Figmentsby Half AwakeChaptersChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3EpilogueChapter 1It was a fairly good replica of the real clubhouse that, if Luna remembered correctly, sat somewhere off in one of the Apple Family's vast orchards. Even the small details were excellent: The trees swayed and had individual leaves, and the scent of apple blossoms was mild and pleasant. Clearly this was the construct of a mind with at least a few years of exposure to the real thing. Apple Bloom's dream, then. The trail of degenerated dream-bits had led her across six minds so far. This wasn't the after-effect of some current event – like the month after Tirek's rampage when she nearly ran herself ragged containing the horrible nightmares of her little ponies. The most Equestria-shattering catastrophe of the past week or so was when a weather-team mix-up caused the Ponyville Pet Picnic to be rained out. And even Fluttershy had stopped worrying about that by now. None of those she had encountered tonight seemed to notice anything out of the ordinary. Most had been absorbed in some fantasy or another, or their minds had been sifting through the events of the day. Her intruder was something slippery, but the trail was getting warmer. She was almost certain it was still within this dream, and Luna had no desire to spook her quarry now that she was so close. Observing without being seen meant blending into the background. Had it been nighttime, the moon would have worked nicely, and would have given her a fantastic vantage point. Unfortunately, Luna noted with a frown, the sun was out in Apple Bloom's dream. Typical. Through the heart-shaped window in the treehouse door she could see its three regulars. She quickly scanned the room for something that she could use as a hiding place. Preferably something with a face, some sort of prop that the cast of this little scene would be unlikely to interact with. Her eyes landed on the picture of Rainbow Dash hanging against the clubhouse's back wall. It would do. Luna closed her eyes and took a step forward. When she blinked them open again, Luna had an excellent view of the clubhouse interior. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were gazing dumbfounded at Scootaloo. The young pegasus was hovering near the podium, bobbing up and down to a lazy wingbeat. Apple Bloom was the first to recover her wits. “What? When?” From the face she was making, the gears in her head had started to turn and excitement was being replaced by skepticism. Red eyes darted between the pegasus' stubby wings and exasperated face. “How? I mean, I'm happy for you an' all, but—” Scootaloo didn't bother to stifle her groan. “It's a dream, genius. Do we really have to go over this every single night?” Apple Bloom's face fell. “Oh, right. A dream.” She plopped down on her haunches and glanced at Sweetie Belle, whose mouth was still agape. A jab in the flank failed to rouse the third Crusader from her stupor. “Well that's weird.” “What's wrong with her?” Scootaloo leveled a hoof at the white filly. “Hey. I said it's a dream! You're kind of creeping me out.” After a couple more pokes for good measure, Apple Bloom shrugged. “Maybe she's not real?” As if on cue, racing hoofsteps scraped to a halt just outside and the door burst open to reveal what was presumably the real Sweetie Belle. A brown paper bag caught in her greenish grip followed her into the door frame. “Hi girls! I brought breakf— what is that?” Her magic faltered as Sweetie Belle beheld her doppelganger. No longer sustained by the belief of the other two, its still-incredulous face was sagging earthward toward a melting white flank. “Answers that question.” Apple Bloom muttered. “Hey Sweetie Belle. Just ignore this thing.” When Sweetie Belle continued to stare, she tried again. “Look, we can throw a sheet over it or something if it's botherin' you.” This was getting Luna nowhere. The intruder was either expertly hidden, or knew these three well enough to disguise itself convincingly. It was time for a more direct approach. While the three fillies were otherwise occupied, she extracted herself from the portrait and stepped up to the podium as if she'd been there all along. Scootaloo grinned. “Maybe our brains just made up a more lifelike Sweetie Belle because the other one was-” Luna cleared her throat and cut the jab short; their various squeals and squeaks of surprise let her take inventory of their reactions. A wide-eyed Sweetie Belle who had not yet recovered from her previous shock sat trying to process it all. Apple Bloom, a little paler than usual, had perked up a little bit at the Princess' arrival. Scootaloo had dropped to the ground, looking as if she'd just been caught with her hoof in the proverbial cookie jar. She let a moment pass in silence. “Would one of you tell me whose dream this is?” Sweetie Belle mouthed an “Oh” as understanding dawned. Scootaloo, looking markedly less guilty now, slowly pointed a hoof at Apple Bloom, who swallowed a sudden lump in her throat. “I see. In that case, would you both explain what it is, exactly, that you're doing here?” Her gaze shifted smoothly between Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. The former was chewing her lip, and from her squinty expression looked to be genuinely searching her memory for the answer. Luna had seen Scootaloo's panicked expression on enough foals to know that she was wracking her brain for a response that wouldn't get her in trouble. It took a moment for Apple Bloom to catch up. “Wait a minute. How do y'all know this is my dream?” Her forelegs wrapped around her head, confused, or maybe dizzy. Scootaloo rolled her eyes. “Well there aren't that many doors that smell like Apple.” Luna arched an eyebrow and then filed this one away to think about later. Sweetie Belle perked up suddenly. “The window! For me it was the window. I was at Sugarcube Corner – they had a special on croissants.” She gazed back longingly toward the abandoned baked goods that were starting to melt into goop. “The window was open, and I could see Sweet Apple Acres through it, so I went that way.” Scootaloo was having trouble keeping her face straight. “What? It made sense at the time.” Luna, now seated, surveyed the distracted fillies. Which one was a liar? Apple Bloom was staring at her hooves and hadn't said much, but this was clearly her dream. Hijacking was possible, but produced constant imperfections as the dreamer's mind tried to reassert itself. Scootaloo had always shown an aptitude for lucid dreaming, so her behavior was not unexpected. Sweetie Belle had arrived late, well after her prey had entered this dream. She tapped a hoof on the wobbly stand, contemplating. Melty Belle was the out-of-place element. Shouldn't it have vanished by now, since the Crusaders were focused on each other? Or was it memorable enough to stick around? She leaned in, eyes narrowed at the expanding puddle-pony. “Hey, are you okay, Apple Bloom?” The real Sweetie Belle had been trading verbal jabs with Scootaloo, but their banter quieted when it became obvious that their friend was, perhaps, having a serious problem. Apple Bloom looked up at Sweetie Belle, opened her mouth to answer, and then threw up on the clubhouse floor. The entire setting lurched sickeningly to the right. “Ew!” Sweetie Belle looked like she might be sick herself. Luna ignored the mess and scanned the clubhouse for anything that looked out of place. If she didn’t find it soon, Apple Bloom would wake up and the dream would dissolve. Her hooves trembled in frustration. No, not her hooves. The podium was vibrating ever so slightly. Past her forelegs, she could see decay spreading from the base of the stand, encroaching on her sitting space. It was all she could do not to let the queasiness she suddenly felt show on her face. Instead, she stood up and took a casual step to the side. “Girls.” Luna's word was loud enough to cut through panicked chatter, and all eyes snapped back to her. “It's unwise to stay in a pony's dream when they are ill. I suggest that you all return the way you came, or wake up now. Apple Bloom, it might be a good idea for you to get some fresh air.” They needed to be out of this clubhouse. Unfortunately, her quarry saw through the ploy. Where a moment ago had stood a piece of furniture, there was now something else. Quadruped, but not at all equine. Made of living shadow, its wispy essence trailed as if blown by a breeze that she couldn't feel. And there, if she looked very carefully, a silver strand leading away. Luna's curiosity got the better of her for just a moment. “What are you?” It was all she could get out before the room erupted into a Cutie Mark Crusader panic. The three fillies each ran in different directions, and the shifty-looking shade used the confusion as cover as it edged its way toward the door. Entirely out of control. Unacceptable. Luna drew herself up to her full height and then some, her chest expanding as she