Chapter 3: A Day of Rest

Chapter 3: A Day of Rest

John’s eyes slowly fluttered open, his eyelids heavy with sleep. Looking around the room, he had absolutely no idea where he was at first, but after a short moment of recollection, he remembered where he was and why he was here. He remembered his reunion with his ancient ancestor, the situation at the hospital, and finding out that they were transported to another world to fulfill an ancient prophecy. He also remembered that he was no longer human, but a unicorn pony. It was kind of funny how things had turned out yesterday, and it was surprising how he had not lost his mind already. But, then again, if he were to lose his mind, it would have happened a long time ago.

Looking around the room, he noticed that everything was dark, save for the soft glow of moonlight that was filtered by the curtains covering the window. In the faint light, he could just make out the outline of his equipment leaning against the wall across from his bed, and his hidden blades and combat knife laying on top of the nightstand next to him. Apart from everything being made entirely from some sort of crystal substance, it kind of reminded John of his bedroom in one of the Assassin’s hideouts… If the bedroom wasn’t spacious as hell, and if the bed wasn’t so fucking comfortable! Good Lord, John couldn’t remember a single bed being this comfortable back in his world; not even those stupid beds that adjusted to your comfort level could compare to this. He rolled around on it for a bit earlier and was so surprised when Spike said that it was a cloud mattress, as in the mattress was made of clouds. After that, though, John didn’t ask anything more about it and labeled it off as another case of ‘magic mumbo-jumbo.’ But even with the extremely comfortable mattress and the equally comfortable blankets… He still couldn’t sleep, and he was guessing that it was probably around midnight. He let out an exasperated sigh. Looks like it’ll be yet another restless night. He turned so that he was looking up at the ceiling, trying to think of some ways to help him sleep. But he knew that he could never escape his restlessness; not even if he wanted to. Ever since he became an Assassin, he had many sleepless nights. Why? Because most of the time… He was afraid to fall asleep.

The door to his room slowly began to open as the light from outside crept in, and John was suddenly wide awake. He hopped out of the bed and grabbed the knife with his teeth before pivoting back towards the door, ready to fight. But, to his surprise, it was just Vinyl. He could see her standing in the doorframe, her white fur and her wild blue mane illuminated by the light from the hall, not even caring that he had pulled a knife out on her. She rubbed her tired eyes with a hoof.

“I guess you couldn’t sleep either, huh?” She said tiredly, earning a sigh from the unicorn as he put the knife back on the nightstand.

“Yeah,” he replied quietly. “I didn’t get much sleep either…” His eyes were starting to hurt from looking directly at the light shining in. “Hey, close the door if you’re gonna come in.” She complied, and the door was enveloped by a soft, iridescent blue light as she closed it with her magic, leaving the two to stand in the darkness. But even in the dark, John could see her red eyes in the dim moonlight, and honestly… It was mesmerizing. It was a few seconds later when Vinyl’s horn lit up with another light of the same color from the door, this one much dimmer and easier on both their eyes. “Thanks, Vinyl…” He sat up on the edge of the bed and sighed. “So… What did you need?”

“Well… I was wondering if maybe I could sleep with you.” Vinyl walked a little closer to the bed. “I’m not looking to bang or anything, it’s just…” She let out a soft sigh. “When Octavia, my roommate, is around, we sleep together, and it helps me sleep. We’ve done that ever since we started living with each other because… I’m…”

“You’re afraid of being alone.” Vinyl looked up at him with wide eyes. “I know what that’s like… You fear isolation, especially in the dark, so you want that feeling of closeness so you don’t feel like you’re alone.” John chuckled. “Yeah… I know.”

“But… How?” She slowly approached the foot of the bed and looked up at him, silently asking him for permission to join him. When he nodded, she slowly crawled up until she was sitting next to him. “What do you mean?”

“Well, you remember how I told you that my parents were murdered right?” She nodded. “When they died… When I found them dead on the floor… I was so distraught and traumatized. For four days, I stayed in that house, mourning their death… But through most of that time… I couldn’t sleep. I was already so afraid that I would be next, but that was a fear that lingered more during the day. But during the night, I was more afraid of the dark than I had ever been in my entire life. It wasn’t that I feared that some boogeyman would come out of the closet or something stupid like that… No…” He shook his head. “I was afraid that the darkness would swallow me whole if I fell asleep for one minute. That was for the first three days…

“But on the fourth day, I found my dog. He was just a puppy at the time; no more than three weeks old. Apparently, he was hiding underneath my parents’ bed the entire time, and…” John started laughing. “The poor guy was stuck under there; wedged between my Dad’s briefcase and a lot of my Mom’s stuff… I got him out, fed him, and washed him. Poor guy pissed himself, he was so scared…” He could feel tears welling up in his eyes, but he successfully fought them back. “S-so, after all that, I just sat with him in my room the entire day with my Dad’s gun, waiting to see if the murderer’s would come back to kill me next. He was just sitting there in my lap, all curled up and snoozing away. I guess I fell asleep like that, because the next thing you know, I woke up in the middle of the night, and my dog was still there, curled up under my arm. I wasn’t afraid anymore after that…” He smiled, and he looked over to see Vinyl smiling, too.

“Damn…” She laughed quietly. “You’re a fucking trooper, aren’t you?” John joined her in her laugh, shaking his head.

“I guess I am…” He looked over at his hidden blades. “I guess that was the day that I was ready to be an Assassin… But even after that, I still have trouble sleeping, tonight being no exception…” The room remained silent once more until Vinyl spoke up again.

“I guess you just need somepony to sleep with, huh?” John listened for some kind of playfulness in her voice; a sign of a seductive tone or anything that would indicate that she was joking. But he didn’t hear anything of the sort. All he heard was genuine concern and kindness in her voice. He looked back at her and smiled.

