//------------------------------//
// Not Till After the Party's Over 
// Story: A Route Obscure and Lonely 
// by JapaneseTeeth 
//------------------------------//

	Rainbow Dash scratched her head as she listened to Spike’s explanation.  He had condensed it somewhat as time was limited, and even if it hadn’t been he was sick of explaining the situation over and over.  As long as he hit the high points, he could fill in the details later.  Although from the look on Rainbow Dash’s face, he would need to answer quite a few questions when he was done.  Or Luna would. Either way, the look on Rainbow Dash’s face didn’t indicate that she was really following most of what he was saying.

“So let me get this straight,” she said. “A bunch of Nightmares trapped us in our dreams, and the only way for you to get us out of our dreams is to beat the Nightmares?”

“I guess you could put it like that,” Spike said.

“Awesome!” Rainbow Dash leaped into the air and did a flip before landing. “That’s all I need to know! Let’s go kick some Nightmare rump!”

“It’s not that easy,” Spike said, folding his arms. “As much as I’d like some help, you’re still stuck in this dream.”

“What?” Rainbow Dash froze and stared at him. “But I thought you said that you rescued me!”

“I did!” he said indignantly. “Kind of. You’re still asleep, but you’re lucid now, and the dream can’t drain your magic anymore.”

“Oh.” Rainbow Dash snorted unhappily. “And here I thought I’d be able to do something.”

“Actually, that may not be an impossibility.”

The voice came from above both of them. They looked up to see Luna’s head gazing down on them from a cloud.

“Really?!” Rainbow Dash said excitedly. 

“What are you talking about?” Spike asked. “Isn’t she stuck here?”

“At the moment, yes, but hopefully not for long.  It has become evident that we will not have the time to continue our current routine.  As a result, you will have another mission to complete.”

“What do you mean, another mission?”  He stood up. “Wait, you’re trying to get me to run away again, aren’t you?”

Luna glared as well as she could, being made of cloud. “Your mission will be to carry news to the Crystal Empire so that in the event our plans fail, they may be able to mount some sort of—”

“I’m not going anywhere!” Spike interrupted. “I thought we went over this already.  I’m not going to run off and leave all of you here!”

Luna rolled her eyes. “I thought I might have trouble convincing you that such a thing is not at all cowardly, so I thought I would let someone a bit closer to you do the convincing.”

“Huh?”

“Believe me, it was no small feat. I am going to inform Rainbow Dash of the details of the situation and her part in it.  Please wait here for a just a moment. Rainbow Dash, please find a location in the dream where we can talk in private.”

“Sure thing, Princess!”  Rainbow Dash saluted before launching herself into the air and flying into the distance.

“Great,” Spike grumbled as he took a seat on the cloud. “Now what am I supposed to do?  I can’t just abandon everypony.”

“But you wouldn’t be abandoning anypony,” said a voice from behind him.  It was familiar, but it wasn’t Luna’s. 

“Huh?”  He turned slowly around and found a familiar face poking out of the cloud.  Or rather it was imprinted on the cloud, like a painting. “Rarity?  But how are you…?”

“I’m not quite certain myself how Luna set it up, but she found a way to somehow relay my message to you.  She said that you were somewhat… resistant to the idea of going elsewhere to find help, and thought that perhaps I could give you some perspective.”

“Perspective.” Spike snorted. “She just wants me to get me out of here. Probably wants me out of the way.”

“Spike, that is hardly the case and you know it.” Rarity frowned at him with the same frown she used whenever Sweetie Belle attempted to help her with something.  “While I have no doubt that Princess Luna is concerned about your safety, I hardly believe that she is doing this only because she wants to get rid of you.”

“What makes you think that?” he asked.

“Because she told me,” Rarity answered. “And considering that the Princess has been doing everything in her power to free everyone, I am inclined to believe her.  Exactly what reason do you have to believe that she wants you out of the way?”

“Because this is the second time that she’s tried to convince me to leave!  Before she tried to get me to run away!”  He sat down and hugged his knees. “I know that part of it is because she wants me out of harm’s way, but there’s no way that’s the whole reason.  It’s probably because now that I rescued all of you, she doesn’t need my help now.”

“Spike, your help is the reason that she’s chosen you for that mission.  She would not trust you with it if she did not have faith in your ability to carry it out.”

“I don’t know about that,” Spike muttered. “I’m pretty sure that she tried to go to just about everypony else in Ponyville before she came to me.  And now as soon as I get a few more ponies out, she suddenly wants to send me someplace else?”

“That may be true.  It may not be; I don’t know. But what I do know is that you have accomplished a great deal. If not for you, I would still be trapped in that horrible nightmare, as would many other ponies.  Whatever Luna may have thought when she first asked you for help, she most certainly recognizes your accomplishments.  Without you there would never have been a chance for any of us.”

Spike stared at Rarity’s face in the cloud for a few moments before answering. “So when she says that she needs me to go to the Crystal Empire as a backup plan in case things go bad..."

“I would take her at her word.  Princess Luna has spent who knows how long considering the best course of action. I see no reason to believe that she would ask you to do this if she did not think that it offered us the best chance of success.  I would think she is sending you because she believes you are the only one who could do it.”

“I guess,” Spike said reluctantly. “But I don’t want to leave all of you here.”

Rarity smiled. “I know that, Spike. And I wish you didn’t have to go.  But don’t think of it as abandoning us. Think of it as ensuring our safety in the long term.  You may not be here with us, but if things go wrong, you’ll still be there to help us then.”

Spike smiled slightly. “I still wish that I would be able to stay, but you’re right. If Luna says she needs me to go, I should just trust her. It’s not like she’s steered me wrong yet.” Then he smiled widely. “I hope all of you will be alright without me.”

Rarity returned the smile. “I’m sure we will manage. Just be sure to take care of yourself.”

“Don’t worry, I will.”

“Good. I suppose you should let Luna know that you’ve made your decision. She made it quite clear that we are rather pressed for time, after all.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Spike sighed. “Well, I guess I’ll see you and everypony else again after all of this is over.”

“I look forward to it.”





“A party cave?” Luna asked, the skepticism heavy in her voice.

“Well, yeah. It’s Pinkie,” Rainbow Dash answered with a shrug. “I think she was making some last minute preparations before heading to the Town Hall or something. Is that enough to connect to her dream or whatever, or do you need more info to get it figured out?”

“No, that will be quite helpful,” Luna said, nodding. “If she is, in fact, in the basement of Sugarcube Corner, connecting to her dream should not present any difficulty.  I will double-check just to be sure, of course, but as soon as we confirm her location, we should be able to put the plan into action.”

“Awesome! What do I need to do?!”

“To start with, you simply need to get into position and then jump through the portal as soon as I activate my spell to bring everyone into Pinkie’s dream. I will give further instructions once everyone has reunited there.  Wait for my signal. If you enter the portal too early, it could have severe repercussions.”

“Right!” Rainbow Dash saluted. “I’ll be ready!”  She hopped into the air and flew away.

“Now,” Luna said. “Time to check up on Spike.”





Applejack and Apple Bloom sat beside the dream portal. Luna had shown them its location, inside a tangle of roots from three different trees.  Even though they were aboveground, it felt like they were sitting in a cave. 

“So what’s it like, goin’ through that portal thing?” Applejack asked. The portal barely even looked like a portal.  She couldn’t imagine that going through it would be an enjoyable experience.  

“It’s kinda weird,” Apple Bloom said. “I’m not really sure how to explain it. It’s sorta like goin’ through a pipe underwater, only it’s not as cold and you can actually breathe.  It’s not so dark either. It’s more… sparkly?  I dunno. I’ve never seen anything like it before.” She poked her sister in the flank. “You’re not worried about it, are you?”

“I’m more worried that you know what’s it’s like to get sucked through a pipe,” Applejack said.

“Well, we heard that Carrot Top’s sink got clogged, so we—”

Applejack put her hoof on Apple Bloom’s mouth. “I don’t want to know.  At least not till after we get outta here.”

