(Disclaimer: This episode of New Friends Forever will not be seen from Doodledraw's perspective, and instead will be viewed from a third person. Again, I do not own any of this. It all belongs to Lauren Faust and Hasbro.)
"Goodnight, girls!" Pinkie waved to her friends as they went to their separate rooms at the hotel. Rarity had reserved rooms for each of her friends, and the pink earth mare was more than happy to sleep in a room without the whining of the Cakes' two children. Even though they've grown up fast, they still cry a lot, she thought as that crossed her mind.
But something also crossed her mind: the thought of food. Ever since her first time at the Grand Galloping Gala, she always toned it down for that night. Even through all that toning down, they still thought of her as a pig for eating any of those fancy h'orderves she could get her hooves on. She tried to change that image tonight, but found it difficult not to find herself staring at the food.
Maybe…she would get something at the buffet in the hotel in the morning. In the mean time, the pink pony would get her rest, her stomach rumbling.
Pinkie Pie found herself in a completely different place than the dreams she was typically used to. It was devoid of anything, only darkness surrounding her. The pink mare asked herself, "Wh-where am I?" A figure then came out of the shadows and answered, "It is a place of your wildest dreams."
The figure appeared to be Pinkie herself. The only difference between the real one and the reflection was that the reflection had an orange dress to match her tainted-orange eyes. The reflection continued, "I am here to bring you something you've been longing for, for a while now."
"What is it?" The real Pinkie asked, her stomach still growling in her dreams. The reflection only pulled something out from behind her back. It was a cupcake on a silver platter, and Pinkie stared at it in awe. The reflection stated, "This cupcake will only lead you to more…desires and goodies."
"R-Really?!" the pink mare asked excitedly. She then saw an array of treats behind her. She couldn't eat all of that, or could she? She was so hungry, she didn't care! But the real Pinkie didn't shy away from asking, "Will…this dream ever stop if I do eat all this?"
"You know that this is a dream?" The reflection asked. Pinkie nodded and also explained, "I've been aware of what's dream and what's not for, like…ever! I've also found this strange wall that only Lyra and I know about…"
"No matter!" the reflection shouted, showing off the array of food once again. "You don't need Lyra or Bon-bon or any of the others once you're hooked on this."
"But, this is just a dream, meaning none of the food here is real. And if it were…I would never desert my friends for food."
"Oh, well!" the reflection gave up and started to dig into the delicious sweets in front of her. The real pink earth pony watched in both horror and awe as the orange-dressed mare gobbled down everything in site, leaving her face coated with frosting and dress ruined with pastry. Pinkie then went into all-horror as she saw what her reflection reminded her of. She realized this wasn't any normal dream…
It was a nightmare.
Pinkie Pie, the real one, shot up from her nightmare not a second after realizing what had happened: she had been given a choice, whether to be with her friends and starve, or eat forever and never see them again. She got up and drank some water from her nightstand and went back to bed.
"Well, dear? Have you decided?" Rarity asked her Pegasus friend. Fluttershy softly replied, "I…I don't know…" The yellow Pegasus had been given the "difficult" decision of sleeping in a room with her, or with herself. The white unicorn laughed, "Oh, come on! Just sleep with me, you'll be fine!"
"Oh, I really don't want to wake you. I usually get nightmares when I sleep somewhere else. You know what? Maybe I should sleep with you so you'll calm me down if I do-!"
"Fluttershy! Don't make a big deal out of this! Just sleep in your own room, I don't really mind paying a bit extra for another room."
"Y-you have to pay extra? Maybe I should sleep with you." Her face turned red as she realized what she had just said. "I-I mean, not like that!" Her friend held up a white hoof to silence her and exclaimed, "Fluttershy! Just sleep alone! You'll be fine!" The unicorn went to her room and said, "It's not like you're going to go insane from not being able to make this decision!"
I probably would… the yellow mare thought as the unicorn closed her room's door. Fluttershy went to her own room and placed herself in bed, thinking back to her first Grand Galloping Gala. She had been angry with the animals, for they didn't draw near to her like the others. Princess Celestia explained afterwards that these animals weren't drawn to ponies like that.
