The Raiders and The Princess

by FIRE FLASH 3

Chapter XII: Dear Friend Part 2

Chapter XII

Death... many might call it an old companion. Or an old enemy. In my case, I saw Death nothing more than a natural passing of life. Even when a Human kills another, people tend to say that the death isn't natural. But what is a natural death? If dying of old age is a natural death... well, I can only say that I've seen more killing than 'natural deaths'. And here I was, on my knees, in front of Tomy. His breaths were short and ragged. His eyes dwelling straight into mine.

I tried to comfort him, offering to get a medic. My emotions getting the better of me as I tried to leave. But even I knew that he had no chance. Ever since I've come here, I have noticed that the Human mind tries to pull away from Death. As if our souls weren't capable of processing the knowledge of Death. These emotions kicked in, trying to make me think that everything would be all right. But reason, has more knowledge than emotions.

I knew that it was all over, there was nothing I could do. Falling to my knees, I allowed a few tears escape my eyes. Staring at his incomprehensible eyes. Emotions that I could not understand. He looked at me for a few more seconds, before... something caught his attention. His eyes shifted to his left, widening in shock. I gave a brief look but saw nothing.

“Mmm... Mummmhhh....Mumm?” Blood flowed from his mouth just as fast as his words. As he finished his words, his body began to shake uncontrollably. His eyes looked back into mine...

… Silence...

I watched helplessly as his head fell forward and the last of the blood poured out. The entire jungle was engulfed in a strange silence. No blazing rifle fire. No explosions. No screaming. Nothing...

Whether that moment lasted an eternity or a second, I could only kneel there. Tears ran down my cheeks. I had just lost another close friend. Certainly not the first, and certainly not the last. As futile as it may seem. My mind seemed unable to accept this. I reached out my hands, and grabbed Tomy's shirt.

An indescribable force ran through my veins. I began shaking his corpse. My futile Human feelings began to hope that he may have fallen unconscious. I began to shake him more and more, and harder and harder. I began calling... screaming his name. I yelled it into his lifeless face. Finally my arms couldn't take it any more. My mind was finally registering that Tomy was gone. But that only seemed to make it worse.

In a final attempt to regain my lost friend, I wrapped my arms around him. Bring him into a hug. His blood was all over me. It began to seep through my clothes, touching my skin... and it was so cold. Nestling his head onto my shoulder, I stroked his hair, my tears running down my face as I began to choke on my own tears.

I'd lost a friend...

I've lost Tomy...

“I-I...I-I-I... I-I've l-lost T-Tom-my...” I choked.

“RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

I screamed at the world...

My shaky hands, finally coming under the control of my riddled mind, lowered Tomy's body until his body was lying up against the tree. I raised my hands so that I could see them in the Flares glow. There was so much blood...

My mind was still lost, running around in its cage. Dropping my blood covered hands to the ground, I turned my torso and looked down the path in the direction they were heading. Carefully, using my hands, I pushed my self up. Only to fall back down, face down in the dirt.

My legs were so shaky... they were completely unable to support me. Slowly, I turned over onto my back, staring up into the flare full night sky.

“WHY !”

“WWWHHHHHYYYYY !”

“WHY HIM ?!” I don't really know who that question was for. Most would probably say that I was talking to the mighty Lord himself. But I don't believe in any god. I think the only person I was talking to... was Death.

“YOU SHOULD'VE TAKEN ME !” “NOT HIM !”

Slowly sitting back up, I rubbed my right eye with the palm of my hand. Blinking my eyes, letting a few more tears fall, I began to look around at the disaster that had taken place. A dozen or so dead bodies lie in the middle of the clearing.

“Where's Twilight?” I asked aloud. My heart rate beating faster and faster, as I began to panic. Where was she? Had she been hurt? Where are you Twi?

My eyes scanned the darkness. But it would prove almost impossible to see in this light. Suddenly... A flare. It flew up into the night sky and illuminated the entire area. I shifted my eyes to the right, and in the pale light... Twilight.

She was lying on her side, her back was to me. She was roughly a good ten meters away from me.

Using whatever force I could muster, I began to drag myself over to her. I crawled over dead Japanese troops. Most of them showed signs fear. Their faces were contorted into wide eyes of shock and open mouths of pain. I could only feel sorry in my heart. But in my mind, they were the enemy, and they got what they deserved.

After a good minute of crawling, I finally reached her. Reaching my hand out, I touched my friend. She seemed dead. Tears welled up in my eyes as I began to sob. Placing my hand on her chest, I lowered my head in defeat.

Suddenly... I felt it. A heart beat.

It was faint, but I felt it. The numbness in my hands fading as I regained the sense of touch. I watched her chest rise and fall slightly. She was alive. But I could see blood.

Next to her head, was a puddle of blood. She had a nasty head wound, but nevertheless, she was alive.

Shaking my legs awake, I slid my arms under her back and her raincoat. Lifting her up. I took a tentative step forward. My legs still sore and numb. But I had to do this. No matter the pain from my wounds and my heart. Step by step, I began to leave the clearing.

Another flare shot up into the sky and shone its pale white glow over the dead corpses. I could make out Tomy's body, lying by the side of the path, and the poor Japanese souls that he had kept away from Twilight. That final glance seemed to last an eternity. Letting a final tear run down my cheek, I turned around, and walked away. Twilight in my arms, cradling her with all the care and love I could give. And as the sound of battle faded out of my consciousness, the final flare fell to the ground. And it all ended.

XXXXXXXXX

I'd been walking for hours. My step ragged and slow, I finally began to reach the Camp. I came under fire at first. The perimeter guards had opened fire on me. They had orders to take down any thing that comes near the camp.

They may have asked for the password, but my mind was astray. I didn't bow down to the bullets, my thoughts were on Twilight. I continued to cradle her in my arms, I could feel her wings under her coat. Every now and then, they would rustle, letting me know that she was still alive.

As I walked past the perimeter, the guards stood up and took off their helmets, holding them against there stomachs. On both sides of the road, Marines stood up to take a look at a young angel, fallen from the never worlds. I continued to walk, neither of them offering to help. Why? Why wouldn't they come and help?!

I never looked back. Never. I slowly approached the MASH, there were no lights but I could make out Doctors running back and forth to get supplies. The ground outside of the PreOP was littered with wounded men. Some were crying, others were screaming. And others...

...Well others were dead. You cannot imagine the respect that the corpses are given here is! I watched as a couple of medics grab a stretcher with a young pilot on it. They carried him to the other side and swung the stretcher both ways before chucking the corpse onto a pile on the other side. I pushed my way through the flaps of the PreOP area. A medic rushed over, he was surprised to see me holding Twilight. Most likely because it was the first time he's ever seen her.

