Dreamscape - 3

Dusk here with a note for this chapter:  Most of this chapter will take place as internal dialogue within Jason's mind.  (Yes, this will be mostly back story and character development.)

Also, Applejack Rarity Twilight Fluttershy Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash will all be talking to him during his dream trance but he won't know who's who, the color coding so you can know when it's a pony talking vs. internal dialogue.  Anyway, without further adieu here's the next chapter!

POV: Twilight, 10 minutes later

WHY did he pass out... I gotta think of something to help him what did he say I gotta check my notes! I turn away from Jason,  wiping my tail across is tear spattered shirt as I leave.  It took a little effort to get him situated but after helping me move him to my bed the other girls decided it would be best to go home to let me examine him.  Fluttershy would have stayed but she left saying her animals need to be checked but I'm sure she'll come back soon with medicines and other things to help his recovery.

Ok, notes time.  After searching through my notes I keep coming up with nothing helpful.  The only two thoughts I have are that maybe he used to much magic and it caused to much of a strain or the... alcohol, as he called it became to much for his body to handle.  A simple detoxify spell was all it took me to remove it from my system and I instantly felt better so I decide that will be my best bet.  Using my magic I take his shirt off but can't help but release a gasp.  Across his chest going from his right shoulder to the left side of his waste is a scar.  I stand there for a moment wondering what could have caused such an injury and what it took for him to live through it before, without thinking, I hop onto my bed and run a hoof along it.

"Hhhaaaa..."  Hearing his voice snaps me back into reality, within seconds I find myself hovering over his face waiting for him to speak again.  After calming down I realize that it was probably just a reaction from when I rubbed his chest.

Wait a minute... He reacted to outside stimuli! YesYES YES!  With renewed confidence I feed magic into my horn and cast the detoxify spell.  What I wasn't expecting was to be hit by a very powerful magical backlash.  The last thing I see is a green rippling covering Jason's body before my vision fades to black.

POV: Jason 2 hours later

Dun worry sugarcube it ain't yer fault.

Voices...  I hear voices...  "Hey Jason come here I have something for you."  My dad...  This was when he gave me that dragon egg.  Said that he was going to be my partner...

I know AJ its just... I tried to heal him and then this

This?  What is this...  Wait a minute... Those voices aren't memories they're... "Jason, pay attention.  You need to learn how to detect essence.  Only then can you begin to manipulate it."

I don't get it though why's he see through and green?

The ponies... I can hear them but where are they?  And what are these...  "What do you MEAN you have to go on a mission that might take thousands of years?"

"I'm sorry Jason but Alpheron,  the original existence, is in a very dire state.  Void energy is beginning to seep through the planar divide and I'll have to transcend time and space in order to go back and fix it.  You know as well as everyone else here that I'm the only one capable of holding the energy required for such a jump.

"But what about..." Dad... This was over 200 years ago.  Ever since he left we had to start using the reversion process because there wasn't enough essence left in our universe to sustain immortality...

Maybe a party will help him feel better! I'll go get my cannon.

"Jason, you'll be the first to try out reversion.  It'll take place whenever a guardian gets back from a mission.  The process will revert your physical, emotional, and mental states back to where you what they were before deployment.  Memories will be stored within Sai's databanks."  Sai... Sentient A.I.  The only entity in existence that doesn't inhabit space or time.  One of the many legacies my father left behind...

Oh... Uhm Pinkie I think we should just let him rest in piece... I mean, uhm I think we should just let him go... Oh! That's not quite what I meant either... Never mind.

"Hey Oracle where's Draco?  I can't find him anywhere and it looks like he shielded himself."

"I'm afraid I have bad news.  Two years ago he got fed up just waiting for you to come back so he took it upon himself to cross over to the dimension you were sent to.  He was torn apart during transit since he didn't have the sphere to stabilize the dimensional gateway." This was 100 years ago... I was trapped pretending to be a god for 30 years because if I had left the chaos and despair of that entire backwater planet would have torn a whole in the planar divide.

Oh I do hope he comes out of this state.  I never got to ask him about his clothes!

This state... See through and green... These visions... "Jason, why do you have to act like this?  You can't just disappear to another dimension for all of eternity.  We need you to be ready to take your father's duties over if he doesn't return within the next 1000 or so years."

"Fine.  But I'm going back home for a few weeks.  I want to feel normal for a little while..."  That was fifty years ago.  Halfway into my trip is when I was introduced to MLP.  Even though the show was created over 200 years ago, when I home it was still being produced.  Right before I left to go back home the last episode of the first season was released.  I was excited to be going to the future so I could watch every episode that was ever made but then...

I just wish I knew what was happening to him.  It's like he's there but at the same time he isn't.  I told Princess Celestia about it and Princess Luna volunteered to come check things out.  She should be here any minute now...

Luna... Is coming? "Jason, it isn't a life if you have nothing to look forward to.  Find something that you look forward to and keep living!"

"What's the point of looking forward to things if I up and disappear for an unknown amount of time every week?"  This was right after I got back.  I was moping around because it finally hit me just how much I miss out on.  That was when I decided to keep track of time as it passed for me.  I decided to find something to do every day that was independent from the true passage of time.  Saturday became my TV day and I would watch one episode of every one of my favorite shows.

Well, long as she don't take too gettin here it's fine by me...

