Friendship is Magic

The End

I was waiting outside of Rainbow Dash’s house. I couldn’t find her anywhere in Ponyville, so I figured “What better to do than have a little stake out?” I began waiting outside Rainbow Dash’s house after breakfast. Now it was almost sunset.

I was a little irritated with Rainbow, I thought she would be a little more eager to get rid of horrible dreams like these, but I guess not. I wondered where she could be.

The air was warm on my skin, I liked the feeling. Though the crisp air in Rainbow’s dream would be a stark contrast. I looked around, no Rainbow Dash in sight. Where could she have gone? I looked up in the sky and saw her, napping on a cloud, directly above my head. You have got to be kidding me. I thought as I looked up at her. I was a little upset at myself for not noticing her sooner.

I thought about waking her, but then I realized what she was doing. She was waiting for me. I couldn’t believe it, I thought she was making me wait, I was making her wait. I looked around for somewhere to sleep, I found a nearby shady tree and began focusing my magic on Rainbow Dash; going inside her dreams was almost a second nature to me now.

I closed my eyes and began to drift into sleep; it came slowly, but fell over me like a blanket. I found this feeling comforting, as I had been worried all day about what I would encounter in the dream world.

___________________________________________________________________________

I was inside of Cheerilee’s house, oddly enough. This was where we were last time, but why was I still here? I refocused on finding Rainbow Dash, she was kind of important. I searched around Cheerilee’s house, seeing no signs of Rainbow Dash. I went to leave, but found the door was wide open.

I trotted a little faster, exiting the house. The landscape was very different; any houses of no importance were just… gone! Now all that remained were my Quill and Sofa shop, Sugarcube Corner, Rainbow Dash’s house, Cheerilee’s house, and…what is that? I trotted closer and closer, nearing… a blue box. It had words on it, but they didn’t make sense. There wasn’t any such thing as a “police” there were only knights. The other word “box” was clear what it meant. Between those two words were the words “public call”. It was fairly easy to interpret what that meant, but still, what was a “police”?

The door opened. I jumped a little, not expecting the sudden emergence of the pony. He spoke to me “Well then, we’ve been waitin’ for you all day!”

“Sorry, I was-“

“C’mon, let’s go.”

He pulled me into the box. This was weird. This place… it made no sense either. The room was bigger than the box itself! But how is that possible? Logic obviously only applies to those who pay attention to it. I shrugged off the thought and addressed the ponies before me. “So Doctor, what’s up?”

“I don’t really know, let me check.” He turned to face a corridor. “Derpy! Sunset Wonder wants to know ‘what’s up?’”

“Umm… I think the ceiling.”

“Derpy says the ceiling is up.” The Doctor said, turning back to me.

“Thanks Doctor… I appreciate that. Have you seen Rainbow Dash?”

“Yes I have! She’s in the back with Derpy.”

“Thanks again Doctor, I’ll just go and see her then.”

“Have I ever told you about the time I had fingers?”

“What? What are fingers?”

“Ahh yes, never mind, I assumed you would know. You seem like the knowledgeable pony, I suppose that means you can’t help either. Whatever, go see Rainbow Dash.”

“Umm… yeah… thanks again.”

I began trotting down the corridor towards Derpy’s voice. The Doctor was oft strange like that, saying things that nopony else seemed to understand. I found Rainbow Dash and Derpy in a sort of lounge. There was a magenta carpet with a large leather sofa in the middle, in front of a fireplace. My thoughts called out to me Really? A fireplace? But I ignored it; there were just some things you couldn’t explain. I looked around the room. Paintings of strange creatures hung from the walls. There were intriguing, like nothing in Equestria, they were pale, furless bipeds that wore odd clothing. I heard Derpy’s voice once again; I rounded the sofa and saw Rainbow Dash and Derpy. They sat on the couch, speaking to one another and having what seemed to be a grand old time. Rainbow Dash’s eyes met with my own and she hopped up from the couch. “Where were you?” she asked

“I could have asked you the same question, but I didn’t want to be rude.”

“You didn’t answer me.”

“I was standing outside your house all day, waiting for you.”

“Has it really been a whole day? That’s odd.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s almost impossible for me to sleep a whole day.”

“You said almost.”

“I said almost because it includes this time, before for this I’ve never slept an entire day, I think something’s wrong.”

