The Friendship Inception

by Schrodinger's Pony

Getting Noticed

Chapter Five: Getting Noticed

He who has a thousand friends, has not a friend to spare. And he who has one enemy will meet him everywhere.

-Ali

The Great and Powerful Trixie looked around. They were in an exact copy of Ponyville. Well, almost exact. It was taken from Raindrop's memories, with a few paradoxical twists and turns to keep the projections at bay should they be so careless as to change more of the dream then was necessary. "You did a marvelous job Raindrop."

"Thanks, I guess." The Pegasus stopped to polish one of her mock town's lamp posts with pride.

"But where would she be in this weather?" Question Mark asked. "She could be in the park, enjoying her friend's company…"

"The library." The girls all said simultaneously.

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"Well yes, aside from the blueberry stains, I also deduced where she was through a unicorn named Dejour who was preparing the barbarian's food." Rarity huffed. "Oh, I can't wait to figure out what their plan is, so I can…"

Fwoosh

"…send them back to… darling, did you feel that?"

"Feel what?"

Rairty took in everything around her. But it didn't take much for her suspicions to grow. "Applejack, where are the apples you were just bucking?"

Applejack looked behind her. If she'd been anypony else, she would have subconsciously planted the apples there. But she was the element of honesty, so when she turned around the buckets of apples she was bucking, which Raindrop didn't include in her designs for dream Ponyville, were not there. Frankly, it was amazing that Rarity hadn't subconsciously planted the apples herself. Applejack was the element of honesty, but Rarity only had her amazing eye for detail to help her.

"Well that's a mite peculiar. You don't think…"

"Well I'm sure I don't know what Jubilee would stand to gain from making a few barrels of apples vanish, but I'm not sure who else it could be."

Applejack looked over Rarity's shoulder to where Big Mac was bucking apples. He hadn't been there a second ago. "Hey Big Mac! What in tarnation are you doing in the west orchard? Don't you know it's Tuesday?"

Big Mac looked up and blushed. He shrugged, and picked up the bucket of apples in his teeth… and then he glared at her sister.

Applejack shrunk back in the force of the glare. Big Mac was looking at her like she wasn't apple family. Like she wasn't even a pony. Like she was some sort of alien in his sister's body… something that didn't belong. She doubted even Fluttershy could give this glare a run for its money. A normal pony might have panicked when seeing their big brother glaring at her this fiercely. But Applejack was the element of honesty, so she took another look.

"Ah don't think that's Big Mac."

"You don't?" Rarity had already curled up and hid behind Applejack to get away from Big Mac's glare. "How can he not be Big Mac?"

"Ah don't rightly know, but he ain't. Ah can feel it in mah gut. What has she done to him… oooh, when ah get mah hands on Jubilee… It's about this point where ah reckon you wish we'd told Twilight instead of shipping her off to Canterlot, right?"

"I admit, I may have made a slight mistake. Let's go see if Spike knows enough about magic to tell us what might be going on."

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Pinkie Pie was baking, when all of a sudden her left hoof shook. She stopped, and looked down, as the shake began to turn into a tremor. The tremor turned into an earthquake, and then a super-shake-quake! Then it travelled all the way up her leg, then a cross her shoulders, then down her right leg to the hoof. She waited patiently as the super-shake-quake slowly disappeared.

"Well, that was a new one." She said.

Fwoosh

"I wonder what it means?" Her first thought, was that it meant holding a New Pinkie Pie Sense Pinkie Party, but whatever remained of her impulse control was able to convince her that would be a bad thing, because Twilight.

"I should totally go and find Rarity." She decided. "She always likes hearing about my new pinkie senses for that game she plays with Applejack." She tapped a hoof on her chin and knit her brow. "Hmmm… but who to look after the store?" She knew if she just stood there, brow knit, and hoof tapping, the answer would come to her.

"Excuse me, Pinkie Pie?"

She looked up, and saw Gummy wandering around the ceiling. "You're dreaming." He said, in an inexplicably French accent. And then he jumped into a passing bi-plane that was just his size, and pulled out a scarf and an aviator helmet, also just his size. He put them on, along with aviator goggles (somepony in the background yelled 'Yeeeeeah'). And then he flew into the oven, which also happened to be the magical portal to fun-land.

Pinkie Pie laughed. "Oh, of course I'm dreaming!" She got into her canoe-dog, who barked happily as she paddled it through the wall in sugarcube corner. "That must be what my new Pinkie Sense means!"

