What's the Harm?

A stallion with reddish purple fur circled around the strange mark on the ground. "All I have to do is stand in it?" The older unicorn nodded at him. The younger snorted and tossed his sea-green mane lightly. "And then what?"

The older unicorn smiled gently. "And then your mind will be sent through the great cosmos, to see what can be seen. All you need to do is remember what there is, and report it to me. No more, no less. Easy bits."

The younger nodded his head, smiling. "Easy bits." He stepped into the circle and sat on his haunches. "Alright, here I am, do I need to do anything else?"

The older shook his head. "No, just relax, Sweet Moon. You may feel a bit drowsy, go with it." With a firm clop and a glow of his horn, the older unicorn activated the circle and began to channel a frightful amount of power into it, dedicating all his focus into the act. A shame that was, if he had been watching his test subject, he might have noticed Sweet Moon fading away entirely, instead of just nodding off.

When the spell was complete, he let out an explosive sigh and looked up. "Alright, wha--." He trailed off, noticing then that the circle was empty, no unicorn present anymore. "Aw nuts… Celestia's going to penalize my funding, again…"

As Sweet Moon’s consciousness began to return, the first thing that hit him was the smell. It was earthy, with an undertone of rotting vegetation barely tangible underneath. His hooves were on dirt and grass, and around him was a thin forest with shrubs and pools of standing water visible. The shrill sounds of birds chattering at each other occasionally filled the air, and the sun was high overhead, shining rather brightly, and hot, upon him, the heat nearly stifling to the young unicorn.

Sweet rose to his hooves and shook off, looking around with bright and curious eyes. Was this the dream he was supposed to look at? He looked up at the clouds drifting by overhead and frowned a little. He didn't see any pegasi nudging them around. Were they on top of the cloud? Oh well, dream logic, don't question it! He began to trot forward, having no particular place to be but not wanting to miss whatever it was he was supposed to see.

As he walked, the scenery appeared to be much of the same, some sort of wetlands mixed with a thinned forest. There were no signs of any animals having passed through the grass and dirt, although he could definitely hear them all around. After a bit of walking, however, he came across what could only be a path, fallen trees lining a loosely dirt-packed path heading in two directions, with nothing else immediately visible.

Sweet Moon looked left, then right. Unsure what to do, he sniffed at the air and opted to veer to the right. On the way he began to sing an old nursery rhyme his mother had sung to him about a brave adventurous foal that found treasure while sailing the sea of dreams. He always liked that one.

As his rendition of the nursery rhyme faded into the air, a sound could be heard in the distance, growing slowly in intensity with each passing second. It was hard to make out, but the faint sounds of musical instruments could be heard, with the occasional vocal noise, all of it coming from a blind spot on the path up ahead where it took a hard left turn. Finally, he could heard a rhythmic pounding of something, hooves or feet, also growing in intensity.

Sweet perked an ear curiously at the sound. Was somepony singing along with him? He decided to keep right on with his little song, getting to the part where the foal weathers a storm with wit and bravery as Sweet turned the corner to have a peek at who was singing with him.

As Sweet turned the corner, he was nearly ran over by a tall creature, her blue eyes not even seeing the stallion. He cause sight of a rather long blonde ponytail swaying with every foot that hit the ground, her tanned skin glistening with a heavy sheen of sweat. A few seconds went by before she put on the brakes, turning around to look quizzically at where Sweet was standing.

“What the hell?” she muttered, her voice quite feminine, as she slowly walked to Sweet. “Who left a stuffed animal in the middle of the forest? No one comes out here but me…” she muttered, wiping at her brow with a forearm, standing in front of him.

Sweet Moon blinked at the strange creature with its lack of fur, but it had a pretty enough mane? It was talking to him… "Oh, hello. I'm not stuffed. I'm Sweet Moon, what's your name, miss…?" It was just a dream, no reason not to be polite.

At his words, the passive enchantment that kept Sweet Moon unnoticeable to humans was shattered, and she jumped back with a loud curse. “What the hell?! A talking unicorn?” she exclaimed, eyes bulging for a few moments before they lit up with a glimmer of recognition. She had her guilty pleasures, and one of them just so happened to include My Little Pony. The more she looked, the more she realized that it looked like one of those unicorns straight from the show, although she didn’t recognize this one she thought to herself as she reached forward and poked his cheek with a finger.

Sweet Moon proved to be soft to the touch, and giggled a little at being poked. "I am a unicorn, and I do talk," he agreed, looking her over curiously before he reached out a hoof, ready to give her a little poke in return but uncertain if it would scare her or not. "I'm pretty nice? Besides, it's just a dream. Neither of us can be hurt here, oh wait, are you going to vanish when I wake up?"

