My Little Pony: Power House's Story

That night after the welcoming party, Twilight showed me where I’d be sleeping officially. Before then, I’d been healing before the fireplace, but that was a place more restricted to a pet rather than a housemate. To my surprise, my bed was across from hers, in the same room. I’d expected a guest bedroom of some sorts. Though I didn’t know much about live-in Libraries, but I figured there would be at least two rooms for sleeping in. I knew for a fact that Spike slept in his own little basket beside Twilight’s bed, as was evident by its presence at my hooves. I didn’t know why I felt as though our sleeping in the same room was a breach of privacy. I had no plans to do anything indecent. Though decency was clearly different here in the South.

The tension between us as we stood in the room in silence was almost agonizing. I spoke the first thing that came to mind.

“I have no idea where my goggles went since you found me.” There was another moment’s silence between us.

“And what brought that up?” I looked to her and shrugged.

“I don’t know. I just decided to speak again to relieve the monotony.” she giggled at that and sighed.

“Yeah, this is a rather quiet room. But I suppose that’s it purpose to simply be here to allow us to do nothing. Sleep, a chance to dream.” she began spouting what sounded like poetic quotes. I simply walked over to my bed and hopped up on it.

“You aren’t going under the covers?” I examined the bed again, unused to such a thing before. I pulled the cover off and stood over where it had been, resting my head against the pillow. Using my magic, I pulled the covers back over me and I was done.

“Nomadic even in bed, are we?” her question was rather invasive when heard from a certain perspective.

“If you mean do we not have beds such as these in the north, then yes, you are right.” I replied. Spike entered the room a moment later, acting as a relief from the tension that built up from the silence that occurred after my statement. Feeling tired, I said my goodnights and went to sleep. I heard Twilight and Spike both follow suit. And the last thing I thought before I drifted off was: Where DID my goggles go?

The following morning was warmer than before. Regardless, I donned my scarf and my goggles, which Twilight retrieved from the laundry. I emerged from the tree first, followed by Spike who carried a picnic basket in his arms, blocking his vision, then Twilight who closed and locked the door behind us. We three had spent the better half of the morning preparing food for the picnic, all the while, Twilight taught me to read recipe instructions. I was now novice at discerning the difference between a teaspoon and a tablespoon in lettering. The numbers were easier to understand than anything else.

Twilight took the lead and directed Spike and I to a lovely plateau at the top of a hill, where we could see the surrounding towns and cities, such as Canterlot and Cloudsdale. In the distance, we could make out toward the south Appleloosa, and beyond it, the McIntosh Hills. To the East was Fillydelphia and Baltimare. I tried to avoid looking North beyond Canterlot to the Crystal Mountains.

“Hey look, we can see the Everfree Forest from here, just South of Ponyville.” Pinkie Pie said. This caught my attention.

“Wait… South of Ponyville? But I travelled through the forest from the North, how did I end up between it and Ponyville at the end of my journey?” Pinkie bounced around over to me and grinned.

“Easy-peasy! You said you went past Rambling Rock ridge, which you can see from here, blocks the view of Ponyville. You probably went into the Everfree from the East and emerged North of it where Twilight found you.” she said. My eye twitched as I tried to wrap my head around it.

“I… guess that makes sense. I mean I am from the North-Eastern part of the mountains. And I did travel past Neighagra Falls.”

“It’s best if you don’t think about the path you took to get here, darling. Just enjoy the picnic. Struggle with your journey when you’ve naught to do. Come and have some sandwitches, I made them myself. Sweetie Belle wanted to help, but she’s the only pony I know who can burn cucumbers without a heat source.” Rarity offered me a sandwitch, which I took graciously. Food was passed around leisurely, something I wasn’t used to. Had I not learned from Spike the previous night that fighting to get to the food first was not the way here, I’d have made a complete mess of the whole outing. Instead, I followed everypony else’s examples and asked for things I wanted, taking similar amounts to Big McIntosh who had helped cart Applejack’s part of the picnic.

