Its been two weeks since I've started working at Sweet Apple Acres. The harvest was basically over, Big Mac was on his feet and ready to work once again, and it was coming to the end where I’d be working here, for at least this season.
I asked her the second day after I helped her out originally if I was going to be working year round, and she straight up told me that she wouldn’t be able to keep me going the entire year, since they only harvest during a part of the year, and the rest is spent preparing for the harvest season or helping others around town when they need it.
I didn’t let that get me down though, because she said that she’d always accept me coming back each ‘Applebuck’ (Her words, not mine) season. She did seem remorseful to not be able to keep me on the farm, helping her out with the harvesting and what have you, but it's always a matter of finances.
Good news was that Bonbon was looking forward to me hiring on. I told her that I’d work for her if she didn’t find someone else to fill in the role. Apparently the guy she had brought in when I was there coated the kitchen in about five gallons of caramel when she asked him to make a chocolate bar filled with nougat. Where the caramel came into play, I’ll never know, but she sent him back to his mother after that ordeal, on top of refusing to clean up the entire mess. So after the orchard, I would have a job lined up in a pretty good place that I’ll enjoy.
However, there was a small… hiccup, that delayed everything along.
So, it was just like every other day on the farm. We were all working in the same corner of the orchard as we’d clean out every other part, so Applejack and I were talking with one another. Anything from some small talk about the weather to the differences between our worlds was our topic.
Sometimes it got sad whenever it came close to topics like death, war, and famine, but I tended to steer clear of those topics when they got to them, as to not get Applejack all depressed and sad about how fucked up Earth can be. In turn, I distracted her with some pieces of comedy routines from some of my favorite comedians from Earth, or trying to act out scenes from movies with rocks and sticks that were found around the orchard and failing miserably, but nonetheless entertaining the cowboy pony, or educating Applejack about some of the aspects of farming that I learned about back home.
Some were about how different crops were grown in different climates, because she apparently tried growing carrots and they didn’t turn out so well. From what I was told, it gets warm enough in Ponyville that the carrots came out off-color and almost wilted in appearance.
My guess was that it was merely a lack of water during the summer time.
Don’t know how true that is, but assuming she’s telling the truth, or there wasn’t anything wrong with the soil, it’s best she stuck to apples. She just wasn’t cut out to build upon a skill that she didn’t need.
I also taught her about irrigation canals, because apparently during summer, she and Big Mac have to haul waters for days just to ensure the trees don’t die in the heat. I also taught her about polycultures for farming, seeing as she and the extended Apple family seem to practice monocultures, which is one set of crop that’s grown in large quantities.
Polycultures was just the fancy terms for crop rotations, which is where you grow multiple crops in one plot of land to reduce soil erosion because of nutrients being leeched from the ground by the same crop, if you didn't know. And if you're reading my journal without my express permission to do so, I want you to know that you should take a long walk off of a short pier.
I’m honestly surprised I remembered those small facts from school, but they helped her out because they said that they were going to start digging canals throughout the farm to help with the water problem after the harvest.
Anyway, I’ve gotten off track, back to your regularly scheduled book reading.
So, it was in the middle of the day, Applejack was bucking a tree that was next to the one I had climbed up into. I had gotten there before Applejack and Big Mac were out in the fields, and Applejack and I were joking about me being a workhorse, which led to a bunch of horse and pony related puns on my part.
It was all in good fun and I made sure not to go too far with the jokes. I was actually in the middle of telling a joke to Applejack when the branch that I had been standing on suddenly gave out on me. It was weird because the branch was fine when I tested it before I climbed up, and it held my weight for a solid minute and a half as I plucking apples from the other branches.
However, it gave out under me as I was about to move to the next tree. I start falling, and I let out the manliest noise that I could manage in the form of a strangled, high pitched yelp as I felt my weight give out from under me. I hit another branch on the way down, and that flipped me from landing on my feet and being somewhat okay, to land on my face and busting it up more than Chris Brown busted up Rihanna’s face.
“Daniel!” I heard Applejack shout my name and heard her running over towards me. I let out a pained groan as I lifted my face from the ground, wincing as I brought a hand up to my forehead and pulled away, seeing red liquid coating my hand.
Yep, that’s blood… I thought dumbly.
“Y’all okay pardner?” Applejack asked, and I turned to look at her, giving her a thumbs up.
“Never better...” I let out a groan as I rolled over and sat up, pulling off my sunglasses to rub at my eyes before looking at myself in the reflection of the lens. I had a cut across my forehead that was about two inches long but wasn’t bleeding profusely. I had another cut across my nose, which I didn’t even notice until now, and something was sticking out of my right cheek.
It looked like the arrowhead that you’d see in museums about the Neolithic Era. I ran my tongue across the side and noticed that the rock was actually stabbed into my mouth, and had made its home in the gap between my teeth. Thankfully it didn’t dig deep enough to completely tear apart my mouth.
I grimaced and then winced when my face lit up in pain at the movement.
“Oh Sugarcube, ya don’t look so good.” Applejack said worriedly.
I heard Big Mac stomping over and took one look at my face before he seemed to pale, and he turned around and started off in that direction hurriedly. I started standing up and Applejack grabbed my arm, helping me up as I steadied myself against the tree.
“What’s up with him?” I asked, jabbing my thumb in the direction that Big Mac was taking off.
“He never was good around blood. Always gets squeamish. Anytime he sees his own blood, he passes out.”
I spit out the blood that was collecting in my mouth and she gave a grimace. “Y’all mind not doing that?”
I nodded my head in acknowledgment. “I’m just trying to not swallow it. Bad for the stomach.”
She started walking off without dignifying that with a response. “I’m gonna go get some bandages and then we’re gonna go to the hospital t’get that rock outta yer face, alright?!” She shouted as she picked up her pace, and I just waved a hand before leaning back against the tree.
A few minutes passed and I heard something whistling down towards me. I glanced up to see Rainbow Dash making her way across the sky, and was slowly turning towards the orchard, heading straight for me. She landed, then tumbled and skidded her way across the dirt, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
She picked herself up and dusted herself off and set a glare my way, but that glare melted away as she saw the condition of my face. “Woah, dude, what happened?!”
I spit out another globule of blood. “I was getting up into the tree when the branch gave out from underneath me. Next thing I know, I’m eating dirt.” I prodded the rock stuck in my cheek. “And this thing too.” I added, and she got close.
