Lucid Nightmares

Lucid Nightmares

Chapter 4

“Do stand still, darling.” Rarity chided to her friend as she carefully attempted NOT to jab a needle into Pinkie’s delicate coat. “We’re almost done, and then we can go have fun.”

“Oh, goodie goodie! I’m REALLY happy that I could help, Rarity! It’s like that one time you helped me with my desserts except instead of desserts it’s dresses and instead of mixing the batter I’m being pretty pretty!” Pinkie giggled, yet miraculously resisted the urge to bounce all over the room.

“Yes, darling, quite pretty pretty.” Rarity repeated with a half-interest. Really, she didn’t even know what she was making, all she knew was that she absolutely must have it done by tomorrow at the latest. Best to get it out of the way she thought, tightening the collar a little.

It was an awkward time inside the Boutique, even if the two ponies inside it didn’t seem to notice. “Sooooooo~” Pinkie hummed.

“So, what, Pinkie?” Rarity sighed, fixing another stitch.

“I really like your mane, Rarity! It kind of reminds me of a cake with all those swirls and the white and the purple. The bags under your eyes don’t really work, though.” Pinkie shook her pink little head.

Rarity rolled her eyes, taking a glance at herself in the mirror. She shivered just a bit at the sight that greeted her.

Her coat was a very light grey instead of its usual glamorous white, and a few hairs of her mane and tail had joined together to form a small yet very noticeable white streak. She also took into account that she seemed to have gotten taller by a centimeter or two, and her horn looked a little longer, too.

Really, she looked like some sort of cross between her normal state and her other state. She couldn’t even tell which was which, though. She kind of liked the look, though.

Oh but she would definitely have to do something about those bags under her eyes. Did she always look so tired? “Goodness. I suppose I’ve just been forgoing sleep for quite some time, Pinkie.”

“That’s not good, Rarityyy!~ Mama Pie always told me that sleep was the most important meal of the day! ...No, wait, that was breakfast! But you can’t have breakfast until after you wake up, and you need to sleep before you can wake up, but still!” Pinkie stuck her tongue out and made funny faces in the mirror.

Does she not see anything wrong with me?

Rarity shook her head and yawned. It was getting hard to focus. Absentmindedly she started leaning on the pink pony. “That’s nice, Pinkie.”

“Ooh, ooh, you know what we should do? Have ANOTHER slumber party!” Pinkie beamed and bounced in her dress, knocking Rarity off of her. The unicorn glared at the insolent earth pony for a second before calming her gaze. “I mean, I know the last one didn’t work out cuz you went all evil and stuff, and then the one before that Twilight told me you fought with Applejack and a tree fell into Twilight’s bedroom, and you kinda don’t have good luck when it comes to slumber parties, but I totally think this one will work because third time’s the charm!”

Rarity rubbed her head, chuckling weakly. “I suppose I can fit that into my schedule somehow, darling.”

“Yay! Oh this is gonna be SUPER great!”

“Y-yes, just... just great, Pinkie.”

The two mares trotted along through Ponyville, eager to get some semblance of food. Although Rarity would absolutely never phrase it in this way no matter what state of mind she was in, her stomach was begging for satisfaction. The closest thing she had to lunch, after all, were those treats that Rainbow Dash brought her in some clumsy, obvious attempt to woo her.

Pinkie sat across from Rarity and ordered a couple of sandwiches, along with a dessert, of course. Rarity settled for one daisy sandwich, and a glass of water.

Rarity sipped at her water and delicately chew at her meal. Pinkie seemed to practically inhale one of her sandwiches. The pink mare grinned at the taste, then turned to Rarity. “So what’s up, Rarity? Did ya get rid of all those nightmares and stuff?”

Rarity paused, then put down her glass. “Pinkie sense?”

“Itchy eye, curly tail, jittery teeth, and then a biiiig yawn! Means somepony I care about can’t sleep!” She smiled. “But now it’s gone, so you fixed it! Yay!”

Rarity couldn’t help but smile at her friend’s enthusiasm. “Yes, darling, I fixed it. In a sense. I do not really feel comfortable speaking of it, however.”

