//------------------------------// // A Rude Awakening // Story: The Dream Catcher // by SilverOrion //------------------------------// -Five Years Later- "Pipe Dream, Pipe Dream." Pipe Dream opened his eyes. He was standing in his room, but everything was dark. No, not everything, the ground was still light. Pipe Dream looked around until the room came into focus. The room wasn't dark - there were shadows oozing from the corners of the ceiling. "What is this?" Pipe Dream asked, disturbed by what he was seeing. "Pipe Dream." That voice. Pipe Dream knew that voice was his brother Loose Cannon's voice. "Loose Cannon, where are you?" "Pipe Dream, I'm over here." Pipe Dream heard Loose Cannon's voice coming from the attic. There was no way Pipe Dream was going in the attic, not with it being haunted and all. Pipe Dream lazily glanced at the ceiling, feeling a little foggy. As he did so, he noticed some strange shadow-like ooze coming down from the corners of the ceiling. The more he looked at it, the more frightening it became to him. If that slime was coming down from the ceiling, pony heaven knows what else was up in that attic. Above everything in Equestria, the last thing Pipe Dream wanted to do was find out what was in the attic, and where all this shadow stuff was coming from. "Pipe Dream." "No," Pipe Dream decided, "If he wants me, he's gonna come down here, 'cause I ain't goin' up there." "Pipe Dream." "Loose Cannon, if you want me, you're gonna hafta come down here. There ain't no way I'm goin' up in that cursed attic!" "Pipe Dream, I can't come down. I need you, and you need to save me." Loose Cannon's calm voice disturbed Pipe Dream even more. How could Loose Cannon be so calm about this? Nothing was making sense. Pipe Dream's mouth went dry as he helplessly watched the shadow ooze collect at the bottom of the walls, draping the sides of the room in an eerie darkness. "Pipe Dream, I need you." Pipe Dream panicked as he saw the shadow ooze slowly spread out on the floor. In response, Pipe Dream stood with his hooves close together so that he wouldn't touch whatever in equestria that glop was. "Pipe Dream." "No! I can't save you! There's black stuff everywhere!" Pipe Dream almost came to tears seeing the black ooze collect on the ground and grow higher and higher until it was practically as tall as tall as he was. What was happening? What was this stuff? "Pipe Dream, you need to save me." "No!" Pipe Dream's voice began to shake, "find your own way out!" The shadow ooze suddenly stopped moving, as if it was offended by something. Then, it started moving again, but this time, in Pipe Dream's direction. "No, stay back! Get away from me!" Even from being a distance away, Pipe Dream felt a cold draft radiating from the shadow ooze. The stuff was translucent, and everything it touched seemed to be darkened and warped into bizarre shapes by its power. The floorboards began to twist and turn when it came in contact with the ooze, turning dark and pale shades of brown. Pipe Dream cringed out of terror as he stood helplessly watching the ooze get closer and closer to him. At the last minute, the ooze picked up speed and engulfed Pipe Dream in an instant. Pipe Dream cried out in horror as the stuff swept over him, giving him an icy and sickly sensation, as everything Pipe Dream saw became dark and distorted. "Pipe Dream!" Pipe Dream sat up in bed in an instant, panting heavily, with sweat on his forehead. It was a nightmare, just a nightmare. Pipe Dream laid back in bed slowly, trying to relax. After several minutes, Pipe Dream finally relaxed, and started breathing normally. "Pipe Dream." Pipe Dream stopped moving. Somepony called his name again, and right beside him. Pipe Dream slowly turned to see who it was. It was his younger sibling Battie. "Pipe Dream, are you ok? You've we're shoutin' in yer sleep." Pipe Dream didn't answer for a moment, then said "Yeah, I'm ok Bats." Pipe Dream looked over and saw his other younger sibling Belfry trot in. Battie - or Bats was what we usually called her - and her sister Belfry were both twins, and both fillies. Both of them had blue eyes, a dark brown coat, and a burgandy mane. Bats and Belfry were real hoof-fulls, getting into trouble all the time. When something unlucky crossed their path at school, one of them was always handy with a bag of salt which would inevitably be tossed over one of their shoulders and would appear all over the ground. Just because of them, Ms. Cheerilee would be at her wits end on account of having a "clean working space for bright young minds ruined by superstitious tomfoolery"; of course, one could say that they were adding some much needed flavor to the school environment. Being superstitious himself, Pipe Dream couldn't blame his younger sisters. In fact, it probably did them and the family some good, whether or not Ms. Cheerilee actually took any notice to it at all. Belfry trotted up to Bats cautiously. "Bats, you know we're not supposed to be here like this. If he wakes up with a nightmare, then that nightmare could latch on to us too - you know what momma says, dreams are tangible things an' shouldn't be messed around with." "That's right Bats," Pipe Dream confirmed, "I don't want you to get this dream either. It wouldn't be good for you." Bats looked like she was about to say