Author's Note
The Leo Collection. A google doc sharing my old drafts.
Art by Little Tigress.
Part I: Bring Me a Dream
The day was bright and warm with ponies all happy and buzzing about. The birds were chirping, the foals were playing, friends were chatting, and couples were snuggling under the trees on the soft, bright green grass.
But, out of all the couples, there were none as joyed and alive as this one.
Rarity, along with a stallion, were both laughing over a silly little punchline.
"Oh, you, you're such a comedian!" Rarity laughed between breaths. Once when she calmed down, Rarity took a slow, relieving sigh. "Oh, that was hilarious... can you tell that joke to me again?"
After the joke was retold, she laughed once again. Never before did she feel so much at ease. All those years of hard work made a strain on the poor mare, but luckily all the stress of that had been relieved.
She could do this all day!
So, after she calmed down, she said "Oh, that was hilarious... can you tell me that joke again?" and a stallion did, and again she laughed. She could do this over and over... but eventually, no matter how hilarious the joke was, and no matter how well he told it every time, she had enough. Looking into the sky, she breathed one more sigh before showing a sign of contempt.
"Mr. Sandman~! Bring me a dream!" she shouted. She felt a comforting warmth, as if somepony was listening. "Make him the cutest I've ever seen!" and then, like a lid being removed and put back on twice, came the sound; bung, bung, bung, bung. By the first two 'bung's, Rarity felt a warm sensation, like a massage (and if she could purr, she would). Then by the next two 'bung's, she opened her eyes and saw a stallion before her. Next, she fluffed her mane with a face full of lust, "Give him two lips, like roses and clover, then tell him his lonesome nights are over!"
And just as she demanded, a stallion approached her. Lips so attractive and plush she just had to do it! With a joyous leap, she pranced her way to a stallion and gave him the longest, most longing, and most passionate kiss. It felt like heaven, kissing a stallion, and she enjoyed every moment of it.
She felt so satisfied, so happy, so... done.
Fulfilled.
Complete.
The world around her began to grow darker. And one by one, ponies began to leave. It wasn't late; it mustn't, she knew, but still the world began to grow somber anyhow. Her head fell low as she sighed, her mood turning from joyous to mournful. The warm sun became eclipsed, the clouds began to thin and grey, and her coat went from warm to cold. Her eyes began to feel a little wet. Tears fell onto her muzzle. Her mood calmed, and with a longing sigh, she looked up to the sky and said,
"Sandman, I'm so alone..." looking around, she began to notice the lack of a stallion, the lacking of something warm, without company. "Don't have nopony to call my own," she continued in a pout, "Please turn on your magic beam. Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream!"
With her plea sealed, she began to feel a cold gust of wind. With her eyes closed, her mouth lined in a frown, she began to feel a bit drowsy.
But she didn't sleep. Instead, she opened her eyes, her mouth curved in a smile, and she began to laugh. A stallion was just telling her a funny joke, and the punch line was simply gold. Once when she finally calmed down from her laughing fit, she found herself saying "Oh, you, you're such a comedian!"
She looked to her side, and before she asked him to tell her the joke again, a thought occurred to her.
"Wait a second... haven’t we already done this?"
With a puzzled look, she looked at the park around her.
Birds chirping, foals playing, friends chatting, and couples snuggling.
But still things were not quite the same.
Curious, she got up and began to explore the park.
The first thing she noticed were the birds. She knew how often birds chirped; they chirped all the time. In fact, when she was a filly, she once wondered if the birds were actually talking to each other, since the way they chirped at one another seemed similar to how two ponies would chat. And years later, she learned for sure that they do, for she had seen a pony talk to them before. The name... escaped her, but she'll remember eventually. At least, if she remembered what she was even thinking about. By the sound of another chirp, she remembered; the birds. Their chirping. Their chirping that always sang in melody, in duets, in harmony, not... in repeat. Over and over.
Her eyes followed the birds to the foals that were playing.
She never liked foals.
