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

[Raven Rawne 1,381]

@@Nightmare Season

 

Crystal tried not to squirm under Nightmare's gaze as he looked at her with obvious suspicion. Only after he said he believed her did she relax . She purred slightly at the friendly nuzzle. "It's what friends do,  after all! I'm just glad I had this weird vision where we were still nearby." She laughed genuinely when he made a disguised face from the roots taste, but it made her side hurt and she clenched her bandages. "A-ouch! No laughing,  I get it..."

 

Nightmare asked her about her experience. The mare rubbed her chin and yawned, then replied. "Tired like I've been running all the way from home here. And I'm pretty sure I don't want to repeat the experience... It's that much scarier when it's for real. I also overestimated my abilities to fight with that heavy lump of crystal - it's too unwieldy and slow, but sure hits hard..." Another yawn, coupled with a slight shiver. "Uhh... That cloud is amazing.... Wish I could sleep on it every night."

[Nightmare Season 617]

@@Raven Rawne,

 

"It is possible to sleep on it every night." He told her with her eyes gleaming with excitement. "It is just, I will have to feed more on your dreams to sustain it. Nightmare magic is fueled by dreams. The more I feed, the more I can use my special magic. The unicorn magic for levitating is different. And I usually can't hold it for very long." He explained to her.

 

He gave her one more nuzzle. "Try and get some sleep. We have a ways to go before morning. I am full on the two roots I ate so sweet dreams." With that he lowered his head to his front legs and closed his eyes to go to sleep.

[Raven Rawne 1,381]

@@Nightmare Season

 

"Huh, for realzies?" She gave him an excited look as she smooched her cheek into the soft smoky substance. This was better than any bed she tried!

 

Crystal listened to the stallion's little lecture and sighed.  "Well, I'll stick to hard surfaces then. No need to deplete your magic for some silly comforts..." She smiled at the nuzzle and surpressed another yawn.  "Thanks, see ya in the morning then. I sure hope I won't be so useless then..." She breathed in deeply and felt that her side hurt more when she moved like that. With some resignation,  she glanced at the stallion who also laid down to sleep, and closed her eyes.

 

She drifted off in an instant.

 

Crystal Clear woke up and reluctantly rubbed her eyes open. Her bruised side hurt, and felt really sore. Her attention was captured by a strange noise from outside, however. Something was trying to get to their supplies! She knew it must've been early morning based on the way sunlight slightly peeked inside their shelter. Crystal hissed in a lowered voice at the sleeping stallion. "Nightmare! Nightmare Season! Wake up! They're stealing our supplies!" She was angry and couldn't reach him - the cloud refused to drift towards her friend, despite attempts to rock it. All she got was some more pain from her injury.

[Nightmare Season 617]

@@Raven Rawne,

 

The stallion next to her did not wake with her yelling at him. The noise outside was obvious, the sleigh was being moved. It was being stolen. She screamed even loader for the stallion to wake. This time, he did wake up. He looked at her with evil eyes. And his flames turned a sickly green. "What issss the matter? My Cryyyyystaaaal Pony?" He said and started to chuckle.

 

As Crystal shot away from this impossible situation, it was blown up in a fiery explosion. She looked around in a panic. "I said to have sweet dreams. Not a nightmare Crystal." She heard her friend say and shot around to look at him. "You were screaming and tossing in your sleep. Came in to check up on you. That tossing will injure you even more."

 

He spent some time with her to settle her down. He also helped her to get to a more peaceful environment before he left her dreams again. When he came back to the real world, he used his magic to lift the mare gently back to her smoke bed. With a sigh he tried to go back to sleep and wait till morning.

 

He woke up first with the slight hint of light peeking over the ridge. He slowly moved out of the den to not wake her. He then went and started to make the days supply of salves for the crystal pony's wound. After he prepared them he went on to get breakfast started. Crystal found herself waking up to the smell of food cooking.

[Raven Rawne 1,381]

@@Nightmare Season

The red mare was losing her temper. Not only did she feel awful, with sore limbs and aching bruises, she couldn't move thanks to the blanket, and that coal lump didn't respond to her yelling! All the while their stuff was being lifted right from their noses!

 

"WAKE UP YOU USELESS... PONY!" She couldn't yell any louder. This time, Nightmare did wake up, but it wasn't him, if that made sense. 

 

"You... nononononononono not YOU!" She found the strength to wriggle out of the blanket and fell off the cloud, then tried to crawl away from the all too familiar figure.

 

A fire bolt struck hee assailant, then another. He dissolved into smoke uttering some very disturbing curses. Crystal Clear, still pretty much panicked, glanced at the direction from where the rescue came - Nightmare Season has crawled inside the den. "Is it... really you?" She eyed him suspiciously. The reply he have her was sufficient to put her at ease a bit. She sighed and nodded to herself, still curled up in a far end of the den. "A dream, just a bad dream..."

