Alex’s Nightmares
APPLEJACK
NIGHTMARE 1
The nightmare didn’t start as a slow build up. It seemed to just take off like a crossbow bolt. First was Applejack but it wasn’t the Element of Honesty they knew. This Applejack was sadistic. She had Alex in a hokey clown costume up on a stage at the Apples farm dancing, juggling, and doing tricks all the while cracking a whip at the exhausted human. A large crowd watched with glee and threw bits on the roughly constructed stage. Some were thrown with precision, pelting the human and raising welts on his exposed head arms and face. At the end of the show, little Applebloom collected all the bits, that had been tossed into an old Mason Jar, and then handed them to Applejack who had just finished putting a shackle and chain around Alex’s neck before dragging him back into the barn, chaining him to the wall in a stall. Applejack then grabbed a small table from the corner and poured all the days take out on its surface so she could count it. “WOW!” She exclaimed. “This has t’ be out biggest haul yet! Yes you are gonna make me and my family rich human. Those were two of mah most expensive apples you ever stole an’ ahm afraid it’s gonna be some time before you kin pay yer debt to me. She said.
Applebloom then came into the barn with a dirty dish of food fit only for pigs and set it down for him to eat. The dream faded to black and at the same time transitioned back to everything before. This repeated over and over but with each repeat Alex looked weaker and weaker until he collapsed on the stage unable to perform any more. Applejack, whip in hoof, started flailing him across his back cutting deep gashes in his skin as he lay there unable to move. The nightmare faded away to nothing with the last thing to be heard was the cracking of the whip.
PINKIE PIE
NIGHTMARE 2
“Yes, I Pinkie Promise you can go back to being a human after the party.” the pink party pony said. “Look, I have the reversal potion right here. Now drink up. Alex did as he was asked and immediately felt a change. His face began to grow fur and his flat looking face, by pony standards began to stretch. Suddenly pain started to shoot through his body as his hair became longer and a tail started to grow down one of his pant legs. He tried to hold his sides. It felt like his ribs were breaking. He watched in horror as his fingers slowly grew together and curled forming two hooves. Finally the pain stopped as he collapsed on the ground. When he stood back up he was standing on four legs instead of two. It took a little time but he managed to get his “sea legs” and before he could say anything Pinkie wisked him off to his Goodbye Human / Hello New Pony Party.
The party was all fun as one of Pinkies parties usually are, but not for Alex. He just wanted to get it over with and get back to being a human again. Finally it was time to call it a wrap and after the guests had left. “Ok Pinkie. The party’s over now change me back. I don’t want to be a pony anymore.”
“NONSENSE! Why should you not want to be a pony? Now that you are one, you’ll fit right in. Now no ponies will ever chase you again.”
“I would still like to be a human again. I miss my hands.” “NO! You are going to be a pony!” She shouted.”FOREVERRRRRRR!” “But you promised…..”
“I …… LIED!!!!!” She spoke loudly then “Here, have a cupcake. Cupcakes always make things better.” She said cheerfully. She produced a cupcake seemingly out of nowhere and stuffed it in his muzzle, not even bothering to take the wrapper off it. “See! All better. HAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAA!!!!!” (Fade to black. Laughter continues to echo and fade.)
RARITY
NIGHTMARE 3
“Come along now Alex, my pet, we mustn’t be late for the party.” Rarity said in her always refined way of speaking. She tugged at the leash in her magical grasp. The other end attached to a collar around his neck. As Alex followed along, she would give a small sharp tug to make him constantly keep up with her. In his hands he carried some kind of gift she intended to give to whoever it was supposed to go to. Alex didn’t know who. Apparently pets didn’t need to know such things according to Rarity.
I about 10 minutes of walking, they arrived at a rather opulent looking estate. Rarity trotted up to the door with Alex in tow and knocked on the door. It was only a moment’s wait, before the door was opened by a dapper looking pony. Rarity handed the invitation to him and proceeded to walk in with Alex. The butler barred her way, cleared his throat and said,
“I’m sorry madam, but this invitation is only for one.” He said in a rather stuck up snooty fashion.
“Yes. You are quite right sir.” She replied. “One pony.” She turned and pointed to Alex, “THAT is not a pony. He is my pet.” The butler looked him up and down with an air of indifference.
“In that case, madam, I do hope it is house broken.”
