Chapters Dreamstrider: Tale of the Impossible
Chapter one: Dreams of the Celestial
Dreamstrider
By Alasdair Edom
Chapter one
It was a normal night, just past eleven.
As he was tucked up, I decided to gaze out my window to look at Lunas night, still in awe of how beautiful the tiny specks of light in the darkness are.
Feeling much more tired that usual, I decided to skip reading a book and go straight to bed.
I woke up the next day and called for spike to wake up, but there was no reply.
"Where is Spike anyway? He is usually up by now."
I decided to leave a note for Spike, just in case he wakes up and finds me gone... Then panics.
"Alright! All ready to go." And I opened the door to go outside... Except, this isn't Ponyville... I don't know where this is, and I don't think anywhere in Equestria looks like this...
Lacking in color, shadows being cast by the towering buildings, hardly any nature to be seen.
Where am I?
I was frozen by shock, but my curiosity pushed me forward.
"Hello Princess Twilight"
I quickly turned my head to the right, hoping to see somepony so they can explain what is going on...
Confused, I was looking everywhere for the source, for somepony to appear.
"I'm over here" The voice says with a giggle.
As I looked in front of me, what I saw was not a pony, to my shock and amazement, but a Silhouette under the looming shadow of these tall buildings.
Still being confused from being in this place alone, I stilled again in amazement and even more confusion.
With a small laugh, the shadowed figure broke the silence.
"Funny, I thought you would be able to guess who, or more interestingly what I am from a quick look. Or, did you miss that book on ancient ponylore and myths?"
Still too confused to move, I manged to ask in a polite manner, "You know my name, but I don't know yours?"
"I have more than one name, but my name is Dreamstrider at the moment." The strange silhouette replied.
"You probably have many questions, and I can answer most of them if you like."
"I..." I stuttered, regaining my ability to speak, "Where am I? Where did Ponyville go?" I said, hoping for a reasonable answer.
"Well, to be specific, you are still in your bed Twilight. In Ponyville."
Still confused, the figure continued, "You are currently asleep, and this place you are seeing is a projection of my memories in your subconscious. Not the most pleasant of places I know, next time I'll do a forest maybe? Or a field... But I digress."
Now completely confused, and regaining control of my body, I asked, "But... How?" I said in a very confused tone.
The figure softly laughed again.
"To save myself some time, Let's just say I can enter dreams just like Princess Luna can, and I can even change or choose what dream it is."
Now understanding a bit more, I ask another obvious question,
"You said earlier; 'What I am', and you kinda are a strange shape for a pony."
"I would think so, if I was I sure would be a strange shape for a human."
Human... The term bounces around my head, knowing what it is, but my brain won't accept it.
"Surprised?" He says in a friendly manner.
I just stand there with my mouth agape.
He simply just laughs again, then says, "That look, that look right there is one of the reasons why im here, and I must say, it was worth it."
"But..." I say in shock, taking another step back, "According to myth, humans are mean, deceiving and destructive creatures! And how are you here? Or in my head or, WHATEVER! Humans don't even have Magic! So how are you able to be in my mind?! This is not scientifically possible, you are not scientifically possible!"
"The same way a certain time-travelling future you turned up one day in your house?"
"How did you..." Still cautious, I step backward to retreat to my doorway.
How could he know that? Only me, my friends, Spike, and Celestia know about that...
"And we are not all like that, just most... Sadly... But as many humans there are harmful there are more that are equally idiotic, and I am neither. Just because I am human in body, does not mean that I hold humans as superior."
He says with a sound of discontent.
"In fact," he continues, "The majority of humans I hold in very low regard. But your kind, Ponies, I have a very high regard for.
"I truly envy your kind, and I wouldn't do a thing close to trying to hurt you or your friends. Or anypony else for that matter... Your world does not need to become like mine..."
Something in his voice makes be believe him, as if that he is punishing himself for already causing enough pain.
"But how do you have control over magic, and to this extent? Humans don't have the ability to control magic."
"Right you are" he says, still sounding detached.
"It was as if something out there chose me. Me , juts a standard, run of the mill guy to become this, inter-plane walking being."
"And so, over time I learned to focus magical energy with my mind, and you get whats here in front of you now, with my 'Celestial Powers ' if you like."
A little baffled of how this could have happened, I asked, "Then whats the reason for being here? And why pick me in particular?"
"Oh that's easy" He says back in his usual soft cheer, just like Pinkie.
He continues, "So, I decided to pick someone - or rather, somepony to talk to since I figured, if I can control my dreams, why not visit others? And due to me taking a liking to your kind, I decided you visit you."
"Or, to be more specific, you and your friends."
He did it again, just when I thought I was getting a grip on things, he confuses me again.
"And my friends?" I say with as much of an understanding tone I can.
"Yes, and your friends" He says with a slight laughter... Again.
"Remember that time where Pinkie duplicated herself?"
Still wondering how he knows all these experiences of mine, I still reply, "Yes I do, she duplicated herself in the miracle pond."
"It's like that, but with somewhat more control. Basically I have shards of my consciousness, all just like the real me, talking to your friends, who are also asleep."
"And I can review how the conversations went later, in a comprehensible order rather than having six mares all talking to me at once."
"Review?" I said in a curious tone, "You mean like a recording?"
"Exactly."
Well, at least I got something right.
Because he can only talk to me if i'm asleep I think...
"Can you only enter others dreams?" I asked, wondering if he can do more than just converse in other ponies dreams.
He gave a light chuckle, "No my dear Twilight, my powers stretch far beyond the Dreamworld, and then some."
Wondering what he meant, I was about to ask him, but before I could I was interrupted.
"It will be dawn very soon, and then you will wake. But before then, I want to show you something..."
What he did next was unbelievable...
In a flash of light, I saw him next hovering a few hooves off the ground, now no-longer a silhouette, but a silhouette of light! Amongst the sounds of energy flowing around hid body, I heard what sounded like suppressed yelps and cries.
Whatever is going on it must hurt a great deal. Then he fell to the ground in a muffled *thump*, no-longer glowing from whatever had been going on.
But then I saw his body...
He had changed form to a pony. To a mare!
He, or should I say, she gave another laugh and said, "There is that face again!" Still groaning a little as she got up, recovering from whatever pain she must have felt when she transformed.
"You Twilight, are massive fun to converse with."
I still stood there amazed, when she added, "I am a Colt, if you like when i'm human, but I can change forms to anything I wish, so when I became a pony, I become a mare because it suits my personality better."
"My male body is the one I was born with, but it does not match my personality, so I change to a mare instead of a colt."
"just so you don't get too confused." She added.
I try to speak but my brain is still processing this sudden event and it seems as if it is disabling my body to use its energy to try and understand this event.
She is a Pegasus, her eyes are an indescribable shade of orange mixed with red, her mane and tail stylized in similar fashion to Vinyls, and colored with white and streaks of light creamy gold, and her coat a pale cyan.
"I want you to remember this form if you could, it will be useful later."
"But the sun has risen, and you must wake now."
I regain enough composure to say "Wait!"
I wanted so dearly to ask more, but it was already too late, the city behind her was shattering to pieces, and I was inexplicably moving back into my house without using my legs.
"Until later." she said as the surrounding area shatters to pieces and I drift upstairs into my bed, and as soon as I touch the pillow, I wake.
"Ugh... That was some dream..."
I get out of bed and cry, "Spike! Spiiiiike!"
"Oh good your here, come on Spike! We have work to do!"
"Ugh..." Spike says as he gets out of bed and mumbles.
It's been a while since I woke up and it's already the afternoon. I think I will go and see what to girls are doing, I really need to take a break.
"Come on Spike! Lets go for a walk, get some fresh air and see what the girls are up to!"
Spike instantly perks up "Right! Coming!" he says as he rushed down the stairs.
I simply roll my eyes, as he jumps on my back and we go outside.
"C'mon Spike, lets go see what Rarity it doing."
On the way there we saw Cheerilee taking her class on a school trip, and Ditzy making her rounds... And misdelivering mail again.
Finally we reach Raritys Boutique and we come through the door to find a hard-working Rarity on a designer dress, probably for one of her Canterlot customers.
"Hey there Rarity! We were just dropping by for a chat." Looking at her dress she is working on, it being very complex I added, "Or if your too busy we could come by later?"
"I am a little busy, but it's always nice to have some company."
We exchanged small-talk such as the weather and events going on around town, and this continued for a while until I said, "Well, I had better be going now, see what the others are up to! Come on Spike!"
He groaned and hopped onto my back.
We decided to see if Applejack wanted to chat, or maybe needed some help.
When we got there, Applejack was Working hard as usual.
She was clearly working hard, and I didn't want to impede on her day, so I offered to help.
"Hey Applejack, looks like you could use a hoof."
Not wanting to get in her way, I decided it might be nice to meet up with everyone in their spare time.
"Tha sounds... Great sugarcube, after this here field... I'll be done for the day."
"Great!" I replied.
We agreed on a place to meet up, and I was off.
We did all the usual things, talked about things that happened at work, and sharing stories over a late lunch.
Then Rainbow said, "I had the wiiierdest dream last night..."
Applejack added on, "Like tha time you saved the Wonderbolt's from and evil mage that wanted to ruin every Wonderbolt's performance in Equestria?"
Everyone laughed. Rainbow continued on and said, "No, this one was weird, just plain weird"
"I woke up in my room, as normal, when I head a knocking at the door. Pretty convenient that somepony would knock as soon as I wake."
"So I opened the door and there was nopony there. So decided to see if they had flown off when I was that i wasn't high in the sky... Instead my house was perched on top of a huuuuge grey, towering building."
That's odd... That sound like my dream...
"And in the shadow of objects on the roof I saw a weird silhouette, and it told me all sorts of weird stuff. Like how it was a human , and he was bored and wanted somepony to talk to."
The whole table went quiet... She had the same dream... Just in different places of that city...
"I had that same dream too..." I quietly replied
"So did I!" Rarity replied, "I did too." Fluttershy said in her gentle voice. "And I did too!" Pinkie Pie said in her happy tone, and Applejack, "Say what now? We all had the same dream?"
"Don't be pulling my wings here, we can't have had all the same dream, right Twilight?" Rainbow asked.
"Twilight?"
"I don't know how, but we did..." I replied, still quiet trying to understand it all.
"I don't know... But do you all remember what she looked like? As a Pony? She said it was important somehow."
"Yeah," Rainbow said, "He said that it might be important later."
Fluttershy replied, "A Pegasus"
Then we heard it.
That friendly, strong but gentle voice...
"Hello girls."
Dreamstrider.
Author's Note
This is chapter one of Dreamstrider: Tale of the impossible, and it is my first attempt at writing a story... Ever.
So if you have any thoughts of how I could improve the story I would love to know. But for me, the simple fact that you are actually reading this is a massive compliment, so thanks!
Dreamstrider: Tale of the Impossible
Chapter two: Making friends
Chapter two
The whole table went silent...
"You mentioned me?" She said with a laugh.
She was exactly how she looked in the dream... But who has that kind of power? It's one thing to enter somepony else's dreams, but it's another to travel to a parallel universe and physically manifest yourself in it, at the same time, is close to impossible.
Only the highest of the highest level of magical understanding ponies would even think about doing such a thing!
"Yes Twilight, it is near impossible. But it is possible."
How did she?.. "How... You just read my mind!"
"Well, being advanced in magics concerning the mind, it was quite easy to do. But it takes up a great deal of energy and I could only do it for a few moments."
"Are y'all seeing this? Or am I going crazy?" Applejack asked, probably wondering if she was still dreaming.
"And greetings to you too, Rarity, and to you too, Pinkie! And to, Rainbow, and all of you!
"Since as I was quite rude just moments ago, I apologize for scaring you all like that, and for the confusion I caused last night.
"Seeing as you're all having lunch, could I sit in? Travelling to a parallel universe is quite a shock on the body, and I am kinda feeling a bit dizzy." She says, clearly off-balance.
Seeing no real downside to this, I accepted her request and she pulled over a seat.
After a few seconds of awkward silence, I asked, "So how were you able to travel here? Being a human and all?"
Not that anypony who was listening to us would understand us referring to her as 'human', after all, she is a pony now and i'm not sure how long it will last and whether if it's permanent.
"Oh that's quite simple," she said, "I trained until I was able to focus enough energy to be able to teleport to as far as I can see. And I had to train until I could use telekinesis without much effort at all, so when the time came, I could use these two abilities together and attach myself to this world, like an anchor with the telekinesis, and then pull myself here along the "rope", if you like, that the anchor had left behind.
"To put it visually anyway."
Being quite fascinated by this visual approach to explaining magic, I asked, "How did you train? After all no human has used magic before that I know of."
She replied, "It was a big hill to climb since, as you say, no human has ever been able use magic before.
"I had to practice how to control and focus magic without any books or teachers, by what means? Any way I could.
"Even if that meant focusing on a tiny pebble for an hour to try and get a grip on it."
She continued on,"After the initial 'How do I control magic' milestone, it just became a thing of practicing every day to improve.
"But, humans being humans, we also had no shortage of speculation of what you could do with magic, and it turns out, most of it is true! So thinking of what to challenge myself with next was no problem."
"So you had theories on what magic is and what it can do?" I asked, genuinely curious of what kind of theories humans have on magic considering they have no control over magic... Besides Dreamstrider.
"Everypony loves a good story, and magic for humans is one of those things that seems absolutely fantastical, so when it comes to making an impossible story that's still comprehensible, magic is one of those things that allows for impossible things to happen in an understandable manner while allowing for complete flexibility.
"Since humans don't have magic it's not really one of those things that we have any rules of what it can and can't do.
"I simply just test the stories to the best of my ability."
"And amazing progress you've made too! Even with books to help somepony learn, what you I have seen you do so far would have been incredibly difficult, and you have taught yourself!" I said, amazed that somepony could teach themselves with no books to help them learn to travel between worlds, and change forms to a completely different species!
"I honestly didn't find it that difficult, I just keep training until I was able to be here. And thank you, I didn't think It would be getting any compliments when I came here."
I was baffled, after all, why would anypony think that they wouldn't get noticed with abilities like hers?
I took the opportunity to ask her more about the human culture, "Why not? You clearly have talent, I don't see why anypony wouldn't want to compliment somepony with skill such as yours.
"Do ponies not get compliments very often where you come from?"
Dreamstrider gave a light giggle, "Nah, where I come from, ponies - or in my language, people, get just as many compliments.
"Iv'e just taught myself to think, "Never expect much, so when you fall you don't feel bad, and when things go your way, you feel all the more achievement.""
"That's a good sayin' there." Applejack said.
Funny, the only ponies to really talk since Dreamstrider's arrival are me, and Applejack.
So I decided to try and get the others involved in the conversation.
"So, Dreamstrider, why be a Pegasus? You could have been anypony, so why a Pegasus in particular? Why not... Be an Alicorn for example?"
"Mainly because that although being an Alicorn would reflect my magical ability, it would draw attention to me and I don't really like bragging too much.
"Why be a Pegasus? Because... Let's just say there are stories of your kind where I come from, and there was a story about Rainbow Dash..."
Rainbow immediately took interest, even though she didn't say anything.
"After reading it, I didn't want to be any other race because it was so... Touching? It really left it's mark on my life and I decided to become a Pegasus because, why not?"
Still not saying anything, Rainbow was paying close attention to the conversation, no doubt to the mention of her being in a story , and a touching one at that.
But I decided to ask an obvious question, "But now your a Pegasus, you won't be able to cast anymore magic... Will you?"
She laughed at this and replied, "That's a good question, but no, I can still cast magic.
She continued, "Unlike the way normal pony races work, I can retain my magical ability no matter what race I am."
"I really have no idea how it works though, it just... Does." She says with another giggle.
"Oh yes, on the subject of Pegasi, I... Um..."
Everyone is now looking at her with curiosity as a long silence ensued.
"I... Don't know how to fly."
Everyone had a smile on their lips, and Rainbow even chuckled a bit.
"Unfortunately, wings don't come with an instruction manual... But..."
Now looking at Rainbow she said, "But I am sitting at a table with one of the most talented flyers in Equestria.
Rainbow, back to her normal self, quickly flew a few feet off the ground and said, "One of the most? I'm probably the most talented flyer in all of Equestria!"
After a few brief poses she states, "I don't know why i'm not a Wonderbolt already!"
"Then" Dreamstrider said, "I would humbly ask that the most talented flyer in all of Equestria help me learn to use these things on my back." She says poking one of her wings with her hoof.
Everyone giggles a little and Rainbow replies, "I'll think about it, after all, I can't just take anypony under my wing."
"You can think as long as you want, i'm not going anywhere." She says flopping her wings.
This makes everypony laugh.
"Your really funny Dreamstrider!" Pinkie says, "I think were going to be good friends!"
As pinkie tightly hugs Dreamstrider, she manages to speak "That... Would be great!"
"Ok i'm done!" Pinkie says as she lets go of her.
As Dreamstrider catches her breath she remembers, "Oh feathers!.. I think that's the correct term?"
"I just realized I have nowhere to stay... Are there any Inns or Hotels I could stay at? Oh wait... They cost money... I need to get a job too... Never thought of that."
Everypony looked at one another, wondering who would be able to accommodate Dreamstrider.
After all, we can't leave her out in the open with nowhere to go...
"You can stay at the Library, with me.
"And it would be nice to have an extra assistant..."
