Author's Note

Every little inch counts.
-SS&E

Here Comes a Thott--That Might Adore You

Or perhaps Flash Sentry was flying.

His brow furrowed tensely. His eyelids twitched and shifted... until he realized he had no need for eyelids. Or a brow.

He opened his eyes... or maybe they were always opened. If he blinked, it was only because he felt obligated to.

Whatever the case, he looked. And he saw.

And the landscape that stretched before him was dim. Vague. Encroached by shadows. It felt like he was looking at the east horizon during sunset. Or perhaps the west horizon at dawn. Or maybe both at once. The dueling penumbras of two separate spheres converged upon a dull meridian, stretching infinitely into a nebulous dreamscape.

He stood just to the left of the demarcation. A dull thunder rolled in the distance, and several bright comets hung in limbo overhead, twinkling like a million lazy stars. Breathlessly, Flash glanced towards his left periphery, and he surveyed the faded silhouettes and outlines of the town he grew up in. There was Canterlot High School off in the distance... with the mall lingering closer... and dozens of halfway houses bordering the downtown district. At some point, city limits blurred into thoughtscapes he loosely recalled from random moments in his childhood: an amusement park, the office upstate where his folks worked, Magnolia Buckler's apartment, and a hundred thousand dismal shades of his thickly-curtained bedroom.

The boi exhaled... only he held no breath. There was a brief moment of panic—in which he felt like spiraling into nothingness. His limbs vibrated, but something anchored him in place. There was an element familiar to the sensation—like the miraculous groundedness he sensed on the night that Sunset blessed him with lucid dreams.

Curious, Flash looked down at himself. Gone were the oversized hoodie and slacks that he was used to wearing every dreary day of his corporeal existence. Instead, a blast of the past hung off him like a limp flag: a dark jacket, a faded white t-shirt, and a pair of semi-torn jeans. It was what he always used to wear during his days at Canterlot High... something tragically ordinary in its futile attempt to look “snazzy,” “cool,” and “masculine”. He still had the jacket somewhere in the real world, and—to his undeniable shame—it would likely still fit on his petite figure after all these years. A quiet sigh escaped his lips, and he smelled the cheap detergent that he always used to keep the same ol' outfit “squeaky clean” for weeks at a time.

“I must have looked so lame to everyone,” he grumbled.

“I found it adorable, personally,” Sunset Shimmer's voice hummed, but somehow it sounded... fuzzier.

“???” Flash looked to his right.

He couldn't see Sunset. Instead, he found himself gazing past the shadowed line dividing his world and the next: which turned out to be a beautiful rolling fantasyscape of emerald hills, snowy mountain peaks, and rustic farm villages spread out like rose bushes across a verdant glen. High above the horizon's vanishing point, Flash spotted a series of castle spires towering majestically across a series of high granite plateaus. The blue-and-rose tinged rooftops looked like something directly out of a Disney film, and the flabbergasted boi almost expected to see rainbows and songbirds blooming from the zenith. His heart went a'flutter, and he wished actual breaths rolled through his dreamself if only he could lose them in a gasp at the sheer beauty of the spectacle—

“Flash? Are you doing alright? I know this is a lot to take in.”

“??????” he again question mark'd, gazing north and south. He saw flowing rivers flanked by flowerbeds, open fields bespeckled with forests, and crystalline oceans filled with sea serpents. Overhead, there flew a dragon or two... and a few other mesmerizing samples of exotic fauna.

“Just calm down, Flash,” Sunset's voice continued. “I know it's a lot to take in.”

“Sunset?” Flash murmured, and his voice came out soft and squeaky... like a middle schooler tip-toeing into his freshman year over a sea of broken glass. He cleared his “throat” and trilled again, looking left and right and left and right. “I... I get that we're in some crazy, trippy thoughtfartica... but where are you?” He clutched his nervous hands together in a distinctly unmasculine way. “I'm... doing okay, all things considered.” A gulp. “But it'd be really cool to have you here with me right about n-now.”

“I'm right next to you, Flash.”

His eyes narrowed inquisitively.

“Just follow the sound of my voice.”

He looked all around, spying nothing but hills and farm villages—

“Try... lower... Flash.”

“... … …?” The boi looked down.

A bright pair of turquoise eyes peered up at him... bigger than they had any right to be. The eyes belonged to a housecat... only it wasn't a housecat. It had pony ears, a pony tail, and pony hooves. It also had a burning yellow coat, a mane like an autumn campfire, and a unicorn horn straight out of faerie tales. Sunset's voice came out of the creature as it blushed and raised a forelimb shyly—as if it somehow couldn't get any cuter.