drew in a deep breath. “SILENCE!” The echo that followed wasn't actually possible given the local geography. All movement ceased, the Crusaders backed into one corner and this new creature the center of attention. She stepped forward into a stance of royal authority, her gaze warning against disobedience. “You are trespassing in an Equestrian citizen. Identify yourself.” The thing gave no indication that it was about to spring. No tensed muscles, no hiss. It just streaked straight toward the door, which immediately slammed shut in an envelope of blue magic. The streak splattered against the wooden paneling, and Luna raised a foreleg to shield her face against the oncoming droplets. The creature rose out of the stain, back legs braced against the door frame, wrenching at the door knob. “That's not going to work.” Luna advanced on the creature as it struggled. Between the two of them, her control of the environment was clearly superior. The creature could still be a danger to the others – removing it from this location was the priority. “You will come with me, now. Cease your resistance and you will be treated fairly.” The glow around her horn intensified as she prepared to cast another spell. The thing on the door ignored her. It gave one final yank and the doorknob itself came loose of its metal anchors, leaving behind a blackened, sickly space where something was clearly missing. Triumphantly it kicked off from the wall, straight across CMC headquarters toward the window on the far side. “Stop! Halt!” The window didn't shut in time. Luna was already in motion as the creature vanished across the threshold in a flash of light. She dove, wings tucked, toward the oak frame. It expanded to accommodate her as if it was made of rubber, and Sweet Apple Acres vanished. Chapter 2The sudden imposition of realistic physics took just a moment to register, and Luna's wings sprang open in a flurried attempt to keep her from plummeting to the city streets below. She couldn't afford to be jarred into consciousness right now, and even she, as practiced as she was at this, couldn't suppress all of her natural reactions. “You have some weird dreams, Apple Bloom. Is that Manehattan? Sweetie Belle, find a rope and-” Luna slid the window closed without turning around. No way was that going to happen. These little breaches tended to be repaired in short order by one side or the other, but she didn't have time to hang around and make sure. The thing, whatever it was, already had a head start and was loping its way down the side of the building. If it hit street level, she'd lose it in the crowd. She pitched herself into a dive, the office building floors streaking by as she ate up her prey's lead. The black wisp she was chasing looked back once, hooked a claw around a piece of molding and swung itself straight through a window. She flared her wings and made a shallow loop to bleed off some speed, coming to a stop just outside the offending office. It was easy to find – several discolored splotches on the otherwise well washed exterior gave it away. Apparently this was not the creature's first visit. Luna pressed her face to the glass, but saw nothing inside. The office itself looked empty, both of ponies and of props that could be shadows in disguise. A touch of magic undid the latch and opened the window. When nothing jumped out and tackled her, she squeezed herself through the not-quite-big-enough opening, stumbling a bit as her back legs caught on the sill. Fortunately, nopony was around to watch the undignified performance. It wasn't completely silent, as she could hear a conversation in the next room over. Nothing in here, though. The room was completely barren except for the carpet, which was typical of dream space that wasn't particularly important to its dreamer. Luna made a short circuit of the room, tested the door on the far wall. It was locked from the inside, though she supposed that an amorphous entity like the one she was chasing might have been able to squeeze underneath it. Or maybe— Luna's head burst up through the drop ceiling, horn lit up to throw dim blue light around the cramped space. A squeal from her right let her know that she had guessed correctly. Amidst the pipework and beams, the creature sat there surrounded by trinkets and baubles that looked to have come from a dozen different dreams. Its glowing yellow eyes were pointed straight at her, and still clutched the tree house doorknob covetously in its clawed hands. The silver cord, which had been just barely visible before, shone like a bright strand in this darkness. She was ready for it this time. With a flash of magic, she wrapped it in a telekinetic grip strong enough to immobilize a yak. It was like trying to hold onto slime. The creature oozed out of her magic field and zigzagged across the dusty space, wispy trails of shadow streaming behind it. She tried twice more, but the thing just wriggled out of her hold like a squirming cat. Her shield bubble did a better job. Luna could see the flickering glow of artificial light poking up through the porous ceiling tiles as she scrambled to pull herself up into the confined space. She picked her way carefully to her captive, who was trying to break the shield with the doorknob it had managed to hold on to. “Cease your struggles,” she hissed at the shadow, which ignored her completely. Luna needed to get the thing out of this mind – understanding its purpose could come later. The conversation she'd heard earlier was now directly below, and it would be better not to have any further impact on this dream. With any luck, whoever was down in the office space beneath her would never know she'd been there. “So you see, profits in the self-esteem enhancement sector are up again this quarter.” The voice was very deep for a pony. Luna stepped cautiously in order to avoid breaking through the cheap tile. “Our analysts project that advancements in our catchphrase technology could boost our next quarter earnings by up to twenty percent! A strategic partnership between—” “Well that's not Princess Luna.” Her hoof halted in midstep and she squeezed her eyes shut, hoping that it would turn out to be some hallucination of her overworked mind. “It's not my fault, you said she'd be in here! This looks like a... what kinda meetin' is this?” Apple Bloom's distinct accent eradicated her last sliver of hope that the situation could be resolved quietly. “Your business employs these three underage folk? You failed to convey this the last time we spoke. Our people have very strict child labor laws, we'd sacrifice gains to the outrage it'd cause.” New plan, then. Circle around and collect the crusaders while masquerading as a caretaker of some sort. Even in this rigid mind she should be able to shift into the guise of an office worker, and if she kept the shield bubble out of sight, she might yet salvage this situation. “What? No, one of the accountants probably brought their kids in. 'If you want a foal to grow up right...' uh, no that's not the one.” His voice trailed off into a mumble. The low ceiling was literally starting to press in on her, no doubt her own subconscious at work. She slunk forward, crouched, and put a tentative hoof down. In a shower of drywall debris, Luna fell spread-eagle onto a conference room table, mane and tail trailing in starry streaks to splash into heaps around her. The blue sphere bounced down out of the crawlspace and landed solidly behind her, sending a crack through the cherry-colored wood. A dark puddle at the bottom of the cage slowly pulled itself back together and immediately re-engaged with its battle against the shield that surrounded it. “Oh, there she is! See, I told you,” Scootaloo said smugly. The business lunch assembled around her looked too stunned to respond. An executive zebra and her aide, dressed in very expensive tea-spattered suits, were gaping at Luna speechlessly. Two goats stood guard at the door where three fillies were using the distraction of her entrance to squeeze their way inside. At the head of the table, standing next to an easel with full color pie chart, was a blue minotaur in black pants and a tie. “This, um, this is—” “It's hard to put words to this shameful display.” The stern looking zebra pulled her mouth shut and addressed Iron Will. “I think we've seen all that we need to. Good day.” Luna, trying to regain at least a touch of dignity, rose to her hooves on the table top. She checked the bubble-cage to make sure it still held its prisoner and stepped down to the plush floor. Behind her, the aide began to stuff papers and writing supplies into his briefcase as his boss tried to brush the plaster dust from her vest. Iron Will just stared, dumbfounded. “Come, children. I think we've caused enough trouble here.” To their credit, the crusaders had the good grace to look mildly ashamed. “Sorry for ruining your dream, Mr. Will.” Sweetie Belle said sheepishly as the four intruders started toward the