//------------------------------//
// A Dream 
// Story: Trapped 
// by Gylden Glor 
//------------------------------//

	I sigh as I move around the pelvic sac, lamenting the waste of meat.
"You're sure I can't eat this, Twilight?" I whine as I see the undeniable value of the meat in the specimen.
"Peter, this is for scientific means!" Twilight hisses. "So you can't eat it! Plus, she has a family! That would be terrible!"
I sigh, and shake my head. "They wouldn't know. She donated her body to science."
"Then maybe you can eat it when it's all said and done," Twilight sighs. "But until then, you can't eat her. We've got to determine whether the tumor killed her or not."
I shrug, a phantom taste of hamburger lingering in my mouth. "'K. By the way, I can already tell you how she died," I remark as I observe the tumor, pushing it to bring forth a small indent. "See that?" I ask, pointing to a part of the growth.
Twilight leans forward, lighting the interior with the dim glow of her horn. She frowns as she observes the tumor. "Yeah, it's on a cluster of veins on her intestines."
I nod, and push it aside with a scalpel so she can see it more clearly. She squints, and gasps. "Oh! It looks like it was torn!" She exclaims, inputting her own magically held scalpel to make a small incision. Through what we can see in the incision, it seems as though a part of the tumor was sucked ingot the vein: large enough to make a difference, but small enough to go through without much blockage.
I nod, and point to the bovine heart. "Now, as we both know, all the veins return to the heart, and from there, to every organ in the body. So, seeing as how she was diagnosed with internal asphyxiation as cause of death, I'd say that if we were to cut open part of her lung, we would find a bit of the tumor lodged in a capillary."
Twilight nods, and prods at the lungs with the broad of her scalpel. After a few moments, she pauses, and uses another tool to point out a small bulge in a vein. "There," she says, determined.
I nod, and she makes the incision. Almost immediately, we see the small bit of growth sticking out of the vein.
"Bingo," I mutter, pulling my arms out of the bovine's chest cavity. "So, Twilight, do you do many post-mortem examinations?" I ask as I place the used tools down on the plate with a clatter. I remove the clamps that had held the stomach out of the way, and place them down, as well.
"Not many," Twilight mutters as she places her own tools down. "I only do it when it's for scientific reasons."
I nod as she wipes a bit of remaining formaldehyde off of her scalpel. I groan in disappointment.
"What?" She asks, frowning.
"It's already been embalmed," I sigh. "It would be poisonous for me to eat..."
Twilight nods, and I can't help but notice that she has a small, victorious smirk playing across her face. "Looks like you'll have to settle on carrots, Peter."
I nod, and we peel off our gloves, sanitary caps, face masks, and other sanitary garments. We place them in their respective bags, and then discard of each in two different bins.
As we leave, we wash our hands and hooves, and stop at the front desk.
"We're done," Twilight announces, placing down a key. "The tools are properly arranged, the body is still on its table."
The stony stallion nods, and we dismiss ourselves from the morgue. As we exit, I block my eyes from the sudden sunlight, and shiver in the autumn breeze.
"So," Twilight remarks as we walk through the streets of Canterlot, "you we pretty good at that. You knew all the procedures, and you were pretty good at it."
I nod as we board the train back to Ponyville, sitting down next to each other in the (thankfully) heated train. "Well, I have a Master's in Computer Engineering, and a Bachelor's in Electrical. I was going back to college as a pre-Med, and I was in my...second year, I believe? Yeah, second year. I took every opportunity I got to perform an autopsy."
Twilight nods, and the train shudders as it begins to move along the track. "So, Rarity was able to transcribe that design you showed her on your iPad?" She asks, watching two ponies that are shooting me strange, curious glances.
"Yeah," I respond with a grin. "She said she'd have to reach out to a friend to get plastics made for the sword and shield, but besides that, it's fine."