As she left, she didn't even mind as the Cakes, and Derpy, and every patron in the corner, stopped whatever they were doing to glare at her.

She didn't even notice that another Pinkie Pie got out from behind the counter to stare at her.

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Fluttershy looked very crossly at the door. She had no idea why Angel was holding her a hostage in her own home, but it had to stop.

Fwoosh

She couldn't hear anything on the other side. Maybe Angel had decided to be nice and stop barricading her in?

"Angel, I am going to count to three." She said, in her loudest, sternest voice. "And when I'm done, you'd better have the door open… please."

She waited, but she didn't hear anything.

"Um… okay… one… two… three…" She charged the door with all he might, and tapped it with her hoof.

The door swung open lightly.

Fluttershy peeked through the open door. "Angel? Angel, are you there?"

Every other animal was there. They were all gathering around a pony who seemed to be feeding them.

"Um… excuse me…"

The pony who was feeding the animals turned around with a small 'Eeep'. She was a golden Pegasus with flowing long pink hair. Fluttershy let out a small 'eep' of her own, as she and her double instinctively hid from each other.

Fluttershy took a few deep breaths, and then went to comfort the poor pony, who was obviously very distraught. "Hello there. I'm sorry for startling you. My name's Fluttershy. What's yours?"

The other Pegasus mumbled something.

"What was that?"

She mumbled again, this time even quieter.

"Oh, I'm so sorry for intimidating you. Let me guess. Is your name… Fluttershy?"

The other pegasus looked teary eyed as she nodded.

"Oh. Well um… my name's Fluttershy too… but maybe if it makes you feel better, you could call me something else?"

The other Fluttershy looked up and nodded.

"Okay… um… I'm not sure which one of us is the real Fluttershy, so maybe we should go see Twilight. I'm sure she'll be able to tell. And then we can both figure out what's happening."

The shy Fluttershy nodded again. And when the real Fluttershy turned around to lead the way, she leveled a glare at her that would have made Angel run for cover.

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Rainbow Dash flew through the air like she was born there. Which she was. Her mom went into labor while she was trying to save everypony's lives from a megastorm. And she did too. While giving birth. And someday, Rainbow was sure she'd be even more awesome then the mare who needed something to bite onto during labor so she wouldn't bite her tongue off from the abnormally painful childbirth, and chose to bite the stem of a tornado and use it to beat a megastorm to death.

I love the sky.

Rainbow Dash caught an updraft and soared towards the sun. She was flying over Everfree now, and the skies were untamed, untouched by weather ponies. Mostly because of the dangerous creatures that lived there. Like the pack of Manticores that had been sighted near Ponyville just once too often for Mayor Mare's liking. Normally, she'd leave creatures of Everfree to Fluttershy. But Mayor Mare decided this problem needed a touch of rainbow.

I own the sky.

The pair of maticores rushed forward, and Rainbow Dash narrowly evaded a swipe of paws, and two scorpion-like tails. Oh, who was she kidding? It was only narrow because it wouldn't be any fun otherwise. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw a storm cloud, and with a grin on her lips she flew towards it. As the Manticores swung around, she'd already created a powerful downdraft with her wings, throwing the cloud towards the Manticores without even touching it.

And Celestia may as well strike me down for blasphemy…

Rainbow Dash ducked inside another cloud as the manticores dodged the first one. Most pegasi would take a couple of minutes to turn a normal cloud into a storm cloud. If properly trained, some could do it in less then fifty seconds. All it took for Rainbow was one good buck, and the cloud went from winter white to marble black. But she didn't even bother throwing it at the manticores. The only reason she needed a storm cloud, was because she needed lightning. She grabbed a bolt in her teeth like a sword and shot from her cloud like a hidden bullet.

Because I am the sky!

Whirling around like a flying top, she created a rainbow colored twister behind her. The lightning caught the drag from the twister, but while she still held it in her mouth it couldn't dissipate, so it simply grew, until it covered the length of her miniature tornado. She called it 'the Rainbow Whip' in honor of Daring Do's weapon of choice. The Manticores barely had time to stare at her in shock before they crossed the point of no return and got dragged into her tornado, the bolt of lightning flaying then each around ten times, though she was going for twenty.

Ordinarily this would call for a big ending, where she'd whip the lightning forward and it'd wrap around a cloud, and she could do some trick with that. But she didn't have an audience this time, so she came to a slow and steady stop, dropping the now weak lightning bolt. She was forced to pant from the exertion that trick called for, and she promised herself she'd train harder so she could pull off the big ending. But looking behind her, she was rewarded to see the two manticores splayed out in the branches of a particularly large tree, moaning in pain. She tiredly flew over to the pair of them, and they flinched as she approached.