“What could possibly be wrong? Derpy and the Doctor seem fine.”

“I know they’re fine, I already talked to them, like all day.”

“Then what could be wrong?”

“I don’t know, are we leaving somepony out?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“I don’t know. Let’s talk to the Doctor.”

Rainbow and I exited the lounge area; we trotted down the corridor, finally reaching the main room. The Doctor was at the console, fiddling with some knobs and levers. Rainbow beckoned him over with a hoof and he abandoned his console. “Can I help you Miss Dash?”

“Yes, something strange is going on.”

“Oh really? The TARDIS doesn’t show any abnormal activity.”

“I’ve been asleep all day.”

“Well I suppose that is a bit abnormal. Are you sure it isn’t just you?”

“I’m sure Doctor. Any suggestions?”

“I suppose you could go out into your dream world and find the cause to this problem.”

“That’s not a bad idea. C’mon Sunny, we’re gonna figure this out.”

The Doctor waved goodbye as we exited the TARDIS. This mysterious blue box… maybe I would ask the real Doctor about it some time. Right now though, I was busy. Rainbow Dash wanted to figure out what was going on, and we wouldn’t rest (pun intended) until we found the source.

Dash paused near a fount in the town square. She turned around and asked me “Have any ideas?”

“I’ve got nothing.”

“What’ll we do then?”

“Walk, I suppose.”

“Walk where?”

“That direction.” I said, pointing a hoof in some random direction.

“How long will we walk?”

“Until we find something.”

“Sounds good.”

So we started walking. The scenery slowly drifted by, the bakery, the town hall, RD’s house, the sofa shop, the boutique, everything rolled by, slowly and surely. We walked until we reached the end of Ponyville, then we walked until we reached the outside of the Everfree Forest (keep in mind that everything was deserted). The trees were silent, not even the wind made a noise. All was quiet and abandoned. We eventually crossed a river; the noise of it sounded muffled no matter how close we were to it. The water was clear, so I drank. My mouth had become very dry and I needed the refreshment of water. It was cool as it rolled down my throat, easing the dried husk it had become. Rainbow Dash also paused for a quick drink, and then we continued.

Unlike Rainbow Dash, I was no athlete. Even though we were walking, the distance was exhausting. Rainbow Dash had not a single bead of sweat or sign of wanting to stop. I on the other hand, had sweat accumulating on my brow, my legs ached, we had been walking for what felt like days, but what I knew had been four hours. It was still a long time to go without stopping, and I was tired.

We were on the other side of the previously mentioned river when Rainbow Dash said “Let’s make camp here.”

“I agree, there won’t be any more water for miles if we are where I think we are.”

“Yes, that and we shouldn’t camp in the forest, just in case there is something still in there.”

“I have a question though.”

“What?”

“How could we possibly sleep if we’re already asleep?”

“Good point. I don’t know if we can actually sleep, but surely we can rest.”

I told Rainbow Dash I was going to get some firewood and I left her by the river. I wandered back into the forest, making occasional holes in the ground to keep track of where I was. I picked up a branch here and there, but I needed something bigger than twigs. I approached the climax of a hill and thought to myself This is going to be too good.

I trotted around the boulder that topped the hill, aiming it at a tree. I gave the boulder a push using my magic. It was sent rolling down the hill, gaining speed until it struck the tree. The tree then gave under the combination of weight and momentum from the boulder. I steadily trotted down the hill, very pleased with myself. I grabbed the tree with my magic and began attempting to tear it asunder. Even though I was much stronger magically than I was physically, this was no easy task. I successfully tore the tree in half, twice. This made the logs just the right size for a fire. I began bringing my workload back to camp. I placed the logs where our camp had taken shape. Rainbow had apparently gone out and collected enough plant debris to make a comfortable (if you can call it that) hay pile. I sat next to Rainbow Dash on the pile and began focusing the rest of my energy on lighting the fire. I put as much heat as I possibly could without making an inferno into the wood. There was a flicker, and then a flame. The fire was strong and comforting. It really was a stark contrast to this cold and quiet dream. Celestia’s sun had sunk below the horizon and now the moon hung over the sky.

