Certain Events Have Transpired and I've Thought About Certain Things
Luna felt dream walking was the best part of her job.
Okay, sure. It involved a slew of unpleasant things. The nature of the job made her see horrific nightmares night after night and violating countless ponies privacy, but at least she felt those things helped.
Ponies were always so grateful when she dispelled a nightmare and she liked to entertain the idea that, after they woke up, the dreamer would be one step closer to overcoming their fears in the real world too.
She liked to feel useful and, even though she co-ruled an entire country, this was the only thing she could actually feel accomplished doing.
So when she approached the next mental door pulsing with darkness, halfway through the night, she felt confident. Sure, the battle with Sombra’s forces ended a little less than a week ago and she had been frantically dispelling nightmares of zombies, frigid conditions, and death at every turn, but by now she had become an expert on those. She could go in and leave a soldier feeling at peace in under ten minutes. Celestia may be worshiped as a Goddess by some citizens but Luna hoped they knew they could count on her for a more personal touch.
When she opened the next door she did not come across a battlefield or the frozen north. Instead, she was in a rather peaceful looking field. The sun was shining brightly, the temperature pleasant, and the only disruption from the rolling grass was a small hill with a charming tree planted on top.
Instead of gunfire and screams of battle, the only sounds were a faint, cheery, tune on the breeze and soft muffled crying coming from the other side of the hill.
Luna approached slowly and silently. She didn’t want to startle the dreamer and, besides, she didn’t know what sort of dream she was dealing with. It was best to approach with caution so as not to risk making whatever nightmare this was even worse.
“You did such a lovely job on this,” A silky smooth voice purred from the same direction of the now increased sobs. Luna… recognized the voice. Not enough to place it but she had definitely heard it before. And it made her shiver for reasons unknown. “And it was such fun to watch, too. They didn’t even know it was coming, did they?”
“W-what…” The crying pony choked out. Luna could place this voice and, through her connection to the dreamscape, knew immediately it was the dreamer. She picked up her pace as the conversation continued. “What are you going to do now? Kill… kill me?”
Luna crested the top of the hill and stopped short just beside the tree. The sight before her was… horrible to say the least. There was a picnic basket and blanket spread out, food lying around but untouched as if the ponies were just about to settle in to a nice relaxing lunch.
That was where the pleasantries ended.
The hill was covered with sticky red blood and five bodies laid in various states of brutalization. Luna could just make out some characteristics that identified the bodies as the Element Bearers, the ones who saved her from Nightmare Moon. A patch of fur here, a few crumpled feathers there. Her stomach rolled. She was used to the horrors of war. She was more accustomed to blood and death than she would have liked. But the sight of ponies she considered to be her friends mutilated in a way that contrasted so starkly with the cheery landscape… it caused even her to freeze in shock.
There were only two creatures left alive in the clearing. One, a devilish snake-like creature hovered above the mess, grinning cruelly down at a sobbing Pinkie Pie. Blood soaked her fur like some kind of sick war paint as she trembled in a tight little ball.
Now Luna recognized the other voice.
“Hmmm,” Discord hummed to himself as if deep in thought. He reached down and cupped Pinkie’s face in his lion's paw, causing the mare to whimper as he wiped a tear off her cheek. “No, I don’t think I will.”
Pinkie froze. Her shaking stopped as her eyes filled with dread. “W-what?”
Luna didn’t think it was allowed for a pony to sound that broken when being told they weren’t going to die.
“Well, this was just so much fun,” Discord explained, his cruel smile growing larger, showing off razor-sharp fangs, “Why would I give up such a nice little toy?”
Pinkie choked back another sob as Discord used his eagle talon to stroke her hair. “Please...no…”
“Why don’t we find some more ponies to play with, hmm?” Discord then snapped his talons and Pinkie became... unnaturally still. Her face flooded with terror and panic as tears spilled rapidly down her face. “This game is just getting started, after all.”
Stiffly, as if against her will, Pinkie stood up and turned to the side.
Luna saw the knife at the same moment she did.
“No!” Pinkie yelled, her muscles trembling as she tried to fight whatever force was moving her towards the clean glistening knife. Even though blood pooled around it not a drop seemed to touch the dagger. “No no, please! Please Discord don’t! Not again, please! Please please PLEASE!”
Luna couldn’t stand it anymore as Pinkie’s cries grew higher and more frantic. “Enough! Stop it. Stop, this is horrible!” With a burst of light blue magic, the dream dissolved into nothingness. Discord froze and vanished, along with the bodies and blood. Pinkie’s coat became dry once again and the rolling field was replaced by an expense of stars and other twinkling lights.
