//------------------------------//
// Somepony to Watch Over Me 
// Story: A Dream 
// by totallynotabrony 
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	Great Aunt Pine Apple was all upset.  I could practically hear her displeasure through the words written in the letter.  Nobody had told her Granny Smith was dead, and now that she’d invited Granny for a visit we’d had to break the bad news.
But that was okay.  It wasn’t like she was going to come visit us.  I set the letter down and sat back in the chair.
Applejack came into the room and stopped short.  “Valiant, what are you doing in my kitchen, reading my letters?”
“Taking care of business,” I assured her.  “Just less things for you to worry about, friend.”
“Friends don’t break into each other’s houses and read mail addressed to other ponies.”
“Well excuse me for being especially proactive in this relationship,” I huffed.  I got up.  “Oh, by the way, I’m having a meeting in the library tonight.  Be there.”
I went outside.  Big Macintosh was loading pies into two wagons.  Both of them were decorated with a large springloaded pie on the roof, like a bobblehead.  Bobblepie?  
Applebloom watched, somewhat sad.  “What’s up, kid?” I asked.
“Well, with AJ and Big Mac going to deliver pies, I have to stay home all alone,” she pouted.
I cocked an eyebrow.  “That’s a bad thing?”
“Well, ever since Granny Smith died, I’ve had to stay home alone more and more often.”  Apple Bloom scuffed the dirt with one hoof.
“So…why not invite Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo over?  Your family doesn’t mind if you hang out with them and no other supervision.  You three hang out with just each other all the time.”  I paused.  “Or did Applejack and Big Mac specifically say that you had to be alone?”
“No, I guess they didn’t.”  Apple Bloom brightened.  “Hey, maybe we can get the robot going and help deliver the pies!”
I nodded.  “Sounds like a plan.”
Turning towards town, I started walking.  There were other ponies to visit that morning.
Fluttershy was not quite back to perfect condition yet, but she was mostly healed up.  When I knocked on her door, Angel the bunny answered.
“Is Fluttershy here?” I asked.
Angel rolled his eyes and pointed upstairs.  He pantomimed two mares going at it.
“So Pinkie’s here, huh?”
Angel nodded.
“Great, that means I don’t have to track her down individually.”  I started through the door, but Angel put up a paw and stopped me.
I stared at him.  “What?”
He gestured, evidentially not pleased that I was about to walk in on Fluttershy and Pinkie.
“Well, it’s not like I care.”
Angel gave me a flat look.
I pushed past him and started up the stairs.  I opened the bedroom door and walked in.  There was a startled squeak and bed covers went flying.  Fluttershy ended up somewhere at the bottom of the pile, while Pinkie lounged on the bed, grinning.  “Hey Valiant.”  She was caressing a jackalope, possibly the one I had seen around Fluttershy’s place before.
I nodded to her.  “Pinkie.  What’s up?”
“Oh, Fluttershy and I were just having a good time when this jackalope wanted to join in.”  She grinned.  “He’s…horny.”
I stared at her.  “Actually, I think those are considered antlers, not horns.”
Pinkie blinked.  Her mouth opened and closed.  “Wha…but…I spent all that time setting things up.  I convinced Angel to hook up with that doe.  I made sure they got it on.  I sinned against nature itself to produce a rabbit/deer hybrid.  I spent all this time, all the months it took for the jackalope baby to be born and for him to mature so making sex jokes about him was legal.  I went to so much trouble for a joke, and you ruined it!”
“I…um…ha ha ha?”
Pinkie grinned, her manner instantly changing.  “That’s all I wanted to hear!”
Fluttershy roused herself out of the pile of blankets where Pinkie had apparently shoved her when she heard me coming.  “I suppose I can appreciate the play on words, Pinkie, but you could have asked me about the difference between antlers and horns and saved yourself some trouble.”
“Yeah, I guess.”  Pinkie rolled over onto her back and scooted up the bed a little.  “So Valiant, what brings you here this morning?”
“I just wanted to tell you about a meeting I’m calling at the library this evening.”
“Ooh!  Okay, I’ll bring refreshments!” Pinkie cheered.  Fluttershy merely nodded in response.