Did I mention the fire was warm? The fire was warm. It was incredible, I felt it inside me, and it was great. The fire, yes the fire. It was warm. I noticed something odd though, we were a little far from the fire to experience the full warmth of it like this. I tenaciously looked to my side. Rainbow Dash was leaning on me. I only slightly felt the fire, I felt her heat more. I was only a little shocked. Rainbow and I had become fairly close over the past few days. There was no way she had interest in me though. I knew that for a fact. She had… other interests. I still enjoyed the experience. I leaned on her slightly. She spoke though, causing me to jump slightly “I feel safe around you.”

“Really?”

“Yeah…you’re…you’re like family to me. Like a father.”

“What about your father?”

“My father? I don’t like him. He didn’t like me either. I wasn’t liked since birth. He wanted a son, that was my first disappointment. Well not really, my first was my mother; she died giving birth to me. He sent me off to flight school and drowned his miseries in hard cider. I hated him for it. So I flunked out. That really got his goat; he was fuming when I got home. He struck me, and all I could do was cry. He let me go to a normal filly’s school until I was of age. He took me out of school and sent me to a new, stricter flight camp. There I wanted to impress him. I knew if I could prove myself, he’d have me. He’d take me in his hooves and tell me how proud he was to be my father. I was fastest in the class, nothing, I won every competition I participated in, nothing. I sent home a letter one day, telling about my accomplishments. I received a black envelope, telling me he OD’d on Poison Joke Pollen. The last line of the letter said ‘He must have been proud to have someone like you in his life’ but I knew he wasn’t, and he was dead. I left flight camp and searched for a job. I got one as a weather pony in Ponyville, and here I am.”

I was speechless. I didn’t know whether to be flattered or appalled at what I had just heard. All I could manage was “Wow.”

“I’m sorry I had to shove my sob story down your throat, but I never had anypony who seemed to care so much, like you.”

“What about your friends?”

“You are my friend, but so are they. They’re just there, like a luxury. I appreciate having them, and I don’t know what I’d do without them, but… I just don’t know… you’ve really gone and confused me.”

“What I’m trying to say is that I can’t possibly be the only pony who cares so much. You have your best friends; they probably care even more than me.”

“I dunno…I think you might be included in that category. But whatever, just shut up and get some rest.”

I closed my mouth and once again took in the feeling of Rainbow Dash leaning against me. It was…nice. I came to realize that I felt the same way about RD (except for the father part). She was like family to me. I closed my eyes and rested my head. Even though I couldn’t sleep, I could certainly dream.

___________________________________________________________________________

The night feels a lot longer when you aren’t sleeping through it. I watched the stars and thought for hours. I tried thinking about what could be causing such an anomaly, but that hurt my head. Instead I thought about good stories I have recently read.

I felt Rainbow Dash stir and knew that our rest period was over. She asked me “How long do you think we’ve been asleep now?”

“I’m not sure, it’s difficult to tell.”

We put out the fire and continued our path into the unknown. The forest came to an end after another hour of walking. We came across a dirt road. On the side of the road was a wooden cart with barrels and crates in it. I looked to Rainbow Dash; I could tell she was hungry. I asked her “Would you like to do some searching?”

“Hmm? Search what?”

“The cart. For food.”

“Oh yeah, sure. That sounds good. I am starving!”

Rainbow Dash leapt into the air and came down on the cart. The cart shook slightly as Rainbow dug through barrels and crates. She finally emerged, an apple in her mouth. “Efry fing ish full of afflesh!” she said through bites of fruit. I trotted around the cart and picked up an apple with my horn. I eyed the juicy, fresh fruit. My stomach grumbled as if to tell me Eat the bucking apple! So I brought the apple close, and took a large bite. It was everything I expected from an apple, satisfying crunch after satisfying crunch I devoured the fruit. I grabbed another to carry as we walked, but my limbs suddenly felt weak. My knees buckled and I was on the ground. “Rainbow Dash! Are you okay?!” I called to my companion.

“I can’t move!”

“I was afraid of that, neither can I.”

“What should we do?”

“Nothing, we can’t move.”

I sat there for a good five minutes looking at the sky. I wondered what was going to happen to us. Would we just be stuck here forever? I doubted that. I heard a rustling in the trees. There was somepony there, I just knew it. The trees continued rustling until somepony emerged. I couldn’t see though, they were outside my field of vision. They managed to put my head inside a burlap sack; I felt their hooves against the sides of my neck. I was hoisted up and placed on somepony else’s back. I could hear Rainbow Dash’s struggling noises, since she couldn’t actually move, but she could still speak. Profanely. I couldn’t help but feel we were going on a long ride. I had a general idea of where we were going, after all, all roads lead to Canterlot at some point.