I figured out which personalities to mimic where appropriate. Rarity, Fluttershy and Twilight ate with a model of decorum, which I mimicked to the best of my abilities, but the food was so tasteful, I had to blend Applejack and Rainbow Dash’s eating habits with the prior, winding up with a similar method to Spike’s. When asking for certain things, such as spices, buns or bottles, I copied Twilight’s mannerisms which were similar to Rarity’s, though Twilight and I refrained from adding the word ‘Darling’ at the end or beginning of the request.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack often told jokes to each other ending with bursts of laughter every few seconds. Twilight and Rarity conversed with Fluttershy on certain topics relating to their talents, which Twilight would compare or add information to, reciting one or more of her books. Pinkie gabbed on with Spike, leaving me with Big McIntosh. We spoke of random things, like Spike and I had the previous night. He explained how his name was derived from the hills to the South beyond Appleoosa, because his coat was the same shade of red as the sand that made the hills. He told me of how Applejack took on his duties the week his back went out, but couldn’t take it all on despite her willpower and strength. She’d worn herself out to the point of exhaustion because of her pride. I could tell that Big McIntosh, or as he asked me to refer to him, Big Mac, was the kind of Stallion to keep secrets and take them to the grave with him. I told him with as low a voice as I could, a little about myself. I told him the name of my village and that I once had a twin sister. Though he pressed for information regarding the once part of the conversation, I avoided it and replied with a statement he seemed content with. I told him that I loved her unconditionally and irrevocably.

“Our conversation was interrupted by an excited Rainbow Dash who urged towards flight training. With a light chuckle, I rose to my hooves and spread my wings. She mimicked my stance and mirrored me as I crouched down on all fours and jumped as I flapped my wings. We both shot directly upward, creating independent trails; hers a rainbow of colours, mine a torrent of black and dark grey. I yelled at her over the sound of the wind rushing past us.

“Make sure that when you go for a Sonic Rainboom, you throw your hooves back instead of forcing them forward. The flatness of the hooves causes wind resistence, so keep them behind you. Your facial structure will cut through the wind on its own!” I called. Rainbow Dash nodded her understanding and flew ahead. We straightened out along a horizontal path. My hooves were stretched out in the standard flight stance, but as we charged ourselves up for the booms; upon the apex of the charge, I threw my hooves back as hard as I could, like trying to thrust as far forward as I could underwater with one stroke. I broke the barrier, hearing no sound behind me, but ahead. I knew Rainbow Dash had done her Sonic Rainboom the same way as I had when I felt her presence beside me once more. Next came the sudden stop. With my goggles over my eyes, it was easier for me to focus on the flying and ignore the wind in my eyes were there any. With a deep breath, I exhaled, throwing my wings out as far as they’d go, angling them vertically. They caught on the wind and I was thrust to a stop. I felt the wave of sound rearing up behind me and as I angled my wings, I used the force of the wave to propel me downward, creating another boom. I kept my wings stretched out, angling them vertically so they cut through the air, leaving small black trails along the wingtips. I spiralled around, creating the Sonic Tornado. The wind pressing against my body made me feel as though I were harnessed. A false sense of security, yet a nice feeling all the same. Nearing the ground, I threw my wings at a horizontal angle, catching the wind once again. I stopped just short of the ground, creating a large gust of wind over the picnic area. The ponies covered their eyes as a wave of dust expanded from around them, trailing down the hill. I touched the ground lightly, folding my wings back into place. Rarity worried frantically with her hair, trying to clean it as best as she could. Spike laughed at Twilight’s hairdo which was sticking up all over the place.

“Sorry girls. I didn’t think.” Spike and Pinkie gave each other a high hoof at the display. Pinkie’s mane, usually looking like cotton candy, now looked like frozen cotton candy as the spirally curl that usually hung over her face stuck up like a unicorn’s horn.

“Oh, my beautiful mane!” Rarity cried.

