Keep on Dreaming

by Noogy


A Painful Realization

With my heart racing and my legs moving as quickly as they could I sprint through the forest, I could hear the snarls behind me and their foul breath clung to my nostrils. I don’t know what it was but something inside my head told me to turn.

Turn Brandon! Go left now!

With my mind taking over my body I darted to the left, barely avoiding a pouncing Timberwolf. The wolf yelped as it slipped, colliding with a nearby tree and exploding into hundreds of twigs and splinters. I couldn’t help but laugh as I continued to sprint with the other three wolves in close pursuit.

Sprinting full speed through the forest, my heart nearly stopped when I came sliding to a halt, barely stopping a foot from the edge of a deep canyon. Howls came from behind me, looking over to the other side of the ravine I measured the distance to be roughly 12 feet. With no other choice and my hunters closing in fast I took a few steps back and prepared myself for the jump across the 12 foot gap.

Hearing their wooden claws tearing through the roots and leaves that scattered the ground of the forest behind me I started my run for the gorge. I was 3 feet from the ravine when I heard one of the timberwolves snap at my backside, reaching the edge of the canyon everything seemed to slow down, almost like time stopped.

Building up pressure in my legs and bending my knees, I jumped.

Two of the wolves were directly behind me but they were to intent on the kill, not noticing the gorge until it was too late. They yelped and whined as they fell into the raging waters below, a sickening crunch was heard and then nothing.

Kicking my legs to try and gain more momentum I soared through the air, everything still seemed to be moving slower than it actually was. I made the mistake of looking down, seeing a 30 foot drop into rocky rapids, my heart stopped. Wide eyed I glanced toward my destination, I was nearly there, surely I would make it!

That was not the case however, falling just short of the other side I reached for the edge. My body slamming into the rocky face of the gorge I scrambled to grab anything I could. My hands finding a thick root protruding from the ground I grasped as tightly as I could. The root was holding my weight, my legs hanging helplessly as they searched for a foothold.

I found a solid spot on the rocky cliff face and managed to get my footing, heaving with all my might, I pulled myself up and swung a leg up and onto the edge. I scrambled up, rolling a few feet and sighing my relief. A snarl brought my attention back to the Timberwolf on the other side of the gorge. Standing up I began to taunt the wolf.

“Ha! What’s the matter scared to make a little jump?!” I mocked the angry beast, “You’re nothing but an overgrown acorn!” The wolf howled in rage, almost like it had understood what I said.

The wolf was pacing on the other side of the canyon, never taking its eyes off me. I laughed aloud at the beast once more, turned and disappeared into the forest yet again.

Weaving my way through the thick trees, jumping over fallen branches and other debris I eventually ran out of steam and slowed my run to a jog. Looking all around me I could neither hear nor see any more signs of danger. Slouching down, resting my hands on my knees I took some deep breaths.

SNAP!

I spun around to the source of the noise; a Timberwolf was advancing slowly toward me, its eyes practically screaming death. I was too tired to run and too scared to move. I was going to have to fight it.

The large beast and I were walking in a circle, waiting for the other to make the first move. The wolf had enough of waiting a lunged toward me. I could not dodge it this time and the wolf slammed into me, taking both of us to the ground. We landed hard, my face hitting a rock that was half buried in the ground. Stinging pain shot through my lip and eyebrow, the force was enough to open a small gash just above my right eye and my lip was bleeding.

I recovered first and kicked the wolf in the side, sending it a few feet away from me. I was standing in a flash and the wolf was also standing, snarling at me. Bringing my fists up to my face, I spat blood and said, “Is that all you’ve got?”

The wolf howled and charged again, I too charged and we clashed in the middle. The wolf proved to be too strong for me and easily threw me to the ground with a thump. Dazed from what just happened, the wolf seized its moment and sunk those sharp wooden canines into my left shoulder.

“AAAARGH!” I screamed in pain.

