//------------------------------// // Look Before You Sleep // Story: A New Hero // by Alex The Lone Wolf //------------------------------// Episode 8 – Look Before You Sleep I woke up early this time and did my usual morning routine. I walked out of the house and looked around. I saw ponies in the skies, moving dark clouds in front of the gleaming sun. I'm guessing there is going to be rain today... Every pony seemed to be heading to the park. I wonder what's going on... I walked over to the park to see many ponies picking up dead branches off the floor and trees. When I spotted Applejack, who was using her lasso to break a branch of the tree, I walked up to her. "Hey, Applejack. What's going on today?" I asked. "Oh hey there, Alex." Applejack responded. "Every pony is picking up dead and loose branches so they don't hurt no pony." "I see… can I help?" "Sure, you can pick up the branches that are on the ground, or if you find a way to get them off the tree without hurting yourself, you can do that instead." "Alright." We heard Rarity a few feet away from us. "Hmm. Hah! Perfect." Rarity announced. She had formed the leaves on the branch to art with her magic. However, Applejack threw her lasso at the branch at took it down, frankly. She spit the rope out of her mouth. "Just take the broken limbs down, Rarity. Don't cha all care about nothing other than prettifyin'?" "Some pony has to. You were making an absolute mess of the town square, Applejack." Rarity replied, looking around at all the branches on the floor. "Yeah, well, the storm's gonna make an even bigger mess if we don't prune all these loose branches so they don't tumble down on anypony." "I simply cannot imagine why the Pegasus ponies would schedule a dreadful downpour this evening and ruin what could have been a glorious sunny day." Applejack sighed. "Think more practical-like, will ya? They accidentally skipped a scheduled sprinkle last week, so we need a doozy of a downpour to make up for it, is all." Applejack kicked a tree, releasing leaves and more branches to fall to the ground. Unfortunately, it began raining while the two were arguing, while I could only watch. "Oh no! My wonderfully styled mane shall be ruined!" Rarity cried out. "Ya shoulda hurried up and finished the job already." Applejack argued. "Oh! Ah! Oh! It's coming down too fast! Ah! Oh! Ah! Help me!" Rarity began running all over the place to find shelter. Applejack searched for somewhere to keep from the rain. She spotted a table and told Rarity to go under there. "Uh, there. Hunker down to yer heart's content whilst I finish this." Rarity began galloping over to the table while Applejack continued to bring down the branches. "Alex, you ain't afraid of a little rain are you?" "No…" "Ok then, here. Help me bring down these— "Oh, no, no, no!" Rarity cried out. Applejack sighed heavily and ran over to her, including me. "What now?" Applejack asked, annoyed. "I prefer not to get my hooves muddy." Rarity responded. "Guh. There is just no pleasin' ya, is there? Everything's got to be just so." Applejack began. "Well, and how does muddying my hooves serve any useful purpose?" "Um… girls…" I tried to interrupt. "Y'all wouldn't know useful if it came up and bit cha." Applejack continued to argue. Rarity laughed. "That doesn't even make any sense." "Does so." "Does not." "Does so." "Does not." "Does so." "Does not." "Girls…" I attempted again. "Does so infinity. Hah." Applejack said. "Does not infinity plus one. Hah." They both started at each other aggressively. "What say we go our separate ways before one of us says something she will regret?" Rarity offered. "I reckon y'all're gonna say something you'll regret first." "On the contrary. I believe it shall most certainly be you who says something you will regret first." "I'm not sayin' anythin'." "Nor am I." "Y'all just be on yer way, then." Applejack scooted her away with her hoof. "After you!" Rarity pointed. "GIRLS!" I finally shouted, but I was too late as thunder crackled in the sky, scaring both the ponies. The both hugged each other, ironically. "Perhaps we should stick together for now and find some shelter." Rarity suggested. "Uh-huh, perhaps we should. And fast." Applejack agreed. I sighed as I continued to be drenched in the rain. Applejack had ran over and ducked under the table. "Nice and dry under here, sort'a." Applejack said, noticing the mud squished under her hooves. Rarity continued to look for a better shelter to be in. "Oh! Unacceptable." "Applejack! Rarity! Alex!" We heard our names from a distant voice. We turned around to try to see who was calling us. "Applejack! Rarity! Alex!" Our names were called again. We managed to see it was Twilight who was calling our names. She was inside her home with the door open so she could get our attention. "Come inside, quick!" She invited. We all ran towards the inside of her house. Rarity and I