After that night, the Pegasus regretted every minute of it. She regretted any time she was ever angry at her friends. As she fell asleep, she thought to herself, do they really deserve it?
Fluttershy found herself in a dark void, which scared her a little. She covered her face with her hooves and sat down, whimpering. It was only when she heard somepony walk towards her that she got up again. The other pony looked exactly like her, only her eyes and dress were red.
"I have come to show you something," the reflection Fluttershy explained to the real one. The yellow Pegasus complied and followed her double, until they stopped around a bunch of orbs. The Pegasus noticed each orb showed her friends calling her names, thinking of her as worthless, and basically belittling her in general.
"Wh-why would my friends do this?" the real Pegasus nervously asked. Her reflection angrily answered, "Because you're a weak, pathetic fool! Do you really think they love you? Do you really think they care one iota about you and your stupid animals?!"
"Get away from me! Don't tell me things that aren't true!" The yellow Pegasus went back to her huddled position.
"Face the facts, dear! You can't be kind forever!"
"But, I have to…it's my destiny. I'm the Element of Kindness."
"Screw destiny!" the reflection shouted. "Here, in your dreams you can get angry at them all you want, and it doesn't matter!"
"It matters to me!" The real yellow Pegasus started to run away, her reflection yelling, "Oh no you don't!" and running after her. The real one didn't know where she was going, but she needed to get out of this bad dream.
Scratch that, nightmare.
Fluttershy woke up with a fright. She looked for a mirror in her room to study herself over. She found it quickly, and saw that her eyes still had their teal color, and she wasn't wearing a red dress. She went to her bed and told herself over and over again, "It's just a bad dream, it's just a bad dream…"
Applejack went back to her own room, only to find her friend Rarity had specifically rented an apple-themed room just for her. She lied down on the bed and found it hard to get to sleep. She hadn't even attempted to sell anything that night, and decided to just stay amongst the crowd.
The reason was she didn't want to spoil all those apples last year. Nopony dare try her "country" flavor, even though Rarity had told many of the Canterlot elites the taste of her apple treats. The cowpony tried to stay humble…though it wasn't her specialty. She would show off her roping, quality apples, about anything she could do to prove she was good…
"Wha—where am I?" Applejack asked herself upon coming to the dark void that was her dream world. She found herself staring at the void that had no end until she saw her reflection, literally. The orange mare that resembled her only had one difference: she was wearing a purple dress that went with her eyes.
"I heard you had trouble showin' off," the double said to the original. "So I came here to tell you that you need to show off even more!" The real AJ stared in disbelief as the reflection continued, "Show 'em those ropin' tricks you've been working on constantly! Stuff those delicious apple treats down their throats if you have to!" The real orange mare was this close to agreeing, but the reflection made the mistake of saying, "Heck, you might even need to lie a little just to make sure you're better than the rest."
"Now hold on a minute," the real AJ stopped her duplicate. "I'm not going to lie just to save my pride. And my friends-!" Her reflection scoffed her, and laughed, "Friends? Ha! You know what I see? A bunch of ponies who don't think you're a real Element of Harmony. Tell me, have they lied before, just to save their own hides at the expense of others?"
"Now I know that may be the truth, but I'm not going to run away from it. The truth may hurt sometimes, and it may be easier to lie, but it's the honest and humble that win in the end." Her reflection looked at the real one in anger. "Sorry, partner, but I know I'm right."
Applejack woke up before her reflection even had a chance to boast. The orange mare looked around and said to herself, "I don't know if that was a dream or a horrible take of the future, but I ain't gonna let that happen. I will always keep to my friends no matter what, and remember to keep my pride to a minimum in front of them." With that being said, she went back to bed.
Rainbow Dash was tired after spending all night with the Wonderbolts. After a long time of watching them from afar, she had decided to tour along with them. They didn't mind the occasional fan touring along, and the blue Pegasus was no exception.