“Where’s AJ and Big Mac? Don’t tell me they’re in town!” The mare exclaimed, looking irritated for some reason, but I shook my head.
“They were right there when it happened. Big Mac is apparently not too fond of blood and Applejack ran off to get bandages.”
She sighed in relief. “Alright, I’m gonna go tell the girls what happened. Try not to fall down again on your way to the hospital!” She shouted as she took off in the direction of Ponyville.
So, I’m going to be getting an earful from… Rarity, for dirtying her clothes… Fluttershy, because I got myself hurt… And maybe Twilight, for busting up my pretty face and not letting her see it in action. I snorted softly at that last bit, before I shook my head in my own amusement.
A few minutes later, Applejack was back with a bucket, a rag, and a bundle of bandages in her arms. “Alright, let’s see here...” She set down the bucket and handed me the bandages while she grabbed the rag and started cleaning the blood that was starting to get into my eyes and run down my face, dripping onto the ground and forming a small pool there.
The orchard was silent for a few seconds, save for the sound of the cloth rubbing across my skin. “Rainbow popped up while you were gone.” I mentioned, hoping to strike a conversation with the mare so this awkward silence didn’t continue.
“What’d that mare want now?” She sighed, sounding agitated.
“Dunno. She made a crash landing, saw my face, asked what happened, and took off after saying she was going to tell, ‘the girls.’ and that I should avoid falling on my face again.” I quoted using my fingers, and Applejack shook her head.
“Sounds like you’re about t’catch Tartarus.”
I smirked but didn’t say anything for a few minutes while she cleaned up everything, then grabbed the bandages from my hands. They actually kinda looked like band-aids, but she also grabbed gauze and actual bandages as well.
“T’ain’t so bad.” She snarked, as if she was expecting me to disagree with her or something.
I nodded my head in agreement. “I figured it’d look a lot worse than it actually was.” I murmured as she applied the bandage to my nose, then grabbed a bigger one and stuck it to my forehead.
“Alright, time t’get t’the hospital.” She said, and I stood up, donning my glasses once again.
“Let’s get a move on then.” I said, and with that we were off. It was silent between the two of us for several minutes as we quickly made our way towards the town.
“Y’know, yer takin’ this a lot better than I thought ya would.”
I looked up at the blue sky, watching as a few pegasi flew through the air in their daily routine or moving clouds or delivering mail. “No point in freakin’ out. Everything’s under control, and it’s only a few small cuts.” I answered, nonplussed.
“I’d say it’s more than a few cuts...” She muttered, reaching up to flick the rock sticking out of my face.
I sent a glare her way as she caused it to twinge slightly, not to mention that it tapped against one of my wisdom teeth. “Alright, no reason to make it any worse. The only reason I’m not bleeding more is because the thing is still lodged in my face.” I grouched, and she seemed to pale.
“...Why’d ya know somethin’ like that?”
“It’s sort of… inelegant, how some things are taught to people.”
She took that as a means to drop the subject.
“So… the end of harvesting season, huh?” I murmured after a few seconds of silence, looking out over the droves of trees that made up the orchard of Sweet Apple Acres. It had a sort of beauty in its symmetry over the land, how all of the trees grew perfectly straight, all in complete straight lines without anything ever marring that image.
“Eeyup. Today was the last day we finished up all of the apple buckin’.” She answered, and I nodded my head slowly.
“I’ll miss working here. It was nice.”
She turned to look at me with a Cheshire grin on her face. “Ya sure Sugarcube? Seems t’me yer tryin’ t’get outta work.”
I pursed my lips as I looked at her and she chuckled softly. “What makes you think I wanted to get out of work? Sure, it’s not something I’d see myself doing for the rest of my life, but it brings new perspective on how things are. Makes me appreciate the time and work farmers put into creating their crops and selling it on the market.”
We had reached the edge of the orchard and was on the edge of Ponyville. A few ponies were meandering about but seemed to pay us no mind as he made our way inward. I gave a soft huff as I resisted the urge to rub my cheek idly.
“Sounds like ya got somethin’ on yer chest ya want t’get off.” I shook my head with a small, amused grin.
“I’ve always got something on my mind that I want to get off. Just gotta find the right person and the right time to do it.” I responded as I could see the hospital in the distance.
A few ponies had stopped to greet me before they started staring at me, or rather what was wrong with me, but I had promptly ignored them to get inside of the hospital. It took us a minute or so, but we made it inside and we walked over to the front desk.
The mare was in the middle of doing paperwork, so I cleared my throat to get her attention.
“Hello, what brings you h-” The mare looked up and she stopped what she was saying as she looked at my deadpan face. “U-um, I see… We’ll send s-somepony out to see you as soon as possible!” The mare stood up from her chair and rushed into the next room, so I decided to sit down while I waited.
“So, Applejack, quick question.” I turned to look at her as she sat down next to me.
She turned to look at me, making an effort to not stare at the rock in my face. “Well, what is it Sugarcube?”
“I know back home, when people got injured on the job, they’d write it off as a workplace accident and then they’d charge the company the employee worked for the bill for it. Does that work here, or is it more or less just free healthcare that’s brought about from taxes from the government?”
Applejack looked blankly at me for a moment before she unhelpfully shrugged her head. “Ya know I ain’t the one t’ask for that sort of thing. Maybe when Twilight gets here, ya can ask her.”
I frowned at that. “What about Big Mac? Didn’t he get injured on the job and taken to the hospital for it?” She nodded her head in response, so I continued. “Did you have to pay for it, or does the hospital operate on a form of free healthcare?”
She just shrugged again, and I shook my head, slightly peeved for her lack of knowledge on the subject. “I’m just asking in case I have to pay for it with what I’ve made or if I’m-” The front doors opened up and five familiar mares walked in and I stopped.
And here’s the peanut gallery. I couldn’t help but think. Their eyes went straight to me and a collective gasp came from them.
“My word, Daniel, are you alright?” Rarity asked as she rushed over, the rest of the group following suit at their own pace.
“I’ll be fine-” I started to answer, when Fluttershy came over and pressed my face against her chest.
“Oh Daniel, how are you feeling? Do you need anything? Some water? Some-” I pushed against her and made her step away, a surprised look on her face. I was in more than a little pain from her digging the rock deeper into my face, and by proxy was digging the rock into my gums, and I’m sure it showed when she squeaked. “O-oh, I’m so sorry! I-I didn’t m-mean t-to aggravate it! Oh Fluttershy, you can be clumsy sometimes!” She started admonishing herself.
