“Don’t cry, horsey. See, I don’t like seeing you feel sad.”

Luna’s tears, having been flowing at the thought of spending another night trapped on the dream moon, stopped at the child’s words. Instead, the night princess felt irritation. “I am NOT a HORSE! I am a PONY!”

“OW! SORRY!” The child winced, her hands clutching her ears. “I didn’t know you could be so loud in a dream. See, At least you’re not crying now, pretty pony.” The girl ran over and hugged the princess.

After prying herself from the child’s clutches, Luna said, “You are forgiven. And for your information, I am Princess Luna, co-ruler of Equestria and the Princess of the Night. Who might you be? For that matter, what might you be?” Luna inquired.

“You’re a princess? THAT’S SO COOL! I’m Selene! I’m a ten year old girl!” she chirped. A second later, Luna found herself once again in the embrace of the energetic girl.

With a small smile forming on her lips, Luna pried herself from the child’s grip a second time. “Charmed.”

“Hey, what were you doing with your hoof? You made everything go all funny and wiggly and stuff. And why are we on the moon anyway? See, I thought the moon was made of cheese. It looks like it was made of cheese. Hey, it that your planet?” Selene said, taking a brief pause in her rapid rambling to point at the globe that she did not recognize. “The other one is my home. ARE YOU AN ALIEN PONY PRINCESS? THAT’S SO COOL!”

After waiting for Selene to calm down, Luna answered, “Yes, that is my world. I would assume then that I am an alien to you, as you are to me. No, the moon is not made of cheese. I would know; I spent a thousand years imprisoned there.”

“A thousand years? Are you, like, a million-billion-gazillion years old or something?” Selene asked, dream logic making her eyes literally sparkle with excitement.

Luna stamped her hoof into the ground, sending out a light ripple. “I am most certainly not that old, child. Didn’t your mother ever tell you that it was rude to ask a lady’s age?”

Selene looked down, crestfallen. “I don’t…”

“Selene?”

Refusing to look towards the alicorn, she said, “Promise you won’t laugh?” After hearing Luna’s vow, she said “See, I don’t got a mommy. They took me away from daddy, too. Said his head was really sick. I live in an orphanage.”

“Oh, you poor child.” Luna said. “If it makes you feel any better, my sister and I don’t have any parents, either. My mother disappeared when I was little and I never knew my father.”

Selene’s crestfallen look morphed into one of determination. “HA! Then we have to be friends! See, if we don’t have a mommy or daddy, then we have to look out for each other! See, that’s what Mrs. Bibbit always says.”

Luna smiled at the girl’s sudden enthusiasm. “I would love to be friends with you, Selene. I don’t have many friends, so each one is the most wonderful of gifts.”

“See, I knew you’d want to be friends!” Selene cheered while jumping around the dream moon’s surface. “Hey, what does a night princess even do?”

Luna said, “Well, Every night, I help my sister run the country, make rules, and listen to a never-ending stream of complaints from those stuffy noble ponies. Then, until recently, I helped protect my ponies from nightmares.”

“COOL!”

“Finally, every night, I raise the moon. Every morning, I lower it to make way for the day,” the alicorn concluded.

“How does that work? See, I thought Mr. Geezler said the moon orb-ora-or-fell in a big circle around the world. And sometimes I see the moon during the day. Mr. Geezler said that we know this ‘cause we’ve been there. They have pictures and everything!”

“Fascinating,” Luna mused. “Perhaps your world works differently than mine.”

“Hey, Princess Luna, what about the nightmares?”

Luna bowed her head. “Until recently, I had the power to traverse the world of dreams, helping my ponies sleep well at night. Since these dreams of ours have started a month ago, I have found myself trapped in this dream.”

Selene pondered for a moment. “So is that what you were doing? Trying to get out? Do you need to pop this dream like a bubble?”

Luna nodded. “In a way, yes, that is correct.”

“What if we tried together? See, if this is both our dream, then maybe it’s twice as strong,” Selene suggested.

