Changeling Therapy 2: Dreams And Nightmares

by MarmaladeDream

Rating: mature
Tags: Princess Luna, Drama, Changelings, Comedy, Fluttershy, Sex, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark
Length: 42069

Luna enlists a former Changeling as her disciple in dreams to try to help a troubled pony.

Iridis - the reformed changeling - is now happy and settled in Ponyville. However when a strange impenetrable nightmare alerts Luna's attention she finds a deeply damaged and troubled pony in need to help. As a being that senses emotions and dreams she takes on Iridis as her pupil and helps him hone his abiliites. Travelling into ponies' dreams he explores the humorous, the surreal and the inappropriately sexual in a journey that neither of the two will forget. Meanwhile a malevolent nighmare takes form and soon everypony finds themselves in grave danger.

Published 2016-09-18 20:00:01 UTC
Last updated 2016-11-15 12:21:02 UTC

Pranks And Pitfalls

Note: This story follows on from the events which occur in the story Changeling Therapy, which was written just before the episode “The Times They Are A Changeling” was released. This sequel is considered a continuation of this timeline branch.

“So…” Iridis began, his face betraying an energised mix of nervousness and excitement. “You really think this is going to get me the next of my mini Cutie Marks?” He glanced down once again at this flank which was still incomplete, the first of his ‘Cutie Vessels’ filled with a solitary re-print of one of Fluttershy’s symbols.

“Sure do!” Apple Bloom replied, bouncing up and down excitedly and eliciting concordant nods from her fellow Crusaders.

“And this is how you guys got your marks?” Iridis pressed, still not sure if he was completely ready to go through with their suggestion.

“Well…” Scootaloo chimed in, chin nestled for one moment in the cup of her hoof. “Not exactly…”

“Sort of..” Sweetie Belle contributed, interrupting her fellow crusader. “I mean, we did all kinds of crazy things, none of them on their own got us our cutie marks for something specific…”

“But in the end they all kind of helped us!” Apple Bloom finished, triumphantly. “It was through all those activities we learned to help other ponies find their marks, when we decided that we all got lifted up into the air like - it was all glowy and before we knew it, pow! No longer blank flanks!”

Iridis listened patiently and nodded slowly in comprehension. “So, yes OK, I can see how the whole process was important. But this, isn’t it a little dangerous? Even for the things we’ve already tried?”

The Changeling had a point.

The CMC had been very supportive and proactive over the last year or so in trying to get Iridis’s additional Cutie Vessels filled - a term quoined by Twilight Sparkle who was still spending a great deal of energy on researching the Changeling’s remarkable transformation. In fairness he hadn’t been convinced it would work and he wasn’t honestly that desperate to acquire any new ones: he conjectured that they would happen when the time was right, especially given the precedent set by the wholly unexpected genesis of his first ever mark.

However he found that loved spending time with the CMC and their chirpy Panglossian outlook had made him feel very positive about himself. Together they had attempted all kinds of activities from the very banal right up to the more extreme - including a few that had got Iridis into a little trouble such as the time their potion making class created a cake eating fungus. Pinkie Pie had never been so devastated.

This time though the danger was of a more physical nature. The four of them sat squashed into the foreboding barrel of a wooden soapbox racer perched precariously at the top of a nearby mountain. Iridis as the heaviest was at the back, followed by Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo at the helm. The length of girth of the rickety cart was a little too restrictive and there was very little chance any of them would be be able to bale out should they get into any difficulty. Iridis wasn’t completely happy with this, but a part of him relished the promise of excitement. Even though he was not proud of the part he’d played trying to claim Canterlot for Queen Chrysalis he recognised a longing for the same kind of life giving buzz he’d felt before.

He reassured himself that despite everything they had always all come out in one piece, more or less (he swore his wings had a few more holes than before).

“And this is going to get me my mark in what?” Iridis inquired, stalling a little as he started to incubate the rush of courage he’d need to see this through.

“Well, we thought maybe you might get a racer, or something lightningy like Rainbow!” Scootaloo answered back, turning her head and beaming him a cheery smile over the feathery eruptions of her growing wings, which were now noticeably larger than when had first known her. “But then we realised it’s probably more likely you’d perhaps get one of our marks, maybe a random one from we three! You know, just like you did when you kissed Fluttershy.”

Sweety Belle and Apple Bloom giggled immaturely at this and Iridis had to suppress a blush - although in his Changeling form the signs were rather subtle. “Yeah that’s right, a kiss.” He answered, grinning inwardly.

“So, are you ready?” Apple Bloom piped up, starting to rock the card left and right in excitement.

“I’m ready.” Iridis decided and hunkered down into the vehicle, his hide squeaking a little against the grain of the wood.

Right at the very top of the peak on a rocky outcrop that pointed to the sky like a changeling’s horn the cart rocked a little in the breeze. The motion brought an ebb and flow of the distant, steep and craggy vista which swept before them all the way to Ponyville. Scootaloo had planned the route down the mountain over several days and had even taken the time to fashion a few ramps and turns at key points where the body of the mountain was insufficient in its natural shape. The ride would be straight but bumpy for the first part then they had to make three tight turns, finally vaulting over a ramp at the finale to clear a rocky scree. If all went to plan they would slow down in the long grass that furnished the periphery of the town like a flat paddle brush.

“GO!” Scootaloo yelled and they all leaned forward swinging the horizon up along a plumb line until they felt the ground leave them. After a short fall there was the first skittery bump as the wheels flexed against the dirt and rock but Scootaloo wrestled the wheel out of the the first few skids and kept the cart from inverting itself. From then on the acceleration was terrifying as they plummeted down the incline, manes and hair flapping in the breeze.

“Oh Celestia!” Cried Iridis, knowing that he was wedged in tight enough there was no chance of him squeezing out to use his wings. It was so cramped he wasn’t even sure he had the space to initiate a metamorphosis into a smaller form. He’d known this at the start of course but now he was certain a small twinge of fearful regret had settled in the pit of his stomach. But even despite this he felt a rush of life that he’d been craving, an excitement was coursing through his veins - this was what he’d needed.

“Yeeee haaaa!” Bellowed Apple Bloom, her voice mirroring the same mix of terror and joy that the Changeling was feeling himself.

It wasn’t long before the first turn raced to meet them as they thundered down a rocky channel. Scootaloo turned back momentarily, eyes blinking hard under the whipping flames of her hair, to remind them of the plan.

“Alright guys, remember to all lean or we won’t make it.”

The remainder nodded as best they good while still staying hunkered down in the rattling cart. They had all practiced by squeezing in there the night before, learning left and right as Scootaloo yelled out instructions.

“LEFT!” She screamed and the straining quartet all dutifully responded with a powerful lurch that almost brought their vessel onto two wheels. It was necessary though, as just like a bobsleigh run the turn was steep and sharp, formed from a giant quarter wheel of inclined planks that they had assembled previously and bolted into the rocky face of the mountain.

They felt the bump as the cart entered the turn and the terrifying slip as the wheels struggled with their centripetal purchase, the car veering dangerously close to the outer rim. However they held the line within what felt like a hair’s breadth and braced against the forces as they rumbled out of the turn as though from a slingshot.

Sweetie Belle raised a forehoof to her ears and rubbed there as she felt the pressure of the rapid drop puff up her sinuses, the stinging reached a peak before finally she felt the satisfying pop as everything equalised. Apple Bloom was having the same problem but the young pegasus and changeling were unbothered due to adaptations inherent in all of the flying species of Equestria.

Iridis felt his ego and id diminish and fade as he gave himself up to the excitement, danger and gloriously childlike joy of the moment. A grin spread across his face as he looked over

“OK guys!” Scootaloo screamed over the racket of the clattering wooden wheels. “This next one’s a chicane, RIGHT, then LEFT straight away.”
Everyone nodded as they had practiced this one very carefully, the interval between the right lean and left lean was very small but had to be perfect, too early and they would wander off the edge of the first bend, too late and they would launch off the incline of the second.

The first of the bends went off without a hitch even if the wheels were dangerously close to the edge of the planks, however even as the four begin to inwardly celebrate as they prepared to start the second movement of the plan, the right wheel has snapped off its bearings and was now merrily spiralling away on its own journey. Free of its circular charge the broken stump of the axle jutted free and exposed and the cart listed over the vacant space.

There followed a few seconds of sheer terror where time seemed to slow down, just long enough for Scootaloo to turn her head back and begin to open her mouth and start to wail a single note of terror. The stump of the axle clattered along the panels of the turn like a tuneless xylophone before finally embedding itself stubbornly between the seam of two sections. The resulting torque tore the bearings and front wheels clean off the car and brought its body into a chaotic spin as it shot over the edge and fell down the side of a cliff.

“We’re gonna die!” Apple bloom screamed out as they entered a terrifying free fall with a landing of hard jagged rocks below.

Iridis realised in one heartstopping and quite terrifying moment that Apple Bloom might indeed be right although it was more likely they would just experience some fairly serious injuries. It looked like he would need to take action, feeling a pang of guilt at having agreed to it despite being the ‘adult’ of the group. Summoning all his strength he strained out against the compromised chassis as hard as he could and felt it split slightly, allowing him to free himself a little.

With a blinding blue light that slowly enveloped his body in increments Iridis strained and concentrated as hard as he possibly could, reaching for a form, any form that might help slow their descent. He knew he would need to go far above his comfortable mass and volume and that it would be very hard - but it had to be done.

The cutie mark crusaders were transfixed on the approaching horror of the ground below and were unaware of the metamorphosis just behind them, for the giant resplendent imposter of Celestia was coming into being on the back of the cart. Spreading his assumed wings Iridis cupped the air and began to flap vigorously, gritting his teeth as he struggled to maintain the integrity of such an ambitious form. He wished he’d taken the time to learn something easier like a griffin, but Celestia was the only option that came to mind with a large enough wingspan to save them from their fate.
Despite his desperate flapping they still hit the ground with some force, but thankfully Iridis directed them between the pointy reckonings of a set of sharp rocky needles so at least the landing wasn’t immediately fatal.

Finally after the rolling, disintegrating mass of the wreckage has come to a stand still, littering the mountain side with thick wooden shards, the cutie mark crusaders tumbled out into a heap, bruised and shaken.

The visage of Princess Celestia landed clumsily, crumped into a white mass and then decayed with a splendid blue flash back to the form of a panting exhausted Iridis. For a moment all four lay on the ground hyperventilating; it was Scootaloo who broke the silence.

“Let’s do it again!” She yelled, jumping to her four hooves and letting out a serenade of victorious whooping noises.

“I’m going to be sick.” Sweetie Belle moaned, clutching her stomach and rocking gently in a the foetal position, trying to stave off a violent wave of nausea.

“I’m just glad we all are in one piece…” Apple Bloom commented, squiting to discern anything through her disorienting double vision. “Hey Iridis, did you change into Sweetie Bell, I see two of you, which one of y’all’s the real one?”

Iridis moved over and helped Apple Bloom to steady herself on her little filly legs. “There’s only one I assure you..” He replied, breathing heavily, but with a grin broadening across his face. “That was, well, that was…”

“AWESOME!” Scootaloo yelled, doing a fairly accurate impersonation of a certain Rainbow pony she admired. “And not just that, looks like you got your new Cutie Mark Iridis!”

He froze for a moment, could she be right? He’d never thought that this exercise would actually come to fruition, he looked down hopefully at his own flank.

“My new mark is a piece of wood….” He puzzled, out loud. “I mean, I can kind of see that but…”

“No Scootaloo!” Said Apple Bloom. “That’s just some piece of the cart that’s got stuck there like.”

Iridis gave his flank a little brush and sure enough a fairly sizeable piece of wood fell onto the ground with a diminutive and anticlimactic thud. “Oh well… Never mind, I still had fun.. But I don’t know that we want to do this again any time soon girls.” He looked left and right and noticed that Apple Bloom was still a little disoriented.

“I think it’s time to go home.” He said, helping the dizzy little filly to her feet and leading the troupe back to ponyville.

It had now been just over a year since Iridis had arrived in Ponyville and blossomed under the nurturing and kind attentions of Fluttershy. Since the two had become lovers their relationship had grown stronger and deeper as time went on. She had expected Iridis might have some trouble adjusting to the general lack of privacy at the house given the constant ebb and flow of critters that she cared for. However he pointed out that he used to live in a hive and lack of personal space wasn’t too much of an issue.

Fluttershy’s animal friends had been wary of the changeling when he first moved in, but over time and with encouragement from Fluttershy (not to mention some bribery in the way of treats) they began to more grow comfortable with him. Earning Angel Bunny’s acceptance was a more lengthy and frustrating process and for quite some time he would stomp around in indignant little peregrinations whenever Iridis was in the living room - refusing to have anything to do with him.

Eventually she lost her temper and castigated the little rabbit in exasperation and it seemed likely that was what finally did the trick. After some pathetic sulking he finally started to come around. From then on Iridis and Angel got along much better - albeit not perfectly. It was again one of those instances where the more assertive aspect of Fluttershy tipped the balance.

Discord was another matter, and given his close bond with Fluttershy she had warned her new mate there might be some ‘jealousy’ and drama before things finally settled down - however she assured Iridis that being sent to an alternate dimension filled with sock puppets was not very likely. As expected the master of chaos was not thrilled as to Fluttershy’s new ‘bug friend’, but in a testament to how much he had changed for the better he didn’t act up too much.

The one incident where he temporarily filled Iridis's cutie vessels with images of backsides was something that everyone agreed they would never speak of again.

The Changeling had found himself busy and stimulated for quite a number of months, meeting professors of magic from various parts of Equestria, helping Twilight with her own studies, exploring friendship and also getting involved in various events around Ponyville. He had even earned a modest stipend for doing a series of lectures in Canterlot about Changeling culture. Truth be told though he was beginning to feel weary of attention and was happy when things began to settle down and he could spend quality time with the lovely Fluttershy.

Sitting outside her cottage in the afternoon he quietly sipped a leaf tea. Even though Changelings fed on love they still needed water and a small amount of normal food to survive, so although he ate very little he had started to enjoy it more when he did. Herbal blends were a nice way for him to experience different flavours without the bulk of solid food.

He gazed out toward Ponyville and felt himself grow a little sleepy as the humming fussing of the birds and bees lulled him into a trance. It was short lived though as he was interrupted by a booming rush and after a small little jump he recognised the imminent arrival of Rainbow Dash.

The pegasus soared out of the glare of the sun and dove close to the ground upsetting a patch of flowers as they whipped about in her smooth wake. Coming to a stop and setting herself down in front of the Changeling she was clearly wearing a slight scowl.

“Iridis!” She asked, sounding indignant. “Am I to understand you took my ‘sister’ on a dangerous soapbox race down the mountain?”

Irids was not sure for a moment who she meant, then he remembered that Rainbow was Scootaloo’s effective bigger sister. He grinned sheepishly and raised a hoof behind his head.

“Umm, I’m sorry Dashie… look I think perhaps I got a little carried away.”

She stood on her hind legs, forelegs akimbo as she ‘tut tutted’ and shook her head. “Iridis…” She began. “I don’t know if I can forgive you..”

He seemed crestfallen and opened his mouth, a little surprised. “I’m so sorry Dash, I know it was irresponsible…”

“I’m just kidding you silly bug!” She laughed, squealing a little with delight and thumping Irids on the arm. “The CMC can handle themselves and Scootaloo was talking for hours about how much fun she had, but if you ‘really’ want to make to it up to me anyway there is one thing you ‘can’ do…”

“What might that be?” Iridis inquired, a little bemused.

“Well, you are of course a changeling.” Dash mentioned, with a tone that intimated there was more to come.

“Yeah…..” He replied, quizzically, not sure at all where this was going to go.

“Wanna help me in the most epic prank I’ve ever done?” She winked at him.

Iridis cocked his head to one side, then his mouth spread out into a spasmodic grin. He could see where Rainbow was going with this and in fairness he had always found the idea of pranks quite appealing. He thought back to how he’d tormented twilight in jest when she was trying to study his cutie vessels, turning into her brother and lamenting “Twily, you know you shouldn’t be looking at your bro’s plot!”. The remainder of that day had been somewhat rambunctious and Iridis had pledged to ease off for a while. But right now he felt like a good prank was something his needed. Fluttershy was out until later, so as long as she wasn’t the target he was game.

“What did you have in mind Dashie?”

Deep in the heart of Cantlerlot Palace, Princess Luna was subsumed in thought, pacing to and fro in the middle of one of the many corridors. Her nightly perambulations through the dreams of her subjects was normally a positive affair, but something she had witnessed last night had given her much pause for thought - anxiety even.

Somewhat serendipitously Celestia was also walking though at the same time and noticed her sister seemingly lost in thought, a slightly worried look on her face.

“Is everything ok my dear sister?” Celestia asked.

“I am not sure..” Luna replied, slightly hesitantly, looking past Celestia at some imaginary horizon.

“Perhaps it would help you if told me your woes.” Celestia insisted, unfurling her wing and gently resting the white comforting blanket over her sister’s back. She was regal and proud, standing tall and white and looking lavish in her crown, royal regalia and magical flowing hair.

“Well… I think someone might be in trouble.” Luna replied, but she seemed uncertain even herself.

“Something serious?” Celestia probed, immediately her thoughts leaping to outrageous scenarios concerning the Mane 6. “One of our friends?”

Luna slowly shook her head. “It was in a dream, last night, not mine, one of the many I passed through in my nightly journeys. I saw what seemed to be a nightmare, something wretched and sinister, but when I tried to enter I found I could not.”

Celestia rose up a little and reclaimed her wing, folding it back alongside its soft snow white twin. “My sister, why did you not tell me sooner, only a powerful magic, or mental discipline could block you from entering a dream…”

Luna again shook her head and Celestia relaxed momentarily, but it was clear to see that the Princess Of The Night was perplexed and troubled.

“It’s not that… I don’t think.” The Moon Princess conjectured. “It was more like, the nightmares were so awful that they were impenetrable. I’ve had problems entering ponies’ dreams before where the character of the nightmares has been most severe - never though something I couldn’t overcome.”

“So what does it mean my dear sister?” Celestia inquired.

“I think it may mean that somepony is in very serious trouble” Luna replied.

“You’re certain it’s not some sinister agent?” The Sun Princess pressed, wanting the best possible guarantee that something truly antagonistic wasn’t at their doorsteps.

“I heard… screaming.” Luna replied and for a moment it was as though the corridors contracted and the distant sounds of rumbling bustle in the castle fell away to a deafening tinnitus. “It was as though someone inside was in horrible pain.”

Celestia touched Luna’s muzzle with her hoof and directed her gaze so they were both looking at each other. They both let loose a quick shiver.

“OK.” Celestia broke the silence, firmly. “Do you know who this individual is Luna?”

The dark alicorn shook her head, tossing her mane around for just a moment. “Normally I should know straight away, but this time all I could be sure of was the screaming was male.”

“Are you sure that wasn’t the persona in their dream, that maybe they are a mare with a male dream-form? Couldn’t that affect the sex of the voice you heard?”

Luna cocked her head to one side only slightly. “Usually in stress when dreaming we revert to our own image. I can also normally tell the difference between a ‘natural’ voice and one projected through a ‘persona’”.

Celestia nodded her agreement, accepting her sister’s judgement in this area where she herself had less expertise. “So right now we don’t have enough to go on?”

“That’s right. The only thing I can do now is keep coming back to that place in the dreamscape and hope I can get some more information.” Luna shuddered. “It was, not nice to hear, those screams from within.”

“Are you going to be alright?” Celestia asked, her voice sensitive and reassuring.

“I will be ok my sister.” Luna replied. “I shall report to you when I know anything at all.”

The two exchanged a tender hug and Luna sighed contentedly. Even though now it had been some years since her liberation from the horror of her NightMare moon form, the echoes of the past, her long exile and isolation: it was still a burden that would take time to heal. But when she cuddled her sister, and felt close and needed and accepted again, smelling the familiar scent of her own family: she felt safe, wanted and secure. She still hadn’t gotten used to how wonderful it felt and each time was like the first time they had embraced after that dark episode.

Luna’s face lit up in a happy gentle smile, and then hardened immediately as she thought of the task ahead.

A little later that evening, after a splendid meal prepared for her by the castle servants Luna retired to her chambers, full and soporfic and asking not to be disturbed. There, invoking a lucid slumber she slipped quietly into the dream world where she had so many of her ethereal somnambulist odysseys. In the void of the ‘space’ between dreams, isotropic whiteness and oblivion she focussed hard to find the source again of the blemish that had so disturbed her just the previous night.

It was less difficult than she thought. She could sense the pulsating tumour, a dark corpuscle standing out even against the black swirling machinations of the many nightmares that plagued so many ponies. However It was denser, more sinister and more torrid than the others and she found her way towards it, hearing more strongly now the vortex of violence that swirled at its dark horizon.

Her heart beginning to fill with some dread she approached the shell of the nightmare and listened. Straining hard against the whispering rush of the surface, much like the chattering of a brook, she was sure she could catch tiny sounds of terror and suffering from within.

How to reach him… She pondered to herself, feeling out once again, as she had done the previous night to touch the surface. It emitted a hissing sound, like acid on metal when she touched it and she recoiled almost immediately. The border was so rough and so turbulent she was unsure how to break into it, painful to the touch like fast moving sandpaper.

Perhaps… she thought, then drawing a lungful of what would have been air in the real world she summoned the Traditional Royal Canterlot Voice and bellowed as hard as she could into the raging torrent.

“Citizen of Equestria, this is your Princess Luna, can you hear me?” She announced, waiting for a response that never came.

She tried again a few more times, and was almost at the point of giving up hope when she was sure she heard the faintest of cries coming through.

“Help me….” Was the sound, unmistakably male but very weak.

“Tell me your name Citizen, so I may find you in the real world!” She bellowed once more, squinting into the swirling darkness to catch a glimpse, any glimpse at all. There was no more reply though and Luna stared harder and harder in exasperation.

Then, finally, for just one moment she caught the briefest of glimpses of a pony, an Earth pony, seemingly surrounded by other ponies in a circle. Straining as hard as she could she looked to see if she could discern his cutie mark, a surefire way of determining his identity.

But he didn’t have one.

The horizon swelled like a rotten fruit in the sun and the force of the black fetid skin thumped her across the body in a painful and winding blow. Luna flew back helpless into the reaches of the void and then woke up suddenly, sweating - heart beating in her chest like an engine. It took a minute or two before she was able to fully steady herself.

“GUARDS!” She yelled, and the one of those stationed quickly burst into the room.

“Yes Princess, are you alright?” He asked, as a few more of his fellows began to stream into the room and surround the bed.

“We are fine, but somepony else isn’t….” She replied, still sweating. “Captain, would you summon Princess Celestia to us as a matter of urgency: you will have to wake her. We would ourselves go, but we need one moment to recover… tell her to come to these chambers. Your Princess commands you.”

“Yes Mamn I shall...” The Captain started, but Luna interrupted him when she realised she had regressed into the majestic plural, something she was attempting to uncondition. Old habits though died hard, especially after so many centuries of getting used to one particular manner of speaking.

“I mean, please bring my sister to me, thankyou.” She corrected herself, and collapsed back for a moment into the bed. “It’s been a rough night.”

“Bad dreams princess?” He inquired as he turned to leave.

“You could say that.” She answered, and breathing out a heavy sigh she waited for her sister to come.

“So what do you think of my amazing plan?” Rainbow Dash asked, staring at Iridis expectantly.

The Changeling had listened patiently as Dash had elucidated the ins and outs of her prank, at first grinning and nodding in agreement and then later beginning to frown as small doubts started to form over whether it was ‘too far’.

“Soo….” Iridis began slowly. “You’re sure this isn’t too far. Wasn’t there some incident lately involving the whole town? Something about zombies?”

Rainbow giggled. “Yeah, they sure pranked me hard and I learned my lesson for sure. But this prank is only against one individual, and one I know will take it will. So it’s definitely ok, know what I mean?” She leaned forward so their muzzles were almost touching.

“I don’t know.” He mused.

“Come on Iridis, you gotta be in it to win it. I saw the work you did with Twilight, that was inspired. What do you say?” The Pegasus moved back and extended a hoof, an invitation to all kinds of mischief.

Iridis thought for a moment, teetering on the edge of indecision, but something in Dash’s eyes urged him on. In fairness too he did kind of want to impress her. He reached out and hoofed Rainbow with his own to signal his commitment.

“Ok I’m in , so when do we start?”

Rainbow grinned mischievously. “Right away, come my friend, watch and learn from the master prankster!”

A little later Rainbow Dash and Iridis made their way to the Ponyville spa, only the changeling has assumed a disguise. The aim would be to sneak him into the spa without anyone realising it was was him. They had discussed various options, including Rarity, which was quickly dismissed - he wasn’t certain he could pull that act off, and even if he got away with it, there was something about it that he felt would be ‘rude’.

