Dream's End

by zaleacon

Chapter II - Passage 1

Dream’s End
~ Chapter II – Passage 1 ~
Spike’s Dream ~ The Volcanic Isle

---

Twilight and Luna sat at a round table in the corner of the cafeteria with some of the other dragons. Much like the rest of the base, it was simple, yet practical; the tables were sturdy, the food was good, if a bit bland, and the dragon-heavy atmosphere definitely showed through as the creatures spoke and shared stories.

There were not too many dragons, actually. From what Twilight could see, there were only about fifteen of them in the entire cafeteria. The rest were apparently patrolling the outside, recovering in the infirmary, or sleeping in their quarters.

“So there I was, y’know?” said Argie, the silver dragon from earlier, as he leaned over the table. “I’m just runnin’ along the Burning Plains, soldiers after me. I pick off ‘bout ten, twelve of ‘em with my rifle as I go, but the ugly bastards’re catchin’ up! I dunno how far I can run, but their numbers just keep climbin’ and climbin’!”

“So what happened?” Twilight asked, drinking in the action. It may have been tough to admit, but the atmosphere was infectious. For a pony as obsessed with reading and stories as Twilight, hearing so many war tales was more than a bit exciting.

Argie laughed. “Well, it was a freakin’ mess. A bit like your face, actually.”

That earned a few laughs from the dragons around the table, making Twilight flush as she hastily wiped leaves and dressing off her face. As it turned out, her reliance on magic over the course of her life lead to not having access to that magic proving quite difficult. Eating, for example, was proving to be an exercise in futility. The others seemed to think it was hilarious.

Luna, of course, was having no such problems. She had somehow mastered the ancient art of eating with hooves long before arriving in Spike’s dream, giving her an air of sophistication that Twilight was sadly lacking.

“Anyway,” Argie continued, “I’m running along, like I said, when… Boom!” He mimed an explosion with his claws. “In comes Firebrand with a freaking rocket launcher! Blew up all the other soldiers. It was absolutely incredible.”

Luna nodded, taking another bite of her salad. “So I take it Firebrand is a bit of a hero around here?”

“More than a bit,” the gold dragon, Gil, said as smoke poured from his mouth. “He’s the current field commander of our unit. Back before Commander Spike was enchanted, he was second-in-command along with his best friend, Core.” He leaned back in his chair. “’Course, he hates being a political leader, so he just let Drake take charge on that front when we got here.”

“More than that,” Rex added. “He was – still is, actually – one of the most respected creatures as far as the dragons are concerned.”

“Because he swears like a sailor?” Luna guessed.

Rex smirked. “That’s part of it.” He gestured around the area. “But more than that, he holds us all together. Firebrand’s like a stern father or teacher – tough as tails and twice as mean, but you gotta love him all the same.”

“Helps that he’s a total badass,” Argie added, grinning. “You should’ve seen him back before the Ice Queen took over. Went on adventures and stuff all the time.” He leaned back in his chair and let out a sigh. “Miss those days. Bet the Ice Queen took over just to spite us.”

Gil rolled his eyes. “Yes, just like the way she ‘poisoned the water supply.’”

“Hey, you saw all that blood Firebrand lost!” Argie said, sitting up angrily. “How d’ya know she didn’t plant a bunch of sharp things in our water? Or diseases or viruses? This whole thing could be a plan to mess up our fighting so she wins!”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “But why would she go through all that effort? It makes no sense.”

“Exactly! That’s what she wants you to think!”

“Yes, yes,” Gil said, obviously trying to hide his smirk. “Just go back to your conspiracy theories. Meanwhile, the rest of us will be enjoying our meals in peace.”

Argie rolled his eyes. “Sure, and when you’re all vomiting blood, you can all come crying to me about it. Then you can all think about how smart I was to boil that crap out of my water.” As if to punctuate that point, he let out a long blast of fire into his glass. The stream just barely avoided lighting the table ablaze, causing Twilight to recoil a bit.

“Watch it, you idiot!” Rex growled, smacking him upside the head. “Remember the last time you did that?!”

“But–”

“No buts!” Rex shouted, his once-normal reaction turning into something far more passionate. “You wanna smoke us out again?! You want to put us at risk of being found again?!”

