Sunset opened her eyes to find herself on the edge of an expansive forest. The ground felt soft beneath her feet and the breeze gently brushed against her bare arms. She examined herself first to see she was not hurt and still wearing what she had on in her room. She looked around at her surroundings to find the most wonderful scene.
Just below the hill that she stood on was a beautiful forest of tall trees with lush green leaves. The grass that covered the ground was equally lush, giving the appearance of a soft carpet spread across the ground. A warm sun shined down and gave the feeling of a warm embrace. Everything was beautiful.
Sunset felt a small tear begin to form in her eye as the land she was now in dug up memories of her original home in Equestria. Her days as a filly and the fun she once had. Rolling in the grass and flowers of meadows, exploring forests and caves, watching in awe at the many animals that ran, flew, and swam. Her old mentor, Princess Celestia, whom she eventually betrayed. She squinted her eyes shut and shook her head as she rubbed her eyes, trying to return to the present and reality. When her eyes opened again, she was still in the land of beauty.
She thought back for a moment to try and figure out what had happened. Nothing made sense. A strange blank book that seemed to magically gain a picture and a few words. Then a daze, leaving her standing in a land of beauty, peace, and tranquility. Another look around made her think that the land was made from the mind of a child. The simplicity and peacefulness of it all. The wonder and vastness of the world beyond. Seeing it all, Sunset could hardly fight the urge to play as she did as a filly and roll in the grass or attempt to climb the trees. Where was she?
She decided to pinch her arm and even give herself another slap on the face in a vain effort to remove the obvious dream. But the world remained, calling to her. Frustration built at not knowing what was happening and she raised a foot to stomp out her frustration. But she stopped. She looked down at the ground below and gently lowered her foot. For reasons beyond her understanding, at least now, she could not bring herself to stomp on the grass that she stood on. To harm that soft carpet that bore her. Why?
Giving a sigh, Sunset decided to wander the forest below. Perhaps she could find something, maybe someone, to help explain what was happening. She only took a single step before stopping. A sensation arose within that something was behind her. She turned to see a large tree with a wooden door and a window with a wooden frame. Curiosity got the best of her and she went to investigate.
She peeked through the window to find an empty blackness inside. She went to the door to enter but again found herself stopped. She held her hand mere inches from the door handle, unable to proceed further. It appeared to be a home, but it was more than simple impoliteness of barging in that stopped her. A gentle tug came from the back of her mind that she should leave the tree home be. It was not her home. More than that, it felt…special.
Sunset quickly turned and proceeded down the hill to the forest below. Something was different about the tree on the hill, beyond the outer appearance. Hopefully she would return when the owner did.
As she wandered down the hill she found a pathway through the trees. The wonderful scene around her caused her to spin a few times to try and take it all in. A large smile crossed her face as she looked in awe, feeling like a little filly once again. The wonder shifted to curiosity as she came across another tree home. This one was not as tall as the others that surrounded it but was still much wider than the others.
The door had a rectangular wooden frame around it and sat on the side of the tree that the pathway passed. Just above the door was a wooden plank with the words “Mr. Sanders” written on it. To the top left corner of the door was a bell with a string hanging from it and another small sign which read, “Ring Also.” Shock struck Sunset at what sat just in front of the entrance of the stout tree.
Sitting on a log was the bear she had seen appear on the cover of the blank book. It was yellow with rounded paws and almost appeared as a stuffed animal. The bear sat on the log staring up into the sky rather unaware of the girl who had wandered upon the home. Stranger still was that the bear seemed to be humming.
Sunset put her hand to her face and shook her head at the sight. “Now I know I’m dreaming.”
The strange bear ceased his humming and turned to Sunset, looking with curiosity. Half expecting the dream to shift into a nightmare at this point, Sunset was surprised when the bear spoke with a low and gentle voice.
“Hallo there,” the bear called. “Who are you? And are you going on an adventure?”
“Umm,” Sunset said, still taken aback at the whole experience. She hesitated to answer but gave in to the still obvious dream. “I’m Sunset Shimmer. And, why would you ask if I was going on an adventure?”
“Well, you have on big boots.”
Sunset looked down at her feet, having all but forgotten that she had left her boots on since she got home. “Oh, yeah. But what does that have to do with adventuring.”
“When one puts on their big boots, it means they are going on an adventure,” the bear said with what sounded like excitement in the voice.
“Oh, well…I guess I am on some weird adventure. Who are you?”
“Oh!” the bear said, hopping down from the log. “I am Winnie-the-Pooh. But you can call me Pooh.”
Sunset looked over at the door and the plank with the name “Sanders” then back at the bear. “But, your door says ‘Mr. Sanders.’”
The bear looked over at the door. “Yes, it does.”
Sunset put her hand to her face again and shook her head. None of this made since. But since it did not seem that she was going to get out of this, she decided to play along and see the dream through to the end. Besides, Pooh was kind of adorable, in a stuffed teddy bear kind of way.
She was about to say more when Pooh placed his, assuming Pooh was a he, paw on his tummy and stared at it. “It seems I am feeling a bit eleven-o-clockish. Time for a little something.”
He turned and sort of waddled over to his tree home and disappeared within. Sunset followed and found him searching through a set of cabinets and pushing aside several empty pots.
“Bother,” he said finally. “No more honey.” Pooh walked over to the small table and chair in the house and sat down, looking rather glum. “I could ask Rabbit for more, but I can’t seem to find him anywhere. Or anyone else.” He held his tummy again. “Bother.”
“What do you mean?” Sunset asked.
“Just that,” Pooh said.
“That?”
“Yes.”
Sunset resisted the urge to facepalm this time. Looking at Pooh, she could see that he did seem awfully upset, beyond his hunger. She felt sorry for the strange bear and worked her way into the house, having to crouch to navigate the small space. She made her way over to Pooh and put an arm around him.