Beating the wolfs head with my right fist I realized it was not doing much good. The wolf shook me like a ragdoll and its teeth sunk deeper into my muscle and flesh. Crying out in agony again I reached up to the wolfs head and grasped its ear, pulling with all my might there was a loud cracking sound as the wooden ear came free from the wolfs head.

Releasing its bite on my shoulder and retreating with a whine I clambered to my feet and tried to look intimidating, which was more difficult than you might expect with four puncture wounds pissing out blood from your shoulder and tears in your eyes. But it was enough to make the wolf turn tail and run.

Seeing to my wounds, I was lucky to find that the wolf had missed all of the major arteries and veins. With my mom being a nurse you tend to pick up a few things every now and then.

I could barely move my left arm though, even without any damage to major blood vessels it still bled profusely, as did the gash just above my eye. I’m sure I would have looked like a total badass all covered in blood, if it weren’t for the pain I was clearly showing.

I knew I had to cut off the blood supply to my shoulder or I could quite possibly bleed to death out here. Finding a sharp edged rock on the ground I managed to tear and cut my way through the fabric of my pants, I had just turned my cargo pants into cargo shorts, cutting them so when my knees bent the shorts rose just above them. Taking the strips of fabric, I tied them together and proceeded to tie the homemade bandage around my shoulder, it fit quite well and applied enough pressure to almost stop the bleeding completely.

Standing and wincing in pain as I did so, I looked around.

Still lost…

That was until I heard the rapidly flapping of wings overheard, turning my gaze skyward I saw a quick flash of blue followed by a rainbow trail through the thick canopy.

It’s Rainbow Dash!

“Rainbow Dash!” I yelled as loud as I could.

The sound of wing beats slowed and I called out again,

“Rainbow Daaash!”

The canopy burst open above me and as quick as lightning there was a cyan mare with a rainbow mane and tail standing in front of me.

She had her eyes closed and spread her wings, looking quite stunning she said, “Someone called?” In a self-confident tone.

“Rainbow, I need your help.” I pleaded to the mare.

She opened her eyes and jumped back at the sight before her, “Whoa! You’re a mess, what happened?!”

“Timberwolves, they attacked me but I managed to fend them off.” I said, feeling a little dizzy from the blood loss.

“Timberwolves huh? You know I once fought off one hundred Timberwolves…” She looked quite proud of herself.

“Rainbow, now is not the time to be talking yourself up. Please I need your help!”

“Okay, okay fine!” She looked rather upset that I cut her off from herself promotion, “Let’s get you back to Ponyville, you need a doctor!” Without warning she darted around behind me, grabbed me under the arms and took to the skies with incredible speed. The G-forces, blood loss and my fear of heights all had a toll on my body; falling limp I slipped from consciousness.

---------------------------------------------------

Beep… Beep… Beep

My eyes twitched under closed lids as I slowly came to my senses. Opening my eyes slightly I realized I was not flying high above the forest anymore but rather in a white room, lying in a large bed with a drip in my arm.

“The Hospital?” I groaned, still not able to open my eyes fully.

“Yep, I brought you here.” A familiar voice sounded off to my left.

Turning my head with some difficulty, I looked at the cyan Pegasus and smiled weakly, trying to sit up.

“Easy there big guy, you don’t wanna do anymore damage then you’ve already managed.” She placed her hooves gently on my shoulder to stop me from rising.

Slouching back and sighing I asked, “So what’s the damage?”

“Four half inch puncture wounds on the left shoulder, a cut above the eye and a busted lip.” Came a voice from the doorway.

Rainbow Dash and I turned to see Nurse Redheart walking into the room.

“And you’re lucky you didn’t break any bones!”

“Sorry Nurse Redheart, next time I come across a Timberwolf I’ll just ask it to leave me alone.” I chuckled.

The nurse smiled, “Good news is we’ve stitched up that shoulder and taped the gash on your eyebrow. You’re free to go after your final checkup.”