“Awww. Well, okay! But Papa Pie told me that talking about your nightmares helps make them go away foreveeer!” Pinkie nodded as-a-matter-of-factly.

I don’t want them to go away. Certainly not forever. Rarity smiled. “Perhaps we can do that in the slumber party, or a more fitting setting, darling.”

“Okie dokie! That sounds totally reasonable and NOT like you’re trying to avoid actually saying anything meaningful!” Pinkie beamed and returned to her food. “Oh, oh, did Rainbow give you the cupcakes? Did you like them? Rainbow helped me make them! Said that I had to make sure to put in juuuuuuuuust the right amount of love!”

Rarity chuckled. “Yes, she gave them to me. They were quite delicious. I even let her eat a few.”

Pinkie grinned dumbly, watching Rarity expectantly. “Soooooo!”

“So, what, Pinkie?”

Pinkie tilted her head one direction, and then the other. “Soooo did she tell you!?~” the party pony went wide eyed, leaning across the table eagerly.

Rarity smiled, sipping her water and finishing her sandwich. “No, she did not. She ate two cupcakes and flew straight out the window, she did.”

Pinkie gasped. “What!?” She stuck her tongue out and slouched back in her seat. “Laaaame.” The pink pony pouted. “I had the ‘Congratulations Rarity and Rainbow for getting together!’ party all planned out and everything! There were gonna be tiny cookies! Tiny cookies!”

Rarity giggled. “You cannot rush love, darling. I am sure Rainbow will eventually tell me whatever she thinks she has to tell me.”

Pinkie made some sort of noise, clicking her tongue and hmming. She then looked up at Rarity. “...You ARE gonna say yes, right?”

Rarity sighed. “I don’t know, to be honest. I’d like to. To just give in and see where it would take me, but...”

“But you aren’t really sure about love anymore?” Pinkie poked her hooves together.

“I’m not sure of a lot of things, darling. Myself included. I might just hurt Rainbow Dash if I let her get close at this point.” The unicorn frowned, gazing up at the cloudy sky thoughtfully. Wasn’t it supposed to be clear today?

“You might! But you might not! And maybe you’ll be happy for that second before the hurt comes! And that’s what counts!” Pinkie beamed.

“Was that something Mama and Papa Pie told you?” Rarity smirked.

Pinkie returned the smirk with a giggle.

“Nope! That’s something your best friend Pinkie Pie is telling you, right now!”

--

After Rarity walked Pinkie home, she decided it was time to go home herself. If the clouds above her were any indication, it seemed it was going to rain soon.

The walk to Carousel Boutique felt shorter than usual.

She listened to the chime of her bell as she opened the door and stepped in. She sighed, feeling the weight of recent events lift themselves off of her. Making sure the sign on the door was turned to ‘Closed’, the unicorn stepped upstairs, form shifting to its dark counterpart, intent on waiting the rest of the day out.

“Discord.” She said simply. “Have you been waiting long?”

“Oh really now, Rarity! A bit more reaction from finding a handsome draconequus in your room wouldn’t kill you!” the chaos god crossed his mismatched arms, staring at Rarity from her bed. “And no, I suppose I haven’t. Although time seems to just fly by hm? You've certainly seemed to change!~” He chuckled, spinning the hands of the clock in the room.

Rarity stared down at her body, biting her lip. “Of all the friends I could end up revealing this to, it had to be you, didn’t it?” She grit her teeth. “Don’t you DARE tell anypony, especially not the others.”

Discord grinned sickly, coiling around the Nightmare and cupping her chin. “And why would I do that? Certainly, it wouldn’t be very friendly if I kept this sort of secret away from Fluttershy!” The draconequus gasped, a hand on his forehead. “That just wouldn’t do, Rarity! Or perhaps Nightmare Moon? Nightmare Rarity?” He smirked, peering down at the fuming mare. “Nightmare-ity?”

