With one eyebrow drifting upwards in concern, Dim looked into Blackbird’s jade green eyes and only realised the danger in doing so when it was too late. Her slitted pupils widened, then narrowed, and he watched with flustered fascination as her eyes attempted to focus on him. She had fishy breath, but that couldn’t be helped because she had just eaten, and when he felt a soft touch upon his neck, just below his bandages, he almost jumped right out of his skin.

“You’re a little out of focus still, but everything seems better,” Blackbird remarked as her claws at the end of her talon-fingers lingered upon the tender, vulnerable flesh of Dim’s throat. For a moment, her talon-fingers grazed the gauze covering Dim’s wound, where they remained for the span of a couple of eyeblinks, and then she pulled them away, flexing her still swollen knuckles. “You seem faded, still. Shouldn’t that potion have worn off?”

“I don’t know what is wrong, and neither does Short Stitch.” The elation of staring into Blackbird’s eyes was already wearing off and exhaustion rushed to fill the void left behind. The fading worried him, but only in a general sort of way, because he just couldn’t be bothered to pay much attention to the problem.

“When was the last time you slept, Dim?”

“I don’t know.” He didn’t know and that was true. “I had to keep you safe. You were so vulnerable. So much happened. One of us had to remain on guard.” Feeling talons on his front legs, he looked down as he was being pulled into Blackbird’s bed with her. Heart thumping like an out of time piston, he lost his balance and tumbled against the warm, inviting velvet of her hide. Feeling her against him, he found that he didn’t have the strength to pull himself away as she tugged him into the bed with her.

A moment later, she was pulling a blanket that was downright stinky with her scent over him, and he lacked the means or the desire to protest. There was a warmth here that he craved, a fragrant humidity that lulled him into drowsiness. When he was rolled over onto his back, he grunted and a pillow was stuffed beneath his head. Settling into the bed, he wiggled a bit and felt the rough wool of the blanket rub against the tender flesh of his sheath as the damp coverlet over the mattress was warm against his aching spine.

“This is just a practical arrangement,” Blackbird said to Dim as she tucked him in. “Don’t get any ideas. No means no. Now get some sleep, Dim.”

Unable to resist, Dim closed his eyes.

The landscape was bleak, barren, and desolate. A nagging, persistent wind blew fine grit into Dim’s eyes, and he squinted to protect himself. Overhead, the sky was a dull grey, the colour of dingy blah, and darker grey clouds dotted the otherwise featureless sky. Both the sun and the moon were visible, with the sun being rather, well, dim, and the moon being little more than a weak suggestion of itself.

Turning about, Dim tried to get his bearings, and found that he was on a vast, flat plain save for a narrow spire of dead rock that rose up in the distance. Atop the spire of rock was a castle and a city… landmarks that he found somewhat familiar, though he could not quite say why. The wind picked up and Dim had to close his eyes for a moment to protect them.

When he opened them again, he was not alone. A grey figure stood some distance away. Cloaked and wearing a fine wizard’s hat with a magnificent broad brim, the figure made a beckoning gesture with his hoof. The playful wind tugged on the pony’s beard and tried to push his hat down into his eyes.

After taking a few steps, Dim slipped into an aristocratic trot to follow after the grey figure, who now also moved. Together, they seemed to be heading towards the stone spire, which had armies of dust devils playing tag around its base. As Dim approached, the spire seemed to be growing, not just in height, but in width, as if the dust devils were depositing mass around the base while they played.

The sun seemed to wobble for a moment—it flickered like a candle in a drafty room—and the moon, perhaps feeling sympathetic, blinked a few times in reply. Nothing felt threatening here, but things that didn’t feel threatening were often the most dangerous things of all. Dim kept his guard up while he followed the figure who led him towards the bleak civilisation that was ahead.

Perhaps a hundred paces ahead, the figure stopped and made a gesture. Dim too, stopped where he was, and began to look around. The grey cloaked figure pointed with his hoof, and when Dim turned around, he saw faded greenery in the space where he had walked. There was life here now, weak, sickly looking life, but make no mistake, his presence here seemed to have brought life to this place.

For whatever reason, he did not feel alarmed by this revelation, but comforted.

What was this place that he should affect it so?

He stared at the dull green grass for a time, the sparse, withered-looking blades that poked up out of the fine, gritty dust and sand. A beetle with a dull, matte shell crawled up out of the sand and began to explore the new greenery. Dim turned to look about and when he found himself staring into his own face, he let out a startled cry of alarm. The grey figure was right beside him now, grinning, and the beard sprouting from his chin was being tossed about by the teasing wind.

Dim took a good long look at himself when he recovered, and his barrel heaved from his sudden start. He was smirking and holding a balloon that bore a remarkable resemblance to the moon, which was now missing from the sky. Tied with a night blue ribbon, the moon balloon bobbed in the ever-present wind and glowed with an eerie inner light.

“What is this?” Dim asked of himself, and much to his own dismay, he did not reply to himself. He cast a sidelong glance at the moon balloon and then he looked into his own mismatched eyes. His doppelgänger, whatever it was, had an unsettling grin and an all too familiar desynchronised blinking.

Without warning, the figure took off at a swift pace, heading for the distant stone spire that wore a city as a crown. The pony in grey trotted through the sandy expanses, and Dim followed, intrigued, curious, and cautious. The sand was soft against his hooves and had Dim been paying attention, he might have noticed that he left behind no prints.

Dim blinked to protect his eyes from the windborne grit, and when he opened them again after the wind had died down a bit, he was no longer alone with himself. A tiny blue alicorn filly trotted along beside his bearded doppelgänger, and her ears bounced with every step. She was cute, she was adorable, and Dim knew exactly who she was. Seeing her disturbed him.

