Waking Eyes

Flare turned around, and saw it was Clouded. "Oh, hey Clouded, you want to talk?" Flare had asked her; he figured it had to do with the injuries she had healed.

"Yes," Clouded said, "If you don't mind, come with me. We can talk more in private." Flare then didn't know what to think.

"What are we going to be talking about?" Flare asked her, wanting an explanation before he started following.

"Don't worry, not anything that will get us in trouble." Clouded smiled, although Flare knew she was serious. "It might just get a little personal, but only if we force it to be. Better safe that we only hear, you can tell Arrow afterward."

"Arrow might not remember," Flare said, remembered that he just gave Arrow a bottle of wine.

"Why wouldn't he remember?" Clouded asked, there didn't seem to be a problem with him at the party.

“Because he might be drunk when I meet up with him later." Flare explained, "But, he earned the right to drink, though." Clouded was unsure what Flare meant.

“Oh, well I hope he feels okay in the morning," Clouded said cheerfully, "If not, bring him to me. I can make something to make him feel better." Clouded offering to help Arrow would make Flare's life easier.

"Why do you care?" Flare asked; he needed to know. "No offense, I appreciate your kindness, but we just met. You healed my wounds completely and offer to help Arrow; why?"

"If you will just follow me," Clouded began, "I will explain everything and answer every question you have." Flare figured that this meant that this was going to be personal, but then agreed to follow.

Clouded then walked past and motioned Flare to follow. Flare let Clouded get a hoof or two ahead of him and follow Clouded, but he didn't pay attention to anything around him. Flare was a bit more worried about what Clouded was going to talk to him about.

After a few minutes, Flare's thoughts were interrupted by a click noise. After all the noise Flare heard on the walk over here, a click made him come back to reality.

"This is my house," Clouded said opening the door. "Are you hungry?" Flare then really felt uneasy.

"You aren't going to kill me, are you?" Flare asked, thinking of all those freaky stories he read in books of cases like this. "If I eat whatever you give me, I'm not going to wake up to you operating on me, right?" Flare had heard some pretty dark things. "I don't see you as one to do that, but you never know."

Clouded smiled and looked at him. "Well, you’re just going to have to find out." Flare was rarely scared of anything, but this had put an effect on him.. Should I step inside? Flare thought to himself. Remaining calm on the outside, he simply nodded.

"Fair enough." He said as he entered Clouded’s home. "I'm not really hungry, though, but thanks for the offer!" Flare said, looking around the house. It was a bit bigger on the inside, as it looked small from the outside. Flare looked around, and began to feel safer, but didn't understand why.

"Come on, Flare," Clouded said closing the door behind Flare. "We can talk in living room." Clouded walked toward the doorway to the living room. Then she noticed Flare was stunned, just looking around. Flare broke free from whatever dazed him.

"What, oh yea, coming." Flare said realizing he was meant to follow. The feeling of safety made Flare feel uneasy. Flare was to never feel safe. It would weaken him, leave him open for attack. Flare wasn't falling for it; he pushed the sense of safety out, and turned it into a few crazy thoughts.

"Flare, are you okay?" Clouded asked, and Flare looked over at her. His thoughts were being quite judgmental to Clouded at the moment. It took him a second to realize he was blaming her magic for all this uneasiness.

"You tell me." Flare let that slip out as he thought it. Clouded looked at him then sat down in one of the chairs in the living room.

"Sit down, Flare," Clouded said, "and we can see if you are okay mentally, or physically, your choice."

"What do you mean?" Flare questioned, "I feel fine! After you patched me up at the party, I’ve been as good as new." Clouded told Flare to sit on her couch.

"Flare; there is something wrong with you." Clouded continued, she was now sitting in a chair across from her. "You hide it incredibly well; it’s a little scary how well. But, it is easier to seek than to hide. Something here is making you uncomfortable, I can feel it."

Flare looked downward; he didn't understand how she knew something was up. "Well, I really don't mean to rude, but you never said you weren't gonna kill me." Flare began, Clouded raised an eyebrow. "That could probably be the reason I feel a little on edge at the moment."

"But that isn't it Flare, I can tell you I won't kill you all I want, but you still will feel uneasy here." Clouded explained, "Flare, you are safe here, I am not going to kill you." She paused and Flare believed her, she seemed fine. "See, Flare, that wasn't it. Look around, what is bothering you?"

