Chapter 33
“How long has he been out?” asked Apple Bloom as she poked AJ’s almost unmoving body. Applejack, Apple Bloom, and Big Mac had just come home from an all day Pinkie party and found AJ passed out on the couch. A book Twilight let him borrow from the library had fallen to the floor. Every so often one of his legs would twitch.
“I-I-I don’t know,” Knight said in a quiet voice. “H-he said he was in pain so I gave him some pain killers.”
“How many did ya give’im?” asked Big Mac.
“Umm, six? Maybe seven?” Knight lifted up the now empty bottle of pills.
“Ya gave’im th’ rest of th’ bottle?!” shouted Applejack. “Ya were supposed ta give’im one ta help take th’ pain away, not put’im in a coma!”
Knight began cowering away from Applejack; tears welling up in his eyes. “I-I-I-I’m sorry. I-I-I didn’t know. I j-j-just wanted to make him feel better.”
“Now Applejack, just calm down. Ya can’t expect th' kid ta know this stuff,” Big Mac said in a calm tone.
“He still needs ta be careful! What if somethin’ bad happens now?”
“I’s can has ponieses,” mumbled AJ in his sleep; a dopey grin on his face.
“Well, he’s fine,” deadpanned Apple Bloom. “Can we eat now? Big Mac didn’t let me eat that much at th’ party.”
“That’s cause everything was made of pure sugar,” Big Mac said.
“But it was a party. It wouldn’t be a party without sweets,” countered Apple Bloom.
“Not when fillies have school in th’ morning,” Applejack said with a stern look. “Now, after we eat dinner it’s off ta bed. Ya don’t want ta be sleepy fer class tomorrow.”
“Aww come on! Can’t Ah skip school just this once?”
Applejack just stared at her.
Apple Bloom crossed her legs and pouts. “It ain’t fair. You didn’t have ta go ta school.”
“Ah didn’t have a choice,” Applejack said as she started walking to the kitchen. “With mom an’ dad gone, somepony needed ta be here ta help on th’ farm. That doesn’t mean Ah didn’t continue mah studies. Big McIntosh homeschooled me whenever he could.”
“Eeyup.”
Apple Bloom grumbled to herself. “Fine, Ah’ll go.”
“Atta girl.” Big Mac patted Apple Bloom on the head before following Applejack into the kitchen.
Knight watched as Apple Bloom walked into the kitchen; grumbling the entire way. He turned back to AJ; a sad look on his face. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you. P-please don’t hate me.”
“Iy yam a silly pony,” mumbled AJ as he shifted on the couch.
Knight reached a hoof out and put it on AJ’s shoulder. “Hey Knight.” Knight squeaked, quickly pulling his hoof back and turning to where the voice came from. Big Mac smiled as he walked back into the living room. He placed a hoof on Knight’s shoulder. “Don’t worry. Ah’m sure he’ll be just fine. Fer now, why don’t ya come an’ eat. It won’t do ya any good ta starve yerself.”
Knight slowly nodded. “O-okay.” He stood up and slowly followed Big Mac into the kitchen; taking one last look at AJ before crossing the threshold.
********************
“A-are you sure you’re okay?” Knight asked.
“Yea…maybe…not sure. Come ask me again when my head stops throbbing...and I can move,” grunted AJ. He had woken up the next day with a throbbing headache. His body felt like it was made of gelatin, and he could barley even lift his head without feeling dizzy. AJ groaned into the couch. “I didn’t know painkillers could do this to you.”
“I-I’m sorry.”
“Not your fault…I think…kinda hard to think straight right now.” Even with his horn back, he had only been able to use magic once or twice. It’s just been too hard to concentrate on anything other than how terrible he felt. “Maybe I should go see the doctor.”
“Are ya sure ya don’t just want us ta go get th’ doctor fer ya? Ya probably shouldn't be movin’ too much in yer state,” Applejack said as she walked into the living room. On her back sat a platter with a cup of juice and a bowl of oatmeal for AJ.
AJ weakly shook his head causing some dizziness to hit him. “N-no. I need to get out of the house. I haven’t been out of the house for the last two weeks, and there’s nothing but re-runs on TV right now.”
“What about that book Twilight let ya borrow?”
“I’m almost done with it. It may keep me preoccupied for maybe half a day, but what then?”
“Y-you could always sleep. M-Mr. Whooves said you needed your rest,” Knight said; scooting away from Applejack.
“I just slept all of yesterday. I think I can go one day without just sitting here. See, I’ll show you.” Fighting against his body, AJ forced himself to the edge of the couch. He eventually worked his limbs into an unsteady standing position. His legs were quivering under the stress of his weight. “S-s-see…n-no problem.” A sheepish smile grew on his face.
Applejack stared at AJ with a deadpan stare. “Mmmmhm. Alright then, try takin’ a step towards th’ door then.”
The smile dropped off AJ’s face. He looked down at his unsteady legs; trying to will them to walk forward. “Uhhhh, sure. Alright let’s do this.” As he began to take a step, his head started to throb and another dizzy spell swept over him; sending him to the floor. He lay there for a minute, waiting for the dizziness to go away. “O-o-okay. Maybe you should go get the doctor.”
Smiling, Applejack and Knight helped AJ back onto the couch. “Alright, Ah’ll be back as soon as Ah can. Ah just need ta take Apple Bloom ta school first. You just make sure he doesn't try gettin' up again,” Applejack said to Knight.
“O-okay.”
********************
“Thanks fer comin’ over Rares. With Big McIntosh gone till th' beginnin' of cider season, there’d be nopony ta watch’im.” Applejack was just getting ready to take Apple Bloom to school, and go sell some apples. With Big Mac down in Appleloosa until cider season starts, there would be nopony home to watch AJ while she was gone.
“Oh, no worries Applejack. Anything I can do to help,” Rarity said with a flick of her mane. “But if I may ask, what about Knight Wind? Hasn't he watched over AJ before?”