“May I please have my balloon back?” the filly asked in a somewhat lispy voice and there was a whistle from the gap between her front teeth.

“Of course,” the Dim leading the way replied, “you have but to ask.”

Like a soap bubble, the balloon seemed to pop into nothingness, and it reappeared back into the sky. The little blue alicorn seemed pleased, and she rubbed the side of her face against the ribs of the bearded stallion beside her. After a few affectionate nuzzles, she pulled away and began to pronk in the manner of over-excited fillies everywhere.

“Princess Luna?” Dim asked as he watched the filly pronking beside himself.

“Nope!” The filly sounded manic and cheerful, as if she had consumed too much sugar.

“Who are you?” After a moment, Dim realised the inadequacy of this question and tried again. “What are you?”

“I am the Essence of Night and so much more,” the filly replied in a chipper voice. “I am Luna, in a way, but she is not me. My companion is also the Essence of Night, but he was the Essence of Night Who Might Be. Harmony was prepared for all eventualities.”

“But what are you?” Dim hurried to trot by the pronking filly’s side and found that he wasn’t quite fast enough. She seemed almost playful, remaining just out of reach, and his heart almost failed him when she looked up at him with wide, luminous eyes. He found himself wanting to protect her, to keep her safe, and glancing into her eyes filled him with strange compulsions.

“Should Luna die, I am what will rebirth her body. I am the source of all of her power. I am her connection to dreams, to shadows, and all of the Gifts of Night, of which there are many.” The filly ceased pronking long enough to give Dim an affectionate nuzzle against his neck, and then she bounced away once more, carefree and joyous. “For the longest time, I was sick and weak… bad things came and bad things happened. I was little more than a shadow of what I should be, and because of this, Luna’s power suffered because I suffered.”

“Getting better now,” doppelgänger Dim said to the filly.

“Yeppers!” The filly bounced, clicked all four of her hooves together, and flicked her tail while in midair. “I am worshiped once again, which gives me strength. Luna is being made whole once more with her sister… the ancient tear is being mended. Celestia’s power fills this place, making it a powerful celestial realm.”

“What is this place?” Dim asked, and he noticed for the first time that everywhere the Essence of Night pronked, she left behind signs of life much in the same way he did.

“The dream realm,” the filly replied without hesitation. “But not the old dream realm. That place was touched by corruption and by the Nightmare. It will now begin to fade away as Luna is healed and this place will gain life. Already, Canterlot takes shape and life takes root here. This place will have power and reach… something the old realm lacked. It needed to pass away so that things could start anew, free of corrupting shadow.”

“To give this place life, Celestia’s sun must shine. For it to shine, Luna must learn to trust and love her sister once more. The sun grows a little brighter each day, and soon, it will flood this place with life and magic.” Doppelgänger Dim stopped for a moment, peered upwards at the sun and the moon, and then resumed his brisk pace.

There was so much that Dim did not understand, but he could feel his connection to this place. He could not comprehend how a part of him strolled beside little Luna, or the Essence of Night as she called herself. His was a destiny unneeded, an outcome that had never manifested. He was not the chosen one, so to speak, but a castaway. Refuse. Cosmic debris. Celestial dross

“I know what you are thinking,” doppelgänger Dim said in a stern voice. “Had things been different, I would have absorbed the little aspect of Luna that you see, we would have merged, and become as one. Dim, you can’t look at yourself as what you might have been, or what could have been. If you do that, you’ll be blinded to what you really are—”

His patience already spent in the span of a few words, Dim snapped out a question in need of an answer: “And what is that?”

“A worthy vessel is still a worthy vessel, empty or full.” Doppelgänger Dim smiled down at the little blue alicorn filly and then glanced at his mortal counterpart. “You have enemies, Dim, and they wish to fill you with bad things. If you allow them, they will fill you with poison and you will be a vessel full of vile venom. You will become a cup of wrath. Or, you could find something else to fill yourself up with. You could join us, here, in this place. Help us… this place is available to you Dim, but you must first step into the light a little more, just as Luna has.”

“The choice is yours, Dim.” The Essence of Night flapped her wings while she pronked and her mane bobbed against her neck. “If you give me a chance, I will fill you up with good things. I can give you something that Grogar cannot. You are still a worthy vessel and I will make you a prince of this realm, should you desire it. Don’t answer now, take some time, think about it. Sleep on it, as the old saying goes.”

“When next you return to us Dim, perhaps Canterlot will be ready for visitors.” Doppelgänger Dim peered off into the distance in the direction of the city atop the rock spire. “When you are here, they can’t reach you. You’re safe here, Dim, mind and soul. Should you find yourself in trouble, come here, come to us, and we will protect you.”

The night blue alicorn filly lifted off from the parched, dusty ground and hovered up beside Dim. He froze, finding himself unable to move, and when she looked into his eyes, he saw the moon. A blazing, brilliant light flooded into him through his eyes, and it poured right into his brain. Her face was beautiful, perfect, and when he basked in the glory of her countenance, pain and sorrow fled from his body. She moved closer, filling his vision, and she was now so close that he could see nothing else but her. He felt a soft touch upon his cheek, and realised that he had been kissed.

Something like a live coal blazed on the spot where her lips had touched him, but it wasn’t painful. It was life, it was wholesome, good, and pure. It was everything he had longed for in his life, a touch that hadn’t debased him or defiled him. This kiss was a mother’s kiss, a real one, the kind that made the world make sense while it drove away the shadows of doubt, fear, and confusion. The sort of maternal kiss that eased the pain of the many scrapes, bumps, and bruises of life. This was a kiss that did not diminish, but restored.

Lost in peaceful dreams of perfect maternal kisses, Dim slumbered.

Author's Notes:

Don't worry, the pace will pick up soon. We'll be departing and heading to a new location.