The Innocent Dreamer
Chapter 42
Knight Wind felt his heart thundering in his chest as he crawled backwards on the floor. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t tear his fear filled eyes from the figure in front of him. It was a dead pony. His chest had been crushed, and was left to rot. An evil cackle filled the air, causing the blood in his veins to run cold.
The only light in the room came from a single, dim lantern that hung from the ceiling. What little light it shed illuminated a big, stone room. The floor was covered in old, moldy hay. In the center of one of the walls was a single, solid metal door with a small, barred opening in it.
A small yelp of fear escaped his lips as he felt his back press against something soft, yet solid. He craned his head upward to see two blue eyes looking down at him. “Poor little Knighty. It looks like you’ve been lead astray,” Nebulous said in a menacing tone. “All those naughty little ponies, corrupting your mind. Twisting your values. Turning you against us.” He turned to look towards the door. “Wouldn’t you say, my mistress?”
More wicked laughter filled the room. Knight slowly turned his head to the door. The sight caused the blood to drain from his face. Through the opening in the door, he could see two yellow, piercing, dragon like eyes staring through him. Eyes that were horrifyingly familiar to him. Surrounding the eyes wasn’t a pony, but instead a black smoke.
The smoke slowly crept through the opening of the door; the eyes coming with. The amorphous smoke filled the room as a low, ghostly moan emanated from the blackness. As more and more of the room became consumed by the darkness, the eyes got closer and closer.
Knight hid his head in his hooves; trying his hardest to make everything go away. “I-i-it’s not real. Sh-she’s dead. She c-c-can’t be here.”
“Kniiiiiiiiiight Wiiiiiiiiiind.” Knight felt his heart skip a beat at the voice. “Cooooome to meeeeeeee Kniiiiiiiiiight Wiiiiiiiiiind.”
“Y-y-y-you can’t hurt me a-anymore! A-A-AJ said…”
Knight’s body tensed up as a soft hoof brushed through his mane. It was a feeling he was all too familiar with. He couldn’t understand why, but something deep inside him compelled him to lift his head. Some deep seeded need to seek the familiar feeling.
As his head lifted, the hoof curled around his ear; caressing his cheek with a loving motion. It took a few seconds, but he finally opened his eyes. The eyes still gazed upon him, but they were no longer evil and piercing. Now they felt more loving, and caring. The leg that extended out of the smoke was pitch black, and almost looked to be made of an oily substance. The smoke slowly receded, revealing more of the limb. Soon after, a muzzle became visible, followed by the rest of the head. The smoke stopped receding when half of her body was showing. Like the leg, the rest of her body she looked to be made of a black, oily substance; her yellow eyes being the only thing to bring color to the body.
“My precious, little Knight Wind. How I’ve missed you,” Nightshade said in a loving voice.
He tried his hardest to resist the urges that were returning to him. “…M-m-m-mast…”
“My poor, little Knight Wind. Without me, you must be miserable. My protection. My loyalty. My love.” Knight let out a whine as it became harder and harder to resist. She moved her hoof to his chin; lifting his head so he would have to look her in the eye. What Knight didn’t see was the smoke around the room beginning to converge upon him. “You must miss me so. It’s been too long since we’ve been together. I think it’s finally time for us to be together, once again.”
Breathing suddenly became much harder as the smoke fell upon Knight. A powerful force shoved him to the floor, causing him to cry out in pain. He saw Nightshade’s body over him before her hooves came down on his throat. Memories of Nightshade’s last moments flooded his mind as she throttled the life out of him. The anger in her eyes. The hatred she thrust upon him. The fear of knowing that her death was near. The figure on top of him mirrored everything from that moment perfectly.
“Knight Wind…” came a voice from behind him. Forcing himself to look away from Nightshade, he turned his gaze to the other pony in the room. Nebulous was still right behind him. Well, most of him was. His eye sockets were now empty. A small amount of blood leaked from both empty sockets. He just looked at Knight with that eyeless stare; a grin on his face.
“Shhhhhhhhhh. Struggling only makes it worse. You don’t want to suffer, do you?” She applied more force to his throat. “It will all be over soon. All you need to do…is sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.”
“Knight Wind…” came Nebulous again as he got closer. He reached a hoof out and placed it on his shoulder; shaking Knight’s body.
Darkness slowly began creeping into his vision as his body was deprived of oxygen. His body was becoming to feel like it was made of lead. “Once we’re together again, we’ll be so happy. All you need to do…is sleep.”
“Come on Knight Wind! You have to wake up!”
********************
AJ could only watch as Knight thrashed about in his bed. He was woken up to the sound of somepony struggling. After lighting his horn, he looked to where the noise was coming from. Fear started to consume him when he saw Knight violently tossing around in his bed; gasping for air.
At the moment, AJ was holding Knight by the shoulders, trying to shake him awake. “Come on! Why won’t you wake up?!” He continued to shake Knight until the ceiling light suddenly filled the room with light.
“What is goin’ on in here?!” AJ turned towards the door upon hearing Big Mac’s voice. A big, red, pony shaped blur quickly approached the two of them from the door; stopping on the opposite side of the bed as him.
“H-he won’t wake up!” AJ said franticly. “He’s choking an-an-and I can’t wake him up! You have to help!”
