Kind Hands

Luna waited around the space where the door to Eva’s mind had previously stood. She had sensed the turmoil in the young girl’s mind yet had decided against involving herself. In her mind, one human better understands another, so she likely felt that her input was unnecessary if I had indeed intervened in the girl’s troubles.

Her theory was proven half-correct as I suddenly emerged from a corresponding void a short distance away from her. I carried the still-shaking Eva as I approached the princess, sitting down with the child just as I’d done with her within her dream, content on waiting for her to recover.

Eva shifted her body slightly and flung her arms around my neck, pulling herself further up my torso. I was expecting her to be docile for a while and was thus unprepared for this change in position. Resultingly, I lost my balance, landing quite painfully on my back. The distraught child, face soaked with tears, stayed with me as I collapsed, flopping lifelessly back onto my chest once we hit the ground.

“I’m sorry…” the little girl softly spoke to herself as she lay there, her voice barely audible. She was clearly still reeling from the collapse of her dream and seemed burdened with the after-effects of the trance-like state that had previously overtaken her.

In an attempt to soothe her mind, I interrupted her forlorn mumbling with another kiss on her forehead- although I questioned the appropriateness of this action immediately after I committed to it. The night may’ve gotten to me, but, looking back, I don’t think that was an excuse for such an emotional escalation.

“I don’t blame you for doing what you did- you have nothing to be sorry for,” I reassured Eva. Looking down at the little one, I could see tears once again force their way through her closed eyes. This time, however, the wetness on her face was thankfully accompanied by a fragile smile. “You did a good job today, after everything that happened.”

I felt her stretch her limbs, willing the strength back to her muscles. Despite doing so, she still refused to leave her place on my chest, so I continued with my reassurance. “We’ll stay here for as long as we need-”

“-I’m scared,” Eva interjected, voice barely above a whisper. “I want to go home.” Her voice cracked as she spoke, proving to be as shaky as her body had been. I expected this conversation to occur at some point, so I sat myself up and prepared to explain the situation to the little one.

“I’m trying to get us home, sweetheart. That’s why I’ve gone-”

“-No!”

She interrupted me again with a screech of desperation. Using both of her arms, she pushed against me as she spoke, causing her to fall backwards and onto the floor. She recovered from her fall well, springing up onto her feet quickly. I did the same.

“Stay here,” she solemnly stated. She gave a single point to the floor, desperately emphasising her request. Her apparent desire to stay in this location was confusing, and I wondered why she would be so against leaving this place.

“But I thought you wanted to go home.”

Eva made an effort to look me in the eyes before she spoke again. It was difficult to match her gaze; her eyes painted a picture of fear and frustration that she could never hope to portray through speech alone. “I want you to stay. With me.”

I didn’t know what to say. The place that we stood felt as temporary as anything, and we were separated in reality. On both grounds, I would’ve been a liar if I’d committed to anything other than silence. I know what Eva wanted to hear, but I was aware that giving in to my emotions would be irresponsible.

As a result of this, I looked over to Luna in the hope that she would finally contribute to the conversation. Luckily, the mare stepped forward, having decided that the situation finally required her input. “I am sure that your guardian is desperate to see you again, young one,” Luna explained to the child, catching her off-guard. “But there is one final task that he must complete.”

Eva wanted to protest against Luna’s explanation- and I was surprised that she did not do so- but the mare was always good at leaving children speechless.

“Besides, do you not think that your sister wishes to see him too?”

The mention of her sister’s name gave Eva a sudden burst of energy. She ran towards Luna, hoping that the princess would elaborate. “Evie’s here too?” she asked, bobbing up and down in anticipation of seeing her sister. In an instant, she had forgotten about her distress, instead displaying behaviour that was a far-cry from the fearful form that she had possessed moments earlier.

Luna kept herself composed, upholding her image in spite of her audience’s evident excitement. “She is currently in her own dream- just as you have been for much of the night.”

“I wanna see!”

“Go ahead, my sobbing friend,” Luna answered, summoning the door to Eve’s dream. “But do make sure to bring a grown-up,” she added quickly, having the nerve to wink at me, as if I was enjoying the idea of uncovering further mental trauma.

