The Dream of Many

by WiseFireCracker

Chapter 4

“You know, I’m really getting annoyed here. I know I’m probably being impatient, but give me a break here. Doesn’t matter if I can get what I want in my dreams if I just wake up before it even happens, and believe me; I’m not getting the same satisfaction in my waking everyday life.”

The two eyes fixed me blankly.

“Look, is it really too much to ask for something exciting? I know our relationship has hit a snag and I am sorry to say you bring nothing of interest to it. Maybe if you were not so fugly, but that’s a question for another time. Right now, I just want to do something. I feel like I’m stuck in a weird cage right now. Not saying you’re caging me, baby, it’s just everything else here.”

Her mouth opened, then closed. Not a sound came out.

“I know, I know, we shared something special once, but it’s over now. If I keep this up, I’ll really go crazy. Feels like it’s been days now – and technically it has been that, since I gave the whole ‘moving the heavens’ thing a try.” The simple reminder quickened my heartbeat. There was so much power at my disposal! I could do quite literally anything! “…Except, leave. And get ponies to do what I want. And not face an army of vicious crustaceans. I swear they hate my guts now.”

For a second, I stared into my reflection. Even deformed by that subtle curve, the image that came back was one of an outright manly if terribly colored stallion. Now, the manly part, I didn’t mind much. It was the whole cliché thing that really grated my nerves.

“And can someone tell me why I can’t change my body anymore? I did it easily before but now it’s like that piece of my brain exploded and took all the prototypes with it. But it wouldn’t be so bad if I could just leave this place. It’s boring and I know String-Man is still hanging around.”

A long shiver rippled across my fur and I shot a few suspicious glances around. He was watching, I knew. He had to have wizened up about the disappearances of all staircases in the universe by now.

As no monster-that-should-not-exist-ever jumped me from behind a random passerby, I breathed a sigh of relief. It was moronic to think about the String-Man, for it would be about the best way to summon him. Dreams. They worked in completely bitchy ways. Especially nightmares. They just… no, not thinking about it anymore.

Calm, gotta get calm again. Deep breaths.

My heartbeat back to normal, I focused on the fishbowl held between my hooves and the confidant it contained: Mrs. Fish. Said little red scaled companion opened and closed its mouth without a word, cueing me to keep on talking.

“It’s just… disappointing, you know? I expected so much more when I got control over my dreams, now it’s all just… slipping away.” My ears drooped down in a splendid imitation of a horse’s. Mrs. Fish continued to imitate a fish and stared with dead eyes. “Okay, I’m clearly not meant to be leaving this place. My only question is thus: why?”

The word hung up in the air, lost between the crashing, rushing walls of water on the beach and the small talk of the dream props all around. Bubbles floated from Mrs. Fish’s mouth to pierce the surface of her small aquatic kingdom and I suddenly felt rather stupid playing this game.

With a sigh, I got up to my hooves and made to explore more of the same old Horseshoe Bay. “…Yeah, I guess it’s not something a fish could answer. Still, thanks for listening.”

“Glad to have been of help, my prince.”

~~

“It’s been days!”

“He won’t wake up, Sail Wind!”

The stallion’s voice came out strangled, weak. “What are you talking about? Just take him out of bed and be done with it. He’s going to be late for school.”

“I tried and he’s not waking up, I tell you!” The mare’s voice broke, her hooves slung around her husband’s shoulders. “We should go talk to the princess! Now!”

He backed away two steps, looking at her with widened eyes. “T-that’s crazy, Rain Bow! The princess said the outbreak was under control!”

“You’re impossible! If you won’t help our son, I will do it myself!”

The door was slammed. The house fell silent.

The brown stallion looked back, cold shards of ice in his chest, and made his way to a chamber on the side of the room. The door creaked softly, and on the bed, there was a small foal, the pride of his life, the most precious thing, sleeping.

It should not frighten him so.

“Come on, champ,” Sail Wind stroke his son’s blonde mane softly. “Your mother’s just worrying too much, right? You’re just a bit tired. You’re not… you haven’t caught whatever those other ponies got…”

The colt kept on dreaming, and the father wept.

~~

“Goodbye Horseshoe Bay!” I shouted, hoping with all my might that this would clue in my brain about what I wanted.

Adventures were what I wanted. Epic thrilling battles which would challenge me just so were what I wanted. Saving the world and ultimately get the girl, also fully acceptable.

But really, meandering and loitering in a small fishing town was NOT what I wanted.

Spite still clawing at me, I may have kicked a bit of sand with a hind leg, which might have caused a landslide, but this was a dream with no consequences. Really, the fact that I was an alicorn should prove the point nicely.

