My Little Sinner Ch. 2: My Resolve

All my weight was thrown forward as I thrust my head upwards.  My skin was drenched in a cold sweat.  My face was flushed as the tears continued to flow out of them.  My hyperventilated breathes overpowered the sound which emanated from the monitor, sitting on my right.  I regained myself and remembered where I was, except now the hospital room I resided in sat in a light shadow as the gentle moonlight illuminated a single spot on the plain tile floor.

“After all this time, I still have those nightmares.”  I muttered to myself.  Even though I’ve made some new friends in my journey, I truly felt like none of them were as close as the ones I lost.  They were the brothers I never had.  They were the sisters I never had.  And she was the one person I gave my heart.  They were my family.  But now they’re gone, and those dreams are just a reminder that I am alone.  A void filled my inner being and I wanted some closure to counter this emptiness.  But knowing my luck, I wouldn’t receive any.

Damn you….Damn you Reiku.

I don’t know how long it may have been going on for, but just now my ears picked up on what was close to banging on the glass of the window frame.  Lazily I turned my head to the noise, expecting it to be part of a tree branch knocking on the window because of strong blowing winds.  But if that was the case, you’d assume there would be complaints about it.  To my surprise, it wasn’t a tree.  Flapping her wings outside with worried filled eyes was the blue mare, Rainbow Dash.  How long had she been there watching me sleep?  Furthermore, why was she watching me sleep?

I wiped as much of my soaked face as I could to try and hide the fact I was crying, but in my mind it seemed pointless since she probably already knew.  Turing and propping myself up, I shuffled to let the pony in.  If only I had woken up before she arrived or if the pegasi was never there, I could have finally had some privacy and use my powers to heal my wounds.  Each little movement made it seem like I had thousands of tiny knives dragging their edges across every centimeter of my muscle fibers.  I know that this place does have magic, but I don’t know to what intent, so I don’t want to scare anyone who ends up catching a glimpse of my anatomy regenerating itself.

I finally made it to the window still; thank god, that was a mile and a half.  With a simple flip of the latch and a pull it was open and Rainbow Dash glided in.  Soon I was greeted with the cold night and some shrinkage, reminding me that I still didn’t have anything on my lower half.  That was the least of my worries currently; pain continued to fill my veins and I still had the journey of getting back to the bed, plus I had company.

With one step, I began plummeting.  Lucky for me, my company was quick enough to grab me before impact with the hard floor.  The winged pony had wrapped my left arm around the back of her neck and to my amazement was actually able to support my weight.  I’d figure in my condition, I would be mostly dead weight.  She must be stronger then she looks.

I was resituated back on the thick foam mattress only to be greeted with the same look that was given when I found her outside my window.  So to help ease her feeling, I started “What brings you here this time of night, Miss. Rainbow Dash?”  She gave me this look when I said Miss.

“You can call me Rainbow or Dash instead.”  She begun; guess she doesn’t like being addressed as such.  I don’t blame her, in my head it sounds weird being called Mr. Ikumatse.  “I just wanted to drop on by and be able to introduce myself a little better; I was too spaced out this morning.”  From what I overhead earlier, I already knew why.

“It was because of this ‘other alien’ Pinkie Pie mentioned, isn’t it?”  It felt wrong of me, but it was my chance to confirm my intuition.  Rainbow nodded while averting her gaze away from mine.  “So is it true that he looks like me, if you were to change the eyes and hair….Was his name Reiku?” My moment of truth waits with her answer.

“What?  No, not even close.  And his name was Leon.”  Not the answer I was looking for yet she clearly spoke the truth.

“Oh, I kind of assumed it was someone else when I was told I looked like another human.  So does this mean I’m not…”  My voice died down when I saw that same depressed look she wore when I first saw her.  We maybe strangers, but if there was any way I could help her then I’d gladly do it.

“What’s wrong?” I asked gently placing a hand on Rainbow’s shoulder; it was as relaxed as I could make so not disturb her in the wrong way.  She shook her head and said it was nothing then redirected my question.  “What’s wrong with you?  Why were you crying?”  I had just apprehended the fact that my face was still wet from my drying tears.

