Luna and the Dreamscape - Episode 3: Sweet Surprise

[Hippo]

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Luna had a thing for sweet things. She always loved the smell of sugary items that were placed as small items for consumption at dinner. They were there for a brief appetizer, or an after-dinner mint. But let's face it, it was always the best part. In the pony kingdom, cakes, sugar popsicle, sweet tarts, cookies, muffins--they were always a huge deal in the food markets of Equestria. Ponies needed their sugar.

But as Luna knew as good as any other adult pony, especially those with foals of their own, too many sweets can make one sick, and a enough portion of chocolate before one sleeps would prove to haunt them in their nightmares. Luna would usually suspect that the foals that were having nightmares she came across were always disobedient to their parents, and sneaked a bite of desert before they drifted off into a scary sugar coma.

But that was not always the case.

​

[Lux]

Sweet Surprise trotted merrily with her usual bouncy walk, humming some tune as she effortlessly moved about the banquet hall. The place was nothing short of beautiful with its marble floors and walls and tall windows. Golden chandeliers hung from the ceilings illuminating the room and making everything sparkle. The center of such a festive place had dozens of round tables, each with a dozen chairs and adorned with white tablecloths, silverware, pitchers of water and the finest centerpieces.This space was just beckoning to hold hundreds of happy ponies!

Along the walls there were long rectangular tables that formed a horseshoe around the event floor, each with matching tablecloths. On these tables though were the crowning achievements of this event. There were several large silver platters, each with chocolates of every size, shape and type imaginable, all hoof made by Sweet Surprise. Anything from milk and dark chocolate to peanut-butter, coconut, mint, raspberry, and other flavors sat on these plates waiting to be enjoyed. There were fondue fountains bubbling forth chocolate with plates of fruits nearby, ready to be submerged in the sweet stuff. There was even a giant metal urn that would dispense hot chocolate to ponies if so inclined.

The most lavish of things that adorned the long tables were sculptures made of pure chocolate, each one a different theme. One was a chocolate rooster while another was a model of the choclatier's shop and home. There was even a chocolatey sculpture that was an exact likeness of the earth pony!

"Everything looks so amazing!" Sweet said as she looked around the room while pirouetting, "And everything smells so delicious. The sculptures smell delicious, the chocolates smell delicious. Even I smell delicious. Err... I hope nopony mistakes me for a chocolate sculpture."

She walked to the front of the building where there was a golden pull cord.

"And now let the first annual Chocolate Frolic begin!"

With a yank the banner unfurled over the event space bearing the name of the party that seemed fit for anypony to join, maybe even fit for a Princess. Sweet then opened the doors to the banquet hall, expecting a line of ponies to be waiting to get in. Instead though there was not a single soul, just a quiet Canterlot street at night.

"Err... maybe the ponies will show up soon. Until then I think I can take a little load off my hooves."

With that the mare sat on a nearby chair, her eyes fixed at the open doors, waiting to greet the first pony that walked through.

[Hippo]

Luna was in a candy land. Or at least it felt like it. She was in a meadow where the petals of the wild flowers smelled like peppermints and the river nearby ran with the aura the sprung from lemonade put on ice. The sweetness was coming from everywhere. Yup, this is a sugar coma, Luna thought to herself. But in the distance, a spot of civilization could be seen. On approach, it looked like a large dinner hall or civic center, specifically designed for large social events and receptions. And since it was the only thing around, Luna figured this might be the source of the dream she was in. Wasn't a nightmare, but Luna always would want to see the creative mind of a dreaming pony.

On the side of the building, Luna looked into it through a window. She knew not to go through the front door like she was invited, such an entrance could cause a disturbance for the intentions of the dream. When she arrived at the window, she looked carefully inside and saw a banquette set up made of candy stalks and chocolate sculptures that looked completely edible. Luna gasped. It was so extravagant, it looked like it was fit for an entire royal family and the family's friends, and the family's friends' friends. It was large enough to accommodate nearly an entire town with the sweets and sugar it beheld.

Luna even pondered for a moment that the building itself was edible. But she wouldn't dare to lick it. Not yet, anyway. Inside, she saw a single pony waiting like she was to expect company. But as Luna looked around, the area was very remote. Nothing but gumdrop pastures and icing hills as far as the eye could see in every direction. Luna's curiosity would cause her to wait outside with the pony though. Maybe somepony was coming. Or maybe the pony had an eating problem and was having a fantasy of devouring everything around her. The Princess laid low and watched to be unseen from the window.

