Dreamwalker's Tale

Sunlight tickled my face. “Blergh…” I commented, drawing a faint giggle from below. Sometime throughout the night, Pinkie had turned around and apparently buried her face against my chest. Still holding her tightly, I laid my head upon hers and sighed, as happy as I could be.

“Thank you,” she remarked again. That giggle had somehow failed to make clear to me that she was awake. It made sense, though — the dream ended, I was here, so obviously, she was as well. She still sounded quiet. But this time, it did not feel like it was a bad thing.

“Don’t ever hide from me. Or the rest of our friends. Okay?” I was quiet myself, and tried to convey how serious this was to me.

“Mhm,” came her mumbled answer. She then raised her head and looked at me. That smile she gave me was honest to a fault and I loved it. And I loved her. And I slowly began to realize that, for the first time in ever, I had managed to sleep. Sort of. That was great, it really was, but the implications of that—

—were utterly lost on me when she leaned in and pressed her lips to mine.

I was not sure what I was thinking. Nothing, probably. Something stupid, maybe. It just felt so nice. Of course, I at least recognized the kind of kiss I was receiving. No desire at all. It was chaste. Grateful. I had to exert no small amount of willpower to control myself, to avoid deepening it while some of my memories lashed out against those restraints. One last time, I allowed my fantasy to run wild. What would a relationship with Pinkie look like? It sounded exciting. Thrilling. Someone with so much energy and curiosity probably had an endless supply of interesting ideas for all branches of life…

When she broke the kiss, I felt the heat radiating from my cheeks. And they hurt. Because of all that smiling I did. And my heart was pounding wildly against my chest.

After just a couple of seconds, a wild grin appeared on her face. One that very much marked the end of vulnerable Pinkie, and her inevitable return to 'normal' Pinkie. Oh boy, brace yourself…

She jumped. With the blanket still wrapped around us, lying on her side, entangled in my limbs, she somehow nevertheless jumped. Straight into the air, defying gravity by somehow hovering there, and simply stating that we’d be getting pancakes for breakfast. After her announcement, an indistinct pink blur zipped out of the room and left me alone on the bed, with a falling blanket. I chuckled to myself. I had helped... right? I had made things better for her, right?

I allowed myself another moment or two, lazily lying around. My head had not felt this clear for quite some time.

It took me a couple of minutes to disentangle myself from the blanket, sorting the bed out, getting in and out of the bathroom, walking down the hallway to the kitchen…

It took Pinkie a couple of minutes to make a banquet. The entire table was filled to the brim, no space left. Our plates were empty — for now. But the rest was not. Cornflakes, pancakes, waffles, salad, tea pot, coffee pot, apple juice… pot?... syrup, honey, a small collection of bowls containing different gemstones, grinded down into a fine powder, and a hefty helping of scrambled eggs. I was actually surprised that there was no cake.

“Cake isn’t for breakfast, silly!” Pinkie greeted me, bouncing along the table and sitting down in her own chair. Right. Mind reading. Or just… face-reading. Who could tell with Pinkie?

I sat down next to her. My idea was to wait for Spike and Twilight, but for whatever reason, I took the opportunity to lean over to her and nuzzle her neck for a moment. “Thank you,” I mumbled and withdrew while she giggled and commented on being ticklish.

I was so glad when Spike showed up that very instance. “Morning, Spike!” I hastily greeted him.

He grumbled something under his breath, at which point I slightly raised an eyebrow and he sighed. “Heaven’s gates have closed again,” he mumbled a little bit louder.

“Eh?” I was eloquent as always.

He shook his head and held an unfinished book list up. I honestly didn't quite understand his point. He was up early, yes, continuing his chores from the day before… so… what?

“Don’t be silly, silly!” Pinkie chimed in. “Those gates don’t close, ever. You just gotta turn around again!”

He looked at her, understandably confused, but she did not explain any further and just nudged the gemstone bowls. I could not tell if that was supposed to contribute to her explanation or not, but his eyes lit up anyway and he hurried to sit down, eagerly waiting for Twilight. She came in shortly after, less zombified but still quite drowsy.

At that point, we dug in. And given her unique ability to speak in a manner others could understand while still shoveling food into her mouth, Pinkie was the one carrying the breakfast conversation. She told Spike aaall about her new gemstone baking ideas and how funny dreams worked and how her Pinkie Sense had warned her to warn him that the small Luna-bust might fall on top of him and then… I remembered something. “Hey, Pinks? Since you seem to have a free day, wanna do something? Maybe no party games today, but we could—“

I stopped myself as I saw her look go blank. We heard an audible tick, tick, tick from somewhere and then a ringing clock. I was sure it came from her mane.

“I’m laaate!” she yelled at the top of her lungs. My ears splayed flat against my skull, as did Twilight's, while Spike just cringed. Hard. A fraction of a second later, a pink blur zipped out of the kitchen. I thought she had wished us a nice day or something, but she had once again spoken too fast. Spike and I stared at the door while Twilight, in her current state and being used to Pinkie, didn’t even so much as blink.

“Riiight,” Spike started with a shrug and aimed with his fork for those pancakes left on Pinkie's plate. “… that happened.”

Just as the tip of his fork was about to make contact, a pink blur zipped back in, devoured the pancakes, left a muffin sprinkled with smoky quartz on his plate and zipped back out.

Yeah. This was normal. I smiled warmly.

While Spike was happily gnawing away at his muffin and Twilight, holding her mug of coffee close, was still unflappable, I found myself thinking about my own plans. Meeting, helping and reconnecting with Pinkie had been great. But, it also forced me to accelerate my plans, at least partially. I had nudged Pinkie and that was all well and good, and maybe that would even be enough. But I was not about to actually take that risk if it was unnecessary and doing something about it meant so little effort on my part. I concluded that meddling a little bit more as a preemptive measure was in order.

With new ideas forming in the back of my mind, I looked over to Twilight and broke the comfortable silence. “I slept.” It was a simple statement, yet it encouraged a warm, almost relieved smile from her.

“That is great to hear!” she told me. And yet, after just a short moment, her look became decidedly more worried again. “However… what you have gone through in those first days is a serious reason for concern. It is not healthy. According to Pony Psychology 101, your mental—“

She was about to lecture me. Probably about how I should take this more seriously. How I should see a doctor. Or that we should write Princess Luna after all. And I was having none of it! “I did it, Twilight.”

My rude interruption clearly upset her. Especially because she knew for a fact that it was a ruse, meant to distract her and allow me to get rid of a serious and uncomfortable topic. I could almost see that inner turmoil. She liked me, which made my heart all warm and fuzzy, and she cared about my well-being. But I promised knowledge if she were to drop her lecture. This time, I did not even feel any guilt. Curiosity would win out. It usually did. And I was not disappointed this time.

Of course she already knew what ‘it’ was, considering her smarts and the fact that it was one of two research projects. Adding to that, it was the only one I actually had any real investment in myself and things were rather obvious.

She sighed and in a puff of purple magic, an empty scroll, ink and a quill appeared, floating in midair. She did not have to ask, she just looked and I nodded and started retelling the events of the previous evening. There were certain details I omitted. Because they were not relevant for our research, I hoped, and I really did not want to drag Pinkies issues out into the open. Instead, I focused more on the dreamscape, how I got there, what I found there, how it worked, what that latest flash of insight had taught me, what I could tell her about dream magic and its mechanics…

Her quill scratched along the parchment furiously and several times, new scrolls appeared out of nowhere. “And all I really had to do was sleep with her,” I finished with a chuckle.

It took me a couple of seconds to realize how dense and awkward the atmosphere suddenly felt.

Before things could escalate, I held up my hooves. “Shoot, that came out wrong, sorry. I did that with Pinkie last night as well, so weird. I just can't stop running my mouth sometimes. Anyway, what I meant was: I had to be close to her. Sleep by her side, in the same bed. I don’t know if I can do it any other way… yet… but I had to charge my horn and touch her head with it.”

Twilight's intense blush receded only slowly and she mumbled something under her breath that I could not quite make out. I was sure that she would refrain from repeating it louder if asked.