Usually, Luna tried not to just cancel dreams. It was much better for the pony in the long run if she helped them work through their fears. That way they were much less likely to have a recurring nightmare.
But not even she could stand that horrible scene a moment longer.
“What the heck was that?” Luna vented into the void as the dream fully faded away, “That was… that was the worst thing I’ve ever seen! And I’ve seen wars! Real, brutal, life and death wars. Oh my Celestia…”
“Princess Luna!” Pinkie cut through her ranting as the young mare scrambled to her hooves. Panic and fear still filled her eyes. “Thank goodness you’re here! You have to help me! Discord escaped and you have to get Celestia and stop him it’s the only way he-”
“Pinkie! Pinkie it’s okay,” Luna interrupted, trying to bring her voice back to a semblance of calm for the panicking Earth Pony, even as her own heart was still racing, “It’s okay. It was just a dream.”
Pinkie froze and blinked rapidly at her Princess before looking around the endless void of stars they were in. “Just a dream?” She mumbled. Her back legs collapsed and she fell to her haunches, her eyes wide and unfocused. “Just a dream. Heh… heh heh…” She started to chuckle and then laugh. Quietly at first and then much more loudly, relieved tears rolling down her cheeks. Quickly, however, the tears turned pained and the laughs descended into sobs as the little pony buried her face into her hooves.
“Hey hey,” Luna called out in a soothing voice as she approached the distraught pony, “it’s okay. He’s gone. It’s all over. We won, remember?”
Pinkie nodded, gasping for breath as she tried to fight down her tears. “I-I… I…”
“Shhh,” Luna soothed, placing a hoof on Pinkie’s shoulder, “He can’t hurt you anymore.”
Luna jumped as the smaller pony surged forward and wrapped her in a tight hug. Pinkie buried her face into Luna’s shoulder and the dark blue fur was almost immediately soaked with tears.
Luna cringed internally. Not really because of the close contact. She dealt with foals a lot in dreams and they were always eager to climb all over her. Luna was used to offering physical comfort and so simply wrap her wings around Pinkie and continue to stroke her back, not saying a word.
No, the discomfort was from the desperation with which Pinkie had initiated the contact. Dreams were a place to escape. Ponies got through their nightmares by doing things they could never see themselves doing in the real world. Free of social pressures and the logic of reality one could fulfill their greatest wishes in their dreams.
If Pinkie felt like a dream was the only place she could get a hug then that did not bode well for her mental state in the waking world.
Luna wasn’t sure how long they sat like that. Time didn’t have much meaning in dreams. One could have a dream spanning weeks and only be asleep for an hour or simply dream of eating breakfast and have all night go bye. Whatever the time, eventually, Pinkie’s sobs quieted down and her breathing became more even.
“Feeling better?” Luna asked after a few beats of silence.
Pinkie pushed away from Luna and rubbed the last bit of tears from her eyes. She nodded silently and glanced to the side. “T-thank you…”
“You’re welcome,” Luna replied with a smile and then, biting her lip, she pressed on, “What are friends for, after all?”
Pinkie finally looked at her. Anything Luna was hoping or afraid to see in her eyes weren’t there. They were just tired, bloodshot, and with heavy bags under them.
Luna mentally berated herself for thinking of herself when Pinkie needed her to focus. “How long have you been having nightmares like this?”
Pinkie shrugged and looked away again, ideally inspecting her hooves. “...every night since Discord, I guess…”
Every night? But Luna hadn’t seen… she had been too busy with everyone else. Oh, why couldn’t she do anything right?
She dragged herself out of her pity party with a small shake of her head. She was here to help now. That’s all that mattered. “Was that scene…” She asked carefully, watching Pinkie’s reaction closely. “Was that what happened to you? When Discord broke out, I mean.”
Pinkie flinched, her tail curling around her hooves in a useless effort for protection. “N-no, not… well, not exactly.” She let out a small, forced laugh that was almost painful to hear. “I mean… my friends aren’t actually dead, right?”
Luna frowned, unable to keep the concern off her face. “Have you talked to any of your friends about this, Pinkie?”
There was a flicker of guilt in those bloodshot blue eyes but she looked down before Luna could call attention to it. “What? About the nightmares? No I… I didn’t want to bother them with something like this.”
“Pinkie,” Luna said patiently, gently placing a hoof under the other mare’s chin and tilting her head, forcing her to look Luna in the eyes, “Going to your friends when something’s upsetting you isn’t bothering them. Your friends care about you, and want to help.”
Her eyes watered again. “I know that. I really do. It’s just…’
“Just?” Luna prodded as Pinkie trailed off.