“At least it wasn’t our sink,” Apple Bloom said.

“That doesn’t make it much better.” Applejack glanced back at the portal. “All this waitin’ is drivin’ me nuts. I wish we could just get a move on already.”

“Yeah, I wanna go do somethin’!  And see what Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle are up to.”

“I’m sure they’re fine. Luna would’ve told us if they were—GAH!”

Applejack nearly rolled over backwards as Luna’s face suddenly appeared in front of her. Unlike every other time she had manifested, the face wasn’t comprised of materials from their surroundings, and it looked somewhat blurred, like an out-of-focus picture.  As it began to speak, the voice was scratchy and muffled, like it was coming out of a battered gramophone.

“This is Princess Luna speaking.  The relocation spell has been activated and the destination confirmed. Please enter the portal.”

“Princess...Luna?” Apple Bloom cocked her head to the side. Luna didn’t seem to be talking to either of them. “You look a bit… different.”

“This is Princess Luna speaking,” Luna’s face repeated. “The relocation spell has been activated and the destination confirmed. Please enter the portal.”

“This must be that signal the Princess was tellin’ us about,” Applejack said. “She said it might look and sound a bit weird since she has to send it to everypony at the same time.”

“This is Princess Luna speaking.”

“Yeah, yeah, we know,” Apple Bloom said. “Come on, let’s get goin’. That’s gonna get annoyin’ real quick.”

“Right,” Applejack said nervously. “So, all we gotta do is jump in?”  She looked warily at the portal.

“Nah, you just gotta touch it.” Apple Bloom grabbed her sister’s hoof with one of her forelegs and reached for the portal with the other. “It’s nothin’!” 

She touched it.

There was no feeling of transition or moving through the portal. As soon as Apple Bloom’s hoof touched the glowing ball of magic, both of them found themselves tumbling through space.  It was not unlike being caught in a fast-moving current, but they weren’t underwater.  It didn’t feel like flying through the air, either.  They were moving through something, but it was something else, entirely separate from any physical substance.  Everything was rushing by so quickly that it blurred together into one colorful flurry of lights.  If she squinted, Applejack could just barely make out what looked like multicolored lightning and silvery flashes.

“Whoa!” As soon as the spell had started, it ended and Applejack found herself rolling along the ground.  She must’ve been moving far faster than she thought, because it took her a good few seconds to come to a stop.  Half a second later, Apple Bloom landed on top of her.

“Ugh,” Applejack rubbed her head as she stood up. “That was sure a rough landing.”

“That was awesome!” Apple Bloom said excitedly as she hopped off of her sister’s back. “You think maybe Luna will let us do that again?”

“I don’t think so,” Applejack said. “Maybe after we’re through all this.”  She stretched and took stock of her surroundings. They were inside a small house, but one that either had never been lived in, or hadn’t been lived in for a very long time.  There were no furnishings of any kind; all that could be seen were the bare planks. There were windows, but they were all covered by shutters.

“You think we should start lookin’ around?” Apple Bloom asked. “There ain’t much in here.”

“We should probably wait a bit,” Applejack answered. “Luna said she was gonna talk to all of us once we arrived, so let’s hang around until she shows up.”

“You think she sent us to the wrong dream?” Apple Bloom poked at one of the floorboards. It creaked. “This dream doesn’t look real Pinkie Pie-ish.”

“No, it doesn’t,” Applejack admitted. “Then again, it is a nightmare, and this sort of boringness is exactly the sort of thing that would drive Pinkie Pie crazy.”

“I guess.  It just seems real… normal.” Apple Bloom tapped her hoof on the wall. “I didn’t think Pinkie had anything this normal in her dream.  You sure that this is the right place?”

“Well, I can’t be sure, but I’m pretty sure Luna knows what she’s doin’.  If nothing else, we should wait a few minutes to see if anypony else shows up.”

As if on cue, the portal began to glow, and half a second later Rarity shot out. Unlike the Apples’ entrance, she simply skidded along the floor, coming to a halt just before she collided with the wall.

“See?” Applejack said. “Told you we were in the right place.”

“Oh my.” Rarity wobbled as she got to her hooves. “That was quite unpleasant.” She rubbed her head. Then she noticed her company and her face lit up.  “Applejack! Apple Bloom! It is wonderful to see you!”  She grabbed both of them in a hug. “I’m so glad that you are alright!”

“Good to see you too,” Applejack managed to grunt out in spite of Rarity’s surprisingly powerful grip. “I guess Luna’s spell worked.  Everypony else should show up pretty soon.”

“Whooooo!” Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle shot out of the portal, bowling straight into everyone else.  The whole pile of ponies crashed against a wall in a heap.

“Sweetie Belle!” Rarity said.

“Rarity!” Sweetie Belle said.

“Scootaloo!” Apple Bloom said.

“Rainbow Da…” Scootaloo paused. “Wait, she’s not here yet, is she?”

“Nope,” Applejack grunted from the bottom of the pile. “And we should probably move out of the way before she barrels outta that portal into all of us.”

“Yes, that might be a good idea,” Rarity said as she extricated herself from the tangle of limbs.  

“Wonder how long it’s gonna take Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash to show up,” Applejack said as she cautiously moved out of the portal’s line of fire.

“I wouldn’t think it would be too long,” Rarity answered. “Luna said she intended us to all arrive here at the same time.” She looked around. “I’m not quite sure what I expected, but it wasn’t this.  It’s so… dull.”

“Well for Pinkie that might be a nightmare,” Applejack said with a shrug. She turned to look at the fillies, who were busy catching up with each other. “At least they seem to be doin’ okay.”

“Yes, they’re handling the situation quite well.” Rarity shook her head. “I still can’t believe all of this is happening.”

“I know what you mean.” Applejack nodded. “Even though we went through all of this it still doesn’t feel real.  Maybe it’s ’cause it’s a dream.  I mean, it’s not like we haven’t been through some pretty crazy stuff before.  This just feels different.”

“Yes, it’s very— Watch out!”

She ducked just in time to avoid Fluttershy, who popped out of the portal at an odd angle.  The pegasus flapped her wings wildly, coming to an awkward stop in the air.  She hovered for a few seconds, wobbling as if she didn’t know which way was up. As she landed she staggered a few steps and leaned against the wall. 

“Oh my,” she gasped. “That was… disorienting.”

“Don’t worry, the dizziness wears off pretty quick!” Apple Bloom said. 

“It’s wonderful to see you, dear!” Rarity gave Fluttershy a hug, and then without releasing her dragged her to the side. “Let’s get you to a safe spot.  You just know that Rainbow Dash is going to be coming out of that portal twice as fast as everypony else.”

“Rainbow Dash isn’t here yet?”

“Nope.” Applejack watched the portal closely, readying herself to dodge. “Everypony showed up in like the last two minutes though, so she’ll probably be along real quick.”

“WHOO!” As if on cue, Rainbow Dash blasted out of the portal.  She managed to do a flip before stopping in midair, hovering above Applejack’s head. “Wow, that was awesome!”

“Of course Rainbow Dash would manage to do that,” Rarity muttered under her breath.

“So what’s up?” Rainbow Dash looked around. “Are we fighting Nightmares yet?”

“I don’t know,” Fluttershy said. “I just got here.”

“We’re waitin’ for Luna is what we’re doin’,” Applejack said. “Since we’re all here now, I’d guess that she’ll show up pretty soon.”

“I hope she hurries up!” Rainbow Dash threw a few punches at the air. “I want to kick all these Nightmares out of Pinkie’s head!”

“I’m sure Luna will tell us what to do,” Fluttershy said. “She did bring all of us here, after all.”

“Yeah, hopefully before those fillies get too rambunctious.” Applejack headed over to the crusaders, who were wandering dangerously close to the door. “Y’all better not be thinkin’ of goin’ out there.  We gotta stick together until the Princess shows up.”