It's been about three weeks since Rainbow Dash has gone off with the Wonderbolts. In that time, I gave Rarity a design for my Nightmare Night costume, helped Applejack perfect the pump for her irrigation system, had Vinyl Scratch repair my headphones, and finally had a bit of meat (fuck yes!!!!). The bit of meat in question was when Twilight and I visited the Diamond Dog capital to deal with a bit of foreign affairs. Turns out that they actually eat meat, and I got a chance to consume a well-cooked pheasant. It was quite...pleasant!
Twilight nods, and gulps as the train stops at a midway station. She sighs in relief as the two ponies leave the train, and holds her breath until the doors close again.
As the train begins to move again, Twilight and I are the only ones left in our car of the train. She rests her head on my shoulder, and I can't help but smile.
Ah, yes. Over those few weeks, I've also learned quite a lot about Equestrian culture. It turns out that, when two friends grow to be very close, and emotionally attached, it is acceptable for them to touch each other in ways that couples normally do on Earth. By that, I mean such as putting their arms around each other - or, in this case, forelegs - or resting their heads on each other's shoulders.
Small kisses are seen as signs of friendship, but the kisses that Rainbow and I share are explicitly resolved for romance. Cuddling in bed, sexual interaction, and other such things are reserved for romance, as well.
I put my arm around Twilight, and rub her foreleg as she rubs her cheek against my broad shoulder. It's quite amazing, really; the level of emotional attachment condoned between friends. Normally in friendships, the most a guy and a girl would do is hug. But in Equestria, stallions and mares get much more personal. In a way, it's a very romantic society.
Twilight's horn pokes me in the chin, (and not gently whatsoever,) bringing me out of my contemplation of the oddities of Equestrian culture. I jump in pain as it pinches my skin, and she jumps away from me in embarrassment as she holds her sensitive horn.
"Sorry," I say, rubbing my chin.
"It was just a bump," she sighs. She whimpers lightly as she squeezes her eyes shut, still tenderly rubbing her horn with a hoof. "But it hurt..."
I chuckle lightly, and shake my head. "You'll get over it," I remark. "Besides, it's not like it got bitten or anything."
Twilight scowls at me. "Don't even remind me of that, Peter."
I snicker, as Twilight's horn was recently bitten by a squirrel that thought it was a curious, flavored branch. Since Twilight's horn is especially sensitive, even for a unicorn, it hurt so much, and elicited such a strong reaction, that, well..
Long story short, the squirrel's body was found in a clearing five miles away.
I rub the back of my neck as the train finally arrives in Ponyville.
"So, what d'you wanna do?" I ask as we exit the train, and walk into the brisk autumn breeze. I shiver, and remember that Rarity exists.
"Could Rarity make me a jacket?" I ask, cutting across whatever Twilight was saying. "And a pair of denim jeans?"
Twilight frowns, and shrugs. "I dunno. Go ask her."
I nod, and take off, my bag hitting me in the side as I jog through Ponyville. I never go anywhere without my bag, which I have recently upgraded to a messenger bag, courtesy of Rarity.
I quickly arrive at the boutique, and pull the door open, enjoying the small tinkle of the bell. I walk in, and I'm immediately greeted by Rarity.
"Well, hello, Peter!" She cries, with a grin. "I've already started on your costume. I have the gloves done, and the boots are coming along nicely. The measurements I got from you are sort of confusing, given your...different, proportions, but I, ah...I'll manage."
I nod, and smile at Rarity. "Hello yourself. Now, I was wondering if you could make me some sort of jacket...like, a hoodie or something. Because I don't wanna freeze out there, what with not having fur to keep me warm."
Rarity nods, and hesitates before fetching her measuring tape. "What, exactly, is a hoodie, dear?" She asks, picking up a pad to take notes with.
I explain a hoodie to her, and she smiles. "I could adapt that for use by ponies," she mutters, before spinning her notepad. "How's that look?"
I smile, and nod. "Yeah, that looks great. You know what material you'd use, right?"
"Cotton and wool, of course!" She cries. I nod, and dig into my pocket for my wallet.