Big Mac quickly looked Knight over before letting out a soft sigh; sitting down next to the bed as he did. Without saying a word, he waved AJ back before gently resting his leg across Knight’s chest, almost hugging him. If nothing else, it did wonders to keep Knight from thrashing about. He moved his other hoof behind Knight’s head, lifting him up slightly. Leaning down, he touched his forehead against Knight’s.
Aside from Knight’s struggles, the room was silent. AJ just sat there wondering what Big Mac was doing. His ears twitched when the sound of a low, soft humming reached him. Big Mac was humming to Knight Wind. It wasn’t a tune he was familiar with. In fact, he was pretty sure he had never heard it before.
It didn’t take very long at all for this method to start taking affect. The first change in Knight’s condition was his breathing. After a few seconds he stopped choking and began breathing once again. It was quick and rough at first, but slowly calmed down. As the tune went on, he stopped fighting against Big Mac’s leg.
By the time Big Mac was done, Knight was resting peacefully once again; a light snoring escaping from his lips. With a slight smile, the big, red stallion gently laid Knight’s head back down on his pillow. As he looked up, he noticed AJ staring at him with a light blush. He could only roll his eyes. He knew of AJ’s ‘secret’ crush on him. In fact, he was one of the first to notice it along with Fluttershy and Pinkie. He found it a bit odd at first, especially with his relationship with Ditzy, but Fluttershy was able to reassure him that nothing would come out of it.
Big Mac cleared his throat, bringing AJ back to reality. After realizing he had been caught gawking, his cheeks flushed even more. “I-uh…I wasn’t staring.”
“Mmhm,” he grunted knowingly.
AJ cleared his throat. “Uhhh…where did you learn to do that anyway?”
“It’s somethin’ our pa used ta do when we were little whenever we had nightmares. He showed me what ta do before he…” He let out a low, melancholy filled sigh.
AJ laid his ears back. “Sorry for bringing it up.”
Big Mac shook his head. ”There’s nothin’ ta be sorry about. Ah’ve come ta terms with what happened a long time ago.” He turned to Knight. “Is this th’ first time this has happened?”
Trying to ignore his own flustered state, AJ turned to Knight. “H-he’s been having a lot of nightmares lately. Almost every night.” He shook his head. “Never anything this bad though.”
Big Mac watched as AJ ran a comforting hoof through Knight’s mane. “That’s why ya’ve been so tired lately.”
AJ nodded. “Some nights I just didn’t even bother going back to sleep. I just wanted to make sure he’d be okay.”
“A nightmare’s nothin’ ta lose sleep over,” he said as he watched AJ. “Ah understand that ya want ta help’im, but yer own health should take priority.”
AJ’s glance turned from Knight to Big Mac; a glint of anger in his eyes. “Want? You think I’m doing this, just because I can?” Big Mac didn’t relent in their little stare down. “I don’t ‘want’ to help him McIntosh. I need to help him. I promised, I would help him. That I would protect him, and keep him safe.” He slowly turned back to Knight. “Even if it means putting him over me,” he said under his breath.
The room was silent as AJ continued to watch over Knight. He was so fixated on being a guardian angel, he didn’t even notice as Big Mac started walking around the bed. He jumped a bit when he felt a hoof on his shoulder. Turning his head, he saw the big, red stallion staring down at him.
“Ah know an’ understand why ya want ta help’im…” Big Mac said in a low, yet comforting voice. “But what would you do if ya got sick?” AJ could only look at Big Mac. “Ya won’t be able ta do much good if yer cooped up in yer bed fer a few days. An’ what do ya think Ditzy would think if she knew ya were doin‘ this ta yerself?”
“…She’d probably force me to get some sleep. And Carrot would gladly help her. Probably offer to tape me into the bed so I couldn’t get out.”
Big Mac chuckled to himself. Hearing someone shouting outside, he looked towards the window. He smiled at the sight he saw.
Snow.
Winter had always been Big Mac’s favorite season. He loved how calm things always seemed to be. The crispness of the air. The sight of Apple Bloom, and Applejack playing in the snow. It was also in winter when he first met Fluttershy all those years ago. He was always at his happiest when snow was on the ground.
“First snow of th’ season,” he said with a smile. He turned to AJ. “Get some sleep. We can talk more in th’ mornin’.”
A smile formed on AJ’s lips. “Right.” Taking one last look at Knight, AJ climbed back into bed as Big Mac turned the light off.
********************
“Look out!” yelled Applejack as she saw a snowball flying towards AJ.
AJ just barely managed to dodge out of the way. He tensed up as he felt the snowball clip the tip of his horn. “H-h-hooooo fuck me that’s cold!” he said as he shivered behind the wall of snow; gently rubbing his horn to try to get the feeling back. “W-why do horns have to be so sensitive?”
“It’s snow! Were ya expectin’ it ta be warm?” Applejack asked him as she dove behind their snowy barricade.
“I told you I hated the snow!” he shouted as he attempted to retaliate with a couple snowballs of his own. “The only reason I’m even out here right now is because Knight was really exited to come out here and play. I’ve never seen him get this exited about anything. Of course I wasn’t going to say no.”
“Maybe ya should have,” Applejack said as she rolled up more snowballs. “They’re creamin’ us because of him.”
