//------------------------------// // Lauren's Doubts // Story: Journey to The Real World // by unleashedtwilight //------------------------------// “What do you mean ‘what if it was a memory’? That would be impossible.” Craig said with a serious look on his face. “The ponies that you create aren’t real!” “I know, I know, but still… it would sort of explain the weird dreams I’ve been having.” Lauren said rubbing her head. “Ok that’s it” Craig said putting his foot down. “You’re taking a break from all this, Lauren. Don’t go to work today; have some friends over and relax.” Craig said as he left the room. Craig is right… maybe I have just been really stressed with all the work that I’ve done; besides I could use a day off. It’s been a while since I had one. Maybe I can invite Tara over to hang out if she’s not busy. But as Lauren is thinking of things to do, she once again hears her own voice from that dream… ……. This is for all the damage you have caused me and everyone here in Equestria! For your heinous crimes against Equestria's royalty, my daughters and myself, I bring your well-deserved penance to you! ……. “Ugh… I need to stop thinking about it.” Lauren says to herself getting her phone. “Like Craig said, it’s only a dream.” She says dialing Tara Strong’s number. *Ring…* *Ring…* *Ri-…* “Hello?” Tara answered. “Hey Tara, it’s me Lauren. Listen, I was wondering if you were busy today.” Lauren said hoping desperately that she would be free. “Oh, hey Lauren! No, I’m not busy today; why do you ask?” Tara asked. “Well, I was just wondering if you wanted to come by and just hang out… I’ve sort of been feeling stressed out a little.” Lauren said with a sort of quieter tone. “Is it because of those dreams that you’ve been having?” Tara asked. “How did you-…” Lauren was interrupted. “Craig told me; he’s been really worried about you Lauren, and so has everyone else.” Tara said with a serious tone in her voice. “The ponies you create are not real; stop worrying so much.” “I know they aren’t real Tara, but the more I dream about them the more I-…” Lauren paused. “The more you what?” Tara asked waiting for an answer. “…The more I feel like it wasn’t really a dream; like it actually may have been a memory!” Lauren said. “Okay… I’m coming over there. Clearly you need someone to talk to and help clear your mind. I’ll be there in about a half hour. See you then, Lauren.” Tara said before hanging up. Great… Tara probably thinks I’ve gone insane after saying that to her. I REALLY need to stop thinking about those dreams… but for some reason when I try to stop thinking about them, I think about them even more! Maybe having the day off with Tara will help… ~~~~~~~~~ “Dear Princess Celestia, It is of dire importance that I speak with you right away. For some reason I have been experiencing these strange dreams about this pony that is very familiar to me, but I can’t remember who it is! At first I thought it was only a dream, until moments ago I experienced a vision of this same pony whose name is Lauren Faust… I still don’t quite know who she is but that’s not the strangest part. The strangest part is the fact that she is an Alicorn, when I thought you, Luna and Cadence were the only Alicorns in Equestria. I await your response as soon as possible. Your most faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.” After finishing the message, Twilight had Spike send the letter to Princess Celestia immediately. “There, it’s on its way.” Spike said to Twilight. “But I still don’t understand this whole situation…” “I don’t understand it either Spike; which is why I am going to speak with the Princess about this. Maybe she’ll know what’s going on.” Twilight said with a little concern. “I’m sure it’s nothing Twi-…” Spike was interrupted as he burped receiving a reply from the Princess already. “That was fast…” Twilight said opening the message. “My most faithful student Twilight, I ask that you please come to the castle right away… we must talk. Princess Celestia.” “…That’s it? That’s weird…” Spike said a little confused. “Well you heard what she said, she wants us there now! Come on Spike, place a hand on me.” Twilight said; when he did Twilight teleported them both to Celestia’s castle and in her throne room. “Twilight, thank you for coming when you did.” Celestia said with a concerned look. “Princess Celestia, do you know what my dreams and visions mean?” “I still haven’t figured that part out yet, but the reason I called you here is because I have been experiencing these same dreams.” “What?!” Twilight and Spike yelled in unison. “Yes… I have been trying to figure out these dreams ever since I started having them.” Celestia said a little more