Having delivered my message, I left the bedroom and walked downstairs.  I passed Angel on the way.  “Cute kid,” I said.
Leaving the cottage, I continued into town.  My first stop was Rarity’s boutique.
The bell over the door tinkled as I walked in.  I heard Rarity call from the back of the shop.  “One moment!”
She walked out into the main room.  “Hello Valiant.”
“Yo.  I’m having a meeting this evening at the library.  Everyone’s coming.”
“Everyone?” she asked.
“Your group of friends,” I clarified.
“I have a lot of friends.”
“The others that are Element bearers.”
“You could have said that to start with.”
“Well sorry.  I was just hoping that maybe you’d get my meaning and I wouldn’t have to spend extra words detailing an explanation.”  I rolled my eyes.  “Like I just did.”
Rarity rolled her eyes too, and for a second I thought we were about to kick off an eyerolling competition.  However, she broke the moment.  “I’ll come to the meeting.”
"Good."  I said goodbye and left.  A short jaunt down the street was The Half Pint.  It was still early and they were open for breakfast.
I walked into the pub.  While I knew that they didn’t have real bacon on the menu, Guinness had figured out a passable substitute and it was a popular breakfast item.
I saw Rainbow behind the counter, taking orders and waiting on customers.  Waitressing did not suit her and she looked miserable, which was just fine with me.  Then I saw Guinness pass by.  The two of them traded smiles and a kiss.  Rainbow looked happier after that.
I sat down at the bar.  Rainbow glanced at me and grudgingly came over.  “What’ll it be?”
“Give me the special,” I said, indicating a particularly tasty-sounding platter listed on a chalkboard behind the counter.
Rainbow grunted and wrote the order down on a ticket.  I said, “I’m having a meeting at the library tonight.  You and the other Element bearers are invited.”
“Having a meeting…”Rainbow muttered around her pencil.  She paused, glanced at what she had just written, and frowned.  She spit out the pencil and turned to me.  “Yeah, okay, I’ll be there.”
She turned away and I heard her calling for Guinness.  Something about him watching the foal that evening.  Guinness did not look pleased.
Speaking of the foal, I saw Rainbow Catcher in a high chair in the corner of the room.  She’d grown noticeably since birth, although was still very young.  She caught me staring and made an unkind gesture that a young filly shouldn’t know.
When my breakfast arrived, I chowed down.  Rainbow said nothing and let me be.  When I was finished, I paid the bill with exact change.  On the ticket I wrote, PROTIP: Better than a regular tip.
Leaving the pub, I went to post office and got a letter sent to Canterlot addressed to Twilight Sparkle.  It was the same invitation that I had given the rest of the Element bearers.
I stepped out into the street after sending the letter.  A white and red unicorn stallion was at the café across the street.  He was fiddling with some sort of device.  Occasionally, sparks of electricity would come out of his horn.  He was humming, and quite melodiously, I might add.
I’d never seen him before, but decided I didn’t care.  Then again, new faces around Ponyville could potentially spell trouble.  In fact, they usually did.  I paused and gave the stallion another look.  Eh, whatever.  If anything happened, I would handle it.
I passed Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo on their way down the street.  They told me they were on their way to Sweet Apple Acres.
I went over to the library.  Sunset was standing near the basement door when I walked in.  She looked a little nervous.
“I wanted to talk to you about the meeting tonight,” she said.
“Okay.”
“Is this a good idea?  The basement-”
I held up a hoof.  “Yeah, I know.  You don’t have to hang around if you don’t want to.”
Sunset appeared to relax slightly.  “I’ll stay, but I appreciate the offer.  I’m just not sure what you’re doing is absolutely necessary.”
“Oh believe me, the meeting tonight will accomplish a lot.”
Sunset nodded.  “All right.”
I went to do a little tinkering.  The extendo boxing glove I’d been thinking of for a while now was almost completely done.  I tested it a little bit.  It made a sproing noise every time it punched.
I got bored after a little while and decided that maybe I should go do something else.  I wandered around the library for a little while and eventually decided to walk back to Sweet Apple Acres to see if the Crusaders had left to deliver pies.
When I got to the farm, the robot was still there.  I pushed open the house's front door to find an enormous mess of food products in the kitchen.  A lot of it was jam and preserves.
