Once per Day

I rhythmically tented my fingers as I reclined on my throne and cast a withering glare upon my guests. None of the five men dared look me in the eye and remained in the kneeling posture they'd adopted since arriving. However, one of them dared glance up at the trio of silk-clad elven women I had lounging around my throne.

For this with a flick of my wrist, he was immediately flash-fried. His peers recoiled in terror as one of my elves laughed.

"Excellent shot, my lord," she cooed. I turned to her with a snort.

"Thank you-" I paused as just beyond her was a blue, winged unicorn with crazy, ethereal hair and a puzzled look on its face as it looked me up and down. I shook my head and gestured at it. "Whose horse is this?" It recoiled with a feminine gasp.

"Horse!" She, I was pretty sure, snorted. "The nerve!" I recoiled with a frown but then blinked and looked around. I realized all at once that my throne room was completely featureless and fringed with a white, blurry haze.

"Oh," I groaned, as memories started rumbling to the forefront of my mind and causing the room to warble like jelly. "Man. Can't even be free from you fucks in my dreams."

"Rude," she spat. I leered at her with a raised eyebrow and she rolled her eyes, seemingly guessing my thoughts. "I'm quite real, you crass buffoon. I am Luna, Princess of the Night and guardian of the dreamscape." Her wings snapped out and the entire throneroom washed away from her, leaving us in a hazy void. She fixed me with a sharp glare.

"And I would have words with you." I tilted my head and scanned the void, making a full turn before coming back to her.

"This is a dream, right?" I asked, fixing her with an expectant look. "My dream?" She nodded with a firm grunt. I nodded back and pressed my fingers to my temples, focusing on what my dream had just looked like. I clenched my teeth and strained. She knit her eyebrows and turned her head slightly.

"What are you doing?"

"This is -hn- my dream, so I -hrrrn- maintain the right to keep it how I want!" I replied, still with my fingers pressed to my temples and straining. She rolled her eyes with a sigh and lit up her horn. A cool feeling washed over my brain and the dreamscape shifted to match my mental image. We were back in my throne room with myself back on the throne.

And her changed into the shape of a female elf. She blinked and looked over herself with a bewildered face as I folded my arms.

"Alright, much better," I chortled and nodded at her. "Go on with your words." She fixed me with an incredulous leer before rolling her eyes.

"Very well. I have come unbidden on behalf of my sister, who you were interrogated by earlier this evening, to inspect your unconscious mind," she explained with a hand on her hip. She waved her free hand and a weird, floaty feeling washed over me. I reeled and exhaled hard, holding my head as the room spun around me. "Fear not. I am simply ensuring you do not fall into any nightmares while we speak." I huffed and shook my head.

"Yeah, okay. You nail me with that a few more times and we'll talk as much as you want," I said with a subdued and merry chuckle causing her to perk up.

"You are willing to speak? Excellent. My chief question is simple," she approached the side of my throne and leaned on it before fixing me with a curious leer. "Why are you so reluctant to relinquish your pact-born arcana even if it means remaining imprisoned?"

"Oh, this again?" I grumbled and huffed before propping my elbow on my throne's arm and resting my head in my hand. "Look, I don't expect either of you to really get it, but I've lived a pretty average life if I'm being charitable." I pinched the fabric of the dreamed-up robes I was wearing and traced my fingers along it, enjoying the feel of it.

"It's just kind of frustrating to go from nobody and utterly mundane and boring to actually having something fantastic in every sense of the word and," I grimaced and hummed. "Getting told you have to give it up." She pursed her lips and brought her hand to her chin for a moment.

"At least in Equestria, a creature such as yourself is hardly mundane or boring," she offered, leaning down to look me in the eye. "And given time I'm certain you would rise to become far from a, as you say, 'nobody.'"

"You're certain, huh? Congrats, but I don't have that kind of hope," I snorted with a smirk. "I might be an oddity in your place, but once people get to know me, they'll-" My smile vanished as I caught myself. I screwed up my face as I searched for the best way to word what I was thinking. After a period of silence, she tilted her head and I snapped my fingers.

This was a dream, after all. And I could shape it how I wanted.

"Here, hold on," I said, rising from my seat. I clenched my eyes and dug deep into my memories. It didn't take long to find what I was looking for and when I opened my eyes again, I laughed. "Awesome, it worked." I sat back down, though now my seat was a comparatively plain if comfy common fold-out chair, attached to a long row of identical seats. I patted the one next to me and gestured to Luna who scanned the dimly lit hall we were now in.