“Strictly plutonic, right?” She laughed again.

“Well, that depends on whether or not we decide otherwise.” She cut out the light from her horn and slowly crawled over to the other side of the bed. “But… we can at least cuddle a bit, right?” John smiled as they both slid under the covers.

“Yes, Vinyl, that’s fine.” He immediately felt Vinyl wrap her fore legs around his waist, followed by the feeling of her muzzle nuzzling into the crook of his neck. At first, John just froze up, confused on what to do next. But as her natural body heat seeped into his fur and lulled him into complacency, he wrapped his own hooves around her in return and pulled her close. After laying there with her in his arms for a good few minutes, he smiled, enjoying the feeling of her body pressed against his and her chest rising and falling with each soft breath she took. It also took him a minute to realize that she had already fallen asleep. He chuckled to himself.

“Wow… Out like a light already, huh?” He said quietly. Of course, she didn’t hear him, but he didn’t really care. He let out a sigh of contentment before he too closed his eyes. “Goodnight, Vinyl… Thanks for listening…” His breathing calmed, as well as his heart, and he let sleep take him.

John awoke to the bright light of the sun, squinting his eyes as soon as he opened them. The curtains did their best to shield the room from the light from outside, but it seemed to cut through the fabric like a knife. Judging by how bright it was, John guessed that it was probably around noon, or maybe a bit later. He groaned and shifted around a bit until he was facing away from the window, aware of the mare that was sleeping in the same bed as him. John smiled as the memories from last night replayed in his mind. It was a nice heart-to-heart discussion, and it was the first time he had shared that private moment with another person, or in Vinyl’s case, another pony. Honestly, he didn’t know that she had such a soft side underneath that seductive, teasing nature of hers. But, as always, it looked like he had been proven wrong yet again. He smiled as he pulled the mare closer, trying to go back to sleep.

That was when he suddenly felt a paralyzing surge of pleasure.

He gasped and seized up, almost frozen in place. Holy fucking shit! He thought. What the hell was that?! He felt like he had just had a miniature orgasm, one that left him completely immobilized. His horn was giving off a small vibration and pulsing lightly with pleasuring sensations. He wanted to feel that sensation again, but at the same time, he was scared of where it had come from in the first place. That’s when Vinyl started murmuring in her sleep.

“Mmm… Damn, Octy…” She said softly, her voice laced with a sensual purr. “You’re really excited this morning, huh?” That didn’t sound good. John knew that he would have to do something quick before this got really, really awkward.

“Um… Vinyl?” He could feel her press her body closer to his.

“I guess I’m up for a… few rounds of early morning fun…”

John started shaking the DJ. “Vinyl! Wake up, damnit!” Vinyl snorted, her eyes fluttering open. She leaned up, rubbing her tired eyes with a hoof.

“Wha…” She looked down at the red unicorn. “Oh. Hey, John. What’s up?” It took every ounce of willpower that he had just to not deadpan and smack himself in the face.

“Vinyl… You do realize that you were about to do the hanky-panky with me, right?” Vinyl tilted her head, obviously confused.

“The… ‘hanky-panky?’”

“’Do the do?’… Coitus?” His words seemed to escape her. Time to be blunt. “You were about to try and fuck me in your sleep, and you thought that I was your roommate.” As soon as those words left his mouth, Vinyl’s cheeks lit up as if they were on fire. She chuckled sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck.

“Oh… Heh. My bad.”

“Furthermore, what was with the whole ‘Octy’ thing? Is she your girlfriend or something?” John’s words had an even greater effect on the blushing DJ, and now her entire face was as red as a tomato.

“Octy, or Octavia, is my roommate,” she explained quietly. “And… Well, to put it bluntly, we sometimes enjoy a little bit of early morning sex. It’s sort of like a ‘friends with benefits’ thing. Y’know what I mean?”

… That actually sounds pretty legit. John mentally shrugged. He once had to share a room with a female Assassin before, and there were a few times where they would have a little bit of ‘no strings-attached’ fun. So, he could believe Vinyl’s story. “Fair enough.” He said nonchalantly. The unicorn then dragged himself out of the bed before stretching his tired muscles. “Mmm… I could go for some pancakes or some waffles right about now.”

“Me too, actually.” Vinyl hopped out of the bed with a renewed sense of vigor, looking over at John with a smirk. “You think this castle has a kitchen?”

“Dunno. But there’s only one way to find out, right?” The Assassin turned to look at his sword, and then proceeded to simply stare at it. His eyes were wide, and his ears pointed forward; it was like he was trying to concentrate on something. Vinyl tilted her head.

“Dude… What are you doing?”

“I’m trying to channel the powers of my mind to allow me to levitate this sword and strap it to my back.” He explained.

“… You mean, you’re trying to cast a levitation spell?”

“No. This is telekinesis, not magic.” Vinyl facehoofed.

“I don’t know what they call it on your world,” she said. “But here in Equestria, we call it ‘magic.’” The DJ nudged him in the side, snapping him out of his concentration. “Why do you even need your sword anyways? We’re going to find the kitchen, not a target to practice on.”

“As an Assassin and a soldier, I am trained for every possible scenario, and to be armed at all times. I don’t go anywhere without at least one of my weapons. What if one of my enemies swoops in from out of nowhere and suddenly attacks us? I can’t hold them off with just my hand-to-hand combat skills.” It seemed that his point had made some sense. Vinyl mulled over his words for just a bit before she spoke up again.

“Good point.” She said with a nod. “But it’s obvious that you don’t know how to cast a levitation spell yet, so… Do you want me to help you with that?” After a moment of silence, John nodded reluctantly and straightened his stance.