While Twilight had all but forgotten her breakfast plate, focusing entirely on her research and was very much ‘in the zone’, Spike had stolen a couple of pancakes from her plate and then started to clean up.

I looked out the window, noting the sun's position in the sky. “Listen, Twi… as much as I’d love to continue this discussion, I kind of started something yesterday and I really should see to it that it finishes smoothly. So I gotta go and do something, but I’ll be back later and we can talk some more, okay?”

She looked a little bit disappointed for a brief moment and then furrowed her brow. “What is it? Maybe I can help?”

Of course she would offer help. But I just had to get Fluttershy… hm. Technically, I was still a guest. Guests did not go around inviting more guests. “Would you mind if I brought Fluttershy over? For… uh… a sleepover, sort of?”

For a short moment, she looked at her notes. I could see the gears turning and when she looked back, she nodded vigorously. “That would actually be great!”

Right. No ulterior motives at all. I could maybe sleep another night. I could maybe gather more information about my dream magic. I could maybe help another one of her friends with an issue I did not disclose when talking about my experience with Pinkie. There were a couple of possibilities and while I knew that Twilight was not manipulative at all, I also knew that she tended to see all the possible benefits (and downsides, for that matter) of any decision. Because she actively searched for them. This kind of foresight had probably rubbed off from Tia.

It was not important, I told myself. She had agreed to my request, so I better got going then.

“So, Spike, how is that list coming along?” I heard her ask while trotting to the doors. Her question was followed by a muffled groan and once I closed the doors behind me, I thought I had even heard him giggle. Standing outside on the castle stairs, I needed a moment.

Goodness gracious me, this was bright. I preferred moonlight, but I could not argue that the sun was just warmer. Thinking back, I had been cooped up in the castle for almost a week. Heh. Maybe I was Twilight's long-lost second brother. I quickly shoved that thought out of my mind.

I vaguely knew where Fluttershy’s cottage was, which meant crossing the market square of Ponyville again. This time, thanks to Pinkie reducing my anxiety by a lot, I did not dread it. I lazily trotted along the path and let that familiarity with this town seep into my bones once again. I just had to smile. And great each and every pony I met and recognized. A nod here, a little wave there, a smile, a simple ‘good morning!’ They did not even know me yet and they still were so welcoming.

I'm home.

When I arrived at the market square, I stopped for a moment and took it all in. It felt almost as if several of my memories laid themselves over what I could see, so I had the best opportunity to compare earlier loops with this one. It was almost the same in each and every one of them. Funny.

I noticed Applejack tending to her stall. She had just finished another transaction with a customer and our eyes met for a moment. My smile grew a little bit wider, I nodded with an excited flutter in my heart and that only grew more fluttery when she tipped her hat to me as a greeting. She did not know yet that she was on my list. Sooooon, I ominously promised her without any word spoken.

I chuckled to myself as I walked on. But my direction was inevitably putting a damper on my mood. I really tried very hard to keep my spirits high, but I failed miserably. It had not been long until I reached what was left of the Golden Oaks library at the heart of town. It was a charred mess. Tirek, I thought. Probably, anyway. This mighty corpse was a dark memorial that even in sunny Equestria things could go badly. And if they did, it actually was bad. I carefully stepped a little bit closer, almost into the ruin. There was another pony here. I walked up to her side. Seeing the tree like this almost broke my heart.

“This had been a home,” I whispered. “Full of memories… happy ones, sad ones, weird ones, funny ones…” I miss this place. I had wanted to say it, but I could not. I was choking on my words. When I noticed my eyes filling up, I raised my head and tried to blink the tears away before they could have any funny ideas.

I felt her watching me. Carefully, maybe even cautiously. It was a similar analytical stare I was used to by Twilight. “You knew this place?”

I nodded once I had recomposed myself. “Yeah. It had been great.” I looked to the side, finally taking stock of who I was actually talking to. It was only fair, since she had done the same without shame or care. A pegasus, I noted. Soft lilac eyes. Her pristine white coat could almost rival Rarity’s. Blonde mane and tail, decorated with orange ribbons. Her cutie mark tried hard to make me think of her as an artist. It was one of those theater masks with the creepy eye-, nose- and mouth-holes and a flat smile. But a bright light was shining through those holes. It was a nice cutie mark. On a nice flank, too.

See something you like?

No. That had been a different time. And a different pony. Actually, I could not remember seeing her. At all. Ever. After a moment, I was pulled out of my thoughts when I heard her laughing quietly. A high, clear laugh, like a bell or a mountain stream dabbling along. It was a pretty sound and carried a certain playfulness I had not expected.

“Sorry,” I mumbled and tore my eyes off her flank. At least I had the decency to blush.

“Do not worry about it. It appears to be an effect I sometimes have on other ponies,” she good-naturedly joked. My eyes drifted back to the ruin before us, and her glance followed mine. “It is a shame,” she said.

I nodded. And had to think back about how inconsolable Fluttershy had been for a while. “Most ponies forget about it, or don’t even think about it, but… a life was lost that day. This tree was old. But still strong and full of life. Filled with paraphernalia, pictures. And love. And security. Anger and frustration, laughter and relief…” I sighed again. It hurt.

When I tore myself away from this sight, she gave me a small, sad smile. “I’m Sunny. Sunny Skies.”

I could not help but chuckle quietly. And for a moment, it seemed like she was considering being offended. “No, please… don’t get me wrong. It’s a beautiful name for a beautiful mare. It’s just… with a name like that, it must be extra-hard to… you know. Ever feel down. Or caged. It’s like your name is trying to force you to always be upbeat and chipper. Makes it actually a good thing, seeing you here of all places, I guess. I know another pony that is like that. I just recently made her realize that letting your guard down once in a while isn’t a bad thing. Well, at least I hope that’s what I did.”

It was a careful smile that I got in return. Guarded. One that seemed to be the result of a lot of practice. She looked at me expectantly and I knew that it was my turn to give her a name to be amused by. Following through with a funny thought, I knelt down as I would be expected to before a Princess. “I’m Dreamwalker,” I simply stated and stood back up again. Her eyebrows had crawled a little bit higher following my little show.

“You are new here, are you not?” she asked.

I quietly laughed. “Like you wouldn’t believe. Barely a week ago, I basically popped into existence. I’m still in the middle of trying to get myself sorted out. Finding a home, finding friends, connecting with Ponyville, the usual.” Now it was me who let that silence linger just a little bit.

And without a hitch, she understood and picked the conversation back up. “I am just visiting some friends around these parts,” she replied to the unspoken question.

I would not go as far as to call her manipulative. But she was definitely practiced in rhetoric. I did not tell her where I lived so she did not tell me who she was visiting. Quid pro quo or something along those lines. It almost felt like a little dance. Or a game, at least.

I looked up at the sky and once again noted how the sun had moved. So I turned to her again. “As nice as this chance encounter was, I think I’ll have to excuse myself if I want to get something done today. It was a pleasure meeting you, Sunny. If you stay around these parts for a while, maybe we’ll run into one another again.” And with that, I bowed to her again. Just because I thought it was funny.

“You know… you are only supposed to bow to Princesses,” she retorted with a smile.

“Maybe. But to be fair, I’d wager they’re all sick and tired of all the bowing and have had enough of that for the rest of their lives. And they are immortal, as far as we know, so that’s quite some time. Maybe it isn’t so bad to honor somepony else every now and again.” There was the weirdest look in her eyes. Raw, emotional, unfiltered, surprised. “Did I say something wrong?” I continued.

After a moment, she recomposed herself and smiled. This time, it felt more honest. “No. No, you did not. But you are quite right, we should get going.”

“Wanna try it?” I hastily asked before she could turn away.

“Beg your pardon?”

“The whole bowing-thing. It’s actually quite fun. Almost like we’re about to have a fancy dance.” She quietly laughed at that, despite her efforts to stifle it. After a moment, she nodded and we both bowed to one another, without taking our eyes off of the other. When we got back up, I was grinning. “See? Fun was had. See you later, Sunny.” With that said, I finally retreated and resumed my walk to Fluttershy’s cottage. The sight of Golden Oaks still weighed in my stomach like lead, but encountering Sunny had made it a little bit more bearable.

