Chapter 13: A Distress Call from Another World
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“Who is this filly?” Rainbow Dash looked ahead of herself and stared. In a rather far distance from her, under a tree and on a picnic blanket, sat a blue earth pony filly. Her entire body was blue; coat, mane and tail alike, and although her mane and her tail were of a much darker shade than her coat, it was still a rare sight that a pony only had one color. The only exceptions were her eyes, which were purple, and her cutie mark. A yellow bow with an arrow was on her flank.
Next to the filly sat a stallion and a mare. Both of them bore a resemblance to the filly in their midst, their bodies were entirely blue, with their manes and tails being of a darker shade than their coat. The stallion was an earth pony, as well, and two musical notes formed his cutie mark. The mare was a unicorn. For some reason, she lacked a cutie mark. The mare and the stallion smiled down at the filly from yellow eyes as she lifted a sandwich and bit into it with a hearty smack, then proceeded to chew satisfiedly. These eyes and the fact that their manes and tails were a shade darker constituted the only differences between them and the filly. They were almost complete lookalikes.
It was this oddity that Rainbow Dash stared at. “I know this stallion,” she continued. “That's Noteworthy. And this” – she pointed with a hoof at the blank-flanked unicorn mare – “is Night Shade, Noteworthy's mom. I see them around town during flight training sometimes. But who is this filly?” She shifted her hoof at the smallest of the three ponies. “I've never seen her anywhere before.” Rainbow Dash wrinkled her forehead.
Luna stepped up next to her and Scootaloo, who stood at Rainbow Dash's left side. Her number one fan was also staring, but her eyes showed pure astonishment instead of confusion. At Rainbow Dash's other side was Hyper Sonic. She also looked at the filly, but blank-faced.
“I cannot tell you who this filly is, Rainbow Dash,” Luna answered the question. She looked at the blue filly incredulously.
“She..... she.....” Scootaloo began to stammer. “She looks like me..... but she is all blue. Just look at her mane!” Scootaloo pointed. Indeed, the mane of the blue filly was shaped like Scootaloo's; short at the backside of her head, slightly wavy on top, with a tip that bent inwards and a little spiky. The only difference was the blue color. “Her tail, too.....” Scootaloo deducted. “Why does she look like me, Princess Luna?” She turned at the night princess and stared at her, with curiosity radiating from her eyes.
“I don't know, young Scootaloo,” Luna responded without detracting her eyes from the lookalike filly. “I only know as much as you do, that the circumstances how we got here were most peculiar and strange.”
Luna's thoughts drifted back to a few minutes ago. All of them had entered the dream realm as usual. Rainbow Dash was in a better condition again compared to last night, Hyper Sonic was excited to participate in Rainbow Dash's dreamwalker training again and Scootaloo surpassed this excitement tenfold and was nothing but thrilled. They had started the night with a simple chat and Luna began to scan the dream realm for foals with nightmares. She had barely started and not yet found a foal, when something strange happened.
“What is doing this?!” the sound of Rainbow Dash's agitated voice rang through Luna's memory. The mare had pressed her wings on her ears and Scootaloo did likewise. Only Hyper Sonic had remained calm and was watching the scene with a blank face.
A distress call had suddenly rippled through the dream realm. A scream, filled with anguish and terror and so loud that all four of them could hear it. Normally, only Luna was able to hear such distress calls. They came from especially strong nightmares, those that haunted a pony so much that their minds started to call out for help all by themselves. Rainbow Dash's senses weren't fine enough to perceive them yet and Hyper Sonic and Scootaloo weren't dreamwalkers. But this particular distress call, this terrifying scream of fear, had so much power that it somehow found its way into the minds of dreamwalkers and ordinary sleepers alike. The scream had given her fear, it had constricted her heart for a moment in a way she had never experienced it before. Somepony was in danger and it was a big enough danger that the entire dream realm could hear it.
Luna closed her eyes and focused her entire dream magic into the direction of the scream.
“Where does it come from?!” Rainbow Dash shouted for her again.
“I-I don't know.....” Luna responded. Her face had broken out in sweat as she concentrated everything she had to find the source of the scream. “We can go into this dream, but I am not able to detect the position of the sleeper!” Luna clenched her teeth.
“And that's normal?” Rainbow Dash shouted over the scream.
“No! In rare nights, I receive calls from other lands, but until now I was always able to sense where the sleeper rests! This is completely new, I cannot make out their location!”
