A Shadow of Myself

The humble traveling minstrel is approached by the shadowy form of the Watcher of Children's Dreams, mightiest of the night warrior tribe, and servant of the Jolly Watcher

The Jolly Watcher? You make The Marshmallow sound like a pirate. Jennifer chided the voice in her head.

I feel it is an excellent name. Watcher and Roger don't sound the same at all.

Jennifer rolled her eyes as she took a sip of tea. The Narrative could get so pouty when she got critical; thirty-five years old and still a bit of a child. She sighed after setting her cup down on the folding table provided for her.

"Hello, Josie, long time no see," she said, not turning around.

There was an exaggerated huff. "How'd you know I was here? People don't normally hear me coming."

Jennifer smiled as she turned around. "Having the Narrative constantly talking to me has some advantages. What brings you to my story hour?"

She knew the nocturnal mare in front of her was over fifty years old, but the mare barely looked older than mid-twenties. Jennifer looked much younger than her own age, which was within a year or two of Josie, so she couldn't complain about Josie's extended youth. That was the boon and curse of those with powerful magic, and among Josie's tribe, there were none stronger.

"You might want to tell a different story," Josie informed her. "Certain higher-ups don't care for the one you are telling."

Jennifer snorted. "Triss and the Dreamwardens can moan and complain all they want. They can't do anything to me. I'm breaking no rules."

"You are inciting discontent," Josie said dryly. "And doing so at a critical time."

"Are you going to try to stop me?" Jennifer asked, raising an eyebrow.

Josie shook her head. "No more than I just did. I don't go beating the crap out of people for the wardens. Thankfully, that isn't Rebecca's style. She did want me to try to talk you out of it."

"And how do you feel about the story?" Jennifer asked.

Josie shrugged. "Never heard it. So I'm curious how it goes; especially since Rebecca is keen on you not telling it. I've never been the Dreamwardens biggest fan. The whole Sha'am Maut torturing my friends in front of me thing always left a sour taste in my mouth."

"Yet you serve them."

"I serve Rebecca, not the wardens as a whole. I admit it, I've got a soft spot for her. She was a kid I helped, way back in the day."

The Watcher of Children's Dreams is subdued. The traveling minstrel is not aware that the night warrior is in mourning for one such former charge who was recently lost. She mourns the youngest son of the former One Who Would Be Queen, the Reluctant Prophet, the Mistress of the Manor, the–

You are in a mood today, she thought with amusement at the voice.

What do you mean?

Fifty billion titles for people when one would suffice, she answered back in her head. I knew who you were talking about after the first title. You are getting way too flowery.

The night warrior stands at attention, awaiting the minstrel to speak.

Oh, that's your way of changing the subject? Face it, without me, your stories would never be read or listened to. I know when too much is too much.

"Are you having a conversation with the voice in your head?" Josie asked. "You know, they used to send people away to the looney bin for that."

"My voice actually exists," Jennifer answered.

"That's what a crazy person would say," Josie chuckled. "Do your story if you want. I'm not stopping you. Just know you'll be pissing off some powerful individuals."

Jennifer bowed. "What is an artist if they are never controversial?" She paused and gave the pony a more sympathetic look. "And I'm sorry for your loss."

"How'd you?" Josie gasped in surprise, then stopped and shook her head. "Storyteller, duh. I'm asking a stupid question. Thank you. I appreciate the gesture. He had been a sweet kid who grew up to be a good stallion."

Jennifer nodded and quickly finished her drink before walking back to her place in front of the audience. The kids had been getting a little rowdy during the lull, and she could see the relief in the parents' eyes as she returned to her place. She actually thought she recognized some of the parents as having been kids listening to her stories long ago. It didn't feel like she had been at this for that long, especially since she was aging slower than those ponies, and now looked younger than they, but the evidence was in front of her face. She was getting old. Oh well, at least she didn't have arthritis.

She smiled at the kids. "Now…I might have forgotten where I was. Would any of you happen to remember?"

"Triss had found a statue in a weird tower!"

"And they had just gotten back to camp!"

"Very good! You paid very good attention!" she complimented them. "Let us continue. Unless you are bored with the story…."

"No! Keep going!"

"We aren't bored!"

"We want to know what happens next!"

"Will you make it all appear again? That was so cool!"

She laughed. "I think I can do that. I must warn you, some parts of this story might get scary, even for grown ups. I have it on good authority that the story scares the Dreamwardens. Only brave kids can listen to this story. Can all of you be brave?"