“Look, I’ll be-” I was once again interrupted by Pinkie when she pushed through and started looking it over.
“It looks kinda funny like that!” She started giggling as she started pinching my cheeks, and I felt myself grow more than a little irritated. Honestly, with the way they were treating me, it was starting to reach a boiling point where I was going to snap if they didn’t back the fuck up.
“Can you not-” I was interrupted once again when Twilight pulling the mares back away from me.
“Girls, give him some space!” She exclaimed before the girls started to bicker back and forth about what they were doing to ensure my comfort and safety.
I gave a sigh of exasperation as the mares grew more heated and a bit louder in their arguments, and I was able to slip out of the group rather quickly as they seemed to turn on one another in this argument of how I should be coddled.
I saw the doctor that saw me the first time step into the room, quickly scanning around the room, before his eyes trailed to me and he got a deadpan expression. I just gave him a small grin and a wave of my hands as I stood up, pushing through the crowd of ponies.
“Well, when I got the news that something that looked like a giant hairless pony was injured in the front lobby, I figured it was you.” He stated in a voice just as deadpan as his face as I walked over, leaving the mares to their quiet bickering.
“Hey, I kept my promise from before!” I jested to him, but he just shook his head.
“I was telling you that I didn’t want you to become a frequent patient of mine. It appears I didn’t get through that thick skull of yours.” He muttered, and I just chuckled slightly as we turned down a hallway.
“It’s not like I planned to fall out of a tree.” I responded as we turned into a random room, and he closed the door behind us.
“So, how’d you get yourself hurt this time?” He droned, as if he had asked this question a thousand times with me, and I gave him a bemused look.
“You say that like I get hurt a lot...” I grumbled, but he snorted.
“You’ve been seriously hurt more times than I’ve seen any other pony have been!” He exclaimed.
“Hey, it’s a talent of mine, what can I say?”
The doctor couldn’t appear more deadpan than he was at that very moment.
“Anyways, I was in the middle of work, helping out around Applejack’s farm, when the branch that I was standing on gave out from underneath me. I hit something on the way down and that put me on my face instead of my feet.” I answered, and he sighed, scribbling it down on that damn clipboard he always has.
“Why were you in the trees instead of bucking them like a normal pony?”
“Because I’m not a pony doc. I can’t just kick a tree like a pony and expect it to give me its goods.”
“It sounds like you learned that from experience. Did you hurt yourself the first time you attempted that as well?”
“I didn’t even have to try it. I figured if I did, I would’ve broken a leg and ended up back here within the first couple’a days you guys released me.”
He cocked an eyebrow at that. “So you’ve been working with her for the majority of the season while you’ve been here? I’ve noticed that you look a bit healthier than you have been when I last saw you.”
I took a moment to look at myself in the mirror the room provided. My arms were a bit bigger than they were before, and I looked a bit skinnier around my neck, but other than that, I was the same as I was before. I didn’t have any sort of drastic changes like I thought he was trying to point out. Quite literally a bit healthier. Most of the time, it’s an exaggeration when a doctor says that.
I turned back to the doctor and rubbed the back of my head. “Yeah, her brother got injured and she needed some help, so I decided that it was better for me to do something instead of just sitting around.”
He nodded, writing more info down. “So, instead of bucking trees, you climb up into them and pluck the apples?”
I just nodded, and he continued writing. After a few minutes, he set down the clipboard and came over to the bed.
“Alright, if you’ll hop up on here, we can take a look at that object lodged into your face.” I did what he told me to, hopping up onto the table. His horn lit up, and I felt the thing moving around in my cheek. I winced a few times when he pulled it upwards or downwards too far, and it scraped against my teeth or gums, but he didn’t do anything that would cause extra damage.
“It seems like it’d be rather easy to remove. My only question is, do you want it to be fast and painful, or slow and uncomfortable?”
I just rolled my eyes. “My question is, how are you going to fix it? You going to stitch my cheek shut or has your magic been able to close up wounds like this without much of an issue?”
The doctor gave me another deadpan look. “Magic will fix your cheek up quickly.”
Without waiting for his instruction, I gripped the piece of rock with the tips of my fingers and pried it out of my face rather easily. His eyes shot open in shock as I finished pulling it out of my face, and I looked at it.
“It looks like a...” I frowned as I trailed off, contemplating what I thought it is. Before, I thought it was just a stone arrowhead, but now that I look at it, it looked like… I don’t know, it looked like the tip to a sword, with the tip having broken off by something. The doctor was studying the piece as he pulled it from my hands with his magic and was looking it over.
He took it over to the sink and washed the blood off of it, before bringing it up to the light. “My word, this may be larger than I had originally thought it to be.” The stallion mumbled, before he glanced over at me. I felt something pushing my cheek together briefly, before a burning sensation washed over my face, and I gritted my teeth.
After a few seconds, it was over, and a cool sensation washed over the spot. “Sheesh, if I knew you were going to cauterize the wound, I would’ve-”
The doctor shushed me as he looked over the piece. “This thing… It might be a link to the past that we’ve never thought of before. Do you know what this means?” The doctor asked as I looked it over, a bit curious myself.
“That I may have intentionally found an ancient battleground left over from the times before civilization simply because I busted my face on the ground?” I returned back to him, giving him that deadpan look and tone that he had been using with me since he started talking with me.
He got a sparkle in his eye as he nodded his head enthusiastically. “Indeed, my dear colt! I’ll have to contact an old friend of mine, but this is big, very big! I’m sure you and Mrs. Applejack will be compensated for lost time in the orchard, but this discovery may give us more clues about how ponies were brought about the world!”
I nodded my head. “That’ll have to be something you ask Applejack about. She was still out in the lo-”
Speak of the devil, and he, or she in this case, shall appear.
The door opened and the six mares waltzed through the door, the doctor looking surprised at their sudden intrusion.
“Took you all long enough to get back here!” I said with an amused smirk, and the ponies looked down at the ground in shame.
“We’re sorry. We got into an argument right after you left...” Twilight mumbled, but I waved it off.
“Look, that’s fine. There’s something that you might be interested in though.” The doctor cleared his throat after a nod my way for clearing it up.
“Ah, yes, we were able to remove the foreign object from his cheek and heal him with magic. There’s only a thin scar on the affected tissue that was left over, but that’ll heal within a few weeks by itself after I finished magically repairing the tissue.”
