//------------------------------// // Death of a Dream // Story: The Abundance // by defender2222 //------------------------------// "Are you the dreamer, or merely part of someone else's dream?" - Tweedle Dee, Through the Looking-Glass Manehattan Fluttershy paced back and forth, chewing on her lip anxiously. Her sudden case of nerves had nothing to do with where she was, which was quite shocked due to the fact that under any other set of circumstances she would have been huddled in a corner, whimpering. Rarity had chosen a truly magnificent penthouse for her base of operations. There was a tub big enough for 10 grown alicorns, a lounge with 5,000 bit furniture and some of Equestria's greatest examples of modern art decorating the walls. The bed had a mattress that made everyone sleepy by just looking at it and a thread coat that was in the quadruple digits. The penthouse was also on the 134th story of Gallop Tower with a view of the entire city. The balcony hung out over the edge and even for Fluttershy, a pony born with wing, it was a dizzying height that would have left her trembling under normal circumstances. But the yellow alicorn had other things on her mind, things that drove away her fear and left her more pressing issues to dominate her mindscape. "You are sure?" Fluttershy asked. Angel Bunny nodded, nose twitched as he let out a series of quick squeaks. "Fluttershy, is everything alright?" Rarity asked, trotting into the room. "Oh!" the buttercream mare exclaimed, leaping up a few inches off the group in surprise. "Rarity... you startled me." "I am sorry, my dear!" Rarity said, patting her on the back. "I like to give out many things but frights are not one of them!" She flashed her friend a smile before trotting towards the couch, oozing onto it like syrup onto a flapjack. "And hello to you two, Angel! Would you like some carrot cake? I can have the chef make one up.” The bunny just glared at her before hopping towards the door, sending Fluttershy a meaningful stare before making his leave. Rarity watched all this with a semi-amused expression. "I still do not understand why you do not let us work our magic on that ill mannered cotton tail,” she said the moment Angel was out of earshot. “He would be much kinder to you.” Fluttershy shook her head. "Oh, you just don't understand Angel Bunny like I do... he is very kind... in his own way." She smiled at Rarity. “Oh yes… very kind.” "I'm sure," Rarity said dryly. "So, what did your spymaster tell you?" The yellow alicorn frowned, running her tongue over her teeth. "I wish you wouldn't call him that... I hate to think of my sweet Angel as a 'spy'." "But that is exactly what he is, my dear... he and all the animals are your spies, keeping tabs on ponies to make sure they behave themselves and don’t cause problems for the innocent. It isn't right to deny it... you'd have Applejack in a fit." Rarity's horn lit up and she grabbed a magazine from the table, flipping through it. "Lucky for you our dear Applejack isn't around." "Yes... lucky," Fluttershy said. "You know, perhaps we should visit her and make sure she is ok... I know she asked for some space to deal with her family and get them on our side, but I haven't heard from her in so long and it makes me worry so.” She shook her head sadly. “It isn’t right that were spend so much time apart. If it weren’t for that dreadful beast Doubt coming into Canterlot and causing you problems, you and I would have never seen each other. I suppose that is one thing to thank him for but still…” Rarity trailed off, turning the page in her magazine. “We are best friends, aren’t we? The six of us are so close… but we are all separated. Doubt corrupted Rainbow Dash and Twilight… and then there is Pinkie…” Rarity shifted. “I don’t mean to sound unkind but there is something a touch off about her, wouldn’t you agree?” “Maybe,” Fluttershy said quietly, wishing Rarity would just stop talking and let her leave. “But that is no excuse… and Applejack also being in the wind? It just isn’t right.” Rarity tossed her magazine aside and stood up. “The rebellion has been awfully quiet and with Cadence now behaving herself and growing warm to our view of things we could stand to take a few hours off. We could go find Applejack and make sure she is ok! A quick peek..." "I don't think that is a good idea," Fluttershy said gently. "Applejack likes her space and it would be rude of us to intrude, especially if she asked us to leave her be. I wouldn’t want to upset her… she asked to talk to her family by herself and you know how stubborn Apples can be…" "Of course you are right," Rarity sighed. "Still, I can't help but worry..." She licked her lips, giving Fluttershy a look of concern. "Angel didn't bring bad news, did he?" "Oh... uh... yes, and by that I mean no... but also yes..." "Fluttershy, you are speaking in riddles." "He came to tell me there was no news," she said, puffing out her chest a bit. "Which is good, because it means the rebellion isn’t doing anything bad, but it is also bad because we don't know if they are secretly planning something. So it is good and bad… it is good and that isn’t bad… but it is bad and that’s not good…right?" "Ah, yes, I see what you mean... that is a rather thorny rose." Rarity smiled, stretching like a cat. "Do not worry, I am sure Angel will bring back something for you soon enough... then we can give the rebellion exactly what they deserve." "Of course," Fluttershy said quickly. Returning her attention to her magazine, Rarity failed to notice Fluttershy head into the guest bedroom... and use her magic to teleport away. ~MC~MC~MC~ "Faith, stop!" Clyde exclaimed, straining to hold the enraged stallion back. Cadence had managed to jump out of the way of Faith's first tackle, but the second sent had sent her sprawling on the ground. It had only been the quick thinking of Clyde that had kept the silver alicorn from cutting the pink princess into ribbons with his metal wings. "Faith, we are not your enemy!" The farmer struggled, the alicorn struggling to break free and attack Cadence. The lord of the gray snarled at Clyde’s attempt to calm