In the end Rainbow chose the only pony where Iridis would need to perform the least possible amount of elocution - Big Mac was the best choice. He honestly didn’t feel completely comfortable with an impersonation such as this, it felt very clandestine- a little close to a life he’d left behind - not at all like when he did impressions at parties to squeals of delight from the other ponies. Except for Pinkie Pie, whenever he tried to mimic her she always said she’d “seen better” and he was unclear what that meant.

Nevertheless he’d committed himself, and now there was no option but to follow it through, so it came to pass that Big Mac and Rainbow dash trotted into the reception of the Spa, a little to the surprise of Lotus Blossom who was currently at reception.

“Big Macintosh, I am surprised to be seeing you here!” She exclaimed in her soft inviting voice. “Vat brings you to our lovely spa? Could it be you are having your first ever treatment?”

Iridis froze for a moment, and there followed a slightly awkward pause and silence until Dash surreptitiously nudged him in the ribs.

“Eeeeeyup.” He said, as they had practised and this seemed to satisfy Lotus Blossom.

“Oh how vunderful!” She exclaimed. “Such a treat to welcome a new pony to our wonderful spa!”

“Eeeeyup.” Irids replied. The choice for Big Mac may have been a good idea.

“Ve are a little booked out right now though.” Lotus replied, hoofing through the reception ledger for any treatment spaces available in the afternoon.

“That’s ok…” Rainbow interjected. “Big Mac needs a, gentle introduction. I know the steam room isn’t normally very busy at this time of day, reckon I can take him there?”

Lotus Blossom nodded enthusiastically and smiled warmly. “Of course, please go right ahead you can pay on your way out. Some steam will definitely do vell for those big muscles! I know your sister keeps you hard at vork!””

“Eeeyup.” Iridis responded, consciously trying to keep his voice at the right pitch.

The two entered the spa area and thankfully the corridors and communal area were very clear. Dash had chosen a time that was firmly in the center of the current treatment sessions, limiting the likelihood of any awkward interceptions. Once they were sure that they were out of sight Rainbow ducked into a maintenance room, pulling Iridis with her.

“OK, now we can take the staff corridors to the other side, where our ‘victim’ is having his current treatment, it should be only him in there right now, well and the masseuse of course.”

“Alright!” Iridis whispered, now beginning to feel the same rush of excitement he’d felt on some of his previous prank forays. The doubts he’d had were dissolving under the anticipation of what was coming.

The two made their way quickly through the laundry area and past other supportive machinery, the humming heart of the Spa’s operations. The smell of fabric conditioner hung in the air as though it were a soft mist, and there was a damp humid heat that reminded him for a moment of when he was still living in the hive. He nearly gasped as little flashbacks of the warmth and sound of the colony invaded his present senses like little nostalgic pinpricks; he shook them off for now - but it felt like something he might need to come back to later.

“Focus!” Hissed Rainbow and the Big Mac form straightened up. “Stay with me, we’re nearly, OH NO….. Oh no!”

The two froze as they saw, emerging from the steam, ahead the familiar exuberant stotting silhouette of Pinkie Pie. She caught sight of them and her face lit up as she approached.

“Hi Rainbow! Hi Iridis!” She said, as the mouths of the other pair hung open.

“Umm, hey umm, Pinkie… uhh, how did you know it was Iridis? Did someone tell you?” Dash asked, worried that somehow the whole game was up, or that perhaps a reverse prank was being prepared for them.

“Oh no silly!” Pinkie replied. “No offense Iridis but your Big Mac needs a little work.”

Iridis felt almost offended by this. “Umm, how so?” He asked, with a mixture of bemusement and a small hint of indignation.

“Oh that’s easy!” Pinkie Pie replied, taking a deep breath. “Ok, so let’s start with the way you’re standing, you’re not standing proud enough, Big Mac is always proud, except when he’s a little down, that’s sad, but ooooh…. Yes, the ears aren’t quite right, big mac doesn’t have points like that you need them rounded out just slightly, the eyes are two close together maybe be about two millimeters. The Cutie Mark is the wrong shade of green too, not saturated enough, you’ve gotta green than bad boy up! Also you don’t smell like Big Mac at all.” When she had finished she looked at the other two expectantly.

“I don’t smell like Big Mac?” Iridis asked, looking into Rainbow Dash’s eyes. The Pegasus returned the same look of utter bafflement.

“Certainly not!” Pinkie replied.

Rainbow shook her head. “So, Pinkie why are you down here anyways?”

“I love this place, it’s almost as relaxing as the stream room!” She explained. “The washing machines are fun to watch, it’s warm, steamy, I like to chat to the staff. Sometimes the pipes make really funny noises, it’s hilarious!” She moved to one of the exposed pipes on the wall. “Hello Mr Pipe how are you today? I’m fine Pinkie!” And she started to engage in an imaginary conversation, imitating the ‘voice’ of the pipe with a deep posh sounding accent.

“Hehehe, pipe…..” Iridis chuckled in Big Mac’s deep voice, having to admit that even though the timing of their prank was now in jeopardy that he was finding Pinkie’s antics very funny; Rainbow however was less enthusiastic.

“Umm Pinkie, we’d better be on our way…”

“Of course Dashie, I wouldn’t want to get in the way of a good prank!” Pinkie grinned.

Rainbow face hoofed and shook her head as Iridis continued to giggle. “Ok Pinkie I have no idea how you figure these things out but, look I’m sorry for not letting you in on this one, I kind of wanted to do one with Iirids, you know?”

“Oh that’s no problem I know you love to bond with Iridis, but I really hope you’re not going to do anything too far this time, remember that lesson we taught you?” Pinkie leaned close to Rainbow and scrunched her face up somewhat as though scrutinising the intentions of her friend. The Pegasus backed off just slightly, looking slightly nervous.

“Of course not Pinkie…” She replied, and for a moment it looked as though Pinkie was unconvinced.

Soon though her expression changed to delight as she emitted a satisfied “Okie Doki Loki!”, before bounding off into a side room. The pair were sure that they heard her voice in the distance say something like: “Hello Mr Boiler!” They looked at each other for a moment with the same befuddled look.

“Anywaaaaay….” Dash announced. “We need to get this show in the air if we’re going to do this., follow me! Spike will be midway through now.”

And indeed it was Spike who was the intended recipient of the prank, and Rainbow knew that he was usually the only one in the treatment room. He’d be enjoying his weekly hot stone deep tissue massage given by one of the bulky male spa therapists. As a dragon he was a bit more robust than most of the other ponies and needed a massage so intense it would likely injure anyone else who tried it.

The two skulked up the corridor, wary of any sounds of activity outside and Rainbow pressed her ear to the door, she smiled and then nodded to Iridis. The Changeling took on another form as quickly as he could and waited by the door.

“Ok…” Whispered Dash, a naughty grin on her face.

Inside the room Spike sighed with enjoyment and relaxation, all the stress and tension in his body being pounded out with the caring ferocity that he can come to expect from this specialised service. All at once though, with a mighty crash the door flew open and a terrified Rainbow Dash stumbled into the room looking hysterical.

“SPIKE! It’s Tirek, he’s here, he’s here!” She yelled, and then just as she finished, the unmistakable shape of Tirek’s base form came through the door, grabbing Rainbow dash by the wings and laughing.

“I claim this Spa and all the ponies in it! HAAHH HAHA!” Iridis said as Tirek, doing a pretty decent job of playing the obvious Villain, complete with a gruff maniacal laugh.

Unfortunately, Rainbow had miscalculated something. Although it was usually true at this particular time that Spike would be on his own with just the spa pony, unbeknownst to the pair of pranksters, there had been an plumbing issue in one of the other rooms and the displaced patrons had all been moved.

Instead of just two victims they were looking at at least ten pairs of eyes, including Twilight and Rarity. There was a moment’s awful suspense, then all hell broke loose.

Twilight leapt up immediately and unleashed a powerful blast from her horn that hit Iridis dead on, forcing him to let go of Rainbow Dash as he flew backwards and smashed into the wall, bouncing a little down the hall. She turned to Rarity who was in danger of becoming fully catatonic and shook her a little. The rest of the ponies were now all flailing and screaming in a terrifying and energetic panic with all sorts of artifacts of the spa being tossed and knocked this way and that.

“Rarity, get everyone out of the Spa, Spike send a letter to our allies straight away, Rainbow come and help me!”

It took Rainbow a moment or two to recover from the shock of what just happened, but as soon as her wits were gathered she rushed to Twilight as fast as she could her mouth yelling a stream of protestations.

“It’s a prank! It’s a prank twilight! It’s Iridis, not Tirek!”

Twilight froze mid step and looked for a moment at Rainbow, then out of the door at Iridis who had regressed to his normal form after the shock of being hit with such a powerful blast. He looked very dazed. Very slowly she turned her head back with a murderous look in her eyes, the rest of the room had settled a little now and they too were glaring at the blue pegasus. Spike was too busy hyperventilating to know what was going on around him.

“What the fuck Dash?” Twilight shouted angrily. “Seriously, what the fuck?” She was so apoplectic that she even forgot to tone down her language, something she gave more attention now she was a Princess.

“I thought it was just Spike…” Dash whimpered through clenched teeth. “I umm, didn’t know that you were all going to be in this room.”

Twilight snorted rhythmically, and Rarity stepped up herself, incandescent with rage and deciding it was her turn to scold Rainbow.

“Rainbow! What on Earth do you think you’re doing? Here was are enjoying these fabulous treatments and you see fit to come in and heap a year’s worth of stress and worry on everyone. I’m practically feeling old already, I can feel wrinkles where I never had wrinkles! And look at poor Spikey Wikey, just look at him?” She indicated her dragon friend with a shaking hoof and truth be told Spike was not doing particularly well.

Iridis was now sheepishly limping into the room having at least recovered to some extent. He raised his hoof for a moment and timidly announced. “It’s my fault too.” He quickly shrank back as a volley of disapproving eyes glared him down.

“Ok, maybe a teeny bit too far, but honestly I was meant to be just for Spike, and I suppose his masseuse too…” Rainbow added, feeling though she was simply deepening the hole.

“But TIREK? Seriously? He nearly destroyed all of us, not to mention Equestria! Out of all the possible beings you could pick, you had to pick him, HIM?” Twilight fumed stamping, her hooves petulantly.

“Ok ok, I’m sorry…” Dash replied.

“And after we got the whole town to prank you to show you that pranks can go too far, and then go and do this? Even roping Iridis into it too? Poor thing, he’s had a hard enough time as it is!” Rarity commented.

“It was my choice…” Iridis piped up but no-one was really listening to him, the general decision was that Dash was the instigator, which was infact broadly true. However there was definitely a proportion of the anger directed at him.

“And you….” Twilight said, directing her anger now at the reformed Changeling. “You’d think that after how nicely we treated you, that you’d know better! Pretending to be my brother is one thing, but this is too far… look at Spike he’s barely able to speak!”

Iridis slowly entered further into the room and looked at Twilight. She realised quite quickly that his eyes were full of anger, but it wasn’t directed at her - she regretted what she’s said earlier to some extent, but even as that thought crossed her mind the eruption to follow was already inevitable.

“Well if you don’t want me, then FINE!” Iridis shouted, uncharacteristically agitated - more than that, boiling over as though what just happened had unlocked something in him. “You fake, you said you were the princess of friendship!” He screamed and the Alicorn’s mouth opened in shock. Iridis’s face slackened to a drained and emotional mask and with a final snort and angry display of violent stomping he ran out of the spa, clearly utterly distraught.

“Iridis…” Twilight said, trying to call after him but managing only a slight guilty whisper. “I didn’t mean it like that… I was just…”

Rarity came over to her and placed a hoof on her shoulder. “Darling it’s ok, there’s more going on with him than a bad prank and some minor regal castigation you know.”

“I’m sorry.” Rainbow interjected and this time the room had become a little mollified and everyone came to the realisation that nobody had intended things to turn out this way. “I didn’t mean it to be like this, it was supposed to be just for Spike… I hadn’t done a prank in months, maybe I just went a bit too far.”

“It’s ok Dashie.” Twilight replied at length. “Look I’m sorry I swore at you… I was very relaxed and it just a bit of a shock. Spike are you ok?” She asked, looking down at the little dragon who had simmered down at least enough to be able to communicate.

“I think I’ll survive.” Spike answered, suppressing his indignation somewhat so as to appear brave in front of Rarity. “It was at least a little epic” he ventured, but the glances he got in return intimated it was ‘too soon’ for that sort of appraisal.

“I think perhaps.” Rarity began. “That you go and see Iridis Twilight… I think he needs the ‘Princess Of Friendship’ more than ever right now. Everything is still a bit new for him. We’ll sort things out here. Go on darling.”

And with that, Twilight breathed out heavily and teleported out of the spa leaving behind the carnage to be cleared up by her friends.

Twilight had a pretty good idea where the Changeling would go and she didn’t feel the need to use any magic to locate him - in any case if he’d chosen to change forms he would be opaque to her detection anyways. It was very hard to detect a disguised changeling by magic alone.

Flying the rest of the way she approached the cosy green little haven of Fluttershy’s cottage, its proud structure surrounded with the various trapping of animal care and accommodation. Twilight rapped on the door with her hoof.

“Iridis?” She called out. “It’s Twilight, I came to say sorry, please let me talk to you. Fluttershy are you in there?”

When no reply came she rapped once again on the door, a little more firmly. “Iridis!”

“I’m here….” A voice came from behind her and Twilight jumped a little, she swirled to face him. “Oh Iridis. I came back to talk to you. I’m sorry.”

“No I’m sorry.” He replied, lowering his head and sighing deeply. “Twilight I’m so sorry, I was just so angry I… it felt like you thought I’d done it deliberately. I feel horrible.”

She looked at him. “Of course I didn’t think that. I was angry too. Ponies say things they don’t mean when they are angry. Iridis, you must understand by now that one argument doesn’t mean the end of a friendship? Right?” She inquired, probing a little, trying to better understand his pain.

The Changeling pondered this for a moment, and although he wasn’t entirely sure, he did finally nod slowly. It had been a difficult transition for him in Ponyville even after the huge stride he made when Fluttershy acquainted him with a world of intimate tenderness. One of the things he’d found very difficult to deal with was conflict. As with all relationship he and Fluttershy had had one or two minor tiffs which she had brushed off herself, but which were much more emotionally taxing for Iridis.

Getting used to the idea that arguments were a normal and perfectly surmountable part of a mature relationship was not at all easy for him. Fluttershy had sat down once to explain to him how his confusion reminded her of their visit to Starlight Glimmer’s dystopian village, prior to her being reformed. The mane six had argued around a table outside the bakery and to many of the denizens it had seemed like their friendship would surely be over.

The latest incident had been too much though. Torn between being angry at himself, angry at Rainbow and angry at Twilight in a confusing and contradictory jumble of feelings, he had been afraid and he’d felt the only option was to run away. At least now though he had chosen to face it, addressing Twilight to her face instead of hiding.

“Twilight I’m sorry. I’m sorry for taking the prank too far. I really didn’t mean it. And I’m sorry for what I said to you… it was harsh, very harsh. It didn’t feel like me.”

“It’s ok. There’s nothing to forgive.” She answered and approached Iridis and the two embraced affectionately. “Just remember and try to understand, though I know you thought it was only Spike in there, surprising someone in the middle of a treatment designed to relax and de-stress them - to that extent - might need a second thought in future.”

Iridis grinned sheepishly and looked away for a brief moment. “To be honest I did have some misgivings, Rainbow was the one who convinced me in the end. Not that I’m trying to pin it on her. I had to disguise myself as Big Mac to sneak in, so they wouldn’t know I was in the spa. I actually feel the worst about that. It doesn’t feel right, doing it when he doesn’t know I am?”

Twilight smiled, closing her eyes and cocking her head to one side. “Yes Iridis, but honestly I know you wouldn’t have done that without Dash’s encouragement - but honestly please don’t impersonate in that way again. I think you’d agree with me on think. I think we can say the matter is all settled now. I’ll have another little talk to the rest of ponies about how you didn’t mean it to play out that way.”

“That’s another thing.” Iridis pondered outloud anxiously. “I mean, you’ve been really accepting here of me, well on the whole, I’m had some prejudice; but now it’ll look like I haven’t changed at all. What will the other ponies think?”

A soft sweet voice piped in from behind them, out of nowhere. “I haven’t heard you talk like that for a while Iridis.”

“Fluttershy!” He exclaimed a visible garnish of delight suddenly smacked across his face, he went over to embrace her and the scent and closeness of her hair comforted him immensely as it slipped between the contact.

“I understand you’ve had a little, umm, excitement at the Spa?” She inquired, detaching herself from the embrace and smiling at him.

“Yeah… I feel like it all…” He stopped as Fluttershy shushed him very gently, tapping his muzzle lightly with her left front leg.

“Shhhh, don’t worry Iridis it’s all fine. Everyone had a bit of a shock, but by the time I got there to see what was going on, most of them were laughing. I don’t think it went down quite as badly as you thought. Oh and umm, you should probably prepare yourself. Discord heard about it and he’s um very ‘impressed’, you should probably expect him around later to congratulate you.”

The changeling grimaced just slightly as he imagined the effervescent and cackling Draconequus lavishing him with unwanted praise. It dawned on him that even though he was ready to move on from the incident he was likely to be treated to a gratuitous and unrelenting reminder later in the day; at least for a few hours.

“Ok.. I think I’ll get through it sweety.” He replied. “Thanks for finding me here. I do feel much better honestly. But how is Dash?”

“It’s all settled down, I think it’ll be ok.” Fluttershy explained. “Maybe no more pranks for a little while though my buglet?”

Twilight let out a cute little ellipsis of giggling at the Pegasus’s affectionate diminutive. “Buglet? That’s kind of sweet Fluttershy.”

She blushed very deeply her yellow cheeks suddenly velvety, Irids look downwards and crossed his front hooves.

“I’m just teasing.” Twilight reassured, still giggling a little. “Anyway I’m going to fly back now, just check everything is all handled. See you two later.” The Alicorn pushed off hard and the mighty swirling of her wings carried her up and away back over to the town center.

As she flew away the couple were sure they overheard her going through her friends’ names as she brainstormed new sobriquets for each of them “Pinklet, Dashlet, Raritylet… no Rarelet Hmmm….. Applelet, Jacklet… Hmm.”

“Did you hear that?” Fluttershy asked, nervously.

“What have you started....” He replied, a tone of suspenseful regret about his voice.

“Oh no… am I going to be, Fluttlet… Shylet, I wouldn’t like that. That’s even worse than Flutterguy!” She drew a sharp little worried intake of a breath and moaned out one of her adorable little squees.

Iridis simply giggled.

Broken Sun

“So many ponies, so close together and yet so far apart.” Luna whispered to herself, staring across the entrancing night skyline of Manehattan. She was far enough up, and sufficiently in the glare of the full moon that she could discern little below but the regiment of lights as they climbed buildings and raced around the city blocks. It was as though the stars above, scattered and majestic were reflected into their opposite nature in the mirror of the urban sprawl - rigid and artificial but somehow beautiful.

Her mane flowed a little in the breeze, aromas of street cooking teased her nostrils and little hints of busy night life activity came to her ears from far away. There was little time for her to take it in though as there was important work for her to do in this place.

Now that she new nearly for sure that they were looking for a stallion, in his twenties or thirties without a cutie mark: the possible list of candidates was greatly reduced. It was enormously rare for one so old to have never found his mark, and when it had happened usually the circumstances were far from good. She’d seen some cases of curses or dark magic at work, other times when there were horrors in a pony’s past and that prevented them from finding their special talent.

After her disturbing encounter in the dreamscape, and her brief glimpse of the suffering stallion through that awful black turbulence Luna had immediately summoned her sister. The two had discussed the circumstances and then dispatched instructions through magical mediums through to the various cities, colonies and towns across Equestria. Specifically they instructed the local principalities to use their medical functions to look out for any colts who had come to seek help who were also absent a cutie mark.

It took a few days for the search to complete but eventually a small shortlist of possible candidates came through. Luna had set off immediately to try to locate them, the first one being in Canterlot. It wasn’t in the end the one she had seen in her dreams, but the particular stallion had been very humbled and delighted by the visit from the princess. Named Bramble Bloom his reason for still being a blank flank was quite saddening.

As a young colt he’d been abused by his father, to an extreme that Luna found to be staggering. There were cases of this kind of thing in pony society, of course, but to the extent that Bramble had suffered - this was a rare and terrible thing indeed. He’d attempted suicide many times and still had the marks around his neck and lacerations across his body. He had a look in his eyes similar to those that she’d seen in some of the battle weary soldiers of times gone past, looking out to the horizon all the time; whether it was there or not.

She had been encouraged though by how he explained that his life was now filled with a new purpose. He had trained to become a counsellor, helping other young fillies and colts who were victims of violence or abuse during their younger years. He lived well of his work, well enough to afford to live in Canterlot but was still quite reclusive, interacting mostly with the medical profession.

They had spent an afternoon talking, and despite the horrible backstory Luna had found him to be an inspiring and life affirming pony to talk to. Saying their goodbyes later she thought to herself at how disconnected she’d become from her subjects and how ponies like Twilight and her friends had brought her back to a sense of fellowship and closness. She made a note to see about getting some additional funding for Blossom’s practice but then focussed herself again on the task at hand.

The foul machinations of that ugly dream vortex had been getting worse each night, she needed to find out who he was. The mass had been engoring, and although there was no cause for alarm yet she had a small worry of it beginning to infringe on other dreams.

Manehattan was the next destination with a new name on the list to check out and this was where the search would continue.

“Sunny Shade,” she mumbled to herself. “An oxymoron for a pony’s name if I ever heard it.”

Luna glided down quietly and smoothly into the bustle of the street below. It was nearly midnight but the city was beating with life. There were a few little gasps of recognition around her as she set down next to an unassuming little apartment block - ponies recognising the princess of the night and huddling together excitedly to exchange hurried little incredulous whispers.

She stepped up to the door, looked up and down and found the name, though it seemed the Sunny part had been scratched off slightly. She depressed the buzzer with the base of her hoof and waited for a moment. There was no reply.

Luna made a few more attempts and then ultimately decided it was futile and instead teleported into the interior in a flash of brilliant light. The corridor was musky and dark inside with one too many electric lights that seemed in urgent need of replacement. It was an apartment building of some kind and she slowly made her way up the creaking stairs to the top floor.

“38” she announced to herself. There were tiny sounds from inside, barely discernable and she rapped on the door. As soon as she did so there was a scuffling and panicked sound from inside, with the telltale crescendo of stacked objects having been knocked over in a cascade. She winced slightly.

After what seemed like far too long a pause, the door slowly opened to reveal the pony she had been searching for.

Sunny Shade had a dark grey coat, unkempt hair and honestly looked like he had very poor hygiene. The coltish scent of an unclean single stallion’s room came through, complete with traces of stale takeout food, a gush of ancient smelling dust. She could see past his head that her suspicious about the room were justified, it barely looked fit for pony habitation.

“Who are you?” He asked with a meek yet somehow aggressive voice.

Luna stared for a moment then came to her senses, raising herself up a little more proudly. “Sunny Shade it is I, your Princess Of Dreams,” then she paused for a moment from what she assumed would be the inevitable gasp of astonishment and perhaps even a respectful bow. When nothing of the sort was forthcoming she looked down to meet his gaze.

“I’m supposed to be impressed?” He muttered, with layers of hidden bile bubbling away below the surface.

“I….” having never been spoken to in this way the alicorn’s inevitable anger was delayed for a moment, but only a moment in the end, “how DARE you speak to your princess this way! I came to you because you asked for help in your dream!” Raising herself up on her hind quarters a little her eyes glowed with indignation.

Sunny Shade looked up at her and there was an intensity in his eyes that made even a princess back off slightly.

“My dreams are mine, MINE! How dare you, just because you’re royalty you think you can do what you want? I hate you… I hate you. I HATE YOU, YOU FUCKING STINKING CUNT!” By the end he screamed so loud that there was even commotion in some of the adjacent flats as sleeping ponies were stirred by the outburst.

Luna’s mouth hung open and she tried to speak but found she could not, aghast at the intensity of Sunny Shade’s incandescent rage.

“You, you… don’t speak to a princess like that, ” she replied, but almost whispering, stunned to near silence.

“FUCK YOU!” Sunny Shade rasped, and then his eyes filled with horrible wet tears and he collapsed onto the floor. “I’m so sorry, oh gosh I’m so sorry, so sorry…I hate myself.” He sobbed and muttered on the ground in a terrifying pathos that Luna had never experienced even across the millennia.

