private Diffuse Reflection (1x1 between Nightmare Season and Raven Rawne)

[Raven Rawne 1,381]

@@Nightmare Season,

 

 Crystal wasn't sure whether Nightmare wasn't in the mood or saw something, when he ignored her proposition and walked towards the end of the ridhe they were standing on. Things became apparent when he pointed a hoof in the distance and announced that their goal lies that way. the mare squinted her eyes, but it was just so far away... She brought ahoof over her eyes to see better - yeah, there was a valley snaking out of the glacier, and it seemed to be leading North.

 

Suddenly, she felt a bump into her side andlost traction, since she was standing on three legs. Crystal shouted something as the treacherous layer of snow was suddenly replaced by ice and she began sliding downhill. The red mare took a glimpse of the stallion as she fell on her rump and slid down flank-first. He was... smiling?

 

The mare found herself at the bottom of the slope, covered in snow as her sudden descent made her flank an impromptu snow plough. She was cold, and mostly in areas that didn't like this particular sensation, but she dug herself out and shook off the worst of the white cover, laughing as she did so. The mare looked at the top and saw the sneaky stallion waving at her. She returned the wave, still laughing maniacally, and and shouted his way in between her laughing fits: "Come on! Your turn!"

[Nightmare Season 617]

@@Raven Rawne,

 

When her heard her yell up at him, he jumped up the ledge and slid down the slope. Nightmare was not use to the fun of snow. So after a few feat he started to tumble. Gathering up snow as he went into a large snow ball. Crystal at the bottom of the hill saw this and took off for safety.  She dived out of the way just in time to avoid the mass as it rolled past her. When it came to a stop, Nightmare tried his best to break free of his frozen prison. He found him self in an awkward position as the Crystal pony walked up to see if he was alright. His mane and tail had been extinguished from the snow.

 

He rolled over onto his stomach so he could get his hooves under him and finish climbing out of the snow. He looked to the mare as she was laughing.

[Raven Rawne 1,381]

@@Nightmare Season

 

She saw the stallion starting his descent, and noticed the poor technique. He was tall and should bend hus legs, not lock them straight like street lamp posts... Crystal facehoofed when he lost balance and started tumbling. She sure hoped he won't injure himself.

 

As the mare removed her hoof off her face, she noticed that the snowball containing Nightmare was aimed straight at her, and jumped out of the way with an audible shriek.

 

When Crystal Clear got up on her hooves again, she ran towards the stallion who seemed to be the center of a snowball. She couldn't keep a straight face as she saw him flailing hus limbs to break free, and started laughing again. Once she approached him, the mare saw he seemed unscathed, even though his fires went out.

 

So much for a quick dry...

 

Crystal have him a hug and said encouragingly: "You gotta work on your sliding technique, but this was pretty fun to watch. Come now, we need to get ourselves dry. My hindquarters are freezing!"

[Nightmare Season 617]

@@Raven Rawne,

 

"He pulled himself out of the snow and got to his hooves. "Yes, we best get back and get a small fire started in the little nook. Need to get my hair back before we can proceed. We need to find a better shelter before night falls tonight." With that they both took off to where they left their things. Crystal was cold, now that she did not have her walking furnace next to her. Nightmare also seemed cold for the first time.

 

It was easy to find their way back. The trail in the snow they left pointed them straight back. The white sheet did seem to do what it was intended to do. Was hard to see the sleigh when they were a ways off. Once they got inside, Nightmare lit up his horn and roasted a boulder to red hot. That provided the warmth they both needed. It will also help Nightmare to dry off faster to get his hair style back. By this time, it was getting close to mid day. While drying he inspected his wound on his side. That tumbling did open it back up slightly and he had to wrap it with new bandages.

 

When he was done tending to himself, he saw how worried Crystal was. "Don't worry! Once I have a good meal off of a dream, it will heal alot faster." He then grabbed the pot and started to melt some snow while they waited. A good idea to always keep the water well stocked. Latter up the way, they may not be able to have a fire to melt water.

[Raven Rawne 1,381]

@@Nightmare Season

 

The mare was hopping in place to get warm, but it didn't help much. "Okay let's get going then,  it's really chilly in here!" She took off faster than usual,  so Nightmare didn't have to make baby steps for once. The walk back seemed to take forever,  and Crystal was rattling her teeth for the most part,  being cold and wet. She sure hoped Nightmare Season would get his hair in order soon enough...

