//------------------------------//
// A Broken Man's Dreams 
// Story: An odd family: The foundations. 
// by EdBoii 
//------------------------------//


Dreaming of Home



"See ya later dude, I'll be going to the store for some milk." I said to an old friend of mine before heading out to the store.

It was a nice, warm, and sunny day, the heat of the midday sun reaching out to the world, wrapping it in it's comforting warmth. And I was off to do one of the things I enjoyed the most, walking! A large smile spread along my lips as I took my iPod out of my pocket and clicked on play. 

A rather old and cheesy love song started playing, my smile only widened, these old songs always brought out another side of myself, one that I rather kept for my own mind, but thoroughly enjoyed.

It just felt soothing, to be able to walk through the streets were I grew up, to forget my troubles and worries, and simply walk through the empty streets consumed in my own thoughts as I pondered upon the very sense of existence, the calm rhythm of the song and the soft melody only increased the peacefulness of it all.

Closing the door to my house, I started walking down the street.

The road was in ill repair, holes and bumps lay scattered throughout its surface, but I didn't care, these were my streets after all, I had grown up looking at them, playing in them, learning how to ride a bike and recently, walking through them.

The numerous palm trees along the sidewalks loomed over me in a comforting manner, I felt safe as I trudged along the path that had seen my childhood pass and my teen years begin.


These streets would always be here after all, they would never disappear.


The loud weeping of a baby gryphon and the oozing saliva of a small minotaur made them disappear though...

As well as a strong kick to my gut from a baby centaur.

Groaning in pain, I slowly managed to open my eyes and look around me.

The small gryphon was crying his eyes out on the floor beside the bed, he must have rolled off the edge, the minotaur had stealthily climbed up my pillow during the night and was now drooling on top of my head, his saliva slowly running down my hair and into the mattress.

And last but not least! The little lady of this strange, dysfunctional family! Well, she was happily running in her sleep beside me, she must have had one hell of a rock to jump for such a kick though, my stomach felt like it had been run over by a car...

"So that would explain the pain..." I slowly sat on the bed, making sure that the minotaur didn't wake up.

I took a hand to my hair and inspected the damage, half of it was wet with drool, but hey, look on the bright side, not gonna need any gel today!

I stood up and walked towards the little gryphon, lifting him up into my arms, I hushed him into sleep once again and placed him back on the bed, making sure he was far enough from the little runner who was still a few miles away from finishing her race.

Taking a few steps away from the bed my gaze went over the three little infants, I smiled at the sight before me, in spite of the whole weirdness and confusion of this situation I could feel a growing affection towards them. They were as lost as I was and they needed even more help than I.

The little minotaur quietly rolled around the bed and came to rest beside the centaur, he wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled her before going back to sleep.

My smile growing wider, I turned around and walked towards the door, making sure to do little to no noise as I carefully moved about the room, eventually, I reached the door and slowly pushed against it until a gap, large enough for me to fit through, formed and I exited the room.

Upon leaving the small guests room, I got a better look at the place thanks to the sunlight.

Rarity's boutique was, to say it politely, a total mess.

Pieces of fabric, silk, thread and other dressmaking materials lay scattered throughout the floor, several mannequins were lined against the walls, each one holding different designs of dresses and hats.

Arching my eyebrow, I continued walking in search of a bathroom or at least someplace I could wash my hair and face.

It must have been around midday, judging by the position of the sun, I'd say around two or three o'clock.

The light shone brightly through the windows of the boutique and illuminated the rooms, filling them with sunshine, excruciatingly painful sunshine...

"I'm starving..." I clutched my growling stomach while trying to find my way to a kitchen or something.

The place seemed rather empty though, no sign of Rarity or the little unicorn. What was she called again? Sweet Ball? Sitting Bell? 

"Sweetie Belle! Please go check on our guests while Twilight and the others get here."

"Okay Rarity. But can I please have another cookie after dinner?"

"Very well, but only if you don't interrupt my dressmaking, ok?"

"Yay!"

It took a little while for the voices to make a click in my brain but I eventually recognized them.

The voices were coming from the entrance to the boutique, and since I had little else to do rather than roam around, I decided to meet my hostess and ask for directions towards the nearest bathroom.

Stifling a yawn, I walked towards the main room were I had entered earlier that day, I was still wearing my old clothes and they were stained badly with mud and sweat.

