Of Nightmares and Dreamscapes

It was a chilly early morning in the city of Manehattan. The street cleaners finished their usual jobs as the markets, shops, and boutiques opened their doors. Everypony awakened to the shining embrace of Celestia’s sun...

Well, most ponies that is. One of the best dark fiction writers in the city was now exiting his dreamscape to meet the day. This pony’s name is Love Crafter.

Love awoke much to his annoyance at the stubborn yellow gaze piercing through his apartment window. He preferred the night or before the dawn as it sets his mood for the day. He rose from the black covers and bedspread and looked upon his apartment, it was nice, clean, and simple, just the way he liked it.

Love got out of bed and began to shuffle to his wooden breakfast table to finish off last night’s hay-ramen takeout dinner. While he was chewing on his breakfast a thought completely blindsided him. This idea could easily make for a great novel. When Love got an idea for a potential bestseller, he immediately jotted it down. So with that as him premise, Love, moving faster than he’d ever moved in days, made his way to his old typewriter and wrote the words as they appeared in his head.

‘The process of delving into the black abyss is to me, the keenest form of fascination…The darkness of the heart can be one of many forms of the abyss one can study…’

Love managed to get that far into his idea when the phone rang next to him, derailing his train of thought. Annoyed, Love picked up his phone preparing to yell at this bothersome pony when he stopped himself. It wouldn’t do to be unprofessional. It certainly wouldn’t help his career in any case. A second later, he was glad that he’d reined in his irritation when his caller was identified as his publisher: namely a pegasus named Star Wing.

“Hey there,” he could hear the pegasus’ voice on the other line. “I need to talk to you at my office about some of your books.”

“Oh… let me guess, most ponies don’t understand the concepts I craft, do they?” Love asked dully. It was hardly a surprise given that a lot of his works tended to be more abstract in nature.

“Well that is part of why I want to talk to you, just get to my office please,” Star Wing requested.

“Fine…” Love relented, “but I’ll have you know your little phone call interrupted a masterpiece at work.”

“Right…” Love could practically see Star Wing shaking her head at the writer. “Anyway, I’ll see you here.”

Love hung up the phone as he let out a sigh of irritation. He already knew his writing was darker and different than the puff pieces most ponies read nowadays but that’s what he was good at and he liked it that way. Love snatched up his notepad, papers, and quill as he placed them in his saddlebag before turning off the lights and leaving his apartment.

After a few minutes of good old fashioned traffic dodging in the big city, Love made his way to Star Wing’s bright blue office building and traveled to her personal office via the elevator. There, he meet with Star Wing, a yellow pegasus with a red mane and tail while wearing a blue suit as that per etiquette dictating. Star Wing sat at her large office desk and silently requested Love to take seat in the red chair next to him.

“So what is it that had me travel here in a foul smelling taxi to talk about?”

“See Love, it’s about your last book ‘The Night on Doom-Skull Mountain’. It did well… but it did not beat that newest Daring Do novel, again.”

        “It’s not my fault that ponies don’t think or feel anymore!” Love pointed out indignantly. “My books are meant to enrich the reader's mind, not lull them to a stupor with action and adventure that, if you ask me, are just that same story over and over… Nothing new!”

        “Look Love,” Star Wing sighed as she leaned back against her chair. “I know you're a great writer but you will never be the best in the eyes of other ponies if you don’t branch out into different things that are not dark and depressing… So I have an offer from somepony high up for you to do a biography of them.”

        “A biography?” That had piqued his interest. “Well that would be a change of pace, but only if I can tweak it to my own style.”

        “I can work with that,” Star Wing nodded before continuing, “and if it all goes well you may ever get a Writers Guild award for this one.”

        “Okay, sounds good,” Love nodded before asking the million bit question. “So who am I doing this biography on?”

        “Princess Luna…” Love had to actively stop his jaw from dropping on the floor at the prospect of writing her biography. Luna was one of the rulers of Equestria, but more interesting to Love has her nature with the dark side of magic. Star Wing, for her part, either didn’t notice or didn’t care as she continued on. “She wants to show ponies that she is more than just a princess to them now.”

        “Well that could make for an interesting book,” Love conceded. “So when do I leave for Canterlot?”

        “In an hour,” It seemed that Star Wing would simple not stop surprising him today if the assignment she’d had for him was any indication. “The office paid for your ticket so get going and good luck, Love.”

        Nodding his thanks to his publisher, Love Crafter made his way out of the building before hailing down a taxi to take him to the train station. From there, he’d presented the ticket to the train attendants to allow him to board the train to Canterlot.

.        .        .        .

The journey was long. Love Crafter, in lieu of a typewriter to get any writing done for his original idea, opted to stare out the window to gaze at the land of Equestria and seeing the sights even if he had a habit of imagining them in a rather morbid outlook. However, Love eventually arrived at the shining white city of Canterlot as he stepped off the train, mindful of keeping pace with the other ponies who were keen on getting off the train and out of the train station.

Stepping out the station, Love took a moment to take all the sights that made up Canterlot: the city museum, the busy marketplace, and the high end shops. He mainly did this in hopes of discovering ideas for novels.

Eventually, he found his way to Canterlot Castle and thanks to his special guest pass from the Princess of the Night, he had found his way into the building and was directed to where Princess Luna maybe at this time of day. The castle was huge as Love felt a air of dignified posture with every hoof step in the great hallways. Love walked through the large white castle’s hallways, turned a corner and bumped into a pony who once he got a look at realized it was Princess Celestia. Now most ponies would beg forgiveness as quick as lightning strikes, but Love isn’t like most ponies.

        “Pardon me, I’m a tad busy today and didn’t see your there.” Princess Celestia looked on this unfamiliar pony who was wiping of the dirt from the ground from his cloths.

        Love replied, “Ah yes. Princess Celestia, sorry for interrupting whatever it is your doing, but can you tell me where to find Princess Luna?”

        “Why do you ask?”

        “Princess Luna has commissioned me, Love Crafter, to write her biography.”

        “Oh yes, I remember her mentioning that, she’s down the hall to your right...but may I ask, are you going to show my sister in a positive light? I’m not familiar with the types of books you write.”

        “I will give Princess Luna the ‘positive light’ that I deem fruitful and worthwhile. If you think my writing may not be up to snuff then read this…” Love pulls out one of his books from his saddlebags  and gives it to the Princess. Celestia looks through the pages for a few minutes with a confused look on her face.

“Oh my, this is… different than what I’ve see ponies write before.”

“Be sure to read it, might give you a whole new outlook on life. Now I must be off if I am going to do this biography on your sister. Ta-ta.”

        Love quickly trots away from Princess Celestia found herself reading Love’s book ‘The Taming of The Dark Side by Love Crafter.’