She instantly perked up and quickly replied, "Oh thank you Twilight! I promise I won't get in your way, and I'll help too!"
"There is no need to thank me, just friends helping friends!"
She looked at the table and quietly repeated what I said, "Friends... "
Then it hit me...
"Oh... I'm sorry... I didn't realize..."
"It's fine Twilight... They are all choices I made, and I will stand by them."
She managed to pull herself together and say, "But it's nice to think there are ponies who consider me their friend...
"I didn't have many back home, and they were few and far apart."
We all sit in silence for a while until Rarity says, "Well now you have some friends to depend on!"
She added, "And since you have just arrived here, I will simply have to make you some attire, when ponies figure out who you are, no doubt they will, your going to need to attend some important meetings.
"And you simply can't go to a proper meeting without some impressive attire. And I would be willing to make you a few outfits, free of charge!"
Dreamstrider replies, "That would be greatly appreciated, although I don't want to get under anyponies - uh- Hooves here, I will graciously accept your offer."
And with that they both smiled, but it was getting late, and Celestia's Sun was going down soon, and Luna's night shall rule the sky again.
"Alright everypony, it's getting dark now so let's get some rest for tomorrow." I said.
"Oh, before I go..." Dreamstrider said.
She approached Fluttershy, and Fluttershy shied away her face in her hair as Dreamstrider said, "Even though you didn't speak, might I say it was lovely meeting you."
Fluttershy blushed, barely visible under her flowing pink mane.
"And... And you too..." She replied.
"And it was nice meeting all of you, in person. And thank you for accepting me, I didn't think that anypony would be this friendly to me here."
"Aw sugarcube, was a' pleasure meetin you too Strider'." Applejack said as she tipped her hat to Dreamstrider.
"I guess i'm coming with you Twilight?"
I nodded.
On the way to the Library, I said, "Princess Celestia will be fascinated with you being here!"
Dreamstrider gave a tired smile, "Could you leave that to tomorrow? Celestia will probably want to talk to me more-or-less immediately and I am quite the tired mare."
"Your probably right, I'll leave it to tomorrow."
"But I notice you smirk when you say things like, 'Everypony', you must have different words for yourself in your world."
"Definitely, but I'm still getting used to using this 'Pony' terminology I guess you would call it. And I honestly prefer it, it makes saying everyday words all the more colorful."
We both smile, and eventually make it to the library.
"Sorry that I don't have an extra bed out, We don't usually get visitors. But there are a few spare mattresses around here somewhere..." I say apologetically.
"It's fine. I didn't even think that I would need somewhere to stay this morning. I was just so caught up in the fact that I actually made it here I didn't think about all of the obvious things like this."
She continues, "I also didn't think about the fact I don't know how to use my wings."
We both laughed.
"Come to think of it... Where's Spike?"
"Here Twilight!" Spike says
"You have been rather quiet lately, and where were you at the table? I didn't see you." I said, wondering where Spike was when Dreamstrider arrived at lunch.
"When Dreamstrider appeared, I decided to hide under the table when everyone reacted the way they did." Spike admitted.
I saw Dreamstrider smile out of the corner of my eye.
"And you were under the table the whole time? Silly Spike, you must have been really uncomfortable." I said
"I was fine, but whats the big deal with Dreamstrider anyway? I heard you mention her being a human, but thats just silly right?" Spike asked.
"It's a long story spike, I'll tell you later." I said, "Or maybe you will find out tonight."
I gave a soft smile to Dreamstrider, and she smiled back.
"Ah," I say, "Here are the mattresses!"
As I struggle to get one out of the cupboard, I hear Dreamstrider say, "Let be help."
I feel less struggle from the mattress and I see it float through to room to the floor behind me, controlled by the soft glow of telekinesis.
"So you can use magic!"
"Yes," She replies, "But..."
She continues, "A mattress is a simple ordeal, but since I have also traveled to a parallel universe and changed my actual race, I am quite the exhausted... Mare...
"So that's why... I found that a little difficult..." She says clearly exhausted now, so I grab a blanket and place it on the matress.
"What that?" Spike says from halfway down the stairs.
"Nothing Spike, let's get ready for bed." I say, "Come on Dreamstrider, let's get some sleep."
She nods sleepily and head for the bed.
I turn out the lights and say, "Goodnight Spike, goodnight Dreamstrider."
"Goodnight Twilight."
I wonder how she will fare tonight...
Author's Note
The second chapter of my first story, I am quite amateurish to this writing thing so if you spot any mistakes, lack of continuity or just general ideas of how I could improve the story please do comment. :)
Dreamstrider: Tale of the Impossible
Chapter three: Morning adventures
Chapter three
The next morning I woke up and looked at the clock. "9:30." I whisper to myself.
I quietly get out of bed and turn to the stairs to go downstairs for breakfast, not wanting to wake the others.
Then something catches my attention, out of the corner of my eye I see Dreamstrider... Except I can see what look like specks of dust in the sunlight around her... But she isn't in the sunlight...
On closer inspection, they appear to be softly glowing, and Dreamstider has what looks like a very faded cloud around her colored in all the colors of the rainbow.
"Beautiful." I whisper to myself, in awe of this aura she has around her... "Interesting... I wonder if this is 'normal' for her... " I quietly say to myself.
I make my way downstairs and put together some breakfast, by the time i'm finished I hear somepony waking up.
It's probably Dreamstrider considering Spike doesn't usually get up until around 10:30.
I see Dreamstrider come down the stairs, making as little noise as a grain of sand would dropped on the beach.
"Good morning Twilight." she whispers with a smile.
"Good morning Dreamstrider, did you sleep well?" I reply with a smile.
"Defiantly, remember I told you that whenever I sleep, it's always the same thing of making things up in my head until I wake up?"
I nod.
"Well I tried something new last night to try and get some normal sleep, and it worked!"
I gave a quiet laugh, "I noticed."
"Oh?" She said, "How?"
"When I woke up, I saw you sleeping with little specks of light around you and surrounded in a rainbow cloud."
She giggled a little, "It sounds like quite the sight."
"It was." I said as we sat to have breakfast.
"This is new." Dreamstrider said.
"What do you mean?" I asked, puzzled.
"Well..." She said, looking at the hay in front of her, "It's the first time I have eaten as a pony... And Iv'e never eaten hay before.... Then again, Iv'e only been here for a day."
I gave a small giggle, "What kinds of things do humans eat?"
"Lot's of different things, but we tend to not eat hay." She said, "Might be interesting to see what it tastes like."
She continues on, "At least we are used to eating plants."
"I do have other things if you like..." I say, wondering if she would rather have something else.
"It's fine." She said, "It will be an adventure in itself tasting these new types of food."
We both smiled and Dreamstrider ate some hay and muttered, "Huh, not bad."
She laughed a little, and I smiled back.
She had just finished breakfast and we could hear Spike waking up, "Whoa... huh? Twilight?"
"We're down here Spike." I replied.
"Hey Spike." Dreamstrider said as Spike walked down the stairs.
"Hey." He replied in a drowsy voice.
"Did you sleep well?" I said.
"Yeah, but I had a really weird dream, It's was like... Kinda like if I tought of something it would kinda just... Appear... Not really very interesting and it seemed to go on forever. " He says with a groan.
I looked at Dreamstrider in a questioning look.
"OK, so maybe my method still needs a bit of work."
We both laugh, leaving Spike looking confused. I said to Spike, "It's fine Spike, just a little mistake."
He shrugged and got himself some breakfast.
After Dreamstrider had finished her breakfast she went upstairs to make her bed, along with ours, "I had better start earning my keep!" She said with a slight laugh.
After she was upstairs, which took some doing, not entirely sure why, Spike sat at the table and asked, "So whats this little 'Mistake' that you mentioned?"
I groan, "You really weren't playing attention to the conversation yesterday, were you?"
Spike shuffled a little in his seat and replied in a slightly guilty tone, "Well I was kinda... Eating lunch at the time..."
I just sigh, "Is food all you pay attention to?"
"Well, now you mention it..."
We both laugh a bit, then we hear Dreamstrider from upstairs.
"Hey Spike, wanna see something awesome? " Dreamstrider said with a hint of excitement.
"Umm, sure?" Spike replied, not too sure how else to answer at this time in the morning.
"Kay, just let me get downstairs..." Slowly walking downstairs, as if trying not to trip... Come to think of it, she did take a little while to get up the stairs last-night...
"You okay Dreamstrider?" I asked.
"Yeah fine, just gimme... A... Sec... There!" She said as she reached the bottom of the staircase.
"Okay, that something cool... Probably the middle of the room will do." She said as she almost skipped her way to the center of the room.
"What are you planning to do Dreamstrider?" I said in a confused tone.
"How did Trixie put it?.. Prepare to be amazed!" She said in a burst of laughter.
I rolled my eyes hearing that line.
"Heh, well come to think of it... I have no idea whether this will work or if i'll just end up as a slightly well-baked mare..."
Confused and worried by this statement I tried to protest, but she spoke before I could get a word in.
"Oh well, as that guy said, ALLONS-Y!"
Then there was a gather up of magic light around her, then a flash and it was all over.
"YEAH! NOW THAT'S A WAKE-UP CALL!" He shouted, I can already guess what he did.
"A few of my more feminine parts of bone structure are different, but besides that I think i'm about the same! SUCCESS!"
Spike at this point was rubbing his eyes trying make sense of this, but I already knew what he had done. For starters, he was just showing off by now, and secondly, why change genders?.. Again.
"What just happened?" Spike asked, dizzy with confusion.
"You... Woah..." Dreamstrider attempted to speak, but was dizzy from the gender-change.
"You have just witnessed awesomeness... And I think I won't change back for a while... I'm really dizzy..." There was a loud *smack* as Dreamstriders face made contact with the floor.
"Ow..."
"What are you doing down there?" I said in a playful tone, probably more so than I intended.
"Saying hello to the floor. Could I have a hoof here?" He asked, unable to get up on his own I helped him onto his feet and assisted him to a chair.
"Thanks Twilight." He said, then turning his attention to spike, "And THAT'S an explanation of what the girls were talking about yesterday!"
"Wait, -wha-, how, huh?!" Spike was now completely confused, "Your a Pegasus! How did you-?!"
"I got some of that shiny magic in me, perhaps a bit more that you would think." He said proudly, although struggling to not stammer from the exhaustion of magic she had just been through.
Spike was just looking at him and trying to make sense of this, I mean, that's what I did when he did the same right?
Dreamstrider remarked, "I think the words in the back of your mind go somewhere along the lines of, 'Well, that escalated quickly.'"
I face-hoof and was wondering what the point to all that was, "Dreamstrider, what was the point in wasting your magic reserves doing a gender change... Again. "
"Well," He started, "A: Because it's a quick explanation of what half of Spikes questions were going to be.
"B: Because I wanted to see if I could do it, and C:.."
"And C?" I asked.
"Uh.. Nevermind, there is no C..." He was clearly blushing now and the thought of asking why skimmed through my head, but I avoided asking, I didn't want to know.
"Fine, but now you have bedazzled Spike with your magic-trick over there he is going to be like that for an hour."
"Hey, give me some credit, you may be an Alicorn, but it would still be hard to do a gender-change spell."
"Yes it would, but I don't have any reason to." I say in a I-don't-really-care-right-now way.
"Yeah, your right, but I think I will go out soon, get to know town and maybe see if Rainbow Dash is about."
I give him a questioning look,
"What? I was going to ask her if she would teach me to fly."
"Fine, just don't go causing any disturbances, last thing we need is everypony disliking the newcomer." I advised him.
"Hey Twilight, everything is fine, i'm not stupid enough to go around and walk-up to the nearest pony and tell them their life story..."
I raise an eyebrow, "You could do that?"
"Well, maybe not their whole life story, just a great chunk of it that's all." He gave an innocent smile.
"Maybe one day you will tell be just how you know everything about everypony?"
"Maybe, but I don't know whether that will make you an enlightened being that can bend space and time, or if it will cause this reality to implode, or if it does nothing."
I let out a confused "Huh?" before Dreamstrider continues, "Don't worry, it's all under control."
"But anyway, do you know if anypony will be awake at this time?"
I look at the clock, "It's 11:15 so there might be a few ponies out and about," I say, "But if you want to see Rainbow then you might have to wait for a while, she tends to get up late and I don't know if she will be in the mood to teach you how to fly."
"Heh, yeah she will probably be a little drowsy, but we'll see whether or not she will be up for it today."
"But it would be nice to see if I can make some friends, and maybe I can start with Rainbow." He says with a hint of excitement
"Go ahead, but don't go running off into the Everfree Forest, it's dangerous in there." I warn Dreamstrider.
"Yeah, I won't. But honestly, I think the reason why the Everfree is feared is because when some mythological creature wrecks Ponyville you stuff it in the the Everfree."
I shoot him a disapproving look.
"Hey, I'm just saying..." Dreamstrider says as he retreats, "Who knows how many parasprites are in the Everfree since you rolled that ball of them in there?"
I have had just about my fill of this knowing-everything thing. And I STILL can't get a answer out of him.
"Dreamstrider, you are really creeping me out with all these things you know about me, my friends and... Well... Everything!
"So could you please tone it down a little on the past experiences stuff?"
"Oh... Yeah, sorry..." His ears flop a little and he looks at the floor before perking up and saying, "Well, I had better get going, and you probably want some space from this insane know-it-all pony."
He was just about to open the door when he asked, "Oh, and where is Dash likely to take her nap? Just in-case I miss her while she is still conscious."
I giggle a little and reply, "Probably the park, but no promises. And if you can't find her, just ask somepony until you find her."
"Thanks." She says as she struggles a little with the door-handle, but eventually gets it.
"Heh... Anyway, see-ya later!" He says as he waves to me.
I wave back and he closes the door.
Well, he or is it she? GAH! Dreamstrider has gone out so I guess I should get to my studies... And I have to write that letter to the Princess, I should probably get that done now while its fresh in my mind.
"Come on Spike, snap out of it, you've seen weirder things." I say as I wave my hoof in front of his face.
"Huh?.. Oh... Yeah, sure."
I shake my head, but then again, wasn't this somewhat like my reaction to Dreamstriders first transformation?
Why is it that I trust Dreamstrider so much? We only met yesterday and it's already like I know Dreamstrider as a room-mate or something. Oh well, as long as it isn't a bad thing I suppose it's nothing to worry about.
Never mind, I need to get that letter done to the Princess.
"*Yawn* Wow, I may be called Dreamstrider but that doesn't mean that I can't get tired." I say to myself as I make my way to what I assume to be the town square.
"Hmm, I could go and see if there is a coffee shop somewhere, but how will I pay? I don't have a job... Well, I could always make a few bits here just this once, I mean, no-pony is going to notice a picture-perfect Bit coin as a magically summoned... Err, forgery? I don't think that is really the proper term to use here but that's what it feels like right now. "
"I don't think doing it this one time will cause any long-term problems."
This. One. Time. I Think to myself, since I always 'Cheated' in video games get more money.
I find a nearby shade of a house and use whats left of my magic reserves to make 15 Bit coins in a bag.
"I really need to be careful when I do that... I'm getting dizzy again..." I steady myself against the building and then realise that I have no saddlebags to put my money in.
"Oh d-."
No. No swearing in human expressions here. Period.
"Oh ponyfeathers."
"There, that's better... More or less, but I still need somewhere to put my money... AHA! "
I zap the bag with my magic and a long cord appears around it.
"Lucky that didn't use too much energy, but now I carry the bag around my neck!"
I revel in this small victory, because I could really take as many of those as I can.
"Heh, now i'm starting to sound like Rainbow Dash. "
I put the bag around my neck and make my way to the town center so I can start my search for a decent café.
I approach the Town Hall, "Let's see, here is the town hall and this is pretty much the best place to start looking so..."
I cut myself off and mentally slap myself because i'm doing things the hard way again.
Just ask somepony where the nearest café is. no need to become a Daring Doo of city streets. Oh look there's Roseluck at her stall, perhaps she might know. Just play it cool and don't act like a smart-ass Dreamstrider.
I approach Roseluck, almost having her stall fully setup, "Hello there."
"Dammit Dreamstrider, that was bad to the point of downright creepy. Please don't notice, please don't notice... "
"Why hello there, iv'e almost finished setting-up my stall but feel free to look around!" Said Roseluck in a sweet, cheery voice.
"Actually, i'm kinda new here and I was wondering if help me with something."
"DAMMIT! That could have been a better choice of words. "
"Oh? And what would that be?" She asked.
Man I really have got to stop thinking like this is Earth, people here don't take every poor choice of words as an idicator that your just some-
"No, i'm not finishing that thought, just answer the question. "
"I was wondering if there is a coffee shop in town, I kinda got up early for me and I need a boost."
"Oh, you'll be wanting Buzzing Beans, they do the best coffee in Ponyville!" She said with another beaming smile, "To get there you just need to continue down to the left of Sugarcube corner over there, and you will see it eventually on your right."
"Thank you very much." I say in a polite tone.
"You say your new here? My name's Roseluck, whats yours?" Roseluck exclaims as I am about to go, I knew she was a beautiful as her roses, but I never imagined that her beauty would be so hard to pull away from.
I mean just look at those eyes!
"My name is Dreamstrider, nice to meet you Roseluck." I say in a weird way, I used to do this a few years back when I wanted someone to think I wasn't a complete twat but at the same time I didn't want to talk in the first place, but I tried my best to put on a smile for the beautiful mare.
