Continuity Disrupted

by Doug Graves

34 The Dreamland, Part Five

Princess Luna looks over the six eager mares standing in front of her. Each of them had risked their lives to confront her as Nightmare Moon. And here they are, yet again, defending Equestria against her! She hangs her head in shame, "We art terribly sorry that we must ask you all, once again, to risk your lives for our sake. It should never have turned out this way."

"Yeah, no big!" exclaims Rainbow Dash, quickly growing anxious as she tries not to glance at Scootaloo. "It's not like it'll be the first time we've battled a vastly more powerful magical monster with the fate of Equestria on the line and come out on top!" She sheepishly grins at Princess Luna's downcast expression, rubbing the back of her mane, "Uh, no offense."

This does nothing to bolster Princess Luna's confidence, the alicorn merely letting the tears fall from her face as she stares at the floor.

Fluttershy steps forward, planting a hoof against the blue alicorn's barrel. She firmly states, "Look here, mister. I may be doing this for Equestria, but I'm also doing it because my filly is in there. And so, whenever you are ready, of course, we're going to go in there, and face down the horrible monsters that the Tantabus has created, and..." Fluttershy trails off, her bravado gone, releasing a quiet 'eep!' as she disappears behind her mane. One glance back to Hedge, though, and she rejoins the other mares standing ready, though her trepidation remains.

"Thou art correct, Kindness." Princess Luna stands up, wiping the tears from her eyes. "We will need everypony's assistance in rescuing not only your foals, but for saving Equestria from this abomination."

"Hey, I want to help!" Spike says as he pushes his way forwards. "Does it have to be everypony?"

Princess Luna looks between Doug, Big Mac, and Spike. "No, anycreature will be able to help. We will need the assistance of two of thou, as Harmony has already pledged their assistance."

Doug and Big Mac trade looks; Doug gives a somewhat reluctant nod while Big Mac quickly shakes his head and says, "Nnope!"

At Applejack's glare Big Mac stammers, "Ah mean, if'n you needed me Ah'd be there, but you all look like you've got this covered."

This does little to prevent Applejack from narrowing her eyes further.

Princess Luna continues, "Each of you shall pick one of the dreamers. It should be the one thou art most familiar with. Once each has chosen, gather close and prepare yourselves." Princess Luna closes her eyes, her horn lighting.

Rainbow Dash gathers Scootaloo into her forelegs. She starts choking up a little, trying to hide her tears as she whispers, "Just in case I never see you again, little buddy, I never regretted a single thing. Not one." She joins Rarity and Fluttershy in standing next to Princess Luna, each hugging their filly close.

Applejack and Pinkie Pie frown as they look at their five, then over at Doug, Twilight Sparkle, and Spike. "Ah guess Ah'll take Apple Bloom," Applejack says, a bit of a sigh as she can only pick one of hers. Pinkie Pie grabs Lemon with her teeth, tossing the comatose filly onto her back before pronking over to join Applejack next to Princess Luna.

Doug looks between Twilight Sparkle and Spike, a hum deep in his throat as he considers. "So, Spike, you want to take Pomarbo?"

"Oh, what, because I'm a little dragon I get the little colt? Puh-lease. Meringue and I are tight, I'll take her." Spike flourishes his claws, though he can't help but look at Sweetie Belle with a hint of regret and annoyance that Rarity had taken her. He frowns as he debates how to pick up the filly nearly as large as he is, smiling as Twilight Sparkle helps him out by levitating her to Princess Luna. He moves over, sitting down next to her, debating where to place a claw, as her flank is the closest, before deciding on her withers.

"Really? Alright." Doug glances to Twilight Sparkle, "You have a preference?"

"Well, I helped Applebaum out with a few of her math problems. I don't know if I've so much as talked to Pomarbo." Twilight Sparkle frowns, "I guess I'll go with the filly. And the colt with the colt, so that works out too." She levitates Applebaum, draping the filly across her back.

"Works for me," Doug says as he picks up Pomarbo, sitting cross-legged next to the other mares.