“Relax, we weren’t plannin’ on goin’ anywhere,” Apple Bloom said indignantly. “Not yet, at least.”

“Yeah, we were just catching up,” Scootaloo said. “Not that we really got to do much fun stuff while Apple Bloom was gone.”

“Yeah, the catapult really didn’t turn out well,” Sweetie Belle added.

“Catapult?” Applejack asked. “Actually, I don’t wanna know.”

The wall rattled and groaned, as if it were being strained nearly to the breaking point. All the ponies turned to watch as Luna’s face carved itself into the boards.

“Sorry for the wait,” she said, her voice sounding hollow. “I wanted to ensure that the spell was stable before I continued.  While it might not seem so, we are currently in Pinkie Pie’s dream.  I have already gone over the plan with each of you individually, so I will not waste time repeating it.  I will simply say that from this point on, we must hurry. The chances of the Nightmares noticing our activity is much greater now than it ever was, and so are the chances of their interference. I will do what I can to keep an eye out for them, but I must ask you be mindful that they might intervene far more directly.”

The assembled ponies nodded solemnly, except for Rainbow Dash, who rubbed her hooves together in anticipation.

“Should that happen, all of you must return to the portal as soon as possible, and I will direct all of you to Twilight’s dream.  It would be our last chance to escape completely, as it appears that breaking Twilight out of the dream would disrupt the spell enough to break it entirely.  It is, however, very unlikely that we would be able to do so. It is a last resort.  Our other last resort is Spike. He is currently on his way to the Crystal Empire to inform Princess Cadance and Shining Armor of the current situation and advise them on possible courses of action.”

“Spike’s got to go all the way to the Crystal Empire?” Applejack said. “Ain’t that kinda far?”

“Hmmm.” Rarity thought for a moment. “It is quite far, but Spike has made it all the way to the dragon lands on his own before.”

“I’m certain Spike can make it there,” Fluttershy added. “But wouldn’t it take him quite a long time?”

“He is planning to send another message there via dragonfire before he departs,” Luna answered. “The message will arrive more or less instantaneously, though it is doubtful that Shining Armor and Princess Cadance will be awake to receive it.  And in any case, he will not have to walk all of the way there on his own.  The spell’s influence only covers Ponyville. He should be able to make his way to an active train station.  Assuming nothing interferes with him, he should be in the Crystal Empire within the day.”

“I can’t believe Spike is doing all of this stuff,” Apple Bloom said. “I mean, he saved all of us, and now he’s going all the way to Crystal Empire. That’s crazy.”

“Yes, Spike has been instrumental in allowing our plans to get this far.” Luna cleared her throat. “When this is over I am certain we can find a way to show our appreciation. However, for the time being, it will be best to keep ourselves focused on the task at hand. You must find and free Pinkie Pie from her nightmare. Unfortunately I cannot offer much advice as to the specifics, as every dream is different.  So all I can say is that you should all stay together, if at all possible, or at least in groups.  If the Nightmares attack, it would be best that you are not alone.  As for me, I will prepare for the possibility of a quick escape.  Unless somepony has questions, I will be on my way.”

They shook their heads.

“In that case, I must be going.  Do not hesitate to call if you need me for anything.” Her face faded from the wood panels.

“Alright, let’s get moving!” Rainbow Dash turned to the door and prepared to launch herself forward.

“Wait just a moment!” Rarity snapped. She nodded to Applejack, who readied herself to grab Rainbow’s tail if she tried to fly away.

“Wait for what?” Dash asked indignantly. “Don’t we need to rescue Pinkie as soon as possible?”

“Yes, but we ought to proceed with caution,” Rarity said. “We do not know what is out there. We cannot just go charging ahead without any sort of plan.”

“Yeah,” Applejack said in agreement. “Luna said to stick together, remember?”

“Fine.” Rainbow Dash crossed her forelegs and hovered impatiently. “Then let’s get a plan together and get a move on.”

Apple Bloom nodded in agreement. “Yeah, it’s really gettin’ kinda cramped in here.  Can we at least get outta this room?”

“It is quite dusty,” Rarity conceded.

“Yeah, I know. I wanna get outta here too,” Applejack said. “I’m just sayin’ we gotta be careful.” She made her way to the door. “Now, let’s just go out, together, slowly, and see exactly what sort of insanity Pinkie’s dream has in store for us.”

She put a hoof on the door and slowly pushed it open.

Everypony gasped.

“Oh my,” Fluttershy whispered.

“That’s it?!” Rainbow Dash groaned.

Stretching before them was a seemingly endless flat expanse of dirt.  The sky was a dreary half-light, like a sunrise on a rainy morning, only without the sun.  The monotony was broken only by a scattering of lumpy shapes protruding from the ground and a few dark spots in the sky.

“This is Pinkie’s dream, right?” Scootaloo asked. 

“If Luna says it’s Pinkie’s dream it’s Pinkie’s dream,” Applejack said, though not very confidently. 

“Well, it is a nightmare,” Fluttershy said. “Pinkie would probably find a place like this really scary.”

“I guess,” Sweetie Belle said with a shrug. “I just thought that there’d be something, you know, Pinkie-ish.”

“Does this count?” Rainbow Dash called.  Naturally, she had flown a short ways ahead of the group and was examining one of the lumps that stuck out of the dirt.  

“Rainbow Dash, we were supposed to stick together,” Rarity answered sharply.

“Relax, I’m not that far away.  C’mere and look at this!”

Applejack sighed. “I guess we might as well check it out. It’s not like there's anything else to look at.”

From a distance, the lump looked like a large, almost perfectly hemispherical stone.  But as they got closer, they could see that it wasn’t the color of a stone. It was, or would’ve been if not for the dullness of the light, a vibrant orange.  Furthermore, if they looked closely, the surface was too smooth.

“What is this thing?” Apple Bloom asked, craning her head to the side.  The lump was about twice as tall as she was.

“I think it’s a giant balloon,” Rainbow Dash answered. She pressed her hoof against the surface and rubbed. It made a rubbery squeaking noise.

“Yeah, it’s definitely rubbery like one,” Applejack said as she poked at it. “I wonder if we could dig it out or something?”

“I could pop it!” Sweetie Belle said, punctuating the offer with a tweak of her horn.

“Let’s not,” Rarity said, using her magic to drag Sweetie Belle away. “At least not yet. We don’t know what it might do. As far as we know there might be a monster inside.”

Scootaloo and Apple Bloom backed away from the balloon.

“Well, there might not be,” Rainbow Dash said.

“You think maybe we could move it and see if there’s anything on the bottom?” Applejack said. “Luna said that ponies tend to go to places in their dreams that make them feel safe.”

Rarity raised an eyebrow. “So you think she’d be under a balloon?”

“It’s Pinkie,” Applejack said.

“Oh, right.”

“Well, let’s get this thing out of the way, then.” Rainbow Dash put her hooves on the balloon and pushed.  It didn’t move. It barely even deformed under her efforts. 

“What’s wrong, Dash?” Applejack asked with a smirk. “I would’ve thought you’d be able to move a balloon.”

“It’s not a normal balloon, okay?” Rainbow Dash grumbled. “It’s too heavy.  It feels like it’s a boulder disguised as a balloon or something.”

Applejack put her rear hooves against the balloon and pushed. The balloon rocked slightly. “Yeah, it’s real heavy.  But between all of us we should be able to get it out of the way.  Dash, you and Fluttershy push up top. Rarity, use your magic to see if you can get under it.  Between all of us we should be able to at least roll it over.”

“What about us?” Scootaloo asked.

“You three stay out of the way so you don’t get crushed by the balloon,” Rarity said. “Now then, let’s get this thing out of the way.”





Luna was confused.  She had half expected the Nightmares to pour into Pinkie’s dream like a flood.  She had fully expected the Nightmares to interfere with her, to interfere with the other ponies, anything other than to remain oblivious.  And yet they hadn’t

This makes no sense, she thought. How could anyone capable of creating a spell so complex possibly be so incompetent that they did not notice our interference?  I suppose I should not complain, but there must be an explanation for this beyond simple stupidity.