After this conversation, the scream had stopped. It didn't fade out, it was just gone all of a sudden, like it had never been there, and their ears got wrapped in silence.
“Do you have any idea what exactly that was?” Rainbow Dash asked as she freed her ears from her wings.
“No.....” Luna admitted. “All I can tell by this scream is that a sleeper is in mortal fear of something. It is our duty to help.”
And now they were here. The distress call had led them into this dream and what they saw wasn't like anything they had expected.
“It doesn't look dangerous here,” Rainbow Dash came straight to the point. She let her eyes glide over the tree, the happy ponies, their food, the picnic blanket, the grass, more trees, a little creek in a small distance..... She tried hard, but couldn't spot anything that looked like a threat.
Rainbow Dash turned at Luna. “What now?” The eyes of Scootaloo and Hyper Sonic followed her and they looked at the princess in anticipation.
“Go to her and see what's wrong,” Luna instructed. “There is always something wrong in a nightmare, even if it can't be seen at the first glance. Don't worry, I am here and I will step in if the need arises. Go and look for her, Rainbow Dash.”
“Okay.” Rainbow Dash turned around again and made her way towards the filly. She looked around herself while she trotted, just in case. A gentle breeze rustled her mane and her tail and there were even birds flying through the air. Everything was completely peaceful. She pondered how to start a conversation with the filly and, surprisingly, the words came to her rather easily.
“Hey,” Rainbow Dash stepped in front of the picnic blanket, eyes locked on the filly.
She looked up at her. Noteworthy and Night Shade did not pay her any heed, though.
“How's your name?” Rainbow Dash asked the filly.
“I'm Archer!” the filly piped up. “Archer Bodkin!” She got up on her hooves, placing her sandwich on a plate in front of her in the process. “And you are Rainbow Dash! I know you!”
“You know me? From where? I've never seen you around in Ponyville.” Rainbow Dash smiled at Archer, doing her best to be as welcoming as possible and not to show her confusion over the situation.
Archer seemed to be stuck for a clear answer. “Because you're Rainbow Dash! Who doesn't know you? Rainbow Dash, member of the Wonderbolts, Captain of the Ponyville Weather Team! You're always boastful and think you are the best, even though you aren't always the best!”
If she would be moving right now, she would have tripped slightly and lost her balance after this statement, but like this, Rainbow Dash just gave Archer a sheepish grin with red cheeks, trying to keep her calm.
“But you are still great!” Archer continued. “You help Scootaloo all the time and you became her big sister when she needed you!” And then, Archer said something very odd that would keep ringing in Rainbow Dash's head for a long time. “Scootaloo is my favourite pony and you are my second-favourite from your group of six friends!”
“Uuuh.....” Rainbow Dash eyed Archer with a clueless look on her face. She did a step back, subconsciously. “Say, kiddo, are you in any trouble? We heard someone screaming, was that you?”
“Uh-uh.” Archer shook her head. “I did not scream. And I am not in trouble. Why would I be? I am with my family!”
“Your family?” Rainbow Dash lifted her head and looked at Noteworthy, then at Night Shade.
“Um-hm!” Archer nodded with satisfaction, eyes closed and smiling. She opened her eyes again and pointed to the right of her. “That's Noteworthy, he's my big brother!” She leaned to the side and wrapped her hooves around his left foreleg, squeezed her brother and gave Rainbow Dash a smile. Then she let go and pointed to the left. “And that's Night Shade, she is my mom!” She placed her hooves around her mother's neck, leaned against her chest and snuggled her face into her soft, fluffy coat. Archer cooed cozily and breathed a blissful sigh. She stayed in this place of comfort for a minute, long enough that Rainbow Dash already thought the little filly had forgotten about her, then she suddenly opened her eyes again, looked at Rainbow Dash and sat up. “See?” Archer asked her. “Everything is perfectly fine! I am here with my family and I could not be happier!” Signifying this as the end of their conversation, Archer reached for her sandwich again and bit into it.
Rainbow Dash watched the filly eat, in silence. She felt there was more to say, but no more words came over her lips. A feeling of embarrassment spread out in her chest. Maybe everything was alright and this was a waste of time.....
“Did your mom or your brother scream, Archer?” Rainbow Dash gave it a different approach.
Archer swallowed. “No. They've been here with me the entire time and neither of them has screamed.” She continued her meal, sending looks of happiness and satisfaction to her mom and her brother.
