Sadie is blessed with the gift of lucid dreaming. When she goes to sleep, she creates her own world of imagination. And what kind of lucid-dreaming pegasister would visit any other place but Equestria?
Sadie Anon is a fifteen-year-old that has trained herself to lucid dream. When she goes to sleep, she is able to create a world of imagination, friendship, and magic.
What kind of lucid-dreaming pegasister would visit any other place but Equestria?
My name is Sadie Anon and I'm a pegasister. Or a brony, if you prefer that. Just know that I love My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.
I'm in ninth grade and I live in the United States of America. Actual Equestria would be a thousand times better, but I guess the United States isn't all that bad. All I know is that the U.S. isn't the worst place to live right now. I wouldn't say it's the best, either, but... you get my point.
However, I do have my petty teenage problems. I don't have a boyfriend, but that's alright. Heck, I'm only fifteen. I don't need a boyfriend yet, right? Right. That's what I keep on telling myself, at least.
My grades are pretty good. I manage straight A's-- even in Math. Math is my least favorite subject, you see. I understand it, it's just so boring. I like to apply myself creatively, and you can't really do that in Math. It just seems to be formula after formula. To me, at least, it's awful.
Who's Best Pony, you ask? Well, I have a few answers to that question. Twilight Sparkle has always been my favorite of the Mane 6 and I cheered her on when she became a princess. My favorite Cutie Mark Crusader is absolutely Apple Bloom (she's just so cute!) and my favorite background pony would have to be Octavia. Now, I'm certainly no musician, but I certainly have an appreciation for all kinds musicians, and I've always loved Classical Music, especially. My favorite villain? Why, Discord of course! I love him both as a villain and "reformed." It would be a lie to say that I didn't have a bit of a crush on Discord. Oops.
You'd think being obsessed with a show about friendship would help your social life, right? Wrong. I guess you could say I have some sort of friends, but things have really changed since moving to the High School. I sit with a few girls at lunch, and talk to them if we have the same class, but we certainly couldn't represent the Elements of Harmony or something. My best friend-- I guess you could call her that-- named Anna seems to be too concerned with her boyfriend, Alexander, to ever be concerned with me. The worst part, is that I have a crush on him. (What? I think it's fine to have both a cartoon and real-life crush!) I try to be nice, I really, really do, but sometimes it's hard when your entire lunch table starts chanting "Annaxander! Annaxander!" Anna doesn't seem to even notice that it bothers me! We'd been best friends since third grade, but I guess people change. I became a brony, and she became a bitch.
Oh, and it seems I forgot to mention that none of my friends-- or anyone at school-- know that I'm a pegasister. The only people that do know are are my mom, my dad, and my 12-year-old brother, Zack. My grandparents on both sides know, but they just think that I'm a little girl that likes My Little Ponies; they have no idea that the fandom even exists. My parents aren't exactly supportive of my bronydom, but they're not exactly against it, either. They'll get me a pony here and there for my birthday or Christmas, but they certainly wouldn't attend BronyCon or something with me. Zack makes fun of me for liking the Show and being a part of the Fandom, but I've seen his internet history-- he's watched more than a few episodes without me. (He totally loves it-- he just won't admit it!)
Outside of school, I have a few hobbies, most of them pony-related. I love to write and read fan fiction, as well as discuss the show in MLP Forums. I occasionally doodle ponies, though I must admit that I'm not the best artist out there; I just do it for fun.
Hobbies are fun and all, but my favorite thing in the world... is sleep. Now, this might sound silly at first, but I can lucid dream. At the age of twelve, around the time I joined the Brony Fandom, I saw this analysis video of the episode "Sleepless in Ponyville." This episode and the review got me thinking: is it really possible to be aware that your dreaming? I started reading more and more about the subject, learned it was called "Lucid Dreaming," and trained myself to do it. I started to keep a dream journal, and through the WILD (Wake Induced Lucid Dreaming) Method, I was able to do it. By the age of fourteen, I was a pro-lucid-dreamer. I knew I was dreaming, so I set up my own perfect dream reality. I could summon people, dream characters, and I could interact with them. A month or so ago, in August, I got an absolutely amazing idea: Why not visit Equestria in my dreams? I mean, living in the World of Equestria is every brony or pegasister's dream, and I could do it! I got to work.
