Heroes travels

After their meeting with Shockwave and their half hour long discussion with Grey Ink, both humans slowly gained visual of the doors of Sugarcube Corner. The citizens’ of Ponyville would still glance at the humans but were either with a smile or remained neutral. They started to see them both as one of their own after word spread that both were working as guards for the princesses but stationed in their fair town. Ashley and Callum were already starting to plan ahead. The first on the agenda was to get their own place to live which would take a while. The second would be to pay back Twilight for everything she has done for them (Ashley still wanted to pay back Rarity for damaging her door). Both humans discussed about getting to know a few more of the citizens better.

During their journey, they walked past the school house, seeing the CMC talking to each other. Applebloom noticed the humans, calling out to them and waving. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle noticed the humans and done the same as the Ashley and Callum waved back in return.  A pony approached the humans from the school house. Her cutie mark consisted of some flowers while her tail and mane colours were different shades of pink. She introduced herself as the teacher of the local school and her name was Cheerilee. She asked them both if they could come and introduce themselves to her students on Friday and allow them to ask some questions.

“Well, it will have to depend on what questions they’ll ask. I have an idea.” Ashley spoke

“By all means share it.” Cheerilee smiled.

“Have you’re students write out five questions they want to ask us, two for me as well as two for Callum. Finishing with a question about anything they want to ask.” Callum nodded in agreement with the idea.

“Sounds like a plan. See you two at ten thirty on Friday.” Cheerilee quickly returned back to the school’s playground.  The CMC were already badgering her with questions about what she was talking to them about but she said she will tell the whole class once break was finished.

Both Ashley and Callum continued their journey towards Sugarcube Corner. They easily spotted Applejack and Big Macintosh walking inside.

Inside Sugarcube Corner

Twilight, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were talking about their plans for the week until they heard the bell above the door ring, telling them somepony just entered. They turned towards the door and saw Applejack and Big Macintosh

“Hey girls.” Applejack nodded slightly as she said her greeting, her hat slid down her face bit “So where is he?” she readjusted her hat.

“Ashley and Callum had to go to the guard station to discuss their guard job.” Rainbow replied, as the door started to close, she spotted both humans arriving through the narrowing gap, talking amongst themselves “They should be here any minute.”

“That’s fine then. So do y’all think it went well?”

“I hope so but I doubt the captain in charge of the station didn’t go easy on them.” Twilight spoke up, noticing the jingle of the door bell. Both Ashley and Callum walked inside, closing the door behind them.

Ashley looked around the confectionary store, he was disgusted slightly by the amount of sugary treats around him and their heavy aroma filled his nostrils. He wouldn’t mind eating a cupcake but he noticed the amount of frosting on top of them. Sure they looked delicious but the amount was pretty much overkill for the human. Callum on the other hand took in a deep, long sniff of the store. He on the other hand loves the taste of sugar, much like the pink party pony in the room.

“So...” Applejack snapped both humans out of their trance “Is there somthin’ y’all wanted to see us fer Ashley?”

“Huh? OH! Yes there is.” Ashley cleared his throat “Applejack, Big Mac, I’m sorry for making you worry about me yesterday.”

“That’s it?” Applejack cocked an eyebrow with a grin “Well, since yer apologisin’, Ah’ll accept but just try to at least say goodbye next time. Ya’ hear?”

“Alright Applejack.”

“Y’all can A.J, you know.”

“Alright Apple...A.J.” Ashley turned to Big Mac “And you?”

“I accept. Sorta guessed y’all could take care of yerself.” Big Mac said in his deep voice.

“Well. Since that is all sorted, there is still one pony I need to apologise to.”

“Who? Fluttershy?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah...I’m not looking forward to it and I doubt she’ll forgive me in anytime soon but at least apologising will make me feel better.” Ashley opened the door to leave “Her house is that cottage near the forest right?” Everyone nodded.

“I’ll come too. You can use the company and maybe I can try to get Fluttershy to speak to you.” Rainbow followed the human as they both left.