Applejack scratched the back of her head. “Well…”
“I-I-I’m ready,” came Knight’s voice from the stairs.
Rarity turned to see Knight standing at the foot of the stairs with AJ’s saddle bags on his back. Many of the knots had been combed from his mane and tail to make him look a bit more presentable. He had a slight blush on his face as Rarity looked him over. Rarity turned to Applejack in confusion. “In case yer wonderin’, Knighty here’s startin’ school t’day.”
“School? As in high school…right?” asked Rarity.
“No,” groaned AJ from the couch. “He’s going to school with Apple Bloom.”
Rarity looked at Applejack in disbelief. “But Applejack, isn't he a bit old for grade school?”
“He was never able ta finish grade school on account of…well…ya know,” Applejack said in a hushed voice.
“Oh, the poor dear. Does Cheerilee know about this?”
“Ah talked about it with’er yesterday. While it’s goin’ ta be a bit strange, she think’s it’s goin’ ta be a great opportunity fer th’ both of’em,” Applejack said with a smile.
“Come on Applejack! Scootaloo’s probably there already!” Apple Bloom said as she tried to push Applejack out the door.
“Heh, well Ah suppose we should go then.” Applejack leaned in and kissed Rarity. “Thanks again Rares.”
Rarity watched as Applejack left with Apple Bloom and Knight. She lightly bit her lip as her eyes found their way to Applejacks flanks; hoping the two of them would be able to have a night of fun together soon. A blush grew on her face when she heard a groan come from behind her. She turned to see AJ clutching his stomach. “Oh, uhh, what’s wrong darling?”
“Oh…nothing much. It only feels like my stomach’s imploding,” complained AJ sarcastically.
“Well, it must not be too bad if you can be sarcastic about it,” Rarity said in a stern tone. “I understand that you aren't feeling to well right now, but that is no excuse for poor manners.” AJ groaned and flopped down onto the couch. “Now, why don’t you tell me what’s wrong.”
AJ took a deep breath and waited for the pain to subside a bit before speaking. “Well, aside from the stomach pain, and the crushing headache, I’m getting constant dizzy spells and I’ve been feeling too nauseous to even attempt to eat anything today.”
Rarity put a hoof to her chin. After a moment of thinking, a grim look slowly crept onto her face. “Umm quick question. About how long did you say that you've been without your magic?”
AJ looked around the room as he though. “Uhh, about a month…I think.”
“Oh dear.”
AJ eyed Rarity as suspiciously as he could at the moment. “What?”
“Well, have you been able to use magic since you horn has grown back?”
“Once…maybe twice.”
Rarity sighed. “Twilight was afraid this would happen.”
AJ tried to be as calm as he could. “Rarity…is there something you’re not…” AJ suddenly cried out in pain as his horn flared to life.
Rarity gasped and ran over to the couch; placing a hoof on AJ’s back. “Shh, it’s okay. It will be over soon.” Rarity watched as an orb of magic formed at the tip of AJ’s horn before erupting in a fountain of sparks. The smell of ozone filled the air.
After a few seconds, the fountain died down, and the glow left AJ’s horn. AJ’s body fell limp as he took heavy breaths. He looked up at Rarity with weary eyes. “W-w-wha…”
“Sh sh sh. Let’s just get you upstairs and into bed.” Helping him off the couch and letting him lean on her, Rarity led AJ through the house and up the stairs.
“R-urp-Rarity?”
“What is it dar…” A look of horror grew on Rarity’s face as she looked at AJ. “Please tell me you’re not…” AJ’s cheeks puffed out slightly. “No, no, no, no, NO!”
********************
Zecora hummed a happy tune in her head as she added the next ingredient to her caldron. After hearing that the hospital in Ponyville was running low on certain medicines, she figured it would be a good idea to try her hoof at making some remedies to help them until they could get more supplies. “I almost have everything for my brew. Just one more ingredient and I will be through.”
She went to her shelves to grab the last herb she would need when, “Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”
Zecora shook her head and sighed. “I will never solve the mystery, of why I can always hear the screams of Rarity.”
********************
“I-I’m sorry,” AJ weakly said as Rarity walked into his room. It had been an hour since AJ had hurled all over Rarity and he had been put to bed. She had been in the bathroom taking a shower ever since. In her state of shock, the word ‘unclean’ could be heard being shouted from the bathroom the entire time. Even as she walked into the room, she was twitching slightly.
“I-I-it’s alright. You…didn't mean to do it,” Rarity said; her left eye twitching the entire time. She took a few deep breaths to try to calm herself down before walking closer to the bed. “Now that that’s over, let us both agree to never speak of this again.”
AJ slowly nodded as he watched Rarity sit down. “What happened to me?”
Rarity twitched one more time before answering. “It’s magic poisoning. It is important for a unicorn to regulate the amount of magic in their bodies. Too little and you will feel tired and exhausted. Too much, and…well...” Rarity just motioned to AJ.
He pulled the covers over his head and moaned. “Will I ever get a break?”
“Now, now, no need to make a fuss. It’s a common sickness for unicorns that don’t use their magic daily, or in your case, lose their horn. Just give it a few days. Your body will expel the excess magic and you’ll be fine.”
“There has to be something you can do to speed it up. I’m sick of being sick,” whined AJ as his head began to throb again.
Rarity’s face flushed. “W-well, there is something I could do, but it’s kind of...private.”
“What is it?”
Rarity bit her lip. “Well, you remember that day you went to the spa with me and Fluttershy?” AJ took a few seconds to think before nodding his head. “Do you remember that…special massage you got? The one where they…” Rarity was too uncomfortable with the conversation to continue.
