Taking A Stand

by ShadeJak

Dreams and Fantasies

It was late when I slowly stirred awake again. Stephanie was sound asleep against me once more and as before, we were still two pony mares. My costume lay discarded nearby on the floor, my girlfriend… or was it marefriend now... lay snuggled up to me.

I must have lost track of time but I knew it to be late. Pitch black outside, the apartment windows’ blinds barely opened from where Steph and I lay on the couch. Turning a little, I kissed her on her soft forehead, the pegasus mare shifted a little, and snuggled some more.

As I used my magic to float the blanket over us, a loud crash came as the window by the couch was smashed open, prompting Stephanie awake and me on alert. Before I could even react two men covered in black climbed through, one firing a net at me and another immediately tackling Stephanie and restraining her with a bear hug.

“STEPH!” I cried out, focusing my magic and teleporting out of the net, then immediately blasting the man holding her in the face and causing him to drop her. Before I could do anything else, however, two more men were already in the room, and they promptly jabbed me with tazer rods, causing me to go numb and collapse to the floor. Shaking my head and trying to fight off the numbness, I watched helplessly as one of them went and opened the door, and two more of the men in black entered, followed by the captain himself.

“YOU!” I yelled, absolute fury in my voice as I attempted to teleport away from my captors but I was immediately tazered again before I had the chance. I suddenly heard Steph scream out as one of the other men had gotten to her and was holding her down while another chuckled to himself as he tazered her over and over again.

“Mystery solved, wouldn’t you say?” The captain asked, his hands behind his back as he approached us, looking down towards where my costume lay. “I promised I’d hunt you down… didn’t expect it’d be this easy, to be honest.” He said, kicking the costume aside in amusement and turning towards me. I struggled to charge my magic up, but the numbness in my body made it impossible now. Steph was in tears, shaking, cowering, pleading as the men continued to torment her.

If only I could see under that hood, behind that mask, any idea of the twisted zealot underneath, but now I could do nothing…

“You stood in my way, sought to oppose mankind’s effort to fight back against the invading, lowly abominations that are threatening this world's people. Now, you’ll face retribution from the truly righteous!” The captain said, drawing out his knife. “I believe last time, you cost me a pegasus…” He explained, and he let out an amused chuckle. “…so it’s only fair I make up for that loss, now… hold that animal down!”

“NO!” Stephanie cried out, two more men joining as they restrained her, and two others pulling her wings outward and pressing them against the floor.

“LEAVE HER ALONE YOU MONSTER!” I screamed, struggling as hard as I could but my body wouldn’t obey. The captain simply ignored me and brought his knife down; Stephanie’s whimpers could be heard as her wings had been clipped. “NO!” I cried, as the captain stepped away, revealing what he’d done to my girlfriend. The tips of her wings were gone, cut clean off. She lay there, sobbing as the men released her.

“Don’t worry, she has been judged so now I’m done with her. Now it’s your turn, Mare Do Well... to be, as I promised, also judged accordingly for your crimes...” He said, grabbing and holding my head down firmly. Struggling, I could see him bringing his knife ever-closer towards my horn to cut it off.

~

I don’t think I’ve ever screamed so loudly in my life as I sat straight up, the room dark but otherwise devoid of anyone but me and Steph, who jumped up into the air and hovered in place, staring down at me with a worried look.

“Kyle! Shhh! It’s a bad dream! You were having a bad dream!” She said, slowly flying down and landing next to me, putting her hooves around me and kissing me softly once I’d calmed down enough.

“Oh god, Steph!” I quickly returned the hug, probably a lot more tightly then the one she gave me. It had all been a dream! Just a bad dream!

…a dream that could still happen if they found us out… I realized, causing me to freeze up. “Steph… I…” I stammered, tears forming in my eyes. “I won’t let them get you. I promise. I won’t let them get you!”

“Shhh, it’s okay, baby.” Steph said with a smile, prompting my ears to droop at being called ‘baby’ but I let it slide; anything to help me ease up.

“It’s okay, the dream’s over, Kyle. I’m right here and I’m fine, you’re fine.” She kissed me softly, then more passionately till I felt my anxiety melt and I returned it.

“That’s right, there we go.” Steph said softly with a smile as she broke off the kiss, then promptly bopped me on the muzzle with her hoof. “And that was for nearly deafening me. Next time give a warning.” She said with a playful smirk. I still felt a little bit of anxiety left over from the nightmare, but in the corner of my mind I had enough sense now to realize what she was trying to do for me probably for the best if I was to avoid a psychotic breakdown over it. Still…

“How do you do that?” I asked.

