Tales Of Somnambula

"It's all thanks to the princess," said the barista behind the counter, oddly eager to sing the praises of his monarch to me, "that the land is experiencing this period of peace and prosperity. She looks after every pony, she manages our relations with the neighboring nations, and she even raises the sun every day. She is amazing."

"Yeah, I'm sure she is," I said, taking a look back at the empty tables behind us, not paying too much attention as to why the place is empty so early in the morning. The very reason I took such a roundabout way coming here was to prevent going through the capital, Canterlot. The last thing I need is to get caught up with Amira and Hakim there, the Saddle Arabian delegates, and the interactions with unwanted political figures their work entails. That, to me, includes royalty; I don't mess with royalty. Though if they spend all their time here, shouldn’t they be technically called “Ambassadors”? I wonder what those two are doing right now.

He looked at me, rather disappointed, and said: "You don't believe that, do you?"

"For one: No, I don't," I replied. "The sun is a star in the sky, a natural phenomenon. Sunrise happens because of nature, not because of a pony with a really long horn. I don't care how special you think your princess is, nobody can feasibly control the cosmos, so do be kind enough and put a lid on it." I adjusted myself in my stool slightly. "Two: all I asked for was a large Nescafé with extra sugar. I didn't quite ask of you to gush about your beloved local tyrant. Can you give me my order now, please?"

Disgruntled, he turned to a table behind him and took a large paper cup lidded in plastic from it, he stared at the scribble on its side. "Harren? Mr. Ha-run?" he called.

"It's 'Harun'. And you don't have to shout, I'm right here."

"Mr. Harren, are you there?" He raised his voice and started knocking on the table between us. "Mr. Ha-run? One large Nescafé for a Mr. Harren?"

"Hey, what are you yammering on about, I'm right here," I protested. "And stop knocking on the table."

I tried to grab his hooves but mine just went through his. Puzzled, I stared at mine, then at his as they kept knocking methodically on the table. Knock knock, knock knock, then I opened my eyes.

I woke up, still on the Get On inn's bed, in its third room, on the second floor. Took me a moment to realize that the knocking was real and that it was coming from the door's side. The same voice calling my name in the exact same "well-intentioned" way, to put it politely. I opened the door. A tall, lanky pony with fair skin and a brown mane. Yellow shirt, orange scarf on his neck, with a mixture of the same colors for his head covering. A little sheepish smile draped across his face.

"Mr. Harren? I've got your breakfast, sir."

It was too early to feel upset. Didn't seem warranted, in his case. "First of all, thank you. I would've been alright with going down to the dining room, but this is nice as well. Second, it's 'Harun'. 'Ha' like the laugh, and 'run' like 'room' but with an 'N' sound at the end,” I said, taking the tray and putting it on a nearby table.

"You’re welcome, sir,” he replied, "and duly noted. You can put it in the hallway when you’re done. I’ll come to pick it up later.”

“No need, I’ll take it down myself, thank you,” I said, handing him his tip. “Say, is Mrs. Trotsworth downstairs?”

“Yes, she is. The same place she always is.”

“Thanks,” closing the door after he left. Looking back at the food - bread, eggs, and a cup of tea - I only just realized how hungry I was. I really have spent the entirety of yesterday with nothing but a small cup of coffee in my system, haven’t I? An adrenaline rush triggered by your survival instinct going berserk would make you forget things. Not to mention the fact that I went to sleep right away when I got here, I think late afternoon.

I suppose that was one of the few reasons their elder didn’t take too kindly to me. I was not in any shape to actually socialize with anyone, let alone extract information out of them. I suppose they mistook me for someone disreputable, or I think it was my bad luck coming into play. Again. At any rate, I’ll eat, fix myself up, pay for the night, and be out on my way for a second try. Hey, at the very least I know what to expect now, and I’m in much better shape. I can handle myself, hopefully.

***

Putting the empty tray and cup in their place at the dining room downstairs, I asked the mare working there, a purple unicorn wearing a light-pink dress, if I should pay her. She answered that Mrs. Trotsworth handles the finances and that I should go talk to her, so I did.

“Good morning, Mrs. Trotsworth,” I said. She was behind the counter, hooves at the counter, her giant dog growling beside her, both of them glaring at me. Or rather, at something behind me.

“Good morning to you too, dear. But now is not the time for small talk. I believe trouble is afoot," she said.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Shush,” she ordered, not taking her eyes off whatever she was staring at. “Don’t look back, don’t say anything, and be prepared to open the door and run when I give you the signal. Understood? Nod for Yes, stay still for No.”

