//------------------------------// // Day 4 Morning // Story: My Little Pony: Friendship is Fate // by Kujo Blaze //------------------------------// This is a story from a winter five years ago. It was a night with a beautiful moon. I wasn’t doing anything, just watching the moon with Doctor. Even though it was winter, the weather wasn’t cold. The corridor was only a little chilly, and it was a good night to enjoy the moon. Back then, Doctor didn’t leave the house much. Not going outside, he would just laze carelessly around the house. …I regret it even now, thinking back to it. Why didn’t I notice that it was like the actions of an animal that knows its time of death? “When I was a colt, I wanted to be a superhero.” Suddenly. That stallion, himself a superhero in my foal’s eyes, said that as if yearning for it. “What? What do you mean by ‘wanted’? Did you give up?” I became angry and asked him. Doctor laughed apologetically and looked up at the sky. “Yes, unfortunately. Being a hero is a time-limited thing, and it becomes hard to call yourself that when you grow up. I wish I’d found that out earlier.” I agreed with that. I didn’t know why, but I thought it couldn’t be wrong because Doctor said so. “I see. Then I guess it couldn’t be helped.” “Yeah. It really couldn’t be helped.” Doctor answers. So of course, my response was determined. “Yeah, it can’t be helped, so I’ll take your place. It’s impossible since you’re an adult, but it should be all right for me. Let me take on your dream.” …I’ll make it come true. Before I could finish, my father laughed. He made a face like he didn’t even need to hear the rest. After breathing in, Doctor Whooves said… “Yeah… I’m relieved.” He quietly closed his eyes and his life ended. Since he looked so peaceful, I thought he would wake up again in the morning, so I didn’t disturb him. Perhaps being used to seeing death factored in too. Without doing anything, I just looked up at the stallion who was my father, as he entered a long sleep. There were no sounds of insects in the garden as it was silent. In the bright night, I remember only my eyes being hot. I did not cry out nor did I feel sad. But I could not stop my tears until the moon sunk. That is the story from a winter five years ago. Perhaps I cried ten years worth of tears since after that, there was nothing. Pinkie’s father planned the funeral, and I started living in the house by myself. Nothing changed even though Doctor was gone. Storm Whooves would become a superhero like Doctor Whooves, so there was no time to be playing around. …That’s right. I didn’t mention it, but I remember perfectly. The figure of the stallion who saved me, who was left to the fire ten years ago. He held up in his arms an unconscious foal, about to die from burns. He became so happy that tears welled up in his eyes, and took the child outside. From that time, he was the subject of my admiration. No one saved me. I couldn’t save anypony. In it all, I was saved, and a pony was there to save me. …That’s why I decided to become like him. Become a superhero, so that I could save ponies and let no one be killed… just like him. Doctor died peacefully, leaving me his dream of becoming a superhero himself. It’s only natural for a foal to succeed their father. Storm Whooves must become a superhero and save somepony just like the old me. I swore so as a foal. To fulfill the dream of the stallion I admired the most. …But honestly, I don’t get it. What this superhero thing is supposed to be, how to become one, how to make everypony happy like Doctor always said… and I became this thing called a Master and things like the rainbow-mane mare following me around is confusing my head and really… “…!” When I open my eyes, I’m in a familiar room. “What, I’m in my own room?” As soon as I speak, I start to feel terribly sick. “…Ugh… it tastes bad… in my mouth…” I taste blood in my mouth. Maybe it was filling my mouth, but I breathe in thick air. “…” I’m not sure why I feel like this. I feel really sick to my stomach, so I want to go to the bathroom and wash my face. “…All right.” I stand up. I feel dizzy. I almost fall and support myself by putting a hoof against the wall. “…Ugh.” The nausea increases when I move. …No, this more like pain than nausea. My body is heavy and it feels like my stomach is turning every time I move. Maybe somepony would feel like this if somepony poured burning lead into their stomach. “…Ugh… Imagining that is giving me headaches.” I wipe the sweat off my forehead and wobble out of my room. “…All right. I feel better now.” I wash my face and wipe the sweat off my body. “…?” There are bandages wrapped around my stomach for some reason. I can’t recall anything about them, so I leave them be for