"If you come near Ponyville again…" Rainbow said even though she knew they probably wouldn't understand her. "You're not going to get a polite yellow Pegasus with a bowl of broth anymore. You're going to get an angry blue Pegasus and a face-full of lightning. I just thought you'd like to know."

The Manticores tried to run from her. But they were a couple of stories up, so running amount to stumbling off the tree in a blind panic.

"And stay out!" Rainbow Dash crowed her victory.

She flew back to Ponyville victorious. She was so going to tell everypony… well, no, not Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash's face fell as she realized she wouldn't be able to tell her best friend about how much more awesome she was today then she was every other day.

Her face brightened as she looked down, and realized she could at least tell Zecora. She even saw her house down there. It looked like she was having a picnic with Derpy. Maybe they'd have something for her to eat. Rainbow Dash move to wipe the sweat off her brow…

Fwoosh.

And suddenly she realized she wasn't sweating. She wasn't even breathing heavily. She didn't feel like she'd even done the Rainbow Whip.

Confused, she landed on Zecora's picnic, only to find that there wasn't any picnic. In fact, Zecora's house had even disappeared.

"What the hay!" Rainbow Dash looked around. But suddenly, while she wasn't looking, Zecora's house was back where it was, and Zecora having a picnic with Derpy.

Her mind quickly dismissed the previous invisibility as some sort of magic zebra potion. It didn't even stick in her mind that the whole thing was just a little bit odd.

"Hey you two!" She cheered. "Did you just see how awesome I was?"

"Oh, yes." Zecora nodded. "You are the most awesome pony in Ponyville."

Rainbow Dash preened, and then stopped. Something… something wasn't right just then. She couldn't put her hoof on it though.

"What did you just say?"

"I said compliments to you, my pegasi friend. At last the Manticore's reign of terror, is at an end."

Rainbow Dash nodded. But now something else was wrong. She looked at Derpy and did a double take. Both of her eyes were fixed on a single point, and that single point was her. Derpy was glaring at her!

And then the moment passed, and Rainbow Dash felt really uneasy. "Uh, hey, I should probably… get going…" She looked at the two of them, unsure of what was wrong, but somehow aware that something was wrong, and she flew away.

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Raindrop peered through the window. "Alright, she's in position." She felt butterflies in her stomach, but shot them down. It wasn't like they were going to hurt Twilight.

She smiled, and decided to just sit back and enjoy the view from Twilight's tree. She turned her attention to the detail she'd put into this dream, all of the houses, the ponies, the…

She stopped. The projections. All of the ponies, even though they shouldn't have been, were staring at her. More than just staring… they were glaring.

The projections knew she was here.

She quickly fluttered down to the base of the tree, where Question Mark was putting on his costume. He looked exactly like Princess Celestia. "We have a problem." Raindrop said.

Jubilee was all ears instantly. "What's wrong?" The others paid her slight heed, but were busy last-minute-coaching Mark. If any of these ponies were going to be her friend, she was glad Jubilee would be one.

"The projections are aware of us." Raindrop said.

"That's impossible." Jubilee said. "We've done this before, the projections only attack after a couple of hour in dream time, and that was when we knew we were dreaming. Twilight's been in her house as long as we've been here, so she couldn't be aware, and we haven't manipulated the dream at all except for Blueblood becoming Princess Celestia."

"I know." Raindrop said. "It doesn't make any sense at all. But the projections are looking antsy."

"Well, don't blow our cover just yet." Jubilee said. "Go and fly around. You're the architect of this dream, so you'll be the biggest target. If they do attack us, I'm sure we can manage, but we don't want to risk this entire operation before it's time."

Raindrop nodded and flew off. Jubilee turned back to the task at hand.

"And also, you must never let any common food touch your lips." Blueblood was instructing Mark. "Princess Celestia would never deign to do such a thing. Keep your nose in the air. Don't ever use those wings like a common Pegasus. No winking, no smiling, and none of your cheeky grins…"

"I think he has the picture." Jubilee intervened, noticing the annoyed look on the paranoid pony turned sun goddesses face.

"Hardly.' Blueblood sniffed. "I'm related to Celestia you know. I think I know how she would behave."

"We don't have time for that right now." Jubilee touched The Great and Powerful Trixie's shoulder. "We're running out of time, actually. The projections are getting active."

