-----Last time on The Stallion in the Library-----
“You sleep with Twilight!”
“No, Y’all can sleep with Twilight! I’ll be fine with Trixie.”
-----And now the story continues-----
And so ends a good day with a delightful- Huh? You want me to do what? Are you sure? All of them? All five? Okay, you’re the boss. Ahem, Sorry about that everyone, I have just been informed that we have a bit more to do before I can call this finished. Who’s up for a little dream-walking?
-----I am!-----
Aoc, even if you weren’t you wouldn’t have a choice. Now then, for the duration of our little voyeuristic outing, I will be represented with italics, and Aoc will just be in plain bold.
Now then, Aoc if you would?
Sure thing N. Let’s see, who should we start off with? Well Trixie’s closest. Into her brain! Whee!
Ouch. Well we’re inside now, let’s see... Oh, there she is! Why is she doing that?
Maybe it’s just her way of practicing. Haven’t you ever had something you worked so hard on that you started to work on it in your sleep?
Yeah, you have a point. Oh! I almost forgot to do my job, my sincerest apologies. A-hem.
Trixie was sitting alone in the center of a room. She was surrounded by various and sundry objects, and she appeared to be attempting to make each one do a different thing. She was trying to make the tea kettle whistle, to make the rope dance, to make a books pages flip, etc. etc. However while her magical control was enough to reach all the objects separately, she lacked the sheer power to make them do exactly what she wanted. The kettle merely gave off an impotent whine, the rope just wiggled a bit, and the pages were barely coming up, instead just sliding to the opposite side, etc. etc. until finally she could keep the magic flowing no more and released all her spells
“Huff, Huff.” Trixie heaved “Just a bit stronger, just a bit stronger.” She repeated this mantra to herself over, and over again as she geared up for another try.
Admirable tenacity, don’t you think Aoc?
Yeah. The mare’s determined, I’ll give her that. But, unfortunately this dream doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. Let’s get out.
Very well, but please be more-
Yoink!
...Did you just say ‘yoink’?
Oh shut up, we’re out aren’t we?
Sigh... Fair enough. Now then, who next?
Let’s take a peek into Twilight’s head, she seems to be having an interesting dream.
I agree, look at her twist and turn. It’s a miracle Trixie hasn’t woken u- Ahh! Yeesh, warn me before you do that!!
Why?
So I can brace myself!
How exactly do you brace yourself for going into someones dreams via their ear?
Ugh... We’ll come back to this later. For now, look at Twilight.
Twilight stood in front of a massive row of bookshelves, trying to reshelve some books that were recently checked in.
“Why does Card insist on folding the corners down on the books h-” Twilight suddenly stopped as something caught her eye. Something that should not be there. “What’s a cookbook doing in speculative fiction? Did Spike misplace it? Well, no problem I’ll just put you back into your place when I’ve finished with all of these. Now the-” Twilight stopped in her tracks, seeing another out of place book. As she looked closer at the bookshelf she was putting books back into she noticed that it was full of all kinds of books, except the ones that were supposed to be there. “No, no, no,” she started to mutter to herself. “This is wrong, all wrong, you’re not supposed to be here.” Then she happened to take a look at the book she was currently in the process of reshelving “A History of... Eastern Oka? What have I been doing?” She started to hyperventilate seeing all the books she had put back, thinking they were all where they belonged, into the wrong places. “No. No! No! NO!!!”
Hey what’s going on? Why are we back in the bedroom?
Looks like she just woke up.
Well I guess that explains the scream. Dear lord, Trixie’s still asleep.
Kind of a lame nightmare though. Why are all librarians neurotic?
I dunno. Well anyways, we’re all done in this room.
To Applejack and Rarity!!!
AHH!! There, we’re here, now let go of my hand!
Oh, sorry.
You should be. Seriously, I know my arms are short but they don’t need to be stretched.
I said sorry, yeesh. Now stop grumbling and let’s go into Rarity. You ready?
Yeah, sure whatever.
There we g- Why is it so dark in here?
Heck if I know, it’s Rarity’s subconscious.
Well let’s try to- AHH!
What happened?
I tripped over something. Seems to be a chair.
Huh. Okay my eyes have adjusted now, looks like we’re in some kinda auditorium. Wow, that’s a lot of balconies!
House seems pretty packed too. I don’t think I can see a single chair that isn’t filled.
Well would you have a dream where you perform to a small crowd?
Good point. What’s that runway for?
