Marshmallow Dreams

by Halira

Chapter 2: Ghosts, Ice Cream and Magic Trees

I remember vividly the first time I was genuinely terrified. It was my birthday, and I had just turned twelve.

We moved a few times when I was growing up, on account of my mom's work. My mom worked for PonyCo, the company that made things like the straps that ponies attached stuff to, and my mom was supposed to help set up new offices in different places. We'd be in a home for a year or two; then, her big boss would tell her that we needed to move someplace else. We were living in a little town in Nebraska at the time. It was the last place we lived before we finally moved to our forever home in Skytree, and had been there for just over a year-and-a-half.

My mom always took the day off for my birthday, no matter what else was going on with her work. That day she had held a party for me, and invited all my friends from school, along with her boyfriend David (who later became my stepdad), and some of her friends from work. This party was extra special, because just a week before I'd gotten my cutie mark-- a pair of smiling sunflowers crossed over one another with a smiling cloud just above them. A mark that reflected my desire to bring joy through art and creativity, along with reflecting my happy disposition-- and this was a double party celebrating both my birthday and the fact I had found my special thing.

The party lasted for several hours, and I got tons of presents; art supplies, notebooks to write or draw in, a new computer with art studio software, books about drawing techniques, and books about how to be a better writer. Someone even gave me a kazoo, which I happily blew into and danced to my horribly done silly song.

By the time everyone went home, it was full dark, and there had been plenty of laughter, as well as an enormous amount of cake and ice cream consumed. I still had plenty of energy at this point. I wasn't so heavy back then, so flew better, but my mom didn't like me flying unsupervised or in the dark. That left me having to explore other options for how to burn off my excess energy.

I tried helping my mom clean up, but she insisted on me not having to do anything on my birthday. I then decided to go to my room, and put on my pony-tailored headphones, so I could dance and party to music, while not disturbing my mom as she tried to straighten up. The music was enthralling, and I soon found myself getting lost in my own little world within it.

The next thing I knew, I was staring at myself.

My first thought was that I had somehow fallen asleep, and was having a weird dream, but the details around me were too exact to be a dream. Everything in a dream was always at least a little off, but nothing was off about this. I tried to reach out and touch my own body, but my hoof passed right through myself. It surprised me so much that I back-peddled straight through my bed, passing directly through it.

I had to be dreaming, but I couldn't wake myself up. Not knowing what to do, I ran to get my mom, but when I reached up to grab my door handle, my hoof passed right through it as well, leaving me completely unable to open the door. My body, my actual body that was stuck in its trance, started breathing more heavily as my anxiety rose. I yelled out to my mom, but no one came.

Forcing myself to try to calm down and think, I realized my mom must have stepped outside. My mom smoked, and she would always go outside to the far end of the backyard to do it so that she wouldn't have that around me. If she were at the far end of the backyard she wouldn't be able to hear me. I just needed to get to her, and have her help me fix this.

There was still the problem of not being able to open any doors. I stared at the barrier, and tried to think of how to get through. It seems obvious in hindsight that I could have just walked on through, but I was twelve at the time, so give a foal a break.

"Rebecca? How are you doing this?" Came a familiar voice. I jumped back as Miss Seapony appeared in front of me, looking concerned.

"I don't know," I cried. "I was just listening to music, and the next thing I know I'm a ghost."

"Calm down. Where is your body?" Miss Seapony asked.

I gave her a confused look, and pointed a leg behind me. "It's right there, can't you see it?"

"Turn around and look at it," Miss Seapony instructed. I did as I was told, and Ms. Seapony let off a relieved sigh as she flew over and looked at my body. "I see it now. I can only see what you can see. You don't look like you are in any danger."

"But I'm a ghost!" I whined.

My friend turned to me and shook her head. "No, there are only three ponies who can claim they're ghosts, and you aren't one of us. I'm going to put you back in your head, but I'm not experienced with these types of powers, and I'll have to send you additional help that is experienced to make sure this doesn't keep happening. Don't do whatever you did to make this happen until the help shows up, okay?"

"But how-" I stopped speaking as I realized that I was back in my body, and I looked around for my now missing friend. "Miss Seapony? Where'd you go?"

After I tested to make sure I was solid again I ran to go find my mom. She didn't believe me right away. No matter how much I tried to convince her. She thought I was just having a dream. Her opinion changed a few hours later.

It was late, and I was about to go to bed, when my mom screamed, and I heard something shatter against the wall.

"How'd you get in here! Get out!" My mom was yelling at someone.

I went out to the living room, and saw my mom throwing things at a night pony mare that was sitting in the middle of the room. That was surprising in itself, but what was really surprising was the things my mom was throwing were passing right through the night pony like she wasn't there. The night pony didn't look particularly bothered by objects passing through her head, but did seem really bothered by the yelling.

