The Dreamrunner

I awoke in a white room to a monotonous beeping noise. Needles stuck out of my forelegs and chest. Wires were connecting me to a small machine with moving lines on it. A bag of water was hung over a rack and one wire led to my shoulder. My hooves and half of my back was covered in gauze. I tried to move, but a pain resonated through my body. I moaned and laid flat on the bed. On a small table next to the bed was a clock that read 7:39. It’s been seven hours already? A voice interrupted my thoughts.

“No broken bones luckily. Just muscle exhaustion and a couple of bad burns.” I slowly turned my head to the right, where a white pony stood with her eyes scrutinizing a clipboard. “Pretty fast recovery for the stuff you just went through.”

Oh trust me, I’m not recovered psychologically yet. I thought.

“Rarity?” I asked inquisitively.

“Close. Nurse Redheart. Rarity’s outside. It was really heroic what you did back there. Those kids would be literal toast if you hadn't jumped in and saved them. I feel almost honored to be in your vicinity.” She did a faux bow.

“How are they? The Cakes?”

“Sad story. Mrs. Cake is fine, and so are the kids, but Mr. Cake was taken by the police for being suspect of arson. His trial is next week.” she stopped to write something down on her clipboard and continued. “So, now that you’re awake, do you want me to let her in?”

“Who?” I asked, stupidly.

“I’ll take that as a no. I’ll tell her to come back tomorrow morning. You take your rest Sweetie. There’s some food on the tray on your left if you’re hungry.”

“Thanks.”

“No problem.” She replied. She pulled out a small bell from her small medical bag. “Ring me up if you need anything at all.” She smiled, and left.

I picked up the tray of food to only put it back down. Blueberry muffins. My absolute least favorite food. I’m starving, but I’m NOT eating that crap. I stuck my tongue out and picked up a juice box instead. I had to physically use my hooves to pick things up and put them down, because when unicorns become extremely exerted, they can’t use magic until they’re rested enough. It sucks that it hurts to move at all. This is gonna be a fun night.

“Oh Sweetie Belle! You’re alright!” Rarity squealed. She locked me in a hug and squeezed. It hurt. A lot.

“Yeah, hey Rarity. let m g- OW!” She let me go after I yelped.

“Sorry,” she replied sheepishly. “The doctor says that you’ll be able to leave the hospital by tomorrow if your soreness goes away. Isn’t it wonderful?”

I scratched my ear and looked at her. “Yeah, I can’t wait to go home.” I briefly reminisced about my comfortable mattress at home and my warm covers. The stacks and stacks of dust vinyl records were just begging to be played. My walls were plastered with posters of Pink Void. I had even gone to one of their concerts and they played my favorite songs. ‘Another Brick in the Stall.’ I have some Sapphire Shores posters here and there too.

“Oh no no no! You’re not living by yourself after that tragic scene! You’re going to live with me for a week or two. That is, until you get yourself pulled together.” Rarity rambled on about how my sweet innocent little foal mind had been scarred and whatnot.

“I don’t have a say in this, do I?” I asked, knowing the answer.

“Nope. Make sure you stop by your apartment to grab your things. I’m afraid I moved most of your old things into storage.” She said with a giggle. I sighed and shook my head. “Oh! And there was something Twilight wanted to talk to you about. Something about an interview for a book or something.”

“Oh, okay? When does she want to talk to me?” I asked.

“Now would be a good time, if you don’t mind,” Princess Twilight Sparkle said as she entered the room. She had grown a lot since her ascendance to Princess. Her mane had grown much longer and she’s taller too. Her mane looks more ethereal, like Princess Luna and Princess Celestia. Her crown gleams with the reflection of the lights around the room and the sunlight streaming through the windows.

“Princess Twilight!” I exclaimed, taken by surprise. I quickly bowed and looked back up at her. “What was it that you wanted to talk about?”

“Skip the formalities please, Sweetie Belle.” She smiled, sitting down next to my bed. “We’re all friends here. I mean really, I want to be treated like a normal, average, everyday pony.” She paused, and then said, "Kind of like when you called me Twilight when we still did Twilight Time. Those were some crazy times"

I giggled "yeah, those were the days.” I thought of the time I was learning how to move larger objects with my magic and caused an entire bookshelf to fall over. Good thing Twilight was outside talking to Fluttershy. I would have never been able to clean it up in time. Sure, all the books were mismatched, but she sure as heck didn’t realize it until I left. “You needed to ask me something?” I asked. Twilight turned to Rarity and asked,

“Rarity, could I speak with Sweetie Belle in private please?”

“Oh of course! I’ll be outside if you need me,” she replied. Rarity walked out the door, shutting it behind her.

“Is there something wrong Princess?” I asked.

“Twilight…” She grumbled.

“Sorry.”