 

It took a while before she came back to her senses and used her imagination to will the injuries away, then, after the stallion's suggestion, switch to some nicer place and get on with the rest of her dream in a way she wanted. The nightmare pony left the dream sometime later, and Crystal enjoyed the rest of her dream in peace. 

 

A scent. Something smelled good. Crystal sniffed the air and decided it must've been food.  Her stomach agreed with a loud grumble.  The mare tried to move her left foreleg - the shoulder was very sore and it hurt when she moved it.  Her side ached with every breath and felt like solid carapace. She freed her right foreleg and rubbed her eyes open, then brushed loose hair off her snout. "I must look terrible..." she thought with displeasure. Crystal tried to stretch as usual but she immediately regretted the decision - the pain in her side made her wince and hiss. She looked around the den but Nightmare was nowhere to be seen.

 

"N-Nightmare Season? You there?" Her throat was dry and sore, and she coughed a bit after calling out to her friend. "Eugh... I hate being chained to bed..."

 

Age saw the stallion's head poking inside and gave him a small wave. "I'm alright, just woke up. Feel like pavement after a stampede though..." Another cough. "You have any water? My throat's all needles. And my side feels like stone. Dunno if it's the paste drying up or what?" She looked like she was sorry for being in such a bad shape. 

[Nightmare Season 617]

@@Raven Rawne,

 

Nightmare heard his companion wake up inside the small space made of brambles. His peered inside to see how she was doing. She looked like she was in pain. He nodded to her when she asked him for a glass of water. He grabbed a cup and filled it from the sleigh and pasted it off to her inside.

 

When she had finished drinking Nightmare said, "Hang on. I will move you outside for fresh air." Her comfy bed of smoke moved slowly through the small opening and drifted out next to him. Good thing she still had her blanket on, or she would have been cold without her jacket on. "Got you some breakfast and more salve made." He looked at her with her apologetic expression. "There is no need to be sorry. Life happens after all."

 

He gave her her breakfast and reapplied the medicine on her side. "Looks like you have a few broken ribs. You will be feeling this for some time. But for now. Care to show me where you found the dream roots at?" He asked her. She pointed the way to that small crevice in the side of the cliff as she laid on her moving bed of fluff.

 

When they both got there, Nightmare noticed something. "This is but a sapling." He started to look around. "That means the parent tree should be close by." He gave her a warm smile. He looked all around for the other tree he suspected there to be. At one point he looked up the cliff face. "I will send you up there to see if you can see it up there." After Crystal agreed, she was on her way.

 

When she got to the top and peered over, she saw it. A beautiful, massive dream tree was up there. Nestled in a patch of pine trees that protected it from the weather. She called down to him about her discovery. It took Nightmare about an hour to work his way up the side of the cliff. When he got to the top of it he looked to his patient. "Lucky for you. Can just float up here." He then walked over to the tree.

 

"Oh wow!" He said, "I have not seen one this old before." He looked all around it. "Such a beautiful tree. It must have been here when your kingdom was still around. Before it disappeared for a thousand years." He began to dig up some roots as Crystal watched from her perch.

 

After a wile, Nightmare noticed something. "Interesting. I have never seen a root of this coloring before." He cut off a root and showed it to Crystal. It was golden with silver running through it. The same kind that she found in the box and letter addressed to her. She yelled out quickly without thinking that she wanted that one. Nightmare looked at her to explain herself.

[Raven Rawne 1,381]

@@Nightmare Season

 

"Thanks. I really needed something to drink. My throat's been killing me." She laid the empty cup on her blanket,  unsure if it would fall through the cloud or not. The mare nodded and tucked her blanket over her body as the stallion moved her out of the small enclosed space. She expected it would be much colder outside,  but it wasn't that bad actually. At least for as long as she had her covers on.

 

Crystal looked at the breakfast and another batch of the healing salve, and her ears drooped in guilt. "Buck, it's not how it was supposed to go... " His reassurance did little to convince her that it's okay, but she accepted her breakfast with a polite smile, and later on, let her friend tend to her injury, despite how painful it was.

 

"Ow ow ow too tiiiight!" - Nightmare was bandaging her barrel, and Crystal felt a flash of pain when he tightened it around her ribs. When he told her that some are surely broken, the mare laid her head in resignation. "Well done Crystal, you're going to be useless for weeks! Urrrgh..."

 

She nodded at Nightmare's inquiry and pointed the way with her good hoof. "You need to go that way, till you see a sheer cliff. Then walk about... hundred steps or so to the left and you'll see a tight entrance. The tree grows on the other side." She was a bit surprised when Nightmare levitated her cloud bed with him, and left their stuff packed and secured but otherwise unattended. But then, it's not like she had much choice on the matter, or could be of any use in guarding the sleigh...

 

"A sapling? But it's not that small..." She scratched her head in confusion and looked as Nightmare searched for the parent tree, if there really was any. The mare gave him a weird look at the unusual proposal. "I'm not going to fall to my death when the cloud gets too far from you, right? That wouldn't be nice... Alright, hoist me up. At least I'll be of any use." 

