The world was burning. All around me, walls were collapsing with age and strain, or had simply never existed to begin with. Sounds of pain and terror could be heard from all sides. A woman with brown hair and bright blue eyes looked down at me, my head cradled in her lap. “Do not go, my love,” she whispered. I tried to smile, to assure her as I had done so many other times that it would be fine. That I would be fine, or that she would be fine. That we would be together. But I could not. I could not lie to her. So instead, I simply closed my eyes and-
***
Colgate awoke, screaming. Her blood thrummed, echoing in her ears. She closed her eyes and breathed out. It was only a dream. It was only a nightmare. Her heartbeat pounded through every part of her.
Lub-dub
Lub-dub
Lub-dub
“Tick-tock,” she murmured. “Tick-tock-tick-tock-tick-tock-”
She shook herself out of the strange interlude. She breathed out. Some nights, she wished that she could remember her nightmares. It would be so much easier to face them if she could just pin down a definite fear, rather than the empty blankness that replaced her dreams as soon as she awoke.
Glancing at the clock, she sighed. 4:27. Too early to be awake, too late to try to go back to sleep. She rolled out of bed, dragging the blankets behind her like a robe, and trotted downstairs to make a cup of coffee.
“Tick-tock,” she muttered dully. Behind her, the clock repeated her words over and over and over again, counting out into eternity.
***
Ponyville, Summer of 6 BAT: Caramel hummed to himself as he set up his stall in the marketplace. “Good morning, cousin Applejack!” he called as he saw the mare walk by. “Morning, Carrot Top.”
“How many times do I have to say that my name is Golden Harvest?” the mare shouted. “Carrot Top is my sister!”
“Sorry!”
“You’d better be!” The orange-maned mare stomped off in a huff. Caramel cringed.
“Morning, Caramel,” came a familiar voice from behind him.
The candymaker turned around with a dramatic gasp. “The dentist! My old nemesis!”
Colgate grinned. “So, Candycolt,” she said, slipping into a more hammy tone, “Up to your old tricks, rotting the townsponies’ teeth, are you? Well, the only thing that’ll be rotting is you! In a jail cell!”
Caramel frowned slightly. “Needs work,” he said.
Colgate shrugged. “Eh. I’m a dentist, not an actress.”
“Fair enough. So, what’ll it be today? Peppermints? Chocolate drops? The house specialty, perhaps?”
Colgate shook her head. “No, I don’t think so. I woke up with this weird craving, bat I can’t figure out what it is…”
Caramel frowned thoughtfully. “Chocolaty or fruity?”
“Fruity.”
“Hard or chewy?”
“Chewy.”
“Lots of little candies, or one big chunk?”
“Lots of little ones.”
Caramel nodded. “I’ve got just the thing,” he said, leaning down behind the counter. A few moments later, he produced a white paper bag, bulging with sweets. “Gummy ursas,” he said with an air of satisfaction. “Just the ticket.”
Colgate frowned slightly. She picked one of the little chewy candies up in her magic and popped it into her mouth. She chewed thoughtfully for a moment, then shook her head. “No,” she said. “Not quite. Almost, but not quite.”
Caramel’s smile slid off of his face. “Really?”
“Mhm. I can’t remember exactly what the candy tastes like, but this isn’t quite it. Sorry.”
Caramel shook his head. “No, I’m sorry. I’ll get you your candy, I promise.”
“Thanks, Mel. If I remember anything else, I’ll be sure to tell you.”
“Great. Hey, anything else to tide over your sweet tooth today?”
Colgate surveyed the table for a moment. “Peppermints,” she decided. “Humbugs, if you please.”
“One bag of humbugs, comin’ up!”
Colgate exchanged a hooffull of bits for the sweets and, popping one into her mouth, continued on her way to her office. She sucked at it thoughtfully. What was she forgetting? Her dreams, the name of that candy, and something else. Something more important…
Caramel glanced down at the counter and saw, to his dismay, that Colgate had left her coinpurse at the stall. “I’d better go give this back,” he muttered. “Hey, Applejack! Could you keep an eye on my shop for a couple minutes?”
