Like a Dream

Chapters

Dreaming the Dreamer
Nightmares we Dream
Dreams for the Dreamless

Dreaming the Dreamer

It was a beach. It was not a beach.

It has everything that was defined to a beach. White gritty sand composed of rock and shells that covered everything, forming tiny dunes taking their shapes from the rushing of the wind twisting and turning it along. Littered with blankets and parasols along the area, added with a beach ball that slowly made circles in a puddle. As waves of a blueish-green ocean hit the shore in a relaxing rhythm that was calming and therapeutic. Under a day so bright that the stars and moon were clearly visible moving across the sky, as plastic seagulls with fixed wings flew in an endless circle.

Princess Luna walked along the shoreline, listening to the soft crunching her hooves made on the sand. She had tracked that being to here, this point in time and space. Unsure of what it was or what it was doing, Luna felt it was her duty to Investigate. Since she had a kingdom to protect with her sister Celestia. Granted other than the Tantibus their wasn’t too much danger here but still.

Ahead of Luna, between the continuously rising Canterlot castles made of sand, only to be destroyed by the rushing water, to once again rise up over and over again. she could make out something. Luna wasn't sure what it was but their was a something their. Sitting from what it looked like. It didn't feel hostile or dangerous, but still Luna kept her guard up just in case. You never knew what to expect in places like this. As a whale jumped out of the water. twisted in the air to disappear back into the ocean and splashing her. Luna wondered how long has it been since she had been to a beach? Wondering if all beaches were like this?

"Is this what this is?" said a voice in the air, "This is called a beach? Is it just the water, or the sand, or just everything that gets that name?"

No presence was close to her but at the same time their was. Luna knew dreams followed no set logic like the real world but still it wasn't a pleasant feeling knowing that someone can be close to hugging you and yet still be miles apart at the same time.

"I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable. I'll wait till you get closer."

As she walked on, the figure started to take more shape and definition. It was strange creature.

"I'm a she, a girl actually." said the voice helpfully. "I know I said I'd wait but I just wanted to help."

"What are you?" asked Luna in puzzlement.

"I am me. What else can I be?"

"She means what kind of being are you." said another voice in the air. "Are you animal, vegetable or mineral."

"I don't know what they are. So how can I tell her that? I am a girl, does that help? Or rather I am an appearance of a girl. And you are a talking pony. Were you always a talking pony or just here are you one? "

She or rather the image of she as she pointed out, was sitting on the sand with her back towards Luna, Carefully building a castle from the sand. she was hairless except for the top of her head were her mane was placed into short blond pigtails, which fell just past her neck. She was dressed in some kind of bright yellow cloth that covered her body, but was opened around her limbs leaving her freedom to use it.

"Its called a swimsuit." said the new voice in the air. "They use it to properly clothe themselves when they swim."

“I tried pulling on it a few times but it seems stuck to me. How strange is that.”

"Do you have a name so I can properly address the person or persons I'm talking too." said Luna.

"Name? To call me?" asked the Image of the girl. "Isn't girl a name? Isn't beach a name? Why do we need another name for something we already have a name for?"

"It's is proper to have an individual identifying word or words when talking to another." said the other voice Luna couldn't see that the moment. "That is why I am called Id."

"Oh! I never thought of it that way." said the girl "In that case call me Mercy."

"Why Mercy?" asked Luna.

"Dunno, I just liked the way it sounds. Also this is Id." said Mercy pointing to the small crab crawling on the castle. Luna hadn't noticed it before.

The girl stopped building and turned around to face Luna, making Luna gasp and take a step back. She was young, with a face covered in freckles. Mane plastered to her head, with light skin, not colorful like the ponies she has been around. But what surprised Luna was her eyes. White pupiless eyes that saw nothing, but at the same time saw everything, Staring at her, over her, and at the same time through her.

"Please to meet you. Is that what you're supposed to say Id? When you meet someone you are supposed to say please to meet you?"

"That is correct Mercy. Common courtesy is the best way to go when meeting someone new." responded Id

"I see you're building a castle." Luna said trying to get closer to the girl, to make friends. "Can I join?"

"I would like that talking pony. Wait is that right? Should I just keep calling you talking pony? Is that the correct name for you?" Mercy said with a worried look on her face. "I wouldn't like to offend someone I just met."

Luna smiled. "My name is Princess Luna, but you can call me Luna, and no it wouldn't offend me." she said sitting down next to the girl, as they continued making that castle of sand, listening to the waves wash ashore and the cry of the birds overhead. Figuring how to get her to open up and talk more. She was curious of this creature, curious of Id.

As they sat their Luna noticed the girl wasn't grasping sand to build the castle as the first thought. But rather she was actually tearing off the reality of the dream and attaching it to her creation. Leaving small black holes in the artificial reality. As Mercy continually chatted about everything and anything.