something, but then stopped and trotted out of the room with Belfry close beside her. As Bats and Belfry left the room, Pipe Dream laid back in his bed and stared out the window. Countless stars decorated the peaceful night sky. Pipe Dream allowed his mind to go blank as he sat watching the sky for a little while. That must have been one powerful nightmare to get past that dream catcher - it must mean something, then. But what? That dream was as mysterious as it was terrifying. Pipe Dream tried to think about something else. He would be going to a colt scout meet soon after daybreak, and it would be the first time he would visit. "Maybe if I can get out more, this can all just stop." * * * Heebie finished the pancakes, and proceeded to set them on the table. As she did so, she couldn't help but think that Pipe Dream was going to have a good chance at making some friends today, since today was the first time that he would be attending a colt scout meet. This would be the first time Pipe Dream would ever visit ponyville. In the past, she and Jeebies, Pipe Dream's father, had only allowed Pipe Dream and Loose Cannon only so far from their cabin so that nothing bad may happen to them. It was only recently that they had relaxed their fears a little towards that rule and now they allowed Pipe Dream and Loose Cannon to roam freely wherever they wanted - as long as it was near home or at ponyville. They even allowed Bats and Belfry to go to school at the ponyville schoolhouse. Heebie turned and began to gingerly clean the cookware she had just used for making breakfast. Just when she got started cleaning one of the spatulas, Bats and Belfry both ran into the kitchen. Belfry hopped to her spot at the table and asked excitedly, "Ooh, what's for breakfast?" "Mmm, pancakes!" Bats answered. As Bats and Belfry had their fill of the pancakes, Jeebies entered the kitchen and sat himself at the table. Jeebies had a periwinkle mane like Heebie, but had a charcoal shaded coat and green eyes. "Pancakes for breakfast I see, an' they sure smell delicious Heebie." Jeebies commented. Heebie smiled and responded, "Thank ya Jeebies. "An' where's that Loose Cannon at, Heebie? Is he sleepin' in like usual?" "Yep, he sure is." "Well, at least he's gettin' sleep," Jeebies remarked, "it's Pipe Dream that I'm worried about. I heard some muffled shoutin' comin' from his room last night. I didn't see it fer myself cause the shoutin' could've been from one o' those wailer spirits." Bats spoke up, "He had one o' those nightmares again, daddy." "An' how do you know he had a nightmare, Bats?" "I asked him, an' he said he had a nightmare, an' he didn't want us to catch it." "Is that so now?" Heebie commented, "I'd best get that dream catcher of his checked." "It looked fine to me when I was there," Belfry added. "What if the nightmare was too powerful for the dream catcher - what if it means somethin'?" Bats suggested. "Oh come now, dearest, nothin's too powerful fer a dream catcher." Heebie said. "But what if it was?" Heebie looked slightly concerned, then looked as if she was about to say something. "You know what, this conversation is just silly, so lets talk about somethin' else." After a brief moment, Heebie continued. "Pipe Dream will be goin' to his first colt scout meet today, Jeebies." "Oh really now?" Jeebies said, "that's good fer him. Maybe he can learn some good survival skills so he can keep himself safe in the wilderness." "That's the idea, but even more so is the fact that he can go and see other colts like him, and that'd be good for him, don't ya think?" "Yeah, I'm thinkin' so, but those survival skills are the real reason why I'm supportin' it. If ya can't survive, ya can't live in this world." Suddenly, Pipe Dream walked into the room. Everyone was able to recognize Pipe Dream - he had a dark grey coat, a dark purple mane, and silvery eyes. He looked tired, walking into the room with bed-mane and dark rings under his eyes. Pipe Dream slowly trotted over to his place at the table and started having some bites of his pancakes. Heebies worriedly glanced at Jeebies, then spoke up. "Did ya sleep well, Pipe Dream?" Pipe Dream nodded, but unconvincingly. "What's the matter, Pipe Dream?" Heebies asked. Pipe Dream sighed, "Had a bad dream last night, couldn't sleep." "Well let's hope it doesn't come back again," Heebies replied, "I don't want to see you shoutin' at night like you did some years ago." Pipe Dream tried to absorb what Heebies had said, and seriously hoped that his nightmares would not return. About five years ago, Pipe Dream had nightmares just about every night. It seemed like nothing would stop them until Heebies had first obtained the things necessary to create a dream catcher to prevent his nightmares from coming back. Ever since, Pipe Dream had been without a nightmare until now. "I sure hope they won't come back either, Ma," Pipe Dream responded, before eating some more of his pancakes. "Maybe after I go to my first colt scout meet today, I'll feel better" Pipe Dream thought. Looking outside the window of the kitchen, Pipe Dream could see that it was going to be a sunny day in ponyville, with an occasional cloud in the sky. After a short conversation with his family, Pipe Dream finished his pancakes and proceeded to get ready for his first colt scout meet.