure she was presentable. Her mane was pulled back into a messy little bun at the base of her skull, and a pair of glasses perched on her nose made her look a bit like a librarian. She certainly didn’t appear to be the sort of pony one would expect to guard anyone. She smiled at her reflection and trotted downstairs.

“Welcome to Silk and Stitchings, where we put magic into every thread! What can I do fo-” She was cut off by the pony who tossed herself at her hooves, clinging to her in a very, very dramatic fashion.

“Silk!” She moaned. “Puhlease tell me you have silk!” Dream raised an eyebrow, staring down at the white unicorn for a moment. It only took a moment to recognize her. Rarity was certainly a face you tended to remember. Particularly so when it was your mission to keep an eye on her.

“Dear, you do know where you are, right?” Dream said with a light giggle, patting Rarity’s head. “This’d hardly be Silk and Stitches without the silk, now would it?” She giggled again, watching Rarity’s body sag with sheer relief. She pried her forelegs away from her, and left her by the counter, walking over to one of the shelves.

“But I suppose the real question is: What kind of silk? I have Silk Worm, I got Bumble Bee, Spider, what do ya need today?”

Rarity blinked. “Oh, um, silk worm should do just fine, darling. Do you… Do you think I could get a bulk order, miss…?”

“Weaver,” She said, brightly. “Dream Weaver. And certainly, you can! All one color or do you want me to include some of my dyes?” She took a bit of the roll and spun it over a second, equally large, empty roller, and brought it down to floor level.

“One color, dear. Blue if you please. Baby Blue.” Dream couldn’t help but giggle again, grinning at Rarity. “My kind of color,” she said, taking the blue dye from behind the counter. She began mixing it with water while she spun the silk onto the roller, cutting it after about half her original roller was on it.

“So, if you don’t mind me asking, why do you need all this silk?” She asked, pouring her dye water into a little bath on top of the counter, resting the fabric inside, then turning a dial on an egg timer.

“Oh… I have an order I have to fill, darling. I’m Ponyville’s premier fashionesta!” She beamed, soaking in her own pride, for a second or two, before she continues.

“I had an order for a set of bride’s mare gowns and my… dear little sister and her friends… borrowed all the silk I had on hoof.” Her tone was so icy, Dream wouldn’t have batted an eye if she noticed mist on Rarity’s breath. She smiled nervously.

“Kids, huh? Everything seemed so important back then. You can’t honestly say you didn’t get into a lot of crazy things at her age, though, can you?”

“Oh, of course I can’t, darling! I was a little hoof-full for my parents! Always staying up past my bed time, always wandering around outside of town, always falling asleep in class... but the things Sweetie and her friends get up to, oh it’s simply in another league!” Rarity huffed and rubbed her head.

“I am at my wit’s end with that filly. I love the little dear more than anything, but sometimes, I wish she’d just stay still!” Dream chuckled and nodded.

“Yeah… she sounds like a hoof-full, but honestly, I wouldn’t know how to approach it. I’m an only child.” She grinned sheepishly. Rarity sighed.

“Oh, don’t fret darling, it’s good just to talk about it.” The egg timer went off at that moment. Dream carefully lifted the roll of silk out of the dye bath and carefully set it in another bath, a few inches away on the countertop, then turned the timer back on.

“Clear instadry. Makes the dye bind faster and it dries the moment it’s out. “ She explained to Rarity. Rarity nodded and went on with their conversation.

“So what about you, Miss Weaver, why did you decide to move to Ponyville?”

Dreamy let out a sigh and rolled her eyes. “My father makes armored greaves and horseshoes for the royal guard. I lived in Canterlot pretty much my whole life… I just… Ya know, sometimes when your special talent is similar to your family’s, everypony expects you to be like them. Even if it’s something like ‘they both make things’. Ponies expect me to be covered in soot, or something. I had to get away from that to start a business.”

Rarity blinked at her. “What about your mother, dear? Don’t they think a filly would be more like her mother?” Dream huffed and looked away.

“Mom… isn’t in the picture.” She muttered sourly. An awkward silence filled the air, broken only by the ringing of the egg timer.

Truthfully, Dream hadn’t really started hating her mother until she hit age 15. She had found a few letters her father had kept from her parents’ time together. The things her mother wrote were… haughty and self-absorbed, to say the least. She found in those letters that she was the real reason why her mother left. Her mother, Hazel, was appalled that two unicorns could give birth to an earth pony, and she had blamed her father for it. She had run off with some unicorn from Los Pegasus, and her father had never bothered to contact her since. It had been next to no trouble finding her in her favorite book after that, and with a quick scribbling of a red marker, she had shown the only picture of her mother she had exactly how she now felt about her.

“Here we are,” Dream said, pulling the roll out of the solution.

“Thank you, dear. How much do I owe you?”

“Let’s see… That roll of silk, plus the dye job would be about 85 bits, but since you’re my first customer and all, I think we can settle it for just 20. How does that sound?”

“Oh, darling! I couldn’t! I can’t just let you give me such a discount! You need the bits just as much as I do! 85 bits it is!” She pulled her bit bag out and started counting.

Dream shook her head “No, no, ma’am. First customer discount! 20 bits!”

“85 bits!” Rarity said firmly.