Gil stood up quickly. “Rex, I think you should–”

“Stay out of this, Gil!” Rex snapped angrily. “We can’t risk this sort of thing! We don’t have the time for it!” He turned back to Argie. “Do you know what’ll happen if we wind up out in the field without any protection, Argie?! Do you?! We’ll get picked off like flies! Every last dragon here – dead! Is that what you want?! Is it?!”

After a few seconds, Argie slowly took a drink from his steaming glass, muttering several obscenities under his breath in the process. He hardly seemed to notice that every other creature in the room had gone silent at Rex’s outburst.

Twilight shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She saw from the corner of her eye that even Luna seemed somewhat unnerved by Rex’s sudden anger. Granted, he was hardly without reason, but it was surprising nonetheless. Rex had seemed to be the most levelheaded of the dragons. Such a tirade was not something Twilight had expected from him.

After what felt like an eternity of silence, Rex looked around the room at the astonished and bemused faces of his fellow soldiers. He ran his claws over his spiky head, looking very embarrassed.

“I… Sorry,” he said quietly after several moments. “I’m just… I-I’ll just get going.”

Rex stood up, not even bothering to take or dispose of his food, and exited the cafeteria. His eyes were tilted towards the ground every step of the way, as though he could not bear to meet his fellow soldiers’ eyes.

Not long after Rex left, the atmosphere returned to normal. The other dragons of the rebellion were back to speaking with one another as though nothing had happened.

Luna turned to Gil. “What was that all about?”

Gil leaned back in his seat and let out a smoky sigh. “Rex… Well, let’s just say he’s really cautious. Too cautious, really.” He glanced over at the entrance. “When he sees someone suffering or doing something stupid, it’s hard for him to not freak out over it.”

“He seemed calm the first time we met,” Luna murmured. “Far more levelheaded than Firebrand, at any rate.”

Gil laughed slightly. “Well, that goes without saying. If there’s anyone here more hotheaded than Firebrand, I’d hate to meet them.” He shook his head, turning his gaze back towards Twilight and Luna. “No, Rex is a nice guy, most of the time. He just has a few problems. Can’t blame him, really; we’re all screwed up down here.” He took a drink from his glass.

“I’d imagine,” Twilight said, still desperately trying to eat. “Being thrust out of your home, being forced to fight… That’d hurt anypony.”

“There’s a reason the saying’s not ‘war is heaven,’” Gil agreed. “If it were, or maybe if we just didn’t care as much, I think half of us wouldn’t be shell-shocked.”

“You’re saying you’re not?” Luna asked.

Gil smiled sadly. “Of course I am. I just got better at hiding it.”

---

Rex stepped into the infirmary quietly, trying his best to not draw any attention to himself. After his latest outburst, the last thing he needed was for any of the other dragons to bother him.

He looked over the beds. Twelve of them sat against the far wall, five against the right wall, and four against the left. Each was separated by exactly three inches, with a satin curtain hanging in between. Rex would know; he was the one who ordered the measurements. It had to be perfect.

Most of the beds were filled with dragons swathed in bloody bandages. Some were awake and letting out loud groans of pain, while the others were sleeping.

Firebrand fell into neither category.

He was currently embroiled in a very passionate debate with the doctor tending his wounds. Well, ‘doctor’ was a bit of an overstatement – Scald was just a dragon with medical training who happened to fit the role of the rebellion’s head medic. When he had started, he had been young and unskilled. But like most of them, years of work had made him quite good at his craft.

“I’m tellin’ ya, I’ll be fine!” Firebrand shouted.

“And I’m telling you that you’re clearly delusional!” Scald retorted. “You’ve lost far too much blood to even think about leaving this room!”

Firebrand grit his teeth. “You’re worryin’ too much! It’s just a wee bit of blood. Ain’t anythin’ major! Gimme a couple hours and I’ll be walkin’ all over that bloody Ice Queen’s troops.”

“A couple hours?! A couple days, you mean!” Scald began writing something on his clipboard. “That wound on your foot is incredibly deep – you’re lucky it didn’t sever any of your nerves or muscles. Walking would be hard enough, but leading soldiers in battle? Absolutely unacceptable!”

“Drake gave me the go-ahead,” Firebrand said. “Nothin’ ya say’ll change that I’m leadin’ our soldiers to face down that freakin’ monster’s army.”