Rarity groaned and held her head. “I’m not even sure anymore myself, Discord.” The mare shifted into wispy dark smoke, effortlessly escaping Discord’s grasp and reforming atop her bed. She pulled the curtains closed.

Discord clicked his tongue, waving some of the smoke out of his face. “And I thought this was a family establishment.” He muttered, then moved back over to the mare. “Not feeling well, I take it?~” He watched as the unicorn shook her head slowly, before resting it atop her forelegs. “Well, it’s not that surprising, considering what you did to yourself, my little prissy unicorn. Not many ponies have been possessed by the Nightmare.” He snapped his talons, revealing an image of Nightmare Moon, which slowly shifted into Nightmare Rarity.

Rarity shifted. “So I was possessed again? Why am I not attacking my friends, or calling for Eternal Night?” The draconequus smirked and put a talon up to the unicorn’s muzzle, shushing her.

“Let me finish! It’s not often I get to provide exposition for something I didn’t cause!” He laughed, then cleared his throat. “Not many ponies have been possessed by the Nightmare, and even fewer have managed to turn around and absorb it into themselves!”

Rarity blinked, staring up at the god of chaos.

Discord smirked. “Only one pony to date, in fact. Do you see where I am getting at?” His audience swallowed her breath, and nodded. “So there you go. You somehow managed to grab the Nightmare and swallow it whole, you little glutton for punishment, you. I can’t really tell you how, but it was probably attacking you and trying to take over or something, blah blah blah, and now you are the Nightmare. You look good in black, by the way.” Discord laughed, idly coiling around a lamp.

“Yes, thank you, I’ve grown quite fond of it.” Rarity give a small smile of her own, flipping her mane back.

Discord huffed. “Really, you’d think merging completely with an evil entity would make you MORE emotional.” He grumbled. “Not that exciting.”

Rarity smiled simply. “Forgive me, darling. I suppose it doesn’t seem to be much of a problem. Quite the eye-opening event, really. Although maybe I’m a bit grouchier during the day.”

“Who are you trying to fool with that one? You’re an emotional train wreck, a dam waiting to burst in angst, whining, and chaos with one prompt.” The draconequus leaned in, glaring into the mare’s eyes. “And I know chaos, darling.”

Rarity grimaced, peeking away, at her fashionable clock that seemed to be dancing on her vanity, and towards the lamp that was now attached to the ceiling. “...What do you propose I do, then?”

“Oh, I don’t know, something. Really, ANYTHING. All you’re doing is sleeping and being obscure and flighty towards your so-called friends. It’s boring and painful to watch, really.” Discord rolled his eyes, glancing towards the door. “Oh, speaking of prompts and your friends, I saw a certain purple princess coming over, so don’t get too comfortable.”

Rarity bit her lip. “What do you want, Discord?”

Discord hmmed, then smirked. “Well, on the one hoof, seeing you absolutely lose it would be VERY chaotic. But on the other, if you absolutely lose it, Fluttershy will probably be very disappointed, especially if she finds out that I knew it was going to happen.” The draconequus shrugged. “So I suppose I don’t really want anything. But just in case...” With a snap of his talons, a timer appeared in his grasp. The draconequus turned the dial of the timer slowly, the device clicking. “I’m very impatient. Two days to spill the beans to everyone else or fix this yourself, or I’ll get involved. Get this story moving, hm?~”

“Two days? Why that isn’t nearly enough time! I still haven’t gathered my thoughts or anything about all of this, it hasn’t even been a day!” Rarity stood, horn crackling with energy.

Discord didn’t seem impressed. “Oh, you Elements of Harmony always figure things out within the week anyway. And here I thought you loved the spotlight, my dear!”

The unicorn bit her lip, shaking. She felt Discord coil around her. Sharp talons gently wrapped around her chin, pulling her gaze up.

“Don’t you work best under pressure? I’m helping.” the chaotic being whispered coolly, smirking.

Rarity grimaced, averting her gaze. “F-fine, two days. I’ll have this resolved in two days.”

“I sincerely doubt it. But it will certainly be fun to watch you try to remain sane! Au revoir, darling.”

