Warning: unconventional religious views

* * *

As far as the eye could see there was a smooth surface of an ocean. I took a deep breath of invigorating air. The waves were coming up on the shore one after another. Even, incessant, everlasting sounds of the surf were falling pleasantly on the ears. The sun was submerging into the water slowly, resembling a red-hot coin, and its rays were spreading over the entire ocean. The constellations, which I did not know, were lighting up timidly in the cloudless sky.

I was walking along the shore slowly, listening to the sand, rustling softly beneath my legs. I stopped for a moment, a small crab sprang out fussily from under my hoof, waved its tiny claw at me sternly and ran away into the waves. Having smiled indulgently, I followed it with my gaze, and a little farther I saw a human, sitting on a big bright carpet, facing the ocean. I recognized him instantly by sinewy lean body and short hair. The warm wind was blowing on Lairy, who was naked and sitting still. Both of his arms were moving up and down in turns leisurely at the height of his stomach.

Having come up behind him, I sat down, pressing my chest against the human's back, put my forelegs round him gently and looked over his shoulder at the hands with interest.

"I was waiting for you, Luna" - Lairy whispered affably, pouring the sand from one palm onto another. Having emptied the right hand, he caressed my neck. Following a sudden impulse, I held out my right foreleg and the sand from the human's left palm poured upon my hoof. Feeling the grains falling, I experienced all-embracing harmony and that sense of unity again, which I had felt before while training my wings. It was not as powerful and dizzy, but it was touching every nerve with a warm current, running through every part of my being.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. There was an infinite ocean of harmony, energy, light and love. Everything was here, including the entire Universe and every world. God is curious, he creates worlds and watches their development. He created our Earth among them. At the beginning it consisted only of the sky, ground and water. But the Maker wanted to examine the world, to find out, how the swimming in the water feels like. And he created many various living creatures, ones were tiny and the others were large, ones were the simplest and the others were very complicated. He was looking at the world with their eyes, paddling the water with their fins, feeling the bottom of the ocean with their legs and tentacles. That was how he was gaining new experience through the senses of others"

Having poured all the sand onto Lairy's palm, I laid down next to the human, looking at the fading crimson luminary. A glimmering golden path extended from the sun to the shore across the entire ocean. I have always wanted to ran along it and reach the sunset, although I knew, that it was only an illusion.

Having put his arm round my side, Lairy continued to speak:

"Every creature, be it an insect, a bird, an animal, a tree, a blade of grass, carries a soul, a part of God, within itself. Starting with the simplest forms of life, a soul lives through an infinite number of incarnations, gaining different experiences, and in time it becomes a unique person. The more impressions and feelings a soul gets to know, the more it will be able to tell God about everything, it had lived through, because the Maker is always looking for new sensations, and a soul reaches the higher level of its development in every next reincarnation"

The thin streams of sand were slipping through Lairy's fingers, being scattered and carried away by the wind. Linen of darkness fell over the land. The moonlight decorated the waves with an endless silver lace.

"Everything is gradual, like stairs" - I moved my hoof in the air several times, lifting it higher and higher.

"That is right. The Earth world has been developing for a long time. The water creatures were created first. Their world was limited and monotonous, souls of fishes and octopuses did not have much to tell the God. But those souls, which were beached during their lives, were speaking about a long and agonizing death without water under the scorching sun. The Maker was interested in how it would feel to live on land. And he gave a fish legs and lungs instead of gills, so it would be able to walk and breathe" - the human smiled, wiping his palm on the knee.

"Did fish have legs?" - I burst out laughing.

"Here it is" - Lairy pointed to the shore. Several fishes crawled from the sea, leaning on their fins. They were changing slightly with every step. Their fins turned into paws, their tails and heads elongated, their gait became more confident. The lizards ran past, without paying attention to us, and disappeared in coastal thicket.

"Let us follow them"

We had been making our way through the shades of the night among huge plants for some time. I plucked a couple of leaves without stopping, they turned out to be quite delicious. Following the human, I thought, that my friend looked very funny and not dangerous at all, being pale, smooth-skinned and lacking a tail. Finally, Lairy stopped next to a grey wrinkled tree.

"Here we go" - he patted a trunk with his palm. Suddenly the tree lifted its bulk up from the earth heavily. To my horror it did not have any roots and walked to me slowly.

"What is it?!" - I jumped away as far as possible. The tree crashed onto the place, where I had been standing a second ago, with a muffled sound.

"It is a foot!" - Lairy laughed, pointing upwards.

Was it a foot?.. I threw back my head, willing to estimate the size of a giant, and that made me sit down. This monster was as big as a house, it had the thickest pillar-like legs, a long tail, a lissome neck and a tiny head, which was chewing leaves in the crown of a tree melancholically.

"Do you like it?" - Lairy approached and scratched my ear encouragingly - "Lizards like this one had lived on the Earth once"

"We-e-ell" - I felt very small and insignificant near this "lizard".

"You can fly up and jump on it a little, if you want to"

"Will it not..."

"No, you need not worry about breaking its spine" - the human patted me on my withers friendly. I was not used to such heartfelt PONYliarity, but since I was not a princess in the Earth world, I decided not to raise the unnecessary issues of the high society etiquette and take it easy. Besides, it would be stupid to rebuke the only person, who cared for me, for the endearment and support. Even if he was utterly direct and frank in expressing his feelings sometimes, and that was throwing me into utmost confusion.

Having flied up, I landed on the giant's back carefully, feeling rough thick skin with my hooves. It seemed, that the lizard had not felt my weight, while I was strolling from the neck to the tail. Still, the head turned round, watching me. I plucked a bundle of flowers from the ground with my magic and raised it to the head as a token of reconciliation. The head chewed up my gift indifferently.

"That is how our world had looked like almost a hundred million years ago" - Lairy said, when I came down to him - "The planet Earth was ruled entirely by reptiles. Some were huge and clumsy, the others were very small and swift. There were predators and herbivores, those flying, walking and swimming creatures were everywhere"

Having turned around slowly, the human made a wide arm gesture, and the rising Sun lit a beautiful green plain with a winding river and a forest, standing on the far bank of it. A lot of reptiles appeared before my eyes. I could not have imagined such strange and amazing life forms. They have leathery sails and bony rhombuses on their backs, heads with beaks, large shields and three horns, tails, crowned with sharp spikes. I looked at the lizard, which was flying over our heads, with respect. Its wingspan was several times wider, than mine. I was alarmed by the sounds of heavy footsteps. The giant passed by us. It had a massive body, powerful hind legs and tail and ridiculously small forelegs, which were folded on its chest. But I was impressed by the sharp-toothed jaw the most. It was able to swallow me, hardly taking the time to chew.

"Did you say a hundred million years ago? In that case the Earth world is much older, than the world of ponies"

"It is possible. And the first life appeared on the Earth three and a half billion years ago"

"Three billion years?!" - if I understood the number, which I had heard, correctly...

"The age of the reptiles provided the God with a lot of experiences about living on the ground and in the air. But he grew tired of them in time, because they were as primitive, as the fish before them, in their nature. The Maker decided to create the world anew, using the information, he had acquired already"

The yellow spot was glimmering in the clear sky, falling to the ground swiftly, and a trail of smoke was stretching behind it. There was a blindingly bright flare on the horizon and an enormous cloud of dust spread over the sky gradually.

"The God directed a meteorite to the Earth. The dust, which was raised after it had collided with the planet, was flying in the air for several weeks, covering the sun. It was dark and cold, all lizards perished. Besides, the hit of that meteorite altered the angle of the planet's axis, creating the conditions for weather patterns and changing of the seasons"

"Oh, I had heard of the axis yesterday in a program about the space. It took me a long time to realize, where on Earth that axis was. But, was he not sorry about killing all the reptiles just like that?"

"Who knows. They had no prospects of development, and the world, which was inhabited only by lizards, would have been very dull. It is not for us to judge the Maker's plans. But take a look at the beautiful and diverse world, which we are living in now"

The landscapes were changing around me, and their beauty was taking my breath away. There were majestic snow-white mountains, dark plateaus, which were exposed to every wind, winding mountain ranges, insuperable chasms and ravines, beautiful green hills and valleys, endless forests and burning desert sands, mighty waterfalls and rapid rivers. My mane was tossing in the blasts of wind, every breath was filling my chest with some new fresh air and my nostrils were quivering, catching various scents.

"Are you enjoying it?"

"Oh, yes" - I breathed out blissfully and a second later I realized, that I was hearing a voice, which was not known to me. It was low, quiet and soft, with velvety notes - "Ow?"

Having shaken the euphoria off momentarily, I turned around and saw a cheetah beside me. My first instinct was to jump away, fly up, staying out of the claws' reach, but I sensed a familiar powerful energy.

"Phew, Lairy, you have scared me" - I snorted, hearing my heart racing in my chest - "When did you reshape?"

"I did it while you were having a blast. The body changed and the voice changed with it. Everything is okay" - Lairy touched my shoulder with his paw soothingly. Even that slight touch of the claws caused the shivering to pass over my hide. Yes, I knew that this danger was imaginary, and Cheetah would never rip and tear into me. But that knowledge was not able to assuage the vague feeling of anxiety, and I was keeping my guard up subconsciously. Probably, I should not have watched the movies about the spotted hunters.

