They had flown up, above the clouds, higher into the sky, and yet somehow, Sideralis found himself dropped into a field of tall grass and wildflowers. The flowers filled the meadow with a riot of colour; blues, pinks, reds, yellows, bright orange. The air was filled with drifting motes of pollen. For a dream, this had a spectacular level of realism.

Without warning, Luna was upon him. Sideralis kicked and wiggled, trying to get away. He was foal sized and helpless against Luna. She had her nose pressed against him, sniffing, snorting, touching him all over; his belly, under his wings, along his neck, his face, his front leg, nowhere was safe from her touch.

“I have a little version of me!”

Luna’s voice was joyous and Sideralis, who had experienced far too many emotions in far too little time went limp in the grass, flat on his back, his legs up in the air. Having gone still, he just stared up at Luna.

“I have a colt!” Luna cried.

“But… but—”

“But what?” Luna asked, sitting down in the grass.

“I’m a clone,” Sideralis replied.

“What does that have to do with anything?” Luna pulled her head back and tilted it to one side, a mammalian expression of confusion.

“I’m a clone… I don’t even know if I have a soul… am I even a real pony?” Sideralis rolled over and sat up, looking at the mare that he was a copy of. “What am I?” Much to his surprise, Luna threw back her head and started laughing. Confused, hurt even, Sideralis scowled at Luna.

Seeing Sideralis’ hurt expression, Luna’s laughter ceased. She reached down with her hoof and booped Sideralis upon the nose. “You are not a clone. You are my hope.”

“But I am a clone,” Sideralis insisted. He felt a cool breeze hit him and he watched the rippling waves in the tall grass all around him. “I wasn’t born. I don’t even have a belly button I don’t think. I’m too embarrassed to ask and I can’t look.”

“None of that matters.” Luna lowered her head until her nose almost touched Sideralis’. “None of that matters at all. Now you listen to me and you take my words to heart.”

Sideralis’ ears pinned back against his head and his stubby wings fluttered at his sides. He nodded in acknowledgement, feeling very small, as if he was almost a yearling again. Being close to Luna felt good, even if she wasn’t real. She was something… she was real enough.

“After my capture, I raged. And when that didn’t help me, I fell into a terrible state of despair. I was trapped, locked away, unable to do anything. My body was violated many, many times. And there was nothing I could do.” Luna lifted her head and looked away, her gaze focused on a patch of little blue wildflowers. She shook her head and made a wordless sound of pain. “I lost hope. I saw my own end. It shames me to admit that.”

“I’m sorry.” Sideralis saw Luna’s head swivel around to look at him.

“My sister is a better pony than I am. She shines so brightly… she never lost hope. She found a way to communicate with me. This was her idea. She is still capable of astral travel, even while trapped inside of her pod. Together, we made a plan. That plan was you.”

“Me?” Sideralis reached out with his hoof and batted at the tall grass waving in the wind. He looked up into Luna’s eyes, noticing how her teal eyes matched his own, a perfect match.

“Celestia was aware of the plan for cloning me and using those clones to subjugate our ponies. She told me that I could just give up and collapse upon myself in pity, or I could take advantage of the violations done upon my body.” Reaching out her foreleg, Luna brushed Sideralis’ light blue mane out of his face. “You are so very precious to me… you have no idea.”

Sideralis saw Luna’s eyes filling up with tears and he turned away, unable to look her in the eye any longer. He felt the hot sting of tears in his own eyes. Stretching out his own foreleg, he touched Luna; she felt so very real to him.

“With Celestia’s help, I selected one of my clones, one with potential. These clones were blank… they… I don’t know how to put it… they didn’t have souls. They were souless. They were bodies, they were animated, and had crude spirits that gave them life, but no soul. Celestia, using her most powerful magics, ripped away a little piece of my soul and gave it to you… the same thing happens when a mare and a stallion make a foal together… both of them give up a little tiny piece of themselves to make new life… and with that piece of soul, I burned a name into you… I named you and with my sister’s help, I carved it so deep into your mind that they could not remove it. You were my defiance and my hope. I found my will to fight again.”

Gasping, a tight feeling around his barrel, Sideralis thought of Doctor Withers and what she had said. “Look, you are a very sick pony, but we all love you and want you to get better. Your mother loves you a great deal. You are your mother’s hope… she gave you your name, ‘Sideralis,’ which means ‘starry.’ You are literally her shining star.” A bit of truth mixed in with lies, no doubt to break down his mental defenses. Unable to hold back tears any longer, they began to slip down his cheeks. He fell down in the grass, covered his face with his forelegs, and began sobbing.

He felt Luna’s forelegs coming to rest on either side of him and her head coming to rest on top of him. Cradled in her forelegs, he buried his face into her neck as he sobbed.

“They couldn’t figure out why you fought the program. They were blind to what my sister and I had done. They knew that I was resisting, but they didn’t know what you were. Over time, that little piece of soul became a whole one. You developed into your own pony. You fought, you resisted, and I did everything I could to help you.”

