Chapters I had this huge headache waking up. I almost thought I was having some sort of sinus infection but it was a severe fever. A severe fever?!? How could this be?!? My eyes dart every which way until I see a rather light lavender pegasus with the wings spread out and with a huge mess of a mane right at the other side of the room. It was kind of hard to see her though since the walls are near white too.
"Hi there." This pony waved at me, but I just groaned as the headache took my attention off her.
Of all things that had to happen, my headache seems to take over all. My eyes blood shut, my neck is near sprained, and I can't feel my muzzle, not even my lips. "Ugh. Where am I?"
"Well, you're in the Fillywood Hospital. As of right now, it's practically being run by all the recruits of the Wonderbolts Academy, as well as the Reserves and the Wonderbolts themselves, so you're in luck today. I'm Cloudchaser, one of the recruits."
"Wait a minute, Fillywood?!? How long was I knocked out for?!?" For once my headache went a bit unnoticed as I started to worry.
"I don't know. What day was it that you were 'knocked out'?" Cloudchaser was hiding some information about what happened to me when I was knocked out. I could tell.
"It was July the 8th." I didn't think I could handle the pressure of how long I was knocked out. It only felt like one night.
"That's weird. There was a tailload of injuries all across Equestria, and all of which happened during the eighth of July. By the end of that week, I would've figured everypony was awake, but I would've been right if I never knew about you." My headache then kicked in again. And i was breathing heavy from how bad the headache was.
"What... is... today..."
Cloudchaser flipped the calendar from July to September and pointed to twenty three. "I've been unconscious for two and a half MONTHS?!?" That's when I fainted. I couldn't see Cloudchaser anymore.
I opened my eyes to see six ponies back at Hayseed Swamp. These ponies, I haven't even met before, yet they're still so vivid. Two pegasi, two earth ponies, one unicorn and one alicorn. And all in one split second they faded out of my sight. Then came a much larger pony that I remember seeing on my way to Manehatten. I felt like I was actively standing on the ground but I wasn't sure. When her horn glowed she also faded out of my sight. And there was the thumping of thousands of ponies around me. I quickly leaped into the air but a force grabbed one of my back hooves and pulled me the thumping ground. The rumbling got louder and louder, near deafening. Then a bright light cancelled out everything else that was going on as I screamed.
There I saw Cloudchaser, more worried than I was. We looked at each other eye to eye. "Are you alright there?!? Sheesh! You scared the hooves out of me!"
"Phew!!! That was some nightmare I had!" I groaned as I felt my headache again. Cloudchaser sat back down at her spot as I tried to think about that nightmare I had.
"I think I should go get you some water. I may know what you've gotten." What was she talking about? I watched as Cloudchaser got to the bathroom with a cup in her hoof. Hearing that sink run took my mind off the nightmare I had.
"Shouldn't there be a water bottle in this room?" I looked around for anything bigger than those puny cups that Cloudchaser got the cup from.
"Hospital regulations, so not unless you have one with you, unfortunately." Cloudchaser came back in with a full plastic cup of water in her hoof.
I instantly took the cup and chugged the water. I put it down next to me on the table once I finished. The water may not've been that cold but it was enough to diminish my headache temporarily. I was breathing heavily again from drinking so fast. "Wow! Done already. Called it." Cloudchaser took my cup and refilled it with the same faucet water. As I took the cup from her, I chugged the water down again.
"Thanks."
"Don't mention it." She started smiling at me but shook her head to cling herself back to reality when somepony else came in.
"Hey Cloudchaser. Thought we'd have a bit of a check on how things are."
It was a pegasus with a rainbow mane. It was just like one of the six ponies in my nightmare. It was uncanny how I've never met these mares before. Not once!
"So, RD. How's being on the reserve so far?" I groaned again. The headache. It came back.
"Not so bad. How's this patient doin'?" My hoof was my only hope. I put it over my forehead only to nearly feel the power of conduction going to my hoof. My forehead felt so hot I even felt like I was burning up. That fever hasn't lightened up once.
"Welp, not only did he have a fever of a hundred and four," Cloudchaser started.
"Not just a huge fever?!? There's more?!?" RD was intrigued.
"but he also had just woken up from a nightmare about what happened on the eighth of July."
"That tears it. I'll be right back." That had done it. RD had dashed out and within about ten seconds, she came back with a full pack of water bottles. In that time, Cloudchaser quickly shoved a thermometer up my mouth. What was that for? I may never know. "Also, that one-o-four temperature. That was from July eighth. Now, with the nightmare, I guess what knocked him out was the cause of that nightmare. But yeah that bad boy's set in if that's the case."
I knew exactly what RD was talking about but not Cloudchaser only until she looked at me, seeing me very sad at the fact that I'll probably have nightmares of that same very day every single night now. Only time will tell whether I'd have one tonight.
Before I left Cloudchaser's room, I took a look at the thermometer by taking it out of the patient's mouth. One-o-three point four. The temperature wasn't exactly going down at all, but at least it wasn't as warm as before. He was no longer under overheated levels but it could rise again. That won't happen though as long as he drinks that pack of water bottles I gave him.