​

[Lux]

The chocolate pony remained sitting in the chair, eagerly staring at the door while retaining a smile that was hard not to not smile back. Yet as time passed and the pony waited, occasionally shifting her position, her smile began to wane.

"I wonder where all the ponies are? I did send out the invitation and advertised this event, right?"

Thinking back as a worried look ran across her face, she began to ponder if some loose end was about to be the undoing of her premier party. Then she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh now i remember, I did send out the invitations, all two hundred of them, and I had at least fifty posters I hung up in town. Ponies would be crazy not to forget this party. I'm sure that they'll be coming soon... I hope."

She got up and helped herself to a cup which she filled with hot chocolate, occasionally looking at the open door, hoping that a pony would stroll in but with each glance seeing none.

[Hippo]

Luna saw that the pony inside seemed a little anxious and with an ear pressed up against the window, she could make out what she was saying out loud to herself. A dreamscape was a difficult place to hide your thoughts. Almost everything was spoken aloud unless you had the lucidness to be able to control the sound around you. The pony was waiting for ponies to show up to her party, but so far no one had attended.

Some time passed and with impatience growing inside, Luna was growing impatient outside. Not only were the treats around her calling the princess to come eat them, but this pony who had set up a beautiful desert party seemed to have a catastrophic no show. It was impossible. Ponies from all over would soon rather die than to miss an opportunity like this one, but no one was there. "Huh." Luna grunted aloud.

Luna moved to a different window, one where she could get a better view of the pony in distress. She was obviously the dreamer and she was struggling with a bit of rejection one would assume. Luna wanted to make sure this wasn't some kind of misplaced dream, so she listened carefully to the vibrations and textures of the dreamscape while the pony spoke along with the way she walked. Little did Luna see, however, that a dark lurking was hovering around the building.

​

[Lux]

"What?" Sweetie Surprise said thinking that she heard another pony in the hall, something that raised her spirits slightly. But looking around and seeing nopony around her hopes quickly dimmed. It was then suddenly that the lights on the chandeliers suddenly dimmed, plunging the place only into a half light.

"Wh... what's going on? Oh great, just another thing for me to worry about. Now how am I going to throw a party? Like I ever thought I could throw one with my talent."

It was then that Sweet Surprise heard a giggle in the darkness. It sounded strangely like her laughter, only darker.

"W...ho's there?"

"Oh I'm sorry, were you expecting somepony?"

"No... well yes... well, I was."

"Oh I know all about this failed poor excuse for a party of yours Sweet. How you tried to get ponies to recognize you and love you. But all you did was prove that you are just another loser."

"Why would say such a thing? Who are you?"

"Oh that's easy silly," the voice said as the figure stepped forward, revealing a pony that looked like Sweet Surprise except her normally poofy hair was unkempt and her face contorted in a smug grin, "It's because I am you. Now why are you wasting your time trying to bribe ponies' friendships in exchange for sweet little candy. You know that doing so is just a big fat lie. Why don't you just realize the truth, that you are nothing but a loser who will never have any friends and never be a success."

"No," Sweet Surprise said as she collapsed to the ground, tears streaming from her eyes as the dark form of Sweet Surprise laughed at her, "It's not true. Ponies do love me. They do want to be my friend. Stop laughing. Stop laughing!"

[Hippo]

After a good amount of waiting in silence, what could only be described as evil laughter could be heard from inside the building. Luna perked up to see what was happening, and Sweet Surprise looked completely puzzled. What was going in there? Luna look up to the ceiling and saw dark clouds form around the room. And shortly after, what looked like Sweet's subconscious thoughts were streamlining their way into a vivid projection in which Sweet could see herself demoralizing her character and her efforts to treat her friends to a party. Amazing! Luna stepped back and looked around the building. She could see the light escaping in every direction, and darkness creeping in closer and closer to the building until it breached it, and bled into the windows with it's blackness.