Sighing in defeat, Dream asked, “Why don’t we just meet in the middle, and call it even with 45 bits?” Rarity smiled and nodded.

“Now that’s much more fair. Thank you, darling. I expect I’ll be seeing you soon?” she asked, setting the bits on the countertop.

“Oh, I expect so!” Dreamy said, walking her to the door. “After all, a good fashionesta needs materials for her art! We can talk while the dye sets!” She held the door open for Rarity.

“I hope you’ll be back soon!” She said merrily, waving Rarity out. And just like that, Dream had her way into the group. What a productive first day!

Letters

Dream Weaver exited her own dream, treading the now familiar path through the dream realm, towards its semi-official capital. Entering the Princess’s dream, her own dream form clad in her standard armor, a monk’s spade strapped to her back. One never knew what to expect when entering the mind of an immortal, and today the inside of the dream truly startled her. Dream had simply waltzed right into her boss’s bathroom, the pony in question lounging in a tub the size of a small swimming pool. The bubbles keeping everything beneath hidden, her highness’s shimmering mane hidden by a towel wrapped around her head, the royal hooves holding a rubber duck.

Princess Luna raised an eyebrow as the armor clad mare entered. An awkward silence hung in the air for several moments before Luna finally saw fit to break it.

“Tis rude to stare, Weaver. Wouldst thou like a portrait, t’would prove to sait thy eyes for longer.” Dreamy flushed and looked away.

“I’m sorry, your highness, I didn’t know…”

“If thou had been able to predict what our flights of fancy wouldst be on this eve, we would have been quite surprised. Come, sit, join us. We wish to hear thy report.”

Dreamy blushed even deeper, but quietly slipped out of her armor and joined her princess in the tub, the much shorter pony submerged up to her neck, only the top of her head visible through the foam. Luna snickered.

“Tell us Weaver, how dost thou fair in Ponyville?”

“Fairly well, Your Highness. My mission has been going beautifully.”

Luna nodded thoughtfully, giving her duck a little squeak. “Do tell”

“Well I met Miss Belle, on my first day, and since then she’s been stopping by my shop almost every day. We’ve started seeing each other outside of work last week!” She beams with pride “In fact, she invited me to join her at the spa today, with Miss Posey, and I have a sneaking suspicion Miss Pie will be around some time as well”

Luna turned, raising her eyebrow at this. “And what makes thee so sure that our pink compatriot would make an appearance?”

Dream’s response was to shrug. “Rarity said something about a special oatmeal bath the spa ponies wanted to try out. It sounds like something Pinkie might pop in on, doesn’t it?” Luna looked thoughtful again, squeaking her duck. “Indeed…” She finally answered.

“Well it looks like thou hast quite the day planned, we will do no more to keep thee from it! Off you go, and do try to enjoy thy self! We wilt see thee next week.”

Dream only gave one silent nod, before disappearing from the dream, the water she had recently been in sloshing back into place.
Luna giggled to herself.

“Hehe, the look on her face! Maybe next time we’ll break out the leather and chains!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The mid morning sunshine was there to greet Dream when she opened her eyes. With a groan she rose from her bed and quietly began to fix her mane, pulling the messy mop into the tidy little bun at the back of her head. Taking one last look in the mirror to make sure everything was neat about her appearance, she headed downstairs. She swung the front door open, just in time to see a gray furry bullet heading straight for her. She let out a yelp, and rolled to the side, the thing went zooming right past her, up the stairs, where it shot out her open window, before face planting on her front step. The yellow maned pegasus looked up, her eyes rolling in her sockets briefly before she righted herself.

“Hiya!” said the wall-eyed mare, beaming at Dream.

“Umm...Hello...I’m sorry but my store’s closed for the day.”

“Store?” The pegasus glanced at the sign. “Oooohh, it’s a store! That explains it! I thought you just made the sign really big so I would know where to go.” Dreamy tried her best to keep from sounding exasperated, fixing a smile on her face.

“I’m sorry but...who are you exactly?” The mare blinked

“Oh right!” She saluted. “Mailmare first class, Ditzy Doo, Ma’am! Delivering mail through rain, snow, sleet, hail, chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, and muffin! At your service!”

“I...see...so I guess that means I have mail?” Dream asked

“Yup yup! Ya sure do!” She reached into her mail bag, digging around inside for a second before drawing out a small stack of letters. “There ya go!” She saluted again “Another letter dutifully delivered! But the mail mare’s work is never done!” With that she took off, weaving slightly as she flew back towards town.

Dream chuckled and shook her head, this town certainly had some characters.

6 letters and a little walk later Dream found herself outside the spa, a bright yellow pegasus and a white unicorn already out front waiting on her.

“Oh thank goodness, Dream, we thought we would have to go in without you!” Rarity said, beaming at her. Rarity motions Dream over. “Dreamy, darling, this is Fluttershy. Fluttershy, this is Dream Weaver, she owns the new fabric shop on Manehatten Avenue.”

Dream smiles at Fluttershy, who had partially hidden her face behind her mane.

“It’s...um...it’s nice to m-meet you” Squeaks the pegasus.

“It’s very nice to meet you too!” Dream replied, though in as soft a voice as she could manage without truly whispering, she didn’t want to frighten the poor pegasus.