“Sure thing, sugarcube,” she replied, nodding.
Caramel picked up the purse and galloped after Colgate.
***
Meanwhile, at the Doo-Turner house, the Doctor was staring fixedly at what appeared to be a radio with a fob watch and an egg whisk tied onto it with electrical tape. A small yellow light was flashing. “That can’t be right…” he muttered.
“What’s that, Doctor?” Dinky asked.
“Call me dad,” he responded automatically. “It’s a machine. It goes ding when there’s stuff. It also pulverizes coffee beans, detects underground springs, and right now, it’s telling me that someone in this town is using Time Lord tech.”
“Yeah, that would be you,” Dinky said flatly.
“No, no. Well, yeah, me. But this is detecting something else, something different.”
Dinky took another spoonful of cereal. “And why is this news to you?” she asked. “Shouldn’t you have already known about this?”
“I only just installed the artron energy detector,” the Doctor protested. “This took a lot of work to build, I’ll have you know. I’ve only just managed to keep it from turning wine into water…”
Dinky stared at him. “What?” he asked, holding the ungainly gizmo to his chest.
“I will never understand your inventions,” she replied solemnly.
“That’s alright. To be honest, I usually don’t understand them either,” he admitted with a grin, hopping up. “Have a nice day at school!”
“Where are you going?” Dinky asked.
“I want to see where this energy signal is coming from,” he replied, frowning. “I mean, it has to be a fluke, but still…”
“Right. Sure. Have fun with that,” Dinky said, rolling her eyes.
“Oh, I intend to,” the Doctor replied, grinning broadly. “I absolutely intend to…”
***
It was a slow morning for Applejack. Most ponies bought apples from the stand around lunchtime , and it was only half-past nine. She blew her hair back and slumped against the stand. “Good morning, darling,” a familiar voice sang.
Applejack brightened somewhat as she turned. “Howdy, Rarity,” she said. “Lookin’ t’ buy anything?”
“No, not really,” the fashionista admitted. “I was just passing by, and you looked so dreadfully bored that I couldn’t help but stop to keep you company.”
“Heh. Thanks, Rares. Most o’ th’ time, Ah can talk with Cara, but he ran off awhile back.”
“Caramel? Whatever for?”
“Oh, somepony left their bit bag behind. Ah think it mighta been that Minuette gal.”
“Minuette? I don’t believe I’ve met her.”
Applejack frowned. “Y’all don’t know Minnie? The town dentist?”
“I thought her name was Colgate.”
Applejack shook her head. “Nah, nah. Ah ran into her once, up in Canterlot-”
“When was this? Why was I not invited?”
“Well, this was before we were really friends, few years ‘afore Nightmare Moon. Had to go up fer a business meetin’.”
“And you met Colg— Minuette there?”
“Eeyup. Seemed sorta skittish, almost like she’d never been around so many ponies. Asked me where Ah was from, told me she was a dentist. Then she gave me a bag fulla candy and walked away.”
Rarity frowned. “That’s rather peculiar.”
“Ah know. Jest asked me if Ah wanted a jelly filly, hoofed me a bag, then ran fer it.”
The unicorn wrinkled her nose. “A… jelly filly? You don’t suppose that was some sort of… innuendo, do you darling?”
Applejack snorted. “Nah, they were little candies shaped like ponies. Sorta like jelly beans, or gummy ursas.”
Then she grinned. “Never knew ya had such a dirty mind, sugarcube!”
Rarity went pink, and seemed ready to retort when something caught her eye. “What in the world…”
Applejack turned to see what the unicorn had been distracted by. The Doctor was waving what appeared to be an iron rod over Caramel’s sweets stand, intently studying a device that was mostly tape. “Hey, Doc! Whatcha doin’ there?”
The Doctor glanced up in surprise, his face crinkling into a smile. “Hello, Applejack, Rarity. I trust you’re both well this morning?”
