The Dreamwalker

I woke up in a strange place. It wasn't one of those cases where you forget where you are temporarily, either. I genuinely didn't recognize the crystal walls around me. My confusion only worsened when I got out of bed, because I didn't get out of bed. My body moved on it's own. My mind almost went into a state of shock, trying to explain what was happening.

It's just a dream. I thought to myself. I only half-believed that excuse, but it was the only thing that seemed logical. If it was just a dream, then why did it feel so real? Once my body had reached the edge of the bed, it slid down onto the floor, but in an awkward manner. I got onto all fours, but in a way that felt natural, like I was supposed to walk that way.

I made my way over to what appeared to be the bathroom in what I could only describe as some sort of horse-trot. When I was in the white room, with a sink that was at my height, I began to brush my teeth, only I wasn't doing it. While whatever was controlling me focused on the toothbrush, I noticed that it was levitating. Beyond the brush, I saw some sort of pink, four-legged animal. Something was off about what I was viewing, aside from what I was already seeing. Then it hit me: it was a mirror. That four-legged pink thing was me, but it wasn't me. I was inside whatever this thing was, almost like a part of it.

It's just a dream. I continued to think to myself. I no longer believed it, but it was the only thing still keeping me sane. It was too real to actually be a dream, and I was struggling to comprehend what was going on, while continuing to think 'it's a dream' until I had a better explanation.

When 'I' had finished brushing my teeth with the floating toothbrush, 'I' looked into the mirror. That's when 'I' saw me. This pink thing stared into our shared eyes, but it didn't see it's own eyes- it saw mine. It looked right at me, but it didn't realize that there was someone else in it's head with it.

'I' walked to the door that I assumed would lead out of this... bedroom? Just before 'I' reached the door, 'I' froze. Then we were both wracked with another big headache. Though this wasn't my body, I could still feel the pain.

Agh! At first I thought that this thing had yelled in pain, but I quickly realized that it didn't make a sound. I must have heard it's thoughts. This brought an interesting thought to mind: could it hear my thoughts? I would have to find out.

When the pains finally dropped to a manageable light throbbing, 'I' opened the door that 'I' was originally headed for, without lifting a finger. When the door latched shut behind 'me,' I tried to communicate with whatever I was sharing this body with.

Hello? I thought.

Wait, why 'hello?' The pink being thought to itself, not realizing that it was sharing a mind. I would have to try something bigger.

I'm stuck in here. I tried.

No, the exit is just down the hall. I can't believe I still haven't learned this castle. The pink thing thought. I had to do something that it would know wasn't it's own doing.

My name is Nathaniel Finch, but you can call me Nate. I stated. The creature froze.

Is somepony reading my thoughts? It questioned. Now I had it's attention.

I think I'm stuck in your head. I said.

Is this a joke? Who's doing this?

It's Nate.

Who's Nate?

The one stuck in your head.

How are you doing this? It takes an incredibly good unicorn to master telepathy spells. Is this Twilight? She wasn't buying it. I couldn't understand most of what she was talking about, but I knew that I needed her to realize this was real. I would have to try something bigger. Maybe I could move this body?

It took some effort, but eventually I figured out that I could indeed control this body. I lifted my front left arm... leg... appendage? And nearly fell over. The other took over, and just managed to catch us.

Do I have your attention now? I thought.

What are you?

Right now, I'm just a voice in your head. I don't know how I got here, or what happened to my body, but I'm stuck here. My name is Nate. I repeated for the third time. The other wasn't quite sure how to respond.

That's both strange and incredible. I, uh, I'm Starlight Glimmer. It finally managed to form a complete thought.

What are you?

A pony, of course. A unicorn, if you need me to be more precise. What else would I be?

Human?

What's a hu-min?

That's what I am. I don't recall any forms of sentient life on Earth aside from humans.

Erth?

You know, where we live? I tried.

I live in Equestria. She said, as if I should have already known that.

Well I'm from the United States. Pennsylvania, if you need the name of the state. The last thing I remember took place there. I fell asleep in my bed, and I woke up here, inside of you. This has to be a dream.

If this were a dream, I wouldn't be able to feel pain, and I just had a big headache. Starlight tried to convince me.

I felt it too, so maybe it's not a dream, but I don't know how to explain it otherwise.

Starlight began to walk. I didn't need to ask where we were going, because her mind had already indicated that she was going to get breakfast.

I can consult the library. There's a book for almost anything in there. Starlight declared. I just need to grab something to eat, first.

