Living The Dream

by Kickass222urmom

The Fan

“You killed Val?!” Nova spat out, eyes wide as she jumped out of her chair, sending it to the floor behind her.

“Yep, quite easily might I add,” Louie replied, standing proud as he twirled his mustache. 

“This changes so much,” Roxxy muttered, grabbing her head with her hooves as she leaned on the table.

“It definitely makes the coming days a lot more bearable,” Nova agreed as she began to pace around the room, mind reeling with the new possibilities.

“Other than killing literally one of the biggest threats we’re facing, did you complete the mission?” Roxxy asked, still looking to be at a loss after hearing the news.

“We’re hooked in and ready to go,” he confirmed. “And before you ask, yes, I’ve finished the folder,” he held up the folder, giving them a wink.

“All of it?” Nova asked in astonishment.

“All of it, and then some,” he laughed, tossing the folder onto the table. 

“Lou, that was supposed to take you at least a full day to complete!” she exclaimed as she just kept staring at him in disbelief.

“I work fast,” he replied smoothly, getting a groan out of Roxxy. 

The young mare stood up and stepped up to the board and began to move around pieces, grumbling to herself.

Nova also moved to the board, rubbing her chin, “well, that leaves just one more mission that must be completed before the Big Day.”

“Ah yeah, that one,” he said with a frown, stepping up with them. “Is it still set for tomorrow?”

“It is,” she confirmed, “we will hold off till we have the CCTV footage, then I’ll make the final call.”

He gave a nod, continuing to twirl his mustache. “Tomorrow is gonna suck.”

“Val is dead?!” Lilith yelped as she spun around to face Richard, her eyes wide.

This seemed to shock Richard, as he hadn’t expected her to have such an emotional reaction to this news.

“Eh, yes, the dogman did him in,” he informed her, which just caused her to do a double take.

“My son was killed by that thing?!” she snapped, red energy crackling off of her body. “That mucks up my plans!”

“Your son?!” Richard asked in shock, but she ignored him as she moved to the large cube in the room.

“With Val gone, I no longer have a vessel to hold this energy before it can be transferred to myself,” she grumbled, eyes flickering to Darkest Bleak, who sat in his own cocoon. He was awake and smirking, but unable to do much else. 

She narrowed her eyes at him, but chose to not say a word to him as she turned back to Richard, “I need a powerful Unicorn to use as a vessel. Find one.”

“Does it matter who?” he asked, getting a sinister smile in return.

“No, any vessel that holds this energy in its purest form will die, so it does not matter.” Lilith then turned to the rows of cocoons, her smile growing larger as she saw a few were awake and staring daggers at her.

Even with this set back, things were progressing nicely for her.

“You damn dirty cunt!” Jun roared as Strawell stepped into her office to find him standing there, looking absolutely enraged.

“Ah, Jun, I see you’ve heard the news,” she said calmly as she walked right past him, reaching under her cabinet to grab a hidden bottle of strong liquor.

“You let Val get merc’d!” he yelled as she walked over to her desk, putting the bottle down and walking to the other side of her office.

“He was murdered by the Dogman of the Brony Rebellion,” she said flatly as she opened another cabinet and grabbed two glasses. “He died despite my attempts at intervention,” she added as she stepped back up to her desk and placed the two glasses down.

But Jun didn’t seem to care as he stomped his hooves, having a little angry tantrum, “I don’t give a flying fuck! You let my friend die!”

“You need to relax, Jun,” she said in an out of character soothing tone. She poured liquor into each glass and pushed one towards him, “have a drink.”

“Why the fuck are you being nice suddenly?!” he growled, taking the drink and chugging it in one go, slamming it down, only for her to refill it. 

“Drink,” she encouraged, a very out of place smile on her face.

“Ew fuck, I don’t think a smile is supposed to be there,” he grunted as he did as he was told and drank the entire glass. Yet she just refilled it again as he put it down. “What is this shit?!”

