#21

We all took seats around the long dinner table that seemed to be made for a party than just three individuals. I nervously looked around the room studying the artwork that made up the walls, my excuse for avoiding eye contact, it worked too. The two princesses took seats next to each other leaving me at the far end of the table, I couldn't move anywhere nearer without signaling I wanted some closer company so I remained in my place.

I observed the princesses wish each other a good dinner before getting to me, I thanked them and proceeded to wait for something to appear on the table. As I waited, the princesses seemed to giggle something to each other that made me want to hide under the table, they were probably speaking about how anxious I was or something. They continued to do the same for a while until my curiosity got the better of me.

"Am I being left out of something?" I asked sitting up straight with my arms crossed over each other over the table. They jumped a bit before turning to me, both had these awkward smiles that meant they were up to no good and their response to my question did nothing to clear their names.

"Nope! But you seemed awfully happy about sleeping here, it was kinda…unexpected," Luna answered lifting a glass of some liquid with her magic, resembling cider, she drank it down as if it were a shot glass. I nodded with her since it wasn't me who made the decision to stay here but now that I was, I might as well enjoy it. Celestia glanced over to Luna as she took another glass and drank it down the same way again.

"Drink responsibly sister, we wouldn't want to drag you to bed!" Celestia playfully warned, Luna thought about for a few seconds and placed down the third glass she held in her magic. I stared at her before looking at the glass that was in front of me, pondering about what this really was, was it some type of alcohol? I wasn't much of a drinker but I have had my fair share of wine and bourbon in the past, but this here looked and smelled as innocent as orange juice, maybe it's spiked. I moved the glass in a circle motion studying the liquid but only got the attention of the princesses, they both stared at me before I glanced over to them.

"Do you drink?" Celestia asked me as she carefully sipped from her glass, I nodded my head as I settled the glass down and picked up a look-a-like wine bottle that had spelled in fancy letters, Apple Cider: Drink responsibly. I chuckled at reading the label and placed it down, I've had apple cider as a child, there was no way it was strong or even contained alcohol.

"Yes, I do! But never in my life had I seen Apple Cider as a heavy drink!" I responded laughing a bit more at the end before looking up to the princesses who found nothing funny in it. I lowered my smile and looked back at the glass, it's just Apple cider!

"Then try it! Let's see how many you can you handle!" Luna over excitedly challenged as she placed a hoof on the table, I forgot she can read my mind. Celestia scowled at her and placed her glass on the table firmly getting both my attention and Luna's.

"Luna, remember what happened last time you did something like this!" Celestia said making Luna place her hoof over her mouth before raising it up with an answer.

"Oh yeah, we couldn't take you off that guard! I think you might have traumatized him!" Luna happily exclaimed giggling to herself but Celestia wasn't as cheerful as she was, she had a hint of red appearing over her face as she looked down at her drink.

"He shouldn't have gotten in my way!" She returned trying to justify her actions but Luna wasn't buying it.

"He tried to help you onto the bed but you used him as your personal toy!" Luna struck back making Celestia cover Luna's mouth with her magic, she seemed to have no way of denying it so she shut her up.

I stared at them argue, they both had funny and shy personalities but right now it looks like two shots of this apple cider could really mess you up. I placed my hand cautiously around the glass and picked it up, both the princesses turned to me as I neared the glass to my mouth and drank it down like Luna did hers. They both gasped as I lifted the empty glass up to my face and gave it a shocked glare, this really did taste like apple cider but it was incredibly strong, it slightly numbed my mind before I shook it away, I was still sober but I could feel the effects right away.

"Okay, I see what you meant by if I could handle," I responded agreeing to what Luna said earlier, Celestia quickly nodded in agreement before Luna giggled to herself. I chuckled along with Luna as I placed glass down and took a sip from the glass of water that was to my left, if there's anything better to get rid of mind numbness, it was fresh water. I looked up to Luna as she also held a glass of water up and drank it slowly, I guess she realized she was a bit over it.

"Yes, Luna has a bad habit when it comes to cider." Celestia added turning to me and giggling a little, but after that drink of water, Luna was probably sobered enough to accept it.

"You don't say." I chuckled.

After a bit more explaining about how this cider made its way into Luna's mind, the meals finally arrived, plates were distributed evenly as silver platters among more platters filled the table. I stared at the plates, overwhelmed by such food, I had never really eaten with a table full of everything so I was a bit excited. Luna moistened her lips as he lifted a fork and stabbed into a what looked like pastry with powdered sugar glazing it, Celestia smiled as she stuck her spoon into a soft pudding like sweet and gently placed it in her mouth making her smile widen with satisfaction.

