//------------------------------//
// Chapter 5 
// Story: Dusk Star 
// by Axelsims 
//------------------------------//

Day 4

Nothing spectacular until later into the day. Morning was pretty dull 

Rarity was busy working on clothes and since I was around I got to watch Sweetie Belle. Her friends or “fellow Crusaders” as she calls them were busy with their own thing today so I got to play board games with the little unicorn. It got old rather quickly.

I was excited when Rarity walked into the room and announced that I was to help her and AJ clean up the meadow or something like that. I asked Rarity as we were leaving if she could tell me more details and she shrugged and said that she honestly had no idea herself.

The meadow was actually what seemed to be the local park. According to Applejack there was an upcoming storm scheduled (noticing I looked confused she informed me that the weather was controlled by Pegasi, honestly this only made my confusion worse) Apparently we needed to trim the trees to ensure that any loose branches didn’t find their way into someone’s house. It would have been simple as I had done similar tasks but I lacked the right equipment. Rarity had her magic and AJ somehow had the ability to kick trees hard enough to make them cooperate.  I didn’t have either of these abilities and had to climb and pick off each loose branch individually which while it was precise took way too long.

To make matters worse Rarity had the wrong idea of cleaning up the trees as she was using her magic to carve out the leaves on the trees into figures. Kind of like what rich people did with shrubbery back at home. It was pretty but hardly practical and Applejack was scolding her for it. Rarity I found didn’t much care for scolding and lashed back. This continued the entire time and not much work was actually done. Applejack could do in 5 seconds in what would take me at least 4 minutes however I ended up doing most of the work before it started to storm. This heated up the argument which I had effectively tuned out by this point. 

I had experience with that… tuning out people, in fact it was getting to the point where I was trying to listen to people more then I was trying to tune people out.  I didn’t want to tune either of the ladies out but in order to avoid getting dragged in I ended up having to resort to it. I was hesitant because I have trouble not tuning people out once I had already done so for that particular individual. 
It was kind of like an immunity system if you could understand that. Once you declared something bad your body starts building resistance to it. Even if it is a positive effect if it has been deemed badly before, even if it was something similar but different it’s hard to if not impossible to let anything through. That’s why I was hesitant but I figured I would eventually be able to break down the barrier. After all it’s not completely like an actual immunity system; I had some control over it.


The pair noticed the storm first; I was in a tree during that moment and didn’t even notice until I felt the rain on my hands. 
Then I took notice of my surroundings and found Rarity and AJ arguing even more below me. Rarity was talking about how they should retire while AJ said the job had to be done. 

I realized that I was at that moment on higher ground and therefore could be potentially shocked if a lightning bolt decided to hit me. However the chances of that were low as there were plenty of trees around that varied in size. Even If I did get hit I figured that since they had mastered telekinesis and who knows what else they could certainly save lives. 
After assuring myself of this I went on with clearing up the branches on the tree I was on and actually managed to clear another tree before I heard another voice. It was Twilight’s voice calling AJ and Rarity over so they could get out of the storm. They ran off towards her as I lowered myself from the tree. Before rarity got to the door however she noticed I wasn’t beside them. She turned around and went looking for me, which was good as I had gotten my jeans caught in the branches and somehow ended up hanging upside down from the tree. Had she not came back I would have probably been stuck there for hours so I promptly thanked her for remembering. I noticed her mane was absolutely soaked as she used her magic to levitate me to the ground. It looked more natural then it’s usual curved and heavily tempered with style. In all honesty it looked much better, A sort of natural beauty to it.

After landing me on my feet and lightly mocking me for making a fool of myself we returned back to Twilight’s house. She was happy to see that I was alive and well as she asked us exactly why we were outside in the storm. This caused AJ to start about how they were clearing branches and how Rarity was goofing off the entire time (she failed to mention the fact that I did most of the work as she took most of her time scolding.) Rarity reacted in protest as expected. Twilight however didn’t seem to even notice as she was too excited to pay attention to the quarrel. Rarity and AJ noticed this and asked her exactly why she was so hyped up. Twilight told them that this was a perfect situation since her assistant Spike was gone so they could have a sleepover. Which would be a first ever for the purple mare. In her excitement she also failed to notice the extreme disapproval that radiated from her friends. 

Deciding to avoid troubling the group I slipped away silently and started looking at the books scattered around the room and shelves. Keeping away from the middle and more commonly used parts of the room I was able to avoid interacting with the group. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to get involved it just seemed best to not interrupt and let the Twilight have her fun. Hopefully Rarity and AJ would settle their quarrel. To my relief none of them actually seemed to even acknowledge my existence throughout most of the night.
The room was full of books, covering a large selection of possible topics. Some of them were on familiar topics but others felt like they belonged to another world, which they did. After choosing a selection of topics that caught my eye I found a comfortable place to read and would also be able to sneak a quick peak at the trio in case something horrible happened.. I’m not entirely sure how ponies would fight especially ones with magic. 