"This is so fascinating!" Twilight Sparkle remarks, her eyes glowing purple as she studies Princess Luna's horn and the spell forming around her. "The way she's manipulating the somnetic strings, opening up two quartets of portals perfectly positioned to place us within spitting distance of the ponies we're pursuing!" She frowns, "But, this procedure is inherently, like, dangerously unstable. In fact, I would say it is purposefully designed that way! As soon as you stop pouring thaums into this, the entire structure will collapse!"

"Speaking of spitting," Rainbow Dash quips, wiping a bit of Twilight's excitement off her face while rolling her eyes. "Can we get a little less egg-head, and a little more focusing on what exactly we're supposed to be doing?"

Princess Luna focuses, a ripple across her body as her muscles tense, then relax, as she prepares herself for the arduous task ahead of her. She states, her voice slightly strained, "Magic is correct. Thou wilt each have one minute to locate your charge. At the end of that minute the spell will collapse into itself, trapping the Tantabus in a limbo of its own creation." Princess Luna takes in a deep breath before saying with a heavy heart, "Alas, any pony with whom thou art not in contact with will be lost as well, doomed to forever wander in a Nightmare of our own creation."

"We can't focus on that now!" shouts Applejack, a snort and stomp of her free hoof. "You need to stop beating yourself up about this and focus on the here and now! Is there anything else we should know?"

Princess Luna thinks for a few seconds before stating, "We believe the Tantabus will learn of our plan as soon as the portals open. It is imperative that, once you locate your charge, do not let them out of your sight. Do not bring anything back with you that you or your charge did not bring into or create in the dream. Try not to get injured, though the damage will be psychological, not physical."

Rarity rolls her eyes, "Oh, is that all?"

Fluttershy quietly replies, "I don't know, I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop."

Rainbow Dash groans, "Enough chit chat! Let's do this!"

"Very well, Loyalty." Princess Luna flaps her wings, lifting herself briefly into the air to slam down, all four hooves equally spaced from each other. An octagon, the edges glowing a bright blue, the insides a dark purple, forms around Princess Luna. Each mare finds herself half in and half out of the shape, their world quickly dissolving to black.

*

Spike cautiously looks around himself, trying to quickly take in the forest surrounding him. It is silent but for his own breathing, no motion around him, not even the swaying of the leaves. "Hello?" he tentatively calls, grimacing to himself at giving away his position. Though that might not be his biggest issue; how is there already only fifty seconds left? How will he find Meringue in just that time? Isn't he supposed to be close to her? "Meringue?"

A brief blur from behind and to the left pulls his attention, Spike spinning around to face the new intruder. His eyes widen as a blue and purple form bursts out from behind one of the trees and charges straight for him! His tiny legs react before his mind can, instantly propelling him away from the vicious predator; how is he going to survive for forty seconds, much less find Meringue?

Spike chances a glance behind him, noting a few features on what originally appeared as a formless void. He gasps, spinning around to face the beast, the long *shiiink* of his claws as he brandishes them. The creature pauses in its pursuit, warily stalking to the side. Spike slowly turns, keeping the oddly shaped void in front of him as he yells, "What have you done with her?"

"Eradication complete."

"I don't believe you!" Spike yells, dashing forwards and swiping at the creature. It tries to dodge but too late, a few pieces of blue are sliced off, revealing a yellow form underneath. Spike growls, pulling back to evade the return attack. Only twenty seconds left!

"Poor sequences. Must improve."

"No! I won't let you!" Spike charges again, his claws raking a long line down the creature's back. It splits in twain, the bright yellow filly flopping out. Spike kicks the two halves away, sliding his claws against each other and removing the last traces of blue from his body. He grabs Meringue, closing his eyes as the world around him turns white.

*

Doug hears Pomarbo softly whimpering as he appears next to the colt. He takes in his surroundings as he drops down; nothing is visible more than ten feet away from him, instead an inky, oppressive darkness. His hand slips behind and into Pomarbo's mane, the other sliding underneath the colt's barrel. He lifts him up, trying to suppress the shudders of his own as Pomarbo quivers fearfully, his cries growing louder.