What? She still feels my uneasiness? Flare thought to himself. I don't understand how she can do this. Truth is I don't understand why I feel uneasy, but I also feel safe. Flare listened and began to let his eyes wander around the room. Clouded saw this as a good thing; at the least, he listened to her. I don't see anything... Flare looked completely around the room.

"Errr..." Flare all of a sudden felt as massive headache. He put his hooves on his head. It was terrible, every noise he heard hurt his head, worse and worse. Clouded didn't expect this, but she got up and left the room for a minute. Flare couldn't think; it would hurt.

Clouded returned with a cup; it was filled with something. Flare began to hate that he could hear hoof steps easily, because every step Clouded took hurt him. Clouded walked right up to him, and moved his hooves out of his face. Flare looked at her with blurry vision.

"Drink this." Clouded said putting the cup right to Flare mouth. Flare could smell it; it was going to taste terrible, but hopefully it would make him feel better. Flare took it and drank it. It was weird; this drink smelled terrible, but completely tasteless. Clouded then left again, and Flare's hooves found their way to his head again.

Flare sat there until Clouded returned with a couple cotton balls. Flare looked up; it was still a little blurry, but he could tell mostly what was happening all around him. Clouded walked up and without asking stuck a cotton ball in Flare's right ear. Clouded then layed Flare on his right side on the couch.

"I'm not going to force you, but it would be best to let the medicine take affect while you are asleep." She then put the other cotton ball into Flare left ear. She then sat across from him again, and put her hooves together and closed her eyes. Flare watched her for a minute, and then shut his eyes.

He couldn't seem to find sleep, but after what felt like days, his headache began to fade. Clouded noticed ten minutes went by, and Flare wasn't asleep. She decided to help him, and she walked up to him. She sat down, and her horn began to glow, putting it near Flare's head. Flare began to feel a little tired, and then felt a dream attack him. At first, he began to accept it, but then something was wrong. This dream was not natural, this was being controlled.

Clouded began to realize Flare was fighting off the dream. Afraid he was going to open his eyes, she stopped. She was confused; Flare was the only one who could block the dream out. It wasn't the headache, Clouded could have bypassed that. It was Flare, he was stopping it. Clouded didn't know Flare's talent was to do with dreams, understanding them, reliving them, and apparently, blocking 'fake' dreams.

Flare felt like he should open his eyes, but didn't. At first, He blamed the headache for that dream feeling unnatural. After a few seconds, Flare began to also blame the medicine. That had the weirdest side effect, Flare didn't know it was Clouded trying to get inside of his head.

Clouded waited a minute before trying again. As the dream began again, Flare wasn't going to accept. His eyes shot open, which surprised both of them. Clouded stumbled back, and Flare shot up to a sitting position. He looked around the room, seemingly terrified. Flare looked around for a second, until his eyes landed on Clouded. He opened his mouth to say something, and began to rub his eyes.

When he stopped and reopened his eyes, he sighed. He pulled the cotton balls out of his ears. He put his hooves on his head again. The headache faded quite a bit, somehow suddenly. It was still slightly there, but not that noticeable. "Flare, are you okay?" Clouded asked, worried that Flare didn't trust her.

Flare shushed her, "I'm sorry, but please, let me think." Clouded nodded, and Flare began to get lost in thought. What was that? What does it mean? Flare looked around, Why was I frightened? Flare had all these questions. Flare looked at Clouded. What was she doing to me? Better question is, why did see look like-...

"Oh!" Flare scanned the room once more. "Clouded, I understand. I understand my uneasiness, it’s this house." Clouded didn't understand, so she let Flare continue. "It’s a nice house, don't get me wrong. But, I’m willing to bet I know where everything is." Clouded was surprised, Flare really didn't show any signs of being unsure.

"What do you mean?" Clouded said, trying to sound simple, to cover up she got caught, "Do you want a tour of my house?"

"It would be pointless, I know where everything is. You’re lucky, yours is just a bit bigger in every room." Flare realized why the house looked small on the outside. "When I was younger, I lived in a house almost exactly like this." Flare finally admitted it.

"Do you mean, when your parents were alive?" Clouded just wanted to know. That could one of the reasons Flare's headache spiked so quickly.

