//------------------------------// // Things Fall Apart // Story: Out of my Element // by TheLostwriter //------------------------------// Out of My Element Chapter 5: Things fall apart It had been two weeks since the trip to Canterlot, I had quite a bit of free time due to the fact that most of the ponies I had met since my arrival were busy. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie where taking care of Fluttershy. After our return from Canterlot  there had been quite an uproar about the yellow pegasus using something called the 'stare' to cause the animals she took care of to love her. I was told this was extremely out of character for her. Twilight was busy reading through every book she could lay her hands on, Rarity was busy modifying any scrap of clothing for 'one of the richest ponies in the country,' and the Apple family was busy apple bucking. In my free time I had been working on the crown and harness that Jack had designed. From reading over the schematics it was suppose to tap into the mind through two nodes that rested on the temples and two contacts that pierced the skin and sat on either side of the spinal cord. The harness would attach to the crown but the crown could be used separately. The notes also gave me instructions on the basics of magic craft in this world. It seemed that it was a combination of alchemy, knowing how things work, and the Green Lanterns ring. So in theory if I could figure out how it would work and picture it in my head the harness would do the rest, again in theory. I was at a point in their construction that I would need someone with magic to help me finish it off, same with the repairs on the wagon. I was bored, I needed help, and all the ponies I could trust were all busy. I could go ask Rarity since she was use to manipulating fine, and delicate materials but she had been making a fuss over using me to get her name out and it was disturbing. But given that the only other magic user was greedily devouring every book she could find made Twilight an even less valid option. I shook my head and decided to put the parts in one of my saddle bags, I had become obsessed with finishing this project, so off to the boutique. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Celestia had been observing the nightmares of her protégé and her friends. They had all been disturbing to some degree, and from the letters that she had received the dreams were affecting them more than they realized. Part of her wanted to block these dreams from the ponies but she knew they needed to continue so she could see the dreams and let the last pieces to fall into place. Another part of her wanted to contact Discord again, to discuss more of what he knew. Every time she passed the garden she would pause and check the statue, why was he always on her mind these days? He was affecting her like the idea of Nightmare's return was bothering Luna, well no that's not right, she thought, Luna is terrified of Nightmare, I'm just dreading what feels like an inevitable discourse with Discord. Celestia sat her eyes pinched together as she remembered one of her dreams, the battle with the mountain sized abomination. She had woken when it turned out that not even the combined might of three divine and the six remaining elder worms could not slow it down. It behaved as if it hadn't noticed there attacks. Every strike caused massive drops of liquid that became ether the creatures dubbed uglies or the black flame. If she tried to concentrate on the abominations appearance it was never clear, always hazy. The general feel was of a great sea beast come to land with innumerable tentacles of varying lengths, if she focused on the memory for a better view her mind would begin to itch until it was unbearable and she would have to stop.            This would be a problem, if Discord was right, and there were only three choices, the best one was stop it from arriving, but how. Normally, she would give the task of researching this to Twilight but she felt that that little pony was already spending too much time in books already. I guess it's off to the library then she thought as she started to leave the castle. "Sister wait I, I still, I'm not comfortable here without you right now," said Luna as she came trotting up beside her older sister. "I know you’re busy but would it be a problem if I came along," she asked. Celestia could see the regret in her sister’s eyes as she asked permission to tag along. She smiled at her and replied with a soothing smile saying "of course you can Luna, you are free to do as you wish but I would appreciate the company." The two ponies left the castle headed towards the library, along with a light escort of guards. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I walked into the Carousel Boutique, and let my eyes adjust to the light, it was odd only recently had Rarity started to keep her boutique this dim. "Hello," I called out into the darkness. I heard a door open on the second floor and then Rarity's voice as she said "Just a moment," then in a barely audible tone  "now stay here Opalescence, once Steel's cloths are gone you can come out." I finally caught sight of the white unicorn as she came down the stairs.   