“Do I get a say in this?” I asked dejectedly. I didn’t know who to look to for support; neither option seemed likely to spare me.

“Nope!” Eva shouted in response, grabbing me by the arm and hauling me over towards the door. I reluctantly agreed to being dragged along; saying that I abandoned the hope of a peaceful night implied that I had that hope to begin with. Therefore, faced with no other choice than to proceed, I mentally prepared myself for another traumatic experience.

Before I opened the door, I took notice of the image on its surface. It showed the same white flower that was on Eva’s door; the only difference was that many of the petals had been removed, laying in a heap on the lower-right side of the picture. That wasn’t exactly a great image to start with.

“Make sure to hold my hand really tightly, okay?”

You couldn’t believe how delighted I was when I felt my feet touch the ground again. I was similarly delighted to see that Eva had held onto my hand as she stood beside me in silence, slight trembles showcasing either excitement or fear- likely a mixture of both. I was confused by the girl’s desire to come here after what she had already experienced in her own dream; perhaps her longing to see her sister outweighed any hesitation that her mind may’ve held.

It appeared that both of the girls had school on their minds as I stepped forward onto the coarse surface of a familiar playground. The worn tarmac beneath my feet reminded me of not only the time that I’d spent as a teacher, but as a student in my own time. It hadn’t really changed.

I broke out into a sprint, tearing through the playground with Eva holding on for dear life. It just felt so real: the fresh air, the background noise- everything. It likely wasn’t, and I even doubted that the elevated heartrate that I felt was coming from my physical body. After rounding a corner, however, I suddenly stopped as I caught sight of the reason that I was here in the first place.

In direct contrast to Eva’s dream, Eve found herself as the centre of attention. This would usually be fairly unexceptional- had she not been in the centre of a negative situation. It looked to be some form of confrontation, if the girl’s erratic movements and raised voice were good indications.

The sight of Eve certainly animated Eva; it was her turn to drag me along as she bounded towards her sister, showing little care towards the flustered state that the raven-haired girl looked to be in.

It was only when she got close enough to see the emotion on her sister’s face that Eva stopped in her tracks- and it was easy to see why. Whilst struggling for breath, I was able to catch occasional glimpses at Eve’s face as she moved in a circle in tandem with an older boy that I didn’t recognise.

I thought that I would’ve encountered Eve in a similar state to her sister, but this was evidently not the case. Unlike the comatose state of her sibling before her, Eve’s eyes were focused and projected a clear display of emotion to the person who confronted her. Her body movements were decisive and clearly thought out, suggesting a greater level of consciousness and control than Eva had had within her dream. I’d never seen her like this.

The girl’s anger was clear, although I couldn’t, for the life of me, figure out who her target of scorn was. The child across from her was a young boy, likely a few years older than her due to his increased height. He had the same glazed eyes as all the other people in these dreams seemed to possess, which made Eve’s focused eyes stand out even more. He lacked the fluidity of movement that Eve possessed, instead replicating the staggered movement of the people in the dream from earlier.

I found it difficult to discern the facial features of the boy because they appeared to change every time that I blinked; the colour of the boy’s eyes, the marks on his face and even the colour of his hair all changed slightly with no visible rhythm to their changes. The boy didn’t even seem like much of a threat, seemingly moving around not due to free will but because he was programmed to do so.

Either way, Eve looked as if she was ready to burst with rage- and it was clear who the likely recipient of her outburst would be. Thinking of the correct actions to take, I looked down at Eva, whose hand was still in mine. It appeared that the one at my side was also at a loss, as she did nothing other than stare forward at the confrontation, similarly rooted to the spot.

The two of us were soon to bear witness to the consequence of our joint indecision as Eve lunged at the boy. It was a mystery as to whether the girl was aware of anyone else in her dream, but it didn’t matter anymore. It was clear what she was focused on.

Being barely old enough to be able to balance on one foot correctly, Eve was unable to put much power or technique behind her attack, but the sight was still difficult to stomach. She viciously swung disjointed punches, slaps and kicks at the boy who made no attempt to defend himself.