AJ ran through the events of that day through his head. He woke up with debilitating back pain. With Big Mac’s help he made it to Rarity’s house. They went to the spa. He had his back cracked. He got a massage ending in a… AJ’s eyes slowly got wide as his already flushed cheeks reddened even further as the realization hit him. “O-oh…my.” He glanced around the room in embarrassment for a few seconds. “I, uh…I think I’ll just try to sleep it off.”
“Yes!” Rarity said loudly; happy this conversation was ending. “Sleep is good.”
The room was filled with awkward silence as the two unicorns refused to look at each other. “U-unless you wanted to…you know,” AJ said; desperate for relief from the agony he was in.
Rarity’s face heated up in anger this time. “Excuse me?! Are you insinuating that a lady, such as myself, would go around giving…horn jobs to any old pony?! How DARE you think something so vile! I am no whore!”
“B-b-but I wasn't…”
With a huff, Rarity stormed out of the room. “Unless you desperately need something, don’t bother calling for me!” She slammed the door.
“But…but...I wasn't…” AJ whined. “Applejack’s going to kill me.”
********************
“Oh Rodriguez, if I wasn't already in a relationship with such an amazing mare, I would make you mine,” swooned Rarity as she watched her soap’s in the living room of the Apple family home. She was mesmerized by the Adonis on screen until she heard the door start to open.
The first thing she saw was Knight rush into the house; sobbing uncontrollably. The hair on his face had been matted down by tears, and his previously combed mane and tail were now a mess. Much of his coat was covered in dried mud. He dove onto the couch next to Rarity. “Oh, what’s wrong darling?”
“Th-th-they were…they were…were mean to m…to mehehehehehehe,” he managed to say between sobs. He buried his head in a pillow on the couch and cried.
Confused at what was going on, Rarity just put a comforting hoof on his shoulder. “Uhh…there, there?” She turned again when she heard Applejack and Apple Bloom walk through the door. She gave Applejack a look that said she didn't know what was going on.
“Apparently he was bullied at school t’day,” Applejack said with a sigh.
“Th-th-they made fun of me, and called me names, and, and I don’t want to go to school anymohohohohore!” wailed out Knight.
“Who did darling?” asked Rarity.
“Diamond Tiara an’ Silver Spoon. Who else?” Apple Bloom stated with an angry look on her face. “They harassed’im all day. They didn't stop until Scootaloo punched Tiara in th’ nose.”
********************
”Just look at him Silver Spoon. He’s old, like, as old as Miss Cheerilee,” Tiara said with a smug smile on her face. She knew from the instant she heard that Knight was here to be a student that he was going to be an easy target. After hearing that he didn't even have a cutie mark, she was going to have a field day with him.
It was recess now, and she and Silver Spoon had him cornered. “He must be even dumber than Snips and Snails if he’s still in grade school with us,” Silver Spoon said, building off of Tiara.
“And he doesn't even have a cutie mark. HAH! Looks like he’s going to be a loser blank flank forever.”
Knight slowly backed away from the two fillies in front of him as the verbal assault continued. Tears were flowing down his cheeks. He sniffled before speaking. “W-w-why are you being so mean to me?”
“You hear that Tiara? He wants to know why we’re doing this to him,” Spoon said with a giggle.
“Isn’t it obvious?” Tiara asked; her smug grin becoming even smugger. “It’s because you’re a big…stupid…loser…blank flank.” She emphasized each insult by taking big step closer to him every word.
Knight cringed and backed up even faster. Not paying attention to where he was going, he ended up tripping over a rock; landing in a puddle of mud left over from the rain the previous day. As he slowly got up, he heard the two fillies laughing. “Look, he’s covered in mud!” said Spoon.
“I guess we should add clumsy to the list,” Tiara said as she leered down at him. Knight stopped trying to get up and plopped back into the mud; burying his head in his hooves and crying. “Aww, is the baby crying?” Tiara began laughing again.
“Hey! Diamond Tiara!”
“Huh?” Tiara turned around just in time for an orange hoof to hit her square in the nose; sending her to the ground. She looked up in shock to see Scootaloo standing in front of her. Her posture told everypony that she was ready for more. Because of the pain in her snout, she slowly brought a hoof to her nose. When she pulled it away, she saw a bit of blood staining her hoof. Seeing the blood brought tears to her eyes.
“HAH! Look who’s crying now!” Scootaloo smugly said.
“SCOOTALOO!!!” came a voice from behind her.
Scootaloo’s posture changed completely. “Uh oh.” She turned around to see Cheerilee glaring at her.
“Scootaloo, why did you hit Diamond Tiara?” Cheerilee asked as she tapped her hoof.
“They were making fun of Knight. They made him cry. I was just sticking up for him,” Scootaloo said to try to defend herself.
“That is no reason for violence young lady!” She walked passed Scootaloo to check on Tiara who was trying and failing to hold back her tears. Silver Spoon was trying to comfort her. “Silver Spoon, could you help Diamond Tiara inside? Scootaloo and I have to have a little talk.”
“Of course Miss Cheerilee.” Silver Spoon obediently followed Cheerilee’s orders and helped Tiara into the school house.
Cheerilee turned to Scootaloo again. “As for you young lady, bully or not, it is not okay to hit another pony. I think two weeks of detention seems like enough punishment. You’re parents will also have to be informed.” She pointed to the school house; silently telling Scootaloo to get moving.
Scootaloo snorted before following Cheerilee’s orders. She turned her head as she passed Apple bloom and smiled. “Worth it.”
********************
“Ah’ve never seen Scootaloo so happy ta get detention before,” Apple Bloom said as she scratched the back of her head.
“While I agree that those little…fillies deserve some sort of punishment for the way they act, violence is never the answer,” Rarity said with a flick of her mane.
“She’s right. If Ah ever hear about ya punchin’ some filly in the face, ya won’t be able ta sit fer weeks,” Applejack said with a stern look.
“Ah know,” Apple Bloom said. She looked around the room. “Where’s AJ?”
