Pony Quest: Dreamscape Session 4

"Oh, you came!" Emerging from the portal, you are immediately greeted by the sight of a bouncing, giggling pink pony. "I'm so glad you remembered, and you even brought guests!"

"Hi Pinkie Pie, great party," Twilight says, smiling down at her friend.

Pinkie's eyes widened in surprise. "Wowee, Twilight. Your wings are sooooo pretty!"

Twilight blushed and folder her wings a little tighter to her body. Morpheus was right about retaining control in other verses, it seems.

The bubbling pink pony of laughter bounced over to Zecora. "I didn't even KNOW you could be here! How'd you get in, Zecora?"

Zecora shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine, but my how you've made this place shine."

Looking across the room, it was indeed an impressive display. A little less mind bending, a little more variety. There were games, dance floors and food carts stuffed into just about every nook and cranny.
Catching the party pony's attention, you begin to fill her in on what has happened. You tell her about the return trip to the ruins, the attack of the shards and your conversation with Morpheus. Surprisingly, she takes it all pretty well.

"Okey dokey, loki! So if one of those black goobers shows up all I have to do is think happy thoughts? That's what I do any way!"

"Pinkie Pie, if we're going to get out of this we're going to need the best, most wonderful party you can put on. It needs to knock us off our hooves!"

Thinking for a couple seconds, Pinkie Pie nodded. "Don't worry, I got just the thing!" Turning around she trotted off to make her preparations, leaving you and your group to round up the others.
Turning, to Zecora you suggest that she stays here. Pinkie Pie could use some company and/or help and besides, you don't even know if the zebra has any power in the dream world.

"We'll swing by and pick up Dash first," you decide aloud. The others nod in agreement. Sending out your ping, the response is swift and a blue portal opens before you. Together with your group, you step into the light.

You find yourself outside the Cloudsdale Coliseum (you remember it from pictures you had seen) with the rest of your companions appearing beside you, none of them seeming to have any trouble walking on the clouds.

What appears to be the main gate stands before you, at the top you can see two pegasi removing a sign and replacing it with another. "Home of the Wonder Bolts," reads the one they lower to the cloud floor. Squinting, you can make out the new sign easily enough. "Proud home of the Rainbow Bolts."
Calling up to the pegasi, you ask for Rainbow Dash. One of them grunts and jerks his head to the coliseum door. "Practicing," he shouts back.

Walking through the massive archway, you make your way into the stands and spot Rainbow Dash flying through an intense obstacle course with an assortment of other pegasi (all in different colored uniforms) trailing after her.

You call out to her but it seems she can't hear you over the wind in her ears.
You quickly summon a piece of paper and a pen (small things like this won't affect Rainbow Dash's mind too much, right?) and fly up with Twilight to meet get Dash's attention.

With a graceful ease that not even Dash could pull off in the real world, the multicolored pegasus drops out of the course and flies to meet you.

"Don't you have enough of these by now, Scootaloo?" She takes the paper and signs it, sparing a glance at Twilight's wings. "Looks like somepony got a little earth sick."

"They come in handy," Twillight mutters.

"Hey Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie is putting together a really big party in her verse and everypony is invited!" you break into the conversation. "If her parties are a lot of fun in the real world, just IMAGINE what one would be like in this place!"

Rainbow Dash thinks for a moment and a big smile appears on her face. "Sounds like a plan, I'm in! Just let me get these guys set in a routine and I'll be right with you."

Well that was easy, you think to yourself. Your wings perk up a little, a small sense of personal pride welling up from within. You saved Rainbow Dash! Sure she doesn't know it yet, but what difference does that make?

Your thoughts are interrupted by a scream from bellow. Spinning around, you see a black shape spreading out from the main entrance towards Applebloom and Sweetie Belle. Oily black tentacles begin to rise out of the dark entity, reaching for the fillies.
You start to shout for Dash but a crashing boom echoes around the colloseum and the pegasus steaks past you, a trail of rainbow light in her wake.

