To Dream in Red

Some time passes. Luna’s visits become irregular, and she never stays for long. Poppy seems fine with this. He is always glad to see her when she comes by, and he sometimes tells her about Jade Brook, although he still speaks little of his family or home.

Luna knew that by knowing Jade Brook’s name, she could track down the troubled colt in the waking world if she wanted to, but chose not to. Regardless of how insistent she was, Poppy Blanch always assured her that he was fine at home. Unhappy, clearly, but fine. It was not her place to intrude on that against his wishes, and so Luna begrudgingly respected his wishes.

As months turned to years, Luna grew more comfortable with the new world around her. She learned to better trust her own friends, and slowly repaired her relationship with her sister. Eventually, she even learned to forgive herself for her stint as Nightmare Moon, and all the heartache that came with it. It was strange to dream without the Tantabus, but it was refreshing. Like a weight had been lifted from her soul.

When she thought about how horrible her own dreams had been for so long, she couldn’t help but cast her mind towards Poppy Blanch.

She felt guilty, not visiting him in so long. She had good reasons, of course. She had been more busy than ever in the past few weeks, preparing for the coronation of Twilight Sparkle, and dealing with various national threats before even that. Pulling double shifts between the waking castle and the dreamscape left Luna far too exhausted to make courtesy visits.

The only thing that gave her comfort was the fact that the last they had spoken, he was doing well. His friendship with Jade Brook was strong, and as far as she could tell, he slept as peacefully as ever in his far-off secluded spot in the dream lands. She never needed to quell nightmares in his dreams, which reminded her of a joke he told when they first met years ago. “The nightmares are too scared of my dreams to come for me,” he said. It seemed that even years later, there was truth in that.

Without really thinking about it, Luna had flown back out to his strange red door once again. She was surprised to find that the dark, barren earth that grew around the door was now grassy and soft. Various flowers were even growing. Amongst the bright and flowing nebula of magic that made up the rest of the dream world, it was a peculiar sight for sure, but it was far more pleasing to the eye than the dry earth that was once there before.

Pushing open the red door, Luna found herself stepping out into a completely unfamiliar place. Instead of the mountains of bone and viscera, Luna found that the door instead opened up into a fairly normal looking town. Unlike someplace like Ponyville, there were no thatched wooden cottages in sight. Instead, the town’s buildings were constructed from more modern brick and mortar; a detail that Luna took note of in case she needed to find Poppy’s home in the waking world.

As she walked through the town, she noticed that the ponies who passed her by seemed to have no faces. They moved somewhat stiffly, but still turned to look at her as she passed with their vacant faces. For most ponies, such a setting would be prime breeding grounds for a nightmare, but she knew all too well that Poppy Blanch was no common pony.

She followed her senses to the heart of the dream, knowing that he would be at the center of it all. The gentle, familiar pull brought her to a small home, and she stepped across the threshold of the front door. Just inside, Luna found Poppy Blanch playing chess with a green filly who she presumed to be Jade Brook. Thankfully, the filly had her face intact.

Luna smiled at the sight of him. He seemed far healthier than when she had last seen him, with more weight on his lanky frame. His coat was shinier, and even his crimson eyes seemed to glisten with some more life to them. The skeletal, sickly-looking colt she once knew seemed a lifetime away now.

Poppy looked up at Luna with wide eyes. “Princess! What are you doing here?” His voice no longer sounded coarse, and he spoke not with distress but merely surprise.

“Checking up on you, Poppy Blanch,” replied the alicorn with a cautious tone. “I’m pleased to see that you’re no longer dreaming of… red.”

The colt blinked twice at the Princess, before nodding with a smile. “Not lately, no. Things are much nicer around here, aren’t they?” He nodded his head toward the filly, who hadn’t moved since Luna arrived. “This is Jade Brook. Or at least, it’s the version of her I dream about. She’s much nicer in person.”

Luna cast a passing glance at the approximation in front of her, before returning her gaze to the colt. “You look healthier. Taller.”

Poppy Blanch looked himself over, before nodding again. “I guess I do. Things are better in real life. I’m living with Jade Brook now.” He blushed, quickly adding, “She’s my fillyfriend now too.”

The Princess was surprised by that, and it showed clearly in her expression. “You live with her, you say? What happened to your parents?”

Poppy turned his eyes to the ground solemnly. “They’re gone now… T-there was a fire.” Just as quickly though, his expression lit back up again. “Brook’s family took me in, though! They’re really nice!”

Luna cocked her head curiously at the young colt. He didn’t seem very bothered at all about the loss of his parents, and the way that he so quickly changed the subject was another red flag for her. She wanted nothing more than to believe that it was just an accident, and that he was merely coping with it well. That’s what she wanted to believe.

“I’m studying to become an apothecary,” said Poppy, snapping Luna out of her thoughts. “I want to be able to help ponies with my special talent.” He sounded earnest, but with everything else Luna had seen during this dream, it only seemed more uncanny.

“I’m happy to hear that, Poppy Blanch. I think you’d make a fine medicine pony.” Her words felt uncertain now, and the colt seemed to notice that.

Almost whispering, he asked “Do you trust me, Princess? Do you still believe I’m a good pony?”

Luna opened her mouth to answer, but found the words failing to form. The hesitation spoke volumes, but she still managed to speak the words anyway. “I do.”

He didn’t respond to that. Quietly, he studied her expression for a moment, until he gave a small, reassuring smile.

After several more excruciating seconds of silence, Luna turned towards the door. “I’m glad you’re doing well, Poppy Blanch. I’m afraid I must take my leave now, there is much to do in Canterlot these days, and my free time is sparse. I will try to find time to see you again, however.”

The colt gave a small wave, not bothering to get up from his spot on the floor. “Alright, Princess Luna. It’s always nice to see you. Come by anytime.”

She left, closing the door behind her without another word. She looked up and down the street, still feeling uncomfortable with the faceless ponies that meandered about aimlessly. Luna had a heavy feeling in her gut, and she chose to investigate further.

She made her way towards the alley beside the house, where she found the dumpsters. It all seemed a little too detailed for just a background prop in a dream. As she approached, a familiarly sickening scent wafted to her nostrils, and made her gag slightly. It was an odour she had almost forgotten, but not quite.

Opening the dumpster, she found that it was full to the brim with eviscerated gore that resembled equine anatomy. Shredded skin, broken bones, and festering organs of a dozen ponies lay in a mouldering heap, just barely out of sight from the light of the sun.

Just as she had suspected, nothing had changed about Poppy Blanch’s dreams of cruelty besides his methodology. He carefully hid his antics now, instead of leaving them on display as he once did. To Luna, that was far more concerning than if the streets were simply splattered with gore as they once were. After all, why would he hide it in the comfort of his own dreams?

As she took to the skies and headed for the exit, Luna began to question if Poppy Blanch was as innocent as he claimed to be. She made a mental note to assign a guard to inconspicuously survey the colt until she had the time to investigate further herself.