“Well excuse me for wanting to make this snowball fight fair.” AJ’s ears twitched as everything became quiet. “Think they finally ran out?”
“Ah don’t know, but nows as good a time as any ta retaliate.” Applejack scooped up as many snowballs as she could.
“I suppose so,” AJ said as he picked up what was left of his pile with his magic. “We just going all out?”
“Might as well. We’re done fer if we just sit here anyhow.”
“Go on three?”
Applejack just nodded. “One…two…THREE!!!” Both of them leapt from cover; tossing snowballs at the enemy base as they ran. “You go left! Ah’ll go right! We’ll flank’em from both sides!”
“Right!”
They separated as they neared the base. Applejack kept her goal in mind as she ran along the wall of the enemy base, noting just how much bigger, and well formed it was compared their own. ‘Just a little more an’…’ As she rounded the wall, she hurled a snow ball at full force.
“GAH!!!”
Applejack gasped when she saw who it was she just attacked. AJ had his body pressed up against the snow wall. The few snowballs he still had left had fallen from his magical grasp due to the shock of the surprise attack. AJ looked at her with an appalled look. “What the hell?! We’re on the same team here!”
“Sorry sugarcube. Ah didn’t expect ya ta be th’ only one here,” she said as she walked closer.
AJ breathed a sigh as he removed himself from the wall; readjusting his earmuffs as he looked around. “Yea, neither did I.”
“Where do ya think they are?”
“I have no idea,” he said as he lifted a snow ball up. “Four ponies don’t just disappear. I don’t like this.”
“Yea. Just keep yer guard up. We don’t wanna get caught in a…” Applejack’s eyes shot open as she was suddenly hit repeatedly from the side. Eruptions of red coming from each impact.
“APPLEJACK!!! NOOOOOOOO!!!” The world seemed to go in slow motion as Applejack fell into the snow. Her hat, now covered in red, fell away from her body. The scarf Rarity had made for her came undone; getting caught in the breeze and blowing away only to be caught on a tree branch. Her body and the snow around her had been dyed crimson from the assault.
AJ ran over to Applejack’s motionless body. Her eyes remained closed no matter how much he shook her. “Applejack?! Come on Applejack, get up! I can’t do this alone!” He got no response from his earth pony companion.
His ears twitched as he heard hoofsteps approaching him in the snow. He turned to face his enemies as a shadow fell over them; an unreadable look on his face. About 10 meters in front of him stood three ponies. On the right stood Apple Bloom. She was wearing her white kung fu outfit, but had the addition of a white mask to go along with it making her look like a white ninja.
On the left stood Sweetie Belle. Her white coat helped her blend in fairly well already, but instead of a mask, she had a too big helmet on that covered her eyes. Around her body was a bandoleer with, what he hoped were, fake grenades.
Between the two of them stood Knight. On his head he wore a general’s hat. Over his left eye he wore an eye patch. The burgundy scarf around his neck blew in the wind. He wore a smirk as he shifted a pipe around in his mouth.
“Looks like you’re all alone now,” said Knight.
“You monster,” AJ said through his teeth.
A throaty laugh filled the air. “I’m a monster, am I? You call me a monster, but you must remember. All’s fair in love and war.” AJ stood up to face the opposing force; using his magic to scoop up some snow and form it into a snowball. “Ah, ah, ah. I wouldn’t do that if I were you. You saw what we did to your only ally.”
“Shut up!”
“Before you do anything too rash, hear me out,” Knight said with a stern look. “I’m willing to let you live, but on one condition.”
“And just what is that?”
“Join us. If you join our side, I can promise your safety. You will not be harmed. If not, well, you saw what happened to your friend there.” AJ growled at the remark. “So what do you say, hmm? Will you join us? We have cookies.”
AJ just glared a hole through the stallion. “You think I’d ever join you? After what you did to Applejack?! I’ll never join you! I’d rather go down fighting!” With a battle cry, AJ charged the ponies in front of him.
With a smile on his face, Knight lowered his head. “Pity.” Raising his fore hoof, he motioned to AJ.
Before he could reach Knight, AJ was struck in the side of the head. He fell to the ground hard; his head and a bit of the snow around him dyed red.
The smile slowly fell from Knight’s face as he looked around the battlefield. Their big wall of snow, while still holding strong, had taken its fair share of damage. Looking over, the defending wall of their enemies had been devastated. It was a mere shell of what it was in the beginning. The battleground between was littered with points of impact of the many projectiles that missed their mark.
Then he looked at the two ponies in front of them. Both had fought valiantly for their rights. For everything they believed in. And now they were gone. He closed his eyes in mourning for these two brave warriors. A slight gasp escaped his mouth as a large snowflake landed on his snout. He watched as it quickly melted before staring up into the sky.
It was snowing again.
‘It seems even the heavens cry frozen tears for these fallen warriors,’ he thought to himself as he looked back down at the bodies.
All was silent for a moment before Apple Bloom walked up to AJ’s motionless body. She removed her mask to show an amused look on her face. “You do know those were just snowballs right? Ya ain’t dead,” she said as she prodded his body.
AJ’s eye quickly opened and fixed itself on Apple Bloom before turning agitated. “Shhhhhh! I’m trying to be dramatic!” he whispered.
“Well it ain’t workin’. Now get up already before ya catch a cold.”