“But of course he is.”
“Very good then.” The butler stepped aside and Rarity and Alex walked in.
Rarity was greeted by those who had already arrived and looked on in astonishment at the tall bipedal figure accompanying her. She trotted up to the table where the other gifts were and motioned with a hoof for Alex to place the gift with the others.
“Alex, do be a good pet and sit over there while I mingle ant try not to cause any trouble. This is a very important party and I can’t have you embarrassing me.”
“If you are so worried about your image, then why did you want me to come along in the first place?” Alex countered.
Before he could even take his first steps, he and Rarity were cut off by a unicorn couple.
“Jet Set! Upper Crust! How nice to see you again.”
“Rarity!” They each gave each other very fake hugs and greeting kisses to each other. They then noticed the towering figure of Alex standing behind Rarity and their eyes went wide and their pupils shrank.
“Rarity, what is this towering monstrosity you brought with you!” Jet Set exclaimed. Rarity looked back to Alex and then back to the stuck up unicorn couple.
“Oh, this is my pet human Alex.” She replied.
“Is it dangerous? Is it house broken?”
Alex noted that these two snobs were drawing more and more attention to themselves and him.
“Dangerous? Celestia no! He’s not dangerous! And yes he is housebroken. They come that way you know.”
Alex stepped forward smiled and stuck out his hand. “Hello, I’m Alex. A pleasure to meet you.”
The two unicorn snobs looked at the extended appendage and then to his smiling face and that is when Upper Crust screamed in fright.
“It can talk and it has canines! It’s a carnivore! You brought a wild animal here to eat us all!”
All the other ponies present started to back up.
“Oh you needn’t worry, yes he is a carnivore but he doesn’t eat ponies. Never has nor ever will. Isn’t that right Alex?”
Alex looked them up and down with a look of a professional hunter and in one quick glance he had made his assessment of this duo.
“No. I never have and never will.” Then he smirked. “Meats to stuck up and snobbish for my tastes. I prefer something sweeter and more nutritious. Not junk food.”
“See, nothing to worry about.” said Rarity. “WAAAAAAA?” When what Alex said suddenly registered.
The looks on their faces was priceless. All three of them looking like a bulldog chewing on a wasp.
They didn’t know whether they had just been sized up as a possible meal or insulted.
“Just what did you mean by that? Just because you can talk doesn’t mean you can speak to your betters that way.” Jet Set growled. “Animal.”
Rarity stared daggers at Alex and was about to say something but just then the butler came up to her and asked. “
Madame Rarity, I must ask you to remove this …….thing from here. It is disturbing the guests and ruining the party.”
”I concur my good sir. Might you have a place I may chain him up until the party is over and I can take him home to be properly disciplined.”
“Yes. If you would. Right this way.”
Rarity yanked the leash a little harder than necessary to get Alex to move and follow her. He was leas out through a side door and out into a small yard surrounded by a high stone wall. There she magically tied his leash to a large heavy stone.
The wind was blowing and the skies were darkening as the first few droplets of water began to fall.
Alex looked at Rarity and then back at the sky.
“Rarity, it’s starting to rain. Isn’t there a better place? Y’know, maybe with a little more shelter?”
“No. Maybe a good dousing will cool that hot head of yours. How DARE you insult my friends like that and embarrass me in front of the guests!”
“But Rarity….” Alex began.
“No. Not another word.” She stated flatly and then turned on her hoof and headed back into the party.
The rain began to fall lightly and then pick up slowly turning into a downpour.
As the rain fell it soaked Alex to the bone. He tried to break free from the cruelty around his neck but all to no avail. He was forced to curl up in as small a ball on the grass as he could, lay down and try to keep warm as best he could against the chill of the wind and rain.
FLUTTERSHY
NIGHTMARE 4
Fluttershy had been the nicest of all the ponies but Alex still couldn’t accept that she saw him as an endangered species. Keeping him in a habitat cage was bad enough, but to be treated as though he would shatter like glass should he step one foot out of his cage was getting to be a bit much. It was during one such morning, as she made her rounds taking care of her animals that things went horribly wrong.
Fluttershy had decided to effect some repairs on one of the other animals habitats and had decided to put its occupant in with Alex until its area was repaired.
Harry the bear wasn’t too fond of Alex since the hunt and was still holding a bear sized grudge against him. He didn’t even know why.