“Yyyyyyeah... so... uh...” The equine ball of adorbs chuckled nervously and tossed its mane, glancing nervously aside with a shift of embarrassed fetlocks. “...welcome to a subconscious representation of our combined mindscape. The moment we enter, we assume our mental forms. Errr... that is to say... we possess the 'self-image' that we most naturally associate with ourselves. And in myyyyy case... ahem...” She flopped back on her tiny haunches and raised her tiny forelimbs. “Ta-daaaaaaa! This is the pony me! The real me... eheh...”

“... … ...” Flash stared down at her, dumbfounded. His jaw hung open as stars formed in his eyes.

“We need time for our separate psychic patterns to interconnect and relax,” Sunset explained, standing up straight in her serious pony body and bearing a serious pony expression. “Until then, we have no choice but to maintain these forms. In the meantime, I can teach you the basics of how to stay calm and cohesive in this conjured environment.”

“... … ...”

“Uhm... Flash?” She arched a colorful eyebrow over her colorful eye. One ear twitched fuzzily, then the other, also fuzzily. “Flash? Are you okay? Uhm... is this experience too much for you to process so far, or—?”

“Oh...” Flash fell to his knees. “My...” He threw his arms forward. “...GOSH!” He scooped the tiny cathorsegirlthingy into the tightest of hugs and squished its fuzzy cheek against his, nuzzling and squeezing and cooing: “You. Are. So. CUTE!”

“Aaackies!” Sunset gasped into a face-full-of-boi. “Guh! Flash, I—Gah! N-not so tight!”

“Heeeeeeeeeeeeee-hee-hee-hee!” The young man giggled girlishly, rubbing his cheek against hers before plowing his nose joyfully through a chestful of floof. “Mmmmmmmm—ohgosh! You do smell like lilacs! Your soul is made of lilacs! Your soul is lilacky and you're soooooo cuuuute!”

“Flaaaaaaaaaash!” Sunset pouted briefly, only for her cheeks to turn a brighter shade of orange under his constant adoration. “This is just the dream me! The real me is a seven and a half foot woman squatting with you on a bench outside of—” Her “breath” sucked in as her eyes crossed from a sudden... heavenly sensation. “Ohsweetcelestia...”

Flash was scritch-scratching her ears, one after another. “Ohgoshohgosh!” He smiled from jawline to jawline, practically vomiting glitter between each joyous outburts. “You're like a bag of kittens dipped in fuzz! Just feel your ears! Awwwwwwww! Pony ears are amazing!” More giggles, and by now he was cradling her in his arms like a tabby cat. “Are your human-pony ears like this when you use your superpowers?”

“Muuuuuuuuuuu—” Sunset's tail flicked as she melted in the boi's grip. “Mmmmm-heheheheh...” Her eyes rolled back and her forelimbs folded lazily over her fluffy chest. “Twilight's ears certainly feel soft when I rub them... along with her... her...” A bold blink, and Sunset shook her head, snapping out of it. “Okay... enough with the ear-scratches.”

“Awwwwwwwwwwwww...” Flash pouted, close to sniffling. “But I wanna do this foreverrrrrrr...”

“We're not here for pony petting!” Sunset's voice cracked as she tried to regain her amazonian authority—failing. “Seriously! I mean it, Flash! We've got some important trippy telepathic Inceptiony stuff to do! So st-stop snuggling me already...” She pony-pouted. “Please, sweetie?”

He sighed sadly. “Well... since you asked so nicely...” He nevertheless boop'd his nose against hers with a lasting giggle, then placed her down on the ground by his ankles. “Sorry, Sunny. I just couldn't help myself.”

“Believe me, I understand the feeling.” Standing once again on all-fours, the cat-sized unicorn dusted herself off. “Whew... so that's what it's like to be picked up constantly.”

Flash still smiled, kneeling beside her. “Perhaps you could consider it a fair exchange.”

“It's an exchange alright. Fair? Jury's still out on that.” Sunset breathed in and out, then faced the dull line between converging thoughtworlds. “Okay. Lemme just assess the subconscious environment at hoof.” Her brow furrowed. “I recognize Equestria, alright. Seems stable... so my side of the telepathic link is secure.” She looked towards the gray facsimile of Canterlot High and its surrounding district on Flash's side. “I... guess this is to be expected from your mind. Although, for some reason, I was kind of hoping for something... … … more colorful.” She felt her mane flouncing repeatedly, and she stomped a hoof while growling. “Flaaash!”