I stared at the three meals/appetizers in front of me; sweet bread that had a sweet filling on the inside, a delicate salad with a combination of fruit over it, then the final piece, a bowl of noodles that looked like it was bombarded by salts and spices. They all looked incredibly appetizing but I had to start off with the noodles, I've always had a strong liking towards warm food and the noodles were the only warm thing in front of me. I picked up the fork and drove it into the bowl of noodles before lifting it up to my mouth. I slurped the noodles that seemed to have no end until the final end of the noodle whipped me between the eyes making me blink several times before getting back to another string.

"You eat like my sister does." Celestia giggled causing me to put down my fork and look up Luna as she slurped on her own strings noodles before they whipped her between the eyes as well. I couldn't help but chuckle, Luna had this strange habit of getting to me when I least expected it, in this case, she was unintentionally provoking my feelings. Luna glanced up at me and Celestia giving us her clueless look as placed her fork into her bowl again and pulled out another line of noodles and slowly put them in her mouth expecting something. I smiled at her as I did the same as she did and imitated her movement with the fork, she ignored me as I began enjoying my noddle's again.

"Hey, Ben…" Celestia said grabbing my attention, I lifted my head up from the bowl and let my utensil sink into the remaining noodles. Celestia had changed a bit from a few seconds ago, she was curious about something and had taken another sip from her cider.

"Yes?" I asked, allowing her to continue speaking, she looked at her sister before getting to me and tapping her hoof nervously. I knew she was going to ask something I would be uncomfortable with, but I would allow her to ask anyway.

"Well…you claim to have fought a brutal war, what was that like?" She asked, making me glad I wasn't eating anything, I would've probably choked: I've never been asked such a thing. To keep the tone subtle, I planned to only express briefly how it was.

"The war…it was…traumatic…" I answered thinking back to it but only to an extent, I would probably have night terrors if I focus on it too much. Celestia nodded in agreement along with her sister before they came back with another question.

"What happened to you?" She asked, this time I was pushed a little back into memory lane, I lost a lot in that time period. I looked up to Celestia shaking my head, refusing to answer, she didn't fall back on the question though, she pressed on it instead. My eye twitched a bit as flashes of those days drilled into my head, I was uncomfortable now and Celestia couldn't care any less about the way I felt, at least right now that is.

"What happened to me?" I restated the question, mourning my past self as I remembered everything that happened back then. I gripped my hand around the glass of cider and began to tell on, I didn't want to but that wouldn't make the princesses stop inquiring about it. They moved in a bit closer and I stiffed my back on the chair, I was more unsettled than I had ever been around them.

"I nearly died, I let others die, I killed them, they killed us, and what came from it?" I rhetorically asked keeping my cool and letting my feelings speak for themselves. I glanced at them once, they seemed about as disturbed as I was but they pressed on it, so they can't blame me for this.

"Nothing…nothing but me from right now, I could've died but I didn't, I could've saved some but I didn't, I could've just pulled the trigger…ending my life, but I didn't…" I said letting myself sink into the chair as I remembered that cold day, the day I told myself I would end it but I just couldn't. I was a lifeless soul who'd been brainwashed into believing nothing but to kill, so, why didn't I? The answer was simple, I knew there was something better than war and violence, I was a kid at one time and I probably still was, so life had many more things to offer.

"And now I'm here, to change it all! I haven't lost faith ever in myself…and now…I have the faith of others with mine, what more could I ask for?" I claimed with a smile, changing their mood from what would have been sorrow, to the joy of knowing they had helped me out big time. I was proud to have left behind all the result-less violence, I enjoy fighting for the good my friends than the well-being of myself. I smiled gently as I reminisced about how easily I costumed to a new world and life, it was unexplainably easy for me to have changed.

"Thanks!" I said taking the rest of the cider, these are the moments in which this stuff would be most enjoyable to take. We all took the took the cider like a shot and placed the glass down, I was glad to have them in front of me, I could express my thanks to them. Both the princesses gave each other a slight smile that showed how they were slightly out of it, I looked at the cider once more as I studied them and how Celestia was enjoying a slice of cake a bit too much and Luna had another cider shot.

