Sunset’s heart pumped furiously as everything was dark. Her hand clutched her chest, each beat pulsating against her palm, as she tried to calm down. No fiery agony was assailing her body or no loud roars of monsters in the distance; it was silent except for four people breathing.

A crunch echoed through the room.

Her eyes snapped open to see Trixie sitting on the edge of the Twilight’s bed. In one hand was a potato chip, and the other was a Hays Original chips bag. Their eyes met as Trixie ate another chip loudly crunching down on it. “Welcome back to the world of the living, Shimmer.”

“Really?” asked Sunset.

“Err… yes, re—”

“You’re eating chips right now?” asked Sunset. “After all that. Not even a few minutes after a crisis and you’re eating a snack?”

“Trixie thinks you’re overreacting.”

“No, I’m not… wait.” Sunset gazed around the bedroom. Lemon Zest and Twilight were still asleep in their exact same positions she last saw them in. The light outside had dimmed but it was still in the early evening. She herself hadn’t moved a muscle from leaning against the bedroom door. “How did you get chips?”

Trixie ate another chip as she wiggled her fingers. “Magic.”

Sunset slowly rose to her feet being careful not to agitate her injuries. She blinked and realized she had no injuries. Her mind was still reeling from that experience. Sunset felt with a hand around her back and neck waiting for something, anything, to happen.

“You’re fine, Shimmer. It was a dream.” Trixie’s tone was soft.

“But it was so real. Everything about it was, well,” said Sunset.

“Trixie understands. That’s why it’s a nightmare and it’s difficult. They’re not entirely bad all the time, but yes it tends to be very unpleasant. Trixie did warn you all.” She went to eat another chip, but Sunset stepped forward and lightly punched Trixie in her shoulder.

“Ow!” Trixie pouted. “You’re a brute, Shimmer.”

“And you didn’t tell us anything before we went in. Details like it’s painfully real would’ve been far more helpful than ‘it’s unpleasant’,” said Sunset.

Trixie rubbed her shoulder. “Would you have followed Trixie if she said so? If she said that you could experience death and would have to potentially fight monstrous creatures would you have still helped? Be honest, Shimmer. Teenagers aren’t known for being altruistic.”

“We helped at the fair.” Sunset frowned. “Of course we would’ve. You didn’t have to try and trick us into helping. You’re a teen yourself, so why did you help?”

Trixie ate another potato chip and glanced at the sleeping Lemon Zest. “I was being honest in the dream and when I said no one should have to weather this alone. Could you imagine it, Shimmer? Slowly going crazy as it torments you at every waking moment, then one night in your sleep it strikes at your dreams?”

“I—”

“To have all your reality broken down, then thrust into a dream so real, so lucid that you have memories of a whole life separate from yourself? It’s not always as easy as ganging up on a giant monster.”

“Okay, sheesh. I get what you mean.” Sunset sighed. “You don’t have to be so patronizing about everything.”

“Oh please, like you wouldn’t do the same in Trixie’s position.”

Sunset was about to answer before she was pulled down to the floor. Thin arms wrapped around her tightly in a hug that left her gasping for breath. For someone who rarely exercises Twilight has her in a vice-like grip. “Sunset, you’re okay! Stars above, I was so worried about you. I’m so, so sorry I left. Can you ever forgive me?”

“T-Twi…” Sunset tapped her on her arms.

“Oh!” Twilight relaxed her grip but didn’t release Sunset. “Please forgive me. You told me to go, but I was so scared. Everyone kept saying it was just a dream but it was so real. I couldn’t… I wouldn’t be able to if…”

Sunset glared at Trixie who frozen while watching. “Okay, Trixie is sorry she wasn’t more clear on the details. Trusting people is hard for Trixie, okay?”

“Apology begrudgingly accepted,” said Sunset. “Twilight, there’s nothing to forgive but I’ll forgive you anyway if you let me go. You’re, uh, kind of strangling me.”