 

She was a bit nervous as the cloud she rested on rose upwards, but nothing bad happened. After some unspecified amount of time that felt rather long, she reached the top. "STOP IT THERE!  I CAN SEE THE CLIFF TOP!" Crystal yelled down and the cloud stopped it's ascent. She looked around and saw it in the distance. "Well kick my flank, it's massive... FOUND IT! CAN YOU CLIMB UP?" She saw the stallion approach the wall and look for a way up.

 

When Nightmare Season finally reached the top, Crystal Clear was bored and cold. Her side kept aching despite the salve's soothing properties, but to be frank, it still helped a lot. She chuckled humorlessly at the stallion's remark.  "I'd rather climb than lie like a beaten berry with broken ribs, just so you know,  for future reference."

 

The stallion's presence helped her warm up as she was taken to the tree. It was the strangest thing she ever saw, and that's counting a nightmare pony, a blind alicorn princess and other oddities. Crystal stared in wonder as Nightmare inspected the tree. She found a tongue in her mouth only when her companion dug up the golden root. "Don't take that one!" She froze, hoof outstretched. "I-I mean, it's different from the others, right? So it has different properties, aye? Not the best time for experiments..." She gauged his reaction. "What? And if it makes you rampage blindly? Or fall asleep for a week? Don't try it until we come back home alright? Curiosity killed the cat, I don't fancy following it's lead."

[Nightmare Season 617]

@@Raven Rawne,

 

He looked down at  the golden tinged root. "Hmm... You have a point. Not sure why this one is different colored, and with you out for a few days, Might be safe to hold off on it." He placed it in his saddle bags. After a while he had his root pack filled up with roots. He left the golden one on top. "This will do me for a few weeks. Now I will be able to keep your smoke bed out longer."

 

It took them a bit to get back to the sleigh. He first inspected the sleigh for any signs of critters. He was satisfied. "Should we rest here till you are better? Or should we carry on to find a better shelter for you to rest up at?" He asked her. As he was asking her, he moved the golden dream root to the sleigh and stored it with other food.

[Raven Rawne 1,381]

@@Nightmare Season

 

The mare breathed out in relief. "Thanks for agreeing with me." She observed as he dug out more roots and stuff his bags with them. When he was done, she added a remark of her own. "Don't forget about the ones I collected. And really, don't burden yourself with the smoke cloud, unless we need to be on the move.  I'll be fine on a bedroll too." A reassuring smile was the final touch to put her companion at ease.

 

They reached their hideout, and thankfully, nothing took advantage of their absence. When Nightmare asked whether they should look for some better shelter, Crystal Clear thought about it for a bit. "Hmm, tough call. See, it's far from ideal, with our stuff wide in the open, and this den isn't exactly what I would call a good protection... But on the other hoof, there's no telling whether we find anything better before nightfall..." She brushed some loose hair off her snout. Empire for a manedresser... "I propose to stay here, but scout for a better place within a few hour walk radius. It's around... 9 AM? We could have a snack and venture out for a bit." She facehoofed and groaned. "Riiiiight, almost forgot I can't move a step on my own.  I hate being bedridden... You don't know any way to make this cloud move beside your magic? Thought so." She rested her hoof on her chin and pouted. "Seems I need to rely on you, again. So how does my plan sound?  A compromise at best, but I'm afraid we can't risk much more. Not with me so nicely wrecked."

 

She chuckled humorlessly.

Edited December 31, 2016 by Raven Rawne

[Nightmare Season 617]

@@Raven Rawne,

 

"Hmm...." He thought a wile. "You suggestion sounds better. With the cliff over there, there might be a cave. That creature from last night could have a home close by."  He saw her get nervous. "No worries, It will not be coming back. As far as moving the smoke on your own, sorry! Only I can manipulate it's movement."

 

Before they took off to travel, Nightmare grabbed a bite to eat from his roots. "Need to keep my energy up. Don't want you falling through the smoke." He told Crystal. "And stop worrying. That large tree could support me for a year. The roots grow back fast." With him having the final word about her staying on the smoke they took off. "Besides, you said you like sleeping on the cloud of smoke. Until there is no longer a danger of your broken ribs causing more damage to you, You are cloud bed ridden. Doctor's order." He told her with a smile.

 

After the reached the cliff face, they picked a direction to travel and search. After that way proved futile, They went the opposite way. When they were about to give up, Crystal spotted a cave up on the side of the cliff. "Can you tell me what you see up there after I float you up?" He asked her. She started to float up the side of the cliff to see what the cave had to offer.

[Raven Rawne 1,381]

@@Nightmare Season,

 

The red mare tried to move her left shoulder, only to discover that nothing changed in it's condition. She sighed and nodded,  "Then it's settled..." The thought of the monstrous creature from yesterday made her visibly nervous - if it came back, she was as good as dead! Nightmare's reassurance somehow didn't extinguish her doubts entirely, but chipped off a large portion of them.