Rarity glared at the draconequus even as he disappeared. Her ears perked up as she heard the door open. “Rarity! Are you in here?” she heard a voice call out. Twilight was downstairs.

The unicorn frowned and ran towards the mirror, shifting forms once again. Her magic began working to fill in the holes in her disguise.

Never thought I would refer to the image I worked so hard on as a disguise. Rarity lamented.

Rarity sighed as she stared at her reflection. Her coat was much closer to her normal white, and the streaks in her hair were perfectly covered.

She just had to hope Twilight wouldn’t look into her eyes too much, or notice that she was a bit taller.

Rainbow Dash, fastest flier in Ponyville, bit her lip in agitation. “Geez, didn’t the weather team call for clear skies and light winds?” she muttered, tucking her wings in as she landed in front of Fluttershy’s cottage, giving the door a tap. “Fluttershy, it’s Dash! I brought that stuff ya wanted!”

The door to her friend’s home opened with a gentle creak, a yellow head poking through the opening. “Oh, Rainbow, I didn’t expect you back so soon.” the yellow pegasus said with a smile.

The blue pegasus huffed and grinned, wings giving a flap. “What can I say? I work fast when I’m not napping.” She stated proudly, before laughing at her own expense. “Anyway, here’s those fruits you said you wanted.” she said, stepping into the cottage and haphazardly dropping her full bags on the wood floor, startling the nearby critters and sending them scurrying away.

Fluttershy smiled at Rainbow as the blue pegasus seemed to invite herself in, taking a peek out the door and frowning slightly before closing it. “Oh, my, it looks quite terrible outside.”

“Pft, tell me about it. Feels like everything’s just been goin’ nuts since this morning. Clouds wandering in, hanging too low, winds picking up...” Rainbow muttered, brushing at her ear with a forehoof as she gracefully dropped herself onto Fluttershy’s couch.

“Oh, dear... have you noticed it too...?” Fluttershy questioned, as she began moving the produce into the kitchen. “I-I went outside today, and, um, it felt really tense in Ponyville. I was so distracted, I even got lost. I was going to return this nice book to Twilight, and ended up going to Sugarcube Corner instead three times...!”

Rainbow laughed. “I dunno, that just sounds kinda silly to me. No offense but, uh, you’re kind of always tense when you go into town.”

Fluttershy squeaked and looked away, mumbling. “Oh, yes, but it was different this time. A-and everypony else was...”

“Was?” Rainbow perked up, raising a brow and observing her friend.

The pegasus shrunk under the gaze. “Nevermind. Maybe I’m just a bit tense. Discord hasn’t been around all day...”

Rainbow groaned. “Ugh, seriously? Better not be causing another incident, or, like, watching an incident that he caused like forever ago like that one time with the seeds and the tree and junk.” the element of Loyalty complained, crossing her hooves.

“Oh, I’m sure he’s not doing anything bad.” Fluttershy shuffled her hooves. “Um, maybe. H-he’s been real good lately, though!” Rainbow only rolled her eyes. “Right, um, how have you been, Rainbow?” Fluttershy smiled, before noticing her friend shifting in her seat and averting her gaze. “Oh, dear... not good? D-did something happen?”

Rainbow rubbed her head with a hoof, grumbling. “More like something didn’t happen.” the pegasus pouted, turning to Fluttershy. “Shy, you hang out with Rarity a lot, right?”

“Oh, well, not recently. She’s been having trouble sleeping and-”

“Before that, I mean!” Rainbow begged.

“O-oh, well, um, yes, I’d like to say we get together quite a bit... why?” Fluttershy gazed at her guest curiously, patiently.

“Do you, uh, know what she likes in a pony? Say in, you know,” she cleared her throat, “a... romance?”

Fluttershy frowned gently, looking away, a thoughtful look on her face. “Um... well, to tell the truth, ever since the Gala, Rarity hasn’t really been interested in finding anypony for herself. She’s a bit... w-well, bitter.” the pegasus looked down at her hooves, tapping them against the couch cushion. “Don’t tell her I said that, though. Um, please.”