"And after their deaths." Flare said, trying to decide what words to say next. "It was the only house I've ever lived in. It was where I had my best times, and my worst."

"Flare, if this is exactly how your house was built, can you show me your room, or maybe your parents?" Clouded asked Flare, hoping to learn just a bit more about his past, without directly asking. Flare felt his headache appear once more, but he was going to have to fight through it.

"Sure," Flare got up, and began to walk towards the way his room had been all those years. Clouded followed, and didn't like how silent Flare was being. As Flare entered a room down a hallway, he stopped. Flare seemed to tear up just a bit before speaking. "This was my room, and it appears to be a guest room here."

"You are right on that," Clouded told him. "Is it arranged like your room was?"

"Nope, not at all. I'm guessing you have the bigger room down the hall?" Clouded nodded after Flare asked her. "Well, you would have my parent's room." Flare got silent once more. "That would be the last room I saw, before I left."

"Were your parents...? I mean, did they die in that room?" Clouded asked, not realizing she was digging to deep.

"Yeah, they did, right in front of me." Flare said, and turned completely away from Clouded. "Clouded, I should get going."

"Flare, I understand." Clouded said with seemingly no emotion; nothing but a frown upon her face. Flare turned to her, tears were in his eyes.

"What? You understand what?" Flare didn't understand; what did she understand? "There isn't much to understand, Clouded."

"I understand," Clouded looked down, "what it's like to lose your parents." Flare eyes widened, did she really understand? "I lost them when I was just a filly" She started, but Flare shushed her, and explained why.

"We just met; no need to get all personal already." She smiled at him; he knew she didn't wanna talk about it. Not yet at the least. "What I told you isn't that personal; it sounds like you were just about to go into full detail. You can tell me later, when you fully trust me." Flare said that and surprised Clouded.

"You think I don't trust?" Clouded asked. Inside she asked herself if she truly did trust Flare. "Are you saying you shouldn't be trusted?"

"Not at all, I’m saying you haven't know me for even one day. Look, Clouded, I am your friend for sure, but do not take offense if I do not fully trust you on the first day we meet." Flare began to explain, "Remember how I hesitated on entering your house; you thought I was kidding when I asked those questions, didn't you?"

"You weren't?" Clouded was surprised to hear Flare was quite serious. She thought he was just messing around. "You were being serious about that, like the entire time?"

"Am I still am a bit concerned, I still do not know much about you. No offense if you aren't, but you telling me you lost your parents could be ..." Flare realized what he was saying at that point. "Clouded, I'm sorry."

"Flare, were you just going to say that I was using my parent’s death to lead you to trap?" Clouded asked sounding quite upset. "To drug you? Or kill you? Or something like that?"

"Yes, I should be punished for even thinking like that." Flare turned away and let a tear drop. He realized that he was a terrible pony, and that he deserved to be punished, quite terribly. "If you have anything against me now, please tell me or take out your anger now." Part of Clouded wanted to beat Flare with anything she found, until she found herself considering it.

When Clouded took a deep breath, she began to think for a reason why Flare would think that. She couldn't guess, so she was forced to ask. "Why would you think that?"

"I have only heard bad stories in my life, Clouded; ones of cheaters, liars, backstabbers and betrayals. I never want to be in one of those stories. So I really don't trust a lot of ponies, I have a fear that they would betray me. Arrow was the first, other than my parents, that I ever trusted." Flare said, feeling like he was a bad pony for not trusting Clouded. Explaining it only made him feel worse; he had to admit it, right in front of Clouded. It made it harder to admit, and accept that it was a fact.

"I understand, Flare, I'm not angry." Clouded now thought about the reasoning Flare had given. It was one of his biggest fears, admitting it seemed to leak fear around the room. Flare didn't really show it, but Clouded felt it. Flare smiled, he was glad she understood.

"You know, I shouldn't trust you, because you did put drugs in me." Flare smiled wider, trying hard to make it happy again.

"What? I didn't do anything!" Clouded hated being accused of things, she had never drugged ponies.

"Yeah you did," Flare said, on the brink of laughter at Clouded's confusion and rage. "What was that medicine you gave me? That wasn't a drug?"

Clouded suddenly smiled, "I guess you’re right, I did give you a drug," Clouded glared at him, "but you took it with your own will." She smirked and looked at Flare; it seemed to say something like 'Take that!'