arrived inside, but Applejack stopped in front of the door. "Whoa, Nelly. Is inside a tree really the best place to be in a lightning storm?" Applejack asked. "It is if you have a magical lightning rod protecting your home like I do." Twilight replied. "Come on in!" "Hah! We are most grateful for your invitation." Rarity thanked. "Thank ya kindly for yer hospitality." Applejack joined, walking inside. However, Rarity saw this and stopped her by placing her front leg in front of her. "Uh, do be a polite houseguest and go wash up please, won't you?" Rarity asked, pointing to her muddy hooves. Applejack grumbled. "If I gotta spend one more second with that fussbudget Rarity today, I can't be held responsible for what I'm gonna do." She walked out to wash her hooves. "Some storm, huh? The Pegasus ponies sure have outdone themselves this time. I hope you guys don't have any trouble getting home." Twilight said. "It may indeed be a problem." Rarity replied. "Well, you're welcome to stay if need be. Spike is away in Canterlot on royal business. I'm home all alone tonight." Twilight gasped. "You ponies should totally sleep over! We'll have a slumber party! I've always wanted one of those." Twilight looked over to me, a little disappointed. "Oh… but those things aren't the kind of things that guys do… is it? "It's okay… you girls can do whatever you want, I'll just head home." I began walking out the front door to the harsh rain, the thunder that boomed, and the lightning that flashed. "No!" Twilight exclaimed. "You can't go out like that in this kind of weather!" She thought for a moment. "I mean… you can hang out. I just don't think you want to do… you know… girl stuff." I stopped and turned back. "I suppose I can stay… I'll find something else to do…" Twilight smiled. "Well make yourself at home!" She walked over to Rarity to talk about their plans. Rarity refused, most likely due to Applejack staying. "Oh! Uh, goodness. Uh, I do believe I have another engagement scheduled for this evening that completely slipped my mind until just now." Rarity laughed nervously. "Ah, silly me, I can't possibly stay here all night - with Applejack." Twilight walked up to her shelf and brought out a book. She opened the book to Rarity and revealed the contents inside. "Slumber 101: All You've Ever Wanted to Know About Slumber Parties But Were Afraid to Ask." Rarity read out loud. "My own personal copy. It's a fantastic reference guide. You should see the table of contents. I've been waiting for a chance to use it, and today is the day! This is gonna be so great!" "Yes, uh, great." Rarity continued to laugh nervously. Outside, Applejack was still trying to wash the mud off her hooves using a hose, but she had some trouble with it. "Well, let's get started, shall we?" Rarity suggested. They began to grab, whatever it was they used for face masks, so I decided I would just leave them to their fun. I began looking around at the shelves, seeing if I could find something to read. "What in tarnation..." I heard Applejack. "Now wait just a goll-darn minute. Ya make me wash the mud off my hooves, but it's okay for y'all ta have mud all over yer faces?" "Silly! This is called a mud mask. It's to refresh and rejuvenate your complexion." Rarity replied. "We're giving each other makeovers! Tee-hee!" Twilight added. I heard excitement in her voice. "We have to do it, it says so in the book." "Slumber 101: Everything You... Oh hey, heh, would'ja look at the time. I gotta skidaddle on home quick. I'm powerful late for, uh, fer somethin'. Uh, g'night." Thunder roared outside. "Or maybe I'll stay here for a spell." "Hurray slumber party!" "Blahch. What in the world is this for?" I heard Rarity sigh. "To reduce the puffiness around one's eyes, of course." "Puffiness-schmuffiness! That's good eatin'!" Applejack made some loud chewing noises. "Tee-hee! Isn't this exciting? We'll do everything by the book, and that will make my slumber party officially fun." "Did you hear that, Applejack? You certainly would not want to do anything that would ruin Twilight's very first slumber party, would you?" "Of course not, 'n you wouldn't either, I reckon." "So do we have an agreement?" "You betcha." I assumed Applejack spit in her hoof afterwards. "Oh! Gross! You know, there's messy and there's just plain rude." "You know, there's fussy 'n there's just plain gettin' on my nerves." "Fortunately, I can get along with any pony, no matter how difficult SHE may be." "Oh yeah? Well, I'm the get-alongin'ist pony yer ever gonna meet." "That's not even a word." "This is going to be the bestest slumber party ever! Yay!" I heard Twilight say in the middle of the argument. Suddenly… I don't feel like reading anymore… I walked upstairs and opened the door to the balcony and shutting it behind me. Luckily, the balcony had a covering over it, so I didn't get wet. I listened to the sound of the rain, as