___________________________________________________________________________

It was darker when we came to a stop. The ponies who abducted us had walked all day to wherever they were going. When they stopped though, my body now lacked the rhythm they had made, the pace of their walking was comfortable, like they weren’t in any hurry, but they weren’t planning on arriving late. They dropped us on the cobble street. I heard their hoofsteps as they walked away. We were stuck again. Just because it was worth it, I tried moving.

We could move. There was no telling how long we had been able to move. We could have only been incapacitated for a mere five minutes and wouldn’t have known. I tapped Rainbow Dash on the shoulder; she jumped to her hooves, and then realized “Hey! I can move!”

“Yeah.” I replied as I removed my bag.

“Whoa.” Rainbow Dash spoke as she took the bag from her head.

“What?”

Rainbow Dash pointed a hoof behind me. I had been focused on her face, so I had not looked around to see where we were.

The city was definitely not as I had remembered. A large wall surrounded the inner city. Small shantytowns were erected around the wall. Poor, starving ponies sat around and watched us. The inner city was barely visible through the gates, but all of the buildings looked evil and wicked. The sharp spires of the castle were accented by evil demon winged ponies flying about. “I’m not sure this is good.” I said to Rainbow Dash.

“No, this is definitely not good.”

“Should we try talking to some of the locals?”

“No, look.” She said, pointing with a hoof.

The pony she was pointing at was sitting with another of the same age. Their ears were filled with what was once hot liquid metal, but had cooled. In the sides of their metal ears was an etching. It looked like a... pile of sand. “Let’s just see if we can get inside.” Rainbow said to me.

“Alright, I’ll go try the gate.”

I trotted over to the gate and gave it a push, the gate opened just enough for us to squeeze through. Inside the city walls, Canterlot looked much better. The filth from the rabble was almost completely forgotten because of how clean the inner city was. The buildings in the inner city were abandoned, not a soul stirred. The windows of houses were boarded up and shattered. I quickened my pace some, as Rainbow Dash followed suit. We were nearing the castle rapidly.

The guards flying overhead paid us no mind. They flew in formation almost flawlessly. The castle looked as clean as the rest of the city. There was no gate to stop Rainbow Dash and me, so we entered the castle.

The central hall was as wide as in the real world. Stained glass windows only depicted scenes of a single alicorn, different from Celestia. Rainbow Dash looked unto me and said “Hey egghead, who’s that alicorn?”

“I have no idea. I only know of Luna and Celestia.”

Suddenly a voice shook the walls “WHO DARES SPEAKEST MINE SISTER’S NAME?!”

“Umm... hello? Is anypony there?”

“TWAS YOU KNAVE! BOW BEFORE YOUR TRUE MASTER!”

“Who are you?”

The voice became quieter “Dost...Dost thou not remember us?”

“No...Who are you?”

“Tis I, Dreamcaster... hast Celestia really forgotten of me?”

“I...umm...yes?”

I heard the sounds of sobs, I should have known, based upon the wavering of her voice. “Tis a lie! Mine dear sister! Tis not possible that she hath forgotten us!” The voice grew farther away; I figured she was off to hide in her room. I tried to follow the sounds of her crying, but it was neigh impossible to do so. I got lost in a hallway, and waited for Rainbow Dash to catch up. Rainbow Dash almost flew past me when she stopped “What are you doing?”

“I lost the trail.”

“She’s dream world Celestia, she obviously lives in Celestia’s room, duh.”

“Oh...right.”

“Let’s go then!”

I began galloping again, and then stopped again. “Wait! I’ve never been inside the castle; I don’t know where Celestia’s room is!”

“Just follow me.”

We started running again, I followed Rainbow Dash closely. I had to make sure not to lose her, otherwise I would be lost. We galloped past many paintings of nature and the sky, the atmosphere was lovely, for a nightmarish castle. I caught up to Rainbow Dash after she stopped at a door. She was speaking softly, trying to get the Princess’s attention.

“Princess...Princess are you there?”

“Go away Rainbow Dash; we do not want to speak to you.”