It was shortly after lunchtime when I reached the cottage. Did I have a plan? No. Did I have an idea, at least? Maybe. Would that be enough, though? We are about to find out.

I knocked at her door and heard something immediately clatter inside. “Fluttershy? I’m really sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you,” I told her through the door. There was a moment of silence until the door opened just the tiniest bit. I could see parts of her pink mane, a little bit of her eye and… Angel. He was staring up at me as if he was trying to freeze my blood within my veins. Nice try, you little pest. Try harder.

“Uhm… can I help you with something?” her demure voice asked.

Showtime. “I’m new in town and I had sort of an accident, and I’m living with Twilight for now.” I could see an unspoken ‘oh no’ when I mentioned an accident, but as soon as I name dropped Twilight, the door opened a little bit wider and she smiled lightly. “Right. So… I have three little things I’d like to talk to you about if you have time? Could I, uh… maybe come in?”

Angel was tapping on the floorboards impatiently. It took Fluttershy a moment to notice it, as she was considering my request. “Please, Angel, be a little bit more patient. I will get to your food shortly,” she pleaded. After another moment, the door opened fully. “Please, come in, I will just have to fix him something and then we can talk…”

“My name’s Dreamwalker, by the way,” I remarked while she trotted back to the kitchen. I closed the door and looked around for a moment. Fluttershy’s cottage was… nice. Not exactly what I preferred, but it certainly fit her. Animals big and small were scurrying around everywhere. Tiny holes in the walls so her mice friends got in and out without problem. Bird cages without doors to close and self-made perches. Adding to all the inhabitants and their needs were what she herself needed. Like actual furniture. She had a nice, big sofa that looked comfy and I knew that it was, in fact. So I walked over and plopped myself down. “Do you want some tea?” came her question from the kitchen nearby.

A short little flash and I remembered her tea being second best, only bested by Celestias — and she had several lifetime’s worth of experience and practice. “I’d love some,” I answered.

I knew I had to be careful with Fluttershy. She was easily spooked and I could not expect the same acceptance I had gotten from Pinkie concerning my wild claims. Body language, I cautioned myself, was important. Maybe even more important than the actual words spoken. But — tone of voice was another thing I should be wary of. And volume. Especially volume.

Directly in front of the sofa was a table. And Angel hopped on top of it. He gestured wildly. Something about me and the… door? You wish…

He grew more agitated, but suddenly one of the birds swooped down and he hopped off, running for the hills. Figuratively. With the bird — a crow? — still hot on his heels. It was a young bird, still learning to hunt, it seemed. Her claws did not catch him and after seeing no real danger to Angel’s life, I dismissed the idea of helping him. That ungrateful little shrimp would just try to get me kicked out anyway.

After a second round across the living room, Angel vanished from it. The crow perched atop one of the birdhouses and just watched. I smiled and nodded gratefully in her direction.

When Fluttershy called, Angel scampered through the living room and vanished once more. Apparently, his meal was ready. After a minute or two, Fluttershy appeared, balancing a tray on her wing with the grace and elegance of a model. She set it down carefully and I filled two mugs with what smelled like some herbal tea mixture by levitating the pot. It wobbled a little bit, as the sensation of lifting something hot was weird and unexpected. I had not anticipated that it would feel different. And why would it? I spilled only a little, luckily. “I’m sorry. I thought I had it. This whole ‘magic’-thing is quite new, apparently I still need more practice.”

It seemed I had run my sorry mouth again. She looked confused about that. “Your magic is new…?”

“Oh. Uhm… right. That. Yeah, it kind of is? It’s a long story. Or a short one, I guess. Maybe. I wouldn’t know, really, I can’t remember most of it. Anyway — tea!” I stopped myself from rambling on by levitating both mugs up into the air and, carefully, with focused concentration, levitating hers before her nose and mine over to myself. It worked. Yesss. It worked in calming and distracting her. She accepted the mug and we both took a sip. My memories, it turned out, had not lied to me.

When I looked over to her, she still had her eyes closed, focusing on the tea. She was humble and peaceful and almost centered and in this very instance, she seemed like nothing in this world could ever unsettle her. Then she opened her eyes again and became self-aware once more. Don’t try to hide it, I’ve seen things…

“So, what did you want to talk about?” she asked. “I-If you don’t mind me asking…”

“I don’t, really. Right, so… I’m kind of… searching for friends? I already made fast friends with both Twilight and Pinkie. And… now I’m here.” She nodded, apparently expecting more explanation than that. “Because of you.”

After another second or two, it clicked and she blushed heavily, immediately hiding most of her face behind her mane. “Y-You came to befriend m-me…?”

I worked overtime to swallow that good-natured chuckle just so I would not even risk alienating her. “Yes. See, I already know you…” Stop, backpedal! “I-I mean, of you. I know of you. Because of Twilight. And Pinkie.” Too late. Not only was she furrowing her brow, but Angel chose this very moment to reappear — knowing full well that the young crow would not dare hunt him while Fluttershy could see — and started to tell her… something.

Whatever it was, her eyes hardened considerably and she turned to me. “Is this some kind of prank?”

Great. Maybe I should have helped the crow instead. Speaking of which — my winged surprise-assistant swooped down again, driving Angel out of the living room and following him. Thanks, buddy. “Fluttershy, listen—,“ I started. I stood up and tried to appear even more non-threatening by raising both front hooves.

Non-pegassi cannot stand like that. Thank you, thank you, another successful episode of Fun Facts with Dreamwalker…

“Ow.”

My ears were ringing and both my jaw and my teeth hurt. Well, at least I had not bit my tongue. Considering I stood up on a sofa, I supposed it wasn’t a far fetch to assume that I had tumbled down. Hopefully not smashing the table, but it did feel like I hit it, at least. “Ow,” I repeated.

Finally, with the ringing slowly subsiding, I started to hear a very worried voice. “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, are you okay? Sir? Mister?”

I pulled myself together and sat up straight. “Dreamwalker. Please. And… my head hurts? But I think I’m fine, otherwise. Listen, I meant it, Fluttershy. I know you. And I think I can prove it, if that’s alright with you.”

Her glare was back, hard as steel. There was an undercurrent of doubt and distrust. “How?”

I pointed at my horn. “I want to demonstrate something. Something I wouldn’t be able to do if I didn't know you. Just… trust me? Please? I know it’s much to ask, I just—“

In the time it had taken me to speak, she had won — or lost? — her inner battle. She just stood up, moved over from her chair to the sofa and sat down on it. Right. Well, she was the Element of Kindness. I asked for a chance and she gave me one. Maybe just to get rid of me sooner and with less resistance, but oh well. Sitting right in front of the sofa, I let my eyes wander over her form for just a short moment. I can work with that, I decided.

Carefully, I climbed up onto the sofa as well. I knew I could not let too much time pass without risking her putting a stop to everything. So, I cautiously pressed my front hooves into her shoulders. She immediately tensed at the physical contact. “Please,” I almost begged her. She did not relax. She probably just could not, no matter how hard she tried. But… she didn’t zip away or wriggle out of it either. For now, that was good enough.

With the first careful movement came a tiny but continuous trickle of memories. I had wanted to surprise Twilight. She was always tense and uptight, sitting around all day, reading all day. I had learned some techniques from Aloe and Lotus. But they had said something. Something important. Skill comes with practice. Right. That.

I started to knead Fluttershy’s shoulders, still careful and trying to read every sign of body language she gave. She remained tense and her wings fluttered from time to time. I could read her active attempts to keep them in check. But, with the first two or three minutes passing, I could also feel her relax under my ministrations just the teensiest tiniest bit. It’s starting. It’s working!

I needed practice. My first idea had been to ask Rarity, but she was a notorious gossip. Fluttershy, however? She would never talk. And even more importantly, she was patient. Coaxing critique out of her would be somewhat difficult, but that was something I was willing to put up with.

I moved down her back. Worked a little around her wing joints, but refrained from ever touching her wings. They were quite sensitive and I really did not want to make things awkward. Preening was something reserved for spas and lovers or family.

More time passed and I got into a certain workflow. Memories gave me a path, a somewhat clear indication of what to do, and I followed those half-instructions. Fluttershy relaxed a little bit more. Not entirely, never entirely, but more than before and that was a win in my book. I just need to find a good spot to stop, I thought. That surely should be enough, no?