I smiled as she came down to the first floor and said "howdy" once she was fully in view. "Oh Steel, are you here to pick up your clothes? Since I found out you're allergic to her I've kept Opal in a different part of the boutique," she said as she walked over. "Uh, yeah I can pick those up, but I came here because I needed help finishing a project," I then pulled the crown out of my saddlebag and placed it on the counter. "Ugh, what is this," she asked, taken aback by the circlet now sitting on her counter. "It's one of the things Jack designed for me. I'm at a point that I need someone with magic to help me to finish it." "Yes, what is it for though?" "You remember me asking about Potestatum Gems? This circlet can use thirteen of them to simulate magic. It needs two to function correctly. One goes in the back to power the whole rig and the rest fit in one of the twelve slots on the rotating band. However I need to finish this before I go looking for any gems." I dug around in the saddlebags and pulled out the rest of the circlet pieces and the reader. I placed everything on the counter, then brought the schematics up on the reader and passed it over to the unicorn. "So do you think you can do it?" She eyed the device and said, "I'm not sure what all this,” she gestured at the reader's screen “means, but I will give it a try if you will help." I nodded my head signaling that I would help. Everyone had noticed that Rarity's mood improved when I was around. I however was doing my best not to give any untoward signals. I knew that if I ever wanted a family it would end up being with one of these ponies but in my mind I was still human, and it was hard even with the new body to think of myself in any other way. "Okay, yeah, when do you think we can work on it then?" "Oh, now's fine it seems no one is interested in my work as of late, I have no idea why, it is rather depressing," she said with a sigh. She then walked over beside me, standing close enough to make me feel awkward, and with a smile said, "So where do we start. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Decimal had finally, after several weeks gotten the spell craft wing back in shape after the literary rampage it had suffered under the purple unicorn. He smiled to himself, when the chief librarian returned from his vacation the next day he will be very impressed with his work. If he is impressed enough Decimal might just get a promotion to be the manager for an entire wing, with his own assistant. He began to hum as he cleaned the receiving desk; his heart was swelling with pride at a job well done. He lifted his head when he heard the sound of someone approaching and when he laid eyes on them his jaw dropped to the floor a little faster than his head as he fell into a bow. Both princesses were walking into his wing, usually they just sent a runner, but why would they come in person, and why would they come to his research wing. "Excuse me, is anyone here?" he heard Celestia call, and he realized that he was bowing behind the desk. "Oh, I am, I mean, your majesty yes I am, well I," he continued to fumble with his words until the princes cut him off. "I'm here to find any theoretical books you have on alternate dimensions," she asked in a kind tone. The two sisters selected their books, set them on one of the study tables and began to look through the pile of tomes. The librarian stood nearby checking to make sure he didn't need to fetch the two princesses anything. He was also constantly reminding them that they could check as many books out as they wanted and take them back to the castle. They ignored most of his comments only requesting that he bring some tea at one point. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I had been in the boutique for most of the day, after explaining the schematics to Rarity. She quickly set to work only stopping to check that she was reading the pattern correctly. As lunchtime came around I asked her if she wanted to go grab anything. She had said she was in the groove but asked if I could pick something up for her, and that's how I found myself in the ‘to go’ line at the Ponyville Cafe. After I picked the order I took my time walking back to Rarity's when I heard a voice from above. "Hey Steel, how’s it going," asked a cyan pegasus as she landed beside me. "Not much, Rarity is helping me finish a project." "That's cool," she said nodding her head and keeping pace with me. After an uncomfortable silence I asked, "So how's Fluttershy?" "Not bad, not bad she doing better, it took her a little while but she calmed down and is mostly back to her old self. "She was silent for a little while and then said, "Steel I know you haven't been here that long, but I need your opinion. Have you noticed everyone acting weird?" "Yes and no, I don't how you all usually behave, but if I had to guess everyone is acting depressed. Well except for AJ she is doing fine, and you, you don't seem different." "I feel different, the only reason I don't just curl up and take a nap, are the feelings I have, to help others, and the dreams." The volume of her voice fell as she said the last part, almost to the point where I couldn't hear it. I slowed and looked at her, "Dreams? Can you describe the dreams," I asked, I could feel the concern on my face. Applejack had been having dreams, she didn't talk about them but I could tell they disturbed her but she never said anything. Big Mac had said it was just her pride showing and he kept trying to rein her in a little before she ended up in over her head. "The memories don't stay long but they leave a feeling, afterward I feel like nothing I do is worth it. It's all for not, and I just want to sleep, but I can't." She appeared shaken, which was an odd thing for such a confident pony. "I remember two things a huge mountain sized monster and black fire." I froze mid stride, "black fire," I muttered, "was it a greasy looking flame?" "You've seen it too," she said, her eyes meeting mine. "Yes, it's been in my dreams since I woke up here," I looked at the ground as I said this, then looked up, "do you think everyone else is having similar dreams?" "I don't know, we could ask?" "Who thought, it would need to be someone who is in general more stable, I don't want to cause Fluttershy to relapse." "And Twilight would write to the princess before we figure anything out," she said holding a hoof up to her chin in a thinking position. "Applejack is too prideful to admit having a problem," I added. "So that leaves Pinkie and Rarity." "Yeah, why don't you go ask Pinkie and I'll talk to Rarity, and then we can meet up and compare notes?" Rainbow nodded again and said “I’ll do that,” a weak smile spread across her face as she continued, “ as long as I have something to do, something important I can keep going.” She peeled off from my path walking towards Sugarcube Corner.   