“Yea. Ah expected’im ta be on th’ couch still,” said Applejack.
Rarity let out an angry, yet lady like, snort. “That vile mongrel is upstairs in his bed.”
‘Vile mongrel? Uh oh,’ thought Applejack. “What exactly happened while Ah was gone?”
“That pervert tried to get me to give him a horn job! Can you believe it?! A lady such as myself.”
Applejack facehoofed. She knew Rarity was probably just over reacting, but it probably wouldn't hurt to make sure he wasn't trying to make a move on her. “Ah’ll go have a talk with’im, but thanks fer watchin’ over’im while we were gone.”
Apple Bloom looked between Rarity and Applejack in confusion. “Applejack, what’s a horn job?”
“Ah’ll tell ya when yer older,” Applejack said with a blush.
“Well anyway, I’m always happy to help. Are we still on for tomorrow night?”
“Ya know it,” Applejack said with a bright smile.
Rarity smiled as she began walking for the door. “I’ll see you then. I really should be getting home. Sweetie’s coming tomorrow and I’ve barley put a dent in that war zone she calls a room.”
“I’ll see ya then sugarcube.” As Rarity passed, she gave Applejack a seductive smile; brushing her chin with her tail. Applejack shuddered at the feeling as she turned to watch Rarity leave. “Ah hate ta see’er go, but Ah love ta watch’er leave,” Applejack said in what she thought was a low enough voice that Apple Bloom wouldn’t be able to hear.
Apple Bloom just rolled her eyes before throwing her bags off. “Applejack, can Ah go ta th’ library now?”
Applejack turned to Apple Bloom and raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you have homework?”
“Yea, but we have all weekend ta do it,” protested Apple Bloom.
Applejack put a hoof up to her chin. “Hmm, Ah suppose yer right. Alright. ya can go, but tomorrow ya got ta finish yer homework before ya do anythin’ else.”
“Okay!” With a big smile, Apple Bloom ran out of the house.
With a sigh, Applejack turned to Knight who had just finished crying into the pillow. “Why don’t ya go get cleaned up. Ah’ll get dinner started in a bit.”
Knight wiped a tear out of his eye before sheepishly nodding. “O-okay.” He got up and walked up the stairs; leaving a muddy mark on the couch behind.
Applejack cursed to herself. That just meant one more thing for her to do today. Before going into the kitchen to start dinner, Applejack instead began heading upstairs. There was somepony she needed to talk to. She went to knock on the door when she heard pained grunts coming from the other side of the door. Opening the door, she saw AJ with a pained look on his face as a fountain of sparks erupted from his horn. It ended seconds later with him flopping back down on the bed. Applejack walked over to the panting pony. “Are you alright sugarcube?”
AJ cracked an eye open to look at Applejack. After a few seconds he turned away; the most shameful look he could muster at the moment on his face. ”...’m sorry Applejack. I didn't mean to offend her. I just…”
Applejack put a hoof to his lips to silence him. “It’s okay sugarcube. Why don’t ya just tell me what happened.
“Rarity said that if I got that special horn massage, I wouldn't be in as much pain.” A tear formed in his eye. “I just want some relief. I’m tired of this pain. I didn't mean to offend her Applejack, I swear.”
Applejack slowly nodded as AJ told his half of the story. Now that she understood both sides of the story, she was ready. “It’s okay. Ah’m not mad at you. Ah understand that ya ain't thinkin’ right at th’ moment, but you should know that Rarity can be a bit of a prude. Especially with somethin’ as…well…sexual as that. It ain't exactly something ya should go around askin’ ponies fer.” AJ weakly nodded. “Good, now that we got that out of th’ way, is there anythin’ Ah can get fer ya?”
“Something to drink would be nice. Also, a bucket.”
Applejack immediately understood why AJ wanted a bucket and chuckled. “Ah’ll be right back.”
********************
“Are you ready Caramel?” asked Twilight. She and Caramel were going on a date tonight. Caramel had suggested a simple dinner date followed by a movie. He wasn’t so sure about Twilight’s choice in movie, but she seemed really interested in that documentary about magic.
“As ready as I’ll ever be. Let’s go,” he said with a smile.
Twilight smiled before turning her head to look upstairs. “I’ll be back late tonight Spike! Don’t stay up too late!”
“I wont!” shouted Spike.
“There’s money for a pizza in the kitchen!” Before Twilight could reach the door, somepony knocked. “Oh, I wonder who that could be?” Opening the door, Twilight saw a smiling Apple Bloom standing there. “Oh hello Apple Bloom.”
“Heya Twilight. Is Spike home?”
“Sure, he’s right up stairs.” Twilight turned towards the stairs again. “Spike! Apple Bloom’s here for you!”
A crash could be heard from upstairs. Seconds later, Spike could be heard running down the steps. When he got to the door, he had a bright smile on his face. “Oh, hey Apple Bloom.”
A smile and a blush grew on Apple Bloom’s face. “Hi Spike.” Trotting past Twilight, her and Spike embraced in a hug.
While Caramel smiled at them, Twilight raised an eyebrow. While she knew their relationship hadn’t gotten past first base, after what Spike had let slip a few weeks back she had a feeling it wouldn’t’ be too long before they went to the next step. “Spiiike?”
Spike looked up at Twilight and groaned. “Yea, yea. I know Twilight. Jeeze, you act like I’m not responsible or something.”
Twilight just stared at him with a blank look before rolling her eyes. “Well, we should get going. Our reservation is for 5:30.”
“Hey Twilight, can Ah ask ya somethin’ before ya go?” asked Apple Bloom.
Twilight looked back and smiled. “Of course Apple Bloom. What did you want to ask me?”
“What’s a horn job?”