The girls seemed to sigh collectively in relief. “Well, that’s good! For a moment there, I thought it could’ve been something bad!” Rainbow Dash said, but the doctor glared at her for interrupting.
“Now, for the interest that we discovered with this object.” He held it up in his magic for all of the mares to see.
A few of them stared at it confusion. “It’s a rock. So what?” Rainbow Dash got a glare for her words from the doctor once again, and he held it for a few seconds in silence.
“It’s rather… oddly shaped, but I can’t for the life of me think of what it might be.” Rarity murmured.
“It looks sharp and pointy… a-and scary...” Fluttershy mumbled.
“It looks rather… what’s the darn word for it… distinct, in its shape.” A few heads turned to Applejack as she contemplated the object, and she wordlessly looked around at the other mares before blushing in embarrassment.
“Yes, that’s what I was going to say...” Twilight mumbled, before she studied it. “It appears to be the tip to a… spear, or maybe a sword made of stone or some sort of other aggregate of mineraloid matter. The object doesn’t look igneous, but instead sedimentary in nature. You can see small grooves and cuts as if somepony-”
Rainbow groaned, interrupting Twilight. “Seriously Twilight, you need to get out of that library more. That egghead of yours is big enough as it is!”
I decided to step in as Twilight looked disheartened while the other mares giggled and chuckled at her expense. “What Twilight was saying, and what the doctor and I have found out, is that this object may be a part of another thing entirely.” Heads turned to me when I said that, and I decided to indulge slightly in my own studious nature. “It might be just a coincidence, but it might also be something that may be related to the past. It might be a link to something lost to time, a piece of history forgotten by the annexes of time.”
Applejack cocked her head to the side. “So, yer sayin’ that there might be somethin’ under Sweet Apple Acres that came from before Equestria was even a thing?”
The doctor nodded enthusiastically. “It very well may be something that came before the three tribes migrated down from the north! The only way we’d be able to know for sure is to see if there is anything buried beneath your property.”
The mare seemed to be swelling up with indignation at that, and the doctor waved his hands placatingly at the mare. “Of course, we’d only do this investigation with your permission, and you’ll be properly recompensed for your troubles!” The doctor added, and a sliver of doubt wormed its way into her look.
“I… I don’t know… Them land’s been apart of my family from before Ponyville was settled, and I don’t know if everypony else would approve of some folk comin’ ‘round and tearin’ up the orchard just because they think somethin’s below it...” She mumbled, and Twilight put a hand on her shoulder.
“It’ll be fine Applejack. Just think about it like this: what if they discover something below Sweet Apple Acres? Ponies across Equestria would come to see this discovery, and then you’ll have museums trying their best to buy the rights to own that, and all of that money would go straight to you and your family! And, it’s not like they’re going to put you out of business by taking over the whole orchard! It’d only be a small portion that they’d excavate to see if it’s actually holding any valuable information.” Applejack still looked doubtful, but it seemed like Twilight was winning her over.
I decided to throw in my two cents. “You’ll still be able to harvest the rest of the trees before they arrive. It’s not like they’re going to be coming today and start pushing you off of your own property. And they’re not going to be holding onto the property permanently. They’ll be renting it off of you, paying their dues, and then when they finish up and take all of the information from the portion they have, they’ll replace the earth and you’ll be able to have your full orchard again. If they don’t find anything, they’ll be out of your hair within a few months, and if they do, they’ll probably be gone before the next harvest.”
Applejack just sighed. “Alright, I get it… Jus’ who am I supposed to talk to? I don’t know anypony that’s about excavating!”
The doctor cleared his throat. “If you’ll allow me, I know a few ponies myself that would be interested in this. I can ask them to come over and discuss details with you whenever you have some free time.”
That seemed to be the straw that broke the camel’s back, because she just nodded her head, hanging her head as if she was being shamed. “I guess I can talk with ‘em. I just don’t want nothin’ bad to happen to the orchard.”
The rest of the mares were giving words of encouragement and reassurances when the doctor cleared his throat.
“Now, while I would love to keep discussing this, this room needs to be cleared so that other patients may be brought in and treated. I am still on the clock, after all.” We were escorted back down the hall and into the main room, and after some time of filling out paperwork, the group and I had left.
The day ended as an impromptu off day, though that was more on the orders of Applejack when we got out of the hospital. She walked off to finish the harvest up, but that left me with the five other mares.
Pinkie soon departed because she had left her shift at Sugarcube Corner to come see if I was okay, but told me that she was planning a big party for me. I didn’t get an opportunity to ask her why when she darted off.
The rest of us ended up sitting down for lunch. It started off with them asking if I was okay, even though I had already been released from the hospital, and that got old quick after fifteen minutes of three different ponies asking me. Rainbow Dash seemed to be amused by them fawning over me.
I mean, I appreciate the fact that they were concerned with my well being, but the way they were doing it made me feel more like a child surrounded by a set of surrogate parents rather than friends. After I convinced them that I was fine with a rather firm assurance that made them look guilty for a few moments, the rest of the lunch had gone great.
Everyone was cracking jokes with one another, a few of them aimed at me for being clumsy and getting myself hurt. Rainbow Dash started it, and was getting admonished by all three other mares for making a joke about it when I started laughing and got them to lay off of her. That led to a few more jokes from Rainbow Dash, and I started slinging a few back at her for making less than ideal landings when she was flying, and her crashing into everything.
I kept track of every time she came to Sweet Apple Acres to talk with Applejack about something, and ended up flying face first into the dirt and digging a trench, or slamming into a tree with enough force to shake all of the apples from it, or one time when she flew into Big Mac the day after he got back into working shape and almost put him back inside the farmhouse, injured and bored out of his mind.
I could’ve kept going, as she also visits Fluttershy on a semi-regular basis for dinner and to help out around the cottage, or to just talk to the mare. Honestly, I’m surprised about how much these two interacted with one another, especially after I found out about their past.
Yeah, turns out Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy used to be childhood friends, which makes zero sense in my mind, with how drastically different the two of them were. Probably two really close families that had the two mares interacting with each other regularly to the point where they became friends themselves. That’s my theory on it, since that was rather common back home, but for all I know, they could’ve just been really good friends in school somehow.