"Well, nice to meet you Dreamstrider, are you staying long in town or just passing by?"
"Dammit, those eyes are just too much like jewels to ignore, some people will just say she is another pretty mare, but meeting her in person is another thing. Its like there are stars in her eyes... And why am I talking to myself?! *sigh*, I guess that's why I chose the name "Dreamstrider". Come on man, focus for a few minutes. "
I figured I might as well make myself not seem like a grump, so I muster all my friendly abilities and answer her question.
"Living here with a friend." I say with more of a convincing cheer than I thought I could muster, "Had some troubles back where I used to live, so one of my friends gave me a place to crash and I landed here, and it is a very nice place."
"Sounds like quite the trip."
"If you only knew... "
"But listen to me ramble, you will probably want to go have your coffee now. Maybe we will see some more of one-another in the future!" She says with a grin at the end, almost like the way Colgate does.
"Looking forward to it! C'ya!" I say with a slight wave.
"Bye!" She returns my wave tenfold.
I started walking towards Sugarcube corner, then taking a left to go down the neighboring street.
While on the lookout for the elusive dragons hoard known as Buzzing Beans, I found myself doing one of my trademark habits... I was talking to myself.
"Well that was an interesting encounter, and she was very helpful. I mean, I knew ponies were nice and all, but that was something else... And why am I surprised about this? I knew that she would help me, almost all ponies are nice, but then why did I think she would just try to get rid of me? Too much time spent on earth I guess... But she was beautiful. I mean, her eyes were literally sparkling! I mean, she was pretty, but not really attractive, she was just really cute -"
At that point I actually noticed I was thinking out loud and decided to stop before anyone heard me talk about things like 'How pretty Roseluck is', because I really don't need that right now.
Just then, my eyes widened, and I let out an adorable *Squee* sound, for I had found it... And it was beautiful.
"Buzzing Beans! "
Before I could celebrate further, the smell of delightful and exotic blends of coffee wafted up my nose.
"Coffee is one of my biggest weaknesses, and I love it! " I thought to myself and I opened the door to the shop.
There were a few other ponies inside, sipping on coffee and talking about whatever happens in this town.
The decor was just like any other high-quality coffee shop, there were photos in frames of Italian buildings, although i'm not sure what the Equestrian term for 'Italy" is, there were expensive pieces of modern art on shelves, and most of the place was a delightful brown to match the coffee.
The whiteboard behind the counter that listed all the variations of coffee was a little hard to read, to be expected due to different influences in writing methods, but thankfully the coffee names were the same.
"Hello there, welcome to Buzzing Beans!" Said a golden brown unicorn mare who's mane was a lovely cream with a slightest hint of brown, and her coat shimmered with an incredible gold.
She was literally a cappuccino.
"What can I get you this fine morning?" I couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm, she obviously loved coffee as much as her appearance makes out.
"I would like a medium cappuccino with a little less milk than normal please." I said, being careful not to sound really picky because that's not something I want to labelled as.
"Sure thing, lemme guess... Two brown sugars and a cinnamon dusting?"
"Oooh, Iv'e always liked people who can do that. And that's exactly what I want too."
"Yep, thanks." I should probably acknowledge her ability rather than dismiss it, "And nice skill you got there, not many ponies can do that."
She was beaming at the fact her little skill is being acknowledged, "You mean about the coffee? Yeah, it's just something that comes naturally, I always had a knack for knowing what people want."
"Hey, your new here aren't you?" She exclaimed as she started making the liquid of the gods that is coffee.
"Yeah, just moved down here to stay with a friend." I say, sticking to the story I told Roseluck, "Troubles back home, so a friend of mine gave me somewhere to crash."
"Oh? May I ask where you used to live?"
Damn, hadn't covered that bit. Come on man, think, think...
"Fillydelphia."
"Ah I see, getting away from the city eh?" She said in an understanding tone.
"Yeah, the city life gets to you one way or the other."
"Interesting... Ah!" She exclaims as the coffee maker started flowing and put the coffee together as if she was dancing.
"Here you are, that's three bits please!" She said with a smile as she placed the wonderful substance on the counter.
Reaching into the corded bag around my neck, I pulled out three bits with my mouth, which was somewhat of a challenge, and placed them in the counter.
"Thanks! Enjoy your coffee!" She said as another customer walked into the shop.
Daring not to spill this wonderful liquid, I looked around to see if anypony was watching, and I hovered the mug over my hoof but low enough so no-pony would notice, and sat down on one of the lovely sofas and began to sip my coffee.
And it was amazing.
Author's Note
This took a little longer than I expected it would to get out, but i'm trying my best to make these at a steady rate!
As usual, constructive criticism is welcome!
Dreamstrider: Tale of the Impossible
Chapter four: Caffeine and the mind
Chapter four
I let out an indulgent "Ahhhh", as I finish the amazing cappuccino and the few granules of coffee at the bottom.This coffee is way better than the stuff i'm used to, is there anything that isn't perfect today? "
Just as I think that thought, the one thing I didn't expect to happen, happened.
Now usually, when you challenge the universe it makes everything worse, but this time it did the opposite... I hope.
I see her walk up to the counter and order something, an americano no less, is something up? Or she just had a rough night? Or is that just the coffee she likes?
I am really over-thinking, it must be the coffee kicking in.
Then, all rational thought was crushed by the fanatic brony in the back of my head.
"That is the Lyra Hearstrings over there! What are you doing sitting on your ass, strike up a conversation! How many people get the chance to meet not the voice actor, not the character designer, but the Lyra Heartstrings! "
I hate to say it, but the little fan-boy/girl at the back of my head was right, who has that kinda opportunity? I'll tell you who.
"But how to get her attention? I can't just waltz up to her without a reason, and even then, what reason is good enough so I don't just get get told to go away for being a nuisance... "
If she was anything like the Lyra I think she is, I know exactly how to get her attention.
Activate mode - Professor Dreamstrider, lead researcher of the history of humans in Ponyville.
She had just sat down next to one of the coffee tables in front of me, considering i'm at the back, all the tables are in front of me.
I mentally laugh at that name, because it couldn't be any more truthful.
Here goes...
I approach the table with all my imaginary playing cards being set up perfectly and able to win in any situation.
I try to do my best impression of a professor, and I must say, it was pretty poor. It sounded just like me, the only different thing was I was being polite rather than care-free.
"Uh hello? Is your name Lyra Heartsrtings by any chance?" Now i'm turning into a Fluttershy clone.
"Yes I am, although I don't think I have met you?" She says in her easily definable voice, and my fan-boy/girl at the back of my head was now hyperventilating.
I suppress that part of me, and continue with the conversation, treating it as if something of great importance was at stake and that I had to prevail.
"Ah, of course." I say in my polite really-trying-hard-not-to-be-informal voice, "My name is Dreamstrider, head researcher of Human History in Ponyville."
I struggled with the last bit considering this is Lyra, and she will know everything human related going on in this town. But I have a cover-story.
It had better work.
She had raised an eyebrow as she asked the thing I knew she would want to know, "Head researcher on humans in Ponyville? I didn't even know that we even had ponies researching humans here."
Please work cover-story.
"Neither did I until I moved here recently from Fillydelphia." I say in the most convincing voice I could muster, which to say is actually quite good considering.
"I'm also technically the only researcher on humans in Ponyville, I just prefer the title that comes with it.
"Since I live and work at the library, the librarian here knew my background as a researcher in the rather obscure subject of humans, and encouraged me to continue my work as I was one of the very few ponies who knew any decent amount about humans in Equestria."
If I had fingers right now they would be crossed behind my back.
She looked analytically at me, no doubt to me not looking anything like a typical professor, but after a few seconds she lit up, and I now knew that this was the Lyra I am familiar with.
"That's great! I do research into humans myself." She said as she gestured to the seat on the other side of the table she was at.
I graciously accepted the seat and continued with the conversation at hand,
"Indeed, that is why Twilight, the librarian, mentioned you a few days ago and I have kept a vigilant eye out for a fellow researcher."
This is now the second time I have seen Colgate's signature smile, I guess I just have that effect on ponies.
I inwardly roll my eyes at that thought, just as the ecstatic Lyra in front of me began to speak again.
If I could see my inner fan-boy/girl right now, I would imagine they would look somewhat like Lyra right now.
"This is brilliant! I never thought anypony would take Humans seriously, let-alone somepony in Ponyville!"
Just as she finished that sentence though, her expression took an almost full 180 degrees with her head slumped down and her ears had lost their springy composure.
"Although, I think i'm the only one in town who will take you seriously, everypony else thinks i'm just a fanatic mare in love with kindergarten stories."
I instantly went into supportive mode, and almost jumped out of the character I had set for myself.
I placed a hoof on her shoulder and looked at her eyes, but very softly, and said, "Come now Lyra, Humans are barely Kindergarten stories, and you and me know that at the very least they existed in Equestria at one point in history."
I continued on as Lyra looked up and her ears began to regain their original composure, turns out i'm good at this stuff.
"If there is one thing I have learned in my, admittedly, short life, is that you should never give up, and you never know, the answer could be as far away as your mirror."
I gave a weak smile and gave Lyra an assertive shake on the shoulder.
"Thanks." She said in a depressed tone, "It's just hard sometimes because everypony thinks i'm just wasting my time with these silly stories."
Wow.
I knew it must have been hard for Lyra to keep on this determination to prove humans are real, but I never knew it got to her this much.
"Come on Lyra, you can't let them get to you." I say, trying to be as supportive as I can.
"If you want to find the truth about anything , you need to stay strong and trust in your friends.
"What about your marefriend, Bon Bon?"
She just gives something between a chuckle and a laugh.
"She's hardly my marefriend." She says, "We really quite distant friends, and she isn't interested or supportive either."
I almost let my eyes widen.I thought she had a marefriend? Bon-Bon as her marefriend at that... "
This is odd, iv'e been right about everything so far, maybe there are just some oddities in this universe?
"Maybe... Maybe she hasn't bonded with her yet? Maybe they just haven't fallen in love yet ?"
"Oh, i'm sorry, I must have mis-heard part of a conversation I had with Twilight." Hopefully that works...
"It's fine." She says in a detached manner,
I return a smile and we have a chat about humans for around 45 minutes.
Mainly I fall back to 'Ancient history books', or 'Archeology' to explain my proof behind it all.
But it was just past 1:00pm, and I would like to see Rainbow Dash sometime today.
"Oh, look at the time!" I exclaim, "I would love to talk some more, but I have an important appointment to attend.
"Maybe we can meet-up again sometime?" I say with a truthful smile.
"Oh, of course!" She says with a matching smile, "I need to do some shopping too, so maybe we will bump into one another sometime again!"
As we rise from our seats, I say in a rather respective tone, "Of that, I am sure." As I giver her a slight bow.
She blushes as I smile and make my way to the door.
I take a deep breath of the cool but refreshing air outside, filling my lungs with the wonderful freshness that the temperature produces.
I am really looking forward to flying with Dash... Or at least try to.
"Just don't call her Dashie, she hates it. " I laugh to myself.
"It's kinda cute the reaction she has when someone calls her 'Dashie', even more cute than she already is if you can believe that. "
Just listen to me, I already have a crush on someone after being here for one day. One day.
But is having a crush such a bad thing?.. I don't know.... I just don't know...
But what I do know is my legs are trying to get me somewhere, and I am wandering mindlessly.
I start making my way back to the town hall, my mind still fixated on Rainbow Dash.
"GAH!" I shout in the middle of the street, now I have over five ponies looking at me like they just heard a gunshot.
"Oh sweet Celestia! Pull. It. Together." I think to myself, "She is beautiful, and she is more attractive than she has any business being, but come on man, focus! "
I try to reason to myself, "I don't care if your attracted to Dash or not, if you can't focus - If I can't focus, then I might not even get a damn FLYING LESSON! LET ALONE GET HER ROMANTIC FREAKING ATTENTION!!!"
I almost shout out loud the last couple of words, I am angry with myself for not being able to think straight.
Or to be more precise, I cant get myself to make up to myself, it's like my left and right brain are having an argument inside my head, and it's ticking me off.
It's like a boxing match, except my brain are Blue and Red, and i'm the referee getting ignored as thing spiral out of control.
"JUST STOP IT!!!" I shout in my head, seemingly getting the attention of both idiotic halves of my brain, "If you can't focus, if I can't focus, and I get angry, YOU KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN! "
This seems to momentarily work as the bickering stops... Then my brain decides to go "Oh yeah, lets think of all the possibilities of what will happen if I lose it.".
I am used to this, but it doesn't get any easier.
Having the amount of power I do, if my primal anger were to take over...
It. Would. Not. Be. Pretty.
I would probably get sent to the moon... Or worse... If anything in my head happened right now...
Then I can almost hear next to me my other side... My bad side...
I just says, "But it would be so much fun... So much fun to riiiiiiip something apart, or better still... Somebody!"
I almost successfully shove it out of my mind, but I can still hear it's whines, like it was scratching on the bars of its prison, trying to get my attention.
I won't let it.
Just then I find myself in the town center, with Roseluck waving at me and calling my name.
"Thank Celestia for that, or I might not had snapped out of it. "
I walk towards her, and the closer I get, the wider her smile gets.
"Hey Dreamstrider!" She says in a friendly tone, "How was your coffee?"
I couldn't help but give her back a real smile, after all, she did snap me out of my little... Predicament....
"Heya Roseluck!" I say in a cheery tone, enough to doubtlessly mask my little squabble, "The coffee was great thanks! Best coffee iv'e had in a while."
I continue, "Thanks for steering me toward the shop, greatly appreciated,"
She just waved away my compliments and said, "It's fine, just helping the new pony in town!"
Uh-oh.
Pinkie Pie usually pops up out of nowhere at that set of words.
I bolt my head from side-to-side, hoping I can at the very least know where she is going to fire her party cannon from...
I breath a sigh of relief and look at the puzzled Roseluck in front of me, I think I should probably just ask her where the park is, or better yet, where Dash is.
"Hey Roseluck, do you know where I could find Rainbow Dash?"
"Oh, sure!" She says, back in her cheery tone, "She will be in the park, taking her nap."
"To get to the park, go round to the back of the town hall and keep heading away from it until you see a bridge to your right.
"Then keep going until you reach the Carousel Boutique, you will know it when you see it, big purple tent thing, and the park is the big open area close to it with all the benches"
I nod
"Oh, and Rainbow will be in one of the trees or clouds above the park, just ask ponies there until you find the right one."
"Thanks again Roseluck," I say graciously, "You know, your quite good at this stuff, if you didn't already have your flowers I would recommend a job as a town guide!" I say, trying to lighten the mood some more.
She laughs and says, "I'm sure I can't be that good, but you should probably get going if you want to catch Dash!"
"Thanks!"
I think of telling her... Ah, to hell with it, "You know," I say. leaning in, "Don't tell anypony, but i'm actually trying to get some flight training from Rainbow Dash."
Time for some story-telling, "I was always told my wings were to fragile when I was younger, wasn't until I actually changed physicians until I found out that he had a grudge on me and my wings were actually fine, so now i'm trying to learn how to use them."
She just gave me a smile and said, leaning closer to me, "You secrets safe with me, and if you can get her to help then you have the best teacher anypony could ask for!"
I go back to a normal standing position and smile, "That's what i'm hoping for!"
I start taking her directions and say as I set off again, "Thanks again for the directions!"
"No problem! Bye!" She says with a smile.
I smile back and wave, "Bye!"
Now to get to the park.
I hear a *plink-pop* go off in my head as an imaginary achievement banner appears in my vision, "Achievement get: Socialization skill, Journeyman."
I just say to myself, "Not bad."
Not bad at-all for a teenager.
Author's Note
Had some trouble writing this as my spare time this week had been very little, and my inspiration non-existent. (And yes, the spacing sucks, I am working on it.)
BUT, I got it out and I am pretty happy with it.
Dreamstrider: Tale of the Impossible
Chapter five: Stretching those wings
Chapter five
"The Princess said what?!" I exclaim in an irritated tone.
"That's what it says here Twilight!" Spike says, retreating a little at my frustration.
I snatch the scroll out of Spikes claws, and read it out loud myself, "My dear Twilight, this is a fascinating and, perhaps, volatile situation you are in.
"However, I think that you are more than capable to deal with this yourself, and this 'Dreamstrider', could prove to be a wealth of information about the very obscure human race and possibly even different and advanced technologies due to their lack of magic.
"I would come and meet Dreamstrider in person, however, I must attend my royal duties and I am confident that you can handle this yourself.
"Your mentor, Princess Celestia. "
I start thinking out loud, "It just doesn't make any sense, I know she has her royal duties, but how am I supposed to handle something like this alone?!
"I may very well be capable, but there is a reason why I wasn't given responsibility over Discord when he was brought for reforming!
"Fluttershy was given that responsibility because she has a way with all creatures, but again, it wasn't me! , I have never done anything like this!"
"Twilight calm down!" Spike exclaims in the middle of my outburst, "If the Princess didn't think you could house her - him - or whatever Dreamstrider is indefinitely, then she wouldn't have asked."
Spike is right, I am going way over the top.
"Thanks Spike, I am overreacting a bit..."
"A bit? " He says in a surprised and slightly irritated tone.
"Fine, I overreacted a lot.
"And I don't have to do this alone either! I may be the one housing Dreamstrider, but my friends can also help and maybe we could even get some answers out of her together!"