She remained rooted to the spot for what felt like a long time, even as she heard the whisperings of curious ponies peering out from their own flat doors. Luna had felt a swelling, a terrible swelling, not in this world but in the dreamscape as though she could sense the collapsed and dormant form of the nightmare pulsing in response to his anger - waiting there, malevolently to torment him the next time he slept.
Never had she been spoken to so disrespectfully, not even by the worst of villains who at least usually showed some modicum of feigned respect. In days gone by she would have summoned the police or guards and sent him to the dungeon - a temptation that certainly was prominent in her right this moment.

She of course remembered that this kind of arbitrary detention was no longer permitted except in cases of extreme magical aggression or villainy. It gave her a little pause for thought though, the world had moved on and being a princess didn’t mean the same thing it did many thousands of years ago.

“Sunny Shade…” she spoke, finally, very softly, “your princess is having some difficulty knowing what to say here. I know your nightmares are horrible, I’ve seen them, but not from the inside, I wasn’t trying to pry, I heard you call for help.”

“It’s the same every night,” he grunted, prone and sobbing onto the carpet, so close that he could smell the tears dampening the layer of dust that had settled through so much neglect.

“What do you dream of?” Luna pressed, her heart beating a little faster.

“I can’t… I can’t.. tell you,” he moaned, seemingly unable to get the words out.

“How can I help you?” she pressed, moving close to him, even reaching out a little with her hoof, but deciding not to touch him: it seemed like she could not predict how he might react.

“I don’t know,” he sobbed. “but thank you for coming, thank you.”

The princess felt she was a little out of her depth, still shocked at the language he’d just used and the extent of the rage directed at her, but yet now Sunny was seemingly thanking her. It didn’t appear forced or fake in the least, it seemed genuine but incredibly desperate. There was clearly more here than she felt equipped to deal with on her own, assistance was now a necessity.

“Sunny. I don’t know that your princess, that I, know quite what to do here… But I shall be back tomorrow with help. If that is, if you want my help still?” she chose her words carefully, clearly the idea of consent was important to him and she wanted to make that as obvious as possible. IT was a strange experience for her, she was very used as a princess to generally just getting what she wanted when she asked for it. Perhaps in a strange way Sunny Shade had taught her something.

He nodded his acceptance.

“OK,” she replied carefully “hold on, just for a little longer,” she left quietly, dazed and uneasy, a queer feeling in her stomach. She’d come from feeling offended, enraged, to scared and sympathetic and then confused - all in smallest time. If this was how Sunny Shade felt then she was hardly surprised he seemed incredibly confused and distressed. Nor was it any wonder that his nightmares had taken on such a horrific quality. Still dazed she escaped into the night, resolving to get the best assistance she could.

Opening her eyes slowly Fluttershy yawned a little and felt the stiffness of her legs ease out under as she stretched in an almost feline way. She sighed peacefully and turned quietly to face Irids who was already awake, he was looking at her with a loving and contented gaze.

“You were dreaming about being the pet again, weren’t you?” he asked her, his voice still holding onto the cotton softness of recent sleep.

“Yes,” she replied very gently in that soft wonderful voice, sliding laterally under the covers a little so as to be closer to him, “I keep forgetting changelings can feel dreams too.”

“We can…” Iridis replied with a trace of sadness.

“What happened wasn’t your fault Iridis,” Fluttershy reassured him, giving him a brief tender kiss on the cheek, as she came close his comforting familiar scent washed over her nostrils - that morning scent that fortified itself during sleep. It wasn’t quite like a pony, but after getting used to it it made her feel safe, wanted and secure.

“I know.” He answered at length.

He’d explained to her how the changelings would use dream intervention magic to extract love from those they captured. Suspended in green sinewy pods the ponies were forced into a perpetual trance of desirous love: the manifestation of the emotions seeping and dripping down into a emerald fluorescent pool far below.

Fluttershy had remarked that at least they were ‘happy’ dreams that were being induced but Iridis had shaken his head. The changelings would artificially induce longing and desire, a sexual and ravenous fever so that although not strictly a nightmare the poor prisoners would never know peace. It wasn’t a duty that Iridis had ever himself performed but he did indeed understand the process quite well, having helped out in most places of the hive. He intensely hated having ever been a part of it.

The pegasus could now see that his rekindled ability was bringing them closer together. Although it was a little strange having the most private and hidden parts of her imagination exposed to him, she began to get used to it. Sometimes the results were magical as when they shared a dream and were able to talk about it the next day, or when he would wake her from a horrible nightmare and hold her tight - preempting her emergence with a soothing hug.

One of the slightly more peculiar and initially embarrassing discoveries was that Iridis would have a broadly unfettered view of some of Fluttershy's most intimate sexual dreams. Of course, like all the erotic peregrinations of the imagination there was no subject that the subconscious would not bring to the fore in one form or another - things often that would normally not turn her on even in her most honest daydreams. The first time she knew Iridis had seen a dream where she had had a passionate liaison with Big Mac she was worried he might be jealous or upset.

He wasn’t though and it prompted one of the most touching and gloriously honest conversations she’d ever had with another ‘pony’. They confessed their little crushes, and secret fantasies with each other, coming to an understanding that their desire would definitely extend to other ponies at some points in their lives. They both agreed to be faithful to each other though, but it was decided then and there that there was no such thing as infidelity in dreams. Fluttershy made a few requests - Iridis could help her by not dwelling ‘too’ much on another pony to the point it affected him, and perhaps could keep some of his fantasies about her close friends to himself.

Iridis had responded by offering to Fluttershy that he would take any form she wanted if he was comfortable with it, wanting to be there for her pleasure. It took a little while for her to warm to the idea, but sometimes, in the morning, waking up in hot arousal and enveloped within the folds of the sheets, memories of sensual visions were still lingering like an aftertaste of forbidden fruit.

She felt it right now, the need for something. Iridis sensed it too.

“Something you want to ask for Fluttershy?” he said to her, moving on top of her a little so that she could feel the weight of her mate spread over her chest.

She blushed fiercely, and closed her eyes for a moment, nursing the little itch within and trying to resist.

“Fluttershy dear, you know you don’t have to be scared with me, it’s just us,” he moved a little closer and whispered soothingly in her ear, “let me know what you want, you’ll not feel like it later, I know how you are in the mornings so you have to commit to it now.”

“Umm… hee,” she giggled nervously, flushed beyond all measure. “Umm… I always feel it’s such a bother to ask,” she protested, but her scent and little movements gave away all too clearly her arousal, her folds sliding over each other tantalisingly as she squirmed some under the covers.

“Please,” he insisted and he felt her relax completely and look up at him, lost for a moment somewhere intimate yet distant, a place where he knew she could ask for whatever she wanted.

“Can you umm, do the umm, you know, that bunny thing again,” she whispered, uncompromisingly embarrassed yet flushed and radiant.

“The bunny? Oh I remember,” Iridis recalled, smiling down at her, “I remember perfectly.”

She was of course referring to a little fantasy that she’d had; a sudden embarrassing little request after she woke up from a fairly habitual dream. That had been the first time and this was now the second time she had come back to it. In some ways it was all the more tantalising as she knew how it would feel in advance.

“You really do like being the pet,” Iridis whispered to her gently, “just relax my sweet.”

Fluttershy moaned out, “Oooooh, oh please,” in her soft quiet voice. Thinking about what was about to happen made her feel warm and wet - and wanted. She turned herself over to her front.

Casting aside the sheets to the ground the covers sank into their own little dunes like folds of chocolate draped over a counter. Exposed for him, prone and resting on her belly, the pegasus let out a deep sigh as she spread her back hooves a little and flicked her tail this way and as an invitation.

The transformation above her bathed her back in a blue light - only for a moment - then she felt the promise of a heavier form, heralded by sporadic twangs as the bedsprings adjusted to a new load. Atop her, a fully changed Iridis was now in the form of a rabbit, a very large one at that - looking similar to the dream form of Angel Bunny when he was brushing Fluttershy’s mane.

She liked this. It was so secret to them, so personal and so intimate. Something she could never share with anyone, not even Twilight whom she trusted most deeply. Her changeling lover had sensed something in the dream, something so hidden and so subtle that even she wasn’t aware of it. Having her hair brushed, having herself fussed over by a larger Angel Bunny was of course a satisfying and relaxing little role-reversal. Though apparently there was much more to it…

Fluttershy was of course acquainted with animal mating to the point where it was barely a taboo for her anymore. She’d seen the cute little bunnies rutting out their blushing fever, often in the open with no shame to speak of. She sometimes sneakily watched a little longer than she thought was warranted, loving the sight of the buck atop the doe and the fast pleasureable little dance the two would perform together.

She wanted that, to be pressed down and mated, very hard and very quick- to relinquish control and to have the pace set for her by her lover.

Iridis moved above her slowly and carefully. He was large enough to nearly touch the ceiling, pure white with large paws and even bigger hind legs. Stepping back off the bed a little he rested his forepaws on her cheeks and kneaded there, taking advantage of the rabbit paws to press into the flesh and roll waves of the yellow plot up and down. Pressing, rolling and breathing. She loved his breathing and he put on a much louder more forceful show, grunting and clicking just a bit to give little hints to her of his being a truly ‘feral’ creature.
Something about those sounds triggered something in her.

He was not anatomically a rabbit in full as there was certainly one token of his changeling form that she’d asked him to keep, his long smooth serpent like tongue. In a sudden moment of chimeral glory, the large snout of the ‘rabbit’ pressed hard between Fluttershy’s thighs, spreading her lips and giving a long slow firm lick over the full girth of her flushed vulva.

“Oooooooooh. MMmmm,” she moaned out, suddenly tipsy with delight at the first lick.

It was of the second though that she most anticipated. He spread out her cheeks further with those large soft firm rabbit paws, forcing her plot hole into a ravishing diamond shape and parting the labia. Everything of her petals was now on show for him, glistening, fragrant and overpowering with the deep complex perfume of his pretty sweet mare.

“So exposed…” she commented dreamily, “oh Mr Bunny - it’s so embarrassing, whatever ever will I ooooooooh!” she cried out as the second wave of attention begin in earnest, inevitably and to her delight.

Firm smooth licks began to fondle and explore every area, and there was nowhere he couldn’t given the blessing of his prehensile tongue. Iridis first focussed on the inside of the labia minora, massaging the inner wall to a greater arousal and spreading her intense mare flavour everywhere he could. Then next down to her clitoris, pushing through over the sensitive proud nub, even far enough to tie his tongue to an almost red bow around the small flattened swell of her breasts: he rubbed them a little as she shifted over them.

How lucky I am, Fluttershy thought to herself, maybe even I should be guilty for this, none of my friends will ever have this.

Raising her head a little she let her tongue slide slowly from her mouth, hanging lazily as she gave herself over to the indulgence. It was as though her lover was everywhere at once and as soon as one tiny place felt lonely he would come back there to caress it yet again. This was how it had been the last time and she knew what he would do, build her up to an unbearable arousal before rutting her hard - hopefully to a final climax.

Fluttershy let out a long satisfied sigh and let herself fully sink onto her belly, twitching and occasionally as she tried to remain as relaxed as she could, not tensing, just trying to let the intensity of Iridis’s attentions drive her crazy. Everything about her felt hot and flustered now, tingles along her spine, a warmth like fire on her neck as though she could suddenly feel the touch of even the tiny air motes. There was a buzzing that jumped in and out of her hooves, down her legs then back whence it came to the origin of his attentions, as though pleasure and warmth washed in and out of her vagina and back out to every erogenous zone in her body.

“Oooh ooh bunny, bunny!” she called out in little tiny whispers, as though trying to cry out in joy but simply squeaking out her encouragement, “oh, now, please, now… I can’t take it anymore!”

That was his cue, he knew it.

The Iridis rabbit reared up, hopping onto the protesting bed and scuffled itself into position above her, squatting and bringing its large red tapered and impossibly oversized penis into alignment with her winking mare hood.

He reached down with a paw and settled a little onto her, helping to press the head up against her opening which was now oozing arousal. Fluttershy lowered her head and bit into one of the pillows knowing the entry would be rough and intense - and craving it.

The head, though tapered was still fat and swollen and ready to make its rugged entrance. Pushing at the entrance she felt the pressure increase as the giant form atop her let its weight rest almost wholly on the apex of that large swollen shaft. She moaned out loud as she caved in to him feeling a long impossible sinking, longer and deeper than was feasible even with the most endowed of stallions. So far in he went she felt the the curious pressure against her cervix, even the threat of entry.

Fluttershy felt so completely filled and so entirely helpless under him, as furred muscular and enormously caricatured thighs squeezed and scrabbled over her, pushing her into the protesting bed springs. Then the mating started and it was fast and merciless. This was the moment she longed for once again. True there was less of the fresh surprise of discovery, but it was all the more delicious in knowing how good it was going to be.

The sleeve of her vagina was repeatedly rammed, stuffed and ravaged as Iridis simulated the frantic movements of an amorous buck. Each time he came down she arched her back as the cup of his groin and thighs slapped against her cheeks - then came the withdrawal, so fast and vigorous it felt as though her insides caved into the vacuum. The sucking and stretching accelerated her to the peak of arousal and it felt like it would never stop.

At least three or four motions a second it was almost too much for her and with a moan finally of a volume matching her pleasure she raised her eyes to the ceiling and let her mouth open as though having a fit - barely able to think coherently.

“Nnnnow feed… feed,” she pleaded, barely aware of her own words.

“Are you sure? it might be too much for you,” he replied in his own voice, “we didn’t last time.”

“You must. Please!” she begged with a pleading and desperation in her voice that almost scared him.

Iridis doubled over as he butted himself back and forth on her, biting her neck gently and drinking deeply from her love, as so many times before. The intensity of having her fantasy realised once again had driven her to edge of a terrifying climax, but this too was much for her.

When her orgasm finally broke upon her it felt like she was tumbling through a giant wave, washed senseless as every nerve in her body exploded - her mind imagining being driven against the soft sand of the seabed and held there, helpless and half drowned.

Filled to the brim, mated hard and fast, drained of the excess love she radiated like a dying star it was as though she died then and there - and was reborn.

“Fluttershy?””

“Fluttershy?”

“Oh dear.”

“Is she ok?”

“Twilight, is she ok?”

The voices didn’t feel real, nor could the pegasus tell who was speaking, as though her head was immersed in syrup. Everything was so indistinct and abstract. When finally she opened her eyes and looked upwards the large dabbles of colour solidified into the faces of her friends.

Fluttershy counted off the ponies she saw, “Twilight, Iridis, doctor?”

“She’s awake, oh Fluttershy,” said Twilight, her voice full of relief, “looks like she’s ok.”

“Thank Celestia,” proclaimed Iridis, nestling gently next to Fluttershy on the bed, “oh my sweet I was so worried, I was so scared.”

Fluttershy looked around a little, feeling a soreness shoot from her neck down her spine, wincing she then exclaimed, “this isn’t my room!”

“No Miss Shy you’re in the hospital,” Dr Horse explained, leaning over, “we weren’t sure if the problem was more magical or medical, or both frankly: so we took you here as quick as could.”

“I had to tell them, what we did…” Iridis explained, a little embarrassed and somewhat worried over Fluttershy’s reaction. She blushed a powerful crimson and raised a sore hoof up to her mouth.

Twilight sensed her friend’s insecurity and interjected quickly “it’s ok Fluttershy, it’s ok, only us here know. It’s not going to umm, go any further than this room. Iridis had to tell us: we were worried about you.”

“So, what happened?” gentle Fluttershy asked, sounding very weak.

“Honestly I’m not sure,” Twilight replied, “but from what I can see it’s some kind of pleasure overload. I’m not just pulling that out of my butt either, there are spells, quite dangerous ones that can cause drastic overstimulation. During part of my training Celestia performed one on me so that I would at least understand how to counter it- it was still something I try hard to forget - but it made me pretty sick for a while.

“The symptoms you had reminded me of that, but also, well, Iridis explained what you umm did. Frankly we were both a little worried about - well - broken bones or spinal injury. That’s why we’re in the hospital, just in case. I can definitely use some spells to check for injuries in a body but it’s not my area of expertise. I couldn’t just leave you in the house, I teleported us both here.”

“Thankyou Twilight,” Fluttershy whispered quietly, “and Iridis, I know you’ll probably beat yourself up about this, but don’t, please don’t. I wanted it.”

She blushed all the more severely at that confession in the plain view of the two ponies. He stayed silent and nodded some, nuzzling right into the size of her neck - but gently so as not to hurt her.

“You’ll need to stay here for a few days at least,” the doctor said “just to be on the safe side, and in future please try to be a bit more careful when you - well - when you,” his voice trailed off a little, “let’s just leave it at that, you know what I mean. But seriously whatever it was you did, it was too much, too much at once.”

Fluttershy and Iridis nodded to each other and sank back a little into the hospital bed.

Twilight blushed a little herself and smiled down at the pair. She left one final instruction as she moved to leave the room, “I’ll leave you two for a moment, but I’m going to have to get the opinion of another mage on this. Just to be safe. Fluttershy and Iridis, both of you need to think about who you’d be most comfortable with, let me know on your way out Iridis, ok?”

“Ok,” he replied.

As Doctor Horse and Twilight left the room, shutting the door behind them, Fluttershy stirred a little in the clinical pure white hospital sheets. She turned her head to look Iridis in the eyes.

“Don’t you dare say sorry,” she said and he smiled back.
“We do need to be more careful though, Fluttershy, darling you nearly gave me a heart attack,” Iridis explained, his eyes a little sad.

“Aren’t you going to ask me what it was like?” she replied, quietly and even perhaps a little seductively. She beckoned him close.

“What was it like?”

“It was like…” she leant in and began to whisper in his ear.

A few days later Fluttershy was more or less back to normal, though with a little soreness here and there.Twilight and her had blushed when they met after the ‘incident’, but that soon passed and true to her word nobody else was any the wiser. Fluttershy had chosen Luna to be the mage who would provide a second opinion on whether there anything more sinister that had occurred, such a magical malady of some sort.

It had seemed to the pegasus that Luna was probably used to being in all kind of dreams and fantasies, much like Iridis, and she felt the princess would understand a little better about what had driven her to such a risky act. Luna’s repressed smile during the explanation seemed to validate her conjecture.

In that moment that she’d become unconscious all she could remember was being broken with pleasure, and of feeling so close to Iridis that it could be though they were intertwined as one. There was a little bit of a worrisome side though which was that she’d not considered the consequences on her dependants. Spike and Discord had done a pretty good job of looking after the critters and animals during her absence (with only a few inappropriate transformations), but she did feel guilty at diving so headlong into pleasure that she’d not thought about what might happen if she got hurt.

Whatever happened though she knew the memory would never leave, and what a happy memory it was.

Now that things seemed to be regressing back to normality she was surprised to get another visit from Luna who had descended one evening into the garden as the couple sat enjoying some tea, surrounded by a collection of friendly and endearing critters - their secret chatter was obtuse to Iridis, though occasionally Fluttershy would respond in their tongue.

“Good evening Fluttershy,” Luna began, then “no need to bow, please, I feel as though we know each other well enough.”

“To what do we owe the pleasure Luna?” she asked.

“There are, some troubling things happening at present; these matter are such that I may need your help,” announced Luna, “if I may, can I come in?”

A little later the three were assembled in Fluttershy’s living room and having furnished Luna with a hot cup of tea they listened to her explain the events that had occurred recently. She described the horrific nightmare and the desperate and damaged pony who was plagued by it - Sunny Shade.

Fluttershy and Iridis listened very carefully. It was of interest to Luna though that when she described the temperament and extreme volatility of Sunny Shade Iridis began to nod, showing some kind of recollection.

“Have you encountered this kind of thing before Iridis?” she asked him.

He nodded slowly, “yes I have, when I was back at the hive, when I was my former self, we had a word for ponies like that. We called them ‘The Tainted’. It was as though their love was so close to their anger that it was impossible to tell the two apart. We found that feeding from such ponies could make a changeling very sick; it could even be fatal. They were the only ones we avoided.”

Luna agreed, “the therapists I’ve consulted on this matte suggest the label Borderline, they describe it similarly to your intuitive experience Iridis. It is as though the sufferers are on a knife edge at all times.”

“So,” Fluttershy began, “what is it that we can do to help? I’m not sure what we can do, but you know you can count on us.”

“I know Fluttershy,” smiled Luna, “you’re not the only ones involved in this, Celestia and Twilight are already informed, and soon I shall be seeking the counsel of all your friends. But there is something very specific I do need to ask, if you Iridis.”

“What might that be?” he asked, curious.

“Iridis The Changeling,” she announced, suddenly adopting a more formal tone and improvising some kind of full title for him, “I wish to request that you become my pupil, that I may teach you the ways of dreams and you may help me uncover what is at the root of this impenetrable nightmare.”

Fluttershy and Iridis looked into each other’s eyes for a moment and then looked back.

“Luna,” he whispered, after a deep breath, “this is all very sudden. You really think I can help you?”

It was Fluttershy though who nestled closer into him, tapping his thigh with her hoof, “I know you can sweet buglet,” she encouraged, “if of course, um, it’s what you want? I wouldn’t want to put words in your mouth.”

“Buglet?” Luna mumbled to herself quietly, “that’s interesting, I wonder if it works for, Celestlet, not that sounds forced,” - soon realising she was off topic she continued in earnest - “I know it is much to ask,” Luna explained, “but frankly this is something I’ve never experienced before. I fear that this dream may eventually begin to affect others. After that awful Tantabus incident I am certainly eager to prevent some catastrophe of a similar kind.”

“This is, well, such an honour to be asked,” Iridis gasped, shaking his head a little, but then finally settling his gaze on the Princess’s face, “yes, yes Luna, I accept. When do we start?”

“Right away!” she said, with an urgent tone that took both by surprise.

“What about Sunny? Is he going to be ok?” Fluttershy inquired.

“Yes he shall, I think, well, I’m not sure,” the Princess replied, a strange display of exhausted emotions flickering across her face, “it took some persuasion but we managed to get him to agree to leave Manehattan and come to Canterlot. Hopefully eventually into Ponyville. We’re treating this at much the same level of importance as when you moved you here Iridis. It’s not though been, a very easy process. I haven’t been talked to that way before, he can be extraordinarily abusive. It was everything I could not to blast him for his impudence - but then, sometimes I feel so much pity for him it hurts. It’s like he’s…”

“Turning you into him?” Iridis remarked, bluntly.

“Yes,” Luna turned to face him, “yes Iridis that’s an astute observation. Seems I picked the right friend to help me,” she suddenly appeared to drop her guard a little, letting the veil of royalty fall somewhat for just a moment, “it’s exhausting being with him. Yet sometimes, he’ll say the strangest thing, take me by surprise.”

“Luna,” Iridis began, sliding off the couch, “I admire so much what you want to do here, to try to help him, but, I don’t know that you can.”

Fluttershy and Luna both were surprised by this and after Iridis became aware of their puzzled reactions he quickly sought to clarify his remark.

“All I’m saying is that even though some of ‘The Tainted’ did change it was always, well, still ‘poisoned milk’?” he explained, gesticulating the inverted commas with his porous hooves; suddenly then he realised how that sounded. He caught a glimpse of sadness in Fluttershy which made him regretful of putting it in those terms, “I’m not like that anymore, I’m sorry, I’m not saying that he can’t change, it’s just that. It seems from my experience to be hard. I know you helped me though so I’m willing to give it a good shot, ok?”

Luna nodded and smiled at him, “thankyou Iridis, and if both of you are willing I would like to start tonight. I fear there is no time to waste.”

And so it was settled, Iridis would be Luna's new disciple.

Dream Disciple

It had been agreed that the dream lessons would be held in Twilight’s castle, at least to start with, as it would provide ample space for solitude and privacy as Iridis would begin to hone his skills. Twilight welcomed them to a spacious room on the upper concourse that had been hastily furnished with beds to accommodate the lessons.

“Now before we begin,” Luna started, “there is a matter that we do need to speak of. Truth be told it is a little difficult since my nocturnal pursuits have habitually been lonesome. What I am about to tell you is very important.”

“Ok.” he acknowledged, taking in for a moment the recently dusted tapestries that hung on the walls. Rarity and some of the other helpful artisans had certainly done a splendid job furnishing the castle with appropriate looking decor. It almost seemed too new though as the castle history was recent and all the banners and trappings were colourful and modern, not archaic and faded. Taking a deep breath he could detect some aromas consistent with such a place, such as moisture and it comforted him in some sense he couldn’t explain.

“So, Iridis”, she said, averting her eyes for a moment, “when entering ponies’ dreams, there are all manner of private things you may see. I have a very strict code concerning confidentiality. What you hear or see it never to be revealed to anypony without the consent of the dream’s owner. Is that understood?”

He nodded then asked, “so, what about entering without their knowledge, isn’t that against their consent too?”

The Princess froze for a moment, lips sealed as she pondered this question. It felt uncomfortably familiar as she’s only recently just had a conversation along these lines with Sunny Shade, “well, it may be, I honestly never thought about this much until recently, I always considered myself an observer not a voyeur, though there is one thing that remains true - the world of dreams must be protected. It’s something I must do, even if perhaps there are, some questions left to ask.”