Everypony else in the room looked at Apple Bloom in shock. Even Spike couldn’t believe Apple Bloom had just asked a question like that. Twilight’s face was crimson as she and Caramel looked at each other. “Uhh…well…” She knew she had to get out of here. Applejack would kill her if she told Apple Bloom something like this. “Uhhhh oh look at the time! Come on Caramel!” Dragging Caramel along in her magical hold, the two of them were on their way.
Apple Bloom raised her eyebrow as she looked at Spike. “What? Is a horn job somethin’ really bad or somethin’?”
Spike fumbled his claws around. “Well. A horn job is when…” He looked around to make sure nopony was listening in. “Come on. I know where Twilight keeps the books that can tell you.”
********************
“How’s is he?” asked Ditzy as Applejack let her through the door.
“Better than he was a couple days ago. He can keep food down now. Says he can’t wait ta get back ta work.” It had been a couple days since AJ contracted magic poisoning. Since then, the magic being forced from his body had gotten less violent as the excess magic left his body. “Go on up. Ah’m sure he’d love ta see ya right about now.”
With a smile, Ditzy trotted up the stairs. When she got to AJ’s bedroom, she knocked. “Come in!” When Ditzy opened the door, she saw AJ sitting up in bed reading a book. When he looked up a smile grew on his face. He hadn’t seen Ditzy in a week. She had been busy, and he’s been too sick to go see her. “Ditzy, you don’t know how happy I am to see you.”
Ditzy giggled. “I would have brought Dinky with me, but she’s going to be at mom and dad’s for a few days. She’s missed you quite a bit you know.”
“Well, sorry for getting sick,” AJ jokingly said.
Ditzy giggled. “At least you’re getting better. How about your ribs? Have they been giving you any trouble?”
AJ shook his head. “No actually. Which is good, cause I’m out of painkillers.”
Ditzy looked surprised. “How are you out of them already? Didn’t the doctor give you more than enough to last at least another couple days?”
AJ scratched the back of his head. “Well…there was a bit of a, uhh…mishap with Knight and the pills. Let’s just say if you take more than one a day, you won’t be getting up. Apparently Apple Bloom used me as a trampoline before she went to school that day. I just have to take their word for it.”
“Why can I see her doing that?”
“Cause she’s a…” AJ stopped and groaned in pain. A small ball of energy formed at the tip of his horn, spraying out a small fountain of sparks for a second before dying down.
“Are you okay?” Ditzy asked with a worried look.
“Y-yea.” AJ rubbed his head. “Couldn’t say the same thing a day or two ago. That would have floored me. Twilight said I should be better tomorrow. I hope she’s right. I have things I need to do yet.”
“Like what?” asked Ditzy.
“Well, Halloween is coming up and I still need to prepare.”
Ditzy looked at AJ with a confused look on her face. “What’s a Halloween?”
AJ looked at Ditzy with a shocked look. “You know. Dressing up in costumes. Going out getting candy. Having fun.”
Ditzy’s eyes got wide. “Oooooooh! You mean Nightmare Night! Me and Dinky already have our costumes.”
“Well whatever you call it, I need to get started on it. You know any good metal workers in Ponyville?”
“Ummmm.” Ditzy put a hoof to her chin as she thought. “Caramel’s pretty good I think. He’s fixed my horseshoes before. Did a really good job too. Why?”
“Oh, you’ll see.”
“Mmhm. So, what’s that you’re reading anyway?” asked Ditzy.
“Oh, this?” AJ lifted the book up he was reading. “It’s book 2 in ‘The Solaris Chronicles.’ Twilight got me hooked when she let me borrow book 1 back when I first got sick. I’m almost at the end. I got one more chapter to go. One book left after this one. Can’t forget to let Knight read it before I return it to the library though.”
“Knight can read?”
“Kid read through the first book in under a day. I think he liked it more than I did.”
Ditzy just gawked at AJ. “He’s struggling in grade school, but yet he can read at a college level?” AJ just shrugged. “I don’t even.”
“You wouldn’t believe how hard it was to even get him to continue going to school after he got bullied on his first day.”
“He got bullied? What happened?”
“Well, I’ll try to explain it as best as I can.”
********************
“So, you think you’ll be able to do it?” As soon as he started feeling good enough to get around, AJ began preparation on his Nightmare Night costume. Going off of what Ditzy said, AJ went to Caramel.
Caramel looked over the plans AJ laid out in front of him. “I-I-I don’t know. I’ve only ever worked on horseshoes and farm tools. I’ve never worked on anything like this.”
“Hey, you never know if you’ll be able to do it if you don’t try. Besides…” Using his magic, AJ lifted up and inspected some of Caramel’s metal working tools. “I’d help you in any way that I could. I’m sure having a unicorn help you with this would make it easier.”
Caramel put a hoof to his chin and thought for awhile. He looked around at all of his tools, and equipment. “Well…I guess I could try. I would need you to…”
“U-umm…”
AJ and Caramel turned to see Knight standing at the door. “Oh, hey Knight. What’s up?”
Knight shifted around uncomfortably. Without saying a word, he opened the flap to one of his bags, pulling out book 2 of ‘The Solaris Chronicles.’ “I-I’m finished reading it.”
“Didn’t he just start reading it last night?” asked Caramel.
AJ nodded. “Yea, but he was up all night reading it. I don’t even know if he got any sleep.” AJ remembered back to the previous night. He was woken up multiple times as Knight reacted to things that were happening in the book. “Alright, thanks Knight. I’ll take this to Twilight once I’m done here.”
Knight nodded. “Okay.” Smiling, AJ turned back to Caramel so the two of them could talk some more. “U-umm…”
AJ turned back again. “Oh, did you want something else?”
“Umm, c-could I go with you on N-nightmare Night?”
AJ was surprised. After explaining to Knight what Nightmare Night was, he was terrified. Even after explaining to him that all the monsters were just ponies in costumes, Knight seemed content with just hiding under his bed. “Sure. Of course you can, but what made you change your mind?”
“I-I want to…dress up.”
