Daisy Daedal’s Dream Journal

When: Unknown, present day I guess
Where: The forest somewhere
Who: Myself and a rabbit
What Happened: I’m in a forest that doesn’t seem familiar. I feel hungry, and although I see some edible plants here and there, my body doesn’t see them as food. I’m just a witness with no control. I seem to smell the ground and catch the scent of something. I want that something and I follow the trail. The scent gets stronger- it smells like fur, clovers, dandelions, and something I didn’t know had a scent: caution. I race towards it, and my usual hoof clatter is strangely silent.
I slow down when I near the end of the tree line, look out to a meadow and I crouch down in the tall grass. The scent trail is strongest here. My eyes catch movement, and just as I realize that what I’m seeing is long brown ears twitching, my body leaps and pounces down on a poor, terrified rabbit. As my teeth begin to close down on the rabbit’s neck I wake up from the nightmare.

Describe each main aspect of your dream in three words:
The Forest- Unfamiliar, lush, secretive
My Body- Predatory, swift, hungry
My Mind- Spectator, horrified, helpless
The Scent- Director, mystery, tasty?!
The Meadow: New, unknown, abundance
The Rabbit- Innocent, afraid, death

Each aspect of the dream is part of you. Use the knowledge you’ve gathered to figure out what’s going on in your head:
It seems like I’m worried I don’t have control (my mind) over what’s happening in my life (the forest and meadow) and that I’m concerned that my ambition (my body + the scent) towards my career is taking my innocence (the rabbit) away.
But isn’t change what life’s about? On the other hoof, this could just as easily be about my fear of stallions when thinking about them in a romantic sense, which isn’t self-serving towards my desire to have a family someday. But I think the first analysis works better.
Okay, dream, I think I’ve got you figured out. Now can you stop repeating every night, PLEASE?

***
Letter To Self- Litha’s Moon

Dear Daisy,

You’re not crazy. I know, referring to yourself in third pony may seem counter-intuitive to that statement, but you wanted to be reminded that everything that happened yesterday was real, not a dream- even if you find yourself wishing it was. Let’s just go over everything from the beginning, so we don’t forget what happened, no matter how much time passes.

You woke up from that dream (see above) for the umpteenth time, but this time you didn't mind that it woke you up early. This morning, like many others, your black cat Shade was a little dark mass of fur beside you, waiting for the moment you would awaken- what he thought was the perfect time for his head to be scratched. But instead of staying to snuggle with him a while, you were jolted awake, remembering that today was special because it was the eve of the longest day of the year - the Summer Sun Celebration.
Ponies traditionally stay up all night to see the sunrise, and this year you had planned a party that doubled as a housewarming party. Three months it took to build our little cottage for one, and as close as we are with our parents, it was nice to move out and have space to ourselves - okay, and with Shade too.

Your mind went on task and you began to prepare for the holiday. Usually our desire to clean was about the same as our desire to run a mile- a healthy habit, but we’d rather fast forward and have it be done already. But the part of our mind we usually use to organize our art supplies and plan our artwork schedule for the week kicked in, directing us in making our home spotless.

Dusting? Check.
Sweeping? Check.
Mopping? Check.
Scrubbing? Check.

The chores flew by, and before you knew it, it was time to pick up the groceries for the party. You left the comfort of our home, and walked down the tree-covered hillside our home was built on.
Usually the trees are refreshing and comforting, but today the shadows they cast seemed foreboding.

By the time you came to the outskirts of San Franciscolt it was a bit of a relief. Then you heard a howl from no discernable direction hang in the air. Apparently your dream wasn't as lost to the waking world as you had thought. You had been a little wolf-like in your dream, so you thought that it was just your mind playing tricks on you. While you weren't wrong, I think I should finish the rest of the story first.
You would’ve ran home then if your pantries weren’t so empty- why do we always leave shopping to the last minute? At least our list made shopping more efficient:
Carrots
Black Beans
Cheddar Cheese
Pepper jack Cheese
Tortillas
Salsa
Chips
Crackers

You ran through the marketplace and bought everything on your list as fast as possible. You were tempted to ask some pony to walk you home in case there were wolves out there, but you didn’t really know anypony in town well. The idea talking to an unfamiliar pony was almost as scary as being chased by wolves- and the wolves could’ve been your imagination.