I continued back to Rarity’s and stopped at the front door. I tried to calm down and steeled myself, if true this was going to become a problem.  I took a deep breath, opened the door and shouted “Food’s here.”  I waited but there was no answer, “Rarity,” I called out with no answer.  “Hey Rare where are you?” Still no answer, I set the food down on the counter and slowly walked through the boutique. Eventually I heard some a noise coming from upstairs so I walked up slowly; only one room had a light on. The door was cracked slightly and I could see the white unicorn in the room, she was lying on a lounger, brushing her cat’s hair. “Oh Opal what to do, what to do, if I finish all the work for him he won’t need me anymore. If he goes away I will just be a little backwoods designer that no one cares about. It’s so unfair Applejack, Twilight, Pinkie, even Fluttershy have reached their goals in life. Rainbow Dash is the only one who hasn’t fulfilled her goal and that’s only a matter of time she has the talent.” My mouth was dry as I backed away from the door and headed down the stairs. Halfway down I turned around and called “Rarity, are you up there?” “Just a moment dear, I’ll be down in a second.” I backed my way back down the stairs and waited for her to come down. When she did she was smiling and back to her usual self. “Your foods here,” I said gesturing towards the counter.  “Why thank you Steel,” she said. Nothing in her manner had changed but I was now attempting to read into everything she did. I was seeing measured words, desperation, depression and fear, but I couldn’t tell if I just was expecting those or not. “So how goes construction of the circlet,” I asked trying to keep my voice normal. “I’m finished with it,” she held it up as she spoke. She smiled and continued speaking, “Now that we’re done, what are you going to do?” “Well,” I paused how was I going to go about this, I felt like I might be in a minefield, one wrong move and boom. “Rarity I have been here for a while and I have either been told or figured out what a pony’s special talent is. However I haven’t figured yours out.” I had been told by Spike she was an expert in finding gemstones. I just needed a way to get a conversation started and moving in a direction I could control. “Well, my talent is working with gemstones, finding them, lapidary, and mounting them,” she said holding one hove to her chest as if to indicate who she was talking about. “Ah, so you could help me find some Potestatum Gems?” Her eyes widened and pupils narrowed, but she did not answer for quite some time. I wished I could read minds so I could view the internal battle, I gave her what she wished for a reason for me to be around her, and something she could help me with. The other side of the argument would be the legality of looking for the gemstones. “I’ll do it,” she finally said, “I’ll help you look and I know a few places we can search. I also think I can get Spike to help, if my ideas don’t pan out.” I smiled now that I had given her something to look forward to I needed bring up the dream, but how this is the part I had been dreading. As I thought, I continued to make small talk with Rarity, and wondered how Rainbow was doing with Pinkie. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------           “Hey Pinkie, what’s up,” Rainbow said as she walked into Sugarcube Corner. Pinkie looked up from a cake that she was in the middle of devouring, “Oh hi Dash,” she paused then cocked her head to the side “Are you okay?” “No Pinkie, I’m not. I’ve been having a nightmare that will not go away.” “That too bad,” replied Pinkie between bites of cake. Rainbow looked at her friend she had been steadily putting on weight, it had been first noticeable when they had gone out to Fluttershy’s a few weeks earlier. Now she wondered if the necklace of laughter would fit around the pink earth pony’s neck. Rainbow shook her head she wasn’t use to talking about her feelings, her problems. Usually she hid them behind her confidence and it never caused her problems. Only a few times had her emotions overwhelmed her, and she was not going to let it happen now. Taking a deep breath she asked “can I talk to you about it,” she had to admit it was an unusual request for her. “Yeah, okay let’s hear about this dream,” answered Pinkie spraying crumbs as she spoke. The cyan pegusus rubbed one front leg across the other as she spoke, “Well the dreams I don’t remember much but they bothered me. I remember a huge monster and black fire.” Pinkie stopped cramming her face with cake as soon as the monster was mentioned. She cleared her throat and said in a measured tone with more seriousness in her eyes than Rainbow had ever seen, “Who knows the end? What has risen may sink, and what has sunk may rise. Loathsomeness waits and dreams in the deep, and decay spreads over the tottering cities of the land.”   “What?” asked Rainbow Dash with a half smile. “What?” replied Pinkie Pie. “Pinkie at least you’re still random,” just being in her friend’s presents was enough to lighten Rainbows mood. “Do you remember the uglies,” asked the pink earth pony in an absent minded way as she went back to eating. That one question caused the pegasus’s mood to crash. It brought back more memories from the dreams everyone had been slightly different but no matter what her actions where she always ended up as the last Wonderbolt. The flood of these memories caused her legs to wobble and she collapsed to the floor. Pinkie her attention focused on the cake said, “Dashie are you alright? Don’t think you’re going to get any sympathy cake from me this is all mine.