Fleet Foot passed by and waved as I was on my way to my next patient. "Hey Rainbow Dash."
"Heya." I waved back.
As I got to Twilight's castle, I lounged in my throne waiting for Twilight, wondering how to handle this combination that white pegasus had. Minutes passed and still no Twilight. I thought it would be hopeless, that is until Pinkie entered the throne room. "Hey Dashie!"
"Hey Pink. Did you happen to see Twilight around Ponyville?"
"Not sure. Oh wait. I haven't. That's because she's with the other princesses." I looked to see Pinkie Pie laying on the arms of her throne as I facehoofed. I quickly regained my composure though.
"Hey, have you ever met this stallion? All white, pegasus?" It wasn't terribly hard to believe Pinkie would know somepony like that stallion.
"JOSTLE JINX!!! He used to be an old friend of mine when I met Cheese Sandwich for the very first time!!! I haven't seen him in so long!!! How'd you find him?!?" Sure wasn't a surprise to hear Pinkie say that.
"So, I'm wondering if you come with me back to Fillywood." I started to get a little scared, but I realized that this was Pinkie I was talking to.
"Okey dokey lokey." Pinkie proceeded to sit so familiarly. And this wasn't reminding me of Lyra, but I had a bit of what feels like a flashback. This other world. I don't know what this was called but it certainly wasn't Equestria.
"Hey, whatcha lookin' at?" Pinkie quickly noticed me staring at her.
"Oh nothing. It's just some sort of alternate flashback of mine. I kinda got a second timeline in a sense." Of course it wasn't true that I did have a second timeline of my life, much less having them simultaneously.
Pinkie only nodded. Phew. That was close. "Back to Jostle Jinx, how's he doin'?"
That put me on the spot. "Eh, he's not doin' so well. He kinda suffered from an overheat on the eighth of July and now he's having nightmares about that day and first woke up just this morning after what happened on July eighth."
Pinkie Pie only needed again. "Well, at least he should be cooled down by now. He was asleep for two and a half months after all."
I shook my head once more. "I'm confident that is not how cooling down works. I flew out a few seconds and got a pack of water bottles for the poor pony for Celestia's sake. I even feel I didn't do enough to cool him off."
"Well, don't worry Dashie. I think some ice cream may also do him some cooling off." I raised a brow when Pinkie suggested giving him ice cream.
"No, Pinkie. Just no. I can't give him ice cream if he's still almost at one-o-four fahrenheit. Cold water will still do though. Reason being, if he has something too cold, his skin won't be able to acclimate and he'll get a brain freeze, worsening the headache. And if that happens, he could have some serious brain damage. It's sort of like if I were to stop drinking cider in the clop of a hoof."
Pinkie thought for a little bit before speaking. "You know Dashie? You're right. The result is exactly the same for giving him ice cream at one-o-four as it is stopping cider at the blink of an eye. Why didn't I think of that before?!? I should probably see if Jostle Jinx could still blink. But of course that's not what I intended to tell but I'll go up and throw Jostle Jinx a cool party!"
I started to grin. "What kind of cool? Entertaining cool or cold cool?"
"Both!!!" Pinkie shouted.
First night and I was already over halfway through the water bottles RD gave me. And my headache finally got more tolerable. I had my temperature taken... again, and it was one-o-two point one Fahrenheit. I was sure thankful RD gave me those water bottles or else I'd still be on a dangerous temperature like one-o-four.
I thought I heard a container fall on the floor in the hall. But hey, perhaps it was. RD came in with four other ponies, one of which looks so daghoof familiar. The other three I can't recognize at all. I opened my eyes in shock. "RD?"
"Hey. Thought I'd drop by one last time for tonight. You might remember Pinkie, but the other three with me are Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy." Rainbow Dash only landed as she pointed to them.
"Wait. Pinkie?!? As in, Pinkie Pie?!?" Now I remember that one party Ponyville was thrown when Cheese Sandwich first came to Ponyville. But how could Pinkie be here, in Fillywood?!? RD just nodded. "Wing fuss! No wonder she looked so dadgum familiar."
"Say, Jostle. You know why we're here, don't you?" Pinkie slightly raised an eyebrow at me as she zipped near me and wrapped her hoof around my back. "Dashie and I both decided to give you a rather small party. It's a small one because you don't want to over-exert yourself, but it's just big enough for you to cool down and forget about that nightmare you had today."
Did Pinkie just call RD, Dashie? Maybe D stood for Dash. But I resumed calling her RD. She didn't seem to mind. "Looks like you and RD are good friends. I can't blame you. I can't thank her enough for getting me that pack of water bottles. I've been feeling quite a bit better just before you girls came and now that I know we're having a party, I think I'm feeling even better."
The white pony with the indigo mane levitated a pack of water bottles just like the one Rainbow Dash gave me. "Well Jostle, really hate calling you that, I brought over an extra pack of water bottles just in case you were zipping through the pack Rainbow Dash gave you." So that's what RD stood for. I haven't really caught whose name belonged to who but I'd learn in time.