Flare knew how to counter and accuse. "Or, you used your crazy unicorn magic on me and forced me to take it." Clouded's face showed surprised, and when she didn't fire after a few silent seconds, Flare got a bit worried. "Umm... You never did use any magic on me, right?"

"I did," Clouded admitted, "you seemed like you needed help sleeping, so I tried to force you to sleep. Somehow, you pushed back, and resisted it. It’s strange for a pegasus to be able to resist that type of magic." Clouded began to think how Flare did it.

"Lies," Flare stated, causing Clouded to look at him, "you tried to force a dream on me. I resisted it, since it was unnatural" Flare glanced at his mark. "I can't accept unnatural dreams and have a born immunity to them." Flare looked downwards, "I kinda don't have a choice to accept them or not, they will always get rejected."

"Your destiny involves dreams, doesn't it?" Clouded asked, and Flare nodded. "You’re not allowed to take fake dreams. You have to have actual dreams, so you can make meaning of them. So you can tell what each means, whether it’s a nightmare or a dream. Nightmares don't affect you as much, neither do dreams, because if they are meant to happen you figure out what it means, right?"

"You found the truth with a simple nod," Flare said smiling, "you are quite intelligent. I can also understand others dreams, or nightmares. Making them less scary, or much better. I am not allowed to dream fake dreams, because I need to really dream for others too." Clouded looked confused and looked like she was going ask something. "I'll explain," Flare got in before she did, "My last dream told Arrow if he left again something terrible would happen. He would die, and I couldn't be there to help him."

"Dramatic dreams." Clouded simply said. Flare nodded, agreeing with Clouded completely. But, Flare was glad he had these dreams. In his eyes, it was wonderful to have nightly warnings. The question in his head was, could he dream happily if there was nothing bad to come?

"Indeed dramatic," Flare looked outside the window, suddenly remembering something. "Clouded, I need to go. It was quite an, interesting visit." As he said that, they both looked down, knowing that is was true. "Well, like I said I have to be somewhere right now, and I totally forgot. If you have time, I can come back later."

"That won't be necessary, Flare." Clouded said, already turning out the door to leave. "I am sure you have other things to do." With that, Clouded walked out of room and back down the hallway. Is she upset with me? Flare thought for a moment. With one more look all across the room that looked similar to his as a young, he too exited the room.

As Flare opened the door to outside, he looked around for Clouded. She was nowhere near, so Flare simply yelled throughout the house "Bye Clouded, I'll see you later!" Flare heard no reply and stepped outside. Flare started heading towards Sugarcube Corner.

The only reason he was heading there because from there he could get to the library. He felt a little stupid admitting that to himself, that he couldn't navigate himself through a small town without checkpoints.When Sugarcube Corner was in view, he stopped.

Flare didn't mean to be rude, but he didn't want to be seen by Pinkie Pie again. It had been a long day, mostly full of confusion. The sun was now dropping slowly and Flare figured he should stop by before the sun dropped. Bumping into Pinkie would most likely stop that from happening. Flare had two options: run as fast as he could past Sugarcube Corner, or sneak around it by hiding behind anything he could. Both would draw attention to him.

Flare decided the first option. He could sprint pretty fast when he needed to. Flare spotted his target, the road that lead towards the library. With a look of determination he got ready. Only got one shot, let's make it count! Flare sprinted as fast as his body would let him towards the other street. Other ponies looked in his direction as he hurried as fast as he could down the path.

Flare didn't stop until he was halfway down the path that took him towards the library. He stood there looking at the ponies staring at him, and catch a little breath.

"Running from Pinkie?" A voice said from above, Flare looked up. It was Rainbow Dash.

"Is that normal to not want to run into her too much?" Flare asked almost having all his breath back. Rainbow Dash laughed at this question.

"For a newcomer like you, of course." Rainbow Dash replied. "I'm sure everypony understands why you did that." Flare was glad to hear that. "But I have a warning Flare, you cannot escape Pinkie if she needs you to do something, trust me I’ve tried." Flare didn't follow.

"What do you mean?" Flare questioned, and Rainbow Dash just smirked.

"You’ll see one day." And with that she flew off. She was fast, and couldn't escape Pinkie? Flare thought to himself. He looked around and all the ponies had continued what they were doing. Flare hoped Dash was right. He then walked down the road, towards the library.

