The Dawn of a bright, new life.

by Hallowedsoul


Ch. 20: "What Friends Are For"

Chapter Twenty
“What Friends Are For”


I became aware that I was standing in a grassy field (which was odd, considering I knew for a fact that I’d fallen asleep with Twilight after we’d been ‘intimate’, but honestly I’ve gotten used to this crap by now).

I looked around and quickly discovered Princess Luna was standing at the top of a nearby hill. She turned and beckoned me over.

“Greetings, Leon.” She said as I approached “I am terribly sorry to draw you away from Twilight during such a… personal moment, but Pinkie Pie sent my sister and I a message saying that Veronica was upset and that she wasn’t talking to you.”

“Yeah…” I sighed “She’s been… surly and has barely spoken more than a few words to me. I’m concerned that I may have said or done something to offend her. Thank you for helping me, and I’ll be sure to thank Pinkie for getting a message to you.”

“Think nothing of it, Leon; let us focus on the more pressing matters at hand.”

“Actually, I have a favor to ask.” I said, stopping her before we could go further “Can you bring Twilight here?”

Luna looked at me stunned.

“Leon, do you know what you are asking of me?” She asked and I nodded.

“Yes. I don’t want to deal with some personal issue and have Twilight find out about it secondhand, if at all; I’d like her to be involved.” I stated resolutely, and Luna nodded.

She closed her eyes and her horn glowed. Twilight materialized next to me and both ponies opened their eyes, while my marefriend looked around in confusion.

“Huh?” She said and then noticed I was standing next to her “Leon? Where are we and what are we doing here?”

I gestured to Luna and Twilight gave a polite bow, with Luna nodding in return.

“Anyway, to answer your question, Twi, we’re accessing my mind through the Dreamscape.” I said “Veronica is acting strange and I wanted to talk to her about it, see if I can help her. The reason you’re here is because I would like your help.”

“Do you actually need my help?” She asked, to which I chuckled lightly.

“Need? No, I don’t need your help; I want your help.” I replied, drawing her in close and kissing her.

Luna let out an appreciative sigh, but then coughed lightly. We both gave her a sheepish grin and separated.

“Ahem, yes. Back to the situation.” I said, and looked around at the landscape “Veronica is… there.”

I pointed at a rather familiar house sitting by its lonesome in the vast field of gently waving grass and rolling hills. Both mares gave me an inquisitive look, but I nodded and started towards the house.

We got within twenty yards of it when Nica’s voice rang out across the plains, causing us to stop in our tracks.

What are you doing here, Leon? And why did you bring them with you?” Her voice was low and somewhat… sad.

“We’re worried about you, Nica.” I called out gently “We just want to talk and try to help you.”

She gave out an irritated growl “I’ve already told you there’s nothing wrong, just leave me alone already.

“Nica, you’ve been lacking in your normal enthusiasm and you’re avoiding me.” I countered “Anyone with half a brain can tell something’s wrong, so just talk to me already.”

… I don’t want to talk about it.

“Fine.” I said, and proceeded to sit down on the grass “But I’m not moving from this spot until you do want to talk about it.”

Leon, don’t be stupid, go back to the Waking World and don’t worry about me.” She snapped, though it was half-hearted.

“Nope.” I said, and then turned to Luna and Twilight “Hey, you two feel like a picnic? It’s a great day in here.”

Leon, stop it right this instant!” Nica yelled at me, but I ignored her, instead conjuring a picnic blanket and basket with a snap of my fingers. Luna and Twilight both sat down on the blanket and we had a nice little chat about nothing while eating delicious dream sandwiches and drinking delicious dream lemonade.

Don’t ignore me, Leon, stop what you’re doing right now and go away!” Nica roared furiously, but to no avail.

After a few more minutes of this, she finally snapped.

Fine! You want to talk? Let’s talk!” She yelled and then we found ourselves inside a perfect copy of my bedroom from my world, except everything was a little more girly than normal and a wall scroll of the mural hung on one wall by itself.

Veronica, herself, was sitting in the bed glaring daggers at us. However, I noticed her eyes were slightly red, like she’d been crying recently.

“You’re an asshole, Leon!” She snapped immediately, but I shrugged calmly.

“I guess we know where you get it from, then.”

Her eyes narrowed threateningly “Did you come here just to trade insults or did you want to talk about something? Make it fast, I’m not in a mood to entertain guests.”

“Nica… what’s wrong?” I asked her calmly, but she huffed and looked away.

“Absolutely nothing. There, you mind leaving now?” She snapped irritably, but I merely crossed my arms and stared at her.

