Outside the Ponyville library, Rainbow Dash paced back and forth in front of the door. She was never a mare of words, preferring instead to keep her problems to herself. Today, however, she felt it was time to get one particularly bothersome problem off her chest, and she knew just the pony smart enough to figure it out.
She hadn't been able to return to sleep after the nightmare had jarred her awake, and so she decided to meet with Twilight Sparkle early in the morning before her friend could involve herself in whatever it is she tended to do. Finally, Dash summoned her courage and knocked on the door. It was a few moments before the door opened to reveal the library's lavender caretaker.
"Rainbow Dash?" Twilight asked, a bit surprised. "What brings you here so early?"
The pegasus scuffed at the ground with a hoof and smiled uneasily. "Uh, hey, Twilight. Can we talk?"
Twilight was momentarily taken aback. "S-sure, come on in. I was just about to make some coffee. Want a cup?"
Rainbow answered affirmatively and the two entered the library, where the pegasus took a seat on one of the sofas. Twilight continued into the kitchen and prepared the coffee machine to brew a pot of java. Spike, her baby dragon assistant, was typically in charge of mundane tasks such as this, but it was still early in the morning and she knew he needed his rest.
As the machine churned away, Twilight sat and pondered the presence of the pegasus in her parlor. In all the time they'd been friends, Rainbow Dash had never been an early riser, preferring instead to sleep well into late morning. As such, the unicorn was slightly concerned over her friend's sudden early morning arrival. Her thoughts were interrupted as she noticed the coffee had finished brewing, and she levitated the pot to pour out two mugs worth of the liquid.
Twilight returned to the main room with a tray following in the air behind her. As she set it down between them, she lifted the cover on a bowl. "Sugar?" she asked, taking two for herself. The cubes floated to her mug and plopped themselves in.
Rainbow shook her head and took the other mug. "The tougher, the better. Gonna need this to stay awake." As she finished speaking, she yawned before sipping at the brew. The two ponies sat for a while, the only sounds cutting the air being that of the occasional sip. Finally, Twilight spoke.
"You said you wanted to talk, Rainbow?"
The pegasus took another sip from her mug and savored the moment. She was still having doubts about having come here, but it was too late to back out now. Finally, Rainbow set her mug down and took a breath.
"It's about a dream I've been having," Dash said, looking away. "A nightmare actually. I've been having it a lot since the flight competition at Cloudsdale. You remember what happened, right? Rarity was falling and..." At a nod from the unicorn, she continued. "Well, ever since then I've had this nightmare. We're all back in Cloudsdale, me and Rarity are... well, you know how it goes. I'm diving after Rarity, but in the nightmare I never make it. The sonic rainboom never happens and... Rarity..."
Rainbow stopped for a moment and looked directly at Twilight. "I've been losing a lot of sleep because of this. It's driving me crazy! But that's just the start. Last night..." she trailed off, swallowing hard and forcing herself to continue. "Last night, I had the nightmare. But instead of Rarity, it was Applejack." She further explained how the dream had originally started and the jarring transition into the nightmare.
Twilight took a final sip and set her mug on the tray. "Let me make sure I understand this. You've been having this recurring nightmare since the competition in which you fail to catch Rarity. Last night, the nightmare occurs again, but Rarity is replaced with Applejack." The pegasus nodded on both counts. "Is there anything you can think of that would cause this kind of change?"
Rainbow retreated into her thoughts. It was a slow process, sleep deprived as she was. "Well, I have been hanging out with Applejack a lot lately. Been trying to get her to help me with a stunt. I've given her a few skyrides to get her used to the idea."
"I see," Twilight murmured. "Recent events can influence our dreams, but this nightmare of yours seems pretty heavily engraved in your memory. I don't think something as simple as spending time with somepony would have this kind of effect. Maybe it has something to do with these skyrides you mentioned."
"I dunno," the pegasus mumbled. She knew Applejack had complained about the safety risks the first time, but she had gotten over it, right? She moved to her hooves slowly. "Well, hey. I really appreciate you listening like that. Normally, I wouldn't have told anypony, but last night really freaked me out." She coughed a bit. "Uh, don't tell anyone I said that."
"Not a soul," Twilight giggled. Her friend's façade was meticulously maintained, and she felt honored that she could be trusted enough to see a glimpse of the real pony behind it, if only for a moment. As the two headed for the door, Twilight said, "Now, I think you ought to try getting some rest. The last thing we need is our weather captain falling asleep on the job."
Rainbow pulled the door open and puffed out her chest. "Hah, one night of bad sleep isn't going to keep me down!" Yawning mightily, she grinned sheepishly. "But, uh... maybe a quick nap wouldn't hurt. See ya later, Twi!"
After the pegasus had taken off, Twilight closed the door and began to clean the coffee mess. Suddenly, she realized why Rainbow had been spending more time than usual napping in some part of the sky. Now that she knew of these nightmares, she wondered what else the pegasus kept to herself that could be affecting her. Twilight shook her head, dismissing the thought. As much as she yearned to unravel the mystery of her friend, she had to tell herself it wasn't her place to drag somepony's secrets into the light.
Besides, it's just a nightmare, right?