Signaling Twilight, she ignites her horn and pulls your friends to safety as Dash plunges into the writhing black mass, driving it through the clouds.

Figuring Dash doesn't know what she's up against, you dive down after her as fast as you can. Dipping below the clouds, you are just in time to see Dash and the shard strike the ground. With a horrible screech, the black horror bursts and it's pieces scatter into the wind, dissolving away into nothing.
"That. Was. AWESOME!" you shout and race to meet Rainbow Dash. Together, the two of you make your way back up to the colosseum. "I mean the way you were just there and BAM, sonic rainboom! And then you just tackled him straight through the floor and BOOM, right into the ground!"

Dash seemed perfectly content to let the praise seep into her.

Reaching the rest of your group, you check to make sure everyone is alright. Your friends were a little shaken up, but Twilight has them calmed down.

Looking up from the wingless fillies, Twilight breathes a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness you're alright. When that thing showed up out of the blue, I was worried."

You can still feel a little of the adrenaline pumping through you. "Of course we're alright! As long as Rainbow Dash is with us, those shards don't stand a chance!"

Rainbow Dash gives you a quizzical look. "Shards? What the hay are shards?"
You start to tell Dash everything Morpheus had revealed but stop yourself. After all, you did it last time didn't you?

"Hey Twilight," you call out. "Your turn to fill her in."

Muttering something under her breath, Twilight starts to give Rainbow Dash the low down on everything that's been happening while you make cloud angels with Sweetie Belle and Applebloom.

Having been filled in, Rainbow Dash approached the three of you. "If these shards are as dangerous as you say they are, and if you really can die in here now then I should come with you. You know, to keep all of you girls safe."

The thought of going on an adventure with dash fills your whole body with excitement. You stand up, eager to be off. The only question is where should you go?
"What about Fluttershy? Are we sure she's been doing okay?"

Twilight shrugged and fluffed her wings. "I think so. Maybe a little overwhelmed by all the animals she was caring for, but nothing she couldn't handle."

Sending out a ping, there is a short pause before the portal opens. Together with Rainbow Dash (and everypony else, you guess) you enter the portal.

Rain splatters against your wings and soaks into your mane. You seem to have arrived in some kind of forest during a thunderstorm. As Twilight appears beside you, she uses her magic to extend a psychic umbrella over you and the others. You can see light shining from a window in the distance.
Not wanting to frighten her in a night like this, you approach the door and have Twilight call out for Fluttershy, knocking on the door.

Almost immediately you hear the sound of something falling over and a clamor of activity as someone moves to open the door.

The door flings open and Fluttershy is standing there, hair a mess and bags under her eyes. "Oh thank goodness you're here, come in out of the rain. I could really use your help."
Stepping inside, you find that her home is a wreck. Beds of all shapes and sizes are crammed everywhere they could fit, leaving only narrow walkways and shelf space for moving. It's a tight fit but you managed to fit everypony in. The beds themselves are occupied with animals, big and small. Most of them were fast asleep, several with damp cloths applied to their foreheads. Some few of them lay awake, panting or moaning.

"Fluttershy, what happened?"

Walking over to the fire place, the yellow pegasus threw some herbs into a cauldron she had set to boil. "I don't know!. They were all fine yesterday, but I come in today and one of the little bunnies had a cough. Before I knew it, they were all like this. I've tried everything I can think of but they're just not getting better."

Deciding you can't be too careful, you have Sweetie Belle and Applebloom keep an eye out for shards.
"Calm down, Fluttershy. It's just a dream, the animals aren't real."

"Oh how could you say that, Scootaloo?" A barely detectable edge of anger enters her voice. "Even if they are a dream, they're MY dream and MY responsibility."

You sigh; clearly she doesn't plan to let this one go easy. "Why don't you just wish them better, since this is your dream?"

"I already tried wishing them better, oh I tried it with all my might but it didn't work." Fluttershy ladled some of her concoction into a bowel and brought it over to a nearby deer. The poor creature had developed some kind of mange, it's coat falling out and pitch black spots dotting its skin.
"Can you still control other things? Like making things appear and disappear?"