Emotionally, we’re in a bad position and I wanted to reverse the current mood, but if I tried to evade the question, she may get suspicious about what was going through my head.

“Um I had a bad dream.”  Technically it was true, but I couldn’t tell her what it was about.

“It must have been some dream to cause a man to cry.” Rainbow said; I had a feeling she didn’t believe me.

With some enthusiasm in my voice and a few completely random jesters of my hands, I tried to play it off “Oh yes, a very terrible dream indeed.  A nightmare so scary, it’ll make your skin crawl.”  I studied her reaction and noticed that she was trying not to laugh at my silliness.  Mentally I gave myself a pat on the back for making her at ease. Maybe she was more mentally recovered with her situation then I was with mine.  It would explain why she was easily rejuvenated yet is still trouble with the fact.

The cyan pony managed to recover by making the statement “Well I wouldn’t be afraid, I’m too brave and awesome for it.”

“Well I’m glad I’ve got such a brave pony next to me.” My comment made her laugh a little with pride.  It was good to see that she finally relaxed.  With melancholy exiting our being, the two of us could now have a decent conversation.  Having next to no knowledge of her, we initiated some simple small talk in order to gain some background on each other.  However I avoided any urges in asking about Leon.  We had just settled down and I wanted to avoid letting negative emotions back into our state of mind.

Rainbow was the first to start; I don’t even think I needed to ask.  “I’m the best flyer in all of Ponyville.”

“If you’re the best here then, what about the rest of the land?”

“Nah, that title goes to the Wonderbolts.  I maybe the best here, but they’re best in all of Equestria, and they’re so awesome!” she said ecstatically while giving this group so much praise.  These Wonderbolts must have been aerial acrobatics group or racers given the fact that Dash said “best flyer.”

“So does this mean you’re a racer?” I didn’t want to jump to conclusions like I did earlier, so I had to ask.

“I am and I’m one that won’t pass up on a challenge.” her tone made it seem like she wanted me to go ahead and challenge her to something.  No doubt in my current condition I’d lose…severely.

Out of all the people, or living creatures I should say now, I have not met a racer.

“Must be exhilarating; bet you get paid tons of money for it.” I was truly was interested.

“It is, but I don’t get paid, it’s not my day job as much as I want it to be.”  She replied.  Ahh I see now, racing is her hobby.

“So what do you do for as a career?” I asked.

“I’m a weatherpony, me and the rest of my patrol due the forecasts for all of Ponyville.  But my dream is to join the Wonderbolts and I’m going to do that by impressing them so much with my skill that they beg me to join them.” I can see her mindset is on becoming a Wonderbolt but I have to say, I’m impressed myself.  From the personality standpoint Rainbow is giving me now, I’d never expect her to do forecasts.  Being a meteorologist takes some intelligence and I heard it can get pretty dangerous when a team has to go out into inclement weather to get accurate readings.  I can see the reason why she has to be brave all the time.  Courageous and smart, I like that.

Once I finished fantasying her going through deadly storms with ease, it was my turn to talk about my background.  It’s just normal equivalent exchange with this kind of small talk.  The conversation partner reveals a little bit about them self and you do the same.

“I’m a traveler, just wandering place to place.”  You could probably say I’m a dimensional traveler since this isn’t the first parallel world I’ve been to, but certainly the first to having equines as the leading race.

“I bet you can add dimensional traveler to your title now.” Dash said with so much excitement it could almost match Pinkie Pie’s.  I simply laughed in agreement at the statement.  She was either psychic and just saying that or we had a momentary hive mind.

“So you must be stinking rich if you can afford to be able to travel like that.  Just what is your job?” She continued.  The moment she said that, the actualization set in.  I haven’t had a paying job for a long time now.  During my journey, all my money problems was solved by finding lost and abandoned change taking refuge in the corners of crowded streets.  All I had to do was transmute similar substances of the original and I was able to materialize counterfeits; alchemy per say.  In all honesty, I’m technically poor currently.

Sensing my raising apprehension, the blue mare must have felt obliged, “You don’t have a job do you?  If that’s the case, then how are you going pay the hospital for letting you stay here?”

