Half Past Ten

by Ashfur


Daydream, believe her

The rays of the morning sun shone into Jake’s bedroom, waking the human up.  Like all creatures, it took a few seconds for his brain to reboot from nothing, first recalling who he was, then where he was.  As he snuggled back into the warm confines of his bed for a few more minutes of sleep, though, he felt something shift in the bed next to him.  A small bundle of fur squirmed in his arms, and as Myst poked her head out from under the blankets, the memories of the previous night came flowing back.  “Good morning mister Jake!”

Jake smiled warmly at his little friend.  It was a truly genuine smile, without any hint of sarcasm or wit, as Myst was just too cute.  He ruffled the little filly’s mane gently. “Hey, kiddo! Did you sleep well last night? And are you feeling okay?”

“Uh-huh!  I’m fine.”  A light growl echoed through the room, and Jake chuckled.  Myst soon joined in, the giggle growing into a roar as both shared a laugh that seemed to refuse to die down.  Jake whapped the bed in his expression of merriment, and Myst rolled around kicking her little legs. When they finally caught their breath, Myst continued, albeit a bit embarrassed.  “I guess I’m hungry, though… can you make me breakfast, mister Jake?”

“Heh, sure thing my little Myst.  Come on, I’ll show you to the kitchen.  Up we go!” Jake grabbed Myst and rolled out of bed, picking up the filly and cradling her in his arms.  Well, he tried, at least, as the little alicorn spread her wings and flittered into the air next to him. “Or you could just do that, I guess.  You winged ponies are so hard to keep grounded. Oh well, at least I can get dressed now. Shoo, I need to change.” Closing the door after Myst hovered out of the room, Jake quickly swapped his pajamas out for his street clothes.  Stepping out into the hallway, motioned to his charge to follow and went to the kitchen.

Jake got out a plate for Myst and set it down on the table, turning around to grab some ingredients from his fridge.  “Now, I know you probably want something sweet, but I need to head to the market later since I’m short on supplies. I do have some apples and lettuce to make you a healthy breakfast, though!”  Jake allowed the image to form in his mind of Myst enjoying a full spread of Pinkie Pie-level desserts for breakfast, a look of pure elation on her young face. He made a mental note to get her something sickeningly sweet at sugarcube corner later when he asked Pinkie about the foal’s family later as he chopped up the apple into easy to eat slices.  “Alright, breakfast is serv-WHA?!”

Jake recoiled in shock.  Dozens of sweet treats like the ones he imagined covered the table, and Myst looked very happy.  “Wow, is this for me? Thank you, mister Jake!” She levitated a cookie up in her magic and took a bite, savoring it.

“Myst, where in the world did all these desserts come from?!”  Jake cautiously picked up a doughnut from the assortment of sweets and sniffed it.  It smelled like a doughnut, unsurprisingly. Throwing caution to the wind, he bit into it.  The flavor was far better than any doughnut he had ever had, and it seemed to melt in his mouth.  He swallowed the bite after chewing, and concluded it was the best confection he had ever eaten.

Myst tilted her head, confused.  “You helped me make ‘em, mister Jake!  You thought of them and I made them real.  Can’t everypony do that?” She devoured her cookie in a few swift bites with glee, leaving Jake stunned at the implications of this.  Twilight was unfortunately going to have to know about this ASAP. An alicorn with the ability to create something from nothing? That had very bad implications.

“Okay, Myst,”  he explained, “Not everyone can do that, and I need to make sure you are telling me the truth.  What am I thinking of right now?”

“I don’t know that, mister Jake!”  Myst giggled cutely. “You have to imagine it, and then I can make things!”  So, Jake quickly held out his hand. He imagined a perfectly cut sapphire in his outstretched palm and watched in awe as Myst lit her horn and caused the same gemstone to take a physical form in his grasp.  It even felt like the right weight! “Tada! Wow, that thing is sparkly.” Jake grimaced for a brief moment. This kind of power usually led to bad things happening.

“Well, seems you were telling the truth.  I'll need to take you to my friend Twilight so you can get some help, alright?  She’s a princess, I’m sure we can find your family with her assistance. She has connections all over Equestria.”

“Okay!  Do you think she’d want any of these treats, mister Jake?”

Chuckling at the filly’s innocent mind, the human nodded.  “Sure. Let’s pack that big cake up on my cart outside I use for groceries, you can use that magic creation powers of yours to fix the broken wheel on it.  But first, young lady…” Jake took the salad and placed it in front of his charge. “You need a healthier breakfast than cookies. Eat up. I’ll even imagine it tastes like yummy strawberries for you, okay?”

“Okay, mister Jake… can we have more snacks later?”

“Absolutely.”