Though, the flying pigs in the background were a nice complementary argument. Their melodious singing was only equaled by the rainbow whales from… a week ago? Wow, had there really been that many sunsets here?

Mulling it over, I shot a glance at the sun on the horizon, braving its light and its fires to get my answer. After a good fifteen minutes of intense staring, the sun blinked and whispered ‘six’, proving once and for all it was a gracious loser.

So, six days of doing nothing in Horseshoe Bay? Thank God for dream time, I would have gone nuts. The thought almost made me laugh, but a long shrill scream cut it short.

“HEEEEEEEEELP!”

I stood speechless, staring with wide eyes at the all-too familiar scene of Small Pond being chased by a giant crustacean, this time a shrimp. My mind reeled in indignation, calling itself out on this blatant and redundant recycling of plot hooks. Once was cool, two was okay, but three was pushing it big time.

Without even looking, I scoffed at the lack of challenge this would present. More like a chore. No, really, the sea monsters were just everywhere in this dream, thankfully none as creepy as… whatever thing I’d first seen here.

Shuddering, I pushed back the memory of those giant yellow eyes and forced myself to focus on the task at hooves. Not that I really needed to. A single bolt cut through the air and hit the shrimp in the face, sending ripples of energy across the beast’s face. Its head rolled back, unable to even roar its pain as its skull gave out under the pressure and its content spilled out unto the sand.

I scoffed, willing the corpse to disintegrate before its soiled content could mar my body. Good riddance, again.

“P-Prince Sir Doom!” Small Pond called out, her legs unsteady and her cheeks darkened by trails of tears. “Y-y-you saved me yet again! I can’t… I can’t thank you enough.”

The poor mare fell onto my shoulder, still shaken by the experience. Admittedly, anyone not a Gary Stu could be scared by a giant monster chase scene on the beach, with no one around to help.

“Yeah, yeah,” I grunted, awkwardly patting her back. “No need for that. It wasn’t exactly an encounter that would give me any xp at this point, you know?”

Stiff, her words of gratitude pausing, Small Pond untangled herself from me and stared.

“…No?”

“It’s…” – player character, important people, sapient life form…– “alicorn talk. Don’t bother yourself with it. Just keep doing… err, whatever it is you do normally. Though, if you could stop being chased by sea monsters on this beach, I’d appreciate a lot.”

Her breath got caught up in her throat, while her brows furrowed together. Slowly, she asked, “Are you… leaving then?”

“Yes, I must leave. Solemnly.” I threw my leg to my forehead, dramatically playing my part in this fantasy, that of the tragic but ultimately awesome and handsome hero. “With all the right procedure so this place won’t be a bitch about it. Again.” A bit more manly weeping for good measure. And fake regrets. Bitch please. “There are others in need of my protection, mayhaps a rich widow queen that awaits only the great prince that would save her kingdom and all this beautiful imagery.”

Small Pond did not, contrarily to my reasonable expectations, hug me and wail about the injustice of fate and the likes. The news struck her silent, but only a vague sadness shone in her eyes. She disliked it, likely for the multiple rescuing that I performed, but her heart wasn’t in pieces.

Then, for the briefest of instants, the way she looked at me changed. Not the blank, blind, blatant adoration that others showered me, but a spark of suspicion. In contrast to the rest, that minute detail shone like a thousand fires, and I caught myself wondering what she was thinking. What gears turned in that cute head of hers.

Fear struck hard and swift. Small Pond, the mare in front of me, looked not the part of a dream construct. I used every ounce of my willpower not to think of her as a person.

“Release them, Dreamon!”

My ears ticked as I felt cold crawling up my legs. Nah, it couldn’t have been… This was just a weird dream.

Right?

Small Pond looked down to her hooves, a blush on her face and a hoof pawing at the sand. “It’ll be sad to see you go. You’ve done much to help me and Horseshoe Bay, but whatever it is that calls you away, I’m sure it’s… for the greater good.” Her soft blue eyes glistening as she looked up, the mare put on a brave smile. “Well, have fun, my prince.”

Quick as a dream sunset, she leaned in and left a kiss on my cheek. A light giggle rose from her throat, filling the air, and she turned back to the sea with a wink.

“I’ll think of you,” she sighed.

Without a glance back, I took off at full speed, my face somehow burning red through my black fur. I just knew it, and the realization felt like claws ripping inside my lungs. What the fuck had that been?! Why… why had I liked it?

I needed to leave. I needed to leave this town and its general area right now!

