Dreamwalker's Tale: An Anthology

Tonight was a special evening. I was inclined to say: an occasion like this only came around once every blue moon, but luckily, these opportunities were not that rare either. Still, they did not happen as often as I liked. And while I got nervous quite easily and rather fast, this was an exceptional case in that regard as well.

I felt sick to my stomach.

It was not just a few butterflies making their way around in there, oh no. It was an entire swarm, flying every which way, bumping into walls and each other, flapping their fragile little wings in a panic.

The only thing that made it better, more bearable — and considerably so — was the fact that I was not alone in my suffering. Twilight stood in the dining hall, right before the fancy crystal dinner table. I walked up to her side and lightly brushed my tail over her cutie mark. She seemed deep in thought, her gears grinding and rattling, as per usual. But my touch pulled her back and a fond smile rose on her muzzle. She sighed quietly and leaned against me. It was a prime opportunity to nuzzle her and I most certainly did not let it slip past me unused.

Seeing her fret helped me do it less myself. Because now she needed me. She needed me to help her, to counterbalance her overbearing mind. “Checklist?” I quietly asked.

“Yes please!” she almost begged in reply.

I chuckled and nodded. “Go on then.”

Twilight closed her eyes. I wanted to do the same so badly. Her scent lingered in my nostrils, the beautiful, enticing, irresistible bouquet of ink and paper, of boundless knowledge, encapsulated in ancient tomes. The faint scent of that lavender shampoo Rarity had given her a few days ago. I wanted to sigh deeply and just lie down with her. Right here on the crystal floor of the dining hall, if I had to. But! She needed me. So I kept my focus straight.

“In batches of three,” she announced for efficiency's sake. “Table, chairs, tablecloth.”

My gaze trailed across the massive crystal dining table. Not for the first time. A set of five chairs stood ready, one at the head of the table for Spike, four immediately adjacent to it. They had comfy sitting pillows and everything. Sunny and I would sit next to Spike on either side, with Twilight and Luna on the outer ‘ends’ next to us. The tablecloth was immaculate. A pale yellow, not unlike a modest dress Rarity had made for Twilight once upon a time. “Check, check and on fire.”

“What?!” Her eyes snapped open and she stared at the table in abject horror. Only to notice that the tablecloth was, in fact, not on fire. She groaned, sighed deeply and shot me a disgruntled glare. “Dream, please, that’s not funny…!” she complained.

I leaned over and kissed her cheek as an apology. “Funny? No. But you were so caught up in your thoughts that I deemed it safer to cut straight through. We may continue without any more pranks, I promise.”

She watched me for a moment, then sighed and accepted my reasoning with another quieter sigh. She closed her eyes again and focused on her mental checklist once more. “Plates, cutlery, candles.”

By this point, I had no idea how many sets of tableware we had. I knew that for some unfathomable reason, some were considered ‘fancy’ and others were not. And I could never distinguish the two. Therefore, the fact that five plates were present at all was already sufficient for me. And they had all the required utensils right beside them. Plus a candleholder with three unlit, plain white candles. “Check, check and check.”

Twilight nodded, clearly appreciative of my current professionalism. “Salad as garnish, carrot soup as starter, vegetable casserole as main course.”

I thought about what we had done in the last hour or so. I could still hear the occasional clutter and mutter from the kitchen where Spike was busy with the last steps. “Vegetables for the salad are washed, peeled, cut and mixed. Spike was working on salad dressing and should be done by now. Carrot soup was done half an hour ago and is waiting on the stove. Casserole was done right before we came out here and should be in the oven right now. So check, check and check.”

Twilight considered potential downfalls in our current setup, options to ‘fix’ risks and missteps. She nodded. “Glasses, drinks and napkins.”

I looked over the table once more. Luna loved herself some dark, hot coffee, especially so early in her day after waking up. Therefore, despite it being evening for the rest of us, a steaming pot was waiting for her. Sunny meanwhile was an avid aficionado of tea culture, but while she appreciated my efforts whenever I made tea, we all knew that my tea was dreadful. Luckily, Twilight had learned a lot from her — and about her. Therefore, a second steaming pot stood at the ready.

Which left the other two carafes. One was filled with plain water for me and if anypony else wanted a palate cleanser. I assumed water would do just fine for that. The other one was filled with cider for Spike and anypony else who wished for something with a little kick.

And finally, Spike had outdone himself by somehow folding the plain napkins into a swan. “Check, check and swan.”

Twilight stumbled only briefly before she giggled quietly. “They are amazing, are they not?”