conference room door. Iron Will's normally stern demeanor had crumbled. “Dream? Young lady, this is a nightmare!” A sudden wave of nausea washed through Luna, and the blue bubble flickered. As if sensing her weakness, the shadowy being kicked off one side of its prison and smashed through the other, sending shards of blue force scattering in all directions. With an un-princess-like cry of frustration, Luna rounded on the creature. Her horn flashed as she tried to recapture it, a task made more difficult by the crowded quarters. Iron Will's goats, at least, had the good sense to leap out of the way of the charging shadow. It reached the doorway and touched the frame with one of its clawed appendages. The scene beyond the door changed. “It's gettin' away!” Apple Bloom, still a little green in the face, lept after the thing as in pulled itself through the portal. Unsurprisingly, Scootaloo needed no urging and charged after them. Sweetie Belle spared Luna one apologetic glance before taking off after her friends. “Wait, that's not a place that—” Luna didn't bother finishing the sentence, as the fillies had already crossed the threshold. Unable to suppress a flicker of annoyance, the Princess dove after them. Though the crusaders would be in danger, she knew that at the very least the shadow creature would not be able to escape her in this dream. Chapter 3It was as if a heavy pack had suddenly been unloaded from her back. The freedom of this dream was a bliss that she wouldn't have the time to enjoy. It would, however, give her an edge. Granite statues of ponies, heroes and respected adversaries long gone welcomed her with lifeless stares. Tattered banners waved lazily on broken columns, and a dusty light filtered in through a ceiling mostly worn away by time and wind. There were things here that didn't belong. Dozens of portraits hung from the stone walls, much too new to have been here originally. Sleeping mares and stallions decorated the hall, a mishmash of different tribes and species. There was even a young drake, curled around its hoard of glimmering gold. The most glaring inconsistency, though, was the enormous mirror at the other end of the hall. Sweetie Belle hadn't ventured far. “Princess, what should we do?” She looked nervous, unwilling to act on her own. The shadow being was trying to drag itself along the length of the room, the clubhouse doorknob an offering in its outstretched hand. Apple Bloom had latched herself to the thing's back. Scootaloo had the creature's oozing tail between her teeth and clung to the floor with what looked like gryphon claws. A good effort, but it was a losing battle. The entire bundle inched steadily toward the massive mirror. This was the creature's destination. Its silver cord, now plainly visible, stretched along the length of a faded red carpet to intersect the shiny surface. Its terminus was held gently in the mirror's reflection by a creature even more alien than the one she'd been chasing. One of its many arms pressed against the other side of the glass, as if trying to reach out and scoop the minion back into its fold. Dark sockets fixed on Luna, scrutinizing, until comprehension dawned and a daggered grin split its pale face. “Oh my, this is a surprise. I almost didn’t recognize you. But then, it has been a long, long time.” The quiet feminine voice was muffled and seemed to issue from the mirror itself, rather than the abomination’s unmoving mouth. Her eyes pivoted to the side as if speaking to someone offstage. “Children, it's time to wake up. Mother needs you.” Luna sneered and stepped defiantly toward the reflection. “Dreamsnatcher. You would challenge me on my home ground? Foalish.” Silver armor materialized around her; it fit just as she remembered. Stone allies stepped from their pedestals to form ranks behind her, a platoon of animate dream-stuff. “Apple Bloom, remove thyself from that creature that I may dispose of it properly.” Luna's horn blossomed into a blue spark as she prepared her spell. The creature in the mirror began to look impatient. “I'm becoming upset, dears. Get up now.” The portraits on the walls had changed. Ponies stood upright or hovered in their frames, looking nervously between imposing princess and eldritch matriarch. A solidly built earth pony standing in a painted field of golden wheat was the first to act, his frown holding a hint of determination. “Sorry, princess.” The stallion poured from his portrait onto the stone floor, where his body took on its marble coloring and dull shine. “No offense.” Around him, others were finding their courage. A brown pegasus blurred from her portrait and clung to the ceiling like an insect. A frail looking yellow unicorn with a gas lamp for a cutie mark took his place behind a pony-turned-timberwolf that had just loped down from a forest scene. Luna grimaced; the Dreamsnatcher’s prowess had improved over the years. Or had it? These ponies were not moving as a single mind. They were all so different – could they be real? Some army of sleeping ponies gathered for an invasion through the dream? “Princess Luna!” Apple Bloom had extracted herself from the dark quadruped, and its oily tail began to slip through Scootaloo's teeth. The creature bucked at her as it struggled down the hall, and the young pegasus finally lost her grip. Luna let fly with her magic, which punched a hole straight through the fiend’s hindquarters. A whole chunk of its flank, including one leg, vanished into a wisp of shadow. The thing didn’t seem to care. It continued to hobble forward, slowed only marginally by the loss of half its hindquarters. Her attention was drawn by a snarl from the timberwolf, which had been slowly circling its way between Luna and the crusaders. Other combatants were advancing haphazardly, each seemingly with their own plan. “Citizens, stand down. I do not wish to—” But her subconscious had other ideas. Sensing danger, the statues behind her charged into battle, stone joints grinding and ancient weapons poised to attack. The aggressive move spurred even the least confident of her opposition to action, and soon the room was a tangle of hooves, weapons and spells. Sweetie Belle, not usually known for her courage, was running toward the shadow minion in order to help her two friends. In a surprisingly smooth motion, her jaws scooped up a ceramic dagger from the floor, likely dropped there by a stone sentinel that hadn't withstood the test of time. It would be a futile attack. That was the last she could see of the three fillies before the enemy closed in. There were too many of them, and she realized with horror that the children she was supposed to be protecting were now in real danger. A opening allowed her a glimpse of the mirror. She fired an attack spell at the Dreamsnatcher, hoping that there might be an easy way to end the battle, but the blue beam reflected harmlessly onto a weathered chunk of wall across the room. The face in the mirror smiled. She needed to get to the source of the problem, but there were too many bodies in the way. This was beyond her. Retreat was no longer an option; not without abandoning the children she was supposed to be protecting. “Cut the cord!” Luna shouted over the din of battle. “Don't let it get to her!” If anypony heard her, she couldn’t hear their response. Luna could no longer avoid direct combat. While none of the opposition could match her physical prowess or skill with magic, there were enough of them to keep her mobility low. As she pivoted for a particularly solid kick, she came muzzle-to-muzzle with a familiar face. It startled her so much that Luna over extended her leg and landed off-balance. “Princess Twilight?” The young lavender unicorn had her tail tucked and seemed terrified that she had earned Luna's attention. Twilight scrunched up her face with effort and flung a small chunk of dislodged masonry before hurrying back into the crowd of combatants. Its impact barely registered. She didn’t have time to dwell on it. Luna’s opponents were trying to keep her away from her flesh and blood allies, and they were doing a frustratingly good job of it. She had no idea how they were communicating strategy, but though they acted as individuals, they showed a unified purpose. It was time for a change in tactics – she began to focus her attacks on breaking through the mob, using her conjured compatriots to guard her flank. There were too many of them. Just as she began to despair of salvaging the situation, the ground shook as a mighty roar tore through the air. All heads turned away from her. Over the crowd a manticore’s face rose, fanged mouth curled upward in a snarl. Luna’s initial panic turned suddenly to mirth as she realized that its coat was just a little bit too orange, and its mane more violet than the traditional reddish brown. She couldn’t help but laugh at her opponents’ terrified faces. “Huzzah!” she shouted as she poured herself back into the battle. The creature took a massive swipe