In her rage, she used her smaller frame to her advantage, punching up at the boy’s neck as he continued to soak up a barrage of punishment. She would alternate between punches and kicks with an unexpected level of fluency, dull thuds silencing all other sounds as she began to strike at any place that she could reach.

With an audible crack, the boy suddenly collapsed and huddled on the floor in a state of submission for the rest of the assault, as Eve made loud and forceful kicks to the boy’s stomach. The sound of deep thuds re-emerged as the raven-haired girl all-but screamed from exertion as she continued to lay waste to the boy’s torso.

Mortified, I looked on as the girl’s face never changed expression. There was nothing behind those eyes; there was no hint of any care as to the pain that she was inflicting. Her glare was absolute, and she kept it fixed on the boy that she continued to assault.

“That’s enough.”

Despite how sickening it felt to watch as one of my little ones lay waste to a defenceless target, I knew that standing around accomplished nothing. As a result, I approached the girl from behind and mumbled some form of rebuke. Too preoccupied in causing damage to her target, Eve was caught off-guard as she became ensnared, violently struggling like a fly in a web.

I lifted her into the air and away from the boy, who continued to lie in the same position that he had been brought down to earlier. Angered, Eve continued to move her arms and legs, trying her best to wriggle out of my grasp.

“Let me go!”

Through all the struggling, I did my best to keep Eve at arm’s reach, hoping that an intervention from an adult would be enough to calm her down.

“Eve! Stop this!”

“Let me go!”

With this second warning, Eve’s flailing arms finally connected with my face. I’d been warned by her earlier wriggling, but I didn’t think that she’d go that far. I felt something trickle down my right cheek, and, sure enough, an experimental wipe along my skin indeed indicated that the sight of impact had begun to bleed.

I barely felt the pain- it was a small burn at most- but this was something that I couldn’t allow myself to tolerate. Using the slight pain as my incentive, I wrenched Eve around and forced her to look me in the eyes.

“Eve!”

At the second time of asking, the girl’s eternal anger softened as she realised whose eyes she looked into. The hatred that threatened to spill from her eyes evaporated under my intense glare, leaving behind an ever-growing sense of dismay that drained the colour from her face. Much like her sister before her, her body lost all of its strength as she awaited her punishment. I practically growled as I glared down at her lifeless body as she trembled with fear.

“What the hell was that?!”

I suddenly dropped the assailant and used my now-free arms to angrily point at the boy’s body, which still lay on the floor a short distance from us. Eve recovered from her fall and tried to compose herself, although she failed spectacularly as she faced the consequence of her actions. “He hit me…” she attempted to say. I could barely hear her as she was clearly struggling. But that didn’t matter anymore. I never wanted to see anything like this again.

“And that makes it all okay, does it?!” I shouted in the girl’s face, causing her to noticeably flinch. She lost the ability to look at me at all, focusing on the ground in case she received further ire.

“He hit me first…”

She shook in place as she looked to be fighting the urge to cry, feeling her anger begin to build up again. This wasn’t enough to dissuade me, so I continued to pile on the pressure.

“Look at what you’ve done to h-”

“-He hit me first!”

Having reached her own limit, Eve raised her head and screamed back at me, tears flying from her face. The volume in her voice took much of the wind out of my sails, but my face never changed. I’m sure that she was expecting some form of reaction- maybe some retribution that she was accustomed to- but instead I stood firm and waited for her to act again.

And her collapse came quickly. Despite her outburst towards me seconds earlier, she rushed into me and leaned against my torso. What happened next is about what you’d expect: a harsh, barking cry filled the air as the girl’s repressed emotions let loose.

“One day, we’ll go a day without tears…”

I was forced to hold her up once her knees gave out, ironically putting her in the exact same position that she’d been in when I lost my temper. And I had allowed my anger to get the better of me. With as little as thirty-seconds’ worth of hindsight, I could tell that I’d allowed the night’s events to cloud my judgement when dealing with the poor soul. I’d done too much. In terms of escalation, I’d fulfilled both ends of the spectrum tonight.

Either way, Eve continued to sniffle, struggling to keep a consistent rhythm to her breathing as her cries continued, albeit with less intensity as time went on. I stroked the back of her head as I looked down at her, only for Eva to wordlessly fill my vision.