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I had finally decided how to bring up the topic of the dreams with Rarity. I was just going to tell the truth. “Hey Rare, I feel I need to ask you a question.” “Yes,” she replied, she was facing a rack full of clothes, but her eyes moved to look at me and she wore a half smile. “I have been having some odd dreams since coming here.” “Yes,” her reply was slightly more frantic, and her eyes opened wider. There was an odd sort of energy behind them. Her reactions were starting to make me feel very uncomfortable. “Uh, well,” I kicked the floor, “I ran into Rainbow Dash on the way back from getting lunch and we have been having similar dreams.” “Oh,” her tone had changed, it sounded very disappointed, and she turned so her back was towards me. “What did Rainbow have to say?” “Well there was one similar thing between our dreams. They both had black flame in them and Rainbow said something about a mountain sized monster.” She was silent for a little while and then spoke softly, “I have had similar nightmares, and in them the world is ending. You, Twilight and Fluttershy are all dead, I don’t know how. The black flame and the monster are present in all of them. I don’t remember much else.” “Okay,"I didn't know what to say to that so I continued to tell her the plan, "well Rainbow is checking on Pinky right now and is going to come over once she’s done.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   Celestia groaned in frustration, and let her head sag. She was no longer hopeful to figure out a solution. She closed the mammoth tome she had been reading and looked at her sister. Luna had her head resting on the table. She was magically holding a book upside down absentmindedly flipping the pages a faint glow on her horn and the book pages. “Sister I think we have learned all we can for today. I fell it would be best to leave and relax back at the castle.” Luna smiled and rolled her eyes up to look at her sister, the aura surrounding her horn dissipated and the book fell into her face. She lifted one hoof to lift one side of the book off her face, “I think that would be a good idea sister.” Celestia laughed and the two alicorns left the spell craft annex. Decimal however was stunned if he thought the rampage of the purple unicorn was a disaster of unparalleled disorganization, this, this, he just did not know. He stood there unmoving surveying his precious little section of the library. Well over half the books had been removed by the princesses and he knew they had brought several other volumes in from other sections. There was no way he would be able to clean and organize the annex by the time the chief librarian returns. As he stood there a single tear started running down his face. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Rarity and I had spent most the afternoon talking; it was like talking to a bi-polar yo-yo. Sometimes she was almost back to the pony I had met the first week here, and at other times she was almost clinically depressed. Eventually Rainbow arrived and behind her was a rotund pink blob of cotton candy that had once been an energetic earth pony. The Pegasus gave a half hearted smile as she held the door open for the wheezing Pinkie Pie to enter. “I am out of shape,” moaned Pinkie and she sat down gasping for air. “That is understatement,” I said my brows furrowed, “What happened to you?” Pinkie looked up at me with an expression of either anger or frustration, I couldn’t tell which or maybe both. “I don’t know what happened or why, but I just started to focus on the food part of parties. If food is the point of the party and not the friends why invite them.” Like her face the voice was a whirlwind of emotions I detected sadness, anger, disappointment, regret and several others. I did not hear any of the positive inflections that I usually expected from her. “I’m sorry Pinkie I was rude,” I said after my brain finally processed enough to truly realize just what I had said. I looked over at Rainbow her eyes were bloodshot and her fur below her eyes was tear matted. “I take it you both recognized things.” She nodded but stayed quiet. “Rarity has seen things as well,” I said as I swung my eyes back to the white unicorn. “Do you want to talk about it?” She took a cautious step forward and said, “In my dreams, Canterlot has been destroyed and Equestria is in ruins. I had no purpose anymore and I couldn’t find Sweetie Belle anywhere.” She looked at the floor silent for several seconds before continuing, “I remember that we lost Twilight, and Fluttershy, defending the town from the monster. Every dream is different but the major points are the same.” She was shaking. It wasn’t obvious but her whole body shook just slightly. She took one large ragged breath and cried out, “they took her. They keep taking her, my Sweetie Belle, my sister. Those ugly things, I’ve seen her eaten, dropped, ripped apart, I’m sorry Dash the Wonderbolts they tried to save her but it didn’t work.” Rainbow froze, I didn’t think it was possible for a fur covered creature, pony or not, to have the color drain from their face. When she spoke it was slow and deliberate, “it was six nights ago wasn’t it. You were trapped in here and had given the uglies a beating, but it wasn’t enough. Spitfire and I came in, Soarin’ and the others stayed outside covering the exits. We found the store full of dead uglies and you were losing the fight upstairs. Spitfire saved you and Sweetie Belle but she was thrown out the window.” Rainbow paused just long enough for Rarity to start in. “You and the Wonderbolts outside fought them off but one grabbed Sweetie, and it, with its claws.”  