“Oh that’s great news!” I brightened up, “I was never one for sitting around in a Hospital.”

Rainbow cut in, “Me neither but when I dropped you off, the nurse asked me to stay here with you because it would help to see a friendly face when you woke up.”

“Thank you Rainbow,” I smiled at the cyan Pegasus, “And thank you Nurse Redheart.”

“No need to thank me, you’re just lucky Rainbow found you when she did.”

We all exchanged smiles and even had a little chuckle but I was itching to get out of this damn bed.

Standing up, I felt a little woozy but quickly recovered my balance. Rainbow and I said our goodbyes to the nurse and we head out the front door of the Hospital.

“So Rainbow…” I started, “I just wanted to thank you again, if it weren’t for you I might have died out there…” I didn’t look at her but just rubbed my neck nervously.

She giggled, “It’s all good big guy, a friend of Fluttershy is a friend of mine.”

“Fluttershy!” I panicked.

“Rainbow, have you seen Fluttershy today?” I asked quickly.

“No, why?” Concern in her eyes, “Is she alright?”

“I don’t know, Fluttershy and I had a bit of a fight at her place this morning-“

“This morning?” Rainbow interrupted, “Big guy you were in the Hospital overnight.”

“Overnight! Oh shit I hope she’s okay!” I was really panicking now.

“C’mon, we need to go see Twilight.” Rainbow gestured for me to hop onto her back.

“Oh no, I think I’ll stay on the ground from now on.” I started to walk in the direction of Twilight’s Library.

Without warning I felt a head between my legs, lifting me up and sending me flying onto her back.

“Rainbow stop!” I cried.

“Better hold on big guy.” Rainbow took off with great speed.

My body slipped down her back and came to rest in the middle of her back. My feet hung behind her wings and I grasped her body tightly with my thighs, hanging on for dear life. Once we were at a high altitude she evened out and flew calmly straight.

“You should have seen the look on your face!” She laughed to herself, “But could you maybe release your hold on my mane a bit, you’re pulling it.”

Looking down to my hands I had indeed grabbed handfuls of her rainbow mane and I apologized. We didn’t fly straight for long, looking down Rainbow could see Twilight’s home.

“There’s our destination!” She pointed down with a fore hoof.

“Oh good, now we need to get down there.” I said sarcastically.

“Not a problem.” Rainbow turned her head and smirked at me.

My eyes growing wide, I again gripped her hair tightly and clenched my thighs. Rainbow stopped flapping her wings and we started to fall, my hair was blowing around wildly in the wind as we continued to descend several feet per second. I felt Rainbow leaning forward and I lent too, keeping close to her body.

We were almost in a full nose dive now, Rainbow tucked in her wings and we fell even faster. The ground growing ever closer made my gut tighten and I felt like I was going to be sick.

200 feet… 150 feet… 100 feet…

I gulped, thinking this was the end. There is no way that Rainbow Dash could pull up at the last second with me riding on her back. We were now 50 feet from the ground when Rainbow suddenly opened her wings and leaned back a bit. Our descent was slowed significantly until we were graciously gliding down the last 20 feet. Touchdown.

Rainbow took a few steps before coming to a halt not 10 feet from Twilight’s front door. I quickly climbed off the cyan pony and felt a sudden calm flow through me when my feet connected with the solid ground.

“C’mon big guy, we don’t have time to worship the ground.” Rainbow mocked me. Walking up the front door she knocked loudly 3 times.

A few seconds later the door was glowing with purple magic and it swung open.

“Oh hello Rainbow Dash, hello Brandon. What can I do for you?” Twilight greeted us warmly.

“I think it’s best if we come inside Twilight.” I said with a serious look on my face.

Twilight picked up on the expression and hers changed to meet it, “Oh my, come inside, please.”

The three of us all hurried inside and stopped in the main room.

“So what’s this all about?” Asked Twilight, turning to me.