“It’s fine. You should be telling me about your problem. I was told by Rarity that you’ve been having dreams about horrible things. Can you give me an example of these dreams?” Twilight pulled out a notebook, quill and ink bottle and set it down on the side table next to my bed. “I’ve been doing some research on dream patterns with the help of Princess Luna.”

I felt a bit sick trying to remember some of the dreams. Princes--  Twilight, I corrected myself, must have noticed I was a bit green.

“It’s alright Sweetie Belle. Take your time.”

“Well…” I started. “ I haven’t had dreams like that for months. The last one I had was the…” I stopped in the middle of my sentence.

No way.

“Sweetie Belle? Are you alright?” Twilight asked.

“The last dream I had was of Sugarcube Corner burning down.”

The room went dead silent. I don’t know how much time passed, but it got more uncomfortable by the second.

Quietly, I implored, “Is there something wrong with me?” Twilight just stared at me with a bad copy of Princess Celestia’s poker face.

“Sweetie Belle, once you’re out of this hospital, I need you to visit me in my castle for a few tests.” She wrote something in her notebook and asked “Any other dreams that stand out to you?”

“Well, there was this one dream. I-It was about a year ago. I dreamed of a pony being murdered in cold blood. She was just walking down some street at night, and a pony wearing a white suit and black tie came and stabbed her in the thr-”

I had to stop. I don’t want to discuss this anymore. I feel sick. I grabbed the waste basket next to my bed and emptied my lunch into it. Breathing heavily, I kindly asked Twilight to leave and let Rarity back in.

She agreed and stood up. There was a look on her face. Was it sympathy? Disgust? I guess she’s still working on her poker face. She walked out the door and let Rarity in, who was eating… Of course, a blueberry muffin.

“What was that about darling?” She asked after she finished her muffin.

“Nothing. I might be spending some time with Twilight in her castle though.”

“Sweetie Belle! She’s a Princess! You can’t just call her ‘Twilight’! How rude of you!”

“Aaaaand that’s the last one.” Nurse Redheart said as she picked up the papers I had just signed. “Get better, and I hope I don’t see you in here for a long time.”

“Thank you Nurse Redheart” I remarked. She waved as I left the building. It still hurt a bit to walk, but not from the soreness. The bandages on my burns sometimes stick to the wound and detach when I move. That always hurts the most. Other than that, I’m right as rain. Nurse Redheart says that as long as I put on a new bandage after every shower, it should heal in a matter of days. I was pretty surprised that it would heal so quickly. Then she told me that I also had to take some prescription pills from the local drugstore.

The day was pretty bright. The sun’s right above Ponyville, so it’s probably noon. I think I’ll head over to my apartment before heading over to Rarity’s. I need to pick up my toothbrush and other necessities. Maybe even a couple records. I slowly made my way over to my apartment, right next to the restaurant I work at.

I entered my home and turned on the light.

“SURPRISE!”

I was surprised alright... At the amount of ponies crammed into my small apartment. There’s gotta be at least thirty ponies here!

“...”

Pinkie Pie jumped in front of everyone. She clasped me into a hug, which surprisingly didn’t hurt. Was she crying?

She sniffed, and nearly wailed “Sweetie Belle, thankyouthankyouthankyou for saving Pumpkin and Pound Cake. I- I- I’m a horrible pony! I wasn’t careful enough! Thank you so much! How can I repay you? Those foals mean the world to me, and I don’t know what I’d do if they were gone!”

“You don’t need to do anything, Pinkie. It wasn’t your fault.” I hugged her for a bit, until she let go.

I backed away slowly while smiling, and greeted some of the other ponies who came. I talked with Mrs. Cake and her children. They seemed to be doing alright. Pound Cake seemed to be more shaken up than his sister. I moved over into the kitchen/dining room to grab something to eat. Great. Is this gonna be a long running thing? A large silver platter stacked with blueberry muffins stood in the middle of the table. All of a sudden, I didn’t feel so hungry anymore.

Everypony started to leave after about half an hour. The only ponies left were Rarity and me. We silently cleaned the place up and washed the dishes. I threw out the muffins when Rarity wasn’t looking, and strolled into my room to grab some stuff. I had a small, blue wagon that I could carry my stuff in, so I started to stack my towel, my curlers, my toothbrush, and a stack of records.

“Sweetie Belle, hurry up! I have a very important meeting to go to!” She whined.

“A trip to the spa isn’t ‘a very important meeting’” I replied sarcastically.

“I don’t need to hear that tone, young lady!”

“Ugh.”

I had just finished moving into my old room. It’s a bit cramped, but it feels like home. Rarity has been keeping it in good shape. No cobwebs to be seen, well, anywhere. The room is still decently bright and hasn’t lost its color. My bed is as comfortable as ever, as well as my covers. I have new bed sheets and new pillows to replace the old worn ones. I’ll have to remember to thank Rarity for this later.