She still had her eyes closed, but I assumed she had no difficulties picturing them in perfect detail anyway. It was just how her mind operated. “They are,” I agreed. “He really outdid himself. Again. I wonder how he picks this stuff up so quickly.”

“Well, he is still a very young dragon, despite almost surpassing you in size, and in early mental development, dragons especially have—“ She cut herself off when I nibbled on her neck. A soft shudder ran through her body and made me grin from ear to ear. “That has to be the most pleasant way to stop me from rambling,” she murmured with another sigh.

“I thought so too. Funny how that works, right?” I nuzzled her again and even though she sighed wistfully, she knew that we were not finished yet. So we continued down her checklist, mark after mark, until we were sure that we were ready.

As ready as we could be, anyway.

A minute later, we heard a dull knock from the hallway. We exchanged glances and while she remained behind to help Spike out with first steps of cleaning up the kitchen, I already trotted over to the castle door. I stopped in front of it, took a deep breath and—

—choked on air when Twilight suddenly teleported beside me. She arrived in her usual flash of raspberry light, with a faint pop and the smell of ozone lingering in the air. I put a hoof over my chest and tried to calm down my raging heart.

“Sorry,” she mumbled with a faint blush.

We both straightened our posture, plastered expressions of determination on our faces and opened the doors. And said expressions immediately melted away as we beheld our guests. Celestia and Luna stood tall and proud, but I couldn't help but stare. It was so rare to see them out in the open, in public, without their regalia. It made them seem naked, which sent an entirely different signal down my spine. And they looked just… magnificent. Nothing out of the ordinary, in theory. Their coats were brushed, their manes wafted in ethereal winds and yet. And yet.

I knew I was not the only one struck speechless, because I could not hear Twilight utter any greetings either. The spell was only broken after Luna put one and one together, started to grin like a cat on the prowl and teased us with a low: “Cat got your tongues?”

I was pretty sure we both blushed a little. “Welcome home,” Twilight said.

It was such a simple greeting. But really, it was beautiful. It said so much more than I could have said with a thousand words. Home. They were at home here. They were always welcome. They were family. We were family.

Twilight and I stepped out of the way to let them in and we managed to close the doors before hugs and nuzzles were exchanged. And maybe, just maybe, I clung to Sunny a little longer. Because she was always calm, and she radiated that calmness outwards like an aura. And even though this was nothing like a first date or anything like that, I still felt like I could use some of that calmness.

We led them to the dining hall, flanking them like guards escorting guests of the palace. And we already started babbling about this and that. Small talk. How their days had been. If Luna's dreamscape travel had been a calm one. If Day Court went smoothly or if Twilight had to ruffle a few feathers again. How Ponyville was doing. And as soon as we arrived in the dining hall, we naturally included Spike in our conversations.

I had been so incredibly nervous. But it took less than two minutes after their arrival and this felt like the best time of my life. As if nothing could go wrong. Because even if something did, we would laugh and deal with it. Simple as that.

And that feeling was so incredible to me. So precious. I cherished every moment to the best of my abilities.

We all sat down, excluding Spike, who went back to the kitchen to retrieve the salad and the carrot soup. He always took massive pride in his abilities as a chef and we never tired of praising him for it. First and foremost because his food was simply divine, as Rarity agreed on every possible occasion. So he put on a bit of an air of professionalism as he carried the bowl and the pot out and announced them with fancy names. He did just a good job that I could not even tell if those truly were the names of the recipes, or if he made those names up on the spot.

Twilight could have easily taken over at this point. It would have been faster, too. She could simply grab the ladle in her telekinesis and distribute equal amounts of soup to every bowl on every plate without spilling a single drop. She could repeat the same with the salad. But she did neither, because again: Spike loved these moments, when we sat there, eagerly awaiting our food with hungry eyes, and watched him do his thing. So he grabbed one bowl at a time, filled it up, gave it back, and so on. Until we were all sorted.

We filled our glasses with our drinks of choice and raised them to the air, four magic auras and one claw coming together. “To us,” Sunny started.

“To a lovely evening,” Luna offered.

“To awesome food!” Spike said. When everypony giggled, he shrugged and grinned wider. “What? I’ve been making that stuff for two hours now and it smells delicious, I’m starving!”

“It does smell delicious,” Twilight agreed. She quickly thought of a toast of her own. “To friendship.”

“How original,” Luna teased with a smirk and giggled when Twilight stuck out her tongue.

I looked at them. At each one in turn. It felt like my heart was swelling with every moment. Swelling with such deep gratitude that no words could do it justice. Gratitude, yes. And happiness. Sheer joy. “To family,” I toasted.