“We’re your friends, Veronica.” Twilight said gently “Friends help each other, even when they don’t want it; Applejack knows that better than any of us.”

Nica stared at Twilight, then laid back in bed and pulling the covers over her.

“Please… just let me be…” She murmured, and I sighed and sat down next to her on the bed.

She shifted her head to stare at me, but said nothing before looking away.

“Nica…” I said quietly “I’ve been trying to figure out what’s bothering you so much, but it would be better for you to let the feelings out rather than bottle them up. Just tell us what’s wrong so that we can understand you better.”

I placed a hand on her shoulder, which she didn’t flinch from. Instead, her own hand appeared from beneath the blanket and placed itself gently on top of mine.

“Why do you always have to be so… god damn nice, Leon?” She asked quietly, but not to me “Even when it’s a different you, you still find time to care, even for someone who doesn't deserve it…”

She sighed, but didn’t look at me.

“I assume you know what happened with Xemnas and the Organization XIII, correct?” She asked and I nodded “Well, according to him, it was because he wanted a heart. It’s why I said they were full of crap when they told me Nobodies did not possess a heart because if that were true, why would we desire one? In fact, why would we desire anything at all?”

She sat up and looked at me.

“That’s what I’m feeling right now, a crushing desire for everything you have that I don’t.” She said sorrowfully “Dear friends, the love of your life…” She looked at Twilight with a sad smile “A birthday… me, I had none of those things even before I became disembodied… it’s the price of being a Nobody. You’re just... nothing. You don't exist.”

I pulled her into a gentle hug, which she returned and buried her head into my chest, soft sobs coming from her periodically.

“Nica…” I said calmly “Of course you exist. You exist to me, to Luna and to Twilight. You have friends in us.”

“It won’t stop these feelings in my heart, the need to have what everyone else has.” She sobbed into my chest “I want it so much it hurts, Leon…”

“I know, Nica, I know.” I replied soothingly “And unfortunately I can’t make it go away.”

I pulled back a bit and tilted her head up so that I could look into her eyes.

“But what I can do is help you bear it.” I said, giving her a confidant smile “You will never be nothing while I’m around and I will always be there to help you.”

“The same can be said of me, Nica.” Twilight chimed in, taking a seat on the bed and embracing Nica “You’ll always be my friend, even when everypony else turns their back on you.”

“And I as well, Veronica.” Luna stated with a smile and a nod “I shall try to visit you whenever I find the time.”

She stared around at all of us, surprised and I took her hand in both of mine and gave it a gentle squeeze.

“You see, Nica, you’re not alone, and you are not without friends. We are all here for you if you ever need some company or an ear to listen to your worries.” I said warmly. “And we can always ask Spectra to cast his body-swap spell on us again if you want to get out and stretch your legs, so to speak.

She stared at me for a second before giving a small chuckle and a smile.

“Thank you… all of you. I’m… honored you all think so highly of me.” She said before turning a coy smile towards Twilight “By the way, you totally dropped the ball at your party; it was quite obvious what Rarity was doing from the start, you didn’t need Leon’s precognizance to see it.”

Twilight blushed furiously, but we all laughed anyway. I gave Nica a fierce hug, which she returned just as fiercely.

“There she is, everyone’s favorite Nobody!” I exclaimed, but then she shoved me away forcefully, a stern expression on her face.

“I’m just gonna say it now; don’t call me a Nobody anymore.” She stated fiercely “From now on, I’m just a normal person, even if I’m actually a fragment of you and currently not in possession of a body.”

“If that is what you want, then so be it.” I replied, nodding which was replicated by the mares with us.

“Good.” She stated, and clapped her hands together “I think it’s time you all left now. Not that I mind you being here, but you weren’t exactly invited and this is my home, after all.”

She snapped her fingers and both mares vanished, while I remained next to her. I gave her a curious look, but said nothing.

“As you should.” She said, back to actively listening to my thoughts ‘I never stopped, I just don’t respond to most of them anymore’ “Anyway, you should start preparing, Leon.”

“Okay, but what do you need me to prepare for?” I asked, and she was silent for a moment, before saying two words that made my blood run cold.

“The Wedding.”

I knew exactly what she was talking about, and while that event was played down somewhat for the show, I’d be willing to bet it was gonna be a lot worse in reality. My expertise with magic was decent now, but I’m gonna need to practice in preparation for a huge battle.

“My thoughts exactly.” Nica said with a nod “And don’t forget to keep up with your physical abilities as well, you’re going to need everything you’ve got if you hope to survive ‘The Wedding’.”

