The Unwanted One

“And what is this place?” I glanced around the spacious windowless circular room. It, contrary to usual practice, was illuminated not by the usual magic stones, but by oil lamps. Though, apart from them, a large, head-sized, elaborately cut blue crystal under the ceiling, enclosed in a crafty metal frame, helped to fight the darkness with its dim light. It hung from imposing chains and, I bet, exactly in the middle of the room. It was above the center of the pattern on the floor, which was a smooth monolithic stone, as if melted to a liquid state and then frozen again. The strict austerity of the place was broken only by two bunks with cushions, standing at a short distance from each other. The thick, almost safe door closed behind me with an imposing sound, and, with a short clatter of hooves, Luna came to a halt beside me. Strangely enough, there was almost no echo in the empty stone room of considerable height and area. It was like a fly in the mud, creating an unreal sensation. “This is a spell rest, Nightmare. A place for complicated rituals or energy-consuming magical experiments.” The alicorn presented softly. “Impressive, isn’t it?” I nodded reflexively, busy looking around the room. “At our time, my sister and I could only dream of such a wonderful instrument. Modern magical science has come a long way…” Princess shared her impression with a carefully concealed enthusiasm in her voice. I wish I knew better about magic!.. The hall was literally buzzing with it. The crystal glowed so that even in the visible physical spectrum it phoned with light like a reactor with its Cherenkov radiation*. Radioactive particles move at the speed of light, which exceeds the speed of light propagation in water, which causes a characteristic glow. There were wires of some energy channels in the walls — it is clear now, why oil lamps are hanging here: crystals would burn to the heck or would give some parasitic magic… “I’m already preparing a ritual that will help us with Tia’s nightmare.” The blue one brought me out of my admiring contemplation with a nod at the unfinished drawing on the floor. As I looked more closely, I even seemed to notice a certain pattern and that the bunks were where they stood for a reason. “Come in and lie down, please.” Luna nodded towards one of them as she headed toward the other. “And why are we here all of a sudden?..” I made an indefinite gesture as I settled on my bed, noting at the same time that Luna’s mane had occasional glitter, fluttering and floating lightly in the air. I looked down and found the same thing with my tail. So, yes, there was an attempt to approximate the conditions of the Moon by artificially creating an increased saturation of the magical field… “I thought you should get used to the surroundings in advance.” The alicorn was a little embarrassed. Well, may be… “Let’s go?” I settled comfortably on my side, assuming my usual fast-asleep pose. “Let’s go. Am I forming a search link?” “No, I’m. I want some training.” “Okay, Nightmare. Then I’m falling asleep. We’ll meet in the world of dreams.” “Where would we go…” I mumbled, looking at the mare’s deep and steady panting with a thoughtful frown. Rar, may your sister dream of a cook’s cutie mark and feed you for the rest of your life! You’re the reason I’m here now! You’re the reason I let Luna in my head! I gnawed my hooves up to my knees. All night until morning I wrote out various events from life and memories in my faithful notebook, until I fell asleep right on the table. Later, after cursing myself out loud in the empty bedroom, I went to the blue one to the slaughter — and return from it in one piece and, it seems, even unharmed… I was so scared, though, of course, memory is memory, and what mental bookmarks I could never find… I was so scared then… I’m still scared now. What has she done to me that I can’t see? How much of my mind even belongs to me? How much of it is mine at all? I sighed. Or maybe Rar was right, and I was making up problems and making enemies out of nothing?.. Abyss. On the other hand, Luna, no matter how she took advantage of my consent, did what she promised. She guided me into the dream world with her intervention, which, as she had promised, really helped me capture the right sensations. A very unusual ones: sleep and don’t simultaneously… I sighed and rolled onto my side and covered myself with my wing. Luna… The damned blue horse has pedantically followed through on the promises she made to me, stoically tolerated any outbursts, and… Damn it, Rarity! To be honest with myself about Luna, to acknowledge her merits and not have to come up with a second bottom to her words and actions, was almost physically painful. The only thing worse was being aware of my own hypocrisy… But how much more could I lie to myself? One would think I didn’t realize that I was wrong sometimes — just chased those thoughts away. And Rar had indirectly and as gently as possible pointed that out to me, and… it hurt. With an annoyed snort, I turned around again, trying to get into a more comfortable position. I glanced at the next bunk, and Luna was snoozing peacefully in her bed, only the white neon glow of the grooves on her horn told me she wasn’t sleeping normally. Waiting for me there, by the way… I sighed and lit the horn, forming a search link to find my hated partner in the dream world. A thin, bright white tourniquet shot out at her and quickly melted into the air, revealing that I have succeeded. Now we sleep… “Was it hard to fall asleep?” Luna met me on “the other side” after a dozen of minutes after a short seeking. “Kind of.” I muttered and hurriedly turned to the doors that hovered here and there in this unreal place. They led to other people’s dreams. The blue one has managed to tighten her usual visualization during my absence, changing the malleable space with her will. This place is like this: without creating in it some habitual systems of coordinates to themselves it is simply impossible to be here — you’ll twist your brain on this N-dimensional stuff… But Luna was aghast at my