Twilight started making a few jokes herself at Rainbow’s expense as she’s apparently flown into the library a few times, breaking through windows and slamming into the walls with enough force to knock the books from the shelves. Rarity told a story or two of Rainbow crashing into her boutique, though her threats apparently kept her steering clear of it. She doesn’t like being beautified or something, since all Rarity had to do was threaten to make her wear a dress and she clammed up.
After lunch, Rarity had to go back to work, but she thanked me for getting her outside in the fresh air and to take her lunch break. She asked me to come over soon, so I guess that means that I have something on my schedule in the next few days instead of just work, eat, and sleep.
Twilight asked me to come over to the library to ask a few questions about my world, which I knew meant that she was going to take up the rest of the day discussing and teaching me about Equestria. I was about to agree when I heard Fluttershy whine softly like a dog, but when I looked at her, she was just hiding behind her hair. I asked her if she was okay, but she just nodded and pushed me away, before running off rather quickly.
I could only glance questioningly at Twilight as we watched her disappear. I simply shrugged in response to the mare when she asked me what was wrong with her, but I told her that I’d be talking to her later tonight to see what was up.
We went back to the library, and we went over something a little less serious than I thought would’ve been the topic of the day. She wanted to discuss novels and books from my world, which I hadn’t thought of in any capacity. I told her about a few of my favorites to start off, which was a bit more than I was asking for when she practically gushed over each individual title. I told her the plots to The Great Gatsby, Catch-22, All the King’s Men, A Clockwork Orange, and a few snippets from Arthurian tales, like Tales from the Round Table and The Mists of Avalon to name a few.
That cropped up a lot of questions about just about everything under the sun about each and every book, and that went for several hours as I tried my best to either remember the books to explain bits of info, or explaining to her about some human history to make sense of some of the plots behind the stories. I wish I could honestly pull up the books so that she could read them instead of me trying to dredge up what I could remember of the books. She seemed to enjoy learning about magic from the human world, even if it was completely fictional as humans were never capable of magical feats.
The longer that I think about it, the more I’m pissed off about not being able to do any sort of magic. There’s not even a lick of passive magic in me, by what Twilight has told me when she did some sort of scan on me. It’s disconcerting since I’ve always wanted to be able to do magic. Sure, that dream was just something that I wanted as a kid when I read books or watched movies and TV, but it never really went away as I got older.
Just… smothered, I guess.
Anyway, it was nearing the end of the day, and Twilight was irritated that she didn’t get to share any of her favorite tales from her childhood. I dismissed myself before I got dragged into her thirst for knowledge again, and I started my way back to Fluttershy’s cottage. When I arrived, she was grooming one of her animal friends. Her eyes were a bit red and I could only assume that she had been crying, and that, for some reason, made me feel like an asshole, even though I’m pretty sure I had nothing to do with it.
When I asked her about it, she just brushed me off. I spent about twenty or thirty minutes trying to get her to tell me what was up, but she just clammed up after a few minutes of telling me that she didn’t want to talk about it, so I decided that it was time for me to leave it alone and let it lie where it was.
I went up to my room, grabbed fresh clothes, showered, and just laid in bed for the rest of the night. I wasn’t tired, but I didn’t feel like doing anything else. I got a knock on my door from Fluttershy, telling me that dinner was ready, but I didn’t make a noise, just laid there, staring at the back of my eyelids. I heard the door open. I could feel her staring at me, and I wanted to sit up and ask her what her problem was when I went over to Twilight’s library. I heard her sniffle slightly as she closed the door quietly, and I gave a small sigh as I heard her hooves take her back down the hallway. It took me a few hours, but I eventually drifted off to sleep.
I remember that I was dreaming about playing video games in my old bedroom. I think it was either Blacklight: Retribution or RAGE. It was a bit foggy now that I’m writing about it, but I remember that I was in the middle of playing a first person shooter that wasn’t Halo or Call of Duty when everything froze suddenly,before melting away to blackness.
I remember that I had stood up from the nothing that I had been sat upon, looking around in confusion. I heard the clopping of hooves on stone, despite there being no stone in my line of sight, and turned to see that one mare that I had seen my first night in Equestria.
“Hey, it’s… you... You never told me your name, did ya?” I said, looking around in the vast emptiness of the void surrounding us.
“I am Princess Luna. I am the princess of the night, as well as the mistress of dreams.” She informed me, and I scratched at the side of my head as I cringed.
“Ah, shit, sorry for not knowing that sooner.” I started bowing in respect to her but my body didn’t move when I tried to.
“Please, don’t bow. I may be a princess, but the bows are irritating to me, especially in your own dreams.”
I shrugged nonchalantly, taking a liking to the fact that she didn’t care for the status quo that most monarchs would hold. Means she isn't going to cut my head off for a breach in that bullshit. “I can imagine. So, what pleasure do I owe for you showing up in my dream?”
She looked around curiously. “Your dreams are quite…. barren human. Are all dreams like this for humans?”
I shook my head in response. “I remember I was dreaming about... something before everything disappeared and you showed up.” I looked around the void to emphasize the bleak darkness. “I figured it was your doing.”
She just stared at me oddly. “Nay. We do not control dreams, we simply monitor them, to see if they become night terrors, then we intervene to ensure they don’t become nightmares.”
I cocked my head slightly to the side. “So, if this is a dream and I’m aware that it’s a dream, does that mean I can control the dream and do whatever I want?”
She frowned. “What makes you claim such a thing? The dreamer always controls the dream, even when they don’t realize they can.”
I shrugged once again. “It was something from my world when we tried to study lucid dreams.” I conjured up an image of a study that I had seen in a movie that I liked and suddenly heard the crackling of a fire.
I opened my eyes to a Victorian style room. The walls were lined with shelves or pictures of prominent figures from European history, most of the shelves lined with books from history. A few comfortable looking chairs sat in front of the fire, next to a small table that had a few glasses on the table and a bottle of some sort of crystal decanter, filled with scotch. I never had alcohol before, but it was a part of the scene and it always made it seem high class. On the mantle of the fireplace sat a few onyx statues of animals, like lions and rhinos.
An end-table held a gramophone and was playing Maurice Ravel’s Bolero on the piano through it. The music was of my own doing because I loved the song. I don’t remember if that gramophone was actually being used in that scene from the movie.
The Princess of the Night seemed to be surprised by the sudden change in environment. “An interesting place you’ve conjured up. Somewhere from your world?”