Snuffling, still crying, Sideralis crawled further into his mother’s embrace, trying to press as much of himself against her as possible. Mother. This felt right. This felt good. This is everything he wanted from Wisteria, but could never have. He felt Luna’s chin rubbing over his back, pressing down between his wings, a sensation that caused his whole body to tingle.

“You are so perfect… I don’t care if my sister says that I am vain for saying that. You are little and handsome and blue and you are perfect in every way… and I can’t wait to be with you in the waking world.”

Sideralis could feel Luna’s breathing increasing, her sides heaved, and he could hear the rustle of the feathers in her wings. She even had a smell, strange as it was to have a scent in a dream, she smelled of mullberries.

“Sideralis, I need for you to listen to me. Our time is short… you came to me in my dream… soon, we will be found out… I don’t know how much time we have.” Luna took a deep breath. “Look after our little ponies. Especially Twilight. She walks a dark and dangerous path and my sister worries for Twilight. Each day, Twilight goes a little further into the darkness, which is necessary. Her anger has given her strength, it has motivated her, her outrage has given her conviction, courage, and resolve. A little darkness is a good thing, it balances us out… but Twilight may be delving a bit too deep. Be there for her. Protect her. Be the prince that I know you can be.”

“What?” Siderals wiggled in his mother’s embrace. He hiccuped and tried to swallow his sobs. So much was his shock and surprise that he repeated himself. “What?”

“You heard me. Be the prince that I know that you can be. You are my colt. I have expectations of you. You will serve in my stead. You will protect and defend the little ponies all around you in my absence. Do I make myself clear?”

“But I… but you… but I don’t know anything about—”

“But nothing,” Luna said in a firm voice, cutting Sideralis off. “If you are ever confused or in trouble, or just don’t know what to do, go to Fluttershy for help. You listen to my words… go to Fluttershy for help. Twilight’s hardness must be countered with gentleness and softness. And that will fall upon your shoulders. Twilight is doing an admirable job, but she needs a counterbalance. I am holding you responsible. You are part of a greater plan… my sister works against Queen Mariposa and the fate of the entire world is at stake, not just the ponies of Equestria. Even trapped in a changeling pod, my sister Celestia is dangerous like nothing and no one else. She can outthink, outplay, outplan, outwit, and outmaneuver just about any foe. You are one of many of Celestia’s gambits.”

“I will do my best,” Sideralis said to Luna. “But I don’t know what to do… I can’t even get out of bed on my own.”

“Then rule from your bed. Work hard to earn the respect of others. Respect is never given, it must be earned. Gain their trust. Work hard to help others. Serve them. Be good to them. Keep them from harm. Follow your instincts. You are an alicorn… you were made for this. You are my hope… my bright shining star… I made a wish upon you… it is my hope and my prayer that my wish comes true. Free me.”

“Yes Luna, I will do as you ask,” Sideralis replied.

“Don’t call me that,” Luna said in a pained voice. “I worked too hard and put too much of myself into you to just be ‘Luna.’ Please, say it for me, I would like you hear you say it.”

“Mother?” Sideralis voice was a low, solemn whisper. He did not see Luna squeeze her eyes shut, but he felt her muscles tense. She sobbed, a sound that caused his body pain. He pressed himself against her, his stubby, foalish horn poking her neck but doing no harm.

“One day we will be together, but for now, I must go. They know I am up to something and soon, the pain will be unbearable… I love you… I am proud of you,” Luna said. Giving Sideralis a squeeze, the blue alicorn mare added, “I waited for a thousand years on the moon, but each day without you is torture… be the pony that I know you can be and look after my little ponies.”

“Mother, I will do my best…”

Sideralis found himself back inside the shop filled with frilly dresses. He blinked, surprised, and looked around. Rarity was laying on a bright red funny looking couch. She was smiling at him.

“You again,” Sideralis said to Rarity.

Rarity’s lips puckered into a demure moue and one eyebrow raised. “I like it here, inside of your head. I hope you don’t mind, but I’ve made myself at home. I feel… stronger here. Twilight’s imagination and memory might have created me, and all those hours she spent talking with me made me a bit more real with each word spoken, but here…” Rarity fluttered her eyelashes. “I feel like I just woke up from a dream.”

“I don’t know if I want you hanging out inside of my head,” Sideralis said to Rarity. Right now, he wanted to be alone with nopony else inside of his head. He wanted to think about everything that Luna had said. He wanted to sort out his own thoughts and have personal, private dreams.

“The next time you jump into Twilight’s mind when she is dreaming I’ll be able to offer her some real comfort. I might even be able to make the nightmare go away. You need me. I might be little more than residue from Twilight’s deepest, darkest recesses, but I am still her friend. I can reach places in her mind that you can’t.”

“Fine… stay… do whatever. None of this makes sense anyway.”

“Darling, this is a dream… it doesn’t need to make sense, dreams are best when they are cryptic.” Rarity let out a little huff. “Besides. When you and Luna had your minds linked together, Luna did something to me. I don’t know what. But I feel peculiar.”