I moved my things into a corner of the room and pulled out a John Mare record. I put it on my record player, and dropped the needle. The sweet sound of guitar flowed through the air as I layed down on my bed.

I looked over to the clock on my wall. 3:30.

“Oh yeah, I was supposed to meet Twilight at her castle.” I said to myself. I grabbed my saddlebag, turned off the record player, and put the record back. Shutting the blinds, I moved out of my room, and headed downstairs.

“Rarity, I’m going out.”

“Okay dear, I’ll be at the spa until six. When you get home, go ahead and cook us something to eat. I’m dying to try your new Daisy and Mushroom soup recipe.”

“Bye.”

I shut the door behind me as I left.

“Hello Spike.” I smiled at the baby dragon, who had grown a little. “I’m looking for Twilight?” I had arrived at the front of the castle and knocked on the door. Spike had just answered.

“Hey there Sweetie Belle. Yeah, come on. Follow me.” He held the door open and let me in. With the door clicking shut, he moved in front of me saying “This way.” I followed him down a corridor and into a large, two story room that looked like a library. On the roof was a massive circular window to let the sun in. The room was beautifully decorated, and very carefully designed. White marble pillars held up the second story above a decent sized sitting area and a fireplace. The grand staircase was also a beautiful white marble.

“She’s up on the second floor somewhere. You might have to do some digging.”

“Thanks Spike.” I said.

“No problem,” he shrugged and walked into the sitting area.

I made my way up the stairs, taking in the absolutely gorgeous artwork that covered the walls. At the top of the stairs, there was a fountain with a golden clock mounted on top. There was an inscription under it that said, “Most accurate clock in Equestria. Loses one one thousandth of a second every three hundred years.”

“It’s cool isn’t it?”

I turned to look at Twilight standing behind me, with a few books levitating next to her. Her mane was slightly frizzled and out of place. The whites of her eyes had turned red, like she pulled an all nighter. I nodded in answer to her question. She smiled and motioned for me to follow her.

She led me to a large table covered in open books and papers.

“Sit down, Sweetie Belle. Make yourself comfortable.” She suggested. I followed her request and sat in a large, plush chair.

“You’re not talking much are you?”

“Should I be?” I asked.

“Well, no. If you don’t want to, you don’t have to, but it’d be so much more comfortable for the both of us if you talked more. I feel like I’m talking to a brick wall here. Loosen up! Like I said before, we’re all friends here.”

“Sorry.” I replied. “I’ve just had a lot on my mind lately.” I scratched my ear, but accidentally scraped my hoof against my burned area.

“OW!”

Twilight moved over to me and said, “Here, let me put a spell on there. I promise that you’ll feel much better afterwards.”

“Okay.”

She lit up her horn and I felt a warm, tingly sensation on my back where the burns were.

“There. Done.” I touched my back expecting it to hurt, but it didn’t. I pulled off the bandages to see that the wounds were still there, but they were completely numb.

“W-what did you do?” I asked in awe.

“Oh nothing. Just a simple spell I discovered while reading up on the healing properties of magic.” She reported.

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it. Now, where were we? Ah! right.” She picked a large book in leather binding and held it in front of me. “Read this page and tell me if it rings any bells.”

I’m confused. “Ring a bell for what?” I asked, scratching my ear.

“It’ll all make sense after you read.” She answered. Genuinely curious, I took the  book and read the open page. Every paragraph I read, my eyes grew wider, and my heart beat slower and slower. This… This is impossible!

“Would you please read out loud page five hundred thirty two, paragraph six?”

“Yes Ma’am” I said, flipping to said page. I cleared my throat before reading.

“Ahem… Thirty six years after the entrapment of Nightmare Moon, a sixteen year old colt named Sweet Dreamer reported having strange dreams after his birthday. After further research, he claimed to have had premonitions of things that happened near him. After a certain dream, he claimed that the dreams stopped.”

I continued on, “If I recall correctly, I was walking along a creek in the woods. Suddenly, a flash flood came, and I drowned. Four years later, Dreamer was found dead. He had drowned.”

“That’s enough. Thank you.” I shut the book and tried to take in what I had just read. After I couldn’t bring my thoughts together, I just put the book down and sat quietly. I broke the silence after a question came to my mind.

“So, there were others before me?” I asked quietly.

“Yes.” Twilight said as she pulled out a long scroll from a shelf and laid it flat on the table in front of me. She pointed to the top of it. She was pointing at a pony.

“This is your oldest known ancestor.” She moved her hoof about a third of the way down the paper and pointed at another. “This is believed to be the pony in the paragraph you just read. Sweetie Belle, you are related to that pony.” I decided to stay silent as she spoke.

Moving to near the bottom of the paper, she pointed at a pretty female pony.

