>An odd feeling of weightlessness took over you as you lay in bed.
>From the angle of the sunbeams that filtered through your window, some time had certainly passed.
>Normally you'd be confused after visiting your Goddess, but right now you had a perfect recollection of what happened.
 
>Nightmare Moon had graced you with both the technique and the magic to bring you into the dream.
>It all involved being the in correct state of mind and sparking it with magic.
>You were giddy that a part of her glory now resided somewhere in your mind, truly a sign that you were blessed.
 
>Once she had imparted in you everything that was needed, she kicked you out of the dream and told you to practice.
 
>Your heart sped up in excitement as you sat up.
>There was no better time then the present to get started.
>Rubbing your hands together, you slapped yourself a few times to get focused.
>Taking a few deep, calming breaths, you put your hands on your lap and closed your eyes.
 
>Nightmare Moon said you had to relax, and open your mind.
>Then, all you had to do was grasp the magic she gave you and diffuse it throughout your body.
>How exactly someone with barely any grasp of the arcane was supposed to do that, she did not tell.
 
>You tried all manner of visualizations and trains of thought to try and make that packet in your mind move to your will, but nothing seemed to work.
>As you grew increasingly more frustrated, it became harder to maintain that calm state of mind.
>Why were you given the gift but not the instructions to utilize it?
 
>Taking a short pause to settle your thoughts, you approached the problem once more.
>You could not doubt the decisions of Nightmare Moon.
>All you had to do was have as much faith in her divinity as you could muster.
>You had to believe in her, above everything else, as your most gracious savior.
 
>At the affirmation of your faith, you could feel that stubborn spark of magic start to bend and twist.
>It was disconcerting how it felt in your brain, pushing and moving against things that really shouldn't be pushed or moved against.
>Your concerns seemed to make it lethargic, reducing its movement to a near crawl.
>Desperate to not lose it so quickly after you got it, you poured as much blind faith into your head and ignored the discomfort.
 
>Singing loudly the hymns of Her glory, you felt it go through every fiber of your being.
>In order to master this, you must make yourself fully hers.
>The feeling went down to your chest, then shot off in the direction of all your limbs, divine electricity igniting every nerve and pathway your body offered.
>You broke out into raucous laughter as you felt the power.
 
>Developing into full blown cackling, you opened your eyes and raised your arms to the heavens.
>There was nothing but a soupy mass of darkness all around you, but you just knew the church was right above you.
>Climbing and clawing your way upwards through the blackness, you felt yourself break through an invisible barrier.
>Pulling yourself up through a hole in the ground, you found yourself standing in those hallowed halls.
>Just as you were about to cry in delight, you noticed there were a few things wrong.
 
>The whole interior of the church was scattered and half-formed.
>Only parts of the pillars and pews were there, some were flat out gone and others looked like they had melted into the ground.
>Everything was covered in a thick blanket of blur, as if you were looking through the foggiest lens possible.
>All the engravings were twisted and warped beyond recognition.
 
>Nightmare Moon could be seen sitting in a plain chair reading something off to your side.
>There was a short pause before her eyes darted toward you.
 
>"What are you doing here?"
 
>She was the only thing that had any semblance of clarity in the room.
>Unsure of how to explain yourself, you just rubbed the back of your head and shrugged.
 
>Your Lady took a look around with an annoyed expression, eventually fixating on the human sized hole in the floor of the church.
>Her horn started to glow as you felt her magic grip your head and lift you up.
>Turning back to her book, she flipped a page as you were thrown violently through the double doors of the church.
 
>"Try again!"
 
>The sound of wood splintering was all you could remember as you woke with a wild spasm.
>You were slumped over slightly, still in a cross-legged position.
>Taking a moment to recollect yourself, you breathed deeply a few times to relax yourself.
>Closing your eyes, you once more affirmed your faith to Her.
 