Twilight paused as she examined her arms. Specifically where her arms were and who she was hanging onto. Sunset could’ve mistaken her for Rainbow Dash for how fast Twilight had crossed the bedroom. “Ah hah. Haha. Yes, sorry about that. I was just really worried.”

Lemon Zest was sitting upright staring at all three of them with wide eyes. “Woah.”

Trixie smirked. “How do you feel?”

Lemon examined herself slowly. “I feel good, like, really good. Ah, yeah, man this is freaky. A lot of that dream still scares the music out of me, but I understand what Trixie was talking about.”

“Ahem,” fake-coughed Twilight as she dusted herself down. “About what?”

“Ah, what was it again? Instinct or something? Yeah, girls, I can totally feel it now.” Lemon smiled. “That and it feels like, oh man, not to be cliche but a darkness has really been lifted, you know?”

Trixie ate another potato chip.

Twilight scowled. “Where did you get those?”

Trixie gulped and nervously wiggled her fingers. “Magic?”

“You’re insufferable,” said Twilight.

“Agreed.” Sunset rolled her eyes.

“So, like, what was that whole dream nightmare thing about anyhow? The memories thing was pretty freaky, but now that we’re back, uh, in the real world? They’re really hazy. Like, again not to be cliche, but a dream?” asked Lemon.

“It’s a dream,” said Trixie. “It’s not supposed to make sense. They’re the mysterious enigmas of life. A demonic manifestation of chaos.”

“Or,” started Twilight. “The dream was about a hurdle or life problem. Maybe you had something lately that was on your mind, something that was blocking your normal life? Oh, right, the Friendship Games. I could imagine that school would get extremely competitive at Crystal Prep since we, uh, they lost.”

“Sparkle, no.”

“So,” added Sunset. “The Behemoth was like the roadblock. The wall that had to be overcome?”

Twilight snapped and pointed at Sunset. “That’s it! The immunity from its shell must’ve been about how the challenge is always adapting to what Lemon does. When something was defeating it, it changed to become immune to that attempt. It could mean that every effort tried to stop it was in vain.”

“Shimmer, Sparkle, stop. Stop it right now.”

Sunset grinned. “So then it would be a nightmare incredibly hard to beat on your own. It’s something you would want friends to help with, which might also symbolize how Crystal Prep is cutthroat. No one would want to help out their rivals. But what about who we were inside the dream?”

“You’re ruining everything,” said Trixie.

Twilight clapped her hands together. “Of course. Lemon doesn’t really know you very well, Sunset, but with your motif and how the Games went I couldn’t see why you wouldn’t be explosive and fiery. Myself? Well, portals. Rifts to be more exact would be that, uh… It’s because I left. I went to CHS and was the only one that was a part of two different factions at one point.”

Lemon’s jaw dropped. “Woah.”

Sunset nodded at the upset Trixie. “What about her?”

Twilight rubbed her chin. “Well, I would suspect that’s due to how Trixie presented herself. She showed up at exactly the right moment and displayed powerful abilities, knowledge about the problem and helped solved the solution. She always is so egotistic and haughty that in this situation it would put her as an extremely important figure. That’s probably why she was the last resort. Her abilities were—”

A potato chip hit Twilight in the forehead with another chip hitting Sunset on the nose. “Stop dissecting the dream, especially when guessing about Trixie. It ruins the mystique of it all. This time you’re putting science and logic to dreams. Next you’ll want to know how magic tricks work.”

Sunset scrunched up her nose and picked up the offending chip. “Yeah, like how you got these chips.”

Trixie groaned. “See? This is your influence, Sparkle.”

Lemon stared at her own hands. “Wow, I’m pretty complex, huh? I figured we just all went to another world where the nightmare was originally from using the dream as some sort of pseudo-portal and we possessed our otherworld counterparts. From then we got all their recent memories to know the world and how to use their abilities in order to combat a threat that no one else could defeat. I like the dream one better, cause, you know, that means an alternate Sunset and Trixie are maimed or dead.”

All three girls stared at Lemon with wide eyes.

“No.”

“Uh.”

“I hope not.”