“Alright. Help me put it on.”

* * *

“Such incredible architecture…” Night Angel muttered to himself in amazement. “It’s not as brilliant as the Hagia Sofia, but… it is still no less amazing.”

After awakening from his slumber not too long ago, Night Angel decided to explore the castle a little more than he had yesterday. Never, in his wildest dreams, had he ever once imagined a castle made entirely of precious gems and crystals. If someone had tried to craft such a masterpiece in his world, it would have crumbled like a house made of sticks. It was a mystery as to how it was standing on its own. As soon as he found Twilight Sparkle, he would ask her how this marvelous structure came to be. But first, he had to find that one yellow pony... The one that he couldn’t quite remember her name. Oh, what was it? He thought. Flutterbat? No no… Butterfly? No, that’s not it either… I think it was… Flutter of the Shy. Yes! That’s it! Flutter of the Shy! He nodded to himself. Yes. I will find the Princess first, then I will ask her the whereabouts of this Flutter of the Shy.

As he continued his trek down the hallway, he started to feel his new wings twitching involuntarily. He let out an exasperated groan as they flapped once before settling onto his back again. “C’ diavolo? What is wrong with these infernal wings?” This was the main reason why he wanted to find the yellow pony. Ever since he woke up early this morning, his wings had been having random twitches, and they were really starting to get on his nerves. He was very close to just taking his sword and slicing them off. That is why he was hoping that Flutter of the Shy had a solution to his little problem. From what he had gathered from their introductions yesterday, this Flutter of the Shy was an animal caretaker.

“Spike? Where’s that book on multi-dimensional theory?” Night Angel’s ears perked up as he picked up the sound of Twilight’s voice. Looking around, he found that it was coming from a room with two, huge doors. He slowly walked inside, and almost immediately, his jaw dropped. He was standing in possibly one of the largest libraries he had ever seen in his entire life. All around him were tomes of different sizes, shapes, and colors, all lined up on shelves that reached the ceiling. But what really caught him off-guard were the books that were flying all across the room in every which direction, and they all were glowing with a strange lavender light. It was truly a magnificent sight. Never had he seen so much knowledge in one place before; it was just… There were no words to describe it.

“’The Multi-verse: A Reference Guide to the most intriguing theory in the world’?” Spike responded from the top rung of the ladder, a book with a dark red spine clutched tightly between his claws. Twilight smiled and nodded.

“Yep,” she said. “That’s the one.”

“Okie dokie!” The young dragon slid down the ladder and ran over to a crystal desk where Twilight Sparkle sat, documents and books of all different sorts scattered across the surface.

“This…” Twilight looked up as Night Angel scanned the bookshelves. “This is absolutely incredible! Never have I seen so much knowledge stored in one place before!” He looked back at her, his eyes gleaming. Twilight giggled in response.

“Well, good afternoon, Night Angel.” She set the book down and stepped out of her seat to greet the pegasus. “How did you sleep?”

“I slept very well, thank you.” Night responded with a bow of his head. “But… What is it that enables these books to, well, fly?”

“Oh, that? It’s just a simple enchantment that allows the books to fly and rearrange themselves. So, in case I need to find a book quickly and it just so happens to be flying over my head, I just grab it.”

“Ah… More magic…” He sighed and cleared his throat. “Anyways, I came to ask if you could tell me where I might find Flutter of the Shy.” As soon as those last words left his mouth, he was immediately met with a very bewildered gaze.

“Um… You mean Fluttershy?”

“I suppose so, yes. Do you know where I can find her?”

“Well… Usually at this point of the day, she would either be at her cottage… But I think today she was supposed to go to the spa with Rarity. She should be at either place, but other than that, I don’t know.” Twilight tilted her head. “Why? Is there something you needed?”

“Why, I believe our new friend here just needed to ask her about a problem with his wings. They’ve been awfully twitchy, haven’t they?”

“What? Who are you–?” Night Angel turned around to face this stranger. But once he saw what it was, he immediately jumped back and drew his sword. “Mio Dio! What the hell is that… that thing?!” He didn’t know what to call the thing that stood before him. It looked like it was part-goat, part-lion, part-griffon, part… something; it looked like God stitched together so many different parts from other animals and then threw it into a wall. The creature wore a hurt look on its face, his lips forming a pout and his snaggletooth protruding from his mouth.

“Now, that is a very hurtful thing to say now, isn’t it? I bet you wouldn’t like it if I said that you look like King Sombra reincarnated.”

“Discord!” Twilight shouted with a scowl. “That’s a terrible thing to say! Even if he doesn’t know who that is yet, that doesn’t mean you can say it!”

“But… But he started it!”

“Hey, Twilight? Do you guys have a kitchen in here?” John walked into the room with Vinyl at his side. “Me and Vinyl wanted to make something for…” Upon laying eyes on Discord, John’s eyes went as wide as saucers. He pointed a hoof and shouted. “What the fuck is that?! It looks like my high school science project!”

“Okay, now they’re just being plain rude.” Discord crossed his arms and frowned.

“If you hadn’t startled them, this wouldn’t have happened in the first place!” Spike pointed an accusatory claw at him.

“Oh, you’re one to talk, Spike. After all, they almost killed you on sight.”

“At least I made myself known before they did!”

“Are we going to sit here? Or are we going to fight?” John asked his ancestor.

“I think I’m about to kill it.”

“Sounds good to me.”

“Could everypony please be quiet?!” As soon as Twilight’s voice pierced through the chaotic ramblings of the others, and upon a single glance, Night Angel thought that he saw a vein protruding from her temple. “Everypony just… calm down, okay?” He took this time to carefully assess the current situation, and due to the circumstances, it seemed that Twilight was the most dangerous person—pony—in the room.

