//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: Time Away // Story: Dean's Real Life // by Moon_Skritch //------------------------------// Edited by: Listener Chapter 2 Time Away ____________________________________________________________________________________________ I awoke to the horrid sounds of retching, and immediately I open my eyes and throw the covers off of me. I get off the bed and gallop down the hall to the bathroom. I open the door to see Pinkie next to the toilet, looking really sick. I dare not look in the toilet. “Pinkie? Are you alright?” I ask really worried about her as she is usually never sick. “Yeah, I’m okay. It’s what happens when you have a foal in your tummy.” She says with a slight smile. I cannot believe I forgot about the foal. I mentally facehoof myself for forgetting about that. “Why weren’t you sick like this on earth?” I ask while sitting down next to her. “Maybe it wasn’t in that stage yet, or perhaps because it was a different world and it doesn’t work there like it does here...” She says with a shrug. “Well what’s good is that the foal is okay and you are okay.” I put my hoof on hers and smile. “And if you need anything, I will be here to help.” “Thanks Dean, I am really happy that you accidentally came to this world, otherwise I would have never met such a nice pony like yourself.” She says and I blush a bit. She leans in and gives me a kiss on the cheek. “I love you Dean.” We sit there a moment, just to make sure if she is over the morning sickness. Just then we hear a voice come from below, “Pinkie, Twilight and her friends are here to speak to you!” We look at each other and get up. I help her up and we trot down the hall, and down the stairs. Everyone is standing there, including Alex, Max, who likes to be called Mantalist now, and Red Velvet. I still can’t understand Red Velvet that much, I mean I thought only Princesses were Alicorns, I guess there was some mess up or something. Now is not the time to ask either. “What’s up guys?” Pinkie asks. “I just got back from Canterlot and Princess Celestia needs our help to restore the Crystal Empire back to its old self. I can explain more on the way.” Twilight says. “Sure! I’ll come!” “But Pinkie, what about the foal?” I ask, but then I feel dumb for saying it. I keep forgetting she is Pinkie Pie, she can do anything. “Oh don’t worry about it Dean, I think the foal will be okay. Remember, I am Pinkie Pie!” She says and jumps in the air and stays for a moment, defying gravity. Everyone laughs, including me. She is so adorable when she is being silly. “So are we all going?” I ask Twilight. “Well, I don’t want you, Alex, Max, or Red Velvet to get hurt so I suggest you stay here.” Twilight says. Alex then speaks up, “What, you don’t think we can take care of ourselves?” he says. “It’s not that, I just don’t want anypony to get hurt…” Twilight looks down. Rainbow Dash turns to him and gives him a peck on the cheek. “Don’t worry about it, besides we don’t have to be at each other’s sides twenty-four-seven. "Don't worry about me Alex, just stay here with Dean, Mantalist, and Red Velvet." She kisses him on the lips and he sighs. "I love you Rainbow Dash." He says and gives her a hug. "I love you too Alex." She hugs him back. As they embrace I turn to Pinkie Pie and put my hooves around her pulling her into a hug. "I will miss you Pinkie." She hugs me back and says, "I will miss you too Dean." She gives me a long kiss. She then pulls away and looks into my eyes, "I love you."She smiles and hugs me once more. "I love you too Pinkie." I say and let go of the pink mare. She then gets up and bounces over to her friends. “Hey guys you can come with us to the train station if you want.” Twilight says. Which makes me happier, a little more time with Pinkie will be great. We all nod and follow them. We follow them through town to the train station. I am really going to miss Pinkie Pie, it really sucks she has to go, even if it’s only for a week or two. I really wish I could go with her but… “Here we are.” Twilight says as we arrive at the station. I sigh. Pinkie looks at me “Don’t worry Dean, we will be back soon. I promise.” She says and hugs me again. I look over to Alex, who is hugging Rainbow Dash, it looks as if he is trying not to cry. I thought he was tougher than that, I guess Rainbow means a lot to him. Pinkie lets go of me and gives me another kiss before she follows her friends in the train. Rainbow finally is able to pull away from Alex, “Don’t worry Alex. I’m Rainbow Dash, I’ll be fine.” She says and gives him a quick kiss before heading into the train herself. I watch as the train pulls off. Pinkie pops her head out of one of the windows and waves to me, I wave back. Mantalist and Red Velvet smile at Alex, "Yeah dude, don't worry, she'll be back." Mantalist says. Alex gets up and smiles at us, "Thanks guys." We all smile back. "So what should we do until then?" I ask, cause I know that it will be a long week for all of us. I am already starting to miss Pinkie Pie. "I dunno." Alex says with a shrug. But the question was answered by a low grumbling sound resonating from his stomach. I chuckle a bit, "I guess that answers our question." I say. "C'mon maybe food