She has a point.  If I can’t pay the hospital then I’m going to be stuck with the debt.  Oh god, it’s my college years all over again!  I only managed to rid myself of that debt when I joined the military.  But up until then, it became a daily hell as I struggled just to deal with my student loans and ends meet.  What makes it worse is I won’t be able to sneak on by using my abilities.  Mysterious man whose kind doesn’t exist in this world, able to compensate for his medical stay.  Like that’s not going to arouse fucking suspicion!  I don’t want to live on a budget again!

While I reminisce on my troubled times, the pegasus began blowing out raspberries till it turned to a full laugh, it was probably loud enough to wake up the whole building if not the majority of it.  It’s not funny being poor.  It probably took her five minutes or so to calm down; I don’t really know, I wasn’t paying attention to the time it took; I was too busy sulking over the fact of not having any currency.

Dash placed a hoof on my right shoulder between laughter and gasps for air.  This time I knew the time it took her just to calm down; I bothered to count. “Don’t worry about it; me and the rest of the girls are going to take care of the expenses.” She said with a chortle.

“If that’s true, then why did you tell me I would have to pay for it?” I said in disbelief.

She brought her other hoof to her closed eyes and wiped away the tears from laughing so much.  “I was just teasing you and wanted to see how you would react.” Rainbow said finally calmed down.

My mouth stood agape while I was dumbfounded by that response, but that faded away as I slowly mimicked her calming smile.  Even though she was the one who panicked me, I…I couldn’t stay mad at that smile.

I know it had been getting late since the moonlight was now directed on the pony’s back.  Dash’s rainbow mane illuminated from the soft glow of that rock.  It glistened in her hair like little diamonds, creating a small pure aura around her.  The stars that shined through the window behind her, only added to the sight.  Even though she is of a different species, she looked beautiful in this position.  I couldn’t help but smile at her even more.

As I started into her brilliant rose eyes, I could tell; Rainbow has a good soul.  Plus she reminds me a little of Aurelia.  It was heartwarming.  So all I could do now was just stare at her as she did the same.  Her cheeks turned a rosy pink and she averted her eyes.

“Hey come on now, quit looking at me like that.  What if somepony walks in and gets the wrong idea?” She said as she gave a slight punch in my arm.  If her words didn’t give me my train of thought back, that punch sure did.  My right arm tensed up as the fiery pain that continued to plague me today returned.  Instinctively I grabbed it and the mare was quick to catch on.

“My bad.”  She stated embarrassedly while scratching the back of her head.

I’m pretty sure I’m more injured then what I was told by the doctor.  I need to examine myself thoroughly to be sure.

“It’s alright, that was just a reminder that I need to get better faster.”  I said exhaling one last breath of pain.  Once I get some privacy later today, I’ll begin restoring my damaged body.

“Are you sure?  You’re still pretty banged up.”  For a pony, she seems to be more familiar with the limitations of human anatomy which maybe contingent because of her relationship with Leon.  My curiosity peeked up again, but I promised myself I wouldn’t ask so I had to change the subject.

“Hey Dash, are there any open jobs here?” I asked.

“Uhh why do you ask?” she said quizzically.

“I want to be able to reimburse you and your friends for paying my medical bills.”

“Oh.  You don’t have to do that, you know?”

“Please, it’s the least I can do for you all for helping me.”

“In that case, umm?”  Rainbow said going over the things in her head. “I think Applejack could use some help on her farm.  Twilight might need some assistance at the library.  And I believe Rarity wanted to talk to you about something, so you can ask her if she needs help with anything.”

Three of the five other ponies from this morning?  Seeing how those other ponies are also comfortable around me, it should be easier getting some employment, even if it’s for a day.  But with all these unbiased feelings towards me, it’s leading back to that other human and some questions.  Am I not the first human to peregrinate here?  Or do these ponies have the ability to journey across worlds?  Curiosity was killing the cat and I think it might be best to let it kill this one.  No need to stick my nose into such business yet.  When the time comes, then I’ll ask.  That is, if I’m here long enough.

I plan to leave once I’ve repaid my six rescuers in full.  Judging the usual amounts hospitals charge per admittance and seriousness of the issue, it most likely wasn’t cheap, especially in my condition.  To show that much generosity to a stranger, I defiantly was going to repay their kindness.