“Well, while he goes and does his thing. I have news for you all.” Everyone turned to Callum “We spoke to Captain Shockwave and-“

“Oh oh! Did he shout at you? What did he-“ Pinkie interrupted but Callum foresaw this and grabbed the pink mares muzzle, she still tried to speak but the only think audible was humming.

“Leave the questions till last okay?” Callum smiled

“Mm-hmm.” Pinkie nodded as Callum released his grip.

“Anyway, he didn’t shout at us at all. He was quite collected about the whole situation and gladly welcomed us to his station. We got a tour from the receptionist who is fun to talk to. Played a bit of a joke on her at her expense but it was all in good fun. As we were walking back here, Cheerilee asked me and Ash to come to the school on Friday and let the students ask us some questions they’re going to prepare.”

“Well that’s good to hear.” Twilight spoke up.

“Oh oh Cal! Do you like cupcakes!?” Pinkie quickly asked eagerly, waiting for a positive response.

“Well yeah, who does-“ Callum replied, being interrupted by the pink mares hoof stuffing one of her creations into his mouth. At first he could just let the cupcake rest in his mouth since he couldn’t chew due to the hoof preventing his jaw muscles from doing the movements required. Pinkie pulled away her hoof and watched Callum chew with excitement.

After Callum finished the cupcake, he stared at the pink pony with a grin on his face “Best cupcake I’ve ever had.”

“Do you mean it?” Pinkie asked curiously, her eyes narrowed.

“Damn straight I mean it!” Callum smashed his fist on a nearby table “Hit me with another one!”

“Well alright then!” Pinkie grabbed another cupcake from behind her back and threw it towards Callum. The cupcake sliced through the air at almost lightening speed, colliding with the humans face. None of the icing got on the uniform luckily. Everypony laughed at Callum’s misfortune.

“Guess I sort of asked for that one.” He complained as he wiped the remnants of the baked goods of his face with a napkin that Pinkie conjured up out of nowhere.

Meanwhile with Ash and Rainbow Dash

Ashley and Rainbow haven’t gotten very far from Sugarcube corner due to ponies asking questions to the human. A couple of pegasi guards struck up a conversation with the human about what Shockwave expects from his guards. Rainbow only listened ten seconds into the conversation before becoming bored. She walked off (not very far) from the conversation to talk to some members of the weather patrol.

“-And that’s why you never go to training with a hangover after having intimate relations with a mare the previous night...unless you want the captain to prevent you from being able to make foals.” One of the guards finished telling his story to the human as they all broke out in laughter.

“Sorry I’m going to have to go guys but I’ve got something really urgent to attend to. See you guys around.” Ashley waved off to the guards nodded their farewells as they continued their patrol. Rainbow Dash saw Ashley running after he split up from the guards before telling the weather pegasi she has to go. She flew herself next to the human at a steady pace. She had to admit that he was running quite fast but she still thought she could run faster. Ashley however wasn’t even doing a full sprint.

“You’re a pretty fast runner but I know I’m faster.”

“Well...Why don’t we make a race out of this?” He halted to a stop.

Rainbow landed beside him as she folded her wings “You’re on!”

Both racers stood next to a lamp post, putting an imaginary starting line next to it. Ponies nearby were staring at both human and Pegasus, eager to see what happens.  Both Ashley and Rainbow prepared themselves. Ashley put one leg forward and leaned slightly on it while Rainbow stretched her legs.

“Ready? Finish line is Fluttershy’s front door.” Rainbow asked

“Yeah. Count down when you’re ready.” Ashley grinned.

“Alright...Threetwoone GO!” Rainbow said quickly as she accelerated off in a mad sprint. Ashley decided to jog for the time being.

The Pegasus was gaining distance fast, she looked back to see Ashley jogging.

“Why is he going so slowly?” She said to herself, she readjusted her focus on sprinting as her body was now starting to crave more oxygen.

“Three...” Ashley whispered quietly. He started to increase the distance of his steps

“Two...” His speed was going slightly slower than Rainbow’s as far as he could tell.

“One...” He matched Rainbow’s speed since he could tell he was neither gaining nor losing distance

“...GO!” He yelled as his body drove into a full sprint which was allowing him to catch up to Rainbow at an alarming rate.