visualization, unconsciously created as a gigantic circuit board with capacitor buildings and other elements of all shapes and sizes soldered on it. And a radiator tower, lost in the height, on which a fan the size of Ponyville block was spinning, filling the surroundings with a measured hum and rustle. A series of contact tracks loomed between all this splendor along with a variety of monitors. They had pictures of other people’s dreams on them, were sticking out at random, in clusters or singly, causing a slight dissonance. And somewhere far above the darkness was cut by the lights of LED strips and other lights, in the light of which the dust danced… After admiring this technocrat’s delight, Luna pitifully asked to give her visual support. She quickly turned the technical splendor into a bleak endless night sky everywhere, with bleak doors and bleak cloudy paths between them hanging in the air. It looked pretty much the same now, except that Luna has replaced the night sky with the stars to a sunset, apparently noticing my slightly nervous reaction. Where was that sunset heading, considering that I was watching it even directly below us… Well, there was no need to think about that. “What are we gonna do?” “Practice. Find some bad dream, figure out a nightmare, figure out a way to deal with it. But I won’t be around this time, like you asked. Take care of yourself and match your strength, Nightmare. During all the years that the skill of dream-walking has spent in oblivion, nightmares have increased considerably and have become quite dangerous, even for you with your talent. “Yeah, I remember.” I nodded, mentally shrugging off the tired warning. Blue one, the only thing you can do is promising! And meanwhile, in the previous four dives we have not met anyone, figuratively, more dangerous than a mosquito! Stupid parasites, when they realized that they are spotted, often simply fell into a stupor from such an unexpected turn. And after that, to the disapproval of Luna, were simply and trivially exterminated on the spot. My partner insisted that I couldn’t kill them all, and that I had to help the ponies cope with them, strengthening my equilibrium and thus becoming immune to the efforts of nightmares… Except, it was not a quick process to persuade the ponies, who were sometimes more afraid of me than of their nightmares, and it didn’t take more than a minute for them to just swat the creepy thing. And then the fact that another one might stick to them… Oh, whatever. I shook my head and clattered my hooves on the cloud path. I liked the sound, so there it was. For some reason I was wearing the armor, like in the good old days. Did you miss it?.. With a quiet hum, I adjusted my usual bags and slowed my pace, looking at the doors on either side of me. The doors were different, and often characterized the dreamer in one way or another. It was hard to grasp and comprehend a specific pattern — it just… felt. Soon one caught my eye, and I paused, gazing at this entrance to someone’s dream, in which a nightmare was eating away at the owner little by little. The door itself evoked a sense of neglect: old, cracked wood, a handle with traces of rust… After a moment, I pulled it towards me, opening it with the expected creak and rattle, while feeling myself literally sucked into the white mud behind it. A moment later I was standing in an abandoned warehouse. Stacks of crates, dust hanging thickly in the air, cobwebs in the corners, half-darkness barely dispersed by the Moon and the stars, whose light filtered in through holes in the cracked walls and ceiling. Behind a stack someone was crying softly, as if afraid to make any more noise. “Read horrors and then whine about fear…” I mumbled under my breath: the entourage is too similar. I sighed and headed resolutely towards the sound. We’ll find this cre-e-epy stalker in this warehouse, process it into mincemeat, and let the pony go back to sleep peacefully. A weeping pegasus lay on the concrete floor near the crates, in the dim light of the moonbeams piercing through the hole in the wall. A maroon mare with a gradient blue-purple mane and tail, getting darker towards the tips, and a “medical” cutie mark with a winged syringe was sobbing quietly, bandaging her right wing. An open medicine bag laid beside. I didn’t see any direct threat, and that was even strange: I could feel with my tail that the nightmare was sitting here somewhere… But where? Usually, these individuals are fairly straightforward and “process” ponies in person, and here, at first glance, there was no one… I don’t understand. I retreated thoughtfully into the shadows. Where are you hiding, fucking bitch?.. I frowned and began to walk around the perimeter of the warehouse. The thick concrete walls, beaten by time, the same concrete floor, the metal beams in the ceiling… She’s from Manehattan, no less. The architecture is like from there… I stopped, having finished my rounds at the starting point. Damn, something is wrong, but what? Well, first of all, no obvious sign of a nightmare: no giant spider there, no evil unicorn trying to kidnap for experiments… Think about it! Finally, it clicked in my head: the warehouse had no way out. All the walls were solid, with no doors! To get here, according to the plot of the dream, the poor mare could only on the wings — which obviously did not work out… I looked out from behind the crates. The pony has already finished bandaging, and, having somehow clipped the bags onto herself, was now just crying quietly, clutching on the dusty, cold concrete floor and awkwardly tucking her bandaged wing. She can’t get out. Afraid of being trapped with no way out? Or something else? I chewed my lip thoughtfully. No, the initial conclusion was simple, obvious, understandable, and… superficial. I remembered the door in this dream: old, rickety, creaky, with a rusty handle, which obviously was not often touched… No, no, the trap was just a consequence. Loneliness is what haunts her and what she fears! Lying wounded in some abandoned place and knowing that no one will come to help… Probably, she has the