Sweet Dreams are Made of This_______________________________
Meeting People and Ponies________________________________-
Author awoke again. His face had a bunch of red square imprints on it; he had fallen asleep on his keyboard. He looked at the screen of the laptop to find that Joey had left him a few messages, all of which asking where he was. Author had left Minecraft open and his laptop was burning hot. He needed to remember to shut his laptop down before going to sleep next time. It was Sunday, the day other people would normally be going to church. Author was an atheist, though, and didn’t go to church. Most of his friends did, however, and he had to wait to talk to them. He needed to talk about his dream again. He DID have one atheist friend, Alex. However, Author had no idea how he would react to it. He decided to go for broke and talk to him.
Author went on his laptop to find that he wasn’t on for once. It was a long walk to Alex’s house, and having a permit, he couldn’t drive without being accompanied by an adult. Author hadn’t had contact with his parents since he ran away. Author shook his head, realizing he had been thinking about his parents again. He grabbed a bottle of water and started walking to Alex’s house. He had barely left his property when he ran into a girl from his neighborhood. Or, if you want to get the details right, she ran into him. She always took a jog Sunday mornings. She went to church later on in the day; at least, that’s what Author assumed. She spoke first.
“I’m so sorry! I wasn’t looking where I was going…”
The force of the impact had knocked Author over. He looked up at the woman who ran into him. She had red hair, but it wasn’t a natural red. Her face was pale and devoid of makeup. She wore a white t-shirt and pink track pants. “Oh, it’s no problem… Uh…” He forgot her name! How could he have forgotten her name? Was it Winter? No, Autumn. No! Summer! That was it. “Summer...”
She held her hand down, offering to help him up. He thought about it, but before he had come to a conclusion he was standing, her hand wrapped around his. “Oh, uh… Thanks…” he managed to sputter.
“Oh, no. It was my fault you were knocked down in the first place.” She smiled as she said this.
About a million thoughts were flashing through Author’s head right now. He opened his mouth, and it appeared that his thoughts were racing to the exit. One of them was faster than the rest by a long shot. “Would you like to see a movie with me?” STUPID! Author blushed as he thought this. Why was it that this was the first thought to come out?
“Oh, a movie? Well… I guess I don’t have anything to do next weekend. Sure, why not.”
Author couldn’t believe what just happened. Was this a date? Did he have a girlfriend? What was he doing before that brought him outside? Something to do with dreams… Was this the girl of his dreams? Was she merely a new friend? He didn’t know what to do. “O-OK… I’ll see you… Next weekend…”
“Sounds good.” It was a date! He couldn’t believe this. He was usually a shut-in and awkward around girls, but now he finally asked one out. “By the way… You can let go of my hand now.” Author looked down. He was still holding her hand. Blushing, he quickly let go. His eyes darted around, trying to think of something to say. He could only think of four.
“S… See you next weekend…” Didn’t he already say that? He couldn’t think clearly.
“Yes… Like I said a few seconds ago, sounds good. Bye.”
“Until then…”
After that last exchange, Summer jogged away. Why was he out here again? His dream! He was going to meet with Alex because he wasn’t online. Author started walking the opposite direction Summer jogged. They had different destinations. They had both rounded their respective corners when Author noticed the position of the sun. Or rather, the lack of a position of the sun. Time had apparently passed quickly while talking with Summer. He checked his watch. It was 8:57 PM. It was getting late. Author casually continued walking until he suddenly realized…
“8:57? CRAP!” he quickly turned around and looked at his watch again, stumbling over himself. It had taken him two minutes to realize what was about to happen. Suddenly, his watch beeped, showing that a new hour had started. He collapsed on the middle of the sidewalk, asleep.
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Author woke up, his heart racing. He was no longer on the sidewalk. Well, he was never on the sidewalk to begin with. He got out of bed and stretched his hooves. These dreams were getting very specific… Dr. Whooves would probably know what was going on. He trotted out the door to look for him. He usually hung out at the market. That’s where he would look. When he arrived, the first place he noticed was the shop set up for Sweet Apple Acres. They had a freshly baked pie set out. Author LOVED pie. He ignored it, figuring that finding Dr. Whooves was more important. Until his stomach growled. It shouldn’t take TOO long to get some pie, would it? He trotted to the counter and was greeted by an orange pony with a blonde mane and tail, tied back with red ribbons. She wore a tan Stetson.
“Hey there, sugarcube!” she stated.
“Hey Applejack… How much is a slice of that pie?” Author’s mouth was watering, and he licked his lips as he stared at the pie.
“You and your pahs. Welp, I reckon that since ya’ll love them pahs so much, you kin have this’n for no charge at all.”
“Oh, no… I couldn’t… I mean, Granny Smith’s hip… I have to pay… some… thing…” Author saw Dr. Whooves out of the corner of his eye. “I’ll be right back. I need to talk to somepony.” He trotted towards him.
“Don’ worry. We’ll keep the pah fresh fer yah!” Applejack said before Author left.
He had gotten to Dr. Whooves now. “Doctor! You’re good with all that… Timey… Wimey… Stuff… right?”
“Why, yes. I do believe I am. Tell me, something is on your mind, yes? Something strange is going on. You don’t know what it is. Or, you do know what it is, but you can’t quite put your hoof on it. The TARDIS has been going crazy lately, her scanners have been picking up a lot of spatial residue around Ponyville, but mostly where you live. Tell me, have you been having any strange dreams? Of course you have, that’s why you came to see me! But that doesn’t really explain it, does it?” Dr. Whooves seemed to spit out words faster than anypony in all of Equestria. “Why DID you come to see me?”
Author was taken aback for a bit. But he knew Dr. Whooves always did this. “Well, like you said. I came to you because I’ve been having weird dreams.”
Dr. Whooves seemed unsatisfied with that answer. “No, that’s not what I meant. I meant how did you know that I would know what your strange dreams were about?”
Author thought this question was a bit obvious for Dr. Whooves. “Well, you’re a Timelord, aren’t you?”
“See! That’s exactly what I’m talking about! You don’t ask what the TARDIS is, don’t wonder how I knew you were having the dreams, and you somehow knew I was a Timelord.” Dr. Whooves paused to let this sink in. “We’ve never met before.”
Author blinked. “But… How…”
“It’s your dreams. Whatever is causing them, whatever they’re about; something in those dreams knows about me. And that thing’s memories are seeping through to you. Now, I wish I could help you, but that spatial residue I was telling you about earlier is interfering with all of my… Stuff. But, I can say this. Somehow, somepony from here or the other dimension has broken the barrier between dimensions, and they’ve done it through you. I have no way of knowing who did it, but whoever it was is surely up to no good. Now, I need to work on fixing the TARDIS. I’m sure Ms. Sparkle has some books on the subject if you wish to know more.” With that, Dr. Whooves walked toward the Everfree Forest, where he hid his TARDIS from the citizens of Ponyville.
At least now Author had a lead. An alternate universe. He’s read about those before… He decided to go to the library tomorrow. He didn’t want to fall asleep in the middle of nowhere like the human in his dream did. It was a good thing, too. By the time he had gotten to his bed, it was almost nine. As soon as the hour turned, he fell asleep.