"For future reference, could you at least warn me of your intention to go all werecat on me? I could have fired a magical volley in terror. You would not have liked that"

"Okay, will the standard yell like "transform!" suffice?"

"You do not have to yell, but still let me know somehow"

"Are all the alicorns so nervous?" - the predator grinned - "Once Celestia could have scorched me, when I had found her. And now you are proclaiming the same thing. At this rate I am going to be afraid of meeting you"

"You tell me" - I tapped on his head with my wing playfully - "As far as I know, there is no werecats in Equestria, so your tricks are quite unexpected for Tia and me. It is a question, who should be afraid of whom"

"And what can I really do to you? I will not be able to raise my paw, let alone strangle you, before you make a carpet out of me with your magic. So I have no chance against you. Besides, what is the point of ruining the relationships in dreams, when we are meeting in the reality" - Lairy put his paws round the wing and caught it in his jaws gently.

"I agree with your arguments. Release me"

"Let us go for a walk. I have something else to tell you" - the cheetah released the beslobbered wing, got up and stretched himself. I shook my wing discontentedly. The caresses of human fingers, when they were burrowing into the feathers, were very pleasant. But I did not think, that I would risk entrusting my wing to the claws and teeth again. I felt really nervous, being caressed with the tools for murder. However, one could kill with bare fingers without any particular claws. What was the difference?

Luna, stop stressing out - I told myself.

"Are we in savannah?" - I looked around, noticing the familiar acacias, which looked like umbrellas.

"Yes, this is Africa. It was my motherland, when I was a cheetah"

"It is very hot" - I sighed, fanning myself with the wing.

"Let us find a shade"

"There are so many different animals" - I was looking at the herds of ungulates, which were not known to me, in amazement.

"There are so many different kinds of me-ea-at" - Lairy replied in a sing-song voice.

"There is so much beauty around and everything you see is meat. You are dangerous and incorrigible"

"I am practical and consistent" - the cat countered.

Cheetah came to a branchy tree. I lay down in the shade. Having marked the trunk, Lairy lay down next to me, clinging to my back and wrapping paws around my shoulders.

"How are you feeling?"

"I feel good, thank you"

"And you will feel even better"

"Ca-a-at" - I moaned with a laugh, feeling sharp teeth caressing my ear carefully - "Are you harassing me again? Do you have no shame?"

Having released my ear, Lairy licked my cheek with a wet coarse tongue.

"I used to have shame once, but it was of no help in life, often it was a nuisance, so I got rid of it long ago"

"You are shameless, impudent, merciless torturer of princesses" - I sighed with mock bitterness, scratching the cheetah's chin magically - "Celestia had found you to my misfortune. There is no escape from you"

"Then do not escape. Just relax and enjoy yourself"

"Mind you, I am not saying that you are immoral. If you were, I would not be living with you now"

"And where would you be?"

"I would be in the basement, of course. I do not think that you would have come to my rescue, if you had different type of character"

"I brought myself up to be like that, according to the aspirations of my life"

Lairy was supporting my head with his paw. The warm tongue was roving across the muzzle tenderly, caressing the lips, nostrils, eyelids, ears. Having closed my eyes, I was quivering under those touches. The cheetah moved lower and began to lick the neck. My mind turned to the scene with the antelope, I was not able to overcome my fear and nearly pushed my friend away with telekinesis.

"I beg you, not the neck!"

Having backed away slowly, Lairy stepped over me and sat down, facing me.

"I see that my animal form scares you very much"

"Yes"

"Okay, look"

Having bent his legs slightly, the animal sighed, its body changed swiftly, gaining different features. The next moment the human was standing before me, leaning on his fingers and toes. His eyes had been retaining the amber colour for one more second, but when the werecat blinked and looked at me, the eyes turned grey. Only black stripes on his face remained unchanged. Lairy sat up and shook the soil from his hands.

"It is so interesting! Does it hurt?" - I touched the hand with my hoof curiously.

"No, it is as natural and easy for me as for the water to take the form of a vessel, when it flows from the spherical one to the cubical one. All that I need is a power of will. And the transformation depends on the laws of a particular dream. It is easy to change in some dreams and one cannot change at all in other dreams. But at the same time I control my transformations fully, they do not depend on the phases of the moon or other external factors"

"Do they not depend on my phases as well?" - I winked with a cunning smile.

"They depend. You have just had a phase of fear"

"That is so true. Could you also put some clothes on?"

"Is it a request or a question?"

"It is more like a request"

"It is just that I prefer to be naked, being close to nature" - Lairy explained, creating the same clothes, which he was wearing at home.

The sharp smell of urine disturbed my nose. Having noticed, that I was sniffing, the human pointed at the tree.

"My cat mark smells. You can also leave your mark somewhere, if you want to"

"I do not want that. It is some other person's dream, I am a guest here and I am not going to make any traces, especially in such an aggressive way. It is enough, that your apartment became permeated with my smell in reality"

"Would you like to eat?"

"Yes, please. But what food do you have?"

Lairy moved his palm down closer to the ground in silence. I felt a powerful surge of energy, which was flowing from his hand to the depths of the dream. The lush grass and many various flowers grew all around me.

"So that is how you can use magic. You have my gratitude"

"I can in a dream, yes"

I was grazing, lying on the ground, and Lairy was presenting me flowers from time to time. I was accepting those with a special feeling of appreciation. Having picked several small red and yellow flowers, Lairy interlaced their stems with the strands of my mane like in a simple plait. I was about to ask, what was the meaning of that, but remembered, that the human knew nothing about the ponies' customs.

"I have beautified you a little" - he explained, as if he had guessed my thoughts.

"Thank you" - I smiled softly - "I like that"

"Luna, is the world, which was created by the God, perfect, in your opinion?"

I chewed a blade of grass up musingly. "Perfection" was such a comprehensive concept...

"I know too little about the Earth world for my judgment to be impartial and profound. But according to what I had already lived through during my stay here, it is not"

"Did you take into account the landscapes, you had been seeing?"

"Those are just dreams, are they not?"

"No, those are real places on our planet"

"They are beautiful"

"The Earth is a large unique system, which does not have any random, incorrect, false element. Every living creature, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem, is perfect for its role in the nature. Every one of them, from a huge tree right down to a tiny bug, fits the picture of the world perfectly. Only a genius could create such a picture and that genius is the God"

"The thing is, that I fall out of this brilliant picture"

"Yes. Do you remember my words about the neutrality of the world, which does not have anything good or evil about it?"

"I do"

"I will explain it to you by examples. The cheetahs were hunting in the movies, you had been watching yesterday. Tell me, what will happen to gazelle, if it runs away?"

Why was Lairy asking me about that? Did he not know, how bad I had felt after watching it? Yes, right, I did not tell him. And I also watched just one movie, which was on the first cassette I had looked upon, and did not even touch the others.

"If it runs away, it will stay alive" - I kept my composure. After all, we were just talking and sharing our opinions.

"Is that good?"

"Yes" - I replied, without a complete understanding of what the human was trying to say. Usually Lairy spoke his mind directly and unsophisticatedly, but sometimes he was talking riddles and the point was not obvious, like now or when I had been drawing a picture.

"And what will happen to cheetah, if gazelle runs away?"

"If it does not catch and eat the gazelle, it will be hungry"

"Is that good?" - Lairy asked again.

"No" - I admitted, having recalled, how it felt to go hungry and rummage in the humans' food wastes, trying to find at least a tiny bit to eat.

Lairy dug a shallow hole beside my head with his hands. I noticed a brief stream of magic again, and the hole was filled with clear spring water. My wizard friend quenched his thirst first, having drawn the water in loudly with his lips, then he let me have a drink at this improvised watering place.

"I am grateful" - I also took a long sip from the spring.

"A cheetah runs very fast, and all that running takes a lot of effort. If cheetah stays hungry, it will not have the strength to get up after several unsuccessful chases and it will die from starvation soon. Or rather it will be weakened and get killed" - Lairy said quietly. The drops of water were shining in the moustache and beard like a string of diamonds.

"Then what can be done?" - I asked.

"A gazelle can be killed"

The answer was predictable, unambiguous, and, despite not liking it, I admitted, that it was right silently.

"As you can see, what is good for gazelle is bad for cheetah, and vice versa. But the most interesting thing is that the God gives a chance to the both of them. A gazelle has a chance to run away. A cheetah has a chance to catch it. And they compete, struggling for life, on equal terms"

"Yes, it is fair" - I nodded.

Having moved from his place, Lairy leaned back against the tree and relaxed. I lay down near him, having put my head on his lap.

"Did you see, that cheetah and gazelle were adapted to running perfectly?"

"Oh, yes"

"And that was the intent of the Maker. The God is not only a creator and experimentalist, he is also a passionate spectator. Creating the living beings, he is watching them, empathizing everyone. But he cannot know the feelings and thoughts of another being. A sunray, touching leaf, does not know how this leaf feels it. Sunray can warm a leaf and give it strength, but also can burn it down and kill. One has to be leaf to understand, how leaf feels. One has to live through lives of cheetah and gazelle to understand cheetah's excitement and gazelle's fear. The God is omnipresent, he is inside everyone, he looks at the world with thousands of our eyes, feels it with all our nerves, lives through our joy and sorrow, love and hatred, offence and forgiveness with us. The God looks at me through your eyes as well, Luna"

"Does that mean, that I also have a part of the God inside me?" - I looked at Lairy with curiosity.