Spike just stands and blinks, "Well, that's all fine with me, but just maybe Dreamstrider on some sort of holiday?
"And maybe she - he knew you were going to ask lots of questions, but perhaps it would be best not to barrage him with question after question like some interrogation?"
Spike has been nothing but right, maybe Dreamstrider is here to get away from something or someone? But she, or he, must have known we would have been curious after display after display like some circus show.
But still, it would be wrong to try and force answers out of Dreamstrider, I guess I will just have to ask questions over time.
Until then it would probably be a good idea to help Dreamstrider get settled-in here, and I will have to sort out some ground-rules for her accommodation here and how/what she intends to do here.
After-all, it would be awfully suspicious if a new pony in town was doing nothing all day and being asked questions all the time.
I let out a sigh, "Your right Spike, I'm getting ahead of myself here, I just need to relax some and when Dreamstrider comes back, I will need to set some rules for her accommodation here and of the such.
"I just need to clam down..."
"Well, I at least got here faster than the Top Gear trio would've." I laugh to myself as I reach the Carousel Boutique, and look around for the general direction of the park.
Turns out, it's pretty much right under my muzzle.
Benches, check. Trees, check. Ponies chatting and playing with their pets, Check. Rainbow tail hanging from a tree... Dammit.
This is somewhat of the real version of those annoying side-quests in games where you have to ask people something until you find the information your there for in the first place.
"Let's see... Not may ponies around, this could be annoying..."
Just then, I see a yellow and pink blob of color on one end of the park.
"Well, if anyone has seen RD, then the best place to start is Fluttershy."
I start casually walking in the vague direction of Fluttershy, not wanting to make the timid mare think I'm charging her or something, she's sensitive like that.
As I get closer I can see that's she is leading a mother and her ducklings somewhere.
"Hey Fluttershy." I say in my softest voice, hoping that she won't do one of her five-foot jumps into the air. She didn't.
"Uh hello? Do I -" She says in her sweet voice as her eyes widen and she looks uneasy.
"I... Oh my... I-Is that you D-Dreamstrider?" Her voice shaky, no doubt to... Well, my difference in gender from what she remembers.
Now I feel a pang of guilt for the confusion Iv'e done her, but that can't be helped now I guess.
I continue with my quiet and soft voiced approach, "It's okay Fluttershy, I was just going to ask if you have seen Rainbow Dash anywhere?"
With her face behind her flowing pink mane, she spoke with a very cautious, but kind voice, "Yes, I-I have... She's in one of the trees just down there."
She pointed just behind her to an area with a few trees and a single bench.
"Thanks a lot Fluttershy." I say in a very slightly louder tone, to recognize her assistance.
"Sorry to have disturbed your trek here." I say, gesturing with my head to the mother and ducklings behind her.
She stays hidden in her mane, "It's fine... H-Have a nice day."
I simply give my head a small bow, "You too Fluttershy." And start walking in the general direction of where Rainbow Dash is supposed to be.
When I reach the relativity flat area, I look up at each tree, there is only about three, and no Rainbow Dash.
"Dammit" I mutter under my breath as I finish looking in the third tree.
But just then, my primal human senses go off, the kind you get when someone is watching you, your peripheral vision becomes clearer and you can feel ever individual hair on your body, but in this case I'm a pony, so I already feel really fuzzy.
Then, I hear the movement of wind, but not the natural kind. It's not really something you can explain, it just kinda fits at the time.
I twist around and see nothing there. I was about to look up when my entire body was covered in what must have been over a dozen buckets worth of water over me.
I found her.
I can hear that trademark giggle coming from the cloud above me, and I see the prankster mares tail and part of her foreleg draped over the edge of the cloud.
I put on a smile and even giggle along with her because I really can't get angry with her, I know something like this was gonna happen at some point.
"Found you at long last." I say, still giggling a little, "How's the weather up there Dash?"
I see her head from over the edge of the cloud, most of her giggling subsided but still has a smile plastered to her face,
"Weathers just fine!" She exclaims in her tomboyish voice, "Hey, I don't remember you being a guy yesterday."
I roll my eyes, "Long story, but it seems I am still flightless besides the transformation.
"But at least I'm more 'Down to earth' than you, with your head in the clouds."
That could have been worse, but it sends us both into a, be it brief, fit of laughter.
"Yeah yeah," She says after she had recovered from my terrible pun, "I overheard you and Fluttershy from a few back, heard your looking for me."
I take a deep breath, thinking of doing that Pinkie Pie thing of doing a one hundred word explanation in a few seconds, but at the last moment revoke that decision and go for the short version.
"I was..." I sigh, "Looking for you to ask if you had decided if I was worth your time as a flight student? Considering I'm essentially an earth pony with two feathery lumps on his back."
Her face went momentarily expressionless and blinked and she remembered what she and I had said last night, no doubt she had mostly forgotten about it until now.
My expression droops slightly, because I know she is gonna say n-
"Agh, come on then slowpoke," She says as she dismounts from atop her cloud, and glides to the ground after doing a back flip or two, "Lets see what kinda muscle those wings have in them."
My pupils widen and I feel a smile coming on as I suppress an involuntary squee.
But the squee comes through anyway.
"I... Bu-.. You... I'm dreaming aren't I?" I stammer.
"Or I hit my head sometime earlier and am now either dead or in some form of coma."
She just looks at me with a somewhat confused and disapproving glance.
"I don't think either of us are dreaming Dreamstrider, unless you are doing one of your wierdo mind spell thingies."
I get a grip on myself, why would I come if I thought there was no chance of this happening?
I take a deep breath and steady myself, "Right..."
"So, what is it that you want me to be doing?" I asked in a studious tone, but not going hyper anymore.
"I want you to flap your wings like this as hard as you can." She says as she flaps her wings, not in a figure-of-eight like I thought, but more of a really thin, vertical loop type shape like someone swimming.
"Then I can see where to start with you." She finishes.
I nod and start mimicking her movement. This is a lot harder than I thought, my wings move quite freely, but to get any lift out of them takes a great deal of effort.
Dash was about to face-hoof, but just then I hit the sweet spot with my wings and my lift increased dramatically, and now am hovering very unsteadily about six inches off the ground.
There is a look of surprise on her face as I begin to steady myself... Then lose control and do a flip-and-face plant routine to the ground with a rather sickening smack and crack sound.
"Ouch!" I exclaim, "I think I dislocated something."
As I say that, Rainbows expression only slightly changes, with but a hint of worry in her face, she asks, "Well, you did good for a first time."
I get up and take a survey of my body, then I notice that my jaw hurts a lot.
"Thanks," I manage to speak with a great deal of pain, "One moment please."
I walk toward a nearby tree and smack my jaw against it, with a clunk, my jaw is back where it's supposed to be, but not before I loudly muffle a few grunts of pain.
"What was that for?" The curious, rainbow-maned equine asks me from a few inches above my head.
"I found out what I dislocated," I say whilst moving my jaw about, "It was my jaw.
"I'm actually surprised that anything could get dislocated from that small fall."
"Well," Dash says, "It was rather a spectacular fall, but come on, a small spin-out wont stop you."
"Will it?" She asks as she shoves her face next to mine, her eyes slightly narrowed to impose a presence of authority.
"No ma'am." I reply with the best mock-salute I can do.
She just gives me what is supposed to be an encouraging smile, but I think she is still inwardly laughing at my spectacular first tumble.
"Well, given that you have the wingpower," She exclaims, "I think the first thing is to practice a steady hover, then we can go on to actual flying."
"Whatever you say boss." I say in a terrible Brooklyn accent impersonation.
She just narrows her eyes a little at me and I revoke my previous statement, "I mean, of course Rainbow Dash..."
I almost reflexively called her by her pet-name 'Dashie' at the end, but she didn't notice.
"Right." She says, "Well come on, we haven't got all day! Flap those wings!"
This is the first time Iv'e really had someone coach me like this, Iv'e always been passive to P.E mostly.
We practice for about fifteen minutes before my lack of exercise really catches up to me. But luckily, by then I have almost gotten how to steady myself successfully after several more spectacular tumbles, but no-more dislocated limbs thankfully.
I swear, if someone was video-taping me, I would be the next YouTube hit within the hour.
I collapse onto the ground while hyperventilating.
"Oh come on!" The rainbow streaked blur says above me, my eyes have become un-focused from who knows what, "You can't expect me to stick around if you cant even last fifteen minutes!"
"I... Never used to... Do much... P.E..." I say as I fumble to get any words out of my mouth, "And now... I think I... Should have..."
She just rolled her eyes as she flies around a little, probably the flying equivalent of fidgeting.
"What?" I say as I begin to recover, "Your the one... Who was able to perform a Sonic Rainboom when... When you were just a filly!"
Her gaze returns to me and I continue, "And I can't even run a quarter of a mile without getting winded!"
"You must have been one lazy pony, even the school fillies can run for longer!" She exclaims.
"Hey..." I begin as I get back up on my hooves, "Now I'm a pony I can probably go for longer considering that's what more-or-less what their - or rather, our , legs are built for.
"But I still probably wouldn't be able to go very far anyway.
"Human bodies are designed for dexterity and operation in confined or cramped conditions, not for running long distances."
I look around to see if anybody - or anypony was around to hear that.
"Kay, just hurry up with the resting and stuff, I'm getting bored." She says in a disinterested tone.
She turns away and starts flying slowly in circles with her limbs drooped, then I have an idea.
I pluck a feather from my wing, only a little more painful than plucking a hair from your head, and hover it over Rainbow Dash.
She doesn't notice, so I use the feather to tickle her right ear as she continues to fly around in circles.
She stops and looks to her right and scratches her ear, then I tickle the other one. Now completely confused, she starts waving behind her head, as if to brush away a fly, but as she is distracted with that, I sneak the feather down to the base of her neck and begin tickling her.
She is laughing like a maniac, and somehow staying in flight, so I decide to stop before it's her that ends up with the dislocated jaw.
"Hey, how'd you do that?" She fumbles as she recovers from the tickle attack.
I give a giggle and reply, "I can still use magic Dash, you didn't think I would just give up my magical abilities to become a Pegasus did you?"
"Oh yeah... Heh..." She rubs to back of her neck, "The umm... Mare to a Colt thing... Bit obvious."
"It's fine," I say reassuringly, "Shall we move on?"
Dash nods her head as we continue on with the hovering, then to go on to movement.
"Agh!" I exclaim as I slowly pace back and forth in the middle of the library, "None of this makes any sense, humans can't exist, gender-swap spells are near impossible, and inter-dimensional travel is impossible!
"This can't be possible, therefore isn't be possible, and can't be happening and it's all fake!"
I stop my pacing and lower my head in defeat and whisper to myself, "But then why do I believe him?"
I have been like this for half an hour, I usually am doing something useful or am doing something useful to distract myself from my problems, like mine now... Except I can't stop thinking about it.
It's like a ten-thousand piece puzzle that is made of glass, then was shattered and the remains are spread over a hundred mile radius!
And it isn't possible to complete the puzzle, but you know it's there and it is possible, but it's impossible because it would take you longer than all your years just to find the pieces of the puzzle, let-alone put it together and make sense of it!
I need answers if I'm ever going to rest again.
"Spike!" I call across the library, "I'm going out! I probably will be back by around sundown at the latest."
I see the green and purple figure slowly making it way down the stairs from the upper level, down to the ground floor.
"May I ask where you going?" He asks in a relaxed but huffy voice.
"I'm going to find Dreamstrider, because I need answers if I'm going to sleep tonight."
"Fine..." The baby dragon mumbles.
"Alright..." I say as I reach the door and swing it open with my magic, "Goodbye Spike! Don't do anything silly when I'm away!" I chant.
"I won't." He grumbles barley audibly.
I just close the door gently and make my way to the park, no doubt that's where he would be by now.
"This is either all a game, or it's the biggest magical event to happen in history. " I think to myself, "Either way, I need to know, at the very least, some of the truth behind this. "
I am now straining my strength and dexterity to the max as I fly forward at a snails pace, trying not to lose balance, fall, spin or anything else that would cause me to fail.
"Come on! Flap those wings, you won't get anywhere if you can't push yourself!" Rainbow Dash says as she beckons me forward with a good coaches attitude.
I can feel my lungs turn to metal, and the sides of my vision are pulsing with every heartbeat. But I'm using more oxegen than my body can take in, and my vision is fading and turning black...
"I am really unfit. " I think to myself as I let myself stop flapping my wings and slam to the ground. My wings are exhausted along with every other limb in my body, but they remain fixed in place as they stiffen out of my control.
I now look like a large, colorful, dead fly.
My own lack of fitness surprises me, as I try to move but my body rejects the commands from my brain. I can hear the somehow muffled exclamations of my best, and first coach, calling me to get back up, but I can't.
Just then, my vision is met by a screen of black as I think I go unconscious.
View Online
Dreamstrider: Tale of the Impossible
Chapter six: Secrets made, Questions asked, Answers given
Chapter six
Next thing I know, I'm leaning back on a tree as I return to conciseness with a jolt and gasp, only to be held back by the hoof on my chest.
"Woah, take it easy." I hear the familiar, rainbow colored athlete say in a calm and caring voice, much unlike the coach I remember from a few moments ago.
My vision un-blurring, I can see the outline of another pony next to her.
"You should there until you completely recover, being exhausted to the state of unconsciousness is no minor event." I hear the well spoken voice say with a professional concern.
As my eyes begin to focus, I see a caramel colored doctor with a brown mane... I knew this guy from somewhere...
He's that doctor from when Rainbow Dash broke her wing and was stuck in the hospital, and discovered her love for the Daring Do books.
Wait... Doctor? Aren't they to stay in the hospital and let the... Whatever their called doctors go out and do things like this?
"Doc?" I speak weakly, "What are you doing out of the hospital? Aren't there other ponies who go out and treat patients on-site?"
"One of our medics has the flu, the other is on holiday, so I volunteered to go in their stead." He says in a very matter-of-fact manner.
"But you should be resting, not straining yourself by talking."
I just nod in response.
For about a minute of doing so, my brain enters a sort of 'Recover' mode if you were, because I can't remember anything that happened within that minute.
By the time I had enough strength in me to move, I was given an examination my the doctor, being asked all sorts of questions you would expect from a doctor, except perhaps more equine-related. Obviously.
When he had finished and given me the all-clear, he returned to the hospital.
"You really are unfit." Rainbow says, back in her normal tomboy manner.
I just give a light giggle, "I am surprised myself at how unfit I am, I didn't think I was this bad."
She sits down about a foot from me, and just smiles, "You know, for a first time flyer, your doing pretty good."
"Thanks," I say with much demur, "But I don't think I did all too well, even if it was the first day."
"Didn't do too well?!" Dash exclaims, "You did awesome for the first day!"
I just sat there, retaining my 'Poker face' if you like, as I stared through her to some point in the distance, deep in thought.
"You may not be a filly, but for a first time flyer, you did awesome!"
My gaze returned to her eyes and I smiled, "I'll take your word for it.
"After all, the only flyers where I'm from have to use machines to fly."
She arched an eyebrow, "Machines huh? What kinda machine?"
I sighed as I thought whether or not to show her a hologram, it would be easy enough, and it doesn't use up much magic energy. And I had plenty of that considering physical endurance and magic reserves are two separate things.
Creating an accurate hologram is something I find quite easy because it it's one of the spells I practiced with constantly back on Earth.
"I guess I can create an image based off of my memories using a magical projector contained in a force field."
She just blinked at me, so I decided to explain in layman's terms, "I can show you what they looked like."
"Oh, why didn't you just say so?" She casually replies.
I inwardly shake my head, and then focus at the open patch of grass beside us.
I start projecting a basic jet fighter, I couldn't remember any specific models, in a hologram form, beginning from the ground up, starting with the wheels, then to the base of the plane, wings, cockpit, and so on, until the full image was there.
It was a rather cute size, no bigger than if three hooves were doing a three-way hoof bump. Maintaining its appearance was next to no effort at all.
I could see Rainbow Dash slightly narrow her eyes as she examined the alien device. Well, alien to her.
"Whats it made out of?" She asked inquisitively, "And how does it flap its wings?"
I chuckle at this, but answer her questions before it looks like I'm avoiding doing so, "It's made out of metal, I can't remember what kind though.
"Some form of steel I believe, or aluminium, but I could be wrong."
She looks a bit unbelieving at me for a moment then waits for the answer to her second question.
"And it doesn't fly by flapping it's wings, it flies using the massive engines at the back..." I rotate the hologram to make it easier for her to see, "To push it forward, while its wings are at the right angle to lift it off the ground when it reaches a certain speed."
"But then how does it take-off and land?" She asks in a way that makes answering even her most simple questions feel like the best questions she could ask.
"It needs a long strip of flat, smooth surface, in order to take-off and land." I reply, "So the flyers have to be careful how far they go, because if you run out of fuel and can't land safely..."
I look away from her eyes over to the hologram, "You have to either bail-out, or 'Go down with the ship', as it were."
We sit there for a few seconds in silence, then Dash asked another question, "You said they run on fuel, but how can coal or wood fuel something like that? "
I smile, "There are many different fuels besides wood and coal, but you either haven't found them yet, or they don't exist here at all.
"And besides," I continue, "A: You have wings here, so you don't need these things anyway.
"B: You've got magic which is a universal fuel in itself."
I think at B, she switched off, because she was doing my thing of staring at something, absorbed in yourself. In her case, she was staring at the hologram.