same problems in her life, that she cannot solve herself, but there’s no one to call to give her a hand. Needed to no one… Like I was. I sighed and slowly moved towards the pegasus. Let’s tag along, ay… Maybe she wouldn’t feel lonely at least in a dream… “Greetings. What has happened? Someone…” I hesitated, stopping half-step, trying to figure out what to do, and, at the same time, feeling a rush of irritation. The pony, awake at the sound of my voice, stiffened in horror as soon as she saw who’d said it. Her pupils, which shrank to the thickness of a needle, stopped at my eyes, the tears welled up, and her ears pressed against her head. “The… The Mare in t-the M-moon… D… Don’t…” The utterly frightened pegasus whispered with her lips only, and I felt the space of sleep rapidly collapse. In a moment I was already sitting in the “corridor” of doors, shaking my head slightly dazedly. Nice talk we had, damn it… Nice help!.. And I really wanted to do something, and she… And she was so stupidly scared of me that she woke up. Probably jumped up like a catapult, with her heart pounding in her temples and in a cold sweat… Whatever! She wasn’t the first, she wasn’t the last. Cowards! I got to my feet, snorting in annoyance. Yeah… The folks in Ponyville knows me, but in the palace — they don’t dare show fear, even if they have it. And the rest of Equestria… I moved on in a spoiled mood. I really wanted to help, I got into it, so to speak — and here… Damn it! Maybe I should foist her off to Luna? Let the blue one tackle with this. With loneliness, yeah. I chuckled sadly. The next door that caught my eye didn’t look much better. Smooth, glossy pink-painted surfaces, with multicolored glass inlays, a silver handle, and an equally silver little graceful crown in the middle. But only behind the external well-being there were disturbing details. The bottom had hardly noticeable cracks, as if the door was often slammed or kicked, the lock under the handle, locking not from the inside, but from the outside, and most importantly, darkness reigned behind the cheerful colored glass inserts, which made it even a little uncomfortable. I frowned and looked again at the door, which vaguely reminded me of something, and listened to my senses. A nightmare was clearly and unmistakably there. And judging by the door, there was the persistent impression that he’s been in there quite regularly. All right. Working! I turned the key that appeared in the keyhole, opened the door with determination, and let the whitish haze behind it pull me into a dream. The dream turned out to be weakly structured — the emphasis was on emotions, and the environment played a secondary role. This is a good thing when it comes to making sense of a situation. My appearance will not be immediately perceived and understood, as it was in the last dream. On the other hand, it would be much harder to convince a sleeper of my reality if I have to. However, why would it be necessary? In such dreams, as a rule, there is only a pony and a nightmare — we let the latter go for meat, and the problem solves itself, at least — for one night. The plot I saw was quite banal. A nightmare in the form of, I suppose, a mother, yelling hysterically in a nasty, shrill voice at a despondent, tear-swallowing pink filly with a two-color purple-and-white mane and tail. I shifted my gaze to the nightmare and smiled unkindly, lighting my horn. This is where your ride ends, idiot. The stupid parasite had taken the form of a dirty-pink mare with purple hair. It was dressed in a lousy blue blouse and some strange beads. It had distorted and hypertrophied the features of a pony by taking its height beyond two meters and its voice by the melodious sound of chalk on a blackboard, and was devouring, completely losing any semblance of caution. It hasn’t even detected me yet, defective piece of astral… Wait… I took one more look at the unfortunate little pony, and was surprised to see that it was none other than Diamond Tiara. And the nightmare, as I understand it, is playing as her mother, if I recall the canon correctly… What a meeting… I must think about it. I cut off the shrill yelling that made my teeth ache with a mental order and sat down on the… I should have thought about it: the parquet. Well, let it be parquet, it doesn’t matter to me. Shall I talk to the little rascal? How was she, how was her mother — well, it didn’t look like a “mommy” — relations, how was she with the three little ones? To knock the nightmare and go on, of course, fast, easy and effective, but it’s just like giving a fish, not like giving a fishing rod — a temporary solution. And I could have given zero damns, but I do know this particular pony personally, and she doesn’t live that far away, and she’s in trouble with my friends… And… I just feel sorry for her, really. Living in your house like amongst enemies? It shouldn’t be like that. But… Why should I care? For a moment, I thought of the image of Tiara, already not young, begging in a dumpster. I don’t think it would ever come to this. Though, with an upbringing like that… I looked thoughtfully at the now silent scene. The lock on the door came to mind. I wonder if this is a literal image? I hope not… Shit. But what if it would come to this? When I see her like that, I’ll remember that I could have done something to stop it from happening, but I spit and walked away… No, fuck that! I don’t know how things will turn out, what will happen with Tia and me and all… But since I’m in charge of protecting from nightmares now, and I have to live here with all these ponies, I guess I have to protect the people I live with, right?.. I rose, having made up my mind. The nightmare goes into a furnace, Tiara gets a conversation. Maybe something would work out… I had to figure out how to put myself into a dream so that she would perceive me. The plan was born quickly. I stabilized the dream, added details for better perception by the sleeper. Fortunately, Tiara herself subconsciously helped me a lot to create a familiar environment. As soon as I mentally commanded “bed!”, the subconscious