Rarity awoke. Well, it seemed like she was awake anyway. She opened her eyes to see that she was in her darkened bedroom. The night sky outside was just as peaceful as it was when she had fallen asleep, no noise.
Something seemed peculiar, however. The white unicorn carefully stepped down from her mattress and placed her hooves down on the wooden floorboards. Her hooves broke the silence.
She mumbled to herself in coherently as she moved across the room to the door, “A glass of water….that will help me back to sleep….”
Using her unicorn magic to turn the knob of the door, the white unicorn slowly opened it. On the other side of the frame, however, was not the hallway of her home. Instead of the small table that held the portrait of her family and a vase of lilies and paintings hanging from the wall, Rarity saw a well-lit room. Directly across from her, she saw another door.
Rubbing her eyes to make sure she wasn’t imagining the oddity, Rarity took a step out of her room. Upon entering, she saw that it was not a room, but rather a large hallway, filled with many doors. The white and light blue walls towered over her, so far that it made it seem as if the ceiling was nonexistent. Bringing her eyes down, Rarity looked at both ends of the hallway. Both seemed to stretch on into eternity, and beyond.
“What in Celestia’s name….?” her words were soft, as if she was a church mouse.
Looking back through the open door, nothing had changed. Her room seemed exactly as she knew, but the door led to this odd place. Her eye caught something on the outside of the door. A small sign on the door had her name printed on it with bold black letters. Rarity looked at the other doors throughout the hallway. Names appeared on each of them. Across from her was a name she was familiar with: Applejack.
Trotting to the door, she slowly opened the door. The hinges made a faint creaking as they worked. Rarity entered. Instead of the fine marble floors below her hooves, the ground became swampy and damp. Without saying a word, she ignored the dirty ground and continued to trot beyond the threshold of the door. Trees surrounded her, almost as they were going to attack her. Gathering courage, she silently continued.
A familiar voice caused the pony’s ears to twitch, “Is that all ya’ll got? Ah’ve seen better fightin’ from a bale of hay!”
“Applejack?” Rarity trotted toward the sound.
Poking her head through a break in the trees, the unicorn found her orange-coated friend in a clearing. She was sweating and looked like she had just been in a scuffle with somepony. Her face, however, showed that she was determined and having fun.
A loud roar was bellowed from a beast, but Rarity couldn’t see what it could be. She didn’t wish to see it, the roar alone was enough to keep her hiding from whatever it was.
“Really now? Ya’ll want me ta get may rope an’ hogtie ya like a pig in a rodeo?” Applejack’s voice was playful, almost wanting to anger the beast, “Ah guess ah havta humiliate a manticore like ya, just like ya want!”
Seeming to be getting rope out of nowhere, she lassoed the beast in one fluid motion. With a few strong pulls of the rope, the manticore came into Rarity’s view. The beast was enough for Rarity back away towards where she entered.
Applejack made a smug expression to match the cockiness in her voice, “Ah told ya not ta mess with me!”
Upon exiting the room and closing the door, Rarity spoke, “My word, what did I just witness? Was Applejack engaging that manticore in battle with such ease?” Not answering her own question, she trotted to another nearby door. The name upon the door was also well-known to the mare: it was her sister’s.
Opening the door, she entered into the common room of her own home. While it looked exactly like her home, it still seemed strange, as if something was not right.
Rarity brushed the thought away when she saw Sweetie Belle on the sofa with a large amount of fabric. She seemed so invested in her activity that she did not notice her sister watching her. Sweetie Belle mumbled to herself as she was working, but it didn’t last long as the finished product was lifted into the air.
“It’s done!” she cheerfully proclaimed. In her hooves was a well-crafted dress with wonderful colors and a beautiful design. Rarity, who was still watching on, found it to be a work of art that rivaled her best designs. Everything about it seemed extravagant and artfully crafted down to the finest detail.
“Why word, that’s simply marvelous,” Rarity commented to herself.
Another voice boomed in rage, “What is that piece of garbage?”
Turning to the source of the anger, Rarity saw herself trotting up to the little filly with a scowl that seemed permanently attached her face.
Meekly, Sweetie Belle replied, “It’s my new dress. I made it for a-“
She was quickly interrupted by her elder sister, “I can tell it’s a dress, what I want to know is why in the name of Equestria did you steal my fabric to make that?”
“But….But I didn’t-”
An angry sigh escaped the Rarity that was her sister, cutting the filly off again, “Of course you did! My fabric cabinet was wide open with a number of my favorite bolts of fabric missing! I certainly didn’t use those fabrics today, and I know for a fact that Opalescence didn’t open those doors by herself!”
Sweetie Belle tried to reply with a steady voice, but her voice was shaken by her sister’s indignation, “But I didn’t steal them, I was going to just use a little for my dress. I wanted to show you that I could make a beautiful dress, just like you.”
“But you took some of my most important pieces of fabric to put them in this….dress, as you call it,” another sigh from Rarity was audible as she raised hoof to her head to rub her forehead, “You really push your limits with me, Sweetie Belle. Sometimes I think that just might be your talent, seeing how far you can push the envelope of a pony’s sanity before they lose it.”