Now, visiting Equestria in my dreams was a bit of a challenge at first. I wanted an authentic experience, you see. I didn't want to control every aspect of these dreams, because I wanted to interact with the world realistically; I did want these characters to be, you know, in character, though.I wanted to be able to interact with them like real people-- or real ponies, I suppose. It was a good thing I started writing fan fiction when I was thirteen, and soon became and avid writer, because by the time I started lucid dreaming in Equestria, I could write most of the characters as if they were myself. I knew these ponies so well, and hoped I could channel that knowledge during my sleep.
Before I could start dreaming, though, I had to make a pony version of myself, a ponysona! No human belongs in Equestria, and especially not a girl like me! I have curly, messy, light brown hair with light, peachy skin and a whole ton of freckles. My crooked teeth are being straightened by rainbow braces, and my eyes are a mostly-brown hazel. However, I wanted my ponysona to reflect me, and who I wanted to be in my dreams.
First, I created a name and a talent. Since I love to write, I decided on my cutie mark being a quill pen and inkwell. Looking at my cutie mark, I tried to come up with a fitting name. The first thing that popped into my head was Quill-And-Ink, but I quickly decided that that was a terrible name. I thought and thought, trying to come up with variations and new things altogether, but Quill-And-Ink was stuck in my head. Soon, I resulted to saying the name "Quill-And-Ink" really fast until it sounded like something better, and not long after that, the nonsense name Quilla Nink was born. "Quilla Nink" really grew on me, and soon, I came to love that name.
Next, was my ponysona's design. After messing around on various online ponymakers for a while, I decided on how Quilla Nink would look. She was to be a very light pink unicorn with a chocolate brown and strawberry red mane. As for the mane's style, I decided on messy curls that fall over both of her shoulders, and my tail would reflect my mane. My eyes would be like Pinkie Pie's, except that my irises would be brown, not blue. My cutie mark's feather pen would be red and the inkwell would be black. To this day, that design continues to be how Quilla Nink looks.
Now, I had my ponysona.
Before actually dreaming, I sort of mapped out my dream. I didn't want anything too crazy to happen; after all, this was to be my first time in Equestria! In my dream, I didn't want to awkwardly move to Ponyville, so I decided that I wanted all of the characters to already know me as a friend. In this first dream, I decided on a very simple storyline. I would meet up with the Mane 6 and we'd all go to Sugarcube Corner. Pinkie Pie would make us sweets and we'd talk for a little while. Just being a pony was going to be enough for me!
I was so excited! I couldn't wait for the nighttime so I could join the ponies in Ponyville.
And that, my friends, is the beginning of how, I, the fifteen-year-old Sadie Anon, became Sadie by day, and Quilla Nink by night.
I was able and willing to be teleported to the land of Equestria, all I had to do was wait until a reasonable bedtime. At around 9:30 PM, I went into my bedroom, and started to prepare to lucid dream. It wasn’t that hard to do it anymore, but it did still take a little bit of time to prepare for a dream. I needed to be focused, I needed to be relaxed, I needed to know what I wanted to dream about, I needed to know what characters I wanted to dream about, and I needed to know the setting of my dream inside and out.
I started to lucid dream using the WILD Method-- Wake Induced Lucid Dreaming. The most vivid dreaming takes place during the REM (Rapid Eye Movement) cycle, and that happens a few hours into your sleep. When trying to lucid dream using the WILD Method, you must wake up around five hours into your sleep, stay up for about 45 minutes to an hour, then relax, let your body fall asleep, (make sure your mind stays awake) and then you let your mind sort of… drift off into your dreamscape. It takes a lot of practice just doing this method, but I’ve successfully done it so many times that most of the time I don’t have to set my alarm for 4 in the morning, and I can relax enough while going to sleep at a more normal time.
I got ready for bed; I brushed my teeth and got my pajamas on. I said a "Goodnight!" to my brother and parents, and snuggled into my bed. Because I really, really wanted to this dream to stay vivid for a while, I meditated for about 20 minutes, focusing on how I wanted to lucid dream, and how I wanted my dream to go.
