Diamonds and Dreams

by Applefai

Dream Studies and Family Ties

Try as she might, Rarity could not force herself to go back to sleep, the gentle glow of her television illuminated the room as she sat on her couch.

Rarity laid on her back, hoping that she could fall back asleep on the couch but to no avail, she tossed and turned on the sofa, trying to get in a comfortable position, but all she could think about was what she saw in her dream. The monster that looked like her in the mirror made her blood run cold as she tried to forget about it.

Hours later, the sun started to filter through the blinds, gently casting some light on Rarity's eyes and forcing her to open them. The unicorn groans as she gets off the couch and goes into the bathroom, what she sees in the mirror makes her gasp with terror.

Staring back at her was her reflection, her once beautiful eyes now had slight bags under them and were bloodshot, and her once beautifully croft mane was now a tangled mass.

"Oh, Celestia," Rarity said to herself as she leaned in closer. She then put on makeup to hide the bags under her eyes before brushing her mane. After rolling herself up, Rarity went to check on Sweetie Belle only to find a note on the door to her room telling her that she and the Crusaders had already left to try and get their cutie marks.

Rarity smiled to herself as she returned downstairs and ate breakfast, ready to take on the day.

After Rarity had woken up from her sleep-deprived state, she left and made a beeline to Twilight's castle. She knocked on the door and waited for an answer.

Soon, Spike answered the door with a smile on his face. "Hey Rarity, what brings you here?" He asked, overjoyed that Rarity came to visit.

Rarity giggled, seeing her dragon friend so happy in the morning. "Good Morning, Spike; is Twilight in by any chance?" Rarity replied.

"Oh, yeah she's in, please come in," the green and purple drake said, inviting her into the castle.

Once inside, Rarity quickly found Twilight tucked away in the castle's library nose-deep in a book. "Twilight?" Rarity called out startling the princess a bit.

Twilight turned around and smiled. "Oh, hi Rarity," Twilight said as she closed the book she was reading. "What brings you here?" Twilight asked as Rarity adopted a more serious expression.

"Well, I didn't sleep well last night and was wondering if you could help," Rarity replied.

"I would if I could, but I don't know much about sleep aids, you might want to talk to Zecora, she knows more about that stuff than I do," Twilight said as Rarity shook her head.

"It's not that kind of problem, darling. I've been having weird dreams, I feel like I'm fully in control, but it seems like I'm able to dreamwalk," the alabaster unicorn said as Twilight nodded.

"I see," Twilight said as Rarity confided in her.

"The first time this happened, I entered a land full of muffins and Derpy was there, she called herself the queen, and then I was at Vinyl's concert before finding myself at Suri's fashion show where I used my magic to sabotage her," Rarity unloaded as Twilight listened.

"Well, the Derpy one may be you wanting to visit her or she may be opening a muffin shop, the Vinyl one may be telling you to be a little less upright," Twilight said before Rarity stared at her.

"Uptight? And what does that mean?" Rarity asked.

"I-I mean, maybe it's telling you to be a little less pompous," Twilight started to stutter a bit as Rarity giggled.

"I know what you meant, darling. Just wanted to rattle your chain a bit, so what about the Suri one?" Rarity said as Twilight smiled.

"Well the Suri one is self-explanatory, she did you wrong so you have some resentment, so it was you letting off steam," Twilight said as Rarity nodded.

"That does make sense, but what about the monster in the mirror that looked like me?" Rarity asked, making Twilight's ears perk up.

"A monster that looked like you? Could you give me more detail, please?" Twilight asked.

"Well, my coat was darker, like pitch black, my mane and tail were a lighter purple and flowing like Celestia's and Luna's," Rarity said as Twilight's eyes dilated.

"I may have an idea of what's going on, but I want to run a few tests. Are you ok with being hooked up?" Twilight asked as Rarity nodded.

"Whatever you need to do, darling. I just know I'm afraid to sleep now," Rarity said as Twilight left and came back with machines to monitor her sleep.

That night, Twilight monitored Rarity's sleep patterns, all seemed normal until she quickly wrote something down, she let Rarity sleep for as long as she could until Rarity started moving frantically. "Rarity, Rarity wake up," Twilight said as she shook Rarity's shoulder.

Rarity woke up gasping from fright, her horn lit as if ready to defend herself.

"Rarity, it's ok, you're in the castle," Twilight cooed, trying to comfort Rarity.

After a few minutes, Rarity took a deep breath. "I saw it again, the monster that looked like me, only this time it spoke to me," Rarity said as Twilight rubbed her back.

"It's ok, Rarity, you're safe now," Twilight said as she gently stepped away.

Rarity took a deep breath in, she slowly exhaled, and got out of the bed Twilight had her sleep in for the study. "So, what do your tests say?" Rarity asked as Twilight looked at the results.

"Well, it seems like you fell asleep within ten minutes, but soon after it appears you entered REM sleep," Twilight said.

"Oh, so is that normal?" Rarity asked, concern following her voice.

"The falling asleep in ten minutes, kinda, it depends on the pony, but it takes one to two hours to enter REM sleep and I only know one other pony that can enter REM sleep so quickly so we might ask her," Twilight replied as she answered her friend.

"Really, who?" Rarity asked with a surprised tone.

"It's Princess Luna, she could possibly help shed some light on this and she could possibly help decode your dreams more than I can," Twilight said as she had Spike take a letter, requesting an audience with the princess of the night.

As Spike sent off the letter, Twilight turned to Rarity. "You said the monster spoke to you, what did it say?" Twilight asked with idle curiosity.

Rarity's eyes widened as she remembered what it said, she shook with fear as she answered her friend. "Let me out,"