*We can be brave!"

"Yeah!"

"I watch scary movies with my big brother allll the time!"

"Tell us the story!"

Some of the parents were looking nervous. She was expecting as much.

"This isn't going to get gory, is it?" one mare asked. "I don't want to have my foals seeing gore."

"Aww! Mom! We're tough!" a colt protested.

Jennifer shook her head. "I assure you, there won't be a drop of blood shown."

The mare cautiously nodded her acceptance, but she and the other parents still seemed to be wary of what was coming, as any good parent should be when they are warned their kid was going to be exposed to something that could frighten them. The irony was, the kids would take this as just a story, and not connect it to their current lives. The adults would see what the true horror was. The adults were the ones who would walk away most frightened, not the kids.

She brought up her illusion again, depicting the inside of a building with Triss's family. "So…Triss and Joss returned home with the statue, and Triss's family was understandably overjoyed at her find…or at least her parents were."

The scene shifted to show the parents sleeping, but Triss was awake, holding the statue in her claws. Both were glowing with a soft blue light.

"Yet Triss still did not want to relinquish the statue. She was convinced that it was intended for her. However, she knew it meant food for her family, so she intended to let it be traded, but that didn't mean she couldn't spend all the time with it she could before the traders came."

The scene shifted to the large courtyard where the spacecraft landed. Robed dragons were talking with Junk Peddlers, crates of stones were being inspected and weighed, and other crates of food, containers of water, cloths, tools, and more were being exchanged for the stones. Triss's family were dealing with several traders, who were all eying the statue with unabashed greed.

"A full season's supplies for the statue alone," one trader said.

"Are you trying to cheat them? I offer two seasons supplies, and the choice of my finest cloths!"

"What tools do you desire? I can make sure you are without need! And luxury items as well!"

"My full stock! Eight seasons worth!"

Triss was sitting away from the traders and her family, looking forlornly at the haggling. Joss was sitting beside her. The scene turned and focused on them, although the traders were kept in sight.

"I told you that statue would trade well!" Joss said excitedly. "Your family shall get the most prosperous trades this season, maybe ever."

"Yes, they will," Triss mumbled absently, gaze still locked on where the statue would be, even if it was impossible to see through the crowd.

"How about I give my full current stock and a promise for the tools and cloths of your choice for next season?" another merchant suggested.

"What is going on here that such outlandish trades are being offered?"

All the traders went silent and turned to stare at a dragon in far more elegant robes as it approached. Triss's parents also stared in wonder.

"Teacher! You honor us with your presence!" her parents said, getting down on all fours and planting their faces to the ground, the traders went to all fours as well, but didn't put their faces as low.

"Rise! I have come to you, not you to me. I am at your home, not you in the Hall. There is no need to placate," the Teacher instructed. All the other dragons quickly did as they were told.

He looked at the traders. "Step aside, so I can see what you value more than every other stone combined."

They did as they were told, but quickly went to haggling.

"A statue, Teacher! A statue made of pure essence of Jeg'galla'gamp'pi!"

"Never have we seen the like!"

"When I secure it, I shall happily trade it to the Hall for a bargain price!"

"It is I who will claim it, not you!"

"No! I can outbid any of you!"

"I can offer these Junk Peddlers goods for ten seasons! My word is good! On the blood of my soulfriend!"

The teacher walked forward and picked up the statue, examining it with a critical eye, everyone else went silent.

"The Hall will trade with the residents of Jeg'galla'gamp'pi directly. Merchants, make your trades with the others. To try to outbid the Hall is folly."

The traders seemed deeply unhappy, but moved away, looking back with longing at the prize that was being denied.

"Humble ones, how did you come across this piece?" the Teacher asked Triss's parents, still looking over the statue in his claws.

"Our daughter brought it home just last night, great Teacher," Triss's father said, dipping his head.

"Where is she?" the Teacher asked. "I would see her."

Triss sprang to life and ran to Teacher. "I am Triss! Please, great Teacher, can I hold the statue again? Jeg'galla'gamp'pi gave it to me. It feels like it is mine."

The Teacher's eyeridge arched. "You desire the statue still, despite how much it could bring your family?"

Triss bowed her head. "Yes, great Teacher. I don't want to lose it."

"Triss! What foolishness is this!" her mother gasped. "That statue means comfort for us all in trade."