“You know,” she began in a low voice, reaching out and stroking his muscled chest, “I’ve always thought you were the hottest Apostle since the very first moment.”

“Really?” he asked, instantly dropping his anger in favor of a cocky smile. “Yeah, I get that a LOT!” he exclaimed as he raised a leg and flexed it so hard he hurt himself, but he played it off by turning his head from her so she couldn’t see his pained expression.

Strawell grimaced as he turned away, disliking this act she was putting on, but put on her fake smile when he turned back to her.

“I bet you do,” she said with a strained laugh, “I bet you have to fight all the mares off, don’t you, hottie?”

His cocky smile faded as he took another long gulp of the liquor, “no actually… I’ve never been with a mare.”

“Oh eh,” she grimaced, but quickly recovered, “I mean, I don’t believe that one bit. Not a hottie like you!”

“Would you sleep with me?” he suddenly asked, causing her to laugh loudly.

“Sure!” she forced out, causing him to smile brightly as his tail wagged, “but I want to ask a few silly questions first.”

“Anything you want!” he basically yelled, looking overjoyed now.

“Aw you’re the best!” she giggled, then her face became serious, “where have all the Brony prisoners been taken?”

“Oh Lilith has taken them to her personal pocket dimension, so she can keep an eye on them,” he answered quickly. “Sex now?”

“Questions first,” she stated sternly, “why is she taking them there? Why not just put them away in a normal prison?”

“Because she’s stealing their Holy Energy for some reason,” he replied, licking his lips. 

“Is Champion who he says he is?”

“Champion is the fucking best, he’s my bestest friend!” Jun exclaimed happily, “now sex?”

“No,” she said firmly, “did he kill the Princesses?”

“...” Jun’s happy face dropped as he stared blankly at her. “You’re… just using me aren’t you? You don’t want to actually have sex with me, do you?”

She frowned at him, choosing her next words and actions carefully. She slowly reached out and placed a hoof on his cheek, forcing herself to stroke it gently. “Oh, Jun, who has hurt you so greatly to make you this mistrusting?”

He held his blank look for a few seconds before breaking down and throwing himself into her, hugging her tightly, “everyone is so fucking mean to me! They just see me as a clone, but I”m not a fucking clone! I’m JUN. JUN JUN JUN! I ain’t a clone no moar, I’m mah own man! Stallion! Whatever! But everyone just bullies me and beats me down and tells me I ain’t gonna be nothin’ but Lance’s wannabe clone! But I ain’t! I AIN’T!”

As he began to wail into her neck, she just stood there with wide eyes, completely shocked by this outburst and admission, not really sure how to process or handle it.

“Erm… there there,” she said awkwardly as she patted the back of the crying stallion.

“You’re the first person to be nice to me for reals!” he sobbed out, squeezing tightly. “I don’t care if we don’t bang, I just want to be held and loved and told I’m a real boy!”

“What you need,” she grunted as she broke his strong grip on her, forcibly taking a step back, “is a new approach to life.”

“You think?” he asked, wiping his nose, leaving a trail of snot.

“Yes,” she answered as she readjusted her chest armor. “If your current company treats you this badly, then I suggest finding your own path in life.”

“But,” he began, his brain looking to be working in overdrive, “I can’t leave. Champion needs me. I’m his number one guy.”

“But are you happy?” she asked, using all the skills she’d learned over the years to try and push this scenario in her favor.

This question caused him to tear up again, but she made sure to take a few large steps back to avoid his attempts at hugging her again. 

“I’ve never been happy,” he admitted, crying very loudly now. “I don’t wanna be the bad guy anymore, I just wanna have a family and kids. Kick the ass of anyone who messes with em and all that fun junk!”

She was very uncomfortable with his quickly changing mood shifts, but she rolled with it, “then do what makes you happy?”

“Can I?” he asked meekly.