“Fine, darling. Tell me, what is that… peculiar device you have there?”
“Oh, this. It’s a scan for alien tech, nothing major. Although, I am picking up some very peculiar readings… Who runs this stall?”
“That would be mah cousin, Caramel Apple,” Applejack replied.
The Doctor frowned. “Your cousin. Hm. That complicates matters, somewhat...”
“Why would that be, darling?”
“Well, it means one of two things. Either your cousin is secretly an alien, or he’s in possession, knowing or unknowing, of a… well, some kind of powerful alien artifact.”
There was a long pause. Eventually Applejack said slowly, “Well, based on the fact that Ah ain’t an alien, Ah’d be inclined to go with th’ second one.”
“Well, that doesn’t prove anything. We don’t know that he’s actually your cousin- he might be some sort of pony-lookalike that replaced your cousin at a young age. Or, perhaps, he can control minds, make you think he’s your cousin…”
“He ain’t an alien. End o’ discussion.”
“Alright, alright, he’s not an alien,” the Doctor said, throwing his hooves into the air. “Either way, he’s got something extremely powerful and very, very bad, and I should probably go fetch it.”
“Ah’ll come with,” Applejack said, rising to her hooves.
“As will I,” Rarity agreed. “It sounds terribly interesting…”
“Oh, I wouldn’t want to keep you from your work,” the Doctor said, shaking his head.
“Aw, shoot. Gotta point there, Doc,” Applejack sighed, sitting back down.
Rarity, however, was not so easily deterred. “My backlog will keep for another day,” she said briskly. “There’s nothing that needs to be finished until Nightmare Night, and not much of that.”
“Well… if you’re sure.” the Doctor said.
“But of course! Caramel is my next-door neighbor, you know, and a good friend. If he is in danger, I should be glad to assist.”
Applejack gave a conflicted glance to her apples. “Ah really would like t’ come,” she said. “‘Specially since mah cousin’s involved. But…”
“But someone has to keep an eye on things at the stall,” Rarity finished. “Really, darling, it’s a wonder you weren’t made the Bearer of Loyalty. Don’t worry, we’ll make sure Caramel is quite safe.”
Applejack smiled. “Thanks. Ah guess Ah feel better ‘bout it with one o’ mah best friends on th’ case.”
“Oi! What am I, chopped liver?”
The two mares snickered at the Doctor’s offended expression. “Good-bye, Applejack,” Rarity called over her shoulder as the Doctor led her away. “I do hope trade picks up soon!”
“Thanks, Rares! See ya ‘round! Make sure Cara don’t do nothin’ silly, now!”
Applejack turned forwards once more, watching the passers-by. She smiled at most, particularly those who stopped to make a purchase. She scowled when Diamond Tiara walked by. The filly might have reformed— emphasis on ‘might’— but she remembered how Apple Bloom had been treated at her hooves. The scowl melted into a look of astonishment, however, when she saw a big, red figure pelting up the street at top speed. “Mac?” she asked, surprised. “What’re you doin’ here?”
Her brother skidded to a stop, blinking in confusion. “What?” he asked.
“Ain’t you meant to be up at th’ farm?”
Slowly he shook his head. “Eenope.”
She frowned. “Ah remember th’ job schedule, an’ you were meant to be takin’ care o’ th’ South Orchard all day. What’re you doin’?”
He merely hoofed her a note in response. She frowned at it. It was in her hoofwriting.
Mac, it said, something’s come up, and I need you to watch the stand for me. Cara’s got himself in a heap of trouble, and I gotta go get him out of it. Get down to the market right now!
-Applejack
Applejack scratched her head. “Well, all that’s true enough, Ah reckon, but Ah never wrote this. Who-all gave it to ya?”
“Got it from Doc Minuette,” Mac said. “Do ya need me here, or not? Ah still got eight acres to get ‘afore lunchtime.”
Applejack thought for a moment. “Ah reckon this might be worth lookin’ into,” she said, taking the note up once more. “Ah’m just gonna pop over t’ see Minuette, see if she can’t shed a bit o’ light on this. Ah shouldn’t be long.”
