//------------------------------// // Repetitive Dreams and Emotions // Story: Sweet Pink Sunset // by Annon56 //------------------------------// "-ook to the clo-... descenda-... the pages... -cret of the bo-... -oth are one," Strident voices echoed from every direction, faintly fading in and out, "wake yourself." The last command caused Forest to wake up, sending him away from the dream world. He sat up quickly as his heart raced for it was not the first time he had heard those voices in his dreams; the voices themselves sounded quite creepy to him and the fact that he would wake up on their whim boggled his mind. What exactly are they trying to tell him? whoever they are... He looked to the alarm clock which read six fifty-nine am, exactly one minute before it should have rung to wake him up. He took the alarm clock and re-set it to ring at eight-thrity, the time at which Pinkie Pie asked him to set it to for her. As he placed the alarm clock back on the dresser he glanced over at Pinkie Pie, the cover was off her body, her back turned to him and her legs curled in. 'She looks cold...' he thought as he placed his hoof on her mane gently brushing it across the side of her body and rested it on her flank, he then bent over to kiss her right above her ear as he warmed the bed cover with a bit of magic and placed it on her. After using the lavatory and brushing his teeth, he silently made his way to a long cupboard parallel to the dresser. He opened it up quickly and swiftly to avoid causing creeks or any noises that would wake Pinkie Pie and Gummy from their slumber. He observed the two outfits being held within the cupboard, a metal silver plated armour set with a short sleeved blue full body polyester undergarment that had a rounded neck piece, with four bracer's on a shelf directly on top of it, his defender outfit. The other, a fine dark grey jacket with pants to match that had a dark blue under shirt with belt openings across it to place a single strapped dark brown backpack that would act as a belt to the jacket, keeping it from waving around to much. It came with a dark blue scarf, complementing the under shirt. The suit he wore back in his days of adventuring Equestria. 'I'll be moving around allot today, so I guess I'll take my adventure suit', He thought as he reached in for it. 'Haven't worn this in a while...' He slipped into the pants, still fitting him perfectly, he then stood on his hind legs and put on the under shirt, tucking it into the pants before sealing the zipper and doing the belt. He then put on his jacket and wrapped the backpack around it, re-doing the buckle at the end of the strap. At last, he wrapped the scarf around his neck and got back down on all fours. He made his way downstairs into the kitchen and took out a can of pet food, he poured the contents of the can into a little round purple bowl that had Gummy's name on it. He threw the can into a waste basket as he made his way out of the kitchen, Forest stopped next to the front door and turned his head to the right where a bookshelf was standing. He walked up to it and levitated out a book from on top of the bookshelf; he observed the greyish blue book, it's sides crested with silver even along the spine, it's design from the looks of it was indeed quite old, something pre-dating many generations, the front of the book read: 'The Thundertred Bloodline Book of Spells'. Forest did not know what felt worse when he reminded himself of when he indirectly lied to Celestia, the fact that she knew he was lying, or the possibility that he may be seen as a threat for having it with him, all he knew is that he didn't want the last remnant he possessed of his family to end up in Celestia's personal library if that ever be the case. 'It's about time I master all the spells in this book, whoever that stallion is, he won't get his hoofs on it.' He concluded as he undid the zipper of the backpack and placed the book inside before resealing it. As Forest left the house and trotted away to the location of the training field, he mused of the fact that this very book he had with him was hoof written by Electro himself. He thought that there must be more to the book than just spells, if the first book was never really seen then where could it possibly be? where does he have to go and what must he look for? x "Goodness, your highness! It is rather sudden for you to ask me this... I've never worked on this type of project before," Rarity said to Princess Luna as she folded up paper of what seemed to be battle suit designs. "I do not expect thee to gather thy material, that task is for the guards, I only ask of you to make the suits compatible with proper movement." Luna replied. "Rarity, Doctor Whooves will be creating more blue prints for battle suits but your help is required to make the wear comfortable and easy to move in. That is all." Arrow affirmed to Rarity trying to ease the tension. "Oh, I see... well if that is the case then there shall be no problems, as long as I have a helping hoof then things will be done quite nicely." Rarity replied in relief. "Good. Blacksmiths will be called in today to prepare thy material." Luna added. "What! Here