When you were done it was still bright out and the sun wouldn't set for a few hours, but you still felt a bit of unease while walking home. Most predators didn't like the high density of ponies in the neighborhood so they avoided it. But you couldn’t help feeling like you were about to be pounced on and eaten.

Finally home, you decided to take a moment to decompress. You certainly had time until the guests arrived. We've always loved throwing parties - it's so much more fun than attending one with a ton of ponies we don't know and making awkward conversations. Just a small circle of friends and our family were coming this time, and even our brothers promised to stop by. As the day before the longest day of the year, It was still bright out despite it being almost 8 o'clock. You hung up your saddlebag and fell back into our old routine of reading a bit on our window seat of our living room.

Just when you got comfortable, something scratched at the front door. It reminded you of our mother's dog, Pixie, when she wanted to get inside their house. The small pepper grey and black terrier had been trained to bark when she wanted to get inside to keep their door from being a splintered mess over time, but it was common that she’d scratch anyway. Pixie wasn’t really interested in wandering far from Mom, so it was unexpected that she’d try our door. But since our parents only lived up the hill from us, so it wasn't impossible that she slipped out from their backyard.
You put your book down, stomped to the entryway, and shouted:

“Pixie, speak!” through the door. There wasn't even a whimper in response.
You impatiently blew the door open with your magic, expecting a slightly sheepish looking terrier wagging her tail, happy at the sight of you, but nobody was there.

“Pixie?” You called, but the dog didn't appear from among your front garden headers. closing the door, you decided you'd better just get back to preparing for the party.
You'd pushed the dining room table against the wall and set up the food you prepared along the table (your favorite- carrot and bean tacos). It was buffet style so your guests could assemble their own plates. Devil's Food Cupcake promised to bring dessert so you left room for that dish, but you officially ran out of things to do before Raven Luster was due to come help decorate. She was supposed to be there shortly, so you spent your time gazing out of the window at the rapidly setting sun that tinted the sky with gold, rose red, and purple.

You remember being scared of the dark when we were little. Since you had conquered that fear, it seemed strange having that old feeling creep back in with the setting sun. You'd been sure there wasn't anything you couldn't blast into oblivion with your magic, but how could you protect yourself from something you couldn't see?

A green shape rose into the sky, and some of your anxiety melted away knowing your Pegasus friend was almost there. It's always easier to be brave in a group, after all. In anticipation of her arrival, you flew open the front door and stepped onto the stone pathway that ran through your front garden. Raven Luster glided over the yard’s morning glory covered gate and landed in front of you. A green mare with Periwinkle stripes in her mane and tail, Raven Luster was named after the shine in Raven feathers, as opposed to the bird’s notable black feathers.

“RL!” you said joyfully, hugging her in greeting like usual.

“It's good to see you Daisy,” she replied with a smile. “I brought the decorations you requested.”

“Excellent! Let's set them up now.” Together you went inside and Raven Luster brought out decorations you’d commissioned from her of red, yellow, orange, and gold for your Summer Sun Celebration. Between your magic and her wings, decorations went up fast. She had cut chains of paper cut to the resemble Suns which you hung off the ceiling. Golden beads strung on ribbon were rounded around the staircase banister. Knitted sun and sunflower table runners draped over every flat surface, and sunflowers (cut out so every petal was a different piece of warm-colored paper) were stuck to the walls.
Your favorite decorations were the paper lanterns she’d made - not just any paper lanterns, but pieces of semi-transparent paper that had been taped together in a mosaic type sphere that reflected the candle’s light inside through like a prism.

“My house looks beautiful thanks to you!” you squealed in delight, giving your friend another hug. There was a knock on the door, and you stood up to answer it, gesturing for RL to remain seated. Your magic’s aura enveloped to your front door knob and magically you opened it, revealing a lavender unicorn wearing a silver mask that was decorated with stars.