He led me over to a wooden table on the far side of the door. Turned Twilight's head so that he could get a better look at the wound. After a few moments he ran off into the operation area and came back with McCarter. He nodded at me and took a look at Twilight's wounds. After a quick inspection, he turned to the medic.

“The wound isn't severe, go get the rest of the wounded in here.” He said to the young medic who didn't seem to know what he was doing.

“Yes chief!” He said, running out the door. I turned my attention on McCarter, what did he mean a 'wound that isn't severe'? I could already feel the anger welling up inside me. But as if it were obvious, McCarter approached me.

“Look, I know how you must be fee---” But I cut him off.

“No Doc, you don't understand, so you're gonna stay here with her and get her the attention she needs!” I yelled at him. But tears began to well up in his eyes. I could now see them more clearly now that my own tears had dried up. He was faltering.

“I CAN'T!” He screamed at me. “I've been up all day and all night, I haven't taken a shower in over five weeks. I haven't slept in five days. I am tired, I am sick. And yet I'm the only one here who knows what he's doing. I'm the only doctor in here who is actually doing something. I can't stand it any more, I just want a rest but 'Nooooo' all I get are more wounded and more idiots who think I'm a miracle worker.

You're not the first one to come here to plead for my help! There are HUNDREDS! maybe even THOUSANDS! I can't make exceptions Lou! I can only do what I am able to do, If you want me to help you then let me get BACK TO WORK!” He yelled before running off into the OP. All I could do was stand there, shocked. The Doc was right, I should have understood him better.

I walked back over to Twilight, only to have a medic rush over to her side. I could only just make out from my tear filled eyes that it was the same man as from earlier. When he saw me approach me gave me a weak smile.

“The doctor's right, none of us are competent doctors. He's the only one who can do anything to save anyone, but I”m willing to try if you'll allow me. If you'd rather wait for the doc, just tell me and I'll go back to sorting out the wounded.” He said, I couldn't answer him with words, all I could do was nod. He nodded back and got to work. Grabbing boxes and bottles from the near empty shelves.

I watched him work away at her wounds. It didn't take him long to wipe up the blood that was around the inside of her head. After a few minutes, he stitched the wound up and washed his hands in a dirty water oil drum. He then proceeded to wrap a thin bandage around the wound. I wasn't going to insist that she had more since I could make out the distinct lack of bandages on the shelves of the room.

“I'll help you carry her to the PostOP.” He said, walking over to her feet and wrapped his arms around her legs. I went over to her bandaged head and grabbed her under the arms. As we lifted her up, her head rolled to the side and fell limp, obviously still unconscious because I could tell that she was still breathing.

And this made me smile.

XXXXXXXXX

I was now in the Post Operation area, sitting next to Twilight, her head turned towards the wall so to not lay on her wound. I was sat, hunched forward, thinking. Her head turned away from me, made me wonder what she was thinking about. It was as if she was turning her head away, refusing to meet my eye. It was as if she was angry at me.

Every so often she would twist and turn. I would reach my hand my hand out to help but there was nothing I could do. I couldn't dive into her mind and help her out, all I could do was sit there, and feel sorry for myself.

A clock on the other side of the room read 4:15. I'd been sat here for little over an hour, McCarter had come over to check on the patients. We both took the opportunity to forgive and forget our little argument. And even though I may have felt better by making amends, I was down trodden seeing Twilight in this condition. So awful, that I decided to leave her side.

I needed coffee.

If there was one drink that I hated more than anything, that was coffee. The taste, the texture, everything... and yet here I was, walking into the mess hall grabbing myself a mug and slowly pouring the beveridge down my gullet.

My thoughts were all on Twilight and Tomy. My train of thought was cut when two familiar faces entered the tent.

Mark and Jack walked in, both were covered in mud and dirt. There faces showed clear exhaustion, once they saw me, their faces seemed to lighten up. Mark walked over to me while Jack grabbed coffee for the both of them.

Mark sat down, letting out a loud sigh. He never said a word. He just sat there, he never asked what happened. Only when Jack approached did he finally break the silence.

“We were worried when you didn't show up at the pile. Where were you?” He asked, I took a tentative sip of my coffee before rubbing my eyes with my thumb and answered.

“Here... Twilight was wounded, I had no choice.” I answered, my voice growing smaller and smaller with every word.

“Is she okay?” Jack asked, placing a mug in front of Mark then sitting himself down. I nodded my head slightly, pointing to the back of my head while staring intently at my mug.

“She got hit by the butt of a rifle, she's unconscious.” I stated, taking another sip from the mug. They both looked at each other before looking back at me.

“And Tomy?” Jack asked, the tone of his voice indicated fear. As if he was afraid to know the answer.

“Dead”

My answer struck them hard. Mark' head collapsed onto the table, Jack's eyes trailed down to the floor before he threw his arms up in the air and stared up at the sky. Mark, meanwhile lifted his head and questioned me again.

“ What now?” He asked. I sighed loudly, my mind was at a loss and now I had to think like the leader that I'm truly am.

“I don't know...” I said, trying to find something to say. “All I know is that this incident doesn't affect our combat effectiveness too badly--”

“Combat effectiveness?! Bullshit!” Mark cut me off. “ Da fuck Lou! We've lost Tomy and you're talking about combat effectiveness! What the fuck is wrong with you?!” He yelled, though no one seemed to notice. I tried with a tired mind to calm him down.

“I know that Tomy is gone, but we've got to see how this affects us in our effectiveness--” I started, Mark threw his arms in the arm angrily. “Our combat effectiveness is still good we can't let the Colonel think that--” Again I was cut off by Mark.

“You son of a bitch!” He said, rather calmly. “You son of a bitch! You'd sacrifice Tomy's memory just for your reputation?!” He started to yell.

“Mark pleas--”

“Combat effectiveness? You'd really think that we have any left?!”

“Look, I tried to say that--”

“You were right Lou, I guess you don't feel anything. Not even the death of one of you're best friends!” He said, getting up.

“Mark wait!” I said getting up too. I had just reached out to grab his arm but, suddenly, Mark swung around, fist clenched and raised. I didn't get the chance to avoid the knockout blow as the force of his strike sent me flying backwards crashing into the table. His blow hit higher than what I thought he was going to hit. His fist smashed against the side of my head. I could feel blood coming from a now open wound.