"You have, you are his beautiful creation as well, after all"

The hand slid over my head. That warm caress was very pleasant, I closed my eyes and began to wheeze quietly. Lairy scratched my nose, drawing my attention.

"And now, Luna, let us suppose, that you had been working hard for a long time, had put a large amount of recourses, time, effort and nerves into your masterpiece and had finally created a picture or a statue or something else, and it was beautiful and majestic"

"Hm?.. let us suppose" - Lairy's assumption flattered me. The last "masterpiece", created by me, was a paper dragon.

"What would you do? Would you hide your masterpiece, not showing it to anyone, or would you post it for public display to let everyone admire it?"

"Of course, I would show it to everyone" - I replied with a touch of rigidity - "If something beautiful cannot be shown, if it cannot be admired, then what is the point of creating it in the first place?"

"The God posed the same question. The Earth had become his masterpiece, but there was no one to admire it. No element of this grandiose picture was able to appreciate its greatness"

"I do not understand. How could there be no one?" - I moved my wing inquiringly.

"A flower does not know, that it is beautiful and smells nicely, it just blooms and smells. A butterfly, sitting on the flower, does not know, that it is motley and delicate, it just lives and flies. A lion, lying on the rock, does not know, that it is stately and formidable, it is just having a rest"

"About this lion, how does it look?"

"There is the pride" - Lairy waved his hand.

Having stood up, I looked at the direction, he was pointing in.

"They are manticores! Or are they?" - I took a better look - "No, they are not, but they look quite alike"

"Who does they look like?"

"There are predators in Equestria, who are similar to lions" - I explained, having turned around to the human - "They are manticores. They look like lions, but have wings, like bats, and tails, like scorpions. In their youth they are able to fly, settle in new places in search for the prey, but they grow heavier with age and start to use wings only to demonstrate their superiority"

"I see. So the picture of the World needed an external observer. And then the God created a human"

"Was human an observer?"

"Yes. It was a human, who praised the Maker and the World, where he lived. He admired the beauty of a flower and a butterfly, the grace of a cheetah, the elegance of a gazelle and the majesty of a lion. He called the Sun beautiful and the moon mysterious. He described the mountains..."

A butterfly, which was flying by between us, settled on the tip of my horn and started to squeak, moving its wings at a steady pace. I stared at it, trying to grasp the meaning of that.

"It is time to wake up, princess" - Lairy said.

"It is a great suggestion, I support it fully" - having burst out laughing, I winked.

Lairy faded silently like a ghost. Having tossed my head, I drove the butterfly away and then rolled over more comfortably, falling asleep to leave the dream and wake up in reality.

***

So, a new day was marked by the screams of the alarm clock. Today I was going to coach the people in a gym, the rehabilitation program was quite short, so I needed to shake myself out of the bed more quickly. Ah, it was good to spend time with Luna. I should ask her to take me for a walk through the dreams next night. I wondered, what she would show me.

I had been already sitting on the board in the bathroom, soaping myself, when Luna glanced in at the door.

"May I?" - the mare asked with a strained expression on her muzzle.

"Are you going here?" - I pointed at the toilet - "Yes, come in, what is the problem?"

Standing in the doorway of the bathroom, the alicorn rolled her eyes and shook her head. Maybe she was resenting my moral freedom silently or something else, but momentary physical needs got the upper hand of decorum and Luna sat down, where she needed to sit down, hastily.

"Thank you, it was pleasant to be with you in the dream" - she said.

"Sure, good morning" - having waited for all the processes of relieving to end, I splashed the water from the shower on Luna. She reacted momentarily, having covered herself with the half-opened wing, and threw the water back at me dashingly.

"I hope, you will rub my back" - I tossed a bath sponge up on my palm.

Having spent some time standing musingly, Luna stood up on her hind legs, rested the forelegs on the edge of the bathtub, and I handed the bath sponge to her.

"I will throw you under a cold waterfall in the next dream, roughneck" - the alicorn grumbled in my ear without malice, rubbing my back - "Your impudence in relations with a princess transcends all inconceivable bounds"

"I am always here for you, Your Majesty"

"Are you here to transcend the bounds?" - Luna's voice became sterner.

"And this as well"

Having burst out laughing, the sovereign hit my back with her hooves.

The pony and I headed from the bathroom to the kitchen.

"Hey, whoa" - I slowed Luna down by her tail.

"What?" - she turned around.

"You and I kind of agreed upon training your wings every day. So let us do that right now"

"Let’s do it"

I cleared the table quickly, having put the origami figures and all the things, which could fly away, into the cupboard. Luna was working up her wings, waiting for me to lie down on the floor. But I also went into the bedroom and came back not only fully dressed, but wearing snow goggles as well.

"We are ready to fly" - I commanded, having embraced the alicorn.

Now, when the wind was not blowing into my eyes, I was able to admire the movements of Luna's beautiful powerful wings. There was no euphoria, which we had experienced during the first time, but I felt the determination and the will power of the princess just the same. She lifted me above the floor noticeably this time.

"I got you now!" - the pony breathed out, having finished the "flight", and pressed me to the floor with her weight - "And I will not let you go easily"

"Yeah?" - I could have toppled her down sideways, but the alicorn had guessed my intention and set her opened wings against the floor - "And what do you want?" - I was scratching Luna's shoulder blades slightly, hoping that her wings would rise involuntarily.

"You see, you told me many interesting things in the dream. But I still did not get an answer to one question. Why did you turn from a cheetah to a human?" - Luna was studying me with her eyes from her lofty point of view.

"Do you remember my words about a soul returning to the God after the body dies? Depending on the results of the live, which it has led, the soul gets a new body and a new life. The God gives it tasks, which are sometimes quite unusual, and watches, if it is able to find a solution and what this solution is about. So, those are the experiments of the God. He was interested, what would happen, if the cheetah's soul was to be reborn in a human's body without erasing the memories of its past life. Would the cat be able to adapt and continue the spiritual growth? That is why he had send an animal to live in the world of humans"

"Thank you, Cheetah, you are free" - Luna wanted to get up, but she could not.

"But you are not" - I chuckled, holding the winged one tightly - "And you cannot go. You should fly easily, accurately, without falling"

"Very well" - the princess spoke solemnly, opening her wings majestically. I released her and put my palms against her chest in case Luna would need support. She did not need it. The alicorn flew up to the ceiling with a powerful wing-beat, then moved backwards, changing the tilt and the angle of her wing skillfully, and landed on the sofa smoothly.

"O-o-o-oh-h, I am so glad to feel my power again" - she sighed in satisfaction, stretching her wings upwards languidly and admiring feathers, which were shining dimly - "Thank you, Lairy"

She hugged me, when I came nearer, having thrown the goggles onto the sofa.

"Luna, you are incredibly beautiful" - I whispered in her ear.

The alicorn looked into my eyes warmly and sincerely, without looking for some catch, lie or falsity. We went to the kitchen silently. There was nothing to talk about. Both of us knew, what the other was feeling. And we knew that the feeling was mutual.

***

The days were passing by. Luna fit in my regular quiet life harmoniously, making the usual sequence "home-work-home" much livelier. I had been fine even earlier, before her. I used to come back to the empty apartment, leaving all the worries and troubles of the past day outside. I relaxed and had a rest, read, watched TV, developed my hobbies, making verses, writing essays, drawing, assembling airplane model or getting the new Chinese transformer, which I had got in the local market, into shape. I owed no one anything and I did not have to think about anyone, but myself.

The arrival of the alicorn brought new colours and sensations to my life. Now I was coming home, where I was loved and waited for. I was enjoying Luna's company, watching her grow prettier day after day. She was turning from a harassed animal to a confident sturdy little horse. I was always able to find an opportunity to tell Luna about her beauty and how I was glad to see her, and often those were not the words, but glances, gestures, touches.

I did not question pony, what her relationship with her sister used to be, for what reasons she was banished to the moon, how she found herself on Earth and what she had to live through on the streets and in the basement. It was not because of my disinterest in Luna's feelings. If she had asked for help or advice, I would have tried to help her. But then, I did not want to stir up the inward wounds of my bellowed mare. What for? We were not going to live together for long. I marked one day on the wall calendar with a drawing of a crescent. In less than two weeks Celestia would open the mirror-portal and Luna would come home. I was not going to hold her back or ask her to bring me along. I would be the same alien being without magic in Equestria, as she was in the Earth world. We were going along one road of life by the will of the God, but we were destined to part our ways. All, that I could do, was to give Luna love and happiness, while we were together. She should go back with a light heart and keep bright memories.

***

I picked up the scent of the human in my sleep: there was sweat and something else, which was pronounced and tart. Being half-asleep, I felt the fingers in my mane.

"M-m-m, hello..."

"Good morning, my love!" - the friend answered in a sing-song voice, kissing my cheek gently.

