Forever Shall There be Dreams
Author's Note
This is an odd one that does not make a whole lot of sense. Enjoy.
Forever Shall There be Dreams
It was night when she met him, a stallion whose future remains bleak and uncertain, laying amongst the swaying emerald grass. She witnesses the young stallion stir from his slumber, rubbing his head and eyes as he slowly awakes, addled and confused. He pointed his muzzle in the air, taking in its sweet and cool redolence.
His golden eyes wander to view the stars, witnessing a faint everglow of white shining endlessly across the effulgent darkness. He knew not his location, as expected, and amazed did he become when she appeared before his eyes.
The mare did not tell him her name or what she was, only that she could help him get back to where he belonged. The muddled stallion certainly had a lot of questions, but the mare told him to stow his concerns and to follow her. For now, the confused stallion accepts her aid.
Following her lead, the stallion journeys down to a crystalline ocean where frost-covered flakes fell; they were never beyond his reach.
"Where am I?" the stallion asked her as frosty flakes landed gently on his muzzle, making him shudder at their freezing touch. "Am I dreaming? Funny... I didn't go to sleep."
"In a way," she told him, her voice seeming to echo amongst the breeze. "This is a world for those who are and were able to dream."
The stallion's faint nods gave very little understanding and the mare didn't blame him. Only she was proficient in this field. She watched him silently as the stallion stares out into the distant blue horizon and feels at peace with himself.
"Come," she bade solemnly, "there is somewhere we must be."
Heeding her call without protest, the stallion is guided to a forest where a moss-covered path; flowers and trees welcome his company. There he finds a forest where dreams, these little white balls of light the mare had told him, are caught and stored by the Fae, fairies that serve as the denizens of this realm.
Odd little creatures, bearing tiny sparkling wings, fluttering about without so as a nod to the stallion, yet he saw them dip their heads to the mare to show respect before going back to their duties. She must be a frequent visitor here to garner such respect.
"Why am I here?" he asked her, a confused look on his face. The mare saw him struggle to remember what happened before but to no avail.
"Something happened that caused you to come here," she answered him vaguely. "You strive to remember, but the memory eludes you. Worry not, there is still a chance for you."
The stallion didn't understand. "What happened to me? I've never been here before."
The mare eyed him coldly, but not out of annoyance or anger. There was a seriousness in them and a determination to see whatever happened to the stallion through.
"You had an accident," the mare told him as she trotted onward, the stallion stumbling after her. "One that can be rectified."
Curious, the stallion asked, "What accident? Nothing serious, I hope."
The mare could sense the tension and worry beginning to form within him. "A dream may end before it is realized," she said obliquely, casting a glance over her shoulder at the anxious stallion. "If we make haste, then you may be able to recover what you have lost; of what binds you to the other realm. You may not understand now, but you will soon."
Trekking in silence, the two ponies go beyond the ancient forest, and through a cave. The stallion then finds himself basking in a lonely valley of graves; a place that lingered with sadness and woe.
"The Dreamvale is for those who died or are dying before their dreams become reality," the mare told him, lowering her voice to a whisper as if to not disturb any lingering presence. "This nearly serves as a graveyard for ponies, those like you, who had a dream not fully realized."
The stallion stood rigid with fear and shock, his ears twitching. "A...graveyard?" he gulped, shaking. "I...I don't understand. Am I dead?"
The mare ignored his mounting worries and silenced him with a flick of her tail over his mouth. She turned her eyes on him and willed the stallion to listen.
"You are fortuitous to have temporarily staved off your fate, yet it is not secured. Listen," she urged. "Can you hear it? The faint humming of something seldom wanders the gloomy vale. An unfinished dream, of yours, that is restless. Reclaim it." The mare leans close to him until their muzzles nearly touch. "It's down there between the hills. Hurry. You must reclaim what you have lost, or you will never escape this unfortunate fate."
The mare gestured solemnly with her tail toward the tenebrous vale. Between the hills where the dark grass sways silently as the winds of the forlorn litter the Dreamvale, something has been spotted by its lonesome. It hovers across the crisp soil and skates; adrift without purpose. Nothing but a ball of dark light, purple and small; almost paltry in appearance; fading.