 

She didn't like that Nightmare was thinning his supplies for the sake of sustaining some silly cloud, but Crystal knew better than whine openly about it. She just laid her head down and exhaled deeply in resignation. Nightmare picked the cue and pushed the topic, so she waved her good hoof at him. "Okay, okay, you know best what your limits are. I just don't like leeching off other ponies that's all." She hated her current situation, but also was grateful for Nightmare's help. She chuckled at the "doctor's orders", and winced in pain. "Bucking ribs... Alright you win, I can't do a thing on my own and I reckon it's easier to carry me around on that cloud than on some crude stretchers or whatever."

 

They scouted the cliff face for a few hours, and were ready to give up and go back for dinner, when the mare saw something. "Is that...? Huh, check that out, looks like a cave entrance to you?" She pointed at a hole in the cliff face, a bit above the ground level. One would have to climb a bit to reach it, but on the other hoof, no regular predator would reach them there. "Sure, hoist me up. It's safer and faster that way." - She nodded and Nightmare lifted the cloud up to the level of the entrance. "I can't see much... too dark inside, but the entrance is spacious. Could fit our sleigh even, if we unpacked it that is. Toss a firebolt inside, okay? I'll see more with some light." The stallion agreed and shot a spike of flame at the ceiling, and for a moment Crystal could see the inside. "Yep, jackpot by the look of it! It sure is big inside. Wanna climb up and see yor yourself?"

 

Nightmare reached the entrance in just a couple jumps - thankfully the way up was easy for a pony his size. Now that there was a reliable light source - Crystal left her glow-crystal in her jacket - the ponies could take a better look at their find. First thing she noticed were deep claw marks in and around the entrance. The size matched the yeti they fought yesterday, but she was no expert. The mare instinctively curled and hid her head, only to ge a flash of pain and a curious look from her companion. She hissed in pain and said in a low voice. "The c-claw marks, made me think of the beast that wrecked me. You think it's it's home? I can't tell if these are old or new, not from up here anyway... But the size match. W-we go inside?" Nightmare seemed to be willing to investigate, and she had no other way than let herself be carried along.

 

She keenly noticed that there seemed to be just one room in the cavern, so that was good. What wasn't so good was that it was obviously dug out to be bigger. That would explain the slight incline right underneath the entrance. The cavern was empty save for what looked like a nest of sorts, or a bedding. Enormous by pony standards, made of pine branches, twigs and whatever one can find around to insulate from the cold rock. The mare also noticed that it was most ptobably the cource of an umpleasant stench that permeated in this cave. Crystal Clear looke at Nightmare Season expectantly. "So... we claim this place? It's surely better than our small den, but I'm afraid it's occupant still lives."

[Nightmare Season 617]

@@Raven Rawne,

 

When Crystal asked him for some light, Nightmare had to back up a ways to get a good angle to shoot his fire at it. After she told him it was a good size cave he went over and jumped up on ledges a couple of times till he reached the ledge. First thing he noticed was the stench emanating from it. He walked inside to investigate it farther with the mare in tow.

 

Crystal asked about the claw marks on the wall and he went over for a closer look. "They are indeed fresh. The size is consistent with the creature we fought off." He noticed that made Crystal uneasy. "Do not worry Crystal. That thing is gone for good. Only way it could have survived if it was immune to fire. Like a dragon is. But I suspect, with it being use to the snow, it is not immune to fire." He went over to the nesting area and looked it over. "Seems the size is only for a single one, So no worries of a second one coming back. I think this will do as a shelter till you heal up." He told her.

 

"Now don't give me that look. You are not useless. You did get it distracted enough for me to charge up that fireball. " Though he only did that when he lost his temper with it hurting her, but he will not tell her that. "We will go back and get all of our stuff and bring." He brought her back with him. He did not want to leave her by herself when she can't even move. Once back to camp, he first pulled all of Crystal's things out of the den and placed next to her on the cloud. He then strapped himself up to the sleigh and started to pull it. At first it was a bit tricky to get it started, but once it was going, It was far easier.

 

When they got back to the cave, the sun was starting to get low in the sky. Nightmare floated crystal up to the cave and followed with a few bounds from ledge to ledge. Once up there he found a good place to place the smoke with Crystal on it. When she was safely tucked away he went back to the ledge. Using his horn he slowly moved the crates and sleigh up to the cave one by one. Half way through the load he had to rest a second to regain his strength to finish off the rest of what was below him.

 

Once everything was safely inside, he went and started a fire from the nest materials. "So what tasty food would you prefer tonight?" He asked the crystal pony.

[Raven Rawne 1,381]

@@Nightmare Season, 

 

Crystal Clear decided to trust the stallion's judgement. "Fine, we'll take shelter here then. By which I mean you will, while I look like wolf bait." She couldn't let go of the issue of her immobilisation. She smirked at his reassurance. "yeah, i;m single use. And kinda already used... Okay let's get our stuff in here."