 

The pair found their way back and the stallion used his magic to roast a stone inside their shelter red hot. The mare stopped off her wet clothes in an awkward fashion, since they stiffened with ice. Crystal laid her boots, jacket and pants near the hot stone,  but kept the black socks. She then curled near the boulder to catch some warmth. She wasn't shining anymore, she was too preoccupied with being so bucking cold. 

 

The mare was shaking in her spot, but she noticed that Nightmare was bandaging his side again. She gave him a worried look and asked: "Are you sure it's safe for you to continue the trip? We can hole up in the brewery for a few days, there's enough food..." Crystal had an idea how to speed up her temperature recovery, but couldn't bring herself to ask the stallion - he may get some wrong conclusions. So she just covered her blushing snout with her forelegs and did her best to feel warm on her own.

[Nightmare Season 617]

@@Raven Rawne,

 

"I will be fine with the trip. Nightmare ponies can use dream energy to heal faster, so I hope you can provide me a tasty dream tonight?" He told Crystal.

 

When he finished filling up the water barrel and sealed it back up to prevent it freezing, he got the sleigh ready to be pulled again. The mare stepped in to make sure he did not try to do it himself again. His fur finally dried and burst back in flames. When they both were all set, they took off North. Nightmare gave a hoof to help get the sleigh moving again and went up to walk next to Crystal.

 

The walk up the slight incline of the glacier was not all that bad. Crystal was the one that felt the incline the most, but Nightmare was there to help her. He was able to use his levitation magic to make the sleigh slightly lighter. When the sun Started to set in the sky, the stallion kept an eye out for some form of shelter. About two hours before dusk, He finally spotted a cave off to the side. They made there way to the entrance where Nightmare took the lead and went inside first to investigate it.

 

He came back and helped the mare get out of the harness. "It seems to be safe. A good size cave so we might need to be careful tonight."

[Raven Rawne 1,381]

@@Nightmare Season,

 

 The hot rock fulfilled it's purpose - Crystal managed to stop shivering and felt tolerably again. Her coat dried, and so did her clothes, which she donned back on while the stallion was busy with their water supply. She walked out of the safe, and now warm, nook and saw Nightmare was prepping the sleigh for travel. The mare stepped in and announced: "Don't even think about pullling this okay? I won't mind a little push from time to time though..."

 

He helped her get into the harness, and once Crystal tried to move the heavy sleigh, offered a much appreciated push to help is start going. Since Nightmare Season had his fiery hairdo back, the cold was bearable again, and the mare could push forward without fearing hypothermia.

 

They walked North, in the direction they saw a valley passage snaking away from the glacier. Crystal was dissapointed they didn't make it off the glacier today, even though they had to be close to this goal, but she couldn't go any faster, and was quite spent when Nightmare spotted some cave to spend the night in. The mare waited outside for the stallion's verdict whether the cave as safe.

 

"Ugh, thanks Nightmare, those straps are killing me..." Crystal smoothed the grooves in her clothes once she was free of the harness. 

 

The pair pushed the sleigh inside as an impromptu blockade of the enrance, and to have easier access to their stuff. Crystal took in the scenery of their shelter, thanks to a joint effort of her glow-crystal and Nightmare's flames. The entrance was wide but low, and so was the first chamber. Apparently the cave was formed by water flowing... sometime, long ago. The floor was slightly angled, as if the current that made it went deeper inside, and down. She looked back at Nightmare and said quietly: "Could you prepare something to eat? And maybe fry another boulder just for good measure? I'd like to take a look a bit further into the cave, but I promise I'll be caucious." She smiled reassuringly and went over to the sleigh to take her maul. "Just in case, but I'll yell when something tries to eat me." She winked and trotted into the next chamber.

 

It was... pretty much the same as the first one - wide, low, smooth all around by flowing water. Only a few small stalagmites since the temperature was always below zero in here. The mare saw some evidence that animals took shelter inside from time to time, but nothing recent. The cave took a turn with just one corridor leading deeper in. There were several small holes where the water used to flow, but they were too small for a dog, not to mention a pony, or some nasty predator. So that left only the corridor to explore. Crystal walked towards it and noticed that it's walls looked... different. She took a better look, bringing he glow-crystal closer to the wall. It looked like... burrowed? Something along these lines. Some animal did it, but a long time ago. She decided to turn back and tell Nightmare - there was no point going deeper since he wouldn't hear if she were in trouble.