Nodding, Fluttershy flutters her wings and he shelves restock themselves.

"Well that's good, why don't you make the house a little bigger and maybe some kind of clone you that can help with the workload?"

"I... I never thought of that." Closing her eyes a moment, Fluttershy's home expanded and morphed into a hospital-like ward with plenty of room to walk and move, the animals all in beds lining the walls. A couple extra Fluttershys with the dead eyes you have come to recognize as the mark of a dream pony pop into existence and begin tending to the animals.

That alleviates some of the symptoms of the situation, and you already have your suspicions as to the cause. "Fluttershy?" you call out and five yellow pegasi turn to face you. "Er, the real one." Four of them return to their work. You take a closer look at the black spots dotting one of the animals' skin. "Have you seen any weird black blobs lately? We found out about these nasty things called shards and they are pretty bad news. Pieces of old nightmares or something like that."

Flutershy shakes her head. "No, I don't think I've seen anything like that. The first animals were sick when I arrived this night."
You decide it's Applebloom's turn to do the talking. While she explains about Icelus, his goals and the shards you and Scootaloo decide to find out if Twilight's Alicorn hair is a actually a single piece instead of individual strands. Somehow the answer to that burning question still alludes you when Applebloom finishes catching Fluttershy up to date.

"Do you see it now?" you ask. "This is all a plan to drive you mad and make him stronger."

Fluttershy nods apprehensively. "I... I think I understand. But I just can't leave these animals like this."

You ponder for a moment. "Have you tried completely unmaking the animals and then bringing them back completely healthy? There is nothing saying they have to stay gone."

Fluttershy blinks in surprise. Apparently this hadn't occurred to her either. "I... I can try." Closing her eyes, she begins to concentrate and the animals vanish from their beds. Sighing, she takes a quick look around the room before closing her eyes again. Concentrating as hard as she can, she tries and wills the animals back into existence. Several minutes pass and nothing happens. Holding her breath, she tries again and again, gasping each time when the animals fail to reappear. Tears begin to stream down her face.

"Why won't they come back?" she sobs. "Why can't I make them all come back? Where did they go?"

The wind howls around the building and you can swear you heard the faint sounds of laughter in it.
"Fluttershy, I'm... I'm sorry," you say, shaken by the scene before you. You have never seen a grown pony cry like this. "We can't stay here though, we have to keep moving on. Angel needs you, remember? And who will watch Rarity's cat while she's away?"

"Or take care of Winona when she's sick?" Applebloom pipes up.

"Or make sure everypony gets the best pet for them?" Rainbow Dash adds.

"Or watch Opalescence when Rarity's out of town?" Sweetie Belle chimes in.

Twilight leans down and nuzzles Fluttershy's neck. "You're our friend, Fluttershy and right now we need your help to get out of here."

Struggling to stifle her sobs, Fluttershy rises. Sending out a ping, you open a portal to Rarity's verse.

You politely step aside, offering the portal to Fluttershy to go first. She gives a weak smile a thanks and moves to walk into it but passes straight through it instead. Confused and with the tears welling up once more, she walks around to the front of the portal and tries again with the same results.

"Wh-what's going on?" she whispers. "Why won't it work?"
First things first, you decide to see if you can wake Fluttershy up somehow. A thought causes a bucket of water to appear behind her and you quickly dump it on her. Far from waking her up, it just gets her wet.

"Scootaloo, why would you do that?" Twilight demands. "Can't you see she's really upset?"

You apologize and explain yourself, Fluttershy stifles another sob. Hearing the laughter again, you decide it's time to call the old man out.

"Icelus, show yourself."

And then he was there, sitting calmly at the edge of one of the beds with his eyes fixed on the floor. "Well, well, well. You have been awfully busy little bees, haven't you? Here in the flesh, my oh my that can cause some troubles." He twists his head slowly sideways to gaze at the lot of you. "And you've even worked out who I am! How quaint, you are either awfully clever or had some help. Perhaps I should be keeping a closer eye on you? Not that it matters any."