>While it felt just as strong as last time, you tried to tone down the mad laughter as your mind was uplifted to new lands.
>Battering your way through that unseen barrier again, you fell out of a hole in the wall of the church.
 
>All the furniture and decoration looked a little better from last time, but it all still remained a blurry mess.
>Nightmare Moon was still in the same spot as before, only this time she was looking straight at you as you stood up.
>You were barely able to register her presence before you were seized by the waist with magic and thrown out the doors.
 
>"Again!"
 
>The crashing of wood shook you from your slumber yet again.
>Shaking your head in frustration, you got up and paced around a bit to stretch your legs.
>What were you doing wrong?
>You had made it to the dreamscape, did you not?
>Everything was so awfully blurry though, what was going wrong with your method?
 
>Sitting down angrily on your bed again, you fell back into the trance.
>You were determined to get back to the church and make Her proud.
 
>"Again!"
 
>At least you didn't feel the impact of the door when you hit it.
>Correcting your posture after the kick of waking up, you tried once more.
 
>"Again!"
 
>The first few times saw a minor improvement in the fogginess and state of the church, but that last attempt saw nothing else really change.
>Well, no sense in not keeping at it.
>After focusing yourself once more, you smashed your way through the barrier.
>Already wincing at what might happen, you dropped in from a hole in the ceiling of the church.
 
>Before you even touched the ground you were caught in Nightmare Moon's magic.
>Her left eye was twitching like mad as she grit her teeth in fury, splitting her angry glare between you and the hole you left behind.
 
>"You're supposed to be awake at the same time, you idiotic monkey!"
 
>Pulling her head back, she took a few steps forward before she pitched her horn forward and threw you like a baseball.
 
>That time you did feel some of impact.
 
>You were on your back when you woke up, feeling slightly sore.
>At least you had some clue as to what was going wrong though.
>Perhaps it wasn't the smartest idea to just blindly break that barrier.
>Determined to make this attempt work, you resolutely closed your eyes.
 
>Flying through the inky void, you propelled yourself upward until you lightly touched against the barrier.
>So far, so good, but what did you do now?
>You were tempted to try and reach the church to ask Nightmare Moon, but something inside you said that would be a grievous mistake.
>Pondering on her words, you kept repeating the word 'awake' to yourself.
 
>You had to be both waking and dreaming.
>It made your head hurt trying to figure out how exactly that was supposed to work.
>Conscious but unconscious.
>It couldn't be as easy as just... opening... your eyes...
 
>There was pain as the void was torn away from your sight, being replaced with blinding white.
>You tried to keep your breath steady through it all, but it was difficult to control it while your body shook.
>Trying to move felt like you were entangled on something.
>Blinking a few times, you started to see a few colors fade in from the pure white.
>Again and again you tugged at your limbs to get them to move, fighting against the lead weights that held them fast.
 
>Your body was still asleep, that much you could tell.
>How were you supposed to awaken it without breaking the dream though?
>As the colors started to slowly coalesce into a messy image of your bedroom, you floated there imitating the thinker.
>Bouncing your chin against your fist, it finally came to you after a few minutes.
 
>All you needed to do was just throw conventional logic out the window with magic you had been granted.
>If it was anything like how you got here, all you'd have to do was believe and put yourself fully into the hooves of Nightmare Moon.
>Setting your heart at ease, you submersed yourself in the white void.
 
>The electricity that flowed through your nerves and blood started to come to life.
>The sensation of floating slowly faded away from each limb as it was consumed by the surrounding void.
>It ate through every last part of you, finally stealing your eyes and casting you once more into the black mire.
>Feeling returned to your body, responding to the commands you sent to it.
>Your mind was still left drifting as you regained a heavily clouded sight.
 
>It didn't quite feel like you were there.
>While you could see around you and move, it was more like you were commanding a meat puppet of your likeness than moving your body.
>It took a great deal more force to move everything, and often you would do something you didn't intend.
>Turning left instead of right, flexing a leg instead of an arm.
 
