7. Afraid of Monsters
“May Ah come in?” Applejack asked, peeking through the open door.
As soon as the filly spotted her, she threw her hooves up in the air. “Mistress Mare-velous!”
Chuckling, the mare entered the room and winked. “Now, now, sugar cube; ya gotta be careful not ta reveal mah secret identity!”
Olive opened her mouth but didn’t quite know what to say.
“Mah name’s Applejack.” the mare smiled.
“Applejack! You’re back!” The filly exclaimed as her tail waggled excitedly.
“’course Ah am. Ah’ll be visitin’ regularly, at least until you can leave.” Applejack reached for the toy in her saddlebag. “Oh, and Ah’ve also brought somethin’ for ya, sugar cube.”
Olive’s eyes sparked with joy as she saw the toy. “Saddle Rager!” she nearly screamed as her eyes followed the toy being placed on her bed.
“Ah hope this’ll make your stay less borin’.” Applejack once again reached for something in her bag. “Ah’ve also got another present for ya.” She pulled out a comic book.
Olive snatched it out of her mouth with her hooves. “A Power Ponies comic!”
“E-yup. Ah’ve borrowed it from a friend, he’s also a mighty big fan of ta Power Ponies.” Applejack smiled. “Ah’m certain you two will get alon’.”
The filly stared at the two items before she hopped towards Applejack and hugged her, awkwardly balancing herself on her good leg. “You’re ta best! Five seconds of love!” she said, slipping just a bit in the Apple twang.
Applejack blushed and embraced the filly’s hug, amused by the 'five seconds of love'. “Yer pretty brave yerself. Ah’d be cryin’ if Ah was yer age.”
As the filly let go, she immediately opened her comic and quickly looked at the pages. Applejack couldn’t help but wonder why she isn’t using her magic to flip through the pages. Maybe she’s havin’ the same problem as Sweetie Belle? The mare cleared her throat. “Ya know unicorns have magic, right? Ah believe it might be easier if ya use yer magic.”
Olive froze for a moment, avoiding Applejack’s eyes. “Magic scares me. I don’t like magic. Everypony avoids me when I use magic.” she muttered rapidly.
At this point, Applejack was heavily considering bringing a certain friend in the mix. Magic problems... Maybe Twilight could help ‘er deal with ‘er fear of magic?
“Don’t worry about it. Ah know somepony who can help ya overcome your fear of magic.” Applejack said. “Ah just wanna know; what’s so scary about magic?”
Olive looked at her small horn. “I get really angry when I use magic.” she didn’t explain further.
“Ah see...” Applejack took a seat next to the filly’s bed. “Yer afraid to hurt somepony when you use magic.”
The filly nodded solemnly. “Daddy wants me to use lots of magic, but I’m too scared to make him proud.”
The more she spoke of her father, the angrier Applejack felt inside. “If it makes ya uncomfortable, ya don’t have to force yerself to use magic just to make ‘im proud.” The earth pony swallowed an angry lump in her throat. “Ah’m already proud of yer courage, sugar cube. Yer good enough without magic.”
Olive finally made eye contact with Applejack. “Thanks.” A surprisingly mature tone was used here. The filly’s legs shook around as she brushed her mane, looking like she wanted to say something. “Misst-Applejack?”
“What is it?” kindly responded the element of honesty.
“I-I have a question.” the young filly stammered.
“Ask ahead, that’s what Ah’m here for.”
“What does sexual trauma mean?”
Applejack was caught off guard. How does she-? “W-Why do you ask?”
Olive had a sorry look on her face, feeling like she said something wrong. “I heard the nurse and the pegasus talk about sexual trauma after they were done talking to me.” she awkwardly explained, tapping her hooves together.
“Well... that’s somethin’ you’ll understand when you grow up.” Applejack answered, wanting to dodge this delicate matter.
The room was now casted in shadows, so much so that Applejack had to turn on the nightlight to even see Olive. “It’s getting' mighty dark outside.” Feeling a bit regretful, she stood up from her chair. “Ah should head home, they’re certainly waitin’ for me.”
As she trotted away, she felt a pair of hooves grabbing her back leg. The earth pony looked over her shoulder to see the worry in the clingy filly’s eyes. “W... What will happen when they’ll make me leave?”