Mac raised a skeptical eyebrow. “That’s what ya always say,” he grumbled as he took his sister’s place at the stand.
“Oh, quit yer bellyachin’,” she scolded. “If ya can’t finish up the south orchard today, Ah’ll finish it up m’self.”
Anyway, she thought as she trotted off, it would do her brother some good to interact with other ponies more. She glanced back for a moment, and saw that a small herd of mares— and more than a couple of stallions— had already gathered around the stand, staring at her brother with googly eyes. Applejack grinned. Well! If a change in salesponies made for a few sales more, she supposed that would just be the crumble on the crisp.
***
The Doctor paused, frowning at the building he had arrived at. “I thought you said this fellow was a confectioner.”
“Oh, he is,” Rarity said, a faint smile on her face. “My goodness, the things he makes… Of course, nopony can beat Bonbon when it comes to chocolate, nor Pinkie Pie where pastries are concerned, but my word! His peppermints are divine, his rock candy is almost as lovely as real gems, and as for his caramels…” she trailed off, realizing that the Doctor was staring at her.
“You’re drooling,” he observed.
Rarity gasped, drawing a hoof to her chest in shock, which just happened to wipe at her mouth in the process. “Really, Doctor. How rude! Besides, a lady does not ‘drool’. At most, she, er… salivates.”
The Doctor chuckled. “Don’t worry. I’ve got something of a sweet tooth myself, I won’t judge. But, getting back to my question, what’s a candymaker doing at a dentist’s office? Seems a bit unexpected.”
Rarity laughed. “Well, perhaps it does. Obviously, however, you never met our Dr. Colgate. You may think that you have a fancy for sweets, but I would be willing to wager that nopony likes them as much as she does.” She paused, considering. “Excluding Pinkie Pie, of course.”
“A dentist with a sweet tooth?” The Doctor frowned, then shrugged. “Well, it takes all sorts. And from time to time, licorice allsorts as well…”
Rarity did not deign to dignify that with a comment.
The stallion at the desk glanced up as they walked in. His mane was wild and tufted, and seemed to threaten at any moment to form a full beard beneath his flattened snout. “May I help you?” he asked, his voice a rumbling baritone.
“Yes, we’re looking for a stallion,” the Doctor said. “A specific one, not just browsing. Name of Caramel?”
The receptionist nodded. “You just missed him. He only stayed long enough to return a piece of lost property, said he had to get back to his stand.”
“Oh.”
“Or, as Dr. Colgate put it 'the villain is returning to the Cavity Cave'.”
“I can’t decide if that or the ‘Palace of Plaque’ sounds better,” a new voice said, amused. “Hello, Rarity, Dr. Turner, and welcome to my Den of Dentistry.”
“Why, Dr. Colgate, how nice to see you? You’re well, I trust?” Rarity said, trotting over to the other mare.
“For the moment,” the dentist agreed. “Not sure if that’s going to keep up, though. Caffeine and sugar can only keep a mare up for so long…”
Rarity winced. “Those nightmares again?” she asked, sympathetically.
The dentist nodded. “You know Princess Luna, could you put in a word?” she asked. Her tone suggested that it was meant jokingly, but her too-tight smile and sagging pose said otherwise.
“I certainly shall,” Rarity agreed vehemently.
Colgate flushed. “I— no, I couldn’t ask you to do that! I wouldn’t want to bother the princess about my bad dreams…”
“It wouldn’t do to have our dentist falling asleep on the job, would it? A root canal would become a rather more worrisome procedure, to say the least.”
“I would never fall asleep in the middle of an operation!” Colgate replied, indignant. “I hardly sleep as it is, and I get by.”
“Really?” the Doctor asked. “Same here! Sleep is boring.”
Rarity sighed. “And both of you are as bad as the other! Doctor, sleep is a good thing. Celestia knows I could do with more of it myself. Colgate, of course the Princess will care about your nightmares— it’s in her job description! I’m rather surprised she hasn’t done so already, to be frank.”