“What the hell…has Hugh Jelly been here?”
“That stallion who’s strangely obsessed with tubs of jelly?” asked Scootaloo, coming into the room.  “No, we were just having fun, and, um, one thing led to another.”
“Ugh,” grumbled Apple Bloom as she appeared with a mop.  “Makin’ messes is always more fun than cleanin’ them up.”
“I’ll say,” added Sweetie Belle.
Having not been apart of the mess making, I thought it only appropriate that I abstain from the cleaning, too.  The Crusaders finally finished up, some of the mess having migrated from the floor to them.
“I gotta go change my bow,” said Apple Bloom.  She disappeared for a moment and came back with a fresh ribbon in her mane.
“You’ve got more than one?” I asked.
“Got a whole closet,” she said.
Strange thing to have a whole closet of.  Whatever.
“Well, we’ve got everything fixed up,” said Apple Bloom.  “Let's go catch up with my sister and help deliver those pies.”
The three of them got in the robot and lumbered away.  I helped myself to an apple from the orchard and walked back to Ponyville.  I took my time.  It was that kind of slow day.
Jeeze, maybe I should have set the meeting for earlier.  There’s nothing like organizing an event and then having to wait for so long before it begins.
So I went back to the library and asked Sunset to read to me.
“I could just recite a few books from memory,” she said.  “Like those nautical books you had me read.”
I shrugged.  “Do what you feel.  I’m planning to fall asleep to the sound of your voice anyway.”
So she started reading and I started napping.  Before I knew it, it was early evening and the time for the meeting was drawing near.  I yawned and got up.  Sunset herself had fallen asleep.  I didn’t disturb her.
Twilight was the first to show up.  She arrived in town with a burst of magic.  Coming into the library, she spotted me.  “Valiant, I got here a little before the meeting to speak with you.  I’d like to take another look at that keytar you have.  I’ve found literally no other reference to Tiny Vamp Atoll and I’d like to see if I’ve missed any clues.”
I grinned.  “Uh…Tiny Vamp Atoll?”
She gave me a flat look.  It was the You were trolling me all along, weren’t you, Valiant? face.  “You were trolling me all along, weren’t you, Valiant?”
“I just told you what I found on the note attached to the keytar.  Not my fault how you interpreted it.”
Twilight sighed.  “So I may have just spent countless hours looking for an island that doesn’t even exist.  But I don’t know for sure, because you won’t confirm or deny that it was some elaborate ruse on your part.”
“Hey, don’t put this on me.”
Twilight was about to say something else when the sound of the Crusader robot came from down the street.  There were some townsponies hanging out in the pleasant evening, and they got out of the way of the oncoming robot.
The three fillies appeared to be giving Applejack a lift.  AJ didn’t look too secure, but was apparently putting up with it to reach the meeting in time.
“Valiant!  You missed an awesome time!” called Scootaloo.
“There were flame geysers and stuff!” added Apple Bloom.
“And there was this camp of ponies we delivered the pies to.  I don’t know if they were gypsies or hillbillies.”  Sweetie Belle frowned in thought.
“And oh yeah, we killed a chimera!” Apple Bloom said.  “Kinda weird, though.  I didn’t think tigers and snakes could talk, so I wonder why a creature made of a tiger, a snake, and a goat could?”
One of the robot’s manipulators swung forward, holding the limp body of a creature that was apparently made of a tiger, a snake, and a goat.  “Who wants to study this thing for science?”
While the Crusaders bickered about that, Pinkie and Fluttershy arrived.  Rarity came a few moments later, followed by Rainbow.  All of them gave the dead chimera a wide berth.
Since the gang was all there, I turned to lead them into the library.  Just then, the electrical stallion from earlier hurried up.  “Hey, Sweetie Belle!”
“Oh, um, Biospark.  What are you doing here?” Sweetie asked.
Up close, I saw that the stallion’s cutie mark was warcraft engineering.  It looked about like you’d expect.  
To Sweetie, he said, “I just finished some interesting pieces of equipment.  I was hoping I could talk to you about a distribution network.”
“Now hang on,” I said, butting in.  “I heard ‘equipment,’ and ‘distribution network.’  This sounds like something I’d be interested in.  How do you know Sweetie Belle?”