“What kept you, darling?” Rarity asked, as the trio of mares made their way inside the spa. The two mares running the place quickly taking them into the back room as the group spoke.

“Well the mail arriv-” She started to say, but both Fluttershy and Rarity interrupted

“Ditzy doo?” They asked at once.

“Ditzy Doo.” Dream confirmed “But really she didn’t hold me up that much. It’s just I got a letter from dad.” Dream neglected to mention the other five, from her team, but then again they really didn't need to know about that.

“Oh dear” Said the pegasus as the twin spa workers lead them to the massage works “I..I hope everything is...is okay” She mumbles as she lays face down on the table.

Dream giggled “Oh don’t worry, everything is perfectly fine! He just wanted to tell me how things were going in Canter-Epp!” Her explanation was interrupted by a loud CRACK! from her back. Rarity blinked and glanced over at her “Are…are you alright dear?”

Dazed, Dream could only giggle shrilly. “I think she just turned my spine to jello!”

Aloe, who had been working on her back, simply rolls her eyes and continues driving her hooves into her. “There’s so many knots here! So much tension!” Mutters the masseuse, her brow furrowed. “Do forgive me for being blunt, but what the hell have you been doing to yourself?” Dream’s only answer was to giggle, and press her face into the pillow.

The spa trip went relatively as expected after that. Seaweed wraps, facials, hooficures the sauna, the promised oatmeal bath, and the appearance of a certain pink pony within that oatmeal bath.

“I still can’t believe you brought that many strawberries!” Rarity said to Pinkie as they left the spa.

“I still can’t believe you didn’t invite me along!” Cried Pinkie, walking backwards to keep them in view. “I mean, a bathtub full of oatmeal! Are you cuckoo!? I would’ve loved, loved, LOVED to come along!” She bounced along backwards as the other three followed, Fluttershy discussing with Dream, in a rather quiet tone, about the possibility of getting Dream a pet.

“I don’t know…” Dream muttered quietly “I mean a spider of my own would certainly come in handy with my silk supply, but I don’t want to overwork the poor thing! I guess if I had to choose one thing to take care of, it’d have to be something nocturnal, I work through the night on a few personal projects and having a bit of company would be quite welcome.”

“Oh I have quite a few critters that I’m sure you’d get along with!” Fluttershy responded brightly, far more energetic than Dream had ever seen her before. “I have a firefly that’d be happy to meet you! Oh and a itty bitty bat, she’s just so cute and she’s been so lonely lately. Mr Owl probably wouldn’t be too good of a choice, he just got married but-” She was cut off by a rather loud bang. The pegasus let out a squeak, froze up, and promptly fell over. Tense, and ready for action, Dream whirled around, looking for the source of the bang. Pinkie was the first to spot it.

“Oh, pretty!” She said, pointing upwards. Dream followed her hoof, and found herself staring at a fireworks display from somewhere across town. The fireworks themselves twisting into the shape of a magic wand trailing some sparkles.

Rarity huffed. “Oh simply wonderful” She said in a sardonic tone. “She’s back”

“Who?” Dream asked curiously.

“Oh nopony, darling, just this loud mouth traveling magicia-”

“Magician?” Dream interrupted the Dream Warden feeling an almost child like excitement bubbling up inside her . “I love magic shows!”

“Ya do?” Cried Pinkie “Thats great! I know exactly where she sets up!” She grabbed Dream, and started to bounce her way through the street, Rarity cantering to keep up. Fluttershy opted to stay behind to avoid the loud fireworks.

The crowd had gathered by the time they got there, the periwinkle blue unicorn on stage, although not quite into the magic portion of her act just yet, was drawing attention with the use of some incredible pyrotechnics.

“Behold, The Great And Powerful Trixie!” Cried the magician, punctuating her words with a blast of smoke and another loud bang of her fireworks.

“We already know who you are!” Cried a pony in the crowd. “Yeah! Get on with it!” Cried another.

Trixie huffed “Fine, since you Ponyvillians are so impatient, The Great and Generous Trixie shall show you one of her newest tricks!” She fanned her cloak out, her horn lighting up. A box slowly dragged itself out from back stage, surrounded by the blue glow. “As you can see, this box, has absolutely nothing special about it.” Said Trixie, wheeling the box around, showing them all the outside, then opening it up and showing them the inside. “The Great and Spectacular Trixie will now perform the time honored escape trick, but” she paused for dramatic effect. “With a twist!” She clapped her hooves, and a pair of young unicorn colts ran up onto the stage, carrying between them a smaller box.

“Now, with the help of my two assistants,The Great and Powerful Trixie shall astound you!” Dream Weaver raised her eyebrow as the two colts then proceed to retrieve a few items from the box; two sets of hoof cuffs, a magic nullification ring, and a rope. They bound Trixie, and placed the ring on her horn, pushing her gently into the box….then they began to sprinkle lighter fluid on the outside

“She’s good” She whispers to Pinkie, who nodded with a mouth full of popcorn. The two colts lit the fluid and the box went up at once. The wooden crate burned rather quickly, leaving behind nothing but the hinges, and the hoof cuffs. There was a brief moment of wonder, before a purple, star patterned ball bounced in from off stage. It spun in the soot for a moment before bursting open with a shower of sparks. “Tada!” Cried the magician inside, bowing low, sweeping her hat off her head, revealing the ring still on her horn. The crowd applauded, all except for the two ponies who had heckled her before.