"Hey, big guy, it's okay," Doug says, stroking the auburn mane. His fingers twist around the green streaks in the mane. "I've got you." He holds the colt close to himself, gently rocking him back and forth as Pomarbo's eyes remain shut. One finger slips in between his neck and muzzle, the soft tickling enough to break the colt's despondent wailing. "It's okay... it'll be okay." Doug glances down, noticing the darkness slowly creeping closer from every angle.

Pomarbo stops sniffling to look up, his eyes lighting up as he recognizes his sire. His lifts his forelegs, pushing away from Doug in order to wave them in the air.

"Oh?" Doug says with a large smile on his face. "You want to play airplane? I mean, pegasus?"

Pomarbo raises his tear-stained forelegs even further as he beams.

"Weeee!" Doug yells as he lifts his colt, holding him above and in front as he quickly takes the one step that brings him to the edge of the darkness.

Two steps later and he's back in the same spot, but Pomarbo doesn't seem to know or care, merely delightedly screaming as he soars!

Then it is half a step to the edge, and half a step back. Pomarbo seems to notice, his joyous cries becoming more and more half-hearted.

Then Doug is only able to turn in place, still bouncing around as if nothing is wrong. Pomarbo looks up briefly before burying his head in Doug's chest.

Doug slips, desperately grasping for the last vestige of gray stone as the world explodes into white.

*

As a pegasus, Fluttershy always had a good sense of where the wind is blowing. Her sense isn't especially strong, or weak, but it exists. What makes right now so disconcerting for her is she can feel the wind clearly blowing in one direction, and yet she can observe, directly ahead of herself, the effects of the wind as if it was blowing in completely the opposite direction. It is like she has stepped into the center of a tornado or waterspout, not that Fluttershy would do that again.

"Mama!" comes the desperate cry from beneath her, Fluttershy glancing down to spot her filly crouched on the wet banks of a dry pond. The wind is all directed at the blue and purple void at the center; leaves, branches, the reeds, all are being sucked towards it.

Fluttershy quickly lands next to Hedge, trying to shield her filly from the wind. It works, at least temporarily, but the gale force around her continues to intensify. Hedge burrows into her belly, Fluttershy fearfully glancing backwards as smaller trees are uprooted, each disappearing into the void. She gasps as she spots squirrels from around Ponyville, the ducks from the pond, and the chickens from the farm all whirl around in the hurricane force winds!

She screams as she drops down, covering her eyes and trying to shield Hedge's ears from the horrendous sounds of the animals getting sucked in. "They aren't real," she rapidly recites to herself over and over, "it's just a dream."

The wind around her begins tearing at the ground, globs of mud and rocks hurtling past her. Fluttershy cowers down, trying to escape the swift missiles zooming around her. She feels her grasp on the ground slipping; she grabs onto Hedge as she loses her grip on the ground, hurtling toward the void. Her wings flare, pounding against the air as hard as she can. It isn't enough, her wings burning as she draws inches away.

Her world explodes into white.

*

"Lemon!" Pinkie Pie shouts as she appears next to her filly, both in a green meadow. "What have I told you about dream jumping?!"

"You were in my dream!" Lemon shouts back, "And you gave me the advice!"

Pinkie Pie scoffs, "I am not responsible for dream Pinkie Pie! You've been a very naughty filly!"

"Oh yeah?" Lemon raises a hoof, motioning towards the rapidly spinning blue and purple beanie on her head. "Once this stops spinning, I'm going to go back to my last dream. Or, I can hit it again, and we'll both go deeper. Which one will it be?"

Pinkie Pie cocks her head to the side as one eye squints, "Wait, you're threatening me? Me! Your dam!" She snarls, "I brought you-"

"Yeah, yeah," Lemon snorts her hoof pulling back to smack the beanie. "Well, I'm taking a different way out."

Pinkie Pie laughs, "Oh, that's a good one!" as the hoof hits the beanie.

They find themselves in a dark void. Lemon cackles.

"Something funny?" Pinkie Pie asks, marveling at their surroundings.

"You're stuck with me in here forever!" Lemon laughs, pieces of the yellow filly falling away to reveal a blue and purple void.

"Oh, that?" Pinkie Pie shakes her head as she snorts, "I just needed to figure out where the real Lemon is! See, when I think about something in a dream" - the scene shifts to Lemon laying on the ground in a green meadow, Pinkie Pie still talking to the void - "I go there! So, which one of you is real?"

