I have no idea just how long I was running. Thankfully though the whole experience, I was staying relatively dry. With the trees of the forest providing enough cover so that I didn’t have a lot of water get on me.

As I ran through that forest there were probably many beautiful sights to behold. I might go back to see them someday. But now I am here in this cave.

After I had run for long enough I had finally found the shelter I needed for the night. It was a small naturally formed cave that I determined would be suitable enough for me to take shelter in for the time being.

I walked to the back of the cave, which wasn’t that far in as it wasn’t all that big. Once getting there I sat down and laid my back against the cool stone. As I sat there breathing heavily from all of the running I had done, I got to thinking.

“Just what caused that dome to spontaneously appear?” I wondered aloud. It was another strange occurrence in this even stranger day. Making matter appear out of nowhere is literally impossible, I know because I actually enjoyed paying attention to science class since it inspired me so much. I remember that for the most part matter cannot be created nor destroyed through any means that one would have access to in the wilderness. Such a thing would take some of humanity's greatest scientific achievements and years of research to just barely begin to pull such a feat off.

I sat back and let the gears in my mind spur. All that I know is that it appeared just when I practically begged in my mind for something to protect me.

Maybe some deity made it appear to protect me? It was a stretch but at the same time, I doubt any deity would put me in such a situation just to protect me at the last minute. No, everything that happens happens for a reason. The only reason that I can think of that would cause such a thing to appear is the fact that I practically willed for protection.

But such a thing would be like magic. Although, magic doesn’t exist. Then again maybe it could, I mean I was just dragged through a painting so maybe there is some truth behind such a thing.

I for one, have an open mind and I’m willing to try such a thing out. For one, I am getting just a little chilly in this cave so I could use a blanket. So I focus all of my brains on the will for a blanket. Doing so with such force that I clench my eyes shut and start shaking a bit.

Then, I feel a soft and warm blanket land right on my head. I open my eyes and see to my shock, a plain gray blanket. I pull it over myself for warmth and comfort.

As I sit there I have no idea whether or not I should be surprised, shocked, worried, or thankful that I can do such a thing. The sheer absurdity of the situation makes me think that I could just be in some crazy lucid dream caused by so much late-night work on my passion projects. But if this were a dream I would have probably woken up in a panic just as that Manticore attacked me. That as well as the fact that I can actually feel cold right now proves that I am not dreaming.

I finally decide to stop putting much thought into the situation and I lay my head against the cave wall. For some reason, a wave of tiredness fell upon me as soon as the blanket appeared. Must be because of the comfort it gives me though. But I don’t have to worry about that just now for the path back to the land of darkness has opened up once more, and that comforting dark calls for my return.

Once I had awoken, something seemed off. Mostly because I hadn’t really “awoken” in the sense of waking up from a dream. It had felt a lot more like one of those dreams where you dreamed of having a dream inside of a dream and then you woke up from one dream and found yourself in another.

When I came to I saw what I can best describe as organized chaos upon a cosmic plane. A universe full of stars stretched out as far as the eye could see. Filling the universe between said stars were plenty of objects I could remember. There were thousands upon thousands of creations. From some action figures I had made and painted myself, to just some passing creative thoughts I had the day before.

From what I could see I immediately could recognize I was actually in a dream now. Which was kind of depressing, I really enjoyed not having dreams. This may come as a surprise since dreams can give people some of the best creative ideas. But I rather enjoyed having a few hours where I could just turn my overactive brain off and let me just drift off into the abyss as I slept. But now I guess I had to deal with this now.

I picked a direction at random and began walking. I was getting quite bored though, basically every object as far as I could tell was something I had already thought of. After a few minutes of gazing at my surroundings with a bored expression, I heard a flap of wings to my right.

I looked over and saw what looked to me like a cartoon horse. It had a dark blue coat and a long mane that looked like the night sky that flowed in a non-existent wind. The weird equine did not notice me, so I quickly ducked behind a large painting among all of the other objects here.

Then, I could hear a female voice saying “Interesting, we wonder who hath thought up this interesting dreamscape.” After hearing that, I peeked out from the painting I was hiding behind to look in the direction of the said voice. It came from the same direction the weird horse was in. I guess there must be a woman in that direction somewhere.

Thankfully the equine was still looking away and I was able to get a better look at them. Aside from what I had already seen, I also noticed a horn on their head and a set of wings.

“A pegacorn?” I whispered to myself. Not exactly knowing what I was looking at. One of its ears twitched as I said that and they turned their head. I quickly ducked back behind the painting before they saw me. Once again I heard the female voice say “Who’s there!” They sounded quite annoyed, but I would rather not answer until I knew what exactly was going on here. That horse quite clearly noticed me speaking then. Right after that, the female voice returned. This can not be a coincidence. Perhaps it is the equine that is talking? This is a dream after all, so I guess it could be possible.

After nearly giving myself away I stayed completely still behind the painting. I could hear loud clacking noises coming in my general direction. The equine must be walking in this direction. I listened for where exactly they might be walking too and it seemed that they were coming right up to my painting.

