Dreams and Nightmares

by UndercoverBrony

Chapter 2

Chapter 2: A Dangerous Game Google docs

A trail of destruction wound its way through the Everfree forest. Trees, rocks, and basically anything else unfortunate enough to get in the way had been flung aside, leaving a vast scar in the tree-line. All of the destruction would have made finding the source of the trouble easy even if it wasn't yelling and roaring so loudly that it could be heard for furlongs around.

When they reached the end of the trail they both let out a shocked gasp as they saw what was waiting for them. Towering over the surrounding trees was a colossal monster with two giant legs and two massive arms, its pale skin pockmarked with patches of moss and dirt. In its right hand it held an entire tree, apparently plucked straight from the earth to act as a rudimentary club. Its left hand was empty, but clenched into a fist big enough to dwarf even Big Mac. Two pin-prick eyes, at least in relation to the rest of its face, stared off into the distance from beneath a large overhanging brow. Beneath them, a row of chipped teeth jutted up from an under-bitten jaw.

“A hill giant...” Spitfire had never seen one before, but she'd heard stories. They lived deep in the Everfree forest, and generally stayed away from pony folk. However, every once in a while one would get lost, wander into a border town somewhere, and wreak havoc. They weren’t aggressive, as such, but if they got confused- which wasn't particularly uncommon since they were not known for being very bright- they tended to lash out. Once they got going, they could demolish an entire town more or less by accident.

Neither of them was going to let that happen here. “Keep him distracted- I'm going to get help!” Dash shot off at top speed towards the town.

Spitfire dived towards the beast. A lone pegasus couldn't do much against a giant. Indeed an entire army of ponies couldn't really hope to harm one, but keeping it occupied for a bit shouldn't be too hard. In the past, well organised groups of unicorns had proved effective at scaring them off with a flashy light show.

I'm sure I can manage something similar, she thought. It isn't about actually hurting the thing; just about tricking it into thinking that it's about to get hurt.

Kicking up a trail of smoke, she flew as close as she dared in front of its face. The creature choked; loud deep coughs which sounded more like explosions than mere movements of air. It fanned the air with its free hand, trying to clear the fog and work out what had just happened. Finally spotting Spitfire, it pointed and grinned widely.

“PONY!” It spoke Equestrian, but very slowly, dragging even such a short word over several seconds.

Well OK then, that wasn't exactly what I was aiming for, but for a distraction it works just fine. “That's right, you big brute. Pony and proud. Catch me if you can!” She dove back in, spinning around it, while darting back and forth at high speed. All the while staying close enough to tease it and keep it interested without getting hit. The giant, for its part, was doing its level best to swat her out of the air, giggling all along in its deep, booming voice. Yeah right... all fun and games, she thought, right up until somepony turns into a pancake.

However while it was big and powerful, it was also slow and clumsy- and she was small and fast. She effortlessly dodged around its slow, ponderous swings, always keeping her eye on where its hand was. “Is this the best you can do?” she taunted. “I can keep this up all da-”

THWACK. With all her attention on the giant's free hand, she hadn't been paying enough to the one holding the massive club. The blow sent her tumbling sideways, smacking hard into a nearby tree and dropping to the ground. A sharp shock of pain shot through the left side of her body where she had hit the trunk.

The giant guffawed merrily, enjoying its victory. Then in an instant the laughing stopped, and it pointed menacingly at Spitfire. “AGAIN!”

Well I certainly don't need any encouragement to get off the ground as soon as possible. She spread her wings and... Pain! No, it's too much. Her earlier confidence evaporated into despair as she realised that she wasn't going to be flying anywhere soon.

For a moment, there was silence between the pair of them, but then it seemed to dawn on the giant that his game was over, and he did not seem to be very happy about it.

“SMASH!” He raised his club above his head, both hands clasped around it for maximum power. Spitfire closed her eyes, and braced herself for what was about to come.

“Stop that right this minute!” Spitfire peeked her eyes open, hoping to see what had postponed her execution. A pale yellow angel with a flowing pink mane had dived down between her and the giant, and was hovering just inches in front of the creature's face. She was apparently engaged in a staring competition with eyes that were bigger than she was. The giant blinked, and dropped the club on the ground behind it. “Now just what exactly do you think you're doing?”

Spitfire almost felt sorry for it, even if it had been just seconds from turning her to mush. Tears were welling up in it's eyes! What exactly is going on here?

“SMASH?” it suggested, sheepishly.

Wrong answer. “No!” The pegasus pushed forward even further, causing the giant to try to pull back. It lost its balance and fell on its backside with a colossal thud that shook the ground like an earthquake.

It looked dejectedly down at the floor, unwilling to meet its opponent's gaze. “SORRY...”

I can't believe it. Did a single petite little pony just defeat a hill giant with a stern talking to?

