"Are you the dreamer, or merely part of someone else's dream?"
- Tweedle Dee, Through the Looking-Glass
Manehattan
Fluttershy paced back and forth, chewing on her lip anxiously. Her sudden case of nerves had nothing to do with where she was, which was quite shocked due to the fact that under any other set of circumstances she would have been huddled in a corner, whimpering. Rarity had chosen a truly magnificent penthouse for her base of operations. There was a tub big enough for 10 grown alicorns, a lounge with 5,000 bit furniture and some of Equestria's greatest examples of modern art decorating the walls. The bed had a mattress that made everyone sleepy by just looking at it and a thread coat that was in the quadruple digits.
The penthouse was also on the 134th story of Gallop Tower with a view of the entire city. The balcony hung out over the edge and even for Fluttershy, a pony born with wing, it was a dizzying height that would have left her trembling under normal circumstances.
But the yellow alicorn had other things on her mind, things that drove away her fear and left her more pressing issues to dominate her mindscape.
"You are sure?" Fluttershy asked.
Angel Bunny nodded, nose twitched as he let out a series of quick squeaks.
"Fluttershy, is everything alright?" Rarity asked, trotting into the room.
"Oh!" the buttercream mare exclaimed, leaping up a few inches off the group in surprise. "Rarity... you startled me."
"I am sorry, my dear!" Rarity said, patting her on the back. "I like to give out many things but frights are not one of them!" She flashed her friend a smile before trotting towards the couch, oozing onto it like syrup onto a flapjack. "And hello to you two, Angel! Would you like some carrot cake? I can have the chef make one up.”
The bunny just glared at her before hopping towards the door, sending Fluttershy a meaningful stare before making his leave. Rarity watched all this with a semi-amused expression.
"I still do not understand why you do not let us work our magic on that ill mannered cotton tail,” she said the moment Angel was out of earshot. “He would be much kinder to you.”
Fluttershy shook her head. "Oh, you just don't understand Angel Bunny like I do... he is very kind... in his own way." She smiled at Rarity. “Oh yes… very kind.”
"I'm sure," Rarity said dryly. "So, what did your spymaster tell you?"
The yellow alicorn frowned, running her tongue over her teeth. "I wish you wouldn't call him that... I hate to think of my sweet Angel as a 'spy'."
"But that is exactly what he is, my dear... he and all the animals are your spies, keeping tabs on ponies to make sure they behave themselves and don’t cause problems for the innocent. It isn't right to deny it... you'd have Applejack in a fit." Rarity's horn lit up and she grabbed a magazine from the table, flipping through it. "Lucky for you our dear Applejack isn't around."
"Yes... lucky," Fluttershy said.
"You know, perhaps we should visit her and make sure she is ok... I know she asked for some space to deal with her family and get them on our side, but I haven't heard from her in so long and it makes me worry so.” She shook her head sadly. “It isn’t right that were spend so much time apart. If it weren’t for that dreadful beast Doubt coming into Canterlot and causing you problems, you and I would have never seen each other. I suppose that is one thing to thank him for but still…” Rarity trailed off, turning the page in her magazine. “We are best friends, aren’t we? The six of us are so close… but we are all separated. Doubt corrupted Rainbow Dash and Twilight… and then there is Pinkie…” Rarity shifted. “I don’t mean to sound unkind but there is something a touch off about her, wouldn’t you agree?”
“Maybe,” Fluttershy said quietly, wishing Rarity would just stop talking and let her leave.
“But that is no excuse… and Applejack also being in the wind? It just isn’t right.” Rarity tossed her magazine aside and stood up. “The rebellion has been awfully quiet and with Cadence now behaving herself and growing warm to our view of things we could stand to take a few hours off. We could go find Applejack and make sure she is ok! A quick peek..."
"I don't think that is a good idea," Fluttershy said gently. "Applejack likes her space and it would be rude of us to intrude, especially if she asked us to leave her be. I wouldn’t want to upset her… she asked to talk to her family by herself and you know how stubborn Apples can be…"
"Of course you are right," Rarity sighed. "Still, I can't help but worry..." She licked her lips, giving Fluttershy a look of concern. "Angel didn't bring bad news, did he?"