will make you feel better Alex." It would make me feel better also. We make our way back to Sugar Cube Corner, maybe Mrs. Cake will let us have a muffin or something since we didn't get a chance to eat breakfast. Walking in we see customers buying some baked goods, with Mr. Cake is at the counter. He nods at us. I nod back. Mrs. Cake walks out of the kitchen, "Hello Dean." She says. "Hey Mrs. Cake, um... I was wondering, since we didn't get a chance to eat breakfast can we..." I say, but Mrs. Cake stops me and holds up her hoof. "Don't worry, you can have some pastries!" She says, "In fact! Hold on." She trots back into the kitchen. A minute or two goes by and she walks back out with a plate of assorted muffins on a cart. "Should this be good for you four?" She smiles. There is a dozen muffins on it. I reach into my saddlebag to give her some bits, because that is a lot of muffins. “Oh no, don’t worry about that. It’s on the house.” She says. “Thanks Mrs. Cake!” I say. We move over to a table and Mrs. Cake puts the muffins on the table. They look really yummy. Alex is practically drooling as he stares at them. Alex is the first to take a muffin and scarfs it down. I guess he was hungry. I grab a muffin and take a bite, Red Velvet, and Mantalist follow suit. The muffins are really good, better than any that are made on Earth. I swallow the bite in my mouth and say, “These are amazing Mrs. Cake!” “Why thank you dear!” She says and smiles. We finish the muffins and Mrs. Cake takes the tray to the kitchen to wash it. We sit there a moment to let the muffins digest. “So what do you guys want to do now?” I say. “No idea… I still wish we could’ve gone with them…” Alex says with a sigh. “Yeah… I do too… I’m sure they will be okay there.” “I hope so.” “Don’t worry guys. They are the Elements of Harmony after all. They have taken down Nightmare Moon and made her back into Luna. They stopped Discord and turned him into stone. They even helped you defeat a huge Fire Demon that destroyed Ponyville and helped you restore it. I think they can take care of whatever is going on in the Crystal Empire easily.” Red Velvet explains. I look to her, she is right. They have taken on so much, this should be nothing for them. “Y’know, you are right. They are pretty tough.” “Then there was me… when I was Queen of the Changelings, but they didn’t have anything to do with that, Cadence and Shining Armor did... I’m glad I am out of that shell, and back in Mantalist’s hooves.” She says. Mantalist smiles and hugs her, she hugs him back. We smile at them as they hug. It’s really cool how an Alicorn and a normal Earth Pony can love each other. I guess that’s love for you. “Hey Red Velvet, I’ve had this question on my mind for quite some time… but what are you a princess of? I know this is a random question. It’s just I’ve wondered what made you an alicorn.” “Oh, that story… It’s kind of long and I have never told anypony, not even Mantalist here.” She says looking at him. “Y’know I’ve always wanted to know that too. I mean you are an alicorn, but not a princess. I thought only princesses were supposed to be alicorns.” He says. “You are right. But I’m the only exception… and it’s a bit difficult to explain.” She says. “It’s okay Red Velvet.” Mantalist nuzzles her. “You don’t have to explain if you don’t want to. We understand that it’s a difficult subject.” “It’s not that. It’s just… I’m afraid of the fact you might not understand.” “Oh don’t worry about that. I’m sure it’s not that hard.” I say. This is really interesting. I really want to learn more about her. “Alright… here goes.” She begins. Well I was a unicorn at the time and to be honest I wasn’t all that great with magic. I really wanted to make my power stronger and so I started researching different books about magic in the library. All I got were books about the basics, nothing what I wanted. One day where I just finished another book of basic magic, hoping that it would increase my abilities. It did, but not what I really wanted. I guess you can say I was power hungry. Anyway, I was walking in the outskirts of Canterlot to take a breather from studying. I don’t know what drove me to go up the mountain a ways but I did. In the mountain I found a cave, an odd looking cave, but not dangerous. My curiosity took over and I went inside. I lit up my horn so I could see where I was going and not trip. The light from my horn allowed me to see strange markings lining the walls. I couldn't quite read them because they were worn away due to time. I continued through the cave and I saw another light coming from the tunnel. I dimmed my horn and went to the light. The cave led me to a room where a lectern stood and a tall candelabrum stood lighting the room. It must have been enchanted cause it looks like it hadn't been used in a while. I looked at the lectern. A large book was on it, the cover had some symbol I had never seen before. I wiped some of the dust off the cover with my hoof to reveal words. "Forbidden knowledge". That was it. Curiosity struck me once more and I opened the book. Most of pages were tattered and unreadable. I continued flipping through the book and I came across a page that was legible, and the title said "Increase