In her own unorthodox way, Eva fell into her sister, sniffing and stroking at the girl’s jet-black hair, breathing deeply to take the scent into her nostrils. Reduced to a passenger in this interaction, I questioned the effectiveness of such a way of comforting someone, wondering if it would actually do anything other than damage Eve’s spine.

There must have been some form of routine to this interaction, however, as Eve slowly raised herself from my torso and shook Eva from her back. No sooner had she done so did she repay the favour by throwing herself at her sister, who wearily braced for impact.

Eva failed to fully support this change in position and instead fell onto her back with her sister laying on top of her. Now at the mercy of the one above her, she settled herself in for an overblown attempt at an apology as Eve showered her hostage with apologies and small kisses all over her face.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”

Her apology was just as erratic and scattershot as her fighting, although I was happy to see a positive outcome from this exchange. Eva continued to stay silent, preferring to keep her eyes closed as her sister increased the speed at which she peppered the prone girl’s face.

Eva’s lack of protests suggested that she was fine with tolerating the attention that she was receiving, so I had little concerns about it- although I still had concerns for the boy. I glanced over to where the boy should’ve laid, but he seemed to have completely disappeared. Had I not been in a dream, I would’ve had some concern, but I hoped that the boy’s disappearance was Eve’s mind releasing him- if only for the night.

“Out of sight; out of mind…”

As I anticlimactically discarded my concerns, Eve lay on her sister with little regard to the discomfort that she may have been causing. Indeed, Eva looked as if she wanted to say something but was unable to find the correct way to say it. She caught my eye, and put on her pleading face, eyes begging me to interfere.

“That’s enough, you,” I remarked to Eve as I gently lifted the girl from her thankful little sister. “Give her a bit of breathing room.” I plopped Eve back onto her feet, but I learned that the little one had unfinished business with me as I felt her smack into me again. She smiled and rubbed her face into my shirt, seemingly having her heart set on burrowing through the material.

“You really are just like your sister, you know,” I softly remarked as I stroked the girl’s hair. As if she had been summoned, Eva soon appeared and resumed the position that she’d taken up before in a comforting case of déjà vu. This third and final embrace seemed to bring the little ones some comfort, but only one thought was racing through my mind.

“I’m never doing this again.”

I wasn’t sure how long had passed before I felt Eve push away from me- but I definitely felt it. With a great heave, the raven-haired girl ignored the comfort of either side of her human sandwich by removing herself from the embrace. “I’m sorry, Mr. Bayard,” Eve murmured solemnly, doing her best attempt at mimicking her sister’s sorrowful eyes. “I won’t do it again.”

Eve’s latter comment was largely meaningless, and, if anything, the act that she was referring to made me imagine another broken child on the tarmac. It was the only thing that I could imagine; I lacked the energy to think of anything new anymore.

“I suppose I can’t be too harsh if this only takes place inside your dreams,” I answered the little one. My response was poor and dismissive, but, even though I was supposed to be asleep, I could barely remember being so tired. I went on autopilot as I tried my best to re-establish my position as a teacher by uttering some generic phrases. “We’ll definitely need to talk about this, though, when I get back.”

“I said I was sorry!” Eve beseeched, looking more agitated. I wasn’t in the mood for another episode, so I squatted down to meet the frantic child at eye-level.

“You’re not in trouble,” I explained, offering my right hand for Eve to lean her cheek into. This seemed to do the trick as she accepted the offer with closed eyes and a contented smile. “Although maybe you should be. I want to talk about what you said,” I continued as I looked at where the boy’s body used to lay.

“What?” Eve asked, confused. She opened her eyes and followed my gaze, failing to understand the context.

“About the boy who hit you.”

Eve flinched and lowered her head. Her discomfort was clear, but I carried on:

“I’d like to know who he is.”

She continued to look down, refusing to answer; it was obvious that she had concerns with sharing this information.

“Not right now, though- not when you’re dreaming.”

I didn’t see any need to pursue the topic- certainly not in a place like this. However, rather than calm Eve down, this comment only seemed to give her more energy. “I’m dreaming?” she asked. She looked around the area that she found herself in, confused with this new revelation. I was similarly confused: how could someone be so dense?