“… ‘Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.’” He said quietly.

“Alright,” the alicorn said. “Now, before we start killing each other, can we at least agree to a truce so I can introduce everyone?” Everyone nodded. “Okay. Night Angel? Red Wolf? This is Discord, the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony. Discord? This is Night Angel and Red Wolf, the Assassin’s from the prophecy.”

“Oh, that’s right!” Discord laughed, clapping his appendages together. “The prophesized warriors that will save our world! It is such a pleasure to meet you all!” He phased out in a flash of light, then reappeared next to John with a claw draped over his neck. “So, tell me. How are you all enjoying your stay?”

John responded with a shrug. “Eh. It’s going pretty well for our second day. But I would be grateful if you could direct me to the kitchen and get your... ‘Whatever-the-fuck’ off of me.”

“Oh, I can do much better than that!” He snapped his fingers, and John and Vinyl disappeared in a flash of light, causing Night Angel to fall into a defensive stance.

“What did you do with them?!”

“Now now, Night Angel. Please, calm down.” Discord shook his hands defensively. “I can assure you that our friends are quite alright. I merely sent them to a donut shop.”

“But… There aren’t any donut shops in Ponyville, right?” Spike scratched his head.

“There is, actually.” Twilight confirmed. “I remember hearing that it opened up by the Town Hall a week ago. The pony that owned the store wanted me to endorse them, I think...” She then glared at Discord, who was now reclining nonchalantly in midair. “But you should have at least warned them before you randomly teleported them without as much as a hint!”

“Lighten up, Princess. It’s not like anything bad will happen to them.” He pulled a bright red ball from out of his pocket and started tossing it in the air and catching it. “After all, Ponyville has only been in danger at least… Oh, what? A thousand times?” The ball was suddenly zapped by a lavender beam of pure magic, causing it to disintegrate. Looking over, Discord saw that Spike and Twilight were glaring at him menacingly, in which he responded with a simple shrug. “They are grown adults. Red Wolf is a deadly Assassin, and I bet that mare with him has seen her own fair share of dangerous situations.” The chaotic being flipped in the air until he was standing on his feet. “Well, I must be off. I bid you all farewell! Ta-ta!” He snapped his fingers once, and in a flash of light, he was gone. There was a brief moment of silence before Twilight decided that it was best to break it.

“Well, that happened.” She turned to face Night and sighed. “Sorry about him. Discord can be a… bit of a handful at times.”

“Why not just get rid of him?” He said as he sheathed his blade. “As far as I can tell, you’d be doing your world a favor by eliminating him.”

“True, but why?” She replied. “I mean, yes, he can be considered a threat depending on the circumstances—especially considering what he did just recently, but he can be classified more as a nuisance than an actual danger to Equestria. If we were to kill him or turn him into stone for a third time, then what would we have accomplished? Would we have truly done the world any good at all by doing such?”

Night Angel opened his mouth to respond with an intelligent answer, but for some reason, he couldn’t bring himself to reply. He had only known this Discord character for at least a few short moments, so he didn’t know him as well as Twilight did. For all he knew, he could be nothing more than a child that begged for attention. He didn’t have too long to ponder on her words before she spoke again.

“But enough of that.” Twilight smiled. “I’m pretty sure you would like to solve the problem regarding your wings.” He nodded. “Well, I’m not an expert on flying or pegasus anatomy, so I can’t be of much help there. And while Fluttershy is a pegasus, her knowledge focuses more on animals and a little bit of traditional medicine. I recommend that you should go talk to Rainbow Dash first.”

“Ah, yes. Where might I find her?”

“My guess is that she will be at her house on the outskirts of Ponyville. If you can’t find her there, she might be somewhere in…” She laughed. “You know what? How about I help you find her instead of trying to explain where she might be? I’d hate to send you on a wild goose chase around Ponyville.”

Night Angel bowed his head and smiled a bit. “That would be much appreciated.”

“Wait.” Spike suddenly said, drawing their attention. “Discord just teleported John and Vinyl to some unknown location, and you aren’t even worried about them in the slightest?”

“Well, the Discord creature did have a fair point. If my descendant is anything like me, he should not have any trouble on his own.”

“But…”

Night Angel chuckled. “Young drake, you have nothing to be worried about. Remember: we are Assassin’s. We have fought wars and won a few, and we have faced enemies that would be deemed invincible. But we have still prevailed.” He motioned to the sword on his back. “My blade is a symbol of my sacrifice, strength, and faith, as is John’s. So, Spike, he is safe. His skill and his perception shall guide him and lead him to victory.”

“With that being said, Spike, do you think you can watch the castle while we’re gone?” Twilight asked her assistant, who nodded with an uncertain look.

“Um… Yeah, sure. Whatever you need, Twilight.”

“Great! We’ll be back in a bit.”

* * *

John Redwoods was an Assassin. He has seen so many things, both of which could traumatize a man or even drive him to insanity. He had first-hand experience with failed mutated experiments, supposedly-invulnerable juggernauts, Assassins who had much more experience than himself, rogue Assassin’s from all over the world, and even the legendary Pieces of Eden. He has been shot, stabbed, crushed, thrown into and even through walls, cursed—the list goes on. So, he would think that after seven years of all that bullshit, he would be used to being teleported to a donut shop when he had just been standing inside of a castle library.

Yeah, no. Not even close.

John stood wide-eyed in the center of the donut shop with a flabbergasted look on his face, as was Vinyl and the cashier behind the counter. It was rather funny how Discord had teleported them in front of the counter; the poor girl looked like she had no idea what was going on. But despite the fact that two unicorns had just been teleported into the shop, she managed to shake herself from her stupor and put on a warm, friendly smile.