Luna could hear everything Sweet's projection of herself was saying, and wanted to help her. But she wanted to let Sweet really allow her candid dreamscape to display her thoughts, whereas confronting her with Luna's appearance would shadow a response and cripple the honesty of the situation. Luna wanted to know what was really going on and having a negative self might actually be the best chance at revealing the truth. Was this pony having trouble making friends? Were they really trying to bribe ponies with candy to be friends with them? It didn't seem likely, and Luna wanted to know what the real issue was. Sweet obviously had to conquer her own thoughts. But the princess had yet to hear exactly what what it was that was keeping her locked out from thinking positively. So she decided to wait longer and listen to the pony's conversation with herself until she was confident how to solve the fear and doubt in this pony's heart.

​

[Lux]

"You... you horrible pony," Sweet Surprise said choking through her tears at the dark version of her, "I don't make candy just to please ponies. I make it because it's my talent and because making candy makes me feel good. And what's wrong with making ponies feel happy too?"

"I'm not horrible because I'm you. If you think I'm bad, look in the mirror. I'm all the icky parts of you that you don't want to recognize until now. And as for what you said about not making candy to please ponies, what a silly thing to say! You know that even before you got that cutie mark on your flank you were fighting for what you loved before that. Remember dear old mom and dad, how they hated candy saying it was a ... how did the say it... oh yes a waste of time! You kept trying to prove them wrong even after you got your mark, and then you ran away thinking you'd get a new start. But no matter what you did, they are still there aren't they? Still telling you that your candy making is a waste and therefore you and your talent are too! So you try to give candy to others thinking that they'll be friends with you. Do you see now? They don't want to be your friends. They just want a quick candy fix and nothing more. So why throw a party for them?"

"You're right. Why should I give good candy to everypony that doesn't like me? Why should I even try my best? They're using me! Well, I'm going to keep all the good candy for myself and they'll get the ok ones."

With that Sweet Surprise began to indulge with reckless abandon on the creations she made in the party, making it a party for one and no one else, not if no pony would respect her.

[Hippo]

Luna was strictly saddened by what she heard. This pony was losing her ability to be confident in her ability right before her eyes. She would certainly wake up from this dream with more intent on doubting her own purpose if Luna didn't do something. She had to intervene. But how? She couldn't just save the day and barge in. She had to give the pony a chance to prove her own suspicions wrong. And she would do it without revealing her identity.

​

A pony walked into the reception hall, seeing Sweet Surprise engage on her creations, eating them and pulling items towards her. The pony who walked in had a green coat, was a pegasus, and had violet mane and tail. She wore a cutie mark that showed several stars, one bigger than the rest. "Um, hello?" She said timidly. "Is this the party?"

​

[Lux]

In her gorging of her prized chocolates so ravenously like a pony that hadn't eaten in a week, Sweet Surprise failed to see the green and purple pony appear. It was only her timid voice that shocked the chocolate hued earth pony out of her feeding frenzy, and perhaps her half to death.

"Whaaa," she said frightened as she looked around before seeing the pony standing there, "Tho... thorry thifff I thared tou."

She quickly realized that this pony probably didn't understand one word that was coming out of her mouth, and to eliminate any miscommunication and accidental chocolate flying from her mouth, she paused and swallowed before talking again.

"Oh, I meant sorry if I scared you. You said you're for the party miss?"

As Sweet waited for the Pegasus to reply, she was leery about this one. Granted this was her purpose of the party to have ponies there, but her reasons even for the party were in doubt.

[Hippo]

She walked through the reception hall and got closer to the pony. "Um, yes. This is the right address right? I saw a flyer on a bulletin board in town. Did I come too early?" She looked at the chocolate sculptures that Sweet was chewing on while she intruded in on the near empty ballroom. "Or too late?" The green mare held an embarrassed face, giving off a reflection of regret. How would Sweet Surprise act when dealing with a pony underneath her attention span? "You must be Sweet Surprise. My name is Starlette. You can call me Starla." She looked around the tables, seeing all the sweets laid out. "This sure is a lot of candy."

​

[Lux]

"Oh... right the flyers. Yes this is the party."

The question from the timid pony about whether the party was beginning or was over struck Sweet Surprise hard. Here she was, just her and Starlette in an open room with nopony else. Despite the fact that she was pleased with the new arrival it did little to disperse the feeling of utter failure.