your power". I was so excited. I skimmed over the page, the spell seemed easy enough, so I gave it a shot. What happened next changed my life. I felt my body changing, I got larger. Taller. My back started to tingle and wings shot out of them. I looked at my back and screamed. I couldn't believe it... I just changed to an Alicorn. I didn't want that, I just wanted to enhance my abilities. My magic was stronger though, but it was too much for me. I fell down on the rock floor and passed out. I was awoken later by a touch to my side. I looked up and saw Princess Celestia and Princess Luna stand there. I immediately freaked out and stood up. I started apologizing, but it came out as frantic yelling. Celestia held up her hoof to silence me and I shut up real quick. She asked me who I was and I told her. She looked at me oddly and asked me how I became a princess, cause she has never seen me before. I explained to her everything that just happened and she looked past me at the book. I told her I just wanted to enhance my magic so I could do more than just be a wimpy unicorn. Celestia then lifted the book with her magic and made it disappear. I asked where she put it and she told me she put it in a safe place where nopony else will ever find it. She then escorted me out of the cave and told me there was nothing she could do to change me back, so I was stuck that way for the rest of my life. We headed back to Canterlot and everypony just stared at me. Over time my friends left me and I had nopony to be my friend. Everypony hated me because I cheated the system. Some said I should've been cast out. All this hate caused me to be cooped up in my home. I never left the house. All I wanted was to be loved. This is where I started to change again. I was in the park and Mantalist here walked up to me and asked if I was okay. I told him no, I wasn’t. I explained to him everything, and he accepted me for it, but I was too far gone to notice. I still had those feelings that everypony hated me. A week later I changed to that dreadful changeling creature. I remember Mantalist trying to calm me down but I just ran off. That was a year ago when I ran. That’s why I raided Canterlot. I just needed love. But now thanks to you. That shell has been broken and I am now myself again, except the fact I am still an alicorn but that’s okay, nopony really cares about that anymore. As long as I have Mantalist here, I will be okay. “Do you ever want to change back, if you could?” I ask. “Yes, I would love to be mortal, I don’t want to live past all my friends, you know how depressing that is? I have never experienced it, but I can pretty much figure out that it is really hard on you.” She sighs and looks down. “What about that book? Maybe we could go look at it again and see if it has a spell to reverse the effects.” “See that would be great and all, but it’s somewhere with Celestia, and I know she will not be willing to just let us read it.” “Still doesn’t hurt to ask and besides, I have an idea on how to make it work.” “What’s your idea?” “Well usually to reverse something you do it backwards. Maybe if you read the spell backwards it will reverse it.” Her eyes grow wide. "Dean, you're a genius! Why didn't I think of that?" She says, with a big grin on her face. "We should go see Celestia now. I really want to be normal again." I think for a moment. I do really want to help Red, but I don't want to get in trouble with Celestia. I sigh. Hopefully this doesn't turn out bad. "What time is it?" I ask and look around for a clock. "It's three fifty-two." Alex says. I nod my head. Do we even have time to get there and back before night? Ah well, it's okay we should have time to get to Canterlot and back. "Okay, if it's alright with everypony, we could go." I still chuckle at that word, everypony. Alex nods, "It's fine with me. It'll get my mind off of Rainbow for a while." He says. I don't need to ask Max, cause I am certain that he definitely wants to go. "Then we are off." I announce. Red Velvet is literally bouncing with joy. She runs up to me and pulls me into a hug, squeezing a little too tight. "Thank you Dean!" She says, squeezing a little tighter. "Can't...breathe..." I try to say. She heard me though, she lets me go. "Oh... sorry. I guess I don't know my own strength." She says. I cough a bit, and breathe once more. "It's no big. You're just excited is all. Let's go." We tell the Cakes we are going to Canterlot, so to let them know where we are. We head out to the train station and get our tickets. Some ponies sneer at Red Velvet. They must not be from around here, probably from Manehatten or Las Pegasus. Red is too excited to notice the others' stares. She is literally bouncing up and down. Max notices the ponies too. He just squints his eyes at them and he puts his hoof around her to guard her. We then hear the conductor yell "All aboard for Canterlot!" The whistle on the train blows. Thank Celestia, finally. I was worried that a fight was going to start. We board the train and get to the passenger car. Max and Red take an empty seat together and Alex and I take the seat behind them. I start to worry how this is all going to go down, hopefully it goes well though. [end of chapter 2]