//------------------------------// // Between Dreams and Nightmares // Story: A New Face in Ponyville // by MeowthRocket //------------------------------// Note: The song lyrics in this chapter are from "Monsoon" by Tokio Hotel ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Fueled by a mix of adrenaline and determination, the mane 6 blazed out of the Everfree Forest and, within minutes, had gotten Josh to Ponyville Urgent Care Hospital, the teen behind put into a bed instantly. Pinkie Pie had gone back to the bakery to tell everyone the party was cancelled and spread the word why. Rarity had helped take off Josh's clothes to allow his injuries to be seen better for healing and was now back at her boutique doing what she could to repair them. But the others refused to leave his side, even as he was hooked up to machines and monitors. The white pony in the nurses uniform and the brown-coated pony with the dark brown mane were busy looking over his wounds and trying to see how badly he was injured. "Is... is he gonna be ok, Dr. Whooves?", Twilight asked fearfully. "I ain't never seen anyone hurt as bad as him.", Applejack added. "I have to confess, I'm just horrified.", Dr. Whooves said gravely, "I can't believe Thoroughbred would stoop this low... lucky for your friend, he doesn't appear to have any internal damage since the fire was put out quickly. But his legs did suffer massive burns. I CAN heal them back to normal, but it's gonna take a day or three." "You can heal him, just like that?", Rainbow Dash asked. "Of course, I AM the great Dr. Whooves. But what I can't figure out is why there was vomit on his stomach when I couldn't see any on his lips." "Uh... um... that was me...", Fluttershy admitted sheepishly, "I lost my lunch on him..." "Fluttershy, you were shocked. We all were...", Twilight reassured the pegasus, patting her back, "No ones blaming you, not even Josh..." This made Fluttershy feel a little better, but she was still worried about Josh's condition. She was scared to leave the teen alone in case... he took a turn for the worse. Applejack could see the fear in her face and immediately she voiced what they were all thinking "Dr. Whooves, we want to stay with Josh. He needs to have some kind ponies around to comfort him when he wakes up." She said, looking at the sedated human in the hospital bed. "Considering his condition, I do not blame any of you. I'll get you some cots and blankets." The doctor nodded before heading out of the room with the nurse. But before she left, the nurse turned back towards the 4 ponies and gave them a grateful smile. "You all should be proud of yourselves. You may have helped save this boy's life." Twilight blushed before she spoke. "It wasn't just us, Pinkie Pie and Rarity helped too, Nurse Neighbourne!" The white nurse smiled and left the ponies in the room with their friend. The four of them couldn't believe what had just happened. Joshua, a teen that had been sent there by Celestia to help them learn more lessons in friendship, was now laying in a hospital bed hooked up to machines and under heavy sedation to allow him to rest. "I just can't believe it...", Twilight whispered, "How could they do something so horrible..." "They're monsters...", Fluttershy whispered, "Monsters!" "When Josh gets better, I swear I'm gonna make sure all of Equestria knows about this..." Applejack growled. "That's if I don't get to Thoroughbred first and string him up by his rotten neck!", Rainbow Dash seethed, a fire nearly buring in her eyes, "How could anyone do something so horrible! Hell, GILDA wasn't this cold!" "That's sayin' somethin'!", Applejack admitted as she remembered the ill-tempered griffin. "So what do we do?", Fluttershy had to ask, "Are we all gonna stay with him at once?" "We can't do that.", Applejack said sadly, "We do have to do our natural duties to Ponyville... although when Pinkie Pie tells them what happened, I bet business will be at a standstill..." Rainbow Dash nodded in agreement. "I don't think they'd blame me for taking some days off cloud duty... in fact, I don't think any of the pegasi will be doing cloud duty for a little bit..." "I think it's safe to say all of Ponyville's gonna be at a stop for a little while... at least until Josh is better and Equestria Pony Alliance is reported. This... this is unforgiveable!", Twilight seethed as she trotted over to Josh and placed a hoof on his head, brushing his bloodied hair off his face. "Those... those... those horrible ponies...", Fluttershy murmured, trotting by Twilight and looking tearfully at the teen in the bed, his chest rising with each ragged breath. "Guys...", Applejack called out, "We need ta make a promise... ta not just Josh.. but to all of ponyville... That Thoroughbred and his clan will be revealed for the horrors they've caused!" With a nod, Twilight and Fluttershy walked over to Applejack and Rainbow Dash and the four of them placed thier hooves on one another, as if making a pact to expose them for their awful deed. But as they looked over at the sleeping boy, they couldn't but wonder... Was he at least having peaceful dreams? --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- All he could see was grass. Just an endless grass valley. The feeling of it between his fingers and toes almost indescribable. A sigh escaped his lips as he laid back. Up in the sky he could see pegasi circling around, pushing clouds into place... I'm staring at a broken door There's nothing left here anymore My room is cold, it's making me insane Suddenly the sky above turned dark and, as if someone had flicked a switch, all the grass transformed into a thick blanket of white snow, the clouds about showering him with even more of the frozen liquid as the pegasi seemed to disappear. He sat up and huddled himself for warmth, feeling abnormally cold even for a snowy day and looked around for any sign of life... I've been waitin' here so long Another moment seems to have come I see the dark clouds comin' up again "Hello? Is... anyone there?" Looking ahead and