"Ma'am can you calm down? My name is Josie, and I'm here to help somepony named Rebecca."

And that's how I was scared I had turned into a ghost, and met the night pony that trained me on my powers. It is also how my mom had ended up breaking all our fine china.

---

I locked up the front door, and headed out to the driveway to meet Maggie as her car pulled up. Her passenger door opened upward and as soon as it did I hopped right in.

"Sorry again for being late," Maggie said, as she hit the button to order the door closed again.

I spent a second trying to determine which strap was the seat belt and which was the pony safety harness. They really should color code these things or something. "It's okay. No harm done."

Maggie checked her rear view camera as the door finished shutting, and slowly backed the car out of the driveway. "By the way, I found out that they are going to be opening signups for clubs and sororities early, starting around four."

One of my ears fell, but I picked it back up. "I can't today. My mom wants me home early to help make dinner. She said we have important guests coming over tonight."

We were on the road now, and Maggie's eyes were focused on traffic. "Maybe tomorrow?"

I slumped in my seat. "I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow morning. My mom wants me to get a prescription for birth control."

Maggie seemed to choke on a laugh, and did a brief glance over at me before turning her eyes back to the road. "Birth control? You? You're like the most dedicated virgin I've ever met."

I shrugged and laughed. "Whatever makes her happy." I got more somber. "My mom got pregnant with me her senior year of high school, and it kind of threw her life off course. I think she worries I will get pregnant in college and have to drop out. She's just showing she cares about me."

"It seems like not having faith in you to be responsible, but whatever," Maggie replied. "I could pick you up after your appointment is over, and then we could check the sororities out then."

My grin returned. "That'd be great! And I'll have you know I'm not a dedicated virgin. I just have never been asked out on a date or anything."

"Well, you could try being the one to step up and ask some guy out," Maggie said conspiratorially. "You're fun and energetic, a natural extrovert, you should be more forward."

I kept my smile on, but sat considering how to deflect this conversation. My comment about not being asked out had been true, but also bluster. The truth was, I didn't feel like I could afford to commit to a proper relationship. Relationships were built on trust, and there were secrets I kept from everyone. It occurred to me that if Miss Seapony was going to have bodyguards showing up at my family's house today they might be telling my parents why. My parents knew I spent a lot of time talking to Miss Seapony, but they didn't know why. What was I going to do if they told my parents why? How would my parents react?

I just kept smiling. I really wanted another piece of cake. Maybe the college had a shop that sold snacks. "Maybe I will ask someone out, if any guy ever measures up to my standards. I've got high expectations."

Maggie laughed. "Can't fault you there, Bec."

My parents weren't stupid. People didn't normally have such close friendships as I did with Miss Seapony, and that had to raise questions for them. Maybe they already knew what was going on, and just didn't say anything about it. Mom said in the note that these were the most important guests they ever had. She wouldn't say that just for inviting new neighbors over. Mom had to know something about why they were there.

"Hey!" I blurted out, as I spotted a shop. "Can we stop by the Baskin Robbins drive through? I could really use some ice cream right now."

"Bec, you know you're supposed to be on a diet," Maggie replied. "I'm going to help keep you honest. We're already running behind anyway."

Traitor! I didn't sulk though. I just laughed. "Oops, I forgot about my diet. Thanks for reminding me." I really wanted something sweet right now, a great big banana split with extra whip cream, sprinkles, and fudge sounded great or perhaps a chocolate-mocha milkshake. I should just try to put all this stuff out of my head. Whatever was going to happen tonight was going to happen whether or not I spent all day fretting about it. There were better things to focus on, like how exciting it was I was going to be moving into the dorms in just a few days and that I'd be meeting my new roommates in just a few hours. Happy thoughts, happy vibes, don't stress about things I can't control.

"I hope we get to have some classes together still, even though we have different majors," Maggie said hopefully. "I know I'll be meeting lots of new people, but it would be great to have a friend I already know in some of my classes."

I could tell Maggie was a little nervous about that. Meeting new people and making new friends came more naturally to me than for her. "We still have to take all the basic liberal arts stuff, and I'm sure at least some of the graphic design and architectural design stuff overlaps. I mean, I've got to work on my art techniques too, even if I'm designing buildings."

Maggie licked her lips. "Do you think I should change my major? You're going to be making a lot more money than me after you graduate."

I blinked and then smirked. "You haven't even had your first day of class yet and you're already second guessing your major? That's not good, Mags."

