Soul Saga: Catching Dreams

"All in all, can one really define the sightings of the inner soul? Are we bound to forever be at the mercy of our subconscious while we walk the vast dreamscape? Or are we destined to one day rule that world as well...in the exact same way we feel we have conquered everyday life?"

===D.W.===

"He's a strong one. Quite the fighter too."

"And look...he has your wings dear. Mirage will be happy with that."

"What are you going to call him?"

...

"He came to me in my dreams. He made the nightmares go away. I think I'll call him..."

===D.W.===

"Dream Catcher? Hellooooooooo? Are you seriously still asleep, little brother?"

A soft, gentle nudge came at the edge of his perception. He rolled over, trying to delve back into the realm of his fantasies, not yet ready to face the orb that just had to be blazing a new day, casting the soft glow of the sunrise through the window. The little black shape pulled the blankets further up over his head to leave only a tuft of violet hair sticking up from underneath the soft comforter.

"Mrrrph.", came the muffled reply.

"All right. Don't say I didn't warn you."

The world suddenly turned topsy-turvy as he was ejected from the warm confines of his subconscious fortress, feeling himself held aloft in a hazy white glow of magical energy. The young foal shook his head to clear the last of his vision before opening his eyes to find his assailant staring him straight in the face. A white unicorn colt looked him over, shaking his head all the while with a lop-sided grin as he set him gently down on the wooden floor of their room, leaving him to his own machinations.

"Oh come on Mirage, I was just at the best part." Dream stifled a yawn, blinking away the final remnants of sleep that threatened to urge him back into the comfort of his soft bed. Lazily, he ran a hoof through his wild mane, pushing it to the side with a flick of the wrist and a flop of an ear. He stood up slowly and began his morning routine, searching out a brush amidst the clutter of his side of the room before strapping it to his arm and gently pulling the knots out of his mane. But his talk proved fruitless; his brother shrugged and proceeded to do the same to his own blonde locks before levitating his glasses to his nose.

"You know dad will be angry if you sleep in again." Mirage returned, not even bothering to cast a glance over his shoulder.

"And you know that he'll be angry if he found out you used your magic on me again."

Dream ruffled his miniscule wings in mock-irritation, pouncing playfully onto Mirage's back as the older colt made to stand up, taking them both to the floor. They wrestled back and forth for a few moments before Mirage stood up again with a smile, casting his gaze to his little brother on his backside. "Come on, let's go get some breakfast kiddo."

"Hey pop." Mirage called out as he entered the dining room at the base of the stairs, dropping Dream Catcher off gently onto one of the stools. Dream immediately tore into the breakfast before him without so much as a word edgewise while Mirage seated himself next to his little brother and began to eat as well. Sounds emanated from the kitchen in the next room, their father still at the counter making his own breakfast.

"Mornin' boys. Glad to see you're up and about early enough today." The large unicorn stallion nodded to them as he levitated his own plate of greens to the table. "Ready for school today, squirt?"

Dream looked up from his plate, orange muzzle in stark contrast to his black fur and violet mane covered in tomato juices and miniscule slices of carrot shavings. His little head bobbled up and down rapidly in response before it returned to his plate to finish devouring the nearly decimated meal. Their father, satisfied with that answer, turned to Mirage.

"Today's your first day at the academy too. You think you're ready for it, son? If the instructors are anything like what I remember, it's going to be tough during the first two weeks."

"No sweat pops. I practiced all through the summer, so I should have an edge on some of the others, don't ya think?"

The white stallion chuckled and nodded at that. "That you should. Hopefully it'll be enough. If you show enough promise...you might even make it into the Gifted Academy in Canterlot. That's a good goal to work towards."

"I'll do my best." Mirage nodded before taking his empty plate into the kitchen.

"Dad?" Dream spoke up.

"What is it pipsqueak?"

"What if the others...make fun of me?"

The elder unicorn pulled his attention to his younger son, knowing exactly what the little colt was afraid of. He stood up and circled the table, putting a comforting hoof on the little one's shoulder.

"It's about your eyes, isn't it?" He asked.

Dream nodded, breathing a heavy sigh.

Some ponies suggested he'd been born cursed, though that had never proven any truth. Others thought he'd been the victim of a cruel defect as a foal, though that theory was just as plausible as the curse idea. Dream Catcher cast his head up at his father, looking at him from behind two different colored eyes. The left shone a brilliant gold, like his mothers, and the right bore a deep blue hue which he'd acquired from his father. If his odd fur and mane coloring hadn't been enough, plenty of foals had already taunted and berated the young colt for being weird just because of his two tone eye colors.

"Don't you worry any about what those silly foals have to say. They're just jealous that they're not as special as you are." His father picked him up in the gentle embrace of his magic and held him close for a few moments, the young pegasus gripping in a tight hug around his father's neck and shoulders.

===D.W.===

With their breakfast out of the way, the two young colts made their way into town with Mirage at the lead. The elder pony knew his way around far better than Dream did, being the older sibling, and had been charged with the task of seeing his younger brother off to school before leaving for his own. The brothers stopped here and there on their way to pick up things for the day ahead; snacks and drinks for lunch amongst other various trinkets and tidbits. Mirage even purchased Dream Catcher an apple to give to his new teacher, just out of the sheer hilarity that he thought the gesture might bring.