"I really hope you're going to fell better in time to make it to Manehatten for the running of the leaves there. It would be just awful to miss it," said the yellow pegasus with a straight pink mane. I shuttered so badly that I felt my headache coming on again. I facehoofed at the fact I just shuddered without any thought whatsoever. Regardless, it did seem to get the final pony's attention, the orange one with a blonde mane in a bow in the bottom.
"Fluttershy, I think he had a close enough experience with the running of the leaves back on the eighth of July. Y'all may not want to spook him any further." The orange pony came over to me with an ice cold drink and opened the bottle. "Here. Water ain't gonna do ya much good if it's room temperature. Try some iced tea, sugarcube. That oughta get the temperatures back to normal in ya."
I thanked the pony as I opened the bottle and started drinking the iced tea. It didn't taste that great but it was pretty cold. Much colder than the water Rainbow Dash gave me. The five ponies just stood there as I kept drinking. I looked past them and saw Cloudchaser. "Cloudchaser." That got her attention. Cloudchaser turned around to see me past the five ponies. "Aren't you gonna join the social group?"
"Meh, I'm good." Well, it was worth a shot.
My mane's been getting shorter for a while now. Reason being, my fever kept getting very bad when I woke up. With my two temperatures, one in the morning and one at night, the morning one was always higher. Cloudchaser told me that she kept hearing me scream across the hospital. I've gotten those five ponies' names down by now. Applejack had given me a full pack of iced tea bottles to cool myself and even put it in a fridge. Back to the screaming though, I think I've noticed a pattern. I had a dream about July the eighth, then a time warp would pull me straight to the Running of the Leaves back here in Las Pegasus and both felt identical. Both instances I lost my balance and I was being pinned to the ground being stomped on.
The nightmares have gotten so bad I thought I'd have to stay up the entire night. In my dreams, I've gotten a couple of visits from that one pony that flew overhead when I was walking through the edge of Hayseed Swamp. But it was often before I got pulled to the vibrating ground. Cloudchaser suggested I do otherwise. "Jostle, you need sleep. You said you haven't been getting enough sleep these days. You'll do fine. There's a star that will always guide your way every single day." Cloudchaser walked up to me a tucked me under her wing. I couldn't help but smile. "Tonight, I'm staying with you."
Tonight as usual, I got a nightmare and woke up Cloudchaser. I laid on my pillow that was covered in my mane shed. "Wow! That was a huge nightmare."
I don't know when I fell asleep with Jostle Jinx but I woke up at about two in the morning to some screaming and some of the remains of his mane he shed all over me. "What happened?!?" I saw Jostle Jinx flop his head back on his pillow now covered in his mane shed.
"Wow! That was a huge nightmare."
I frowned. "That's it. Go back to sleep. I've got to see what dream you're encountering."
He just laid there breathing heavily but starting to calm down. "But I keep having the same nightmare every-"
I stopped him. "I'm going into your dreams so I know exactly what that nightmare is. Okay? Okay. I don't care if you have the same nightmare. I care about what the nightmare is. I want to help you."
We got back to sleep only to see each other again. This time, we were at Hayseed Swamp. Walking north, I saw Manehatten right in front of me just off where Dodge Junction should be. But I saw a strange figure. All I know is that it was not a pony. In fact I'd never seen this species in my entire life. No mane, no fur, no ears, just spine scales. I reached to study it. But when my hoof came anywhere close to the creature, it vanished. That was when I saw Jostle Jinx.
"Phew! I'm glad I made it to your dream." I wiped my hoof through my forehead in relief. Now was the time to see what exactly the nightmare was like. We both saw six ponies and recognized them completely, well almost completely. He said these six ponies appeared in his first dream ever since he first woke up this September. But then they faded out and an alicorn took their place. When her horn started glowing, she flew up and faded. As soon as she was faded, we saw ponies coming toward us. We attempted to leap into the air but now a force kept us on the thumping ground, with a rumbling sound amplifying by the second until a light came from above. That was when we had awaken from the nightmare.
Visitors for a Blank Flank
It's been a while since Flitter's been with me. And now would be a perfect time to get up to date with her. But I'd figured she could start the conversation. That resulted in a silence that Flitter broke not long after. "So I heard about some nightmares you've been having." And now, our conversation suddenly got going.
"Oh yeah. I've been having the same nightmare every single night for the past near two weeks that I've been conscious."
Then through the door came another blue pegasus. It wasn't Cloudchaser that was for sure, since the pegasus that came through the door had a blonde mane that wasn't all over the place. "Hello!"
I just waved. "Just out of curiosity, who're you?"
The blonde maned pony looked pretty pleased to answer the question. "I'm Cloudkicker. I'm one of the ponies that visits here to see how Flitter's doing. I also escort visitors that don't have routine visits." That raised another question in me.
"So, is this Flitter's national recovery contribution?"
Flitter shook her head. "No. This is actually a job I've had for the past year now. There are six other ponies that come here in different days of the week around this time of day. The routine visitors are Cloudkicker, Rainbow Dash, Spitfire, Soarin', Fleet Foot, Cloudchaser and Streak Jinx."
My eyes shot open when Flittler said that last pony's name. That was my mother. How'd she not tell me this when she last visited for Hearth's Warming Eve? I really hoped she wasn't informed I was unconscious for two and a half months. There'd be no telling what may've happened to her if she was. I put my hoof over my mouth over the thought. But then my mind shifted to the second to last name that was mentioned. Cloudchaser. She was part of the visiting staff for Flitter? If only I came another day. I then saw a hoof above me.
