A Dream for my Foal

by Scaramouche

Rating: everyone
Tags: Random, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Human, Princess Luna, Original Character
Length: 5884

After the worst day, a visit from Princess Luna makes all the difference to Leonidas Silver

A Dream For My Foal

By Duskhoof, for Synesisbassist
Edited by EverfreePony

Leonidas Silver.
A lone human living in the town of Ponyville with his little robot foal named Kiva. He finds that his days at work are growing more and more stressful and the time he wants to spend with the ponies he loves is becoming harder and harder to do.
Then, one night after a particularly bad day, he wakes to find Princess Luna perched at the end of his bed. With her help, Kiva's and a few other friends, he goes on a journey to discover that things really aren't as bad as he believed...

Written for Syn as a gift, since he's written me two stories now and it was high time I returned the favor. if you haven't read it yet, check out some of his stories such as 'Searching For A Beat.' He enjoyed it so much, he did a live reading of it on Discord, which you can watch here (Click Me)

Belated thanks to EverfreePony for editing this story.

Thanks so much for taking a look,

All good things,
Duskhoof

Published 2019-01-12 19:30:01 UTC
Last updated 2019-01-12 19:30:01 UTC

A Dream For My Foal

A Dream For My Foal
A story for Synesisbassist
Edited by EverfreePony

It was a dark and gloomy January day. The wind was blowing at the trees, not enough to push them over but to irritate and frustrate them. There were birds in the mucky oily sky, but only a few indeed sang to try and improve a very lonely afternoon. There were only a scattering of ponies outside as many had chosen to keep indoors and out from the ugly weather.

Leonidas Silver, the ‘Human of Ponyville,’ pulled his clothing, made especially for him in the Carousel Boutique, around him tighter to keep out the wind as the only happy thing in the dreary scene skipped around his feet. He watched the orange and white blur whizz and bounce about in the muddy, wet snow, its… no, her… metal plates hiding the inner electronics away from the harsh elements and protecting her from a malfunction. Yet, he still feared that this dancing and prancing and messing about would short-circuit his little robot foal.

“Kiva, come on. Calm down now,” he murmured through chilled lips, thankful his beard protected him from a small amount of this frosty season. He hoped that Winter Wrap-Up would arrive sooner and Spring would come quicker with more positive opportunities. His annoyance as the little mechanical filly did not immediately listen to him grew. “Quit messing about, Kiva, and walk properly.”

“Can we go see uncle Dusky and my friend Moley again?” she asked eagerly, stopping her jumping for at least one moment before turning herself around and walking backward. The light in her eye cameras had the fantastic ability to portray her feelings as though she was a real pony with lungs and a stomach and a heart, and right now those little candles showed brightness and optimism he wished he could share at that moment in time.

“No, Kiva, we have to get home,” he insisted as kindly as he could, not wavering in his step. Just a few more streets. They’d be home and warm after a few more streets…

“Aw, pleeeeease?” she pleaded, eyes growing brighter, her tail whirring as it swung from side to side, dusting snow from behind her. “We’ve not seen them in so long and I want to color with Mole and you can have tea with--”

“NO MEANS NO, KIVA!” he snapped. He hadn’t meant to snap and he instantly regretted it, only feeling worse as the foal recoiled and shrank into the snowbank like a scared puppy. He sighed, now furious with himself more than anyone and crouched down in the ugly cotton wool to encourage her back out. “Why you gotta push my buttons like that? You know I’m stressed and…” He stopped as he saw her shaking in fear, his heart plummeting past his heavy boots that still somehow let the chill reach his toes.

“I’m s-sorry, Daddy,” her sweet tinny voice whimpered out to him, breaking that heart as it buried itself in the snow.

“No. No, don’t be sorry, Kiva. I’m sorry,” he muttered, gently reaching out, gladdened when she finally did creep into his touch, allowing him to pull her out and hold her to his knee. His gloved digits combed the wet synthetic fibers that made up her mane. “I shouldn’t have shouted but… Look, I’ve got a dozen and one things to do for my boss today and if I don’t get them done, then I lose everything, including you.” He watched her face fall at that suggestion and could swear some of the melting snow on her metal cheeks fell like tears.