well as the thunder boom. To be honest… I loved the sound of the rain… even the thunder. It also seemed to calm me down, ironically. Nonetheless, I sat out there observing the rain. After a moment, I sat up and leaned on the railings. Something seemed missing… I placed my hoof on my cheek and thought about the scene again. Fluttershy… she had kissed me on the cheek… that was the first time anyone had ever done that to me… Why did she do it? Was it because of what she was thanking me for? But why? I have done a lot more stuff than that before and that never happened… I sighed. Thunder roared once again and lightning sparked. I noticed the lights in Twilight's home behind me suddenly turn off. The wind grew stronger as did the sound of the raindrops splashing on the ground. Suddenly, I also heard screams from inside the house. I immediately ran inside the house to check on the girls. When I raced downstairs, I saw Applejack and Rarity hugging each other while screaming. "What going o—I exclaimed, but unable to finish when I saw Twilight pull over a blanket from her body and walk over to her book. "Ghost story, check." Twilight said. "Now, who wants s'mores?" She asked. She noticed me standing near the stairs, confused. "Oh, hey Alex. Did Applejack and Rarity scare you?" "Um…uh…" I couldn't really speak. "Yeah… I guess…" Twilight giggled. "Come on, let's go to the kitchen!" We went into the kitchen, where Applejack began roasting marshmallows on a nearby fireplace while Rarity was going over the instructions on making a smore. "Then you place one marshmallow on the top of the chocolate and be sure it's centered - that's critical - and then carefully put another perfectly square graham cracker on the top. And done. Ta-da!" "Ooo!" Twilight gazed at the treat. "Nah, ya just eat 'em." Applejack munched loudly on the treat as Rarity stared at her, very annoyed. Finally, Applejack belched. Rarity sighed. "You could at least say excuse me." "Aw, I was just about to, but you interrupted me." Applejack replied. "Pardon." "S'mores, check. Now the next item of fun we have to do is Truth or Dare." Twilight announced, writing in her book. "I dare Applejack to do something carefully and neatly for a change." Rarity began fighting. Here we go… again… "Oh yeah? Well I dare Rarity ta lighten up and stop obsessin' over every last little detail, for a change." Applejack fought back. "I think the truth of the matter is that SOME pony could stand to pay a little more attention to details." "And I think the truth is SOME pony oughta quit with her fussin' so the rest of us can get things done." I grew more annoyed with each argument they made. Twilight walked over to her book and flipped through the pages. "Um, I don't think this is how the game's supposed to work. You have to give an honest answer to any question or do whatever any pony dares you to do." "I dares you to step outside and let your precious, tidy mane get ruined again!" Applejack began first. Rarity gasped. "You have to. It's the rule." Twilight backed up. "HAH!" Applejack laughed. "Fine!" Rarity slowly walked to the door and then outside, letting herself get drenched in the rain. Applejack snickered as she came back in with her mane and tail shivering. Applejack began laughing but was cut short when Rarity walked straight towards her. "Okay! I dare Applejack to play dress-up in a fru-fru, glittery, lacey outfit!" Applejack gasped, but she walked away to put on her outfit. When she came back, she was wearing, what appeared to be, a princess outfit. "Happy?" She asked. "Very." Rarity, replied, giving a smirk. "Um, do I ever get a turn?" Twilight asked, trying not to interrupt. "I dare ya to enter the next rodeo when it comes to town." Applejack commenced. "I dare you not to enter the next rodeo that comes to town." Rarity replied. "I dare ya to not comb your mane a hundred times before bed." "And I dare you to comb yours just once." As much I didn't want to get mad, I couldn't handle anymore… all this fighting… it was getting to me… I finally broke and shouted. "I DARE YOU BOTH TO STOP ARGUING AND SHUT UP!" I immediately stormed out of the room, retreating away from the silence that followed and in to my own. I stepped out into the balcony and lay down. I was rubbing my head with my hooves. My head was pounding like crazy. I closed my eyes and tried to let the rain sedate me. "Alex…?" I heard a voice behind me… It was Twilight's. "Yeah…?" I answered very softly. "Why are you out here?" She asked. "The rain… it soothes me…and right now… I have a headache…" "Listen… I'm really sorry about Applejack and Rarity… I don't know what's gotten into them…" "They shouldn't be arguing…" "Huh…?" She walked a little closer to me. "That's how friendships break…" "Why do you say that?" Twilight asked, concerned about my answer. "Just trust me…" I buried my head in my hooves and closed my eyes, continuing