Recently, Equestria has developed a system of paper money, so as to make carrying around easier for ponies. It hasn't quite replaced coins yet, but ponies will gladly accept paper money over coins at times.
"So, how much?" I ask, sifting through 20-bit-bills. Due to recently having acquired a paying job, I'm able to actually buy shit now.
And, what's even better is that it's a job as the royal technician of Canterlot! Which means I only have to show up to work once a week! Because as long as I'm able to push out a new device once per month, I get paid. This was strategic on Celestia's part, as she can, using my knowledge, incorporate more advanced technology into Equestrian culture, and make certain things easier to do. Of course, she respects tradition, and doesn't want to overwrite things such as Weather Ponies or Winter Wrap Up. But she's willing to make new ways to either store data or manage funds.
Rarity observes the drawing she made, mutters a few things to herself, and then nods to herself.  "Normally, something of this magnitude would be 160 bits...But for you, I'll halve the price! Eighty bits, please."
I nod with a grin of gratitude, and pull out four twenty bit bills from my leather wallet. Yes, they have leather here. There are cows that donate their bodies to productivity, so as to make products that we can use.
I've learned a lot about Equestrian culture. Fucking quiz me.
Rarity nods, and puts my money in a pouch she wears around her hind leg. "I'll be right back," she declares. "Can't have you going outside and getting hypothermia, now, can we?"
I smile, and Rarity runs off. I hear the sounds of a sewing machine going Super Saiyan, knitting needles clacking together, and the hiss of an iron. These sounds repeat themselves for several minutes, and I contemplate climbing the stairs to see what the racket's all about.
Twenty minutes later, she comes downstairs with a grey hoody that has two pockets, a zipper going down the middle, and a single letter sewn into the chest area: "P". I smile as I expertly pull it on, and zip it up. I run the strings that adjust the hood through my fingers, and pick at the aglets for a moment: force of habit. I thank Rarity, and she bids me farewell as I step out of the Boutique.
I stand there, nice and cozy in my new hoody, and crick my neck as I adjust my messenger bag. I stare out into space for a few moments, thinking about what I should do next.
And then, I end up leaning against the wall.
Just standing there, staring into space, thinking of what to do next...
Is that how video game characters feel when we leave them idle?
Or even how NPCs feel before they spawn?
So, I've decided what I want to do.
Look shady as fuck by leaning against the wall when, in actuality, I'm just doing some philosophy.
Does that mean that computer programs have minds of their own? Are they self-aware when we give them displays of emotion through AI and reaction to certain player actions?
Does that mean that Pythagoras was right? Is the world aught but numbers and formulas? 011101010101010101010101011010011111001011?
If someone were to translate that from Binary into English, would that be gibberish?
Yes.
Hey, I finally got an answer!
I am the best. Philosopher. Ever.
I come off the wall, feeling rather cheerful as I hum "Song of Storms" to myself, and-
...
It's raining.
It just started raining.
I spread my arms as I grin into the cloudy sky.
Mother of God...
"I'm the Hero of Time!" I declare unto the sky, pride coursing through my veins.
"No, you're just wet," I hear a female pony say, softly.
I spin, and smile at Fluttershy. "Why, yes, my dear. I am."
Fluttershy giggles, and waves a hoof for me to follow her. "Come on. We're not far from my house. It's just drizzling, so we can make it there without getting too wet."
I nod, and follow Fluttershy to her house. She opens the door, and I walk in with a polite nod. She closes the door behind her, and tosses a towel to me.
"Go on, dry off," she announces. I nod, and simply swish it around on my head, drying my hair.
"Thanks," I say, taking off my shoes and placing them next to the door. Fluttershy nods, and tosses the towel into a bin.
"Well, go on, sit down," she says, tossing her own towel into the bin with mine. I nod, and sit down on her couch, looking down at a small tub of...turtle wax.
"That's Tanks'," Fluttershy announces. "He's out back, if you want to see him."