“Fake!” Cried the white furred, red maned pony in one corner. “You could totally see the trap door she went through!”

“What?” Cried the Magician, affronted “There is no such thing on my stage!”

“I bet!” Shouted the pony in the other corner, the inverse of his fellow. “Where did you learn your magic tricks, Trixie? Did you get them from a cereal box?”

Trixie fumed “That was rather harsh.” Rarity muttered, next to Dream.

“Yeah! You don’t have to be mean to enjoy a show! Just sit back and watch it!” Pinkie agreed, still munching on popcorn.

“Trixie will have you know!” Said the magician “That she comes from a long line of magicians who have all been helpful in putting together her act! Starting with the Great Illusionist Hoofdini all the way down to Trixie’s mother The Witch Hazel!”

Trixie continued to talk, but Dream heard exactly none of it. Blood was rushing through her ears, blocking out all sounds. Her body went a bit rigid, a fact that both Pinkie and Rarity noticed at once.

“Uh...Dream...dear...are you feeling alright?”Rarity asked shakily.

“Fine” Dream answers shortly, getting to her hooves.

“That is not fine!” Pinkie said, stepping in front of her “I have never ever seen anyone more not fine as you’re acting right now! You gotta sit down for a bit! Have some chocolate!” She reached into her mane and pulled out a chocolate bar.

"No” Dream responded again, just as shortly. “Excuse me” She stepped past Pinkie, but now Rarity blocked her way.

“Dream, Pinkie is right! You’re not acting like yourself!”

“I’m fine, Rarity! I just need to talk to her. Excuse me” She side stepped Rarity and began to push her way through the crowd. The two ponies glanced at each other, then quickly trotted after her. Trixie was continuing with her set as if nothing had happened. She had just moved on to the rabbit out of the hat trick when Dream Weaver reached the stairs and climbed up onto the stage.

“Excuse me.” She said, loudly, drawing everypony’s attention just as Trixie pulled the rabbit out by his ears.

Trixie gently set the animal down, replaced her hat and gave Dream a smile. “Ah it seems Trixie has a volunteer for her next trick! Tell me, what do you want to be a part of? Did you want me to saw you in half? Perhaps box with the swords?” Dream gritted her teeth.

“No, what I want is a few questions answered.” Trixie raised an eyebrow, but remained silent.

“You said your mother, was Witch Hazel, correct?” asked Dream, fighting to remain calm.

“Yes. That is what Trixie said.”

“The same Witch Hazel that performed at the Canterlot Solar Celebration almost 30 years ago?”

“Why yes!” Trixie started proudly “That was one of her-” Dream, however, cut her off.

“The same Witch Hazel that won the David Mane award for Exceptional showmagic 35 years ago?” She asks, taking a step forward.

“Uh..yes?” Trixie took a step back.

“The same Witch Hazel that graduated from Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns almost 40 years ago?”

“Yes!” Trixie snapped “Now what are you getting on about!”

Dreamy’s demeanor changed on a dime, rather than accusatory, she suddenly changed to a faux cheeriness. “Oh nothing, I just wanted ya to deliver a message for me” Her temper was getting the better of her, she breathed hard through her nostrils, she felt her front hoof twitching. She wanted something to hit...but she restrained herself. Giving Trixie a black eye would not make her feel any better. But she would say what she wanted to say.

“I want you to ask your mother if she remembers the Weavers. Ask her about the Weavers, and why she left them in the cold. Oh, and make sure she knows it comes from Dreamy” Without another word, she turned sharply away from Trixie, and walked back down the stairs.

The blue earth pony went straight home, her two friends trying to find a way to ask questions, but finding themselves at a loss for words. She left them, on her doorstep, and disappeared into the shop without saying a word.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They were back again, hammering on her front door. It had been three days since the magic show incident, and Dream had been neglecting her duties. Her friends were downstairs, attempting to break in, shouting at her from the landing, attempting to pick the lock, tapping on her window, and all sorts of other things.

“Darling! Please open up! Don’t you think you’re being a teensy bit over dramatic about this?” Shouted Rarity from down below. This was quickly followed by a snort, and that was promptly followed by a smack.

“Please, Dream, we want to help you! Let us in!I...I mean...if that’s okay...”

“Pinkie is prepared to blast down your door, Dreamy!” Called the voice of the newly crowned princess, quickly followed by Pinkie, doing her best Scottmarish impression.

“If I were a bad demomare, I wouldn’t be here discussing’ it withcha now would I!” Dream, however, refused to move, staying exactly where she was with her book.

She didn’t even realize the voices had gone quiet until there was another knock on the door, and Trixie’s voice floated up to her.

“Ummm...Dreamy...can...can we talk?”She asked, sounding more like Fluttershy than her usual loud, boastful self. Dream sighed, closed her book, and made her way to the front door. Most of the ponies outside blinked when she simply unlocked the deadbolt. The magician looked different without her stage clothes, without the hat her head appeared smaller.

“So, she wrote back?” Asked Dream. Trixie wordlessly nodded. Dream let out another sigh and stepped back away from the door. Trixie trotted into the little shop. “We’ll be done in a few minutes” She informed the other 6, closing the door on them.