She made a mental note to examine it further after she finished putting her monitoring spell together.  At the moment she had to watch all of the portals into the dream herself; once she was done her spell would alert her if anything tried to chase the ponies into the dream.  Once that was active, she could focus on trying to figure out what the Nightmares were trying to do.

Behind her, she heard the Nightmares grumbling in their jars. Whatever was going on, they were almost certainly in on it. Or at least the leader of the group seemed to be.  It had seemed a bit too certain that its containment was temporary.  Normally she would chalk it up to bravado, but it didn’t seem quite right. True overconfidence tended to be even louder and more emphatic, almost as if they were trying to prove themselves.  But the head Nightmare had been quieter, as if it were so sure of its imminent freedom that it didn’t feel the need to assert itself.  It was worrying.  And even more worrying, she couldn’t think of any possible reason for such confidence.  Obviously, it knew something she didn’t.

She didn’t think it would tell her any time soon.





“Well, that was pointless.”  Rainbow Dash grumbled.

Moving the balloon had proved unexpectedly difficult. The smooth surface was difficult to get a grip on, and was just deep enough in the ground that tipping it wasn’t easy.  It had a tendency to roll in place.  But after some effort, they had finally managed to get it out of the ground, only to discover that below it lay nothing but an indentation in the ground.

“Can we try popping it now?” Apple Bloom asked.

“If all that pushin’ didn’t make it pop, I doubt there’s anything we could do to it,” Applejack said. “At least we know that Pinkie wasn’t hidin’ under it.”

“She might be under a different balloon,” Fluttershy said.

“Oh, no!” Rainbow Dash shook her head vigorously. “I’m not going to waste who knows how long digging up balloons just because Pinkie might be under one.”

“Rainbow Dash does have a point,” Rarity admitted. “We don’t have any reason to believe that Pinkie is under any of these, and in any case there are far too many to check them all individually.”

“I don’t think we have to,” Sweetie Belle said. “Didn’t Luna say something about how if somepony was hiding somewhere in their nightmare there would probably be something different?”

“Yeah!” Scootaloo’s wings buzzed with excitement. “She said that we’d be more likely to find Pinkie if we look for something that’s out of place in the dream!”

“So we gotta find a balloon that looks different from all the others?” Rainbow Dash surveyed the dirt balloon field, which seemed to go on forever. “That’s gonna be like finding a needle in a haystack.”

“It beats turnin’ every one of these things over.” Applejack kicked at the balloon. “Besides, we don’t know how much time we have, so we’d best get lookin’.”

“Alright! Let’s get goin’!” Apple Bloom attempted to gallop away, but Applejack pinned her tail down with her hoof. 

“Not so fast,” she said. “We can’t just have everypony runnin’ off willy nilly.  We gotta make sure nopony gets lost or attacked or anything.”

Fluttershy nodded in assent. “And we wouldn’t want to waste time searching the same area over and over.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Rainbow Dash said impatiently. “Let’s get some sort of plan together so we can actually start looking for Pinkie.  We don’t want her to be stuck here for any longer than she has to.”

“I believe I have an idea,” Rarity said. 

“Alright, let’s hear it,” Applejack answered.

Rarity cleared her throat. “First of all, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash should obviously look from the air.  They will be able to see much further that way and can point us towards any strange things they might see.”

“And keep an eye out for Nightmares,” Rainbow Dash said, punctuating the words with a kick.

“Yes, that too.” Rarity nodded. “As for the rest of us, I suggest we explore the ground in a spiral pattern starting from the house.  We can leave marks in the dirt as we go to mark our progress. That way we will not have to worry about backtracking.  Does that plan sound good to everypony?”

“Sounds perfectly sensible to me,” Applejack said. “Y’all good with it?”

The rest of the ponies assented with varying degrees of enthusiasm.

“Well, we’d better get goin’ then,” she said. “Pinkie Pie is countin’ on us, and so is the rest of Ponyville.”

“Yeah!” Apple Bloom reared up. “Let’s go save Pinkie!”  She sprinted forward, the other two crusaders following close behind her.

“Get back here!” Applejack shouted as she took off after them.

Rarity just shook her head. “Off to a great start, I see.”





Luna chewed on her lip as she watched the glowing line indicating the levels of magic that the Nightmares were absorbing.  It continued its slow, but steady upward climb.  It made no sense.  The Nightmares hadn’t noticed her.  They hadn’t noticed Spike. They hadn’t noticed that over half a dozen ponies had been wrested from their control.  And somehow, they had managed to remain oblivious to the fact that she had hijacked their portal system for her own use.

Something was going to happen. Something had to. You didn’t gather that much magic just to sit on it.  But what could possibly be so important that they can afford to ignore us?  I had thought that they were simply unaware, but could that really be the case?  I would have thought that bringing all of the ponies into Pinkie’s dream would’ve forced them to react but—

“Oh no!”

The line fell. Not just a decrease, but a sharp drop-off.  Whatever the Nightmares had been gathering up magic for, they had just done it.  Magic flared up around her as she prepared to manifest into Pinkie’s dream.

“I must warn everypony! Who knows what kind of danger they may be in!?”





Applejack’s hooves left furrows in the dirt as she plodded forward, not bothering to lift her hooves very high.  She didn’t know how long they had been searching, stretched out in a line as they spiralled around the house in larger and larger circles.  She had lost count of how many times they had gone around. Enough that the house looked small in the distance.

“Y’all find anything?” she called. 

“I got nothing,” Apple Bloom answered. “Occasionally I’ll see a balloon that’s kinda longish rather than round.”

“Yeah, I’ve seen a couple of those,” Scootaloo said.

“What did you see?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Nothing interesting,” Scootaloo answered. She kicked at a clod of dirt. “I thought these dreams were supposed to be all freaky and weird! This is so boring!”

Down at the far end of the line, Rarity nodded. “While I hardly want to complicate things, I must admit that this is quite uninteresting. We have gone around the house over a dozen times, and have not seen anything the slightest bit odd. Aside from everything, but the oddity is all so uniform.”

“Maybe Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash have seen something,” Scootaloo said. “Rainbow Dash is really good at seeing stuff from real far away.”

“Might as well ask ‘em,” Applejack said. “It’s been awhile since we checked in. You want to signal ‘em, Rarity?”

Rarity nodded. Her horn glowed for a moment before shooting a bright beam of light into the dim sky.

A moment later Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy descended out of the sky.

“Did you find something?” Dash asked excitedly as she skidded to a halt.  Then she took a moment to actually look at everypony’s faces. “Or not.”

“We were actually hoping that you saw something,” Scootaloo said. “All we found is dirt and more of those weird rock balloon things.  Is there anything interesting up in the sky?”

Fluttershy landed next to Rainbow Dash; she hadn’t bothered to rush. “Well, we did see a bunch of floating rocks,” she said. “They look like enormous boulders but they’re as light as balloons and you could just push them through the air like a cloud.”

“That does sound kinda interesting,” Apple Bloom admitted. 

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “The first one, maybe.  But after a few dozen it’s pretty boring.”

“And you’re sure you didn’t see anything out of the ordinary?” Applejack asked. “For the dream, I mean?”

“Nope,” Rainbow Dash shook her head. “Just floating rocks, floating rocks, and guess what? More floating rocks!”

“Maybe we ended up in Maud’s dream by mistake?” Fluttershy said.

“Well, she is Pinkie’s sister,” Rarity said. “Perhaps those are the memories that the dream is made out of.”

Applejack took a seat on a nearby balloon. “I guess that might be it, but it really doesn’t help us find her. There’s gotta be something that we’re missin’.  We can’t just keep lookin’ at balloons forever.”