The mare trots slowly around the stallion and pointed to the unfettered dream. "Approach the unguided mythic and allow it to return to your being. Be sure to listen to the dream. Don't be afraid," she cooed to the stallion, "it won't hurt you. I promise. If you can reclaim it, you may return from where you came."
The stallion gazed down at the aimless little ball of light. "But how did I get here?"
The mare shook her head. "Interact with it and you will learn about the accident," she told him briskly.
The stallion nodded, though he still looked unsure. He makes a bound over to the dream, which was alerted to its owner's presence and hovered in place; the humming silent. There was no sound, the wind died, and the grass stopped swaying. Everything darkened around the dream and its owner.
"I know you," the dream uttered quietly. The dream was soft-spoken, but its tone was scattered; fractured as if it was interrupted abruptly. "I remember your face. Do you remember what happened?"
The dream desired its owner to recollect. The stallion tried his best, but all he could see in his mind was mist, a white, murky mist.
"I know it's hard to remember after what happened, but if you think hard about it, you'll remember," the dream said, insisting that the stallion remembers. "It was cold; winter had come."
As the dream told the stallion, images within his mind began to form. He was on the sidewalk, heading home after a long day at work. Alone, he had his head drooped down and eyes glued to the pavement, wearing black headphones on that covered his ears. He listened to music that calmed his heart, and then he started thinking.
"That's when you thought of me again, remember?" the dream asked, hoping to jog the stallion's memory. "It was also foggy, hard to see anything, but you didn't care. You were in your little world."
The stallion thought about a dream he had. It was about a colt wielding a sword and gun who wore flight gear and branded goggles upon his forehead. He was jolly, full of life, and sook adventure. The sword and gun were from his mentors, captains of the sky.
The dream started to jiggle in front of the stallion's face as if excited and sought to remind him more. "You started to smile again when you thought about me," the dream stated. "You were excited, and I wished it didn't end so quickly. The last time you smiled before the accident."
While cantering down the sidewalk and thinking about his dream, the stallion saw something zooming down the road just after he began to cross the street.
"It wasn't your fault," the dream assured the stallion. "A stroke of bad luck is all it was. It was going too fast for you to step away, and that's when it happened, the accident that sent you here."
As it snowed, a large, runaway carriage skidded down the road nearly overtaken by ice, and when the stallion went to cross the street, the large vehicle could not stop. It slid and crashed to the ground and took him with a heavy smash. The stallion's body skated and tumbled in the street as streaks of blood came from him, bathing the street.
"You were hit by an unmanned carriage and blacked out from colliding with it," the dream explained sorrowfully. "However, there was still hope for you."
The stallion lay on the street near death for an indefinite amount of time. Everything seemed to slow to a crawl and as heartbeats began to sound faint, a team of saviors rushed to him and carried him to a hospital but not before his vision blurred and darken, falling unconscious.
"They are trying to keep you alive as we speak, but it won't last long if you don't wake up," the dream fearfully said. "I wanted you to remember me, about the dream you had before the accident. I wanted you to not forget it because it made you smile."
The stallion cradled the small dream into his hooves as he pulled it towards his chest slowly with a gentle grip. "It isn't too late," he said quietly. "I do not know if I can wake up, but I want to share this dream with others and create it for all to enjoy."
The small dream shined warmly. "That's your job after all; you make people happy. All you have to do is awake."
The stallion turned to the mare who hung back a few hoofsteps away. "What's going to happen to me?"
"If you press the dream over your chest, it'll flow back to you and you'll return to the waking world," she explained.
"What about my real body?"
"If you continue to linger here, your real body will die and you'll stay here forever," she warned him, using her tail to sweep across bent tassels of grass.
"I see... And who are you?"
"An ally," she answered. "Part of my toil is to delve into the dreams of others and banish their nightmares and instill pleasant dreams. Helping those lucky enough to be brought from the brink by guiding them also pertains to my profession. When you reawaken, I will be in the hospital room with you and several other ponies."
"What's your name?"
"Luna," she answered.
"Luna," he echoed. "Thanks for helping me. I'm not ready to rest just yet."
Luna dipped her head in farewell. "I will see you when you awake. Farewell."
Luna stared silently as the stallion pressed his little bundle of light against himself. A warm glow washed over him before he fades away.
Alone in the gloomy vale, Luna hangs her head close to the earth and closes her eyes. "Welcome back, young one."