It’s Rarity’s fantasy, what do you think it’s for?
Stop condescending at me! When do you think t- maw’tok!
Given the spotlight you were staring directly at just turned on, I’d say the show starts now.
hhh... Ow. Hey, why’s Card here?
I have no idea. Either way, it’s clear Rarity doesn’t know Card very well.
What makes you say that?
When have you ever seen Card sit still like that, without something directly in his face?
Oh. Well, either way let’s get outta here.
Agreed, It’s bad enough when Maria drags me to see these stupid things.
Well that was boring. Hey, what’s wrong with Applejack?
Looks like she’s crying.
No shit, Sherlock. Why do you think she’s crying. And smiling. This is weird.
Well, let’s find out. Do your thing Aoc.
Ok, hold on!
Oww. You could have been a bit more gentle.
Yeah, I could’ve.
...Bitch.
P’tahk
Sigh... Hey, why is everything so... so...
Sepia?
Yeah.
This seems to be a memory.
Really now? Oh hey there’s Applejack. She looks really young, like 14.
Hey, who’s that unicorn in the hat she’s talking to? And why are they sitting in such a bare bedroom?
Oh god. That’s... that’s Brick. Wait, I can hear her.
“Ah just... Are yah sure you have to go?” Applejack said morosely.
“Yeah, you know how huge an opportunity this is for me A.J.” Brick said, “It’s the top med school in the kingdom, all of my hard work has finally paid off.”
“Ah know, Ah know.” Applejack had her head tilted down, her long hair covering her eyes.
Brick let out a sigh. “Ok, what’s wrong?” he asked.
“It’s jus... when you make it to that big fancy city, with all those big fancy hospitals and big fancy ponies... What if you dun... dun...” Applejack was openly sobbing now.
“What if I don’t want to come back?” Brick tenderly said.
Applejack just gave a nod, still sobbing. Brick began to rub along her back with one of his hoofs, attempting to to comfort the cry filly, while his other hoof rubbed his head and fiddled with the stetson on top of it. He looked lost for a while before suddenly an idea struck him.
“You know the story behind this hat?” he said as he took it off of his head.
“N- nope.” Applejack said, her sobs subsiding.
“This hat was the first thing I ever bought with the first paycheck I ever earned. I saw it in the window of a shop and knew I just had to have it. One day, I noticed that it was feeling a bit too tight. Turns out I was starting to outgrow it. Now, I could’ve just thrown it away, got myself a new one, but I loved this hat so much that I went into that big old library in town and started researching how to make it a bit bigger. I must have spent five hours a day at least, until I finally found a spell that would make it fit no matter how big the head it was put on. Now, you know I’m no great shakes at magic, I can barely lift a pen, but I studied that spell harder than I had ever studied for anything else, until finally, after weeks of trying, I got the spell just right.” The whole time he was talking, he was looking down at the hat with a slight smile on his face, remembering the simpler times. He let out a sigh,
“This hat is my most prized possession, more than this house even. So-” He said as he placed the hat onto Applejack’s head, lifting her chin up with one of his hoofs so he could look her in the eye, “You take good care of it, because, no matter how long it takes or what gets in my way, I’m going to come get it back.”
At this, Applejack sprang up from the bed she was sitting on grabbing Brick in a huge hug. Tears began streaming down her face again, but this time she was smiling underneath them.
I think we’ve seen enough of this. Let’s get out.
Y- ye- yeah.
Aoc? Aoc, are you crying?
Shut up, it was a sweet moment. A-hem, now then all we have left is Card right?
Oh yeah. This is bound to be interesting.
Definitely. Come on, let’s go to the main room.
...
...
...
...
... Okay, I don’t know what confuses me more: where he got the king-sized waterbed from, or where he got enough water to fill it up with.
I just hope that none of the unicorns trip over this thing in the morning. All that water would not be fun to mop up.
Yeah. Anyways, lets head in.
Aaaaand away we go!
Aoc? Aoc! Oh, there you aaaaa- What the hell are you doing? Aoc. Aoc! Aoc, stop dancing!!!
I can’t help it! It’s! to! Catchy!!!
Oh jeez, how do I even begin to describe this. It’s... Well it’s... You know what, here. Draw your own conclusions.
I can’t take it anymore! I’m getting us outta here! Hold on tight!!!!
Owww... Hey, this isn’t the... What the... Hhhuuuuuh?