The Great and Powerful Trixie nodded. "Alright, this is it. Showtime. Break a leg Mark."

"What?" Berry Punch gasped.

"Not literally, of course."

Question Mark flapped his new Alicorn wings, and glided up to the windowsill.

"I thought I told you not to use your wings!"

Mark chuckled, and examined himself in the mirror, briefly, before rapping at it.

"That's not how Celestia approaches a commoner's house!"

"Hush Blueblood."

He knocked again, and this time Twilight looked up. In a flurry of motion, the door was open, and she was bowing at him. "Princess Celestia! Ohmigosh why didn't you tell me you were coming? Why are you here?"

"I have grave news my student." Mark said. "The Time Lords are invading. They will be here within the hour, and I am in need of the Elements of Harmony once again."

"Oh, of course, Princess!" Twilight scrambled through the shelves. "I'll grab them, and I'll go out and gather the girls immediately!"

Mark had to hold a chuckle back as he watched Jubilee's plan work flawlessly. The poor hapless little unicorn moved to the section 'E' and plucked out a book. He didn't catch the title, but it was the biggest book in this part of the library, and he could see why. Inside the book the elements of harmony rested.

"Excellent." He smiled, hoping it would look benevolent.

"What are Time Lord's Princess?" Twilight asked.

And suddenly, Question Mark's mind ground to a halt.

"You mean you don't know?"

Twilight blushed. "Well, I've never even heard of them. Maybe I missed a book in my library?"

"No no Twilight… do you mean I've never explained them to you in my secret lair?"

"You have a secret lair?"

Question Mark reeled. "Of course I do! Where I plot how to keep my subjects subservient to me! Where I concoct devious plans, and cabinets!"

"Cabinets?"

Question Mark staggered. Twilight's eyes were wide and innocent. And she thought he was Celestia, so she couldn't possibly be lying to him! The Time Lords… the secret lair… the tyranny… the cabinets… all nothing?

No… it couldn't be… perhaps Celestia was so despicably evil, that she didn't even tell her own most faithful student about her evil schemes?

The others watched through the window. "He's crashing and burning." Jubilee observed.

"It matters not." The Great and Powerful Trixie said. "The foalish faker has revealed the location of the Elements of Harmony. And so she has revealed the first step… IN HER DOOM!" The Great and Powerful Trixie cakled.

"Really? Now ain't that interesting?"

The four of them spun around to see two very irritated mares behind them.

"You!" Blueblood gasped.

"You!" Rarity growled.

"You." Jubilee smirked.

"You!?" The Great and Powerful Trixie cried.

"Us." Applejack nodded.

"Me?" Berry Punch went cross-eyed from confusion.

A freight train burst through the library.

"What!?" Everypony cried simultaneously.

Pinkie Pie flopped off of the train's caboose as it passed by. She was wrapped in a sleeping back, and she crawled towards the group like a caterpillar. "Hi Applejack! Hi Rarity! Guess what? We're dreaming! It's just like real life, except here you can explain all the random things I do!"

Jubilee stared at the freight train that Pinkie had, apparently, conjured. She suddenly realized why the projections were acting up, despite the six she'd come in with not manipulating anything. Then she looked around the corner of the library.

Everypony in a mile radius was converging on Pinkie Pie, glaring ferociously.

"… Celestia's mane. We're doomed."

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The Cutie Mark Crusaders sat morosely at the steps of Ponyville Library. "Why won't they let us in?" Applebloom asked.

"Because we're fillies." Scootaloo angrily kicked a rock, and withdrew her hoof in pain. "They don't want us to be in danger." She said through gritted teeth.

Applebloom's eyes widened. "Scootaloo, you're a genius!"

"Huh?"

"Maybe we could fake a life threatening injury! Then they'd have to let us in to take care of us!"

Sweetie Belle stared at her, though the effect was somewhat ruined by drooping eyelids. "Applebloom, how are we going to fake a life threatening injury? The Princess could probably magic us better in no time."

"No, I don't think so." Scootaloo crossed her eyes in thought. "If she had super healing powers, she'd be teaching them to doctors, and she would've already cured everypony inside."

"I just…" Sweetie Belle's horn began to glow as she stifled a yawn. "I just wanna see my sister…"

"Good job Sweetie Belle!" She heard Applebloom say behind closed eyelids. "We're sure to get in if you fake the mysterious sleeping disease!"

And then she began to dream.