“Hear, hear,” Sunny replied quietly and sent a warm smile in my direction.

The glasses clinked together, and the dinner started.

Spike leaned back in his chair and tenderly caressed his belly. “Oof. Worth it.”

“You don’t have a bellyache already, do you?” Twilight asked in mild worry.

He grinned and shook his head. “Nah. But I might get one later on.” He fell silent for a brief moment, mulled something over and then suddenly snickered. “I’m a sausage!”

He made it sound like a profound and earth-shattering revelation. And we all just stared at him in mild bemusement. “Meaning?” Twilight dared to ask. We all knew that he was working up to the payoff of a joke.

“I’m stuffed!” he replied and laughed. I chuckled alongside him, Luna snickered, Sunny at least smiled and Twilight gave a quiet groan and eyeroll, even though she smiled as well.

“Well, if you are a sausage, then I am a pie.” She looked around the table and Luna already snickered again.

“What does that mean?” Spike asked quizzically.

“I am also stuffed, but I am sweeter!” she triumphantly exclaimed and giggled. Sunny chimed in and due to the good-natured basis of all our jokes and ribbing, Spike laughed unbridled.

“I can be sweet!” he still insisted after a moment.

I saw an opportunity to jump to my buddy’s aid and cut in. “No one doubts that you can be. You’re usually just too cool of a sausage to be sweet. Doesn’t mix well, does it?”

Spike seemed more than satisfied with that perspective. However, I noticed quite fast how Luna smirked. And it was that very specific smirk that already told me something was up. “That sounds naughty,” she stated with a wicked grin. “Now I want to be a food item as well!” At that point, she expectantly looked at everyone else and I understood her machinations. A little dinner table game, all in good fun. Well, I was up for that if the others were.

Sunny studied her sister briefly before she offered her suggestion. “A cookie maybe? Because you are so very sweet and little?”

And just as Sunny had hoped for, Luna pouted. In the most adorable way she could, of course. “You are a three-layer cake then?” she shot back.

Sunny gasped in fake-indignation and even put a hoof to her very comfy looking chest. “Excuse me?!” It did not get any better when Twilight failed to properly muffle her giggling. Sunnys head snapped around and she focused her death glare on Twilight, who immediately started to blush in embarrassment.

And a couple of seconds later, the whole table erupted into amused laughter.

Love. I loved these evenings. Loved spending time with them, each one of them. Loved this silly banter. Loved being silly with them at all. For just a brief moment, I closed my eyes and listened to their voices, to their laughter. It felt… wholesome.

And I also became aware of an opportunity I might have here. “Okay, okay, let’s settle this, then,” I started and quickly caught the attention of everyone at the table. I turned my attention to Sunny. She waited patiently, with a warm smile on her lips. It was not fair, really. She knew me too well. She already knew that I was building up to a compliment, not a joke. “Sunny, you are comfort food. You make it seem effortless when you just go about your day and make everypony’s day a smidge better. Just that tiny bit brighter and warmer and easier. You calm down frayed nerves, you give confidence, you offer shelter. You make everyone feel better, about themselves and everything else.”

She graciously accepted the compliment by tipping her head ever so slightly. So I turned to Luna, who straightened her posture and awaited my judgment with bated breath. I looked at her, saw her expectant gaze and cocked an eyebrow. “Luna, you’re spicy food. And honestly, I don’t think I need to explain why.”

Of course she would not let me get away with that so easily. “Oh, please, do go on!” she urged me with a sly smile. “That I want to hear. No, need to hear.”

The urge to sigh was there, but I chuckled instead and shook my head slightly. She was just impossible. “Fine,” I relented. “You are exotic. No matter how many times one has the opportunity to experience your company, it never gets stale or boring, it doesn’t even get predictable most of the time. There’s always something going on with you, you’re never quite the same, you always have some tricks or random ideas up your sleeve and, well…” While I could feel the heat creep into my cheeks, I was decently sure that no blush was visible. Yet. “You’re smoking hot. Get it? Like spicy food.”

Twilight was about to cut in, probably to state that spiciness and heat had no intrinsic relation as cold food could still be spicy and bland food could still be hot. But on one hoof: I already knew that my analogy was not perfect. And on the other hoof: Not the point, peanut!

Luckily a cobalt blue ring of magic formed around her muzzle and kept it shut. I nodded towards Luna in silent gratitude and she, well, she giggled merrily with a faint blush in her cheeks. She seemed so happy with my words. Almost as if she was about to purr in sheer satisfaction. Not that the others at the table did not already know why I nicknamed her my kitten anyway. But it would have been an amusing demonstration.