“S-sorry...!” he raised his hand from brushing her fiery hair. “I... I-I just couldn't help myself.” He touched two fingers together anxiously. “Could... could you just let me comb it for a bit?”

“No, Flash—”

“Just twenty minutes? Fifteen!”

“Now's not the time!”

“Awwwwwwww...” Flash pouted again. “But you're such a pretty unicorn!”

“Yes.” She upturned her fuzzy nose with a stately pose of her front hooves. “Yes I am.”

“Heeheehee...”

She squinted up at the boi who was inexplicably towering above her. “... … ...you're really enjoying this reveal, aren't you?”

He cupped his rosy cheek with a girlish palm. “Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaybe.” Another giggle escaped him.

She blew a tuft of mane hair out from before her eyes, then bore a proud smirk. “Well, I'm glad you're so... tickled pink by my true self, Flash.”

“Are you ponies really this tiny?”

“What do you mean 'you ponies?'”

He stuck his tongue out. “You know what I mean.”

“It's... a pretty fair representation of Equestrian-to-Human size ratios.” Her fuzzy nose scrunched. “For the most part.”

“So... you've always been cat-sized?”

“Would it break your brain to know that our housecats are even smaller?”

“Like...” Flash Sentry gasped, eyes starry again. “Mini-Chibi-Cats?!?”

“Can we please try and focus on what we're here for?”

“I'm sorry, Sunset...”

The unicorn sighed and lovingly patted his ankle. “It's okay, Flash.” She smirked up at him. “If it helps you to know, I... sorta wish you saw this me a lot sooner.”

“Golly, Sunset...” He continued smiling in awe at the equine specimen. “If all this time I knew you were so little, fuzzy, and adorable...”

“Can't change the past, Flash,” she muttered, and those adorable ears flattened meekly. “I certainly didn't treat you like someone who was little, fuzzy, and adorable.”

“That's okay,” Flash said. And before she could protest, he finished: “The truer... cuter you galloped out in the end.” A wink.

“Pffft. Sure.” She trotted in a thoughtful circle around his legs, tail flicking. “But, as irony would have it, I grew eleven times even bigger.”

He squinted at her. “Do you ever miss being small, adorable, and cuddable?”

“Oh, I can still be cuddled, Flash.” She winked up at the boi. “It just takes some effort.”

He nodded. “Sure. But... from now on...” He stood up straight, towering above the adorable telepath. “I'm just going to pretend you're thirty cutetastic unicorns stacked up inside a sexy amazon suit.”

“Yeahhhhhhh...” She droned. “Good luck with that.”

“Heeheehee.”

Her eyes looked up and down, reflecting the boi's otherwise petite figure.

Flash blinked. “What?”

“It's... it's nothing...” Sunset cleared her throat, forcing herself to look at the bifurcated landscape. “So... here we are.”

Flash nodded. “It's... trippy... I guess?”

“You seem uniquely unfazed by it all,” Sunset said. “No offense, Flash, sweetie, but you're usually more skittish about this kind of stuff.”

“Helps to have a magical talking cat-horse-person nearby to raise my spirits.”

“If you say so.” Sunset toed the dark, shadowy line between worldscapes. “It may be hard to tell, but the division is starting to blur.” She looked towards the dual horizons as they grew uniform in their foggy color. “Soon, we should be able to lucidwalk. I hope you don't mind if I take the lead.”

“Those are pretty.”

“What are pretty?” Sunset turned around and looked at Flash. He was pointing skyward, so she followed his finger and spotted the hundreds of streaking comets hovering in the air.

“They're like... falling stars,” Flash stammered. There was a flutter of wind, and it was only then that he realized how much... shorter his hair was. He ignored it for the moment. “I wonder where they come from.”

“Oh, those aren't stars,” Sunset explained. “They're raindrops.”

He blinked down at the pony. “Raindrops?”

Sunset grunted beneath her breath, firing her unicorn horn at a patch of earth. A rocky pillar raised up, and she rode the platform until it was high enough above Flash that she could poke the “comets” with her hoof. The first slew of them turned to splashing puddles that converged slowly in mid-air.

“Raindrops! See?” She smirked. “It's a manifestation of the environment immediately outside our minds.”

“You mean...” Flash's lips pursed in thought. “...the rain... falling outside the picnic overhang at CHS?”

