//------------------------------// // I Dream of Ponies... And Trees // Story: Of Ponies and Bat Kings // by OrdinaryAnomaly //------------------------------// Twilight could only gasp as she watched the colors flying past her. Traveling into a dream never was something she thought she'd do, but she could already say quite a few things about it. The feeling of weightlessness had ended soon as the color the once surrounded her disappeared. She didn't even get a second to think before she fell to the ground with a echoing thump. "Well... That was fun..." She stated as she began to pull herself up from the ground. It only took one glance for her jaw to hit the dreamy ground below her. The whole landscape around was completely... floaty. Clouds shaped like animals drifted in many different directions across the sky, which was softly colored as if it were a faded rainbow. Trees shimmered and glowed a wide array of soft colors, which danced across the bark gracefully, like a lava lamp. The ground below her feet felt so grassy and was a light green, but it was also slightly transparent- enough to let the pony partially see through the ground. She began to trot along before noticing that flowers sprouted up in her trail, fading away shortly after. 'This is interesting to say the least,' she thought as she continued her walk through the path of trees before finding a brightly lit opening between the trees. There was nowhere else to go, so what could happen if she traveled through the only pathway in the area? With this in mind, she started her trot into the blinding light ahead. It didn't take long for her to reach the other side of the path of light. There was one thing that was off though; The fact that a small, white bunny sat on the grass right in the middle of the room. "Angel? What are you doing here?" Asked Twilight before the realized what she just said. She slapped her hoof into her face, knowing that animals can't talk- "Whaddayah' mean Misses Twinkle Hooves?" said a high-pitched grouchy voice in reply. Another hoof hit Twilight's face, once again realizing one detail. This time was that she was in a DREAM, and anything can happen in a pony's dreams. "I was just wanting to know what you're doing here. You don't have to be so grumpy when you tell me!" "Well alright den'! I just sensed something going' on over here in the dream world, so like anything would do, I checked dis' area! Who are you anyways?! And how do yah' know me!?" "My name is Twilight Sparkle", the unicorn stated pointing a hoof at herself. "I found my friend in the... Uh... real world, and I was told she would be stuck in an infinite sleep unless an outside force could awaken her from within. I'm sure you can guess who the outer-" "Wait just a second dere' Sparkle flank! You're saying dat you're a real world bein' traveling into dah dream world to wake up yah friend?" "Well, yes. That's the basic idea, but I have a reason-" "Well first, let me give yah a big pat on dah back for bein' the first to do dis! Second, let me tell yah dat yah basically screwed if yah fall asleep in dis place!" Twilight went straight into panic mode upon hearing the bunny's last sentence. "WAIT, WHAT!?" Angel shifted around in annoyance as he sighed. "Well, whaddaya expect? The dream world is dah place yah go when yah sleep! There ain't nothin' else after dat. Yah gonna be snoozing' for a long time if yah starting snoozing round' here." Twilight could definitely understand what the small bunny meant, but just the thought of failing Equestria and the princesses... It scared her. More than anything she could ever think of. "Now, I wanna' know dis' ; How did yah get here in dah first place?" "Well, my assistant was told to sleep next to my friend, and Princess Luna opened a gateway into both of their linked dreams apparently. Why would you-" "Alrighty den'. Now let me ask yah dis' ; Is yah assistant a green an' purple baby dragon?" "Yes, actually, but how would you know this?" "Cause' he's standin' right behind yah'." Twilight let out a chuckle as she began looking around. "What do you mean by that? Spike is sleeping in the real world, so he can't be here!" That was when she saw something. Something that widened her eyes. Spike stood right in front of her, but he seemed... different somehow. Small things were changed about him, she knew it, yet it feels like he was... the same. But, Twilight didn't care about that right now. What she cared about was the fact that Spike is somehow here and outside at the same time! She jumped with a yelp, landing right on her behind as she stared at the Spike in front of her. Angel almost automatically took to defusing the problem at hand. "Woah dere'! Don't getcha' head up in a knot here! Dat ain't dah real Spike right dere'! Dis