Pinkie closed her eyes, her shoulders dropping. “It’s… nothing… not important.”
Luna sighed and released Pinkie’s chin. She guessed she’d done enough prodding for one night. “Alright, but you have to promise me you’ll talk to your friends about what happened to you when you wake up. Deal?”
Pinkie chuckled again but this time it was a bit less painful and a smile stayed on her lips as she made eye contact. “Well, I guess I can’t disobey my Princess, can I?”
A small, sad smile, found its way to Luna’s face. “Right… of course. I’m the Princess of dreams so you have to listen to what I say about dreams. That’s… well… I’m glad you’re going to talk to them. You can’t keep things like this bottled inside.”
Luna stood up and spread her wings. “Well, I... better get back to other ponies’ nightmares. There’s a lot to do right now.”
She was surprised again as Pinkie leaned forward and gave her another hug. “Thanks, Luna, you’re a really great friend.”
Luna’s heart swelled as she hugged her back. “Of-of course! I mean… thank you. You are too.”
Pinkie chuckled again and pushed away, worry etched back on her face. “Uh… could you come visit tomorrow too, though? I… don’t really think talking is going to fix the nightmares.”
Luna could only smile sadly back at her. “Don’t worry, I’ll see what I can do.”
***
Pinkie blearily opened her eyes. She didn’t wake in a cold sweat as she had been the previous few nights so that itself was a good sign. The dream was already fading but the instructions given to her were still clear in her mind. With a thoughtful sigh, she rolled over to face her bedroom door.
Which was wide open. A short blue Earth Pony standing in the doorway, regarding Pinkie Pie with a pleased smile.
Pinkie’s eyes narrowed. “Sharleen…” She said dangerously, “Were you watching me sleep again?”
Her landlord’s eyes grew wide. “Whaaat? No, of course not.” There was a beat of silence as the two simply stared at each other. “So are you dating Princess Luna now or…?”
Pinkie promptly threw a pillow at her face.
“Get out of my room!”
Author's Note
This story has is going to have a lot of my headcannons for Scootertrix. So like, none of this is approved by Jack or anything like that.
Isn't That Just Another Word for Bummed Out
Pinkie did as she had done almost every lunch break for the past week. Alone, she walked to the edge of town.
It was quiet out here. Peaceful, with only the birds chirping to keep her company. It wasn't until she reached the edge of the White Tale Woods and the pony leaning against a thin trees did she stop.
Pinkie had no idea where Trixie had been living since coming to Ponyville and she didn’t dare ask. All she knew was that every lunch break Trixie would be leaning against this tree, watching the clouds roll by, and every lunch break Pinkie would join her.
Today, the blue Unicorn was sipping a bottle of sparkling apple cider.
“Trixie,” Pinkie said slowly, though her tone was more curious than accusatory, “Where did you get that? It’s not cider season yet.”
Trixie waved a hoof dismissively at her. “Oh, relax. I stole it from your orange friend’s cellar.”
Pinkie was only slightly worried that that did make her relax. “You could have just asked, you know.” She said, sitting down on the other side of the tree, though it was small enough that she still brushed shoulders with the other pony. “I’m sure Applejack wouldn’t mind selling a few bottles early.”
“It’s not like I didn’t leave a note,” Trixie defended herself.
When Pinkie raised a brow she rolled her eyes in annoyance.
“...blaming you, but in my defense it was just sitting in a cellar doing nothing!”
“I think it’s called fermenting.”
Trixie scoffed and took another drink. “That’s stupid. It’s fine the way it is.”
Pinkie only hummed noncommittally in response. Now that she wasn’t being bombarded with orders and baking and work she found her mind wandering back to her dream that night.
“Alright, what’s wrong?” Trixie asked after a few seconds of silence.
“What?” Pinkie asked, caught off guard as she was wretched from her thoughts. “Why would you think something’s wrong?”
Trixie rolled her eyes and threw her empty bottle in the grass. “Oh please. I may not be the most ‘socially apt’ pony out there but you usually at least try to hold a conversation. What’s taking your thoughts away from more important things? Like me.”
Pinkie tried to chuckle at that but her heart wasn’t in it. Her weak attempt only caused Trixie to raise a brow expectantly.
Giving a defeated sigh, Pinkie turned to stare at her hooves, considering how she wanted to approach this topic. “Trixie… do you ever have nightmares? About...uh…” She winced and her tail curled around her legs subconsciously, “...about Discord?”
Trixie eyed her before shaking her head. “Can’t say I have. I mean, those dreams where an unknown figure is chasing me now has a known figure but none specifically about him.” Her eyes narrowed on Pinkie. “But he wasn’t trying to kill me.”