Scald rubbed his claws over his blue-scaled, thick jaw. “You’ll almost certainly have to amputate that foot.”

Firebrand laughed. “I’d amputate my whole freakin’ leg if it meant endin’ this war! Both, even!”

“Unbelievable…” Scald sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Absolutely unbelievable… If you’re so excited about getting maimed, I suppose there’s nothing I can do to stop you.” He continued writing on his clipboard. “I’ve stitched it up the best I can, and I’ll provide you with plenty of painkillers. The Burning Plains should not agitate it too much, but don’t overdo it.”

“Can’t make any promises, I’m afraid.”

“I thought as much…” Scald sighed. He looked back. “Hmm? Oh, Rex, why’re you here?”

Rex stepped forward more than a little awkwardly. “I’m just checking up on him.”

“On Firebrand?” Scald sighed. “I see. I’ll just leave you two alone, but I’ll be coming back later,” he added, glaring over at Firebrand. He stepped over to another patient, tapping his pen against the clipboard.

Rex stepped over to Firebrand and looked down at him. He looked almost completely normal, save the bloodied bandages wrapped around his right foot. There was a small bucket near the edge of the bed, presumably to catch the initial flow of blood and scales. It was almost halfway full.

“How’re you doing?” Rex asked.

“Bored as hell,” Firebrand replied, giving him a small grin. “It doesn’t even hurt anymore. Mostly. But Scald still won’t let me go.”

Rex looked down at the bucket again. “That’s a lot of blood,” he said after a moment. “Are you going to be alright tomorrow?”

“I’d be a sorry excuse for a soldier if I weren’t,” Firebrand said. “Besides, your old man’d be pretty pissed if I got killed off like a bloody chump.” His face suddenly turned serious. “Really, Rex, don’t worry ‘bout me. I ain’t gonna die just yet.”

Rex leaned against the wall, forcing himself to meet Firebrand’s gaze. “Of course not,” he said. “You’re too stubborn to die.”

Firebrand laughed again. For some reason, he seemed especially mirthful tonight. If Rex was correct, it was almost certainly the revelation that the war would soon be over; Rex knew he was excited about the idea.

“Hey, Firebrand,” Rex said after a moment. “Do you really think the war will end?”

“Tomorrow? Maybe.” Firebrand sat up. “Those mares – Twilight and Luna, right? That’s what Drake said. They seem to be pretty tough. I dunno, though; barely know ‘em, really. If there’s one thing I can tell ya, though, it’s that they’ve got plenty of guts.”

“So do the rest of us.”

Firebrand chuckled. “Yeah, but they’re determined. Determined ta help Commander Spike. Hell, I could see myself gettin’ ta like ‘em. They remind me a bit of your dad, actually.” He paused and rubbed the back of his head. “Ah… Don’t tell ‘em I said that, though.”

Rex grinned. “I’ll try not to.” After a few moments, he felt his shoulders slump. “Hey, Firebrand?”

“Eh?”

“Listen, just… Don’t die, okay? Be careful.”

“Sure, sure!” Firebrand said. “I may be a bit old, but I ain’t goin’ down yet. Still got a few years left in me, and don’t let any of those bloody gits tell ya otherwise!”

“Right,” Rex said. “Sorry, I’m just a bit on edge.”

Firebrand raised an eyebrow. “What happened? Another outburst?”

Rex winced. Leave it to Firebrand to read him like a book. Of course, given that Firebrand had known Rex since the day he was born, it only made sense that Firebrand could read him like a book.

“Something like that,” he admitted. When Firebrand gestured for him to continue, he sighed. “Sorry, it’s just… I’m just too worried about all of you.”

“Ya need ta let us take care of ourselves, Rex,” Firebrand chastised. “Ya can’t mother the army forever. Most of ‘em’re already adults, you included.”

“I get that! I’m just afraid.” Rex paused for a moment. “The Ice Queen’s army is more powerful than we are. If my father and an entire village of militarily trained dragons couldn’t take them, then what chance do we have?”

Firebrand said nothing for several seconds. “Ya know somethin’, Rex? That reminds me of a phrase I heard once a while back.”

“What’s that?”

“’A purpose is somethin’ ya make for yourself.’” Firebrand breathed out a little plume of fire towards the ceiling. “The Ice Queen has numbers, but she ain’t got nothin’ ta fight for. We do. We got a land ta take back and a leader ta save.” He looked back at Rex. “Nothin’s more dangerous’n a soldier with a purpose. We’ll win this war. Trust me, we’ll come back safe ‘n’ sound.”