I gulped, then nodded.

I heard the main wooden door creak faintly behind me, opening then closing slowly, then the sound of someone running away.

“Open the door!” she yelled. “Karma, after him! You, follow them. Go!”

I swung the door wide open and her giant dog bolted through. Following them, I could see her closing in quickly on some pony in black. The dog caught up to him and battered him down, then she bit his hoof as he screamed for mercy.

“Enough, Karma,” she said, suddenly, somehow, behind us. She took her dog away, petted her head, then grabbed that pony’s bag.

“Fine. Take it. Take whatever you want. Just keep that demon thing away from me, please,” he pleaded. Holding his bloody hoof, writhing in pain.

“Her name is Karma, and she is your retribution,” she replied. “You should have known better than to try to weasel out of paying your dues on her watch.” She took a little pouch from his bag, pocketed it, and threw the bag on the ground. “Here. I was even generous enough to leave you five whole bits should you want to buy food someplace. Now leave, and never return. And so help me, if I ever catch you around these parts again, I won’t hold Karma back from doing her job. Understood?”

He picked it up and limped his way out of there. Well, that's one way to start your day. I suppose dealing with thieves regularly comes with the job, but this lady could be downright ruthless when she wants to. It’s very strange, seeing two sides of someone’s personality back to back. It makes you wonder what else they might have hiding in there, deep down in the catacombs of their soul.

“And you,” she turned to me, “thank you for your help. Granted, you didn’t do much, but it’s the initiative that matters in your case. Karma would have done it for the both of us regardless,” which I suppose was true. “Isn’t that right, girl?” she was stroking her dog’s head. The dog was panting happily in return, smiling, and wagging her tail.
“No problem, ma’am. Happy to help. Though I’ve got to ask: Where did you get yourself a dog like this?”

“I raised her myself since she was a puppy. We-” she stopped to consider, “I found her lost someplace, starved and sickly, and adopted her. I didn’t expect anything in return - to be frank, I didn’t expect to keep her at all - but I’m glad I did because she is now my little guardian angel. Isn’t that right, my sweet?” The dog barked in return. I’d say size is a subjective matter in this case, but I’m happy for you anyway. “Do you want to pet her?” she asked.

I looked at the dog and she looked back at me. I was never afraid of dogs, per se. Just ones that I assumed could rip my hoof clean off my shoulder. This one needed no such speculation, but I thought that she’d have been properly trained by now, presumably. “Yes, if she doesn’t mind.”

“I’m sure she would have told us already if she did,” she said. “Alright then, approach her slowly, drop down to her height so that you two face each other, and stroke her back gently. Try not to touch the head, okay?” I did as I was told. Her fur was short and smooth, and her body was warm. Like a big pillow. She was panting and wagging her tail still, which I thought was a good sign. Then she jumped on me and started licking my face all over. It tickled a bit. Her owner was laughing in the back.

“Alright, Karma. That is enough for now,” she said, pulling her dog away. “I hope you don’t mind. Karma can be a little eccentric about meeting people. She seems to like you.”

Standing up and wiping my face, and admittedly giggling a bit, I said: “No problem, ma’am.” It actually felt quite nice. “But I thought dogs weren’t supposed to trust strangers.” Wasn’t complaining, just noting.

“Oh, dogs are excellent judges of character. Well, this one, anyway.” She attached a leash to her dog and pointed her back towards the inn. We walked with Karma leading the way. I haven’t noticed it, but the sun was a long way from rising over the horizon. The night was receding, sure, and you could see ahead of you without too much trouble, but it wasn’t quite morning yet. “Besides, pets can read their owner’s feelings and they base their attitude towards others on them, dogs especially. It’s why they say that if you wanted to change a dog’s behavior, you should probably start with your own first.”

“I see.” That was my “safety phrase”. Something I said when I didn’t know how to follow up on something the other person said. In this case, I was paying too much attention to try and form a coherent response. Which, I supposed, was better than trying to spout nonsense about something I knew little about. Wait a minute, if dogs can read their owners’ vibes about others, and Karma apparently likes me, could that mean…

“So, I was told you wanted to see me?”

“Yes. It’s actually about the money. I don’t know how many days I’m going to stay here, so I thought I’d pay each one on its own. I also had someone deliver breakfast to me, so that’s another thing on the bill, I think.”

“I understand. Well, we can take care of that when we get inside. It is rather cold out here.” Which was true. The desert doesn’t believe in middle grounds, you’re either burning at day or freezing at night. Though I think that the brief moment when the sun rises would be a good indicator of what a desert with mild weather would feel like.