“Yay, NU’s here!” You shouted back to RL as you wrapped your fore hooves around the mare in the doorway.

“I'm being attacked,” she protested in response to your hug, the smile on her face showing her contrary feelings.

“What's that? You want more hugs?” you said, winking at RL and refusing to let your friend go.

“Okay, let go,” Naturally Unique replied.

“Nooooooooooooo!” you whined. NU’s yellow magic surrounded her horn and you felt yourself being pried away.

“RL, I need back up!” You cried.

“Nope,” the Pegasus replied, flipping through a magazine in the living room. You whined as NU’s aura successfully removed your clingy self from herself. You had tried to hug her again after she released you, but of course she blocked it with a shielding spell.

“Maybe I should go home,” Naturally Unique grumbled.

“Nooo! I’ll be good!” you pleaded. And then to change the subject, you asked: “Can I see the masks you brought?”

Wordlessly, she opened her saddlebag, and she floated pieces of metallic fabric shaped into sun, star, and moon masks into the a
ir. You used your magic to grab a silver crescent moon one that was designed to cover only one eye, and tied its back ribbon around the back of your head in a bow.

“Knock Knock!” a voice called from the door. A teal pegasus mare stood in the doorway, flanked by a red unicorn stallion. The sight of your parents usually brought a large smile to your face and you tried (and failed) to hide it as you trotted over to them.

“Who said you could come, you troublemakers?” you teased, pretending to be angry. They smiled back at you.

“We’ll go back home and cry ourselves to sleep, then,” your Mom, Sunny Heart, replied. You laughed together, and Mom went to greet your friends. Happy Home, your Dad, chuckled and made his way to the buffet.

Levitating a card deck out of one of your living room’s cabinets, you played a round of “Go Fish” with the ponies present. The rest of the guests were unpredictable as to when they’d come. You knew how our brothers got distracted while spending time with their friends, and were really poor time keepers. And our only other guest, Devil’s Food Cupcake, seemed like the busiest pony ever and would often come at least an hour late.
Sometimes lying about the meeting time could get her there on time, but as the plan was to stay up all night, you didn’t feel like rushing things was necessary. Everypony would spend plenty of time together, whenever they showed up.

And it was the dark blue pegasus stallion- our youngest brother- who showed up first.

“Hey Daize,” Midnight Show said, hugging you. You knew that there was going to be a lot of mares at this party, so to keep your brothers from feeling outnumbered you had told them bringing a few friends was okay. So it wasn’t surprising to see a couple of his friends behind him.

“You remember Bandito and Torrent, right?”

“Yeah, good to see you,” you greeted the colts with a wave and a smile. Okay, they’re young stallions, but it’s hard not to think of Midnight and his crew as the colts you grew up with, despite them only being three years younger. “Grab a mask and get settled in.”

Midnight Show grabbed a sun mask that covered the top half of his face, and his friends took masks, too, while joking around. Midnight has always been the friendliest pony in our family, and we’ve always admired how easily and fearlessly he made friends. In that way, our brother was much more mature than us elder siblings.
Soon the stallions joined Happy Home in enjoying the food, and as the hostess, you made rounds to see if anyone else needed anything before you left to search for our eldest brother, Mage Heart.

It's nice that our family is so close knit, isn't it? The house we grew up in (that our parents still live in) is on the top of the West Mint Hill. You had your house built halfway down that hill, and before that when our big brother Mage Heart moved out, he hollowed out part of the bottom to put his home under the hill.
To keep our homes connected, in our basement there's a door that leads to about three stories of stairs leading to Mage Heart’s home, a passageway that allows the family to visit without having to go outside our homes. (Similarly, there’s a set of stairs leading to the basement of our parent’s home, too.)
The wooden stairs to Mage Heart’s burrow were lit by Quartz Crystal veins that were found naturally in the hill. Mage charged them daily with different colored energy so that ponies who may go down the stairs could see. That day he had charged them with yellow energy to reflect the Sun Celebration.