“I guess I’m on an adventure so why not adventure with me,” she said. Pooh looked with curiosity, but mostly that same simple look he seemed to have. “We’ll adventure to find your friends.”
Pooh smiled at the idea then immediately went back to his empty belly.
“We’ll have to find you something to eat first,” Sunset said with a giggle.
Pooh hopped down from the chair and made his way for the door with Sunset following. “Then let us find some honey.”
The two wandered the woods for some time before Pooh stopped under a very large tree. He peered up, bending backwards a bit and nearly fell over. Sunset looked up to see what he was looking at and saw a large hole high in the tree and heard a low buzzing sound coming from above.
“Seems to be a bee hive,” she said. “Better keep moving and be careful Pooh.”
“Yes,” said Pooh, “And the buzzing of the bees means they are making honey. Which I love.”
He started walking up to the tree but Sunset grabbed him and pulled him back, turning him around to face him. “Wait, are you sure this is a good idea? You could get hurt.”
Pooh thought for a second before speaking. “You are right. Then we shall be clever.”
“What?”
“Do you have a balloon?”
“I don’t follow.”
“You don’t have to. You stay down here.”
Sunset sighed as she set the bear down. Still odd. “What do you need a balloon for?”
“I shall use the balloon to reach the honey at the top. But the bees are clever themselves. So we need a balloon that looks like the sky. I shall look like a rain cloud.”
Sunset was about to object to the ridiculousness of it all but decided to just roll with it. She thought for a second and decided to check inside on of her boots given her lack of pockets. Sure enough she found a few uninflated balloons hidden inside.
“Balloon emergency, eh Pinkie?”
That girl always managed to get the strangest of things hidden away in the strangest of places. It would only help that Sunset was stuck in a bizarre dream world with a weird little bear. She shrugged and held out the balloons.
“So, which one do you need?”
Pooh examined the balloons, making a face like he was thinking very carefully. Doubtful. Finally he said, “The blue one. It looks most like the sky and help make me look like a cloud beneath.”
Sunset thought for a second about what to do about the other balloons then decided to hide them back in her boot. No sense in wasting Pinkie’s senseless hiding spot, in case of balloon emergency. That and she had nowhere else to put them. As she began blowing the balloon up, Pooh wandered over to a nearby mud puddle and began rolling about. Sunset watched in bemusement at the sight until he returned and simply stared at her and the half inflated balloon, waiting patiently. She struggled to not facepalm as she finished inflating the balloon.
After tying the balloon to a string, also stashed with the balloons, she watched in amazement as it rose and floated. Definitely a dream. Pooh held the string tight, squatted a few times, then jumped up and began floating upwards. And they say Pinkie defies logic.
Sunset watched as the mud covered bear floated high up to the top before hanging just outside of the hole. He held out his paw to the hole, just out of reach. But before he could move closer, the bees began buzzing about and surrounded the “rain cloud.”
“Pooh be careful!” Sunset called.
Her fears were realized as a pop sound came from above and the balloon began to quickly deflate. Pooh began a quick descent before the balloon lost all air, sending him tumbling down. He bounced a few times on some loose tree branches as Sunset scrambled to stay beneath him. She barely managed to keep below the falling bear and caught him, sending the two tumbling to the ground. She rose and began running to escape the likely angry bees. Fortunately, the swarm never pursued.
After a short run, Sunset slowed to a stop and set Pooh down. “Great. Now I’m covered in mud,” she said as she tried wiping off her arms and clothes. She looked at the mud covered bear in frustration. “Pooh! You could have been hurt!”
“But I wasn’t,” Pooh said, rather unaware of her growing anger.
“Yes, but…ugh…I guess I did help out so partly my fault. Sorry.”
“We are both well.”
Sunset could not help but smile at the odd little bear. “Well, we should clean off this mud then see about finding you some honey.”
“Yes.”
After a short search, they found a brook and began washing, leaving Sunset to endure damp clothes for a bit. They continued wandering until they came across a mass clearing of trees. The trees were set in a large circle and the ground seemed softer than anywhere else Sunset had seen so far. She looked upon the sight in awe and wonder. She turned to speak to Pooh who was silent and still.
“Pooh?”
“He is not here,” the bear said.
“Who?”
“A very special friend. He must be doing nothing, or something. You never know with nothings and somethings.”
Sunset stared in confusion as Pooh began walking up to the circle of trees and gave a gleeful gasp. She hurried up to find him sitting against a tree and dipping a paw into a clay pot. With each dip, he drew out a paw full of golden honey and licked it clean. She smiled at the simple sight and sat next to him, staring up through the circle at the wide blue sky.
All around, things seemed perfect. An unobstructed view of the sky. The brush of the wind against her arms and through her hair. The sound of birds singing. All around, things seemed magical.
“Hey, Pooh,” she said, still looking at the sky.
“Yes?” he said, still eating away at the honey.
“Do you think I could meet this friend of yours sometime?”
“Perhaps.”
If all of this was just a dream, perhaps she could stick around for a little longer. As odd as he was, Winnie-the-Pooh was good company. And, she had to admit, the ordeal with the bees did provide with some fun.
She felt a brush against her side and saw Pooh set close to her with the empty honey pot set where he had been earlier. He stared straight ahead at the circle of trees. “Are you my friend?” he asked.
Sunset was not sure how to answer. She had only just met the odd bear. But he did seem rather lonely with all of his other friends missing. “Sure,” she said.
“That’s good,” he said as he nestled closer. “Things are always better with a friend.”
She gave in to the urge to put an arm around the little bear and hugged him slightly. She would help him find his other friends so he would not be so alone. And who knows what strange excitement she would have with this silly bear on the way?