The clueless expression on Rainbow Dash's face deepened. She looked over her shoulder at Luna. But the princess had the same look on her face. “If even Luna can't see what's wrong, how should I?”
Rainbow Dash was about to turn around and to return to her company to suggest leaving this dream, as everything was evidently okay, when Scootaloo suddenly gasped and pointed behind her.
“Rainbow Dash, look there!” an alerted shout left her lips.
Rainbow Dash turned back at Archer and her family. First she couldn't see anything that was worth the excitement. But then, as she looked up, there was a black, swirling manifestation in the sky. A black center was surrounded by four long, misty billows. They swirled and danced around the center and made it look like the manifestation was circling around itself. A sharp wind picked up all of a sudden and before Rainbow Dash knew it, Archer suddenly got forcefully lifted into the air and sucked towards the swirling vortex.
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” a tormented scream broke free from Archer's throat. It was all too familiar to all four of them. “Not again, please, not again.....” Archer whimpered and tears began to fill up her eyes as she stared down at Rainbow Dash, her face contorted in agony. She got sucked higher, but Noteworthy and Night Shade kept sitting where they were, unaffected by the swirling monstrum. They looked up at Archer with horrified faces and tried to grab her, but she slipped away from them before they could.
Rainbow Dash jumped forward, supporting herself with her wings, and grabbed Archer's hoof. “Got you, kid!” she reassured her.
Archer looked into her eyes, tears flowing down her face. “Please don't let them take me away again,” her voice scratched and nearly broke.
Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth and grabbed Archer harder, using both hooves now. The suction of the vortex was strong, she felt it pull at Archer with an otherworldly might. Yet nothing around them was affected by it. Only Archer was the one it seemed to desire and it didn't leave any room for doubt about this.
Archer tried to reach for Rainbow Dash with her other hoof, but the force that pulled at her made it impossible to move into the other direction.
Rainbow Dash was not able to pull the little filly closer. She was temporarily suspended in motion, then a tug suddenly ripped Archer's hoof out of her own. Rainbow Dash lunged forward and tried to grab her again, but she missed Archer just by an inch as the vortex pulled her mercilessly into its center. Rainbow Dash could do nothing but helplessly watch as Archer disappeared inside the swirling vortex. As soon as she was gone, the vortex disappeared, as well.
Rainbow Dash lowered herself on all fours again and stared at the sky where the vortex had just been and where the young filly had been swallowed. Noteworthy and Night Shade looked at Rainbow Dash with distraught, sad faces. They opened their mouths to say something, but before the words left them, the environment of the dream suddenly changed drastically. Noteworthy and Night Shade, the tree they sat under and all of their surroundings suddenly vanished. What appeared instead was something neither Rainbow Dash nor the other three ponies who stood behind her had ever seen before.
The air around them was a flawless, black void. But after a few seconds, white silhouettes appeared on it, like white crayon on a black canvas. Towering buildings, higher than the highest skyscrapers of Manehattan, erected themselves around them. Strange vehicles, not unlike carriages, but smaller and flatter, with rounder shapes, peeled themselves out of the air and instantly began to move around between the buildings, on set routes that seemed to follow a mysterious pattern. And the strangest manifestations were the creatures that suddenly sprung to life in the mysterious, black environment. Long, bipedal bodies, with gangly limbs dangling from right below their heads down to what seemed to be their legs, made up most of their appearance. Each limb had five thin appendages attached to them. The creatures flexed and moved those appendages like there was a very distinct purpose to them. But Rainbow Dash, Luna, Hyper Sonic and Scootaloo couldn't make out what they were doing with them. They looked around in bewilderment and confusion, watching the strange creatures walk around seemingly without aim, and yet, still in a way like each of them had their own destination.
And in the middle of it all was Archer. The blue filly sat on ther haunches, eyes and mouth wide open to form an expression of horror. She was sitting there without making a sound, in the middle between the monotonously-walking creatures, frozen in shock.
Rainbow Dash spotted her as the first one and was swiftly at her side. “Kid? What's happening here?”
Archer did not respond. She seemed to stare into a void, from terror-filled eyes. But upon closer observation, Rainbow Dash could see that her eyeballs were flitting around. Archer had the scary creatures in view and she did not let them out of her sight.