“Can’t you tell?”

“No- that’s why I asked.”

“Cheeky.”

In response to Eve’s apparent cheek, I delivered a strong poke to the centre of the girl’s chest, knocking her back slightly. The raven-haired girl returned for more- only to meet the same fate. Not wishing to be left out, Eva decided to join in, creating two separate angles of attack that I needed to hold off.

“Stop that!”

Understanding that she had no chance of winning, Eve playfully slapped my wandering hand away from her. I was happy to see that she’d regained some of her energy, but I couldn’t help but feel saddened at the slight discolouring on her face: the place where several tears had flowed and left their mark. “So…you’re saying that we’re in a dream?” the little one asked after wiping her face.

“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” I answered, unsure of why Eve was asking me again. The little one soon answered this thought as she placed a finger on both sides of her head and scrunched her face in concentration, closing her eyes and grunting with exertion. “…Do you need the toilet?” I asked, with Eva giggling behind me.

“I’m trying to dream up a pony,” Eve explained as she relaxed her body. Angry at both the condescending comment and the lack of ponies, she removed her hands from her head and folded her arms in frustration.

“We have ponies at home.”

“Not those ponies!” Eve argued, pointing in a random direction. “Like, a real pony.”

“I think they’re very real.”

I’m sure Luna would’ve launched a full-scale invasion of this dream if she heard such blasphemous comments. I wondered if the princess would be against devouring children…

“No, but, like…like…like…”

Eve threw her arms around as she struggled to think of the correct words to say. “…I don’t get it,” Eva suddenly commented, unhelpfully contributing to the conversation. She threw me a confused look, and I threw it straight back.

“I don’t either, sweetheart. Your sister’s just being weird.”

Eve paid no notice to my constructive criticism as she ran to get her sister involved. Dragging her by the arm, she brought Eva into an open space that she deemed suitable for pony-spawning.

“Eva, you try!”

“But…I don’t know how!”

“You just…try it!”

“That’s very helpful,” I interjected. I ignored Eve sticking her tongue out in response and continued. “Look, it’s not gonna work. We don’t live in a cartoon.” Summoning ponies wasn’t a part of the nightly agenda, but Eve had moved onto bigger things, alluding to the endless intrigue of a child’s mind.

“So, if I’m dreaming…”

“I thought we got past this…”

“…Are you two real?”

I slammed both of my hands into my face; I should’ve been asleep. It was in this moment of anguish, however, that Eva decided to take up the mantle.

“Mm hmm- we are. Mr. Bayard rescued me in my dream!”

“Ooh, what happened in your dream, Eva?” Eve excitedly inquired, turning to her sister in expectation. “What was it like?”

“…”

I never said that Eva was good at holding a conversation. Unwilling to answer further questions, she shrunk away and hid behind me. Therefore, the burden was mine to bear again, and I thought about the best way to phrase my answer.

“It was…disturbing. In more ways than one.”

“Why?”

“…I’ll tell you when I get back.”

“That’s not fair! I didn’t get to see Eva’s dream…”

As much as I usually enjoyed the girls’ company, I was reaching the end of my rope with how many times I was being forced to explain things that didn’t make sense. “Uh, I think it’s time to wake up soon,” I remarked, more out of hope than expectation. I could only hope that I was correct and that I would soon be ejected from this sorry place.

“But I’m not awake yet!”

“I’m sure Eva can tell you all about it when you wake up. Sorry, Eva.”

It may be hard to believe, but I felt a certain sense of cowardness when pawning my troubles onto a four-year-old girl, but Eva rewarded my gutlessness with a thumbs-up and a smile, as if she also realised that Eve would be relentless with her questions regardless of who was there to answer them.

That thumbs-up seemingly signalled the end of this mental episode as my eyes were invaded by a piercing, white light. I assumed the girls had felt the same as I heard two little groans of discomfort from the overwhelming sensation. Despite the pain, delight was the only emotion that I could feel. Thank God that was over.

The light eventually dimmed to reveal the familiar spot. For the third time that night, I picked myself up off the ground to find Luna waiting for me in the dreamscape. “I trust that you have enjoyed yourselves tonight,” the princess declared, her neutral expression giving little away.