 

"All clear, or at least the next chamber. There's some kind of burrowed tunnel leading further in, but I didn't investigate it.Looked old but, you know, better not risk it on my own. We could either try to block it or go both and see where it goes, but if it's maker still lives, then I don't want to meet them - the corridor is a perfect circle, and with overhead room even for you... Um, sorry for that." Crystal paused as her stomach grumbled loudly. Been a while since she ate, and Nightmare had laid out some chow. She cocked her head slightly and said with a sly smile: "On second thought, it can wait till after we have a bite to eat. Oh and thanks for warming it up here - I couldn't wait to get these off." The mare took off her warm clothes and laid in one place, neatly folded. Old habits die hard. Then she took the invitation for dinner. Nightmare would have to wait for his main course a little bit longer.

[Nightmare Season 617]

@@Raven Rawne,

 

As the crystal pony took off with her maul to go and explore the caves, Nightmare looked around for a good boulder. Once he discovered a good size one he lit it up with his fire. Once it started glowing red hot he went over to their supplies. He gathered up some items and water and started to prep them to cook. While he was cooking, he made sure to try and keep his ear open for if Crystal started to scream. When she did come back and told him of her discoveries, he moved the cooked food over to another flat rock to serve as a table.

 

"Hmm, a creature that can make a hole wide enough so I can walk in?" He thought to himself as he asked her. "I do not know what it might be, I will allow you to decide after we eat what you would like to do." With that said, he started to eat his meal. Even with just dried preserves. He managed to make something decent.

[Raven Rawne 1,381]

@@Nightmare Season,

 

Crystal was smoothing her fur with a hoof after taking off the warm clothes when Nightmare asked about the tunnel. She shrugged: "Neither do I, the Frozen North is a complete mystery. ehh, maybe I'll figure out something with a full stomach."

 

The mare sat by the table/rock and looked at what Nightmare cooked. "Mmm, I wouldn't match your culinary skill in a million years... I don't suppose you could just stuff my head with cooking savvy? At least i don't have a family to cook for, I'm the only pony that has to bear my meals... But enough rambling, I'm starving!" With this announcement, Crystal eagerly ate her ration.

 

"Seriously, you have to teach me how you manage to cook so well. This is some kind of magic what you do!" Crystal sincerely liked what he cooked. She got up and walked towards the sleigh, took a sleeping bag and unrolled it near the hot boulder, then laid down on it to bask some more in the pleasant warmth. "So, the tunnel... It looked old, but I'm no expert. even if we barricade or even collapse it, whatever made it can burrow through. So it's a waste of time at best, or we'll actually announce our presence at worst..." She sighed and continued, extending her hooves towards the warm rock. "I'm in to mood for spelkunking, but I'm afraid I won't manage to sleep without checking it out. So poking our heads in there that is, I guess..." She looked at the stallion for confirmation of her reasoning.

[Nightmare Season 617]

@@Raven Rawne,

 

As they ate. Crystal asked to be taught how to cook better. "I can try and teach you how to cook sure." He said while he was enjoying the meal. When hey finished, the mare went over to lay down by the toasty rock. She asked him what would be the best course of action.

 

He thought a bit on the situation. "Well... If it looked old, then what ever made it is probably long since gone. Was there any signs it was used?" He asked her. With a confirmation head shaking, he went on. "Barricading it up would make a lot of noise, would echo throughout the tunnel. With me injured, I need to get healed up. So if you can't sleep tonight until we explore it, I will not be able to get energy to help increase my healing. So that leaves but one choice we can make. Well two, Second we can try and look for another cave before it gets too dark. But the choice before us is to go look into it. That is after you get your hooves back under you and warmed up."

 

He finished off the last of his plate and stored the items back under the sheet on the sleigh. He went over and laied down till Crystal was ready.