“Kid!” Rainbow Dash shouted louder. “Hey!” She noticed Archer's heavy breathing, but no words came out of her mouth. “Archer!” she finally used her name to address her. “What's going on here?” Although Rainbow Dash wasn't shocked like Archer was, the sight unnerved her as well.
Archer still didn't look at her, but now her lips moved to form a few, simple words. “Why are they here?” Then her face showed a sudden clarity and the shock seemed to leave her. “Why am I here? I'm not supposed to be here.” Archer stood up. Her mouth closed and her eyes took on a more relaxed expression. “I should be in Ponyville.” As soon as the words had left her lips, Archer disappeared, and the creatures, the vehicles and the buildings disappeared together with her.
Rainbow Dash stared at the empty spot where she had seen Archer last, just like she did a few moments ago. She closed her eyes, sighed and crept back to Luna, head hanging low and her own eyes flitting from side to side now. Before she could reach Luna, though, the environment changed again.
Rainbow Dash found herself in Ponyville. The transition from the black void to her hometown happened so fast that her senses only perceived her new environment with a few seconds delay. She lifted one hoof and was in the black void, she put it down again and suddenly stood in Ponyville. Chatter filled the air behind her and as Rainbow Dash turned around to trace it back to its source, she looked at the schoolhouse. Foals swarmed out of the building as the bell rang and came into her direction.
In the middle of the group was Archer, next to a yellow earth pony filly, who she engaged with in a deep conversation. Rainbow Dash hurried up to catch them.
“Archer!” she shouted. “You're alright, kid? That crazy thing in the sky sucked you up and then your nightmare brought us into that weird dimension with those freaky monsters!”
Archer stopped talking with her friend for a moment and looked at Rainbow Dash with a confused expression. Then she ignored her again and continued her conversation.
“What's wrong?” Rainbow Dash asked, not any less confused now. “Don't you remember? We just met a moment ago.” She moved backwards while they trotted to keep eye contact with Archer.
Archer looked at her again. There was an annoyed sparkle in her eyes now. “A moment ago?” she asked. “I haven't seen you a moment ago. I was at school the entire morning and now I go with Noi to her house.”
“You haven't? But what about the vortex in the sky? Your mom and your big brother? The picnic? You asked me to save you!” Rainbow Dash recalled the events of the last few minutes.
“Vortex? I don't know what you're talking about,” the blue filly clarified. “My big brother and mom are at home. We haven't been to any picnic.”
“Archer?” the filly to her left inquired. “What does Rainbow Dash want from you?” She couldn't help but sending a few admiring glances towards Rainbow Dash, but for the most part, her attention was on Archer.
“I don't know,” Archer responded. “But it's probably nothing important.” She turned at her friend. “Come, Noi, I'm sure your mom has lunch ready! And you still want to show me “The Trotting Dead” on TV and we need to hurry before the marathon of it is over!”
The sentence brightened Noi's face and she exchanged a hoofbump with Archer. “Right, dude! Let's go!” The two fillies draped a hoof over each other's neck and trotted ahead, letting Rainbow Dash stand where she was.
But Rainbow Dash ran after them. “Hey, wait!” she spoke, jumping in front of the two friends and cutting off their path. It earned her frowns from two angry faces, but Rainbow Dash paid no attention to that. “I don't know if you realize it, but something strange is going on here! Your dream is out of control, it turned into a nightmare just a minute ago! Come to Princess Luna with me, I'm sure she can fix it!” Rainbow Dash stretched a hoof behind herself and pointed into Luna's direction.
Archer took a glance over Rainbow Dash's shoulder, then looked her into the eye. “Princess Luna? But there's nopony there! And what dream? I am not dreaming!” Archer's voice became more hissing as her annoyance grew.
Surprise building on her face, Rainbow Dash looked into the direction she had just pointed at. Luna stood there, exactly as she had expected. Hyper Sonic and Scootaloo were at her side, as well. Yet, for some reason, Archer couldn't see any of them. In front of her, four pairs of hooves clopped over the earthy ground.
“Whatever, you're in danger!” Rainbow Dash spoke, shooting her head back at Archer. But Archer and Noi were already galloping far ahead. “Hey, wait up!” Rainbow Dash shouted after them and took flight. She reached Archer and wanted to grab her, to bring her to Luna by force if necessary, but before her hoof could touch her, a strong gust of wind that was tugging at her mane interrupted her.
Archer stopped and Noi did the same, turning to look at her friend. Before Archer could say a word, her hooves became detached from the ground and she started to float into the air. “Archer?” Noi asked. “What's wrong?”