I sighed, realizing I would have to spill the beans about all of the events that unfolded yesterday.

“Fluttershy and I had a fight yesterday morning; I stormed off and met Rarity in town. Rarity and I spent the day together and then returned her place so she could measure me up for a new suit.” I explained.

“Aaaand?” Twilight looked at me, demanding further explanation.

“And while I was there, Rarity confessed she had feelings for me but I told her there was no way it could work because I was Human and she is a Pony-“

“That’s just silly, cross racial relationships happen all over Equestria!” Twilight interrupted.

I just looked at her with an expression that held no amusement for what she had just said.

“Oh, sorry, please continue.” Twilight spoke with blushing cheeks.

“Anyway… after I had told Rarity it wouldn’t work,” Twilight opened her mouth to say something but closed it just as fast. “Rarity became upset, so I tried to comfort her. I hugged her and she kissed me on the cheek but Fluttershy saw this. Fluttershy then flew off crying and I chased after her. I ended up in the Everfree forest and had a run in with some Timberwolves.” Gesturing to my bandaged shoulder and taped up eyebrow.

“I was wondering what was going on with the bandages…” said Twilight.

I wore a concerned expression, “I hope Fluttershy is okay.”

“I’m sure she’s fine. Look, Rainbow Dash and I will go searching for Fluttershy, in the mean time I need you to stay at Rainbow’s house.”

“What? Why my place and not here!” Rainbow argued.

“I have to agree with Rainbow Dash, why can’t I stay here?” I inquired.

“Because Spike isn’t too fond of you,” She gave an apologetic look, “Ever since the first time he saw you he hasn’t trusted you.”

Sighing with defeat I hung my head low because I knew I would be flying again soon. That’s when it hit me.

“Wait! I’m not a Pegasus, I can’t walk on clouds.” I said triumphantly.

“That’s okay, I have a cloud walking spell that will allow you to touch clouds as though they were solid objects.” Twilight smiled at me.

Shit, I forgot about the damn cloud walking spell!

“Fine. But I don’t like this idea!” I eyed both Rainbow and Twilight.

“You’ll be fine, the spell lasts for around two hours.” Twilight reassured.

I couldn’t help but pick up on that around, “Around two hours?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Oh, you heard that, huh?” She looked guilty, “Yes, around two hours. The spell differentiates in time depending on your weight.” She confirmed.

“Greeeeat! I could fall to my death without knowing about it until it’s too late!” I scowled.

“I’m sure we will find Fluttershy before the spell runs out, you have nothing to worry about.”

Twilight turned to Rainbow, “I will need you to fly Brandon to your house and then come back and meet me here.” Rainbow simply saluted at the order.

Turning back to me, Twilight asked if I was ready for the spell. I swallowed hard and nodded my agreement.

Twilight’s horn began to glow a beautiful, luminescent purple. She closed her eyes and concentrated all of her body on casting the spell. Twilight was sweating now, beads of clear perspiration running down her fore head. With one final surge of light, I felt my body flowing with warmth, it was not an unpleasant feeling but it was a strange one. The light died down to a dim glow and then nothing, Twilight looking rather worn out by the spell smiled weakly at me.

“Okay, you’re good to go.” She said whilst catching her breath.

“Are you okay Twilight?” Asked Rainbow Dash.

“Oh, yes, I just get a little worn out after casting such a spell on a species I’ve never casted on before. Give me a few minutes and I’ll be good to go.”

“Well Rainbow, why don’t you and I make a move while Twilight rests?” I asked.

“Yeah, good idea. You keen to get back into the air big guy?” She chuckled and head for the door.

I frowned to myself and followed the cyan Pegasus, glancing behind me and the worn out Unicorn smiling at me. I gulped and pulled the door closed behind me.

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Walking on clouds is a strange feeling and one I don’t plan on getting used to. Rainbow Dash had dropped me off and flew back to Twilight’s home after giving me a hard time about being so scared to take those first few steps onto the cloud house.