[Raven Rawne 1,381]

@@Nightmare Season

 

Crystal sighed and offered him a weak smile.  "Sorry Nightmare, I've always been a bit of a scaredycat..." She chuckled - "I even made my bed as a matress resting in a nook in the floor, so that no monsters could creep under it, if you can believe that. Besides,  you saw my bed fort back home. So, yeah, for better or worse,  it seems we're in for a trip out there..."

 

Truth be told, the soft bedroll and warmth emanating from the boulder would be enough to knock her to dreamland in short order, but she knew better than let herself be eaten while asleep. The mare stretched thoroughly, purring and sighing,  then got up and walked for her weapon of choice. "Alright, the sooner I haul my flank there the sooner you'll get your fill off my dream so... shall we?"

 

She swung the maul onto her shoulder and led the stallion towards the tunnel. She didn't bother with warm clothes, Nightmare's proximity was enough to keep her warm.

 

"Alright do this is it.  What do you think?" Crystal Clear asked quietly when they entered the tunnel, lit by the combined effort of her necklace and Nightmare's flames. There were no claw or tool marks, just smooth rock with even grooves, like rings. There was no evidence that the water that made the cave ever flowed through this tunnel. They crept forward and listened to any sounds other than their own,  but heard none.

 

The tunnel led down,  and turned in the direction of the glacier. The pair followed it until rock was replaced with ice. That gave them pause. Crystal gently stepped on it and nearly fell on her plot, but held her balance. She looked at Nightmare, uncertain, and whispered: "You know how to walk on ice? Keep your legs wide and move one at the time,  slowly. Now your turn."

 

Once Nightmare got a hang on keeping balance on ice, they slowly pressed on, and the ice melted a bit near the stallion.

[Nightmare Season 617]

@@Raven Rawne,

 

As they descended the tunnel, Nightmare kept an eye and ear opened for and sign of danger. When stone turned to ice below his hooves, he started sliding and loosing his hoof-hold. Crystal informed him the best way to walk on ice. After a ways of ice skating he decided to increase the heat going to his hooves. This melted the ice instead and he managed to walk better. After a while of heating up his hooves. Every step he took gave a little spurt of fire shooting out from under his steps. This took Crystal by surprise. Seeing flames now erupting from his hooves every time he took a step.

 

They followed the ice chewed tunnel a ways till it opened up in an underground ice cavern. Icicles hung from the roof. Off to the far side he saw a ravine in the ice and past that was...something. He saw what looked like an ice bridge that lead across the ravine. "Looks like we can cross and see what that pile of stuff is over there." He looked around the cavern more. It seems there were no other junctions that lead into it. Seems this was the end of the path.

 

He walked over to look at the bridge to see if it was sturdy or not. He removed the heat from his hooves so not to melt the ice, and slowly crossed. The mare watching to see if it was safe. When he looked down. He could not see a bottom. When he got to the other side he looked back. "Be careful crossing now."

[Raven Rawne 1,381]

@@Nightmare Season,

 

The pair pushed onward into the unknown, now amidst the sounds of dripping water - Crystal gasped as she saw fire erupting from the stallion's hooves, but this was neither the place, nor the time to ask about it, so she kept quiet.

 

They must've walked deep inside the glacier when the tunnel finally led them into a spacious ice cavern. Ponies  took in their surroundings and proceeded with caucion - whatever burrowed the tunnel would be somewhere around, if it was still alive that is. Crystal shifted the weight of her weapon of choice on her shoulder with some trepidation as Nightmare led the way towards what looked like an ice bridge over a bottomless ravine.

 

she nodded at Nightmare's observation. "Be careful okay?" She looked anxsiously as he crossed the bridge - he was still learning the ins andouts of walking on ice, but made it on the other side. When it was her turn, the mare bit the maul by the shaft and held it in heer teeth - she needed all 4 hooves for this. Slowly, but steadily, she made it acoss and breathed with relief. Now that they were closer and their lights could encompass the shape they saw earler, crystal's ears fell flat and she dropped her maul, which made a loud clank on the ice. This scared her even more as she bent her knees instinctively, as if ready to turn tail and run. To her credit, she stayed in place, her eyes fixed on the shape defore her.

 

A giantic maw of some hideous monster unknown to ponykind.