"Hello? Equestria to Jostle Jinx!" I looked up and it was Cloudkicker. "I was worried there for a second. You were staring up at the ceiling and-"
I stopped her. "No worries. I was just deep in thought. So, about the whole visiting thing, that is pretty interesting. a few names you said are definitely familiar. Rainbow Dash was the one who brought me that first pack of water bottles, Cloudchaser practically brought me here and that last one is my mother."
"Well, I hope you enjoy your day here. Gotta run. Duty calls. Bye Flitter. Bye Jostle Jinx."
I stopped Cloudkicker again. "Wait. How'd you know my name?"
"Oh, Streak told me about you. Any more questions?"
"No. Carry on." I waved goodbye. It was much easier than doing that with Cloudchaser.
I turned to Flitter. Flitter just walked up to me and started tucking her wing under me, which felt unnoticeably uncomfortable but I glanced back at her, who was now glancing at my flank. "Say, just wondering if you've gotten your cutie mark yet?"
"What're you talking about? I still have mine. Right?"
Flitter shook her head. "I don't see one."
I sat up and looked at my flank, expecting the same mark as before, a hydraulic plate. But what I saw instead was nothing. I gasped. "My cutie mark. No!" My vision started form web-like color patterns as I started tearing up again. "I hope I didn't lose my special talent."
Flitter looked puzzled. "Are you sure it works like that? Because I sure am not. I may have to get a report on what the environment was like when the Wonderbolts found you." The Wonderbolts found me? Not Cloudchaser? Well, the Wonderbolts have been a huge success for the past three decades. I found that to be no surprise.
Author's Note
Why is it revealed now that Jostle Jinx has become a blank flank?
He was in a hospital bed for two weeks almost non-stop. He never noticed that his cutie mark disappeared because it disappeared the day he lost consciousness. The nerves that held the cutie mark had succumbed to the vibration frequency that surpassed the limit of the rate that nerves send messages. It will also explain what other effects on Jostle Jinx's body ensued.
The three Wonderbolts trotted along the edge of Hayseed Swamp, which was so humid, that even shade didn't make a single difference of how hot it was. As they trotted, one of them, Soarin', saw something quickly ahead. "Hey, what's that over there?"
Fleet Foot looked closely at the swamp floor ahead. "That's just a puddle, Soarin'. It doesn't look too strange to me."
But as Spitfire looked at the puddle she noticed something with it. "Oh, it's more than just a puddle Fleet Foot. There seems to be a pony next to it."
Soarin' looked even closer. "Wow, you're right Spitfire. It looks like a white stallion."
The three galloped over to the body as they also examined the puddle. Spitfire and Fleet Foot suddenly skidded on the saturated soil as they stopped perfectly in front of the puddle and body. Soarin' slid a little too late, sliding over the puddle getting Fleet Foot and Spitfire wet with what came from the puddle also getting the body wet in the torso.
Spitfire walked near straightly to Soarin'. "Soarin', what the foal! You got us wet!"
"Well I don't know about you but I'm not going to overheat with a puddle this hot." Fleet Foot proceeded to shake her body to dry off the scorching hot puddle shed off of her body.
Spitfire spit at the ground once Fleet Foot shook her body as she'd tasted what was in the puddle. "Oh my gosh! What is that stuff?!?"
"Well, if you thought it tasted that bad if it accidentally got in your mouth, then I guess I should've warned you about it. Like 'Head's up, you're in for a bitter taste if you stay grounded,' or something like that." Fleet Foot started chuckling at her warning she made up right then and there.
Soarin' turned around to hearing Fleet Foot's pun. "Oh, I see what you mean. It's almost as if my hooves were the only wet parts of my body." Soarin' shook his hooves dry as he came up to the body and felt its forehead. "YOW!!! Well, sugar! That is the hottest forehead I've felt in a long time! I've got to get to the nearest good hospital!" And with the body that took so long to pull out, Soarin' dashed off out of Hayseed Swamp leaving Spitfire and Fleet Foot standing on the saturated soil in the swamp.
Author's Note
Is this a flashback?
Yes it is indeed a flashback. This is a flashback that shows exactly how Jostle Jinx was transported to Fillywood Hospital.
Which scene is it that contributed the most to qualify a teen rating?
It is actually this very chapter. Mostly with the "you're in" warning Fleet Foot made up on the spot. This scene serves a bit as something you'd expect from PONY.MOV but mcuh cleaner.
We separated each other from our hug laying on the seat of the train across from the door of the boxcar. Minutes later, as the train started to stop, we jumped into the air and flew in the train until it finished stopping. Our landings were very solid. Cloudchaser opened the door to see that this wasn't Manehatten, but we were awfully close. Baltimare to be exact. But it sure did look a little like the outskirts of Manehatten.
I closed the door as the train started running again. "Hey Cloudchaser." I wrapped my hoof around the back of Cloudchaser's neck. She looked at me. "I hope you have the free time to spend the night at the place I'll be staying in."