“I was once in a world where all the water was made of butter. How odd was that place." said Mercy patting the fabric into the castle, watching it get bigger and more complex.

"What are you doing?" asked Luna.

"Building a sandcastle, I thought that's what we were doing."

"You mean altering the fabric of dreams." said Id. scuttling to the top of the construction. "That was something she could always do. Ever since I found her floating in the between, she could do this."

"Can you do this?" Mercy asked

"Sort of." said Luna. "I can work with dreams, although nothing like that.”

“That's a shame Luna the talking pony.” said Mercy.

“You said you found her between dreams?” asked Luna, “Just what is that?”

"Imagine a giant bubble.” said Id waving his claws around. And in this bubble there are millions of tiny bubbles, constantly being blown, floating around, and popping. Think of the tiny bubbles as dreams being blown, being dreamt, and finally awakening. but between the dreams there's an infinity of nothing. That's where I found her. pick me up Mercy."

Mercy obediently extended her hand over the castle letting the crab walk onto it, and bringing it to her shoulder, as she got up.

"That is where I found her, a something in a nothing."

"Do people have picnics here?" asked Mercy. "I remember picnics on a beach, but I'm not sure if it's a real memory or a made up memory. Sometimes my memories are made up, Sometimes they are real. It's hard to figure out the real from the made up, memories I mean."

Luna was confused by this strange creature jumping from conversation to conversation, going with any piece of thought that popped into her mind regardless of what she was talking about before.

"Wait! what were you doing in the between dreams as you call it."

"I was their, floating. There wasn't much else to do." Said Mercy absently fidgeting with the top of the sandcastle she had made.

"What about before the nothing? What were you doing then?"

"I...I...there wasn't a before the nothing." said Mercy putting a hand on back of Luna's neck. "Their was nothing before the nothing."

Her touch was warm and electric, and cold at the same time. Luna could feel her mind slipping away to somewhere else, as it drifted away from the here and now to a memory.

It was black here, an empty space, a true definition for the word of nothing. Their was only her and the blackness surrounding her. Mercy wondered if she should be scared, but their was nothing to be scared of. But at the same time she felt incredibly sad and confused and didn't know why. Feeling as if something terrible happened but couldn't understand the who or the what of why she should be feeling this way.

"Hello?" she calling out in the nothing. "Is there anyone their?"

Nothing answered because their was nothing to answer.

"Can someone answer me? What is going on?"

The silence answered her back.

"Please?" feeling the weight of something terribly wrong resting on her shoulders but unable to understand why.

"Why are you here?" said a voice in the nothing at last. "I have never seen anyone here before. What are you?

"I don't know. What are you?"

"I am Id, a state of consciousness, a thought of self awareness if you prefer. Can you tell me what you are or what you are doing here?"

"I can't remember. I'm sorry I can't remember anything. There's just here and images in my head."

"Images in your head? Memories you mean?"

"I guess so. If that's what their called. I don't understand them. They show me things I have done but they're all jumbled and in pieces, and at the same time I don't think I really did them. It's all so confusing. When I try to think about them it hurts me as if something is all wrong and I don't remember why."

She felt the sadness grow more acute as the pain of these real/not real memories overcame her. Everything felt wrong and painful, making it worst was that this was beyond description or understanding. Only an intense feeling of a great loss, and a desire to not be alone.

"Id?' she asked.

"Yes?"

"Can you help me?"

Their was a long moment of silence. Making her nervous that it might have left. "Id are you still here?"

"I'm still here, I was just wondering." said the nothingness around her. "Let me take you someplace."

Even though their was nothing to judge, she felt that they were traveling a great distance at a great speed. Finally stopping at a rectangular object in the blackness surrounding.

"This is called a door. It is a gateway. It will take you places."

"Where will it take me?" she asked.

"Everywhere."

"And what is behind it?"

"Everything."

Luna gasped returning back to the hear and now with a gasp, seeing the girl had now vanished but was replaced with a yellow alicorn with the same pupiless eyes occupying the space that once held the girl. Now staring at her with the same blank expression. Her cutie mark was a full moon with a silhouette of three stars in the middle of the moon. "I thought it would be easier to show you rather than tell you. I'm sorry if I startled you."

"What are you?" asked Luna

"A dream I think. A dream of a dream inside a dream, dreaming of dreams." said the girl now alicorn twirling around and around in a sing-song "I am Mercy. I am me." Stopping as Mercy looked at herself, "So now I am a pony just like you, I have never been one before. I like this. What is this on me?" asked Mercy pointing at her cutie mark. What does this picture mean?”

“Its called a cutie mark it shows your talents.” said Luna

“So does this mean I'm part of the moon? Or the Sky? Or the moon and the stars? I have been on a few moons before. One of them has a giant tree that made these strange fruit that was bigger than moon. That was pretty strange to be on a moon with fruit.”