They were chaotic, disorderly, and never acted in a pattern. They were unpredictable, unamusing, and uncouth. Even in her days as a foal, she didn’t play with other foals. Instead, she simply gossiped with her peers, something about... a colt. She couldn't recall, because she couldn't even recall what she was talking about. Then she saw the foals, and remembered; they were a bit too well-ordered. Some were running around the same circle, repeatedly passing a ball back and forth to each other, others were playing patty cake. But what all three of these actions each pair of foals had in common was that they were all moving in perfect sync.
Before her mind moved any further, her mind turned to the friends who were chatting.
She remembered friends, they were always great to have around.
They gave you a chance to express yourself, to enjoy something with them, and to learn something new. But these friends weren't being expressive, and there was not anything to learn from their chatter. There were words, but they seemed just as pointless as the chirping.
She tried to recall what chirps had to do with the matter, but it sadly slipped her mind.
Friends always came in their shapes and sizes. Some were friends you only see at a specific place and time, like a classmate or coworker that you would still wave to if you were to see them anywhere else. Some were casual friends, friends that you associate with because you enjoy the same thing together. Some were best friends, ones that will always have your back and never judge. They would have had the worst of times with, only for the next to become the best. She probably had about one, two, three, four... five? She couldn't recall, because she couldn't even recall what she was thinking about.
Her mind then turned to the couples who were snuggling in the bright green grass, which now seemed a shade darker.
She remembered couples: you see them all the time.
Sometimes you will gawk at how adorable they are and can't help but smile as they nuzzle each other. Sometimes you feel uncomfortable, for you knew that if you associate with either one of the two they'll stare you down, for a couple must not care about anypony else but themselves. Sometimes you can't help but roll your eyes because they were rather plastic-perfect, or far too young, and it made you think that it was only a short matter of time before they will depart. But none of these couples were adorable, uncomfortable to be around, or fake. They weren't even snuggling, just... wrapping each other in each other's hooves.
What was she thinking about?
With her mind blank, she decided to fill it with another thought. A stallion. She left a stallion behind. Feeling embarrassed and ashamed, she cantered her way back to her spot to find a stallion.
"I'm sorry I wandered off, I shouldn't have! Will you forgive me? Will you judge me? Please don't think I'm just some foal with a low attention span, please don't assume that I'll just forget you! I never will!"
A stallion wasn't listening. She needed a way to get through to a stallion. She bit her lip. She felt afraid that a stallion might never forgive her and think that she would, indeed, forget about a stallion.
Looking to the sky, she breathed a sigh.
"Mr. Sandman! Bring me a dream," with that said, she felt warmth, as if somepony was turning to her. "Make him the cutest I've ever seen," And then, like a bell being tolled four times, came the sound; bong, bong, bong, bong. By the first two 'bong's, Rarity felt a sensation, like someone was touching her by the shoulders (and if she could figure out why, she would). By the next two 'bongs', she opened her eyes and saw a stallion before her that she could tell was judging her no more. Next, as she crossed her hoof with a face filled with relief, she said "Give him the word that I'm not a rover, then tell him that his lonesome nights are over,"
She felt relieved that a stallion could forgot her actions, could forget her foolishness, could forget... anything she did wrong.
She felt guilty.
She regretted that she would even think about solving the issue by simply wishing it away.
What happened to her ability to face consequences?
What happened to her ability to think straight?
What happened to her ability... to remember?
Her train of thought was lost, but her emotions were not. Her mind empty, yet her heart so broken, she burst into tears. A stallion wrapped a stallion's hooves around her the moment she threw herself into a stallion's chest to be comforted. She wanted to get away from the feeling of dread without context.
Everything became darker.
A stallion left, along with everypony else, and Rarity was left to cry on her own. Looking up at the sky, she pleaded, "Mr. Sandman! I'm so alone! Don't have nopony to call my own! Please, turn on your beam! Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream!"
She bursted into tears, unable to think or do anything but curl and suffer the pain. But then she felt a surprisingly comforting cold wind. She kept her tearful eyes shut, and, her lips quivering, she began to feel a bit drowsy. She didn't sleep, instead she opened her eyes, her mouth steadied into a smile, and she began to laugh.