AJ began to smile again. “Well alright. Glad your getting into the spirit of things. Alright then. you can come with me when I go to Twilight’s. We’ll pick some stuff up for your costume.”
Knight began to smile. “Okay.”
********************
“Nightmare Night! What a fright! Give us something sweet to bite!” called out all the foals as Twilight opened the door. Twilight smiled as she levitated candy into the bags of the children before they could run off.
“This is always such a fun holiday, isn’t it Spike?” She turned around to see Spike putting on the finishing touches to his costume. A pair of torn, purple pants.
“You bet Twilight! Alright so tell me, is my costume awesome, or is it super awesome?”
Twilight giggled as she brought a hoof up to her mouth. Spike had used green paint to paint all of his scales green, and purple paint to paint his head fins purple. “Well, I’d imagine that’s what The Hulk would look like. If he was a baby dragon that is.”
Spike began to pout. “Yea, well at least mine’s homemade. I didn’t go to the store to buy mine.”
“I’m just joking Spike. Besides, do you really think I would have been able to make an Iron Mare costume with what we have in the library?”
Spike folded his arms. “I guess not.”
Another Knock came at the door. “Oh, more trick-or-treaters. Twilight opened the door with a smile; candy bowl floating next to her. The smile on her face grew when she saw who it was. “Oh, hello Ditzy.” Twilight blinked a couple times as she got a better look at Ditzy. “Are you a basket of muffins?”
Ditzy nodded her head with a smile. “AJ gave me the idea. I’m pretty sure it was just a joke, but I can’t wait to see his face when he sees me.”
Twilight giggled. A costume like that definitely fit Ditzy. Everypony in Ponyville knew of Ditzy’s love of muffins, so seeing her dressed as an oversized basket of giant muffins wasn’t much of a surprise. Twilight looked around. “Is Dinky with Sparkler right now? I don’t see her anywhere.”
A grin grew on Ditzy’s face. “You can’t find Dinky? Oh, she was just here a minute ago. Where oh where is my little muffin?”
As if on cue, one of the muffins from Ditzy’s costume began to move. Twilight looked at it in confusion. Suddenly, the muffin leapt from Ditzy’s back and straight at Twilight. “RAAAAWR!!!”
“AAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!” cried Twilight as the muffin tackled her to the ground. As soon as she got her bearing again, she looked down to see a pale purple face, framed by muffin, looking at her with a big smile. “D-dinky?!”
“Did I scare you?!” Dinky asked with excitement.
“N-no. I wasn’t scared,” Twilight said in an unconvincing voice.
“You were totally scared,” Spike said as he laughed at Twilight.
Twilight turned to angrily glare at Spike. Dinky, a triumphant smile on her face, bounced off of Twilight. With a giggle, Ditzy bent down so Dinky could climb back into the basket. Twilight grumbled to herself as she got back up. Brushing the dust off her costume, she looked back at Ditzy. “So, what brings you to the library?”
“AJ told us to meet him here.” Ditzy put a hoof to her chin. “I wonder what his costume is. He’s been awfully secretive about it.”
Twilight giggled. “Well, he and Knight are still upstairs getting dressed. If you’d like, you can come in and…”
Suddenly the library went dark. Confused by what was going on, Twilight turned to look inside.
Ditzy looked over Twilight’s shoulder. She had no idea what was going on.
“I am the blade that cuts through the darkness,” came a gruff voice from the darkness. “I am the head of the spear that drives into the hearts of evil. I have single-hoofedly slain a hydra that threatened my lord’s ponies. Together with my squire, we complete the tasks given to us by Lord Solaris. My goal…to drive all evil from this land, and to protect my lord at any cost! I am…” Suddenly the room became engulfed in flames. In the center of the flames stood a red pegasus pony. His crimson armor was reflecting the flames. A slightly brighter trim highlighted the edges of the individual plates; highlighting the joints and making him look more like a moving battlefield than a pony. An elegant cape hung off of the armor; blowing in a false wind. Many jointed plates covered his wings. He wore heavy looking, armored boots on all four hooves. Red eyes could be seen through the holes in the helmet’s visor. A 26 inch broadsword hung from his side. He had a yellow goatee and an orange and yellow, flame-like tail. The parts of his body that could be seen were covered in scars. With a grin, he took a proud stance. “Firebrand the Crusader!”
Ditzy and Dinky looked on in amazement. The sight in front of them blew them away. “Whoooooooa,” said Dinky.
While Ditzy and Dinky were amazed at the sight in front of them, Twilight looked on in horror. “Did you just set fire to my library?!”
Firebrand laughed as the flames died down. “Oh just calm down Twilight. It was just magic. Nothing was burned.” He looked around the room. Everything around him was lightly singed. “Much.”
Ditzy blinked a few times. She knew that voice. “AJ?!” The pony smiled brightly at her. “How in the…”
“Magic,” AJ said with a big smile. “Well, and a bit of hair dye. Caramel made the armor and the sword. Rarity made the cape and helped with the dye. Everything else was thanks to Twilight.” He looked at his wings and flapped them a bit. “I’d say she did a damn good job.”
“But…but…you have wings now, and no horn. How…”
“As I said...magic. Twilight just hid my horn and gave me a pair of wings. These babies are only for show though. Trust me, I tried.” He rubbed his muzzle. “And the eyes…” An icy blue aura surrounded the helmet’s visor and lifted it. A red contact lens floated away from his eye; revealing the blue beneath it.
“You better not have ruined anything in here,” Twilight said as she looked around the room.
AJ facehoofed. “I told you everything’s fine. There’s nothing to worry about.”
“Alright Twilight, I’m ready to go get some free candy,” Spike said with a grin as he came out of the kitchen.
“Yaaay! Candy!” squealed Dinky as she jumped up and down on her mom’s back.
“Now hold on there,” AJ said as he put the contact back in. “Knight’s still getting dressed. We have to wait for…” The sound of hooves could be heard slowly coming down the stairs. “Ah, here he comes.”