>In the dream you could still feel phantom limbs of where you once were in the void.
>You couldn't tell which pair of arms or legs you were commanding to move.
>Settling both of your bodies lying down, you stared at the ceiling and watched the murky fan blades spin around.
 
>"Again!? How many ti- oh."
 
>Nightmare Moon's voice rattled throughout your head.
 
>"How fascinating."
 
>Looking around, you tried to locate the source of her voice.
>Odds were that she was still part of the dream, but you wanted to make sure.
>You gave up after a few looks around, not finding any large splotch of black and blue anywhere.
>The next question you had was how you were going to communicate with her.
 
>Opening your mouth, all you could produce was a low gurgling sound.
>Opting for thinking your question instead of speaking, you waited a while for a response.
>There was a small measure of comfort after hearing nothing.
>At least your mind was still a place of solitude.
>You chastised yourself for that line of thought, why wouldn't you want her grace to be in your thoughts as well?
 
>Shaking your physical head around in a futile attempt to clear your thoughts, you tried to speak in the dream.
 
>It was like moving through sludge, having to open but not open your mouth.
>You had to both separate dream and reality while also marrying the two together.
>Eventually you managed to produce a faint sound that echoed around you.
 
>You could feel something shifting in the currents of the void, leaving behind large wakes as it swam toward your consciousness.
>It came to rest beside you, a strong soothing feeling washing in and over your mind, bringing you the greatest peace you had ever felt.
 
>"Ah, I have found you."
 
>You wanted to melt into the presence, and make whole the forms.
>With metaphorically open arms, you went to encircle the pleasing warmth that floated with you.
>There was a sharp rebuff from it, a force slamming into you painfully and shoving you away.
>Nightmare Moon snarled at your actions.
 
>"Don't get too familiar, worm."
 
>Floating back over to her essence, you restrained yourself from any further advances.
>You weren't really sure what came over you.
 
"Naoohh whhtt?"
 
>While you were finally able to properly shape words, your physical mouth kept moving with it and slurring everything from the sensation.
>You couldn't actually see Nightmare Moon, as your vision was stuck in reality, but you could feel her head turn to look at you.
 
>"You learn how to master this."
 
>With that, her presence started moving away from you.
>Instinctively you reached out to stop her, but she was gone long before your arm was even halfway there.
>In your haste, you wound up stretching out your actual arm and banging it against the nightstand.
 
>The shock of physical pain drew you out of the void, your vision sharpening as you started rubbing your forearm.
>You clenched your jaw slightly as you waited for the pain to recede.
>At least you found a way to get out of the dream.
>Hopefully there were less intense ways to end the connection.
 
>Swinging your legs over the edge of the bed, you rested your head in your hands.
>You had been sleeping for hours but felt utterly exhausted.
>A minor headache sprung to life from trying to fathom and control the two bodies.
>Everywhere felt sore, though most of it was centered on your back.
 
>Maybe a little more sleep wouldn't hurt.
>Simple plain old sleep.
>The sun was low enough in the sky that you could justify it.
>Unwilling to go through the effort of stripping down, you moved your legs back up and let your head fall onto the pillows.
>Even the holiest of holy men needed a break now and then.
 
>Your dreams were empty, and peaceful.
 
>You woke up earlier than usual, stretching your arms out wide as you yawned away the lingering drowsiness.
>Rubbing your eyes free of grit, you got off your bed and shuffled toward the calendar next to your door.
>Looked like you had to prepare for something tomorrow.
>The whole box for that day was filled with big red letters spelling out SERMON.
>You gave it a few minutes of thought before shrugging it off.
 
>Eh, you'd worry about it tomorrow.
>From what else you marked, today was supposed to be dedicated to preparing for it.
>It could wait until you took and shower and ate some food.
>You felt like you'd been stuck in a box or something for a long time.
 
