I had drifted off into thoughts about what my dream could have waiting for me when I felt Sarah start to shake. Her muscles were tense and eyes rolled back.

Twilight gasped. “What’s happening to her?”

“A seizure.” I tried to take her plush to set it under her head as a pillow but her hands held onto it tightly. I pulled it free, causing the left front leg to rip. A small amount of stuffing fell to the floor as I placed the toy under her head.

“What do we do?” Twilight whimpered.

“Nothing really that we can do except wait for it to pass.”

Thankfully the seizure didn’t last long but Sarah remained unconscious.

‘That’s it,’ I thought to myself. ‘I’m done.’

I stood, quickly left the car and made my way to the back of the train. I opened the rear door and stood on the platform that overlooked the rails passing quickly below. I wondered if it would hurt before I stepped forward and fell.

“No!” someone screamed from behind me.

I stopped in mid air, a purple glow suspending me. My face hovered mere inches from the tracks. I cursed loudly as I was pulled back onto the train. This dream really didn’t want me to go! The purple glow released me and I spun around to face a horrified Twilight.

“Why did you do that?” I spat.

“Why did you do that?” she shot back.

“I need to get out of this place and you won't let me!”

“You still think- this isn’t...” she struggled to find words. “Look, I don’t care if you think this is a dream, and I don’t think I can convince you otherwise. But your daughter is in there and she needs you. Are you really going to abandon her so easily?”

“She isn’t real!” I screamed. “You're not real! This place isn’t real! Next thing I know my wife is going to appear next to me and I’m going to have to watch her die all over again! This nightmare seems to want only to torture me. I am done!”

The pony’s mouth hung open. “Your- your wife?”

“Yeah, my life is shit. I don’t need the pain to follow me into my mind.”

She remained silent but I could tell that she was about to cry. I suddenly felt bad for my words and actions. I didn’t understand why. I still believed it was a dream and the figments of my imagination, who had no feelings, meant nothing to me. Or so I thought.

I sighed. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” she replied. “I can’t begin to try and understand the pain you must be in. But you can’t just give up.”

I opened my mouth to argue the fact that this was still just a dream but decided against it.

“Will you come back inside?” Twilight asked, her voice full of hope.

I chewed my lip and responded slowly. “Yeah, sure. I’ll come inside.”

Sarah was awake when I entered the car. I sat back down next to her and she looked up at me with sad, questioning eyes.

“Where did you hurry off to?” Applejack inquired.

“He just went out to get some fresh air,” Twilight answered for me.

“Daddy.” Sarah held up the toy pony. “Pinkie Pie’s leg is ripped. Can you fix it?”

“I can fix it!” Rarity rummaged around in one of her bags before trotting over magically holding a needle and pink thread.

Sarah handed her toy to Rarity and the pony looked over it for a minute.

“Oh my, this will not do.” Rarity tossed her thread back into the bag. “The color of the thread and the toy don’t match.”

‘So?’ I asked mentally.

Pinkie Pie plucked one of her curly hairs from her mane and gave it to Rarity. “Will this work?”

“Oh most definitely!” Rarity quickly started to mend the plush.

I watched her work while occasionally taking glances at Twilight. The unicorn looked back with thought filled eyes.

“There,” Rarity exclaimed as she cut the makeshift thread. “All it needs is some final touches.”

The fashion pony took a purple ribbon and tied it around the toys leg, like a makeshift bandage. She inspected it for a moment longer before returning the plush to its owner. Sarah took her best friend happily and gave it a hug.

“Thank you, Rarity!”

“Yes,” I said. A smile was returning to my face. “Thank you very much. You have no idea how much that thing means to her.”

A door behind me slid open and a voice called through the car. “We will be arriving at the Canterlot station in five minutes!”

That was another thing that was starting to bother me with this dream. Usually your mind would skip to the important parts of the story but not this time. Everything was happening and my brain was actually creating filler for what usually would have been a blackout.

“Eric.” Applejack pulled my attention back to the situation and I saw that she was pointing at my daughter’s eyes. “Somethin’ isn’t right.”

‘Something isn’t right’ was an understatement. Sarah stared blankly into the distance. The tired expression she had worn the entire time we had been here was more evident now than ever.

“Sarah, baby?” I caressed her face in my hands but she gave no reply. “Sarah? Speak to my, honey.”

Her eyes slowly moved but they were unseeing and stared off into the space behind me. A thin stream of blood started to trickle from her nose.

“My...” she slowly said. “head...hurts.”

Almost immediately Sarah’s eyes rolled back and she went limp. I laid her back down and felt for a breath and pulse. I was relieved when I felt both.

“The train is stopping,” Rainbow Dash stated.

I didn’t move. Twilight approached and stood next to me. Despite focusing most of my attention on my daughter I could still notice that the pony was hesitant about speaking to me. She was probably worried that I was going to run off and kill myself.

Twilight placed a hoof on my shoulder. “We should take her to the palace as quickly as we can.”

“Of course,” I hissed. In my mind I was raging at the dream. At how it was tearing me apart.

I lifted Sarah and followed the ponies out of the train and into Canterlot. We started at a swift walk but we soon broke into a jog. Ponies watched us pass but I gave them no heed. Sarah was starting to feel cold and heavy in my arms.

“Halt!” A stern voice demanded and the eight of us stopped. I glared at the two pony guards that barred our way.

“We need to see Celestia!” Twilight nearly screamed.

“I am sorry Twilight Sparkle,” the armored stallion replied all the while eying me suspiciously. “Celestia is currently busy right now. We didn’t expect you to arrive so soon. You can come back in two hours.”

“But we don’t have two hours!” Rainbow Dash growled.