“Do what?” Steph asked, cocking her head and her ears drooping. Oh jeez, now she just looks adorable like a sad puppy… I thought, wondering if she was still doing all she could to ease me up or if she just didn’t completely realize how adorable Equestrian ponies really were.

“Manage to handle me like that… I’m sure you had a good idea what I was dreaming about.” I said, my head downcast.

“Yeah… was it about that man?” Steph asked, putting her hoof on my shoulder, and I nodded quietly.

“We'll stop him, I know we will. If the law won’t do it, we’ll do what we can till they do.” She said. “In the meantime, I don’t think we actually had dinner, did we?”

“No, I don’t think we did. Problem, though…” I replied. “You’re the better cook but you kinda don’t have hands anymore. I can only reheat stuff and maybe boil things but I’ve got the best substitute for hands.”

“Do we have anything frozen?” She asked.

“Nothing that I think we can eat anymore.” I answered.

“Darn. Maybe just salads, I guess?” She offered.

“Best we got, I suppose.” I replied, hopping off the couch and heading to the kitchen. Using my magic to open the fridge up, I looked at what was inside, seeing if I had any produce left over. Eggs or cheese were fine too, but meat was out of the question.

“Guess it’s… uhh… does this sound weird? Fried eggs, with a side of salad?” I asked.

“Yes.” Steph said. “Really. But I guess we don’t have much of a choice.”

“Guess not.” I said, floating the chosen foodstuffs out of the refrigerator and setting to work.

~

“STUPID JAR!” I protested angrily, trying to make the peanut-butter jar open with my magic. Seriously, I was the gorram Mare Do Well now, I practiced with this sort of thing! Steph noticed my growing frustration as I’d decided salads and eggs just weren’t enough to fill me and a sandwich was an order.

“Uhhh, Kyle? I think you’re trying too hard.” She said.

“I’m trying just hard enough!” I said, glaring at the jar as the lid stubbornly remained where it was. What I’d give to be me again and have a set of hands once more. Seconds later, my head started to hurt and I felt dizzy.

“Alright, calm down.” Steph said, flying over to me and rubbing the back of my head with her hoof. “Try tapping against the table or something.”

Oh… right… I thought to myself, letting the jar float over to the countertop, turn sideways, and tap against it a few times. Floating it back over, I tried opening it again and sure enough, it popped right off.

“Ha! Play that Final Fantasy fanfare!” I said proudly. Steph just shook her head and continued eating.

The rest of our late meal was much quieter, pony tastes definitely did improve my opinion of salads, and the eggs did help curb my disdain for having had meats removed from my diet. Steph made a few attempts at using her hooves to manipulate silverware, but proved unsuccessful to the point she just dug right in face-first while I settled for just using my magic. After the threatening message on the news and the scares I had to endure, a tub of ice cream shared between us for dessert felt like a good idea.

With V For Vendetta on, the two of us snuggled on the couch; as much as a unicorn and pegasus pony could, and a the blanket over us, we’d found an easy way to cope with the troubles going on around us. While we were hardly up against a dystopian government like the titlular vigilante, there was still enough going on that the law wasn’t preventing. The captain and his thugs were still on the loose, and could find a number of ways to get their own twisted message across. And worse, they could use what Steph and I have done as a scapegoat. I had to be just as active… no, moreso. Ideas are unkillable, after all, so long as they’re believed in.

Looking over at the discarded Mare Do Well costume, I floated it up and looked it over, then at Stephanie.

“Kyle, something occurred to me.” Steph said suddenly. “They’ll be looking for a unicorn as the identity of Mare Do Well, right?”

“Yeah.” I replied.

“Remember how Rainbow’s friends managed to throw her off when she was trying to identify the pony under the mask?” She asked.

“Yeah, they all wore the costume at different times. There was no way she could tell who… or what Mare Do Well was! Earth pony, unicorn, pegasus, alicorn…” I said.

“Exactly.” She explained with a smile. “We got spare costumes, right? Maybe we both ought to—”

“No. No. NO.” I said sharply. “Steph, I can’t put you in danger like that!”

“Kyle, I’ve got a lot more close-hand combat skill then you did, self-defense classes for years, kinda comes with the crap I dealt with growing up and all…” Steph protested.