“I have many four-letter words to say to you,” I grumbled in reply.

“Oh, do lighten up,” Luna remarked with a wave of a forehoof. “I was merely giving you a neutral space to say goodbye to your foals before I send you away.”

“Send him away?” Eva asked, poking her head out from my left.

“Where’s he going?” Eve asked, poking her head out from my right, completing the cover of my flanks.

“Back to his own dream, of course! He needs to rest- just like the two of you.”

Luna’s argument made sense- and the girls likely believed it too, but separation- justified or not- was still met with a sullen attitude. The sisters must have known that the night would need to come to an end, yet they were still unwilling to accept that fact when the time came.

“Don’t get in another state, you two,” I interjected, secretly pleased that our time together was nearly up. “If everything goes well, I’ll be back by the end of tomorrow.” I of course made no mention of the fact that I was locked in a garden shed, but… details, details.

“Do you promise?” Eva asked, looking up at me with sorrowful eyes that had much less effect than they had at the beginning of the night. At a time like this, they had lost most of their persuasive power and did little more than cause me to sigh.

“Yes, I promise.”

A promise often seemed to be satisfactory for the two girls, always seeming to earn a smile. So, with Eva’s immediate concerns dealt with, I turned my attention to the other sister.

“So…I’ll see you tomorrow, you.”

I squatted down as I spoke, expecting to receive a hug from the girl as I said goodbye. Sadly, my expectations were shattered as Eve decided to take the initiative and place a kiss on the tip of my nose. It was a horrendous sensation- one that caused my heart to thud in fear for my livelihood.

Distraught, I fell backwards and placed a hand over the affected area as if I’d just been shot, terrified of the implications of this action. Fantasy world or not- dream or not- a kiss of any description would get me kicked out of my university at best. I couldn’t allow anyone to know about this.

“I kissed Mr. Bayard! Eva, I kissed Mr. Bayard!”

Eve showed no such concern as she grabbed her sister for the umpteenth time and pulled her towards my still-crouched and still-shocked form. “You kiss him too”.

Absolutely not. This was quickly getting out of hand, and I knew that I needed to stop this before it got any worse. I stood back up and looked down at the two children with a nervous expression. “No, no, no. No one needs to kiss me,” I maintained, shaking my hands in front of my face as I backpedalled. Even phrasing it in that way felt somewhat predatory, so I took a moment to point at the perpetrator. “And you shouldn’t’ve.”

Still ignorant to the possible consequences of her actions, Eve placed her hands behind her back and swayed back and forth with a giggle. Nothing was going to change her mind at that particular moment, and I understood that, so I turned to Eva instead to say my goodbyes.

“Take care of your sister, Eva,” I said with a hug, thankful that Eva showed no interest in repeating her sister’s actions.

“I thought I was meant to take care of her!” Eve cried.

“Yeah, but you’re a mess.”

I spoke with expectation that Eve would lash out with an unnecessary comment, but it appeared that she was also beginning to feel the effects of the night as she rubbed her eyes in a laboured manner, again making me question whether any of us would receive a good night’s sleep after this.

“Come here, you,” I softly called out as I reached over to drag Eve into the embrace. For what felt like the first time that night, there was a clear sense of tranquillity in the air; there were no more fights; no more repressed emotions; no more tears. In this restless slumber, the three of us were able to huddle together and enjoy the fruits of our collective labour.

Luna must’ve almost felt regretful as she understood that this happy ending was the perfect time to separate us, sending the girls back to their respective dreams. With a melancholy sigh, she charged up a spell and waited for her cue. Silently, the girls faded away from my side until the only companion that occupied the space around me was the mare who had initially brought me here.

“You really do have a connection with those foals, you know.”

I looked up from my position on the floor as I came to terms with my new-found peace. I needed it, but the lack of arms wrapped around me was a reminder of how large and empty the space around me was. Luna had begun to walk away from me and, upon noticing this, I stood up and followed her through the nothingness. “Well, I try,” I remarked, unsure of how to respond to such a comment. “I mean, no one else is going to do it, are they?”