Seemingly unending tears flowed from Rarities eyes and she choked on her words. “It was like that dog face donkey bucker, did it for fun of it,” Rainbow muttered loudly through clinched teeth. “This is amazing,” I said with wide eyes. The three mares looked at me with disgust at what I said, “No, no, no, no, you sharing the dream, that is amazing, I wonder if. No never mind, more importantly I wonder why I haven’t had any dreams like that.” “Well, you’re dead, when all these dreams are taking place. If you’re already dead, why would you remember?” Pinkie smiled as she spoke. At least some of her original self was buried in there. “Is this the future,” asked Rainbow shaking her head. “I don’t think it’s possible to predict the future,” I looked a Pinkie Pie as I said this, “well at least not that far away. Didn’t you say they change they’re not all the same so even if it is it’s not set in stone.” “If it is the future why even try,” you could hear the sound of surrender in Rainbows voice. “There are things that are always the same,” she looked at me her eyes focused with an emotion I could not read. “You, Twilight, and Fluttershy are dead, I become a Wonderbolt and they all die.” “As does Sweetie Belle,” added Rarity in a barely audible whisper. “And there are no more parties,” grumbled Pinkie showing the most anger of the three. “And if it’s not the future why give up for no reason,” I replied slightly sharper than I intended. “Oh yeah,” snapped Rainbow Dash her eyes flashing with anger. “Who are you to say, according to you, you haven’t had any of these dreams, and they started about the time you showed up. Who’s to say you’re not the cause.” I shrunk from the approaching cyan storm in front of me. “I, well, I don’t,” I stumbled over my words as I looked for a way to escape. “Guys, or gals, I have nothing to do with this I haven’t had any real,” I paused an idea hit me as I spoke, “dreams.” My gaze shifted away from the angry pegasus and on to Rarity, “Is there magic that can affect dreams?” The unicorn looked puzzled, “yes, you don’t think someone is doing this on purpose do you, torturing us in our dreams.” “No I’m thinking, it was done to me. When I was talking to Celestia that first night out of the hospital I told her about my dream. She did something to me, touched my forehead, there was a bright light, and she said something about sleeping easier.” “You don’t think she,” Rarity started to ask. I cut her off by saying, “never mind why, can’t you scan me or something and see if you find anything.”   Rarity’s horn glowed and my whole body felt warm. It was like someone was just barely touching me, across my whole body. The glow on her horn disappeared, followed by the warmth, and the chill that replaced the warmth caused me to shiver. “Why,” muttered Rarity to herself, “Why would she protect you and ignore the rest of us.” “I don’t know but I want you to remove the protection.” The unicorn looked up at me and simply asked “why?” “I can’t do anything as it is but I need to be able to have the dreams if I want to try something.” Rainbow laughed, “You’re being stupid, why would you give up a peaceful night’s sleep to become like us.” “If you think I’m scared you’re right I’m terrified. However I feel that I have to. I need to know if the dreams are related to me or if it just a coincidence and something is targeting you guys the elements.” I looked across the three ponies present and as I spoke I could feel the emotional weight on my face. “Just do it I have an idea but I need you to do this first.” “Very well” Rarity said with a sigh as she closed her eyes to concentrate. Her horn was shrouded in light as she leaned forward and touched my forehead with it. There was a sudden sharp pain where her horn met my skull followed by a feeling like something just inside my skin was being drawn out. It was like part of me from my furthest appendages to the deep recesses of my mind was being uncovered, like a sheet that was being slowly pulled off of a bed.  Soon I could feel pressure building up in my joints and along my back. As the, whatever it was that was being pulled out of me, passed them the joints popped. A wave of dizziness preceded and followed its passing as it was pulled up my neck and eventually out of my body. I staggered back collapsing due to a lack of coordination, and muscles that refused to listen. The world was swimming as I lifted my head off the floor and opened my eyes. Before my sense of balance told me it was a bad idea I saw Rarity staggering back eyes still pinched shut. “Oh, I need to sit down,” I could hear the unicorn say as she staggered around, “I need to sit down.” I dared not lift my head for fear of my body rebelling, I felt like I had just had my spine ripped out through my nose. “Are you alright,” I struggled to ask. “Yes, I will be, I just used too much magic to fast.” I remembered Twilight talking about this sort of thing she called it a back blast. From what I had been told it was like an ice cream headache, it happens when too much magic was flowing and then suddenly got cut off. Twilight had said there were two ways to deal with it. The most dangerous and most frequent way was also the most natural and that solution was to suffer through it. In the usual cases it was no big deal because most unicorns didn’t use large quantities of magic. The safest method was to cast a second spell and slowly ease off, but most unicorns are too occupied with the sudden extreme headache to think that much through. It took quite some time for both Rarity and I to recover but we did and the four of us gathered around the kitchen table to continue our discussion. “So what was your plan,” asked Rainbow with a yawn, I could see that even with her sense of loyalty as her drive she was succumbing to her unnatural need to sleep. “I was thinking that if when we dream, ours, well at least your dreams might be linked. If we can remember that we are in a dream and look for the others. Once we find them we can then investigate the dream world. If it’s true we will be linked and we can confirm it when we wake up.  