He noticed that she was wearing clothes, a rather bright yellow tank top that was rather wet, and a small pair of running shorts matching in color. There was a cord running from a device strapped to her arm to around her neck, where the music was still blaring out of.

Turning down the volume, she smiled and poked him again, laughing at the absurdity of it all. “Usually I’d dream something like this, but not this time. Pretty certain the hemp didn’t get mixed up with the tea leaves again, either… I’m Jessica, Sweet, was it?” she asked, getting down on one knee to look him in the eyes, still breathing rather heavily from her run, as she returned the look.

He bobbed his head strongly. "Jessica? That's a curious name. What does it mean?" Jessica wasn't a word that he knew, that's for sure. "You're not a pony, what kind of creature are you?" He went ahead and reached for her, softly poking her in the side and marveling at the differences in her body versus his own. From her voice he assumed she was a she, but not shaped like any mare he knew.

He felt the soft fabric on his hoof, and a bit of smooth skin as well, getting a bit of both with his poke. Jessica giggled a bit and lightly swatted at his hoof, shaking her head. “Jessica is a very common name… Sweet Moon, now that’s a weird name. Even hippies would agree with me there, and they’re pretty crazy.” Jessica giggled again, petting his head a bit. “I always wondered what that would feel like… it’s pretty soft, just as I’d hoped!”

Sweet pouted a little. "You're talking about me like you know what I am, but you won't say what you are." He reached with his magic, giving the dangling thing around her neck a curious little pull, just to see if it was attached or not. "Well, I suppose you can't say, since you're in my dream, and if I don't know, how can my dream know." He looked mighty satisfied with his logic.

“I, am a human,” Jessica stated rather matter of factly, pointing at her chest before moving her finger to his chest, and pointing at him next. “And you look like a pony from Equestria, although one I’ve never seen on the show,” she remarked, skewing her head to the side a little before leaning to the side a bit, glancing at his rear. “So… what’s your cutie mark mean, hmm?”

The unicorn bobbed his head quickly. "Equestria, yes, that's where I'm from. Human was it?" He tried the word a few times over his tongue. Hew Man. Curious word… "Oh, this?" He turned to display the mark of a moon with a smile on it. "I like gazing at the stars and thinking about things. I don't usually get very far, but I like doing it." He pointed at her. "What's your talent?"

Standing back up, Jessica grinned down at him. “Don’t have one! That’s just something that was thought up for the show, having something that tells you your destiny on your ass is kinda silly, if a bit cute,” she rambled on, leaning forward to stretch, eyes still on him. “So… you said you think this is a dream?”

Sweet watched the way she moved, trying to get a grasp of her parts. Those things with the wriggly bits were her hooves? But they looked terrible for walking on. No, wait… "You're like a minotaur! Without fur, mostly. All your fur's up there." He pointed up at her hair. "Don't you get cold like that? Is that why you're wearing clothes?" It was starting to make sense to him, and he looked all the more pleased for it.

Giggling again, Jessica shook her head, straightening herself back out before looking up to the sun for a few moments. “Nope, as a matter of fact I’m pretty hot right now. It’s the middle of summer in the south, and today’s a cool day… but as much as I’d love to stand here talking to a creature that cannot possibly be real, if I don’t get back I’m going to have a heat stroke,” she quipped, facing the way she’d been heading originally. “Feel free to jog along~”

That was exactly what he decided to do, following alongside of her. "It isn't that terribly hot… but I could use a drink of water." A word or two said to him far earlier suddenly bubbled up. "And of course it's a dream! We're obviously in my head, where the wizard sent me to see things. I bet he'll give me a bonus when I tell him all about you and, uh, where are we again?"

Jessica took off at a slightly slower pace, glancing down to the stallion as she spoke between breaths. “A wizard? Oh man, now that’s a good one… I wonder if Vicky snuck some of those shrooms into my food again, she just loves sneaking hallucinogens into my food when she can! But, I’ll amuse you, we’re in Louisiana, where it’s hot and humid all year round!” The music slowly turned up a few notches in intensity as she finished speaking.

"Low Easel Annals? That's a curious name, but nice to meet you, Jessica." He tilted his head as he jogged, trying to listen in to the music and wondering where they came from before he realized she was wearing headphones, really small ones. That was also logical. "Your music's not that different than ours. Oh wait, I made up that music, of course."