in the Carousel Boutique! Oh no, no, no, princess that just wont do, the heavy material is going to ruin the carpets and they'll smudge my curtains with filth, I have to many delicate material in here-" Rarity was then interrupted by Arrow. "It is okay Rarity, the blacksmiths will be working outside the boutique to avoid complications, there is no need to worry." "Oh, well that is indeed a great relief" She replied as she brushed her hoof against her forehead and gave a smile to Arrow. As Luna turned to the two guards accompanying her, a unicorn and pegasi, she told the unicorn guard to make way to the Sugarcube Corner to discuss energizing products for the soldiers. Fluttershy came out of a door leading to Rarity's room and hovered to Rarity herself. "Oh, Fluttershy, is anything the matter with my dear Opalescence?" Rarity asked in worry. "Oh, Um, she just has a minor sickness that's common with cats, poor, poor thing... just slip this into her milk next time she's thirsty," Fluttershy handed a small pod to Rarity which contained a powder like substance, "this medicine will help her, it's like trying to make powder milk except, um, well the milk would be the water and the medicine the powder, if you know what I mean..." "Of course, darling, thank you ever so much, oh my poor Opal, your in good hoofs now." "Your very welcome, and if you need anything else just let me know." Fluttershy uttered while grinning. "Is there anything else I can help you with, Rarity?" Arrow asked generously as he walked up to the white mare. "Oh, no, thank you dear, you've done quite enough already." She replied graciously. "Very well, I will leave you to it then, I need to go to the training field. Have a nice day the both of you." He said as he nodded a goodbye to the two mares and then turned away to inform Luna that he was leaving; he bowed to her and then made his way to the exit. Fluttershy noticed how helpful Arrow was being towards Rarity, how he had offered to help her move model dummies out of the way and clear some tables and even help her with fetching certain material for her dresses. With that she remembered a conversation she once had with him. Some time ago during the winter wrap up, Arrow Distorton had stopped to rest after helping to clear clouds to bring in sunlight for spring. He sat down next to a tree where a squirrel family had just woken up and frolicked up the branches, dancing in the sunlight. Arrow looked up as the sunlight was eclipsed by another pegasus hovering in front of him, he narrowed his eyes allowing them to adjust and saw that Fluttershy was in front of him. "Oh, um, sorry to bother you while your trying to rest and all, but, um, my friend Rarity brought some nests that need to be put up on the trees for the returning birds and-" Fluttershy's explanation was interrupted as Arrow stood up, whilst having no change in his facial expression gave Fluttershy the impression he was annoyed. She then landed softly, tilting her head to look down, "I-I'm sorry, w- we just need to-" "Oh, Fluttershy," Arrow said as he eased his eyes, "Yes, there is no need to worry, I understand." "Oh, that's wonderful then, I-I thought I may have brought you to a bad mood for a second... I'm sorry but, have we met?" she replied. "My apologies... we used to go to school together in Cloudsdale but we never actually spoke to each other that much, I just remember your name.. that is not strange is it?" "Oh, of course not, why would you think so?" "Well, it is just that my reactions to some things may seem a little off, I have a little difficulty with showing the correct emotions... most of the times I don't really know how to react to certain things... I unintentionally cause misunderstanding..." Arrow complied. "Oh my, th- that must not be very pleasant for you..." Fluttershy replied showing sympathy to the stallion. "It is all right, things are starting to look up now that I have..." Arrow was suddenly struck dumb as he noticed a mare walking to his direction from behind Fluttershy; she shared the same white coat as he did, her silky purple hair styled to curve to the right, flowing perfectly and lacking split ends, her azure eyes glimmered with the sunlight. "Fluttershy, Darling! there you are," Rarity said as she walked up to them, "I've been looking all over for you- oh, hello there. Arrow was it?" "It is a pleasure bumping into you Miss Rarity." He replied giving a small smile. "Do you both know each other?" Fluttershy asked. "Yes, I often make deliveries for Rarity to and from Canterlot with clothing material," Arrow stated, "how are you feeling today, Miss Rarity?" "I'm feeling wonderful and active, and yourself?" she replied gleefully. "Quite fine, thank you." "Your very welcome," she said, returning a smile, "Shall we get started then?" Fluttershy dazed away before replying as she noticed something from Arrows faint expressions, even with the slightest detail she saw something in him, "O- of course, sorry u- um, this tree has a squirrel family living on it, we should find other trees that aren't reserved." "Not a problem, I'll just go on ahead and set-up the nests. ta-ta for now!" Rarity trotted away levitating