Rainbow’s breathing started to become heavy, knowing that she was already halfway to the finish line. She turned her head as the sound of hooves hitting to the dirt road filled the air around her, including her heavy breathing. She turned her head and saw the human was in his full sprint.

Ashley hunched his body over slightly and rotated his torso to the side slightly as if he was going to charge into something. His breathing was getting heavier but his speed increased. He was only a few meters from the cyan Pegasus. Sweat was starting to form on both racers as they came neck to neck.

“Hey, Rainbow...Time for overdrive!” Ashley tried yelled between each breath. He shortened the distance between each step slightly but they increased in frequency. He was taking the lead as they already gained visual of Fluttershy’s cottage.

“Oh no you don’t!” Rainbow tried to push her body to its limit to try and catch up with the human. If she could use her wings then she could win easily but she didn’t want to cheat. Even if she lost, she knew that she would still be the fastest flier. Nopony could take that title away from her.

Ashley’s muscles started to ache since he hasn’t run this fast in a long time let alone trained for a while. He was going as fast as his body allowed him as the lactic acid built up in his muscles. He increased his breathing rate even more to compensate.

Rainbow saw the distance between both her and the human. Maybe if she made one final push, she could at least draw. She galloped as fast as she could. She felt her muscles were on fire as her breathing was going fast. The sweat on her head was increasing.

She couldn’t take the strain anymore. Her muscles were practically calling out for her to stop and rest. She kept on trying to surpass the point of weakness but her body had other plans and collapsed. Her body hit the dirt hard as dust flew out from underneath her. She lay there, unmoving as she tried to get her breathe back.

Ashley was already across the small bridge that goes over the small river next to Fluttershy’s. He put all his energy into the very short distance, he slowed down as he approached Fluttershy’s front door. He was a couple of meters away from the finish line until he turned round and saw Rainbow collapsed. Sighing, He began a light jog towards Rainbow.

Rainbow could feel her heartbeat against her chest fast, desperately trying to pump the blood to deliver the much needed oxygen around her body.

Ashley’s breathing was heavy but was nowhere near as bad as Rainbow’s. He approached the collapsed Pegasus, grabbing her and putting her over his shoulder.

“What *pant* are you *pant doing?” Rainbow tried to ask as she was lifted.

“I don’t like leaving friends behind.” Ashley grinned weakly as he slowly approached Fluttershy’s. He could feel not only his own heartbeat, but Rainbow’s against his shoulders as well. Her body was hot from the exercise as was his own. He could feel the sweat dripping off her coat onto his skin. He knew he would have to wash his jacket since it was going to be covered in pony sweat as well as his shirt being covered in his own.

“Why *pant* are you doing *pant* this?” Rainbow’s breathing was starting to regulate as they approached the finish line.

“What’s the point if only one of us finishes? I’d rather carry you and draw than win by ditching a friend in need.”

Rainbow smiled softly from his response but Ashley couldn’t see it. He was focusing on his task. She let out a small whisper of appreciation to which he nodded to. She never had someone do something like this for her in a race. Usually in a running race, her opponent would ditch her and refuse to help her cross the finish line let alone have a guy care this much for her...She always liked being in his presence...Was she actually growing more emotions towards him?

Wait...Why am I EVEN CONSIDERING that? she pondered to herself Sure he’s nice...much nicer than any other colt I’ve ever been with...And much more awesome in comparison to them all put together. ..And stronger...And faster...And cool to hang out with...UGH! Why am I even thinking about that sort of thing...EVEN if it is all true.The thought continued to rattle around in her mind. The more she thought about him, the more she would think about why she liked being near him.

Man... Ashley started to think to himself I could really go for a Lucozade right now...Rainbow’s coat is really soft...and sweaty. He started to daydream about an ice cold bottle of his favourite sports drink touching his lips, the cold liquid rushing down his throat. All this did was driving his thirst.

When close enough, Ashley tapped Fluttershy’s front door with his boot several times. Afraid that Rainbow would collapse from her muscles being weak for the time being.  The door slowly opened as the timid pony was too busy watching Angel to look at who was in front of her.