"Well, I don't really have much to do there. None of the work I've got to do at Manehatten doesn't start until tomorrow afternoon. So, yeah, I could sleep where you're staying." We leaped once again as the train came to another halt. The sudden silence of the conductor was a bit creepy.
"Hey Cloudchaser, I'll be right back." I walked up to the engine and looked at the conductor. "Is this Manehatten?" The conductor nodded not even looking at me. Well how did he know that? There was no map, no front engine window, just a little porthole shining down as an urban daylight.
I shrugged as Jostle Jinx went to the engine. It was pretty quiet in here. So I started humming a tune that only Rainbow Dash would know. I continued humming as I waited patiently for Jostle Jinx to come back in.
Sometime later, Jostle Jinx came in with eyes wide open. I stopped humming as I saw the pupils near microscopic. "What's wrong?!? Did we not make it to Manehatten yet?"
"No. This may... be Manehatten, but I think you... should see this." That did not sound good.
I followed Jostle Jinx over to the engine as we walked narrowly through the halls that lead to the other boxcars. Then there was a light, a light unlike anything I've ever scene. What we thought would be a bustling city of skyscrapers with near millions of ponies out and about turned out to be ruins of what was left of the skyscrapers we would find abandoned by ponies and towered over by a thin layer of smoke.
I dropped my jaw at the sight of the vacant skyscrapers, streets positively empty and cracked. "What could possibly cause this whole city to fall like this?"
Jostle Jinx walked in front of me. "Princess Subductia, princess of the tectonic plates. Let's just hope we can find the apartment."
Wow was it a mess in there. The apartment was full of fallen bookshelves, picture frames, lamps, dressers, dishes, containers and curtains. It looked like this place was hit the worst on the eighth of July. And nopony took care of it? Well it had been abandoned since that day, so I didn't see why it wouldn't have been a complete and total dump. But I was so glad I was only on my way to Manehatten when I fell unconscious. Otherwise I probably would've been crushed by all this debris. Even the walls were cracked in a few places.
I turned to Cloudchaser who was just flat out spooked by this sight, that was until she started repetitively sneezing blowing dust every which way causing me to cough. It was countless minutes before the coughing and sneezing went away. "You okay?"
The sniffling pegasus wiped her nose as she checked to see if more was coming. "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just so dusty in here." I suddenly heard what sounded like two toms and a crash. Maybe we were at Pandama all along. But I regained my train of thought and continued listening to Cloudchaser. "I don't even understand how someone could live like this. It's a total-" I could tell Cloudchaser was going to say something on the lines of "pigsty" but I couldn't make it out right away until after she sneezed one more time. Feeling her nose turning, Cloudchaser rubbed it with her hoof again.
I saw something between Cloudchaser's nose and upper lip. But I couldn't see it clearly because of her hoof in the way. I knew exactly what it was though. "Cloudchaser, I've got to go grab you a mirror and a roll of toilet paper. Look down on the floor, okay?"
"Okay," said Cloudchaser in a muffled tone with the hoof still over her nose. As I left, I heard Cloudchaser whimpering, clueless of what to do. I quickly zipped to the bathroom and got a mirror that had fallen on the floor as well as a toilet paper roll that looked like it fell from the top of the cabinet above the sink slightly unrolled.
I raced back to Cloudchaser and gave her the roll and she held her nose with a large piece of it on top of her hoof still whimpering. "Just keep looking down, okay? I can figure out how we'll get this place cleaned up by tonight."
Cloudchaser only closed her eyes. "No. I don't believe you. This entire apartment is too dusty for my nose to take."
I put my wing over Cloudchaser's back as she looked at me. "Don't worry about a thing. I lived at this apartment back before I moved over to Las Pegasus. I know this place like the back of my wing." That smile on her face was one that had finally received hope whether I'd really clean the apartment or not, which I really was. "Trust me."
And finally throwing the tissue on the floor, Cloudchaser hugged me tight. I returned a hug of my own back to her.
Super Speedy Workers' Cleaning
I quickly got to work as it took awhile for Cloudchaser's nose to heal. It was hard lifting all the decor back to where I remember it especially with books, dishes, containers and other jazz on the floor. But once Cloudchaser's nose finally did heal, Cloudchaser got right to helping me clean up.
The first thing we did, i obviously had the higher contribution on that part, was to set putting the picture frames back up on the wall. Well, it was good to have a similar setup to what I was used to back when I lived here. Most of what that was was me flying to hang up the frames while Cloudchaser, near the end, showed me her ideas of where she'd put a couples of the pictures as opposed to what they were when I lived here.
The second we did was putting up the bookshelves. Most of it was easy to navigate for the both of us. It was easy for me because from the way it looked like the bookshelves fell, it was exactly where I had remembered the bookshelves being. It was easy for Cloudchaser because of the logic that the bookshelves had fallen away from the wall and that all that was on it had their own contribution to this mess we were cleaning up.
The third was all the small stuff before we could place the lamps back where they were when I lived here. Most of it was bathroom items, clothes, quills, pencils, pens, books, dishes and vinyl cases. The other half was putting all the tissues in the trash. Of all the places that chose from to pick them up, I chose my wing. It was the most sanitary yet stickiest way to put them in the trash.
