//------------------------------// // The Dream Crisis // Story: The Legend Of The Wanderers // by Xhadow //------------------------------// 17th of Frostbite It was a small village out in the middle of nowhere with nothing really standing out from the rest of the rainforest except the fort. Fort Clydesdale would always stand as a symbol of hope to the ponies seeking shelter from the overgrown forest. I had no idea why they would choose this of all places to stop at but they're the leaders of this group. I pulled my hood tighter as we passed under the massive stone gates that protected the town from the evils of the forest. There was nothing much to see inside, however there was a small alchemist shop that caught my eye. There was nothing unusual about the shop itself, except was staffed completely by zebras. 'Interesting...those are usually run by pegasi.' I thought as we passed it by. "Where exactly are we going?" I asked, struggling to keep up with the full-grown ponies. "I need to pick up some supplies and Olivia needs her sword enchanted.. You are free to wander the square as long as you meet us at the bookstore by noon." Star Swirl ordered, holding open the door to a small restaurant for Olivia and I. The place reeked of scum and not just the kind under the sink either. "Hey kid, wanna play some chance?" A big stallion asked from one of the tables in the corner. From what I'd gathered from watching the game is that each player has three cubes with six sides, each player gets three turns or chances to get all the cubes to be on the same side as the set number, with the bet increasing every turn; if no player met the requirements the house won by default. I was interested in the aspect of the game. But I only had enough coins to make the minimum bet so I'd have to win the first roll. "I can do this." I thought, tossing a coin in the air for emphasis. I trotted over and sat down in the chair that would put my back to the wall. "Lets begin." I said putting my money on the table. The bigger stallion eyed me suspiciously, but handed over the glass containing the number cubes. "What's the bet?" he asked casually, taking down notes on the game. "Six." I answered, dumping all the cubes on the stained table at once. They bounced around for a second or two before all of them rested on the side with six dots. I knew the trick behind the game now, the stallion sitting across from me was a traveling swindler and had the dice enchanted so that no matter the original bet the customer would win the first roll. All I had to do now was analyze the exact properties of the enchantment and I could win all day. I planned on beating this guy at his own game! "I guess the dice like you today." He complimented in the tone that the house always used in these type of games. "I'm all in for the next roll." I declared, grabbing the dice before he could protest and dropping them on the table. There was a long silence in which the large gold stallion across from me just stared blankly at the cube shaped blocks of wood in front of him. "How'd you do that?" he asked dumbfounded. "Trade secret. that and your enchanter was sloppy." I told him, collecting my winnings from the table...or I tried to. In the blink of an eye there were at least six thugs surrounding the table, All of 'em a lot stronger than me. "So, I have to think my way out of this." I reasoned, taking notice of everything in the room that could be useful. like I said before there wasn't much, strong looking tuff guys if I wanted to start a brawl, but I quickly discarded that plan as graphic images of me getting flattened by massive hooves danced through my thoughts. "Why are you looking so far away? look at the situation at hoof and solve it first." I admonished myself. I had it, the answer to all my problems. I conjured a duplication rune as fast as a master and bound it to the wooden cubes sitting in front of me, "this ought to be good." "Listen kid, we don't want to hurt anypony but if you don't give us our money we'll have to." The apparent leader of the bandits threatened, slamming his hoof on the floor for emphasis. "Can't we just talk this out," I asked, backing up to the wall. "What are you smiling for?" the bandit demanded, stepping towards me. Right into my trap. Once the unicorn came within range I let the spell latch on to his inner magic and activate several times. Three dice became six, six became twelve, twelve became twenty-four. "I know something you don't," I stepped onto the table, mindful of the mugs covering it. He raised his hoof to squash me. "Wait! before you do that. Don't you think there's more dice then before?" I pulled the term from the previous conversation with Olivia, she was obsessed with the things. His eyes slid towards the growing pile of wooden cubes, "Wha...?" Thinking on the fly, I sent the things across the inn with my tail. "No!" the stallion I won against exclaimed, leaping after the dice. "Don't just stand there you idiots! help me." Like roaches in the light they scattered after the still doubling dice. Softly chuckling to myself I gathered my winnings and left them to their rat race. I got the feeling I'd forgotten something when I stepped onto the cobblestone streets. It was gently raining, not enough to be a hindrance or be unpleasant it just added to the scenery. The village was nice I suppose, for the size anyway. I went strait for the alchemist shop, for some reason it stood out to me. I just couldn't get it out of my head for some reason. "Is there something special about it," I asked the empty square. "No...maybe there's," a cold feeling of dread crept over me and I set off full speed towards the small building. This can't end well. Varied scents assaulted me, the place was full of what you would expect. Potions, ingredients, and relics filled the small space while a big cauldron boiled away in the middle of the hut-like structure. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end, but I had to be sure. I stepped further into the shop. The door slammed closed behind me, momentarily startling me. I stepped in further, now casting nervous glances towards the door...this can't be good. The zebra behind the counter appeared completely absorbed in something and didn't notice me yet. I paused for a moment to gather my confidence, "You wouldn't happen to sell magical charms would you?" my voice shook no matter how much effort I put into the question...sometimes I hate being little. Seemingly noticing me for the first time, the proprietor glanced up from his work and grinned at me. It wasn't a service with a smile expression this one meant business and it wasn't expensive potions. "Now you sleep, to dream, to find, to live." I couldn't focus anymore, my vision betrayed me giving only blurred imagery it looked like I fell into swamp water. I struggled to stay on my hooves, often tripping over myself in the process. Something large and heavy smashed itself over my head. There was the sound of shattering pottery then nothing... The park was beautiful as always, but I couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right, occasionally it felt like something brushed up against me, but nothing was ever there. I sat on the blue and green bench feeding a group of birds with some of the spare bread I had with me for some reason, I didn't pick it up anywhere I remembered...maybe it was just last night's strange dreams still effecting me. I gave up on the train of thought as best I could and entertained myself watching the birds. Occasionally one of them would protest his friend getting more food then him, but it was a nice day...even though we had a storm scheduled for right now... The feeling of rain on my coat came out of nowhere, instinctively I glanced around, trying to locate the source...but there wasn't even a cloud in the sky. The feeling was still there however. I shook my head at the notion, "rainwater is stored in the clouds and there aren't any around! So stop pretending like there are." I sighed in defeat. there was still several redeeming values to the day, I'd gotten that job on the farm I needed, found some trustworthy friends, and even better cleared my name...was there something I forgot to do? Was that it? The book in my pocket brushed against my side reminding me of my strange trip to the local library. I'd needed a resource on rock farming so I had some idea what to do, the librarian thought I was crazy getting employed on one of those places, but it was just the cover I needed. When the gala rolls around it'll be mine. I stretched out on the bench, making it as comfortable as possible before paging through to the place I stopped. "Chapter 23, the complications and benefits of moving rocks." Although the writing was kind of bland and a lot of things didn't seem to make sense it was a great resource. Something felt... it was almost... The dream shattered as I cracked my eyes open, "what was that?" "Hey, kid you okay," Olivia asked, concern filling her voice. "Yeah," I said slowly, my voice coming out in a horse whisper, "I think so anyway." My head felt like it was run over by a over-loaded apple cart, and I was running a fever. But I had no idea why. "We found you passed out in the middle of the road and covered in pink sand. What happened to you," Olivia asked, gently helping me sit up. I groaned, barely able to keep my eyes open, "it's some twisted dream, and I don't know how to escape it." Admittedly I was slightly more than outright terrified. She looked down at me like a concerned mother, "is there anything I can do?" The question echoed like a fading nightmare, constantly torturing my somewhat awake mind. I took a few deep breaths, trying to calm myself down as I searched the room for anything out of place. I was greatly relieved to find nothing sinister hiding in the dark hoping for an easy meal. Slowly, my breathing returned to normal; dragging my racing heart with it. That constant feeling stayed though: something wrong. Like the world was off course somehow. "You okay in there," a very small voice asked through the door. "Wait... who are you," I asked, slowly backed away from the door. "Don't be afraid," the gentle, almost melodious voice pleaded, "there's so few of us now.... we need your help, young hero." "Do you know what's going on," I bumped into the foot of the bed, shattering my focus on the door for just a fraction of a second. "I know," the filly declared from right in front of me. She had a coat the color of the clearest night and a mane like the darkest midnight. She was smaller than I was and looked like she hadn't slept in a long time. "Please," she begged, tears leaking from her tired eyes, "please help me escape this house. It's evil." I looked into those eyes, an endless abyss of innocence and terror. It broke my heart. "ESCAPE?! YOU LITTLE FOOLS WILL NEVER ESCAPE ME," a voice of pure darkness bellowed with enough volume to shatter the vase on the bedside table. "What are you," I demanded, stepping between the voice and the filly. "I AM THE NIGHTMARE, THE DARKNESS IN THE HEART OF EVERYPONY," the black smoke drifted to whispering distance. "And I know you. Oh, how you've welcomed me in the past, but why do you hate me now? Aren't we friends?" "THIS. IS. MY. DOMAIN," the filly suddenly shouted, taking command of the off the rails nightmare. "THE DREAMS OF EQUESTRIA ARE MY DOMAIN, BE GONE FOUL DARKNESS. TROUBLE THIS FOAL NO MORE." What followed was a duel worthy of legend, ending with (who'd guessed?) our victory. The filly, no longer a helpless, tiny thing stood over her fallen opponent. Her new mark a perfect picture of her fate: a crescent moon on a night sky. "You will have to face her again," she looked me in the eye, a single tear ran down her cheek. "...I'm sorry." In a bright flash the dreamscape faded, leaving me in Olivia's caring arms.