a hefty amount of hoof made nests from a large sack. Arrow slowly shifted his head keeping his eyes on her as she trotted away, "I am afraid that I will not be seeing her as much as before," he stated as he turned his head to Fluttershy. "Oh, whys that? are there any problems?" "Not at all, it is just that a new opportunity is going to open for me soon, my job as a delivery stallion will soon be dismissed... to something... new..." "Oh, I see." Fluttershy replied. "I am not trying to avoid her at all, to be quite honest, I think she is the most beautiful mare I have ever met..." Arrow affirmed. "R-really? you mean that you love her?" Fluttershy said bringing her voice to a more lively level and giving Arrow an excited grin. "Yes, I believe I do... although we have only spoken a few times, I got to see such an astonishing side to her... she is so generous and has such a wide sense of art... and I feel as though she can understand me if we just get to know each other a little more... there is nothing wrong with that, is there? "Oh, not at all, actually that's so wonderfully pleasant to hear." She complied, still showing a comforting smile. "R-really? I am glad you think so..." He replied with as he lowered his head and averted his eyes, he began to blush. Fluttershy was surprised to witness these signs from the stallion who stood in front of her, for somepony who seemed so blunt had feelings like this. It showed her how she should not judge a book by it's cover as they got to know more about each other, why Fluttershy moved away from Cloudsdale, why Arrow moved away from Cloudsdale and primarily Arrow's new opportunity; becoming the first defender in Ponyville's newly organised civil defence. "Fluttershy? Is anything the matter dear?" Rarity asked curiously as she brought Fluttershy back to reality. "Hmm? Oh, no, no it's just that, well, you know Arrow right?" She asked absent mindedly. "Um, yes... the stallion who just left..." Rarity replied cocking an eyebrow, "Is there something wrong?" "Oh, no, not at all, it's just that, um, well you see, I was wondering what you think of him..." "Arrow? Well I must say he is indeed a gentlecolt, a stallion of great manners as a matter of fact," she complied. "But?" Fluttershy pried Rarity, feeling as though she had picked up something negative. "but what? what are you implying dear?" "W- well, he seems to help you an awful lot... do you happen to, oh I don't know, perhaps have feelings for him?" "O- oh! heavens Fluttershy, is that what it looks like?" Rarity said with relief as though she thought Fluttershy was about to bring up somewhat unpleasant opinion on him, "Well it's not that I don't like him, don't get me wrong or anything, he's a good and helpful friend and all but he lacks... style and well... liveliness, It makes him look like he isn't interested in me to say the least. I just don't think that our boundaries would meet with one another." 'Oh, Rarity... but your wrong... he does have life and style within him... what should I say now? she could be expecting something and I cant just tell her about how he feels, she may not feel comfortable around him and besides I would need his permission first... poor Arrow, she has to give him a chance... but how?' Fluttershy began to feel guilty at the thought of it all, but for now she had to end the topic. "I- I see, well I was just wondering that's all... Um, anyway, I have to head back home now, Angel is probably wondering where I am since he was asleep when I left, he's such a good bunny... please let me know if Opal needs anything else." Fluttershy secured the moment with her alibi. "Well of course darling, we all have allot to do because of that recent incident, anyway, thank you once again." Rarity hugged her light yellow coated friend before attending her duties. Fluttershy left the boutique and spread her wings, flying away to the Sweet Apple Acres to visit a certain hard working stallion at the farm. x Arrow had arrived to the training field to finally meet up with Twilight, Doctor Whooves and the other defenders. "Row, finally man, your late! we were beginning to think you were slackin' off again..." Jokey stated as Arrow made his way to the group. "Slacking? I do not think I have done that before... I do not understand how I am late either... I believe seven forty-five was the designated time that was arranged for all of us." Arrow complied. "Three seconds bro, not impressive," Jokey replied while shaking his head. Arrow obtusely stared at his friend, failing to understand Jokey's intention of foolery, "Heh, relax Row, I'm just messing with ya," he added as he turned to Forest who was right next to him, "I love doing that to him, it's priceless." Forest let out breaths of laughter through his nose as Boa shook her head while looking up, "Still at it... Unbelievable," she added. Twilight and the Doctor shared a glance and nodded, "Right then, shall we get started?"Doctor Whooves suggested. "Yes," Boa said confidently. "I am ready," Arrow affirmed. "Lets set the stage on fire!" Jokey and Forest asserted with great enthusiasm, while high hoofing, and so they commenced training to further develop their skills.