“No Mercy.” said Id, “I think it's more of an abstract symbol than an actual meaning.”

“I like that word.” giggled Mercy sitting down in the sand hugging her tail.. “ABSTRACT! ABSTRACT! abstract. aaaabbbssttrraacctt!” she sang over and over, swinging her head around. “That is such a funny sounding word. I have a tail now I see. Do tails do anything?”

“How did you do that Mercy?” asked Luna. “Change your form?” asked Luna

“I’m not sure myself how it's done. Id explained it to me. He’s much, much better at that kind of thing.”

“We assume the dominate personality of the dreamer. In other words the dreamer creates our form.” said Id, “Although in Mercy's case, their are a few similarities in every dream world we enter.”

"It seems my eyes are always the same and I am always a female.” said Mercy, “ I asked Id what is a female is and he just told me later. I wonder why?”

For a crab, Id gave Luna a look that said a lot of giving Mercy that kind of information at this point in time.

“Probably a good idea.” said Luna agreeing.

A loud noise rattled the created reality stopping Luna from all the questions she so wanted to ask. As the world they were in shook. Over the ocean a part of it began to bend inward as something big from the outside worked at it trying to get in. Receding then coming back again, and again, until finally a hole opened over the water showing the nothing beyond. Spider Like creatures poured forth, infesting the dream. They were black and flat with four legs ending in sharpened points, they had no faces but each had a smile plastered on each of their faces.

"They found us!" yelled Id, "RUN! NOW!"

"Wait who found us?" asked Luna galloping hard to catch up with the other two racing across the beach. "What are they? What do they want?"

"It's the Carney. It has found us again." yelled Id, claws dug into Mercy as she galloped away. "I hoped we had lost the creature when we came here but it tracked us."

Two enormous appendages appeared in the hole ripping it even wider as a giant version of the spider like creatures appeared. The opening was still to small for it go get through, but it was only a matter of time. "GET HER! STOP HER! BRING HER TO ME!" it yelled at its army. "DON'T LET HER GET AWAY AGAIN!"

The two ponies galloped onwards, trying to put as much distance as they could from those monstrosities. Not paying attention to their surrounding Mercy stumbled into a small hole that had opened up underneath her. Screaming out as one of her legs fell into it. "I can't get up. Their holding onto my leg I can feel them holding on." she cried out. As she tried to unsuccessfully to get up

Luna tried to dig out her leg, but it was useless she could only dig into the sand not into the dream fabric that the others could. "They will not get you." she growled at the incoming. "I will defend you." as she squared off ready to face the enemy. shooting at a few that had gotten close.

"There's a better way." said Id, "But you have to trust me." as Id pointed at the captured leg. "You have to do it."

"I can't!" cried Luna in shock.

"Trust me! Better what they would do to her, to all of us if they catch us."

Faced with those things speeding towards them, with a feeling that no matter what, they can't have her. Luna lowered her horn and pointed at the stuck leg. "I'm so sorry. Forgive me please." and shot a beam of magic at it. Her beam cut through her leg instantly, disappearing back into the abstraction of dreams, freeing Mercy.

"Thank you." said Mercy getting up, reaching her front hoof in front of her feeling around.

"I'm so sorry. I wanted to help." Luna said awash in guilt of what she had to do.

"That's okay it had to be done. Now if I could just...ah there it is." as Mercy ripped out a fabric of the dream, Luna could see the waves still in motion from the torn piece. Placing it over her missing leg and shaping it to a replacement that was identical to the one that was lost. "There that's better."

"Mercy! Hurry!" yelled Id. "Carney is almost through."

The Carney worked on the tear, opening it up even more. Letting the demon swing his knife like leg dangerously close to them.

Luna didn't know what to do or what was happening, feeling she needed to do something but wasn't sure what or how to do it. Their was far too many of them to face. And you can't just keep running away from them, sooner or later they will catch her. She wasn't sure what, but she knew it would be very bad. Not just for them but for Equestria as well.

An Idea formed in Luna's head. It wasn't the best idea but under the circumstances, it was the best for what was needed at the time.

"Wait! She called to Mercy who had widened the exit large enough for her an Id to escape. I have a better plan. grab my hoof and hold on."

Mercy looked at Id for advice. “I think she has a better idea this time.” it said.

Obediently doing what she was told her hoof clasped Luna's as they flew up in the air.

"Princess Luna!" gibbered the creature with a voice sounding between insane laughter, and pure rage, through the dream opening. "You may not know me but I know you. I'm only going to warn you once. Leave her and go away, because if you don't I will come for you all and I will do horrible, horrible things to you and your precious Equestria. I promise you this."

Its words chilled her to the bone but she knew she couldn't let her go, flying farther and faster away from them.