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Inside the library, Princess Celestia looked into the crystal orb she'd summoned. On the other side, her sister Luna was spreading every single piece of paper with every single piece of information on Trixe-the-mare-formerly-known-as-Lulamoon out on Dr. Hope's hospital bed. She looked down at the documents and up at her sister. "I have a plan. Possibly."

Princess Celestia's heart fluttered with hope as she watched her sister's progress through her crystal. "Anything."

"We may not be able to find Twilight Sparkle directly, but I could enter the dreaming too, and ask her."

"Explain this to me sister, quickly."

"I cannot go into her dream directly, but I can go to Limbo. If you keep the sun raised, I would only have to search through the dreams of ponies who take mid-day naps to find her dream, and with the amount of dreamers involved, and my own faded sense to the elements of harmony, it should be child's play."

"Excellent! But what then?"

"Then, I try to ask Twilight Sparkle where she is. It shall be like asking her to remember a dream; difficult, but possible. Since it is Twilight, I expect she shall remember when she was last awake. Then, I shall make use of our shared mindlink to inform you of Twilight Sparkle's whereabouts. You shall use your sun powers to wake her up, and when she does we shall arrest her kidnapper."

"That's marvelous news!"

"I do, however, have a slight problem." Luna continued. "According to Lulamoon's journals, she is aware of a dream within a dream. If she goes down a level, or up a level, this rescue will become complicated. I will need companions, at least two, to accompany on my quest in order to be safe."

"Ah'll go!" Celestia was pushed aside, and Big Mac filled the crystal ball. "Mah sister's down there! Ah ain't about tah sit by and do nothing!"

"Who is this?" Princess Luna asked.

"The Element of Honesty's elder brother. From what Twilight has told me, he is in some ways even more capable than his sister, physically. I would trust him on this mission, more even then one of our royal guards."

Princess Luna nodded. "If you believe he will help."

"I will send him over via Spike."

"You'll what!" Asked a young draconic voice, just out of view.

"And I will find another to accompany me. But there is more ill news sister. If you wake Twilight up magically, and she is not on the first level of dreaming, she will be sent to Limbo. If Lulamoon kills her before I make it to protect her, then she will be sent to Limbo. She will wholeheartedly believe Limbo is her reality, and the only way to wake her… and the other Elements… would be for her to die again. And I do not believe I could convince her that Limbo is a dream."

"You are saying…"

"That it is likely I would have to… end Twilight Sparkle's life. By force. Even if it is only a dream... it will hurt."

There was silence on both ends of the line.

Then, the forgotten Dr. Hope waved a piece of paper in front of the crystal ball. Both princesses read eagerly.

May I make a suggestion?

"Yes, of course Doctor." Celestia nodded.

He scribbled something down frantically,

I know somepony who you could bring into the dream with you. He is physically capable, and cunning. Somepony who understands the depths of pony psychology enough to probably navigate the subconscious, and probably already understands more about Trixie's mind then anypony else from meeting her once. He's utterly obsessed with victory, and won't give up once he's commited to a goal, especially if that goal is to save a patient with some miraculous new medical procedure. He's persuasive enough to convince Twilight she's in Limbo if she ends up there, and if necessary, he is willing to kill.

The princesses stared at each other in shock.

"You… want to have him rescue Twilight?" Luna asked. "No. That's out of the question."

"It is better to be safe than sorry sister." Celestia said. "And while Dr. Hope's optimism sometimes… usually… borders on delusional, I believe that this course of action is worth pursuing to rescue Twilight. Dr. Hope… have the guards summon Dr. Fleetrigan Pie. Bring him in full restraints."

Comments

[Doxkid]

-The Greant and Powerful Trixie looked around.-
-but I could enter the dreaming too, and ask her."-
-Pinkie Pie flopped off of the train's caboose as it past by.-

[Schrodinger's Pony]

446022

Five chapters in... and all you can comment on is the spelling?

Thanks though. That Greant would have been distracting.

[meme-asaurus]

So... is this dead?

[Schrodinger's Pony]

739873
Most certainly not! I'm just working on other stories for now. But there's no way I'd abandon this gem of a story.

[meme-asaurus]

739904
Good, cause I freaking love Question Mark. Best OC I've seen in a while.

[Schrodinger's Pony]

742500
Yup. Meaty Fleety is based off of Hannibal, though he draws inspiration from other sources, as you will see in the next chapter.

I'm glad you like it. I'm glad you like a Trixie who isn't some redemption seeker with a troubled backstory.

[Raven Smite]

More please! I loved the movie, and I am loving how this is panning out!