Biospark gestured.  “Oh, I trained under her in the ways of the ninja.”
The heads of all the nearby townsponies turned.
“Oh, thanks!” shouted Sweetie.  “I worked for so hard to keep that secret, and you just blurt it out in the middle of Ponyville!”
Her head fell into her hooves.  “I always wanted to be the only ninja in town, but now that my cover’s blown I’m going to have to leave to keep everypony I love safe.”  She pouted.
The Crusaders left, comforting Sweetie Belle.  The Element bearers stood quietly.  It was the kind of shocked silence that comes with a surprise ninja reveal.
I turned to Biospark.  “Dick move, bro.”
He looked at me.  “Things are different here.  Back on Earth, I answered to no one.”
“Wait, you’re from Earth?”
“Indeed.  I was a Thunder Mage.  However, my power here, as a unicorn, is just as strong as if I was wearing the Alicorn Amulet.  I spend my time building doomsday devices, working for the highest bidder, and sleeping.  It’s quite a good life here in Equestria.”
I let out an extended sigh.  “A freaking wizard.  Great.  Trixie, come deal with this guy.”
I paused.  Oh yeah, Trixie was off with Daring on some quest.  Whatever, I’d take care of him myself.
“GTFO,” I said.
Biospark blinked.  “What?”
“This universe ain’t big enough for both of us,” I said.  I took a little bit wider stance.  “Now leave.”
He began to charge his horn, electrical sparks building.  “I don’t think so.”
Storm clouds began to gather in the sky.  Lightning crackled.  I began to realize that maybe this guy was good with electrical magic.
The first lightning bolt didn’t hit me, but it singed my tail.  That was my cue to move.  I leaped forward, hitting Biospark in a tackle.  He was pretty solid, but stumbled, and I wrapped up his legs with mine, taking us both to the ground in a tangle.
He raised his head, more lightning charging.  I reached for my switchblade, but decided that it wouldn’t do the job.  I needed something longer.  I grabbed a metal tent stake and swung it as hard as I could, stabbing all the way through Biospark’s neck and into the soil below.
He shrieked as all the built up electricity discharged harmlessly into the ground.  He stopped shrieking as he bled to death.
I got up and pulled out a pair of sunglasses.  I carefully put them on.  “Go to your room, sonny, because you’ve just been grounded.”
I turned around.  “Anyway guys, time for the meeting.”
None of them moved.  After a moment, Applejack asked, “Valiant, are you carrying a whole tent in that hammerspace doohickey of yours?”
“I’m a little more concerned about where Biospark came from,” said Rarity.
“Yes I am,” I said.  “As for Biospark, I’ve never seen him before, but it’s further evidence that something is wrong with the universe.  As part of being friends with me, you wanted to help me fix it.  That’s what I called the meeting for.  Come on.”
Sunset had somehow slept through the lightning strike right outside the building.  I draped a blanket over her and quietly led the rest of the group through the basement door and started down the stairs.
“Pinkie, do you have the refreshments?” I asked.
“Right here!” she giggled, pulling out bagels and coffee.
I raised my eyebrows.  “Not what I was expecting from you.”
“Well, it seemed like a business meeting.”
“It’s fine,” said Twilight, taking a bagel.
We got down to the basement and the crowd stopped short.  On the walls, six mares were chained.  They were all eerily similar to the six that I had just brought through the door, except with swapped colors.
“Valiant!  What in the world!” shouted Twilight, dropping her bagel.
I lifted a hoof.  “See, strange things that shouldn’t be keep appearing in the world.  When you all were gone from Ponyville for various reasons, these six took your places.  The whole story is a lot more complicated than that, but you get the idea.  I believe it’s part of a wider problem, like with the Thunder Mage today.  I’m trying to plug the holes and keep bad stuff out, but to get to the bottom of things we need more information.
“So I asked you all, my friends, to help me decide how we’re going to proceed.  These six I captured are at the root of the problem.  You can threaten them.  You can forcibly coerce the information out of them.  You can dissect them.”  
I pulled out my switchblade and snicked the blade open.  I grinned and spun it around my hoof with a flourish.  “So who wants to go first?”




Biospark property of biospark120