 

Nightmare must've kept his cool, since he came closer to the creature, providing more light on this case. It looked like... a snake? Well this thing had a massive carapace of what seemed like dark, milky ice, that ran in ring-like segments through the entire length of this thing. It had no head, but rather a gaping maw with rows upon rown of nasty teth, surrounded by four immense tusks. The way rhey lied, motionles, it appeared they movedaround an could grab the moster's prey. It had no eyes, which was all the more unsettling.

 

It didn't move, there was no evidence that it was even breathing. Crystal decided that it's pobably dead. She picked up her dropped weapon and slowly approached the creature, togetherwith Nightmare Season. They reached the giantic maw and Nightmare piked one of the tusks with a hoof - it was frozen solid and didn't budge. The creature was indeed dead.  

[Nightmare Season 617]

@@Raven Rawne,

 

As her maul hit the ground and rang forth a deafening sound, Nightmare looked around and at the ice that was hanging down from the roof. He noticed it cracked just slightly. Seeing no more shifting, he walked over to the body of this massive beast. He poked at a tusk of the creature to find out, it was dead. He looked over his shoulder at Crystal. "Seems to be dead and frozen." He explained. He started to walk around it so he could take in the sight of this thing. If it was alive, they could have been in a real mess. However, it had been dead for quite some time.

 

As he almost finished his trot around the massive long beast, Crystal had walked up to it for a better look as well. She laid her maul propped up along side of the frozen carcass so she could examine the hide. As she was looking at the teeth it contained her maul slipped and fell to the ground once more. With a second deafening sound echoing through the cavern. The ice above cracked some more. Nightmare shot his gaze up to it. "HURRY AND FLEE CRYSTAL!" He shouted at her. The ice gave way. It came crashing to the ground below and caused even more ice shards to break away from the roof.

 

Crystal snatched up her weapon and headed straight to the bridge. Icicles falling close by her on both sides. As she got close to getting on the ice bridge, a large piece of ice fell right on it and took it out. It was to late for her to stop on the ice. She closed her eyes and waited for the plummet. It never came. Instead she found herself floating across the crack with magic. Nightmare had notice her about to slide off the broken bridge and used his magic just in time to fling her across. She went sliding across the ice on the other side with her maul following suit.

 

When she finally stopped she looked back just as Nightmare took a powerful jump to get to the other side. It looked like he would make it till his hind legs hit the ice and gave out from him and slide back into the ravine. The rest of him followed. He managed to grab a small rock on the side that kept him from falling to his doom. His saddle bags however did not fare as well. He had not fully tied one side and an ice shard struck it causing it to open and the contents of it emptied. It was his cards and dream roots. Down into the darkness they disappeared. He tried his best to hang on to the side. Thankfully all the hanging Ice finished falling.

[Raven Rawne 1,381]

@@Nightmare Season

 

"Phew, I won't even think of what would happen if it wasn't" - The mare was visibly relieved,  even her posture became more relaxed. She walked to the carcass and rest her maul on it's side, then started inspecting the strange creature. "What a stuff of nightmares... N-no offence! Just look at that armored body..." She tapped the carapace with her hoof. "Tough as nails, I doubt it was on the menu for anything else once it grew up..."

 

 Crystal Clear took a look at the fierce maw and dagger like teeth. She had an idea - she sat in front of it and tried to dislocate one of those teeth as a souvenir. A fatal mistake.

 

The carcass shook a little bit as she wrangled and her mail slipped off it's rest and fell on the ice with a loud noise. The mare froze as her ears started ringing. She needed to shake her head off to recover.

 

She heard the stallion yell abs noticed ice shards falling around her. The mare got scared and grabbed her weapon in her mouth, then bolted towards the tunnel. With icicles the size of pony legs falling all around her, the mare stopped thinking altogether and just ran for it. As she neared the bridge, a large shard of ice fell on it and broke the crossing into splinters. She couldn't stop or even turn on the slippery floor, so she yelled in alarm and closed her eyes instinctively, awaiting violent death. Instead, she found herself on the other side, carried by unicorn magic.