"Also, and excuse me for asking this, but I haven't seen anybody at the dining room when I went down. Why did you have your employee deliver breakfast to my room at such an early hour?"

"Oh, that. Don't pay too much attention to it. To put it simply, there's a lot more to managing an inn than shoving tenants into rooms and taking away their money. You seemed like you needed a warm meal in you. And judging by how energetic you seem today, I'd say my judgment was sound."

"I wasn't in the best shape, yesterday. I apologize."

"Sweetie, you were a mess."

"Thank you, ma'am."

"You're welcome."

Suddenly, she stopped.

“You see him, don’t you? By the door, sneaking out.” I didn’t exactly know if she was talking to me or the dog, or perhaps both. Her gaze was fixated on the entrance, and there they were. Taking very light steps after closing the door ever so carefully. Karma was growling. She took the leash off.

“Hey, you!” she shouted, and that pony turned in shock. “Where do you think you’re going? Come back here!” They, of course, didn’t oblige and ran away.

“Why do they always run,” she contemplated, releasing her dog. “Karma, after them. You,” addressing me, “after her.”

“Jeez, two thieves in one day and it’s barely even morning. Ma’am, how do you deal with this every day?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know, sweetcheeks,” she smirked, slapping me on the back. Way too far on the back. “Now go!”

I ran after them, wondering how my life has ended this way. Chasing a guard dog that’s running after a thief all for an old mare that might be having a thing for me, my luck working its cynical charm one more time. Karma had already pinned the unfortunate fool down by the time I caught up.

***

Sitting outside, near the tiny wooden bridge overseeing the creek, I found myself rubbing that sore spot on my lower back once again. She really didn’t have to do that. The morning sun has finally risen over the plains, and I was observing its golden light and absorbing its tender warmth, shaking off the chill of the night. Speaking of which, I tapped the water running beside me, fresh, clean, and cold. Then I looked at the oasis from which that water came from to the left. If the water wasn’t being primarily used for drinking and cleaning, then the oasis would have made for a fun swimming spot. Looked deep enough to submerge someone in it, but not quite deep enough to drown them.

The gentle touch of the morning sun caressed my skin, and I felt the hair on my back standing up. I shuddered, faced the sun, closed my eyes, and uttered a prayer.

“Light of the heavens…”

“Hi, Harun.”

Yep, it was her. Little Pony Riding Hood. I dropped the attempt entirely. “End my suffering.”

“Good morning. How are you?”

“Good morning to you too, Ms. Manara,” turning to face her. “I’m doing well. How are-” and the blood froze in my veins as I saw them. Out of the corner of my eye, under a date palm tree by the far side of the oasis. The two crazy pegasus and earth pony just sitting there, and with them, the insufferable unicorn reading a newspaper. Why did she bring them here? Scratch that, I’m not about to find out.

“Well, that was a good talk, but I just remembered something urgent I need to do, so later,” I said, as I tried to flee the scene. She quickly grabbed my hoof, holding me in place.

“Look, I know what you’re thinking, but Sarkash and Samar are here to apologize, I promise,” she said. “I even brought Nadia along to make sure things won’t get as messy as they did before.”

“You brought the pony who probably hates me the most out of all of them as a neutral party?” That wasn’t even fair.

“She doesn’t hate you,” she reassured me. Tried to, at least. “She’s just very honest about what she thinks of ponies, very blunt. She’s not too bad once you get to know her.” Oh, I’m sure she isn’t. That’s what they all say.

“Ms. Manara, I’m sorry, but I can’t. I don’t trust them not to do something reckless, and as you might already know, seeing is believing.” I pushed her hoof away lightly. “Second, I don’t have anything against any of the ponies of this town, or anybody, really. I just want to find out about this ‘Dalya’ and be on my way. I have a feeling someone spread a rumor about me to the townsfolk or that there’s more to this story than I would have been lead to believe. Either way, I don’t want to deal with them. Talking to Mr. Cactus directly would be a much better use of my time.” I hate to say it, but he seemed more reasonable than any of the other ponies I’ve seen or met thus far. Maybe on par with Mrs, Trotsworth, but she’s a different beast altogether.

“Good, then we can make another deal,” oh, goody. I can’t wait. “You’ll come with me for now, and Nadia and I will talk to Cactus on your behalf. Make things much easier for you. He has forbidden you from coming back, remember?”