of the little earthpony turned the appearing bed into exactly her bed. Soon I was looking at a rich and somewhat tastelessly decorated room instead of an amorphous something. The stupid nightmare was only now beginning to suspect something, but the stage was already set for its sawing out. The spell that had been thrust into the parasite’s head has disintegrated it into a cloud of rapidly dissipating energy, and my construct, which Tiara herself had quickly helped to make realistic, has taken its place. It was surprisingly close to the image the nightmare had used, except that it didn’t look so hypertrophied and disgusting. After yelling sluggishly at her scared daughter for another minute, the disgruntled " mother” turned to see the door open. Filthy Rich, another image of me, walked into the room. “It’s enough, dear. It’s crossing every line!” He hovered over his “wife” with his nostrils flared menacingly. Tiara picked up the dream. There was awareness in her eyes, and in her mind, the blurred and fragmented emotions and cries, supposedly, have now become a coherent “movie”. Which, by the way, the earthpony was quite surprised by. There was something of “it doesn’t happen that way!” of hers. “Don’t interfere with!..” “Don’t interfere with what? Yelling at my daughter and the heiress of my business?!” The stallion roared overwhelmingly, shifting his eyebrows menacingly. “Go into the living room — I’ll talk to you later! Go on!” He repeated with pressure to the frozen mare, whose name I couldn’t remember, damn it. The mare, muttering something, finally hurried away. It was as if all the air has been sucked out of Tiara, who had been tense as a string the whole time, and she cried again, but this time with relief. “Th… Tha-anks, d-d-a-ad…” “I invited someone.” The stallion smiled blushingly. “A well-known model in Ponyville lately. She wanted to talk to you. Including about your mom. Here, take a look…” I entered the room of the tense filly again, but now in flesh. “…Nightmare Moon. You would talk a bit, wouldn’t you?” He addressed to me. “And I must… Talk to my wife about her behavior now.” “Of course, Filthy.” I nodded with readiness, amping the dream’s stability along the way once again — just in case. “It will be a pleasure to get acquainted with your daughter.” The construct, with a relieved nod, slipped out the door and ceased to exist, leaving us alone with Diamond Tiara. Now we could try and talk. And if an opportunity appears, I can pull her into a fully conscious dream, instead of the way she was now, where she took everything as reality. “Don’t get along with your parents?” I asked in a sympathetic voice, while gradually reducing myself to the size of an ordinary pony, so as not to be perceived as too threatening. “W… Why a-are you here?” The filly muttered nervously swallowing and retreating a couple of steps. She was unconsciously trying to throw me out of the dream — understandably, to no avail. “You know that I’m Scootaloo’s friend, don’t you? I decided to stop by when I got the wind, that you bully her because of the problem at home.” The questions “how?” and “where from?” are not supposed to be there right now, because critical thinking doesn’t work. And if they do, it means that she is already quite here and understands that all around is a dream. “I bully her because she’s poor! And she studies worse than I do! And she can’t fly!” Tiara hummed arrogantly. How to damn crack you?.. “Why offend those who are poorer or have poorer grades? Didn’t Princess Celestia teach all ponies to respect and appreciate each other regardless of that?” I don’t know if she actually taught everyone and if it’s actually what she taught… But Tia has an almost unshakable authority in society, and among the kids, as a rule, it’s absolute. “Because mom says so! And Princess Celestia doesn’t see the real life from her throne!” I wonder if there’s an article for dissidence? Otherwise, the mother could be stupidly imprisoned and deprived of her parental rights — isn’t that a solution?.. “And you think it’s right?” “Yes! A real noble lady should behave like that!” Damn. We need to wake her up and talk to her properly. She’s practically talking in slogans, and she’ll forget half of it when she wakes up. That’s not it… The question is, how to do it? In theory, you could first detail the dream as much as possible, assuring her that it is real, and then sharply translate it into unprecedented wildness. It might work on dissonance. Or vice versa, through inconsistencies of some kind? Hm-m… Thinking shortly, I created clocks behind me on a wall, trying to think ‘em out with all the details — more detailed objects against less detailed ones, according to Luna, should attract more attention… When I turned around to assess the result, I involuntarily shuddered. Instead of the image I was trying to make, my mind subconsciously chose a different one. These clocks have been hanging in our apartment since I was born, a gift from my grandmother, I think… I swallowed a lump in my throat and repainted them to match the color of the room and replaced the Arabic numerals with Equine numerals. That would do. I won’t be able to provide more detailed ones, anyway… It worked. The little pony immediately inadvertently glanced at the clocks, automatically fixing the time. And now we stop it in place, leaving a ticking sound that tells us it’s going. After a swift thought, I also sketched a scene behind the previously tightly curtained window, sticking a train station in there and running an endless train. And that is instead of the high fence of their mansion. That’s all. All that was left to do was talk. “I personally know Princess Celestia and many other aristocrats — and they don’t allow themselves such behavior.” Let’s pretend I don’t know Bluesy. “Insulting someone is inadmissible for them, because it means losing their dignity!..” I’ve been going back and forth like that for about twenty minutes — if there’s any point in talking about time in this place. Tiara has already thrown a couple of glances at the clock, but so far, apparently, she suspected