Every morning Lairy was coming to brush my mane and tail. I appreciated his attention a lot. And now, having stretched all my legs upwards with pleasure, I lay down with my back turned to the human to make it more comfortable for him to brush. Listening to the rustling of the brush against the hair, I was able to guess the movements of his hands. Lairy had finished with the mane and moved closer to the tail. Sometimes the brush was pulling the tangled hair, and I was twitching. And here the most tickling and pleasant thing in the morning was about to begin. Lairy bent over me, sleeking the strand of my mane near the horn and running the brush over muzzle, neck and chest. But he knew very well, how much it was tickling me, yet he repeated that anyway. Laughing and bouncing, I rolled onto my back.

"Boop" - I touched the human's nose with my hoof slightly. Having smiled, he kissed the hoof. The brush was wandering around legs and stomach. The muscles were responding to the caress with a pleasant shiver, which was spreading through the whole body like a wave. I put my leg on Lairy's shoulder, he hugged me and, having lifted me, clasped to his chest.

"I am glad to be with you, Luna" - I heard this dear voice, warming the soul.

"I am glad too" - I whispered, caressing my friends' shoulders and back with wings.

Lairy offered me black bread with butter and sugar for breakfast. I liked that simple dish very much.

"Somehow we never get to finish our conversations in dreams. Every time we start an interesting talk, "pi-pi-pi" begins and time comes to wake up. Frankly speaking, I want to pull that squealer off your bed"

"And then I will sleep past my work time, pu-u-ur-r-r. It will not do" - Lairy was eating crumbly brown buckwheat cereal, which he had cooked last evening.

I was nibbling on my bread musingly.

"Cannot you set apart just one day to spend it with me? Like it was on that day, when you had brought the leaves and we had been watching movies together"

"I can set apart even two days. The pressure on my work depends on the demand for the services and the time-table. Sometimes the schedule is busy, sometimes it is empty. But I will be with you in the evening and by night and also in the morning"

"Very well. What were you saying about the research in the dream?"

"The God saw the world of Equestria and wondered, what would happen, if this alicorn, who had been bored in the moon, was going to be transported to the Earth world. How would she behave, having found herself in alien and hostile environment? Would she be able to survive and adapt?"

"But I could have turned my hooves up, actually"

"You could have. In that case you would have failed the survival test"

"No-o, I am sure that the God has nothing to do with it. I had problems of another kind in the moon"

"You know, one of the humans' religions has great words, that explain everything and thus are remarkable: "If the God had not want something to happen, he would not have let it happen"

"What does that mean?" - having finished eating the bread, I leaned my elbows on the table and rested my chin on the hooves, closed together.

"Everything, that happens to us, is not a coincidence. The falling from the moon, cold streets and even that man, who was raping you, - all of that was written in the God's script, and everything should benefit you in the long run"

I had almost fallen off the stool to the floor.

"The holy hoofshoes of Celestia... I could not imagine anything crazier, than that. Go on, say, how did I benefit from being chased around the basement?.."

"All the troubles, which you had gone through, hardened your spirit, made you more sensitive and receptive. A tree stands straight on the crooked roots. Muscles grow stronger in work. A metal takes form after being heated. In order to understand goodness, joy, light, one needs to know evil, anger, darkness. We cannot perceive light without darkness. There is no darkness without light"

"I had seen a lot of evil, and what did I get?.."

"You got love, Luna" - Lairy put the empty plate away - "A sunray in the dark forest looks brighter, than in the well-lit room. All your misfortunes had been necessary, because after that you were able to perceive my care, endearment, love and attention to you fully"

"Is that so?.." - I muttered, being deep in thought. What I had heard did not seem so ridiculous anymore. It was true, that I had to reconsider and comprehend many things lately, although new thoughts led to new questions and doubts most often.

"That is so. I think, if you had come to me right from the moon, your behavior and attitude would have been quite different"

"Yes, that is most likely, you are right. I would not have appreciated you so much" - having looked at Lairy, I smiled.

"People call that the God's will, predetermination, destiny, fate, fortune. But the meaning is, that you should not yell "What have I done to deserve that?" if something is happening to you. You should rather look around and think how to take advantage of that situation. Everything can be very bad and life can seem cheerless sometimes. And often it takes years to see the positive aspects of something negative. It can take even hundreds of years in your case, possibly"

"Hundreds?" - having frowned, I whispered, lowering my eyes.

"And all those hundreds of years were necessary for our life paths to cross, so we could meet each other"

Having got up from the table, the human stroke my head. I hugged him, clung to him. Lairy had stood there with me for a while and then went to get dressed.

I saw him to the door, said goodbye and went back to the kitchen. Again, I had a whole day to spend. I made a new slice of bread and butter, having spilt half of the sugar bowl in the process. I ate the bread slowly with the sips of a hot tea, while looking at the cloudy sky through the window. Then I gathered all the spilt sugar via telekinesis, even though with a grit, and put it back into the sugar bowl. Having been inspired by this small feat, I moved the dishes into the sink, lifting them with my wings. What would Celestia think, if she learned, that I was keeping house by myself? It is not typical for a princess to pass time washing the dishes. However, it was immeasurably better, than vegetating in the odious moon, or making a grave face, attending the meetings, which were just as odious. I was wiping a plate with a towel, when I heard clank and jingle. I looked at the crockery in surprise, wondering, why it was clinking yet left intact in my hooves. Then I realized, that the noise was coming from the upper floor. I recalled Lairys words about the drunk neighbour. Well, I would not want to have such neighbours upstairs, living in Canterlot. Arranging the plates on the shelf, I caught a glimpse of some dark blurry silhouette moving across the polished side of the kettle. But when I took a closer look, all that I saw was just my disturbed reflection. Was I being paranoid? Yeah, wandering through the winter forest, eating needles of conifers, running from some hungry dogs, which wanted to tear me apart, hiding from humans, who wanted to kill me, could make anyone paranoid.

Having went back to the sofa, I lay down, remembering vicissitudes of my fate. The last conversation with my sister, which took place a thousand years ago, ended with quarrel and animosity. Celestia regretted that in the dream. I believed that my sister's feelings were sincere, but could I forgive her for what was essentially her betrayal of me? And what about Lairy? I kept comparing him to the griffons, probably, because I was more familiar with the life style of those predators, then of any others. I had learned a bit about his habits, but he still remained a mystery to me. Well, he could not be compared to the manticores, that is for sure. I was not able to get over myself and watch some other movies about cheetahs. But at least I stopped being on my guard, expecting aggression, anytime the naked human passed by or sat down, caressing me.

There was the smell. Why was it so exciting? I sniffed around the place, where Lairy was sitting this morning, when he was brushing my mane. Could the answer be hidden in his room? He seemed to call this room "a bedroom". I hesitated in front of the door. I entered the bedroom before several times, but it was not for long and the host was there. Would it be ethic to trespass on his private territory without permission? Lairy had already given a half of his apartment to me. There was the same smell, coming from the door-handle. But if I am careful and do not touch anything, nothing bad will happen. The door creaked quietly, giving in to my hoof.

It was bright. The walls were warm like the sun and had ornament on them. The lamp, resembling a ring on chains, was the same as the one in the living room. There was a massive wardrobe made of dark wood. The lamp, sheets of paper, pencils and some shaped light-grey plates in the box were on the table. The bed had high mattress, the bedspread was tossed aside casually, the clothes were hanging on the end of the bed. I did not see a pillow.

There were a lot of small pictures of different moments from cheetahs' lives stuck to the wall above the bed. I did not examine them closely. But the portraits on the door of the wardrobe caught my attention for a long time. The left one depicted a human, who was sitting, holding on to some curved iron device with one hand and carrying some instrument in the other. It, probably, was a tool for murder, but I could not know for sure. The human's face was severe, it seemed like he had never smiled or had a laugh in his entire life. And how could he see anything through that pitch-black thing, which was covering his eyes?

The creature on the right portrait startled me much more. At the first glance there was a human in front of the bright fire, but having a closer look, I was terrified. The remains of a human lacked flesh, bare skull and some part of a torso were glinting like metal with the blazes of fire. Immovable stare of the red lights in dark eye-sockets was mesmerizing. The picture was breathing with the unstoppable power and cruelty of some place, which I did not know.

Having lowered my ears, I took a step back slowly, recalling protection spells and realizing their uselessness at the same time. Why did Lairy have such scary pictures, what was the point of them? But it was just a picture, not a portal to tartarus. Having grasped that fact, I calmed down a bit and studied the depicted creature more intently. It was, probably, not a human after all. I had seen and hugged Lairy many times, touched his muscles and bones, and I did not remember him having such round and angular bones, like this red-eyed iron monster had, on his shoulders and neck. Oo-oh-h...

Having opened the wardrobe, I saw clothes and shoes, which were placed on the shelves neatly. There were suits on the hangers and one, which was stiff, dark-green and had many sparkling details, stood out among the others. It seemed to be a parade uniform. I felt it with my lips, the material was dense and rough. My tongue touched a shiny round thing, which was a button, as I understood. It had a metallic taste. I caught a faint trace of my own smell. Was it here in the wardrobe? Having closed my eyes, I let the sense of smell guide me through these unfamiliar items. A bit to the side... lower... I nuzzled the shelf. Was it higher? The smell became more subtle. Was it lower? My nose touched the wool. Oh, it was the same sweater, which I was wearing, flying on our first walk together. Having taken the piece of clothing with my hooves, I pressed my cheek against it with a happy smile and sighed softly, feeling my wings flutter in bliss. Thank you, Lairy, I will always remember that beautiful evening.

