Odd Dreams as an Intermission

The night was long. Mochi Moon had a unique way of making the night feel drawn out without it ever dragging. So much fun fit into a singular night, it simply had to be longer than the average night. After eating mochi, drinking, and partying for so long, any bun would be prone to a deep sleep. Most buns were, in fact. A great night for those in need of catching up with sleep.

This Mochi Moon was no different for Flor. Outside fireworks lit the upper caverns, whistling and thundering as their lights streaked and burst across Burrowgatory. With their home being darkened now, Flor’s sleeping bun form was illuminated in a plethora of color. Outermost edges of their form rocketed between hues, red to blue to yellow to white to green to yellow and so forth. Flor was none the wiser, no sound or light was enough to rouse them in that moment. Blissfully unaware of the world around them.

They remained in a state of peace. Snoring softly and silently. Their fluffy ears, with one having slipped out from its tie, made for a comfortable pillow down on the floor. With a gentle but metallic scrape, the most movement Flor made was some faint kicking of their legs and curling of their tail. Their prosthetic was the lower of their hind legs, making it easy to scoot aside the party debris on the floor as their dreams took over their reality.

In Flor’s dreams, mountain ranges they didn’t recognize sprawled before them. They roamed the unique flora that lined the trail upwards. The cavern ceiling roamed dawning colors, fading between pinks and purples and oranges and yellows in an almost waving pattern. A flock of impossibly large corvats flew by, calling to each other playfully.

“Hello!,” Flor waved in the dream. A large, peach-y corvat whistled to them, tilting its head in curiosity before flying off with its group.

They laughed. It was a little disappointing to have been brushed off, sure, but it still felt magical. It still made them feel special to experience the moment (which would admittedly be dampened when they woke up, but at least it’d be fun to remember the sensation).

With a pleased hum, Flor continued their trek.

The world crackled and boomed around them. They fell - or at least, they thought they fell. The ground around them flew upwards and the cavern above grew further away, but they didn’t feel any movement on their own part. Then it stopped. Then they were floating.

A cavern’s jagged mouth yawned before them, dark and unknowable - an exciting prospect. Flor floated forward. As they did, the cavern’s sides lit up with glowing crystals that fading back to oblivion once they’d passed them. The alternating colors were almost hypnotic.

A black speck ahead prompted their vision to refocus.

“Oh! Hey, Flutter!”

Their avia hopped forward towards them, before eventually propelling itself upwards to be at Flor’s eye level. They giggled as Flutter preened at their hair, and returned the favor by rubbing the imp’s little head.

“What are you doing here?”

Flutter sat itself down on their head, and Flor laughed again, resisting shaking their head in amusement.

“You sure have a way of bringing newness around, huh?”

With a few cheeps of ambivalence, it further nestled itself in Flor’s hair.

“Fair enough,” they mused. Now in the company of one of their imps, Flor continued to float along the tunnels, carefully scanning their environment.

In a blink, they were riding on Flutter’s back. They didn’t know if they were suddenly tiny or if Flutter became giant in that split second. Well, that wasn’t something to worry about, right?

As the pair explored, Flor enjoyed the feeling of their ears flowing back from the rush of flight - it had the exhilaration of a fall without the fear. It also reminded them being under water. To the extent, in fact, that they began to think they could even hear water rushing.

Oh.

They approached a large lake, water rushing and actively spreading outwards with the whims of the waterfall that seemed to source it. In the moment of the dream, Flor didn’t have any questions about their location, whether this was still the tunnel they’d been floating around in or if they were above the mountain again - if they were even still anywhere near those mountains, for that matter.

“Oooh, Flutter! Look at that waterfall! You want to check it out?”

With a long, whistling tweet, Flutter gave its affirmation. To Flor’s surprise, though, it didn’t just go near the waterfall.

“Uh! Flutter?!”

It was taking them straight through the waterfall. It flew faster and faster, making it harder and harder for Flor to hold onto the imp as they barreled straight into the waterfall with a world-shattering crash, a bone-rattling bang-

Their eyes, previously squeezed shut, flew open with a sharp, shuddering inhale. A few quick blinks made Flor aware that they were in their room. They glanced around. They could see their imps, including Flutter, all of whom were normal sized.

Sleepily, they sighed in relief. “Weird dream,” they murmured before drifting back to sleep.