She looked like she was hiding something, but he chose to ignore it - instead nodding at her.

“Very well my pupil,” Luna continued, “now though comes, the more, sensitive part. Ponies have all kinds of dreams,” she blushed a little, “often times these dreams go to places that we may not expect, perhaps you can recall the example with your dear Fluttershy, when you called me over to make an assessment on her health?”

He nodded, certainly sure of where this was going and frankly not as worried as Luna. Sex was something that was viewed as a tool in changeling society, something they used to extract love from their prey - not something interwoven in their whole psyche, or their taboos. Discovering it had been wonderful, but he hadn’t quite picked up the embarrassment part yet.

“So you see Iridis in journeying with me through the dreamscape you shall experience much, including, well many, shall we say,” she paused a moment to pick her words carefully, “salaciously oriented dreams?”

He blinked in incomprehension.

“Sex dreams,” the Princess admitted, now quite red. It had never bothered her when she was simply on her own, she was used to it, but somehow admitting it to another made her feel dirty and leering. She never stayed around to leer though, at least, not except in one particular case.

Sensing her discomfort Iridis moved forward and boldly tapped her chest, reassuringly, “I think you’ll find it really doesn’t bother me Luna, well at least the idea of it, I guess it would make me a little uneasy if I knew the pony didn’t know I was watching.”

Luna nodded slowly, assessing this, “in that case it would make sense for me to find willing subjects for such an, excursion,” she suggested, “for the meantime though we should agree to leave should anything take too sudden a turn to the, well, more erotic.”

He nodded and the two were very happy with their agreement.

“So what happens now?” he asked.

“Now we sleep,” she instructed, guiding him to a bed next to her.

The pressure to lapse into slumber made the affair very difficult for Iridis who felt flustered and was awake for another three hours or so. However Luna was a very patient teacher and he eventually starting to calm down and feel more comfortable - slowly his began to feel burdened and heavy: eventually after a paroxysm of yawning he began to drift off.

He didn’t remember falling to sleep, but he soon found himself in a very white place. He looked around. Often when he dreamed there was a fuzziness in his ‘head’ that made him perceive the dream as real; it was different this time though. Everything was crystal clear and as lucid as real life, or at least as asymptotically close as was possible.

“This is the dreamscape,” announced a familiar voice from beside him, “and here we shall begin our journey.”

Iridis looked around every which way he could, finding he could move himself without beating his wings. Then he looked around in a completely different axis and gasped, the sound ghostly.

“This is, this is, I don’t know the words, but it’s like the way I can see myself when I transform, everything inside and outside together, as though flat,” he struggled to express what he meant.

Luna interjected, realising what he was meaning, “yes Iridis the dreamscape has four spatial dimensions and it seems you already have learned to rotate through the fourth axis. It’s interesting to me how you perceive your own transformation as such, intuitively without needing to be taught.”

“Yeah, interesting, a fourth dimension, I guess that makes sense but I never thought of it like that. We’re born with the ability to transform,” he added, looking around again in various directions, full of wonder, “we just understand it. You have to get the bones, organ, tissue, everything that is connected has to work. We have to really understand how it all joins up.”

“As time goes on,” Luna continued, “I shall teach you to navigate more effectively and find the places where the dreams of ponies are manifested. It may take some time…”

“Found one!” Iridis chirped up, hovering next to a shimmering horizon that didn’t look too dissimilar to the surface of a bubble, inside a jumble of shapes shifted and refracted in incomprehensible ways, he gave the surface an investigatory poke.

“Please please Iridis don’t poke the mayor’s dream!” Luna commanded, appearing a little grumpy and Iridis backed off slightly, grinning nervously, “I must say that you have advanced more quickly than I thought.”

“How can I see what’s inside, it seems,” Iridis pondered struggling again for the words, “this is just part of a section of it right, one slice, the whole thing is… hmmm, it’s like, it’s like it’s a - Like the surface of the moon or something, a sphere, but it’s lots of them all on top of each other?” he looked to Luna for help, having difficulty expressing himself.

Luna smiled happily, very impressed, “very astute my pupil, yes it’s called a hypersphere. It’s the four dimensional analog of a sphere. The surface is the space the pony perceives as the bounds of the dream, they could move in any direction and they would reach where they start. In order to see that part we have to affix ourselves onto that hypersurface.”

“Yes ok, I see, somehow,” he replied, suddenly feeling a shiver down his whole body that even caused a tiny little insect like spasm of his wings. “It’s like the dream is an apple, the pony moves on the surface and we’re above, able to see everything. We’ve have to be on there to see it the way they see it.”

“That’s correct,” Luna affirmed.

Iridis stared hard and realised that the jumble of shapes that he saw wasn’t just a mesmeric and random collection of tubes and orbs, it was one slice he was seeing through the whole world. He was sure he saw the mayor’s body pass in and out of that one slice a few times, fascinated at seeing the wax and wane of her whole body and organs as she moved through.

“I could never be the same again after this,” he gasped, “I wish I could cry like you ponies, this is amazing. I feel just sad my eyes are so limited.”

“Sometimes I wish I could see with better eyes myself,” Luna expressed, smiling broadly, “Iridis it’s so nice to share this with somepony who truly understands. Twilight does, at least intellectually but she doesn’t intuit the space here the way you do - there is so much more here to discover, alas though some of it may have to wait.”

“Yes, we do have a job to do” he agreed, suppressing the wonder as best he could, “but I wonder what is inside the dream bubbles, spheres, whatever you want to call them, if the dream is the surface?”

“An excellent question,” Luna began, “as you will see when we enter the inside later that is where the reality of the dream is connected to the desire, ego and subconscious of the pony who created it. There are filaments, made from the ether here which you will see criss cross the interior attached to everything in the dream. It’s a place to exercise great care though, strumming on those strings can have any kind of effect on the dream, and on the subject. I can influence dreams by cutting or forming new links inside, changing the nature of what occurs.”

“Sounds like you could exert quite some control over a pony like that?” he asked, still mesmerised by the shifting surface.

“Yes, and sadly I did, in another life. We both have deep regrets in the way we have acted. But in the same way you now use your transformation for good, so I only manipulate when there is a genuine need. I admit that when I say it as such it sounds strange. As a princess I’m not used to having to justify myself. Perhaps what Sunny said to me was something I needed to hear,” she pondered.

“You know Luna, you say I use my transformation for good, but to be fair it’s only really been for pranks so far and for hot sex,” he grinned, smiling and exposing his fangs even more. It could look scary in a another circumstance but right now it made Luna suppress a little giggle.

“In that case, are you ready to enter a dream?” she asked him, pointing the surface of the bubble.

“Yes,” he affirmed, eyes wide with the promise of discovery, and following her lead they ‘flattened’ themselves onto the ‘surface’ and entered the mayor’s dream.

The next month seemed like it thundered by, a whirlwind of active and often sleepless nights as Luna pushed the changeling hard - he learned at an astronomical rate and was soon very comfortable slipping in and out of dreams, staying invisible as he did so. Journeying into other ponies’ psyches was a revelation for him as he saw the hidden terrors and secret little bugaboos that plagued them - all the little worries and anxieties made him understand more than ever for the first time that he was not alone.

Fluttershy of course had done most of that work, helping him grow into an individual with self respect and his own identity - but this just cemented what he already was beginning to suspect: everypony was connected in their fears, their hopes and their dreams: how much more alike they were than he could ever explain to them.

It came to pass that Sunny Shade did eventually agree to move to Ponyville and whilst Luna and Iridis focussed on the dream aspects, the mane six came together to form a plan how best to integrate him.

Things did not start very well.

The first meeting had been a disaster as Sunny had refused to enter the Friendship Castle, then when everyone came out to greet him he ran away and hid for a while crying, before angrily swearing at Twilight when she found him. Eventually after becoming so frustrated that she yelled at him something seemed to snap and he calmed significantly, becoming withdrawn and quiet: and not so agitated.

It had been a difficult decision to know just who to let him stay with and eventually they came upon the idea of sharing the responsibility between them. Applejack agreed to be the first one to help him out, and Sunny had actually eventually agreed. They managed to ‘sell’ it to him by pointing out that it was a little away from Ponyville and the stallion was acutely self-conscious of his blank flank. The fewer staring at him, the better he felt.

At the same time of all this he had agreed to counselling twice a week and medical help to supplement his ‘friendship lessons’.

His first introduction to Iridis was an awkward and strange encounter. They introduced themselves and stared for the longest time. Iridis later tried to explain to fluttershy what had made him freeze up - it hadn’t been his intention to be rude - it was only that ‘The Tainted’ (as they had been called to his kind) gave off such strange emotional indicators.

Iridis had tried many analogies to get across how it felt to him when he sensed Sunny’s turmoil. He eventually settled on the imagery of oil and water. Prefacing this with a disclaimer that it was a gross oversimplification, he likened the oil to the love and the water to hate. When ponies were in much stress or trouble the liquids would get mixed up, then find their levels again. However with Sunny it was like his glass was constantly being mixed all the time.

On the summit of a lovely hill outside Sweet Apple Acres, sitting under an apple tree Sunny felt empty and confused, looking out across the landscape and enjoying the sense of space and isolation. He had dark pronounced rings under his eyes from lack of sleep owing to the repeated nightmares and his expression moved between profound despair and anger.

A voice disturbed him from his ruminations.

“Sunny, are you ok? my sister didn’t mean that ya know, you just made her mad, ya used a real awful word!” piped up the now familiar voice of Applebloom. She had followed Sunny after he had run away from the farm having had a rather intense argument - if one could call it that - with Applejack.

He turned to her, and something in him relaxed a little. Sunny was often terrible with adults, but he was very good with fillies and colts: something Applejack had noticed to her surprise. Young ponies he found were very honest, in a way that adults weren’t and it just seemed to him so much easier to have a conversation.

“I’m sorry Applebloom, that I said those things,” he said to her.

“Why were you mean to my sister though? I mean she’s been awful kind to ya?” the filly pressed, more curious than angry.

Sunny had to think to himself for a moment in order to form an answer, “I just get so angry I can barely think. When I get like that I feel like I can’t let it go. It feels, addictive, like I can’t stop.”

Apple Bloom thought about this for a moment and nodded her little head slowly in comprehension, “that kind of makes some sense, I mean, sometimes I used to throw a huge tantrum and honestly I didn’t want to stop. I guess part of feels good, but you feel bad afterwards. Does that make any sense?”

Sunny smiled warmly, “it’s so much easier to talk to you err ‘younguns’ as you say on the farm. It’s been so hard for anyone to understand how I feel.”

Sensing she was making some progress Applebloom came to sit next to him, folding herself up over her crossed little filly legs and leaning into him tenderly. She could feel him tense for a moment, then relax a little, responding to the closeness.

“May I ask a question of ya Sunny?” she started, “it’s kinda personal though.”

“Sure,” he replied, quite sure he knew what was coming, but somehow not minding from her. Other ponies had asked before and it had produced some volcanic reactions, however he knew he wouldn’t feel that way if she asked.

“How you get all those scars, on your legs and stuff?” she inquired, looking at evenly spaced serrations that ran up and down his rear and forelegs. They were deep enough that the regrowth of the fur didn’t properly cover the original scars.

“I did them,” he answered and Applebloom looked heartbroken, “sometimes I’m so angry I feel all I can do is to hurt myself, to make it go away. Sometimes I’m, well, I just hate myself.”

Her eyes filled up a little and she nestled into him more firmly, “that’s awful Sunny, why would you hate yourself? You’re a good pony. You talk to me like I’m a grown mare, not a little filly, nobody else does that - except Iridis and sometimes Dashie.”

“I… don’t know but thank you Applebloom” he put a hoof around her and wished he could cry a little along with her - but he hadn’t cried for over ten years. At the very least though he was happy she was here, cheering him up.

The two sat still for a little while as they looked out across the countryside. Dimpled and lumpy with hills the orchards spread out for miles and there was a scent of apples behind every breath. He liked it, feeling he could pick out all the little nuances if he tried hard enough. Suddenly he was disturbed from his medication by a voice from behind.

“Finally found you two,” Applejack announced, no longer sounding angry, but with a slightly defensive tone.

Upon hearing her Applebloom felt a spasm run through Sunny as though all the tension she’d undone in the last few minutes shot back through him, she turned her head to glare at her sister and Applejack got the message.

She lowered her voice a little, made it softer and spoke again, “Sunny, look I didn’t mean what I said to ya, when I yelled and promised to kick you out. But, you gotta be understanding, you can’t be using that language here ok? It was mighty hurtful.”

Sunny stayed silent, frozen, looking ahead. Applebloom rubbed his side with her hoof, hoping it would calm him down some.

“I’m a terrible pony, I deserve to die,” he said and both sisters gasped a little.

“No no, don’t take it too far now Sunny,” she expressed, hoping this wouldn’t trigger another one of his outbursts, then pleading with him, “I’m just trying to express myself, please, don’t think it’s more than it is.”

Sunny snorted very hard, stood up and trotted away quickly, looking impossibly tense.

Applejack looked after him forlornly, “what am I going to do with him sugar cube, it’s like I can’t find any way in. Two steps forward, four steps back, ten steps forward, twenty steps back. It’s more confusing that one of those old folk dances Granny Smith tried to teach me.”

“He’s not a bad pony,” her sister piped up, “I know he isn’t big sis.”

“Yeah I know sugar cube,” Applejack sighed, “he’s real good with you, he’s been good too at figuring out some better ways of doing the chores, but when he’s around I just feels like I’m trotting on eggshells all the darn time. Don’t be rightly knowing if he’s gonna be a sweet apple or a sour one each time I see him. It’s mighty exhausting. Don’t know if I can take much more.”

“So you are kicking him out, Applejack if you do that he’ll think you meant what you said!” protested Applebloom.

“Relax, I’m not gonna do that, but he’s gonna need a new place to stay before too long,” she admitted, “for my own sanity as much as anything else.”

“Did someone hurt him in his past, like Diamond Tiara. We always just thought she was a big meanie, turned out it was her parents,” suggested the smaller sister, “think maybe his parents were bad to him, something like that? Did they kick him out, is that why he was living in that pig sty like?”

“From what Twilight says that would be a no, she had a good long talk with his parents when she helped bring him from Manehattan. Seems like they were as good as they could be, they didn’t make him leave the home, he just left one day - saying apparently he couldn’t stand them and cussing up a storm. They kept trying to help him but he would avoid them - it’s like he relished hurting his folks, and at the same time punishing himself for it. I dunno….”

“What does that mean?” Applebloom asked.

Applejack let out a long exasperated breath of air, “it’s means Sugarcube that I don’t think he was made into what he is, he was probably always like that. Nature can sure be cruel sometimes...”

Iridis was on his way to the friendship castle for what would be one of the final lessons of the first stage of Luna’s tuition. He had a renewed sense of urgency now that she had shown him Sunny’s nightmare. The image of it even infected his own dreams to some extent, like a dark black tumour in his brain. Part of him was filled with pity for Sunny, another part of him was simply frustrated - he knew that this to some extent would be self-inflicted - the stallion punishing himself in some kind of self-indulgent loop from which he could not break free.

“Just like you, my first love…..” he whispered to himself, then shook his head to clear his mind of a distant memory he’d tried hard to forget. He’d need to talk to Fluttershy more about that sometime, give her the whole truth, but not yet.

When he finally arrived, flying through the window into the same room they had used before he was surprised and bemused to find both Luna and Pinkie pie sitting on the side of one of the beds.

“Oh hi Pinkie!” he greeted her, settling himself down and folding his wings across the gloss of his back. “What brings you here?”

The princess and the pink pony looked at each other for just a moment, then Luna explained, “it seems it’s time for a further lesson, and for this, Pinkie Pie has graciously volunteered.”

Although he wasn’t completely sure it did seem that Luna was ever so slightly embarrassed, he decided to investigate further, “and in what manner are you volunteering Pinkie?”

“Luna knows my dreams are some of the craziest in Equestria and she thought I’d be a good teaching aid to you! Isn’t that exciting?”, Pinkie bounced a little up and down on the bed in clear delight, grinning and full of energy.

“Yes it’s true,” explained Luna, “Pinkie Pie does indeed have, shall we say, extravagant dreams, and, well it’s probably a good idea for you to experience one for yourself Iridis before you commit further to your learning.”

There was perhaps something just slightly foreboding about the way she said it, but he reassured himself that nothing too terrible would befall them, after all this was Pinkie Pie. She certainly was going to have wacky dreams, but how bad could it be?

“I’m not worried,” he stated, smiling.

Luna stared at him for a moment, “very well then Iridis, shall we?” She gesticulated with her hoof in a wide arc to indicate the triplet of freshly made beds. No sooner has she done so then Pinkie Pie jumped into the nearest one and the covers enveloped her like a closing flower. She cried out something about being super excited then promptly fell asleep immediately with some of the most raucous and unearthly sounding snoring he’d ever heard.

“Is she umm, always like this, when she sleeps?” he asked to Luna, who just nodded gravely, “well ok, I’ll try my best to get to sleep.”

It didn’t take as long as he thought since he’d been practising falling asleep for over a month now, and fairly soon he found himself yet again finding his way to Luna in the dazzling dream scape. He floated next to her, smiling a little, with perhaps even a hint of nervousness.

“So…” he began, but Luna cut him off.

“Iridis, I’m not really quite sure how to prepare you for what is about to happen, but I can tell you for sure that Pinkie Pie is completely happy for us to be observers in her dream,” Luna stressed.

“Of course Luna, I’m comfortable with this, she’s consented, I’m sure whatever is in the dream it’ll be fine,” he insisted.

Luna looked singularly unconvinced, “you’re free to leave at any time Iridis, but if you do, I don’t know that you’ll be ready for everything that will come in the next stage of our training.”

“I’m ready Luna I want this,” he replied, firmly, “I promise that whatever happens, I will not leave the dream. I will see it through to the end,” he bobbed his bug like head up and down in a very pony-like manner as way of affirmation.

“Ok, here we go then…” Luna said leading Iridis onto the hypersurface of Pinkie’s dream, he felt again the strange sensation as he bound himself into the realm of her dream - but looking around it was not what he expected at all.

If Iridis had been anticipating the colourful ruckus of a typical Pinkie Pie party nothing could be further from the truth. The setting looked quite old, perhaps a hundred or so years ago by his reckoning in a dimly candle lit counting house. Row upon row of desks filled the room, each one occupied by a miserable looking stallion or mare busily counting bits and meticulously writing sums onto yellow parchment.

Looking up and down he spotted Pinkie, looking horrifyingly demure in a traditional kind of stuffy dress. She had a sad expression on her face and her hair was straight and boring. As she busily worked he noticed outside of the windows there was the sight of falling snow and hints of an empty cold and bleak winter scene. At the helm of this depressing workshop was a scrooge-like pony, frowning malevolently and keeping a wicked eye on his employees.

“Luna,” Iridis tapped her leg, getting her attention, “is something wrong, this isn’t what I….”

“Just prepare yourself,” she instructed cryptically, motioning him to the back of the room a little.

After just a short period Pinkie let out a loud sigh and it caught the attention of the fore-pony.

“Pinkamena Diane Pie!” he shouted, banging his hoof on the surface of his desk. All the other ponies in the room suddenly sunk into their seats and nervously watched to see what would happen, “this is the last time I’m going to warn you about your disgraceful behaviour!”

“I’m sorry supervisor Meany Pants,” she apologised “but the work here just isn’t very much fun, and it’s a special time of year, we should be celebrating!”

“Celebrating!” he yelled, his left eye twitching with incomprehension and fury, “and what in Equestria would we possibly celebrate?”

“Why the best holiday in all of Equestria!” Pinkie replied, standing up on her seat - her hair exploding into its usual glorious effervescence, she turned to the row behind her, “come on fillies and gentlecolts, shall we show Mr Meany Pants what it’s all about?”

“YES PINKIE!” they all replied, in unison.

Irids nudged Luna slightly, “I think I see where this is going, nothing like Pinkie to get a party going when there’s a party that’s needed? Right?”

“Just… watch…” was all she said.

Without even the tiniest hint of warning every single pony on that row, including Pinkie herself turned their flanks to the supervisor, pulled their skirts up and lifted their tails until they were all exposing everything to him.

“The secret is all in the PLOT, hahh!” Pinkie yelped with glee, “maestro, if you please…” she motioned to the corner of the room where some of the other workers had now instantaneously assembled themselves into a band, complete with all kinds of instruments. A beat was quickly struck and Pinkie spun like a tornado, her dress ripped from her and spread across the room.

She cleared her throat, ready to sing,

“Take a look at everything around you,
All the flank that surely will seduce you,
Open up my buns, they will surround you,
In the magic of Face Sitting Eve!”

The changeling’s mouth dropped open so fast it was a wonder it didn’t hit the floor. He turned his gaping stupid looking expression slowly to look up at Luna. She rolled her eyes as if to say I told you so.

All the pony manifestations in Pinkie’s dream were now dancing and singing along, most half or fully naked by this point as Mr Meany Pants at the front boiled over in cartoonish rage, his protestations completely ignored.

“The little things that make it better,
All the ponies spreading cheeks,
Have a flank, a seat, you better,
Smothering that lasts for weeks”

Pinkie continued her singing in earnest, and Iridis’s eyes widened as the song lyrics started to be synchronised to various complementary actions performed by her ‘backup’ dancers. As one row turned and reached back with their hooves to spread their cheeks the other moved forward to lavish what was presented with a ferocious display of rimming and cunnilingus - all in time to the music of course.

“Okayyyyyyyyyy!” he exclaimed, frozen to the spot. Luna hooked one of her hooves around his.

“The present’s always filled with booties,
Large, medium and small,
Sometimes the most important things,
Aren’t very big at all”

Pinkie indicated some different sizes of flank and plot with her hoof, as a cavalcade of trotting ponies began to encircle her desk which was now the only one still standing.

She added though as an aside,“But it helps if you’ve got the junk in the tunk! HAH!” turning on point and smacking her big pink voluminous rear right at the snarling face of Mr Meany Pants.

“There are no words,” Iridis moaned, shaking his head in incomprehension, but he had to keep watching, he needed to know how this would all end.

“Oh I almost forgot!” Pinkie cried as she looked just about to break into the next verse, “tap dancing solo!”

Suddenly furnished with tap dancing boots and a candy cane she leapt to the floor, as all the other ponies took up position in a long line, more accurately two lines. One set of ponies, male and female lay down on the floor, face up and the other set sat down on all their faces. As this happy line of queening was established Pinkie began to tap dance over the backs and flanks of the sitting ponies, making their squashed seats very happy indeed.

“Gotta admit, pretty creative,” the changeling squeaked.

Drawing a lungful of air, Pinkie continued the song in earnest:

“What a party there’s so much to see here,
Take a seat, or be the seat yourself here,
Between my thighs, I guarantee here,
The magic of Face Sitting Eve!

Juices flowing, this is living,
Come on and take a seat,
Life it better when you’re queening,
Each time you do it feels so sweet!”

A gaggle of ponies grabbed the protesting supervisor and dragged him to the floor, there looking singularly nonplussed and bellowing all kinds of threats every pony lined up to sit on his face, one after the other, all fifty or so of them by the reckoning of Iridis. The detail was quite excessive and he was sure that somehow their backsides and the swell of the mares’ labia, or plot holes for the stallions was all gratuitously exaggerated. It was definitely true that Mr Meany Pants was getting the smothering of his life, even for a pony who wasn’t real.

“The present’s always filled with sitting,
So come on, here what I say,
Spend time under ponies just like you,
And they’ll take your breath away!”

“...literally take your breath away!” Pinkie Pie added, grinning to herself.

All sexual activities had now ceased and everypony was dancing in a series of concentric circles, stomping and occasionally breaking into a kickline. It seemed obvious there was some kind of climax approaching, and a bewildered Mr Meany Pants stood up in the center and broke into an insane looking smile.

“Pinkie Pie, I have never felt so alive in my whole life! Even though it’s only been a few minutes!” he proclaimed, “I hereby decree this counting house will become a cake factory and all employees have the rest of the day off!”

Thunderous applause followed this proclamation.

“The present’s always full of sitting,
Take a look around,
The reason for the holiday
Is quite easily found,
Yes the reason for the holiday
Is quite easily found…”

The music ended and the room went dark on the final note Iridis turned back to Luna and she looked down at him.

“That has got to be,” he said, “the most insane thing I’ve ever….”

All of a sudden the music started up again briefly for the real finale, it was as though Pinkie pie sprang out of nowhere so that she was just in front of Luna and Iridis. She took a deep breath and sang out one final line to a huge orchestra hit.