There was this spot on her back, right above her dock, and when I pressed into that…

I really should have been more attentive. Following the flow of memories felt so natural that I did not think twice before doing just that. A soft moan escaped her lips.

I immediately withdrew my hooves, almost as shocked as she was. That… was probably just as awkward the first time around. “I-I’m sorry,” I mumbled.

She hurriedly pulled away from me and stared at me, still shocked. Embarrassed. Funny. She wasn’t even angry. And she had mumbled the same excuse I did, at the same time, including the same stutter.

There was a dawning realization for both of us. Now she knew that I knew of that spot. And in turn, I knew that she knew what I knew. Oh boy.

“I-I… need some air… can we t-talk outside? Please?”

I was not about to deny her that. In fact, some fresh air sounded like a great idea. I nodded dumbly, got up and stiffly walked over to the door. As soon as I opened it, Angel ran past me, with a happily cawing crow in tow. I looked on for a couple of seconds, then shook my head and left the cottage. I would have understood if suddenly, the door would have just swung closed. But it did not, and that gave me the tiniest glimmer of hope that maybe, just maybe, we could move past this awkwardness and it would still somehow have helped me.

While it might not have been entirely welcome, I had another sneaking suspicion why she wanted to talk outside. The great wide open was nice and all, less cage-y, but the soft afternoon wind would also mask any traces of potential bodily reactions.

I pushed that thought as far away as I could and plopped myself down onto the grass in the backyard of the cottage. After a moment, Fluttershy lay down nearby, but still kept a certain, generous distance. That was okay. It really was.

For a while, I just watched that crow hunt Angel. You’re doing great, buddy! Make him work for it! I silently encouraged my feathered friend as best as I could. Everything to teach that rabbit some manners.

“When you fell,” I broke the silence a couple of minutes later, “back in that race with Rainbow defending you against the bullies… you were lost in that forest. Harry’s dad found you. I forgot his name though. You were scared at first. He was this big, muscled beast, but… you learned quickly. He showed you around a little. He showed you a clearing nearby a little stream. You fell in love with that clearing. Years later, you built a small little cottage there.”

Come on. I was standing in a pond with very murky water, fishing for stones again. “You are utterly scared of ‘new Fluttershy’, but deep down, you know that she does not exist. Not as a separate personality, anyway. You are the Element of Kindness and you are utterly convinced that you shouldn’t be even able to have a single cruel thought. But you do. Because being an Element isn’t about embodying that Element, it’s about striving for a virtue. Having flaws… and working on them. That realization helped you reconcile with the entire incident later on.”

All good things come in threes, right? Okay, so, maybe that last one was not ‘good’, per se. I was figuratively clawing at the walls and found a last usable crumb. Nothing exciting, but maybe something useful. “Alright, that one’s gonna take a while,” I mumbled and then proceeded to list as many names of her animals as I could. And some of their food- and playtime preferences, if I actually knew them.

She listened. It was what she was good at. She listened attentively throughout the entire thing. When she spoke up, her voice was calm. Quiet. Composed. It gave me no indication whatsoever if I had succeeded or not. “What are the other two things…?” she asked.

Right. I had to switch things up a little. I would have liked to say ‘because things didn't work out according to plan’, but then again, I had started this whole thing without a plan to begin with. “I’m… actually searching for a pet.” Now I had her full attention. I even heard her wings rustle a little in excitement.

“Really?”

“Yeah. I mean, don’t get me wrong, Spike’s cool and all, but—“ Oh boy. I immediately raised my hooves in defense and backpedaled. “Okay, okay, sorry, I really shouldn’t even joke about that. I’m sorry.” Her glare was withering.

After a moment, she had herself recomposed. Again. “So… do you know what you are looking for?”

I still watched that crow hunt down that wicked, evil, rotten-to-the-core rabbit. And a smile creeped up on my lips. “Yeah… I think I like her quite a lot, actually,” I said and pointed towards the crow.

“Him,” Fluttershy corrected with a quiet giggle.

“Oh. Well, sure. Him, then.” I nodded. Her, him, that did not matter much to me. He was my feathered surprise-assistant-buddy.

“His name is White Tip,” she started. Strange, how that name rang a bell somewhere… “He is still young and, as you can see, a little bit wild.” Apparently, he had heard his name and came over, landing nearby Fluttershy and immediately started to care for his wings, while Angel stayed the heck away and just glared daggers at the crow. And me, for some reason. I like it. Yeees, bunny, give me your haaatreeed…

I chuckled again.

His name got me curious, though, so I shuffled a little closer to Fluttershy without standing up. In a proud display, the crow spread its wings and turned so we could gaze and wonder at his magnificent feathers. There’s a little bit Rainbow in there, I mused. That was not a bad thing, though. And indeed, the very tips of his feathers were somewhat white-ish. Reminded me of eggshells. “Hey White Tip. You’re awesome. Wanna come home with me?” As I addressed him, he turned around again, hopped over and looked at me, tilting his head this way and that way and then crowing. A little lost on animal speech, I looked to Fluttershy, who giggled into her hoof.

“He says you look like somepony who needs looking after,” she translated. “He likes you, though, so he would be willing to do that.”

“Heh. How generous of him.” I carefully extended a hoof and booped him on his beak. He crowed again.

Fluttershy nodded. “I found him on the edge of the Everfree a week ago. At first I thought he had broken his wing, but he had just crash-landed.” Sounds more and more like a mini-Rainbow. “You have to be careful, that wing still needs rest,” she continued and I was not entirely sure who she was addressing at this point.

“Okay, so. I… have no idea if I ever had a pet before. What do I need to know about crows?” I was smiling, knowing full well what kind of question that was.

“Oh my,” she started and then proceeded to list facts and figures in a way that would have made Twilight proud. She was very organized about the priorities in pet care, too. I tried to keep up with all of that, but to be honest… I knew there was a pet play day each week. I knew that Applejack knew her way around animals as well as Fluttershy. And lucky me had chosen a very, very smart animal that, if it was not sufficiently cared for, could make that clear to me. I was cautiously optimistic about things.

It was late afternoon when I nodded once more. “Got it. I mean… not all of it immediately, but I hope you didn’t expect that? I think I got the important parts and I’m gonna try and learn fast, promise.” She was not exactly happy, per se, but she could appreciate the honesty and when asked, I could relate some of her facts as proof that I actually had listened to her. That appeared to be enough for now, so we fell silent. It was not uncomfortable. She looked like she was thinking about stuff and I… I was honestly just enjoying her company. It was what I remembered doing with her most. Quiet tea times, a little bit of talking, a lot of silent time. Hearing the wind rustle through the leaves of the nearby trees. Training my ears on the stream. Feeling the sun move across the sky. It’s called ‘peace’. You should try it sometime.

There was one last thing on my list, of course. I had come for three, as I had told her. And one point remained. She seemed to have forgotten about it and that was alright. But I had not. And there was no easy way to breach this topic. Not with Fluttershy, anyway. “Sooo,” I started, “about you moaning.”

Her cheeks — and ears and neck and everything else — immediately flushed. She squeaked and hid behind her mane again. “D-Do we h-have to talk about… t-that…?”

There really was not much wind to begin with, but I still had a hard time hearing her. “Well… no, not that specifically.” A short-lived moment of relief vanished just as fast as it had appeared. “Fluttershy, listen. I know you’re very close with Rarity and she has been filling your head with her idea of romance for years. I might’ve only seen your living room, but assuming you didn’t hide any trace or evidence of somepony special to you, I’m guessing you don’t have a special somepony. Am I right so far?”

She did not answer. And really, why would she. I was a stranger to her and I was rather blunt with the whole ordeal. I pushed forward anyway, taking her silence as confirmation. “Do you want that to change? And don’t worry, I'm not talking about myself. I like you. A lot. And I want to help you. And I know for a fact that there’s somepony who is, probably right now, stressing out about how to ask you out. If you let me, I’d like to play a little bit of matchmaker. I don’t meddle lightly. Really, I don’t. I can’t stress enough how… how familiar everything feels. Everypony. Details might vary and change, but I know how happy you could be. I’ve seen it before, time and time again. And I want you to be this happy once more. Also, I want her to stop freaking out and stressing about it, it’s unhealthy.”

