Trailside Banquet

One Year Ago - Castle of Friendship, mid-day

The Mane Six gather around the map in Twilight’s throne room, looking at the hovering symbol above the map for answers. Starlight spends her time silently jotting down notes from her latest solo border inspection, with Spike providing her company as he leans on her side, reading one of his comic books. Despite it being just past noon, every pony there was handed a cup of either the finest coffee or the loveliest bags of tea leaves this side of Equestria.

“Straight from the Corner!” exclaimed Pinkie sweetly with an innocent smile, not one to shirk on the opportunity to offer her friends a lovely drink - with cupcakes too! The gesture, while being the usual Pinkie-level of niceties, had an underlying reason: everypony was utterly exhausted, and she could easily tell.

Twilight addressed her friends after taking a sip of the steaming golden liquid, the much needed caffeine giving back some of her equinity. “So…how’s everyone been feeling? You know, since the last time we went in?”

Rainbow Dash responds after taking a bite of her cupcake, trying to hide the tension by keeping a casual tone, “Pshh, I’m as cool as the summer breeze, Twilight,” she chuckled before glancing at the others, “Why? You guys doing good?”

Applejack rubbed the back of her neck with a hoof before replying, “Honestly, I ain’t been sleeping too good, sugar cube. Been distractin’ myself with stuff around the farm but at night…”

She hesitated a moment by drinking her own mug of coffee, taken as black as midnight, then sighed. “I keep seein’ Sweet Apple Acres' all twisted up, like the AAZ. Everything’s witherin’ away. All of it - the orchard trees, the barn…my family. They’re there but…they don’t look right. Like they’re made of broken glass.” She gives a half-hearted chuckle to ease any tensions. “It’s prob’ly nothin’, honest.”

Pinkie responded, her usual excited mannerism dampened somewhat by the news that her friend has also had nightmares. “Yeah…I’ve had some weird dreams too…like, I’m throwing a party, but no pony’s having any fun. They’re just standing there and staring at me…no no no, through me. Like I’m not even real.”

She slowly twirled a spoonful of sugar in her cup of java to calm her nerves before continuing, “And then they just disappear…like confetti in the wind. But not the fun confetti!” her voice pipes up an octave as she clarifies, “more like…sad confetti.”

Rarity raises and lowers a tea bag in her own cup a few times before speaking, trying to keep her voice calm and composed. “I must admit, darlings, that I too have also been experiencing dreams as well.” She takes a sip, the aroma of the leaf water being a much needed wake up call. “My boutique…it’s falling apart in front of me. The gowns I make continue to disintegrate before I could finish a stitch. And as I am frantically trying to keep them together, a creeping fog begins to surround me!” She took a deep breath before finishing her cup and her thoughts, “I keep telling myself it’s just an overactive imagination but it has surely unsettled me for many nights now.”

Fluttershy spoke up, her voice no more than a whisper, as she poured her own cup of tea. “My animals…I keep seeing them in my dreams. They all turn to stone.” she shedded a tear as she lowered the tea bag, “even Angel Bunny, who looks at me scared, but I can’t help him. When I try to leave my cottage for help, the world is so quiet…like nothing’s there anymore.” She stares at her tea before forcing herself to take a sip, no longer wanting her cupcake due to the knots developing in her stomach.

Twilight downed her cup of brew before she spoke to the group with a forced sense of calm, “I think we need to acknowledge that these dreams are no coincidence. I’ve had them too. The Cutie Map…it begins to crack - like Equestria itself is falling apart, piece by piece, with that weird symbol growing bigger and bigger. Every time I try to fix the cracks, it just keeps getting worse.”

Rainbow Dash spoke up as she finished her bean juice, trying to break the tension, “Okay, okay, so we’ve had a bunch of creepy dreams. It’s not a big deal. We’re going back in, right? We can’t let a few nightmares stop us from our mission to Celestia!”

She looks to Twilight for confirmation, “Right?”

Twilight took a pause before responding, “I want to believe they’re just harmless dreams, Dash. But I can’t shake the worry that these dreams are connected to the AAZ somehow.”

Rarity frowned, concern plastered on her face. “What if these dreams are more than dreams, darling? What if they’re visions or some sort of warning?”

Twilight acknowledges Rarity before speaking, “That’s why we need to stay strong, girls. The AAZ’s magic may be trying to mess with us, but we’re tougher than that. If it’ll ease everypony, I’ll ask Celestia in today’s report on the AAZ to have Princess Luna visit us in our dreams for her guidance, and we’ll hopefully get more answers. We just have to be cautious.”

Fluttershy nervously taps her hooves together before asking a question, “What if the AAZ is getting…stronger? What if the dreams get worse?”

Twilight extends a hoof around Fluttershy in an embrace, trying to comfort her friend. “Then we’ll face it together, Fluttershy. We always come out stronger on the other side. We have each other, and as long as we do, we’ll be okay.”

Pinkie speaks with a hint of excited nervousness, “Yeah! We’ll be okay as long as we stick together!” Her eyes glanced around at her friends, lingering on each of them for a moment longer than usual.

“Together, right?” repeated Pinkie. The moment of silence weighed heavily on the group as that word - together - sinks into each of them. The Mane Six nod, determined to see their latest expedition through.

And at not a moment too soon, Starlight clears her throat before speaking to the group, “I’m done journaling! Are we all ready to head out?”