Jack stood up and walked over to Mark, trying to calm him down. Mark never stopped glaring at me, his eyes dwelling into my soul. I could only look away.

After a few moments, Jack finally managed to get Mark out of the room. I slowly stood up and raised a hand to my where Mark had struck me. I felt some blood on my hand and running down my face. Jack watched as Mark stormed off then turned to me.

He took a long look at me, before speaking.

“Mark's right Lou... you are a bastard!” He said before he walked out of the mess hall in the same direction as Mark went.

So I was left standing there, holding my head. Having lost Tomy and now my friends made a hole right in me. I was devoid of all friends. All because I had failed! Failed miserably at protecting my friends.

I watched them disappear into the night with a single sentence in my mouth.

“I'm sorry”

XXXXXXXXX

I was now back to Twilight's side. Doctor McCarter had helped with my wound, using safety pins to stitch the wound up. Twilight was still shaking, tossing and turning as she mumbled at someone in her dreams.

I would often place my hand on her to try and help, to no avail. I the end, I placed my hands on my knees before looking at the clock on the wall. 4:34. Even time was against me. I was just hoping that I wasn't going to loose Twilight too.

Contemplating on what had happened tonight made me begin to worry. First Tomy, then Mark and Jack and now... Twilight. Crying seemed like a good thing to do right now, but what Mark had said made me wonder if he was actually right about me. Did I have any humanity left in me or was I just like he said, an immoral bastard.

And the fact that Mark had done this to me wonder if that was it? For so long, ever since we met I had tried so hard to keep the squad together. Trying so hard to keep our combat effectiveness as high as possible so that we would not be disbanded and all of us sent into different squads.

I have made friends that I've become so attached too that I don't dare think about us being separated. Had my own thought of friendship destroyed us?

Either way, it was all over. I had lost the mast three members of my ten man squad. Now I'm alone, with only Twilight there to comfort me.

But what was I going to do? I had lost now all three of my friends, one of them killed and the others hate me for...

…

For trying to be a good squad leader...

For so long, I had been afraid of making friends, my dad told me that whenever I ask him about the Great War. He told me that making friends was bad. That if you made friends, and then lost them, it would tear you apart. How right he was.

And yet... I had already made friends even before our first mission on Makin. Friends had become necessary in this kind of warfare. So since then, I had tried hard to keep us all together. I had tried so hard to keep us all together. The thought of us being separated seemed unimaginable.

So here I am, alone... something that I had dreaded for to long.

All I had now was Twilight, but even so, I knew that she wasn't going to be there for long. Either she'd wake up and blame me for Tomy's death, say that I should have been there or she would end up leaving for home. I guess its nothing I can control. Though some people would probably do anything to keep the most special person in their lives as close to them as possible. I f I were a normal person I would probably sabotage Twilight's attempts to go home. But that was if I was a civilian, a man who has a whole life ahead of him...

Now...

Twilight twisted and turned again. Muttering under her breath, I watched her jolt relentlessly as if talking to someone. More like she was fighting someone, but even with all the mumbling there was one word that seemed to echo around the room.

Help...

XXXXXXXXX

Again, Twilight found herself spinning, in flight. After a few more seconds of spinning through a non-existent air, she yelped as her body came into contact with Ponyville town hall. She grunted as her body fell to the ground. Looking up, she saw the indescribable and yet recognisable figure of 'The Shadow'.

Slowly getting onto her hooves, she growled in anger as she threw herself towards the figure. But 'The Shadow' had more power than her. With a mere swipe of his hoof, Twilight was thrown into the town hall. She cried out in agony, pushing herself up on her hooves, her vision was blocked by something drooling over her face. With a tentative hoof, she reached up and touched the liquid.

Blood...

“What's the matter princess? Surprised that you can bleed in a dream?” He snorted, a hint of amusement in his voice. She could only watch as a he continued to advance closer and closer to her. Looking to 'The Shadow's right side, she saw a wooden sign post.

Using all the strength she could muster, she closed her eyes and used every last spark of magic left within her. Slowly, the wooden pole began to shake before being ripped right out of the ground. Throwing her head to the side, the timber followed suite and made contact with 'The Shadow'. But to her shock and horror, the timber passed right through him and crashed against one of the cottages on the other side.

Twilight got onto her hooves but collapsed back onto the ground out of pure exhaustion. The blood from her forehead continued to trickle but as she layed there, the liquid soon began to approach her eyes.

“Again, you fail to realise that everything in this realm works as my own.” 'The Shadow' said, as he approached Twilight. As he walked in through the whole in the wall that Twilight had made when she went crashing through it, he walked over to Twilight's body. His non-existent eyes glowed a dark shade of green before a force unseen with no magical aura, picked up the young pony princess and held her before him.

“Have you forgotten that your mind is no longer your own? Or are you only trying to delay the inevitable?” He asked, his eyes glowing again. This time, the force holding her up made its felt appearance, running its force around her neck and holding her there. From pure instinct, Twilight reached her hooves to her neck grasping at whatever was holding her.

Her eyes widened with shock when her hoof met bear skin. There was nothing physically holding onto her.

“How long have they been in contact with you? I'm sure you realise that when you lose almost all of your magic it does not simply get replaced with chaos magic!” He yelled at her, his unseen grip tightening around her neck as rasping and chocking sounds made themselves loud and clear.

“H—agh--Help-aghghgh” He she managed to chock out before 'The Shadow' dropped her to the floor.

“How long!?” He yelled out.

“Twilight” Came a low voice, that seemed to echo around the room. 'The Shadow' had not seemed to have noticed as he bellowed his question once more.

“HOW LONG!”

“Twilight” The voice echoed again, she looked up down into the street. At first, nothing happened, but slowly a shape began to appear in the middle of the main street. A ball of light, creating ripples in the air. A stallion popped his head through the hole. It was the Doctor.

“Twilight, use all your magic into one single spell.” He yelled out to her. 'The Shadow' turned his head and looked towards the new arrival.

“Doctor?” Was all she could get out before he disappeared with the strange portal. 'The Shadow' angered by this intrusion yelled out in frustration and turned his anger towards Twilight, throwing her out into the middle of the road.

Not wanting to go through with this any longer she closed her eyes and followed the Doctors instructions. Using the last of her strength she powered up her horn with the energy she had left and let it all out in one teleportation spell.

But nothing happened, she was still there. Still lying on her back, she lifted her head and looked through her legs to see her assailant still marching towards her.

“Your magic doesn't work here.” He said, as he approached the poor wounded mare. “At least... not when I'm in control.” He chuckled, his deep voice echoing throughout the area.