A mountainside retreat, Lemon laying on her side on the peak as the volcano erupts around her. "Nope!"

Ponyville, Sugarcube Corner, running up the stairs from a bunch of bloodthirsty parasprites, "Nope!"

A decaying Canterlot, black chitinous ponies flying around, "Nope!"

Lemon's room, a filly slumped over the table, an empty glass by a stack of blank books. "There you are! Found you!"

Pinkie Pie grabs Lemon, the world turning white.

*

Applebaum startles as Twilight Sparkle appears next to her, a very filly-like shriek escaping her muzzle as her hoof is torn away from the blue void in her pack. "You scared me! Twilight? Is that you?"

"It's me!" Twilight Sparkle says, looking around their surroundings at the cramped room. "Well, I think it's me. You're Applebaum, right?"

"Um, yes, I think I am," comes the hesitant reply. "What are you doing here?"

"Rescuing you!" replies Twilight Sparkle with a large smile. "All I have to do is find you, and then hold onto you once one minute is up! Well, one minute from when I got here. Which, because of how long we've been speaking to each other, is really more like thirty five seconds. So, without further ado!" Twilight Sparkle reaches over and grabs Applebaum's hoof. "Huh." Twilight Sparkle looks around the gem filled cave, her eyes not resting on any of the gemstones in particular. "Well, that was easy."

"Yeah, I guess it was," Applebaum says, trying to rub her head before realizing that Twilight Sparkle has it clamped down, no chance of letting her go. She uses her other hoof to rub her head, "Oops!"

"Yeah, sorry, not letting you get away that easily," Twilight says with a sly wink. She sits there for a few seconds. "This is taking longer than I thought."

"Yeah, filling three hundred and thirty three words does that."

"What?" Twilight Sparkle shakes her head. "So, um, read any good books lately?"

"Well, the latest Daring Do book gave us some ideas on what to look out for." Applebaum shrugs, "But, other than that? I spend a lot of time on duty, so I don't have much free time."

"Yeah, I guess so. I couldn't believe that Daring Do could actually survive a six hundred foot drop, though." Twilight Sparkle pauses, "Wait, do you really have a job?"

"Nah, Lemon showed me this trick with dreaming where-"

Their world (finally) explodes into blue and white.

*

Rainbow Dash lands outside the Ponyville Schoolhouse, looking at her own visage standing in the doorway.

"Huh," they both say.

"Rainbow Dash?" Scootaloo says, looking between them. "What's going on?"

"We're here to rescue you!" they both say, each getting a little angry.

Another Rainbow Dash flies in from Ponyville, her beaming expression completely counter to the way she shouts, "Hey!" along with the other two Rainbow Dashes.

"I'm getting really annoyed at this!" four Rainbow Dashes yell, another exiting the schoolhouse. Each point a hoof at Scootaloo, the extremely confused filly glancing between each of them.

"How are you going to rescue me when there are two, three, four," Scootaloo's eyes widen as an entire battalion of Rainbow Dashes blanket the sky. "Three hundred of you?"

"MAN YOU'RE A FAST COUNTER," the horde of Rainbow Dashes say - individually they are speaking normally, but the combination of the hundreds of them is deafening. "HEY!" they all shout, rubbing their ears simultaneously as they land around her.

"But which one of you is real?" exclaims Scootaloo. She immediately raises a hoof as every Rainbow Dash opens their mouth, "And you better not say that 'I am'!"

"HEY, I WASN'T GOING TO SAY THAT!" exclaims the motley collection of Rainbows, though they all cross their forelegs and blow the forelock of their mane away. "OKAY, MAYBE IT WOULD HAVE BEEN SOMETHING CLOSE TO THAT!!"

"Celestia's taut flanks," Scootaloo mutters as she facehooves, a loud sigh escaping. She smirks to herself, standing tall, "Okay, just answer me this. Who's Spartacus?"

The horde of Rainbows look to each other, confused, until one Rainbow Dash bursts forth from the crowd. "I'm Spartacus!" she bellows.

The horde breaks out, a cacophony of Rainbow Dashes each yelling, "No, I'm Spartacus!" as Scootaloo dashes towards the first one to speak.