Stumbling a bit as she erupted into laughter, Jessica came to a stop, bending over a bit as she couldn’t help herself. “You, come up with Pink Floyd? Now that’s a good one! Imagine trying to tell that to the millions of fans! ‘Oh, hey guys, some unicorn came up with all of those albums you love, surprise!” Her laughter running out, she started forward again, walking this time.

Sweet Moon tapped at his chin during the pause. "Well, all the fans would be my figments too, right?" He followed at the more sedate pace, tail swaying with each step. "You don't have ponies around here, I'm guessing? You looked surprised to see me, even if you did recognize me."

“Oh, we’ve got ponies, they’re just not from a little girl’s show,” she humorously replied, shaking her head. “And Sweet, that’s fine if I just call you Sweet, yeah? They’re not figments, I wouldn’t be feeling my muscles burning and screaming at me if I were one.” She reached out and scratched at his ear, grinning. “I’ve somehow got me a pony~”

He leaned against the scratching a little. It was a nice place to be scratched, and he kind of liked this dream-female, as odd as she was. He decided to do her a favor and moved around behind her, trying to suddenly charge forward and get up under her in a sudden offer of a ride. "I'll get you where you're going faster, watch." For a unicorn, Sweet Moon prided himself on being physically active . You can't wander the night and stare at the stars if you were a bookwormy sort of unicorn.

A squeal of surprise slipped from Jessica as she felt herself nudged up onto his back, her hands grabbing ahold of his mane tightly with both hands and trying to recall how horseback riding went, as it’d been years since she’d done it. “Sweet!” she called out in surprise.

It was just as well, with him being a little pony, and not a full-sized horse, but he stood as tall as he could and broke into an even canter with her on his back, proudly bearing her weight down the trail. "Which way are we going?" He had no idea which way to go, but trusted in his rider to guide the way.

After the initial surprise wore off, it was a rather exhilarating feeling, riding on Sweet’s back, although her feet were dangerously close to dragging the ground. “It’s just a ways ahead… the trailhead is very obvious, hard to miss it,” she muttered, leaning forward a bit as she felt that hard bumping that came from riding a horse, or pony in this case, bareback. At least his fur was soft, she mused to herself as she let out a rather loud squeal of excitement.

It was a short run to the trailhead, just as Jessica had stated, where there was a single vehicle parked in a gravel lot. An old, white four door car of some sort came into view, and Jessica pat his shoulder a few times. “This is it!”

Sweet Moon wondered a moment at the curious thing he dreamed up as he approached it. The gravel wasn't as kind on his hooves as the dirty trail and he slowed a bit, stepping carefully until he sank, setting Jessica on her own feet beside the car. "What is it? It… looks kind of familiar, but I can't place it."

Jessica took a moment to steady herself before moving clear from Sweet, walking to the back tire and feeling around, her hand coming back with a small keyring with a few keys on it. “It’s my baby! She’s old, but reliable as hell, and gets me around all over the place. It’s my car,” she explained, unlocking the passenger side door with the keys, reaching in and starting it up, the engine roaring to life as the air conditioner kicked on at full blast, music filling the air even louder than her ear buds had.

Sweet's ears flipped back when the strange machine made its sudden noise. He collapsed onto his haunches, scrambling backwards and falling over, only to roll back to his belly and scamper several feet from the car, eyes on it as if expecting it to lunge at him, or explode, or perhaps both at once. Her subtle invitation to get in was entirely lost on him as he trembled.

Still leaning over the passenger seat, Jessica completely missed his reaction as she pulled the small cooler out, grabbing two bottles of water and turning the radio down a bit before she closed the door, letting the cool air build up inside the car. Looking at Sweet, she paused, frowning a bit. “Hey, what’s wrong? Water?” she asked, screwing the top off an ice cold bottle and holding it out to him before doing the same to the second bottle.

Sweet Moon timidly stepped forward, closing the distance between him and the alien. He sniffed at the water before accepting it in the hold of his magic and bringing it to his mouth to sip from thankfully. "Your strange, uh, thing… It surprised me, that's all." He sipped again at the water. "Has this been in the bottle a long time?"

She paused, staring at the bottle for a moment. A small squeak of excitement came from her. “Magic? Awesome!” she remarked, before considering his other remark. “You mean my car?” she asked with a bit of confusion. “That’s pretty tame, honestly, like I said, she’s old, but she’s reliable… and dunno, bought it bottled from the store a few weeks ago.” Taking a sip, she swallowed it and then let out a sigh. “Tastes great to me! Car should be cooled down in a few minutes, and then unless you got somewhere you gotta be, you can come along, Sweet,” she offered, grinning at that bottle.

