//------------------------------// // Magical Mystery Dream // Story: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic -- Off The Record // by The King of Hearts //------------------------------// //// Magical Mystery Dream //// Trixie inhaled sharply, as she felt her body be propelled from its place in her mindscape, into a dream of one of her friends. Aurora had used her magic to destroy the anti-magic barrier, and then instantly moved them on to the next step of their plan. “Where are we?” Trixie asked, looking around, finding herself back in Ponyville, “Geez… this all reminds me of that chaotic world we all went in to.” “This is Fluttershy’s dream,” Aurora said, stepping past her friend as she looked around the town herself, “Wow… I forgot what it’s like to be in a real place.” “Well, it’s not really a real place,” Trixie pointed out, “It’s not like my body is in here… wait! Where is my body right now?” Aurora was clearly lost in the wonder of seeing the world again, but slowly turned to answer the question, “Still falling. We need to be in and out of these six dreams before you hit the ground.” She went wide eyed. “I’m only kidding,” The yellow mare stifled a giggle, “Twilight would be on to us way before then. We have a lot of time before either of those things happen though. Remember, these ponies were meant to experience years of torture in minutes, and we’re on their timelines.” “Well, that’s good, I guess.” Trixie sighed happily, as she walked forward to join her friend, “So, what are we looking for?” “Your guess is as good as mine,” Aurora shrugged, “I guess we need to look for your friend having a really bad time.” “It probably won’t be too hard,” She said quietly, “I don’t see anypony in town.” “Boo!” A voice shouted from their left, drawing their attention in the direction. “Sounds promising,” Aurora said, as Trixie nodded along with her, “Why don’t we check it out?” //// “You think that’s funny?” Caramel, one of the many gathered townsponies asked, “Tell us a joke or something!” “Yeah!” Octavia agreed, throwing a hoof in the air, “Why are you just standing there looking dumb?” “I- um… eep…” “Can’t you make something with that balloon you’re holding?” The mayor asked, sighing loudly. Trixie and Aurora finally reached the crowd they had been looking for, but still had no idea what was happening in the middle of it. “Who is that?” Trixie asked, trying to peek over the towering stallions in front of her, “Would you move out of Trixie’s way?” She was ignored. “We can use magic in here,” Aurora said, reaching over to her friend and giving her horn a tap. “That’s good to hear at least…” She said, instantly casting a spell that divided the crowd in front of her, much to the dismay of the ponies she was moving. As soon as the path was clear, Trixie and Aurora saw the pony that was currently being ridiculed in the center. “Fluttershy?” Trixie asked, her jaw dropping at the miserable expression that the usually happy mare wore. “Oh, Trixie!” She responded, lighting up and rushing through the crowd to her friends, “Thank goodness you’re here! I need your help!” “No kidding!” Trixie responded, placing a hoof on her shoulder, “We need to get you out of this nightmare—“ “I need you to help me make everypony laugh!” She said. Trixie looked over her shoulder to Aurora for support. Her friend only shrugged. “I… uhh… Don’t quite understand,” The unicorn said, “Don’t you want to wake up?” “I wish that I was dreaming…” Fluttershy sighed, completely shrugging off the notion, “Well? Can you help me or not?” “Trixie…” Aurora whispered. “Listen, Fluttershy, I don’t think you understand what’s going on!” She continued, missing her friends’ whispering, “You’re in—“ “Are you going to make us laugh or not?!” Caramel shouted again, his tone far beyond anything that would be considered polite. “Um… of course…” Fluttershy said, her expression clearly darkening as she turned away from her friend. “W-wait!” Trixie called fruitlessly, as the pegasus walked back to the center of the crowd. As soon as she went back to her job, the booing and anger picked up right where it left off. “I don’t understand,” Trixie said, blinking rapidly. “Look at her cutie mark.” Aurora whispered in her ear. Tilting her head, she saw just what was wrong. Her cutie mark, which was usually three butterflies, was instead Pinkie Pie’s, which was three balloons. “Was this Twilight’s plan?” She asked, looking over to Aurora, absolutely dumbfounded, “To… change their cutie marks?” “Well, if they’re all this miserable, I guess you could say that it’s working.” Aurora said, inhaling sharply as somepony from the crowd threw a carrot at Fluttershy’s head, “I’m surprised that she hasn’t broken down yet though.” “If what you said about the passage of time is right, there’s a chance that Fluttershy’s been in here for a while.” Trixie guessed, joining Aurora in watching the miserable mare, “She might me far beyond breaking down. One break down wouldn’t fundamentally change somepony’s personality.” “You’re right,” Aurora agreed, “That’s the face of a mare who’s already been broken. She’s only being worn down at this point.” “So, what do we do then?” Trixie asked, “Do we help her be more like Pinkie Pie?” Aurora stepped back from the crowd and looked back toward the hills of Ponyville, then the Everfree Forest. “I don’t think so.” “Neither do I.” Trixie