>After a rather relaxing shower and a modest but filling omelet, you went outside to check your mailbox.
>Taking in a great big lungful of fresh air and releasing it, you found out you had nothing waiting for you inside.
>That was always a good sign, no need to fret about what the Institute was going to ask of you next.
>You were running a bit low on stuff in your refrigerator, so you should probably stock up today.
 
>As you went into town, you noticed there were a few ponies who paid more attention to you than usual, waving at you when you looked at them.
>It was only polite to wave back, but you didn't seem to remember who any of them were.
>Chalking it down to coincidence or ponies you helped before, you continued on.
 
>When you entered the marketplace, you were immediately waylaid by a pair of mares.
 
>"Hey Anon!"
 
>The duo were standing in front of you, looking up with sparkles in their big eyes.
>The left one spoke up first with a cheery, slightly bubbly voice.
 
>"We were kinda curious if you wanted any help with setting up your thing."
 
>Who exactly were these two again?
>Familiar but unfamiliar.
>You wanted to turn them down and keep going for groceries, but something told you the sermon was more important.
>With a rather noncommittal shrug, you said yes.
 
"What were your names, by the way?"
 
>They both looked surprised, turning toward each other before going back to you.
 
>"Right, we never did tell you did we?"
 
>There was a little embarrassed smile on both of them as the left motioned for the right one to proceed.
>After a brief delay the one on the right took a step forward and introduced herself.
 
>"I'm Crossed Crenellations."
 
>Actually taking the time to look at and remember the pony you were talking to, you eyed them up and down.
>She was a unicorn with a sandy colored coat and bright teal mane, paired with faint magenta eyes.
>Leaning to the side, you could see her cutie mark was the architecture of castle battlements.
>Compared to the left one, she spoke in a more relaxed manner.
 
>Turning your attention to the other, she took that as her cue to speak up.
 
>"And I'm Esoteric Architecture!"
 
>Well, you sure couldn't fault either of their parents for a lack of creativity.
>Esoteric lacked a horn or set of wings, narrowing down the possibilities fairly easily.
>Her coat was a light gray-blue, offset by a minty colored mane.
>Looking her in the eyes, you could see they were a shiny lilac.
>Repeating your leaning maneuver, you saw her cutie mark was an optical illusion of a staircase.
 
>It hurt your eyes to keep staring at it, but you were briefly hypnotized by the impossible looking nature of it.
>Your eyes kept moving in circles as you followed the pattern again and again.
>Mercifully, she moved her flank out of your line of view after a few moments.
 
>There was an uncomfortable pause between the three of you.
 
>You coughed into your hand a few times to break the moment.
 
"Right, well. I would be glad to accept your help."
 
>Both of them had less than innocent smiles as they looked at you.
 
>"Soo... whatcha need to get?"
 
>You were starting to remember the importance of the sermon preparations.
>Yes, this was a vital mission for the cause of righteousness.
>These sinne-
>Ponies.
>You took a sudden step back and shook your head.
 
>Ponies, these were just ponies.
>Not tools, just people.
 
>The two in question cast you concerned looks, but you waved it away.
 
"Sorry, sudden headache. Anyways, I'm going to need help carrying chairs back to my place."
 
>You'd also need some cheap stage pieces, food and drink, and some other simple decorations.
>Pinching the bridge of your nose in frustration, you wondered why you gave yourself so little prep time.
>With a wave of your arm, the duo fell in line at your sides as you sought out an appropriate venue for chairs.
 
>They proved to be a rather chatty bunch, with Esoteric just slightly beating out Crossed in how long one of them could yammer.
>It really didn't bother you much though, you hadn't talked with very many ponies outside of Institute researchers.
>You had almost forgotten about the idyllic lifestyle the average pony lived.
 
>Working together to deplete your savings, you rented out a generous number of wooden folding chairs for a few days.
>It took a few round trips but eventually you got them all safely to your home.
>On the day of the big event you'd get them all into position at whatever spot seemed sheltered enough.
 