"LUNA!" yelled Carney

"NOW!." Yelled Luna. "WAKE UP!"

Princess Luna stifled a scream as she almost jumped out of bed. Her heart was still racing, sweat was dripping all over her body, and she could still hear the faint screams of rage from the Carney over the loss of his prize fading away. But a more important question was did it work?

"Yes it did work." said the voice of Id in her mind. "If your plan was to take us to your dreams."

"What is this place? Why is everyone ponies?" asked Mercy, "Who is Princess Celestia? And what is a sister? I see a lot of her in your dreams."

"Never mind that for right now just make yourself comfortable. I need to do a few things and I'll meet you again tonight." replied Luna getting up from her bed. Their are so many questions that needed to be answered and so many answers that needed to be found. But right now she knew that she needed to keep this strange person, now pony, Mercy, safe from harm. With purpose strides she proceeded out of her room and straight to the library.

None of them noticed the other small hole that appeared in the dream beach as Carney chased down Luna and Mercy. Looking humanoid in shape, changing appearances to a pony silhouetted in the blackness, almost invisible except for the pupiless eyes staring at the everything in front of him. Wanting to find Her. Mercy! Hoping with hope, that she could make everything right again. She had disappeared before he could make contact, leaving him with nothing but the howls of rage from the creature nearby at losing his prey. He was unconcerned about him, having never experienced danger before. All he wanted was to find Mercy to turn it all back to the way it was.

She was gone but he could sense her location and knew he could find her. It was only a matter of time. Turning around he squared his shoulders and left sealing the hole he had come out in. As he followed the trail to Equestria.

Nightmares we Dream

Apple Bloom hit the side of the wall as she ran from the monster chasing her. Losing her orientation for a moment she quickly gathered herself and sped down the stairs in her darkened house.

"Applejack! Big Mac! Granny Smith!" she yelled out over and over again realizing how fruitless it was, no one was here to help her, she was all alone. and that creature was gaining on her.

The creature collided with the wall like she did. Like water hitting the sidewalk it splashed into it, spread outwards like a liquid, then quickly poured itself back to the floor to reform back into the nightmare pony it was, continuing on chasing Apple Bloom. Resembling a collection of doll parts sewn together by hooves not familiar with the basics. The monster wore a black suit with black and white stripes running across its front legs. Its hair was black, dirty, and sticking out in odd angles. Its white glowing button eyes stared straight out keeping Apple Bloom in its sights.

Tentacles shot out from its body grabbing things to help pull it forward as it chased her down the stairs. Apple Bloom could feel it coming closer, feel the presence of something terrible near to her. She hoped she could make it to the door, make it outside. Maybe get help, but mostly to just get away from that horrible monster.

The creature dove towards the ground forming a puddle, then jumped again, and again, their was no doubt was its intention. It was speeding up to stop her from leaving.

Crying aloud Apple Bloom reached the door, hooves around the handle she turned the knob to finally escape this horror. Only to find the knob didn't turn. It was stuck, and she was stuck with that thing. Feeling her heart in her chest, screaming crying she flailed, hitting and kicking the door in a blind panic. As she fought a door that would not open. It wasn't until one of creatures tentacles hit the door above her did she finally stop. Shivering uncontrollably she turned around to face her nightmare.

The monster stood next to her with a smile on his face, extruding a long, blackened, and pointed tongue as the creature licked its lips slowly. Apple bloom closed her eyes unable to watch anymore as the creature struck out at her with nightmarish speed.

"Your supposed to wake up." said a voice that suddenly appeared in her mind, cutting through her terror. Stopping just in front of her.

"Wha..what? I don't understand." as she opened her eyes to see the monster standing next to her.

"I chase you to a dead end, you realize that this is a dream then you wake up. Your doing it wrong...I think. Maybe I'm doing it wrong? Should we start over again?"

Words jumbled out of her mouth unable to from a sentence from the shock and the confusion. The monster saw this and tried to be helpful. "Do you want a glass of water? I have heard that a glass of water helps to calm a pony down."

"What is going on?" said Apple Bloom finally collecting her thoughts.

"I am a nightmare. I scare." said the pony whose words popped into her mind. "That is what I have always done. I chase until you wake up. Then I leave. Simple really."

****

"How does a pony pull up the sun?" asked Mercy. Watching a flaming Celestia slowly jump through the air, lighting the land, turning night to day. "I been watching it in your dreams, first she then you then Celestia again over and over. Sometimes theirs another pony. What's her name again? Oh! Nightmare Moon! Sometimes she brings up the moon too."

Mercy was an old earth pony now. Wrinkled, with a grey mane hanging down in clumps. Her skin was tan from working outside in the sun all day, with cuts and scratches from toiling the soil, but her eyes and her cutie mark stayed the same. "I never seen any of this before. Well I been in other dreams were something was pulling up the sun or moon, sometimes they even had faces, or were alive and talked to me. But a pony moving the sun and the moon. How odd."