Sweet considered a moment with another pull from the bottle. The funny aftertaste or not, he needed some water to dispel the heat and exertion of the ride he gave. "I suppose where I am doesn't matter too much in a dream." He turned the bottle up, taking a deep swig before holding it aloft, floating beside him. "Where are you going?"

“I’m house sitting for my gran this summer while she’s out doing her crazy travels. Out in the boonies in the middle of nowhere, but it’s a nice place, if a bit old. After that running, I need some food, and a nice, long cold shower~” she sang, taking another light sip of her water. “And Sweet, you’re not dreaming, just saying… I was here long before you showed up. So, if anyone is dreaming, I am!” she refuted, slowly walking around to the other side of the car.

Sweet waved a hoof. "Of course you'd think that. You're a dream." He tapped his head. "But if I was a dream, I'd think that too… What if we're both a dream?" His little world collapsed as he found an unsolvable loop. "But then how would we find out if it was a dream or not?" He frowned thoughtfully, tapping a hoof on the ground as he spaced out.

Jessica simply laughed at his conundrum. “Well, if that isn’t some circular thinking there… but hey, get your furry butt in the car, Sweet, she should be nice and cooled off now,” Jessica remarked, getting in on her side before leaning over and cracking the door open for him. “Dream or not, it’s time to go!”

Sweet Moon stepped towards the 'car' and reached with a hoof, pulling it the rest of the way open before hopping up onto the provided seat, all four hooves on the cushion of the seat. The bottle he claimed went right in the drink-holder that he quickly found before he turned his magic on the door and closed it a bit harshly behind himself, misjudging the strength required. "Ready!"

“Hey, easy on the poor girl!” Jessica chided him as she kicked it into reverse, foot still on the brakes. “Hmm… seat belt won’t really work for you, not unless you sit up and back… nah, you’ll be fine,” she mused aloud, her own seat belt secured as she let off the brake, the car starting to slowly roll backwards as she turned it around.

Sweet looked over at her and the belt she wore, then looked over at his own, dangling and abandoned. He put it together even as the car began to reverse and reached with his magic for the belt, pulling it down and slotting it where it was supposed to go. When it clicked into place, he smiled triumphantly, even if only one of the straps sort of went over him without providing too much support.

Putting the car into drive, Jessica glanced over and smiled. “I’ll try to take it easy on the gas, don’t wanna leave ya green. They’ve got carriages and stuff in Equestria, yeah? And trains, too, right? Just no cars.” She enquired, rolling down a long gravel road.

Sweet Moon considered Jessica's words with a little frown. "Carriages, yes, trains, also yes. I never heard of a 'car' before, but I saw something like it? It ran on magic I think. Does this one also run on magic?" He leaned forward a bit and his horn glowed as he tried to feel for working magic in the area.

“Earth doesn’t have any magic, Sweet. This is good old, American ingenuity here,” she replied, the car stopping at a small country highway. Grinning mischievously, she slowly turned onto the highway, barely giving him a warning before she smashed the gas pedal to the floor. “Hold on tight!” The engine roared to life, working its hardest to accelerate.

The sudden pressure pushing him back against the seat made Sweet Moon yelp in surprise, and the magic flicker out of his horn as thoughts went away from curiosity and towards survival. He hoofed at the cushion as he looked over at Jessica. "Is… Everything alright? Did I break it?"

They hit a small hump in the road, giving a brief sensation of topping a rollercoaster as the car accelerated to a somewhat dangerous speed. Jessica let out a loud whoop of excitement before shaking her head, easing off the gas at it topped off at seventy miles an hour. “Nope! That was the engine kicking into high gear to get us moving… god I love that feeling! So, whatcha think, your ‘dream’ enjoyable so far?” she teased him, sticking her tongue out at him.

His tongue wasn't moving past his teeth, fearful that he may bite it. "I'm not sure I like this part! Did I make you mad? Did I make the car mad?" He pulled forward, with the car already moving quickly, there wasn't much acceleration to keep him pressed back, and he looked outside the window to see the world zipping past uncomfortably fast. "I'm sorry! You're a pretty mare and I'm just a stupid stallion and I didn't mean to insult you so if we could just stop please!"

Jessica eased off the gas a bit more, letting the car fall down to a more safe speed that matched the limit posted; forty-five miles per hour. Frowning a bit, she reached over to Sweet, patting his neck. “You’re perfectly fine, Sweet Moon, this is how I get around. I might have been driving a little bit fast there, but this is normal for us humans. And I control the car… the pedal down there my foot is on makes it go, and the one next to it is the brake.” Demonstrating this fact, she let off the gas and lightly tapped the brake just hard enough for it to be felt. “And I can steer with the wheel,” she finally added, slowly swerving into the empty, oncoming lane before moving back into her own. “And pretty, hmm? Not the first guy who’s called me that, but definitely the first pony who has!”