nothing. No, that’s not it. Change of plan. The train disappeared out the window. Now there was a street with bustling passersby and, most importantly, open stores with full windows. I opened the curtains, and moved Tiara to the bed so she could at least catch a glimpse of what was going on outside the window. Ye-ep… The shop windows will be empty, the flow of passersby will change, it will rain intermittently, and the clocks, ticking convincingly, will continue to stand. Or, even better, keep going, but very slowly. With a satisfied nod, I continued the conversation. Man, I wish she would hurry up already!.. I’m sick of it… Finally, after another twenty minutes, Tiara’s muzzle turned anxious as she looked first at the clocks and then out the window. Bingo. The debit and credit were no longer adding up. I thought about it briefly and trimmed the scene outside the window so that it only looked normal from Tiara’s seat. I could see passersby disappearing and appearing in the air, in a place where the road seemed to be clipped by a laser into a murky void. Diamond Tiara, meanwhile, grew tenser with each phrase and glanced more frequently at the clocks. “Mistress Nightmare… When will my father come?” She finally broke. “In five minutes.” I answered calmly. The number of glances at the clocks doubled. It began to rain outside. Drops drummed on the glass, leaving trails on it. The conversation continued, shifting to the subject of school. I was stupidly asking about all the subjects and asking anything I could just to stall for time. Tiara was already acting like she was on pins and needles. “When my father will come?” She finally repeated with concern and pressure, interrupting me mid-word. “In five minutes.” I waved with a wing phlegmatically, creating sleep stabilization for the third time at the same time. The rain outside had stopped, and the sun was shining. “You’ve already said that, and five minutes have already passed!” The pony rose up, poking her hoof behind my back with a reproach towards the clocks. “Even the rain has stopped!” I looked back at the clocks in surprise, simultaneously turning the hand back five minutes and starting the rain again. “It’s bad to lie, little lady!” I shook my head with a reproach. “Five minutes haven’t passed yet, and, as I can see, even the rain hasn’t ended as well. Don’t digress, please. You said, that the mountain slope…” “But… How…” The pony mumbled perplexedly, laying back her ears and turning gaze back and forth between the clocks and the window. “I… I’ll check my daddy, okay?” She jumped off her bed and moved towards the door defiantly. “Filthy is busy and asked to not disturb him.” The earthpony pushed the door, but it, with a sudden clang of the bolt, remained closed. “How?.. Has he locked?..” Tiara mumbled pitifully, looking at me with a bit of a panicking gaze. “Of course he hasn’t. He’ll come back in five minutes.” I answered monotonically and out of turn. The rain has ended. “Hey, wh… what’s going on h-here?” The filly looked around with a haunted gaze and swallowed brokenly. It works, ay! She’ll turn on soon. “Just talking.” I smiled. “You was talking about geography…” “I’m not…” Tiara looked out the window, then at the clocks, then again out the window. She turned white in the face, pressing her ears against her head in fear. The time was the same. It wasn’t raining. “I’m n-not…” She hopped onto the edge of the bed on shaky legs. And almost fell off, seeing the landscape outside the window from a more accessible angle, with passersby disappearing and emerging out of nowhere. The same ones mechanically moving back and forth. “What?!.. How?!..” Pony looked at me — and started to fall back on the bed in fear. “No-no-no, o Celestia!.. The Mare in the Moon is!.. It’s a dream, it’s just a dream, I’m sleeping…” Bingo. Nodding approvingly and smiling with lips only, I “collapsed” the street and the ground with the walls of the room and furniture, leaving only the bed, on which Tiara sat, of all the familiar furnishings. Then I built castle in a Gothic pointed-triangular gloomy style behind my back, that had been created in the dreams. “You’re absolutely right, little pony, it’s a dream. Welcome to my realm — and sorry for this not-so-pleasant introduction.” The dream went in waves, trying to collapse, but the preparation did its job, and I managed not to let my guest wake up, leaving her in a fully conscious dream. “W-what have you done?!” The mare cried out trembling, looking around fearfully at the completely changed situation. “I want to go home!..” “Let you realize yourself in your dreams, Tiara. Again, I’m sorry about the methods — I just don’t know any other way yet. Don’t be afraid. You’ll wake up in your bed soon, but I’d like to talk first. Do you mind?” “I d-don’t want to talk!” The little frightened pony exclaimed, and, realizing the said, squinted her eyes, laying back the ears. “Mommy!..” I know how to make friends… I scared the hell out of her, instead of… Oh, shit… I looked thoughtfully at the castle and blew it away, replacing its surroundings with a picturesque green clearing with bright sunshine and butterflies, to which I moved my trembling companion from the disappearing bed. I remembered the aroma of meadow herbs and wildflowers, the playful touch of grass, tickling the pads of my feet under my hooves, the wind ruffling my fur and feathers, fluttering my mane… I shuddered, erased the raven, which materialized inadvertently under the memory, chanting on a tree. Not today, pop star, damn it!.. The glade was a sight to behold. I nodded in satisfaction and laid down on the grass next to Tiara, who was watching it all warily, and put my wing around her, earning a very indignant look. “D-don’t even try, I won’t forgive you no matter what!” The mare tried to look independent, going over her fear. “You’ve had a nightmare, little pony. Fighting them is my job in some sort… How do you feel?” “I’m fine.” The pony grumbled under her breath. “And now let me go home if you don’t want to quarrel with my daddy! And it’s better to be friends with him!” “I think Filthy