Applejack gave her a reassuring smile. “We’ll be seein’ each other more when you leave, Ah can promise that. For now, ya should get some sleep. Yer lookin’ mighty tired.”
Feeling satisfied by this answer, Olive let go and crawled back to her pillow. “Will you come back tomorrow?”
“’course Ah will, sugar cube.”
Pulling up the covers, Olive looked at Applejack one last time. “Good night, Applejack.”
“Good night, sugar cube.”
Night fell on Ponyville, sending all its inhabitants to the wonderful dreamscape. Everypony was sleeping peacefully, everypony but one. Inside one of the patient’s rooms in Ponyville General, a lonely filly rolled around in bed, whimpering.
Trapped on a small ship, Olive wandered around aimlessly, staring at the infinite ocean surrounding her. The place felt claustrophobic. The filly was far too scared to go even near the edges, afraid to accidentally fall in the water. As such, there was even less room to navigate than normal.
The ocean was dark, very, very dark. The light of the moon could only illuminate the surface, but the surface wasn’t what got her spooked. It was what couldn’t be seen in the depths that scared her to death, the monsters in the abyss. If she fell in the ocean, she was done for. It also didn’t help that she never truly learned how to swim.
As such, she locked herself inside, not wanting to even peek out the window. All that she could do was to place her faith in the ship to not succumb to the waves. The storm outside was angry, and it felt like it personally wanted her dead. Its thunderous roars were powerful enough to be heard from inside.
Curbed up in a foetal position under the bed, she covered her eyes, waiting for the nightmare to finally end. Suddenly, a knock made her jump so much that she hit her head against the base of the bed.
“Olive? Are you in there?” That voice... Olive didn’t dare to respond.
The door opened, letting her hear the full wrath of the storm before it closed abruptly. Sniffles came from the newcomer, a stallion pegasus just entered the room. His fur was turquoise, his hair, a fiery red which fitted nicely with his crimson eyes.
He wiped the water off his glasses before making his way to the cowering fillies.
“You gotta go back on deck, the crew needs your help with something.” The stallion said, sounding annoyed.
“No!” the filly protested. “It’s dangerous out there!” She slapped the stallion’s hoof away.
“Olive, you lousy son of a bitch! Get your dirty flank out of here and make yourself useful, or else I'm throwing you off board!” The pegasus shouted back, finally pulling her out from her hiding spot.
“We shouldn’t go outside!” Olive shouted back. “You’re gonna die if you leave!” her skin was ghostly pale.
“Oh no! Me, a pegasus, am going to drown?” The stallion hissed in a mocking voice. “Stop being a scaredy cat and prove to us that the boss knows what he’s doing with you. Aurora isn’t a darn coward; you should take a few notes from her.”
Forcefully pulling her back on deck, Olive noticed that the boat was now filled with ponies working hard to keep it from succumbing to the waves. The stallion dragged her to the side and stared at her with his piercing eyes.
He pointed a hoof at the door on his right. “Now, you’re gonna go in there and help the others fix any dents on the boat. It’s a task so easy a foal could do it. You just grab a hammer, and hammer away at dents.” he said in a very condescending tone.
Olive, however, didn’t really listen, too focused on the storm raging on to her left. She had that look in her eyes like she already knew what was going to happen.
Then, just as she predicted, a large tentacle erupted from the ocean and lunged right at them.
Being thankfully small, it barely missed her, only touching the top of her mane as it wrapped itself around the pegasus. She helplessly watched as the poor pony was dragged to the abyss of the ocean, never to be seen again. Her back was now pushing against the door he pointed to earlier as her mind raced to only one thought; hide back under the bed before the creature snatches her up.
She ran back to the door leading to the bedroom, hopelessly jumping at the doorknob but never quite reaching it. As her legs touched the deck, she felt a surprising jolt of pain. Looking down, she noticed that her back leg was still in a cast. Then, she noticed that she couldn’t hear the shouts and yells of the crew anymore. Looking over her shoulder, she saw only an empty ship. The storm was still raging on, but there were no traces of the crew, nor of the monster that murdered a stallion before her very eyes.