AJ let out a slight growl as he sat up. “First you dominate us in the fight, now you won’t let me have my fun.” He grumbled to himself as he turned to look at his ally. “Need any help there Applejack?”
Applejack lifted her hat out of the snow. “Ah could use some help gettin’ mah scarf out of th’ tree, but other than that Ah’m fine.” Her face soured as she finally got a good look at herself. The entire right half of her body had been dyed red from the assault. Her hat didn’t escape unscathed either having been hit by some of the splatter. The ground around her looked like a murder scene. “Consarnit! Ah look like a murder victim!” She eyed the other team with a piercing gaze. “Who’s bright idea was it ta dye yer balls red any who?!”
“It was Scootaloo’s idea!” Sweetie quickly said to cover her own butt. “She brought a bunch of red food coloring from home so we could make things more authentic!”
“Food coloring?” AJ asked in a monotone voice.
“Yea. My mom likes to bake this time of the year, so she always has tons of the stuff. I asked her if I could use some and she said yes,” Scootaloo said as she walked up to the rest of the group. She was wearing a black turtle neck, and had on a pair of night vision goggles.
“An’ just where were you,” Applejack asked; curious as to where she had been hiding this entire time.
“In that tree over there,” Scootaloo said as she pointed to one of the only trees that still had some leaves on it. “It made the perfect spot to spy on the two of you. All I had to do was use this walkie talkie and…”
“You said you used food coloring to dye the snow for those snowballs?” AJ asked, interrupting Scootaloo.
“Yea. What of it?”
“Scoots, when your mom bakes using food coloring, does she wear gloves of any kind?”
Scootaloo sat down as she thought for a moment. “Yyyea. Disposable, I think. Why?”
“Scoots, she wears those gloves so the coloring doesn’t get in her coat. Do you realize how hard it is to get food coloring out of hair?!”
“Just where are you goin’ with this?” Applejack asked; hoping AJ wasn’t going to say what she thought he was going to say.
“It’s almost easier to just cut the hair off than it is to wash the color out.” He turned to Applejack and slowly shook his head when he saw the damage done.
Applejack let that sink in for a minute. She just stood there, staring at her coat as she did. Apple Bloom’s eyes got wide as she watched her sister. Just by looking at her she could see all the minute signs that she learned to look for over the years. The tensing muscles. The little, pulsing vein in her forehead that only showed itself when she was really angry. Her teeth grinding behind her closed lips. While Applejack seemed calm on the outside, on the inside she was absolutely furious.
Scootaloo had a horrified look on her face as she stared at the orange mare. “I-I didn’t know! I swear!”
Applejack took a deep, calming breath before looking at the foals. “Ah’m goin’ ta go ta Rarity’s,” she said in a level tone. “An’ you better hope she knows how ta get this crap outa mah coat. Cause if she can’t…”
“Now Applejack just calm down,” interrupted AJ. “Yes this sucks, but threatening children won’t make the problem go away. Let’s just get to Rarity’s before we do something we regret. Besides, that doesn’t look like the face of somepony who did this on purpose,” he said as he motioned to Scootaloo.
“Yea! I swear I didn’t know!”
“Hey Knight, would you mind taking the girls back to the house. Maybe Big Mac could make you something to help warm up.”
“Maybe he’ll make some hot cider fer us!” Apple Bloom said excitedly as she took off towards the farm house.
“Or some cookies!” Scooaloo said as she and Sweetie followed.
“H-hey! Wait for me!” called Knight as he tried to keep up with the fillies. His hat fell off his head as he ran.
********************
“Hey Spike, before you go to help Rarity with…whatever it is she needs you for, could you help me find Cosmic Dance’s ‘The Majestic Cosmos?’” Twilight asked as she readied her desk for studying.
“Sure thing Twilight, but haven’t you already read through that book like, a hundred times?”
“It’s not my fault the book is so compelling,” Twilight said with a smile. Spike just rolled his eyes as he began his search. “It’s nice that you can still help Rarity without things being too awkward.”
“It’s not awkward at all Twilight. We are still friends after all,” Spike said in a confidant tone as he set the ladder up.
As she got the last inkwell into place, a knock sounded from the door. “I wonder who that could be.” Seeing that Spike was already in the process of climbing a ladder to find her book, Twilight went to open the door herself. “Hello, how can I help yyaAAHH!!!”
“Hey Twilight,” AJ said in his normal tone. Twilight continued to stare at him with a shocked expression. AJ could only roll his eyes and sigh. “Go ahead and ask. You wouldn’t be the first”
“Whoa! What happened to your face!?” came Spikes voice from behind Twilight.
“Spike!” chastised Twilight.
“If you think I look bad, you should see Applejack,” AJ said as he rubbed the right half of his head. He looked like a real life Two-Face. The left half of his head was indigo like the rest of his body. The right half was pink and naked. Some of his mane had even been taken off. Needless to say none of Rarity’s soaps were able to get the coloring out of their coats. When AJ and Applejack had suggested she go and buy some cheap shampoo that could strip the paint off of a house, Rarity nearly had a melt down. She refused to let such damaging shampoo anywhere near her establishment. She suggested dying their coats back to their natural color, but neither of them felt like getting even more dye into their coats. Unfortunately for AJ and Applejack, that meant only one thing.