“But Princess-“

“Go away...”

The Princess obviously didn’t want any visitors, but then again, she hadn’t met Rainbow Dash, who just barged in anyway. The Princess was as awe inspiring as her sisters, she almost had the build of a younger Celestia. It was easy to tell though, that she was the middle sister, she looked older than Luna. She had a golden coat with a yellow and red mane. Her cutie mark was a pile of sand. This image reminded me of her name once again. “You’re...the sand pony?”

“We have not been called that for a while.”

“There is only a little fairy tale left. Ponies tell it to their foals whenever they can’t sleep.”

“That’s nice. Why art thou telling us this, knave?”

“Because you are remembered, just not in the way you expected.”

“And what of my sisters? They hath forgotten us.”

“Maybe they made a decision. You were doing a good job here, and Equestria needs the Sand Pony.”

“But why can’t we just be in the real world? Why can we not smell fresh air and see the real sun? Why suffer these illusions, these ‘dreams’? Tis all a nightmare to me. This realm is torture.”

“Like the ponies outside?”

“They are not real. Thou knows this, yet accuses us of torture. I am proving to our self that this is but a dream. Those ponies do not feel, nor do they think. They are but sand in the wind.” She spoke with surprising casualness for what had just been said.

“What about Rainbow Dash and I?”

“We had to be sure you were real. Nopony good comes to visit us. Only the nightmares I am forced to create. Thou art familiar with some of them, yes?”

“Forced to?”

“Yes. While a few of my guards and ourself art real, everything else tis a lie. When ponies go to sleep, we are forced to build a dream based on what they are thinking. Ponies do not think sweet and kind things anymore, Sunset Wonder, this is no longer fun.”

“What about children?”

“They think lightheartedly. We enjoy catering to them, making pirate ships and enchanted castles, evil dragons and suits of armor. These are the ones we enjoy, but look at Rainbow Dash, look at the filth that fills her mind.”

“Every thing in here was created by you! How can you accuse her like that?”

“Tis not true Sunset Wonder, we are the maker, yes, but Rainbow Dash made the blueprints. Her paranoia was the foundation; we only had to make it a reality.”

Just like that, the sun broke through the clouds. The castle was cleansed in its warming rays. The city went from a nightmare, to a wonderland. The fog had lifted. I however, was still a little suspicious. “What kind of trick is this?”

“No trick Sunset Wonder, Rainbow Dash did this. She confessed to herself what she was doing. Her mind is clean.” The princess turned to Rainbow Dash “But stop being so paranoid, it isn’t healthy.” The princess smiled and watched the imaginary citizens of Canterlot file into the city. They were bright and happy, smiles accenting their muzzles. I had only one more thing to ask of the princess “Why did you keep us here?”

“We could not stand to see Rainbow Dash’s melancholy any longer. We held thou here to find the truth, as well as to bond a little. Bonding is good.”

“Thank you.”

I turned to Rainbow Dash and spoke “We have a letter to write.”

“About friendship?”

I leaned in and whispered “I kinda feel bad keeping Dreamcaster here, maybe we should see if the princess could get her out of the dream world.”

“Why was she here in the first place?”

“I...don’t know.” I looked over my shoulder at Dreamcaster and asked “Princess, why are you trapped in the dream world?”

“We killed our youngest sister.”

I was stunned. “You what?”

“We killed her. Long ago we were in the real world, we still had dominion over dreams, but we lusted for more. Celestia had the honor of raising the sun, but we were jealous. Luna and our self were cast out into the shadows, she raised the moon, and we wove dreams. Our younger sister was always by Celestia’s side. She had little magic, so instead, she addressed the subjects, giving speeches, christening ships, and attending to any royal duties she could. Luna and our self plotted a rebellion. We gathered and trained many soldiers. We became mad. Luna was defeated within the first five minutes of battle when Celestia did something she had never done before; she banished her to the moon. Our armies fought to the death. When the battle ended, neither side was left with any soldiers. We were alone against Celestia, but we had been practicing powerful magic. We had learned a beam that could wipe her off the map. We aimed for Celestia, and let off a burst of magic, but our youngest sister saw this, and heaved herself in front of Celestia. She was nothing but a pile of ashes. Celestia was aghast. We were drained of our energy, and Celestia had complete power over us, we cursed her name, and looked at her with furious eyes. She looked at us with pity and said ‘I am disappointed in you, but I want you to know I love you.’ We replied back ‘Love me? LOVE ME?! What about Luna? You banished her to the bucking MOON! Why couldn’t we share power? Why couldn’t we resolve this? This is YOUR FAULT! Look at this! Look at what you caused! I HATE YOU!’ she began to cry and I lapped up the bitter tears ‘You never loved any of us, you loved the throne. You didn’t even love our youngest sis-‘ and then she looked up. She couldn’t take it. She gave me one last glance and banished me here.”