"Oh... uh... yes, and by that I mean no... but also yes..."
"Fluttershy, you are speaking in riddles."
"He came to tell me there was no news," she said, puffing out her chest a bit. "Which is good, because it means the rebellion isn’t doing anything bad, but it is also bad because we don't know if they are secretly planning something. So it is good and bad… it is good and that isn’t bad… but it is bad and that’s not good…right?"
"Ah, yes, I see what you mean... that is a rather thorny rose." Rarity smiled, stretching like a cat. "Do not worry, I am sure Angel will bring back something for you soon enough... then we can give the rebellion exactly what they deserve."
"Of course," Fluttershy said quickly.
Returning her attention to her magazine, Rarity failed to notice Fluttershy head into the guest bedroom... and use her magic to teleport away.
~MC~MC~MC~
"Faith, stop!" Clyde exclaimed, straining to hold the enraged stallion back. Cadence had managed to jump out of the way of Faith's first tackle, but the second sent had sent her sprawling on the ground. It had only been the quick thinking of Clyde that had kept the silver alicorn from cutting the pink princess into ribbons with his metal wings. "Faith, we are not your enemy!" The farmer struggled, the alicorn struggling to break free and attack Cadence.
The lord of the gray snarled at Clyde’s attempt to calm him. "I don't who you are but I will not let that monster near my family!" He reared back, his eyes flashing, and when he and Clyde spun around the farmer was startled by the sight: Trixie no longer looked like Trixie. Oh, there were elements of the mare, like the white hair and her shimmering eyes... but her coat was purple and her mane was cut in a simple but recognizable style.
"Did I just see what I thought I saw?" Apple Bloom said in confusion, rubbing her eyes.
Granny Smith nodded as she helped Cadence asked. "I saw it do, little miss! Trixie there done body swapped or… somethin’."
Pinkie leapt at Faith, wrapping her body around his head, a huge grin on her face. "We are in Faith's mind so of course his visions are going to be the strongest!"
"That doesn't explain why Trixie looks like Twilight," Sue stated, pushing Inkie and Blinkie away from the warring stallions, wishing Pinkie would stop face-hugging Faith. "Or Twilight looks like Trixie... or the two of them are merged, or-"
"Doesn't it?" Inkie asked. “If he loves them both…”
“Have his cake and eat it too,” Blinkie finished.
“There’s cake?” Pinkie asked. “WHOA!” Faith began to buck. “Nevermind, cake will have to wait!”
"You will not hurt them!" Faith roared, reminding them all that they had bigger concerned. His horn glowed and Pinke was forced to slip down to avoid the blasts.
"Faith!" Cadence shouted, bravely approaching the bucking stallion as he tried to dislodge Clyde and Pinkie. She could feel the magic pouring off of him and she ignored the tingle in the back of her head the warned her that dying here might kill her in the real world. She saw the rage and the terror in Faith’s eyes and knew there was only one way she could snap him out of it. "Doubt is crazy."
The silver alicorn froze.
"That's right," Cadence said gently, speaking low and softly like she was addressing an injured dog. Faith stood a still as stone, staring at her in confusion. "Doubt didn't like being called crazy... it made her go nuts. And yet I am saying it... crazy, crazy, crazy. She is nuts, pyscho, mad..." Cadence took another step forward. “Am I acting like Doubt? Do I feel like Doubt? If you close your eyes would you think I was Doubt?”
Faith panted like he had just ran a marathon and Trixie (who returned to her normal colors), took a few steps forward, their son peaking at the newcomers from the safety of her back. "Faith..." Trixie said quietly, looking as shellshocked as him, "I think it’s really her."
"It... it can't be," Faith said, his voice strained. "I... I watched her take your body..."