“Angel...I said you could have two carrots.” She said assertively. She turned her head towards the large figure at the door. At first she thought it was Callum but then she looked at the body in more detail, it had slightly smaller muscles and its outfit was black. As her eyes rose towards it’s face, she noticed Rainbow Dash over its shoulder, she immediately went to her aid.

“Oh my...Are you okay Rainbow?” Fluttershy asked in a slightly audible voice, still oblivious to it was Ashley carrying her pegasus friend.

“Huh?” Rainbow shook her head, breaking her deep thought “Oh...Yeah I’m fine Fluttershy. Me and Ash were just racing and I collapsed from exhaustion and he carried me here like a good little helper.” She pat him on the head lightly with her hoof, Ashley merely rolled his eyes and smiled.

“A-Ash?” Her voice shaken, she examined the figure with Rainbow over its shoulder. It had a scar on its cheek, brown mane and ocean blue eyes. She immediately recoiled away from the human and tried to shut the door. It wouldn’t close no matter how much force she put against it, looking at the base of the door she saw Ashley’s boot blocking her attempts.

“Look Fluttershy. I don’t care if you don’t want to see me but I’m saying this no matter what.” Ashley sighed heavily “If you don’t want to forgive me then I don’t mind. My actions were uncalled for but I wasn’t myself at the time. I craved for blood, I’m really sorry for performing my actions yesterday but the result of those very same actions did save my life from Timberwolves during the night. So as you can tell, I’m really sorry for my actions and I don’t expect you to forgive me in anytime soon so I’ll just leave.” He turned his head to Rainbow “Do you want me to carry you back to town or would you like Fluttershy to tend to you if she wants to.”

“I’ll stay with Fluttershy.” She whispered into his ear.

Ashley slowly lowered Rainbow to the ground, making sure she can stand on her own before leaving. He waved off to both pegasi, only Rainbow returned the wave weakly before both of them entered the cottage, closing the door behind them.

“That went well.” Ashley said to himself as he crossed the bridge. He stopped midway and stared into the river. Fish were swimming upstream as the plant life below was flowing in the water which glistened from the sun. After a couple of minutes of staring, thinking about nothing in particular, he continued his path towards the town to meet back up with Callum and the others.

As the evening grew on, Rainbow Dash tried her best to get Fluttershy to forgive Ashley, she made some progress in changing her mind but she knew it was all Fluttershy’s choice. She left around an hour and a half later after Ashley left. Her muscles recovered enough for her to be able to walk so she decided to check up on Ashley before she headed home. She found out from Callum that Ashley was napping but decided to wake him up. He kicked him in the ribs lightly which did the trick nicely. Rainbow explained what happened at Fluttershy’s to which Ashley was grateful towards the cyan mare for trying to help. Twilight was busy taking notes as she read several books. It was an eventful day to say the least but it took its toll on Ashley so he returned to his sleep when Rainbow left,

Time:  Around midnight  Location: Ashley’s dream state

“YOU CAN’T HIDE FOREVER!” The black figure darted around in the attempt to find the human. Its features were similar to Callum but were much more deformed than the last dream.  Dark crimson liquid bled out of its eyes and seeped into the creatures many large slash wounds upon its face. Its flesh looked like long, thick black worms that moved under the skin but could only be seen when the protective layer was broken. The deformed figure’s right arm was the same design as its flesh with hunks of meat which Ashley presumed used to be muscle still visible.  It’s other arm was a large, black claw that when struck into the floor, would make the earth shake as tendrils broke through, their tips were green with blood stains as they quickly tried to tear Ashley asunder.

The area was a destroyed town. Ponyville to be exact, buildings were either reduced to a heaping pile of rubble and wood or were still on fire. Some leaked dark purple liquid which when makes physical contact with a living organism, would start to burn through the flesh until it was near a bright source of light. Ashley learnt this the hard way since his left hand accidently went into the stuff as he was flung into a flaming building. The sky was grey with clouds but a full moon could be seen. The dream began with fire ascending from the heavens onto the several buildings. The fire spread more and more while the dark bubbling liquid (Which shall be called liquid corruption) spread from the town center. The figure trying to hunt him down formed out of the liquid and immediately started to hunt for him.