Yeah, this isn’t the outside. Looks like we haven’t reached the center of Card’s dream yet.
You know what. Screw it, I don’t care just get us out.
I can’t do that, we have to go through all of his layers of dreaming before I can pull us out. It’s like a river that has a current you can’t fight against, and each dream layer is a rock that you can hold onto for a period of time.
So we have to go through all of his fantasies?
Yep! Don’t worry, there’s only a couple more layers before we reach his true center. Let’s go!
...Ok, you know what, screw it, I'm not even going to bother questioning it. Let’s just keep moving.
Fine.
No, and you don’t either!
Agreed. There, this is his last level of subconsciousness. This is strange, have you ever seen anything like this?
What, you mean two heavily barred doors within the depths of someones mind? No. Hey hey hey.
What?
What are you doing?
Uhhh... Getting us out of here? Like you said too, remember?
Don’t be so hasty, this is the first level of his brain without any obnoxious music. Let’s see what he’s dreaming of.
Yeah, ok. Which should we take, door number one or door number two?
He’s behind door two.
Huh? What makes you so sure?
It’s all locked from the inside.
Good point. So how do we get in?
*Knock, knock, knock* Hey Card, open up!
“Hi N. So you’re the one I’ve been detecting snooping around in my head.”
I’m here too!
“Hey Aoc. Listen, you both can come in but I have a little work that I need to finish up right now.”
Card was sitting at a wooden desk in a large chair, his jacket hanging up on a coat rack next to the door. He had two large filing cabinets next to him, one on each side. Suddenly he looked up with an annoyed expression on his face.
“Must you?” he said in a frustrated tone of voice. And yes, I must. With a roll of the eyes and little sigh, he turned his attention back to the file in front of him. Where was I? Oh yes. The filing cabinet to the left of him was divided into six parts, reading from top to bottom as: Magic, Loyalty, Kindness, Generosity, Honesty, and Laughter. On his other side was a similar cabinet, this one reading: Chaos, Pride, Honor, Wisdom, Courage, and Strength. Speaking of which, why are you doing this in your head?
“It’s the safest place for this type of information.” Card said as he rubbed out one of the words he was writing. “Hey make yourself useful and tell me how you spell histrionic.”
H, I, S, T, R, I, O, N, I, C,
“Thank you Aoc.” Card got up from his desk and closed the folder, putting it into the drawer marked Generosity, before the drawers and the desk all melted away into the floor, leaving him standing in white space, with only a coatrack for physical company.
...
“...”
...Wait, not that way!
Card just shook his head and attempted to change the subject. “Now then, what brings you-”
What was up with those weird dreams we saw coming in? The ones with the music and pretty girls?
“What, I can’t fantasize in my own dreams?” he said with a smirk. And you have some very weird fantasy’s.
“Hey!” he said indignantly. “I only have a thing for redheads, you have no right to talk mister feather, leather, and chains!”
He does have you there N.
“Anyway, this doesn’t answer the question of why you’re here in my dream? Thanks by the way, now I’m definitely not going to get any decent sleep,” Card grumbled.
Well at least you have company. Twilight’s awake too. She had a nightmare.
“Twinkly had a nightmare?” he said with a look of concerned curiosity. And yes, she did. A very strange one at that.
Trixie is a very deep sleeper.
Card gave a grunt and pulled his jacket on. “Well, my work is all done. Time for me to wake up. Good day N. Aoc.”
So long.
Bye.
Well, that’s everypony so I guess we can talk normally now.
-----Great!-----
As Card woke up, he spent a few seconds lying in bed with a look of concentration on his face. He then gained a very satisfied look, apparently having succeeded in whatever he was attempting. Thus gratified, he arose from his bed and walked towards the staircase leading to the second floor. However, he stopped on the way, apparently having discovered something very interesting to do with a particular section of wall, gazing at it very hard. He strode back to his bed and attempted to move it, a task he found was not without a great deal of difficulty. After some failed attempts to grip the bed and drag it, he settled on a process of standing to the right of it, pushing it ever so slightly with a loud grunt, then moving a bit closer and doing it again. He repeated this until the bed had successfully been moved over three feet to the left of where it was.
After a brief three-way staring contest between him, the piece of wall, and his (apparently very heavy) water bed, he gave a nod of approval and headed up the stairs out to a window overlooking a part of the roof. Lying down on that roof was Twilight, taking advantage of the brief clear skies brought on by the weather pegasi’s break from causing the storm to do some stargazing.
