It was all a dream. Getting lost and being captured was a dream. I still stood in the wastelands. There was nopony around me. They must have gone to explore the area.
I heard a call. “GentleSketh!” My eyes caught sight of the grayish-blue stallion. He ran to me and embraced me. Why was he hugging me? We had not been apart for long.
A dry wind rustled my mane. I stared into dark brown eyes which seemed to be sleep deprived.
“Dad,” I said, “What are we doing next?”
“I don’t know,” the stallion retorted. “I guess we keep moving.”
Next to my father, I warily traveled. Something was wrong.
“Where are HyperBlitz and JumpingJolt?” I pondered.
“They’re coming.”
I started skipping ahead. Strangely, I did not feel weighed down by saddlebags. I had a new energy in me I did not experience in me earlier. But I did not feel like jumping around everywhere, I only felt like I could go on for quite some time.
I shot a look at Dad. “Could I go check down there?”
He gave me a signaling nod.
I gaited down a path formed by two sloped wall of the sides. When I got to the base, I glanced back. “Dad?” The stallion had vanished.
I turned forward. “AH!” A small figure startled me. The filly stared at me with huge eyes. “What are you going here?” I puzzled.
“Wait…” I tilted my head. The little Unicorn mimicked. “Is this a dream, or have I finally met you?” She did not respond “This feels real. But… my dream before, that felt real too. Was that actually not a dream? Is this the dream? Or the other circumstance?”
A voice droned in my head : One of the circumstances is the one you wish was a dream. I could not tell if it was my subconscious. It was not a defined voice I recognized.
“The one I wish was a dream,” I thought out loud, “Is the one before… the one where I got captured. Does that mean this is a dream? If this is, then I don’t want to wake up. Is it strange to know you are in a dream or keep saying it is a dream? This is so crazy!” I laughed a bit. The filly smiled.
“So do you feel the same emotions as I do?” She shrugged. Hey, that was something.
“I want to know why you keep appearing. Why do you keep following me of have to follow you? Are you the filly that inspects dreams? Do you work for Princess Luna?” I made a connection to the tales I was told as a colt. Luna could go into ponies’ dreams.
The aqua green Unicorn shook her head.
“Hey, at least you are communicating with me. I mean, it may not be speaking but it’s body language.”
The filly pointed her hoof in a direction. She guided me. It was uncomfortable without my speaking. The only sound I heard were hoof steps.
“So what do I call you? Am I supposed to just call you ‘filly’? Do you even talk? Do you have a voice?”
Still pacing forward, the filly glared at me. I think she was annoyed with all of my questions.
We came upon a house in the middle of nowhere. Everything felt so eerie. The filly opened the door with her magic. She politely let me in first.
Entering, I realized it was my own home. Everything was in place. The Filly came in with me. We awkwardly remained in the living room. “So why are we here?”I studied every corner.
The door to my parents’ room was ajar. I slipped inside and peeked my mother sleeping. She look so peaceful, the sheet pulled up to her muzzle. I let her be.
Angling back to the living room, I beheld books everywhere. The books scatter across the floor, on the couch, table, and shelf. There were more books than my mother actually had, which is absurd because she has an abundance of books.
I contemplated if I should stack them up on the table. I grabbed one with my teeth and set in on the table.
“What are you doing?”
Jolting, I swung around to face Mom.
“I was cleaning the books up.”
“No, no,” She protested. “Don’t mess with them.”
“Okay. Why are they on the floor?”
“That’s how they multiply,” The mare informed.
So my mother was growing book.
“When did you start doing this?” I inquired.
“Just recently. Now everypony can have books!” Mom exclaimed happily.
I overlooked all the books. They each seemed to be unique, so I wondered how they ‘multiplied’.
My direction changed, I said “Should I tell ponies?”
“Oh definitely!” Mom replied enthusiastically. “Don’t step on the books on the way out, though!”
I exited my apartment, expecting the camp, but that I got was a vast emptiness. Confusion struck me for a moment. Echoing hoof steps approached me.
“That was part of the dream,” I said to the filly. She nodded. “When I was in there, I could not recognize it was a dream, despite the improbable conditions. Just like a dream should be.” I’ve said and thought the word ‘dream’ so many times that it felt numb to me. “How can I tell I’m in a dream now?”
Out in the emptiness was now a terrain and mountains. Everything became blurry. A fog spread everywhere.A sound flooded into my ears. It was speaking. Voices I knew spoke in an unperceived manner. The mumbling became clearer. I turned, the fog now parting.
“You’re not taking this seriously enough!”
“Maybe you’re over reacting.”
“Overreacting?! Our sons are gone!” The Pegasus glared up at Dad as he sat on his haunches. “We don’t know where they are!”
“We’ve been looking,” Dad reminded.
“We haven’t been looking enough. We need to look more. They could be anywhere.”
“We need to keep checking the place I told them to go,” suggested the Unicorn stallion.
“Isn’t that what we’ve been doing? Maybe… maybe a Hybrid got them.” HyperBlitz stared at the ground.
“I don’t think that would have happened. They’re smart,” Dad advised.
“Then where are they, CharmingRhythm?!” Hyper shouted. “Where are they?!”
“You need to calm down.”
“NO!” The yellow Pegasus screeched. There were tears in his eyes.
My hooves lagging, I creeped toward the stallions. “Dad…HyperBlitz,” I murmured.
“You don't have to yell at me,” Dad said firmly.
“But you aren’t listening to me!” Hyper cried.
“Dad!” I called. I galloped next to them. They didn’t seem to notice me, and continued to argue.
“I am listening. I do believe we had to continue searching for them, but we can’t do that forever. I say, before it gets dark, we go to Haythorn. We need rest. If we don’t find them today, we can go out tomorrow.”
“But that’s a whole night! Do you really think they can last?”
“Yes. I’m confident they can.” I couldn’t believe how calm my father was. Him and Hyper were like polar opposites.
“Dad! Uncle Hyper!” I looked to the filly behind me. I huffed, “Why can’t they hear me?”
She only closed her eyes. She seemed saddened.
I glanced back, and the fog had returned. The older ponies were not there anymore. A light appeared, created by the filly’s magic. It looked like the sun, or at least the sun spot behind the clouds.
“What’s this?”
The filly pointed her nose to the light. I scrutinized it. There seemed to be an image forming in it. I tried to get closer to understand it, but it did not come nearer. I wanted to catch up to it, but I ultimately failed. What does that light mean?
“Get up!” I awoke to a cloudy image of a stallion over me. GearClank prodded my side. “You got work to do.”
“This early?” I rubbed my eyes.
Gathering my thoughts, I wish I knew how my dream ended. I prefered that ream over this reality, even if nothing is real in a dream. I’d gladly stay with Mom’s book garden.
I peered at JumpingJolt who was eating some raisins.
I sighed. “I want to sleep more.”
“Me too,” Jolt donned empathically. “I was having a good dream.”
“I had a… strange dream.”