Dreams of Loyalty

by Professor Coruptus

Chapter 2

Dreams of Loyalty Chapter 2

In which Pinkie clarifies a few things, and Dash is sick.

“So wait, you knew about Dash’s nightmares the whole time an’ you didny tell nopony?” Applejack asked as they entered into the library. The three had decided to take a break from the farm work and to head back to Twilight’s abode after collecting Spike from the confused and concerned Apple family members he was attempting to distract. They had decided on the library; both so that they could discuss the matter of Rainbow’s nightmare privately, and so Twilight could cope with the problem the way she coped with almost every problem, research it.

“I didn’t think it had gotten this bad!” Pinkie replied, “I only saw Dashie napping on her clouds a few times last week, but when she woke up she seemed okay and when I tried to ask about it she just said she had it covered and not to worry about it, and like I said I haven’t even seen her for a few days. I’ve been super busy with party planning all this week, I mean do you even know how many foals are born in the early spring? It’s like the most busiest time of the year for birthday parties! Plus, she hasn’t been in her usual napping in places even when I did get some time off.”

“I remember reading that where a pony sleeps can have a big effect on what she dreams about. She probably took to sleeping in new places to try get rid of her nightmare,” Twilight added as she began perusing through her shelves. “Spike, where is that copy of "Lullabies and Lucid Dreams: a Study of Sleep?”

“That was the book you rented out to Rainbow Dash,” The baby dragon answered as he hopped off her back.

Twilight blinked and then blushed in embarrassment. “Oh yeah, hehe…”

Spike sighed and shook his head. He often wondered why she was the librarian when he was the one who kept track of all the books.

“Well do ya have any other books about dreamin’? Ah don’ think Dash is gettin’ much help from tha’ one anyway.”

The “librarian” shook her head. “No, that was the only book on the subject we had in the Ponyville library. I remember now because that was all we could find for Dash when she asked for it.”

The purple dragon scratched his head. “So why did you go looking for it again?”

Twilight’s blush deepened a little. “Well I’m not used to having somepony else check out the book I’m looking for. It’s not like anypony here ever checks out anything other than those ridiculous fiction books! I mean what good did that shlop ever do anypony?”

“Oh? So you weren’t up reading 'The Little Seapony' all last night?” Spike countered with a sly grin.

“That is a literary classic. It can hardly be lumped together with the fanciable twaddle that passes for fiction these days. Like those ridiculous Japonies comic books or ‘that series which shall not be named.’” The unicorn growled through gritted teeth.

“Oh come on you could share a name with worse things.” Spike pointed out.

As the two began arguing about contents of the Ponyville fiction section (again,) Pinkie and Applejack decided it best to retreat to the kitchen until they had calmed down. Wordlessly they agreed to begin making some tea as it always seemed to calm Twilight down whenever she threw herself into a tizzy about literature.

After a few minutes spent trying to find where Spike had hidden the teakettle, Applejack noticed a distinct lack of the impromptu musical numbers which seemed to spring up whenever Pinkie Pie entered a kitchen. Turning to look at the usually talkative and bouncy pony she was surprised to see Pinkie not only quietly; but also slowly hunting around in the cupboards for the sugar and other additives. Thinking back, she recalled that Pinkie had actually walked the whole way back to the library as well.

“Hey ah, Pinks? Ya okay?”

“I’m fine,” Pinkie said simply as she continued to riffle through the cupboards and drawers. Applejack scowled. She was beginning to dislike that phrase today.

After finding and filling the teakettle and setting it over the heat, Applejack moved closer to her balloon flanked friend.

“Ya sure don’ seem like yer… fine,” she said carefully. Pinkie’s hair was still bright and poufy, but there was something wrong with the way she was moving. She looked… heavy.

“Really Applejack I’m okay, I’m just…” Pinkie’s shoulders tensed as her voice trailed off. Applejack came to a stop beside her usually open and cheery party pony, but the mare turned her head away so the farmpony couldn’t’ see her face.

“Yer’ jus’… what?”

“I’m just STUPID!” Pinkie yelled, slamming her hooves angrily down onto the counter and startling Applejack into taking a step back. “I shouldn’t have believed her when she said she was okay! I should have known better! I should have told you girls about it, I should have…” Pinkie’s voice choked in her throat as hot tears began rolling down her cheeks.