Luna blinked. She blinked again. “Mother Faust, that could be it. Come, let us try it.” She gave Selene a quick and simplified run down on the theory of dream walking and the techniques used to escape a dream.

Once Luna believed that the girl was ready, she gave a countdown. On zero, the two struck a rock that they had decided upon as a target. The ripples in the dream spread violently this time. They struck harder the second time, producing even stronger ripples. “Ready for a third try?” Luna asked, to which Selene nodded.

They struck the fabric of the dream with all of their combined might. The space in front of them cracked, much like broken glass. Through the hole, they could see an expanse of sky and sea. A moment later, an archway rose out of the ground and surrounded the crack, giving it the appearance of a doorway. Upon the highest stone of the arch, there lay a carving that Luna faintly recognized as the head of a changeling.

“See, I knew we could do it!” Selene chirped.

Luna, slightly confused by the form the passageway assumed, said, “I’m glad you had faith.” She gestured to the passageway. “Shall we?”

When I first saw the figure emerge from the moon crested archway, I was only mildly surprised to see Princess Luna. I had half expected her to show up before now, but not in such a violent way. The real kicker was the human girl that followed her.

Immediately, I felt horribly insecure, and with good reason; in these dreams, I was in my true form and, more importantly, stark naked. When the only other person who can see you comes from a ‘clothing optional’ world, you’re not exactly the same species, and your own genitals can be retracted from sight, modesty is not really a big factor. Now I was confronted with a human girl that cannot possibly be older than twelve. Awkward.

I stood there, gaping like an idiot, for several seconds; it was more than enough time for the girl to screech, “EWWW! What is that thing?” Her words snapped me out of my stupor. Reacting to my embarrassment, the sea below my feet surged upwards and enveloped me in the white froth. When the foam retreated, I was clothed in a silky white robe that hid everything but my head and wings, the latter of which protruded from a pair of slits in the back.

Surprise public nudity issue resolved, I gave out a light chuckle. Chrysalis only rolled her eyes. “I was not expecting guests, not after this weather,” I said, gesturing to the formerly stormy sky. “Let me tell you, that was one hell of a brain storm.”

Chrysalis snorted, “Humph, I suppose that was you banging on our consciousnesses for the last month, Dream-walker. Well, you are not welcome here.”

As the Equestrian princess went to confront the changeling queen, I made my way over to the human girl. She was on her hands and knees staring down into the depths of the glass sea. Her face was slightly green and she gave of an aura of fear. ‘I didn’t know that I could feel other's emotions within a dream.’

As the tallest one in this four-way dream, I had to bend down a lot to get near her. “Shhh, it’ll be OK. What’s the matter?”

She looked up at me. “I’m scared. I don’t like being so high up.” I understood; the bottom of the glass sea seemed very far away. The depth must have given her a sense of vertigo. I willed a small boat into existence around us, much to her relief. Of course, that allowed her to concentrate on her second most pressing concern: me.

“Um… What are you?” she asked nervously while scooting to the back of the boat.

I concentrated on her form before assuming it, much to her shock. The only part of me that remained the same were my wings, excluding the holes, which I had sealed shut. The overall effect was that I appeared to be a fairy version of her. “I’m a changeling. It’s kind of like a magic fairy, except scarier looking. See, I don’t have to be scary, though,” I said in a perfect imitation of her voice. “I’m Rex.”

“Hey, that’s a boy’s name, silly!” she said, all previous fear having evaporated.

“I am a boy, you goofball! I’m a king!”

“No, you’re a girl! See,” she said, pointing to me. “And besides, if you were a king, you’d have a crown. See, Luna is a princess and she has a crown!”

A burst of green flame returned the crown-like antenna to my head, as well as flipping my gender without changing the rest of my appearance. “I am a king!” I said, this time in a gender-flipped version of her voice. It may be childish of me to debate with a little girl like this, but she was barely a decade old and I was trying to get her comfortable with me. “So,” I asked, “who are you?”