“It's where we're sitting, after all,” Sunset explained. “As we enter and exit the mindscape, the sensations around us lose and regain focus.”

“Why's everything... so slow?”

“Because our thoughts are fast,” Sunset explained. “And as we drift deeper into the subconscious, they'll only speed up, until the world outside becomes blurred and indistinguishable.”

“Is that... … ...normal?”

“Oh, definitely.” The horse nodded. She zapped the rock pillar, and it turned into a pile of feathers that swiftly descended. She “rode” the feathers down and landed on soft grass, trotting leisurely towards the boi. “Once you and I are fully synced, we'll be operating at mental speeds far faster than what it takes to communicate verbally. Y'know... you can get an awful lot done in your brain while lucidwalking.”

“That's... pretty nifty, actually,” Flash said. “I take it you've practiced this before.”

“More times than I can count,” the pony replied. “Twilight once convinced me to bring her here so she could crunch her astronomy thesis a week ahead of schedule... … … until we both realized that—as smart as she is—the logic centers of her brain simply couldn't catch up to the speed of dreaming. Sooooooooooo we went wind-surfing with Carl Sagan instead.” A slight giggle. “Best 'weekend' we ever spent in Neptunian Space Hawaii... with Star Wars paintball matches on the side.”

“Wow... how do you ever leave a place as amazing as this?”

“Let's... just say that there's far more alluring things about our corporeal lives to stick with rather than always coming here.”

“Oh yeah?” Flash blinked. “Like what?”

“... … ...” Sunset raised a hoof to her fuzzy muzzle and coughed aside. “I'll... explain in due time.”

Flash thought about pushing the matter, but realized this wasn't the time and place. After all, of all the mindscapes they could go to, Sunset was the absolute best chauffeur here. He knew better than to jostle that.

“Ah... there we go...” Sunset pointed at the comets above as they vanished in mid-drift. “We're deep in the subconscious now. I should be able to gain full control soon.” She trotted about to face him. “Assuming you're cool with that, of course.”

“I trust you, Sunny,” Flash said.

“I can also get out of this pony skin too,” she muttered. “So weird having to talk up to you.”

“Uhm...” Flash chewed his bottom lip.

She sighed long and hard. “Yes, Flash?”

“Could you... maybe... st-stay a pony?” He smiled crookedly. “While we're here?”

“Eeeeeunghhhh...” Her ears flopped as she rolled her eyes. Eventually, the mare sported a tired grin. “Just for you, sweetie.”

“Yaaaaaaaaaaaay,” the boi squealed.

Sunset squinted her eyes, peering down the dim valley between clashing horizons. “Usually... the best way to start taking control...” She turned around and looked down the opposite equator. “...is to focus on a memory... and bring it to the forefront.”

“Erm... how do we do that?” Flash asked.

“Through practice, mostly. If you're not careful, you'll throw yourself in all sorts of crazy, chaotic directions. One's mental temperament plays a heavy role.”

Flash gulped. “I'm not sure I can be of much help, then.”

“Sure you can. We just got to quick-start things, and then I'll take the reins.”

“Are horses allowed to make horse-riding jokes?”

She turned and looked up at him. “You know, where I come from, we do have bridles and saddles and bits and the like.”

“Errrrr...” Flash fidgeted. “What for?”

Sunset waggled her eyebrows. “Bored old married couples.”

“... … ...huh?”

“Sorry. Old pony joke.” Sunset Shimmer pivoted about to face “her” side of the dreamscape. “Okay. I'll show you how it's done. Then... we'll have you recall a memory.”

“But... aren't you going to assume control of—?”

“It still involves the both of us to some extent, Flash. Think of this as starting calisthenics. Flexing of the mind, as t'were.”

He nodded shakily. “Alright...”

“Try to remember a happy memory,” she said with a smile. “Something that brings you great pleasure.”

“Something...” Flash took deep breaths. “That brings me...” More. “Great pleasure...”

“Where I'm concerned...” The little she-horse licked her lips. And—

SWOOOSH!

The round world unrolled beneath them like a carpet over a great sphere. Flash's buildings and Sunset's mountains melted away, and in its place there emerged a tiny gazebo on the edge of a flat plateau, overlooking a quaint village with granite hilltops surrounding. Two equines rested on cushions overlooking the western horizon. One pony was super-super tiny, and the other appeared—to Flash at least—to be the size of a clydsedale... only it had huge wings, a pronounced horn, and an alabaster coat. The mare's forehead shimmered like a torch. Then—as if in direct response—the sun sank into the edge of the sky before both souls.

