BNS Chapter 9 — Like a Dream

(A.N. = This chapter was difficult to translate from Russian. In my opinion, it did not work out as it could, if I knew English better. Anyway, I hope you like it.=)

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Alan walked through the ever-changing landscapes, observing various scenes. In some he took part, in some he was an outside observer.

Finally, out of habit, he turned his gaze to his hand to find out the time, but no matter how much he peered into it, he never saw the hands of the clock.

— It's strange why I can't see... Oh... I'M IN A DREAM!

Finally realizing his dream, Alan thought.

«It seems that my specially developed habit of looking at the clock is working as it should.»

Smiling, Alan sighed, and with a wave of his hand, he changed the unstable environment around him to a homogeneous and peaceful one.

— Great, I'm glad this lucid dreaming technique works even in Equestria. I have been in ordinary lucid dreaming for a week now, so I think today I can start trying to get into deep meditation, since I am already in a dream. And it's best to try this in your pony body as a practice before trying out of sleep meditation.

Having said this, Alan changed his form to his pony version, and tried to sit in the Lotus position, but unfortunately, it is too difficult to do this with the pony's body, even in a dream.

Taking a kind of "Sukhasana" pose, he lowered his front hooves to his hind legs and began to perform the breathing technique, setting the rhythm of his inner world.

Outside of his sleep, his body also began to breathe in accordance with this technique, immersing itself in a special state of consciousness. In the dream, while Alan was entering a meditative state, a dark blue filly with a starry mane appeared behind.

This mare was Luna. She had been visiting Alan's dreams for some time, but did not appear in his eyes, trying to collect at least a little information about him through them.

But alas, each time Alan quickly took control of his sleep, and hid any information about himself, changing the environment to whatever he wanted.

She wanted to talk to him, but each time he accelerated the flow of time in a dream, bringing closer the moment of his awakening, and making communication with him impossible.

She hadn't expected him to have such strong control over his dreams. Luna thought that this time he would also enter in anticipation of awakening, but something has changed.

She began to feel strong changes in the space of his dream. It was as if the boundaries of his dream were beginning to blur, blurring the line between dream and reality. Luna was very surprised, because the environment began to take the shape of the vicinity of Ponyville. She and Alan were now hanging in the air above the town, in the form of transparent projections of themselves.

At this time, Alan frowned and spoke.

— It is strange, why the release of consciousness turned out to be twice as difficult as usual?

He opened his eyes, and looking around, noticed Luna hovering behind him. Alan looked at her blankly, blinking in surprise. Coming to his senses, he smiled and said.

— Miss Luna? Wow, no wonder it was twice as difficult for me. I literally brought two consciousnesses into the astral plane at once.

— Astral?

The mare was confused as she scanned her surroundings.

She thought of something and asked with a frown.

— Is this some kind of dimension of spirits? And these projections of our bodies... are they... our magical avatars?

It was clear to Alan that Luna was facing something like this for the first time, but even so, her assumption in some way was not too far from the truth.

— I would say that we are now not in another dimension, but in a more subtle version of existence. And our projections, well ... even though they look like our bodies, they are not. Rather, on the contrary, our bodies are the avatars of our projections.

Luna was surprised and interest sparked in her eyes.

It seems that she loved such topics related to space, and the universe in general. She approached Alan and said.

— It seems that I do not have enough knowledge in this area. I would like to hear a little more about this. If you do not mind, of course.

Alan nodded and quickly changed their location to the top of the hill with a view of Ponyville. He decided that a conversation with a beautiful view would be much more pleasant.

Although Luna didn't expect such drastic changes, she did not show any external signs of surprise, clearly demonstrating her nature as the ruler of the night.

Alan invited her to sit next to him on the hill, and although they were in the form of projections, they quietly settled on the hill looking at the beauty that opened before them.

Luna finally asked the question she was interested in.

— What do you mean by the fact that not a projection is an avatar, but our bodies?

Alan smiled melancholy, remembering his mentor and spiritual teacher.

It was he who helped him in the most difficult moments of his life, since Alan's attempts to deal with all things at once at the same time led to mental and physical exhaustion. His teachings and practice in meditation and self-healing helped to sort out the mess in his mind, heart, and body.

Remembering the teacher's words, Alan answered.

— "The true 'Self' is not our body, and not even the mind that is in it." In other words, our bodies are simply avatars of our true and immortal self.

Luna closed her eyes, contemplating Alan's words.

She tried to make out the meaning of what was said, but every time she felt that she was approaching the answer, the thread of understanding was abruptly cut off, as if she was trying to imagine the color, being blind. She frowned for a while, but then sighed in surrender, and looking at Alan said.

— I'm afraid this concept is too complicated for me. I can understand the first part about the body, but I cannot understand the second about the mind, the understanding eludes me every time. And although this is the first time I hear about it, for some reason I do not think that this concept is wrong. Could you explain to me?