For a moment, that last comment gave her pause and she actually looked at me, no mane to hide behind. “T-Twilight?”

That caught me off-guard. What? I went back and skimmed over my choice of words. Alright, fair enough. Twilight was a good guess. “No,” I answered and she slumped a little in on herself, breathing a sigh of relief. But close.

“There’s a thing I have in common with White Tip. About a week ago, I came to my senses at the edge of the Everfree Forest. I have no idea how I got there. Or who exactly I am, even. I think this might be some kind of… time loop or alternate reality or something. Maybe even reincarnation, I don’t know. Twilight is trying to help me figure it out. But I get these… glimpses. Of other lives, other loops, other whatever’s. And because of those, everything feels so incredibly familiar. I feel like Applejack is my sister. I would jump in front of a dragon for her. And she doesn’t even know my name yet, for crying out loud!”

And crying out loud I did. I sighed as I saw Fluttershy flinch. Volume, I reminded myself. “Sorry, sorry. It’s just… it’s frustrating. There are so many memories. And so many more are still locked away. When I arrived, I kissed Twilight. I was so happy to see her. But she wasn’t my Twilight. I don’t know if that makes any sense? And I know you. We had so many fun times together. We’ve been through some stuff. And now I start at zero again. And I’m rambling again and I really shouldn’t pack all this weight onto you, I’m sorry.”

She just shook her head, a small smile gracing her lips. “It’s alright. I listen. It’s what I do.”

I chuckled at that. “I know,” I told her with a faux wail. “You always have this effect. Somepony is feeling down and you just… sit there and make them talk without a single word uttered. It’s a wicked combination with Twilight or Pinkie — you know that, right? Twilight’s gung-ho about solving whatever issue was presented and Pinkie’s all about distracting you from what made you sad or angry or whatever.”

I took a deep breath. Collected myself. Then I looked at her again with pleading eyes. “I want you to give this a shot. If it doesn’t work out, that’s okay. Really, it is. But I want you as my dear friend again. And I want you to be this incredibly happy pony again.” Maybe that was not fair. I did have these high expectations of how happy she would be. Of how happy they all would be, eventually. I knew they could get there. And I wanted to be the one pushing them there. I wanted that so desperately, it was almost frightening.

Lady Luck, please smile upon me…

“I won’t force my will upon you, obviously. If I already scared you away, then I’m really, really sorry and I won’t bother you again. I’m sorry for what happened when I massaged you. I didn’t think this through. But if you are willing to give me another chance… I would love to invite you to the castle this evening. For a sleepover. Twilight already knows that I’m going to invite you and she was okay with that. We could maybe cook something, eat, and talk, just a nice evening. And I’m sure Twilight and Spike would be thrilled to have you over. You don’t even have to stay the night if you don’t want to. It would be necessary for me to do my little magic trick, but you don’t have to.”

I ran out. Of words, of all things. I searched high and low, but could not find anything else to say. I had made my offer. In the most convoluted, roundabout way possible, but I had made it. Why can’t things ever be easy? So I stood up, removed a bit of grass from my belly, noted how White Tip landed on my back and how his claws were not entirely comfortable and then, ignoring that, started to walk back towards Ponyville.

I took four steps or something like that before she called out to me. “Dreamwalker?”

“Hm?” She probably did not even hear that. But I had stopped and looked back, so that was enough.

“Could you wait a minute?” I dumbly nodded and she made her way into the cottage, followed by a very, very angry Angel.

“You know, White Tip,” I said when the door had closed again, “we need to find a way to make it look like an accident…” I chuckled darkly and my new friend crowed a couple of times. This is going to be great!

Fluttershy reemerged a moment later. With a sack of seeds. Oh. Somehow, I had half-expected her to come along, which apparently was her intention, but of course she had to do her chores first. I knew about that! Right, right… seeds for the chickens. But after just a moment, I realized that I actually knew about that. What food to give in what quantity to whom. Even where she stored her supplies. “Hm. White Tip, do you mind sitting this one out on a branch of something? I think I’m going to help her out…” Without a word — or caw — he flapped his wings and indeed sat down on a nearby tree branch. “Thanks.”

I walked back into the cottage and looked for that small, narrow staircase at the back of her living room that led up to her very cozy upper story bedroom. I found it without any issues and indeed, on the side, there was a very small door leading to a space under the stairs. Filled to the brim with sacks. Each one had a handy little symbol on it, relaying just what kind of food it held. So, adding one and one together and trying to once again rely on my apparently sometimes traitorous memories, I pulled sacks out, half a dozen, including a little shovel, and set to my new task.

Maybe I should have asked first…?

I was pretty sure I knew what I was doing. Right? Right?

“Okay, fine… uhm, Fluttershy?” I stopped what I was doing, but at that point I already had given grains to her birdies, some nuts to her squirrel friends and I really did not want to know what exactly I had been feeding her otter friends right now. When I looked around, I actually found her standing behind me, only a couple of feet away, closely watching what I was doing. “Sorry, I really should’ve asked first. Is it alright if I help you?”

It took her a moment, but then she nodded and… followed me around, continuing to watch closely as I did what was initially her task. It was strange, being followed like that. I suddenly felt the urge to tell Twilight that I now knew exactly how she felt when she panicked because of an exam that she was supposed to ace. I just could not shake the feeling that I was being tested, somehow.

After a few minutes, she started speaking again. Celestia be praised. Apparently — from what I could gather — me knowing where the food was and knowing how much to feed to who was another indicator for her that I actually knew something about her. Maybe even knew her.

A few things I just did not know, though. Either because I never did those tasks, or because I did not remember them. So she taught me. That obviously meant that we did not exactly get out of the cottage earlier, but I did not mind. I learned something new and.. it was quite nice to spend time with her. She was a lot more relaxed when working.

After that was done, we put the sacks back in the storage, she got her saddlebags from her bedroom and we made our way to the castle, arriving shortly after sunset had begun. I was looking around for Sunny while we moved through Ponyville, but could not spot her anywhere. Once at the castle doors, I opened them for Fluttershy and she daintily stepped inside.

“There we go. That’s one quarter down!” I heard Twilight say.

“Twi?” I called. “We’re back.”

Spike came around the corner a moment later and smiled. A little tired, but he smiled. He came running up to us and hugged Fluttershy. “It’s nice to have you back again,” he greeted her. “I’m going to fix dinner, alright?”

Looking over at Fluttershy, I had an idea. “I… think we might be able to do that?” She only thought briefly about my offer before nodding with a smile. “So you go back and fetch Twilight and… do… something else, I guess.”

“Please don’t send me back!” he suddenly begged.

The heck? “What’s she doing this time?” I asked and raised an eyebrow.

A shudder ran down his spine. “She started sorting…”

Oh boy. I chuckled a little. “Tell her we’re here. If she’s sorting, I’m not sure she actually heard me. And pry her away from those books; the other three quarters can wait.” He nodded solemnly and slowly made his way back to Twilight. “Drama queen,” I mumbled with a smile. And immediately grinned when I heard Fluttershy stifle a giggle at my side. “What? I’m right, am I not?”

“Sometimes,” she just said barely above a whisper.

We made our way into the kitchen. “So I was thinking… casserole? Bits of potato, bits of spinach, maybe some carrots to give it a little bit more bite…?”

“Alright.”

“You know you can say something if I start doing or saying stupid stuff, right?”

She nodded. “It sounds…” Please don’t say— “… nice.” Haaah.

“Alright. Casserole it is.” I started to levitate several vegetables and kitchen knives around as soon as we entered the kitchen and only stopped for a brief moment, amazed by my own achievement and how I almost did not bat an eye. I was levitating those things around. Simultaneously. In different directions, without effort. Partially without line of sight, even. Yupp, I’m proud. I grinned to myself as I prepared a workstation for us and we got to it.