I nod, and shrug. I'm about to say that I'd rather talk to her, when we hear an alarm go off.
"Attention all ponies; attention all ponies! The weather ponies are going to start the storm soon. Stay indoors, and make sure all flying pets are housed indoors as well! I repeat: stay indoors, and make sure all flying pets are housed indoors as well."
The magnified voice booms through Ponyville, and Fluttershy panics. "I'd better get Tank in here!" She cries, before exploding out the back door.
I follow, and help her find the little critter. Once we've found him, (he was napping under a tree: like mother like tortoise, eh?), we take him inside, and take off his propellor so he doesn't go flying out a fucking window or something.
Fluttershy rushes up the stairs, and I hear curtains closing before she comes back down, and closes the windows on this story. I stop petting Tank, (you pet a turtle by rubbing the area underneath its chin,) and join Fluttershy.
"Should I get back to the library?" I ask, leaning against the wall. Fluttershy frowns as she quadruple checks her windows for the umpteenth time. "I mean, if this is going to be a long storm, I don't want to impose and end up having to stay the night."
Fluttershy chuckles. "Oh, nonsense. It'd be fine, Peter. But, if you, uh, really wanna go, that'd be...that'd be fine...if you want..."
I take note of her light blush, and decide that it would probably be best to leave right now. I'm not good around shy people. "Well, I bet Twilight's going to have some hard time with her house being a tree and all. I should probably get going."
I open the door, and I'm about to walk out when lightning strikes literally a fucking foot away from me. I raise an eyebrow, and look to the dark clouds, my manly girth giving them a bitch slap as I dare them to-
Oh, who the fuck am I kidding.
I jump backwards, letting out a scream that would normally be heard from a little girl. I kick the door closed, and hyperventilate as I whimper, ozone crackling in my hair, and my ears ringing from the thunderclap that had raped my ears directly after the lightning strike.
"Uhhh, Peter? Are you?..."
"Hey, remember when I said I was going back to the library?" I ask, hastily.
Fluttershy frowns. "Uhm, yeah?"
"I lied," I inform her, twitching as my heart settles the fuck down.
"Al...right, then...uhh...would you like some tea?"
I sigh, and take a deep breath to calm myself. "Nah, I hate tea," I respond. She frowns, visibly insulted, and I feel a twinge of sympathy. "But, uhh...I've only tried Green. I'd be willing to try a new kind of tea."
She perks up, and nods. "Will do!"
I nod, and recline in the couch, watching as Tank meanders around. He ends up looking up at me, and I scratch him under the chin."
"Heya, buddy," I say to him. "I bet you're missing Rainbow Dash, huh?" He slowly, very slowly, nods, and I smile. "Yeah, I am too, bro. Trust me." He smiles at me, very slowly, of course. I smile back, and he licks my hand before walking off to...I don't know, really.
I pick up his propellors, which we took off of him when we brought him indoors, and observe it. There's no visible mechanism, but it seems as though it's directly controlled by Tank's will, as far as I can tell. I decide to put it back down, out of fear of fucking it up.
I take out my iPad, and start to play Jetpack Joyride. Yes, I still play that game, shut up. A few minutes later, I hear Fluttershy walk back in, and she stops behind me to watch the game. I smile, and do my best, until I finally get taken down by a missile.
"Oh, my," she says, sitting down next to me as I close the iPad. "That's quite a violent game..."
I chuckle lightly as I shake my head, and accept the tea, careful to hold it by the handle so as to not burn myself. "Please, you haven't seen anything," I inform her. "There are games a lot more violent than that. In fact, that was one of the most mellow. But, I'll spare you the details."
Fluttershy nods, and I can't help but notice that her wings are twitching a tiny bit. I put my iPad away in my messenger bag, and take a sip of my tea. It's sweet, hot, and everything I hate in tea. I place it down with an involuntary, unapproving smack of my lips.