In a panic, I looked around. Ok, I don’t want to be found so what can I do? This is my dream so anything should be possible. As I looked at the environment, I saw another possible hiding spot to my right. It was a large statue of a character I thought of for one of my stories. If I remember correctly it was supposed to be some sort of goddess that was worshiped in the world the story was set in, so It made sense for me to think of stuff like monuments to her.

If this is my dream, it might be possible to teleport. But the only way to find out is to try. Just like I had done to conjure up the blanket, I thought really hard about teleporting behind the statue. A few seconds later the noise of hoofsteps was farther away now and I opened my eyes. Success! I am now behind the statue. Since the horse lady thing was focused on the painting I figured it would be safe to slowly peek around the statue.

I saw her finally reach the painting. She stopped right before it and admired the artistry I put into it. The painting is one that I had hung up in my living room. It depicted my idea of what Heracles looked like when fighting a hydra. After she looked at the painting for a second, the equine got down low like a cat ready to pounce. Suddenly she used what looked like a form of telekinesis to push the painting aside as she jumped at where she presumed me to be as she yelled “WE HATH FOUND THEE.” Her hopes were immediately dashed as she was met with nothing but open air. She seemed to mumble in annoyance at her failure to find me.

I got back behind the statue as a plan formed within my mind. If I had just nearly died a few hours ago, I was going to cheer myself up with a game of ultimate hide and seek. I grinned to myself as I thought about what I could do.

First I should change the landscape a bit. While it would be fun to hide in all of the chaos, it would be just a bit too difficult for her to find me. Instead, I can make a medium-sized mansion filled to the brim with plenty of objects to hide behind. Now I just need to come up with some rules for us to follow and we can get this show on the road.

I willed a paper into existence and wrote down this.

MY SUPER AWESOME ULTIMATE HIDE AND SEEK RULES:

1. As soon as I change the dreamscape you must immediately close your eyes and count to one minute for me to hide.

2. I can only hide in one place and I can’t move.

3. No teleportation.

4. If you can find me you get to meet me.

5. HAVE FUN.

With that all written down, I peaked around the statue hoping the equine was still looking away. Luckily they were, so I willed my rule paper to appear before them and I immediately went behind the statue again.

After a few moments I heard the voice say “Very well then, may the best pony win!” It is weird that what I presume to be a she used the term “best pony,” But I guess it’s just my weird imagination.

Then I used my imagination to change the environment around me, I created a lavish-looking mansion filled with various works of art. It had a large gallery with various paintings and sculptures. As well as a library with row upon row of sculptures. I made sure to put the pegacorn downstairs while I put myself upstairs.

Since I was the one who made the house, I already knew where I was going to hide. I quietly moved into the upstairs office keeping note of the pegacorn slowly counting to 60. When she got to about the 40-second mark I had finally gotten to my ultimate hiding spot. I had one of my coolest ideas ever to hide inside.

Within the office, I had put something I thought would be an amazing theme park attraction for tourists while I was in one myself. It was a large hollow sculpture of a cliché armored knight that one could go inside of and have someone outside take pictures of you. Although later I realized “What is the point of taking a picture of you inside a knight sculpture if you couldn’t even be seen inside of it?” But in the end, I still thought it would be a cool decoration.

So anyway, I put this thing inside of the office as a decoration. I had fully climbed into the statue and closed off the back of it by the time she counted to 55. So I stayed there completely still in wait.

Then I heard her yell “Ready or not here we come!”

Now the game begins, I could hear her downstairs walking around.

Princess Luna’s Perspective:

We are very happy on this fine night of ours. We had found a being’s dream when walking within our realm and were excited to enter and meet them. Some of the things we hath seen here are simply astounding. This dreamscape must belong to a great artist of worldwide renown for there to be so many amazing things here.

This experience has been made even better for us as it seems to have a sense of fun! We love fun, and what is most fun now is winning this game. Almost immediately after entering this dream, its creator decided to challenge us to a game of hide and seek.

We can admit, the venue they hath made is quite marvelous although it is also very weird. Unlike a pony home, the ceilings and doorways were far larger than one might find even in the largest of mansions within the fair city of Canterlot. The sheer size of the interior is second only to the castle. Perhaps this being created this place to be like that to make this a better experience for us? The one behind this dream is far too kind.

We trot confidently through the downstairs of the mansion with the grace of a princess. The room we enter is that of an opulent gallery. It is filled with some of the greatest works of art we hath seen since our return to Equestria. Marvelous paintings line the wall with grand golden frames and sculptures of a species we have never before seen.

The beings in the sculptures have the general build that is only seen In minotaurs. But unlike the minotaurs, they are a bit less muscular and have a far more possibly ape-like appearance. Tis possibly just a wondrous new creature of fantasy dreamt up by an aspiring author.

We carefully check every possible hiding place and move along. Through trial and error, we hath discovered that the large painting at the end of the room also served as a very decorative door. The door leads to a long dining room with a kitchen connected to it. There is no place for anyone to hide in the open dining room so we immediately move over to the kitchen.