Having put the sweater on its place, I opened one of the drawers at random. There was a pile of socks, light clothes, which were, probably, meant for wearing in summer or at home. There also were sheets of paper and some worn yellow and white round things, which had tiny symbols engraved on them. Were they money? And what was that book? The cover was red with large golden symbols on top and at bottom. The pattern was complicated, consisting of tied wisps of plants, a star, a netlike circle, some instruments, which were overlapping one another. Having given it some thought, I recognized one as a hammer, and the other one resembled my cutie mark. Having opened the book, I started turning over the pages. There were a few lines, a stamp, a picture of Lairy. He looked sullen and displeased here for some reason.

Having put the book away, I pulled another drawer open. This one was lower. There were brushes, phials, which were filled with colourful liquids, reels with shining transparent threads, wound on them, laths, which had even lines on their ends. The light was reflected by the sharp edges of many cutting and thrusting tools for the delicate work. The massive knife hilt caught my attention, it had no blade for some reason.

Having taken it out carefully, I twirled it in my hooves. The metal had ornate patterned carving, the red wood was varnished. Suddenly there was a muffled click from inside of the hilt, and I, having shrieked out, dropped the knife on the floor. The wide long blade, which had appeared with lightning speed, had almost cut my hoof in half. Having made sure, that I had not been injured, I picked the knife up with the edges of my hooves and, having put it back into the drawer, closed the wardrobe. I did not want to find even more aggressive item, which could clutch at me after all.

The objects, which were standing in the corner between the wardrobe and the wall, reminded me of something. They were rather narrow, long, flat, had curved ends and some complex fastener system in the middle. But the human, who had wanted to kill me in the forest, was walking on something similar. So, Lairy could use items like that. Or was he that human? No, it was nonsense. What would be the point of that? There surely were a lot of people in the world, who had the same objects in their households.

Then I became interested in the door, which had the same colour as the walls and thus was not noticeable. A key was giving it away. Having turned it, I gained an access to the small room with shelves easily. There was a "little sun" there, but no matter how long I had been looking around, I failed to find a light plate. Either it was hidden really well, or one should turn the light on by the means, which were not known to me. The room itself was filled with boxes, bundles, parcels and other objects, which I was not able to see clearly in the dim light. I managed to recognize only the roll of paper, which had served as a material for my figures, from all I had seen there.

Having closed the door, I sat down on the chair next to the desk, turned over several sheets of paper with notes on them, the meaning of which I was not meant to know. I found a familiar drawing of sad Celestia and a couple of new drawings of me. One of them depicted me looking out of the window, sitting on the kitchen table, leaning my forelegs on the window-sill. Lairy had drawn me from behind and I did not see the expression on my muzzle. But could I really have such a beautiful back, graceful wings, wavy mane, elegant curve of the neck and guardedly-curious ears? What could I find so interesting outside the window? And as far as I remembered, I had never sat on the table in such a way, when Lairy was there. So, he did not copy, but came up with all of that, including the pose and surroundings. Another drawing showed me sleeping on my back in the relaxed, explicit pose. The legs were outstretched, the wings were spread across the whole sofa, the body bent a bit, as if it was drawn to the caresses of some invisible hands, the muzzle kept musing expression, the left eyebrow was raised inquiringly. What dreams was I visiting at that moment? Could I be talking to my sister? And the human finds me every morning in such a pose, admires me, caresses, wakes up and brushes. Of course, he takes a great pleasure in all of that.

Author - Lusilie

A-a-argh-h... having yawned, I shook my whole body. It felt so good to wake up in the mornings now in the embrace of the loved one. Hm-m, did I called the human the loved one in my thoughts?

Having stacked the papers up, as they were, I looked into the box, which contained grey plates. Some were separate, but the most of them were fixed in frames between straight twigs. There were convex, concave, angular, round parts of some machinery.

Having seen nothing interesting, I walked across the room, jumped onto the bed, sniffing Lairy's place, and I finally realized, why his smell seemed so attractive to me. It was similar to the smell of a stallion during rutting season. Did it mean, that I should be more careful around him now and stop "sleeping openly" to avoid provoking him? I was panicking for no reason, was I not? The human was not a pony, and I did not know, what this smell really meant, I could only surmise. Maybe, it was natural for a human. Besides, Lairy had seen me in every detail during those days. I was lying on my back in front of him more than once, and was standing with my croup to him, never noticing any aggressive gestures or actions, which I could interpret unambiguously as harassment and desire to commit a rape.

Having sprawled on the bed, I was looking thoughtfully at the artful designs of thin cracks on the ceiling. Celestia was right. Lairy was taking a keen interest in me, he cared. He was brushing my hair, evening and smoothing the feathers after the supper every evening, he had been lying next to me silently for a long time, caressing, admiring my beauty and grace. But at the same time he had set up a clear line, which he never crossed. I understood, that he liked to tease me, scratching the shoulder-blades. However, I could not even think about continuing the love play, going beyond those dizzy touches, which were making wings tremble and rise against my will. Every time I thought about something more, I started to feel sick and became tense like a bundle of strained muscles and aching nerves.

I smiled sadly, remembering, how embarrassed, awkward and scared I was during the first days I had spend with the human. I had always expected the worst from the humans, they had caused me a lot of pain. It took a tremendous effort to keep a firm grip on myself, avoiding the reiteration of that first evening, when I had been ready to hurt and, probably, even kill the human in self-defense. Being close to Lairy, it was difficult to get used to his caresses. I was afraid of being punched on the sly or stabbed between the ribs. It was most likely, that the human had no idea about how difficult it was to bring myself to do something, which seemed so simple, like lying down next to him, allowing him to caress me.

Still, despite my fears and all the horrors, I had lived through, I admitted, that the creature from this cruel cold world managed to do something, the hundreds of my congeners had been unable to do. Lairy found the way to my heart.

I lowered my eyelids, and the moisture, which gathered in the corners of my eyes, run down the cheeks to get lost in the mane.

He crashed into my life with bright light and the roar of a strange vehicle. He practically broke me free of the shackles of slavery. He brought happiness, joy, laughter, pleasure, trust back to me. I had been deprived of all of that hundreds of years ago. He revived my spirit, I started to feel my wings again. Being with him, I craved for living, thinking, sensing. And the one thing I still had not been able to explain was his love. He did not swear to love me for eternity, did not promise riches and power, did not kneel to kiss my hooves with fake adulation. He just was there for me and I thought of him as an equal. Ah, could I have imagined that, when the most famous and noble stallions in Equestria were trying to get my hoof or glance in vain. I allowed them to dance with me during the next Galloping Gala at the most.

Can it happen, that I will grow to love Lairy for his kindness and caring? How will it change my attitude towards him? And could I be deluding myself? We were so different, after all. But if he asks about my feelings with his sincere straightforwardness and simplicity, what shall I answer? And how will he react, if I say "no"? Can I reject him? And what the positive answer will bring to me? Will the human treat me the same as he did before my consent? And what will it commit me to in that case?..

Having let out an indignant snort, I plowed my hooves up through my mane angrily. Questions, questions... why was I failing to give a definitive answer to my own questions?.. And what will I say, if Lairy asks? I should have an answer at the ready, but what could it be, if I had not sort out my own feelings and thoughts?

Probably, the strange noises could have been heard for a long time already, but being too occupied with the personal questions, I have paid my attention to them just now. There was strained movement of something very heavy across the room with creaks and muffled strokes. I remembered the portrait of the red-eyed monster, which was hanging on the wardrobe, and my spine grew cold from the nape to the tip of my tail. Could it be, that I angered the guardian spirit, having been meddling around with the host's stuff without his knowledge, and it was going to wipe the floor with me?

The thumps of the heart in my chest were deafening. Having clenched my teeth and held my breath, I opened the eyes slightly to look around. The room became much brighter. The desk and the wardrobe were on their places. Then what was moving? The sounds repeated, and now I understood, that they were coming through the wall. Having caught my breath, I calmed down and pressed my ear against the source of energy on the wall. The noises could be heard the best at this exact place. Humans on the other side were moving something, dragging it. They were yelling irritably from time to time, giving someone orders to go somewhere, but it seemed that no one followed the orders.

"They are not organized at all" - I shook my head accusingly - "They do not even want to go to hell and help someone there"

There was a loud howl, gnashing, a BLOW just next to my very ear!

If somepony had been dead serious, telling me about the possibility of rather long-range physically movement in one second without using magic and teleporting, I would not have believed it. But I did it myself. I had left the bed faster than a thought, slammed the door to the bedroom shut, and was standing now with the wide eyes in the middle of the living room, trying to breathe normally. The shock made my head empty, and my legs were sinking under me. This cast some doubts about the materiality of what had happened. What if I had left the body on the bed in my fright, and was astral, standing there? I tried to pass through the cabinet with the figures carefully to find it out, and my nose pressed against the glass safely.

Having confirmed the presence of my physical part, I peered into the bedroom with caution. Could our wall be broken through? No, it turned out to be intact. Having closed the door, I lay down right onto the carpet to have a rest.