 

The mare tried not to show it for Nightmare's sake, but, as a tradespony by education and temperament, laying idle when somepony else toled for her, and without any gratification too, simply rubbed her the wrong way. All this situation was just one huge nightmare. No pun intended.

 

The sun was settlind down when Nightmare Season put her inside the cave and hoised their supplies up into their sanctuary. The mare lied on the cloud bed, eyes closed and thoroughtly bored. Somehow doing nothing was just as tiring as toiling all day, and she sure knew what the latter meant. Something told her that once she finally puts her hooves on solid ground, she won'r have any strength left in her.

 

At some point, the sounds of stacking crates ceased and she opened her eyes to see what's going on. Nightmare used some of their supplies to stack some kind of a barrier between them and the world outside - clever. It blocked some of the wind, when it blew straight inside, and obscured them from sight from outside. The stallion was dismantling the foul nest and used it for kindling. She allowed herself a small smile - once it was burned entirely, maybe the air inside would be better...

 

Crystal smiled pleasantly at the stallion when he asked her what she wanted to eat. "I don't suppose you have anything that will mend my ribs, no?" She waved a hoof at him. "Just kidding, I'll be fine with anything really, as long as I don't need both hooves to eat. I suggest you make something simple, since you've had more than enough work for today. Although if it's not too much of a trouble, maybe you could show me something more about prepping food to make it taste better. Cause you know, I've got all left hooves in this area."

 

Nightmare opted for a thick stew, and Crystal agreed with his choice - it was rather easy to make, and she could eat it with ease. Besides, she needed more water to heal those nasty bruises faster. They ate in peace, occasionally throwing something into the fire. it started to be actually warm inside, and Crystal dug out from under her covers. She also asked for her glow-crystal and hung it from her neck, just to have a light source at hoof. Once the meal was over, she gave herself a look over.

 

"I always thought my coat looks good with white, but... not really with white bandages. I'll need a dayjustto get my coat in order too... All the more reason for avoiding reckless decisions, I guess." She rolled over on her back and tried to touch her injured side with her good hoof. "Ouch, still hurts when I touch it... But somehow it almost doesn't when I lay still and breathe shallowly. Seems your medicine is working, so that's good, right? Only those ribs bother me, you know. Sounds serious for a pony who never had a broken bone, or even a doslocated joint even. I just hope they heal up fast..."

 

She sighed and winced slightly, then asked the stallion - "How are our medical sticks holding up? We're going to use most of them on me, correct?"

[Nightmare Season 617]

With her question, Nightmare looked through his saddle bags that he kept the medicine in. Then he went over to the boxes that had a few supplies. "Well.... The medicine for bruises and sprains will be used up. The herbs for colds and infections, we still have plenty of those." He told her.

 

He looked out into the forest. "There might be some bark out there that could do the trick, but that is a long shot." He looked back to his patient. "To bad you can't go to the dream worlds physically. Usually a pony can heal up much faster there, like I did."

 

He walked on over to her. "Do not worry." He told her with a warm nuzzle. "You are not the first pony I had to doctor up. And you will not be the last."

 

He latter went to the cave wall, there, he started to carve some kind of symble on the rocks. When Crystal asked him what that was for, he rplied. "This is like a homing becon for me. I place these close to places that have dream trees by them. When I focus on them, I can find my way back to the trees. They are very rare after all. It helps to have a map to them.

[Raven Rawne 1,381]

@@Nightmare Season,

 

The mare snickered - "Then I still have a flu ahead of me! Sorry, dark humor, I know..." She drooped her ears slightly at her misbehaviour as Nightmare pondered aloud the possibility of restocking in the forest. The part about healing in the dream world gave her pause, and she tapped her snout in thought. Technically, there was a way... Crystal put her hoof down as she noticed Nightmare was about to turn around and face her. She wouldn't risk messing the alicorn's plan just to heal faster. At least not yet.

 

Crystal welcomed the nuzzle - she's always been a cuddlebug really. "It's easy for you bcause you've done it so many times, but it's my first, so I guess it's normal to worry in my situation. But I'll try too keep my spirits in decent condition. I know I'm in good hooves." She pooled quizically at the stallion who began scribbling something on the cave wall. "Grafitti? I didn't suspect you're the type who scribbles "Nightmare Season was here" in remote locations..." She rubbed her forehead as he explained what he was doing. "Uh huh, that makes sense. Not many ponies wander in these parts, so food would be scarce at best. It also helps when the scenery changes, like with seasons. Smart." She nodded with approval and surpressed a yawn. "Who would've thought that doing nothing for the whole day would be so tiring... Anything to do today, doctor, or can I go to a place where I don't feel like a guard training dummy after spear drill?" She asked with a smile and awaited the reply.