“O-Okay, Daddy, I’ll go home and be a good girl so that we can stay together,” she said sorrowfully, rubbing her head on his leg. Regardless of the hardened shell, she still had the softest touch. He smiled gratefully and ran his hand over her one more time, before getting back up with an aching groan.

“That’s all that I ask, Little Lamb,” His feet started up again and obediently Kiva stayed at his heel, trotting along with her eyes always to the ground. As Silver walked, he couldn’t help noticing that a mare across the lane had heard the commotion since she was staring over in curiosity. He moved his arm to wave and explain that all was okay, but when she realized he had noticed her, she quickly pretended she’d seen nothing and hurried on her way. Huffing at the display, he turned back around to see another couple passing him, less resigned to show their disgust at his anger to the little filly.

“Disgraceful way to treat a foal...” He caught one whisper to another and wanted to turn to tell them he hadn’t meant to be, that he loved his little Kiva and would never purposefully be horrible to her, but they were already gone.

“Daddy?” Kiva asked softly. “We have to get home. You have to work so we can stay together.” He shut his eyes, agreeing with her while holding onto the pain in his emotional chest and nodded, moving his feet before he was looking where he was going again.

“You’re right, Little Lamb. Let’s go home and get warm…”

~*~

Something moved the bed.

It was the night that had preceded the hurtful, ghastly day. Work had gotten done despite some impossible tasks set by the boss, bellies had been fed and heads had been rested to sleep on soft feather pillows. Yet, as Silver attempted to drift off, he could only toss and turn while insisting his eyes that they remain shut so as not to miss the last train to slumberland. The longer the clock ticked away, the more he felt he would never find his dreams that night. It was only when the new pressure on the bed tilted him longways that he had to open his eyes to find out what was causing the disturbance.

“Kiva?” He turned his head and opened a resisting eye before spying a slim, tall dark shadow perched on the end of his sheets, too big to be his little mechanoid filly. It was a surprise, however, to see the mare with a mane and tail taken from a pair of strips of the night sky, shimmering and floating in their intangible breeze. Her regalia caught the moonlight through the window during the time her slender back was facing him. The sharp but elegant head of Princess Luna turned and her faintly glowing eye focused on him.

“I am flattered you should think I am light enough to be your young daughter, but I am afraid I must disappoint you on this occasion. Good evening, Leonidas.” She turned back around and focused her eyes at something below the end of his bed. He knew exactly where she was looking, Kiva’s cot sat there with the little apple of his eye curled up and shut down for the night until her timers told her to wake up.

“You called her my daughter,” he mumbled, starting to become conscious of many things in the room and many things not present at this moment, which happened to include his clothes. This was not proper attire when in the presence of a Princess, although in his defense, she had not announced she would be dropping by and this was not a regular visit. For Silver, this was only his second time meeting the mare, therefore, a surprise that she even remembered his name.

“Of course, that is what you call her, is it not?”

“It’s what I call her,” he muttered abashedly, hugging his sheets as close as he could, “other ponies usually call her Kiva, since she is... well, what she is…”

“It would be rather rude of me to call her an ‘it’ in front of you, Mr. Silver,” she replied curtly, seeming to give him his privacy as she kept her eyes away from him. He took a deep breath, rubbed what little sleep sand had clumped together out of his eye and stretched as delicately and as subtly as he could. Following that, he posed the question on his mind to her and assumed he knew the answer.

“Are you here because I’m struggling to sleep, Princess Luna?” She chuckled tenderly at that and even from behind it was possible to tell she was smiling pleasantly from the twirl of her tail and rise of her cheeks.

“That will not be necessary, Leonidas. You are already asleep,” she advised cheerfully, finally turning around entirely. This caused him to yell out, snatch the blanket and sheets to pull them up higher again with a nervous frown on his face. He was about to both protest and apologize that he was not dressed for the occasion when he looked down at himself beneath the covers. There was no need to hide anymore as he realized to his relief yet astonishment that he was fully clothed, something he had not been less than a few seconds ago.