“How long do we have, Nica?” I asked her, to which she frowned and shrugged.

“I won’t be able to tell you exactly, but if I had to guess…” She said, putting a finger to her chin in thought “Despite this being an Anthro-pony Equestria, the show has more or less gone on schedule, not counting for time differentials between events; some may occur earlier or later than others as evidenced by the gap between Applebloom’s cutie pox and the Mysterious Mare-Do Well, and they may also span several days…”

“Easily between six and ten months.” I finished for her, to which she merely shrugged.

“Easily.” She agreed “Also, don’t tell anyone what you’re prepping for. And when I say anyone, I literally mean anyone; not even Terra. If you have to tell them something, just let them know you’re getting ready for something big that will happen soon, but that you don’t know how soon or what it is exactly, only that you must prepare and if AJ gives you guff about it, tell her to get over it.”

I sighed wearily, but then I smiled at Nica and placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Alright, Nica. I’ll start getting ready upon my return to Ponyville.” I said, and then gave her shoulder a light squeeze “Just so we’re clear, you can tell me anything, it doesn’t matter what it is. It’s the least I can do for you, you know?”

She gave me a small smile, and placed her hand upon mine. We sat like that for a moment, before she raised her other hand and snapped her fingers, causing my vision to turn black.

Thank you… and you did great, by the way. Your birthday plan went off with only a minor speed bump.

I awoke to the early morning light filtering in through the nearby window and soft fur against my bare chest… and also my phone going crazy. I groaned sleepily and held my hand out in the general direction I’d thought I’d put it, hearing a sound like if Twilight was using her magic. I felt the phone enter my hand and the sound stopped, I looked at it and groaned again.

It was Vinyl Scratch. I hit answer and put the phone to my ear.

“Vinyl, what is it?” I murmured sleepily, and had to pull the phone away as she very nearly screamed into it.

Moment of truth, brony; how’d it go?” She said excitedly “Did she like your singing and, more importantly, did she sleep with you?

I groaned (‘Braaaaaaaaaaaains’) and looked at the time on the phone.

“Vinyl, it is 7:30 in the morning, couldn’t you wait until later when I’m actually considered to be among the living?” I asked, which got her laughing and I heard a sleepy giggle come from next to me “And who’s ‘we’? You’re not calling me from Aurora Hall, are you?”

Nope, and ‘we’ is all of your friends who couldn’t be at your marefriend’s birthday party.” She replied enthusiastically “And we couldn’t wait any longer, now answer the damn question!

“Hang on a moment, babe…” I said, rubbing my eyes wearily and turning my phone over to speaker mode “Hey Twi, everyone back home wants to know if you liked my gift.”

“It was perfect... the music was lovely and you sang beautifully, Leon; I couldn’t be happier.” She murmured sleepily, but loud enough so that Vinyl could hear her.

Okay, but did he sleep with you?” Vinyl asked, which got an amused chuckle from me and a sleepy giggle from Twilight.

“I think we’ll let you figure one out, Vinyl…” She replied sleepily and there was loud cheering coming from the other side of the phone (and what I thought was Lyra crying out something) before Twilight turned over and pressed the ‘End Call’ button on my phone, which she took in her magic and placed it in a dresser on the other side of the room.

We settled in to sleep a little longer, but someone else had other plans that morning.

Damn straight, I do. It’s time to get up and start the day; you’re meeting her family, after all.’ Nica responded, but then her voice became softer ‘And… thanks for coming to talk to me... I needed it more than I’d been willing to admit.

“What can we say, Nica? We can be pretty damn stubborn in the right situation.” I murmured quietly, but I felt Twilight shift to be closer to me “And besides, you should be thanking Pinkie; she’s the one who got a hold of Luna for us…”

True. And I can be stubborn, maybe, but you’ve been pretty easy-going.

“Veronica, I am not waking up right now and that's final."

Veronica was silent for a moment, before she gave a sigh of resignation.

One more hour.’ She said firmly ‘I’ll let you sleep for one more hour and then you’re getting up, no matter how much either of you don’t want to.

“That’s fair…” I replied, already beginning to drift off as I shifted to put an arm around Twilight “Let me know if anything’s wrong, okay Nica?”

Oh yeah, about that; you just used Equestrian magic, in case you hadn’t noticed.’ She replied smugly.

I lay there, not wanting to get up and disturb the beautiful mare sleeping next to me, but at the same time my mind began reeling from Nica’s comment.

“You cheat, you know?” I grumbled darkly as I moved to get out of bed, much to Twilight’s great displeasure.

Nica just laughed and laughed, while my lover stared at me curiously.