“Hi there!” She said cheerfully. “Welcome to the Java Club! What can I get for you today?”

Unbeknownst to John, Vinyl was ecstatic when she heard the name of the establishment. “He sent us here? Aw yeah! I’ll have six glazed crème-filled donuts and a medium-sized caramel macchiato.” The mare behind the counter jotted down her order onto a notepad that sat in front of her.

“Alright…” She looked up at John, her smile still there. “And what will you be having, sir?”

“Um… I’ll have a regular coffee with six chocolate raspberry-filled donuts, if you have those.”

She wrote down his order then ripped the sheet from the notepad. “Okay! That’ll be sixteen bits.” That’s when John started to freak out inside. He didn’t have any money, and he was pretty sure that Vinyl didn’t have any either–

“Here you go.” Vinyl levitated a small stack of golden coins onto the counter in which the mare quickly took and placed into the cash register. She then wrote down two numbers on another sheet on the notebook then ripped it in half, handing one to John and the other to Vinyl, even though Vinyl took both of them.

“Thank you very much! You’re orders should be ready in a few minutes.”

“Thanks a lot.” Vinyl replied.

As they walked to a free table, John couldn’t help but just stare at her. “How the fuck did you do that?”

“Hm?” She gave him a confused look as they sat down. “What do you mean?”

“That! You fucking materialized money out of thin air!” He responded in a hushed tone. “Please tell me you didn’t steal it.” The last part earned him a scoff and a roll of the eyes.

“I’d call you a fucking idiot if you weren’t from another world. Unicorns have the ability to take items and throw them into a little ‘pocket dimension,’ which is personalized for each unicorn’s specific magical signature. So, if I wanted to summon, say, one of my records, I can just summon it from my hidden stash in my little pocket dimension. Like so…” Her horn flashed with her magical aura, and a record disc materialized out of thin air. John managed to catch the vinyl object before it landed on the floor, staring at it in fascination.

“Huh…” He chuckled. “Holy shit, this would have come in handy back on Earth.”

“Speaking of which, do you think I can hear some stories?”

“… Stories? Of what?”

Vinyl shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe some of your adventure’s as an Assassin, I guess.”

“I would, but…” He looked around to see if anyone was watching them… And nobody was. “Okay. Question? How come none of these ponies are looking at me weird for having a sword? Where I’m from, someone would have called the cops on me.”

She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. “I… don’t have an answer for that, actually. Maybe they assume that you’re a Royal Guard off-duty. That or they think you’re some kind of mercenary.

John tilted his head. “Mercenaries are a common thing around here?”

“No, but after being attacked by a three-headed dog from Tartarus, an ancient demon that had been sealed away for a thousand years, a motherfucking moon bear, and a centaur that could absorb other ponies’ magic, everypony just expects the unexpected.”

“Huh… Well, shit.”

“Yep.” Her horn flashed for a brief second, and the disc dematerialized. “But seriously, Wolfy, what was your world like?”

“Number thirty-two and thirty-three!”

Perfect time to dodge the question. “I’ll get it.” John got up from the table to pick up their orders. He hoped that this would at least help change the subject. But knowing Vinyl, even though he barely knew her at all, it was very likely that she would not drop the subject that easily. Once he stepped up to the counter, he examined their orders and frowned. The mare behind the counter looked slightly dejected, her ears falling back.

“Are you not satisfied with your orders, sir?”

“Hm? Oh!” He laughed, shaking his hoof defensively. “Oh nonono! It’s not that at all! It’s just that… Well, I kinda forgot how to levitate objects. Um…” He blushed and smiled sheepishly. “This is kind of embarrassing…”

“Well, it’s a good thing I dropped in!” Said a pleasant female voice from behind. John turned around and saw a pretty yellow unicorn mare with a red mane with orange highlights. She looked like she had a case of bedhead, with each curl adorning a delicate orange hue every other strand. And just in front of her ears were a tuft of red hair each, which kind of resembled a shark fin. She looked like she would be one of those cute, warmish-types that wore a pair of reading glasses and hung out at libraries and coffee houses. She smiled warmly at him. “I can help you with that.”

“No, that’s okay.” He quickly added. “I just need a few seconds. I just got out of the hospital yesterday, so I need a few days to regain my bearings.” I would also say my sanity, but God knows that I lost that a long time ago.

The mare giggled. “Okay, Mister. Take your time.”

“Right…” He looked back at the boxes and just stared at them. Back at the hospital, he used his ‘magic’ when he needed it in combat; he had to use it because his life was in danger. But now he didn’t really have an urgency to use it. After all, it’s not like his life depended on picking up a couple of boxes and coffee’s. I imagined that I was holding them with my hands… Maybe if I did that again, I can pick them up. He imagined that he still had hands; that he was using them to grab the box. His horn suddenly sparked to life with a red aura, the same force enveloping the box and beverages. He smiled and cheered inside his mind as he managed to levitate them a bit off of the counter. John then turned around with the boxes with a smug look on his face.

“See?” He said. “I had it under control…” His magic then flickered out, causing the boxes to go into a free-fall towards the ground. His eyes went wide. “Nonono!” Before he could make a grab for them, he saw a light purple aura engulf the box of donuts and the coffee’s, stopping them in mid-air. The mare laughed.

“Still think you have it under control?”

“He’s having some issues with his magic,” Vinyl suddenly added as she walked up to the pair. “He just got out of the hospital, and the doctor’s said that he may have a problem using his magic due to a horn injury.”

The mare’s eyes went wide and she looked at John. “Oh… Wow.” The Assassin waved his hoof dismissively.