“How’d you do that?” he whispered, still trying to keep his voice down to avoid waking his snoozing robot foal too soon. She was awfully crabby if she was brought out of her shut-down battery charging cycle before dawn. Luna laughed daintily again and drew her wings around herself, creating a feather cocoon where only her head and hind legs were visible.

“It is really quite simple when you are in a dream, Mr. Silver,” she replied airily, glancing to the top corner of the room where there was nothing really of significance, not even a cobweb and as she did so, she reopened the wings like a pair of burlesque fans to reveal a small, awake Kiva in her forelegs. The pumpkin-colored doll raised her head and her bright blue lights blinked on before she gasped in excitement at him.

“Daddy?”

“Kiva,” he shook his head of the spider strings tying up his reasoning and looked from his young synthetic filly to the Princess cradling her, “this is all going on in my dream?”

“This is all going on inside a dream, sir, however it is not entirely yours.” She let the little, automated puppet’s hooves touch the quilt and Kiva stumbled, crawled and hopped her way into his open arms, clambering over his lap to get as close as possible to him while he wrapped her in the warmest, most fatherly hug he could provide. A droplet passed the tear ducts without authorization and he batted it away, Luna clicked her tongue softly.

“We have not yet been on an adventure together and already you are moving me. Please, let us at least have a moment to enjoy ourselves before the waterworks begin.” She stepped off of the bed perfectly, not as one ordinarily would when the springs decide to eject the rest of a person or pony off before they were adequately prepared for it. She trotted gradually to the only window, its curtain drawn to keep out her shadows and specters of the witching hours, and awoke her horn with a pale dusky glow.

Father and adopted daughter gazed in amazement as the east facing wall split down the middle and parted where the two panes of the window met the join, sliding open as smoothly as though the hidden doorway had always been a fixture of the room. No masonry fell nor did any other structure shift, only a perfect gate to a gloomy path. Luna was not done there. With a flare and a discharge of energy through her horn’s aura, the lane illuminated steadily with a refreshed golden sunrise to reveal the snow and its wintery effects were all gone. In its place was Spring with the lush green grass and the flowers not quite bloomed but in place and ready to provide the color. The robins dove and swooped about the branches of the bright and blossoming cherry trees.

As Silver stared out at the sight from the edge of his bed, he let his young charge bound from his arms and hop out through the portal into the warmer, fresher and kinder world as opposed to the cold reception of yesterday. He scratched his head, uncertain whether he could follow and finally looked to Luna with a furrowed brow.

“If this isn’t my dream, then whose is it?” Luna turned her head back around to the entrance she had created and lifted her hoof. He followed the glint on the silver-plated slipper and kept his sight along the invisible line until it reached the filly giggling childishly up at the birds twittering through the pink plush flowerets in the cherry trees. “Kiva’s?”

“Is that so hard to believe?”

“Well, kinda,” he contended, “I mean, I love her a lot, but she isn’t--” his voice cracked and he stopped as he felt heartless even suggesting it. Luna did not judge him.

“... A pony?” she finished for him, letting him nod before she continued, “I have found in my time as a wanderer of dreams that one thing remains constant. It is this; those that are capable of love are always able to dream. Regardless of whether the filly is real or not, she has created programming to love you as much as you love her.” Silver listened to this in disbelief. Sure, she had shown him the affection he’d needed after a while of being with him, but had she really learned this from him and for him?

Only one view of the radiant look in her sweet, little pony-made expression answered that question for him. She had grown and was developing as he did. She might have been given the basic data to know how to be a pony, but she was given her life through him. As she became a daughter to him, he had become a father to her regardless of who and what they were. He sniffed with his lip bitten and pushed himself off of the bed, walking out into the light to join her.

The air was refreshingly cool and the sun was not dazzling as it rose on the day within the dream. Kiva hopped back from the tree gleefully, laughing as she bounced and trounced towards Silver, only to find herself skidding on her hind legs in a sudden change of conduct. He felt confused as he watched her trot across the garden to his side and stand looking up at him, her blue cameras seeming as apologetic as they had the day before. The lightbulb moment came and he shut his eyes cursing his earlier temper born from exhaustion and frustration. His rough hand smoothed her mane back and cupped her cheek as he thought of apologizing again, of promising he would not snap that way again, that she was a good girl really and he had just made a mistake.