Then, the door clicked open, surprising Olive as she took a few steps back. It opened only to reveal a gigantic white stallion on the other side. “Olive... You’re all talk, no action.” Strong Hoof seemed even bigger and more imposing than he already was.
Olive fell on her flank, crawling away from the giant that was making the ship rumble with each step. “Are you ready for round two? This time I won’t miss the mark.” he gritted through his evil grin. The filly could feel his eyes were locked onto her broken leg.
“Y-You can’t hurt me...” She stammered through her fearful tears. “Daddy won’t be happy.”
Strong Hoof’s neck rose up, looking around the empty. “Daddy?” after a few seconds that felt like an eternity for Olive, the earth pony lowered his head. “Daddy’s not here, bruja.” He let out a sinister laugh as he marched towards the cowering filly. Then, he stopped once a golden figure placed itself between him and the filly.
Olive stared in awe at the newcomer. It was a young mare, taller than her but slightly shorter than Applejack. Her fur was golden and her mane, cyan blue. She was staring right in the dark eyes of Strong Hoof, showing clear hints of fear yet refusing to back down from the gigantic stallion.
“Au-Aurora!” Olive stammered. For a brief moment, she found herself back in the Everfree Forest before the world shifted back to the ship. In that moment, she knew exactly what was about to unfold.
“How bold... Your bravery won’t save you because I smell fear.” Strong Hoof remarked calmly, bearing his bloodied teeth.
Aurora cocked her head back to look at Olive. “Run! There’s a town nearby, you’ll be safe there!” she screamed, making the filly panic inside.
“B-But what about you?” Olive croaked.
“I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me.” Aurora responded, her quivering voice betraying the calm tone she was going for. Her legs were trembling, and she cursed herself for not being able to hide it.
Strong Hoof chuckled. “This forest will be your tomb. Nopony gets away with betrayal, traidor. Si tan solo pudieras ver la depravación que impulsan el dinero y el poder. Estamos tratando de salvar a los indefensos.”
Aurora motioned at the young filly to run away and thus, she did. Her mind became a foggy mess as she ran in the only place she could find shelter from the brute, a place to hide, down in the deepest section of the ship. Running down the flight of stairs the pegasus had pointed to earlier, she discovered that the lower portion of the ship was flooded, with water slowly rising up. Evidently, she couldn’t stay there forever.
A soul piercing scream froze her blood. And then, silence...
There were no sounds other than the sound of the water banging against the ship and the storm outside.
“Olive...” The stairs creaked loudly as a massive pony descended. Strong Hoof was coming to get her, and sadly; she didn’t have enough time to find a place to hide.
“Your traitorous friend’s help was in vain, bruja.” The stallion cackled. “Now it’s your turn.” He was now marching towards the cowering filly, splashing water everywhere with each step he took. His sheer size was causing the ship to shake as he was closing in on Olive. “Prepare yourself, niña.”
“P-P-P-Princess Luna!” she croaked, protecting her head with her forelegs. Then, her call for help was answered when a beautiful, majestic light casted the shadows away. The clouds were split open as the waves began to calm down. In no time, the ocean was silent, and the ship stabilised itself. The flooding water evaporated into nothingness and the two ponies found themselves back on the deck.
Strong Hoof himself slowly shrunk down to his true size, which was still taller than the lunar princess as she flew down to the deck. “Luna...”
Upon noticing the alicorn, the filly hid behind the princess’s leg, hugging it as tightly as she could. “Fear not my little pony; I have returned!” she stated in a reassuring yet commanding voice.
“You will fall.” Strong Hoof said, his face remaining calm despite the presence of the powerful alicorn.
“You will not torment this filly any longer.” Luna said in the royal Canterlot voice, a voice now repurposed to intimidate her opponents.
“Fall...” The stallion repeated, still standing his ground against the lunar princess.
Using just a simple magic beam, she casted the evil pony away in a beautiful light show that would made most firework shows jealous. Once the deed was done, all that was left was silence. Despite the stallion being defeated, Olive still looked pale.
“Do not be afraid, my little pony. You are safe from the nightmares now.” Luna said, her voice still having that hint of heroism present in it.
