Author's Note

Takes place after Steel goes to sleep in "A Day in the Life of a Giant"

(Sidestory) Dreams

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Most think of dreams as just nonsensical and random thoughts produced by a sleeping mind, and they’re not wrong in all honesty. But to a skill Dreamwalker or any Dream magic practitioner dreams can reveal many things about the dreamer.

And Luna is no minor practitioner. The Dreams are her Domain as Nightmare are her Others Domain.

However Luna hadn’t recovered fully from having so much of her power dispelled, so the most she could do is to walk the Dreams but couldn’t interact with them as is her wont normally. And there was one Dreamer particular that interested her greatly.

Steel Cavalry; the Mad Stallion, the Nutter, and the Giant.

Those of course being the more polite nicknames the giant had gained.

And while their time together shed a lot of light upon Steel, Luna wanted. No needed to understand more! This is the stallion that saved her from being a passenger in her own body, saved her from watching as all the Dreams she had shepherded for years be snuffed out by an Eternal Night.

And as she walked through these dreams, illogical ones that nopony (except Twilight as she seemed the Mad Researcher type) could ever imagine. She saw things that could only exist in fantasy books. Terrible weapons even the Nightmare would frown upon.

And a mind that never truly slept. One that never stopped. One that calculated, studied, desiccated, every single scrap of information it could get.

It was a mind consisting of numbers and exoteric symbols. Inequine in the extreme and Luna tried to perceive it but couldn’t due to her lack of power, and she doubted she could even if she was at full power.

The mind was alien to her sensibilities, so logical it probably bewildered Discord before he fell to power-induced madness.

The other mind thankfully was much easier to understand, however it seemed to be caught between equine and some sort of primate. Both had similarities but were exact opposites. It both fascinated and frustrated Luna.

Any further exploration of Steel's mind was ended when the Other spoke. Not in words but in concepts, each ‘word’ so thick with information Luna could barely understand.

[Intruder]
[Caution]
[Amusement]
[Get Out]

Luna’s eyes snapped open and she squealed in surprise when she was physically flung from her bed and across the room. Smashing into the far wall she hit the floor with a dull thud and groaned.

It had been centuries since she was so violently ejected from a Dream. It was a rather nostalgic if unwelcome feeling. Her head throbbed reminding her of the time she stupidly tried to headbut a Dragon into submission, something she swore to never do again despite the fact it worked.

Having a month-long migraine taught her to never do that again.

“Princess Luna!” One of Tia’s Day guards called through the door, “I heard some noise! Are you well?”

“Yes, I’m fine. Just distraught over the state of the Dreamlands.” Best is that technically Luna wasn’t really lying either, “Just resume whatever you were doing.”

“As you wish Princess.” The guard replied before falling silent.

Luna groaned as she got up, silently demanding her body to return to its former full-grown glory (maybe a little taller?), before she went over to a desk to ponder what she had learned.

“Steel as an alien mind existing alongside him. Is he aware of it?” Luna wondered, “More importantly… is Steel actually a Horse? Is he the result of an imperfect reincarnation? It certainly wouldn’t be the first I’ve seen…”

Luna knew one thing. She would not let this revelation come out, she wouldn’t even tell her sister. She may have been a thousand years out of date but Luna knew her subjects and was well aware of the xenophobia that exists in their society.

If it came out that Steel wasn’t a “proper equine” then herd mentality would take over and he’d be shunned at best and treated as a leper at worst.

“Nothing is ever simple.” Luna muttered with a sigh before she pulled a rope to summon a maid.

Tea.

She needed some nice soothing tea to help her think.

Hopefully Tia had her favorite brew in stock.