The sun crept out from below the hill overlooking Ponyville. It's warming rays blanketed the land in light, beating back the lingering darkness of the night. The light shone through the windows of the library. It had reached the window of the second floor. The light from the sun refracted off the glass of the window to form a miniature rainbow onto the sheets of Twilight's bed. As the sun gradually rose higher and higher, they rainbow shifted it's position as well. As it climbed higher and higher up the sheets, the color alignment changed. At the peak of it's height, the rainbow settled directly over Twilight's eye. Annoyed by the sudden brightness in the room, but still not awake, Twilight frowned, shifted in the bed, and turned around. Her head came to rest on Wolf's soft, but firm chest. The frown turned into a smile as she found the perfect spot on Wolf's chest. While she was still asleep, she ceased all noise, intent on listening to his heartbeat. Somewhat slow, but steady. She shifted her head slightly, placing her ear on the other side of his chest. A completely new sound filled her ear, but didn't completely overshadow his heartbeat. She could hear the air rushing into his lungs. His chest began to grow all of a sudden, only to give way once again as his lungs emptied. It took her a bit, but she finally got his pattern down, and her head gently started to move upwards on it's in perfect synchronization with his breathing. The rainbow colored light dissapeared from the room, the last thing it had touched was Twilight raising her head in perfect rhythm with Wolf's breathing.
3 hours, 23 minutes later...
Twilight woke up with a light moan. She knew she had to get out of bed, and it was the last thing she wanted to do. Getting out would mean leaving the gentle warmth of the bed. She always hated that part about mornings. But this time, she hated it even more. Wolf's arm had completely left Nyx and had wrapped around Twilight, pulling her closer to him. Her head was right on top of Wolf's chest. His hot breath beating on her horn, sending shivers down her body. Her eyes opened half way. She looked up to see Wolf quietely snoozing next to her, locked in blissful sleep. The first thought that came to her was to stay in bed with him, but much to her dismay, she had to dismiss that thought. Now she wondered how to get out of bed without waking him or Nyx up. Wolf's arm was wrapped around her tightly, and she knew that he could wake up at the slightest sound. She began to slide down ever so slowly, hoping that she would succeed. Normally, she would have just teleported out of bed, as it never woke Nyx up. But Wolf was a completely different story. And so she had to do it the old fashioned way. She had freed her lower body from Wolf's grip, but was still struggling to get out. She had hoped she had escaped. All of a sudden, Wolf's arm released her.
"You know, if you wanted to get out of bed, all you had to do was ask."
Twilight gave off a defeated sigh as she heard his voice.
"Sorry I woke you up..."
"You didn't wake me up."
"Huh?"
Wolf moved a little to his left. Twilight then saw what woke him up. Nyx had rolled over in her sleep and was digging her horn into Wolf's side. While he was uncomfortable, he couldn't bear to get out of bed, not now, when Nyx was sleeping so soundly on him. All he could do was lay his head back down on the pillow. He tries desperately to stay awake, but he had been awake for a week...
