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by Cage Black 1443

Chapter 3

"So, just what is the ball's purpose, Dr. Carewell? I...don't think you ever told me."

"The ball's purpose is to confuse him. Which it seems to be doing just that."

"If you say so..."

***

I sit there, staring at the toilet. I wonder if I could drown myself, I think in my head. Then I shake myself, thinking, Where did THAT come from?

Not that I haven't felt suicidal yet, but it's just that this was the closest I've come to actually thinking about doing it. A shudder goes down my spine. I get up, stretching my legs (I had been sitting there for a while), and return to my bed, and go back to sleep, with that one thought in my head: Tomorrow is another day.

***

"This is...rather strange," Celestia says to Twilight. The Mane Six had shown up in Canterlot recently and told the princesses about the problems with the map.

"Do you think Discord might be behind it?" Twilight asks. "I mean, it was him last time the map had a fake summoning..."

"That's just the thing," Rainbow says, "I don't think it is fake. When Discord tricked us, the glow on our Cutie Marks was off, and this looks pretty normal to me. Besides, they aren't glowing"--Dash gestures towards the rest of the girls--"and I don't see why Discord would only do that to two of us."

"Maybe--hear me out--maybe the map is broken! Maybe, we can only use the map X amount of times, and then it breaks! It can still summon us, but it can't tell us where! Or, what if it's not broken, and it's trying to summon you to a place that can't be seen on the map, because there's a magical spell around it preventing the usage of the map, and it doesn't show up on any map?" Pinkie says, really fast, her voice gaining in pitch with each word.

"Pinkie, calm down! I don't think that can even--" Twilight is cut off by her own thoughts. "I think I just remembered something."

And with that, Twilight runs off, back to the library in her castle, leaving the rest in confusion.

"Here we go again," says Dash, exasperated. She flies out after Twilight.

"The rest of you should go, to! My sister and I will try to find out what we can here. Go, now!" says Celestia. On that note, the rest of the Mane Six leave.

***

"He has lasted about a month and a half by this point. He currently shows no signs of breaking, though there have been a few different moments. I think maybe we should mix it up again."

"How will we mix it up, sir?"

"I'll think on it. For now, it's time to go home for the day. It looks like he's going to sleep again. Pour in the gas."

"I already did, Dr. Carewell."

"Good. Let us leave, Shadow Light."

...
...

They never thought to double check.

***

I curl up to go to sleep, expecting another dreamless sleep. What I don't expect is to see my room... covered in blood.

My eyes go wide, and my heart beats fast as I see the blood drip over the walls, pouring in through cracks in the ceiling. What's happening? I think, scared. I haven't had a dream before, so this must be real, right?

The blood starts to pool on the floor, and rise up, up, up, and a thought comes to me: I can't swim. A terrified whinny escapes through my mouth, and I jump on my bed. But it's not long before the blood finds it's way onto the bed.

Scared, I cower, letting the blood wash over my fur, drenching my fur. I expect it to swallow me...

...But it doesn't. A powerful beam blasts at the blood, causing parts of it to disappear. More beams fire, until all the blood is gone. Then an Alicorn arrives, an Alicorn that I have only read about in books.

Princess Luna steps forward, and touches her horn to mine, and closes her eyes, casting a spell that cleans all the blood that had drenched into my fur.

I close my eyes as the spell washes over me, then I open my eyes and look her in the eyes, confused and in awe. She is...beautiful.

"Is...is this real?" I ask.

"I'm afraid not. You are dreaming. I wouldn't have shown up if...I hadn't seen your dreams in my vision for a while, Cage."

My heart stops. "You know my name?"

Luna smiles. "Of course I do. I know the names of every mare and stallion in Equestria. You're dreams stopped appearing in my visions for the last month and a half, and I have been very... confused as to why. Where are you in the waking world, if I may ask? And what could have prompted this nightmare?"

"I...I don't know where I am, Luna. I...this white room...no other ponies...alone..." I start cowering at this.

Luna then looks around the room, and realizes that she does not recognize it as any place she's aware of in Equestria.

"Do you at least know why your dreams haven't been working?"

"Th-they have this gas... they must have forgotten to use it tonight..."

"Gas?" Luna asks.

"I don't know...it's all so confusing... Not to mention that you are the only pony I've spoken to for the last...how long did you say? Month and a half? It's really been so short of time?"

Luna's eyes go wide. "Cage, you are waking up. Don't tell anypony what you have dreamed of. Act normal. I will get help."

"Luna?"

"I will get help. Be calm, don't give up. Understand me?"

"Yes, Luna...but..."

And then I wake up. And I hear a very angry male voice speak through the intercom that usually has the robotic voice.

"What did you dream about?"

***

Luna runs to her sister to wake her. "Celestia! Celestia, wake up!"

Celestia snorts, and turns to her sister. "Luna? What's going on?"

"Sister, what do you know of a dream-stopping gas?"

Author's Note:

Yes, I have added the royal Sisters to this. And they may not be the only surprise characters in this story. (Well, I guess they aren't a surprise since I added Luna to the main characters, but...)
Chapter four may come soon! (Five likes? Seriously? Not expected. Then again there are still three dislikes, but...can't appease everypony. Plus, the good outweighs the bad.)

For anypony curious about timeline placement, it's in between Seasons 8 and 9.