They were tiny in Luna's dream, sitting on a ground with blades of grass towering over them, next to a castle that rose so high that vanished into a clear blue sky. Id now a small wooden Celestia rocking horse sat next to Mercy staring at the sky with her.

"You must think of her a lot." said Id, staring out. "I see references to her everywhere."

"She is my sister. I love her." said Luna

"I saw one Celestia that was made of rats." said Mercy. "Different colored rats that drove the sun around, eventually becoming a giant rat when the sun set, and that other pony Nightmare Moon came out."

"Rats in dreams symbolize deception or guilt." said Id, "You have done something wrong once? Didn't you?" it wasn't an accusation just a statement of facts. "I can tell you regret it as well."

"Do rats dream?" asked Mercy, "I have never been inside the dreams of a rat. I have never been inside the dreams of a pony until now. So if a pony can dream it goes to show that rats can dream."

As Mercy talked about anything and everything that was going on in her mind, she absently tore pieces of Lunas dream apart fashioning them to various creatures that would fly round the dream world, eventually vanishing.

"You going off track Mercy." said Luna gently, "You need to keep focused on what you are talking about. It can be hard to follow you at times. And to answer your earlier question yes I do have guilt. I did something wrong and paid the price for it. But that was a long time ago."

"But you still think about it." replied Id

"It will probably take me a longer time to get over it."

Mercy said nothing as she tore off another fragment of Luna dream. This time she held the piece next to her mouth, licking it. "I can taste the sadness, and another flavor, hope. Hope to overcome your mistake, and fear that your sister secretly doesn't forgive you. How strange to have all those emotions in one little pony."

"You can also taste dreams I see." said Luna curiously

"Not just taste them. I can also eat dreams becoming one with me. Whatever memories that made the dream I can now read, whatever feeling you have I can now feel. I don't understand it myself. It's just something I do."

"Was the trip to the library helpful?" asked Id

Luna just smiled, not wanting to talk about the constant conversations going on in her mind with the two of them. her days filled with. "What is that?" or "Why are they doing that" and the explanations that followed did not help at all. Luna wondered if this is what went through crazy ponies brains. "Nothing much, but I did find some references to the Carney."

"Anything that can help us?" Id asked.

"Not really. It just said he's a creature that resides in the dream world that he is a very dangerous monster. How long has he been chasing you?"

"Almost since I came to be."

"He seems to want to eat her." said Id

"Eat her? Why would anypony want to do that?" asked Luna surprised and horrified at the thought."

"I couldn't say. Only that he wants Mercy badly and has been chasing us around the realm of dreams for a long, long time."

"I don't think I'm supposed to be here. I think I'm a mistake." said Mercy absently. "You know I was once in this dream where building grew out of giant ants that sang songs. I had fun jumping from ant to ant, they even taught me their songs. want to hear one?"

"Maybe later Mercy. But can you tell me what makes you think your a mistake?"

"These images in my head. They show me things of a once was. Its me but it's not me. Its a was me but at the same time it wasn't me. I can't explain it better than that. But theirs part of another in me. That part is gone and she is never coming back. This I know, but I feel echoes of her sometimes. Images of another doing things I don't understand. I feel a great loss and it upsets me greatly. Everything feels wrong when I think about her, makes me really sad, so I just don't. It's easier that way."

The three of them sat for awhile longer in silence watching the Celestia and Luna run across the sky. Luna felt Mercy wasn't ready to talk about it, so she decided to take her someplace to help her open up more. "Would you like to see the dreams of other ponies?"

"That would be very nice of you." replied Id.

*****

"So let me get this straight." said Apple Bloom. "Your a nightmare and you travel from dream to dream scaring ponies?"

"Yes that what I am, or was. I think, it can be confusing at times." said the nightmare doll pony.

"What is your name?"

"I remember someone calling me something long ago. What was it again? Oh yes. Eureka! My name is Eureka!"

"Your name is Eureka?" smirked Apple Bloom

Eureka extended his neck until it was inches away from Apple Bloom's. "You don't like my name?" It asked.

"No! No! Eureka is fine." she added quickly." I'm Apple Bloom by the way."

The creature retracted his head back to its body. "It is a pleasure to meet you Apple Bloom."

"Your pretty polite for a nightmare. I have to admit your not what I expected."

"I don't understand. Should I be anything else?"

"Have you always been a nightmare?"

"Yes. Yes? I remember...being a nightmare for as long as I have been: Remembers chasing a girl slowly changing to a woman as time went past. Always coming out from time to time to hunt the girl/woman down the same corridors, the same hallways. Always about ready to catch her, always ending just as she was about to wake up. This was going of forever until one day the girl/woman vanished. And for the first time a thought appeared in his head. "Why?" He didn't understand it but it kept pestering him as he jumped from dream to dream doing what he always did. But the thoughts of "Why?" never stopped coming, now added with "Who?" and "How come?"

