Dreams and Nightmares

by UndercoverBrony

Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Nightmares Google docs

Twilight adjusted the focus on her telescope. “Alright then... Where are they?” Something flashed in front of her scope. She quickly swung the telescope around, trying to track it, but it was already gone. She sighed in frustration. “This is impossible!”

“Why don’t you just watch?” asked Spike. “You don’t need the telescope to see.” Up in the sky outside the window, the Wonderbolts were practicing their routines. Most of Ponyville had been keeping an eye on the skies since they had started, and Twilight was no exception.

“But they’re so far away!” replied Twilight. “I won’t be able to bring it to the actual performance, so I want to get a closer look at them while they’re still practicing. This is a great opportunity to study pegasus flight with the very best pegasi in the business. I can’t waste this chance!”

Spike groaned. “Can’t you just sit back and enjoy it?”

“No. There are only four days left and I need to make every second count.” She fiddled with the focus again. “Now... where are they?”

***

Applebloom’s brow clenched. This was a tricky problem, and required careful consideration. “How about... Cutie Mark Crusader mountain climbers?”

“No...” Sweetie Belle shook her head. “We tried that one already. We need to try something new. I know! We can ask my sister to throw us a cutie mark crusader fashion show!”

“Ah don’t know,” Applebloom scratched her chin. “What do you think, Scootaloo?” Scootaloo didn’t answer; she was too busy staring out of the clubhouse window. Applebloom groaned. “Scootaloo-ooo! Wake up!”

“Huh? What?” Scootaloo finally responded, although she kept her eyes fixed on the display outside. “How about Cutie Mark Crusaders flying display watchers?”

“We did that all day yesterday!” exclaimed Applebloom. “Ah don’t know what sort of cutie mark you expect to get from that, anyhow.” She snorted. “Oh look! There’s Scootaloo, with a big picture of Rainbow Dash on her rear!”

“Really?” Scootaloo spun around in excitement, twisting to get a good look at her flank. Realising that nothing had changed, she frowned at Applebloom. “Not. Cool.” She turned back to the window and cried out in frustration. “Aw, great! You made me miss Rainbow doing a loop!”

Applebloom growled, but Sweetie Belle put a hoof on her shoulder to calm her. “Just leave her alone, Applebloom. It’s only three more days, let her have her fun.”

***

“Good morning, Applejack!” Rarity smiled at her friend as she sauntered up to her stall in the marketplace. “I was looking to buy some...” she paused. Applejack’s cart was almost completely cleared out. Only a single solitary apple was left, along with a few other less desirable vegetables. “Oh. Well, you must have been busy today...”

“Yep!” replied Applejack, with a smug grin on her face. “We’ve got ponies from all over coming down today! Ah think they all heard about the Wonderbolts doin’ their practicing and wanted to get a good look-see. Certainly been good for business; ah oughta ask them to come back next week!” She frowned, noticing Rarity’s annoyance. “Sorry, Rare’, ah’ve still got plenty of apples back on the farm if you want. Just din’t figure on this being so-”

She was interrupted by the sudden appearance of Pinkie Pie, who crashed into her cart, knocking it over onto its side. Rarity leapt back in fright as a plume of dust was tossed into the air.

“Rarity, is that you?” Pinkie asked, as she pulled herself out of the wreckage.

“Well yes, dear, but what do you think...” Rarity stopped as she got a better look at Pinkie. “Why are you wearing a blindfold?”

“Well, duh!” exclaimed Pinkie, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “The Wonderbolts are practicing for Celestia’s party!” She waited for a moment, clearly satisfied that she had explained herself perfectly.

“So...?” prompted Applejack.

“Soooo, if I see them practicing, that’ll ruin the surprise!” Pinkie continued. “And if I ruin the surprise, that’ll ruin the party! And I wouldn’t want to ruin any party, let alone Princess Celestia’s birthday!” She paused. “Isn’t everypony wearing blindfolds?”