Rarity sat beside her. “Perhaps we should review what Luna told us about these dreams to make sure we haven’t forgotten anything.  She says that everypony has a defence mechanism they use to protect themselves from their nightmares, yes?”

Everypony nodded.

“She also said that because those defense mechanisms are not created by the Nightmares, they tend to be at odds with the other elements of the dream.”

“We already knew that,” Rainbow Dash grumbled as she pawed at the ground.

“Um, girls?” Fluttershy mumbled.

“I know that, I was just trying to review what we know!” Rarity said tersely. “Does anypony have any idea of any other clues we could look for?”

“Well, in our dream the Nightmare was actually floating around everywhere, so it was pretty easy to figure out where we were,” Sweetie Belle said. 

Apple Bloom rolled her eyes. “Too bad there aren’t any of them runnin’ around here for us to catch.  There’s nothin’ here.”

“I think I have an idea.” Fluttershy’s voice was a little louder, but only a little.

Applejack scratched her head. “Yeah, as far as I remember, every other pony’s dream had something actually happenin’.  I don’t think Luna told us what to do if the dream didn’t have anything goin’ on.”

“Well, nopony thought that would be a problem in Pinkie’s dream.” Scootaloo trotted over to Rainbow Dash. “Maybe if you carried me up there, I could look around and see if you missed anything.”

“I said I have an idea!” Fluttershy’s voice still wasn’t very loud, but it was loud enough to get everyone’s attention. They all turned towards her.

“An idea?” Rarity’s ear twitched in expectation. “You mean you think you might know where to find Pinkie?”

“Um, maybe?” She shrunk back slightly. “I don’t want to get everypony’s hopes up.”

“Whatever you’re thinkin’ is worth a shot,” Apple Bloom said. “It’s not like what we’re doin’ is gettin’ us anywhere.”

“Okay,” Fluttershy said. “I was just thinking about what Luna said, about how we should look for something that’s different from everything else in the dream.”

“Yeah, yeah, we’ve been over that,” Rainbow Dash said impatiently. “A couple of times.”

“Well, it just sort of came to mind that we’ve spent a whole lot of time looking for something that’s out of place, but we haven’t really examined the unique thing we already know about.”

“Already know about?” Applejack raised an eyebrow. “What are you talkin’ abou… ” She blinked a few times as her gaze drifted over Fluttershy’s shoulder. Then she put a hoof to her face. “We’re a real bunch of idiots.”

Rarity cocked her head to the side. “And why, exactly, are we-” Her eyes followed Applejack’s line of sight, and then her eye twitched in frustration. “Well, don’t I feel like a fool now.”

“Uh, can somepony please fill me in?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Why exactly are we all idiots all of a sudden?”

“It’s the house!” Scootaloo said, thrusting her hoof toward it. “It’s the only thing in the dream that’s actually different and we all just ignored it.”

“Yeah, we were sittin’ right on top of it.” Apple Bloom shook her head. 

“I can’t believe we didn’t think of looking around more,” Sweetie Belle squealed in frustration.  “It’s like that one story about that pony who was looking for that thing, and then at the end they realized that it was right there?”

“Which story are you talking about?” Scootaloo asked. “Wasn’t it about a letter or something?”

“I thought it was a pair of glasses,” Apple Bloom said.

Rarity cleared her throat. “I’m quite certain there are numerous stories that make use of that particular theme. Now how about we get over to that house and begin to search it?”

“Yeah, we’d better get a move on,” Applejack said. “We don’t want this to take any longer than it-”

“FEAR NOT, PONIES! I HAVE COME TO YOUR AID!”

Luna’s head erupted out of the dirt in a distressingly literal sense.  Unlike every other manifestation, which had managed to stay relatively in scale with the other ponies, this time it was so enormous that the horn alone was taller than an entire pony.

“I WILL NOT ALLOW ANY NIGHTMARES TO-” Luna froze as she realized that there were no Nightmares, only a group of shocked ponies who were currently all hiding behind Applejack and Rainbow Dash. “WHERE ARE THE NIGHTMARES?!”  Luna bellowed.

“Uh... “ Applejack laughed nervously. “Somewhere else?”

“You mean to tell me that you have not encountered any Nightmares?!” Luna’s voice was slightly quieter, but still very loud.

“Not unless they’re pretending to be balloons,” Rainbow Dash said, punctuating her word with a kick to a nearby balloon. “We haven’t seen any.”

“Are you certain?” Luna asked.

Rarity nodded. “We have not even seen the Nightmare that is holding Pinkie captive.”

Luna’s dirt eyebrows furrowed. “And no other change has taken place in the dream?”

Applejack shook her head. “Aside from your face bustin’ out of the ground, not really.”

“I see.”

“So, uh, were you expectin’ to see a bunch of Nightmare’s runnin’ around or something?”

“There was… a distinct possibility,” Luna said. “Although it appears that my fears have been unfounded.”

“Why did you think there would be Nightmares here all of a sudden?” Rainbow Dash rubbed her front hooves together. “Did they attack you?”

“No, they did not. Not yet anyway. There was an indication that the Nightmares may have put the next stage of their plan into action, and I thought it most likely that if they didn’t target me directly, they would come for you.”

“But they didn’t,” Apple Bloom said. “That’s good news, right?”

“It is good that you are not being attacked by Nightmares, yes.  But if they are not here, it means we do not know where they are, which is just as much, if not more, worrying.  I must go and attempt to ascertain the true nature of their plans.  And you will, of course-”

“Yeah, yeah, we’ll let you know if anything happens,” Rainbow Dash said. 

“Very well.” Luna dropped back into the earth.  Aside from the erasure of the marks that the ponies had left, there was no sign that she had ever been there.

“What do you think that was about?” Fluttershy asked quietly as she peered out from behind Rainbow Dash.

“I dunno, but we should probably get a move on,” Applejack said. “If Luna thinks that the Nightmares are up to something, they probably are, so we should try to find Pinkie before they show up.”

The group nodded and trotted towards the house.





Luna pored over her spells. There was absolutely no doubt that the Nightmares had used up a huge portion of the magical energy they had absorbed, but they had somehow done it in a completely invisible fashion.  It shouldn’t be possible, she thought.  Magical energy created ripple effects; if you dumped that much energy into one part of a spell it would make waves through the whole thing, even the parts that weren’t using it.

The only thing that made sense was if they had drawn the energy out of the dream completely. But what would they use it for?  They could not use that power to manifest physically. They have absorbed much, but not enough to create physical forms for themselves.  I suppose it is also possible that they intend to put some sort of shield around the town to prevent Spike’s escape, but if that was their goal, they would’ve done so earlier.

She rubbed the sides of her head with her hooves. She couldn’t help but feel like she had all the pieces, but was at a loss at how to fit them together.  There was only one potential source of new information, but the last thing she wanted to do was deal with the Nightmares she held captive.  And beside that, there was no way to prompt them for more information without inadvertently informing them that their plan was moving forward.  She couldn’t risk that.

This would be so much easier if I could somehow contact Spike and find out what is happening in Ponyville.  Or perhaps warn him of what might happen…





“Okay, we’re back in the house,” Apple Bloom said. “Now what?”  All of the ponies were crowded to the side of the room that wasn’t occupied by the portal. The room itself was bare; aside from the door and a few shuttered windows there was nothing but wooden planks.

“Well, she’s not here,” Applejack said.

“No, really?” Rainbow Dash said. She hovered near the ceiling, trying to make the room feel slightly less crowded. “I never would’ve figured that out if you hadn’t told me.”

“I wasn’t finished,” Applejack said, giving Rainbow Dash a sideways glare. “I was sayin’ that since she’s not here, we gotta check the rest of the house. Y’know, up in the attic or maybe under the porch or whatnot.”

“Oh, right.”

“Why don’t you and Fluttershy check the space above, while Applejack and I search down here?” Rarity suggested.  “Our sisters can keep an eye on everything from the porch. They will be able to see both in here and up to the roof.”