Lastly, the lamps. We had a hoof of a time preparing for this but it paid off because everything else was out of the way.
We wiped our foreheads in unison before looking at Jostle Jinx. "That was one big project." He looked at me and nodded.
"Yeah. And now, we don't have anything else to do. And it's almost midnight. I told you we'd get it done by tonight."
"So, I really hope you enjoy your apartment in the future. I'm actually supposed to return to Ponyville straight after my work in Manehatten is done. One thing I won't forget about Manehatten is you." I put my wing over his back.
The rest of the night was trying to get to sleep. But my stomach was growling so loudly I couldn't get to sleep. Even Jostle Jinx heard it from across the room because, as usual, he woke up from a nightmare thinking he was in the path of the running of the leaves again. Even so, we both decided to get a midnight snack to level out the hunger.
It was almost down to a week before Nightmare Night came when Cloudchaser had to go back to Ponyville. It was sad to see her go but now, at least whoever was left in Manehatten cancelled the running of the leaves. That had given me a little bit of a break from these nightmares. All the meantime, my family finally came home about halfway through the first near week and a half I was here as I've been now.
As Cloudchaser and I arrived at the station, there was already one train there with six ponies that were from that dream me and Cloudchaser had before I was introduced to Flitter. It was Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and one more pony whose name I was never told yet.
"Hey Jostle. Hey Cloudchaser. So, are you living here Jostle?" Rainbow Dash flew to me just as I expected.
"I decided to live here so it won't get so hot in the summer. Especially after my overheat three and a half months ago, I'm in for a cool winter. Both cold and down winding." I offered a hoof bump, which Rainbow Dash gladly accepted.
"Well Jostle, we got a little time left." Pinkie had the widest grin on her face. But I looked confused.
"Isn't that train going to 'Ponyville'?"
Fluttershy walked up to me. "That train is going straight to the Crystal Empire. Not Ponyville."
"Oh. Okay." My eyes went wide open as the alicorn of the six ponies walked up to me with the train leaving.
"I'm sorry about the running of-" She was interrupted by the tapping of Applejack, who then pointed to me.
"Twilight, you do realize he's been having nightmares about that event."
"Actually it's fine that event was cancelled. No more nightmares for me. I should be fine with my family by my side," I reassured Twilight.
"You would've loved it here in Manehatten if you were here before-" I finished the sentence for Rarity.
"The eighth of July, I know."
There came a second train coming from the same direction from where the previous train come from. Cloudchaser walked to me.
"So, this is goodbye?"
"For now," I assured her. We tightly hugged as the train stopped, tears rolling down both of our eyes. Everyone else, even Rainbow Dash, did too, aside from Applejack who just adjusted her hat over her eyes.
Still hugging, we looked at each other. Even with the web vision I had, I saw that Cloudchaser still had tears in her eyes. "You'll come to Ponyville, will you?" I nodded. We went back to how tight of a hug we were at which was followed by a tight enclosed areas bounded by the six ponies all hugging us.
The seven ponies let go as they waved goodbye to get on the train as the conductor called for the train riders. "All aboard for Ponyville!" I closed my eyes and wiped a cheek with my hoof as the train, from what I listened to, left the station for Ponyville. The moment I opened my eyes, the train that once was had disappeared, and so did Rainbow Dash, Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy but most of all, Cloudchaser.
Me and Flitter decided to see how Thunderlane was doing until we read a note at the front door.
"Flitter/Cloudchaser,
Me and Rumble have gone to Cloudsdale to go to winter lab for starting winter in Ponyville and won't be back until Winter is finally done arriving. In any case, our absence is the only thing to note.
Thunderlane."
My mind wondered back to Manehatten with Jostle Jinx. Tears started flowing down my eyes until Flitter started speaking. "Uh, are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Hey, I have an idea. Why don't I send a letter to Jostle Jinx?" I led Flitter to my house as we talked.
"And why would you want to send a letter to someone who lives in the last city in recovery?" I looked at Flitter briefly.
"It's so I'll keep in touch with him. Plus, ponies are coming back to Manehatten. And here we are at my house, what a surprise." As we entered the house, I went straight for a piece of paper and pen and got to writing. It only felt like minutes after I got done since I started writing and proofread it.
"Jostle Jinx,
I wrote this to you so you won't forget about me. I'll be visiting Manehatten sometime in the future. I just don't know when that time will be. So for now, keep this as a momento until I get there. You've meant everything to me. We've been through twists and turns together but that's what got us so close in the first place. It's been great to see you in the past and it'll be great to see you when I visit Manehatten again.
Cloudchaser."
It was a blast being in Manehatten at first but not right now. My new daily routine's been the same as it was a decade ago: waking up, walking over to where I need to be, coming back to read part of a novel, coming downstairs to visit my brother and mother and finally coming back upstairs to go to bed.
Cloudchaser's been writing quite frequently and I haven't been able to stay on track. I haven't had to work in so long that I felt like something was missing and yet my life was complete.