I was no longer going to sit back and let this dream have the last laugh. There was no way I was going to let my daughter die in my arms when we were so close to the goal. Even if the plan forming in my head didn’t work perhaps I could be killed, and released from the dream, by one of the spears the ponies on the ramparts above were carrying.

Without hesitation I shoved one of the guards into the wall, knocking him unconscious, and rushed past the second. Before anyone could react I was through the doorway and running through the hall.

Somewhere in the building a bell tolled and a voice rang out, “Intruder in the palace!”

I had no idea where I was going but I carried on through the white stone hall. The fractured light from the stain glass window danced across the floor and my daughter’s pale face. A wide door stood at the other end and I reached it quickly, threw it open and was unexpectedly knocked to the ground by a guard that had hid himself on the other side.

Trying my best to protect Sarah, I turned and fell onto my back. My vision blurred with rage as more guards entered the room and surrounded me. I rose up onto my knees.

“Come on!” I stood still cradling Sarah in my arms. “Kill me already! I just want out of this hell!”

All I got was confused glances from the ponies. A few stepped forward uneasily but the rest stayed back. My anger quickly gave way and I sank back to the floor, defeated. I laid Sarah softly on the floor and brushed away her short messy hair with my hand. My little girl looked like she was sleeping. Her cold face was so peaceful and a barely noticeable breath escaped her lips.

“You win!” My anger returned again but this time it was directed at any greater power that controlled the universe. “You win! Quit toying with me! Just end this nightmare already!”

“No one is toying with you.” A kind voice cut in.

I looked up as a tall white pony approached through the crowd of armored guards. She stared at me with a stern yet kind expression. Twilight and her friends filed in behind her.

“I’m inclined to believe otherwise.” I wanted to stand up and punch somebody but instead remained calm.

Celestia nodded. “I understand why you would believe that. Twilight and her friends told me what has been happening as we hurried here.”

“Then put me out of my misery.”

“I will not.” Celestia approached and stood next to me. “All you want in life is to see your daughter healthy and happy.”

“More than anything.”

The princess looked down at Sarah and gave a sad smile. “I am not promising a miracle but I do believe we can help you and more importantly, help her.”

A cruel chuckle escaped my lips. “Perhaps in this dream but she is still going to die someday after I wake.”

Celestia’s expression didn’t change. “All you need in life is faith and hope that your daughter will be healed.”

“Faith and hope has gotten me nothing but a broken heart.” I couldn’t believe how hard this dream was trying.

“Please, Eric,” I looked into her eyes and saw sincerity. I could feel my pain fall away slightly. She continued, “have hope one last time. For the sake of your daughter. That is all I ask.”

I nodded slowly as Celestia motioned for Twilight and her friends.

“I will need your help,” Celestia said. “We will need the Elements of Harmony.”

I lifted Sarah into my arms. Suddenly Pinkie Pie chimed up.

“Oh! You dropped this!” She trotted up and gave me Sarah’s toy. “Don’t want to leave this behind when you guys go home.”

“Thanks,” I replied as I placed the plush into my daughters arms. I kissed Sarah’s forehead and whispered, “we're going home.”

My eyes didn’t leave her face, even as the room filled with light. I felt my pain and hurts start to fall away as the light washed around us.

I sat up out of bed and looked around my room. I was home and a wave of relief rushed over me. After sitting in silence for a while I jumped up and made my way towards Sarah’s room. I took a calming breath before quietly opening her door.

She lay in her bed in a deep sleep and her Pinkie Pie plush wrapped firmly in her arms. I walked over to her bedside and kissed her forehead.

“I will never give up hope for you.”

Fourteen Years Later

The photo was of me and Sarah. She sat happily on my knee holding her Pinkie Pie plush with a smile of simple happiness. I tried not to think of the old days. They brought back too many painful memories. I sighed then put the photo away.

After sitting on my bed for a while I stood and made my way to Sarah’s room. It had changed little. Her Pinkie Pie plush was still sitting on her bed and the sight of it pulled forth another memory. I still didn't know if that was a dream or what but life was never the same after it. I picked the toy up and looked at it. On its leg was a purple ribbon hiding skilled needlework.

“Maybe one day I can go back and thank them,” I whispered. “If they were real.”

The sound of the front door opening and nimble footsteps running up the stairs snapped me out of my thoughts. I turned around just as a lovely young woman appeared in the doorway. A puzzled expression flashed across her face before she started to laugh.

“Oh, dad!” Sarah ran up to me and gave me a strong hug. “The college is only forty miles away. There’s no need to get all sentimental now! You can come visit me whenever.”

I hugged her back. “You know me, I worry too much. Promise me again that you will go to your doctor appointments.”

“Do I have too?” she pouted. “The cancer is gone and no sign of has been seen of it for years now. Can I skip a few appointments at least?”

“No.”

“Okay, fine.”

I held up the Pinkie Pie plush. “Do you want to bring this with you?”

She took it from me and stared at it. I could tell a memory was flashing behind her eyes.

Sarah never told me if she had the dream. She also never asked where the ribbon came from. I believed she put it there and she probably believed that I put it there. But I couldn’t help but wonder If somebody else we met at a faraway town put it there.

“Nah.” She gave it back to me. “I have often wondered why I still keep it. I guess it has always been such a good friend to me.”

“Yes it has.” I placed it carefully back onto the bed. “It was always your best friend.”

“Not my best friend,” Sarah said as she gave me one last hug. “It has never been a better friend than you.”

Author's Notes:

So concludes another story/experiment by me. Please give me feedback as long as it's information that can improve my writings.

Thank you so much again- Altoid