“What is it this time, Leon?” She asked, both confused and irritated while I only smiled at her and held a hand out to one of the glasses on a serving tray on the table.

At first nothing happened, but then I remembered what Twilight had said about her magic.

When I levitate something, I’m not thinking about wrapping a magical field around it; instead, I’m picturing it as being manipulated by an extension of my own body, not unlike my arms and hands.

So I closed my eyes and thought about how I normally pick things up. I imagined I was picking it up in something not unlike my own hand and I heard the sound of the glass being surrounded in a magical aura, along with a very slight pressure in my head. I opened my eyes and saw it float off the tray and levitate over to my hand wrapped in a shining white glow. I played around with it, imagining my new ‘Phantom Limb’ rotating it this way and that and making it orbit around me, all of which the glass did easily, with no more effort than if I’d held it in my own flesh-and-blood hand.

“It appears…” I said, staring at the glass floating in front of me “That I can manipulate objects in the same way you can.”

Twilight sat up in bed, pulling the bed sheet up to keep covered, and stared at me in awe.

“But… I don’t understand…” She said, stunned “You don’t have a focus, how are you able to use unicorn magic?”

“I don’t know.” I replied with a shrug “It could be that my focus is something different from yours; I think we should conduct some tests when we can get back to Ponyville.”

“A coltfriend that wants me to experiment on him?” She giggled delightfully “I may have done better with you than I thought.” but then a frown appeared on her face “But why didn’t your Equestrian magic appear at the same time as your other magic?”

I put a hand to my chin in thought because that was a good question.

“If I may ‘put in my two bits’, as they say, it is most likely because the conditions might not have been correct before now.” A regal voice spoke from the balcony of the room “And I must say your performance in the garden last night was quite romantic, Leon.”

Twilight and I both turned in that direction to see that Princess Celestia was standing there, with the balcony doors open. Celestia smiled at me and let out a small giggle, which made me realize that I was freakin’ naked, Nica why didn’t you say something?!

Because your reaction was too tempting to pass up on seeing.’ She replied while laughing.

As if on que, a towel flew over to me wrapped in a golden aura and I took it, wrapping it around my hips to cover my nudity.

“Good morning, Princess, and thank you for the compliment.” I said, blushing and giving a polite bow, but she waved a hand dismissively.

“Please, it’s just ‘Celestia’ to you, Leon. You have more than earned that right.” She replied warmly “And I can see that whatever issues you had with Nica have been sorted out.”

“Yeah, she was just… going through some things.” I said with a smile “Is there some reason you’re here, Celestia, Twilight and I are not exactly… proper right now.”

“Oh, no particular reason.” She replied casually, but I caught a mischievous glint in her eyes “I just wanted to make sure the two of you were alright.”

“You wanted to catch me naked.” I deadpanned and she giggled.

“Alas, my brilliant scheme lays slain on the ground before me.” She said, putting a hand to her head in mock grief and I couldn’t help but chuckle.

Twilight gave a cough and both Celestia and I glanced at her.

“Right.” I said, turning to the Sun Goddess “I’m gonna have to ask you to leave now, Celestia, so that Twilight and I can start the day since everypony and their grandmothers wants us to get up.”

She giggled again and nodded “Very well, have a good day both of you.” She gave Twilight a sly look “And I’ll being expecting a letter from you detailing his… ‘experience’.”

Both Twilight and I blushed furiously at her innuendo, while Celestia merely giggled and flew out of the balcony door.

After a moment, I coughed and turned toward the bathroom.

“Hey, Twi, I’m gonna take a quick shower and then we can- Whoa!” I said, yelping as I was suddenly lifted off my feet in a magenta aura and placed back in bed, with Twilight immediately wrapping her arms around me and kissing me passionately.

“Not yet, you’re not.” She murmured seductively “You only get to leave when I’m ready to let you, and I’m not ready for you to leave just yet.”

“Miss Twilight Sparkle...” I replied coyly “Just what makes you think I’m going to stay in bed with you?”

She giggled lightly and moved her face closer to mine, our noses rubbing gently against each other and her long mane tickling the side of my head.

“Because you're under the effects of a powerful magic that makes you do whatever I say just because I said it…”

“Oh, really?” I responded, running a finger calmly along the fur on her back, which made her tremble slightly “And what magic is that exactly?”

She merely giggled and we began to kiss again.

As we did, we both made a couple of lazy hand gestures and closed the balcony door and curtains in a magenta and white aura, having decided the day could start when we were ready for it. Not long after, the towel I’d been wearing flew across the room.