Applejack sighed. “No Pinkie, just you. Look, if you don’t want ta ruin the surprise then that’s fine. But you can’t just wander around without being able to see what’s goin’ on. Look at the mess you’ve made!”

“Nu-uh!” replied Pinkie. “You won’t trick me that easily, Applejack. I’m not looking at anything until they’ve finished practicing. Besides, it’s fine, look!” She held up her hoof. A piece of string was tied to it, with Gummy attached to the other end. His mouth was clamped around Applejack’s last remaining apple. “See! I have a guide alligator, so it’s no problem. What are you guys doing at Twilight’s anyway?”

“Um...” Rarity looked around. They were standing in the town square, in the completely opposite direction to Twilight’s library from Sugarcube Corner. “Pinkie, I think you’re a little lost.”

“Oh, don’t be silly!” Pinkie giggled. “Gummy’s been living in Ponyville all his life. I’m sure he knows how to get to Twilight’s by now!” Gummy dropped the apple, and started pulling on the string. “Gotta go girls! Bye!” Pinkie hurried off to follow him.

Rarity and Applejack stared down at the abandoned apple, which was now glistening with alligator drool. “So...” Applejack turned to Rarity. “You still want ta buy an apple?”

“I think I’ll pass,” replied Rarity.

Across the square, Pinkie crashed into another stall. Applejack sighed. “How much longer we gotta put up with this?”

“Just two more days...”

***

“Alright everypony,” Stormy Skies cast a critical eye over the Wonderbolts. “The light’s starting to fail, so this will be our last trial run before the real thing. Let’s make it count.”

Dash moved into her starting position. On Stormy Skies’ signal, she shot forward. We’ve gone over this routine so often that I could do it with my eyes shut! I know every move, every mark, every trick!

It just... flows. It’s natural. Routine. Like I’m flying in a trance. Almost as if I don’t even need to concentrate any more. I am one with the wind. I’m dancing through the air. I am a Wonderbolt!

I’m...! I’m... flying straight at Ice Wind!

She swerved, narrowly avoiding a collision. Ice Wind did the same, however that put her into the path of Lightning, who dodged into the path of Stormy Skies and Surprise. Wonderbolts were shooting off in every direction, and the display fell apart. To her relief, Dash saw that everypony was still airborne, and nopony had been hurt.

“Oh my!” exclaimed Fluttershy. “Is everypony alright? What happened?”

“Rainbow Dash happened!” growled Ice Wind. “She was out of position.”

“I’m so sorry, guys,” Dash appologised. “I thought it was all going so well and... I must have lost concentration.”

Stormy Skies sighed. “Well, I guess that’s that then. Everypony go get some rest. Tomorrow’s the big day.”

“Whoa!” Dashed flew in front of the rest of the ponies to block them. “We can’t just leave it there! We’ve got to go again!”

“No, Dash,” replied Stormy Skies. “I said that this was the last run, and I meant it. The light is fading, and without floodlights it’s too dangerous to practice at night. We just had one close shave, there’s no way I’m going to risk another.”

“Don’t worry, Rainbow,” comforted Surprise. “We’ve had plenty of good runs today; don’t let one mistake get you down. It’ll be fine tomorrow, you’ll see. Just go home and try to get some sleep.”

Rainbow Dash sighed. There was clearly no point in arguing. But all she could think of was how much was riding on this. Just a few minutes ago, she’d felt so confident, but now... If I mess up like that tomorrow, I might never get another chance.

***

It was dark. Beyond dark. Pitch black. Fluttershy wasn’t even sure whether her eyes were open or closed. “Um... hello?” she asked, her voice barely audible even though there were no other noises to drown it out. She wasn’t sure that she wanted an answer. There was something out there; she could feel it, and it made her skin crawl.

A pair of eyes flashed open in front of her, somehow visible despite the lack of a light source. Fluttershy leapt backwards, but in the dark she couldn’t see anywhere to hide from the gaze. There was a faint glimmer of light from beside her as another pair appeared out of nowhere. Then another. And another. Many, many eyes, staring at her from in front, her sides, behind, above and even below.