“That sounds like a plan!” Fluttershy said quickly, before Dash could object. “Come on, Rainbow Dash. Maybe there will be something by the roof.”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Fine.”

Applejack nodded at the three fillies. “Y’all go out and keep an eye on them, okay. Don’t let ‘em out of your sight.  And leave the door open so we can keep an eye on you too.”

“Sure thing, sis!” Apple Bloom saluted. “Let’s get movin’, Crusaders!”

“So,” Rarity said as she watched them go, “what are we looking for, exactly?”

Applejack shrugged. “I dunno. Anything unusual, I guess. Maybe we could try pullin’ up a floorboard or something.”

“Well, there doesn’t seem to be anything odd on the walls.” Rarity tapped on them with her hoof. “They could certainly use some wallpaper.  Something bright would make the room feel a bit bigger.”

“Nothing strange about the windows either,” Applejack answered. “After the way Spike was talkin’ about the other dreams, I thought maybe they’d lead someplace else.”

“I do wonder how Spike is getting along,” Rarity said. “Do you think he’s still in Ponyville, or do you suppose he’s left for the Crystal Empire?”

“Hard to say, what with how weird dream time is.  Far as I know, only a few minutes have passed in the real world.”

“Oh right, we are dreaming.” Rarity sighed. “It is blatantly obvious, yet it’s somehow easy to forget.”

“Yeah, it’s weird all right.” Applejack closed the last window. “I’m gonna go check outside. Maybe there’s something under the” —she froze mid-step— “porch.  Did you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

“The floor sounds different here. Like it’s hollow.” She tapped her hoof where she had been walking, then again a few feet away. “See?  Sometimes that happens in the farmhouse where there’s a gap under the floorboards.”

“Hmmm, so you think that something is under there?” Rarity crouched down and examined the patch of floor where Applejack was pointing. It was extremely dusty. “Move out of the way for a moment.”  She took a deep breath and blew.  A cloud of dust engulfed Applejack.

“Thanks,” she said with a cough.

“I told you to move,” Rarity said, giving her a mildly annoyed look. “See? There appears to be some sort of trapdoor.” She pointed. The floorboards were all fairly rickety and cracked, but with the dust out of the way, a square of thin gaps were visible.

“That does look like a sort of a trapdoor I guess,” Applejack said. “There’s even a handle. You wanna pull it up, or should I?”

“Be my guest. You’re already dusty after all.”

“Alright.” Applejack slid her hoof under the handle and grunted. The trapdoor held tight for a moment, then popped free with a loud wooden squeak, revealing a dark hole.

“Well, that’s certainly suspicious.” Rarity poked her head over the edge of the hole. All she could see were a few dusty steps. “I suppose we should call the others.”

“Yeah.” Applejack turned back to the house’s door. “Apple Bloom, tell everypony to get in here! We found something!”

“Really? Hey Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy! They found somethin’!” Apple Bloom charged through the door at a dead sprint. Applejack caught her tail just in time to keep her from running right into the hole in the floor.

“Be careful,” Applejack said as she pulled her away. “We don’t know what’s down there.  Could be just about anything.”

“What did you find?!” Rainbow Dash nearly bowled into both of them as she flew through the door.  “Is Pinkie Pie down there?”

“We haven’t actually gone down there yet,” Rarity said, visibly annoyed by Dash’s enthusiasm.  “It may be dangerous.”

“Oh, so you were waiting for me?” Rainbow Dash landed and began to go through her pre-adventure stretching ritual.

“Well, you and everypony else,” Applejack said. “Though if you want to be the first down there, be my guest.”

“You’re really going to go down there?” Fluttershy eyed the blackness with trepidation. “It looks dark.  You’re not going down there alone, are you?”

“I should be able to provide a light,” Rarity said. “And of course we cannot let her go down by herself. Luna did tell us to stay together after all.”

“You mean we’ve got to go down there too?” Sweetie Belle’s voice wavered. “Are you sure we all need to go down there?”

“Come on, it can’t be that bad,” Scootaloo said, throwing a foreleg around Sweetie Belle’s shoulders. 

Apple Bloom nodded. “Yeah. Besides, would you want to be waitin’ up here without knowin’ what’s goin’ on down there with everypony else?”

“Don’t worry, we’ll make sure nothing happens to you,” Applejack said. “Dash, why don’t you and Rarity head down first, then the fillies, and me and Fluttershy will come last.  We all gotta stay close together anyway if we want to be able to see where we’re goin’.”

“Sounds good to me!” Rainbow Dash cracked her neck, and then began down the stairs.  Half a second later there was a loud thump. Then her voice echoed out. “Watch your heads. The ceiling is kinda low.”

“Why don’t you go slowly, Rainbow Dash?” Fluttershy said as she followed the others down the stairs. “We don’t want to lose you.”

“No reason to worry about that,” she answered. “There’s a dead end here anyway.”

“You have no eye for detail,” Rarity answered. The point of light at the tip of her horn intensified. “See? There’s a door.”

“How on earth did you miss that?” Applejack said.

“It was dark, okay?” Rainbow Dash snorted. “Alright, I’m gonna open it up.  There’s probably a monster or something in here, so Rarity can hold it still with her magic while I kick it in the face!”

“Rainbow Dash!” Applejack snapped. “Quit tryin’ to scare the fillies! And Fluttershy.”

“I’m just saying…”

Rarity tapped her hoof impatiently. “We don’t have time to waste on this nonsense. I’m opening the door.” The handle glowed for a moment, turned, and the door swung open.  She had expected to use her magic to illuminate the path, but there was no need. In fact, the reverse had happened. Light poured from the doorway, lighting up the stairway.

“What is that?” Apple Bloom asked, trying to get a good view past Rainbow Dash and Rarity into the room.

“I’m not sure,” Rarity said. “Everypony be careful. Let’s stick together.”

Rainbow Dash nodded silently and went through the door.

Applejack blinked at the sudden brightness. “What the hay is this place?”

“A dream that actually looks like Pinkie Pie’s,” Scootaloo said.

The ponies found themselves in an enormous round space, standing on a ledge overlooking an enormous gulf. The walls of the cavern were smooth and rubbery, meeting above their heads in a dome.  A dim light radiated through the walls, dimmed but not blotted out completely. It almost gave the feeling of being inside a tent on a sunny day.

The massive space was filled with dozens of floating stones, from some the size of a hoof to huge boulders.  Far below, the floor was just barely visible.  As they stood silently, taking in the sight, they could just barely hear music.  It was muffled and faint, as if it were being played several rooms away.

“Are we inside a giant balloon?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“It’s possible, I guess,” Applejack said. “It’s Pinkie. If anypony knows what the inside of a balloon looks like it would be her.”  She gingerly crept to the edge of the ledge and peered over. “I guess we should find a way to get down there. Not like there’s anything up here to look at.”

“Yes, but how are we going to do that?” Rarity joined Applejack at the edge, very carefully.  “We can hardly even see the bottom.”

“Maybe Rainbow Dash could fly us down!” Scootaloo suggested, her eyes gleaming with excitement. 

“I don’t know about that.” Sweetie Belle took a step towards the ledge, shuddered, and backed away. “It’s really high up. And, you know, we’d have to split up. Somepony would be left alone down there while Rainbow Dash flew up to get somepony else.”

“Not if Fluttershy helps,” Rainbow Dash said.  She turned to Fluttershy. “How about it? We would have to split the group up a bit, but at least nopony would be alone.”

“I...I guess that would work,” Fluttershy mumbled. “Or we could take the stairs.”  She pointed.  At the edge of the ledge a long, gently sloping stairway curved down along the wall of the cavern.

“Or we could take the stairs.” Rainbow Dash said, half disappointed and half relieved.

“I vote stairs,” Sweetie Belle said quickly.

“Yeah, that’s probably safest,” Applejack said. “It might take a bit longer, but we’ve got no idea what’s down there.”