The blissful inactivity was disrupted by a sudden ringing with utter disregard. I jumped up and began listening. The noise repeated itself in the corridor, it was acute jingle of metal hitting a metal.

"What can be possibly ringing here and for what purpose?" - I wondered, standing near the front door. The jingle could be heard again, it was coming from the dark latticed box above the door. I stood on my hind legs and leaned my forelegs against the door, trying to examine the box more closely. And someone started knocking at the door suddenly. I leaped back in surprise, having flapped my wings quickly to keep my balance and avoid stumbling against the door. Was someone going to enter? I hoped that the locks were reliable enough. Having noticed a small hole, I looked through it carefully, trying not to make any noise.

There was a tall untidy human standing on the other side. The colourful clothes were decorated with geometrical figures. The features of the tired face were sharp, long black hair fell over narrow shoulders, the breast stood out noticeably. I assumed that that was a young female. She touched something near the door with her hand, and I felt the energy racing through the wall from the outside. The tuneful jingle sounded inside the latticed box again.

Something started to click and bang nearby. Another human, wearing repulsive green robe with a pattern of crooked flowers, came in sight. The grey hair hung down under a lacy head-dress. It was difficult for me to determine age and gender of this human.

"Natalia, why are you drudging here?" - the one, who had came up, asked. The voice was hoarse and unpleasantly high, it was grating on ears like the sound of a ragged hoof being rubbed against the glass.

"I am moving, Lena. So I am ringing the doorbell to ask for Lairy's help with the furniture"

"Ge-e-e, is that so?.. No, you will get nothing from this hermit. It would be easier to..." - having turned the wrinkled face, which was distorted by a scornful grimace, to the door, Lena spat.

"Yes, I know, he is a bit eccentric. But what can go wrong with moving two armchairs and a sofa?" - Natalia put her hands on her hips.

"Calling him eccentric is putting it mildly. To my mind, he is a total crackpot. Well, think for yourself, is there anything normal about him? You cannot even get a grasp of that foreign name, it is not like he is called Ivan or Boris. There is no name, no patronymic, what the hell, how should one address him? The phiz is weird, like a clown's face, those spots and stripes look like he has been crying for days. His glance, by God, is wild, like of some animal. He stares, as predator, without a clear though in his eyes, and one can guess, if the danger passes or if he lunges for the throat"

"Lena, enough with the blether" - Natalia waved her hand - "He had never been violent as far as I know. And everyone has some rats in the attic"

The door behind Natalia opened, two tall humans came out of there, carrying the wardrobe, which was tied up with cord, along the corridor.

"Well, Nata, do not shush me up. Listen, what old and experienced people say" - Lena shoved her withered fist against Natalia's shoulder - "The man is past thirty and still have neither a wife, nor a child. That is not normal, is it? One should work, support a family and a household, raise children at his age, not just hang about, being a bachelor. And he even does not hang about with some women"

"He has a job. And as for the women, probably he has not met the one to fell in love with yet"

"How could he not meet someone in all those years? I cannot believe it for the life of me. Do you know about his quirks? This vain egoist will drive any woman off" - Lena groaned and leaned back against the door - "When he was younger, I had tried to teach him. Do you know, what he said to me? "The problems, which I have, I always solve myself. Don't tell me, how to live, it's an advice I give" Tha-a-at is right, my eyes had been starting out of my head as well. I even memorized the words. Damn that rhymester, he replied so smoothly, and you know, there was such a furious menace in his voice, like if you had touched him, he would have ripped your hand off. Well, I told him to heck off, he sneered contentedly, said "thanks" and went away. Gee, where is this country coming to? There was nothing like that during Stalin's rule, youngsters listened to advice, respected the elders, and today they just broke loose. And this one is no different. So I had not been talking to him since then. And I warn the others. You give him a good advice, he will give you a punch in the face. Who would ever want to put up with such bitchy attitude? Deadset, it is better to tell him to get lost at once.

Natalia burst out laughing and threw her hands up dramatically.

"I am going to live on the other side of the town, I do not need to worry about his bitchyness"

"Call Grisha from the upper floor, he will move all the furniture in your apartment for a bottle. He will also thank you and kiss your hands. And I will go and make some tea to warm myself. My bones are aching, it seems it will be really cold soon. Have a safe journey!"

"Goodbye, Lena"

The humans went away, and I sat down at the door, being lost in thought. I did not understand many things in their conversation, but it was easy to take the point: humans do not like my friend at all and despise him. It seemed strange. Lairy was worthy of love and respect, was he not?

What does this "bitchy" attitude mean? Does it mean bitching about something or bitching up? And in what sense they used the word egoist?

I braced myself, having noticed the movement at the end of the corridor. Having turned around slowly, I saw my extremely pensive muzzle in the mirror, burst out laughing and patted down the mane. The opinion of those human strangers, who were unfamiliar to me, meant nothing, after all. They did not know Lairy as much as I knew him. Maybe, my friend was hiding some unpleasant aspects of his personality from me, but I was happy with him. Was it not the main point? He asked me to hide "Royal Canterlot Voice" as well, so it could be called a mutual agreement.

I walked around the living room, thinking of the means to pass the day, waiting for Lairy. I rearranged some figures of cheetahs and cars in the cabinet, having made their placement more natural in my opinion. Then I rummaged in the bedside-table. Its left part contained the cassettes, and on the right there was narrow, but massive grey box with a pair of big round buttons in the corners and the lid in the middle, which was also round and could be opened by pressing the right button. I tried to press the left one several times as well, but nothing happened. Two grey things, which were curved in a bizarre manner, were lying separately from this big box and had many small black buttons and movable mushroom caps. There was also stack of square transparent little boxes there, each of those contained very beautiful disc, scintillating with the colours of the rainbow.

Having found no system in the placement of Lairy's cassettes, I arranged them as I saw fit, placing those, which I had already watched, at the right wall of the section and the ones, which I had not, at the left one. I shove the box with the movie about cheetahs away to the farthest wall, so those meat eaters could not get into my hooves accidentally. Having taken another unwatched cassette, I smiled contentedly. An impressive amount of film on the left reel promised several hours of unusual, captivating stories, which I was learning so much from. I brought the stool, juice and bread from the kitchen, found the remote control, pencil, and made myself comfortable like a royalty on the sofa. So, what did I have here? "The Children of Captain Grant"? It sounded interesting.

The time flew by. Having watched "The Children" with a great pleasure, I wanted to have a rest, because I could compare watching the long movie to practicing a complicated magical spell or travelling around very intense dreams. But before I could turn it off, the picture of a strange and gloomy house caught my attention.

An egg rolled down from somewhere through the duct, fell into the tongs, which broke the eggshell, squeezing the contents out into the frying pan, which then found itself on some round table without legs. Some limb appeared from the left, it was unlike any hand, foot or paw of any creature, which I knew, and it poured hot liquid into a vessel with a tip-up lid, then the table grew, reaching for some place above. Some eerie head of a snake or a dragon at the end of a long neck hung off the ceiling. It had big eyes without any pupils, wide "triple" nose and four whiskers, which were moving constantly. Having yawned loudly, hoping to make sense of what I was seeing here, I tried to shake off the drowsiness, which was enveloping my mind softly and steadily.

A lump on the snake's head flickered with a red light from time to time, it helped me to determine undoubtedly, that this creature had magic. The doors were opened after the flash. The snake was waking some humans up, but there was black sand instead of them for some reason, which was falling in piles onto the floor, when the beds were raised. The creature reacted very aggressively on a bird, which flew inside through the window. Having grown three long teeth or horns, the snake was hunting the poor feathered creature, breaking everything in its way. The ending was unclear. Having broken through the wall and having damaged its eyes, the snake lost its prey and after that it crashed into the flashing red ceiling of the house. Obviously, its magic had gotten out of control and caused a big fiery explosion.

I would not have seen any sense in that story, if it were not for the song, which played at the very end. Having listened to it, I took the trouble to rewind and listened to it two more times.

There will come soft rains and the smell of the ground,
And swallows circling with their shimmering sound… *

The lines were not only pleasant to the ear, they were filled with serenity, harmony, craving for life, eternal revival of the nature. It became a surprise for me, that there were good songs in the movies, I was more accustomed to finding them on audio tapes.

Rewinding the song, I heard a prolonged dry crackle. The sound, which had never touched my ears before, put me on my guard instantly. Having jumped off the sofa, I rushed into the corridor. The crackle could be heard from a white box, which had a perforated disk and some curved thing atop. It stood on the pedestal. I smelled the box carefully, feeling the electricity quivering inside it. Having touched the edge of the disc with my hoof, I found out that it could be turned round easily. Lairy had told me nothing about this device. I did not knew, what it did and what should one do with it, so I did not risk touching it. The box had been crackling for some time and fell silent.

"Oh, yes, I should sle-e-ep, at last" - I yawned, having taken a look at the blizzard, which started to rage outside the window. Having turned off everything I could, I curled up on the sofa, took the blanket by its corner with my teeth and covered my head over in one motion. Relaxing, I felt a pleasant languor, falling asleep.