Archer's condition changed completely. Her eyes widened in fear. She stared at Noi, terrified.
Rainbow Dash looked up at the sky and, like before, a black, swirling vortex had appeared there. It pulled at Archer with all its might, lifting her off the ground faster and faster. Rainbow Dash grabbed the filly with both hooves around her stomach and held her in a tight grip. In front of her, Noi was holding Archer's forehooves.
“Archer? What does this thing want from you?!” the other filly wailed, feeling the suction violently ripping at her hooves.
Archer bit her lip. “It's happening again..... It will always happen. I just can't stay here. I can't be here.” She looked into the eyes of Noi, whose face was showing desperation now. “I'm sorry, Noi..... It doesn't let me stay.....” Archer sniffed and her tears started flowing.
“What?! Who doesn't let you stay? Archer, tell me what's going on!” The eyes of the other filly became adorned with some tears, as well, now.
Archer closed her eyes and shook her head, tears trickling out from under her eyelids.
“Hang..... on..... kid.....” Rainbow Dash pressed out between her lips. But her efforts were in vain. The suction increased drastically and Rainbow Dash toppled over as Archer got ripped out of her hooves. Simultaneously, Noi's hooves lost their grip, as well.
Noi looked helplessly into the sky as her friend got pulled into the vortex. “ARCHER!” she screamed up at the merciless entity. In the same second, the vortex disappeared. Noi sank down onto her flank. Her forehooves clawed themselves into the soil while they trembled and she gritted her teeth in powerless fury. “Archer..... Who took you away?” Big tears dropped out of her eyes and soaked the ground.
Rainbow Dash wanted to say something to comfort the enraged, desperate filly, but before she could, Noi vanished into thin air. The black environment returned and filled itself with the buildings, the vehicles and the monsters again. The vehicles moved in their patterns and the monsters set themselves into motion. Archer was between them, sitting on the ground like before, her mouth and eyes wide open and her face frozen in shock. But something was different this time. Whereas before the monsters had purely minded their own business, some of them took the occasional glance at the filly now. They didn't say anything, but they looked down at her for a few seconds, before they returned their attention to where they took it away from.
As Rainbow Dash approached Archer, a voice somewhere from the crowd of bipedal monsters caused her to stop dead in her tracks. She heard the word “stranger” being whispered. Rainbow Dash looked for the source of the whisper and even asked the monsters who just said this, but none of them gave her a response, neither by voice nor by look. As even her most attentive listening did not let her hear any more voices, Rainbow Dash wasn't sure whether the whispered word had been real or just her overpowered imagination in this creepy place.
Rainbow Dash shook the thought away and brought the last distance between her and Archer. Being close to her now, she could see that Archer's eyeballs followed the monsters again. Rainbow Dash looked up at them, then back down at Archer. “Hey, do they scare you?”
Wordlessly and still with the same, shocked face, Archer nodded once.
“Yeah, I thought so, and they creep me out, too. But, hey!” She patted Archer's shoulder. “I can make them go away! That's an easy thing for Rainbow Dash! Just watch!” Rainbow Dash was about to fly at the creatures with full speed, as Archer started to speak all of a sudden.
“Why am I here? I don't belong here. I should be somewhere else.” Archer rose onto her hooves. Everything was eerily reminiscent of the first time they were here. Rainbow Dash didn't have to predict what would happen next. Archer's face relaxed, she disappeared and the strange manifestations followed suit.
Once more, Rainbow Dash found herself standing in the black void. And then she was in Ponyville again. Or, at least in one part of it, a part that she didn't often visit and therefore hardly knew.
Rainbow Dash stood next to a few, small cottages and she could look over a lake from her position. Small boats were gently rocking on the tiny waves and the slowly sinking sun cast a golden tint over the camp. For the third time in this dream, Rainbow Dash looked at a completely peaceful scenery. Her stomach twisted into a knot.
“Hey, look at this!” Archer's voice rang out behind her. Rainbow Dash turned around and there she saw Archer standing, wielding a golden bow in her hooves. She held it with her left hoof and her right hoof was clasping an arrow and she was stringing the bow with it. Noi stood at her side and flashed her an anticipatory grin.
