//------------------------------// // Chapter Five: Dreams // Story: Both of the Four of Us // by TwinkieSpy //------------------------------// Both of the Four of Us Chapter Five: Dreams Pinkie Pie's eyelashes fluttered gracefully as she opened her eyes, face marred with an uncharacteristic frown. Something felt... wrong. Like a tugging at the back of her mind. At the rock farm, she and her sisters had once found a sinkhole at the edge of their property. Her father, Clyde Pie, had explained what caused the mysterious gash in the earth: soil under the ground had eroded away, leaving the dirt resting on it to rumble down into the resulting pit like dominoes. That was what the tugging felt like--like a part of her was beginning to blink out of existence, and the rest was rushing in to fill the void. It wasn't entirely unlike her Pinkie Sense, but magnified exponentially. The sensation increased in intensity as she focused on it, until it was no longer just a tug, but a harsh yank. She slowly opened her eyes further, taking in her surroundings. She was back in the clearing near the Everfree Forest... somehow. "Princess?" she called, then retreated with a whimper, the feeling in her head turning into real pain as soon as she opened her mouth. The earth pony placed a forehoof over her head, shielding her eyes from the sun. The... sun? Pinkie removed her hoof and looked up at the sky, ignoring the pain it caused. The sun didn't seem right. It seemed... off. Like the tugging at the back of her mind, except this wasn't just taking place in her head. This was a hole in reality being filled. The sky as a whole shimmered. "Princess?!" she yelled again, wincing in pain. The Princess would know what was wrong. She knew the sky, after all. Well... the night sky. The day's sky belonged to-- "I wouldn't think that, if I were you," Pinkie turned, searching for the source of the voice. Whoever it was, they were the source of the sinkhole in her mind. She could feel it. Call it her Pinkie Sense. "W-Why?" she asked, still searching the surrounding clearing for her visitor. It wasn't Princess Luna; she knew that much. The voice seemed... harsh. Bitter. It was a mare's voice, definitely, but any trace of femininity present in it was dispelled by the dull, bored tone it took. If anything, androgyny suited the mystery pony more; the voice simply didn't seem as if it cared enough to give itself a gender. It didn't seem as if it cared enough to do anything. "Because," it continued, "We're not alone here. She's like us." "Who? What?" Pinkie seemed to forget all about her growing migraine in her bewilderment. "Who is 'us?'" "You..." A hoof settled on Pinkie's shoulder, and she spun back around to face... herself. Or what could have been herself, in an alternate life. The pony before her lacked her bright color and the puffy mane style she had adopted after viewing the Sonic Rainboom. However, what distinguished her the most from Pinkie Pie herself was not the more cosmetic differences, but rather her body language, her manner of carrying herself. The mare was hunched over, ears held down, with a frown on her face and a complete lack of emotion in her eyes. Not-Pinkie opened her mouth and finished: "...and me." Pinkie relaxed, relieved to see that her guest was not the hideous monster she expected. By the Everfree Forest, she could never be sure. Adopting a tired smile, she reached out a forehoof to her doppelgänger invitingly. "Okie-dokie-lokie, then. 'Snice to meet you. I'm Pinkie Pie, and I'd show you my welcome wagon if I had it around..." The other mare smirked slightly before returning to her neutral expression. "Pinkamena Diane Pie," she introduced herself. "Though I'm afraid this isn't the first time we've met. Oh, and by the way..." She jerked her head up toward the sky, still containing its giant invisible sinkhole. "We're not by the Everfree Forest. You haven't been there in days." "Oh," said Pinkie Pie as the environment around her dissolved, along with Pinkamena Diane (She thought of Luna momentarily, and her formal way of referring to her). "Okay... then..." For the second time that day--or was in night now?