***

A light warm breeze run over the grass, disturbed the still water of the lake, rustled the heads of trees, brought the aromas of the morning flowers, which had bloomed, to me and sped away along the paved paths of the park. I looked around. It was the new Canterlot as I remembered it. When king Sombra had been defeated, and Crystal Empire disappeared without a trace, Celestia decided to move the capital of Equestria to the cliff of the impregnable tall mountain Canterlot, which gave the city its name. The castle in its glorious beauty had already been built there and the park had been laid out around it. I remembered, how much I used to like going for a walk there, admiring the sunsets, enjoying the cool evenings, before raising the moon and making the night patterns. And I often flew there in the mornings, ending the night, and my luminary was giving the dome of the sky to Celectia's sun.

A-a-ah-h... tears came into my eyes, I sobbed, wiping them off with my wing. How many beautiful amazing places became nothing, but some mirages of memories in my dreams? I ate the flowers from one flower-bed, drank from the lake and, having raised my head, saw Celestia, who was standing on the far bank. We were walking round the body of water slowly towards each other. I was examining the elder sister closely.

"You are clone, are you not?" - I said, when we stopped next to each other, standing muzzle-to-muzzle.

"Celestia commissioned me with finding you and handing over the conditions, which must be met to move you from the Earth to Equestria safely"

"I heed"

Having taken a large scroll out of the saddlebag with magic, Celestia's clone gave it to me. There was a pentagram inside of a circle with many symbols on the top of the scroll. After that the moon and its rays of light were depicted, and the same pentagram was drawn on the floor in front of a standing mirror, being reflected in it.

I examined the scheme thoroughly, memorizing every symbol. My future depended on it. Celestia hugged me gently and whispered in my ear:

"I love you, Luna, and I am looking forward to your return"

She had disappeared before I could reply. Well, the capabilities of astral clones had always been very limited.

The Canterlot park drowned in thick white fog, I could hardly discern bright banners on the spires of the towers. It probably was caused by the clone's interruption of this dream. Having hesitated to make a choice, I moved to the dream of Lairy's apartment and put the scroll into the cabinet between the books on the shelf. I noticed suddenly, that there were only three rooms in this dream: the living room, the kitchen and the bathroom. The door to the bedroom was lacking. I tried to examine the dream in detail with a puzzled expression on my muzzle. The front door was a wall, as a matter of fact. It could not be opened even by the door-opening magic, and there was no space behind it. A white shroud of endless snow was everything, which could be seen through the window. I found the refrigerator filled with food to my great surprise, although I had took a lot out of it during my last visit. Without taking advantage of the host's generosity, I pulled just one heavy red fruit out. It was rather sturdy, and after I had cast a spell of destruction, it exploded with hundreds of ruby seeds, which scattered all over the kitchen. I could imagine, how much time I would have spent on this fruit without magic, using only my teeth and a knife. The seeds turned out to be very delicious, and I had fun, searching for them on the shelves, in the cups, on the dishes, behind the stove, under the table and the refrigerator.

Being full and happy, I flew to the sofa. I looked around, thinking of what to use those surplus powers on. My eyes fixed on the books in the bookcase. Oh, if that dream had recreated the interior of Lairy's home...

I snatched the first book out of the shelf at random, enchanted it with "all-reading" spell and the magic worked, turning the symbols of an unfamiliar language into those, that I could understand. The title on the cover page read: "Thomas Mayne Reid. The White Chief \ The Wild Huntress". Having opened the book, I snorted contentedly. The magic was working, changing the text on the pages while I was turning them.

***

"... heavy snowfall may cause the loss of electrical connection. There are records of traffic accidents"

Having sighed sourly, I punched a button with the edge of my hoof and the talking box went silent. I understood nothing of the voice's speech, which had been hard to hear because of the noise and crackle. Some connections were lost? Were there accidents?

Looking through the window, I pressed my nose against the glass and my breath fogged it up instantly. The elements were raging on the other side of a thin barrier. Snow was flickering in the reflected lights of windows, being shuffled by a mad wind.

Where did Lairy disappear? I was fidgeting anxiously, moving my ears, hoping to hear the long-awaited friend. I ran to the door happily several times, but each time the only thing I met was disappointment. The sounds of humans' steps were passing by, leaving me in the heavy silence.

Having jumped off the kitchen table, I walked into the living room and looked at the device, which was hanging on the wall, reproachfully. It was big, round, yellow and had twelve black symbols, which were evenly arranged along the edge of the circle. My human looked at this device often, when he was planning to go somewhere. It was making rhythmic clicking sounds, and now I was looking at it as well, but crossly, angrily, as if it was the device's fault, that Lairy has not come home yet. But the device was guilty of another thing. It was making me wait.

I lay down on the sofa, unconsciously watching the arrows moving. Lairy usually was back, when the smaller arrow pointed at the left symbol, which was the third from the bottom. But this arrow had crawled up to the fifth symbol already.

I had to wait. Was there a torture crueler, than waiting in complete uncertainty? Where was Lairy? What had happened to him? How could I find him in those stone mazes? How could I help? What if he would not come back? What should I do? Would I have to leave the house or stay here till the full moon?

I closed my hooves over my ears and shut my eyes, trying to find silence and inner peace. Alas, it had not come to pass, because my whole body felt something heavy falling nearby suddenly. Having opened my eyes, I saw the light in the corridor. And my heart stood still.

"Lairy!" - I rushed to meet him, hardly knowing myself for joy. The human, who was covered with snow from head to toe, was locking the door. I reared up and hugged him, without waiting for him to sit down.

"I have been worried about you so much, so much. I am so glad to see you" - I was butting my muzzle at the cold face, sobbing. I was not ashamed of my tears of joy as I was brushing the snow off with my wings.

"Yes, Luna. I am also glad" - Lairy whispered, kissing my lips and nose. He looked so exhausted, that I held back my elation, which was caused by his return. Having taken the shoes and outer clothing off, the human plopped down on the sofa. It increased my anxiety.

I bent over him, looking intently at his face, and sniffed. Maybe he was injured or poisoned. Nevertheless I learned to understand facial expressions of the human a bit. I did not see pain or suffering now, only an immense fatigue. There were no stains of blood or suspicious smells from his mouth. Being unable to decide what to do, I lay down next to him, placed my open wing on his chest and tried to make a quiet conversation.

"You came back later, than usual. Did something happen?"

"Ye-e-ah" - having made a faint sighing sound, Lairy turned his head to me - "I am dog-tired. I left work and was driving home, and then there was that accident.”

"Did you have an accident?" - I remembered a hard collision of two pegasi in the sky for some reason. One of them recovered on his own, but the magic was needed to heal the other one.

"No, I am fine, and my car is fine as well. But three cars in front of me were crashed. Everyone was getting out, looking into that, I was rendering first aid, then the police moved up, detaining, interrogating the witnesses. All of that really had gotten on my nerves. Well... here I am, having a rest now"

"Did anything bad happen to you?" - I inquired just in case.

"It did not" - The arm seemed very heavy to me, when it dropped down onto my wing. But the crumpled feathers were the least of my worries. Having pressed myself tightly against Lairy, I placed my head on his chest and was lying still, listening to the heartbeat. The rustle of the feathers under the fingers, which were quivering from time to time, could be barely heard.

Having had a rest, the beloved started to stir and I began to help him. Working together, we had got rid of all the clothes and then I brought dry trousers and vest from the wardrobe. While Lairy was putting the clothes on, I put the bowls of water into the oven. Having got to the kitchen, the human found me sitting on the stool sedately.

"Hm, you have the look..." - I rubbed my nose against Lairy's chest with a smile and gave the bowl to him.

"Well, if my appearance tells everything better, than me, I will not argue with it. Thank you. Bring that paper-bag from the corridor"

There were pasties in the bag. Lairy heated them up and piled on the plate.

"And what is the filling of each one?"

"If you want, you can smell and guess"

Having put a pasty on the hoof of each foreleg, I examined them, sniffed, licked.

"One is filled with vegetables, and I do not know about the other one, there is something burnt"

"The one with vegetables is for you, it has cabbage inside. And the one with meat is for me"

"Did you think of feeding me meat, monster?!" - I shoved the pasty into Lairy's hand with pretence of indignation.

"Thank you. It cannot be helped" - He winked, taking a bite - "Beasts live with beauties sometimes"

Walking out of the kitchen after the supper, I remembered another thing, which had happened earlier.

"You know, that box was crackling today" - I pointed my hoof at the corridor.

"Do you mean the phone? I had been calling you to tell that I would, probably, come back late because of the bad weather"

"And what was I supposed to do?"

"You should have picked up the handset to hear my voice in it" - having lifted the curved thing, Lairy pressed it against my ear. I heard the tooting.

"But you have not told me about the phone"

"Yes, I did not expect, that I would have to call home"

Having said goodbye to each other cordially, we went back to our sleeping places. I was rejoiced by Lairy's safe return very much.

***

There was a bone-chilling cold. The wind was tearing at my mane, tossing snow into the eyes. I looked around warily. Some dark shadows were flying past the trees from time to time. The creaking of branches and the sound of approaching steps caught my ears. Were those animals? Humans? Were they looking for me?

The thin icy crust was breaking with a crunch under my legs, sharp pieces of ice were pricing the hooves painfully, cutting the hide till it blood. There was no path, I was running, circling around the trees and snowdrifts.

I was caught by my tail. The sharp pain ripped into the sacrum, I fell muzzle down into the snow with a moan.