When I heard smashing and yelling I looked at the bunch to see them launching pillows at each other. I also noticed Twilight looking at the scene herself with sorrow in her eyes. She mentioned earlier about how it was her first ever sleepover ever and it was obvious that her expectations for the night were high and also going unfulfilled. However she put on a fake smile and tried to continue the events. If Rarity or AJ were not so focused on ending the life of the other they would have easily been able to notice the disappointment in her face, she wasn’t doing a good job at hiding it.

Unfortunately they didn’t notice until much later into the night. I had fallen asleep actually and awoke in an awkward position and a major cramp from lying in that position. I was awakened by Twilight of all people yelling at the others for not being able to set aside their differences for 5 seconds so they could have a good time. This was followed by a lightning bolt which sounded like it landed close to the house. 

My assumptions were correct as the trio dashed to one of the nearby windows to check what happened. This was followed by gasps and then arguments about whose fault it was that a nearby tree was about to fall over and most likely damage someone’s house. AJ decided to fix the problem by pulling a rope out of seemingly nowhere and lassoing the tree pulling it towards Twilight’s house. This of course ended badly and the tree ended up going inside the house. I was awake and moving by this point and decided that the best method to help would be to go outside and try and help remove the object.
It was still pouring heavily outside. The rain fell like a chorus of angels crying in union over a tragedy of some sorts. I was drenched the moment I stepped outside but took no notice of it. Looking up while trying to keep the rain out of my eyes I saw the tree and how half of it was lodged in the house. I walked under it to get the rain to at least partially out of my eyes so I could see clearly. While examining and debating on going inside to get a rope the tree started glowing and disappeared soon after. Figuring they just warped the tree somewhere else. I was about to head back inside when I was knocked across the head and fell to the ground unconscious.

I found out later that Applejack and Rarity had been able to turn the tree into tiny shrubbery decorations leaving only a heavy branch behind. Applejack after refraining from kicking it out the window picked it up and softly dropped it out the window. This of course didn’t soften the blow and she also failed to notice as I laid there trapped under my wooden prison.
I awoke after what was probably an hour. Thankfully the rain had stopped by this point, but I was pretty sure I was bleeding from the accident and also found myself too weak to lift the branch off myself. I was in immense pain from the object and was not very happy to say the least as I started cursing at Rarity, Applejack, the tree, the world in general, even myself for just going for a walk that fateful day.

After what felt like hours laying there soaked in rain that wouldn’t dry off, I felt the branch suddenly give way as it was slowly lifted away from my fragile corpse. I tried to lift myself from the ground, failing even that simple task I rolled over in pain to see a dark blue Alicorn, she wore a black crown and it seemed her horn bore a similar color. Her hair blended into the night and was covered in stars. 

“ARE YOU WELL SUBJECT?”

She announced as if she was addressing a crowd instead of just me. I felt like my ears were about to be ripped off and I to this moment still do not know how nobody else heard her. I tried to reply but ended up breaking into a coughing fit from choking on fluids. I examined my hand afterwards and found it spotted with blood; obviously I was in much worse shape than 
I originally thought at the time. I heard the Alicorn break from her earlier “Royal” mindset when she noticed exactly how bad off I apparently was. Wasting no time she lifted me onto her back and flew off into the night. I think she tried to talk to me during the trip, perhaps to keep me awake. I wasn’t sure why that was necessary, it wasn’t like I was in control or anything, I was lying there helpless like an infant.

It turned out that Ponyville had a hospital as I was taken there immediately. While the doctors there had never treated a human before it didn’t take much examination to figure out what was exactly wrong with me. I had a oozing wound on my forehead, my right leg was broken, and I was pretty sure I broke a few ribs. Of course I had no actual idea on the condition of my ribs as they weren’t sticking out or anything. It sure as hell felt like they were broken however. I grasp onto fragments of memory that I assume were the procedures done on me when I first arrived. It was obvious that they had removed my clothes in order to fully examine me. Thankfully while they were short on me the hospital gowns there were similar and wearable. I remember being asked questions and they were replied with slurred answers. I remember looking around with blurred vision asking where I was and seeing the collection of doctors and other individuals looking at me in horror as they wondered my fate, turned to see my “savior of the night” who for some reason had everyone else standing on the other side of the room.
I remember in my haze reaching out for her, perhaps because she was the most familiar face in the room even though I hadn’t even truly known her for longer than what I had hoped a few minutes. She smiled at my actions lowering her head to meet my hand. Her hair was soft like silk and tingled with energy. Whether it was intended or not the sudden comfort brought me back to my unconscious state as I passed out for the night.