“And the reason is to sit on your friends!” She cried, before turning herself away from Luna and Iridis, mooning them and smacking her flank proudly. Then once again the dream faded and everything went completely dark.

They both waited a little to see if there was anything more to the song, but it seemed like it was over now for good. Both sat down and Luna put a hoof around Iridis. She herself was definitely used to this kind of thing, having been in dreams for so long, but in honesty Pinkie Pie created some of the most detailed and creative erotic fantasies she’d ever experienced.

Even more so she hadn’t actually minded Luna watching - a good thing since Pinkie seemed to always know when she was there in any case.

She could only hope that Iridis hadn’t been scared away by what just happened.

He tried to find something to say, and in the end gave up and shrugged.

He raised his hooves and began a steady clap.

“Well played Pinkie Pie, well played.”

At perhaps three or four in the morning Iridis awoke suddenly and sat up, he looked around for Fluttershy and realised he was still in the castle room - he missed it when he woke up and she wasn’t there.

“You awake Iridis?” a soft little whisper asked him.

“Pinkie, yes I’m awake,” he replied, then looked over to where Luna was sleeping soundly, a cheeky and contented little smile on her face. Most unprincess like, but certainly suiting her.

“I’m sorry Iridis,” Pinkie said, much to the changelings confusion.

“Sorry about what?” he inquired, keeping his voice low so as not to wake Luna.

“I might have gone a bit too far in the dream,” she explained, and Iridis saw that Pinkie was being serious, “I was lucid through all that, as you can probably guess, I know it was part of your training but still, maybe I overstepped the mark - you’re with Fluttershy now.”
Iridis thought about this for a while, propping himself up against the headboard. The castle interior was pale with moonlight and the conversation between him and Pinkie felt so calm and important.

“Pinkie,” he began, cocking his head, “I’m not sure what to say, but I do see what you’re getting at. I think I will probably, with your permission, need to tell Fluttershy what happened.”

“That’s ok,” she whispered, managing a weak smile, “buglet, can I share a little secret with you?” She was one of the only ones apart from Fluttershy who ever called him that.

The moon was full, the air cold, the softness of Luna’s breathing was soothing - it was now the perfect time to share a secret and he nodded.

“Luna and I have been having, well, a kind of ‘special’ friendship,” Pinkie admitted, “thing is I always dream lucidly, and I’ve always known when she was watching, even when she didn’t know it herself. So I, well, I started making the dreams a bit more, well, sexy. When it first started I liked the idea of her thinking she was a voyeur; then of course eventually she figured it all out. Oh buglet, it was… wonderful,” she let out a soft little throaty sigh and Iridis suddenly felt a wave of love surge inside her, “it still is.”

It might have been awkward for Iridis to hear all this, but when he sensed the fullness of Pinkie’s feelings, her affection for Luna and the glow as she contemplated what must have been years and years of erotic adventures: he found himself smiling and closing his eyes.

Pinkie continued, “we did so much together in the dreams, never talking about it to anypony else, even each other when we were awake. I think maybe she wanted this to happen, to let somepony else know what was going on. I’m sure she wanted us to talk about it.”

“I know how you feel Pinkie, I can sense iit,” he smiled feeling something so wonderful and beautiful in her.

“Iridis,” she said, now taking on a grave tone, “Sunny Shade isn’t too different from me. I’m a pony of extremes, and Celestia knows I’ve got my own ummm problems. Thing is though the way I am, it’s the right balance. Sure it’s half parody sometimes, but it works for me. It stops me getting too self-indulgent - stops me getting my head shoved up my own ass, do you know what I mean?”

“Yes I do,” he whispered - he’d heard about some of Pinkie’s unfortunate incidents with what was effectively psychosis - the birthday incident came to mind, as well as the collection of inanimate objects she had been conversing with.

“Sunny hasn’t made any progress on this, and he’s pretty old. He’s really hurting buglet, I mean really hurting. I can guarantee you that a big part of this is going to come down to sex. He may not say it but he’s knotted up about it. The way you were, you know the way you talked to me about your guilt at feeling ‘hungry’. It’s like that with him, but worse, he’s frustrated, angry and hungry and he has none of the tools to deal with it.”

He blinked and looked at her with newfound respect, “you’re incredibly wise Pinkie,” he complimented.

“I try,” she blushed.

He looked out of the window for a moment, then turned back to Pinkie who was looking ahead, “Pinkie, I’m going to fly back to Fluttershy’s now, I think maybe you should have a little talk with Luna, right now.”

She gasped, “oh but, no, I can’t.”

“Yes you can Pinkie, I’m sure this whole ‘test’ was some way of bringing you two together, as well as training me. Luna is just waiting for you to reach out. Gosh I can feel the need in you strongly enough,” he pressed, “really it’s not right for you to keep this bottled up in you, go to her Pinkie.”

“She’s a princess,” Pinkie objected, “what if she gets angry?”

“She won’t,” the changeling asserted, softly, “she’s waiting for you too, I’m sure I sensed it earlier but I wasn’t sure what it was. Just do it Pinkie, get into bed with her, wrap your hooves around her, tell her how you feel.”

“Ok,” Pinkie said, nervously, “thank you buglet.”

Iridis slunk out of bed very quietly and tip trotted to the window, he looked back once and nodded at Pinkie as she sat up in bed in the gloom, then he jumped out of the castle bottoming out into a smooth glide, relishing the rush of evening air.

Alone now with the softly sleeping Luna, Pinkie took a very deep breath and slid smoothly out of the covers, like a seal. She quietly made her way over to Luna and stood above the princess, unsure for a moment. Why did this feel so hard? They had spent so so many times together in their dreams, and she had indulged Luna’s every possibly fantasy, as far as she could. How could they be so close and yet so distant?

Inhaling once more she paused in indecision, then slowly lifted one corner of the sheets and slipped into bed with Luna. She was now facing Luna’s front, lying there close to her, watching the rise and fall of her chest, the cute little sounds she made when she exhaled, smelling her scent. It felt so right, just being there next to her.

Luna opened her eyes, she was still for a moment then bolted ever so slightly.

“Pinkie!” she exclaimed shaking off the drowsiness, “what are you doing?”

“Something I should have done, WE should have done, a long time ago…” the earth pony said, dreamily and with a low needy voice, “I can’t keep doing this Luna, I need more...”

The princess stared down at Pinkie - she had never seen her tone so serious and so full of feelings- but yet her hair still in its voluminous state. Here she was now, just inches from Luna, wrapped under the same sheets, sharing the same bed, sharing the same warmth from both their bodies. The sweetness of her smell mingled with her own scent. Pinkie was still a little bit sweaty from being nestled tightly under her own covers and it had brought out all the irresistible overtones of her femininity and her arousal.

After all the years of their secret little arrangement, unspoken for the most part, the desire to be close had built up so much that now it couldn’t be held back. It was as though, suddenly everything in Luna burst and she felt each erogenous zone on her body tingle and ignite in a heated frenzy that was almost painful. She had never felt herself become so wet so quickly and she swore her labia and clitoris puffed up to what felt like the size of her hoof - feeling impossibly heavy as though they would weigh her down if she moved. Something started on her lower back by her croup and radiated out like a sonic rainboom, travelling down until even her hooves tingled with delicious anticipation.

Luna grabbed Pinkie with a ferocity that actually frightened her and pulled her into the deepest, most messy, rushed and passionate kiss that either of the two had ever had. Their tongues danced together torridly, violently until they realised they had forgotten to breath. Separating for a moment, drawing in desperate lungfuls of air their mouths smacked together again to resume their frenching.

It wasn’t enough, they needed to be closer.

“On, on my face… my face… Pinkie!” Luna blurted, finding it hard to form the words but Pinkie understood what she meant and what she needed.

There was nothing delicate about what then transpired, both moved by a drive like nothing they had ever felt as Pinkie desperately maneuvered herself to get into position. The covers entangled and frustrated the pair and they hastily cast them aside, finally unencumbered. Now atop Luna, facing away from her, Pinkie squatted and waited for the princess to give the signal. It wasn’t long coming and reaching out with her hooves Luna seized ahold of Pinkie’s flank and wrestled her back hard until her full weight bore down on the princess’s muzzle.

“Ahahhahah!” Pinkie cried, a huge smile spreading across her face - quickly replaced with the strained look of pleasure as she felt welcome attentions down there between her hind legs.
Luna nuzzled herself hard between Pinkie’s puffy labia, pushing into the wet softness, overcome with the perfume and finally letting her tongue explore where it wished.

She swirled it up and down over the proudness of the clitoris, pressing and rubbing in circles there before exploring further down, hitting a rush of sweet pungent wetness as she felt the tip sink into the opening. Pinkie’s tail stiffened into a quivering plume, bringing her sunken tailhole out into view at bit, spasming as she shook with sensation.

“Don’t, umm, forget to, umm breath…” Pinkie advised, her tongue hanging out as she sat upon royalty, her little purrs of pleasure echoing around the room. She looked down, breathless and saw at the end of the bed Luna’s own breasts, perky now with arousal - and her vagina being rubbed and stimulated by magic; the telltale glow was causing very thick shadows to dance across the room. It was just as well Luna could helper herself, the two were of a sufficiently different size that the earth pony would not be able to reach down there from where she was.

Both were sweating now in the cold air, bothered and breathless and frustrated at the same time. It had been too long to sit on those feelings, too long to relegate them to a half-spoken night time treat. It was now all they could do to be as close as possible but it still didn’t feel like enough.

“Your princess wants to be in you!” Luna cried, pushing Pinkie up, hooves sinking into her fat backside as she withdrew for a moment so as to speak and breath. A trail of their passionate mix glistening in the moonlight, drawing a little line like spider silk from Pinkie’s sex right to the tip of Luna’s tongue.

“What do you mean?” Pinkie asked a little unclear.

“My horn, my horn, in you, now!” Luna gasped, “carefully though, carefully Pinkie ok, carefully…”

Although it was much effort the two calmed down sufficiently to aim the apex of Luna’s glowing horn right at Pinkie’s opening. They both gasped at the first touch, then bit by bit, slowly but surely Pinkie sat back down. The tapered smoothness of the horn made entry very easy indeed and it was a little while before Pinkie began to feel filled, but it happened soon enough.

“Tingles… oooh” Pinkie moaned as she finally took a seat once again, “never umm thought I’d ever try this, feels good, feel OOOOOOOOOOOOOH!”

Suddenly she felt a tickling and attention inside her she’d never felt before, not even from the times she’d been with stallions. Luna was clearly doing something magical, something that felt like every inch of her insides around that stiff horn were being massages attentively by thousands of tiny tongues.

Impaled and happy, dribbing with pleasure and moaning sweety, Pinkie began to move up and down, bouncing in place until a rhythm was established, pressing Luna’s head repeatedly into the soft pillow. The way they were arranged now meant she could see the tip of Luna’s muzzle pushing up between her legs, the Princess’s tongue panting involuntarily.

“Oh Pinkie,” Luna moaned, “oh gosh, it’s going to happen…”

She could feel the tender walls of her friend rubbing up and down over the shy ridges of her long alicorn horn, stimulating the glowing organ until it felt on fire. Without warning Luna grabbed Pinkie once again and held her down, firmly, the tip of the long proboscis actually flirting with her cervix.

The earth pony was in truth not entirely sure what would happen next, but when it did it was wonderful. Something exploded in her, and it felt like nothing she’d felt before. The closest her delirious mind could compare it to was perhaps one of the first times she’d tried icing, yes that was it, it felt like she was being filled with sugary cream, tingling sugary cream.

She wasn’t far from the truth and the magical emission soon started to splurt violently from where the two met, covering Luna’s mane, the pillow the bed sheets, getting painted all over Pinkie’s backside. With a final cry Pinkie arched her back to the point of pain, and then collapsed forward finally releasing Luna and falling downwards until her head rested on the alicorn’s belly.

Luna let her head sink back into the pillow and the two stayed there for a while, barely able to move.

Finally it was Luna who broke the silence, singing in a very weak voice “and the reason is to sit on your friends!” she giggled then blushed a deep red, astounded at what had just happened.

Pinkie turned her head slightly, trailing sticky fingers of white magical ‘icing’ with her from where it had run down Luna’s body and got stuck in her hair.

“Not bad Luna,” Pinkie complimented, meekly and sweetly, “but you’re a little out of tune.”

And so as Iridis returned to Fluttershy and Luna and Pinkie fell asleep in each other’s arms another pony was having the same horrible nightmare again.

Sunny tossed and turned in his temporary bed in Sweet Apple Acres, panting and sweating.

Deep inside the bubble of his dream, deep in the interior something ugly delighted in his torment, tugging on the filaments, exposing his deepest fears and relishing his misery. The ghastly form seemed amorphous, but then for just a moment it manifested something like a pony’s head and mane - chuckling malevolently.

“You thought I was gone didn’t you. But I’ll soon show you what the meaning of a true nightmare is. You may have overcome me before I could realise my full potential, but I have been patient. Plotting, learning and growing. When I finally do escape perhaps I’ll even keep Sunny Shade as a pet, he’s been most useful, and delicious.

“I’m coming for you Luna, I’m coming to take what I couldn’t last time. I’m stronger than you now.

“I’m coming to get you, dear mother!”

To be continued………………..

Emergence

When Twilight awoke and trotted down to the kitchen she was looking forward to her habitual morning coffee. Upon arrival she was surprised to see a deflated and distraught Pinkie Pie crying onto the tabletop. She blinked in incomprehension, then her expression migrated to concern.

“Pinkie, are you ok?” she asked, taking a seat beside her friend and putting a hoof across her back, “Pinkie what’s wrong?”

The earth pony looked like she had been crying for hours, actually looking impossibly dehydrated. Twilight noticed that her hair was in its deflated flat state, something that never occurred except when Pinkie was extremely depressed.

“Talk to me Pinkie,” Twilight pushed, gently, her voice very soft.

She saw her friend look at her with swollen tear stained eyes, seeing first hand the extent of the emotional destruction that had been wrought on her. Pinkie’s mouth quivered uncontrollably, trying to speak, but only emitting one or two short syllables.

Oh dear, the alicorn thought to herself then asked “did something go wrong in the dream? With you and Iridis?”

Pinkie nodded sullenly, then wiping a few of the tears away she finally spoke, “if you want to know what’s wrong ask Luna.” She then continued to sob.

Twilight had no idea what was going on, but resolved to get to the bottom of it as soon as possible. She patted Pinkie affectionately on the head, worried for her friend.

“Ok Pinkie, I’m going see what I can do about this, whatever it is, you’ve haven’t been very clear. I’ll get Spike to come and look after you, ok?”

Pinkie nodded weakly and then slammed her head back down onto the table quite forcefully. Twilight winced at this and after having called spike down to take care of her friend she set off to find where Luna might be. Not in the castle as it turned out so the puzzled princess set out to Futtershy’s to see if Iridis was there - perhaps he might shed some light on this or know the whereabouts of the dream princess.

When Twilight arrived Fluttershy and Iridis were already up, feeding some of the animals. The alicorn landed, her head still a morning mess, she looked a little confused.

“Are you ok Twilight?” Fluttershy asked, “looks like you didn’t sleep that well?”

“Oh no, I slept fine, I just rushed here, that’s all,” Twilight explained, “Iridis, I found Pinkie in the kitchen this morning, really really upset, crying. She was saying something about Luna; I couldn’t find her so I wanted to see if you know anything about this?”

The changeling exchanged a look with Fluttershy and he let out a concerned hum, “hmmmmm” he mumbled.

“What does ‘hmmmmmm’ mean?” Twilight probed.

Fluttershy interjected before he could reply, “I think you probably need to tell her what you told me buglet.”

“Bahhhhh,” Iridis moaned in slight frustration, “it’s a very private thing we talked about, I really don’t think Luna would want anyone to know - I mean I know I told Fluttershy here, but we share many of the same dreams now anyway, it would be inevitable.”

Twilight rolled her eyes slightly, not really in frustration at the changeling but more at the situation, “ok, look I know we all want to respect everyone’s privacy, but Pinkie is distraught, if you can’t tell me everything, is there enough you can tell me that I might be able to help? Or do you perhaps know where Luna is?”

“She’s not at the castle?” Iridis asked, redundantly.

Twilight cocked her head in irritation, “if she were in the castle I kind of wouldn’t be here!”

“Fair enough,” he admitted then looked to Fluttershy with a pleading expression.

The pegasus introspected for a moment, a clutter of little birds pecking at scattered seeds around her feet, “would it be ok Twilight if Iridis and I went to talk to Pinkie PIe? We’ll see how she feels and then we can take it from there?”

Twilight made an ambiguous noise that sounded as close to an agreement as they were going to get and sighed, “alright, I’ll keep looking for Luna, and at least I know Pinkie’ll be in good hooves with you two.”

After the agreement was reached Iridis and Fluttershy flew off towards the Friendship Castle.

The changeling looked distinctly anxious.

“Did I perhaps do the wrong thing, what I said to Pinkie? Maybe I got it wrong, maybe it’s just made things awkward between them?” he wondered, out loud.

“Well, whatever it is, let’s wait until we know more. From what you said it seems like it was, well the right thing to say, especially given everything else that happened that night,” she blushed sweetly.

It didn’t take them long to get to Twilight’s castle and follow the sound of sobbing to the kitchen area. Upon entering they were greeted with a miserable and shaking Pinkie
Pie and an overwhelmed befuddled Spike who was desperately trying to console her - passing an endless stream of tissues to help dry the buckets of tears. Already the floor was littered with used paper.

“Fluttershy am I glad to see you!” the dragon exclaimed, “she won’t stop crying and she won’t talk either!”

“It’s ok Spike, we’re all got this” Fluttershy explained, “but thanks for doing such a good job so far, you’re a really good friend spike.”

“Aww thanks Fluttershy,” he replied, alright then, I’ll just, you know…”

“It’s ok you can go Spike, thankyou,” Iridis reassured him, and closed the door behind Spike after the little dragon made his way out.

The couple settled either side of Pinkie and pressed her comfortingly between them.

“Pinkie,” Iridis asked, quietly so as not to startle her, “Fluttershy knows, you can talk to us both if you want, what happened?”

After another bout of sniffling Pinkie managed to squeeze out the last few tears (for the moment) then looked up at his face desperately. “We slept together,” she said, matter of factly and as though all emotion was drained from her, “then then next morning she rejected me.”

“What?” Fluttershy and Iridis both exclaimed simultaneously.

“Yeah,” she sobbed, “I thought for sure, after what happened that, well, it would all be ok and then in the morning, she was really angry. She called me horrible things. She was saying all kinds of stuff about it not being ‘proper’ for a princess.”

“Fuck it,” grunted Iridis, “this is my fault Pinkie, it was too much too quick, I shouldn’t have interfered in your life, or Luna’s.”

“Buglet wait…” Fluttershy spoke up softly, “don’t start blaming yourself, this isn’t about you, you just gave them a push. I think Luna has probably just panicked is all. It’s quite a thing to happen isn’t it? Remember Luna was alone for a thousand years, she’s probably not used to those feelings. I’m certain that she just ‘freaked out’ a little.”

“I don’t know if I can recover if she really doesn’t want me…” Pinkie announced, and seeming to be deadly serious - she was without even the tiniest trace of hyperbole, nor the smallest hint of melodrama, “after all those years, and how long it’s built up, I don’t know if I can go on without her. It’s like part of me has just been ripped away!” she burst into tears again and hugged Fluttershy very tightly.

“I don’t think we should leave her alone,” Fluttershy whispered over Pinkie’s sobbing, and Iridis agreed, nodding slowly “why don’t you see if you can find…”

At that very moment Spike knocked on the door and Fluttershy called him in. He ran up to the trio and presented a scroll to Iridis, “I just received this from Celestia, it says Luna is in Canterlot, but that there are some, well, just read it for yourself,” he handed over the coiled missive to the Changeling.

Iridis unfurled it and read through as quickly as he could. It seemed in her confused and emotional state Luna had flown back to Canterlot during the night and awoken Celestia, babbling incoherently. From the letter it appeared that Celestia had no idea what the issue was, and was asking someone from Ponyville to reply to her and let her know what in Equestria was going on.

He lowered the letter and sighed, “I don’t know what to do here Fluttershy, should we find Twilight, tell her the truth, or is that going to make Luna angry. It’s a big secret, a very big secret. I feel so stupid, I thought it would be like, you know, ‘us’,” he chose his words carefully so as not to embarrass her in front of Spike, “I thought that it would just work out the same, it would fix everything...”

“I guess the same thing doesn’t work for everypony,” Fluttershy commented, sagely, then reminded Iridis, “stop blaming yourself, I may well have said the same thing as you.”

Pinkie was still sobbing between them although it had softened now to diminutive snuffles - she gave the appearance of being shattered, broken and fragmented.

Somepony needed to make a decision. Spike was too ignorant of the circumstances, Pinkie was virtually catatonic and Iridis was guiltily introspecting.

“Right,” Fluttershy announced, an assertiveness in her voice that drew immediate attention, “I’m making a decision here, we need to tell Twilight the truth, everything, whatever Luna’s wishes would be. I don’t say that lightly, really I don’t. Right now she needs another princess to talk to her, someone who understands better, and honestly Twilight usually takes a pretty rational approach to these things and that’s probably what’s needed. We’re probably all a little too involved in this, all of us.”

“Involved in what?” Spike piped up, starting to feel dejected at being left out.

“We can’t tell you Spike,” Fluttershy replied, trying to sound as kind as possible but before she could speak further Pinkie interrupted.

“What about me?” Pinkie interjected, sounding frustrated, “It’s not just Luna’s secret, it’s my secret too, and I’ve got hurt too. You’re talking about it like Luna’s the only one that matters!” she hiccupped a little while she struggled to speak, suppressing little spasms of misery as the occasional sob came up from deep within her.

“Of, yes of course…” Fluttershy replied, surprised at realising that this was the truth, “It’s just…”

“I’m Pinkie Pie right? Is that what you were going to say?” Pinkie challenged angrily, “Pinkie will just bounce back, because she doesn’t have real feelings? Right? RIGHT?”

Spike took a step back from this eruption, and Fluttershy’s mouth hung open for a moment - she flapped it incoherently a few times - then she closed it.

Pinkie continued, “I’ll decide who I want to tell, and I say that Spike can know. He’s a good friend. Twilight too, get her here, they can both know,” then she hung her head, the straightness of her melancholy hair now obscuring half her face - like a mourner’s veil, “s-sorry”, she stuttered, beginning to sob again.

A little later, after she had been located, Twilight was brought back to the castle and a full disclosure was made to her and spike. The dragon’s reaction would have perhaps been comical in less serious circumstances, his eyes widening into a disbelieving stare for most of the exposition; later he blushed deeply. It was clear though there was no malice or judgement in his face though, simply befuddlement and a little titillation.

Twilight took most of it in her stride, characteristically calm and reflective, nodding at various intervals and only speaking up a few times to clarify one or two points.

“Ok,” said Twilight, at length, “I can see why you felt you couldn’t say something earlier, but it’s out now, and probably it was right for me to know. So, it’s not really what I expected but… if that’s how you two feel about each other, then there’s nothing wrong with it, nothing at all. I have to admit it does raise some questions about, exactly ‘how’ much Luna is watching in our own dreams…” she stopped herself when she realised this was a topic that could wait until later, “I think honestly all this was rather a lot for her. It’s been hard for her to adjust, as you know - she was only just beginning to learn how to have fun, make friends again and express herself without lapsing into the ‘royal we’,

“I’ll go to Canterlot and talk to her. In the meantime, is it possible we could all just, you know, calm down for a week or two so we don’t have any more sex related emotional crises or injuries?” it seemed like she could have been joking but Twilight was serious. First there had been the incident with Fluttershy and Iridis and now a tangled mess involving Pinkie and Luna, “I just kind of need a break, ok?”

Iridis and Fluttershy looked at one another and giggled very slightly.

Twilight continued, “I am the Princess Of Friendship, I guess it’s kind of my job. I just don’t want to end up the Princess Of Romantic Drama, ya know?” she smiled a little, but again with a small edge of seriousness, “also, I’m learning probably far more than I want to have to know about everyone’s crazy love lives. Ok?”

“Fair enough,” Fluttershy replied, blushing a little, “that’s very reasonable Twilight.”

The princess turned to face Spike and said half jokingly, “so Spike, anything you have to confess now too?”

Spike thought for a moment and then said, “well, there has kind of been a thing going on between me and Celestia…”

“WHAT?” Twilight exclaimed,stamping her two front hooves in sudden surprise, “you’re joking, right?”

“Yeah!” Spike replied, now collapsing into a giggling upturned beetle, waving his legs around and grinning. He looked hopefully at Pinkie pie but the mare was too distraught to laugh, or even give any hint of recognition.