would understand me.” I smiled with my lips only. “After all — I just want to help you.” “Why would you? You rub shoulders with these blank flanks and help them, don’t you?” I was looked at by an arrogant and a bit frightened gaze. No, her arrogance and this “I’m a Queen, and all the plebs won’t dare touch me!” is even slightly admirable in its maximalism. But it would be sad and difficult to go through life with that attitude. How can I make her understand better?.. “The blank flank is a peculiarity that will pass with time.” I rose, and at the same time regained my normal height, and now hovered over Diamond Tiara. “But a ruined reputation stays for a very long time, if not forever.” “Ruined like yours?” This immortal cockroach hummed, getting on her feet as well. Getting cocky — and she’s doing that for absolute nothing. “Ruined like yours, Diamond. I am not abandoned by my friends and respected by others.” “What does reputation have to do with it at all?” Tiara stomped her foot with an angry scowl. “You did this! On purpose! And it’s because of you now!.. I’m now!..” Sighing, she sat down where she stood, hastening to look away from me. “They’re like that because of you! How could this Silver name me a coward before everyone?! Idiot!” The filly exclaimed with a lost voice. “I wasn’t frightened, I just went to find miss Cheerilee!.. Because!.. Because…” Tiara froze tensely, overcoming her tears. I pursed my lips with a frown. It was something like I wanted… Here’s the result. Yes, I had to put them down somehow, to make them forget to bully anyone, to teach them a lesson, but… To teach them a lesson, yes. Not to break them up and leave them to sort themselves out. Well… I’ll try. Like Luna said, yeah… “Why do you care so much?” I asked with exaggerated indifference. “Some insignificant paupers who exist only to show them their place are treating you badly — wow, that’s a catastrophe.” “I don’t even have anyone to play with now!” The pony screamed angrily and sobbed. “And… And my mom also scolds me for allowing to not respect me…” “But you’re rich. How much would you pay to have Silver Spoon as your friend again?” “I d-don’t know…” Diamond dashed away the tears, sobbing. “W-well… A box with toys. Maybe even two, if that wouldn’t be enough! And I’d buy ice cream…” “But if in money?” “E-e… Plenty of, I guess?.. But I won’t pay you for sure!” The mare looked at me with a frown, clearly suspicious of something. “Why would I need it.” I chuckled sadly. “I live in a palace, I eat from the gold, I can at any moment tear off the first guard I see and order him to bring me something, I can buy any thing. I can go to the reigning Princess’s chambers in the middle of the night and wake her up if I want to, after all.” “And… What then?..” The pony was impressed. “Then nothing.” I chuckled. I haven’t tried it, but I doubt Luna would even scold me for it. The fact that we’re talking about her, not everyone-admired Tia, who has the same title, is left behind my teeth. “She’d mumble under her breath, that I’m interrupting her sleep. But you know what? I don’t really need all that. The money, the expensive crockery, the ability to have the guards run for tea… In fact, my dream right now, in fact, is to leave everything behind and go back to Rarity’s house. To live in two rooms with the three of us, to cook and clean the house by myself… Because even the whole of Canterlot isn’t worth as much to me as my best friend. I’m happy with her, but I’m not happy at the palace. And that’s all that matters.” “You’re saying like money are worthless at all!” Tiara sniffed distrustfully. “My dad doesn’t earn them just because!” “Money is something that can make life easier and, sometimes, a little more versatile. But it’s not what makes us happy.” “Not true!” “Why? You’re rich, you live in a big mansion with personal servants, and Scootaloo lives in some old house in the middle of nowhere.” I don’t know if I guessed or not, but it’s hardly different, is it? “Would you say she’s unhappy?” “Well… I wouldn’t?” The earthpony bent her brows thoughtfully. “But you help her, I know!” “Okay. I don’t help Apple Bloom, and she surely doesn’t live wealthy. And she hasn’t got a cutie mark, and wears a usual bow instead of a crown… Is she unhappy?” Tiara, slowing a bit, shook her head unwillingly. “And that’s because she’s not alone. And because she treats others kindly and is always ready to help someone in need, she won’t lose her friends and will probably find new ones.” The filly, sullenly digging the ground with her hoof, was silent. “Make peace with Silver Spoon, with…” “Why would I?! It’s not my fault, that she!..” “But didn’t you run away when she got a problem? If she ran away like that, what would you think?” “Nothing! I don’t know!” The mare mumbled under her breath, fading out. “Apologize, offer some sweats. Make everything clear and why did it happen like that.” “Why would she need it anyway?..” Tiara sighed wistfully, digging the ground with her hoof again. “She’s already started hanging out with Sweetie, that blank flank one…” “What makes you so sure an empty flank is a bad thing, Diamond? Anything could show up on it. Even a Sun like Princess Celestia’s. When Sweetie replaces her and becomes an alicorn, you’ll be reminded of old grudges. What will you do?” “You’re making this up! It can’t be like that!” The earthpony rose up. “It’s an example. Apple Bloom, for instance, will get an apple with gears, become interested in mechanization. She will become the largest and richest producer of apples and apple products. Plants in several cities, huge plantations, an office in the capital, a ministerial position… And then you come to her for some kind of permission — what will she say?” “Okay, I got it…” Tiara grumbled gloomily, being in heavy thoughts for some time. “It’s better to not touch the blank flanks.” “And why should anyone be “touched” at all? So they can whisper behind your back about how wicked and ill-mannered you are, and that it’s better not to be friends with you? You’ll end up lonely again, like you are now. You don’t like it, do