“Wowwwww...” The tinier specimen stammered with the voice of a little girl. Flash watched as the yellow-orange filly stood up, rearing its legs and cheering. “That's so incredible, Your Highness! Is this what it feels like every time?”

The larger horse chuckled with a motherly tone that Flash found hauntingly familiar. “Every time, my little pony.” She leaned her graceful head down to nuzzle the filly. “After thousands and thousands of years, the spell still maintains it brilliance... even in dimming.”

“Are you going to raise the moon now?”

“In a moment, my student. Contrary to popular belief, day and night don't follow each other directly. There needs to be a buffer in between for the world to properly adjust to the change in temperature and luminosity.”

“How'd you find that out???”

“Through careful experience and application. And—in the seasons—we schedule varies. This is to maintain the equilibrium that had been set in motion by nature long before the Dimming.”

“Wowwwwwwwwww...”

“See? Even Princesses of Equestria have room to learn and grow and adjust.”

“What's it matter?! You're just soooo powerfullllll!”

The regal pony chuckled, then drew the filly in closer with a loving wing. “It's not all about power, Sunset. But also civility, patience, and restraint.”

“Uh huh! Uh huh! Now raise the moon! Raise the moon! I wanna see ittttt!”

“Heheh... all in good time...”

A larger version of the giggling filly trotted into view, and Flash remembered who he was there witnessing the event with. “That's Princess Celestia and I,” Sunset Shimmer explained. “Days after she approached me and my folks, announcing that she had learned of my talents and wanted to enroll me into her school as her prized pupil.” A deep breath. “I was six at the time.”

Flash did a double-take. Gawking down at the pony, he pointed a nervous finger at the resplendent specimen. “That's your world's Principal Celestia???”

“Princess.” Sunset clenched her teeth. “Princess Celestia.”

“C-careful with that word...” Flash leaned back, hugging himself with a shiver. “It triggers me.”

Ignoring that, Sunset turned to smile calmly at the scene. “It used to be that thinking about this moment would only bring me guilt and regret.” A long breath. “But I've since learned to embrace the better parts of my past... the innocent parts. Much like the things I love about my present... they anchor me.”

“I'm glad you've grown to accept yourself, Sunset,” Flash said. “You're a wonderful person... er... pony... pony person thingy...”

“I get it, Flash. I get it.” She chuckled, waving a hoof. “And thank you.”

He gazed at the two equines in the vision. As the sun fully set, the stars poked through the heavenly veil, and their stellar shine glistened off the ponies' horns.

“So... uhm...” Flash rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “...is Princess Celestia your mom?”

Silence.

Eventually, Sunset spoke: “Now you try and conjure up a memory, Flash.”

He blinked down at her.

“... … ...Flash?”

“Oh! Right...” He clenched his hands together nervously. “Something... at brings me... great pleasure...”

“Something near and dear to your heart,” Sunset said. “And—that brings you great pleasure—yes.”

His forehead tensed. His knees buckled. He looked like he was about to jump into an invisible river but wasn't aware which direction it was flowing.

Sunset squinted. “What are you doing?

“I don't really know...”

“Try not to overthink it, Flash,” Sunset explained with a wave of her hoof. “Just latch onto the first moment that comes to mind and if it sends a spark through your heart then latch onto it and—”

CRRRRUNCHHHH!

A series of cinderblock walls shot up out of the ground, nearly dividing the two. Sunset and Flash collectively yelped as a forest of metal storage lockers sliced their way up towards a claustrophobic ceiling. The light of the world flickered, accompanied by an electric buzz, and soon the two spotted a mirrored pair of souls careening against the opposite wall of a school hallway. The two personas came into focus, and soon they spotted a snarling valkyrie looming intimidatingly over the cowering figure of a petite teenage boi.

“For the last time, you ungrateful little sissy, I'm not asking you to avoid talking to those girls... I'm telling you to avoid talking to them!” A fire erupted through the average-sized girl as she glared down at her shivering beau. “This is the second year that you and I are going out to the Fall Formal and if I'm gonna have a chance at being this year's Fall Formal Princess then we need the rest of the school to take us seriously! Now are you gonna man up for once and do what needs to be done to protect our image or am I gonna drag those balls straight out of you?!?”

“N-no, Sunset!” the boi's voice cracked. He then winced. “I-I mean yes, Sunset! I'll m-man up!” He nevertheless whimpered. “I promise! I won't give anyone any bad ideas to gossip about!”