I severed my focus from the hologram and it was gone in an instant, snapping the rainbow maned pony back to reality.
She clears her throat and says in a surprised voice, "Uh... Yeah... Um... It was getting boring anyway."
I let out a hearty laugh at this, masking up the 'Awww' that would have escaped my mouth if I didn't, because she is so adorable.
I honestly don't know what is stopping me from hugging and squeezing her like a teddy-bear.
I let out a sigh as I apologize, "Sorry, almost everything in my world is boring in one way or another, and I can find it depressing looking back sometimes."
I look down at the ground under my hooves as I remember all the dull, and grey things that humans have created. With the exception of a few things, like the universe I'm in now, and I know the human who is responsible for that.
And I am grateful.
But just as I finish that thought, I feel a feathered object curl around me, almost cradling me.
I look up to see Rainbow Dash looking at me with an uncomfortable smile, with her right wing wrapped around me.
I just give her a look of slight confusion, but its clear by my body language, not only my face, that I enjoy being supported like this, and I relax a little.
"I... I once hit some hard times when I was a filly, and I did some things I regret..." Not being surprised by this, but still being sympathetic due to her understanding, I retain a neutral but listening look.
"And it makes be feel bad when I look back, so I know where your coming from."
She looks me in the eyes and adds, "But... don't tell anypony about this?"
I shake my head, "Not a word." I quietly say, in total reverence of this moment, and time itself seemed to slow down to a halt, enjoying every last second of her warm embrace to the full.
I make my way past the town hall at a slow pace, some of the ponies give me... Shall we say surprised looks? Not everypony is used to their local librarian to be an Alicorn Princess.
Still, I go on uninterrupted, until I spot Applejack's stall as she waves me over.
I suppose I have time for this.
"Howdy there Twi!" Applejack says in a cheery tone.
"Hello Applejack, how goes the business today?" I ask in a formal manner, I was in public after all.
"Goin' just fine here, but ah think I'm gonna be plum-tuckered out by the end of today.
"Say," She continued, "How was Dreamstrider on her first night'?"
I give a little giggle, "No big surprises, besides a harmless mishap with dreaming techniques, and that she changed genders this morning for a bit of fun."
Applejack was more than a bit flabbergasted, "Changed her gender? I thought tha even you could ardly do that Twi!
She regained a bit more composure, "And what do ya mean, 'Mishap with dreamin' techniques'?"
I gave her a reassuring smile and said, "Just a harmless botched attempt to do some complicated spell that probably involved blocking off some parts of her subconscious in order to sleep normally."
"isn't tha a might dangerous?" She asked, leaning in a little.
"Not really," I say, "She, or He, knew what he was doing, so there was very little risk."
I added, "And impressive too, considering she had no teachers or books on the subject of magic."
"Ah think we can both agree on that." Applejack stated.
"But you look like you were goin' somewhere, so you had get movin'."
"Yes, I suppose I was..." I trail off, "Bye Applejack!"
"See'ya Twilight!" Applejack waved as I made my way to the park once again.
I didn't take long as Ponyville never got crowded unless there was a fare of some sort going on. I make it past Rarity's boutique, and into the park.
I started looking around for Dreamstrider as even if she had somehow convinced Rainbow Dash to coach her to fly, he definitely wouldn't be able to fly on the first day.
Just then, a cyan and pale cyan blob on the other side of the park... Embracing each other?
I shake my head in an attempt to clear my vision, but I still see the two blobs of color in the distance.
I make my way over to them and find Rainbow Dash embracing Dreamstrider with her wing, as they sat still as the ground beneath them.
I walk up to them from behind, "Rainbow Dash?"
The Pegasus quickly bolted up and started hovering a few hooves in the air above the spot where she was at. That spot, is where I see a surprised Dreamstrider, slowly making his way back on his hooves.
"We were..." Dash blurted out.
As if on cue, Dreamstrider added calmly, "Sleeping."
Dash momentarily looked at the Cream and gold maned colt who just made the remark, then her gaze turned back to me.
"We were sleeping after our training session, and we must have moved together while we were sleeping." Dreamstrider says in a calm voice, with a hint of embarrassment.
I look questioningly back and forth between the two, Dash making an embarrassed and worried face, whereas Dreamstrider kept a perfect, straight face, besides the hint of embarrassment that was present in his voice.
Almost too perfect, too well-balanced.
I knew I didn't believe them, but I took the explanation anyway.
"Okay..." I slowly manage to speak, "Do you mind if we talk Dreamstrider?"
I see him disappointingly looked down at the ground, and then to Rainbow Dash, who took the opportunity to get out of this.
"Umm... I think I have some weather duties to do, so I think I'll be going." She quickly spoke as she was about to take off somewhere.
"Wait!" I hear Dreamstrider exclaim in Dashes direction, as I give him another questioning look, "Could you pass by the library sometime so we can discuss future lessons?"
Rainbow looks at Dreamstrider, deep in thought as she says, "Uh, yeah. Sure."
Dreamstrider gives her a smile in return.
"Yeah, anyway. C'ya!" She exclaimed as she flew of into the sky.
It was then, Dreamstrider's poker face was dropped, and his expression of anxiety, anticipation, and a great deal more embarrassment than before.
But his voice was still the same, with the exception of a bit of anxiety, "So... That talk?"
"Yes." I say in a very controlled voice, "I need answers, or I might not rest tonight."
A look of worry crept up on Dreamstrider's face, but he managed to hide most of it.
"I need answers of things like, 'How you got here', 'You can't possibly be human', and so on."
He looked somewhat relieved, the I decided to add, "And I'm not going to ask what the real reason why you two were embracing was. I don't wan't to know."
He gave a sheepish smile, but quickly regained his composure, and actually looked rather triumphant.
"The great Princess Twilight Sparkle, Element of Magic, and hungers for answers and knowledge." Dreamstrider says in a confident tone.
"It seems that you are the customer, and I am the library." He continues, "But I will only allow you to borrow so many books at a time.
"You, as a librarian, know this is how the system works."
"Where is this going Dreamstrider?" I ask, still retaining my controlled voice.
"It means, as me being the bearer of knowledge, I can choose who to give my answers to, and how many.
"In this case, I will give you three questions right now, which I am entitled to answer in any way I wish, and after you have asked your three questions, I get to tell you something, anything that I want."
I gave him a puzzled look, "Why would you do that?"
"I don't know." He says shrug, "Just thought it would be a good idea."
At the end of that sentence, he gave something between a huff and a laugh.
"So," I begin, "I can ask any three questions I want, and you have to answer?"
With a nod he said, "Of course, but in any way I wish, so it may not be a direct answer."
He continues with a serious look, "And that answer may not be direct for a reason."
"Fine." I confirm.
"My first question," I begin, "How can anypony travel in between dimensions? It should be impossible!"
He just gives my a sly smile, "I honestly don't know how most of it works, but I would assume it works in a similar fashion to when you teleport.
"Not to mention that I also had to teleport within the third dimension, because our worlds are at different locations to one-another.
"That's all I know."
The science behind it would suggest something like that difficult to the point of impossible, not to mention the sheer about of energy it would take! But the theory made sense, and considering Dreamstrider doesn't know the science behind it either, I take that answer.
"Alright, second question.
"You confirmed when we met that all humans but you have control over magic, how is it possible for a species to survive without magic?"
This question earned another smile from the mystery of a pony in front of me, he obviously enjoyed these question-answering games.
"That's simple to answer," He starts, "We survive because of our advanced technology... Well, compared to yours."
He added, "No offence, but it's something we had to do because of our inability to use magic.
"But you think, 'If there is no magic, how can there be harmony?'. Simple, there isn't."
My eyes widen as he tells me this.
A world without harmony? How could that even work? But I can't ask him something like that with only one question left.
He continues, "Lets see... The last around hundred years there have been two really big wars, a bluffing war that threatened to destroy two whole countries, and there are currently skirmishes in parts of the word over who thinks what is right and so on and so forth, and don't even get me started on politics!
"Bottom line is, there a lot of problems in my world."
Wars? Conflict? Death?
It is to be expected from a world without harmony, but it isn't any easier to think about.
"And your third question?" He asks, "I bet you've been saving the best for last?"
I gather myself and ask my last question, "How do you know so much about our lives?"
Dreamstrider kept a straight face due to him probably expecting this question, but still was looking for answers in his head.
I saw him give a grin and a laugh as he said, "I know the perfect way to describe it."
He continues, "But this time we will replace 'Rife with devastation' with, 'Rife with many a question.'."
I arch an eyebrow at him as he begins to lightly sing, "When your rife with may a question, there lies a simple explanation. Your a toy makers creation trapped inside a crystal ball. "
I looked at him with a supremely confused look and he just laughed.
"It's a song I know from back home, I just swapped the lyrics around a little."
"And what exactly does it mean?" I ask.
He looks at me with a smile as said, "It can mean many things, but to me, your answer is clear as day. You just need to open your mind to solve to riddle."
I sigh and look at him, "So you are now going to tell me something of your choosing?"
"Yep." He says as he composes himself for whatever he is going to tell me.
"The road you are travelling down is a dangerous one, If your mind stays closed, then you will lose it. If you keep an open mind then you might make it, but there are many horrors along the way, and some of my fears will haunt you on your journey. If you, and your friends, can return from this without loosing your minds, you will be changed forever and will both see things in a different light, and cherish friendship all the more."
I widen my eyes at this warning, trying to process what I have just been told.
What did he mean by loosing our minds? And his fears will haunt me and my friends? If anything, I am less sure about him than I was this morning.
"May I ask how old are you?" Almost blurt out.
He just smiles in a kind, open manner, "It is technically a question, but not the kind I would put a limiter on.
"I am thirteen."
"So your soon reaching young adulthood?" I ask.
He gives a laugh and says, "Thirteen by human years, I'm not sure if we have different years, but at home, thirteen is barley getting started to being a young adult.
"But from what I know, ponies have a maturing rate much higher than humans, so I guess I am reaching young adulthood."
I tilt my head to one side, "What do you do in all that time?"
He just kept a straight face, "Live your life, and do schoolwork. Every day besides the weekend and holidays.
"Humans spend about... Twelve to fourteen years doing to routine of, get up, eat breakfast, go to school for six to seven hours, come home to wind down, go to bed and repeat."
Even though I am in admiration of the amazing, if timely, school system, I ask, "What could possibly take that about of time to teach?"
Dreamstrider replies in a relativity monotone voice, "Match, science, geography, physics, some more math, some more science, some more physics, and so on.
"When you reach a certain age, you can begin to study what you want, within a few parameters, so you can get better at what you want to do when you get out of school."
My ears perked up, and I asked, "What you want to do? Do you mean what your special talent is? Your Cutiemark?"
He gives yet another smile, "We don't have Cutiemarks where I'm from, no magic remember? But we can choose what we want to do ourselves.
"We tend to be a very all-round species, but the downside is that we don't have a lifelong indicator on our bodies telling us what we are good at and enjoy doing, so a lot of people tend to dislike their jobs."
As I was processing all this new information, Dreamstrider walked up to my side and said, "Come on, lets get back to the library and we can have a rest.
"Celestia knows I need it, did you know I passed out training today?"
I give him a wide-eyed look, "Dreamstrider! That's quite serious! How did it happen?"
He gave a chuckle as we made our way across the park, "It's fine, I'm just really unfit, I guess that was carried over from when I was human."
He continues, "But really Twilight, I would have taken you a bit more seriously if you weren't so damn cu-"
I stop and put a hoof in front of him, "You find me what?"
Momentary silence rules the conversation, then he blurts out, "Okay fine! Your really cute when you get all panicky and your pupils go wide!
"You can't blame be for observing stuff like that."
As I continue to look at him with a strong serious glare, his eyes widen as he back away a step and cowers a little.
"Oh!" He nervously exclaims, "If you thought that I fancy you, no no no! I mean, your pretty and cute, but not in that way!"
He continues as he recomposes himself, "I have a trait of being very loyal to whoever I... Take a liking too, and I already hive an attraction to a certain somebody - or somepony rather, so I'm already locked by my loyalty..."
He takes a deep breath, and looks down tat he ground.
"Even if they never return my feelings..."
I let down my scolding glare, and soften up a little.
"Have you never had a special somepony?" I ask in a curious and comforting tone, but still retaining my serious face.
He instantly picks himself up, and begins walking again with an unstoppable strength and rhythm. And now I'm on the receiving end of a serious look.
"Once, when I was very young, but we lost track of one another." He says in a slightly monotone way, "And I held feelings for someone not that long ago, but I never confronted her with them and kept them to myself, in the simple fact that they were probably the product of loneliness.
"So when I came here, I dumped all feelings for her, and moved on. But I still carry memories of her, because she was one of my best friends.
"And that's what we will remain." Dreamstrider finishes in a very authoritative voice.
I think through this for a moment, then ask, "What of the current pony you... Reserve feelings for?"
He momentarily looks at me with piercing eyes, making me think I had hit a raw nerve. But he answered anyway.
"I won't tell you whether they are pony or a human, but I will tell you that my loyalty lies with them, and I think it will stay that way for a considerable amount of time."
Pony or human? That must mean...
"So you can travel back to your world?" I ask, hoping he won't reject me this bit of information.
His gaze, even if not pointed at me, decreased in its intensity and he appeared to be less defensive.
"Yes," He spoke in a voice now relieved of its monotone, "But I have no intention of going back any time soon."
I just look forward again as we make our way past the Carousel Boutique, and take the rest of our journey in silence all the way back to the library.
Author's Note
I got this one done a lot faster than I thought it would take, so yay me.
I don't own the My Little Pony franchise, (wish I did), Hasbro do and Lauren Faust takes credit for all the characters besides my OC. (and even then, they have the right to stomp on my OC anyway :P)
And also, credit to the guy who made the Gypsy Bard song for that little jingle in there, and I think it's pretty obvious that I didn't come up with that song, I can barley play a piano.
So, credit goes to that dude, don't hate me. D:
I think that's the legal copyright stuff done, enjoy the rest of your time reading things that aren't disclaimers.
Dreamstrider: Tale of the Impossible
Chapter seven: Back at the library
Chapter seven
As we reached the library, the silence stayed steadfast between us. Whenever I think about my relationships back home, it always hits a raw nerve, not because I don't like my crushes anymore, but because all of my relationships fell through the floor before they even started.
I hate being alone.
But I'm rather used to it, I never complained about being lonely openly because I had gotten used to being in my own little world. It usually fell under the criteria of, 'Just the computer, internet, and me.', because I didn't want to socialize to anyone outside of my house, and the only people I really went out for is family and friends.
When I found My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, I felt happy again... Not just a distraction from my loneliness that video games provided, but a true inner... Happiness. Like a space had been filled that I thought never could be filled.
But when it came to the point someone literally walked up to me and said 'Hello', I could at least act like I was a normal person who can actually socialize.
I let out a deep sigh as I let my thoughts wander, and also see Twilight glance at me for a second before turning to the library and opening the door.
"Twilight..." I almost whisper as she opens the door.
She looks at me with a raised eyebrow, waiting for me to continue.
"Back there with Dash... It was just a hug, nothing more."
With this, she took on a more serious face, and tried a stabbing stare through me. Lucky, it takes one hell of a stare to unnerve me.
"It was rather long for, 'Just a hug'." She says in a very serious... Almost annoyed tone. She obviously is being touchy because she thinks that the new guy is hitting on one of her friends after only a day of being here.
I feel conflicted, because that would be partially true. I do have a crush on RD, but I wasn't flirting with her. I suck at flirting.
"It was a supportive hug." I say, "I get easily depressed okay?"
I let out another sigh, and Twilight lets down her failed stare.
"Fine." She says in a neutral tone, "We are here now, and I would like to discuss some ground rules with your stay here."
I just nod and walk in.
I can feel the depression digging in now, its cold claws sapping my energy and emotion, much like how I would imagine getting attacked by a Dementor would feel like.
I hang me head low, and just collapse in the middle of the room.
Twilight just gives me... Some form of agonizing glare, but the depression is getting deep enough so I don't care. The depression is digging into me faster than normal, but again, I don't care.
"Dreamstrider, what are you doing in the middle of the floor?" She says in a very annoyed tone.
I didn't want to talk, but I did anyway.
"I'm depressed, tired, lonely because you brought up my past relationships, struggling to not totally space-out here, hoping I won't get strapped to your machines in your basement for 'Scientific purposes', and all of the above."
I lazily move my head so my eyes meet hers, "Besides that, I'm just perfect, thanks for asking."
I drop my head and just lay there again.
She sympathizes for me a little, but not much as she almost shoves me back on my feet with her magic. I stumble around and prop myself on the side of the staircase that runs all the way up and down of this place.
"Right, ground rules discussion thingimiewhatsit?" I said, honestly not caring about my grammar at this point.
She just raises an unimpressed eyebrow at me, "Yes, now come and stop your moping."
"Right." I say as I stand up and attempt to push the depression out of my system. I succeed mostly, but not entirely.
"We can do the ground rules, then I'm going to have a nap..." I say with a yawn.
We go upstairs to the lounge and sit down, it was a nicer place in full light, not nearly as nice in the early morning or late afternoon.
"So, the ground rules." Twilight says as soon as we sit down, "Firstly, you need a job, even if it is temporary job around Ponyville."
She continues, "We can't have you lazing around all day and getting asked questions continually, the townsponies might get curious, and the rumor mill will start turning."