"Oh well…I'll eat my noodles…" I thought as I picked up the fork and placed it into my mouth finishing the last strand of noodles, they were incredibly delicious, not only did they ease my mind but they somehow provided comfort, strange noodles. I looked up to the sweet bread that had a creamy white filling oozing out of it, I moved the bowl to the side and brought up the plate with the bread. I could feel my mouth watering as I picked it up and teased my mouth with it, I hadn't had sweets in a while. At last, I finally had the bread in my mouth but only before it fully disappeared, IT WAS PUDDING FILLED!

"Okay…that's enough for me!" I chuckled as I slouched on the chair and took a gentle sip from the cider, Celestia looked up at me with a smile as she finished off her piece of cake, she gave me enough clues for me to know she was a cake addict: the pile of cake plates in front of her stood out. I smiled back before getting to Luna, she was staring at me with an embarrassed smile, I laughed a bit as seeing Luna as tipsy as she was, it was cute.

"Ben…?" Celestia called for me as she took another shot from the glass. I turned to her surprised by how she changed from being warning to careless, she was also tipsy maybe a little more than Luna. Luna had a higher tolerance to the cider than Celestia did, this worried me, no telling how much it affected her.

"Yes?" I asked drinking from my water, I wasn't going to be drunk tonight especially when these two are around. She swayed her head to me making her mane hit Luna's face, which made her fall out her chair, I stared worrying for both the princesses and myself.

"Can you help me to bed?" She replied with a blush appearing over her face as she smiled widely with her eyes closed. I felt sirens go off in my head, warning me but I quickly responded with, "Okay"

"Yay!" He happily exclaimed which wasn't normal by her standards, she swayed her head back and forth as I stood up and moved over to her. I was shaking a bit as I tried to find a way to get her to her room, which was where?

She opened her eyes and quickly jumped from the chair to the floor, she would've tipped over if I weren't there to stop her. I looked over to Luna who was still on the floor unconscious, she was really out of it.

"Okay…The room is *hic* that way," She answered raising a hoof before I caught her again from tipping over. I looked to where she pointed her hoof, a hall that leads to multiple places, what a nightmare!

We spent about fifteen minutes looking into rooms: showers, storage rooms, kitchen, even a dungeon downstairs. After a few more minutes she finally raised her hoof to a room that she told me to not enter before, this was the right room and the dining room was right there! I opened the door and revealed a neatly organized bedroom, a huge king-sized bed stood in the middle, a restroom connected to the left, and drawers of something on either side of the room, and to add on, it was comfortably warm in here.

"A-ha! This is it, now to get to the bed!" She said as she moved over to the bed and hopped on it, I stared at her as she stayed on one side of the bed and not the middle, there was room for about ten more Celestia's. I stared at her as she somehow passed out completely, she didn't even struggle to cover herself with a blanket or anything, she was out.

"Okay then…*sigh*…now Luna…"

I returned back into the dining room to get Luna, she was there, still snoozing on the floor with her body loosely spread out. I walked up to her and observed her as she murmured some strange words, she was red around the cheeks and out like her sister. I kneeled down and moved my hands under her, she twitched her hind hoof a bit as I carried her up and let her hang over my shoulder.

"You'll sleep with your sister tonight…" I whispered as I made my way back to the room in which Celestia was asleep in. I made it about a few feet from the door when Luna murmured something again, she had her eyes closed but she was conscious, I walked slowly to the door as she began to make sense from her words.

"Ben?"

"Yes?" I responded casually, she was still a bit out-of-it but she could now comprehend things again.

"Can I sleep with you?" She asked, yawning at the end of her question, I looked up to the ceiling of the hall and back at her, well I saw was really her backside.

"If I knew where my room was?"

"What do you mean? It's this one…" Luna whispered as used her magic to open the door for the room that led into where I put Celestia. I stared into the room in disbelief, Celestia was still asleep but now I had a new worry, this one.

"Oh no, looks like my sister also wants to sleep with us too…oh well," Luna said pushing me with her magic, she pushed me into the room and shut the door behind us quietly. I couldn't react, why had I been placed in such a troubling position? I don't know, but I wondered how I would deal with this, nothing came to mind. Luna forced me to edge of the bed and she slid off onto the bed rolling in it, she snuggled and turned with the pillows once she got here hooves on them but this only heightened my anxiety.

I stared for a few seconds before something grabbed my shirt and pulled me towards the bed, sharply. I had to used my hand to stop myself from falling over Luna as she playfully tugged on my shirt with her magic, after tugging on my shirt for a few seconds, she somehow put me on the bed, between her and Celestia.