The walk to Twilight's castle was quiet, but the tranquility of the midmorning was appreciated by the pair.  Jake had decided to take the slightly longer, yet more secluded path around the town perimeter to reach the gigantic crystal palace of friendship, knowing that anypony seeing the already antisocial (at least by pony standards) human pushing around a cart with an alicorn they had never heard of would be cause for alarm.  However, as they approached the castle, Jake noticed that Mystic Lodestar had lost some of her peppy attitude, as far as he could tell. He paid it no mind at first, but by the time he parked the cart on Twilight's lawn she looked positively pale… well, as pale as a deep violet equine coild look. “Hey, Myst. Myst, you feeling okay?”

“Not… really…”  Myst coughed once, then slumped down.  Jake picked her up and perched her on his shoulder, then picked up the cake to prove to Twilight just what the filly could do.

“Don't worry, I'm sure Twilight knows a spell to fix you up, and if not we can get you to the hospital.  Now let's go show her this cake you created, and we… can… huh?” As he walked closer to the front door, Jake watched as the cake slowly became transparent, like a hologram.  As it got easier to see through, it became lighter and harder to hold, until it fell through Jake's fingers like a thick liquid. It was gone before it hit the ground, vanished from existence.  Jake ran the last few steps and banged on the door. “TWILIGHT?! OPEN UP! IT'S JAKE!”

There was a familiar jingle of magic on the other side of the door as he heard something teleport in, and then the door creaked open, revealing the local librarian turned royalty.  In all honesty, Twilight looked a bit of a mess, as though she hadn't gotten a good night's sleep. “Jake? It's barely ten thirty in the morning, what's all the ruckus?”

“Twilight!  Last night, I saw this huge tear in the sky, and this alicorn came through it, and-”

“Whoa, whoa, relax!  Jake, there's nothing to worry about, you were just dreaming.  Princess Luna linked the dreams of everypony in ponyville, so you probably saw the same thing we all did.”

“Twilight, are you blind or something?  Look, what's on my shoulder right now?” Jake quickly pointed his finger at the shoulder holding Myst.

Twilight squinted her eyes and gave the joint a thorough once-over before replying.  “Uh… empty air? Jake, I… I don't think you're in the right state of kind to work today.  Why don't you go home a d get some sleep?”

“But I swear there's a-”  Jake turned his head and looked at his shoulder.

“Mister Jake, help…”

“Sweet mother of pearl on a pogo stick!  Myst!” Jake's eyes went wide in terror as he noticed the filly perched on his shoulder hadn't just been going pale.  She was fading, fast, just like the cake before her. “MYST!”

“Get me… away from her… please…”

Jake didn't even bother responding, sprinting away at wonderbolt-tier speeds away from his bookish employer/friend.  At the very least, it seems to have a positive effect, as Myst lost her transparency but still looked pale.

As Twilight watched the human freak out over nothing on his shoulder and run off alone, she shook her head grimly.  “Wow, whatever the Tantabus did to him must have messed with his head pretty bad. At least it doesn't exist anymore, so its nightmares will be nothing more than memories soon.  I'll have Spike check in on Jake later, though. He should be fine with everypony in town to stop him from doing something dangerous… Hey!” She glanced over i to her front yard.  “Why did Jake bring his broken cart here… and, where are the skid marks from dragging the broken wheel along the ground? It's like he fixed it, brought it over, and broke it again…”

Jake, of course, heard none of that as he ran straight towards the hospital with Myst cradled in his arms.  “Myst, I'm here! You're gonna be alright, okay?”

“Mister Jake…  I feel better, a bit… slow down…”  Jake obliged reluctantly, raising a questioning eyebrow at her.  “She didn't see me. She didn't believe I'm here…”

“Is this another thing you just know about, Myst?  Some instinct thing?”

“Yeah.  If nopony believes I'm here, I…”  tears welled in her eyes. Jake quickly realized the issue: Twilight, being the logical and rational pony she is, would never believe his story without proof.  But if what the sibbing bundle of fur in his arms said was true, that meant Twilight's disbelief was a health hazard for his odd little filly.”

“Hey, hey, don't cry.  I promise I won't let you disappear, Myst.  Because I believe you exist. Okay?”

“But what if…”  she sniffled, pausing.  “What if nopony else does?  What if you leave and I'm all alone, and she comes back?”

“Not gonna happen, Myst." Jake hugged her close, petting her mane comfortingly. "I pinkie promise: cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye, that I'll convince as many ponies around town about you that I possibly can, and then Twilight will have to believe you exist!  And you know where we can start?”

Myst hugged Jake close, savoring the feeling of a creature believing she existed for a moment.  She regained her normal color and finally looked up at her current guardian. “Where?”

“With the pony who has the most active imagination I know.  Myst, how'd you like to go buy some cookies from a friend of mine?”