Soon, he was on top of her. Twilight desperately tried to hold him off with her hooves, but the creature was way too strong and heavy for her. Not only that, but she was also wounded. 'The Shadow' opened its mouth and bared his inky black fangs at her. She closed her eyes, awaiting the inevitable.

But something else caught her attention, the sound of something clopping loudly against the ground. She opened her eyes and got only one look at 'The Shadow' before a brownish blur slammed right into her attacker. She sat up, dumbfounded, as she watched her saviour and her attacker role around on the ground.

XXXXXXXXX

I don't know what time it was. I had just dozed off for a moment but the raging gun fire from the perimeter brought me back to the world where 'dreams fade away and all hope turns to dust'. Lifting my head slightly, I took a look out through the open flaps of the post OP. The MASH was situated on the far side of the camp, facing the raging fight for control of the ridge that had a very particular name.

Bloody ridge. I had fought on bloody ridge myself, I was on the line the week before I met Twilight. In fact, we were relieved by the 1^st Marines the day before we met Twilight.

Bloody ridge had claimed many of my friends, I had also created a great fondness for the para-marines. These men were experts in all kind of warfare. They had a particular way of dealing the enemy, before they would start shooting, they would start whistling.

They would imitate the sound of shrieking shells, because they were all doing it, it sounded extremely realistic. Of course, the enemy would never run away, but it was certainly an amazing thing to see. They were as ruthless as us Raiders. I remember seeing this one para-marine grabbing an entrenching tool, a shovel I think.

He used this shovel to slit the throat of a jap who had been 'lucky' enough to jump in his foxhole. I threw up on the guy next to me.

In the distance, flashes of light lit up the clouds above. Suddenly, something else caught my attention. A flash of light in the corner of my eye. Turning my head slowly, I reeled back in shock when my mind noticed that Twilight's hand was glowing.

Well... her fingers at least. I looked at her face, she was showing signs of heavy concentration. As if she was trying to do something. As if she was trying to contact me.

This was playing through my mind as I continued to stare at her glowing fingers. I took a look behind me to make sure no one else had seen 'le spectacle'.

Slowly turning my head to face her, curiosity got the better of me. Tentatively, I reached out my hand and brought it close to Twilight's glowing hand. Again, the strange pulling sensation began to tug at my fingers. But the feeling didn't stop there, soon it took my hand and my arm with it too.

Soon, I was no longer in control of my arm. Stupidly, I used my other hand to try and keep it away, but it only added to the problem. And soon, I was no longer able to hold both my arms away. Fear crept up on me me as I realised that there was no escape. I was about to yell for help but my arms gave in to the unrelenting pressure of her magical pull. And it was in the moment, where my hands landed on on Twilight's hand, that I understood the look on her face.

She was using her magic to pull my hands towards hers, but why? I couldn't even come up with an answer to my question as my entire body was covered with the strange sensation. It seemed almost as if my entire body was being pulled into her hand.

Is this what being disintegrated by magic feels like? Had she just killed me?

The pulling continued, but it wasn't painful. I could look around and my movements were not restricted. My body seemed to twist and curl and elongate as I travelled down the tunnel of craziness. It seemed that the whole experience lasted for more than an hour, but I think that it lasted only seconds.

I lying on the ground. A dirt floor of some kind. Not for a moment was there a painful landing, there were no portals opening in mid-air. I just landed here. The stretching of my body had suddenly come to a stop as the weird tunnel formed the scenery around me.

Slowly turning my dazed head to the décor around me, I became rather confused at what I saw. Not only was it now day time while it had been night just a few moments before. Also, there were houses all around me. That may not sound strange to most people, but when you've spent nearly three months on a island where there are only tents and wooden barracks, you quickly realise that something is off. Not only that, but these houses looked medieval in design.

It reminded me of home. Back when I would walk through the streets of La Réole, with my friends.

I rolled off my back and onto my front, using my hands to push myself up. Taking a look round, I noticed that I had been lying on a dirt track in a strange town. But even I knew there were no places like this on Earth! So that left two possibilities: 1- I had gone back in time into medieval Europe

2- Or... I was on another planet...

'Gulp'

I continued to look around until I heard a deep dark chuckle echo around me. My eyes followed the path farther into the town, it was then that I saw it. There was a large round house in the centre of a large town square.

The round house had a large part of its walls missing. I then noticed something that made me duck for cover behind one of the ruined buildings along the street.

A large, black, inky figure appeared through the hole in the strange round house. In all my time in the service, I have never witnessed such a horrible looking creature. It seemed to be made of liquid, it form resembling that of an equine.

It seemed to be talking to something... something that I hadn't noticed yet. I continued to observe its movements from my hiding place. It continued to walk out into the town square. I looked ahead of the creature, I saw nothing of interest, until...

I noticed a lavender shape on the ground. I hadn't noticed it at first since it was partially hidden rubble from a nearby damaged building. I don't know why, but the purple creature seemed oddly familiar. It wasn't until it lifted its head that I finally understood.

The lavender creature was an equine too, but it also had a unique hair style. One that I had seen many times before. Its dark blue hue with its two pink and purple stripes were way too familiar to me.

“Twilight?” I whispered to myself. I continued to watch the Black creature approach Twilight as she struggle to move. It soon loomed over her. I could make out dripping black fangs in its mouth as it bared its teeth. Its face now inches away from her face, I made my decision.

I'm sure my running feet could have been heard from a mile away as I sprinted my way towards the the two equines. The one who had Twilight's hair seemed to have noticed my arrival, while the other continued to close the gap between its mouth and her head.

Roughly a meter or two off, I sprang forward, throwing my self forward while slamming my shoulder into the dark creatures body while my arms grabbed him from the sides.

I bet I looked like some sort of American football player tackling another guy to the ground.

Me and this guy continued to roll on the ground. I was on top of him since I had the element f surprise. I put my hands around the things neck and I tried to choke the life out of it. But the thing was way stronger than me, using its four hooves, it threw me off.

As I landed on my back, I rolled my dazed head to my right. There, I saw the creature that looked like Twilight. It was looking at me, its violet eyes making my assumptions clear. It was Twilight!

Getting up, I saw the other creature approaching me. My first instinct was to reach for my bayonet. But it was gone! I looked down and saw that the object in question was in front of the things hooves. It looked down to where I was looking at and smiled.

“Looking for this?” It asked, its voice sounded like some sort War of the Worlds recording gone bad. I shifted uncomfortably on my feet.

“Yeah, you mind passing it here?” I still don't know if it was my dazed state or me trying to mock him.