I grunt and nod in agreement, it would be bad if people started to suspect anything. Especially Lyra...
"OH DAMN! LYRA!" I shout, as I realize that might be a problem. A big problem.
"What?" Twilight says in a surprised and slightly concerned tone, "What about Lyra?"
I calm down from my sudden outburst, "I uhhh..."
Twilight raises an eyebrow at me, "You what?"
"A certain pale cyan pony with a white and gold mane may or may not have used the cover of being a professor on the obscure history of humans to strike up a conversation with the pony in question."
She looks confused at me for a second, then comprehends what I just said.
"WHAT?!" She exclaims, "You pretended to be a certified professor in humans to have a conversation with somepony you don't even know?!"
"Hey Twilight, clam down." I say, trying to avoid Rapidhash Twilight, "A: I do happen to know her from a distance, and B: I didn't feed her any lies.
"But I agree that there is still the problem of someone in town thinking I am a professor, which could be a pain in the flank."
"Language Dreamstrider!" She said, not in a disgusted manner, but in a very matter-of-fact way.
I realize then that ponies here are less tolerant of that kind of language here.
"Oh, right, ponies are more sensitive to that kinda language I guess." I say in a retreating manner.
She just giggles and says, "Don't worry, some ponies use it quite lightheartedly, I would just advise to avoid it when talking to other ponies, we wouldn't want you dismissed as a filthy mouth would we?"
I giggle along with her, at the end saying, "Yeah, that would be bad I guess."
I continue, "Next rule?"
She straightens herself up a little, "Rule two is you can't go around parading your magical skills around like you are a street performer."
"Like Trixie?"
She just gives me a slightly weirded out look, "Yes, like Trixie.
"And thirdly, try to keep the knowing everything thing to a minimum okay?"
I smile, "I wouldn't want to get run out of town by ponies with pitchforks and flaming torches now would I?"
She just gives me a momentary look with narrowed eyes, and I give a somewhat small sheepish smile in response.
"And rule four, I don't want you to lave things scattered around the place if your going to stay here, you make a mess, you clean it up."
"Of course, I respect your tidiness and origination, I do know the basic morals of living in someone else's home Twilight." I say in a slightly irritated tone.
"Just making sure." She said, "Also, you do realize that with you being here, you will be asked a lot of questions?"
I give a sly smile, "Yes, of course I do. But like I said before, I will only answer a big question if I think you have 'Earned' it, as it were.
"But personal questions and basic ones come free of charge." I say with a wink at the end.
She just looks at me, unimpressed.
"Right then," She said, "Time to get you your own room then."
I squee for the third time today, and have an un-naturally large smile plastered to my face.
"Did you say, my own room?! " I exclaim.
She gives me a friendly smile and replies, "Yes, your own room. But we will have to get it ready first, I keep the mattresses and such stored in a closet to keep them if they aren't being used, so we will have to-"
She was cut-off as I lunged forward and hugged her tight as I dare.
"Thakyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!" I almost scream as I hold her tightly, "Twilight, you are the BEST!"
"Dream... Strider..." I hear her gasp.
I let her out of my embrace, and she instantly gasps for air, "Heh, right... sorry."
She composes herself and lets out a smile, "It's fine."
"Lets setup your bedroom then." She says.
I get up with that smile still plastered on my face as we make our way to the cupboard, and I see a couple of mattresses, three pillows, and two duvets.
Twilight picks up a mattress with her magic and says, "Could you grab that duvet and a pillow?"
"Sure." I say, that smile still straining my face.
I levitate a duvet, level it out, and lace a pillow on top of it and follow Twilight over to my new room.
She giggles as she looks behind her to see me hovering the mattress and pillow behind her. "I guess I still have to get used to having another Alicorn around."
Her gaze turns back to the door we are standing in front of, "This is your room."
She swung open the door, and a relatively small room with not much in it was present.
There was a bed frame made out of a fine wood, a bedside table covered in dust, a wardrobe similarly covered in dust, and a curtained window dear the bed.
"Sorry for the condition of the room, but I don't tend to have anypony over that often, and even less often use this room."
I look around with my smile softened, but still apparent, taking in my new residence.
"Twilight, this is perfect!" I exclaim, "Its just like my old room, except slightly larger, and made of wood.
"And much nicer."
"I'm glad you like it." She says, "Help me put together the bed would you?"
I nod vigorously and take one end of the mattress, and guide it in while Twilight is levitating it into the bed.
I take levitate the pillow over to the bed and place it down, followed by the sheets which I carefully straightened out to look nice and placed down.
"The place is still a little dusty..." I say, and before Twilight has time to answer, I begin to collect all the dust in the room into a big ball, hovering in the middle, and then proceed to open the window in my room and chuck the dust out, releasing my magical field, and spreading the dust to the winds.
I look back to see a Twilight standing there with her jaw wide open.
"That was incredible!" She blurted out.
"Twilight? Did you hit your head or something because that wasn't very impressive." I say with a raised eyebrow.
Now she looked at me with a confused look, "You picked up individual particles and levitated them into one central area. How that is not impressive I have no idea."
"Individual particles?" I said with a grin on my face, then began to start laughing.
"No, no, no Twilight! Think more practical like, I didn't levitate separate specks of dust, I flooded them all with a magical field the same consistency as water, therefore containing them all, and therefore able to gather them all with little to no effort!"
Twilight's face turned from one of confusion, to one of understanding, and then gave a sheepish smile.
"Oh, of course. How silly of me." She said in an embarrassed tone.
I stopped laughing and turned to her, "I thought that you, of all ponies, would have figured that out at first sight."
She was starting to look severely embarrassed at this point, so I decided to stop with the teasing. I walked up to get and gave her a light, but friendly hug.
She didn't know what to do for a few moments, but eventually returned the hug.
When we exited the embrace, she looked at me with a happy face, but not a sappy, teary-eyed one you get in movies.
"I was just teasing Twilight." I say reassuringly, "I would never insult you, or anypony, in that manner. Ever."
"It's fine." She said, "I never would have taken it that way anyway."
I fully recompose myself from the hug.
"Friends?" I ask.
"Weren't we already?" She says with a smile.
I return that smile, "Thanks again Twilight for that bedroom, I didn't think I would fit in so easily and quickly here."
"Just know that your friends will always be there for you."
I smile again, "I learned that from you a long time ago Twilight, and it has helped in more ways than you could imagine."
She gives a blush and looks cutely away from my gaze.
"Why does she have to be so damn cute?" I think to myself as I walk into my room and flip the light switch.
"Mind if I take that nap now?" I ask Twilight, still a little flustered at my compliment.
"Of course, I'll be here if you need me." she says with a land-lady's smile.
I smile and make my way to the bed, and tuck myself under the sheets.
"Hello my old friend. " I think as I close my eyes to go to sleep.
'I made it... I made it to Equestria... ' Was my last thought before the darkness of sleep enveloped me.
Author's Note
I got this one done in one day.
Anyway, the story is going to be going up slowly, so don't expect everything to come all at once. I'm taking this nice and slow, and making sure I get all of the little details in there.
Dreamstrider: Tale of the Impossible
Chapter eight: Meeting of the Dreamstriders
Chapter eight
Just me, the open winter wonderland, and the mountain.
These were the thoughts going through my head as I set off and began carving down the mountain at impressive speed. I loved snowboarding, it was the one sport that I enjoyed watching equally as much as I enjoyed performing it.
The freedom of movement, the expression of finesse, the speed...
I carved to my right to get some air off one of the small drops that littered the mountain, and jumped. I grabbed the front of my elegantly patterned snowboard, like some divine carving, and held it upright as I let my right hand sway in the breeze behind me.
As I approached the ground, I let go, snapping all my limbs in the stance to get ready for impact as the whiteness of the snow came ever closer.
I hit the ground, recoiling all my momentum from my feet, all the way up my spine and finally out of my body. My speed and control almost completely unaffected by the jump.
I was like a piece of silk in the wind, never slowing down, but ever elegant, even under the aggressive ripples in the wind.
As I neared the end of my run, I adjusted course for the lodge, and slid down with no effort, perfectly stopping just before the entrance.
I could have spent a minute or two getting my boots off of my board, but luckily, I was in total control of this dream, so I just willed myself to phase straight through the straps.
I picked up my board and made my way to the lodge. It was not the 'Perfect cozy wooden log' type lodge, It was a mainstream one that looked a lot like an expensive resort, or town activity center. It had a restaurant, lounge, area for renting gear, and the door that leads to the drop-off point for the lifts from the bottom of the mountain.
But the whole place was deserted, save me. I was never any good at replicating people.
I made my way the the restaurant, and sat there for a few minutes in deep thought of whatever popped into my head.
That's when I heard the elegant whoosh of someone, or rather, somepony landing behind me. But it was too controlled, too elegant to be a Pegasus, or somepony with magical wings.
There are only two ponies I know who make that noise, and sure enough, I looked around and there she was in all her celestial beauty and authority.
"Princess Luna." I greeted the newly appeared Alicorn.
"Dreamstrider." Luna replies in her well-spoken, royal accent, "You have been expecting us?"
I nod, "Of course I have, two Dreamstriders can't stay in the same dimension for long without meeting eventually."
She keeps a straight face, "I see that is your given name to us, and it is also your chosen name is it not?"
I nod and stand up from my chair, towering about as tall as Celestia, maybe a few centimeters taller. But Luna stands completely unfazed, which is to be expected. Almost nothing can truly surprise her with all she has been through.
"Indeed it is." I say in my own version of her unswaying voice, "But some advice Princess, if you wish to wander my thoughts, don't open the door to how I know about you all from when Twilight went to Ponyville to now.
"I know you are near impossible to sway, and that you have seen more years than I could imagine, but the secrets behind that door are some that even you and your sister would have difficulty believing."
I add, "Some secrets must stay secrets for others well-being."
She looks into my eyes with her face unchanged, but her eyes state understanding, and she knows that I will see it.
She lets out a controlled smile and says, "Indeed."
She returns to her expressionless face, "You state a considerable amount of control for someone as young as you are.
"But we can see that your determination and loyalty are strong, and only to be challenged by a few.
"To name one," She says as she looks deeply into my eyes, "The very element of loyalty herself, the mare, Rainbow Dash."
I allow my eyes widen at this, because my mind is on overdrive. "Is she mentioning Dash for a reason? Has she- "
She gives another controlled smile, and I narrow my eyes at her.
"You did, didn't you?" I say with a hint of annoyance, but it was enough for her to notice.
"We saw emotions that were unusual, and we became curious as one does when they see something out of the ordinary."
I sigh, "I guess I didn't put a warning on those memories..."
I continue, "But if you saw that, then you must know that I am locking away these feelings for a reason?"
She nods, "You are unsure if your feelings for her are true, or if they are the spouse of loneliness, and you hide these feelings away in fear that if you show them you will hurt or conflict her."
I just blankly look stare into her eyes, not piercing, nor soft, but completely neutral. Devoid of emotion.
"Yes." I plainly say, "I have always feared for hurting the one I care for in this way, so I have never expressed them.
"To anyone."
Her majestic gaze looks deep into my eyes, and in turn, feels like she is staring into my very soul.
"And you know this is also your true fear, not any of the foul monsters that roam you mind, and one that you will have to confront in time."
I keep my unchanging expression, but I doubt it will matter, she has thousands of years experience on mine.
"I thought you might say that." I say as I refuse to move my gaze from hers, and hers mine, "And I believe you.
"But the greatest fear we have is always the hardest to overcome, and becomes a nightmare the longer we leave it."
Her expression breaks, and she takes a single step back. She knows exactly what I mean, I am referring to her succumbing to the Nightmare that made her into Nightmare Moon.
I continue, "The problems we have grow in size the longer we leave them, and unfortunately, you learnt that the hard way."
I hang my head low, "And I'm sorry for you Luna, it wasn't your fault that the Nightmare corrupted you. You are not responsible for what Nightmare Moon did."
Her gaze moves from me to the floor.
"We thank you for your concern, but we are responsible, we succumbed to jealousy and it was our fault that the Nightmare came to be."
For the second time of me being in Equestria, my supportive side takes over. I bend down and look into Luna's eyes with an almost motherly supportive gaze.
"Princess Luna, we all make mistakes, whether your a regular pony, or a multiple year old Princess that can raise the moon."
She looks back into my eyes with an expressionless face, but I can see in her eyes that she is saying some form of 'Thank you'.
"We all make mistakes Luna, no matter who we are."
She gathers herself, and stands back in her looming royal stance surprisingly quickly.
"We thank you Dreamstrider for your... Understanding." She says, back in her formal voice.
I give her a smile, "Mind if we walk and talk? I still have some time to kill."
She just nods, and I walk toward the doorway for the restaurant. I wave my hand once and it turns into an archway to which on the other side lies a Dojo with a mannequin in the middle, with melee weapons of all sorts on the surrounding walls.
I see Luna walking behind me, looking around but still keeping her expressionless face. She hides her emotions and thoughts so well, it's almost scary.
"I recognize this place as a Dojo of sorts, but I do not recognize these weapons on the walls." Luna says.
I give a smile, "There are a great many more weapons in human culture that yours, however, these are old weapons that were used centuries ago."
Her gaze returns to me, "So you take an interest in ancient artifacts and culture?"
I walk to my left toward a section of wall with different lengths of staves, bo's, and jo's, and each length with its own selection of different wood that makes up the staff.
I pick up a bamboo staff about as tall at from my feet to the top of my shoulder.
"I take interest in some cultures, artifacts not so much. I just take a rather large interest in the eastern cultures because of their experience in the art of war."
Luna looks at me with a gaze that asks 'Why'.
"The art of war is a good way to train your mind, but the way of the sword and the martial arts are the more elegant ones, and they can be used in everyday life."
Luna raises an eyebrow at me, "Is conflict that common in your world?"
I give a hearty laugh at this, "Oh no! It helps you achieve balance, and self control."
I continue, "The people Iv'e seen who are experts at that stuff can so some really crazy things through this discipline.
"For a common example, if you focus enough, you can actually hit a slab of stone and go right through it with just one strike."
Luna starts contemplating this behind her eyes, "I see..."
I let her contemplate and I walk to the center of the room and stand in front of the mannequin.
"Tatakai no junbi ga dekite! " I command at the mannequin.
It instantly comes to life and walks over to the staff shelf, quickly picks up a bamboo staff identical to mine, returns to the center of the Dojo, and stands in battle position.
"What was it that you just said to the mannequin? I did not recognize it." Luna asked me with another raised eyebrow.
"That was Japanese, it's the language of the culture that made most of the weapons you see on the wall here." I explain, "As for what I said, 'Tatakai no junbi ga dekite', it means, 'Ready for battle'."
"Why?" Luna asked, her face gone straight again.
"Why else?" I reply with a smile as I face the mannequin.
"Kaishi! " I command the mannequin, and it springs to life as it makes a downward swipe to my head.
I sidestep and swipe from my right to be blocked by the other end of my enemies staff. I jumped backwards, and my enemy charged at me with its staff in a diagonal striking position.
I block the incoming strike from my right and slide my staff so that it hits the mannequin in the left side of its featureless face, causing some splinters to fly off its 'Cheek'.
Before it can recover, I give it a strong kick to the stomach area, sending it stumbling backwards and giving me time to enter back into a defensive position.
It charges at me with vengeance and barely dodge the uppercut to my left, only to have the other end of the staff travel toward my face at frightening speed. I block the hit with an upright stance from my staff, and hit the abdomen area of the mannequin, leaving it in simulated pain.
While it's attempting to recover from my painful blow, I hold my staff by one end and swing it like a golf bat into the mannequins face, causing it to shatter into a thousand splinters.
I begin laughing and catching my breath from the fight. I was laughing because that was the most comedic way to win a fight, just like you would see in cartoons.
Luna just stood on the other side of the Dojo, looking into my eyes for the hundredth time.
"That was disappointing!" I exclaim, "That was no challenge at all!"
I sigh as I get up, and sweep my staff level with my shoulders over the defeated mannequin, and it disappears.
"Ugh, no point in having a round two if that's the best opponent I can conjure up. Might as well practice on a dummy." I say as I make a padded dummy appear in the middle of the Dojo floor. I begin to start one-way combat with it.
"Is this what you enjoy? Fighting?" Luna asks in a slightly concerned tone, which means she is very concerned.
I momentarily turn my gaze to hers, and then back the the dummy I'm practicing on.
"It's not really something I 'Enjoy' as such, more as an outlet of stress and sort of a hobby if you will."
I let my mind wander into hers for a moment, and see what she is concerned of. I stop my practicing and turn to her and meet her gaze.
"Oh... You thought I might take pleasure in hurting others?" This was a rhetorical question as I continued straight after, "Oh no! I hate harming other ponies and people, I avoid physical conflict even when my anger reaches high levels. If I were ever to hurt someone badly I wouldn't forgive myself.
"And Iv'e never killed. I don't want to kill. And I don't want to kill anyone ever ."
Luna seemed to relax a little at this thankfully. I really should be more careful when I'm around her, she is royalty after all.
"We did not mean any offence, we were just cautious for our subjects well being."
"It's okay Princess Luna, I should have expected it anyway..." I said as I continued my exercise of pummeling the innocent dummy in front of me.
"Dreamstrider?" I heard Luna say in a soft voice, which took me off guard.
"Yes Princess Luna?" I ask with a confused look.