Luna cleared her throat, only to say nothing when he looked at her. Alternatively, her head signaled up ahead and he followed her glance that this time went further than the trees in his yard, along the street to where a dark-furred stallion and a chocolate-coated filly could be seen. One seemed to be putting the world to rights with every subject she could think of and the other did not mind having his ear talked off. Beside Silver, the firelight foal gasped brightly, but still did not move, wanting to behave the way her father expected her to. He knew what to do and gave Luna a quick tip of his head in thanks for giving him the hint.

“Kiva, first one to get to Dusky and Mole is the winner. Ready?” The joy in the little, motorized face was pure and innocent and brought a sparkle to his spirit almost immediately. “Steady?” The second word had her scampering on the spot to prepare before pushing her front half down and wiggling her back half, a kitty preparing to pounce. “... GO!”

Together they raced out of the garden into the street, laughing gleefully as they ran, human and a being too real not to be a filly, attempting to reach their friends first. Although four legs ought to have beat two, Kiva’s small stature and her desire to weave around, hop on and leap over obstacles meant that they were neck and neck for the lead. Their best friends up ahead turned and waved delightedly at the spectacle of the odd couple stampeding towards them, Dusk stepping out of the way while Mole stretched out her tiny legs out to try and capture both of her pals as they sped towards her. Kiva reached her first and barrelled the foal over as she collided with her, the pair laughing innocently as they rolled along the floor, hugging. Silver slowed to a halt beside his good friend, applauding the victor contentedly.

“You beat me! Nice job, Kiva, but I’ll win next time.” He glanced to Dusk with a grin and a casual nod. “‘Sup?” It may have seemed a simple gesture, yet to them, it meant the world. The less they said, the more it meant. The stallion offered a playful salute to the human in reply and then hurriedly bowed, bemusing Silver momentarily. Noticing his beard, hair and shirt ruffling and flapping, he glanced about for the source of the gentle breeze. He followed his senses to observe Luna declining steadily into the street with them, her wings picking up and creating the air that brushed over him while her hooves touched down.

With Mole and Kiva following Dusk’s example, Silver also stooped politely until Luna chortled.

“This is extremely polite of you, but do you wish to spend the entirety of this dream exalting me?” She flapped her foreleg up to encourage them back up onto their hooves. The foal and her machine chum laughed happily, chatting amongst themselves as Silver led Dusk closer to the high priestess of dreams.

“What do we do now?” he asked sincerely, causing a quirk of Luna’s eyebrow.

“What do you do now?” she repeated back to them. “We are within young Kiva’s dreams. Our adventure is in her hooves…” The little robot’s head rose up and looked among them all, blinking slowly with her mechanical eyelids as her little tail dusted the floor. After a moment’s thought, she gasped, gave a metallic neigh, then leaped onto her hooves and danced on them.

“I know what we can do! Follow me, follow me,” and she was scampering away excitedly, bugling in anticipation of a fantastic journey through her dreams. Shrugging, the others gave chase with her dad dropping behind the faster ponies, the Princess choosing to pull back to canter respectfully beside him.

“Are Dusk and Mole inside Kiva’s dream too?” he enquired through measured breaths although he found it easier than usual to keep up his stamina with the energetic creatures. “And if so, how? How are we in a--" A magical band appeared over his mouth, silencing him with the power of the night mare’s magic. She shook her head slowly and clicked her tongue, smirking at the small details he still had to learn about this surreal world.

“I know the answers, of course, I do, but I find it best not to tell. Do you ask a magician how they performed a revelation? No. We simply accept that they did because it made the world a little brighter. To me, this is no different.” She released the soft gag and Silver found he could use his vocal cords again, but rather than challenge that view, he grinned and called up ahead.

“Are we far away, Kiva?”