Cutting stuff up was easy enough — for a unicorn. But it would never cease to amaze me how Fluttershy, or any pegasus for that matter, did it. Her wings were surprisingly dexterous and capable of fine manipulation. And once again, her grace was impressive as well. She made no sound. Not when moving about, anyway. I could not help but think of Rarity and compare these two. Where Rarity vied for attention and strived to look her best, Fluttershy shied away and just… took relatively normal measures to care for herself. Well admittedly, that was not entirely true. Weekly spa dates with Rarity and actually a surprising amount of care towards her beautiful mane. But other than that?

One had to work for it; the other one just had it. I could understand why Rarity got envious from time to time. And I understood why that bothered her so much, being the Element of Generosity and all that.

The initial semi-awkward silence melted away after a couple of minutes and we started talking again. It had been my job to break the ice by asking her how her friends were, and that was enough to coax her out of her shell a little. A beaver had split teeth, which made me wince just thinking about it and one of her robins had caught a cold. In turn, I explained why the castle had looked a little bit more stuffed compared to her last visit and went into an unnecessarily dramatic retelling of that day. And then, we somehow ended up discussing the weather. Because why not, right?

The important part was: She was relaxing around me. I knew that this one nice little chat would not be a magical fix for everything, but I was hopeful enough to call it a ‘good start’. And it would certainly help ease the awkwardness later on, if she accepted my offer.

With the living room table set, we called for the others. “I got this,” I told Fluttershy, so that she could already go out and talk a little to Twilight and Spike. Learning from my experience with her tea pot, I carefully levitated the casserole out of the oven. I still did not quite understand why it felt so different, levitating something hot. Maybe I should find some time later on to ask Twilight about it.

I walked over to the living room, set the casserole down and then took my own seat. Twilight had already started a little conversation with Fluttershy about something I could not quite follow. Maybe they were continuing a conversation they had the last time? I looked over to Spike instead, who busied himself with shoveling food onto our plates. “So, how’s the sorting going?”

“I kinda regret helping you,” he grumbled. There was a short burst of guilt, but I tried to smile past that, hoping that he was not serious. And luckily, after a few seconds, he sighed. “Not really, though.” His shoulders slumped a little. “She’s always really into this and I have to look out for her, in a way. It’s easy for her to get lost. And then she’s going into a frenzy and no one except me is around to pull her out of it. Or get help. Because sometimes, even I can’t stop her.”

My smile grew a little more honest, and gained some strength. “You care a lot. That’s a good thing.”

“Yeah, but…” He looked over, but Twilight seemed rather focused on her own conversation, so he lowered his voice and proceeded, “I don’t really like it that much? We have been living together forever and I love that, but reshelving an entire library is just… it’s so unnecessary.”

“But you do it anyway… because she loves it,” I added. His curt nod made me think for a moment. He was not unhappy, per se. Just temporarily frustrated. Something Pinkie could probably fix in a second, but she was not here and I was one heck of a poor substitute. “We ordered a lot of books,” I started again, having a vague idea of what I wanted to say. “And right now, it sure seems like a mammoth task. But you won’t have to do this every month, you know? Right now, it’s a lot of work. But once it’s done, it’s done. At least for a while. Maybe I can talk to her, see if I could jump in for you tomorrow or something. It would be slower, because, well, I’m not her number one assistant. But I could try. And after you lending me a claw, it’s the least I could do.”

The offer alone was enough to make him perk up a little. He seemed somewhat conflicted about it, though. Probably because he did not know how well-acquainted I was with Twilight's (current) shelving system. And to be honest — I did not know myself. My past memories told me of dozens of systems. Some were almost identical to others. And that ‘almost’ was more reason for headache than a vastly different sorting style would have been. Before he could decide how to feel about this, White Tip flew into the room and landed on my shoulder, probably lured in by the magnificent smell.

“Hi, buddy,” I greeted him and held a fork up with a piece of tomato on it. As far as Fluttershy had told me, there was no reason why he could not eat that and after a moment of inspecting the offer, he seemed to agree, picking the piece off the fork.

“… What?” That sounded surprised. I looked over to Twilight, who was staring at the crow on my shoulder. Oh, right… haven’t told her yet.

“Hehe… sorry, I kind of forgot to mention. When I was at Fluttershy’s, I, uh… got a pet? This is White Tip. He’s great.” My explanation did little to smooth out her ruffled feathers, but luckily, I had a smart pet. He hopped off my shoulder, onto the table and carefully walked over to her, sitting nearby her plate — with a respectful distance, obviously — and looked at her. Maybe he was waiting, maybe he was presenting himself for inspection, I didn't quite know. I was just glad he reigned in his boisterous nature.

“He is a very smart crow,” Fluttershy cooed, patting White Tip on the head. “And so nice. He is a bit young, but Dreamwalker seemed almost smitten from the first moment. Oh, has he met Owlicious already? I’m sure they will get along well.”

It was almost unfair, I had to admit. White Tip gave Twilight little chance to find anything to get riled up over, and Fluttershy praising him certainly did not help. Then there was me, grinning apologetically and the implication that this crow might indeed be capable of befriending her owl and giving him some company.

“Fine,” she gave up and smiled, shaking her head at the same time. “He is welcome. I’m sure Owlicious can share his perch. Maybe you should meet him. Find out if you two get along?”

There had been a small ‘yay!’ from Fluttershy once Twilight welcomed him, and following her request, White Tip quietly cawed and flew off again. With a piece of her meal in his beak, because he was cheeky like that. “Well that is just… rude!” Twilight grumbled in what almost sounded like a decent Rarity-impression.

A moment later, we all had a good laugh about it.

We continued our meal, talking a little bit more about critters and pets. At some point, Spike began to wonder why he did not have one and Twilight played the 'reasonable big sister'-card, telling him that it was a big responsibility and that he could get one if he took it seriously. It was not so much that any of us doubted his capabilities. But we all rightfully feared that his question might just have been born from a feeling of being left out of something, instead of actually wanting a pet to care for. So it came as a relief that, after some soul-searching, he decided that he did not want a pet after all. At least not yet anyway. Maybe someday.

Once we were all stuffed to the brim, Spike and I cleaned up the dishes. Feeling tired, the young dragon excused himself for the night and went to bed, while the rest of us settled in the living room again. “You know… in my head, on the rare and odd occasion, I’ve been calling this room the ‘library’,” I stated. “But that doesn’t exactly ring true anymore. I mean… the whole place is one, at this point. I should try to stick to ‘living room’, I think.”

“Well, it’s not exactly a living room either,” Twilight countered. “It was the library, that much is true. Though I admit, according to usual naming conventions, I have a little bit of difficulty coming up with something that actually fits.”

“If it was the library before the library expanded to the entire rest of the castle, why not call it the ‘heart of the library’?” Fluttershy offered. Her suggestion gave us both pause. We looked at each other, blinked once, and then looked back at her. “Or not, it’s okay,” she added, shrinking behind her mane.

“No, no, that’s an… interesting idea,” I hastily replied. “It’s just… it sounds very… romantic? Like the flowery language you find in a novel. That’s not necessarily a bad thing.”

“Well… I do like those,” she whispered.

I… knew that? No. No, I actually did not. Maybe I did, but if so, I could not remember. I had seen some books on shelves in her living room back at the cottage, but I spared them no mind. Maybe because I had thought I knew what I would find if I were to skim those spines. But here I was, again betrayed… or rather, left hanging. It was not as bad a feeling as I expected. I had learned something new about Fluttershy. This Fluttershy, at least.

“I… have an idea,” I said while a grin tugged at my mouth. I glanced around the room and found what I had searched for. Levitating a book over, I showed them both the cover. It was a romance novel. One that even Twilight could stand to read without cringing too much. “We’re going to read it out loud, alternating dialogue. Fluttershy, you’re going to be the narrator. Twilight, you’re Lady Evergreen, and I’m reading Sir Emberstoke. For all the side characters… I’d say we decide on a whim?”

Twilight was all for it and to my surprise, Fluttershy needed only little prodding and convincing. Probably because I had offered her a reading part that did not involve the romantic part directly. The narrator's job was, after all, to set up the scene. Twilight, on the other hoof, did not seem to mind playing out an overly dramatic romance with me. Because it was just a book, I suspected. I did not mind either — it was just for fun, after all. Like any other game Pinkie could have come up with.