“This is your Great Great Great Grandmother. Her name was Quartz Sun. Her records have shown that she had made regular visits to the family psychiatrist. I had to do some digging, but I found a couple notes taken by her psychiatrist. They always were about some strange dreams that she was having. She constantly ranted about some pony in a black suit and tie coming for her. She died a natural death at the age of eighty three, but had to have somepony take care of her for forty years. The entirety of Canterlot thought she was insane, so she lived the rest of her days inside her home. Now I know this isn’t comforting, but-”

I was starting to feel a bit aggravated at her attempts to sound like she understood what I was feeling.

“None of this is comforting Twilight. None. Zip. Zero. I don’t know what point you’re trying to convey here, but it isn’t working. So, what? My ancestors had it and ended in the psycho ward. Now tell me how to get rid of it permanently, and stop rambling on. I have a full life ahead of me, Princess Twilight Sparkle. I’m determined to keep it. Now, you tell me how to get rid of it now, or I’ll do it myself.”

After finishing my rant, I got up to make my way to the door.

“Wait!”

Her voice cut through the air like an ultra sharp razor on thin linen.

“Sweetie Belle, please. Sit down and let me finish talking.” She motioned to the chair, and continued. “Now, I’ll tell you straightforward that there is no immediate way to cure this. Or any way at all.” She confessed.

“Sweetie Belle, Dear, I know you won’t understand this, but… You have a gift.” That stopped me right in my tracks.

“A gift?” I inquired.

“Yes. It’s inherent! Don’t you see? You said you dreamed of the Cake’s home burning down, correct?” I nod. “And when it was burning down, you prevented them from getting hurt, correct?”

“Where are you going with this?”

“Don’t you see Sweetie Belle? You’re a hero! You can use your power for the good of Equestria!” She exclaimed.

“No, I think I’m okay. I want a NORMAL life.” I started walking again, but this time I made it out the door without any other interjections.

I finally got back to the Boutique without any other issues. The sun was low in the sky, and the moon was peeking over the horizon. A bit later than I had planned, but oh well. Stupid Twilight and her “good of Equestria” crap. I need to focus on pulling the rest of my life together before I can help others do the same. Sure, I got lucky and didn’t die when I was saving Pumpkin and Pound Cake. That doesn’t mean anything though! I like those foals, and I would risk my life any other day of the week to save them from a burning bakery. It’s just… Basic pony moral. I don’t think I could take the stress of saving others every single time I had a dream about them. I’m no superhero. Heck, I can barely take the pressure of a small math test, let alone the lives of random ponies in need. My brain is overheated. I need some sleep.

I moved through the dark home, and up the stairs to my room. I think I’ll skip dinner. Seems like Rarity’s already asleep anyway. I was starting to get a raging headache from the argument with Twilight. I never yell at anypony other than Rarity, but she’s my sister, and we have our quarrels. It’s natural, but I yelled at the Princess! I sighed and slipped under my covers. It’s been a long day, and tomorrow is gonna be even longer.

“I hate Mondays. I have my stupid lunch rush shift tomorrow. Some customers there can be real jerks. I hate my life sometimes.”

I shut my eyes, and fell into a welcoming slumber.

“Ugh, that was a crappy day at work.” I said, as I wiped sweat off my forehead. “Sooo many jerks. I think I’ll quit.” I said to myself as I walked home. I saw Granny Smith on the side of the street with a couple of bags of groceries.

“Hey there young’un. What’s yer name again Sweetie? Oh right! It is Sweetie!” She gave a hearty laugh, before coughing. “Would yeh be so kind to help sweet ole Granny Smith?”

I put on my best “Sure” face, and walked over. I really don’t feel like doing this, but I’m Sweetie Belle, the good samaritan. “Yeah, No problem Granny.” I said as I picked up three of her five bags. “Oh, do you know how Applebloom is? I haven’t heard from her in a while.”

It took her a moment to “Hear” my voice, but she then enthusiastically exclaimed “Oh! Applebloom? She misses yeh and the other one a lot. What’er name agin?”

“Scootaloo.” I answered.

“Right, right, Scooter Balloon. Yep, she misses you a lot, and always talks about yeh.” Visibly getting frustrated with her… Oldness, I suggested we start walking. Fortunately for me, she agreed.

Slowly, but surely we made our way down the road on our way to drop her off at Sweet Apple Acres. I can hear something, but I’m not sure what. Eh, It was probably nothing.

“GET OUT OF THE WAY!” a voice screamed.

I turned to see a carriage speeding toward us at a speed I thought was unimaginable for one. A terrified looking stallion sat on top with what seemed like kegs of cider. A cigarette hung from his mouth as he screamed.

“RUNAWAY CARRIAGE! MOVE! MOVE! MOVE!”

“GRANNY!” I yelled, tugging at her side.

“Wuh?”

“We have to move! Now! come on!”

The carriage got closer and closer until...

THWACK