That was until one day I came downstairs for supper. My mother had gotten a letter not from Cloudchaser but from a cruise company. We were invited to cruise to any country we wanted. I knew where exactly we could go. We had some cousins down south north of a certain canal that splits these two continents apart. I decided I would write to Cloudchaser. Ten minutes later, I had my brother look over it.
"Cloudchaser,
You'll never guess what happened. My family was invited to go on a cruise to any country they wanted. And I was seeing if you can go too if you have the time this Hearth's Warming Eve. It's going to be great to see my cousins again after stars know how long. And now would be the perfect chance for you to spend it with me. I hope to see you again soon.
Jostle Jinx."
We went to the post office to mail the letter over to Ponyville and came back to Manehatten in time for the Hayseed's Day Parade. After the parade, we went back to the post office to see if the letter came in yet. It had. It was from Cloudchaser, who gladly accepted the invitation. We celebrated that day by inviting Pinkie Pie over to throw a party. That night was one the best nights of my life, certainly "the best night ever".
The Event from 500,000 Years Ago
Another day, another cycle of research up at Las Pegasus. That's how I've gotten by. And it's been like that everyday. Try to find out about something new. Take some notes and grab a few bites to eat. Then I'd sleep for a good eight hours. It was like nothing would deviate. Sure there's the occasional day off just for fun. But it wasn't that often.
It's always been hot, even in the winter. But especially this summer it was unbearably hot. The other night, I almost collapsed of exhaustion. Thank Space Paradise above that yesterday was that little day just for fun. I couldn't take anymore of this heat.
Today, I grabbed my luggage over to FIllywood Junction to ride as far north in Equestria as possible. My target destination was Manehatten. It was to get away from the heat. Upon my research the other day, there was a town disappearing across the seas population wise. My guess is that they migrated all to another country. Perhaps, Saddle Arabia?
Anyways, on day one, I've made it to Great Macintosh Valley already. Over there right now are the Wonderbolts searching for fossils to see if a legend is true. I'm not sure what legend it is because of two fold. One, there are so many legends I've heard about that I lost count of all of them after an octillion of them. Two, ponies use it as an explanation to why we use the term foot or feet as a measurement. By all means, defend it because I certainly don't buy it. Ponies also say it used to be called just Great Valley before the founding of Equestria.
I decided to travel the rest of the way to Manehatten by hoof.
Day two. I slept at a hotel in Appleoosa. It was not only close to the Great Macintosh Valley, but it was directly in between that and Manehatten. Perfect! As I walked through northwestern edge of the Hayseed Swamp, I saw a vague figure. It seemed to be going slow. It looked like a normal pegasus. Or so I thought. I looked harder and saw that there wasn't the standard seven outward feathers. Instead, there were eleven on each wing. It even looked like she was speeding along at a very fast pace from the pointing of the front hooves.
The sun blazing down got my wings to spread open to cool off. I was enjoying the near complete silence with the only sound being my hooves quietly clip clopping on the saturated and soft soil. I could barely hear it. But I could still notice. Not a single other sound was taking place. That is until I heard a bit of what I thought was a rumble. I wanted to jump into the air but I told myself not to. Perhaps I was just hungry. It has to have been a while since I ate breakfast back at six in the morning. I don't know what time it is now. One? Two in the afternoon?
That was what I thought until I started feeling something as if it were from a rave party. Gosh I hate those. But there wasn't much noise going on. I almost leaped into the air but I once again resisted. I thought I was having low blood sugar so I started galloping for the nearest city. Dodge junction. It's a close city and it's good place to eat.
As I was galloping however, that rumbling sound took out nearly all the clopping sounds my hooves made when I was galloping, causing me to fall over. Now it felt like thousands of ponies were racing each other, dodging me. What I saw instead was nopony whatsoever. My instincts gave me a chance to jump but I was too confident something like this would never happen. I have no idea what the dinosaurs called it before they were extinct from slow evolution, but this does feel so familiar. I tried to get up. But what remained of my balance simply vanished from how violent this feels and me falling over during this.
The final thing I remembered was resting on the ground that felt like it was being raced on by thousands of ponies.
I made sure that everything about this patient is better. I hoped he survived that fall he had. Looked like it hurt. I must say, finding a pony on the edge of Hayseed Swamp turned out to be a workout especially with him sinking into the quicksand. I was even surprised that he wasn't suffocating.
"Soarin'!" Spitfire. I went to the entrance of the room, and there was the yellow mare with "a head of fiery hair". "First of all, Soarin', how does he look?"
"He looks severely injured. I'm even surprised that he's even breathing now." I walked back to the pony as Spitfire came on the other side and felt his forehead.
She shook her head. I watched as Spitfire grabbed a thermometer from the cup and put it between the pony's lips. I bit my hoof in nervousness of what might happen. "One-o-four point one. Must've been from how hot it got wherever he was. If there's anywhere you don't want to be during the summer, it's the Great Macintosh Valley. Looks like it's the three of us to gather everyone else who got injured in that disaster."
"But who's going to watch the patients we take in?" I bit even more now.
Spitfire took her shades off. "It's our old recruits. Surely they could help. I do believe one of them is in the reserve if I read the paper correctly. And tell the recruits not to forget to independently let out one patient when the time is ready."
