My head snapped off the pillow, eyes as wide open as they could. I stared off into the surrounding night, attempting and failing to see into it. I had no idea what had woken me up, but it surely wasn't anypony doing so. As my vision became used to Luna's night, I could see nopony around me, and heard no sounds as I lie on the couch. My entire body was tense, as if startled by an unknown force. Eventually, seeing as there was nothing around me, I eased up and began to lie back down. Sleep just didn't come to me, so I decided to just stay up for a little while longer until I felt tired again. I immediately got up and went into the kitchen, looking for any sort of night time snack. Not many of foods there looked too appealing, until I noticed one package that, oddly enough, had my name on it. With no idea what it could be, I began to open it. As I did, something started to squirm around in the package. Frightened, I tossed the package back, and the whole bag ripped open. Inside, was a horrifying creature, shaped as a misshapen foal. It was utterly void of any hair. No tail, no mane, just skin. It's hooves were mangled in every direction possible, and were quite longer than a normal foal's should. The worst part was the face, but I couldn't say that. That's because there wasn't a face. Not a single feature was placed; eyes, mouth, ears, nothing. Almost not even a muzzle. It was just barely seen sticking out from blank face, pointing straight at me.
I was stunned beyond hope. The only sort of movement I could of made was backwards, away from this creature, this....monster. Every step taken back was proved fruitless, as the "foal" moved closer every time. It didn't use its over-sized legs, however. Instead, it seemed to break into a static-like state, then appear closer without disappearing. This honestly began to creep me the buck out, but there was no escape. I was trapped in the kitchen, with no way out but through the foal pursuing me. After too many steps, I found myself up against a wall, the foal not too far away. Guessing that I was now helpless, it saved some time and appeared right before me, and not savoring the moment like I thought it would. Sitting almost on top of my feet, it began to stand upon its long, slender legs. Higher and higher it went, reaching the top of my legs, then my torso, neck, head, and beyond. Finally it stopped, and this once small foal now stood taller than me, with the same foalish body as before. There was just now way this could exist, yet here it stood. I glanced up at it, and found its blank slate of a face already staring back. Then, like a predator finished toying with its prey, it attacked. Excruciating pain flowed throughout me as unseeable damage was being done to my body. I screamed and screamed, but they had no effect on the situation at hand (or hoof). No help came, and this unimaginable creature did not stop from destroying me wholly. I screamed for what felt like an eternity, even as I felt myself fading out...
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My head snapped off the pillow, still screaming. Heavily breathing, I realized I was back on the couch, now soaked with sweat. It was still the middle of the night, just as in my dream. Luckily, I wasn't feeling hungry, so I didn't make a move towards the kitchen. Instead, I stayed right on the couch, hoping that there was no squirming package with my name on it in the fridge. I took one final glance around the room, and noticed a shape not far from me. Freaking out, I dove under the covers and began shaking,but was instead greeted by a voice.
"What? Not happy to see me?"
I looked out, and saw the face of Twilight Sparkle in the dark. She was standing almost right next to the couch when I peeked out, wearing a sly smile. She had a certain air about her, one that I felt she shouldn't have. She leaned in closer to me, her face just inches from mine.
"I know how you think about me; you don't have to hide it."
"Uh...what?"
"Spike already told me about how you feel about me. It took some pressure, but I finally got it out of him. Enough about him, I'm more focused about you." As she said the last part, she climbed up onto the couch and layed on top of me. There was truly something different about her, I just couldn't tell if it was good or bad.
She began to nuzzle her head against my chest, almost making a purring sound if I didn't know better. I decided to go with it, and began running my hooves through her mane, She scooted up higher, placing her head under mine and holding me in her forehooves. I returned the embrace, eliciting a sigh from Twilight. Not seeming to waste any time, she gave me a look with her beautiful violet eyes, followed by a deep kiss. Surprised, it took me a few moments to return the kiss , but finally did with as much strength as her. Seeing as I was playing along with her, she began to start prodding my lips with her tongue, to which I cautiously accepted.
If I had tried to tell you how this whole experience had felt right now, I wouldn't have words for it. I felt a surge of happiness, one that I was sure couldn't be anything besides magic-induced. Either that, or I had never felt real happiness before in my past. I guessed it was the first option. The feeling of kissing Twilight was unreal, feeling her tongue slide deeper and deeper into my mouth, finally reaching the back of....my throat?