now. “…I’m hungry. I wonder if there are any leftovers…” Even though my stomach feels terrible, it seems my body wants energy. “Guh…” Putting my mind into it, I start to walk along the wall. I still feel dizzy, and my body feels dull. “Ow… Owww…” I walk forward, letting out miserable sounds. …Really, what did I do before going to bed? I don’t remember any training that could have caused this pain. I reach the living room. Sweetie and Pinkie must be at school. There’s no breakfast prepared in the living room, and there’s none of Pinkie’s loudness. The quiet living room is like a typical Sunday… “Good morning. I’m afraid I came in without asking you, Storm.” …No, it’s not. “Wha…!?” Rarity is sitting on a cushion. Her calmness makes me think I’m the guest in this house and not her. Yeah, that’s why I’m even more surprised. “…” I don’t know how to answer her, so first of all I sit down. And then, I take a deep breath and ask, “Rarity, why…” “Hold on. Could you apologize first? I can’t calm down until I hear an apology for last night.” I don’t even have time to ask her why she’s here. Rarity is glaring at me like she’s really mad. It seems she’s really angry about last night, but what happened last night…? “…Hold on.” I recall it now. That’s right, why am I so relaxed? I tried to save Saber and… Berserker blew away my stomach. “…Ugh.” The nausea returns. I feel a chill, remembering the feeling of having a hole in my body. Something in my stomach moves. It feels really sick. It feels really sick, but that’s definite proof that I’m alive. Wait, that’s weird. Shouldn’t that have been instant death for me? “…That’s strange. Why the hay am I alive?” “Do you remember? The stupid thing you did last night? If you do, then please review your actions.” Rarity lets out a humph and criticizes me. …Huh, that’s really annoying. My head, which was frozen by the fact that Rarity is here, finally resumes activity again. “What are you saying? There was nothing else to do at that time! Oh… well, it does looks stupid if you just look at the results, but I was going to do better. So it wasn’t a mistake.” I protest, glaring at her. “…Hm.” W-What? Why is she sighing? “Didn’t I tell you that Servants will disappear if their Master is killed? So it’s crazy to try protect your Servant. Look, Saber will disappear if you’re killed. If you want to save Saber, think of a way to do so from a safe place. …Geez, don’t you understand that protecting your Servant with your life is just meaningless?” “It’s not that I protected her with my life. I tried to save her, and it just happened to work out like that. I didn’t think things would end up like that either.” I did think I would be killed if I went near that monster, but that’s a different matter. “…I see. You seem to be misunderstanding.” As if she’s read my mind, she sulks even more. “Look Storm. I’ll come out and say it, but I didn’t take you to the church to help you win. I was trying to help you stay alive even if you were left on your own. It seems you didn’t understand that part of it.” “Help me stay alive…?” “That’s right. You shouldn’t take risks if you realize that a loss equals your death. You seem to be somepony who would walk out at night by yourself even in a situation like this. If I threatened you, I thought you wouldn’t take risks and you might get through this.” “I see. I didn’t notice that.” So that’s why she’s complaining to me about not realizing that and running at Berserker. “…? So why are you mad, Rarity? It shouldn’t bother you if I’m the one that made the mistake.” “Of course it bothers me! You made me worry for a whole night!” Rarity throws out a temper. …But I see. I’m honestly happy she’s worrying about me. Looking at the situation, it seems Rarity was the one who treated my wound. “I see. I guess you helped me out. Thank you.” I bow my head to show my thanks and apologize. “Heh, it’s fine if you understand. If you’ve learned from this, try to act smarter next time.” Rarity looks away. Her gesture is snappy, but it seems she’s in a good mood again. “Then we’re done with what happened last night. I’ll go into the main topic, but which do you want to talk about? About last night or about something serious?” “…?” Rarity starts a conversation as if it’s natural to do so. Her straight-forwardness surprises me, but thinking about it, she’s here because she has something to talk about. If she didn’t have business with me, she would have gone home already. What is it that Rarity, my enemy, wants to discuss in her enemy’s territory? I’m interested in that, and I also want to know what happened last night. It’s stupid not to ask, so I… Ask about yesterday. Ask about the serious stuff. ...I have a bad feeling about this. I don't want to hear either.