She screamed, and ran for all she was worth, but it didn’t make any difference. The eyes followed her wherever she went, easily keeping pace without any apparent effort, and never looking away.

She flew into the air, pushing herself to her limits. However this only seemed to draw more eyes to her, until the air around her was made up more of eyes than of darkness. Oh... I never thought I’d want to go back to pitch black...

That was when the whispering started. Barely audible at first. “Fluttershy...” Just a single word, but soon repeated, over and over again. “Fluttershy... Fluttershy...” Although each individual word was soft and quiet, as they multiplied and overlapped they grew into a deafening cacophony that drowned out even her screams.

Fluttershy shot upright, never so relieved as to find herself in her own bed. She breathed heavily, her coat drenched in sweat. Another loud noise made her squeal again, but she quickly realised it was just Spitfire snoring from the other room.

She looked down at the bed, unwilling to return to it and re-enter the nightmare she had just left. “I just need to calm down a little,” she said, mainly to hear the sound of her own voice. She crept downstairs, carefully so that she wouldn’t wake Spitfire. When she let herself out of the front door, she was greeted by the freezing night air, but the chill was somehow reassuring. A reminder that she was in the real world, and safe from the eyes. Until tomorrow.

***

The sun blazed high in the sky. Rainbow was lined up alongside the other Wonderbolts. Below them, Princess Celestia looked up, her hooves cupped around her mouth to amplify her voice.

“Ready, set, go!”

The other Wonderbolts shot away into the distance. Not a problem! Dash stormed forwards, throwing everything she had into the pursuit. With my speed, I’ll catch them in ten seconds flat! The air whistled past her face as she accelerated. Let’s see them outrun a sonic rainboom! The air blasted outwards around her in an multicoloured explosion, propelling her forward to join the others.

“Way to go!” Fluttershy cheered, though her faint voice made her ‘cheer’ seem like little more than a whisper. She appeared alongside Dash, beating her wings hard to keep pace.

“Wow, Fluttershy!” Dash gasped in surprise. “You’re actually keeping up with me! I guess all that training has finally paid off.”

“It sure has!” Spitfire agreed. “In fact, I think that Fluttershy is ready to join the Wonderbolts full time!”

“Wow!” Dash grinned. “You and me, Wonderbolts together! This is totally the best day ever!”

“Hang on a moment!” Ice Wind interrupted, diving in front of Dash and forcing her to a stop. “Fluttershy is in the Wonderbolts. You are outa here.”

“W-wha...?” Dash couldn’t believe it. Surely they can’t be choosing Fluttershy over me?

Ice Wind laughed for what seemed like several minutes before answering. “I said that we went with Fluttershy. Your pitiful performance was hardly enough to qualify you as a Wonderbolt. In fact, we’ve decided that you’re not even fit to be a pegasus.” She slapped her hooves together.

Dash’s wings ignited in flame. For a moment, she thought she could pick out Spitfire’s face within the fire, glaring at her in disappointment. Then her wings were gone; burned into ashes. With nothing holding her up any more, she fell. Screaming, Dash began to wave her legs uselessly in the hope of doing... something. Anything. She looked down to see the surface rushing up to meet her...

She shot up into the air, smashing her head against the ceiling, which was fortunately made of clouds. “Not the wings! Anything but the wings!” She quickly checked her back to confirm that her wings were still firmly attached.

Well, duh, of course they are. It seemed ridiculous now that she had properly woken up, but somehow she had been convinced for a moment that the dream had been entirely plausible.

Ugh... I need some air. She wasn’t sure what time it was, and she wasn’t sure that she wanted to know. It was still night outside, and there was no sign of the sun. She shot out into the darkness, glad to feel the rush of speed. See, it wasn’t real.

But even though all the details hadn’t been particularly realistic, she knew that some parts of it held some truth. Tomorrow was her big day. She shuddered. Maybe it’s already today... At the start of the week, it had seemed like an opportunity, something she’d looked forward to all her life. Now she was dreading it more than anything she’d ever known. I’ve let myself think that I’m already a Wonderbolt, but if I mess this up... I’ll lose that forever.