“Are… you asking my permission?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah,” he said sheepishly.

“Then… yes?” she answered in a very unsure voice, as this entire situation was far outside her normal comfort zone.

He lit up instantly as he began to jump in place, “oh yes! THANK YOU!”

Without another word he shot into the ceiling, exploding through a few floors before hitting the open sky and flying off, all the while screaming, “I’m free!!!”

Strawell just stood there a bit shocked, this whole interaction not going at all as she planned. She was sure it’d end with him in her bed, which would have been terrible but necessary. But now? She wasn’t sure how to react to this.

At least she got a bit of information out of him, even if it wasn’t enough to formulate a plan off of.

Twilight let out a sigh as she put the device down, deciding it was time to take a small break. She’d have this spell encryption broken by morning for sure.

“Did you get it?!” Babel suddenly asked excitedly from across the room where she’d been working on some art and other assorted projects.

“Not yet, but we’re getting there,” Twilight answered with a smile as she made her way to the kitchen, Babel’s thick glasses following her as she walked across the room.

Upon entering the kitchen she found Nightstreak laying on the floor, a book over his face.

“Is she always so… spirited?” she asked as she began to prepare herself something to eat.

“Babel Yarn?” he asked as he raised the book off of his face, “oh yeah. She’s always been super weird.”

“She does not come off as weird, just a bit excitable,” Twilight commented, getting a chuckle out of young Stallion.

“Nah, Mrs. Greenfield, trust me, she’s weird. She’s been wearing that hoodie for the past six years, and all she talks about is your husbands and Scamp’s books. And trust me, she knows EVERYTHING about you and the others mentioned in those books.”

“She can’t know everything,” she chuckled as she lifted a box of food, just for Babel’s face to be right behind it.

“I do actually!” she proclaimed proudly, causing Twilight to let out a startled scream as she jumped back, holding her chest. 

“Oh and she has a tendency to pop up like that,” Nightstreak said with a little smile. “Sorry, shoulda warned you.”

“Don’t do that, Babel!” Twilight said sternly as she used her magic to dust herself off.

“I’m sorry, Twilight!” she exclaimed as she walked out from behind the counter, smiling brightly. “Can I ask you some questions?!”

“Sure, ask away,” Twilight said, causing Nightstreak to make a few clicking noises with his tongue.

“Ooo, bad move, Mrs. Greenfield,” he warned as Babel took out her notebook and fell on her haunches.

“First question!” she declared as she flipped open to a page and made a few marks, “what made you fall for Lance so quickly?”

“Aw, a cute question,” Twilight giggled as she pulled a chair up and took a seat, leaning back as she reminisced, “it was a combination of his strange otherworldly looks, and this charm he had to himself. Like that one kid in class who’s clearly not smart enough to know simple math, but had a simple mind, and a heart of gold. He was just so genuine and kind.” Then she gave Babel a little knowing smirk, “plus, to be completely honest, I was young and naive, so when the bad boy stallion came knocking, I answered.”

“So adorable!” Babel said happily as she wrote everything down, causing Twilight to beam a smile at her. “Next question!”

“Let’s hear it, sweetie,” Twilight said as she leaned back, actually enjoying this little mock interview she was getting.

“What was it like having Lance stuck inside of you?” Babel asked so earnestly that it took a bit for the question to actually hit Twilight, but when it did, she sat up, face red. 

“What?!”

“Follow up to that actually; the rumor is that his dingaling is colored like a candy cane, is this true?” she asked with an expectant look on her face, pen hovering above the notebook.

“There’s the weird Babel I know from school,” Nightstreak laughed as Twilight just stared slack jawed at the young mare before her.

“... why would you ask something like that?” she finally got out.

“These are major questions on the fan website I run,” she said casually, causing Twilight to do a double take.

“Fan website?!”

“Yeah!” Babel exclaimed proudly, “I run the Living the Dream fan website! Proudly serving well over a thousand Dreamers with LTD lore and content!”