“But are you used to it in a pony body?” I asked. “You don’t have enough experience that way.”

“How hard can it be?” Steph asked with a shrug. “Even if it is, I’ll figure it out. You just said you can’t put me in danger like that? Well I don’t want to sit on the sidelines while the captain carves you up like coldcuts because he got a lucky hit in!” My girlfriend stood up and looked down at me. “I’ve kicked the asses of a lot of bullies and creeps in high school… and adorable little pegasus or not, I can do it again. I don’t know if Flitter’s as willing as I am, but I’m gonna do what I can to help out, this is my fight too, Kyle.” She reached her hoof under my chin, tilting my head up.

“They may have guns…” I said.

“We knew the risks when we got into this, Kyle. You saw the news, it’s too late to get out. Not you, we have to play this game to the end, until that man and his followers are dealt with once and for all.”

I had to admit, be it human or cute pegasus, Steph knew how to be intimidating when she wanted to be. “Steph… I promised I’d keep you safe. That I would.”

“And who’s gonna protect you? You made your move against PAPA, now the captain’s making his against you. Hold that promise best you can, Kyle, and I’ll hold mine to keep you safe.” She said, giving me a kiss on the muzzle.

Some arguments, you couldn’t win without making things worse, as Odysseus was forced to risk the loss of few or all when passing two great sea monsters, I had to make the less selfish one. I loved Stephanie dearly, but I couldn’t put more lives at stake by denying the extra help if she was capable of providing it. If we could work together, maybe we could stop the captain sooner, before more ponies were hurt.

As the movie came to a close, I felt sleep creep in on me again, and my last conscious thought was that slow realization of how oddly silent Amethyst Star had been in my head for this entire time...

~

I woke, but not on the couch, or even my apartment. Rather it looked to be a hotel bed of some kind. As I sat up I realized, looking down at myself, I was me again; wearing the clothes I’d had on the day before I’d changed. Any joy of being myself again, however, was muted by my confusion of where I was…

“Happy?” A rather curt but female voice asked from behind me. I turned and there on a standard-issued hotel armchair was Amethyst Star, her forehooves crossed one over the other, her tail flicking back and forth, and giving me a look that could freeze the earth’s core.

“Amethyst… what’s going on?” I asked. Immediately after, the unicorn’s horn light up and a magical aura covered me, lifting me off the bed and into the air, upside-down as she floated me over to her so I was now staring right into her large eyes.

“I think you know. MY body, Kyle. Just because you’re steering ninety percent of the time doesn’t mean it’s yours.” She said icily. “Care to recap what you and your girlfriend did earlier with my body and... to an extent Flitter’s that I just might not feel so inclined to approve of?”

.....what did she....?!

....Ohhhh crap…

Author's Note:

Comments

[Kalskirata02]

Yay it's out now! My watch was right! Oh crud l already finished it!

[Flash_Magnus]

“I think you know. MY body, Kyle. Just because you’re steering ninety percent of the time doesn’t mean it’s yours.” She said icily. “Care to recap what you and your girlfriend did earlier with my body and... to an extent Flitter’s that I just might not feel so inclined to approve of?”

.....what did she....?!

....Ohhhh crap…

You are so busted

[ShadeJak]

3564026

Hell hath no fury like a unicorn mare ticked

[Flash_Magnus]

3564336

XD well if I was in this situation ... I would have some "fun" too

[ShadeJak]

3564411

There's those times, I guess, where one gets so desperate for some sort of solace they do something without thinking everything through. Next chapter's gonna be fun to write

And the dream at the beginning?

[Flash_Magnus]

3564648

Haha and I can't wait!

About the dream ... hehe even though I read the title, that part caught me so off guard that I thought it was actually happening until I realized it was a dream, but it sure was crazy

[Joeycrick]

Kyle: (Urk... I am SO dead...)
court-records.net/animation/phoenix-sweating(a).gif
Looking forward to seeing Amethyst chew him out. Speaking of her, this story's made her one of my favorite background ponies. I dunno why.

[ShadeJak]

3566114

Thanks! I'm glad I was able to do that for ya

Background ponies are fun to work with given their flexibility

[Rocky Runner]

I nearly had a heart attack at the nightmare scene. I'm not kidding, I nearly did.

But HAHA, you can't getting away with nothin', Kyle!