“...What just happened?” She heard the cyan pegasus ask the group, she and Trixie heading to the kitchen in the back of the store. Dream motioned Trixie to the table, grabbing a small box from inside a drawer. “What exactly did she say?”

“She...told me to stay right where I was, and to believe nothing you said to me…” Trixie admitted, sheepishly.

“...Does she get like that a lot?”Dream asked, pausing in opening the little box.

“ Kinda. She was always strange. Growing up with her was a bit of a nightmare, she always pushed so hard. But she really didn’t go this overboard like this before. Kinda the reason why I came out here to be honest.”

Dream nodded and pulled a few letters out of the box. “Well...These are the first of them. This is when she and…and he met. He couldn’t follow her on the road at first” She handed over the letters she herself had read over so many times. Trixie’s eyes slowly widened as her eyes ran over page after page, and as she got to a particular...saucy bit, Dream was satisfied to see the magician’s cheeks flush.

“As far as I can figure, she was about 23 or so. He was a little younger but he couldn’t follow her, he had to finish his school first. Then...well” She picked up a picture, and tossed it to Trixie. Her father, standing at the altar with a dark green unicorn, her mane light blue and styled like a longer version of Trixie’s own mane. The photo was faded slightly, browned a bit by the time, but it had lasted.

“This was taken about 3 years after they started dating. And this” She pulled out another one, this one of the same couple, her father holding the mare close in front of a shop not entirely unlike her own, his cutie mark stamped on the building. “Was taken almost a year later”
Trixie stared at the picture, trying to find her voice. Eventually she did find it, and what she said made Dream crack the first smile she had had in days. “She’s so fat in this!”

Dream snickered “Uh...Trixie, she’s not exactly fat.” She said knowingly. Trixie’s eyes widened a bit more. Dream could hear her gulp as Dream reached into the little box again. She pulled out a birth certificate this time.

“I was born exactly a year and a half into their marriage.” She said with a sigh “And about a month later...she sent this” She pulled out another page, this one crumpled and crinkled from the time a much younger Dreamy had almost ripped it in half.

“That was her...Dear John Doe Letter.” Trixie nodded slowly, and Dream took that as an invitation to continue.

“I didn’t really see the resemblance between you and her when you were on stage but when you mentioned her I...well…I saw red.” Dream sighed “I shouldn’t have embarrassed you on stage like that. It was uncalled for...but after reading the letter and knowing how she felt about me, seeing you there, talking like that about her…” Dream trailed off.

Trixie smiled a bit shakily “To be honest, you’re not missing much.” She said, gently patting Dream’s foreleg “She’s not exactly the kind of mare you want to get to know”

They were silent for a few minutes before Dream finally spoke again. “I...would completely understand if you wanted to leave and just forget this ever happened”

“Are you kidding me?” Trixie asked, putting her hooves on the table top, her voice slipping back into the same tone it had been back on the stage “The Great and Powerful Trixie just found out she has a sister! There is no way she is going to disappear! Trixie is gonna stay here, and we’re gonna get to know each other whether you like it or not!” Trixie then through her forelegs around Dream’s neck, eliciting a soft “Erk!” Out of the other mare as she was dragged to the floor.

A few minutes later Dream had pulled her mane back into it’s bun, and made her way back to the front door to her shop. A mischievous grin reached her lips. She nudges Trixie. “Follow my lead” She whispers

She silently unbolted the deadbolt and flung the door open, the other six were still there, staring at the door. She exited alone, signaling to Trixie to remain behind for a moment. She drew herself up to her full height. “I, The Mysterious and Mystifying Dream Weaver, would like to introduce the young and impressionable minds of Ponyville to her baby sister!” Trixie, as any good showmare could, spotted her cue. With a quick spell a blinding flash went off a few inches ahead of Dream, followed quickly by a smoke cloud.

“Behold!” She and Trixie said together. “The Amazing and Breathtaking Duo of Trixie and Dreamy!”

They stared at the pair. Dream glances sideways.

“Maybe we should call ourselves Dreamy and Trixie?” She whispers in faux concern.

“No way! Trixie always gets top billing!”

Author's Note

Phew, this took a while. But I found out that near freezing, wrapped in blankets, cuddling up on the couch is apparently good for writing. Please comment, and tell me what ya'll think! I love to hear from you all! ^^ If I don't write another chapter by next week, Happy Thanksgiving to those of you in America, wish me luck in dealing with my own family! ^^

Dovah

Author's Note

This chapter is the reason why the story has the gore tag. Fair warning.

Let the arrow to the knee jokes begin.

Dovah

Dream sighs, her hoof hovering just an inch from the entrance to her princess’s dream realm, the glowing, pulsing mass representing the mind of the night princess and the possible reprimand that waited beyond. She had failed in her duties, she had let her emotions get the better of her, and she had left the six she was bound to protect alone for 3 whole days, allowing who-knew-what an opportunity to hurt them. She had, more or less, gone AWOL. But like any good guard, she would face the consequences with her head held high! She and the Princess were both adults here, and whatever happened she would receive with dignity and grace.

The Dream Warden bit her lip, took a breath, and entered Luna’s dream, immediately becoming aware of her surroundings. She was sitting at a very small desk, her mane done up in pigtails, a short plaid skirt and a button up white shirt adorning her body. She barely had a chance to say “What the fu-” Before a ruler slapped down on her desk.