“D-Daddy’s coming... coming now.” Olive pulled on her leg, pointing a hoof behind her.
“Wha-” Before Luna could turn around, she felt a terrible pain on her cheek and felt herself being launched in the air, her face soon meeting the wooden boards of the ship. Discombobulated, she rubbed her swollen right cheek with her hoof, surprised at how painful this hit was.
“Couldn’t see that one coming? Oh dear, I fear you might be losing your ‘warrior princess’ mojo, Luny!” A voice cackled. Luna recognised that voice from Olive’s dream last night. Her father was here. That hit... was surprisingly strong for a unicorn. It was packed with the sheer might of an earth pony. Then again, it was just a dream, and, in this world, the real world’s logic doesn’t apply.
“Princess Luna!” Olive shouted, concerned for her well-being. Her eyes began to water as she galloped over to the alicorn.
“Now now, darling. You should let the grown-ups have a ‘civil’ discussion. Oh, and quit being stupid. Tears are not meant to be shed so lightly. Now scram!” He tapped the floor with his hooves, creating a hole underneath his daughter.
Luna’s eyes widened as she saw the filly fall out of sight. “Olive!”
The unicorn looked down at the hole with a bit of uncertainty present in his overall expression. “Come to think of it, I don’t actually know where this hole leads to. Maybe it goes to the lower sections of the ship, maybe it’s just a gateway to the abyss... Oh well! Let’s think about it later!”
Luna stomped the ground furiously. “Bring her back you monster!” she demanded.
“I’m afraid I can’t do that, nighthawk! I’m not a pony, I’m just a nightmare and it’s basically required of me to mentally torment her!” The stallion responded, giggling to himself as he talked. His whole demeanor seemed rather carefree, not taking any of this seriously.
The alicorn took a brief moment to calm herself down. What he was saying was ultimately true. He’s not real, but he’s how the filly perceives the real one to be. Considering that he’s her father, this portrait of him should be close to reality. “Then what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be going after her instead of me?” she asked.
“And miss the chance of having an audience with the great lunar princess?” The stallion gave her a fake frown. “Absolutely not! I’ll go and exercise some ‘discipline’ to the filly later. Right now, I want to share some funny secrets with you.” He continued, grinning from ear to ear.
Princess Luna braced herself. “What kind of secrets?”
“I already told you, the funny kind!” The father immediately answered. “Though what we perceive as funny can vary from one pony to another. You see, you drink water but I... drink anarchy.” He took out a cup of something and imitated a pony drinking. “Uh, yeah... you can’t actually drink anarchy, it’s just a concept.”
“Enough jokes! Say what you must.” Luna stomped the ground with enough force to shake the whole ship, making the air crackle with electricity. The stallion dropped his cup, having a brief look of surprise on his face.
“Alrighty then... First secret.” He rubbed his hooves together, licking his lips in preparation. “I have created a rather unique set of comics. Power Ponies comics that suck the reader into the world of these superheroes.” He briefly tilted his head towards the alicorn, who glared at him. “Yeah, I know, it can lead to death but that’s exactly the point. I wanted to create a lil bit of chaos, and it worked.”
Luna sighed. “It took a lot of work to solve this fiasco. I suppose my guess was correct, only a pony as insane as you could bring such an abominable idea to life.”
“I know right?!” The stallion leaned close to her, his grin growing even larger to the point that it was covering a portion of his eyes. “Can you even imagine the hearty laugh I bellowed when I heard that the princess of friendship’s pet bought one of MY comics?!”
The midnight alicorn glared. “Spike is not a pet!” she shouted in the royal Canterlot voice with such vigor that she unconsciously spat on him.
The unicorn frowned, wiping the saliva off his face. “Yeah, you keep telling yourself that.” He took a few steps back. “You talk as if you ponies don’t also keep sentient animals as mere pets. I know what goes on in Sweet Apple Acre. The cows there DO talk last I heard.” His frown turned back into a glorious smile as he pointed a hoof at himself. “That’s where I come in. You see, I’m an anarchist. Most ponies see that as a bad thing, but not us, no. I, am a liberator. By destroying those in power, I will allow every sentient creature in Equestria to be free. Free to listen to their impulses, free to listen to their heart’s desire. No longer held back by those who wave around their hooves being like ‘justice this’ and ‘justice that’!”