"What's wrong?" Fluttershy asks, seeing my face of contorted revulsion. "Did I make it too hot?"
I shake my head. "Nah. I just don't like tea."
Fluttershy nods, and suddenly blushes. "Uhm...if you...if you wouldn't mind, could you...uhm...uhh...maybe...well....that is.......I.........the....th-the video game? Th-that you said was...m-more violent? C-could I.............could I see it?" She asks, putting on a large, innocent grin. I smirk at her in surprise, and pull out my iPad.
"You sure?" I ask, cautiously. She takes a deep breath, and nods.
"Yep."
I nod, too; and take out my iPad. I bring up a video of a somewhat violent video game, but one that is too violent: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. Fluttershy watches avidly, her eyes wide, and her lower lip quivering. "Okay, enough!" She cries, holding out her hooves towards the screen. I nod as I close the video, and take up a video of a Chinchilla.
"Enjoy," I say, softly, gently pulling her hooves out of the way so she can see the small animal. She smiles, and immediately calms down.
After a little while, I close the iPad and put it in my messenger bag. "Why'd you want to see violence, Fluttershy?"
"I wanted to prove that I could handle it," she admits.
"To who?"
"Myself," she whispers. "I fancy myself a...a kind of surgeon..."
I smile at her. "Have you operated on an animal before?"
"Yes," Fluttershy sighs. "I have. I handle myself well when I do, but outside of that, I'm bad with blood...and violence...and meanness..."
I nod, and pat her on the back. "Fluttershy, surgeons are special people. They tend to be able to steel their nerves when in a pressing situation. When there's a dying patient on their table, they turn to stone. I have no doubt that you posses the same ability. You know what's important, Fluttershy."
Fluttershy smiles at me, and jumps as thunder claps in the distance. I smile as I hear it. I actually quite enjoy thunder and lightning. It's only when I can feel the ozone crackling in my hair due to almost getting struck by it that I don't like lightning.
I stand, and approach the window, looking out to where the bolt had stuck the ground about twenty minutes ago. The grass is smoking near where the lighting and struck, and where it had actually made contact, there's aught but a black scorch mark.
"I think you should stay here tonight," Fluttershy informs me. "The rain's going to be very bad tonight; I can feel it in my wings." I inquire as to what that means, and she smiles at me. "All Pegasus ponies have the power to sense what the weather will be like through their wings. It's kind of like the feathers, ah...taste, the air around us. They're very sensitive."
My mind flies back to that day at the Wonderbolts show, when I had given Rainbow Dash a wing massage. "Yeah, I know," I mutter.
Fluttershy smiles, and pats a spot on the couch next to her with a hoof. "Why don't you sit back down?"
I smile, and do just that.
"So, do you miss Rainbow?" She asks.
"Oh, yeah," I sigh. "While it's not always on my mind, because I have things to distract me, it still feels a bit...lonely, y'know? Without her around, everything is just so...so...lackluster..."
Fluttershy nods with a small smile. "I know what you mean. My boyfriend, Tender Hoof, had to go off to bring an important somepony to a business meeting on his chariot. He went all the way to Appleloosa, and back. He was gone for about two months, mostly due to having to wait for the business meeting to end. The entire time he was gone, I was so...lonely..."
I smile. "Love is a mysterious thing, Fluttershy. It hurts, and it heals."
Fluttershy smiles at me, and we turn as we hear something that sounds like a scream from outside. We remain frozen for a few moments, and bear it again, but at an undulating pitch.
"Oh," Fluttershy sighs. "It's just the wind...I thought somepony got hurt!"
"Yeah," I chuckle, nervously. "When the wind howls, it sounds a lot like somepony getting their ass kicked..."
Fluttershy and I share a small chuckle, and then continue with our conversations. We keep talking for a few hours, going between topics bound to Equestrian culture, and topics bound to Earth culture. We pause for a quick dinner, which I help Fluttershy to make in her kitchen. I have a bowl of pasta, and she has a thing of hay. When we finish eating, we continue talking, and don't stop until desert, at which time we both eat ice cream.
