//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 - Sleep Cycles // Story: The Pony That Never Was // by Scootareader //------------------------------// Enigma woke up on this day with a very specific goal in mind: She would find that muted brown stallion that could touch her when she was dreaming. She ensured all of her belongings were in their proper place and that nothing had changed since her last chance to interact with the world; when she was satisfied that all was as she'd left it, she set off to attempt something meaningful with her day. Ponies greeted her, sometimes asking her name, other times just saying hello, many of them ponies she'd already met. She would never get used to having to reintroduce herself every day. She couldn't spot the muted brown stallion, so she began asking around as to his whereabouts, citing that she was his sister and they were supposed to have met up in Ponyville by this time today. All of the ponies she asked simply shrugged and moved on with their days. Not a single pony had spotted this unremarkable stallion today, though they acknowledged he existed. Enigma found this a little difficult to swallow, especially seeing as he seemed the most real out of any of this. The sun was high in the sky before she called off the self-imposed search of this ghost stallion, deciding that if she saw him, she would be prepared to confront him. She decided to see what Twilight was up to today. Knock knock. “Yes? Oh, are you new in town?” “No, but nopony knows me.” “Ooookay...” Spike gave Enigma a pensive look before shutting the door briefly, opening it again to admit Enigma. “Try to keep from the weird comments, would ya?” Enigma nodded and entered Twilight's home. There were two guests, one of whom she was familiar with: Applejack, an orange pony with a blonde mane that had red hair ties holding it together and a well-used cowgirl hat. The other one was a yellow pony with a long pink mane. These two ponies and Twilight looked up from their afternoon tea to stare at Enigma. Twilight beamed happily at Enigma. “Hello, welcome to Ponyville! My name is Twilight Sparkle. How may I help you today?” “My name is Enigma.” “Oh, well, hello Enigma! It's nice to meet you! These are my friends Applejack and Fluttershy, and I'm sure they'd be happy to introduce themselves to you as well!” “I, um...” Enigma took a deep breath. “Miss Sparkle, may I speak with you in private for a few moments?” Twilight cast a bewildered glance at her friends before nodding in agreement and beckoning Enigma up to her loft. After they made it to the loft, Enigma explained the activities of the past several days: Her dreams where she didn't exist, ponies remembering the events of the dreams, and their inability to remember her the next day. She also talked about the muted brown stallion being the only pony that could interact with her. Twilight's face changed expressions many times throughout this explanation, and after Enigma had divulged all these details, she immediately said, “We have to take notes on this.” Enigma sighed. “You already did. You probably forgot where you put them. That's not important, anyway. I'm trying to find a way to get ponies to remember me for more than one day. I'm starting to think it's triggered by my sleep cycles. Do you think I could stay the night here with you to see what happens? I want to be woken up in the middle of the night to see if it will interrupt the process.” Twilight nodded vigorously. “Excellent researcher's instincts there! In the meantime, I'll introduce you to Applejack and Fluttershy.” Enigma went downstairs with Twilight to meet these two ponies, one new, the other already an acquaintance. Applejack approached her first. “Well, howdy there! Mah name's Applejack! Mah family and I run Sweet Apple Acres just outside 'a town.” Fluttershy spoke next, so quiet as to be almost imperceptible. “And, um... my name's Fluttershy. I, um... I care for animals.” Enigma shook both of their hooves. What followed was a short tea party amongst the four of them on the floor of the library. These four ponies seemed to get along quite well. Enigma decided to showcase her talent a little bit by giving the other ponies a riddle: Ponies like me being open with them, I can offer advice and teach you to fly, I'll help mares and stallions with dating, Or soothe you when you cry. What am I? Twilight immediately shot her hand up. “Ooh! Ooh!” Applejack scratched her head with a confused look on her face, and Fluttershy simply smiled politely, though she seemed to know something. Enigma pointed at Twilight, and she proclaimed, “A book!” After the tea party was over, Applejack and Fluttershy left and went to their respective homes, leaving Twilight and Enigma sitting together on the floor. Enigma