Alan listened to Luna with a carefree smile, and then turning his gaze to the stars said.

- Well, at first I didn't understand this either, it took me almost two years to fully comprehend these words. All thanks to my teacher, he gave me this knowledge. And as he once told me, so I will tell you the same thing now.

After a pause, Alan looked at Luna and said.

— I will not show you anything, but I can guide you.

— I will not explain anything for you, but I can give you food for thought.

— I cannot instill in you my understanding, but I can help you build your own.

Luna looked at Alan in surprise, starting to see him in a completely different light. More than a thousand years have passed since she was the one who received the teachings.

After thinking about Alan's words for a while, she nodded and seemed to understand something. Luna looked back at him and said.

— You have an incredible mentor, and his words and approach to teaching are full of wisdom. I am glad that I was able to meet his student. I hope, Mr. Alan, you will give me some time to talk.

Alan couldn't help but laugh at himself when he saw Luna's calm and mature reaction. After all, when he heard these words from his mentor for the first time, he even got a little angry.

«This is really a ruler who has lived a long life. And when I heard these words, I replied something like (What the hell! You said that you would teach me, and now you say that you will not do almost anything, you are a liar teacher!) Heh. What a fool I was at that time. The mentor's patience was commendable.»

— Miss Luna, as I said at our first meeting, you can visit my dreams, and I will be happy to talk to you. In addition, I will only be glad if such a wonderful interlocutor like you will be with me. I am sure that in your presence, my dreams will only become brighter.

Luna clearly did not expect these words, and literally for a second was embarrassed.

Quickly gathering herself, she smiled at Alan and answered.

— Then I will do so. Although, I bet my sister would be a more interesting conversation partner for you.

Alan just shrugged and answered.

— I don't think so, because the calmness and beauty of the night attracts me most of all.

Then he gently looked Luna in the eyes, and added in a soft voice.

— And meeting the one who gives the pony such a wonderful time makes me happy.

Alan finished with a slight smile.

Luna was slightly embarrassed again, which made her a little curious, since she had never experienced anything like this before.

Usually, no one dared to communicate with her in such a manner. She had not experienced this feeling of ease for a long time.

Luna thought for a little, and then said.

— You know, I think we can skip the formalities. I would like you to just call me Luna.

— Of course, Luna. You can just call me Alan, or simply Al.

Luna nodded with a smile and then said.

— Then, Alan, can we assume that you are now in Ponyville?

— Aaam...

Alan realized that the fact that Luna was with him when he left his body flew out of his head. If she found out where he is now, then most likely she will visit him in order to receive the promised answers.

Luna noticed how he hesitated and said with a smile.

— Don't worry, I'm not going to immediately send a guards out to find you, or anything like that. I'm just curious.

Alan came to his senses, and looking at the mare, said.

— No, everything is okay. We've already become friends, haven't we? I am ready to meet you at any time, Luna. I will even say it in another way, I will be extremely happy to meet such a beautiful mare like you.

Luna felt this strange feeling again.

She was really pleased to finally feel this kind of attention from the stallion, who considers her an attractive mare, and not an object of worship as a superior royal person, which has been very tiresome for her lately.

In addition, she herself found Alan a very interesting stallion, and his appearance with a dark blue color similar to her own, was definitely to her taste. She smiled sweetly and said.

— You are quite open in terms, aren't you? So be it, I will visit you soon, I hope you will tell me more about yourself.

— Of course, I always keep my words.

After that, Alan returned them to his sleep, and they continued their conversation on the topic of the world, space and its nature. They even raised the question of the meaning of being, and life in general. Luna became more and more imbued with Alan, since she had never had such an interesting conversation before. Even her sister, in their rare conversations, was not such an interesting interlocutor, because everything basically boiled down to talking about Equestria, experiences, and Twilight.

Luna herself did not notice, as she began to sit so close to Alan that their bodies touched a little. Alan and Luna seemed to finally notice this, but decided not to do anything, continuing their conversation, only with slightly embarrassed faces.

Luna has completely abandoned her royal manner of communication, and did not keep her strict image of the Princess of the Night. She talked to Al in a relaxed manner like an ordinary mare. At some point, she asked.

— Look, I kept thinking when we were in the Astral, you could have moved us anywhere?

— In theory, yes.

— Then what about the stars? Could you send us to the stars?

Luna's eyes burned with a rare childish hope when she asked about it. Alan frowned slightly, thinking about the answer, and after a while he said.

— Honestly, I'm not sure that I have the strength for this. It's too early for me to make such long journeys. Leaving your body for so long and so far has many dangers.

Luna seemed a little upset, and seeing this, Alan added.