I just nodded as I sat down in one of the chairs, a bottle of Dr. Browns Black Cherry appearing in my hands suddenly. “I figured that I’d share a little bit of my world here.” I stated, taking a sip of the soda, letting the flavor and the carbonation of the water wash over my tongue. She sat down in the chair adjacent from me, reclining a bit in the chair.
“Ooh, this is comfortable...” I heard her mutter, before she cleared her throat. “So, I suppose you’re curious as to why I decided to visit you.” She stated in a professional manner, wiping the emotions she held from her face.
I nodded, looking at her expectantly. “I don’t remember having any sort of nightmares tonight. I figured you came here to tell me something important.”
She nodded her head. “Rather astute of you. Yes, I came here for two things. One is to inform you of my sister, Princess Celestia. She wants to meet you soon, as Twilight Sparkle has been keeping her updated on what she learns from you. If ponies come to collect you from your residence within the next two weeks, you should know why.”
I nodded my head in acknowledgment. I stood there, waiting for a few moments for her to continue, but she seemed content in staring at me awkwardly. “Alright, and the second part?”
The princess grew slightly uncomfortable. “Do you know the mare Fluttershy? The Element of Kindness?”
I nodded my head once again in acknowledgment.
“Do you know that you’ve been the subject of many of her dreams in the recent days?” I felt like if I was drinking something, I would’ve done a spit-take. Thankfully, I was not drinking Dr. Brown’s and didn’t coat the mare in black cherry soda.
I managed a look of surprise to compensate for my shortcomings of spewing water from my mouth and nostrils.
“Now I know. Hopefully they’re good things...” I murmured, and she glanced over at me, a critical look in her eye before she waved her hand.
“Maybe it’s best if you see for yourself.”
Everything melted away, and I felt like someone had just pulled me backwards with a rope, and I suddenly found myself standing in a black void that was different than the one that Luna had contacted me in. It was was dotted with many different colored stars, as if I was standing inside of the night sky itself. A pretty cool thought in my head.
To her, it just looked like an average Tuesday.
“You are in the dreamscape. This is my domain when I protect the dreams of every being on this world.” I heard Luna’s voice state behind me, and I turned around and felt an extreme case of vertigo and nausea take over me as I was suddenly pulled forward at what felt like the speed of light. I collapsed onto my hands and knees and retched, but nothing came from my mouth thankfully.
“My apologies. I forget that you are unaccustomed to traveling in this vast plane.” Luna said, not really sounding apologetic.
She bent down and placed a hand on my shoulder, gently rubbing it, and after a few minutes of trying to get my head to stop spinning, I stood up and wiped my mouth and my eyes, even though there was no bile or spit running from my mouth or tears in my eyes.
“No… no problem. It was just a little… jarring.” I brought a palm up to my forehead as I looked around, wincing as a headache wormed its way into my head. We were standing next to a large cloud that seemed to be made of mustard gas, judging by its color.
“Each one of those dots in the sky are the consciousness of every being that sleeps tonight. Their color indicates their emotions and their dream state.” She pulled me close and turned towards the cloud we stood next to. “This color indicates happiness. Now, look closely into it and see if you can recognize who this belongs to.”
I nodded, staring into the billowing forms of the smoke that formed this cloud. I noticed a few details of a familiar looking pony that were dredged up in the clouds, only there for a split second before shifting back into its billowy state of never ending motion. It took me about a minute to figure out who it was, since I wasn’t sure what I was looking for the first half.
“Fluttershy.” I turned to look at the lunar princess, curious.
She nodded her head. “Indeed. This consciousness is the one belonging to the Element of Kindness.”
My brow furrowed as a question popped to the forefront of my mind. “So what’s this about? You’re telling me all of this information and showing me all of this stuff, but what-”
She silenced me with a finger on my lips that I had half a mind to bite just to teach her a lesson about shoving her hands in other people’s faces.
“I was simply giving you context so that you could understand what you were seeing.”
She removed her hand from my face and brought it to the cloud, and with a small swipe of her hands, moved the smoke to the side, revealing the butter colored pony that I had grown to know in the last few weeks. She was sitting on a hill that was near to Ponyville, her back reclined against a tall tree as she stared off into the setting sun.
I was sitting next to her, wearing some casual clothes that I had never seen before, and seemed rather uncomfortable to me since they hugged my body in all of the wrong ways.
I mean, they hugged me just enough to emphasize a muscle mass that looked more akin to Big Mac than it was to my skinny ass, and a distinct bulge in my pants that I most assuredly didn’t have. It was awkward picking those details out, especially since Fluttershy seemed rather content with rubbing my inner thigh with one of her hands, just barely touching that ridiculous sized bulge.
I thought about making a joke about stuffing my pants, but I bit my tongue and kept quiet.
The dream versions of Fluttershy and I weren’t saying anything, just simply staring out into the vast sky as the sun continued to dip below the horizon. Before long, the mare turned to look at me, and I turned to look at her in the same moment, in a sort of Hollywood style romance movie way.
A knowing smile came to her face as we drew closer together, her body scooting closer to mine as she pressed herself into my side. I rested my head atop hers, and for several minutes, they simply stared at the setting sun.
I turned to look at Luna, trying to convey my discomfort at watching this, but she simply had her eyes glued to the scene before her. With a silent sigh, I turned my attention back to the two dream versions, where Fluttershy and I were staring lovingly into each other’s eyes.
I felt my heart beating faster and faster as the two dream versions inched towards one another, until our lips connected. My arms wrapped around Fluttershy, and we sat there, sharing a passionate kiss that continued on for a minute or two.
I was… dumbfounded. Shocked. Surprised. There really wasn’t one word that I had that could describe what I was feeling.
The smoke washed over the scene once again, and I realized that my jaw was on the floor. I picked it up and turned to look at Luna, who was studying my reaction.
“I-uh… hmm.” I eloquently said to the mare, who snorted in amusement.
“I believe that’s the first time I’ve heard a creature refer to being shown that someone has affections for them that way.” She turned back towards the cloud. “I’ve seen them start this way or in a similar manner, and they are all very vivid and become rather intimate before long...” Luna stated, a bit of a blush on her face, but I shook my head to clear my thoughts before I sighed heavily.
“Look, I can’t do that to her. She’s… too good for someone broken like me.”
Luna looked surprised at my statement. “Do tell. Mayhaps I could aid thee.” She responded, and I ran a hand through my hair.