pushed her cyan curls out of her face and looked at Twilight. “So, should I leave until tonight?” Twilight gave Enigma a concerned look. “You seem like a nice pony, Enigma. But you have to realize that all of this is a little difficult to take. If I'd seen you before, I'd have remembered you. What do you think this will solve?” Enigma took another deep breath. So, this was the day of having to explain important things. “I don't like being alone, Twilight. I don't know anypony who does. If all ponies do is forget me and I can't be friends with them, it makes everything really tough on me. I like getting to know ponies. I like getting to spend time with my friends. I like being a part of other ponies' lives. I feel... sick, every time I wake up and I know nopony will even know I exist. Except that brown pony, but he says I don't exist. It hurts.” Twilight watched Enigma closely during this explanation, finally nodding after all had been explained. “All right. You can stay as long as you need to.” The rest of Enigma's day was spent reading books that Twilight recommended. Some of them were far too scientific for Enigma to understand, others were in zebra language or just a bunch of pictures. Twilight seemed excited beyond compare at all of these complicated books, and Enigma, seeing how happy they made Twilight, kept asking to see more, mentioning things that she'd read verbatim off the pages and launching Twilight into long-winded explanations on things that were far beyond the scope of knowledge of an average pony like Enigma. She just liked making Twilight happy. All too soon, the sun went down and Spike began yawning constantly. Twilight didn't even notice at first, being too absorbed in explaining every possible aspect of every book she presented in front of Enigma, but then Enigma began yawning, and finally, Twilight herself gave a mighty yawn, looked outside, and said, “Oh, goodness! It seems it's time to get some sleep.” The three of them went up to Twilight's loft, and Twilight gestured to the guest bed that had been set up earlier. Spike curled up on a little pet bed on the ground, and Twilight crawled into her own bed. Enigma got into the guest bed, pulling the sheets up and over herself, trying to fall asleep. After several long minutes of tossing and turning, some time after the other pony and dragon had fallen asleep, Enigma was still awake. She had a thought in her head, a small, nagging thought eating away at her conscience. She may never get another chance to do this. She slipped quietly out of bed and tip-toed over to Twilight's. She looked at Twilight's sleeping form and began to speak. “Um... I know you can't hear me right now, and even if you could, you wouldn't remember in the morning... but I think I really like you, Twilight Sparkle. You make me happy. You make me feel wanted. I wish you of all ponies could remember me. The only pony I want to see every day, over and over again, is you. Please remember me. It's all I've ever wanted.” She turned around to go back to bed, but stopped dead in her tracks at the baby dragon staring wide-eyed at her. Suddenly, unbidden, the tears came. They spattered on the floor of the tree house, Spike watching as Enigma broke down and sobbed on the floor. She cried loudly enough that it woke Twilight, and she immediately jumped out of bed and comforted Enigma. She just held the lavender pony close for what felt like forever, until the sobs subdued and Enigma regained control of herself. “I don't want to be alone...” “You won't be. We'll find some way to fix this. I promise.” Twilight's reassuring smile inspired Enigma to make one of her own, wiping her eyes and standing up again. “I don't want to go to sleep... but I guess I have to. Thank you... Twilight. Good night.” “Good night, Enigma. Don't be afraid, all right?” Several minutes later, Twilight was once again fast asleep, Spike was now snoring fitfully, and Enigma felt herself drifting out of consciousness. She woke up in the guest bed. Twilight was already up and bustling about, performing the day's activities, and Spike was still snoring in his bed. Enigma hopped off the bed and immediately left the tree house. The brown pony would have to be here somewhere. He had to be. She began a thorough search of Ponyville, hoping against hope that he wouldn't just ignore her this time. She spotted him just as it was hitting noon and she was becoming frustrated at the fruitless search. He was trotting through town in the direction of Twilight's house. Immediately after seeing him, Enigma dashed in front of this bizarre stallion and confronted him. “Until you talk to me and tell me what in the hoof is going on, I will bother you and bother you and drive you crazy. Now give me some answers.” The stallion