“Foul language will not be tolerated in our classroom, Miss Weaver” Princess Luna said. She turned to look at Luna, and what she saw made her freeze in place. Luna was wearing a rather short, black miniskirt, an equally tight button up blouse, her mane had been pulled back into a bun, and a pair of glasses were perched slightly crookedly on her muzzle. As she walked towards the chalkboard, Dream also noted, with a deep blush, that she was wearing stockings! Luna turned to face her.

“Ist there something thou would like to share with the class?” she asked pointedly, deepening Dreamy’s blush.

“M-maybe I should go, this doesn’t seem like a good time.”

“Nonsense!” Luna barked. “Thou wilt give us thy report, as per our agreement! We hath heard through hearsay that thou hast made quite the discovery in Ponyville?”

Dream could only gulp. This was it...she knew Luna knew. Luna knew that she knew that Luna knew. Now all that was left was admitting her guilt.

“I...found out my mother, after she left my father, had another child. We...umm...met in Ponyville and I kinda...sorta...ruined her magic act and hid in my shop for 3 days”

Luna nodded, making her way back towards Dream. “We see...what happened next?”

“Well...I quickly got back together with the girls, and I resumed my dut-” The ruler came down on her desk with a sharp “THWACK!” that forced a squeak from Dream.

“Thou hast omitted the part we were most interested in.” Luna said cooly

“I...I have?” she asked, as Luna stared her down.

“Did thou forgive the daughter for the sins of thy mother?” Luna asked, drawing closer

“Umm..yeah?”

“Did thou offer thy sister friendship and accept her with open arms?” Luna pressed on, now right up against the desk.

“Yes...yes I did…” Dream said softly “But I don’t see..”

Luna reared up onto her back hooves, slamming the front pair down on the desk. The desk, the chair connected to it, and the pony sitting in it lurched forward. Luna caught the Dream Warden, wrapping a foreleg around her, and sat back on her haunches. She pulled Dream into her lap, looking down at the guard with a rather...sultry expression. Dream began to sweat.

“Weaver, if thou wilt take one piece of advice from this conversation, take this. Thou hast a duty to three things in this world; Family, Country, and Crown, in that order. If thou art serving the former, we can forgive a lapse in judgement toward the latter.” She began to pet her guard, grinning at her.

“There is nothing more important to us, than loyalty to family, dost thou understand?”

“I...I think I do…” Dream said as the princess began to nuzzle into her neck.

“Good” Luna muttered huskily. “Now we require just one more service from you”

Dream’s face turned bright red as the princess raised her head upward, her hot breath washing over her ear.

“Wake up!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dream Weaver let out a yelp, sitting bolt upright in her bed, glancing around, panting ever so slightly. “...Stupid sexy Luna…” She mutters groggily, climbing out of bed.

One long and ice cold shower later and Dream was ready for the day. She glances at the clock before making her way into the kitchen, putting a prepared cupcake tin into the oven. Right on time, just as the timer went off and the tin was starting to cool, there was a knock at the front door.

Opening it, Dream found a certain gray pegasus, darting into the main room of her shop. “It’s mail time~!” The pegasus sang. Dreamy chuckled.

“Good morning to you too, Miss Hooves. What sort of letters do we have today?”

Derpy responded with a shrug. “Not supposed to read ‘em before you get them. But one looks like a bill, one’s from Canterlot, one says you’re a winner and we got one about horn enlargement!” She declared, pulling the mass of letters out of her bag.

Dream chuckled again, taking the letters and grabbing a paper bag from the kitchen, throwing about 5 of her 8 muffins into it. “And here you go, hot and fresh for my favorite mail mare.” She said, offering the bag to Derpy. The pegasus’s eye lit up and she gleefully took the paper bag, stuffing it into her saddle back.

“Thanks Dreamy! See ya tomorrow!” She attempted to exit with her doughy prize, but she found herself bumping into the door frame...again.

“Lower, dear.” Dreamy said without looking up from her letters

“Heh...my bad...Bye Dreamy!” Derpy made a hasty exit.

The warden quietly exited her shop not long after. The only pony in town who actually stopped by to buy something was Rarity, after all. It was much easier to mingle with ponies, see what they were needing, and offer her services if she could. That didn’t, however, mean she had to spend the whole time by herself. Walking over to the caravan directly next door to her home, Dream lifted a hoof and knocked.

“Urgh...Go away, sleepy!” came the reply from inside.

“Don’t make me come in there, Trixie!” Dream said firmly. The only response she received was a loud snore. Dream sighed and rolled her eyes, entering the cart herself. With the same amount of tact and delicacy as an angry rhino, Dream marched up to the cart’s bed, grabbed the exposed tail of her sister, and marched out dragging the unicorn behind her.

“Why?” Trixie groaned pitifully as the sunshine hit her eyes. “It’s too early to be up!”

Dream spit her sister’s tail out.

“The sun disagrees” Trixie had no words to combat this argument and simply grumbled, locking her cart up and following her sister into the village. It was a bright and sunny day, as was typical in Ponyville. Only a few clouds were dotted across the sky, and one, in particular, had a rainbow tail dangling beneath it.