"You ok?" asked Apple Bloom. "I'm sorry if the question is bothering you."

"It is okay." replied Eureka shaking his head to clear his thoughts. "It just brought things I don't understand. Anyway I want to see more of this world, Equestria. I would like very much to head outside."

A tentacle shot out of his body, grasping the door handle firmly as he slowly pulled it upward. "Oh you can't go out their." said Apple Bloom the door is locked ti..."she was unable to finish her sentence as the door swung freely open. Stepping out into the bright sunlight that quickly darkened becoming a cloudy starless night. Apple Bloom was shocked to see the farm become ruined and lifeless before her eyes. Watching the lush apple trees wither and die, and her home rot away to become a decrepit shack.

"It's me." said Eureka answering her thoughts. "I change things when I am around. It is not intentionally, but I can't stop it. For what it's worth I am sorry."

"That's okay." said Apple Bloom. "It doesn't have the same effect once you know your in a dream. So I guess well have to make the best of it." As the two of them headed to the town made of dreams and nightmares.

Dreams for the Dreamless

The Carney smashed the Ferris wheel in rage. The Carney jammed it's pointed leg through the old dirty tent the Carney had created with dreams that were stolen from others, throwing it to the wall. The Carney broke the already broken funhouse, slamming it into pieces with his body. The Carney screamed in anger and frustration. The Carney wasn't very happy.

So close! So close was it! Almost having that being, girl, pony, whatever it really was. Only to lose her AGAIN! This time by some interfering dark horse that brought some moon up somewhere. "SHE WILL PAY FOR THIS!" the monster yelled slamming it's legs into the ground. The creature paced back and forth in it's self created world, made of the broken dreams that the minions stolen to bring here and fashion. Resembling a decrepit amusement park, that had been built to lure the lost into torment as long as the Carney saw fit. The only problem was no one had ever come. The truth was the Carney was weak. Lacking the power needed to do all the things it desired. It had to stay in the background doing what little the monster could. But with that girl the Carney could do so much more.Beyond its wildest dreams could he. Only to lose everything on the unpredictable.

It wasn't supposed to be this way. All the carefully made plans it had made, all the work, all the plotting, all the contingencies, all of the manipulations, and look what happened. Something not even the Carney foresaw. Screaming again as the monster broke a tilt-a-whirl, its rage not abating, only growing more and more frenzied, it turned to face it's minions, creations of nightmares The Carney had given a life in a place absent of true life.

"Find them find the girl, find this Princess Luna. I want them both!" it roared.

Its creations scattered, to do what they were told.

"I will find you Luna." The Carney said to itself watching them leave. "And the things I will do to you when I catch

you."

*****

"So this is Equestria." said Mercy now a dark unicorn, with a black mane tied tightly to her. "It's a pretty dark place. I can't see anything."

It was dark and empty as the three traveled along an unseen road. Their was glimpses of things hidden in the darkness. Objects all around them, but seemed to be forgotten and slowly fading away by the dreamer.

"I'll wanted to take you someplace first Mercy." said Princess Luna. "Were going to meet somepony. And please stop playing with your horn."

"Awww but I love having a horn." whined Mercy.

"I see light ahead of us." said Id. who was a shadow in the shape of a Breezy with dots for eyes "It looks like light coming from a house."

"You are correct Id, we are approaching a house." Luna said. "Her name is Cinnamon Drop, and she is a special friend of mine."

"Is she a unicorn as well?" asked Mercy. "I haven't talked to another unicorn before. or met another one as well. Hmm... what does the pointy thing do anyway?"

"Unicorns can use magic." Luna replied. "the horn grants them the power over magic. And yes she is a unicorn."

"What kind of magic can they do? Can I use this magic." as Mercy gave her horn a cross-eyed look as she concentrated on it. "I think mine is broken. I can't do anything with it."

"You seem to be full of surprises Mercy. But I don't think we need to add magic on top of them." laughed Luna

"Agreed." said Id.

Mercy pouted but kept up with them, as they continued on towards the light. Getting closer they noticed the house was less defined than they had thought barely a structure with what little the light was showing, almost fading away like everything else here.

"Why don't you go inside and say hello." said Luna opening the door for Mercy. "I'm sure she would love meeting a new friend." Watching Mercy head inside she held out her hoof in front of Id following Mercy inside. "Stay with me Id."

"You want to see what she can do." said Id.

"Indeed."

"As you wish." said Id as they both stayed and watch Mercy interact with her new friend.

Like everything else here the place was dark and empty except for the young filly in the middle of the empty room. Cinnamon Drop laid on the ground, her long blond mane drooped down past her body, covering her and the area around her. From what Mercy see tell she was either coloring the ground, or just making circles on it.