“I’m sorry princess...I didn’t know.”

“Tis fine Sunset Wonder. We have brooded over the scene for a thousand years and are more than sorry for what happened. Luna deserves to be free, she didn’t kill anypony. We deserve to suffer here.”

I looked to Rainbow Dash and she nodded. We closed our eyes once again and focused, we were going to wake up.

___________________________________________________________________________

I got home. We had been asleep for a full day and a half. I was well rested and had a task at hand. I headed to the back of the Quill and Sofa shop. I opened the door to the storage room, my temporary ‘office’, and pulled out a sheet of parchment and a quill, I wrote:

Dear Princess Celestia,

We found something. Something you need to see.

Sincerely,
Sunset Wonder

I brought the letter with me. I trotted out the door and to Twilight’s library. I passed through the night street, seeing few ponies out. Pinkie must have been having some kind of bash, otherwise I wouldn’t see any at all. I rounded a corner on the cobble street and spotted Twilight’s library. I quickened pace slightly and soon arrived at her door. I knocked twice and Spike opened the door. He looked tired, but I didn’t care, this was more important than sleep. I handed the letter to him

“Send this, please.”

“Yeah sure. In the morning.”

“Spike, it’s kinda important. Just send it now.”

“Alright, alright.” Spike held the letter out in front of his face and breathed his dragonfire on it. “Happy?”

“Very. See you later, Spike.”

“Yeah whatever, see ya.”

I trotted to my house/store past Sugarcube Corner, DJ PON-3 was really cranking up the bass tonight. Nopony on the block was going to get any sleep, I was sure of it. I opened the back door of the Quill and Sofa shop. I had made a habit of only entering through the back door, since it was the employee entrance. I decided to have a seat at my desk and chronicle the past few days. They were probably the most exciting of my life. I even found Celestia’s sister, who can top that? There was a sudden rapping, though, a rapping at the back door. It stopped me from writing and I opened it. The princess waved a hoof and asked “May I come in?”

“Yes, princess.” I said, falling to one knee.

“So, Sunset Wonder, what did you find?”

“I’m afraid I cannot describe it princess, I can only show you.” Rainbow Dash filed in after the princess. She had probably seen her coming to my home and followed, but that was okay, I needed her anyway.

“Princess, I need to ask you something.”

“Ask away my little pony.”

“Do I have your permission to perform magic on you?”

“I suppose so...but why?”

“You will see.”

“I would like to remind you though, that I am the princess, and I don’t think anypony would like to see me hurt, especially Luna, so whatever you are doing, I hope you hold no ill will. My, my, that sounded slightly vain of me.”

“No, princess, I have no intent to harm you. Would you mind closing your eyes?”

The princess closed her eyes and Rainbow Dash followed suit. I began performing the spell, focusing my magic on the three of us. I felt my limbs grow weaker as I drifted into a slumber once again.

___________________________________________________________________________

“Did you just want to show me you could teleport to Canterlot Castle?”

We were standing in the front hall of the castle. The same stained glass windows let in the light from a fake sun.

“No, princess, something else.”

I began leading the princess through the castle until we reached her room. Now the princess was confused.

“What’s going on?”

“Before we enter, I have another request of you.”

“Yes?”

“Let Dreamcaster back into the real world.”

“How do you-“ she stopped as I opened the door, Dreamcaster sat there brushing her mane, looking longingly out the window. She turned her head and saw the princess. “Celestia.”

“Dreamcaster.”

“It has been a thousand years since you banished us. We want you to know something.”

“Yes?”

“We love you my dear sister. We are so sorry about everything that happened.” Tears began to stream “We-...I’ve waited a thousand years to apologize. And to say I’m sorry.”

