Darkness, hot steam all around, and goose bumps. This is the first thing I felt when I regained consciousness. Slowly, I opened my eyes and saw a horrible scene in front of me.

The wooden houses of Ponyville were burning around me, and the ground beneath my feet was smoking and even slightly reddened from the spears. But the worst was yet to come. In front of the town hall, the bodies of ponies, dragons, and even humans lay scattered, pierced, and torn. And on the steps of the town hall stood the hero of the day. Daniel.

In the blink of an eye, he was right in front of me, smiling as big as he could. I stumbled slightly and tried to take a step back. But to end the situation, Daniel grabbed my wrist. And his grip got stronger and stronger. Suddenly there was a small click. And more. And many more.

"Come on, come on. Here you can use your flamethrowers in peace and get refueled for only ten bits an hour!" Daniel's voice sounded completely inappropriate for the situation. What?

Almost instinctively, my body straightened and my hand was lightly on my chest, trying to calm my accelerated breathing. After a few moments, I was finally able to calm down and look around. I'm in my bed, in my room, in my house. In the world of the cartoon.

It was all just a nightmare.

"A discount? No, young man, I'm selling at a loss to myself. Perhaps you would like to sell your flamethrower to take a rented one and burn firewood for relaxation? Of course, the price will go up to fifteen bits, but do you have any other options?" Daniel's voice replied from the street. What's going on over there?

I threw off the blanket, stood up with difficulty and went to the window, trying to ignore the pain in my legs. There I saw how many trees near my house had been felled and were lying on the ground. The damage was really big, the trees were just left somewhere in the distance. Maybe a hundred feet. And in front of this graveyard of vegetation was a sign, Daniel, and a huge line of ponies.

"What the hell?" I muttered, trying to process everything I was seeing. Maybe I'm still dreaming.

I don't think I have a dream inside a dream. But if this is reality, then how could he cut down so many trees while I was just sleeping!? It's not that long!

Frowning in thought, I stood for a few more seconds, trying to come up with an explanation. But my newly awakened mind couldn't come up with anything.

While I couldn't think of anything, my eyes continued to follow what was happening outside the window. A small pony approached one of the felled trees with a cheerful gait. Then she pointed a hoof at it, which was attached to a flamethrower that Daniel had shown me earlier. The next thing I knew, part of the trunk was engulfed in flames.

"If this activity continues, it will stink like hell near my house." It slipped from my lips as my slowly waking mind finally caught up with the situation. And the next thing I knew, I was gritting my teeth.

I've only shown my displeasure to Daniel once, and that's what he's doing? Wants to poison the air around my house!?

"We have to do something about it. And fast." I said before taking off and walking briskly to the exit. Unfortunately or fortunately, yesterday I was too exhausted to change my clothes and limited myself to taking off my shoes. But now there's no need to waste time getting dressed.

As I walked through the living room, my gaze was momentarily diverted by the phone lying on the couch. We have to get it to Twilight. Daniel mentioned something about a way to charge it. But that doesn't make him a good guy.

Shaking my head, I quickly grabbed the phone and followed the same pace to the missing front door. Yes, Daniel said he would restore it as soon as the new tank was tested. We passed the test and I don't have a door.

Another reason not to back down.

Nodding to myself, I crossed the threshold of the house and turned back to where Daniel's voice came from. From my new mono position it was a little easier to estimate the length of the queue. Astonishingly long, to put it mildly. I can't believe that ponies actually used flamethrowers as anti-stress toys.

Sighing, I began to take slow steps towards Daniel, trying to collect my thoughts on the way. Unfortunately, the initial burst of energy that had allowed me to get here so quickly was almost gone. Well, what do they say in personal growth training? Overcome yourself? I need to do something like that.

When Daniel and I were about a dozen feet apart, he finally noticed me and said loudly: "I have to take a short break to speak with an important guest. I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but those of you who have not yet paid for your presence in the zone, please step aside. Don't forget your place in line!"

Strange. I thought he would specifically speak next to a crowd of people to get support from customers. Although Daniel is still a jerk.