"And she still has it," Cadence said, using her magic to fully free Pinkie from his face. She took another step forward, her nose grazing Faith's. Clyde slowly eased up his grip. "You need to focus... your brain is muddled and you are not thinking clearly" Faith shook his head but when he opened his eyes Cadence was still standing there, looking at him with the same bright eyes. "Faith, how did you get here?"
"What?"
"How did you get here? How did you and..." Cadence glanced at 'Trixie', who was once more looking like a blend of Twilight and herself. "...Trixie get here? How did you end up in this meadow?"
Faith's brow scrunched up. "I... I don't..."
"What is this place? I've never seen a meadow so beautiful... what city is it near?" Faith opened his mouth but Cadence just kept pressing him. "How long have you been here? When are you leaving? Where are you going after you leave? Where did you come from?"
"I... I don't know," Faith whispered, the sky cracking apart and clouds exploding into a fine mist. "I... there was Laughter... Laughter..." his jaw clenched in anger. "She tricked us... trapped us..." the grass began to soar up into the sky like fireworks and the mountains that surrounded them melted into puddles. "This... this isn't real... none of it is- no." Faith rushed towards Trixie. "NO!"
Trixie turned, letting out a scream as her dream child flicked in and out of existence. The foal didn't act scared though, still curled up on her back, gumming his little hoof, staring at his parents as they cried out. Trixie tried to grasp him with her magic, only to find he had no real solid form to hold onto.
"Nononononono!" Trixie wailed, desperately trying to take hold of her fading baby. "Don't go... please don't..." She turned wild eyes to Faith, tears shimmering in her eyes. "Please...”
"I… I…” Faith froze up, staring at Trixie’s back.
His son let out a little yawn… before fading away.
The blue unicorn let out a wail that pierced the sky and made the earth tremble. The others were shaken by the sheer pain of the scream, their hearts feeling as if they had been ripped from their chests as Trixie broke down in sobs. Faith stood dumbfounded, staring at her back as if he expected the little foal to pop back into existence at any moment.
Pinkie slowly fluttered over to the silver abstract, patting him on the shoulder. "You ok?" She knew it was a stupid question to ask and she felt such self-loathing the moment the words left her mouth… but she didn’t know what else to say.
"No," Faith said softly, his head lowered to the ground. All around him the meadow was being torn to shreds, its matter becoming a swirl cosmos that represented his chaotic mind, freed finally from Laughter's grasp.
"Faith..." Clyde began, only to find himself tongue tied. This wasn’t what they had expected… what any of them had expected. A battle, a war, a fight to the death… all of that would have been better than this.
"He... he wasn’t real," Cadence said, breaking the silence. Faith turned towards her, utter pain written on his face. Behind him Trixie still cried, ignoring Sue and the sisters as they tried to offer her comfort. "The foal... he's just an illusion.. one of Laughter’s tricks."
Faith squeezed his eyes shut and salt water fell from the heavens. He stared at Cadence and, with five little words, destroyed any other comment any of the group had.
"He was real to me."
Tears fell from Faith’s eyes as the world went to hell around him. Cadence hurried over and hugged him, letting the broken abstract sob on her shoulder.
“He was real to me.”
The most difficult, painful chapter I've had to write. I knew how it had to end but I fought it every step. I came up with different ways, happier ways, twist ends and last minute surprises... but none of them worked. I knew what the strongest ending to this chapter had to be and I could not call myself an author if I didn't take it.
I hate myself for it, but I had to honor the narrative... and take it as a challenge to find a way to make things right.
Laughter is going to die painfully and Pinkie is going to replace her, calling it now.
2317801 Whatever you had in mind, make it 100x more and then it will be sufficient.
So i have this nagging feeling that Rarity and Fluttershy will be the toughest to convert back. Especially Rarity...
2317801 There isn't a place in hell or tarturtus for her now. We have to make our own eternal prison for her.
This chapter was painful when I realized what happened, but maybe you should add a few more sentences to really emphasize that Faith and Trixie had a son in the delusion, because I honestly did not even realize Faith was fighting for his "family" until his son disappeared so the impact was lessened a lot. Or is that what you were going for?