“Things back home were… not the best, from time to time. I never was in a relationship with someone. The one time that I actually did tell someone about a girl I liked...” I trailed off as a pained expression came to my face as I still remembered the pictures of her I had seen in the aftermath.
“There’s more to this than what you’re telling. If you should so trust me, I would like to hear everything.” She stated firmly, and I had half a mind to tell her no and to leave me the hell alone, but a part of me wanted to get it off of my chest, to let her know what happened that made me so… cynical towards having a relationship.
I ran another hand through my hair. I sighed heavily once again, a defeated tone working its way into my voice. “Alright! Alright… Just, can we not do it here?”
She nodded, and we suddenly found ourselves in an empty space once again. “We are back in your dream. Do with it what you will.”
I thought about showing her what had happened through my memories, but they were painful to dredge up, so I decided on the same room as before, and I sunk into the chair, staring at the fire. The bottle I had previously suddenly appeared in my hands once again, and I set it down on the table, not in the mood for a soda as the images churned in my head.
“I guess I should start with the basics. My parents were in with the mafia.” Luna stopped herself as she was sitting down in the chair next to mine, and was staring at me as the shadows from the fire danced off of my face. I couldn’t tell what she was thinking or what emotions she was trying to convey. I wasn’t even paying attention to her at that moment.
“Ah, who the fuck am I kidding… My father was the godfather of the fucking mafia. The big boss, the kingpin, the leader of the bunch of chucklefucks. He wanted my brother and I to follow in his footsteps.”
Luna brought a hand to my arm and I looked over at her. She was searching my eyes, as if looking for something, before she nodded her head, letting me continue. “He wanted my brother to become the next one in line when he was gone. Throughout my life, we were constantly hounded by these guys from the mafia. When I was in school, I was in school under constant supervision, even if I didn't know about it until I was older. I was dropped off before school by the mafia, I was picked up after school by the mafia.”
I stared at the fire, my hands clutching at the arms of the chair tightly as I had flashes back to my childhood. Times when I was dropped off at school, being hounded for my appearance and being groomed long before I was supposed to be at school, and times when I was picked up from school and the guys were asking why I had a stain on my shirt, or why I had crumbs still on my collar, or why my hair was tussled.
“All my life, I was forced to become something I didn’t want to become...” I trailed off as I had become sidetracked, before sighing softly, a frown working its way across my face.
“I remember when I was growing up, I had crushes on some girls from afar. I was too afraid to tell them how I felt, mostly because I thought that I wasn’t good enough for them. They were always popular girls at school, probably fawned over by every boy in school and probably some of the other girls even. I was a social outcast, and I most definitely wouldn't have gotten them to notice me... But there was a small portion of me that was worried for them... Because I was in fear for what would happen to them if they got involved with me, or they were seen with me after school, with the people I was associated with.”
I leaned back into the chair, looking up at the ceiling. “The one time that I had actually told someone what I was feeling, it was a guy that I thought I could trust. He was there from the beginning, and he wasn’t treating me how my father wanted him to treat me. I guess it was some sort of ploy to get him to be someone I could tell secrets to or something like that...”
My face hardened and I gritted my teeth as I remembered his face, how I wanted to punch it until it stopped resembling a face. “I was thirteen at the time. Everyone around that time was starting to grow up, hitting puberty, and I was having a growing interest in girls, moreso than I did when I was younger... I had saw this beautiful girl that I had grown absolutely smitten to. I remember that I would stare at her every time she walked past, how I would pick up on the light scent of perfume she wore, or how I’d catch glimpses of her sitting with her friends, and I’d hear her laughter...” I gave a long suffering sigh.
I knew it was creepy the way that I watched her from afar, but I was a damn coward when I was younger. I couldn’t muster up the courage to do anything myself, let alone talk to someone that I thought was pretty.
“The guy I mentioned earlier noticed that I was staring at her through the window of the car one day when I got picked up and asked me about her. I basically laid it all out there for him, thinking that I could trust him. I told him that I liked the girl, that I wished that I could get to know her, and to be able to hold her hand and smile.”
I looked down to the floor, bringing my hands up to my face as I covered them, as if I was ashamed of what I was going to say next. “That fucking bastard ratted me out as soon as we got home from school that day… A few days later, she turns up missing. I noticed that she wasn’t showing up to school after the second day, but it came up in the news that she was missing. A few more days after that, they find her body.”
The princess gasped at that, but I continued. I knew that if I stopped now, I wouldn’t keep going, and no matter how much she would dig, she wouldn’t find out unless she ripped those memories from me.
“She had been raped and beaten to death by those fucking animals… Taken thirty-five miles north of where she lived, she was found strapped to a bed in a motel with a note pinned to her forehead with a knife...”
I was shaking, I could feel it. It felt like I had become encased in ice as images of her body flashed in my head, and I could feel the tears in my eyes. I couldn’t tell you if it was because of grief or if it was because of rage. They swirled together so much that they’ve started to become one in the same.
“I-it read, ‘We know you’re watching. We know where you live. Learn to play the game D. If you don’t, the next girl is going to get it...’” I felt my heart sink down into my chest as if it was the first time I had seen that note, the first time that I had read it.
That foreboding feeling as despair racked my body, consumed my mind, and that overwhelmed all sense of logic that I had. Something in me at that moment cracked, and I leapt out of the chair that I had been sitting in as the scene shattered around me like glass thrown at a wall. “Daniel, I believe it’s time for you to calm down.” Luna said coolly, staring at me cautiously as I felt that fight or flight instinct kick into my body, that adrenaline pumping into my veins as I got ready for a fight.
I had completely ignored her as everything was focused inward on myself, and I felt myself being swallowed up by that feeling of despair. “I can’t let that happen again… I can’t get close to anyone because of what they’d do to them… They won’t get me here… They can’t get me here. I’m my own man. But they’re coming for me right now. They won’t stop until I’m dead.”
I felt something in my head snap in the other direction, taking with it the despair that I had been feeling, and a snarl erupted from my throat as a burning rage filled my chest. “They want that satisfaction! I won’t give it to them! I’ll kill them for that… I’ll kill them all!”
I felt something grab me. “Daniel, you need to calm yourself. No one is coming after you. They can’t hurt you here.” I heard the voice, it registered in my head as a familiar voice, trying to calm me down, but that deep ingrained fear that I had been hiding from everyone, that despair of knowing that someone that I cared about, that I wanted to see happy, was killed simply because of me, because of being associated with me, was overwhelming my mind, and with the two sides fighting for control.