you?” “I don’t.” “You see it now. So think about what you need to do to make sure this doesn’t happen again, and make up with Spoon.” “And with those as well?” “You’re an adult — choose yourself.” I smiled. “But if you make friends with the crusaders, you can threaten your mother that you’re going to go live with Apple Bloom…” After talking to Diamond Tiara for a few more minutes and adding the crusaders and Silver Spoon on the lawn, urging our crown Princess to swing together on the swings and play hide-and-seek, I said goodbye and quietly disappeared from sleep, confident, that our conversation would not be forgotten by the filly. I met Luna at the “beginning of the coordinates” quite exhausted, but, for some reason, happy and light-hearted. It’s a pity it won’t work with Tia like it did with Tiara — she doesn’t even seem to trust her sister about me, let alone me… Maybe it’s a good thing I don’t have to maneuver through a verbal battle with such a difficult opponent. I’m fed up with the small one already, and persuading an ancient alicorn… Waking up from my thoughts, I told the blue one in a few words about my experience. Then, giving her the thought image of a shy, lonely pegasus from the warehouse, I created a small, completely dark space for myself as a dream, in which I passed out as soon as I was able to get comfortable. That’s all…

***

I glided easily along the contact track of the giant board, enjoying the flicker of the LED highlighting and the measured hum of the coolers, and occasionally slowing down at an interested monitor to catch a glimpse of someone’s dream that reigned on the other side of the screen. They, too, like the doors, were all different: huge CRT “TVs” with convex screens, compact notebook LCDs, plasma panels with a couple of meters of diagonal. Somewhere there was a clear, detailed and consistent picture, and somewhere there were chaotic abstractions that replaced each other… All of them, however, did not distract me for long. Today I was looking for one particular dream, having purposely come into this world when she was definitely asleep. The contact track wiggled around a ring wrapped in copper wire, passed an enormous battery tab wedged horizontally between the towers and dived to a connector, from which another board grew far up into the sky. A second of disorientation, and I was already gliding up the perpendicular surface, towards the lights shining far into the darkness. Finally, I froze in front of the monitor I was looking for. My gut was right: the dream of someone I knew in reality, someone with whom I’ve gone to the dream world more than once, couldn’t be so easily lost from me here. Especially since she was now a guest in this world, sleeping and dreaming. Luna. I swept my gaze over the monitor itself, but immediately shifted my attention to what it was showing. I guess that’s what I was partly even afraid to see… The gray wastes of the Moon, the lone pony scurrying about in terror and panic and incomprehension. And the endless abyss watching her from above with indifferent disdain through its countless starry eyes. A plot familiar to the details. These nightmares are seen by the one, that led to it without doubt or regret. She cannot, must not regret it now! She didn’t care — and shouldn’t care!.. Gritting my teeth, I lowered my gaze. She could not truly regret it! She had been preparing for more than a dozen years, she wanted it to end like this! She can’t repent! And I don’t want to forgive her! I took a step back and looked at the damn monitor with hatred. “Be honest with yourself”, huh, Rarity? I wish they’d hire you to sew all sorts of BDSM! And test you on yourself! I’ll paint you then, a big print!.. Damned horse… I whipped myself with my tail in annoyance and lit the horn. I was about to leave the dream world, but a changing image on the monitor caught my attention, making me hesitate and extinguish it. The blue one, now wrapped in rigid shackles with a collar and an anti-magic limiter on her horn, was sitting in a cage in some dungeon. She was trying to explain something to Tia as she strode along the bars. After listening for a few seconds, the latter, narrowing her eyes angrily, dropped the phrase and, under her sister’s helpless gaze, smothered both torches shining in the dark with a shield, then simply walked away. She left her, shackled and helpless, in the dungeon in complete darkness and alone. Unwillingly interested in the dream scene, I leaned closer, leaning against the top edge of the monitor… and it jerked me inside, treacherously turning the picture into a murky haze. Damn it!.. Okay, it wouldn’t be that hard to get out… The damp, cold air of the dungeon hit my sense of smell, and I cursed quietly, finding myself in total darkness at once. The door slammed shut with a clang in the distance, and a scream of horror and despair rippled through the gloomy, dark corridors, making me shudder. Luna, damn you… The dream, however, contrary to all expectations, did not disintegrate, letting the pony into reality, waking up jumping to the accompaniment of his own scream and in a cold sweat, but only blinked again, switching to a new plot. Something about the Moon again… I grimaced and squeamishly shook my hooves off the white-gray sand. I looked around, ignoring as much as possible the scene of a fight between two mares. It was Luna and, interestingly enough, my reflection in the mirror, except that it strongly resembled a teenager. “Daughter”, yeah?.. Hey! I don’t give a shit! After spending a few more minutes, I was finally able to distinguish what I was looking for — Luna, who was a powerless bystander in these plots, able only to see what was happening, but unable to influence anything. That’s why she didn’t jump up, because it was like a dream-remembrance… The translucent alicorn was silently watching what was happening and pouring out tears, not paying attention to anything else. I turned away hastily. I don’t need your remorse, blue one! I don’t want anything from you at all! So, where’s the astral bastard that’s spinning this whole movie? I covered my