“Not far at all- Look! It’s over there!” He discovered that during his chat, he’d not been paying attention to where precisely the others were leading him. Now they were heading out of the town and into the Everfree forest, although they were not thick enough into Everfree for the light to be lost and murkiness to arrive. Kiva and Mole turned left into a clearing where they could still see the town through the trees. However, they were far enough to not hear the noises of the market, and the two fillies squealed in joy at what they found here. Dusk slowed and Leon relaxed his pace to stop beside him, the pair of them seeing their daughters jumping around an area of overgrown plants, toadstools under a huge oak tree and flowers.

“This is so cool,” cried Mole.

“I don’t know which to play first,” squealed Kiva.

“What do you two mean?” Laughed Dusk, shaking his head and looking to Silver who was equally perplexed by the overzealous behavior the foals had for the overgrown wildlife. It was odd, yes, but not as overwhelmingly fun as the pair were making out.

“Don’t you see, Daddy?” Kiva turned and trotted over, looking hopeful.

“I’m sorry, Little Lamb, I don’t,” he glanced around and back to her, “it’s just a bunch of plants and things to me…”

“That’s because you are looking with your eyes, Mr. Silver,” Luna suggested softly, walking up from behind with all the time in the world, “try looking through--”

“--through Kiva’s eyes,” he said before she was able to, which made her smile gladly rather than find disappointment in the interruption. He looked around again and tried to imagine what Kiva could see, but only thoughts of work and the next day and weariness came to his head. Beside him, Dusk gasped and nickered in mirth, trotting into the circle with a grin.

“I see it now! Come on, Silver, tell me you see this?” Silver lamented and closed his eyes, trying again to will what Kiva might see to his mind. Aches, struggles, debts, he saw it all in front of him. Come on, he thought, Kiva doesn’t worry about these... Then, like he had sipped a hot mug of cocoa in a blizzard, he felt warmth radiate through him. The maddening scribbles on his chalkboard mind were dusted away and for once he was clear to think anew. Kiva doesn’t worry...

When he next opened his eyes, he gasped in wonder. What he was looking at was not an overgrown garden of weeds, fungi and knotted trees, instead there sat a drum kit, a horn, a string of musical bells, percussion, all kinds of instruments. They had telling resemblances to the forest features they had previously been; the drumkit had the orange and white spots of the toadstools, the bells were still the colors of the lilacs, but all nevertheless looked ready to be played.

“I see it, Kiva, I see it now, you guys!” Silver said excitedly, trotting into the clearing. He looked around and smiled as his calves were nuzzled by Kiva and Mole, looking down to ruffle their manes. “Okay, you two, what do you want to play first?”

“What are we allowed to play, Daddy?” the small robot asked thoughtfully. The man smiled and crouched down to their level, nuzzling the pair of them, but explicitly speaking to Kiva.

“Little Lamb, this is your world. It’s not my place to tell you what to do or how to do it. My job here is to let you learn and become the daughter I know I see inside of you.” He kissed her nose, causing her to croon and squirm. If she had the blood cells and the flesh for it, she might even have blushed. Dusk nudged at Silver’s shoulder with his snout and smiled supportively.

“Couldn’t have said it better,” he said softly and stretched his hoof out to stroke Mole, “same goes for you, Moley. Find what you want to play and play it to your heart’s content!” Mole flung herself at him and thanked him with a tight hug, before hopping about and settling on a stringed instrument much like a cello. Kiva snuggled Leonidas before racing over gaily to the hanging bells, hitting a few testingly with her hooves. They created the sweetest ring despite being made of petals and stamens, which served to heighten her elation.

Dusk turned to Silver, a fatherly pleasure on his muzzle as he listened to their young ones having a happy time. His malachite eyes glistened as he read Silver’s expression, stepping closer.

“Things look a little clearer for you now, old friend,” he told the bright shiny eyes looking back at him, “clearer than they have been in a long time.” Leon gave it some thought before he agreed.

“I think they’re getting there. There’s always something--”

“There always is,” concurred the coal stallion.

“... But it’s clearer,” Silver finished. He glanced to the place where toadstools once sat, “mind if I try the drums?”