The newcomer's voice changed tone; soothing the creature rather than scolding it. “It's alright, you didn't know any better. I know you're a long way from home, and you're scared-” It was scared? “-but if you just take a moment to look behind you, you'll see the path to take you home...” The pony gestured at the long trail of collapsed trees that the giant had left in its wake.

Slowly, the giant nodded and pulled itself to its feet. It looked once at its club, then at Spitfire, then at the flying pegasus, then down at the ground in shame again, and finally back towards the depths of the Everfree forest. With a slow, thumping gait, it set off back to where it had come from and, more importantly, away from Ponyville.

“Fluttershy!” So transfixed had Spitfire been at the scene transpiring in front of her that she hadn't noticed Dash landing beside her. “Come quick, I think Spitfire's hurt!”

“Oh no!” The pegasus- Fluttershy, presumably- dropped down to the ground and rushed over to her; speaking in a quiet, apologetic voice. “I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry...”

“Sorry?” Despite the pain she was in, Spitfire couldn't help but laugh in surprise. “What in Equestria are you apologising for? You just saved my life!” Now that I think about it, Fluttershy looks familiar somehow. Did we meet back at the young fliers competition? Yes... she was there in the background, one of Rainbow's friends. I didn't think much of her at the time since she was so quiet, but I guess I must have been mistaken. Dash clearly went to her for help, and it was a good thing that she did.

“I know, but if I'd been just a little bit faster then I'd have got here before he hit you and then you wouldn't have been hurt and everything would have been fine and everypony would have been happy but now you're injured and it's all my fault and I'm really, really sorry...” Fluttershy paused for a moment to catch a well needed breath. “Can you ever forgive me?”

“Ten times over Fluttershy, don't you worry. Now let's get out of here before some other-” She tried to stand, however she was painfully reminded of what Fluttershy had been apologising for in the first place and let out an almighty yelp of anguish.

“Oh no!” Fluttershy winced slightly in empathy, examining Spitfire's injury. “It looks like your wing is broken. Please, try not to move it. We have to get you to my cottage; it isn't far from here. Don't strain yourself. Dash, can you help me carry her?”

As the other ponies lifted her off the ground, Spitfire finally succumbed to the pain and gladly let the black fog of unconsciousness take her from the waking world to a dream. She was flying high above the world without a care in her head and, more importantly, everything wasn't hurting so bucking much.

---

When she awoke some time later, Spitfire was lying on a bed in a small little cottage. The pain had faded a little, her wing had been bound up in a sling, and her face was full of rabbit. Noticing that she was awake, the bunny hopped over to Fluttershy, who was standing across the room talking to Rainbow Dash. It tugged gently on her mane to get her attention.

“What is it, Angel?” asked Fluttershy, looking down at her companion. He pointed towards Spitfire. Fluttershy glanced over to see that Spitfire was conscious. She smiled and trotted over to the bedside, followed by Dash.

“Oh good, you're awake. I'm afraid I've never had to deal with a broken pegasus wing before, but I fix up bird wings all the time and I guess it's probably more or less the same. In fact it's a lot less fiddly since your wings are so much bigger. Still, now that you're awake again I'll go into town and fetch Nurse Redheart so that you can-”

“No!” interrupted Spitfire quickly before Fluttershy could get away. “Nopony outside of this room must know of this!” If Doctor Diligent finds out that I've broken my wing... “You've done a great job so far Fluttershy; I'm sure you can handle it just fine.”

Dash looked confused. “Not that I'm saying that Fluttershy isn't capable, but wouldn't you rather have a professional? I mean... wings are kinda important to a pegasus. I know I wouldn't want to take any chances with mine if I were in your position. No offence, Fluttershy.”

“Oh, none taken.” Fluttershy shook her head. “I really would rather you went to a real doctor, Spitfire. Although if you want to stay here then of course that's fine too I wouldn't want you to think I was trying to get rid of you because that wouldn't be very polite and I'm sorry if I've offended you...” She paused. “Aren't you an important flying star though? Don't you have your own doctor who you'd like to take a look at you?”

“Yeah... well that's kind of the problem...” Spitfire looked down at her hooves sheepishly. They deserve to know the truth. “You see, you remember when I told you that Soarin got injured?” Dash nodded. “Well Doctor Diligent, the Wonderbolts' personal physician, told us that too many of us had been getting hurt lately, and that if there were any more accidents then he'd shut down the Wonderbolts for good.”

Dash gasped in shock. “C-can he do that?” she asked nervously. “This is some sort of joke, right? Is Fluttershy in on this? Is this all a set up? Oh, I get it! Your wing isn't injured at all! The giant was an illusion created by Twilight! Wait... the invitation to join the Wonderbolts... was that part of the prank? Where's Pinkie Pie? I know she's behind this!”

“It's not a prank, Dash. In answer to your sane question... officially, yes he can shut us down,” admitted Spitfire. “In practice, I could probably go appeal to Princess Celestia and get her to overrule him, but these things take time. We'd certainly miss the celebration, and I'm afraid that would mean you could miss your chance to fly with us Dash... I'm sorry, my recklessness has let you down...”