I snapped out of my trance and shot my eyes wide open, staring into a pair of unfamiliar, gray eyes. Her mouth had stopped making contact with mine, and had pulled back an inch or two. Aghast, I was helpless as her tongue continued its journey, stopping for a moment at my throat before continuing down. At this point, I found it very difficult to breath. I began choking, gagging, and even slightly throwing up from the presence of the throat intruder. The tongue didn't stop, reaching the fork between my windpipe and esophagus. I had no idea which path it took,; I was more concentrated on the lack of air in my body. I had just started feeling light-headed, and felt everything shutting down, hoping to compensate for the lack of air.
I had wished to have blacked out sooner.
Her tongue had stopped finally, right next to my heart. It began poking at the edge of my innards closest to my heart. After a few pokes, a sense-shattering pain jolted through my nerves as the invader burst through and grasped my heart. After wrapping around it a few times, my heart was disconnected in one swift motion, and I finally left consciousness as I felt it being escorted back through my limp, dying form.
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For the third time, my head snapped off my pillow, except that I was flailing about in fear as well. The force of my flailing, plus the fact that I was on the edge of the couch, sent me spiraling towards the floor. I landed head-first with a load thump, and frantically searched the area for Twilight. Luckily, she was no where to be found. I pulled myself off the floor, and shook off any dust that might've collected on my coat. Of course there wasn't much at all, since Spike cleaned the library every day.
"Hey! Are you alright?"
Speak of the devil. That is, if the devil exists in pony form in this universe.
I swiveled my head towards Spike's voice near the kitchen. Spike was sticking his head out of the doorway, a look of worry on his face.
"Oh, yeah! I'm...um...fine. Never better!" I attempted to put on a fake smile, trying to not to get him worried. Long story short, he saw through my ruse.
"The couch worked it's magic, didn't it?"
I sighed. "Yeah, you have no idea."
"Well, come inside and tell me all about it!"
I sighed again. I didn't want to lay my mental burden on him, but I felt that it was ok if he really wanted me to. I trudged my way into the kitchen, but I didn't stay long. Already inside, waiting for breakfast, was Twilight Sparkle. Almost immediately, I paused mid-step and bulged my eyes out, reacting out of sheer terror. Obviously, I hadn't recovered from my nightmare. Could you blame me?
I used a maneuver I learned watching Twilight handle those snakes during Winter Wrap-Up. I reared back, and quickly began to backpedal out. Twilight could sense my fear, and became as worried as Spike was. She began to speak, but I didn't stay to hear. I was too afraid that she was about to try and steal my heart, literally. As soon as I had reached the doorway, I spun around and bolted for the door, but was blocked by a flash of light, followed by Twilight. She had cut off my only escape, and now I was doomed to die. Of course I wasn't dying without a fight. And by fight, I meant running away.
Quickly, I tried bolting up the stairs, only to be tackled from behind without getting far. We both fell to the floor, struggling against each other for our own reasons. Finally, seeing this as an unavoidable failure, I gave up, suddenly changing tactics. I literally went from fighting for my life in one second to pleading for it the next. I was almost sobbing, begging her to do anything but kill me. I tried anything, even offering to give sacrifices to her, or worshiping her as a goddess. I was ready, willing, and able to do anything possible if it meant sparing my life. I looked up, searching her face for some sort of answer to my pleas. All I saw was a face as surprised as mine when I saw her in the kitchen. It took her some time, but she finally gave a quick answer to everything I said.
I, for one, didn't waste any time responding.
"Does that mean you're not going to rip my heart out of my body?"
"What in Celestia could you possibly mean by that? That is the oddest question I could have possibly heard in my existence!"
At that moment, I felt as if I got slapped right back into my mind. Noticing the kind of situation I had put myself into, I began to try and patch it up.
"Sorry about that...I do have a reasonable explanation for my actions, trust me!"
"Well, you better. Anypony knows that I don’t usually believe in anything but a reasonable explanation!"
"You wont be disappointed, I promise. Shall we talk over breakfast?"
She rose off of me and extended a helping hoof. "Sounds fine by me."