She looked down, suddenly catching sight of a familiar yellow shape trotting along on the ground. She swooped down to greet her. “Fluttershy?”

Fluttershy screamed, diving into a nearby bush. She peeked out, spotting Rainbow. Blushing, she pulled herself out and walked over to greet her.

“Sorry, Rainbow,” she said. “I thought you were... someopony else. What are you doing up this late?”

“I could ask you the same question,” replied Dash. “Let me guess, can’t sleep?” Fluttershy nodded. With a yawn, Rainbow stretched out each of her limbs in turn. “Same here.”

“Really?” Fluttershy looked surprised. “What do you have to worry about? Tomorrow’s the day you finally get to join the Wonderbolts!”

Rainbow snorted. “Yeah, sure. Assuming I even get in.”

“Oh, Rainbow,” Fluttershy smiled. “You don’t have anything to worry about. You’re the strongest flier I’ve ever known. Is this because of that mistake you made in the last routine? Well, everypony has made mistakes at some point over the last few days. Even Ice Wind. Even Stormy Skies. Spitfire and Soarin actually got themselves injured. I’m sure that you’ll do fine in the actual performance. And even if you don’t, everypony has seen what you can do in training. I don’t think they’d hold a single mistake against you.”

“Really?”

“Oh yes.” Fluttershy paused, unwilling to meet Rainbow’s eyes. “Um... I probably shouldn’t be saying this, but Stormy Skies has been talking to Spitfire quite a lot after you leave for the day. I... know it’s rude to eavesdrop but... I might have overheard a teeny little bit of it... Let’s just say that you don’t have to worry about what happens tomorrow.”

“Oh,” Dash paused. Then she laughed. “Well of course they’re already impressed! I’m the coolest pony on two wings!” She looked down at Fluttershy. “So what’s got you so upset then?”

“I’m not sure I want to talk about it.”

“Come on Fluttershy, I told you what was upsetting me. It’s only fair that you do the same...”

“Well...” Fluttershy sighed. “It’s really just the same old problem. I hate to be the centre of attention. And tomorrow... everypony will be looking at me. I just don’t know if I can do it.”

Rainbow snorted. “Fluttershy, you’ve been doing it all week.”

“Huh?”

“What, you think nopony has noticed our awesome flying displays these last few days?” She gesticulated at the sky. “Everypony in Ponyville has been coming up to me and saying how awesome we looked!”

“Huh...?” Fluttershy looked nonplussed. “Nopony said anything to me.”

“Exactly!” Dash grinned. “Because nopony knows it was you. And nopony is ever going to know. So it’s like they’re not even watching you at all. Besides, even if they did, do you know what they’d see?”

“No?”

“They’d see the best friend a pegasus ever had.” Dash dropped to the ground beside Fluttershy, putting her foreleg around her.

“Oh... you don’t mean that.” Fluttershy gently pawed at the dirt with her hoof.

“You bet I do!” Dash retorted. “Seriously, what you’re doing is... awesome. You’ve gone right to the top of my list. Fluttershy, you are the best pony I know.” She suddenly dropped into a whisper. “Just don’t tell Pinkie I said that.” She lifted off again. “Later, ‘Shy. Sleep well.” In a flash, she was gone.

Fluttershy smiled before hearing a cough behind her. Angel was standing nearby, frowning at her. He motioned to his wrist, and pointed back towards her cottage.

“Yes, you’re right,” Fluttershy agreed. “I should get some rest. I’m sorry that I woke you.”

Angel pointed up at Rainbow’s departing form, and crossed his forelegs.

Fluttershy sighed. “I know it’s not nice to lie, Angel. But it was what Rainbow needed to hear. If she’s confident tomorrow she’ll do just fine."

Comments

[ArcaneTrex]

0.0 oooh
cant wait for the next chapter, letsa see what is going to happens :)

[Scully]

ikr

[UndercoverBrony]

60414
...and you won't have to wait, because I've been editing these chapters in parallel.