Author's Note

No joke! the song i tagged is straight vibe material!

Chapter 34: Dreams on the Horizon

Music: [Original Song] Home – Silvervale.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdTTe09nPzM

It was the dead of night, the sky was a dark blue and black curtain, with the stars and moon creating a vivid display of glittering silver patterns. within the darkness of a forest under the moon lit sky, a camp fire was still burning throughout the tranquility of the night, outlining the very edge of the camps perimeter, as well as the five young adults that were around the fire. Scattered around the camp site were the remnants of food be prepped, a few skillets and cooking and eating utensils, as well as several cans of alcohol and sodas. Aside from the plates, and dinnerware, five sleeping bags were spread out around the camp site, four of which had its owner already asleep, while one was left empty.

A loud yawn then disturbed the gentle silence of the camp, followed by a crackling of the fire and a log being snapped in half before settling down, then from one of the sleeping bags Zack slowly rose up while stretching out his body.

Popping a few of his joints, Zack smacked his lips as he looked around his surroundings where a small smile quickly appeared on his face, as he looked at the sleeping forms of his friends. Kyle was practically splayed out like a crash dummy on top of his sleeping bag, snoring quietly into his pillow, with a little bit of drool oozing from his mouth. Jessica was neatly snugged into her sleeping bag, her wild and curly hair covering the majority of her face, while two empty wine bottles sat next to her. Richard wasn’t as spread out as Kyle was, but his arms and legs were fairly stretched out. Zack then looked over to where Amber would be sleeping, but when he saw she was gone, he started to look around their campsite for her, but she was nowhere in sight from his sitting position.

Standing up from his sleeping bag, Zack leaned over to a nearby folded-out chair and grabbed a coat, and slipping his shoes on before walking around the campsite. But his searching didn’t last long, as after he rounded the camper he and his friends rented, he spotted his last friend. Amber was sitting on the ground, and was just staring up at the night sky, while the light of the stars and moon reflected off the river the group has made camp by. Slowly walking towards his friend Zack just kept his eyes on Amber, watching how her golden brown hair wafted in the slight breeze making its way through the camp. Upon reaching the girl Zack cleared his throat, getting the girls attention and having her look up at him with her dark brown eyes.

“Mind if I sit here?”

Zack asked as he gestured to the spot beside his friend. Amber just gave a small smile before scooting over slightly, allowing Zack to sit down next to her. after sitting down the young man just looked out towards the wide river, while Amber returned her attention to the night sky.

“So. What’re you doing at this hour?”

“Star gazing.” Amber simply stated as she brushed some of her hair out of her face. “What about you? Did you just wake up?”

“E’yup.” Zack stated casually.

The pair then just sat there on the riverbank in silence, one staring up at the sky, while the other stares out into the water. Zack then stretched out his body again while giving out another yawn, before flopping backwards onto his back, earning a giggle from his now fellow star gazer as he was now staring up at the night sky. Amber then lowered herself as she laid on her back, her hoodies hood being pulled up to cover her hair.

“See anything interesting?” Zack asked as he placed his hands under his head.

“I saw a shooting star twenty minutes ago. Does that count?” both chortled at that for a bit before going back to just lying there in silence, that is until Amber broke the silence.

“You know Zack, it was a good idea to come out here to, get away from everything. Lord knows we needed.”

“Yeah. With my classes bearing down on me, Kyle getting chewed out from yet another pain in the ass boss, and everything that you, Jessica, and Richard have been going through these last few months. I thought it was about time for everyone to take a break.”

Zack said as he glanced over at Amber, seeing the light of the stary sky make her nearly glow in an ethereal radiance, which caused a small blush to form on his face. he’s always thought that Amber was very pretty, but with the stars and moon shining down on her, she looked even more beautiful.

“Hey Zack?” Amber said as he looked towards Zack, a blush actually starting to form on her face.

“What’s up?”

“…I was wondering, do you think we could…” Amber trailed off as he pulled her hood down over her face.

“We could, what?” Zack asked as he sits up, looking down at Amber with a slightly confused expression. The girl let out a rather loud sighs as removes the hood, and looks up to Zack.

“…Zack. You know that I have a crush on you, right?”

“I’ve had a, feeling.” Zack said as he rubs the back of his head.

“Well. Do you have any, feelings, for me?” she asked as she sat up, a foot away from her friend as his blush was hidden in the dark.