“I’m Selene!”

“Ha! Luna and Selene. If that wasn’t fate, I don’t know what is.”

“Why?” the little girl inquired.

“Selene is the name of the Greek goddess of the moon. Luna is the Roman goddess of the moon,” I answered.

“COOL!” the excitable girl screamed. “Oh! Princess Luna and I met in a dream where we were on the moon!”

Something about that sentence bothered me. Why? Then it hit me; that was how Chrysalis and I met years ago. We met in a dream. Then I turned into a changeling.

Selene dream-walked with Luna. ‘Crap. She’s like me,’ I thought. Putting on a fake smile to mask my sudden discomfort, I immediately switched to interrogation mode. “So, Selene, do you want to be friends with me?”

“COOL! Two new friends! That’s awesome!” she cheered.

“That’s wonderful,” I said genuinely. Perhaps my intentions are not the best, but I do want her on my side if she does gain even a small amount of Luna’s power. No loose ends. “Hey, where do you live? If I ever visit from the fairy world, I want to be able to find you. May I come visit?” Selene, in her naive innocence, complied. By saving that information to the hive memory, every single one of my changelings had her full name, address, and knew how she saw herself in the mirror by heart.

Eventually, Luna came over to us and called for Selene to follow her. Selene, happy to spend more time with her other friend, obliged. The instant they faded into whatever dream-space they went to, I was on my feet, sprinting to Chrysalis. “She’s like me.”

“I guessed as much. What are your plans?” She asked.

“Track her down. That is my number one priority,” I answered. “If there is even the slightest chance that she is like me, her magic will awaken within the week. If worse comes to worse, we’re looking at getting an alicorn of the moon by the end of summer.”

“That sounds reasonable,” Chrysalis said. “I fear that I may not be much in the way of advice in this situation. I will keep an eye on Luna from here, but what will you do if you truly do have a new alicorn on your hooves?”

I tapped my foot on the surface of the sea as I thought, ‘Well, the address she gave me is an orphanage. Perhaps… should I consider adopting her? Yes, I think that is what I will do. ’ I started pacing back and forth. ‘The question is: do I have the time? I’ll have to start making tracks for Phoenix, Arizona. That’s a long flight and I’m running under the assumption that she could ‘power up,’ for lack of a better term, at any moment. Dang, I hope it is not as violent as my own transformation. If her 'lings weren't their to shield me, I would have burnt the hospital to the ground. Then there’s the adoption process. I have no idea what that will entail. Dang, I have to wait on the US Child Services to defuse a time bomb.’

Chrysalis snickered at my misfortune. “The great king Alvarium Rex, foiled by the bureaucracy.”

“Wait, was I thinking aloud?”

“Yes,” she said.

I rolled my eyes. I was about to retort when-

“DADDY! PLEASE WAKE UP!” My daughter’s shriek penetrated my ears. Slowly, I opened my eyes to find her sobbing gently against my chest as I lay in my bed. I reached out a hand to grab hers. The moment she felt it, she screamed, “DADDY!”

“I’m here, my princess.”

Between sobs, Klika managed to say, “Daddy, when I felt the tremors, I got so scared. They felt so terrible. Everyone was worried for you. We tried and tried, but you wouldn’t wake up, you wouldn’t listen to our calls to you.”

“Shhh, it’s OK, everything will be just fine. I’m up now. Everything is all right,” I said, squeezing her hand as I hoisted myself out of my bed.

“But everything isn’t all right!” Klika wailed.

Now I was nervous. ‘What else is there?’ I thought before asking as such.

“There was a whisper in our head that wasn’t from the hive mind. It told us to go outside. If we didn’t, it got louder. Daddy, I can barely think straight.” Fearing for my daughter, I dove into her mind. Instantly, I was besieged by the compulsion to do exactly as she had described.

I looked out the window to my apartment, and then turned towards my daughter. “Come on, let’s follow it. It’s a real nice night out, don’t you think?”