Eventually I got so close to him that we were only a few feet apart. Daniel leaned his hand on the sign and asked with a grin: "Good day, Arthur. You were really tired last night, weren't you?

I shook my head and asked with barely suppressed irritation: "What are you doing here?"

Daniel glanced at the ponies, who were slowly burning logs. Then he came back to me and said with a satisfied sigh: "I'm doing slash-and-burn. Uhh, that smell of burning. All the free trees are just overflowing with all kinds of useful things. I don't even have to wait for the rain."

For a moment, I was taken aback by his words. Slash-and-burn agriculture? What is that? I quickly shook my head and asked a much more important question: "But why are you doing it right next to MY house? You know I don't like the smell of burning!"

Daniel blinked slowly and said calmly: "This place is the most convenient. The slope is not too crooked for the ponies to get here safely. High concentration of trees per square meter. "

I gritted my teeth in annoyance, but that didn't stop Daniel from snapping his fingers and saying, "And by the way, it's to your advantage. With so many ponies around you, you can just yell and someone will definitely want to buy a painting from you."

Uh, does that actually sound quite nice? No, he just wants to distract me.

Crossing my arms, I said calmly, "It's very cool, but what's the point if there's a hell of a smell from burning wood next to my house?"

Daniel looked up as if asking heaven itself. But as soon as I raised an eyebrow, he asked, resting his head on his fist: "Why should I, all the customers, and the factory that makes flamethrowers be interested in your opinion?"

I opened my eyes in shock to hear such contempt from him. Slowly, the feeling of bewilderment turned to irritation and then to anger. But before I could express it, Daniel continued, "Well, look. As an entrepreneur, I and the plant are interested in maximizing profits. And the customers are, well, the customers are interested in an affordable place to buy services. So do you want all three sides to make their lives worse just for you?"

Well, no, it's kind of selfish . . .

Suddenly he brought his face close to mine, almost touching our foreheads, and asked slowly, "When you go into a dream, you inevitably break or just disturb someone else's dream. What is your dream, Arthur? And how many strangers are you willing to break for your own?"

I pulled away from him and asked confusedly, "What is this all about? The problem is that I don't want to suffocate from burning logs near my house! "

Daniel shrugged and said, returning his hand to the sign, "I wanted to have a moment of philosophy. You don't have to get used to it. I plan to go to Celestia today and tell her that I will no longer be your big brother watching over you.

At least some good news. But I really must think of something to stop this event. Before too many ponies get here.

After only a second of silence, a mischievous smile played on my lips, followed by soft words: "If you don't stop this, I'm going to tell everyone about your fear."

"Okay, tell me." Daniel replied, holding out his hand with a raised finger. Yes, I didn't fully appreciate his self-confidence. Damn.

Taking advantage of my delay, Daniel sat down on the shield and asked: "By the way, how is your path to the goal going? Have you become strong enough to defeat the next villain that appears?"

So Chrysalis won here. But Twilight is still a unicorn. So I think I'm somewhere between the second and third season right now. King Sombra is next.

Nodding slightly to myself, I said with crossed arms: "Unlike you, I know roughly where, when, and which villain will appear. I don't have to become super strong to show you that you are not the king of life.

Daniel sighed with satisfaction and just stared at me for a while. But suddenly he looked away and said, raising his hand, "Oh, hello, Rarity."

Raising an eyebrow, I followed his gaze and saw the aforementioned unicorn approaching us. She was wearing a black hat with a red ribbon on her head. She seemed to be trying to ignore me as she just walked up to Daniel and said slowly, "Hello, Daniel. Mm, Ahirata asked me to tell you that she is grateful that you invited me to talk to her.

Exactly. The failure of my plan really upset her a lot. How will I talk to her when she completes the treatment of my back? And what if she just decides not to do it. . .

While I looked down shyly, Daniel asked with a subtle note of curiosity in his voice, "How is she?"

Rarity mumbled aloud before slowly saying, "She's, uh, not feeling very well. She said she doesn't want to do anything anymore."

"So that her wish doesn't hurt others, more. Hmm." Daniel said thoughtfully.

