Marshmallow Dreams

by Halira

Chapter 121: Those Who Decide

I closed the door to my dorm room, feeling worn out. My legs still hurt from the workout in the morning, and chasing Drizzle and her dog around did not help one bit. Sunset Blessing and Jordan had even sat there and watched! Jordan could have grabbed either of them with her magic, and Sunset Blessing had longer legs than me and had hands. Putting all that work on me was just cruel and unusual punishment.

"How are you feeling?" Julie asked as she looked at me from her bed. It looked like she was doing schoolwork on her laptop (why are they called laptops if ponies don't have laps? Why not just call them computers without the extra word?).

I flopped on the floor. "Sore. My legs might fall off. If my legs fall off, I want super fancy cyber legs put on– with lasers! Not lasers for shooting people. I want laser pointers so I can point at stuff and distract small animals."

"I don't think they make those, Bec," Julie replied.

I raised a wing in protest. "I know a cyberpony, I call him Locutus of Bear. He has a robot hand and leg. He's cool! He and his wife bodyguard my parents. I should go visit them sometime, but I've been so busy. Like right now; I just got back and I need to work on the visual aids for my presentation Monday. I really should do my math homework too. I'll put that off till tomorrow. Oh, and there's a book I'm supposed to be reading for English Lit, and I have a project due at the end of the week in Astronomy and I've been out of class for all the recent lectures so I really need to study a lot."

"And you've probably got other things you have to deal with this week too. With that whole job interview thing," Julie said.

I groaned. "I think they've run out of things they can throw at me. They've thrown everything but the kitchen sink at me and Sunflower. I guess that will be the next test. We will go to Phobia's house and ponies will hurl sinks at us to see who can dodge better. That will be a point for Sunflower unless they are seeing who can take a hit better. You never know what they actually want you to do."

Julie snorted. "Sounds like something our coach might try if we had a bad meet. Guy can be harsh when we underperform. It doesn't matter if we win or lose, but if we don't do what we're capable of, he loses it."

"Ouch, glad I'm not on the flight team," I said. "Then again, low capability, so low expectations. Maybe I'd get off easy."

One of Julie's ears flicked and then sagged slightly. "Hey, about the workouts…Lántiān talked to me today, during our practice. She said she didn't think they were a good idea for you, and suggested dance instead."

Now it was my turn for my ears to wilt. I didn't want to disappoint Julie. She'd been so happy about working out together.

"She did mention she thought that after seeing me, and said she was going to talk to you. I didn't think she meant that fast, but I suppose I should have known that considering she was leaving for flight team practice," I replied. "I hadn't even thought about it yet."

She shook her head and smiled at me. "Don't feel bad. I want you to enjoy working out, and dance is its own kind of workout. Believe it or not, I like dance. I used to do dance and aerobics before I did flight team, and I loved it. I just love flight team more."

My head picked up. "Really? I pictured you as always being this super athlete."

She blew a raspberry at me. "To be good at dance and aerobics takes athleticism, and don't let anyone say it doesn't. I want you to be able to workout and enjoy it, and if that means getting you into dance, then that's what we'll do. Yeah, I'm disappointed I won't have you as a workout buddy, but that's me being selfish. I want you to be healthy and happy, and fly a little better so you don't get hurt with those crashes. That means finding something that helps you burn calories and boosts your agility. Dance is a good option. I know the person who runs the dance team. I don't think you're dance team worthy right now, but they do host classes. I can introduce you."

Sunflower walked into the bathroom and knocked on our doorway with a hoof. She looked sad. "Hi, Rebecca, can I talk to you?"

I tilted my head. "Do you mean a private conversation? You're talking to me now."

She didn't look just sad. She looked exhausted. She was practically leaning against the doorframe.

Julie left her bed before Sunflower could answer me. "I'm going to see if Ashley and Meadow want to go take a walk."

Sunflower held up a wing. "Ashley can stay. Can you and Meadow fly down to Walgreens? You can pick up some snacks, maybe ice cream and those Little Debbie cakes?"