“By all means, be my guest. I’m going to go try the horns for a bit!” The pair split off to their differing instruments. Walking towards the percussion kit, Leon glanced towards Luna prepared to ask if she was joining them and what she might like to play. He froze on the spot as he found her gone, yet their party number not reduced. Instead, he found another man. Another human in a world where he was supposed to be the only one. Furthermore, he recognized this fella…

He was looking at a guy tuning a guitar which hung from his left shoulder, glossy dark hair that looked browner in the daylight, long enough to touch the strap. His trimmed goatee matched the locks, and his simple attire consisted of a black T, faded jeans and a well-loved pair of tan sandshoes. He glanced up to Silver and gave him a small grin.

“Hey, man. The blue horse said she had other dreams to be in but suggested we should jam a little. Cool with you?” he offered, as though there was a world where Leonidas Silver would say no to the suggestion.

“What? Yes! It’s you, right? You’re--”

“Hey!” Kiva had spotted him now too and was peeping under the bells with a huge grin, “he’s from the things you listen to! He sings the songs you like!” She gave the second human a friendly wave and, not at all mystified by any of this, he waved back. Silver still stood to gawp at the other man until he had finished tuning the instrument and looked up expectantly.

“We gonna do this or what?”

“Yeah.” Silver finally shook out his surprise and stumbled towards the drum set, finding two sticks created from twigs resting on the cymbals. “And can I just say, man, this is a dream come true. Really, it’s an honor to play with you, dude, I mean, Mr--”

“Call me Dave,” the guitar wielder answered with a smirk, nodding and strumming a tune. Silver knew it in from the first chord and fumbled with his sticks before he caught the rhythm, setting the beat down on the kit, then easing into the pattern. Kiva struck her bells in time, Dusk came in at the right moments, and even Mole showed considerable skill on the bass. Of course, they are, grinned Leon, in dreams you are everything you need to be.

“You know this one, Leo,” Dave called over to him, managing to keep the tune flowing, “sing it!”

“Sing it?” the only other human called back. “I-I don’t know if I can. I don’t have the best voice--”

“Maybe you don’t, man,” he called back, “but it’s your voice. Cherish it. Respect it. Nurture it. Challenge it. Stretch it and scream until it’s fucking gone because everyone is blessed with at least that, and who knows how long it will last." Silver comprehended the advice and glanced over to his daughter and the ponies managing to create the right music no matter what they did.

“Sing, Daddy,” she called joyfully, spinning and balancing on her forelegs as she hit a few chimes with her hind legs, then righted herself. He beamed cheerfully and took in a deep breath, waiting for the chorus to come around again. It did, and he let the air out with his voice attached to it, the song finding itself somewhere between his lungs and his mouth. They were right. It didn’t sound bad at all.

They played the first song and then tried another. Finding success in the next, they kept going, each song bringing more and more ponies from the town until they had a full audience in the clearing, listening to the impromptu band play rock music throughout the day. As night came, so did the fireflies to light their gathering, letting them continue to try songs from this band, that band, something new, something old, something unexpected. Sometimes the crowd seemed eager to listen, sometimes they talked over them, but it never impeded their fun.

Eventually, they reached the last piece they were going to play, but before they were due to start, something illuminated over Silver’s shoulders. He twisted to look and found that a doorway had opened up inside the trunk of an oak tree, letting light spill through the significant gap. A hand placed on his shoulder and he turned again, regarding Dave. The dark-haired man stretched out his other arm, providing the guitar with some faith as he clapped him on the back.

“Change it up for this last one, Leo. Leave ‘em wanting more,” he told the drummer. Silver slipped out of the mushroom seat and took the instrument, turning it over and over in his hands, studying it as Dave took the reins at the drum kit. The Gibson ES-335 guitar was a soft sky color with a white neck and a green strap and felt light as a feather in his hands. He slipped it over his shoulder, prepared the pick and nodded to the rest.

