Joe and Nebula: A Tale of Two Evils

Joe ran down a long hallway that felt like it went on forever. It probably did. Joe would never know. As he ran the walls around him started to crumble and collapse. The dealing above him fell. It landed on Joe, pinning him to the concrete floor. He felt a stone hit his head and a trickle of blood start to run from his scalp and down his face. He knew it was a dream, he had done nothing but dream since he collapsed in the square. He wanted to wake up. He just couldn't. His dream self looked up to see nebula standing over him, the same twisted grin spread across his face. He brandished a club with an evil glinting his eyes. He drew it back and slammed it into joes ribs. He winced, he didn't know why but he could feel pain in his dreams.nightmares is a better term for what was happening to him. Nebula pulled back again and cracked the bat over his flank.

"Pervert!" Joe yelled turning around with a half grin on his face. This infuriated nebula. He drew back the bat Sam led him right across the face. Joe had to blink the stars out of his eyes. He tasted blood in his mouth and spit out a wad of it onto the white stallion's coat. Nebula was furious. He brought the bat over the back of his head and slammed it down hard on Jose's head. That was the last nightmare.

Joe woke with a start, his brown body drenched in sweat. He looked around the room. It was night and he was in the hospital. He looked at his shoulder where he remembered being stabbed. The area around it had been shaved, exposing the sickly green flesh below. He touched it gingerly. It stung like nothing he had ever felt before. He bit his lip and held back the tears. He looked over to his right to see a heart monitor which had been switched off. He examined it closely. now why would someone turn this off.he asked himself. He looked over to his left and saw a chair occupied with the most amazing sight he had ever seen. Applejack was curled into a ball on the chair, asleep. Joe leaned over despite the pain in his shoulder and tapped her on the nose. Her eyes fluttered open to see the brown pony leaning out of his bed.

"You awake!" She exclaimed. She jumped onto the bed and wrapped him up in a warm hug. Their lips locked and Joe forgot the pain he felt for a moment. She pulled back as the door to his room opened. In walked the nurse, amber. She walked over to him and looked him in the eyes.

"You should be dead. The amount of poison on that blade was enough to kill the strongest pony,twice." She said grimly.

"You sure know how to deliver dark news. How long was I out anyway." He asked her with applejack still sitting next to him.

"About three weeks, they said you were a lost cause and would never wake up. They switched off your heart monitor because they didn't think you needed it." Applejack said looking dreamily at Joe.

"I'll leave you two alone for a while." Amber said walking outa of the room. Joe unfolded his wings and examined the mess of broken and bent feathers. He began to yank out the broken ones and throw them on the floor. Applejack came over and started to help him. Joe examined his newly preened wings and folded them back. Applejack jumped off the bed and began to head for the door.

"I guess I'll let you rest for a bit, I'll be back in the morning with my friends." She said as she reached for the handle. Joe unfolded his wings and began to hover in the air. He yanked the IV out of his arm and flew towards the door. He picked up applejack and flew out the window.

Amber heard a commotion inside the room and walked in. She looked around to find an empty room. "Mother bucker," she said. And walked back out. It was to early to deal with that kind of stuff.

Outside in the frigid but pleasant air Joe flew around with a surprised applejack on his back.

"Joe, you should be resting." She said closing her eyes.

"Come on, I've been resting for three weeks." He said picking up the speed.

"P-put me down. I can't stand heights." She said covering her eyes with her hoof. Joe shrugged and sat her down. It was surprisingly soft. Applejack opened her eyes and shrieked. She was standing on a cloud. How was that even possible. She looked over at Joe who was sitting next to the trembling applejack.

"Your not falling through the cloud because this one has been enchanted." He said looking out at the moon. "All of them are, to keep ponies in hot air balloons from falling." He said. This calmed applejack down a little bit. He reached over and put his leg over her shoulder. This calmed her down completely and she snuggled closer to him.

"Who was the pony that attacked you." Applejack asked. Joe sighed, he couldn't keep it to himself any more.

"He is a pony called nebula, he is hellbent on destroying everyone and everything I love, Including you and your family. He confronted me at vinyl's studio in hopes of scaring me. It's the reason I sent applebloom to you and told her to together Big Mac ready to fight." He said grimly. She looked at him, the fear in her eyes replaced by anger and the then compassion.

"You knew about this for how long?" She asked.

"About a year." He said bluntly.

"And you carried it with you. The threat of constant death and pain with you all the time. And you told no pony. You are one of the strongest ponies I have ever met and I am proud to call you my friend." Applejack said. Joe frowned.

"I-I thought we were more than friends." He asked. Applejack turned to face Joe, a tear in her eyes. She wrapped him up in a hug and kissed him passionately. That was one of the best nights ever.