His friendly aura from before has completely disappeared, in fact you find it hard to look straight at him without a queasy feeling rising in your stomach.
Channeling a little bit of Pinkie Pie, you start dancing and singing "Giggle at the Ghosty" at the top of your lungs. Unfortunately your vocal skills haven't improved much since that talent show, so it sounds less like singing and more like squawking.

Icelus, and for that matter the rest of your group stare at you awkwardly while you carry on. You're about to repeat the song when Icelus holds up a hoof.

"Stop that." Suddenly you trip over your own feet and fall to the ground. "As amusing as that was, I think we both know it wasn't getting you anywhere."

Rising to your feet, you give him a hard stare. "What exactly is going on here? We freed you, didn't we? What kind of reward is this?"

Icelus gives you another puzzled look. "You blame me for this? I'm sorry, little pegasus, I just provided the dream world. It was Fluttershy's own insecurities that brought this about. She was worried about whether or not she could care for so many animals, that worry became reality and has now consumed her. I did not turn this dream into a nightmare, she did that herself. With," he nodded towards you, "a little help from her friends, of course."
"Twilight?" you call over your shoulder.

"Yeah?"

"Roast him." A blazing pillar of fire and light envelopes Icelus. Turning to Sweetie Belle, you tell her to head to Pinkie Pie's verse and bring her here as quick as she can.

As Sweetie Belle disappears through a portal, Icelus laughs and the flames vanish. "How amusing. You think to fight me in my own domain. An assortment of hapless dreamers against the one who created the dream."
"Why are you doing all this anyway? What's in it for you to devour or minds and stuff like that?"

Icelus chuckled. "I'm sorry but I think you have some things backwards. I don't eat minds, I feed on emotions. Nightmares like this are like farms I can keep running for months, years even, feeding off of the delicious emotions the nightmare evokes in them while their body slumbers away in the real world. Without feeding, I would be dead within a few thousand years. But with this constant source running, I have all the energy I need and I am quite powerful for it."
"Why don't you just go back to the way things were? Family troubles?"

For the first time it seems like you may have gotten to him. " So you HAVE been talking to my brother. I should probably track him down again. Mommy Nyx always did like him best, what with him being the first born of us. Do you really think I would go back to munching on his leftovers when I have the ability to stock my own private buffet?"

A small smile appears on your lips. "Not a big family guy, huh? Why don't you tell me about it?" Hoping you aren't pressing the limits of altering Fluttershy's verse, you spawn a couch for Icelus to sit on.

Glancing down at the couch, Icelus eyes narrowed. "No, I think not. I'm afraid I have a pressing appointment in another verse. All it needs is a few more pushes in the right direction and it will be just as fertile as this one." The nightmare god vanished, leaving you and the others alone in the hospital ward.
Quickly, you fill Pinkie Pie in on the situation, telling her to grab that black balloon from her verse and meet us in Rarity's

As Pinkie Pie takes off through a portal, you turn to Fluttershy and ask her how she's doing.

"I... I'm fine," she looks longingly at the empty beds. "You guys go, I promise I won't break. Just... come back for me."

Rainbow Dash kneels down next to here and alys a hoof on her shoulder. "We'll find a way out of here, that's a promise." Turning to you, Dash smiles halfheartedly. "I'm going to stay here with Fluttershy. She can't be alone right now, it's too dangerous.".
You salute Rainbow Dash for her courage and loyalty before turning to Sweetie Belle. "We don't know what we're going to find in there, but you may be our only chance at saving Rarity. Are you up to it?"

Sweetie Belle looks at her hooves, shuffling nervously before nodding her head. "Yes, I am. I'll do my best for Rarity."

Nodding and thanking her, you turn back to the still-open portal to Rarity's verse. Without hesitation, you step into the light with your friends and comrades at your back. One way or another, this ends tonight.