eyes and concentrated on the sensations. It’s encrypting, damn it! It can be either one of the characters or some inconspicuous element of the decor. Luna, who has regained the ability to enter the world of dreams, would not be touched by any weakling… Bastard! If it were my dream, I would’ve figured the beast out in no time, as it was then — one awareness and desire were enough, in fact! But it’s Luna’s dream, and she’s strong and… like… she’s worked on its stability? I stared at Luna, snorting in bewilderment. She cannot think this is a dream! Yeah, its help is not that big, especially when what happens is the black days of your own memory, but you can fight it, I’ve seen it. At the same time, the nightmare doesn’t really get away from you… Could Luna be watching all of this… on purpose? Voluntarily? I stared at the translucent alicorn in confusion. At the same time, I remembered the moment from the canon where the blue one directly ordered the nightmare to torture her… If so, is this horse even normal? Does she want to get mental problems? Not that I feel sorry for her, of course… Maybe she wants to fatten our potential adversary? And if it’s the same nightmare that’s eating Tia, then it’s not potential, it’s direct and active! We’re in enough trouble, you headless fool! I sighed grimly and lit my horn. I think I know where the local director is… The beam hit Luna. The “translucency” jerked sharply away from her, turning into a black and purple blob and, blinking, disappeared from the dream. Luna shuddered, glanced at me with a meaningful look, and then hurriedly stared at the floor, pressing her ears guiltily. I threw a frown at her and strode across the parquet. There was a lot to talk to her about. But I didn’t want to. I walked back the way I’d come, and then I looked at the continuing scene for some reason… and froze, staring at something very familiar. Luna and Rarity were sitting peacefully at the table in the living room of my present lair, talking quietly and exchanging smiles as they drank tea. The door to the bedroom swung open, and my figure appeared on the threshold. I was in a stupor, and I threw myself toward her, hugging her to the breaking point of her bones… tears on my friend’s shoulder for not forgetting and not abandoning her. I turned my gaze to the blue one at the table, and I shuddered at the ocean of pain in her eyes. She slipped quietly from the table and ran out of the living room, pressing a wing to her face as if trying to stop the tears, leaving me and Rar alone. “You once loved me as much as you love her.” I shuddered at the sudden sound of a low, cracked voice next to me. “And I indifferently and ruthlessly destroyed that feeling. I betrayed and abandoned you.” “Can you say something up to date?” I asked rudely, more because I didn’t know what to say at all. The scene ended, frozen and faded. Luna, with her eyes closed, wiped it away, leaving us standing on a cloud in the middle of a sunset sky. I silently nibbled at the cloud with my shoe, quelling the Luna’s will a little. The shoe slammed into the cloud with a metallic clang, causing a sheaf of sparks. Luna shuddered. “Go, Nightmare. Leave me alone with my nightmares. With what I most deserve by my disgusting deeds. Go, please.” If you want the show to go on, blue one, then I’ll make sure it doesn’t! It’s bad for your health and stuff… “You ain’t getting it, Luna. We have enough fattening nightmares without your help!” In a hover of uncertain silence, I tried again to kick at the cloud. A reproachful look from Luna and a small surge of her will, and instead of hitting it with sparks, my foot only silently dug through a thin layer of snow. I swept the alicorn with a frown, forcing her to droop awkwardly. Dead horse meat. I concentrated and pressed, forcing the world of sleep to bend beneath my will. Now we were standing on a small island, floating in some kind of blue-pink-purple astral. Around it hung other islands, ruins of a castle with a picturesque trail of individual stones and large fragments of walls and towers hanging in the strange space, a piece of land with a forest, a piece of desert, sand from which flowed into the void like a waterfall, the fragments of some crystal… Luna shuddered, glancing around this phantasmagorical landscape. I smirked and sent a wave of reinforcement through it. No changes here — I like it as it is. “Nightmare…” Finally, the blue one spoke up, raising her thoughtful gaze to the giant purple vortex above our heads. It looked like a black hole or a tornado, glittering with frequent lightning. “If you don’t want to amplify the nightmares — and that’s right, really — you could…” The alicorn hesitated, staring at the ground. “I could” what?” “Gift me nightmares yourself.” She looked up at me with defiance, slowing. Nice phrase! “Gift me”!.. “Recompense me for everything here. Quench your thirst for vengeance and let m…” I rolled my jaw and made Luna freeze with my will. “I’m not you, Luna, I don’t revel in others’ misery! If you need an executioner, look for him in a mirror! But I promise you, and do you know what? In all your dreams there will be a complete idyll for a long time to come!” I poked my shoe in the chest of the frowning alicorn. You don’t know what and to whom you’re offering, you suicidal idiot. I could shove you into a nightmare, I could, but what would be left of you if I don’t hold my composure? Make you torture Tia, eat Cadence… “Don’t provoke me, Luna. You don’t know what terror I can bring to you. Sleep.” Leaving the blue one alone, I slipped out of the dream, and then out of the dream world. I wiggled in the darkness on the bed, lit the horn, found one of the fallen pillows on the floor. I glanced at the clocks: four and a penny. I have to sleep. Sleep and have a good sleep… I feel that the dream world is already quite accessible to me — so there’s no point in delaying. Tomorrow or the day after, I think I’ll go into Tia’s dream, looking for the beast that’s keeping her frightened — and it’ll regret it when I find it. But that’s later. For now it would be nice to get some sleep…