“Good night, everyone,” he said warmly, looking across the crowd which blurred as his eyes filled up with happiness. Kiva, sensing what he was about to do, whinnied and hopped away from her bells. Foals jumped into her place and joyfully rang them instead as she charged across the grass and jumped into his way, stopping Silver from walking into the white light pouring from the tree door. She sprung forward to hug his legs.

“Not without me,” she wailed, “please!”

“Hey,” Silver crouched down, stroking back her cool, pointed ear and kissing the top of her head, “I’ll never go anywhere without you ever again, Kiva. You understand? You’re always going to be with me, teaching me how to have fun and sing when things get me down.” She lost her sadness at the sight of his confident smile and shone one back, lifting her head up from the knee she clung to. With a pat, a nudge and a bit of help he let her climb up onto his back and secure herself there, peering over his shoulder happily.

They called out their farewells to Dusk and Mole, and wave to the rest of the crowd before they turned towards the way out. Dave shot Silver a wink before he could miss seeing it completely.

“Ready, Kiva?”

“Ready, Daddy,” the small metal lips pressed on his cheek, “I love you.”

He smiled, sighed splendidly and started towards the new light, strumming the first bars of the tune as he stepped. He wouldn’t finish the music by the time they were through the door, but he knew it was the start of better things. They’d never be alone; Kiva would always have him, and he would always have Kiva. The glow washed over them and soon the melody played itself…

~*~

A stallion sat up in his bed. He smacked his dry lips and wondered where he was as he still tried to discern where he’d been. There’s been music, instruments, a… what did they call it again? Human…. He’d been one too, apparently…

He rubbed at his raincloud tummy as it grumbled hungrily and promised to feed it in a moment, sniffing gently. He remembered beyond that now. The odd orange being, not unlike his own little…

“Vel!” he called with a start, peeping over his bed. A small robot filly popped her head up at the end of the bed, her body sky blue and her mane perfect white. Her liquid crystal screens for eyes displayed two huge and nervous pupils. She was expecting another telling off, just like yesterday. Just like that little mechanoid filly in his dream got...

“Come on up here, Velocity,” he nickered, sweeping back his silver fox bed-mane above his unicorn horn and stretching his forelegs out to her. She did not need asking twice and buzzed up on her built-in wings, landing heavily on the bed and scrambling in to hug him. He cuddled her close and stroked her hard body, flicking his ears back.

“Listen to me a moment, Vel, okay?” he whispered into her ear as though imparting a great secret, “I’m sorry I shouted at you yesterday. Sometimes my job gets a little stressful and I forget who I’m talking to. I’d never deliberately shout at you, okay?” The baby blue robo mare whirred and beeped as her head rocked back and forth, understanding completely. He smiled fondly and kissed her forehead, just as his odd counterpart had done to the doll in his dream. Kiva, that is what he called her….

“Right, time to get up and get breakfast,” he told her, patting his bed resolutely. The artificial pony leaped off of the bed and skidded to the door, waiting to be let out so she could go fix him a meal fit for a king.

Silver smiled and yawned, stretching his limbs once more before he turned to slip out of bed. Yet, as his hooves touched the varnished wood, he recalled one last section of his dream. Princess Luna. She had said to me, “Look through her eyes…”

“Vel, cancel all of my appointments today, even the important ones,” he trotted over to her as she showed astonishment, reaching out to stroke her head, “let’s enjoy a day off for once and get back to work tomorrow.” He opened the door and let her out, watching her hurry to send the messages to all of his contacts for the day, imagining the fun they’d be able to have after breakfast. It had been far too long since he’d used the word fun, let alone had it.

He breathed deep, filled his lungs and let it out as he stepped through the door into a brighter, clearer morning. Today would be a good day.

“Then, remind me to tell you about this weird dream I had. I was something called a human, walking around on two legs! It was ever so bizarre…”

~Fin~

Author's Note

SynesisbassistYesterday at 20:26

I have, only one regret...
Suddenly pushes my muzzle into the crook of your neck, holding you close. That I can't be there to do this for real, so I'll have to make do.
Blinks away moisture, sniffling quietly. It was beautiful~ Just like your kind-hearted and generous soul

Belated thanks to EverfreePony for editing this story.

All Good Things
Duskhoof