I could feel the heat radiating from their bodies and Celestia's soft breathing as Luna turned me over to face her, it was dark but like I said before, I have pretty good vision at night. She must have been drunk, this wasn't how she would act in this type of situation, I stared into her dark eyes, they were more than daring and more than lustful, they were not hers. They looked like they did when I confronted her at Rarity's, demonic but less violent than before, I felt some shivers go down my spine as she grinned a little revealing a set of sharp canines. She wasn't the pony I carried into the room earlier.

"Hi there…" She hissed out at me making me feel like I had gone pale, the grin she had widened a bit more. I took a deep breath before responding, I was a little more focused on who this was besides having her next to me. Multiple questions surfed through my mind: Is this a dream? Who is she? Why is she cute? What happened to Luna? I haven't got a clue to answer these questions.

"Hey…and you are?" I asked, staying idol. She smiled fully now revealing all her teeth to be as sharp as her canines. She bobbed her head a little before giving me a malicious smile, I stared into her eyes, they gained an evil like feeling and not to mention the change in color and pupil shape. I wasn't scared of her but more surprised to be speaking to this essence instead of Luna.

"It is I, the Nightmare," she whispered into my ear, upon hearing this I sighed in relief: This must be those lucid dreams I've heard about.

"I'll be damned, a cute nightmare, I bet I won't have too many of those," I said letting my head fall back onto the pillow, although I must admit, this dream is far more realistic than most I've had before. As soon as I shut my eyes, I quickly shot them awake when I felt this 'Nightmare' give a nudge with her hoof on my head.

"You can be cute but not annoying," I responded looking over to her, she had reddened slightly across the face and was faintly glowing blue. I couldn't tell if I would wake up from this but she seemed to persist on about being a 'Nightmare'. She either didn't get the hint that I knew she was a nightmare, but there is no way I'd be afraid of someone as cute as she.

"You fool, I'm the Nightmare! Don't you get it!?"

"Yes, I get it, so please let me wake up eight hours later…you can torcher me tomorrow." I said closing my eyes again, I wasn't too annoyed, I actually enjoyed her presence. My eyelids slowly began to become heavy and I began to breath slower, at last, I would finally wake up to Canterlot morning.

After a few seconds of inactivity, something pounced on me and spread across my body, I shot my eyes open again, to catch her crossed hooved on my chest. She stared at me with a lustful smile as she rested her head on her hooves, I was speechless if only nightmares where more like this then I'd always go to sleep early.

"Then I'll be your special nightmare…" She inquired making ponder one thing: did she just read my mind? I let those words flow on through me, she was just a dream after all, so I couldn't take her seriously. I let my head fall against the pillow but upon doing so she scooted up my torso and met me face to face, she still had her lust but now she had pumped it up a bit.

"I'll admit it, you come off better than most stallions and for that, I'll give you a prize…" She whispered staring down at me, I had an incredible view of her eyes now, sapphire blue. Despite me not taking her seriously she continued to press on, I closed my eyes and ignored her, dreams are going to become something to experience every night from now on if this keeps up.

As I was about completely close my eyes, I felt another force make me open my eyes, but this time it was different. I saw her again, but all I saw was her closed eyes as she pressed onto my mouth, the same swirling I had felt from Vinyl and Flutters was now coming from her but now it felt strange. As unexpected as it was, I returned the same actions back to her, it felt like hours had passed by. I was in full control of my body, nothing acted on its own, I was going by my own accord. The moment accompanied with the heat of the room led this moment into the night until she finally departed from me, like Vinyl, we were connected by the thin line of saliva that slowly made its way to my chest as she panted heavily. I looked up to her, and unexpectedly she imitated Vinyl's same reaction, her tongue hanged out and her lustful eyes showed her satisfaction before she finally loosely fell on me and giggled quietly.

"Can we do this again…*yawn* tomorrow?" She asked with her eyes closed and slowly drifting to sleep. I looked up at the ceiling before placing my hand over her mane, I was also incredibly tired after that. "And for you, I'll actually sleep this night."

"Sure…good-" I couldn't finish what I wanted to say, my eyelids blinded me as I felt my head land on the soft pillow behind me. I could finally rest without having her bother me anymore, who knew lucid dreams were so…realistic.

Wait a minute…when did I fall asleep though…Fuck it, I'll find out tomorrow…"