[Nightmare Season 617]

@@Raven Rawne,

 

Nightmare thought a few seconds about her question. "Well..... First off. You should not be feeling like a training dummy after spear practice. You should be feeling like a training dummy after maul practice." He gave her a smirk with his joke. "Now to be serious....Until your ribs heal up so you have no danger of them puncturing an internal organ. You need to remain as still as possible." He told her.

 

By this time the sun had set, the fire in the cave kept a decent light source inside so they could see. Though it was not really needed with Nightmare there. "You should just think about getting rest. And I mean it this time, have a sweet dream. I will satisfy my hunger with more roots. Don't want you squirming in your sleep like last night and falling off the fluffy cloud I made for you." He gave her a wink. "Though. I do suppose you would like a white cloud, but sadly, a black smoke is all I can do.

 

He set his saddle bag down next to where they would be sleeping in the night and pulled out two roots. Still the taste was terribly bitter. "Just wish I could find a sweet one of these once. Wonder if that gold one will taste differently.?" He asked the pony on her soft bed. "First time ever seeing one of them."

 

After he waited till Crystal found her sleep, Nightmare laid his head down and traveled to his own dream world. Maybe he could have a sweet dream for once.

[Raven Rawne 1,381]

@@Nightmare Season,

 

Crystal smirked. "Yeah, mauls are awful. Remind me to never pick one as a weapon again..." She carefully pulled the blanket over her body, mindful not to bend her midsection - that tend to hurt - and put her head to rest on the smoky surface. All in all, it somehow proved to be great insulation from the cold. "Nah, black is okay too. Way better than stone floor in my book..." She gathered the black smoke with her forelegs into something akin to a pillow and laid worh ner head again, then yawned. "Ever tried to cook them? Or add spices? Sure worth a try when you have more than enough to experiment..." She avoided the topic of the golden root, hoping he'll forget about it eventually.

 

They could hear the pines gently creaking under the late evening breeze. A soothing sound, actually. "Alright, that's my lullaby. Goodnight Nightmare. see you in the morning..." She pilled the smoke pillow closer and let out a relages sigh. Soon she fell asleep.

[Nightmare Season 617]

@@Raven Rawne,

 

In the middle of the night, Nightmare twitched his ear and woke up. He heard something off in the distance. He looked over at the sleeping mare. She was fast asleep. He knew she needed her rest to help her heal up. He slowly got up and moved away from her. As a result, he accidentally knocked over his saddle bag. Roots rolled out and rolled across the cave floor. He picked most of them up with his magic and placed them back in his bags. He failed to notice that the golden one rolled under the smoke of his sleeping companion.

 

He moved to the cave entrance to look out in the night to see what was out there. With one more glance back to the crystal pony, he turned and exited the cave. He needed to make sure nothing comes to close to their cave. He needed to better protect her. As he jumped down the ledges, he knocked a rock down the side making noise. This caused Crystal to wake up. She noticed the nightmare pony was not by her. She quickly looked around and noticed a light moving away from the entrance.

[Raven Rawne 1,381]

@@Nightmare Season

 

"Ssszzzzwhaaa?" - The mare woke up to a sudden noise and looked around with eyes still shut. She rubbed them open and noticed it was dark everywhere. That meant Nightmare wasn't here. Crystal fished out her glowing necklace and it's pale light illuminated the cave.  She was indeed, alone.

 

She rubbed her forehead trying to guess what's going on when she saw something shimmering right by her cloud. The mare shifted slowly to the side and peeked under her floating bed.

 

The golden root.

 

"Okay,  totally not suspicious..." she said to herself quietly. A thought came to her mind. If she ate the root now, she'd visit the dream world and maybe heal up faster. Maybe the alicorn will help. Plus, the threat of her friend eating it himself will cease to exist.  After all, there was another root if he needed it.

 

Crystal Clear shot a glance at the cave entrance - no sign of the orange glow. She scooped up the root in her hoof and ate it. Nightmare was right, they tasted terrible. She tucked away her glow-crystal as it was and laid back to sleep,  fighting the urge to throw up from the bitterness. After a few minutes, she was back asleep.

 

Crystal Clear knew she was in a dream, although how, she couldn't tell. Normally she needed to interact with Nightmare Season to notice. She was standing on a thick layer of mist amongst the stars - a strange place her imagination couldn't come up with on its own. "Hello?" She called out and looked around. "Anypony here?"

[Nightmare Season 617]

@@Raven Rawne,

 

Crystal looked all around, then she noticed something. The stars she thought were stars, were not really stars to begin with. When she tried to stand to walk over to them, her side told her that this was her normal body. This was not a dream. She tried to see what they were from where she laid. She noticed they looked like tiny worlds, dream worlds. Inside ponies were living in what looked like a dream. Not looked but were dreams. She was somehow outside of the dreams looking in.

 

She was somehow looking at different dreams, countless of them. "You look terrible young pony." She heard a voice from behind her. A voice she heard before. Trying her best to turn around to see the pony, her side screamed in pain from her broken ribs. "You poor thing." the mysterious pony said.