squinting his eyes, he swore he could see a group of ponies up ahead. Forcing himself to his feet, he began to sprint as fast as he could towards the ponies, almost as if they were beckoning to him. But the more he ran, the farther away they seemed to go. Running through the monsoon Beyond the world 'til the end of time Where the rain won't hurt Fighting the storm into the blue And when I lose myself I think of you Together we'll be running somewhere new Through the monsoon just me and you Even when he picked up the speed, the snow chilling him to his bones, the ponies continued to grow farther and farther away until he found himself face down in the snow, exhaustion having felled him. Bracing himself up on his hands, he found himself looking at pictures... pictures of him with his new friends... with his parents... with his friends in his own world... But in every single picture, all the other faces were missing, burnt out as if hot embers had been placed into them. A half moon fading from my sight I see your vision in it's light But now it's gone and left me so alone Gathering up the pictures, he tried to make out who those were in the pictures, but the ember holes just seemed to keep growing bigger and bigger until they'd disentegrated the majority of the photos, leaving only his figure intact. Looking at the scraps, he tried to cry, only to feel his tears frozen on his cheeks, the cold preventing him from being able to let out his sadness. I'll know I have to find you now Can hear your name and don't know how Why can't we make this darkness feel like home? But as he tried to cry, he swore he could hear a faint voice calling out to him... "Josh... Josh where are you..." "I'm here... Can you see me?" "Josh... speak to me, hun." "Josh! We're worried about you!" He could hear the voices growing louder and he just had to get to them. Getting back to his feet and even with his ribs aching from running, the teen had to keep running. Running through the monsoon Beyond the world 'til the end of time Where the rain won't hurt Fighting the storm into the blue And when I lose myself I think of you Together we'll be running somewhere new And nothing can hold me back from you Through the monsoon... He could see them getting clearer, the figures calling out to him... they were getting closer... "I'm coming... I'm COMING!" Then a sharp crack to his head sent him toppling face first into the snow. Shaking himself back to his senses he rubbed the back of his skull and brought forward his hand to discover it saturated in blood and slowly decaying. Gasping in horror as he heard the cruel laughter, he turned onto his back and found himself looking at the shadowy figures... those same ones that had tried to burn him alive... "Get out... get out... get out... get out... get out..." They kept chanting the same 2 words over and over, the pitch increasing until they were practically shouting it... and it was then his mind began to crack as he started to laugh hysterically and looked around at the shadows surrounding him before he noticed at his feet was a pegasus's wing, lined with blades... He didn't know where it came from, but he could easily see it was a combination of the coat colors of Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Twilight Sparkle, and Rainbow Dash... almost as if... their energies were embued inside... "If you wanted me gone...", he whispered reaching down and taking the wing in his hands, "You should have killed me the first time!' Hey! Hey! I'm fighting all this power coming in my way Let it take me straight to you I've been running night and day! He swung and cut the closest shadow straight down the middle before rearing back and cutting off anothers head. One by one, he used the bladed wing to cut to pieces the shadowed figures all around him, silencing their chants and allowing the quiet to soothe him, until all that was left was him standing among a grey mist. The wing slowly raised itself up into the air and shone a bright light, blinding the teen and making him fall back shielding his eyes. To his shock, the snow all around him started to melt away, the pegasi in the sky reappearing and tearing away the clouds. It was then he saw them, clear as crystal... All 6 of the ponies he'd met... waving to him and calling out to him... "Josh! Come here!" Rainbow Dash called out waving her hoof. "Come on! Let's have fun!", Pinkie Pie shouted gleefully "We want you here... Please stay...", Fluttershy added shyly "C'mon sugar... we miss you...", Applejack pitched in "Darling, come on! I want to show you more of my designs...", Rarity added. "Josh please stay... You're gonna help us so much... please...", Twilight Sparkle finished I'll be with you soon just me and you We'll be there soon So soon As fast as his legs could take him, Josh ran over to where the ponies were and watched as a sparkling doorway seemed to rise up before them... its light calling out to him and drawing the teen in... "Josh... please come back... please..." Watching in shock, the ponies all ran into the doorway and vanished. It took him less than a second to rush in after them... Running through the monsoon Beyond the world 'til the end of time Where the rain won't hurt Fighting the storm into the blue And when I lose myself I think of you Together we'll be running somewhere new And nothing can hold me back from you Through the monsoon "He's waking up!" "Josh, honey, can you hear us?" He could hear their voices right next to him, one of their hooves resting on his shoulder. His energy was slowly returning... and as he opened his hazel eyes, he found himself looking into the faces of Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Twilight Sparkle. Looking down, he realized it was Applejack who had a hoof on him. "I... I can hear you... I can see you..." Immediately, the four equines cheered and hugged him, squishing him into a mix between their warmth and his hospital bed. It felt better than any embrace he'd had back home. Through the monsoon Just me and you Through the monsoon Just me and you