Lucid Dreaming

by WriterWings

Chapter 2

“Morning, Lu! Sleep well?”

Lucid yawned, kneading at his bleary eyes as he plonked down at the kitchen table to have breakfast. “Morning, dear. Eh, I’ve had better nights,” he replied, stretching in an attempt to relieve his back of the excruciating stiffness the previous night had caused him. His wife, a tan unicorn named Honey Maple, placed a plate of freshly-made strawberry pancakes in front of him, drizzling them with a generous serving of maple syrup, the aroma of freshly brewed coffee wafting through the air from behind him.

“It’s just that silly old recurring nightmare again. Thankfully, Sweet came over to help me get through it,” he added, beaming at his daughter, who grinned back.

“I’m not scared of nightmares!” she piped up proudly.

Honey raised an eyebrow jokingly. “Oh, really? Then why do you always pester me to sleep in your room with you every single night?”

Sweet chuckled nonchalantly. “I’m not scared of nightmares, mummy. I’m just a teensy-weensy bit scared of the dark.” She paused. “And monsters. And spiders, too.”

Lucid laughed and patted his daughter’s head affectionately, as he stuck his fork into his fragrant plate of pancakes. “Anyway, I’d better leave for work soon. Those candles aren’t going to make themselves!”

Honey frowned and cocked her head to one side. “So soon? But we just started having breakfast!”

“A delivery of soy wax is coming in today — you know, the special kind.” Lucid replied, as he stuffed a couple of pancakes into his mouth. He swallowed, licked the maple syrup off his lips and continued. “I’m gonna need to be there extra early today so I don’t miss the postmare.” Taking a big gulp of coffee, he stood up, slinging his saddlebags over his flank. “Bye, dear.”

“Bye,” Honey replied, looking somewhat disheartened. “Just… don’t work yourself too hard, okay?”

“Don’t worry, Honey, I’ll be fine.” He replied reassuringly, though not even turning back to look at her. “Bye, Sweet! Have fun at school!”

“Bye daddy! I will! Have fun at —”

The door slammed shut. “…work. Ugh, not again.” Sweet groaned, gazing dejectedly out of the window as she watched her father run off into the distance, getting smaller and smaller until he finally disappeared over the horizon. She turned to her mother, who gave her a pained smile, trying to mask her disappointment.

“Well,” Honey said, shrugging. “All the more strawberry pancakes for us, I suppose.”

---

“Soy wax delivery for a… Mr. Lucid Dreamer?” The grey pegasus postmare squinted at the writing on the package, her distinctive cross-eyes darting left and right in confusion.

“Yep, that’s me,” Lucid confirmed, levitating a pen towards himself with his unicorn magic. “Where should I sign for it?”

“Uh, here please,” replied the postmare, pushing a clipboard towards Lucid. “Oh, also, uh, sorry about the delivery being an hour late. I, uh, got a little lost delivering another package earlier this morning. Heh, heh…” She chuckled to herself awkwardly, then stopped to look at Lucid seriously. “You know what, the delivery fee’s on me. Wouldn’t want my strabismus to cause you any more inconveniences, right?”

“Oh, wow! Oh, no, don’t worry too much about it. Thanks anyway, Miss…” Lucid stopped to squint at the name tag on her lapel. “Miss Derpy Hooves. You’re the best of all ponies, you really are!”

Derpy blushed. “Heh, thanks Mr. Dreamer, sir,” she replied, then paused to rub her chin with one hoof in contemplation. “Huh. You know, lots of ponies have been saying that recently. They keep saying weird things like ‘Derpy is best pony’ or something along those lines. I must’ve heard at least seven this week, and it’s only Tuesday! Heh, heh, strange.” She looked back up at Lucid, who had finished signing the form on her clipboard. “Well, thanks again! I’ll be on my way now. Goodbye!”

“Goodbye,” Lucid replied, as Derpy turned to exit the shop. Well, he thought to himself. Time to make some candles!

Ripping open the cardboard package in excitement, he pulled out the first bag of soy wax. He opened it and took a whiff of its contents.

Mmm, so much better than typical paraffin wax. I can just smell the quality!