at the mob before it, flinging two ponies and a granite guardian indiscriminately out of the way. Luna renewed her own attack, clearing the distracted combatants, until the line broke and she stood together with the massive beast. There was no time for congratulations. As Luna opened her mouth to direct the monster, another roar came from her left. A second body collided with the manticore, sending both tumbling across the floor and scattering props and ponies alike. The drake had finally decided to leave its portrait and join the fray. They tangled themselves in a flurry of claws, teeth and tails, too intertwined to allow Luna a clear blast. A shriek from Sweetie Belle reminded her that she hadn't been paying attention to her objective. The young filly had made it all the way to the mirror, but was now held tight by the hooves of her own reflection. To her credit, Sweetie Belle still struggled to slash the silver cord, just out of reach, with the long knife in her mouth. The shadow creature, trying to stagger its way forward on three legs, was stretching its gift toward the Dreamsnatcher’s reflection. “Heads up!” Apple Bloom was standing on a pedestal next to a fallen statue of a royal guard. With a kick that would have made her sister proud, Apple Bloom slammed her back hooves into its face. The stone head snapped right off its neck, sailing over the chaos of the battle with the kind of physics that could only exist in a dream. It slammed into the mirror, right in the center of the Dreamsnatcher's scowling face, sending cracks spiderwebbing through the glass. The silver cord snapped, whipping back and forth like an angry snake. With a screeching wail the shadowy creature dispersed into a dark mist, dropping its treasure to the carpeted floor just shy of its destination. Suddenly the room was very quiet. Luna's assembled guards remained, frozen in combat poses, but their opposition had vanished unceremoniously. Or perhaps they hadn’t? Luna wove her way between the statue warriors toward one whose spear was now frozen in mid-thrust. Pierced through the center was a ragged pony doll, coarse fabric stitched with a jagged red thread. Its violet button eyes stared blankly at Luna as sand, bark and dirt poured from the wound just in front of its crudely drawn, star-shaped cutie mark. Behind one ear was a quill whose tip was still stained with dark ink. It wasn’t the only one. Littering the floors and tossed against the walls she could see dozens of small, hoof-made ragdolls. Each one had something unique stitched into it somehow – a shark’s tooth necklace, a tiny nugget of gold as an eye, an old pair of sunglasses missing one lens. A stuffed dragon, shredded beyond repair hung from the mouth of a very pleased looking Scootaloo. The alien being in the mirror gazed down at the clubhouse doorknob, its face seething with frustration. Sweetie Belle was staring nervously at her reflection. Its hooves pounded on the other side of the glass, still trying to reach through the splintered surface toward its prey. “Very disappointed.” With one last angry glance the Dreamsnatcher vanished, dragging Sweetie Belle's reflection with it. The mirror, spidered beyond repair, fell to pieces before them. Time seemed to catch up with the frame, which warped and rusted to scrap before their eyes. Luna took a deep breath and cleared her throat. “Sweetie Belle, step away from that thing.” The portraits remained. Luna made a circuit of the room, examining each one in turn. She ran a hoof over the first, but its color, texture and even smell was of ordinary oil paint. She spent an extra moment in front of the painting of a young purple unicorn. The mare looked content, as always, with her muzzle in a book, a familiar looking quill in her mouth and half a page of notes within easy reach. She would need to have a talk with the Princess of Friendship in the morning. “Apple Bloom, if there was a cutie mark for mirror smashing, you'd totally have just earned it.” “Mph, brt” Sweetie Belle spit her inadequate weapon to the ground and glared at Apple Bloom. “But she almost hit me in the head!” “Aw, shucks.” Apple Bloom looked uncomfortable. “Comes from workin' the farm, I suppose.” Luna lifted the discarded doorknob into the air. “Come, you three.” She hovered the trinket toward Apple Bloom. “I believe this belongs to you. It's time to put things back where they belong.” EpilogueScootaloo crept along the wooden hallway, looking left and right as she passed each door. This was trespassing for sure, but she just had to know. Here. There was no plaque, but she knew it had to be the right one. With one last glance to make sure she was alone, the young pegasus gripped the door's handle between her teeth and pulled backward to swing it open. She was so eager to see the other side that she barreled straight into Princess Luna and ended up on her rump. “This one does not smell like Apples.” Luna didn't look like she was in a good mood. “Oh, uh, hey there, Princess Luna.” Scootaloo nervously scratched at the back of her neck while she tried to figure out what to say. “I guess I got a little bit lost.” Seriously? That was the best she could come up with? Princess Luna stepped through the door and shut it behind herself. Scootaloo couldn't quite help trying to steal a glance as it closed. “You got a little bit lost and ended up at the doorway to Rainbow Dash's mind? No, I don't think so.” Well, the truth had worked out alright last time. Maybe if she was lucky, the princess would let her off with a lecture on responsibility or something. “I just wanted to look. I mean, it's Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo gestured emphatically toward the door. “Her dreams have got to be awesome. I wasn't going to mess with anything, I swear.” It sounded pretty lame out loud. Princes Luna surprised her by sitting down, right there in the hallway. The alicorn looked exhausted, which was weird considering where they were. She didn't say anything, which made Scootaloo feel even worse. “Are you gonna to tell her?” The princess seemed to consider the question for a second. “No, I will not.” Another awkward moment passed. “Ponies’ dreams are private things, Scootaloo. Places where their imaginations can relax or run wild, where their subconscious minds craft fantastic worlds and surreal nightmares.” Scootaloo relaxed; looked like it was going to be a lecture after all. She suppressed an eye roll – that kind of thing usually didn’t go over very well. It’s not like Princess Luna didn’t go snooping around whenever she wanted, anyway. This was probably one of those ‘do as I say, not as I do’ kind of things. “Once you notice the doorways between dream realms, you can never stop seeing them. Worse, there are things that will start to notice you.” Luna frowned. She wasn’t really looking at Scootaloo any more, which was kind of unnerving. “The Dreamsnatcher is real; she is not some figment of our imaginations that can only hurt us if we let her. Such creatures find it easy to move around when doorways are left open.” Her eyes snapped to Scootaloo. “There have been a lot of those lately.” The accusation made Scootaloo feel a little bit sick to her stomach. “But you’re always there to protect us. That’s your job, isn’t it? Besides, we completely crushed that mirror monster. Everything worked out fine. It did work out fine, right?” Luna’s lecture face melted into careful consideration. “It is my job, yes. But there are many ponies, and I can not be in all dreams at all times.” She stood back up into that posture she always used to make formal pronouncements. “You did perform admirably against the Dreamsnatcher. All three of you, in fact. Very few ponies have an aptitude for lucid dreaming, and even fewer can find the paths between dreams without a guide.” Luna narrowed her eyes and pulled her mouth into a thin line. “It would be irresponsible of me to let you wander those paths without protection or instruction.” The princess turned to walk away; apparently the lecture was over. “And it would be equally irresponsible of me to ignore that aptitude. Go back to your own dream and rest well. Be back here tomorrow night for your first lesson.” Scootaloo’s ears drooped. “Yes princess.” She knitted her eyebrows as her brain processed the sentence fully. “Wait, what?” She had been expecting the princess to forbid her from exploring these worlds, to somehow prevent her from going where she wasn’t allowed. Wouldn’t that have been the easier solution? And more importantly… “What about Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle?” Luna paused her retreat for just a moment and gave a resigned sigh. “Yes, I believe you should bring them along as well.” A plain grey door at the end of the corridor creaked open to admit her, and closed quickly as she passed. Another minute passed in the silent hallway as Scootaloo turned the conversation over in her mind. Then, with one last wistful glance at her big sister’s door, she crept quietly back toward her own.