If that’s true I think that would be when we contact the princess.” My idea sounded stupid once I said it out loud but it was an idea nonetheless. “I like it,” said Pinkie in an exuberant tone, “meeting up in a dream would be cool, and maybe I could show you some really cool party ideas in mine.” Rarity and Rainbow just shook their heads. Eventually Rainbow said “It’s worth a try,” and Rarity muttered an agreement. “Alright then, I guess were set then, unless anyone has a better idea.” I looked at the other ponies “No? Nut’s I was hoping, well anyway try to just meet us in the dream. I doubt anyone else will believe we are testing this idea and heck we might not believe it either once the dream starts.” It was early afternoon and we all agreed that if possible we should test the idea as soon as we could. Rarity made her extra rooms available to us. Once we divided up and she and I were alone she offered sharing her bed which I awkwardly and graciously declined. I found the bed I was to use in one of the back rooms and lay down to sleep. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As soon as Pinkie woke into the dream she knew something was different. Ponyville still stood and the population was calm and relaxed, in fact there seemed to be more ponies in town than normal. Pinkie closed her eyes tight it sure felt like the vision dreams, and it was definitely not strange or random enough to be her usually uninfluenced dreams. She knew she needed to find Rainbow, or Rarity, or someone, she couldn’t remember. The dream was starting to supplant her memories with the ones for the dream and that meant she had to hurry. She bolted out from Sugarcube Corner towards Rarity’s boutique. Once outside she had to pause Ponyville was no longer the town she remembered. It was now a city with huge towers. Posters with images made of only three colors hung on walls with slogans like ‘We Gotta Do what We Gotta Do,’ and ‘Survive Today for a Better Tomorrow.’ Most had all three pony types working together, however a few disturbed her greatly. Those few featured a harsh looking Steel, his eyes looking downward upon the street. They wore slogans that struck Pinkie as oppressive, ‘Survival requires Order,’ and ‘Survival is Key,” where among the most frequently found. The one that bothered her the most had nine faces on it in a three by three square, her face as well as her friends were on the bottom two rows. The top row had Steel in the center and the two princesses on either side, everypony’s eyes were looking forward except Steels his eyes were watching. Pinkie swallowed, a shiver shook her body, it reminded her of a Pinkie sense twitch, and her heart sank. Ever since these dreams had started there hadn’t been any twitchy. She sighed loudly. She wanted some cake, cake made her feel better.  No, no, no, she thought, I need to find Rarity. She glanced around trying to find her bearing, and then she bolted towards where she thought she would find the boutique. Eventually Pinkie found the Carousel Boutique and Spa, it was a larger building than she remembered. It was larger than any building in waking Ponyville, but here it was on the small side of average. A glowing red and blue sign in a window by the door that read ‘Open.’ She eased the door open and found the floor covered in clothing racks, with small isles between them. On closer inspection the cloths were divided between summer and winter styles. In the center of the building was a large glass tube with a spiral staircase coiled around it leading to the second floor. In between the door and the stairs was a glass counter housing several perfume bottles, makeup, and jewelry. Behind the counter was a young unicorn in a long white coat, almost a lab coat. She wasn’t looking at Pinkie, but looking back through the store as if waiting for someone. “Look darling, Mommy doesn’t care what you think. I built this place, on my own, I did the favors, and I earned the contacts. So when I say that is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard, I mean it.” Pinkie could easily make out Rarity’s voice from the jungle of cloths, the other voice she didn’t recognize. However it was obvious the other voice was male. “But Lady Rarity it was only a suggestion.” “You foolish little idiot, the only reason you hadn’t been cast out into the wilds is your ability to charge those stones.” Rarity was speaking to the other voices owner like she spoke to Opal, “Now be a good little lackey and be silent!” She emphasized the last word. Rarity walked into view, she looked older like a mare who had hit her prime five years ago. Her skin no longer fit her body quite right and her mane was lightly streaked with gray, giving her a beautiful but refined look. “Big Sis,” said the unicorn behind the counter. Pinkie’s jaw dropped when she realized who the young unicorn was. “Sweetie Belle how goes sales. Do you need somepony to restock for you?” Rarity turned her head and gestured for her follower to step forward. Pinkie’s jaw continued to drop. Rarity’s right eye was a foggy blue and had four scars that crossed the eye from brow to cheek. The unicorn Rarity had been talking to staggered into view, this time Pinkie was sure her jaw had broken with how far it fell. It was Blueblood, his eyes were on the floor, his mane cut short, and he still wore a version of his trademark vest. There was something wrong with him, and finally Pinkie realized what it was, he was broken, body, mind, and soul.   “I don’t need any help right now, today hasn’t been busy, but he could start with inventory,” said Sweetie Belle answering her sister’s question. “You heard her, get on it,” Rarity commanded as if talking to a stray dog. She then looked up at her sister, “I don’t know where to go, and everything I come up with is just a rehash of last year’s fashion. I need something new.” Pinkie began to move and her movement caught Rarity’s eye. The unicorn looked up at her pink friend and her eyes widened. “Idea,” she sang as a sharp smile spread over her face. Pinkie had never felt as nervous as she felt now facing that smile, she wanted to run but the best she could do was hide her feelings with a weak smile of her own. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rarity grumbled to herself, for twenty years she had been on top of the fashion world. If she hadn’t been so eager to help Steel she wouldn’t have gotten here. She knew she had been used, but only a fool is used without any benefit. Yes she had been one of his mistresses but unlike most she used him to build her empire just as much as she was used for his desires. She still held some favor in his court seeing as she and Sweetie Belle didn’t have a Potestatum ring on their horn. Unlike the useless creature in front of her, Blueblood she snarled at the thought of his name. She had long ago forgiven him for the gala fiasco. However his behavior since the quarantine had been enacted was inexcusable. In this time of rationing he should have known that demanding his former luxuries would be hazardous at best. No, he decided to challenge Steel for power and this was the result. He was broken, but he was lucky most would have been exiled for his transgressions, or publicly tortured. He could fill six or eight Potestatum gems a day, when combined with the other unicorns that ensured the defense screens stayed active. She sighed and thought, luxury items. If it wasn’t that her work was deemed good for moral she and her sister would have been given two choices join the defense forces, or wear a ring. Blueblood was groveling in front of her begging for forgiveness, he had known she was searching for new ideas and had thrown her an idea. This was something she had been told to stop as soon as he showed imitative it was a problem. Initiative meant he was thinking for himself and had recovered some self confidence. It was her job to squash this in him for his own good if he returned to his former self he would be exiled and that was a death sentence the world outside of the barrier took care of that. “Look darling, Mommy doesn’t care what you think,” she winced a little as she spoke, Mommy, really you need to be careful how often you use that term, she thought as she continued to speak.  “I built this place, on my own, I did the favors, and I earned the contacts. So when I say that is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard, I mean it.” She used a harsh tone that she hadn’t used since Sweetie Belle was a little filly. “But Lady Rarity it was only a suggestion,” he said fear filling his eyes as he stared at her. “You foolish little idiot,” she almost laughed it felt good to see the idiot cower. “The only reason you hadn’t been cast out into the wilds is your ability to charge those stones. Now be a good little lackey and be silent,” She emphasized the last word and finished with a growl. Blueblood dropped to the floor covering his eyes with his front hooves, his whole body a quivering, shaking mass. Rarity sighed and tossed her head throwing her mane to the side. She needed to find some boring tedious work for him to do, so she walked up front to check on her sister. Once Rarity walked into line of sight for Sweetie Belle, the younger sister smiled and said, “Big sis.” Rarity returned the smile and said “Sweetie Belle how goes sales. Do you need somepony to restock for you?” The aged unicorn gave Blueblood an angry stare as she spoke. The younger thought for a moment and said “I don’t need any help right now, today hasn’t been busy, but he could start with inventory.” “You heard her, get on it,” Rarity barked the order at the submissive stallion. After he walked off she looked at her younger sister, worry was on her face as she spoke, “I don’t know where to go, and everything I come up with is just a rehash of last year’s fashion. I need something new.” Sweetie Belle sighed and began to formulate one of her usual encouragement phrases but was cut off by Rarity singing, “Idea” in a way Sweetie hadn’t heard since she was a filly. She followed her sister’s gaze and barely recognized Pinkamena. The double blast of nostalgia tugged at Sweetie Belle’s heart, the pink pony looked like a chubby Pinkie Pie, rather than the constantly depressing Pinkamena. “Diane, it’s good to see you, how is work at the Bureau?” asked Rarity as she cautiously approached her old friend. Bureau, Pinkie had to search the dream memories. She was the Director of Information at the Bureau of Cooperation. It was an innocent name that hid its purpose. Her job was to find ponies that were being subversive, stop them and find out who they were associated with. Once the door was opened images flooded into her mind. Images of torture and mutilation, the images were disturbing and made only worse by the fact that she was the one causing pain in all of them. Pinkie felt like she was going to be sick but held the feeling off and said, “No today I’m here on a social call.” Rarity’s face didn’t change it was like she didn’t care about Pinkies answer, she just stared at the pink pony. Eventually she asked, “What did you do to your mane,” she shook her head and continued, “The retro look is out this year.” “It’s always like this,” the pink pony answered lifting her pink mane with a hoof as if testing its weight. “Dear me, the work you have to do to flatten that mess out,” the unicorn said with a smile. “Now just follow Mommy and I’ll fix you up,” she gestured for pinkie to follow.” Pinkie raised an eyebrow and said, “Mommy,” in a questioning tone. “Yes, Mommy, since I am long past any chance I had for my own children I have adopted everyone as my child,” she looked over her shoulder with a smile. She then looked at her sister, “Sweetie Belle you really should wear a shorter coat, it hides your cutie mark.” “But Rare it’s,” the young unicorn scrunched her face up as she spoke, “so ugly.” Rarity continued to walk past her sister and said, “If you ever want a foal you’re going to need to find yourself a good stallion, and it wouldn’t hurt to show off the goods. Sweetie Belle gasped as she said her sister’s name with contempt. Rarity just smile and said, “I think it’s wonderful that you still have your innocence in this world,” as she stepped into the glass tube. “Come on Diane let’s go.” Pinkie continued to wear her