Everypony went silent as Knight finished descending the stairs. The first thing of note was that, like AJ’s, his coat had been dyed. His coat had been dyed a rose red color. His mane and tail had both been cleaned, combed down, and dyed silver. His mane hung over his shoulder being held together by a light bluish silver bow. With the help of Twilight’s magic, he was missing his wings, but now had a horn. He wore an elegant light bluish silver blouse with short sleeves ending in flared frills, and crimson buttons. Covering his flank was a skirt of the same color. The hem of the skirt was crimson in color. On his hooves were crystal dress shoes. Around his neck was a silver helix necklace with a ruby on it. Like AJ, he too had colored contacts in. Only his were pink in color. A quiver full of fake arrows hung at his side while a bow sat slung around his leg. Knight stood there looking at everypony with a shy smile and a blush on his face. Knight was already pretty scrawny and feminine. Now, the only thing differentiating him from a mare at first glance was his angular muzzle.
“Wow, the end product turned out a lot better than I had expected,” AJ said with a smile.
“D-do you like it?” Knight asked in a timid voice.
As AJ nodded, Ditzy couldn’t help but wonder something. “Uhhh, why is he dressed like a mare?”
The smile fell from Knight’s face. “I-is there something wrong with my costume?”
AJ quickly shook his head. “No, nothing’s wrong with your costume! It looks great!” AJ grabbed Ditzy with his magic. “Ditzy and I have to go over here and…talk.” With a sheepish smile AJ took Ditzy around the corner. Still holding her in the air, AJ looked at her. “What are you doing?!”
“What? I just asked why he was dressed as a mare,” Ditzy said. “And can you put me back on the ground please?”
AJ groaned; finally placing her back on ground level. “Look, it took enough courage for him to even join us tonight. I don’t want him to change his mind because he no longer likes his costume.”
“Okay, fine. I won’t question his cross-dressing ways, but can you at least explain to me why he’s dressed like that?”
AJ sighed and nodded. “You remember when I said he was reading The Solaris Chronicles after I was done with the books?” Ditzy nodded. “Well, he’s also dressed as one of the characters. Silver Rose, Firebrand’s squire.”
“And this Silver Rose character is a…”
“Teenage filly, yes. Silver Rose is his favorite character. She’s everything he wants to be. Kind hearted, gentle, strong willed. She refuses to let anypony tell her what she can and can’t do. He wishes he was more like her. If he was, maybe his life wouldn’t have been so hard. When he told me who he wanted to dress as…well…I questioned him on it. Turns out he doesn’t know that things like skirts are meant for fillies and mares.”
“I think he looks really pretty!” squeaked Dinky.
“Yes he does. Look, I know how he’s dressed is a bit…strange, but this is his first Nightmare Night. I just want him to have fun and enjoy himself.”
Ditzy blinked a few times before smiling. “Okay, I understand.”
“I hope you two are almost done back here. Spike and Knight left you guys behind.”
AJ and Ditzy turned to look at Twilight. Looking past her they could see Spike leading Knight down the street. Dinky gasped. “Come on mommy! If we don’t hurry they’ll get all the candy!” Dinky leapt off her mother’s back, her candy bag in her mouth, and took off after Spike and Knight.
AJ looked to Ditzy and snickered. “I guess we should go too. Don’t want them getting into too much trouble without us.”
********************
“Where th’ hay is Rainbow? She was supposed ta meet us here half an hour ago,” grumbled Applejack.
“She’s probably off harassing other ponies like she does every year,” said Rarity. “When will that pony ever grow u-AAAAAAHHHHH!!!” A bold of lightning suddenly struck the ground directly in front of Rarity and Applejack.
As the two of them clung to each other for protection, they heard laughter coming from above them. “Do storm clouds usually have rainbow tails?” asked Applejack.
A look of anger quickly grew on Rarity’s face. “Rainbow Dash! Get down here this instant!”
Still cackling at her prank, Rainbow flew down and landed in front of the two mares. “Oh man, that was great! You two should have seen the looks on your faces!”
“Ah swear, one of these day’s Ah’m goin’ ta get ya back mahself,” growled Applejack.
“Oh lighten up you two. I’m just getting into character. I am Thor after all,” Rainbow said as she grabbed the fake hammer at her side.
“Thor or not, somepony could have been hurt,” scolded Rarity.
“Oh come on, I’m not that stupid. I know to be careful when using lightning.” A grin grew on Rainbow’s face. “And besides. Thor could totally beat Captain Equestria and Black Widow in a two on one fight.”
Applejack and Rarity, who were dressed as Captain Equestria and Black Widow respectively, glared at Rainbow. “Oh yea, well Ah think mah shield has somethin’ ta say ‘bout that.”
“Bring it on!”
“Wow, you two are really getting into character.”
Applejack and Rainbow turned and saw Twilight and Ditzy walking towards them. “Well alright, we got our Iron Mare now,” Applejack said with a smile. “Wait, Ah thought AJ would have been with ya.”
“He’s just taking the kids to a few more houses. He’ll be here soon,” Ditzy said with a smile.
Rainbow Smiled. “Alright, now all we need it Pinkie and Fluttershy and everything will come together.” Rainbow reached into her costume and pulled out a piece of candy. Unwrapping it, she began lifting it to her mouth. Suddenly, a tongue shot out from nowhere and wrapped around the piece of butterscotch. “W-what?!”
Everypony followed the tongue as it retracted. They followed it until it reached a very familiar face. Pinkie crunched down on the butterscotch with a big smile on her face. “Mmmmmm! This is good!”
Everypony stared at Pinkie as she chewed on the candy. Her body was covered in a tight, green costume with a wide head, and big, googly eyes on top. Pinkie was dressed as a frog. Dash began to fume. “Pinkie, what the hay?! You were supposed to dress as Hawkeye! And that was my butterscotch!”