"My dad just keeps getting on me about how I won't be able to make a great living with my degree," Maggie griped in frustration. "He keeps going on and on about how the market is flooded with graphic designers, because of all the art focused ponies out there… um, no offense to you, Bec."

I tried to reflexively spread my wings a little, but the harness held them down. They made these things so uncomfortable. "You need to follow what you love. You wouldn't be happy with my major."

"We don't know that."

I mischievously narrowed my eyes. "You have to learn lots of math to be an architect."

That seemed to make her hesitate. "A lot?"

"There's like four or five courses, all higher level than geometry and trig," I replied in a casual way, as if it were nothing. Math wasn't my favorite thing either, but I was much better at it than Maggie.

"Uehhh," Maggie squeaked, huddling down in her seat a little. "Okay, maybe I shouldn't try what you're doing. I still worry my dad might be right, though."

"You've got to have faith in yourself and follow your passions," I insisted, trying to hop a little in my seat, but failing due to the stupid harness. "If you go into a job full of passion for it you're sure to be successful." That wasn't what Miss Seapony would always say, she'd probably agree with me here, but she sometimes warned about getting too caught up in passions. I think she meant more not letting your emotions lead you into doing something stupid. Miss Seapony was really big on that kind of thing; that and sex stuff, but I supposed sex stuff had a lot of concerns about not letting your emotions make you do stupid things, so it fit too.

I looked out my window and tensed up in anticipation. I could see Maggie had noticed my excitement and was now grinning. We were about to come up to a full view of literally the most awesome thing in the entire city, the Remembrance Monument. I saw it all the time, but every time I saw it I still had my breath taken away. The Skytree College of Art and Design was right across the street from it, so I'd be getting to see it every day going forward. It was another thing to be excited about.

We passed around a corner, and out from under the shadows of tall buildings, and suddenly we were there, under the shadow of the monument. I couldn't help myself, I gasped with joy.

The monument was not made of metal or stone. It covered a wide circular area in the center of town a mile in circumference. The outer edges of the monument were tall massive tree stumps, tree stumps as tall as my house. They were all pushed tight together, the way they had been grown, and the tops of the stumps had been flattened, polished, preserved with magic and other things, and looked like freshly cut wood that glistened in the light. Around the outer edge of the stumps there were steps cut into them so you could walk up on top, and it was like a continuous walking path from stump to stump once you did. Toward the center, at the four cardinal points, stood four still living skytrees, and their branches extended up above the entire Remembrance Monument. If you touched the trees you could feel the powerful magic in them, that sustained them as much or more than the nutrients in the soil. Even though there was no actual roof, the entire thing was like one massive building because of that dense canopy. Nets were hung along under the canopy, to catch falling leaves and the many apples that these trees produced year round. Skytree apples were expensive, compared to normal apples, but they were some of the best tasting fruits ever.

In the very center, right in the exact middle of where the four skytrees stood, was a large granite stone, inscribed with the names of everyone who lost their lives in the Cataclysm of Riverview (the name the city used to have). This was not only a memorial to that tragedy, the trees themselves were part of the story, the shield that had kept it from being worse. The day of magic and earthquakes like likes of which had never been seen before or since, and the day wood had beaten fire. It was no building in any traditional sense, but it was a wonder of magic, a wonder of the new world. I hadn't lived here yet when it happened, but when I first moved here the monument inspired me to be an architect, because I wanted to make places like this, where the fantastical became real.

"You can breathe now, Bec," Maggie laughed. "Is this what you're going to do every day you walk outside your dorm room? We might need to invest in an oxygen mask for you, so you don't suffocate yourself."

"Ha ha, very funny," I replied, still looking at the monument. I wouldn't doubt that I would do this every morning. My heart soared just looking at the wonder. "This is going to be great."

"We're about to arrive. Are you still wanting a snack?" Maggie asked.

I turned and looked at her, confused. "Why would I want a snack? I'm on a diet, remember?"

Maggie just laughed.

Comments

[Innkeeper]

Having read the story where the Cataclysm of Riverview happened, not sure how I feel about Rebecca being so enthralled by the 'monument' made out the remains of the trees from that. I am kind of happy that they didn't cut down every tree that had grown. If the wood has magic in it, I wonder what they did with all that extra wood, and if the wood retained magic after it was cut down?

Also, like how Rebecca seems to not even realize she is after food when she is only when stressed but can keep to her diet perfect when she is happy. That also is a little worrying, since she is overweight.

[Starlight Nova]

If this isn't an Alice in Wonderland crossover, then why does the cover art have a picture of the Cheshire Cat in it?

[Halira]

10156279
We'll get to that, it comes later in the story. Not an Alice in Wonderland crossover, but there is influence from the book (the book exists in universe).