She stopped and immediately wondered why. When her memories and thoughts gathered, she remembered that a stallion was telling her a joke.
Again.
And again.
And again— "No!" she yelled as her memories began to fade, fighting to keep them afloat. "There is something going on, I know it! I know it! I—... oh, you, you're such a comedian! Wait, no you're not! What in Tartarus is going on?!"
A stallion seemed to not like where this was going. She couldn't be sure, a stallion’s face remained blank. Emotionless. And yet she felt that a stallion was getting suspicious of her, as if a stallion was hiding something.
"Who are you?!" she demanded, "What is your name? What am I doing here?" she could see a stallion slowly shaking a stallion's head, making her shake. "You're scaring me, you, and I don't like it! This isn't real. None of this is real. And you, you are not even a stallion!"
Suddenly, all the birds stopped chirping, all the foals stopped playing, all the friends stopped chatting, and all the couples stopped snuggling for only the briefest of moments. A stallion's eye began to twitch. Rarity shook her head.
She was right.
"I need to get out of here!" with a dash, she cantered as far as she could, as far away from a stallion as she could get. The world around her became entirely black and white, like a movie at the theatre. She could hear the constant crunch of leaves and sticks as if she was in a forest, even though she could've sworn she was in a park in the middle of winter.
But forest or not, she tripped on something that might be a branch, or a bench. She couldn't tell, but there was something she tripped on for sure. She landed on the ground on all fours, panting, gathering breath, trying to regain her thoughts. Her memories. She waited for her heart to calm down, then rolled onto her back.
The first thing she saw were the birds, all chirping rapidly and angrily at her. She screamed at the sight of the vultures around her. She got up as quickly as she could, and ran once again, hornets flew everywhere from the sudden movement.
Bats began to screech in either shock or anger, but before she could figure out which it was, or what the flying things even were, she crashed into a stone wall. She stumbled back and looked around. She was now in a cave, even though she had been in a forest. Or in a park?
Before she could figure out what, she tripped yet again, only over a foal. She gasped, and instantly all the foals stopped playing and turned their attention towards her. There was no anger. No joy. No sadness. No fear. No peace. Just blank stares focused on her, but rather or not they had an expression, she knew she disturbed them.
"P-pardon... me...?"
All the foals did was walk in her direction. Feeling uneasy, Rarity began to backpedal away from them, which only made them walk a little faster. She realized that the faster she moved, the faster they did. A walk turned into a trot. A trot turned into a run. And once Rarity lost her patience, the run turned into a canter.
A beach ball flew her way.
When it landed on her, she fell back from the devastating blow from what should be a light object.
She slid on the metal floor. When she caught her breath, she saw a stallion behind the metal bars, holding it to close her in.
"Wait, no!"
But it was too late; the door shut, locked, and sealed. She could not make sense of it. Why was she in a cell? She should be in a park. Or was it a cave? She didn't even know anymore.
She jumped when she felt a cold touch of a hoof on her side. And when she looked to see who it was, she screamed at the discovery that it was one of the foals. She stumbled back, banging at the rock wall, or probably at a tree at the park, and screamed to let her out.
But when she ran out of energy, she was finally calm enough to see that the foal wasn't going to advance on her. If anything, the foal wasn't going anywhere at all, just sitting there and pounding her hooves in the air as if she was playing patty-cake.
She calmed down and realised that, actually, there were two foals both playing patty-cake together in the park, near the tree she was bashing at. She was sure of it. She listened in on a conversation from one of the friends. The conversation was... making no sense. Every word they spoke was meaningless, yet they were speaking in perfect Equestrian.
As she listened in, the words began to sound a little jumbled, as if they were talking over each other. And as she tried to listen in further and further to get a grasp of what they were talking about, there came more voices. More words. More nonsense.
She looked away when she had enough, but still it did not stop. The voices started to mix and crumble into each other like the sound of a blender. But it began to make sense. She couldn't tell what the meaning was, but she began to understand every conversation around her.
But as soon as the mixed jumbo began to become bearable, they all fell into sync with one another and repeated the same Equestrian words. Even though one can understand everypony saying the same thing at once more than they can understand several things being said at once, Rarity began to find this like water torture. She screamed as the voices began to roar louder, the words slowly reducing to a single sentence, then a single statement, then a single word.