Loud music floated up the stairs, and when you'd reached the door to his house, you doubted whether he would hear you knock. But not wanting to break the rules of etiquette, you tried knocking anyway. When there was no answer, you tried again. And then you tried shouting while knocking. Impatience broke your resolve and you went in through his door.

The entryway from inside the hill was one long hallway that led to the front door leading to the outside of the hill, with four round entryways to other rooms along it. It seemed simple enough, but the side rooms broke off into more side rooms, which became maze-like to those unfamiliar to Mage Heart’s home.
You weren't unwelcome in our older brother’s home. In fact, since you and Mom help him decorate when he first moved in, and you both would check on him occasionally to make sure he was eating properly, you knew your way around pretty well. As you searched for him, you tried his study, library, and living room first, but you somehow knew he'd be in his bedroom.

The dark grey -almost black- stallion was in bed, multiple books and empty mugs of coffee on his nightstand. The stereo in the corner blared loud classic rock -which didn't distract him from the book his nose was buried in: Star Swirls’ Spells for Celestial Bodies.

“Mage, can I turn it down?” You shouted, and the stallion nodded, folding the book in his lap.

“What's up, little sis?”

“You still planning on coming to my party?” You asked after you turned the music down. “We would really love for you to read our tarot cards.”

“Oh yeah, I was just waiting for Stellar Jay and Gecko Gill to show.”

“Okay. See you soon-ish then?”

“Yep.” You doubted it would be soon, but you hoped.
Back at home, the card game had shifted to Poker, and you were promptly dealt in. We bet silly things like corn chips and baby carrots, some losing all their “bits” simply by eating them. It was well after dark by the time Devil's Food Cupcake made an appearance. She was a brown Earth Pony Mare with a red and light brown mane. I always admired her edgy ear piercings and bracelets that seemed very token Devily, and she was not without them this time.

“I brought the dessert you asked for,” she said, flashing you a sheepish smile full of teeth.

“Yay! Desserts make everything better!” You replied, ignoring the fact that you gain weight easily. (Yes, future me, we didn't burn off those calories like we planned to. You have no self-control!) But moving on, you took Devily’s dessert into your kitchen while overhearing her swap greeting with the others. She had brought a beautiful upside down cake that Devil's Food Cupcake had cut from the pineapple rings to form one big sun on the top.

“Wow, when can we start eating that?” Midnight Show asked while hovering over your shoulder.

“After everypony's eaten dinner,” you replied, swatting at the airborne menace. He laughed, easily dodging.

“But because I'm special, you'll let me have a bite now?” He teased.

“Go away, you etty bitty teeny tiny little brother,” you said while pretending to be angry at our younger brother who is actually a head taller than us (darn him!) At some point he was successfully shooed out of the kitchen, and you stuck the cake in the icebox for now, removing another quart of sparkling cider for your guests. And after another hour later, Mage Heart came up with his friends, and you felt you could finally relax and enjoy yourself. You served up the carrot and bean tacos quickly. Soon after the cake was eaten with high praises going Devily’s way - she wasn't a professional baker for nothing.

It was tradition to stay up all night to greet the Sun, but Mom and Dad were past their all-nighter stage, so you lent them our bed with a promise to wake them for the sunrise. In the wee hours of the morning, the stallions moved to Mage’s house to drink some more, and we mares chatted softly in the living room while playing a whodunit board game. It was probably around 3 am when we really slowed down.

“Not tired,” NU muttered, leaning slightly on RL.

“Shall I make some more tea?” You asked. Weary nods gave you your answer, and you went alone to the kitchen. You thought you glimpsed something moving outside our kitchen window, but it was so fast that it could have been your eyes playing tricks.

Under the lantern light, you put more water into the kettle and started to boil it on the stove. The expression “a watched pot never boils” came to mind, but you felt hesitant to return to the living room with empty hooves. Awkwardly hovering around the stove, once again movement darted by a window. You wondered if it was your brothers’ plan to scare you- it wasn't unheard of for them to tease you like this. But even when Midnight and Mage tried to stay quiet, they were loud. There weren't chuckles or rustling sounds outside- in fact it was eerily quiet.