It was under this particular cloud that somepony had set up a trampoline. That certain somepony was wiggling her rump as she prepared to jump. Pinkie looked up as the two approached, grinned, and put one hoof to her lips.

“Shh” She pointed straight up at the cloud, and snickered. The two mares glanced at each other, shrugged in unison, and sat to watch. Pinkie then proceeded to bounce...once...twice...higher and higher with each successful leap. As she neared her target she reached into her mane, and pulled out a joy buzzer.

In a hushed voice Dream began to count down “Three...two…” Pinkie reached her target, hoof extended. A loud zap, a kin to a bug zapper, could be heard by the two mares on the ground, but it was drowned out slightly by the loud cry that followed. A frizzy manned Rainbow dash shot straight up out of the cloud, then straight back down again as the three earth bound ponies enjoyed their laugh.

“N-not cool, Pinkie!” Cried Rainbow, quickly patting down her mane. Pinkie, however, responded with a giggle.

“Oh lighten up Rainbow” Dream snickered, with a nudge.

”If she really wanted to be ‘uncool’ about it, she would’ve used a different kind of joy buzzer.” This got Trixie and Pinkie giggling hard again, Rainbow’s blush renewed. She stammered and stuttered for several seconds before their fun was ruined by a colossal boom, swiftly followed by a roar. All laughter died just then, all four up in an instant. Trixie was the first to speak “Why does it gotta be on a nice day like this?”

Ponies began running past them, a stampede rapidly forming. Pinkie and Trixie were rapidly lost in the crowd, but Dream could still pick out Rainbow, off like a shot in the direction the roar had come from.

“Damn it!” Dream swore, running with the crowd down Manehatten Avenue, ducking into her shop the moment she could. Up the stairs, slamming her hoof down on Arms and Armaments, the warden ducked into her armory.

Her armor always fascinated; just the way it rendered her a completely different mare the moment it was on. But she had no thoughts to spare to it right now. She rushed into it, slamming pieces on here and there, only dimly aware of her senses sharpening as the helmet was pressed to her skull, her eyes quickly shifting from bright green, to yellow with a cat’s pupil. As she secured the silver barb to her barrel, her coat rapidly darkened, powder blue turning black. Her cutie mark was the last to go, the spinning wheel absorbed by the inky void of black fur. Last were her grieves, unknowingly made for her by her own father. She hastily grabbed a short sword, between her teeth, and leaped through her bedroom window. Nopony paid much attention to the black earth pony leaping from rooftop to rooftop. Truth be told, she didn’t pay them much attention either, her duty was not to them, but to the ponies who lay ahead.

The Carousel Boutique lay ahead of her, the roof ripped off it, it’s owner currently clutched in the claw of a fully grown, red scaled, very angry dragon.

Twilight and Rainbow were circling the dragon’s head, trying hard to get close to it’s claw without endangering their friend. AJ had her lasso in hoof, trying to get a clear shot at the beast, while Pinkie was trying very hard to trade Rarity for a large cake she had inexplicably brought with her. A tongue of flame narrowly missed the newly crowned princess, the young drake on her back issuing one of his own, which the elder dragon brushed off as if it were nothing.

Dream raised her sword in the air, flashing it in the dragon’s face to get it’s attention. The dragon blinked, and looked at the black mare as she calmly stepped forward, sword in mouth. The other ponies, too, stared, momentarily distracted.

Using the relative quiet, Dream spoke, the breastplate modifying her voice, just slightly, giving it that authoritative touch and making it louder in.

“Ris ek tum, Zoh” Dream shouted at the dragon through gritted teeth. Her dragonic was rusty, but the meaning was clear to everyone involved. The dragon raised one scaley eye ridge.

"Mu bo wah tinvaak daar med faskeyrek. Ris ek tum uv bo wah siiv tir fos dwiin ken med!” The dragon’s eye ridge went a little higher, but in the end, he chuckled.

“Your pronunciation could use some work” he rumbled.

“I haven’t had to use it very often.” Dream admitted.

The dragon nodded. “Most ponies don’t. You honor me, fahdon, with my mother tongue.”

The dragon lowered Rarity to the ground, the moment his claw released her, the unicorn dove away from him, hiding behind Dream. Rainbow and Twilight lightened down next to her, one glaring daggers at the drake, while the latter appeared more inquisitive. Dream motioned towards the alicorn.

“Princess Twilight presides over this town, deylok, I am sure she would be delighted to hear why you are attacking it.” The dragon glanced first at Twilight, then back at Dream, finally deciding to address Twilight.

“Suvulaan Kulaas, sot gein los tafiir” Twilight arched an eyebrow, and glanced at Dream.

“I don’t speak dragon.” She hissed

“You have a dragon on your back!” Whispered Dream back. “How can it not be on your to-do list!”

“He speaks Equs!” Twilight mutters back, her face turning pink.

“He says the white one stole something from him” Dream explained with a sigh.

“The very idea!” Rarity exclaimed from behind them, suddenly getting to her hooves. “I would never steal anything, even if the owner was such a b-” What the dragon was was quickly cut off by his roar. The ponies flinched, but Twilight pressed on.

“What is it you think my friend stole from you?”

“My hoard, umriid, was broken into. Jewels were taken, three, sed, large, blue.” The ponies glanced at one another, then they glanced at Rarity who looked slightly sheepish.