Soon, I felt my eyes get droopy, wished myself good luck, and I drifted off to sleep...
"Quilla Nink... Quilla Nink..." Twilight cooed into my ear. I was napping under a tree in Ponyville, on a bench. Twilight was sitting next to me. Suddenly, I woke up from my nap, and fluttered open my --quite giant-- eyes.
I looked up, at Twilight. At my friend, Princess Twilight Sparkle! This was a dream come true!
"You know, Quilla, you really need to stop drifting off to sleep every time we sit down for more than 5 minutes! Have you seen a doctor about that? Maybe you should try to go to sleep earlier--"
I grabbed Twilight and hugged her. I felt her soft fur against my mine. Her mane was shining in the sunlight. "Oh, Twilight! It's you! It's really, really you!" I'm pretty sure this was the biggest smile I've ever smiled. Or maybe, it was just because I was a pony, and had a smaller mouth, so a human smile was a large smile for a pony. Or wait-- is a pony's mouth bigger than a human's? I'm not really sure... Anyways, the feeling was absolutely amazing.
Twilight giggled a little. "Yes, it's me. I'm Twilight Sparkle."
I let go of her and proceeded to look at my surroundings. It was an absolutely beautiful day, probably about 70 degrees, fahrenheit. The sun was shining, and ponies of all sorts of colors and ages and body types were passing by. I saw Lyra Heartstrings and Bon Bon sitting on a bench together, Bon Bon sitting like a horse, and Lyra sitting like a human. I giggled a bit at that. The stony pathways were a wonderful sandy color with tiny sparkles reflecting light, and the grass and leaves on the trees were a stunning bright green. The cottages had cute thatched roofs and brilliant pink doors. This was Ponyville.
Twilight was truly beautiful, too. Her fluffy coat was a brilliant lavender and her indigo, pink, and purple mane reflected the light of the sun. There were a few stray hairs poofing out of her bangs and tail, and her mane and tail bounced whenever she moved. Her ears twitched with each sound and her dark purple eyes had such beautiful detail in them; the sun shone off of them, as well.
"Well, we better get moving. We're meeting the girls in ten minutes, and we can't be late!" Twilight nudged me on the shoulder with her hoof and stood up.
"Oh yes, of course! I almost forgot!" I said, jumping off of the bench. "You may lead the way!" Even though this was my dream, I didn't know where everything in Ponyville was. Even if it was all so fantastic, I didn't really want to get us lost.
"Okay!" Twilight began to maneuver through the streets of Ponyville, and I followed her. I took in every detail I possibly could; all the sights, all the sounds, all the smells. Everything about Ponyville was so wonderful.
Due to my interest in everything, I was starting to lag behind, and I lost sight of Twilight. I ran around, trying to find her, but this made me even more lost. I muddered an "Oh no..."
I looked down, at the beautiful ground, not knowing what to do. Soon, though, I heard a quite familiar voice.
"Oh, Quilla Nink, Darling, what's the matter?"
I looked up, and sure enough, Rarity was standing in front of me. Oh, she was as beautiful as Twilight-- no, even more beautiful. Her eyeshadow sparkled every time she blinked and her marvelous hair sparkled, too. Her pristine white coat practically glowed.
I smiled. "Oh, nothing, really. I was just following Twilight, and then sort of... lost her. I still don't know my way around Ponyville very well."
Rarity smiled back, and said, "That's no problem! Let me show you the way to Town Square, where we're meeting everypony. Follow me!" Rarity started to trot away, but then looked back. "Just don't lose me like you lost Twilight, okay?" She laughed a little.
I started paying attention to where I was going, rather than to just the tiny details. I made sure to follow Rarity, and soon enough, we got to Town Square.
As soon as Twilight saw me, she bolted over, half running, half flying. "Quilla! I was so worried about you!" The rest of the Mane 6, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Apple Jack, and Pinkie Pie, followed.
Rainbow Dash flew over and bopped Twilight on the head. "And you didn't think about going back and trying to find her?" Rainbow then proceeded to crack up and say, "Some Princess of Friendship you are."