“And why should I do that?”

“Well...” I trailed off as I tried to find the correct answer to give 'him'. “It would make it easier for me to kill you since I don't have my Johnson with me.” I said sheepishly. This seemed to please the guy, as he began to chuckle. He continued to approach me while laughing. When he got next to me, he held the bayonet up with his magic glow of a dark liquid ink.

“Want me to take that from you?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. He looked at me I think... it was hard to tell since he had no eyes. He was made of pure black substance! There was no notion of depth in his form.

“Well aren't you helpful.” He said, happily, even though I had just tried to kill him a moment before, but I knew that he was about to do something. His voice wasn't designed to be nice. I extended my right hand to take the knife, but the knife suddenly flew forward towards my face. Using my left hand that was still free, I grabbed the bayonet in mid air and my right hand soon following. But he didn't end his magical influence over the knife. Instead, I found myself thrown to the floor with the magical pressure intensified as the the blade got dangerously close to my face.

He looked at me for a few more moments and then he walked towards Twilight who was still trying to get up. He walked round behind her and then used his left hoof to hold Twilights head up via the neck, forcing her too look straight at me!

“How did you even manage it?” He asked her, causing her to wince in pain as she saw me struggle to hold the knife above me. “How did you bring him here!” He yelled at her this time. She continued to struggle, trying her best not to look at me. She was ashamed.

“I...” she trailed off.

“Well it doesn't matter anyway, I might as well let you watch your saviour die.” He continued as he watched me struggle. He then looked behind him for a few seconds. And I used this as my opportunity. I looked directly into Twilight's eyes, she tried to avoid me, but her shame forced her to face me.

“Twilight...” I struggled. “Duck!” I croaked, causing her to give me a strange, fearful look. In this time, our captor had taken the time to look back towards me, having heard what I had said.

The moment his gaze landed back on me, I placed all my strength onto the knife. Until it became too much, and the bayonet came down.

I heard Twilight scream out in pain, horror and anger. I could hear the inky black figures laughter behind her screaming.

“Put up a Tartarus of a fight your friend, but weak nevertheless. My makeshift plan had worked perfectly, since...

… I always have an ace up my sleeve. Only a few seconds after the bayonet came down and that I played dead, I cracked my eye open to make sure he wasn't look. The figure was howling on laughter threw Twilights sorrow. Like I said, I always use the element of surprise.

Reaching my right hand down slowly, I tugged at my holster and pulled out my 45. Twilight had noticed this and panicked. She obviously wasn't expecting me to get up from an apparent death. But as if by instinct, at the sight of the gun, she let out a small gasp and forced herself to the ground. The inky black figure took a moment to realise what was happening. At first, he looked down to see what Twilight was trying to do. When he saw her covering her ears, he began to smile.

Only when his non-existent eyes landed on me in my seated positition, and my right hand extended with my 45 did a feel of panic emanate from him. I don't know who this guy was or what he was, but he was hurting my best friend...

… And. I. Will. Not. Let that go unpunished!

Aiming through my right eye, I closed my left one and watched as the creature tore its gaze from Twilight, to me. I could almost smell the fear as I pulled the trigger.

There was no slow motion. Everything happened within an instant. The moment the gun fired and the bolt threw itself back. The bullet had already reached its target.

And it took only one shot.

The bullet came into contact with the liquidy creature and to my luck, the bullet didn't fly right through. Instead, the creature howled in pain and then stopped. It was starting to fade as everything else around me. Twilight, meanwhile, had come over to me to seek comfort as she she hugged her body tight against mine. The creature took one long look at us as it faded from existence, adding in a dark, calm voice.

“I'll be back”

Everything turned to a strange, pure white as the inky figure faded from existence. My mind was at a loss to what had just happened. Just a few moments ago I was in the MASH with Twilight. Now, I was in a strange place. I may have thought that it was a dream, but the pain was all to real.

My eyes continued to fix on the spot where the strange equine was. After the longest time, I turned towards Twilight. Well... the thing that I believed to be Twilight. I noted that she was looking at the same spot that I was looking at before slowly turning her gaze towards me.

And we sat there... I was kneeling on both knees while she was sat like a cat or a dog, I took notice of her new form. A purple lavender coat of fluffy fur on four legs with hooves with wings, a tail and a horn, though she looked like no horse or pony I've ever seen. I wanted to break the silence between us, but a thought crossed my mind. What if she was like an actual Horse?! Could she even make human words with a muzzle?

So just to be sure, I asked a small daring question that I hoped would be understood and answered.

“T-Twilight?” I asked in a small voice. It most likely came out as a squeak, though I was too focused on a reply. Moments passed before she opened her mouth.

“Lou?”

Her voice was broken and sounded rather dry. But she had answered me! I was so happy, a rush of emotions ran through me. She had replied with the voice I recognised. Breathing happily, I let out a pained, anguish, tired and happy sigh. She was her, and that was all that matter to me.

“Yes... Yes its me.” I answered her original question. We looked into each others eyes and, as if that single action itself allowed us to read each other minds, we both reached out and grabbed each other in a love filled hug. Her hooves were wrapped around my chest while my hands wrapped around her back.

The hug that we both shared in that, pale white reality seemed to make all emotions even more present. Twilight was crying, her head lowered into my chest as tears began to soak my blood stained shi-- Hold on a sec, my shirt was clean?! All my clothes were clean! Where had all the blood gone? Tomy's blood, where was it.

My mind began to race as I tried to answer my own question. But I was stopped by Twilight who continued to cry into my shirt. Slowly I lowered my head and rested it onto Twilight's, even if there was a horn in the way.

She continued to keep her head against my chest, all while she told me her story. Not the one of how she got here, but the one of her dreams. Tortured, raped, torn to shreds in her own mind. She told all about her attempts to fight back, but in vain. Though I did cut in at one point when my mind began to register what was going on, my only sentence in the entire conversation was: “You're a pony.” A rather poor statement. After a few more minutes of story telling, I put my hands on her shoulders and pushed her away from my chest so that I may get a look at her cute face. I had thought that the human version that I was used too was beautiful, but her pony form... she looked adorable. Holding her away while whipping away the tears from her eyes, I smiled looking deep into her eyes.

“And its all alright now, okay?” I said, the last part was to question my reassurance. She continued to look at each other.

A blinding flash of light surged from my left, that meant her right. We looked in the direction in curiosity and wonder. Soon, another equine figure jumped through the strange anomaly. I was about to reach for my 45 but Twilight put a hoof on my hand, holding it down to ground, a happy smile on her face.