“Yes, I do, indeed and in fact, remember that little tidbit,” I replied. I don’t know how she manages to force my hooves every single time we so much as speak to each other, but she does. On reflection, they were all situations I got myself into, but the fact she could rope me into doing whatever she wanted didn’t quite sit well with me. I felt it again, something burning up inside my chest and threatening to burst through if I don’t give it passage, pride, but I forced it down.

“I…” forcing a sigh out. “I don’t know.”

“Come on,” she insisted. “For me?”

I’m going to regret thinking that your innocent-looking smile and your huge puppy eyes behind your comical round glasses were cute.

“Alright, I give up. I’ll take you up on your offer. But I’m not taking any chances. I will defend myself if the need arises, and I will do whatever I deem acceptable if I, at any point, feel I was being short-changed. Deal?”

“Deal!” And just like that, I was walking with this adorable nuisance, again, towards my potential, loud, multi-colored doom. As we were heading there, I remembered something the lady of the inn told me. She asked me what I was doing here, and I told her I was looking for a friend of my family, intentionally not mentioning any names. She told me that she knew what happened beforehand and that I shouldn’t worry. She also told me that that name has an unpleasant history with the townsfolk and that I would have been better off heading here first if I wanted information.

“Hindsight is a funny thing, ma’am,” was my answer.

“That is correct. And it only grows funnier with age, let me tell you,” She added. “At any rate, you don’t need to worry about that old duffer, Cactus,” she told me. “He feigns toughness because his status demands it, but he’s really just like the rest of them, looking for peace of mind.”

“I see.”

She then took another look at me. “How did he address you, yesterday?” She asked.

“Huh? He called me ‘son’ if I remember correctly.”

“Sounds about right,” she said. “You do not need to worry. Just get up to him, apologize for whatever he said you did wrong, and explain yourself. I’m sure he’ll cooperate. If all else fails, tell him I sent you. Better yet, start with that.”

“Can’t I just take Karma with me? She sounds like a great negotiator.”

She laughed. “No, you can not.”

“Will he really listen?”

“I promise you. He will.”

And here I was, taking her at her word.

The three of them were waiting for us by the water. I stood a few meters away facing them, Manara sat to the side between us, and all was good save for the deafening awkward silence that befell the place, punctuated by the random chirping of a few birds who quickly silenced themselves as well. As if realizing that now is not the time.

“Well now,” Manara began, realizing the conversation had to start sometime this century, “I think we all came here today because we all have something we want to say to each other. Isn’t that right, girls?”

The earth pony and the pegasus tried to open their mouths in unison to speak, but that was quickly stopped by the unicorn folding her paper midair and smacking both of them on the head.

“Ouch,” they shouted. Grabbing their heads. “What was that for?”

“Don’t you two dare waste my time,” she scolded. “It’s bad enough I had to come along, but to think that I would listen to you two all the way over here knowing full well you were just readying some excuse or another, who were you trying to trick again? You two aren’t exactly bright. I know that because I have been stuck with you both here on this oversized, barren cat litter box since I was born. Now apologize properly. No clowning around.”

“Okay, okay. Sheesh,” said the pegasus. “Guess I gotta get this over with. Look, I’m sorry. I got a little overboard,” and the unicorn held the paper over her head again. “Okay! Very overboard. I just heard about what happened between you and Manara and I was upset. I didn’t mean for things to get that Out of hand. Guess I wasn't thinking right. I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, me too,” said the earth pony. “Even if I didn’t actually do anything, the whole ‘scaring you to learn a lesson’ thing was my idea. I take my share of the blame. I’m sorry.”

“Wow, would you look at that,” intervened the unicorn. “It says the princess of friendship went with her friends to a psycho village and freed its villagers, though their leader got away.” I’m sorry, princess of what now? “Woah. Mark stealing. Mind-washing. Freaky stuff.”

“Nadia, do you mind?” Manara said.

“Not at all. Please, ignore me. Keep making out or whatever it is you’re doing.”

Manara rolled her eyes. “Anyway, all that’s left is Harun. Do you have anything to say?”

I looked at her, took a look at them, and then stole a look at the oasis. Let your pride go. Forgive, Harun. Like water under the bridge.

Water under the bridge. Fresh, clean, and cold.

“I forgive you.”

“What?” was a sentiment shared by the three of them. Even that unicorn put her paper for a second and raised an eyebrow before going right back to it.

“Yeah, I forgive you both. Misunderstandings happen. I’m so thankful we all could find an accord, and only hoping you would be able to forgive me as well. For everything.”