The other Rarity, who was watching the entire scene unfold before her eyes, was speechless by how she saw the other her act. She felt such compassion for her little sister as she watched the expression on her face turn from once delight and optimism of her work to coming close to tears. “Does….Does Sweetie Belle see me this way?” she asked herself, “Am I….am I really like that?” Not wanting to watch anymore, the unicorn left the scene through the door she entered, returning to the endless hallway.
With the door behind her closed, Rarity thought of what she had just witnessed in the last two rooms. What was she looking at in each room? Dreams? Possible scenes of the future? Hallucinations? And for that matter, what about her room? How did she get here? Why can other ponies see her? Is she invisible to them?
Rarity took a deep breath to calm her head. With an almost therapeutic affect on her, she felt far more collected and composed. Opening her eyes, she saw the name of another pony she knew: Pinkie Pie.
The door creaked slightly as she entered. Inside, she found herself in the Ponyville marketplace in the middle of the day. The noise was deafening compared to the tranquil hallway she had just left. Her ears adjusted quickly to the cacophony of the busy marketplace as she trotted amongst the ponies. Brushing up against a few busy patrons, she looked for her pink friend.
A few minutes of searching yielded fruitless results in the crowd. She stepped away from the hectic crowd to catch her breath. It was when out of the row of shops that she found her friend, sitting on a coin-operated carriage ride made for small children. The pink pony had a bag of coins to keep the ride going for her when it ended.
Slightly chuckling, Rarity smiled, “You certainly are an odd one, Pinkie Pie.”
“Of course, I am! Being normal is too boring!” she replied happily.
Surprised, Rarity took a step back, “You can hear me?”
She shook her head, “Duh! Why wouldn’t I?”
“Because….” Rarity started to speak, but she didn’t know what to say to in response, “I don’t know?”
Pinkie laughed with a snort, “And you call me silly! Hey, you wanna join me on the carriage? I got plenty of coins that we can ride all day!”
The unicorn declined politely, “Uh….no thank you, dear. You seem to having more fun on the ride than I could ever manage,” she added a nervous laugh, “but do ride it once for me, darling.”
With a salute, Pinkie nodded, “Yes, ma’am!” The ride stopped after her statement, to which she dropped another coin into machine to activate it again. “This marketplace has the bestest rides ever! I could stay here forever!” the pony mused with a smile.
Rarity returned to the door she had entered from. All the ponies nearby seemed to be obvious to the door’s existence, which puzzled the white mare greatly. She entered the door and closed it behind her.
As she stood in the hallway, she noticed that she was not alone this time. Waiting for her was a blue alicorn with a mane that flowed as if it were liquid.
Gasping, Rarity bowed at the sign of the princess, “Oh my! Princess Luna! I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you there!”
The princess spoke, “Please, there is not need to bow before me Rarity, no need for formalities.”
Rarity lifted her head back up to look at the alicorn. Her regal appearance made the unicorn feel inferior and uncomfortable. “I-If you insist, Princess….” her voice was timid.
“I do,” Princess Luna continued, “I must ask you how you entered this realm.”
“Realm? I must ask, exactly where am I exactly?”
“This is my inner sanctum, if you will. I call this the Dream Realm. This is where I am able to enter into the dreams of any living creature, great and small. Here, I am able to assist them in anyway I am able,” the princess explained. “I sensed something strange not too long ago and went to find the source, and I believe I have found it.”
“Me?” the unicorn asked.
“Indeed. No pony should be able to be present here except my sister and myself. This is truly baffling. Have you been entering the dreams of others?”
Rarity gave a guilty look, “Not on purpose….”
Luna was trying to put the pieces of the puzzle, “Strange, no other should be able to enter those doors. Unless….”
“Unless?” the unicorn echoed.
“After being released from the creatures that turned you into Nightmare Rarity, did you experience anything strange? Voices? Unexplained uses of magic and such?”
Rarity nodded, “For a bit, yes, but that was months ago.”
After thinking for a moment, Princess Luna spoke, “Rarity, the magic is still within you, but in small amounts. I believe this is a side effect from the entire ordeal.”
“So….I’m a pony that can enter the dreams of others? Like you?”
Princess Luna laughed a bit at the comment, “Not exactly. You have a unique power, a gift. I believe it to be a blessing, but it’s something you shouldn’t take lightly. It’s a powerful gift that is also a curse in it’s own right. You see others in their most bare form. You see them at their happiest, their darkest, in their brightest dreams, in their most frightening nightmares, and so on. It’s as if you are staring into their soul. You will view realms of fantasy that exist solely in other’s minds. Do you understand the importance of this?”
The unicorn nodded.
She took a pause before continuing on, “Unlike myself, I believe you can only observe, but as time goes on, that may change and depend on the pony for that matter.”
“I did interact with one pony….Pinkie Pie. She didn’t seem to know it was a dream,” Rarity explained.
“Then perhaps you are already growing in your new found ability,” Princess Luna paused for a moment before trotting down the hallway, “Would you like some assistance with your new gift?”
Rarity trotted up to the princess and kept pace next to her, “Do you mean for me to be like a student under your guidance?”
A warm smile appeared upon the princess’s face, “If you are willing to have my as a mentor.”
Returning the heartfelt smile, Rarity replied, “I’d be honored, your majesty. Does this mean you will teach me about dreams? Such as where they come from?”
“Lesson one: No pony should know where their dreams come from, it ruins the magic and the fun,” Luna spoke with a sly smile, “Now then, hurry up, we’re going to start dreaming."
END