“Hmmmph... you'd better.” The girl grumbled, walking away and bumping his shoulder hard for measure. “As if I haven't enough stress as it is getting all these lame-o students to walk right, I gotta hand-hold a prissy excuse for a boyfriend the whole time.”

The small student's eyes fell to the floor. “Yes, Sunset...”

With a snap of her finger, she signaled him to follow while carrying her heavy books down the hallway. “Did you get the A/C fixed in your car?”

“Yes, Sunset.”

“About fucking time! If I go for another hot minute cooking in that overpriced dick-compensator-on-wheels of yours, I'm liable to choke a puppy.”

“Y-Yes, Sunset...”

“And stop staying 'Yes, Sunset! Yes, Sunset!' For fuck's sake, Flash! Grow a goddess-dayum spine, will you?!”

The boi-ish vision from the past said nothing. He hung his head with a bit lip... before phasing through his identically tall yet older self.

“Ah jeez... ah jeez...!” Flash Sentry yanked at his dream-hair and winced hard. “I... I-I don't know how that came about! I swear, Sunset! I...” He nearly hyperventilated. “I didn't mean to bring back one of those memories!” Tears beaded in the corners of his eyes. “Please... please don't be upset! I know what you told me just now but somehow... somehow I-I just—”

“It's okay, Flash.”

“Don't say that!” He choked on a sob. “You put all that behind you and for some reason I just had to dig in deep and pull it right back—”

“I said it's okay.” He felt her tiny weight pressing against him. The boi looked down and saw the adorable unicorn gazing up towards his face. Her eyes were glossy, awash with countless emotions, but a sweet smile graced her fuzzy muzzle nonetheless. “I'm not bothered. And I'm not surprised either.”

He sniffed. With a ghost sleeve, he rubbed his ghost face dry. “Y-you're not...?”

“As all things, it's in the past,” Sunset said. She slowly shook her head. “Do not be ashamed of bringing it into a place like this. I can't pretend that I didn't do or say those horrible things to you back then. But—at least—I can do my best to make up for them.”

“I... I...”

“Shhhhh...” She tapped his knee and smiled. “It's okay, sweetie. Honestly... it is. Hey. Hey... look at me.”

He sniffled and stared intently at her equine visage.

Her fuzzy ears twitched as soon as she knew he had the boi's attention. “Think happy. Think calm. Think safe... … … I know you have it in there with you somewhere. Now bring us to it.”

“I...” Flash whimpered. “I'm not s-sure that I can...”

“I believe in you, Flash,” Sunset said. “You're capable of more things than you know.”

“Okay...” He nodded. “Okay okay...” He nodded again, his eyelids growing heavy. “...here goes—”

FWOOOOOOSH!

The world exploded with light. Both Flash and Sunset had to squint into a newfound brilliance. Concrete and brickwork materialized around them, flanked with trees and benches and street lamps. The world was suddenly hot and humid—drenchingly so, and a barrage of ambient humanity echoed from just around some unseen corner of urbanity.

“Where...” Sunset sniffed the air with her pony nose, sensing lavender and a million other conflicting scents. “...are we?”

“I...” Flash stood girlish and pigeon-toed under a partly-cloudy sky. “...I don't know.” He gulped. “Somewhere loud.”

“You sure this is a happy memory?”

“I-I'm trying my best here, Sunset.”

“I know. I know. It's okay.” Sunset waved her hoof. She breathed in and out. “It's... been a while since I last initiated a dreamwalk with someone who hasn't done it much.”

“Don't you mean 'not at all?'”

“You're a fast learner, Flash. I can already tell.”

“Really?”

“Now... if we can just figure out when and where we are so we can judge your ability to recollect things...” Sunset glanced at a nearby treeline. She hopped and she hopped... but ultimately groaned in cute pony frustration. “... … ...wish I had my seven feet back.”

“Hey... uh... Sunny?”

“Yes, Flash?”

“Maybe... you could see better...” He blushed, fidgeting. “...if I carried you.”

“... … ...” She looked up at him. “...alright, Flash.” A soft smile to befit her soft voice. “You can carry me, honey.”

And just like that, a blanket of apprehension flew off his features. He brightened to match the day, leaning down to swoop her up into his arms like a kitten.

“There...” She lay back in his embrace, forelimbs curled up. “...happy?”

“Very.”

“Now...” She pointed with one hoof. “...take us around that bend in the trees.”

Clearing his throat, he sauntered forward, clutching the cat-sized pony in tow. “Will do, ma'am...”