Poor Faith. When you are trapped in an illusion like this one, anything and everything seems to be real even though it is not. I feel so sad and sorry for the poor guy.
Also, it's very interesting how Faith seems to love Trixie, but is confused about his feelings for Twilight. It is apparent, however, that he loves Trixie over Twilight even just by a little bit (at the moment that is). Guess he still needs to figure out his feelings for the two mares.
Another thing, Fluttershy was hiding something from Rarity. Based on how Angel was acting, something serious is about to happen. Otherwise, Fluttershy wouldn't have lied to Rarity and she wouldn't have teleported away. I'm guessing that Angel told Fluttershy about what's happening in Ponyville and she is leaving to go try and deal with it herself?
Excellent chapter as usual, and I will be here to read and review the next one.
- Super-Brony12
2317838
I think that has to do with the fact that they are both best friends and very close, so even if their other friends turn on them and say change back, they can still gain the strength to resist by reassuring each other that they are doing the right thing. So either they need to be convinced at the same time, or isolate one and change her, then the other will fall easily
Sometimes emotional pain can leave a nastier scar than any physical pain is ever able to do. I don't know if it fits to say that in this situation, but I don't know what else to say...
If you keep running with the "For the Man Who Has Everything" reference, Laughter is in for the beating of a life time.
I'm getting serious "For the Man Who Has Everything" vibes here.
2317825 Some kind of an epic defenestration? With explosions?
Laughter -- that wasn't funny.
I think the hardest part on the abstract(Laughter) will be when Pinkie Pie forgives her.
2317776
Just like Bruce Wayne how he had his 'perfect world' only to be revealed it is a fake by the Mad-hatter (where he uses the saying of Tweedle Dee actually)... nice use of that saying btw
Yep, Laughter is so going to get a beatdown for this, a thousand times over. Doing a Wonderland-theme craziness is one thing, but this is just cruel beyond all reasons. Well, there is always a chance he can get a family he always wanted in the real world, so he shouldn't give up hope on that regard.
And, I must admit, I am rather curious about Fluttershy myself. Personally, I got this feeling she is figuring everything out on her own, with the animals' help of course. However, I am not completely sure, so I just have to wait and find out.
WOW.
Umm...
WOW.
Laughter... just.... you're sick.
2317801 I think most of us made that call when we found out she had Pinkie tied up in her bed for months.
Also, I can only hope that the Trixie is Faith's mind is the real one. Otherwise that puts the idea into my mind that Faith defauted the mother of his child to trixie over Twilight. Meaning he cares more for her than Twilight. Something I would fail to get, considering their history. So much goin through my head about the whole Faith-Twi-Trixie mess. I only hope one of those ideas doesn't turn out to happen.
Another great chapter though.
2317801 I'm thinking Trixie will be the replacement, since Scoots got Loyalty, I mean Trixie has all the elements now she just needs to loose the proud attitude.
2317825
Something like this, preferably all at once.
2318367
Yup, the eternal ones.
Laughter you've just sealed your fate!
Death to the evil one prepare to die!
Also I don't think Fluttershy's hiding something from Rarity. Considering Rarity is esentially the leader and Fluttershy the follower I think she needs to go next, if not Fluttershy will be a lot harder to deal with.
2318466>>2318150
Kindness is directly related to Honesty and Faith... so she might have the instinct that Faith and Honesty are up to something, or even have the consciences to see that she has been tricked by the real Doubt... Generosity looks like a pompous twat, like Loyalty was.... and Laughter, "there are worse things than death itself"... I hope that abstract gets punishment beyond belief itself
And for Faith... even though it may have been a dream, it can become a reality... so hang in there
2318482 I think Pinkie Pie would learn to handle her powers in time. If not the other abstracts like Scootaloo will hopefully keep her in line.
2317869
I believe the details were provided last chapter.
Now Laughter's going to get it....HARD!!!
If I was laughter I would be worried and scared now that Faith broke out of his trance.
Great update and nice idea of Catching up on Fluttershy and Rarity, I cannot wait to see what happens when they learn the true story of what happen to Applejack and the others...