“I mean, yeah, but…I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know?” Amber asked as she scooted just a bit closer, her face now very close to Zacks, making him feel very nervous.

“I mean, we’ve been good friends throughout high school, and…well…I do like you Amber. You’re a great person to be around, easy to talk to, and yeah really pretty. I just…I don’t want—”

“You don’t want to ruin our friendship?” the young man nodded.

Amber then slowly raised her hands up, placing them on Zack’s cheeks, and making him look directly at her. the girl then inched her head closer to Zack’s, while also bringing him closer to her, until their lips met, but it wasn’t a deep passionate kiss. It’s a simple sweet kiss to test the waters, and it seemed that both parties were not leaving the waters. The two separated for only a sec, catching a glimpse of one another before going back in for another kiss, but this one was far more bolder.

While the two kissed, far off in the distance, past the river and into a pitch black void, a pale purple alicorn watches the scene with downcast eyes. Mane and tail wafting in an non-existence breeze, while her wings just laid limp against her sides. Emerging from the vast darkness from beyond the memory like dream, Luna came carefully trotting into the dream space, her eyes at first focused on the lone alicorn in the darkness, before turning to look to where she was staring off at. Now both alicorn were watching as Zack’s memory continues to play out one of the more happier moment’s of the alicorns past, watching as her old body and Amber break their kiss and started to sit close to one another, with Zack’s old self wrapping an arm around the girl as they star gazed together. Luna looked away from the memory and down at the mare, seeing that Zack’s eyes were dripping with tears.

“…do you mind if I, sit here?”

The night princess asked the mare, not getting a verbal response, but the mare still nodded as she scooted over slightly. Luna sat down next to the mare and went back to watching the memory, which showed the pair being scared by the other members of the group, and seemed to be celebrating. The sight seemed to have cheered up Zack a little bit, as the midnight alicorn saw a smile out of the corner of her eye. Which brought a small smile to her muzzle as she went back to watching the events on the horizon play out.

“Is that your, old self?” Zack just nodded as she kept her eyes on the memory. “And those other humans…”

“Those were my closet’s friends.” Zack said as she slowly creates an arm construct, and used it to point at each of her old friends.

“The tall one is Kyle, he’s a bit of goofball who often get’s himself into trouble. But he’s a good guy.” The hand then pointed at the next friend.

“The one with the darker skin tone, and shaved head, is Richard. He’s a pretty straight lace kind of guy, doesn’t really express himself well, but he tries to be the best at everything he sets his mind on.” Zack then chuckles a little as a thought comes to her. “Although that go-getter attitude often get’s him, and us, into a lot of crazy situations.” Luna chortled as covered her muzzle with a hoof as Zack continues.

“The girl with crazy wavy hair, that’s Jessica. She’s…I guess you can call her the, heart, of our little group. She’s always got a smile on her face, a little to much energy, and tries way to hard to try and please people. But she’s a delight to be around, you just can’t be sad or down around her.” Luna watched as Jessica practically strangle hug both Zack’s old body and the girl he was with, while looking extremely giddy. The princess then then looked down at Zack.

“And the last member?”

“…that would be Amber. She used to be very timid, and shy when it comes to meeting new people. Still was before I was, brought to Equestria.” Zack said in a low tone before cheering back up a little bit.

“But now she’s more confident, and isn’t afraid to meet new people.”

Luna turned to watch the group of humans leave the riverbank, and head back towards the campfire, where they started to party through the night. The princess couldn’t help but just simply watch, and enjoy the five humans celebrating with food, drinks, and music from the camper. While watching the group the night princess was actually surprised to see Zack look so, happy, seeing the alicorns past self-looking so lively and joyful. From her personal experience, as well as to what she’s heard from Twilight, Zack never showed this side of herself, which made the princess even more disheartened just how traumatized and spiteful Equestria has made a once happy individual. As the humans continued to party, the night princess bit her lip as she was debating something that came to the forefront of her mind, but in the ended she asked the mare the question she was deliberating.

“Was Amber your, special somepony?” the smile on Zack’s muzzle faltered slightly as she kept her eyes trained on the group.

“I guess you can say she was. However, we’ve only been dating for two weeks…” Zack then looked away from the memory and down to her hooves. “But then I got trapped here, in this world.” Luna’s mood downgraded as her body slouched a little, as she looked at the mare with a mournful expression.

