//------------------------------// // Numbering Amounts // Story: Colliding Dream Worlds // by migzie //------------------------------// Everyone was arguing at the Ponyville Train Station in some way or another. Using her horn, Trixie had Spike levitating in the air dangling. Rarity was flimsily swatting her hands at Pinkie Pie for her prank. “Hey! Get over it! I personally thought it was slightly funny!” Rainbow Dash says to the crowd from the platform. She hears an ‘Of course you thought it was funny’ from somebody but they all quieted down and focused on why they were there in the first place. Spike fell down to the ground face first. Trixie says, “At least this is just Trixie’s Car in Dream land and not Trixie’s Car in Reality.” Rarity says to Pinkie, “I suppose it was clever how you animated my sewing machines to chase me. But, don’t you DARE do that in real life, otherwise, it is ON!” she had already stopped smacking Pinkie as soon as she heard Spike crash back on to the earth and ran to him. “We have ‘work’ to do, peoples! Can someone tell me what our time frame is? I know that 5 minutes in our ‘awake’ world is an hour in the ‘dream’ state. We need to figure out how much time we have and we have to be able to time ourselves to be able to do what we need to for during actual Inception!” says Twilight Sparkle in one breath like how Pinkie would and in such a worry the way Fluttershy usually is. “From what I gathered in my notes from Zecora, the compound we'll be using to share the dream creates a very clear connection between dreamers whilst actually accelerating brain function.” Spike starts to explain to Twilight and the rest of the gang. Twilight interrupts him. “In other words, it gives us more time on each level.” “Brain function in the dream will be about twenty times of normal. When you enter a dream within that dream, the effect is compounded. Three dreams is ten hours, is, ummm, that’s times twenty, times twenty…” Dash interfered Spike’s train of thought impatiently pushing invisible buttons. “I'm sorry, math was never my strong subject. So how much time is that?” Spike was still talking out loud and figuring things out in his mind. “A week is the first level down, six months is the second level down, third level is…” Twilight calculated everything in her head already answers for Spike. “Ten years. Who'd want to be stuck in a dream for ten years?” she sees Trixie making a face that matched her own. Spike answers automatically. “Depends on the dream. I guess.” he shrugs his shoulders. “Sh-surely going into so m-many dreams isn’t that stable.” Fluttershy chirps in quietly. Apple Jack speaks up alongside Fluttershy’s statement. “Ah agree with Fluttershy here. Mah question is, how in tarnation are we gonna go down right there three layers, with enough stability. Three layers down a little turbulence is gonna translate inta an earthquake. The dreams are gonna collapse with the slightest disturbance. Spike looks at his notes and reads “Sedation. For sleep stable enough to create three layers of dreaming... We will have to combine it with an extremely powerful sedative....” Rarity asks her question next. “How do we get out once we've made the plant? I hope you've got something a little more elegant in mind than a measly alarm clock sound I’ve been hearing about.” “A kick.” Dash says. Rarity raises one of her eyebrows. “What exactly do you mean by a kick?” Discord waves his arms for attention. He snaps his fingers just then. A chair produced out of nowhere and he sat down in it. He snaps his fingers once more and another Discord appeared pushing and tilting the chair backwards with him on it. And the ‘him’ that was on the chair had a shocked face look to him from feeling the jolt. Snapping his fingers one last time, the two Discords combined back into one Discord. “That, Sugar love, would be a kick.” Apple Jack claps at Discord’s performance. Clapping as well, Dash adds “That’s a feeling of falling which snaps you awake. We use that technique to jolt the newbies awake at the Wonderbolt Academy if they try snoozing in the non-action training courses! Oh, and Rarity? You’ll feel what a kick is slightly… your little sister is supposed to shake you awake soon.” Twilight purses her lips for a second. “But how are we going to feel that through the sedation? Even that won't cut through three layers of deep sleep.” “Come on, Eggy, The trick is to devise a kick for each level, then synchronize them to get a snap that penetrates all three layers.” Dash says to Twilight as if she were to have known the answer already. But Twilight’s face was still uncertain. Zecora sees wind blowing Spike’s notes out of his hands and clears her throat to speak as he goes to fetch his paperwork. “Worry not, Twilight Sparkle. That's the clever part that I have prepared. I have customized the sedative, even to leave inner ear function unimpaired...” “Well that’s a relief.” Twilight says hoping she understood completely and thinks ‘If not, I’ll figure it out till I understand… … … … Hmmm, YES! Splendid idea you had there, Twily, putting Spike in charge of translating.’ she imagined herself patting her own back. Her thoughts were discontinued by someone speaking up loudly about something on the checklist. “Hey. You know? I just thought of something.” Dash talks loudly to get people’s attention again because different conversations started to side track them. “I read on the check list that there’s supposed to be some bogus imitation King Sombra dream force army guys or whatnot that we have to dodge and protect ourselves from? Or eliminate them from the dream state and kick them back to reality?” “Dash, DASH! PICK ME! PICK ME to answer that question!” Pinkie jumps up and down and points to Discord’s mouth. “We ran into one at the Prank Store and look what he did to Discord! That could have been me! He saved me, everyone. HE SAVED ME!!! And then, we got away. And that’s how Equestria was made. Irrr. I mean, and that’s how and why Discord doesn’t have a mouth at the moment. TRUE STORY!” “Darn, you encountered one already!? I’m kinda jealous.” Dash says frowning lightly. “Ah’m with ya there, R.D.! Me too!” Apple Jack says to both Dash and Pinkie. Soon a smell of deliciousness filled the air. It smelled like the food Rarity described during lunch. It was a strong scent. Spike started to panic and pulled out his chess pawn piece totem out of his pocket. He started to blush to himself and puts the totem back in his pocket. ‘Silly Spikey Wikey!’ he says to himself. ‘Even Fluttershy isn’t freaking out!’ “I cannot believe we’ve been sleeping for that long! Or short? I am still rather confused at this whole thing. We’ve been here for a little bit over a day without the sun going down but we have only slept 4.8-ish hours.” Rarity says surprised. Fluttershy giggles because she knew what her Rainbow had to say about that… and she was right. “Yeah! You all took more than an hour and a half to get here! But, at least you all showed up at the same time! My Flutters and I had to keep ourselves occupied if you know what I mean!” Dash said with a smirk on her face. “Ha ha ha… like that was a terrible thing!” Twilight says to Dash smiling broadly. Dash laughs. “You’re right! I got some Alooooooooooooooooooooooooooone time with my wifey!” She grabs a hold of Fluttershy’s waist making her love blush. Dash’s eyes widened and jaw dropped as her brain finished its scheme for an awesome time and competition. “A.J.!!!!!!!!!! YOU. ME. VS KING SOMBRA’S DREAM TROOPS! 2 HOURS. TALLY ON HOW MANY WE INVALIDATE OF THESE SUCKERS!!!” “Ah concur, R.D.! Let’s do that idear of yers!” Apple Jack started to get excited and gave a pleading look to Rarity for permission. With a nod of approval she kissed that fine woman of hers. “Green means go! YEEEEEEEHAW!!!!!!!!! Spike!? Wanna join us, Buddy?!” Spike high fived Apple Jack. “Babe? Can you add potion into our systems, like, 10 minutes extra for us? PLEASE!?” Dash whispered into and kissed Fluttershy’s ear nibbling it. Fluttershy couldn’t refuse her Rainbow some fun, and it was only 10 extra minutes. The table needs to be set and stretches from lying down from sleeping were in order. “COUNT ME IN DASH AND A.J.!!!” Pinkie went up to Fluttershy’s other ear and whispered, “Pleeeeeeeeeease add 5 minutes for me!?” she was playfully pushed away by Dash before Pinkie kissed Fluttershy’s face even if it was to look pretend. The three of them started to giggle. ******* Rarity, Twilight Sparkle, and Fluttershy were the first ones to be shaken to wake up. And then Discord. Discord woke up with his face red. He and Pinkie were holding hands in bed while sleeping! Fluttershy notices his embarrassment and started speaking to the girls to steer attention away from his direction. “Now, girls. Thank you for doing a good job getting us up. We will take care of waking up everyone else! Now go on and set the table for dinner and wash up.” Fluttershy says to the trio kindly. “Yes, Fluttershy!” Apple Bloom salutes Fluttershy “Anything you say, Fluttershy!” Scootaloo salutes and adds in a bow to Fluttershy. “Of course, Fluttershy, right away!” Sweetie Belle salutes Fluttershy, curtseying instead of bowing. “Uhhh, huh, ah, how did you... I still don’t know how you do that, my dear.” Rarity shakes her head at Fluttershy. “I guess I just have my ways!” Fluttershy says smiling lightly shrugging.