11 Short Dreams About Equestria

Chapters

Prologue: Once Upon a Time in Canterlot
Dream #1: Vinyl Scratch
Dream #2: Derpy Hooves
Dream #3: Iron Will
Dream #4: Maud Pie
Dream #5: Mane Allgood
Dream #6: Octavia
Dream #7: Pistachio
Dream #8: Mayor Mare
Dream #9: Gilda
Dream #10: Ocellus
Dream #11: Spike
Epilogue: The Morning After

Prologue: Once Upon a Time in Canterlot

“You know, we really should bring a couple of chairs out here,” Princess Luna snidely remarked as she approached her older sister, who was standing on a balcony that overlooked the shining city of Canterlot.

“I don’t think that’s necessary.” Princess Celestia smiled at the Princess of the Night’s arrival. “I’ve always found the railing to be perfectly adequate to take the weight off my hind hooves.”

To prove her point, the Princess of the Sun did just that, crossing her front hooves and placing them atop the railing, her eyes still fixed on the city below.

“How was your slumber, dear sister?”

“Quite well,” Luna replied. “Did anything interesting happen in Day Court today?”

Celestia smiled. “Actually....”

Luna didn’t want her sister to waste a second. “Oh, this should be good.” The dark blue alicorn copied her sister's position on the balcony’s railing and waited in anticipation for what was sure to be an amusing tale.

“One of my petitioners was this male pegasus from Las Pegasus who wanted me to use my power to free ponies from, in his words, ‘the social trap of compulsory tipping.’ Said he didn’t believe in it.”

“While that is unusual, I fail to understand the humor of this story, sister.”

“The funny part about it… is that he actually makes a good point.”

“You’re not saying that he made you reconsider tipping, are you?!”

“Of course not, sister, but it made me realize how vibrant and different our little ponies’ lives are compared to ours. Suppose, for a moment, we didn’t tip waitresses when we went out to eat. Would anypony look at us any differently?” Celestia asked.

“Considering the way they worship the ground we walk on, I suppose not,” Luna remarked.

“Exactly. It almost feels like we’re on different planes of existence to them. While we toil away up here, running the government, there could be a young stallion out there trying to woo a mare he’s become smitten with or a single mare trying her hardest to make it in the big city. There must be thousands of great stories out there that never reach our ears.”

“Does Sunny Skies need to make a return? I could always take over raising the sun for a few decades or so. It’d only be fair,” Luna suggested.

“As much as I’d love to, it hasn’t been long enough yet. I have to wait about 300 years so I don’t raise much suspicion.”

A calm silence accompanied the two royal sisters for a minute as they stared at the city below.

“Sometimes, I envy you, sister,” Celestia said.

“Oh?”

“You don’t even have to assume a disguise to be close to our little ponies. There was a psychologist a century ago or so that said, ‘Dreams are the gateway to the subconscious.’ So, in a way, you do every night what takes me centuries. Funny, isn’t it?”

Luna looked to her sister, and while she didn’t look like she’d ever cry at this notion, she noticed a longing look in her sister’s eyes as she observed the city below.

Suddenly, the Princess of the Night got an idea.

“You know, I could always tell you about the dreams I visit tonight when you wake up tomorrow morning.”

Celestia looked to her younger sister in shock. “Sister, I couldn’t ask you to do that! Isn’t that…”

Luna raised her hoof, signaling for Celestia to stop. “I know, it’s a bit… questionable, but you’re my sister, and I hate seeing you like this. If there’s a way I’m able to help, I want to do it. Plus, it’s only for one night, and well, what no pony knows won’t hurt them.”

Celestia thought it over. “All right. If you’re sure.” A mischievous smile crept onto her face.

“It actually feels kind of nice to do something sneaky for once,” Celestia admitted.

“Don’t get used to it,” Luna said, smiling at her sister’s joy.

“I’ll go ahead and leave you to it then,” Celestia said as her horn began to glow orange. In response, the sun began to set lower and lower in the sky until it disappeared under the horizon. “Have a pleasant night, sister.”