“Oh...those…”

“Rarity…” Twilight muttered softly

“Well, darling, how was I supposed to know it was a dragon’s hoard! They were just in some cave!” Dream sighed and clutched the bridge of her nose.

“Where are they?”

“... On a dress heading for Manehatten?” The fashionista squeaked. This earned another roar from the drake.

“Stiildus!” Dream screamed. “We will get you more gems, but burn down the village, and you will get none!”

The dragon was quick to ignore her, smoke already rising from his nostrils in great clouds. The dream warden raised her sword.

“I’m vulon fron, dragon! I’ve fought the things you dare not think about! The things that climb into your brain and scare out all the nightmares. Do you really think I’d break a sweat?”

The dragon huffed, staring her down. For the longest time, nopony spoke. No one dared to move.

Suddenly and without warning, the dragon dove at her. With Rarity directly behind her, Dream couldn’t risk rolling out of the way...so she stood her ground, and ended up in the dragon’s maw for her trouble. To avoid falling down the dragon’s throat, Dream shoved her sword straight down, through the dragon’s tongue and ground it deep into it’s lower jaw as it reared back. The roar nearly deafened her, as did the sudden rush of wind as the dragon took flight.

Heat began to build up almost immediately, the darkness began to lift as the dragon prepared to breath fire. Gripping the hilt of her sword with her teeth, Dream swung a kick with her hind legs, breaking off one of the dragon’s teeth, grasping the mammoth fang between her fore legs. She took aim, and launched it, watching as the thing struck home, piercing the back of the dragon’s throat. The dragon’s neck arched, again, it let out a second pained roar as Dream rushed for the front of the mouth, wrenching her sword free as she does so. She dove out, just as the fire issued from the beast’s maw behind her. She grabs the dragon’s claw between her front hooves and swings her self up and onto it’s arm. The dragon, in turn, rolled in an attempt to get her off, just as she hoped it would. She flew straight up in the air a few feet, and came down on the dragon’s spine. She ran the length of the beast, and with another swing of the sword, sliced clean through the scales just behind his head, deep into the muscle and tissue beneath. She let herself drop side ways, down his neck, tearing through the flesh from the ear all the way down the left side of his neck. The dragon let out a faint gurgle and started to fall. Their little fight brought them outside town, crashing in a field on the eastern end of Ponyville. Dream huffed, cleaned her blade, and quietly sheathed it.

“That” She whispered. “Is why I have this job”

She took a step away from the dragon’s corpse, making sure to press a nice, deep hoof print into the blood soaked mud before she departed...just so they knew that she was fine.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Back at the Boutique ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Twilight helped a trembling Rarity to her hooves, staring at the red shape wobbling drunkenly through the sky, getting smaller by the minute. Rarity, as one might expect, seemed distress.

“H-he ate her! S-she saved my life and h-he j-just ate her!” The group quietly hugged the unicorn as she openly sobbed….that is until Rainbow shouted. “He’s going down!”

They all turned to watch the dragon drop out of the sky, even from this distance, those with the best eyes could pick up a small black dot on his neck.

“Ha!” Rainbow crowed “She made it!” And with the confirmation Rarity promptly collapsed. They all looked at the unconscious unicorn. Twilight was the first to speak

“Okay, lets get her to the castle, she can stay there while the repairs are done.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Hours later in Canterlot~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You wanted to see me, Tia?” Princess Luna asked brightly, entering Celestia’s private sitting room with a little spring in her step. Celestia...was not quite so happy.

“Ponyville was attacked today” She said, bluntly.

“What was it this time, sister? Parasprites? Vines? A mob of angry breezies with toothpicks?” Luna smirked at her sister, even as the one visible eye narrowed. She loved ticking her sister off, even Princess Luna wasn’t immune from that most dreadful of sibling diseases.

“This is no laughing matter, Luna. A fully grown dragon just marched into town and attempted to kill one of our little ponies! Can you imagine what might’ve happened if she were killed?”

“Was she?” Luna replied mildly.

“What?” Celestia asked, momentarily distracted by the head of steam her emotions were starting to build up.

“Killed, I mean. Was she killed?”

“...No.” Celestia admitted

“Then I fail to see the problem. The dragon has been taken care of, if he was living this far from the badlands he has no clan to speak of, and no pony was hurt on top of it. The only repercussions I can think of is a request for aid for you, and a big heaping ton of nightmares for me. So please sister, can we move along to what has gotten you so worked up so I can get on with clean up?” Through her little tirade, Luna never raised her voice, never changed her tone. Had anyone other than her sister heard her, they would’ve thought she was down right happy to deal with the nightmares spawned from this event. But Celestia knew better. No pony liked nightmares, not even the Princess of the Night. Celestia took a breath before she continued.

“The reason I wanted to see you is because of something Twilight said. Something about why Miss Rarity survived her encounter with the dragon.” Celestia’s eyes narrowed again, watching for the slightest hint of dishonesty.

“Sister...Twilight said that they were saved by a black mare, wearing silver armor. Would you happen to know how she got there?”

Princess Luna’s face never shifted from the cheery look she gave her sister. Oh how she loved these moments.

“Of course I do sister. Why wouldn’t I? I’m the one who sent her”