Marshmallow Dreams

by Halira

Chapter 99: Call to Adventure

It took a while to find where I was going to sleep for the night, but I eventually did. It was a simple one-story, two-bedroom house with a young night pony couple, young as in around my age, that didn't have foals yet. Like most of the town's residents, they were friendly, almost too friendly. I don't know how often I had to tell them that all my accommodations were fine and I didn't need anything else.

I thought I was ready for a good night's sleep in a comfy bed, but alas, that was not to be the case.

There was a knock at the bedroom door. "Miss Rebecca Riddle, there are some ponies here to see you."

I had been on the cusp of sleep and was a little groggy as the bedroom door opened. It didn't let any more lighting the room since that moss was illuminating everything.

The term ponies had been used broadly since it turned out to be Roger, Sunflower, Blanche, and Jonathan. All of them shuffled in, with Blanche and Jonathan having to duck their heads to get through the doorway and their heads almost touching the ceiling once they were in the room. The pony couple didn't stick around, and we were left in private after Blanche closed the door.

Roger stepped forward. "Rebecca, I need you to do your thing."

"My thing?" I asked in confusion.

Sunflower made some odd gestures with her wings. "You know… your out-of-body experience thing."

I blinked. "Why do I need to do my thing?"

Roger looked frantic. "My mom is missing. She never got off the airship. I think the Element Bearers are looking for her, but they won't tell me anything. Blanche and Sunflower were helping me follow them, hoping that it would lead to my mom, but we lost track of them when they left the city."

"I suggested you help. You can move quickly and go unnoticed with your ability," Sunflower said.

I frowned. "I don't know… I'm not supposed to use it for any sort of advantage over anyone, no matter how important it might be. The Dreamwardens get really strict about it."

"You don't have three undead Dreamwardens constantly looking over your shoulder when you use it here. Luna is only one pony, and she has to be paying attention to notice you. She might not even be asleep to notice," Blanche reminded me.

"Blanche and I are good trackers, but they've got a good headstart on us, and it goes through the woods outside. We wouldn't be able to close the gap between us with this terrain while searching in the dark, and we don't know what dangers are out there," Jonathan added in. "That and Ulysses is watching us like a hawk. He won't let us put ourselves in danger."

"I could elude him, but not while trying to track the Element Bearers. I need to know where we're going," Blanche said with a huff. She caught Jonathan's eye and growled. "I can do it! I know his tricks, and I can fight him and give you guys a chance to get away if need be."

Jonathan shook his head. "You might be good with your weapon constructs, but you can't defeat him. He's too good, Blanche. He's the one who taught you how to be as good as you are."

"I can win because he is duty-bound not to hurt me. He's a killer, so not being able to kill handicaps him," Blanche insisted.

"None of that matters if Rebecca doesn't help," Sunflower fussed.

I sighed. "I'll help, but if Luna catches me, there's nothing I can do. Give me a minute, I need to get in the right mindset, and this isn't the peaceful feel-good vibes I need."

Jonathan gave me a dubious look. "You need good vibes?"

I nodded. "I need to be relaxed. You guys aren't relaxing me."

Jonathan turned away, scratching absently at the back of his head. "Well, you'd have been useless on our last adventure."

Blanche sighed.."No denying that."

"Be nicer to her; we're asking for her help and asking her to do something that could get her in trouble," Sunflower scolded.

"My mom is in trouble," Roger said harshly.

I flopped out of bed, coming down hard on the floor. "I'm okay. Can all of you be quiet for a bit, so I can zone out, unless someone can sing a song? That might help."

Roger walked to the corner of the room. "Her powers don't work under pressure. Don't pressure her. I can do that."

I sat, waiting for someone to sing, but no one did. I suppose that was fair. They were on edge and worried about Roger's mom. I was worried too. We were in another world, and the Element Bearers were keeping something under wraps. Wild Growth was in on it too, whatever it was. All those people were big deals, and they were trying to keep us all calm while they dealt with something out of our sight. Like the Element Bearers and Wild Growth, I felt like it was my job to put on a brave face and pretend everything was fine, even if it wasn't. It was hard to do that right now because things were so obviously wrong. None of us were stupid. We wouldn't be candidates if we were. We all knew something was seriously wrong. That didn't mean I didn't need calm for myself, and my friends weren't very good at providing it.