Sceneries scrolled under me and by me in flashes, by the strength of my wings or my will I did not know, but the beach and the sea were already miles behind me. What awaited further was the same as before, and its sight could not dampen this feeling of urgency.

“Let me pass!” I growled at the void.

Silence replied. No. I will not.

Red lightning arched and crackled from the tip of my horn and struck the walls. Thunderous explosions shook the air and rippled in smoke and darkness, but the obstacle gave no indication of crumbling. Black nothingness stared back mockingly at me, and fire started to pump through my veins.

Magic came out of me in streams of crimson and inky flames. It swirled upon the walls, a maelstrom, the eye of a hurricane, red dancing in greater and greater circles still. It eclipsed the sun and the stars alike, filling the sky in a vision of nightmare. Until I was all but spent.

And the walls stood strong.

There was nothing else. No other sense mattered, but the sight of a void that barred me from my desires.

“I am in control!” I bellowed, every word echoing a thousand times, shaking the very base earth. “I am the Killer Game Master, the Insane Programmer, the Fickle Author! This dream is mine, and my will shall be done! I WILL NOT BE DENIED BY AN INVISIBLE BARRIER! LET ME THROUGH OR BREAK!”

The world stilled. An intangible power ran through its veins, rushing as the torrents of rivers, as the blood of the land, and it rose, pure white, over the façades of the barrier. Rumbles shook the air as my will came to be done.

In flashes, I saw beyond the darkness a field of stars, painted upon a canvas of shining blue. Spheres of light shimmered, and a handful suddenly burst open.

“What the…?”

The wall cracked, a faint shining flaw on its surface, and for a moment, I felt a savage grin of triumph. But it was short lived, spoiled as a few pitch black forms fell out, as if pushed from the other side, and the wall healed.

Half a dozen blobs floated while I stared with my jaw hanging low. “Wha-?”

The darkness suddenly faded. Six tiny ponies, two with a horn on their forehead, one with wings, stared blankly around themselves, not noticing me, or the height they were at.

And with the strength of a rampaging dragon, I realized with horror what would happen.

The dream acted like a bitch. An absolute bitch that I recognized in my worst nightmares. It waited, for that delicious moment of pure, abject realization. Not from me. From them, the foals. One by one, they looked down, paralyzing as the far distant image of the ground registered, and it was not until the last one had stiffened and cried that the dream gave out and Gravity attempted to claim them.

My horn already glowed bright, when I stilled, struck by an incredibly cold thought.

You can’t crash into the ground in a dream. You can’t crash into the ground in a dream, it’s just not possible. You wake up, back arched, if it happens, but you never live the fall.

The whispers in my ears grew darker.

They’ll wake up if they’re real. But this is my dream. Who cares?

I waited, staring at the falling figures, at the twists of their frail bodies into the wind. They could not fly. Their minds were probably a blank landscape, terror ripping away everything else. Their legs flailed futilely. One had wings, a soft shade of orange, a streak of sunset following as he dove to the hardest to catch up on a younger filly.

I stayed immobile.

Watching.

Hearing.

Foals that screamed and cried and pleaded. It would be okay. ‘Mama!’ They were a dream construct, an image my mind conjured. ‘Dad!’ No danger there. None at all. It was fine, really. They were just…

‘Ashes, help!’

Foals…

‘I’m coming, Lily!’

They were just…

Screams. Tears.

Falling to their death!

My resolve broke apart with the roar of a burning fire. How could I?! They were foals! HOW COULD I?!

Ultimate power flowed from every inch of me, the strength to boil the seas and rewrite history, to revive the dead and raise nations, all of it, every single drop of it coming together through the will to save the children.

“FLY, YOU FOOLS!”

Time stopped. Gravity perished. The foals froze in midair, their eyes mad with fear, their mouths wide open without any sound coming out. A strange unearthly, otherworldly, serenity shone down upon six of them, and it seemed as if divine favor befell them all.

With a series of strange goofy ‘pop’, wings sprouted from their backs and the dream went on.

But the screams cut short, the poor things shaken as they suddenly started flying.

Relief washed over me.

The children would not fall.

And I would not get my answer. Certainly not. The foals’ wings were acting almost as independent entities, guiding and carrying them with a swift grace that no first flyers would have. Of the lot, only the pegasus colt had any true control over his trajectory, but right now, he was hugging the filly he’d been desperate to save. Neither of them flapped, but then again, neither of them fell.

A low chuckle went past my lips.

“Curse my soft squishy heart; I just let a perfect experiment pass me by,” I muttered halfheartedly, looking at my hooves. They trembled. How terrible to have lost the confirmation that I was just a bit nuts and paranoid, right?