I looked back, but there was no one, the tail was tangled up in thick branches of a bush. Having destroyed the bush with magic, I broke free.

"There! She is there!" - the wind brought the words. There was a loud noise and something small flew over my ear with a whistling sound. Having jumped up, I scuttled away, despite the pain at the base of my tail, which was slowing my movements.

Where did I get to? Why was I being chased? I could not stop to think, everything in me was subjected to one blind urge to get away from the voices, from the creatures, which were chasing me, from the suffering, they were causing. A human, who had appeared suddenly from behind the tree, pulled something dense over my head. I stumbled, fell down, shaking my head in attempt to throw the fabric off, but several cold hands grabbed me by my legs, wings, horn, pressing me against the snow. Those touches made freezing terror crawl over my body. I was crying and screaming, kicking, but the all efforts were futile. Having strained myself, I rushed away with all my might, risking to be injured, and fell through the ground. My whole body struck something solid, I was wriggling, trying to break free.

"Luna?!" - the familiar voice could be heard through the shroud of despair, which had enveloped me. I was seized by the shoulders tightly and shaken. I cried out miserably, without realizing, what was being done to me. The fabric had been taken off my head and I, having opened my eyes widely, saw Lairy, who was bending over me.

"W-what?" - I whispered with numb lips. O-oh, by the whole Equestria... that was some dreaming, indeed.

"That was me, who was going to ask you about "w-what" was happening. You were crying, screaming in your sleep, and when I had come to comfort you, you got tangled and fell off the sofa at the end of it"

Struggling out of the blanket, I noticed a big hole to my dismay. That was it, I tore someone else's item. The owner would not be happy about that.

"Everything, I have lived through, is giving me nightmares. There is forest, there are dogs, humans. I am being chased, they want to kill me. I am sorry" - having sobbed, I pressed my muzzle against Lairy's cheat.

"How are you going to sleep now?" - he asked, caressing my neck and wiping the tears off. He did not seem to mind the hole in the blanket.

"Well, maybe, I am not going to sleep at all" - I snapped and flapped my wings angrily.

"Yeah, right" - Lairy replied crossly - "We are not living on Elm Street to avoid sleeping. Let us go"

I did not want to go anywhere, but I decided that it would not hurt to go, since the human winded my mane round his hand and led me to the kitchen almost forcibly.

"What now?" - I leaned my head against the table.

"Here" - Lairy put a tall light bottle in front of my nose - "It is vodka"

The human passed his pensive eyes over me, as if he was estimating something, and filled a quarter of a glass.

"You want me to drink it?" - I touched the glass with my hoof. The liquid looked like ordinary water, but had an unpleasant smell. There was a graceful dark horse, stamping the ground with its hoof, on the label.

"Yes" - having heated an orange juice, Lairy filled the glass up to the top and mixed the liquids.

"And what will it do?"

"I have no idea. If you are going to sing songs in "Royal Canterlot Voice", I will have to shut your mouth, tie you and put on the sofa. It is the worst scenario"

"And what is the best one?"

"You will sleep soundly till the morning"

"There are not many options"

"It is better than falling off the sofa"

I sniffed the warm drink once more. The juice drowned the disgusting smell of vodka, the cocktail seemed good enough.

"Ah, to tartarus with it" - having sighed, I took the straw from the table with my lips and sucked all the contents out. Wow-oh... there was a scary feeling, that I swallowed the full glass of liquid fire with a taste of an orange.

"How do you feel?" - Lairy squatted down beside me.

"Horrible..." - I began to snuffle loudly, trying to catch my breath. It felt like all my insides were about to catch fire. I had even doubted my trust in Lairy for a moment. This fire water might have been harmless for him, but for me... Hr-r-r.

"Wait, it will be over soon" - the human clang to me, embracing my shoulders gently. Probably, he knew the sensations, caused by his drink, himself.

"There is a heavy warm sphere in my stomach" - I reported later, listening to the changes, which were happening inside my body, keenly.

"Take several deep, slow breaths to let the sphere reach your head"

I breathed in deeply, sensing the warmth spreading all over my body, filling me entirely and rising higher and higher to the throat. At the third breath it felt like a hoot, it became warm and heavy in the head as well, I went limp and slumped my side against the wall clumsily.

"O-omph" - I hiccupped.

"It is called "the kick in the head". Let us go, I will help you to go to bed" - having smiled, Lairy hugged my neck and led me to the sofa, holding me with his hands.

I was staggering like a fragile boat, which got caught in the storm, having troubles keeping my balance and losing any sense of direction. The only one thing I knew for sure was that I was safe at Lairy's house. My consciousness was reluctant to perceive anything else, as if I had gotten into a repulsive kind of sticky, viscid, slowed-down dream.

Lairy put me onto the sofa, covered me with the blanket, and the world around me stopped spinning. I was surprised at the human's reaction to my clumsy attempt to lay my legs comfortably. He helped, as if he knew exactly, how I wanted to settle them.

"I am - hiccup - so ashamed, my friend, ashamed - hiccup - of my weaknesses" - I mumbled, hiccupping all the time - "My duty is to be the guardian of dreams, to rid the dreamers of nightmares, and I am scared of them myself. Well, tell me, what an awkward little cloud - hiccup - I am"

"Actually, fears are a part of mentality. All living creatures in the world are afraid of something. Fears protect us from death and injuries in particular. But fears can be laughable and absurd and even harmful sometimes"

The human stroke my neck, caressing arteries.

"Are you afraid too?" - I asked, having lifted my head slightly. The thoughts were shifting like heavy clouds of a dense fog.

"Me?"

Lairy hemmed contemptuously.

"I am really scared of insects, I startle from anything, that runs, crawls or flies even if that insect is harmless for certain. And I do not like reiterations and recursions in dreams. The dreams, which are like a corridor with infinite number of doors or some narrow burrows, which need to be squeezed through, drive me crazy. I try to avoid such dreams and wake up"

"Hm-m-m are there burro-o-ows with many do-o-ors?" - I tried to finish the phrase, but all my thoughts had totally flaked away.

"Lunie-dearie, go to sleep already" - Lairy whispered in my ear with aspiration, getting up from the sofa and covering me better to keep me warm.

That quiet whisper accompanied me on my diving into the blissful soft darkness without any dreams or nightmares.

***

I have almost fallen asleep, when I heard some rustling behind the door. It was opened a little later, and my eyes had a chance of looking at lovely Luna, who was drunk as a lord. Her mane was unkempt, emerald eyes were shining, and although I was not able to see her pretty muzzle in the dim light, I guessed, that there was a dreamy smile on it. The alicorn could scarcely stand even with her four legs spread widely, and the fixed unblinking look of her eyes was focused on one spot in front of her.

Having raised up on my elbow, I watched the little horse approaching, all her hooves were scuffing. That behavior of hers was alarming. She was supposed to sleep, not sleepwalk because of the alcohol. Having leant forward, my beloved breathed out the most "wonderful" exhaust of combustion products into my face.

"M-m-may I... c-come?"

"Yes" - I moved closer to the wall.

Luna put one foreleg on the bed. It seemed, that one third of a liter of the "screwdriver" slowed all the alicorn's reflexes. The pony was tilting over on one side slowly, and the narrowing of the pupils in her eyes was just as slow. She was gradually becoming aware of crushing on the floor in a moment.

Having hugged Luna, I strained myself to pull her into bed. The creaking of bed was followed by the princess' sigh of relief.

"I feel l-l-onely being al-l-lone..." - Luna mumbled, lying with her back to me. Having gotten my hand under the wing, I was caressing her side, feeling a steady heartbeat.

"Good night, my joy" - I bit the soft corner of her ear gently. The pony replied with something completely inarticulate.

"The sleep is sound, the night is young. Two hearts are beating now as one"...

I have been lying for a while, listening to Luna's tranquil breathing, then scrambled over her and sat down on the edge of the bed. My little animal was totally worn out. Having lifted the croup, I pulled the alicorn down the bed, so her horn would not rest against the headboard. It turned out to be a real pleasure to move the unconscious pony, she was like a big, warm, soft cuddly toy. Having placed her on her back, I stretched her hind legs down, folded the forelegs across her chest, straightened the wings a bit, so they would not become numb. Having bent over the princess, I ran my hand over her head, neck, chest, stomach, touched the udder, pressed my fingers to the nipples a bit. The mare did not react to the caress.

"Luna..." - I whispered with a happy smile. Probably, it was the first time, when the alicorn trusted herself to me so much, that she stopped being afraid for her life and health. She did not have to come, she could have slept on the sofa, but she came. Her trust was the greatest treasure. Having covered the pony with the blanket, I kissed her lips and left the room quietly.

Lying down to sleep on Luna's place, I decided that I would definitely have to replace the sofa, which became permeated with the smell of the lunar pony.

____________________________________________________
* "There Will Come Soft Rains" is a 12-line poem by Sara Teasdale.
The work was first published in the July 1918 issue of Harper's Magazine.

Author's Note

1) This book is being translated from Russian. It is not reccomended to use google translator to read it, because many beautiful moments will be lost that way.

2) The usual request is to feel free to point out any errors in the comments. We are also looking for the regular beta reader.

3) Be patient, the translation is a slow process.