“It's alright, I think I know who it is.” She said, smiling up at the shadowy figure. She began to walk up towards the new arrival while I got to my feet. Twilight continued to approach the figure until she too was relieved of all her features as a shadow replaced them. I squinted my eyes as I tried to get a better look at the figure she was talking too. After a few more seconds of whispers and the odd chirp, I watched both of them share an embrace. Soon walking back to me, they both came back into view at the same time. It soon became clear what the figure was.

It was an equine, like Twilight, although its fur was a light brown while its mane was swept back. Blue eyes looked at me with pure happiness. The 'pony' was obviously a stallion! Its features gave that away rather quickly.

They were both chatting happily like two good friends who had met after years of being apart. They both stopped roughly a meter or two from me. It was at this point that I realised how small they were compared to me. Though they weren't the size of cats, they were roughly a few centimetres short too reaching my stomach height. Twilight stepped in between us, smiling up at me. Then she turned so that she could turn her head both ways to look at me and the stallion.

“Alright, Lou...” She said, making me take my eyes off of her ass.

Damn...

“Lou, this is The Doctor.” She said to me, gesturing a hoof at the new comer. “Doctor, this is Lou a Hum--”

“A Human!” He said happily, causing Twilight to drop her sentence. I raised a curious eyebrow at this 'Doctor'.

“You know about Humans?” Twilight asked, sounding eagerly surprised as the voice inside my head.

“Know about them? Twilight, I was practically marooned with Humans during part f my lifetime.” He said, looking at me before extending a hoof out to me. “My name is 'The Doctor'” He said, a British accent echoing around the room. His hoof still outstretched towards me as he continued to smile a wide toothy grin.

“Lou Conlin.” I said, without wanting to make the scene look awkward, I eagerly grabbed it with my hand and shook it firmly, though he was probably doing a better job at shaking than I was. Twilight looked on happily. Her eyes danced over us, but her eyes were still red.

After our little introductions we all sat in a small circle, talking. At first, it was between 'The Doctor' and Twilight. They both talked about the world where dreams were made. Equestria. Their talk was rather complicated, so complicated in fact that I was left to just sit there and hum in agreement to what ever they were talking about.

I can't be a very good liar can I? I mean, not long into their conversation, Twilight looked at me with a sceptical look.

“You're not following, are you?” A blush appeared on my face as I lowered my head in shame. Something landed against my still sore body, I looked up slightly to see Twilight smiling up at me with huge, dinner plate eyes. I took a look at 'The Doctor' who smiled happily, a knowing look on his face. What did he know?

Their conversation about Equestria seemed to turn darker and darker by the second. The world around us seemed to grow dark aswell. I took a look at Twilight to see if she or 'The Doctor' had noticed. It was then that I noticed that Twilight was starting to cry again.

I took a look at our surroundings, buildings came into focus as Twilight continued to cry. We were back in the same street as before, but everything seemed like it was even more destroyed than before. I began to look a around at the growing destruction that all came to an end when Twiligt stopped sniffing. 'The Doctor was holding her, reassuring her. This was not her world! But only her imagination.

It was then that I understood. I was not on earth nor was I on her world. This was all an image, one that she had drawn from her mind.

This was her mind! All this time...

The world soon began to change again. I looked at Twilight who had her eyes closed, 'The Doctor whispering something into her ear. Soon, the world around us changed again. It depicted the same street that we had just fought in, but everything was like new. All the destroyed buildings were rebuilt. My attention on the buildings was drawn away when a pony walked past me. And another, and another. Male, females and children.

All of different colours and different hairstyles. They were laughing, talking, chatting, sitting, walking, eating, running, walking... it was as if looking at some sort recreation of a long lost civilization. They all seemed so happy.

I turned my gaze back to Twilight. She too was looking on happily, her tears finally drying up. Then she turned her attention to me. She smiled happily, and I returned her smile.

“Welcome to Equestria.” She said as she got up and walked over to me. Sitting down by my side as 'The Doctor' approached.

He sat down in front of us, Twilight leaning her head onto my arm. 'The Doctor' turned his attention to me, a small smile on his muzzle.

“Well, our little talk about Equestria done, I think that you have questions of your own, Mister Conlin?” He asked, he was right, I did have questions.

“Well... first things first... where are we?” I asked, a question that I had an answer for, but I needed the 'possibility' to be answered.

“Well... lets put it this way, you are-- we are in Twilight's mind.” He stated calmly. I don't know whether I should have been pleased that my conjecture was right or, worried that I was in someone else's mind!

“So er... what are we doing here? How are we even here?!” I asked, both questions were even more unnerving than the first. Twilight turned her look to the stallion with the same question that left her baffled.

“Yeah Doctor, how are you guys here if this is my min...” She trailed off, a look of fear and worry replaced her happy smile. “Oh no... this is my mind, that means that all of this is in my head.” She said, coming to her conclusion. She began to scramble to her feet- er hooves, the world around us slowly began to change again. Of course, this world was in her head, that meant everything reacted to her feelings. I immediately grabbed Twilight and pulled her into a hug, 'The Doctor' also trying to help.

“No. No. No. No, its alright Twilight, we're here, with you. We're quite real.” He said, his voice sounding rather reassuring even to me! Twilight slowly began to calm down, as did the world around us. She looked up at me, a blush on her face. Damn... that is way too cute. “Like I was saying, I am here thanks to a little help from Discord. I'm using his magic to break through into your dimension, then into your dreams. A bit like Luna, but unlike her, I am unable to hold it for long since breaking into two dimensions at once is rather tiring on Discord.” He said, explaining the whole reason how he was here. But who was the 'Discord' fellah that he talked about?

“Okay... so how am I here, I mean... the last thing that I remember is being inside the Hospital next to Twilight, and suddenly her hand began to glow and I couldn't pull my hand away.”

“Its rather complicated to explain, but see it this way.” He began, clearing his throat. “Even if I could break through to Twilight in the physical realm, the only way that I could talk to her was through her dreams. But the thing that you just defeated a moment ago blocked all my attempts to break through.” He explained. “I new that Twilight had no power against him, because the thing had taken away all property of Twilight's mind.” He continued, leaving me a bit confused at the sentence 'all property of her mind'. The stallion understood this look and sighed. “Think of it this way, the creature had taken away all power from her imagination, so she could not fight back. The only way to fight him was to use physical strength. That's where you come in.” He said, gesturing towards me.

“Me?” I asked, confused.

“Yes, you. I could not break through the realm of reality and then go into her mind. That would me twice as much energy. It had to be a single leap. Someone from the outside realm to go into her mind. You.” He answered, pressing his hoof into my chest.