"Hi my name is Mercy." she said as she bubbled herself in. "Why is this place so dark? Do you like the dark? I don't like the dark to much reminds me of the nothing I came from. Would you like me to put on the light. Maybe we can have Celestia bring the sun here. You ponies are so amazing! You have a giant pony that bring the sun, I have never seen that before. Well in a few dreams I have bu.." Mercy stopped when she noticed Cinnamon Drop was looking at her.

Luna said she was a unicorn like her but to tell the truth she couldn't tell as her entire front face, that wasn't covered by her mane was completely smooth over. Cinnamon Drop had no face. She stared or gave the impression of staring at Mercy for a few minutes before going back to her drawing of endless circles on the ground.

Curiously Mercy walked over to the front of the pony. Sitting down to get a better view of what she was drawing, examining the picture to get a better look at it, trying to decipher what it was supposed to be.

"Is that an ocean?" she asked. waiting for a reply that didn't come as Cinnamon Drop continued to scribble.

"I couldn't help to notice that you use only one color, blue. There are other colors you know. Like red, or purple, or black, or grey."

Still Cinnamon Drop didn't answer.

"You're not a very talkative pony you know that. I wish I knew what you are drawing. Is that supposed to be water? I can help with that." as Mercy stuck her hoof into the dream.

Making circles into the fabric she added her own dream into the dream, as rain began to pour into the house. Mercy at first was a little frustrated as Cinnamon didn't seem to notice anything at all. Gradually she became aware as the water began to wash away her picture. looking up into the darkened roof, staring upwards while drops of water hit her face, and ran down her body.

"Have you ever felt the rain? I have felt it all the time in other dreams I have visited. Sometimes I'll get wet and cold in them, sometimes they don't do anything. One time I was in a dream were it would rain anything you wanted it to rain. Would you like it to rain something else?" asked Mercy. Turning the rain of water into a rain of more water, as the downpour increased into a full storm in the house. Mercy started to giggle. "I didn't mean to do that, I'm a silly pony I know."

The water had risen up to a few inches in the house. Jokingly Mercy splashed some water onto Cinnamon Drop, soaking her more. Slowly she responded by moving her hoof across the water showering Mercy with a few drops.

"That's all?" laughed Mercy. "I must say your not very good at this." Splashing Cinnamon Drop with even more water. "I'm hardly wet. You can do better than that."

As if starting to remember something long forgotten Cinnamon Drop scooped up more water, throwing at Mercy. Most of it poured out of her hoof but some did hit Mercy, which only made her laugh harder.

"That's cold! Or is it? I'm never quite sure how rain is supposed to feel." said Mercy tossing another hoof full of water at Cinnamon Drop, who followed suit thoroughly soaking Mercy. Back and forth the two ponies splashed each other in a water fight between Mercy and the faceless pony.

****

"How long as Cinnamon Drop been in a coma?" asked Id.

"How did you know?"

"I have seen others going through the same as her. She has forgotten the world around her, I would say it was almost too late seeing how everything is almost faded."

"She has been in it a long, long time." said Luna. "I was afraid she was beyond help."

"It's going to take more than a water fight to make everything better. You know that right?" said Id. "So you brought Mercy here to test her didn't you."

"I know she needs more help than this. But it's a start. And yes, I did bring her here to test her." said Luna.

"And?"

"She is dangerous."

"She can also heal."

"She can hurt as well."

"So can a lot of other ponies not just her. Admit it you like Mercy."

"Whether I like her or not is important. I have a kingdom to look after. Mercy is naïve, foolish, and totally oblivious to the real world. "

"You are not going to turn her away Princess Luna. She needs you probably more than you know." said Id.

"She is like a child. What if she hurts some pony? What then?" said Luna keeping an eye on the two ponies playing.

"I can't tell you of the what ifs, I can only tell you of the what is."

Luna gave Id a close look as if seeing it for the first time. "What are you Id? Really?"

"I am just a thought given awareness. But I have been around for a very, very long time, and I have seen a lot of things. I have seen dreamers at their worst and at their best."

*****

"HA!" squealed Mercy, holding her face with her hooves. "You got me right in the eye. Wait is that right? How does water from a dream get into the eye?" Mercy continued to talk as she wiped her face. "Okay! Okay! You win." she laughed. "Want to see something else?"

The faceless pony stared at her for a moment trying to understand what she had just said before nodding.

"Good lets play something new." said Mercy pulling off a piece of the dream. "I have an idea." she continued talking stretching and bending the piece over and over again. "I was once in this dream where everything was underwater. The entire world, the sun, the moon, everything. Except for me I was on top of the water. Floating around on a boat that was way to small for me. How odd was that?" Mercy tore the pieces into two as she kept working on it. Resembling dolls now, with a final twist of her hoof she added color to them. "Their now. What do you think?" she asked showing them off to Cinnamon Drop.