"You're such a dork," Rainbow Dash mutters as she embraces her filly.

"You married it first," Scootaloo replies with a wink and nuzzle as the world around them turns white.

*

Rarity storms into her bedroom, glaring at the copy of herself looming over the sobbing filly wearing mud stained tatters of cloth. "You!" she exclaims, pointing a hoof at herself, "Back away from our, I mean, my filly!"

"Mama?" Sweetie Belle glances up at the new Rarity, her sobs disappearing. "What do you mean, 'our' filly?"

Rarity pulls her muzzle back to a forced smile as she replies, "Sorry, just been spending too much time around Princess Luna. She has an odd habit of speaking in the royal 'we'. Well, I suppose it isn't odd so much as old fashioned."

"Oh. Why are you here?" Sweetie Belle glances over at the old Rarity, still wearing one of the dresses she had been trying on. "Well, I mean, why are two of you here?"

"I'm here to save you!" Rarity bombastically proclaims, pointing a hoof at the impostor. "I'm afraid that Rarity is trying to destroy the world through nightmares! And she is certainly off to a good start, in that monstrosity of a dress! The cut is all wrong, and the color scheme doesn't match your mane!"

"Hey!" exclaims the dress-wearing Rarity, "This dress is supposed to be for Sweetie Belle! It isn't our fault we were forced into wearing it!"

"Oh?" Rarity says with a raised eyebrow. Her horn flares, the tatters disappearing as the dress teleports onto Sweetie Belle. "Actually, you are correct. Why, Sweetie Belle, you look absolutely darling!"

"Okay, stop that!" Sweetie Belle exclaims.

"But, whyever would you want me to?" Both Raritys say. "It does look very nice on you!"

"Because this is exactly how my dream was going before it went bad!" Sweetie Belle hugs the new Rarity, not letting go. "I want to go home! Take me away!"

Rarity looks around at her bedroom, "Well, we sort of are home. And this spell is on a time delay, so I don't know exactly when it will go off. So we just-"

Their world explodes into white.

*

"Apple Bloom!" Applejack yells, her eyes quickly finding her filly among the dead and dying trees. She focuses only on getting closer, not caring about the piles of mush that she is stepping in as she gallops closer. "Ah'm coming for you!"

"Applejack?" comes the hesitant reply. Apple Bloom's face quickly beams as her dam gets closer, "Ah'm so glad to see you! Ah don't know what went wrong!"

"It's okay," Applejack says as she grips her filly in a tight hug. "All Ah've got to do is hold on to you. It's just a dream, okay?"

Apple Bloom tries to push away, her efforts not enough to break Applejack's iron hold. "But the trees!" She motions up with her head, her forelegs trapped. "Something's wrong! They're all dead and dying!"

Applejack keeps her eyes closed as she rocks back and forth, "As long as Ah don't let go, little Bloom, it'll be-" Her nose sniffs, one eye opening to scan the sky. The other eye opens wide, her gaze rapidly traveling from one dead tree to another. "Bloomington the fourth! Appleton! Ironbark!"

Applejack leaps to her hooves, Apple Bloom tumbling away. The mare dashes first to one tree, then across the dirt path to another. She tentatively sets her hooves, straining against it. "No, the apple blight! We've got to stop it!"

"No, Applejack! It ain't real!" Apple Bloom chases after her dam, trying to catch up as Applejack gallops wildly. "You told me it's just a dream! That all we have to do is stay together!"

"No, Apple Bloom! If this blight comes with us, it'll infect the whole farm! We'll be devastated!" Applejack shakes her head, her crazed eyes unable to focus as they travel from one dead and dying tree to the splattered, decaying remains on the ground to the filly charging after her. She sinks down, sobbing at the overwhelming sight.

Apple Bloom lunges forward, her hooves inches away from her dam's tail.

The world explodes into white.

Comments

[KyuubiMakai009]

APPLEJACK, YOU DUMBASS!!!

[Samellan]

Huh, so Applebaum did brought back a little something with her.

[DarkPhoenixx]

Their world (finally) explodes into blue and white.

Blue and white?!?!?! That can't be good