“Well, I was going to dress as Hawkeye, but then I thought, hey, frogs are funny! They have really long tongues and can eat things from a super duper long ways away! So now I’m a frog!”
Rainbow groaned. “Now our costumes won’t match. We were supposed to be The Avengers, not The Frogvengers.”
“So, you having fun tonight?” Everypony turned to see AJ walking down the path towards them. Dinky was sitting on his back with her bag of candy behind her. Spike was to his right with a big pile of candy in his arms.
“Mmhm!” answered Knight; a bright smile on his face. He was carrying his bag of candy in his mouth. “Mnhf fmfnh fm fhfm fnmh.”
AJ chuckled as he turned to the ponies in front of them. “Hey, looks like most of us are here.” His eyes fell on Pinkie. “Are you a frog?”
Pinkie just smiled and nodded enthusiastically.
Rainbow, who just moments before was busy grumbling to herself because of Pinkie, was now eyeing up Knight. In an instant her frustrations had vanished and were replaced with laughter. Knight just cocked his head in confusion. “Is…is he wearing a…and a…” Tears began to form in her eyes as she tried to hold her laughter back.
Suddenly a clod of mud struck Rainbow in the head. As the mud slowly slid down her body, she looked over to where the mud came from. AJ was trying to look as innocent as possible. “What the hell?! Why did you just throw mud at me?!”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. Must have been some passing pranksters. Darn those pranksters! DARN THEM!!!”
Rainbow didn’t buy it one bit. “If you didn’t have Dinky on your back right now…”
“A-are we interrupting something? I’m sorry.”
Looking to where the timid voice came from, everypony saw Fluttershy, and an unamused Big Mac walking up to them. Going along with the Avengers theme, Fluttershy was dressed as Nick Flurry. Even with his relationship with Fluttershy, AJ had to admit that she looked pretty cute with that eye patch.
But that’s not what caught his attention. It was the big red stallion behind her that had his attention. “Oh my god no way!” AJ couldn’t help but laugh as he watched Big Mac walk up to the group dressed in a French maid uniform. Almost immediately, AJ lost it. He fell to the ground and laughed.
Big Mac let out an angry snort before deciding the best idea would be to just ignore him.
Everypony else just stared at him in confusion. “If I may ask, why are you dressed as such?” asked Rarity.
“Ah lost a bet.” The venom could be heard in his voice.
********************
”Alright. If I win, I get to chose your Nightmare Night costume. If you win, I do your chores for a week. Deal?” AJ asked as he propped his leg up on the box.
Big Mac chuckled. “Are ya sure ‘bout this?”
“Oh yea, I’m sure I can beat you.”
“Alright.” Big Mac propped his leg up and interlocked it with AJ’s. “Ah feel Ah should warn ya. Ah ain’t ever lost a hoof wrassle.”
“Well, prepare to lose big guy. On the count of three. One…two…THREE!!!” On three, AJ began pushing against Big Mac’s hoof. To say it was a futile effort was an understatement.
With a chuckle, Big Mac slowly began to put on the pressure.
AJ watched as his hoof slowly moved towards the table. ‘Shit! Why did I agree to do this?! I can’t beat this goliath at something like this! And if I can’t beat him fairly…’ AJ lifted his free hoof and pointed behind Big Mac. “Sweet Celestia Apple Bloom! Are you pregnant?!”
“WHAT?!?!?!” Big Mac’s face turned pale as the strength left his leg. He whipped his head around to see that nopony was there. That’s when he heard a thud. He turned back to see his hoof touching the table, and AJ with a big grin on his face.
“I guess I win big guy.”
“Hey, that wasn’t fair!”
AJ stood up and began trotting out of the room. “Street rules. Oh, I am going to have fun with this.”
********************
Big Mac continued to grumble to himself. AJ was just recovering. He knew Big Mac would get revenge on him at some point, but it would all be worth it. “If yer done laughin’ at me, Ah’d like ta get this night over with.”
"I didn't think you'd actually do it," AJ said as he wiped a tear from his eye. “Oh, I wish I had a camera right about…”
AJ was interrupted as three blurs blew past him; sending him spinning. He fell to the ground in a heap; his eyes were spinning. “Whaa?”
“Blossom!”
“Bubbles!”
“Don’t forget Buttercup!”
“We are, the Powerpuff Fillies!” called out the CMC. Apple Bloom was dressed in pink, Sweetie was dressed in blue, and Scootaloo was dressed in green.
“The Powerpuff fill…” AJ chuckled to himself. “You know, I thought I was done being surprised by this world.”
Apple Bloom ran up to AJ. “Come on! We have some idea’s on how ta get our cutie marks tonight!”
“Yea! We’re going to build a haunted house that’s going to scare everypony!” added Sweetie Belle.
“I can’t believe we never tried something like this. If we succeed, you two will finally get your cutie marks!” Scootaloo said in excitement.
“Tonight? Don’t you three just want to have fun tonight?”
“We can have fun any old day,” Scootaloo said. “Tonight’s the perfect night for crusading!”
“Yea, so come on!” Apple Bloom got behind AJ and began pushing him.
AJ chuckled again before turning to the rest of the group. “Well, looks like my crusading duties are calling. I’ll see you guys later.” With that, AJ followed the three fillies to wherever they would drag him.
****************************************
((It’s finally finished :D
For those of you who didn’t see the blog post, here’s AJ’s costume
And Knight’s
I’d like to thank Shadow Breeze for giving me the idea for Ditzy, and Dinky’s costumes, and Cheese Bread Eddy for the Avenger’s idea.
Hydkore wanted me to throw this in. It’s a little something he thought up.
I’m the A to the J, and that's about it. And guess who’s got the mare with derpy eyes? I'm AJlicious
My little pony © Hasbro
Friendship is magic © Lauren Faust))