He opened a cupboard next to him, which was filled with all sorts of scents and fragrances, packed into little glass bottles of essential oils.

Now, what kind of candle are you going to be? Cherry Vanilla? Strawberry and Mint?

His eyes fell on a tiny bottle tucked away into the corner of the cupboard.

Sweet Apple Pie. Perfect.

Reaching for the bottle, he was just about to grab it when he heard the door open behind him, clinking against the door chimes tunefully. “Oh, good morning! How may I help you? We have all sorts of scented candles here at Paraffin Perfumes, if you’d care to take a look!”

He turned to see who his first customer of the day was. “Oh, hello, Pinkie Pie! I suppose you’re here to collect your special, custom-scented candles!”

“Absolutely!” The pink mare bounced up and down ecstatically. “Are they ready? Are they? Are they?”

“Of course! Let me just go and get them for you. Ten Bubblegum Birthday candles, coming right up!”

He walked to the back of his shop, where boxes and boxes of custom orders were stacked up against the wall.

Let’s see… Lilies and Lavender, Strawberries and Cream — uh… Orange Juice and Toothpaste… aha! Bubblegum Birthday!

Gently levitating it out of the stack, he brought it back to the front of the shop and placed it on the counter. “Here they are! Hope you — wait, Pinkie?”

The shop was empty; he was talking to no-one but himself.

“Pinkie? Where are you?”

Still no reply.

Huh. That was weird. Guess I can start making those Sweet Apple —

The door burst open. “Hiya, Lucid!” Pinkie greeted, bounding into the shop. “Are my Bubblegum Birthday candles ready yet? Are they? Are they? Are they?”

Lucid Dreamer stood there, aghast. “Pinkie? Didn’t you already come in a few minutes ago?” A wave of pain began to creep into his head, so he shook his head vigorously in an attempt to clear it.

“Um, no, silly! If I did, I would already have my Bubblegum Birthday candles, and I don’t, so I guess I didn’t!” Pinkie reasoned.

Lucid frowned. “Really? Because I’m pretty sure I saw you… never mind. They’re right here on the —”

But the counter was empty.

“What? Where’d they —” Lucid whirled around in confusion.

“I found them, I found them!” Pinkie chanted, springing up and down near the back of the shop.

Huh? How’d they get back there again?

“Oh, alright then, you can just take them with you, I suppose.” Lucid called out to Pinkie, massaging his aching forehead, completely baffled. Surely I took them and left them on the counter. Or was I just imagining things?

The door burst open once again. “Hiya, Lucid!” Pinkie greeted, bounding into the shop. “Are my Bubblegum Birthday candles ready yet? Are they? Are they? Are they?”

“What the — you were just here! I didn’t even see you leave the shop — how’d you…” The pain grew even stronger, throbbing and pulsing as it threatened to take complete control of his brain.

The door burst open once again. “Howdy, Lucid!” Applejack greeted, bounding into the shop. “Are my Bubblegum Birthday candles ready yet? Are they? Are they? Are they?”

“What — Applejack? But you didn’t order Bubblegum Birthday —”

“Ah’m not Applejack, silly, Ah’m Pinkie Pie! Don’t ya recognise me anymore?”

“Of course — I mean, no… I mean…” Lucid’s voice trailed off, as the pain hit him one final time, one sharp pang plunging into his cranium like a knife in his skull. He swayed left, swayed right, swayed left again, then collapsed in a heap onto the cold marble floor of Paraffin Perfumes, as everything went black.

---

I am floating.

I am floating, floating… but this time there is a light above me.

One solitary bulb of white light hanging just above my head, blinking and flickering as shadows and silhouettes are cast before me.

And they… they are moving.

Hello? Can anypony help me? Can anypony hear me?

I don’t think they can hear me.

But I can hear them.

…

Who is Night Ember? Why do the shadows keep mentioning that name?

I know it isn’t me. My name is Lucid Dreamer.

But who is Night Ember, and why do the shadows keep saying that he is trapped?

Comments

[The Lunar Toaster]

"Deja vu
I've just been in this place before
Higher on the street
And I know it's my time to go~!"

[Efadd]

Deja vu all over again