I laughed a little, and Twilight began to (try to) speak. "Rainbow Dash! And-- I've got a lot of things on my mind-- I mean, I have a lot of friends to worry about-- and if I did go back, then we would've been late! And I can't be late! I mean..." Twilight paused and took a breath. "I'm sorry Quilla Nink. Can you forgive me?"
I smiled, and said, "Of course, apology accepted, Twilight."
Pinkie Pie bounced up. Her hair was super bouncy, and a lot more curly than how it seems on the show. Of course, she was wonderful in her own way, too, and smelled sugary-sweet. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go to Sugarcube Corner, and I can make some sweets for everypony!"
"Sounds great, Pinkie!" Apple Jack said with a smile.
Fluttershy just added a small, "Yaaaaay!"
The seven of us trotted to Sugarcube Corner, and Mrs. Cake opened the door. "Oh, come in, girls! It's so nice to see all of you!"
"It's nice seeing you, too, Mrs. Cake. How are the twins?" I asked.
"Oh, they're doing wonderfully!" She responded.
I then heard Mr. Cake call out from the kitchen, "It seems like they're growing everyday!"
"That's great! I hope they stay happy and healthy!" I smiled at Mrs. Cake. Her hair was a magical sight to see; honestly, it was kind of breathtaking.
"Oh, you're such a nice girl. Thank you, Quilla." She smiled at me, and then Mrs. Cake ran into the kitchen to aid her husband in whatever he was doing. They're such nice ponies, and quite a wonderful couple.
We all took our seats, Apple Jack, Fluttershy and Rarity at one table, and Twilight, Rainbow Dash, me, and eventually Pinkie Pie at another. However, the tables were close enough so we could easily all talk to each other. We were the only ones in the sweet shop anyway, so the volume of our conversation probably wouldn't have been much of an issue.
Pinkie came over to our table, first, to take our orders. "What would everypony here, like?" She asked.
Twilight went first. "I'll just have a vanilla cupcake, please."
Pinkie looked a little disappointed. "Just vanilla? Twilight, you're so boring sometimes!"
Twilight rolled her eyes and giggled a bit. "Okay Pinkie, surprise me with something. Whatever you want."
"Really?" Pinkie Pie's eyes lit up, and a bit of a smirk grew on her face. "Okie dokie lokie, Twilight Splokie! What about you, Rainbow Dash?"
"I'll have a big milkshake, chocolate please." Rainbow Dash smiled cooly. It seemed like she had the answer to everything.
"Great!" Said Pinkie. "What about you, Quilla Nink?"
Lastly, it was my turn. "Hmm... what's today's special?" I asked.
"Well, today is the first of a combo thing we're sort of starting." Pinkie smiled widely. "You can get a slice of strawberry shortcake and a small strawberry milkshake for a really low price!" She then whispered to us, "But I'm not charging you anything, so it doesn't really matter, does it?"
"Sounds delicious! I'll have that!" I smiled widely; I'd finally be able to eat some of Pinkie's famous desserts!
"Your orders will be out soon!" Pinkie Pie said, and then bounced away to the other table.
I could hardly contain my excitement. "Oh, I can't wait to eat that milkshake and shortcake! It sounds a-maz-ing!" It felt like I was almost on a sugar high despite not actually eating any sugar yet.
"Yeah, Pinkie Pie is a great baker... and makes awesome milkshakes, too!" Rainbow Dash smiling. "I'm sure that you'll love whatever she makes."
Very soon, Pinkie was done taking orders from the other table and ran back into the kitchen. Not five minutes later, she came out, balancing two platters full of cakes, milkshakes, pastries, and cookies-- one on her left forehoof, and one on her back. She placed a light-colored cupcake with white swirled frosting on the top in front of Twilight; a large, fizzy chocolate milkshake topped with whipped cream and a cherry in front of Rainbow Dash; a small slice of pink cake layered with oozy strawberry filling and whipped cream, along with a small strawberry milkshake in front of me; a chocolate croissant in front of Rarity; a plate with a few oatmeal-raisen cookies in front of Apple Jack; and a fruit-filled tart in front of Fluttershy. Pinkie Pie then put a slice of chocolate cake with blue and yellow frosting and some lemon-lime soda on her place, put the platters away, and returned to sit down.