“Well, that was easy,” Said Manara. “Shake hooves, make it official?”

“They say this ‘Sun-tight Simmer’ has been on the run ever since,” the unicorn cut in once again. “You know, if the princess was serious about this whole thing she would have sent search parties to find this criminal by now. At least made posters and assigned rewards for anyone with information on her whereabouts or something.”

“First off, that’s not how that name is pronounced. Like, at all. Second, why do you care, Nadia?”

“I’m just saying. For all her smarts and experience dealing with danger, she really shows a surprising, and selective, lack of professionalism.”

“Just keep to yourself until we’re done, please?”

“Sure.”

With that distraction behind, the four of us stood up and shook hooves, smiling. First with the pegasus, then with the earth pony, then back to the pegasus, then around to the earth pony. I made sure to keep it up until it felt awfully uncomfortable.

Water under the bridge. Where do you think that water, fresh, clean, and cold, comes from? Correct.

I punched the pegasus on her stomach. “One for the money,” I grabbed her by the neck and threw her into the water.

“Harun!”

“Two for the show,” as I grabbed the earth pony and flung her into the oasis as well. She landed over the pegasus, who was trying to swim her way out, submerging her again.

“Three to get ready,” turning to the unicorn, who was expecting it at this point. “But three says no,” she finished. “Though I’ve got to say, I didn’t think you’d have it in you to pull something like this. Call me surprised, but not quite impressed.”

It doesn’t matter. What matters is that I finally enacted my revenge. Seeing them flop around in the water, desperately trying to splash their way out. They did eventually reach the shore. They were drenched, clothes and all. They were shivering. Oh, that felt good.

“Harun, what is the meaning of this?” Manara demanded.

“That was my retribution,” I replied. “You see, we both hold very differing views on what forgiveness should look like. You believe in ‘forgive and forget’, I believe in atonement and Justice. And if the latter failed me, vengeance. Needless to say, I’ve just got mine.”

“By giving them a bath?” asked the unicorn. “Awfully melodramatic, don’t you think?”

“I want you two to answer me this: What happens when someone splashes water on themselves but does not immediately dry up afterward?”

The pegasus and her earth pony friend sneezed and sniffed. They both glared at me.

“Exactly. A week of this on average is enough reflection time for anyone, no matter how thick-headed they may be. If anything, this way I'll be making sure there are no active distractions present while I speak to Cactus later today.”

The unicorn raised an eyebrow.

“Well, I did promise,” said Manara, “but it’s nearing noon. Do you want to head with us now or are you going to wait until the afternoon?”

“Afternoon. The sun will be calmer by then.”

“Look, not to ruin your plans or anything,” said the unicorn, “but I’m very sure Cactus doesn’t want to see you again. How exactly do you plan to change his mind?”

“I’ll talk to him, politely, respectfully, let him know what I’ve been through, and what this means to me. I’m sure he’ll understand.”

“Yeah, right,” she cringed. “And here I thought you actually had a plan. It’s gonna be amusing to watch, if anything, but don’t say we didn’t warn you.”

“Nadia, please.”

“Don’t worry about it, I won’t.” I mean, I never have thus far. “Say, Ms. Manara, I've been meaning to ask you this but I’ve never had a chance: what do you stand to gain from helping me so adamantly?”

She took a moment to consider. “I was raised to help anyone I could. The world is a harsh place, but we can make it better if we believed in our ability to do so, and worked by that belief. That is a lesson I live by.”

I wasn’t ready for this answer.

“There’s also the fact that the main library has books in Saddle Arabian language that I can’t read and which I’m very curious about. You can help me translate them, can’t you?”

This, conversely, was more what I expected.

“It’s called Arabic. And yes, I’d be happy to help.”

“Great, thank you very much.”

“Hey, Manara. We should be heading back now before noon sets in. Unless you want to go back with a crippling fever, that is,” said the unicorn. “Not to mention we need to get these two home.”

“Right. Okay then, we’ll be going now. We’ll see you later at the Northern gate. Don’t be late. Goodbye.”

“Yeah, later.”

I watched them drag the two sickly ponies out of there and back to the town, slowly walking their way home until they were but dots in the distance. I wasn’t quite sure what to feel about what I've just done. The initial rush of enjoyment procured by my need to take revenge felt good. But now, seeing them shiver and cough, I didn’t know if it was truly worth it. They did come all the way down here to apologize, after all.

“Hey, you, no playing in the water,” said the pony in the pink dress, through the window.

“Sorry,” I answered.