Twilight picked up the chip that had hit her. “If you’re going to dirty up my room so I have then you lose room privileges. Everyone out. Living room time, yes.”

Sunset stood up, gently took Trixie by the shoulders and guided her out of the room. “If it makes anyone feel better, that other world theory could also just be a temporary world created by the nightmare so it had more rule over it than us. It would explain why the sky had no stars and the world never felt bigger than that one city. Yes, let’s go with that.”

As Trixie was all but pushed out of the room by Sunset she grabbed a handful of chips and stuffed her face. “This wouldn’t be an issue if you just left it as a dream.”

All the girls headed down to the living room once again and gathered in their same places they had before they all went to sleep. As they all got seated and comfortable the doorbell rang. And rang and rang as someone was mashing it rapidly.

“And that would be Dash.” Twilight groaned as she made her way to the front door.

As soon as Twilight opened the door a rainbow blur stormed the living room. Hand in hand was Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rarity all dizzy from the hectic speed. Dash made a karate chop motion and posed while darting her eyes left and right. “Alright, Sunset, Twilight, we’re here. Where’s the weird magic at? I’m totally ready to fight more evil magic all day.”

“Oh, um, could we not? I mean, at least make sure it’s evil? I wouldn’t want someone to get hurt.” Fluttershy straightened out her floral white and green dress.

“Dear, I agree wholeheartedly. Why, it seems like just every other month we battle some nefarious cretin or dastardly neer-do-well. All this conflict is not ladylike at all,” said Rarity.

“Now, y’all know I got your backs.” Applejack eyed Trixie. “Okay, maybe not all y’alls back, but ya get my drift.”

Sunset gave each of her friends a wave. “It’s okay. Everything’s cleared up and resolved. Right, Trixie?”

Trixie ate a chip and nodded. “Yes, for now.”

Fluttershy wiped her brow and Rarity frowned. “Darling, you did not drag us away from the mall for something that’s already done and over with, now did you?”

Applejack nudged Rarity. “Look, I ain’t sayin’ the mall ain’t great but our friends needed us. I ain’t gonna say no to that.”

Rainbow nodded but did not break her martial arts pose. “Yeah, Rarity. Combating strange magic is always better than the mall anyway.”

Trixie gestured with her free hand. “Ladies and gentleladies, the Shimmer Crew.”

“Uh, we are so not called that,” said Rainbow finally breaking pose.

“Actually,” muttered Fluttershy as she held up a hand. “I’ve, um, heard Snips and Snails call us that.”

“Well they aren’t—”

“And Lily, Rose, Cherry, Flash and a few others as well.”

“Okay, first thing on the list is changing that name. Like, no offense Sunset, but we aren’t your crew. We’re all clearly the Rainbooms, but if that isn’t going to stick we need to come up with a plan, stat.”

Twilight held up a hand.

Dash deadpanned. “No, this isn’t a literal list, Twilight.”

Twilight lowered her hand.

The front door began to shake with small, strong knocks. Each one silencing the room of teens as all eyes went to the door. Its doorknob shook before slowly spinning with a creak. It edged open, the daylight casting a dark silhouette of a four-limbed beast. It stalked inside on its paws heading straight for the group of girls.

“Spike!” yelled Twilight.

Spike stood just inside the house and shook himself down, his little doggy backpack suspiciously clunking noisily. He crawled over to the living room weighed by his pack, crawled out from under it, and jumped up on the living room table.

“Trixie asks what everyone else is thinking. How does a dog one foot tall open a door with a handle four times his height?”

“No, man, it’s more like how does he even know how to open a door? It’s a knob on the outside too, not a handle,” said Lemon.

Spike scratched his ears and spoke aloud, “So what did I miss?”

Trixie and Lemon screamed.

Everyone laughed as the two girls went on in hysterics about a talking dog.

Sunset leaned next to him and whispered, “Just weird magic stuff.”

Author's Note

The first arc is done! It'll be a bit for the next update as I get caught up, and when I do it'll be back to updates. Thanks for reading! Any questions and comments are loved and appreciated.