So we sat there, the fireplace lit again, and a floating book wandered from one pony to the next. Sometimes, a soft giggle filled the room when our pristine, top-notch acting did not quite live up to expectations. To cite Fluttershy: It was nice.

A couple of hours later, Twilight yawned. We were not done with the book by a long shot and the dramatic tension was rising, with more misunderstandings piled on misunderstandings. It had been fun so far, but I did not want to risk anypony getting hoarse from talking too much. Fluttershy especially, who was not used to it. So I took Twilight's sign of tiredness as an excuse. “Been a long day?” I asked.

She smiled and nodded. “Yes. Apparently, somepony just gifted me an entire library. I had to sort through it and I’m not even halfway done.”

“The nerve!” I stated with faux indignation. “Maybe I should help you out with that. You know, before you grind Spike to a messy pulp. But for now, you should probably head to bed.”

She blinked. Stared at me. Then blinked again. “Are you… sending me to bed? Again?”

I chimed in with her quiet chuckle and nodded. “I guess I am. You know how it is. If you walk down that hallway aaall on your own, I won’t have to exhaust myself carrying you there.”

She raised an eyebrow and I faintly heard Fluttershy giggle on my other side. “Did you just call me… heavy?” Oh boy. My cheeks were getting a little warm and I started to unwillingly lean away from Twilight. However, I did not dare break eye contact and after a few more seconds, the spell broke and we laughed. “Alright, so… apparently, I’m going to bed. What about you two?”

I looked over at Fluttershy. Immediately, her wings rustled in a sudden nervous impulse. I looked back to Twilight and smiled. “We’ll manage. To be honest, I think we won’t be far behind.”

Nodding to that, Twilight stood up and walked around me to hug Fluttershy. “Have a good night, Shy. You too, Dreamwalker. See you at breakfast.” I watched her go with a warm smile. “And stop staring at my flank.”

“Neverrr!” I replied with a laugh. I swear I wasn’t. I wasn’t! But her accusation, leveled at me in such a nonchalant tone, had me cracking up.

“She really likes you,” I heard Fluttershy whisper once I managed to breathe again. "She is usually more reserved with this kind of j-joke..."

I wiped away some tears with a hoof and nodded. “Guess so.” I looked over to her, stood up and offered her a hoof. She gracefully accepted and I helped her up. “So,” I started and rubbed my neck. “At this point, there are two options. Three, I guess. First: I escort you to the door, wish you a good night and we go our merry ways. It was a lovely evening, and we could keep it at that. Second: I escort you to the door, and then a liiittle bit further back to your cottage. Just to make sure you arrive at home safe and sound. Which, to be honest, I would prefer over option number one. I know this is Ponyville and all, but I don’t like unnecessary risks. Sounds funny coming from me, I know. Third option: You take my offer and we head to one of the guestrooms.”

It’s Fluttershy, I told myself, and you have to trust that she can stand up for herself if she really needs to. After all, she had come a long way since the day Twilight had arrived in Ponyville. I tried to be as non-threatening as possible. I made offers, not requests. I tried to be attentive. But there was always only so much I could do to ease the process.

I could read her expression and see that inner conflict. She blushed slightly and nodded. “I would like that.”

Don’t laugh, I demanded from myself. Forcing my smile to remain calm. How did Celestia manage that? I tried to make things as clear as possible. “Which one?”

“The, uhm, guestroom… if you don’t mind.” She became more and more quiet again, but at least I got the important part.

Breathing a sigh of relief, I nodded — and then froze, looking her over once more. “You sure?” She did not even try to speak this time and instead just nodded again. I wanted to ask again, but stopped myself. There’s only so much you can do… “Alright, then. Follow me, please.” I led her along the hallway to my guestroom. By now, I actually knew the way. Go me!

I opened the door for her, let her enter and closed it behind me. With moonlight spilling in from the window again, we stood there in silence. And I knew that this next part might become quite a hurdle. “Right. So. I need you to lie down on the bed… and I need to be there, right beside you, to cast the spell. We will both fall asleep and that obviously means that… we’ll be waking up together, tomorrow morning. Just as a heads-up.”

She awkwardly shuffled around with her hooves, her wings rustled, but she nodded. “Where… uhm… where is the bathroom?”

Right. Right.

I just waited in the room until she returned. I stared out the window and appreciated the moon's beauty without thinking about anything, really. Once she was back, I made my way to the bathroom and after my return, I found her covered by the blanket. Maybe it would be wise to get a second one this time. After all, she already had enough problems being comf—

My mind screeched to an abrupt halt when she lifted the cover with her wing. It almost looked like an invitation. Well. It probably was one. Just not that one. Get your mind out of the gutter. I was about to tell her that this was not necessary when she spoke up. “I-It’s getting cold.” Right. I found myself awkwardly stumbling forward, climbing up and scooching closer to her.

I was about to give her a long-winding speech about how I would not do anything she was not comfortable with, how everything was fine and maybe even remark that I could easily get a second blanket. But the words failed me and I realized that nothing I could say would make her more comfortable. Not now. Not yet. “I’m charging the spell now. I will have to touch your head with my horn, so don’t be surprised, okay?”

She nodded and I did as I had said.

Clinically white. But my heart made a tiny leap when I saw half a dozen bubbles floating about in different heights and distances. It felt like reestablishing a connection. Like unlocking parts of what I was used to seeing here, without actually remembering it. It was weird.

I did not forget Fluttershy though. She was right beside me, staring in awe at the bland, nondescript dreamscape. I almost regretted bringing her here. Her first time should have been more impressive than this and I knew that it was a sight to behold… when entered properly. Or displayed properly. I still did not know why this place looked the way it did. But it was wrong.

When I moved over to the first bubble, she followed. Without moving her hooves, but she did not seem to realize that. She just peacefully floated along. Height and distance wasn’t really a thing in this place. Everything was relative. I suspected that she was hovering beside me because her mind was set on ‘staying close’. So she did.

That first bubble was another gray, lazily swirling vortex. It was almost depressing, acknowledging that the primal state of every dream was… this. This boring looking, barely alive soup. This bubble belonged to the very pony beside me and was so non-descriptive about it because, just like with my own dream, the dreamer was asleep, but was not dreaming. There was nopony in there to form this soup. To make it more colorful and fill it with everything his imagination could come up with.

“This one is yours,” I explained. “It’s gray because you aren’t in there, dreaming and shaping it. These other ones are different.” Indeed they were. I floated over to a second bubble. Where the first one had given off a soft tone, like a wind chime, this one felt charged and aggressive and almost ready to strike. Like the last second before a lightning strike. A nightmare, I realized. At least one in the making. And on an instinctual level, I learned the name of the dreamer. I did not know who Dune Runner was, but his or her night was about to become a lot worse. I felt a… connection. Almost an obligation. To go in there and help.

But that was not why we were here.

Could I do it, though? Could I just… see his looming suffering and turn my back on this pony? Mark it. Sighing deeply, I carefully pressed one of my front hooves against it. Without the intention of entering, I simply would not. I was not exactly sure what I was doing, but after a moment, a colorful aura of light and magic enveloped the bubble. It was my magic, I recognized, but I still had no real understanding of what I had done. I only looked on puzzled as the sphere moved away at rapid speed. Off you go.

“Well… that happened,” I whispered and turned to Fluttershy. She had observed the whole ordeal and… to be honest, I could not read her expression at that moment. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to keep you waiting. We are here for somepony else.” She said nothing, so I continued on. The third dream belonged to Derpy, one of the local mail mares. A real sweetheart. I smiled as the dream pulsed with love under my touch. Dreaming about somepony special? I did not know yet. I would not, tonight.

The fourth dream was Pinkies. That slightly pink color scheme should have given it away, really. Or maybe how even her dream could not bear to stand still. I chuckled weakly. “That’s the one,” I told Fluttershy. “Now. Here’s what you do.” I repeated the same instructions I had given Pinkie Pie the night before, even though I felt silly for asking Fluttershy to be careful. It felt like asking Applejack to work. Redundant.

Pinkie's dream was an absurd mess.