"What is this place? A theater?" She asked before sitting and focusing on the curtained stage at the end of the hall. Slowly, the rest of the seats were filled with shadowy and poorly defined human shapes.

"Yeah, watch," I replied pointing at the stage just as the curtain drew back. "Used to see this guy when I was a kid." She sat with her hands folded on her lap, observing as the stage was suddenly filled with smoke that slowly settled to the ground. Suddenly, a pillar of smoke spun up at the very center of the stage and was swept aside like a sheet, revealing a tuxedo-clad man with a red cape in its place.

"Welcome again, my friends!" He began in his boisterous, booming voice, as he did every show. He rolled his hand through the air and to the right before thrusting his open hand up. As he did, bright sparks leaped from his fingers and coiled into the air before vanishing. Then, just as the room went dark again, several bursts of multi-colored light exploded from the points the sparks had vanished in without making a single sound.

Until a few seconds later, when the entire theater rumbled with a series of booms and pops followed by applause.
"Very flashy," she appraised, shielding her eyes from the lights.

"Yeah, I think that's why my eyes are so bad," I replied before laughing. "Worth it though."

"And who is this fellow to you?" She asked as he fell into his normal routine, first by pacing the stage and explaining the dangers of electrical discharges to the human heart.

"Rudolph the Undying. Best stage magician I ever saw," I explained as he hopped off the stage and grabbed one of the electrical cables that were always conveniently exposed before sinking his teeth into it. The lights flickered and there was a droning buzz as he made a show of being electrocuted. I frowned and shrugged. "Of course, ironically he died of lung cancer like eight years ago, but you know." He threw the cable down and thrust his arms upward, spewing smoke from between his smiling teeth as he did so. We watched the highlights of his show that had been burned into my memory for a few minutes before I realized I had conjured this up to make a point. I'd simply gotten caught up in the show like I had when I was younger.

But that didn't matter too much, since he reached the end of his act. He crumpled the knife he'd just pulled from his throat up like paper and tossed it away before turning to address the audience.

"Well, I'm afraid I must leave you again. Remember my friends! Do good and strive to be remembered!" He roared, thrusting his arms to either side. "Remembered at least once a day!" He swept his right arm down with a bow and in the same motion, his cape fell to the ground and he was gone. The audience of shadows began to applaud, but Luna hummed and turned to me.

"Those words must have stuck with you," she declared. I blinked and looked up at her since I'd unintentionally been leaning on my knees with my head held by my hands.

"Huh?"

"Their clarity in your memory speaks to their impact," she explained, fixing me with an even stare. I frowned with a shrug.

"Oh. Well, I dunno about that, but listen," I leaned back and gestured at the stage. "Rudolph up there definitely did leave an impact on me, and not just my eyes. He was charismatic, fun, flashy, confident, all that stuff." I frowned and sighed.

"When people know me for me, that's," I hesitated. "Just not what they see." The theater began to melt away, leaving us sitting on two chairs in a hazy void again.

"I can fake most of that stuff, but I can't keep the act up forever," I added before sitting forward. "Magic though? Even if it's just once a day, that sticks. That keeps people thinking. Keeps people coming back and talking about me."

"Helps them remember you?" She offered, now leaning on the arm of her chair with her head braced against her hand. I furrowed my brow and shrugged.

"Sure?" I replied before waving my hand. "That aside, you can't look at someone who does stuff like Rudolph, or even what I've managed in the past week or so and say they're 'nobody,' you know?" She knit her eyebrows and looked off to the side for a moment before standing up.

"May I?" She asked, gesturing to the void. I blinked and scanned the void before sweeping my hand at her. She nodded and spread her arms out, causing the void to change to a sunny lakeside, while the two of us were now sitting under a tree. She was also a pony again, to my audible disappointment. "There. Now, I believe I understand you a little better. You believe your magic is necessary for your ability to 'define yourself,' yes?" She sat down beside me and swept a wing across the ground, leaving behind a pile of smooth stones.

"Uh," I chewed on her suggestion for a moment before slowly nodding. "Yeah, something like that." I grabbed one of the stones and hurled it at the water.

