Enter Sandman - Sands of Time

Star Swirl the Bearded and Twilight Sparkle stepped into a large, open chamber of stone. A brief glance around the room told the latter she was in a castle of some sort. Regal red carpets lay over the floor, branching off into many separate hallways.  Potted plants lay nestled in small alcoves, giving rise to various flowers and small trees. Gentle lyre music wafted into her ears, along with faint conversation.

"How is this castle connected to the cavern behind--?"

Yet as Twilight turned, she saw no opening in the wall behind her, nothing to indicate they had just emerged from a dark cave tunnel.

"Dreams are not connected with one another," Star Swirl replied as he began walking down a corridor, moving in the direction of the conversation. "Not naturally, at least. You are the one who must bridge the gap, if you wish to move between dreams at will. You may, however, not want to. Within these walls, you are safe from the Sandman."

"You're sure about that?" Star Swirl he may have been, but Twilight remained doubtful.

"One sandman is of no threat to us here. You see, it has no interest in the dead. There's nothing left to us but souls now, memories and feelings of who we once were. A sandman has nothing to gain from coming for us, for we no longer have any real power." He paused as a thought seemed to enter his mind. "Incidentally, you're taking all this very well, I might add," he noted thoughtfully.

"I…" Twilight felt unsure how to respond to that. "I've… I've seen mares return from the moon after a thousand years. I have a friend who can predict the future whenever her tail starts shaking by itself. I've stared down a god of chaos who willed pink clouds raining chocolate milk all over Equestria. At this point in my life, it's hard to say if anything isn't true anymore."

Star Swirl smiled warmly at her. "Very astute."

"Huh?"

"Yes… our world has a set of rules that govern our reality, but rarely do we play by the rules; or, there are exceptions to those rules. Never is anything truly set in stone, or final. You are in the midst of realizing that. Dreams, you will find, are little different. For example, usually you cannot enter another pony's dream, even if you see that other pony in your own. Sometimes, however, we find ourselves sharing dreams with one another, even if we've never met the other pony before in our lives… or, in your case, we discover that we are dreaming, but we cannot get out of our dream, such as with your sandman."

The conversation ahead was now fully audible; whoever they were about to meet, Twilight realized they were quite close.

"My old friends are just around the corner here. We may one and all be long gone, but we may still know a fact or two that will help you."

Twilight beheld a long, rectangular table in a great hall. The table was loaded with all manner of food and drink: Spiced apple cider, roasted potatoes swimming in butter, eggplant parmesan, and other, just as appetizing smells wafted into her nostrils. Seated all around the table were all manner of well-dressed earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns. Of particular interest to Twilight were the frilly attire of the earth ponies, the regal vestiges of the unicorns, and the imposing black armor of the pegasi present.

"Master Star Swirl, there you are!"

A small, dark-green unicorn mare pushed her chair back from the table. She began trotting towards Star Swirl, a sky blue cloak rippling gently behind her.

"Oh, come now, Clover. Stop calling me that. You haven't been my pupil since the Founding. How many times have I told you?"

Clover the Clever stopped to consider, running a hoof back through her light-green mane, tied back in a ponytail. "That's a good question. Let's see… with roughly fifteen hundred years between our passing and the present, and noting that on average you state this fact—"

"Stopstopstopstop!" Star Swirl waved his hooves frantically for a moment. "It was merely a rhetorical question, Clover. I've no doubt you would figure it out, given enough time. Incidentally, I have need of you." He gestured a hoof towards Twilight Sparkle. "You see, this unicorn…" he paused, frowning.

"Twilight Sparkle," Twilight helpfully supplied.

"Yes. Twilight Sparkle here," Star Swirl continued, "is being pursued by a sandman."
Clover gasped in alarm. "That's awful! Twilight, thank goodness you're alright! Would you like to spend the night here?"

"Spend the… night?" Twilight asked confusedly. "I thought the sandman would pursue me through dreams?"

"Look around you." Clover gestured to the gathering of ponies behind her, most of whom had now stopped eating to watch and listen. "This is a dream of many ponies. A sandman is stronger than any one dreamer, but stands no chance against many dreamers. The power of our collective imagination is far too strong. It would gain nothing from attempting to assault us here."

"A sandman!?" A seated pegasus boomed out. "What are we waiting for? Let's get out there and hunt it down!"

"Sandmen are intelligent creatures, Commander Hurricane," Star Swirl replied across the hall. "They dare not risk attack against superior numbers. Within these walls, our guest here will be safe."

"Safe? What about other ponies?"

"Hm?" Star Swirl looked towards Twilight.

"I thank you for the offer of hospitality. I'd love very much to stay here and learn about the actual founding of Equestria. But if I stay here safe from the monster's reach," she added, shaking her head, "It may go after other unsuspecting ponies. I was fortunate that I became conscious I was dreaming just in time. I can't just stand here, knowing other ponies could be in grave danger." Ignoring the roar of approval from the armored pegasi present, she continued, "I want to confront it while its attention is still fixed on me."