A great amount of pain blossomed in her forehead. Looking around, she found herself in the metal chamber and saw the large dent in the rock wall and the dripping of blood down her muzzle. But, still, she could have sworn it was mud when she noticed that she actually tripped over something and fell into it. She tripped over a couple. She looked behind the metal walls and saw several couples snuggling about. While she moved about carefully in the cave, she thought about why she was in the metal park?
Perhaps, maybe, she had done something? Or ate something? Or perhaps—she panicked the moment she realised she was walking and accidentally stepped on a couple. Before she could run, they wrapped their hooves around hers, pulling her in between them. She uselessly struggled, desperate to get away.
Forced to accept her fate, she was pulled in between the couple, both snuggled around her. She could feel their warmth, their heat, and that they were melting.
Melting into her.
Their flesh began to be one with hers, morphing into an ugly goop of white, purple and a hint of light blue. She wished she could scream. She really did. But her muzzle was melted into one of the couple's chest, and soon the world stretched as her eyes began to join suit.
She finally felt something solid: a hoof, reaching to grab her away from the pony goop. She seemed like... a mess, to say the least. If you had the imagination to picture how a pony would look if they were pulled away from melting, then you might be just as mad as I, for imagination can be just as dangerous as it is fun. It is a power that no one could see, feel, or hear. Power that can uplift, can heal but can also corrupt and twist.
Rarity gazed at her savior. "Oh, it's you. You saved me!" she praised a stallion. A stallion only dragged her back to their spot, right where she was supposed to be. When they reached, Rarity could only gaze into a stallion's eyes. She couldn't make out any facial details, no coat colour, no mane, not even the colour of a stallion's eyes.
But still she loved a stallion.
A stallion had beauty that she could not discriminate, but somehow she still loved a stallion anyway.
"Thank you." she leaned close to a stallion, and a stallion didn't move, didn't respond; only stood still like a statue as she kissed his cold lips. Her eyes closed, and her mind emptied.
And when she opened them... she didn't see anything. There was no difference between closing them or opening them, she was in the abyss. There were no birds chirping, no foals playing, no friends chatting, no couples snuggling, and no stallion. But still a stallion was there. She knew a stallion was. Just knew it. With her eyes closed, filled with fear, she said,
"Mr. Sandman...?"
…
"... yess?"
Her heart skipped a beat. That was the first voice since... since... it was the first.
Desperate to get out of the dark as soon as possible, she continued. "Bring us a dream." Like a dragon stepping four times, came a sound; bum, bum, bum, bum. By the first two 'bum's, Rarity felt a burning sensation, like someone had grabbed her. (and if she could escape, she would). Then by the next two 'bum's, she opened her eyes and saw a stallion before her.
Next, with her expression filled with traumatisation, she said "Give him a pair of eyes with a 'come-hither' gleam. Give him a lonely heart like Pagliacci. And lots of wavy hair like Liberace,"
Just as she demanded, a stallion appeared before her with welcoming eyes ever so seductive, a touch of twisted anger, and a wavy mane that almost seemed a bit too wavy: like a princess. Before she could begin to question why she didn't get what she wanted, a stallion began to approach. A stallion's eyes turned from seduction to anger, and before she could react, she felt a stab in her heart.
When a stallion withdrew his knife, his neck covered by a clown's ruff, Rarity fell to her hooves. Anger frozen on a stallion's face like a painting, he left Rarity where she was and disappeared.
"Mr. Sandman... somepony to hold," she struggled to continue through her gasping as she strived to keep herself breathing. "Would be so preachy, before we're too old. So please turn on your magic beam. Mr. Sandman, bring us..." she panted harder, her mind racing between pleading, breathing, and ensuring herself that a stallion was still there. "Please, please, please, Mr. Sandman... bring us a... dream..."
Her lungs gave out, her heart stopped, her eyes closed, her mouth cold and lifeless. The last thing she could feel was a cold wind.
And then her eyes opened, and she began to laugh.