registered her existence when she began to talk, then pointedly ignored her. He knocked on the door to Twilight's house, and Spike opened it. Spike said, “Yes? Oh, are you new in town?” The stallion said, “Yes, but I've been here a few days now. I just haven't been to see the library until now. My name is Cottontooth.” Enigma stared incredulously at this stallion. This rude, crude, and callous stallion was Cottontooth, her best friend of her childhood? She didn't think so! “You are definitely not Cottontooth. Firstly, he is red with a carrot-orange mane. Secondly, you are nothing like him. Cottontooth is a kind, caring pony that wouldn't ignore other ponies. Spike closed the door to go speak with Twilight, and Cottontooth chose this moment to whirl on Enigma. “Look, figment, you do NOT exist. I made you up, so leave me alone. You shouldn't have even existed in the first place. Now go, before you make me angry.” Spike opened the door again, and Cottontooth walked in, blinked, and stared at Twilight. A blush rose to his cheeks, and he stuttered, “I, um... hello.” That was all she saw, because the door closed and she was left alone on the street. Figment? Like, a figment of the imagination? She didn't know who this stallion was, and maybe now she didn't want to. Even so, he was the only pony with any answers. She decided to push the issue with him. She closed her eyes and entered the tree house. Cottontooth was standing in the middle of the floor of the tree house, looking giddier and giddier every moment. Twilight was humming to herself and looking for a book that Cottontooth had likely told her the name of, and Spike was standing awkwardly in the middle of all of it, looking ready to bolt at any moment. Enigma walked directly in front of him, blocking his vision of Twilight. Anger flashed in Cottontooth's eyes briefly before it changed to a dull, resigned look. “If you took the time to explain to me why I shouldn't exist, maybe I'd leave you alone. But I won't listen to a stallion that's this rude. If you're Cottontooth, then I'm the sultan of Saddle Arabia. Cottontooth would never be so rude to anypony, whether or not he believed they existed. You don't even look like him. Which pony are you trying to fool? Him? Me? Or yourself? You should just change your name and become a respectable pony. If you want to live a normal life, then you better start by giving me answers, and maybe then I'll listen to you. Otherwise, you better get used to me nagging you constantly. Cottontooth suddenly blurted out, “Do you mind if I use the little colt's room?” At Twilight's “Sure!” he immediately went to the restroom around the corner, and Enigma followed, saying, “If you think that'll get me to leave you alone, you're mistaken, mister!” After he was in the privacy of the bathroom, Cottontooth looked directly at Enigma, and their eyes met. “I'll explain everything tonight. Please, just stop bothering me right now. You can stay, but please, no talking.” Enigma nodded, and they both returned to the main foyer of the library. Twilight had located Cottontooth's book, and she provided him with it, bidding him a good day and returning to her own studying. Cottontooth wished her a good day through reddened cheeks and disembarked on his next errand. Enigma followed Cottontooth around on his daily chores, excessively bored but determined to find out more about this stallion and why he was able to see her. Finally, as the sun was going down, he finished eating his dinner at the café and went home. He walked through the door, and Enigma immediately demanded, “Explain. Now.” Cottontooth sighed. “It's pretty simple. You're my imagination. I made you up because I wanted a friend. I don't need you anymore because I want real friends. You haven't existed for years, Enigma. I don't care what you think of me; Canterlot was tough on me, and if it made me bitter and ugly, then that's who I am now. I don't have to justify myself to a ghost. Now leave me in peace and let me sleep.” Enigma stood, stunned, and tried to think of a reply. None came. It all made sense. His colors were off because he'd been starving for years in Canterlot... as she'd been. Now that she thought about it, his colors were even starting to return a small amount. His face was unmistakably Cottontooth's face, anyway. She walked woodenly back to her house. She was going to sleep alone tonight. No, that wasn't her fate. She existed at least half the time, even if it was only for that day. That was enough for her. She walked to Twilight's tree house and lied down on the guest bed. This was her new place to sleep from now on. Twilight was asleep, as was Spike, so Enigma immediately curled up on the bed and slept. So, a little bit about me: I love Scootaloo. --Scootareader