Discord blinked several times, then shook his head to clear it. The world around him seemed fuzzy and out of focus, like a chalk drawing that had gotten wet. It wasn't anything like he had expected, nothing like the world he usually visited when he dreamed.
That's because this isn't just your dream, a voice answered his thoughts. Discord jumped and looked around him for the owner of the voice, and behind him, Alberich sat watching. Discord growled.
"Let her go."
Alberich tilted his head, and the voice came again, but his lips didn't move. Instead, the green jewel around his neck pulsed with light, is if it were the one speaking. Oh, I don't think so. We're having such a grand time dreaming.
Slowly, Discord's menacing growl turned into curiosity. He stared at Alberich's face, which seemed strangely unresponsive. "Alberich?"
The voice laughed. He can't answer you. You know as well as I do that he should have been dead a thousand years ago.
"What have you done to him? Who are you? What are you?"
I am the Terror. The creator of nightmares. The fear of a dreamer gives me my strength.
Discord crossed his arms. "And you're stuck in a necklace? Some terror. Although Rarity might object to that shade of green."
The Guardian of the Night, Princess Luna, ripped me from my home in the world of dreams and cast me into the waking world, where I was forced to take refuge in the first home I encountered. It has taken me thousands of years to draw enough power from my host to make my way back to the dream realm.
"You used Alberich's dream powers to give ponies nightmares, and kept him alive for a thousand years to do it?"
I will admit it was quite the inconvenience to keep him alive. But he is at peace now, his physical body returned to dust.
"So he can carry you around the dream world instead?"
Of course not. I need simply re-establish my reality in the dream realm, and I will have whatever shape I choose.
"Establish your reality? What does that mean?"
Why should I bother telling you? You've trapped yourself here, so you can witness it firsthand! The image of Alberich faded, leaving Discord alone in the blurry world of dreams.
Discord squinted, as if it would make the world become clearer, but it didn't. How was he supposed to find Fluttershy in this fog? He stomped his goat foot impatiently, then spread his wings and started flying in large circles, surveying what he presumed to be the ground below. Eventually he saw a smudge of yellow and landed. "Fluttershy?"
The yellow thing's outline slowly sharpened, and turned its head. Discord still couldn't tell exactly who it was, but it was shaped like a pony, with smudges of pink where the mane and tail should be. "Fluttershy?" he asked again.
Two teal blue eyes blinked at him, and gradually, Fluttershy came into focus. Discord grinned in relief. "Oh, Fluttershy, I'm so glad I found you! Come on, we've got to get out of--Fluttershy?"
She stood perfectly still, blinking at him, with a look of complete confusion on her face.
"Fluttershy, it's me, Discord. We have to go."
She tilted her head back and forth, squinting at him. Finally, she spoke. "Go where? I can't really see you, but I'm glad to meet you anyway. How do you know my name?"
Discord's jaw literally hit the ground. He bent to pick it up and re-attach it to his head, trying to fight the shocked tears that were forming in his eyes. "It's me, Fluttershy."
"Me, who?" she asked innocently, looking at him with the sincere curiosity of meeting somepony for the very first time.
It took all of Discord's strength not to scream. She didn't remember him at all.
By the time Celestia had returned from raising the sun in the waking world, every pony was already gathered around the sleeping Fluttershy and Discord. Rainbow Dash and Applejack hadn't budged from their vigils, though both of them showed signs of sleep deprivation. Spike and Rarity avoided each other's gaze, Cheese Sandwich constantly kept a comforting hoof around Pinkie Pie's shoulders, and Twilight had pulled every book from the library that so much as mentioned the word "nightshade" and was reading diligently.
Finally, Princess Celestia said, "There's nothing more we can do for now. You should all go and get something to eat."
In ones and twos everyone dragged themselves away from the sleepers and trudged to the kitchen. Twilight went last, holding her book in front of her face with her magic. She didn't follow everyone else downstairs, instead wandering back to the library where her pile of books was waiting. With furrowed brow she sat down at one of the solid oak tables and kept reading.
She didn't notice the hoofsteps in the room until a familiar voice called, "Twilight! There you are!"
The princess glanced up in confusion. "Flash?"
The guard looked worried and flustered, breathing heavily as if he had flown all the way to Canterlot at top speed. "I came as soon as I heard. Is there anything I can do?"