"Yes, alright," she hummed. "I think I can empathize somewhat." I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Are you familiar with what transpired between my sister and myself?" She asked and I shook my head. "It was an age ago, but I felt overshadowed by her in, well, every regard." She stared into the water's surface, studying her reflection.

"I felt unwanted, unneeded," she said with a steadily developing scowl. "Uncared for." In an instant, her mood changed and she offered me a smile.

"So, I reinvented myself and," and just like that, she was scowling and gloomy again. "Made poor choices, suffered for them, and was banished." She looked away and into the distance, as I mulled over what she was saying.

"In the end, and only recently relatively speaking, I learned how mistaken I was with my original assessment and could move beyond it," she added before tilting her head and looking at me. "Perhaps you too have made an erroneous assessment about yourself?" I recoiled at her sudden query before scoffing.

"I'm gonna go with nah," I replied, waving my hand. I fixed her with a weary leer. "Dunno the full story with you, but I know myself pretty dang well. And how little I, myself alone, have to offer." I grabbed another stone and hurled it.

"Alright. Regardless, my sister told me you aren't half the villain we imagined you might be, and so it was my hope I could attempt to," she paused and studied the water for a moment. "Well, I hoped if her assessment was true, I could convince you to at least reconsider choosing imprisonment over experiencing what this world has to offer." I frowned and turned to her and she did likewise.

"I hope you at least acknowledge the danger Discord poses, and thus the danger your magic poses," she asked.

"Yeah, and don't get me wrong, the guy's an ass," I sighed, leaned against the tree, and locked my hands atop my head. "But like, c'mon! There's gotta be some kind of compromise." I frowned and studied the empty white space on the fringes of the little lake she'd created.

"I cannot say for certain. We have encountered an Avatar of Chaos only once before," she explained, picking up and shooting a stone out like a bullet with her magic. It struck the water at just the right angle to not even make much of a splash. "Magical experiments upon him following his capture as well as knowledge regarding pacts between higher entities and mortals produced the only information we have to go upon." I leaned forward on my knees and looked at her in surprise.

"Experiments?" I murmured. She shook her head and raised a hoof.

"Nothing cruel, I promise. Simply a few scrying spells and aura readings upon his form," she explained, at which I hummed and relaxed against the tree. Her expression fell as I did. "Though, there were many ponies who demanded cruelties be done upon him."

"That bad?" I asked. She nodded with a dark glint in her eye.

"During his brief stint raising Tartarus within our lands, he engaged in all manner of wickedness. Robbery was his preferred misdeed, but he also performed," she stared off for a few seconds before speaking again in a restrained tone. "Torture of the most unspeakable sort." I recoiled with a sharp exhale.

"Christ," I grumbled, shaking my head. She considered me with a small frown for a moment.

"You and he are quite unalike. You, despite your immorality in certain respects, seem to acknowledge the sapience of our species," she declared before looking off at the water again. "He did not."

"Your sister doesn't seem to care," I retorted, rubbing my wrists as the sensation of the chains binding them in the waking world started to come through. Luna lit up her horn and the sensation vanished completely.

"There are a great many things she agonizes over, but does not let it show," she said with a quiet sigh.

"Right, like doing nothing about the rampant corruption," I said with a scoff. "She says she's got some kind of plan, but didn't feel like sharing." Luna paused and gently rotated a stone in her magic before responding.

"We've spoken of that a few times since my return. Especially after," she paused again before the stone shot out into the water. "My actions, things seem to have escalated despite her best efforts." She stared with an unreadible expression at the spot where the stone vanished.

"She hasn't said as much, but she forgets I can walk the realm of dreams again," she finally said with an even tone. "Her subconscious tells a very different story from what she presents in the waking world." I leaned forward on my knees and she turned to meet my eyes.

"I believe the ponies' reactions to my deeds a thousand years ago have left an impression upon her. While I was not present for any of it, I've since learned that several festivals celebrating my banishment took place, at least one of which is still practiced," she laid her head on her hooves. "And all this despite there initially being only rumor and hearsay about what occurred those many centuries ago." I rubbed my chin and frowned.

"She mentioned something that I think tracks with what you're saying," I rolled my wrist as I spoke. "Something about the little horses buying propaganda about her if she takes action or something." She offered a weary smile and a snort.