Luna, in response, activated her horn, which emanated a calm blue glow, which brought forth the moon from below the horizon. Once it was properly in the sky that overlooked the city at just the right angle, the celestial body was left to its own devices.

“Good night, sister,” Luna said.

As Celestia made her way back inside, Luna took a moment to admire the stars that accompanied the moon in the sky the same way one would admire a great piece of artwork.

However, she couldn’t do so for long, for she had one other goal tonight. Not only was she making sure of the mental well-being of her little ponies, but she also was on the hunt for great stories for her sister.

With another blue glow of her horn, Princess Luna entered the dream realm.

Similar to the starry sky, the dream realm was awash with many glowing white spheres, about the size of a pony’s head. She made sure none of the immediate spheres around her were rapidly blinking, an indication that a pony was having a nightmare. For the moment, there wasn’t one.

“All right then, I guess we’ll just pick one of you at random,” Luna thought to herself. “Eenie-meenie-miney-mo, catch an Ursa by the toe, if he hollers let him go, my mother said to pick the very best one and you… are… it.” The alicorn selected a sphere that, at first, was moving about 3 meters to her right, and levitated it over to herself.

“Let’s see what we’ve got here,” Luna said as she enlarged the sphere with her magic until it was a large enough size for her to walk through.

Once she stepped right in, a white glow enveloping her being as she entered her first dream of the night.

Author's Note

Fun Fact #1: The stallion that Celestia described was based on Steve Buscemi's character in the film Reservoir Dogs. Here's the clip where he talks about tipping:

Fun Fact #2: The way Celestia and Luna were leaning on the balcony references the Simpsons episode this story is based on "22 Short-Films about Springfield," where Bart and Millhouse begin the episode overlooking a highway.

Dream #1: Vinyl Scratch

Vinyl Scratch never thought she could be nervous before a gig. Not since she had first turned tables in that Manehattan night club had she ever had this much sweat forming on her coat, and even then that was because that cheapskate owner decided to skimp on air conditioning for the place.

What was she even nervous about?! This was what her whole life had been building towards! If her life were a play, this would be where she got her happy ending. So, why wasn't she happier about this? The white unicorn rested her body on her hotel room door, sliding down to the floor.

Suddenly, she felt a knock on her hotel room's door, interrupting the DJ's train of thought.

Magenta eyes widening, she brought herself up from the floor as fast as she could, desperate for anything to keep her mind off of her performance later that night, a first for her.

The door opened to reveal a dark grey earth pony. For once, she had let her mane go wild, and while Vinyl always liked the pink bowtie, pink leg wraps on all four of her legs was quite the sight to see. She made a mental note to properly thank her for coming after her performance.

"Oh, thank Celestia!" Octavia said in relief as she leaned in to hug her marefriend. "I got down here from Canterlot as fast as I could! There was no way I'd miss this."

The two separated and Vinyl placed both of her front hooves to her chin before taking both of her front hooves and moving them downward. Thank you for coming.

She made way for Octavia to enter the hotel room, a pretty simple layout that reminded Octavia of the odd Hay-ton she'd stay at on occasion when she was performing in clubs across Equestria.

"I'm so glad I was able to catch you before you went on," Octavia said. "I just wanted the chance to see you before you finally achieved your dream! How does it feel?!"

The unicorn suddenly found the floor to be very interesting, telling Octavia all she needed to know. The earth pony propped herself up on the hotel bed, patting the spot next to her.

The DJ followed the cellist's instructions, her music note cutie mark sinking into the mattress, before placing her head onto her marefriend's shoulders, like two puzzle pieces being put together.

"Remember that promise I made?" Octavia asked.

The unicorn gave a small smile. How could she forget? Arguably, that promise was a major reason for how she managed to get herself here. She nodded her head in affirmation.