Before I could turn my head, Twilight already drew the obvious conclusion and spoke up first. “And what am I? Still a pie?”

I looked at her. Really looked at her. We had been living together for over six and a half years now. Through thick and thin. More than half a decade and I could still look at her and feel excitement bubble up in my throat. And warmth in my heart and belly. She was Twilight. It was such a silly sentiment with meaning only for me. Nopony else could ever hope to understand the deeper meaning, the layers upon layers of statements buried within those simple three words.

She was Twilight.

“You’re bread,” I said with a wry smile. Because I could already tell what she would think of that.

Her ears splayed back against her skull. “Aw. What? Why?” She looked to Sunny, as if searching for an explanation, or maybe an ally to support her. She looked to Luna as well, hoping for someone to defend her. “I’m not that bland!” she ultimately defended herself. Sunny and Luna smiled warmly. They already understood. Why was it almost impossible to surprise them? Ever?

Because thousands and thousands of years of experience? Probably dozens, if not hundreds of lovers?

Ah. Right. That.

I did not let it dampen my mood, though. I smiled and pressed on regardless. “No. No, you’re not bland,” I reassured Twilight. I was so glad that she sat right beside me. It allowed me to put my hoof over hers. “You’re versatile, peanut. You are compatible with almost everything. You are a necessity, a solid base for each and every day. You are needed for survival. You are part of the minimum requirement. The base of everything else. Bread is just another thing we take for granted in our everyday lives, but if you really think about it, it’s an essential, an unsung hero of our cuisines.”

Twilight averted her gaze. Strike one. A noticeable tint rose to her cheeks and colored even the bridge of her muzzle and the tips of her ears. Strike two. And for several long seconds, she was speechless. Even after half a minute, she had failed to articulate any response to that. Strike three! Victory!

I grinned from ear to ear. I was happy that I had managed to compliment her well. I looked at the others. Spike snickered behind his claw, Sunny subtly nodded in approval and Luna…

Luna licked her lips.

Oh boy. Here we go again.

“With a description like that,” she started with yet another sly smirk, “I think I could go for a slice right now… or maybe gobble up the entire loaf, starting from the backside. Nibbling my way through the warm crust and into the soft interior…”

I noticed how her horn lit up. It was a faint aura. Whatever she was doing was subtle. It affected only a tiny area, employed only a miniscule amount of force. That made it considerably harder to see where her magic currently was deployed, but I had a sneaking suspicion. Especially considering Twilight's blush did not recede at all, but seemed to only intensify as more seconds trickled by. Her breathing quickened a little, she still held her gaze firmly focused on the empty plate in front of her and sitting right next to her, I could see her press her rear legs together and rub them against each other.

Just thinking about what Luna might be doing with Twilight right now, right here at the table, right next to me, it was thrilling. It made me inhale deeply in an attempt to stave off my own impulses and rising desires. And I was probably better off doing that now, before the air would fill with the scent of her arousal.

I looked at Luna, but my lovely kitten was completely enthralled watching Twilight squirm and concentrated on manipulating her magic. So I swerved a little to the left and Sunny’s and my gaze met. I was more than surprised to see an ember glow in her eyes as well. “And what food would you like to go for, love?” she asked in a superficially innocent tone of voice. “A dessert, maybe?”

I knew my love well enough to recognize some of her tricks. She was just toying around with me, to see if she could get me riled up, if she could get under my skin. And the sad part was: She could. Always. She had such an easy time doing it. She probably made it into a sport in her head, to see just how quickly she could coax the desired reaction out of me.

I leaned on the table, put my hooves together and leaned my chin on the newly formed bridge. “You know what the greatest thing about food is?” I asked, but I did not wait for a response and instead gave it myself. “You can mix and match as much as you desire.” I blew her a kiss for emphasis.

At that point, Spike cut in with hesitance. “Uh… are we still talking about food, or…?”

I quickly looked to the side to see Twilight trying very hard to focus. Her lips moved in silent counting. And if she was at the stage where she needed to focus on counting, then Luna was really trying to get her. So, turning my attention back to Spike, I chuckled. “Don’t worry, we’re not going to have an orgy in the middle of the dining room. Most of us are not that depraved,” I said and pointedly looked towards Luna with that last sentence.

Luna, shameless as ever, smirked confidently and raised an eyebrow. The magic on her horn grew a tiny bit stronger. “Most of us?” she asked.