"Well spoken, lass!" Commander Hurricane, a black mare with a short, silvery mane, called back. "Placing your life on the line when others are in grave peril… there is no higher honor to be found than in taking such a risk!"

Star Swirl frowned, surprised at this turn of events. "I would not have counseled this course of action. Surely there is somepony you can alert to this turn of events? I believe I've heard of an alicorn princess ruling Equestria these days. When morning comes, you shall awaken and be able to alert her to the creature's presence."

"That's exactly what I'll do." Twilight held her head high, staring determinedly at Star Swirl. "Maybe I can't defeat it, but I can keep its attention on me for the night, preventing it from causing harm elsewhere. Then when morning comes and I awake, I can alert Princess Celestia to its presence."

"Star Swirl! Let me go with her," Hurricane replied, now flying over the table to land next to Twilight. "I can protect her handily. You know this."

"No! If any one of us goes with her, I doubt the sandman will bother."

"I don't have to stick with her for the entire night," replied Hurricane dismissively. "Twilight, I trust you have made many friends over the years?"

"Oh, yes! I even write letters about friendship to—"

"Excellent." Hurricane began pacing back and forth across the carpet. "We'll travel through the dream network. It's true that I can't make a good companion in your quest… not for long, at least. But I can keep you safe until such a time as you have allies – living allies – of your own. My only question to you is this, and consider carefully: would you be willing to risk your friends' lives along with your own?"

"Risk my friends' lives? Can't I do it alone? I'd rather not get them involved."

Hurricane shook her head. "You will have to. Alone and friendless, you stand no chance. You will need friends to help you. As a former commander who fought in many battles, I'm aware of the consequences of dragging your friends into battle. If they were to die this night in their dreams in the sandman's clutches… they will die in the waking world. Are you prepared to take that risk?"

Twilight lowered her head in meditation for a moment. "They would be," she replied slowly. "So I am."

"They will only help you if they, too, realize they are in a dream," Clover spoke up. "However, if they see you, they may recognize you and become lucid. But be careful how many friends you bring along, or what sort of friends. Those with a strong imagination have a natural advantage against the sandman; for with its sandy body, it cannot be harmed by conventional attacks. Only strong manipulation of the dream world will bring magic against it and cause it harm. Notably, water is very effective against a sandman, for the sand hardens and washes away, revealing its true form."

"True form?" Twilight asked. "It's been a little while since last I read about this monster. What do you mean by 'true form'?"

"I can tell you once we start moving," Hurricane replied in an impatient tone. "If we're going to leave, we must do it quickly."

"I agree." Star Swirl nodded. "Make your way to the dreams of your friends. If they can hear you, see you, understand you are really there… they will rally around you. Bear in mind, however, that you may even find friends in the most unexpected dreams. Good luck to you, Twilight Sparkle."

"Thank you, Star Swirl. I… I really wish we'd met under different circumstances. There's so much I want to ask you now, yet this just isn't the time! And you too, Clover!"

"Someday, Twilight Sparkle," Clover replied, wrapping a forehoof around Twilight's back in a hug, "we will meet again."

"Thank you. Thank you all, and good bye!"

Twilight turned to face Hurricane, instead gasping in astonishment as the hall rapidly faded away into nothingness, only Hurricane still remaining, eyes pensively closed as though in solemn prayer. Twilight watched as gradually, the packed-in dirt of a lengthy road materialized under their hooves, surrounded by green grasslands. The sky became a brilliant, fiery orange, connected with the earth by the distant setting sun. Groups of pegasi could be seen soaring through the skies, though from this distance she could not tell them apart.

"Where are we? Have we reached some other pony's dream?"

"We have," said Hurricane, at last opening her eyes. "Mmm… pretty sunset. Doesn't look like much of a dream beyond that, though."

"Why do you say that?" Twilight raised an eyebrow.

"Sure, the sunset's nice, and this is definitely what you'd call a happy dream, but…" Hurricane waved a hoof at the expanse around her, largely devoid of anything else besides grass. "An endless road, an endless grassland, blurred outlines of pegasi. Not very detailed at all. You can't even feel the heat of the sun on your face."

Twilight looked again around the landscape, and had to admit Hurricane had a point. Once you got past appreciating the beauty of the sunset, there was very little to see or even feel in this particular dream.

Unless, of course, you had the right context.

"I don't know… I mean, I'm about to enter the world of nighttime, right? Coming into the beginning of a literal dream journey with the sun setting feels kind of poetic."

"Ewww, poetry." Hurricane gagged, a bit to Twilight's surprise. "You'll have far better things to see before this night's done! Come on, let's walk for a bit. I might as well take this dream to teach you a few things about how travelling is going to work…"

They walked onward together, through a road that goes ever, ever on.