nervous smile as she entered the tube. Rarity closed her eyes and her horn began to glow. The floor in the tube was enveloped in an energy field that matched the glow on her friend's horn, and then slowly it began to rise. It rose past the second floor, and up into the third, fourth, and finally it came to a stop on the fifth. The tube opened up into a large empty dark room. Rarity shifted and Pinkie heard the platform lock in place. The unicorn relaxed and let the magical glow fade as she stepped into the darkness. Squinting her eyes, Pinkie looked around trying to make out the details of the room. The lights clicked on and Pinkie realized the room’s layout was the same as the old boutique. Rarity was standing off to the side, she had drug a lounger over and was looking back at her guest. “Welcome to my private sanctum,” she said with a warm easy smile. “Would you like some tea?” Pinkie smiled and nodded. The unicorn’s horn began to glow and a table, along with a tea set was drug over. “Now what is this personal matter?” Her eyes brightened and she asked, “Do you have another toy for me to play with,” with a toothy grin. Pinkie thought for a moment, the dream memories came back and she saw both her and Rarity having a torture party. The unicorn was having fun, laughing as she gave pain with generous lashings. Pinkie’s heart fell, her hair almost followed suit. The only reason she hadn’t collapsed into tears was she knew this was a dream. “Not this time, I feel lost and I need to talk.” “Oh darling, Mommy’s here for you,” Rarity smiled the warm friendly smile was back. She had climbed into the lounger and was sipping her tea waiting for her friend to continue. “I have been having a feeling like this is all a bad dream.” The unicorn gave a slight laugh and said, “This isn’t just a bad dream, it’s a nightmare.” "I think it’s a real dream, Rainbow Dash, Steel and I all went to the boutique, and you fixed Steel so he could dream again. We all decided to meet up in the dreams to investigate what happened to cause this and to try to stop it.” Rarity wore a look of concern, “Diane I wouldn’t say that too loudly and not in public. A pony in your position should know better than to even bring it up.” “It doesn’t matter, this is all a dream,” Pinkie stamped her foot for emphasis. “I remember enough to know this is nothing like the dreams before you let Steel dream. For one thing Steel is still alive, so is Twilight and Fluttershy.” “Pinkamena, Please,” Rarity began to beg. “No,” Pinkie interrupted, “my name is Pinkie Pie now, I don’t go by Pinkamena, or Diane. You can call me Pinkie, or Pinkie Pie. Now,” she said with a snarl, “Get on your hooves and look in that mirror.” Rarity slowly put the cup to the side and climbed off the lounger, this was a side of Pinkamena she didn't want to cross. The things the pink devil of the bureau did to ponies. They were enough to make some admit wrong doings just to avoid the torture. “Hurry up and look in the mirror,” Pinkie grumbled as she shoved the unicorn closer to the mirror. "Take that contact out and look at yourself.” Rarity pulled the blue lens off her eye and looked at herself in the mirror. She saw herself, her old self, young and pure, for just an instant. Then it became her now, her injured eye a ragged mess, hazy scar tissue distorted her vision. The contact was enchanted to fix that. Pinkie placed one hoof on either side of Rarity’s head forcing her to stare into her reflection. She began to talk in a calm but commanding tone, “Remember, before we went to sleep, you told Rainbow Dash that in every dream you had up to that point Sweetie Belle died. Remember, can you see any memories since this nightmare started that aren’t major ones, where are the day to day ones, the boring memories.” Finally she let go and as she backed away she whispered “remember,” into the unicorn’s ear. It was like a flash bulb went off in front of Rarity’s eyes. She stumbled back, there where two forces battling in her mind, part of her was afraid to look, the other to curious to look away. The curious side won out and she glanced up. As soon as her eyes crossed her reflection there was another flash, memories and knowledge flooded her mind. She had woken into the dream. She knew it for what it was. She looked up into the mirror, the knowledge of her dream self still present. Her stomach churned in disgust at what she had done. She felt like she was going to be sick, she was going to be sick. Pinkie turned away as Rarity emptied her stomach. Now to find Rainbow, she thought. She searched her dream memories Rainbow worked as the Wonderbolt commander. The Wonderbolts however were no longer an acrobatic and scout team, they were the enforcement arm of the Bureau of Cooperation. Pinkie turned back towards the ill unicorn to find her wiping the sick from her lips with a fetlock. Rarity gaze was still transfixed on her reflection tears were welling up in her one good eye. “Rarity, are you going to be okay?” “Okay, okay,” she cried, “I don’t think I’ll ever be okay again. The things I did the things I did for him.” A wealth of emotion bubbled up onto her face as she said, “For ten years he treated me like a slave,” she spat the last word, like the concept left a bad taste in her mouth. “Once we wake up I’ll throw you a thank Celestia it was a dream party. Right now we need to wake Rainbow before we try Steel.” Rarity looked at her pink friend and asked, “How are you, still you?” “It’s a dream,” Pinkie sang, “dreams can’t hurt you, they can teach you, they can be fun, and my dreams are usually stranger.” Pinkie hopped as she spoke, looking at her friends incredulous face. “Oh, cramp,” said Pinkie halfway through a hop, when she came down she crashed to the floor. Rarity smiled slightly at her friends antics. It reassured her that in the end she could recover from this. “So we need to find Rainbow now right, where is she?” “She’s going to be at the Bureau building she has an office there.”