"If you ever start to get anxious, then find me in the crowd and pretend it's just another night at home," Octavia suggested. “Like you’re just playing for me.”

Actually, that wasn't a bad idea. If she were completely honest with herself, Vinyl's best compositions were usually birthed when she was just playing for her marefriend at home.

"You know," Octavia added. "If you told me at my cuteceañera that I'd be attending Coltchella of all things, I'd have said you were crazy. Yet, here I am, and that's all because of you, Vinyl."

Dang it, she was crying now, wasn't she? Sure enough, when she pressed her hoof close to her eye, she could feel a bit of moisture. Vinyl really couldn't have come this far without her 'Tavi.

The DJ pressed both hooves to her cheek once more. Thank you.

Then, she took her right hoof, pointed to herself, crossed both of her hooves together over her heart, and then gestured with her right hoof to Octavia. I love you. She gave her marefriend a peck on her lips.

After that display of affection, Octavia noticed the clock. "Let's go, Vinyl. Destiny is calling."

"Give it up for DJ Pon-3!!!" The MC screamed, hyping up the crowd to fever pitch.

Vinyl, now bearing her trademark glasses, stepped up onto the stage to a setup she'd spent so many hours in front of that it was practically a part of her. Once she took her place behind the turntables, the crowd only got louder. She scanned the sea of ponies, looking for one in particular. She could have sworn she saw Princess Luna, but she could check later. Finally, she found her near the back, where ponies didn't have to be packed together like a parasprite hive to witness the performance.

Octavia gave her a reassuring wave, a smile of pride never leaving her face.

She only had one thought for her entire performance, and even for a while after. She was going to make this the night of 'Tavi's life.

Once again, Luna was greeted with a flash of white as she exited Vinyl's dream, a warm smile mirroring the DJ from earlier in her dream. It was a nice change from nightmares she normally honed in on, that's for sure.

"Note to self: Get sister Coltchella tickets for next Hearth's Warming," she thought.

Despite sharing Octavia's dislike of music festivals, though less for the musical content and more for the overwhelming environment, she did have to admit Vinyl's performance wasn't going to be leaving her head anytime soon. Maybe the next dream would help distract her.

A solid glowing dream about five yards below her caught her eye. Her horn glowing dark blue, she captured the dream and pulled it to herself.

Author's Note

If anyone knows American Sign Language, please let me know if I got this right. I tried to research as much as I could, but I'm worried something slipped through the cracks.

Also, if you would like to know what song I had in mind for Vinyl to play in her dream, it is this one.

RIP Avicii.

Dream #2: Derpy Hooves

"Can we go now?!" An ecstatic Derpy Hooves was practically vibrating as her companion hurriedly checked through his machinery. "You promised!"

"Trust me, my dear, there is no other place I'd rather be right now," her companion reassured her. "However, after my little run-in with the Weeping Alicorns, I have to make sure the TARDIS isn't going to malfunction and leave us stranded in the void of space."

"...oh."

Time Turner—or as Derpy liked to call him, "Doc"—took a calming breath as he went to address his special somepony's impatience. He rounded the TARDIS' circular control panel to put his hoof onto Derpy's cheek, the grey pegasus affectionately leaning into it.

"There isn't a day that goes by where I don’t feel horrible when my duties come in the way of our family, and that was especially true last Hearth's Warming...."

Last Hearth's Warming

"I need you!" Derpy shouted into the communication device Doc had given her. "I'm cooking Hearth's Warming Dinner!"

"I'm being shot at by Cyberponies!" Doc said, proven by the fact that Derpy could hear crashes of the shots hitting the TARDIS in the background.

"Well, can't we do both?!" the grey pegasus pleaded as she burst into the kitchen to transport more food to the table.

"I'm terribly sorry, love, but I'm afraid this isn't just going to resolve itself."

Derpy let out a resigning breath. "Alright, but you owe me, okay?"

"Of course, my dear," Doc replied. "I'll see you at home. Bye!"

The device let out a long drawn out beep as Derpy sighed in defeat.