lil' fella is how he sees himself in dah dream world. Ain't nothing to worry about, eh?" Twilight understood exactly what the bunny was saying, but she still had trouble wrapping her head around the situation. "So... this isn't the real Spike. Just him as he sees himself in his dreams?" Angel nodded carelessly. "So, that would mean there's more than one of him here, right?" Angel nodded once again, annoyance plastered across his demeanor. "Wouldn't that mean that he could clone himself here-" "DAT'S ENOUGH QUESTIONS! Didn'tcha say yah had a friend to save or somethin'!?" Twilight's geek-out was ended once she heard Angel's last sentence. How could she have forgotten about Fluttershy? It was a shameful moment for her, but she didn't show it. She just nodded and tried her best to act normal. "Yes. Yes I do, but you wouldn't happen to know where she is, correct?" "Ugh... Here's only one path through here, don'tcha see dat?" The bunny said as he thought about the situation at hand. It didn't take long for him to let out an aggravated sigh and look up to Twilight. "Alright, here's dah deal. You ain't gots a clue about anything here, so I'm gonna just come with yah, OK?" Twilight didn't have a chance to reply before Angel leaped up onto Twilight's back with one great hop. The dream Spike behind her nodded to her as she turned to look at him. She trotted straight up to him, examining him closely, and soon was trotting around him, observing the dreamy dragon from every angle. It didn't take long for her to finish as she extended a hoof to him. "What are you doing Twilight? It's not like i'm a different dragon or something!" Spike said to Twilight as he took her hoof. Soon, the trio were on their way through the dreamy forest, treading carefully along the path of translucent grass. The mountains of Equestria had stood tall over the land, as if it were proudly boasting out superiority over the land surrounding it. Snow fell fell to the sloped ground and empty path ways that led throughout the terrain. Spruce Wolves could be heard throughout the mountains, their howls echoing through the cold air. Something was added to the atmosphere though. A soft flapping could be heard moving through the mountains, the producer of the noise in deep thought He was many things at this point: Disgusted. Intrigued. Curious. Enraged. The Bat King could only find an overwhelming supply of happiness everywhere he looked as he flew through the new world. Of course, remembering his past, he was disgusted by this abundance, yet... curious to say the least. How could such a world exist to thrive with life, yet not have much negativity at all? He could only think two explanations. First was that he wasn't looking hard enough to sense enough negativity in this world. The second was that he himself might be stuck in a nightmare, but that couldn't be true. He is the King of Nightmares, is he not? It was at that point that he thought of something. Something uncomfortable. He thought of standing alone against an entire empire. Of course he stood against the Pi'illo kingdom in the past, but at least he knew what he was up against... He had to find a partner. His conscience had screeched out to him about what happened last time, but he knew it was the only way to go. For all he knew, he could be up against a force much stronger than he could ever imagine. Logic had won out over his dark conscience as he flew to the top of one of the numerous mountains before allowing the familiar sight of violet smoke envelope him, revealing his true form. His clawed hands raised high into the air before slamming into the mountain top, burrowing in the rough dirt and snow that covered the ground as dark, violet vines sprouted into the mountain, digging deeper through the mountain. It didn't take long before Antasma sensed something in the region. Negativity. He felt an abundance of negativity pulsing from a nearby location, but there wasn't just one signal. He felt countless signals of negativity erupting from one certain area, each one pure. He knew that "Nightmare Fuel" could only be produced by sentient living beings, but the amount of sources he sensed in this one single area was unbelievable. If he had to describe it, there was a... swarm of beings in this one area. Razor sharp teeth were exposed as his lips curved into a sinister smile as he released his hands from the ground. He was sure he found what he needed. He didn't even bother to leave his true form as he took off through the mountains. It didn't take long before he could see a cave along the side of one of the mountains, and he could almost feel the nightmare fuel wafting out of its entrance. And so he floated into the darkness, unbothered by the sound of soft buzzing emanating from the darkness.