“Dreamcaster, I too have waited a thousand years to say something. I’m sorry. I didn’t know you felt the way you did. I regretted what I had done every day, and I want you to come back.”

The conversation was followed by a sisterly embrace. Celestia spoke to me “Thank you, Sunset Wonder. Take us back.”

“I don’t know how to release Dreamcaster.”

“You don’t have to; I did, when I apologized.”

I focused my magic on the four of us, sending our consciousness back to our bodies.

___________________________________________________________________________

Celestia thanked me again once we were in the real world. Dreamcaster ran outside to get the first breath of real air in a thousand years. I went outside with her, to make sure she was okay. She saw me follow her and spoke “Sunset Wonder.”

“Yes?”

“We would like to thank you for bringing us and our sister back together, thou art a true friend. Thou art my friend as well.”

“Thank you, princess.”

“We notice Ponyville does not have a guard duty.”

“No, we haven’t ever needed one.”

“Well as a thank you, we would like to make you captain.”

“What?”

“Yes. Captain Sunset Wonder, sounds nice. Thou will not have to move, and as a bonus, we will have somepony run the Quill and Sofa store for you. We understand a mister Davenport used to own the store, correct?”

“Yes.”

“He will do nicely then. Your armor will be commissioned and delivered on the morrow; you will need to select somepony to deputize as well. A contingent of five to ten guards will be under your command and will be on their way along with your armor.”

“This is a big responsibility, are you sure you want me to do it?”

“I would trust nopony else.”

“Well in that case, I know just who to deputize.”

___________________________________________________________________________

The next morning Derpy struggled into my home, carrying a package. This was my uniform. I opened the package and in it was a captain’s armor. An assemblage of light steel plates, colored gold made up the torso piece as well as a... skirt? What? I made the association in a few seconds. The armor much resembled the armor of the Pony Roman Empire of 800 BC (Before Celestia). I liked the cape though, it was a nice touch. I donned my armor and trotted out the door.

I knew my mission, but first I had to assign the guards a schedule. I found them standing near the entrance to Ponyville. “Are you all my contingent?”

“SIR, YES, SIR!”

“Very well then, I will assign a job for you all to complete. We need a guard station, barracks, prison, and battlements. We are a small contingent, so it does NOT need to be large. Build one.”

A guard stepped forward. “PERMISSION TO SPEAK, SIR!”

“Go ahead, and name yourself. Also, don’t worry about volume, I can hear just fine.”

“Lieutenant Steel Prism, sir! I would like to ask where we would get the materials to build such a structure, sir.”

“There is a construction site over there. Ask nicely.”

“Yes, sir.”

“All right then, fall out, get to work.”

I trotted off in the direction I was intending. The Cutie Mark Crusaders Club House. I was glad I had stayed up all night studying military commands and basic drill, it really paid off. Thank the goddesses I was able to assert myself.

I crossed Sweet Apple Acres and came upon the tree house. I heard the crusaders inside, arguing over what to do next. I entered the clubhouse and they were a little surprised. “Sunset Wonder?” spoke Apple Bloom

“The same.”

“Why are you wearin’ that funny getup?”

“This is captain’s armor. I am captain of the guard here in Ponyville.”

“We have a guard here? Since when?”

“Since today. I would like you girls to do something for me.”

“What is it?” all three girls asked excitedly.

“I would like to ask you to be my deputies, just for the day. If you don’t like it after that you can quit.”

“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS ROYAL GUARD DEPUTIES! YEAH!”

The trio ran out the door to the clubhouse and I barely caught up with them. I explained to them what they would be doing and how to help. I told them how to use their authority and how to treat the other ponies (soldiers and civilians alike). I gave them each a deputy scarf, which had come with the armor. This was going to be entertaining.

I stood watching the progress of the outpost. The work-ponies had been kind enough to let us use the materials we needed. The outpost had come along quickly. The Cutie Mark Crusaders helped build on occasion, as well as bring water. They were definitely going to be finding something they’re good at. The day passed quickly as everypony was helping build the outpost.

At sunset, the outpost was completed. I gave the guards a break and set out a volunteer sheet for the night watch. The CMC almost signed up, but I stopped them.

Yep. I was gonna love this job.

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END
(For reals this time)

All characters owned by their respective companies.

I hope ya’ll liked it. It was a joy to write.

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Dreamcaster Ponycode:
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