--Pinkie Pie opened her eyes. Trixie's magician's hat greeted her, but aside from that and an assortment of props strewn about the cart, she was alone. Her ears perked up as she heard shouting coming from outside the wagon. "For the final time, the Great and Powerful Trixie shall stop and complete her performance in Peasantville first, this being her vehicle and all, and then she may consider passing by this 'Marem' place!" "My greatest pardons, Your Majesty, but we were not aware that thou werest, in fact, royalty. After all, one must always respect royalty, mustn't one!" "Yes! Always... until that royalty becomes a complete pain in one's flank!" "Agreed; it seems that, according to your assessment, common courtesy has rendered ourselves capable of ceasing to show thee respect. With all that is due to you, please do go find thyself in the belly of a manticore!" "Spoiled foal!" "Self-loving harlot!" "Little princess!" "Yes! Exactly!" Pinkie sighed, enjoying the familiar sound of bickering. As she had learned over the past two days, Trixie's false respect for Princess Luna had worn off quickly, replaced by anger and scorn, which was returned wholeheartedly by the alicorn. Pinkie Pie and Lightning Burst, for their parts, had just stood off to the side and watched, though while Pinkie had watched with amusement, Trixie's assistant's reaction was more like terror. He had asked Pinkie what she thought the chances of Luna decimating the cart and its residents in a Trixie-induced rage were, to which the pink pony had replied casually that there was a fairly small chance of that happening. He had not seemed reassured. On the ceiling of the cart was a hatch door, leading up to the roof where Pinkie Pie's companion and reluctant guide were sitting. The party planner considered climbing up to join them for a moment, but thought better of it; the cart was only so large, and with two normal-sized ponies and one alicorn on the roof, somepony was bound to fall off. Besides, Pinkie had a mysterious feeling in her gut right now; not the unpleasant tugging of her dreams, but just an unusual desire that she had never actually felt before: she wanted to be alone. Not permanently, certainly not, and yet not momentarily, either. For the first time in her life, Pinkie found that she could use a good minute or five with only herself for company. Myself... She thought back to her dream, back to the dull-coated pony that looked just like her. Pinkamena Diane Pie... that's my name, you know. I mean, I know. I mean... Pinkie Pie giggled. What did she mean? Of course her name was Pinkamena Diane Pie! Even if she was actually silly enough to forget it, Luna and her overuse of the pink mare's full name should have reminded her by now! She remembered how the pony calling herself Pinkamena had referred to Pinkie and herself as "we"... which made grammatical sense, of course, but it prompted the formation of a connection in Pinkie's mind, between herself and her traveling companion. She had never really understood what the "royal plural" meant, no matter how many times Twilight Sparkle had tried to explain it to her after Nightmare Night. But maybe that isn't it at all. Maybe she just uses "we" the same way Pinkamena--I--whoever used "we!" Pinkamena was me, and she was talking to me, so we were "we!" Princess Luna is herself, and... I wonder who talks to her. Pinkie frowned, her simplistic but logical train of thought reaching a stop. Wow, she finally decided, Now I know why Twilight's so smart! She spent her time in Canterlot alone, and, boy, being alone sure does lead to thinking a lot! Then, I think I'm done thinking. Nodding her head in agreement, Pinkie threw open the hatch and climbed out to join Luna and Trixie, leaving her unthought thoughts behind. She had needed a minute or five to be alone, and now that minute (or was it five?) was over. "...and if thou dost not set on the road to Marem immediately, we promise that a plague of magical impotence shall come upon thee!" shouted Luna, finishing her final rant in her tirade of anger towards Trixie. The unicorn only rolled her eyes, smirking as she flicked a strand of blue hair from her face. "Ha! The joke will be on you, then, because the Great and Powerful Trixie doesn't even need magic to perform magic!" On cue, she produced a bouquet of flowers that had previously been absent from behind her back, holding them out towards the dark alicorn. Luna reached forward warily, glare trained on Trixie's self-assured face accusingly, only to find them snatched away as soon as her hoof approached the roses. Trixie bit down on their blooms, savoring the bouquet's taste. "You see?" she bragged