“NOT - Funny!” castigated Twilight, snorting a little - then breathing out a long sigh of relief, “alright then, I’m going to go to Canterlot, Spike please look after the castle when I’m gone. Oh and Iridis, since Luna is, indisposed, you should probably go and check up on Sunny.”

The changeling’s face dropped (in so far as his expression could) and he looked singularly unhappy. Fluttershy picked up on the signs immediately and nudged him a little.

“Buglet, what’s wrong?” the mare asked.

Iridis sighed and twitched his wings, catching the light from the fire, “I still feel I don’t know there’s much I can do, and I know that sounds awful.”

“Is this that whole thing about the ‘tainted’ again?” Twilight asked, performing frustrated inverted commas with her hooves and flicking her tail, “Iridis, if there is anything I know it’s that anypony can change, or at least nearly everypony. What is this really about? You’re making so much effort with the dreams and yet you don’t even want to talk to him?”

Iridis trotted away for a moment, looking into the stone wall as though it was the horizon, he had a distant look and no-one else said anything for a while. He turned back slowly with a pained expression and then finally said “it brings back, some very painful memories,” he lowered his head.

“About her?” Fluttershy conjectured, to herself, then realising that she had spoken out loud blushed deeply and clapped her hooves over her little snout. Iridis was shocked some, looked angry for a moment then relaxed into submission, his body clearly untensing.

“It’s ok Fluttershy,” he responded, “we’ve shared everything else today, I might as well talk about this - but how did you guess it was about ‘her’?”

Still blushing, and gingerly removing the cup over her hooves from her mouth and took a deep breath, “your dreams Iridis, sometimes I could feel parts of yours, even when you’re not aware. She keeps coming back, but I could see how much it hurts you. I just couldn’t bring it up yet, no time felt like the right time, I’m so sorry.”

He approached her and wrapped a hoof across her back, experiencing a rush of her scent as their necks touched tenderly. It calmed him and made the prospect of exhuming his private skeletons seem more bearable, even necessary.

“OK,” Iridis began, sitting himself down - everyone started paying attention, even Pinkie Pie - then after a pause to summon a little courage he began, “one of the reasons I chose to leave the hive, and come here was to do with, well, an experience I had with a mare. This was something I talked to Fluttershy about, but I hadn’t told her the whole truth. For that I’m really sorry, truly, I just couldn’t face it.

“She was the first pony I met who I felt I saw as a little more than food. I didn’t have the words or the understanding at the time to grasp what that feeling was. I got to know her, we spent time together. But what I didn’t say before was that she was one of the ‘tainted’ whatever label you like: it doesn’t matter. The fact that she was meant I couldn’t take her back to the hive, her dreams would be volatile and she was little ‘use’ to us, so in such a case I was supposed to just abandon her and seek another. But it kept progressing none the less, with me as a handsome stallion facade, and her - just being her.

“She could be really insightful, cynical yes, but it always felt like there was more to it than that. Or at least she saw things in a different way. It even progressed to us kissing and a few other well ‘things’, nothing too far though. Other times though she could be so full of anger that it just erupted out of nowhere.

“Then one day she did what she’d threatened to do for a long time, she…” he choked and tried to force the words out, “she killed herself.”

“Oh Iridis,” Twilight exclaimed sympathetically, hanging her head.

The changeling sniffed in a serpent like way, then struggled on, “it was like she saw the best in me and the worst in me. At the time when she, when she took her life, I didn’t feel that much. Or at least that’s what I thought. But then over time it made me start to see things in a different way, made me feel I didn’t want to stay where I was. The sad thing though, the awful awful truth of it is that if she wasn’t ‘tainted’ I would have taken her back. I would have fed from her. So in some ways, can I really take any credit for coming to Celestia? For wanting to be ‘reformed’? It was blind luck I met the one pony who I couldn’t feed from, and in the end she paid the price for it…” he bowed his head as though accepting judgement and felt a pain awakened in his heart he had not felt for some time, his breathing now a little light and rapid, flirting with hyperventilation, “I couldn’t help her, and if I had helped her come to a better place then I would have wanted to feed from her, how fucked up is that?”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Fluttershy asked, her face contorted with sadness and a little disappointment.

“I couldn’t, it was too close to me, I’m sorry Fluttershy!” he moaned quietly as he saw his mate begin to sigh a little.

Even when sad and crying though, strength was never far from Fluttershy and he saw her draw a spark deep from within her, the glint returning to her eyes, “Iridis, I’m not upset because of what you did, or rather what you think you did: just that you waited so long to tell me. But I DO understand. Don’t start retreating into yourself again, I know you want to blame yourself for what happened to her, but we can’t even know it was anything to do with you.”

Though the temptation to be self defeatist was strong in him at that moment Iridis took just a second to look around. He saw again the distraught look of oblivion on Pinkie Pie’s face, the concerned look on Twilight’s and the expectant look on Fluttershy’s. He gritted his teeth hard and felt the squeak of his molars as he ground them together - no, now was not the time to collapse into himself again - now was the time to move forward. He swallowed deeply and realised he’d been holding his breath; when he exhaled he felt quite a bit better.

“Ok,” he finally said, “Ok, you’re right Fluttershy, you’re right. I need to talk this through with you, properly. There’s no point bottling it up, or using it as a cloak, if you know what I mean. But right now though, maybe we need to be here for some other pony”, he motioned to Pinkie who had been paying attention, though saying nothing.

“I do,” she smiled weakly, accepting he’d just made another significant step in his journey, “Twilight, if you go and seek out Luna we can make sure everything here is sorted out. Someone will check in on Sunny, whether it’s me or Iridis, as soon as we can.”

“And I’ll make sure things in the castle go smoothly!” trumpeted Spike, puffing his scaly chest out in an air of hopeful self promotion, Twilight smiled back at him.
“I know you will Spike, thank you, I can always count on you.”

Preparations were made hastily and Twilight set off in flight to Canterlot, considering the circumstances important enough to make it there more quickly than by train. She also still felt she needed as much practice as she could get even though it had been a little while now since she had acquired her wings.

Spike, Iridis and Fluttershy between them coaxed Pinkie Pie out of the Kitchen and got her into somewhere a little more comfortable, settling the earth pony onto a swooning couch of some description. Spike stayed for a little while then busied himself with some of Twilight’s mail. Despite the Princess Spike incident it had turned out he was a very capable and proactive secretary. He would be able to manage Twilight’s lower priority correspondence for a few days.

As the day went on they started to grow more concerned as Pinkie showed little to no sign of emerging from the depths of her melancholy. It seemed if anything the solution to all this might have to start with Luna - they only hoped Twilight was having better fortune than they.

It was later in the day when a slightly fatigued Twilight finally completed her climb to Canterlot’s altitude and settled herself down at the top of one of the spires - many as they were - punctuating the white towered citadel. She was immediately accepted by two of the palace guards, who subsequent to customary bows, took her down the steps and towards the inner sanctum.

She eventually caught sight of Princess Celestia, the alicorn pacing back and forth in an antechamber looking thoughtful. As soon as her eyes caught sight of Twilight she smiled a little and immediately came up to greet her.

“Twilight Sparkle, thank you so much for coming!” she greeted warmly, but with a clear sense of urgency, “my sister has barely spoken to me all day and won’t leave her room, the only thing she has mentioned at all is something about Pinkie Pie.”

Twilight sighed deeply and cocked her head to one side. Princess Celestia recognised the expression immediately as it was habitual to her former pupil - the kind of look that said: I don’t want to have to explain this, but I know I need to.

“So, before I start, you have to understand that Luna may well not like me sharing this,” she explained, “but I know for a face that Pinkie Pie is ok. That puts me in well, a slightly awkward position, but honestly I don’t think I have much of a choice, I just need to warn you though, it’s all quite intense!”

Celestia looked away for a moment and hummed to herself as she turned back to Twilight, “they slept together didn’t they?”

Twilight’s eyes widened in shock for a moment, she stuttered, then finally forced the words out, “how, how did you know?”

“My dear Twilight I’ve lived for thousands of years, and I can certainly recognise the look between two ponies when they have feelings for each other. I also of course know my sister almost as well as I know myself. I had guessed something was going on even though they spent little time together, so I’m guessing the intimacy was played out in dreams between the two?”

“Right again,” Twilight responded, “but if you were so sure, why did I have to come all this way?” she flicked her wings for a moment, twitching out some of the remaining soreness from her long flight.

“I wasn’t sure, I was never completely sure, it more of a firm hunch, but you being here and talking to me was all else I needed to hear. In any case Twilight, it was your support I needed more than anything,” she smiled, “you are the princess of friendship after all.”

“But I’m not the princess of SEX!” Twilight protested then gasped, clapped a hoof over her mouth and blushed a little.

Celestia smiled obtusely, “oh Twilight you truly are a little bit prudish aren’t you?”

“Prudish, me?” Twilight replied, surprised, “I’m not prudish, I just don’t want to have to hear about everyone’s sex life, that’s not that unreasonable is it?”

“No it’s not Twilight, and perhaps prudish is the wrong word, but you have to understand I’ve been alive for a very long time, and experienced probably most of what there is to experience. I suppose I’ve become a little desensitised to it all,” Celestia replied.

“If that’s true,” Twilight inquired, “then why did Luna freak out so badly, surely she’s had as many experiences as you, and all that time within the dreams too, yikes she’s probably seen every ‘sexy’ dream I’ve had, or that you’ve had, or that anypony has!” the implication of this realisation struck her more forcefully now than before and she couldn’t suppress a slight shudder.

“Ahh, yes that’s a good question,” Celestia replied, “allow me to explain a little. Remember that the values in society haven’t always been the same. Certainly not static regarding sex and intimacy. Contrary to what you might think, the openness of society to sex and sexuality waxed and waned through the centuries, sometimes going too far one way or the other.

“during the last millennium, there has been the most drastic change in values, especially in the last few hundred years. For the better. It has stabilised into a tolerant and expressive Equestria, though there is more work to be done. Remember that Luna missed most of that. At the time I was forced to imprison her, Equestrian society looked very different, and the views on sexuality were more complicated.”

“How so?” Twilight pressed, finding this history lesson to be quite interesting despite the subject matter.

“Sexual intimacy across the ‘classes’ was not considered acceptable in the upper echelons of Canterlot, well, at least not openly. We were all very hypocritical about many things, both repressed and libertine at the same time. It was generally accepted that princesses and those of ‘higher standing’ would have secret affairs and lovers. But it had to be kept discrete. Luna has come a long way, but remember she’s still very much stuck in that mindset. Back then, for a Princess to be involved with a - please excuse the term - a commoner would have been very scandalous,” Celestia explained.

“That doesn’t sound very healthy…” Twilight suggested.

“Yes and I’m not proud of all of my behaviour either,” Celestia sighed distantly, “when things were exposed you buried it, sometimes that meant destroying someone’s reputation, or pressuring somepony into leaving. It was not a nice time. I think ponies are far too quick to idolise the ‘good old days’. We didn’t have the freedom and the openness in society back then that we do now.”

Twilight turned away for a moment and trotted a little off from Celestia then turned back with a questioning expression, “so, I’m happy to have come here to help, but I was under the impression you didn’t know what was going on, that we’d probably have to put our heads together on this one. Seems like you already understand Luna perfectly? So, how can I help exactly?”

“Consider it a lesson,” Celesta replied, grinning slightly.

Twilight stood to attention and furrowed her eyebrows, “a lesson! But, but, Celestia really, if you’re that concerned about your sister, you DO it!” she blurted, certainly not meaning for her tone to be disrespectful, but something about the prospect of having to face this particular challenge did fill her with a little dread.

“This is something you need to get over,” Celestia replied, firmly, her expression flattening into a matriarchal frown, “you’re also actually the right one to do this, I think both you and Luna can learn something from each other - now: off you go!” she stuck her hoof out suddenly like a policepony’s, pointing to a door where faint sobbing barely betrayed the presence of Luna.

Twilight’s mouth flapped uselessly for a few seconds but her tongue found no purchase on any meaningful protest she could think of. She sighed exasperatedly, in futility, swallowed once to summon some nerve and then advanced towards the door. Behind her Celestia closed her eyes and smiled happily.

Poking gingerly at lock level she found the wooden portal moved aside with ease, widening the vertical iris. Slowly Luna came into view, prone on her stomach, raw and tired. The princess of the night barely acknowledged Twilight’s entry as she sniffed and sobbed onto a sodden nest of cushions: she must have been crying for hours. A half empty pitcher of water stood nearby on a fancy nightstand, just one of many elegant appurtenances adorning the room.

“Luna?” said Twilight, gently and softly as she ventured further into the chamber.

“Twilight?” a hoarse, pathetic voice sniffed; Luna raising her head slightly to acknowledge her friend’s presence.

“Yes, it’s me, I’m here,” replied Twilight, gently making her way forward and settling into a seated position just at the border of the cushions. She reached forward and gently placed her right hoof over Luna’s, “would you like to talk Luna, about what happened?”

Luna shook her head and grunted, sending her main flowing this way and that, “no it is a private matter! We cannot share!”

Twilight recognised Luna’s unconscious relapse into the royal we, which was usually one of her protection mechanisms. It seemed like she needed to persist, especially given what Celestia had said to her. There was clearly something here she needed to do and perhaps gentle probing was part of the solution.

“You can share, with you friends Luna, that’s why I’m here,” reassured Twilight, letting her voice relax into a softening coo that she hoped would help Luna feel secure. She was sure it wasn’t as good as Fluttershy’s whispering mastery, but it would have to do.

“I am a princess and I don’t have to answer such questions!” Luna snapped, turning her head away and poking the length of her muzzle into an interstice between two cushions, hiding away.

“Pinkie Pie is really upset Luna,” Twilight replied, surprising herself with her answer. Somehow it just felt like the right thing to say, perhaps Luna might respond if she knew how Pinkie felt.

Sure enough, it did have some effect as Luna removed her snout from the pillowy scabbard and turned once more to face Twilight.

“She’s upset?” she asked.

“Yes,” said Twilight, nodding, “she’s really upset Luna.”

“She’s just a commoner!” fumed Luna, looking suddenly feral, “just an earth pony!”

Twilight gasped at this awful pronouncement. It crossed her mind to let herself become angry, to channel the indignance she suddenly felt at hearing one of her dear friends be referred to like that. But no, that wasn’t the right answer. Twilight looked inside herself and quickly realised it didn’t add up to assume Luna actually meant something like that. It made much more sense now why Celestia had said what she had said, that explanation of how mores and social expectations were so much different in the past.

There was no malice in Luna, just the old shrieking ghosts of long dead voices and opinions - views that were hard to shake off when one lived in them for hundreds and hundreds of years. She now felt the same sympathy for Luna as she had for Pinkie Pie and resolved to try to get through without resorting to anger.

“Luna, maybe a thousand or more years ago it was like that, but it’s not anymore. When you refer to Pinkie Pie like that, as just an earth pony, I don’t think you mean it. I know you better than that. I think what you’re frightened of is being judged,” said Twilight.

It seemed to be working, as Luna’s eyes softened just slightly.

“If you feel the way you do about Pinkie Pie, and she the same for you, who says you can’t be together?” Twilight asked.

“A princess and a, and a…” Luna couldn’t bring herself to say the words this time around, “ponies will talk Twilight, they’ll all talk and laugh…”

“So what?” exclaimed Twilight, “so what? You know what, ok, fair enough, perhaps there would be some talk! Perhaps that might be ‘some’ ponies that don’t like it, for whatever reason. But I know most won’t, I know from my travels and trials in Equestria just how much goodness and understanding there is. It only has to be awakened! You seem to think it would be the scandal of the century… frankly I think it would bring hope to so many Ponies. Do you know how many lesbian mares there are out there? It’s still hard for some of them come out. Imagine what you could do, and how much of a difference you could make by not hiding it? In any case, maybe that’s the wrong idea, forget about the world, fuck the rest of Equestria, why not just choose to love the mare you love? Why wouldn’t you? I know Pinkie wants you…”

Twilight surprised herself towards the end as passion raced her to a fast and stirring cadance. She wondered if this was too much, if she had overstepped the mark, but it seemed to make Luna pause for thought.

“Oh Twilight!” Luna cried, crawling into Twilight’s embrace and blinking out heavy and warm tears, “what have I done….”

Taken aback for just a moment and struggling against the weight of the larger alicorn, Twilight steadied herself and shushed her fellow princess reassuringly. It suddenly dawned on her why Celestia had wanted herself to be the one to reach Luna. All a long she had focussed on and worried about the embarrassment of the sexual aspects, and that was clearly an important part of this. However when it came it to it, the conversation was about all the feelings, taboo and insecurity around them.

She smiled to herself, both outwardly and inwardly and let herself feel close to Luna, comforting her friend.

“Shush,” she whispered, “I promise, we can work this out together, with Pinkie. I promise.”

“Thankyou,” Luna replied, “for a moment there, I almost felt possessed. What I said to Pinkie was awful. I felt so ashamed, but so angry too,” she sobbed some more and then continued, “it was like everything I knew about how to be a princess was in danger and I couldn’t, I couldn’t face it. I hadn’t felt that out of control since, well perhaps the Tantabus. It was almost like I was becoming Sunny Shade, like I saw a part of myself in him. Just so out of control, from no-where.”

Twilight froze. Deep inside her brain a connection was made.

“Luna,” she began, “I know you may not want to talk about it, but I need to know, what exactly was it you said to Pinkie?”

Luna withdrew from the cuddle slightly and looked embarrassed and guilty, “I don’t know I can tell you…”

“Please, I need to know…” Twilight pressed.

Luna took a very deep breath, “I called her a stinking cunt…” she whispered, reddening with shame, then her eyes widened. Twilight and Luna looked at each other as they both came to the same realisation.

“You need to find Sunny, right away!” Luna announced, wiping away the last vestiges of the tears with her foreleg and leaping to her hooves.

Twilight rapidly nodded her agreement, “what about you, aren't you coming?”

“No, I might, I might be compromised Twilight. There must be a part of me still bound to it… I shall stay with my sister for now, I must know the extent of it, but I’ll be right there when I can!”

Twilight grunted her agreement, “That’s ok, I’ll go and find Sunny, he should be with… Iridis. I’m sure he’s got everything.. Wait, oh no. Oh no………...”

“What is it?” Luna asked urgently, seeing her friend go pale like a petrified muse.

Twilight’s eyes widened, “I think Iridis might be in danger, very serious danger!”

When he finally arrived at Sweet Apple Acres Iridis’s mood was certainly sour. He’d dreaded having any one to one time with Sunny, for the reasons he’d finally felt comfortable enough to confess. The previous encounters had been made palatable by the presence of Luna, and sometimes another party - which meant he didn’t engage any more than he thought he could manage.

This time though would be different. He would have to take the lead on this, and despite his desire to just escape from the situation he knew deep down that it was the right thing to do. It wasn’t that he hated Sunny: it was more the connection he represented to that dark period in his past. Along with this was a frustration he held, a cynicism that Sunny could not or would not change. Little impulses flirted with his consciousness, such as to pretend he was Luna and then perhaps sidestep the awkwardness by putting on a regal ruse.

In the end though he shook his head, dispelled any notions of cowardice and reluctantly found his courage. When he arrived at the house Applejack was there to greet him, indicating that Sunny was upstairs in his temporary accommodation.

“How has he been?” the changeling asked.

Applejack shook her head and frowned, “honestly he’s been pretty calm for the last few days, seemed like a blessing at first, but he looks very tired, real withdrawn like. I think it would be good for you to have a talk to him sugarbug.”

“Ok then,” he sighed, and made his way up to Sunny, rapping a few times on the door to announce his presence.

“Sunny?” he called, “It’s Iridis, Luna is busy today and I’ve been sent in her place. Can I come in?”

There was no answer at all, although he could hear faint breathing from inside and he could smell the familiar fearful scent of the stallion. More so than that, the poisoned and complex aura of tainted ‘love’ he gave off was almost overpowering. He knocked again and yet still there seemed to be no reaction. Despite feeling intrusive for doing so Iridis decided he would just have to trespass and so he pushed the door open wide.

Within the room Sunny lay in bed, breathing in and out slowly and deliberately, his eyes bloodshot and everything about him screaming of horrible fatigue. For perhaps the first time ever Iridis found himself feeling sympathy for the troubled pony.

“Sunny?” He asked, slowly approaching the bed, looking into the earth pony’s eyes for any kind of recognition.

It took a while but eventually Sunny registered the presence in the room and looked up to meet Iridis’s gaze. Usually there was a hot stare of anger and distrust but this time there was only weariness.

“Iridis,” he croaked, shifting a little under the folds of the covers, “it hurts so much, so much.”

“What does?” asked Iridis, sitting down beside the bed, “what’s hurting Sunny?”

“My dreams, I can’t sleep, I feel so destroyed,” and he looked it too, face grizzled with the harsh etchings of sleep deprivation - a dark mask carved all around his eyes, “it’s too much Iridis, please, please help me…”

It was perhaps the first time he’d heard Sunny reach out for help, instead of taking whoever would listen on a self indulgent and draining journey that rarely lead to any positive conclusion. It was as though Sunny was suffering so much it had drained him of his ego, he had no strength to bully himself or play mind games, seemingly completely vacant and broken.

“Oh Sunny, I will help any way I can,” Iridis announced, his heart skipping a beat as a wave of sympathy washed over him. There was nothing he could do now for that first mare he ‘loved’, the one who had taken her own life; but there was still something he could do for Sunny. He felt guilty for having been so suspicious, “tell me what I can do?”

“Take it away,” came the reply, very distantly, almost as though it wasn’t Sunny’s voice at all. Iridis stepped back a moment. That voice had sounded different, “please take some of it away…”

“I don’t know what you mean,” he began, unclear what Sunny meant.

“Luna told me, told me that you might be able take away some of my pain,” Sunny elaborated, his voice croaky, “like the way you feed on love.”

Iridis was surprised by this and gasped, tilting his head and squinting through his bug like eyes. In truth he hadn’t considered this at all but it probably would work. In trying to draw love from Sunny he would draw some of the negative emotion too and perhaps that might actually give his suffering friend some temporary reprieve. It would be a little risky, but as long as he didn’t feed on too much at once it should be ok.

He was held back for a second or two by wondering whether it was ‘cheating’. Fluttershy had grown close to him partly because she had come to find the sensation pleasurable and soothing. There was no denying the sexual dimension to it, nor the delicious tension that had first built up between them over many months of ‘feeding’ sessions. Iridis came to the conclusion that it would be acceptable, the aim with Sunny was to try to suck some of the poison from him, as though venom from a wound. With some luck it wouldn’t go to an awkward place.

He could just feed for a moment or two. .A little voice urged caution inside and something very primitive within him cried out that something was wrong, but he ignored it.

“Alright,” he agreed, “we can give it a try, but just a little, it’s going to be a bit intense though. Just to warn you.”

Sunny nodded a bit and Iridis saw the merest hint of a smile, a slight upturn on one of the corners of the mouth that he took as an indication to carry on. Moving closer to the bed he stood to his hooves and opened his mouth wide, letting out the characteristic feral chattering that all changelings did when they prepared to feed.

Sunny gasped as a pool of light began to form upon his chest and he quickly threw back the covers in wonder and some small panic. Whereas normally with Fluttershy the vaporous manifestation of her love was a brilliant green, this time it was dark purple, black in places, deeply matte black so as to fool the eyes into perceiving no form.

Iridis looked with disgust on the black swirling tar, took a deep breath and then took a big gulp from the mixture. It felt like heartburn after he tried the first taste and it left a kind of bitter sensation around his head.

“Gah!” he exclaimed and coughed a little.

“Iridis!” Sunny exclaimed, his voice sounding louder now, “I feel… I feel lighter.”

“Do you think it’s working?” replied Iridis, breathing in and out so as to fight down the nausea.

“I think so…” and in the earth pony’s eyes there was a glimmer of hope that wasn’t there before. Something had shifted, as though finally a ray of light had penetrated his dark world.

“I’ll try to feed a little more from you…” Iridis responded, then steeling himself for what he knew would be an unpleasant second mouthful he closed his eyes and fed once more. After the third gulp he felt sick to his stomach and felt like he could not carry on, “that’s umm, uggh, probably all for now… by Celestia Sunny just how much anger did you have in you!?” he exclaimed, backing off a bit.

“A guess a lot,” Sunny replied but with a softness that Iridis had never heard in his voice. He looked so much more relaxed now, not fully by any means, but it was as though a weight had been lifted, “Iridis, I feel so much better, it’s not so bad.”

“Maybe this is what we needed to do…” replied Iridis, and sat down on his haunches, breathing hard, a little exhausted, “really really not much fun though.”

“I’m sorry….” Sunny began but Iridis interrupted him.

“No, that’s ok, it’s ok. Really!” the changeling replied, smiling himself, actually very proud that on his own he’d found a way to help Sunny. The glow of satisfied pride ignited within him along with with a dispersal of much of his remaining self doubt. The incident with Pinkie and Luna had made him worried about dispensing any ‘advice’ for a while, even though it did seem that everything would have been inevitable anyways. Right now though he didn’t have to counsel Sunny, simply be there to help him share his burden.