 

She blinked in surprise and looked around in shock. She saw Nightmare making a leap across and nearly making it, only to slide into the ravine. Eyes wide,  the mare finally found her wits and skidded towards the stallions last location. "Nightmare! Are you there!?" She laid flat in her belly and peeked into the abyss - there he was, holding to a rock outcropping. She needed to think fast, that was sure. The mare extended a hoof and said in a frightened voice: "Grab my hoof and push me away from the ravine with your magic, just make it quick!" The stallion didn't have many other options to choose from,  so he did as she said. Soon enough he was back on solid ground. Crystal was groaning by the wall. "Aww, that kinda hurt!" She got up on shaking hooves and walked around the stallion to make sure he wasn't injured. Turns out he was fine,  but one detail drew her attention. She poked hus dude by an open saddlebag - "You had something in there? The flap is open..."

 

Now that the danger was gone, the mare sighed deeply as her hooves slid from under her. "Aw buck! My everything oww..." She groaned in protest as the ground suddenly met her face and belly.

 

She laid flat with hooves in an X shape, breathing deeply to get an ounce of strength back and reach the warm camp. "I'm too sober for this shit... How are you holding up, eh?"

[Nightmare Season 617]

@@Raven Rawne,

 

As he grabbed onto her hooves, he use his magic to levitate her away from the ravine. It was a lot harder than usual because now he had to struggle against his own weight. As he found the solid ice below him once more he laid flat across it. That was too close of a call. As the mare mentioned his saddle bag being opened he took it off and looked inside. Thankfully the said that had all their medical supplies and herbs were well fastened. Sadly however the side that had his personal items were emptied. "Seems I lost the last bit of my roots and my deck of tarot cards." He told her as he gave a sad sigh.

 

He looked back to the giant beast they left behind. Some ice had fallen on it and broke it into pieces here and there. He had an idea. He used his magic to move some of the hide and bones over the ravine. He took a close look at it. An idea came to him. "I can use this hide for something at least. If you remember back when we first met, when you found your ore. I said always try to bring something good back from a bad situation." He gave one final look down into the ravine. No sign of his cards, he would miss them.

 

He hauled the parts back up the tunnel to where they left their sleigh. When Crystal asked him what he planned on doing with it, all he said was, "It will be a secret." He Heated up a stone and laid the items close by to thaw out. The smell was terrible.

[Raven Rawne 1,381]

@@Nightmare Season

 

As Nightmare delivered the news about loss if his roots and cards, the mare exhaled in a long sigh. "Something of value will be lost... Now we're going in blind, all thanks to some idiot crystal pony..."

 

She rolled on her back with some effort - her belly was freezing but she didn't feel like getting up yet. Crystal noticed Nightmare's magic near the monstrous carcass. "What are you doing with it?" She asked, clearly puzzled. She listened to the stallion and shook her head. "I can't see how a dead monster hide can be good but... do what you want with it." She risked standing on her hooves, and succeeded. The mare saw him looking into the ravine and said sadly: "I'm sorry for what happened."

 

The pair left through the tunnel back to their camp.  Crystal tried to convince Nightmare to tell his plan regarding his gruesome trophies, but he was tight lipped about it, and she let go of the topic.

 

Back in camp the stallion reheated the boulder and placed the body parts near it to thaw, as the mare collapsed on her bedroll with a whiny groan. "Guhh, I'm so done with today, I feel like a filly beaten by a gang of bullies..." She tucked herself inside the bedroll and observed the stallion with tired eyes.

 

"I'm really sorry about your cards. And roots.  I... *cough* eeewwww that corpse stinks!" Crystal covered her nose and hid deeper into the bedroll, but as soon as she settled and closed her eyes for a moment, sleep overwhelmed her and she dozed off.

[Nightmare Season 617]

@@Raven Rawne,

 

As Crystal dozed off to sleep. Nightmare pulled out the tailoring tools he had found and added to their supplies. Once the hide and bones were thawed he started to cure them. Once that step was done he tested the defensive property of the hide. A spear head was good enough to test it out. It held fest, a good piece of armor for what they faced. He smiled and looked to the mare. While she slept he took the measurements of his companion, then got to work. He was no tailor, so his work was not that spectacular. None-the-less, He did managed to make a regular sized pony armor from the hide and bones from the prize. Bone enforced the most critical areas of a pony.

 

When he was done, half the night had passed. His stomach told him he was in need of a dream. No more roots for him. He set the new armor to the side so it can harden into the shape he molded it into, then looked at his friend. A tasty dream, awaited him. In a puff of smoke, he ventured forth. At least she had a good amount of time to have sweet dreams he hoped.

