End Of The Arrow

The alarm clock sounded noisily from Lane’s nightstand, causing him to groggily open his eyes to see a flashing three thirty three. It was an odd time for an alarm to be set, that much was for sure, which led him to believe it was a very twisted prank by one of his friends.

“David, I swear if you did this I will cut your balls off one at a time…” Lane grumbled, slamming his palm against the top of the clock, silencing it.

With the silence came the sudden realization that he was no longer in Equestria. There was no forest, no river, and especially no talking deer. Lane chuckled at this, satisfied that there was no mystical place filled with talking animals that had no idea what a human was. In the broad scheme of things, such a world was probably much better off, given the nature of man.

“Well, at least that trippy dream is over,” Lane mused, getting up to turn on the light.

Before his hand could even brush against the cord of his ceiling fan’s light, the room was illuminated by the bulb without any effort from Lane. A shimmering blue aura surrounding the light’s cord sent a creeping chill along his spine as his eyes fell upon what looked like a dark blue pony with a horn protruding from its forehead. A pair of wings occasionally shifted against its side.

“I’m afraid this dream has only just begun,” the pony spoke with authority.

“So…I’m still in Equestria,” Lane said, pinching himself which produced no pain, confirming what the pony before him had said was true.

“You sound disappointed, trying to flee before greeting either of us?” the mare asked investigating the various things scattered about Lane’s room, his room from his memories anyways.

“I’m sorry, I’m not from around here, but who are you, and why am I carrying on a conversation with my subconscious…which happens to be a miniature horse?” Lane asked.

The mare dropped what looked like an airsoft gun, which fired off a small pellet harmlessly into the ceiling. “I am not your subconscious, and you will hence forth address me as Princess Luna, or Princess, is that understood?”

“What’s a princess doing in my dreams?” Lane asked. “No offense or anything, I just thought that when one finally did show up she’d be more…never mind.”

“...ugh,” Luna rolled her eyes after briefly. “I thought stallions were bad.”

“What?” Lane shrugged.

“Just keep those thoughts to yourself,” Luna replied.

Lane assumed that the dream pony could hear and see his thoughts, in which case he felt sorry for her. He wasn’t quite sure what else this princess had expected, stepping into a male’s mind to begin with though.

“So…what are you doing here?” Lane asked. “Princess.”

“I’m here to find out more about you, assess if you are a threat to our civilization or not,” Luna replied.

“Hey, I didn’t ask to be brought here, in all honesty I just want to go back home,” Lane said.

“That may be difficult with what little information I have been able to gather from you,” Luna commented as she inspected a picture frame, containing a photo of Lane’s family. “I do find your presence here troubling indeed.”

“Why’s that, princess?” Lane watched her curiously. “Aside from the obvious reasons.”

“The energy that flows through your body, your aura,” Luna explained. “It behaves…differently. To put it in terms that you can understand, think of ours as flowing clockwise, while yours flows counter clockwise.”

“No offense but anyone can tell I’m different at a glance,” Lane said.

“Your differences extend far beyond the superficial, you are the only being in Equestria like this…well, almost the only one,” Luna said, a concerned look crossing her muzzle for a second. “Which is why your presence is required at Canterlot, Celestia will be awaiting your arrival.”

“Celestia, hey that’s the name of the alisomething Flo was talking about!” Lane perked up.

“Alicorn,” Luna corrected him. “And yes, I’m aware of your conversations with the doe, which is why I’ll be requesting for you to be delivered to us by carriage. Simply make it to Ponyville, as it would perhaps be more receptive of your odd appearance."

"You really think a bunch of ponies would lynch me princess?" Lane asked.

"Some, perhaps, but there is one who would be more receptive of you than others, as well as your traveling companion. Seek out Twilight Sparkle, or Fluttershy...as time is running out." Luna replied quickly.

"What do you mean?" Lane picked up on Luna's slight increase in pace with her instructions.

"It will be morning soon, and I need you to wake up..." Luna said, closing her eyes.

"...so do I go back to bed in the dream?" Lane shrugged when nothing happened.

"Wake up...wake up..." Luna repeated. "Wake up!"

"I don't think it's working," Lane said, not sure whether to be amused, or worried when Luna stomped her hoof on the floor in anger.

"Why though? I've preformed this task for years, it's not as if it's new...unless this is your doing!" Luna glared at Lane accusingly.