Happy thoughts were out of the question under the circumstances, but I could go for calming. I rhythmically tapped a hoof on the floor, trying to find a beat, or at the very least, give me something to zone out to. I could hear my friends breathing. I could feel their eyes watching. Aside from Sunflower, none of them had ever seen me use my abilities before, so there was a hint of expectation in the air. Expectation was pressure.

I opened my eyes. This wasn't working.

"Can you all wait outside the door and give me a little privacy? You're making me nervous," I said as I pointed a wing at the door.

Roger grunted. "I know you aren't lying, but is there anything we can do to make this easier? This is urgent."

"Music is the only thing that normally helps," I answered, feeling bad I couldn't give a better answer. "I don't have my headset for my phone, and I'm not sure it still has power anyway. I haven't charged it since we've been here."

Blanche headed for the door. "Hold a minute; let me ask your hosts if they have anything that plays music recordings. Equestrians love their gramophones; maybe they have one. These night ponies have been accommodating about everything else."

The couple was found, and it turned out they did indeed have a gramophone and set it up for her to listen to. Equestrian night pony music seemed to favor drums and pan flutes, and whoever performed their music was completely unfamiliar with even the concept of a stringed instrument— at least based on the couple's available music selections. No matter, the drums were good to give me a beat I could dance to. I still had everyone wait outside the room.

It took me a few minutes, but eventually, I was staring at my dancing form again. I smiled, pleased I had pulled it off, and flew through the bedroom door like a ghost. Everyone jumped when I appeared, and they hadn't asked the couple to give us privacy, leaving them gaping at me in their hall.

"You're a nightdreamer!" the young night pony mare said in awe.

"There hasn't been a nightdreamer since Old Fern passed away when we were foals! We did not know one of your tribe could do it," her husband said in astonishment.

The mare seemed beside herself with excitement. "You must let the princess know! She will be so happy to know there are nightdreamers among the Earthlings."

I was completely unfamiliar with the term nightdreamer, but I could tell that was their name for the ability. I was more concerned with the last thing said.

"She knows already. So you don't need to tell her anything," I hastily assured them. "For all I know, she is watching me."

"If she has not greeted you yet, she must not be asleep. She would surely do so otherwise. Nightdreaming is so rare that it would immediately attract the princess's gaze," the mare informed me.

Roger was impatient. "Sorry to interrupt, but do you think you can do what we need now?"

I nodded. "Where do I start?"

"Go outside and head northeast. I know they were headed in that direction," Blanche informed me.

"Right!" I said, smiling cheerfully to assure them everything would be okay. I then blushed. "Um… what direction is northeast?"

Blanche facepalmed. "You're a pegasus; aren't you supposed to have an innate sense of direction?"

I shrugged my legs and wings. "I'm not a very good pegasus."

She gave me a flat look. "Looping around the mountain on the opposite side of where the airships are parked. How quickly can you move?"

I gave a big grin. "I have no mass, so I can move faster than any pegasus can fly, and I don't have to worry about running into things or what the end currents are as I go."

The two night ponies stepped back, looking fearful.

"You should not go northeast," the stallion insisted.

The mare nodded. "Any other direction than that."

My friends all turned as one to look at them, but it was Roger who spoke up. "What's so scary to the northeast?"

The couple looked at each other then back to him. "Hollow Shades," the stallion whispered. "We keep our distance from it. Some farm on the very outskirts, but none go near the center."

"Why?" I asked, wondering what had these ponies freaked out.

"The Well of Shade is in the center," the mare explained. She then realized that meant nothing to us. "The Well is the palace, where the old nobility lived, up through bad times. It is a bad place. There are...remnants, shadows. You must stay away from the shadows."

The stallion looked at me pleadingly. "It is dangerous, even to a nightdreamer. The shadows can strike against even those without bodies. They are dark mind magic. They are remnants of the royals' anger and hate that linger within the Well. You must not go near the Well."

"That sounds like something you would call the Element Bearers in to deal with," Jonathan said thoughtfully.

Sunflower flapped her wings nervously. "That sounds like somewhere we can't send Rebecca off to alone."

Roger flicked his tail. "We have a location. So we don't have to send her alone. We can all go together. I'm not going to sit here while my mother is in danger."

I whimpered. This pudgy marshmallow was not made for adventures.

Comments

[harts fire]

This pudgy marshmallow was not made for adventures.

but yet the game's afoot.
a great chapter and i really like the new art.

[badninja]

Well life is an adventure. I wonder how this will go?