[Raven Rawne 1,381]

@@Nightmare Season

 

By the time Nightmare entered her dream, Crystal was sleeping for quite some time, so naturally her dream was in an advanced stage. 

 

She was in her house, more precisely in her apartment upstairs. The mare was laying on her back in her bed, atop the mock fort that was her bedroom. Crystal was looking at the night sky through the large round window she made for this exact purpose. 

 

"I just love laying in here after a long day, staring at the bejeweled night sky... Feels like nothing can go wrong in the whole world you know." - She said in a relaxed tone.

 

A second voice answered her, a mare. "Mhm... I sure can see the appeal... So you wanted to make the ceiling look like the night sky, right? Awful lot of work. Plus it'll never look as good as the real deal." Evening song was up there too - resting her head on Crystal's chest and letting the other mare play with her loose mane.

 

"You'd aso come up with all kinds of crazy ideas if you had too much free time on your hooves, trust me. At least I can do those things myself." - Crystal continued.

 

Evening Song nodded "I'll find you something to do, don't you worry about that."

 

Crystal Clear saw an orange reflection in the glass and felt a presence. She somehow knew when she wasn't alone, and immediately realised it's a dream although how, she had no idea. The mare said quietly "Evie, I want you to meet my friend. He's a bit strange though." She waved a hoof in the air and said loudly. "Took you long enough big guy, trouble in the waking world?"

Edited December 20, 2016 by Raven Rawne

[Nightmare Season 617]

@@Raven Rawne,

 

"I had some things to do." He replied as he walked op to her. Noticing the second mare with her. "Looks like you are having a great dream. Almost makes me not want to eat it." He gave a slight yawn. As Crystal looked at him from such he encouraged her, "Don't worry, I will not fall asleep this time. I will just grab a little bit then go and get my own sleep."

 

Nightmare looked at the other pony. "So this is your friend that we seek from slavery?" He asked Crystal. She seemed to be giving him the stare as asking why he is not introducing himself. "This is just but a dream Crystal. I will properly introduce myself when I see the real one."

 

He spent a bit of time in her dream world. Feeding slightly. He also made sure to track down the blood he had left in her dream the night before. When he eventually found it, he properly cleaned it up. He did not want to burden his new friend with his dark memories. Crystal watched him as he proceeded.

 

When he saw the first signs of the dream being warped he bit his exit and went back to the waking world. He heated up a boulder slightly next to where the sleeping mare was, as to keep her warm. Then he found his own section of cave to curl up in to rest. Before he went off to sleep. He checked his wound. Thankfully it had healed faster. The pain was still there, but at least now he did not have to worry about it breaking open again. He then lowered his head and journeyed into his own dream.

 

For some reason he dreamed about that strange mare that had given him the deck of cards, so long ago.

[Raven Rawne 1,381]

@@Nightmare Season

 

Crystal waved at the stallion as he ascended the stairs, holding a hoof on the other mare's chest. She wasn't sure if she nailed that dream control thing, but the dream Evie seemed to be calm.

 

She smiled and nodded, fiddling with the other mare's mane a bit. "Sure do! Best I had in a long time, right Evie?" Her only reply a nuzzle into Crystals chest.

 

She gave the stallion a curious look - "You're not going to fall asleep in my dream are you?  She listened to the stallions reply. "Take as much as you want, now I know how to fix it."

 

Crystal nodded and hugged the other mare with her forelegs, who in turn looked up at her. "Yep! Evening Song in her full splendor. Well, what isn't hidden under the covers." Evie seemed fed up with this situation: "Are you going to tell me who it is and what he's doing in our house unannounced?" Crystal patted her head and thought of calming her. "Shh Evie..." She looked at Nightmare. "It's alright,  I know it. Make yourself comfortable in the living room, I want to spend some time with her, even if she's not real."

 

Nightmare Season walked downstairs and was busy with something, so Crystal Clear turned her attention towards her friend's dream projection. "So where were we?"

 

She took a glance every now and then at the stallion downstairs, and at some point she felt she was alone again, concious in her dream. And she knew exactly how to spend the rest of it. 