Pinkie bit her lip. “Is it really that obvious what’s upsetting me?”
Trixie scoffed. “You’ve been a mope all week, and honestly, I would be concerned if being hunted across dimensions by a mad demon-slash-god that you inadvertently summoned wasn’t upsetting.”
Pinkie gave her companion a flat look. “Oh wow, thanks, Trixie. Yeah, yeah that definitely made me feel better.”
“Look, do you want my advice?”
“...unfortunately.”
“I think you should see, like, a therapist or something. If your little friends haven’t been able to pull you out of this funk-”
“I haven’t told them yet,” Pinkie interrupting, her cheeks becoming even pinker as she sheepishly rubbed her forelegs together.
Trixie froze and turned to stare at her incredulously. “What?”
Pinkie gave her a sheepish grin. “I haven’t uh… really told them what happened… with Discord and everything. Or about the dreams. I only told them what they needed to know to stop him. I didn’t want to give them details inca-OW!” Pinkie winced and glared at Trixie, rubbing her newly-aching shoulder. “What did you do that for?”
“‘Cause you’re stupid,” Trixie declared simply, “And somepony has to punch all the stupid ponies in the world.”
Pinkie huffed. “So you think I should go talk to them, then?”
Trixie whapped her on the back of the head.
“Ow! Would you cut that out?”
Trixie wasn’t listening. “Of course that’s what you should do, you dolt. Dumping your problems on them is the entire reason ponies make friends.”
Pinkie rubbed her head and pouted. “You know, Princess Luna was a lot nicer about giving me this advice.”
She ducked the next swing.
“Princess Luna is giving you advice and you’re not even following it?” Trixie groused, standing up and flicking her tail irritably. “You’re dumber than I thought.”
“But think about it, Trixie!” Pinkie insisted, “How can they understand? They don’t know anything about the fourth at all! I’d have to explain so much and I’m worried the more I talk about it the more likely he’s to come back! And and and and-OW!!” She glared, rubbing the same spot on her shoulder. “Stop hitting me!”
Trixie looked down at her, unamused. “Are you done?” She waved a hoof vaguely, “With your little panic attack here?”
“Uhg,” Pinkie groaned and stood up as well, “I should have known you wouldn’t understand. Why do I even-”
“You’re worried that they’ll be mad at you and blame you for this whole fiasco even though none of this is even remotely your fault.” Trixie rolled her eyes as Pinkie gaped at her. “Really, I was just annoyed with you avoiding the topic. You’re off to a stellar start talking about your feelings by the way. Were you always this closed off and defensive or is this a new look you’re trying?”
Pinkie’s shoulders dropped and her mouth clicked shut half way through forming a protest. “You kind of get used to it… keeping a world shattering secret for a decade and all.”
“Well you should probably… wait what?” Trixie turned to regard Pinkie as if seeing her for the first time. “A dec- When did you first learn about the fourth?” She took a suspicious step back. “Or are you just way older than you look?”
Pinkie sighed at Trixie’s antics and started to head back to town, the Unicorn following close behind. “It was the same day I got my cutie mark.”
Trixie stopped dead and Pinkie turned back curiously. “You were a child?”
“Yeah?” Pinkie asked, head tilted in confusion. “Why? When did you gain the knowledge?”
Trixie waved her hoof wildly. “Like, three years ago at most! And that’s only because I was actively seeking new and more powerful kinds of magic. What kind of child were you to be after that sort of stuff?”
Pinkie stared at her in shock. “What? I didn’t go looking for the fourth! It just came to me one day in an explosion of colors. I thought everypony who could use it was just blessed with it.”
Trixie sneered at the implications. “Blessed? By who? Discord?”
Pinkie froze. “No! No of course not! That can’t… that just…” She trailed off, shaking slightly in the warm summer breeze.
Trixie facehoofed. “Oh Celestia, no wonder you feel like the world rests on your shoulders. To feel like the fabric of reality is your responsibility as a kid? I’m surprised you’re not more messed up in the head.”
Pinkie didn’t react to the insult. She just stared into the distance, lost in thought.
Trixie rolled her eyes once again and nudged the other pony, snapping her out of her own head. “You think way too much, do you know that? Go talk to your friends before you have another existential crisis or something.”
Pinkie glanced at her again. “Yeah… yeah I guess I should. Uh, thanks for talking to me Trixie. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow, too.”
She trotted off and Trixie watched her go. It wasn’t until Pinkie was about to round a bend did Trixie call out to her.
Pinkie stopped and turned, one brow quirked quizzically as Trixie stared at her with the most serious expression she had ever seen on the Unicorn.