Rainbow Dash hovered over next to her. “Want me to fly down there and check?”

“I think it would be best if we stayed together,” Rarity said as she started down the stairs. “We would all hate for something to happen to you.”

“Fine,” she grumbled as she reluctantly followed along.

The descent was long and almost painfully slow. The cavern seemed to get wider and wider as they descended, making the pathway seem longer and longer as they proceeded.  At points it was almost hard to believe that they were moving down at all.  

“I can see the bottom,” Scootaloo said, squinting downward.  Whatever was down there seemed to be glowing with a glow that wasn’t only bright, but slightly blurry, like the soft lighting in supermodel photos.  “I think something’s moving down there.”

“Yeah, I can see it too,” Rainbow Dash said. “It looks like there’s some sort of a hill or something, but it’s moving.”

“How odd,” Rarity said. “It looks as if the ground itself is… flowing.”

“I don’t think it’s ground exactly…” Applejack said. “It reminds me of something, but I can’t quite put my hoof on it.”

Whatever was down there, it didn’t look like anything in particular.  As best they could see, it looked to be some sort of mound at the center of the floor.. It didn’t appear to be a solid object either, but a bunch of smaller objects flowing outward, like a fountain spitting out thousands of pebbles rather than water. 

But that wasn’t quite right either.  The things pouring down the sides of the pile didn’t seem to be coming from inside it.  It looked as though they were being dropped from above, but they could see the area above it, and there was nothing but floating rocks.  

“I wonder if Pinkie Pie is there some—” Fluttershy’s voice was cut off by a sharp inhale.  She jumped into the air and flew to the front of the group, planting herself in the center of the stairway. “Stop!” she hissed, in the loudest whisper she could manage.

“What is it now?” Rainbow Dash crossed her forelegs.

“Shh!” Fluttershy waved for the rest of the ponies to come closer. When she spoke, her voice was so low that they could barely hear her. “There are Nightmares down there!”

“What!?”  Rarity fought to keep her voice low. “Where!?”

“Around the edges of that pile,” Fluttershy answered. “I think they’re doing something to it.”

The ponies took another look at the pile. Something was scurrying rapidly around the edges of the heap.  Several somethings, in fact. They zipped back and forth, occasionally pausing.  

“They’re throwing stuff onto the pile!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed. “I think it’s more of those rock balloon things.”

As they finally reached the bottom of the stairway, they could see that Sweetie Belle was right. A dozen or so dark shapes were hurling the balloons to the top of the pile, moving so quickly that it created a constant rain at the top of the heap.  It would gradually grow upwards until it became too high, and then the pile would start to collapse under its own weight, rolling back down to the edges where the Nightmares grabbed the balloons and threw them back onto the pile.  Fortunately, the Nightmares all seemed too preoccupied to pay any attention to the ponies behind them.

“What do you wanna bet that they’ve got Pinkie buried under there?” Applejack said.

“Well, let’s just go get ‘em and then dig Pinkie out,” Rainbow Dash said, kicking at the air with her hooves. “I could probably go and do it myself!”

Rarity snorted at the notion. “You could, but I hardly think that would be a good idea. We have no idea what they might do if you attack all willy-nilly.”

“Well, we’ve got to get rid of them somehow,” Scootaloo tapped her hoof on the steps impatiently. “ Unless you want to leave Pinkie under that pile of balloons.”

“They don’t look all that scary for Nightmares…” Apple Bloom said as she watched them. “They’re just sorta like little blobs.”

“But look how many there are,” Fluttershy whispered. “What if they ganged up on Rainbow Dash?”

“We don’t let ‘em, then,” Applejack said resolutely.  “How many of them do you think there are, Rarity?”

“I’d say maybe around a dozen. I couldn’t say for sure. They’re moving around too much.”

“Alright, in that case, here’s what we’ll do.” Applejack’s voice changed to the one she used when she was handing out assignments for work days at the farm.  “We’ll sneak around the edge and come at ‘em from all directions at once.  Me, Dash, and Rarity can each take a couple.  Fluttershy, you think you and the Crusaders could take on a few?”

“Of course!” Scootaloo said puffing out her chest. “It’ll be easy!”

“I wasn’t askin’ you,” Applejack said.

“If we really have to, I think we could manage,” Fluttershy answered.

“Great.” Applejack drummed her hoof on the ground. “Y’all can wait here while the rest of us go around. Just make sure you keep quiet till we’re all in position.  I’ll yell when we’re ready to go.”

“But what if it” —Sweetie Belle swallowed— “doesn’t work?”

“Then run back up the stairs and call Princess Luna,” Applejack said.  There was an uncomfortable moment of silence. “Alright, we better get a move on before they notice us.”

Before they could respond, she nodded for Rainbow Dash and Rarity to follow her.

“Fluttershy and the Crusaders, huh?” Rainbow Dash muttered as soon as they were out of earshot. “I thought you’d want Apple Bloom with you.”

“The Crusaders are tougher than we give them credit for,” Rarity answered. “I’m sure they will be quite capable of taking out a few of those blobs on their own.”

“I do want her with me,” Applejack said. “But I think she’ll do better if she stays with her friends.” She grinned. “Besides, she’s got Fluttershy with her. If any Nightmare so much as looks crooked at one of those fillies, Fluttershy would probably take out the whole lot of them all on her own.”

Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but giggle. “She might break the spell entirely.”

“If only it were that simple,” Rarity said with a wry grin. “I suppose this is my spot, you two go on ahead.”

“Right!” Applejack saluted, and crept onward. “You ready, Rainbow Dash?”

“I’ve been ready since I first got into this dream.” Dash’s face bore an excited grin. It was the same face she had before she flew. “It’s about time.”

“Well, at least try to be careful, alright. I know it’s just a dream, but we don’t want anything to happen.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.  I’m gonna go ahead. You can wait here.  Just yell when you’re ready to go.”

She nodded silently and stopped walking. Rainbow Dash silently zipped forward.

I can’t believe we’re doin’ this, she thought as she waited for Rainbow Dash to get in position. Searchin’ through other ponies’ dreams, attackin’ Nightmares… Fightin’ changelings seems downright normal compared with all this. How on earth do I end up doin’ stuff like this? All I ever wanted to do was grow apples.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Rainbow Dash waving at her.  Guess she’s ready.  She turned to the other side.  She could just barely see Rarity, tensed up and ready to attack. Straight ahead of her, she knew Fluttershy, her sister, and the other crusaders were waiting, but the heap of balloons hid them from her sight.  She closed her eyes for a moment to focus. Can’t worry about them now, no matter how much you want to. Worryin’ isn’t gonna make this any easier. I’d better get ready to go before Dash gets impatient and goes ahead on her own.

She watched the Nightmares scurry back and forth along the edge of the pile and began to formulate a plan. Okay, I’ll tackle that first one, then if I move real quick, I should be able to give the next one a good buck before it even realizes we’re here.  After that… hopefully they’re as wimpy as they look.

No point in waitin’.

She charged forward. “ATTACK!”

The Nightmare was so indistinct that it barely had a face, but she could almost imagine that it turned to look at her just as she landed. For a few seconds, everything was a blur.  Her legs felt like they were moving all on their own, sprinting, punching, and kicking. By the time her mind caught up, she was standing at the edge of the balloon pile, breathing heavily.  The only sign of Nightmares she could see was a faint fog that lingered where they had been pummeled into oblivion.

Half a second later Rainbow Dash flew over the pile, surveying the aftermath.

“Is everypony alright?” Applejack called to her.

“Yeah, everypony looks fine from here,” Dash answered. “I’m pretty sure we got all of them.” She crossed her forelegs and snorted discontentedly. “What pushovers. I was expecting a fight.”

“Now is not the time!” Rarity shouted from across the heap. “Nightmares aside, we must get Pinkie Pie out from under this-”

The top of the balloon heap exploded, showering the ponies with balloons.  Apparently eliminating the nightmares had done something; the balloons were now no heavier than if they had been made of foam.  They didn’t fall so much as float vaguely downward.  But none of the ponies were paying much attention to that. They were too distracted by the fact that Pinkie had erupted from the center of the pile.

