Dipper's whole body convulsed under his bed sheets, and his head shot up, covered in sweat. Hooves shaking, he swiftly popped them over his mouth, stifling a scream. Having had the same nightmare over and over for the past month, he was practiced in the art of "not waking your sister up after having a terrible dream".
Teeth rattling despite his high body heat, Dipper threw off his covers and grabbed for the phone he always kept on his nightstand. Barely able to punch in the numbers of Twilight Sparkle's phone number with his vibrating hooves, he just gave up and sighed. She was probably still asleep anyways... there was only a four hour time difference between Gravity Falls and Canterlot...
His chocolate eyes darted over to the clock. 3:34 Oh, right.
Dipper hastily picked up the phone again and dialed the number (235)-624-003 into his old flip phone. He pressed it up to his ear eagerly, waiting to spill the contents of his dream to Twilight. Not that it was any different.
"Hello?" Her sweet, yet smart and calculating voice echoed into Dipper's ear. He winced, because it kind of sounded like...
No. No way was he going to let that dream ruin one of the only things he had left to live for in his miserable life.
"Twilight!" Dipper Pines' voice was deep with relief.
"Dipper! Why, it must be at least 3:34 night... no. You didn't have it again did you?"
It was the same routine every night. Dipper would wake up, occasionally waking up his sister Mabel (aka Shooting Star) in the process, and always calling Twilight right afterwards. Then, they would discuss the dream.
Augh. The dream had been haunting him ever since he had permanently moved to Gravity Falls from Ponymont. Nightmare Moon's latest escape from prison had left the town in ruins, killing both his mother and father. Just thinking about it hurt.
At first, the dream had only occurred on the 24th of June and the 24th of December each year, accordingly. But now, they were happening frequently, almost every night.
First, Dipper would appear in front of a house. There would be a tunnel entrance just outside, and he would get the impulse to run inside. Once inside the tunnel, he would walk until he was inside the mysterious house. Upon further examination, the house appeared to be some version of the Mystery Shack, except everything was floating and grey-scale. A whirlwind would then sweep Dipper off his hooves and the world would turn black. An echoing voice that always sent chills up his spine would then whisper something he could never make out in his ears until a burning sensation covered his entire body and he woke up covered in sweat.
"...Dipper? Are you ok?"
Dipper's light brown head shot up. "Yeah?"
"Are you ok?" Twilight's voice was even more worried than usual. With Nightmare Moon's escapes and Celestia being so busy, Twilight had a lot of extra responsibilities. Adding the fact that she was also trying to decode Dipper's dreams, she was almost always worried over something. This time, it appeared to be Dipper's sanity.
"Y-Yeah. I'm great-t. Really," he stuttered.
"Alright. I believe you. So, the dream was the same, I presume?" Twilight said tiredly.
"Yes. I-It was..."
"Any information on what the voice was saying?"
"Naw. It just sounded like nonsense. The voice was so weak all I could make out was something on the lines of "She likes mummies."
Twilight Sparkle laughed a little. "Alright. I'll add all that to my Dream Journal. You should too, you know."
Dipper blushed. Twilight and him had been keeping two matching journals they called "Dream Journals" to try and decipher Dipper's nightmares. By writing down what happened in each dream and any other details, Twilight was sure that she would be able to find the cause and cure of the nightmares. So far, all they had yet to figure out was that Bill definitely wasn't behind it. And, Dipper wasn't the best at updating his journal...
"Get some sleep, okay Dip? I know it's hard, but you have to try. Love you!" she hung up.
He sighed. She was right, he did need sleep. Dark circles rimmed his chocolate brown eyes, and his matching mane didn't look any better. But, with this thing haunting his dreams, Dipper Pines didn't think he would be going to sleep any time soon...
Mabel Pines woke up to her brother staring at the wall, like most mornings. Journal 3 was splayed across his lap, and his glassy eyes were unfocused and haunted.
"Dip?"
Dipper twitched, and turned to Mabel like he had just truly woken up. Large bags lined his eyes, as he hadn't sleep properly in days. Just the sight made her cringe. Maybe she should try the sleep medicine again... no, that wouldn't work.
"You okay, Dipper?" Mabel asked, concerned as hell.
"I-I'm fine, Mabel-l, really."
"No, you're not," she grouched. "If there's anything wrong-"
"You know very well there's something wrong!" Dipper snarled.
Mabel Pines flinched. "I didn't mean..."
"Oh yes you did!"
Tears stung her eyes. Dipper could be mean, but he was never like this. Pushing her away like that...
"Just get out!"
Pink hooves rushed above splintered flooring as Mabel ran out of the room and slammed the door shut with her hot pink telekinesis. And, if you listened very closely for a few minutes, you could here quiet sobbing from both sides...
Shooting Star- oh excuse me, Mabel finally trotted downstairs after composing herself moments before. As her brother's condition got worse, she really didn't know what to do. So, her first goal today would be to down an entire blender of Mabel Juice. Hey, don't look at me- it's got plastic dinosaurs in it!
"Hey Grunkle Stan!"
Her great uncle looked up from the latest edition of the Gravity Falls Gossiper and grunted.
"Good morning. You better not skip work today, because-"
Mabel Pines giggled a little, settling down at the table with a plate of toast and the blender of Mabel Juice.
"Oh, sorry Grunkle, I promised Grenda and Candy that I would go to a concert with them this evening and I gotta get ready!"
Stan Pines looked horribly confused, setting down the newspaper with his gray hooves and stared at her quizzically.
"Why would you need to get ready for something that's this evening?"
I swear, that mare's face turned as red as a beet as she started chuckling, then started full on cackling like a madpony.
"Oh Grunkle Stan, if you were a mare, you would understand. See ya!" she almost hopped out of the kitchen, breakfast already eaten.
Stan didn't even want to know.
This was it. She couldn't avoid Dipper for any longer, even if he could. Taking a deep breath, Mabel entered the room her brother and her shared.
"Hey, Dipping Sauce?"
He was sitting on his body, as still as a statue. In fact, Mabel wasn't even sure if he had moved since she had last seen him.
"Umm, you wanna talk or... something?"
Dipper Pines shifted a little, then lifted his head so that his coffee brown eyes could comfortably settle on his sisters.
"I'm sorry," he whispered.
Mabel gasped. Her eyes widened in shock, and she pulled him into a bear hug.
"It's not your fault! I was being insensitive, and-"
A small smile danced across Dipper's lips. "It's not you're's either."
Author's Note
OK, small note. I hoped you enjoyed that, and sorry about the weak ending. SFLIBQ