"... but I assure you that you'll love what I have planned for tonight's date," Doc reassured.

"Well, you already got a sitter for Dinky, so you're off to a good start, but why do you have to be so mysterious about where you're taking me?" Derpy's crossed eyes pleaded for the information she craved, but Doc was far from weak-willed. He removed his hoof from her cheek and walked back around the console to continue the pre-intergalactic travel checklist.

"It's all in the surprise, my dear," Doc said as he made a couple of quick adjustments. "Alright, I think we're good to go."

Derpy's ears perked up in anticipation. "Can I say it this time?!"

Doc gave a smile to his beloved. "It's all yours."

"Allons-y!"

Doc pulled down a lever with his hooves and a sound began to emanate from all around them, indicating the TARDIS was functional.

Derpy was prancing around the control panel, giddy at the destination that awaited them on the other side of the TARDIS' door. As the sound began to fade, Derpy's prancing became faster and faster, to the point that she was going so fast she wasn't paying attention and collided with Doc. As the two tumbled to the floor, the brown earth pony couldn't help but let out a chuckle, which Derpy joined in on.

"Alright, my dear," Doc prepped. "Are you ready to explore the planet Kolac?"

"What's planet Kolac?"

"Well, why don't you see for yourself?" Doc gestured to the silver TARDIS door.

Derpy got up on her hooves before taking flight, bursting out the door and immediately meeting darkness as she crashed into… something. She felt a pull on her tail, undoubtedly Doc trying to get her out. After a couple of heaves, he managed to free Derpy, like pulling a carrot from the ground.

"Are you alright, love?"

"Yeah, Doc, but… what did I hit?" Derpy asked.

"Why don't you take a second and look around, love?"

Heeding her special somepony's advice, Derpy looked to examine the object she collided with further only to find a large light brown structure that had to be so massive it rivaled the size of Sugarcube Corner. When she saw what topped the gargantuan object before her, she found a little bit of yellow liquid seeping from a sliced lemon. Was this what she thought it was?!

The grey pegasus went just to the left of where she flew into the muffin and took a bite, and indeed tasted that combination of sweet and sour that she loved so much. She turned to Doc, befuddled. "Is this a Lemon Muffin Surprise?!"

"I'll admit, this one was an addition I made myself quite recently, but everything else around you is just the way I found it," Doc explained.

Derpy looked behind her special somepony, and she saw them all. Muffins. Giant muffins! Giant muffins everywhere! As far as the eye could see! She looked down to her hooves. Even the soil was made of muffin. The grey pegasus' crossed eyes went wide as she gasped sharply. She rotated her body completely around, and aside from the blue of the TARDIS, her entire surroundings were pretty much muffin brown.

She could see a blueberry muffin about fifty yards to her left. She could see a banana muffin close by the Lemon Muffin Surprise she flew into. It was like she died and went to Muffin Heaven.

She looked back to Doc, a smitten grin adorning his face as he took in his special somepony's reaction. "Do you like it?"

He got his answer when the grey pegasus walked, not flew, walked up to him and took his lips into her own, the kiss expressing everything Derpy felt in that moment: awe, wonder, excitement, a slight bit of hunger, but most of all, appreciation. Finally, when they parted, as if the stallion needed any more confirmation of his successfully planned date, Derpy put it into three simple words.

"I love it."

The two spent the rest of their date exploring the planet, eating every muffin they could along the way. Derpy even got the fine idea to take Doc in her hooves, fly up, and drop him onto one of the large muffins, like dropping a foal on a bed.

Several hours later, nearly every muffin that she could see, and even some parts of the ground, were now marked multiple times by the teeth of the pair of intergalactic travellers. Now, they were taking a quick break, sitting against the Lemon Muffin Surprise that was right next to the TARDIS.

The grey pegasus gazed at their surroundings like she was watching the dragon migration.

"Can we honeymoon here?" She absentmindedly asked, more of a wishful thought than a serious request.