in between bites. Luna crossed her forehooves angrily. "Truly, we have never seen such insolence in our life!" she cried, exasperated. "Hey, guys!" The two ponies stopped their bickering long enough to see Pinkie Pie climb out from the wagon's interior, mane somehow even more unkempt than usual. Oblivious to their tension, or perhaps innocently wanting to reduce it, she sat down in between Luna and Trixie, grinning at them each in turn. The relatively small area of the cart's roof forced the trio to huddle close to one another, regardless of how little two of them wanted to. "What's up?" "Certainly the idea of decimating this cart and its residents in an insolence-induced rage," replied Princess Luna dryly, eliciting a nervous gulp from the stallion pulling the wagon. "Yes, that is certainly 'up in the air,' as is said, at the moment." "The Great and Powerful Trixie has been considering something as well. Were the size of the royal family to decrease suddenly by one, do you suppose anypony would really notice?" Pinkie genuinely seemed to consider the matter for a moment before replying, "Yeah, there's a pretty good chance somepony would notice." "...Oh. Well then," Trixie rolled her eyes, then stared out at the sunset-lit environment rushing by her, avoiding eye contact with either of her self-proclaimed passengers. They were still in the plains, though the sight of ponds and marshes was becoming more common. Peasantville was in the swamps, of course; if it was really as close as Lightning Burst said it was, then Marem would likely be in that same general biome as well. She hoped it was as close as he said it was... And Lightning Burst should hope so too, if he doesn't want to face the wrath of the Great and Powerful Trixie--heck, and probably the wrath of that bossy princess, too! More than content to ignore the infuriating unicorn--or at least ignore her as well as she could, given their proximity--Luna turned to greet Pinkie Pie. "Pinkamena Diane. How was your sleep?" The earth pony shrugged. "It was all right. Had some weird dreams, though. This whole 'nocturnal schedule' thing is harder than I thought it would be!" Princess Luna nodded with understanding. "Yes. We--I--" Her glance traveled back to Trixie momentarily. "--We have found ourselves obligated to awaken ourselves during the daytime for certain extenuating circumstances--holidays, festivals, our sister's days off and the like--and have always had difficulties adjusting to a new sleeping schedule. It does grow easier with time, however." Luna chanced another glance at Trixie, who was still glaring out over the plains, then gestured for Pinkie to come closer. The pink mare leaned forward with interest as the princess whispered to her, "And do not forget--abiding by my schedule shall minimize the time you have to spend tolerating that impossible stage magician!" The two mares giggled together mischievously, and Pinkie felt all of the remaining stress from her bizarre dream melting away as it occurred to her that, for the second time since their departure, she had actually seen Luna laugh in a manner that wasn't scornful! And even better--the princess had taken the time to joke with Pinkie without any of the energetic mare's usual prompting, and that... that made Pinkie Pie happy. Their shared moment was interrupted by a nervous call from in front of the wagon. "Er, everypony?" called Lightning Burst, slowing the speed of his gallop. "Your Majesty? Trix--er, Great and Powerful Trixie? Um... Pink Pony?" "Pinkie Pie," corrected Pinkie nonchalantly. "Right. Pinkie Pie. Anyways..." Lightning slowed down to a canter, and then a trot, before coming to a stop. "We've arrived." Trixie snapped to attention, another snide smile forming on her lips. "Aha! You see, 'Your Highness?' The Great and Powerful Trixie has finally arrived at..." Her smile began to fade as she looked closer at the settlement in front of her. "...her... destination...? Where in Equestria are we?" she demanded, bewildered. "Right. About that..." muttered her employee, kneading the ground nervously. Princess Luna smiled, eyes narrowing as she took in more and more of the sight before her. She had assumed that Celestia was using hyperbole when she had told her that her destination hadn't changed in the past thousand years, and yet... it was true. Nothing had changed. Nothing except Luna. "Welcome," she said demurely, "To Marem."