“That’s actually one of the reason’s I came over here. Applejack’s hoping you know a spell that could re-grow her coat. As funny as a half shaved Applejack looks, I can’t help but feel sorry for her.”
Twilight thought for a moment. “Well…I know a spell that can grow a mustache on anything. Even on Spike’s scales. I’m sure I could twist the spell around a bit to grow a pony’s coat.”
“I think she’d even be happy if you were only able to grow a bunch of mustaches all over her body.”
“What about you?”
“Eh, it’ll grow back soon enough.”
Twilight nodded in understanding. “So what else did you need?”
AJ cleared his throat. “I was wondering if you knew anything about nightmares.”
“Nightmares?”
AJ nodded. “Maybe you have some books or something? Or a spell to change dreams or…”
“Spells that effect dreams or nightmares are dark magic, and therefore are strictly forbidden.” Twilight said with a stern look. “The Dream Walker spell is the only one that isn’t considered dark magic, and the only pony that knows how to pull that off is Princess Luna.”
“I am very familiar with that spell,” AJ said under his breath. “Well if spells are out of the question, do you have any books on the subject?”
Twilight put a hoof to her chin. “I believe there’s a couple around here. Why don’t you come in out of the cold for a bit? It must be freezing with your head shaved like that,” she said as she finally took notice of his shivering.
“It is quite cold, yes.”
Twilight stepped to the side to let him in. Before AJ made it into the building, he felt a little tickle inside his nose. His nose began twitching as he tried to fight back the impending sneeze. He held a hoof up to His nose as the feeling started going away. “You okay there?”
He sniffled a bit before answering. “Yea. Just a bit of aaah, ahhhh, aaAAHHHH-CHHOOOOOOO!!!”
Twilight slowly opened her left eye as she wiped the projectile saliva her face off with her hoof. “Ewwww.”
“Sounds like somepony has a cold,” chuckled Spike.
“Hah. Laugh it up lizard boy. Let’s see you spend all day out…” Before he could finish, a big pile of snow fell from above; completely burying him.
Twilight blinked before poking her head out the door and looking up. Some of the snow from the top of the library had been dislodged by the force of AJ’s sneeze. “C-c-c-c-coooooooold!” moaned AJ as his head sprouted out from the snow.
Twilight groaned. “Come on. Let’s get you inside and warm you up.”
********************
After helping Twilight melt the snow that had buried AJ, Spike was told he could go to Rarity’s place. He was going to be late as it is. She could just find the book herself. But before any books were to be found, she had somepony to take care of.
“Is that blanket warm enough?” she asked as she set a cup of hot tea on the table.
“B-b-barely,” AJ said as he took the tea in his hooves. He was too cold to even want to try magic right now. “M-my hooves are really cold.”
“Well I offered to run a hot bath for you.”
“Noooooooo,” AJ said as he glared at Twilight from above the tea cup. “I-I’ve seen enough water t-today. Frozen or otherwise. Kn-knowing my luck the water would just freeze on me.”
Twilight facehoofed. “Oh for the love of…fine. I’ll go see if I have something else that could help.”
As Twilight went upstairs, AJ took a big gulp of his tea. He didn’t care what Twilight said about drinking slowly at the moment. He just wanted that warmth inside of him. After reveling in the warmth for a minute, he heard Twilight coming back down the stairs. She walked back into the kitchen with a box in tow. “W-what’s in the box?”
Twilight placed the box down on the table in front of him. “They’re custom made socks,” she said as she lifted the cover of the box, a light blush on her face. “Specially made and delivered from Trottingham.”
AJ peered into the box to get a better look at the socks. He lifted one of them out of the box, raising his eyebrow as he looked it over. The socks were a pearl white color. Different colored, pastel fabric adorned the cuff of the sock. In the middle of the sock, there was a bright sun which looked very familiar to anypony who knows anything about their beloved princess of the sun. The end of the sock was done up to look like one of the royal slippers Celestia wears. With an almost judging look, he looked from the sock to Twilight. “Why does this sock look like…”
“All my other socks are in the wash!” Twilight said defensively; her face reddening even more. “Now are you going to wear them or not? Or would you rather stay cold?”
AJ recoiled slightly at the thought of staying cold before shaking his head. “N-no! Warmth good.” With a sheepish smile, he started slipping the first sock on. He shuddered slightly in delight as the comfortable fabric covered more and more of his leg. A smile adorned his face as he finished pulling the sock up. “This feels…amazing. What is this made of?”
Twilight just shrugged. “I tried to ask, but he said it was a trade secret. I thought about letting Rarity look at them, but…”
“The whole ‘looks like Celestia’ thing would be a bit awkward to explain.” Twilight just nodded sheepishly. With a smile, he quickly, as quickly as a half popsicle pony can move anyway, slipped on the other socks. Once he had them all on he stood up, looking himself over. “Well, they clash with my coat something fierce. But it’s totally worth it to be wearing something so warm and cuddly,” he said as he hugged himself. “And they fit me perfectly too. Pretty amazing considering they were probably made to fit your legs.”
“The fabric is magically treated to stretch to any size.” AJ looked at her questioningly. “What? I felt magic in the cloth and tested it. I was even able to stuff Spike’s entire body into a single sock when he was sleeping once.”