"Oh, my," she announces as she looks at the clock. "It's already eleven o'clock! We'd best get some sleep. Here, I'll sleep on the couch tonight..."
I shake my head, and push her towards the stairs. "Nonsense. You go sleep in your bed, Flutters. I'll stay down here, and sleep on the couch."
"Uh...are you sure?" Fluttershy asks, blushing lightly. I nod, and give her a hug good-night. She climbs the stairs, and I lay down on the couch, shivering a bit in the night cold.
"Take this," Fluttershy announces, giving me a blanket that she had brought downstairs. "It's a spare."
I thank her, and turn onto my stomach, holding the blanket under my feet on one end, and under my chin on the other.
After three weeks of being without Rainbow Dash, you'd think I'd be used to sleeping alone. However, it's much to the contrary. As time goes on, sleeping alone becomes more and more disconcerting.
As I struggle to force myself to lie still so I can fall asleep quickly, I can't help but feel cold. While my body is being kept sufficiently warm by the blanket, without Rainbow Dash's wing wrapped around me, I feel as though I'm trying to sleep at .000000000000000000001 degrees Kelvin.
I sigh as I pull the blanket tighter. At least my feet are-
The blanket springs out from under my feet, and ends up crumpled on my thighs.
Fffffffuuuuucckk...
I sigh, and just close my fucking eyes and try to fall the fuck to sleep already...




As I sleep, I feel something digging into my mind.
My consciousness stirs, and I begin to feel more than just emotions.
I feel Grendel, or my half of Grendel, being dragged away from me, slowly and carefully. It is being extricated from my subconscious, and as I realize what is happening, I latch onto it, and pull.
I can't let Grendel back out into the world. I can't let that evil into the world. I must contain it.
I struggle to hold it down, not knowing and not caring how I'm doing it with just my mind. However, I quickly find that the pull is much to strong.
I feel Grendel being torn from my grasp, and I leap at the small nub in my mind that remains. As I do, both Grendel and I are pulled out of my body, and are sent through spiraling...I don't even know what.
I don't see anything. I don't even see black. I just don't see. Because I don't need to. I feel the world around me.
Grendel accelerates, and I use the feeling of attachment to hold on even tighter as we speed through...I don't know.
As Grendel moves, I notice, or rather, feel, two massive bright lights, atop a tower of light. These two are massively powerful, and are larger than any other light around me.
And then, everything is gone.
I feel myself go through a barrier. A barrier of...reality.
And then, I'm surrounded by darkness.
Almost immediately, I feel the oppressive darkness of two large entities. I can feel the two immense darknesses, just as immense and powerful as the two immense lights in the world I had just left.
I feel panic, and know that far away, in my body, my heart is racing as Grendel comes to a halt before these two dark monoliths.
And then, I feel them talking. I feel a humming, the darknesses vibrating as the entities they represent speak to Grendel.
I feel Grendel hum in response, and I panic as one of the two darknesses turns its attention towards my small amount of light.
I feel a hum, and another hasty hum. I feel Grendel hum a bit, slightly hesitantly, and the two darknesses slowly approach me.
As they do, I feel a tendril of their being pervade my own, and the humming becomes words. The dark, gravelly voice scares me, and that fright makes me release a large hum, which I can hear as a cry of fear. Panicking, I let go of Grendel, and make a whimpering hum as I feel myself being vaulted back through the darkness.
I feel one of the two darknesses following me, and I let out a hum: a scream. I try to make myself go faster, but all I can do is go at the same speed I'm going at as I'm dragged back by a thin strand of belonging.
I feel the darkness link with my mind again, and it tries to spit poison at me. I try to get away, but once again find that I can't do anything but hum.
It begins to envelop me, and I begin to let out a hum of panic and fear. And as it's about to fully surround me, I feel myself crash through a barrier, and everything goes soft.