I guess that works. It would be nice to have some answers. I had hundreds of questions, but I was trying to stay objective-driven. My current goal was to find out how to get home, or wake myself up. A voice in the back of my head was still silently praying that this was all just an extremely vivid dream.

How does it do that? I asked Starlight, referring to the plate of food hovering beside us, wrapped in some sort of teal-colored atmosphere.

You've never seen a levitation spell before? She asked in disbelief.

I've never seen any spell.

How?!

Up until an hour ago, I didn't even know magic was real. I added.

Do you like under a rock? She couldn't accept that I didn't know about magic.

No, but it feels like I live in another dimension. I don't understand half of what you're talking about.

If you're in my mind, can't you look into my memories? Maybe you can use that to learn the basics of Equestrian history.

I suppose I can try. Would you have any objections if I did that?

Starlight shuddered as she thought of her dark past. She already regretted bringing up her idea, but she had promised herself that she wouldn't allow her past to haunt her.

Sure. She reluctantly agreed.

I dove deep into the thoughts and memories of Starlight Glimmer, not having a clue of what to expect. While Starlight made her way to the library, I was digging through her mind. The first thing I found was six other pony-things. There was a purple one, that I associated with the name Twilight Sparkle. When I found her, I felt feelings of intelligence and caring from Starlight. This Twilight must have been some form of mentor, as well as a close friend. When I looked closer, I noticed a fading feeling of hatred. At one point, these two must have had some form of conflicting history.

The next memory I pulled up was of an orange pony, which came with the name Applejack. This was followed by pink pony. She was a more vibrant pink than Starlight, and was appropriately labeled as Pinkie Pie. I found a white one named Rarity, a blue one named Rainbow Dash, and a yellow one: Fluttershy. I wondered why they all had such strange names, but I wasn't going to judge another culture because of an odd naming system. These six must have been fairly close to Starlight, as they all gave off a feeling of companionship when I thought about them with the mind that wasn't mine.

I looked further, and found two larger ponies. They gave off an eminence of leadership and royalty. They must have been the leaders of this place, meaning that it was a kingdom, and they were the monarchs. Celestia and Luna- that must have been their names.

Going further still, I found a small town. It consisted of a single street, line with around six houses on either side. There was a lone house on one end, which radiated a single, faded sentence. Home, but not anymore. I was overwhelmed with feelings of sadness and fear, which lapsed into an anger. That anger built up, until it became a blind rage. I didn't like being here anymore, so I quickly dropped my search, and returned to Starlight. She sensed my fear when I came back.

What's wrong? Did you find what you were looking for? She inquired.

I found enough to understand things a little better, along with some things I wish I had left alone.

What do you mean? Starlight asked, even though she had a pretty good guess at what I had found.

Fear and anger. A dark past. Things you regret doing.

And I beat myself up over it every single day.

Well, don't. I demanded.

What? Why? I did awful things to those ponies.

But look where you are now. If you didn't feel bad over what you've done, you never would have worked so hard to turn your life around. I haven't known you for very long, but I do know that you've been nothing but kind to me, even though I don't belong here. You could have panicked, or tried to find a way to get rid of me. Instead, you're heading to some library to help me find the answers I need to go home. No 'evil villain' would do this for me. I tried to comfort this total stranger.

Oh geez. You've spent a total of two hour in Equestria, and you're already better at giving friendship lessons than I am. She shot, but with a hint of humor. Though I had no idea what a 'friendship lesson' was, It was evident that my attempt to cheer her up had been at least slightly successful.

Starlight stepped through the large doorway, and into one of the largest libraries I had ever seen. She immediately headed for a section that was about new or exotic creatures. She pulled dozens of the books off of their shelves with her magic (Which I still struggled to comprehend), read the labels, and flung them back into their place.

No. Nope. Not that one. Nada. Zip. Zilch. No way. Mmm... no.

After going down the entire crystal isle, and to finding what she was looking for, she sat on her hind legs in defeat. Though I was used to my human body, the pose still felt natural. My mind seemed to have already adapted to having a different body, which I found mildly impressive. I tried to think of reasons why we couldn't find a single book on the topic we searched for, which then gave me an idea.

What if we looked for books on alternate dimensions? I suggested. Starlight pondered this possibility, and then decided to give it a shot.

I guess we can try it. Why?

Earlier I mentioned about how it felt like I was from another dimension. Maybe that really is what's going on here.

So she scanned the shelves of another isle, deeper in the massive room of books. Just when she was about to give up, she pulled one that fit perfectly with everything that was going on.