"Precisely that, though I wonder if that is an entirely accurate assessment of what would occur or simply what she fears or has been convinced would happen," she took a deep breath and grumbled. "If my sister has one flaw, and that is a generous downplay, it is that she feels inclined to bear her fears and doubts in secret." She raised an eyebrow at me.

"It does lead to her appearing," her mouth sat open for a moment before she closed it as if considering her next words. "Distant, even to her family." I frowned and leaned my head against the tree in thought. As I did, there was a low, droning, metallic rattle and a deep, bassy voice that rolled out over the dreamscape. I furrowed my brow as Luna rose to her hooves.

"Truthfully, I am surprised she has not had any lingering anxieties about her conversation with you," she declared, helping me up with her magic. "You are perhaps less well-spoken and cleaner-shaven, but there is no denying you are the same species as your predecessor."

"Yeah, well, keep digging in her dreams. I'm sure you'll find something about wanting to skin me alive," I sighed, drawing a laugh from her.

"I leave you to your dreams and imminent awakening, Victor Fremont. Once again, I encourage you to reconsider if it is worth remaining locked away," she said, causing me to groan. She brushed my back with a wing. "There is much to experience in this world beyond the walls of your cell. For instance, in just a few days our niece, Mi Amore Cadenza will be wed to Captain Shining Armor." She beamed at the news, but I just shrugged.

"Never cared for weddings, personally."

"Ah-hah, in this we are alike, but this event promises to be unique," an eager light washed over her face and she leaned in to whisper. "We've received word of an external, and as of yet unknown enemy seeking to invade the city, perhaps even during the ceremony. All very exciting, I must confess. Farewell!" She spread her wings out and the entire dreamscape expanded away, leaving me floating alone in a dark void.

The rattling and voice slowly gained clarity, and I blinked before sitting up. I yawned and scratched my chest before raising my eyebrows at the ponies standing at my bars.

"Morning, Goober!" Snowpea chirped. "Time for breakfast!"

"Hello, Mr. Fremont," Twilight greeted warmly, yet evenly.

"Rise'n shine, prisoner," Clipper ordered with his back turned to me as he collected my books from the night guard. I blinked and looked between the three of them before my eyes slowly drifted to the other pony present.

"She's on temperament conditioning to help her master her temper," Twilight explained, nodding at the pony in question. "Part of that is going to be helping keep you fed and cared for while you're in the dungeon until you come to your senses." A Grinch-like smile worked its way across my face.

"Really~," I purred, slowly eyeing up Honeysuckle who had her mane drawn in a bun and hairnet, while her face was drawn into a wide, toothy smile that contrasted her wide, hateful, glaring eyes delightfully.

"Yep! And while she does that," Twilight continued, taking the books from Clipper who quietly whined and hung his head in response. "I am gonna take a look at these." I would have objected, but the opportunity presented to me here was simply too rich to ignore. Snowpea unlocked the cell and Honeysuckle came trotting in, carrying a platter with a bowl of oatmeal and a cup of milk on it.

She roughly dropped it in front of me. "Ahem." Before wincing at Twilight and carefully picking the platter up again and gently setting it down.

"Enjoy, Goobèr," she growled through her clenched, smiling teeth, before turning to leave. I cleared my throat and held up my right hand.

"My good hand was cut off. Makes eating a little challenging," I said once she leered back at me. She paused and her eyes widened, but her smile remained.

"Excuze-moi? What are you implying?" She growled. Snowpea anxiously looked between the two of us, while Twilight was engrossed in my spell book with a furrowed brow.

"I'm saying I need some help eating," I said with a shrug, waving my right hand and letting it go limp. "After you sliced off my good hand." There was a rattling, grinding sound as her smile widened further than seemed healthy.

"You still have the other one," she offered in an even, but deadly tone. "Unless you're asking me to cripple that one as we-"

"Lieutenant," Twilight interjected without looking up and in a thoroughly annoyed tone. Honeysuckle wilted with a sharp hiss before fixing me with a defeated glare. I pursed my lips and hung my head slightly, which caused her to grumble and Snowpea to bite the side of her hoof. After a few moments, Honeysuckle paused, looked at the ground, and then smiled again before approaching. She sat down in front of me and grabbed a spoonful of oatmeal with her magic.

"Say 'ah,' Goobèr," she hummed, hovering the spoon to me. I smiled and vocalized as asked, right until she crammed the spoon all the way into my throat. "Oopsie-daisy! My mistake."