“It’s nothing, really.”

The mare nodded and handed the boxes of donuts to Vinyl. “Well, I guess I’ll leave you guys alone then. Have a nice day!” As she began to walk away, John stopped her.

“Wait. What’s your name?”

She looked back at him with a warm smile and a wink. “Pony Pint.” And with that, she walked out the door. In John’s mind, that was one of the shortest introductions of his entire life. Who the hell was she? He mentally shrugged. Perhaps at some point, they would run into each other again; he had a feeling that they would.

“Pony Pint…” John pondered the name and shook his head. “What kind of name is that?”

“Well, let’s go ahead and eat these donuts before you drop them again.” Vinyl jabbed at him. He quickly responded with a glare.

“Fuck you, Vinyl.”

“Hm… I don’t know. It’s tempting, but I don’t think I’m interested.” She chuckled as she walked back to the table.

John sighed. “Goddamnit…”

* * *

Meanwhile, Twilight and Night Angel were standing under Rainbow Dash’s cloud house. The walk there was a relatively short one, and the two barely exchanged any words between one another. But for Night, that was perfectly fine with him. After all, he wanted nothing more than to fix this problem with his newly-acquired wings, go back to the castle, and figure out how to modify his hidden blades so he could use them in his new form. But for now, he had to find out what his problem was from Rainbow Dash first.

“So, let me get this straight,” Rainbow Dash said as she hovered in front of them. “You’re having random twitches in your wings, and the first pony you came to see was me?” Night nodded in response, in which she let out an exasperated groan. “Twilight, you could have taken care of this problem!”

“What?!” Twilight looked confused. “How?! I’ve never had this problem!”

“Really?” The tom-pony crossed her hooves and smirked. “You don’t remember your coronation party?” Twilight blushed.

“Y-you scared me! My wings didn’t have twitches when they knocked your cider all over one of the Canterlot Nobles!”

“Egghead, I didn’t even touch you. We can ask AJ or Pinkie if we need to, and they’ll tell you the exact same thing.” She sighed and turned back to Night Angel. “Okay, pal. I’m not going to make this a long and boring lecture like Twilight would. I’m going to tell you what your problem is in one sentence: You have Restless Wings.” Night Angel tilted his head.

“My wings are restless? But how is that even possible?”

“When a pegasus reaches maturity, they experience random twitches and spasms in their wings. This is because the bones and muscles in your wings are trying to grow to accommodate your body.” She slowly descended until she was now face-to-face with him. “The reason for you is likely because this is only, like, you’re second day as a pegasus. You need to start flying to fix the problem.”

This caught the Assassin off-guard. “… Fly?”

“Yes. You need to fly.”

“... I’m afraid I don’t know how to do that yet.”

Rainbow laughed. “That’s why you’re here, Nighty.” Night Angel scowled.

“Please, do not call me that.”

She rolled her eyes in response, smiling. “Whatever you say, Nighty.” The Assassin let out an exasperated groan as the prismatic-maned pegasus began her lesson. “Flying isn’t that hard, Nighty. Not everypony has to go to a fancy flight school to learn how to fly. It’s all here…” She placed a hoof over her heart, then pointed to her head. “And here. Quick reaction time, flapping intervals, the works; it’s all inside you. Even if you are a completely different species, you’re a pegasus right now, so the ability to fly should be hard-wired into your brain.” She flapped her wings so she hovered in the air. “Let’s just start with a simple hovering exercise, okay? All you have to do is flap your wings and maintain proper height from the ground using just the right amount of power and balance...” Seeing Night’s confused expression, she groaned. “Flap your wings until you’re up here, then keep flappin’ ‘em.”

“Um…” He looked at both of his wings before looking back at her. “How, exactly, do I do that?” Rainbow Dash groaned.

“Oh, Celestia, help me… Nighty–”

“Night Angel.” He said with a roll of the eyes.

“You can feel the muscles in your wings, right?” When Night responded with a nod, she nodded back. “Alright. Now, feel around for those muscles, and take control of them. Spread your wings out, and give ‘em a good flap.”

At first, all he did was stare at her in absolute bewilderment. He could feel his wings, yes, but only when the muscles contracted and spasmed. But to actually try to feel them through his own will was a different story. He highly doubted that they were something akin to the muscles on his back… They were akin to the muscles on his back. He could feel them, if not barely, but they were definitely there. But trying to control those muscles at will was rather difficult to do.
Night Angel looked at one of his wings and stretched it out so he could get a better look at it… His eyes went wide. “Huh… Ma che meraviglia.” His native tongue only confused the ponies standing around him.

“Twilight, why is he speaking Neightalian?”

“It is called Italiano.” Night said without looking away from his wing. “It is the language of my birth mother and father, as well as the language of Italia. It is merely my native tongue.” He looked over at his other wing and did the same thing as the last one, extending the dark silver appendage out and examining it as well. He finally figured out that it was simply natural movement that would allow him to move his wings at will. Even though he didn’t know how to fly, it seemed that using his wings came naturally to him. Perhaps all those years of soaring with the eagles after performing many leaps of faith gave him the instinct to fly? Maybe not, but it certainly didn’t sound like it was quite far from the realm of possibility. The sound of Rainbow Dash clearing her throat ripped him from his train of thought.

“Look, I’m glad that you figured out how to control your wings and all. But if you want to learn how to fly, we better get started.” She said, maintaining her position in the air. Night Angel looked up at her and nodded.