Factoring in the amount of work I may end up doing and adding in the days it’ll take.  I may end up staying here a couple of weeks.  This will give me time to learn a little about them like I did with Dash tonight.  So once I eventually leave, I would have formed a good enough bonds to have at least a small friendship with them so there is little heartbreak when I’m gone.  I plan to make some friends here; I may not enjoy being the full center of attention in most situations, but I also don’t like being alone.  I’ve done enough of that already.

Dash and I were past small talk and now silently sat in this bland room.  It was the kind of bland that always seems to imply “Hey!  You’re sick in a hospital and may die.”

Not wanting to receive the feeling emitted by the depressing room, I finally lay back down on my foam bed and rested my eyes.  I may appear to have been asleep, but I was still fully conscious.  I found it difficult to languish myself as the reminder of that dream still lingered in the back of my head.

Maybe it’ll be better if I leave this place sooner.  I don’t want to involve the innocents here with my personal vendetta.  It’s my war to fight, not theirs.  Particularly now; I’ve regained my true strength and all my powers.  If I brought my strife with Reiku here, there would surely be massive casualties.

If that was the case, then I need to leave soon and continue my journey.  I had to find Reiku and finish him once and for all before he could do me in.  Because I’m still alive, it may be easier to pull off.  The fact is I’m still alive.  That would mean Reiku believes I’m dead currently, otherwise he would have killed me already.  I remember the confrontation from Reiku and his personal army, being on the precept of defeat, releasing my former and true self, and lastly an explosion and finding myself plummeting like a meteor to the earth back as my human self.

Whatever that explosion was, must be the reason why I’m here and why Reiku believes I’m dead.  If that is true, then what was the explosion?  I didn’t cause it and it’s highly unlikely that he sent me to an alternate world on purpose.  One mystery after another.

As I continued to ponder my thoughts on the enigma, an external force decided to change my attention to it.  My ears picked on the soft sound of my covers ruffling on top of me.  I could also feel those blankets being pulled down; it was as if the mattress was eating them.  And speaking of the bed, I could feel the right side descend as something tilted it, but it wasn’t going down that far.  Whatever it was, its intension wasn’t to cause me to slide off.  Instead it felt like its goal was to rest on the bed as like it owned it.  I could defiantly tell because it was laying on top of my right arm.  Whatever it was, it was causing my limb to react and send shots of pain from it due to it still being injured.  And I was in such a good mood before this too.

I wasn’t going to let this irritating mini form torture persist, I had to stop it.  Quickly unfastening my eyes and rolling on my side, I was greeted by the source of my pang.  Her gentle breaths felt like a small breeze against my face.  Her face was completely cyan now because her eyes remained closed.  And her multicolored hair laid in a spaghetti spread fashion on the top of her head and slowly slid down towards her blue face.  Rainbow had ensconced herself and fallen asleep and on my arm. She was resting like a child.

Here is where I’m currently situated, laying on my side watching the peaceful Rainbow Dash snuggled in my arm, sleeping.  God she looked cute.  She went from beautiful to adorable from that one little interval of a punch.  I wouldn’t dare wake her now.

I think that I can deal with the pain long enough till I eventually blackout.  Until then, I’ll continue observing this pony.  My cheeks felt a little red from doing so; could it be I’m falling for her?  To me, it almost feels like I’m with Aurelia again, but I know that’s not true.  And us being completely different species only complicates things more.  I remember turning into a leviathan during my last confrontation with Reiku.  Since leviathans are part of the dragon family and since dragons represent unity of all creatures, I can say that I’m a leviathan and part of the situation is alright.  But that would mean that I’m rejecting my human self and admit that Reiku was right about me being a monster….No!  I’m no monster!  I am the human Inrei Ikumatse.

I gave a mental sigh of annoyance about the situation because it has caused my thoughts to become a whole mess of things.  For now, I’ll let things play by themselves and react accordingly to how it should go.  And once I leave, I leave.

Rainbow gave a small coo in her sleep and cuddled her head closer into my chest.  I uhh…I think I’ll stay here longer now.