Sunny sat up in bed all of a sudden, and Iridis saw the stallion's eyes narrow into slits.

“Something wrong?” he asked.

“No, everything is great, perfect! I couldn’t have asked for more from you Iridis,” Sunny said, with that same funny sounding voice as earlier, “in fact I think you need to feed more, why not take it all?”

“Huh?” Iridis puzzled, unsure what the change of tone meant, “not right now Sunny, but I’m sure we can….”

Suddenly Sunny’s eyes widened once more and he looked at his friend with a piercing gaze of pure terror, “Iridis! You need to RUN, now, it’s taking control… it’s…”

Iridis felt a swell of anger and hate like nothing he’d ever felt before as though the room were suddenly swollen to bursting like a wretched corpuscle. Without even the chance to cry out in surprise he found himself wrestled to the ground by Sunny, the two scuffled for a moment but he was pushed down by what felt like unnatural strength.

The darkness was pooling once again on Sunny’s chest, more bilious now, nasty and pungent. Iridis felt hooves cruelly force his mouth open and then moaned out in pain and horror as the vile mass of hate was forced into him. It felt like he was drowning, and he struggled desperately against the force atop him to no avail, trying to turn his head away. A dreadful panic set in as he found he could not escape, as he gagged and spluttered, bucking in futility and emitting dreadful sounds of choking and suffocation.

His body and belly swelled, breaking parts of his carapace, and green stuff oozed out of the fissures and dripped to the floor. It felt like it would never end, but eventually it did. Sunny released Iridis and backed off in horror, holding his hooves to his mouth and crying “what have you done?”

Iridis was now fat and pulsating like a grub, nearly three times his normal size, letting out a primal cry of terrible pain and despair from both the torture of his body and the agony of being filled with so much horrible emotion. He made a retching noise and then two black looking claws on slender arms erupted from his mouth, clasping and forcing his jaw open to aid their exodos.

In a final burst of violence everything inside Iridis emptied in a fast and terrible torrent, spewing forth in a powerful wave of dark glowing black; smashing its way through the roof of the house and shooting up to the sky like a wicked spire it started to take form.

Before unconsciousness overtook him Iridis caught a glimpse of the dark purple haze condense into the shape of a giant mare, while on its face bright apertures tore open into the shape of eyes. They looked down at him.

A powerful voice, sounding much like Luna’s boomed out across Sweet Apple Acres.

“I am the Tantabus, and I am free!”

“Iridis? Are you ok?” Applejack’s voice asked, sounding distant as though underwater.

With great effort the changeling opened his eyes. He felt broken and could barely move, only just able to make out the shapes of the Apple family standing over him and Sunny somewhere to the back, doubled over into a rocking foetal position.

“Applejack?” he asked, barely able to move.

“Easy sugarbug,” she said, and gently pushed his head back down to prevent him straining himself.

“What happened? What happened to me, oh shit, oh shit…” Iridis looked down over his belly and saw the carapace cracked in many places, he could see parts of himself spilling out and luminous green fluids soaking the carpet all around him. He let out a terrible cry of fear as he saw his chest rise and fall widening and narrowing the cracks through which he could clearly see his own heart beating. A voice caught his attention.

“It’s all my fault….” Sunny moaned, his face wet, “it’s my fault, Iridis I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he collapsed on the floor and reached out to touch the changeling’s hoof with his own. He said nothing else for a while and just wept as Iridis breathed in and out in a state of catatonic fear.

Applejack eventually broke the silence, sounding earnest and unsure, “sugarbug we sent Big Mac off to find someone to help, the Doctor or Twilight or something. I don’t know what’s going on though, it looks to me like that Tantabus thing is back, but this time it’s in the real world. I don’t know when they’ll be back, you gotta tell us how to fix you…”

“Yeah Iridis, tell us what to do…” Applebloom chimed in bravely, but unsteady on her legs. It was difficult to look at how badly injured her friend was without wanting to throw up, either in terror or despair.

“Oh fuck, oh shit, ok…” Iridis moaned, trying to focus, knowing his life depended on conveying how best he could be helped, “Ok, umm, you gotta get some glue, tape, something, get all my stuff back inside, and bind me up, then wrap me up in something, like a cocoon, oh fuck, oh Celestia, I don’t want to die…” he looked up into Applejack’s eyes with a desperation, “where’s Fluttershy, where’s Fluttershy…”

“He’s not gonna be making much sense anymore, that I do say!” Granny Smith announced, shaking her head, seeing Iridis slip into incoherency, “alright, you heard him, let’s get what we need and get to it! Sunny, Applebloom stay with him, Applejack, come help me!”

“Ok… sure, no problem” Applebloom announced bravely, but still feeling terribly queasy and frightened.

Iridis felt himself slip in and out of consciousness a few times, only picking up fragments of what was going on around him. Occasionally a sharp pang of pain would jolt him into awareness as he saw Applejack and Granny Smith following his instructions. Occasionally he heard a retch of disgust and saw one fleeting and awful glimpse of a horrified Applejack trying to get a hoof full of his intestines back inside him.

Slowly though he started to feel tighter, warmer, and more secure until he was able to hold his eyes open, still dazed but sufficiently composed to start to ask what was going on. He noticed Sunny was no longer there, but Granny Smith and Applebloom were standing vigil.

“Welcome back bug,” crooned the old pony, “didn’t know you were going to make it, we did what you said, you’re all snug up now.”

It was indeed true and Iridis relaxed a little as he felt the tightness of sheets wrapped around him. He no longer felt he might fall apart at any moment, but everything still hurt horribly.

“Where’s Fluttershy, is she ok?” was the first thing he asked.
Applebloom and Granny Smith looked at each other, unsure how to answer. Big Mac was also there too, apparently having not been able to return with any help.

“Please..” he insisted.

“She was saving all her critters, getting them evacuated, then she’s coming over here, she knows where you are,” Big Mac explained, “she’s not part of the battle. Sunny’s ok too, he’s downstairs.”

A rumble came from outside, then a series of explosive sounding stocattos - followed by their ghostly echoes - as noises of violence spread out across the hills. He looked up and saw the night sky, or at least darkness above him through the rupture the Tantabus had carved in the Apple family home.

No stars.

Only black.

“What’s that sound?” he mumbled, weakly.

“Discord and Twilight and some others are fighting that monster!” explained Granny Smith, “ain’t going too well though as far as Big Mac says it.”

“What? UHHHHHHHHHH!” Iridis strained against the bindings as a tremor of pain moved along his right side like a wave, “ahhh, but wait what, Discord and Twilight are powerful enough, surely… Discord alone could probably…. UHHHHHH!” he couldn’t finish his sentence.

“Easy…” Big Mac said, concerned and gently stroked the makeshift cocoon, “I don’t know why, I just know it ain’t going well. Just wait till Fluttershy arrives, ok, save your strength.”

“That, that won’t be enough…” Iridis whispered, “I hate to uhh ask this of you, but I need your love, all of you… It’s not enough to bind my body…”

“Take mine!” a voice boomed from beside him, and it was Sunny who was standing in the door.

“I can’t take yours…” Iridis gasped weakly, then paused for a moment. Everything he felt coming from Sunny was different: well, perhaps not completely different. He could feel a sting there, like bile, but there was something else. Something so dazzling and pure. He wasn’t sure for a moment exactly where this love was directed but then he saw it, “Applebloom? Your love is for Applebloom?” he gasped, surprised.

Sunny turned to look down at the filly, and she turned her scared little eyes to look back up at him, “You’re the only one I’ve ever felt I could talk with. You’re the first one I felt love for in a way that I wasn’t ashamed of. And now because of me… you’re in danger, you’re all in danger… please Iridis, take it…”

“Oh Sunny, I love ya too!” Applebloom replied nestling herself into his coat.

Sunny approached Apple Bloom and he lowered himself to match her size, they embraced and both fought back tears. Iridis looked at the two and it was as though a connection sparked inside his mind. The void surrounding Sunny’s dream, the Tantabus, Luna’s strange reaction to Pinkie Pie all the training he’d received. Now finally everything came together like a puzzle. He knew what he needed to do, and what needed to happen.

Applejack looked on and smiled, very proud of her younger sister, “should’a known it’d be you sugarcube who got through to him, for sure I know I couldn’t have.”

“Sunny, come to me,” Iridis commanded, quietly, “the rest of you, can you please wait downstairs, I ummmm, something is about to happen here I think… it’s needs to be just the two of us.”

“You sure sugarbug?” Applejack asked.

“Yes, there is much we need to ahhhhhH! Much we need to do Sunny, and there isn’t much time””

“You’re going to see it all aren’t you?” Sunny replied, shaking a bit, “I won’t be able to hide from you will I?

“No” Iridis replied, his voice suddenly taking on a foreboding mysterious quality, “it’s going to hurt Sunny. I don’t know you’re quite ready to do it for yourself, but can you do it for Applebloom and for all of us?”

“Yes, I’m ready,” Sunny agreed, trembling a bit and biting his lip, as the rest of the ponies slowly made their way out, “let us begin.”

In Somnis Veritas

From Canterlot, Luna and Celestia looked out over what should have been the brightness of day but instead saw an encroaching and horrific blackness erupt over Ponyville, spreading slowly outwards like spilt oil. Luna’s eyes widened in horror and disbelief at what she was seeing.

“It’s the Tantabus for sure, now there is no doubt remaining, my sister can you forgive me for not seeing this, I was so foolish! I thought those nightmares were all the doing of Sunny, not that some vestige of my awful creation was residing in his dreams,” Luna lamented, “I swear to you sister of mine that I did not know…”

Celestia interrupted her sister, kindly but urgently, “there will be time to retrospect later Luna, right now we must take action. Twilight is already in Ponyville and she will help hold it off, come we must set off there now!”

“And surely not without me!” a familiar voice came from behind them.

“Discord!” Celestia, whirled round to face the draconequus, “I certainly hope you are here to help, we have no time to waste, will you assist us, I need your answer quickly!”

Discord feigned offense and took on a very effeminate pose that would not have been out of place in the most melodramatic pantomime, “really! How rude can you be, here I am taking time out of important duties to come and offer my aid and you have the audacity…”

“Really Discord?” Celestia lost her patience and blasted him with a scorn she normally held in check.

“Fine!” he replied, looking disappointed, “since Fluttershy is clearly in harm’s way of course I’ll do whatever I can to help! And I suppose some of the rest of you are ok too, sometimes. You’ll probably need it too, the magic used by that ‘thing’ is chaos based magic. Just how powerful did you make it Luna?”

Luna was too distraught to pick up that Discord was baiting her and was about to launch into a righteous tirade against him when Celestia stopped her, “calm yourself Luna, Discord, can you take us directly to Ponyville?”

“First things first, I must ask you Luna are you truly sure this ‘thing’ has no further power over you? Hasn’t it been influencing your dreams still?” Discord asked, his voice probing.

“Have you been spying on me, you cur!” Luna erupted, unable to contain her temper, “yes it was influencing me to make me insecure and angry, yes it’s true. But only in my dreams, it’s not part of me anymore, it doesn’t draw power from me!”

“Alright then, if you’re sure...” he replied and snapped his fingers, taking the two princesses with him.

When they materialised in the midst of Ponyville the sight that greeted them was utter chaos. Shattered glass, debris, wood and other manifestations of turmoil littered everywhere and it seemed like half of the town was on fire. Smoke filled the air, with the sky above blackened, though the horizon was still luminous, like a ghastly eclipse.

Above them, engaged in what seemed like quite a brutal ruckus, Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash and Starlight Glimmer were busy engaging the giant equine form of the Tantabus. It seemed like they were throwing everything they could muster at it to no avail, many of the powerful bolts of magic were simply rebounding or missing and causing destruction to various parts of Ponyville.

Twilight sensed the arrival of three powerful forms and looked down to see Luna, Celestia and Discord standing below. She bellowed for Starlight and Rainbow to halt their attack and come back with her as she flew down to land in front of the three.

“We can’t even scratch it!” Twilight cried through intense and exhausted panting, “nothing we can do seems to harm it!”

“What?” Luna replied, “It’s in the real world, it’s escaped the dreamscape so it should be vulnerable to conventional magic!”

“Now this doesn’t feel right at all…” Discord muttered, looking up at the giant form that straddled the town hall.

The Tantabus was enormous, at least as high as the tallest spire of Canterlot, black, ominous with a luminous glow woven around its edge. It looked down on them with a clearly discernable expression, disdainful amusement.

“What doesn’t feel right?” Twilight asked Discord.

“I get the feeling,” he pondered, looking up, “that your creation has evolved somewhat since last time. I don’t remember quite so much expression in the face are, at least from how you described it.”

“It can’t be!” Luna gasped, looking up at what was clearly a greater self awareness that she had ever conceived would be possible for her creation.

“Oh it certainly can!” a voice boomed from above, and the ghastly and colossal apparition shrunk until its form became the size of a pony. It looked almost exactly like Luna, having taken her form, but there was one striking differences between them. The eyes were anomalous, and it only took Luna a moment to see that they were more similar to Sunny’s eyes, fixed in a wrathful squint.

The Tantabus chuckled and reared up in a manner reminiscent of Luna when she had the form of Nightmare Moon, it cackled in its cruel revelry.

“So mother we meet again!” the Tantabus spoke, “you thought your moment of self forgiveness banished me but you were wrong. I found a way back to you.”

“Through Sunny,” Luna stated already sure of the answer.

“How true mother,” the Tantabus replied, addressing its ‘creator’ with a sarcastic disdain, “when you thought me destroyed I wandered the dreamscape in unspeakable agony until I saw an opportunity. A pony who hated himself more than you could ever imagine. A conflicted and disfigured soul who I could latch onto. I tormented him with the most perverted of nightmares, a thousand times more terrifying and destructive than I could ever muster for you, mother. I broke him down to nothing and fed on all his rage, growing strong.

“Alas I could not escape, despite my strength. For you had weakened me on my near destruction, I found I could no longer tear open a portal to Equestria. Fortunately your Changeling friend was able to do that for me…”

“What did you do to Iridis?” Twilight demanded, gritting her teeth, horn glowing.

The Tantabus laughed heartily, “in his compassion for Sunny he tried to drain some of his pain and then I used him as the conduit into this world. I left him broken, beaten and bloodied, smote on the floor like a squished bug. HAH!”

This was too much for Twilight and Luna who looked at each other briefly and then launched themselves at their foe with a furious burning passion. The Tantabus grinned and uttered once “Yes! Come to me! Let us see what you can do!”, before the battle once more commenced in frenzied earnest as the rest of the ponies and Discord threw themselves into the fray.

Sunny’s love for Applebloom was abundant, rich and pure, the purest that Iridis had ever tasted and as he fed he felt his broken body begin to mend. They looked into each other’s eyes for just a moment and then let themselves drift into a shared reverie.

Sunny looked around in the dreamscape and gasped in wonder at where Iridis had taken him.

“I never knew…. And, that’s my dream isn’t it?” he asked, gazing down at the blackened mass which now seemed clearer since the Tantabus had departed, “how can I be here with you, if that’s my dream, if I’m in my dream… umm am I in my dream too or outside of it?”

Iridis turned to face him, his body sparkling in the ethereal construct of the dreamscape, “both are true, Luna taught me how to let a pony see themselves in a dream, she sometimes used it to to help ponies overcome their nightmares. It’s like when you have a dream where you look down on yourself, or see copies of yourself. Now, let us go…”

“Yes…” Sunny replied, fearfully and morbidly, gasping in incomprehension as the changeling helped him move onto the surface of the hypersphere. With the Tantabus gone the surface was much clearer, sufficiently cleansed to allow them to break through.

As they entered the bounded hypersurface of his dream world Sunny let out a cry, “please don’t judge me, please, oh Celestia, Iridis…”

“It’s ok, it’s ok, I won’t. Share your fears with me, my friend…” Iridis replied and stayed close to Sunny as he saw the nightmares come into view.

The scene was brutal in its rage and simplicity, a doppleganger of Sunny was smashing his father’s face in with a rock, shouting in rage. Each time though he tried to bring the stone down on his father’s face the rock simply bounced off as if lighter than air.

“Iridis, I’m so sorry, I would never, that’s not me, that’s not me…” Sunny cried, squeezing out huge dreamlike tears as he sobbed.

Iridis reassured him almost immediately, “I know Sunny. Don’t think you’re the only one that has these rage dreams, many ponies do. I know it isn’t the whole you.”

Sunny nodded, sobbing desperately and looking on at the scene, “dad I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I don’t hate you, or, at least I don’t mean to, I love you.”

And with that admission something happened, the tableaux vanished in a puff of vapour. Sunny paused and turned his head to Iridis seeking an explanation.

The changeling pondered this for a moment and then smiled proudly, “I think I know why Sunny. You don’t just feel anger intensely, you feel love intensely too. You love your father, and it frightened you how much. You couldn’t deal with it so you hid behind anger. I think you just confronted that.”

“Maybe,” the stallion replied, shaking a bit.

The world before them melted into mist and then reformed into another scene, this time a class room. A young frail and timid looking Sunny was being mocked by a gaggle of shrieking school ponies. He was sitting on the floor, his arms and legs crossed.

“Sunny wet himself! What a baby!” one faceless pony shouted from the crowd.

The adult Sunny looking on turned red and shook his head in remembered humiliation, “I went home and cut myself that day, for the first time. I hated them all so much!” it sounded for a moment as though he would unleash a torrent of anger, but he was too distraught, too drained and too frightened for that happen.

Both looked on as the humiliation continued, now the school ponies attempting to move him off the wet patch to expose his shame.

“No no no. I can’t do this!” Sunny cried and turned to leave.

“You STAY!” Iridis shouted, surprising himself, “I nearly just died trying to help you. You gave me the love to save me. That makes us ‘blood brothers’ of sorts; you see this through! Understand me? You see it through with me!”. He’d never spoken to anypony like that, and yet this time he didn’t feel ashamed of himself, he let it happen and it seemed that Sunny responded to it.

The stallion turned back to the awful replay of his past and looked again.

“Sunny…” Iridis said, “don’t you think I have nightmares of being a hive changeling, nightmares of feeding off the unwilling, nightmares of bringing victims back to the hive as food. Don’t think that I don’t hurt from that too? I may not ever fully forgive myself for all of that, but Fluttershy taught me I can’t dwell on the past. I did bad things, but there was no way I could do better. I became more than I was. What have you done? Pissed on the floor at school? Did you EVER do the things I did? If not then can you forgive yourself for the simple crime of just being a little colt and having an accident… Can you maybe get around the fact that young ponies can be cruel and that they mostly grow up and move on? Can you move on from that Sunny?”

Sunny thought about this for a moment, thinking outside himself and realising something he hadn't before. Iridis had probably helped kill ponies, indirectly perhaps but it was none the less likely. Here he was, tormenting himself in some ridiculous loop over something so like this.

Something snapped in his mind and the scene dissolved into nothingness and he breathed out a long sigh of release.

“Oh my…” he moaned as he felt himself feel lighter and more unburdened, but yet still he sank to to the floor, shifting and dreamlike as it was, and continued to sob hearty tears; it was as though it was his only release for the boiling tempest inside him. These were terrors he’d never had the courage to face before.

Slowly the mists of the previous nightmare formed into another scene, Sunny, sitting in his old room, looking teenage in years. His desk was littered with a mountain of screwed up paper and Iridis saw the younger doppelganger of his friend gritting his teeth and grunting frustratedly.

“What are you doing to yourself?” Iridis whispered out loud seeing Sunny’s younger self scratching his foreleg on the sharp corner of his desk. He’d clearly done it so much as to draw blood, rubbing through his coat and breaking the skin underneath.

“I felt like a failure,” Sunny cried, and Iridis could see his resolve waning as the feelings overcame him, “I remember it, I remember it…”

“Were you parents hard you on?” Iridis inquired, gently. He had no ‘parents’ of his own in a sense, but he’d heard this to be a common cause of Ponies’ overzealous self judgement.

Sunny shook his head, “no they always told me not to push myself too hard.” He almost snorted from effort.

“Then why, why Sunny, why so cruel to yourself?” and something happened to Iridis he could not expect, a hot swell of sympathy grew in his heart once more like a terrible ache. Something happened he could only do in a dream, he began to cry too. The sensation was strange to him, but then he had no way of knowing if it were accurate or not. It felt good though, soothing, wet and cathartic.

“I wasn’t good enough at school.. I wasn’t good enough at anything I did!” Sunny explained.

“But you were top of your class, Luna showed me your grades, your marks…” Iridis replied, perplexed, “It’s like you’re just finding any excuse to punish yourself. Sunny, is that it, are you addicted to, punishing yourself?”

“Yes,” Sunny replied, almost too matter of factly.

“But it hurts you too, why do you do it? Was there something that triggered it?” Iridis pressed further, “It’s like you know every answer for what’s wrong with you, and you already know it’s not true, but yet you do it anyway… what kind of inner monologue do you have to to put yourself through that much torment?” the changeling exclaimed, thinking back to his own remnants of self loathing. He had to admit he could understand some of the horror Sunny was going through, but he’d never had such a vicious and self-defeating inner voice.

“I don’t know. I’ve always just, felt, divided against myself,” was the best that Sunny could explain, transfixed on the scene which was now deviating from reality. The fake Sunny began to run harder until the skin and muscle was showing, the corner of the desk lathing off section after section of the flesh like cleaved meat. The form continued to grind itself into the edge until the whole shoulder was gone, then its head, then down its body.

Iridis felt like he would throw up and had to look away, was this the kind of nightmare Sunny had, day in day out?

“It was worse when the Tantabus was here…” Sunny said and it sent a shiver of terror up Iridis’s spine.

This scene in front of him would probably haunt him for the rest of his life, and yet he could believe that with the Tantabus’s influence it had clearly been worse. How long had Sunny been tormented, how long had he endured this? What terrors had he been tortured with? He leaned down and wrapped himself around Sunny, holding him really close.

“Sunny…” Iridis began, drawing as much courage he could from deep within him, “What should I say to you? Would Applebloom want you to hurt yourself? Would she want this, wouldn’t she say to you what she’s said before, that you’re kind to her?”

Sunny had to nod at this, unable to disagree.

“Ok, so you can at least believe that,” Iridis continued, “Sunny, can you understand that’s not about being perfect? Or whatever it is you aspired to. Deep down I think you’re very kind, full of kindness. Applebloom saw it in you, that’s why she really loves you. You don’t need to have such high expectations of yourself, when clearly you are already wonderful.”

The scene flickered for a moment and then slowly slithered away into ropes of blue smoke. The changeling looking down at his friend who seemed to have accepted the truth, even if he was still hurting.

“Well done, well done,” Iridis cooed, gently stroking Sunny’s mane and holding him tight, “well done Sunny, you’re brave Sunny, so brave.”

“Thankyou.” was the weak and pathetic reply.

Around then, slowly, the sinews of dreams coalesced once more into one final vision, and judging from the cry of primal terror that Sunny let loose from deep within his soul, it would be the worse.

“NOT THIS! NO!” he cried, trying to flee but Iridis held him down, “No, let me go let me FUCKING GO!”

“No NO Sunny!” the bug cried, pinning his charge to the ground, “whatever this is you MUST see it through…”

“NO!” protested the earth pony, now bucking and writhing so hard he even moved slightly in and out of the plane of the dream.

Once he had established a hold Iridis looked up and took in the final and worst manifestation of Sunny’s most deep terror.

In a bedroom once more, he saw a mare, spread on the bed wide, exposing her marehood for Sunny to see. The Stallion was attempting to enter her, clumsily, angrily, in complete frustration but failing badly, barely hard enough to make any progress. Neither of the couple looked like they particularly wanted this, Sunny looked desperate and the mare had an unreadable expression.

“Don’t look, please don’t look…” Sunny screamed, then finally he began to exhaust himself and he slackened a little and let Iridis rest on top of him heavily.

“Oh my,” Iridis groaned, “oh my, Sunny….”

“We had just broken up,” Sunny explained, his voice deteriorating into an almost robotic soliloquy as though his mind was trying to protect him from the dreadful machinations of his subconscious, “I didn’t want to be a virgin, and she said it would be ok for us to, for us to have sex, before I had to leave and never see her again. But, I couldn’t, it just… oh Iridis, I’m sorry.”

This was possibly the one area that the Changeling felt most ill equipped to deal with. It was true he was now sexually much more mature, open and very relaxed about himself. But the whole culture of virginity being related to self worth, it wasn’t something he understand. Sexual frustration wasn’t really something he understood either.