Archer squeezed her left eye shut and stuck out her tongue. Her arrow was pointing at a round target in a distance of about ten meters. The yellow center was surrounded by a red circle and the outer edge of the target was blue. Archer tilted her head a little, waited one more second, then she released the arrow. It whizzed through the air and Noi followed it with her eyes. The arrow pierced the target right at the yellow spot in the middle.
Noi jumped into the air and erupted into loud, joyful cheering. Laughing, she reached for Archer and wrapped her into a tight hug. “I knew you would do it, you always hit the targets in the middle, you are the best at shooting arrows in all of Equestria, Archer!”
Archer lost her balance a little by the impact of the other filly's hug. A blush was on her face. “I'm not sure about all of Equestria.....” she spoke in modesty. “But at least here in Ponyville, nopony has beaten me yet.”
Noi looked up at her and she also wore a blush on her face. Their eyes met as Archer looked down at the smaller filly. Neither of them spoke a word, but they both felt the increase of each other's heartbeat. Archer leaned in and nuzzled Noi's nose, then she planted a kiss on her mouth. Closing her eyes, Noi joined into the kiss. Blushing and with an embrace that grew ever tighter, the two fillies caressed each other's lips.
While the hearts of Archer and Noi tried to outdo the tempo of the other, Rainbow Dash's heart grew tighter at the sight. She shuddered, knowing what would come. Her thoughts began to wander, should she break them apart to warn Archer or should she let them have this moment while it lasted? It was to her relief when Luna suddenly stepped forward and took this decision from her.
“This requires my help, as well,” the princess spoke taut.
“She can't see you,” Rainbow Dash told her. Her body started trembling. She suddenly sensed Scootaloo at her side. The filly wrapped her forehooves around her chest and was holding her.
“I am aware. She does not have to see me for this.” Luna ignited her horn and a midnight-blue sphere appeared around the two filly lovers. They didn't break their kiss as the sphere got built around them. “This should help,” Luna assessed. “We only need to keep Archer here until I have taken care of the vortex. Then I can get to the bottom of this nightmare.”
“Are you sure it will help?” Rainbow Dash questioned. “I felt this vortex.....”
“It needs to. If it does not, then the force we are dealing with here is stronger than even my powers.” Luna did a few steps back and observed the two fillies in their embrace.
“What force?” Rainbow Dash looked at Luna and fear crept onto her face.
“I don't know, Rainbow Dash..... I have never seen anything like the nightmare of this filly. But if this sphere works, we can find out what secrets are hidden here.”
Unfortunately, Luna's hopes set her expectations too high. The vortex teared through her protective sphere like it was pulling at a paper ball. The sphere broke up into tiny pieces and one by one they dissolved, while Archer was ripped away by the monstrous force.
Noi held on to her, face wet from tears and her body shaken by sobs. “You can't go!” she wailed.
Archer moved her right hoof over Noi's mane. Her left hoof rested on Noi's cheek. She looked at her with a longing sensation in her eyes and a tenderness that was reserved for only those ponies that one loved the most. “It's not my choice,” Archer spoke softly. “I can't stop it, Noi.....” Her hoof got drenched with Noi's everflowing tears.
“Who is taking you away?” Noi asked. “Tell me and I'll make them stop. I'll force them to leave you alone.”
But Archer shook her head. “You can't stop her..... She is too powerful for anypony who would try to challenge her. And you shouldn't, Noi. What happens is for the best. I will return to you once I have learned what I need. I love you, Noi.” Then a powerful tug happened and Archer was forcefully separated from Noi.
“ARCHER!” Noi screamed out loud and tried to reach for her fillyfriend and take her back. But the suction by the vortex was faster and all Noi could do was watching Archer's fate, unable to intervene. “ARCHER!” Noi ran towards the vortex, stretching her hindlegs as she attempted to make a jump for it. But the vortex disappeared before she could reach it and all that was left for her to do was staring at the empty sky. The tears kept drenching her coat.
The next events were familiar. Noi and the camp disappeared, Archer's dream turned into a nightmare and before they knew, Rainbow Dash, Luna, Hyper Sonic and Scootaloo stood in the scary place that Archer's mind created each time.
In some distance, the bipedal monsters stood in circles, arranged around a center that Rainbow Dash could not see. She took flight and flew above the crowd. In the center of the crowd, Archer was sitting, in the same pose and with the same deeply-shocked expression like the previous two times. Tears stood in her eyes this time and she drooled spit from her mouth. There was a diameter of free space around her, just a few hoofsteps into all directions, and the innermost circle of the bipedal monsters carried large drums that were attached to their bodies. Their long appendages held the drumsticks in a tight grip. The monsters had eyes now; spiteful, insidious and narrow eyes that rested on Archer. And all of them, save for those with the drums, were speaking this time. They intoned the same sentences as a constant chant that turned Rainbow Dash's feathers stiff and made her feel cold.