“Oh no, it's my fault,” insisted Fluttershy. Does she have some sort of apologising compulsion? Trying to blame yourself for absolutely everything that happens just doesn't seem healthy. “If I'd just come quicker then you wouldn't have got hurt in the first place and-”

“Would you two please stop saying how sorry you both are?” Rainbow interrupted angrily. “It's clearly this doctor's fault! What does he think he's doing trying to shut down the Wonderbolts? He sounds like a right nasty piece of work! Just point me in his direction and I'll show him-” She was rearing on her hind legs, boxing the air with her front hooves.

“No, Rainbow.” Spitfire thought back to all the times that Dr. Diligent had looked after them over the years. No matter how annoying he could be, I can't bring herself to hate him. “Please don't speak about him like that. I know that it might not seem like it from where you're standing, but he really isn't a bad pony. He just doesn't want anypony to get hurt, and he's prepared to go to great lengths to achieve that. If you do become a Wonderbolt permanently someday then sooner or later you'll find out first hoof why that's normally a good thing. Just very inconvenient in this particular instance...”

“But... you didn't get injured being a Wonderbolt,” Fluttershy pointed out. “You got injured fighting off a giant. Surely that doesn't count towards the ban. If you just explain it all to him, I'm sure he'll come around.” She smiled sweetly.

Perhaps he would if it wasn't for all the times we tried to pull a fast one on the doc. Hiding illnesses or minor scrapes before a performance to avoid being benched was a pretty common occurrence. “Yeah... well unfortunately we haven't always been entirely honest with him in the past. He'd just think I was trying to cover up a training accident. You two are the only other ponies who saw what really happened, and I think he'd claim that both of you have motive to lie. Rainbow for obvious reasons, and Fluttershy to help Rainbow. I'm not saying that there's no chance of convincing him... but I'd rather not take that risk.”

“So... you want us to keep all this a secret?” Dash stood tall and proud with her eyes closed; holding her hoof to her heart. “You can count on us, we won't tell a soul, right Fluttershy?”

“Right!” affirmed Fluttershy. “If it's that important to the pair of you then you can rely on me.”

“I mean it!” Spitfire insisted. “Aside from us three and the other Wonderbolts, nopony must know. Not even your closest friends. I don't want to risk this getting out at all, even after the performance is finished. You understand that, right?”

“Don't you worry,” Rainbow assured her. “Although you really can trust our friends to keep a secret as well...” She paused, hoof held to her mouth in consideration. “Well... maybe not Twilight. I know she's had trouble keeping secrets in the past. Applejack isn't particularly good at hiding things either. Rarity can be a bit of a gossip sometimes too, and Pinkie Pie... well she does make a big deal out of the whole 'Pinkie Pie swear' thing, but frankly I'm always cautious about trusting Pinkie with anything important if I don't have to. No, never mind, you're probably right. Let's keep this between ourselves.”

“Excuse me but... when is this performance?” asked Fluttershy nervously.

“In a week,” Dash replied. “Ooooh I just can't wait!”

“Oh dear...” Fluttershy looked dejected. “I'm sorry girls, but I don't think this is going to work. You're welcome to hide here Spitfire, and I'll happily look after you, but there's no way that your wing is going to heal up in just one week. When you don't show up for the celebration, your doctor is sure to realise that something is wrong. Perhaps it's better to just come clean now and hope for the best? He's more likely to believe you if you're honest from the start.”

“Oooooooor...” A mischievous grin appeared on Dash's face. “I could pass myself off as you! Once I'm all suited up who will know the difference? Sure it'll be a little disappointing that nopony will know it's really me being awesome flying with the Wonderbolts, but as long as you know it's me I'll be able to prove myself and then I can fly as myself once you're all healed up! Plus that means that I get to lead the Wonderbolts which would be totally awesome! Perfect plan.”

“Um... Dash?” Spitfire held her good wing against Rainbow's. “I hate to rain on your parade, but we don't exactly match. Don't you think somepony would notice that? I mean, we could dye your coat and mane easily enough, but wings are... delicate. Applying the wrong sort of coating will cause the barbs of the feathers to clump together, and you won't be able to fly. I'm sure there are products available that reduce that, but not enough for a Wonderbolt performance.”

“Well, I guess you'll just have to bring another pony into this little ruse of yours,” suggested Fluttershy. “We'll just have to find another yellow pegasus somewhere. Let's see... there's that photographer pony that chased me back when I was a model... but I don't know her name, or where to find her. Oh! I met a nice young colt in the cloud factory in Cloudsdale... but no, I guess we need a mare. Ah! I know I've seen some around Ponyville, if we just go to the town square I'm sure that... why are you guys looking at me like that?” Fluttershy’s jaw dropped open in terror as realisation dawned.

“Eep!”