I stared at her. She stared right back. It was almost like a dare, a test of courage. I was not a dominant personality, but Luna, hoo boy, she was. Staring into her eyes like that, it felt like I was sitting right in front of a manticore. A quick move, any move, and she would just pounce. And Luna enjoyed these little battles whenever they happened. “Yes, kitten,” I answered without taking my eyes off of her, “most of us. But don’t worry, it’s not a bad thing. I’m really into your… spiciness. And I’m sure others appreciate it just as much. Right, Twilight?” With that, a deal was made. The manticore agreed to spare me, and I hoof-delivered a suitable replacement on a silver platter.

“Uh… guys?” Spike spoke up again, but before he could say more, Twilight suddenly gasped like a drowning pony breaking through the water’s surface.

“I-I f-forgot the, uhm, stove!” she quickly stuttered. She barely managed to keep her wings from springing open and within a fraction of a second, her horn lit up and with a bright raspberry flash, she was gone.

Left behind was only a damp spot on her sitting pillow, of course.

The attention of everyone else expectantly turned to Luna, who grinned sheepishly for a second. She might have overdone it just a tiny bit this time, but she was still far from apologizing for anything. “It was such a lovely dinner, Spike! Thank you! I will just… go and help her… with her stove.” She grinned almost wickedly and her horn lit up properly before she vanished as well.

“They are totally doing it right now, aren’t they?” Spike asked with a grimace. There were certain things he did not want to know about his surrogate mother, sister, and whatever else Twilight was to him.

The issue was — he had asked and I answered before thinking about if I should answer. “Oh, absolutely,” I replied with a chuckle, before I realized and my laughter became a tad more awkward. “Sorry.”

He shrugged it off quickly and instead stared at the two of us who remained at the table with him. And I could almost see the gears turning in his head. How we had shamelessly flirted as well earlier. “You two want to vanish as well?” he asked with a sigh.

There was only a brief, silent communication between Sunny and me before she answered. “Do not worry, Spike. We will not leave you alone here. We will have a nice evening, just as we planned. We can and will join them and enjoy our evening hours later on, I think, when those two young fools have spent all their valuable energy already and they leave themselves open and utterly defenseless against our well-coordinated onslaught.” A devious grin rose to prominence as Sunny held her head high, proud and regal. “A pincer maneuver is what I propose, and they shall weep tears of joy as we subjugate them to the fullest extent, not just a plain perfect victory, but a crushing defeat.”

And she laughed. It was a raspy, wicked sound. Something one might expect as the high point in a monologue from Queen Chrysalis or King Sombra, but most assuredly not from Sunny. Both Spike and I stared at her in surprise and awe.

When she fell silent again, she looked to both of us, searching for responses. “So? How was it?”

I snapped out of it first and chuckled. “Worthy of a true drama queen. Rarity would be proud to act with you. Heck, she could probably still learn a lot from you.” My chuckle dimmed down to a warm, fond smile. “Sweet heavens, I love you so much.”

“Aw. I love you too,” she replied and blew me a kiss.

Sunny smiled happily and then turned her attention to Spike. He shook himself free — quite literally — and then uttered a very Spike-like first reaction. “Woah.” He shook his head once more and stared at Sunny. “I always forget that you can be really scary if you want to! That was so cool!”

Sunny giggled and bowed to her appreciative audience as much as the table would allow while we applauded. Once the commotion died down again, she looked at the table and set her sights on stacking the empty plates and bowls. “So, let us sort out this table and then settle down by the fireplace where it should be more comfortable. After all, I was recently told that I am comfort food,” she explained and shot me a wry smile. “Thus I shall acquiesce my destiny.”

I stood up, grabbed a couple of stacked towers and we made our way towards the kitchen, side by side. Spike overtook us with the large and empty salad bowl and seeing as he was out of sight and earshot, I pulled Sunny down with a tendril of magic and kissed her fiercely. The warmth of her lips, the brief, ecstatic dance of our tongues, the taste of cider from her last glass — my heart skipped a few beats and a pleasant flutter re-established itself in my stomach.

“Later,” I foretold, hoping that a fraction of the passion I felt made it into my word.

“Is that a promise?” she replied with a filly-ish giggle.

I could feel my grin grow into sharklike proportions. “If you want to. Otherwise, it’s a threat. You can’t stop me.”

It would be a nice evening, I was sure of that. We would talk a lot more, we would probably flirt a lot more too. I hoped that we could keep it a lot subtler, as I really did not want to alienate Spike. I wanted this to be an evening for all of us. The entire family. Well, the closest circle, anyway. Maybe a board game would help. We all loved those.

But eventually, we would go upstairs. And I was looking forward to that. And to every moment before it.

I loved evenings like this.