“You’re no liberator.” Luna attacked. “You’re just a lunatic who spouts nonsense.”
“Ooh! Struck a nerve there, didn’t I?” The stallion cackled. “Perhaps you should write down some new policies against slavery, my dear!”
If this kept on going, Luna would surely break her teeth with how hard she was clenching them. “Enough talk! Let’s get this over with!”
“Oh, Luny. If what you wanted was this along. You only had to ask.” The stallion started hopping around in place, looking ready to attack. “Let me humble you by kicking your ass. One on one...”
Sprouting her wings, Luna smirked. “Let me handle the humbling.” Her horn lit up and fired a spark in the air. The sky crackled with electricity and before the unicorn could realise what was going on, lightning struck him down in a shocking turn of event.
His whole body spazzed out as electricity coursed through his body until he couldn’t take it anymore and fell down, defeated. “Urgh... you win! No wait it’s a tie! Argh, to Tartarus with it. You beat me!” He said, cowering with his hooves clenching his head. Then, his whole demeanor changed, going from scared to confident. “Hang on, did I say me? I meant to say me... and these ponies!” He reached a hoof out and whistled.
A large group of ponies suddenly popped out of seemingly nowhere, jumping down on the deck to surround the alicorn.
“Looks like the odds are now stacked in my favor!”
Princess Luna wasn’t intimidated in the slightest. She was instead smiling to herself. “I like those odds.” Rare is it that a nightmare resists her this much.
The group closed in on her, each jumping on top of her as they formed a big pile to crush her. The unicorn watched in amusement, chewing on a lollipop. He quickly spat it out when his henchponies were sent flying in every direction by a single spell. “Oh okay. I suppose I should probably order more henchponies. These ones are dropping like flies.” He casually commented, seemingly unfazed by this turn of event.
More ponies joined in the fray, each looking very angry at Luna. This time, they each went one at a time in quick succession to avoid being blasted away in just one hit. Their efforts proved fruitless as the alicorn displayed her superior skill and experience by dispatching them effortlessly, using her hooves instead of her magic. It’s quite bad indeed when an alicorn doesn’t resort to magic to fight you.
“Oh right! I should probably help them.” His horn lit up as he charged a powerful spell. Luna felt a shiver down her spine coming straight from the evil unicorn as her instincts told her to fly away. Then, a giant beam of fire came out of his horn, burning everypony on the ship to a crisp, except for the princess who flew out of reach.
Such power! This nightmare is stronger than the others. Landing back on deck, she glared at the evil stallion who reciprocated with nothing but a smile. On second thought, he may be more than a nightmare...
His magic left his horn as he went back to a more casual stance. “You’re not gonna do anything? Hmm, since I’m such a generous stallion, I’ll give you a chance. Strike me down! End it all here! Come on, I know you can do it!” He shouted, throwing his hooves in the air as he balanced himself on his back legs.
Luna complied and fired a very powerful beam of magic, a beam strong enough to obliterate any nightmare she has ever faced before. The attack struck the stallion with enough intensity to destroy the whole ship and split the ocean and yet, once the dust had settled, the unicorn still remained.
“I live!” He exclaimed in victory. “I win and you lose! You will never truly beat me, nighthawk! I've made a beast out of myself, and now... I'll make one out of you..”
Confused, Princess Luna tried to make sense of this situation. I can’t destroy him, but I can chase him away. Her eyes darted around the dreamscape, a vast, calm ocean of pure blackness who’s peace is occasionally broken by a tentacle erupting from the abyss below. This isn’t my mind. It’s the filly’s mind, which would explain why this unicorn is so powerful here. I can’t beat her fears, I can’t overcome them on her behalf...
She looked down at the ocean, the very ocean that had seemingly swallowed Olive earlier. “Now that I’ve proven to you that you can’t beat me. How about I start the fun by taking off these pretty win- Hey!” Luna dove deep in the ocean, blasting a hole through it to reach the bottom.