AJ couldn’t help but snicker at Twilight’s testing methods. “And he stayed asleep?”
“You wouldn’t believe how heavy a sleeper he can be sometimes. The entire library could be demolished with him inside it, and he’d continue to sleep.”
“I know some people like that.” The rainbow of colors that adorned the cuff caught is attention again, reminding him of a certain rainbow maned pegasus. “Oh, that’s right. We got a letter from Appleloosa today.”
“Oh?” Twilight’s eyes grew wider as the smile on her face also grew. “How’s Rainbow doing?”
“Still near catatonic. Soooooooo pretty much no different from when Braeburn first came to pick her up at the station. Good news is she’s actually eating now.”
Twilight sighed. “I was hoping being around Braeburn would’ve snapped her out of it.”
“To be fair to Rainbow, I think pregnancy was the last thing she ever expected to happen to her.”
“Maybe a foal is what Rainbow needs to teach her some much needed responsibility,” Twilight said with a smile as she finished her tea. “Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to go see about finding those books you asked for.” She placed her cup by the sink before exiting the room to begin her search.
As for AJ, he sat there to finish his tea. With the combined effort of the blanket, socks, and tea, the warmth was starting to return to his body. As he sipped his tea, he started to think about things. What if Twilight’s books didn’t have the answers he needed? What if the answers were too vague? What if they made the problem worse? He didn’t want Knight to suffer anymore. Just remembering what happened during the previous night sent shivers down his spine. ‘If not for Big Mac, if not for that thing he did, Knight might have…’ He shook the thought of his head. ‘I-I have to find an answer. For his sake.’
He quickly downed the last of his tea, placing his cup by the sink before joining Twilight in her search. Twilight looked up from the book she was skimming through when she saw him out of the corner of her eye. She immediately took note of the worried look on his face. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m going to help you look,” he said as he levitated some books down. He was too determined at the moment to even remember that not even 15 minutes ago he was complaining about being too cold.
“You don’t need to do that,” she said as she replaced the books she had just been levitating. “I can search just fine if you want to rest for awhile still.”
AJ was not deterred as he began skimming through the second book. “No, Knight’s depending on me to find these answers.”
“Knight? He’s having nightmares?”
AJ nodded as he put the books off to the side; grabbing a few more in his magic. “He’s been having them almost every night as of late. And they’re just getting worse and worse.” Another sharp chill ran down his spine as memories of last night came to him again.
“They must be pretty bad if you’re taking it this seriously.”
“You don’t know the half of it.”
Things were silent between the two of them for awhile after that. The only sounds were the sounds of the two of them flipping through pages and AJ’s groans as each book resulted in more disappointment. Twilight looked over at him from her books to see him adding to his already pretty big pile. He was grumbling something about last night. “Everything okay?” she asked as she placed her books gently on the table.
Being so absorbed with what he was doing, AJ barely noticed Twilight’s words. He quickly glanced over to Twilight before looking back to the books in front of him. “I’m fine.”
Twilight just continued to watch him for a minute. “Are you sure? Because you look like you’re getting pretty worked up about this.”
“I’m fine, Twilight,” he said with a hint of anger in his voice.
Twilight raised a brow as she looked at him. She could tell he was starting to get angry, and his anger seemed to elevate a bit with every book that didn’t give the answers he wanted. With a sigh, she used her magic to grab the books he had just pulled from the shelves away from him, placing them on the floor beside her. With a fierce look, he turned to her. “What the hell?! I need to look through those!”
“Not until you tell me what’s going on. Besides, I think it’s time you stopped going through my books. You’re getting a bit rough with them,” Twilight said as she pointed to the ones he just tossed away. The frustration had been getting to him and instead of just setting them off to the side he just tossed them over his shoulders carelessly.
“I already told you! Knight’s having nightmares and I wanna know how to stop them!” he said in anger as he tried to take the books back from her.
Twilight’s magic was easily able to overpower his as the books stayed where they were. “There’s got to be more to this than that. I doubt you’d be this worked up over a few nightmares.”
“Maybe I just wanna help! Did you ever think of that?!” shouted AJ as he pumped more magic into the spell in a futile attempt to overpower Twilight.
Twilight just sighed before teleporting the books to the other room. With nothing to latch onto, AJ’s magic just fizzled out. When he realized what just happened, he fixed his gaze on Twilight; his muscles tensing in anger. “Don’t even think about it buddy,” she said before her horn blazed to life. AJ’s legs became engulfed in a pink light before they were brought together, and lifted into the air. Within seconds AJ’s body was hanging upside down, the blanket and his glasses falling off of him. Now that he was at her mercy, Twilight calmly walked up to the hogtied pony. “Now, are you going to calm down, and tell me what’s wrong? Or would you like to stay like this for awhile?”
AJ glared at the slightly blurry Twilight for a moment before his gaze slowly became less angry. After a minute, he let out a frustrated sigh. Seeing that he was ready to talk things out, Twilight gently lowered him to the floor. Instead of getting up, he just kind of laid there for a minute. With a groan he finally got up to a sitting position, lazily lifting his glasses back onto his head.
Now that he was calm, she placed a hoof on his shoulder. “Now, are you ready to tell me just why this is so important to you?”
“…Because I promised to protect him Twilight. What kind of guardian angel am I if I can’t even stop a few nightmares? A terrible one, that’s what.”