 

Crystal Clear woke up and tried to reach something with her forelegs. She grabbed only air,  and with a scrunch and a disgruntled groan she rubbed her eyes open and looked around. A small ray of sunlight was visible in the cave, and it was quite cold. She dug in her bedroll and decided to wait for the stallion to wake, while recalling her dream.

[Nightmare Season 617]

@@Raven Rawne,

 

Nightmare finally woke with the sensation that he was being watched. The sun's rays had already started to peak over the far mountains. He turned over to see Crystal looking at him. "Did I get all my blood out of your dreams? Or did you see my memories again?" As he got his answer from Crystal, he got up and looked out of the cave. "Seems to be yet another great day." He used his magic to levitate the crude leather and bone armor over to Crystal. "Made you some armor last night."

[Raven Rawne 1,381]

@@Nightmare Season,

 

She heard the stallion stir and looked his way, still buried in her bedroll. The mare answered with a nod: "Seems like you got it all. I had my best dream in like, ever? Although I was a bit surprised when you left."

 

Crystal sticked a hoof out of her warm bedding and immediately regretted the decision. "Brr, was it really this cold yesterday? Or is it just me acting up today?" She saw the armor and smiled. "Aww that's so nice of you! Although I admit, it looks rather creepy... Not a kind of thing I'd put on display in my living room after we're safe back home." She looked at him expectantly. "Could you... warm up that boulder again? Just so I could get going without rattling my teeth till they fall out? Thanks. Give me a minute and I'll get dressed."

 

The mare waited till the air temperature got a bit more tolerable, and crawled out of her hideout. She went through her morning routine -brushing and dressing up in her warm clothes - occasionally coming to the hot rock to warm up herself or her clothes before purring them on. At last she gathered her bedding and secured it on the sleigh. "Alright, so let's get some breakfast and it'ss time to go." She rubbed her chin with a hoof - "I'll grab some snow to melt and maybe you could show me some simple recipe for a fast breakfast?"

[Nightmare Season 617]

@@Raven Rawne,

 

He got up and warmed the boulder next to her. "Armor...real armor anyways, is meant to keep you safe. It is not meant to really look good." He told her as he went to check on the sleigh.

 

As the mare got dressed he readjusted the harness so that it would fit him this time. Now that he was healed up some, he had no fear of the wound opening back up. When she asked to be taught to cook, he grabbed some of the dried food and some of the edible herbs they had with them. He made a small makeshift table where he can show her how to prep the food first. "So one way to make cooking taste a slight bit better, is to prep the food first. Get it cut up and seasoned with different herbs and spices. Make sure not to go to much on any one type of flavoring." He explained to her as he showed her how with the none dried food. "This will allow more flavor to be merged together while you get the stove ready."

 

When the pan on the heated rock finally heated up, he started to melt the snow to water so he can soak the dried food. "Since we have but mostly dried food, we need to soak it first to get it moistened up. We do this before we add any of the other food we prepped before and seasoned."  When the food was properly moist he drained the water from the pan. "Now we just mix everything together. Since we already heated up the dried food in the water, we want to slowly cook everything else with it. This will help to keep it getting burned."

 

As he finished up he served the food out onto the plates. "And one thing that most ponies forget. When you fill up the plate, don't just toss it all together. When we make the food -look- great on the plate, it helps to bring out a better taste as well." He gave Crystal her share as he took his own to their rock table.

[Raven Rawne 1,381]

@@Nightmare Season,

 

She observed Nightmare as he explained what he was doing. She knew most of it, so maybe there was more to cooking than just knowing things... Truth be told she never really cared that much about cooking in the first place, so there was a fair amount of half-flanking to her cooking techniques. The mare pondered the implications of her attitude towards food and cooking as she sat down to eat.

 

"Hmm, you make it look so easy. And tasty too. Maybe my problem is not necessarily lack of good recipies, but rather my attitude towards the task... Kinda hard to fare well if you're too preoccupied with how much you hate what you're doing, right?" She ate the rest of her meal, glancing from time to time at Nightmare's newest gift. Once the meal was over, ther mare helped him pack their things and decided to try the armour on. It fit rather well, despite the layer of clothing she had. "Have you eaten the dreams of armorsmiths too? I once made a suit of armor - a purely decorative piece, but still. For all the troubles it gave me, I should've charged double the amount I asked hehe!" Crystal laughed a bit as she tested whether it inhibited her movements or not.