Chapter 1It was a fairly good replica of the real clubhouse that, if Luna remembered correctly, sat somewhere off in one of the Apple Family's vast orchards. Even the small details were excellent: The trees swayed and had individual leaves, and the scent of apple blossoms was mild and pleasant. Clearly this was the construct of a mind with at least a few years of exposure to the real thing. Apple Bloom's dream, then. The trail of degenerated dream-bits had led her across six minds so far. This wasn't the after-effect of some current event – like the month after Tirek's rampage when she nearly ran herself ragged containing the horrible nightmares of her little ponies. The most Equestria-shattering catastrophe of the past week or so was when a weather-team mix-up caused the Ponyville Pet Picnic to be rained out. And even Fluttershy had stopped worrying about that by now. None of those she had encountered tonight seemed to notice anything out of the ordinary. Most had been absorbed in some fantasy or another, or their minds had been sifting through the events of the day. Her intruder was something slippery, but the trail was getting warmer. She was almost certain it was still within this dream, and Luna had no desire to spook her quarry now that she was so close. Observing without being seen meant blending into the background. Had it been nighttime, the moon would have worked nicely, and would have given her a fantastic vantage point. Unfortunately, Luna noted with a frown, the sun was out in Apple Bloom's dream. Typical. Through the heart-shaped window in the treehouse door she could see its three regulars. She quickly scanned the room for something that she could use as a hiding place. Preferably something with a face, some sort of prop that the cast of this little scene would be unlikely to interact with. Her eyes landed on the picture of Rainbow Dash hanging against the clubhouse's back wall. It would do. Luna closed her eyes and took a step forward. When she blinked them open again, Luna had an excellent view of the clubhouse interior. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were gazing dumbfounded at Scootaloo. The young pegasus was hovering near the podium, bobbing up and down to a lazy wingbeat. Apple Bloom was the first to recover her wits. “What? When?” From the face she was making, the gears in her head had started to turn and excitement was being replaced by skepticism. Red eyes darted between the pegasus' stubby wings and exasperated face. “How? I mean, I'm happy for you an' all, but—” Scootaloo didn't bother to stifle her groan. “It's a dream, genius. Do we really have to go over this every single night?” Apple Bloom's face fell. “Oh, right. A dream.” She plopped down on her haunches and glanced at Sweetie Belle, whose mouth was still agape. A jab in the flank failed to rouse the third Crusader from her stupor. “Well that's weird.” “What's wrong with her?” Scootaloo leveled a hoof at the white filly. “Hey. I said it's a dream! You're kind of creeping me out.” After a couple more pokes for good measure, Apple Bloom shrugged. “Maybe she's not real?” As if on cue, racing hoofsteps scraped to a halt just outside and the door burst open to reveal what was presumably the real Sweetie Belle. A brown paper bag caught in her greenish grip followed her into the door frame. “Hi girls! I brought breakf— what is that?” Her magic faltered as Sweetie Belle beheld her doppelganger. No longer sustained by the belief of the other two, its still-incredulous face was sagging earthward toward a melting white flank. “Answers that question.” Apple Bloom muttered. “Hey Sweetie Belle. Just ignore this thing.” When Sweetie Belle continued to stare, she tried again. “Look, we can throw a sheet over it or something if it's botherin' you.” This was getting Luna nowhere. The intruder was either expertly hidden, or knew these three well enough to disguise itself convincingly. It was time for a more direct approach. While the three fillies were otherwise occupied, she extracted herself from the portrait and stepped up to the podium as if she'd been there all along. Scootaloo grinned. “Maybe our brains just made up a more lifelike Sweetie Belle because the other one was-” Luna cleared her throat and cut the jab short; their various squeals and squeaks of surprise let her take inventory of their reactions. A wide-eyed Sweetie Belle who had not yet recovered from her previous shock sat trying to process it all. Apple Bloom, a little paler than usual, had perked up a little bit at the Princess' arrival. Scootaloo had dropped to the ground, looking as if she'd just been caught with her hoof in the proverbial cookie jar. She let a moment pass in silence. “Would one of you tell me whose dream this is?” Sweetie Belle mouthed an “Oh” as understanding dawned. Scootaloo, looking markedly less guilty now, slowly pointed a hoof at Apple Bloom, who swallowed a sudden lump in her throat. “I see. In that case, would you both explain what it is, exactly, that you're doing here?” Her gaze shifted smoothly between Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. The former was chewing her lip, and from her squinty expression looked to be genuinely searching her memory for the answer. Luna had seen Scootaloo's panicked expression on enough foals to know that she was wracking her brain for a response that wouldn't get her in trouble. It took a moment for Apple Bloom to catch up. “Wait a minute. How do y'all know this is my dream?” Her forelegs wrapped around her head, confused, or maybe dizzy. Scootaloo rolled her eyes. “Well there aren't that many doors that smell like Apple.” Luna arched an eyebrow and then filed this one away to think about later. Sweetie Belle perked up suddenly. “The window! For me it was the window. I was at Sugarcube Corner – they had a special on croissants.” She gazed back longingly toward the abandoned baked goods that were starting to melt into goop. “The window was open, and I could see Sweet Apple Acres through it, so I went that way.” Scootaloo was having trouble keeping her face straight. “What? It made sense at the time.” Luna, now seated, surveyed the distracted fillies. Which one was a liar? Apple Bloom was staring at her hooves and hadn't said much, but this was clearly her dream. Hijacking was possible, but produced constant imperfections as the dreamer's mind tried to reassert itself. Scootaloo had always shown an aptitude for lucid dreaming, so her behavior was not unexpected. Sweetie Belle had arrived late, well after her prey had entered this dream. She tapped a hoof on the wobbly stand, contemplating. Melty Belle was the out-of-place element. Shouldn't it have vanished by now, since the Crusaders were focused on each other? Or was it memorable enough to stick around? She leaned in, eyes narrowed at the expanding puddle-pony. “Hey, are you okay, Apple Bloom?” The real Sweetie Belle had been trading verbal jabs with Scootaloo, but their banter quieted when it became obvious that their friend was, perhaps, having a serious problem. Apple Bloom looked up at Sweetie Belle, opened her mouth to answer, and then threw up on the clubhouse floor. The entire setting lurched sickeningly to the right. “Ew!” Sweetie Belle looked like she might be sick herself. Luna ignored the mess and scanned the clubhouse for anything that looked out of place. If she didn’t find it soon, Apple Bloom would wake up and the dream would dissolve. Her hooves trembled in frustration. No, not her hooves. The podium was vibrating ever so slightly. Past her forelegs, she could see decay spreading from the base of the stand, encroaching on her sitting space. It was all she could do not to let the queasiness she suddenly felt show on her face. Instead, she stood up and took a casual step to the side. “Girls.” Luna's word was loud enough to cut through panicked chatter, and all eyes snapped back to her. “It's unwise to stay in a pony's dream when they are ill. I suggest that you all return the way you came, or wake up now. Apple Bloom, it might be a good idea for you to get some fresh air.” They needed to be out of this clubhouse. Unfortunately, her quarry saw through the ploy. Where a moment ago had stood a piece of furniture, there was now something else. Quadruped, but not at all equine. Made of living shadow, its wispy essence trailed as if blown by a breeze that she couldn't feel. And there, if she looked very carefully, a silver strand leading away. Luna's curiosity got the better of her for just a moment. “What are you?” It was all she could get out before the room erupted into a Cutie Mark Crusader panic. The three fillies each ran in different directions, and the shifty-looking shade used the confusion as cover as it edged its way toward the door. Entirely out of control. Unacceptable. Luna drew herself up to her full height and then some, her chest expanding as she drew in a deep breath. “SILENCE!” The echo that