But then she got the offer to be with them. She remembered that night so well. It was in Las Pegasus, and it was the last stop on their tour. Another city-in-the-sky, she loved the lights and famed attractions there. One of the main Wonderbolts, Soarin', went off after the show was over to see Penn and Trixie. He bumped into RD, and of course, had heard of her Sonic Rainboom. He offered her then and there for her to become a Wonderbolt and join the full-time show that another troupe of Wonderbolts had there. She would've gladly accepted, but there was just one problem:
Las Pegasus was out somewhere between Ponyville and Appleloosa, meaning really, really far away from her friends. She couldn't desert her friends, for they needed her. So she politely declined. Then we skip all the way to tonight, where the Pegasus bumped into Soarin' again, who had told everypony about that night. Most ponies understood why she had stayed with her friends, but some didn't. It caused her to think: Wonderbolt, or Element of Harmony? She sighed to herself, "It all seems pointless…" as she fell of to sleep.
Rainbow Dash found herself in a dark void. She looked for a sign of anything and saw a small, white dot in the distance. She flew towards it, and it soon revealed itself to be a cloud. She landed on whatever was ground, and yelled, "Hey, anyone up there?" All she heard was snoring, to which she asked again, "Are you even listening to me?!"
Knowing that whoever it was wasn't going to comply any time soon, she flew up to see…herself. It reminded her of the naps she took on the clouds every so often. After she was done gawking at her reflection, she poked it and told her, "Please wake up…" The reflection did this time, and opened her eyes to reveal not orchid eyes, but eyes that matched her coat.
"Why did you wake me up?" the duplicate of RD yawned.
"Why are you sleeping?" the real RD asked in response. "Shouldn't you be with your friends? You are the Element of Loyalty, after all." The reflection scoffed, "Loyalty, shmoyalty. I've given up on my dreams and there's nopony to stop from destroying Equestria. So, why not get some rest?"
"Because you need to keep those bonds with the Elements close so they'll work, duh! If you don't spend time with your friends, why bother?"
"Oh, come on! Take a few minutes on this comfy cloud!" The reflection forced the real Pegasus onto the cloud, to which she protested, "Hey! This may be comfy, but I'm not liking it!" She kicked her duplicate with her back legs, which sent her flying to the ground. Once RD knew she wouldn't get back up, she laughed, "HA! That proves just how weak you are!" and did a little victory dance in the sky.
The real Rainbow Dash woke up suddenly, not even remembering her dream. She looked around, muttered something about shuffling, and fell back to sleep.
Rarity was the last to arrive to her room, the one the farthest down the hall. She thought about it, and admitted to herself, being the Element of Generosity had its perks, but it also had its downsides. It seemed to her…like she gave too much to her friends, but not enough to herself.
"Generosity feels…unnecessary…" the unicorn said to herself. She then snapped at herself, "No! No, Rarity, you can't think like that. What will the others think?" She then thought to herself, would they even care? I've been away for so long…no wonder I got jealous at Doodledraw. Now lying in her bed, she sighed to herself, "I just hope I can work this all out by morning…"
Rarity found herself in the black void, where she saw her reflection immediately, nose-to-nose with it, in fact. The only difference she saw of the duplicate was she had green eyes and dress. The reflection asked, "Jealous of your friends, I'm guessing?"
"Y-yes," the real Rarity nervously answered. "H-how did you know?"
"Well, I am you. Anyway, to business: your friends have better things than you, and have more talent than you. Fluttershy's better with animals, Pinkie Pie's better at socializing, Applejack's a harder worker, Twilight's more studious than you, and Rainbow Dash is faster than you."
"But none of those pertain to my special talent," the real unicorn pointed out. "If it doesn't pertain to my talent, I don't really care what they do! As long as they still are my friends."
"Well what about when they weren't your friends?"
"What do you even mean by that?"
"When Discord corrupted them? Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy got an attitude adjustment, Applejack ran from the truth for once, Rainbow Dash was saving her hometown, or so she thought, and you got stuck with a big, dumb, rock!"
"You leave that horrible, twisted brute out of this!" The real Rarity screamed, tears in her eyes. "I didn't even know that thing was a rock! And have you ever gotten anything out of only being jealous of your friends' things?"
"Doesn't matter! You'll always get the short end of the deal, generous or not! If you cared, you'd envy them!"