"Me? I don't know the first thing about magic," Lane held his hands up in mock surrender. "I didn't even believe in the stuff my girlfriend....oh...ohhh..."

"What?" Luna was too frazzled to think clearly enough to read his mind.

"Dream catcher," Lane replied.

"Dream catcher?" Luna repeated.

"Whoops?" Lane chuckled nervously.

"Whoops!?" Luna mimed the human once more before rushing towards him.

Instead of feeling the full fury of an alicorn, capable of entering, and apparently getting trapped within his dreams, Lane opened his eyes to see the sun shining brightly down upon him. Flo was nearby getting a quick drink, which both relieved him, and filled him with disappointment that Luna's words had been true.

"Luna..shit!" Lane exclaimed lifting up his shirt slightly, unnerved by what he saw.

Sure enough, the necklace his girlfriend had given him was emitting a bright light, purple in color. Not only was Lane a foreigner in a strange, mystical land filled with magical beings that were all talking animals from his world, but he was now an unintentional kidnapper.

"Fuck me sideways..." Lane mumbled.

"Fuck?" Flo asked.

"It means something really bad just happened," Lane explained.

"Are you hurt?" Flo circled her companion once, looking for any sign of injury or illness. "You seem perfectly healthy."

"I'm fine," Lane lied. "So, did a Princess Luna come visit you last night in your dreams?"

"Briefly, yes," Flo said. "She's the little sister of Celestia."

"Heh, no kidding..." Lane began to sweat nervously.

"Are you sure you do not have a fever?" Flo asked, a genuine look of concern on her muzzle.

"Oh, I have something alright, just not something that makes you sick by the standard method," Lane replied. "Luna visited me too."

"Really?" Flo smiled. "Well, what did she say?"

"She said to go to Ponyville, and to try to find a pony named Fluttershy, or Twilight Sparkle," Lane replied. "Rightbeforeshegottrappedinmydream."

"I'm sorry, I didn't catch that last part," Flo tilted her head in confusion.

"Right before she...got trapped in my dream..." Lane repeated.

Flo stood in silence for a while before bursting into a fit of laughter. This frustrated Lane greatly, now that she wasn't taking him seriously. While he wasn't familiar with any laws in Equestria, he felt certain kidnapping worked the same way, especially with royalty.

"Lane, if Luna is indeed trapped, then who lowered the moon and stars?" Flo asked.

"Gravity," Lane replied flatly.

"Luna rules over the night, and Celestia the day," Flo explained. "If she was indeed within your dream, then how is the sun up?"

"I don't know," Lane replied with an eye roll fishing out his necklace from beneath his shirt. "Care to explain this then?"

Flo's expression quickly changed from clearly finding humor in Lane's ignorance to their world, to utter horror. While she was no unicorn, upon seeing the necklace, she could feel something was off about it. Whether Lane's claim was true or not was difficult to determine, but it did raise a red flag. If that was indeed Luna, then who had lowered the moon?

The door to Luna's darkened room slowly opened as a golden aura blanketed the wooden barrier. Celestia's magic faded from the door as she saw her sister looking down at what appeared to be a mirror.

"Luna," Celestia spoke up, startling the mare. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes, sister, everything is fine," Luna replied with a nod. "I've just had a tiring night is all."

"Would this have to do with what we talked about yesterday?" the solar princess sat beside her.

"Indeed," Luna closed her eyes as if in thought. "After much interrogation, I was able to determine that it is indeed responsible for what has been happening. It nearly tried to trap me with some sort of foul charm."

"I...I'm so sorry," Celestia wrapped her wings around her sibling. "I won't ask you to go after it again."

"Thank you...I'm rather exhausted though, and-" Luna started.

"Of course," Celestia said with an embarrassed giggle. "I'm sorry I kept you up. I just worry about you."

"I know," Luna smiled as Celestia headed towards the door. "Good morning Tia."

"Goodnight Luna." with that, Celestia left her sister alone in the darkness of her room.

As Luna turned to face the mirror once more, a different mare was shown on the reflective glass. This one had onyx black fur, a mane that was darker than Luna's and cyan colored eyes. The image reflected was that of Nightmare Moon.

"Yes, focus on the human," Nightmare Moon giggled. "That way you'll never see me coming."