Author's Notes:

*Ding* Happy New Year! Have a chapter, the first of 2014! Note, this chapter requires you to have read the edits to the previous chapter, edited 01/01/2014.

So, this is Rex's first contact with the dream-walking duo.

This is definitely a case of meaningful names. I can guarantee you, when Selene gets into the groove, she will be an awesome ruler of the night. However, she's ten. Good job, fate! You gave all the power of an alicorn of the night to a little girl. Yes, (spoiler that everyone can see coming) she will change into an anthro alicorn.

Anyway, I'm not 100% sure how much of the story I will devote to Selene (hopefully a fair amount). See, I also thought I would distinguish her a bit more by giving her a verbal tic, 'see.' Though, if you want a summary of my inspiration for her personality, look no further than Uzumaki Naruto and Monkey D. Luffy!

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Really, I don't have much to say on this chapter. Perhaps I will think of something to say later. I'll think on it.

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Quick facts that are true in this story, but relatively unknown to the characters within:

-- Gatekeepers are pairs of individuals who can create portals to the other world, but not cross themselves (Rex/Chrysalis, Luna Selene). It is a power granted to the individuals very soul, meaning that the power will move with the soul and cannot be stopped by any physical means.

-- Immortals, alicorns, dragons, and other Gatekeepers cannot be converted into changelings. Diamond dogs can be converted, even if no attempts have ever been made.

-- A changeling is actually a soul who's structure has been mutated by a 'spiritual virus,' which can be transferred by infection or birth. If soul magic is used upon a changeling to swap its mind with the mind of another, the new body will become a changeling and the old body will change to match the form of it's new soul. For example:

Soul = P & C*
Body = p & c*
* indicates that the soul or body is a changeling

So you have Pp (born pony) and C*c* (born changeling). If you swap the souls to be C*p (changeling in pony body) and Pc* (pony in changeling body), then the bodies will automatically change to C*p* (full changeling) and Pc (full pony).

The old changeling body loses the power to change and the new changeling gains the power, keeping the power with the correct soul. The thing is, none of the changelings know any of this.

-- Griffins are hyper-sensitive to changeling emotion draining. Amounts that would be undetectable by a pony are enough to send a griffin into a murderous rage. Unfortunately, most changelings don't realize that they are draining too strongly before it is too late.

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Stats time!

Changeling population: 325 (259 converted, 64 hatched, 1 digital.)
Changeling owned businesses: 6
Funds: $52.6 million cash + $128.9 million raw materials + $60.1 million in businesses. (Total wealth: $241.6 million, or $0.74 million per changeling.)

Changeling divisions:
-Finances (those who make money for the hive)
-Love collectors (those who make love for the hive)
-Research & Development (those who make toys for the hive)
-Silencers (those who make you shut up about the hive)
-Infiltrators (those who infest other organizations for the hive)
-Saboteurs (those who break things for the hive, subdivision of infiltrators)
-Trappers (those who hunt for the hive, aid the king in catching people alone so that they can be converted.)
-Soldiers & Assassins (those who kill for the hive, not yet established)

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I often turn to google to check my facts for the stories I write. When I was typing this chapter, I looked up the US Orphanage system. Guess what? Technically, the USA has no orphanages, but Residential Treatment Centers (same function, but smaller than a true orphanage). That gave me a thought: what if this Earth in my story had an alternate history? Of course, that would be hard to distinguish between that and 17 years of history between now and 2031 in the story.

Still, it opens plot possibilities. Since I have no real ending for this story in sight, I guess I'll keep going. Here's a goal: I'm aiming for 120K words by April 9. Why that day? It's my 18th birthday. Just seems like a good goal. Besides, I think I can do it. It only took me 8 months to get here, and that was a snail's pace for what I can do if I try harder.

Maybe I'll aim for 160K by the time I graduate High School and 200K by the time I get to college... I'll see what fate brings. Hope that you'll stick around.