Levitating a cast iron frying pan from off its hook on the wall, you held it in the air in front of you and took slow steps towards back door. It was too dark to see out the window on the top half of the door, and part of you felt like something terrible was on the other side.

Then the teapot started whistling and made you jump, which made you lose your concentration on the spell, so the frying pan landed on the floor with a clang.

“What happened?” Voices from the living room queried.

“Just dropped a pan, everything's okay,” you replied as you hung the pan back up. You told yourself you didn't really need to investigate outside as you put together a tea tray for your guests. It would be much easier to see when the morning light came anyway.

Over many hours, our friends drifted off to sleep one by one: Naturally Unique on the rug, Raven Luster on the couch, and Devil's Food Cupcake on the loveseat. As the last one awake, you took it upon yourself to watch for the sunrise. I know that staying up all night is a rare thing for us to do, but you wanted to do to celebrate the holiday, even though your eyes were heavy. You had promised to wake everyone for the sunrise, but case in you fell asleep, you had brought your alarm clock down from your bedroom earlier. And so you sat in your cushioned window seat staring out into the darkness, gazing out your window above the trees at the horizon, looking for any hint of rosy colors.

As the morning hours grew later, the sky showed no sign of turning. When your alarm clock went off, you turned it off and looked puzzled at it because the sky was still midnight blue.

“Daisy?” Mom called softly from upstairs. You carefully stepped around our sleeping friends on tiptoe to the bottom of our staircase, meeting our mom's worried gaze on the top of them.

“You noticed too?” You asked in a loud whisper. “Is it a pegasus prank?

“Clouds can't get that dense,” Sunny Heart replied with a shake of her head.
Three large knocks sounded against the front door, causing the living room sleepers to stir.

“Miss Daedal, open up! This is the Sheriff!”
A brief flash of worry that you has done something wrong flashed through your mind - which is ridiculous considering how law abiding we are. Not wanting to get in possible more trouble, you obeyed.
The teal unicorn stallion known as ‘the Western Warlock’ flashed a lantern at the ponies gathered in the doorway.

“Gather everypony together. We're evacuating all the citizens to downtown for your safety,” Sheriff Warlock explained. “Your brothers and their friends are already there.”

“Can I get my dog first?”, Mom asked the stallion, worry evident on her face. The Sheriff gave an exasperated sigh, and levitated his top hat off his head. He tilted the inside of the hat towards you so we could see the inside- it was empty, of course. He then turned it inside out, stuck a hoof inside, and pulled out a medium-small salt and pepper colored terrier.

“Pixie!” mom gleefully yelled, hugging the dog who had a puzzled expression on its face. You could guess that he blindly teleported Pixie into his hat, which was impressive, but the fact that he was levitating his hat at the same time was inspired. Everypony stomped their hooves in appreciation.

“All right, all right. Any other nonsense to worry about? No? Then let's go,” the sheriff grumbled.

The path to town was pitch black, despite the Sheriff’s pocket watch saying it was close to 9 a.m. Everypony strolled in a single file line behind him, each holding the tail of the pony in front of them so as not to lose each other in the darkness outside the sheriff's lantern light. Pixie (tied to Mom with some spare yarn you had around) was the only being not worried, merrily enjoying the walk with all the pack together. She wasn't prone to barking a lot, so it came as a surprise when she stopped walking and started barking into the woods, intent on staying put and staring.

“Pixie, what do you see, Pup?” You heard Mom ask. One moment you were walking, and then suddenly you couldn't feel your legs anymore. You tumbled onto the dirt path. Everypony rushed over to check on you, but their voices were too loud, you couldn't focus on a single one. From your legs, the tingling feeling of your body being asleep rose until you felt nothing. A growly voice spoke,

“Now the fun starts.”
And then you weren’t conscious.

End part 1

Author's Note

I know, a shameless self-insert story, I'm sorry.

The events in this story are related to Friendship is Magic Part 1 (Season 1) , and this series is mostly how the events in Ponyville are seen to my West Coast OCs. I hope you enjoy it!