Slowly, my mind took hold of consciousness. I took a breath and let it out in a heavy sigh as I adjusted the comforter lying atop me. For a moment, I felt a smile cross my face, but it vanished almost immediately as I suddenly had the life slammed out of me by something stomping me in the stomach. My eyes shot open and I glared at the source, who smiled cheekily at me in response.
"Time to get up," Twilight chirped, standing with all four hooves planted on my stomach. "You're gonna be late." I scowled and turned towards my nightstand just as my alarm began ringing. A purple magic haze grabbed and switched it off, causing me to return my glare to Twilight as she hopped off my bed.
"Let's go!" She demanded. I let out a grunt and pulled myself up, rubbing my face as I stood. Twilight giggled and trotted to the door while I shuffled towards my bathroom. As she left, she magically hit the switch on my wall, sliding the metal curtains on my window open and letting in both the sun and the view of Canterlot outside. Just before slipping into the bathroom to prepare for the day, I spared a glance out the window.
The streets were being swept clean by my golems, some of which were hauling bins and paused in front of each residence so the locals could dump their trash. Teams of a few dozen golems were being directed by earpiece-wearing pegasi to move clouds over the fields beyond the walls where other pegasi hovered, waiting to kick said clouds, producing rain over the fields.
I flinched as a window-washing golem popped up and began squeegeeing my window. Just beyond, I spied the morning hover carriage departing from the station to the base of the mountain. All across the city, it was a picturesque merging of machine and life, both halves complimenting and empowering the other.
Once again, and without any purple alicorns to disrupt it, a smile formed on my face.
"Okie-dokey!" Twilight chirped as I emerged from my room before she blinked. "That's what you're wearing?" I paused and looked myself over again. Just a simple set of khakis and a short-sleeved blue button-up.
"What?" I shrugged. She leveled an annoyed look my way.
"Eddy, representatives from Foenum and the Royal Family of Thicket are going to be here," she retorted before tilting her head with an expectant leer. "Don't you think you should try looking your best?" I snorted a laugh.
"I always look my best by virtue of being me," I said with a snap of my fingers. She rolled her eyes, and I smirked. "Besides, the deer live a pretty old-school lifestyle, don't they? They'll probably appreciate discovering that Equestria's Minister of Advancement is so down-to-earth!" She held her annoyed stare, but I started down the hall before she could say anything. After striding alone with my hands folded behind my back for a few moments, I heard a sigh and a set of hooves frantically running to catch up to me.
"Well, Jury-rig and Rarity were putting a lot of thought into the stage's design for your speech," she fluttered up and punched my shoulder. "So, if your 'down-to-earth' style clashes at all, that's between you and them!"
I chortled and rubbed the spot she smacked. "Hardly a threat! This outfit's still one Rarity made for me, and Jury still owes me for taking the bullet all those years ago!"
Twilight flinched. "Taking the what?"
I turned and smiled at her. "You remember? I let you girls finally capture me in exchange for letting her and Tempest go?"
She furrowed her brow and tilted her head. "Huh?" I paused and stared at her.
"Just before you turned me to stone." She gasped and recoiled.
"We never did that!" My jaw dropped and I took a step away from her. "What the heck are you talking about, Eddy?" She fluttered closer to me, but I continued backing up.
"Are you okay?" I slowly shook my head as I retreated before tripping over something and falling over. Twilight caught me her magic with a gasp and gently lowered me to the ground. "Eddy?"
I stared at her in shock and slowly scanned the hall. That was when I realized it was all slightly hazy. My jaw hung for a moment before I closed it with a sigh.
"I remember now," I huffed as the hall melted away and Twilight grew fuzzy.
"Eddy?" She said with a warble.
"This is a dream."
"edDy?" I curled my knees to my chest and wrapped my arms around them.
"The same dream I've had since you locked me in here." Everything melted away, until finally I was in a dark void, with a small blot of purple light faintly calling my name. "The same situation. The same place. The same future I could have had. Is that right?" I glared at the purple blot as it vanished.
"A glimpse at what could have been," I grunted and rested my forehead on my knees. "To punish me. Torture me. Is that right?" No response came, just like all the other times.
I caught on to what was happening pretty quickly this time. Usually, I make it to the speech and then the following night, where Jury, Tempest, and I have drinks together and I notice Tempest isn't partially mechanical anymore. Sometimes, I forget my speech and realize I never had one to begin with.
And other times, I remember that Twilight would never smile like that at me again.
Taking a shaky breath through clenched teeth, I struggled to hold on. Struggled against the dream. Struggled against whatever in God's name they were doing to me out there. Struggled against the hot tears falling from my eyes.
It wasn't that the dream was bad. It was great. It was everything I could have hoped for, and more than I could imagine. And that was the problem.
It was just a dream.
Slowly, my mind took hold of consciousness. I took a breath and let it out in a heavy sigh as I adjusted the comforter lying atop me. For a moment, I felt a smile cross my face, but it vanished almost immediately as I suddenly had the life slammed out of me by something stomping me in the stomach. My eyes shot open and I glared at the source, who smiled cheekily at me in response.
"Time to get up," Twilight chirped.