Once their morning shopping had been done, Mirage led the way to the one room schoolhouse that served the small burg of Ponyville. He stepped into the schoolyard, looking around at it fondly.

"Ya know Dream, I went to school here too."

"I know. Dad told me. He also said you were a big trouble-maker too." Dream laughed.

"Watch it squirt, I can still be a trouble-maker." Mirage grinned, turning around to gently punt his brother through the open front door of the schoolhouse with a casual back-hoof. "Now you remember to behave. And try to get along with everypony, all right?"

"Bye big brother!" Dream waved as Mirage walked off before heading inside.

===D.W.===

The day wasn't even halfway over and Dream was already falling asleep at his desk. It wasn't that school was boring. He was just naturally sleepy when he wasn't energetic. So far though, it had been a good day. None of the other students had seen fit to poke fun at him, and the teacher had actually liked the idea of her student giving her an apple on his first day. But he found he couldn't keep himself awake, no matter how hard he tried. Dream stifled a yawn as the teacher continued her lecture on the founding of Equestria, an obviously important lesson. He found himself picturing all of it as it happened, seeing the three tribes of ponies fighting over the land while the nasty creatures that brought the winter storms followed them relentlessly.

He soon lost himself in the imagery, his little head falling to the desk as he drifted off into his dreams.

===D.W.===

"Be careful! Don't let it get away!"

"Watch out! It's heading your way!"

Dream found himself standing in an unfamiliar place, as he always did when he visited this side of his eyelids. All around him, machines stood out in stark contrast to the cloud based setting that the room was comprised of. Here and there, pegasi were flitting back and forth wearing hard hats and white coats, frightened looks on their faces as they rushed in a frenzy, trying to capture something.

"Watch that discharge!"

There was a bright flash of light and a loud crack. Dream opened his eyes to see a pegasus fall to the ground, coat charred black and hard hat missing. It twitched a few times before it went still, others flying down to it. One or two stayed aloft to tame the stray thundercloud that had gone awry, but the vast majority were either now attending to their fallen co-worker or cleaning up the debris left behind in the wake of the vicious cloud.

"Is everything okay?"

"I don't think so. Someone call the hospital. We need to hurry."

"What happened?"

"Somepony wasn't paying attention..."

===D.W.===

"...and apparently still isn't. Dream Catcher, do you think it wise to sleep through your first day of school?"

The sharp crack of a ruler on his desk jolted Dream out of his vision, a sharp cold sweat breaking on his brow. The teacher stood above him with a concerned look on her muzzle, watching it grow worse with the heavy breathing of her student and the obvious discomfort he'd been in.

"Are you all right, little one?"

Dream looked around the room, noting all eyes were on him. He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, but nothing could hide the fact that he was sweating profusely. That hadn't been a mere dream. More akin to a nightmare if anything. What was worse is that it had left his head pounding ever so slightly.

"I think so ma'am." He nodded slowly, careful not to upset the pulsing tension in his little skull.

"Shall I send for your parents to come take you home?"

He pondered that for a moment, pressing his hooves to his temples to clear his head, but the pounding didn't cease. It only got worse. So much so that for a moment, his vision swam in a sea of dark spots. The teacher caught that before having to catch him as he tumbled over sideways out of his seat. She left him to the floor easily, calling one of the other students to send word to her assistant. Soon, Dream was surrounded by ponies he didn't know. It wasn't much longer before his father arrived in his work clothes, carting his son off towards home.

"I'm sorry Dad..." Dream murmured from atop his father's back.

"It's okay son. Just relax. We'll get you home and into bed." The stallion cooed softly to his youngest as they made their way home. It was a fortunately short trip from the schoolhouse to their half-double abode near the north side of town. The unicorn carefully weaved his way in and out of side streets to avoid knocking Dream around too much until they arrived at the front door of the house. He carefully took the foal up to his bed before levitating the young one into it, covering him up gently with the soft down comforter.

As his father left to retrieve a wet washcloth, Dream snuggled down softly into his pillow, his tiny head on fire with the images he'd seen. They had burned themselves into his mind and even felt as though they were the source of his new found headache. His dreams had been vivid before, but nothing ever like that. This dream brought with it pain and a different kind of fear than your typical nightmare. This fear was more tangible than anything he'd ever felt before from his dreams.

"Here you go kiddo." His father brought the washcloth back from the bathroom, draping it across his forehead. "You mind telling me what happened?"

"I...had a dream about this place..." He started before catching an odd look from his father.

"You fell asleep in class on your first day?"

Dream nodded sheepishly.

"Well...I guess I can't say I expected any less." His father chuckled slightly, brushing at Dream's mane. "I did the same thing. Anyway...go on."

"There were a bunch of ponies like me, all wearing hard hats and white coats...and there was a thundercloud...it hurt somepony."

The look on Dream's father's face was one of astonishment at that revelation. He leaned down closer to his son and really began to listen.

"What else happened?"

"I don't know. They took the pony away...that's all I remember before the teacher woke me up."

His father nodded, standing up slowly.

"Do you know that place, Dream?" The little pony shook his head as his father continued. "That place you dreamed of was the Weather Factory. That's where all the weather in Ponyville comes from."

"Isn't that where mom works?"