“That’s it?”
“No that’s not it,” he said with a hint of depression in his voice. “For once…maybe I wanna be the one helping somepony instead of being the one needing the help. Most of my life I’ve been the one who needed the help. Even before the string of bad luck I’ve had since coming to Equestria. I’m sick and tired of feeling like such a helpless loser.”
“Didn’t you write to Princess Celestia about this? There’s nothing wrong with needing a bit of help, and true friends are always willing to help you through things.”
“That’s not it,” he said with a sigh.
“Then what? Why are you suddenly now feeling so inadequate?”
“Because last night Knight almost died, and all I could do was sit off to the side while Big Mac came to the rescue.”
Twilight stared at AJ in shock. “Knight Wind almost died?”
AJ nodded solemnly. “He was having some kind of nightmare, and he started choking. No matter what I tried I couldn’t wake him out of it. Then in comes Big Mac and with in minutes everything’s back to the status quo. At the time I was just happy that Knight was better and that everything was going to be okay, but after I woke up I just started feeling so…useless. It probably wouldn’t have even mattered if I had been there or not. He’d probably be better off being under Big Mac’s watch.”
“Now I know you know that isn’t true,” Twilight said with certainty. “Knight loves you. You’re like a brother to him. You always make sure he has what he needs. Hay, you even made sure he’s getting an education. If you ask me I’d say you’re doing a pretty good job.”
“That’s all well and good, but what if his life is in danger again? I’m not strong like Big Mac and Applejack, or as skilled with magic like you.”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “You don’t need to be strong or be good with magic to protect people. Just being there for him will be enough.”
“But what if that doesn’t help? What if he keeps having the nightmares?”
As much as Twilight wanted to give him an answer, she couldn’t. She knew little to nothing about nightmares. The only pony that really does is all the way…in…Canterlot. Her eyes widened as the idea hit her. “Duh, why didn’t I think about this before? We can just ask Luna if there’s anything she can do.”
“Luna?” AJ could only blink as he let that mull around in his head. “Oh Celestia, why didn’t I think of that?” A smile began to form on his face. “I’ll just send her a letter asking for help. I’m sure she’ll be happy to help.” With his smile continuing to grow, he searched out an empty scroll and a quill to begin his letter.
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Since when Applejack became a Unicorn?
I didnt know, Applejack could do Magic^^
But that beside. It' wonderful to have a new Chapter from this Story. I really like to read about AJ and his Life in Equestria.
I see you asked for criticism. Constructive, I trust.
Well, as of yet, my only opinions of this story thus far have been formed by the wicked cool cover art.
You have my attention; I'll start reading in the morning.
Oh, and congrats on making the home page's recommended list.
long time, no see! glad you are back and updating
Long time no see.(Wait a moment, I don't see you at all, just read your story and comments, so wouldn't it be long time, no read?
) And I thought this story was dead. Good to know it isn't, I still remember when I first started reading this and I screwed up the link to an image...Everyone knows about that....and I have recently repaired it. Hope to see more soon.
Wow. He's a moron. First thing I think of. "OH! He's having nightmares! Maybe the PRINCESS OF THE NIGHT, WHO IS A DREAM WALKER CAN HELP HIM"........................ Bleedin idiots
Main character being gay really kills this now. I don't have a problem with homosexuality (or bisexuality in this case), but the way you made him a double-hinged door in the first place is retarded. There was practically no sense to it. The fact that he magically starts liking guys as soon as he became a chick for however long it was implies that, at least in his case, sexuality is a hormonal thing. So, being a male again, he should logically lose interest in guys. Yet, he doesn't. Just doesn't make sense to me. If you could stop using it in later chapters (he's with Derpy anyways, right?) then I could forget about it and move on. But referring back to it every chapter is really killing this story, especially since AJ shouldn't be thinking about other people that way anyways.
Update? Brotherly love turning into a fatherly love? Epic feelz? Dramatic Snowball Fight? My god I got a lot of win this time. I feel so warm and fuzzy inside, it may as well be me inside those comfy equestrian socks.
Update? Brotherly love turning into a fatherly love? Epic feelz? Dramatic Snowball Fight? My god I got a lot of win this time. I feel so warm and fuzzy inside, it may as well be me inside those comfy equestrian socks.
you know what i was looking for the comment that someone commented on BUCK THAT SHIT i'm not finding it and i have better things to do then look for a comment
3114802 ...
Dude, you can't use Minecraft as a basis for an argument. You just can't. You can swim up a waterfall.
And Diamonds are the single most hardest known natural carbon minerals. Or the hardest minerals, full stop. Their structure is so unique and dexterous that no other known mineral can scratch it accept for another diamond.
Now, if Twilight was wearing diamond gloves, this would be another case. But this isn't Minecraft. There is no diamond armour.
3122735
He was jus tcomparing the fact that if the struture of a diamond was like that or diamond armor in minecraft all you would really need is the correct angle and it would be easy to destroy the diamond. It may be really hard but it's still a crystal and therefore flawed. So all you would need to do is drop it at the wrong angle and it could shatter. In fact it's happened before, that's why they don't make large things out of crystals anymore.
3127755 That's crap. You'd need a blade as thin as air if you were to have any chance of cutting a diamond with any other mineral other than diamond. And even then their covalent bonds would make that particularly difficult.