As Fluttershy opened Alex’s cage and Harry walked in, he couldn’t help notice that he had an evil grin.
“Now you two behave yourselves and don’t cause any trouble.” Fluttershy said as she locked the door behind her and left. The innocent look on Harry was quickly replaced with an evil toothy grin as Harry stood up on his hind legs and cracked his front paws and chuckled. Alex turned to run but instead had not noticed that he had backed up just inches from the compound fence. He didn’t even have time to react as he accidentally put his hands on the electrified fence.
20,000 volts immediately jumped through his body and caused his muscles to tighten. He found he couldn’t let go as the pain continued.
Alex woke up with a start shaking and breathing heavily. His heart pounding.
RAINBOW DASH
NIGHTMARE 5
Rainbow Dash was happy with her new toy Alex. She had shrunk him down to “a more manageable size” and was preparing for her first game. As she soared higher and higher in the morning sky holding Alex in her front hooves, she landed on a nearby cloud.
“Ready to play a game Lexie?” she smirked.
“What game?” Alex replied “And can we play it a little closer to the ground please? I am really afraid of heights.”
“Relax. You got nothing to fear. Everything will be fine.” Rainbow smiled with an evil grin. “I always take care of my toys. But if you want to play closer to the ground, then I suppose so.”
“Thank you Rainbow.” Alex said. “By the way, what is this game you want to play?”
“Catch!” And with that she let go of Alex and watched him fall through the cloud.
Alex woke up screaming! His throat was raw from the many nightmares on this particular subject. Each scenario seemed to be a little different. Rainbow Dash would drop him and then wait til the last possible second to catch him before he hit the ground. The problem was he could never see Rainbow save him before it was too late and he would wake up just before impact.
“Two years! TWO YEARS THIS HAS BEEN GOING ON! I don’t know how much more of this I can take.” Alex thought as he rubbed his face and closed his eyes, trying to go back to sleep again.
TWILIGHT SPARKLE
NIGHTMARE 6
Twilight sparkle looked proudly at her Hoofbell Prize hanging on the wall of her castle. She couldn’t be happier or more proud as she read the latest Equestrian Scientific journal. There, on the cover was her picture with another pony presenting her with the Hoofbell for the discovery of the century. Alex the human. On the floor round about her was various other publications about her discovery. This would put her in the Equestrian history books forever.
“Thanks Alex.” She thought to herself as she once again looked up at her prize.
“I wonder how he’s doing since he was turned over to the government scientists at Horse Groom Lake? Eh, he’s probably doing just fine.”
Deep within the confines of Horse Groom Lake, otherwise known as Area 53, Alex sat huddling in fear in the corner of his cell. A large scar running down the center of his chest where they had opened him up surgically to see what made him tick. His left hand was missing. It had been amputated so that it could be further studied elsewhere in the lab. Their thinking was that he didn’t need two hands and thus could spare one of them. One eye blinded during one of the myriad of tests they had performed on him.
His cell door opened and a pony in a white lab coat walked in with two unicorn guards. “It’s time for the next test human.” Then looking to the two guards, “Bring him.” He ordered. Although Alex tried to grab at anything his one remaining hand could, it was still no good. “NO! PLEASE NO!” he pleaded with his cries falling on deaf pony ears.
“Yeah, he’s probably doing just fine.” Twilight Sparkle thought as she looked once more at her Hoofbell Prize……..”Just Fine.”
LUNA and CELESTIA
NIGHTMARE 7
Luna walked through the deserted streets of an unnamed city on earth. Her and her sister Celestia had used Alex to cross the barrier through the mirror with a host of ponies to invade his home world. The battle still raged on in the distance.
It was night time and Luna was looking for any humans she deemed worthy of her Midnight Garden, her Garden of Shadows she had been creating. There had been so many to choose from. So many varieties! She had had her night crew take many of them back to Equestria already.
As she continued to stroll down the empty streets, past abandon homes, she heard a faint noise. Her ears perked up and swiveled like two miniature radars as they zeroed in on the faint sound.
As she went down a little side street, the sound became louder. It sounded like crying. Stepping over the debris strewn about in the street, she came across an alley.
Suddenly a loud explosion went off in the distance as she looked in the direction of the noise. There in the distance she could see a huge fireball wend its way into the air.