to listen to the rain and the wind. I could feel Twilight struggle with the words in her head. She didn't know what to say. I could feel that she wanted to make me feel better… but she didn't know how. "Will you come in…?" She asked. "I think I'll just stay out here for a while…" I responded, gloomy. It was silent for a moment. "I'll come back to check up on you in a while…" Twilight left the balcony and headed back downstairs. I continued to have my eyes closed. I listened to the rain…the wind…even the thunder… I heard some loud talking downstairs too. As I tried to calm myself, suddenly, thunder roared louder than ever before, causing me to open my eyes. Lightning struck a tree near me. The tree began limping towards another house, as if it was going to fall. I stood up and was going to rush to tell Twilight, but a lasso grabbed hold of the tree. It must have been Applejack! After a few seconds, the rope pulled the tree, which led the tree to begin falling straight towards me! I tried running, but I didn't make it in time. I could feel the tree pull me down straight toward where Twilight and the others were. "I tried to tell you it would come crashing down in here!" Rarity cried. "Well, ya should'a tried harder!" Applejack replied. "I'm mighty sorry, Twilight." They seemed not to notice me crushed under the tree, but Twilight did. "Alex!" Twilight exclaimed. She managed to pull me out. "I'm alright…" I replied. I felt okay… "What in tarnation are y'all doin' over there?" Applejack asked Rarity, who was placing the books back on Twilight's shelf while using one of them to cover her mane. "Cleaning up this mess SOME pony made. Who was that again? Oh, right, that's YOU." Rarity responded. "We gotta do somethin'!" Applejack exclaimed. She tried kicking the tree, pulling the tree with a rope, jumping on the tree, and any other way to get rid of the tree. "Rarity, for pony's sake, stop sweatin' the small stuff and help me get rid of this thing!" Rarity only glanced back and then continued placing the books back. "I said hussle over here and help me!" Rarity didn't listen. "Look, I'm sorry, all right?" "What was that?" Rarity asked. "I said I'm sorry!" Applejack yelled through the storm. "I shoulda listened to you when you noticed where this here branch would end up. Yer annoyin' attention to detail woulda saved us from this whole mess. But right now, ya need to stop bein' so dang fussy pickin' up all those little things and help me move the one big thing in here that actually matters! Please!" Rarity finally looked over at the tree when Applejack said that. She looked like she wanted to help, but she was worried about something. "Uh. Uh, but I'll get all icky!" She exclaimed. "Consarnit! What the... eh... you... I mean, yes, ickiness is often a side effect of hard work. But y'all need to get over it, on account I just can't fix this mess I made myself. I need your help!" Rarity hesitated for a moment, and then thought. Finally she looked toward Applejack. "Oh. Let's do this." Rarity walked over to Applejack and they both talked for a moment, sharing a plan. Rarity and Applejack began to get to work. Rarity used her magic to make the tree into a bunch of small ornaments instead. Applejack was about to kick the bottom of the tree out the window, but she noticed Rarity's look on her face and paused. She placed her feet down and turned around. She grabbed the stump instead and lightly threw it out the window. Applejack closed the window, and the chaos died down. Rarity looked at herself. She was covered in mud and leaves. "U-ugh. Oh, I look awful" Rarity said. Applejack thought for a moment and thought up of an idea. She grabbed a couple of the eye pieces used in spas and placed them on Rarity's eyes. "Better?" Applejack asked. "Hm, thanks." Rarity responded. They both hugged. I drew out a long sigh. "I'm glad you two made up… all your arguing has been only trouble!" Twilight said. "You're right…" Applejack answered. She looked over at me. "I'm mighty sorry, Alex. I didn't mean to cause you no harm… I was too busy being dumb enough to argue…" "I'm truly sorry too, Alex. I shouldn't have argued with Applejack. We are all friends after all… and we don't like to hurt one another. Can you ever forgive us?" Rarity asked. They all looked at me with pleading eyes. I sighed and then looked at them both. They were eagerly waiting for my answer. "Alright, I forgive you guys… I know how hard it is to keep a perfect friendship… but still… I don't like it when friends argue…" "Aww!" They rushed over to me for a group hug. They got me a little dirty… but I really didn't care. I had this really warm feeling in my heart that felt really good. It was some other feeling that was special, that I had never felt either. "I'm sorry for yelling at you girls too…" "It's alright, we deserved it." They said, cheerfully. Soon, they pulled away. "I think we should