shook her head, “If we want to make Fluttershy truly happy, we need to get her to remember who she is on the inside. Not indulge her in this fantasy Twilight has mode for them.” “You think you know them well enough?” Aurora asked. “I think so.” Trixie nodded, “Even though I’ve been slow to admit it… I’ve really gotten to know the ponies here. Just spending time with them has made Trixie feel like she has a home.” “You don’t know how happy that makes me to hear,” Aurora said, “It’ll make it easier for me to… leave.” Trixie’s expression darkened almost enough to match Fluttershy’s. “Let’s move on from here.” The blue unicorn said softly, looking away from Aurora. “We need to round up some cute animals.” Aurora swallowed and nodded, “Do you think that’s all we need?” “Maybe?” //// Fluttershy sighed, looking away from the crowd. She had been standing in this place for longer than she would be able to recall, but felt compelled to stay here until everypony was laughing, even if it took her a year. “Can you do something fun already?” Octavia asked, sighing loudly, “You’re just a waste of skin, standing around like this!” Fluttershy gulped and fought against any tears that might come running out, she was wasting their time, after all. “Hey, Fluttershy!” A voice called from beyond the crowd. “Yes?” She asked, lifting herself off the ground with her wings, allowing her to see the yellow unicorn on the other side of the crowd, “Oh, you’re Trixie’s friend!” “Yes! She’s in trouble! She needs your help!” Aurora said, pointing in the direction of the Everfree Forest. “Oh my!” She said, looking to the ponies in front of her, “Um… I don’t think my friends would—“ “We’ll only be gone for a couple of minutes,” She reiterated, looking up at the mare, “They’ll still be here when we get back!” “Well…” Fluttershy scratched her chin, “I guess I could take a little break.” “Oh no she isn’t!” The Mayor said, turning to face Aurora with a huge scowl, “She’s going to stay here until she makes us laugh.” As she spoke the last word, her eyes darkened, and a black aura surrounded everypony in the crowd. Fluttershy ‘eeped’ and flew a few inches back. “Ah.” The unicorn said, seeing that these ponies were the source of the spell, “Well, if you don’t all mind, I really don’t have time for this.” With a simple wave of her horn, the entire crowd was shrunk down to ant-size. Not that this stopped them from shouting at the two mares. “Come on Fluttershy,” Aurora said comfortingly, “I’ll fix them as soon as we’re done, and you can finish your show with them.” “O-okay…” She said, flying over the angry, albeit quieter mob of ponies, “Where is Trixie?” “She’s at your cottage!” Aurora said. “My cottage? But I live at Sugarcube corner…” She muttered. “T-that doesn’t matter! Just follow me!” Aurora huffed. //// Trixie wasn’t sure what inspired her to go through with this particular plan, but she was sure that it was going to work. “Okay, you all need to be angry!” Trixie said to the group of animals in front of her, “Pretend that you’re really hungry, and you want to eat me!” They all frowned and gave her confused looks. “Fluttershy isn’t herself right now,” She explained, gesturing to a picture of Pinkie Pie that was hung on the wall, “She’s out in the town square, convinced that she needs to make everypony in town laugh! But that’s Pinkie job! So, if you all act really stubborn, we might be able to bring the real her back out!” Angel, Fluttershy’s bunny, jumped up on to the mare’s counter, and spilled cutlery all over the floor, giving easy access to the animals around her. ”Trixie! We’re coming!” “Oh, get ready!” She said, levitating herself into the large black cauldron, and tying a tight rope around her body, “Everyone Just walk in circles around me with the cutlery… and the rest of you should just be all over the place! Like you’re starving!” They all nodded, and started acting as crazy as they all could. “Help!” Trixie called out, watching the door carefully, as she tightened the wrapped rope around her body. The door burst open, as the two yellow mares came inside, one much more shocked than the other at the scene in front of them. “What are these critters doing? Fluttershy asked, looking around the room quickly, “Rainbow Dash must have forgotten to feed them!” Trixie was truly confused at the fantasy that had been crafted in Fluttershy’s mind. She seemed perfectly like herself right now, but was also completely unaware of key events in her life. Still, she had to admit that some of her own dreams didn’t always make sense. “Don’t you know some kind of spell that can save her?” Fluttershy asked. “No!” Aurora shook her head, “You need to be the one to do this. It can’t be me.” “W-why not?” Fluttershy asked, wide eyed, “I’m supposed to be making ponies laugh right now! But instead I’m here!” “I’m- uh… afraid of… critters!” Aurora said, shaking her head suddenly as she backed out the door, “They might… crawl on me! Ew!” “Please Fluttershy! Help me!” Trixie called, hoping that she’d be done pestering Aurora at this point. “Um… w-what should I do?” She called. “Anything!” She replied. Seeing that the plan wasn’t working perfectly, the animals upped their game, and began chanting in their various squeaks, as their pace increase in their march around the cauldron. Fluttershy gulped, and took a step forward. “E-excuse me…” She called out meekly, “Um, I