Taking no time to admire the craftsmareship of the kitchen we quickly open every drawer with our magic, only to find the kitchen empty as well.

“Drats.” We say aloud. Then turning our head we see another door. This one leading to a large library. Looking at each book we can tell that they are all original pieces. On each book, it says that they were by a “Max Fletcher.” That is quite the weird name for a pony to have. Or for any other species on Equis to have as well. But what do we know, we were gone for a millennia things have probably changed enough for somepony out there to have what we presume to be a unique name. For all we knew such a name could be commonplace now.

It was easy to search the library, with everything laid out in a grid-like fashion it left little to no room to hide. Other than some of the couches in one corner of the room and we made sure to check for our mystery being.

After leaving the library we found ourselves back where we started, the only place now left to go is up the stairs. Which we admit looks a bit weird. The stairs are quite small and while we could go up them, they were clearly structured for a bipedal creature. With there not being much room between each step, it would be a tedious process for a bipedal being to walk up.

Once at the top we find a hallway. There are three doors that are each labeled. From closes to farthest order they are labeled Bedroom, Office, and bathroom. Surely nopony would hide somewhere as obvious as the bedroom, but we must check every place if we wish to win. We immediately go into the bedroom and see a very large bed that could put our sister’s to shame on one wall to our right, a fireplace with some couches around it to our right, and a nice soft carpet covering the floor. That and a closet at the wall on the other side of the door.

We first check the most obvious spot to hide, which is under the bed of course. Nopony is there so we check the fireplace. While it might sound crazy but any true master of hide and seek knows that the unconventional spots are the best spots. But alas there is nopony hiding up the chimney or anything. We look up above the fireplace to find a large painting. The being who made this house could be shifty and put a little hidey-hole behind a painting, so we gently lift it off of the wall and check behind it. But there is nothing there.

We trot over to the closet and open it. It is completely empty as it seems they hadn’t thought of anything to fill it with yet. So there is no place to hide in here.

Trying to finish the game soon, We hurry out of the bedroom and enter the office. Inside it looks to be normal but something stands out. Right next to the desk there is a statue of what looks like a knight. But all of the statues were downstairs in the gallery. So why would this one be here?

Max’s Point Of View:

I think she knows something is up.

Literally as soon as the pegacorn entered this room they locked their eyes onto the statue. They seemed to be giving me a scrutinizing gaze. But why? This spot shouldn’t be that obvious. There is absolutely nothing in this house that could give me away.

Wait a second, this house has a room specifically for statues. My mind stops for a second and all I can think is “well fuck.” this may seem like a good spot, BUT I COMPLETELY NEGLECTED THE FACT THAT IT DOESN’T BLEND IN.

Oh no, she is walking closer now. All I can hope for is that she won't notice the door mechanism on the back of the statue. Just stay calm Max, there is absolutely no way that she can find out how to open the statue. So I can just sit here looking out of the statues empty eye sockets and internally laugh at her fruitlessly trying to find me.

Yet I failed to notice the small grin on her face as she went around the room “looking” for me. When she was out of sight I relaxed a little. She totally can’t find me.

As I basked in my sense of accomplishment, something happened that this pegacorn will probably tease me about for the rest of my time knowing her. Just 5 seconds after leaving my sight, 5 SECONDS. She then decided to immediately rush back into my vision and stare me right in the eyes through the statue’s eye sockets and scream “BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.”
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I definitely didn’t scream like a little girl. No, I did not immediately try to jump and cause the statue to fall over and shatter. No, I did not do any such things.

I stayed strong…… or at least as strong as a grown man can be while lying in a pile of broken stonework and scared out of his mind.

The weird equine just fell over laughing historically. I just laid there for a few minutes trying to pick up the pieces of my shattered pride while waiting for the pegacorn to calm down.

After a minute she finally had the composure to sit back up and she looked over at me and said while giggling to herself “Thou are the worst hider ever.”

You pout a little and say “Nuh-uh, that was the best side ever.”

The look on my face seemed to send her over the edge again as she began laughing again. Each passing second doing nothing but further shattering my already decimated pride. When she calmed down again she looked back to me and said: “Thou are far too obvious, we have seen ponies hide better in open fields during a riveting game of hide and seek sir.”

Realizing that you have yet to introduce yourself you hold your hand out and say “Uhm, my name is Max Fletcher. You are?”

Coming back to full composure the pegacorn reaches out a hoof and shakes your hand says “We are Luna, princess of the night and a master of the dream realm.”

You say, “Well nice to meet you, princess. I hope you don’t mind me asking but what exactly are you?”

Slightly surprised by the fact that you don’t know what she is, Luna replies “I am a pony of the Alicorn tribe. Now that we hath told you of what we are may thee tell us thy nature as well?”

You reply, “Well I am a human, specifically of the American tribe. Would you like to continue our talk over tea?”

She smiles at your hospitality and says “That would be lovely.”

You then use your control over year dream to set up a nice room with a table with tea and snacks upon it. Ready for a long conversation.

Author's Note

I got tired after finishing this chapter, so if there are any spelling mistakes or anything I'll get to it in a bit.