Twilight just stood there super confused as Babel began to get even more excited.

“Now I prefer Scamp’s adventure over Lance’s, no offense. But you have to see the animatic I made for her book!” Babel basically yelled as she ran out of the room to retrieve her laptop.

“What have I started?” Twilight muttered, eyes still wide in shock.

“You’ve done the one thing everyone does once,” Nightstreak laughed. “You showed interest in her obsession, so good luck, because the next few hours are gonna be hella intense!”

As he finished his sentence, Babel rushed back in, balancing her laptop and all of her supplies on her back and head, “I don’t have all of my LTD stuff with me, but I got enough to give you a basic idea of just how amazing and cool you all are!”

Twilight was trapped, as she did not have it in her to stop this. She couldn’t crush this young mare’s interest, so she’d endure.

“But quick question!” Babel exclaimed as she dumped all of her stuff on the floor before Twilight, “are charts and diagrams too much for you?”

This caused Twilight to smile, “I can handle any amount of charts and diagrams you have for me.”

“Cool!” Babel laughed as she dumped out a massive amount of paper, “because I gots lots for all the relationships, connections, and even for all the events I believe lead to Lance meeting Toby!”

“Oh sweet Celestia…” Twilight muttered as she saw just how much there really was. 

“OH! Are NSFW drawings okay? Because I’ve got a LOT of personal headcanon’s and I’ve drawn a LOT of art for them,” she asked as she set up the computer, turning it so Twilight could see it. Of course Twilight did not get to answer as she continued talking, “now I just made the animatic, because I don’t know anyone to voice act. BUT! There are these really cool ponies online who also read the story, and they’ve done their own personal reading of it. They call themselves the ‘Let’s Read Crew’ and BOY are they funny!”

“Here it comes,” Nightstreak laughed as Babel brought up a video.

“All I do for these guys is provide lore corrections and stuff, because I don’t like how my voice sounds in their videos. BUT! You’re gonna love this! I’m gonna show you my favorite animatic I made for them!”

And with that, she hit play. 

“Hey everybody, welcome back to Let’s Read Living The Dream!” a voice yelled out as a few others screamed like maniacs behind them. “Today we got Foundfork, AR, Lightningrabbit, and me! April!”

“Welcome back! We got Chapter sixty, Dinner with the Greenfields, on our plate today!” another voice yelled out. “Are you guys excited for this?”

“Oh, for sure, I’ve heard a rumor that this is the chapter Scamp’s hellion of a baby thing terrorizes the Greenfield residence, and even that Brony dog Louie!” the first voice, April, exclaimed while laughing.

“Hey hey hey, no spoilers, come on!” a new voice exclaimed.

“If this is another Baby Shayla chapter, then I think I’ll pass, being a bunny and all makes me a prime target,” a much more refined and calm voice said.

“I think you’re safe, Lightning,” April began, “I think the Shayla character is seven right now? Is that right?”

Babel paused the video. “This is an older podcast from them, I just added the animatic later,” she explained as she hit play again.

“Yeah yeah, if you check the LTD website, Cassava has all their current ages and information posted.”

She paused the video again and looked at Twilight with a huge smile, “I’m Cassava!”

Twilight just stared at her for a moment before coming to her senses, “wait, what was that part about everyone’s info being posted?”

“And play!” Babel laughed as she hit play, resuming the animatic which showed the front of the Greenfield residence before it was destroyed, with Scamp holding baby Shayla standing by the front door.

“Oh this is weird,” Twilight muttered as the video played on, not liking that the inside of the house was drawn EXACTLY how it looked back then. Even down to the pictures on the walls.

“Told ya,” Nightstreak sang from across the room as Babel kept pausing the video to point out little details and explain things.

“This is going to be a long night…” Twilight said quietly as she sat down, watching the overly excited mare bounce around the computer, talking faster than she could keep up with.