“Si si, I understand.” He gave his wings an experimental flap. It wasn’t enough to lift him off of the ground; just a test to see if they still responded to him. With a mental nod, he did it again, this time with a little more force. The end result was his body gently being lifted no more than an inch from the ground before he landed on all four hooves. Night slowly found himself getting the idea. All he needed to do was gather enough strength in his wings, push off so he was in the air, then keeping flapping his wings to maintain height from the ground. Night Angel crouched down then jumped into the air, propelling himself further with a hard flap of his wings. His eyes widened in surprise as he found himself going higher, almost to Rainbow Dash’s height in the air. He flapped his wings again, and again, trying to keep himself up in the air.

“That’s it, Nighty.” He heard Rainbow Dash encourage him. “Keep it up.”

He smiled a bit as he realized that he was now in the air, but he also began to realize that he was quickly losing his balance in the air. Night tried everything that he could to steady himself, but it was hard for him to find purchase on nothing, after all. It was in that moment that the Assassin knew that he was in-trouble as he tilted sideways, and plummeted straight back down to the ground. Rainbow Dash tried to help him, but there was nothing she could do as he hit the dirt hard, sending a small cloud of dust up upon impact. At first, all he did was lay there on his side as Twilight and Rainbow slowly approached him, concern clearly etched on their faces.

“Are you okay, Night Angel?” Twilight asked him worriedly, in which the dark silver pegasus responded by standing back up and shaking himself off. He looked directly at Rainbow Dash with a determined look on his face.

“Again.”

“You sure?” Rainbow asked him with a smirk. “I mean, if you’re hurt–“

“I said I’ll do it again.” Night Angel replied stoically. “I’ll keep doing this until I get it right.”

* * *

“Vinyl, this is so fucking dumb.”

“Do you want a doughnut?” Vinyl said as she floated the untouched box of doughnuts in front of John’s muzzle. It had been at least ten minutes since his near accident with their coffee and doughnuts, and upon coming back to their table, Vinyl proposed an idea. Although, in his mind, it was more of cruel and unusual method of teaching.

“Yes, I want a doughnut.” John replied with malice in his tone. “I also want the whole goddamn box.”

Vinyl shrugged and set the box down on the table, pushing it in front of him. “Fine. But you have to grab it with your magic. If I see you try to grab one with your hooves, I’m going to eat all of these myself.”

He smirked and crossed his hooves. “Really? Aren’t you worried about gaining extra weight?” The comment caused Vinyl to look at him angrily, and John’s smirk quickly melted as he felt her eyes bearing into his soul.

“Do I look like a prissy mare who’s worried about extra calories?”

“W-well…” He wiped his forehead as he felt himself start to sweat. “I just assumed that you…”

“Don’t assume. I know a lot of mares don’t like to eat extra because they’re worried about gaining weight and all that shit, but I’m not one of those mares. I eat what I want, then I burn the calories the next day. I mean, come on…” She pointed down to her rump with a forehoof. “Does it look like my ass is fat?” John blushed and started moving his head to look under the table. But right before he could take glance, Vinyl cleared her throat, and his head shot straight back up. “I wasn’t actually asking, you perv.”

“What?! But you just–!” Vinyl started laughing. Now it was his turn to frown. “You cheeky bitch.” He crossed his hooves again and sighed as the snowy mare shook her head.

“I was just joking, Wolfy.” She straightened her posture a bit and gestured to the doughnuts. “Now, pick up a doughnut.”

He nodded and looked straight at the doughnuts in front of him. They looked absolutely delicious, and he wanted nothing more than to try one of them. But, alas, Vinyl refused to let him have one until he could figure out how to levitate small objects. He closed his eyes as he remembered that moment at the hospital when he used magic to pick up his sword and fight with it. If he could replicate that moment, he could definitely pick up a doughnut. The only problem, however, was doing so in a state of calm. When he first did it, he was in-danger. This time, he was surrounded by friendly ponies who posed no threat to him or others. So… How could he use magic for everyday things like picking up a small object if it only worked when he was in combat? When I used levitation magic, I remember that there was some sort of feeling building up in my horn. If that was my magic, then all I have to figure out is how I can do that again, then use it.
Easier said than done. For the next minute or so, John tried his hardest to summon magic into his horn with no success. His mind remained clear, but his magic didn’t come to him. He leaned back in the chair and let out an exasperated sigh. “Fuck it. Eat ‘em for all I care.”

“Nope.” John looked at Vinyl in surprise just in time for her to lightly slap him with a napkin. “You’re not giving up that easily.”

“Vinyl, let’s just face it.” He sat up and looked her dead in the eye. “My magic is obviously only for combat situations. Doing things like eating a doughnut or picking up a cup of coffee are obviously not for me. Maybe I’ll just…”

“Uh uh.” She interrupted him in the middle of his sentence. “You don’t look like a quieter to me, so I’m not letting you quit.” Vinyl leaned in a bit. “Look, I’ll give you some pointers, okay? Build up your magic and channel it into your horn, then think about what you want to do with it. So, for instance, just imagine yourself physically grabbing and lifting the doughnut with your hooves, and that should do it.” She leaned back into her chair and started chewing on one of her own doughnuts as John looked back down at his box.

Is it really that simple? He tried again, this time doing as Vinyl suggested and imagined himself grabbing the doughnut with his hooves. And sure enough, his horn sparked to life with a familiar red glow, which in turn encased a random doughnut in the box. John’s eyes lit up as he smiled. Holy shit, it really is. He slowly brought it up to his muzzle, hoping that his magic didn’t go out on him like it did the last time and make him drop the doughnut onto the floor or something. That would definitely suck. He could see Vinyl smiling just over the chocolate glaze.

“There ya go. See? It’s not that hard.”