I looked dumbfounded at her hoof, not exactly knowing what to do with it. I couldn't grab it with either of my hooves, so what else is there to use?
Twilight must have noticed my dumb look, and quickly said, "You're supposed to bite it."
"Huh?
"Bite it. I can pull you up that way."
"Wont that...you know, hurt?"
"Well, yes, but it's more polite than leaving you sit on the floor all day!"
"If you say so..."
Slowly and carefully, I reached my mouth over and gently bit down on her hoof, she not flinching in the slightest. I shouldn't have been surprised, but since everything was quite new to me, I couldn't help but be surprised. As soon as I was back onto my own two hooves, Twilight motioned towards the kitchen and said, "C'mon. I'm sure Spike's got breakfast waiting, and both of us will be wanting an explanation too."
I nodded in agreement, and we walked side-by-side back into the kitchen. Spike was setting the table, not looking very concerned at all for what had taken place. He seemed to know what had taken place though.
"So, did you guys finally get it sorted out?"
Twilight looked a little insulted. "Do you not care about either of us? There could have been a serious problem!"
Spike took no notice. "Oh, I know. I could hear the commotion. It's just that you guys seem to get into fights that sort themselves out, so I choose not to get too involved. It's not like I could do much anyways. But honestly, to the best of my knowledge in this topic, you guys fight like an old couple!" Spike began snickering at his awkward moment-causing joke.
While Twilight was busy not trying to look embarrassed and hiding her blushing face, I tried to destroy the moment.
"WE WERE ABOUT TO HAVE BREAKFAST YES? RIGHT! LET'S DO THAT!"
While it didn't seem like a good idea at first, it actually seemed to work. Twilight and I took our respective seats, exchanging quick glances as we did. As soon as Spike placed the food on the table, he took his seat and we began to eat. The meal consisted of hay bacon and scrambled eggs, among other things. The meal was delectable, and I finished much faster than either of my two table-mates. I got up to put my dishes away, happy that there was only one plate to bring up. I turned around from the sink, and noticed two pairs of huge eyes staring back. I became a little nervous, as most would.
"Um, what? Is there something on my face?"
Twilight was the only who could respond. "I'm more concerned about what went INTO your face! What, are you excited that I get to finally that you get to go on that tour I promised you?"
"Well, that could be part of it, but it was mostly how scrumptious that meal was!"
Spike finally regained the ability to talk. "Well, at least SOMEPONY appreciates my cooking..."
Twilight looked aghast. "You said that like I don't, Spike!"
Spike raised his hands in defense. "I'm just kidding, Twi! Don't need to get so upset."
Twilight sighed. "Oh, sorry." She looked back at me with waiting eyes. "Now, don't you have a story to tell us?"
I had almost forgotten. "Oh, right, of course. Just don't blame me if you become mentally scared, because I know I am..."
"Spike, I want you to leave. Now."
"What? Can't I even finish breakfast?"
"Bring it outside. I don't want you to be hearing this."
Spike was reluctant, but eventually left the room with his plate, grumbling to himself about still being treated as a baby. That left me alone with Twilight. I was a little worried about how she would react to my nightmare, hoping she didn't think I was some sort of pervert. Unfortunately, I had no choice. I took the seat across from where Twilight sat, and began to recall last night, which wasn't difficult, since it was burned into my mind.
I recalled every feeling, emotion, and painful moment that I could remember. I found it much easier to explain as "story time" continued, and I started speaking at a rapid pace, but not so fast that it couldn't be understood. It all poured out, feeling more and more relieved as the flow of speech increased. I couldn't bear to look at her, afraid of what I would see in her face. The best I could hope for was to at least keep the couch as a bed, either inside or outside. Maybe she'll enroll me in a therapeutic class? It could help, since I feel like I might be going insane with everything happening recently. No, I'm a goner. She'll throw me outside, and never let me back in. Worse, she'll also spread rumors around town about me, so nopony would help me out. Then I would have to move to the nearest town, possibly out of Equestria even! What could I do then? Fade away without a care in the world for me? That wouldn't be the greatest way to leave, knowing that everypony is disgusted by you. In fact, it would be the worst way to go. I'm pretty sure nopony would even go to my funeral, maybe not even the priest. Would there even be a funeral? Would anypony even bother reporting my death, or would I just be meat for the animals? I could already feel the various animals pawing at my shoulder...but, if that wasn't real, why did it feel so? I finally opened my eyes, and found out why.