Please do keep putting up the great storyline of yours.
the feelz man, they hit me hard.
For this part... I am getting some severe 'The Force Unleashed' vibes, and it was locked in as soon as he said "he was real to me", that just set off what Starkiller said "It was real to me!" in my head
Requiem for a Dream anyone?
This was a strong chapter, the ending was painful but it works well into the story. It shows what Faith found important and the impact it has on him is a painful one; for this and the whole trapping everyone in their minds I really hope Laughter gets what's coming to it.
One of the chapters to make me question myself.
Not because it affected me emotionally, but because I didn't care.
I know I'm gonna get tons of hate for this, but... This chapter felt particularly weak to me. I understand that there were lots of feels for everyone else, but the only things that really were important to me in this chapter were that they now have contact with Faith and the others and that Faith has a reason to smear Laughter across Equestria like butter upon toast. Oh, and that Fluttershy is being a bit suspicious. I'm more curious about what she's thinking than any feeling about anything else from this chapter. Maybe the nonexistent baby didn't really matter to me because I skimmed through it or because I saw similar literary devices elsewhere. My brother is rushing me off the laptop, so I suppose I'll read it more thoroughly later...
Unfortunately for our plucky heroes, schadenfreude is a form of laughter.
I thought this chapter was... interesting. Have you ever had a dream where you became emotionally involved with, or even started crying, but when you woke up you found the situation in which you cried ridiculous, or maybe didn't even remember the dream itself?
Here I am reminded of the Sloth Demon encounter from Dragon Age: Origins. Sloth essentially created a perfect paradise for each member, bringing out the one thing that would make them complacent. Most were fooled by the visions, a couple saw through them, but this one actually embraced it, knowing it was a lie.
This chapter made me raise an eyebrow, not gonna lie.
I'll be right back.
I need to go outside and lay in the grass and silently shed some mannly tears.
A few typos:
- ground
- too
-we've?
In my opinion, those are the cruelest words you can ever say to someone. Period. I know that feeling of abject self loathing one gets after writing something like this all too well. After a while, you learn to live with it. That or refuse to ever write again. I believe what Faith said about the child works best to describe it. "He was real to me."
2320787 In addition...
He doesn't what?
2333355
The choice is simple: Accept the typos or no story. I have a full time job and I am a novelist... all my energy is poured into proofreading THAT story. This is something I do for fun. Do I wish it were perfect, of course! But I do not have the time to commit to it.
As for proofreader. every proofreader ends up either dropping off the face of the Earth, leaving me with no chapter, taking 20 days to get around to my chapter, or attempt to rewrite the entire story because they hate my style.
So sorry, but the errors will be there. I make for it by updating fast (is there any author on this site that updates as fast as me? I thought there was one, but can't remember)
2318303
Now you have me thinking what will happen to those foolish enough to hurt someone dear to both Faith and The Doctor.
The fury of a timelord and the rage of the abstract...
it is a terrifying thought.
2333427
Thats how I see it. Honestly Defender..write your story. SO WHAT if a few typos or errors get out. You're a great writer supplying all of us leeches here with quality. The errors will get fixed and any of those grammar idiots out ther who want to rant and rave about a few errors when you do otherwise excellent work can just quiet up.
Keep it up, I Seirously love this story
2318117
Um, which episode of "The Animated Series" was that? The only "Dream" two dream episodes I remember were the Scarecrow's doing.
*Edit* Also, Laughter is dead. She just doesn't know it yet.
Ow
My heart
What's this?
It appears as though I am sobbing
Oh, hello feels. Didn't see you there. Would you like to come in and make me tear up?
Silly Faith. He will be real. He's just haven't been conceived yet. This place might be an illusion - or might be your vision of the future. It's your choice what it will be.
Well Laughter, you had good run, but it's time to die now. You will be sorely missed...or misted, depending on how Faith's feeling. He's not doing so well, i'd imagine.
Methinks a certain pink Alicorn it's about to be reduced to Oblivion...