That really should not have been a surprise. We were flying — Fluttershy obviously using her wings — over a landscape made of sweets. Rolling chocolate hills covered by extensive marzipan forests. A massive jelly-mountain range spanned across the eastern horizon. Cotton candy clouds gave a continuous trickle of chocolate milk rain. I spotted a herd of sheep, growing cherries instead of wool, and a flock of bubble gum birds. The most disturbing thing probably was the sight of a pitch black pool in a forest clearing. A tar-like mass bubbled there, constantly forming licorice tentacles that dissolved and reformed.

“This is Pinkie’s dream,” Fluttershy noted. And it was just that — a statement. A slight blush spread in her cheeks, probably because of the implications. I said nothing for now, since I deemed it unnecessary at this point. We flew for a while, searching for the exuberant pink mare. I had to be aware of the fact that Pinkie had lucid dreams from time to time, which could be a problem in this instance. And adding to that, I tried to keep in mind that all of this was created by her subconscious. There was a very real possibility that she either was not manifested as Pinkie Pie, instead opting to let some fantasy or scene play out without her direct involvement, or that she might be… down. She could lie to other ponies’ faces about her mood, but her dreams would always be honest.

But I remained hopeful. I knew Pinkie Pie. With what she had seen and how she had reacted to it, I was certain that she had spent every waking minute thinking about this. And with this much thought put into something, her dream should reflect that. They usually did.

She did not say anything. Fluttershy just pointed with a hoof to a cloud below us. My eyes followed her hint and I spotted Pinkie sitting there with… a second Fluttershy. Gotcha.

We settled down on a higher cloud for a moment, so I could relay the rest of my masterplan to her. And answer the obvious question. “It’s a dream,” I started stating the obvious. “I can fly here, without wings. I’m pretty sure that in your dreams, you can play around with Angel — although the real Angel isn’t there. Your subconscious takes what you know about him, how he looks and behaves, and reflects that. Oftentimes, it mixes in some of your feelings on the matter, or person. Wishes, fears, desires, anxieties. That’s one way regular dreams can tip over and become nightmares. Your own mind projects its fears into this one representation and it just runs wild. Anyway, I’m going to give those cherry-sheep a little scare. That should distract Pinkie for a moment. You need to use that moment, swoop in and take your place on that cloud. It should be enough to tap your doppelganger. Got it?” Although she looked uncertain, she still nodded, driven by curiosity at this point. And maybe something else. Naturally, it was not quite this easy, but she now knew what she needed to know. “And don’t worry,” I added when I noticed her frown. “Those sheep aren’t real.” That seemed to mollify her somewhat.

I teleported down onto the ground and dared a little battle of will to change my form into that of a fierce dark chocolate wolf with peanut splinters for claws and a walnut as a brain visibly sticking out of my head. I chuckled to myself, thinking how wicked it must look. And then, I went on the prowl.

For Fluttershy, tapping herself was not really the important task. Pinkie's subconscious tried to adapt to changes. When dealing with nightmares, that sometimes made it harder to dispel them. Here, it would benefit us. Her mind had conjured up a Fluttershy. As soon as the real Fluttershy started to interact with something in Pinkie's immediate vicinity, it would try to reconcile what it knew with what was actually there. It could not get rid of the real Fluttershy, but it could disperse the fake one.

As with a lot of dream mechanics, it was not quite that straightforward and no guarantee, but it was what usually happened. There were other possibilities, but this was our best chance.

I needed her to hear Pinkie out. Fluttershy would be far too embarrassed so actually say anything, or to stop her from rambling. She would hear how Pinkie tried. How she attempted to be careful and quiet and cautious, for Fluttershy’s sake. How she panicked at the prospect of being rejected or ruining their friendship. But knowing Fluttershy, the most important part was: She would see that strong, unyielding, yet so fragile love in Pinkie's eyes.

“I’m manipulating everypony around me, aren’t I?” I growled at nopony in particular. Looking down on my peanut claws, I sighed. “Tia, you and I need to have words. You’re rubbing off too much.” With another low growl, I jumped through some gingerbread bushes and gave the cherry sheep a good old scare. Like a stampede, they started to flee from me and I gave chase. They ran along the shore of the licorice pond, which actually played in my favor, since it allowed me to look up for a second and see if Fluttershy was frozen in place or if she was doing her part. It was the only thing I was truly worried about at this point — her not being able to push forward. But I saw her cautiously flapping her wings, descending towards Pinkie's cloud. Pinkie herself leaned over the edge of her cloud, looking down at what the entire ruckus was about and yelling for the sheep to be quiet before returning her attention to a very real Fluttershy.

Yes!

Either Pinkie had not seen me, or she did not care. That… had been my initial assessment, anyway. It turned out to be false. Maybe? I had given up on the chase once I had seen Fluttershy take her counterparts place and had, following some weird, dream-induced instinct, attempted to lick my claws clean. Only to realize: I was tasty. So I gnawed and licked at myself a little, until all of a sudden, something snaked around my midsection and just pulled.

At first, I thought about how Applejack might have found her way here. Then I realized that Pinkie could easily have dreamed up her own Applejack to wrangle the predator disturbing her cherry sheep’s peace. And then I realized, with growing horror, that it wasn’t AJs lasso, but one of the licorice tentacles.

Seen enough clop to know where this is going…

Pinkie was innocent. Had that not been my own assessment? But she was a healthy young mare, I remembered that part as well. How big was the chance that this black, bubbling pool was somehow a representation of her urges and desires…?

Looking down with dread creeping up my spine, I noticed several more tentacles snaking along my hindlegs, restricting any chance of escape further and further, while the one around my barrel just kept dragging me towards the middle of the pond.

Yeah, no, this was quite enough of that! I resumed my normal pony-form and tried to struggle against the tentacle's grip.

Dreams did not use magic. In fact, dreams did not even have magic. Not really, anyway. For a unicorn to ‘charge his horn with energy’, it was just imagination. It was manifested expectations. It was not a requirement to teleport, strictly speaking, but it was a focus component that helped my own will win out against hers. That being said, using a focus component like that had its own disadvantages. As I came to realize and remember when another long, sleek tentacle rose up and enveloped my horn. “Oh come on…!” I grumbled and shivered at the sensation.

I could break free. It would take effort, but it was more than possible. But I had maneuvered myself into a bit of a pickle here: If I would break free, I ran the risk of alerting Pinkie’s subconsciousness that I was here, which might in turn alert Pinkie herself. I looked up at the cloud and saw a beet red Fluttershy still listening to Pinkie and giving the occasional nod, fully transfixed on her energetic friend and hopefully soon-to-be lover.

“Ugh. Fine,” I mumbled and just… stopped resisting. It was Pinkie's mind, after all. I doubted that she would do anything actually harmful and as far as I knew, she was not exactly experienced. At all.

Knowing that, it came as no surprise as the tentacles restrained me just a little further and then… held me. It became quite apparent that she herself did not quite know what to do now. I could have lived with that. I could have just waited this embarrassing situation out until Fluttershy had what we had come for. But Pinkie, ever adapting, wriggled again. “Haaah… what now?” I asked and looked down my barrel. Another licorice tentacle cautiously stroked up my leg, along my side, then back down along my spine. It actually felt nice, in a very weird way. And I would not have objected if this had been the full extent of her ministrations. But nooo. She just had to get more adventurous.

Cautious, slow strokes had coaxed out my member and now made me shudder in anticipation. Fluttershy, would you please hurry up…? Then again, it was not really her choice, was it? I started wriggling again, resisting again. Maybe I could make clear that this was not supposed to be happening? Again I looked up, but they were just talking and talking and talking and I grew impatient. Mostly because Pinkie became more daring.

Maybe not quite as innocent…

It was not fair to judge Pinkie for her subconsciousness. There were a lot of urges and thoughts, observations and questions that we tended to ignore, shove to the back of our minds or downright forget. Most of that stuff lingered on in some way.

When I caught myself moaning, I shoved a hoof into my mouth. Alright, that’s it. I gave you as much time as I could! I looked up one last time, fully prepared to just rip this dream to shreds, but I saw the sky darken. Saved by the bell. The world around us started to break apart, clouds vanished, Pinkie smiled serenely at Fluttershy and we all… woke up.