Puzzled, Sideralis turned away from Rarity and studied a blue dress studded with star sapphires. It was as good of a distraction as any. The dress was pretty and it reminded him of the night sky. He turned away from the dress, looking around the shop, and his eyes settled upon a door. The door was yellow. Try as he might, he could not turn away from the door, and he walked closer to touch it.

It had a pink butterfly doorknob. He reached out and touched it with his hoof. Suddenly, the world around him was flooded with millions of pink butterflies as the door opened. Blinded, Sideralis stumbled, and then felt himself being carried forward by the butterflies and dragged through the door.

“Toodle-oo, darling!” Rarity called out before the door snapped shut.

Confused, Sideralis found himself inside of a cottage. It was cosy, somewhat cluttered, and filled with animals. He heard a clock ticking as he stood there trying to get his bearings. There was a sweet smell in the air. A white rabbit was snoozing in a basket filled with cushions.

He heard laughter. He set off, his hooves making no sound, trying to find the source of the laughter. He heard ponies, he heard a soft voice, and he heard the splash of water. He came to a door that was open a crack. He smelled soap. The door was a soft shade of yellow, like so many other things in this cottage. He pushed the door open.

There was a yellow pegasus with a pink mane and tail sitting on a stool beside the bathtub. She was armed with a scrubbing brush. There were bubbles everywhere, and the air was perfumed with the scents of flowers. In the tub there were two foals. One foal, he recognised, there could be no mistaking Stout. She had both eyes, brilliant orange eyes, and her mane was plastered to her face and neck. She had a mass of bubbles sitting on her head and a beard of bubbles hanging off of her chin. She was smiling, she looked happy.

The other foal Sideralis didn’t know. She was a dark, dark dingy red colour, almost the colour of old rust or dried blood. Her mane almost looked out of place on her with her pelt. It was a soft electric blue with one cotton candy pink stripe that hung down in the middle of her face. Her eyes were a dark glittering blue.

It took him a moment, but Sideralis realised that none of the ponies present could see him. Fluttershy was laughing and the dark rusty red filly splashed water everywhere, kicking her forelegs around so she could make a mess.

“Stop that, you’re supposed to be mama’s hope,” Fluttershy said to the dark filly, a giggle lurking in her voice. “Oh, how I love the both of you. I just wish that you’d be a little better behaved.” Fluttershy reached out her hoof and gave a light boop on the nose of the dark filly.

“She can’t help it, she was feral,” little filly Stout said.

“Yes, we had to tame our little mustang.” Fluttershy pulled her head back and tried to shield her face with her wings as the dark filly redoubled her efforts to make a mess.

“When she was able to walk again, she drank out of the toilet.” Stout looked at the dark filly and stuck out her tongue.

“Did not!” the dark filly cried. She let out a fierce cry, grabbed Stout, and then shoved her down, dunking her beneath the water. “You drink out of the toilet, you… toilet drinker!”

It seemed the emotional whiplash wasn’t over. Sideralis found himself laughing. After a good long chuckle, he noticed Fluttershy’s wings. They were whole and had feathers. Stout had two eyes. His laughter died in his throat and he fell silent. He had to remind himself that this was a happy dream.

Stout rose up out of the water. Even as a filly, Stout was a big filly, and she had the other darker filly beat for sheer bulk and mass. Stout grabbed the other filly around the neck, got her into a headlock, and then gave her a noogie.

“Leggo, leggo, Imma punch you in the mouf!”

“You punch me in the mouth and Mama will use the Stare on you again!”

“Both of you, stop it!” Fluttershy commanded.

Stare? Sideralis, curious, wondered about this ‘stare’. Information trickled into his mind, he didn’t know where it was coming from. In the back of his mind, he heard a pony clearing their throat.

“Darling, do be careful poking around in Fluttershy’s memories. There are unpleasant things there that you might not be ready to learn yet,” Rarity’s voice told him.

Was he pulling knowledge out of Fluttershy’s mind? The Stare was special magic… not quite unique, but rare, showing up in just a few special ponies. It was powerful, dangerous, and could put a halt to a rampaging pony made of artificial muscles and metal. It was the reason that Fluttershy had so much control over Stout.

Fluttershy had lost her wings, but not her special magic. She still had the Stare, a powerful gift, and still had the ability to communicate with animals. Or synthetic ponies that might malfunction.

“Will you two little stinkers stop fighting in the tub!” Fluttershy cried. The yellow pegasus, exasperated, rose up off her stool and dove into the tub to separate the two fillies locked in mortal combat. Water splashed over the side of the tub, flooding the floor. In a moment of desperation, the dark filly turned vicious. She clamped her teeth down upon Stout’s ear, then began gnawing and tugging.

“ARGH! DIRTY TOILET DRINKER IS EATING MY EAR! TOILET GERMS! YUCK!”

All around Sideralis, the world took on a rainbow glow and then popped like a soap bubble.

Author's Notes:

So... who can guess who is in the tub with Stout? Fluttershy's other little foal. The little hellion.