The soft touch did much to impress on Sweet Moon that he hadn't angered another mare enough to throw him off something tall. He smiled at Jessica gently. "If I say something dumb, just tell me. I do that sometimes. I don't mean anything by it though. I just say what I'm thinking." He tapped at the seat he was sitting on. "This is kind of amazing. I can't even believe I'd dream of something so unusual. You just press on it, and it goes? How is that not magic?"

“It’s science and machinery… like I said, Sweet, there’s no such thing as magic here,” Jessica stated again, adjusting one of the vents to blow that cold air onto her face. “Ah, so nice… it’ll only take me about five minutes to get home, what sorta things do you ponies eat? Any sort of meats, or greens, or fruit?” she asked, the scenery shifting from a wetlands and forest mix to a slightly more grassland look as lone houses came into view, looming over the highway.

Sweet shook his head a little. "I'm not a griffon. Green things, I guess, if I had to pick a color, but I like all kinds of colors. Good food's a rainbow of delicious tastes." He allowed his tongue free to lick over his lips. "What about you?" He clopped his forehooves together. "No, wait. You're a scary part of my mind, so of course you love meat, but you're also nice, so no pony meat, which is good. Eating anyone that can ask you not to is just not polite."

“Pony meat? Eww, no! That just sounds disgusting… but beef, pork, chicken, quail, deer, fish, alligator… I think that’s about all the meats I’ve had… and oh, veal! They’re all pretty tasty stuff, steak probably being the best…” she trailed off, a look of bliss on her face for a few moments. “Fruit’s nice too, and I guess vegetables are fine, if I don’t have anything else to replace em,” she finished, slowing down and turning on the blinker, the steady, faint clicking noise filling the cabin.

Half the meat names went flying right over the pony's head, and he put the entire part of it out of his head. "I was right." He looked smugly happy with himself for a moment before the noise started filling his senses and he looked around, trying to find the source of it.

Nearly coming to a stop, the car made a hard left and the blinker stopped. Jessica kept the car below twenty as they passed through an opening in a white picket fence, slightly faded from weather and time. Up ahead, a large two story house sat on the top of a small hill, and Jessica reached into the center console, coming up with a small remote. “Here it is, Gran’s place. All mine till I head back to college. Welcome to my casa, Sweet Moon~” she exclaimed, clicking the button, causing the garage door to open up slowly.

He pointed ahead at the door that opened without anyone touching it. "See, magic! Stop playing with me. You must think I'm so silly, and maybe I am a little silly, but you can't fool me forever." He adopted quite the smug appearance, seemingly sure of himself.

Jessica eased the car into the garage, bringing it to a stop as she shook her head. “Nope, see this?” she waved the remote under his face, a simple black button on a grey square. “I click this, and it sends a signal to the door… see?” She clicked it again, and the sound of the door closing filled the air as she turned the engine off and removed the keys. Pointing to the level on the door, she looked him in the eyes. “Be a bit nicer to my baby, that opens to door, Sweet.”

His face followed with the waving of the remote, eyes on it before Jessica moved on the door. "Yes, ma'am. I promise." He reached for it with a hoof, but that quickly proved fruitless. A little magic turned out far better, gently opening the door and proceeding to collapse out of the car, tangled up on the belt he had forgotten to undo. With a little snort, he began sorting himself out. "I have it…"

Already out of the car herself, she walked over to his side and snorted a bit, simply watching him. “If you say so, all you, Sweet~ It’s just a seat belt, should be easy for a dream, yeah?” she questioned, the fact that a unicorn, from My Little Pony, was in her house, with her, was starting to sink in.

"Of course! Just… a little dream puzzle." He pulled his limbs free of the belt one at a time before wriggling free. Feeling it proper, he carefully undid the belt itself, allowing it to unwind to its resting position. Everything in order, he closed the door ever so gently, not even fully latching the door. "Done."

Just to poke at him a bit, she opened the door a crack and closed it enough to latch it, the light inside turning off. “Close, but not quite. Better than slamming it shut though. Now, let’s get into the cool air, Sweet, and some food… then, I’m gonna take a nice, long shower~” she sang, ready to be rid of her exercise clothes. Exercise was important, but damn if it didn’t leave her feeling tired. A blast of cool air hit them both as she walked into the house, ready for whatever else the day might throw at her.