Twilight had put one of her hooves on my shoulder, and had begun patting it. It was then that I noticed how sore my eyes felt, and how wet my face felt. I must have been crying the entire time I told the story! Now I just felt more embarrassed, but more hopeless than that. There was no way I wasn't going to live in a box in the next couple hours now. I was going to be
cast out, alone against possibly the worst thing to battle against: nature itself.
But...why did I feel like that's not going to happen?
I lifted my head out of my hooves, and found Twilight looking back with a deep, solemn look across her muzzle. Just one look into those violet eyes of hers reassured me, but they also let me know something else, maybe about her nightmares. There was only one way to find out.
"Something about your nightmares you would like to share, too?"
"How...oh, of course Spike told you about those. It's no surprise to me he would. But yes, it is about those nightmares, and how they tie into my past history. You see, I've been getting nightmares ever since I started sleeping on that old thing. They used to be very basic, not lasting much longer than what seemed like ten seconds. Then, as I grew older, they became longer, and much more fearful."
"I started becoming paranoid, thinking my nightmares were predicting what was going to happen. It started becoming my image to the other ponies, and I became despised and lost connections. Research became difficult, since I didn't have many useful resources, and life became stressful. The usual vacation from the stress became worse than the stress itself, and I failed to find any relaxation, awake or asleep. Sleeping anywhere else other than the couch didn't work either, as the nightmares just followed me everywhere. Life itself became a nightmare all it's own." She gave herself a chance of reconciliation before continuing. "I couldn't find any happiness anywhere. Not even Princess Celestia could affect me in any way, and became worried for me, afraid I would do something I would end up regretting. She placed a royal guard to follow me around, making sure to keep me safe from myself. His name was Captain Stalwart. Like his name suggested, he remained loyal. To the Princess, that is. He had no cares for me, and only did his job when the Princess was around. To me, he belonged in my nightmares. He mistreated me, spoke badly of me around other guards, and didn't hesitate to beat me if I didn't listen to his suggestions. He was a monster in every form of the word."
Twilight had become a different pony in the time we had been talking. Now, her eyes seemed to be glazed over, as if she were not here mentally and was reliving those horrible moments. Her voice had become lifeless, without any emotion or feel. It was almost torture to watch a pony full of life seem to die right in front of me. She continued her story after a moment of silence.
"Stalwart stayed with me for many years, all the way up past the time I officially became a mare. That only somehow became an even worse time for me. Now that I was a mare, there was a whole wide new range of "punishments" he could give me. It...was unspeakable, what he did to me on a daily basis. I just..." A single tear rolled down her muzzle, unable to keep it back.
She was close to cracking, possibly sending her into a mental breakdown. That big brain of her's had finally reached its limit. In an attempt to comfort her, I moved my chair right next to her and put a forehoof around her shoulder. She seemed to slightly relax in my arms, and she began to calm down a bit. After she was in control again, she continued.
"I'm sorry...it's just that, this has always been a touchy topic for me."
"Oh, don't be. Everyone goes through tough times, some more than others. You, however, have gone through the worst kind of life I have ever seen. I'm surprised you actually didn't do something to hurt yourself!"
She shook her head. "Of course not! I believed my life couldn't get any worse, so I thought that if I could survive through this, everything would start improving. And it did! Not while Stalwart still hung around, though..."
"What happened to him?"
"He was caught having...'unacceptable contact' with another guard. With my help."
"I'm guessing he wasn't very happy with you."
"Just some empty threats. Nothing I cared about."
"You know what he was punished with?"
"He wasn't. He escaped before any sort of punishment could be decided. Nothing has been heard of him since, so he hasn't been worried about from anyone."
That Stalwart sounded like a real threat, even if he hadn't caused any trouble in many years. He isn't someone I wanted to meet anytime soon, that's for sure. Quite a card, with a pretty bad-sounding nature. Definitely somepony to avoid. That is, if he was still alive.
"By the way, thanks again."
I brought my attention back to her, surprised that she was thanking me a second time since we met.