You don't belong here. You are not one of us. You deserve no friends. You can only destroy. You don't belong here. You are not one of us. You deserve no friends. You can only destroy. You don't belong here. You are not one of us. You deserve no friends. You can only destroy. You don't belong here. You are not one of us. You deserve no friends. You can only destroy. You don't belong here. You are not one of us. You deserve no friends. You can only destroy. You don't belong here. You are not one of us. You deserve no friends. You can only destroy. You don't belong here. You are not one of us. You deserve no friends. You can only destroy. You don't belong here. You are not one of us. You deserve no friends. You can only destroy. You don't belong here. You are not one of us. You deserve no friends. You can only destroy. You don't belong here. You are not one of us. You deserve no friends. You can only destroy. You don't belong here. You are not one of us. You deserve no friends. You can only destroy. You don't belong here. You are not one of us. You deserve no friends. You can only destroy. You don't belong here. You are not one of us. You deserve no friends. You can only destroy. You don't belong here. You are not one of us. You deserve no friends. You can only destroy. You don't belong here. You are not one of us. You deserve no friends. You can only destroy. You don't belong here. You are not one of us. You deserve no friends. You can only destroy. You don't belong here. You are not one of us. You deserve no friends. You can only destroy.
Every couple seconds, after the monotonous chant had been spoken three or four times, the monsters in the inner circle beat down on their drums and came a step closer, making their circle tighter. The ritual had an almost hypnotic effect on Rainbow Dash. But Archer did not react to any of it, she did not seem to perceive what was happening around her.
Rainbow Dash flew down and landed next to Archer. She placed a hoof on her shoulder. “Come on, let's get out of here before those freaks get us.”
Archer did not move and not respond. She only stared ahead of her with empty eyes.
“Come on!” Rainbow Dash pressured her. She looked up and at the monsters around them, who had just beaten their drums and gotten a step closer again. “Don't just sit here, they're coming to get us!” As there still wasn't any reaction from Archer, Rainbow Dash gripped her hoof and attempted to pull her into the air. Archer's foreleg moved slow and stringy, but the filly did not show any inclination to leave her position.
When Rainbow Dash gave up and let go of her, Archer's hoof remained suspended in the air, there was no attempt by her to put it down again. The drummers came closer once more. There wasn't much distance left anymore. Rainbow Dash lay down next to Archer and tried to put the filly onto her back. Her body felt like a wax doll under Rainbow Dash's hooves. It remained in the same, stiff position, no matter how much Rainbow Dash pulled and tugged. The drummers came another step closer and reached touching distance. Rainbow Dash was ready to fly off, but she remained at Archer's side, shielding her from the monsters the best she could by wrapping her wings around her. She finally called for Luna, not knowing a different way out of this situation anymore. But then something happened that made an intervention by the night princess unnecessary.
Archer suddenly took in a deep breath, the first conscious movement she did since they had arrived in this nightmare dimension once more. Rainbow Dash looked down at her and saw a small flame leaving Archer's chest, right where her heart was. It grew in size and rapidly expanded to all sides, creating an inferno around Archer and Rainbow Dash that burned away the monsters all at once. And the fire didn't stop there, it expanded past the circles of monsters and burnt away the buildings and the vehicles that still moved around between them. As the fire extinguished itself, everything was black again.
Rainbow Dash was unharmed by the fire from Archer's heart. Only the monsters had been killed by it. A feeling in her chest told Rainbow Dash that they deserved it. Archer remained in her catatonic state, but before Rainbow Dash could do any more attempts to get through to the filly, she suddenly vanished again.
Rainbow Dash got up and looked around. She waited, silently, and so did Luna, Hyper Sonic and Scootaloo, for they all knew what would happen next. The black void disappeared and they stood in Ponyville again. Around them were a number of arcade machines. Archer sat on one of them, a purple machine with white blocks painted onto the sides. The other machines were not occupied. Archer stared onto the screen, concentrated, but also bored. She did not look up, but Rainbow Dash had a feeling that she paid attention to her as she got closer. Luna was already there, as well, and the two of them took up position at Archer's left and right side. Only Hyper Sonic and Scootaloo stayed further in the back.