"I know, but I do not desire comfort more than it," Triss said firmly and defiantly. "It feels warm when I hold it."

"Warm?" the Teacher asked. "I am holding it now, and it seems no warmer than anything else here."

"It is warm for me," Triss insisted.

Joss joined them. "Do not disbelieve my soulfriend! She will let it be traded. She knows it means food for her family, but please, allow her to hold it one last time! It reacts to her; I have seen it!"

"Reacts to her how?" the Teacher questioned.

Joss pointed a claw at her. "They both glow when she is focused on it. It is strange. It worries me for her, but I will support my soulfriend!"

Triss blinked and looked at him. "I glow?"

"Did you not notice?!" Joss asked in disbelief.

The Teacher held out the statue to Triss. "Demonstrate this for me."

Triss took the statue into her claws and held it tight, staring at her prize. She quickly seemed to forget all others were there as she gazed at the statue, and again, both began to glow.

"I see…" the Teacher said slowly. "It seems that the two should stay together. I will not take the statue from her, nor let any merchant here claim it."

"But, Teacher! We shall not survive the season without a trade, and our other findings are too lean!" the mother wept.

"Be calm," the Teacher ordered, and then reached into his robe and pulled out a stone, a stone that could have been found in any of the Junk Peddlers' wares to trade. "Observe."

He focused his full attention on the stone, and began to sweat, then the stone began to very faintly glow. He let it glow for a few seconds before putting it away.

"What you scavenge are not useless stones," the Teacher explained as he looked at them. "They radiate pure thaumic energy. With them, we do great works. At the Hall, we gather potential students, and leave them in a room filled with these stones. They have a full day to find a stone that does for them what mine just did for me. Most will not find such a stone, and they are put out of the Hall. The ones that do only ever find one such stone, no other will react to them. I have never seen a statue made of Jeg'galla'gamp'pi's essence, and thought it impossible. I have also never seen the essence react so strongly to an individual. What you just saw from me is the way it normally goes, and mine glows brighter than most. She is right, the statue is meant for her."

He looked down at Triss. "So here is my new bargain. I shall take you,Triss, and the statue to the Hall. You shall be enrolled as a student. I shall grant your family passage, home, and food in the Ancestral Land." He turned towards Joss. "I shall do the same with your family, for I cannot separate a soulfriend so true, and you shall have your chance to find your stone."

The scene winked out, and the small gathering of kids, parents, Josie, and Jennifer all were surrounded by illusionary darkness.

"So, that is how Triss and Joss came to leave Jeg'galla'gamp'pi and begin their rise from obscurity to the two most powerful beings our universe had ever seen," Jennifer said. An image of Joss appeared holding a glowing stone, surrounded by piles of stones. "Joss found his stone, and both he and Triss were admitted as students of the Hall of the Teachers, and they went on to have many great adventures, spanning what we would consider centuries."

The scene shifted again, and they were now surrounded with many floating lights, an older and much larger version of Triss stood among the lights, and the statue seemed to be melting into her.

"After many long years, and many great deeds, Triss found her way to the ethereal realm, a place that few in any universe ever get to see," Jennifer explained. "There are many realms that make up any universe, like layers on a cake, and we are unaware of most of them. We live in the physical, and when we dream, we get to see the dream realm, every realm has its own rules, yet all of them make up reality. The ethereal realm is reserved for a select few. To reach that realm, you must be invited in by the realm or by someone within it. Only a few have been invited in by that ethereal realm. To be invited in by the realm itself is a sign that the universe has deemed you worthy of greater power and tie you to greater aspects."

Images of others appeared and disappeared around Triss– Celestia, Cadence, and Twilight Sparkle.

"However, there are others who have come to that realm," Jennifer continued. "There was one who was invited in, yet rejected the invitation."

An image of Wild Growth appeared and faded away.

"And there are others that were granted access to by those who had already reached the realm."

An image of Luna appeared and faded away.

"And Joss was among this group."

An image of an adult Joss joined the image of Triss, and stayed until the scene changed.

"Triss went on to do great things, to become the head of the Hall of the Teachers," Jennifer continued, as the image shifted to the dragon standing clothed in exquisite robes, standing on a dias, surrounded by students.

"Yet…like the story we know about Celestia, she cast a long shadow over the one that she brought up to share in her ascension."

The scene shifted, and standing far behind Triss, in shadow, was the huddled form of Joss.