Rex nodded slowly. “Alright,” he said. “I’ll trust you on that. But… Please, just don’t do anything stupid. Don’t try to be a hero. Just get in there, follow Drake’s orders, and get out. If Twilight and Luna are strong enough, they’ll take care of everything from there.”

“That’s what I’m sayin’!” Firebrand leaned back. “Drake hasn’t failed us. Not yet. His plans’re mostly foolproof.” He grimaced. “’Course, last time was a freakin’ bloodbath, but none of us died, at least.”

Rex nodded again. “Right. I’ll just… I’m going to go, then.”

As he turned to leave, he heard Firebrand say, “Hey, Rex. It’ll be fine. Like Drake said, the war’ll end tomorrow.”

“And I’m looking forward to it,” Rex said, not bothering to turn back. “I guess I’ll just have to trust you both on that.”

And with that, he left the room, feeling as though a large weight had been lifted from his heart.

---

Twilight lay back on her bed, staring at the ceiling. Their quarters were rather small, mostly because she and Luna had been shafted into the only remaining area. Given that a decent portion of the troops were still in the infirmary, that left the two of them completely alone.

Luna shifted awkwardly, looking out the window. “It feels wrong,” she murmured.

“What does?” Twilight asked, rolling over to face her.

Luna sighed, rubbing a hoof over her face. “Not raising the moon. It’s been years since I had to sit by and watch it happen without my input. And even then, that was only because I was still not fully recovered after you and your friends saved me.”

“I get the feeling,” Twilight admitted. “My magic’s everything, and not having access to it is just… It’s not right.”

“This entire situation is not right,” Luna said. “I can’t imagine what sort of creature could be so powerful as to lock us all away in our dreams. And why? What could anypony gain from something like this?”

“Hopefully we won’t figure it out when we wake up,” Twilight said.

But now that she said it, the thought terrified her. What if the mastermind was out taking over the real world while they all slept? What if he had just needed the Elements of Harmony, the princesses, and Discord out of the way in order to make sure nopony interfered, and just took Spike as a contingency plan?

What if they woke up to a world that was completely foreign?

“I doubt such a thing would take place immediately,” Luna said, clearly seeing how much that train of thought disturbed Twilight. “Think about it: have you ever had a dream that felt like it was going on for days or weeks, only to discover that it was a mere few hours?”

Twilight nodded slowly.

“Exactly,” Luna said. “I know dreams, Twilight. Time operates differently within a dream than it does in the real world. A month in a dream may be ten hours outside, for example. And that is what bothers me so much about this particular world.”

Twilight sat up. “You were talking about that earlier, when you said we shouldn’t have come here first. What did you mean?”

“Spike’s dream is a phenomenon I’ve witnessed very rarely,” Luna explained. “To put it simply, it should not be this way. Dreams are, by definition, an embodiment of the dreamer’s subconscious mind.”

“Of course,” Twilight said, nodding. “I know that much. But I’ve read that dreams can take on more complex forms, too.”

Luna sat up as well. “That’s correct,” she said. “Did you notice how the dragons seemed so distinctive and… alive?” She paused, letting that thought sink in for a moment. “Very rarely, a dream comes along that is more than just a dream. Rather than just a piece of the mind given astral form, they are given an almost physical form.” She ran a hoof over her mane. “I’ve seen it occur before, but it is hardly often, and it can only occur under very special circumstances.”

“So what does that say about this world, then?” Twilight asked, desperately wishing that she had a pad of paper and a pen to take notes.

“When you wake up, Twilight, your dream will fade away from existence,” Luna said. “When Spike wakes up, however, this world will continue on. It will simply carve a new hole into the fabric of reality and begin expanding from there. I will still be able to visit it, as it will still technically be part of Spike’s mind, but it will also be something wholly original.” She paused. “Perhaps with enough time, it shall become a full-fledged world like ours.”

“Wow,” Twilight breathed. “That’s incredible.”

“It is,” Luna agreed. “That is why dreams are such magical things. Why do you think I love looking through them?”