"Why do I have to leave Friday?  Can't I leave Sunday instead?  You know how I feel about Saturdays."

"I'm sorry Jason, I truly am but you'll just have to change your schedule or wait for your Saturday to come.  Even waiting until your Friday could prove to be problematic for the situation."  This mission... I almost didn't make it back from this one.  After I nearly got sliced in two by a void spawn I was forced to use creation.  It took me a few minutes but I was able to build up enough energy to return to the guild.  It took half of our members to gain control of the situation and fix things afterwards... That was twenty years ago.

Twilight, We- I am pleased to see the- you again.  We... haven't had much chance to talk since Nightmare Night earlier this year, have we?...

Nightmare Night...  earlier this year...  "Hey Oracle, got any missions for me?"

"No, everything is taken care of.  Why do you ask?"

"It's Halloween back home tomorrow and I wanted to do a haunted house.  I'll keep it tech based don't worry."

"Hmm... I suppose it would be a good distraction for you.  Prepare to deploy..."  I never should have gone back... and I especially shouldn't have fallen in love like I did 15 years ago.  She came into my haunted house with a group of friends but they got separated.  She got scared and ended up passing out.  When I found her I took her to the bedroom I've been using in the haunted house to rest until she woke up.  She was so scared at first but once I managed to calm her down and everything quickly became perfect.  Things moved quickly and after a month I decided that we were close enough for me to tell her who and what I was.  It scared her at first but she changed after that.  The more I did things for her the more she asked for things... I completely ignored the fact that my powers were corrupting her.  One month after I showed her my powers I realized I had used up a significant portion of the planet's essence.  I told her what happened and that all the gifts and adventures had to stop.  She said I was lying, and that if I really loved her I'd find a way around it.  That was when I made my biggest mistake.  I used creation so I could make her the perfect gift but the construct took more power then I thought.  It tore a small hole in the planar divide and thanks to the low concentration of essence a large amount of void energy was able to form into a voidling.  It latched onto her corruption and... her last words as she faded into the afterlife were "I'm sorry."  I don't remember what happened next but when I came back to my senses I realized that not only was the voidling destroyed, but the hole was repaired. I was out of commission for years after that.  I just locked myself away in a dream trance at home, reliving my memories of her.  Wishing I didn't mess up so many times.  It wasn't until 10 years ago that I was able to shake it and return to the guild.

It was good to... catch up... with everyone but I fear waiting any longer may cause the situation to worsen.  I shall now begin my scan.

"Jason, something happened while you were gone.  We... are in a crisis.  That hole that you accidentally... created... was just one of many.  When it opened up it created a pulse that opened a hole in a different dimension, which created another pulse and even more holes.  These past 5 years have been spent closing the holes and trying to predict where the next ones would open so we can break the cycle.  We need you on the front lines helping to stop the holes from being created."  That mission took 8 years to complete.  We lost a few Guardians and morale was low.  I was pushed to the edge from the bitterness towards me and, finally snapping, decided I'd end everything.  After all the effort, after all the torment, I snapped and went into a blind rage.  Over the next two days I went to the leading edge of each pulse, disrupting them by releasing a nova of pure power.  My very lifeblood, turned into what became known as the zenith cascade.  How I managed the feat nobody will ever know but every time I let loose my energies, I felt a presence.  It was as if my father was watching over me, sending me life from beyond space and time.

I have discovered something quite unusual... I don't know quite how to explain it... but I suppose you could say he no longer inhabits this dimension...

Crying... I hear crying?  "It feels nice to finally be able to sit back, relax and enjoy my Saturday.  I'm excited to see what the third season of MLP brings."

"You've more then earned it Jason.  The moral of the guild is once again high after that display of power you showed.  I suppose you could say you blasted away their distrust of you."

"Did... did you just make a pun?  Did The Oracle just show some humor?"

"I'll have you know when I was traveling with your parents I was quite lighthearted."

"Can... Can you tell me about my mom again?"  Mom... I hardly knew her.  What I do know about her is that she's the immortal queen of a planet thanks to her having the same abilities as the Guardians.  Beings of Power are what we are called.  Our lives measured not by time but by how much energy we hold in our bodies.  An accident caused the sphere to her dimension to become trapped and lost forever.  As much as we wanted to, we were never able to replicate it or create a rift stable enough to allow passage... The only one with the ability to do so stopped interacting with us before I was even a thought.

There has to be something we can do!  Maybe... maybe we can...

"Jason report to the deployment chamber immediately.  We have a mission for you."  That's right...  I have to do something... I have a mission... I have people who care about me... I have... friends...

POV: Luna

This is impossible...  There is nothing we can do to fix this.

and

"Do not worry Twilight we are not out of options yet.  Plus it is still possible that he himself will be the cause of his return.  Just have faith."  I feel bad for lying to Twilight, the one pony who stood by me when I was freed from Nightmare Moon.  I only hope she'll be able to move on when this creature comes to pass.

I sigh quietly and feed magic into my horn once again for show.  When I touch my horn to space that Jason's chest would fill he becomes engulfed in a blinding light.  Everypony around me turns away to shield their eyes and when the light fades Jason is left looking as Twilight had originally described him.

After a few seconds I hear a barely audible whisper escape Jason's lips.  "I'm... back..."