Walking very lightly, I made my way through to what I am guessing, is the living area. There seemed to be a sofa made of cloud against one of the walls. Deciding that if I was going to fall through this cloud house I might as well do it in comfort, I sat down on the sofa.

Relaxing just a little bit when I first sat down, I realized I was not going to fall through it and lent back against the soft white cloud. Letting my hands fall to my sides I felt the fluffiness of the cloud sofa. As a Human I would have never gotten the chance to feel a cloud like this. Sinking further back into the softness that embraced me I felt as comfy as I had ever been.

The sofa supported me in all the right places and cushioned all the others; I melted into the couch in perfect comfort. I could feel my eyelids becoming heavy and my breathing slowed to a peaceful rate. This is what I predicted a cloud to feel like in my dreams but never knew I was so spot on.

doof, doof, doof.

I snapped my eyes open at the sound and realized I had indeed fallen asleep. Wiping the drool from my chin, I stood up and stretched.

doof, doof, doof.

I had almost forgotten about the door when I stood up and wondered who it could be as I made my way down the white cloud hallway. Reaching the door I looked for a handle, there seemed to be a little ball of cloud on the lower right side of the door. I reached for it and it turned in my hand.

I pulled the door open and looked through. I heart skipped a beat as I saw a familiar yellow Pegasus standing on the cloud in front of me. She too wore the shocked expression and no words were spoken.

Without giving her time to act I grabbed her, knelt and embraced her in a warm hug. Feeling her struggle for a second and then return the hug. My heart was racing and my eyes filled with tears.

“Fluttershy I’m so glad you’re okay.” I blurted out in the hug.

“I’m sorry; I should have listened to you and Rarity before flying off.” She whispered. I could feel her tears on my right shoulder.

Pulling away from her and looking her straight in the eye I softy spoke, “No Fluttershy, you have nothing to apologize for. It was all a big misunderstanding. I’m the one who should be apologizing for losing my temper and breaking the door.”

Tears rolled down both of our cheeks and I couldn’t help but smile at her, “I’m just so glad you’re okay”

Pulling her back into the hug, she wrapped her fore hooves around my shoulders. I winced in pain as she applied just a little bit of pressure to the wounds on my left shoulder, but nothing could dampen my spirits right now.

I don’t know how long it was that we held each other in our embrace but I’m sure it wasn’t long enough. We pulled apart and I gently wiped a tear from her cheek with my thumb, she did the same with her fore hoof, she had the lightest touch. With this overwhelming feeling of happiness, I didn’t realize when I started to sink into the cloud beneath me.
Sinking faster both Fluttershy and I looked shocked.

“Twilight’s spell!” I gasped, slipping through the cloud and falling.

“No, no, no, no,” I repeated to myself quickly as I continued my uncontrollable descent, plummeting to the earth at speeds I wasn’t meant to be moving at I had only one thing on my mind, Fluttershy.

Flash backs from earlier times played through my head over and over, rolling on the floor laughing with her; baking delicious treats for both her and I, resting on the couch together; but one memory kept overpowering the rest. The memory of when I first saw Fluttershy, the moment I first laid eyes on her was burnt into my brain.

“Fluttershy, I lov-“ I was cut off when I felt a pair of hooves hook around my body. Snapping my head upward I saw Fluttershy with a look of determination on her face.

Spreading her wings wide, we started to slow. Struggling with all her might to keep her wide spread against the wind rushing up the meet us, we slowed some more. The ground was close now but we were still moving too fast for a safe landing. I know what I have to do.

Squirming in her grasp I grabbed her fore hooves in my hands and looked up at her once more, she looked down at me with worry in her eyes. “I’m sorry.” I whispered as I pulled her fore hooves apart with all of my strength, falling freely once again.

I heard a scream from above me, looking down the trees were only 20 feet away.

I love you Fluttershy...