After a few seconds of diving, she touched the depths of the abyss. There was nothing down there, nothing but a single light shining down on a sorry looking figure. Around this beam of light was a young mare, smiling as she was comforting the filly. As the princess approached, the young mare left in the darkness, looking rather sad.
“The nightmares are gone.” Luna said carefully. “I’m here.”
Olive stared wide eyed at the mare who vanished, looking very sad. “They’re never gone. They only leave when you come, but they’ll always be back.”
“I... yes. I can’t make them disappear for good. I can’t do miracles, Olive.” Luna sat next to her, transforming herself back into a filly to ease the youngling’s nerves. “Only you can save yourself from the nightmares.” she said in an adorable voice full of kindness.
The stallion’s horrible laughter echoed throughout the abyss, a haunting sound that never wants to fade away. Olive covered her ears and sobbed. “But I can’t! It’s too hard!” she croaked, her voice breaking down with every word.
“I know how difficult it is...” Luna consoled. “But you’ll never truly move on if you don’t confront your fears and overcome them. Courage isn’t a lack of fear, true courage is to face your fears in the eyes and not back down. I know you can do it.”
The laugh echoed once more; this time higher in pitch. It sounded, triumphant. Olive inched herself closer to the princess and hugged her, looking for some comfort. Luna wrapped her wing around the filly’s body, her warmth calming down the panicking foal.
Two eyes popped in unannounced, slowly moving towards the two with a large grin stretching his face well beyond the size of a normal stallion. “Oh darling! Perhaps now you’re finally realising that you’re not meant to be with them! Your place is with us, with your daddy.”
In one swift movement, he grabbed Olive and began dragging her away. Luna tried to stop him, but he fired a quick spell that paralysed her. “No seriously, I don’t think you’re the best pony to give her a lecture about family and what not considering your past beef. She’s mine and not yours.”
Powerless before her father, Olive looked back at the princess with pleading eyes. “I’m sorry my little pony. There’s not much I can do before this nightmare.” the alicorn said before an idea popped in her mind. “Sometimes, you have to tell ponies what’s on your mind if you want them to understand how you feel.”
“She already knows what she feels, right darling? You said you love your daddy, didn’t you?” The stallion said, looking into the filly’s eyes. “He knows what’s best for you.”
Olive’s mouth quivered, her legs were trembling but this time, it wasn’t fear alone. It was a new feeling that she has yet to express, anger. “Leave me alone!” For the first time in a while, her horn lit up and out of it came a powerful spark.
“Oh no no no... Wait wait wait wait wait!” The blast blew her father away, sending him back to the shadows. The abyss slowly transformed into a beautiful forest at night, with the stars shining almost as bright as the sun. Princess Luna finally regained control of her body and rushed to the filly’s side.
“You did it!” she exclaimed, smiling excitedly at the filly. “You fought back.”
Olive’s mouth slowly contorted into a relieved smile. “I feel... good.” her hooves started tapping the floor rapidly as she danced around in place. “I defeated daddy! I’m the best!”
The alicorn giggled. “You certainly are a very brave filly.” She placed a hoof on Olive’s back. “What you’ve learned tonight is precious. Don’t ever forget this nightmare, and don’t ever be afraid to say no to somepony.”
Olive quickly hugged the princess once again, this time clenching her twice as hard. “You’re the best princess ever!”
“Wh- Thank you.” Luna said. After they had finished hugging, the alicorn regained her true form. “I must go now, help other ponies with their nightmares.” As she flew away, she turned to give her one last smile. “We’ll see each other soon enough.”
Now left by her lonesome, Olive imagined herself a superhero outfit, and a horde of bad ponies surrounding her. Smirking, she prepared herself for the incoming fight with newfound confidence. “I’m the strongest superhero there is!”
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More good
Yes, you go be a superpony, Olive!
Odd, I thought this happened before the series premiere.
Strong Hoof huh?
Well then
GET EVERY GUARD ON DUTY!
heck get HER as well since its her birthday today!
Okay, I'm going to favorite this story, just please please PLEASE don't let the anarchist just be Discord.
Like, please
1:34
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The reason traitor is pronounced this way is because he's saying it in Spanish. I decided to add another line to make this point clearer, but thank you for pointing it out nonetheless.