In Dreams

by Withoutwords

ch. o1 - Worlds and Minds Apart

Twilight yawned her way through the walk to Sugar Cube Corner, feeling as though she hadn't slept at all. She definitely needed to write to Princess Celestia about those dreams of hers.

“Twilight, are you okay?” Spike asked, trotting along beside her. Normally she would carry him, but she felt too tired to bear the extra weight.

“Just tired,” she assured him, mustering up a smile as they reached the bakery. “I'm sure some cinnamon buns will perk me right up.”

“If you say so...” Spike said with obvious doubt, hurrying ahead to hold the door open for her. She stopped to nuzzle him in thanks before stepping inside.

“Good morning, Twilight,” Mrs. Cake greeted her, hurrying past with Pumpkin on her back and three boxes stacked on her head. “The others are up in Pinkie's room- you go on up, and I'll bring you some tea.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Cake,” Twilight said, trying her best to put some pep in her walk as she crossed the dining area.

The stairs proved almost insurmountable, and she had to stop no less than three times to rest before she made it to the second floor.

She must look at least as tired as she felt, because she'd barely stepped into Pinkie's room before Rarity was beside her, telling her she looked simply awful.

“I'm fine, really,” Twilight insisted. “I just didn't sleep well last night.”

“Sweetie, you haven't been sleeping well for weeks,” Rarity pointed out, helping her to a plump cushion and gently making her lie down on it. “I swear, you look worse and worse every time I see you.”

“I'm not that bad,” Twilight said, laughing faintly. “Am I?”

“Hate to break it to ya, sugar cube, but you are. Maybe you oughta nap a bit.”

“I don't think that'll help much,” Twilight admitted. “Mrs. Cake said she'd send up some tea- maybe that will do me some good.”

“Mrs. Cake does make amazing tea,” Pinkie Pie agreed, dragging a blanket over Twilight and tucking her in like a baby before pushing a pillow under her chin. “But when you're tired, you should sleep! That's what Granny Pie always used to say, and she was right! I always sleep when I'm tired, and then I'm not tired anymore!”

Twilight smiled in spite of herself, unable to argue with that logic. “Spike, could you go tell Mrs. Cake we won't need that tea for a bit?” she suggested. “Then you can play with Pumpkin and Pound.”

“Sounds good to me,” Spike said, nodding. “You will let me know if you need me, though, right?”

Twilight nodded, smiling until the sound of Spike's footsteps faded down the stairwell. Then she sighed, laying her head down completely. “Sleeping really won't help,” she said. “I've been having... weird dreams.”

“Are they... scary dreams?” Pinkie asked, glancing around as if mentioning a scary dream might make it come true.

“No, not really,” Twilight said. “I mean... they should be scary, but they aren't. It's almost like I'm somepony else in them. Someone very different, and he scares me.”

“You dream you're a stallion?”

“No, he's not a stallion. I don't think he's even a pony,” Twilight said. She wiggled slightly out of the blanket, lifting her dream journal from her saddle bag. “I've got it all written down in here, and I drew references of some of the things,” she explained, setting the book down and opening it.

“Ain't that just like you,” Applejack said, settling next to Twilight. “Takin' notes on your dreams and all.”

Twilight didn't bother feeling embarrassed, just smiled as Rarity sat to her other side and Pinkie Pie flopped on top of Applejack so she could see, too.

The open page was mostly sketches of a single creature, a being she saw often. It was gaunt, with a flattish face unlike anything she'd ever seen in the waking world and ash-gray skin. It stood on two legs, with long arms ending in thin digits.

“This is Ezik. I get the sense he follows whoever I am in the dream and serves him very faithfully, and he's really not as scary as he looks...”

---

The sun simmered on the horizon, a thin sliver of blood-red light. Though it burned his eyes and made them water, Ezik stopped for a moment to watch the dying day.

As a child, Ezik had been safely kept in the deepest caverns of the great palace, far from the surface and the sun. He had been the offspring of lowly courtiers, heir to a bought title and no resources to speak of, and he had not thought himself too important to speak to the slaves. They had told him of the surface world and the glories it held, where Ezik's kind couldn't safely go. Of sunsets, birds, great oceans and storms and so many things, and he had longed to see them.

The sun slipped out of sight, lost until dawn. It took a long moment for its afterimage, seared into Ezik's eyes, to fade. He sighed, wishing it had stayed longer, just another heartbeat or two.

“You'll blind yourself if you keep doing that.”

Ezik turned, smiling, but did not bow. When they were alone, he stood on no ceremony with his Lord- Moloch had made it clear Ezik was his friend first and his retainer only after. “Did you sleep well, Dread Lord?”

“It's too cold up here for anyone to sleep well,” Moloch said, snorting derisively. “I trust you would have woken me if there had been news?”

Ezik nodded, sighing. Moloch's face was too handsome to wear such a scowl. “All I can say is they've gained no lead over us.”

“And we've gained no lead on them,” Moloch replied, his tail lashing angrily against the moss. “Wake the moss-runners and tell them to break camp. We'll eat as we go.”

Ezik nodded, slipping across the rocks and down toward the temporary dens and the mounds of fresh-turned earth protecting them. He knew his Lord and the others were unhappy being away from the caverns, but he personally dreaded the day their quarry was caught. He would miss the open air and all its magnificent dangers.