— But if you really want to go on such a long journey, then we can develop together in this direction, so that one day, we can start our personal tour of the universe. I will help you as much as I can.

Luna was so glad that she hugged the surprised Alan, driven by pure emotion. Alan was at first taken by surprise, but quickly came to his senses and hugged her back.

Then he closed his eyes and changed the dream space to what his teacher once showed him. Holding the unsuspecting Luna in his arms, he said gently.

— Although I cannot take you to the stars yet, this does not prevent me from showing you the universe as I saw it, in my old world.

Luna finally realized that she was in his hooves, but before she could react, she heard his last words and froze. Glancing to the side, she saw a huge cluster of shining stars gathered around and twisted into a spiral. It was one of the main beauties in Alan's home universe - the Milky Way.

The mare was so amazed that she opened her mouth slightly, looking at this beauty. They sat hugging each other, watching the stars fill the entire space.

Alan sighed and said.

— This is one of the reasons why I did not stop the practice of my mentor in this direction when I left him. The universe is a very beautiful place. Although, there are also many dangers in it.

Then he looked at the spellbound mare and asked.

— Well, will it go for a small advance before a real trip?

Luna turned her eyes full of different emotions to Alan, and said.

— This is... Indescribable... Thank you.

Luna pondered, wondering what to do next.

For the first time, someone gives her such a wonderful pastime, and so many good and pleasant emotions. Now, her previous thoughts of getting information from him no longer bothered the Princess of the Night.

She moved away from Al, and looking up, said

— Being a princess is not easy... Everyone looks at you as someone who can and knows absolutely everything. The ponies see me and my sister as leaders who can only be esteemed or worshiped. I would even say that some ponies are afraid of us.

Returning her gaze to Alan, Luna continued.

— Today, you were honest with me, open, sweet and ... charming ...

Blushing slightly, she continued.

— And I was really glad to feel like an ordinary mare without unnecessary troubles, which I did not feel for very many years. For this I have to thank you.

Alan listened attentively to Luna without making a sound.

Luna paused slightly and continued.

— But I also have to apologize to you, since my original plan was to provoke a dialogue in order to get as much information about you as possible in order to know what to expect from you... But... You were... more than obvious in your intentions , so now I am extremely ashamed of myself. That's why I want to tell you... I'm sorry.

When she finished speaking, Luna kept her sad eyes, looking at Alan.

Alan didn't expect this, because he just wanted to make friends with Luna, but didn't think that all this time, she was trying to find out as much as possible about him. He sighed and said with a smile.

— You know, to be honest, it doesn't really bother me, since I don't consider you a bad person. You had your reasons, and I do not blame you.

As you already said, being a princess is not easy, and you need to be constantly prepared for everything, so that if something happens, you know how to act. You didn't do anything wrong and I'm more than glad you ended up telling me everything honestly, thank you.

Luna seemed to cheer up at Al's words.

She smiled and said.

— Glory to the stars! I was already afraid that I would ruin everything when you find out about my goals. But everything ended well.

Alan laughed and answered flirtatiously.

— So I guess our little "date" was as magical as a dream?

Luna was surprised to hear what Alan called it all.

Laughing a little in response, she said gently.

— That's right, it really was magical, like in a dream. Unless, I usually have bad or disturbing dreams. Today, there was the best exception of all.

They looked at each other with gentle smiles, gradually closing the distance.

Alan stopped abruptly, sensing something, then smiled slyly at the princess, and said.

— It seems that I will soon wake up, and since I have little time left, I will leave you a small parting gift for such a wonderful dream, thanks to which, you will want to meet as soon as possible.

— What? A gift? I don't…

Luna was surprised, but before she could finish, Alan pressed his lips to her. She was immediately confused and did not know how to react.

«I was able to steal the Princess's kiss! Now I don't mind dying. I am sure that after that she will definitely not tell anyone and anything, and will want to find me personally for an explanation.»

Trying to make at least some kind of decision, Luna did not notice how she began to respond to the kiss, slightly lost in this new feeling. But before she had time to properly feel everything, the kiss stopped as suddenly as it began.

Luna managed to utter only a small moan before Alan dissolved like a cloud, coming out of a state of sleep.

— Ah…

Luna hovered in the dimension of dreams with a hazy gaze, her hooves dangling relaxed. She still didn't fully understand what had just happened. Finally coming to her senses, still with a slight embarrassment on her face, she spoke.

— What, he just... just did... just did and…

«He's so... so…»

— Argh! What should I do with all these new sensations now? Is he on purpose?

In complete confusion, various thoughts jumped in Luna's head.

All she knew for sure now was that she would definitely speed up her visit to Ponyville now to clear things up.

Moreover, now, the thought of being alone with him aroused in her much more emotions than before, as well as desires.

Thinking about this, still red Luna, also decided to leave the world of dreams.

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