Colgate sighed, deflating somewhat. “...Thank you, Rarity. I appreciate it. Really, it wouldn’t bother me so much if I could just remember what I was so afraid of.”
The Doctor frowned. “What?”
Rarity glanced back at the door. “I shouldn’t keep you from your job any longer, darling, and I rather think that we should get back to tracking down Caramel. Good-bye, Colgate- and pleasant dreams.”
She trotted back outside. “Come along, Doctor,” she trilled.
“I— but— what, I— nightmares—” he glanced between Colgate and Rarity. “Rarity, hold on!” he called, galloping after her.
Colgate watched them go. Her eyebrows were closely knitted, and she seemed to be thinking deeply. “Dr. Colgate?” the receptionist asked. “Are you well?”
“What? Oh, yes, I’m fine. I was just… trying to remember… something.” Frowning, she popped a hooffull of peppermints into her mouth.
The receptionist’s jaw tensed momentarily, but then relaxed. He shrugged. “It must not be that important, if you cannot remember it,” he said.
“True,” Colgate agreed, sucking thoughtfully at the candies. “Probably not worth worrying about,” she decided, trotting back into her office.
***
“So,” the Doctor said, falling back into step with Rarity, “These nightmares. Been going on long?”
“As long as I’ve known her, yes.”
“Has she ever mentioned any specifics?”
“No, she says she just wakes up in a state of terror, unable to remember a thing. Doctor, what is the point of these questions, if I might ask?”
“It’s just interesting,” the Doctor replied. “You never know, one pony’s nightmare might be another’s clue…”
“A clue? A clue to what?”
“Oh… well, anything, I suppose. Met a fellow once, in the nineties, name of Gently. He told me that everything was fundamentally interconnected, that everything is in some way relevant to everything else, and therefore that any problem can be solved using any piece of information when logically extrapolated to its extremes.”
“Well, that certainly sounds… profound…”
“Really? I thought it sounded like a load of balderdash, myself. But it seems to work out well enough.”
Rarity boggled. “I... “
“Don’t worry, I expect you’ll see soon enough. Travel around space and time long enough, everything starts to look related. You’ll understand.”
Rarity stared. “Understand that? I certainly hope not.”
The Doctor chuckled. “Anyway, the point is, sometimes dreams can be quite useful in figuring out what’s going on.”
“Please tell me you aren’t referring to some sort of psychic nonsense.”
“What? No, no. That’s preposterous, no one can tell the future. Well, not unless they’ve visited it, and even then it’s a tricky business. But dreams, see, they’re sort of a connection to the subconscious. We remember more than we think, you know, lots of little things that we don’t really remember, but they’re still buzzing about in the ol’ brain.” He tapped a hoof against his head to emphasize the point.
Rarity stared at him. “I get the feeling there’s more buzzing around your brain than half-remembered details, Doctor. Flies, perhaps.”
“Oh, now,” the Doctor said with a grin. “Nothing wrong with a little flippancy every now and again!”
“Not every now and again, no,” Rarity agreed drily. “So, aside from the peculiarities of the town dentist’s dreams, what else did you notice in there?”
The Doctor looked at her sideways. “Nothing… why, did you see something?”
Rarity raised an eyebrow. “I noticed you staring at that receptionist. You recognized him?”
The Doctor shook his head, frowning. “No. I thought they both looked familiar, but I can’t quite place why.”
“Well,” the unicorn replied, with a twinkle in her eye, “Perhaps the answer will come to you if you sleep on it.”
The Doctor paused for a moment and slowly, he smirked. “Perhaps they will,” he agreed, nodding. “Dreams. Very mysterious things.”
Chuckling, they walked down the street back the way they had come. From behind, the receptionist watched them go, his face drawn with concern. “This is getting complicated.” He pulled out a fob watch, which had, for the first time in its existence, begun flashing red and gold. He swallowed. “This is extremely inopportune,” he whispered.