Julie gave her a sideways look. "Are you about to stress Rebecca out? It sounds like you're anticipating stressing her out. Maybe not Little Debbie cakes if that's the case. I've seen her with those things. I always worry she's going to forget they have a wrapper and choke on the plastic."

"Or just cookies would be fine too," Sunflower said tiredly.

Julie looked around. "I'm sure she's got some of those around already."

I gave her a sheepish smile. "I may have eaten them all last night. I was an itty-bitty bit stressed."

She gaped at me. "You had like five packages of those chewy ones. You ate all of them!?"

"Maybe…" I said quietly.

Julie let out a long groan. "Urghhhhhh! This is going to take a lot of dancing. Meadow! We need to go to Walgreens and restock Rebecca's stress relief. Oatmeal cream pies this time, so at least she's getting some oats!"

Meadow stuck her head past Sunflower. "You ate all that junk you had laying around already?? Rebecca! You're going to make yourself sick! I'm not paying for more. I'm not going to be the one responsible for you having a heart attack."

Sunflower flapped her wings, clipping Meadow across the snout. Sunflower gave her roommate an apologetic look. "Girls, I'll pay you back, but can you do this for me, please?"

Ashley shouldered into the room. "Gosh darn it. Come on you two. I know what's about to go down, and neither of you need to be listening. I'll buy Rebecca some artery-clogging food, and some ice cream for Sunflower. If I'm going we'll have to walk, which will take longer, which gives them more time to talk."

I looked around. "Where's Nightscape?"

Julie rolled her eyes. "It's a weekend evening, where do you think?"

"Oh…you know…Nightscape isn't a very good bodyguard," I said, feeling legitimately annoyed, but trying not to show it. "She always leaves me fending for myself. If Sunflower was intending on murdering me, I'd be defenseless."

"She is trying to kill you. She's about to stuff you with more sweets," Meadow lamented.

"How about we get her trail mix? That's got some healthy stuff in it," Julie suggested. "We can still get ice cream for Sunflower. She rarely treats herself."

Ashley headbutted Meadow out of the bathroom and used her horn to open my door, just missing my tail. I really should get up. Julie got the idea that Ashley was impatient and followed the pair out the door. Ashley closed it firmly behind them leaving me laying on the floor and Sunflower standing in the bathroom doorway.

Time to stand up. I did so and then promptly sat down. My legs were still sore and chasing Drizzle and Wrinkles had left them cramping.

"Sorry, my legs feel like weights. I know that might sound funny, coming from me, but they feel extra heavy today between Julie's workout and chasing a filly and her dog around," I explained. "By the way, I ran into SB again, while foalsitting. She told me about how she thinks Moses's powers come from him being some weird Storyteller."

She sat down, still in the bathroom doorway. "I ran into her too. I think before you. I went to Phobia Remedy's house early this morning. SB came back and gave her report on Moses while I was there. It was like nine this morning when she arrived. I heard about the Storyteller thing."

I blinked. "What were you doing over there so early? What were you doing there? Did you get a summons so they could tell you the news about Moses?"

She shook her head. "No, I went over there because I had questions. After last night, I wanted to do some digging for information. I spent a lot of time in a library back home; I'm good with research."

My ears perked. "About that Chinese guy? Or that Soothsayer mare?"

"Not exactly," she replied and walked fully into the room, and sat down beside me. "They knew so much about us. That means he has spies. I went to Phobia Remedy's because I wanted the phone numbers for the bodyguards watching my family back home."

That wasn't adding up in my head. "Why them?"

She sighed. "I talked to my parents in the dream realm last night. I asked them if anyone new had moved into the area recently, other than the bodyguards. They said yeah. Didn't know much about them– unusually private ponies. I couldn't do anything with that. It was information learned in the dream realm about others. I had already planned on calling the bodyguards, but what my parents said worried me. I don't know why I even asked, knowing it could only upset me and not be used."

I shivered. It wasn't as easy to watch for random new people in Skytree. There were always new people, but in a community like Sunflower's every new face was a piece of gossip. That was the way it was with rural areas. People moved away more than they moved in. Most new people came from births.

"Did she give you the phone numbers?" I asked.