She gives me a smile and says, "We had gone through your memories and feelings for the bearer of the element of Loyalty, and..." She pauses for a second before she continues.
"Your feelings for Rainbow Dash are true Dreamstrider."
I stop training turn to Luna with a confused face, and look deep into her gaze... She wasn't lying.
"They... They are?" The words stumble out of my mouth as I, for once, now might possibly know that my feelings for someone aren't false.
She gives me a nod and a smile, "They are true feelings, not the product of loneliness that you fear."
I stand there in bedazzlement, "That's... That the best thing Iv'e been told since I was born!"
I try to gather myself, "Are you sure Luna? I don't want to make a mistake and hurt anyone..."
"We do not lie Dreamstrider." Luna said in a firm, but truthful tone.
"I... But... Well..." I stammer.
"THANK YOU!" I drop my staff and leap to almost hug-tackle her, but I control my momentum enough so I don't knock her over.
"There is no thanks needed Dreamstrider." Luna says, not rejecting, nor returning my embrace, she just stood there and took it.
I let go before it got awkward.
"I... Thank you, this means a lot to me." I stammer, "I owe you several."
She just dismissively smiles, "No-pony owes anything, we are completely even."
"Still, thank you Princess." I say with a thankful smile and slight bow.
She smiles back and relies, "Thanks accepted, but as you will also know, the day will arrive soon and I must go. We will meet again Dreamstrider."
"Goodbye Princess Luna." I say respectfully.
She returns, "Farewell Dreamstrider" and begins to fade away into nothingness. I decided now would be a good time to wake up too, even if it is the crack of dawn.
I awake with a jolt and deep inhale, all together with a huge smile plastered on my face.
"Today is going to be a good day. " I thought to myself as I got out of bed.
Author's Note
Again, this was done in one day somehow. And yes, I know that the chapters are only around 2,400/2,900 words long, but if I get the point across, it's good enough for me.
Also, its wasn't apparent, but Dreamstrider was actually female in this scene as a human, and her features are the same as in pony form besides the pale cyan coat. (So she has white as gold hair)
PS: The Japanese I threw in was Google translated, so I'm not so sure how accurate it is, but it was just to add atmosphere. ^_^
Dreamstrider: Tale of the Impossible
Chapter nine: Another bright morning...
Chapter nine
Luna appeared back in the main hall of the Canterlot Palace, greeted by the deep gaze of her older sister, Celestia.
"Causing mischief again sister?" Celestia says with a hint of amusement apparent in her voice.
Luna gives a truthful smile, "Dreamstrider is yet young, and seeing her denying herself the privilege of childhood, I wanted to cast away her doubt and possibly even give her some hope."
"Let us hope so little sister, but know your limits."
"Of course sister, I would never so far as to knowingly cause hurt to somepony." Luna looked into her sisters eyes as she spoke, her gaze expressing truthfulness.
Celestia leaned down and embraced her sister.
"I know sister."
As my hooves touch the floor of my newly appointed room after my 'Nap', an idea pops into my head.
I thought I might meditate until Twilight wakes up. This is odd because the last attempts I took at meditation didn't work at all, but that was before I got... Well, my abilities.
I get back on the bed, and try to copy the way most ponies sit down, with my hind legs folded and pointed outward, and my body leaning forward slightly to keep me in balance. It's then I realize that this looks uncannily close to how a dog sits.
"Really? How could I now have noticed that before... I have watched the show who knows how many times over and I didn't notice that up until now. "
Ugh, it didn't matter. It was comfortable for my equine body, so I was fine with it.
I closed my eyes and tried to lose myself in my mind, forgetting everything else in this moment in time. I was quite good at this considering I space out a lot, but I still haven't been able to properly meditate before.
The first five minutes, nothing happens, but I keep my mind clear of thought. But just after I was starting to think this was a lost cause, I see something...
It slowly comes into focus, and the intensity of it brightens as I focus on this newly appeared... Thing. I was certain this would not distract me as this was the product of my first successful meditation.
It never fully came into focus, it never really turned into something hard, like it was never fully there. But I could still make out what it looked like.
It was like the most magnificent crystal, with its sides not cut to look nice, but cut so they made a perfect dodecahedron with twelve sides. At least, I think it was a dodecahedron, I couldn't tell because it never came into focus enough to confirm.
It shone with an indescribable light, and inside, despite being clear at first glance, I could see... Everything.
Everything I had ever done, learned, thought of, seen in a book or dream, and maybe even things I had yet to learn. The shape was... Crystal clear, I could see straight through it with nothing tinting it or obstructing it, but at the same time, I saw my own mind inside, flashing images faster than anyone could comprehend.
But at the same time, I could understand every image that appeared within the shape, like my subconscious was processing everything for me... It was like... Like...
Like there was no separation between my subconscious and conscious minds. I could see everything, hear everything, feel everything...
Now I understand what people meant by, "Being at one with the universe", because... You really are in a sense...
I allow myself to take in the energy coming off the shape, and feel myself fill with energy. I felt so good, it felt like if I did anything at all, I wouldn't use up any energy at all because I being fed by this... Source...
I continue to bask in the energy the shape was emitting, it just felt so amazing ...
"Dreamstrider?" I hear the all too familiar pony Twilight say in a half concerned, half curious tone.
I instantly snap open my eyes, only to be met by the purple librarians inquisitive eyes in my doorway and my bedside lamp floating abov-
FLOATING?!?!
As soon as I lay my eyes on the lamp, it stopped floating and started a one-way trip to the floor. I dived to the rescue of the lamp mere moments before it collided with the ground.
I get back on my hooves and place to lamp back on the bedside table, only to see Twilight looking at me with part concerned, part amazed, part cautious, and part... Hopeful?
"Yeah..." I muse, "Are you just going to stand there looking at me or are you going to say something?
"Maybe even explain what that was all about?"
This seemed to snap her back to her senses as she straightens her self up and clears her throat.
"It was uh... Eleven in the morning so I decided to see if you were awake yet..."
"Okay then, maybe explain why the lamp was levitating all by itself?" I say in a slightly irritated tone.
"I was as surprised as you were!" Twilight replied, going into the defensive, "I mean, you were meditating, that much was clear, but the amount of energy you were giving off was enormous! Only ponies who have practiced for a long time, or who have a natural ability to project large amounts of energy could emit that much magical energy."
I just look right through her for a moment and then snap back to reality, "Well, I think I'll take the latter, as that was my first successful meditation."
She just gives me an unbelieving look, and shakes her head, "I might not ever understand you, you know that right?"
I give her a smile in response, "I don't think I understand life, but that doesn't keep me from living."
She returns my smile, "Well, good to see you up, I'll be here if you need anything."
"I'll be right out in a moment, just getting my bearings and such."
Twilight smiles and closes the door behind her. Even though I'm not meditating, the energy I received is still there... Maybe time for a little mischief...
"I think it will be a long time before I can get my head around him... '
Just then, I heard a magical pulse and flash, before I could open the door again I saw Dreamstrider opening it...
"...Around her." I thought to myself as I saw that she had changed genders again. I was just about at my limit with this. She used all her magic to change genders in the morning, and then spends the rest of the day with hardly any magical reserves! It's an irrational waste of magic.
"Hey Twilight!" Dreamstrider exclaimed as she walked through the doorway, "Said I would be out in a moment."
Something was off since last time she cast that spell...
"Your not... Exhausted?" I asked, in curiosity.
"Nope! Used my leftover meditative energy for the spell, I feel like I never even did a thing." She says with a smile.
"A long time."
I sigh, and say in a sarcastic manner, "When you've decided what gender you are, tell me would you?"
"Ha ha." Dreamstrider replies in an equally sarcastic tone.
"Fine, I promise I won't change my gender again without good reason." She admits, "And anyway, I had best stop it anyway in case the townsponies think I'm a confused Changeling."
We both laugh at this for a short while, then we make our way for breakfast.
"I know it's more of a lunch thing, but I'm in the mood for a sandwich." I say as I enter the kitchen, "You want one?"
"Sure! I don't mind too much whats in it." She says as she walks toward to window. I smile and make myself, along with Dreamstrider some lettuce and cucumber sandwiches.
As I place both plates down with their sandwiches on top, I sit down and say, "Come on Dreamstrider, sandwiches."
I take a bite of my sandwich, not noticing that Dreamstrider hadn't moved since I called her until I had finished chewing.
"Dreamstrider?" I say, trying to get her attention, but to no avail. I put my sandwich back on my plate and make my way over to Dreamstrider, who wasn't moving or blinking.
"Dreamstrider? Whats going on?" I say, starting to get worried, "Dreamstrider?"
I stand next to her, and look out the window to try and see what she was seeing, but I saw nothing. At this point I was getting really worried, so I started to wave my hoof in front of her face. This seemed to work as she blinked her eyes and recovered from whatever state she was in a moment ago.
"What happened?" I ask in a worried tone.
She gave a shy smile, recognizing my worried voice, "Sorry about that. I uh... Have a tendency to space out like that... Heh..." She said, rubbing her neck with her gaze turned to the floor.
"It's fine," I say, placing a hoof on her shoulder, "You just had me worried there."
Her gaze turns from the floor to meet mine... "Yeah... Again, sorry about that..." She trailed off.
"Anyway, sandwiches." She said as she made her way to the table, and we started eating.
"So..." Dreamstrider began, obviously trying to break the silence, "I met royalty last night."
I allowed my eyes to widen... Again.
"What?" She asked with a raised eyebrow, "Just thought you would like to know..."
"Really? Who did you meet?" I ask with an inquisitive tone. She just looks at me like that was a stupid question before answering, "Who do you think Twilight?
"The Princess of the Night of course."
Suddenly I realise why she looked at me as if my question was obvious, because it was. But is discard this and continue with the conversation at hoof.
"What did she say?" I ask, curious.
Dreamstrider smiles and replied, "We talked, and she told me a few things..."
"What kind of things?"
"Things. Stuff that was more on the private side of my life, so I would rather it stay that way."
She continued, "At least, for now."
I raise an eyebrow at her, but decide to drop the subject.
"Okay... Did she say anything of note?" I ask, trying to get something out of her.
She looked blankly, but thoughtfully at her sandwich, then she turned her gaze back to me. "Not really, but she wasn't too surprised to see me in human form thankfully."
She levitated her sandwich and took another bite. "If it wasn't that she is over a thousand years old and has a pretty horrible past, the fact that I'm around as tall as Celestia and by biological standards humans are fine-haired, bipedal apes might had made her a bit unsettled.
"But how am I kidding?" She exclaimed, "She's Princess Luna! I personally admire her for the fact that she can come away from her... Event. And still be able to be as strong as she is."
She casually takes another bite from her sandwich, ignoring the expressions on my face.
"At least, on the surface."
She proceeds to finish the rest of her sandwich in silence, and then casually sits and looks blankly at some point in the library while I finish.
"How can she regard meeting royalty not a big deal? She just essentially shrugged it off! Like it was some everyday experience! "
I sigh. I really don't know about her, she is just so carefree, so relaxed about everything and knows how to deal with the questions and criticism I give her so casually! I don't mean to be so critical at times, but it just happens. And according to her, she is still a filly, even if she is thirteen! She has just started early adulthood, but she says she is barely close to being an adult.
She's odd, and how she's here does make some sort of sense, but even so... I don't know if I believe her or not...
"What? Am I really that captivating?" I hear Dreamstrider comment in a jokingly flirtatious voice. I realize I had been staring at her for over a minute now as I was thinking.
I look at her with a death glare, "Stop it."
"What? Do you have a problem with same gender relationships?"
"No. Infact, there are an equal amount of ponies who have mare-to-mare relationships as there are colt-to-mare relationships.
"However, I don't like your attitude at the moment. And remember, this is my house and I can kick you out anytime I like."
The sincerity, if a bit more that I intended, caught her off-guard and fear entered her eyes.
"Yup! I think I'll shut up now! Yup that sounds like a good idea! I'll really shut up now!" She said as she backed down and almost started whimpering as she looked up with fear.
"She looks like she had just seen something horrific... Am I really that intimidating? "
"Please don't be angry..." She quietly spoke, her voice not weak or panicky, but instead just had fear.
"Dreamstrider," I say, trying to ease her of whatever is causing her fear, "I wasn't angry at you, I was just irritated that you were being so immature toward that situation."
"So, your not going to turn into a fireball of rage and send the library ten yards into the air?"
I giggle a little, "No I won't."
These words seem to calm her a little, as she gets up from her cowering position and begins to sit upright again.
"Is that what you were afraid of?"
She looks at me with a smile back on her face, "If you thought I was afraid of you then, then make sure I break a Pinkie Promise someday, then you'll know what it looks like when I'm really afraid."
I laugh a little in response, "Everyone is afraid of Pinkie Pie when somepony breaks a Pinkie Promise."
She just shakes her head and says, "Applejack may have panicked when she more-or-less broke her Pinkie Promise, but if I had Pinkie chasing after me, living in a dragons cave would sound like luxury."
I would have laughed, but something in her expression told me she was deadly serious.
"Your serious?" I asked, surprised as to the fact that she actually meant it.
"Completely. I would rather tangle with five Ursa Majors than face Pinkie Pie after..." She says with a shudder.
"It's a fear born out of something that isn't relevant, and definitely isn't something to worry about."
"Okay..." I manage to get in before she continues.
"Anyway." She says as she makes her way to her room, goes in, and walks back out with a corded bag around her neck. She must had walked in with it yesterday without me noticing it.
She stands just a few steps from the doorway and sighs with a grin that grew ever wider, like she was remembering a favorite memory.
"I just realized, I'm here! I'm really here! I made it to the place others can only dream about!" She exclaims as her wings start to flutter a bit and she starts jumping on the spot like some exited filly.
"I'm here! I'm here! I'm here! I'm here! I'm heeeeeeeeere!"
I just stare at the pony who was now repeatedly jumping in excitement, not bothering to try and understand her outburst.
"I'm here! I talked to Twilight Sparkle! I'm in her library! I met Luna last night! I got flying lessons from Rainbow Dash! Eeeeee!" She gave an excited scream at the end.
She stops bouncing and starts taking excited, deep breaths, while still keeping her smile. After a few seconds she finally calms down a bit.
"Hope you don't mind, I'm gonna be out for most of the day." She says, continuing to grin, "I think I'm gonna have a walk through town, maybe visit Rarity's, and then maybe have wander near the forest."
"Dreamstrider, remember what I told you about the Everfree-"
"Yes, yes. I'll be careful, although, I won't actually go into the forest. Even though I could take care of myself, better safe than sorry."
She steadies her breathing and makes her way downstairs, to which, I follow.
"Anyway, I'll probably just do an assortment of anything that pops into my head in between those things, but I promise to be careful, not to use magic, won't make anypony angry, and that I have a good excuse as to why I'm now a mare."
"What excuse is that?" I ask, trying to keep up with the amount of words being flown in my direction
"That I was helping you test a magic potion you made recently, and was a biological transformation potion that we didn't know the exact product of, so I tested it and it turned me into a mare, and now I'm keeping this form for documentation purposes incase the potion has long-term consequences."
I just looked at her blankly for a few seconds. It was actually a good excuse, even if a bit technical, but all anypony would have to do is come to me to confirm what she says.
"Fine, It's a good excuse."
"Good that you think so. Anyway, I'm gonna get going." She said rather quickly as she almost jogged to the door, there was an obvious spring in her step.
"Just stay out of trouble, I don't want-"
"Yes, yes. I pay attention to the rules." She says quickly, but without anything in her voice except excitement.
"Anyway, see you sometime later!" She says as she opens the door and makes her way out before I could do anything else.
"She is never going to make sense. " I thought to myself after she left.
Author's Note
Sandwiches are awesome.
Dreamstrider: Tale of the Impossible
Chapter ten: Another unusual start
Chapter ten
"Deep breaths. Deeeeeep breaths... "
I feel like I'm a turbine motor on overdrive right now, I just can't keep clam. I had been suppressing my excitement until now, just so I don't mess up, but now I've been here a day and got somewhere to stay, all my excitement is flowing out of me like a torrent of water.
"Eeeee! If only my friends could see me now! HAHA! "
I need to calm down, might as well get started on that walk.
I start walking the same direction I did yesterday, towards the hall, and I plan to go from the hall out to the edge of town and walk all the way around until I make it back to the hall. Hopefully without too many questions as to why I'm now a mare, but I might as well prepare for the worst...
"Hey there!"
My mind makes a tyre screech sound as I hear Roseluck greeting me from a few yards away. "And this is why you don't play with magic kids. "
My brain has just gone on holiday and has left a note saying: "Gone to Hawaii to relax and watch you fail on television! Good luck!"
You know what? I don't care about plans anymore, lets just get this over with.
"Hey Roseluck! Nice to see you again!" I greet, knowing it's a little cheesy, but it's cheerful.
"Hi! I... Er..."
"You okay Roseluck?" I say, knowing exactly why she is stumbling over her words, but I'm playing this innocent.
"Well... When I last saw you..."
"I was a colt? Yeah... About that..." Loki mode: Activate.
"Yesterday, after I got back to the library, the librarian said she needed somepony to help test a new potion of hers."
Doing good... "She said it wasn't dangerous, so I said yes, and the effect was... Unexpected to say the least."
Roselucks eyes widen a little in thought, then raised an eyebrow at me, "Aren't you a little embarrassed to be walking around like this? And why hasn't Twilight reversed the effect?"