think we should all take a second to think about what we’re doing!” She was ignored largely, but a few glanced her way. “Oh!” She said, spying a salad sitting on the counter of the kitchen, “Wouldn’t you all much rather be eating a delicious salad? Or maybe some carrots?” Now she had their attention. Every animal instantly rushed her way, leaving Trixie alone in the pot. “And you can have some- some yummy nuts if you like,” She said, grabbing a bunch of acorns and peanuts off the same counter she got her salad from. The animals then rapidly gobbled them up, and acted as if she had saved all their lives. “Wow!” Aurora said, poking her head through the door, “You really know how to handle those critters!” “Yeah…” Fluttershy said, turning to look at Angel, as she tilted her head and approached the bunny, reaching out and softly caressing his ear, “It really does…” Suddenly, all of the animals around her, rushed toward her, and jumped up to give her some form of affection, whether it was a hug, a kiss, or a pat on the top of her head. Even the massive bear that had somehow remained unnoticed, ran in to the room, lifted her off the ground, and gave her a big smooch on the top of her head. The smile on her face widened to a point that it hadn’t in the distorted months she had been trapped in. “This…” Fluttershy paused, softly pushing herself out of the bears embrace, while keeping herself airborne, “This is the happiest I’ve been in… as long as I can remember. Why is that?” Suddenly, an outline of a necklace appeared around her neck, drawing Trixie’s attention. “That’s… an Element!” She said, instantly jumping out of the pot, and rushing over to give the translucent spell a closer look, “And it’s a blue balloon!” “Let me take a look,” Aurora said, running into the room, as she leaned in close next to Trixie, “Okay... this necklace is just a chaotic spell. I’ll try to cancel it out with my kind of magic.” Pointing her horn at Fluttershy’s neck, a soft white beam of light fired from the tip of her horn, right into the center of the crystal balloon. Instantly, the white magic flowed through the black, until it was engulfed. Then, Aurora leaned forward, and simply blew some air on her neck, causing the white energy to simply blow away. Fluttershy blinked several times, as she looked around her home. Turning to both Aurora and Trixie, who were both anxiously waiting to see what she had to say to them. “What’s going on?” She asked, shaking her head, as the animals around her cheered, “Have… I really been here for months? In this nightmare?” “Oh, thank goodness,” Trixie sighed happily, reaching forward and embracing the mare tightly, “You have no idea how happy I am that you’re okay.” Trixie’s genuine happiness seemed infectious, as Fluttershy couldn’t stop herself from beaming at the relieved mare. Even though they weren’t out of the woods, all of them were happy to have a moment breathe, and enjoy one another’s company. “So… what’s going on?” She asked, once again pulling away from a hug, “I’m in my own dream, right?” “Yes. But it hasn’t been months. It’s only been a couple of minutes that you’ve been in here. Max.” Aurora answered, stepping forward and giving the mare a small smile, “Twilight has all the rest of your friends trapped in their own nightmares, just like you were.” “Oh no…” She said, tilting her head once again as she turned to face the yellow unicorn next to her, “I’m sorry, but do I know you?” “I’m Trixie’s friend, Aurora.” She answered, holding out a hoof, which Fluttershy promptly took and shook, “It’s amazing to finally meet you.” “You too.” She said, with a bright smile. “I’m so glad the plan worked,” Trixie sighed, “Now that we know this works, we can do it to all of our friends.” “I’m here for whatever you need,” Fluttershy said, her expression switching to one of more confidence, as she turned back to Trixie, “We need to save Twilight from herself.” “We have a plan for that,” Aurora said, looking up slightly as she began casting the spell they would need to teleport to the next dream over, “After we free everypony from their nightmares, Twilight will be weakened for long enough that I’ll… be able to neutralize her.” “That’s great!” Fluttershy said, her face lighting up at the self-assurance Aurora was exuding, “But… wait. How did you manage to get a bunch of animals to help you fix me? Isn’t this my dream? How did you get them here?” “Well,” Trixie began, rubbing the back of her neck as she furrowed her brow, “The truth is, they’re your passion. You don’t love anything like you do these little guys. And because I knew that, I knew that they’d be in here.” Fluttershy closed her eyes and smiled once again, “You know… I wasn’t sure how well you really knew me. It’s not as if you and I really ever spend time together. But, it makes me happy to know that you know me so well.” “Well… I mean…” Trixie blushed, as she bashfully looked away, only to make eye contact with Aurora instead, who had a smile of her own. But it wasn’t the same kind that she was getting from Fluttershy. It was one of relief. This instantly caused Trixie to look away from her friend, as her heart sank once again. “We need to hurry,” Aurora said, as the magic on the tip of her horn began sparking, “We don’t have long before Twilight realizes what’s going on.” Both mares looked to her, and nodded. “Good luck everypony.” ////