followed wasn't actually possible given the local geography. All movement ceased, the Crusaders backed into one corner and this new creature the center of attention. She stepped forward into a stance of royal authority, her gaze warning against disobedience. “You are trespassing in an Equestrian citizen. Identify yourself.” The thing gave no indication that it was about to spring. No tensed muscles, no hiss. It just streaked straight toward the door, which immediately slammed shut in an envelope of blue magic. The streak splattered against the wooden paneling, and Luna raised a foreleg to shield her face against the oncoming droplets. The creature rose out of the stain, back legs braced against the door frame, wrenching at the door knob. “That's not going to work.” Luna advanced on the creature as it struggled. Between the two of them, her control of the environment was clearly superior. The creature could still be a danger to the others – removing it from this location was the priority. “You will come with me, now. Cease your resistance and you will be treated fairly.” The glow around her horn intensified as she prepared to cast another spell. The thing on the door ignored her. It gave one final yank and the doorknob itself came loose of its metal anchors, leaving behind a blackened, sickly space where something was clearly missing. Triumphantly it kicked off from the wall, straight across CMC headquarters toward the window on the far side. “Stop! Halt!” The window didn't shut in time. Luna was already in motion as the creature vanished across the threshold in a flash of light. She dove, wings tucked, toward the oak frame. It expanded to accommodate her as if it was made of rubber, and Sweet Apple Acres vanished.
Chapter 2The sudden imposition of realistic physics took just a moment to register, and Luna's wings sprang open in a flurried attempt to keep her from plummeting to the city streets below. She couldn't afford to be jarred into consciousness right now, and even she, as practiced as she was at this, couldn't suppress all of her natural reactions. “You have some weird dreams, Apple Bloom. Is that Manehattan? Sweetie Belle, find a rope and-” Luna slid the window closed without turning around. No way was that going to happen. These little breaches tended to be repaired in short order by one side or the other, but she didn't have time to hang around and make sure. The thing, whatever it was, already had a head start and was loping its way down the side of the building. If it hit street level, she'd lose it in the crowd. She pitched herself into a dive, the office building floors streaking by as she ate up her prey's lead. The black wisp she was chasing looked back once, hooked a claw around a piece of molding and swung itself straight through a window. She flared her wings and made a shallow loop to bleed off some speed, coming to a stop just outside the offending office. It was easy to find – several discolored splotches on the otherwise well washed exterior gave it away. Apparently this was not the creature's first visit. Luna pressed her face to the glass, but saw nothing inside. The office itself looked empty, both of ponies and of props that could be shadows in disguise. A touch of magic undid the latch and opened the window. When nothing jumped out and tackled her, she squeezed herself through the not-quite-big-enough opening, stumbling a bit as her back legs caught on the sill. Fortunately, nopony was around to watch the undignified performance. It wasn't completely silent, as she could hear a conversation in the next room over. Nothing in here, though. The room was completely barren except for the carpet, which was typical of dream space that wasn't particularly important to its dreamer. Luna made a short circuit of the room, tested the door on the far wall. It was locked from the inside, though she supposed that an amorphous entity like the one she was chasing might have been able to squeeze underneath it. Or maybe— Luna's head burst up through the drop ceiling, horn lit up to throw dim blue light around the cramped space. A squeal from her right let her know that she had guessed correctly. Amidst the pipework and beams, the creature sat there surrounded by trinkets and baubles that looked to have come from a dozen different dreams. Its glowing yellow eyes were pointed straight at her, and still clutched the tree house doorknob covetously in its clawed hands. The silver cord, which had been just barely visible before, shone like a bright strand in this darkness. She was ready for it this time. With a flash of magic, she wrapped it in a telekinetic grip strong enough to immobilize a yak. It was like trying to hold onto slime. The creature oozed out of her magic field and zigzagged across the dusty space, wispy trails of shadow streaming behind it. She tried twice more, but the thing just wriggled out of her hold like a squirming cat. Her shield bubble did a better job. Luna could see the flickering glow of artificial light poking up through the porous ceiling tiles as she scrambled to pull herself up into the confined space. She picked her way carefully to her captive, who was trying to break the shield with the doorknob it had managed to hold on to. “Cease your struggles,” she hissed at the shadow, which ignored her completely. Luna needed to get the thing out of this mind – understanding its purpose could come later. The conversation she'd heard earlier was now directly below, and it would be better not to have any further impact on this dream. With any luck, whoever was down in the office space beneath her would never know she'd been there. “So you see, profits in the self-esteem enhancement sector are up again this quarter.” The voice was very deep for a pony. Luna stepped cautiously in order to avoid breaking through the cheap tile. “Our analysts project that advancements in our catchphrase technology could boost our next quarter earnings by up to twenty percent! A strategic partnership between—” “Well that's not Princess Luna.” Her hoof halted in midstep and she squeezed her eyes shut, hoping that it would turn out to be some hallucination of her overworked mind. “It's not my fault, you said she'd be in here! This looks like a... what kinda meetin' is this?” Apple Bloom's distinct accent eradicated her last sliver of hope that the situation could be resolved quietly. “Your business employs these three underage folk? You failed to convey this the last time we spoke. Our people have very strict child labor laws, we'd sacrifice gains to the outrage it'd cause.” New plan, then. Circle around and collect the crusaders while masquerading as a caretaker of some sort. Even in this rigid mind she should be able to shift into the guise of an office worker, and if she kept the shield bubble out of sight, she might yet salvage this situation. “What? No, one of the accountants probably brought their kids in. 'If you want a foal to grow up right...' uh, no that's not the one.” His voice trailed off into a mumble. The low ceiling was literally starting to press in on her, no doubt her own subconscious at work. She slunk forward, crouched, and put a tentative hoof down. In a shower of drywall debris, Luna fell spread-eagle onto a conference room table, mane and tail trailing in starry streaks to splash into heaps around her. The blue sphere bounced down out of the crawlspace and landed solidly behind her, sending a crack through the cherry-colored wood. A dark puddle at the bottom of the cage slowly pulled itself back together and immediately re-engaged with its battle against the shield that surrounded it. “Oh, there she is! See, I told you,” Scootaloo said smugly. The business lunch assembled around her looked too stunned to respond. An executive zebra and her aide, dressed in very expensive tea-spattered suits, were gaping at Luna speechlessly. Two goats stood guard at the door where three fillies were using the distraction of her entrance to squeeze their way inside. At the head of the table, standing next to an easel with full color pie chart, was a blue minotaur in black pants and a tie. “This, um, this is—” “It's hard to put words to this shameful display.” The stern looking zebra pulled her mouth shut and addressed Iron Will. “I think we've seen all that we need to. Good day.” Luna, trying to regain at least a touch of dignity, rose to her hooves on the table top. She checked the bubble-cage to make sure it still held its prisoner and stepped down to the plush floor. Behind her, the aide began to stuff papers and writing supplies into his briefcase as his boss tried to brush the plaster dust from her vest. Iron Will just stared, dumbfounded. “Come, children. I think we've caused enough trouble here.” To their credit, the crusaders had the good grace to look mildly ashamed. “Sorry for ruining your dream, Mr. Will.” Sweetie Belle said sheepishly as the four intruders started toward the conference room door. Iron Will's normally stern demeanor had crumbled. “Dream? Young lady, this is a nightmare!” A sudden wave of nausea washed through Luna, and the blue bubble flickered. As if sensing her weakness, the shadowy being kicked off one side of its prison and smashed through the other, sending shards of blue force scattering in all directions. With an un-princess-like cry of frustration, Luna rounded on the creature. Her horn flashed as she tried to recapture it, a task made more difficult by the crowded quarters. Iron Will's goats, at least, had the good sense to leap out of the way of the charging shadow. It reached the doorway and touched the frame with one of its clawed appendages. The scene beyond the door changed. “It's gettin' away!” Apple Bloom, still a little green in the face, lept after the thing as in pulled itself through the portal. Unsurprisingly, Scootaloo needed no urging and charged after them. Sweetie Belle spared Luna one apologetic glance before taking off after her friends. “Wait, that's not a place that—” Luna didn't bother finishing the sentence, as the fillies had already crossed the threshold. Unable to suppress a flicker of annoyance, the Princess dove after them. Though the crusaders would be in danger, she knew that at the very least the shadow creature would not be able to escape her in this dream.