"You-" I hacked, causing her to suppress a giggling snort. "You did that on purpose!"

"You can't prove that," she purred, gently twisting the spoon in the air.

"Lieutenant, don't do that on purpose," Twilight murmured, tilting her head to and fro as she studied my book. "'Interpret Arcana?' Is that what it says?" I paused and leaned around Honey to look at her in surprise. Clipper was leaning over her shoulder to scan the page she was looking at.

"Can you read that stuff?" He asked.

"Kind of?" She muttered. "The characters in the script are shifting around, but I can kind of gauge the meaning since that is staying the same." I swallowed as she continued to scrutinize the page before she sighed and shook her head.

"It's too bad Discord bound these to you, Mr. Fremont," she said returning the books to Clipper who beamed and greedily snatched them. "I'd love a chance to examine them with some of my research equipment, but we can't risk taking them out of your sight." She fixed me with a critical eye for a moment. I frowned at her until Honeysuckle began jabbing me in the cheek with the spoon, then I turned to glare at her.

"Say 'ah,'" she said sweetly, still jabbing me. "Gimme another shot, Goobèr." Twilight laughed at the display.

"Right, you enjoy breakfast, maybe we'll talk later," she declared making her way to the door.

"Bye, Miss Sparkle! Enjoy the wedding!" Snowpea chirped with a wave. Twilight nodded with a big happy smile.

"It's not for a few days, but I'm definitely looking forward to seeing my brother again after being away for so long," she replied before waving and leaving us be. I frowned as she vanished and sat staring at Clipper as he attempted to read my books to no avail. Then, realization hit.

"Is Shaggy Armlock her bro-" Then I gagged as Honey crammed the spoon even further down my throat.

"Whoopsie! My mistake."

Pseudo scanned the pristine, alabaster city in the distance through his spyglass. Even from this distance and with his sight filtered through the glass lens of his tool, his eyes caught the hidden threads of causality that followed each and every one of the guards patrolling the walls and towers, like strings on puppets. A few threads were pulled taut and uniquely thin as if they were set to snap at any moment.

Humming to himself, he lowered his spyglass and scanned the gigantic magical shield encasing the entire place. The shield too had a thread. And it too was taut and about to break.

"Soon," he declared, handing the spyglass to Sash at his side. The sheep took the device and slipped it into his saddle bag, jostling the long knife he had in the process. Sash considered the blade for a moment before shuddering.

"None of you are warriors," Yendrek declared, drawing Sash's eyes to him. The moose stood on Pseudo's other side and was considering the shield with an even glare. "I have to wonder what you hope to accomplish here." Sash frowned and glanced at the ponies beside himself.

"We hope to liberate the Avatar!" He cried, causing Yendrek to turn to him after a moment. "And we might not be as strong as the much revered Moutain Saints and the great Yendrek, but even if your whole clan was gathered here, you couldn't hope to take on all of Canterlot and Celestia!" Yendrek raised an eyebrow and then snorted. Despite that, Sash held his ground and glared up at the moose until Pseudo waved his hand between the two.

"Conquering the Sun and Moon is of no importance," he said. "We simply have to find and invade the hidden chamber they are keeping the Avatar in." Sash and Yendrek shared a look before turning to the ponies beside Sash. One in particular tilted his head, causing his armor to rattle.

"Hidden chamber?" Turnip repeated and shook his head. "I'm pretty sure they'd just stick him in the dungeon, and I can take you there."

"I assure you, neophyte, our Avatar is hidden," Pseudo said, his eyes still locked on the city. Turnip blinked and shared a look with Sugarplum. He winced at the sight of her hoof wrapped around a spear-haft.

"How're we gonna find him then?" She asked without noticing Turnip's attention.

"I have my means, but it can wait," Pseudo explained, waving his hand again. "For now, we must wait for that shield to dispel." Yendrek hummed and considered the city and then the camp of cultists lower on the cliff they were hiding on. The entirety of the Children of Change had gathered and were now waiting anxiously without fires to alert the enemy of their presence or ward off the chilly mountain air.

"How long will that be, do you think?" Yendrek pressed, at which Pseudo tapped him on the shoulder and gestured at the city. The moose looked forward and recoiled.

"Soon," Pseudo hummed as a swarm of tiny black creatures gathered over Canterlot like a storm cloud.