"Damn brotha... I could use a shower..." Scratching my head I slowly entered the room were Rarity and her... Daughter? Were unpacking some stuff.

"Morning ma'am, need any help?" I asked, reaching down to the bags on the floor as I entered the room.

"Why, thank you Iron, but please, call me Rarity." Rarity smiled and FUCKING LEVITATED A BUNCH OF APPLES FROM THE BAGS!

My jaw dropped again in utter amazement, I remembered Discord saying some stuff about magic, but I had been too tired to listen to the final bits of info about unicorns...

I stared at her horn with complete amazement for about a minute of uncomfortable silence... Until...

"Rarity, did he fall in love or something?" The rather squeaky voice of Sweetie Belle broke through the silence, but did little to alleviate the awkwardness of the situation.

Rarity went wide eyed and immediately snapped at her, all the while a little embarrassed blush lit up her face.

I ,on the other hand, had barely come to terms with what I had seen, and slowly broke through the daze.

"What was that?" I asked no one in particular as the impression slowly faded away.

"What was what dear?" Rarity returned her eyes to me and resumed levitating more apples from the bags.

"That!" I quickly pointed at the floating apples with a trembling finger.

"Huh? Dear, these are apples." Rarity smiled awkwardly while placing the apples on a table.

I shook my head to clear out any left over amazement and opened my mouth to explain myself, too late though, more interruptions were to arise, not too pleasant either.

"Rarity! We came as soon as we-" A purple unicorn opened the door to the boutique and entered the room, her words interrupted by my presence, possibly my smell too.

Her eyes grew wide and her little pony jaw dropped, in all honesty, she must have looked as I did when first spotting the flying apples.

"Uhm, Twilight? Can ya move a bit? Ah' can't see very well with you in front o' me." Another pony, this one was partially blocked by 'Twilight', but I still got a good glimpse of her, she had an orange coat, blonde mane and a large cowboy hat, her southern accent brought to mind a lot of western films.

"Whoa! What the hay is that thing?!" A third one, this time a pegasus, blue coat and a rainbow colored mane, she flew above the other two ponies and stared at me while pointing a hoof.

"Girls, girls, please! It's not ladylike to make a guest uncomfortable." Rarity walked towards the other ponies and tried to calm them down. "Now please, if you could all be so kind as to enter."

Rarity motioned the others to come inside and smiled pleasantly, as if to reassure them that I wouldn't bite.

As for myself, well, I just stood there, smiling awkwardly while staring at them, unsure of what to say.

After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, Twilight stepped inside, followed by the orange and blue ponies, the latter one getting scolded by Rarity for flying inside her home.

Rarity, the ponies and I then sat down on a few, rather large, chairs she produced from a nearby closet.

I had no idea of what was going on, but so far, nothing had made any sense, so the best course of action was to follow the flow and hope for the best.

The ponies then sat down on the oversized furniture and I got a good look at why they were so large.

Instead of sitting down, they simply lay down on the chairs, which made sense since they were ponies and their anatomy wouldn't allow for an upright sitting position.

They were all looking at me now, a hint of distrust and curiosity in their eyes, all except Rarity of course.

I smiled awkwardly again and proceeded to sit down in my regular, standard human way, which was rather uncomfortable for my back because of the overly large chair.

As I sat down, several glances were exchanged by the ponies, odd looks were shot at me as well, and I swear the blue pegasus was holding back laughter.

Feeling annoyed at being mocked at, I snapped my question with a little more strength than intended.

"So, what's the meeting for?" I asked everyone, but looked directly at the amused pegasus, my eyes giving out a dead, cold stare that made me quite proud.

It's effect was instant, he/she/it? stopped smirking immediately and tensed up defensively, her eyes locking with mine.

The other three ponies sensed the growing unease, and after several seconds, Twilight interceded.

"Uhm... ah, excuse me mister?" She stumbled with her words, but managed to continue. "We'd like to ask you a few questions."

"An we'd be mighty thankful if ya'll could keep from fightin' while we ask em." The orange pony was looking at the pegasus with a hint of disapproval as well as concern. "Right Rainbow?"

Rainbow, as she seemed to be called, held the unbroken stare for a bit longer before rolling her eyes and letting out an annoyed huff.