“Celestia is still having fun.” She thought to herself before turning back to the sobbing sounds.
In the alley, she found among the refuse, a large overturned cardboard box. She lit up her horn and lifted the box with her magic.
Underneath she found scared and crying were two human children. They couldn’t have been more than four or five years old by Lunas calculations.
They had dirt on their faces and tattered clothing. They looked at Luna in fear and huddled together even more so letting out a wail of fright. Luna approached them with a calm smile and knelt down in front of them.
“There there little ones. What is wrong? Why are you crying?” she cooed to them. They looked at Luna with tear stained eyes. “Are you looking for your mommy and daddy? I will help you find them. Come now. Dry your tears.” She said wiping away the wetness from their faces with one of her wings. “Would you like me to sing you a song?” The two little ones looked up at her with their innocent eyes as she began to sing:
“Come little children.
I’ll take thee away.
Into a land of enchantment.
Come little children.
The times come to play.
Here in my garden.
Of shadows.”
As she sang the last two verses to her lullaby, she nuzzled the little ones and noticed they both had smiles on their little faces, she then enfolded them in her soft warm wings.
Her horn glowed a gentle blue and then ceased.
As she stood up and refolded her wings, there were two little stone sculptures of the children.
“Yes, you will make a fine addition to my Garden of Shadows.” She said to herself.
The battle continued to rage on in the distance.
Celestia had been enjoying herself. She had invaded Alex’s world with a host of pony soldiers. The four races were all there. Luna had added the bat ponies to reinforce her sisters Equestrian Battalion. Yes they were a formidable force indeed however, she hadn’t expected such resistance from the humans.
There weaponry was more than she had expected and their resolve amazing. This she enjoyed most.
“At last!” she thought. An opponent worthy of my attention! Victory is within my grasp!” Just then a large explosion went off some yards away from her sending some of her forces flying in all directions and in pieces. One of her soldiers landed on the ground in front of her and slid to a stop gravely wounded.
“Princess Celestia.” The burned and wounded earth pony whispered. “Help me.”
Celestia looked down at her soldier. Should could easily heal his wounds with her magic but she had what she considered to be more important things on her mind at the moment. “Soldier, I will fetch a medic pony for you.” She smiled and stepped over him.
“Thank you your highness.” He whispered.
The battle raged on and the wounded pony was soon forgotten.
She continued to walk through the ruined streets of some city alone. She didn’t need any guards at her side. The name of the city was unimportant to her. She would raze it to the ground and build a new and better one in its place after she had brought these stubborn human defenders to their knees. She had their forces surrounded and yet they still fought on with a vengeance. She had sent them a royal proclamation demanding that they lay down their arms and surrender. It was the smart thing to do but the humans had stubbornly refused, returning a message with just one word on it.
“NUTS!”
She didn’t understand this return reply. It confused her and angered her at the same time.
The sound of magic missiles and the rattle of automatic weapons fire continued on in the distance with the occasional explosion and the cries of the wounded and dying.
As she rounded a corner of a collapsed building, rubble and bodies strewn about the streets, she spied a straggler. A woman with a small child trying to run away.
Celestia smiled and lit up her horn.
As the woman tried to get away, a golden glow surrounded the little one. A little girl maybe three or four years old by Celestias calculations.
The woman stopped in her tracks and held her daughter tighter as she felt her being pulled away.
Looking around, her eyes grew wide in terror as she spied Celestia casually walking towards her. Her eyes and muzzle sporting an evil smile.
The woman was frozen with fear as Celestia came closer.
“NO! PLEASE NO!” she cried. “Stay away!”
Celestia continued to approach like a carnivore cornering its prey, and with a swipe of her head the child was ripped out of her mothers arms.
“MOMMY!” was the last thing the little girl cried, her arms outstretched towards her mother, just as Celestias horn appeared from her chest.
The mother screamed at the death of her child and at seeing her little body impaled on Celestias horn.
“Fear not mortal, for your little one died for my greater glory!” Celestia held her head high. “You should instead rejoice!” She smiled. “And you have the singular honor of doing so as well!” She continued.
With that her mane and tail suddenly lit up in a maelstrom of fire and she aimed her horn at the terrified woman.
Celestias horn then ignited and mother and child were incinerated in an instant. The last sound being the shocked screams of the dying mother.
In the distance, the battle raged on.