"How much longer? I really want to burn some logs!" A stallion asked from the side. Indeed. Why would Daniel need a sign if he was only selling with his full participation?

Unable to contain my curiosity, I quickly asked, "Really, why can't you just stand aside while customers throw gold into a bag? You even have a bag for that. "

With a quick movement of his foot, Daniel pushed aside the bag containing a large amount of gold coins. Then, leaning slightly toward me, he said, "I don't trust them. One hundred percent, some will want to save money."

Ugh.

Sighing, I asked with irritation in my voice, "Okay, I'll deal with you later. Can you at least tell me how to apologize to Ahirata?"

"Are you the reason for her bad mood?" Rarity asked, looking at me in surprise. Oh. I hope this doesn't ruin my relationship with the main ponies. Things are not going very well.

Daniel waved his hand slightly at Rarity, as if to order her not to interfere. Right after that, he said with a snort, "She likes animals and plants. Shall I go to Tartarus and call her?"

For a moment, I was taken aback by such an offer. I kind of challenged him yesterday, insulted him and all that. And he's just offering to help. Finally, I asked with narrowed eyes: "You're not doing this for nothing, are you?"

Daniel grinned and said, jumping down from the sign: "Serve the customers. Just stand next to the sign and make sure everyone leaves ten bits. If they ask about renting the flamethrowers themselves, tell them they are not available right now. I carry these things with me. "

Is this guy serious? He is well aware that his 'business' is making the air around my house disappear due to smoke. And now he's offering to help me with this!?

But my comfort can be put aside for a moment when it comes to apologizing to Ahirata. And as a little bonus, I can try to convince her to teach me magic. At least she can teach me how to move stones. Magically.

Sighing, I said reluctantly, "Okay. But try to hold her back, okay? So that I have at least a few minutes between selling and finding a gift to compensate. "

Daniel just smiled and walked with an almost bouncing gait towards the distant trees that had not yet been cut down. With a snort, I stood next to the sign and looked at it briefly before saying out loud: "That's it, you can give the money back! Ten bits an hour for burning trees. "

Almost instantly, the ponies rushed to the open sack of gold and began to pass by in a rapid stream. Need I say that my eyes simply did not have time to see the pony, let alone notice the coins?

Well, I'll just take it on faith that all the ponies who bought flamethrowers and decided to burn logs for money are good people. It would be even better if. . .

Suddenly, I coughed violently as the smoke from the burning logs blew toward me. A quick movement of his hands dispelled some of it, but the sensation was still not very cool. Rarity wrinkled her nose slightly and said, "Well, I think I'll get out of here. And you, Arthur, try not to offend anyone else, okay? "

"Yes. " I replied with a hint of shame in my voice. As soon as she started to leave, my brain started to figure out what to do. Well, Ahirata loves plants and animals, right? You could tell from her clothes. Ahem, and she also wants to turn Tartarus into a garden.

And then I noticed something. A lot of acorns lying on the ground. It seems that when Daniel was cutting down trees extremely fast, he didn't care about such little things.

If I remember correctly, you can somehow grow a tree from an acorn. I think Ahirata will be glad enough to help with the landscaping of Tartarus. As strange as it may sound.

Nodding slightly to myself, I walked away from the sign and started to walk past the ponies to gather acorns. Of course, I was hampered by the smoke from the burning logs. I won't say more, it just keeps getting bigger and bigger!

"How can anyone find anything relaxing about that?" I asked, covering my mouth with my hand to at least slightly reduce the risk of poisoning from all the smoke. The ponies around didn't seem to notice and just kept on burning logs. Unfortunately, their flamethrowers weren't powerful enough to burn a log with just one shot. No, it will smolder slowly and painfully for me.

When I picked up another acorn with my free hand, I realized that I couldn't fit any more. But I don't think four will be enough to make it up to Ahirata. After taking a deep breath, I moved my other hand away from my face to pick up a few more acorns.

I hope Ahirata really appreciates it. Although, if I were in her place, I would hardly forgive just for a few acorns.