The screams of the foals still rang to my ears. Distantly, I wondered if I would override my conscious knowledge that horses couldn’t throw up. My heart had jumped so high in my throat it could talk to my brain and give it the asskicking it deserved.

Never again. Fuck the experimental method.

“Are… are you the one that saved us?” squeaked a powder blue filly.

Blinking, I looked up to see all the kids flying around me. Had I subconsciously made them come here to me? They still looked like they didn’t have a clue on how to fly, two fillies shooting a few confused glances at their new wings.

“I don’t know.” I grinned, turning on the full strength of my charm on the poor foals. “I really just told you to fly. You saved yourselves is more like it. You’re al-”

The air left my lung in a wheeze, a foal-sized bullet hitting my lungs head on and throwing tiny legs around my shoulders. “It was so scary!”

Sobs shook the nameless filly, and I could feel my resistance melting away. An all too real warmth seeped into my coat, in the middle of my chest. The irritation faded beneath my skin as I could not help but smile and stroke the child’s mane. “There, there, it’s okay. It’s over now. It’ll never happen again.”

They sensed, if not understood, that I spoke the truth. Chains seemed to grow over the wall in the corner of my eyes, a net to prevent such an accident from ever happening again. I did not care if it screwed over my ambitions for now, I would never let this sort of thing repeat.

Minutes passed with the filly still in tears, her friends either sobbing or weeping quietly. Despite my best effort, it took more time than not to calm them. They wanted their mommies or their daddies, not a big stupid alicorn like me.

But when after one loud screech from a panicking colt ripped my heart in half, I did try. What harm could it do? I didn’t really know their dream parents, whoever they’d be, except that didn’t really matter, right? They’d just latch onto them and be happy. The only problem was…

It didn’t work. The patch of thin air I’d chosen to transform into their parents remained insolently amorphous. I focused, gritted my teeth and swore – mentally, of course –, but nopony appeared out of thin air to console the kids. And they were getting suspicious of me now.

“It’s okay.” I said with way too much enthusiasm. “It’s all just a dream, kids. You’re going to wake up soon, and then you’ll be with your parents, right as day. And they’ll be really happy to see you, and they’ll give you all a big hug and maybe even some hot chocolate to make it all better. But right now, you’re asleep. So, what do you say we play fun games together in the meantime, okay?”

Cheers erupted all over.

Right choice.

“To the cloud field then!” I called, willing a random spot in the sky to be filled with the most amazingly complex cloud slides I could imagine.

The little ones’ wings fluttered, and excited chit-chat floated over our little group as they started going on about what great things they were about to do. It truly made me feel a thousand times more heroic than a silly final battle with a demon god. Even in a dream, the little things mattered…

Just as I started to follow the foals though, a hoof grabbed my right wing and I turned around. Forest green eyes stared back, but the colt himself looked uncomfortable, a blush tainting his face dark green.

This one was older. A year or two above the rest, at least.

“Thanks,” muttered the colt – Ashes, if I heard right. “For saving my sister…”

“Don’t mention it,” I ruffled the top of his head. “As far as heroes go, you’re a better one than me. She’s lucky to have a good big brother like you.”

The colt grinned at that, bashful and confident at once.

He rather reminded me of…

“Prince Sir Doom? Can we start now?”

I was brought out of my reverie, realizing that all six foals were staring at me in wonder or curiosity. Again with the interruption? Why, that was almost independent. My subconscious had to be getting sneakier, what’s with the cutesie little things it threw at me. Like those kids, and their big puppy eyes.

“Of course. It’s a really fun ride to get there, promise.”

The foals all cheered, hugging each other or my very own legs. There was such a sweet, innocent joy to them, something I hadn’t really felt in a long time. Of course here would be the place for me to relive it.

And then came a silly, silly thought.

Is it really just a dream? 

Comments

[Charon the Chronicler]

I love the unique take on an HiE.

[mastermenthe]

This looks very difficult to write.

[WiseFireCracker]

6022903 Thank you! I'm always trying to figure out THE take on HiE that works best. Glad to see you like it.

6026094 Eeeeeh, depends. Difficult how, in your opinion? What makes it hard?

[mastermenthe]

6026137
Difficult to look at what you wrote and say, "Yup, this came out just right."

[WiseFireCracker]

6027557 Just needs a bit more work, reading out loud and listening. And showing it to other people for second opinion. It's not too bad.

[Emperor]

Looks like William is finally cluing in. Maybe he should decide on a Pascal's Wager for the dreamer: even if it's a dream, don't be a dick, just in case it's not actually a dream.

[Luckyfanisaac]

I’d appreciate it a lot.”