“I’m sorry that you had to endure all of this hardship Zack.” The mare the brought up a foreleg to her face, and started to wipe away the tears.

“…I want to go home Luna.” Zack said as she started to openly cry as she drops to the floor.

“I just want to go home, and pass this whole thing off as just one big nightmare. But…that’ll never happen.”

As the alicorn bawled her eyes out, the memory before the two ponies started to fade away before it was just, ripped apart like paper being torn up. Plunging the dream space into a true darkness, where the ground and sky started to crack. Black ooze and smoke started to bleed out of the cracks, followed by ambient yet distorted voices crying, shouting, along with various other vocal cues that started to rattle the night princess. As she knows what was occurring around her. Luna quickly scooted herself over to the depressed mare, and started to try and calm her down, trying to make Zack relax otherwise something terrible will happen.

“I know the hardship that you’ve been through is horrible, but it’s all over now.” Luna then laid down next to the mare, before placing a comforting wing over the mare.

“And while we might not be like the ones left behind in your old life, know that my sister and I, along with Twilight Sparkle and her circle will be there for you.” Zack looked up to towards the princess with puffy red eyes that still flowed with tears.

“We want to help you Zack, but only if you let us, so please…don’t feel that your alone in our world.”

The dream space started to settle down as the cracks started to mend themselves, reverting the space back to a stable smooth appearance. Once everything seemed to have settled down, Luna sat up and offered a hoof to the alicorn. At first Zack just stared at the hoof with a look of uncertainty clearly written on her face, but after a slight deliberation on whether to or not the pregnant mare raised a hoof and placed it on the princess’s hoof, who then helped Zack back up to a sitting position.

“Feeling any better?” Luna asked the mare, which she quickly responded with a shake of her head as she takes her hoof back.

“I’m just, scared Luna.” The mare muttered under her breath before looking up to the princess, a clear expression of worry and fear etched on her face.

“I’m scared because this world of yours is just so, alien to me, and with everything that’s happened…I’m not sure if I can handle living here.” The princess then brought the smaller pony into a hug, Zack’s face pressed into Luna’s chest, and wings holding her in a protective manner.

“I know your afraid, but you have ponies that want to be there for you. ponies that will help you through this, transition into your new life.”

“But I’ve done nothing but be rude, spiteful, and just genuinely not a nice person to them most of the time.” Zack blubbered as she just buries herself into Luna’s embrace, seeking out comfort, some kind of security to make her feel safe. And the princess was more than happy to give it.

“Perhaps. But, if you give them a chance, Twilight and her friends will show you that they are not ones to hold grudges. And will help a friend in need, no matter what.”

Luna then felt the mare’s own wings and forelegs rise up, and slowly wrap themselves around Luna as much as they could, while she heard Zack sniffle before looking up and giving the princess a hopeful, yet thankful smile. The princess gave an equally hopeful smile to the mare, before nuzzling the top of Zack’s head.

As the two alicorns just sat there and enjoyed their warm embrace, the dream scape around started to turn from a endless void, to a more uplifting scenery in the form of a large room with wholesome looking furniture bathed in sunlight. When the pair took notice of their surroundings, they both let go of each other and explored the room a bit, although Luna didn’t get to venture around to much as her sight fell on Zack as she saw the alicorn sit by a large window. Trotting over to the window Luna first looked down at small alicorn, seeing a very happy nostalgic look on her face, and when she looked outside the window the princess saw the source of the alicorns lift in spirits. Causing a smile to form on her muzzle, as she watches a delightful scene of Zack’s past self-have what looks to be a large family gathering, while a cookout was happening, and children ran around playing with each other.

“I almost forgot about this memory.” Zack said as she leaned on the windowsill.

“So long as you dream here in Equestria, my night magic will aide you in having pleasant dreams.” Luna said as she looked away from the happy scenery for just a moment.

“And if you ever have a nightmare, my magic will alert me to it, and I will come to dispel it and bring forth a more happier dream.” The night princess then looked back out the window, and watched the human family of twenty members really start getting into the merriment.

“You’ll be able to see those that you love and cared for, whenever you want while you sleep.” Zack’s smile just a hair as she watches her past self-walk over to her mother, and was given a baby that he carefully rocked in her arms.

“…thank you…Luna.”