The real Rarity thanked Celestia a thousand times over that she woke up at that moment. She looked around and exclaimed, "Oh, that was the worse possible dream I've ever had!" Though a bit frazzled by her nightmare, the white unicorn got back to sleep a few minutes later.
Twilight Sparkle sat on her bed, a bit restless. She had been thinking about how much fun the Gala was, seeing Celestia and Luna. Luna offered to greet the guests that night, which was a relief to the unicorn. The Princess and Twi spent the entire evening talking, which made the night feel special.
There was just one thing missing: her coltfriend, Fire Twilight. He was back in Ponyville with his father, and though DJ PON-3 was handling the music, she saw no sight of him. She missed him, but the real question she had on her mind was if he missed her!
"I'll just ask him if anything happened when he gets home," the purple unicorn thought out loud, soon going to sleep.
Twilight sat in the void that everypony had ended up at. She only saw herself, and it looked like she was staring in a mirror. Only the reflection had blue eyes and a dress to match, and moved when she didn't. The duplicate laughed, "Thinking about your coltfriend?"
"Y-yes," the real purple unicorn nervously replied, backing up a little.
"Well, you shouldn't. He's not pleasurable."
"Wh-what are you talking about?"
"The only reason you should have a relationship is to get pleasure out of it. Then, once it's gone, you move onto get more, yes?"
"N-no! That's not how relationships work! Relationships are built on love and honesty, not lust and lies!" She poked a hoof to her reflection's chest. "Whoever taught you that doesn't have enough horse-sense to tell left from right!"
"Are you calling the Princess a liar?" The duplicate chuckled. Twi snapped at that. In under ten seconds, she had her reflection tackled down and was charging up her horn to use the memory spell on her.
The real Twilight Sparkle woke up before the spell was cast in her dream. She looked around, and for about a second, she felt lonely and in need of a good hug. But she didn't need one from just anyone; she needed it from Fire Twilight.
Doodledraw had just spent most of the night listening to the CMC's ideas for their next story. All of them were now fast asleep, even Spike. They were all really good suggestions, and would probably make for a better story than the last. Maybe she could make some money off of…
"Oh, no!" The hot pink mare said to herself. "You're only doing this writing thing because it's fun…right?" She thought about it for a minute, then shrugged, and went to bed, saying, "I'll see if they want some profit out of this idea in the morning…" She quickly fell asleep afterwards.
Doodledraw found herself in a dark world. She took a few steps around and soon found herself in the presence of somepony who looked like Celestia. The only difference was that her mane was blonde and flowing the wrong way, and her coat was purple. DD gasped, "You're Destiny, ruler of the Dream Realm."
"Ah, so you've heard of me," the allicorn answered, starting to pace around the
"My friend, Spike told me you visited him in a dream, and gave him an offer," the hot pink pony explained.
"Yes, and I am here to offer you something. You're friends were able to hold against my temptations, but I'm here to see if you can take them as well."
"Are these temptations good or bad?"
"Oh, they're good…for you. You see, you make a good profit off your prints and portraits, but ponies in town are starting to get bored. Maybe you should put something new on the market. Your stories seem to have depth, and potential."
"Will…it come with a cost? My parents let me move out to make friends in other places, because I only have two real friends back home."
"You…you really think the Elements are your actual friends? The only reason they make friends is because the Princess forces them to!"
"And it's also because they discovered the magic of how great friendship is! You think you can get through to me because I'm greedy? Well, you can't! This is only a dream, and I know you can make dreams become reality, but they all come with a price! I'm not going to take your offer, Destiny!"
Doodledraw was thankful she subconsciously woke up at that moment. She was afraid of what Destiny would do if she didn't obey. Even Spike never told her what happened after he made his decision to stay in this reality. Trying not to wake the sleeping younger ones, she made her way to her to her desk and wrote yet another letter to her parents.
Dear Mom and Dad,
Tonight, I learned that there are many temptations that we will face in our lives. Sometimes, at the moment, they may seem like the best choice. But in the end, they will never win out. You need to stand strong in your hardest moments, and they'll always be a way out.
Sincerely,
Doodledraw