Fighting the urge to catch my breath, I grabbed the last acorn that would fit in my hand and began to take quick steps away from the endless smoke. Along the way, I occasionally encountered ponies that seemed to keep coming back to the flamethrower field. But surprisingly, none of them started to argue with me. How polite they are.

Finally, I broke out of the cloud of smoke and took a deep breath. After a few moments of savoring my victory, I looked down at the acorns in my hands. Only ten of them. Yes, it's such an impressive result that I don't want to tell others what this 'feat' looks like.

I snorted and looked around. Of course, acorns are good, especially if you're a squirrel. But what should I do now? It doesn't look like Ahirata will be coming anytime soon.

I could go to the Twilight Library and get some books. But first you have to put the acorns somewhere. I don't want to look like an overgrown squirrel.

With a short laugh, I walked up to the house and discovered a small problem. Smoke from the many logs is pouring into the house through my missing front door. I can't even open the windows to ventilate the room, because more smoke will come in!

"Fuck you, Daniel." I muttered irritably before carefully placing the acorns on the nightstand in the hallway. After making sure nothing was rolling around on the floor, I nodded slightly and hurried back outside.

Only to see Ahirata and Daniel come out of the forest. Meanwhile, I'm standing on the doorstep of the house. I clearly don't look like someone who is doing Daniel's bidding. The situation is definitely there.

On the one hand, I really dislike this guy. On the other hand, I've been lying a lot lately.

Awkwardly rubbing my hands, I dared to look up to meet Ahirata's eyes. And I was greeted by an absolutely devastated expression. I would have felt better if she had gritted her teeth and growled. But no, she just looks empty.

The tense silence was broken by Daniel when he took a deep breath and said, "Well, it looks like everyone is already burning logs. And I'm pretty sure you weren't watching, Arthur. "

Before I could think of a normal answer, Daniel walked over to the bag, from which a decent pile of gold was sticking out. Smiling, he turned to the pony and asked, "Any of you want to relax with the flamethrowers for another hour? "

"Yes! " Several ponies replied in unison. Seriously? Why do they like burning logs so much?

Daniel sat down on the sign again and said, waving his hand in my direction: "Well, then I'll be here for a long time. Ahirata, can you come to Arthur's house? He wants to talk to you about something. "

I could have drawn attention to myself, thank you.

Taking a deep breath to gather my strength, I grabbed the acorns I had collected and retreated a few steps deeper into the house. Then I clasped my hands so that Ahirata couldn't see what I was holding. The most important thing now is to try not to think about the absurdity of the whole situation. Yesterday, I offered to steal the staff from the Dragon Lord, but the situation did not go according to plan and some guy turned his palm into a bloody mess in an instant.

As soon as I was startled by this memory, Ahirata appeared on the threshold. However, she didn't say anything and didn't move forward. I have to start a dialog. I don't really like that.

Clearing my throat slightly, I said slowly, "Uh, hello."

"Hello, Arthur," Ahirata replied distantly. Hooray, she remembered my name.

But obviously in a negative way.

Very quickly, I couldn't help but say, bowing my head slightly: "I'm sorry it happened that way. With the dragon lord."

"It's okay. I had to curb my ambitions long ago. It's just another memory. Ahirata answered with a heavy sigh. Do I have to tell you that this doesn't look like the truth?

Extremely unsure, I held out my hands, looked away and said, "Uh, I heard that you want to turn Tartarus into a garden. If I remember my biology class correctly, you can use these things to grow trees down there. Well, I guess so."

I was met with absolute silence. Ahirata didn't react at all. But suddenly, I felt a cold touch on my hands. My gaze shifted to her to see an interesting image. She held my hands tightly in her clawed hands and looked at the collected acorns. She even opened her mouth slightly.

Like it was some kind of treasure. Is that kind of reaction even a little bit cute?

In the end, Ahirata carefully took the acorns from me and said gratefully, "Thank you. For reminding me. After all, I try to give the smallest creatures a good place to live."