Applejack quickly grabbed the frantic mare by the hooves and turned her to face the Stetson clad earth pony.

“Hey, easy there Sugar Cube. Ain’t nopony blaming you fer any o’ this.” The blond mare tried to give her a comforting smile. “It ain’t yer fault.”

“But it is my fault!” Pinkie argued, tears streaming from her shining sky blue eyes. “She was always there for me when I needed her. Even when I tried to push her away! But when she needed somepony I… I just let her go…” Her eyes fell as her voice choked again. Some of her hair began to flatten and her coat seemed to darken a bit in color.

“Hey, come on now.” Applejack put a hoof under the now almost magenta pony’s chin and brought it up to look at the other mare face to face. “Blamin’ yerself ain’t gonna help anypony.” Then she gave a nervous smile. “Plus, Ah don’ think Ah can handle two friends acting so plum out o’ character in one day.”

“I’m completely in character,” Pinkie sniffed as she wiped an eye. “I just happen to be a bit deeper into character then I usually am. ...Or maybe I went so deep I'm into another character, ” she added with a confused look.

“Well Ah don’t rightly think I know what you’re talking about Pinkie Pie, so I reckon that’s a good sign,” Applejack chuckled. “But Ah do know tha’ we’re gonna need ya if we’re gonna help Dash. You being the element of laughter an’ all Ah expect ye’ll be able to giggle away what’s scaring her same as ye did with them there trees when we all first all got together.” She punctuated her statement with an enthusiastic wave of the hoof.

Pinkie smiled sadly. Her mane was still a bit flatter than usual, but was keeping most of its curl. It looked strangely a bit like Fluttershy’s usual hair style.

“Ghosties are one thing, nightmares are entirely different.”

“Well didn’ ch’yer Granny Pie teach ya any tricks to get rid of those?”

Pinkies smile became a bit more genuine at the mention of her family. “Well… kind of. But I think the best lesson I ever got on the subject came from Dash.”

“Beg yer pardon?”

“Well, I didn’t know it was Dashie at the time.” Pinkie Pie giggled. “It was when she did her first ever Sonic Rainboom. Didn’t I ever tell you how I got my cutie mark?”

“Yeah Ah remember, ya’ll were working on yer families farm when Dash’s rainboom nearly blew ya clean off yer feet. Then ya saw her rainbow an’ that cheered ya up so much ya threw yer first party.”
Pinkie shook her head with a soft smile on her lips.

“It didn’t just cheer me up, Applejack. It was the first time I had ever felt so wonderfully happy. We lived just under Cloudsdale, so the sky was always dark and overcast. My family’s always made it’s living selling and refining rocks and minerals specifically for the pegasus ponies that lived there. We’ve always had a steady income even if it is a bit meager at times, but-”

“Wait, ya mean yer family actually does own a rock farm?” the cowpony interrupted.

“Ohm, yeah? What, did you all think I was making it up for sympathy or something?”

“No it’s just… Well, Ah don’ think anypony’s ever heard of a rock farm before ‘round these parts.”

Pinkie Pie just waved her hoof dismissively.

“Trust me, there’s a certain level of demand in an airborne city for minerals and weights of specific size and density. Especially with how strong the winds can get up there.”

“Oh… I reckon tha’ does make sense.”

“Yeah, but anyway, because we lived in a constantly overcast area everything was always really dull and grey. The only sun we got was during the mornings and evenings, and those always made everything look kind of dull and orange. Everything was always dull! I think that kind of atmosphere really got to my parents, because they were always really dull too, and super serious. It was like the joy and happiness was sucked up by constantly dark sky. Of course I didn’t really realize that at the time, since my sisters and I grew up with it.”

Pinkies eyes glazed over as her hair and color went back to normal and a small smile crept over her lips. Not a smile Applejack had ever seen on the sugar buzzed mare either. This was a gentle smile, the kind of smile that most older mares get when they think back to their wedding day.

“And then Rainbow Dash blew it all away. Literally, she must have blasted away part of the outside edge of Cloudsdale! Suddenly, I could see all the colors around me for the very first time! But what was most super amazing of all was the sky. It was so wonderfully blue, and Dashie’s Rainbow was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen! I had never felt joy like that before, not ever! After that I tried throwing my very first party for my family so that they could feel happy too, and… the rest is history.”

Pinkie gave a contented sigh as she let the memory wash over her. Applejack, meanwhile, had a renewed appreciation for her story, now that she understood some of the finer details.