“What is it that ails you?” Luna came right to the point. “You have very peculiar nightmares, Archer. A dreamwalker like me sees many things, but I have never encountered a nightmare like yours.”
“They are not from this world,” Archer responded. Her eyes were glued onto the screen and her hooves moved a tiny, blue pony, not unlike herself, from left to right. The pixel pony moved in front of large, drab buildings. The ground it trotted on was of a bright grey and the sky was full of smoke. Bipedal enemies that entered Archer's path and blocked her way got shot down with arrows. “I am not like them.”
“Who are they?” Rainbow Dash asked and she gave Archer an intense look.
Archer's eyes narrowed ever so slightly. “They are my punishers. They are evil and I deserve them.”
“You are mistaken,” Luna spoke intently. “No one deserves nightmares like these.”
The next sentence Archer spoke invoked cold fear in Rainbow Dash's heart.
“They are more than nightmares. They are all around me, every day. I wake up between them and I am forced to live among them. Until I learned.....”
In the game, Archer's character had reached a black wall in the middle of the screen. It appeared to be solid, black metal and reached from the ground up into the sky. Little cottages with straw-thatched roofs and lush, green trees between them were on the other side. The sky was blue there and ponies looked out of the windows. One lonely, yellow pony sat in front of a cottage, the pixels that formed her eyes seemed to be focused at the metallic wall. Nearby, on a white bench, sat two blue ponies, one of which was a unicorn. Between them was an empty spot. The two ponies looked down at this spot.
“What is it that you try to learn, young Archer?” Luna looked at the screen, were a tiny, black vortex made of pixels appeared on the left side of the wall.
Archer moved her character to the wall. “Friendship,” she said and watched how her player character got sucked into the grey, smoke-filled sky and was swallowed by the pixel vortex. Blue pixels appeared under the eyes of the yellow filly on the other side of the wall.
Archer removed her hooves from the red joystick and the buttons and slumped down on her seat. She closed her eyes. “I need to learn friendship. Only then, I can leave those horrible monsters.....” A sharp wind picked up from the screen and Archer's face deformed and got pulled closer to the screen. “Goodbye, Noi,” she said, opening her eyes and fixating them on the crying, yellow pixel filly. Then she got sucked into the screen and disappeared from Luna's and Rainbow Dash's sight. And, instantly, the dream around them collapsed and dissolved into tiny flakes that spread out over the dream realm before they disappeared, as well.
“What happened?” Rainbow Dash turned at Luna, now floating amidst stars.
“The dream of this filly just ended.....” Luna's eyes were closed. “But I fear her nightmare continues and she is far from waking up.”
A dark cloud seemed to spread out above their heads and it was evident in their faces. Only Hyper Sonic kept her blank stare while they processed what just happened.
“And what does all of this mean?” Scootaloo voiced the question that was on their minds.
“That the dream realm keep secrets even from me.....” Luna opened her eyes and looked out into the dream realm. “No one knows how far the realm of dreams truly reaches. Millions of dreamers lay in slumber out there. Some of them seek help in vain.”
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Great chapter!
Could Archer be in some kind of a coma and whenever she’s about to wake up by ending it in a good way, the vortex appears and it prevents her from waking up?
What’s with Hyper Sonic giving a blank stare throughout the chapter? Does she know something that the others don’t?
great job, s always! And loved the headcanon you give archer regarding family
10694367
A good theory and pretty close to the truth.
10706776
Thank you!
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No, Archer did wake up from sleeping at the end, that's why her dream dissolved. That's what Luna meant when she said that Archer's dream just ended. There is symbolism in her words, so it's not immediately apparent what she is talking about.
I won't completely explain what Archer's secret is, I much rather see readers figure it out for themselves by putting the clues together. but here's a hint: What Luna said about being unable to locate where Archer sleeps is important and so is what Archer said about learning friendship. These are very important pieces in the puzzle.
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There is a lot Hyper Sonic knows, something that Luna and Rainbow Dash cannot know. Least, the time for them to know has not come yet.
10706988
Thank you! Yes, Noteworthy and Night Shade are definitely Archer's big brother and her mom.
10707557
You're welcome! and who is Archer's father, if I may ask?
10707562
I don't know this yet.
10707579
well, if you need any help figuring something out, I am here