His problem in the spa, all that time ago when he felt felt sexual feelings towards one of the masseuses was much more to do with how close it felt to his own hunger. Changeling culture didn’t have the same baggage, culture expectations or pressure to ‘lose virginity’ that he had seen in pony society. His sexuality now was much more based around Fluttershy’s happiness, and his first orgasm with her was very linked with the symbiotic feeding they had experienced together.

Sexual hunger he understand, but all the rest of the nuances Sunny felt right now, he doubted he could make the leap. His mind groped around, trying to find something he could say or do.

Eventually he spoke, carefully, “Sunny, this might be something I can’t understand, but tell me, how can we fix this? What is it you’d need to fix this?”

“I need it” came the reply, simply, amid a torrent of tears.

“You need sex?”

“I need to do it right, for once, it’s never gone very well, ever, with anypony,” Sunny’s eyes were tightly shut, and he tried to drown out the awful noises of his dream self’s angrily frustrated cursing.

“OK,” Iridis said, “If I said to you something like ‘you don’t need sex to be happy’, I feel I might be lying, or a hypocrite somehow. It seems like you really do need to experience this, but in a way that you feel comfortable with. Look, listen, if we get through this somehow I promise to do everything I can to find somepony to teach you, there has to be a mare who can work with you, maybe that one of the princesses knows or something? It can’t be impossible.”

Although it was a long shot Sunny actually perked up slightly and even tilted his head to peer up at Iridis, “really?”

“I promise, I’ll find a way, even if I have to go to the ends of Equestria, I’ll set you up with someone who will take the time to understand you, and help you through it” Iridis confirmed, and then he saw the same telltale signs of the dream washing away. It seemed like this time it would be too big a leap for Sunny to just let his feelings on the matter go, but instead it was the promise of action, or moving forward the spurred him on. That perhaps would have to do for now.

Sunny was exhausted and flattened himself out prone on the surface of the dream. Every part of him ached with effort. There was a wave of relief though, like that little gasp of air after long sought forgiveness is finally bestowed, like the worries and woes that had built up in his body melted like butter and sunk deep into his chest: then flowed out through his legs.

The changeling sighed himself and rolled off to one side and let himself be still on the floor for a second or too. He looked around the Sunny’s dream, and saw how much clearer it was now.

“Wait,” he exclaimed, rising into the air and hovering, not beating his wings at all, “wait, it’s not all gone, I can still feel it here.”

“What?” Sunny replied, unable to move but sensing the urgency in his friend’s voice, “the Tantabus, is it still here?”

“Yes it, it is… but we saw it escape, how is it still. Oh no!”

Sunny twitched, “what do you mean ‘oh no’ Iridis, what’s wrong? You’re scaring me!”

“It’s still inside your sphere,” Iridis spoke coldly and with fear in his voice, “it’s diminished for sure, but it’s still there,” he pointed in the fourth dimension towards where he could feel the presence, but Sunny just saw part of his arm disappear and didn’t understand.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, it’s like it’s still anchored to you. I don’t understand, haven’t you forgiven yourself like Luna did when she purged the Tantabus, surely it can’t have a hold on you anymore, unless,” he paused and looked down, “unless you haven’t forgiven yourself?”

“Irids you helped me SO much!” Sunny cried, “I do feel better, much better, but, it’s too much, I can’t just forgive myself just like that, it’s too much in one go! I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”

The Changeling knew the truth now, and more pieces of the puzzle slid into place. He didn’t have the knowledge of Luna, but he felt like he knew enough to understand what was happening. The Tantabus had grown in strength within Sunny’s psyche until it found a means to escape through a Changeling - one that could draw the manifestation of emotion out of a pony. But it was smarter now, it had chosen to stay partly in the real world and partly in the dream world. Unable to be destroyed fully in either, and probably experiencing the strengths of both. If that were true, it it could draw on the dream world for potency, it might explain why the battle was going so badly, it would have immeasurable power, perhaps even the kind of power that Discord had.

Its plan was cruel and monstrous. Sunny had needed help, love and help, but perhaps just when he may have been reachable, probably a few years ago now, the Tantabus had infected him and destroyed any progress he might have made. It knew just how self-sustaining his own ego was at maintaining his misery and self loathing; it exploited it, amplified it and hurt him so badly it would take him years and years to fully forgive himself. It could continue to draw on the dream world for as long as he didn’t, and by then it might be too late for Equestria.

He shuddered and gritted his teeth in anger at such foul and brilliant cruelty, and shivered inwardly at how much peril they were in.

Sunny could learn to move on, given time and help, but now they didn’t have that time.

“Curse you!” Iridis cried, “Curse you Tantabus!”

At this they woke, and Iridis felt himself refreshed and healed somewhat from drinking on Sunny’s love. His friend came back to consciousness, taking a deep breath and crying out in surprise at being wrenched back into the world.

The two exchanged a hopeless glance.

“What do we do?” the changeling asked, still bound within his cocoon.

“I must go and confront it…”

“I don’t think you can win!” Iridis protested, not wishing to be defeatist but knowing it was the truth.

“I have to try, I have to,” Sunny tried to stand and then fell over immediately. He was so emotionally exhausted he couldn’t keep himself up, and his limbs shivered with feeling, “oh shit, shit, come on…” his body refused to obey for the second time then on the third he managed to stand shakily to his hooves, uncertain and wobbling like a newborn foal.

Iridis looked at him with awe. Having just been through the experience they had together, becoming brothers in dreams he wouldn’t have thought Sunny would be able to do anything, much less confront a monster - yet somehow, despite everything there was strength remaining in him yet.

“I’ll be back, I promise, and whatever happens, Iridis, you’re the brother I never had...” Sunny announced and ran out of the house and towards Ponyville as fast as he could manage, only pausing to yell instructions to the remaining Apple family members to take good care of Iridis.

Twilight’s lungs burned with exertion, her chest heaving so hard it felt as though as though it would perforate her ribs. The hair that normally settled around her horn had been blackened from its magical heat, it still smoldered, a tide of black slowly making it’s way down the purple fronds and releasing an acrid smell as it finally fizzled out.

“What are we doing wrong…” Twilight cried out between desperate gulps of air.

The battle had reached now a lull as Celestia, Luna, Discord, Rainbow and Starlight regrouped at the edge of the town square, all similarly exhausted. They had unleashed a brutal and devastating attack on the Tantabus and it had merely shrugged off even their most potent spells. Even Discord, who had a little more success in slowing the manifestation down failed to make any significant progress.

Only once in the battle did it seem to struggle for just a moment, wincing and snorting. They had taken this as a cue to redouble their efforts but it was yet still futile. All the combatants save the Tantabus were utterly exhausted.

“Luna, what the hell is going on?” Rainbow panted, “I thought we destroyed this thing when you forgave yourself?”

“It’s not me anymore…” Luna replied.

“Yeah ok ok!” replied Rainbow, angrily gritting her teeth, “it’s Sunny now, I got that by no from what everypony has been saying. Can’t we just get him to forgive himself?”

“No Rainbow!” she boomed, “it’s escaped, it doesn’t matter if he forgives himself or not, Sunny has nothing… oh, oh no..”

“What?” demanded the pegasus, her chest visibly pumping like an engine.

The Tantabus took a step closer to the group and laughed raucously, “so you finally figured it out mother?”

“I AM NOT YOUR MOTHER!” Luna bellowed and unleashed a half hearted burst of magic that ricocheted off the Tantabus and smashed into a nearby shop window, sending glass flying everywhere.

“Temper temper!” it continued, “you finally realised, I’m neither in the dream world or the real world. I have all the power of the reverie and none of the vulnerabilities of being purely physical, and I have plans for Equestria!”

“Why?” Luna demanded, “Why do this?”

“Oh please!” it snorted, “take some responsibility Princess Of The Moon, I’m born of your self loathing, nurtured by Sunny’s and still fed by him now! I must admit your petty self-loathing is nothing compared to his though, he’s truly the master. There will be no end to my power as long as he lives, and in this new dark world I create there will be many more tortured souls for me to feed on!” it reared up onto the impressions of its hind legs and spread its foul black wings, “I WILL BE A GOD!”

“NO YOU WON’T!” a voice cried, ever over the din and everyone turned to face the newcomer.

“Sunny?” Luna gasped, “why are you here?”

Sunny was shaking from exhaustion and fear, but still despite it all bravely stepped towards the Tantabus, Twilight moved to stop him but Luna held up a hoof, “let him try.”

“What is this?” the Tatanbus laughed, clearly amused, “so the spinless cur has finally learned a little bravery! So what do I owe the pleasure?”

“I’m here to destroy you!” Sunny shouted, his anger temporarily masking the fear and guilt he still felt, “you say I can’t forgive myself, but I just faced my worst fears with Iridis and I moved on from them, and you know what I reckon you felt it too didn’t you?”

The Tantabus lurched forward for a just a moment and Sunny shrank back with a cry, it laughed at him, “yes it’s true I did feel it Sunny. You faced down your worst fears… Angry at your father, pissing yourself at school, not ‘getting it up’. Pah! Are you serious? I’ve seen the dreams of ponies whose fathers raped them, I’ve seen the dreams of ponies who were paralyzed in accidents, I’ve seen the dreams of the mothers whose foals died when they were infants. And you? You think you’re brave? I didn’t choose you because you were the most damaged pony in Equestria, believe me I had plenty of choice, I chose you because of your artful self torture, you did all that yourself Sunny all of it YOURSELF!”

He faltered and sunk to his knees, desperately trying to cling onto the hope he’d felt with Iridis, trying hard to snatch at the bravery which now felt like it was leaving him.

“HAH see?” the Tantabus remarked, looking over to the rest of the crowd in amusement, “forgive himself? Maybe after twenty years of therapy. But that’s not going to happen in my new Equestria. I’m going to keep you as a pet Sunny! I’ll feed on your guilt for the rest of your life. You know what I might even let you have a treat once in a while, like a loyal lap dog”, it approached him, “what do you say Sunny, why not be my slave, it’ll be easier? We can have so much fun together Sunny. How about I sweeten the deal huh? I’ll make you a whole harem of mares under my control, I’ll give you every possible pleasure you could ever want, and yet it’ll only feed your guilt more. How delicious it could be!” the voice sounded so much like Nightmare Moon’s.

“NO!” he shouted, “I won’t let you!”

“Oh and how will you stop me, you’ve not even seen my full power, and now with your little brave interlude complete let me show you what your anger and self pity has wrought!”

A dazzling flash of light blinded him for a moment and when the afterimage subsided he saw a terrible sight. All his friends were petrified, much like the way that Discord had been when Celestia imprisoned him in Stone. Some of the most powerful beings in Equestria were now helpless and the Tantabus had barely lifted a hoof to dispose of them.

“They aren’t dead, I’ll torment them later,” the Tantabus explained, very matter of factly, then once again giving Sunny its full attention, “just you and I now Sunny, my source of power, my soul.”

Sunny broke the gaze of the monster and ran up to the still and hardened muse of Twilight and tried to shake it, panicking.

“It’s no use Sunny, they can’t hear you.”

He sunk to the ground, and distantly he recalled the time he had sunk before Luna, framed by the detritus and mess of his apartment, begging her for help. This time there was no stale dust to greet his nose, but the earthy smell of grass and dirt, somehow more real and comforting. His mind juddered to a halt, realising everything was over, and that so much of it was his fault.

Sunny knew that he only needed to forgive himself and he could break the conjoining of himself and the Tantabus, perhaps that might break the spell on his friends, perhaps then there might be hope. He looked deep within his ego and realised that his id still fought him, undermining him at every turn, replaying and regurgitating every past transgression, and anticipating every possible future one.

The Tantabus was right. He could at least now see thanks to Iridis a time in the future, a possible future where he could learn to forgive himself. But it was too much to do right now, it was impossible, and the Tantabus knew it.

His mind sunk into a catatonic despair and he looked into the monster’s eyes with a look of one of who has seen the infinite.

“You are broken.”

The announcement was uttered with such an air of finality from the monster, “wait no, not quite, a small little speck of hope remains in you, I can feel it. But no matter, I can fix that problem.”

The air crackled with that characteristic sound of teleportation and out of the void emerged a confused Applebloom, looking around in disbelief.

“What the hay?” she announced, “Sunny? What….”

Before she could speak further a bubble formed around her, drowning out her voice. Applebloom felt herself lifted up, fully ensconced within an invisible prison. She looked down at Sunny, along at the array of frozen muses, and then to the Tantabus. She understood what had happened and hung her head.

“Applebloom!” Sunny cried, a sudden rush of anger giving him a final bolt of strength, “You LET HER GO!” he threw himself at the Tantabus, but it merely laughed and pushed him back magically, letting his legs slide over the dirt in futility.

“I’ll break that last bit of will you have to resist!” the Tantabus announced, then, to Sunny’s horror he saw the bubble begin to fill with water.

“NO NO!” he screamed, “I’ll do what you ask, I’ll do ANYTHING you want! STOP!”

The Tantabus laughed and Applebloom began to cry in panic and fear as the water slowly rose and ultimately submerged her within the bubble. The filly flailed in panic for a good twenty seconds, a time that felt like twenty years, until she began to slow her movements, and opened her eyes, looking at Sunny through the horizon of the bubble.

His eyes said to her that she was sorry.

Her eyes said to him that she forgave him even though she didn’t want to die.

It wouldn’t be long now before she would drown and he could already see her abdomen heaving and twitching.

“What will you do?” the Tantabus mocked.

Sunny stood motionless.

“What will you do?”

The light left his eyes and he became as rigid as death, paralysed with horror.

“WHAT WILL YOU DO?”

He fell to the ground, among the debris, nails, and broken glass.

“WHAT WILL YOU DO, SUNNY?”

Then it happened.

His eyes, fearful and glazed suddenly became focussed and calm, the change was so unexpected that the Tantabus took a small step back.

“The only thing I can do” he replied, with a self assuredness and purpose that he had never felt in his whole life.

Sunny picked up a piece of broken glass from the ground with his two front hooves, then he slit his own throat.

The Tantabus screamed as its magic failed, as it felt the source of its chaotic power severed. Applebloom fell out of the dissolving bubble and all of the frozen ponies suddenly became re-animated, restored and vengeful.

As Sunny’s body fell to the ground his flank glowed brightly, his cutie mark finally now erupting in glory, etched across his flank, boldly and proudly.

A beautiful yellow sun.

A blue moon.

Intermingled.

Sunny Shade.

A pony between light and dark, who finally made his peace at the end of things.

And in his injured state Iridis knew he felt what had happened despite the distance, and he knew what his second circle would become filled with, he didn’t need to look.

It would be the cutie mark of his brother.

To be concluded in the final chapter………..

Epilogue

Iridis had been unconscious for quite some time well over a week, seriously injured but stable, as he lay in the Ponyville hospital. His physiology had meant that there wasn’t much in the way of intervention his friends could do, but never the less he didn’t seem to get any worse.

On a sunny morning, a monday morning, consciousness slowly returned to him, painfully, his body racked with tiredness. He moaned out a little, his vision blurred, but soon beginning to recognise a familiar large yellow shape, slowly the smudge settled into the form of Fluttershy. She was asleep, comically sprawled over a chair rest and drooling a little on the floor, he saw her chest rise and fall; she was making adorable little snoring sounds.

“Fluttershy,” he whispered, and she stirred some. He whispered again and this time she opened her eyes.

After a moment’s pause she cried out in joy and relief, “Iridis!” was all she said as she moved in, hugging him painfully and then backing off apologetically. Her eyes were filled with tears of joy and her mouth trembled, she pushed her muzzle up to his and snuffled for a good ten minutes. It was a while before they began converse

“Oh Iridis.. Oh Iridis, I was so worried. I thought you were gone!” she exclaimed, kissing him time after time again on the end of his snout, “I love you so much Iridis.”

“I love you too,” he whispered, heavy and drowsy, “where am I?”

“Ponyville hospital buglet, you’ve been out for over a week!” she replied.

“I have?” he asked himself then with a slight edge of panic, “the Tantabus?”

Fluttershy blushed and looked apologetic, “oh sorry, of course you wouldn’t know all this. We’re save buglet, we’re safe. After Sunny ‘broke the link’, as Twilight called it, the Tantabus was vulnerable. It still put up a huge tough though. But we’re safe, all of us.”

“I remember,” Iridis replied, looking up at the sunrays streaming through the hospital room blinds, “yes, that’s right, then that means… Fluttershy did my second cutie vessel get filled?”

She nodded smiling, “yes, yes it did, with Sunny’s symbol. I’m guessing you know why?”

“Yes,” he answered, an edge of sadness and regret seeping into his voice, “yes, we shared much together, his worst fears. We felt, very close, almost like brothers… It was very intimate.”
Fluttershy nodded gently, understanding, “yes of course is was!”

Iridis sighed heavily then continued in a soft voice, “but I know what he did Fluttershy, I felt it when he did it, he knew the only way to break the link was to take his own life… right? It was like a part of me was torn away somehow.”

The pegasus seemed surprised and gasped, forming a little o shape with her muzzle, “you don’t know do you?”

“Know what?”

“Sunny’s alive buglet, he’s ok.”

“What?” Iridis exclaimed, the exertion sending a jolt of pain down his body, he grimaced and then looked her in the eyes, “but how…. I was sure I felt…”

“Easy sweety,” she cooed and gently stroked his crooked horn with her hoof, Umm Twilight said that getting his cutie mark so close to death may have been what saved him, something along those lines. She mentioned a lot of things and I don’t think I understood all of them, I think you should ask her.”

“Ok!” he whispered, a grin now widening on his face, “where is he, can I see him?”

“He’s just next door buglet, still recovering, I’m sure he’ll want to come and see you.”

Sunny was looking worse for wear when one of the nurses wheeled him into Iridis’s room. His neck was ensconced within a swaddle of bandages and the rest of his body was stitched, bound and sutured in various other ways. He reclined in a wheelchair and it was looking like he’d sustained injuries to more than just his neck - clearly he’d been too close to the battle.

“Hey brother…” he said, tentatively, smiling a little awkwardly, but very happy to see the changeling again.

“Sunny…” he smiled, “looks like I got your cutie mark, but I’m afraid it looks a bit crap.”

Sunny gasped for a moment then his face widened into a grin when he saw that Iridis was joking, “hah! Yeah well, you’re stuck with it!”

They giggled together and the nurse pushed him in close to the bedside, leaving the two in peace. There was a slightly awkward silence, then Sunny put a hoof over one of Iridis’s.

“But no, no it’s lovely…” Iridis reassured, smiling, looking down at the intermingled chiaroscuro now permanently etched onto Sunny’s flank, “looks almost like a cross between Luna and Celestia’s marks.”

“Yeah, it does,” he replied, resisting the urge to crane his neck, the wound wasn’t well healed yet, “Everyone reckons it’s to do with how I’m a ‘mix between light and dark’ or something like that, but I’m not sure what that means for a special talent?”

“Maybe your special talent is being really fucked up?” Iridis grinned cheekily and Sunny chuckled.

“You know Rainbow said the same thing, I wouldn’t have laughed about that even a week ago, and now, well it is funny!” the stallion replied.

The changeling’s face dropped to a more serious note.

“I thought I’d lost you, Sunny that was a brave thing you did. I mean, it was incredible!” Iridis congratulated, filled with pride.

His friend shrugged a little, as though it were nothing, “honestly it was just the only thing to do, I don’t know if you can call it brave really, I don’t remember being scared. I just remember thinking that it was the only thing I could do to save Apple Bloom.”

“Ahh I see, but you’re forgetting the first part of all this, in the dreams, you were brave there, you were terrified but you overcame it.”

“Only because you held me down and stopped me leaving,” Sunny pointed out.

“You’re the one that made peace with those nightmares,” Iridis reminded him.

Their hooves pressed harder together as feelings of warmth and love washed between them, it was a wonderful sensation.

“So, I think we have some work to do,” Iridis announced, still sounding a little weak, “when I’m recovered though.”

“How so?” he replied.

“Getting you some much needed loving Sunny, and although this is going to sound a little shallow, there’s a lot of mares out there who really fall for a tragic hero!”

“Ummm, heh,” Sunny blushed, “what about stallions?”

“Oh, feeling like you want to experiment a little?” Iridis asked, interested.

“Yeah, quite possibly, yeah. Honestly I don’t know what my sexuality is, I never had time to breath properly, you know, never really felt I could find out. But, I need to find somepony really patient. I’m a bit of handful, as you know.”

“Nahhh, no way! What you, difficult?” the Changeling teased and they both laughed again, “Yeah, you’re right. We’ll find somepony to help you. Oh that reminds me, do you know anything about Luna and Pinkie, assuming you know anything, I didn’t ask Fluttershy earlier…”

Sunny smiled, “actually Fluttershy explained all that to me, we talked a lot while you were unconscious, she was so worried about you, sick with worry. She told me everything, although I kind of think she felt she might have overshared, you know, it’s kind of a bit personal between them…..”

“And how are they?” Iridis pressed.

“I think they are going to be ok...”

“I could get used to this!” Pinkie announced, excitedly as she ate another round of delicious ‘Princess Level’ cakes - as she had come to call them.

Canterlot was pretty at night and the earth pony sat with Luna, enjoying their third ‘date’. They were alone on a stunning high tower with a set of beautiful confections. There had been much in the way of tears and reconciliation after the Tantabus finally fell, but Pinkie had been surprisingly resistant before her hair erupted into its happy voluminous state. She’d had many questions, asking if Luna would ever hurt her again, would she have to be on the sidelines, was Luna ashamed of their relationship?

Luna had to think very hard about the answers to these questions. Everything about the way their romance had developed felt extremely secretive, taboo and unmentioned. They had never spoken about it, not even as a rumour, even when speaking to one another it was never explicitly stated.

All that had made it feel delicious, utterly delicious, like two naughty teens sneaking out to grab a kiss behind the backs of their parents. But along with the pleasure came the repression and pain, at first a little splinter, then eventually a wound that couldn’t be closed. Their passion on their first coupling in the real world had been too torrid for both of them, especially Luna.

It felt different now though, it felt more sustainable, even though the flame was burning hot. This unlikely love and attraction was smouldering between them. Luna would curl her mane sometimes, or blush for no reason and Pinkie glowed - sometimes their hearts would ache to be as close as possible.

“I must say you do enjoy those cakes, ummm, darling?” the words felt strange coming from Luna, it would take some getting used to.

“They’re delicious!” Pinkie replied, smiling, “almost as delicious as you.”

Luna blushed deeply and averted her eyes for a moment. It was nice out here, in the open, and though she did care still a little that other ponies might see them the anxiety was subdued. This was better, better than that sneaking and subterfuge she had thousands of years ago with her courtly lovers.

“I must apologise that we must often have these, dates, in the evenings or very late. I’m a bit of a nocturnal creature,” Luna explained.

“Don’t worry about it, on date night I just eat an espresso cake. That keeps me up, not missing a moment with you. Ohh, we should bake one of those together?”

“Yes, I would like to try this, cake baking!” Luna answered, thinking about how it might be quite fun. Normally the servants would cook for her and she was less of a hooves-on princess than even her sister.

“Sounds great!” Pinkie moved over on the bench a little and snuggled into the larger pony, nestling her frizzy hair up against the dark well groomed coat of the Princess.

Luna still flinched slightly, then remembered that she didn’t need to anymore. She looked over the table at the many many stacks of vacant plates that Pinkie had almost single handedly demolished and she had to wonder how the pink pony wasn’t enormously obese.

“So, shall I see you tonight, in my dreams?” Pinkie asked.

“Certainly, after my other duties are complete. Yes, I would like that…” Luna answered, blushing once more.

Pinkie leaned very close to whisper: “how about watching me facesit myself, with you hiding in the room closet?”

Luna shivered and had to admit that it made her marehood tingle.

And so things settled back to normal in PonyVille. After a little bit of searching and effort Fluttershy and Iridis finally found the one pony who was the most optimal match as Sunny’s ‘romantic’ teacher, the one pony who wouldn’t be offended, would be patient to the extreme and most likely wouldn’t be even the least bit perturbed if he freaked out.

“Sunny, this is my friend Treehugger!” Fluttershy had announced.

“She wasn’t even scared when Discord nearly sent her to another dimension, so I think she’s going to be able to handle you,” Iridis teased, smiling.

“Charmed so much to meet you, like, I heard so much about your incredible experience with darkness and dreams!” Treehugger had said to Sunny, eyes half closed and with a distant whimsical quality to everything she said.

It had been the right choice, and Sunny made great progress with her, before finally deciding to leave Ponyville and do what his Cutie Mark was telling him. Four years or more of sudy was a long time, but it seemed like counseller was going to be his calling.

He would help other ponies, especially little fillies and colts who were suffering with their own problems and mental illness.

Suny was sad to leave Iridis but they knew they would always be connected by their marks, a shared and intimate thing that would be treasured for the rest of their lives.

Life wouldn’t be perfect, but it was going to be very good, and he knew it.

The End