It drove me to drastic measures at that moment, having to relive that pain in that moment, and I felt the hand tighten around my arm and yank me. I simply reacted. I lashed out, my fist meeting the face of whoever was standing there with me, and suddenly I felt myself ejected back to the waking world, the feeling of water having been dumped over permeating over my body.
I gasped and sputtered as I tried to wipe away whatever I was covered with, but I was completely dry from what I was being told by my hands. The feeling of cold washed away to sudden heat, then a spreading numbness across my body until that feeling of pins and needles covered my entire body, and I winced as I sat there, gasping for breath.
I shot up into a sitting position as a wave of nausea washed over me. I grasp my head in my hands, trying to stop the spinning of the room caused by the sudden movement. It’s about as futile as my attempts to banish the memories, the paranoia that constantly ate away at my psyche, even when I tried to hide it from the others. I’ve tried to forget what happened, to the people I’ve hurt because I couldn’t keep my mouth shut, those who dared to go against the evil in the dark, the monster that prowls the streets, that blends in with the crowds.
The memories just dredged back up, seeing faces of kids, not much younger or older than me, being held against their will, being hurt, being beaten by men much older than them for no reason other than they were trying to what all kids wanted to do. To make some friends.
The same words reverberated in my head in now as I write this. “You can’t rely on these shitstains. You can only rely on yourself, and your family. Don’t let these schmucks fool you into a false sense of security.” That bastard’s voice echoed in my head to this day.
I remember a few of them coming to me at school, in moments when I wasn’t being watched. I remember them saying that it wasn’t my fault that they were like this, bruised and battered. That I’m not to blame. Some of them even pitied me for what I was going through. They tried to stick around, but I just pushed them away.
I knew they feared me.
Perhaps not me exactly, but they feared what would come from me. I could see it in their eyes, the way they acted around me. How they tried to avoid me when they see me walking the halls.
I didn’t deserve what Fluttershy felt for me.
She deserves someone better.
Someone that isn’t a fucking mess.
I remember sitting there in that spot for hours, until the sun rose over the horizon and started shining through my windows. I remember the contempt I felt for myself. The pain I suffered for others. I remember laying back down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling, and then sometime later the door opening up. I don’t know what time it was, and I didn’t remember how long I had been laying there, staring at that brown and green ceiling.
“D-Daniel?” Fluttershy’s voice cut through the silence of the room, and I slowly sat up on one arm to look at Fluttershy. I must’ve looked a mess to her. She pushed the door open a little more and poked her head in. She froze as her eyes met mine, and then darting across my shoulders and my partially covered chest.
“Daniel? W-what happened to you?” She asked. I could see her one visible eye darting over me once again, indicating the bruises that had suddenly appeared on my body.
They weren’t there yesterday. Of course they weren't there. I made them when I woke up.
Throughout the night, as I lay there staring back at my past, I had been punching myself. I didn’t hit my face, because I didn’t want to leave a mark that someone could see and ask about. Especially those that were trying to get close to me.
I was planning on hiding my shame, my contempt, away from the ponies. Let them heal over time. I remember lashing out at myself each time a particularly destructive wave of emotions wracked my body, and I had punched myself all over. My chest, my shoulders, my arms, nothing on my upper torso was left untouched.
I must’ve looked like I had been jumped in the middle of the night since she could see the mottled mixture of browns and greens, blues and purples mixed together across what bruises she could see.
I looked down at myself, then back to her. “I… had a bad dream.” I lied through my teeth. My voice had no life in it, emotionless and unfeeling.I didn’t want her to know how I felt about myself. So I’ll do what I’ve done since I woke up in this place.
I’ll hide it behind a mask. That mask that’s been drilled into me from the start.
She seemed to take it at face value. “O-oh… A-are you going t-to be alright?” She asked, and I sat there, staring at her for a few moments. I looked away, turning my attention to the sheets in front of me.
“I’ll be fine… What time is it?” I asked, my voice still sounding as dead as a graveyard. She looked towards the window.
“I’d say it’s about ten or so… Y-you missed breakfast...” She frowned softly, and I closed my eyes before digging my palms into the sockets.
I let out a soft growl. “Sorry Fluttershy. I’ve been...” I trailed off as the mare stood before. I don’t remember hearing her step inside the room or close the door. I don’t remember hearing her walk towards the bed and stand over me. Only when she leaned over the bed and I felt her arms wrap around my neck did I know that she had graced me with her presence.
“F-Fluttershy?” I stared at the mare as she had trapped me in her arms. I could feel the warmth radiating off of her, and shivered slightly as I realized how cold I felt. She pulled back and gave me a small, shy smile.
“Sometimes Daniel, y-you look like you really need a hug... And today is the worst I've seen it...” She mumbled, and I blinked several times at that. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing from this mare.
Part of me wanted to push her away, to tell her to not touch me ever again. I didn’t want her to get hurt by doing this. To be associated with me.
Part of me wanted to simply gawk at her sudden forwardness. She had never done this before, to anyone as far as I know, so her suddenly encapsulating me in her grasp was…
Part of me wanted to wrap my arms around her, return this affection towards her. To show her, at least in hopes to keep her unwitting, about my current state of mind that she managed to see.
Part of me wanted to relish in this touch, to pull her into the bed and simply lay there, holding her in my arms as I whisper sweet nothings into her ear. To show her what I haven’t been able to do to anyone else.
I crushed all of the other dissenting voices in my head together and smiled softly. “You’re too kind for your own good sometimes, Fluttershy…” I responded, and she blushed softly.
She left with a small giggle and some pep in her step, her tail swaying gently side to the side as she closed the door behind her. I had watched her the entire time, my eyes taking in every inch of her, to memorize this happiness she had, that she gave to me.
I sighed softly, frowning a bit as the same pessimistic thoughts came back to me after she left, but I pushed them away as my thoughts went back to that yellow mare. The only thing on my mind, what I wanted to be on my mind was Fluttershy. I had gotten up out of bed and started getting dressed with her on my mind. I even started having this rather intimate daydream about her, and my stomach started to spin and flutter the more I thought about it until it suddenly stuck in my head what was happening. Horror spread itself in my head, and my stomach leapt up into my throat as the realization hammered itself into me.
I had become totally smitten with Fluttershy, and she was the same way with me.
I guess it's another day in this carnival of souls.