I instantly squealed with joy on the inside knowing that was Rainbow Dash blasting away any sense of nervousness. But on the outside I took it professionally. "Alright. Let's get our recruits and patients."
Cloudchaser and I woke up as our nightmare ended, and at that moment, we both had my mane shed on our faces. But I couldn't stop rubbing my forehead. I checked the time. Five-o-two. "Oh, you've gotta be pony kidding me! It's still not six yet?!? How much sleep did I get?"
Cloudchaser looked at her watch on the table lamp. "If you count being up at two in the morning as sleeping, then about six hours."
"Oh, I'm sorry Cloudchaser. I really wish you didn't have to go through this. I really do. I just really can't find a way to keep this nightmare out of my mind."
Cloudchaser didn't respond at first but had an idea. "I think I know why you keep having the same nightmares every night. Once we're done with this morning temperature, follow me." She put the thermometer in my mouth, which made me start smiling. "One hundred point five. I think we have a good feeling about today. Let's go."
As we walked, Cloudchaser was looking around for somepony. I didn't know who it was until she spotted a pegasus with a mane similar to that of Fluttershy, only shorter. "Hey!!! Jostle Jinx, right?" I nodded. "Ooh, I remember seeing you from Pinkie's party when somepony new came. I think his name was Cheese right?"
I just corrected the pegasus. "Well, Cheese Sandwich ."
"Oh, right. Well, I'm Flitter. So Cloudchaser, what's going on with Jostle Jinx?"
"Well, let's just say he's been having the same nightmare every night, and he's been conscious for about two weeks now." Clouchaser sure looked nervous.
Then came a pause, a long one if you asked me, before Flitter had broken the silence. "Oh. Well, I'll have to hear more about that. Jostle Jinx, you can come with me. Bye Cloudchaser."
A part of me died that day when I had to say goodbye to Cloudchaser and follow Flitter. I started tearing up when I realized Cloudchaser was doing all of this for me. She went into my dreams just for me. She took my temperatures to make sure I was doing better just for me. And now she took me to Flitter just for me. Everything she'd done, was just for me. And now, I had to say goodbye.
I was finally feeling well enough to get back to Manehatten from the top. As I went home to grab a couple of my bags with me, I saw somepony extremely familiar. "Cloudchaser? Is that you?" I looked closer. It was her.
"Jostle!" I was knocked over by Cloudchaser as she hugged me tighter than my windpipe could take. But it was worth it.
"Why're you here? I thought you'd still be making your NRC to Equestria." I was more than happy to see her but confused as well.
"Equestria's long been fixed. It was the ponies themselves that needed the help." Cloudchaser let go as she looked at my flank for the very first time. "So, you still have no cutie mark after all these years, huh?" I started to roll my eyes but only slightly since I didn't feel like doing that to Cloudchaser.
"Actually, I lost my cutie mark the day I fell unconscious. It was a hydraulic plate that had an arrow looping at a corner of it. Don't worry. I'll probably have it back by next week." I wave her goodbye as I walked in the train.
"Wait!" Cloudchaser raced to the entrance of the boxcar. "Where are you going?"
"Manehatten." I put a hoof on the wall next to the door.
"That's where I'm going!" Cloudchaser leaped and pushed her forehooves into her cheeks.
"My trip isn't going to be just for the pleasure of it. It will be to get away from the heat and live a cooler life. I think I'm done researching for now. Plus, now I got my family to visit." I led Cloudchaser into the boxcar as the conductor called to aboard for Manehatten. We both sat at a window across from the door so that we could get out as soon as possible when we'd get to Manehatten.
Me and Cloudchaser talked for so long that even I didn't even know how much more sound my voice could make. But one thing was for sure. The train was overnight. All the first evening, we ate together, laughed together, and tucked each other under our wings. It felt like one of the best times of my whole entire life.
But all of that changed when we got to sleep. I rose to the normal motor sound of the train going on the tracks. I noticed that I was alone when the train was starting to slow down. I looked out the window and saw a devastated Manehatten. Nearly every building was on fire. I quickly got off the train and looked at the ruins of the city until those same thousands of ponies came racing beside me. I tried to leap but there was that same force that kept me grounded. Everything turned black but I still felt the jolting of thousands of ponies. But everything turned to white just before waking up with a huge gasp for breath.
Cloudchaser opened an eye ever so slightly and mumbled something that was somewhat comprehensible. "What're you doing up Jostle?" Both of our wings were under each other's backs.
I could barely understand what I was trying to say but it must've been reassuring to the half asleep Cloudchasser judging from how she closed her eyes. As I fell back to sleep, I turned to the side and started hugging Cloudchaser.
I may not know what happened, I had another dream. Finally, it wasn't the same nightmare I've had every single night. This one was different. Me and Cloudchaser were on a cruise at sea going over to Pandama. The breeze was very high, there was the scent of salt air, my cutie mark was back, it all felt so real, and yet it was only a dream. This is the first time I've had a dream I wish was real since I regained consciousness.
Once we awoke from our dream, we found each other hugging each other with our wings flared out across the seat isles. But I think I slept too well the second dream because when I saw the time, it was about ten thirty. Well, there went our mobile breakfast of the day.