Chapter 3It was as if a heavy pack had suddenly been unloaded from her back. The freedom of this dream was a bliss that she wouldn't have the time to enjoy. It would, however, give her an edge. Granite statues of ponies, heroes and respected adversaries long gone welcomed her with lifeless stares. Tattered banners waved lazily on broken columns, and a dusty light filtered in through a ceiling mostly worn away by time and wind. There were things here that didn't belong. Dozens of portraits hung from the stone walls, much too new to have been here originally. Sleeping mares and stallions decorated the hall, a mishmash of different tribes and species. There was even a young drake, curled around its hoard of glimmering gold. The most glaring inconsistency, though, was the enormous mirror at the other end of the hall. Sweetie Belle hadn't ventured far. “Princess, what should we do?” She looked nervous, unwilling to act on her own. The shadow being was trying to drag itself along the length of the room, the clubhouse doorknob an offering in its outstretched hand. Apple Bloom had latched herself to the thing's back. Scootaloo had the creature's oozing tail between her teeth and clung to the floor with what looked like gryphon claws. A good effort, but it was a losing battle. The entire bundle inched steadily toward the massive mirror. This was the creature's destination. Its silver cord, now plainly visible, stretched along the length of a faded red carpet to intersect the shiny surface. Its terminus was held gently in the mirror's reflection by a creature even more alien than the one she'd been chasing. One of its many arms pressed against the other side of the glass, as if trying to reach out and scoop the minion back into its fold. Dark sockets fixed on Luna, scrutinizing, until comprehension dawned and a daggered grin split its pale face. “Oh my, this is a surprise. I almost didn’t recognize you. But then, it has been a long, long time.” The quiet feminine voice was muffled and seemed to issue from the mirror itself, rather than the abomination’s unmoving mouth. Her eyes pivoted to the side as if speaking to someone offstage. “Children, it's time to wake up. Mother needs you.” Luna sneered and stepped defiantly toward the reflection. “Dreamsnatcher. You would challenge me on my home ground? Foalish.” Silver armor materialized around her; it fit just as she remembered. Stone allies stepped from their pedestals to form ranks behind her, a platoon of animate dream-stuff. “Apple Bloom, remove thyself from that creature that I may dispose of it properly.” Luna's horn blossomed into a blue spark as she prepared her spell. The creature in the mirror began to look impatient. “I'm becoming upset, dears. Get up now.” The portraits on the walls had changed. Ponies stood upright or hovered in their frames, looking nervously between imposing princess and eldritch matriarch. A solidly built earth pony standing in a painted field of golden wheat was the first to act, his frown holding a hint of determination. “Sorry, princess.” The stallion poured from his portrait onto the stone floor, where his body took on its marble coloring and dull shine. “No offense.” Around him, others were finding their courage. A brown pegasus blurred from her portrait and clung to the ceiling like an insect. A frail looking yellow unicorn with a gas lamp for a cutie mark took his place behind a pony-turned-timberwolf that had just loped down from a forest scene. Luna grimaced; the Dreamsnatcher’s prowess had improved over the years. Or had it? These ponies were not moving as a single mind. They were all so different – could they be real? Some army of sleeping ponies gathered for an invasion through the dream? “Princess Luna!” Apple Bloom had extracted herself from the dark quadruped, and its oily tail began to slip through Scootaloo's teeth. The creature bucked at her as it struggled down the hall, and the young pegasus finally lost her grip. Luna let fly with her magic, which punched a hole straight through the fiend’s hindquarters. A whole chunk of its flank, including one leg, vanished into a wisp of shadow. The thing didn’t seem to care. It continued to hobble forward, slowed only marginally by the loss of half its hindquarters. Her attention was drawn by a snarl from the timberwolf, which had been slowly circling its way between Luna and the crusaders. Other combatants were advancing haphazardly, each seemingly with their own plan. “Citizens, stand down. I do not wish to—” But her subconscious had other ideas. Sensing danger, the statues behind her charged into battle, stone joints grinding and ancient weapons poised to attack. The aggressive move spurred even the least confident of her opposition to action, and soon the room was a tangle of hooves, weapons and spells. Sweetie Belle, not usually known for her courage, was running toward the shadow minion in order to help her two friends. In a surprisingly smooth motion, her jaws scooped up a ceramic dagger from the floor, likely dropped there by a stone sentinel that hadn't withstood the test of time. It would be a futile attack. That was the last she could see of the three fillies before the enemy closed in. There were too many of them, and she realized with horror that the children she was supposed to be protecting were now in real danger. A opening allowed her a glimpse of the mirror. She fired an attack spell at the Dreamsnatcher, hoping that there might be an easy way to end the battle, but the blue beam reflected harmlessly onto a weathered chunk of wall across the room. The face in the mirror smiled. She needed to get to the source of the problem, but there were too many bodies in the way. This was beyond her. Retreat was no longer an option; not without abandoning the children she was supposed to be protecting. “Cut the cord!” Luna shouted over the din of battle. “Don't let it get to her!” If anypony heard her, she couldn’t hear their response. Luna could no longer avoid direct combat. While none of the opposition could match her physical prowess or skill with magic, there were enough of them to keep her mobility low. As she pivoted for a particularly solid kick, she came muzzle-to-muzzle with a familiar face. It startled her so much that Luna over extended her leg and landed off-balance. “Princess Twilight?” The young lavender unicorn had her tail tucked and seemed terrified that she had earned Luna's attention. Twilight scrunched up her face with effort and flung a small chunk of dislodged masonry before hurrying back into the crowd of combatants. Its impact barely registered. She didn’t have time to dwell on it. Luna’s opponents were trying to keep her away from her flesh and blood allies, and they were doing a frustratingly good job of it. She had no idea how they were communicating strategy, but though they acted as individuals, they showed a unified purpose. It was time for a change in tactics – she began to focus her attacks on breaking through the mob, using her conjured compatriots to guard her flank. There were too many of them. Just as she began to despair of salvaging the situation, the ground shook as a mighty roar tore through the air. All heads turned away from her. Over the crowd a manticore’s face rose, fanged mouth curled upward in a snarl. Luna’s initial panic turned suddenly to mirth as she realized that its coat was just a little bit too orange, and its mane more violet than the traditional reddish brown. She couldn’t help but laugh at her opponents’ terrified faces. “Huzzah!” she shouted as she poured herself back into the battle. The creature took a massive swipe at the mob before it, flinging two ponies and