//------------------------------//
// Interlude: Dreams of the Lover 
// Story: Awakening Pink 
// by Masterweaver 
//------------------------------//

	"...Pink?"

"I like pink."

"I don't like pink. Well, I don't hate it, but everything being pink like this is just... ugh."

"Yeeeeah, it's a little extravagant." The other occupant of the room coughed, examining the lacey awning over her bed, the curly border of the full-length mirror in front of the modeling dais, the elegant bookshelf loaded with tomes both practical and whimsical... "Auntie always spoiled me, even when I asked her to stop."

I rolled my eyes, turning to her. "So let me guess, you're here to tell me something about myself that I don't know?"

"Yes, that's how these things would progress normally." She stretched, unfolding her wings as she stepped off her thick sheets. "But here's the thing: you know a lot about yourself. Maybe too much. And quite frankly, I don't think that's what we need to talk about right now."

I matched her glare with a glower. "This is about Julien, isn't it."

"No. Yes." She shook her head and grumbled. "Both of them. This is about BOTH of them."

"Look, I don't like men that try to take advantage of my distress!"

"He wasn't taking advantage of anything, and you KNOW it." The pink princess strode forward, her eyes locked onto mine. "He'd just heard his sister was SHOT!"

"YOU THINK I DON'T KNOW HOW THAT FEELS?!"

Cadance took a step back. "...excuse me?"

"Oh don't play oblivious with me, little miss hostage! You've been in my head all day, you know about Irene!"

The pony gave me a cold look. "And you know about Twilight. How is this different?"

"I..." I threw my arms wide. "The guy was looking at me!"

She simply stared at me, disapproving.

I sat down on the edge of the soft bed, rubbing my temples. "I don't like guys looking at me. I can deal with them when they're people, but when they... When they start looking, it's just wrong."

"You're the one that asked him on a date."

"I thought the world was going insane. I thought Discord had won and decided to try it out." I gave her a sullen look. "I thought maybe you two deserved to have your last moments together, okay? I was being nice."

The pony sat down next to me, putting a gentle wing around my shoulders. "That still doesn't excuse your behavior this evening. Especially after we... heard about..." She began to tear up.

Suddenly I didn't feel as confident as I had.

"....What do you want me to say? I'm sorry?" I sighed. "Fine. I'm sorry for being a bitch."

"...Give him a chance, Linda." Her teary eyes turned to me. "I know you don't... you can't get over your fears. They're... legitimate. But I promise you, he is nothing like that. Just give him a chance."

I couldn't hold her gaze. I let my own drop to the floor. Give him a chance.... said to me so many times by my well-meaning friends, and never ending in anything but pain. Every man I'd dated, really dated.... they didn't understand. They just didn't ever understand. I never wanted a relationship. I never wanted to end up tied down to one person like that. It was... disgusting.

"It''s not being tied down. It's supporting each other."

I glowered at her. "Don't read my mind."

She gave me a sly smirk. "I'm stuck in here while you're running about the real world. What else am I supposed to do?"

"SOMETHING that ISN'T reading my MIND!"

"Any suggestions?"

I tried to come up with something, but in the end I had to concede the point. "Fine.... but if we're talking, can you not read my mind?"

The pony nodded. "Deal. Just so long as you apologize to Shining."

"Julien."

"...Julien Armor, maybe?"

I shrugged. "Sure."

"....you know where he took me on my first date?"

Oh, please, not nostalgia. "Oh I dunno.... fancyshmancy cafe with frills and lace and waiters that dressed in high class tuxedos?"

"Joe's Donut Shop."

"...what."

The pink princess smiled, leaning back as her memories wandered. "Every other suitor I had--and believe me, I had had a heck of a lot--they always tried to impress me. They took me to the biggest, richest, most flamboyant restaurants in Canterlot and a few of them even managed to pay for the meal without my help. A very few. And then along came this Corporal, barely more then a shave-tail, and he bumps into me and knocks off my tiara by accident. I love my tiaras, and at that time I was something of a spoiled brat, so I chewed him out. He's nervous as they come, wants to make a good impression, so he blurts out an offer to treat me to lunch." She giggled. "And I said yes. Don't think he was expecting that. Next thing I know, I'm in a commoner shop eating commoner food and finding that it's actually really dang good."

Her gaze grew distant. "The strangest thing... he didn't try to impress me. Not, well, not in the same way as the others. Yes, he mentioned his accomplishments, but he downplayed them. And.... actually, he did something none of the others had. He tried to understand me."

I stared at her in stunned silence.

Eventually, she shrugged. "Of course, then he mentioned he had a little sister, and one thing led to another and suddenly I'm the world's number one foal-sitter! I think I started wearing my mane back then, so I could feel more... normal. And, yeah, that's how we got together."

"...that just doesn't happen. Men just aren't like that, not naturally." I shook my head. "He was in the military, of course he pretended to care."

"Linda... it wasn't pretend."

I looked around the room. "So, um, why is this happening in your bedroom? I mean, I thought this was supposed to be a combination of our minds."

The princess had the decency to look embarrassed... and the arrogance to look a bit scared. "Um... I, uh, I kinda put most of your mind in there." She gestured toward a wardrobe... a locked wardrobe, I might add, with a ribbon tied hastily around the handles. "I couldn't.... I didn't want to look in there for longer then I needed to."

"Oh is that supposed to mean something?! Am I some sort of scary abomination?"

"....there was so much hurt...."

I growled at her. "It's my mind. Deal with it." And with that, I flung open the wardrobe doors.

Sometimes I remember that moment. Sometimes I remember staring at my own soul, laid bare. Sometimes I remember feeling all my fears burst through me at once.

I shut the wardrobe, gasping. "That.... that can't be right. I'm strong! That can't be right!"

Cadance sighed. "I'm sorry, but... that's you."


****


My eyes snapped open, breath hitched. I didn't sit up suddenly, I'm not that kind of woman, but I did glance around the room to make sure it wasn't occupied by any strange figures.

It took me a moment to realize I was biting into my own pillow.