Not Your Average HiE Story

by Aegis Steelshield

12 Love is...

"What you did was just plain scary." Applejack admonished, checking the ropes.

"I saved your life. Who knows what would of happened if I didn't intervene."

I've been tied to this chair for at least a good thirty minutes. I didn't try to escape, if only because I thought REM would show up to rub my capture in my face.

"You could of killed those poor dogs..." Fluttershy said softly, the tiniest spark on anger on her features.

"But I didn't." I counter.

It kinda surprised me, when the first thing Applejack did after I untied her was kicking me in the nads. Gotta say, Applebucking is great for the legs. I must of passed out, because the next thing I remember was being tied to a chair.

"Maybe you didn't kill them, but you sure weren't pulling your punches." Twilight said, entering my field of vision. In her magic, she held a set of papers. "The first dog had it the worst, so we'll talk about him first. His sternum is cracked, and four of his ribs are broken. One of which pierced his lung." Her eyes focus on mine, "A fatal injury, had the doctors not gotten to him in time. What happened to not killing?"

I bite my tongue. I hadn't realized how angry I'd been. "My foot must of slipped, and hit off target."

"Or were you going to fast to aim?"

"It's a possibility."

"Nighthawk, you could of killed them."

"And what would of happened if I didn't step in?"

There was an uneasy silence in the room. Applejack shuddered a bit.

Finally, Twilight spoke, "That doesn't excuse your reckless actions."

"...At least I didn't unleash an Ursa on the town."

"THAT WASN'T MY FAULT!" She yelled, an indignant tone on her voice.

"That's not what I heard."

"Nighthawk, stop antagonizing her." Came Rarity's voice from behind.

"Yeah, don't be a meanie pants!" Pinkie added.

"So I didn't exercise as much control as I should of. He didn't die, did he?"

Twilight gritted her teeth, "Moving on to the second dog. You shattered his collar bone."

"Bone? Don't tell him, he might try to fetch it."

"Is there any chance that you will take this seriously?"

"No, but keep trying if you'd like."

There was a crash of thunder, and everyone jumped.

"Twilight, the storm has started!" Came a voice from upstairs, "Are you coming?"

"In a moment Spike!" She yelled back, before casting her gaze back to me. "Why? Why won't you take this seriously?"

"Why should I? This is a dream, after all." I dropped the bomb, hopping that REM would show his face a little sooner.

She gritted her teeth some more.

"Am I annoying you? So terrible sorry."

"This isn't a joke!" She yells, "Princess Celestia asked me, me of all ponies, to make sure you were safe to be around! And here you are, joking about nearly killing someone!"

There was another crash of thunder as I collected my thoughts. She didn't even blink when I threw my knowledge in her face. She seemed almost... Surprised.

"Oh... Oh Celestia..." She said, her eyes widening, "You... You genuinely believe you're dreaming... Don't you?"

"I've seen the signs. Come out, REM! Don't make me have to find you!"

Twilight and her friends exchanged glaces, before leaving the room.

* * * * *

Twilight took a deep breath, before speaking. "He thinks he's dreaming. He actually thinks he's dreaming."

Rarity sighs, "Why? I mean, he seemed to take it in stride at first."

Fluttershy spoke up, "He's... He's been having strange dreams."

"Do you know anything about them?" Applejack asked.

"Whatever he dreams about, it hurts him. Every morning...Every morning, he wakes up screaming in pain. This morning, he woke up with a nosebleed. I've asked him about them, but he never wants to talk about it."

"How long has he had them?" Twilight asks.

"Ever... Ever since the Ursa incident. The first was that night."

* * * * *

I was busy untying myself when Fluttershy and her friends reentered the room.

"Nighthawk..." She began, "Can you tell us who REM is?"

I sigh, before stating, "Low level super villain. Controls, wait for it, dreams. Real name unknown."

It was Twilight's turn to speak, "What... What makes you think REM put you in a dream?"

I smile at her, causing her ears to flatten.

"For one... You speak English. For two, you're fucking ponies. That talk. Third, this place has monsters from all sorts of religions. And lastly..." I take a deep breath, "The physics here make no sense. Your Princess Celestia shouldn't be moving the sun. In fact, the sun shouldn't be revolving around Equs at all. Equs should be revolving around the sun. The moon is full every night, something that by all means should be impossible. They physics just don't work."

There is another crash of thunder.

"And then there was the fire." I say. "Fire... Fire is a tricky one." I admit. "It feels a certain way to me. Hot, but not dangerous. REM may be smart, but he's no physics professor. He got it wrong."

Moments pass as they stare at me. Although they each seem to want to say something, none of them do.

Then someone outside screams, "Fire! Help!"

I give them the best shit eating grin I can. "Let's see if the bastard gets it right this time."

Comments

[Morphy]

That's the tricky things about lucid dreaming, you can't really tell if someone's doing it for you until "things don't add up"(tm). Out here in Fantasy Land Equestria anything could happen and be explained away as normal for the place. A nasty Catch-22, heh.

I have a feeling that even if, somehow, Luna managed to conjure up REM for him to 'defeat', he'll never buy it because he'll still be stuck in Equestria after all is said and done. It's a little scary how self-reaffirming this idea that it's all a dream is.

[Aegis Steelshield]

3886011
It's all in the mannerisms as well. Nighthawk knows REM, he knows how he acts, and knows his power. If Luna 'summoned' him, Nighthawk would figure out it's a fake. That in itself might make him wonder about the dream.

[Agile Swift]

this is so complex cant wait for another chapter