"Eat up, everypony!" She yelled happily.
I took the fork in my light pink magic aura, which was a tiny bit of a struggle at first, but I soon got the hang of it. I stabbed it into the cake and ate the bite. It was absolutely marvelous! The cake was so moist and delectable, and the strawberries were so fresh! The whipped cream was light and airy, and certainly not over-whipped. I took a sip of the strawberry milkshake and found that it was just as divine as the cake.
As I looked up from my dessert fantasy, I saw that Pinkie had almost finished her slice of cake, and well as over half of the soda.
"Pinkie," I said, "This cake is wonderful! It's the most delicious cake I've ever tasted! And the milkshake is great too!"
Pinkie took a sip of the soda, swallowed, and then said an elated "Thanks, Quilla Nink! I'm glad you like it!"
Rainbow nudged my arm. "See? I told you that it was going to be awesome!" She chuckled and took another sip of her milkshake.
Twilight hadn't even started her cupcake yet. She was slowly unwrapping it with her magic. She removed the wrapper, placed it on her plate, and took a bite of the small cake. As she swallowed, her eyes went wide.
Suddenly, two very cartoonish flames shot of Twilight's ears. "PIIIIIIIIIINKIE!" She screamed. "YOU PUT JALAPEÑOS IN MY CUPCAKE!"
Pinkie and Rainbow Dash were cracking up, and I had to admit that it was pretty funny. I giggled a little, and soon, Rarity and Fluttershy were laughing with me, too.
Apple Jack, however, got up, grabbed a soda that was behind the counter, and handed it to Twilight. Twilight quickly unscrewed it and drank almost the entire thing in one gulp. When she was finished, she smiled and said, "Thanks, Apple Jack."
"You're welcome, sugarcube." She then turned around to Pinkie, with an angry scowl on her face. "Ya can't just do that to ponies, you know."
"Oh come on, AJ, it was just a prank," Rainbow Dash said, still laughing a little.
"And Twilight doesn't mind, does she?" Pinkie asked, smiling slyly towards Twilight.
Twilight then burst out into laugher. "Okay, so maybe it hurt a little... but it was still very funny." She continued to laugh.
Apple Jack smirked a little. "Alright, if you say it's fine, then it's fine. Everythin's settled." She then looked over to Pinkie. "But don't try that on me."
Everypony laughed for a long while. My dream started to fade away, but I didn't really try to continue it. It was already amazing enough, and I let it end where it ended. I silently said goodbye to my pony friends and drifted away from Equestria.
Suddenly, I sat up in my bed; It was 12:04 AM. I had done it. I had really just visited Equestria in my dreams! I was so excited. I immediately grabbed my dream journal and scribbled down every detail I could remember-- the feeling of Twilight's fur, the feeling of my fur, the way Pinkie smelled, Rainbow Dash's cocky laugh-- I tried to write everything in as much detail as I could.
The experience was absolutely wonderful.
It was about 1:30 when I finished writing everything down. I reread it twice, and with happy thoughts in my mind, drifted off into a deep, wonderful sleep.
If only I knew then that I would be visiting Equestria many, many more times.
My first dream in Equestria was a success! It was short, but wonderful. Ponyville and the ponies were all so beautiful in their own, special way. It seemed like walking in the world's most gorgeous fanart, but, like, multiplied by a thousand. You know, just for the heck of it, I'll say that it was far more than twenty-percent cooler than anything I've experienced in my waking life. I'm certain that I will never forget that first dream in Equestria. It was a truly amazing experience.
However, amazing as it was, I was craving another dream the next night. I wanted a little more than just getting lost in Ponyville, eating delicious sweets at Sugarcube Corner, or watching Twilight get pranked. Even if I absolutely loved the cuteness of my very slice-of-life dream the previous night, I wanted something a little more adventurous.
Instead of planning out the majority of my dream, I decided that I'd just set the stage and let my mind take it from there. After all, I hadn't planned the most exciting parts of my other dream: getting lost in Ponyville and Rainbow Dash's prank. Those things weren't in the original plans. I liked this idea of living an adventure in-the-moment, doing everything in a compulsive, desire-based mindset, and seeing the results. After all, this was just a dream and I can practically reset dreams anytime that I wish.