Twilight leaned back down, once again staring at the ceiling. “It sounds wonderful. But I can’t imagine every dream is beautiful.” She shuddered at the thought of walking through a nightmare.

“If they all were, I wager I would not travel alone.” Luna paused. “That reminds me. Is Dawn still sleeping?”

Twilight stopped thinking and focused on Dawn. Based on the snoring, the answer was obvious. “Yeah. She’s still out.”

“Unbelievable,” Luna muttered. “We’ve had guns pointed at our heads, been lead through some underwater tunnel, and signed up for war, and she’s still asleep?”

“I can’t imagine how,” Twilight said. “I still can’t believe how complicated this whole thing’s become. It’s one thing to go through some corridors in a library, but this whole scenario is much deeper than I would’ve thought.”

“That’s why I was so worried about it,” Luna said. “I had been hoping the dreams would be short like yours, but it appears they’re becoming more complicated. If Spike’s dream is the precedent and not the exception, as I fear, then that means we are looking at a long and intricate journey ahead of us.”

Twilight nodded. “I know. But if it means I can save my friends, then I’ll go through anything I have to. Even if we have to march into the heart of a war, I’d rather risk my own life than let them all suffer.”

After a moment, Luna smiled. “You’re a good pony, Twilight. I’m glad to have you with me on this quest.”

“So am I, Luna,” Twilight said. “And when we march on the Ice Queen’s palace tomorrow with Firebrand and the others, we’ll be able to get Spike to join us, too.” She stopped for a second as another thought hit her. “Hey, Luna?”

“Yes, Twilight?”

“You said there were special circumstances a dream needs to be like this, right?”

Luna nodded. “You’re curious?”

“Yeah. So what does it take for a dream to get like this?”

Luna paused for a moment in thought. “From what I’ve seen,” she said, “it takes quite a bit to reach this stage, and even then it’s still unlikely that a whole new world like this one will be born. First, a creature has to enter the REM stage of sleep. That’s the easy part.”

“What’s the next part?” Twilight asked eagerly.

Luna grinned. “You really want to write all this down, don’t you?”

Twilight flushed. “Uh… A little bit, yeah.”

“Don’t worry,” Luna said, chuckling. “I’ll write up some notes for you when we wake up. Though I imagine that will take us quite some time…

“Anyway,” she continued, “the next stage is where things get complicated. The dreamer has to enter a certain state of lucidity – one where the dreamer is awake enough to be aware of their surroundings, but not to the point where they understand they are dreaming. If the dreamer manages this stage, the dream may become like this one.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “That’s it?”

Luna sighed. “As I said, I’ve only seen this occur very rarely. I can still visit these worlds whenever I please, but even with all my experience, I still don’t quite understand them.” She suddenly scowled. “There may be one creature who could explain these dreams more thoroughly, but I’d rather not have to meet with them again.”

Twilight knew when to take a hint. “Right. That’s very interesting, actually.” She made a mental note about all that. If the others’ dreams were going to be as complicated as Spike’s, she would have to arm herself with every bit of knowledge available. “Thank you, Luna.”

“Of course. Now, I do believe we’ve spoken enough.” Luna laid her head against her pillow. “Tomorrow will be a long, difficult day, I’ve no doubt. Let us get some sleep while we have the chance. If you want, we can speak more tomorrow.”

Twilight lay against her own pillow, letting her eyes slowly close. “Alright. Good night, Luna.”

“Good night, Twilight. I will see you in the morning.”

The exhaustion of the day’s adventures hit Twilight hard, and she soon found herself drifting off into a long, dreamless sleep.

Author's Note:

And with some more insight into what's going on, we get ready for the adventure!

Rex's outburst was probably the hardest part of the chapter for me to write, just because it either felt rushed or too slow no matter what I did. This is what I ultimately the best I could manage without that scene going on for too long, but it's still my least favorite part of the chapter.

Otherwise, trying to explain how the dreams work in a reasonably believable way (by fantasy world standards) was also very difficult. I spent a lot of time reworking that section, too, but if it's still difficult to understand, please let me know so I can go back and tweak it a bit more.

Comments

[MustacheMerlin]

“There may be one creature who could explain these dreams more thoroughly, but I’d rather not have to meet with them again.”

That's important. If that's not a Chekhov's gun, I don't know what is. That person is going to show up, and when they do it will be a pivotal point in the story. They may even be the villain!