"And like in Luna, bitterness grew in Joss. For the world saw him, and despite his own greatness, they knew he had not achieved the same level of worthiness as that which had caused Triss to be invited into the ethereal realm."

The image faded into darkness again.

"There are those who are given great power, and abuse it," Jennifer intoned. An image of a skeletal winged pony, holding a wooden bowl of fruit, appeared. It was unlikely any of these kids knew the face of Sha'am Maut, but at least one in her audience did, because Josie visibly shuddered. Jennifer herself felt a pang of fear. Even though it was an illusion of her making, and even though she had never directly met the Warden of Death, the feeling that the corrupt Dreamwarden would still reach out to harm her was still there. So total was the fear that Sha'am elicited from those who she had threatened.

"There are those who it was questionable that they should be given great power when they were, but eventually, after many tribulations, grew to show they were worthy."

Relief flooded Jennifer as she made the image of Sha'am Maut disappear and replaced it with the image of Luna.

"There are those who have been granted great power who have not yet shown the world if they are worthy of it or not."

The image of Luna was replaced by one of Flurry Heart, before fading away. Jennifer briefly considered adding images of others, but decided against it. Best not to overdo it.

"Joss was a different sort," she informed the group as she brought back his image. "Joss knew he was unworthy, and with each passing year, he grew more unhappy." An image of Triss appeared beside him, speaking silently. "Triss tried to encourage her soulfriend and lift his spirits. She did not realize the mistake she had made in granting him the power of ascension. Her encouragement helped not at all, and Joss tried to determine how he could make himself worthy of his power for the endless ages were passing, and he was growing more joyless with each year."

The scene shifted back to the star that Jeg'galla'gamp'pi circled.

"Joss attempted to search the mysterious planet of his birth for answers, but Jeg'galla'gamp'pi holds its secrets close, and he learned no more about it in centuries of study than he had know when he was a mere drake. So he turned his attention elsewhere."

The scene zoomed towards the star. Running along the star's surface was a streak of blue light.

"On that long lost star that the planet circled, a miracle had come to be, life that could live on the surface of a star," Jennifer said as the scene followed the streaking blue light. "Perhaps it was a side effect of its proximity to Jeg'galla'gamp'pi that had brought it about, for this creature was a being of pure magic, and in ages long passed, it had claimed a title that was passed down from creature to creature as long as magical beings did dream…Dreamwarden. It had no name of its own, for it was a solitary creature on its star, and it only watched the dreams of others from afar, nurturing them, and combating things that would attack the minds in their sleep."

Joss appeared, flying across the surface of the star, unharmed by the extreme heat, and following the blue light.

"Dreamwarden! I will speak to you!" Joss called out to the light.

The light came to an abrupt stop, and turned towards Joss. "Joss of the Hall, I have long expected your arrival."

Joss came to a stop and kept his gaze fixed on the light. "Then you know why I have come."

The light flickered and spoke in a voice that sounded mainly like chimes. "You wish to have my mantle, and take my place as Dreamwarden as I once did with my predecessor. You think this will make you worthy by adding even more power to yourself than you already have. I warn you, offspring of Junk Peddlers, more power does not make one more worthy of it. You will not find the end of your melancholy this way."

"I shall see this for myself. I will do anything to lift this weight of sorrow from my bones," Joss insisted. "Will you deny me what I seek?"

The light flickered again, more faintly. "I have grown tired, very tired, and you are the first to seek me out and find me. If you wish my mantle, you may have it, and let me drift into the eternal dream, forever reliving the lives of all that have lived for all eternity. However, this mantle may be heavier for you than for me, for one such as yourself is deathless, and the eternal dream may not be available to you. This is not the boon you seek, but a new curse."

"Nothing could make my current curse any worse," Joss growled.

"May you be right and I wrong, for your sake," the Dreamwarden said in a sad voice. "Before I pass my mantle, we must first speak of Oaths that shall bind you when Dreamwarden, for the power of the Dreamwarden can be abused, and I shall not leave the minds I have so long cared for at the mercy of a mad god. I shall not allow you to harm them in your despair."

The illusion faded away, returning the audience to their tree filled surroundings.

"So Joss became Dreamwarden," Jennifer said breathlessly. "I apologize, kids, I must rest again. We shall continue again soon. This tale is not yet over. I warn you, this is a tragedy, and it does not have a happy ending."