Chapter 4
That night as you slept in your dorm room, you had a strange dream. You found yourself descending down a stone spiral staircase, the kind you would find inside an ancient castle. Your hooves echoed off the stones like thunder as darkness enfolded you, cut only by torches that illuminated your path. You had no idea where you were going or how you got there, only that you had to move on. At last the steps ended where a large wooden door stood in your way, the name Moonflower curiously carved on it. You are about to reach for the handle when you hear a voice echo from everywhere around you, although you cannot tell who said it.
“Secrets are strange things, are they not? Everypony has them, some of them are deeper than others, but all of them are closely guarded. Have you wondered what hers is?”
You knew exactly who the clearly female disembodied voice was talking about: Moonflower.
“Moonflower doesn’t have any secrets,” you said without hesitation.
“Oh?” the female voice said, “And how are you so certain? Do you think you know her in one day?”
You were surprised that this voice knew when you met Moonflower, although this was your dream. Still if it was your dream, where did the voice come from? Maybe it was your own conscious, that little voice telling you when to go for something or when to wait or avoid at all. That didn’t take into account the fact that this voice was female and not like the ponies you met in town. This voice seemed ancient, almost all-knowing.
“No, but she seems like an open book,” you said.
“Even books have their twists,” the voice said dismissively, “Do you think that Moonflower is so perfect that she is without her faults or secrets?”
“I never said she was perfect,” you snapped.
“Oh, but you think that, especially with how you stare at her body.”
“Well she certainly doesn’t look like the pony with a dark secret,” you said trying to not admit the fact that the way she looked did play a role in your belief of who Moonflower is.
“Perhaps you should get to know her more before you make that assumption.”
“All right then,” you said, “since you seem to be in my head and know everything, what is Moonflower’s oh so earth shaking secret?”
“Temper, temper,” the voice said, “I did not come here to chide you. I came to show you another way of thinking. Perhaps you should consider first whether you can handle somepony keeping a secret from you. If you accept that and accept the Moon no matter what secrets she may have then perhaps there’s a chance. As to giving you the secret, that would violate the secret, now wouldn’t it?”
“Well, I’m going to find out eventually,” you said having enough of this voice as you put your hand on the door.
“It won’t do you any good trying to find out what’s behind the door, but you’re free to try.”
You open the door to find yourself in a long stone hallway illuminated by torches. As you step in the door closes behind you with a thunderous boom, making you turn around. As you turn back once again to the hallway before you, you see standing in the distance Moonflower. You start to run, eager to meet her in this dream and hopefully learn about her secret. No matter how fast your ran, however, Moonflower was still the same distance away from you.
“You cannot force her to tell you her secret,” the voice said. “Get to know the pony before the secret can be revealed.”
You still continued to run, but now Moonflower was farther and farther away until she was a mere speck of blue down the hall. Soon from that speck came a blinding light that engulfed you and the hallway before disappearing into the relative blackness of your dorm room as you awoke with a start. For a moment you looked around, unsure where you were. Satisfied that is was all a dream you settled back into sleep. Even as your mind was at rest you couldn’t help but remember that voice and the thought that maybe Moonflower wasn’t as she seemed.