“Oh now, Rarity. You don’t want to stress so much over your appearance. It’ll lead to early greys.” I said. Rarity froze in place and gasped in horror.

“Please tell me you’re pulling some horrible prank, House?” her begging was somewhat pleasing to me and I smirked at her.

“Oh no. I knew a mare back in the North who worried about her appearance in a similar fashion. A Rarity in and of herself. She was a beautiful Sapphire blue mare with an even darker shade of Purple than your own. Very striking now that I think about it. Got greys before she left her teen years.” Rarity fainted, falling on her sandwitches which caused cucumbers to fly everywhere, one of which neatly placed itself on her exposed eyelid.

“House, that was mean. Although I have to admit the whole performance up in the sky was very impressive.” Twilight said, taking a cucumber from the untouched pile of sandwitches and eating it.

“Well I’m beginning to see why Ponyville’s inhabitants are so jolly. I can see myself making a new life here. Perhaps I’ll start a town patrol. I’m sure my Northern talents can be better suited defending this place. Perhaps I’ll be asked to supervise the Royal Guard.” I mused. Twilight sighed and smiled sweetly at me.

“Well I suppose if that’s what you want, I could see about getting that arranged with Princess Celestia. I am her Faithful Student, after all.” she replied. Our friendly conversation was interrupted by a large boom and a loud cry from above. Rainbow Dash’s Sonic Rainboom was a bit wonky and I could just make out her flight pattern. She was spiralling out of control. The force of the technique was too much for her.

“Oh dear Celestia!” Twilight cried. There wasn’t enough time for me to fly to her before she hit the ground, so using my magic, I teleported to the spot she was falling toward and Leaped up to her with a Sonic Shadowboom, catching her in my hooves. I quickly brought her back to the group of ponies who gathered around my landing zone beside the picnic. Rainbow Dash was crying out. I let her down and she lay on the ground, one of her wings snapped in the worst angle anypony, including myself had ever seen.

“Ah think ah’m gunna be sick!” Applejack uttered, covering her mouth with her hoof and looking away.

“OH CELESTIA MAKE IT STOP IT HURTS TOO MUCH!!!” Rainbow Dash cried out. Rarity woke up to this and took one look at the pleading Pegasus. At the sight of the broken wing, she fainted again. My horn glowed, followed a second later by my eyes.

“House, what are you doing?” Twilight asked, noticing this. I looked closely at Rainbow’s broken wing, studying where the break was. My enhanced vision allowed me to bypass the exterior and see the wing bones.

“Alright, I can fix this. It’s not as bad as it looks, surprisingly.” Rainbow Dash begged to differ.

“WELL IT PROBABLY FEELS WORSE THAN IT LOOKS!!! she cried.

“The bone’s snapped and a piece of it is sticking into a nerve. That’s what’s magnifying pain.” I replied. Though this knowledge did nothing to help Rainbow directly, it did help me.

“Alright. Big Mac, I need you to hold Rainbow Dash down. I can fix her wing, but she’s not going to like the process. If I were to attempt it while numbing the wing, there’s a chance the nerves will become confused and she won’t be able to use the wing again. So she has to bear with the pain.” I said. Rainbow Dash cried in fear as Big Mac pressed down on her back, putting all his weight on her.

“AJ!!” she called out. Applejack lay down adjacent to Rainbow Dash and took her outstretched hoof.

“Ah’m here Sugarcube. Don’t you worry none. House seems confident in his ability to heal your wing. Ah’m willin’ to trust him on this.” Rainbow Dash pulled Applejack closer and wrapped her hooves around her neck.

“Hold me!” the Pegasus cried. Applejack did just that, gently touching Rainbow Dash’s cheek. All the while, I observed this display of intimacy.

“Are they an item or is this just more Southern friendship that I don’t understand?” I asked.

“Oh no, they’re definitely together. We all knew it was a long time coming. They’re too much like each other, it had to happen.” Pinkie interjected. With that curiosity cleared up, I focused on the task at hoof. As I was about to begin, Fluttershy interrupted me, causing me to jump.