I smiled back at her slightly and said, scratching the back of my head, "Uh, nothing special. I just really wanted to apologize for yesterday. "

"No, no, it's okay. It's just, well, I take my second chance more seriously than Daniel does, you know? It makes me a bit of a perfectionist, I guess. "Ahirata replied with a shake of her head, but a smile formed on her face anyway. A little creepy because of the fangs, but still a smile.

Now, the part where I feel arrogant and insensitive.

Finally, I dared to ask slowly, "By the way, what about the final cure for my back?"

"Oh, I completely forgot! Give me a second." Ahirata said before carefully placing the acorns on the bedside table. Then she raised her hands and a red glow formed around them.

Judging by the fact that she didn't move after that, my permission was needed. I nodded slightly and the next moment, Ahirata placed both hands on my chest. A wave of trembling ran through my body. Compared to the first time, the pain was absolutely insignificant.

However, an unfamiliar feeling soon appeared. It was as if my whole body had become a red-hot coal from the inside. But the pain in my brain was especially severe. I put my head in my hands and groaned from the new kind of pain, but Ahirata said in a soothing voice, "It's okay. It's just that your soul is finally in the right place and beginning to connect with the nervous and circulatory systems. "

I don't feel like this is 'okay' at all!

"Did Daniel have that too? Please say yes." I asked with a painful groan.

"I'm afraid I don't have that kind of knowledge. Sorry. Ahirata replied, taking me gently by the shoulders and sitting me down on something. Most likely the night table in the hallway. Wow, it's the main character today. First there were acorns on it, then there were acorns on it again, and now I'm sitting.

Despite the pain, I couldn't help but smile a little. It seemed that this little charge of positivity allowed me to gather the strength to ask: "Ahirata, can I, oh, ask you something?"

"Yes, what is it?" She asked with concern in her voice.

"Can you teach me magic?" I said quickly. By the way, the pain is slowly fading away. Now I can at least concentrate a little on what is going on around me.

It's absolutely horrible anyway. Why does everything in this version of Equestria work through pain? What have I done to deserve this?

Unfortunately, no one interrupted my thoughts. Ahirata was silent and thought very carefully about her answer. It was only when I was able to gather the strength to concentrate on her that she finally answered: "You see, Arthur, I don't remember the runes very well. I simply don't need them. To me, the eyes are like the horn of a unicorn. "

I lowered my head slightly, but she replied with a strained smile, "But I can help you master the control of magic. And you can borrow some old books with runes to study on your own. Even Twilight didn't take them. For now. "

When the burning sensation faded into the background, I said, unable to contain my excitement: "Great! When do we start? "

Ahirata smiled slightly at my reaction and said, carefully taking the acorns: "You need some time for the soul to merge with the family of your body. Come back tomorrow. Take food and water if you wish. I don't mind teaching you for a whole day. "

Wow. Just wow.

"I thought you were offended by me. I said, scratching my head.

Ahirata sighed and said, looking away, "You certainly made a serious mistake yesterday, Arthur. But I think the main problem lies with me. I get too attached to goals that I can't even explain to myself. "

She always seems to blame herself for everything. That doesn't sound like a good character trait to live with. Before I could sympathize, Ahirata took a few steps back and said: "Well, I'm going to Tartarus, okay? Come back tomorrow. "

Of course, I don't want to go through seven thousand steps, but it doesn't look like I have many options.

Sighing, I took a few steps out of the house and took a quick look at the flamethrower site. There was already a very large crowd of ponies and an equally large cloud of smoke. Now it's going to be really awkward to disperse them all.

"Well, then I'll try to run. And it is possible to ask the main characters of the series if they need paintings. The money is running out." I muttered to myself before hesitantly starting to jog. And as soon as I started to move, a thought popped into my head.

I will avenge today's incident, Daniel. Somehow.

Author's Note

Hi! Unfortunately, I have to report that the release of chapters will slow down due to college and my desire to take a little break from this story. So it is unlikely that a new chapter will be released in the next week or two.

However, I would really appreciate it if you, the readers, would write a critique of the story so that I know what to improve in future chapters.

With that I say goodbye. Have a nice day!