//------------------------------// // Everything You Dream Matters // Story: Appledashery // by Just Essay //------------------------------// "I know this place looks freaky, but—believe me—you can totally fly through it." Rainbow approached the edge of the immense green plateau, stretching her wings. "Just think of it as a really thick thundercloud only without the rain. Up and down really don't have any rules, so... it's best to make your own on the fly. Ya feel me?" "Yes... I..." Stu stumbled after her, shuddering. He gulped and stammered, "I f-feel you, Rainbow Dash..." Rainbow looked over her shoulder. "Stu? You okay to go?" "I... uh..." He clenched his eyes shut, hissing through his teeth. "Just give me a minute..." Rainbow fidgeted before the shivering stallion. "I could... uhm... go and fly ahead, y'know. Scout out? Let you catch your bearings—" "No. We... we shouldn't split up again," Stu said, his voice wavering. "I shouldn't—... I don't want to be alone anymore. Not if I could risk falling back into that... that..." He choked on a sob, running a hoof over his face. "I-I'm sorry, Rainbow. Just... they were calling out for me and... and I just let them vanish." "Stu..." Rainbow turned to face him. "They weren't real." "I kn-know! But... but the way I feel... the way I remember them..." Stu shook, quivered. "Maybe I was only in there for minutes, but it felt like years. Rainbow. The recollections. The memories." He sniffled. "The scent of their manes as I... as I h-hugged them..." Rainbow swallowed. "And how about their mothers? Did you remember her?" Stu's moist eyes fluttered open. He tilted his head up to gawk at her. "I... I keep drawing a blank. And... and those pictures..." "She was faceless..." "Was it even AJ?" "You asking me, Stu?" Rainbow said with a shrug. The stallion blinked, then gazed off into the distance. "I... I wanted it to be her." He bit his lip. "But... not as much as I wanted it to be anypony. Just to feel like I belonged to someone and someone belonged to me. We had... such b-beautiful children together..." Stu ran a hoof through his mane. "...all those years, gone. Like they never existed." "Stu... buddy..." Rainbow squatted low so she was face to face with him. "I can't pretend to imagine how terribly cruddy this all is for you. But we need to work together if we're going to find AJ." "Rainbow, how could..." Stu shuddered. "How are you so nonchalant and cool all the time?" "It's like I said, pal. I'm awesome. I just briefly forgot for a mom—" "But even in here?" Stu blinked. "How'd you break out of your own dream?" "I... uh..." Rainbow squirmed. "I didn't have one." Stu cocked his head to the side. "You weren't stuck in a dream like me?" "Nope. Can't say that I was." "But... but..." Stu grimaced. "Why is that? What Silver Shill said..." Stu shook his head in disbelief. "I figured you would have been ensnared just like I was." "Well, I wasn't, okay?" Rainbow said. "Now... we really really gotta find AJ." "Just... how is it you're not affected like I am?" "I think for the same reason you could never dream up AJ's face in your little world, Stu," Rainbow muttered. "A large part of me knows that none of this is real." Stu was silent. "I'd love to give you more time, buddy, but I don't think AJ has any time to spare." "I know... it's just that..." A tear ran down his face as he shook in place. "Even though none of it was real, I feel so terrible..." He exhaled heavily. "...and so alone." "I'm here for you, dude." Rainbow managed a weak smile. "Really, it's going to be okay." "I... I wish I could believe that, Rainbow. But... but..." Suddenly, with a flash of light, a geodesic sphere landed in front of Stu, materializing into a smiling mane with shimmering black hair. Stu simply gawked at her. Epcot leaned forward, staring Stu in the face. She squinted—as if searching for something—then grasped his hooves in her own, giving his fetlocks a gentle stroke. "Such a kind, fun-loving heart." She giggled. "You'd make an excellent dreamfinder." "Uhhh..." Stu blinked. "I'm sorry?" "Is a family what you want more than anything in this life?" Epcot asked. Another tear ran down Stu's face. "...y-yes." "What's your name, mortal?" "Uhm..." He sniffled. "Stu. Stu Leaves..." "Stu Leaves. Mortal. Pegasus. Dreamer. Father." She smiled, then leaned forward to nuzzle him. Once the warm gesture was done, she stood back and said, "If you can dream it, then you can do it. And, in your case—if you can feel it, then you can be it." She smiled wide. "Don't give up hope, Stu Leaves. There's more to a pony's spirit than wind that can lift him up. You'll make a wonderful father someday, and your dream will blossom into brand new wonderous life." He exhaled, his breaths coming out calm and tranquil. Epcot trotted around, humming. "Now, let's see... just where is the next sim? Oh! Right!" She galloped off in a seemingly random direction. "Now is the time! Now is the best time! Now is the best time of your liiiife!" she sang. "Who... uh..." Stu Leaves stood up alongside Rainbow, gazing at the uniformed figure. "...who's Ms. Cheerful?" "Epcot." "Huh?" "Yeah, I know, right?" Rainbow leaned in. "And before you get any ideas, loverboy..." She patted him on the shoulder. "...she's not real." "Uhhhhhhhhh huh..." Stu blinked as Rainbow trotted after the earth pony. "...are we even real?" "Life is a prize. Live every minute. Open your eyes and watch how you win it."