By One Thread...

Something strange happened that night. Modern science would describe it as a shared dream experience, or SDE, but one could argue there was a much deeper and more spiritual reason for it. When everyone opened their eyes, they were in a sunlit meadow with beautiful autumn trees scattered about. The leaves were orange and red colors.

"Twilight, what the heck is going on," Rainbow Dash asked.

"I already know," Pinkamena intervened, "We're dreaming."

"How can you tell," Twilight requested to know.

"Look at the ground."

When they all realized what they were standing on, they were dumbfounded.

"Red...Grass," Twilight asked herself out loud.

"There's something else too. Look at the sky."

It was truly a sight to behold. There were no clouds. The sun beat down on them ever so warmly.

"This all feels so strange; so...Hopeful...," Twilight spoke.

"Well how about that," Applejack voiced.

"We can do anything we want here," Pinkamena stated.

"Honestly, I just want to stay here for a while," Rainbow Dash responded.

"What kind of dream is this," Twilight wished to know.

"A shared lucid dream," Pinkamena replied, "We know we're dreaming and we're sharing the dream. This is really difficult to do."

"How did we do it?"

"It just happened randomly this time. I know a little about lucid dreaming as a skill."

"Why do you think it happened?"

"We were extremely relaxed and in touch with our inner worlds. Those are two of the most important things."

"So we can do anything," Spike asked.

"Yes," Pinkamena reassured him, "but I don't think you should this time. Just go with it right now."

"Why?"

"Dreams like this are a way to talk to your inner self. If you get too excited, you'll wake up."

"Inner self," Twilight wondered out loud again.

"The inner self is the part of your mind you can only reach out to in a lucid dream. It knows who you really are and what you want."

"Does it know everything?"

"I can't say. I've never tried to talk to it. All I know is it knows everything about you."

"Do you think we need to talk to it?"

"It's hard to tell. I think we all have a pretty good idea of what we want."

"Yeah..."

"Flutters, Rarity, you've both been quiet. Are you alright," Pinkamena questioned.

"We're a bit uneasy, darling. We're still not sure where we are," Rarity answered.

"I know where we are. This is the artwork from 'The Melancholy We Ache'."

"Wait," Twilight halted her, "you mean the record you played while we were falling asleep?"

"The exact same."

"Why here of all places?"

"Good question. I've dreamed about this place a few times. My guess is our subconscious picked up on it, and being in the same place increased our lucidity."

"I guess that makes sense. Still, they're right. There's something odd about this place."

"The art itself was supposed to be symbolic. It represents the last safe place for the brokenhearted."

"Does living in the real world affect you so much that you had to recreate this place in your mind?"

"It does."

"I'm sorry. I wish there was something I could do..."

"Don't worry about it. We sleep most of our lives away anyway. The least we can do is try to find whatever comfort we can."

"PInkamena."

"Hm?"

"When we wake up, I'll bring this to an end; for all of us."

Twilight's friends stared at her.

"Twilight, are you saying what I think you're saying," Rainbow Dash inquired.

"Yes. The clouds are about to disappear. The world will know light. What do you say? Are you and Fluttershy up for it?"

"Are you crazy!? We might die!"

"Then we'll all die together. We deserve better than just withering away in the dark."

"I'm scared...," Fluttershy said weakly.

"Don't be. If we're going down, we're going down fighting."

"...Alright, we'll do it," Rainbow relented.

"Then it's settled. Let's enjoy what might be our last night on Equestria," Twilight said.

All of her friends nodded in agreement. When they woke up the next day, the battle for the future awaited them.