>You learned a few things about them as you went around town procuring supplies.
>Unsurprisingly they were both architects.
>They told you some of their life story and you told them some of yours.
>There were a few laughs at your expense when it came to hauling the big stage pieces all the way back to your house.
>Though it was sort of your fault, trying to show off with how many you could carry at once.
 
>A manner of friendship became noticeable between you three as you took a break at a local restaurant.
>They were pretty relaxed around you, as were you with them.
>The sun continued to zoom across the sky as you all finished up your meals and hit up some bakeries.
 
>Initially they wanted to head to Sugarcube Corner, but you quickly veered them away from that.
>You hid your intentions under the guise of 'helping the smaller food vendors'.
>It would be best to keep as far away from the Unsaveables as you could.
>They seemed confused at first with your decision, but you gently prodded them along.
 
>It took far more effort and money to run around the marketplace buying various foodstuffs and fruit punch, but in your mind it was worth it.
 
>A good portion of the day had been eaten up with all the preparations you had to make.
>Still, there was a good few hours of daylight left as you stood in the doorway of your home.
 
"Thanks for the help you two."
 
>You couldn't resist patting them both on the head for sticking with you through it all.
>They looked a little annoyed at you treating them like that, but they never said any complaints against it.
>Crossed spoke up after a little bit of standing there.
 
>"It uh, sure took a lot of time getting all that stuff here, do you think you could perhaps... repay us?"
 
>Esoteric jabbed the other mare in the side and gave her an accusatory glance.
>Mentally you rolled your eyes.
>Here you thought you were all such good friends.
 
>Muttering under your breath you told them to wait there as you sought out more money.
 
>You could feel storm clouds brewing in your mind as you gathered a modest amount of bits for both of them.
>A voice inside told you that you were overreacting, but you shoved its weak form away.
 
>Bah, what did it matter what you gave to these sinners.
>You would be the one collecting repayments soon enough when you purified their souls.
>The task of bringing salvation to the world was undoubtedly going to be an expensive one.
>Clenching your fists a few times around the sacks of money, you told yourself it was just an investment for the future of your Goddess.
 
>Material goods meant nothing in the face of Her shining brilliance, and you should be happy to sacrifice them in the name of Her cause.
>Beaming a bright and wide smile at them, you handed each of them their payment.
>They took a brief examination of the contents and eventually nodded happily.
 
>"Goodbye Anon!"
 
>They both started walking away as you waved at them, saying your own goodbye.
 
"Don't forget to show up for the sermon!"
 
>"We won't!"
 
>As they grew smaller and smaller against the horizon, you slowly closed your door.
>Looking toward the clock, you realized just how late in the day it was.
>Your heart sunk like a rock.
>You were late for church!
 
>Sprinting over to your couch, you slammed down on it as you closed your eyes.
>Okay, okay, calm down Anon.
>You had to focus and calm down.
>Oh Goddess how could you have paid so little attention to the time?
 
>Fumbling through the rites, you eventually managed to induce yourself to dream.
>Rocketing through the ink of the void, you blew straight past the invisible barrier.
 
>There was a loud shattering sound as you found yourself leaping through one of the stained glass windows around the altar.
>A normally deadly hail of broken glass fell harmlessly off and around you as you landed right next to the pulpit.
>Looking behind you, you could see the endless abyss of the void through the broken window fixture.
>In the blink of an eye, the damage was repaired and soft moonlight poured through once more.
 
>Ever so slowly you swiveled your head to the left, dreading every moment as Nightmare Moon came into view.
 
>"Anonymous."
 
>Wincing, you put your arms defensively in front of your face, peeking at her with one eye.
>Your voice came out very small and squeaky.
 
"Yes, most merciful one?"
 
>"You're late."
 
>Closing both of your eyes, you held your breath.
 
"I am, most merciful one."