frustrated. “What about Luna; has she been experiencing the same thing as well?” “I’m not sure… Luna has been very quiet and has been keeping things to herself lately.” Celestia said concerned about her little sister. “Which is one of the reasons I called you here; I need you to speak with her.” “Me? But how come you haven’t spoken with her?” Twilight asked with a confused look. “She refuses to speak to anyone, including myself; and since you are one of Luna’s best friends, I figured that she might talk to you about what’s going on in her mind. Will you do this for me?” “Don’t worry Princess, you can count on me.” Twilight said with confidence. “Where is she right now?” “She should be in her room at the moment; she may be resting but…” Celestia paused looking concerned. “But what, Princess?” “Every time I see my sister, she looks restless… I don’t think she’s had any sleep in weeks!” “Oh my goodness…” Twilight says with worry. “Don’t worry Princess, I’ll figure things out.” “Thank you, Twilight…” Celestia sighed with a bit of relief. As Twilight is heading towards Princess Luna’s room, many thoughts are going through her mind, If Princess Celestia is having these dreams, then they MUST be linked somehow to this… Lauren. But who is she…? Why am I having such a hard time remembering her!? If Princess Luna has been experiencing these same dreams, then maybe she can tell me what’s going on. As Twilight is thinking to herself, she is already in front of Luna’s room. When she knocks on the door, there is no response. “Princess Luna?” Twilight called out, but still no answer; so Twilight just decide to enter her room, and what she saw terrified her. ~~~~~~~~~ “Thanks for coming by Tara.” Lauren said opening the door for her friend. “Anytime Lauren. Besides, after the way you’ve been acting, I think you need some company.” Tara said with a grin. “So how have you been doing Tara; anything new with that other show you’ve been on? Uh… Big Time Rush?” Lauren asked. “Nothing new at the moment with them. Besides, there were only a few scenes in the Palm woods school.” “Yeah I know, but I still think it’s pretty cool that you got to work with them.” “Okay, I think we’re getting a little off topic here.” Tara said with a serious tone. “We need to talk about these dreams that you’ve been having.” “Right, sorry…” Lauren said looking down. “These dreams have been happening for a while now… and every time I have it, the more I wonder if it was a dream or not.” “Well… has anything strange happened lately?” Tara asked a little concerned. “Actually… things have be-…” Lauren was cut off as she heard that voice again… This is for all the damage you have caused me and everyone here in Equestria! For your heinous crimes against Equestria's royalty, my daughters and myself, I bring your well-deserved penance to you! “Nng!” Lauren yelled holding her head. “Lauren, what’s the matter??” “That same voice, I just heard it again!” Lauren said rubbing her head. “Why do I keep hearing this voice?” “Well do you know who the voice is coming from?” Lauren paused; she didn’t want to say that it was her own voice that she heard, If I tell her it was my voice, then she’ll think that I’m making this whole thing up for sure… but how can I get her to believe me? “I-… I’m not sure; I’ve never heard this voice before…” “Hmm…” Tara said thinking to herself. “Alright, I want you to go to sleep, and when you do, try to remember everything you see.” “What will that do?” “I just want to see if you’ll have the same dream twice.” “Tara, I’m positive that it’s going to be the same dream again…” “How do you know that if you don’t try?” “We don’t have to, because I KNOW it’s gonna happen; it’s been happening every night!” “Lauren, just do it; maybe it’ll be different during the day.” Lauren finally gave in and said “Alright… we’ll try it; I mean it’s not like it can get any weirder.” And after those words, Lauren went to her couch to lie down and sleep I really hope this works… ……. “Ugh… where am I?” Lauren said as her dream came into focus. She noticed that everything was white. There was nothing to be seen for miles. What kind of dream is this? There’s nothing here! But as Lauren kept looking, she saw a figure in the distance. She couldn’t tell what or who it was at first, but as it got closer, she started to see the shape of the figure. She saw that it was the Alicorn OC that she had created. It was the only thing in sight. This is strange… this is different from the other dreams. “Hey! Who are you?” The Alicorn OC chuckled “I am you.” A/N Aren’t Cliffhangers just great? Anyway, in the next chapter we will see what happened with Twilight and Luna. For now; UnleashedTwilight signing off!