Ashley tried his best. He couldn’t hide forever but only had to hide until the nightmare ended...

He noticed the figure searching through piles of rubble in the attempt to find its prey. Ashley found this the perfect chance to try and get as far as possible from his hunter. He took refuge behind the shattered, flaming remains of Sugarcube corner. He saw the figure was still searching through rubble, just a different pile. Ashley turned around...

There she was...Pinkie Pie. Staring at him in the eyes that shown no emotion. She shrieked at a high pitch, grabbing the attention of Ashley’s hunter.  The sound left Ashley disorientated but he quickly started to run with his ears covered by his hands. He turned to see Pinkie still staring at him. Her mouth extended more than a normal pony would, the skin and flesh tore open like paper as her teeth grew sharp and black. Three dark pink tendrils ripped through the flesh of her back, all pointing towards Ashley as he ran for his life. Pinkie’s eyes went pitch black, the light from the fires reflected off them. She slowly walked after her prey, followed by the corrupted figure from earlier.

He ran. He ran as fast his legs could carry him. His heart pounding as his body administrated adrenaline from being under threat. He knew he couldn’t hide. Only run. The creatures seemed to be incapable of catching up to him...or were they doing it on purpose?

THUD.

Something pounced into Ashley’s side causing him to collide into the ground. He caught a glance at his attacker...He saw the familiar brown cowboy hat and blond mane...

It was Applejack...

Her eyes were the same as Pinkie’s when he first saw her. Her body started to shake violently as she held Ashley to the ground, his arms still capable of movement. Her jaw started to lower, revealing the razor sharp teeth that dripped blood onto his chest.

“What’s the matter Ash?” the corrupted Applejack hissed “Y’all seemed to be able to take care of yerself!” She smashed a hoof into his jaw. It felt someone just smashed a brick into it. The pain was real for all he could tell.

Corrupted Applejack laughed as she proceeded to smash another hoof into his jaw but Ashley grabbed it. He used his other fist to smash her in the eye. She staggered and hissed her tongue. It was black and oozed the liquid corruption off its end. The tendrils ripped out her back, these ones were dark orange and seeped blood from their tips. Ashley quickly got up and proceeded to run as fast as he could.

Corrupted Pinkie and Callum gathered next to Applejack, all three walked after their prey.

“YOU’RE MERELY POSTPONING THE INEVITABLE!” the earth shook as Corrupted Callum shouted in the distance.

He was right...Ashley knew that some point they will find him and catch him...maybe not in this dream but the next one...or the one after that...What caused these things to happen...He had no idea...The only thing he knew was that it was too real to be a dream...

He stopped to rest after running so much, his heart beat against his chest frantically. He would at least be able to get some more energy to run again by the time they found him...or so he thought...

He examined the building he was next to. More specifically, he was right near a large pool of bubbling liquid corruption. He stared at it for a moment to see if a new creature would come out of it but nothing turned up.

“Hello darling...” That voice...That very familiar voice let alone the building he was next too...

Oh shit...

He slowly looked above him towards the roof top. There stood Rarity with the look of anger as the nearby flames eating at the buildings around them lit up her eyes.

“You...You disgusting. Revolting. ABSOLUTELY HIDEOUS HAIRLESS APE DARES TO INSULT ME BY TREATING MY HARD WORK LIKE TRASH!?” Her voiced boomed as she jumped of the roof and landing in front of Ashley. He started to back away from the enraged unicorn.

She started to shake violently as the tip of her horn start to seep liquid corruption down her face. Her eyes turned black as her jaw ripped open, revealing the signature razor sharp teeth the others had. Black, sharp gem daggers formed around her as they launched towards Ashley. He dodged as many as possible, only one grazed his arm as its flesh started to burn from the contact with liquid corruption. Ashley quickly ran towards a flaming building, dodging the onslaught of sharp objects launching towards him. The liquid faded away as he put it near the open flames. One it was gone, he continued to run from the corrupted fashionista who laughed at his feeble escape.