"Yeah whatever..." She turned her head to the side and looked at a wall before asking a question of her own. "Applejack, why didn't Flutters and Pinks come with us anyway?"

The orange pony, Applejack I guess, smiled at her and replied.

"Dontcha remember? Angel got sick and Pinkie wanted to throw him a get well party, Fluttershy stayed with him."

"Oh yeah." Rainbow scratched her mane with a hoof, and I made a mental note that she didn't seem to be quite the Einstein.

Looking back at Twilight I decided to find out what the hell they wanted with me.

"Ask away." I smiled at her pleasantly and made a gesture with my hand to emphasize.

That seemed to relax the heavy atmosphere a little, but not completely, Rainbow kept stealing glances at me, and Applejack was constantly whispering things at her, as if trying to keep her calm.

The interrogation continued without problems though, I was asked several things, among them there were some that were important and others that only confused me.

"What are your intentions in Ponyville?" Twilight looked up from a list of questions she had brought with her.

"Raising three kids, then getting the hell out I guess..." I replied, no longer concerned about being polite, I was too hungry, upset and unwashed for manners at the moment.

"Huh? Kids? Ya wouldn't mean foals would ya?" Applejack raised her head and looked at me oddly.

"Nope, they aren't ponies... Well, one of them could be half-horse..." I replied, scratching my head.

"We'll get to that eventually, now please Applejack, let me continue with the list." Twilight smiled at Applejack who simply nodded and carried on doing what they all had been doing up till then, staring at me...

"How did you arrive to Equestria?" Twilight asked once again.

I couldn't help but chuckle as I repeated what had come to become somewhat of a catchphrase.

"Fucking Discord!" I tried to hold back the worst of the laughter but couldn't help a smile from forming.

The ponies didn't seem too amused by my reply however, Twilight snapped at attention at Discords name, Applejack cringed a little at my language choice, and Rainbow, well, she kind of tackled me...

"Why are you working for Discord?! What did he promise?! What are his plans?!" The rainbow maned pegasus swiftly took into the air and crashed into me, pushing me from the chair and into the floor with a surprised gasp and a loud thud.

"Son of a bitch!" I shouted as my head hit the corner of a table, Rainbow saw this and a look of worry replaced her former angry expression, she then flew towards me.

Whether she was going to help or not I would never know, she didn't get far before I was on my feet, fury in my eyes and completely blinded by both pain and rage.

She stopped flying for a split second and smiled, later that day I found out that it was an apologetic smile and not a mocking one but sadly, I wasn't aware of it at that moment.

Without so much as a warning, I lunged forward and took a hold of her shoulders.

With a loud yelp of surprise she was sent flying backwards by the sheer force of my push, she collided with the wall and let out a cry of pain.

Immediately regretting my reaction, I started muttering my apologies under my breath as I tried to make my way over to her.

The other ponies had been staring wide eyed and frightened at my sudden display of rage, but sprang into action as soon as I started walking towards the fallen pegasus.

I didn't get far before a horrible pain on the my left ribs made me cry out in pain.

"Don't touch her!" Applejack suddenly appeared by my side, readying another kick, Twilight's horn was glowing purple and before I had time to explain myself, a large beam of purple light surrounded my head.

"What the fuck?!" I tried to shout, but my voice was muffled by the strange magic, and after a couple of seconds, exhaustion that hadn't been there before, settled in.

I stumbled a little before completely collapsing on the floor, asleep.

Before passing out I heard a loud screech coming from the hallway that led to the babies's room, and a little gryphon rushed towards me, letting out the occasional whimper or screech, he leapt onto my back and extended his tiny wings protectively.

Then darkness took over my thoughts and I fell unconscious.

These streets had always calmed me down, even after the years when they became dangerous and I was forced to leave them, I always carried a little of them with me, deep down in my heart, I had always belonged in the home that lay surrounded by those tattered old roads, broken and worn out by countless people walking through them, countless stories had crossed them, countless souls had shed their tears and worries on the same old streets were I walked.

And my own thoughts and beliefs were now on the same old concrete that had guarded my childhood for so many years, I could do little to go back to them, but did it matter? Had I truly departed them?

No, I was still there, every time I looked upon my thoughts and remembered them, and the many people that crossed those roads with me.

But now was no longer the time to remember, or to dwell on the past, I had a future road to build.


Three paths to shape and care for, at least until they were old enough to build for themselves