It was a usual, horribly stormy day in the Icense Plains. King Tundrice’s lookouts were bored. They tried playing cards, but the winds blew their deck away. Even their hot cocoa froze in its thermos.
Besides these problems, all was well…
Until one of them saw something off in the distance.
“Oh, no…” muttered Lookout Snowflake to himself, “Commander Hail! Commander Hail!!”
He rushed to the room underneath the lookout, almost stumbling over the regal, ornate, pale blue carpet.
“Commander… Hail!” Snowflake slipped into the data room, tripping and clinking in his armour.
Commander Hail hopped out of his seat almost immediately after Snowflake staggered in.
“What is it this time?” Hail asked with his eyes fixed sternly at Snowflake. "It better not be another prank, I've had enough of that last week."
"I found… an unidentified pony around… 80 yards out…” Snowflake was still completely out of breath, and almost collapsed.
In the throne room, King Tundrice was laying on his incredible throne.
Commander Icicle rushed in, slamming the large oak wood and metal doors open.
"Dire news, sir!"
"What do you want, Commander?"
"Intruder! 80 yards out... he might be looking for the secret."
King Tundrice jumped off his throne, his armour clanking and cape flowing behind him.
"You IDIOT!"
His deafening yell made Hail flinch.
"Get all the guards on their sniping stations. I am not going to give up my powers without a fight."
Outside King Tundrice’s castle, the pony was rushing through the icy plains. With a bandaged wound and an almost empty saddle bag, he was determined to reach the castle. All was well, except for the small detail that Regal Guard Snipers were shooting razor-sharp icicles at him.
“If I can just go one day without somepony trying to kill me…” he said, somewhat out of breath from running in the cold.
Around 2 weeks before the pony started his perilous journey, a rare sight occurred in his home town of Hoofington. The great princess Twilight Sparkle visited their humble town. Everypony was fascinated by her and her company of guards. Some even say they saw the famous Princess Celestia. There were parties in the streets, cakes and pastries galore and balloons everywhere.
The young white unicorn Strobe Orion was amazed by all the commotion, even though he wasn't the biggest fan of crowds. He was mesmerised by the magic of a unicorn and the wings of a pegasus.
To soar among the clouds was what he had wanted for years. To see what it was like up there in the sky.
Thus, he swore that one day, he will find the way to become a great, beautiful, powerful and regal alicorn..
He rushed to the library, which was grand, yet humble in its way.
“Hi.” He casually said to the pony at the desk.
She glanced up from her magazine, giving Strobe a strong glare.
“What... do you want…?” the librarian droned, obviously annoyed at the mere presence of him.
“Uh…" he shyly muttered, "where’s the non-fiction?”
She pointed up at the large ‘Non-fiction’ sign.
“Over there. Maybe come back when you've learnt basic reading skills.”
Strobe trotted away, giving a dirty glance to the librarian.
He took out a stack of history books, and sat in his favourite spot in the library, next to the fireplace. He opened the ornate books, soaking into their knowledge for a good hour or so. He learnt of a magical, dangerous place far outside the boundaries of Northern Equestria, the Isence planes, and the ruler of the plains, King Tundrice. Legend says that whoever is brave enough to reach him and defeat him will unlock the secrets of alicorn ascension.
"I have to find this guy... He's going to give me those powers whether he likes it or not."
His eyes were glossy and watering, almost as if someone said something so moving that it made him cry.
Strobe galloped home, making sure to check the library books out for a few weeks, packed his bags with food, water and a warm fuzzy scarf, and set off on his journey.
After a well-needed rest of course. You can't journey without sleep.
Around a day after leaving Hoofington, he stopped at a local inn, hoping to regain his composure.
"You're lucky ya got here when ya did," said the Innkeeper, rummaging around in the draw of keys. "We were almost booked out completely."
He handed the room key to Strobe. "Your room's number 67."
"Thanks, sir." Strobe took the key, inspecting its nice wood grain keychain.
After handing the Innkeeper a small bag of bits, he opened the key to his room. And it wasn't exactly a good one.
The last pony in this room left a lot of junk. Dirty plates, Equestria OnLine discs, tissues that weren't even used, even a broken mirror... it wasn't that optimum. He partook in around half an hour of cleaning to sit down on his uncomfortable bed with his lumpy pillow that wasn't good even after 10 separate minutes of fluffing.
He eventually slept well into the night, as silent and cute as a foal. His breathing slowed and heart rate subdued slightly. As such, he was in a state of deep subconscious. He was aware of nothing around him, as he was in a world of his own. His history was of a dreamweaver from the magical lands of western Equestria, a pony who can be so intertwined with their dreams, that sometimes, they would never return.
Strobe dreamed he was in a large body of water. Not floating, not sinking... just inside the water... he was swimming, playing, flying.
He was flying. He was in the clouds, soaring above the sky as an Alicorn. But things took a turn for the worse.
Strobe was falling. Falling, falling towards the ground. His wings were gone, everything he knew was flashing before his eyes. Before he hit the ground, he awoke in his bed, broken out into a cold sweat.
"I'm starting to have a second thought about this stuff..." he sighed. He drank some of the water in his saddle bag and lied back down.
"Why was I born a dreamweaver?"