him. "I don't who you are but I will not let that monster near my family!" He reared back, his eyes flashing, and when he and Clyde spun around the farmer was startled by the sight: Trixie no longer looked like Trixie. Oh, there were elements of the mare, like the white hair and her shimmering eyes... but her coat was purple and her mane was cut in a simple but recognizable style. "Did I just see what I thought I saw?" Apple Bloom said in confusion, rubbing her eyes. Granny Smith nodded as she helped Cadence asked. "I saw it do, little miss! Trixie there done body swapped or… somethin’." Pinkie leapt at Faith, wrapping her body around his head, a huge grin on her face. "We are in Faith's mind so of course his visions are going to be the strongest!" "That doesn't explain why Trixie looks like Twilight," Sue stated, pushing Inkie and Blinkie away from the warring stallions, wishing Pinkie would stop face-hugging Faith. "Or Twilight looks like Trixie... or the two of them are merged, or-" "Doesn't it?" Inkie asked. “If he loves them both…” “Have his cake and eat it too,” Blinkie finished. “There’s cake?” Pinkie asked. “WHOA!” Faith began to buck. “Nevermind, cake will have to wait!” "You will not hurt them!" Faith roared, reminding them all that they had bigger concerned. His horn glowed and Pinke was forced to slip down to avoid the blasts. "Faith!" Cadence shouted, bravely approaching the bucking stallion as he tried to dislodge Clyde and Pinkie. She could feel the magic pouring off of him and she ignored the tingle in the back of her head the warned her that dying here might kill her in the real world. She saw the rage and the terror in Faith’s eyes and knew there was only one way she could snap him out of it. "Doubt is crazy." The silver alicorn froze. "That's right," Cadence said gently, speaking low and softly like she was addressing an injured dog. Faith stood a still as stone, staring at her in confusion. "Doubt didn't like being called crazy... it made her go nuts. And yet I am saying it... crazy, crazy, crazy. She is nuts, pyscho, mad..." Cadence took another step forward. “Am I acting like Doubt? Do I feel like Doubt? If you close your eyes would you think I was Doubt?” Faith panted like he had just ran a marathon and Trixie (who returned to her normal colors), took a few steps forward, their son peaking at the newcomers from the safety of her back. "Faith..." Trixie said quietly, looking as shellshocked as him, "I think it’s really her." "It... it can't be," Faith said, his voice strained. "I... I watched her take your body..." "And she still has it," Cadence said, using her magic to fully free Pinkie from his face. She took another step forward, her nose grazing Faith's. Clyde slowly eased up his grip. "You need to focus... your brain is muddled and you are not thinking clearly" Faith shook his head but when he opened his eyes Cadence was still standing there, looking at him with the same bright eyes. "Faith, how did you get here?" "What?" "How did you get here? How did you and..." Cadence glanced at 'Trixie', who was once more looking like a blend of Twilight and herself. "...Trixie get here? How did you end up in this meadow?" Faith's brow scrunched up. "I... I don't..." "What is this place? I've never seen a meadow so beautiful... what city is it near?" Faith opened his mouth but Cadence just kept pressing him. "How long have you been here? When are you leaving? Where are you going after you leave? Where did you come from?" "I... I don't know," Faith whispered, the sky cracking apart and clouds exploding into a fine mist. "I... there was Laughter... Laughter..." his jaw clenched in anger. "She tricked us... trapped us..." the grass began to soar up into the sky like fireworks and the mountains that surrounded them melted into puddles. "This... this isn't real... none of it is- no." Faith rushed towards Trixie. "NO!" Trixie turned, letting out a scream as her dream child flicked in and out of existence. The foal didn't act scared though, still curled up on her back, gumming his little hoof, staring at his parents as they cried out. Trixie tried to grasp him with her magic, only to find he had no real solid form to hold onto. "Nononononono!" Trixie wailed, desperately trying to take hold of her fading baby. "Don't go... please don't..." She turned wild eyes to Faith, tears shimmering in her eyes. "Please...” "I… I…” Faith froze up, staring at Trixie’s back. His son let out a little yawn… before fading away. The blue unicorn let out a wail that pierced the sky and made the earth tremble. The others were shaken by the sheer pain of the scream, their hearts feeling as if they had been ripped from their chests as Trixie broke down in sobs. Faith stood dumbfounded, staring at her back as if he expected the little foal to pop back into existence at any moment. Pinkie slowly fluttered over to the silver abstract, patting him on the shoulder. "You ok?" She knew it was a stupid question to ask and she felt such self-loathing the moment the words left her mouth… but she didn’t know what else to say. "No," Faith said softly, his head lowered to the ground. All around him the meadow was being torn to shreds, its matter becoming a swirl cosmos that represented his chaotic mind, freed finally from Laughter's grasp. "Faith..." Clyde began, only to find himself tongue tied. This wasn’t what they had expected… what any of them had expected. A battle, a war, a fight to the death… all of that would have been better than this. "He... he wasn’t real," Cadence said, breaking the silence. Faith turned towards her, utter pain written on his face. Behind him Trixie still cried, ignoring Sue and the sisters as they tried to offer her comfort. "The foal... he's just an illusion.. one of Laughter’s tricks." Faith squeezed his eyes shut and salt water fell from the heavens. He stared at Cadence and, with five little words, destroyed any other comment any of the group had. "He was real to me." Tears fell from Faith’s eyes as the world went to hell around him. Cadence hurried over and hugged him, letting the broken abstract sob on her shoulder. “He was real to me.”