The three other corrupted figures gathered with Corrupted Rarity as they all walked after their prey...

“JESUS FUCKING CHRIST!” Ashley yelled as he dodged a boulder narrowly flying past him. He looked towards where it came from and saw Twilight who shared the corrupted resemblance to Rarity.

“I’ve always wanted to see what your species anatomy is like Ashley...” Twilight hissed as she used her magic to life nearby rubble and pact it together into another boulder this time with large spikes that were covered in liquid corruption “And what a better way to see that than ripping you open!” She launched the boulder towards the human who went prone, a spike narrowly missed his head as it crashed into a nearby building.

“UGH!” Corrupted Twilight groaned “STOP MAKING THIS HARDER THAN IT NEEDS TO BE!” She shot a beam of fire towards Ashley. His jacket set ablaze as he struggled to put out the flames. He tore off the jacket as fast as possible revealing his shirt suffered slight burns as well as his skin. He quickly started to run through an alley

The figures all gathered with the corrupted purple mare and laughed as each of them walked after Ashley.

His lungs felt as if they were filled with lead as he ran. His body grew tired once more as he took refuge behind some rubble. He checked his burns which were not fatal but still hurt on contact.

CRACK!

Ashley’s eyes quickly shot to in front of him. There he saw another figure he knew. It was a pegasus...Rainbow Dash to be exact. She landed from a great height directly onto her hooves, causing the earth to crack below her and create a small crater.

“You hurt Fluttershy’s feelings...” She whispered. Her mane was hiding her face as she lifted a hoof towards Ashley. A pair of sharp claws whose tips were light blue that faded into black which were also covered in liquid corruption formed out of the end of the hoof.

“Wha-“ Ashley was pounced by the cyan mare. Her eyes grew a bright red. “AAAARRRGGH!” he screamed in pain as Rainbow thrust her claws into his abdomen. Another set of claws grew out of her other hoof as she drove it into the side of his torso.

She started to rip his flesh to shreds as Ashley tried his best to block her attacks. The liquid doing its magic as it burned his flesh from the inside.

“FUCK! GET OFF ME!” Ashley screamed as he smashed his fist into her eye. As she staggered off him, he kicked her in the side of head as he held the first wound from the corrupted pegasus. She laughed at his feeble attacked and bucked him in the chest, sending him soaring into a flaming building. The liquid faded away but torn flesh remained. He could hear his heart beating as his vision went slightly blurry. He staggered away from the building, noticing the pegasus was laughing at him with the other corrupted figures beside her. He collapsed and crawled from his hunters...

He heard crying...

Saddened sobs from a distance...but were closer than he thought...

He saw it...A figure in the shadows curled up in a ball...

He grabbed a nearby piece of flaming wood and pointed it towards the figure, lighting the dark area.

Its canary yellow fur...its wings...its...tattered pink mane...its...cutie mark...It was Fluttershy...

The crying became angrier as Fluttershy started to get up. Her eyes grew a faint orange as it stared into Ashley’s eyes...

He watched the faint yellow, blood stained claws taking form on Fluttershy’s fore hooves as her cry became more and more hostile

Then it struck him...The light was pissing her off...

Before he could pull away his light source Fluttershy already sprinted towards his side. Her claws grew sharper as she screamed. Ashley tried to pull himself along the ground to escape but it was pointless. He rolled onto his back and was greeted with his assailant. She starting to slash her way into his chest, tearing through the bone and organs like wet paper as the scent of fresh blood filled the air with Ashley’s scream echoing in the distance.  The other corrupted figures circled the spectacle...

Laughing...

“You will never escape my grasp...” Corrupted Callum whispered as Ashley's vision went black.

Well, there you are folks. Another nightmare sequence! (it's based on my actual nightmare) There will probably be more of these at some point but I'm not quite sure...OH! And put a little bit of dialogue from one of my favourite video game enemies. The hint? It's two of the things that Corrupted Callum says and the enemy is from a horror game franchise which is I think is releasing its next installment later this year.

Why did I put that in there? Because I wanted to put it in at the time. If no one can find it then don't worry. I'll post the answer in the next chapter.