Mercy set the dolls that looked like the both of them on the ground, next to each other. With a clap of her hoofs, the figurines sprang to life, walking and dancing around the circle between the two. Cinnamon Drop picked up the doll that looked liked her as she turned it around in her hoof to look at it closer before setting it down again.

"They need something else." she said thinking. "Ahha! I got it." as she reaching into the dream again and music started playing. "Their." She said satisfied. "But I don't remember this song. I think it's one of yours, Isn't It?"

Cinnamon nodded as the figure that looked liked her twirled around and around on the floor as the other one danced along.

*****

"She is starting to remember things again." said Id as they watched through the window.

Luna said Nothing as she continued watching.

"If you turn her away she will probably never come back. Neither will I."

"Will that be such a bad thing?" asked Luna. Turning her head around to look at Id. "What about that monster chasing her? Why should I get involved anymore than I already have? What if it goes after other ponies? Would it be a good thing to risk all of Equestria for a pony? Not even a real pony, just a dream of a pony."

Id landed on Luna's back and crawled to her shoulders. "Maybe you shouldn't have interfered when you met us. Maybe you should have let us go on and got have gotten involved. For what it's worth I think you did the right thing."

"Did I?"

"Only you know the answer to that."

*****

"Have you ever tried not scaring, or being a nightmare?" asked Apple Bloom. As the two made it to the outskirts of Ponyville

"This is what I have always been. How can I not be what I am. You might as well ask yourself can you ever stopped being a pony." replied Eureka. "So this is a town. What do the ponies do here?"

"Oh they work, live, sleep, eat those kind of things.?"

"I have been in a few dreams where ponies were eating things. I have always wondered what that's like. Sometimes they take great enjoyment, sometimes they hate it."

"It depends on what they are eating I guess."

"What do you like to eat Apple Bloom?" asked Eureka

"Oh lots of things. I love it when my sister makes apple pie. She makes the best apple pie ever." she said as they walked into the city.

"I would like to try an apple pie." said Eureka. "What is an apple pie?"

Past the houses slowly falling apart, past the lawns turning brown, with patches of lifeless dirt. Past the version of Ponyville created by the both of them, they walked on. "It feels creepy walking around here in Ponyville."

"I thought you said earlier this didn't bother you."

"Well it is starting to get to me a little." said Apple Bloom shivering. "I know this is a dream, but can you make it a little brighter? Can you make the sun come up?"

Eureka looked at her for a moment in puzzlement it seemed to Apple Bloom."In all the dreams I have visited I never once seen the sun. I have heard dreamers talk about it. Worship it even. But I never have seen it. What is this sun everyone keeps talking about? And why does everyone love it so?

"I don't think we love the sun, more of we love what we can do with the sun out." said Apple Bloom. Absentmindedly doodling in the sand with her hoof. "We play, go to school, see friends, do chores, everything we do we do with the sun out. well most everything."

"Do you eat apple pie during the day?asked Eureka watching her draw.

"I can eat my sister's apple pie anytime." laughed Apple Bloom.

"You said that before. What is a sister? Is she the only one that can make this apple pie you keep saying?" He said while extending his own hoof while drawing with Apple Bloom."Can a sister do other things?"

"It's kind of hard to describe what a sister is. She's family I guess that the best explanation, I can say."

"Does she have a name?"

"Applejack."

"That's a pretty name."

Apple Bloom looked down at the drawing they both made in the sand. Slowly the house they both made rose up from the sand. Filling out to look more like a toy to play with your dolls. "Are you doing this?" she asked

"No. This is all you Apple Bloom." said Eureka. "But I did have a hand in this."As a tiny sun rose from the ground lighting the house." I think its all rather beautiful. He stared out looking at everything. "Apple Bloom."

"Yes?" she asked watching the model come to life.

"Your a fascinating pony and I hope to meet you again soon. But its time to wake up. Farewell for now, enjoy your apple pie your sister makes for you.

"What are you talking about I'm still..."

****

"Asleep..." she said opening her eyes to the coming light, as Celestia brought up the sun for a brand new day. Apple Bloom laid in bed thinking of her dream, still vivid in her mind wondering if it was all real or just another dream. "A dream of a pony dreaming of dream ponies." she said to herself. She heard Applejack downstairs ringing the breakfast bell."

"Come and get it!" she yelled upstairs.

"I wonder if Applejack made any apple pie for breakfast?" she said. As she got out of bed and hurried downstairs.

****

"Family." Eureka thought to itself, as it floated in the nothingness of the in-between of dreams. Eureka gathered itself as it tried to find out where to-go. "Family." he thought again as it picked up the direction where she would be. Eureka sped off towards the other one he had been searching for a long time.