“For the love of¬– Fluttershy! I nearly stabbed the nerve with Rainbow’s bone!” Fluttershy cringed away at my outburst. I sighed and placed my hoof along my brow.

“I–I’m sorry, Fluttershy… It’s just a very delicate procedure here, and even the slightest interruption could be fatal for Rainbow Dash’s flight, not to mention her dream.” Fluttershy nodded without even a whimper. Now everything was silent, I began again. My horn glowed bright with a dark green aura, followed by Rainbow’s wing. I heard Rarity stir and ask what had happened.

“Somepony shut her up before I lose concentration!” I called out. Fluttershy hurried over to Rarity’s side and whispered the details into Rarity’s ear. Through the corner of my eyes, I saw her nod in understanding.

I began to remove the bone from the nerve. The slightest touch caused Rainbow to start thrashing beneath Big Mac who was having trouble against the energetic athlete.

“Twilight, reinforce Dash’s position with magic, weigh her down if need be.” Twilight complied, her own aura surrounding all but the wing I was working on. Dash cried and tried her best to squirm. Applejack held the pegasus’ face next to hers, kissing her cheek.

“It’s alright Dashie, it’s alright!” she cooed. I managed to line the bones up again without nicking any more nerves. Chips of bone were still missing and I knew they’d gone into her blood stream. I focused on trying to re-join the bones, erasing the break like rubbing out a crazy zigzag on parchment. Creaking sounds could be heard from within her wing and Rainbow Dash cried even more as the forcing of mending bones was a painful process.

“Okay, that’s the exterior of the bone done, but I still need to join the marrow.” I said.

It took me an hour to finish fixing Rainbow Dash’s wing. While I could have done it much sooner, I didn’t want to risk damaging it irreparably. With no bandages available, I offered Dash my scarf. It was a shoddy job at best, but her wing was now supported closed to let it heal.

“Okay. You still need to go to a hospital as soon as possible. Bone fragments made their way into your system. I’ve replaced them, but they could still do harm. Probably tear at your veins or something.” I said. Rainbow Dash smiled at me and gave me a hug with her good wing.

“Thank you, House. You saved my dream as well as my life. I don’t have much in the way of compensating you…”

“Think nothing of it, Rainbow Dash.” I raised my hooves in protest to her suggestion.

“Call me Dash, like you did during the operation.” she said. I blinked at her.

“Did I call you Dash during the operation?” I asked.

“Yes, when you told Twilight to help Big Mac restrict mah Dashie’s movement.” Applejack replied. The memory struck me and I sighed in recognition.

“Ah.” I realised then that I’d gained a new level of respect from both Dash and Applejack. The former saw me as more than a teacher and the latter knew I was a reliable friend who could be calm in any desperate situation. After learning about their exploits from Spike the previous night, A calm mind was needed for the next time they faced a disaster.

My second night across from Twilight. I was still unused to the bed. She’d left the door open to allow some heat from the fireplace in. I had difficulty sleeping, tossing and turning every minute. I gave in and crept out of the bed. Stepping over Spike as gently as my Northern hooves could allow. He stirred beneath me as I froze. It took a good ten seconds before he calmed down again. I stepped the rest of the way over him and slowly made my way to the fireplace, settling down before it. The familiarity of solid ground beneath me sent me into slumber almost instantly. With a sigh, my dreams caught up to me and I found myself in the distant past, talking to the two young Princesses.

I was taller than they were, more graceful. My Regal attire more attuned to battle than domestic diplomacy. They spoke to me, smiles on their faces. Luna was particularly excited to see me.

“Yay! Dark is here!” she said, using her little wings to flutter up onto my head. She wrapped her hooves around the spike on my Royal helmet. It was my first time meeting my newest cousin.

“So thou art Little Luna? And already so causal around me. T'is strange, we usually frighten children.” Celestia cantered up to me and wrapped her neck around mine.