 

The owner of the voice soon came close to Crystal. Gently landing from her flight. Her eyes clouded over with no light reviling itself to her sight. It was the strange alicorn from Nightmare's memory. She was now here. "What has my son got you involved in?" She asked the wounded mare before her. She lowered her horn. A warm gentle light emanated from it and surrounded Crystal. Crystal felt good and calm. The pain in her side slowly ebbing and fading. Healing magic, it was so warm and tender.

 

"That should fix you up just fine young one. So might I have a name so I no longer have to call you the crystal pony?" She asked Crystal as she tested moving her side with no more pain.

[Raven Rawne 1,381]

@@Nightmare Season,

 

Nopony answered her call, so Crystal Clear decided to take a better look at her surroundings. So, the ground was made of strange white fog, and it was thick around her and just a hint of vapour all around. She looked at the bright stars - there was something... strange about them. Like they shimmered in different colours, and changed them too. The mare decided to check the nearest one and got up on her hooves.

 

Well, tried. The moment she lifted her chest off the ground, a flash of pain made her dizzy and she laid down again. Crystal needed a moment to settle and take several calming breaths before the pain subsided to something more bearable. "Oh buck. *huff*  I'm actually here, not dreaming... What am I gonna do now? This was stupid..."

 

Unablee to move, she did what she could - observe her environment. There wasn't much to look at save for the strange stars, so she concentrated on them. The mare was puzzled with what she saw. "Those are... dreams? Of real ponies? And I'm ouside them? That doesn't make any sense..." - she told herself quietly.

 

A voice from behind startled her. "Huh?" It souded familliar though. Crystal tried to turn around, slowly, but it didn't make any difference. The moment she had to bend her spine another flach of pain made her see the stars behind closed eyelids. "G-ahh! Bucking broken ribs! Arrrgh!" Crystal slammed her good hoof in into the mist in futile anger. She felt so useless. A broken tool.

 

When she opened her eyes, still breathing hard from the pain, she saw the mysterious blind alicorn. "It's... Y-you? *cough* Actually, it was... my... idea. And my fault." The strange alicorn pointed her horn at the crystal mare and tendrils of magic wrapped themselves around the injured pony. She had to close her eyes - the light was too bright. The magic made her feel good and in peace, and she felt the terrible pain slowly becoming more tolerable, and at some point, it dissapeared completely.

 

Waaay better than the spa. Or the hot spring... - she thought to herself but was reminded of her company before she could really saviour the experience. Crystal opened her eyes and looked at her barrel - still wrapped with bandages like Heart's Warming gift, but it didn't hurt. She gently clenched the muscles and felt no pain. with a smile, she tried other, more daring moves and soon knew she was fine again. Noticing the alicorn was patiently waiting for her answer, she dropped her ears slightly and replied. "S-sorry, that's my first with healing magic... My name is Crystal Clear. I live in the Crysatl Empire and met your... son... on one of my so-called adventures." It was rather strange how she called Nightmare Season her son. He had a mother, and she couldn't be the same mare.

 

Crystal rubbed her forehead and tried to put her mane into shape with a hoof, but with unsatisfying results. She did look terrible alright. "I uhhh, thank you for patching me up. We'd be stuck for days if I were to heal on my own. You... wanted to see me, right? I'm sorry I didn't wait until after we finished the trip but Nightmare Season found a golden root of his own and got really curious of it. So I kind of ate it from under his nose when he was away." She suddenly recalled something. "Wait, if I'm physically here, it means I'm not in the cave, and when he comes back he'll be looking for me! Crystal you idiot..." She facehoofed at her own short sighted thinking.

[Nightmare Season 617]

@@Raven Rawne,

 

The Alicorn came up to her and nuzzled her. "Be calm dearie. You are in fact physically here. But Nightmare will not be back to the cave in some time. Come, follow me. And I will show you what I mean." The Alicorn led the mare across the stary path of white mist to what looked like a small castle. There inside the main hall was a single object. It looked like a giant silver chalice that sat there. A smooth topped water was on the surface.

 

The Alicorn led her over to where it stood. She gestured the mare to look inside. "Please mirror of the world. Show me my son." She spoke to the waters. With that they rippled and an image of the nightmare pony came to be. He was outside of the cave where they had slept. He was in combat with the same yeti as the previous night. Crystal yelled out for him and looked around for a way to leave and help him.

 

"Be still Crystal Clear. Nightmare will be able to hold his own against such a creature. It is already badly wounded and my son is at full strength. But I did not bring you here to show you this, I am sure that there are many questions that you wish to ask me." She told Crystal. She then walked over to where a throne stood and sat down on it. "I figure we have a few hours or so before Nightmare Season heads back to the cave." She asked with a warm smile on her lips. And looked at her direction with blind eyes. Now that Crystal can look at her better, she noticed that there was a scare across her eyes. She was not always blind.

[Raven Rawne 1,381]

@@Nightmare Season

 

The mare looked at the alicorn questioningly, but shrugged abd followed her.