“Heh, I guess not.” Immediately after he said that, his magic started to flicker out, and his eyes went wide with panic as it began to fade out almost completely. So, thinking only on an empty stomach and quick reflexes, John leaned forward and bit down hard on the doughnut in front of him. The combination of chocolate, baked dough and raspberry filling assaulted his tastebuds, which caused him to let out a quiet moan. It was so fucking good! But when he looked at Vinyl, his mouth went wide, and he dropped the doughnut into the box. Turns out that when he bit down into the delicious little pastry, some of the raspberry filling had squirted out of a tiny hole on the other side, which caused the dark red syrupy mixture to cover a small bit of Vinyl’s face, horn and hair. She had her left eye closed, since the raspberry had landed on her eyelid, and her expression was rather neutral at first.

“Oh shit…” John already had an apology prepared in seconds. “Vinyl, I…” Before he could even start his sentence, the white unicorn started laughing uncontrollably, not even seeming to care that he had made a mess of her face. And as her laughter attracted the attention of some of the other customers, the Assassin couldn’t help but laugh with her, finding it rather funny. The moment soon faded, their laughter calming down to a few chuckles as Vinyl began to clean herself off with a napkin, levitating it up to her face.

“Damn, dude.” She said with a smirk. “I didn’t know you finished so quickly. Kind of embarrassing.” John’s smile faded yet again, quickly replaced by a scowl and a light blush.

“Son of a bitch…”

Thirty minutes passed, and the duo found themselves walking through the Ponyville Market. Vinyl eventually cleaned herself off, and John somehow managed to finish off the rest of his doughnuts using a rather strange system. Pick up. Bite. Drop. Repeat. The result ended in his box being pretty messy. And the coffee was absolutely delicious, even though he had to lean down and carefully tilt the cup towards him just to get so much as a sip of it. The process took him at least fifteen to twenty minutes, and Vinyl had finished long before he had. They left soon after he had finished, and decided that instead of immediately heading back to the castle, they would take a walk around Ponyville. Vinyl, of course, took this as an opportunity to try and get John to spill some stories about his life on Earth. And each time, her attempts would be thwarted. Even now, she still tried, even though she didn’t even put that much effort into her prying.

“Come on, Wolfy. You’ve gotta tell me something at some point.”

John simply shrugged. “I usually don’t disclose that information. Y’know, classified and whatnot.” He smiled a bit as Vinyl let out a huff.

“Fine…” She let her eyes wander the markets they continued to walk. “You’re a freakin’ buzzkill, you know that?”

“I get that quite a lot, Vinyl. Trust me.”

“And you’re okay with that?”

“Eh. I live with it.”

She sighed. “Alright… Can you at least tell me one thing though?” John looked over at her.

“Depends.” He replied vaguely.

“Well, for starters,” she began to say. “What’s up with your name? You know, ‘Red Wolf’?”

He blinked. He was a little surprised by that question. He more or less expected her to ask about his dick size or a story about drunken escapades, but this was a question he truly did not expect her to ask of him, and it was one that he was actually comfortable answering. John cleared his throat and looked straight ahead.

“Well,” he began. “My Assassin Name took a little bit of time to decide, and I got the idea from another person in my life at the time. My mentor called himself ‘Wolf’. Nothing special or fancy, just ‘Wolf’. Now, some of the other Assassin’s would call him ‘The Blue Wolf’, and when I asked about the meaning of the name, they told me it was because he was man of justice. And back in our world, in my country, the color blue on our flag stands for ‘Loyalty, Justice, and Reverence to God’. So, it kinda made sense after a while.” John looked at a roll of red fabric a vendor was selling on the side, and he smiled.

“So, when it came time for me to decide my name, I chose the name ‘Red Wolf’ since the color red stood for ‘Valor’. I did it for my mentor, and I also did it in honor of my father, who was a soldier before he was killed.” There was a small sense of longing in his heart, but John ignored it, still smiling. “I love my country, and I wanted to remember how much my parents did too. And, there you have it. That is how the name ‘Red Wolf’ came to be.” He looked over and noticed Vinyl was smiling at him.

“That’s pretty neat, actually.”

“Yeah, it is…” He took a deep breath and let out a happy sigh. “Y’know, I’m pretty happy right now. I don’t usually get to stroll around like this without a worry. This is a pretty great day of rest…” A voice suddenly pierced the peaceful atmosphere he had found himself accustomed to.

“Now hold on just a minute!” It sounded male, and fairly young. “This is bull!”
And just like that, John’s smile faded as he let out an exasperated groan. “Aaaand, just like that, my day off is ruined… Somehow, I fucking knew this would happen.” Vinyl looked at him curiously as they began to make a detour, making their way to the voice that they had heard seconds ago.

“How did you know that?” She asked with a tilt of her head, in which John replied with a scoff.

“I’m a victim of circumstance, sadly, and I have no control over my moral code telling me to investigate.”

“Aaaand… If there’s no problem?”

“Then I’m going to pretend like I heard absolutely nothing and we’ll go back to the castle.”

To be Continued…

Author's Note

Hey guys! It's Silver Chord again! Thank you all so much for being so patient. Now, I know this chapter is a little shorter than usual. (But in all honesty, no one wants to read shit that's over 10k+ words, am I right?) The reason for that is because I'm going to get right into the next plot point of this story, and I wanted to shorten the events in this chapter so I could continue on the course of progressing this story along with a few others. So, expect a few more stories to arrive soon. Yes, Corey, you'll be getting your one-shots.

Once again, thank you so much for being patient. This chapter went through a rushed proof-read, so I'll need you guys to help me. If you see any mistakes, just kick me, okay?

See y'all real soon!

~Silver Chord

(P.S: Pony Pint is the OC of RainbowDashX12345. Sorry that it was only a brief cameo, but there will be more appearances soon. ^^)