“We both know that there is nopony more capable,” Luna responded, looking at me with a genuine smile. The warmth that radiated from it was difficult for me to ignore, and I found myself unable to reply.

“For the few days that those two girls have been in Equestria, I have visited their dreams,” Luna continued, re-summoning the doors to the sisters’ minds. In my unprofessional opinion, they looked very similar to when I’d first seen them, though the flower on Eve’s door appeared to be in slightly better wear. An allegory, I’m sure.

“I’m gonna have to come back and deal with that, aren’t I?” I asked, pointing at the dishevelled flower. Much of its petals were still removed, though some appeared to have begun to reattach themselves. They may have even grown anew.

“Perhaps,” Luna began as she cast a spell to remove the doors once more. “Although maybe your actions in the daytime will be enough to keep their night terrors at bay- then I will do the rest.”

“I guess you’ve got quite a thankless task ahead of you.”

“I always have done- and likely will continue to do so long after the three of you have passed.”

Luna’s candid approach to death caused me to wonder how acquainted she was with the idea. It also gave me other things to think about.

“Do you think that we’ll die in this place? That we won’t make it back after all?”

I needed something from the princess at that moment. I needed some form of closure; if she thought I had no chance making it home, then I needed to know now. I looked towards Luna, hoping to see some form of warmth or an emotional reaction. Instead, I saw a calm, composed mare who looked upon me with an all-knowing expression.

“I am sure that you will receive the ending that you desire. With that said, this land does have a way of keeping hold of those who wander into it.”

“What do you mean?” I continued to question. I knew full-well what she meant- I just hated the way she said it.

“I mean that you may wish to stay after all- and we would of course facilitate that,” was her answer. It was blunt and lacking in compassion, sounding fairly forced and routine for the princess. As such, I lacked a response of my own. “They almost always dream about you,” she continued, calmly breaking the silence that had descended upon us.

“As a teacher?”

“As a teacher, as a carer… you were even a firepony once! That was a fun one!” she laughed. I relaxed slightly as the mare injected more emotion into our conversation. “Indeed, even when their eyes are closed, you rarely leave their sight.”

Luna closed the distance between us before she spoke again. “You matter too much to them for you to lose sight of your objective. You must do this for them,” she demanded of me. The extent of the princess’ emotional investment was difficult to keep track of, as Luna’s change in tone expressed a level of concern that made me uncomfortable.

“I get that. Christ, if I was awake, I’d be doing it right now.”

Luna chose to stay silent in response to this answer, and so, as our conversation began to dwindle again, she seemed happy to send me back to wherever I came from.

“Any final questions before I send you back?”

“Just one,” I answered, looking off into the unending void. “Is this fulfilling to you?”

“Whatever do you mean?”

“All this. Only seeing your subjects as they rest- never actually in the flesh- like I said, it just seems a bit thankless.”

“…”

Met with silence, I shifted myself around to face the princess, who appeared to be deep in thought.

“It is… not what I always wanted, no. But I have come to appreciate the intimacy of the night. The night gives the mind a period of time in which it may unravel, once the body has relinquished its control. I suppose dreaming is the way in which my subjects show appreciation for the night, just as their frolicking in the sun vindicates my sister and her management of the day.”

As Luna spoke, I felt no need to contribute. I sat back and simply listened to someone who clearly had much to say. Only once I was absolutely sure that the princess’ monologue had come to a close, I said the only phrase that came to mind.

“You have a nice night, Luna, yeah?”

Luna continued to pay little attention to me. “I expect to see you in one piece, tomorrow evening,” she announced in response, charging a spell in her horn. “We shall celebrate your arrival. Perhaps.”

“I look forward to it. I bet you’re an animal when it comes to champagne.”

Luna had no reply to that. Instead, she released the spell that bound me to this place, sending me back to my physical body. I closed my eyes as I yielded to the pale light, feeling my body and mind reconnect. I could never forget the reforging…

Faint wisps slowly emanated from the space in which David had stood before his submission to the space around him. In that space, alone once again, Luna considered the events of her conversation with this new creature before returning to her nightly duties. The words he said, the tone he chose- everything he stood for; it all painted a clear picture.

“I really wish that you would not be so condescending.”