“Welcome back, Cousin Dark House.” she replied. Before I could express my happiness to see Celestia once again after three years, another Pony entered the scene, exiting from a Royal carriage pulled by angry looking animals. The same Carriage I remembered exiting from.

‘Thou must refer to our brother as Your Majesty, Princess Celestia, and Luna.” Celestia backed up a few steps, obviously displeased with the mare’s attitude.

“Hush, Mass! Formalities are for public display, not family. We won’t have you ruining our reunion with thine cousins.” I turned to her, seeing my sister wearing more rounded armour similar to my own.

“My appologies, brother. We did not intent to–.”

“Do not apologise, dear sister. T'was a warning, nothing more. Now remove the Northern temperament and feel the magical splendour of our Southern cousins’ homeland. We know we intend to.” Mass sighed and nodded, removing her regal attire. I did likewise and floated the armour back into the carriage. Luna remained glued to my head, giggling as I looked around quickly, causing her to lose balance slightly. Using our magic, we three altered our appearances, taking on the forms of domestic and civilian ponies. I looked like my current self, Celestia like a white Fluttershy and Mass a light grey Twilight. Luna, being young could not use her magic properly. She remained as she was, now heavier on my neck than before.

“We shall enjoy our vacation for certain.” We began to walk from out of the Everfree forest and the next thing I saw in my dream, was a pair of glowing Emerald eyes.

I awoke with a start. It surprised me to feel another body beside me. Twilight lay limp beside me, her head resting on my hoof. I thought she was asleep at first. I gently slid my hoof from under her careful not to wake her, but I felt something wet and slimy dragging along the side. I looked down to see blood smeared along my hoof, a pool of it trailing out from beneath Twilight’s head. I began to hyperventilate in fear.

“Twilight?” I called out to her, shaking her gently. She didn’t stir.

“Twilight?!” I called out more forcefully. I shook her harder, her head rolled around to face me. Her eyes resembled that of Mass’ and I jumped up.

I awoke once more with a loud yell. I likely woke the neighbourhood, but that didn’t matter to me. I was paralysed with fear, screaming and yelling as Twilight approached me with concern plastered on her face. Hearing her voice made me calm down slowly.

“House, what’s wrong?” she called out to me. My yelling subsided to mild starts, and then faded to heavy breathing. I relaxed my tense body and let her touch me, examining me the way she saw in her books. My heart was pounding hard and fast, on the verge of exploding. I tried to focus on anything, but I was still too startled to see. I heard other ponies enter the Library to complain, but when they saw me, they stopped. I must have looked terrible; how terrible, I didn’t know. I focused on Twilight’s touch, her hooves gently pressing down on pressure points that gave pulses. She rested her head over my heart and I stopped moving altogether. I closed my eyes again and went completely limp. She lifted her head once again.

“Ah! House, wake up, don’t collapse on me like this!” she called. Clearly, going limp startled her.

“Sorry… bad dream.” I choked out. The other ponies shuffled out, mumbling amongst each other.

“More like a nightmare by the sound of it.” I heard one of them say. The last one closed the door behind them and I was alone with Twilight and Spike, who was slow to respond to the point where he’d just left the bedroom, rubbing his eyes.

“What happened? What’d I miss?” he asked. Twilight groaned and yelled at him.

“You lazy Reptile! Trust you to sleep through a potential catastrophe!” I coughed with mild amusement.

“A nightmare is far from a catastrophe, Twilight… We-…I’m fine.” I said, rolling over onto my side. I searched my hoof for the blood in the dream. I almost felt the liquid beneath my fur.

“I’m sorry to have scared you.” I didn’t look at her afterward, but I was certain that she was giving me a worried look, as if to say that she suspected there was more to this than I let on. I stared at the dimming fire, waiting for her to go back to sleep. With the sound of dimming hooves, I sighed with relief. Through the small flames, I saw the eyes that threatened my sanity.

“I’m not sorry for what I did. Nothing you do will change that… Mass Effect.”