“Gee, Pinkie Pie, I’m awful sorry I didn’t believe yer story before. Ah thought ya was just spoutin’ off some random hooey.”

“Aww, it’s okay Applejack,” Pinkie Pie giggled. “Though it is a lot more believable then you talking like a Manehatten.”

The farm pony quirked an eye brow.

“Why darling, why ever would you ever believe that I could not speak like a proper and sophisticated lady? Why your very inference of such a thing is outright scandalous.” Applejack said, with such exaggerated theatrics that even Rarity would call her corny.

Pinkie’s expression was priceless as she gawked at the yellow earth pony. Applejack managed to hold back her smile for about thirty seconds, and soon she and Pinkie were in a fit of giggles as the teakettle began to whistle.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“No!”

Rainbow Dash shot up from her bed, once again panicked and drenched in a cold sweat. As she began to take in her surroundings she felt her stomach churn and she doubled over.

Her head swimming, she quickly drug herself to her bathroom and deposited the remains of the apples she had eaten earlier in the toilet. Resting her face against the side of the cool porcelain, tears of frustration and pain streamed from her rose colored eyes.

The nightmare was getting worse every time. This time she woke up still feeling ghosts of the agony that had wracked her body within the horrific dream. Her body felt like she had just competed in six Iron Pony competitions. Every muscle ached and her wings felt like they were made of lead, but worst of all was the icy-cold feeling in the pit of her stomach that seemed to be creeping up into her chest.

Her head pounded as she whispered prayer after prayer to Celestia, Luna, Discord, anypony who would listen to help her. Then, to her horror, she realized her world was growing dark again as the adrenaline left her body.

Fresh tears streamed down her face and she slid down to lay on her side as what little strength she had left was drained away by the oppressing darkness. She could hear the announcer’s voice becoming clearer as he said those words, those terrible, horrifying words.

“Fillies and Gentlecolts, welcome to the Wonderbolts national try outs!”

Authors note,
For those of you wondering how toilets in cloud homes work, it’s magic. I don’t have to explain everything. ;P

Comments

[Appleloosa2011]

5 stars.

more!

[Knight Fire]

More please!

[Bloodyfeather23]

More!!!

[Castel]

Not toilets, mind you, just porcelain toilets.
I mean, talking ponies and a dragon living inside a tree that also happens to be a library? Yeah, that's ok. Porcelain toilets in the clouds? Well, that's just silly.

[MLPDavester]

MOAR!! this story has me glued, must have more!

[Hidden Secret]

toilets? magic (snort )(snort)

[IraqLobstah]

If this ends up being a story about
Dash getting worked up about losing the tryouts for the Wonderbolts or being humiliated,
im going back slap you.

Twice.

Cheers
~iraqlobstah

[Whatsup818]

those must be some horrifying dreams if it's making her physically sick and in agony! Poor Dashie.

140279
Pretty sure that there's more to it than that, seeing as it was already implied that her friends were killed during the last dream sequences. Of course, the more pressing question is what's causing them; as in, is it backstory/unresolved traumas or an outside force. I'm rooting for unresolved trauma, since outside interference is usually used as a cop out, but if done well it can be really interesting. I eagerly await the next update.

Poor rainbow :C

Having gone through a rather bad 'episode' of being unable to sleep/being unable to avoid falling to sleep, this is actually very well written.

The one gripe that i have is that unless she's falling unconscious she wouldn't be seeing black-it's a lot more like thoughts just kind of slow down. But hey, the fading into blackness thing is much better for drama so whatever

Not really qualified to be a critic anyway ~~

Poor rainbow :C

Having gone through a rather bad 'episode' of being unable to sleep/being unable to avoid falling to sleep, this is actually very well written.

The one gripe that i have is that unless she's falling unconscious she wouldn't be seeing black-it's a lot more like thoughts just kind of slow down. But hey, the fading into blackness thing is much better for drama so whatever

Not really qualified to be a critic anyway ~~141997

In my experience, anyway

[Silverstein]

The same way it works in a plane.

"Look out below!" Or "If I flush this toilet over foreign territory, is it considered an act of war?"

The comedic timing and puns are excellent breaks in the tensity of Dash's situation.

Moving along!

Silver out!

[BloodLustShade]

I love this. I was reading a god-awful story earlier, so this is doing wonders for my soul.