"Well, it is still open I guess," she said smiling before dipping her head low, "I mean I'm happy to see you here, don't get me wrong. But I guess I dreamed that this party would have whole herds of ponies laughing and talking and trying my sweet treats. Guess some dreams aren't meant to take flight. I guess you expected there to be more ponies here too, right?"

It was then that Sweet realized how strange she looked having bitten the head off the chocolate rooster she was holding, thankfully not the most ornate chocolate statue she made but still a fairly sizable one. She quickly put it under the table cloth and removed the evidence of the chocolate ring around her mouth.

Meanwhile the evil version of Sweet Surprise stood by, watching the two like a cobra ready to strike while giving Sweet a look as if to remind the chocolate pony to remember what she said about ponies betraying her trust.

[Hippo]

"Well, yeah. I figured there would be a line. Boy was I wrong!" Luna decided to play along with the reality of the dream, give Sweet a chance to express herself, and then maybe she would say something that would challenge. For the moment, she was just keeping an eye on what seemed like Sweet's negative conscience, but not address it directly. "Oh! Are these honey fritters? Can I go ahead and start snacking on these? Who made all this stuff!? They should put a lot of work into it."

​

[Lux]

"Yeah" she said at first with a smile but then turning to a frown, "I kind of expected a long line too."

Starlette then asked about honey fritters, something that was an afterthought that Sweet made as an appetizer. Her main focus was on the chocolate creations, but ever so often she would throw in a still sweet item into the mix.

"Oh sure you can have some honey fritters they..."

"Oh come on!" the negative Sweet Surprise, who was before just staring daggers at the newcomer, now finally spoke, "How could you let this mare lay her hooves upon a single morsel after what we talked about? You know what she wants. You know what they all want, and it isn't your friendship."

"But... she could be different."

"No Sweet, she will just let you down just like others have in your life," she said before turning to the Pegasus, "So why don't you high tail it out of here silly mare. Sweet Surprise isn't going to be throwing any parties anymore for others to take advantage of. She doesn't need friends who will betray her and parents who look down upon her."

[Hippo]

Starla, or Luna as it were, was a little stunned when the alter ego of Sweet suddenly fell from the background and stood her ground as the negative Sweet she was. She fired accusations at her, suggesting to Sweet that it would only end horribly. And as she was directly confronted by the negative pony, Starla stepped back from the tables and placed a confused and scared reaction to her face. Luna expected some kind of resistence, but she wasn't expecting it to come like this! Starla whimpered a bit before finally gaining the courage to utter. "Is... is this really how you feel?" Starla directed her question to Sweet Surprise, the one who more color, looking a lot more concerned than angry.

​

[Lux]

Sweet Surprise was shocked by the backlash that her negative side inflicted upon Starlette. For a moment she stood unable to comprehend what to do next. She knew her negative side was trying to protect her from having her heart and dreams broken, but this was getting too far. The chocolate hued mare wondered if this evil clone was really a part of her, a side that she hated to recognize until now. Why it was possible that this creature was now standing before her was something she couldn't figure out.

Seeing the reaction by the Pegasus, Sweet knew that this wasn't some figment of her imagination. She backed away slightly, asking if that was how she felt.

"Come on Sweet," the menacing clone said, "Go tell her how you feel. Tell her that you don't need any friends, that you can be all by yourself. Tell her to get her flank out of her party. All you ever need is you and I, and we will never be hurt or disappointed again."

"I..." Sweet stammered caught between her alter ego and the nice pony that was the only one who attended her, "I...I'm sorry Starlette. I'm a bad hostess, probably the worst one in Canterlot maybe Equestria. I guess I'm upset that you were the only one to come to my party, and it just brought up some bad memories of my past. I really like that you are here, and I'd really like to get to know you, but I don't think that you want to know. Not after what happened. Because I know that this pony that looks like me is me, or part of me. Don't ask me why she's here, but the fact is that this is me, a horrible monster! I don't deserve friends or being a well known confectioner. If the Princesses saw this they'd be so upset!"

With that Sweet collapsed into a ball sobbing on the ground as the menacing figure scowled at the Pegasus.