Damn. Both are good excuses, but while I'm in Loki mode, nothing will beat me in a battle of wits.
"I'm not actually that bothered about it, and I decided to stay like this incase there were other undocumented side-effects of the potion."
"Thats very selfless of you to volunteer like that, after all, there could be terrible side-effects."
"It's nothing, I'm just helping a friend." I say, trying not to be too cliché, "And if something were to happen, I doubt it would be too bad."
If I hadn't been a part of fast-paced sports on Earth, I probably wouldn't have noticed the momentary flash of thought across Roselucks eyes. The emotion that surrounded that thought was... Strange... Almost like two, or three different feelings or thoughts in conflict with one another.
"Hey, that sounds familiar!"
"No shit Sherlock. "
"What? It's your own damn fault that you have so many different voices in your head anyway."
"And your in my head, so shut it. "
"Ugh, fine."
"So, what are you doing today? Any exciting endeavours, or dangerous deeds?"
The sudden change of attitude catches me off-guard, and this shows a little in my expression. If she had said that in any other way, I would had dismissed it as sarcasm, but she didn't say it sincerely either...
Is she playing with me?
I quickly shove the thought out of my head, I'm just still thinking human. Ponies don't get lusty or flirt with strangers, thats just in cheesy fictions... Right?
Either my mind is being perverted, or this is really happening. Either way... God give me strength.
I keep a cool expression and continue on without my mind doing Twilight vs Pinkie on me.
"Nah, just wondering around town, maybe visiting a few friends, then have a nice walk along the river."
"My, sounds like quite the day you've got ahead of you. I wouldn't want to get in your way."
"You know, either way, it does kinda sound like she is messing with you... Among other things."
"I would tell you to shut up... *Gah* You know what? Lets have a little fun shall we? How about I change from the defensive, to the offensive?"
"Is that such a wise idea? Think of all the things that could go wrong..."
"What? It's not like you, or me have had an opportunity to meddle like this before. And I can see why people find this fun too. And anyway, who's head is this? "
"Fine. Just if something goes wrong, it's not my fault."
"Fair enough. "
Never done this before, but as they say; "Practise makes perfect"... *Groan*
"Oh, I don't mind. I don't have any urgent appointments for today." I say is a way that would make it apparent to Roseluck, (If she was flirting with me), that I'm interested.
"Such a shame I'm stuck at this stall. Say, would you like to 'Hang out' sometime?"
"That would be brilliant."
"Drop by my house anytime. I'm the fifth house down the right along from Sugarcube Corner." She says almost seductively, but restrains herself due to being in public.
"I'll make sure to "Drop by" sometime then." I say, copying her seductive tone, but still holding a restrained expression.
"Look forward to it.
"But I don't want to stop you from your daily endeavors now. See you sometime in the future." She says, slowly returning back to her normal tone.
"I'm sure you will." I return to my normal tone and we exchange our goodbyes as I get back to my, "Morning endeavours".
"...What just happened?"
HAHAHAHAHA! Thats what you get for switching off stupid brain!
"...That wasn't at all what I had hoped would happen."
"Deal with it. "
"Smooth moves."
"Glad you think so "
"I was being sarcastic."
"Well I stole your face! "
"Har-de-har."
I mentally stick my tongue out, because I'm having too much fun to care. I don't know any rational reason why I do silly spontaneous things like that, it just happens.
"Also, brain, can you tell me what the fuck I just got into? "
"...You either just started a sexual relationship with a pony, Roseluck no less, or you just became Ponyville's official town whore."
...
"...Thanks... For being an asshole... "
"You know, I can get 'Asshole' up here to join the conversation..."
"SHUT. THE FUCK. UP. "
" You're the one who asked my opinion in the first place."
"I asked for your opinion, not for your smart-assery and cynicism. "
"But who would I be if I could not be critique?"
"You would be bearable, and generally not make me want to dissect my own brain. "
"Good thing that you can cope."
"Just only. I'm not even sure how I do it sometim- "
I get called out of my head and back into reality as I walk into a wall, banging my head and generally causing lots of physical pain. Not to mention the strange looks I seem to be getting by everypony who witnessed the event.
"Just shut up, I'm beginning to like walking into walls. "
"I have some things to do anyway, besides making you walk into walls."
"I'm happy for you. "
At this point I just kept on walking in silence, both inwardly and outwardly. I just want to go uninterrupted through my planned route, and avoid anymore arguments with my brain followed by smashing into walls.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
By the time I can think straight again, I find myself at the edge of town and conveniently on the dirt path to leads to Fluttershy's cottage. I think better of going to visit Fluttershy because I'm not in the mood to cope with such a timid mind.
Not to say I have anything against her or her timid nature, it's the fact that my 'Argument' with myself has taken it's toll on my patience and I don't want to snap in front of Fluttershy. If I ever made her cry... I would never forgive myself.
I look around and see the river that flows nearby Fluttershy's home, and decide to follow it left. If I'm correct, then I should be able to go left and at some point reach Rarity's and drop in for... Whatever it is that friends drop in for.
I start walking, basking in the sunshine, and listening to the relaxing sounds of the river as I pass beside it. It's peaceful, and peaceful is what I need...
Too peaceful.
"This is too quiet, Pinkie usually throws a welcoming party on their first day, and this is is my second stay here. not counting my arrival... "
"She never forgets these things, the only reason she could have held it off so long is..."
"She is still planning out the party... "
"And that must mean it's an important party..."
"Which means it gonna be a big party. "
"Exactly."
"And this is why having another me inside my head is awesome. "
"How about superextremeawesomemazing?"
"Aim high kid, but don't aim for the impossible. "
"Touché."
I walk on with a smile on my face, in better spirits from my brief conversation with myself. But despite the lift in mood, I still feel worn out from the heated argument with my brain. Of all things to argue with, it had to be my own brain.
The cheered effect slowly slips away until I'm stuck with yet another blank face, and deep thought consumes me again. It's either that, or I go into a depressed state for an hour.
I'm thinking too much, I just need to sit down and calm myself. I see a nice grassy bank of the river I could sit on and stop myself from over-thinking. I hated over-thinking.
...Why am I staring at my reflection in the river?
I give out a loud groan and collapse on the ground, curling up into a ball, tucking my tail close to my body, and facing the river. Thinking... Thinking...
What am I even thinking about? I have no idea, I just keep thinking for some reason, my mind doing its own thing and leaving my body and consciousness lying here in the embrace of Gaia.
It feels... Like I'm in a lovers arms, cradled like a newborn and without a care in the world. I feel like I'm being embraced by the earth itself, and I am loving it back with equal measure... Whatever is going on, I don't want it to stop. I thought back to when I was young, when my mother embraced me, and how it felt so warm... And secure... Like I was in the safest place in the world.
I just lay there for who knows how long, but no more than an hour. At least, until I heard hoofsteps in the soft grass from behind me.
"Um... Excuse me, are you okay?"
The irony... I specifically avoid visiting Fluttershy in case I snap in front of her, and instead, she comes to me ... Oh well, best go with what the universe throws at me.
"Hey Fluttershy." I say, just lifting my head over my tail so my voice isn't muffled.
"Oh my, is that you Dreamstrider?"
I can't help but smile, if not facing her, at her courtesy for which she was renowned for. Not to mention a huge factor in making her the most adorable pony ever.
"Sure is," I say, changing position and lifting my head as I face her, "I'm just chilling..."
I make a huff and sink back down into my previous position, except facing Fluttershy, and move my eyes to the ground.
"Just chilling and thinking about life."
"Okay..." She says simply, bolting her eyes around and fidgeting a little, all traits of when Fluttershy is trying to ask some sort of question.
"Um... If you don't mind me asking... How come you were... Um..."
"A colt yesterday?"
She just nods and shyly waits for an answer, one that I have come to expect having answering a lot the next couple of days. I look around a little with just my eyes to check if there was anyone coming down the road, and there wasn't.
"The story I tell everyone is that Twilight got me to test a potion and it turned my into a mare, because no-pony actually knew me as a mare except you, Twilight and the others, and everypony knew me as a colt originally.
"The real story is that I was messing about with magic yesterday morning and decided to test a genderswap thingemie, and I was silly enough to go out as a colt, so now I have to explain to everypony why I'm now a mare because they think I'm supposed to be a colt."
We both stay there in silence for a few minutes, as neither of us can think if anything to add to the conversation. That is until, ironically, the quietest of us speaks up.
"Um... Are you sure you're okay? You don't really seem... Um... Okay..."
No... No, I guess I'm not. I am just sitting here next to a river, thinking about the fabric of the universe, and procrastinating to a degree. Problem is, I don't know what the problem is... And in thinking that I've just started another paradox in my head.
"No..." I mumble through my tail.
She slowly makes her way over to my side and sits down next to me.
"What's wrong? Can I help?" She softly says as she supportively rests a hoof on my back.
Great, now I have two motherly beings comforting me. Well, I can't complain as their not conflicting with one another. If anything, their complementing each other, whether either side realises it.
"I don't know Fluttershy..." Beyond caring about withholding any kind of information, because with Fluttershy next to me, doing that just... Just wouldn't make sense, and would seem... Wrong...
"I have dual-personalities, except there is more than just one alternate me, and they're all stuck in my head like some kind of lounge."
I dig further into my tail, and close my eyes as if in an attempt to hide from whatever is making me like this.
"It's just... Hard... To cope sometimes..." I mumble through the mess of unkempt hair that is my tail. Fluttershy just keeps quiet and listens while she soothes me.
"And I was also thinking about why I have magic. Why me? I'm not special or anything, and I appreciate having these powers... But do I really deserve them?"
I don't think I do. I'm not special, I'm not outgoing, I'm not worthy of anything. It was out of my selfishness that I came here to escape from the human race that I'm a part of.
I could had stayed, but what then? Become a master magician at carnivals and do impossible things for money? Get fought over by countries who want to study me for their own selfish needs? Live in solitude from the world because I'm considered a freak? No, I left to escape all that, and come to a place I know is accepting of who you are, and what you are. Here I can be who I am, and also live in a considerably better world than the one I was born on.
And even through all that... Did I really make the right choice?
I tighten the ball like shape I've curled into, and squeeze my eyes closed in an attempt to hide from myself. Fluttershy notices and tries to comfort me through the situation which who-knows-how I got myself into.
"Hush-sush... Don't be so hard on yourself." She says softly, now with her foreleg draped over me, with Fluttershy slowly moving from side-to-side as a mother would when she is comforting her child. Something I should've come to expect from Fluttershy as she is the Element of Kindness.
"Why wouldn't you deserve it? You're a wonderful pony."
"I don't know who I am Fluttershy. All I know is I'm an alone filly who went too far from home out of their own stupidity."
Right now, I've lost pretty much all composure. I'm not crying, it's not that kind of breakdown, but I felt as if I was falling apart.
Which choice was the right one? did I make the right choice? Was there even a right choice? Why am I tearing myself apart here?
"You're not a filly, you're a young mare like me. And you're not stupid, your a very intelligent pony."
I give a sigh, "Let me rephrase that; By my age I'm considered young where I'm from, and I also consider myself a filly. And maybe I'm not stupid, but my mind is about as well ordered as a library with all the books thrown on the floor with all their pages ripped out and thrown into the wind with about ten pounds worth of melted chocolate on everything, and I can be incredibly ignorant sometimes."
I open my eyes and look up at Fluttershy. She is just looking in a very thoughtful manner from the ground, up at me, and then back at the ground again, probably trying to come up with something to counter my self-denouement.
She eventually looks back at me, and straight into my eyes with a motherly sternness.
"What you said about being alone is not true, you have friends like me, Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow, Pinkie, and Rarity to keep you safe and help you when you hit bad times."
I was taken aback by Fluttershy's firm and confident tone, usually she keeps a quiet and gentle tone for everything, but the tone she used just now I have never heard from her before. And thats saying something, considering I've seen every episode of MLP up to the season three finale. It was almost un-Fluttershy like, but she wasn't doing 'New Fluttershy', or Flutter-rage, but a completely new tone. And it made me feel... Safe.
"I..." I manage to stutter through and out of my mouth with everything going on in my head.
"You really consider... Me, as a friend?"
She looks at me with a slightly surprised face, then replies, "Of course I do! The more friends you have to better."
"I... Never thought anypony would care about me that much." I relax a little out of my protective ball shape, and lean into Fluttershy.
"Thank you Fluttershy." I close my eyes and stay close to Fluttershy, dwelling in the moment for as long as I can.
Suddenly, an old Incan proverb pops up in me head, just like that. I give a smile and a small chuckle, Fluttershy notices and looks at me with soft eyes.
"What is it?" She asks with an angelic smile.
""A rich pony is not determined by their financial wealth, but a rich pony is determined by their wealth of followers."
"This, I know to be true. Especially now." I finish with a smile.
She gives a shy giggle and looks away momentarily, "My... Who said that?"
"An old civilization back home. They weren't some of the nicest ponies, but their philosophy along with a similar civilization on the same continent was exceptional."
"Well then... Do you think you're a rich pony?"
...
Do I? Am I? What am I?
Looking back at my life, I don't see many "Riches" to count, only enough to "Keep me out of the red".
I must have blanked out for a minute or two, because when I came back to reality, Fluttershy was gently shaking me and was looking at me with her smile gone and looking a little worried.
"No." I simply say.
"No? No what?"
"No I don't consider myself a rich pony."
"But... But you're such a nice pony! I'm sure you had lots of friends back home." She says, clear that she wants to get me feel better.
"Not really many of note... And anyway, they don't really count a dimension away." I say shifting my view from Fluttershy to the now very interesting grass.
"All friends count, no matter how far away they are!" Fluttershy says as she uses her hoof to gently move my head to look at her.
"And maybe they are far away now, but true friends always have a place in your heart." She punctuates this point by very gently poking me in the chest, "And you have friends here too."
"Maybe I do Fluttershy," I say as I look deep into her aqua eyes, "But did I make the right choice coming here? Leaving my family and friends behind for my own pursuits?
"Sure, I would have been called a freak and people would try to lock me up and throw away the key, but can I call myself loyal when I left my friends behind? Can I call myself generous when I didn't offer anyone the chance to come with me? Can I call myself honest when still have to lie in order to keep myself safe?"
My gaze begins to falter and drops down to the ground, "I could go back, but what then Fluttershy? I used to live in a world of technology and science, I would be locked up as a test subject and be called un-human, and be denied human rights. What would I tell my friends? That I'm a dimension-jumping planeswalker? In my world, I would be classed as insane! Because in my world, if it can't be explained by science, then it's not real! It's impossible! An abomination of nature!"
I return my gaze to Fluttershy with a newborn sternness, "I would be called an abomination Fluttershy! A freak!
"I could go back and become "Normal", hide who I am under a mist of deceit and lies. But then what? I would be hiding who I am and wasting my life! I don't want to waste my life, I want to live it... I just want to live...."
I turn my gaze away from Fluttershy and begin to grind my head into the grass and dirt. I don't care if it hurts, If it stops be from lashing out at Fluttershy, then I'm going to do it.
I can't see Fluttershy, but I assume she is either mulling over what I just said, or getting ready to bolt in a trail of tears off to her cottage.
"Dreamstrider..."
I stop grinding my head into the ground and just go limp, splaying myself on the ground like a ragdoll with scratches, mud, and grass all over it's face.
"You made the choice you had to make darling, there was no right or wrong."
That wasn't Fluttershy's voice...
I lift up my head to see Rarity looking at me from a few hoofsteps away, with her elegantly styled amethyst mane, and alabaster coat.
"No-pony blames you for your choice. You faced ridicule in your own come and you saw a chance to go somewhere where you could be yourself, and took it."
Rarity pulls one of her white handkerchiefs out of nowhere and begins to clean my face with it.
"But... What if I did make a mistake? What if-"
"You shouldn't be so hard on yourself darling, no-pony blames you, I don't blame you, and neither does Fluttershy."
She finishes cleaning up my face and I can start to feel the scrapes on my face begin to burn. I look down In thought, then back up to Rarity.
"You're right... There was no right or wrong choice, I saw a place where I could live my life and be who I am, and went there. I... Shouldn't blame myself for a fault that isn't mine."
I turn to Fluttershy and begin to apologise, "I'm sorry that I made an outburst like that infront of you-"
"It's fine... I'm just glad I could help."
"I... Well... I guess we're okay then..."
I turn back to Rarity, "So... What are you doing here Rarity?"
"Oh, I was just on my way to ask Fluttershy if she wanted to come to the Spa with me when I overheard your little conversation. I am in desperate need of a hooficure." Rarity announces in her usual over-dramatic fashion.
"That would be nice..."
"Oh spectacular!" Rarity says as Fluttershy walks over to Rarity.
"Dreamstrider, darling, would you like you come with us?"
Well... This is different...
"Um... I don't really have the bits with me..."
"Oh nonsense! I'll pay. A gift between friends!"
"I... Uh..."
"Oh come on dude! Your not a guy anymore, give it a chance!"
I take a deep breath, "Alright then."
"Splendid! We'll make our way there now."
I nod and begin to walk beside them as we make our way back into town.
Author's Note
Sorry if if it's taking awhile to get the chapters out as of late, April has been a pretty full-on month for me because of Easter, holidays, and my birthday all taking place within a few weeks.
Hopefully this chapter isn't too all over the place (I've been writing this one on-and-off), but I hope it's okay enough to be understood.