a granite guardian indiscriminately out of the way. Luna renewed her own attack, clearing the distracted combatants, until the line broke and she stood together with the massive beast. There was no time for congratulations. As Luna opened her mouth to direct the monster, another roar came from her left. A second body collided with the manticore, sending both tumbling across the floor and scattering props and ponies alike. The drake had finally decided to leave its portrait and join the fray. They tangled themselves in a flurry of claws, teeth and tails, too intertwined to allow Luna a clear blast. A shriek from Sweetie Belle reminded her that she hadn't been paying attention to her objective. The young filly had made it all the way to the mirror, but was now held tight by the hooves of her own reflection. To her credit, Sweetie Belle still struggled to slash the silver cord, just out of reach, with the long knife in her mouth. The shadow creature, trying to stagger its way forward on three legs, was stretching its gift toward the Dreamsnatcher’s reflection. “Heads up!” Apple Bloom was standing on a pedestal next to a fallen statue of a royal guard. With a kick that would have made her sister proud, Apple Bloom slammed her back hooves into its face. The stone head snapped right off its neck, sailing over the chaos of the battle with the kind of physics that could only exist in a dream. It slammed into the mirror, right in the center of the Dreamsnatcher's scowling face, sending cracks spiderwebbing through the glass. The silver cord snapped, whipping back and forth like an angry snake. With a screeching wail the shadowy creature dispersed into a dark mist, dropping its treasure to the carpeted floor just shy of its destination. Suddenly the room was very quiet. Luna's assembled guards remained, frozen in combat poses, but their opposition had vanished unceremoniously. Or perhaps they hadn’t? Luna wove her way between the statue warriors toward one whose spear was now frozen in mid-thrust. Pierced through the center was a ragged pony doll, coarse fabric stitched with a jagged red thread. Its violet button eyes stared blankly at Luna as sand, bark and dirt poured from the wound just in front of its crudely drawn, star-shaped cutie mark. Behind one ear was a quill whose tip was still stained with dark ink. It wasn’t the only one. Littering the floors and tossed against the walls she could see dozens of small, hoof-made ragdolls. Each one had something unique stitched into it somehow – a shark’s tooth necklace, a tiny nugget of gold as an eye, an old pair of sunglasses missing one lens. A stuffed dragon, shredded beyond repair hung from the mouth of a very pleased looking Scootaloo. The alien being in the mirror gazed down at the clubhouse doorknob, its face seething with frustration. Sweetie Belle was staring nervously at her reflection. Its hooves pounded on the other side of the glass, still trying to reach through the splintered surface toward its prey. “Very disappointed.” With one last angry glance the Dreamsnatcher vanished, dragging Sweetie Belle's reflection with it. The mirror, spidered beyond repair, fell to pieces before them. Time seemed to catch up with the frame, which warped and rusted to scrap before their eyes. Luna took a deep breath and cleared her throat. “Sweetie Belle, step away from that thing.” The portraits remained. Luna made a circuit of the room, examining each one in turn. She ran a hoof over the first, but its color, texture and even smell was of ordinary oil paint. She spent an extra moment in front of the painting of a young purple unicorn. The mare looked content, as always, with her muzzle in a book, a familiar looking quill in her mouth and half a page of notes within easy reach. She would need to have a talk with the Princess of Friendship in the morning. “Apple Bloom, if there was a cutie mark for mirror smashing, you'd totally have just earned it.” “Mph, brt” Sweetie Belle spit her inadequate weapon to the ground and glared at Apple Bloom. “But she almost hit me in the head!” “Aw, shucks.” Apple Bloom looked uncomfortable. “Comes from workin' the farm, I suppose.” Luna lifted the discarded doorknob into the air. “Come, you three.” She hovered the trinket toward Apple Bloom. “I believe this belongs to you. It's time to put things back where they belong.”
EpilogueScootaloo crept along the wooden hallway, looking left and right as she passed each door. This was trespassing for sure, but she just had to know. Here. There was no plaque, but she knew it had to be the right one. With one last glance to make sure she was alone, the young pegasus gripped the door's handle between her teeth and pulled backward to swing it open. She was so eager to see the other side that she barreled straight into Princess Luna and ended up on her rump. “This one does not smell like Apples.” Luna didn't look like she was in a good mood. “Oh, uh, hey there, Princess Luna.” Scootaloo nervously scratched at the back of her neck while she tried to figure out what to say. “I guess I got a little bit lost.” Seriously? That was the best she could come up with? Princess Luna stepped through the door and shut it behind herself. Scootaloo couldn't quite help trying to steal a glance as it closed. “You got a little bit lost and ended up at the doorway to Rainbow Dash's mind? No, I don't think so.” Well, the truth had worked out alright last time. Maybe if she was lucky, the princess would let her off with a lecture on responsibility or something. “I just wanted to look. I mean, it's Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo gestured emphatically toward the door. “Her dreams have got to be awesome. I wasn't going to mess with anything, I swear.” It sounded pretty lame out loud. Princes Luna surprised her by sitting down, right there in the hallway. The alicorn looked exhausted, which was weird considering where they were. She didn't say anything, which made Scootaloo feel even worse. “Are you gonna to tell her?” The princess seemed to consider the question for a second. “No, I will not.” Another awkward moment passed. “Ponies’ dreams are private things, Scootaloo. Places where their imaginations can relax or run wild, where their subconscious minds craft fantastic worlds and surreal nightmares.” Scootaloo relaxed; looked like it was going to be a lecture after all. She suppressed an eye roll – that kind of thing usually didn’t go over very well. It’s not like Princess Luna didn’t go snooping around whenever she wanted, anyway. This was probably one of those ‘do as I say, not as I do’ kind of things. “Once you notice the doorways between dream realms, you can never stop seeing them. Worse, there are things that will start to notice you.” Luna frowned. She wasn’t really looking at Scootaloo any more, which was kind of unnerving. “The Dreamsnatcher is real; she is not some figment of our imaginations that can only hurt us if we let her. Such creatures find it easy to move around when doorways are left open.” Her eyes snapped to Scootaloo. “There have been a lot of those lately.” The accusation made Scootaloo feel a little bit sick to her stomach. “But you’re always there to protect us. That’s your job, isn’t it? Besides, we completely crushed that mirror monster. Everything worked out fine. It did work out fine, right?” Luna’s lecture face melted into careful consideration. “It is my job, yes. But there are many ponies, and I can not be in all dreams at all times.” She stood back up into that posture she always used to make formal pronouncements. “You did perform admirably against the Dreamsnatcher. All three of you, in fact. Very few ponies have an aptitude for lucid dreaming, and even fewer can find the paths between dreams without a guide.” Luna narrowed her eyes and pulled her mouth into a thin line. “It would be irresponsible of me to let you wander those paths without protection or instruction.” The princess turned to walk away; apparently the lecture was over. “And it would be equally irresponsible of me to ignore that aptitude. Go back to your own dream and rest well. Be back here tomorrow night for your first lesson.” Scootaloo’s ears drooped. “Yes princess.” She knitted her eyebrows as her brain processed the sentence fully. “Wait, what?” She had been expecting the princess to forbid her from exploring these worlds, to somehow prevent her from going where she wasn’t allowed. Wouldn’t that have been the easier solution? And more importantly… “What about Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle?” Luna paused her retreat for just a moment and gave a resigned sigh. “Yes, I believe you should bring them along as well.” A plain grey door at the end of the corridor creaked open to admit her, and closed quickly as she passed. Another minute passed in the silent hallway as Scootaloo turned the conversation over in her mind. Then, with one last wistful glance at her big sister’s door, she crept quietly back toward her own.