[Hippo]

Starla stepped back up. Luna was crying inside. The amount of doubt in this pony embarrassed herself. And talking as if a princess would shun her behavior was definitely in need of correcting. But Luna could not remove her cover just yet. "Wait. You said something happened? What happened? And why was it so bad that it caused this wonder creation to go to waste? I mean look at this spread. It's amazing! Have you ever thought about doing this professionally?" She walked over to the table full of jello and stared at it's magnificence. She dare not spoon into it, it was too beautiful.

​

[Lux]

It was inevitable that the mare would ask Sweet Surprise what troubled her, especially after opening the door to her life. There was a little hint of joy that the chocolate brown mare felt with the Pegasus saying that her candy spread was good enough to be professionally made.

"I guess you should know," Sweet said with a sigh as she turned quickly towards the negative version of her that made no objectives, "The truth is that she, I mean me, I mean the other Sweet Surprise is right. Sometimes i wonder if all I'm doing with my candy making is to prove myself. You see, my parents are dentists, and they think anything sweet is bad for ponies as they say it rots their teeth. Candy is the worst for them, calling it a waste of time. I barely had and sweet things as a filly like cakes or cookies, and forget having candy! But then one day I tried a candy and I was forever interested in how they are made. So I would learn from candy makers how to make things like lollipops, licorice, fudge, all kinds of things! Then one day after making my own candy, I got my cutie mark. Although my parents didn't seem upset, they didn't look really happy either. I guess they couldn't reject my talent, because that would be rejecting me, right? But after that I realized that my talent was going to be at odds with them, so I moved to Canterlot where I make candy professionally. But there are times that my candy isn't the best because every time I make it, I think I'm disappointing my parents. So I'm always wondering if I'm in trying to please my parents I'm making this candy to please anypony I can, which i know that's not what i want. I want ponies to like me because of me and because of my talent, not to get some quick sweet treat and then forget me."

Sweet ended up panting, exhausted from her story, her life summed up in her story.

[Hippo]

The green mare exhaled. "Oh. Is that all?" She said with a smirk and chipper attitude, approaching Sweet Surprise closely. It was the closest Luna had been to her in the dreamscape and she could see for herself in the candy mare's eyes the torment she provides for herself. Luna could see why she treated herself this way, even in her dreams. And she knew it was much harder to convince her in her dreams that she is better off believe in her own self, let alone encourage her in this when she is awake. "How old are you? You're pretty young, but if I were to guess, you've been on your own for quite some time, haven't you?"

Starla sat down next to Sweet Surprise and started popping in her mouth some of the chocolate chip cookies that were waiting to be consumed on the table. She easily ate about half a dozen while Sweet responded.

​

[Lux]

At first Sweet was taken aback by the reaction that Starlette made about her bad past as a filly. She could see that the Pegasus was saying so with a sense of humor, but Sweet wondered what she was getting at.

"Yeah, that's it, that the whole bad mess."

"Ugh are you going to let her berate you like that?" the negative Sweet Surprise said, "She acts like your life is some fiction tale. Show some respect!"

Before Sweet could respond to her negative side, Starlette asked her how old she was, something that was a very strange question to the chocolate brown mare.

"Um... that's kind of a strange question no offense. I mean, I'm a young mare. It's been a few years now since I got my cutie mark and all, and I live on my own. But aren't I close to your age? I mean you look kind of older than me, but not by much, right?"

[Hippo]

Starla continued eating some of the cookies. While she chewed and listened, she looked around for the milk. When she found it, she poured herself a tall glass and drank it to clear herself for speaking again. "Oh, Sweet. I may look young, but let's just say I've been around the block a few times." Starla had a milk moustache above her lips. "Say, I gotta ask. What's with your twin?" Up until now, Luna chose to ignore Sweet's negative influence for a clearer persepctive of Sweet's real identity. But it was getting annoying to the point where she felt she must do something. "She seems to just lurk in the corner over there and she doesn't seem to ever say anything nice. She is your twin, right? You guys look the same, except she's darker."

​

[Lux]

Sweet watched as Starla continued to eat the cookies while her negative version of her watched with a glaring look that could burn a hole through solid rock. It was no surprise that Sweet seemed to guess her age wrong. Sometimes it was hard to tell how old a pony was at first glance. Upon seeing her milk mustache, Sweet tried to stifle a giggle while negative Sweet uttered a low grow, something that sounded more like an animal defending its young than from a pony.