“Ahhh! It feels so good to be out from under all that stuff! Worst balloons ever!” She stretched, bending much further than any pony should’ve been able to and popping joints that she wasn’t supposed to have. “It was so lumpy.”

“Pinkie! You’re alright!” Rainbow Dash flew over and hugged her.

“Oh, thank goodness!” Fluttershy appeared from the other side of the balloon pile and excitedly wrapped her hooves around both Rainbow Dash and Pinkie. “I’m so glad to see you!”

“I’m glad to see you too!” Pinkie looked around, and shrugged. “I have no idea what’s going on, but at least I’m getting a hug!”

“Did you see that!” The crusaders galloped around the edge of the pile, opting against trying to climb up. Apple Bloom was at the head of the group, running straight for her sister. “I kicked a Nightmare right in the head and it just went ‘poof’!”

“I held it down with my magic so she could do that!” Sweetie Belle added. “It was great!”

“They couldn’t see it! They were on the other side of the pile,” Scootaloo grumbled. “It was pretty cool though.”

“Good job, girls,” Applejack said as she waved them over. “Once we’re out of here, you can tell me all about it.  Right now, we gotta get Luna and tell her that we’ve got Pinkie.”

“Already done.”

Applejack turned around to see Rarity trotting up beside her. Her mane was slightly disheveled, but she was otherwise none the worse for wear.

“Luna will be with us in a few minutes,” Rarity said. “She said she is taking care of something and will come to us as soon as she can.”

“Great.” Applejack turned back to Pinkie, who still had Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy locked in a bear hug. “So, which one of us is gonna get stuck tryin’ to explain everything to Pinkie.”

“I vote we wait for Luna to arrive and let her do it.”

Applejack sighed. “As appealing as that sounds, I think she’s probably been through enough already.  I think between all of us, we should be able to manage.” She glanced again at Pinkie with apprehension. “Though I gotta say I ain’t exactly lookin’ forward to it.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Rarity said resignedly. “We may as well get it over with. Pinkie Pie!”

“Ooh! Rarity and Applejack are here too!” Pinkie exclaimed. “Although I’m not to sure where ‘here’ is.”

“Pinkie, can you come over here?” Applejack said, waving her over. “We’ve got some stuff to tell you.”





“I must say, I appreciate that you spared me having to explain the situation again,” said a balloon shaped like Luna’s head. “I have lost count of how many times I have had to do that.  I must admit I did not relish the thought of having to explain it to her.”

“Well, it wasn’t easy,” Rainbow Dash said with an irritated sniff. “It took us like four tries to get it through her head because she wasn’t paying attention.”

“It’s not my fault there are all these balloons floating around!” Pinkie grumbled. Ever since the Nightmares had been vanquished, the balloons had begun to get lighter and brighter. At the moment, all of them were glowing, some of them to the point that they looked more like floating spotlights or disco balls than balloons. Her eyes glued themselves to one that seemed to be coated with glitter. “Shiny.”

“It’s your dream, so it kind of is,” Rarity mumbled under her breath.

Applejack ignored both comments and focused on Luna. “So, exactly what are we doin’ now that we’ve got Pinkie out?”

“Well, now that all of you have been freed, and because it is evident that the Nightmares are on the move, I believe that it is time for our final assault. If we can free Twilight from the Nightmares’ spell, they will lack the magical energy needed to keep the spell going.”

“So we’re going into another dream!?” Pinkie hopped up and down. “That sounds like fun!”

Luna silenced her with a glare. Or rather quieted her down slightly, as she still muttered to herself.

“‘Fun’ is not the word I would use, but that is beside the point.  All of you must return to the room with the portal and prepare to enter it. I will prepare the spell to target Twilight’s dream. When I am ready, I will return.  You can use the time to prepare yourselves.”  Luna’s head made a popping noise, but rather than exploding, it simply resumed the shape of a normal balloon.

“So, I guess we should go back up then?” Fluttershy asked.

“Yeah, let’s,” Applejack said. “This place is startin’ to give me a headache.”

“Oh come on, it’s not that bad,” Pinkie said.





The portal hadn’t changed in any quantifiable way, but knowing where it led made it more ominous. The fact that Luna was floating beside it, again in the form of a balloon, was a welcome bit of levity.  Her tone of voice was as stern and serious as ever.

“Are you ready to proceed?” she asked.

“Ready as we’re ever gonna be,” Applejack answered. 

“Yeah!” Rainbow Dash rubbed her hooves together in anticipation. “We’re gonna knock these Nightmares out of Ponyville once and for all!”

“I only hope it will be so easy,” Luna said.

“What about the Crusaders?” Fluttershy asked. “Should they stay here or go back to their dream?”

“That is for you to decide,” Luna said. “If we fail, they will not be any safer in a different dream, and if we succeed, they will be freed along with the rest.”

“In that case, I say they come along,” Rarity said. “I would much rather have my sister with me.”

“Yeah, we can totally take them with us!” Rainbow Dash put her wing around Scootaloo. “Besides we’ll need all the help we can get.”

“I guess it’s settled, then,” Applejack said as she patted her sister on the head. “The fillies are comin’ with us.”

“Very well then.” Luna floated slightly to the side. “I recommend you all enter together. I do not know what kind of resistance you will encounter in Twilight’s dream.  I would assume that it will be much more direct than that which you have already faced. I wish you the best of luck, and I will contact you as soon as I am able.”  

“Alright, I guess we’d better get movin’,” Applejack took the stance she did at the start of a race. “C’mon everypony, let’s go save Equestria! Again.” 

“Yeah! Let’s go!” Pinkie leaped forward, bouncing into the portal, everypony else following closely behind.

Luna’s head floated silently for a moment, watching the swirling blackness. Her thoughts drifted to Spike. He had likely already sent the message to the Crystal Empire, and hopefully would be on his way.  She wished she had some way to keep tabs on him outside the dream.  But unless he nodded off, that wasn’t going to happen.  Perhaps if she could find somepony who sleepwalked—

“What on earth—?” She stared in horror as as the portal began to glow. 

“wwwwwwwWHOA!” 

Pinkie tumbled out of the portal. “That was the best ride EVER!” she squeaked.

Then the rest of the group poured out of the portal, landing in a jumbled heap.

“What happened!?” Luna asked, trying not to shout.

“I dunno,” Applejack grumbled from near the bottom of the pile. “We were sorta slidin’ along and suddenly we felt like we bounced offa something and next thing I knew we were goin’ the other way.”

“What happened?” Rarity asked, stumbling upright.

“I—I do not know.” Luna’s voice was strained. “But I will find out.”

There was a rubbery squeal, and the balloon popped.

Pinkie stared at the empty space where Luna had been a moment earlier. “So I guess that’s a bad thing, right?”





Spike looked over the letter he had written one final time.  He had included a brief summary of the situation and some of the technical specifications of the spell, as well as a list of books on the nature of dream spells so that Cadance could begin to research possible workarounds. Hopefully they would never have to actually use them.

“I guess about as good as it’s ever going to be,” he mumbled to himself. “I’d better send it and get on my way.” 

He inhaled deeply as he prepared to send the letter. Then he froze. His mind had been playing tricks on him all… however long it had been.  The dream time made it hard to tell. But the silence was starting to weigh on him so much that he had sworn that he had heard something. He shrugged and exhaled, enveloping the letter in green flame.

“Alright, I’d better get going.” He snatched his bag off of the table and began to fill it with food. “Everypony at the Ponyville train station is probably asleep.  I’d better bring some bits, too, just in case I—”

A chill ran down his spine.  He could claim that it was all in his head.  He wanted to believe that.  Unfortunately, he couldn’t.  It had been too clear and too loud to be something that he had imagined.

He had heard a knock on the door.