“But how? And why?” I asked, still confused on how I got here. “Do you mean that my whole body was sucked into Twilight?!”

“Nooo, of course not.” he said with a small laugh at my fear. “You spoke of a pulling sensation, well when your hands came into physical contact with Twilight's, your mind was sucked into hers.” He explained. “The creature that you fought had no control over you. You see, Twilight here isn't the real Twilight.” He said, causing me and Twilight to stare at him with unbelieving looks.

“I am me, Doctor!” Twilight protested.

“Well you are in some sense, but like I said, all this around us is Twilight's mind. The pony here before us is a repleca, a reproduction that Twilight's mind has created. Why? Well just like in a dream. People usely have dreams about themselves. Our minds create a version of ourselves in out of our imagination.” He explained, and strangely, I understood every word!

“So we are all imaginary creation of our selves.” I put forward. 'The Doctor' tipped his head from side to side, gesturing a 'Yes' and 'No'.

“Well... Yes and No. You see, we are inside her mind. Our bodies are still in reality, but our minds are in hers. That is why you could defeat Twilight's aggressor! Your mind is inside this form of you that I am seeing right now.” He said, though he had just lost me with that last part. He sighed. “Your soul, is inside the form that we are all seeing before us. That's why the creature couldn't access your mind, because he wasn't inside it! He would have had to disappear into a third realm to breach your mind.” He explained with an explanation that made a little more sense. But I still had an important question.

“Alright... with that answered, why me? I mean... why was it that only my hand was 'attracted' to hers?” I asked. At that one question, 'The Doctor' smiled.

“Because Twilight chose you.” He said, making me turn my gaze towards Twilight who gave 'The Doctor' a shocked look.

“W-What?! I-I had nothin--” She was cut off.

“No you're right. You had hardly anything to do with it.” He said, but adding. “Consciously.”

“What does that mean?!” Twilight demanded.

“Twilight, do you remember when I first passed through your dreams?” He asked the winged unicorn pony. She only nodded in reply. “That magic allowed you to perform magic in Mister Conlin's world. It may have had a few after effects, but I had Discord lace his magic to give you some pony attributes. Just so that you could convince Mister Conlin and his friends.” He said, turning his attention to me. “I knew from the start that you needed someone in this dimension to help you, so I had Discord lace his magic with a spell that would seek out a...” He trailed off, trying to find the right word. “A... 'mate' if you will.” He said, a look of pure shock, horror and... a blush appeared on Twilight's face. Even when she wasn't facing me, it was still visible.

“ A-A mate!” She blurted out, her shock caught in her voice.

“Look, I had no other word for it.” He retorted. “Anyway, like I said, the spell searched through Twilight's mind for the 'person' that she trusted the most. That person, was you.” He continued, pointing at me.

For the longest moments, there was a silence that filled in between us. The only sounds were those coming from the imaginary ponies around us. We all had our eyes on the décor around us. I looked at 'The Doctor', a question popping into mind.

“So what now?” A question that we probably all had on our minds.

“Well... Now that the barrier between my Universe, yours and Twilight's mind is now softened, it should make it easier for Twilight to start to learn a spell to get her back to where she belongs.” He said, lifting his head showing off his goofy grin.

“And... how long will that take?” I asked, the question seemed to ponder in the stallions mind.

“I have no idea.” He laughed, lifting his head to face me again. “But what do know Mister Conlin...” He began, getting up and walking up to me. “I am entrusting you with Twilight's safety. I want you to look after her until she is able to cast the right spell to get back here.” He said, jabbing his hoof onto my chest. But as he finished his sentence, a wave of remembrance hit me.

“I don't think I can.” I whispered to myself, but obviously loud enough for 'The Doctor' to hear.

“What?” He asked, his tone now serious and dark.

“I don't think I can.” I repeated louder. He gave me strange look, before asking.

“Why?” I knew that he was never going to let up on the topic. He had no reason to. I knew what this was going to come too, but the memories from last nights tragedy seemed to be even harsher than before.

“Because...” I trailed off,feeling my own share of tears begin to well up into my eyes. “Because we may end up getting split up.” I said, this made Twilight give me a curious look.

“Why would they split us up?” She asked.

I took a deep breath, rolling my head back and taking a deep thought.

“How much do you remember from last night Twi?” A question seemed to be the easiest way to get it started.

“Well I don't know, I can't remember that much, why?”

“Well, do you at least know where you are?”

“You spoke about something to do with the hospital and--” She froze, cutting herself off. “I was running through the jungle with Tomy, then there I heard a yell and... that was it.” She concluded her half of the story. “Oh my gosh, I'm in the Hospital, what happened?!” She demanded the answer. 'The Doctor' himself, began to give an equal share of interest in the rest of the story.

“You were ambushed...” I began, my mind soon reshowing me the horror. “... by a jap squad that broke through the lines. The lead Jap knocked you out with the butt of his rifle. You're unconscious, in the hospital.”

Her mouth hanging open, Twilight began to stutter. She tried to find her footing on her words, but she was at a loss. I remained silent, I would have said something, but finding my words was just as hard for me as it was for her.

“I-I'm in the hospital?”

“Yes.”

“What happened? W-was there-- Is Tomy alright?!” Her question repeated throughout my head. I tried to hold back my emotions, but it proved difficult.

“Tomy err...” I sighed. “Tomy didn't make it Twilight.” I mumbled, but she heard it. Just like a knife through the heart, but she needed to be sure.

“Tomy's... dead?”

“...” I lowered my head in shame and disappointment. “... Yes...” The brown stallion looked deep into my eyes. He was trying to comfort me.

“I'm sorry.” He said, his voice sounding just as reassuring as before.

“I'm sorry for him. I'd promised him that we would be making it home together.” I lowered my gaze to the ground, speaking with a low voice. “I guess I lied.”

“It's my fault.” Came a small voice from my right. I raised my gaze from the ground, up to Twilight. She too was looking at the ground as I was. “It's my fault.” She repeated.

“No Twilight... it isn't.” I said, my voice nowhere near as reassuring as I'd hoped it to be.