get ourselves clean… shall we?" Rarity suggested. Everyone agreed and laughed. I was the last one to use Twilight's shower. After I was finished, I came downstairs to see what the girls were up to. They were laughing, wearing accessories in their hair, except Applejack, who had on her farm hat. "Hey, Alex!" Twilight called me. "You should join our game!" I was in an alright mood, so I guess it couldn't hurt. "Alright…" I sat down in the circle. "Is it bigger than a barn?" Applejack asked. Twilight laughed. "Nope." "Is it smaller than a saddle?" Rarity asked. Twilight laughed again. "No! Only three of your twenty questions left!" "We're never gonna guess what y'er thinkin' of, it could be anythin'." Applejack said. "Are we getting warmer?" Rarity questioned. "Why? Is it too cold in here for you? I can turn up the heat." Twilight offered. "She means are we gettin' any closer with our guesses?" Applejack corrected. "Oh! No. And that technically counts in as a question, so only two more left!" Twilight responded. "Is it... a six-legged pony with a purple polka-dotted mane and shootin' stars comin' out of his eyes?" Applejack began. "Who flies through the air all over the world to hide magic, sparkly eggs?" Rarity finished. "That's it!" Twilight exclaimed. "It is?" They both asked, surprisingly. "No." She chuckled. "It's that." She pointed to a telescope above her. "But it was just so nice to see you two finally getting along; I wanted you to be able to win together." Applejack and Rarity began laughing. "See? We could have been having fun like this all along." Twilight said. "If only some pony hadn't been so persnickety." Applejack announced, directing it to Rarity. "Well, maybe she wouldn't have been if some pony else hadn't been so sloppy." Rarity responded to Applejack's comment. Their eyes stared towards each other, coldly. I was about to say something about the scene, but then their moods shifted. "Sorry for being such a pain in the patootie." Applejack apologized. "Oh, no, I'm sure I was much worse." Rarity replied. "That's kind a ya ta say, but I'm the one who's sorry." "Oh, I'm much more sorry than you are." "Ugh. Are not." "Are too." Twilight and I kept shaking our heads to Applejack and to Rarity. "Are not!" "Are too." "Are not!" "Are too." After they finished their "argument" with smiles, I realized that they were just joking… they began laughing. "I declare my first slumber party a success!" Twilight announced. Rarity and Applejack cheered, clapping hooves. Twilight grabbed her book with her magic and wrote in it. "Have fun, check!" Rarity and Applejack laughed again. "I have another idea for a game!" Rarity exclaimed. She set up the room for the game, which was something like pin the tail on the pony. Applejack was blindfolded and was being directed by Rarity who was telling her where to go. I sat down, continuing to watch them. "Now take two steps to your left. Uh, no, MY left." Rarity directed. "Well, which is it?" Applejack asked. She stumbled onto the pile of books in front of her, crashing on them. "Whoa! That mess is your fault, not mine." They both laughed. I was really appreciative that they patched everything up between each other. "Dear Princess Celestia…" I heard Twilight behind me say. I walked up next to her to listen to another one of her fantastic letters. She was using her magic to write with the pen. "It's hard to believe that two ponies who seem to have so little in common could ever get along. But I found out that if you embrace each other's differences, you might just be surprised to discover a way to be friends after all!" Twilight had finished her letter. She noticed me and smiled. Then she looked over to Applejack and Rarity, who were still having fun. "So, who's up for another slumber party tomorrow night?" They threw her a couple of pillows to the face. "How about a week from Thursday?" She continued to ask. "Oh, how about two weeks from Saturday? A month from now?" The ponies did not respond, but only laughed. Twilight joined in the laughter as well. I looked at the window and noticed the sun had come out. "Well…" I said. "I guess I should get back home then." "Aww." Twilight responded, who was just finished being attacked with another pillow. "Well, it was great having you here, Alex!" I paused for a moment, thinking about what she said. I looked back at her. "Thanks… you girls were… fun… too." They all giggled and had me in one last group hug before I was off. When I arrived back at home, I slid inside my bed. I was really tired from not really having any sleep at all last night. Although, I began thinking about the time spent with Twilight, Applejack, and Rarity. Despite all the problems that occurred that night, it was still really enjoyable. I had increased my relationship with them… and it felt really good… my friends… they are so much different from the other ones… in my past… I dozed off.