Sunflower bit her lip and nodded. A tear leaked from her eyes.

My ears folded back. "The bodyguards confirmed your fears. It's spies."

"They can't confirm who's spies, but they definitely are watching my family. The bodyguards have been on high alert," Sunflower whispered.

I looked away. "I should probably talk to Melissa and Locutus of Bear, my parents too. Do you think he's watching all our friends too?"

"I expect so. It's hard to tell in a place like this It's a city of bodyguards and spies. Everyone's being watched all the time. That makes it harder to pick out who is watching who for who. I wouldn't be surprised if the OMMR has extra bodyguards watching our friends. I'm sure the Dreamwardens thought of it. The thing is, these bodyguards are mostly volunteers, like Ashley and Nightscape, and while Ashley might take the job very seriously, you're right about Nightscape. I hate saying this about a friend, but Nightscape deserves to be fired She doesn't do her job the majority of the time. She's too busy rolling in the grass with her future husband. How many of the bodyguards watching the people who matter to us are like that? How many of those has China identified?"

I couldn't deny she was right. The Dreamwardens had built a network over the last fourteen years, but it was still rather amateur. I could see now another reason why they wanted to increase the range and scope of their spy network. It wasn't just trying to interfere with world events. They were scared. There were people they wanted to protect but they were outmatched. The Dreamwardens knew more than anyone, but because of the Oaths that didn't give them any advantage. It was a liability because it meant they were even more terrified due to their knowledge.

"We knew this was a risk when we were made candidates. We both decided we wouldn't give into demands if something happened. The job is bigger than that," I reminded her.

"And I stand by that. If I were Dreamwarden, and somepony…someone…sorry…tried to threaten my family to pressure me into giving them information or looking the other way when they were going to do something bad, I wouldn't give in, no matter how much it hurt. The thing is, the newest Dreamwarden's identity was supposed to be secret to protect them and their family, but the same people who pulled this stuff with Yinyu know about us and have agents here."

I turned my head to look at her and she looked at me with tear filled eyes.

"I talked to Phobia Remedy," Sunflower continued. "We both have powers the Dreamwardens desire. Mine is they want the foresight of prophecy. Luna has it to a small extent– I guess that makes her a Storyteller too, even if a weaker one. They have no one among their number who has that ability. The thing is, mine is hardly reliable. I have no control over what I draw when it happens or have any way of triggering it. My drawings are also about as cryptic as they come. Even if you can identify who, what, where, and even when the thing I drew is supposed to be, nothing tells you what's important about it. The why is always an unanswered question. Your ability is at least useful all the time."

She closed her eyes. "Add to that me feeling the threat to my loved ones and the fact I feel like I might be more vulnerable traveling because of all those enemies watching– one of the things I want for myself, and it becomes too much."

My ears were plastered back. My chest felt tight. It felt hard to breathe. My stomach felt ready to rebel, but I still desperately wanted some cake.

"What are you saying?" I asked in a whisper.

She gave me a weak smile and held up her hoof for me to clap mine to.

"I've made my decision. I'm done. Congratulations, you win," she whispered.

And so the months' long trials had suddenly and abruptly come to an end. I had thought it would end with us facing the Dreamwardens in some final trial that would leave us gasping, maybe barely alive, and then they would cast their votes one by one in front of us. Maybe there would be a tie, and we would go through another round of trials and tests for the UN. None of that was going to happen. Perhaps it had been their plan to never have to vote unless they were forced, only wait until there was but one candidate left standing. They were happy with any outcome out of their top five. It was us, not them, who made the call in the end.

The five of us had spoken. I was going to be the new Dreamwarden.

Comments

[badninja]

Not the way I think she wanted it to go but damn. I hope those miscreants are dealt with.

[Kairee]

I did not expect it to go this direction. But perhaps it's best this way for the long run. But boy, is that a lot of pressure all landing all of a sudden on one soft pony. STRESS.

Hide the snacks. Hide all of them. Hide the snack-making factories.

[Numinos]

Yeesh, that hit hard. If she won't hug poor Sunflower I don't even know...