“Yes it is!” She hissed, anger in her voice, and a inner fire of pure hatred flared within her eyes. “It was my fault, had I gone slower, I would have seen the attack coming! I could have--”

“You could have what?!” I retorted, cutting her off mid sentence. “You could have raised a magical wall to stop the Japs from reaching you?! You could have used your power to blast the Japs into kingdom come?!” I continued, causing her gaze to lower, a feeling of guilt rushing over her. “I won't ever blame anything on you, Twilight. I have no reason too!” I explained, my tone softened. “I know why you blame this on your self! I know. I could tell you that it has nothing to do with you, but I won't.” I continued, 'The Doctor' looked at me surprised and horrified. “Because... no matter how much I tell you: 'It wasn't your fault, there was nothing you could have done.' There will always be this little voice of doubt. In the end, I can only tell you that Tomy had a chance.”

Twilight looked up at me, surprised. Sighing, I continued.

“He could have ran. He could have just left you there, but he didn't. I always told him that we would all make it to paradise. Make it home. He even spoke of visiting Equestria!” Twilight's ears splayed back as tears began to well up in her eyes again. She too had told him about Equestria and how nice it would be if they all went there with her, Tomy was the most interested. “Tomy won't be going Home. He won't be going to Equestria. All because I'd left you to go by yourselves back to the depot. And even if I regret having sent Tomy to his death, I also have to weigh down the consequences! Had I gone with you. We might all have died. Had I gone with you, the Japs might have broken through! I now realise that it was Tomy, or everyone on the island! A difficult choice! One that I regret having made, but Tomy could have run! But he didn't! He sacrificed himself to buy enough time for someone to arrive and save you!”

I held my head up high, I know that my emotions could only get the better only if I saw myself as the one who made the mistake, but all I made was a difficult choice!

“He bought time for me to save you, a rather courageous thing to do, especially when his only desire was to live.” Twilight nodded, a moment of silence fell between us.

“I still think I should go and see your commanding officer.” She replied to me, I raised a brow in curiosity of what she was talking about. She lowered her head, lifting a fore leg and using a hoof to wipe away her tears. “I've caused nothing but pain for you and your squad.” She continued, I opened my mouth to argue about that, but she beat me to it. “You guy's have given up so much to keep me satisfied! You've given me your food, your water, your... your personal space! When I wake up, I'm gonna see your commander and ask so that I may be moved to another squad.

I sighed, lowering my head for a moment before raising it to look straight into Twilight's eyes. 'The Doctor' beat me to an answer.

“Twilight you can't! You've already revealed you existence to one group of Humans, you can't go around showing everyone!” He yelled out.

“But Doctor I--” She began, bringing her sorrow on the poor stallion.

“He's right, Twilight.” I cut her off in a small voice. “Anyway, I won't allow it!” I said, almost in a harsh tone.

“But I--” She tried to retort.

“But nothing! Twilight, remember the vow we made that first night in the shelter?” I asked, getting a nod as the only answer. “And do you remember what we said in that vow?” A shake of the head this time. “We promised that we would watch each others backs, and that we would keep your whole situation a secret, everything!” I continued before she could interrupt. “That's all we've done so far. Maybe Tomy took it farther than most of us are willing too, but he succeeded!” I exclaimed, a sense of pride following the exclamation. “He saved you! He saved you!” I said, my voice starting to crack up as I realised what I was about to say. “We're not gonna get off this island, Twi.” My voice turning into a low whisper. “We're all gonna die here! I might be next, or Mark or Jack.” I sighed. “ I guess what I'm trying to say is... we're all gonna die, and all of this would have been for nothing! We're all gonna die in vain, can you believe that?” I asked to the both of them. None of them saying a word. “Look, if you can get off this island... If you can go back to paradise. I want nothing less for you, but please...”

“...Don't let Tomy die in vain.”

I don't know if that last part was plea or a command. But what difference did it make? I hung my head low, eyes closed as I tried to hold back tears. But it was true, wasn't it? ABDACOM had abandoned us! No one was gonna save us now.

I opened my eyes only when I felt something hard pushing my chin upwards. Blinking away the blurriness, my eyes focused on Twilight. She held a sad expression on her face, but also one that understood my problems. Sighing, she began to speak.

“Alright Lou, you win. I'll stay, I wouldn't want to see you, Mark and Jack get separated. The more of us there is, the better.”She said, making cringe as I remembered last night's fight. Well she's bound to find out sooner or later.

“Well you see Twilight...” I began, gulping loudly. “Me and the others have had a bit of a fall out.” I winced at the outburst that followed.

“WHAT!!” She all but yelled into my ear. The ringing after effect started to give me a headache. “What do you mean you've 'had a bit' fallen out with them! What happened?!” She continued to yell but a bit softer tone than a moment before.

“Well... you see...” I trailed off, ony for 'The Doctor' to save me just like being 'saved by the bell as they say'.

“Listen, I don't want to stop your political discussion, but may I remind you that you are still asleep in the real world. And from what Discord is trying to tell me, is that it is now day time, so you might want to start waking up.” He suggested, both me and Twilight staring at him in utter shock. “Look, how about we continue this conversation tonight or tomorrow night?” He suggested once more, both me and Twilight looking at each other before nodding in agreement. Though hopefully this new rendez-vous wouldn't involve me since my trip here was not as nice as I might have described it. “I would like it if Mister Conlin were there also, I'll let you two sort out any other problems.”

The stallion stood up and began walking back over to his glowing bubble. Before he could enter it however, a question made its way into my head.

“Wait!” I called out to him, getting his attention. “How do we wake up if she's in a coma?” I asked, and an a way, I was right. I couldn't wake up if I was in HER MIND!

“Oh that's easy, just give her a little slap or a pinch and you'll be up in a jiffy.” He smiled before walking into the bubble and disappearing. I turned my gaze to Twilight who looked just as confused as me. She opened her mouth to say something, but I had a need that needed to be fulfilled.

So before a single word could leave her mouth, I reached my arms out and grabbed her by the barrel and pulled her towards me into a cuddle. A surprised 'eeeeep' was the only sound that she made. And we both stayed like that for a few more seconds before she decided to speak up at the very awkward moment.

“Errr... Lou? What are you doing?” She asked into my shoulder that she was nuzzling.

“Well I'm kinda hoping that you'd wake up without me pinching you.” I said, rather sheepishly. She was about to reply but the only thing that escaped her was a yawn. I pushed Twilight away, taking a look at her tired features. She yawned once more, and it all clicked. Soon, her eyes closed and she fell asleep in my arms. If she had fallen asleep in a dream, did that mean--

Comments

[p61blkwidow]

this chapter was the very best!man the emotions and feels were just fantastic! well done to you, this continues to be one of my all time favorite stories on fim bar none!

[FIRE FLASH 3]

8388533
Thank you so much. I will try and continue to make the next chapters as enjoyable as this one.

I'm so pleased to have people like you reading my story