Rainbow rubbed her head, grimacing. “Nng, that doesn’t help my chances. Alright, uh, what do you THINK she’d like?”

“Rainbow... if you don’t mind me asking, why are you so interested in Rarity’s love life?”

The blue pegasus, in a switch to the usual scenario, shrunk under Fluttershy’s gaze. She sighed. “Because... because Rarity is amazing and, and I’m crazy cuz’ I started thinking I have a shot with her, alright!? Now help me out!!” the pegasus practically begged.

“O-oh, oh my, that’s... Rainbow, that’s great! Oh, I just know you two will be great together! When did you start thinking about her like that?” Fluttershy smiled, putting a hoof over Rainbow’s.

“I- well, I mean-” Rainbow Dash sighed. “I don’t know. Just, whenever we hung out it felt pretty good, cuz even though we’re both totally different, it’s like, you know, we’re both really into what we love, and then when she just stopped showing up I started thinkin’ about how she looked, and...” the pegasus groaned, burying her head in her forehooves. “I’m hopeless, aren’t I? I’m Rainbow Dash, coolest of the cool, and I can’t even, just, go tell the truth!” she chuckled, biting her lip. “Guess that’s why I’m loyalty and not honesty, eh? I’m a wimp!”

“Oh, Rainbow... you aren’t a wimp. You just need to get your feelings together...” Fluttershy offered a smile. “Do you know what I think Rarity would want in a special somepony?”

The blue mare rubbed her eyes, grumbling, before turning to Fluttershy. “What?”

“I think, out of all things, she needs somepony to be there for her.” she offered as a response, nuzzling Rainbow gently. “Somepony brave, that’ll stand for her to lean on when she needs it. Even if that somepony happens to be the most different pony on the planet, with nothing in common with her, all she really needs is some loyalty.” Fluttershy blushed. “U-um, if that doesn’t sound too cheesy.”

Rainbow, in Fluttershy’s defense, blushed too, taking the words in. She nodded and grinned thinly. “Yeah, that WAS pretty cheesy. Thanks, though. That- that really helped.”

The two mares laughed together, before wincing at the sound of the door slamming open. “Honey, I’m home!~ Oh, and we have guests, how fantastic!” the familiar voice of none-other than Discord called out, before the two pegasi squealed and got out of the way just in time for the draconequus to belly flop onto the couch. “Oh you would not beLIEVE the day I’ve had. Really, Ponyville life is so stressful, I could feel the knots forming~” he laughed, coiling around himself to form a literal knot on his body.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “What DO you even do all day?”

“Oh, take in the sights, watch the everyday chaos in the crowds. Ponies are so touchy nowadays, really. And so busy, too.” Discord smirked. “I don’t know about you, but I saw a few ponies just faint right in the middle of the street!”

The two ponies in the cottage exchanged glances, before Fluttershy stepped forward. “Um... Discord, remember what we talked about?”

Discord gave an over dramatic sigh. “Oh, come now, Fluttershy, not every incident is my fault all the way down to the core! What’s that thing you do? Pinkie Promise? Whatever, the point is, I absolutely am not involved in any incident that may or may not be occurring as we speak!” He gave a grin.

“Ugh, seriously, just tell us what’s happening in Ponyville!” Rainbow crossed her hooves.

“I never said there was anything happening. Really, in such a rush to save the day.”

“You wouldn’t be talking about it if there was!” she accused, pointing a hoof accusingly.

“Oh, so maybe there might be one. Who knows, maybe it’s the end of the world, maybe somepony is about to trip and sprain a hoof. Really, so many things happen, you can never tell what the real problems are!”

“Discord...” Fluttershy spoke in a shaking, only slightly impatient voice.

Discord sighed in defeat and waved his paw.

“Fine. Go check on Princess Twilight Sparkle.” The two ponies went wide-eyed, turning to look at each other, before nodding and dashing out of the cottage without a word. Discord rolled his eyes and puts his arms behind his head in a lounging position as his tail snapped the door shut.

“My good deed for the day.”