"What for?"
"Well, you were the first pony to have ever gotten that out of my system. Not even Spike knows the whole story, and I've known him ever since I was a filly. It felt pretty good to finally expel all of those pent up feelings. That's the second time you've been a fake therapist, right?"
"Well, yeah, I think so, if those can even be called therapy sessions..."
Suddenly, a huge crash came from upstairs, followed by a cry.
"Oh COME ON! That's the third time today!"
Twilight and I gave each other a confused glance before Spike barged in.
"Did you guys hear that? Sounds like Rainbow Dash got herself into another accident."
Twilight sighed. "Well, we might want to see how she's doing..."
I nodded. "Yeah, good idea."
Both of us quickly ran upstairs to the source of the crash, and found an enormous hole in Twilight's bedroom. Among the rubble, was a cyan colored pony with a rainbow mane and tail. Obviously, Rainbow Dash! She was in the process of brushing of every trace of dust off her fur. After shaking herself off, she turned towards us.
"I thought you would come check up on me." She suddenly realized I was there. "Hey, who's this? New coltfriend? I knew you would eventually find somepony!"
I could only groan. "Twilight, if every one of your friends call me your coltfriend..."
Rainbow laughed at the embarrassing situation she created for both of us. "Oh, come on! I'm just teasing you! You know I love to do that, Twilight. But seriously, who is he?"
The pink across Twilight's face slowly faded. "Oh, he's...new to town. I was just about to take him on a tour!"
"Well, might as well start with me, right? Now hold on, I need to begin my introduction..."
"Oh, that won't be necessary Rainbow. He knows a lot about this town and it's inhabitants. He'll have no need for an introduction."
Rainbow puffed out her chest. "Well, I guess my reputation precedes me."
I laughed. "Rainbow Dash, this has nothing to do with your reputation, although you have made quite a name for yourself. Gaining approval from the Wonderbolts, being the only pony to perform a Sonic Rainboom, even being named the Hero of Ponyville. You've been quite a busy pony, but you've also needed to learn a few things along the way, including how to hold back the need to gloat about your abilities. But I haven't learned any of these in a bar or from some rumor spreader, not at all. But if I tried to explain to you how I did, I couldn't. That's because I honestly don't know myself, but that's beside the point. The point is to prove to you that I know you just as well as well as your friends, and I hope that I have succeeded."
Rainbow Dash had a look on her face of perplexity on her face. "Well, that's cool, I guess. Shame that my reputation hasn't spread very far, but I guess that will have to wait. But, you're saying you know a lot about me without even knowing me personally? Things that my friends might not even know?"
"That is exactly what I'm saying."
She eyed me with suspicion, and stuck her face a few inches from mine, glaring with eyes that could burn a hole into mine.
My eyes kept darting around, unsure of what action to take. Thankfully, Twilight took action for me, separating us both.
"Rainbow, he isn't a spy, stalker, or anything like that. I honestly don't understand how, but I can't question it. I learned that lesson a long time ago."
"When you guys rescued Fluttershy from the hydras."
"Yeah, exactly. He knows way too much to NOT be suspicious, but I trust him, and I think you should too."
Rainbow wasn't fully convinced, but was satisfied. "Well, I wont fully trust him. Not yet. But I'll keep an eye on him for you, just in case he tries to challenge the element of loyalty." With that, she flew out her newly created hole.
Unsurprised, I said, "Well, I should've expected that from her."
Twilight could only look after her. "Well, she does try to keep her friends safe. I'm sure she's just looking out for me."
"You want to get ready for that tour you promised me? We still have four more of your friends to meet."
"I don't see why not. Let me just get ready, and we can get going. Honestly though, I don't see the point in this tour anymore, since you seem to be the more informed of us two."
I laughed. "Well, I don't have a map of the town, so I don't know where everything is in the town, just what they are."
"If you say so."
She left to get ready for the tour, but I didn't really know what she needed to do for what was literally a walk through town. Maybe she was prettying herself up for me? I could only laugh. Of course not, she wouldn't go for a pony like me. Might as well go clean myself up too, I guess. Need to be looking good, or at least not like I just got out of bed. I decided to follow Twilight so I could ask her where another bathroom was located, if there was one.