Thinking about this, I began to ponder what characters I wanted in this first adventure dream, and what I actually wanted the adventure to be. I decided that I wanted the entire Mane 6, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Spike, and the princesses to have large roles, and I wanted Queen Chrysalis and the changelings to be the antagonists. Other than that, though, I didn't plan much more out. I was so excited for the upcoming night!
However there was still most of the day in front of me. By the time I woke up, got ready, and planned the parts of the dream, it was only about 10:00 AM. Since it was summertime, my brother and I don't go to camp, and my parents had to go to work, Zack and I were home alone most of the day. At 10:00, my brother had finally woken up, but he didn't eat breakfast until about 10:30. Boy, is summer our favorite season.
There was nothing much I needed to do around the house. You see, in the summer before leaving for work, my mom always makes a chore list of things we need to do before we go anything leisurely. My one chore that day was to water the various plants around the house, and I happily and quickly did so while humming "Winter Wrap-Up."
Zack, on the other hand, had a few things to do. He had to empty the dishwasher of last night's dishes, go around the house and empty all of the small trashcans into a trash bag, and tidy up his room. With a grunt, he started his chores, and with a smile, I ran up to my room.
I sat down at my desk and powered on my laptop. Today was going to be a fun-filled day of reading and writing pony fanfiction! Ooh, I love fanfiction days like this, and over the summer, I try to savor them as much as possible. It's hard getting a day devoted to fanfiction over the school year, but the summer? It's normally four or five days a week!
This, everyone, is why summer is my favorite season.
At around 1:00 PM, I began to get hungry. I went downstairs and made myself a grape jelly sandwich. I've never really liked peanut butter very much.
After sitting down at the table, eating, and finishing my sandwich, I grabbed a cheese stick and decided to visit my brother.
Occasionally gnawing on the cheese, I found Zack in the living room playing one of his favorite video games on the PlayBox U or whatever. I said a "Hello!" and he grumbled one back, too focused on his game to be focused on me. Finishing my cheese stick, I left. Let me tell you, if my brother had a pony best friend, it would be Button Mash. Zack loves his video games.
I threw the cheese's wrapper out and headed back upstairs to my fanfiction. I was reading a particularly interesting one about Vinyl Scratch and Octavia, and was happy to return to it.
After an afternoon of fanfiction-reading, my parents came home. My mother is a secretary for a CEO of a large company, and my father is an accountant. In fact, they met each other by working in the same company. However, both of my parents have since moved workplaces. They both work in the business world, but I certainly don't want to. I hope to become a professional author; I love writing so much! My brother, though, doesn't really know what he wants to do, yet. But he has a while, and honestly, I don't know what kind of job he'd be interested in, either. See, he likes math, so maybe he'll follow in my father's footsteps and become an accountant. Or maybe, since he likes his video games so much, he'll become a video game designer or something. Who knows?
The evening went slowly. I shouldn't have planned out my dream so early in the day because once I finished the Octavia and Vinyl fanfic, I didn't have much else to read. Nothing on the homepage attracted my attention, and I was caught up on all of the stories I'd been tracking. I didn't have any ideas to write a fanfiction, and didn't have any work-in-progress stories to write, either. My fanfiction day had been spent reading. I was very bored, and my boredom certainly didn't seem to help my anticipation to dream my adventure dream.
However, though, the sun slowly set and the evening turned to twilight, which turned to dusk, which melted into the night. It was an absolutely gorgeous night. The tons of stars were twinkling in a blue-black abyss. The moon was full and low in the sky. I know that Princess Luna would be proud of a night like that one; it was so beautiful.
I waited for about an hour, so it was close to 10:00 PM. I got ready for bed and repeated the process from last night. I read over my few plans several times, and meditated for quite a long time, just like the previous night. When I began to get sleepy, I snuggled into bed and soon I found myself drifting off. In mere moments, I'd be a unicorn living in the adorable Ponyville. The adorable Ponyville that was about to be attacked by changelings...