"If it comes to that, I don't see why not," Doc approved.

Derpy took that moment to snuggle closer to her special somepony, thinking of the past, present, and future to come.

The Time Traveler's Wife did have a nice ring to it.

Author's Note

That flashback was a reference to Doctor Who, specifically this clip.

Also, the name of the muffin planet, Kolac, was named after the Croatian word for "muffin."

Dream #3: Iron Will

It was just as he pulled up to the stadium that he got swarmed.

"Mr. Will! Mr. Will! Do you have anything to say about the allegations of malpractice against your businesses?" There must have been at least ten minotaur reporters trying to get a quote from hi—.

Wait, malpractice?! Iron Will wasn't a stranger to reporters crowding around him once in a while whenever his business ventures, be it speaking tours or cruise liners, happened to do something newsworthy, but malpractice!

"Iron Will always conducts himself in a professional and legitimate manner," he responded, getting out of his carriage and sauntering to the VIM entrance. "I guarantee that any accusations that are made against Iron Will are nothing more than misunderstandings or outright falsehoods. Iron Will comments no further!"

With that declaration, the crowd seemed to back off. Whether it was genuine respect for Iron Will's personal space or fear for his retaliation, he didn't know, nor did he care. All Iron Will wanted was to have a fun night at the races. Was that so hard?

Maybe Iron Will should invest some of his vast net-worth into building a racing stadium closer to his estate. It was always a pain whenever he had to come to Minótavros for any reason. Even if there were the races and the night life, there were also all these blasted reporters, draining business meetings, and the odd government hearing in the capital.

At least with a stadium closer to his residence, he'd have a shorter carriage ride and a smaller chance of this many reporters bombarding him, not to mention stadium owner privileges… yeah, that settled it. He'd begin exploring that opportunity first thing tomorrow. For now, however, it was race night.

As he entered the stadium's club level, Iron Will made a beeline to the betting booth. It always made race night more interesting. As he gazed at the list of athletes’ names displayed above the betting booth, one caught his eye.

"Iron Will puts 10,000 bits down on Steel Nerve," he announced to the bookkeeper, a dark grey minotaur with a glazed look that would only be complete with a giant "I really wish I weren't here right now" sticker. The bookkeeper stamped a small slip of parchment and slipped it to Iron Will before collecting his bag of bits.

In return, Iron Will slipped him a business card. He always kept them on his person in case he ran into a creature that could benefit from his services. "If you think you were meant for more than this, then let Iron Will teach you how you can be the minotaur you were meant to be at his next seminar."

The grey minotaur looked down at the card, and a ghost of a smile appeared. "I think I just might do that, Mr. Will."

"Iron Will will see you there!" He bid the bookkeeper goodbye as he went to take his seat. Tonight's maze looked pretty difficult. If there was one type of person Iron Will admired, it was athletes like these. Not only did they have to be fast and strong, but they also had to have the wherewithal to navigate their way through the maze without any help: a perfect competition that required both a minotaur's brains and brawn. The only reason Iron Will himself never wanted to be an athlete like this was because the training for it would take so much time out of his day that he'd become bored with it sooner or later. That said, he was an avid fan of the sport and would always attend a race if he could.

Soon, a bell was rung to indicate the start of the race. Iron Will picked out Steel Nerve, a light brown minotaur with solid white horns and a large #219 bib on his abdomen. Once the field of racers entered the pristine grey walls of the maze, they began to diverge, each racer with their own strategy for how to navigate the maze.

As a spectator, Iron Will was able to see if any of the racer's paths could lead to success, and luckily for him, Steel Nerve was one of them. Races normally lasted an average time of three minutes, but it depended on a maze's difficulty.

As more seconds passed and the main field continued to thin out as different racers chose different paths, Steel Nerve was now one of two that were on the right path to the maze's end. The crowd, full of minotaurs young and old, a good portion of them, likely Minótavros residents, began going crazy.

