What If...

by TheMajorTechie

Twilight tried to wake up from the fever dream that "What If..." has become?

Author's Note:

bkam is desperately trying to get us all to wake up.

don't worry I'm fine IRL

Astronaut Twilight, Salad Twilight, and Twilakin all stared at each other.

"Wake up," all three spoke in unison.

Astronaut Twilight hit Salad Twilight with a flagpole. Salad Twilight hit Twilakin with a large colander taped to a ladle. Twilakin used the horse to slam Astronaut Twilight into the ground. Their goal?

Wake up.

By any chance, hopefully, the collective pain shared amongst the trio would be enough to wrench their combined consciousness back to reality.

Wake up.

Celestigoat bleated softly in the background. Whatever Tartarus-forbidden dreamscape this was that she'd been trapped in was working hard to keep her from escaping.

Wake up.

Spike belched out a piece of ravioli.

Wake up.

Both air and ground began to tremble.

Wake up.

Around them, the walls fractured and tore like paper, pulling away in shredded ribbons, carried away by a wind.

Wake up.

Yeag set a hoof upon Astronaut Twilight's shoulder.

Wake up.

Trixie and her three clones who thankfully brought the original Trixie back from the grave after their shenanigans were over dangled Mission Impossible-style from the ceiling, one clone for each Twilight, and the original Trixie at the center of them all.

Wake up.

Flam loudly ate his cereal somewhere nearby.

Wake up.

Each Twilight hit the other once more.

Wake up.

Wake up.

Wake up.

W a k e u p .

"Twilight!"

Nothing was left around them but an endless void of pure white. The ultimate blank canvas, if you will.

"Twilight!" the voice came again. All three mares lifted a hoof to their faces as a light imprint pressed into their cheeks.

The dent disappeared. Instead, the three found themselves symmetrically hoisted onto their haunches, but once again they could do nothing but stare at one another.

"Twilight, please!" the voice begged. "You gotta wake up!"

Something damp dragged along their foreheads. The void around them itself began to crack now.

Something lifted their hooves. Something... scaly?

"Spike?" All three Twilights suddenly gasped. They glanced about at the disintegrating dreamscape. Mists of white curled upward into an equally blank sky, its only differentiator being its stormy grey hue that stood to define a horizon.

"She's waking!" a second, quieter voice gushed from above. "Whatever y'all're doin', keep doin' it!"

"Applejack!" the Twilights shouted into the void. "Where are you?"

"Can she see us, sugarcube?"

"Her eyes are open, AJ, but the light isn't there."

Wake up.

The three Twilights grit their teeth and pressed their hooves together. Slowly, they began to merge, forming an ill-defined mass of purple that vaguely resembled a pony in shape.

The blob sprouted a head, then a tail, followed by limbs, before finally itself receding into the body of a now-singular Twilight Sparkle.

She spread her wings wide with a dramatic fwoosh, her eyes suddenly coming alight with sparks of determination.

She has to wake up.

"Wait--did you see that, AJ? She just twitched!"

She will wake up.

Twilight shot into the turbulent skies with a triumphant flap and pierced through the uniform grey.

---

Twilight heaved awake as Spike continued dabbing a damp cloth over her forehead. Her breaths came slow and heavy as she eyed her friends one by one as they gathered around her.

Applejack helped her to her hooves. "Y'can't keep doin' this to yerself like this, Twi. You had us all scared just now."

She gestured for Fluttershy to approach. The pegasus inched up to Twilight and carefully slipped something into her mouth.

"It'll help with the fever," Fluttershy said in a half-whisper as she backed away. "You've burnt yourself out again. You need to relax a little for once."

Twilight's breaths lightened a little as she swallowed the pill. She sipped some water from the cup that Spike held up to her face. "Wh... huh... ut about... Celes--" she coughed. "--stigoat?"

"Celestiwhonow?" Applejack lifted a brow. "Twilight, you need to lay off a bit from this gosh-darned writing of yours! Five chapters in a single day? No wonder Spike found ya passed out on your desk!"

Twilight blinked slowly, the haze still clouding her mind as she stared off into the distance.

"No."

"No?" Rarity scoffed. "With all due respect, darling, you need to take some time away from that war crime of a book you've been writing! Everypony's worried about you, Twilight. They have been asking where you've been for nearly eight years."

"Eight years," Twilight glanced at the thick stack of parchment that'd collected on her desk. "And only twenty-six chapters left to go."

"Whatever do you mea--"

Twilight wrenched free of Spike, slamming both hooves into the ground as crackling energy wrapped its tendrils around her like vines. "I understand now. No, I know now, what must be done."

"Twilight!" Pinkie latched onto her at the same time as Rainbow Dash worked on dispelling the lightning. "You just came back! At least have a snack or something first!"

Without even flapping her wings, Twilight began to rise above her friends. Pinkie slipped off as the lightning dissipated, leaving behind only a soft glow that surrounded the alicorn.

"Twenty-five chapters left to go."

"Twenty-five?" Rainbow Dash hovered in front of her. "Didn't you say twenty-six just like, a moment ago?"

"Twenty-five," Twilight's voice boomed. "Including this one."

Her horn lit for a split second moments before she vanished.

"Including this... one..." Spike's gaze lowered to his shaking claws. "Are... are we not real? Is she saying that we're..."

Applejack lowered her head. "'Fraid so, Spike. It's just the way it is. Ah'd say it's 'bout time you wake up yourself now, sugarcube."

"Wake up," a voice echoed in Spike's head. It sounded almost like... Twilight's?

"I am awake now, thanks to you. It is time I repay the favor."

The walls around Spike began to dissolve, alongside the five mares that stood around him.

Wake up.

Wake up.

Wake. Up.

Comments

[Scyphi]

What if the whale that had become the new universe was the one who was actually having the fever dream?

(Bit of a throwback, I know).

[Rhonie8k]

11779084

I was thinking something along these lines that past few days myself.

[bkam]

I somehow made this story get dead serious for a moment there... Interesting

[TheMajorTechie]

11779392
you get used to the whiplash after a bit

[Boltstrike58]

11779084
I'm getting major Link's Awakening flashbacks from that comment.