In a Sea of Madness

Yesterday we had a dream.

I’d been calculating our food allotment for the next month when it happened. The previous day, we’d had a bumper crop of coconuts, so I had to readjust my calculations to account for that. At least that was the excuse I gave. Truth be told, I just needed something to keep me busy.

The next thing I knew, I was flying high over Equestria, a disembodied, unwilling observer. Below me…

Below me was utter madness.

Equestria as I knew it was no more. The Everfree forest had been transmuted into a labyrinth of glittering green crystal. Griffonstone was just gone- all that was left was a gaping hole in the universe. Appaloosa had twisted itself into a hypercube. And Ponyville.

Ponyville was the worst. Every store, every house was made of flesh, buttressed with bone, with windows of translucent flesh. Roofs were thatched with hair. Instead of grass, the streets were made of wildly thrashing tongues, frantically licking the air. In the town square, bile bubbled from a fountain made of bone. Populating this nightmare were ponies made of wood, plaster, stone, and brick. Stallions, mares, and foals alike stood motionless. Glass eyes were shot with terror. Carved mouths were frozen in silent screams.

I snapped back to reality to the sound of screaming. It took me a moment to realize it was me

Once we’d shaken off the worst of the dream, the girls and I assembled. As I’d feared, each one had experienced the same waking nightmare.

For a moment, we’d simply stood there, none willing to ask the obvious. Finally, Dash broke the silence.

“Twi…?”

Quickly, I jury-rigged an explanation. It had all been a hallucination. A shared hallucination caused by constant exposure to the Bubble coupled with the stress we’d all been under.

Everypony accepted it without question. That’s right, none of it had been real. It had all been in our heads.

That’s what we told ourselves. None of us were buying it. I wasn’t buying it.

Once again, Pinkie came to the rescue.

“Uh…happy birthday, Dashie!”

Rainbow had tilted her head. “Wait, it’s my birthday?” She’d said.

“It is now!” Pinkie had said, prancing off. “I’ve got a party to plan!”
I’d volunteered to help set up. Everypony else gladly joined in.

All in all, it was a good ‘birthday party’. Pinkie somehow managed to whip up a cake and ice cream from our food supplies(when this ends, I’m going to marry that mare). We played games, sang songs, and had fun.

I’m sure we’ll have forgotten all about it by tomorrow. After all, it was just a dream—that’s right