More seconds ticked away, and the finish line came into the racers’ view. Iron Will was on the edge of his seat. Steel Nerve and his opponent—Molten Nickel, if Iron Will remembered correctly—made a mad dash to the finish. As they crossed the line, he couldn't tell who'd won.

He waited for the stadium loudspeaker to give the word on who won the race, more sweat pouring off his face than when he would work out in his overly large private gym.

"And the winner, by the tip of a horn, is… Steel Nerve!"

"Iron Will is victorious!" Iron Will shouted triumphantly at the top of his lungs. Just as he said that, he found himself covered in what seemed like enough bits to fill a large bathtub.

If Iron Will had been hesitant on building his own racing stadium before, he certainly wasn't now.

Luna exited the dream looking like she’d finished a particularly bad book: drained and unsatisfied.

"We really need to make sure he keeps his business ventures out of Equestria," Luna noted to herself. She still remembered the fiasco that happened after he scammed the Sparkle Family into being the main attraction on his airship cruise.

Hopefully, the next dream she picked out would put her in a better mood.

Author's Note

Second requirement.... done.

Minótavros is actually "Minotaur" in Greek.
The name Steel Nerve is a play on Nerves of Steel
Steel Nerve's bib number "219" references Iron Will's debut episode "Putting Your Hoof Down," which was Season 2, Episode 19.

Dream #4: Maud Pie

"Alright, soldiers!" Captain Rainbow Dash addressed her fellow guards, pointing to a "Wanted" poster that was taped to the chalkboard at the front of the room. "We've just been informed that this criminal has just escaped from Tartarus, and that she may be hiding out somewhere in our area."

While rocks would always be her passion, Sergeant Maud Pie was never one to refuse a call to service. In this case, being on Guard Reserve in Ponyville was the least she could do to not only be close to her younger sister, Pinkie Pie, but also serve the nation she called home.

"So, I'll need a volunteer to go out and bring her in," Captain Dash explained. "Now, anyone that wishes to volunteer, step forward."

While Maud did not step forward, she looked to her left and right to find that the rest of her fellow Reserve Guards had taken a step backwards, leaving her standing in front of them all.

"Sergeant Pie," Captain Dash said in acknowledgement of her ‘decision.’ "Your country thanks you and is behind you all the way. Last intel we received was that the escapee was making her way through the Everfree Forest."

The earth pony gave a salute, her golden armor standing out from her dark grey coat. "I shall not disappoint," she vowed in a monotone. With that, she gave an about face and trotted off toward the forest.

"Golly," Cozy Glow arrogantly said to herself. "If I could only have seen the look on Headmare Twilight's face when she found out I escaped. Doesn't say much for Tartarus if li’l ol' me is able to escape." She giggled to herself at the thought.

Just as the criminal pegasus was about to give herself a wing-pat on the back, a certain earth pony decided to make her presence known.

"Halt," Maud Pie unenthusiastically said. "In the name of the Princesses."

Legends among the Everfree critters say lawmare and criminal stared at each other for a full five minutes, only breaking when the pegasus guffawed at the mare before her.

"You...." She had to contain her laughter in order to taunt properly. "You were the best they could throw at me?! At least get somepony that can chase me into the air!"

Cozy Glow's hooves left the ground as she took flight. "Tell the Princesses that they need to do better than that to catch the likes of me!"

With that final taunt, the pink pegasus made her escape, taking wing above the treeline and making her way to the Castle of the Two Sisters, about a ten minute flight if she had to guess.

"Alright," Cozy muttered to herself as she walked through the ruins into one of the structure's last rooms that still had most of its ceiling and uncollapsed walls. "Now, if I were an old book of spells, where would I be?"

"I would check the library," a monotone voice behind her suggested.

"Oh, thank you," Cozy said. Then her pupils dilated to the size of a needle point, and she turned her head to find that same earth pony she had just finished talking to. Something wasn't adding up.

"I thought… but you… and I… how… what?!"