Twilight stared at him, trying to process his surprising appearance. Flash blushed under her curious gaze. Finally, Twilight nodded. "Thank you. I think some company might be wise under the circumstances." The guard smiled and saluted, standing at strict attention beside her chair. The princess looked at him, then used her magic to pull over a chair. "At ease, Captain."
Flash Sentry flushed and awkwardly seated himself. Twilight turned back to her book, and neither spoke for a long while. When she finished one, she set it aside and picked up the next of her large stack of books, Flash tilted his head. "What is all this?"
"The alp used some kind of spell called the nightshade to pull Fluttershy into the dream realm. I'm trying to find out everything I can about it, just in case Discord isn't successful in bringing her back."
"Want some help?" Flash asked.
Twilight turned to him and smiled. Her horn glowed as she picked up another book and set it in Flash's hooves. "Make note of anything that might help us get her back."
Flash Sentry saluted.
Downstairs with the others, neither Rarity nor Spike had spoken a word all morning. Both continually stole glances at the other, until Applejack sighed and rolled her eyes. "Hey Rarity, can you come with me? I found a big ol' knot in my mane this morning--" That was all she needed to say, and Rarity was shoving her up to the farm pony's bedroom.
When Applejack was sitting patiently in front of the vanity allowing Rarity to drag a hairbrush through her mane (which admittedly hadn't been brushed for some time), she asked, "What's goin' on with you an' Spike, Rares?"
Rarity almost dropped the hairbrush. She stammered as she tried to recover. "W-why, whatever do you mean, darling?"
"I saw the way you were lookin' at him over breakfast. An' the way he was lookin' at you. I know he's had it for ya since the first moment he saw you, but I've never seen you look at him like that."
Rarity flushed a deep red. "Well, he's grown up so much recently, and..."
Applejack sighed again. "Have you really thought about this? You know how much he cares about you, you don't want to hurt him by making him think somethin' that isn't true."
The hairbrush stood still as Rarity stared at her hooves. "You're right. I've been terribly thoughtless. I do care about Spike, more than I ever realized, but that doesn't give me license to act as I please with him. He deserves somepony who will treat him with respect, and earn his respect in return."
Applejack smiled and set a hoof on her shoulder. "I think you two could be real happy together, but you need to remember that any relationship is a give and take. Jus' like bein' sisters with Sweetie Belle, you gotta be apple pie."
Rarity smiled. "Thank you, Applejack. I'm so lucky to have a friend like you to help me see when I'm getting ahead of myself."
"Of course, sugarcube. Now why don't we head back down to breakfast?"
"Wait! Your mane isn't finished yet! Sit back down!"
Applejack groaned good-naturedly and let the makeover continue.
In the dream realm, Discord had withdrawn from Fluttershy and sat some distance away, watching her. From the way she moved, he could tell that she was having as much trouble seeing as he was. Why, then, was her form so clear to him but his was not to her?
He frowned, thinking over the conversation with the Terror to see if there was a clue in the creature's words. What had he said last? That he needed to establish his reality. Discord huffed. "What in the world does that mean?"
This was the dream realm; nothing was real! How could the Terror be real in a world full of fuzzy edges and blurry colors? The only real thing in this world was Fluttershy--
Fluttershy. Discord turned to watch her as she wandered in the dream realm. Her edges were sharp. He could see her as clear as day, standing out against the blurry background in full focus. Because she was real.
"But I'm real, too!" he insisted, pacing in agitation and pulling out fistfuls of his mane. "Why can't she see me?!" He summoned a tree to bang his head against, only to discover that it was blurry, too. Discord groaned. "Stupid dream world!"
He snapped his fingers and the blurry tree vanished, and he started pacing again. Suddenly an idea occurred to him, and he snapped his fingers. A chair appeared in front of him: blurry. He snapped it away. He summoned a mirror. The edges were blurry, but his own reflection was clear as could be.
"So it's only the things that I know are real..." he mused. "Since Fluttershy doesn't seem to remember me, maybe she thinks I'm just a dream, too!" His reflection grinned and reached out of the mirror to pat him on the back. Discord jumped up and clicked his heels. "That means all I have to do is convince her that I'm real!"
Elated, he snapped the mirror away and turned to Fluttershy. He was running toward her full throttle when he stopped himself short. "Now, how in Equestria am I supposed to do that?"