"Oh her?" Sweet said for a moment forgetting about the inexplicably similar pony. "She's um... er... hmmm..."

She turned and faced the grimacing mare and asked, "So who did you say you were again?"

"Don't you remember? I'm you."

"Wait a minute, how can you be me? Does that mean I'm you?"

"You are me and you and I am you and me."

"So...you're me but not me. I think you're worst than me. I mean if you don't know who you are, then who are you?"

"I'M YOU! I'M THE PART OF YOU THAT IS TELLING YOU TO WAKE UP! DO YOU THINK SHE CARES? DO YOU THINK ANYPONY CARES ABOUT YOU AND YOUR PRECIOUS TALENT? NEWS FLASH, THEY DON'T AND THEY NEVER WILL> ALL THEY WILL DO IS TAKE ADVANTAGE OF YOUR SWEET SMILE AND YOUR CANDY AND THEN LEAVE YOU ABANDONED AND SAD, JUST LIKE THE WAY YOUR DEAR OLD MOM AND DAD TREATED YOU. SO WHY ARE YOU LISTENING TO THIS SILLY MARE WHO WILL PROBABLY JUST DITCH YOU? ARE YOU THAT PATHETIC? ARE YOU!"

[Hippo]

It was clear that Sweet's negative ego was going to start controlling the environment with any more feedback, so Luna decided to go ahead and take care of it with a little crowd control. Starlette's horn lit up and zapped a force field around the negative Sweet, freezing her in time, muting her voice, and holding her to her outraged facial expression. Starlette proved to have powerful magic, but wait a minute. Wasn't she a pegasus? "I think I've heard enough from her. Now, Sweet Surprise, let's try this again without the negative emotion. What is your talent, and why do your friends like you?" Luna wanted to make sure that Sweet Surprise could hold her own thoughts against herself. She hoped to be able to do it with the negative environment, but the next step was to see if she could achieve positive conversation without the negative yammering. And if she could not, then the case was more severe than Luna had initially thought.

​

[Lux]

Sweet began to curl up into a ball again with her hooves over her ears and her eyes closed as tears streamed down her face. The sound of this dark version of her was too much to bear, eating away at the very core of her sanity.

"Pleas be quiet. Oh please please be quiet..."

She chanted this for what seemed like forever until finally for some reason she heard the evil yelling stop. Cautiously she removed her hooves from her ears and heard a voice say. "I think I've heard enough from her. Now, Sweet Surprise, let's try this again without the negative emotion. What is your talent, and why do your friends like you?"

It wasn't a voice she recognized immediately, and it didn't sound like Starlette.

"Starlette? Is that you?"

She opened her eyes to see the twisted angry face of her negative counterpart frozen like some grotesque statue. But the biggest surprise came when she turned ans saw not the Pegasus that she thought she would be there, but instead none other than Princess Luna.

"Princess Luna? What are you doing here? What happened to the other Sweet?"

She then realized that the Princess asked her some questions.

"Oh, my cutie mark? It means that I am good at baking things, especially candy. As for why they like me..."

Sweet paused for a moment, alternating her gaze between the Alicorn and the negative Sweet Surprise until finally her ears drooped ans she said, "I... I don't really know anymore why ponies like me except for my talent."

[Hippo]

Luna may have overdrawn herself to the point where even in somepony else's dream, she dropped her cover. At first it was unintentional. But the Princess would wear it proud and remain a stable mental force in the area of the dreamscape. What Sweet needed more than anything was a hard surface to stand up on, a strong stick to pull herself up, and a flat ground to keep her level. In a dream where up and down are always just projections, Luna had to make sure Sweet would not wander herself back to helplessness while the negative Sweet remained incapacitated. "Your talent, huh? Did you not have friends before you got your cutie mark? Or could it be that your cutie mark and finding out your purpose is what gave you the courage to be friends with others in the first place? We all approach it at different levels, Sweet Surprise, but the important thing to understand is that it's not our cutie mark that makes us who we are, who we are is much deeper than the magical sensation one gets on their backside." Luna almost said it jokingly, as if to say that all the emphasis on cutie mark finding teachers taught was useless. However, Luna's intent was obvious. "You envision that it's possible others may not like you because of something you do. But the truth is, you envision ponies may not like you because of what you think. It's your thoughts that are your enemy. And you need to vanquish them."

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