After a couple of minutes, Flare was there. He knocked on the door. "Hold on" a voice came from inside, but it wasn’t Twilight's. As the door opened up, a purple and green baby dragon appeared. Flare was stunned for a second, but then realized staring was rude.

"Sorry, my name is Flare," He started, "and Twilight said if I needed a book that all I needed to do was ask." Flare stuck out his hoof for the dragon to shake.

"I'm Spike, Twilight's number one assistant." Spike stood proudly for a moment, the shook Flare's hoof. "Come on in, if you need a book, I can help you find it. Well, I'm going to need to, since Twilight isn't here right now." The baby dragon walked back inside, and Flare followed. Flare looked at all the books.

"Well Derpy hasn't been here again since the other day." Flare chuckled, it was kinda funny watching Derpy destroy more then to fix.

"I'm guessing you’re the one Twilight was leading to Sweet Apple Acres? She left a note explaining what happened and why she was gone." Spike told him, and Flare nodded and stood proudly for a moment, trying to imitate Spike.

"Indeed, I am that one." Flare said, dropping his proud pose. "So, you can help me find a book? Any book?"

"Yea, I know where most are because I have to clean them almost every time Twilight leaves them on the floor." Spike said, now sounding bored. Probably remembering all the time he did it.

"Well, when Derpy causes it, I'll be around; you can just find me." Flare said smiling. "Anyway," Flare paused and looked around for anypony else, and kicked the door closed." Look I need a book about love." Flare whispered. "Could you find one?"

"What about love, I need a bit more detail to get the right book." Spike said, "And why are you whispering?"

"Because, it needs to be our secret, and Twilight's too. I need a book about feelings of love; you know like what you feel like when you’re in love." Flare told Spike this, and Spike thought for a moment.

"Do you have a crush on another pony?" Spike said smiling, expecting Flare to deny. Flare shot him down immediately.

"Yes, I do. I have all these weird feelings around her, and I wanna know why." Flare said, And how to fight them.

Spike took his advantage again. "Who is it? If it is a secret I need full details before I can give you that book." Spike told Flare now whispering.

"Blackmailing? Quite an odd tactic for a book; look I'll tell you, but promise me you will not tell Twilight who, or tell the mare I like her. Agreed? "Flare asked, and Spike nodded and leaned in close.”It's, Derpy." Spiked gasped and covered his mouth trying to resist to laugh. That didn't affect Flare, he just wanted the book. "Spike, laugh all you want, on your way to that book and back, but please hurry."

"Okay, okay, I'll get you the book in a second." Spike started breathing to calm himself. He then walked towards the shelf and looked around it for a moment. He picked a book then walked over to a scroll. He began writing something. "Okay Flare, here is the book, keep it in good condition, or I'll get in trouble." Spike handed Flare the book. Flare put it in between his side and his wing.

Spike looked at him confused. "Um, won't you need that to fly?" Spike asked Flare.

"Nope, I would tell you why, but your cheap blackmail tactic will leave you guessing." Flare smiled and walked out. "Thanks, Spike!" he called out as he opened the door again. Flare walked out, the sun still falling. He began walking towards the way to the Everfree Forest. Flare began to think. This town is nice, but should I stay? Another question being do I want to live in the forest the whole time? Yes, yes I do. But what about Arrow? Oh no, Arrow! I need to go check on him!

Flare then sped up to high speeds once more. Please Arrow, don't hurt yourself... or others. Flare continued sprinting until he hit the edge of the forest. The book was slipping out from his wing, so he fixed it. Flare looked dead ahead and began walking into the forest.

He was panting from running, but he didn't want to stop moving until he found Arrow. Flare walked until he reached the spot where they slept the other night. What Flare saw scared him. Arrow's saddlebags were there, but no Arrow of alcohol. As Flare looked around he noticed that Arrow hadn't been here since this morning.

Flare began to scan his options finding only two once more. Okay, do I look for him? Or do I wait?" Flare thought for a solid minute before deciding. "I have to look for him, make sure he isn't getting himself into trouble." Flare said, only to himself. "Dang it Arrow, be good till I get wherever you are!" Flare talked to himself, and then starting heading back for Ponyville. He needed to find Arrow, fast.