Sweet dreams, bitter reality

There was that feeling in the air, the feeling you get on a Saturday morning. Something like relief, or anticipation, or something you couldn't really explain.

The air was scented with the smell of pancakes and syrup, and it was strong enough to reach Sweetie Belle through her unconscious, dreaming state of rest. Her eyes opened, and she sat up. Was that pancakes she smelled?

Slipping out of bed, she left her room and descended the stairs to the kitchen, still wearing her pajamas.

Rarity was at the stove, flipping pancakes in a frying pan with the use of magic.

“What are you doing?” Sweetie asked, wondering why Rarity was all of a sudden cooking breakfast. It had been months since she had eaten a cooked breakfast.

Rarity turned, and Sweetie immediately noticed that her face magically looked fuller. Either she was eating another dozen cartons of ice cream again, or she was wearing a ton of makeup. But it didn't look like either of those were the case. She just looked... healthy.

“Good morning Sweetie! Did you sleep well?” She beamed a bright smile that was alien to Sweetie Belle. Although, it didn't seem forced, but truly genuine. Strange.

“Uh, fine? Why?”

Rarity returned to the stove and turned it off.

“Just trying to be polite, darling.”

Even stranger.

Rarity dished the pancakes onto some plates, and set them on the table. Sweetie Belle hesitantly sat down, wondering what possibly could cause such strange behavior from her sister. No, her mother!

“Is this all just your way of apologizing for yesterday? For lying?” Sweetie Belle asked suspiciously as Rarity drizzled an unhealthy amount of syrup on Sweetie's plate.

“What? What happened yesterday darling?” Rarity asked as she returned to the kitchen counter to clean up.

“You basically came clean about all of your lies.” Sweetie reminded her in a sour tone as she took a bite of her pancakes. Surprisingly good.

“I actually don't know what it is you're talking about, darling.”

Was she serious?

“How could you not remember?” Sweetie paused, trying to get the word out. “Mom?”

Rarity looked up, a baffled look on her face. Then she started laughing.

“You had one strange dream last night, didn't you?” Rarity set two more plates on the table, making four.

“No! It wasn't a dream, you told me how you were my mom and my father was some jerk in your prep school when you were younger! You told me how you were such a young mother, but you wanted to raise me like a normal girl should be raised! And how mom and dad, or grand-ma and grand-pa I guess, raised me as our parents, to keep it secret!”

Rarity was completely confused now, and unable to speak.

With a sigh of frustration, Sweetie Belle took another bite of her breakfast. Despite how weird the situation was, the food was too good to ignore.

“What are the two extra plates for?” Sweetie asked, forgetting to swallow before she spoke. Rarity was about to remind her of table manners, but that's when the door opened.

“Sorry we're late kids!”

It was Sweetie Belle's father and mother.

“You're home!” Rarity stood up from the table to hug them. Sweetie Belle choked on her food.

“Are you okay darling?” Her mother asked, stepping inside.

Sweetie looked up, and her heart beat fast. Her throat started to constrict her like it always does when you cry.

“Mom?”

Holding back tears, Sweetie Belle ran at her mother, who outstretched her arms to catch her.

But with every stride she took, she was pulled back by some unknown force. Her vision was being stretched, and was going black. Her mother looked at her with worry.

“Mom!” Sweetie Belle yelled, trying with all her might to gain ground. Tears ran down her cheeks now, but were whisked away behind her like she was fighting a hurricane's wind.

As a last resort, she stopped running to reach out to grab her mother's hand, hoping she could save her from the oblivion looming behind that was trying to swallow her.

Their fingers were a quarter of an inch apart, but Sweetie was pulled back, denied the embrace she longed for with her entire existence.

“MOM!” Was her last strangled cry as everything went black, and she was pulled away into oblivion.

~~~

Sweetie Belle bolted upright in her bed, reaching out to grab an imaginary mother's hand. She was awake, it was all a dream. She panted hard, beads of sweat rolled down her forehead.

Rarity looked up from a chair in the corner of the room. She had fallen asleep after they had talked and cried with each other, and Rarity had sat in the corner of the room, watching over her.

“Are you okay Sweetie? Bad dreams?”

Sweetie Belle rubbed her eyes, looking around herself in a daze.

“No, no no no! Where did mom go?”

“I'm right here, Sweetie.”

“No!” She practically yelled. “My real mom! Not you, not you!”

“But I am-” Rarity stood from the chair.

Sweetie Belle pulled her covers over herself, trying to shut it all out and return to her dream.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Rarity asked, lightly tugging at the blankets.

“No, just go. Please just go and leave me alone.” Was the muffled reply.

Rarity stood awkwardly by the bed for a second, then turned to leave the room, shutting the door behind her.

Sweetie Belle started to cry, trying as hard as she could to sleep and be reunited with her dead mother. It didn't matter what Rarity said, her parents would always be Cookie Crumbles, and Hondo Flanks. Not her sister and some guy named Silver Belles.

She was finally able to sleep, albeit a dreamless, and restless slumber. She awoke on a Monday morning, and the sky was as gray as she had seen so far in this late fall. There was no smell of pancakes in the air, and Rarity was nowhere to be seen.

Before Sweetie Belle dressed and left for school, she quickly jotted down the remnants of her dream in her diary. She hoped to read it later that night, and maybe her mind would continue the dream.

Well, there was a long day ahead, and the only thing she looked forward to was the end of the day, when she could rest for what little moments her mind allowed her.

The dream had given her a moment of peace, and hope. But as it faded, it only left her feeling more empty than before. What had she done to deserve such an evil thing...

~~~