Bitter Sweetness

by Zuzanna


I'm Not Alone

"Who are you!?" I asked, "And what are you doing in my dreams?"
The filly looked at me like in a bored sense, as if I were clueless.
"What are you talking about?" She said, annoyed, but more so confused. "This is my dream!"
I had sworn I had seen her before, perhaps in reality, but in my dreams, I wouldn't have known. If it is her dream, then, it would be strange to know why I am here - After all, the aura does feel refreshingly... different.

The filly turned away from me, and flipped her white-and-purple mane. Then she came back to me and leaned closer. "At least, I'm sure it is, but it seems... different. I'm-"
I remembered, suddenly, and jerked away. "I know who you are," I said, calmly, "and I guess then this is neither yours nor mine. I think we aren't the only ones here."
She cocked her head to the side. "You mean... there are others?" She whispered, cautiously, but still rather hushed.
"I guess there are... I guess there are."

I looked up into the endless night, now gleaming with stars. "The last thing I remember, I was in C... Can... uh... I don't think I remember the name of the place," I put my hoof on my forehead and tried to focus.
"You mean Canterlot?"
"Yes, yes - that's it! Canterlot,"
The earth pony looked into the sky, as I did.
"Funny... so was I... we should probably see if we can't find anypony else. Then we can see if we can't find out why we're here." She suggested.

I started to lead us through a rocky path. It would have been cold, but it's hard to be sure. Dreams are tricky like that. I gazed upon the scenery as we trotted through the mess. Vines tangled in with rusted, smooth, stones, and thin layers of ice glazed over it. There were big piles of them, and it was all blue.
If this were my dream, I'd rather it be pink, or purple at least.

We talked a bit as we traipsed through different places in other ponies' imaginations - from candy gardens with Skittles and Gumdrops to Sci-fi scenes taken right out of the movies, it seemed like we had found a way to escape our own dreams into
"The Land of Dreams!" I exclaimed aloud, finishing my thoughts. The pony looked at me strangely. "Heh, sorry..." I apologized. At least I'm not completely clueless. After all, I do feel different.
I peer into the near distance, and spot a group of foals... sleeping. In the... sand...
Odd, I wonder to myself, Why is everypony asleep?

The filly looked closer at the sleeping ponies.
"They can't be sleeping. Definitely not sleeping."
One of the colts jolted as she neared him. "She's right, you know," he mumbled.
Wide eyed, I slowly looked up at my (unlikely) companion.
I had an idea. "They seem to be in a trance of some sort! Come on, we should see if we can't do anything to get them up." I tapped one of the fillies with my hoof, and felt a quick shock.
"Agh!" I yelled, leaping back. The other filly rolled her eyes.

"Okay, so since obviously your little plan has failed, we should try a new tactic."
"And that is...?" I asked, rhetorically.
"Doing it my way, of course!" She boasted. "How else?"
I decided to roll with it. "So, what's your plan then?"
Looking up, she thought for a moment. "Okay, since you're a unicorn, you can go and talk to them using your... uh... magic... and talk to their minds. If they're not asleep, you should get a pretty clear response."

My first thought? I wanted to just shout in her face, 'That's RIDICULOUS! I don't even have the power to do that!'
But after looking it over a bit, it was worth a shot. Besides, this is the Land of Dreams. Anything can happen here, as long as it's for a reason. "Alright then... here goes..."

I closed my eyes and focused on my vital magic energy. It's supposed to be easy, this being the place where all your dreams 'come true', but never once in my life had I dreamed of casting spells. I imagined reaching out to the other foals, my spiritual thoughts connecting to theirs, and my inner soul had found a link. It worked.

Why are you on the ground, sleeping? I asked. No response.
Hello? Anyone there?
Hi.
Why are you on the ground? Did you hear my question?
No...
WHY. ARE. YOU. ON. THE. GROUND? I asked, for the THIRD time. I was getting impatient - I don't need to be wasting time! Ha, like there is time to be wasted...
I don't know! I can't get up though. Can I have some help?
Hi! Why am I on the ground? I'm tired.

I thought for a moment. If they're trapped here, we have to find a way to help them. They might know how to get up, but they don't know they know how. I thought about the one time that Rarity showed me - The Princess Mare. It was one of her FAVORITE movies.

So... where's the key?
What key?
Don't the keepers have keys? Right.

I got excited, unfocused, and sprang up. "That's it!" I exclaimed.
The filly looked at me strangely, like I was crazy. She calmed a bit. "Okay, unicorn, what's the hitch?"
"We need to find the keepers of the night. By what I'd guess, they should have all the keys we'll need in The Land of Dreams. I'm not sure where they are, but we should probably keep moving. The sooner we get out of here, the sooner we can do what we really have to do."
And by that, I meant finding my sister, which was still my main priority.