“You… do know none of that was your fault, right? You couldn’t have known Discord would escape and it’s not your job to keep the world ticking, anyway.” Trixie then huffed and turned away, calling over her shoulder. “Besides, that’s giving you way too much credit. You’re not the most important pony in the world, you know.”
Pinkie watched her turn and disappear into the trees.
She didn’t move for a few minutes.
She just thought.
***
“Hey Twilight, can I talk to you about something?”
“Ahg!” Twilight screamed in surprise, the book she had been reading rocketing into the ceiling and stuck there. Twilight groaned grumpily and turned to face the intruder. “Pinkie! How did you get in my house?”
“Twi, are you ever going to realize this is a public library?” Spike asked, leaning on the doorframe to the kitchen next to Pinkie Pie. “Or are you doing this on purpose so you don’t have to help run it?”
“I even knocked and everything?” Pinkie added, bewildered, “Me and Spike talked pretty loudly for a couple minutes. How did you not hear us?”
“Well, I...uh… well,” Twilight fumbled, trying to avoid telling them she’d been in a reading frenzy the whole day. A frenzy that had been to purely distract, not educate. She wasn’t even sure what she had been reading if she was being honest. “That’s… that’s not important. What are you doing here anyway?”
“Oh, uh,” Pinkie’s posture immediately dropped and she scuffed the wooden floor self consciously. “I actually need to talk to you about something.” She glanced at Spike. “Both of you.” Seeming to reconsider, she shook her head. “All of you. Can I invite all the girls over here in a couple hours? Just to… just to talk?”
“Uuuh,” Twilight eloquently responded, completely thrown for a loop, “Sure? I mean, sure! Yeah, of course you can. What… do you want to talk about?”
Pinkie gave her a small smile, head still held low. “I would rather wait until I could tell you all at once if that’s okay.”
Twilight glanced at Spike, but he only gave her a pointed look.
"No… problem?" Twilight continued carefully, "I guess I'll see you then."
"Yeah," Pinkie said, letting out a long breath, "see you then."
The two librarians watched her go in silence until the door closed behind her drooping tail.
"Really Twi?" Spike snapped as soon as they were alone, "Pinkie shuts herself away for a week and the first thing you say when you see her again is 'how did you get in my house'?"
"Wha? Hay, that’s not fair" Twilight reeled from the harsh accusation in her roommate's voice. "She hasn't been shutting herself away."
"Oh yeah?" Spike snarked, “When was the last time you’ve seen her?”
“Well,” Twilight fumbled, thinking hard, “Not since the whole ‘Discord incident’ I guess.”
“And that doesn’t seem weird to you?” Spike insisted rolling his wrist in ‘keep going’ gesture, “She hasn’t even thrown a party!”
“That’s not that weird,” Twilight argued, failing to see his point. After all, it wasn’t like Twilight had seen much of anypony since that day. “She doesn’t throw parties that often.”
Spike threw his hands in the air. “Yeah but the war in the north just ended! Applejack’s little sister’s come home and there hasn’t been a single celebration for anyone. You don’t find that weird at all?”
“I guess?” Twilight rubbed her chin and started pacing, “Now that you mention it, Pinkie has been really quiet lately. I just figured we’ve all been reeling from that whole ‘multiple dimensions' thing but she usually bounces back the quickest from stuff like that…”
Pinkie…
She’d been trying not to think of her for the last couple of days. Tried not to think of anything. If she ignored her problems long enough it stood to reason that eventually they had to go away.
“Exactly!” Spike smiled in satisfaction. “Something’s bugging her so maybe next time don’t be so rude to everyone that walks through the door.”
“Yeah, we need to...wait a second.” Twilight stopped her pacing to glare at her roommate. “Was this all just you trying to guilt me into watching the front desk more?”
His smile became devilish. “Maybe. Honestly, I’m just glad we’re having a conversation. You’ve been real weird since the whole craziness too.”
“What?” Twilight denied quickly. “No I haven’t. I’ve been normal.”
Spike raised an eye ridge. “Uh-huh. Locking yourself in your room to ‘study’ for hours is totally normal. I mean, for you it’s not that weird but it’s been happening every day. What is up with that?”
“Nothing,” Twilight insisted, glancing back at the book she had been pretending to read, “It’s really nothing, Spike.”
The dragon stared at her for a long moment while Twilight avoided eye contact. His gaze seemed to dig into her coat and try to reach her soul. Eventually, he simply shrugged and walked out of the kitchen. “Well, whatever. Maybe when Pinkie tells us what’s wrong, you'll open up too.”
Author's Note
~~Next Chapter Release Date: Oct. 30th~~
Having troubles. New relase date: Dec. 19th