Diamonds can also be dissolved in chemicals which react with it's carbon components and break down it's covalent bonds, but this would need to be done under immense pressure.
I'm no chemist by any means, this is just stuff you learn in secondary school.
3137621 If you were to, you'd have my approval.
3132473
Except that it's scientific fact that a diamond can be broken by hitting it. Thats how alot of jewelers do it. Look it up.
3141935 I'm not arguing that diamond can't be broken. But it's near impossible to scratch simply by handling it, even clumsily. That was all I was saying.
3146631
But it's possible to shatter it if it is dropped at a wrong angle, especially one that is shaped oddly like the one mentioned in this story.
Avoiding all comments because of spoilers, just want to clarify now, this isn't a human turned pony story is it? The picture makes me think it is, but the description makes me think it isn't. I'll add it to my read later list but I'd really like to know before I invest any time into it. Sorry, and thank you!
3146769 I'd be lying if i said it wasn't.
Short question cuz i havent read any chapter yet!
Is the main character able to switch between human and pony form? Or does he stay a pony when he arrives in equestria? I sorta wanna know this before I start reading...
3168607 if you mean can he change his form at will, no.
3187624 ya... it took me a while to figure that out... rest in peace Granny...
Fairly interesting yarn you have spun here my friend. Good job, and keep it up. I wish to continue reading this: FOR SCIENCE
So all in all keep it up and i tip my imahinary hat to you good sir/ma'am.
3315886 While it would have been an interesting turn, there were too many factors to make sure nothing would have come of it/make it a very bad idea.
Celestia would have been able to react quick enough to grab and restrain him with her magic.
Doing so, even if he had failed, would have but a pretty sizable wedge between him and the ponies around him. With said wedge, it would have made the time he waited to be sent back very tense.
There's the chance that, due to the intent to kill (you don't use a knife to attack someone if you don't intend to go for the killing blow), nopony would trust him making him even more of an outcast than he already was.
If he would have succeeded, he pretty much would have become an enemy of Equestria. Applejack is an important pony, being the Element of Honesty after all. Celestia would have to cut into her cake eating time to actually do something
A satisfying-to-read SoL story, but you have quite a few issues with homophones.
3346675 .......buuuut he wasn't a filly. He was a colt. He was still male. He still had his junk. Everything was just...smaller.
There is a difference between a filly and a foal. Filly is a young, female horse. Foal is a broad term for a baby equine of any gender. It's a mistake I've seen WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY to many times from this fandom.
when i look at him he looks like nilsey from the yogscast
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
I NEED MORE! GIMME MORE! *sob* *sob* *rolls onto the floor*
This is THE best story I've ever read. While reading, I noticed a few mistakes, all anypony would make, except when ditzy said to dinky, "mommy has something to go do something..." It was in chapter 42, it irked me, but other than that the story was the best ever. Five moustaches
P.S. Before I read this I would have dreams of being transported to equestria
. HOW YOU READ MAH MIND?????
Also, you made the AJ-ditzy ship/whatever incredible, it made me wish i was AJ
. AND IM ONLY IN MIDDLE SCHOOL. Once again, five moustaches
that's would be cool if they have one (or two) chapter where AJ become a Vampony.
I feel compelled to link to Wanderer D's blog on properly categorizing a story.
http://www.fimfiction.net/blog/34715
Romance/Tragedy/Sad/Dark/Comedy/Human seems... really discouraging in a story. Romance, fine. Tragedy, fine. That's a whole story. But wait, it's also Sad? That conflicts a bit with the use of Tragedy, but whatever.
Dark, fine. So far we've got a depressing romance in a gloomy setting with awfulness at every turn, which will ultimately have an unhappy ending. Then...
Comedy? What the fuck? That makes no sense whatsoever with the previous combination. A potential story that could fit would maybe be if it was about two unrepentantly evil assholes falling in love and running around murdering babies in darkly humorous ways while fighting against a superior force working to bring about their unhappiness and ultimately dying miserable and alone in comedically slapstick methods.
Then Human, that's fine again. That's like Alternate Universe, you can stick it on whatever, it's informative of the contents, not indicative of the genre.
TLDR: Too many category tags. Is there any reason you can't say 'ultimately the story focuses more on comedy and romance than darkness' or whatever and go with those? Whatever the case, unless the story actually contains a great deal of conflict followed by an unhappy ending, it really doesn't need the tragedy category.
3472040
You know it
Damn... I need more, I've been waiting what, a month now for a new chapter.
an idea is to post what you have now and see what people think of the I.P. chapter. It gives the readers something to read and help editing with, and gives you some extra time to write before readers' minds start imploding from boredom.
best story I have read yet
Took me 6 days to catch up on this story from start to the current chapter
This story is very addicting
I love this story so much that I have been reading about 10 chapters a day ... with headaches
3538728
Nope. Hot Fuzz.
3534254
Don't question my logically illogical logic.
Wow, it's been so long that I actually forgot the main character's name and kept thinking you meant Applejack.
I DON'T WANNA DROP THIS, BUT DETAILS ARE LEAVING ME UUUUGH AND I'M NOT READING THE WHOLE DAMN THING. UUUGH
nightmare’s Knight where is Luna I thought she was the princess of dreams.