 

They walked into a small castle. She didn't recognise the style it was built in, despite spending midnight hours on Equestrian Architecture and art styles guides. The chalice at it's center didn't look like anything familiar either.

 

Crystal followed the blind mare to the chalice and peered inside as instructed. Her eyes went wide and her knees felt weak. "How the hay did it... I need to go back and help him!" She looked around,  as if frantically searching for some doorway to the waking world. The alicorn's calm voice gave her pause and Crystal looked at her with a raised eyebrow, then slowly nodded as the other mare walked to her throne. "Okaaayyyy... You seem pretty confident in him."

 

Crystal Clear walked to the throne and stopped before the first step.  She was in the throne room once, at the Palace.  The graduation day when she got her Master title, over a thousand years ago...

 

"Come to think of it, yes, I do have questions... Who are you? They told us that dreams are the domain of Princess Luna, and I've never heard of any other alicorns than the Royal Four." She unloaded her questions as they came to her mind. "Besides, why you called me here and didn't just talk to Nightmare? You're putting some delicate mission in hooves of a tradespony who didn't know about Nightmare Ponies a week earlier. So my question is, what do you want from me, of all the ponies?"

 

Maybe she was being too straightforward, but chit chatting when Nightmare was holding against the beast didn't do well for her temper. 

[Nightmare Season 617]

@@Raven Rawne,

 

She sat there listening to Crystal's questions with a gentle smile on her lips. When Crystal stopped asking did she begin to answer them. "Not exactly the questions I was expecting, But I shall answer them. I am called Hearts-dream. And I was once a princess to a kingdom and not of the dream world. The kingdom I ruled is no longer there. I had lost it due to a war along with my sight. Not many remembers it or even written in history books. I just found my way here and decided to live here to help prevent what I did long ago from happening again."

 

"As for why I chose you...." She got up and moved over to the chalice once more. "You are one of a select few that made a friend with my son. Most as you are aware, would rather chase him away first, and not ask questions." She peered inside the chalice at Nightmare fighting the yeti out on the hills over the forest. For your concern over the delicate mission, it had always laid before you. It was just Nightmare Season that pointed you in the right direction."

 

As Crystal looked in the chalice, she could see that her friend seemed to have the upper hand. He was mostly dodging blows and shooting his fire at it when he saw an opening. "Do not worry over him. He has fought much worse, and will do so in the future as well." She waved her hoof over the water and it went back to revile the bowl of the chalice once more. "Now say the name of your friend and peer inside."

 

As Crystal did just that, an image of her friend came to view. Evie was laying in a bed inside what looked like a slave camp. Guards in black armor patrolled the floor keeping their workers in bed. "She is still fine for now. She is in good health all things considering. They seek to build their own kingdom to bring back the shadow once more. My son will help you to prevent this." She gave her a gentle pat to help calm her down. Crystal realized at that moment tears had came to her eyes. "Have faith in yourself dear one. You are stronger than you think, and my son is with you for support."

 

The Alicorn went back over to her throne. "Now, might you have any more questions you wish to know?" At that she pulled an old deck of tarot cards out from behind her thrown. "Or would you wish a fortune read?"

Edited January 3, 2017 by Nightmare Season

[Raven Rawne 1,381]

@@Nightmare Season,

 

The mare listened to the alicorn's reply. It seemed far fetched, but it very well may be true, so she decidedd to accept Hearts-Dream's story. Crystal watched as the other mare approached the chalice once more, still talking. She followed her to the strange silver goblet and peered inside. Nightmare was still fighting, but he seemed to bo doing okay. It put her a bit at ease. Although the part about the mission always laying in front of her seemed like nonesense.

 

The alicorn ceased the projection of her friend and asked her to say the name of the one they ventured to rescue. She breathed in and said aloud, trying not to get emotional. "Evening Song. Her name's Evening Song." She then peered into the chalice, anxious what it will show.

 

There she was, all by herself in a slave pen. The sight alone was enough to pierce the heart of a crystal pony who knew how it felt to be there. Knew all too well... Crystal Clear sighed deeply and lowered her head. She didn't want to look, it was too hard to bear. Heart-Dreams spoke but Crystal barely acknowledged her words. She nodded automatically and didn't move until she felt a pat on her back. At that moment the mare realised she was crying. Another deep sigh, a sniff and wiping the tears with a hoof later, Crystal turned around to see Heart-Dreams back on her throne. She breathed in to regain her composure and approached the throne again.

 

"Nightmare lost his cards... are they hard to come by? He needs another deck..." - she inquired as the first thing that came to her mind. "I-I don't know what to ask really, there's... so much going on in my mind now... What will i say to him once he comes back and sees me all healed up? Or how do I free my friend without getting killed in the process... I just..." She put a hoof to her temple, as if trying to concentrate. "I don't know! There's just so much I don't know..." She lowered her head, then asked in a sad voice. "So what did you expect I'd ask for?"