- - - - -
Wolf was walking in the streets of Ponyville. It was a beautiful sunny day outside, and everyone had come out to play. In the distance, The Cutie Mark Crusaders, minus Nyx, could be seen on another of their adventures. And right in front of him, there she was, playing with Nyx. They took turns chasing each other around, Twilight going much slower than she could actually run, so that Nyx could catch her. All of a sudden, Nyx lunged forward at Twilight causing her to tip over as Nyx impacted her. They both fell to the ground laughing as hard as they possibly could. They looked over to Wolf and invited him to join in. He smiled and began to walk towards them. All of a sudden, darkness shrouded over them. Everyone dropped what they were doing and took shelter in their homes, save Twilight and Nyx, who were dumbstruck. Wolf looked up, and could see the silhouette of an alicorn blocking out the sun, while giving off the most evil laugh he had ever heard. Everything turned dark, except for the area Wolf was standing. A wall of black trapped him in a tiny circle of light. Sharp edges could began to emerge from the black wall. Wolf didn't know what to do. He looked at his arms and he realised that he was in full armor. He drew his wrist blades and began frantically slashing at the wall of darkness before him. His blades sliced through it. Small flickers of light emerged from the wall. He continued to slash at it, making a hole large enough for him to fit through. He charged through the broken wall. Before him stood Twilight and Nyx, surrounded by seven menacing ponies which seemed to be nothing more than shadows. What could only be fire emerged from their nostrils as their blood red eyes were fixed on the two ponies before them. They stomped their hooves into the ground, ready to attack. With a single leap, Wolf was between them and Twilight, his blades drawn and ready to inflict terrible damage. One of the shadows charged, only to be cut down by Wolf's right blade. The blade cut through the shadow like tissue paper, only to have it dissapear from before him. The rest of the shadows quickly followed their comrades into the abyss. Wolf turned to Twilight, who had a worried look on her face. Wolf turned around, only to see that the seven shadows had united and turned into a giant alicorn. The alicorn stamped it's hooves on the ground.
The ground beneath Wolf's feet suddenly gave way, and Wolf began to fall into a giant pit of fire. Reacting quickly, he buried his wrist blades into the side of the crevace. He fell a few more feet down, but his blades held. He looked up in horror to see the shadow alicorn jumping over to the other side of the crevace, intent on finishing the work of the shadows before it. Not if Wolf could do something about it. He climbed further and further up the crevace wall. When he was certain he could make it, he mustered all of his strength to pull himself up and jump out of the crevace. He landed on Twilight's side of the crevace, and moved to attack the shadow alicorn. He won after a battle which Wolf couldn't guess how long it lasted. The light returned to the land...
In the blink of an eye, Wolf was taller than he remembered. A puddle of water was near him. He looked into it, only to see a reflection he didn't recognize at first. It was him, only a couple years older, either twenty-one or twenty-two. He looked up to see Twilight and Nyx before him, Nyx having grown quite a bit as well. A large shadow appeared behind them. Wolf looked up, only to see a silhouette he recognized all too well. It was a massive rectangle, ending in a triangle. Tiny little specks emerged from it, and descended to the ground. A Dragonfly landed right next to him and a door on it's side opened. Several Wasps stepped out and ran towards Twilight. Wolf realised he was holding a rifle. He brought it up to his shoulder and aimed at the Wasps. He pulled the trigger, only to have the gun click empty. He tossed it to the ground and pulled out his pistol. He aimed and pulled the trigger yet again, only to have the same reaction as the rifle. He tried to draw his wrist blades. They didn't come out. He looked to his arms, only to see the slots containing his blades had rusted shut. He tried to draw his combat knife, only to find that he didn't have one. With no other option, Wolf lunged at them, his fists ready to strike. He reached the Wasps and peppered them with blows to the face. All his blows seemed to do was annoy the Wasps. Two of them broke away from the group and grabbed Wolf's arms, effectively immobilizing him. The rest restrained Twilight and Nyx, then bowed down in the direction of the Dragonfly. The other two Wasps turned him around to face the Dragonfly. What he saw before him filled him with dread. A giant Wasp, roughly three times a normal ones height and much more bulky emerged from it's open door.
"You?!" Was all Wolf could scream.
The giant Wasp walked over to Twilight. It turned to face Wolf. It gave him a sinister smile, then turned back to Twilight. From his arm, something began to emerge. Wolf recognized it immediately. It was one of it's stingers.
"No, no no NO!!!" Wolf screamed at the top of his lungs.
The Wasp arm went up, and came down on Twilight.
- - - - -
Wolf woke up screaming. Twilight burst into action, leaving the kitchen behind and running up to the bedroom. She found Wolf lying in the bed, a look of horro on his face.
"Are you okay?!"
Wolf didn't answer right away. He just sighed, and under his breath he muttered:
"I'm fine..."
"What happened?"
He turned away from Twilight.
"Nothing...Just a dream...Just a dream..."
End Chapter 23.